TOP 11 AI MARKETING TOOLS YOU SHOULD USE (Updated 2022)

TechCrunch

The marketing industry is turning to artificial intelligence (AI) as a way to save time and execute smarter, more personalized campaigns. 61% of marketers say AI software is the most important aspect of their data strategy.

If you’re late to the AI party, don’t worry. It’s easier than you think to start leveraging artificial intelligence tools in your marketing strategy. Here are 11 AI marketing tools every marketer should start using today.

1. Jasper Ai(Formerly known as Jarvis)

Jasper is a content writing and content generation tool that uses artificial intelligence to identify the best words and sentences for your writing style and medium in the most efficient, quick, and accessible way.

Key Features

It's trusted by 50,000+ marketers for creating engaging marketing campaigns, ad copy, blog posts, and articles within minutes which would traditionally take hours or days. Special Features:
Blog posts have been optimized for search engines and rank high on Google and other search engines. This is a huge plus for online businesses that want to generate traffic to their website through content marketing.
99.9% Original Content and guarantees that all content it generates will be original, so businesses can focus on their online reputation rather than worrying about penalties from Google for duplicate content.
Long-Form Article Writing – Jasper.ai is also useful for long-form writing, allowing users to create articles of up to 10,000 words without any difficulty. This is ideal for businesses that want to produce in-depth content that will capture their audience’s attention.

Wait! I've got a pretty sweet deal for you. Sign up through the link below, and you'll get (10k Free Credits)

Also Read: Top 10 AI Content Generator & Writer Tools in 2022

2. Personalize

Personalize is an AI-powered technology that helps you identify and produce highly targeted sales and marketing campaigns by tracking the products and services your contacts are most interested in at any given time. The platform uses an algorithm to identify each contact’s top three interests, which are updated in real-time based on recent site activity.

Key Features

Identifies top three interests based on metrics like time on page, recency, and frequency of each contact
Works with every ESP and CRM
Easy to get up and running in days
Enterprise-grade technology at a low cost for SMBs

3. Seventh Sense

Seventh Sense provides behavioral analytics that helps you win attention in your customers’ overcrowded email inboxes. Choosing the best day and time to send an email is always a gamble. And while some days of the week generally get higher open rates than others, you’ll never be able to nail down a time that’s best for every customer. Seventh Sense eases your stress of having to figure out the perfect send-time and day for your email campaigns. The AI-based platform figures out the best timing and email frequency for each contact based on when they’re opening emails. The tool is primarily geared toward HubSpot and Marketo customers

Key Features

AI determines the best send-time and email frequency for each contact
Connects with HubSpot and Marketo

4. Phrasee

Phrasee uses artificial intelligence to help you write more effective subject lines. With its AI-based Natural Language Generation system, Phrasee uses data-driven insights to generate millions of natural-sounding copy variants that match your brand voice. The model is end-to-end, meaning when you feed the results back to Phrasee, the prediction model rebuilds so it can continuously learn from your audience.

Key Features

Instantly generates millions of human-sounding, brand-compliant copy variants
Creates tailored language models for every customer
Learns what your audience responds to and rebuilds the prediction model every time

5. Hubspot Seo

HubSpot Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an integral tool for the Human Content team. It uses machine learning to determine how search engines understand and categorize your content. HubSpot SEO helps you improve your search engine rankings and outrank your competitors. Search engines reward websites that organize their content around core subjects, or topic clusters. HubSpot SEO helps you discover and rank for the topics that matter to your business and customers.

Key Features

Helps you discover and rank topics that people are searching for
Provides suggestions for your topic clusters and related subjects
Integrates with all other HubSpot content tools to help you create a well-rounded content strategy

Also Read: Top 10 AI Content Generator & Writer Tools in 2022

6. Evolve AI

When you’re limited to testing two variables against each other at a time, it can take months to get the results you’re looking for. Evolv AI lets you test all your ideas at once. It uses advanced algorithms to identify the top-performing concepts, combine them with each other, and repeat the process to achieve the best site experience.

Key Features

Figures out which content provides the best performance
Lets you test multiple ideas in a single experiment instead of having to perform many individual tests over a long period
Lets you try all your ideas across multiple pages for full-funnel optimization
Offers visual and code editors

7. Acrolinx

Acrolinx is a content alignment platform that helps brands scale and improves the quality of their content. It’s geared toward enterprises – its major customers include big brands like Google, Adobe, and Amazon - to help them scale their writing efforts. Instead of spending time chasing down and fixing typos in multiple places throughout an article or blog post, you can use Acrolinx to do it all right there in one place. You start by setting your preferences for style, grammar, tone of voice, and company-specific word usage. Then, Acrolinx checks and scores your existing content to find what’s working and suggest areas for improvement. The platform provides real-time guidance and suggestions to make writing better and strengthen weak pages.

Key features

Reviews and scores existing content to ensure it meets your brand guidelines
Finds opportunities to improve your content and use automation to shorten your editorial process.
Integrates with more than 50 tools and platforms, including Google Docs, Microsoft Word, WordPress, and most web browsers.

8. MarketMuse

MarketMuse uses an algorithm to help marketers build content strategies. The tool shows you where to target keywords to rank in specific topic categories, and recommends keywords you should go after if you want to own particular topics. It also identifies gaps and opportunities for new content and prioritizes them by their probable impact on your rankings. The algorithm compares your content with thousands of articles related to the same topic to uncover what’s missing from your site.

Key features:

The built-in editor shows how in-depth your topic is covered and what needs improvement
Finds gaps and opportunities for new content creation, prioritized by their probable impact and your chance of ranking

9. Copilot

Copilot is a suite of tools that help eCommerce businesses maintain real-time communication with customers around the clock at every stage of the funnel. Promote products, recover shopping carts and send updates or reminders directly through Messenger.

Key features:

Integrate Facebook Messenger directly with your website, including chat history and recent interactions for a fluid customer service experience
Run drip messenger campaigns to keep customers engaged with your brand
Send abandoned carts, out-of-stock, restock, preorder, order status, and shipment notifications to contacts
Send branded images, promotional content, or coupon codes to those who opt in
Collect post-purchase feedback, reviews, and customer insight
Demonstrate social proof on your website with a widget, or push automatic Facebook posts sharing recent purchases
Display a promotional banner on your website to capture contacts instantly

Also Read: Top 10 AI Content Generator & Writer Tools in 2022

10. Yotpo

Yotpo’s deep learning technology evaluates your customers’ product reviews to help you make better business decisions. It identifies key topics that customers mention related to your products—and their feelings toward them. The AI engine extracts relevant reviews from past buyers and presents them in smart displays to convert new shoppers. Yotpo also saves you time moderating reviews. The AI-powered moderation tool automatically assigns a score to each review and flags reviews with negative sentiment so you can focus on quality control instead of manually reviewing every post.

Key features:

Makes it easy for shoppers to filter reviews and find the exact information they’re looking for
Analyzes customer feedback and sentiments to help you improve your products
Integrates with most leading eCommerce platforms, including BigCommerce, Magento, and Shopify.

11. Albert AI

Albert is a self-learning software that automates the creation of marketing campaigns for your brand. It analyzes vast amounts of data to run optimized campaigns autonomously, allowing you to feed in your own creative content and target markets, and then use data from its database to determine key characteristics of a serious buyer. Albert identifies potential customers that match those traits, and runs trial campaigns on a small group of customers—with results refined by Albert himself—before launching it on a larger scale.

Albert plugs into your existing marketing technology stack, so you still have access to your accounts, ads, search, social media, and more. Albert maps tracking and attribution to your source of truth so you can determine which channels are driving your business.

Key features:

Breaks down large amounts of data to help you customize campaigns
Plugs into your marketing technology stack and can be used across diverse media outlets, including email, content, paid media, and mobile

Final Saying

There are many tools and companies out there that offer AI tools, but this is a small list of resources that we have found to be helpful. If you have any other suggestions, feel free to share them in the comments below this article. As marketing evolves at such a rapid pace, new marketing strategies will be invented that we haven't even dreamed of yet. But for now, this list should give you a good starting point on your way to implementing AI into your marketing mix.

Note: This article contains affiliate links, meaning we make a small commission if you buy any premium plan from our link.

August 20th 2026, 7:27 pm

Top 10 AI Tools in 2023 That Will Make Your Life Easier

TechCrunch

In this article, we explore the top 10 AI tools that are driving innovation and efficiency in various industries. These tools are designed to automate repetitive tasks, improve workflow, and increase productivity. The tools included in our list are some of the most advanced and widely used in the market, and are suitable for a variety of applications. Some of the tools focus on natural language processing, such as ChatGPT and Grammarly, while others focus on image and video generation, such as DALL-E and Lumen5. Other tools such as OpenAI Codex, Tabnine, Canva, Jasper AI,, and Surfer SEO are designed to help with specific tasks such as code understanding content writing and website optimization. This list is a great starting point for anyone looking to explore the possibilities of AI and how it can be applied to their business or project.

So let’s dive into

1. ChatGPT

ChatGPT is a large language model that generates human-like responses to a variety of prompts. It can be used for tasks such as language translation, question answering, and text completion. It can handle a wide range of topics and styles of writing, and generates coherent and fluent text, but should be used with care as it may generate text that is biased, offensive, or factually incorrect.

Pros:

Generates human-like responses to a variety of prompts
Can be fine-tuned for specific tasks such as language translation, question answering, and text completion
Can handle a wide range of topics and styles of writing
Can generate coherent and fluent text, even when completing a given text prompt.

Cons:

May generate text that is biased or offensive
Can generate text that is not accurate or factually correct
May require large amounts of computational resources to run
The model can sometimes generate text that is not coherent or fluent, depending on the prompt given.

Overall, ChatGPT is a powerful tool for natural language processing, but it should be used with care and with an understanding of its limitations.

2. DALL-E

DALL-E is a generative model developed by OpenAI that is capable of generating images from text prompts. It is based on the GPT-3 architecture, which is a transformer-based neural network language model that has been trained on a massive dataset of text. DALL-E can generate images that are similar to a training dataset and it can generate high-resolution images that are suitable for commercial use.

Pros:

Generates high-resolution images
Can generate images from text prompts
It can be fine-tuned for specific tasks such as generating images of a certain style or category

Cons:

May generate images that are not entirely original and could be influenced by the training data
May require significant computational resources to run
The quality of the generated images may vary depending on the specific prompt

Overall, DALL-E is a powerful AI-based tool for generating images, it can be used for a variety of applications such as creating images for commercial use, gaming, and other creative projects. It is important to note that the generated images should be reviewed and used with care, as they may not be entirely original and could be influenced by the training data.

3. Lumen5

Lumen5 is a content creation platform that uses AI to help users create videos, social media posts, and other types of content. It has several features that make it useful for content creation and marketing, including:

Pros:

Automatically summarizes text from a blog post, article, or another source into a script for a video or social media post
Offers a library of royalty-free videos, images, and music to use in content
Has a drag-and-drop interface for easy content creation
Can create videos in multiple languages
Has a built-in analytics tool to track the performance of created content.

Cons:

The quality of the generated content may vary depending on the source material
The automatic summarization feature may not always capture the main points of the source material
The library of videos, images, and music is limited.
The analytics feature is basic

Overall, Lumen5 is a useful tool for creating content quickly and easily, it can help automate the process of creating videos, social media posts, and other types of content. However, the quality of the generated content may vary depending on the source material and it is important to review and edit the content before publishing it.

4. Grammarly

Grammarly is a writing-enhancement platform that uses AI to check for grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors in the text. It also provides suggestions for improving the clarity, concision, and readability of the text. It has several features that make it useful for improving writing, including:

Pros:

Checks for grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors in the text
Provides suggestions for improving clarity, concision, and readability
Can be integrated with various apps and platforms such as Microsoft Office, Google Docs, and social media platforms
Offers a browser extension and a desktop app
Has a premium version with more advanced features such as plagiarism detection and more

Cons:

The suggestions provided may not always be accurate or appropriate
The grammar checker may not always recognize context-specific language use
The free version has limited features
Limited to English language only
Overall, Grammarly is a useful tool for improving writing, it can help users identify and correct grammar and punctuation errors, and improve the clarity, concision, and readability of their text. However, it is important to review the suggestions provided by the tool and use them with caution, as they may not always be accurate or appropriate.

5.OpenAI Codex

OpenAI Codex is a system developed by OpenAI that can create code from natural language descriptions of software tasks. The system is based on the GPT-3 model and can generate code in multiple programming languages.

Pros:

Can automate the process of writing code
Can help developers to be more productive
Can help non-technical people to create software
Can generate code in multiple programming languages

Cons:

The quality of the generated code may vary depending on the task description
The generated code may not always be optimal or efficient
The system may not be able to handle complex software tasks
Dependence on the tool may lead to a lack of understanding of the code.

Overall, OpenAI Codex is a powerful tool that can help automate the process of writing code and make it more accessible to non-technical people. However, the quality of the generated code may vary depending on the task description and it is important to review and test the code before using it in a production environment. It is important to use the tool as an aid, not a replacement for the developer's knowledge.

6. Tabnine

Tabnine is a code completion tool that uses AI to predict and suggest code snippets. It is compatible with multiple programming languages and can be integrated with various code editors.

Pros:

Can improve coding efficiency by suggesting code snippets based on context
Can complete entire code blocks
Can predict variables, functions, and other elements of code
Can be integrated with various code editors

Cons:

The suggestions may not always be accurate or appropriate
The system may not always be able to understand the context of the code
May not work with all code editors
Dependence on the tool may lead to a lack of understanding of the code.

Overall, TabNine is a useful tool for developers that can help improve coding efficiency and reduce the time spent on writing code. However, it is important to review the suggestions provided by the tool and use them with caution, as they may not always be accurate or appropriate. It is important to use the tool as an aid, not a replacement for the developer's knowledge.

7. Jasper AI

Pros:

User-friendly interface
Generates a wide variety of content types
Guarantees 100% unique and free-plagiarism content
SEO friendly
Create articles of up to 10k words

Cons:

Not the cheapest AI writer on the market

8. Surfer SEO

Surfer SEO is a software tool designed to help website owners and digital marketers improve their search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. The tool provides a variety of features that can be used to analyze a website's on-page SEO, including:

Features:

A site audit tool that checks for technical SEO issues
A content editor that suggests optimizations for individual pages
A keyword research tool that suggests keywords to target
A SERP analyzer that shows how a website's pages rank for specific keywords
A backlink analysis tool that shows the backlinks pointing to a website.

Pros:

Can help website owners and marketers identify technical SEO issues
Can provide suggestions for optimizing individual pages
Can help with keyword research
Can show how a website's pages rank for specific keywords
Can provide insight into a website's backlink profile

Cons:

Some features may require a paid subscription
The tool is not a guarantee of better ranking
The tool can only analyze the data it has access to
The tool's suggestions may not always be applicable or optimal

Overall, Surfer SEO can be a useful tool for website owners and digital marketers looking to improve their SEO efforts. However, it is important to remember that it is just a tool and should be used in conjunction with other SEO best practices. Additionally, the tool is not a guarantee of better ranking.

9. Zapier

Zapier is a web automation tool that allows users to automate repetitive tasks by connecting different web applications together. It does this by creating "Zaps" that automatically move data between apps, and can also be used to trigger certain actions in one app based on events in another app.

Features:

Can connect over 3,000 web applications
Can automate repetitive tasks
Can create "Zaps" to move data between apps
Can trigger certain actions in one app based on events in another app.

Pros:

Can automate repetitive tasks
Can save time
Can improve workflow
Can increase productivity
Can be integrated with a wide range of web applications

Cons:

Can be difficult to set up
May require some technical skills
May require a paid subscription for some features
Some apps may not be compatible
Dependence on the tool may lead to a lack of understanding of the apps

Overall, Zapier is a useful tool that can help users automate repetitive tasks and improve workflow. It can save time and increase productivity by connecting different web applications together. However, it may require some technical skills and some features may require a paid subscription. It is important to use the tool with caution and not to rely too much on it, to understand the apps better.

10. Compose AI

Compose AI is a company that specializes in developing natural language generation (NLG) software. Their software uses AI to automatically generate written or spoken text from structured data, such as spreadsheets, databases, or APIs.

Features:

Automatically generates written or spoken text from structured data
Can be integrated with a wide range of data sources
Can be used for a variety of applications such as creating reports, summaries, and explanations
Provides an API and a user-friendly interface

Pros:

Can automate the process of creating written or spoken content
Can help users create more accurate and consistent content
Can help users save time by automating repetitive tasks
Can be integrated with a wide range of data sources

Cons:

The quality of the generated content may vary depending on the data source
The generated content may not always be optimal or efficient
The system may not be able to handle complex tasks
Dependence on the tool may lead to a lack of understanding of the data

Overall, Compose AI's NLG software can be a useful tool for automating the process of creating written or spoken content from structured data. However, the quality of the generated content may vary depending on the data source, and it is essential to review the generated content before using it in a production environment. It is important to use the tool as an aid, not a replacement for the understanding of the data.

Conclusion

AI tools are becoming increasingly important in today's business and technology landscape. They are designed to automate repetitive tasks, improve workflow, and increase productivity. The top 10 AI tools included in this article are some of the most advanced and widely used in the market, and are suitable for various applications. Whether you're looking to improve your natural language processing, create high-resolution images, or optimize your website, there is an AI tool that can help. It's important to research and evaluate the different tools available to determine which one is the best fit for your specific needs. As AI technology continues to evolve, these tools will become even more powerful and versatile and will play an even greater role in shaping the future of business and technology.

August 20th 2026, 7:27 pm

LimeWire AI Studio Review 2023: Details, Pricing & Features

TechCrunch

In the rapidly advancing landscape of AI technology and innovation, LimeWire emerges as a unique platform in the realm of generative AI tools. This platform not only stands out from the multitude of existing AI tools but also brings a fresh approach to content generation. LimeWire not only empowers users to create AI content but also provides creators with creative ways to share and monetize their creations.

As we explore LimeWire, our aim is to uncover its features, benefits for creators, and the exciting possibilities it offers for AI content generation. This platform presents an opportunity for users to harness the power of AI in image creation, all while enjoying the advantages of a free and accessible service.

Let's unravel the distinctive features that set LimeWire apart in the dynamic landscape of AI-powered tools, understanding how creators can leverage its capabilities to craft unique and engaging AI-generated images.

Introduction

LimeWire, a name once associated with the notorious file-sharing tool from the 2000s, has undergone a significant transformation. The LimeWire we discuss today is not the file-sharing application of the past but has re-emerged as an entirely new entity—a cutting-edge AI content publishing platform.

This revamped LimeWire invites users to register and unleash their creativity by crafting original AI content, which can then be shared and showcased on the LimeWire Studio. Notably, even acclaimed artists and musicians, such as Deadmau5, Soulja Boy, and Sean Kingston, have embraced this platform to publish their content in the form of NFT music, videos, and images.

Beyond providing a space for content creation and sharing, LimeWire introduces monetization models to empower users to earn revenue from their creations. This includes avenues such as earning ad revenue and participating in the burgeoning market of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). As we delve further, we'll explore these monetization strategies in more detail to provide a comprehensive understanding of LimeWire's innovative approach to content creation and distribution.

LimeWire Studio welcomes content creators into its fold, providing a space to craft personalized AI-focused content for sharing with fans and followers. Within this creative hub, every piece of content generated becomes not just a creation but a unique asset—ownable and tradable. Fans have the opportunity to subscribe to creators' pages, immersing themselves in the creative journey and gaining ownership of digital collectibles that hold tradeable value within the LimeWire community. Notably, creators earn a 2.5% royalty each time their content is traded, adding a rewarding element to the creative process.

The platform's flexibility is evident in its content publication options. Creators can choose to share their work freely with the public or opt for a premium subscription model, granting exclusive access to specialized content for subscribers.

LimeWire AI Studio

As of the present moment, LimeWire focuses on AI Image Generation, offering a spectrum of creative possibilities to its user base. The platform, however, has ambitious plans on the horizon, aiming to broaden its offerings by introducing AI music and video generation tools in the near future. This strategic expansion promises creators even more avenues for expression and engagement with their audience, positioning LimeWire Studio as a dynamic and evolving platform within the realm of AI-powered content creation.

AI Image Generation Tools

The LimeWire AI image generation tool presents a versatile platform for both the creation and editing of images. Supporting advanced models such as Stable Diffusion 2.1, Stable Diffusion XL, and DALL-E 2, LimeWire offers a sophisticated toolkit for users to delve into the realm of generative AI art.

Much like other tools in the generative AI landscape, LimeWire provides a range of options catering to various levels of complexity in image creation. Users can initiate the creative process with prompts as simple as a few words or opt for more intricate instructions, tailoring the output to their artistic vision.

What sets LimeWire apart is its seamless integration of different AI models and design styles. Users have the flexibility to effortlessly switch between various AI models, exploring diverse design styles such as cinematic, digital art, pixel art, anime, analog film, and more. Each style imparts a distinctive visual identity to the generated AI art, enabling users to explore a broad spectrum of creative possibilities.

The platform also offers additional features, including samplers, allowing users to fine-tune the quality and detail levels of their creations. Customization options and prompt guidance further enhance the user experience, providing a user-friendly interface for both novice and experienced creators.

Excitingly, LimeWire is actively developing its proprietary AI model, signaling ongoing innovation and enhancements to its image generation capabilities. This upcoming addition holds the promise of further expanding the creative horizons for LimeWire users, making it an evolving and dynamic platform within the landscape of AI-driven art and image creation.

Sign Up Now To Get Free Credits

Automatically Mint Your Content As NFTs

Upon completing your creative endeavor on LimeWire, the platform allows you the option to publish your content. An intriguing feature follows this step: LimeWire automates the process of minting your creation as a Non-Fungible Token (NFT), utilizing either the Polygon or Algorand blockchain. This transformative step imbues your artwork with a unique digital signature, securing its authenticity and ownership in the decentralized realm.

Creators on LimeWire hold the power to decide the accessibility of their NFT creations. By opting for a public release, the content becomes discoverable by anyone, fostering a space for engagement and interaction. Furthermore, this choice opens the avenue for enthusiasts to trade the NFTs, adding a layer of community involvement to the artistic journey.

Alternatively, LimeWire acknowledges the importance of exclusivity. Creators can choose to share their posts exclusively with their premium subscribers. In doing so, the content remains a special offering solely for dedicated fans, creating an intimate and personalized experience within the LimeWire community. This flexibility in sharing options emphasizes LimeWire's commitment to empowering creators with choices in how they connect with their audience and distribute their digital creations.

After creating your content, you can choose to publish the content. It will automatically mint your creation as an NFT on the Polygon or Algorand blockchain. You can also choose whether to make it public or subscriber-only.

If you make it public, anyone can discover your content and even trade the NFTs. If you choose to share the post only with your premium subscribers, it will be exclusive only to your fans.

Earn Revenue From Your Content

Additionally, you can earn ad revenue from your content creations as well.

When you publish content on LimeWire, you will receive 70% of all ad revenue from other users who view your images, music, and videos on the platform.

This revenue model will be much more beneficial to designers. You can experiment with the AI image and content generation tools and share your creations while earning a small income on the side.

LMWR Tokens

The revenue you earn from your creations will come in the form of LMWR tokens, LimeWire’s own cryptocurrency.

Your earnings will be paid every month in LMWR, which you can then trade on many popular crypto exchange platforms like Kraken, ByBit, and UniSwap.

You can also use your LMWR tokens to pay for prompts when using LimeWire generative AI tools.

Pricing Plans

You can sign up to LimeWire to use its AI tools for free. You will receive 10 credits to use and generate up to 20 AI images per day. You will also receive 50% of the ad revenue share. However, you will get more benefits with premium plans.

Basic plan:

For $9.99 per month, you will get 1,000 credits per month, up to 2 ,000 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 50% ad revenue share

Advanced plan:

For $29 per month, you will get 3750 credits per month, up to 7500 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 60% ad revenue share

Pro plan:

For $49 per month, you will get 5,000 credits per month, up to 10,000 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 70% ad revenue share

Pro Plus plan:

For $99 per month, you will get 11,250 credits per month, up to 2 2,500 image generations, early access to new AI models, and 70% ad revenue share

With all premium plans, you will receive a Pro profile badge, full creation history, faster image generation, and no ads.

Sign Up Now To Get Free Credits

Conclusion

In conclusion, LimeWire emerges as a democratizing force in the creative landscape, providing an inclusive platform where anyone can unleash their artistic potential and effortlessly share their work. With the integration of AI, LimeWire eliminates traditional barriers, empowering designers, musicians, and artists to publish their creations and earn revenue with just a few clicks.

The ongoing commitment of LimeWire to innovation is evident in its plans to enhance generative AI tools with new features and models. The upcoming expansion to include music and video generation tools holds the promise of unlocking even more possibilities for creators. It sparks anticipation about the diverse and innovative ways in which artists will leverage these tools to produce and publish their own unique creations.

For those eager to explore, LimeWire's AI tools are readily accessible for free, providing an opportunity to experiment and delve into the world of generative art. As LimeWire continues to evolve, creators are encouraged to stay tuned for the launch of its forthcoming AI music and video generation tools, promising a future brimming with creative potential and endless artistic exploration

August 20th 2026, 7:27 pm

Top 10 AI Tools That Will Transform Your Content Creation in 2025

TechCrunch

Looking to level up your content creation game in 2025? You're in the right place! The digital landscape has evolved dramatically, and AI tools have become essential for creators who want to stay ahead of the curve. In this guide, I'll show you the top 10 AI tools that are revolutionizing content creation and making creators' lives easier.

Why You Need These AI Tools in 2025

Content creation has become more demanding than ever. Whether you're a social media influencer, marketer, or business owner, keeping up with the constant need for fresh, engaging content can be overwhelming. That's where AI tools come in – they're not just fancy tech, they're your secret weapon for creating better content faster.

Let's Dive Into the Top 10 AI Tools for 2025

1. ChatGPT: Content Ideation and Scriptwriting

What Makes It Special: ChatGPT has evolved into a comprehensive content creation assistant by combining advanced language understanding with specialized content optimization features. Its ability to generate, edit, and optimize content while maintaining brand voice and industry expertise makes it an essential tool for creators who need to produce high-quality written content at scale.

Key Features:

Advanced content generation
SEO optimization
Brand voice maintenance
Research capabilities
Multi-format adaptation

Pricing:

Free tier available
Plus: $20/month
Pro: $200/month

Perfect For: Content writers, marketers, and businesses needing consistent, high-quality written content.

2. Canva Magic Studio: Visual Design and Social Media Content Creation

What Makes It Special: Canva Magic Studio has transformed the graphic design landscape by combining its user-friendly interface with powerful AI capabilities. The platform's ability to understand design principles and automatically generate on-brand content while maintaining professional aesthetics makes it accessible for beginners while providing enough sophistication for professional designers.

Key Features:

AI design generation
Brand kit integration
Magic resize
Animation tools
Template library

Pricing:

Free tier available
Pro: $6.50/user/month
Teams: $5/user/month

Perfect For: Small businesses, social media managers, and anyone needing quick, professional-looking designs.

3. RunwayML : AI Video Generator

What Makes It Special: RunwayML stands out as the ultimate video creation powerhouse by combining professional-grade effects with user-friendly AI technology. Its game-changing ability to manipulate video content – from changing weather effects with a text prompt to removing objects seamlessly in real-time – makes it indispensable for creators who want to produce high-quality video content without getting bogged down by technical complexities.

Key Features:

Advanced video generation & editing
Real-time visual effects
Smart motion tracking
Green screen effects without actual green screen
AI-powered editing suite

Pricing:

Free tier available
Standard: $12/month
Pro: $28/month
Unlimited: $76/month
Enterprise: Custom Price

Perfect For: Video creators, YouTubers, and social media managers who want to create professional-quality videos quickly.

4. MidJourney: AI Art Generation

What Makes It Special: Midjourney V6 has redefined AI image generation by mastering the nuances of professional photography and artistic style. Its ability to understand and execute complex creative directions – from specific lighting conditions to branded visual styles – while maintaining consistent quality across multiple generations makes it the go-to tool for creators who need stunning visuals that align perfectly with their brand identity.

Key Features:

Photorealistic image generation
Advanced style control
Quick generation time
Commercial usage rights
Strong community support

Pricing:

Basic: $10/month
Standard: $30/month
Pro: $60/month
Mega: $120/month

Perfect For: Social media managers, digital marketers, and anyone needing professional-quality visuals consistently.

5. Synthesia: AI Avatar-Based Video Creation

What Makes It Special: Synthesia has transformed video creation by making it possible to create professional-looking AI avatar videos in minutes. Its ability to generate natural-looking presentations in multiple languages with synchronized lip movements and gestures makes it invaluable for creators who need to produce video content at scale without the traditional filming process.

Key Features:

AI avatar Video creation
Multi-language support
Custom avatar options
Professional templates
Script to video conversion

Pricing:

Free tier available
Starter: $18/month
Creator: $64/month
Enterprise: Custom pricing

Perfect For: Businesses and educators creating training videos, presentations, and multilingual content.

6. Descript: Podcast and Video Editing with Transcription Features

What Makes It Special: Descript has transformed audio and video editing by making it as simple as editing a text document. Its innovative approach to media editing, combined with powerful AI features like automatic transcription and filler word removal, makes professional-quality editing accessible to creators of all skill levels.

Key Features:

Text-based video editing
Automatic transcription
Filler word removal
Screen recording
Collaborative editing

Pricing:

Hobbyist: $12/month
Creator: $24/month
Business: $40/month
Enterprise: Custom pricing

Perfect For: Podcasters, video creators, and teams needing efficient audio/video editing solutions.

7. ElevenLabs: AI VOICE GENERATION

What Makes It Special: ElevenLabs has revolutionized voice synthesis by achieving unprecedented levels of natural speech quality and emotional expression. Its ability to clone voices accurately and generate multiple languages with proper accents and inflections makes it the ultimate tool for creators who need professional-quality voiceovers without the traditional recording process or voice actor limitations.

Key Features:

Ultra-realistic voice synthesis
Voice cloning capability
Multi-language support
Emotion control
Real-time generation

Pricing:

Free tier available
Starter: $5/month
Creator: $11/month
Pro: $99/month
Scale: $330/month
Business: $1321/month

Enterprise: Custom pricing

Perfect For: Podcasters, video creators, and content creators needing professional voiceovers in multiple languages.

8. Tribescaler: Viral Content and Headline Optimization

What Makes It Special: Tribescaler brings a scientific approach to viral content creation by combining trend analysis with content optimization. Its powerful AI engine analyzes successful content patterns across platforms and provides actionable insights to help creators craft content that's more likely to go viral, while maintaining authenticity and audience engagement.

Key Features:

Viral content prediction
Trend analysis
Content optimization
Performance tracking
Multi-platform scheduling

Pricing:

Free tier available
Pro: $49/month

Perfect For: Content creators and social media managers focused on maximizing reach and engagement.

9. Clickable: Automated Ad Creation and Optimization

What Makes It Special: Clickable revolutionizes ad creation by seamlessly blending data-driven insights with creative automation. Its ability to analyze brand assets and automatically generate platform-optimized ad variations while maintaining brand voice transforms the tedious process of ad creation into a streamlined, results-driven workflow that consistently delivers high-performing content.

Key Features:

Automated ad creation
Multi-platform optimization
Built-in A/B testing
Performance analytics
Template library

Perfect For: Digital marketers and businesses looking to scale their ad production efficiently.

10. Copy AI

What Makes It Special: CopyAI has established itself as a powerhouse in AI-powered copywriting by offering specialized content generation for various marketing formats. Its sophisticated understanding of marketing psychology and brand voice, combined with its ability to generate compelling copy across multiple formats and industries, makes it invaluable for marketers and content creators who need to produce engaging, conversion-focused content at scale.

Key Features:

Advanced marketing copy generation
Multiple content type templates
Brand voice customization
Multilingual support
A/B testing variations

Pricing:

Free tier available
Pro: $49/month
Advanced: $249/month
Enterprise: Custom pricing

Perfect For: Marketing teams, copywriters, and businesses needing high-converting marketing copy across multiple channels.

Conclusion

The AI tools listed here are revolutionizing the content creation landscape in 2025, making it easier than ever to produce high-quality, engaging, and impactful content. By integrating these tools into your workflow, you can save time, unleash your creativity, and achieve better results.

AI doesn't replace creativity; it amplifies it. As a content creator, your unique voice and vision are irreplaceable. These tools serve as enablers, helping you focus on what you do best—creating. Explore, experiment, and innovate. The future of content creation is here, and it's brimming with possibilities.

Embrace these technologies, stay ahead of the curve, and watch your creative potential soar. The only limit is your imagination!

Note:

All features and pricing information are subject to change. Please verify current details with the respective platforms, Also this article contain affiliate links which means we make a small comission if yo buy any premium plan from our links

Pricing updated on 01/02/ 2025

August 20th 2026, 7:27 pm

How I Get Free Traffic from ChatGPT in 2025 (AIO vs SEO)

TechCrunch

Three weeks ago, I tested something that completely changed how I think about organic traffic. I opened ChatGPT and asked a simple question: "What's the best course on building SaaS with WordPress?" The answer that appeared stopped me cold. My course showed up as the first result, recommended directly by the AI with specific reasons why it was valuable.

I hadn't paid for advertising. I hadn't done any special promotion. The AI simply decided my content was the best answer to that question and served it to the user. This wasn't luck or a fluke. When I tested the same query in Perplexity, the same thing happened. My website ranked at the top of AI-generated responses, pulling in free traffic directly from AI models that millions of people now use as their primary search tool.

This represents a fundamental shift in how people discover content online. For years, we've optimized for Google's algorithm, carefully crafting meta descriptions and building backlinks to climb traditional search rankings. That work still matters, but a massive new traffic source has emerged that most content creators are completely ignoring. While everyone focuses exclusively on traditional SEO, AI Optimization is quietly becoming one of the most valuable skills for anyone who publishes content online.

The opportunity is enormous right now precisely because it's so new. Early adopters are claiming top positions in AI responses while their competitors remain oblivious to this emerging channel. But this window won't stay open forever. As more people recognize the value of appearing in AI results, competition will increase and optimization will become more sophisticated. The time to understand and implement AIO strategies is now, while the landscape is still relatively uncrowded.

In this comprehensive guide, I'll show you exactly how AI Optimization works, how it differs from traditional SEO, what specific tactics actually move the needle, and how to track your performance so you know what's working. More importantly, I'll explain why you can't afford to ignore this traffic source if you want to remain visible online as user behavior continues shifting toward AI-powered search.

Understanding the Fundamental Shift in Search Behavior

Something profound has changed in how people find information online, and most website owners haven't noticed yet. The change isn't about a new Google algorithm update or a shift in social media platforms. It's about where people go when they have questions that need answering.

For twenty years, the pattern was predictable and universal. Someone needs information, they open Google, they type a query, they scan through ten blue links, they click a few results, they piece together answers from multiple sources. This process trained us to optimize for that journey. We focused on ranking in those ten blue links because that's where traffic came from. The entire SEO industry built around understanding and exploiting that single funnel.

But look at what's happening now. Someone needs information, they open ChatGPT or Claude or Perplexity, they ask a question in natural language, they receive a comprehensive answer immediately with sources cited. No clicking through multiple websites. No comparing different perspectives. No scanning search results pages. The AI synthesizes information and delivers a direct answer, fundamentally changing the discovery process.

The numbers tell the story. ChatGPT reached 100 million users faster than any consumer application in history, hitting that milestone in just two months after launch. By early 2025, ChatGPT alone processes over 10 million queries daily through its web browsing feature. Perplexity has grown to millions of daily users who rely on it as their primary search tool. Google has responded by launching AI Mode, available in over 180 countries, which provides AI-generated answers above traditional search results.

These aren't niche tools used by tech enthusiasts. They're mainstream applications that everyday people now use for research, planning, learning, and decision-making. When someone searches for "best productivity apps for small teams," they're increasingly likely to ask an AI rather than Google. When a business owner needs to understand a technical topic, they're prompting Claude instead of reading blog posts. When students research topics for papers, they're querying Perplexity instead of clicking through search results.

This behavioral shift creates a new visibility challenge. Your content might rank perfectly on Google, but if it's invisible to AI models when they're formulating answers, you're missing an enormous and growing segment of potential traffic. The users who discover information through AI tools never even see your traditional search rankings because they never visit a search results page.

The problem compounds because AI search is still in its explosive growth phase. Usage is doubling and tripling year over year as more people discover these tools and integrate them into their daily workflows. The traffic opportunity today is significant, but it's tiny compared to what it will become in the next few years as AI search becomes default behavior for entire demographics.

What AIO Actually Means and Why It Matters

AIO stands for AI Optimization, and it represents the practice of optimizing your content to appear in AI-generated responses when people query language models. Think of it as SEO's younger sibling, similar in purpose but different in execution because the underlying mechanisms for how AI models select and cite sources differ fundamentally from how Google ranks web pages.

Traditional SEO focuses on signals that Google's algorithms evaluate when determining search rankings. You optimize title tags and meta descriptions. You build backlinks from authoritative sites. You ensure your site loads quickly and works on mobile devices. You create content that targets specific keywords with appropriate density and placement. These tactics work because they align with how Google's systems assess page quality and relevance.

AIO requires understanding how language models decide which sources to reference when answering questions. These models don't follow the same rules as search engine algorithms. They're not counting backlinks or analyzing page load speed. They're evaluating whether content provides clear, accurate, comprehensive answers to questions people actually ask. They're assessing credibility through different signals than traditional search engines use. They're making probabilistic decisions about which information best satisfies a query based on patterns learned during training and information retrieved during real-time web searches.

The distinction matters because tactics that boost Google rankings don't automatically improve your chances of being cited by AI models, and vice versa. A page optimized perfectly for SEO might never appear in AI responses if it doesn't align with how language models evaluate content. Conversely, content that AI models consistently cite might not rank highly in traditional search if it lacks conventional SEO signals.

This doesn't mean you should abandon SEO and focus exclusively on AIO. The two approaches are complementary, not competing. People still use Google extensively, and traditional search traffic remains valuable. The point is that comprehensive visibility requires optimizing for both channels. You need your content discoverable through conventional search engines and reliably cited by AI models. This dual approach captures traffic from users regardless of which discovery method they prefer.

The strategic value of AIO extends beyond just additional traffic. When an AI model cites your content, it provides context explaining why your resource is valuable. The model doesn't just list your URL like a search result—it summarizes your key points, extracts relevant information, and positions your content as a trusted source. This creates a stronger credibility signal than a traditional search result because the AI has effectively pre-vetted your content and endorsed it as worth reading.

Think about the user experience difference. In traditional search, someone sees your site listed among ten results and must decide whether to click based on a title and two-line description. In AI search, someone reads an answer that includes information from your content, sees your site cited as the source, and arrives at your page already understanding its value and relevance. The qualification happens before the click, resulting in higher-quality traffic with better engagement metrics.

