KWBaker

While Facebook is still insanely popular, its use by teenagers has dropped in recent years. If this trend continues, eMarketer predicts that by 2022, teenage use of Facebook will drop by another 2.2 million.

So, if teenagers are leaving Facebook for pastures new, where are they going, and why? In this article we look at the social media apps teenagers are actually using, and what makes them so popular with today’s youth.

Where Teens are Going: The Breakdown

According to the Pew Research Center, as of 2018, YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat are the most popular social platforms for teenagers.

Here’s the breakdown of how teenagers use social media:

• 85% are on YouTube
• 72% use Instagram
• 69% are on Snapchat
• 51% still use Facebook
• 32% like Twitter
• 9% post to Tumblr
• 7% are Reddit users

Pew notes that since 95 percent of teenagers have a smartphone or access to one, this at least partially drives what social networks they gravitate towards. Almost half of teens (45%) told Pew that they’re online “almost constantly”.

Why Teens Use Certain Social Networks

To get a better understanding of what forces are driving teens to these social platforms, we interviewed a 16-year-old teenager from Noblesville, Indiana who requested to remain anonymous. For our purposes here, we’ll call her Katie.

Some background on Katie. She goes to a large high school in a community in the northern suburbs of Indianapolis. The school has over 5,000 students from every walk of life. The high school is a fair representation of most teenagers in the United States.

This particular student is a member of band, practices Tae Kwon Do, and in her junior year has a 3.9 GPA. Her interaction with other students at this school ranges across many demographics.

Teenagers on YouTube

According to Business Insider, Teens watch more YouTube and Netflix than they do TV. Specifically, 34 percent watch YouTube, 27 percent watch Netflix, and a paltry 14 percent watch live TV. It isn’t clear how many of those YouTube viewers are subscribers to YouTube TV, which offers access to live TV shows.

Regardless, YouTube is clearly a massive draw for teens.

MUO: Why do you think so many teenagers are watching YouTube these days, compared to television?

Katie: Everyone watches YouTube! It’s like the new TV. Remember the hype when TV came out? How supposedly everyone was glued to it? YouTube is like that. There are videos for anyone, and you can contribute to the community by making your own videos. Kids today are aspiring to be like the biggest YouTubers.

There is a lot of truth to the statement that teens are dreaming of becoming popular on YouTube. They have plenty of examples who prove that doing so can be lucrative.

Matthew Morris, better known as MattyBRaps, has a subscriber base on YouTube of over 10.4 million people who enjoy his musical creations. JoJo Siwa, a singer and dancer from Los Angeles, has a fanbase on YouTube of over 6.8 million people. Then there’s Baby Ariel from Florida, a popular vlogger and singer with over 3 million fans on YouTube.

These and other teen YouTube stars are proof that becoming “internet famous” is not something to take lightly.

Teenagers on Instagram

One of the most common sights when you’re out in public is a teenager taking a selfie.

According to eMarketer, 63 percent of teens use Instagram on a daily basis. So if you do see a teen taking a selfie, the odds are good they’re probably posting it on Instagram.

MUO: What kind of teenagers do you think use Instagram as opposed to Snapchat?

Katie: Instagram is used more for being creative and stuff. On Instagram you find lots of “artsy” kids who like to express themselves more through photography and art.

View this post on Instagram

Stairway to heaven …. ?

A post shared by B (@benjaminlasnier) on Aug 16, 2018 at 12:03pm PDT

Just like YouTube has teen superstars, Instagram has those as well. Some of the most popular include model Alexis Ren, Kylie Jenner (a well known celebrity called the “Queen of Instagram”), Bretman Rock, and Nash Grier.

There are many more, and just about all of them appear to have been gifted with very good genes (or impressive photo filters).

Teenagers on Snapchat

While parents may need a guide to using Snapchat, most teens sure don’t.

What worries many parents isn’t the fact that Snapchat can be used to share photos, videos, or text with friends. It’s the fact that the messages disappear from the recipient’s phone just a few seconds after they have been received.

Regardless of how parents feel about it, Snapchat remains one of teenagers’ favorite social networks.

MUO: Is there a certain type of teen that uses Snapchat, or is it popular with everyone?

Katie: It seems like Snapchat is really popular with teens who are into gossip and drama. But everyone basically uses it. It’s where a lot of stuff (drama) goes down.

MUO: A lot of parents think Snapchat is used for inappropriate stuff. Do you think that’s true?

Katie: Well, yeah it’s used for that. But that’s not all it’s used for. You send a picture and it disappears right away. But when kids use Snapchat, that’s not mainly what they’re using it for. There’s this thing where if you send the same friend messages a number of days in a row, it creates a “streak”. It’s just a fun thing to do. There’s also little emojis on the side that keep track of your level of friendship with someone.

Do Teens Still Use Twitter?

While Facebook is losing teens faster than any other social network, the same isn’t true for Twitter. While Twitter isn’t the most popular social network yet, at current rates there will likely be more teens on Twitter than there are on Facebook in just a few years.

MUO: Do you think teenagers still like Twitter?

Katie: Yeah. Most people just use it as their basic social media when they’re not using other apps like Snapchat and Instagram. It’s kinda viewed by kids like Facebook used to be viewed.

MUO: Why do you think teens aren’t using Facebook as much anymore?

Katie: It’s just gone out of style I guess. When I look at it, it just doesn’t seem as appealing. It’s just too much. I like the simplicity of the other sites. The whole fact that they (Facebook) took information about users and leaked it to companies is a real turn off for teenagers I think.

One more thing teens hate: Facebook. The use of "other" social media rose to 17% from 3% last Spring. Here's why: http://t.co/uJQBqRsROp

— Quentin Fottrell (@Quantanamo) November 1, 2013

MUO: If you were just going to post something you wanted to share publicly with more than one person, which social network would you use?

Katie: Personally, I’d put it on Instagram. But most kids would probably put it on Twitter or Snapchat. Kids are putting posts like that in their Snapchat story.

MUO: Do most teens think Facebook is now for old people?

Katie: *laugh* – I think so, yeah. I think it’s viewed as something more like our parents use.

Where Will Teenagers Go Next?

Of all of the forces of nature, teenagers are probably the most unpredictable.

The social networks they use today will probably be yesterday’s news within a few short years. But if you’re a parent of a teenager, you probably care a great deal about what your kids do online.

So, understanding those trends, and why your kids are using the social networks they do, will help you do a better job of protecting your kids online. And to all of you teenagers out there? Just keep confusing your parents by changing your favorite app every few years.

Read the full article: Why Your Teenagers Love Snapchat, Instagram, and YouTube

Thanks to the growth of the web, it’s easier than ever to open an investment or trading account. The last couple of years have also seen several firms reduce their trading commissions to zero, meaning it’s also cheaper for beginners to buy stocks and funds than at any point in history.

If you’re new to the stock market, it’s hard to know where to begin. Here are some of the best stock and investment apps for beginners.

1. Robinhood

When Robinhood launched in 2013, its decision to target millennials with commission-free trading irrevocably changed the market. In 2019, many of the world’s most well-known brokers, including TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab, and E-Trade, finally followed suit. Today, millennials, often unfamiliar with the stock market, account for more than 80 percent of Robinhood users.

The service—which is probably the best stock app for beginners—lets you invest in equities, options, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies without paying a fee for each trade. If you pay $5/month, you can trade on margin. Remember, if you use leverage, you are taking a loan from your broker. Thus, beginners should not use this form of investment.

