Essential: We can unleash Android's power better than Google - CNET

The company lays out its grand vision of accessories that will help its Essential Phone improve over time.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/essential-we-can-unleash-androids-power-better-than-google/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Uber's execs keep leaving, the latest to go is head of finance - CNET

Even as the ride-hailing company's top finance officer departs, Uber says its business is "healthy and resilient."

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https://www.cnet.com/news/ubers-execs-keep-leaving-the-latest-to-go-is-its-head-of-finance/#ftag=CAD590a51e

EFF sues FBI for records of alleged informants at Best Buy - CNET

The rights group worries that the warrantless searches of devices circumvents customers' Fourth Amendment rights.

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Really, Wisconsin? 5 words America would like help spelling - CNET

Google Trends is tattling on us. The search engine gathered state-by-state data on the words that always trip Americans up.

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Cybersecurity pros want to buy Shadow Brokers’ hacked exploits - CNET

The Shadow Brokers Response Team hopes to raise enough money to prevent the next WannaCry attack.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/wannacry-shadow-brokers-response-team-crowdfund-zcash-cyber-security-hackers/#ftag=CAD590a51e

US military data reportedly left on unsecured Amazon server - CNET

Defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton is linked to an account that contained login credentials for other data repositories.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/us-military-data-reportedly-left-on-unsecured-amazon-server/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Hillary Clinton says email scandal was just one reason she lost - CNET

The former US presidential candidate says the email scandal, the rise of fake news and supposed Russian hacking are all reasons she lost the election.

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Apple's Siri Speaker is reportedly in the works - CNET

The rumored voice-control speaker is said to come with surround sound, no touchscreen and will allow for integration with Apple products.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/apples-siri-speaker-is-reportedly-in-the-works/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Sean Spicer suggests 'covfefe' may be Trump code word - CNET

Commentary: After the president sends a tweet that includes a strange word, his press secretary doesn't claim it was a typo.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/sean-spicer-suggests-covfefe-may-be-trump-code-word/#ftag=CAD590a51e

NASA spacecraft to explore edge of the sun under a new name - CNET

The Solar Probe Plus is ditching its less-than-inspiring name in honor of Eugene Parker, a living pioneer in the study of stars, including our own sun.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/nasa-parker-solar-probe-plus-sun-eugene-chicago/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Look for a 'bold' new Motorola phone Thursday - CNET

Lenovo teased a new Motorola phone for June 1, but which one is it?

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Senators want FBI to investigate FCC's alleged DDoS attack - CNET

After the Federal Communications Commission website crashed earlier this month, the agency said it was a cyberattack. Senators want more evidence.

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Samsung’s Bixby voice assistant is still nowhere in sight - CNET

Samsung is reportedly about to miss the promised spring rollout of its voice assistant to US Galaxy S8 phones.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/samsungs-bixby-virtual-assistant-is-still-nowhere-in-sight/#ftag=CAD590a51e

7 ways Apple TV can get better - CNET

Apple's World Wide Development Conference may bring news of improvements to the streaming and gaming box. Here's hoping.

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Silk Road founder loses appeal challenging life sentence - CNET

A court denies Ross Ulbricht's attempt to get his life-behind-bars sentence reduced.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/silk-road-founder-loses-appeal-challenging-life-sentence/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Watch Disney World's two new 'Avatar' rides in 4K - CNET

Visitors to the new 'Avatar' attractions at Disney World captured hi-def footage of the parks' rides, offering a glimpse into Pandora's bioluminescent world.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/disney-worlds-new-avatar-rides-4k-video/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Tesla's Musk: I'll dump Trump if US dumps Paris climate deal - CNET

Commentary: On Twitter, the Tesla CEO says he's done all he can to persuade President Donald Trump to remain in the global pact.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/elon-musk-donald-trump-paris-climate-agreement/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Gaming is ready to speedrun through your life, Mary Meeker says - CNET

The Kleiner Perkins partner known for her predictions sees a big future for eSports.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/video-games-esports-gaming-mary-meeker-internet-trends-report-2017/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Net neutrality may have lost Netflix as an ally - CNET

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings isn’t going to fight the rollback of the rules governing an open internet and believes change is coming no matter what.

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The 2017 Honda Civic Type R likely costs less than $34,000 - Roadshow

It'll go up when destination and taxes are taken into account, but it's still pretty darn inexpensive.

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https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/the-2017-honda-civic-type-r-likely-costs-less-than-34000/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Waze expands carpool service, gives Uber a run for the money - CNET

The mapping and navigation app launches its old-school carpool service across the entire state of California.

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Continental wants to put wireless EV chargers everywhere - Roadshow

A little bit of juice over a large number of charging sessions could keep your battery topped off for when you need it most.

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https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/continental-wants-to-put-wireless-ev-chargers-everywhere/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Google expands Android Pay to Canada - CNET

Now Canadians can shop at several local shops with a tap of their Android phone.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/google-expands-android-pay-to-canada/#ftag=CAD590a51e

A Chevy Silverado traveled 500,000 miles, here's what that final moment looks like - Roadshow

Half a million miles on a car is even more impressive with some context.

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'Wonder Woman' 8-bit trailer delivers retro-style action - CNET

Jam a bunch of quarters in your pocket, we're going back to the 1980s with Diana Prince and crew in this fun time-warping video.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/wonder-woman-8-bit-trailer-jo-blo-videos-gal-gadot-movie-dc-comics/#ftag=CAD590a51e

My Journey Of Learning Programming Through Flatiron School #26

My name is Mason Ellwood, and I’m currently working on Flatiron School’s Online Full Stack Web Development Program. Each week, I’ll be writing about my experience, what I’m learning, and tips on learning to code.

Today I would like to touch on one of the most widely used tool, and in my opinion one of the the most important tools in development I have came across, Version Control, GIT, and GIThub.

 

“The past is never where you think you left it” – Katherine Anne Porter

When I first started using GIT and GitHub I really had no idea how to use the thing, other than I had to know to use it. I did not understand the necessity of storing a repo for my code, and for a lot of the implementation processes I had done in the past, it seemed mundane. Until a few years ago something happened. My computer crashed…..

