Cloud storage services offer a minimum amount of free space to everyone who signs up, but you can often get more. You can upgrade your cloud drive with gigabytes and gigabytes of free space in a few easy steps, often just by referring friends to your service of choice. The free space you can get using these methods doesn’t expire. You’ll have the space forever – or at least until the service decides to take it away or close its doors. For maximum free space, use multiple services and rack up free space with each. You could have over 100GB of free space if you took advantage of all the offers here. Dropbox Dropbox starts you out at 2GB of free space, but generously allows you to earn over 20GB more without spending a dime. Consult Dropbox’s Get more space page for a list of ways you can land some more free space. Refer Friends: Refer friends to Dropbox and you’ll get an additional 500MB of free space every time someone creates an account after following your referral link. You can earn a maximum of 16GB this way. Camera Upload: Enable the Camera Upload feature on your phone or computer to automatically upload photos you take to Dropbox. If you do, you’ll get up to 3GB of free space. Social Media: You can earn 125MB each for connecting your Facebook and Twitter accounts to Dropbox, following Dropbox on Twitter, and giving Dropbox your feedback. Take the Tour: If you never took the getting started tour when you created a Dropbox account, you can take it now for a free 250MB of space. Participate in Scavenger Hunts and Beta Tests: Dropbox has run "Dropquest" scavenger hunts where users can earn free space by solving puzzles (or just looking up a walkthrough online). They’ve also given away 5GB of space to users who participated in beta testing new features. Keep your eyes peeled for future scavenger hunts, beta tests, other events, and new features. SkyDrive Microsoft’s SkyDrive doesn’t offer a referral program or another way to earn free space at the moment. However, it does come with 7GB of space by default – more than Google Drive and Dropbox offer. Be a Past SkyDrive User: If you used SkyDrive before its relaunch on April 22, 2012, you can upgrade your SkyDrive account from 7GB to 25GB. If you have an older Microsoft account that you once used SkyDrive on, check if it has 25GB of space available. Google Drive Google Drive doesn’t have any sort of referral program, so you can’t get additional free space. You’re stuck with the standard 5GB unless you want to pay for additional storage. However, some files aren’t counted to your space limit. Use Google Docs: Files you store in Google Docs format (documents, spreadsheets, and presentations) don’t count towards your storage limit. If you have any documents in other formats, such as Office or OpenDocument formats, convert them to Docs files and you’ll free up some space. Manage Your Photos: Your 5GB of space is actually shared between your Google Drive and Google+ Photos (formerly Picasa Web Albums). However, photos and videos under a certain size aren’t counted towards your storage limits. In other words, you can store an unlimited number of these photos and videos for free. Google has more information about the types of photos and videos that you can store for free. To get more space, try shrinking or deleting some photos. Buy a Chromebook: Chromebooks come with a sizable bonus amount of Google Drive storage space. It’s not quite free – you have to buy a Chromebook – but if you’re so inclined, you can get a free 100GB of Google Drive space for two years by purchasing the $249 Samsung Series 3 Chromebook. That’s a $120 value – almost half the price of the Chromebook itself. You could also get 1TB of space for three years by purchasing a Chromebook Pixel for $1,300 – it’s actually cheaper to get the storage by buying the Pixel than by purchasing the storage alone. However, if you’re purchasing a Chromebook Pixel, you probably don’t care about money (sorry Google, but the Pixel is just too expensive for what it offers). Ubuntu One Ubuntu One includes 5GB of storage space for all accounts. Like Dropbox, Ubuntu One offers a referral program. Refer Friends: You can get an additional 500 MB for each person you refer, up to a maximum of an additional 20GB. That’s a total of 25GB you can get for free. Log into your account on the Ubuntu One website to get your referral link. Box Box currently only offers 5GB of space for free, but they’ve offered some huge amounts of free storage in the past. Box has given away 50GB free to iOS and Android users who downloaded the Box iOS or Android app. Box has also offered 25GB free to users that downloaded the desktop PC synchronization app. However, these deals are no longer available. If you snagged a deal while it was available, you’ll still have that massive 50GB (or 25GB) of free space. If you’re a Box user craving more free space, stay tuned for future deals – you just may pick up 50GB of space and put the other services here to shame in raw numbers. However, Box is a more limited service and restricts files you can store to 250MB each. It’s not as flexible as other services, so that 50GB will be more difficult to use. Other cloud storage service providers like SugarSync may offer their own referral programs and other ways you can earn free storage space. Check your provider’s website for more information if you’re using another service. How much free storage space have you earned? Leave a comment and compare your accomplishments!

Google Drive can be used to sync files between your computers, but that’s just one of its many features. Google wants Google Drive to be your new cloud hard drive, accessible from any device. To help make this happen, Google allows third-party apps to integrate with Drive. A Google Drive app works like a regular web app, except that it doesn’t store its files on its own web servers – it stores them in your Google Drive account. To use the app – for example, to edit an image, you can open the file from the Google Drive website. It will open in its associated app, just as file extensions work on Windows. The app can then save the file right back to your Google Drive. Using Google Drive Apps To use an app, install it from the Chrome Web Store. You’ll find a full list of Google Drive Apps on the store. From the Google Drive website, you can open individual files in an installed app. You can also launch the app directly from the list of web apps on Chrome’s new tab page. To uninstall an app, go to your Google Drive website, click the gear icon at the top-right corner of the screen, and select Manage Apps. You can view your installed apps, set an app as the default, or uninstall an app from here. These apps fill a hole in Chrome OS, allowing you to store files in a central location and open them in apps, just as you can on a normal computer. However, they can also be used on any computer with the Chrome browser installed. Best of all, Google Drive makes it easy to work with files between the web and your PC – put a file in your Google Drive folder and you’ll be able to open it in a web app from the Google Drive website. After editing the file, it will be saved to your Google Drive and the changes will sync back to your computer, giving you seamless access to the same file everywhere, whether you’re using a desktop app or web app. Pixlr Editor Pixlr is an advanced web-based image editor that feels a bit like Photoshop or Paint.NET. It has layers and a variety of other tools for editing images. It can be used to edit images on a Chromebook or as a quick image editor on any computer – no long download or installation process required. PicMonkey If you’re looking for something a bit less advanced for lighter photo touch-ups and editing, give PicMonkey a try. After Google acquired the popular Picnik image editor, several former Picnik engineers created PicMonkey. It provides a selection of basic tools for quickly editing images. Drive Notepad Google Drive contains Google Docs, but Docs is more of a word-processing program than a text editor. If you want a text editor with the features you’d expect from a desktop text editor like Notepad++, including syntax highlighting, try Drive Notepad. It edits a variety of text and source code files right in your browser, saving them to and loading them from your Google Drive account. Changes you make will be synced between all your computers, so you could use this app to do some coding on your Chromebook and have the changes automatically sync to your other computers. DriveTunes DriveTunes is a music player that displays all the music files in your Google Drive and presents them as a music library. You can use your Google Drive as a streaming music player, accessing your music from anywhere. This is particularly useful if you're in one of the many countries without access to Google Music – although there are ways to get Google Music wherever you are. All you need to do is activate it once from a US IP address. WeVideo WeVideo is an easy-to-use online video editor that allows you to edit videos stored in your Google Drive and save the changes right back to your drive. WeVideo’s interface looks slick and easy-to-use, unlike some more powerful video editors that can be intimidating to new users. HelloFax HelloFax is a free online tool that makes it easy to send and receive faxes, save your signature and sign documents right from the browser, and fill out forms. It’s integrated with Google Drive, so your documents will be stored in a single place. It could help you create that elusive paperless office we were once promised. (While it’s free, you’ll have to pay if you want to fax more than five pages a month or if you want your own dedicated fax number.) If you’re interested in this sort of app, you may also want to check out the DocuSign app for Google Drive, although it isn’t free. PDFzen Google Drive has a built-in PDF viewer, but it doesn’t have any editing features. If you want to edit tools, you’ll need another PDF app – like PDFzen, which allows you to edit PDF files stored in your Google Drive. If you’re a Chrome user, be sure to check out our list of the best Google Chrome extensions. Do you use any of these apps – or any other Google Drive apps? Which are your favorites? Leave a comment and share them!

