Apple has hosted yet another “special event”, six weeks after the last one. In September, Apple unveiled the new iPhone Xs, Xs Max, and iPhone XR. Now, one month on, Apple has unveiled slightly upgraded versions of the MacBook Air, Mac Mini, and iPad Pro.
Apple has finally updated the MacBook Air for the first time since 2015. The new MacBook Air has a Retina display on a 13.3-inch screen, thinner bezels, two USB-C ports, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. At 2.75 pounds, it’s also slightly lighter than the previous model.
Unfortunately, there’s no Touch Bar, USB-A ports, or SD card reader. There are various versions available, with the base model boasting 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. For that you’ll pay $1,199, with the new MacBook Air available to buy from November 7.
Apple has also updated the Mac Mini for the first time since 2014. The new Mac Mini boasts a quad-core 8th Gen Intel processor and up to 64GB of RAM and up to 2TB SSD storage. You get a generous four USB-C ports, plus USB-A ports, HDMI, and Ethernet.
The new Mac Mini actually looks very similar to the old Mac Mini, but the changes have all been made under the hood. The base model includes an Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB RAM, and 128GB of SSD storage. That will set you back $799 and be available from November 7.
Last but not least is the new iPad Pro. This has been redesigned inside and out. Design-wise, the new iPad Pro has smaller bezels and a screen which run closer to the edge. Apple has also added Face ID, but removed the Home button and the 3.5mm headphone jack.
The new iPad Pro boasts impressive specs. It’s powered by the A12X Bionic chip, which has an 8-core CPU and 7-core GPU which Apple claims compares to an Xbox One. The 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $799, with the 12.9-inch base model priced at $999.
This is the fourth special event Apple has hosted in 2018. However, they’ve all been about introducing slightly better versions of existing products, including the iPhone, the iPad, the Apple Watch, and operating systems for all of the above and more besides.
But where are the brand new, never-seen-before products that once helped Apple stand out from the crowd? And why aren’t more Apple fans calling out the company for playing it safe? Unfortunately, this is what happens when you’re worth $1 trillion and counting.
Read the full article: Apple Unveils a New MacBook Air, Mac Mini, and iPad Pro
Welcome to eBay Online Shopping 101. You are the select few, chosen to be trained as sharp-shooting eBay bidders, capable of finding the best deals and winning every auction. So pull up a chair and let’s get started.
Shopping on eBay isn’t really like shopping on Amazon or any other shopping site. On most sites, you search for the product you like, find it, and if there are enough left, you buy it at the best fixed price you can find and then wait for it to arrive in the mail. On eBay, not so much.
There are a few important things you need to know when you buy something on eBay.
It’s important to do your research before you ever press the Place bid button.
eBay is a great place to buy some really cool stuff at amazing prices, but you’ve got to be careful.
When it comes to eBay online shopping, in most cases you aren’t dealing with a major business with a reputation and a brand to protect. You’re usually dealing with someone selling stuff right out of their own home.
There’s nothing wrong with that, but it means that you have to go about doing business a little more carefully.
Lesson number one is this—you really shouldn’t bid on just anything on eBay.
If you do, you’re far more likely to lose your money and not get the product that you want. On the other hand, if you search carefully for products, you’ll have very low odds of ever losing your money, getting a bad deal, or or even getting scammed on eBay.
When you’re searching for what you want, listings have options at the top to switch between listing type. “All Listings”, “Accepts Offers”, “Auction”, or “Buy It Now”.
Pro-tip #1: If you are a collector and find yourself searching for the same sorts of items on eBay over and over, you can click on “Save this search” as a convenient way to quickly see new items that show up.
Pro-tip #2: If you’re new to eBay, sorting by Time: ending soonest or Ending Soon is one of the best ways to get the lowest price. This depends on the time of day you’re able to do the search. There are prime hours to be a buyer when prices are lowest. In the left navigation, click on Completed Items under Show only, to get an idea of what time and day of the week is the prime time for buyers.
Once you sort the items by when they are ending, it’s time to scroll down the list and find the item you want that’s about to end in just a few minutes—or up to 30 minutes from now.
