When you’ve decided upon the type of funding you’d like to use, you need to find a funding website or platform that supports it. This can appear daunting, because there’s an ever-expanding number of funding platforms to choose between, such as Kickstarter, Crowdfunder, Indiegogo and Seedrs.

Your initial approach to a platform is then very important. We spoke to Alysia Wanczyk, Seedrs’ marketing director, about what actually happens when an entrepreneur and a funding platform meet each other for the first time. She explained, “Once a business completes their online investment campaign, it comes through to our review team. The team then goes through and initially rejects any campaigns that are patently unviable, incomplete or plain silly. Those that proceed are carefully reviewed to ensure that every statement they make is fair, clear, not-misleading and truthful.” 

Unlike eBay, where the process of adding sales posts or landing pages is highly automated, Seedrs’ registration system is much more human. Wanczyk continued: “This [checking process] often requires a bit of a back-andforth email and phone exchange between us and the entrepreneur, to ensure we receive supporting evidence for every statement. Once both parties are happy with the campaign, we set it live to potential investors to review – with the peace of mind that what they’re reading is reliable. From there, it is up to investors to look around, ask questions and decide for themselves if a business is worth investing in.”

Funding campaigns usually last for around three months, Wanczyk told us. The question is, of course, what happens if you’re successful? We asked Wanczyk whether the cheque arrives the next day. She explained: “Once a campaign has hit its funding target, we conduct a further due diligence process to ensure that all legal and structural matters are in order with the company. It is all very straightforward.” 

What this boils down to is essentials such as registering the company with Companies House, setting up a company bank account, and completing taxation documents. And if you’re not so lucky? Wanczyk told us, “If a start-up doesn’t reach their target [within three months], their campaign is taken down and each of the investors is given their investment back and notified. Sometimes, a business is given feedback from investors and potential investors and they take down the campaign themselves to change it and re-submit it.”

Let’s be clear: investing in start-ups is incredibly risky. The Financial Conduct Authority suggests that 50 to 70 percent of new enterprises fail. But with risk, of course, comes reward. And it’s for this reason that crowdfunding is sometimes viewed as a goldmine by canny investors. So, if you’re sitting on some cash, how can you turn a profit? Seedrs’ Alysia Wanczyk explained the rules of investing via her platform: “Adults over the age of 18 who pass our investment authorization questionnaire or self-certify as high net worth or sophisticated can invest.” 

Assuming you satisfy the questionnaire’s requirements – a document prepared with the FCA, so not to be taken lightly – you can invest anything from £10 up via Seedrs. Julia Groves of the UK Crowdfunding Association told us about her approach to investing: “My rules are: I have a fixed amount of money I invest each business year – money I can afford to lose.” She also viewed investing in different products, to spread risk, as important. Finally, she told us to invest in things you know about and want to support. “I can and do put as much money as I can into renewable energy, because I have been working in that sector for 10 years and I am an environmentalist.” 

Bill Morrow from Angels Den also explained the importance of investing in firms that have SEIS (Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme) and EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme) approval. He told us: “Having SEIS or EIS approval makes a business so much more investable, because it offers huge tax benefits for UK investors. Most investors will want SEIS or EIS deals to make up a significant part of their portfolio. It also means that you don’t get taxed when you exit the business.”

Also, consider dilution. In the first round of funding, you may buy 10 percent of a firm. But as they grow, start-ups tend to launch other fundraising drives. If they do, they may issue more shares, meaning you’ll be left holding a reduced proportion of the whole. And with a reduction in holding comes a reduction in dividend income

The landing page is a crowdfunding project’s shop window. It’s where an entrepreneur hopes to catch the eye of an investor and quickly persuade them to get their chequebook out. There are lots of different crowdfunding websites, so landing pages will all look subtly different. There are, however, some essential pieces of information that occur across nearly all the different platforms. Here are the key elements that you will need to think about when building your own landing page.

Life has a number of unfortunate ‘sinking feeling’ moments where your stomach feels like it’s in freefall, rapidly plummeting into the depths of your torso – and one of those you may have experienced is the sudden fear that your Windows PC has been infected with malware.

Maybe you’ve encountered an ominous pop-up message that looks harmful, or perhaps your PC is running more sluggish than usual and you have a suspicion there are some gremlins in the system.