It seems the cloud is hard to escape these days - both in your daily tech life, and on websites such as ours. Only last week I wrote an article about cloud-based PowerPoint alternatives, the week before an article about DOS games in the cloud and before that you might have caught me harping on about online backup solutions. There's good reason for the buzz - it's both handy and a growing necessity to have quick access to your important files in this day and age. We live in a world where our constant connection to the web has spilled over into every corner of life - from the never-ending stream of email in your inbox to your smartphone that has an app for just about everything. The "big 3" are often considered to be Microsoft, Apple and Google's offerings - so this week we'll be discussing the virtues of each when it comes to mobile usage. iCloud Apple's cloud-based storage solution, aptly named iCloud, is somewhat different to the other two in that you need to purchase an Apple device in order to use it. That said, the iPhone is the single most popular smartphone (read: phone, not platform) out there so there are a lot of people who do in fact own an iPhone but happily use Windows or Linux as their primary desktop operating system of choice. Perhaps a more pertinent consideration is whether or not the purchase of additional iCloud storage is in fact worth it, especially if you're already heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem. Just to refresh, you can purchase an additional 10GB, 20GB or 50GB of iCloud storage for an annual fee of $20, $40 and $100 respectively. This is in addition to the 5GB you get for free, which is then used to keep your data synchronised across all of your Apple devices. If you have a Mac and iPhone (and possibly an iPad) then this is starting to look like a good option, with iCloud now more deeply integrated than ever into iOS and the latest OS X release, Mountain Lion. If you're purchasing an iPhone or iPad then the 5GB of free storage should be one of the first things you set up, even if you only use it as backup. Your iPhone will automatically save a copy of all your data to the cloud whenever plugged in, connected to Wi-Fi and asleep (this feature is enabled by default) meaning you can restore a backup even if you're thousands of miles from home, provided you have time and an internet connection. Free storage: 5GB, limited to Apple customers only. Extras: Find my iPhone, Find my Mac, Back to my Mac, @me.com Email, iOS Backups in the cloud. Web access: Contacts, Calendars, Mail, iWork Documents @ iCloud.com. Software integration: All iOS devices compatible with iOS 5 and above, Mac OS X 10.7 and above (integration into core apps such as iPhoto and TextEdit), Windows with iCloud Control Panel (limited features). Who it's good for: iPhone, iPad and Mac users, 5GB of free backup for anyone with an iDevice should be taken advantage of, those who use Reminders and Notes apps on their devices or appreciate having Contacts synchronised across the board. Who it's not good for: Users who don't own Apple products, less useful for Mac users with tablets or smartphones which aren't iPhone or iPad devices. Bottom line: 5GB of complementary space is definitely worth it for iPhone or iPad users as a backup, though iCloud isn't as flexible as the other services when it comes to file storage. Sign up anyway, just don't expect to rely on it solely without spending more money on space. SkyDrive Microsoft's SkyDrive offering is decidedly Windows 8 in look and feel, and unlike iCloud it's available for every major platform including iOS, Android and their own Windows Phone OS without the need for a Windows PC or other Microsoft device. You also probably already have an account which you can use - if you're an Xbox gamer, Hotmail user or still have your MSN Messenger account credentials somewhere then you only need to sign in to receive 7GB of free space. If you signed up while the offer was still there, you had a chance to grab 25GB of space at one point. The free storage space is the most offered by any of the free services here, with increased storage being cheap with 20GB, 50GB and 100GB upgrades available for yearly payments of $10, $25 and $50 respectively. Windows Phone 7 users will have to download the app from Windows Phone Marketplace in order to access files, but the snaps they take with their phone will then be automatically uploaded and available from SkyDrive enabled PCs, Macs and of course the Web. Windows Phone 8, announced a few months ago, is set to bring even further integration with Microsoft's cloud storage offering though app developers have been receiving mixed messages when it comes to using SkyDrive as an iCloud-like backup solution. And that is where the biggest differences between iCloud and SkyDrive reside. SkyDrive is able to store and create files using a drag and drop or webapp interface, from SkyDrive.com but iCloud is primarily a backup and sync tool, with no options for document creation but automatic backup of your iDevice. SkyDrive's impressive array of cross-platform mobile applications makes accessing files from an iOS, Android or Windows Phone devices pretty easy. It's ideal for Office users who would like to access their SkyDrive documents on the go, and makes the perfect accompaniment to a backup such as that offered by iCloud. Free storage: 7GB Extras: SkyDrive WebApps for Word/Excel/PowerPoint/OneNote, file sharing, group file sharing, remote access to Windows PCs Software integration: Windows 8 (in-built), Windows 7 or Vista SP2, Mac OS X 10.7+, Windows Phone 7.5+, iOS, Android 2.3+ Who it's good for: Windows Phone users due to photo sync, iPhone or Android users with a Windows or Mac PC, users with a lot of Microsoft Office content, PC users who will be adopting Windows 8 from the outset Who it's not good for: Linux users as there is no support aside from web upload, users who have been using Google Docs for a long time. Bottom line: A great, cloud-based storage solution from Microsoft that performs an entirely different task to iCloud with a generous 7GB of space with mobile and desktop apps across the board. No file type limits and more storage than the others makes this a great choice, though backup for Windows Phone users would be nice. Google Drive Google has done some wonderful things with Google Docs, the most recent being the integration with Google Drive. If you've been a user of Google Docs for a while now, you will undoubtedly love the ability to store just about any file type and preview many on your mobile. Google Drive's killer feature - aside from the ability to create documents with their fantastic tools - is the fact that only non-Google Docs files consume allotted space. You can have as many Google Docs files or convert and upload your Microsoft Office and iWork files without taking up a single MB. Any files you do want to store verbatim will come out of your 5GB allowance which is upgradeable to 25GB or 100GB for monthly fees of $2.49 and $4.99 respectively. In terms of mobile apps, Google Drive has apps for iOS and Android but not Windows Phone. Both the recently updated iOS app and the Android edition have been graced with the ability to create create, modify and view your documents on the go (with the iOS version limited to editing and creating text documents, and the Android version devoid of presentation editing at the moment). For tablet users, it really is a great tool to have access to - and even those on larger Android phones like Samsung's Galaxy Note might find themselves getting more done. On the iOS variant, I couldn't peek inside a .ZIP archive I had uploaded, but the option to "Open In..." and use another program was there. The ability to sync docs offline is great, but I was left thinking I might as well use Notes.app instead. Both Windows and OS X are supported with decent desktop apps that add a Google Drive folder which syncs with your PC. Android should probably be the best supported mobile OS here, and to a point it is. Unfortunately there are no backup solutions available at the moment that use Google Drive for storage. There is no option to automatically upload photos either (but then again Google+ does this) and I can't help but feel Google aren't making the most of Google Drive's integration with the Android platform. On-the-fly editing and creation are great though, and the OS X and Windows desktop apps give both iOS and Android users the ability to drop their documents in a folder (or create them online) and access them on the go. Free storage: 5GB Extras: Google's entire Docs range of tools for document creation in a web browser and via the Android app (web access also possible from iPad), integration with a variety of other apps on the web, file sharing and collaboration. Software integration: Windows 7, Vista and XP, OS X 10.6+, Android 2.1+, iOS 5.0+ all via downloadable apps. Who it's good for: Android users who like to create on the go, iOS users who appreciate text document creation and editing, Chrome OS users who've made the switch to lightweight web apps, Windows XP users who cannot use SkyDrive, Linux users disgruntled with the lack of proper apps to integrate with their OS (access via web interface). Who it's not good for: Windows Phone users due to lack of a proper app, those who prefer "proper" desktop apps like Microsoft Word for creation. Bottom line: Google's desktop creation tools are nearly on a par with Microsoft's dedicated software packages, though proper integration of Docs has yet to arrive on iOS or at all on Windows Phone. Android users get a great app to use, but further integration with the OS for the purposes of backup and photo storage would be nice to rival services offered by iCloud. But What About Dropbox? Dropbox is of course another option, but then it depends on a number of factors. The service has the smallest capacity on a free account here, starting at just 2GB but expandable to 18GB. Then again, who do you know who doesn't have a Dropbox account these days? If the answer to that question is "lots!" then get referring and earning more space. There are desktop versions of Dropbox for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux as well as a lightweight and easy to use Web UI, a heap of apps and plenty of cool ways to use the service. Android easily makes the best use of Dropbox, with the ability to automatically upload photos to Dropbox without opening the app. iOS users can't do the same because Apple doesn't let apps run in the background in such a manner, but the option is present and works when you launch the app (ultimately less useful though). Windows Phone users will be disappointed at the lack of an official app, so SkyDrive might continue to be the best bet there. Dropbox does support the ageing Blackberry platform, so if you're still rocking a RIM device then it's a fairly attractive wire-free sharing solution. There are also a lot of mobile apps for all sorts of platforms that can take advantage of Dropbox, check out this article for more ideas. As for backup, there's only one solution for Android users and that's Titanium Backup. You will need to root your phone in order to use it, but the Pro version has an option to backup to Dropbox. The functionality is nice, but it's not quite as straightforward as iCloud and the rooting process is sure to put a lot of users off. Still, if all you're doing is dragging and dropping a couple of pictures and documents into a folder, Dropbox should perform admirably - and it's free, after all. Conclusion If this post has confused you somewhat then I'm sorry, but the best answer is "use all three" or even all four. If you're buying an iPhone, use Windows and love cloud-based Google Docs then the short answer is "all three". If you're an Android user with a Mac and the latest copy of Microsoft Office for Mac then the answer is "all three". If you're a Linux user with an iPad and Android phone then you're always going to have a tough gig, but all three are at your service. The real choice is between SkyDrive and Google Drive - and it boils down to creation. If you're creating in Google Docs then Drive will suit you well. If you're paying a premium for Microsoft's tool then you'd be foolish to ignore SkyDrive. And if you've bought an iPad and would like to save your app data, photos, notes and other irreplaceable data then you'd better have an iCloud account.

If you’re using Google Drive on your computer and you own an Android smartphone or tablet, you should install Google Drive for Android. With the app, you can access the files in your Google Drive from anywhere – just drop a file into the Google Drive folder on your computer and it will be available in the app. Google Drive for Android also incorporates Google Docs, so you can edit your documents and spreadsheets on the go. Google Drive has support for making files available offline, which is ideal if you have a Nexus 7 (or other Android tablet), or just don’t want to use much expensive cell phone data. Using the App You can install Google Drive for Android from Google Play – although many Google apps come by default with the Nexus 7 and other Android devices, Google Drive doesn’t. If you already had the Google Docs app installed, you’ll notice that it was automatically upgraded to the new Google Drive. Google Drive has both a smartphone interface and a tablet interface, so it’s optimized for the screen size you're using it on. Using it is simple – just open the app and select a category to browse your files. Google Drive uses the Google account you have set up on your device, so there’s no need to log in. If you have multiple Google accounts configured, you can tap the name of your account in the app to switch between accounts. Tap a file to open it – the file will be downloaded to your device. This makes it easy to send files between your computer and Android – just drop them in the Google Drive folder on your PC and open them in the app. Note that Google Drive for Android doesn't work like Google Drive for PCs -- files aren't automatically synchronized to your smartphone or tablet. Files are only downloaded to your device when you open them or when you make them available offline. Accessing Files Offline Long-press a file to access more options. From the long-press menu, you can share files with others, make them available offline, or perform other file operations, such as renaming or deleting the file. Files you’ve made available for use offline can be accessed from the Offline category. Other categories allow you to view all your files, files shared with you, favorite files you've starred, or files you've recently used. Uploading Files Google Drive makes it easy to upload pictures and other files from your smartphone or tablet to your Google Drive account. You can use the Upload button within the app to upload a file or select a file in any application, tap the Share button, and select Google Drive. For example, you can easily upload photos and screenshots from the Gallery app – your pictures will then be accessible in the Google Drive folder on your computer. Editing Google Docs Google Drive incorporates the old Google Docs app, so you can create and edit documents and spreadsheets from within the Google Drive app. You can create a new document or spreadsheet from the New button. To view or edit an existing document or spreadsheet, just tap it in the Google Drive app – an in-app Google Docs editor will appear. Like with Google Docs in your browser, you can collaborate with other people in real time from the Android app – any changes you make will be immediately visible to others. Other people will also be able to see your edits as you make them. Unfortunately, you can’t yet edit documents offline, although you can view them offline if you've made them available offline. Google Drive is a solid Android app that's essential to anyone that uses Google Drive on their PC. Most of the features you'd need are here, although the lack of offline editing is something that sticks out -- Google will hopefully add offline editing in the future. For more Google Drive tips, check out our list of tips and tricks for Google Drive. Have you tried Google Drive for Android? How did it work for you? Or do you prefer another cloud storage service, such as Dropbox? Leave a comment and let us know!

A little over two months after Google released its Google Drive apps for iOS devices, it has received an update which now allows users to edit Google documents within the cloud-based apps. Google Drive is a cloud-based storage service similar to Dropbox, Box.com, and iCloud. It provides users up to 2GB of free storage space, and up to 18GB of additional space for registered referrals. The new version 1.1.0 of Google Drive for iOS includes the ability to edit and collaborate on Google documents in nearly real time, and sync those documents between devices. Edits appear to collaborators in seconds. Documents uploaded to Google Drive can be accessed on the web, as well on cross platform devices–including Mac, Windows, Android, and iOS. These in-app editing features are not yet available in Dropbox and Box.com, and they only work with Google Doc-supported files, including plain text and Word documents. The update also enables users to create folders, and documents within Google Drive, just as you would in a text application. The app's text editor includes all the basic formatting features (e.g., bold, italics, font styles, lists) and sharing with other Google users. Users can use iOS pinch-to-zoom navigation to zoom into details of documents, and they can edit documents as long as they have an Internet connection. Google says that editing is available in all supported languages, including those with right-to-left text. Users collaborating on a document can see changes in almost real time, as well as upload photos and videos from their iOS Photo Library.