Robinhood has some drawbacks, however. It lacks the in-depth technical and fundamental analysis tools that you’d find on a more traditional broker’s platform. The company has also earned criticism for its practice of “payment for order flow.” Robinhood was selling real-time trading data to four large market makers and thus failed in its regulatory obligation to ensure the highest-quality trades for its users. FINRA fined Robinhood $1.25 million over the issue.

At the time of writing, Robinhood is only available in the US and UK.

Download: Robinhood for Android | iOS (Free)

2. Betterment

Robinhood leaves you to your own devices when selecting your investments, but beginners might feel uncomfortable with that level of responsibility. If you’d like to access the benefits of investing without worrying about choosing your specific holdings, Betterment is a great option.

The company uses a robo-advisor model. When you create your account, you tell it about your preferred level of risk, investment objectives, time frames, and other pertinent information. Betterment will then automatically create your portfolio.

Betterment creates all its portfolios using global stock and bond ETFs; you won’t find any commodities or other volatile assets available. The ETFs include popular Boglehead passive investment funds such as Vanguard’s Total Stock Market (VTI) and FTSE Developed Markets (VEA). A selection of bond ETFs are also available, such as the popular high-yield corporate bond fund, HYLB.

You can use Betterment to open regular taxable investment accounts, IRAs, 401Ks, and even checking accounts.

The app is only available to residents of the United States. The service has an annual fee of 0.25 percent of your account balance, which is $25 for every $10,000 invested. If you want on-demand access to Betterment’s team of CFP professionals, you can opt to pay 0.4 percent instead.

Download: Betterment for Android | iOS (Free)

3. WealthFront

WealthFront uses the same business model as Betterment; it’s an investing app for total beginners. You answer some questions about your goals, and the app advises you about your ideal investment portfolio.

Like Betterment, your scope of possible securities is limited compared to Robinhood. The company maintains a list of nine primary ETFs across a selection of asset classes. Currently, the funds include the S&P 500-focused VTI, Vanguard’s VNQ real estate fund, and Barclays’ BND for US government bonds.

WeathFront costs 0.25 percent of your balance per year, charged monthly. You will also be exposed to the ETFs’ expense ratios, which are all under 0.15 percent.

Download: WealthFront for Android | iOS (Free)

4. Firstrade

You might be a beginner today, but if you’re serious about your financial future, you need to get your head around the ways markets work. It’s the key to clearing your debt and building your wealth in later life.

Unfortunately, hands-off investment apps like Betterment and WealthFront won’t teach you anything. Meanwhile, services such as Robinhood are so thin on research tools that you won’t be able to learn much, even if you want to.

If you’re looking for a little more from your investment app, we recommend Firstrade. The company accepts customers from around the world and offers commission-free trading on stocks, options, and mutual funds.

Firstrade offers considerably more investment vehicles than the other apps here. There are more than 11,000 funds, a huge number of ETFs, and some fixed income products. On the downside, you can only trade securities listed on US exchanges; companies on the London Stock Exchange and Tokyo Stock Exchange are out of reach. Cryptocurrencies are also unavailable.

From a learning standpoint, Firstrade is excellent. The app offers free access to Morningstar’s stock reports and daily market analysis, Briefing.com’s newsletters, and Benzinga. There’s even an extensive in-house library of video training content that’ll teach you the basics of investing, plus an impressive amount of text-based content.

There is no minimum deposit required to open an account.

Download: Firstrade for Android | iOS (Free)

5. TD Ameritrade

No one wants to go through the tedious process of opening financial accounts unnecessarily. That’s why choosing the right account depends heavily on your goals. If you’re an investment beginner today, yet are interesting in learning and hope to become an experienced trader one day, you should consider opening an account with TD Ameritrade.

At face value, the web app and mobile app are both easy to use. However, once you gain some knowledge, you can start using the award-winning Think or Swim platform. Widely regarded as the best trading and research platform, it has vast amounts of data and charts for every stock and economic indicator you can imagine. It’s not suitable for beginners, though.

Your journey to gaining more experience will be sped up by TD Ameritrade’s impressive library of learning resources. There are hundreds of hours of video content, tests, guides, and much more. Again, TD Ameritrade is one of the leading brokers in this area.

The company offers taxable investment accounts, IRAs, 401Ks, and education saving accounts. Accounts are available to people from any country. Once you open an account, you’ll have access to commission-free trades, a vast number of stocks and ETFs, futures, options, Forex, margin trading, cash accounts, and more. A TD Ameritrade back crypto exchange—called ErisX—is due to come launch in the coming months.

Download: TD Ameritrade for Android | iOS (Free)

What About Beanstox?

A lot of people are interested in making Beanstox vs. Robinhood comparisons. However, this is not a fair contrast Beanstox has been through several incarnations (it was once a self-directed investment app) and is currently a robo-advisor.

The fact the app has switched focus immediately makes us cautious. We’re also not convinced Beanstox is safe if you have more than $25,000 in your account. In the company’s fee structure, it says the following:

“In the future, Beanstox may charge an annual fee of 0.25% on the net market value of Client Account balances of $25,000.”

Lastly, Beanstox’s website is lacking information; we struggled to find information on the underlying funds and ETFs that the app invests your capital into.

While we haven’t done a formal Beanstox review, we don’t think it’s one of the best investing apps for beginners.

Proceed With Caution When Investing

Remember, if you use any of the apps we’ve listed, your money is at risk. Investments in securities can go both up and down in value. You should never invest more than you can afford to lose, and if you’re unsure how to proceed, seek professional financial advice.

If you’d like to stay on top of market news to give yourself a better chance of successful investments, check out the best financial websites. It might also be worth honing your skills before using real money by playing a stock market game.

Read the full article: The 5 Best Investment Apps for First-Time Beginners

The healthcare sector is always looking for new ways to innovate. But the innovation doesn’t always come from medical advances. Blockchain technology is regularly touted as revolutionary, as a technology that’s going to change the world—and the healthcare sector has taken notice.

There are several blockchain-based healthcare startups. Most focus on the privacy, security, tracking, and access to patient health records. At a time when technology is changing so much, how is blockchain technology being applied in the healthcare sector?

Understanding Blockchain in Healthcare

For all the talk of blockchain underpinning financial transactions, its ability to create an immutable, decentralized, contiguous and transparent transaction record is the shining feature. The blockchain is also the feature that has healthcare technology providers and developers most interested.

The first port of call for blockchain healthcare applications is patient healthcare records. Your GP has probably already switched to digital records. How about your dentist, chiropractor, chiropodist, OB/GYN, and all the other departments and medical practitioners? In truth, your medical records are spread out between numerous locations, and even in the age of digitization, medical departments don’t have direct access to other institutions’ data. (Understandable, as it could present a huge data risk.)

In an interview with Forbes, John Halamka, Chief Information Officer of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and Editor-in-Chief of academic journal Blockchain in Healthcare Today, stated that:

“Just using blockchain in healthcare because it’s cool doesn’t make sense […] Blockchain is not meant for storage of large data sets. Blockchain is not an analytics platform. Blockchain has very slow transactional performance. However, as a tamperproof public ledger, blockchain is ideal for proof of work. Blockchain is highly resilient.”

How Providers Use Blockchain in Healthcare

There are several main areas where blockchain will make waves in healthcare.

Medical records: Each medical record is signed by the healthcare provider and added to the blockchain. The blockchain shows exactly which party last accessed the record as well as any changes. Patient health information remains secure, protecting both patient and healthcare providers.

Sharing medical data: Also, blockchain technologies come with other advantages, such as the exclusion of third-parties from medical data sharing. Healthcare providers can use blockchain to verify data in transition, prove the integrity of clinical research results (no alterations to fit paid-for clinical trials, for instance), and enforce industry-wide data compliance.