Whatever the case, in this step-by-step guide we’re going to show you what to do in the event that you want to give your PC a thorough check-up with an anti-malware tool, and how to remedy the situation if there is something malicious kicking about on your computer.

Before you even start thinking about using malware removal software to clean the nasties from your PC, it’s a good idea to back up your essential files. In fact, before you embark upon any kind of more involved task – like an operating system update, for example – it’s always sensible to ensure your backups are up-to-date.

So run whatever backup system you use, just in case of the unlikely event that anything goes wrong. We’ve rounded up the best backup software for those who don’t yet have a preferred option. And remember, never, ever, neglect your backups.

When it comes to an anti-malware tool, we’d recommended that you use the number one pick in our roundup of the best malware removal software.

That’s currently Malwarebytes, and you can download the app here. The good thing is that as a first-time user, you get the full premium version – which comes with real-time protection against malware, as well as on-demand scanning – as a trial for 14 days.

You can of course use any malware removal app for this exercise, but for the purposes of this guide we’re going to talk you through using Malwarebytes. Whichever tool you choose, the process will be similar to what follows.

When you click the download button, the app automatically downloads, and its EXE (executable) file will appear in the bottom-left of your browser (we’re using Google Chrome here, as the majority of folks will be doing). Right click on that EXE file and select ‘Open’ to run it, which will start the installation process.

Click ‘Yes’ to allow the app to make changes to your device, and click on ‘Yes’ again to give Malwarebytes permission to reboot your PC if a restart is necessary.

Creating delicious meals from scratch every evening, and impressing your family and friends with your culinary delights is certainly rewarding, but spending hours on end slaving over a hot stove can become tedious, even for those of us that love cooking with a passion.

There are plenty of kitchen gadgets that can make life easier in the kitchen – not only speeding up cooking time, but also offering a multitude of cooking methods to ensure that you don’t serve up the same few dishes week in, week out. None more so than the best Instant Pots, because they’re one of the most versatile kitchen appliances you can buy. 

These multi-cookers ensure you can create everything from slow-cooked stews, soups and chillies, to pressure-cooking meat on the bone and vegetables so they’re ready in half the usual time. 

While using your Instant Pot may be a simple task, cleaning it may leave you feeling,well daunted. With so many different components; from the internal pot to the lid, where do you start?  It’s important to know how to clean your Instant Pot properly so it continues to perform as efficiently as possible. 

Read on to find out just how to clean your Instant Pot, or if you want to get your hands on one of the best Instant Pots right now, check out these great deals for some of the best prices on the market.  

Before you even pick up a cloth, make sure the Instant Pot has been unplugged from the electric socket and has cooled down completely. Now for the good news, if your multi-cooker is made by Instant Pot, no matter what model you have, the inner pot (also called the stainless steel cooking pot), along with the lid, the sealing ring, and the steam rack are all dishwasher safe, which makes cleaning them far easier. 

If you have a multi-cooker from a different brand, then not all components will be dishwasher-safe, so we’d advise you to check the manual first.

Step 1: Remove the cooking pot, lid, sealing ring, and steam rack from the Instant Pot and make sure they are placed on the top rack of the dishwasher, so water from the dishwasher’s spray arm can reach inside the bowl and curved lid, while also ensuring the plastic components such as the sealing ring don’t warp. Always use a gentle, or standard dishwashing cycle rather than a hotter, intensive wash. 

If any food remnants are burnt onto the inner pot, which can happen when it’s used for browning meat or vegetables before slow cooking, consider soaking the pot in warm water and dish soap, then using a pan scourer to gently it off. Alternatively, place the pot on the bottom rack of the dishwasher for a more thorough clean.

Step 2: Before placing the lid in the dishwasher, remove the sealing ring, as while this can go in the dishwasher too, detaching means both the ring and the lid will be thoroughly cleaned. Also remove the steam release valve, the float valve, and the anti-block shield (which covers the underside of the float valve). 

Step 3: Check there aren’t any food remnants blocking either of the valves, as this will stop the Instant Pot from reaching the correct pressure for cooking, and hand wash the three components in warm, soapy water. 

Step 4: Dry the components with a dish cloth and make sure to keep them safe, so they can be re-attached when you’ve finished cleaning the lid. 

Step 5: Once the dishwasher cycle has finished, hold the lid vertically over a sink using the handle, and rotate the lid from side to side to ensure any water that has seeped into the lid can drain away. 

