Perch lets you turn nearly any device with a camera into a smart home security system

perch security
For home owners and renters alike, there are countless of gadgets that can help them remotely monitor their home through a smartphone. Perch, a new startup born out of the Samsung Accelerator program, wants to do away with useless hardware and let you turn a camera you may already own into a security monitor. Instead of requiring customers to buy additional hardware, Perch lets you use any USB-based webcam, smartphone, laptop or tablet as the point of capture. The Perch app allows you to dictate the area of the screen you wish to monitor and send an alert when it notices unusual movements. Furthermore,…

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These secret Giphy commands for Slack will change the way you GIF

TNW
Did you know there’s a few secret Giphy commands you can use in Slack to get better reaction GIFs? Neither did I, until today when a friend that works at Slack tweeted about it. If you’re already using Giphy for Slack, you can use the Magic 8 Ball command to help your team make decisions with a roll of the dice. Like this: /giphy #magic8ball Should we go to lunch? And you’ll get a reaction GIF with your answer, yes, no, or shrug. It’s a fun and addictive way to get your destiny laid out for you in a GIF. There’s…

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Brigade tries to provide a simple solution to elections, but is it too simple?

Brigade
Gearing up to vote in the United States is an arduous process. Even when you don’t have the opportunity to vote for President, there’s plenty of state and local positions as well as hot-button community issues that end up on the ballot. That’s probably why off-year elections have such a poor turn-out rate: During the midterm elections in 2014, just over one in three eligible U.S. citizens completed a ballot — a 72-year low. But these elections matter, even when they don’t decide who holds the highest office in the land. But actually sitting down and reading even the voting guide to…

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Sharing a Netflix password is still piracy – but everyone does it

Light Treason
If you’re a Netflix user, you’re probably still bummed out that the company is raising its streaming price on its HD plan by $1 to $9.99 per month within the next year. But if you’re thinking about splitting that account with a friend or family member, just know that you may be committing some light piracy. An article from MarketWatch provided a note to investors Goldman Sachs Analyst Heath Terry, which indicated a specific intent when targeting the HD plan: We believe a targeted price change like this is designed to reduce excessive password sharing by incentivizing users to switch to the 1-screen…

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Facebook finally fixed a major issue with its ‘On This Day’ feature

Facebook On This Day
When Facebook launched its nostalgia-tripping ‘On This Day’ feature in March, parallels were immediately drawn to TimeHop‘s own tool. Unfortunately, that also meant often resurfacing bad memories you’d rather not be reminded of. The company now wants to avoid that. Today it’s introducing a couple of filters for On This Day, which allow you to set specify people and/or dates you don’t want to be reminded of. The preferences are remembered for the years to come, so you don’t have to keep resetting the feature every time you visit the On This Day page. Image Credit: The Verge In a…

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Facebook is testing a video-only tab to take on YouTube

Facebook videos
It’s no secret that Facebook has been making a big push for video content recently, but today the company is making one of its most direct moves yet: testing a dedicated video hub, along with several new features to enhance users’ viewing experience.   The new video hub shows up as a tab on the Facebook iPhone app or an item on the left hand side of the Web interface, and allows you to see both videos you’ve saved for later viewing and suggestions from friends, Pages and other publishers. It’s aimed at discovering new content – powered by all…

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Pinterest adds location data to billions of pins

place-pins-blog-us
Are you a traveler? Whether you’re intent on hopping a plane to far-off realms or camping out in your armchair, there’s now more to explore. Pinterest has launched an update to its Place Pins feature, automatically adding new information and expanding location data to 7 billion pins. Now, when you save a pin, the app shows you nearby locations on a map alongside pins other people have saved from the same place. The idea is to make it easier to discover and visit the places you’ve pinned, and highlight local sights and restaurants at that destination. With a tap, pinners can get directions…

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TextMe Up will let you create burner phones to divert your calls

Screen Shot 2015-10-13 at 14.50.52
If you’re the type of person who regrets having your phone number in your email signature or that you didn’t get a second SIM, then TextMe Up is for you. Dual-SIM phones aren’t the norm in Europe and aren’t enough for people who need multiple numbers to keep everything on track, without compromising on privacy or time. From the creators of TextMe, the service that turns any connected device into a phone, TextMe Up lets you create multiple phone numbers to call and text anyone in the world, even if they are not using the app. The various numbers can…

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Ola wants passengers to share rides with their mates

Ola Share
Indian cab service Ola has announced today that it’s introducing Share, a social approach to carpooling, in Bangalore today. Here’s how it works: join or create a group of colleagues or college buddies (or simply opt in to the open group) and choose the Share option when booking a ride, and you’ll automatically be matched with others from the groups that you’re a part of. The service is launching in beta in Bangalore today, and will become available in five cities over the next few months. During this trial period, Ola Share users will be able to travel anywhere across…

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