Dropbox has long been considered the main player in cloud data synchronization, but services like Google Drive and Microsoft's SkyDrive are busy making a comeback. With a big and familiar user base, and more competitive pricing, it'll be hard on Dropbox to maintain its current position in the market. Personally, I've always been a Google fanboy, so when Google Docs changed into Google Drive, I was naturally very excited. For more information about Google Drive, take a look at Chris's article: A Look At Google Drive, Google’s Long-Awaited Cloud Storage Service. When I started using Google Drive, I was very enthusiastic in general, as all the rudimentary features were present, but more advanced options and customizability are to be sought elsewhere. More precisely, with InSync. InSync InSync is not a new application. Before the launch of Google Drive, it was marketed as a Google Docs synchronization utility. You can read Jeffry's article on how to Sync Your Google Docs To Multiple Machines With InSync. After the big launch, it changed course accordingly. So what can you expect from InSync these days? Quite simply, it's a Google Drive utility for more professional and power users. If you use Google Drive (or Google Docs) excessively, or are looking for more functionality, this tool is for you. Among other things it adds external hard drive support, integration with multiple Google accounts, and additional system integration. Best of all, it's available for Mac OS X and Windows computers, and a Linux version is in the pipeline, as are several mobile applications. Configuration After downloading and installing InSync on your Mac OS X or Windows computer, integration is as easy as logging into your Google account. Right away, an InSync folder will be created in your user home folder, which will sync to your data on Google Drive. One of the most impressive feats that InSync manages to pull off is synchronization with multiple Google Drive accounts. To do this, go to Account Info, and select the "Connect another Google account" option. You can also move your InSync folder away from your home folder — say, to another partition on your hard drive — in the InSync preferences. Here you'll also be able to configure proxy settings. Main Differences With Google Drive The main idea you should carry away from this article is that InSync does not complement the Google Drive synchronization client, but seeks to replace it. It does so surprisingly well. Most of the functionality that you'll find in the official client is also present in InSync. On top of that, a number of benefits are added. Unlike the official Google Drive client, you can edit documents in your favorite office suite while you're offline, and share files with friends and colleagues using a right-click context menu as shown below. As we said above, most of the original functionality of Google Drive can be found in InSync, but there are exceptions. The main exception being that you can't use selective sync. If you want to use InSync, you'll have to sync all the files in your Google Drive. Does InSync make Google Drive more attractive to you? Let us know what's your favorite cloud synchronization service, and why!

Cloud-based file storage has become, for the lack of a better word, boring. Dropbox used to be the only serious game in town, with SugarSync and friends trying to compete but not really succeeding. And then Google Drive came along with Google’s immense resources and technical know-how, and not to be outdone, Microsoft quickly upgraded its existing SkyDrive service. To make sense of this wealth of services, we’ve published a Cloud Storage Showdown quickly comparing them all so you could try to pick the best one. But today I’m not here to convince you to pick the "best one", even if there is such a thing. Rather, I’ve decided to take a closer look specifically at the newly upgraded Microsoft SkyDrive and attempt to answer the question - if you already have Dropbox or Google Drive, should you even bother with SkyDrive at all? 25GB For Existing Users, 7GB For Everyone Else Let me start off with SkyDrive’s most compelling feature, at least for me. While new users start off with a generous 7GB (compared to Google Drive’s 5GB), existing users can/could get 25GB for free. I say “can/could” because Microsoft was a big vague about this promotion. When I logged into SkyDrive a few weeks ago, it simply let me upgrade my existing account to 25GB. It is, however, unclear whether or not this promotion is still running. Microsoft’s official post says you have a “limited amount of time” to make the upgrade, and has not been updated since it was posted. Nevertheless, if you are fortunate enough to be eligible for this upgrade, it makes using Microsoft SkyDrive a no-brainer. Not as an exclusive cloud storage solution (for reasons I’ll get into later), but definitely as a quick way to transfer large files to friends and family. The per-file upload limit is 2GB (if you upload it using the SkyDrive windows app), which should be enough for just about anything save for Blu-ray rips and the like (things you shouldn’t be sharing anyway, right?). Highly Competitive Storage Rates Let’s do a little comparison shopping here. I’ll convert the rates to monthly across all three services (SkyDrive, Google Drive, and Dropbox): 20GB: SkyDrive $0.83/month, Google Drive $2.49/month, Dropbox N/A (no such plan) 50GB: SkyDrive $2.08/month, Google Drive N/A (no such plan), Dropbox $9.99/month 100GB: SkyDrive $4.16/month, Google Drive $10/month, Dropbox $20/month. As you can see, Microsoft is seriously undercutting the market here, and is significantly cheaper than Google Drive, not to mention Dropbox. In fact, Dropbox is almost five times as expensive as SkyDrive – a crazy price gap for a service that’s virtually identical, at least when used on Windows. Access Any File On Your Computer Remotely This is an interesting feature that could also be a major security hole if your password isn’t so secure. SkyDrive lets you access any file on your machine remotely. That’s right - not just files stored in the SkyDrive folder, but virtually any other file, as long as the machine is on, connected to the Internet, and is running the SkyDrive client. To its credit, Microsoft makes this feature very clear during setup, and you can easily choose whether or not to enable it: I personally use CrashPlan, which is pretty much the best cloud backup service out there, and it lets me get to my files from anywhere even if my computer is off (because the entire computer is stored on the cloud). But CrashPlan costs money; if your computer is connected to the Internet and on all of the time (like many people’s home computers), SkyDrive’s "fetch files" feature can be a great way to get at your files from anywhere you have Web access. Share Any Folder With Anyone, And They Can Easily Download It Sharing any folder with anyone isn't news, right? After all, you can easily do this from Dropbox. But there's one huge difference: Microsoft decided to include an easy "Download folder" link for every folder you share, even if the person viewing it isn't logged on, or doesn't have SkyDrive. This is huge, because it means I can share my photos with anyone and they can download an entire day's worth of images with a single click, without having to install anything. Dropbox doesn't let you do this. You can view the folder without being logged on, but there's just no way to download it. As for Picasa Web Albums, Google's popular way of sharing photos, you can somehow download the folder, but it's definitely not as simple as this, and was daunting enough to confuse my non-techie relatives. So, Microsoft gets points for this feature, and combined with the generous storage on SkyDrive, this will be one of its primary uses for me. The Bad: No Official Android App That cheerful-looking droid is representing Browser for SkyDrive, Microsoft's recommendation for an Android client for SkyDrive. That's right, given Windows Phone 7's "phenomenal" success, I guess Microsoft feels Android is no big deal, and they can just ignore the world's most popular smartphone OS. So, no official SkyDrive app for Microsoft – a puzzling move, to be honest. As long as you don't really need SkyDrive on your Android device, though, you should be fine. Not An Overall Solution, But Has Its Uses Bottom line - SkyDrive is not a Dropbox killer, and not a Google Drive killer, at least for most people. But: If you are an existing user and can snag 25GB for free, it's a fantastic deal. If you often need to let people download folders, it's an excellent tool. If you're looking to buy a paid storage upgrade, it will give you the most bang for your buck, by far. Are you using SkyDrive? Will you be using it for some things, now that I've given you ideas? And did you manage to get that 25GB upgrade? Let me know below.

Just last week, Google Drive finally shipped and we're now able to give it a spin to see if it lives up to the expectation of being a Dropbox competitor. Personally, I've not given it a hard look yet because, well, Dropbox works! I have a paid Dropbox account and it's perfect for me. Maybe after a few months of being played with, I'll feel like Drive is worth jumping into. If you're new to cloud storage, I won't blame you for going Google. Both services are great in that they offer a nice chunk of free storage that anyone should be able to put to use. With the cloud's rising popularity and on-the-go computing as popular as ever in 2012, it's time for you to get on the ball. But what exactly should you be using Dropbox, Google Drive, or another alternative for? Let me help you figure that. Music Though with awesome software like Spotify out in the open, some of us still take the primitive route of (legally) downloading music. There's plenty of reasons why having a hard copy of an MP3 is better than having one exist in a streaming environment like Spotify. Keeping your favorite music stored in the cloud not only offers a painless way to synchronize some of your favorite stuff across devices, but it also is giving you peace of mind. When you love something, you want to keep it and have as many copies of it as possible. If you pay for music on Amazon, there's no reason you shouldn't be enjoying that MP3 on your desktop and laptop together. Most of our music collections are too extensive to store entirely within the cloud (or at least on a free Dropbox or Drive account). I use my Dropbox account to store only some my favorite songs. Programs This is the biggest one for me. "Mountable" cloud storage like Dropbox, Drive, or SkyDrive really behaves no differently than a flash drive. Flash drives are really great for packing with useful applications. A Dropbox folder is the same. I've literally got hundreds of portable applications stuffed in there. Even if an application isn't portable, you can use something like Cameyo to virtualize it and put it in it's own little sandbox. Almost everything of yours can be portable, you can buy a brand new desktop and probably only have to install Dropbox and a few other small things. You can put in your browser, email, photo and video editing software, everything. Screenshots Though I am a huge online hoarder, some things aren't worth letting go. It doesn't matter if it's for the sake of a memory or nostalgia, or if it's something more technical, screenshots don't belong to an uploading service like MediaFire or on a flash drive. Set your saves to within your Dropbox and enjoy the time machine. If you're looking for a quick and easy tool to take some screenshots, give ScreenSnapr a look. Fonts Are you big on design? You're cheating yourself if you're spending hours relocating your favorite fonts every time you switch to a new machine. Fonts don't take up a lot of disk space so you can throw a whole lot of these into a Dropbox or Drive folder. From there, you can install the fonts locally with a simple click. Some fonts are hard to come across. Don't trust your external to keep them around forever. ROMs Now this is one of my favorites. I recently did an article teaching everyone how they can enjoy their SNES games on their home computer using ZSNES. When it comes to snatching up all of those ROMs you want to play, it can consume a lot of your time. Store them in your Dropbox and you only have to take that time once. Isn't it comforting to know that your favorite childhood games can be pushed to your hard drive instantly and easily with the simple synchronization of cloud storage? Make the most of your cloud. It's been made easily available to you. If you're not using it, you definitely should be. The icing on the cake is the fact that, if you're reading this right now, you're late to the party. Being late is a good thing in this situation, because it means that a lot of your favorite music, programs, fonts, and ROMs have already been uploaded to services like Dropbox. Using technology that allows them to "cache" files, you won't even need to waste the bandwidth uploading them to Dropbox now. They'll sync instantly. There are plenty of other reasons you've got to jump on and start storing your goodies. Look into Dropbox's Pack-Rat. Let me know what you think of these ideas in the comments section