Once you figure out how to do it, it’s simple to reset your Apple AirPods or AirPods Pro. It’s so simple, in fact, that Apple doesn’t even tell you how to do it – they just assume that you’ll be able to figure it out on your own.

In a sentence, all you need to do is hold down the button on the back of the AirPods charging case until the light turns amber. (Note, of course, that you might need to rename the AirPods after they’ve been paired to your phone via the settings if they’ve kept the same name as before.)

But, if you’ve already tried that and it hasn’t worked, we have a complete step-by-step guide below to get those AirPods reset for that fresh-out-of-the-box feeling.

If you’ve tried to reset your AirPods by holding the button on the back and you don’t see a light flashing on the inside of the case, it’s probably because they’re dead. Plug them in for 15 minutes to make sure that they are adequately charged to re-pair. 

So, that small button on the back of the AirPods’ charging case is the key to resetting the AirPods. Hold it down for 15 seconds and the LED light on the case will change from white to amber. You can’t hold it down for too long, so there’s no reason to be worried about messing this up.

It’s a good idea to hold this reset button away from the phone you’re trying to unpair from the true wireless earbuds. If it’s too close, it will just pull in all the same data as before.

OK, so after the AirPods are reset it’s time to sync them with a new iOS device. To do that, all you need to do is hold the two devices close together and you should be able to connect … as long as you’re using an Apple device.

If you’re an Android user, you’ll need to go to Settings > Connections > Bluetooth, and then connect them that way.

If you’ve reset your AirPods but they’ve stubbornly held onto their old name, you’ll need to change it by going into the Settings > Bluetooth, then click the info (‘i’) button next to the AirPods to change their name.

To keep up with the increasing popularity of the Paralympic Games, coverage providers are upping their game this year – but what about Peacock TV? This page will tell you how to watch the Tokyo Paralympics 2020 on Peacock. 

Peacock TV is NBC’s alternative to cable, giving you free online streaming of some Paralympic events in Tokyo. So if you’re a Tatyana McFadden fan, or want to catch Josh Turek in what could be his last Paralympics, it might be the option for you – but only if you want to watch at the weekend, strangely! So not every event will be on Peacock TV and we’re going to give you a rundown of what to expect.

Keep reading to find out what 2020 Paralympic coverage Peacock TV has to offer and the different subscription plans you might need. If you’re going to be abroad during the Paralympics you’ll want to keep reading too, because we’ll explain how to watch Peacock TV from anywhere with a VPN service.

The coverage rights to the 2020 Paralympics have been given to NBCNational –  owners of Peacock TV – so it was expected that some sporting action would be on its online streaming service. However, the Peacock TV coverage of the Paralympics nowhere near stands up to what you can get with a full cable contract.

Yes, the coverage may be a bit on the light side but Peacock TV will be showing some of Team USA’s gold medal chances on the two weekends of the 2020 Paralympics. Thankfully at least, signing up to Peacock TV to watch live Paralympic coverage is absolutely FREE.

The free tier of the service will be showing medal round action from the men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball and women’s sitting volleyball after all three events were won by Team USA in Rio 2016. You’ll also be able to live stream some of the wheelchair rugby and marathon events with Peacock TV.

Outside of the live coverage, you can also watch the Peacock special ‘The Olympics & Paralympics Inspirational Moments’. 

If the sport you’re looking for isn’t included in this list, or you’re going to be out of the country during the fortnight of Paralympic action, keep reading for more coverage options.

Not only is the Peacock TV Paralympic coverage free, but it’s compatible with a whole host of devices so you can watch on whatever you have to hand.

Whether you use Safari or Chrome to browse the web, or you’re an Android or IOS fan, Peacock TV is compatible with them all. You can stream online with your iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV as well as Android TV and Samsung smartphone or tablet.

Google Meet is a popular choice of video conferencing software that gives groups—from business teams to teachers and students—an effective way of collaborating remotely.

To enhance team work, some versions of Google Meet include breakout rooms, which enable a meeting moderator to split participants into smaller, independent groups.

Currently, Google Meet breakout rooms are available to use with a selection of Google Workspace plans, and a maximum of 100 breakout rooms can be created per call.

In this article, we’ll show you how to use this feature—whether you’re a moderator or a participant.

Firstly, it’s important to note that Google Meet breakout rooms are not available to moderators (i.e., meeting organizers) who only have a free, personal Google account. 

