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The five best Chrome Extensions you should be using

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A whopping 71% of Goos3D’s desktop traffic is using Google Chrome. If you’re in the 71%, you can use Chrome Extensions. We take a look at the best Chrome Extensions and why you should use them.

What are Chrome Extensions?

Google Chrome lets you install Chrome Extensions to personalise your web browsing experience. There’s an insane selection of Chrome Extensions out there. Some are fun, others helpful with more being almost essential.

The best Chrome Extensions

For us, the best Chrome Extensions improve your browsing experience and provide insight into how your data is used.

AdBlock

I’m always surprised how many Chrome users don’t use AdBlock. Practically every website in the world is trying to cram ads down your next. Granted we don’t, but we’re sound. AdBlock, as the name suggests, removes the vast majority of ads online. You know that feeling when you can fast forward through a recorded TV show? AdBlock is the best Chrome Extension because it gives you that feeling online. Better still, it’s totally free.

If could opt for the premium AdBlock Plus, you can even block YouTube ads.

Get AdBlock for Chrome

The Great Suspender

Every time you open a new tab in Chrome, it’s like running another programme on your computer. Because of this, Chrome has gained a reputation as a bit of a memory hog. You might notice your computer gets a little slow or noisy when browsing. The Great Suspender checks through your tabs to see what you’re actually using. It then suspends anything it can to save memory and make your experience online smoother.

Get The Great Suspender for Chrome

Grammarly

Oh, how I love Grammarly. You’ll never truly know how good or bad your grammar is until you use Grammarly. This Chrome Extension scans everything you type. It then highlights grammar and spelling mistakes. Think of the last time you spotted a mistake in your Facebook status or email to your boss. Now ensure that never happens again.

Get Grammarly for Chrome

Ghostery

While we don’t show ads, Goos3D does track your site usage. We use this data to ensure we’re creating good content and to show you more relevant content on Facebook. Ghostery is one of the best Chrome Extensions to give you more insights into who is tracking you. When you load a page, the extension icon will show you how the site is tracking you. You can then click the icon to get even more insights.

Ghostery then goes one step further and allows you to either trust or block a site from tracking you. Even using Ghostery for just a few days will give you a better idea of how sites are tracking you.

Get Ghostery for Chrome

Truman Grade

As you’ve probably guessed, we take online privacy fairly seriously. We’ve written about it a few times. Truman Grade is a brilliant Chrome Extension to give you a quick look at a site’s security. The extension rates sites based on risk, security, privacy and visibility. The extension comes with both a free and premium tier but offers plenty for free.

Get Truman Grade for Chrome

Snapps: Pacemaker is an amazing DJ app for iPhone and iPad

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We’ve all had that moment in the nightclub where we know we could do what the DJ is at, right? Well, I’ve been that DJ in the past and it’s absolutely true. Of course, tech plays a part in breaking down the barriers here. Pacemaker is a DJ app for iOS devices that’ll let you live out your DJ dreams.

Who is the Pacemaker DJ app for?

If you like a good tune and fancy yourself to be a bit of a mixologist, and have Spotify, then Pacemaker is for you.

What does Pacemaker do?

Pacemaker lets you chop up and mashup any songs you can find in Spotify. The app holds your hand through the whole process too. To earn the title of DJ app, Pacemaker beat matches songs when mixing between tracks. It actually does this when skipping along the song timeline too.

The app also steers you towards the best songs to mix together. You’ll have suggestions waiting for you when you’re picking the next track. Even better, Pacemaker has an indicator showing how well matched all tracks are. So you’re less likely to ruin the craic with a lemon of a song.

Sharing your mixes

The most important part is letting everyone see what a killer DJ you’ve become. This means that you can share your mixes within the app. You can also send links to friends, but they can only play them through the app. This is the only real downside to the Pacemaker DJ app. You need the app which means you must have an iPhone or iPad to play mixes.

Plenty to play with for free

Still, if you do have an iPhone or iPad and Spotify, you’d me mad to not download Pacemaker. It will also mix music from iTunes and you can add some flair by purchasing effects packages. At the very worst, it’s a couple of hours living your dream as a DJ and conducting the drops. At best, you’ll create a banging Saturday night playlist for your gaff party.