Data sharing consent: The patient’s preference for sharing data between healthcare providers and third-party entities could record to the blockchain patient record so as to never be confused or misused.

Drug monitoring (internal): Drug suppliers register products using a private, internal blockchain. Drugs are tracked from manufacturer to patient, verifying and securing the entire chain.

Insurance: Insurance providers and patients have an immutable and therefore trusted series of events regarding patient health before creating new policies. Insurance providers could create smart contracts to ensure patients receive payments.

Positive health reinforcement: Healthcare apps and services linked to blockchain technology that provide tokenized incentives to engage in healthy activities, including exercise, eating and fitness regimes, and so on.

This is a sample of potential uses for blockchain in healthcare. The reality is that when the ball gets rolling, the applications for blockchain technology will continue to expand, but I would expect strong resistance from established profitable third-party healthcare services—country dependent, of course.

Examples of Blockchain in Healthcare

Even though the blockchain in healthcare industry is young, there are already some notable examples.

Medicalchain: Medicalchain is a blockchain healthcare startup that enables transparent patient record exchange between patients and doctors. Medicalchain’s pilot blockchain application began in July 2018. Patients create a wallet to hold their medical data with only approved clinicians able to “read and write” to the patient record. Clinicians can also hold online consultations with access to patient records, a bonus over other telemedicine services.

MyPCR: Enterprise blockchain developer, Guardtime, in conjunction with Instant Access Medical and Healthcare Gateway, launched MyPCR. MyPCR is a blockchain-based patient record access system currently in use for over 30 million UK NHS patients. The platform allows patients to access their healthcare records, healthcare pathways, and find medication adherence support through their smartphone (Guardtime estimate this alone with bring at least £800 million in savings to the NHS). Furthermore, MyPCR interfaces with all three major UK NHS GP systems for longitudinal coverage.

The MediLedger Project: The MediLedger Project, led by supply chain consulting group, The LinkLab, and smart supply chain solution provider, Chronicled, brings blockchain technology to pharmaceutical manufacturers, wholesalers, and the drug supply chain. The MediLedger Project will use blockchain technology to further isolate and remove counterfeit prescription medicines from supply chains. Furthermore, The MediLedger Project can track “live” substances, too: think blood, organs, and so on.

EncrypGen: The rise of private DNA testing and ancestry tracing websites presides over a 21^st-century problem: who keeps hold of your DNA afterward? After all, it’s extremely private data. EncrypGen runs the nattily-named Gene-Chain (fantastic, right?!) which allows for the storage and access of genome data. Access is granted on a case by case basis by individuals to scientists, governments, universities, businesses, and so on. On the flipside, those entities can request specific genomic data and pay the individuals using the Gene-Chain platform token, DNA (also rather well named, no?).

Clinicoin: Our final blockchain healthcare startup offers a different service to the others on the list. Clinicoin rewards its users for taking part in healthy activities such as exercising, physical activities (such as walking), nutrition, and more. Almost anything that helps create a healthier you can receive CLIN tokens. Furthermore, healthy users can take part in surveys, specialized tasks, and other Clinicoin research activities to gain more tokens.

Humanitarian Blockchain Healthcare Startups

Blockchain in healthcare startups aren’t innovating in just “regular” healthcare facilities. Healthcare blockchain technology is also rolling out in places where keeping proper medical records are extremely difficult, but where having one could be life-changing.

Blockchain healthcare startup, Iyro, deployed a trial electronic health record for refugees and migrants in a refugee camp in Jordan. Refugees and migrants don’t always have access to a permanent computer. But many have smartphones they can use to control their medical record. Iyro plans to roll out their “global healthcare” product to migrants and refugees in Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Djibouti, and more locations within Jordan.

Blockchain in Healthcare Is the Future

The US market is proving difficult for blockchain healthcare startups to crack—and for good reason (or bad, depending on how you look at it). The incumbent healthcare providers profit from their healthcare facilities and the technologies they permit those facilities to use.

The heavily regulated and financially incentivized US healthcare system is one of the primary targets for a blockchain-based shakeup, but patients won’t see the benefits any time soon. Not until an incumbent provider figures out how to maximize profit from blockchain technology in the healthcare setting.

It isn’t just bureaucratic red tape that is slowing down blockchain healthcare startups. The actual incentive of finalizing a product just isn’t there for some startups.

Gem Health grabbed attention with its ideas of moving the boundaries of healthcare providers, patients, and insurers closer to reduce inefficiencies in patient reimbursements. But Gem Health, with their GemOS platform, found that replacing legacy EMR systems from the major providers (Epic, Cerner, Meditech, Allscripts, and so on) was, in reality, an incredibly difficult task.

Before long, Gem realized that cracking healthcare markets, even outside the US, is an incredibly hard ask. And that’s without trying to implement new technology at the same time. Furthermore, Gem Health is far from the only example of blockchain healthcare startup that tried to make the leap from Fintech, only to find healthcare too vast an industry to challenge, even after receiving venture capital backing.

Blockchain does have a strong future in the healthcare industry, that’s certain. But as Edward Bukstel, CEO of Clinical Blockchain says, “Tackling healthcare with a blockchain solution is gonna [sic] take all the help and innovation that people can muster […] we cannot afford to lose any more companies.”

Read the full article: How Blockchain Technology Is Being Used in Healthcare

Ok, not to be contrary, but anyone else worry that we may be getting punked here?

Is Coleman Lowndes' clever collage-style video on the ubiquity and origins of the word “ok” a bit too clever for its own good?

His assertion that the word “ok” was the invention of waggish Bostonian hipsters in the late 1830s sounds like an Onion headline.

It’s hard to believe that clever young adults once amused themselves by bandying about deliberately misspelled abbreviations.

Also does anyone else remember hearing that “OK” could be traced to the 1840 reelection campaign of President Martin “Old Kinderhook” Van Buren?

Or folksinger Pete Seeger’s salute to the linguistic melting pot, “All Mixed Up,” which perpetuated the notion of OK as a corruption of the Choctaw word “okeh.”

Both of those explanations sound a lot more probable than a jokey bastardization of “all correct.”

Aka “oll korrect.”

As in OK, pal, whatever you say.

(That was the wittiest jape of the season?)

Etymologist Dr. Allen Walker Read’s considerable research supported “ok” as the lone survivor of 19th-century smart set wordplay, to the point where it was the lede in his obituary.

(The writer noted, as Lowndes does, how “ok” was among the first words out of astronaut Buzz Aldrin’s mouth when he set foot on the moon.)

Oookay…

If you’d like to know more, you can always delve into English professor Allan Metcalf”s book, OK: The Improbable Story of America’s Greatest Word, which cites the telegraph’s role in the popularization of everyone’s favorite neutral affirmative, as well as our powerful psychological attraction to the letter “k.”

(Kare for a Krispy Kreme with that Kool-Aid? ... The answer is an emphatic yes, I mean, OK, in any language.)

Related Content:

The Largest Historical Dictionary of English Slang Now Free Online: Covers 500 Years of the “Vulgar Tongue”

Read A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, a Hilarious & Informative Collection of Early Modern English Slang (1785)

The History of the English Language in Ten Animated Minutes

Ayun Halliday is an author, illustrator, theater maker and Chief Primatologist of the East Village Inky zine.  Join her in NYC on Monday, September 24 for another monthly installment of her book-based variety show, Necromancers of the Public Domain. Follow her @AyunHalliday.

