The Public Access Weekly: Cheap thrills
Hey all, a lot of you out there are still waiting for your registrations and articles to be approved, so we're going to do todays weekly in a TL; DR bullet point format:
On the Geek Calendar, tomorrow is both Worldwide D&D Day and Guy Fawkes Day so celebrate according to whichever franchise has more of a hold over your heart. Or hey, do both. I'm not your mom.
October was a truly huge month for Public Access -- while I'm still gathering up all the final numbers, over 455 articles were published making this our best month for the sixth month in a row. That's amazing y'all. Give yourselves a hearty pat on the back!
As mentioned in previous Weekly's, we have posted rules for Public Access members on the landing page that you see when you log in. And we are enforcing them. If you have not read those rules yet, do it now because you will be expected to abide by them.
And lastly, as I mentioned above some of you have been waiting awhile to have your Public Access membership registrations approved, and some of you new members have submitted stories for approval this week but haven't heard back yet. Those will be done today, on my word. Until next week!
Looking for something to read? Check out:
Krishna Permi examines the ways in which internet and smartphone apps have impacted our relationships, interactions and social culture by looking at the changes in education, information and communication created by social media and an online lifestyle.
Electric vehicles have come a long way, and still have a ways to go in the minds of many consumers. One of the things that may turn the tide is the advancements being made to develop wireless charging options for EV owners. James Cummings gets into the science behind the technology in his first Public Access post.
Apple Watch owners will want to read through Ryan Kh's article on how to use IoT hardware -- such as the Withings HD camera and the Amazon Echo -- with your Apple Watch to create a smart home that you can control right on your wrist.
Looking for something to write about? Mull over:
Our article this week on Apple's explanation on the lack of an SD card slot on the new MacBook Pro provoked nearly 300 comments, so we know some of you are having strong feelings about the decision. What are your thoughts about the missing SD card slot? Good, bad, awful, worse than that? Weigh in with your opinions!
Those using ad blockers were disturbed this week to see special ads directed at them by Netflix's Black Mirror, creating a conversation around the effectiveness of ad blocking software, the back-and-forth with companies who can side-step such software and clever vs intrusive advertising. If you use an ad blocker, tell us why -- and discuss the cycle of intrusive advertising leading to better ad blockers leading to more intrusive advertising. How does that cycle get broken?
This week popular password manager LastPass switched to a freemium model meaning users can now sync across devices without needing a subscription. With password breaches occurring with disturbing regularity, we thought it was time to ask you: How do you manage your passwords? If you use a password manager, which one and why do you like it? If you have an alternate method, tell us about it (in as much detail as is safe for you, obviously!).
