Amazon Launches Program To Pay Consumers For Their Data On Non-Amazon Purchases
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An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Amazon has launched a new program that directly pays consumers for information about what they’re purchasing outside of Amazon.com and for responding to short surveys. The program, Amazon Shopper Panel, asks users to send in 10 receipts per month for any purchases made at non-Amazon retailers, including grocery stores, department stores, drug stores and entertainment outlets (if open), like movie theaters, theme parks and restaurants. Amazon’s own stores, like Whole Foods, Amazon Go, Amazon Four Star and Amazon Books do not qualify.
Program participants will take advantage of the newly launched Amazon Shopper Panel mobile app on iOS and Android to take pictures of paper receipts that qualify or they can opt to forward emailed receipts to receipts@panel.amazon.com to earn a $10 reward that can then be applied to their Amazon Balance or used as a charitable donation. Amazon says users can then earn additional rewards each month for every survey they complete. The optional surveys will ask about brands and products that may interest the participant and how likely they are to purchase a product. Other surveys may ask what the shopper thinks of an ad. These rewards may vary, depending on the survey. The program is currently opt-in and invite-only for U.S. consumers only.
The report also notes that Amazon "will delete any sensitive information from the receipts users upload, like prescription information." Importantly, Amazon "doesn’t delete users’ personal information, instead storing it in accordance with its existing Privacy Policy. It will allow users to delete their previously uploaded receipts, if they choose."
The code above are examples taken directly from the readme. Using the example code, you would have a chart that looks like the following:
At the time of writing, livewire-charts supports three types of charts:
Line chart
Column chart (as seen above)
Pie Chart
You can also enable interactions and provide listeners that will fire in Livewire components, along with the ability to make charts reactive. Be sure to check out the livewire-charts readme for full details on usage.
Pretty much every display you can buy today is either LCD or OLED. But for decades, the cathode ray tube was the only way to watch video. This older clip from How Its Made show the process, including filling the tube with phosphors, adding conductive elements, and installing an electron gun to create images on the tube.
25 Insanely Useful Websites That’ll Come in Handy Someday
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Finding useful websites can be tough. There are more than a billion sites on the web, and a good number of them are nowhere near useful. And some of the most useful websites are quite popular, so you probably already know of them.
But there are many other useful websites beyond the ones you may be familiar with. The fun is in discovering them. Fortunately, we’ve done the searching for you. Check out these useful websites that offer something worth checking out.
If you’re looking for cheap accommodations as an international student, this website helps you search for a home near your college/university or a neighborhood of your choice. The site covers hundreds of cities and doesn’t charge for the service.
Among other resources, this site offers an interactive guide to human anatomy. It’s an easy way to study the human body’s various systems and segments, perhaps to teach students in school. The site also offers help with testing, health products, and telemedicine.
This website provides free high-definition images without a background. It offers millions of PNG images for your brochures, banners, websites, and more. The website provides unlimited free downloads with no registration or other hoops to jump through.
With Pixlr, you can edit pictures without Photoshop or GIMP. It’s an easy-to-use tool that doesn’t need installation and is free unless you need more features. You can edit your images in your browser or download the app on your phone to edit pictures without any complicated tools.
Shutterstock is too expensive for most casual users; Pixabay is a much more suitable option. It offers over one million royalty-free images, illustrations, videos, and vector graphics to download at no charge.
It’s a great choice for anyone who wants to dabble in basic designing or needs a freely available stock image for a project.
With Privnote, you can send a note that self-destructs after it’s read. This is great when you need something more private than an email for sensitive information.
It offers a few options that let you set when the message will delete, add a password for more protection, and even receive an email after it’s destroyed.
Who doesn’t want to save money when traveling? Skyscanner is a must-check when booking a flight, as it helps you find the best deals based on a variety of criteria. It’s much faster than checking every airline individually.
Apart from flights, it also shows deals on hotels and car rentals.
This is a service for anyone looking to rent an apartment or room for a mid to long-term time period. Spotahome has real people check the properties personally, with a virtual video tour of the entire apartment as well as HD pictures of the properties.
Currently, it covers a variety of cities in Europe, making it good for students and backpackers in that area.
When you’re having trouble accessing a website, it could be an issue on your end or a problem with the website itself. This site makes it easy to find out. Just enter a website URL and you’ll see if this tool has trouble accessing it.
For convenience, enter the short URL downfor.io to visit this site without entering its full name.
This website finds a Bachelor’s program or degree according to your preference of country, language, cost, time commitment, and much more. It also gives a list of top destinations to study in your home country.
Using the banner at the top of the page, you can access similar sites for advanced degrees.
Ninite is a must-know site when setting up a new computer. On its homepage, you’ll find dozens of popular apps. Check all the ones you want to download, then Ninite will download a file that installs them all.