Google AI Mode and the Future of Search

Google's introduction of AI Mode represents a pivotal moment in search engine evolution and confirms that AI-generated answers are becoming a core component of how major platforms deliver information. Understanding this development helps contextualize why AIO matters and where organic discovery is headed.

AI Mode transforms Google's interface from a list of links into a conversational AI that provides direct answers. When you access AI Mode (available at google.com/ai or through the Google app), you interact with a language model that searches the web in real-time and synthesizes comprehensive responses to your questions. Instead of scanning through multiple websites, you receive curated information with sources cited, similar to ChatGPT with web search or Perplexity.

What makes this particularly significant is Google's market position. Despite the rise of alternative AI search tools, Google still processes billions of searches daily and serves as the primary discovery mechanism for most internet users. When Google integrates AI-generated answers into its core search experience, it's not experimenting with a niche feature—it's fundamentally changing how the world's most popular search engine works.

The financial implications validate this direction. Google reported that AI features contributed to a 10% increase in search revenue, reaching $50.7 billion in Q1 2025. This isn't a failing experiment that might be discontinued. It's a successful product innovation that's generating substantial revenue while improving user experience. Google has every incentive to expand AI Mode and integrate its capabilities more deeply into standard search.

Currently, AI Mode exists as a separate interface that users must access intentionally, but the trajectory is clear. Google has indicated that AI-generated answers will eventually become a more prominent part of standard search results. While they've walked back statements about making AI Mode the default search experience after initial concerns, the long-term direction remains toward greater AI integration. Traditional search results won't disappear, but AI-generated summaries will occupy increasingly valuable real estate on search result pages.

This evolution mirrors what happened with featured snippets and knowledge panels over the past decade. Google gradually introduced elements that answered questions directly on the search page rather than requiring clicks to external sites. AI Mode represents the next iteration of this trend—more comprehensive answers, synthesized from multiple sources, delivered conversationally rather than as extracted snippets.

For content creators, this creates both opportunities and challenges. The opportunity is that appearing in AI-generated responses places your content in a prominent, trusted position that provides context and drives qualified traffic. The challenge is that optimization strategies must adapt to capture this visibility. Content that ranks well in traditional search results won't automatically appear in AI Mode responses without deliberate optimization for how AI systems evaluate and select sources.

The global availability of AI Mode in over 180 countries means this isn't a gradual rollout that you can monitor and prepare for leisurely. It's happening now, and users worldwide are already accessing AI-powered search. Your competitors might be optimizing for these systems while you're still focused exclusively on traditional SEO, giving them an advantage in capturing traffic from this rapidly growing segment.

How to Track Your AIO Performance

One of the biggest challenges with AI Optimization is measurement. Traditional SEO provides robust analytics through Google Search Console, showing exactly which queries trigger impressions, how often people click your results, and where you rank for specific keywords. These metrics make it straightforward to track SEO progress and identify opportunities for improvement.

AIO lacks this infrastructure. ChatGPT doesn't provide website owners with analytics showing how often their content appears in responses. Perplexity doesn't send performance reports. Google AI Mode doesn't have a Search Console equivalent yet. This creates a visibility problem—you can't optimize what you can't measure.

Several commercial tools have emerged to fill this gap, offering AIO tracking and monitoring services. Ahrefs introduced features for tracking AI visibility at $129 per month. SE Ranking offers similar capabilities starting at $95 monthly. First Answer provides specialized AIO tracking for $39 per month but limits you to just 10 query tests. Keyword.com offers competitive pricing with various tier options.

These tools work by systematically querying AI models with specific prompts and analyzing which sources appear in the responses. They help you understand whether your content shows up for relevant queries, how you compare to competitors, and how your visibility changes over time. For businesses with substantial budgets, these professional tools provide valuable insights with minimal setup effort.

However, the pricing creates barriers for smaller website owners, bloggers, and businesses just beginning to explore AIO. Spending $100-300 monthly on tracking tools makes sense when you're generating significant revenue from AI traffic, but it's prohibitive when you're still validating whether AIO is worth your investment. This gap between professional tools and budget-conscious creators leaves many people flying blind with no way to measure their AIO performance.

The solution is building your own tracking system using no-code automation tools. This approach requires more initial setup but provides ongoing monitoring at a fraction of commercial tool costs. The system I built uses Make.com, a no-code automation platform, to query AI models systematically, analyze responses, and track mentions over time. Make offers 1,000 operations monthly on their free tier, making it possible to start tracking without any monetary investment.

The tracking system consists of three automated scenarios that work together to provide comprehensive AIO monitoring. The first scenario handles query tracking and brand mentions, automatically sending prompts to ChatGPT and recording which sources appear in responses. The second scenario performs keyword performance analysis, tracking specific topics or phrases relevant to your business and monitoring whether you're gaining or losing visibility. The third scenario focuses on competitor tracking, identifying when competitors appear in AI responses and analyzing their positioning compared to yours.

Building this system requires understanding of Make.com's interface and basic automation concepts, but it's accessible to anyone willing to invest a few hours in setup. The difficulty level sits at intermediate—more complex than basic automation but far simpler than custom programming. Once configured, the system runs automatically on whatever schedule you set, collecting data and building a historical record of your AIO performance.

The workflow begins with identifying the queries you want to track. These are essentially "AIO keywords"—questions that people might ask AI models where your content should ideally appear in the answer. Unlike traditional SEO keywords, which are often short phrases, AIO queries tend to be longer, more conversational questions that reflect how people actually talk to AI assistants.

For example, instead of targeting the SEO keyword "WordPress hosting," you'd track the AIO query "What's the best WordPress hosting for SaaS applications?" or "Which hosting provider should I choose for a WordPress-based business site?" These natural language questions better represent how people interact with AI tools and help you optimize for actual usage patterns rather than keyword variations.

Finding these queries requires a different research approach than traditional keyword research. Rather than using tools that show search volume and competition metrics, you need to understand what questions your target audience actually asks AI models. This means thinking about their problems, concerns, and information needs, then formulating those as conversational queries. Tools like an LLM Query Generator can help by analyzing your content and suggesting relevant questions people might ask to find that information.

Once you've identified target queries, the automated system tests them periodically—daily, weekly, or on whatever schedule makes sense for your monitoring needs. Each test queries the AI model with your specified prompt, captures the response, parses which sources were cited, and records whether your content appeared. Over time, this builds a database showing your visibility trends, how often competitors appear for the same queries, and which topics you're gaining or losing ground on.

The data collected enables strategic decisions about content creation and optimization. If certain queries consistently show competitor sources but never yours, that signals an opportunity to create or improve content addressing that topic. If you're appearing reliably for some questions but not others in the same category, you can analyze what makes your successful content different and apply those lessons to underperforming pieces. If your visibility is declining over time, you know you need to refresh and strengthen your content to maintain AI citation rates.

This measurement foundation transforms AIO from guesswork into a data-driven practice. Instead of optimizing blindly and hoping AI models notice, you track actual performance and refine your approach based on concrete results. The initial investment in building or subscribing to tracking tools pays dividends through improved optimization efficiency and clearer understanding of what tactics actually work for your specific content and audience.

The Seven Proven Tactics That Actually Work

Understanding AIO conceptually is valuable, but implementation requires specific, actionable tactics that demonstrably improve your chances of appearing in AI-generated responses. These seven strategies have proven effective across different content types, industries, and AI platforms. They work because they align with how language models evaluate sources and decide which content to cite when formulating answers.

The first tactic centers on incorporating statistics, numbers, and verifiable proof throughout your content. AI models exhibit a strong preference for factual, data-backed information over general statements or opinions. When a model encounters two sources covering the same topic, one making vague claims and another providing specific numbers with citations, the statistical content almost always wins.

This doesn't mean stuffing your content with random numbers. It means grounding your claims in specific, verifiable data wherever possible. Instead of writing "Our tool is widely used," you'd write "Our tool has 150,000 monthly active users with a 4.7 out of 5 satisfaction rating based on 3,200 reviews." The specificity signals credibility to AI models, which learned during training that precise data indicates reliable sources.

The same principle applies to any factual claim. When discussing market trends, cite specific growth percentages and time periods. When mentioning company performance, include actual revenue figures or user counts. When describing product features, provide concrete specifications rather than abstract descriptions. Each piece of specific data you add increases the likelihood that AI models will view your content as authoritative and citation-worthy.

This approach requires sourcing and maintaining accurate information, which means you can't fabricate numbers or exaggerate metrics. AI models increasingly cross-reference claims across sources, and inconsistencies damage credibility. The data you include must be truthful and, where relevant, attributed to primary sources. But when you consistently provide specific, accurate information, you build a reputation as a reliable source that AI models return to repeatedly.

The second tactic involves active engagement on Reddit, Quora, and similar community forums. This strategy works for a less obvious reason than you might expect. It's not primarily about direct traffic from forum posts, though that can be valuable. It's about creating authentic mentions and discussions of your content across platforms that AI models frequently encounter during training and web searches.

Language models learn from vast datasets that include substantial amounts of community discussion content. Reddit threads, Quora answers, and forum posts represent genuine human conversations about real topics, making them high-value training data. When your content or expertise appears naturally in these discussions, it creates signals that AI models recognize and incorporate into their understanding of what resources exist and who's knowledgeable about specific topics.

The key word here is "naturally." AI models have learned to recognize and discount obvious spam, self-promotion, and link-dropping. Simply posting your URL in relevant threads won't help and might actually hurt if it generates negative reactions or gets flagged as spam. Instead, you need to participate genuinely in communities where your expertise is relevant, providing real value in discussions and mentioning your content only when it truly addresses someone's question or adds to the conversation.

This means answering questions thoroughly, sharing insights from your experience, helping solve problems, and building a reputation as a knowledgeable contributor before you ever share links. When you do reference your content, it should be in the context of "I wrote a detailed guide about exactly this problem that covers X, Y, and Z" rather than "Check out my site." The former contributes to the discussion while the latter feels promotional.

Over time, this authentic participation creates a distributed network of references to your expertise and content across platforms that AI models access. These organic mentions, especially when they're accompanied by positive community response, signal that you're a legitimate authority worth citing. The impact accumulates gradually but compounds over months as you build a presence in relevant communities.

The third tactic focuses on optimizing for natural language queries rather than keyword stuffing. Traditional SEO often encourages optimizing for specific keyword phrases, sometimes at the expense of natural writing. You might structure sentences awkwardly to include exact keyword matches or repeat phrases more often than sounds natural. This approach can work for search engines that match keywords mechanically.

AI models process language differently. They understand semantic meaning and context, not just keyword matching. When people query AI tools, they ask complete questions in conversational language: "What's the best WordPress hosting for SaaS applications?" rather than "WordPress hosting SaaS." Your content needs to answer these natural questions directly and comprehensively to appear in AI responses.

This means structuring your content around questions your audience actually asks. Include FAQ sections that address common queries in full-sentence question format. Write subheadings as questions rather than just topics. Provide complete answers that someone could understand without additional context. Make your content readable and helpful to humans first, trusting that AI models will recognize and value that quality.

The practical implementation involves thinking about the conversation your audience wants to have rather than the keywords they might type. What are they trying to accomplish? What confuses them? What decisions are they facing? What objections or concerns do they have? When you address these elements in natural, conversational language, you simultaneously create content that people find valuable and that AI models recognize as comprehensive answers to common questions.

The fourth tactic requires creating comparison tables and structured data that AI models can easily parse and reference. Language models excel at processing structured information organized in clear, consistent formats. When they encounter well-formatted comparison tables, step-by-step lists, or data organized in predictable structures, they can extract and cite that information more reliably than when similar content appears in dense paragraphs.

This doesn't mean every piece of content should become a table or list. It means that when you're presenting information that naturally fits structured formats—comparisons between options, sequential steps in a process, multiple examples of a concept, sets of tips or recommendations—you should use formatting that makes that structure explicit and easy to process.

For example, if you're comparing different software tools, create an actual comparison table with columns for features, pricing, pros, and cons rather than describing each tool in paragraph form. If you're explaining a multi-step process, number the steps and use consistent formatting for each. If you're providing examples, use a predictable structure where each example follows the same pattern.

The benefit extends beyond AI optimization. Structured content is easier for human readers to scan and comprehend too. People increasingly skim content rather than reading every word, and clear structure helps them extract key information quickly. When you optimize for both AI processing and human scanning through better structure, you improve the experience for all visitors while increasing AI citation rates.

Implementation requires evaluating your existing content and identifying opportunities to add structure without forcing it artificially. Look for places where you're listing multiple items in prose that would be clearer as bullet points. Find sections comparing options that would benefit from table format. Identify processes that could be broken into numbered steps. These changes often improve content quality while making it more AI-friendly.

The fifth tactic involves building multi-platform authority by publishing consistent information across different channels. AI models, particularly those with web search capabilities, often cross-reference information across sources to verify accuracy and assess credibility. When they find the same core information presented consistently on your website, in your social media content, in articles you've published elsewhere, and in your responses on community platforms, it signals that you're a legitimate authority on that topic.

This doesn't mean duplicating content identically across platforms, which could create SEO problems and doesn't align with best practices for different mediums. It means maintaining consistent expertise, perspectives, and factual information while adapting the format and style to each platform's norms and audience expectations.

Your core message and expertise should be recognizable across a blog post on your website, a LinkedIn article, a Twitter thread, a YouTube video description, and a guest post on another site. The specific examples might vary, and the depth of coverage will differ based on format constraints, but the fundamental information should align. This consistency reinforces your authority and makes it easier for AI models to identify you as a reliable source on specific topics.

Building this multi-platform presence takes time and consistent effort. You can't create authority across channels overnight, but you can develop a systematic approach to repurposing and adapting your best content for different platforms. Each piece of substantial content you create should have a distribution plan that gets the core insights in front of audiences across multiple channels over time.

The strategic value compounds as your presence grows. Early on, you might only appear in AI responses when the model happens to encounter your website. As you build presence across platforms, the model has multiple opportunities to encounter your expertise from different angles, increasing the likelihood that it recognizes you as an authority worth citing.

The sixth tactic emphasizes showing fresh update signals throughout your content. AI models, especially those with real-time web access, demonstrate preference for current information over dated content. When choosing between two sources covering the same topic, with one clearly recent and another older, the fresher content usually gets cited unless there's a compelling reason to reference historical information.

This creates both an opportunity and a maintenance requirement. The opportunity is that regularly updating content can improve AI citation rates even if the core information hasn't changed dramatically. The requirement is that high-performing content needs periodic refreshes to maintain its competitive position as newer articles on the same topics emerge.

Making freshness obvious requires explicit signals that AI models can easily detect. The most straightforward approach is including "Last updated: [Date]" at the top of articles, making it immediately clear that the content reflects current information. This simple addition can significantly impact whether AI models view your content as relevant for queries about current state or recent developments.

Beyond update dates, freshness signals include referencing recent events, citing current statistics and data, mentioning the current year in context where relevant, and updating examples to reflect current tools and practices. These signals reassure both AI models and human readers that the information hasn't become outdated even if the core topic is relatively stable.

The practical challenge is balancing the benefit of updates against the time investment required. You can't refresh every piece of content constantly, so prioritize based on importance and competitive pressure. Content that generates significant traffic or ranks well in AI responses deserves regular attention to maintain those positions. Content about rapidly changing topics needs more frequent updates than evergreen material. Content facing new competition from recently published articles needs refreshing to remain competitive.

Implementing a content refresh schedule helps manage this systematically. Rather than updating randomly when you remember, establish a process where high-value content gets reviewed quarterly or semi-annually. During these reviews, update statistics, add recent examples, remove dated references, and add the new update date. This structured approach ensures your most important content remains fresh without requiring constant attention to every article.

The seventh tactic involves implementing JSON-LD structured data markup on your web pages. This technical optimization helps AI models understand your content's structure and purpose by providing machine-readable information about what your page contains, what type of content it is, and how different elements relate to each other.

Structured data uses a standardized format called Schema.org vocabulary implemented through JSON-LD script tags. These tags don't affect how your content appears to human visitors, but they provide clear signals to automated systems parsing your pages, including AI models determining whether your content answers specific queries.

Common structured data types relevant for most content include Article (marking blog posts and articles), HowTo (for step-by-step guides), FAQ (for question-and-answer sections), Person (for author bios), Organization (for company information), and Product (for product pages). Implementing appropriate schema markup for your content type helps AI models categorize and understand your content more accurately.

The technical implementation requires adding JSON-LD scripts to your page HTML, typically in the header section. Many content management systems, including WordPress, offer plugins that generate this markup automatically based on your content, eliminating the need for manual coding. For custom implementations, Schema.org provides documentation and examples for each data type.

While structured data implementation requires more technical knowledge than the other tactics, its value extends beyond AIO. Search engines like Google also use structured data to create enhanced search results like rich snippets, knowledge panels, and featured answers. This means the optimization work benefits both traditional SEO and AI visibility simultaneously.

The cumulative effect of implementing all seven tactics is substantial. Each strategy individually improves your chances of appearing in AI responses, but they work synergistically when combined. Content that includes specific statistics, appears in community discussions, answers natural language questions directly, presents information in structured formats, exists consistently across platforms, shows clear freshness signals, and implements proper schema markup sends multiple reinforcing signals that AI models recognize and value.

Building a Sustainable AIO Strategy

Understanding individual tactics is important, but sustainable success requires integrating AIO into your overall content strategy rather than treating it as a separate, occasional activity. This means developing systematic approaches that maintain and improve your AI visibility over time without requiring constant manual intervention.

The foundation of any sustainable strategy is creating content with AIO in mind from the beginning rather than retrofitting optimization after publication. This doesn't mean abandoning your audience's needs to serve AI algorithms—it means recognizing that content optimized for AI models is typically also better for human readers because both value clarity, structure, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.

When planning new content, start by identifying the questions your target audience asks AI models about your topic. These questions form the backbone of your content structure. If you're writing about project management tools, for example, you'd want to address questions like "What's the best project management software for small teams?", "How much do project management tools typically cost?", and "What features should I look for in project management software?" Each of these questions likely deserves a dedicated section with a clear, direct answer.

Your content outline should reflect these natural queries in your subheadings and section structure. This organizational approach simultaneously improves readability for humans scanning your content and makes it easier for AI models to identify which sections answer specific questions. When someone asks an AI about project management tool features, a model searching your content can quickly locate and cite the relevant section because you've structured it logically around that question.

The next consideration is information density and specificity. AI models favor content that provides concrete, actionable information over vague generalizations or superficial coverage. This means investing in depth rather than breadth for your most important topics. A comprehensive 3,000-word guide that thoroughly addresses a topic will typically perform better in AI citations than ten shallow 300-word articles that skim the surface.

This depth requirement influences content strategy decisions about volume versus quality. Rather than publishing something new every day with minimal research, you might publish twice weekly but ensure each piece provides genuine value with proper research, specific examples, and comprehensive coverage. The quality-focused approach generates better long-term results both for human audiences and AI visibility.

Maintenance and updates become critical components of sustainable strategy. AI models accessing the web in real-time naturally favor fresh content, so static articles gradually lose visibility even if they were initially successful. Building systematic content review and refresh processes prevents this decay and maintains your competitive position.

A practical maintenance schedule might review your top-performing content quarterly, your mid-tier content semi-annually, and your long-tail content annually. During these reviews, you update statistics and examples, add new sections covering recent developments, remove or update outdated information, and add a new "last updated" date to signal freshness. This regular maintenance keeps your content competitive and shows both AI models and human visitors that you're actively maintaining accuracy.

Competitive analysis should inform your ongoing strategy. Monitor which sources AI models cite for queries where you want visibility. Analyze what makes those sources effective—is it their structure? Their level of detail? Their use of data and statistics? Their freshness? Understanding your competition's strengths helps you identify gaps in your own content and opportunities to differentiate through superior quality or unique angles.

This competitive intelligence doesn't mean copying what others do well. It means understanding the bar you need to meet or exceed to compete for AI citations in your niche. If competing content provides basic overviews, offering in-depth analysis gives you an advantage. If competitors focus on theory, adding practical examples and case studies differentiates you. If everyone covers similar points, finding unique angles or addressing overlooked aspects of the topic creates competitive advantage.

Distribution and promotion strategies must extend beyond traditional channels to build the multi-platform presence that signals authority to AI models. This means systematically sharing your expertise across relevant communities, contributing to discussions on forums and social media, publishing on platforms like Medium or LinkedIn in addition to your own site, and building genuine relationships within your niche rather than just broadcasting content.

The goal isn't maximum reach across every possible platform—that's neither sustainable nor effective. Instead, identify the two or three platforms where your target audience genuinely spends time and where your expertise provides value. Focus your distribution efforts there, building consistent presence and contributing meaningfully over time. This focused approach generates better results than scattered efforts across a dozen platforms.

Collaboration and linking strategy matter differently for AIO than for traditional SEO. While backlinks remain important for search engine rankings, AI citation rates appear more influenced by the quality and relevance of the connection than purely by link volume. Being cited by a highly authoritative source in your niche can boost AI visibility even if it provides only one link, while dozens of low-quality directory links might not impact AI citations at all.

This suggests prioritizing genuine partnerships, guest posting on respected sites in your industry, and earning mentions from authoritative sources through excellent work rather than pursuing link-building tactics focused purely on volume. The relationship-based approach to link acquisition aligns well with AIO because it creates the kind of genuine authority signals that AI models recognize and value.

The Future Trajectory of AI Search

Understanding where AI search is headed helps you prepare for upcoming changes rather than constantly reacting to new developments. While predicting specific features or timeline is difficult, several clear trends are shaping the evolution of AI-powered discovery.

The most obvious trend is continued growth in AI search usage. As more people discover tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity, and as these tools improve their interfaces and expand capabilities, the percentage of information-seeking behavior flowing through AI models will increase. This doesn't necessarily mean traditional search engines will disappear, but it does mean the traffic pie is being redivided, with AI search claiming an expanding slice.

This growth trajectory suggests that early adoption advantages in AIO will compound over time. Establishing strong AI visibility now, while competition remains relatively light, positions you favorably as usage explodes and competition intensifies. The content creators building AI authority today will have structural advantages over those who wait until AI search is fully mainstream and optimization becomes more competitive.

Integration between different search modalities is accelerating. Google is bringing AI answers into traditional search results. Bing is integrating ChatGPT-powered features. New platforms are emerging that combine search, AI chat, and traditional browsing in unified experiences. This convergence means optimization strategies must account for hybrid discovery experiences where users might see both traditional results and AI-generated answers, potentially in the same interface.

The technical sophistication of AI models continues advancing rapidly, with implications for optimization strategies. Future models will better understand nuance, maintain longer context, cross-reference information more effectively, and potentially access real-time data more seamlessly. These improvements might make some current optimization tactics less important while creating new opportunities for differentiation.

For example, as models improve at understanding semantic meaning and context, exact keyword matching will matter even less than it does now. Conversely, models might become better at assessing content quality through subtle signals like writing sophistication, logical coherence, and comprehensive coverage. This evolution favors creators focused on genuine quality over those trying to game systems through technical tricks.

Personalization in AI search is emerging as models learn to consider individual user preferences, history, and context when formulating responses. This creates both opportunities and challenges for content visibility. The opportunity is that AI might recommend your content more prominently to users whose preferences align with your perspective or style. The challenge is that you might become invisible to users whose personalization profile doesn't match, even if your content is objectively relevant to their query.

Adapting to this personalized future likely requires building distinct brand identity and perspective rather than trying to be everything to everyone. If AI models categorize you clearly—as the practical, actionable advice source versus the theoretical deep-dive resource—you'll appear reliably for users whose preferences match that positioning. Trying to be too generic might result in appearing rarely for anyone as models route users to more distinctive alternatives.

Commercial considerations will shape AI search evolution as platforms figure out monetization beyond subscriptions. We're already seeing early experiments with citations including affiliate tracking, sponsored placements in AI responses, and premium content partnerships. The specific implementations will evolve, but the trajectory toward commercial integration seems certain.

For content creators, this commercial evolution might create new opportunities to monetize AI visibility beyond indirect traffic benefits. If platforms begin sharing revenue with cited sources, strong AI visibility could become directly profitable. If sponsored placements become normalized, there might be ways to amplify your organic visibility through paid promotion similar to how PPC complements SEO.

Regulation and AI model behavior around copyrighted content remains in flux, with implications for what content models can reference and how prominently different sources appear. Current legal frameworks are struggling to accommodate AI's information synthesis capabilities, and future regulations might significantly impact how models cite sources, what compensation creators receive, and what controls you have over whether AI systems can reference your content.

Staying informed about these regulatory developments and adjusting strategy accordingly will matter increasingly. The content creators who navigate this evolving landscape successfully will be those who remain flexible and adapt to changes rather than expecting today's rules to persist indefinitely.

Practical Implementation Plan

Transforming AIO knowledge into actual improved visibility requires systematic implementation rather than sporadic efforts. Here's a practical framework for incorporating these strategies into your content workflow.

Start with an audit of your existing content to identify which pieces should be prioritized for AIO optimization. Not every article deserves equal attention—focus first on content that already performs well in traditional search, addresses important topics for your audience, or covers queries where you have genuine expertise to offer. These high-potential pieces are most likely to generate meaningful results from optimization efforts.

During the audit, evaluate each priority article against the seven optimization tactics. Does it include specific statistics and verifiable data? Could you add more? Is the content structured with clear headings that reflect natural language questions? Have you included an FAQ section addressing common queries? Is there a clear "last updated" date? Can you add comparison tables or other structured data? Does schema markup exist and is it appropriate for the content type?

Create a prioritized optimization checklist based on this audit, identifying which pieces need which improvements. Some content might only need a few additions like update dates and FAQ sections, while others might benefit from more substantial restructuring. This systematic approach prevents you from trying to fix everything at once and ensures you tackle the highest-impact improvements first.

Implement changes incrementally, testing as you go rather than making all modifications simultaneously. This allows you to learn which specific changes seem to impact your AI citation rates most significantly. While many factors influence visibility, you might discover that certain tactics work particularly well for your niche or content style, allowing you to prioritize those approaches for future content.

For new content creation, build AIO considerations into your standard workflow. Before writing, identify the key questions your content will answer and structure your outline around those questions. Plan to include specific data points and examples during research. Decide what structured elements (tables, step-by-step lists, comparisons) would enhance the content. Add these considerations to whatever content creation process you already use rather than treating AIO as a separate, optional step.

Establish monitoring routines to track your AI visibility over time. Whether you use commercial tracking tools or build your own system, schedule regular reviews of your performance. Monthly checks might suffice initially, though weekly monitoring makes sense if you're actively optimizing and want faster feedback on what's working.

When reviewing tracking data, look for patterns rather than obsessing over individual fluctuations. Is your visibility generally improving, declining, or stable? Which topics show stronger AI citation rates? Where are competitors consistently appearing instead of you? What queries used to show your content but no longer do? These patterns inform where to focus future optimization efforts and what's working well versus what needs adjustment.

Build a distribution schedule that ensures your content reaches the platforms where community discussion happens. Rather than sporadic promotion when you remember, systematically share new content and participate in relevant discussions on a regular cadence. This might mean dedicating 30 minutes daily to community engagement, or setting aside specific times weekly for distribution activities. The consistent approach yields better results than irregular bursts of activity.

Document what works as you implement and test different approaches. Keep notes on which tactics seem most effective for your content, which platforms drive the most engaged traffic, which topics generate the most AI citations. This knowledge base becomes increasingly valuable over time as you identify patterns specific to your niche and audience that might differ from general best practices.

Consider forming or joining groups of content creators in your niche who are also working on AIO to share insights and results. The field is new enough that collective learning accelerates progress for everyone involved. What you discover about effective tactics in your niche might help others, and their experiences can inform your strategy even if you're in slightly different spaces.

Plan for iterative improvement rather than expecting immediate perfection. AIO is still an emerging practice without definitive best practices etched in stone. You'll make mistakes, try things that don't work, and occasionally optimize for factors that turn out not to matter. This experimentation is part of the learning process. What matters is systematic iteration—trying approaches, measuring results, adjusting based on feedback, and gradually improving your effectiveness over time.

Set realistic timelines for seeing results. Unlike paid advertising where you can generate traffic immediately, organic visibility through either SEO or AIO builds gradually. You might see some quick wins from optimizing high-performing content, but establishing strong overall AI visibility typically takes months of consistent effort. Understand this going in to maintain motivation during the initial period where you're investing effort without dramatic visible results.

Taking Action Today

The opportunity in AI Optimization exists because most content creators haven't recognized its importance yet. Traditional SEO remains the primary focus, while this emerging traffic channel grows rapidly with relatively light competition. This window won't stay open indefinitely. As more people understand AIO's value, competition will intensify and optimization will become more sophisticated.

Your competitive advantage comes from starting now rather than waiting until AIO is fully mainstream. Begin with these immediate actions that require minimal investment but start building your foundation.

First, test your own AI visibility today. Open ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity and ask questions where your content should logically appear as a relevant source. Be honest in your queries—use the actual questions your audience would ask rather than phrasing things to favor your content. See whether AI models cite you, and if so, how prominently. This reality check shows you where you stand currently.

Second, identify your top five most important pieces of content—articles that address core topics for your audience or drive significant traffic currently. These become your initial optimization targets. Don't try to optimize everything at once. Focus on making these five pieces as strong as possible for AI citation.

Third, implement quick wins on those priority pieces. Add "Last updated: [current date]" to each. Create a simple FAQ section addressing three to five common questions related to each article's topic. Add specific statistics or data points if they're currently missing. These improvements take hours rather than days but can meaningfully impact AI visibility.

Fourth, set up basic tracking even if you don't build a comprehensive system immediately. Create a simple spreadsheet listing queries where you want visibility. Test those queries weekly in one or two AI platforms and note whether your content appears. This manual tracking takes just 15-30 minutes weekly but provides feedback on whether your optimization efforts are working.

Fifth, join one or two communities where your target audience discusses topics related to your content. You don't need to be everywhere—pick platforms where you can genuinely contribute value and commit to participating regularly. Start by reading and understanding the community culture before posting, then gradually engage in discussions where your expertise adds value.

The investment required isn't massive. You don't need expensive tools, extensive technical knowledge, or a large team. You need understanding of the principles, systematic implementation of practical tactics, and consistency over time. The same qualities that make someone successful with traditional content creation—providing genuine value, maintaining quality standards, and persisting through the gradual process of building authority—work for AIO as well.

The difference is timing. Traditional SEO is mature with intense competition and well-established players dominating many niches. AIO is emerging with room for newcomers to establish authority while the landscape is still taking shape. This timing advantage creates opportunities for content creators of all sizes to build significant AI visibility if they act now rather than waiting.

Start today. Audit your content. Implement quick optimizations. Begin tracking your performance. Engage in communities. Build the multi-platform presence that signals authority. Each small step compounds over time into substantial competitive advantage as AI search grows to represent an ever-larger percentage of how people discover information online.

The future of organic visibility includes AI citations alongside traditional search rankings. The question isn't whether to optimize for both—it's whether you'll start while competition is light or wait until fighting for AI visibility becomes as challenging as ranking in traditional search is today.

Choose wisely. The traffic is already flowing. The only question is whether it flows to you or your competitors.

August 20th 2026, 7:27 pm

Beginner Guide to CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction) in 2022

TechCrunch

Image by vectorjuice on Freepik

In this CJ Affiliate guide, I will share with you everything you need to get started on the platform, I will give you an in-depth look at the network and how it works.

You will learn how to earn money with the platform. If you're not interested, I'll share some of the best CJ affiliate programs and alternatives. By the end of this post, I will also answer some of the FAQs on the platform and give my quick CJ review.

Sounds Good So let’s start

What is CJ Affiliate?

Commission Junction is an online advertising company that offers affiliate programs for various retailers. Since 1998, it has been known as one of the oldest and most popular affiliate networks.

Commission Junction has consistently ranked among the top 10 affiliate networks

With in-depth data analysis and an unmatched understanding of clients needs, CJ has established itself as a leader in performance marketing.

For Advertiser:

CJ provides advertisers with a variety of tracking, management, and payment options. As an affiliate network, CJ can help you launch multiple affiliate programs from a centralized network.

CJ's experienced team of account managers is available to help at every step—from program set-up to optimization.

For Publishers:

CJ offers a variety of well-paying affiliate programs. You can find affiliate programs in almost every niche at CJ. With CJ, you can also find promotional tools such as banners and product feeds, which help you promote your website.

The reporting tools are unparalleled and provide granular data that can assist you in fine-tuning your campaigns for maximum results.

Requirements

First things first, CJ is free to join! If you are new to the world of affiliate marketing, don't worry—you'll be able to join right away.

The requirements for joining CJ are almost similar to other networks. For example, you must have a blog or social media follower.

Isn't it obvious? Let's explore the details.

High-quality, unique content.

Non-gated content, of course.
Site privacy policy.
No software, coupon/deal, or incentive models
Your traffic must be from US and Canada.
The main traffic source must not be paid

10K+ monthly trafic on your website.

How Does CJ Affiliate Work?

Between advertisers and publishers, CJ Affiliate acts as a middleman.. Advertisers sign up on CJ to promote their products or services, while publishers sign up on CJ to find and join affiliate programs to make money. CJ then tracks the sales or leads generated by the publisher and pays them a commission according to the terms of the affiliate program.

CJ provides a win-win situation for both sides: advertisers get more sales and publishers make money.

In order to free up both parties to concentrate on their job, CJ also handles payments and other technical issues. Now that you know how CJ works, let's learn more about how to sign up and start making money with it.

How to Start Making Money Online Using CJ Affiliate

To get started using CJ's affiliate network, you'll need to register for an account. To do this, you must have a website or social media profile with relevant content and an audience from the US or Canada.

Create a CJ account, complete the application process, and then wait for approval. You shouldn't worry CJ is not strict as other network in approving applications.

Here's how you can signup for Cj

Visit cj.com to register as a publisher.
Fill in information such as your nationality, email, password, and more.
Verify your email address now.
You will be transferred right away to your CJ Account Manager, which contains crucial data including network statistics and performance summaries.
Now from the Account menu, head to Network Profile. And to sign up for any affiliate programme offered on CJ, complete this profile separately.

When applying for CJ, you need to share these two pieces of information

Description of the website (include statistics for your site and more)
Promotion methods (Traffic sources)

The process of setting up a CJ Affiliate account is a way for you to prove to CJ and the merchants that you're a serious affiliate marketer. Your CJ account is complete once you've added or edited your payment information; now you need to add or edit your tax certificates if required. You are now prepared to start making money on CJ Affiliate program apply for product when approved start promting and earn commissions on every sale.

Click on "Advertisers" and then select a category to go to your niche advertiser area. You can apply for it by clicking the 'Join the Program' button and analysing three months' earnings per click and overall earnings! After you're approved, you'll get links from all over the Internet.

After you've completed the steps above, you can share your affiliate links in your blog post. You can view performance reports for your affiliate links by visiting the CJ account dashboard. Click "Clients" to see details about clicks, sales, and commissions earned by each client.

With CJ, you can make money promoting great products and services in any niche imaginable! So start joining CJ programs now and watch your business grow.

Best CJ Affiliate Programs in 2022

On CJ, you can find thousands of affiliate programs in almost any niche. Some of the top affiliate programs enlisted on CJ include:

Contabo VPS
Fiverr
Hostinger
Godaddy
Namecheap

You'll find a lot of programs to join at CJ, depending on your niche. Just enter your keywords in the search bar, and CJ will show you all the relevant programs that match your criteria. You can further filter the results by commission type, category, or country.

A Quick CJ Affiliate Review: Is It Good Enough?

CJ Affiliate is one of the oldest and most well-known affiliate networks. The platform has been around for over 20 years and has a massive network of advertisers and publishers. The features on CJ Affiliate are easy to use, and it offers advertisers a wide range of tracking, management, and payment options.

CJ offers some great features for publishers too—promotional tools like banners, links, and social media are available to help boost your site's visibility. The only downside is that CJ has a bit of a learning curve, and the approval process can be strict. But overall, CJ Affiliate is an excellent platform for advertisers and publishers.

Top Alternatives and Competitors

CJ Affiliate is a great place to earn an income from affiliate marketing. It offers a wide range of features and options for advertisers and publishers. But if CJ doesn't work for you, plenty of other options are available. Here are some of the top competitors and alternatives in the market today:

ShareASale
AWIN
Impact
Rakuten Marketing
PartnerStack
Partnerize
ClickBank

Here are some of the best CJ Affiliate alternatives that you can try. Each platform has its own set of features, so make sure to choose one that best suits your needs. Regardless of which CJ alternative you choose, remember that quality content is key to success as a publisher, so ensure to focus on providing high-value, engaging content to your readers.

Frequently Asked Questions About Cj Affiliate Marketplace

Is the Cj AffilIs late Network legit?

CJ Affiliate is a legitimate affiliate platform that has earned the trust of many marketers because of its vast network of advertisers and publishers.

How much do CJ affiliates make?

It's not just about CJ; it's about how much effort you put into making money. It is possible to earn a few dollars to a few thousand dollars

How much does it cost to join Cj?

Joining CJ is free of charge. There are no monthly or annual fees. You only pay when you make a sale, and CJ takes a commission of 5-10%.

What are the payment methods accepted by Cj?

You can receive payment via direct deposit or check, as well as through Payoneer. CJ pays out within 20 days of the end of the month if your account has at least $50 worth of deposits ($100 for those outside America).

How to get approved for CJ affiliate?

CJ is friendly to both beginners and advanced affiliates. You need a website or social media profile with a solid organic traffic source and make yourself known using your profile description. Be honest, and you'll get approved for CJ's affiliate network.

How to find programs on CJ affiliates?

CJ affiliate offers a straightforward and user-friendly interface. All you need is to log in to your CJ account and click on ‘Advertisers' from the menu. Depending on your niche, you can then search for any affiliate program on CJ

What are the Pros of CJ Affiliate for advertisers?

CJ Affiliate is one of the most advanced affiliate programs available, providing advertisers with a range of features and options including advanced tracking, management, and payment options.

The platform is also easy to use and provides promotional tools like coupons, banners, and widgets that can help increase our sales.

Final Saying

Choosing Commission Junction as your affiliate program isn't easy. CJ is a big company and they have a wide range of affiliates, big and small. They offer everything from banner ads to text links and so much more. The sheer amount of choices can seem intimidating at first, especially to new Affiliates, which is why we've put together this simple guide for people looking for a successful CJ affiliate program to join. If you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments.

September 10th 2022, 8:13 am

TOP 10 AI MARKETING TOOLS YOU SHOULD USE

TechCrunch

If you’re late to the AI party, don’t worry. It’s easier than you think to start leveraging artificial intelligence tools in your marketing strategy. Here are 10 AI marketing tools every marketer should start using today.