Snapps: Walk Against Humanity is Cards Against Humanity mashed with fitness

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First things first, I presume you’ve heard of Cards Against Humanity right? The card game for horrible people where the funniest answer wins? Well, now someone has created a fitness app that’s definitely inspired by the game. Will a horrible fitness app like Walk Against Humanity help to motivate Marty?

What does Walk Against Humanity do?

Walk Against Humanity does the usual stuff you’d expect from your fitness tracker. It’ll track your steps and even map out where you’ve been. The real reason I’m interested in the app is how it motivates you. Much like hooking my weighing scales up to Twitter, it’s all about shame. The app dishes out plenty of abuse when you’re not achieving your goals. Many describe the tone as snarky.

If you’re a little bit more delicate and want to steer clear of the abuse, you can opt for nuggets of trivia instead.

One slightly different take on some other fitness apps is the leaderboard. As you’d expect, you can line yourself up against friends. Actually, if they’re not pulling their weight you dish them out burns through the app too. Walk Against Humanity also lets you measure up against others in your area. Nice bit of social competition there, encouraging you to take over your locality. There’s a bit of a Pokémon GO vibe off that aspect.

Walk Against Humanity Ireland: How to download the app

If you’re on iPhone, happy days. Head on over to the app store and download the app and get stepping. It’s a freebie too.

Android users, strangely, don’t have Google Play Store access for the app yet. Surely, it’s just a matter of time, but you don’t have to wait either. You can download the Walk Against Humanity APK file and install the app yourself. Just allow installs from unknown sources and you’ll be up and running in no time. See what I did there?

 

 

Snapps: Showbox is still going strong

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Over three years ago, we brought you the fantastic entertainment app that is Showbox. In fact, I’m pretty sure it was one of the first apps we ever reviewed. For an off the radar app, Showbox is still running surprisingly well. Here’s everything you need to know and how to download Showbox.

Get the latest and best apps to your inbox with the Goos3DLetter

download showbox apkShowbox is simply a data base of movies and TV shows that you can download directly to your Android Tablet, Smartphone or Android TV dongle. Once you download Showbox, you will have access to a seemingly unlimited data base of entertainment. What could be better? How about that such a resource comes at a cost of zero!

We admit Showbox operates in a legal grey area that only the open source of Android could create but still, there’s a lot of entertainment to enjoy.

How to Download Showbox for Android

Step 1. Download the APK

With the grey area that Showbox operates in it cannot be installed from the Google Play Store. You must manually download the installation file (APK) and then install it. This isn’t as complicated as it sounds. You can download Showbox.apk from their website.

Step 2. Install from unknown sources

Installing from APK is also known as sideloading an app. In order to sideload Showbox, you must set your Android handset to allow this. This is easily achieved by navigating to Settings > Allow installation from unknown sources.

Step 3. Follow on screen instructions

It’s that easy! Chances are it will run a quick update. The Showbox web site has more info on how you can stream to Chromecast among other things.

Now you have everything you need to watch the latest TV shows and movies on your favourite device. Being honest, Showbox, while being in a legal grey area, is really well designed. It runs smoothly and even lets you download items for when you’re on the move again. Funny how off the radar apps can be so good.

Motivating Marty: A journey to better health through tech

Most people who know me, know I love the odd bit of tech. Unfortunately, I also love the odd takeaway and I don’t love the gym. Next month, I turn 29 and I want to make sure I see plenty more of these birthday things. That’s why I’ve started my ‘Motivating Marty’ movement.

What is Motivating Marty all about?

While I don’t enjoy peeling myself off the couch for the gym, I actually like exercise – even the gym. Street running, or running in the park falls in behind 5-a-side football as my preference of exercise. I just don’t do enough of it. Then there’s my terrible diet. Another thing I need to address, but I’ve said it all before. Which is why I need motivation, motivation like the world watching for example. That’s why I’m adopting tech for the job.

