Skype Is Dead, Long Live Discord

I've used Skype for many years in order to communicate with friends. Text chat mostly, with some voice on occasion. I started to hate the direction Microsoft was taking Skype, with ads everywhere and a gross interface. Eventually I decided I'd had enough, and looked elsewhere. What I found isn't just a Skype alternative, it's much better. Let's make one thing clear, however. Discord is not the same as Skype. There is no video chat and it isn't aimed at just anyone. Discord advertises itself as a chat client for gamers.

If you're familiar with TeamSpeak, Discord is much like if TeamSpeak and Skype had a baby. Users don't have to pay for their own servers, yet there's powerful options for channels, roles, moderation, and aesthetics. Links can be embedded into the chat, so you can see a little preview of whatever the link has. If you send an image or gif, it is embedded into the chat as well. With the latest update, this is even true for YouTube and Vimeo videos. Some other nifty features include the ability to search for gifs on giphy and post them directly inside the client, custom role colors, Twitch integration, and more. Discord has been very punctual in responding to user requests and giving constant updates for the better.

Discord is also smooth and fast. Voice chat is high quality with automatic noise reduction and a whole slew of other improvements to voice quality. When updates are released, there is a non-obtrusive update icon at the top and clicking it simply relaunches with a new update. There are clients for Windows, OSX, iOS, Android, and even a web interface. 

The only reason I would even consider using Skype now is for video chat, but then again there is Google Hangouts for that. Discord makes it easy and enjoyable to talk to friends online. Discord is powerful, yet easy to use and get the hang of. If you're using Skype or any other service to communicate with your friends, especially if you're a gamer, consider switching to this amazing startup service that listens to its users.

Source: Discord

Nintendo's Situation: The Wii U Failure and App Announcement

Nintendo led the revolution in video games with the release of the NES in 1983. Since then, there's been many ups and downs for the company. Lately, however, Nintendo has been falling behind the competition. Xbox and Playstation lead in terms of users and developers. Today Nintendo announced details, albeit very few details, about its upcoming smartphone game. Is this a last resort on Nintendo's part to gain more revenue? Or is it a natural progression? Is it even a bad thing?


I'll start off by saying Nintendo isn't in danger of going out of business any time soon. From years of success the company has built up $10.5 billion in savings. They could take a $257 million loss every year and still be in business until 2075 through selling its intellectual property. But while Nintendo isn't in danger of going out of business, I can't help but want them to succeed.

Now, that isn't to say Nintendo doesn't deserve what it's getting at least a little bit. The Wii U isn't the best for third party developers. Naming it "Wii U" even though it's hardly related to the Wii at all makes it seem like outdated hardware instead of a new console. A lack of users created a lack of developers and ended up making an endless cycle that makes it really hard to want a Wii U. Thankfully, Nintendo does make some awesome games. Splatoon is a title I've been putting tons of hours into since this summer, all because Nintendo continued to update it at a steady rate. One game does not make up for the lack of third party developers, however. Nintendo has also been remaking its old titles lately instead of making new ones, with releases including Wind Waker HD, Ocarina of Time 3D, and Majora's Mask 3D. These kind of releases would be great if they were accompanied by new titles, but they're not. Consistently, at least.

Nintendo's announcement of a smartphone game today is only a natural step now that people aren't buying their consoles. Nintendo makes good games, but releasing them exclusively for their own consoles really limits their market. It may have worked before, but after Xbox and Playstation took over the market, there's no way Nintendo can keep up without major changes. They'll have to really grab developers attention with their next console, but in the meantime, a few apps for platforms people already have will get them some more revenue.

Sources: Wii U Daily, Engadget, Nintendo

What Can HTC Do to Not Become the next BlackBerry?