Why We Say “OK”: The History of the Most Widely Spoken Word in the World is a post from: Open Culture. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus, or get our Daily Email. And don't miss our big collections of Free Online Courses, Free Online Movies, Free eBooks, Free Audio Books, Free Foreign Language Lessons, and MOOCs.

I don’t own a bakery, but I still want the Bakers Menu Lettering System.

Are property taxes really the best way to fund public services? Maybe not — but two alternatives could be the answer.

You can triumph in 99% of life’s challenges knowing how to tie 6 basic knots — which is probably 4 more knots than you currently know. The thing about knots is that a few will do if you really own them. Forget about those 300 ingenious knots sailors use, and for now master the few versatile ties taught in this cleverly engineered book. I own most of the knot books, and this is the best one for learning the ropes. It’s for klutzes.

Volunteer to teach a boy/girl scout troop using this book; you’ll learn fast.

[This is a Cool Tools Favorite from 2003]

Sample Excerpts:

The Bowline
If you were marooned on a desert island and could only take one knot with you, this would be the one. Properly tied in ordinary rope, there is little danger of the bowline slipping before the breaking point of the rope itself is reached — a comforting thought if you should ever have to tie a rope around your waist. And nearly as important, the bowline is easy to untie, even after having been dunked in water and put under load. Like most knots, the bowlin’s origins were on board the full-rigged sailing ships where it was used almost to the exclusion of all other loop knots, and where it was said that “the devil himself would make a good sailor, if he could only tie a bowline and look aloft.”

If you should ever have to deal with particularly thick or stiff materials — a rolled up bedspread for example, or anything cable-like one of the best ways to joint them is with two interlocking bowlines.

*

The Clove Hitch
My favorite nearly-all-purpose hitch. Simple to tie, simple to untie, and won’t jam under strain. There are better hitches if you’re especially concerned about security, and if you’re attaching a rope to a square shape — like a piece of lumber — the clove is not appropriate, but for your run-of-the-mill, tie-this-thing-to-that-post kind of problem, the clove is your best choice.

 

Flying into Dallas for business, I landed about 11:30, which meant I was just in time for lunch.  Heading from the airport to downtown, there are a plethora of options, but I was thinking about the “one that got away”.  A couple of years back we went to the Texas State Fair to eat everything that we could find fried (what a fantastic trip) and stopped by Lockhart Smokehouse one afternoon to grab lunch.  The line at the counter in the back, below, was out the door and we just didn’t have time.  It was Red River weekend and they were packed.  On this Tuesday, before noon, there was close parking, which I took as a good sign.

Lockhart Smokehouse brings to Dallas the tastes of Lockhart, Texas, proclaimed as the “Barbecue Capital of the World”.   Like many Texas barbecue restaurants, you order from the counter, by the fraction of a pound.   I knew what I would be having, brisket (it’s Texas, right) and a sausage (they have a direct connection to Kreuz Market).  But, they had smoked prime rib on  the specials…

The parking was an indication of the crowd, and after two parties ordered in front of me, I had a clear shot at the head of the line.  Check out the brisket, prime rib and separate shoulder clod (the leaner part of the brisket), on the cutting table (in the back middle, above, and featured, below).

Open since 2011, the decor is Texas road house, with classic signs all over, and after picking up my meat and sides, I headed to a table.  I also picked up some sauce and a fork, although the signs proclaim that neither is necessary.  The link to Lockhart’s great smokehouse, Kreuz Market, is that one of the co-founder’s grandfather, Edgar Schmidt, was the man that made Kreuz famous.

Unwrapping the top layer of my butcher paper, I found the jalapeno sausage,

atop the prime rib and a couple of spare ribs.  Yes, this was lunch for one (there’s jalapeno mac-n-cheese there, also).  I do tend to over order when alone in a barbecue joint.  It’s a problem, I know.

The prime rib was very good, although cooked above medium, and the jalapeno sausage was one of the best sausages that I’ve ever had, hands down.  The skin popped when you cut it and the cheddar and jalepeno juice flowed.  A man could live off these – there are three food groups right there!  The spare ribs were fine, but I should have ordered the brisket instead.  Oh well – I was batting .667.  I’ll take that.  This trip was off to a good start.

Koto Cabins bring a piece of Scandinavia to your neck of the woods. Named after the Finnish word for "cozy at home," the sleek, sculpted dwellings range from 161 to...

Visit Uncrate for the full post.

Need some new artwork to dress up your walls? A canvas print might be the perfect fit.

If you’re not familiar, these are images printed on a canvas, then stretched onto a wooden frame. They don’t require any treating or expensive frames like posters or photos, so they’re a fun way to show off family photos or create custom artwork.

CanvasChamp is a fantastic option for creating custom canvas prints. Let’s look at how to do so and the final result of an order.

Creating a Print

Though the site offers plenty of other products (which we’ll cover shortly), let’s focus on canvas prints for now. Head to the CanvasChamp website and you’ll see a large Start your order box. Here you can select the size of your print.

Choose from as small as 5 x 7 inches or as large as 20 x 30 inches. You can also specify a custom size if you prefer. Click Start order to proceed.

Now you’ll be greeted with the CanvasChamp editor. Move through the tabs on the left side to step through creation:

• Products: Swap from canvas to a photo mosaic, wall display, or other options.
• Upload: Add an image from your computer, Facebook, Instagram, or a collection of stock images. Drag your photo onto the canvas to adjust and preview it.
• Select Size: Adjust print size if needed.
• Wrap & Border: Choose wrap type, border options, and add a frame if desired.
• Hardware & Finish: Add display hardware like an easel or dust cover. You can also use use color options to set a grayscale image or pay for a few art styles, like pop art.
• Options: Choose whether to laminate the print, and add photo retouching.

Once you’re happy, click Add to cart. Add more items to your cart if you like, then choose your shipping options and Proceed to checkout to pay.

Our Print From CanvasChamp

CanvasChamp sent us a code to try out the service. The hardest part was choosing which design to use! After settling on some artwork from one of my favorite recent video games, Persona 5, it was easy to get the print set up and ordered.

Once it arrived, I was extremely pleased. It shipped in a protective box, preventing damage to the artwork:

I opened it and loved the print. The colors look great, and it feels high-quality. 16×20 is a great size and the price is fair. This will make a great addition to my wall!

Other CanvasChamp Products

Even if you’re not interested in canvas prints, CanvasChamp still has plenty to see.

Another great product are the custom photo mugs. These are ceramic, 11-ounce mugs that are dishwasher and microwave-safe. Simply select a photo to wrap around the mug, or try a collage of two, three, or four photos if you like.

Since you use mugs almost every day, these make a great reminder or gift. They start at only $9.49.

Want to enshrine your memories for generations to come? A custom photo book is a great way to do so. You have a lot of flexibility with these: select a square, landscape, or portrait photo book, then choose how large it is. Pick from a range of themes to spruce up your book, and use clip art to fill any gaps.

Of course, you’ll then need to upload and arrange all the photos just how you want them. Photo books start at $6.30.

Create Amazing Prints in Minutes

CanvasChamp is a great way to create all sorts of neat artwork with your photos. Whether you want a new piece of art for your wall or a custom mug to remember an occasion by, you can create it on CanvasChamp. What will you come up with?

Image Credit: FilL239/Depositphotos

Read the full article: CanvasChamp Creates Beautiful Canvas Prints and More

At most top companies, project managers are in charge of day-to-day operations. This exciting role comes with a six-figure paycheck — and it’s open to anyone. The Project Management Certification Training Bundle can help you get started, with 22 hours of video tutorials working toward the globally-recognized CAPM exam. Right now, the bundle is just $19 at MakeUseOf Deals.