Martin’s battle with this guy starts soon #motivatingmarty #withings #weighin #update

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How will tech help motivate you?

Well, through the wonders of technology, I’m connecting lots of different devices to social media. Take the Withings Smart Scales that I use to weigh myself. Using IFTTT, I’ve connected my weighing scales to Twitter.

Could you imagine having someone looking over your shoulder at every weigh-in, waiting to tweet out your weight to the world? Believe it or not, that’s exactly what I’m doing. Every time I stand up there, IFTTT fires my weight to my new dedicated Twitter account for the world to see. It might be your worst nightmare, but it’s a huge motivator for me.

I’ve connected my weighing scales to Twitter

Good lord. What else will you be using?

To improve that number that gets tweeted out, I gotta keep moving. I’ll be tracking my efforts using the Jawbone UP app. Jawbone are best known for wearables, but they also have a great app which links to my Huawei Watch. You’ll only get Twitter updates when I hit my daily step goal. No updates either means I’ve had a lazy day or forgot my watch.

But it’s not all about exercise. Actually, I’m sure many would say my diet alone is the easiet win for my health! Using MyFitnessPal, I’ll be tracking what I eat for major meals and of course for snacks. This will then be relayed to Jawbone’s UP app, where IFTTT flings it to Twitter. There’s no hiding at all for me.

Think you want to follow or help Motivate Marty?

The dedicated hashtag will be very important over the coming months. Everything I post on Goos3D’s Instagram with #MotivatingMarty will also be shared over to Twitter, again using IFTTT. If you think I’m taking it handy, let me know. The more support I get the better. There’ll be a dedicated Motivating Marty section for reviews of the latest fitness apps on Goos3D.ie in the coming weeks.

 

What’s on Netflix Ireland in April

The weather is certainly getting better, but there’ll be the odd time you have to stay in this April. Here’s the best of what’s coming to Netflix this month.

Louis CK: 2017

Netflix is becoming very well known for their original comedy specials. Louis CK will have two of these this year, the first being Louis CK: 2017. Louis’ comedy shows are usually offensive as hell and hilarious. This is definitely one show to keep an eye out for.

Louis CK: 2017 will air on Netflix Ireland on 4 April.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return

Mystery Science Theater 3000 first aired in 1988 and ran until it’s cancellation in 1999. The plot of the show is a bit mad. A captured janitor aboard a spaceship is forced to watch terrible movies. He builds two robots to watch the movies with him. The show then places you in a theatre behind the trio of movie watchers as then comment on the film. Like I said, it’s bizarre.

Still, the second lease of life on this show comes about off the back of a record-breaking Kickstarter. The campaign raised over five million dollars. So they’ve tapped into something special. You can see how mad it is for yourself on Netflix from 14 April.

Sandy Wexler

Adam Sandler signed up to create four feature length movies with Netflix. He’s just signed up for another four too. The only problem is, that none of them are very good. I really don’t expect too much from Sandy Wexler either. Still, you’ll probably watch it, desperately hoping for another Happy Gilmore to happen.

Check it out from 14 April.

Bill Nye Saves the World

There’s just something great about science shows. Mythbusters was amazing, including their new search for replacements. White Rabbit Experiment was a great first attempt for Netflix to enter the space too. Bill Nye Saves the World is a new talk-show, for want of a better word. There’ll be live experiments and the likes as Bill takes on common misunderstandings. You’ll see the likes of alternative medicine, sex and global warming tackled with science. Along the way, there’ll be special guests like Will Wheaton and Zach Braff. This is one of the highlights of April for us.

Bill Nye will start saving the world on Netflix Ireland from 21 April.

Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On

Hot Girls Wanted is a six-part documentary looking at the lives of people affected by porn. This particular series focuses on internet porn, social media and virtual relationships. It’s far from a throwaway documentary filled with smut. Hot Girls Wanted looks at the fact many use porn as sexual education. The series premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Expect this to be an intriguing dive into life in front of and behind the porn camera.

Hot Girls Wanted airs on Netflix Ireland on 21 April.