Waiting 30 minutes to bid on something isn’t such a bad thing if you get a smoking deal out of the wait.
Using eBay’s advanced search is the best tool in your arsenal for finding the best deals when you’re shopping online at eBay. Hit the Advanced link next to the search box to get started.
Here, you’ll see the sorts of things you’d expect: a search field, search terms to exclude (which is good if you’re looking for something very specific), the option to include searching descriptions as well as titles (do this!), different buying formats, and so on.
Use as many of these options as you need to find the exact listings you’re looking for.
Some of the most useful options in the advanced search are:
Which ones you select will depend on how specific you want your search to be.
One more quick search tip has to do with categories. When you search for an item, eBay automatically selects and searches a specific category.
When I searched for Fury of Dracula, a board game, eBay selects “Board games > Contemporary manufacture”.
Be sure to set this drop-down to “All categories” to find items that have been listed in the wrong category, as they might have better prices.
Once you find the item that you want, then it’s time to move on to the next phase of your research before you place a bid.
Pro-tip #3: When you find the perfect item, don’t just bid on it immediately.
You need to do your homework or else you’ll end up in a bad situation. Make sure you know everything there is to know about the seller.
See the seller information just off to the right of the “Current Bid:” area of the auction.
Make sure you pick an item with at least 15 minutes or so remaining so you have the time to do your seller and item research.
First, click on the number next to the seller name. That’ll take you to the seller feedback page.
I know a lot of people who are heavy into eBay online shopping who only buy from sellers that have 100% feedback rating for the last 12 months. That might give you nearly perfect odds to never have any issues with anything you purchase on eBay, but it can also really limit what you can bid on.
The truth is, there are a whole lot of fantastic sellers who, through no fault on their part, ended up getting negative feedback from bad buyers.
You can identify patterns like this pretty quickly when you examine the feedback ratings for buyers, which are broken up into 1 month, 6 month and 12 month sections. For example, this buyer had only two negative feedback ratings within the last 12 months.
Of course, it’s always a good idea to scroll down and see what those were all about. In this example, it looks like the feedback ranking for this particular seller is pretty stellar despite the fact that the overall rank score is 99.6%.
Given the overwhelming number of positive feedback rankings, I think it’s safe to say that this particular negative score was probably the fault of the buyer, not the seller.
Once you’re satisfied with the seller, it’s time to research the item.
Pro-tip #4: Don’t just scan the item quickly, because there may be some details about the item that you want to know about before you buy it. Remember, this is likely someone selling a used item right from their home—so it’s probably not going to be perfect. Make sure you know about every imperfection.
Most good sellers will make sure to note any imperfection.
Another important factor to check is the shipping. You’ll find this when you scroll down to the description area. Just click on the Shipping and Payments tab.
Different sellers have different methods of shipping—and sometimes they might actually overcharge.
Beyond the shipping cost, check out where the item location is (at the top of the shipping page) so you have some realistic idea of how long it’ll take to get to you.
You’ll also want to scroll down a little further to Payment Details. Make sure the seller accepts the form of payment you want to use.
Pro-tip #5: If you bid in a certain way, you’re nearly guaranteed to win the auction.
This is especially important if the item is being closely followed by a lot of interested people, like the one shown here.
The first thing to do is make sure you’re properly logged into eBay. The last thing you want is a login-request at the last second when you want to bid.
Then, right click on the “Place bid” button and open it in a new window.
Move that window over to the side. Even better, to a different screen so you can watch the timer countdown on the item page itself.
Type in your maximum bid in the “Your max bid:” field.
Don’t mess around here. Stretch yourself as far as you’re willing to go.
For example, in the case above, I only wanted to bid $75 at the most. Now, sure I could bid exactly $75, but if there’s anyone else looking for the laptop at the same price, they’re likely going to bid $75, $75.01, or $75.50. These are the most common ways people try to win at a certain price. To outbid all of those folks, bid $75.99. Then click Continue.
Now that you’re on the “Confirm Bid” page, it’s just time to wait for the countdown.
This is the important part, and it’s where most people freak out and bid too early.
On the very last confirmation page, you’re just one step away from officially placing your bid. Wait until the very last moment, providing only enough time for computer and Internet lag—about 3 to 4 seconds.