CAPM Training

When everyone else is looking to you for leadership, it’s important to have some kind of framework in place. This bundle helps you master the most popular working methods.

The training is split into three separate courses, starting with an Introduction to Project Management. This track teaches you Agile, Scrum and other frameworks used in top companies.

The CAPM Certification Training helps you become a Certified Associate in Project Management. Through concise lessons, you discover how to cut costs, manage time and keep your team focused. The course also includes full prep for the official exam.

The final course looks at software estimation — a key skill set for project managers planning to work in startups. The instructor shows you how to calculate the timeframe and cost for any development project. Once again, you work toward certification.

22 Hours for $19

Whether you want to start a new career or simply earn a promotion, these courses offer some essential knowledge. Order now for $19 to get lifetime access, worth $897.

Read the full article: Become a Certified Project Manager with 22 Hours of Training for $19

One of the best ways to enhance your employability is to earn certifications in a particular skillset. Doing so proves to would-be employers that you have the technical ability to use the app, software, or technology to a high standard.

So, in today’s article, we’re going to look at online training courses for Tableau. Do the training, grab the certification, negotiate a higher salary—simple.

What Is Tableau?

Tableau is a software company that specializes in making interactive data visualization products.

The company’s software can use information from relational databases, OLAP cubes, cloud databases, and spreadsheets, then produce a huge number of graphs and outputs. It also supports mapping and spatial files.

Tableau offers six core products: Desktop, Prep, Server, Online, Reader, and Public. The final two apps—Reader and Public—are free to use.

The Reader app lets anyone open and view (but not edit) visualizations made in the Desktop app, while Public lets you create graphs, charts, maps, and other visualizations, then publish them on the web. It’s a great tool for blogs and hobbyist data analysts.

The Best Online Training and Tutorials for Tableau

Keep reading to discover the best online training and tutorials for Tableau. We’ll cover some free and paid options for all skill levels.

1. Tableau’s Official Resources

Skill level: All
Price: Free-$2,500

The easiest way to start learning is to use Tableau’s official training resources. They are available via Tableau’s website.

The resources are split into two sections: the free-to-use training videos and the paid courses.

The free training videos are singlehandedly capable of taking you to a good standard. There are more than 100 available.

Introductory lessons include Getting Started and troubleshooting, the intermediate courses move on to cover connecting to data, using dashboards, and mapping. There are also tutorials for the admin side of the app such as security and user management. All the videos are a few minutes long.

For advanced courses, you’ll need to shell out for the professional courses. Prices run from $1,000 to $2,000 per course. They are much more detailed and cover more advanced ideas. You can take them in-person or in a virtual classroom.

2. Tableau Tutorial for Beginners

Skill level: Beginner
Price: Free

If you’re a complete Tableau beginner, you should check out this free Udemy course. The entire course only lasts 2.5 hours, so it’s not going to keep you tied up for days. You’ll be ready for the intermediate courses in no time.

The course will teach you all the basics of using the software—though you will need to download the free trial of Tableau Desktop before you start.

Topics covered include how to connect to data sources, how to turn your data into graphs, charts, and maps, and how to join and merge multiple datasets.

The Tableau Tutorial for Beginners course also starts to introduce databases, geographical data types, and how to create complex calculations.

3. Intellipaat: Tableau Tutorial

Skill level: Beginner
Price: Free

The text-based beginners’ tutorial from Intellipaat is the perfect complement to the introductory Udemy course we discussed above. It builds on the fundamental principles you that you have already been introduced to, without over complicating the course with information you’re still not ready for.

The course begins with an overview of the Tableau apps and working environment; it covers some apps (such as Tableau Reader and Tableau Public) which aren’t discussed in the Udemy course.

The second half of the course covers topics such as connecting to data sources, blending data, and extracting data. It ends with a short section on how to create dashboards.

4. Tutorial Gateway: Tableau Tutorial

Skill Level: Intermediate
Price: Free

Tutorial Gateway’s Tableau tutorial is also entirely text and image-based; if you like working with videos, it’s not the course for you.

However, if you can work with text, it’s definitely worth checking out. The amount of content the course covers is breathtaking, especially considering it is free.

The course starts out at a gentle pace. Even if you’re a complete beginner, you should be able to work through the first few chapters without too much difficulty. When you arrive at the latter sections—covering features such as interactive dashboards and Tableau’s filters, functions, and calculations, the complexity starts to increase.

There are 11 chapters in total. We’d estimate it would take most people a couple of weeks to get through all the content.

5. Tableau 10 for Data Scientists

Skill Level: Intermediate
Price: Requires a Lynda subscription ($29.99 per month, 30-day free trial available)

At its core, Tableau is a data science tool. So, if you’re interested in learning how to get the most out of the suite, check out the Tableau 10 for Data Scientists course on Lynda. (If you want to learn more about data science, check out some of the data science Udemy courses.)

Despite the name, the course is suitable for anyone who has a basic foundation of understanding in the Tableau apps and is ready to take their knowledge up a notch.

The entire course lasts for two hours and 24 minutes. It is divided into 62 individual videos, none of which are more than four minutes long. As such, it’s a perfect course for dipping into and brushing up on parts of the app you’re less familiar with.

Content covered includes connecting and extracting data, transforming data, analytics, mapping data, and working with parameters.

6. Tutorials Point: Tableau Tutorial

Skill level: Intermediate/Expert
Price: Free

Tutorials Point’s Tableau Tutorial marks a good step up in complexity from Tutorial Gateway’s guide. It reinforces some of the things you learned as an immediate user while simultaneously laying the groundwork for themes you will learn about as an expert.

After a short opening chapter for beginners, the guide looks in detail at worksheets, data sources, calculations, filters, and charts.

In the end, the Advanced section has four chapters: Dashboard, Formatting, Forecasting, and Trend Lines.

All the lessons are easily digestible; they go into too much detail and focus on image-based learning rather than text.

7. Tableau Expert: Top Visualization Techniques in Tableau 10

Skill Level: Expert
Price: $199.99

If you hope to step up and Tableau certification, you’re going to need to splash out on some high-quality expert courses.

This Udemy course is one of the best. At $199.99 it’s not cheap, but Udemy often offers discounts—keep your eyes peeled. And anyway, it’ll be money well-spent if you training leads to a nice salary hike, right?

The 5.5-hour course focuses on making your visualizations stand out from the crowd. It’s not as easy as it sounds when you consider that complete beginners can start making charts with just a couple of hours of learning.

It includes 68 videos and 14 downloadable resources. The course covers topics such as creating hexbin charts, Sankey diagrams, visualizing Likert scale survey data. None of the visualizations are part of the software “out of the box.”

Udemy’s other advanced Tableau courses are Mastering Tableau 10, Tableau 10 Development, and Tableau 10 Business Intelligence Solutions. They are all similarly priced.

Getting Your Tableau Certification

Tableau offers official certification through its website. Four certifications are available:

• Tableau Desktop Qualified Associate
• Tableau Desktop Certified Professional
• Tableau Server Qualified Associate
• Tableau Server Certified Professional

In order to become a Certified Professional, you first need to become a Qualified Associate. Before applying for either Qualified Associate exam, Tableau suggests you should have five months of experience and complete some of its training programs.

The Qualified Associate exams cost $250, the Desktop Certified Professional costs $600, and the Server Certified Professional is $800.

Get Certification, Improve Your Job Prospects

Regardless of your profession, getting certified in the software, machinery, tools, or protocols you use every day is a great way to make you stand out from the crowd in an increasingly competitive job market.