Review: Remaking the Anime classic – Ghost in the Shell

Ok, confession time. This may utterly destroy my reputation as a film nerd. Anime as a whole is my cultural blind spot in my entire lifetime. I’ve seen about three full-length Anime features – Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro and Akira. I don’t have anything against Anime, which boasts some of the best storytelling and visual experiences in film. I’ve just never had the time to fully immerse myself in the world of Anime for whatever reason. Why do I mention this? Purely to show you how much of a blank slate I was walking into Ghost in the Shell.

Remaking a classic

One thing Anime fans love is a remake of a classic. The fact I’m coming in with a blank slate is probably a plus. I don’t have an emotional connection to one of the all-time great Anime movies. Here’s a recap if your slate is clean too.

Ghost in the Shell revolves around the Major (Scarlett Johansson). The Major is a woman who died under mysterious circumstances. Following her death, she is taken to Hanka Robotics. Here she’s picked for a secret project to put a human brain in a robot body or ‘Shell’. These ‘Shells’ are the ultimate anti-terrorist, launched in one of the most beautiful and artsy openings you’ll likely to see all year. Fast forward to a year later and she is the crown jewel of Section 9 anti-terrorism core. In the midst of investigating a string of murders, she comes across an Enigmatic hacker named Kuze (Michael Pitt). It’s now, her flashbacks of repressed memories begin.

Casting Johansson

The casting of Scarlett Johanson as the lead in an Anime movie was met with criticism. Many believed this casting to be an example of Hollywood ‘Whitewashing’. Considering that 90% of the cast and crew is of Asian descent, these claims are pretty unfair. It’s a simple case of getting a famous actress to help sell a movie. Johansson does have a challenging role as Major. Balancing the character’s humanity with her robotic form isn’t easy. She’s in an eerily calm state for most of the movie as she regards everyone with a cold glare, only caring about the job at hand. And while what she does with the character doesn’t always land it’s clear what her intent is

Ghost in the Shell is a classic dystopian movie

The look and feel of the movie reminds me so much of Blade Runner. A dark and alienating setting complete with nightmare like holograms standing over the city like monsters. There are some huge and nightmarish giant hologram adverts. The city is awash with strobe lights, dizzying colours everywhere you look. The people live in grim looking apartments, sprawled as far as the eye can see.

There are a lot of things the movie does right to create the dystopian setting. Still, there are areas it’s let down. It seemed at times, that the writers spelt out the movies message. It’s better to have some subtlety about these things.

Verdict

If you are looking to get into Anime, I feel that Ghost in the Shell is a good starting point. The movie is unlikely to leave a lasting impression on you, but it’s a good watch. You’ll also likely get a better grasp of manga and Anime.

How to Get the Amazon Echo Dot in Ireland: Buying It and Getting Started

Amazon has a long-standing history of kinda being in Ireland. We depend on Amazon.co.uk for our online shopping needs, using services like Parcel Motel to fill in the gaps. One of Amazon’s latest innovations is the Echo and its little brother, the Echo Dot. We look at what it is, how you can get the Echo Dot in Ireland and some tips to get you started.

What Is the Echo and the Echo Dot?

The Amazon Echo is a voice-controlled smart hub for your home. It’s about the size of a Pringles can. Powered by Amazon’s voice service, Alexa, you speak commands to control smart devices and services. My own personal favourite is Spotify, as the Echo also has built-in speakers. Once you sit down to dinner, just say “Alexa, play dinner music in Spotify”, and she’ll look after the rest.

The Echo Dot is a smaller, cheaper device with all of the functionality of its bigger sister. The Echo Dot also has a speaker built-in and while it’s not as good as the Echo, it’s great in a small space. Weighing in at €175 for the Echo and €60 for the Echo Dot, the Echo Dot packs more than enough punch to get you started.

Will the Echo Dot Work in Ireland?

We recently just got our paws on the Echo Dot and got it working really quickly. However, there are a few important things to note:

The Echo Dot Depends on Android and iOS Apps

Amazon finally provides official support for the Alexa App in Ireland. Just pop along to your relevant app store to download it for free.