You don’t have to click through a bunch of installation boxes or worry about bloatware—Ninite takes care of it for you. For a Mac equivalent, try macapps.link.
Here’s an easy-to-use website that converts your data into a neat diagram. It’s a great way to make flowcharts, task flows, and even wireframes.
You don’t need to install any software; simply work on the website. The free plan lets you make up to three documents and allows for collaboration with your team or colleagues using any device.
Eat This Much is an automatic diet planner. Enter how many calories you want to eat and how many meals to spread them across, and the service will help you create a diet plan. It includes weekly emails for what to buy at the grocery store, cooking instructions, and updated stats as you go along.
It supports various diets, like vegetarian or paleo, and aims to help you avoid worrying about what to eat at mealtimes.
JustWatch is essential for anyone who loves movies and TV shows. Its most useful function is seeing where something is available to stream, allowing you to compare prices and make sure you don’t pay for something you can watch on an existing subscription.
Otherwise, it’s great for getting recommendations and keeping a master watchlist.
Video games can take a long time to complete, so you might want to check the time commitment before you start one. HowLongToBeat makes that easy—just search for a game and you’ll see how long it takes for different playstyles.
You can also register to manage your games in a library to keep track of your backlog, completed games, and more.
Diffchecker is a handy way to find out what someone else changed in your document. Paste two sets of text (or upload an image, PDF, or Excel file) and you can see what’s different between them.
Dillinger is an online Markdown editor that’s also mobile-friendly. The service lets you export to and import from cloud services. When you’re done, you can save as HTML or even as a PDF. It also supports autosave, dragging and dropping images, and more handy features.
It’s a great tool anytime you need a clean writing app but don’t want to install anything.
Curious about the speed of your current network connection? Open up Fast and you’ll quickly see the speed of your network. It works for mobile hotspots, your home, or any other network you want to check.
There are other sites for this, of course, but Fast is clean and easy to enter into an address bar.
Dictation.io lets you dictate your emails and documents in Google Chrome using any language you speak. It accurately transcribes speech to text in real-time, and supports smileys, paragraphs, and even punctuation using voice commands.
Whether you’re a globetrotter, student, businessman, or concerned parent, this site allows you to track any flight. Just enter the flight number and you’ll see the real-time location and status of the flight. You can even check more details after a flight concludes.
Figuring out time zone differences is a huge pain. This site makes it easy by showing the current time in major time zones across the world. Click and drag the top bar to see what your local time translates to in various time zones.
If you sign up for a free account, you can further customize the site to your needs.
This online PDF editor lets you easily edit a PDF without any extra software. This includes annotating them and filling out fields in a PDF form. It works in all major browsers and doesn’t charge unless you want to use the desktop version.
This website lets you create stunning infographics as well as charts, reports, and social media visuals. It’s a modern and sleek editor that helps you present information in an interesting way.
Ever find an app you want to use, but can’t because it’s too expensive? Perhaps you’re looking to replace one of your favorite apps that was recently discontinued. In this case, AlternativeTo can help.
Simply input an app or program, and the site will suggest similar alternatives.
There’s no shortage of ways to video call people online, but most of them require signing up for an account and are thus cumbersome. Jitsi Meet is different, and should be on your radar for all online meetings.
Simply come up with a room name, send the link to your friends, and everyone can join without signing up or paying. It’s as easy as online meetings get.
Essential Websites You Can’t Miss
There’s a little something for everyone on this list of useful websites. Next time you need to complete a specific task, there’s probably a website that can help. You never know where digging into Google results will get you!
Next, why not take a break from serious work and check out some of the best humor sites on the web?
Announced during Tuesday’s event, where Apple first showcased its latest smartphone line-up in full-blown (and blue) 5G glory, the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro are finally available to pre-order. Featuring the return of MagSafe and improved cameras across the board, Apple diehards, older iPhone owners, and recent converts are eagerly waiting to upgrade.
But as some iPhone 12 models are coming out on different dates than the rest, pinning down an exact release date for the one you want can get confusing. Here’s a guide to making sure you’re pre-ordering the right iPhone today and from the right carrier, with prices and links included.
When Do Pre-Orders Begin?
You can secure an iPhone 12 for yourself starting October 16 at 5 AM PDT. Use this link to find out when that is in your time zone.
Which Models Can I Pre-Order Now?
Two of the four iPhone 12 models you’ll find are ready for pre-order today. iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max prospects, on the other hand, will have to wait patiently until November 6.
Where to Pre-Order the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro
The main event is on Apple’s own site, though AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile are also presenting compelling reasons to upgrade. But where Apple is giving early buyers a $30 discount for a limited time, the carriers themselves are shaving up to $850 off the list price in exchange for your current phone.
