Police in Lake Mary in Florida have taken the unusual step of asking TikTok users to stop stealing campaign signs in response to a challenge issued on the social media site. While sign stealing and removal (on both sides of politics) is not unusual in an election year, this time the police are sheeting the blame for an increase in sign stealing to the social media app TikTok.

An officer with the Florida police has said that over 6.8 million people have viewed TikTok videos online that challenge viewers to remove campaign signs and pointed out that this is in fact a crime. They discovered the trend after interviewing a suspect who told them that there was a challenge encouraging people to steal Trump campaign signs in their local neighborhood. They were also encouraged to steal as many signs as possible and to record a video of the activity according to the suspect.

Apparently at least 24 Trump campaign signs and a Trump flag have been stolen to date in the Lake Mary area and police are appealing to teenagers not to participate in this type of activity since it is a crime to take other people's property and could result in a maximum 6 month jail term for serious offenders. While theft and vandalism laws vary between states, most states treat stealing political signs as a misdemeanor which will only result in a fine rather than jail time. Similar to a speeding ticket, such fines are likely to range from $50 to $500 dollars.

While a specific name for the challenge hasn't been found, videos of people poking fun at the activity of stealing the signs are readily available on the app and no videos actually identify a person committing the act of stealing campaign material from someone else's property. Some posts contain videos showing the signs they have stolen and include captions that threaten to steal the neighbor's signs again if they replace them. Others state that the contents of posts are in jest or 'just a metaphor'.

TikTok is one of the most popular social media platforms out today. From trending dances to sketch comedies, social media influencers are really finding creative ways to make great content, brand themselves, and earn livable salaries. Still, the social media platform has not been without its challenges and controversy.

What Is TikTok and Why Is TikTok US In the Throes of Political Discourse

TikTok, in many ways, is like the popular Vine app we had a few years ago. Like Vine, TikTok is a video social media app where 'real short videos' take center-stage. The short-form video app has been the source of viral dances that have taken pop songs up the Billboard charts, as well as spearheaded viral political activism and satirical content. It is the virality of its content that has added to the app's popularity and rapid rise within the pop culture digital dynamic.

All things considered (including the shareability of its content to just about every other popular social media platform), all is good and well in the world of TikTok. Well, except for its owner, that is. The TikTok app is owned by Chinese company ByteDance. The concern is that user data can be handed over to the Chinese government if so required. The owners of TikTok has pointed to the fact that they are against such practices and would not hand over user data at the request of the Chinese or any other government. Still, the United States (US) government considers the app to be a national security threat and commands that the app owner meet the outlined requirements of risk being banned in the US.

The Ultimatum: The Only Solution the Trump Administration Will Accept

Even with the best efforts of the owners of TikTok to reassure the US government and other critics that the app does not use spy technologies nor is it a threat to national security, the Trump administration has laid down the gauntlet. The ultimatum is simply this, be banned in the US or be owned by a US company with user data being held and controlled on US soil - far from access by foreign governments and espionage. With the option to be US-owned, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

If you are a fan of Instagram then you already know you can find goods and services via this social networking website. Many business owners advertise their products here and they have excellent reasons to do this. With over 500 million visitors daily, Instagram has the potential to bring serious business to your site. It gets even better. According to reliable statistics, over 130 million Instagram users engage with shopping posts. These are some big numbers right there.

In the past, Instagram users had to leave the site then log on to the seller's website in order to buy goods and services online. Now, this is an inconvenience and a waste of valuable time. The good news is that customers can now buy goods and services directly from Instagram without leaving the site or navigating to the seller's website. BigCommerce has teamed up with Facebook to unlock checkout on Instagram. In simple English, this means that if you are just looking at Instagram pages and you see any product you like, you can buy it immediately without having to log out of Instagram and log on to the seller's website. Below are three advantages of this innovative development.

Meet Customers Where They Are

One of the best things about shopping online is that the seller offers goods and services to the customers in real time. You do not have to commute to some offline shop somewhere and waste valuable time in traffic. Now, checkout on Instagram offers online shoppers instant availability of products. For the 130 million shoppers on Instagram, this feature means that the seller meets the customer where they are. In effect, you have a safe, fast and convenient shopping alternative right here on Instagram.