HTC's sales have taken a nosedive, and for good reason. HTC revolutionized what we can call a premium smartphone with the introduction of the all-metal HTC One M7 back in 2013. Unfortunately since then HTC has done everything but revolutionize. "If it ain't broken, don't fix it." is HTC's motto. The HTC One M8 and M9 have both been mild upgrades, with similar designs. Before the M9's release, leaked renders showed an amazing design upgrade. Everyone, myself included, was excited for this. Unfortunately it was dead wrong, the M9 ending up barely different aesthetically to the M8. I believe their lack of sales are due to an unwillingness to adapt to the changing smartphone market, similar to BlackBerry back in the day.

Leaked HTC One M9 renders which were dead wrong.

When HTC does choose to make some changes, they aren't good ones. HTC's flagships have been criticized for using experimental "ultrapixel" technology, which in the end delivered worse photos than traditional counterparts. Sense, HTC's skin over Android, has been updated with BlinkFeed, a sorry excuse for a news source plastered over your home screen. BlinkFeed even includes advertisements, which is ridiculous. What other trustworthy smartphone manufacturer has advertisements enabled by default on the homescreen?

The real HTC One M9.

Ultimately, HTC has to release something like the leaked M9 to gain back any footing in the smartphone industry that they've lost. They need to create a better interface which doesn't revolve around exploiting their customers for advertising, or better yet, adopt a stock-like feel like what Motorola has done. If HTC is really serious about gaining traction, they'll release a phone like this for a competitive price around the cost of a Huawei Nexus 6P. ($499) Otherwise, I just can't see HTC climbing its way back to the top.

Sources: Ars Technica, HTC

The Battle of Android Twitter Apps (Twitter v. Falcon Pro v. Fenix)

Twitter allows you to connect with friends and celebrities from all around the world in short bits at a time. Thankfully, you have choice in how you use it. Twitter offers an API, which is tech talk for something that allows third-party developers to tap into their platform. This API is what allows for many third party clients to prosper on Android.

Most Twitter users don't even know there's other Twitter apps. When I pull out my third-party app, most people are confused on how I'm using Twitter on such a different interface. The default Twitter app has some awesome features, such as "While you were away" which gives you the best tweets that happened while you weren't there, Highlights which does something similar, and the newly introduced Moments for news around the world. There's not much wrong with the default Twitter app, other than I feel it is pretty cluttered. What people you follow favorite is mixed in with your timeline along with ads. Notifications are a whole other screen away as opposed to a swipe away. There's little customization in the interface. All these things add up to something that is good, but not as good as it could be.

Falcon Pro 2 was famous for reaching Twitter's token limit, that is the amount of people allowed to use it according to Twitter, in a very short amount of time. Eventually, it had to shut down purely because of its sheer popularity not allowing the developer to add on new users. The tokens were reset many times, and eventually it was pulled off the Play Store. Fast forward a bit, and the developer releases Falcon Pro 3. I considered it the first material design Twitter app that worked fairly well. It was missing a lot at launch, but that was okay, because I expected it to be updated. It was, for a few months. Updates came in fairly regularly. But then the developer was hired by the Twitter for Android team themselves, and development pretty much ceased. Bugs wouldn't get fixed. Promised features took forever to add, if added at all. I was an avid user up until recently, when I decided to give Fenix another try.

I gave up Fenix for Falcon Pro 3 when material design became the standard. At the time, Fenix did not have material design yet. It was a must-have. Having gotten tired of Falcon Pro, I switched back a few days ago. It is now fully material, keeping many of the features from the original version. Unlike Falcon Pro, Fenix did not sacrifice functionality for material. Fenix is fully customizable with dark, light, and black themes, as well as many different accent colors. Fenix has a ton of other settings, so I encourage you to check it out. Swipe in from the right to tweet quickly, Tweet Marker saves your position across devices.

So in conclusion, I recommend Fenix completely. It was far ahead of pre-material apps, and now that it's material, there's nothing holding it back. It looks great, has awesome functions, and is completely customizable. Unfortunately, it is quite pricey at $5.49. You'd be best to wait for a sale or try to build up money using Google Opinion Rewards.