G/O Media may get a commission
To take advantage of any network-specific deals, see the links below for more details. New and existing AT&T customers can relinquish their old smartphones and snag an iPhone 12 for free. Similarly, Verizon subscribers can save up to $800 toward their new phone with a trade-in.
AT&T
Verizon
T-Mobile
As Sprint was bought by T-Mobile earlier this year, the brand is slowly being phased out, with existing customers moving over to T-Mobile as we speak. If you’re looking to upgrade from Apple directly, you’re still essentially buying it through a carrier, albeit with extra steps. Sprint users should be to your carrier advisor to see how you can migrate your service to T-Mobile.
iPhone 12 Price: How Much Does It Cost?
As mentioned, AT&T and Verizon & T-Mobile customers save $30 when pre-ordering an iPhone 12 straight from the Apple Store, but T-Mobile is offering up to $850 off with a qualifying device trade-in. If you’ve got a clunker you’re ready to expel, that might be the way to fetch the most bang for your buck—assuming it’s still in decent condition.
Illustration: Daryl Baxter
Am I Eligible for Upgrade?
Check your with your service provider if you’re planning to upgrade on your existing contract. Without a special incentive offer from the carrier, you might have to pay a fee to cover the processing cost on their end.
When Will My iPhone 12 Shipment Arrive?
While the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro are set to arrive on October 23, the staggered release schedule means the iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max won’t reach your doorstep until November 16, one week from their respective pre-order date. Depending on availability, we recommend pre-ordering as soon as you decide which iPhone 12 variant best suits your needs.
Inside the Smithsonian Gun Room, aka the National Firearms Collection – VIDEO
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Washington, D.C. –-(AmmoLand.com)- Better known as the Smithsonian’s Gun Room, what is officially known as the National Firearms Collection is an assemblage of more than 7,000 firearms dating back centuries. They tell the story of the United States and its global impact and reach through historically significant arms, patent models, and more.
Some pieces from the collection are on display, but the vast majority are not.
Entrance to the Smithsonian Gun Room
This is the view you’re greeted with upon entering the Gun Room. It gives a brief glimpse into the remarkable collection that awaits.
This first rack includes a couple of miquelet lock muskets given to President Thomas Jefferson in 1805 by the Bey of Tunis after the Tripolitan Wars. The gift influenced the inclusion of the now-iconic lyrics “to the shores of Tripoli” in the Marine’s Hymn. Right next to those is an embellished Jaeger rifle that belonged to empress Catherine the Great of Russia. A velvet cheek piece added to this firearm ensured her comfort while shooting.
The yellow and orange guns were given to Thomas Jefferson.
Among the numerous racks of guns are ones that have stories, but you have to know what you’re looking for. For example, this percussion double-barrel shotgun was presented to Union Civil War General George Henry Thomas, who was one of the principal commanders in the war’s Western Theater. His shotgun is sitting right next to a beautifully embellished gun made in Versailles, France.
Elaborate French shotgun next to a Civil War presentation shotgun
There are a lot of M1 Garands. And Beretta BM-59 rifles. And a whole bunch of other Garand variations, such as these T44E4’s, this T22E3HB, and a two-digit T20E2.
Different M1 Rifle variants.
The setup for photography is in a tucked-away little corner, sharing the space with a remarkable collection of swords. There, I photographed a handful of interesting pieces. First up was a LeMat revolver that looks a bit different than the ones you might be used to seeing. That’s because it’s Jean Alexandre LeMat’s patent model for the pinfire variation of the earlier percussion model.
LeMat patent model Revolver
This pair of Dragoon pistols was unique because of their grips, which were silver instead of wood. They were engraved presentation pieces to then-Colonel George Washington Morgan for his “gallantry and high military bearing” during the Mexican-American War in the 1840s.
Pair of Colt Dragoons made as a Mexican War present.
Then came a rather unassuming Adams revolver. The butt of the gun is engraved, revealing its impressive provenance. The revolver was presented to Private Francis Brownell who shot and killed the man who shot and killed Colonel Ellsworth while he was removing a Confederate flag from atop the Marshall House in Alexandria, Virginia, on May 24, 1861. Brownell was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions, which is on display in the museum’s galleries. The gun was given to him just 5 days later.
Medal of Honor recipient Frank Brownell’s Adams revolver.
Finally, the highlight of my trip was a piece I wasn’t expecting to find: the original patent model created by John Moses Browning for his single-shot rifle. I opened up one of the gun room’s many storage drawers and there it was, in the middle of a bunch of other patent models with a simple hangtag that read, “John M. Browning Patent Model.”
Browning’s original patent model.
Of course, there’s never enough time in the day to explore it all, and I had to leave before I was satiated. Oh well, I guess that just means I’ll have to make a return trip – and I’ll be sure to bring you along for that one, too!