Google Drive has come a long way since it first launched back in 2012. Today, it has an estimated 1.5 billion users and plays host to billions of gigabytes worth of data. If you're not one of the 1.5 billion users, or you're looking to supercharge your Google Drive skills to make yourself even more productive, keep reading. We're going to look at some of the best Google Drive tips and tricks that you will wish you had known sooner. 1. Make the Most of Search Both the mobile and the desktop versions of Google Drive have a search function. If you have hundreds of files in your account, it's going to be a real time saver. But did you know that the search bar also supports Boolean operators to make it even easier to find what you are looking for? It works in exactly the same way as Gmail search. That means you can use to:, from:, type:, AND, OR, owner:, before:, title:, and more to refine your list quickly. 2. Use the Chrome Extension There is no shortage of apps that let you save content from the web. Services like Pocket and Google Keep, both do an admirable job. However, if you use the official Google Drive extension for Chrome, you can keep all your info in one place for easy management. The app lets you save the current page to Drive, save hyperlinks and media via the right-click context menu, and even save PDFs of the current page using the Chrome print menu. Online files such as HTML, audio, Office documents, PDFs, and images are all supported. Download: Save to Google Drive (Free) 3. Use Shortcuts If you access the same Google Drive files multiple times per day, you can create shortcuts to allow you to open them in a single click. To create and Google Drive shortcut, just navigate to the file in question, right-click on it, and select Add a shortcut to Drive from the context menu. 4. Setup Offline Access for Your Files Many people now use cloud apps as their primary medium for storing their files. Sure, you might not be happy with it from a security and privacy standpoint, but if you can get past those issues mentally, having access to all your files on all your devices at all times is a major boon. However, the process falls down when you are away from an internet connection. That is why it is so important to set up offline access for your files. You can do so using the Google Docs Offline extensions for Chrome. Once it is running, head to Google Drive > Settings > Offline and mark the checkbox next to Create, open, and edit your recent Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files on this device while offline. Download: Google Docs Offline (Free) 5. Sync All Your Files Even if you would prefer to continue using local storage as your primary drive, Google Drive still makes for a fantastic backup service. To start using the feature, you need to grab Google's Backup and Sync app for your desktop. Once it is running, choose the files and folders that you want to keep in sync from the app's settings menu. Download: Backup and Sync (Free) 6. Customize the Drive Interface When you have a large folder tree on a desktop machine, it makes sense to customize the icons so that it is easier to find what you are looking for at a glance. The same applies to Google Drive. While the app does not support ICO files in the same way as Windows, you can change the color of folders by right-clicking on the folder you want to edit and choosing Change color from the context menu. 7. Convert All Microsoft Offline Files to the Google Drive Formats Microsoft Office files (such as DOC, XLS, PPT) are not the same as their Google Docs equivalents (like GDOC, GSLIDES, and GSHEET). And while Google Drive can read and open Office formats, the formatting is prone to looking a little strange. The solution is to automatically convert all Office docs into their Google equivalent at the moment they are uploaded. You can do so by opening Drive and heading to Settings > Convert uploads and ticking the checkbox next to Convert uploaded files to Google Docs editor format. 8. Configure Quick Access When you fire up Google Drive, you will see a row of recently opened/edited files across the top of the screen. These are Google's suggestions based on your recent history. However, they can quickly become annoying. Not only because they take up a massive amount of on-screen real-estate, but they are also something of a privacy risk given how large they are and thus how easy they are for other people to read. If you want to turn them off, go to Google Drive > Settings > Suggestions. You can edit the setting individually for files you own and files that have been shared with you. 9. Use Gmail to Send Large Docs As you may know, email attachments are limited to a maximum size of 25 MB. It is a relic of the 1990s, when email first exploded into widespread use. Sadly, in the world of multi-gigabyte images and presentations, it is no longer fit for purpose. There are several services for sharing large files with other people, but nothing beats the simplicity of the Drive-Gmail combo. When you are writing a Gmail message, simply click the Drive icon and choose the file. You can share anything up to 10 GB in size. 10. Share from Directly Within Google Drive While many people will be familiar with the Share button in Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets, did you know you can share files directly from Drive without needing to leave the app? To do so, right-click on the file you want to distribute and hit the Share button. You can choose to share it with specific people or make it publicly available to anyone. Become a Google Drive Ninja While there are several more tips for Google Docs et al., the tips we have listed in this article all pertain to the main Drive app. Learn them and use them, and you will become more productive in no time.

This post was originally about Dazzboard, an early file synchronizer from 2009 that never quite panned out. We've updated the article with better, modern methods of cross-device file synchronization. If you want to keep your files synced across multiple devices, the easiest way is to use a cloud storage service. But picking the right cloud storage host can be a challenging task -- which is why we're going to break it down for you right now. Here's all you need to know in one neat cheat sheet. Storage Capacity Dropbox offers 2 GB of free storage.You can upgrade your personal account to 1 TB for $8.25/mo. Dropbox also offers user ways to earn additional storage for free. Google Drive offers 15 GB of free storage.However, this space also goes towards your other Google services, including Gmail and Google Docs. You can bump this up to 100 GB to $1.99/mo or 1 TB for $9.99/mo. OneDrive offers 5 GB of free storage.You can upgrade to 5 TB for $9.99/mo, 1 TB for $6.99/mo, or 50 GB for $1.99/mo. Winner: Google Drive is the obvious winner here for free accounts, even if some of that space goes toward other Google services. Paying users are better off with OneDrive. Platform Availability All three hosts are accessible on the web, as well as in desktop and mobile apps. DropboxWindows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, Windows Mobile, and Xbox Google DriveWindows, Mac, Android, and iOS OneDriveWindows, Mac, Android, iOS, Windows Mobile, and Xbox Winner: If it's just based on the number of platforms, Dropbox is the winner. If you use Linux on a regular basis, Dropbox is your only hope. Otherwise, there aren't any practical differences. File Syncing DropboxAllows you to selectively sync your files. All files are available in cloud storage, but you can choose specific files or folders to sync to various devices. Google DriveAllows you to choose which folders on your computer are synced to Google Drive and which Google Drive folders are synced to your computer. OneDriveAllows you to selectively sync your files. Winner: Google Drive gives users the most control over how you can sync your files. File Sharing You can share files one of two ways in all three services. You can share files or folders via email, allowing you to easily revoke access on a person by person basis. If you use a shareable link and want to revoke access, you'll have to re-send a shareable link to people you still want to share the files with. These options are available on all three platforms. DropboxAllows you share password-protected files. You can choose whether other users can manage folder settings. Google DriveAllows you to prevent users from sharing the files or folders or changing access settings. You can also disable options to download, print, and copy for commenters and viewers. OneDriveAllows you to set an expiration date for shareable links. If you use OneDrive in a company setting, you can create shareable links just with those in your company. It also automatically creates a folder where you can view all your files shared with the public. Winner: OneDrive has the most robust sharing features and offers the most control. If you're still undecided, a more in-depth comparison of the three leading cloud storage services can help you narrow down which one is right for you. Which of these three platforms do you prefer: Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive? Let us know in the comments.

Efforts to make pirate sites harder to access have resulted in two new waves of blocking in the UK. Action by Elsevier and Springer Nature now requires major ISPs to block several additional Sci-Hub-related domains while the efforts of the MPA require them to block domains that facilitate access to previously blocked sites including EZTV, SolarMovie, Icefilms, and more. For well over a decade, copyright holders have been obtaining injunctions around the world to have copyright-infringing sites blocked by Internet service providers. The belief is that when users are presented with this roadblock, they will be more likely to turn to licensed services instead. At the time of writing, more than 40 countries either have blocking measures in place or are required to implement them. These include members of the European Union plus Argentina, Australia, Iceland, India, Israel, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand. The UK is also prime blocking ground for copyright holders and it’s believed that at least hundreds and probably thousands of domains are blocked by ISPs. There is no publicly available centralized list but when new orders are issued, these are often reported by service providers. That was the case again this week when ISP TalkTalk published details of two new blocking orders. Order Obtained by Elsevier and Springer Nature In several regions, publishers Elsevier, Springer Nature and Wiley have been pursuing relentless legal action (1,2,3,4) against academic paper repository Sci-Hub and its founder Alexandra Elbakyan. Thus far efforts to shut the platform down have completely failed so in parallel, the publishers have been taking action against ISPs to have them block the platform’s domains. Back in February, Elsevier and Springer Nature obtained an injunction that required the UK’s leading ISPs to block the domain sci-hub.se. In August, it was reported that the same providers were required to block scihub.unblockit.uno, a domain that helps people to access Sci-Hub when they find its domain blocked. These so-called proxy portals are a pretty big problem for the publishers since they undermine blocking efforts. It now appears they have been working to block even more of them. A list published by TalkTalk this week but dated September 14 reveals that seven domains designed to neutralize blocking will now be blocked by this ISP and most likely others including BT, Virgin Media, Sky, and EE. They read as follows: scihub.u4m.casa, scihub.unblockit.ch, scihub.nocensor.work, scihub.unbl0ck.cyou, scihub.unbl4you.club, scihub.123unblock.me, scihub.proxybit.me These are just a tiny sample of proxy sites available online today so it’s probable that the publishers selected them due to their popularity. Any blocking is likely to push users to any number of alternatives but in combination with similar blocking efforts carried out by the Publishers Association against platforms including Libgen, the relatively minor hindrance may put some potential pirates off their stride. Order Obtained by the MPA Back in July, we reported that the MPA, which represents Netflix and the major Hollywood studios, had obtained a new blocking injunction in the UK targeting several pirate streaming sites including Myflixer.to, Soap2day.to, Lookmovie.io and Moviesjoy.to. The list added 19 domain names to the MPA’s overall blocking efforts and this week yet more domain blocks were revealed. In common with the domains targeted by the publishers, the MPA’s list (as reported by TalkTalk) appears to target proxy-type services which have the stated aim of unblocking streaming and torrent site domains that have previously been listed for blocking action. They include the resurrected Demonoid, EZTV (first blocked in 2013) plus additional sites operating under familiar brands such as Primewire (2013), Solarmovie (2013), and Putlocker (2016). The full list reads as follows: eztv.unbl4you.club, solarmovie.unblockit.ch, eztv.unblocknow.club, icefilms.unblockit.ch, eztv.proxybit.me, scnsrc.unblockit.ch, eztv.mrunblock.casa, rapidmoviez.com, eztv.g3g.monster, losmovies.app, pw.unblockit.ch, demonoid.proxybit.me, primewire.proxybit.me, demonoid.mrunblock.casa, primewire.g3g.monster, demonoid.g3g.monster, primewire.nocensor.work, putlockers.gg, primewire.mrunblock.casa, 123movies.tools, primewire.unbl4you.club, 123moviesprime.com Rapidmoviez.com is one of two ‘direct’ domains to be blocked in the order but it appears that the platform has already migrated to a new domain, Rmz.cr.