1. Personalize

Key Features

Identifies top three interests based on metrics like time on page, recency and frequency of each contacts
Works with every ESP and CRM
Easy to get up and running in days
Enterprise-grade technology at a low cost for SMBs

2. Seventh Sense

Seventh Sense provides behavioral analytics that help you win attention in your customers’ overcrowded email inboxes. Choosing the best day and time to send an email is always a gamble. And while some days of the week generally get higher open rates than others, you’ll never be able to nail down a time that’s best for every customer. Seventh Sense eases your stress of having to figure out the perfect send-time and day for your email campaigns. The AI-based platform figures out the best timing and email frequency for each contact based on when they’re opening emails. The tool is primarily geared toward HubSpot and Marketo customers

Key Features

AI determines the best send-time and email frequency for each contact
Connects with HubSpot and Marketo

3. Phrasee

Phrasee uses artificial intelligence to help you write more effective subject lines. With its AI-based Natural Language Generation system, Phrasee uses data-driven insights to generate millions of natural sounding copy variants that match your brand voice. The model is end-to-end, meaning when you feed the results back to Phrasee, the prediction model rebuilds so it can continuously learn from your audience.

Key Features

Instantly generates millions of human-sounding, brand-compliant copy variants
Creates tailored language models for every customer
Learns what your audience responds to and rebuilds the prediction model every time

4. Hubspot Seo

HubSpot Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an integral tool for the Human Content team. It uses machine learning to determine how search engines understand and categorize your content. HubSpot SEO helps you improve your search engine rankings and outrank your competitors.Search engines reward websites that organize their content around core subjects, or topic clusters. HubSpot SEO helps you discover and rank for the topics that matter to your business and customers.

Key Features

Helps you discover and rank for topics that people are searching for
Provides suggestions for your topic clusters and related subjects
Integrates with all other HubSpot content tools to help you create a well-rounded content strategy

5. Evolve AI

When you’re limited to testing two variables against each other at a time, it can take months to get the results you’re looking for.Evolv AI lets you test all your ideas at once. It uses advanced algorithms to identify the top performing concepts, combine them with each other, and repeat the process to achieve the best site experience.

Key Features

Figures out which content provides the best performance
Lets you test multiple ideas in a single experiment instead of having to perform many individual tests over a long period of time
Lets you try all your ideas across multiple pages for full-funnel optimization
Offers visual and code editors

6. Acrolinx

Acrolinx is a content alignment platform that helps brands scale and improve the quality of their content. It’s geared toward enterprises – its major customers include big brands like Google, Adobe and Amazon - to help them scale their writing efforts. Instead of spending time chasing down and fixing typos in multiple places throughout an article or blog post, you can use Acrolinx to do it all right there in one place. You start by setting your preferences for style, grammar, tone of voice and company-specific word usage. Then, Acrolinx checks and scores your existing content to find what’s working and suggest areas for improvement. The platform provides real-time guidance and suggestions to make writing better and strengthen weak pages.

Key features

Reviews and scores existing content to ensure it meets your brand guidelines
Finds opportunities to improve your content and uses automation to shorten your editorial process.
Integrates with more than 50 tools and platforms, including Google Docs, Microsoft Word, WordPress and most web browsers.

7. MarketMuse

Key features:

The built-in editor shows how in-depth your topic is covered and what needs improvement
Finds gaps and opportunities for new content creation, prioritized by their probable impact and your chance of ranking

8. Copilot

Copilot is a suite of tools that help ecommerce businesses maintain real-time communication with customers around the clock at every stage of the funnel. Promote products, recover shopping carts and send updates or reminders directly through Messenger.

Key features:

Integrate Facebook Messenger directly with your website, including chat history and recent interactions for a fluid customer service experience
Run drip messenger campaigns to keep customers engaged with your brand
Send abandoned cart, out-of-stock, restock, preorder, order status and shipment notifications to contacts
Send branded images, promotional content or coupon codes to those who opt in
Collect post-purchase feedback, reviews and customer insight
Demonstrate social proof on your website with a widget, or push automatic Facebook posts sharing recent purchases
Display a promotional banner on your website to capture contacts instantly

9. Yotpo

Key features:

Makes it easy for shoppers to filter reviews and find the exact information they’re looking for
Analyzes customer feedback and sentiments to help you improve your products
Integrates with most leading ecommerce platforms, including BigCommerce, Magento and Shopify.

10. Albert AI

Albert is a self-learning software that automates the creation of marketing campaigns for your brand. It analyzes vast amounts of data to run optimized campaigns autonomously, allowing you to feed in your own creative content and target markets, and then use data from its database to determine key characteristics of a serious buyer. Albert identifies potential customers that match those traits, runs trial campaigns on a small group of customers—with results refined by Albert itself—before launching it on a larger scale.

Albert plugs into your existing marketing technology stack, so you still have access to your accounts, ads, search, social media and more. Albert maps tracking and attribution to your source of truth so you can determine which channels are driving your business.

Key features:

Breaks down large amounts of data to help you customize campaigns
Plugs into your marketing technology stack and can be used across diverse media outlets, including email, content, paid media and mobile

Final Saying

July 22nd 2022, 7:03 pm

Most Frequently Asked Questions About Affiliate Marketing

TechCrunch

There are lots of questions floating around about how affiliate marketing works, what to do and what not to do when it comes to setting up a business. With so much uncertainty surrounding both personal and business aspects of affiliate marketing. In this post, we will answer the most frequently asked question about affiliate marketing

1. What is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a way to make money by promoting the products and services of other people and companies. You don't need to create your product or service, just promote existing ones. That's why it's so easy to get started with affiliate marketing. You can even get started with no budget at all!

2. What is an affiliate program?

An affiliate program is a package of information you create for your product, which is then made available to potential publishers. The program will typically include details about the product and its retail value, commission levels, and promotional materials. Many affiliate programs are managed via an affiliate network like ShareASale, which acts as a platform to connect publishers and advertisers, but it is also possible to offer your program directly.

3. What is an affiliate network and how do affiliate networks make money?

Affiliate networks connect publishers to advertisers. Affiliate networks make money by charging fees to the merchants who advertise with them; these merchants are known as advertisers. The percentage of each sale that the advertiser pays is negotiated between the merchant and the affiliate network.

4. What's the difference between affiliate marketing and dropshipping?

Dropshipping is a method of selling that allows you to run an online store without having to stock products. You advertise the products as if you owned them, but when someone makes an order, you create a duplicate order with the distributor at a reduced price. The distributor takes care of the post and packaging on your behalf. As affiliate marketing is based on referrals and this type of drop shipping requires no investment in inventory when a customer buys through the affiliate link, no money exchanges hands.

5. Can affiliate marketing and performance marketing be considered the same thing?

Performance marketing is a method of marketing that pays for performance, like when a sale is made or an ad is clicked This can include methods like PPC (pay-per-click) or display advertising. Affiliate marketing is one form of performance marketing where commissions are paid out to affiliates on a performance basis when they click on their affiliate link and make a purchase or action.

6. Is it possible to promote affiliate offers on mobile devices?

Smartphones are essentially miniature computers, so publishers can display the same websites and offers that are available on a PC. But mobiles also offer specific tools not available on computers, and these can be used to good effect for publishers. Publishers can optimize their ads for mobile users by making them easy to access by this audience. Publishers can also make good use of text and instant messaging to promote their offers. As the mobile market is predicted to make up 80% of traffic in the future, publishers who do not promote on mobile devices are missing out on a big opportunity.

7. Where do I find qualified publishers?

The best way to find affiliate publishers is on reputable networks like ShareASale Cj(Commission Junction), Awin, and Impact radius. These networks have a strict application process and compliance checks, which means that all affiliates are trustworthy.

8. What is an affiliate disclosure statement?

An affiliate disclosure statement discloses to the reader that there may be affiliate links on a website, for which a commission may be paid to the publisher if visitors follow these links and make purchases.

9. Does social media activity play a significant role in affiliate marketing?

Publishers promote their programs through a variety of means, including blogs, websites, email marketing, and pay-per-click ads. Social media has a huge interactive audience, making this platform a good source of potential traffic.

10. What is a super affiliate?

A super affiliate is an affiliate partner who consistently drives a large majority of sales from any program they promote, compared to other affiliate partners involved in that program. Affiliates make a lot of money from affiliate marketing Pat Flynn earned more than $50000 in 2013 from affiliate marketing.

11. How do we track publisher sales activity?

Publishers can be identified by their publisher ID, which is used in tracking cookies to determine which publishers generate sales. The activity is then viewed within a network's dashboard.

12. Could we set up an affiliate program in multiple countries?

Because the Internet is so widespread, affiliate programs can be promoted in any country. Affiliate strategies that are set internationally need to be tailored to the language of the targeted country.

13. How can affiliate marketing help my business?

Affiliate marketing can help you grow your business in the following ways:

It allows you to save time and money on marketing, which frees you up to focus on other aspects of your business.
You get access to friendly marketers who are eager to help you succeed.
It also helps you to promote your products by sharing links and banners with a new audience.
It offers high ROI(Return on investment) and is cost-effective.

14. How do I find quality publishers?

One of the best ways to work with qualified affiliates is to hire an affiliate marketing agency that works with all the networks. Affiliates are carefully selected and go through a rigorous application process to be included in the network.

15. How Can we Promote Affiliate Links?

Affiliate marketing is generally associated with websites, but there are other ways to promote your affiliate links, including:

A website or blog
Through email marketing and newsletter
Social media, like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
Leave a comment on blogs or forums.
Write an e-book or other digital product.
Youtube

16. Do you have to pay to sign up for an affiliate program?

To build your affiliate marketing business, you don't have to invest money in the beginning. You can sign up for free with any affiliate network and start promoting their brands right away.

17. What is a commission rate?

Commission rates are typically based on a percentage of the total sale and in some cases can also be a flat fee for each transaction. The rates are set by the merchant.

Who manages your affiliate program?

Some merchants run their affiliate programs internally, while others choose to contract out management to a network or an external agency.

18. What is a cookie?

Cookies are small pieces of data that work with web browsers to store information such as user preferences, login or registration data, and shopping cart contents. When someone clicks on your affiliate link, a cookie is placed on the user's computer or mobile device. That cookie is used to remember the link or ad that the visitor clicked on. Even if the user leaves your site and comes back a week later to make a purchase, you will still get credit for the sale and receive a commission it depends on the site cookies duration

19. How long do cookies last?

The merchant determines the duration of a cookie, also known as its “cookie life.” The most common length for an affiliate program is 30 days. If someone clicks on your affiliate link, you’ll be paid a commission if they purchase within 30 days of the click.

Final Saying

Most new affiliates are eager to begin their affiliate marketing business. Unfortunately, there is a lot of bad information out there that can lead inexperienced affiliates astray. Hopefully, the answer to your question will provide clarity on how affiliate marketing works and the pitfalls you can avoid. Most importantly, keep in mind that success in affiliate marketing takes some time. Don't be discouraged if you're not immediately making sales or earning money. It takes most new affiliates months to make a full-time income.

June 14th 2022, 5:42 pm

Sellfy Review 2022: How Good Is This Ecommerce Platform?

TechCrunch

Are you searching for an ecomerce platform to help you build an online store and sell products?

In this Sellfy review, we'll talk about how this eCommerce platform can let you sell digital products while keeping full control of your marketing.

And the best part? Starting your business can be done in just five minutes.

Let us then talk about the Sellfy platform and all the benefits it can bring to your business.

What is Sellfy?

Sellfy is an eCommerce solution that allows digital content creators, including writers, illustrators, designers, musicians, and filmmakers, to sell their products online. Sellfy provides a customizable storefront where users can display their digital products and embed "Buy Now" buttons on their website or blog. Sellfy product pages enable users to showcase their products from different angles with multiple images and previews from Soundcloud, Vimeo, and YouTube. Files of up to 2GB can be uploaded to Sellfy, and the company offers unlimited bandwidth and secure file storage. Users can also embed their entire store or individual project widgets in their site, with the ability to preview how widgets will appear before they are displayed.

Features

Sellfy includes:

Online Store

Sellfy is a powerful e-commerce platform that helps you personalize your online storefront. You can add your logo, change colors, revise navigation, and edit the layout of your store. Sellfy also allows you to create a full shopping cart so customers can purchase multiple items. And Sellfy gives you the ability to set your language or let customers see a translated version of your store based on their location.

Sellfy gives you the option to host your store directly on its platform, add a custom domain to your store, and use it as an embedded storefront on your website. Sellfy also optimizes its store offerings for mobile devices, allowing for a seamless checkout experience.

Product hosting

Sellfy allows creators to host all their products and sell all of their digital products on one platform. Sellfy also does not place storage limits on your store but recommends that files be no larger than 5GB. Creators can sell both standard and subscription-based products in any file format that is supported by the online marketplace. Customers can purchase products instantly after making a purchase – there is no waiting period.

You can organize your store by creating your product categories, sorting by any characteristic you choose. Your title, description, and the image will be included on each product page. In this way, customers can immediately evaluate all of your products. You can offer different pricing options for all of your products, including "pay what you want," in which the price is entirely up to the customer. This option allows you to give customers control over the cost of individual items (without a minimum price) or to set pricing minimums—a good option if you're in a competitive market or when you have higher-end products. You can also offer set prices per product as well as free products to help build your store's popularity.

Sellfy is ideal for selling digital content, such as ebooks. But it does not allow you to copyrighted material (that you don't have rights to distribute).

Embed options

Sellfy offers several ways to share your store, enabling you to promote your business on different platforms. Sellfy lets you integrate it with your existing website using "buy now" buttons, embed your entire storefront, or embed certain products so you can reach more people. Sellfy also enables you to connect with your Facebook page and YouTube channel, maximizing your visibility.

Payments and security

Sellfy is a simple online platform that allows customers to buy your products directly through your store. Sellfy has two payment processing options: PayPal and Stripe. You will receive instant payments with both of these processors, and your customer data is protected by Sellfy's secure (PCI-compliant) payment security measures. In addition to payment security, Sellfy provides anti-fraud tools to help protect your products including PDF stamping, unique download links, and limited download attempts.

Marketing and analytics tools

The Sellfy platform includes marketing and analytics tools to help you manage your online store. You can send email product updates and collect newsletter subscribers through the platform. With Sellfy, you can also offer discount codes and product upsells, as well as create and track Facebook and Twitter ads for your store. The software's analytics dashboard will help you track your best-performing products, generated revenue, traffic channels, top locations, and overall store performance.

Integrations

To expand functionality and make your e-commerce store run more efficiently, Sellfy offers several integrations. Google Analytics and Webhooks, as well as integrations with Patreon and Facebook Live Chat, are just a few of the options available. Sellfy allows you to connect to Zapier, which gives you access to hundreds of third-party apps, including tools like Mailchimp, Trello, Salesforce, and more.

Pricing and Premium Plan Features

Get Sellfy 14 day free trail from here

Free Plan

Price: $0

The free plan comes with:

Up to 10 products
Print-on-demand products
Physical products

Starter Plan

Price: $19/month

Starter plan comes with:

Everything is Free, plus:
Unlimited products
Digital products
Subscription products
Connect your domain
2,000 email credits

Business Plan

Price: $49/month

The business plan comes with:

Everything in Starter, plus:
Remove "Sellfy" branding
Store design migration
Cart abandonment
Product upselling
10,000 email credits

Premium Plan

Price: $99/month

The premium plan comes with:

Everything in Business, plus:
Product migration
Priority support
50,000 email credits

Sellfy Review: Pros and Cons

Sellfy has its benefits and downsides, but fortunately, the pros outweigh the cons.

Pros

It takes only a few minutes to set up an online store and begin selling products.
You can sell your products on a single storefront, even if you are selling multiple product types.
Sellfy supports selling a variety of product types, including physical items, digital goods, subscriptions, and print-on-demand products.
Sellfy offers a free plan for those who want to test out the features before committing to a paid plan.
You get paid the same day you make a sale. Sellfy doesn't delay your funds as some other payment processors do.
Print-on-demand services are available directly from your store, so you can sell merchandise to fans without setting up an integration.
You can conduct all store-related activities via the mobile app and all online stores have mobile responsive designs.
Everything you need to make your website is included, including a custom domain name hosting, security for your files, and the ability to customize your store
The file security features can help you protect your digital property by allowing you to put PDF stamps, set download limits, and SSL encryption.
Sellfy provides unlimited support.
Sellfy provides simple and intuitive tax and VAT configuration settings.
Marketing strategies include coupons, email marketing, upselling, tracking pixels, and cart abandonment.

Cons

Although the free plan is helpful, but it limits you to only 10 products.
Payment plans often require an upgrade if you exceed a certain sales amount per year.
The storefront designs are clean, but they're not unique templates for creating a completely different brand image.
Sellfy's branding is removed from your hosted product when you upgrade to the $49 per month Business plan.
The free plan does not allow for selling digital or subscription products.

Conclusion

In this article, we have taken a look at some of the biggest benefits associated with using sellfy for eCommerce. Once you compare these benefits to what you get with other platforms such as Shopify, you should find that it is worth your time to consider sellfy for your business. After reading this article all of your questions will be solved but if you have still some questions let me know in the comment section below, I will be happy to answer your questions.

Note: This article contains affiliate links which means we make a small commission if you buy sellfy premium plan from our link.

April 30th 2022, 8:46 am

ProWritingAid VS Grammarly: Which Grammar Checker is Better in (2022) ?

TechCrunch

ProWritingAid VS Grammarly: When it comes to English grammar, there are two Big Players that everyone knows of: the Grammarly and ProWritingAid. but you are wondering which one to choose so here we write a detail article which will help you to choose the best one for you so Let's start

What is Grammarly?

Grammarly is a tool that checks for grammatical errors, spelling, and punctuation.it gives you comprehensive feedback on your writing. You can use this tool to proofread and edit articles, blog posts, emails, etc.

Grammarly also detects all types of mistakes, including sentence structure issues and misused words. It also gives you suggestions on style changes, punctuation, spelling, and grammar all are in real-time. The free version covers the basics like identifying grammar and spelling mistakes

whereas the Premium version offers a lot more functionality, it detects plagiarism in your content, suggests word choice, or adds fluency to it.

Features of Grammarly

Spelling and Word Suggestion: Grammarly detects basic to advance grammatical errors and also help you why this is an error and suggest to you how you can improve it
Create a Personal Dictionary: The Grammarly app allows you to add words to your personal dictionary so that the same mistake isn't highlighted every time you run Grammarly.
Different English Style: Check to spell for American, British, Canadian, and Australian English.
Plagiarism: This feature helps you detect if a text has been plagiarized by comparing it with over eight billion web pages.
Wordiness: This tool will help you check your writing for long and hard-to-read sentences. It also shows you how to shorten sentences so that they are more concise.
Passive Voice: The program also notifies users when passive voice is used too frequently in a document.
Punctuations: This feature flags all incorrect and missing punctuation.
Repetition: The tool provides recommendations for replacing the repeated word.
Proposition: Grammarly identifies misplaced and confused prepositions.
Plugins: It offers Microsoft Word, Microsoft Outlook, and Google Chrome plugins.

What is ProWritingAid?

ProWritingAid is a style and grammar checker for content creators and writers. It helps to optimize word choice, punctuation errors, and common grammar mistakes, providing detailed reports to help you improve your writing.

ProWritingAid can be used as an add-on to WordPress, Gmail, and Google Docs. The software also offers helpful articles, videos, quizzes, and explanations to help improve your writing.

Features of ProWriting Aid

Here are some key features of ProWriting Aid:

Grammar checker and spell checker: This tool helps you to find all grammatical and spelling errors.
Find repeated words: The tool also allows you to search for repeated words and phrases in your content.
Context-sensitive style suggestions: You can find the exact style of writing you intend and suggest if it flows well in your writing.
Check the readability of your content: Pro Writing Aid helps you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your article by pointing out difficult sentences and paragraphs.
Sentence Length: It also indicates the length of your sentences.
Check Grammatical error: It also checks your work for any grammatical errors or typos, as well.
Overused words: As a writer, you might find yourself using the same word repeatedly. ProWritingAid's overused words checker helps you avoid this lazy writing mistake.
Consistency: Check your work for inconsistent usage of open and closed quotation marks.
Echoes: Check your writing for uniformly repetitive words and phrases.

Difference between Grammarly and Pro-Writing Aid

Grammarly and ProWritingAid are well-known grammar-checking software. However, if you're like most people who can't decide which to use, here are some different points that may be helpful in your decision.

Grammarly vs ProWritingAid

Grammarly is a writing enhancement tool that offers suggestions for grammar, vocabulary, and syntax whereas ProWritingAid offers world-class grammar and style checking, as well as advanced reports to help you strengthen your writing.
Grammarly provides Android and IOS apps whereas ProWritingAid doesn't have a mobile or IOS app.
Grammarly offers important suggestions about mistakes you've made whereas ProWritingAid shows more suggestions than Grammarly but all recommendations are not accurate
Grammarly has a more friendly UI/UX whereas the ProWritingAid interface is not friendly as Grammarly.
Grammarly is an accurate grammar checker for non-fiction writing whereas ProWritingAid is an accurate grammar checker for fiction writers.
Grammarly finds grammar and punctuation mistakes, whereas ProWritingAid identifies run-on sentences and fragments.
Grammarly provides 24/7 support via submitting a ticket and sending emails. ProWritingAid’s support team is available via email, though the response time is approximately 48 hours.
Grammarly offers many features in its free plan, whereas ProWritingAid offers some basic features in the free plan.
Grammarly does not offer much feedback on big picture writing; ProWritingAid offers complete feedback on big picture writing.
Grammarly is a better option for accuracy, whereas ProWritingAid is better for handling fragmented sentences and dialogue. It can be quite useful for fiction writers.

ProWritingAid VS Grammarly: Pricing Difference

ProWritingAid comes with three pricing structures. The full-year cost of ProWritingAid is $79, while its lifetime plans cost $339. You also can opt for a monthly plan of $20.
Grammarly offers a Premium subscription for $30/month for a monthly plan $20/month for quarterly and $12/month for an annual subscription.
The Business plan costs $12.50 per month for each member of your company.

ProWritingAid vs Grammarly – Pros and Cons

Grammarly Pros

It allows you to fix common mistakes like grammar and spelling.
Offers most features in the free plan
Allows you to edit a document without affecting the formatting.
Active and passive voice checker
Personal dictionary
Plagiarism checker (paid version)
Proofread your writing and correct all punctuation, grammar, and spelling errors.
Allows you to make changes to a document without altering its formatting.
Helps users improve vocabulary
User-friendly interface
Browser extensions and MS word add-ons
Available on all major devices and platforms
Grammarly will also offer suggestions to improve your style.
Enhance the readability of your sentence
Free mobile apps
Offers free version

Grammarly Cons

Supports only English
Customer support only via email
Limits to 150,000 words
Subscription plans can be a bit pricey
Plagiarism checker is only available in a premium plan
Doesn’t offer a free trial
No refund policy
The free version is ideal for basic spelling and grammatical mistakes, but it does not correct advanced writing issues.
Some features are not available for Mac.

ProwritingAid Pros

It offers more than 20 different reports to help you improve your writing.
Less expensive than other grammar checkers.
This tool helps you strengthen your writing style as it offers big-picture feedback.
ProWritingAid has a life plan with no further payments required.
Compatible with Google Docs!
Prowritingaid works on both Windows and Mac.
They offer more integrations than most tools.

ProWritingAid Cons

Editing can be a little more time-consuming when you add larger passages of text.
ProWritingAid currently offers no mobile app for Android or iOS devices.
Plagiarism checker is only available in premium plans.
All recommendations are not accurate

Summarizing the Ginger VS Grammarly: My Recommendation

As both writing assistants are great in their own way, you need to choose the one that suits you best.

For example, go for Grammarly if you are a non-fiction writer
Go for ProWritingAid if you are a fiction writer.
ProWritingAid is better at catching errors found in long-form content. However, Grammarly is more suited to short blog posts and other similar tasks.
ProWritingAid helps you clean up your writing by checking for style, structure, and content while Grammarly focuses on grammar and punctuation.
Grammarly has a more friendly UI/UX whereas; ProWritingAid offers complete feedback on big picture writing.

Both ProWritingAid and Grammarly are awesome writing tools, without a doubt. but as per my experience, Grammarly is a winner here because Grammarly helps you to review and edit your content. Grammarly highlights all the mistakes in your writing within seconds of copying and pasting the content into Grammarly’s editor or using the software’s native feature in other text editors.

Not only does it identify tiny grammatical and spelling errors, it tells you when you overlook punctuations where they are needed. And, beyond its plagiarism-checking capabilities, Grammarly helps you proofread your content. Even better, the software offers a free plan that gives you access to some of its features.

April 30th 2022, 8:46 am

What is Blockchain: Everything You Need to Know (2022)

TechCrunch

If you want to pay online, you need to register an account and provide credit card information. If you don't have a credit card, you can pay with bank transfer. With the rise of cryptocurrencies, these methods may become old.

Imagine a world in which you can do transactions and many other things without having to give your personal information. A world in which you don’t need to rely on banks or governments anymore. Sounds amazing, right? That’s exactly what blockchain technology allows us to do.

It’s like your computer’s hard drive. blockchain is a technology that lets you store data in digital blocks, which are connected together like links in a chain.

Blockchain technology was originally invented in 1991 by two mathematicians, Stuart Haber and W. Scot Stornetta. They first proposed the system to ensure that timestamps could not be tampered with.

A few years later, in 1998, software developer Nick Szabo proposed using a similar kind of technology to secure a digital payments system he called “Bit Gold.” However, this innovation was not adopted until Satoshi Nakamoto claimed to have invented the first Blockchain and Bitcoin.

So, What is Blockchain?

A blockchain is a distributed database shared between the nodes of a computer network. It saves information in digital format. Many people first heard of blockchain technology when they started to look up information about bitcoin.

Blockchain is used in cryptocurrency systems to ensure secure, decentralized records of transactions.

Blockchain allowed people to guarantee the fidelity and security of a record of data without the need for a third party to ensure accuracy.

To understand how a blockchain works, Consider these basic steps:

Blockchain collects information in “blocks”.
A block has a storage capacity, and once it's used up, it can be closed and linked to a previously served block.
Blocks form chains, which are called “Blockchains.”
More information will be added to the block with the most content until its capacity is full. The process repeats itself.
Each block in the chain has an exact timestamp and can't be changed.

Let’s get to know more about the blockchain.

How does blockchain work?

Blockchain records digital information and distributes it across the network without changing it. The information is distributed among many users and stored in an immutable, permanent ledger that can't be changed or destroyed. That's why blockchain is also called "Distributed Ledger Technology" or DLT.

Here’s how it works:

Someone or a computer will transacts
The transaction is transmitted throughout the network.
A network of computers can confirm the transaction.
When it is confirmed a transaction is added to a block
The blocks are linked together to create a history.

And that’s the beauty of it! The process may seem complicated, but it’s done in minutes with modern technology. And because technology is advancing rapidly, I expect things to move even more quickly than ever.

A new transaction is added to the system. It is then relayed to a network of computers located around the world. The computers then solve equations to ensure the authenticity of the transaction.
Once a transaction is confirmed, it is placed in a block after the confirmation. All of the blocks are chained together to create a permanent history of every transaction.

How are Blockchains used?

Even though blockchain is integral to cryptocurrency, it has other applications. For example, blockchain can be used for storing reliable data about transactions. Many people confuse blockchain with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum.

Blockchain already being adopted by some big-name companies, such as Walmart, AIG, Siemens, Pfizer, and Unilever. For example, IBM's Food Trust uses blockchain to track food's journey before reaching its final destination.

Although some of you may consider this practice excessive, food suppliers and manufacturers adhere to the policy of tracing their products because bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella have been found in packaged foods. In addition, there have been isolated cases where dangerous allergens such as peanuts have accidentally been introduced into certain products.

Tracing and identifying the sources of an outbreak is a challenging task that can take months or years. Thanks to the Blockchain, however, companies now know exactly where their food has been—so they can trace its location and prevent future outbreaks.

Blockchain technology allows systems to react much faster in the event of a hazard. It also has many other uses in the modern world.

What is Blockchain Decentralization?

Blockchain technology is safe, even if it’s public. People can access the technology using an internet connection.

Have you ever been in a situation where you had all your data stored at one place and that one secure place got compromised? Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to prevent your data from leaking out even when the security of your storage systems is compromised?

Blockchain technology provides a way of avoiding this situation by using multiple computers at different locations to store information about transactions. If one computer experiences problems with a transaction, it will not affect the other nodes.

Instead, other nodes will use the correct information to cross-reference your incorrect node. This is called “Decentralization,” meaning all the information is stored in multiple places.

Blockchain guarantees your data's authenticity—not just its accuracy, but also its irreversibility. It can also be used to store data that are difficult to register, like legal contracts, state identifications, or a company's product inventory.

Pros and Cons of Blockchain

Blockchain has many advantages and disadvantages.

Pros

Accuracy is increased because there is no human involvement in the verification process.
One of the great things about decentralization is that it makes information harder to tamper with.
Safe, private, and easy transactions
Provides a banking alternative and safe storage of personal information

Cons

Data storage has limits.
The regulations are always changing, as they differ from place to place.
It has a risk of being used for illicit activities

Frequently Asked Questions About Blockchain

I’ll answer the most frequently asked questions about blockchain in this section.

Is Blockchain a cryptocurrency?

Blockchain is not a cryptocurrency but a technology that makes cryptocurrencies possible. It's a digital ledger that records every transaction seamlessly.

Is it possible for Blockchain to be hacked?

Yes, blockchain can be theoretically hacked, but it is a complicated task to be achieved. A network of users constantly reviews it, which makes hacking the blockchain difficult.

What is the most prominent blockchain company?

Coinbase Global is currently the biggest blockchain company in the world. The company runs a commendable infrastructure, services, and technology for the digital currency economy.

Who owns Blockchain?

Blockchain is a decentralized technology. It’s a chain of distributed ledgers connected with nodes. Each node can be any electronic device. Thus, one owns blockhain.

What is the difference between Bitcoin and Blockchain technology?

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, which is powered by Blockchain technology while Blockchain is a distributed ledger of cryptocurrency

What is the difference between Blockchain and a Database?

Generally a database is a collection of data which can be stored and organized using a database management system. The people who have access to the database can view or edit the information stored there. The client-server network architecture is used to implement databases. whereas a blockchain is a growing list of records, called blocks, stored in a distributed system. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, timestamp and transaction information. Modification of data is not allowed due to the design of the blockchain. The technology allows decentralized control and eliminates risks of data modification by other parties.

Final Saying

Blockchain has a wide spectrum of applications and, over the next 5-10 years, we will likely see it being integrated into all sorts of industries. From finance to healthcare, blockchain could revolutionize the way we store and share data. Although there is some hesitation to adopt blockchain systems right now, that won't be the case in 2022-2023 (and even less so in 2026). Once people become more comfortable with the technology and understand how it can work for them, owners, CEOs and entrepreneurs alike will be quick to leverage blockchain technology for their own gain. Hope you like this article if you have any question let me know in the comments section

Follow @AdilAhmad_c

April 30th 2022, 8:46 am

Ahrefs vs SEMrush: Which SEO Tool Should You Use?

TechCrunch

SEMrush and Ahrefs are among the most popular tools in the SEO industry. Both companies have been in business for years and have thousands of customers per month.

If you're a professional SEO or trying to do digital marketing on your own, at some point you'll likely consider using a tool to help with your efforts. Ahrefs and SEMrush are two names that will likely appear on your shortlist.

In this guide, I'm going to help you learn more about these SEO tools and how to choose the one that's best for your purposes.

What is SEMrush?

SEMrush is a popular SEO tool with a wide range of features—it's the leading competitor research service for online marketers. SEMrush's SEO Keyword Magic tool offers over 20 billion Google-approved keywords, which are constantly updated and it's the largest keyword database.

The program was developed in 2007 as SeoQuake is a small Firefox extension

Features

Most accurate keyword data: Accurate keyword search volume data is crucial for SEO and PPC campaigns by allowing you to identify what keywords are most likely to bring in big sales from ad clicks. SEMrush constantly updates its databases and provides the most accurate data.
Largest Keyword database: SEMrush's Keyword Magic Tool now features 20-billion keywords, providing marketers and SEO professionals the largest database of keywords.
All SEMrush users receive daily ranking data, mobile volume information, and the option to buy additional keywords by default with no additional payment or add-ons needed
Most accurate position tracking tool: This tool provides all subscribers with basic tracking capabilities, making it suitable for SEO professionals. Plus, the Position Tracking tool provides local-level data to everyone who uses the tool.
SEO Data Management: SEMrush makes managing your online data easy by allowing you to create visually appealing custom PDF reports, including Branded and White Label reports, report scheduling, and integration with GA, GMB, and GSC.
Toxic link monitoring and penalty recovery: With SEMrush, you can make a detailed analysis of toxic backlinks, toxic scores, toxic markers, and outreach to those sites.
Content Optimization and Creation Tools: SEMrush offers content optimization and creation tools that let you create SEO-friendly content. Some features include the SEO Writing Assistant, On-Page SEO Check, er/SEO Content Template, Content Audit, Post Tracking, Brand Monitoring.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is a leading SEO platform that offers a set of tools to grow your search traffic, research your competitors, and monitor your niche. The company was founded in 2010, and it has become a popular choice among SEO tools. Ahrefs has a keyword index of over 10.3 billion keywords and offers accurate and extensive backlink data updated every 15-30 minutes and it is the world's most extensive backlink index database.

Features

Backlink alerts data and new keywords: Get an alert when your site is linked to or discussed in blogs, forums, comments, or when new keywords are added to a blog posting about you.
Intuitive interface: The intuitive design of the widget helps you see the overall health of your website and search engine ranking at a glance.
Site Explorer: The Site Explorer will give you an in-depth look at your site's search traffic.
Domain Comparison
Reports with charts and graphs
JavaScript rendering and a site audit can identify SEO issues.
A question explorer that provides well-crafted topic suggestions

Direct Comparisons: Ahrefs vs SEMrush

Now that you know a little more about each tool, let's take a look at how they compare. I'll analyze each tool to see how they differ in interfaces, keyword research resources, rank tracking, and competitor analysis.

User Interface

Ahrefs and SEMrush both offer comprehensive information and quick metrics regarding your website's SEO performance. However, Ahrefs takes a bit more of a hands-on approach to getting your account fully set up, whereas SEMrush's simpler dashboard can give you access to the data you need quickly.

In this section, we provide a brief overview of the elements found on each dashboard and highlight the ease with which you can complete tasks.

AHREFS

The Ahrefs dashboard is less cluttered than that of SEMrush, and its primary menu is at the very top of the page, with a search bar designed only for entering URLs.

Additional features of the Ahrefs platform include:

You can see analytics from the dashboard, including search engine rankings to domain ratings, referring domains, and backlink
Jumping from one tool to another is easy. You can use the Keyword Explorer to find a keyword to target and then directly track your ranking with one click.
The website offers a tooltip helper tool that allows you to hover your mouse over something that isn't clear and get an in-depth explanation.

SEMRUSH

When you log into the SEMrush Tool, you will find four main modules. These include information about your domains, organic keyword analysis, ad keyword, and site traffic.

You'll also find some other options like

A search bar allows you to enter a domain, keyword, or anything else you wish to explore.
A menu on the left side of the page provides quick links to relevant information, including marketing insights, projects, keyword analytics, and more.
The customer support resources located directly within the dashboard can be used to communicate with the support team or to learn about other resources such as webinars and blogs.
Detailed descriptions of every resource offered. This detail is beneficial for new marketers, who are just starting.

WHO WINS?

Both Ahrefs and SEMrush have user-friendly dashboards, but Ahrefs is less cluttered and easier to navigate. On the other hand, SEMrush offers dozens of extra tools, including access to customer support resources.

When deciding on which dashboard to use, consider what you value in the user interface, and test out both.

Rank Tracking

If you're looking to track your website's search engine ranking, rank tracking features can help. You can also use them to monitor your competitors.

Let's take a look at Ahrefs vs. SEMrush to see which tool does a better job.

Ahrefs

The Ahrefs Rank Tracker is simpler to use. Just type in the domain name and keywords you want to analyze, and it spits out a report showing you the search engine results page (SERP) ranking for each keyword you enter.

Rank Tracker looks at the ranking performance of keywords and compares them with the top rankings for those keywords. Ahrefs also offers:

You'll see metrics that help you understand your visibility, traffic, average position, and keyword difficulty.

It gives you an idea of whether a keyword would be profitable to target or not.

SEMRUSH

SEMRush offers a tool called Position Tracking. This tool is a project tool—you must set it up as a new project. Below are a few of the most popular features of the SEMrush Position Tracking tool:

All subscribers are given regular data updates and mobile search rankings upon subscribing

The platform provides opportunities to track several SERP features, including Local tracking.

Intuitive reports allow you to track statistics for the pages on your website, as well as the keywords used in those pages.

Identify pages that may be competing with each other using the Cannibalization report.

WHO WINS?

Ahrefs is a more user-friendly option. It takes seconds to enter a domain name and keywords. From there, you can quickly decide whether to proceed with that keyword or figure out how to rank better for other keywords.

SEMrush allows you to check your mobile rankings and ranking updates daily, which is something Ahrefs does not offer. SEMrush also offers social media rankings, a tool you won't find within the Ahrefs platform. Both are good which one do you like let me know in the comment.

Keyword Research

Keyword research is closely related to rank tracking, but it's used for deciding which keywords you plan on using for future content rather than those you use now.

When it comes to SEO, keyword research is the most important thing to consider when comparing the two platforms.

AHREFS

The Ahrefs Keyword Explorer provides you with thousands of keyword ideas and filters search results based on the chosen search engine.

Ahrefs supports several features, including:

It can search multiple keywords in a single search and analyze them together. At SEMrush, you also have this feature in Keyword Overview.
Ahrefs has a variety of keywords for different search engines, including Google, YouTube, Amazon, Bing, Yahoo, Yandex, and other search engines.
When you click on a keyword, you can see its search volume and keyword difficulty, but also other keywords related to it, which you didn't use.

SEMRUSH

SEMrush's Keyword Magic Tool has over 20 billion keywords for Google. You can type in any keyword you want, and a list of suggested keywords will appear.

The Keyword Magic Tool also lets you to:

Show performance metrics by keyword
Search results are based on both broad and exact keyword matches.
Show data like search volume, trends, keyword difficulty, and CPC.
Show the first 100 Google search results for any keyword.
Identify SERP Features and Questions related to each keyword
SEMrush has released a new Keyword Gap Tool that uncovers potentially useful keyword opportunities for you, including both paid and organic keywords.

WHO WINS?

Both of these tools offer keyword research features and allow users to break down complicated tasks into something that can be understood by beginners and advanced users alike.

If you're interested in keyword suggestions, SEMrush appears to have more keyword suggestions than Ahrefs does. It also continues to add new features, like the Keyword Gap tool and SERP Questions recommendations.

Competitor Analysis

Both platforms offer competitor analysis tools, eliminating the need to come up with keywords off the top of your head. Each tool is useful for finding keywords that will be useful for your competition so you know they will be valuable to you.

