10 Facebook Messenger Secrets You Need to Know

Facebook Messenger has roughly 900 million users, which is enough bodies to fill three Americas. So, chances are good that you've used the app at some point, even if it means checking that weird hidden folder every once in a while to see what kind of awful spam strangers or bots have sent you.

If you use it for more than that, however, you may be interested to know there's a lot more you can do besides typing "u up?" to anyone who happens to be online at two in the morning. Facebook Messenger is full of games, easter eggs, and useful bots, and we're here to bring you all the best tips and tricks.

[Note: Unfortunately, Facebook Messenger doesn't function identically across all devices. If you find that some of these tricks don't work, we're deeply sorry and wouldn't necessarily discourage you from writing angry letters to Mark Zuckerberg.]

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1. Bots, bots, bots

Haven't you heard? Bots are the future. You can order flowers, call an Uber orLyft , or have those tasty new Mac 'N Cheetos delivered to your door, all from the comfort of a Facebook Messenger window. But that's not all the bot worldhas to offer-you can also play Messenger's version of Chat Roulette, read some Bible verses, find something for dinner, sort of talk to Drake, or pretend that Harry Styles is your boyfriend. Isn't the future amazing?

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2. Send a 15 second video

Instead of sending a boring message comprised solely of text, try sending a short video instead. In the mobile app, tap the camera button and hold down the middle circle for video. Bonus points if you make it weird, like this video I made in my office and sent to a friend with zero context!

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3. Pretend you're good at sports with this hidden basketball game

In March, Facebook Messenger unveiled a nifty little gimmick : a playable basketball game that can be accessed by sending a basketball emoji and tapping it. Its launch coincided with March Madness, and it's still available to play now.

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4. Pretend you're good at sports while also displaying a working knowledge of current events

Euro 2016 is currently underway, and Messenger is in on the action. Much like the basketball version, the playable soccer game reveals itself if you send a soccer ball emoji and tap it. It should be noted, however, that both the basketball and soccer games are also much harder to play than they look.

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5. Send someone your location

This is best deployed with a bit of creativity and a complete lack of shame. Sure,Facebook thinks you'll use this feature-accessible by tapping the three dots on the bottom right of the chat window, and then choosing "location"-to faithfully let your friends and family know where you are. Instead, however, you could use it to passive-aggressively let an ex know you're on a date with someone else ("Remember that date spot we always wanted to try? I'm there now!"), creep out your timid coworkers ("Really into this guided Museum of Sex tour. You should go!") or irritate your friends ("Hour four of this car ride is going great! Mifflinburg, PA sure is beautiful.")

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6. Play a game of chess

If sports aren't really your thing, you can type "@fbchess" into a chat window and play a game of chess against a friend . You can also somehow play chess against yourself, which makes for an amusing activity if you're really bored.

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7. Indulge in @dailycute

You've had a bad day. You need a pick-me-up. Type @dailycute into a chat window and see what happens.

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8. Use it as an alternative to Venmo

Do you need to send a friend some money for that slice of pizza last weekend, or for the Ikea bookshelf you split the cost of? How about for those drugs you bought from that weird dude who hangs out at all your neighborhood parties?You can use Messenger for that!

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9. Shower someone you love (or don't) in hearts

Perfect for showing your beloved (or perhaps a random friend) that you love them. Send a heart emoji, and a fluttering of red hearts will pop up:

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10. Drawing over photos

You know what to do with the feature that lets you draw on photos in your camera roll before you send them, right? Of course you do. (Dicks. I'm talking about drawing dicks all over your photos.)

Happy messaging!

How to Shoot 360-Degree Photos With Your Smartphone

Flat, two-dimensional photos are old news. The future is 360-degree photos that let you look around in any direction from a single standing position. You can share 360-degree photos everywhere from Facebook to Street View, and unlike 360 video, they can be easily snapped using the phone you've already got. Here'show to get started.

First, you need an app. The one you want depends on where you're sharing or storing the picture, but most platforms work with most apps. The best app for the job is Street View for Android or iOS, but you can also use the photo sphere mode in the stock Android camera or Surround Shot mode on Samsung phones.

The Street View app is a lot like the photo sphere mode offered by the stock Android camera. Tap the large orange plus icon then pick Camera, at which point the app will guide you through the capture process-basically you have to stand in one place and hit all the orange circles to fill the orb at the bottom.

Images are snapped automatically when you reach each designated position (no need to press the shutter button), and once you're done, the app does all the hard work of stitching together the images you've taken. If you've got Google Photosinstalled, that's one of the apps that will be able to show your 360-degree photo in all its glory.