Most people know that they shouldn't stream or download pirated content. However, legal and moral arguments are often not sufficient to stop prospective pirates. A new anti-piracy ad seems to be well aware of this and focuses on different threats. Apparently, pirate streaming sites can be linked to all sorts of cybercrime, including sextortion. Over the years we have seen dozens of anti-piracy campaigns. Initially, many of these tried to appeal to people’s morals. You wouldn’t steal a car, right? This type of messaging doesn’t work for everyone, so more direct tactics are explored as well. These often focus on the risks that are involved. These risks obviously include legal trouble and settlement letters. However, the perceived chance of running into these is quite small, which generally means that the deterrent effect is as well. A more ‘common’ threat that people face is malware and other types of scams. Malware and Piracy In recent years numerous reports have cited the prevalence of malware on pirate sites. These findings are promoted or commissioned by rightsholders and anti-piracy groups, who are apparently very concerned about the digital safety of pirates. While it is certainly true that malicious pirate sites can host or link to malware and other scams, some of the warnings are a bit overblown. It’s almost as if rightsholders are more concerned about scaring people than making sure they are safe. Whatever the case, these warnings are slowly starting to creep into official reports. Just a few days ago, the UK Government’s latest IP crime and enforcement report repeated several such findings, including the statement that ‘half of all illegal streamers get hacked.’ While we are willing to believe this conclusion, we don’t see any evidence for it in the report, which is mostly a summary of information provided by copyright holders. This week, we spotted another campaign that focuses on malware and other cybercrime threats. The campaign is run by the UK anti-piracy group FACT and features a conversation between former Premier League footballer Jimmy Bullard and cybersecurity expert Jamie Woodruff. In the campaign video, Bullard is encouraged to check out a pirate sports streaming site, and see what dangers lie ahead. What happened next was terrifying. “Jimmy’s experience with Jamie shines a light on just how risky illegal streaming is, with Jamie explaining how sites are set up to scam, infect devices and deliver terrifying attacks,” FACT commented while announcing the campaign. Terrifying Attacks These cyber-attacks are not limited to annoying pop-ups and malware. The people who operate these sites may also go after people’s credit card details, or even personal information to commit identity fraud. “Jamie also demonstrates how easy it is for someone’s identity to be compromised through illegal streaming, whether the sites and apps are free or require payment,” FACT announced. Research commissioned by FACT recently found that these risks are not rare. Their survey found that 33% of the respondents were hacked, exposed to online scams, or experienced fraud as a result of pirate streaming. And nearly a quarter was asked for personal information while streaming. In the advertising campaign, Jimmy learns of these threats. However, the cybersecurity expert also mentions even more concerning facts, some of which are worth highlighting separately. Nude Pictures of Pirates? The video explains that, when attackers use trojans or viruses to gain access to people’s devices, people’s entire networks could be at risk. “From there the hacker can start finding any kind of baby cameras, any kind of printers, any kind of connected devices, and then utilize that into potentially stealing secrets,” Woodruff says. “In the past, we’ve had nude pictures taken through a webcam. And then the individual being held ransom,” he adds. The security expert doesn’t give any details about the incidents, or whether they happened through a pirate site, but that’s clearly suggested. That said, one can wonder how many people actually watch pirate sports while naked. The video mentions a wide variety of other risks too. Streaming sites can infect people through custom players, for example. And illegal streaming services for which people have to pay can take your credit card details. Hacked Bank Account At that point, Jimmy joins in with a personal anecdote. While it apparently is not related to piracy, the former Premier League player says criminals previously hacked into his bank account, stealing thousands of pounds. The overall impression the video gives is that sports streaming sites are dangerous and should be avoided. There’s definitely truth to that message, as many of these sites are specifically set up to scam people. That said, there are also dedicated pirate streaming sites that actually want people to come back. These are less likely to overload visitors with malware and trojans as they rely on recurring advertising eyeballs. A lesson comes from the name of the anti-piracy campaign itself, which reminds people that “Nothing in Life is Free.” Whether that gentle hint will convince existing and prospective pirates has yet to be seen.

The year 2020 may well go down as the year when blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, in particular, gained mainstream recognition. The restrictions on movement, as well as the widespread fear of catching a virus, forced many to look for alternative ways of making payments or sending remittances. This search for an alternative inevitably led many to crypto. Although the use of such alternatives to fiat cash continues to grow, many of the intended beneficiaries in places like Africa are still unable to use such digital currencies. Kenya’s Kotani Pay Addresses Lack of Crypto Access The lack of smartphones, misinformation about cryptocurrencies, and poor net connectivity are some of the main reasons why the number of digital currency users is not growing as some crypto proponents would have wanted. As a consequence, some players in this space are now working hard to find solutions to help those that presently cannot use digital currencies. One such player is Kotani Pay, a Kenya-based fintech start-up that is focused on providing a reliable blockchain on-ramp and off-ramp service for users in Africa. Bitcoin.com News recently reached to the start-up’s CMO, Brian Kimotho, to learn more about Kotani’s offering. Below are Kimotho’s written responses to questions sent via WhatsApp. Bitcoin.com News (BCN): When was Kotani Pay established and why? Brain Kimotho (BK): Kotani Pay was established in 2020. We built Kotani Pay after realizing for a very long time that the people who were set out to benefit the most from the promise of Blockchain and Web3 technologies had no way of interacting with the services offered. Most of these users don’t have smartphones or an internet connection. They only have feature phones. The most they can do is communicate via texting or making phone calls. Kotani Pay is built with this in mind. To access the service one simply needs to dial the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) code. Once dialed, the user is presented with a simple menu where they can make their preferred selection — send money, withdraw… BCN: You are currently involved in efforts to provide the so-called universal basic income (UBI) to refugees. Can you tell our readers what motivated your company to become involved in this? BK: Serving the refugees in collaboration with Impact Market, Refugee Integration Organisation and Mission Possible 2030 was in line with our goal of making Web3 technologies accessible to the last mile. In Africa for example, the total number of mobile phone users stands at 700M. Out of these 700 million users, only 260 million have internet-enabled smartphones. Kotani Pay, through projects such as the UBI for refugees, is able to realize its goals for empowering the remaining 440 million people who are using feature phones. BCN: How many refugees are now benefiting from this UBI initiative? BK: 2000 with an additional 4000 in the pipeline. BCN: On your website, you tout Kotani Pay as “Africa’s most reliable blockchain on-ramp and off-ramp service.” In exactly how many countries do you provide this service? BK: The Kotani Pay USSD service is powered by the Kotani Application Programming Interface (API). With this API, businesses can integrate their processes to our off-ramp service to serve mobile phone (smartphone and feature phone) users in Africa. BCN: From your perspective, what would you say is the most important use case for digital currencies in Africa? BK: Banking the unbanked. BCN: You provide an on-ramp and off-ramp service on a continent where most countries have either banned or imposed some form of restrictions on digital currencies. How are you managing to provide this service and still not violate regulations in countries where you operate? BK: We are fully compliant with the Payments Services Act and banking regulations in Kenya. We work via banking APIs regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya for user AML/KYC due diligence. Beyond that, we provide the service leveraging stablecoins on the Celo network pegged to the value of the dollar and euro. The stablecoins are backed by other verifiable assets making them less volatile to price fluctuations. BCN: Countries like Ghana and Nigeria are proceeding with plans to launch central bank digital currencies (CBDC) while many other countries plan to do the same in the near future. In your opinion, are CBDCs something that the crypto industry should be afraid of? BK: No, CBDCs are not something we should be afraid of. The CBDC use case goes to show the possibilities of what Web3 and Blockchain have to offer. CBDCs present several benefits including low barriers to entry for users, lower cost of minting money as well as low cost of cross-border and interbank transactions.

Major cryptocurrency exchanges are cutting ties with users in China following the latest crypto crackdown announcement by the Chinese government. Huobi has stopped letting new users in China sign up for its services while Binance has blocked account registrations using Chinese mobile phone numbers. Major Crypto Exchanges Stop Signing Up Chinese Users Following China’s latest crackdown announcement, several cryptocurrency exchanges and service providers said they have begun cutting ties with users in China. Crypto exchange Huobi announced Sunday that it will “gradually retire existing mainland China users.” The exchange wrote: To comply with local laws and regulations, Huobi Global has ceased account registration for new users in mainland China, effective September 24, 2021 (UTC+8). Huobi Global will gradually retire existing mainland China user accounts by 24:00 (UTC+8) on Dec 31, 2021. Huobi Group co-founder Du Jun told Reuters, “On the very day we saw the notice, we started to take corrective measures.” Meanwhile, Binance said it has blocked account registrations using Chinese mobile phone numbers and its app is also no longer available for download in China. A spokesperson for the exchange said: Binance takes its compliance obligations very seriously and is committed to following local regulator requirements wherever we operate. Binance has been under scrutiny from a long list of regulators worldwide, including those in the U.S., U.K., Netherlands, South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Lithuania, Italy, and Canada. On Monday, the exchange ended some services in Singapore. Tokenpocket, a crypto wallet provider, also said in a notice to clients that it would terminate services to users in mainland China in order to comply with Chinese regulations. Some people see the crypto crackdown by the Chinese government as positive news that has little effect on the crypto industry. Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz recently explained that China has “less and less” influence over the crypto market. Meanwhile, several U.S. lawmakers see the Chinese crackdown as a big opportunity for the U.S. to lead in the area of cryptocurrency.

Binance is terminating some services in Singapore, including fiat deposit services and spot trading of cryptocurrencies, to comply with the country’s regulations. The exchange has already ceased trading in Singapore dollars. Binance Scaling Down Services in Singapore Cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced Monday some changes to its offerings in Singapore. The company wrote: 　With effect from 2021-10-26 04:00 AM UTC (12:00 PM UTC+8), users in Singapore will not be able to access certain functions on Binance.com including fiat deposit services, spot trading of cryptocurrencies, the purchase of cryptocurrencies through fiat channels and liquid swap (‘Regulated Payments Services’). The announcement adds that “Users in Singapore are advised to cease all related trades, withdraw fiat assets and redeem tokens” by the deadline “to avoid potential trading disputes.” Binance Singapore has been undergoing changes since the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central bank that oversees the crypto sector, issued a warning about Binance. The central bank wrote: “MAS has reviewed Binance.com’s operations and is of the view that Binance, the operator of Binance.com, may be in breach of the Payment Services Act … Binance is required to cease providing payment services to Singapore residents and cease soliciting such business from Singapore residents.” The exchange subsequently ceased trading in Singapore dollars to comply with local laws and removed its app from the Singapore iOS and Google Play stores. In August, Binance Singapore appointed a CEO with many years of compliance background. Richard Teng was formerly CEO of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). Meanwhile, Binance has been heavily scrutinized by regulators worldwide, including those in the U.K., Netherlands, South Africa, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Lithuania, Italy, and Canada. U.S. authorities are also investigating Binance for possible market manipulation and insider trading.

Google Chrome gives users the option to create and save multiple Google Accounts. A user can easily switch between various profiles while browsing. It is pretty simple to add a Chrome profile to Google at any time, and it's just as easy to edit or remove it. Why Use Multiple Chrome Profiles? When you have more than one Google Chrome user profile, you can browse the web with different settings, depending on the profile you choose. For instance, you can have a personal and a work profile to separate certain extensions, bookmarks, settings, browser history, themes, and saved passwords. RELATED: Custom Google Chrome Profiles You Should Start Using How to Delete Your Google Chrome Profile Sometimes, you might want to clean up the Google Chrome profiles that you don't use anymore. Here's how to delete a Chrome profile: Click on the Chrome Profile icon located at the top-right corner of your browser. If you don't have a profile picture associated with your account, you'll see a circle that contains your initials. From the dropdown menu, click on the Settings symbol next to Other Profiles. You will see a new window showing all your active accounts. Hover your mouse over the profile you want to remove, and click on the three dots in the top-right corner of the box. You will see a dropdown list with a few options. Select Delete. You will receive a notification to confirm your selection. Click on Yes to remove the profile. The browser will take a few moments to process your request, and then the profile will be deleted permanently from your Chrome browser. Delete Your Chrome Profile With Ease Google Chrome provides a user experience that is unmatched by any other browser. Creating different Chrome profiles is one feature that every user should take advantage of. Having multiple profiles is also helpful for users who share their devices with others, and the best part is that you can easily delete these profiles at any time.