When the clock clicks down under 15 seconds or less, just go ahead and click the “Confirm Bid” button. Wait for the confirmation page that you’re the winner of the auction. Congratulations!
For even more success, check out our full article on using automatic bids and snipes to win auctions on eBay.
Image Credits: gpointstudio/Shutterstock
Read the full article: 5 Critical eBay Online Shopping Tips You Must Know
WhatsApp connects over a billion users around the world. They’re able to communicate through text messages or by using WhatsApp voice calling. And like any instant messenger, WhatsApp has a robust video calling feature as well.
Video calling is exactly what it sounds like. You “call” a contact you have on WhatsApp, and both of you can see each other on your smartphone screens. It’s what Skype has been doing for years.
WhatsApp video calling works across both Android and iOS. This makes WhatsApp one of the best smartphone apps for cross-platform video calls.
WhatsApp video calling is technically free, in the sense that WhatsApp isn’t charging you any money to make the call. However, video calls require an internet connection, so they will be consuming data from your phone’s data plan. If you are using WhatsApp to call someone over a Wi-Fi connection, your phone’s network carrier (e.g. AT&T, Vodafone, etc.) won’t charge you anything. A quick reminder, you can check how much data WhatsApp is using thanks to these WhatsApp tricks everyone should know.
To ensure you get all the features, download the latest version of WhatsApp.
Download: WhatsApp for Android | iOS (Free)
This is the only official way to get WhatsApp video calling. Don’t fall for WhatsApp scams that offer other ways to get the feature.
WhatsApp video calls are part of the existing voice calls feature. Placing a video call is pretty simple. Tap the contact you want to talk to, and tap the video camera icon next to their name.
The other person can answer the call (swipe up the blue button), reject the call (swipe up the red phone button), or reject the call and send a text instead (swipe up the message button). If they answer, you’re ready to go.
By default, WhatsApp video calls use the front-facing camera of your phone. However, you can switch this to the rear camera at any point with a tap on the screen. It’s seamless and just works.
You can also mute the microphone, so the other person can see you but not hear you. To mute the audio from the speakers, use your phone’s volume buttons.
Whenever you make a video call, WhatsApp does not assume any internet speed. So it will calculate your speed each time, and adjust the video quality accordingly. This makes a remarkable difference to how good the video looks.
One Redditor made a short video (linked above) comparing WhatsApp video calls with Apple’s FaceTime. WhatsApp looks far better in that particular battle.
We tried WhatsApp video calling on 4G, 3G, and 2G networks, and it worked on all three. The 2G network’s video quality was poor and pixelated, but it was still smooth enough to know what was happening on screen. The lack of lag was refreshing.
The second highlight of WhatsApp’s video calls is the multitasking feature. Most smartphone video calls force you to use the video call and nothing else. You can’t multitask. However, WhatsApp has no such restrictions.
You can tap the “Message” button at any point to check other messages that someone has sent you on WhatsApp, and even reply to them. To return to your video call, just tap the green bar at the top of the app.
You can make a WhatsApp video call with up to four people at the same time. Group video calls obviously consume more data as well.
To place a group video call, first start a one-on-one call with anyone in your contact list. Then tap the “Add Participant” button (it looks like a person’s icon, with a plus sign next to it) in the top-right corner of the screen. Now choose another person to invite, and repeat the process for up to four people in total.
It’s simple and easy, but the four-person restriction is annoying. Plus you need everyone else to have WhatsApp too. While it’s good for an informal chat, we still think Appear.in is the best option if you want to talk to more people, without any sign-ups or app requirements.
Currently, WhatsApp video calls are not supported on WhatsApp Web or the desktop app.
While WhatsApp requires a smartphone and an active internet connection, you can still use it on a computer. You can do it via the WhatsApp desktop client or the WhatsApp Web client. However, neither of these support video calls.
On the other hand, apps like Skype or FaceTime are available on both computers and phones, and can make video calls between a computer and a phone.
WhatsApp’s focus is to make the video call look as good as possible. So if it can give you higher quality, it’s going to do that. And that results in high data usage. If you’re not on Wi-Fi, this can quickly eat through cellular data caps.