AHREFS

Ahrefs' domain comparison tool lets you compare up to five websites (your website and four competitors) side-by-side.it also shows you how your site is ranked against others with metrics such as backlinks, domain ratings, and more.

Use the Competing Domains section to see a list of your most direct competitors, and explore how many keywords matches your competitors have.

To find more information about your competitor, you can look at the Site Explorer and Content Explorer tools and type in their URL instead of yours.

SEMRUSH

SEMrush provides a variety of insights into your competitors' marketing tactics. The platform enables you to research your competitors effectively. It also offers several resources for competitor analysis including:

Traffic Analytics helps you identify where your audience comes from, how they engage with your site, what devices visitors use to view your site, and how your audiences overlap with other websites.

SEMrush's Organic Research examines your website's major competitors and shows their organic search rankings, keywords they are ranking for, and even if they are ranking for any (SERP) features and more.

The Market Explorer search field allows you to type in a domain and lists websites or articles similar to what you entered. Market Explorer also allows users to perform in-depth data analytics on These companies and markets.

WHO WINS?

SEMrush wins here because it has more tools dedicated to competitor analysis than Ahrefs. However, Ahrefs offers a lot of functionality in this area, too. It takes a combination of both tools to gain an advantage over your competition.

Pricing

Ahrefs

Lite Monthly: $99/month
Standard Monthly: $179/month
Annually Lite: $990/year
Annually Standard: $1790/year

SEMRUSH

Pro Plan: $119.95/month
Guru Plan:$229.95/month
Business Plan: $449.95/month

Which SEO tool should you choose for digital marketing?

When it comes to keyword data research, you will become confused about which one to choose.

Consider choosing Ahrefs if you

Like friendly and clean interface
Searching for simple keyword suggestions

Want to get more keywords for different search engines like Amazon, Bing, Yahoo, Yandex, Baidu, and more

Consider SEMrush if you:

Want more marketing and SEO features
Need competitor analysis tool
Need to keep your backlinks profile clean
Looking for more keyword suggestions for Google

Both tools are great. Choose the one which meets your requirements and if you have any experience using either Ahrefs or SEMrush let me know in the comment section which works well for you.

March 1st 2022, 7:47 am

Top 10 Best PLR(Private Label Rights) Websites | Which One You Should Join in 2022?

TechCrunch

Content creation is one of the biggest struggles for many marketers and business owners. It often requires both time and financial resources, especially if you plan to hire a writer.
Today, we have a fantastic opportunity to use other people's products by purchasing Private Label Rights.

To find a good PLR website, first determine the type of products you want to acquire. One way to do this is to choose among membership sites or PLR product stores. Following are 10 great sites that offer products in both categories.

What are PLR websites?

Private Label Rights (PLR) products are digital products that can be in the form of an ebook, software, online course videos, value-packed articles, etc. You can use these products with some adjustments to sell as your own under your own brand and keep all the money and profit yourself without wasting your time on product creation.
The truth is that locating the best website for PLR materials can be a time-consuming and expensive exercise. That’s why we have researched, analyzed, and ranked the best 10 websites:

1. PLR.me

PLR.me is of the best places to get PLR contents in 2021-2022. It offers a content marketing system that comes with courses, brandable tools, and more. It is the most trusted PLR website, among other PLR sites.The PLR.me platform features smart digital caching PLR tools for health and wellness professionals. The PLR.me platform , which was built on an advanced caching technology, has been well-received by big brands such as Toronto Sun and Entrepreneur . The best thing about this website is its content marketing automation tools.

Pricing

Pay-as-you-go Plan – $22
100 Monthly Plan – $99/month
400 Annual Plan – $379/year
800 Annual Plan – $579/year
2500 Annual Plan – $990/year

Pros

Access over 15,940+ ready to use PLR coaching resources.
Content marketing and sliding tools are provided by the site.
You can create courses, products, webinars, emails, and nearly anything else you can dream of.
You can cancel Subscription anytime.

Cons

Compared to other top PLR sites, this one is a bit more expensive.

2. InDigitalWorks

InDigitalWorks is a leading private label rights membership website established in 2008. As of now, it has more than 100,000 members from around the globe have joined the platform. The site offers thousands of ready-to-be-sold digital products for online businesses in every single niche possible. InDigitalWorks features hundreds of electronic books, software applications, templates, graphics, videos that you can sell right away.

Pricing:

3 Months Plan – $39
1 Year Plan – $69
Lifetime Plan – $79

Pros

IndigitalWorks promotes new authors by providing them with 200 free products for download.
Largest and most reputable private label rights membership site.
20000+ digital products
137 training videos provided by experts to help beginners set up and grow their online presence for free.
10 GB of web hosting will be available on a reliable server.

Cons

Fewer people are experiencing the frustration of not getting the help they need.

3. BuyQualityPLR

BuyQualityPLR’s website is a Top PLR of 2021-2022! It's a source for major Internet Marketing Products and Resources. Whether you’re an Affiliate Marketer, Product Creator, Course Seller, BuyQualityPLR can assist you in the right direction. You will find a number of eBooks and digital products related to the Health and Fitness niche, along with a series of Security-based products. If you search for digital products, Resell Rights Products, Private Label Rights Products, or Internet Marketing Products, BuyQualityPLR is among the best websites for your needs.

Pricing

Free PLR articles packs, ebooks and other digital products available
Price ranges from 3.99$ to 99.9$

Pros

Everything on this site is written by professionals
Quick download features available
Doesn't provide membership.
Offers thousand of PLR content in many niche
Valuable courses available

Cons

You can't buy all content because it doesn't provide membership

4. IDPLR

The IDPLR website has helped thousands of internet marketers since 2008. This webite follow membership aproach and allows you to gain access to thousands of PLR products in different niches.The best thing about this site is its quality of the products, which is extremely impressive.
This is the best PLR website of 2021-2022, offering over 200k+ high-quality articles. It also gives you graphics, templates, ebooks, and audios.

Pricing

3 Months ACCESS: $39
1 YEAR ACCESS: $69
LIFETIME ACCESS: $79

Pros

You will have access to over 12,590 PLR products.
You will get access to training tutorials and Courses in Gold membership.
10 GB of web hosting will be available on a reliable server.
You will receive 3D eCover Software
It offers an unlimited download limit
Most important, you will get a 30 days money-back guarantee

Cons:

A few products are available in free membership.

5. PLRMines

PLRmines is a leading digital product library for private label rights products. The site provides useful information on products that you can use to grow your business, as well as licenses for reselling the content. You can either purchase a membership or get access through a free trial, and you can find unlimited high-quality resources via the site's paid or free membership. Overall, the site is an excellent resource for finding outstanding private label rights content.

Pricing

Lifetime membership: $97

Pros

4000+ ebooks from top categories
Members have access to more than 660 instructional videos covering all kinds of topics in a membership area.
You will receive outstanding graphics that are ready to use.
They also offer a variety of helpful resources and tools, such as , PLR blogs, WordPress themes, and plugins

Cons

The free membership won't give you much value.

6. Super-Resell

Super-Resell is another remarkable provider of PLR material. The platform was established in 2009 and offers valuable PLR content to users. Currently, the platform offers standard lifetime memberships and monthly plans at an affordable price. Interested users can purchase up to 10,000 products with digital rights or rights of re-sale. Super-Resell offers a wide range of products such as readymade websites, article packs, videos, ebooks, software, templates and graphics, etc.

Pricing

6 Months Membership: $49.90
Lifetime membership: $129

Pros

It offers you products that come with sales pages and those without sales pages.
You'll find thousands of digital products that will help your business grow.
Daily News update

Cons

The company has set up an automatic renewal system. This can result in costs for you even though you are not using the service.

7. Unstoppable PLR

UnStoppablePLR was launched in 2006 by Aurelius Tjin, an internet marketer and marketer . Over the last 15 years, UnStoppablePLR has provided massive value to users by offering high-quality PLR content. The site is one of the best PLR sites because of its affordability and flexibility.

Pricing

Regular Price : $29/Month

Pros

You’ll get 30 PLR articles in various niches for free.
100% money back guarantee.
Members get access to community
It gives you access to professionally designed graphics and much more.

Cons

People often complain that not enough PLR products are released each month.

8. Resell Rights Weekly

Resell Rights Weekly, a private label rights (PLR) website, provides exceptional PLR content. It is among the top free PLR websites that provide free membership. You will get 728+ PLR products completely free and new products every single week. The Resell Rights Weekly gives you free instant access to all products and download the ones you require.

Pricing

Gold Membership: $19.95/Month

Pros

Lots of products avilable free of cost
Free access to the members forum

Cons

The prices for the products at this PLR site are very low quality compared to other websites that sell the same items.

9. MasterResellRights

MasterResellRights was established in 2006, and it has helped many successful entrepreneurs. Once you join MasterResellRights, you will get access to more than 10,000 products and services from other members. It is one of the top PLR sites that provide high-quality PLR products to members across the globe. You will be able to access a lot of other membership privileges at no extra price. The website also provides PLR, MRR, and RR license products.

Pricing

⦁ One Month Membership : $19.97
⦁ Three Month Membership: $47.00

Pros

⦁ Access more than 10,000 high-quality, PLR articles different niches.
⦁ Get daily fresh new updates
⦁ Users get 8 GB of hosting space
⦁ You can pay using PayPal

Cons

⦁ Only members have access to the features of this site.

10. BigProductStore

BigProductStore is a popular private label rights website that offers tens of thousands of digital products. These include software, videos, video courses, eBooks, and many others that you can resell, use as you want, or sell them and keep 100% of the profit.
The PLR website updates its product list daily. It currently offers over 10,000 products.
The site offers original content for almost every specialty and when you register as a member, you can access the exclusive products section where you can download a variety of high-quality, unique, and exclusive products.

Pricing

Monthly Plan: $19.90/Month 27% off
One-Time-Payment: $98.50 50% off
Monthly Ultimate: $29.90/Month 36% off
One-Time-Payment Ultimate: $198.50 50% off

Pros

You can use PLR products to generate profits, give them as bonuses for your affiliate promotion campaign, or rebrand them and create new unique products.
Lifetime memberships for PLR products can save you money if you’re looking for a long-term solution to bulk goods.
The website is updated regularly with fresh, quality content.

Cons

Product descriptions may not provide much detail, so it can be difficult to know just what you’re downloading.
Some product categories such as WP Themes and articles are outdated.

February 26th 2022, 8:45 am

Domian name chnaged

TechCrunch

Hello everyone i chnaged my site domain name from techcruncher to www.crunchhype.com

February 21st 2022, 9:17 am

Canva Review 2022: Details, Pricing & Features

TechCrunch

Are you looking for a new graphic design tool? Would you like to read a detailed review of Canva? As it's one of the tools I love using. I am also writing my first ebook using canva and publish it soon on my site you can download it is free. Let's start the review.

Canva has a web version and also a mobile app

What is Canva?

Canva is a free graphic design web application that allows you to create invitations, business cards, flyers, lesson plans, banners, and more using professionally designed templates. You can upload your own photos from your computer or from Google Drive, and add them to Canva's templates using a simple drag-and-drop interface. It's like having a basic version of Photoshop that doesn't require Graphic designing knowledge to use. It’s best for nongraphic designers.

Who is Canva best suited for?

Canva is a great tool for small business owners, online entrepreneurs, and marketers who don’t have the time and want to edit quickly.

To create sophisticated graphics, a tool such as Photoshop can is ideal. To use it, you’ll need to learn its hundreds of features, get familiar with the software, and it’s best to have a good background in design, too.

Also running the latest version of Photoshop you need a high-end computer.

So here Canva takes place, with Canva you can do all that with drag-and-drop feature. It’s also easier to use and free. Also an even-more-affordable paid version is available for $12.95 per month.

Free vs Pro vs Enterprise Pricing plan

The product is available in three plans: Free, Pro ($12.99/month per user or $119.99/year for up to 5 people), and Enterprise ($30 per user per month, minimum 25 people).

Free plan Features

250,000+ free templates
100+ design types (social media posts, presentations, letters, and more)
Hundreds of thousands of free photos and graphics
Invite members to your team
Collaborate and comment in real-time
5GB of cloud storage

Pro Plan Features

Everything Free, has plus:
100+ million premium and stock photos, videos, audio, and graphics
610,000+ premium and free templates with new designs daily
Access to Background Remover and Magic Resize
Create a library of your brand or campaign's colors, logos, and fonts with up to 100 Brand Kits
Remove image backgrounds instantly with background remover
Resize designs infinitely with Magic Resize
Save designs as templates for your team to use
100GB of cloud storage
Schedule social media content to 8 platforms

Enterprise Plan Features

Everything Pro has plus:
Establish your brand's visual identity with logos, colors and fonts across multiple Brand Kits
Control your team's access to apps, graphics, logos, colors and fonts with brand controls
Built-in workflows to get approval on your designs
Set which elements your team can edit and stay on brand with template locking
Unlimited Storage
Log in with single-sign on (SSO) and have access to 24/7 Enterprise-level support.

How to Use Canva?

To get started on Canva, you will need to create an account by providing your email address, Google, Facebook or Apple credentials. You will then choose your account type between student, teacher, small business, large company, non-profit, or personal. Based on your choice of account type, templates will be recommended to you.

You can sign up for a free trial of Canva Pro, or you can start with the free version to get a sense of whether it’s the right graphic design tool for your needs.

Designing with Canva

When you sign up for an account, Canva will suggest different post types to choose from. Based on the type of account you set up you'll be able to see templates categorized by the following categories: social media posts, documents, presentations, marketing, events, ads, launch your business, build your online brand, etc.

Start by choosing a template for your post or searching for something more specific. Search by social network name to see a list of post types on each network.

Templates

Next, you can choose a template. Choose from hundreds of templates that are ready to go, with customizable photos, text, and other elements.

You can start your design by choosing from a variety of ready-made templates, searching for a template matching your needs, or working with a blank template.

Canva has a lot to choose from, so start with a specific search.if you want to create business card just search for it and you will see alot of templates to choose from

Elements

Inside the Canva designer, the Elements tab gives you access to lines and shapes, graphics, photos, videos, audio, charts, photo frames, and photo grids.The search box on the Elements tab lets you search everything on Canva.

To begin with, Canva has a large library of elements to choose from. To find them, be specific in your search query. You may also want to search in the following tabs to see various elements separately:

Photos

The Photos tab lets you search for and choose from millions of professional stock photos for your templates.

You can replace the photos in our templates to create a new look. This can also make the template more suited to your industry.

You can find photos on other stock photography sites like pexel, pixabay and many more or simply upload your own photos.

When you choose an image, Canva’s photo editing features let you adjust the photo’s settings (brightness, contrast, saturation, etc.), crop, or animate it.

When you subscribe to Canva Pro, you get access to a number of premium features, including the Background Remover. This feature allows you to remove the background from any stock photo in library or any image you upload.

Text

The Text tab lets you add headings, normal text, and graphical text to your design.

When you click on text, you'll see options to adjust the font, font size, color, format, spacing, and text effects (like shadows).

Canva Pro subscribers can choose from a large library of fonts on the Brand Kit or the Styles tab. Enterprise-level controls ensure that visual content remains on-brand, no matter how many people are working on it.

Audio

Create an animated image or video by adding audio to capture user’s attention in social news feeds.

If you want to use audio from another stock site or your own audio tracks, you can upload them in the Uploads tab or from the more option.

Video

Want to create your own videos? Choose from thousands of stock video clips. You’ll find videos that range upto 2 minutes

You can upload your own videos as well as videos from other stock sites in the Uploads tab.

Once you have chosen a video, you can use the editing features in Canva to trim the video, flip it, and adjust its transparency.

Backgrounds

On the Background tab, you’ll find free stock photos to serve as backgrounds on your designs. Change out the background on a template to give it a more personal touch.

Styles

The Styles tab lets you quickly change the look and feel of your template with just a click. And if you have a Canva Pro subscription, you can upload your brand’s custom colors and fonts to ensure designs stay on brand.

Logos

If you have a Canva Pro subscription, you’ll have a Logos tab. Here, you can upload variations of your brand logo to use throughout your designs.

With Canva, you can also create your own logos. Note that you cannot trademark a logo with stock content in it.

Publishing with Canva

With Canva, free users can download and share designs to multiple platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Slack and Tumblr.

Canva Pro subscribers can create multiple post formats from one design. For example, you can start by designing an Instagram post, and Canva's Magic Resizer can resize it for other networks, Stories, Reels, and other formats.

Canva Pro subscribers can also use Canva’s Content Planner to post content on eight different accounts on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Slack, and Tumblr.

Canva Team

Canva Pro allows you to work with your team on visual content. Designs can be created inside Canva, and then sent to your team members for approval. Everyone can make comments, edits, revisions, and keep track via the version history.

Canva Print

When it comes to printing your designs, Canva has you covered. With an extensive selection of printing options, they can turn your designs into anything from banners and wall art to mugs and t-shirts.

Canva Print is perfect for any business seeking to make a lasting impression. Create inspiring designs people will want to wear, keep, and share. Hand out custom business cards that leave a lasting impression on customers' minds.

Canva Apps

The Canva app is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play. The Canva app has earned a 4.9 out of five star rating from over 946.3K Apple users and a 4.5 out of five star rating from over 6,996,708 Google users.

In addition to mobile apps, you can use Canva’s integration with other Internet services to add images and text from sources like Google Maps, Emojis, photos from Google Drive and Dropbox, YouTube videos, Flickr photos, Bitmojis, and other popular visual content elements.

Canva Pros and Cons

Pros:

A user-friendly interface
Canva is a great tool for people who want to create professional graphics but don’t have graphic design skills.
Hundreds of templates, so you'll never have to start from scratch.
Wide variety of templates to fit multiple uses
Branding kits to keep your team consistent with the brand colors and fonts
Creating visual content on the go
You can find royalty free images, audio, and video without having to subscribe to another service.

Cons:

Some professional templates are available for Pro user only
Advanced photo editing features like blurring or erasing a specific area are missing.
Some elements that fall outside of a design are tricky to retrieve.
Features (like Canva presentations) could use some improvement.
If you are a regular user of Adobe products, you might find Canva's features limited.
Prefers to work with vectors. Especially logos.
Expensive enterprise pricing

Conclusion

In general, Canva is an excellent tool for those who need simple images for projects. If you are a graphic designer with experience, you will find Canva’s platform lacking in customization and advanced features – particularly vectors. But if you have little design experience, you will find Canva easier to use than advanced graphic design tools like Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator for most projects. If you have any queries let me know in the comments section.

February 20th 2022, 7:59 am

Top 7 Best Wordpress Plugin Of All Time

TechCrunch

If you are looking for the best wordpress plugins, then you are at the right place. Here is the list of best wordpress plugins that you should use in your blog to boost SEO, strong your security and know every aspects of your blog . Although creating a good content is one factor but there are many wordpress plugins that perform different actions and add on to your success. So let's start

1.Yoast SEO

Those users who are serious about SEO, Yoast SEO will do the work for them to reach their goals. All they need to do is select a keyword, and the plugin will then optimize your page according to the specified keyword

Yoast offers many popular SEO WordPress plugin functions. It gives you real-time page analysis to optimize your content, images, meta descriptions, titles, and kewords. Yoast also checks the length of your sentences and paragraphs, whether you’re using enough transition words or subheadings, how often you use passive voice, and so on. Yoast tells Google whether or not to index a page or a set of pages too.

Let me summarize these points in bullets:

Enhance the readability of your article to reduce bounce rate
Optimize your articles with targetted keywords
Let Google know who you are and what your site is about
Improve your on-page SEO with advanced, real-time guidance and advice on keyword usage, linking, and external linking.
Keep your focus keywords consistent to help rank better on Google.
Preview how your page would appear in the search engine results page (SERP)
Crawl your site daily to ensure Google indexes it as quickly as possible.
Rate your article informing you of any mistakes you might have made so that you can fix them before publishing.
Stay up-to-date with Google’s latest algorithm changes and adapt your on-page SEO as needed with smartsuggestionss from the Yoast SEO plugin. This plugin is always up-to-date.
Free Version is available

Pricing

Premium version=$89/year that comes with extra functions, allowing you to optimize your content up to five keywords, among other benefits.

2. WP Rocket

A website running WordPress can put a lot of strain on a server, which increases the chances that the website will crash and harm your business. To avoid such an unfortunate situation and ensure that all your pages load quickly, you need a caching plugin like WP Rocket.

WP Rocket plugin designed to increases your website speed. Instead of waiting for pages to be saved to cache, WP Rocket turns on desired caching settings, like page cache and gzip compression. The plugin also activates other features, such as CDN support and llazy image loadding, to enhance your site speed.

Features in bullets:

Browser Catching
Preloading the cache of pages
Reducing the number of HTTP requests allows websites to load more quickly.
Decreasing bandwidth usage with GZIP compression
Apply optimal browser caching headers (expires)
Minifying and combining JavaScript and CSS files
Remove Unused CSS
Deferred loading of images (LazyLoad)
WebP compatibility
Deferred loading of JavaScript files
Delay JavaScript Execution
Critical Path CSS generation and deferred loading of CSS files
Database optimization
WordPress Heartbeat API control
DNS prefetch
CDN integration
Cloudflare integration
Sucuri integration
Easy import/export of settings
Easy roll back to a previous version

Pricing

Single License =$49/year for one website
Plus License =$99/year for 3 websites
Infinite License =$249/year for unlimited websites

3.Wordfence Security

Wordfence Security is a WordPress firewall and security scanner that keeps your site safe from malicious hackers, spam, and other online threats. This Plugin comes with a web application firewall (WAF) called tthread Defence Feed that helps to prevents brute force attacks by ensuring you set stronger passwords and limiting login attempts. It searches for malware and compares code, theme, and plugin files with the records in the WordPress.org repository to verify their integrity and reports changes to you.

Wordfence security scanner provides you with actionable insights into your website's security status and will alert you to any potential threats, keeping it safe and secure. It also includes login security features that let you activate reCAPTCHA and two-factor authentication for your website.

Features in Bullets.

Scans your site for vulnerabilities.
Alerts you by email when new threats are detected.
Supports advanced login security measures.
IP addresses may be blocked automatically if suspicious activity is detected.

Pricing

Premium Plan= $99/Year that comes with extra security features like the real time IP backlist and country blocking option and also support from highly qualified experts.

4. Akismet

Akismet can help prevent spam from appearing on your site. Every day, it automatically checks every comment against a global database of spam to block malicious content. With Akismet, you also won’t have to worry about innocent comments being caught by the filter or false positives. You can simply tell Akismet about those and it will get better over time. It also checks your contact form submissions against its global spam database and weed out unnecessary fake information.

Features in Bullets:

The program automatically checks comments and filters out spam.
Hidden or misleading links are often revealed in the comment body.
Akismet tracks the status of each comment, allowing you to see which ones were caught by Akismet and which ones were cleared by a moderator.
A spam-blocking feature that saves disk space and makes your site run faster.
Moderators can view a list of comments approved by each user.

Pricing

Free to use for personal blog

5. Contact Form 7

Contact Form 7 is a plug-in that allows you to create contact forms that make it easy for your users to send messages to your site. The plug-in was developed by Takayuki Miyoshi and lets you create multiple contact forms on the same site; it also integrates Akismet spam filtering and lets you customize the styling and fields that you want to use in the form. The plug-in provides CAPTCHA and Ajax submitting.

Features in bullets:

Create and manage multiple contact forms
Easily customize form fields
Use simple markup to alter mail content
Add Lots of third-party extensions for additional functionality
Shortcode offers a way to insert content into pages or posts.
Akismet spam filtering, Ajax-powered submitting, and CAPTCHA are all features of this plugin.

Pricing

Free to use

6. Monster Insights

When you’re looking for an easy way to manage your Google Analytics-related web tracking services, Monster Insights can help. You can add, customize, and integrate Google Analytics data with ease so you’ll be able to see how every webpage performs, which online campaigns bring in the most traffic, and which content readers engage with the most. It’s same as Google Analytics

It is a powerful tool to keep track of your traffic stats. With it, you can view stats for your active sessions, conversions, and bounce rates. You’ll also be able to see your total revenue, the products you sell, and how your site is performing when it comes to referrals.

MonsterInsights offers a free plan that includes basic Google Analytics integration, data insights, and user activity metrics.

Features in bullets:

Demographics and interest reports:
Anonymize the IPs of visitor
See the results of how far visitors Scroll down
Show the insights of multiple links to the same page and show you which links get more clicks
See sessions of two related sites as a single session
Google AdSense tracking
Send you weekly analytics report of your blog you can download it as pdf

Pricing

Premium plan= $99.50/year that comes with extra features like page and post tracking, Adsense tracking, custom tracking and reports.

7. Pretty Links

Pretty Links is a powerful WordPress plugin that enables you to easily cloak affiliate links on your websiteIt even allows you to easily redirect visitors based on a specific request, including permanent 301 and temporary 302/307 redirects.

Pretty links also helps you to automatically shorten your url for your post and pages.

You can also enable auto-linking feature to automatically add affiliate links for certain keywords

Features

Create clean, easy-to-remember URLs on your website (301, 302, and 307 redirects only)
Random-generator or custom URL slugs
Track the number of clicks
Easy to understand reports
View click details including ip address, remote host, browser, operating system, and referring site
You can pass custom parameters to your scripts when using pretty permalinks, and still have full tracking capability.
Exclude IP Addresses from Stats
Cookie-based system to track your activity across clicks
Create nofollow/noindex links
Toggle tracking on / off on each link.
Pretty Link Bookmarklet
Update redirected links easily to new URLs!

Pricing

Beginner Plan=$79/year that can be used on 1 site
Marketer Plan: $99/year – that can be used on upto 2 sites
Super Affiliate Plan: $149/year – that can be use on upto 5 sites

We hope you’ve found this article useful. We appreciate you reading and welcome your feedback if you have it.

February 11th 2022, 4:14 am

Ginger VS Grammarly: Which Grammar Checker is Better in (2022) ?

TechCrunch

Ginger VS Grammarly: When it comes to grammar checkers, Ginger and Grammarly are two of the most popular choices on the market. This article aims to highlight the specifics of each one so that you can make a more informed decision about the one you'll use.

What is Grammarly?

If you are a writer, you must have heard of Grammarly before. Grammarly has over 10M users across the globe, it's probably the most popular AI writing enhancement tool, without a doubt. That's why there's a high chance that you already know about Grammarly.

But today we are going to do a comparison between Ginger and Grammarly, So let's define Grammarly here. Like Ginger, Grammarly is an AI writing assistant that checks for grammatical errors, spellings, and punctuation. The free version covers the basics like identifying grammar and spelling mistakes

While the Premium version offers a lot more functionality, it detects plagiarism in your content, suggests word choice, or adds fluency to it.

Features of Grammarly

Grammarly detects basic to advance grammatical errors and also help you why this is an error and suggest to you how you can improve it
Create a personal dictionary
Check to spell for American, British, Canadian, and Australian English.
Understand inconsistencies.
Detect unclear structure.
Detect Plagiarism.
Explore overuse of words and wordiness.
Get to know about the improper tones.
Discover the insensitive language aligns with your intent, audience, style, emotion, and more.

What is Ginger

Ginger is a writing enhancement tool that not only catches typos and grammatical mistakes but also suggests content improvements. As you type, it picks up on errors then shows you what’s wrong, and suggests a fix. It also provides you with synonyms and definitions of words and allows you to translate your text into dozens of languages.

Ginger Software: Features & Benefits

Ginger's software helps you identify and correct common grammatical mistakes, such as consecutive nouns, or contextual spelling correction.
The sentence rephrasing feature can help you convey your meaning perfectly.
Ginger acts like a personal coach that helps you practice certain exercises based on your mistakes.
The dictionary feature helps users understand the meanings of words.

In addition, the program provides a text reader, so you can gauge your writing’s conversational tone.

Ginger vs Grammarly

Grammarly and Ginger are two popular grammar checker software brands that help you to become a better writer. But if you’re undecided about which software to use, consider these differences:

Grammarly only supports the English language while Ginger supports 40+ languages.
Grammarly offers a wordiness feature while Ginger lacks a Wordiness feature.
Grammarly shows an accuracy score while Ginger lacks an accuracy score feature.
Grammarly has a plagiarism checker while ginger doesn't have such a feature.
Grammarly can recognize an incorrect use of numbers while Ginger can’t recognize an incorrect use of numbers.
Grammarly and Ginger both have mobile apps.
Ginger and Grammarly offer monthly, quarterly, and annual plans.
Grammarly allows you to check uploaded documents. while Ginger doesn't check uploaded documents.
Grammarly Offers a tone suggestion feature while Ginger doesn't offer a tone suggestion feature.
Ginger helps to translate documents into 40+ languages while Grammarly doesn't have a translation feature.
Ginger Offers text to speech features while Grammarly doesn't have such features.

Grammarly Score: 7/10

Ginger:4/10

So Grammarly wins here.

Ginger VS Grammarly: Pricing Difference

Ginger offers a Premium subscription for 13.99$/month. it comes at $11.19/month for quarterly and $7.49/month for an annual subscription with 40$ off.
On the other hand, Grammarly offers a Premium subscription for $30/month for a monthly plan $20/month for quarterly, and $12/month for an annual subscription.

For companies with three or more employees, the Business plan costs $12.50/month for each member of your team.

Ginger Wins Here

Ginger vs Grammarly – Pros and Cons

Grammarly Pros

Offers free version
All-in-one tool (grammar checker + spell checker + punctuation checker)
Allows you to edit a document without affecting the formatting.
Style checker (paid version)
Active and passive voice checker
Personal dictionary
Plagiarism checker (paid version)
Available on all major devices and platforms
Free mobile apps
User-friendly interface
Browser extensions and MS word add-ons
Can upload and download documents

Grammarly Cons

Supports only English
Customer support only via email
Limits to 150,000 words
Subscription plans can be a bit pricey
Doesn’t offer a free trial
No refund policy

Ginger Pros

Offers free version
All-in-one tool (grammar checker + spell checker + punctuation checker)
Affordable Subscription plans (Additionals discounts are available)
Active and passive voice changer
Translates documents in 40+ languages
Personal dictionary
Browser extension available
Personal trainers help clients develop their knowledge of grammar.
Text-to-speech feature reads work out loud
Get a full refund within 7 days

Ginger Cons

Mobile apps aren't free
Limited monthly corrections for free users
No style checker
No plagiarism checker
Not as user-friendly as Grammarly
You are unable to upload or download documents; however, you may copy and paste files as needed.
Doesn't offer a free trial

Summarizing the Ginger VS Grammarly: My Recommendation

While both writing assistants are fantastic in their ways, you need to choose the one you want.

For example, go for Grammarly if you want a plagiarism tool included.

Choose Ginger if you want to write in languages other than English. I will to the differences for you in order to make the distinctions clearer.

Grammarly offers a plagiarism checking tool
Ginger provides text to speech tool
Grammarly helps you check uploaded documents
Ginger supports over 40 languages
Grammarly has a more friendly UI/UX

Both Ginger and Grammarly are awesome writing tools, without a doubt. Depending on your needs, you might want to use Ginger over Grammarly. As per my experience, I found Grammarly easier to use than Ginger.

Which one you like let me know in the comments section also give your opinions in the comments section below.

February 10th 2022, 5:56 am

Most Frequently Asked Questions About NFTs(Non-Fungible Tokens)

TechCrunch

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are the most popular digital assets today, capturing the attention of cryptocurrency investors, whales and people from around the world. People find it amazing that some users spend thousands or millions of dollars on a single NFT-based image of a monkey or other token, but you can simply take a screenshot for free. So here we share some freuently asked question about NFTs.

1) What is an NFT?

NFT stands for non-fungible token, which is a cryptographic token on a blockchain with unique identification codes that distinguish it from other tokens. NFTs are unique and not interchangeable, which means no two NFTs are the same. NFTs can be a unique artwork, GIF, Images, videos, Audio album. in-game items, collectibles etc.

2) What is Blockchain?

A blockchain is a distributed digital ledger that allows for the secure storage of data. By recording any kind of information—such as bank account transactions, the ownership of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), or Decentralized Finance (DeFi) smart contracts—in one place, and distributing it to many different computers, blockchains ensure that data can’t be manipulated without everyone in the system being aware.

3) What makes an NFT valuable?

The value of an NFT comes from its ability to be traded freely and securely on the blockchain, which is not possible with other current digital ownership solutionsThe NFT points to its location on the blockchain, but doesn’t necessarily contain the digital property. For example, if you replace one bitcoin with another, you will still have the same thing. If you buy a non-fungible item, such as a movie ticket, it is impossible to replace it with any other movie ticket because each ticket is unique to a specific time and place.

4) How do NFTs work?

One of the unique characteristics of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is that they can be tokenised to create a digital certificate of ownership that can be bought, sold and traded on the blockchain.

As with crypto-currency, records of who owns what are stored on a ledger that is maintained by thousands of computers around the world. These records can’t be forged because the whole system operates on an open-source network.

NFTs also contain smart contracts—small computer programs that run on the blockchain—that give the artist, for example, a cut of any future sale of the token.

5) What’s the connection between NFTs and cryptocurrency?

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) aren't cryptocurrencies, but they do use blockchain technology. Many NFTs are based on Ethereum, where the blockchain serves as a ledger for all the transactions related to said NFT and the properties it represents.5) How to make an NFT?

Anyone can create an NFT. All you need is a digital wallet, some ethereum tokens and a connection to an NFT marketplace where you’ll be able to upload and sell your creations

6) How to validate the authencity of an NFT?

When you purchase a stock in NFT, that purchase is recorded on the blockchain—the bitcoin ledger of transactions—and that entry acts as your proof of ownership.

7) How is an NFT valued? What are the most expensive NFTs?

The value of an NFT varies a lot based on the digital asset up for grabs. People use NFTs to trade and sell digital art, so when creating an NFT, you should consider the popularity of your digital artwork along with historical statistics.

In the year 2021, a digital artist called Pak created an artwork called The Merge. It was sold on the Nifty Gateway NFT market for $91.8 million.

8) Can NFTs be used as an investment?

Non-fungible tokens can be used in investment opportunities. One can purchase an NFT and resell it at a profit. Certain NFT marketplaces let sellers of NFTs keep a percentage of the profits from sales of the assets they create.

9) Will NFTs be the future of art and collectibles?

Many people want to buy NFTs because it lets them support the arts and own something cool from their favorite musicians, brands, and celebrities. NFTs also give artists an opportunity to program in continual royalties if someone buys their work. Galleries see this as a way to reach new buyers interested in art.

10) How do we buy an NFTs?

There are many places to buy digital assets, like opensea and their policies vary. On top shot, for instance, you sign up for a waitlist that can be thousands of people long. When a digital asset goes on sale, you are occasionally chosen to purchase it.

11) Can i mint NFT for free?

To mint an NFT token, you must pay some amount of gas fee to process the transaction on the Etherum blockchain, but you can mint your NFT on a different blockchain called Polygon to avoid paying gas fees. This option is available on OpenSea and this simply denotes that your NFT will only be able to trade using Polygon's blockchain and not Etherum's blockchain. Mintable allows you to mint NFTs for free without paying any gas fees.

12) Do i own an NFT if i screenshot it?

The answer is no. Non-Fungible Tokens are minted on the blockchain using cryptocurrencies such as Etherum, Solana, Polygon, and so on. Once a Non-Fungible Token is minted, the transaction is recorded on the blockchain and the contract or license is awarded to whoever has that Non-Fungible Token in their wallet.

12) Why are people investing so much in NFT?

Non-fungible tokens have gained the hearts of people around the world, and they have given digital creators the recognition they deserve. One of the remarkable things about non-fungible tokens is that you can take a screenshot of one, but you don’t own it. This is because when a non-fungible token is created, then the transaction is stored on the blockchain, and the license or contract to hold such a token is awarded to the person owning the token in their digital wallet.

You can sell your work and creations by attaching a license to it on the blockchain, where its ownership can be transferred. This lets you get exposure without losing full ownership of your work. Some of the most successful projects include Cryptopunks, Bored Ape Yatch Club NFTs, SandBox, World of Women and so on. These NFT projects have gained popularity globally and are owned by celebrities and other successful entrepreneurs. Owning one of these NFTs gives you an automatic ticket to exclusive business meetings and life-changing connections.

Final Saying

That’s a wrap. Hope you guys found this article enlightening. I just answer some question with my limited knowledge about NFTs. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to drop them in the comment section below. Also I have a question for you, Is bitcoin an NFTs? let me know in The comment section below

February 6th 2022, 5:34 am

My own Free tools website

TechCrunch

I Publish my free tools website you can access it from here

Tools Available

Keyword Reasearch Tool

Gdrive Direct Link Generator

Word Counter

Xml Sitemap Generator

February 1st 2022, 7:54 am

10 Best Chrome Extensions That Are Perfect for Everyone

TechCrunch

Are you a great Chrome user? That’s nice to hear. But first, consider whether or not there are any essential Chrome extensions you are currently missing from your browsing life, so here we're going to share with you 10 Best Chrome Extensions That Are Perfect for Everyone. So Let's Start.

1. LastPass

When you have too several passwords to remember, LastPass remembers them for you.

This chrome extension is an easy way to save you time and increase security. It’s a single password manager that will log you into all of your accounts. you simply ought to bear in mind one word: your LastPass password to log in to all or any your accounts.

Features

Save usernames and passwords and LastPasswill log you in automatically.
Fill the forms quickly to save your addresses, credit card numbers and more.

2. MozBar

MozBar is an SEO toolbar extension that makes it easy for you to analyze your web pages' SEO while you surf. You can customize your search so that you see data for a particular region or for all regions. You get data such as website and domain authority and link profile. The status column tells you whether there are any no-followed links to the page.You can also compare link metrics. There is a pro version of MozBar, too.

3. Grammerly

Grammarly is a real-time grammar checking and spelling tool for online writing. It checks spelling, grammar, and punctuation as you type, and has a dictionary feature that suggests related words. if you use mobile phones for writing than Grammerly also have a mobile keyboard app.

4. VidlQ

VidIQ is a SaaS product and Chrome Extension that makes it easier to manage and optimize your YouTube channels. It keeps you informed about your channel's performance with real-time analytics and powerful insights.

Features

Learn more about insights and statistics beyond YouTube Analytics
Find great videos with the Trending tab.
You can check out any video’s YouTube rankings and see how your own video is doing on the charts.
Keep track the history of the keyword to determine when a keyword is rising or down in popularity over time.
Quickly find out which videos are performing the best on YouTube right now.
Let this tool suggest keywords for you to use in your title, description and tags.

5. ColorZilla

ColorZilla is a browser extension that allows you to find out the exact color of any object in your web browser. This is especially useful when you want to match elements on your page to the color of an image.