Simple and Secure Platform

This innovation creates a wonderful social media shopping experience for Instagram users. You probably had some favorite products already but you could not access these products directly in the past. Now, BigCommerce has just given you the opportunity to shop for all your favorite brands directly from your Instagram page. You can even store payment credentials and make future purchases seamlessly on Instagram. This gives you fast, secure and simple transactions all the time. 

TikTok has rapidly gained popularity as a social networking app, especially among the young generation. As of 2020, the app has more than 500 million active users and was the most downloaded social media app in January. The number of users keeps rising steadily each day.

Just like in other social media platforms, Influencers are now making brand endorsements and earning good money from TikTok.

How Much Do Influencers Earn?

Generally, influencers earn between 200$ - 20,000$ per post depending on several factors such as product niche, audience country and brand affinity and engagement rate of the post.

Unfortunately, TikTok does not offer native ads options like its competitors. Settling on the advertising rate to pay influencers is, therefore, tricky for brands. It is usually a matter of negotiation with the influencer. Previously, a large following was deemed to translate to higher pay for influencers. However, the focus is now changing.

Brands have come to understand that a large following on social media can be bought. It is, therefore, not a decisive factor in deciding how much to pay influencers. Brands have now established that post social engagement is vital for a successful marketing campaign. These interactions between influencers and followers reveal the number of people interested in the brand or product.

Influencer Engagement and Earnings Calculator

As an influencer, knowing this social engagement rate gives you a clue of your account's value on the market. We understand this concern. Our Influencer Engagement and Earnings calculator will sort you out. It helps you understand your potential value as an influencer by approximating your TikTok's account social engagement rate.

The tiktok money calculator igface uses three factors to determine engagement rate; the number of likes, number of comments, and the number of followers. To decide on your social engagement rate, use the following formula;

(number of likes + number of comments/number of followers) × 100

The higher your engagement rate, the higher the chances of brands considering you for marketing deals.

Influencers must understand that this calculator is only for educational purposes and is in no way a tool by Tik Tok. It is just an opinion based on the popular view.

How to Make Money on TikTok in 2020

The net is full of fraudulent software, including PC Health Boost, which claim to boost the performance of your PC by removing errors in its registry. For the uninitiated, PC Health Boost is a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program) that does not deliver what it claims. On the contrary, it provides users with exaggerated and modified system scan results to fool them into paying money for the unnecessary system fix. It does not matter if this software sneaked into your computer through installation of software bundles or whether you installed it intentionally. The trial version of this software begins scanning your computer as soon as you install it, and displays a lot of pop-up notification that identifies allegedly PC problems. It displays a message that impel you to get rid of or fix the following items:
• Errors related to ActiveX and COM controls
• Expired cache files
• Damaged DLLs, and
• Potentially dangerous entries

The catch with PC Health Boost

The trial version of the software just shows you the errors. You have to purchase a license key and register the application with it to fix the errors. Although the vendors promise that this software eliminates outdated registry entries from your computer's hard disk drive, it might be able to delete scores of legitimate registry files. It also steals data such as credit card details, bank account information, tax return, user ID and password from your computer and forward them to hackers. Therefore, you should remove this program from your computer immediately.

How to remove PC Health Boost from your computer

Running a standard anti-spyware removal tool is of no help since the powerful destructive feature of PC Health Boost effortlessly manages to bypass such tools. In such a scenario you can try to uninstall the software by following the steps mentioned below:
• Click on "Start" button
• Navigate to the Windows control panel
• Launch add/remove programs
• Select PC Health Boost and click to uninstall it

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for bikini bottom is a video game that's based on Nickelodeon's favorite deep-sea sponge, SpongeBob SquarePants. It became a hit in 2003 and it was developed by Heavy Iron Studios. This game was a hit to all SpongeBob fans out there! I mean, who wouldn't want to be SpongeBob, right? Not unless you're Squidward. The game got a lot of positive reviews over the course of its release and it managed to gather a lot of fans all around the world. With a lot of success surrounding the game, Heavy Iron Studios showed an interest in creating a sequel or doing a remake for the game. A lot of fans became excited with this idea that they waited for a total of 17 years. At long last, every prayer of every SpongeBob fan has been heard. In June 2019, Purple Lamp Studios was present in a gaming convention called E3, where they announced that they'll be handling the remake of our favorite sponge ever! A year after its announcement. Purple Lamp studios finally released - Battle for Bikini Bottom: Rehydrated! For 17 years we waited, and finally it has been given! It's now available in Xbox one, Play station 4, Nintendo switch and sometime in 2020, for PC!