On average, we found a minute’s call to use 5MB of data on 4G, 3.75MB on 3G, and 3MB on 2G. This isn’t bad at all, and much less than what we expected. A few Twitter users also recorded similar numbers.
10 minute WhatsApp video call on 4G LTE = 50.9MB data
Isn't this too much? @BandwidthBlog pic.twitter.com/d5iO3BOArp
— kabelo ? (@Kabelo_Moagi) November 2, 2016
WhatsApp’s settings have an option to reduce the data used on voice calls. If you’re worried about data usage, you can try this option to see if it also reduces video call data.
Video calling is an essential tool in any instant messenger, and WhatsApp has done a great job with it. The service is only improving with every passing day, and getting more stable and reliable.
That said, voice calling is just one small part of WhatsApp. There is so much more that the app offers, which makes it more than an instant messenger and actually turns it into a social network in its own right. In case you’ve missed some over the years, check out our list of the best new WhatsApp features.
Read the full article: WhatsApp Video Calling Guide: Everything You Need to Know
Whether you’re trying to drive social traffic to your site or simply want your personal profile to look its best, you really need this Facebook image size guide.
From your profile banner to your holiday snaps, visuals really matter on the world’s largest social network. So we’re here to help you find the best image sizes to use on Facebook.
Unfortunately Facebook doesn’t make things easy, with some images appearing differently on mobile and desktop versions. But this Facebook image size guide should help you figure it all out.
Size on Mobile: 640 x 360 pixels
Size on Desktop: 851 x 315 pixels
Best Size: 820 x 462 pixels
Since you can only use one size of image for both mobile and desktop, the ideal minimum cover size is: 820 x 462 pixels (an aspect ratio of 1.77:1). This size displays nicely on both mobile and desktop, and you can position your image precisely when you upload it using Facebook’s own tools. If you use a larger image that still conforms to the same aspect ratio, desktop and tablet users will see an improvement in quality.
The cover photo is the banner at the top of your Facebook page. It’s the first thing visitors will notice when they land on your profile or page, so it’s important to create a unique Facebook cover photo. Things work a little differently for personal profiles and business pages.
For personal profiles, your cover forms a background for your personal profile. On mobile your profile picture appears in the center of the cover photo. For pages, the two are entirely separate. Your cover photo is a chance to say something bold about your brand, while your profile image provides a small snippet of identity.
Mobile and Desktop: 180 x 180 pixels
Profile pictures are easy, since they’re square images. The image will display at 160 x 160 pixels, but Facebook asks for 180 x 180 pixels to scale down. You can basically use any square image you like, whether it’s large at 900 x 900 pixels or small at 200 x 200 pixels. Facebook will automatically resize and compress your image to fit.
Best Event Cover Photo size: 1920 x 1080 pixels
Photos in Event Feed: (up to) 470 x 470 pixels
Facebook displays event cover images differently on mobile and desktop, so an aspect ratio of 16:9 is recommended to avoid cropping. An image at full HD resolution will also give your cover enough clarity should anyone click on it from the event page. Feel free to go to an even higher resolution to pack in the pixels.
After checking a whole load of event pages out, it seems event organisers use slightly different sizes but ensure the important content (names, dates, venues) appear somewhat toward the center of the image. Images displayed on your event wall can go up to 470 pixels wide and high, depending on the shape of your image.
Best Cover Photo Size: 820 x 462 pixels
Despite only displaying at 820 x 250 pixels in the desktop news feed, the mobile version of Facebook shows the full 820 x 426 pixels group cover photo size. This is an aspect ratio of 1.77:1, so provided you stay within those boundaries you can create a higher resolution image which will fit perfectly.
Facebook Groups are an increasingly popular way to connect with friends, communities, and customers. And there are some awesome ways to discover new Facebook Groups. As always if you have any really important information that you don’t want hidden from view on desktop, make sure you account for the clipping that will occur at the top and bottom of the image.