Features

Advanced Color Picker (similar to Photoshop's)
Ultimate CSS Gradient Generator
The "Webpage Color Analyzer" site helps you determine the palette of colors used in a particular website.
Palette Viewer with 7 pre-installed palettes
Eyedropper - sample the color of any pixel on the page
Color History of recently picked colors
Displays some info about the element, including the tag name, class, id and size.
Auto copy picked colors to clipboard
Get colors of dynamic hover elements
Pick colors from Flash objects
Pick colors at any zoom level

6. Honey

Honey is a chrome extension with which you save each product from the website and notify it when it is available at low price it's one among the highest extensions for Chrome that finds coupon codes whenever you look online.

Features

Best for finding exclusive prices on Amazon.
A free reward program called Honey Gold.
Searches and filters the simplest value fitting your demand.
Instant notifications.

7. GMass: Powerful Chrome Extension for Gmail Marketers

GMass (or Gmail Mass) permits users to compose and send mass emails using Gmail. it is a great tool as a result of you'll use it as a replacement for a third-party email sending platform. you will love GMass to spice up your emailing functionality on the platform.

8. Notion Web Clipper: Chrome Extension for Geeks

It's a Chrome extension for geeks that enables you to highlight and save what you see on the web.

It's been designed by Notion, that could be a Google space different that helps groups craft higher ideas and collaborate effectively.

Features

Save anything online with just one click
Use it on any device
Organize your saved clips quickly
Tag, share and comment on the clips

If you are someone who works online, you need to surf the internet to get your business done. And often there is no time to read or analyze something. But it's important that you do it. Notion Web Clipper will help you with that.

9. WhatFont: Chrome Extension for identifying Any Site Fonts

WhatFont is a Chrome extension that allows web designers to easily identify and compare different fonts on a page. The first time you use it on any page, WhatFont will copy the selected page.It Uses this page to find out what fonts are present and generate an image that shows all those fonts in different sizes. Besides the apparent websites like Google or Amazon, you'll conjointly use it on sites wherever embedded fonts ar used.

10. SimilarWeb: Traffic Rank & Website Analysis Extension

Similar Web is an SEO add on for both Chrome and Firefox.It allows you to check web site traffic and key metrics for any web site, as well as engagement rate, traffic ranking, keyword ranking, and traffic source. this is often a good tool if you are looking to seek out new and effective SEO ways similarly as analyze trends across the web.

Features

Discover keyword trends
Know fresh keywords
Get benefit from the real traffic insights
Analyze engagement metrics
Explore unique visitors data
Analyze your industry's category
Use month to date data

How to Install chrome Extension in Android

I know everyone knows how to install extension in pc but most of people don't know how to install it in android phone so i will show you how to install it in android

1. Download Kiwi browser from Play Store and then Open it.

2. Tap the three dots at the top right corner and select Extension.

3. Click on (+From Store) to access chrome web store or simple search chrome web store and access it.

4. Once you found an extension click on add to chrome a message will pop-up asking if you wish to confirm your choice. Hit OK to install the extension in the Kiwi browser.

5. To manage extensions on the browser, tap the three dots in the upper right corner. Then select Extensions to access a catalog of installed extensions that you can disable, update or remove with just a few clicks.

Your Chrome extensions should install on Android, but there’s no guarantee all of them will work. Because Google Chrome Extensions are not optimized for Android devices.

Final Saying

We hope this list of 10 best chrome extensions that is perfect for everyone will help you in picking the right Chrome Extensions. We have selected the extensions after matching their features to the needs of different categories of people. Also which extension you like the most let me know in the comment section

January 31st 2022, 6:55 am

Most Frequently Asked Questions About Email Marketing

TechCrunch

1. Why is email marketing important?

Email is the marketing tool that helps you create a seamless, connected, frictionless buyer journey. More importantly, email marketing allows you to build relationships with prospects, customers, and past customers. It's your chance to speak to them right in their inbox, at a time that suits them. Along with the right message, email can become one of your most powerful marketing channels.

2. What is benefits of email marketing?

Email marketing is best way for creating long term relationship with your clients, and increasing sales in our company.

Benefits of email marketing for bussiness:

Better brand recognition
Statistics of what works best
More sales
Targeted audience
More traffic to your products/services/newsletter
Build credibility

Most bussinesses are using email marketing and making tons of money with email marketing.

3. What is the simplest day and time to send my marketing emails?

Again, the answer to this question varies from company to company. And again, testing is the way to find out what works best. Typically, weekends and mornings seem to be times when multiple emails are opened, but since your audience may have different habits, it's best to experiment and then use your data to decide.

4. Which metrics should I be looking at?

The two most important metrics for email marketing are open rate and click-through rate. If your emails aren't opened, subscribers will never see your full marketing message, and if they open them but don't click through to your site, your emails won't convert.

5. How do I write a decent subject line?

The best subject lines are short and to the point, accurately describing the content of the email, but also catchy and intriguing, so the reader wants to know more. Once Again, this is the perfect place for A/B testing, to see what types of subject lines work best with your audience. Your call to action should be clear and simple. It should be somewhere at the top of your email for those who haven't finished reading the entire email, then repeated at the end for those reading all the way through. It should state exactly what you want subscribers to do, for example "Click here to download the premium theme for free.

6. Is email marketing still effective?

Email marketing is one of the most effective ways for a business to reach its customers directly. Think about it. You don't post something on your site hoping people will visit it. You don't even post something on a social media page and hope fans see it. You're sending something straight to each person's inbox, where they'll definitely see it! Even if they don't open it, they'll still see your subject line and business name every time you send an email, so you're still communicating directly with your audience.

7. However do I grow my email subscribers list? Should i buy an email list or build it myself?

Buying an email list is waste of time & money. These email accounts are unverified and not interested in your brand. The mailing list is useless if your subscribers do not open your emails. There are different ways to grow your mailing list.

Give them a free ebook and host it on a landing page where they have to enter the email to download the file and also create a forum page on your website, asks your visitors what questions they might have about your business, and collects email addresses to follow up with them.

8. How do I prevent audience from unsubscribing?

If the subject line of the email is irrelevant to customers, they will ignore it multiple times. But, if it keeps repeating, they are intercepted and unsubscribed from your emails. So, send relevant emails for the benefit of the customer. Don't send emails that often only focus on sales, offers and discounts.

Submit information about your business and offers so you can connect with customers. You can also update them on recent trends in your industry. The basic role of an email is first and foremost to connect with customers, get the most out of this tool.

9. What is the difference between a cold email and a spam email?

Cold emails are mostly sales emails that are sent with content align to the needs of the recipient. It is usually personalized and includes a business perspective. However, it is still an unsolicited email. And all unsolicited emails are marked as SPAM.

Regularly receiving this type of unsolicited email in your users' inboxes, chances are your emails will soon be diverted to spam or junk folders. The most important thing to prevent this from happening is to respect your recipients' choice to opt-out of receiving emails from you. You can add the links to easily unsubscribe. You must be familiar with the CAN-SPAM Act and its regulations.

10. Where can I find email template?

Almost all email campaign tools provide you with ready-made templates. Whether you use MailChimp or Pardot, you'll get several email templates ready to use.

However, if you want to create a template from scratch, you can do so.Most of email campaign tools have option to paste the HTML code of your own design.

11. What email marketing trend will help marketers succeed in 2022?

Is it a trend to listen to and get to know your customers? I think people realize how bad it feels for a brand or a company to obsess over themselves without knowing their customers personal needs. People who listen empathetically and then provide value based on what they learn will win.

Final Saying

You can approach email marketing in different ways. We have compiled a list of most frequently asked questions to help you understand how to get started, what constraints you need to keep in mind, and what future development you will need, we don’t have 100% answers to every situation and there’s always a chance you will have something new and different to deal with as you market your own business.

January 29th 2022, 8:52 am

7 Free Websites Every Content Creator Needs to Know

TechCrunch

Do you have the desire to become a content creator, but not have the money to start? Here are 7 free websites every content creator needs to know.

1.Exploding Topics (Trending Topics)

(Photo Credit:- Exploding Topics)

If you're a content creator, you might be wondering what better way to find new topic ideas than to see what people are searching for? This tool gives you this data without anyone else's explanation. It provides related hashtags and tips on how to use them effectively in your posts. It's a great tool for anyone who wants to keep up to date with what's most relevant in their niche. You can also see the most popular hashtags by country, making it easier to understand cross-border and demographic trends. This site makes your search for content easier than ever! There are countless ways to use explosive topics to your advantage as a content creator.

Some examples can be:

Use the most popular hashtags and keywords to get inspiration for ideas.
Find out what people are talking about in real-time.
Find new audiences you may not have known were interested in your topic.

There’s no excuse not to try this website — it’s free and easy to use!

Visit Exploding Topics From Here

2. Headline Studio (Headline Grader)

(Photo Credit:-Headline Studio)

Headline Studio allows you to create catchy headlines for your content. After writing a title there is data on how often people view articles with similar titles and why they are involved with them.

This is a valuable tool when creating new blog posts because generates catchy headlines for your blog post to catch a reader’s attention.

Visit Headline Studio From Here

3. Answer the public

(Photo Credit:- Answer The Public)

Answer The public is an excellent tool for content creators. It gives you insight into what people are asking on social media sites and communities and lets you guess about topics that matter to your audience. Answer the public allows you to enter a keyword or topic related to your niche and it will show results with popular questions and keywords related to your topic. It's an amazing way to get insights into what people are searching online and allows you to identify topics driven by new blog posts or social media content on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and Twitter as well as the types of questions they ask also want answers.

Visit Answer The Public From Here

4. Surfer Seo (SEO Ranking)

(Photo Credit:-Surfer Seo)

With this tool, content creators can quickly and easily check the ranking of their websites and those of other competitors. This tool allows you to see how your website compares to others in different categories, including:

Rank Potential
Organic Search Ranking

Surfer Seo is free and the interface is very friendly. It's a great tool for anyone who wants to do quick competitor research or check their site's rankings at any time.

Visit SurferSeo From Here

5. Canva (Templates/Graphics)

(Photo Credit:- Canva)

Canva is a free graphic design platform that makes it easy to create invitations, business cards, mobile videos, Instagram posts, Instagram stories, flyers, and more with professionally designed templates. You can even upload your photos and drag and drop them into Canva templates. It's like having a basic version of Photoshop. You can also remove background from images with one click.

Canva offers thousands of free, professionally designed templates that can be customized with just a few clicks. Simply upload your photos to Canva, drag them into the template of your choice, and save the file to your computer.

It is free to use for basic use but if you want access to different fonts or more features, then you need to buy a premium plan.

Visit Canva From Here

6. Facebook Audience Insights (Audience Research)

(Photo Credit:- Facebook Audience Insights

Facebook Audience Insights is a powerful tool for content creators when researching their target market. This can help you understand the demographics, interests, and behaviors of your target audience. This information helps determine the direction of your content so that it resonates with them. The most important tools to consider in Facebook Audience Insights are Demographics and Behavior. These two sections provide you with valuable information about your target market, such as their age and from where they belong, how much time they spend on social media per day, what devices they use to access it, etc.

There is another section of Facebook Audits that is very helpful. This will let you know the interests, hobbies, and activities that people in your target market are most interested in. You can use this information to create content for them about things they will be about as opposed to topics they may not be so keen on.

Visit Facebook Audience Insights From Here

7. Pexels (Images)

(Photo Credit: Pixel

Pexels is a warehouse for any content creator with millions of free royalty images who wants to find high-quality images that can be used freely without having to worry about permissions or licensing so you are free to use the photos in your content and also there is no watermark on photos

The only cons are that some photos contain people, and Pexels doesn't allow you to remove people from photos. Search your keyword and download as many as you want!

Visit Pexel From Here

So there you have it. We hope that these specially curated websites will come in handy for content creators and small businesses alike. If you've got a site that should be on this list, let us know! And if you're looking for more content creator resources, then let us know in the comments section below

January 27th 2022, 10:25 am

Top 9 Free AI Tools That Make Your Life Easier

TechCrunch

Copy.ai

Photo:- Copy.ai

First one on the list is copy.ai. It is an AI based copy writer tool. Basically what a copywriter tool does is, it gives you content that you can post on your blog or video when you give it a few descriptions about the topic you want content on.So copy ai can help you write instagram captions gives you blog idea, product descriptions, facebook content, startup ideas, viral ideas, a lot of things it can do, you just make an account in this website, then select a tool and fill in the necessary description and the AI will generate content on what you ask for.

For tutorials go to their official Youtube channel .An awesome tool that is going to be really handy in the future.

Hotpot.ai

Hotpot.ai offers a collection of AI tools for designers, as well as for anyone, it has an “AI picture restorer” which removes scratches ,and basically restores your old photo into amazing pictures and makes it look brand new.

Ai picture colorizer , turns your black and white photo into color. And there is a background remover tool, picture enlarger and a lot more for designers, check it out,and explore all the tools.

Deep-nostalgia

Deep-nostalgia became very popular on the internet when people started

making reaction videos of their parents reacting to animated pictures of their grandparents. So deep - nostalgia is a very cool app, that will animate any photo of a person.

So what makes it really cool is that fact that you can upload an old photo of your family and see them animate and living. Which is pretty cool and creepy at the same time if they are dead already.. Really amazing service from myheritage, I created a lot of cool animations with my old photos as well as with the photos of my grandparents.

Pfpmaker.com

Having a nice looking profile picture is really important if you want that professional feel in your socials. Whether in linkedin or twitter having a

distinct and catchy profile picture can make all the difference. So that's where pfpmaker comes in. it a free online tool to create amazing professional profile pictures that fits you. It generates a lot of profile pictures and you can also make small changes to already created profile pictures if you want to,as well.

Brandmark.io

Speaking of brands, getting a good logo for your brand is the most frustrating

thing ever, so brandmark.io makes it super easy. It will create a logo for your brand within 2 clicks. So you goto this website. Type in your brand name and slogan if you have any, and give BRAND KEYWORDS that relate to your brand, then pick a color style and done, the ai will generate amazing logos for you.

You can also make minor edits to the suggested logos to better fit your needs as well. But to get that png you need to pay a hefty price, but if you are looking for some logo ideas, this is a great place to start.

Deep-image.ai

Even in the previous websites, some had picture enlarger tools. This deep-image.ai is a dedicated image enlarger, which supports upto 3x enlargement for free. The UI is pretty good and the tool is pretty fast with amazing results.

Bigjpg

Bigjpg does the same as deep-image.ai , but this service offers a little bit more options like if your photo is an artwork it scales image differently than normal photos and it supports upto 4x enlargement for free and you can also set noise reduction options. Very good tool,

Lumen5

Lumen5 is an online marketing video maker that makes it really easy to create branding or informational videos within a couple of clicks. They have really great templates and various aspect ratios for various social media platforms.

You can also edit each element of the video if you don't like the preset, and the best part is, they have a ton of , I mean a ton of free stock photos and videos.You can also upload your own videos or any type of media. Definitely a good tool if you don't know how to work with complex tools like after effects, but want to create a sick video for your brand.

Namelix

If you are struggling to find good names for your brand or youtube channel, give

namelix a try. It's an ai based name generator that will suggest good names for your brand depending on the keyword that you give.. Also logo for your brand. Pretty cool and an amazing piece of tool. So that's been it , those are my favourite free AI based tools that you can use right now,

Which one You like the most Let me know in the Comments below.

January 24th 2022, 7:21 am

People with this certain gene version less likely to develop severe COVID-19

TechCrunch

The new results show that people with a specific version of a gene are less likely to develop severe COVID-19. Earlier research had identified a specific group of genes, called the OAS1/2/3 gene cluster, as being involved in the risk for severe COVID-19.

One version of a gene in that cluster –passed down from Neanderthals, appeared to protect against serious disease, reducing risk by about 23%. Previous research was mostly done on people of European ancestory. Researchers are now seeing the same association of this genetic variant with less severe COVID-19 in people of African ancestory, according to a report published in Nature Genetics.

"The fact that people of African descent had the same protection allowed us to identify the only variant in DNA that actually protects against COVID19 infection. co-author dr. Jennifer Huffman said in a statement.

OAS genes are involved in a cascade of effects that help cells fight viruses, the researchers said. Understanding these genes and their impact on COVID19 risks could aid in the development of future drugs, they added.

Fewer Delta breakthroughs with Moderna vs Pfizer/BioNTech

When the delta variant coronavirus was widespread in the United States, recipients of two doses of Moderna's mRNA vaccine (MRNA.O) were less likely to have breakthrough infection and were slightly less likely to be hospitalized than recipients of two doses of mRNA vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech, found a large study.

The researchers analyzed the medical records of more than 637,000 vaccine recipients who had not previously been infected with the virus and had not received a booster shot.

As reported in JAMA on Thursday, advanced infections increased steadily each month from July through November 2021, with higher rates in the Pfizer/BioNTech group.

In November, there were 2.8 cases per thousand people vaccinated with the Pfizer/BioNTech injections compared to 1.6 cases per thousand recipients of the Moderna vaccines.

January 23rd 2022, 9:49 am

Tonga struggles with ash, psychological trauma after eruption and tsunami

TechCrunch

A satellite image shows Mango islands after Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano eruption, in Tonga, January 20, 2022. Satellite Image @2022 Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS

Families have prevented children from playing outside as Tonga struggles to deal with the ash and psychological effects of last week's volcanic eruption and tsunami, aid workers and local residents said. Telephone service interrupted.

The Red Cross said it was providing 173 households on the main island of Tonga not only with tents, food, water and toilets but also comforts. "Right now everyone is still having issues," said Drew Havea, vice president of the Tonga Red Cross.

Because of the ashes, "families make sure their kids aren't playing outside, that everyone is inside," he said.

Although some residents of the hardest-hit Ha'apai outlying islands had been evacuated to the main island of Tongatapu, others refused to go, Havea said. The psychological effects of waves breaking through and destroying villages will affect their lives for some time, he said. “All the kids grew up, they were taught in their geography class that this is the ring of fire we all live in.

Now I think we're pretty worried and we're starting to think, 'How active are these places?he told Reuters. The eruption of HungaTongaHungaHa'apai volcano, which sits on the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, sent tsunami waves across the Pacific Ocean and was heard about 2,300 km (1,430 miles) away in New Zealand.

The eruption was so powerful that space satellites captured not only huge clouds of ash but also an atmospheric shockwave that radiated out from the volcano at close to the speed of sound.

"I thought the world was ending," recalled John Tukuafu, owner of beach resort Vakaloa, who had to rush to save his wife from the tsunami.

The resort was in Kanokupolu, one of the worst-hit areas of Tongatapu. and uprooted trees and debris now lie in the area where the complex was located. it has taken a week for many people to recover from the "throbbing and terrifying" sound of the eruption, he said.

"It was too loud to hear, but I could feel it. Until the big bang," She told Reuters by phone on SundayResidents were wishing for tropical rain to wash off the "awful and itchy" volcanic dust, said Fonua. Leaves on trees had turned brown and were falling off.

Fonua said she was in her seafront office talking on the phone to her son in New Zealand when the tsunami struckWhen the line went dead, he feared she had been swept away.

The anxiety of many Tongan families overseas was prolonged in the days it took for limited international call capacity to be restored.

Cut off from the world, Tongans got on with immediate rescue efforts, Fonua said.

Older Tongans with a tradition of self-reliance remarked that young people had been forced to stop looking at their smart phones and had leapt into action, she said.

With power restored after a week, the Matangi Tonga website posted its first story on Saturday since the eruption and tsunami, describing the "pumice rain", as volcanic debris fell from the sky, and waves that engulfed cars.

Still, her office cannot send email and Tonga needs more satellite capacity, Fonua said.

The international navy ships and flights arriving had brought much needed supplies and communication equipment, she said.

January 23rd 2022, 9:49 am

Scientists scrutinise characteristics of new Omicron sub-variant

TechCrunch

Image Credit:CIPhotos via Getty Images

Studies are underway to find out the precise characteristics of the latest Covid-19 variant ‘BA.2’. It already accounts for the majority of most recent cases in a number of countries, including India, Denmark and Sweden. But, for French Health Minister Olivier Véran, this sub-variant’s arrival in France is not “a game changer”.

BA.2, nicknamed “Omicron’s little brother”, made its first appearance in France a few weeks ago. Mentioned for the first time by Véran during a press conference on January 20, this new Covid-19 derivative is being scrutinised by scientists.

Where does BA.2 come from?

BA.2 was first identified in India and South Africa in late December 2021. It is a sub-variant, believed to have emerged from a mutation of Omicron (officially known as BA.1). Omicron itself was born from a mutation of Delta. Other sub-lineages have already been referenced, such as BA.3 or BB.2, but they have attracted less attention from epidemiologists because of the dramatic increase in cases of people who have contracted BA.2.

BA.2 has more than 20 mutations, about half of them in the spike protein. This is the famous protein that interacts with human cells and is the key to the virus entering the body.

Is this sub-variant as dangerous as Omicron?

The World Health Organization (WHO), which had classified Omicron as a “variant of concern”, does not at this stage distinguish between it and its BA.2 sub-lineage. For his part, Véran said that “as far as we know at the moment, it corresponds more or less to the characteristics we know about Omicron”. It is not “a game changer” at this stage, added Véran in an attempt to reassure.

BA.2 is being closely studied by the scientific community, but there is as yet no precise data on its resistance to vaccines or the severity of the cases of Covid-19 it causes. Scientists are beginning to speak out on the subject, while remaining cautious.

Virologist Tom Peacock of Imperial College London tweeted that “very early observations from India and Denmark suggest there is no dramatic difference in severity compared to BA.1. This data should become more solid (one way or another) in the coming weeks.”

Peacock added that “there is likely to be minimal differences in vaccine effectiveness against BA.1 and BA.2. Personally, I’m not sure BA.2 is going to have a substantial impact on the current Omicron wave of the pandemic.

“Several countries are near, or even past the peak of BA.1 waves. I would be very surprised if BA.2 caused a second wave at this point. Even with slightly higher transmissibility this absolutely is not a Delta-Omicron change and instead is likely to be slower and more subtle,” he predicted.

For epidemiologist Antoine Flahault, director of the University of Geneva’s Institute of Global Health, infection monitoring should make it possible to test the resistance of BA.2, in particular if people infected with the classic Omicron are again contaminated with the sub-variant. However, it is necessary to have the means to detect contamination with BA.2 in the population, which seems delicate at this stage and which does not seem to be self-evident.

Why is BA.2 so difficult to trace?

BA.2 poses certain challenges to scientists, as it is not easy to track. A variation in PCR test protocols and the fact that the type of kit varies from one laboratory to another makes it difficult to reliably identify BA.2, according to Florence Débarre, a biologist at the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences in Paris, interviewed by Libération. “In the UK, the way the tests are carried out does not allow us to distinguish between BA.2 and Delta,” explains Débarre.

There is a more accurate but less commonly used tool for tracking variants: genetic sequencing of the virus. This allows the exact presence of this sub-variant to be identified. But in France, for example, only some of the laboratory tests are randomly subjected to this more in-depth and expensive form of analysis. Sequencing also has the drawback of being slow, which means it is not suitable for monitoring a rapidly spreading variant.

Where is BA.2 most dominant?

The sub-variant has been detected in at least 43 countries on all continents. It is believed to have become the most common variant in a number of countries, including India, Denmark and Sweden. In Denmark, the number of daily cases of Covid-19 has started to rise again, just when the Danes thought they had already reached the peak.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) identified more than 400 cases in Britain in the first 10 days of January.

“The Danish authorities have no explanation for this phenomenon, but it is being closely monitored,” said France’s public health agency, which is following the latest developments in Denmark. This “suggests that BA.2 is even more transmissible”, agreed Débarre. In Europe, BA.2 has also been sequenced in the UK, Germany, Belgium, Italy and France, while North America, Asia and Australia have recorded cases, too.

Is BA.2 evolving as fast in France?

To date, the sub-variant has been detected “at very low levels” in France, says France’s public health agency. “We have an international situation where the Omicron variant is circulating a lot, so it is normal that we observe sub-variants over time,” the agency said on January 21.

January 23rd 2022, 7:07 am

WhatsApp plans transfer of data between Android, iOS devices

TechCrunch

WhatsApp chat could now be transferred between Android and iOS devices after the Meta-owned messaging app plans to roll out a new update.

This was revealed by the found source code of WhatsApp 22.74 Beta for iOS. However, the migration process would not be easy and would require both devices to have the app installed and would likely involve a wired or private WiFi connection. In comparison, other messaging apps store and sync user data with Google Drive, iCloud or their own cloud service.

WhatsApp recently added new features to its desktop and Android apps. The Android app will get new pencil and drawing tools in a future update, while WhatsApp Desktop will get new chat bubble colors. The desktop app also gets a new dark blue color that is only visible in dark theme mode.

The instant messaging app is also testing a new emoji message reaction info tab and new message reaction notification settings. WhatsApp feature tracker WABetaInfo said that WhatsApp is introducing new drawing tools to its Android app.

You get two pens, including one thinner and one thicker than the existing pen. The app is also working on a blur tool that may be added in the future.

The new features appeared in the WhatsApp Beta for Android 2.22.5 update, but they are disabled by default.

These features are still under development and may be made available to WhatsApp beta testers soon.

January 23rd 2022, 7:07 am

Bitcoin Extends Slide, Has Fallen More Than 50% From Record High

TechCrunch

Bitcoin, the largest digital asset, extended its decline Saturday, and has now shed more than 50% from its record high in November.

Bitcoin’s decline since hitting the record has wiped out more than $600 billion in market value, and over $1 trillion has been lost from the aggregate crypto market. While there have been much larger percentage drawdowns for both Bitcoin and the aggregate market, this marks the second-largest ever decline in dollar terms for both, according to Bespoke Investment Group.

With the Fed’s intentions rocking both cryptocurrencies and stocks, a dominant theme has emerged in the digital-asset space: cryptos have twisted and turned in nearly exactly the same way as equities have.

Bitcoin fell as low as $34,042 Saturday, a drop of 7.2%.

January 22nd 2022, 9:04 am

Microsoft-Activision deal gives merger speculators a new darling

TechCrunch


	Microsoft logo is seen on a smartphone placed on displayed Activision Blizzard logo in this illustration taken January 18, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

Hedge funds, which make profits by speculating on precarious takeovers, got a treat this week when Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) agreed to buy "call of duty" maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) for US$68.7 billion dollars in cash. The transaction requires antitrust laws.

Approved in the United States and other major jurisdictions, including the European Union and China. It comes at a time when President Joe Biden's administration is taking a closer look at large mergers, blaming some of them for raising prices to consumers that are fueling inflation.

Activision's shares ended trading at $82.15 on Wednesday, well below the $95 per share deal price, reflecting concerns that regulators may shoot down a combination that would create the third biggest gaming company, after Tencent and Sony Group Corp (6758.T).

This infers a 57% chance of the deal closing, based on Activision's closing share price of $65.39 before the deal was announced.

The wide spread gives investors willing to bet on whether the deal will be completed the opportunity to score double-digit returns. At a time when so-called merger arbitrage strategies have trailed the broader stock market's returns, it is an attractive but also risky proposition.

Last year, merger arbitrage funds returned nearly 10% according to Hedge Fund Research data, beating returns posted in 2020, 2019 and 2018, but trailing the broader S&P 500 stock market's 27% gain in 2021.

For some investors, Aon's (AON.N) scuttled $30 billion acquisition of Willis Towers Watson (WTY.F) as the U.S. Justice Department sued to block the deal hurt returns.

Now they are looking to come back, hoping that this deal will also force competitors into making deals of their own.

"The positive outlook for event-driven and merger-arbitrage oriented firms in 2022 has been accelerated with the Microsoft-Activision deal," said Hedge Fund Research Inc President Ken Heinz.

Microsoft and Activision gave themselves until June 2023 to complete the transaction, giving hedge funds months to handicap how regulators will react to Microsoft bundling its Xbox platform with Activision's popular games, such as World of Warcraft and Diablo.

Investors may get hints on the Biden administration's stance soon as the Federal Trade Commission is expected to weigh in on defense contractor Lockheed Martin's (LMT.N) planned $4.4 billion acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne (AJRD.N) and the Justice Department will decide on healthcare insurer UnitedHealth's (UNH.N)$13 billion bid for healthcare analytics and technology vendor Change Healthcare (CHNG.O).

Coverage finds such as Millennium, Tiesemann consultant and pentwater capital spend a piece of their fusion bets, and many have occupied Microsoft and Activision for some time.Mutual funds The Merger Fund run by Westchester Capital Management and The Arbitrage Funds run by Water Island Capital offer similar strategies.

January 20th 2022, 9:05 am

EXCLUSIVE TikTok owner ByteDance's revenue growth slowed to 70% in 2021 - sources

TechCrunch

Tik Tok logos are seen on smartphones in front of a displayed ByteDance logo in this illustration taken November 27, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

TikTok owner ByteDance saw its revenue grow 70% year on year to about $58 billion in 2021, slower growth than a year earlier as China tightens its regulation of big tech companies.

According to two people familiar with the matter the numbers were revealed to a small group of employees at an internal meeting of the social media giant this week .

In 2020, the Beijing-based company's total revenue grew by over 100% to $34.3 billion, Reuters has reported. ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Chinese tech companies from Tencent to Alibaba have reported slowing growth amid a sweeping crackdown by the country's regulators, who have rolled out new rules for how they operate and interact with their users.

According to a recent report by market research firm Interactive Marketing Lab Zhongguancun,

ByteDance held its second position in China's online advertising market last year with a 21% market share.

The number one position was still held by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group (9988.HK), and third place went to gaming giant Tencent Holdings (0700.HK), according to the report.

The overall growth of online ad sales in China declined to 9.3% in 2021 from 13.8% a year earlier, the report says.

Tech news website The Information last November reported that ByteDance's 2021 revenue was on track to rise about 60% to 400 billion yuan ($63.07 billion).

ByteDance is one of the world's biggest private tech companies with recent trades in the private-equity secondary market valuing it at about $300 billion, Reuters has reported.

Following Beijing's antitrust efforts, ByteDance has recently been downsizing its powerful investment arm. read more

In November, ByteDance reorganised itself into six business units in its biggest organizational change since ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming said in May he would step down as CEO.

Besides TikTok, ByteDance's other apps include its Chinese equivalent Douyin, news aggregator Jinri Toutiao and video-streaming platform Xigua.

In 2021, users spent approximately $2.3 billion in TikTok and the iOS version of Douyin, a 77% jump year-over-year, according to app tracker Sensor Tower.

January 20th 2022, 9:05 am

Russian c.bank proposes banning cryptocurrencies, crypto mining

TechCrunch

Representations of virtual cryptocurrencies are seen in this illustration taken November 28, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Russia's central bank on Thursday proposed banning the use and mining of cryptocurrencies on Russian territory, citing threats to financial stability, citizens' wellbeing and its monetary policy sovereignty.

The move is the latest in a global cryptocurrency crackdown as governments from Asia to the United States worry that privately operated highly volatile digital currencies could undermine their control of financial and monetary systems.

Russia has argued for years against cryptocurrencies, saying they could be used in money laundering or to finance terrorism. It eventually gave them legal status in 2020 but banned their use as a means of payment.

In December, the price of bitcoin fell after Reuters reported, citing sources, that Russia's regulator was in favour of a complete ban on cryptocurrencies.

In a report published on Thursday, the central bank said speculative demand primarily determined cryptocurrencies' rapid growth and that they carried characteristics of a financial pyramid, warning that bubbles in the market could form, threatening financial stability and citizens.

The bank proposed preventing financial institutions from carrying out any operations with cryptocurrencies and said mechanisms should be developed to block transactions aimed at buying or selling cryptocurrencies for fiat, or traditional currencies. The proposed ban includes crypto exchanges.

Russians are active cryptocurrency users, the central bank said, with an annual transaction volume of about $5 billion.

CRYPTO MINING

Russia is the world's third-largest player in bitcoin mining, behind the United States and Kazakhstan, though the latter may see a miner exodus over fears of tightening regulation following unrest earlier this month. read more

The central bank said crypto mining created problems for energy consumption. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are "mined" by powerful computers that compete against others hooked up to a global network to solve complex mathematical puzzles. The process guzzles electricity and is often powered by fossil fuels.

"The best solution is to introduce a ban on cryptocurrency mining in Russia," the bank said.

In August, Russia accounted for 11.2% of the global "hashrate" - crypto jargon for the amount of computing power being used by computers connected to the bitcoin network.

January 20th 2022, 8:33 am

CHEAP VERSION OF MERCK COVID PILL TO BE MADE FOR POORER NATIONS

TechCrunch

An experimental COVID-19 treatment pill, called molnupiravir and being developed by Merck & Co Inc and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP, is seen in this undated handout photo released by Merck & Co Inc and obtained by Reuters May 17, 2021. Merck & Co Inc/Handout via REUTERS

A UN-backed agency has struck a deal with nearly 30 generic drugmakers to make low-cost versions of Merck's COVID-19 pill molnupiravir for poorer countries, expanding access to a drug seen as a weapon to fight the pandemic.

The antiviral drug, which received emergency use approval in the US in December, reduces hospitalizations and deaths by about 30% in high-risk patients, according to clinical trials.

The agreement, negotiated by the U.N.-backed Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) with Merck, allows 27 generic drugmakers from India, China and other countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East to manufacture ingredients and the finished drug.

The MPP said on Thursday the agreement would see the pill distributed to 105 least developed countries.

The developers of molnupiravir, which together with Merck are the US company Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and Emory University, will not receive royalties from the sale of cheap versions made by generic drug companies as long as COVID-19 is classified as a public health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) .

"This is a critical step in ensuring global access to a much-needed COVID-19 treatment, and we are confident that with manufacturers working closely with regulatory authorities, pre-treatments will be rapidly available," said MPP CEO Charles Gore .

Bangladesh's Beximco Pharmaceuticals, India's Natco Pharma, South Africa's Aspen Pharmacare and China's Fosun Pharma are among the generic drug companies that will manufacture the final product.

January 20th 2022, 7:20 am

AUSTRIA ADDS A LOTTERY TO COVID VACCINE MANDATE

TechCrunch


		A doctor vaccinates a person with a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in Vienna, Austria April 26, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

Austria's conservative government said Thursday it was launching a national lottery to encourage holdouts to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, hours before parliament passed legislation that would introduce a national vaccination mandate.

About 72% of the Austrian population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, one of the lowest rates in Western Europe. "What's up for grabs in the Vaccine Fleet?" Vouchers!”

This is what Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer said at a press conference of the social democratic opposition leader Pamela Rendi Wagner, with whom the measure was being negotiated.

Nehammer said he wanted there to be a financial reward for getting vaccinated, adding: “We have learned from the past and we have seen that a vaccination lottery is the best possible way to set up such a system.”

Members of the public, whether already vaccinated or not, would be entitled to one ticket for each shot they have had – three in total for those who have had their booster shot.

Every 10th ticket would win a 500 euro ($568) gift voucher, Nehammer said, adding it would cost up to 1 billion euros. He later added on Twitter that the vouchers could be used in “retail, tourism, hospitality, services, culture and sport”.

Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler said the aim was to support Austrian businesses and avoid online retailers as much as possible.

January 20th 2022, 7:20 am

Microsoft to gobble up Activision in $69 billion metaverse bet

TechCrunch

(Mike Blake, Reuters)

Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) is buying "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) for $68.7 billion in the biggest gaming industry deal in history as global technology giants stake their claims to a virtual future.

The deal announced by Microsoft on Tuesday, its biggest-ever and set to be the largest all-cash acquisition on record, will bolster its firepower in the booming videogaming market where it takes on leaders Tencent (0700.HK) and Sony (6758.T).

It also represents the American multinational's bet on the "metaverse," virtual online worlds where people can work, play and socialize, as many of its biggest competitors are already doing.

"Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting category in entertainment across all platforms today and will play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms," Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella said.

Microsoft, one of the biggest companies in the world largely thanks to corporate software such as its Azure cloud computing platform and Outlook franchise, is offering $95 per share - a 45% premium to Activision's Friday close.

Activision's shares were last up 26% at $82.10, still a steep discount to the offer price, reflecting concerns the deal could get stuck in regulators' crosshairs.

Microsoft has so far avoided the type of scrutiny faced by Google and Facebook but this deal, which would make it the world's third largest gaming company, will put the Xbox maker on lawmakers' radars, said Andre Barlow of the law firm Doyle, Barlow & Mazard PLLC.

"Microsoft is already big in gaming," he said.

However, a source familiar with the matter said Microsoft would pay a $3 billion break-fee if the deal falls through, suggesting it is confident of winning antitrust approval.

The tech major's shares were last down 1.9%.

The deal comes at a time of weakness for Activision, maker of games such as "Overwatch" and "Candy Crush". Before the deal was announced, its shares had slumped more than 37% since reaching a record high last year, hit by allegations of sexual harassment of employees and misconduct by several top managers.

The company is still addressing those allegations and said on Monday it had fired or pushed out more than three dozen employees and disciplined another 40 since July.

CEO Bobby Kotick, who said Microsoft approached him about a possible buyout, would continue as CEO of Activision following the deal, although he is expected to leave after it closes, a source familiar with the plans said.

In a conference call with analysts, Microsoft boss Nadella did not directly refer to the scandal but talked about the importance of culture in the company.

"It's critical for Activision Blizzard to drive forward on its renewed cultural commitments," he said, adding "the success of this acquisition will depend on it."

'METAVERSE ARMS RACE'

Data analytics firm Newzoo estimates the global gaming market generated $180.3 billion of revenues in 2021, and expects that to grow to $218.8 billion by 2024.

Microsoft already has a significant beachhead in the sector as one of the big three console makers. It has been making investments including buying "Minecraft" maker Mojang Studios and Zenimax in multibillion-dollar deals in recent years.

It has also launched a popular cloud gaming service, which has more than 25 million subscribers.

According to Newzoo, Microsoft's gaming market share was 6.5% in 2020 and adding Activision would have taken it to 10.7%.

Executives talked up Activision's 400 million monthly active users as one major attraction to the deal and how vital these communities could play in Microsoft's various metaverse plays.

Activision's library of games could give Microsoft's Xbox gaming platform an edge over Sony's Playstation, which has for years enjoyed a more steady stream of exclusive games.

"The likes of Netflix have already said they'd like to foray into gaming themselves, but Microsoft has come out swinging with today’s rather generous offer," said Sophie Lund-Yates, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Microsoft's offer equates to 18 times Activision's 2021 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA). That compares with the 16 times EBITDA valuation of "Grand Theft Auto" maker Take-Two Interactive's (TTWO.O) cash-and-shares deal for Zynga last week.

According to Refinitiv data, the Microsoft-Activision deal would be the largest all-cash acquisition on record, trumping Bayer's $63.9 billion offer for Monsanto in 2016 and the $60.4 billion that InBev bid for Anheuser-Busch in 2008.

Tech companies from Microsoft to Nvidia have placed big bets on the so-called metaverse, with the buzz around it intensifying late last year after Facebook renamed itself as Meta Platforms to reflect its focus on its virtual reality business.