 

Which Irish Services Available for Amazon’s Echo?

We’ll admit, the Irish content on the Echo is in it’s earliest form. RTÉ is the best-known service on there. There’s also an unofficial Dublin Bus app which is a very interesting concept. There are also loads of services that will work in Ireland, like Spotify and Fitbit. Down the line, we’re also likely to get the likes of Just Eat and Uber.

We’ve launched our own Flash News Briefing app which ensures you can keep up with the latest Irish tech news through your Amazon Echo Dot.

Where Can You Buy the Amazon Echo Dot in Ireland?

Amazon.co.uk is the best place to pick up the Echo Dot. They officially support the device in Ireland now, so you won’t neccessarily have to use Parcel Motel to get it delivered either. With that said, always check the delivery cost to Ireland as sometimes you can actually save money by shipping with a service like Parcel Motel. Buying Amazon products directly from Amazon ensures you’ll also get the best customer care should something go wrong.

If you’re looking for an official retailer to buy the Echo Dot in Ireland from, Littlewoods Ireland is probably the best spot. They are shipping the Echo Dot for €60.

Bonus: Testing Our App on the Amazon Echo Dot

 

 

 

Review: Iron Fist is the latest mashup between Netflix and Marvel

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In short, the latest Netflix-Marvel mashup, Iron Fist, is terrible. I should elaborate a bit more I suppose.

Background to Iron Fist

Another step towards The Defenders series opens with our new hero Danny Rand walking barefoot through New York. Then it all goes wrong, Rand’s backstory is seemingly a crossover of Bruce Wayne meets Dr Strange. Rich boy’s parents die in a horrific tragedy, gets raised by warrior monks and trained to become something else. Oh, and with special powers of course. Anyway instead of being more zen warrior monk master, Rand AKA The Iron Fist just comes across as a pretentious prick who spent some time travelling the world, took a rake of drugs and is now so enlightened he feels the need to speak in random philosophical nonsense to the point you kind of want to slap him a good one. We all know that guy right? Has a drape hanging in his bedroom, maybe a little Buddha, enjoys himself some recreational and spews wellness lectures to anyone who will listen? Yeah, you know the likes.

Kung Fu fighting

So starting out Rand (Finn Jones) is trying to use his magic glowing hand and his Kung Fu skills to get into his old family business and confronts one of the two decent characters in the show, Ward Meachum who is essentially our poor hero’s childhood bully who now runs the family business. If you think this would break out into blue bloody murder and a series of karate based actions scenes of epic proportions, you will be sadly disappointed.

In recent times Marvel and Netflix have released some bangers, Daredevil and Luke Cage coming straight to mind. But both do the whole superhero thing just a bit differently to the norm, however with 13 one hour episodes to fill it just seems like Iron Fist moves painfully slow.  To put this dreadfully slow storytelling in context, one whole episode the hero is strapped down to a bed in a mental institution and in another he spends the whole duration making friends with some homeless chap who has no bearing on the storyline what so ever.

The flashback, the god-forsaken endless flashbacks of his parent’s death are almost used as filler and just plain get annoying. Ok, we get it your family are dead, now more of the glowing hand and fighting, please. Rand is billed as a master of Kung Fu, but the flashes of this proficiency are few and far between. And while we wait for the brawling to commence, there isn’t much lightness to hold the interest. Maybe just the slow descent into madness of Ward Meachum is as good as character development gets.

Commence Iron Fist rant

To be honest, I expected far more from Iron Fist and maybe I am just a bit bitter it wasn’t up to scratch, but it really is as shallow as a puddle while being as subtle as a sledgehammer. In comparison to the earlier collaborations like Daredevil, Luke cage and Jessica Jones (all of which will be coming together in The Defenders this summer) Iron Fist is just boring drivel.

I mean Luke Cage at least really looked at the racial profiling and stereotyping in the US, Jessica Jones gave us a cynical bitch type female hero rather than your normal lycra clad boob monsters and Daredevil– well it was just nice to see that franchise come back to life. But the Iron Fist is nothing, it does nothing it just feels like filler content between now and the big summer release and our hero is a basically a chap who seems to have had one to many mushrooms.