About Logan Metesh
LoganMetesh is a historian with a focus on firearms history and development. He runs High Caliber History LLC and has more than a decade of experience working for the Smithsonian Institution, the National Park Service, and the NRA Museums. His ability to present history and research in an engaging manner has made him a sought after consultant, writer, and museum professional. The ease with which he can recall obscure historical facts and figures makes him very good at Jeopardy!, but exceptionally bad at geometry.
These are the best USB-C power adapters for your new iPhone 12
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Your new iPhone 12 will have a USB-C to Lightning cable — but no AC power adapter. Here are some great choices for adapters, if your tech drawer isn’t already full of them.
Apple is trying to reduce its effects on the environment by removing the power adapters from product packaging. This can lead to some confusion for users receiving a USB-C cable for the first time or those new to iPhone.
Using USB-C to charge your device comes with some benefits. The iPhone 8 and newer can fast charge when using USB-C adapters that provide 18W of power, or greater. Apple says fast charging should get you 50% battery in 30 minutes, though that varies depending on the adapter and your iPhone’s battery health.
AppleInsider has gathered the ten best power adapter and charging solutions for a USB-C lifestyle. Using any of these adapters will get you fast charging, but form factor and use case will determine which is best for you.
Satechi
Satechi 75W Dual Type-C PD Travel Charger
The Satechi 75W Dual Type-C PD Travel Charger is the ultimate travel companion for your iPhone 12 and USB-C devices. Capable of delivering 60W for fast charging an iPad Pro or MacBook Pro from one USB-C port, and 18W for fast charging your iPhone from the second USB-C port.
This adapter also has two USB-A ports for up to four devices charging from the single adapter. It connects via a cable to the wall outlet, which means the USB ports will be closer to where you are.
The Satechi 75W Dual Type-C Travel Charger is $69.99 on Amazon’s website.
RAVPower
RAVPower 30W 2-port fast charger
The RAVPower 30W 2-port fast charger is great for those looking to charge their devices and save space. This inexpensive charger can power two devices with a max output of 30W, with the USB-C port capable of 18W.
This power adapter is available for $15.99 on Amazon’s website.
Belkin
Belkin has a USB-C GaN charger capable of delivering 18W fast charging to your iPhone 12 while charging your MacBook Pro or iPad Pro at 60W. The power of gallium nitrate charging means you get all the power of a bigger charger in a more compact design.
This USB-C GaN charger maxes out at 68W when two devices are connected at the same time. It will intelligently pass power to devices for safe and efficient charging.
The Belkin USB-C GaN charger retails for $54.99 on Amazon’s website. It can be configured with an additional USB-C cable for $64.99.
Aukey
Aukey makes a tiny charging adapter called the Aukey Minima. It takes on the form factor of the old 5W Apple USB-A adapter, but offers 18W fast charging over USB-C.
This compact adapter can be bought in black or white, and is available for $14.99 on Amazon’s website.
Amazon
The AmazonBasics 18W One-Port USB-C Wall Charger is as simple as they come. This charger is the bare minimum in requirements for fast charging an iPhone, and is certified with a 1-year limited warranty.
This USB-C adapter is solid white with a small blue LED to indicate it is providing power. The plug folds into the design to make a compact, portable design.
The AmazonBasics 18W adapter is available for $16.99 on Amazon’s website.
Anker Nano
The Anker Nano is a small 20W USB-C plug that will fast-charge an iPhone 12.
Anker PowerPort III Duo
This 36W charger has two USB-C ports. It will fast-charge two iPhones, or if someone in the household has an Android device, it can quick-charge that as well.
The Anker PowerPort III Duo costs $25.99 on Amazon.
HyperJuice
If you want a wall adapter that can serve an entire family’s devices at once, you may want to check out the Hyper Juice 100W charger. It can fast-charge four devices simultaneously, including MacBooks, iPads, iPhones, and more.
However, two of its four ports are USB-A, so this wouldn’t be the best fit if all your charging cables are USB-C.
The ZMI zPower Turbo 65W offers big things in a small package. Powerful enough to handle a MacBook Pro, it’s surprisingly compact at an affordable price.
If bang for your buck is your priority, it’s hard to beat iClever’s 61W USB-C wall adapter. It can fast-charge your iPhone 12 or power much bigger devices.
The charger ships with a 6.6-ft USB-C-to-USB-C cable, which can power recent MacBooks, the iPad Pro, and iPad Air 4.
Varbox follows semantic versioning. We’re trying to release major platform releases as soon as a new Laravel version is released, but that’s also dependable on the third-party packages the platform uses. Minor and patch releases may be released as often as every week. Minor and patch releases should never contain breaking changes.
Security Vulnerabilities
If you discover any security related issues, please email andrei.badea@varbox.io instead of using the issue tracker.
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