Google Meet breakout rooms are included in the following paid Google Workspace plans: Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, and Google Workspace for Education Plus. If you have a G Suite Business account (which is no longer offered to new users), then you’ll already have access to Google Meet breakout rooms.

It’s worthwhile taking some time to properly explore and compare all these Google Workspace plans, as each one is differently priced and comes with a varying number of additional features—some of which you and your team/students may find useful.  

For participants to join a call with breakout rooms, they must firstly make sure they are logged into their Google account and have the correct meeting link. To join via a mobile device, participants need the newest version of either the Google Meet app or the Gmail app—both of which are compatible with iOS and Android operating systems.

Google has recently made it possible for a moderator to set up breakout rooms and assign them to participants, while scheduling a video call meeting through Google Calendar.

To do this, start by creating a Google Calendar event, selecting the Add Google Meet video conferencing option, and adding participants. If you want to create breakout rooms for an existing scheduled meeting, start by selecting the Edit event option.

Worried about keeping your Apple AirPods clean? Apple’s true wireless earbuds are designed as a handy everyday companion – whether you’re using  them in the gym, on your commute, or just to dull the noise of your coworkers – but if you’re keeping them in your ears on the daily and taking them to all sorts of public places, it’s not surprising that they might be picking up some dirt alone the way.

The downside to the Airpods’ white coloring is that they can start to look shabby pretty quickly if you don’t keep up a cleaning schedule – though the upside is you can spot any build-up of dirt a bit quicker than on other wireless earbuds.

It can be difficult to know the best way to clean your AirPods and AirPods Pro– after all, AirPods aren’t waterproof and neither are exactly cheap, with the second generation model costing $159 / £159 / AU$249 with the standard charging case, and $199 / £199 / AU$319 with the new Wireless Charging Case bundled in. 

But at that price, it’s worth learning how to take care of the hardware – especially if you’re forking out for the $249 / £249 / AU$399 AirPods Pro.

That’s why we’ve put together this guide to cleaning your AirPods and charging case without damaging your precious true wireless earbuds. 

Apple says that you should use a “soft, dry, lint free cloth” to clean the exterior housing and stems of your AirPods, and that you must “make sure not get any liquid in the openings”. 

You should be able to remove any day-to-day dirt without any cleaning agents or water, and it’s important not to use any abrasive materials to buff away grime. 

To clean the microphone and speaker meshes, Apple recommends using a “dry cotton swab” to gently sweep away dirt. 

If there’s any debris stuck in the speaker meshes, you can also use a clean, dry, soft-bristled brush to remove it; a small silicone pastry brush should work well enough (just make sure it hasn’t been used for cooking in the past in case you inadvertently introduce any damaging substances to your earbuds).

Apple says that you shouldn’t use sharp objects to clean the speaker grilles, otherwise you could risk damaging them.

It’s been a pretty good year for Xbox fans, and it may continue to be thanks to Gamescom 2021. The release of the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles has ushered Microsoft into the current generation, and the often criticized lack of exclusives is steadily being addressed with upcoming titles like Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5 and Psychonauts 2.

The Xbox Game Pass subscription service continues to lead the charge when it comes to one of the best deals in gaming, and with all current and future first-party games hitting the service on day one, Xbox provides a consumer friendly approach to trying out high-quality titles as soon as they’re available for the cost of one monthly subscription.

So how about the future of Xbox? Gamescom 2021 is all but underway, and Xbox has prepared a 90-minute showcase that, according to its news post, will feature “in-depth updates from some of our previously announced Xbox Game Studios titles alongside some of our third-party partners, including some of the incredible titles coming to Xbox this holiday, upcoming releases to our monthly subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, and much more.”

Read on to find out when and how you can tune in to the Gamescom 2021 Xbox Stream, as well as what to expect, and a few predictions from us.

The Gamescom 2021 Xbox Stream takes place on August 24 at 10am PT / 1pm ET 6pm BST / 7pm CEST.

This is just before Gamescom 2021 kicks off proper, with the Geoff Keighley-hosted Opening Night Live happening on August 25 at 11am PT / 2pm ET / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST.

The showcase is being streamed all over the internet on sites like YouTube, Twitch, Twitter and Facebook Gaming and will be available to watch in 30 different languages, with support for English audio descriptions and American sign language.