Size on Mobile: 560 x 292 pixels
Size on Desktop: 470 x 246 pixels
Best Link Image Size: 1200 x 629 pixels
The link image is the image pulled from any link you happen to share on Facebook, such as a blog post or a news story. If you have control over the source medium (your personal blog, for instance) you can design your “featured” image to conform to the 1.9:1 ratio at a size of around 1200 x 629 pixels for the best results.
Other image sizes will be cropped to fit this template. Assuming your image is purely illustrative, and doesn’t require 100 percent accurate reproduction on Facebook (like text, or a logo) this shouldn’t worry you too much. If you’re looking for a good image for an article, check out the best websites for free stock images.
Single image ads: 1200 x 629 pixels
Carousel ads: 1080 x 1080 pixels
Single image ads follow the same precedent set by link images, at a 1.9:1 ratio. If you just want to promote your product with a link to your product page or blog post, 1200 x 629 pixels is fine. For carousel ads, which let you run up to 10 images in a scrolling carousel, stick to the 1:1 image ratio at 1080 x 1080 pixels or higher.
Remember that promoted posts are different to adverts. If you click the “Boost Post” button on your Facebook page to boost a post, you aren’t bound by the same restrictions and don’t require a Facebook ad manager account.
This allows you to do things like create a new post with a square image, put a link in the body of the text, and promote it like you would an advert.
Like Google, nobody knows what Facebook is thinking. And it changes things up regularly. With that in mind it’s best to keep up with the news in order to keep ahead of any changes. The social media giant’s influence continues to grow, and growing with the service is something users will just have to get used to.
However, popularity can cause problems too. The social network’s biggest hack saw 50 million accounts compromised, so make sure you know what to do if your Facebook account has been hacked.
Image Credit: ifong/Depositphotos
Read the full article: The Facebook Image Size Guide for 2018
The PC Settings app and the Control Panel allow you to change many different settings in Windows 10. But you may not want all users of a computer to be able to change the settings once they’re set.
For example, you may change specific settings for a child account and then prevent them from accessing settings to reverse your changes. Or maybe you’re setting up computers in a networked environment and you want to set default settings and prevent users from changing them.
Today we’ll show you how to disable access to both the PC Settings app and the Control Panel using the Registry Editor and the Local Group Policy Editor.
To disable access to the Settings app and Control Panel, the account you’re changing this for must be an Administrator account. You can temporarily change the account to an Administrator account if it’s a Standard account. But don’t forget to change it back to a Standard account to prevent the user from re-enabling access to the Settings app and Control Panel.
You can use this method of disabling the Settings app and the Control Panel no matter which edition of Windows 10 you’re using. If you’re using Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise, and you’d rather use the Local Group Policy Editor, see the next section.
Making changes to the registry can be risky. The change we talk about here is simple if you stick to our instructions. But it’s a good idea to back up the registry before making changes. You should also make sure you back up your data and consider creating a system restore point.
To revert changes you’ve made to the Windows registry, you can reset the registry to the default values.
To disable the Settings app and the Control Panel, press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box. Type regedit in the Open box and click OK.
If the User Account Control dialog box displays, click Yes to continue. You may not see this dialog box, depending on your User Account Control settings.
In the tree structure on the left side of the Registry Editor window, navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Then, right-click on the right side and go to New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
Name the new key NoControlPanel and double-click on it.
On the Edit DWORD (32-bit) Value dialog box, type 1 in the Value data box and click OK.
Sign out and back in or reboot your computer to finalize the change.
To revert the change, open regedit, go back to the key mentioned above, and change the NoControlPanel value to 0, or delete the NoControlPanel value.
If you’re running Windows Home, and you’re not comfortable making changes to the registry yourself, you can download our ready-made registry hack (ZIP File). We’ve included one REG file for disabling access to the Settings app and Control Panel and another REG file for enabling access again.
Simply double-click the appropriate REG file and click Yes on the User Account Control dialog box (if it displays). Then, click Yes on the first dialog box and OK on the second.
Make sure you sign out and back in or reboot your computer.
If you’re using Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise, you can use the Local Group Policy Editor to disable access to the Settings app and Control Panel.
Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box. Type gpedit.msc in the Open box and click OK.
In the tree list on the left side of the Local Group Policy Editor window, navigate to the following path:
User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel
On the right side, double-click Prohibit access to Control Panel and PC settings.