It's frustrating when Chrome keeps crashing. Whether you can't even get Chrome to open or it crashes on certain websites, you might be tempted to switch to another browser. But you don't have to do that just yet. We'll show you fixes for common Chrome crashes, hangs, and freezes so you can get your browser back to a stable state. Google Chrome Keeps Crashing: Basic Troubleshooting When Chrome starts crashing or freezing, you should first try completely restarting it. To do so, click the three-dot Menu button at the top-right of Chrome and choose Exit. Then reopen Chrome after a moment and see if the issue improves. Note that if you just click the X in the top-right corner, Chrome can continue running in the background (if you've enabled that option). To turn this off, go to Menu > Settings. Scroll down and choose Advanced to show more settings, then scroll all the way to the bottom to the System section. Here, disable Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed if you want Chrome to close completely when you click the X in its window. Next, you should look at how much you have open in Chrome. If your computer is low on RAM (which is often a problem due to Chrome's high memory usage), it may cause websites to crash. Try closing all tabs you're not using, pausing any Chrome downloads, and quitting any unnecessary programs running on your computer. To help with this, press Shift + Esc to open Chrome's task manager. This will give you a breakdown of everything running in Chrome so you can close the heaviest users. If none of the above fixes seem to work, you should restart your computer. As you probably know, rebooting fixes a lot of issues, and could clear up any temporary quirks with Chrome. Finally, it's a good idea to check for Chrome updates at Menu > Help > About Google Chrome. New versions can patch up bugs. Google Chrome Keeps Freezing: Advanced Fixes If the first steps above didn't clear up your problem, continue on to some further troubleshooting methods. Disable Some Chrome Extensions You should next check your installed extensions on the Menu > More tools > Extensions page. Disable or remove anything that you don't actively use. Having too many extensions can bog down your browser, while malicious extensions can interfere with Chrome's normal operation. If you have a lot of extensions and don't want to disable them all manually, try opening an incognito window at Menu > New incognito window, or with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + N. By default, extensions can't run in incognito windows. As a result, browsing while incognito makes it easier to determine if an extension is what's causing Chrome to freeze or crash. Scan for Malware While not all Chrome crashing issues are caused by malware, it's worth ruling out before you proceed. A malicious program could mess with your browser's security or network settings and cause connection problems. Chrome has a basic built-in malware scanner. But you're better off scanning with your computer's antivirus suite, plus Malwarebytes for a more thorough check. Try Another Browser If Chrome is freezing only when you try to load a specific site , you should confirm whether the issue is isolated to Chrome or happens across all browsers. Open another browser, like Firefox or Microsoft Edge, and see if that website gives a similar error. If the other browser doesn't load the page either, that specific site is probably having issues. You'll need to wait for the site owners to fix the problems; consider contacting the website admin via social media to let them know. However, if the website loads fine in other browsers, the issue lies with Chrome. Continue with the steps below for more troubleshooting. Disable Hardware Acceleration Hardware acceleration is a feature that offloads heavy graphical tasks to your GPU instead of your CPU. Enabling this can help Chrome run more smoothly, but may also cause issues in some cases. If you're still experiencing Google Chrome freezing after trying the above fixes, you should toggle hardware acceleration and see if it makes a difference. To do so, go to Menu > Settings > Advanced. Find the Use hardware acceleration where available near the bottom of the list and change it to the opposite setting. Try Another Profile and Reinstall Chrome If your issues persist at this point, your copy of Chrome may have serious issues that cause it to keep crashing. You should try creating a new browser profile to check for corruption with your current one. To do this, click your profile picture to the top-right of Chrome and hit Add to create a new user. You'll need to set a name and profile image for it. If that doesn't fix anything, you should reset or reinstall Chrome. As a first step, you can use Chrome's built-in reset function to get to a fresh state without reinstalling. Head to Menu > Settings > Advanced > Restore settings to their original defaults to use this tool. As Chrome says, this will reset everything aside from bookmarks, history, and saved passwords. Give this a try first. If Chrome keeps freezing even after a reset, you should fully remove the browser from your system and reinstall it. Head to Settings > Apps > Apps & features and find Google Chrome in the list. Click it and choose Uninstall. Then download a fresh copy of Google Chrome and see if that helps. Google Chrome Keeps Freezing on Every Website If Chrome displays an error for every website you try to access, you likely have an issue with your internet connection. For that, we recommend following our simple steps to diagnose network problems. Google Chrome Won't Start at All Have an issue where Chrome won't open in the first place? First, make sure it's not running already by checking the Task Manager. Use Ctrl + Shift + Esc, or right-click on an empty part of the taskbar and choose Task Manager, to open it. Choose More details at the bottom if needed, then open the Processes tab. If you see Google Chrome or chrome.exe listed here, right-click that entry and choose End task. You may need to end multiple processes if you have several Chrome profiles open. After closing Chrome out completely this way, try to open the browser again. If this isn't the problem, your antivirus or some malware might be blocking Chrome. Try temporarily disabling your antivirus to see if that lets Chrome open. See the "Scan for Malware" section above for suggestions. Should Chrome still fail to open, try restarting your PC. After that, your best bet is to uninstall and reinstall Chrome, per the above instructions. Google Chrome Crashed: Fixing Specific Errors The above troubleshooting tips should work for the majority of Chrome crashes or similar hangs. For other cases, let's discuss a few common Chrome error messages and what you can do to fix them. In some cases, we've written dedicated guides to fix them. Common Chrome errors include: ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED: The web address doesn't exist. Check for typos in the URL. ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED: The website didn't let your browser connect. This may be caused by using a VPN, so try disabling it. ERR_CONNECTION_RESET: Your connection was interrupted mid-loading. Try refreshing the page. ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT: The page took too long to load. This is either because it's exceptionally busy, or your connection is too slow. Your Connection Is Not Private: You'll see this when a page that's expected to be secure doesn't have a secure connection. Aw, Snap!: This usually displays when a webpage caused Chrome to crash for some reason. It may be due to a plugin issue, or a lack of resources. Always try refreshing the page with Ctrl + R or the Refresh icon to the left of the address bar when you see these messages. You can also use Ctrl + Shift + R to ignore the cache and reload a fresh copy from the website. As mentioned above, you should try an incognito window to open websites that display errors. Because these don't save cookies or other browsing information, they're a useful troubleshooting tool. If a site works in incognito but not normally, clear your browsing data. When Chrome crashes, you can enter chrome://crashes/ into your address bar to view information about them. Unfortunately, this doesn't provide any useful information to you, but you can send the crashes to Google for investigation. Chrome Crashing and Freezing Issues Solved Since you do a lot in your browser, it's incredibly frustrating when it doesn't respond properly. No matter the cause of your Chrome problem, hopefully these troubleshooting instructions helped you solve it. Usually, it comes down to a bad extension, lack of resources, or misconfigured setting.

If you're bored of Microsoft Edge's default design, you can use a theme to personalize it. Some of these themes allow you to customize your browser using images from Microsoft-owned games such as Microsoft Flight Simulator, Forza Horizon, and Halo. If that's not your thing, you can always choose themes with more eye-soothing designs. Here, we'll show you how to add a theme to Microsoft Edge. How to Add Themes Follow these steps to add a theme in Microsoft Edge: Go to the Microsoft Edge Add-ons store. From the left-hand menu, select Themes. Once you find a theme you like, click its name to read the entire description. Select the Get button to install it. Click Add theme to confirm the installation. Once the theme is installed, you can jump right back into using Microsoft Edge. You don't have to restart your browser for the changes to take effect. If you don't like your newly installed theme, click the Undo button from the Installed theme banner displayed at the top of the Microsoft Edge window. Note: Below the Get button, Microsoft Edge should display the Compatible with your browser message. If this is not the case, you should check or update your Microsoft Edge version. How to Remove Themes From Microsoft Edge If you want to replace the current theme, there is no need to uninstall the old one since Edge will take care of it. However, if you want to stop using custom themes altogether, follow these steps: Click the three-dot menu from the top-right corner, and then head to Settings. Click Appearance. Under Theme, select the Default option. It should be first on the list. Note: When you uninstall or remove a theme, Microsoft Edge deletes the respective data folder from your device. However, you can always manage the downloads yourself. If you can't find your theme in the Appearance menu, it means the theme was installed as a Microsoft Edge extension. Here is how you can remove it: Open Microsoft Edge's menu by clicking the three dots from the top-right corner. Select Extensions. Click Remove. If you want to temporarily disable the extension, turn off the toggle placed next to its name. Make Edge Look More Fun Microsoft Edge allows you to personalize the browser's appearance with themes. Luckily, there are plenty to choose from, and you can easily install, replace, or remove a theme at any time.

When the internet works as it should, it couldn’t be more useful. Unfortunately, there are times when it simply refuses to do its job. You make a simple request and all you get in return is a vague error message. Case in point, the 404 error code. The good news is that this problem can often be fixed. In this article, we will discuss exactly what the error 404 message means and more importantly, what you can do to fix it. What Is Error 404? The error 404 message is one of the most common errors. It generally occurs when you try to visit a particular webpage and the server that you are contacting is unable to find it. In technical terms, the error 404 message is an HTTP status code. It means that your browser has connected with the server, but the webpage you want to access cannot be reached. This can occur when you request a page that either never existed on a website or one that has been moved and therefore given a different address. Other names for this error include 404 File Not Found and 404 URL Not Found. Both mean the exact same thing. How to Fix the 404 Error Code If you've encountered an error 404 message while browsing the web, there are a number of actions that you can take. 1. Refresh the Page A 404 error means that the server cannot currently find a specific page. Most of the time, this is a permanent issue. But occasionally, it's temporary. Before trying the other tips in this article, it's a good idea to quickly refresh the page. If doing so solves the issue, it means that it was just a server problem. 2. Check the URL Servers are designed to return exactly what was requested, spell-check not included. Even a single wrong letter in a URL can result in a 404 error. If this happens, it's usually because you entered the URL incorrectly. But it can also occur when you click on a link. After all, the person who created the link is just as likely to make a typo as you are. 3. Change Your DNS Settings Sometimes, every webpage on a website can return a 404 error. If you try multiple pages and receive the same error, it's possible that your internet service provider has blocked access to that website. If you think that this might be the issue, try changing your DNS settings. You might also want to try accessing the site by using your phone's mobile data and/or by using public WiFi. 4. Clear Your Browser Cache and/or Cookies If you tried the URL in the past and it worked, the issue might be with your browser. This can happen if the website owner changed the webpage's address and created a redirect. As a result, your browser may be ignoring that redirect. To check if this is the case, try to visit the page on another device. If it works, you can solve the problem by clearing your browser's cache and/or deleting your cookies. 5. Look Around the Website If you've tried all of the aforementioned tips and you're still getting a 404 error, it means that the page you are looking for simply doesn't exist. It may have been deleted. Or it may have just been renamed. If it's the latter, you can find the page by figuring out its new name. Depending on how the website is designed, there are a number of ways to do this. If there's a search bar, it makes sense to try to search for it there first. If all the pages are split into different categories, you might want to check the most logical category for your information. If the URL includes what looks like a section, you can try looking one level up. For example, let’s assume the URL is: website-name.com/section1/section2/missing-page. In this case, you should look at: website-name.com/section1/ and website-name.com/section1/section2/. 6. Use a Search Engine If the page that you want has been renamed, it's also possible to find it using a search engine. Sometimes, this is preferable because it works regardless of how a website is designed. You can ask Google to return all of the pages on a specific website by entering site: with the website's URL directly after that. For example, you could write: site:makeuseof.com right in Google's search bar. You can also add a few keywords to your query to limit the results. For example, if the resource that you wanted was about error messages, you would enter: site: makeuseof.com error messages. This search query will return any page from this website that discusses error messages. This is particularly useful because if it turns out that the page you want has been deleted entirely, you might find another resource that's similar. 7. Visit the Internet Archive If you know that the page you are looking for existed in the past, you may be able to find a copy of it. The Internet Archive stores billions of webpages for historical reference. And if the page that you are looking for was even remotely popular, it may have been safely preserved. To try it out, simply visit the Internet Archive, and enter the desired URL in the search field. From there, you can select a date to see if there's a snapshot of the webpage on that particular day. 8. Contact the Owner If all else fails, and you really need to find the desired page, you can always contact the owner of the website. The owner may be completely unaware of the issue. And, provided the error is being shown to everybody, and not just you, it's in their best interest to resolve the problem quickly. Fixing the 404 Error Code The error 404 message can be very frustrating. Unfortunately, it's an unavoidable part of the web browsing experience. Websites are frequently reorganized and updated across the web, making it more likely to encounter the 404 error. If the webpage that you're looking for still exists somewhere, the tips in this article should help you to find it.