The Gamescom 2021 Xbox Stream will be streamed in 1080p 60fps, but note that a 4K version of the livestream will be made available to watch on Xbox’s official YouTube channel after the fact.

As mentioned, the 90-minute Xbox showcase will largely shed more light on already announced titles from both first and third-party developers, some of which are releasing this Holiday season. As such, expect details on both Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5, both slated to release in that timeframe.

Xbox’s news post also mentions the showcase will cover additions to the Xbox Game Pass service. This will of course cover any and all first-party titles, but we may see some new announcements of popular games coming to the subscription service soon.

Using a VPN normally directs all your web traffic through a secure encrypted tunnel, protecting it from snoopers. But what if your VPN connection drops? Your device might switch to a less secure network, such as an insecure Wi-Fi hotspot, putting your data at risk – the same danger which persuaded you to sign up for a VPN in the first place.

A VPN kill switch detects a dropped VPN connection and immediately blocks your internet access, ensuring traffic never leaves your device unprotected. That’s the theory, at least. But does your app really deliver? You can begin to find out in just a couple of minutes.

The first step in running a simple kill switch test is to check the details of your regular internet connection (whatever you’ll use when the VPN is off).

Disconnect from your VPN and turn the kill switch off. If you don’t know where to do that, check the Settings panel: NordVPN has a Kill Switch section, ExpressVPN has a Network Lock option under the General tab.

Head to the Page Refresher website , a handy site which can automatically refresh your chosen URL at regular intervals.

Copy and paste http://ip-api.com/csv into the Page Refresher address box, and set the ‘Refresh page at every…‘ box to 1 second.

Click Start and Page Refresher opens a new browser tab with your current IP address and location, then refreshes it every second.

When you see these details in the Page Refresher window, you know your device is using your current unprotected internet connection. Use a VPN and its kill switch should prevent you from accidentally switching back to the connection, but is that what happens? Let’s see.

Turn your VPN kill switch back on, then choose a VPN location in another country (anywhere other than the country you’re in now), hit the Connect button, and watch the Page Refresher window. 

You’ll probably see error or ‘No Internet’ messages for a few seconds, but that often happens as network settings are updated. Once the VPN says it’s connected, wait a few seconds more, and the window should display your VPN’s IP address and location.

Are you ready to capture a rare ‘Blue Moon’ with two giant planets, then your own home galaxy? 

Both astrophotography and night-scape photography have boomed in recent years as camera sensors have gotten more sensitive and better at producing noise-free long exposure images using high ISOs. The pandemic has also caused a spike in interest in the night sky, with sales of telescopes skyrocketing.  

There’s something interesting to photograph in the sky every night, but the weekend of August 21-22, in particular, will have photographers out in force if skies are clear. The following week or so just happens to be the start of one of the best 10-night periods to capture our Milky Way galaxy arcing across the sky, too.

Here’s everything you need to know about when and how to photograph a ‘Blue Moon’ on its own, alongside Saturn and Jupiter, as well as the Milky Way in the coming nights and weeks.

When: Dusk on Saturday August 21 and Sunday August 22, 2021

Where to look: Southeast at dusk, southwest at dawn

At precisely 12:02 UTC on Sunday August 22 (that’s 8:02am EDT / 1:02pm BST / 10.02pm AEST), the Moon will be totally lit by the Sun. There’s a full Moon every 29 days, but that means, occasionally, there are four in the same season. That happens this summer, with the third (after June’s ‘Strawberry Moon’ and July’s ‘Buck Moon’) traditionally called a ‘Blue Moon.’ 

So, it won’t actually be blue? No! That would require a large volcano to have recently exploded and the atmosphere to be filled with fine ash – as in 1883 – but if you catch it at precisely the right time, it will instead be a beautiful muted orange. 

That time is, of course, the moment of moonrise, and this month there are two chances to catch it; dusk on Saturday August 21 and again on Sunday August 22. Check for the exact moonrise times for your location, but count on it being just after sunset on Saturday and about half an hour after sunset on Sunday.  

Get into position before time and set-up a tripod and camera in manual mode wearing a 70-300mm telephoto lens. That way, you’ll get the full Moon rising into shot behind, above or between trees, buildings or rooftops. Lookout for orangey moonlight becoming visible on the horizon just before it appears, or use the PhotoPills app’s AR mode overlay to see exactly where it will rise in your environment.