Select Enabled at the top of the Prohibit access to Control Panel and PC settings dialog box and click OK.
To enable access to the Settings app and Control Panel again, open the Local Group Policy Editor and navigate to the path mentioned above again. Then, select either Not Configured or Disabled.
Once you use either of the above methods in a user account, that user will not be able to open the Settings app. Also, if they try to access the Control Panel, they’ll see the following dialog box.
Windows also removes the Change account settings option on the Start menu’s user menu.
The ability to disable access to the PC Settings app and Control Panel is especially useful in a network environment where you want to have consistent settings on all the machines on the network and prevent users from changing them.
But, it’s just as useful if other people, like friends and children and other family members, use your computer. There are also other ways you can lock down user accounts in Windows 10.
Read the full article: How to Disable Access to the Settings App and Control Panel in Windows 10
Google debuts $25M AI Impact Challenge, a contest to support projects for social good, similar to other tech giants' efforts, like Microsoft's $50M AI for Earth — Google AI today announced the AI for Social Good initiative, an ongoing project to apply core AI research and engineering efforts …
Sam's Club, the Walmart-owned members-only retail store, says it will soon open an Amazon Go-like cashierless store called Sam's Club Now in Texas — Walmart's warehouse club, Sam's Club is preparing to open the doors at a new Dallas area store that will serve as a testbed for the latest in retail technology.
Keeping some kind of control over your personal data has become really challenging in recent times. If you value your privacy, it might be worth trying Private Internet Access VPN. This highly-rated service provides complete online protection, with advanced encryptions and zero browsing logs. Right now, you can get two years of service for $55.55 at MakeUseOf Deals.
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Read the full article: Protect Your Privacy with 66% off Private Internet Access VPN
About 425 million people in the world have diabetes, with 30 million in the US itself. Whether you’re newly diagnosed or you have lived with diabetes for years, these apps and resources can help you take care of yourself.
There are a few essentials to diabetes management that most of the top apps cover. For example, they will monitor blood sugar, create a logbook of your insulin dosage, track meals, and so on. Even if they’re sounding similar, try out the different apps because you never know which one is perfect for you.
Warning: When it comes to any medical topic, it’s important that you don’t rely solely on websites like MakeUseOf, or search for medial info online. Instead, you need to seek the help of medical professionals who can guide you. Based on the doctor’s advice, use the information in our article to make the best choices for you.
MySugr is the most recommended app for diabetics today, and a huge hit among Reddit communities about health. It has all the features you would need from a diabetes tracker.
The app is mainly a logger for blood sugar, medicines, meals, and other data. It’s a simple matter of keying in the data every time you do any diabetes-related activity, like checking your sugar level. The app includes reminders to check blood sugar so that you don’t forget about the task or about filling the data.
The ease of use is what sets MySugr apart from the rest. It’s easy to understand how to add things to the app. It’s easy to see your data in the form of charts. The app even distills it into simple English for you.
MySugr also has several other features, like a bolus calculator, which figures out how much of an insulin dose you should take. But the free version of the app only lets you calculate this five times before paying for future calculations. Try it out and see if such features are worth paying for.
Download: MySugr for Android | iOS (Free)
As easy as MySugr is, it’s a little sad that it puts the bolus calculator behind a paywall. For those who are newly diagnosed with diabetes, figuring out the right insulin dosage is a major struggle. Diabetes:M is an all-in-one app that makes life easier for new diabetics.
The logbook tracks all your data, especially the glucose level, at multiple points of the day. You’ll need to add it manually, of course. This is helpful for the bolus calculator too.
To figure out the right insulin dose, you’ll need to add what you’re eating, how much you’re eating, and the measured blood glucose. Diabetes:M uses a database of food products with pre-determined levels of carbs, proteins, fats, and calories. It’s not perfect, but it’s decent enough, much like how fitness apps count calories. Once it has the data, it will calculate the best insulin dose.
Using it for the bolus calculator also has the additional benefit that you track everything you are eating, which is always useful for a doctor. You can view that data in the form of simple charts for free on the phone. But if you want to export them into Excel or PDF for the doctor, you’ll need to buy the premium version of Diabetes:M.