You save Chrome bookmarks like the little odds and ends buried in a shoebox. Each of these links can be a precious corner of the web for you. That's why it's important to export Chrome bookmarks, passwords, plus other data and keep them backed up always. Fortunately, Chrome lets you back up bookmarks in a single HTML file and sync them automatically across devices. So let's see how easy it is to back up and export your Chrome bookmarks---both manually and automatically. How to Back Up Chrome Bookmarks to an HTML File Chrome makes it easy to create a manual backup of your bookmarks. The bookmarks are saved as a single HTML file which you can import into any other browser or another Chrome profile. Let's go through the five easy steps. Step 1: Launch Chrome. Step 2: Click the Chrome Customize and Control button (the three dots on the top right). Select Bookmarks > Bookmark Manager from the menu. Alternatively, right-click anywhere on the Bookmarks bar if it's visible. The Chrome shortcut to open the Bookmark Manager is Ctrl + Shift + O. Step 3: In the Bookmark Manager window, click the Organize menu button (the three dots on the top right). Then select Export bookmarks. Step 4: Chrome opens the File Explorer dialog box so that you can save your bookmarks as an HTML file. Use this file to import your bookmarks into another Chrome browser or any other browser via its import dialog screen. Step 5: Save this Chrome bookmarks HTML file in a designated place like the Documents folder. You can export it directly to a connected flash drive or save it to the cloud on Dropbox or Google Drive. You can also choose to organize your bookmarks before you export them by selecting Sort by name on the above menu in the Bookmark Manager. Restore Your Chrome Bookmarks From a Backup To restore your bookmarks, you have to import them back into the browser from the same Bookmark Manager window. Click the three dots in the top right corner, then select Import bookmarks. Chrome will display the Open file dialog box. Go to your bookmark HTML file, select it, then click on Open to import your bookmarks. Your browser will retrieve the bookmarks will be retrieved. How to Back Up Chrome Bookmarks From the Hidden Folder There is another way to back up your Chrome bookmarks manually. You have to make an effort to locate the hidden folder in your Windows PC or macOS. Then copy and paste the Bookmarks file from the Chrome profile folder to another secure location. Follow the steps below. Drill down to the User Data folder on your PC. This is the default location for your entire browser profile (it includes Bookmarks, Passwords, Extensions, and Settings). In Windows (Windows 10, 8, 7 & Vista), the default location is: C:\Users\<Your_Username>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default In macOS, the default location is: Users/<Your_Username>/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default For both paths, replace Your Username with the account name you use on the computer. Back Up the Chrome Bookmarks Manually in Windows 10: Close the Chrome browser. Go to File Explorer and enable the Hidden items view. (You can also do it from Folder Options > View tab) Navigate to the path mentioned above and shown in the screenshot from Windows 10. Copy and save the Bookmarks file somewhere else. To restore, copy the same file from the backup location and paste it into the Default folder. What if you have multiple Chrome profiles? If you share a computer, then maintaining separate Chrome profiles with their own set of bookmarks is always better. The User Data folder has a folder for each profile that you create in Chrome. If you only have one profile, that folder will be called Default, as you see above. For more than one profile, File Explorer will list the folders with the profile names. Recover Chrome Bookmarks From the Bookmarks.bak File You will also notice that the same location has another file called "Bookmarks.bak". This is the most recent backup of your Chrome bookmarks file created when you last opened the browser. It is overwritten every time you launch a new session of the browser. If your Bookmarks file ever disappears or is damaged for some reason, you can recover all your saved bookmarks from this backup file. Just rename the backup file by removing the ".bak" file extension. How to Sync Your Chrome Bookmarks Across Devices Your Google account acts as a hub to sync your bookmarks and other browser settings across your devices. If you have multiple computers and Android or iOS devices, you can sync your entire profile and select what you want to include or exclude. Step 1: Open Chrome and click on More > Settings. Step 2: Sign into the Google account you want to use with Chrome. Step 3: Go to You and Google. Click on the tiny arrow for Sync and Google Services. Step 4: In the next screen, click the arrow for Manage sync. You can also explore the encryption options for added security. Step 5: If you want to sync everything in your Chrome profile, keep the Sync everything toggle enabled. Step 6: Want to sync specific data? Turn off Sync everything and go down the list to enable the profile information you want to be synced. Optionally encrypt your Chrome bookmarks and other synced data. Secure your data with your Google account's passphrase or a custom passphrase for extra security. You will need to enter the same passphrase into the Chrome installs for all devices you want the data synced to. If you use multiple Chrome profiles, you can sign into each and keep all your data synced across devices and your Google accounts. Even if you lose your bookmarks on one device, you can recover them with simple sync. RELATED: How To Manage Years Of Browser Bookmarks: 5 Steps To Tidiness Manage Your Chrome Bookmarks Well You realize how much you miss your bookmarks when you don't have them (try a browser where you don't have them around!). Browser bookmarks are more accessible than using specialized bookmarking software. Be selective about choosing the right ones to save and fussy about maintaining them over the years.

Privacy is of the utmost importance when it comes to the online services you use. While it may be tempting to stay signed in to your Google Account 24/7, this could pose a threat to your privacy, especially if you share devices with other members of your household. Luckily, it is easy to safeguard your Google Account by simply signing out. Here's how to sign out of Google on your mobile and desktop device. How to Sign Out of a Google Account on Web To sign out of a Google Account on your desktop device, simply open the browser of your choosing, and navigate to a Google service, such as Search, Gmail, or Drive. Then, locate your Google Account profile picture in the top-right corner of the screen. Click your profile picture, and if you're signed in to multiple accounts, choose the account that you want to sign out of. After you select the relevant account, click Sign Out. RELATED:Essential Google Account Settings To Change For Better Security How to Sign Out of a Google Account on Mobile The process of signing out of a Google Account on a mobile device is straightforward and similar to signing out of a Google Account on the web. Here's how to sign out of your Google Account on your Android or iPhone: In the browser of your choice, navigate to a Google service, such as Search, Gmail, or Drive. While logged in to your Google Account, select your Google Account profile picture from the top-right corner of the screen. You will then see all the Google Accounts you are signed in to on your mobile device. Simply select the account that you wish to sign out of, and tap Sign Out. Image Gallery (2 Images) And just like that, you are signed out. It is simple, quick, and protects your privacy. RELATED:How To Manage Multiple Google Accounts On Your Android Phone Signing Out of Google Is Quick and Easy Signing out of your Google Account only takes a few seconds. The process may seem confusing at first, but it's actually quite straightforward and worth knowing how to do.

Google Chrome is one of the most popular web browsers, and with good reason. With so many features that let you enjoy browsing the internet while saving data, Chrome is one of the best browsers out there. One notorious error that you may encounter while using Chrome, is Server IP Address Could Not Be Found. This error doesn't have a single cause, so there are a couple of things you'll have to investigate to resolve this issue. 1. Check Your Internet Connection The first thing you should check when you encounter this error is your internet connection. You might not even be connected to the internet, and if that's the case, then Chrome isn't guilty. No browser can browse the internet without the internet. A quick way of checking for a working internet connection is using the ping command in the Command Prompt. In the Start menu, search for Command Prompt and open it. This will bring up the black plank known as the Command Prompt. In the Command Prompt, type the following line and press Enter. This command is going to ping google.com four times and return the results. ping google.com Investigate the results. If you're getting replies within reasonable times then your connection is fine. However, if you're getting Request Timed Out or other errors, then you need to further check your connection. RELATED: How To Reduce Chrome CPU Usage & Battery Drain 2. Check Your Proxy Settings One other possible cause of the error is a bad or offline proxy server. You (or an app on your computer) could have set up a proxy which doesn't work now. You can set up a new proxy or disable proxies altogether in the Proxy settings. Here's how to do this: In the Start menu search for Proxy, and then select Proxy settings. In the Proxy settings window, disable Automatically detect settings. Scroll down to Manual proxy setup and disable that as well. Open Chrome and check if your problem has been solved. 3. Change Your Network Adapter Settings By default, your network adapter is set to use DHCP which allows it to automatically obtain an IP address. However, if you've tweaked this setting, then IP and DNS will need to be manually configured for your adapter. You can revert the settings to DHCP from the Control Panel. Follow these steps to do that: Open the Control Panel, and choose Network and Internet. From here, select Network and Sharing Center. In the Network and Sharing Center, click on Change adapter settings from the left menu bar. This will open a window that shows all your network adapters. Right-click on the network adapter you're using, and then select Properties. Double-click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) to open its properties. Select Obtain an IP address automatically and Obtain DNS server addresses automatically. Click OK to save the settings. Open Chrome and check if your issue has been resolved. 4. Update Your Network Driver Another cause of network problems is the lack of proper drivers for your hardware. This could happen if your network drivers are outdated or you haven't installed the correct ones. Windows 10 does a good job at automatically finding and installing drivers, but you can't ever be too sure. Here's how to update your network drivers: Open File Explorer. Right-click on This PC. From the menu, select Manage. This will bring up the Computer Management window. From the left bar, under System Tools, click on Device Manager. In the Network adapters category, right-click on your adapter and select Update driver. Windows will then look for new drivers and install them if it finds any. You can also manually install the drivers provided by the manufacturer of your hardware (e.g. Qualcomm or Realtek). 5. Use Windows Network Diagnostics Google Chrome won't be able to function properly if your network has been poorly configured. Luckily, Windows' troubleshooter tool does a good job at finding and fixing config-related issues. In the Start menu, search for Troubleshoot settings and open it. Under Get up and running, click on Internet Connections. Click Run the troubleshooter. Follow the instructions provided by the troubleshooter. In most cases, the troubleshooter can take care of the detected issues by itself. However, it might give you instructions to fix the issue on your own if it doesn't have the required privileges. RELATED: How To Disable Or Enable Cookies In Chrome 6. Restart the Windows DNS Client Service Windows uses a service called DNS Client to cache DNS and register the computer name. There's a chance that your DNS Client service may be malfunctioning and is in need of a restart. Press Win + R on your keyboard to bring up the Run dialog. Type services.msc in the text box and press Enter. This will bring up a window containing all the Windows services. Scroll down to find DNS Client. Right-click the DNS Client service and select Stop. Wait a minute or two so that the service completely stops. After that, right-click the DNS Client service and select Start to get the service started again. If the DNS Client service options are greyed out and unclickable for you, you can disable the service through Windows config. Press Win + R on your keyboard to bring up the Run dialog. Type msconfig in the text box and then press Enter. In the opened window, go to the Services tab and find DNS Client. Sort the services by name to make this search easier. Uncheck the DNS Client service, and then click OK to stop the service. Wait for a minute and then check the DNS Client service box. Click OK to get the service started again. 7. Reset Winsock and IPv4 Settings If none of the solutions above worked for you, you can try resetting Winsock and IPv4 settings to their defaults. This will revert a great portion of network settings to their defaults and has the potential to fix conflicting configurations. In the Start menu search for Command Prompt. Right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator. In the Command Prompt, type the command below and press Enter. This will reset the Winsock. netsh winsock reset Once the command is executed, restart your computer. Launch the Command Prompt as administrator and type the command below: netsh int ipv4 reset reset.log Restart your computer and then check if your issue has been resolved. Quickly Get Back Online You now have a good idea of what to do if Chrome encounters the Server IP Address Could Not Be Found error. If you're currently experiencing this issue, trying the above solutions should have you back online in no time!