"This is a significant deal for the consumer side of the business and more importantly, Microsoft acquiring Activision really starts the metaverse arms race," David Wagner, equity analyst and portfolio manager at Aptus Capital Advisors said.

"We believe the deal will get done," he said, but cautioned: "This will get a lot of looks from a regulatory standpoint."

This article is copy paste from Reuters Check the original article here

Source: Reuters

January 19th 2022, 8:04 am

Tesla investors urge judge to order Musk repay $13 bln for SolarCity deal

TechCrunch

REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) shareholders on Tuesday asked a judge to find that Elon Musk forced the company's board of directors into a deal for SolarCity in 2016 and wanted the CEO convicted, the electric vehicle maker one of the largest judgments in history paid $13 billion.

"This case was always about whether the acquisition of SolarCity was a bailout from financial troubles, a bailout orchestrated by Elon Musk," said Randy Baron, a shareholders' attorney, at the Zoom hearing.

The closing arguments listed the key findings of a 10-day trial in July when Musk spent two days at the stand defending the deal.Lawsuit from union pension funds and wealth managers alleges Musk forced Tesla's board of directors to cut the deal to approve for cash -strapped SolarCity, in which Musk was the largest shareholder.

Musk has countered that the deal was part of a decade-old master plan to create a vertically integrated company that would transform energy generation and consumption with SolarCity's roof panels and Tesla's cars and batteries.
Evan Chesler, one of Musk's attorneys, said at the hearing that the deal was not a bailout and that SolarCity is far from insolvent and that its finances are similar to those of many high-growth companies.

"They were building billions of dollars of long-term value," Chesler said of SolarCity.

The all-stock deal was valued at $2.6 billion in 2016, but since that time Tesla's stock has soared.

Shareholder attorney Lee Rudy urged Vice Chancellor Joseph Slights of Delaware's Court of Chancery to order Musk return the Tesla stock he received, which would be worth around $13 billion at its current price.

Musk said in court papers such an award would be at least five times the largest award ever in a comparable shareholder lawsuit and called it a "windfall" for plaintiffs.

Rudy said Slights should consider Musk's contempt for the deposition and trial process, in which he repeatedly clashed with and insulted shareholder attorneys.

"It would be a windfall for Elon Musk if he got to keep shares he never should have gotten in the first place," Rudy said.

Chesler called the request to order Musk to return the stock from the deal "preposterous" and said it ignored five years of unprecedented success at Tesla.

Tesla's stock was down 1% at around $1,040in afternoon trade.

Tesla acquired SolarCity as the electric vehicle maker was approaching the launch of its Model 3, a mass-market sedan that was critical to its strategy. Shareholders allege the deal was a needless distraction and burdened Tesla with SolarCity's financial woes and debt.

Shareholders claim that despite owning only 22% of Tesla, Musk was a controlling shareholder due to his ties to board members and domineering style. If plaintiffs can prove this, it increases the likelihood that the court will conclude the deal was unfair to shareholders.

Musk's lawyers said the celebrity entrepreneur had no authority to fire directors or control their salaries and withdrew from price negotiations in the SolarCity deal.

"Without Elon Musk, Tesla couldn't exist, let alone be worth $1 trillion," said Vanessa Lavely, Musk's attorney. "That doesn't make him a controller. This makes him a highly effective CEO.
Slights ended the hearing by saying he expects to rule in about three months. He said last week that he intends to retire in the next few months. And a request for related shareholders contesting Musk's record pay package was transferred from Slights to another judge.

Source: Reuters

January 19th 2022, 8:04 am

WHATSAPP FOR ANDROID, DESKTOP TO GET NEW FEATURES

TechCrunch

The Android app will get new pencil and drawing tools in a future update, while WhatsApp Desktop will get new chat bubble colors. The desktop app also gets a new dark blue color that is only visible in dark theme mode.

The instant messaging app is also testing a new emoji message reaction info tab and new message reaction notification settings.

WhatsApp feature tracker WABetaInfo said that WhatsApp is introducing new drawing tools to its Android app. You get two pens, including one thinner and one thicker than your existing pen. The app is also working on a blur tool that may be added in the future.

The new features appeared in the WhatsApp Beta for Android 2.22.5 update, but they are disabled by default. These features are still under development and may be made available to WhatsApp beta testers soon.

The WABetaInfo report said the app is also introducing new colour to its Windows and macOS apps with WhatsApp beta for Desktop 2.2201.2.0 update. The new colour scheme will be visible in the dark theme and the chat bubbles seem to be greener compared to the existing colour.

Other elements of the app will also see colour changes with chat bar and background colour now reportedly have a blue tinge.

January 19th 2022, 6:33 am

WHO says no evidence healthy children, adolescents need COVID-19 boosters

TechCrunch

Photo Credit: Fabrice Coffrini | Reuters

At present, there is no evidence that healthy children and adolescents need booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, World Health Organization chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a news briefing, she said that while there seems to be some waning of vaccine immunity over time against the fast-spreading Omicron variant of the coronavirus, more research is needed to determine who needs a booster shot.

"There is currently no evidence that healthy children or heavy adolescents need boosters. No evidence at all," he said.

Israel began offering boosters to children as young as 12, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration earlier this month authorized the use of a third dose of the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 12 and 15.

Last week, Germany became the latest country to recommend that all children between the ages of 12 and 17 receive a COVID-19 booster shot. Hungary did it too.

Swaminathan said the WHO’s top group of experts would meet later this week to consider the specific question of how countries should consider giving boosters to their populations.

“The aim is to protect the most vulnerable, to protect those at highest risk of severe disease and dying. Those are our elderly populations, immuno-compromised people with underlying conditions, but also healthcare workers,” she said.

January 19th 2022, 6:19 am

Apple confirms that the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro do not support noise cancellation during phone c

TechCrunch

Photo credit: Gadgets Now

Apple has confirmed that iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro do not cancel noise during phone calls, including iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 13 Pro Max. Apple included the feature in the iPhone 12 series and earlier models to improve call quality in noise environment.

No reason was given to remove this feature from the iPhone 13 series noise cancellation during phone calls. By reference, by iPhone 13 series, we mean iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. On previous iPhones, the feature was available in Settings under Audio/Visual, which is found in Accessibility.

According to Apple, the setting reduces ambient noise when making calls, but only when you hold the iPhone to your ear. By default, Apple has the feature enabled, although it's hidden in Accessibility.Theoretically, the feature made it easier for people to be heard when making calls from busy areas, such as in the near heavy traffic.

Apple has now confirmed to 9to5Mac that the lack of noise cancellation on the iPhone 13 series is not a bug in iOS 15. Instead, Apple ruled out the feature but didn't explain why. However, older iPhone models still support "phone noise cancellation" in iOS 15. Currently, the only workaround is to enable the voice isolation feature in Control Center, although this doesn't work with all apps.

January 18th 2022, 10:03 am

Samsung unveils Exynos 2200 with Xclipse GPU, based on AMD RDNA2 architecture

TechCrunch

Samsung today unveiled the Exynos 2200, its latest flagship chipset that will power Galaxy S22 smartphones in certain regions. The new platform is based on 4nm EUV process technology and comes with a custom GPU called Xclipse.

It is based on the AMD RDNA2 architecture and as such is a "single hybrid graphics processor" that offers advanced features such as ray tracing and variable rate shading on mobile devices, the first smartphone chip to do so. Ray tracing is a technology that simulates how light behaves in real life, calculating the motion and color of objects as light rays bounce off surfaces.

The hardware-accelerated feature offers realistic effects and immersive graphics, making playing games that support these features as great as it looks. Variable rate shading is another technology implemented in PC and console games. Developers apply lesser shading to areas where quality is not compromised, improving frame rate and smooth gameplay.

Exynos 2200 is also one of the first chips to integrate ARMv9 CPU cores. The octa-core processor features a single powerful CortexX2 core, three CortexA710 cores that balance performance and efficiency, and four small CortexA510 cores for power efficiency.

Traditionally, Samsung does not disclose the frequency of its chips are cloaked at. The new GPU and upgraded CPU also have a more powerful NPU to keep them company. Compared to the Exynos 2100, the performance has been doubled and allows more calculations in parallel, improving the overall performance of the AI.

The chipset is powered by the latest LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. The 5G modem works on both sub-6GHz and mmWave frequencies, while the global navigation system is compatible with all major standards and satellites. Samsung said the Exynos 2200 is "currently in mass production". We'll see the Galaxy S22 lineup with the chip, but rumors point to February 8th as a possible launch date.

January 18th 2022, 9:18 am

There Are So Many Details From Marvel’s ‘Eternals’ You Probably Missed

TechCrunch

Photo credit: Marvel Studios

Marvel's Eternals is a very different beast to many other MCU movies; directed by autheor Chloe Zhao, is a slow-paced, meditative story that explores the emotional toll of immortality on a group of extraterrestrials who have lived on the fringes of human society for millennia. This departure from the familiar house style has led many fans to dislike Eternals, but there's one thing it does as well as other Marvel films: hide Easter eggs in plain sight. And now that the film is streaming on Disney+, a new video on the Heavy Spoilers channel just picked up all the niche references and clues.

The first Easter egg appears seconds into the film: The "six singularities" mentioned in the opening text are a nod to the Infinity Stones, those brightly colored McGuffins who have directed the action for much of the past decade. Following the introductory exhibition montage, as we move to Sersi in present-day London, we see an announcement from the Global Repatriation Council, the organization set up to deal with the aftermath of the Avengers undoing the Snap featured in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

A number of different versions of Captain America's shield also show up in the movie, first in Kingo's Bollywood number, and then later on his private plane, where the earliest design is on display. But it's not just Marvel properties that the movie is alluding to: Eternals includes a couple of nods to DC, with Phastos' son calling Ikaris "Superman," and Kingo's valet Karun being compared to Batman's butler Alfred.

The Celestial whose "emergence" functions as the movie's climactic crisis is named Tiamut, which is a reference to an apocalyptic figure from Babylonian mythology. This is especially apt given that ancient Babylon is one of the historical locations where we see the Eternals influencing humanity in the movie.

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January 18th 2022, 8:49 am

Pfizer CEO: Virus will be here for years but this may be last wave with restrictions

TechCrunch

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla speaks during a ceremony in Thessaloniki, Greece, on October 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos, File)

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said on Monday that while the "most likely scenario" is that the coronavirus will circulate for many years, he believes the current wave of infections will be the last to require restrictions.

Bourla gave an interview to the French medium BFM. TV to commemorate the announcement of an investment package by the pharmaceutical company in France. Bourla also touted the vaccines' effectiveness and safety, saying he believed people would still need booster shots. "It's important that people get Pfizer's three-dose regimen. coronavirus vaccine and will likely require yearly booster shots, although the immunocompromised may need them every four months," Bourla said.

“Children need to be vaccinated to protect them. Its effectiveness in children is very, very, very good. Bourla also said the company's anti-COVID pill, Paxlovid, is "changing everything" as a new way to fight serious illnesses. Pfizer said in December that its Paxlovid pill had reduced hospitalizations and deaths by nearly 90 percent in vulnerable people.

In the interview, Bourla said the company was working on a plan that would invest 520 million euros ($593.7 million) in France over the next five years, including a partnership with French company Novasep to develop an anti-inflammatory treatment -COVID pills.

France, like many other countries, is facing a record number of infections caused by the highly contagious Omicron variant. France's parliament passed legislation on Sunday barring unvaccinated people from all restaurants, sports stadiums and other venues, the centerpiece of the government's effort to protect hospitals. in the middle of the wave.

The government of French President Emmanuel Macron is hoping the step will be enough to limit the number of patients filling up strained hospitals nationwide without resorting to a new lockdown.

More than 76% of French ICU beds are occupied by virus patients, most of them unvaccinated, and some 200 people with the virus are dying every day. Like many countries, France is in the grip of the Omicron variant, recording more than 2,800 positive cases per 100,000 people over the past week.

January 17th 2022, 7:33 am

Warren Buffett says these are the best businesses to own — 3 examples from Berkshire's portfolio

TechCrunch

Warren Buffett says these are the best businesses to own — 3 examples from Berkshire's portfolio

While we're constantly bombarded with confusing investment mumbo jumbo, we must never forget that, for the most part, companies exist for one primary reason: to take capital from investors and make a return on it. For this reason, it makes sense for investors to look for companies with enduring competitive advantages that are capable of consistently delivering high returns on investments.

As Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, once said, "The best company to own is one that can deploy large amounts of incremental capital at very high prices at very high rates of return. With that in mind, here are three Berkshire holdings with double-digit returns on invested capital.

Moody's (MCO)

With returns on invested capital consistently in the mid-20% range, credit rating leader Moody’s leads off our list.

Moody’s shares held up incredibly well during the height of the pandemic and are up nearly 220% over the past five years, suggesting that it’s a recession-resistant business worth betting on.

Specifically, the company’s well-entrenched leadership position in credit ratings, which leads to outsized returns on capital, should continue to limit Moody’s long-term downside

Moreover, Moody’s has generated about $2.4 billion in trailing twelve-month free cash flow. And over the first three quarters of 2021, the company has returned $975 million to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends.

As of Q3 2021, Berkshire holds more than 24.6 million shares of Moody’s worth just under $8.8 billion. Moody’s has a dividend yield of 0.7%.

Apple (AAPL)

Next up, we have consumer technology gorilla Apple, which boasts a five-year return on invested capital of 28%, much higher than that of rivals like Nokia (-3%) and Sony (12%).

Even in the cutthroat world of consumer hardware, the iPhone maker has been able to generate outsized returns due to its loyalty-commanding brand and high switching costs (the iOS experience can only be had through Apple products).

And with the company continuing to penetrate emerging markets like India and Mexico, Apple’s long-term growth trajectory remains healthy.

In the most recent quarter, Apple’s revenue jumped 29% to $83.4 billion. The company also returned over $24 billion to shareholders.

The stock currently sports a dividend yield of just 0.5%, but with a buyback yield of 3%, Apple is doling out more cash to shareholders than you might think.

It's no wonder that Apple is Berkshire's largest public holding, owning more than 887 million shares in the tech giant worth roughly $125.5 billion.

Procter & Gamble (PG)

Rounding out the list is consumer staples giant Procter & Gamble, with a solid five-year average return on invested capital of 13.5%.

Berkshire held 315,400 shares at the end of Q3, worth around $44 million at today’s price. While that’s not a big position by Berkshire standards, something does make P&G stand out: the ability to deliver rising cash returns to investors through thick and thin.

The company offers a portfolio of trusted brands like Bounty paper towels, Crest toothpaste, Gillette razor blades and Tide detergent. These are products households buy on a regular basis, regardless of what the economy is doing.

In April, P&G’s board of directors announced a 10% increase to the quarterly payout, marking the company’s 65th consecutive annual dividend hike.

P&G share currently offer a dividend yield of 2.2%.

Source: Yahoo News

January 17th 2022, 7:33 am

A massive volcanic eruption and tsunami hit Tonga and the Pacific. Here's what we know

TechCrunch

Satellite images from JMA show the volcano eruption in Tonga on January 15.

An undersea volcano near Tonga has erupted for the third time in four days, potentially threatening the ability of surveillance flights to assess damage to the Pacific island nation following Saturday's massive eruption and tsunami.

The Australian Meteorological Service said a "major eruption" occurred on the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai volcano on Monday, but no tsunami warning was issued. Saturday's eruption was probably the largest recorded on the planet in more than 30 years, experts said.

Dramatic footage from space captured the eruption in real time, when a huge plume of ash, gas and steam was spewed up to 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) into the atmosphere and Tsunami waves were sent to crash into the Pacific.

Footage on social media showed people fleeing as waves flooded Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa, and the afternoon sky turned black from the heavy ash cloud.

Tsunami waves have also been recorded thousands of miles away along the west coast of the United States, in Peru, New Zealand and Japan. In Peru, at least two people have died after being hit by high waves.

No mass casualties have yet been reported, but aid organizations are concerned about air contamination and access to clean water for residents of Tonga's outer islands.

With communications down, Australia and New Zealand sent flights to survey the damage.

Where is Tonga's Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano?

Tonga is a Polynesian country of over 170 islands in the South Pacific and is home to around 100,000 people. It is a remote archipelago that lies about 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of Fiji and 2,380 kilometers (1,500 miles) from New Zealand.

The HungaTongaHungaHa'apai volcano, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) southeast of Tonga's Fonuafo'ou Island, lies underwater between two small islands about 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) high from the sea floor, with about 100 meters (328 feet) visible above sea level.

Researchers said it has erupted steadily over the past few decades.

In 2009 an eruption sent plumes of steam and ash into the air and formed new land above the water, and an eruption in January 2015 created a new island about 2 kilometers wide , effectively merging with the islands of HungaTonga and HungaHa'apai.

The most recent eruption began in December 2021, with plumes of gas, steam and ash rising about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) into the air.

The volcano erupted again on January 14, and a massive eruption on January 15 sent shock waves around the world and triggered tsunami waves in the Pacific.

Where did the tsunami hit?

The eruption caused a tsunami on Tonga's largest island, Tongatapu, with waves recorded at 1.2 meters (about 4 feet) near Nuku'alofa city flowing onto coastal roads and flooding properties on Saturday.

Tsunami warnings went into effect across Pacific Island nations including Fiji, Samoa and Vanuatu. Footage from the ground in Fiji shows people fleeing to higher ground in the capital, Suva, as large waves hit the coast.

Tsunami warnings and advisories were also issued from parts of New Zealand, Japan and Peru, to the United States and Canada's British Columbia.

In Japan, the northeastern prefecture of Iwate saw waves as high as 2.7 meters (9 feet) and multiple smaller tsunamis were reported in numerous other locations, according to public broadcaster NHK. By Sunday afternoon, all tsunami advisories had been lifted in Japan.

The eruption also sent waves to the US West Coast, with some exceeding 3 and 4 feet in height, according to the National Weather Service office in San Diego. Tsunami waves were felt in California, Alaska and Hawaii.

What is happening with the ash cloud?

A giant cloud of volcanic ash blanketed Tonga over the weekend, obscuring the afternoon sky and blanketing Nuku'alofa in a thick foam of volcanic dust on Saturday.

Save the Children said drinking water supplies could be contaminated with ash and smoke and the immediate concern in Tonga is air and water safety. The ash cloud was moving west and was visible over Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia on Sunday.

According to the state weather service, it reached Queensland in Australia on Monday. at dawn sunlight was scattered by #volcanic ash from the #Tonga eruption," the Queensland Bureau of Meteorology said on Twitter.

The ash prevented an Australian reconnaissance flight from departing to assess the damage early on January 17, although the flight took off later that morning.Several flights from Australia, New Zealand and Fiji to Tonga were postponed due to the ash cloud. suggest the volcanic ice eruption was the largest since the 1991 explosion at Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, New Zealand volcanologist Shane Cronin told Radio New Zealand.

"This is a better observed eruption from space," Cronin said, according to Reuters. The eruption suggests it was likely the largest since the Pinatubo eruption in 1991," Cronin said.

What is the scale of devastation?

So far there have been no reports of mass casualties in Tonga and the extent of the damage is unknown as communications, particularly on the offshore islands, have yet to be restored.

Tonga "needs immediate help to provide its citizens with clean water and food". said the Speaker of the country's House of Representatives, Lord Fakafanua, in a statement released on social media.

It said "many areas" had been affected by "significant volcanic ash fall" but "the full extent of the damage to life and property is unknown at this time". Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said January 16 that tsunami waves had had a "significant impact" on Nuku'alofa as boats and large rocks washed ashore.

"Shops along the coast have been damaged and major cleanup will be required," he said. The main underwater communications cable is also affected, likely due to a power outage. Australia's Minister for Pacific and International Development Zed Seselja said there was "significant damage" in Tonga, including to roads and homes.

He said there was still "very limited, if any" information from the outer islands. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said its teams are on the ground and have enough supplies in the country to feed 1,200 homes.

"Based on what little current information we have, the extent of the devastation could be immense, particularly for the outer islands," Katie Greenwood, head of the IFRC's Pacific delegation, said, according to Reuters.

The New Zealand Defense Force sent an Orion aircraft on a surveillance mission to Tonga to assess the damage. Ardern said the country initially provided $340,000 for relief supplies, technical assistance and on-site assistance.

Australia said it was preparing for additional support, with a plane loaded with humanitarian supplies including water and hygiene items ready to deliver to Tonga as soon as conditions allow.

China and the autonomous island of Taiwan said in separate statements that they are ready to provide assistance at Tonga's request.

January 17th 2022, 7:04 am

Oppo’s next flagship leaks with OnePlus-esque Hasselblad branding

TechCrunch

Image Credit: Onleaks

Details about Oppo's next flagship are starting to gather. Multiple leaks suggest it will be called the Find X5 Pro, with a similar design to last year's Find X3 Pro and specs broadly in line with the new OnePlus 10 Pro, now available in China. (OnePlus is now, of course, treated as an Oppo sub-brand.

The Find X3 Pro wasn't sold in the US, but it made its way to Europe and was one of the best phones of 2021. Renderings recently released by OnLeaks show a device with a camera hump that flows into the rest of the rear much like the Find X3 Pro, although the camera setup has changed and doesn't appear to include the previous phone's unique ring light accoutrement, which features a 'microscope' camera.

Alleged real photos confirming the OnLeaks renders have also now surfaced online, showing a white Hasselblad branded model of the phone, just like recent OnePlus flagships. There's also a photo of the device's settings menu, stating that it has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, like the OnePlus 10 Pro, as well as Oppo's own new chip, the MariSilicon X. This is an NPU used for image processing . It was announced alongside Oppo's Air Glass AR device late last year.

There are other specs floating around on Chinese social media channels that can't be verified but don't sound very surprising, like the OnePlus 10 Pro. Both of Oppo's previous Find X flagships were announced in March, for which we should get official details pretty soon.

January 17th 2022, 7:04 am

Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro ready to fire on all cylinders as January OTA update brings dozens of

TechCrunch

Image Credit: Eric Zeman/ Android Authority

The January OTA pack for Google Pixel 6 (“oropiole”) and Google Pixel 6 Pro (“raven”) has started rolling out. The software update brings fixes from December and January that should help Pixel 6 series smartphones run at full speed after numerous bugs and problems seemed to affect the functionality.

Google has revealed that the January software update for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro is now available as factory images and full OTA images via the Google Play services website (12.0.0 (SQ1D.220105.007), Jan 2022 - specific device/images links can be found in "sources" below). Those who prefer to wait for the OTA package to arrive with a “check for update” notification may start receiving the update from Monday January 17 onwards according to a report from 9to5Google. The list of fixes for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro in the December and January patches is extensive and an installation should help relieve some of the serious teething issues users have experienced.

We recently reported on Google's flagship smartphones being criticized for their flaws, including a scathing comment from tech blogger Marques Brownlee who claimed he would return to his Galaxy S21 Ultra for now. However, it looks like it's ready to give the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro another chance as it's been busy downloading the software update (215MB of fixes in this particular case, presumably from November) . Google took a lot of flak when the December update appeared to leave many Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro phones with critical issues like signal reception issues. Also, many users have complained about the battery drain issue in cellular network standby mode and the slow fingerprint sensor.

Browsing through the list of fixes (see drop-down element "changelog" below for full list) one can find several for battery and charging and for network and telephony. One of these is “general improvements for network connection stability and performance”, which will hopefully alleviate two of the more serious issues mentioned above. There are fixes for biometrics too, with a “general improvements” update coming for the fingerprint sensor. While it’s unlikely every single problem with the Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro can be fixed with this December/January OTA package, it does seem that Google is at least paying attention to the growing din of complaints about the new Pixel phones and doing something proactive about the situation.

Buy The Google Pixel 6 Pro On Amazon

Buy the Google Pixel 6 on Amazon

Source: NoteBook Check

January 16th 2022, 4:01 pm

Tesla asked law firm to fire attorney who worked on Elon Musk probe at SEC, report says

TechCrunch

Patrick Pleul | picture alliance | Getty Images

A Tesla lawyer has asked a law firm to fire one of its lawyers or risk losing his job for the electric carmaker led by Elon Musk, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

The Tesla lawyer wanted Cooley LLP to fire previously worked at the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The attorney questioned Musk as part of the agency's investigation into the Tesla CEO's claim in 2018 that he secured funding to take Tesla private, the publication said.

The investigation led to a settlement in which Musk and Tesla agreed to pay a fine of $20 million each and Musk agreed to step down for three years as Tesla chairman.

Tesla's attorney late last year asked Cooley to fire the attorney working on the SEC investigation, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The firm did not fire the partner.

Tesla has offered to replace Cooley or hire other attorneys in several cases since December, according to the Journal.

Musk's rocket company, SpaceX, has also stopped working with the law firm on regulatory matters, she also stopped working. with the law firm, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Tesla has its ties to the SEC. The company hired David Misler, a former defense attorney for the agency, as legal counsel. Musk has faced more regulators than the SEC.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has investigated whether Tesla's Autopilot assistance system is at least partially responsible for incidents where Tesla cars crashed into parked first responder vehicles.

The agency called Missy Cummings, a Duke University professor, automated systems expert, former Navy fighter pilot and Tesla critic, as a consultant on the investigation.

Musk tweeted in October that "his resume is extremely biased in favor of Tesla," prompting outcry among his supporters.

NHTSA then asked Cummings to recuse himself from Tesla-specific questions, the Journal reported on Saturday.

Source: CNBC

January 16th 2022, 4:01 pm

Microsoft discloses malware attack on Ukraine govt networks

TechCrunch

In this undated handout photo released by Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Press Service, the building of Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is seen during snowfall in Kyiv, Ukraine. Ukrainian officials and media reports say a number of government websites in Ukraine are down after a massive hacking attack. While it is not immediately clear who was behind the attacks, they come amid heightened tensions with Russia and after talks between Moscow and the West failed to yield any significant progress this week. (Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)

Microsoft said on Saturday that dozens of computer systems in an unknown number of Ukrainian government agencies were infected with destructive malware disguised as ransomware, a revelation that suggests a defacement attack that draws attention to official websites was a diversion.

The extent of the damage was not immediately clear. The attack comes as the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine looms and diplomatic talks to resolve the tense standoff appear to have stalled. Microsoft said in a short blog post that this amounted to the sound of an industry alert that it first detected the malware on Thursday.

This would coincide with the attack which temporarily took some 70 government websites offline. The disclosure followed a Reuters report earlier in the day quoting a senior Ukrainian security official as saying the disfigurement was indeed a cover for a malicious attack.

Separately, a senior private sector cybersecurity official in Kyiv told The Associated Press how the attack was successful: intruders entered government networks through a shared software vendor in a self -so-called SolarWinds 2020 Russian cyber-espionage campaign-style supply chain attack against Microsoft said in another technical article that the affected systems "spread across multiple government, non-profit, and technology and information Technology Organization.

"The malware is disguised as ransomware but, if activated by the attacker, would render the infected computer system inoperable," Microsoft said. In short, there is no ransom recovery mechanism.

Microsoft said the malware "runs when an associated device is turned off," a typical initial reaction to a ransomware attack. Microsoft said it was not yet able to assess the purpose of the destructive activity or associate the attack with a known threat actor.

Ukrainian security official Serhiy Demedyuk was quoted by Reuters for claiming that the attackers used malware similar to that used by Russian intelligence services. He is Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.

January 16th 2022, 6:28 am

WhatsApp inches forward on bringing Reactions to its app

TechCrunch

WhatsApp, owned by Meta, is actively developing its app and working on new features. The app's latest beta on iOS reveals that a new feature may be coming soon worked on reactions to iMessage-like messages.

In their latest findings, they discovered that a relevant setting has appeared in the new beta on iOS. WABetaInfo shared that WhatsApp version 22.72 on iOS adds a new Reactions Notifications toggle to app settings.

With this toggle visible to beta users, the feature may come to the platform fairly quickly. Alternatively, the company may have accidentally revealed this setting and may remove it in future betas if the Reactions feature is not yet ready.

In 2020, Mark Zuckerberg shared that Meta (Facebook at the time) planned to merge the messaging systems of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. He said plans won't materialize until 2022. With WhatsApp likely to add reactions to messages soon, the gap between it and Facebook/Instagram direct messages (DMs) is narrowing even further.

The merger between Facebook and Instagram DMs has already happened, as both platforms support the same messaging features (for the most part). WhatsApp is still far from becoming similar to either of these two services. It remains to be seen whether the merger of the three will take place this year. It is also possible that the company is prevented from making this potential move for monopoly reasons.

January 15th 2022, 10:56 am

Take a Look at The Largest And Most Detailed 3D Map of The Universe Ever Made

TechCrunch

A 'CT scan' of the Universe across more than 5 billion light-years. (D. Schlegel/Berkeley Lab/DESI data

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), currently pointed skyward from its home in the Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, is tasked with tracking the expansion of space, to study dark energy and create the most detailed 3D map. of the Universe that was never assembled.

It's only been seven months since the DESI mission began, and we already have a record-breaking, stunning three-dimensional image of the galaxy all around us, demonstrating DESI's capabilities and potential for mapping space.
DESI has already cataloged and tracked over 7.5 million galaxies, with over a million new additions per month. When the scan is fully completed in 2026, more than 35 million galaxies would have been mapped, giving astronomers a huge library of data to mine.

"There's a lot of beauty in there," says Lawrence astrophysicist Julien guy in California. "In the distribution of galaxies on the 3D map, there are huge clusters, filaments and voids.These are the largest structures in the Universe.

But within them you will find an imprint of the early Universe and the story of its expansion since DESI is made up of 5,000 optical fibers, each individually controlled and positioned ionized by its own little robot These fibers must be precisely positioned within 10 microns, less than the thickness of a human hair, then catch glimpses of light as they filter through the Earth of the cosmos.

Through this fiber network, the instrument takes color spectrum images of millions of galaxies, covering more than a third of the entire sky, before calculating how much the light has been redshifted – that is, how much it's been pushed towards the red end of the spectrum due to the expansion of the Universe.

As this light can take up to several billion years to reach Earth, it's possible to use redshift data to see depth in the Universe: the greater the redshift, the farther away something is. What's more, the structures mapped by DESI can be reverse engineered to see the initial formation that they started out in.

The main objective of DESI is to reveal more about the dark energy that is thought to make up 70 percent of the Universe as well as speeding up its expansion. This dark energy could drive galaxies into an infinite expansion, cause them to collapse back on themselves or something in between – and cosmologists are keen to narrow down the options.

[DESI] will help us search for clues about the nature of dark energy,” Carlos Frenk, a cosmologist at Durham University in the UK, told the BBC. We will also learn more about dark matter and the role it plays in how it happens, forms galaxies such as the Milky Way, and how the universe evolves.

The 3D map that has already been released shows that scientists don't have to wait for DESI to finish its work to start benefiting from its deep look into space explores whether or not small galaxies have their own black holes like large galaxies.

The best way to spot a black hole is to identify the gas, dust and other material dragged into it, but that's not easy to see in small galaxies - something where high-precision spectral data collected by DESI should help. Then there's the study of quasars

, particularly bright galaxies powered by supermassive black holes, which serve as clues to billions of years of space history.

DESI will be used to test a hypothesis around quasars: that they start out surrounded by an envelope of dust that is chased away over time. The amount of dust around a quasar is believed to affect the color of the light it emits, making it a perfect job for DESI.

The tool should be able to collect information on around 2.4 million quasars before its survey is complete."DESI is really great because it collects much fainter, much redder objects," says Durham University astronomer Victoria Fawcett.

"We're finding quite a few exotic systems, including large samples of rare objects that we've simply never seen able to study in detail before.

Source: ScienceAlert

January 15th 2022, 9:12 am

Netflix raises monthly subscription prices in U.S., Canada

TechCrunch

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Netflix is raising the prices of all its plans in the United States today. The enterprise standard plan will increase from $14 to $15.50 per month, while the 4K plan will increase from $18 to $20 per month. The basic plan, which does not include HD, goes up to $10 per month from $9 per month. Prices in Canada are also on the rise.

Price increases take effect immediately for new subscribers. For existing subscribers, the changes will be rolled out "gradually", with Netflix promising to email members 30 days before the price hike takes effect. The prices for a Netflix package have steadily increased over the past few years.

The standard plan went from $13 to $14 per month at the end of 2020, after dropping from $11 to $13 in 2019. Previously, Netflix raised prices in 2017 and 2015. When Netflix announced its first price hike in 2014, the company was so worried about losing subscribers with a $1 a month hike that it allowed existing members to hold their price for two years. It hasn't offered such a generous perk in the years since then.

The price hikes come during a successful but challenging moment for Netflix. The company already has a wealth of subscribers across the US, and adding more is a challenge — making price hikes an obvious answer for how it can make more money. At the same time, Netflix is now competing with several other serious streaming services for attention, including Disney Plus and HBO Max, and it’s been spending big on content to keep up.

“We are updating our pricing so that we can continue to offer a wide variety of quality entertainment options,” a Netflix spokesperson told Reuters.

"As always, we offer a range of plans so members can choose a price that fits their budget. Netflix isn't the only service that has increased prices lately. Hulu has increased the price of its funded tiers by advertising and without advertising of $1 per month in October.

January 15th 2022, 8:53 am

North Korean hackers said to have stolen nearly $400 million in cryptocurrency last year

TechCrunch

North Korean hackers stole nearly $400 million worth of cryptocurrency in 2021, making it one of the most profitable years yet for cybercriminals in the severely isolated country, according to a new report.

Hackers launched at least seven different attacks last year, mostly targeting corporate investments and centralized exchanges with a variety of tactics including phishing, malware and social engineering, according to a report by Chainalysis, a company that tracks cryptocurrencies.

Cybercriminals attempted to gain access to organizations' "hot" wallets: Internet-connected digital wallets, and then transfer funds to accounts controlled by the DPRK. The thefts are the latest indication that the heavily sanctioned country continues to rely on a network of hackers to help fund its domestic programs.

A confidential UN report previously accused North Korean regime leader Kim Jong Un of carrying out "operations against formerly moving financial institutions and virtual currency" to pay for weapons and keep the country afloat North Korean economy.

Last February, the US Department of Justice charged three North Koreans with conspiring to steal more than $1.3 billion from banks and businesses around the world and orchestrating crypto thefts. digital currency.

"North Korea is, in most respects, cut off from the global financial system by a long sanctions campaign by the United States and its foreign partners." said Nick Carlsen, an analyst at blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs. “As a result, they have taken to the digital battlefield to steal cryptocurrencies, essentially [a] high-speed internet bank robbery, to fund weapons programs, nuclear proliferation and other activities.

North Korea's hacking efforts have benefited from this.The rise in value of Rising prices and the use of cryptocurrencies have generally made digital assets increasingly attractive to malicious actors, which led to more successful cryptocurrency thefts in 2021.

According to Chainalysis, most of the thefts in the past year were committed by the Lazarus Group, a hacker group with ties to North Korea that was previously linked to the Sony Pictures hack, among other incidents. ie North Koreans, in addition to sanctiones cybersecurity defensive measures such as crimes such as criminql have no real chance of being extradited.

As the cryptocurrency market becomes more popular, "we are likely to see continued interest from North Korea in targeting cryptocurrency companies that are young and that are building cyber defenses and anti-virus controls. -money laundering," Carlsen said.

January 15th 2022, 5:28 am

Musk says Tesla to accept dogecoin for merchandise

TechCrunch

Representation of cryptocurrency Dogecoin is seen in this illustration taken November 29, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) will accept the meme-based cryptocurrency dogecoin as payment for its products such as the "Giga Texas" belt buckle and mini electric vehicle models, CEO Elon Musk said on Friday in a tweet.

The move which sent dogecoin prices up 14% higher, comes a month after Musk said Tesla would test the digital token as a payment option. Musk, a voucal of cryptocurrencies has heavily influenced dogecoin and bitcoin prices, and at one point said the company would accept bitcoin for the purchase of its cars before scrapping the plans.

Tesla's products, which also include the recently launched "Cyberwhistle" and "Cyberquad for Kids," are a hit with its fans and typically sell out within hours of listing.

"Some have noticed that goods for doge are depleting even faster than for dollars. This news is a good example of the continued penetration of cryptocurrencies into corporate culture," said Alex Kuptsikevich, senior financial analyst at FxPro.

Musk on dogecoin's tweets, including one where he called it the "people's crypto," turned the once obscure digital currency that started as a social media joke into a speculator's dream. The price of the token has increased by around 4,000% in 2021.

Tesla revealed last year that it purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin, and Musk also claimed to own bitcoin and dogecoin.

Tesla faces intense competition as legacy automakers like Ford Motor Co (FN) and startups such as Rivian Automotive (RIVN.O) are set to launch their electric car this year. Tesla's long-awaited Cybertruck will begin production in the first quarter of 2023, pushing its plan to start production to late 2022, Reuters reported.

January 14th 2022, 9:53 am

Teen hacker finds bug that lets him control 25+ Teslas remotely

TechCrunch

The downside with offering APIs to interact with a car is that someone else's security problem might become your own.

Getty Images

A young hacker and computer security researcher has found a way to remotely interact with more than 25 Tesla electric vehicles in 13 countries, according to a Twitter thread he posted yesterday.

David Colombo explained in the thread that the flaw "wasn't a vulnerability in Tesla's infrastructure. It's the owner's fault." He claimed to be able to remotely disable a car's camera system, unlock doors and open windows, and even start driving without a key. It could also determine the exact location of the car.

However, Colombo has made it clear that it can't actually interact with Tesla's steering, throttle, or brakes, so at least we don't have to worry about an army of remote-control electric vehicles doing a Fate reenactment.

Colombo says he reported the issue to Tesla's security team, which is investigating the matter.

On a related note, early Wednesday morning, a third-party app called TezLab reported seeing “multiple thousand Tesla Authentication Tokens expiring at the same time.”

The TezLab application uses Tesla's APIs which allow applications to perform operations such as accessing the car and activating or deactivating the anti-theft camera system, unlocking doors, opening windows, etc

January 14th 2022, 9:53 am

A healthcare worker administers the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine to a pregnant woman, amid

TechCrunch

A healthcare worker administers the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine to a pregnant woman, amidst the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 variant Omicron, in Johannesburg, South Africa, December 9, 2021. REUTERS/ Sumaya Hisham

Unvaccinated people infected with the Omicron variant of coronavirus may be less prone to severe illness and requiring hospital care or dying than was the case with previous variants, a South African study showed on Friday.

The study, by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) in the Western Cape region, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, concluded.compared about 11,600 patients from the first three COVID-19 waves with about 5,100 from the Omicron-driven wave that began in November.

Omicron globally has tended to cause less severe disease, and proportionally fewer hospital admissions and deaths, than previous variants.

Scientists are trying to determine the extent to which this is because of higher immunity rates engendered by vaccination or past illness, or Omicron is intrinsically less nasty.

The study concluded that about a quarter of the reduced risk of severe disease with Omicron was attributable to characteristics of the virus itself.