Upgraded Features of Battle of Bikini Bottom Rehydrated

It's still the game that we knew and loved, but it has a lot of upgraded features that you will surely notice! First of all, the graphics of the game is outstanding! If your console supports 4k resolutions, then this game will be so beautiful to the eye, it's so unreal! I mean what do you expect? It's run by Unreal engine that revamps the graphics of the old classic!

Rehydrated Story Line

The story line is similar, you are going to play the lovable sponge of bikini bottom - SpongeBob SquarePants, you will be saving Bikini Bottom from a horde of robots named as Duplicatotron 3000 that's controlled by the evil genius, Chum bucket owner, Plankton. The game has new character models compared to the last one, and apparently sliding on your tongue is much better than sledding! One of the most fun thing about this game, is that in every boss battle, the announcer fish is there to shout cast everything about that battle. It's pretty funny and entertaining!

SpongeBob: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated - THIS GAME IS HILARIOUS! - Part 1

The wait is over for the new Mortal Kombat 11 content with the release of the massive Aftermath DLC as well as an accompanying free patch available to all users. Both Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath and the 05/26/2020 patch are being released side by side on May 26th, 2020 to users on Xbox One, Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC. The Aftermath DLC can be purchased as a separate add on for $40 USD but if you choose to forego the excellent additional content, the balancing patch will still be freely available to all users.

Mortal Kombat 11 New Story Chapters And Characters

Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath is a large DLC that adds five new story chapters as well as three new playable characters to the mix. The new story chapters follow the events of the story campaign in Mortal Kombat 11 and as the name suggests, details the aftermath of the events that took place at the end of the main game. I won't spoil it here, but the ending to the story campaign in Mortal Kombat 11 was wild and Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath follows the story as to what happens next over hours of exciting new gameplay and exposition.

The three new playable characters are Sheeva, Fujin, and guest RoboCop. Yes, RoboCop. The classic American icon of sci-fi greatness makes a guest appearance here alongside two classic characters from previous Mortal Combat iterations. The inclusion of three new fighters to toy around with brings the complete official roster in Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath to a whopping 34 characters.

Then there is the free patch which is a full-scale balancing patch that sees major and minor changes to many aspects of the game including basic combat, the Tower of Time, and character balance. Nearly every character is touched in some way in order to improve balance and performance in response to fan input. Every character has an armor break attack now and a new tutorial explaining the revamped armor break system has been added.

Tower of Time

The Tower of Time was completely reworked to offer a more dynamic and interesting player experience. Now there are new rewards, a new Boss Tower, Sidekick Tower, and Tag Tower to play in. The rewards were increased in order to make the experience more rewarding. The attention to the Tower of Time really fleshes it out and makes a more robust feature that is worthy of your attention.

Lastly, the AI was given some more polish, there has been an undisclosed number of new brutalities to unlock alongside new skin packs to be discovered. Even without the five new story chapters and characters added by the Aftermath DLC, there is plenty more to see from the patch alone. The number of specific changes made to the game is very large. If you are curious, the full patch notes can be seen here.

Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath - Before You Buy

Joe Rogan is making over $100 million by taking his world famous podcast JRE (Joe Rogan Experience) to Spotify. The Newark NJ born comedian and host of the hottest podcast is taking it all to just one platform starting September 1st.

The Joe Rogan Experience was not even available on Spotify before this deal came through.

He will no longer be on Apple iTunes. So 100,000+ listeners will now have to jump to a different platform to listen. There could still be clips of the show on YouTube.

JRE Listeners Moving to Spotify

Experts feel that many will now join Spotify just to get access to JRE. Think when Howard Stern went to XM Sirius Radio. Anyone wanting the show will have to pay for Spotify but not for the show itself.

Rogan could take a hit in listenership, but the payday from Spotify should offset any losses.

And when users get Joe Rogan from Spotify they will start downloading all their podcasts from the same source, making Spotify the potential king of podcasting. This creates competition in the field where there really hasn’t been much with Apple dominating 90% of the market.

There could be a battle for exclusive podcast deals going forward with some of the big names being bid on like television content by the big carriers.