Another way of standing is to make sure you have a killer CV. If you’d like to learn how technology can help to build your resume, check out our articles about the best resume-building sites and free resume templates.

Read the full article: 7 Online Tableau Software Training Courses to Lead You to Certification

Time management isn’t some elusive unicorn of a trait that you might or might not have gotten from your momma.

A strange thing happened in the top of the fifth inning of the first game of today’s Nationals-Phillies doubleheader. Nationals’ rookie catcher Spencer Kieboom spit out a tooth (or possibly a chunk of tooth?) on his way to the plate for his second at-bat of the day.

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Considered the brand's fourth flagship model, the Lexus LY 650 Luxury Yacht is the only one that goes on water. The 65-foot vessel is built, sold, and serviced by WI-based...

Visit Uncrate for the full post.

Carroll Shelby's idea of dropping American V8s into a British chassis created one of the most iconic sports cars of all time — the Shelby Cobra. The car proved itself...

Visit Uncrate for the full post.

In terms of precision, cooking is a spectrum. There are instances where eyeballing is sufficient—like deglazing the pan with roughly half a cup of wine—and there are instances where accurate measurements are vital—like in baking finicky pastry or most recipes from Serious Eats. Measuring your ingredients by mass…

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It’s that time again: time for your annual frantic search to find all of the original packaging for your older iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch. That’s the best way to sell it for the highest possible sum, after all, before you plunk down a preorder for whatever Apple’s announcing this week.

Read more...

Our guest this week is Adam Fisher. Adam grew up in Silicon Valley, playing Atari, programming computers and reading science fiction. He still lives in the Bay area, but now spends his time thinking about the future, tracing its origins and writing about it for Wired, MIT Technology Review, The Economist, and The New York Times Sunday Magazine.

Subscribe to the Cool Tools Show on iTunes | RSS | Transcript | Download MP3 | See all the Cool Tools Show posts on a single page

Show notes:

RecorderGear TR500 Landline Phone Call Recorder ($119)
“It’s just super simple. If you have a landline you just plug it into the landline, plug the phone in and you can record at any time, which for a journalist, is super key. One button, and it writes to [an SD card]. I used to use Skype recording and try to do voiceover IP to record directly to the landline, but I was always getting problems where I’d have problems with Skype or one of the other IP services. …You can set [this] up so every time you answer that phone, it records. I use Google Voice and it’ll ring my cell phone and ring the landline at the same time.”

Plantronics Handset Landline Telephone ($90)
“This is a landline telephone that is only a headset. …There’s a dial pad and to answer it, you have to press the little button that looks like a headset. This is what professional sales people use that are on the phone all day or people in call centers use. It’s for them. The reason I love it is because I can just be interviewing someone while I’m on the computer, while I’m taking notes with my fingers, while I’m looking something up on Wikipedia. … I have it set up to the [RecorderGear].”

Alice — audio and transcription app
“I get this LinkedIn message … it was like, ‘Hey, I’m an app developer and you’re a journalist and I really like your story. If I were to develop a transcribing app, what would it look like? What would you need?’ …Long story short: turns out it’s a real dude … He’s a software developer, works for a big company in San Francisco and this is his side hustle. … Three months later, he shows me something, says it’s called Alice and oh my god, it’s not just to my spec, but he took it and made it much better. … It just went into public beta, so anyone who’s listening to this will literally have the first crack at this. … It’s a one button thing. If you press it, it’s on and it’s recording and it’ll just pick up the first couple words [and] that will be the title. You don’t have to name the file and it will record where you are, because it has it on a map when you did it … and it’s recording in such a way that it’s both pushing it to the coud and writing it to the solid state memory in the phone at the same time. Even if IOS crashes, you have it. Even if someone takes your phone at the border or says, “Give me your phone,” or puts a bullet through it, you still have the recording. That’s not all. Five minutes after the recording stops, whether there’s a bullet through the phone or you just press stop, not five minutes, five seconds if it’s a shorter thing, it’ll come back transcribed. It uses the Google API to do the transcription, so it’s basically the best transcription you can get, AI.”

Piezo — record audio from any application
“[Piezo] is from this little Mac only software company called Rogue Amoeba. They make this tool which is just a little piece of software. I have it in my little toolbox at the bottom. Often, when I’m in person, like Kevin, I interviewed you once, I had just a USB mic and I put it in front of you and I had the computer on and what I did is I launched Piezo … and it has this scewamorphic-like GUI. It looks like a piece of recording equipment with level, that there’s only one button. Then you press the button and that’s just red and so you know you’re recording and you can see the levels. What’s important is that the levels do not go on if you’re not recording. It just records right to your hard drive or solid state and you have it. There’s no fussing with getting the SD card out and getting the reader and getting it in. It’s my favorite way to record when I’m in person and it’s the one piece of software that I’ve never messed up, but there’s nothing to it. That’s what I like.”

Also mentioned:

Valley of Genius: The Uncensored History of Silicon Valley (As Told by the Hackers, Founders, and Freaks Who Made It Boom)
“The first thing to understand about the book is it’s this niche, non-fiction genre called oral history and what it really is is more like a documentary film than a normal book. I interviewed about 200 people, a lot of billionaires, but also a lot of their interns and proteges and secretaries and helpers and asked them how they did it, how they created their contribution to Silicon Valley. Then I would cut those interviews together, like you’d cut together a documentary film. … I get those transcripts and I cut it together as if they were all in the same bar, drinking and swapping stories and arguing and giving you a really 360 kind of view of what happened. In a sense, it’s not me telling you, the reader, what the story of Silicon Valley is, but the people who actually made Silicon Valley telling you the story of what Silicon Valley is.”

We have hired professional editors to help create our weekly podcasts and video reviews. So far, Cool Tools listeners have pledged $378 a month. Please consider supporting us on Patreon. We have great rewards for people who contribute! – MF

This article was written by our friends over at Dwell.
 

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Satiate your wanderlust by scrolling through the epic feeds of these travel photographers. You’ll no doubt find some inspiration for your next adventure.
 

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Photo: Chris Burkard
 

1. Huckberry Ambassador Chris Burkard | @chrisburkard

An experienced thrill seeker, Chris Burkard is a surfer-gone-rogue. Tired of the blasé destinations that others frequent, he set out to find swells in far-flung regions of the planet that most would never even dream of visiting—often, they can be quite dangerous. It’s his fearlessness and insatiable desire to dive into the unknown that has produced a jaw-dropping portfolio of images that have helped him lead a TED Talk, work with Fortune 500 clients, design product lines, and publish a range of books. Here’s to pursuing untapped waves and landscapes. 


Sailboat creeping along the edge of an iceberg in Greenlands Sermilik Fjord. Photo: Chris Burkard


Three tiny travelers on a mountain ridge in Utah. Photo: Chris Burkard


Surfing in Seward, Alaska. Photo: Chris Burkard
 

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Bicyclist at Superkilen public park in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen, Denmark. Photo: Karen Ng

2. Karen Ng | @k_a_r_e_n_g 
 

Pop over to Karen Ng’s feed for an alabaster-washed view of the world. Her milky feed exudes minimalist vibes, but a closer look shows that she’s not missed any of the intricacies of her surroundings. From architecture to crosswalks, wilderness landscapes to tablescapes, she presents a fresh perspective through her lens. She is a visual storyteller, inviting viewers to step into her world for a more intimate understanding of her artful compositions where a boat can look like a leaf on a tree and everyday environments are transformed into geometric sequences dancing around her.  