Download: Diabetes:M for Android | iOS (Free)
Center Health is fairly new on the market and so it has bugs and issues to fix, but with time, it could end up becoming the best app for diabetes management. It has everything that MySugr and Diabetes:M offer, but adds two more elements.
The one you should care about is Aria, a smart AI to analyze your logbook and warn you of trends. It’s more than just a reminder. For example, it will send you alerts when the injection you took might lead to you being hypoglycemic. Or it will look for patterns in your usage and point out when something is off. These are the types of things that might one day help AI diagnose health issues.
The other part that makes Center Health impressive is an add-on glucometer called the Nano, which plugs into your phone. The glucometer tests your blood sugar level and records it directly in the app. You no longer need to log it each time. But of course, this is a paid gadget, and you pay for the strips too.
Center Health also does one other thing right that we love: it plays nice with other apps. Whether you use Dexcom, Medtronic, Fitbit, Google Fit, Apple Health, or any other system, Center Health supports all of them to ensure your data is tracked and synced across platforms.
Download: Center Health for Android | iOS (Free)
The American Association of Diabetes Educators is largely meant for medical professionals seeking to help patients manage the disease. But the site has a few resources for the patients directly, and they’re invaluable. There are two pages you should check.
The AADE Self-Care Behaviors page is a series of guides for people living with diabetes. The guides are divided into Healthy Eating, Being Active, Monitoring, Taking Medication, Problem Solving, Reducing Risks, and Healthy Coping. Go through each for valuable information that you can trust.
Then, check the Tools and Resources page. The AADE has a series of checklists and handouts to navigate common diabetic issues. This includes everything from medicinal checklists to printouts for healthy holiday eating. These small steps will help in living a better life.
We recommend you always seek out a medical professional for health advice, or only refer to trusted medical organizations like the AADE. If you have a small query that you don’t want to bother a doctor for, then here’s how to safely research health issues online.
With any chronic disease, it’s best to get yourself a support group for the long haul. Seek help in real life, and seek help online through communities and forums. Diabetes Daily has made a name for itself as one of the best forums for diabetics.
There are different sub-forums to discuss the different types of diabetes, as well as specific parts about the experience, such as daily living factors, complications, non-traditional treatments, money, and insurance, etc. Hop on, be polite, and follow the general rules of asking strangers for help on the internet. You’ll gain some cheerleaders and supporters in no time.
Apart from the forum, the Diabetes Daily website also has essential information about the disorder. You can read the latest news about things related to diabetes, get beginner’s guides and resources, and plenty of information related to diabetic diets.
Apart from monitoring your health statistics, the biggest daily task of living with diabetes is managing your food intake. What you eat, and when you eat it, is going to affect your health more than any other aspect.
That’s why we put together a simple guide to cooking for diabetics. Here, you will find websites and apps that give you diabetic-friendly recipes, as well as YouTube channels and tips. Don’t miss this one.
Read the full article: 5 Best Diabetes Apps to Track Blood Sugar, Calculate Food, and Write Logbooks
Want to know what the best cheap VPN deal is for you right now? Some of the top VPN services are cutting prices temporarily and giving new customers some great deals, and we’ve rounded up some of the best available right now.
First, let’s look at an awesome seasonal Halloween VPN deal from CyberGhost, who are offering an MakeUseOf readers an 18-month plan for just $2.75 a month.
This is a discount of the standard price of $3.50 a month and costs just $49.50 via the CyberGhost website. Not only does this price give you affordable access to a VPN, it’s CyberGhost’s cheapest deal. We believe this is also the cheapest deal on the market—and it’s available to you via the CyberGhost website
Our review of CyberGhost revealed a service that enables anonymous surfing of the web, handles video streaming well, and even supports safe torrent downloads.
Observing it as a “top VPN for beginners” thanks to it’s simple setup and easy apps on every platform, we concluded that CyberGhost’s “confident no-logging policy is a definite advantage, while the VPN’s speed is up there with the best. CyberGhost is a secure, fast VPN.”
Don’t miss this exclusive Halloween VPN deal from CyberGhost.