If you're on a phone, you can view a photo by moving the handset around to change the view (or tapping and dragging). If you're in the browser mode ofGoogle Photos, you can click and drag using the mouse. If you want more people to see your immersive image, you can upload it to Street View or to Facebook in the same way as any other photo.

At the moment Android is more 360-degree photo-friendly than iOS, but Apple will most likely catch up. Facebook can process iPhone panorama pictures as 360-degree pictures, or you can use a third-party app (such as Street View or something like 360 Panorama). Of course you can pick up a dedicated 360-degree camera if you prefer, which will let you shoot video clips too.

FBI’s new Facial Recognition Software Aims to Become World’s Biggest Biometric Database

As the time has passed some of the most efficient algorithms have been generated. We have moved on from the patchy and glitch software to the most efficient artificial intelligence incorporated systems. We have management systems for almost all types of fields and most specifically for the crime branches. Modern technology is being used to identify clues and suspects, resolving many of the misconducts being caused by the anti-socials. We have techniques that finely recover particles and provides further clues for investigation. It is known to all that FBI has master databases for such crimes and now FBI has been successful in developing a master facial recognition software.

From fighting terrorism to processing payments in the blink of an eye, facial recognition is set to change our ideas on privacy. Facial recognition is a computer-based system that automatically identifies a person based on a digital image or video source — which is then matched to information stored in a database. Often used in fictional TV-series such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, it is soon set to become a real-life tool for fighting crime. In 2014, the FBI will roll the technology out across the U.S. after pilot testing is completed in some states. The FBI recently announced that its Next Generation Identification (NGI) system is now fully operational. Among other features, NGI features the oft-fear-inducing Interstate Photo System (IPS), which stores millions of citizens’ photographs, and is designed to help law enforcement pair names and faces associated with criminal activity. The IPS facial recognition service will provide the nation’s law enforcement community with an investigative tool that provides an image-searching capability of photographs associated with criminal identities. This effort is a significant step forward for the criminal justice community in utilizing biometrics as an investigative enabler.

Facial recognition is a key part of the agency’s ambitious $1 billion Next Generation Identification System (NGI) — a state-of-the-art biometric identification system that also includes iris scans, DNA analysis and voice identification. The mission is to reduce terrorist and criminal activity by improving and expanding biometric identification as well as criminal history information services. The FBI’s system isn’t believed to have a stellar success rate. When a face is inputted into the system, NGI reportedly offers 50 different possible candidates, and there’s only an 85 percent chance that the suspect’s name will actually be on the list. Credited with helping to solve hundreds of crimes, his facial composite software identifies suspected criminals in a new way. The system, EFIT-V, allows victims and witnesses to select the best and worst matches from a group of computer-generated faces. Based on their responses, the computer eventually “learns” what type of face they are after and displays options accordingly.

A Finnish company, meanwhile, aims to streamline sales by using facial recognition technology for payments. Helsinki-based Uniqul has patented a system allowing payments to be made without wallets or smartphones. But not everyone has embraced facial recognition with open arms. In 2011, Facebook introduced a controversial feature which automatically identifies faces in uploaded photos by comparing them to other tagged pictures.

Flock: A whatsApp Like App For Professionals

Serial entrepreneur Bhavin Turakhia, The CEO and founder of Directi Group has launched a professional chat app called Flock.

The application would be available for free to download on Android, iOS, Windows, Mac and Chrome.

Flock aims to be the WhatsApp for business users that allows employees to sign in using their work e-mail and sync the entire office directory to the employees’ devices.

“This is not a duplication of existing applications such as Viber, WeChat, WhatsApp or any other applications. Chatting is a crowded space but nobody has really nailed it yet for business,”

Turakhia told a website ‘Business Line’.

Flock allows employees to sign in using their work email, and automatically syncs the entire office directory to every employee’s device. This is something services like WhatsApp and Skype don’t provide. Also, on public instant messaging services an employee’s personal and business communications get mixed up, which won’t happen on Flock.

It also allows external members (like clients) to be included in the chats. Users can share files as well, which are stored for a period of 30 days after which it’s removed from Flock’s server. Team members not on Flock can also be messaged, and they will receive an email notification with the message(s).

Flock was developed in India and challenges similar applications that are bloated with features or mixes business and personal communications. This application only recognises corporate e-mail IDs (while sending friend requests) is to free to download and install. It also runs on desktops.

While ‘Flock’ is intended to be free, it will bundle other services under Riva FZC, the umbrella holding several applications such as Ringo and Hola (both cheaper voice calling applications) that would bring in revenues.