There went all the code I had been working on, all the images, templates, everything. Poof. So I did what any sane person would do in the early 2000’s. I spent way too much money on portable hard drives. I bought two 512GB portable hard drives. And BAM my problem was solved. On these I could hold everything, images, code, movies, you name it. And it was safe in my drawer at home.

But like every great Disney movie, one day, for no apparent reason at all, everything decides to take a turn for the worse. My hard drive decided to stop working. SO BACK TO SQUARE ONE!

Through these poor experiences, i have begun my hunt for alternative sources to backup and save my data. This is where I fell in love with GIThub. Though this tool, I was able to read, write, and save code online in a public or private repo which was accessible and writable from anywhere. Version control has allowed to me better understand my own code, and comment what I did and why I did something better and faster than any other method I have found.

Version control is the process of storing multiple versions of a single project, allowing each version to be recalled at a later date. This is useful because it allows you to easily rollback to a previous version of your application, saving you extensive time and extra work. It is also useful for testing and implementing new versions you may have written without messing up for original database.

So there are two types of version control. The first is local version control. This stores all the information locally on your machine. This is great for personal projects, but not so great if you want to collaborate with a team; storing all your files within a local repository. A repository is a big folder that stores all the files of a particular project. And GIT.. GIT is the version control system you will use, which has become the most widely used version control system in the industry.

In the next post, I will get into how to create and set up this environment locally. Then after this basic setup is complete, how to sync that to a remote repository on Github, where you will be able to push, pull, and play with your code you are working on. The Flatiron School does a great job at explaining this concept. For the longest time, things just were not quite clicking. But through the lessons at The Flatiron School, I have been able to better understand the concept of version control and how it is used.

Read More at My Journey Of Learning Programming Through Flatiron School #26

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https://webdesignledger.com/my-journey-of-learning-programming-through-flatiron-school-26/

Riding in self-driving cars with dogs - CNET

Comedian Demetri Martin riffs on why social media creeps him out, why his first movie's a dramedy and what to expect when dogs can ride alone in cars.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/demetri-martin-on-dean-riding-in-self-driving-cars-with-dogs-social-media/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Apple WWDC 2017: What to expect - CNET

Apple's big developers show is set to begin next week. Here's what we believe is coming at this year's WWDC.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-wwdc-2017-ios-11-what-to-expect/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Google Doodle goes with Zaha Hadid's flow - CNET

Famed Iraqi-born British architect was the first woman awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/google-doodle-goes-with-zaha-hadids-flow-architect/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Return of the $7.99 wireless travel mouse - CNET

Stellar reviews, your choice of colors...what's not to like? Plus: a $7 phone car-mount that rises above the rest. (Literally!)

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https://www.cnet.com/news/return-of-the-7-99-wireless-travel-mouse/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Gigabyte's SaberPro 15 strikes the right balance of performance and price - CNET

It's a "somewhat budget" gaming laptop with a bang for performance.

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Take a peek at the secret in your new favourite keyboard - CNET

Flaretech's new Prism switches offer up a big step forward by tracking tiny keystrokes.

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The Flaretech Prism Switch is the key to smarter keyboards - CNET

It's a keyboard switch. So what? Well, let me tell you what.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/the-flaretech-prism-switch-is-the-key-to-smarter-keyboards/#ftag=CAD590a51e

AMD: Hey Intel, we have lots of CPU cores too - CNET

The chipmaker’s new Ryzen 9 CPUs pack almost as many cores as Intel’s new chips, and will ship in summer.

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Microsoft's multi-device future is life on the 'intelligent edge' - CNET

In its keynote address at Computex 2017, Microsoft spelled out how Windows is going to take over the world.

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Asus' Zephyrus laptop is so slim you'll forget it's for gaming - CNET

Strap yourself in and feel the R.O.G's.

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Samsung Notebook 9 Pro comes with an S Pen - CNET

The 2-in-1 convertible Samsung laptop features an embedded S Pen in a style reminiscent to the Samsung Galaxy Note.

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Here's your first look at HP's Cortana speaker - CNET

The image was unveiled at Microsoft's keynote at Computex 2017.

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Don't expect a super-slim Max-Q Nvidia gaming laptop from Dell - CNET

The PC manufacturer says it isn't yet willing to compromise on some aspects for its gaming notebooks.

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Nvidia says Max-Q gaming notebooks could be yours for $1,200 - CNET

Nvidia's new processor technology brings serious power to super-thin gaming laptops, and you won't necessarily have to pay a fortune to get it.

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Can Andy Rubin get Apple, Google and Amazon to play nice? - CNET

For the Android creator's vision for consumer devices to pan out, he needs to get tech giants and wireless carriers to reach a level of kumbaya. It's no easy feat.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/can-andy-rubin-get-apple-google-and-amazon-to-play-nice/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Trump reportedly inviting world leaders to call his cell - CNET

President's alleged behavior breaks with protocol and raises concerns about the secrecy of his communications.

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Gamer in the Dell: 3 new computers go for gaming - CNET

Here's everything Dell announced at Computex 2017.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/gamer-in-the-dell-3-new-computers-go-for-gaming-and-vr/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Donald Trump's botched tweet sparks the internet's latest meme - CNET

#covfefe

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Will Linux make the new Toyota Camry a better car? - Roadshow

When the 2018 Camry comes out later this year, its navigation and other electronics will run on the Automotive Grade Linux operating system.

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Nikon offers cheap ultrawide-angle lens for entry dSLRs - CNET

The company also delivers its first fisheye zoom and a new pro prime.

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Here's everything we know about Apple's rumored Siri speaker - CNET

We're counting down the days to WWDC. Will Apple announce an Amazon Echo rival?

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https://www.cnet.com/news/siri-speaker-rumors-wwdc/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Google formally abandons its Nik photo-editing tools - CNET

Tech giant officially says it has no plans to update the popular collection of filters and editing tools.