One of the most popular VPN services out there, ExpressVPN currently offers a 15-month deal with three months free, exclusive to MakeUseOf readers. This costs just $99.95, which works out at $6.67 a month. A flat monthly subscription is $12.95, so you’re looking at a 49 percent savings on our recommended VPN.
Based in the British Virgin Islands, ExpressVPN is not bound by any data retention laws, so your online activity is not logged. With support for defeating geo-location, torrenting, Tor access, and gaming, ExpressVPN has over 1,000 servers across 87 countries worldwide. It’s fast, too.
While not the cheapest VPN option, ExpressVPN’s reputation is solid, offering apps for every desktop and mobile platform, and support for routers. You’ll even browser plugins for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. Keen to protect your privacy, ExpressVPN accepts payment Bitcoin, along with credit card, PayPal, and various other methods.
On reviewing ExpressVPN, we declared it “…a solid, secure, speedy VPN service, with a good bunch of features available along a standard price band […] multi-platform support and logless servers.”
It certainly makes sense to consider ExpressVPN.
VPN deals are fantastic, as they really make it easy for you to get started with keeping your online activity private from hackers and trackers. What also helps is easy to use apps, and HotSpot Shield certainly keeps things simple.
Ideal for overcoming Netfix geo-location restrictions, with high speeds, logless usage, and torrent support, HotSpot Shield has apps for Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and the Chrome browser.
Subscriptions for HotSpot Shield start at $12.99 a month, but by paying upfront you can save an immense 76 percent over two years. This offer of $71.76 is HotSpot Shield’s best offer and boils down to a tiny $2.99 a month. Better still, you get to keep this price when the account is rebilled after 24 months.
Our review of HotSpot Shield concluded that its “simple user interface is also a massive benefit, making it so easy to switch between VPN servers.”
Need an easy-to-use VPN? Check this one out.
If you’ve been looking for a VPN, you’ve probably heard of TunnelBear. While some VPN services are a little difficult to use, TunnelBear is easy to set up and use. But what is it, and how much does it cost?
Available for Windows, macOS, iPhone, and Android, TunnelBear has a simple privacy policy and does not collect usage logs. This will help enhance your privacy further while connecting to the web via a VPN.
While the VPN can be used to circumvent geo-blocking, TunnelBear sadly does not offer support for torrenters.
While Tunnelbear has a useful free option, it is limited to 500MB of data per month. Right now, it has a 58 percent discount on offer, so if you pay $49.99 per year, Tunnelbear’s service works out at just $4.17 a month. There’s also a $9.99 monthly package if you prefer not to sign up long-term.
As noted in our review, “TunnelBear’s approach […] brings easy, affordable privacy and peace-of-mind to users around the world.”
Looking for a cheap VPN service?
A torrent-friendly VPN service, Private Internet Access offers a good $6.95 basic monthly deal, but if you want to pay even less, you can get an amazing 58% discount! Simply use the two-year option and pay $69.95 up front—this equates to a tiny $2.91 a month.
Private Internet Access offers support for five simultaneous device connections, blocks trackers and malware, and no traffic logs are retained, thus enhancing your privacy online.
One of the fastest VPNs available, Buffered has all of the expected features (256-bit encryption, geo-restriction bypass, multiple device support) and is based in Gibraltar, which places it beyond the “14 Eyes” alliance of international surveillance.
Buffered is speedier than other VPNs thanks to 45 superfast servers positioned around the globe. This is significant as many VPNs can slow down your online access.
With apps for Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, and Android, and with support for routers, Buffered’s best payment plan works out at just $7.62 a month for 13 months with a $99 up-front payment. That’s a 41 percent saving, on the basic $12.99 monthly plan!
VPN providers regularly offer great deals to entice new customers, so it can be difficult to judge which services to use. We’re confident that you’ll be impressed with the VPNs and deals listed here:
We’re certain that you’ll find a VPN that matches your requirements and budgets. If not, try looking further afield. Our top list of the best VPN services is a good place to start.
Read the full article: The Best and Cheapest VPN Deals for Halloween
Hello, my name is Srikanth. I'm interested in learning new things and sharing with everyone.
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