6 a.m. on the beach in Da Nang, Vietnam. Photo: Karen Ng


Just a speck in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Photo: Karen Ng


Just hanging out in Seoul, Korea. Photo: Karen Ng
 

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Grandpa Huang fishing on the Li River in Guangxi, China. Photo: Jordan Hammond

3. Jordan Hammond | @jordhammond

For bold, exotic landscapes teeming with mountains, rice paddies at sunrise, endless deserts, and technicolor buildings, look no further than the feed of Jordan Hammond. He wanders far and wide with a portfolio of places so diverse you’ll never tire of scrolling through his feed. His images breathe a sense of mystery and wonder, creating fantastical panoramas out of cityscapes and remote territories. 


A pair of lovers in Dubai. Photo: Jordan Hammond


Rainbow Mountain in Peru. Photo: Jordan Hammond


Magic in Bali, Indonesia. Photo: Jordan Hammond
 

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Salk Institute in La Jolla, San Diego. Photo: Olivia Lopez

4. Olivia Lopez | @oliviavlopez

She is a fashion influencer, yes, but Olivia Lopez is also packing a sharp eye and the photo skills to match to capture her jet-setting lifestyle. Her knack for style translates into an ardor for luxe interiors and faraway escapes both urban and tropical. She finds astounding hotels, remarkable restaurants, and gorgeous landscapes to share with her followers. A quick scroll through her feed shows plush interiors, bold architecture, delectable eats—and of course, chic outfits galore.  


View from a Miami hotel window. Photo: Olivia Lopez


Luxe digs in Beverly Hills. Photo: Olivia Lopez


Lopez cozied up at Hôtel Les Roches Rouges in Saint-Raphaël, France. Photo: Olivia Lopez
 

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"Let them stare." Photo: Paola Franqui

5. Paola Franqui | @monaris_

Personal narratives fill Paola Franqui’s Instagram feed. She captures humans in their natural states: sitting on the bus, reading a newspaper, looking out a window, or smoking a cigarette in the street. She shoots on the fly, but every image is thoughtfully composed to frame the subject; and each emanates a sense of dreaminess, as if you could walk into her subject’s thoughts. She leads the viewer’s eye across her shots with intention, revealing the beating heart of a city.


Connected in New York. Photo: Paola Franqui


A perfect match in Barcelona, Spain. Photo: Paola Franqui


New York state of mind. Photo: Paola Franqui
 

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The world's ride. Photo: Steve McCurry

6. Steve McCurry | @stevemccurryofficial

Steve McCurry is perhaps best known for “Afghan Girl,” the image of the girl with piercing green eyes that appeared on the cover of National Geographic. The award-winning photojournalist has covered armed conflicts around the world, including in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Cambodia, and the Philippines. He nearly drowned in India, and made it out of an airplane crash in Yugoslavia. It’s not always strife in his photos, however; McCurry shows us just how beautiful humanity is through portraying intimate moments in tradition and culture.


Mudmen in Papua, NewGuinea, 2017. Photo: Steve McCurry


Colorful acrobatics. Photo: Steve McCurry


He who leads.  Photo: Steve McCurry


Tibetan monks debate at Sakya Monastery in Bylakuppe, India, 2001. Photo: Steve McCurry
 

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That footboard though. Photo: Eva Tsang

7. Eva Tsang | @thetrottergirl

Curator of city guides, Eva Tsang discovers gems from Portland to Paris, honing in on the best cafes, hotels, shops, and sweet treats. She captures quiet settings in otherwise bustling getaways—cozy corners, warm meals, empty alleyways. Interiors abound here, from textured nooks to airy, minimalist styles. You’ll be able to see all the ‘Gram-worthy spots from Portugal to Spain, and experience it all like a local.  


Modern tropical fantasy in Algarve Coast, Portugal. Photo: Eva Tsang


Luxe evergreen nooks in Paris. Photo: Eva Tsang


Strolling the streets of Florence, Italy. Photo: Eva Tsang
 

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A water and sunlight cocktail at Yellowstone Falls. Photo: Alexis Coram

8. Alexis Coram | @alexiscoram

Alexis Coram’s images present the world as a magical wonderland filled with surfers under the Northern Lights, dazzling stars, and raging waterfalls crashing over jagged peaks. Her captures have a powerful stillness to them—bold, punchy hues and sharp contrasts in soft settings. Each landscape is meant to evoke emotion and contemplation. Accordingly, she furthers the dreamy nature of her environments by fusing some of her photos together to create ethereal worlds that could very well be Narnia. 


Coram melds three of her photos here: daytime photos of the Natural Bridge in California, a surfer on a California beach, and an Aurora storming over Alaska. Photo: Alexis Coram


Cascading waterfall Faroe Islands. Photo: Alexis Coram


Psychdelic skies in Kirkjufell, Iceland. Photo: Alexis Coram


Another multi-layered image where Coram uses her most licensed image, Rainbow Cosmos—which is comprised of several hundred images from the Aurora in Alaska—and melds it with two other photos. Photo: Alexis Coram
 

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Flying high over the Namibian coast where thundering waves of the sea meet the rippling dunes of the desert Sandwich Harbour. Photo: Hannes Becker

9. Hannes Becker | @hannes_becker

No matter the destination—be it camping in the Austrian Alps, kayaking in freezing waters in Antarctica, or trekking through a clay pan in Namibia—Hannes Becker captures striking dreamscapes. Unsurprisingly, like any good photographer, he spends hours and days prepping before a trip, researching cool spots and weather, and running through all possible scenarios. Growing up in a rural area in Germany, he is naturally drawn to raw environments, and strives to harness moods through composition, putting people in the rule of thirds and emulating old film photography. Beyond shooting pretty places, he documents moments, tying in his personal experiences with well-considered layouts. Generally, people are shot from afar to create a sense of scale between the person and nature. 


An aerial view of daily changing glacier rivers channeling their way through the highlands of Iceland. Photo: Hannes Becker


The Inca town at Machu Picchu, Peru. Photo: Hannes Becker


A 600-meter cliff above the fjord at Preikestolen, Norway.  Photo: Hannes Becker


A massive crater lake in Iceland—see the tiny white car for scale. Photo: Hannes Becker
 

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Taking in the cerulean seas and gilded sands of Gold Coast, Queensland. Photo: Melissa Findley
 

10. Melissa Findley | @melissafindley
 

Traverse the globe from Australia—Melissa Findley’s homeland—to Nepal, Africa, Samoa, and beyond. Working with multiple tourism boards and traveling to raise awareness for several charities, Findley’s work has benefitted organizations in Cambodia, Nepal, Uganda, Laos, and more. Her photos span across land and sea, from starry nights camping near home to crystalized glacier parks in Patagonia.


Swimming in Bitter Springs, crystal clear spring-fed thermal pools in Mataranka, NT, Australia. Photo: Melissa Findley


Peach-toned landscape in Delhi, India. Photo: Melissa Findley


Hanging at one of her favorite beaches in Australia. Photo: Melissa Findley
 

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We’re into the final days of summer, but we’re not letting the season go without a big last hurrah — Labor Day. From a long-weekend road trip to a backyard cookout, there are many excellent ways to say farewell, and we’ve got a recipe that’s going to make the transition into fall so much more enjoyable. These spicy buttermilk fried chicken wings are easy to make and a total hit at an end-of-summer party. 
 