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'Wonder Woman' is fun, but gets lost in war's no-man's land - CNET

Can anything defeat the noble Amazon in DC's entertaining new superhero film? Maybe the sad realities of WWI. Warning: spoilers ahead.

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An end to VR port anarchy could be near - CNET

ICVR could be the beginning of a VR connection standard -- if other companies sign up.

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Spy satellite SpaceX launched might buzz the space station - CNET

Known as USA 276, it looks to be headed for the International Space Station, says one amateur spy satellite tracker. Then again, it could change course.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/spacex-spy-satellite-usa-276-nrol-76-international-space-station-nasa/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Supreme Court ruling gives green light for hardware modders - CNET

You now can refill your toner without fear of being sued.

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Is Andy Rubin's Essential Phone, well, essential? - CNET

The father of Android has his own new take on the phone. But is it enough to make you reconsider the age-old question: iPhone or Galaxy S?

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Twitter lets you review DMs from people you don't know - CNET

Update is the latest in an ongoing effort to curb abuse and harassment on the platform.

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Remix maestro Pogo releases 'Despicable Me' soundscape - CNET

It almost makes the Minions bearable. Almost.

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IBM retiree built a cord-cutter's paradise on the cheap - CNET

Show Us Yours: Garry doesn't even watch TV, but his media rooms are perfect for when the grandkids come over.

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Twitch viewers have a new challenge: The stock market - CNET

If you gave the streaming video service $50,000 to play with on the stock market, what would happen? Let's find out!

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Press here to activate your robot priest - CNET

A robot in Germany is raising its metal arms above worshipers' heads, but human priests shouldn't worry about their jobs just yet.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/robot-priest-blessu2-germany-anniversary-reformation/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Did a cute dog just reveal Essential's next product? - CNET

Essential's "Senior Investigations Officer" is a good boy.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/essential-henry-dog-home-security-camera/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Nordic leaders clutch soccer ball in hopes of going viral - CNET

Or they just don't have an orb readily available.

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Uber fires self-driving car exec at center of Waymo suit - CNET

The ride-hailing company lets go of Anthony Levandowski, a former Google engineer who pleaded the Fifth in the legal battle.

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Essential Phone specs vs. Galaxy S8, Google Pixel XL and iPhone 7 Plus - CNET

Compare the new Essential Phone spec by spec with the big beasts of the phone market right now.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/essential-phone-specs-vs-galaxy-s8-google-pixel-xl-and-iphone-7-plus/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Reddit users can now add locations to posts - CNET

If you're on mobile, that is.

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Laptop flight ban still on the table, DHS insists - CNET

The ban on large electronics on flights from Europe is not here yet. Officials deny the ban has been nixed, however, saying the option remains open.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/laptop-flight-ban-still-on-the-table-dhs-insists/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Lexus killing off CT 200h, its most-affordable hybrid - Roadshow

Gas-electric hatchback didn't change enough with the times.

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'Animaniacs' might get a Steven Spielberg-led reboot - CNET

Still feeling "zany to the max"? Get ready for new episodes featuring those old favorites Yakko, Wakko and Dot.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/animaniacs-steven-spielberg-yakko-wakko-dot-1990s-nostalgia/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Nokia Android phones are finally coming in June - CNET

A Nokia Mobile tweet confirmed that the Nokia 3, 5 and 6 are on their way.

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Saturn moon makes wild waves in close-up ring picture - CNET

As Cassini counts down its final days at Saturn, NASA looks back at a stunning image of moon-created ring waves.

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Stunning Harry Potter fan film explores Voldemort's origins - CNET

The intriguing past of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named wasn't deeply explored in J.K. Rowling's book series. An indie film company set out to fix that.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/harry-potter-fan-film-voldemort-origins-of-the-heir-jk-rowling-tom-riddle/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Mazda looks back on 50 years of rotary-powered dreams - Roadshow

The pistonless engine observes a half century of high-revving heroics.

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DirecTV Now lands on Roku devices - CNET

AT&T's live TV streaming service hits the popular big-screen streaming platform today.

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This is the Essential Phone - CNET

The father of Android has a new phone: Say hello to Essential.

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This wireless-charging mousepad gives you power between pwns - CNET

Planning an epic 24-hour twitch stream? The Concept Zeus mousepad from Corsair will charge your wireless mouse (and your phone) for you.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/corsairs-wireless-charging-mousepad-concept-zeus/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Intel X-Series targets folks with epic stuff to power through - CNET

If "extreme megatasking" describes your day, Intel has some pricey new processors for you.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/intel-targets-extreme-enthusiasts-with-x-series-processors/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Here be Jedis: a trip to Skellig Michael - CNET

Ancient, spiritual, special. These are a few words locals use to check out this filming location from "Star Wars: The Force Awakens". We went to see for ourselves.

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My 'Star Wars' journey to the real-life first Jedi temple - CNET

CNET journeys to Ireland in search of the iconic island used as a filming location in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and "The Last Jedi."

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https://www.cnet.com/news/star-wars-force-awakens-location-skellig-michael-the-pilgrimage-to-the-first-jedi-temple/#ftag=CAD590a51e

The real-life filming locations from 'The Force Awakens' - CNET

From Ireland to Iceland, here are all the 'Force Awakens' locations that CNET editors Katie Collins and Andrew Hoyle have visited.

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The Tango Police - CNET

In a battle over same-sex tango, a hashtag can be handy.

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Dell brings its biggest design gaffe to sleeker budget AIOs - CNET

The optional webcam for its latest Inspiron 24 5000 and Inspiron 27 7000 is at the bottom. But the budget gaming desktop looks interesting.

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Nvidia channels Star Trek, shows off Project Holodeck VR - CNET

This virtual world isn't just for gaming. Nvidia says its virtual reality technology could be used to train the robots of the future.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/nvidia-channels-star-trek-shows-off-project-holodeck-vr-computex-2017/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Enter for your chance to win* an M3D Pro 3D printer! - CNET

The grand prize includes five spools of filament and two runners-up will each win a Micro+ 3D printer and two spools!