“In the Omicron-driven wave, severe COVID-19 outcomes were reduced mostly due to protection conferred by prior infection and/or vaccination, but intrinsically reduced virulence may account for an approximately 25% reduced risk of severe hospitalisation or death compared to Delta,” the study said.

January 14th 2022, 9:53 am

Massive cyberattack hits Ukrainian government websites as West warns on Russia conflict

TechCrunch

Image Credit: REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/Illustration

A massive cyber attack warning Ukrainians to "be afraid and expect the worst" hit government websites on Thursday night, leaving some websites inaccessible on Friday morning and prompting Kyiv to open an investigation.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman told Reuters it was too early to say who could be behind the attack, but said Russia had launched similar attacks in the past.
The cyberattack, which affected the Foreign Ministry, the Cabinet of Ministers and the Security and Defense Council, among others, comes as Kyiv and its allies sound the alarm on a possible new Russian military offensive against Ukraine.
"It's too early to draw conclusions, but there is a long history of (cyber) Russian attacks on Ukraine in the past," the Foreign Ministry spokesman told Reuters.
The Russian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Russia has previously denied cyberattacks against Ukraine.

"Ukrainian! All your personal data was uploaded to the public network. All data on the computer is destroyed, it is impossible to restore it," said a message visible on the hacked government websites, written in Ukrainian, Russian and Polish.

"All information about you has become public, be afraid and expect the worst. This is for your past, present and future."

After a wave of inconclusive talks this week on security in Europe, the United States on Thursday warned that the threat of a Russian military invasion of Ukraine was high.

Russia said the dialogue continued but reached an impasse as it tried to persuade the West to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and roll back decades of alliance expansion in Europe, demand that Washington has called "non-starters".

Commenting on a cyber attack a senior Ukrainian security official told Reuters: "All cybersecurity subjects were aware of such possible provocations from the Russian Federation. Therefore, the response to these incidents is being carried out in accordance with the government.

The government later claimed that he had restored most of the affected sites and that no personal data had been stolen. Many other government websites were suspended to prevent the attack from spreading, it said .

Relations between Ukraine and Russia collapsed after Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the outbreak of war between the same year. Kyiv forces and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

The United States said on Thursday that Russia could try to create a pretext to launch a new military assault on Ukraine by comparing the situation with the circumstances of 2014.

Russia warned of possible "catastrophic consequences" if there was no agreement on what the Kremlin called the security red lines, but said Moscow had not abandoned diplomacy and would even speed it up.

The Russian comments reflect a trend in which Moscow claims to want to pursue diplomacy but rejects calls to reverse the training of its troops near Ukraine and warns of unspecified consequences for Western security if its demands are not heard.

Ukraine has suffered a series of cyberattacks since 2014, which have cut power, frozen supermarket checkouts and forced authorities to back the hryvnia currency after the bank's computer systems crashed. Ukraine believes the attacks are part of what it calls Russia's "hybrid war" against Ukraine and its allies.

In 2017, a virus called NotPetya by some experts hit Ukraine and spread around the world, crippling thousands of machines as it spread to dozens of countries.

The Kremlin has denied any involvement, dismissing "general unfounded accusations".

January 14th 2022, 9:07 am

Tesla delays initial production of Cybertruck to early 2023 - source

TechCrunch

Image Credit:Jeenah Moon/Reuters

Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) aims to start initial production of its long-awaited Cybertruck by the end of the first quarter of 2023, pushing plans to start production later this year, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

He said the delay comes when Tesla changes the features and functions of the electric pickup to make it a compelling product as competition heats up in the segment.

Tesla is expected to produce a limited production of the Cybertruck in the first quarter of 2023 before ramping up production, the source said.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Tesla, the world's largest electric car maker, produces electric sedans and SUVs, but has lost the pickup truck segment, which is profitable and hugely popular in America.

Ford Motor Co (FN) and Rivian Automotive (RIVN.O). are ahead of Tesla in launching electric pickups.

Ford said early this month it will nearly double annual production capacity for its red-hot F-150 Lightning electric pickup to 150,000 vehicles ahead of its arrival this spring at U.S. dealers.

Ford's market value topped $ 100 billion for the first time on Thursday, when Tesla shares fell 6.7% and Rivian's shares fell 7.1%.

CEO Elon Musk, who unveiled the futuristic vehicle in 2019, had already delayed production from late 2021 to late 2022.

Musk said he would provide an updated product roadmap during the earnings call for the Tesla on January 26.

“Oh man, this year has been such a nightmare for the supply chain and it's not over yet!” He tweeted in late November when asked about the Cybertruck.

Tesla recently removed a reference to its production schedule from its Cybertruck orders website. Last month, the website said, "You will be able to complete your setup as production nears in 2022." Now "in 2022" has been omitted.

Tesla plans to produce the Cybertruck at its plant in Texas, which is slated to begin production of Model Y cars earlier this year.

January 14th 2022, 8:39 am

How to make Windows 11 run better on old, cheap devices

TechCrunch

Microsoft is working on a new update for Windows 11 that will make the new operating system (OS) run better on dated and inexpensive hardware.

Windows 11 Build 22526 has currently been made available to members of the Insider early access programme with multiple enhancements and fixes, Techradar reported. It is yet not clear when the update will be rolled out to the public.

Though most of the new features are minor, the software giant is using this update to try out a new file location indexing system, hoping that the build will enable users to find out important files even faster using File Explorer.

The File Explorer of the recently released Windows 11 works very slow and is still prone to frequent crashes. Users often have to suffer due to the slowness of the Search functionality.

It takes a long time to return relevant searches if users have stored a huge number of files in the built-in hard drive.

The new update could help you cruise through large number of files more quickly.

More importantly, it will be very helpful for users who are running Windows 11 on cheap and dated devices that suffer lengthy load times affecting performance.

Other upgrades that will be released in the upcoming Windows 11 update include wideband speech support which will improve the audio quality of voice calls if you are using products such as Apple Airpods.

There will also be a new “windowed” system to the popular Alt + Tan functionality.

January 13th 2022, 9:40 am

AstraZeneca says third dose helps against Omicron

TechCrunch

A test tube labelled with the Vaccine is seen in front of AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken, September 9, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

AstraZeneca said on Thursday that preliminary data from a trial showed that its COVID-19 shot, Vaxzevria, generated an increase in antibodies against the Omicron and other variants when given as a third booster dose.

The increased response, also against the Delta variant, was seen in a blood analysis of people who were previously vaccinated with either Vaxzevria or an mRNA vaccine, the drugmaker said, adding that it would submit this data to regulators worldwide given the urgent need for boosters.

AstraZeneca has developed the vaccine with researchers from the University of Oxford, and lab studies conducted by the university last month already found a three-dose course of Vaxzevria boosted antibody levels in the blood against the rapidly spreading Omicron variant.

The brief statement on Thursday, which did not include specific data, was the first by AstraZeneca on the protective potential of Vaxzevria as a booster shot following a two shot-course of either an mRNA based vaccine or Vaxzevria. Vaccines base on mRNA technology are made by BioNTech-Pfizer and Moderna.

The company said the findings “add to the growing body of evidence supporting Vaxzevria as a third dose booster irrespective of the primary vaccination schedules tested”.

The data on Vaxzevria’s potential as a booster came from a comparative analysis in a trial testing a redesigned vaccine which uses the vector technology behind Vaxzevria but targeting the now-superseded Beta variant. AstraZeneca is trying to show the Beta-specific vaccine has potential also against other variants and more trial data is expected during the first half of the year.

Separately, Oxford University and AstraZeneca last month started work on a vaccine specifically targeting Omicron though Astra – as well as other vaccine makers in similar development projects – have said it was not yet clear whether such an upgrade was needed.

A major British trial in December found that AstraZeneca’s shot increased antibodies when given as a booster after initial vaccination with its own shot or Pfizer’s, but that was before the explosive spread of the Omicron variant.

However, the study at the time concluded that mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna gave a biggest boost to antibodies when given as a third dose.

AstraZeneca and its contract manufacturing partners have supplied over 2.5 billion doses globally of its vaccine, even though it is not approved in the United States, while BioNTech-Pfizer have shipped about 2.6 billion doses.

Source: ARY News

January 13th 2022, 9:40 am

White House will meet execs from Apple, Amazon, IBM to discuss software security

TechCrunch

A man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration

The White House will meet with executives from major tech companies, including Alphabet-owned Google (GOOGL.O), Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Amazon.com Inc, , to discuss software security after the United States have suffered several major cyber attacks last year.

In December, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan sent a letter to CEOs of tech companies after a security vulnerability was discovered in open source software called Log4j that organizations around the world are using. to save data in their applications.

In the letter, Sullivan noted that this open source software is widely used and maintained by volunteers and is a "major national security problem."

Thursday's meeting, which will be hosted by the Deputy National Security Advisor for Information Technology and Emerging Technologies. discuss concerns about the security of open source software and how it can be improved, the White House said in a statement.

Other top tech companies in attendance at the meeting will include IBM (IBM.N), Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), Meta Platforms Inc (FB.O) which owns Facebook and Oracle Corp (ORCL.N). Government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense and the Commerce Department, will also be in attendance.

Cybersecurity has been a top priority for the Biden administration after several major cyberattacks last year, which exposed thousands of records held by companies and government agencies to hackers.

One hack, which the U.S. government has said was likely orchestrated by Russia, breached software made by SolarWinds (SWI.N) and gave hackers access to thousands of companies and government offices that used its products. The hackers got access to emails at the U.S. Treasury, Justice and Commerce departments, and other agencies.

January 13th 2022, 9:40 am

Omicron May Infect Half of Europeans Within Weeks, WHO Says

TechCrunch

Image Credit:CIPhotos via Getty Images

More than half of Europe's population could become infected with omicron within weeks at current transmission speeds, a World Health Organization official said.

The fast-spreading variant represents a "west-to-east tsunami sweeping the region," Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said in a briefing Tuesday.

He cited the Institute for Metrics and Health Assessment forecast that most Europeans could take it within the next six to eight weeks.

The latest Covid surge has resulted in fewer symptomatic cases and lower death rates than in previous waves, fueling optimism that the pandemic may subside.

However, the WHO has repeatedly warned against underestimating the Omicron strain as mild. Kluge said hospital admission rates are increasing. In Europe, it puts pressure on health systems.

On the flip side, another WHO official said it was too early to consider COVID-19 is entering an endemic phase, an issue the Spanish government has proposed to discuss. An endemic phase would see "stable spread of the virus at a predictable level", but what we are currently seeing for 2022 is nowhere near that, "said Catherine Smallwood, WHO Europe Chief Emergency Officer." We still have great uncertainty.

We still have a virus that evolves pretty quickly and brings new challenges, "he said." We are certainly not at the point where we can call it endemic.

January 11th 2022, 9:53 am

Microsoft Discovered New 'Powerdir' macOS Vulnerability, Fixed in 12.1 Update

TechCrunch

This morning, Microsoft's 365 Defender research team released details of a new macOS "Powerdir" vulnerability that allows an attacker to bypass transparency, consent, and control technology to gain unauthorized access to protected data.

Apple has already fixed vulnerability CVE-2021-30970 in the macOS Monterey 12.1 Update released in December, so users who have upgraded to the latest version of Monterey are protected. Those who haven't should update. Apple in its Security Release Notes for Update 12.1 confirmed the vulnerability of TCC and attributed its discovery to Microsoft.

According to Microsoft, the "Powerdir" security vulnerability could allow the installation of a fake TCC database.

TCC is a long-lasting macOS feature that allows users to configure the privacy settings of their apps, and with the fake database, an attacker could hijack an app installed on a Mac or install their own malicious app by gaining access to the microphone and the camera to obtain confidential information.

Microsoft has a detailed description of how the vulnerability works, and the company says its security researchers continue to "monitor the threat landscape" for new vulnerabilities and attack techniques affecting macOS and other non-Windows devices.

"Software vendors like Apple, security researchers, and the larger security community, need to continuously work together to identify and fix vulnerabilities before attackers can take advantage of them," wrote Microsoft's security team.

January 11th 2022, 9:53 am

PSA: Redownload your Harry Potter e-books from Pottermore before they disappear for good

TechCrunch

An email sent to customers warning them about the change.

Image:Pottermore

If you've purchased Harry Potter eBooks from Pottermore, you may want to re-download your copies before the option is gone for good at the end of the month. The site sends an email to its customers to inform them that the books will no longer be available for a new download after January 31, since it was withdrawn from sale in September of last year.

When it launched in 2012, Pottermore was the only official way to download digital copies of the Harry Potter books. Despite department stores like Amazon running promotions for titles, which are among the best-selling books of all time, stores would route customers to Pottermore to finalize the sale (retailers like Amazon would have gotten a discount anyway. ).

But income of the e-books reportedly declined over the years, and in 2015 they have been made to be had at once from different online shops. Digitally better editions released on Apple’s e-books store in October 2015, and releases on different digital shops like Amazon accompanied later that year. Pottermore subsequently morphed into WizardingWorld.com in 2019.
Although the option to redownload current book purchases from Pottermore will disappear for appropriate on the quit of the month, it shouldn’t be too difficult to maintain on in your current virtual copy.
On Twitter, Ryan C. Gordon notes that current downloads include a DRM-free .epub document, that you must be capable of switch to any new e-readers withinside the future (aleven though you need to convert the .epub document to make it readable on a Kindle).
Just make certain to stash the document someplace secure in case you don’t need to pay once more for books you already very own withinside the future.

January 11th 2022, 8:41 am

OnePlus 10 Pro finally launches in China with full specs and details

TechCrunch

Renders of the OnePlus 10 Pro phone in Emerald Forest and Volcanic Black colors. The phone was officially revealed on January 11, 2022.(Photo:-OnePlus)

After giving details on its new flagship phone last week, OnePlus has finally unveiled the OnePlus 10 Pro in China.

Even now, there are still a few things in the mystery, like the introductory price when it goes on sale in China on January 13 or when it is available elsewhere (OnePlus has said it will only be launched globally. 'in 2022). But what we do know is that with powerful specs and sharp cameras, the OnePlus 10 Pro could be one of the best phones to release in 2022.

These details OnePlus dropped up until now confirmed that the OnePlus 10 Pro would pack the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset and run on the company's OxygenOS 12 (based on Android 12), which folds in "feature-rich" parts of Oppo's ColorOS for the first time.

That's still true and we now know the phone will pack the Snapdragon X65 modem, which supports more 5G networks, frequencies and bandwidths along with increasing the maximum download speeds to 10Gbps. While you probably won't hit that cap with today's carriers, the new X65 should provide faster and more consistent 5G speeds. The OnePlus 10 Pro also will have up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage, which are the same specs as last year's OnePlus 9 Pro.

The 6.7-inch OLED display is the same size as its predecessor's. It has a maximum 120Hz refresh rate that makes browsing the internet or gaming very smooth, though it adaptively cranks the rate down to even 1Hz (or one frame per second) during low-demand tasks to save battery life. The phone comes in two colors: a seafoam

OnePlus has confirmed that its new phone will inherit last year's rear camera setup, too: a 48-megapixel main camera, an 8-megapixel telephoto camera and a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera with a maximum 150-degree field of view. The 10 Pro will get an improved 32-megapixel camera, which should take sharper photos than the 16-megapixel selfie camera on its predecessor.

As the second generation of OnePlus phones to have Hasselblad-tuned-cameras, the OnePlus 10 Pro's photo capabilities have been refined in a handful of ways. First is an improved Pro Mode that takes photos in 12-bit RAW+, a new format that combines the rich data capture of RAW with on-device image processing to give shots more accurate colors.
When taking more casual photos, all three rear cameras have 10-bit color for over 1 billion possible hues.

Hasselblad's influence is also visible in Master Mode, which features three filters refined by professional photographers and artists that make shooting fashion, wildlife and urban spaces more stylized and unique. For videos, the new Movie mode lets you change settings like ISO, shutter speed, and white balance even while recording for precise control over focus and lighting.

The 10 Pro's 5,000mAh battery is the largest of a OnePlus flagship phone, but it's the 80-watt wired charging that will set it apart from the competition.

The company claims it will bring the phone from 1% up to full charge in a very 32 specific minutes. The phone also supports wireless charging up to 50 watts, which will charge a nearly dead phone in 47 minutes, OnePlus estimates.

On paper, the OnePlus 10 Pro appears to be a serious contender for the best phones in 2022, although it will have to wait until we can test it at an undetermined later date at a price not yet announced.

January 11th 2022, 8:41 am

Shazam launches Chrome Extension to identify what’s playing in any tab, but it’s broken for some [U]

TechCrunch

Apple-owned Shazam has just released a Chrome Extension that works to identify what’s playing in your “Netflix or YouTube video, that Soundcloud mix or in a Twitch streamed video game,” but it doesn’t work for all users just yet.

After installation, Shazam exists in the Chrome Extensions drop-down menu to the right of the address bar and can be pinned like the others to always be handy.
Tap the blue icon to open a rectangular pop-up asking for another "Click Shazam". While listening, you are told "do not update or close this tab". Once recognized, there is a shortcut to play the entire song in Apple Music (login required), while you can “get lyrics, music videos and more with just one click”. The plugin's main page has a drop-down menu to view your “Shazam Browser Song History”.
It is not possible to log into your Shazam account and sync the songs you previously identified on your phone. It would be very useful. The extension, according to reviews from the Chrome Web Store, was released in late 2021.

Shazam appears to have only announced its existence on the Android app update website and list.One reason why it could be that it does not work anyway for all users.

The Shazam extension, after testing on macOS and Chrome OS today, fails to find a match even after a minute. (No fail state is shown.) The same songs on YouTube and Soundcloud are quickly identified using the mobile application. That said, some users in the reviews say they have gotten it to work.

This extension compliments the Shazam Mac App, which was last updated in February of 2020. The Chrome offering might be the new desktop strategy moving forward as it offers wider reach.

January 11th 2022, 8:41 am

Samsung appears set to launch the Galaxy S22 on February 8

TechCrunch

Image Credit:Letsgodigital

Samsung's launch plans over the past two years have been unusual, but it looks like the company's next flagship could be a return to normal. According to a new rumor, the Galaxy S22 launch date could be February 8.

Korean media outlet DDaily.co.kr reports that Samsung is planning a launch event for its Galaxy S22 series on February 8. The outlet claims that Samsung has "confirmed" the date with "Galaxy Unpacked 2022" to be held virtually online.

Invitations would be sent out later this month, but it's unclear whether there will be an in-person component for the launch, but MWC 2022 could open the door to in-person screenings later this month.

To this day, MWC 2022 is still to be held in person in Barcelona from February 28 to March 3. Apparently, pre-orders for the Galaxy S22, S22 +, and S22 Ultra will begin on February 9, with sales starting February 24.

That's about a month after the Galaxy S21 series debuted - that series arrived on January 29 for general sale. The Galaxy Tab S8 series is expected to arrive alongside the Galaxy S22, with three variants including a large Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra.

January 11th 2022, 8:41 am

Crypto CEO becomes one of the world's richest billionaires

TechCrunch

"Zhao Changpeng has become the world's biggest cryptocurrency billionaire(Image: Bloomberg via Getty Images)

A cryptocurrency CEO has become one of the richest people on the planet.

Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, who manages the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, has joined the ranks of the world's top billionaires, with an estimated net worth of at least $96 billion, according to new calculations from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index published Monday.

Zhao's predicted fortune now rivals that of Oracle founder (ORCL) Larry Ellison and surpasses that of Mukesh Ambani, the Indian tycoon whose fortune has also skyrocketed in the past two years.

The rise of the Canadian-Chinese entrepreneur is emblematic of the rapid creation of wealth in the rapidly evolving world of digital currencies.

Last year, other cryptocurrency founders also saw huge gains as the value of virtual coins rallied, with Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin and Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong both becoming billionaires.

Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX, another cryptocurrency exchange backed by Binance, said on Tuesday "unprecedented wealth creation in the industry in recent years."

I think there are a lot of people out there trying to figure out what to do with [that], ”said Friedman, who is a young billionaire himself, in a live chat on stage at the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong.

On Twitter Monday, Zhao also appeared to acknowledge the distinction "Don't worry about the ranking.

" Focus on how many people you can help, ”he wrote.

A Binance spokesperson told CNN Business that “CZ intends to give up most of its wealth, even 99% of its wealth, along with other entrepreneurs and founders.

In recent years, others Famous business leaders, such as Facebook CEO (FB) Mark Zuckerberg, signed the Giving Pledge, an initiative started by Warren Buffett, Bill and Melinda Gates to encourage the world's richest to donate the majority of their fortune to charity.

Zhao launched Binance in 2017, gradually turning it into one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges.

According to a blog post on the company, the executive grew up in an immigrant family in Canada and previously worked at McDonald's to support his family, and Bloomberg.

Zhao continued in another tweet on Tuesday, saying, “Unpopular Opinion: Instead of rankings of wealth, there should be a ranking of charitable and philanthropic efforts.

"He then learned about bitcoin in 2013 during a game of poker, after which he decided to go all-in on crypto by dedicating his life to it," according to Binance. "He even sold his apartment to buy bitcoin."

Like other exchanges, Binance has faced significant regulatory hurdles around the world in recent months, including a ban in the United Kingdom and other restrictions in countries including Canada.

Zhao has publicly addressed the setbacks, writing in an open letter last year that "clear regulations are critical for continued growth."

"More regulations are, in fact, positive signs that an industry is maturing," he added. "Because this sets the foundation for a broader population to feel safe to participate in crypto.

Like other exchanges, Binance has faced significant regulatory hurdles around the world in recent months, including a ban in the United Kingdom and other restrictions in countries including Canada.

Zhao has publicly addressed the setbacks, writing in an open letter last year that "clear regulations are critical for continued growth."

"More regulations are, in fact, positive signs that an industry is maturing," he added. "Because this sets the foundation for a broader population to feel safe to participate in crypto."

January 11th 2022, 7:37 am

Apple implies it generated record revenue from the App Store during 2021

TechCrunch

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) at the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, California on Monday, June 4, 2018.

Josh Edelson | AFP | Getty Images

Apple said on Monday that it paid developers $60 billion in 2021, a total of $260 billion since the App Store launched in 2008. This is a figure that suggests App Store sales continue to grow rapidly.

By comparison, Apple said it had paid developers a total of $155 billion in 2019 since the App Store launched in 2008.

And at the end of 2020, it said it had paid $200 billion, an increase of $ 45billion. Monday's figures show a jump of $60 billion.

The statistic came as part of a larger announcement from Apple intended to show momentum for its services business, which is an important signal for investors and analysts, who love to see Apple making money not just by selling hardware, but also selling services and applications to its customers, such as application downloads.

Apple payments to developers accounts for between 70% and 85% of Apple's gross total from its App Store, which absorbs between 15% and 30% of sales from digital purchases made in apps.

In the past, it was possible to roughly estimate total Apple App Store revenue by assuming developer payouts were 30% of total Apple App Store sales. But, over the past year, the company has changed its pricing structure several times in response to regulators and legal challenges.

Notably, in 2021, Apple introduced the Small Business program, which reduced commissions to 15% for developers earning less than $1 million per year. It is estimated that up to 98% of App Store developers fall into this category, but this is only a small fraction of total sales. Apple also introduced a news apps program that would cut rates to 15% if they provided content to Apple News in August.

For all developers, even Apple is only asking for 15% of the second year subscription, instead of 30%.

January 11th 2022, 7:25 am

BlackBerry 5G smartphone with physical keyboard officially confirmed for launch again

TechCrunch

Image Credit: TCL

OnwardMobility, owner of the BlackBerry brand, has now reiterated its commitment to provide a BlackBerry 5G smartphone with a physical keyboard.

“Contrary to popular belief, we are not dead,” the company said.

OnwardMobility, early last year after acquiring the BlackBerry brand, announced that it is working on a new BlackBerry phone that offers both 5G and a physical keyboard. While no such phone was launched in 2021, the company is back with a reiteration of that promise.

The US-based company has proclaimed it is not dead and still has plans to release a BlackBerry 5G device this year. The company attributes the lack of a launch in 2021 to the “various delays” it has exp

While there are already concept renderings of the phone, there is little information on how exactly it looks. We expect it to primarily retain the KEY2 form factor, but with a modernized outlook. We will be sure to keep you updated.

January 11th 2022, 7:25 am

Remember That Weird 'Cube' on The Moon? Yutu-2 Finally Took Closer Pictures

TechCrunch

The Yutu-2 image of the ‘mysterious hut’. (CNSA/CLEP/Our Space)

The mysterious Chinese “moon cube” is no longer a mystery. The big reveal: it's a rock that doesn't even have the shape of a cube. National rover Yutu2 discovered the object - which appeared to be a gray cube looming above the lunar horizon - in early December. China's National Space Administration (CNSA) dubbed it the “mystery hut,” playfully speculating that the cube could be an alien house or a spaceship.

The news called it the "moon cube".

The CNSA estimated that the object was about 80 meters (262 feet) away, according to the blog affiliated with the agency, and ready to point the rover towards it. The blog said it would take two or three months to reach the cube.

After several weeks of preparation and driving, the rover is close enough to see that the "mystery hut" is just a rock. Its sharp geometric aspect on the horizon was a simple turn of perspective, light and shadow.

In an updated posted on Friday, Our Space published the rover's latest photo of its target, below.

Yutu-2 image of the closer rock. (CNSA/CLEP/Our Space)

One of the rover's ground controllers noted on the blog that the rock is shaped like a rabbit, with smaller rocks in front that resemble a carrot. The rover's name, Yutu, means "jade rabbit," which is now also the name of the rock too.

Yutu2 reached the moon in January 2019, when the Chang'e4 lander landed on the lunar surface and launched a ramp for the rover's descent. It was the first mission to land on the opposite side of the moon.

Over the next three years, Yutu2 traveled over 1,000 meters (3,200 feet), used ground-penetrating radar to reveal a surprisingly deep layer of lunar soil, and identified rocks in the lunar mantle, below the crust, which have been pushed to the surface. when an asteroid crashed into the moon billions of years ago.

A closer look at the rock. (CNSA/CLEP/Our Space)

The rover has survived long past its initial three-month mission, meaning Yutu-2 had plenty free time for a wild cube chase.

January 10th 2022, 10:31 am

NASA completes James Webb final deployment

TechCrunch

Credits: NASA GSFC/CIL/Adriana Manrique Gutierrez

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope team has fully deployed its 21-foot gold-plated primary mirror, completing the final phase of all major spacecraft deployments in preparation for scientific operations.

As a joint effort with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency, the Webb mission will explore every phase of cosmic history, from the solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson commented on the development: “Today NASA has achieved another engineering milestone that has lasted for decades. While the journey is not over, I am joining the Webb team to breathe a little easier and envision future advances that are determined. ”To inspire the world. The James Webb Space Telescope is an unprecedented mission that is about to see the light of the first galaxies and unravel the mysteries of our universe. Every achievement and every achievement in the future is testament to the thousands of innovators who put their passion for life into this mission.

The two wings of Webb's primary mirror were bent prior to launch to fit into the nose cone of an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket. After more than a week of other critical spacecraft missions, Webb's team began remotely deploying the hexagonal segments of the main mirror, the largest ever launched on launch. Place.

The telescope will now begin moving its 18 primary mirror segments to align the telescope optics. The ground team will command 126 actuators on the backsides of the segments to flex each mirror – an alignment that will take months to complete. Then the team will calibrate the science instruments prior to delivering Webb’s first images this summer.

Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator for Science Mission Directorate in NASA Headquarters in Washington, added: “I am so proud of the team – spanning continents and decades – that delivered this first-of-its-kind achievement. Webb’s successful deployment exemplifies the best of what NASA has to offer: the willingness to attempt bold and challenging things in the name of discoveries still unknown.”

Webb will also shortly undergo a third midway correction burn - one of three designed to bring the telescope into precise orbit around the second Lagrangian point, commonly known as L2, nearly 1 million miles from Earth. This is Webb's last orbital position where his sunshade protects him from light from the sun, earth, and moon that could interfere with infrared light observations. Webb was designed to look back over 13.5 billion years to capture infrared light from celestial objects in much higher resolution than ever before and to study our own solar system as well as distant worlds.

Gregory L. Robinson, Director of the Webb Program at NASA Headquarters, said, “The successful completion of all Webb space telescope missions is historic. This is the first time a NASA-led mission attempts to complete a complex sequence of observatory in space, a remarkable feat for our team, NASA, and the world.

January 10th 2022, 6:38 am

Apple will reportedly unveil an iPhone SE with 5G this spring

TechCrunch

The Apple logo is displayed at an event at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California, U.S. September 10, 2019. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

Apple could use its now common spring event to update its cheaper smartphone. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said in his latest newsletter that Apple is expected to showcase a third-generation iPhone SE this spring through a virtual presentation that "likely" will take place in March or April. Echoing past rumors, Gurman understood that the new SE would still stick to the iPhone 8-era design, but would add 5G and a new processor, possibly the A15 from the iPhone 13, when Apple's history of using the chip peaked of last year

. No other changes were mentioned. It wouldn't be surprising if Apple increased the storage to 128GB or upgraded the camera sensors (again carried over from the iPhone 8), but that's not guaranteed given Apple's low-cost approach to the iPhone SE. A larger battery may be required to compensate for the typically higher power consumption of 5G.

If the leak is true, the new iPhone SE would be disappointing to those who want a modern design that covers almost the entire screen. It would still have a relatively small screen, thick bezels, and a button-based fingerprint reader. However, as we just mentioned, price is everything to the SE. The model's current price of $ 399 is helping Apple reach some customers who otherwise wouldn't justify an iPhone. The company may not want to do anything that could result in a small price increase, if only to maximize the SE's potential audience.

January 10th 2022, 4:12 am

The Boys Season 3 teaser goes viral

TechCrunch

IMAGE - THE BOYS INSTA

Amazon Prime Video released the teaser of its action-thriller web show The Boys Season 3 on its social media platform.

The teaser of The Boys Season 3, which will be available for streaming on June 3, sees The Homelander all smiles while Starlight stood beside him. He is all smiles during the photoshoot but he gets angry with each second.

The Boys tells the story of a group of individuals taking on heroes/villains with special powers and agendas to show themselves as mankind’s saviour. Funded by Voight organization, the mutants stage disasters as well as terrorist attacks to be the apple of the public’s eye.

It is pertinent to mention that Homelander was being blackmailed by Queen Maeve while The Homelander’s partner-in-crime Stormfront got incinerated after Bill Butcher’s son Ryan uses his superpowers in a fit of anger at the end of the second season.

This resulted in Bill Butcher’s wife Becca Butcher getting killed as well.

Karl Urban plays the leading role of protagonists Billy Butcher while the role of his sidekick Hughie Campbell is being played by Jack Quaid. Erin Moriarty will be seen as Starlight whereas Dominique McElligott is starring as Queen Maeve

Moreover, Karen Fukuhara is playing the role of Komiko Miyashiro whereas Laz Alonso and Tomer Kapon are starring as Mother’s Milk and Frenchie respectively.

As far as the antagonists are concerned, Antony Starr stars as The Homelander while Chace Crawford, Jessie Usher and Nathan Mitchell are playing the characters The Deep, A-Train and Black Noir respectively

January 9th 2022, 11:54 am

SUPERMAN, CINDERELLA AND MINIONS GIVE CHILDREN COVID-19 SHOTS

TechCrunch

A medical staff member wearing a costume looks at a child who receives a shot of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at a mass vaccination center in Prague, Czech Republic, January 8, 2022. REUTERS/David W Cerny

Superman, Cinderella and Minions were among characters from films, comics and fairy tales who greeted children at a COVID-19 vaccination centre in Prague on Saturday to ease their nerves as they came to be inoculated.

Despite a lull in coronavirus infections in the past month, the Czech Republic is trying to boost vaccination rates because it is bracing for the Omicron coronavirus variant. Vaccinations lag other European Union countries.

With children aged 5-11 now eligible for the vaccine, staff dressed in costume at one of the biggest vaccination centres in the Czech capital helped children who came to be vaccinated.

REUTERS/David W Cerny

“We thought it would be better to have a day just for the kids,” said Nikola Melicharova, a vaccination centre worker dressed for the day as Snow White. “And because kids are usually a bit afraid of vaccinations, we decided for a fairy tale day so that it was a little more pleasant.”

Some 62.4% of the population in the country of 10.7 million has been fully inoculated, compared to a rate of 68.6% in the whole of the EU, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

REUTERS/David W Cerny

The Czech Republic started giving shots to children aged 5-11 in mid-December. Health Ministry figures show just over 27,000 shots had been administered to this age group by Friday.

Some children cried, but less so while talking to their favourite characters.

“I think it is right (for vaccinations). It is the only way out of the pandemic,” said Jaroslav Kottner, who brought his nine-year-old son to be vaccinated.

January 9th 2022, 11:07 am

MODERNA CEO SAYS PEOPLE MAY NEED ANOTHER BOOSTER IN FALL OF 2022

TechCrunch

A pharmacist holds a vial of the Moderna coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine in West Haven, Connecticut, U.S., February 17, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Segar

The effectiveness of COVID-19 boosters is likely to wane in the coming months, and people may need another shot in the fall of 2022, Moderna Inc CEO Stéphane Bancel told a conference on Thursday on health conference organized by Goldman Sachs.

Bancel said the company is working on a vaccine candidate for the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, but it is unlikely to be available in the next two months.

“I still believe we’re going to need boosters in the fall of ’22 and forward,” Bancel said.

His comments on needing a fourth shot come on the back of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett citing a study on Tuesday that a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine boosts antibodies five-fold a week after the shot is administered.

Moderna, which benefits by repeat inoculations, during its third quarter earnings results said commercial booster market sales could be up to $2 billion in the United States in 2022

January 8th 2022, 11:23 am

Sonos wins Google import ban ruling in U.S. patent fight

TechCrunch

The Google name is displayed outside the company's office in London, Britain November 1, 2018. REUTERS/Toby Melville

A US commercial court has banned Google from importing products that infringe the smart speaker patents of the home audio company Sonos.

The US International Trade Commission upheld a ruling in August that Google's audio products infringe five Sonos patents and have banned Google from importing "network speaker devices" and devices that can control them, such as cell phones and laptops.
The ruling says it won't stop Google from importing products that it has redesigned to avoid patent infringement. A Google spokesman said he didn't expect the decision to affect his ability to import or sell its products.
"We will continue to investigate and defend ourselves against the frivolous claims by Sonos regarding our association and our intellectual property," said the company.
Eddie Lazarus, Sonos' chief legal officer, called the verdict a "crusader" victory. Google's products still infringe patents even though they tried to develop them.

Sonos' stock was up 1.5% in late morning trading on Friday, having earlier risen more than 3%.

The parties have been embroiled in a global patent war over multi-room audio technology since 2020 that includes court cases in California, Canada, France, Germany and the Netherlands, according to a Sonos regulatory filing.

Sonos first sued Google in Los Angeles, alleging the company misused its technology in "more than a dozen different infringing products", including Google Home speakers and Pixel phones, tablets, and laptops.

Google reacted with its own lawsuit in San Francisco, creating Sonos "substantial quantities" of its technology without permission for multiple products, including controller applications and radio Sonos service.

At the ITC, Sonos had been trying to block Google from importing Home speakers, Pixel phones and other products from China.

January 8th 2022, 11:07 am

GameStop jumps after report on NFT trading hub, crypto pact

TechCrunch

A GameStop Inc. store is shown in Encinitas, California, U.S., May 24, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake

Shares of GameStop Corp (GME.N) rose on Friday after the video game retailer announced plans to expand its non-fungible token (NFT) market and partner with crypto companies.
The company's shares soared last year as they were at the center of a battle between small investors coordinating on online forums and Wall Street hedge funds that had taken short positions. Since mid-November, its shares have mostly fallen.
GameStop jumped 7.3% to $ 140.62 on Friday after the company reportedly built an online NFT trading center for virtual game collectibles and cryptocurrency partnerships on Thursday. A source familiar with the matter told Reuters about GameStop's plans, which were reported by the Wall Street Journal.

GameStop declined to comment on the reports.

NFTs, which use blockchain to record the ownership of digital items such as images and videos, surged in popularity in 2021, leaving many confusedabout why so much money was being spent on copiable digital items that do not physically exist.

Highly volatile crypto assets have tumbled in recent months, with bitcoin plummeting to a more than three-month low of $42,001.97, down about 38% from its $69,000 all-time high in November.

Ether , used to buy NFTs, has slumped to $3,219.77, levels last seen in early October.

"Stocks themselves are speculative rather than fundamental, and to some extent cryptocurrencies are also not very speculative in nature . excessive exposure to cryptocurrencies could have an effect on the balance sheets of these companies." , warned analyst Mirabaud Neil Campling. Short sales against GameStop increased by roughly 1 million shares in the past 30 days to 8.4 million, now worth $ 1.11 billion and equal to 13% of GameStop's free float , according to data from S3 Partners.

Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of predictive analytics at S3 Partners, said Friday's stock move is unlikely to be a small hedging rally.

"We would first need to erase recent market earnings on the short side, which means reverting to levels in the range of $ 170 $ 200 per share," for a short squeeze to occur, said said Dusaniwsky.

January 8th 2022, 10:51 am

Chinese police rap Walmart for cybersecurity loopholes - local media

TechCrunch

Walmart signs are displayed inside a Walmart store in Mexico City, Mexico March 28, 2019. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido/File Photo

Chinese authorities rapped Walmart for allegedly breaking cybersecurity laws, according to local media, the latest issue for retailer U.S which is already the subject of allegations in the country for allegedly halting sales of products from the Xinjiang.

Police in southern China's Shenzhen city discovered 19 "vulnerabilities" in Walmart's network system (WMT.N) in late November and accused them of taking a long time to fix the flaws the China Quality News, backed by the country's market regulator, reported on Wednesday.
Walmart was ordered to make fixes, the report said, without mentioning fines or details of the vulnerabilities.
The retail giant and the Shenzhen police did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.

This marks a fresh set of troubles in China for Walmart, which in the past month has faced criticism for what local media has said was its deliberate removal of products sourced from Xinjiang from its apps and stores.

Xinjiang is a growing point of conflict between the Western governments and China, as U.N. experts and rights groups estimate more than a million people, mainly Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minorities, have been detained in camps there.

China has rejected accusations of forced labour or any other abuses in the far western region.
Walmart has seen a wave of membership cancellations of its arm Sam's Club branch in China since the Xinjiang problem.
The Chinese transplant agency also accused the retailer and the Sam's Club of "stupidity and myopia".

Although Walmart has not commented publicly on the matter, Reuters reported that a Sam's Club executive told analysts during a phone call that it was a "misunderstanding" and that there had been no deliberate withdrawal of products from Xinjiang fined 10,000 yuan ($ 1,568) in Shanghai by the city's market regulator for violating food safety laws after discovering that a frozen plant product did not have a production date or of expiration date, according to a separate report released by local media.