Joe Rogan Makes $100+ Million Exclusive Deal with Spotify

Lab Zero's lauded 2019 RPG platformer release, Indivisible, finally made its way into the Nintendo eShop April 28th to the surprise of, well, everyone. There was no lead up announcement, no press of any kind. Even the developers themselves were blindsided by the sudden game drop.

Mark Zaimont, Project Lead on Indivisible's development team, also appears to be the spokesman for the team in this awkward time.

"Feel like you missed the announcement? You're not alone, our team found out because people on Twitter sent us congratulations! I had no idea! But there it is! :^P," Zaimont posted on Twitter. Apparently, publisher 505G neglected to share their plans with the Lab Zero, or anyone else. Unfortunately there are several issues that prevent this from being a pleasant surprise.

What's Wrong With the Port?

To begin with, the eShop listing for Indivisible doesn't even show the correct cover art! That's a small oversight, however, and seems all the more so relative to the other more egregious errors.

The build of the game released for Switch is older than what's available to current players on other platforms. This means it lacks actual gameplay elements, namely Co-op and New Game Plus, along with numerous small changes and additions made in recent months.

Moreover, contributors to Indivisible’s Indiegogo funding campaign have another reason to be upset. One reward for donors of a certain level was a code bestowing a free copy of the game on the donor’s platform of choice. Switch owners who have been patiently awaiting this reward are understandably upset that they haven’t received the promised compensation.

According to Zaimont, it is currently unknown when, how, or even if this agreement will be honored. 505 Games has yet to release a statement of their own.

This botched release may remind gamers of another 505 Games release fiasco. Artplay’s “Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night” suffered several unexplained delays to its Japanese release. Another crowd funded game, the original backers were among the absolute last to get their promised copies. This may not bode well for the Indiegogo set this time around.

Is There A Bright Side?

It would be unfair to say that all the news surrounding this release is bad. While in its current state the Switch port is missing newer game elements, it is still a technically solid port of a much anticipated game. According to Zaimont, the game runs smoothly, with a “stable frame rate, even handheld.” And, while there has been no statement detailing 505 Games’s future plans, it seems safe to assume the game will eventually be updated to match its current iterations on other platforms.

Indivisible | Nintendo Switch Gameplay & Frame Rate

Minecraft is one of the most popular computer games worldwide and new themes, enhancements of Minecraft are always being released. In one of the most significant changes in visual effects for Minecraft in many years, Microsoft will collaborate with graphics card manufacturer, Nvidia to create a special version of Minecraft with Nvidia RTX ray tracing. This enhanced visually attractive version of Minecraft will be released on April 16, 2020 and is eagerly awaited by Minecraft fans worldwide. In this version Nvidia will use drivers, its upgraded RTX graphics card and a specially created version of Minecraft with light ray tracing, to give a realistic look for the game.

Nvidia Geforce RTX20

In most computer games, including Minecraft, the conventional graphics technologies which are used allow the game designer limited control over the illumination and colors displayed on the screen. For more realistic colors using ray tracing, a high capacity graphics processor and software will be required, which are not easily available. To overcome this limitation of Minecraft, Nvidia has released the Nvidia Geforce RTX20 series graphics card with specially designed Graphics Processor Unit (GPU). This card is using the Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS 2.0) technology for ray tracing without affecting the performance of the game, computer.

Artificial Intelligence Tensor Cores

The Nvidia RTX GPUs are using Artificial intelligence (AI) tensor cores and machine learning, to render life like and realistic visuals. The rendering technique uses super resolution using AI, in which a few pixels are rendered in the conventional way. Then AI is used to construct high resolution images which are sharper. The frames are also being generated at a faster rate. All the illumination effects like shadows, atmospheric effects, reflections, refraction,transparency, scattering, are created using this technology. Since AI is being used extensively for rendering the graphics, the load on the GPU and CPU, power consumption is lower compared to other hardware used earlier.

For the convenience of the users, Minecraft and Nvidia are releasing specially developed textures which showcase the enhanced visual effects, collaborating with different creators. The six textures are Temples & Totems from Razzleberries, Imagination Island developed by Blockworks, Crystal Palace by Gemini Tay, Aquatic Adventure by Dr. Bond, Color, light & shadows by Pearlescentmoon, Neon district from Elysium Fire. These adventure, creative and other themes can be downloaded from the Minecraft marketplace by graphic designers developing their own themes or Minecraft players who wish to enhance their gaming experience.

Announcing Minecraft with RTX for Windows 10