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https://www.cnet.com/news/enter-for-your-chance-to-win-an-m3d-pro-3d-printer/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Nvidia wants to drive the future of AI (with ice hockey) - CNET

When processors can't get smaller, they need to get smarter. Nvidia wants its tech to be at the heart of that smart future with machines taking the lead.

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Ballistix is putting the RGB in RAM - CNET

Need to keep your memory colourful? Check out Bastillix's new offering.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/ballistix-is-putting-the-rgb-in-r-a-m/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Eve V is a better Microsoft Surface Pro clone - CNET

Designed with the help of crowd input, this consensus-based two-in-one feels and looks pretty great.

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https://www.cnet.com/pictures/eve-v-is-a-better-microsoft-surface-pro-clone/#ftag=CAD590a51e

MSI's GT75VR may not look like much but gots it where it counts - CNET

This huge, relatively ugly gaming laptop isn't the best looker, but boy, does it have crazy specs.

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https://www.cnet.com/pictures/msis-gt75vr-may-not-look-like-much-but-gots-it-where-it-counts/#ftag=CAD590a51e

New 'Spider-Man 3: Editor's Cut' vanishes from the web - CNET

The much-criticised 2007 film appeared as an "Editor's Cut" on Amazon over the weekend, only to make a swift exit a day later.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/spider-man-3-brand-new-editors-cut-vanishes-from-the-web/#ftag=CAD590a51e

2 in 5 gamers don't see esports as real sports, says study - CNET

Esports companies may be pouring billions into leagues, but not every fan is ready to agree they are real sporting events yet.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/league-of-legend-players-likely-more-competitive-report/#ftag=CAD590a51e

MSI knows that milliseconds matter, unveiling 3 new laptops - CNET

The record-setting gaming laptop makers took to the stage in Computex to talk about world firsts and how much tiny upgrades matter in practice.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/msi-knows-that-milliseconds-matter/#ftag=CAD590a51e

This spinning wheel case mod is a fidget spinner deluxe - CNET

Case mods usually dominate the Computex show floor, but this one's so awesome it deserves its own piece.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/this-spinning-wheel-case-mod-is-simply-awesome/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Nvidia's new design to make gaming laptops much, much thinner - CNET

The company says its new Max-Q architecture will make gaming laptops three times thinner and three times more powerful.

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Flashing lights, magnets and pillows at Computex - CNET

Netherlands-based Allocacoc brought an eye for design to the show floor.

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Showing off Allocacoc's 'different standard of design' - CNET

On the show floor at Computex 2017, Netherlands design firm Allocacoc had some weird and wonderful things on display

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Police take perfect selfie after driving drunk man home - CNET

Commentary: In Australia, two police officers offer pictorial evidence of the benefits of having a designated driver, as a man lies drunk in bed.

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See every major 'Game of Thrones' death drawn out by hand - CNET

Relive a less-graphic but wildly artistic version of every major character death from "Game of Thrones."

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British Airways mercilessly Twitter-trolled by rival Ryanair - CNET

Commentary: Dealing with a massive IT disaster, the famous airline now has to put up with Twitter taunts from a competitor.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/british-airways-twitter-trolled-by-rival-ryanair/#ftag=CAD590a51e

9 Free Minimalistic Fonts To Use On Your Next Project

“The world is full of beautiful fonts—choosing the right one for your next project can be a daunting task.”

– Gary Hustwit

 

Regardless if it’s about print, logo, packaging or web design, minimalistic fonts are an integral part of the process for every designer who wants to create eye-catching, effective and memorable graphic design projects. In modern design trends, the typography has gained more and more importance, as each project requires a different font in order to match with the general visual design and convey the right message to the audience.

Every designer loves freebies and there are so many free fonts released out there, that is hard to keep track all of them Therefore, we have rounded up 9 of our favorite free fonts to help you.

1. Entra

 

 

Entra is an original and unusual looking font that was designed for usage in logos and eye-catching headlines. With a quite unique combination, the secret of this font lies in between sharp corners and rounded shapes, Entra is a modern looking cap-only font. Designed by Gatis Vilaks and Wild Ones Design, this font is free for personal and commercial use.

Free for personal and commercial usage.

Download this minimalistic font here 

 

2. Ubuntu

 

 

The Ubuntu typeface has been specially created to complement the Ubuntu tone of voice. It has a contemporary style and contains characteristics unique to the Ubuntu brand that convey a precise, reliable and free attitude.

The Ubuntu Font Family is a set of matching new libre/open fonts. The typeface is sans-serif, uses OpenType features and is manually hinted for clarity on desktop and mobile computing screens. The technical font design work and implementation is being undertaken by Dalton Maag. Both the final font Truetype/OpenType files and the design files used to produce the font family are distributed under an open license. 

Free minimalistic font for personal and commercial usage.

Download the font here 

 

3. Crimson Text

 

 

This free font family has been created specifically for book production and it is inspired by old-time, Garamond-esque book typefaces. Crimson Text is the work of German-born, Toronto-based designer Sebastian Kosch, who says he was inspired by the work of Jan Tschichold, Robert Slimbach and Jonathan Hoefler. 

It’s also the favorite free aesthetic font of Taylor Palmer, a senior UX designer based out of Utah, USA. “Crimson is a sophisticated serif that makes a nice alternative to traditional Garamond-esque typefaces,” he says. “It also has a very expressive italic, which pairs nicely with strong, geometric sans-serifs like Futura or Avenir.”

Free for personal and commercial usage.

Download the font here

 

4. Comfortaa

 

 

Comfortaa is a rounded geometric sans-serif type design intended for large sizes. Created by Johan Aakerlund, it’s a simple, minimalistic font, which includes a large number of different characters and symbols. Part of the Google Font Improvements Project, the latest updates to the family include the addition of a Cyrillic character set and support for Vietnamese. David Airey, a graphic designer and occasional writer in Northern Ireland, is among its admirers. “For a recent identity project, I used Comfortaa as the base for a bespoke wordmark. The before and after are really quite different, but Johan’s work gave me a great foundation, and the client loves the result.”

Free for personal and commercial usage.