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Ingredients

(Makes six servings)

• 20-25 chicken wings

• 1 quart buttermilk

• 1/4 cup hot sauce (we’re partial to Frank’s Red Hot)

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed

• 2 cups flour

• 1/4 cup cornstarch

• Salt, pepper, and paprika for seasoning

• Peanut oil for frying
 

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Directions
 

1. Mix the buttermilk, hot sauce, and crushed garlic in a large bowl.

2. Add chicken wings.

3. Cover and let marinate for at least six hours in the refrigerator.

4. Season flour with cornstarch, salt, pepper, and paprika.

5. Dredge the chicken wings in the flour mixture, making sure to shake off excess.

6. Let rest at least five minutes.

7. Fill a large cast iron skillet about halfway with peanut oil and heat to 350°F.

8. Add the chicken wings. At first, the temperature will drop a bit — try to maintain a temperature between 300-325°F degrees while frying.

9. Fry the wings in batches of 5-7 until golden brown and crispy. This helps to maintain the oil at an even temperature, minimizing splatters and messy clean-up. When the chicken wings start to float a bit, you know they’re ready.

10. Transfer chicken wings to a wire rack with a sheet tray underneath or place on a brown paper bag to absorb excess oil.

11. Salt and enjoy!


 

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>>Next: How to Make Gin & Tonic Sorbet
 

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You can get fit by running outdoors, or by exercising at a fancy gym, but in the end all your muscles care about is that they got to contract a bunch of times. Need a workout you can do when you’re stuck in one place with no gear? Ask a former prisoner.

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For the first time, mainland extinctions eclipsed island extinctions, primarily due to rampant deforestation in South America, especially in Brazil, to make way for large-scale agriculture and industrial activities

Landscape photographer Nigel Danson has been reflecting on his time as a professional landscape photographer and has come up with 7 things that he wishes he knew when he first started out on his photographic journey.

Unfortunately for Danson, he’s not able to go back in time and tutor himself. But luckily for us, we’re able to learn from these key moments in his career without spending many years getting to those milestones!

“Recently, looking back at some photos I took over 10 years ago, it made me realize how far I’ve come as a photographer.” says Danson. “It made me think about the things I’ve learned over the last 10 or 15 years.”

Landscape photography can be a tricky art to master, and experience in the field is definitely your friend. But hopefully, these tips and tricks will help you to improve your shots in an instant and give you that boost you need to keep your photography developing.

Summary of the 7 Simple Tips to Improve Your Landscapes

1. Use Aperture Priority Mode
2. Master the Histogram
3. Learn to Focus Properly
4. Simplify Your Images
5. Use Different Lenses and Stick with Your Camera
6. Think About Where You’re Standing
7. Learn and Use Lighting to Your Advantage

Have you got any landscape images you’ve shot recently? Share them with us in the comments below!

The post 7 Landscape Photography Tips You’ll Wish You Knew Earlier appeared first on Digital Photography School.

In five years of research at Wirecutter, we’ve put hundreds of hours of work into finding the best tools to help anyone cool down. Through reporting, testing, and general life experience, we’ve also collected a lot of information on how to make this gear work better. Whether you’re not sure where to start or are looking to improve the efficiency of your existing setup, we’re here to help.

After 120 hours of doing research, consulting with electrical engineers, and testing hubs, we determined that the Anker 10-Port USB 3.0 Hub is the best USB hub for most people. It’s compact and reliable, and it has well-placed ports aplenty. In our tests, it rose above the competition mainly because of its usability and design: Compared with most of the hubs we tested, it’s smaller and equipped with more ports, and those ports are easy to get to. It also has three high-speed charging ports, something our readers told us they wanted.

We’ve spent dozens of hours researching and testing the best extension cords, and along the way we’ve picked up tips from experts in consumer safety, electrical engineering, and construction trades to keep cords at their best. In descending order from our favorite method (the over-under coil) to our least favorite (the around-the-arm coil) we break down the pros and cons of each method below. If you take good care of your extension cords, they should last for many years.

The over-under coil

Pros: Won’t damage the cord, leaves it ready to use next time
Cons: The method doesn’t come naturally, so you’ll need to get used to it

A regular coil, making loop after loop on top of one another, actually bends an extension cord out of its natural curve, making it more cumbersome to handle over time and stressing the wires inside. But using the over-under method works with the cord’s natural curve instead of against it, so your extension cord gets to rest stress free. I first learned about the over-under method while working as a photo assistant—properly done, you can easily throw a 50-foot over-under-coiled cord in a straight line while standing in one place. A handy time-saver, and a great way to impress bystanders. If you use a Velcro strap to keep the finished coil together, you can easily store the whole thing on a utility hook, or transport it in a tool or gig bag.

Velcro cord wraps

If you’re going to store your cords in a coil, you’re going to want some cord wraps. If you don’t already have a few, take a second to add some to your shopping cart, either online or the next time you’re at the hardware store. For a couple of bucks, you can get a handful of reusable Velcro straps like these, but any larger options will work just as well. Whichever ones you pick up, be sure to find the kind with a small hole or clip that lets you keep the strap wrapped around the cord when not in use. Long, cut-to-fit rolls seem like a good deal, but having a strap that stays put when you unwrap your cord is much better.

The chain-link

Pros: Leaves cord ready to use, nothing to buy
Cons: Takes practice, may twist the cord over time

The chain-link method takes a little practice, but does a nice job of keeping your cord organized and easy to transport for next time. It stores just as well on a wall hook or in a 5-gallon bucket without a problem. That puts it above the dreaded around-the-arm-coil at the bottom of our list, but it still introduces a lot of twists into the cord that may not stretch out if your cord is stiff or stored in the cold. Plus, you can’t stretch it across a workspace in a single throw like you can a cord in an over-under coil.

Mounted cord reels

Pros: Leaves cord ready to use
Cons: Expensive, can’t replace the cord easily, may damage the cord over time, some models are unreliable

If you keep an extension cord in one spot like your garage or workshop, it might make sense to mount the cord on a retractable cable reel. It’s the easiest way to have an extension cord on hand at all times, and makes putting the cord away just as easy. Unfortunately, most cable reels come with cords that are too thin for their length, or include a multi-outlet “banana tap” that’s convenient—but also easy to overload and turn into a fire hazard. Plus, if your cord does break or wear, you might not be able to easily replace it inside the reel. This Iron Forge cord reel is a good example of what’s available, and includes a properly sized 12-gauge cable (which we like) and a three-outlet tap (which we don’t), and is twice the price of our favorite 50-foot extension cord.

Spools

Pros: None
Cons: Requires unspooling cord before use, bad for the cord, and a waste of a few dollars that could be better spent on anything else

Next to the extension cords in virtually every hardware and home store you’ll find a variety of cord wrapping spools tempting you. But these Sirens of cord management will only lead you to ruin on the rocks of unfulfilled promises. Simple spooling plastic frames are awkward to use, and make even more of a chore out of wrapping or deploying your cords. We don’t recommend them to anyone.

Winding reels like this one can be slightly better, but you still need to hold them while pulling cord out or cranking it back in. In our experience, cranking the handle is more work than just using the over-under method, especially for reels that aren’t anchored in any way.

The around-the-arm coil

Pros: Quick and easy, nothing to buy
Cons: May damage the cord over time, often results in tangles, and cord is not easy to use the next time

This might be the default method that everyone uses, but it really shouldn’t be. You grab the cord end in one hand, pull it taut around the same arm’s elbow, and start whipping it around tighter and tighter. Then, faced with the dangly end, you either toss the coil into a pile so that it can magically tangle itself up sometime between now and when you need it next, or you wrap the end around the whole coil, which adds even more stress to the jacket and cord. This makes an arm-coiled extension cord a pain to use the next time you need it, and stresses the cord into tight curves. Give the over-under coil method we recommend a few tries and you’ll be able to leave the arm-coil method behind.

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