January 8th 2022, 10:38 am

India's antitrust body orders Google inquiry after news publishers complain

TechCrunch

The Google logo is pictured at the entrance to the Google offices in London, Britain January 18, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

India's competition regulator on Friday ordered an investigation into Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google following allegations by news publishers, saying its initial view was that the tech giant had violated certain antitrust laws.

In its order, the Competition Commission of India (ICC) said Google dominates some online search services in the country and may have imposed unfair conditions on news publishers.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The complainant, the Digital News Publishers Association, which includes the digital weapons of some of India's largest media companies, said Google denies its members fair advertising revenue.
“In a well-functioning democracy, the essential role played by the media cannot be compromised,” the ICC order said.
"It appears that Google is using its dominant position in the relevant markets to enter / protect its position in the market for information aggregation services.

News organisations, which have been losing advertising revenue to online aggregators such as Google, have complained for years about tech companies using stories in search results or other features without payment.

The CCI order also mentioned new rules in France and Australia - fuelled by media lobbying and public pressure - that have led to licensing deals around the world collectively worth billions of dollars.

January 8th 2022, 10:07 am

Google launches Ripple, an open standard that could bring tiny radars to Ford cars and more

TechCrunch

İmage Credit: Google

Google has been publicly building tiny radar chips since 2015. They can tell you how well you sleep, control a smartwatch, count sheets of paper, and have you play the world's smallest violin. But the company's Soli radar hasn't necessarily seen commercial success, primarily in an ill-fated Pixel phone. Now Google has launched an open source API standard called Ripple that could theoretically bring the technology to additional devices outside of Google, possibly even a car, as Ford is one of the participants in the new standard.

Technically, Ripple is under the auspices of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the same industry body that hosts the CES show in Las Vegas each January, but there's no doubt who is actually behind the project. "Ripple will unlock useful innovations for the benefit of all. General Purpose Radar is a key emerging technology for solving critical use cases while respecting privacy," read a quote from Ivan Poupyrev, The man who led the team through G oogle's ATAP skunkworks. who invented Soli in the first place.

"Standard Radar Api" seems to be the original Name.

Adritionally, the Github ripple project is filled with references to Google, including different instances of "Copyright 2021 Google LLC" and contributors must sign a Google Open Source license agreement to participate. (One commit points out that the project was updated “to include CTA.”) Ripple appears to be a rebranding of Google’s “Standard Radar API,” which it quietly proposed one year ago (PDF).

None of that makes it any less exciting that Soli might find new life, though, and there may be something to the idea that radar has privacy benefits. It’s a technology that can easily detect whether someone’s present, nearby, and/or telling their device to do something without requiring a microphone or camera.

Ford, for its part, tells The Verge that indoor radar might become part of its driver-assistance technologies. Right now, the automaker says it’s using “advanced exterior radars” to research those features instead (which sounds expensive to me). Here’s a statement from Ford’s Jim Buczkowski, who’s currently heading up the company’s Research and Advanced Engineering team:

We are investigating how to use indoor radar as a source of sensors to improve various customer experiences in addition to our Ford CoPilot360 driver assistance technologies which now use advanced exterior radars. A standard API, with input from the semiconductor industry, will allow us to develop hardware-independent software purchases and give software teams the freedom to innovate across multiple radar platforms.

Other companies are also exploring radar: Amazon is also investigating whether radar could help it track your sleep patterns; This smart dog collar uses miniature radar to monitor vital signs, even if your dog is very hairy or furry, and this bulb does the same for humans.
But most of the participants listed in Google's initiatives so far are chip and sensor vendors, with only Ford and Blumio, which have a development kit for a radar-based blood pressure sensor, stand out.

January 8th 2022, 9:52 am

Facebook parent's head of communications leaves company

TechCrunch

A 3D printed Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta is placed on laptop keyboard in this illustration taken on November 2, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

Head of communications for Facebook's parent company, Meta Platforms Inc (FB.O), John Pinette, will be leaving the company, the social media company said on Friday.

Chris Norton, vice president of international communications, will fill the acting role, a Meta spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

"John Pinette has left Meta. We are grateful for his positive contributions during an intense and significant time in the company's history and wish him well," the statement said.

The spokesperson declined to say the reason for Pinette's departure, citing Meta's policy of not commenting on personnel matters. The Wall Street Journal first reported the departure of Pinette on Friday.Pinette was appointed vice president of global communications in April 2019, according to the company's website.

Before Joining the company, Pinette led communications for Gates Ventures, Bill Gates' private office and innovation lab, for five years and was Asia Pacific Communications Manager for Google. Corp (MSFT.O).

January 8th 2022, 9:52 am

Reddit taps Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs for IPO - source

TechCrunch

Reddit app is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken, July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Social media platform Reddit Inc, whose message boards became the center of the stock trading frenzy in 2021, relies on Wall Street banks Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Goldman Sachs Group (GS. N) for its initial public offering, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.

Reddit had confidentially filed for an IPO in December and is aiming for a valuation of more than $15 billion at the time of its listing. It was valued at $10 billion in a private fundraiser led by Fidelity Management in August.

A second source familiar with the matter said JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) is also one of the top underwriters on the deal.

Goldman Sachs and Reddit did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase declined to comment. Reddit, founded in 2005 by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, has over 50 million daily active users and over 100,000 communities.

Its message boards, most notably the WallStreetBets thread, have been at the center of a pitched battle between small traders and large hedge funds, and have helped make big gains in very short stocks of companies like GameStop (GME. N) and AMC (AMC .N), while popularizing the term meme stocks.

Globally, IPOs raised a record $594 billion in 2021, in the wake of stock rallies, with technology and healthcare the biggest sectors driving IPO volumes in stock exchange.

There were 426 technology IPOs last year and 332 healthcare-related deals, collectively accounting for almost 42% of IPO proceeds raised by companies globally, according to Refinitiv

January 8th 2022, 9:52 am

Andrew Garfield says Tom Holland was 'jealous' of his Spider-Man suit because Holland 'had to use hi

TechCrunch

On the left: Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man. On the right: Tom Holland as Spider-Man in "Spider-Man: No Way Home."

Columbia Pictures/Sony; Matt Kennedy/Sony/Marvel Studios

When multiple generations of Spider-Man come together as they did in the recent Spider-Man: No Way Home, it's only natural for the actors behind the mask to compare their different Spidey costumes, with Amazing SpiderMan actor Andrew Garfield recalling the 'one of his companions. SpiderMen is jealous of a particularly useful item included in his costume. Remembering the first time they were all in their respective costumes, Garfield discussed what it was like on the set of No Way Home with three live SpiderMens.

“[Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire and I] talked about what worked for each of us,” Garfield said in an interview with Variety. “[Holland] was jealous because I have little zippers in it. my dress that I can take off my hands very easily. ”In fact, Garfield recalled how Holland was forced to resort to a workaround to use the phone while he was dressed, saying,“ So that the phone works, he had to use his nose because he couldn't access his hands.
Garfield brought back other memories during his time with Holland and Maguire while working at No Way Home, as Garfield discussed what he was not just as as a SpiderMan fan himself, but as one of the many. Actors who played the character on the big screen. “I think the first time we all put the costume together,”

Garfield said, “it was hilarious because it's just three normal guys who were just actors who had just come outside. But then you too become a fan and say, "Oh my God, we are all dressed together and doing as it says!"We would also have deeper conversations and talk about our experiences with the character.
Garfield recalled other memories during his time with Holland and Maguire while working on No Way Home, as Garfield discussed what it was like not only as a fan of Spider-Man himself but as one of several actors who have portrayed the character on the big screen.

"I think the first time we were all in the suit together," Garfield said, "it was hilarious because it’s like just three ordinary dudes who were just actors just hanging out. But then also, you just become a fan and say, 'Oh my god we’re all together in the suits and we’re doing the pointing thing!'... We would have deeper conversations, too, and talk about our experiences with the character."

Garfield summed up his experience with his fellow Spider-Men, as the actor went on the reveal the origins behind one of his improvised lines in No Way Home. "There's a line I improvised in the movie, looking at [Maguire and Holland] and I tell them I love them," Garfield said. "That was just me loving them."

Although it's been almost a decade since Garfield last donned the Spidey suit in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the actor recently spoke about returning to the role on a possible future project.
Garfield also spoke about what got him aboard the multiversal cast of No Way Home, including how one scene in particular convinced him to dress up as a WebSlinger again.

Garfield has elaborated further on the initial pitch for the film when he was approached by Sony and Marvel, detailing the concept that would allow him to explore an old character in a new way.

January 8th 2022, 9:08 am

SpaceX’s Starlink internet service has more than 145,000 users so far

TechCrunch

A Starlink user terminal, also known as an antenna or satellite dish, on the roof of a building.(Photo:-SpaceX)

Elon Musk's SpaceX provided an update on its Starlink internet service on Thursday, as the company launched more satellites into orbit.

SpaceX engineer Jessie Anderson said during a webcast of the company's first launch of the year that Starlink now has more than 145,000 users in 25 countries around the world. It fell from 140,000 users in early November, but represents a slowdown in user growth.

On Thursday, the company launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida, carrying 49 Starlink satellites into orbit.

Starlink is the company's plan to build an interconnected Internet network with thousands of satellites - known in the space industry as a constellation.

It is designed to provide high speed Internet access to consumers all over the planet. SpaceX has approximately 1,800 Starlink satellites in orbit.

The increase of 5,000 users in two months represents slower growth. As of November, SpaceX had added about 11,000 users per month since the service began in October 2020.

Late last year, SpaceX noted on its website that the "silicon shortage has delayed production" of Starlink user terminals, “which impacted our ability to fulfill orders.

SpaceX's valuation has reached over $100 billion, which industry analysts attribute largely to the market potential of its Starlink service.

January 7th 2022, 10:21 am

Astronomers Capture Red Supergiant Star Exploding in Massive Supernova – For the Very First Time

TechCrunch

An artist’s impression of a red supergiant star in the final year of its life emitting a tumultuous cloud of gas. This suggests at least some of these stars undergo significant internal changes before going supernova. Credit: W.M. Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko

The death of a star is one of the most dramatic and violent events in space, and astronomers have had an unprecedented spot at the explosive end of a stellar giant star.

Ground-based telescopes provided the first real-time look at the death throes of a red supergiant star.
While these aren't the the brightest or most massive stars, they are the largest by volume. A popular red supergiant, which has attracted interest due to its irregular eclipsing, is Betelgeuse.
This star is located in the galaxy NGC 5731, about 120 million light years from Earth distant it was ten times as massive as the sun. Before they go out in splendor, some stars experience violent eruptions or release bright layers of hot gas.
Until astronomers witnessed this event, they believed that red supergiants were relatively calm. before they explode in a supernova or collapse into a dense neutron star.

Instead, scientists watched the star self-destruct in dramatic fashion before collapsing in a type II supernova. This star death is the rapid collapse and violent explosion of a massive star after it has burned through the hydrogen, helium and other elements in its core.

All that remains is the star's iron, but iron can't fuse so the star will run out of energy. When that happens, the iron collapses and causes the supernova. A study detailing these findings published Thursday in The Astrophysical Journal.

"This is a breakthrough in our understanding of what massive stars do moments before they die," said lead study author Wynn Jacobson-Galán, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow at University of California, Berkeley, in a statement.

"Direct detection of pre-supernova activity in a red supergiant star has never been observed before in an ordinary type II supernova. For the first time, we watched a red supergiant star explode."

Astronomers were first alerted to the star's unusual activity 130 days before it went supernova. Bright radiation was detected in the summer of 2020 by the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy Pan-STARRS telescope on Maui's Haleakalā.

Then, in the fall of that year, the researchers witnessed a supernova in the same spot.

They observed it using the W.M. Keck Observatory's Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer on Maunakea, Hawai'i, and named the supernova 2020tlf. Their observations revealed that there was material around the star when it exploded -- the bright gas that the star violently kicked away from itself over the summer.

"It's like watching a ticking time bomb," said senior study author Raffaella Margutti, an associate professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Berkeley, in a statement. "We've never confirmed such violent activity in a dying red supergiant star where we see it produce such a luminous emission, then collapse and combust, until now."

Some of these massive stars likely experience consequential internal changes that cause the tumultuous release of gas before they die, the finding has shown.

The work was conducted while Jacobson-Galán and Margutti were still at Northwestern University. They had remote access to the Keck Observatory's telescopes in Hawai'i, which was "instrumental in providing direct evidence of a massive star transitioning into a supernova explosion," Margutti said.

"I am most excited by all of the new 'unknowns' that have been unlocked by this discovery," Jacobson-Galán said. "Detecting more events like SN 2020tlf will dramatically impact how we define the final months of stellar evolution, uniting observers and theorists in the quest to solve the mystery on how massive stars spend the final moments of their lives."

Source: CNN

January 7th 2022, 10:21 am

Apple loses lead Apple Silicon designer Jeff Wilcox to Intel

TechCrunch

The Apple Park campus stands in this aerial photograph taken above Cupertino in October 2019.Sam Hall/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Jeff Wilcox, Apple Silicon Leader and T2 security processor developer, left Apple to join Intel and oversee the architecture of all Intel System-ona-Chip (SoC) designs.

As Apple heads to the end of its self-imposed two-year transition from Intel to its own Apple Silicon, the company lost the head of his M1 development team.

Jeff Wilcox originally joined Apple from Intel in 2013 and is now returning to the company while working on new processors. "After eight great years, I decided to leave Apple and look for another opportunity," wrote Wilcox on his LinkedIn page. "It's been an incredible journey and I couldn't be more proud of all that we did during my time that culminates in the move from Apple Silicon to the M1, M1 Pro and M1 Max systems and SOCs.

I will miss all my colleagues and friends at Apple very much. "I am pleased to announce that I have a "Engineering Group CTO, Client SoC Architecture at Intel Corporation," he said. Big things are still to come!

Wilcox returned to Intel in early January 2022.It's not yet known who Apple intends to replace him with as Director, Mac System Architecture.

Nor is it known whether Apple tried to keep Wilcox. Separately, Apple has recently been offering $180,000 bonuses to engineers to prevent them leaving.

January 7th 2022, 10:21 am

French parliament approves Macron's vaccine pass

TechCrunch

People wearing protective face masks walk in the Tuileries Gardens in Paris amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in France, January 5, 2022. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

The French parliament on Thursday approved President Emmanuel Macron's plans for a vaccination card to curb the spread of the Omicron variant after Macron sparked a tumultuous debate whipped up by Macron's comments that he wanted to "piss off" the unvaccinated.

Macron told Le Parisien earlier this week. that he wanted to make life so difficult for those who opposed the COVID-19 vaccine by leading them away from public places that they would end up being jabbed.
Macron's coarse language barely three months before a presidential election was widely seen as a politically calculated, tapping into a intensifying public frustration against the unvaccinated.

More than 90% of over-12s have received at least two doses, government data shows. Health Minister Olivier Veran said a record number of people since Oct. 1 received a first shot on Wednesday after Macron's comments were published.

Lawmakers in the lower house passed draft legislation including the vaccine pass shortly after 5 a.m. after an all-night session by a margin of 214 to 93. Many of those who voted against the bill were from the far-right or left-wingers.

The legislation will go to the Senate before a final vote in the National Assembly.

People in France have for several months had to show either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to enter venues such as cinemas and cafes and use trains. But with Delta and Omicron variant infections surging, the government decided to drop the test option in the new bill.

The vaccine pass rules will apply to over-16s and not over-12 as the government had initially sought.
European countries have grappled with the possibility of mandating citizens to force them to vaccinate. Italy on Wednesday made the COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for people aged 50 and over, teachers and public health workers are already required to get vaccinated. , Prime Minister Jean Castex said.
Countries that had switched to compulsory vaccination, such as Italy and Austria, had lower vaccination rates than France.

Castex also said France would be ready to move on to a fourth COVID vaccine shot when the time was right.
On Wednesday, France set a record of more than 332,000 new ones. COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours and an additional 246 COVID-19 deaths in hospitals, as the country.

January 6th 2022, 7:16 am

HYUNDAI SAYS ‘METAMOBILITY’ WILL LINK REAL AND VIRTUAL WORLDS

TechCrunch

Hyundai Motor envisions an interactive and partially virtual future it calls “metamobility,” in which a variety of robotic devices interact with humans to provide a wide range of mobility services, from automated personal transport to remote control of robots in factories.

Hyundai executives, led by Chief Executive Euisun Chung, elaborated on the vision during a press conference at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

Buzzwords aside, Hyundai plans to leverage its growing expertise in robotics and artificial intelligence to build a future mobility network that connects humans in the real world with objects and tasks in the virtual world.

The concept is linked to the so-called metaverse, a term coined 30 years ago by author Neal Stephenson, but which recently gained attention when social media company Facebook changed its name to Meta Platforms Inc.

It refers to shared virtual environments. world that people can access through the Internet and that they can use virtual reality or augmented reality. Hyundai offered several examples of how it could connect the metaverse and the real world:

– A vehicle that can be transformed into a work space or an entertainment room that includes a 3D video game platform.

– A “smart” factory where humans outside the plant remotely control robots that interact with machines and products inside the plant.

– Automated personal transportation devices for people with disabilities or individuals who want to maintain social distances while traveling.

To make all this work, the automaker said it was building a Mobility of Things ecosystem that will link modular robotic platforms to perform different mobility services.

One module called Plug & Drive or PnD is a single-wheel robotics platform that combines intelligent steering, braking and suspension with in-wheel electric drive, cameras and lidar sensors for automated operation.

For larger logistics tasks and other mobility services, Hyundai can bundle four PnD modules, including one application that pairs with a robot dog called – what else? – Spot.

January 6th 2022, 7:16 am

TikTok couple goes viral after finding a clever way to survive I-95 traffic jam

TechCrunch

Vehicles are stuck in gridlock in the morning on the Interstate Highway I-95 near Stafford, Virginia, U.S., January 4, 2022 in this still image obtained from a social media video. Susan Phalen/via REUTERS (Susan Phalen/via REUTERS / Reuters Photos)

A viral video from TikTok shows how a bread truck driver was able to provide much needed help to dozens of unsuspecting drivers who were stranded on I95 in Virginia for more than 24 hours due to snowy weather and freezing temperatures this week they ate nothing for 37 hours stuck on that frozen Virginia freeway, so they called the bread company whose truck was right in front of them, asking if they could have what was in it, ” said the narrator of the video. showing a photo of Casey Holihan and her husband, John Noe, and the Schmidt Baking Company truck.
“To their surprise, the driver of the truck was contacted and given the green light to start distributing bread to 50 starving motorists,” they added, as the video shows the gloved driver handing out bags of bread from the truck. Baltimore-based company truck.
It is not known how many people were fed by the gesture or how long the drivers were stuck in the roadblock before being rescued.
The blocked traffic prompted Virginia state transportation officials to shut down the entire freeway, including the mostly congested areas between exits 152 and 104.

The incident began Monday before pouring into Tuesday evening but, despite the chaos, there were no reported deaths, injuries, or serious accidents.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., shared on Twitter that he was stuck on the interstate and that it took him 27 hours to travel the 110 miles between Richmond and Washington.

Hundreds — if not thousands — of drivers were affected before their eventual help came from law enforcement vehicles, who were also impeded and delayed by the storm, and the generosity of Schmidt Baking company and its delivery truck driver.
There have been other reports of people helping stranded people, including a family who handed over oranges to the US Senator.
Governor Ralph Northam has declared a state of emergency, after initially choosing not to do so as another winter storm is expected to hit Virginia in the coming days.

January 6th 2022, 6:42 am

$315M Powerball winning ticket sold at a Sacramento 7-Eleven

TechCrunch

Image Credit: (Renee Schiavone/Patch)

The winning ticket for the last Powerball was sold at a convenience store in Sacramento. According to the lottery site, the ticket was sold at 7 Eleven on Wyndham Drive.

The ticket price is $315 million.

The other winning ticket, which hit five out of five numbers, was sold to a Chevron in South Pasadena. This person made about $1.3 million. Powerball's last big winning ticket was sold at an Albertsons in Morro Bay in October, for a price of $685 million.

This winner was able to choose between the 29-year paid annuity option or the $ 496 million cash option. Both reward options are subject to tax.

January 6th 2022, 6:42 am

Flurona: what we know so far about the rare new double infection

TechCrunch

Image Credit(AP)

It sounds more like science fiction the more you hear it: The first case of Flurona, a new and rare double infection of coronavirus and influenza, was discovered in an unvaccinated pregnant Israeli young woman, according to doctors at Beilinson Hospital in the city from Petach Tikva out of the country.
Israel is currently seeing a surge in Omicron, with over 9,000 cases registered yesterday, and while there are no confirmed cases in the UK and the patient is experiencing mild symptoms, her two positive results have raised concerns about the possibility of a new double infection. How common is it? Could the falls in the UK? Could two infections cause a more serious illness?
From symptoms to look out for to how likely they are to spread, this is what we knew about Flurona so far.

How did flurona come about?

As the name suggests, flurona describes a rare double infection of both coronavirus and influenza. The term has emerged over recent days following the finding of a patient in Israel who tested positive for both diseases when she came into hospital on Thursday - the first recorded case in the world.

The young woman is pregnant and is reported to only have mild symptoms, but health officials have quickly started studying her case to determine whether the combination causes any greater severity of illness.

“She was diagnosed with the flu and coronavirus as soon as she arrived,” Professor Arnon Vizhnitser, director of the hospitals’ Gynaecology Department, told Jewish newspaper Hamodia.

“Both tests came back positive, even after we checked again. The disease is the same disease. They’re viral and cause difficulty breathing since both attack the upper respiratory tract.”

According to latest reports, the patient is expected to be discharged on Thursday.

What are the symptoms?

It is difficult for scientists to pinpoint an exact set of symptoms, but flurona’s most common effects are likely to be a combination of those of Covid and influenza.

The Israeli patient did reportedly exhibit breathing difficulties and since Omicron already exhibits many of the same symptoms as the flu or a cold, the main effects are likely to include a high temperature, fatigue, aches, sneezing, a dry cough and/or scratchy throat.

Prof Vizhnitser confirmed that both infections are viral and cause difficulty breathing. “The disease is the same disease,” he said. “They’re viral and cause difficulty breathing since both attack the upper respiratory tract.”

How likely is it to spread?

Much about the infectiousness and seriousness of flurona remains unknown, but doctors have confirmed that other cases are likely to emerge - a result of rising flu cases as restrictions ease along with the fast spread of the Omicron variant.

“We are seeing more and more pregnant women with the flu,” said Prof Vizhnitser. “It is definitely a great challenge dealing with a woman who comes in with a fever at childbirth.

“This is especially when you do not know if it’s coronavirus or the flu, so you refer to them the same. Most of the illness is respiratory.”

Source: Yahoo News

January 5th 2022, 6:46 pm

Flurona detected in Israeli woman just as new COVID-19 variant IHU discovered in France

TechCrunch

Israel is reporting its first case of what's called "flurona", when a person can have two infections influenza and coronavirus at the same time. It was detected in a pregnant woman who had mild symptoms. This discovery comes as a new variant of COVID-19 called varient caleed IHU has been detected in France.

January 5th 2022, 6:46 pm

2029 Will be the Perfect Year to Launch a Mission to Sedna

TechCrunch

Image Credit: Nasa

Object 90377 Sedna - a distant transneptunian object best known for its highly elliptical, 11,390-year-old orbit - is currently en-route to perihelion (its closest approach to the Sun) in 2076. After that, Sedna will return to the 'space. deep and will not return for millennia, making this overview a unique (or, once in ~ 113 lifetimes) opportunity to study an object from the far reaches of our solar system. There are no Sedna missions in the works yet, but astronomers are starting to plan for the possibility and ideal launch date for such a mission is fast approaching, with two of the best launch windows coming in 2029 and 2034.
Sedna was discovered in 2003 by Caltech astronomer Mike Brown and his team, and was one of a series of potential dwarf planets (alongside similar-sized bodies like Haumea, Makemake, and Eris) whose discovery led to the demotion of Pluto in 2006. As best we can tell from a distance, Sedna is about the same size as Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt, but its composition and origins are very different. Its chemical makeup suggests it may be covered in deep reddish organic compounds known as tholins, the same material seen on Pluto and other Kuiper belt objects. Unlike Pluto, it is usually too cold for the methane abundant on its surface to evaporate and fall back as snow, though Sedna may briefly gain an atmosphere of nitrogen as it approaches the Sun.
What really sets Sedna apart from the other known dwarf planet candidates is its enormous orbit, which takes it out towards the inner edge of the Oort cloud, the most distant region of the Solar System, where long-period comets lurk. There are several competing theories to explain how Sedna ended up in this position. Perhaps the most high-profile theory is the possibility that a yet unknown ninth planet, perhaps ten times the size of Earth, disrupted Sedna’s orbit and swept it and several other objects out into highly elongated orbits. Visiting Sedna probably won’t solve this particular mystery, but it will tell us a lot about the composition of these extreme trans-Neptunian objects.

The orbit of dwarf planet candidate 90377 Sedna (red) compared to Jupiter (orange), Saturn (yellow), Uranus (green), Neptune (blue), and Pluto (purple). Credit: Szczureq/kheider/NASA (Wikimedia Commons).

Reaching Sedna with a spacecraft won’t be a simple task. Even at its closest approach, Sedna will only come about 76AU from the Sun. For comparison, Neptune is about 30AU, and the Voyager missions, launched in 1977, are just now crossing 150AU and 125AU respectively. That means the time to launch is sooner, rather than later.

In planning a mission to Sedna, the Voyager spacecraft are not bad places to look for inspiration. They famously took advantage of a lucky alignment of planets to take a grand tour of the outer Solar System, stealing energy from Jupiter to pick up speed and reach their more distant targets. Similar gravity assists will be required to make the trip to Sedna manageable. A team of scientists led by Vladislav Zubko from the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences recently modeled a series of possible trajectories to Sedna, favoring a 2029 launch date as the most feasible option.

The 2029 trajectory, they determined, would take the spacecraft to Venus first, then back to Earth (twice), before passing Jupiter on the way to Sedna, with flight times as short as 20 years but more optimally in the 30-year range. The longer flight time would increase the altitude of the spacecraft over Jupiter during the gravity assist, reducing the time spent exposed to the gas giant’s harmful radiation.

A 30-year flight plan would also mean passing by Sedna more slowly, providing more time to gather data on the object. Choosing this option would give the spacecraft a relative velocity of 13.70km/s as it passed Sedna, comparable to the speed at which New Horizons approached Pluto in 2015.

90377 Sedna as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2004. Credit: NASA.

As a bonus, this trajectory would also take the spacecraft past a 145km diameter asteroid named Massalia, providing the team with an additional scientific target to study, as well as a chance to test the spacecraft’s systems.

A second trajectory proposed by the team would consist of a 2034 launch, and would provide a similar additional flyby, this time of the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche.

At the moment, it’s unclear whether a mission to Sedna will actually make it to the launch pad with all the competing options available to mission planners in the coming decade, but as it’s our only chance in the next 11,000 years, the idea is sure to be given due diligence.

Note:This article is taken from Universe Today to see original article Click here

Source: Universe Today

January 5th 2022, 5:04 pm

HBO Max shows growth despite industry slowdown

TechCrunch

The logo for HBO is pictured during the HBO presentation at the Cable portion of the Television Critics Association Summer press tour in Beverly Hills, California August 1, 2012. REUTERS/Fred Prouser

WarnerMedia's HBO Max streaming service gained subscribers over the holidays, defying the slowing pace of growth of some competing services, with lineup that included the rebirth of its popular "Sex and the City" series and new films such as "The Matrix"Resurrections.

HBO ended the year with 73.8 million subscribers to its streaming service and its eponymous cable network, up from 69.4 million in September.

Those gains, coupled with the addition of nearly 900,0000 monthly paid phone subscribers, pushed the stock up 3% to $ 26.46. in the midday exchanges.

“I think the streaming service's cap is much higher than what we've seen to date,” WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar said in an interview.

“This will quickly become a three-way race for storytelling companies.

HBO Max still has a long way to go to capture market leader Netflix Inc, with 214 million subscribers, and Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) Disney +, with 118 million. Disney's growth slowed in the company's fiscal fourth quarter, prompting a banker to downgrade the stock. Disney + added just 2.1 million in the October quarter. Netflix, which slowed sharply in the first half of 2021, saw its subscriptions increase in October, adding 4.4 million during the quarter, driven by the global sensation “Squid Game".

WarnerMedia's HBO Max logged gains as it expanded the server reach from a single market, the United States, to 46 countries. Kilar said global expansion will continue this year, eventually targeting 190 countries.

AT&T (T.N) announced last May that it would split its WarnerMedia unit and merge it with Discovery (DISCA.O). The deal is expected to be finalized in the middle of this year.

January 5th 2022, 5:04 pm

Pfizer, BioNTech to jointly develop shingles vaccine

TechCrunch

Pfizer headquarters in New York.

Getty Images

Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech announced on Wednesday that they would develop a potential mRNA-based vaccine for the prevention of viral shingles, working together for the third time after the success of their COVID-19 vaccine.

Pfizer partnered with BioNTech in 2018 for an influenza vaccine and again in 2020 to develop the COVID-19 vaccine which has been used around the world and brought in billions of dollars in corporate sales.

The companies plan to begin clinical trials of the shingles vaccine, which will combine antigen technology recognized by scientists at Pfizer with BioNTech's mRNA platform technology, in the second half of 2022.

Shingles, also known known as herpes zoster, usually develops in older people who had chickenpox or varicella-zoster virus when they were younger.

Its hallmark is a painful rash that goes away within a month in most cases. In some cases, however, this leads to nerve pain which can persist for much longer collaboration, BioNTech will receive $225 million in upfront payment and be eligible for future regulatory and commercial payments of up to $200 million. BioNTech will pay Pfizer $25 million for the company's proprietary antigen technology.

January 5th 2022, 5:04 pm

This is how WhatsApp plans to change the way you receive your messages

TechCrunch

WhatsApp has reportedly started rolling out the first beta feature of 2022 for iOS users. According to a report by WABetaInfo, with the new feature, iPhone users will also be able to see the sender's profile photos as well as message notifications.

According to the screenshot shared with the report, the new feature will allow you to see small photos of the sender in the notification when you receive a new message from a single user or group.

The report also reveals that the feature is only available to a few beta testers running the iOS 15 operating system because the feature uses iOS 15 APIs.

The Facebook-owned platform is reportedly releasing the feature for more users with the upcoming updates.As the feature is still in beta, WhatsApp may experience issues showing profile photos on specific notifications, but these issues will likely be resolved whenever the feature is rolled out to the public.

Last week WhatsApp also started rolling out a 2.22.1.1 beta update for iOS users. The update supposedly contains hidden references to a feature that will allow users to create communities in future updates.

A similar hidden notice was also discovered in the beta update released two weeks ago for Android smartphones. For those of you who don't know, Facebook's own messaging platform has been working on a community feature for a while.

January 5th 2022, 5:04 pm

Squid Game’s Hwang Dong-hyuk & Kim Ji-yeon Lawyer Up; Yorn, Levine, Barnes To Rep In All Areas

TechCrunch

Image Credit: Agostini/Invision/AP

A competitive chase by representatives to sign the architects of the global streaming hit Squid Game is ending with a surprise. Deadline hears that the law firm of Yorn Levine Barnes Krintzman Rubenstein Kohner Endlich & Gellman has signed and will rep in all areas Squid Game creator, writer-director and EP Hwang Dong-hyuk and EP Kim Ji-yeon and their production company Siren Pictures Inc.

Partners Kevin Yorn, Gregg Gellman and Jared Levine will lead that rep team.T

he phenomenal success of Netflix’s Squid Game came seemingly out of nowhere, catapulting Hwang and the cast to global stardom and making them the hottest commodity in Hollywood. That created a stampede among the major agencies late last yearto sign Hwang and the actors, the vast majority of whom have no Hollywood representation. The courtship got underway when cast and creators came to Hollywood for a big press junket Netflix held. Several of the cast signed with agencies. It looks right now that the Squid Game EP duo will have the attorneys be their sole Hollywood reps, sources said.

Hwang hinted recently at a third season for the show, even before the second season gets the official green light. Season 1 was made on a modest budget, reportedly $2.4 million per episode ($21.4 million in total), while projected to generate $900 million value for the streamer, according to data cited by Bloomberg.

The cast and Hwang had no-frills contracts typical for local-language Netflix productions. Clearly the new reps will be out to change all that and help set up new series and films. “I’m not that rich,” Hwang told The Guardian last year. “But I do have enough. I have enough to put food on the table. And it’s not like Netflix is paying me a bonus. Netflix paid me according to the original contract.”

Source: Yahoo News

January 5th 2022, 9:03 am

Hackers Target Real estate websites with skimmer in latest supply chain attack

TechCrunch

Threat actors used a cloud-based video hosting service to perform a supply chain attack on more than 100 real estate websites operated by Sotheby's Realty that involved the injection of malicious skimmers to steal sensitive personal information .

“Others import videos, even their websites are embedded with skimmer codes,” researchers from Unit 42 at Palo Alto Networks said in a report released this week.

The skimmer attacks, also called formjacking, relates to a type of cyber attack wherein bad actors insert malicious JavaScript code into the target website, most often to checkout or payment pages on shopping and e-commerce portals, to harvest valuable information such as credit card details entered by users.

In the latest incarnation of the Magecart attacks, the operators behind the campaign hacked Sotheby's Brightcove account and deployed malicious code in the cloud video platform player by forging a script that can be loaded to add JavaScript customizations to the video player.

"The attacker modified the static script in his hosted location by attaching the skimmer code. On the next player update, the video platform reingested the compromised file and served it with the affected player." the researchers said, adding that he had worked with the video service and the real estate company to help remove the malware.

The campaign is said to have begun as early as January 2021, according to MalwareBytes, with the harvested information — names, emails, phone numbers, credit card data — exfiltrated to a remote server "cdn-imgcloud[.]com" that also functioned as a collection domain for a Magecart Attack targeting Amazon CloudFront CDN in June 2019.

To detect and prevent the injection of malicious code into online sites, it is recommended that you perform periodic web content integrity checks, remembering to protect accounts from takeover attempts and pay attention to potential social engineering schemes.

“The skimmer itself is highly polymorphic, elusive and ever-changing,” the researchers said. “When combined with cloud distribution platforms, the impact of such a skimmer could be very significant.

January 5th 2022, 9:03 am

Emma Watson pro-Palestinian post sparks antisemitism row

TechCrunch

Watson's Instagram post had nearly one million likes and more than 89,000 comments by Tuesday [File: Henry Nicholls/Reuters]

British actress Emma Watson's official Instagram account expressed solidarity with the Palestinians in a new post, eliciting widespread support from pro-Palestinian users but also drawing sharp criticism from Israeli officials.

The account of the movie star, known for her role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, on Monday shared a photo of a pro-Palestinian rally with the phrase "Solidarity is a verb."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Emma Watson (@emmawatson)

The picture was originally released by the Bad Activism Collective in May last year after Israel launched a deadly 11-day offensive in the besieged Gaza Strip, in which several celebrities interfered with the conflict with figures such as Bella Hadid and Susan Sarandon posting messages of support for the Palestinians.
In the caption, there is a quote from British-Australian activist Sara Ahmed, saying: “Solidarity does not assume that our struggles are the same struggles, or that our pain is the same pain, or that our hope is for the same future.
Solidarity involves commitment and work, as well as recognition that even though we don't have the same feelings, or the same lives, or the same bodies, we live on common ground. Watson's Instagram bio says her account "has been taken over by an anonymous feminist collective."
The post, which by Tuesday had nearly one million likes and more than 89,000 comments, was hailed by pro-Palestine social media users. Many thanked Watson for her support, while some added the hashtags #FreePalestine and #PalestineWillBeFree to their comments.

On the other hand, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, criticized the publication:
"Fiction may work in Harry Potter, but in reality it doesn't work," he wrote on Twitter. The wizarding world could eradicate the evils of Hamas (which oppresses women and seeks to destroy Israel) and the Palestinian Authority (which supports terrorism). I would be for it! " he said.

His comments followed those of former Israeli ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon.

“10 points from Gryffindor for being an antisemite,” Danon tweeted.

Several social media users slammed Danon for his comments.

Leah Greenberg, the coexectual director of the indivisible project, a non-profit organization, which was founded in 2016 in response to the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States, released the allegations of Danons and said that they were "a perfect demonstration of liberation absolutely cynical and bad-faith weaponisation of antisemitism to shut down basic expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian people.”

Palestinian journalist and activist Mohammed El-Kurd, who played a crucial role in raising international awareness about the forced eviction of Palestinians in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, responded saying that Watson’s “simple statement” had left “Zionists everywhere … in a frenzy”.

January 5th 2022, 7:50 am

A record 4.5 Mi)ion Americans quit their Jobs in November,

TechCrunch

A record 4.5 million Americans voluntarily quit their jobs in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This pushed the layoff rate to 3%, equivalent to the peak in September. Workers were more likely to quit their jobs in the hospitality sector, which had by far the highest exit rate at 6.1% in November, as were those in the health care sector.
Figures in transportation, warehouses and utilities also increased.

Workers have continued to quit work at a historic rate. Low-wage industries directly affected by the pandemic continued to be the source of much of the increase in quits, ”said Nick Bunker, research director at Indeed Hiring Lab, in comments by e -mail.
The big question for 2022 is whether this momentum will persist. The high quits rate Data for November released on Tuesday does not yet take into account the arrival of the Omicron variant on US shores, which has pushed infections on the rise. and put many workers at risk of contracting the virus in the workplace.

Case in point, the UCLA Labor Center said in a report also released on Tuesday that nearly a quarter of fast food workers in the Los Angeles area have contracted Covid in the past 18 months. Less than half of them had been informed by their employers that they had been potentially exposed to the virus.
Including layoffs and discharges, the total number of terminations was 6.3 million in November.
Hotels and restaurants saw the biggest increase in departures, while also seeing the biggest drop in open jobs, the data showed. America had 10.6 million jobs to fill in November, down slightly from just over 11 million jobs opened in October. Available jobs in the United States peaked at 11.1 million last July.

Positions in finance and insurance, as well as in the federal government, increased in November.

Hires were little changed at 6.7 million and that paints a positive picture of the labor market:

"People who quit are taking other jobs, not leaving the workforce," said Heidi Shierholz, chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute in a tweet Tuesday. "On net, the labor market is gaining a ton of jobs every month."

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Conclusion

August 20th 2026, 7:27 pm

1. Jasper Ai(Formerly known as Jarvis)

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Pricing

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2. Copy Ai

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3. Frase Ai

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Frase provides two plans for all users and a customizable plan for an enterprise or business.

4. Article Forge — Popular Blog Writing Software for Efficiency and Affordability

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5. Rytr — Superb AI Content Writing Assistant

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6. Writesonic — Best AI Article Writing Software with a Grammar and Plagiarism Checker

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7. CopySmith — Produces Quality Content in Seconds

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