Download the font here

5. Butler

 

 

Inspired by a mix between both Dala Floda & the amazing Bodoni family, Butler is a free serif typeface. The main goal was to bring a bit of modernism to serif fonts by working on the curves of classical serif aesthetic fonts and adding an extra stencil family. Because of its highly contrasted typeface, this minimalist font is “great for posters, very big title, books and fancy stuff”. The Butler family contains a total of 334 characters, 7 regular weights and 7 stencil weights, text figures, ligatures, fractions and a lot more. It also suits many different languages with its added Free for personal and commercial usage.

Download the font here

 

6. Jaapokki

 

 

Jaapokki has been created by Finnish designer Mikko Nuuttilaa. This beautiful sans-serif font features clean lines, two alternatives and large set of glyphs and it’s great for headlines, posters, logos and more. And Rob Hampson, head of design at The Bot Platform, is particularly attracted to the more unusual elements of this free aesthetic font family. Hampson explains: “I found Jaapokki around a year ago and instantly fell in love with it. In fact, it’s the font I chose to use on my personal website. It has a range of choices, with some being more experimental than others. For example, ‘alternative subtract’ [shown above] experiments with removing elements of the font. This is definitely one to use at larger sizes.”

Free for personal and commercial usage.

Download the font here

 

7. Clear Sans

 

Designed with on-screen legibility in mind, Clear Sans is a versatile OpenType font suitable for screen, print, and Web. It strikes a balance between contemporary, professional, and stylish expression and thoroughly functional purpose. It has a sophisticated and elegant personality at all sizes, though its thoughtful design becomes even more evident at the thin weight.

Clear Sans is notable for its minimized characters and slightly narrow proportions, making it a great choice for UI design, from short labels to long passages (it has, for instance, been adopted by Mozilla for the ‘Firefox for Android’ browser). Also, Michael Surtee (Typographica) gives credit to this minimalist font: “I was drawn to Clear Sans for its practical nature. The different weights …offer great options for both readability and contrast, making all sorts of type and numbers easy for users to digest.”

Created by Daniel Ratighan at Monotype under the direction of Intel, Clear Sans supports a wide range of languages using Latin, Cyrillic and Greek, and includes medium, regular, thin, and light weights with upright, italic, and bold styles.

Free for personal and commercial usage.

Download the font here

8. Source Sans Pro

 

 

 

Released in 2012, Source Sans Pro was the first open source type family for Adobe, and has proved to be wildly popular among the designers. It was envisioned as a classic grotesque typeface with a simple, unassuming design, intended to work well in user interfaces. Designed by Paul D. Hunt, who continues to work as a type designer at Adobe, Source Sans Pro has Source Serif Pro as complementary free aestetic font .

Source Sans Pro is one of the favorite free minimalist fonts of James Hollingworth, a senior-level digital designer and illustrator based near Bath, UK. “It’s such a solid, reliable font to use in design work,” he enthuses. “Being dyslexic myself, I find it a very easy font to read, and it works brilliantly in user interfaces.” 

Free for personal and commercial usage.

Download the free minimalist font here

 

9. Cormorant

 

 

Cormorant is a display serif typeface inspired by the Garamond heritage. It was hand-drawn and produced by Christian Thalmann, (Catharsis Fonts), who describes it as containing “scandalously small counters, razor-sharp series, dangerously smooth curves, and flamboyantly tall accents”. The font is best used for headlines and poster text at large sizes, both on screen and in print, but is also highly legible at smaller text sizes.

The design goal of Cormorant was to distil the aesthetic font essence of Garamond, unfetter it from the limitations of metal printing, and allow it to bloom into its natural refined form at high definition.

Cormorant fonts come in three distinct master styles: The classic Cormorant Roman, the matching true italics, Cormorant Italic, and Cormorant Upright. Furthermore, in order to make it more accessible for users without OType savvyavvy applications, Cormorant Roman offers four variant styles:

• Cormorant Garamond – offers larger counters and subtly more traditional Garamond shapes for a few key characters to achieve more reading comfort
• Cormorant Infant  – the letters «a g y» and their derivatives are replaced by gentle schoolbook-style single-storey shapes; 
• Cormorant SC –  the lowercase glyphs are replaced by small-caps
• Cormorant Unicase  – a small-caps variant having some lowercase letterforms for an eye-catching futuristic look. 

Each style is available in a range of five weights: Light, Regular, Medium, Semibold, and Bold.

• Free for personal and commercial usage.
• Download the font here

 

Which one is your favorite minimalist font? Have we missed anything? Let us know in the comments bellow.

Here are more awesome headline fonts.

Read More at 9 Free Minimalistic Fonts To Use On Your Next Project

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https://webdesignledger.com/9-free-minimalistic-fonts-to-use-on-your-next-project-free-fonts/

Thin is in with the Asus ZenBook Flip S - CNET

Say hello to the thinnest convertible laptop ever made.

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Asus goes big on slim laptops at Computex - CNET

The Taiwanese electronics maker goes back to its PC roots at the annual event with nary a new phone in sight.

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Heavy metal can't break these smart glasses - CNET

The ODG R-7HL AR glasses go through intense torture tests to prove they can cope in extreme environments.

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Asus VivoBook Pro is all in on 'profordability' - CNET

Asus goes pro with a very MacBookish laptop.

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Asus ZenBook Pro has plenty of inner pieces - CNET

Fitting a spec list like this in 18.9mm is basically a magic trick.

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Asus VivoBook S does cheap right - CNET

Unveiled at Computex 2017, the Asus VivoBook S proves "budget" is not a dirty word.

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Mind-controlled glove teaches stroke patients to move again - CNET

A wearable robotic glove makes use of brain signals to help stroke patients restore the use of their hands.

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Computex 2017 is set to push the PC envelope - CNET

Who said anything about a PC slump? The giants of the computing industry are in Taipei this week, hoping to bring the enthusiast scene to the mainstream.