When working on big projects on Google Chrome, the chances are that you're going to have numerous tabs open at once. And needless to say, doing so can become overwhelming fast. Fortunately, you now have a solution—grouping tabs. This article will provide a quick run-through about how to group your tabs, and why you should do it. How to Group Tabs on Google Chrome To group your tabs on Google Chrome, follow the steps below. Right-click on a tab. Click on Add tab to new group. Enter the name of your group. Select the color you want your group to be. After creating each group, you can start to slide tabs over into it. Alternatively, you can right-click on those other tabs and choose the group you want to add your tabs to. Why Group Tabs on Google Chrome? Grouping tabs may seem like a minor change, but it can make a huge difference when it comes to your productivity. Here are a few reasons why you should start grouping your tabs on Chrome. 1. Avoid Getting Overwhelmed When you've got multiple tabs open, you might find that you're easily overwhelmed. Often, seeing so many different pages can emphasize how big the task is that you need to tackle. But after grouping tabs on Google Chrome, you shouldn’t have this problem. Unless, of course, you create too many groups. RELATED:Uncomplicated To-Do Apps To Focus On Tasks And Get Things Done 2. Manage Projects Better If you need to work on multiple projects, having too many tabs open will hinder how you organize them. Too many tabs across too many different topics make concentrating a lot more complicated than it needs to be. Through creating groups on Google Chrome, however, you'll be able to access the websites you need when you need them. 3. Reduce Multitasking Contrary to popular belief, multitasking does not make you more productive. And studies have shown that, over time, constant multitasking has the potential to harm your brain. RELATED:Bad Habits That Kill Productivity And Ways To Solve These Issues Grouping tabs helps you to stop multitasking and focus on one thing at a time. How? Because you won't need to switch between multiple sites as often and will get interrupted less frequently. Master Your Productivity By Grouping Google Chrome Tabs Google Chrome has made project management much easier by enabling users to group their tabs. When you’ve given it a try, you’ll find managing your projects much easier. Moreover, you’ll feel less overwhelmed and complete tasks quicker. Don’t be afraid to get creative with this, either. You can have a little fun by choosing your favorite colors or giving your groups fun names.

Download errors are common on Google Chrome, and they come in many forms. In this article, we'll explore the "Download Failed – Network Error" issue. This error message usually pops up in the middle of a download. Sometimes, the error message pops up immediately when you try to download a file. No matter how many times you try, the download keeps failing. Although the error message suggests that the issue is with "a network," this is not always the case. We'll explore this error in detail and provide you some solutions to resolve it. 1. Check Your Internet Speed and Connection You need a stable internet connection for downloading files. For this reason, you should first check if your internet connection is active and stable. First, test your Wi-Fi speed with a reliable speed test tool. If your internet speed is okay, then you could consider resetting your router and refreshing your connection. 2. Modify Your Antivirus Settings It's highly likely that this error is caused by your computer's antivirus program. Most antivirus programs include traffic monitoring features such as HTTPS scanning. These features help protect your PC against malware hidden behind secured and encrypted websites. However, this feature can sometimes go overboard by blocking all downloads—even if they aren't harmful. Try disabling HTTPS scanning or temporarily disabling your antivirus program to resolve this issue. Remember to re-enable HTTPS scanning or your antivirus program when you finish downloading. 3. Try Incognito Mode Chrome plugins or extensions help improve your browsing experience. However, they could also limit Chrome's functionality, as an extension could be corrupt or outdated. In some cases, an extension could suddenly become incompatible with the Chrome version you're using. To check if an extension is responsible for this error, enable incognito mode. This will disable all third-party extensions and allow you to browse privately. Retry your download and check if the issue persists. If this resolves your issue, then one of your extensions is causing this error. A good way to resolve the issue is to disable all extensions and then re-enable them—one by one. This will help you identify the problematic extension. 4. Reset Chrome or Try Another Browser To resolve this error, you might have to reset Chrome and restore it to its default settings. This will disable all third-party extensions and will delete your cache and cookies. This will not affect your browsing history, saved passwords, and bookmarks. Here's how you can reset Google Chrome. Click the menu button (three vertical dots) on the top-right corner of the screen and select Settings. On the next window, select the Advanced dropdown menu. Select the Reset and clean up option. Select Restore settings to their original defaults. Click the Reset settings button on the next screen. If this doesn't resolve your issue, you could try downloading your file using another web browser. 5. Update Your Network Drivers Network drivers control the interface between your Windows PC and a given network. If you're running outdated or corrupted network drivers, this could cause various network connection issues. Updating your network drivers could help. Here's how you can do this: Type Device Manager in the Windows Start Menu and select Device Manager when it appears. Select the Network adapters option. Right-click your PC's network driver and select Update driver. In the next window, select Search Automatically for Updated Driver Software. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process. 6. Configure the Windows Attachment Manager Settings The Windows Attachment Manager helps protect your computer from unsafe files that you download or receive via email. If it considers a file unsafe, it blocks you from downloading it. In this case, you'll need to configure the Windows Attachment Manager settings to resolve this issue. Here's how you can configure the Windows Attachment Manager settings: Press the Windows Key + R to open the Run command dialog box. Type inetcpl.cpl and press Enter. Navigate to the Security tab on the Internet Properties window. Click the Custom level button. In the Security Settings window, scroll down and locate the Downloads option. From there, check the Enable button under File download. Scroll further down and locate the Miscellaneous option. Next, check the Prompt (recommended) option under the Launching applications and unsafe files option. Click OK. Click Apply and then click OK on the Internet Properties window. Finally, restart your PC to apply the changes. "Download Failed - Network Error" Solved Chrome is prone to several issues that affect functionalities such as downloading files. As we've indicated, this error could also stem from your computer. Hopefully, you should be able to resolve this issue using the tips we've provided.

The academic community platform ResearchGate has removed 200,000 files in response to a wave of copyright complaints from publishers ACS and Elsevier. The takedowns go against ResearchGate's open-access philosophy but, legally, it saw no other option than to comply. One of the core pillars of academic research is sharing. By letting other researchers know what you do, ideas are criticized, improved upon, and extended. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy for academics to share their work. Most of the top publications are monetized by major publishers, which means that they are locked behind a paywall. To make their work easier to access, many researchers place copies of their work on their personal profiles, often hosted by their university. There are also more organized ways to share research, by using ResearchGate for example. ResearchGate Based in Germany, ResearchGate promotes itself as a professional network for scientists and researchers. The site claims 20 million members, who use the platform to “share, discover, and discuss research.” In addition to simply connecting to other academics, the site also allows members to share ‘their’ publications. While many see this as a great feature, some academic publishers are not pleased with this activity. Researchers often share articles they have written themselves but they don’t necessarily own the rights. This is because most of the top publications ask the authors to sign away all of their copyrights if they want their papers to be published. Take Down 200,000 Files This is also true for Elsevier and the American Chemical Society (ACS), which overloaded ResearchGate with takedown requests recently. The site is certainly not a newcomer when it comes to copyright infringement complaints but the scope of the most recent takedown wave is something different. “[T]he demands by Elsevier and ACS resulted in the removal of around 200,000 public files. In the context of a community of over 20 million researchers this is unfortunate, rather than existential, but it has sparked an acute reaction from many of our members who believe in the importance of open science,” ResearchGate writes. The platform’s ultimate mission is to make research “open to all.” Therefore, ResearchGate is disappointed to see all of this knowledge being removed from the site. However, it saw no other option than to comply. ResearchGate Seeks Cooperation The publishers will have the law on their site in most cases. However, ResearchGate doesn’t believe that the takedowns are in the best interest of science. It would have preferred to cooperate instead. “The decision by Elsevier and ACS to simply remove content is disappointing to the entire research community, not just because of the loss to science and researchers, but because there is a better way.” ResearchGate has already partnered with other publishers such as Springer Nature and Wiley, who use the site’s network to reach a broader audience. These companies publish their content on the platform as part of a syndication agreement. Many academics and researchers are disappointed that their work has been removed over copyright claims and some are plain angry. However, ResearchGate’s hands are tied. Questionable Takedowns? Interestingly, the platform also heard from researchers who had content removed that should have remained online. Because the rights were already bought out, for example, or when files are in the public domain. Some researchers even said that they never transferred their copyrights to the publishers, which would mean that they have no say over the matter. ResearchGate can’t independently verify these claims but the organization sees them as a serious concern. The present legal environment forces ResearchGate to simply take content offline. And enforcement is only expected to get stricter, as the platform is implementing an upload filter system, to prevent researchers from sharing content they don’t own the rights to. This can include their own publications. In closing, ResearchGate urges its users not to upload content without permission or in violation of licensing terms. At the same time, the platform hopes that publishers will recognize the potential of the site and seek collaboration where possible. “To all publishers: the future of academic publishing is open. Let’s work together to unlock its true potential,” ResearchGate writes. This isn’t the first time that ResearchGate has squared off with major publishers. The company was also sued by Elsevier and ACS three years ago and this case remains ongoing. It’s possible that the recent takedown spree is, at least indirectly, linked to that lawsuit.