In short, I feel I have finished a national service by watching this so you won’t have too. I’ll take the keys to the city as soon as they are ready please.

Smartphones: Mid-range marvels

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It’s that time of year again. The likes of Samsung and HTC have launched their latest flagship smartphones. But high-end iPhones and fancy Samsungs aren’t for everyone. So, what if you’re in the market for something a bit cheaper? We’re going to take a look at a couple of mid-range smartphones for under €250. Each of these nifty little numbers are great value for money. That’s great for you whether you’re a techie on a budget, want a second phone or just plain don’t give a ra’ts ass about the latest tech. Without further adieu, we present the mid-range marvels.

The obvious choice: Samsung Galaxy J5

Image result for samsung j5

Right, first up is the most obvious choice for a mid-range smartphone is the Samsung J5. Depending on the network you can find this sexy piece of kit for approx €180. There is the slightly cheaper option of the J3 model which is about €30 less. This is not the time to cheap out. Spending the few extra pennies will really see you reap the rewards. Housed in a beautiful slim body with a metal frame, the J5 sports a great screen for the price with a 5.2″ super AMOLED display. Seriously, for this money the spec sheet is very impressive. Most notable is the 16GB of storage and the 13MP camera. That’s iPhone 5s kinda specs for half the money.

At this kind of price, this mid-range entry from Samsung is a clear and obvious choice. Well worth the money.

The real winner: Huawei P9 lite

Image result for huawei p9 lite

Where the Samsung J5 might have been the obvious choice, for those who are in search of something a bit different the Huawei P9 lite is the real winner. The P9 lite we have seen going for in and around €250. That makes it the most expensive of our mid-range smartphones, but really this is a case of you get what you pay for.

In the last number of years, Huawei has made huge inroads into the Irish market, producing smashing products at discount prices. Stick a Samsung or Sony logo on anything Huawei make and it would surely cost at least €100 more. Ahhhh, the power of branding.

Anyway, the P9 lite is the baby brother of the flagship P9 and on the main specs is very similar to the J5. Memory, camera and display, all match up between the two rivals, However, the P9 lite is the only mid-range phone we can see with a fingerprint sensor. The battery is also a 3000mAh which is the same as the higher spec Samsung A5 2017. It also boasts a huge Octo-core processor again something seen in much more expensive phones.

Lovely phone to look at and feel, with really top notch specs to boot The Huawei P9 lite is as slick as your going to find on a budget.

The specialist: HTC Desire 825

Image result for htc desire 825

HTC is, in my opinion, the most underrated smartphone brands around. The M flagship series has repeatedly beat out top notch products for years now. The tech from the flagships eventually gets incorporated into the Desire range. The Desire 825 is no different, boasting HTC Sense and is HD voice ready.

Once again, like the previous models the 825 is working with a 13MP camera, a 5MP selfie cam and the now obvious 16GB memory. The main difference between this and the other mid-range smartphones shown is the display. The 825 is boasting a mad 5.5-inch display, making it perfect for those of use who love to catch up with Netflix on the go. For anyone who is in the market for a large phabletesque display on a budget could do a lot worse than the Desire 825.

Available for roughly €180 it is the cheapest large displayed phone on the market.

The outlier: Xiaomi Note 4

Image result for xiaomi note 4 review

Now this one you can’t buy from stores but if you don’t mind waiting around for a couple weeks then you have the opportunity to get something a little bit special.

Similar to the Huawei, Xiaomi is another Chinese brand looking to make big headway in the European market. The Note 4 is proving to be a rather successful model offering stupidly good specs for about €200 on a range of online stores. To be fair the spec sheet is like something you would see on a lot of flagship products. 32GB of memory, 5.5-inch display and a fingerprint scanner coupled with a big old processor. If it helps the battery is a 4100mAh making it one of the biggest batteries on the market. Nice!

The phone looks superb, acts amazingly and is priced beautifully. Just have to be willing to wait a few weeks.

So there ya have it, the four best phones money can buy for under €250.