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WannaCry creators could be native Chinese speakers - CNET

New analysis from Flashpoint churns up evidence that WannaCry ransom notes were written by native Chinese speakers.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/wannacry-creators-could-be-native-chinese-speakers/#ftag=CAD590a51e

All of the iPhone 8's rumored features brought to life in beautiful concept designs - CNET

These concept illustrations elegantly tie together the best of the current crop of iPhone 8 rumors.

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https://www.cnet.com/pictures/all-of-the-iphone-8s-rumored-features-brought-to-life-in-a-beautiful-concept-design/#ftag=CAD590a51e

US official considers laptop ban on all international flights - CNET

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly says restrictions on electronics larger than a phone could be coming to more flights to and from the US.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/us-official-considers-laptop-ban-on-all-international-flights/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Google's gaming AI is retiring from beating human players - CNET

After taking down human Go champion Ke Jie, the AlphaGo program will use its brains to help scientists tackle society's most complex problems.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/google-alphago-retires-after-beating-world-champ-ke-jie/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Woz: Tesla, not Apple, will have the next tech moonshot - CNET

Commentary: Apple co-founder says he's betting on Tesla to be at the forefront of the next big thing. He says Elon Musk creates products to please himself.

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Trump tweetstorm accuses media of inventing leaks - CNET

Commentary: The US president, who once said he loves WikiLeaks, believes that many of the current leaks to newspapers are fake.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/donald-trump-tweetstorm-accuses-media-of-inventing-leaks/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Behold, the inner workings of the Mercedes-AMG Project One hypercar - Roadshow

It's a Formula 1 car for the road, borrowing the best of Mercedes-AMG's motorsport technology to build one seriously gnarly road car.

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British Airways cancels flights after major computer outage - CNET

The airline scotches all flights out of Heathrow and Gatwick on Saturday, due to a "major IT system failure."

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https://www.cnet.com/news/british-airways-cancels-flights-after-major-computer-outage/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Google to US: Too expensive to provide wage data in gender suit - CNET

The tech giant says it's "burdensome" to meet Labor Department demands in a trial involving salary and gender at Google, says a report.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/google-to-us-too-expensive-to-provide-wage-data-in-gender-suit/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick's mother killed in boating mishap - CNET

Kalanick's father was injured as well, when the couple's boat struck a rock.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/uber-ceo-travis-kalanicks-mother-killed-in-boating-mishap/#ftag=CAD590a51e

A rare event that stopped an ancient war comes to the US soon - CNET

When a total solar eclipse surprised soldiers in ancient times, it brought an end to years of war. Now the same rare experience is coming to the US.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/great-american-eclipse-thales-585-bc-august-21-2017/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Before you install the Amazon Video app on Android, read this - CNET

It's dangerous to go alone outside Google's vetted app store, but it's the price you pay for free software.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-underground-app-store-android-security-risk/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Best Star Wars effects, picked by this year's FX Oscar winner - CNET

Adam Valdez, winner of the 2017 visual effects Oscar for "The Jungle Book", shares his favorite jaw-dropping Star Wars FX -- and breaks down the innovations behind them.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/star-wars-movies-best-visual-effects-adam-valdez/#ftag=CAD590a51e

CNET UK podcast 520: Google and HTC's latest launches and Star Wars nostalgia - CNET

We look at Google and HTC's exciting new launches and delve into some of the amazing production secrets of Star Wars.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/cnet-uk-podcast-520-google-and-htcs-latest-launches-and-star-wars-nostalgia/#ftag=CAD590a51e

These are our favorite YouTube channels (not called CNET) - CNET

Every week we ask folks around the office a question to see what makes them tick. This week we asked which YouTube channels they love the most.

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Here's your first look at the Mercedes-AMG hypercar's powertrain - Roadshow

If you've wanted a Formula 1 car for the road, this is about as close as you're going to get.

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https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/heres-your-first-look-at-the-mercedes-amg-hypercar-powertrain/#ftag=CAD590a51e

'The Simpsons' pokes fun at Trump with '125 Days' video - CNET

The ghost of former president Richard Nixon haunts Donald Trump and suggests burning any tapes in this new parody video from "The Simpsons."

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Get to know the CNET family: Q&A with Tania González - CNET

Get to know Tania, our dancing, hiking Jedi in training.

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Far Cry 5 trailer brings the fight to disenfranchised America - CNET

Ubisoft takes its shooter franchise to a small fictional town in Montana.

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Chipotle's latest bug hurts your wallet, not your stomach - CNET

The Mexican food chain tells its customers Friday that their credit card information has been stolen by hackers.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/chipotles-hacked-customer-credit-card-information/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Men are freaking out over a women-only screening of 'Wonder Woman' - CNET

"Why don't you ungrateful females take what you have been given or stay in the kitchen." And that's just one comment left on the Alamo Drafthouse's Facebook page.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/wonder-woman-women-only-movie-screening/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Samsung accidentally spills the beans on two new phones - CNET

Samsung references two unannounced Galaxy J phones on its website. Were they supposed to be secret?

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Tech giants to Congress: Please change how NSA spies on people - CNET

Companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon band together in a push for internet surveillance reform.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/google-facebook-amazon-microsoft-congress-nsa-surveillance-reform/#ftag=CAD590a51e

'War Machine' review: Brad Pitt satire lacks killer instinct - CNET

Netflix enlists its biggest star yet, but the satire never quite snaps to attention.

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Get an RCA wall-plug Bluetooth speaker for $9.99 - CNET

If you don't mind blocking both your outlets, this thing is kind of ingenious -- and a great companion for an Echo Dot.

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CNET asks: Google Home or Amazon Echo? - CNET

CNET's latest Prizefight, Google Home vs. Amazon Echo, ended in a draw and we want you to be the tie breaker.

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Sergey Brin rumored to be building world's largest airship - CNET

The Google co-founder reportedly wants the airship to be half delivery charter for humanitarian aid, and half luxury liner.

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The iPhone 8 could unlock when you press the screen - CNET

There have been conflicting rumors about what will happen to the iPhone 8's fingerprint sensor, but a recent report says it's going in the display.

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The 404 Show 1701: Jill Schlesinger on reunions, the housing market and more (podcast) - CNET

Jill Schlesinger returns to help us better understand the current housing market, why college and high school reunions are still a thing and what it means to "age in place."

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Space's mysterious fast radio bursts: What the heck are they? - CNET

We're about to enter an era of research into one of the newest phenomena in all of space. Here's what you need to know.

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Tidal loses third CEO in two years - CNET

Jay Z's music service has lost another CEO, Jefferey Toig.

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Here's Disney's glorious new 'Guardians of the Galaxy' ride - CNET

CNET got a first look at the Guardians Mission Breakout ride, seeing what happens when Marvel and Walt Disney Imagineering join forces.

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How much nuclear waste is in your state? - CNET

The Nuclear Energy Institute keeps tabs on the spent nuclear fuel stored in states across the US. Here's where the radioactive waste ends up.

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See 'Interstellar' updated for 2017 with a fidget spinner - CNET

A hit fidgeting-craze gadget makes a comical cameo appearance in a fan-edited scene from "Interstellar."

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https://www.cnet.com/news/interstellar-fidget-spinner-matthew-mcconaughey/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Google Earth takes you on a guided tour of Beatles' history - CNET

Take a look around Penny Lane or Strawberry Fields.

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Lyft offers drivers some control over their schedules - CNET

The new Lyft Driver app will let drivers accept scheduled rides days in advance.

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GMC refines 2018 Yukon Denali with new 10-speed automatic - Roadshow

There are a bunch of small changes to its aesthetics and trim levels, as well.

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Oculus can now officially keep up if you want to move in VR - CNET

The latest update to the virtual reality headset adds full support for room-scale motion tracking.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/oculus-can-now-officially-keep-up-if-you-want-to-move-in-vr/#ftag=CAD590a51e

WannaCry, what a wimp? Why security pros are staying chill - CNET

At a cybersecurity forum in London, experts call the ransomware, scary as it was at first, overexposed, unsophisticated and ultimately "a failure."

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Jaguar's most bonkers car yet is a 600-horsepower XE sedan - Roadshow

600 horsepower is, you know, ample.

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https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/jaguar-xe-sv-project-8-bonkers-luxury-sedan/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Uber, Lyft will return to Austin after fingerprinting hissy fit - Roadshow

You can thank the state legislature for this.

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https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/uber-lyft-will-return-to-austin-after-fingerprinting-hissy-fit/#ftag=CAD590a51e

How to optimise your landing pages for multi-channel marketing

Building a high-converting landing page isn’t easy.

Unfortunately, it’s not any easier when you’re designing a landing page for a multi-channel marketing campaign, with multiple devices, platforms, and points of origin to take into account.

But despite all of this complexity, many of the same simple values still apply.

Here are a few tips to help you optimize your multi-channel landing pages, following four of the most essential tenets of landing page optimization – a singular purpose, a clear offer, minimal resistance, and a structured journey.

Stick to just one goal

You’re trying to optimise a landing page for prospects from multiple marketing channels. So you need some kind of all-in-one wonder-page, right?

Wrong.

If you’re looking for a page that can cater to every type of casual visitor, then what you’re really thinking of is a home page.

An effective landing page is one that’s designed with a singular purpose.

It doesn’t matter if your prospects are arriving on different devices or have been led there from different platforms. They should all be there for the same reason, and your landing page should be focused on encouraging your visitors to take the one action you need them to take.

So to get your landing page as focused as possible, make sure you:

• Remove all unnecessary links. Ideally, the only thing left that can be clicked should be the call to action (CTA) that takes them where you want them to go next.
• Craft a concise and clear headline. Your visitors should immediately know what you’re about, what they’ll get and how they can get it.
• Keep your landing page simple and uncluttered. Your prospects’ eyes should automatically be drawn to the relevant information and the CTA without any mental effort on their part.

The graphic design tool Brand-Generator is a great example of a landing page that’s been distilled down to the bare minimum. There’s nowhere to scroll, and minimal text and a small explainer video other than the headline, sub-header and the CTA.

There’s just one extra place to click that doesn’t continue the sales pitch – the Log In button – but it’s clear that they’ve worked hard to make that link as close to invisible as they can.

In other words, they’ve designed their landing page around a singular goal, with an absolute minimum of options or distractions. Whether their visitors are arriving from an email campaign, a Google search or a TV advert, there’s only one thing for them to do: test out a heat-map of their own website.

Match your messages

When it comes to multi-channel marketing, you should always follow the three Cs – choice, consistency and continuity.

Your prospects should be free to choose which channel they use to engage with you, and they should be able to continue their journey with your brand by switching channels without being inconvenienced.

But what’s perhaps most important is that your multi-channel marketing efforts are consistent.

If your adverts and email campaigns are promising “flexible project management software”, but your landing page headline is talking only about “collaboration tools”, your visitors are going to think they’ve arrived at the wrong place. They’ll go straight back to Google to find one of your competitors, instead.

Similarly, if you’re running a pay-per-click (PPC) advert to capture browsers who are searching for “cloud accounting app”, you’d better make sure that both your advert and your landing page include those keywords in their headlines and copy. If not, they’ll bounce – and you’ll have just paid for a wasted click.

Here are a couple of examples to show how much of a difference a simple thing like message matching can make to a prospect’s journey.

A quick search for “landing page builder” brings up a handful of adverts.

First up is Leadpages. Their advert in the search engine has the headline “Build Landing Pages”. A little dry, but so far, so good – the advert nearly matches the exact keyword phrase we were searching for.

Following the link, we find a landing page with the headline “The #1 Landing Page Builder”. It’s a perfect match, and we instantly know that we’ve arrived at a place that can give us what we want.

They’ve even added a little internal consistency within their own landing page, with a CTA button that matches the page’s headline: “Start Building Pages”. At that final critical moment of decision, we’ve been reassured of what we’re about to do, and what this landing page is offering us.

At every step of our journey with Leadpages – PPC advert, landing page headline, and CTA – we’ve had a consistent set of messages, confirming what’s been previously promised, using almost the same wording that we used to search for it.

It’s not just a case of avoiding confusion. This consistency makes us feel more confident in the landing page that we’re dealing with – Leadpages has managed to gain our trust.

On the other hand, the same search also offers us an advert for Easymarketer, with the advert headline “Master Email Marketing in 2017”. That might have something to do with what we’re looking for, but it can hardly be called a match.

Following that link, we arrive at a landing page with the headline “Builderall Email/Funnel Builder”.

Aside from the word “Builder”, this headline bears no resemblance to our search terms, and isn’t even close to the headline on their own Google advert.

It’s not immediately clear that we’ve arrived at a place that can give us what we want. We’re confused, possibly annoyed, and we’re ready to go back to Google.

Make it mobile-friendly

With more than 50% of all online sales coming from mobile devices, you need a landing page that can keep those mobile users happy.

Unfortunately, there’s a whole lot more to designing a mobile-friendly site than just getting the font size right.

Perfecting a mobile-friendly version of a landing page is a complex discipline, but there are a few critical points that any designer should keep in mind.

First, a mobile-friendly landing page needs to be fast.

According to Google, 53% of mobile visits are abandoned if the page takes longer than 3 seconds to load – which means that a slow landing page is a crippling disadvantage to your conversions.

So keep your page lightweight.

Remove unnecessary images or scripts, and reduce the size or resolution of your images as much as you can – anything you can do to reduce the number of megabytes standing between your prospect and your desired outcome.

If you’re not sure where to begin, you can use Google’s handy site-tester to get a mobile-friendly score and a few suggestions for improvement.

Second, a mobile-friendly landing page needs to be thumb-friendly.

We all know what it’s like to struggle with a fiddly link on a mobile device – and if your visitors have to zoom in on every button or link, they’ll quickly back out to find a competitor who’s more accommodating to fat-fingered customers.

According to Google’s recommendations, the average pad size of an adult finger is around 10mm wide – and that means your tap targets need to be at least 7mm in size, with no other targets within 5mm.

Finally, a mobile-friendly landing page needs to be concise.

No matter how much you’re in love with it, that killer twelve-word headline you spent hours crafting might simply be too long for a mobile device.

Similarly, the average mobile user isn’t always browsing in the comfort of their own home. They’re on the move, with little free time and a myriad of distractions around them. So your online sales pitch needs to be brief: cut down the copy and the headline to the absolute minimum.

Control the journey with the fold

You’ve got a fast-loading site that’s been tailored to work well on different devices. Your graphics and links have all been adjusted, and your copy has been trimmed down to cater to the typical short attention span.

But there’s still one essential element of your visitors’ experiences that you haven’t addressed yet – the precise journey they’ll go through as they arrive on your site.

When everything you include in your landing page has been chosen to aid the conversion process, it can be hard to decide what should be relegated to the area below the fold. It’s not an exact science, and there’s still plenty of debate about the importance of the fold. But in general, it’s usually a safe bet if you:

• Keep everything above the fold simple and inviting. Get your offer across to a new visitor immediately, without any other distractions.
• Push dense text or complicated information below the fold. The last thing you want to do is overwhelm a prospect within the first few seconds.
• Put your call-to-action (CTA) at the place where your visitors are most ready to commit. That might be above the fold, below the fold, or both. Don’t let the fold dictate where you put it – let the overall journey of your sales pitch decide the best place.
• Use directional cues to encourage scrolling. It could be an animated arrow pointing down, or even a simple “find out more”.

WorkflowMax‘s landing page, for example, hasn’t followed the stereotypical approach to the fold.

They know that project management software isn’t something you just sign up for within the first few seconds.

Their prospects need to learn a little more about how the software works, or even to see it in action to get a feel for it. So to the right of the headline and imagery – where you might normally expect a sign-up form or a CTA – they’ve included a huge and highly clickable link to watch a short video.

The sign-up form and CTA are actually found immediately below the fold, represented by the horizontal red line below.

The natural progression is to arrive on the landing page and watch an introductory video showcasing the software’s features, and then be presented with a sign-up form after you’ve already been warmed up to the product.

And just in case there was any confusion about what to do after the video, the border of the main background image above the fold has been shaped into a downward-pointing arrow – an inoffensive and unobtrusive cue to move further down the page.

Of course, in a multi-channel marketing effort, you can’t rely on presenting the same above-the-fold experience to every user without a little extra configuration.

Your prospects will be arriving from all sorts of devices, and all sorts of screen resolutions. So make sure you test out how your landing page looks on different screens with tools like the Responsive Design Checker and the Fold Tester.

Putting it all into practice

Sadly, there’s no guaranteed formula for improving conversions on any landing page. The variables are too numerous, and human behaviour is far too erratic – and things only get more complicated when you’re dealing with prospects from multiple marketing channels.

With that said, you’d do well to keep the following rules of thumb in mind:

• Pick a single goal and stick to it. It could be gathering email addresses, getting visitors on board with a free trial, or closing a sale. Stay focused and keep it simple – don’t let too many options distract your visitors away from the purpose of your landing page.
• Always be clear and consistent. Make sure your headlines, offers, and CTAs all match up to the messages you use in your other platforms and channels. Confirm and reassure your prospects, and you’ll build trust and confidence in your business.
• Make it easy for every user and every device. No matter where your potential customers are or how they’re engaging with you, you need to make it quick and painless to move from interest to action.
• Plan out every step of their journey. Your job is to make your visitors feel comfortable and informed enough to commit to your business – not to overwhelm them at the start or blast them with a demanding CTA as soon as they arrive.

It’ll be a long journey to fully optimise a landing page, and you’ll need plenty of testing along the way before you arrive at the best combination of tweaks.

But with enough time and diligence, you’ll start to see the results of a multi-channel marketing campaign that really converts – and a landing page that’s doing most of the work for you.

 

About the Author:
Danny Molt has been involved in design for almost 25 years working with some of the top uk design and marketing agencies. Having launched several companies online and offline, he is currently head of digital marketing strategies for Print-Print Limited
You can contact him at on Twitter @DanMolt

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