Image credit: Fenix for Twitter

YouTube Red: Greedy Only at First Glace

Yesterday Google announced a new service related to YouTube and music, called YouTube Red. YouTube Red is $9.99/mo for no ads on YouTube videos across devices, background playback on mobile, and the ability to save videos for viewing offline. What most people who have issue with it think is that $9.99/mo is very steep for what you get. That's understandable, except Google is downplaying the fact that it comes with a subscription to Google Play Music.

Google Play Music is a Spotify and Apple Music competitor I wrote about in my post The Battle of Online Music Streaming. Previously, Google Play Music subscribers had no ads exclusively on verified music videos. Background playback was promised, but it wasn't ever stable. With the introduction of YouTube Red, this only adds more value to Google Play Music. Personally, because I am a Play Music subscriber, I will get YouTube Red for free when it launches. That's incredibly generous of Google to combine them.

Google also announced the launch of the YouTube Music app, which isn't exclusive to Red subscribers. It's basically a YouTube app which is optimized for music and background playback. If you don't have a Red subscription, however, you will see ads before videos and videos will not play in the background.

If you aren't interested in a music service such as Google Play Music, $9.99/mo is definitely too much. Google should have branded YouTube Red and Google Play Music closer together in order to signify what a great deal you're getting having them both, as well as offer the option to get YouTube Red exclusively for a cheaper price. When Google puts them in their own separate packages, you're really only seeing half the deal on each website. It's incredibly bad marketing, but really great for users if you know what a good deal looks like. Hopefully this is just another step into offering a theorized "Google Unlimited" service, which would give access to music, books, videos, and maybe even apps all through a monthly price. While Google hasn't shown plans to unite all of these under one roof, having Play Music and YouTube Red subscriptions mirror each-other shows promise. Here's to hoping in the future Google expands on what Spotify started, with the idea of unlimited entertainment.

Image source: YouTube

Best Apps for Rooted Devices

Rooting your device can have a lot of upsides, including some amazing apps that aren't possible to use without root access. If you're curious about what rooting your device means, I've put up an Intro to Root post to introduce you to what it means to root. Click the name of any of the apps to be taken to their Google Play page or other place to download them. Some of these apps are paid, so if you're low on money, check out my latest tip about getting free Google Play credit.

AdAway

AdAway is a simple ad blocking app which modifies your device's host file. The host file decides what connections to let through and which to block. AdAway adds many popular ad hosting sites to this list, causing your device to not let the connection through. It's simple, effective, automatically updating, and easy.

CF.lumen

CF.lumen is an app made by the creator of SuperSU, Chainfire. If you've heard of f.lux on PC, this is a similar variant for Android. (Although I'd argue it has even more features and customization.) CF.lumen allows you to apply a reddish tint to your screen at certain times of the day, namely at night. This is useful because research shows that exposure to blue light before you try to go to sleep keeps you awake. Adding the red hue leads to better sleeping patterns. While there are many apps that have similar functionality, CF.lumen is the only f.lux-like app I've run across that allows you to take screenshots without also capturing the red hue. (Some drivers only.) CF.lumen is also Tasker compatible.

Tasker

I've talked extensively about Tasker in a previous post, but here's a quick rundown. Tasker allows you to fully automate most aspects of your device. It allows you to basically program new function into your device through a simple interface, and frankly, I couldn't live without it.

Greenify

Greenify aims to provide better battery life by hibernating apps in the background when you aren't using them. If an app such as Facebook causes your device to run slow or keeps your device awake, you can have Greenify automatically hibernate it, causing it to use much less battery life until you open it again.

Titanium Backup

Titanium Backup's interface may be a little outdated, but it still functions perfectly. The goal of Titanium Backup is to backup both your apps and your app's data, allowing you to restore them across ROM installs or resets. It has automatic backups to the cloud, certain tools for clearing app data and disconnecting/connecting apps to the Google Play store, and more.

Xposed Framework

The Xposed Framework doesn't provide any functionality on its own. It's a framework which allows other apps to do things otherwise impossible for them without it. It requires some pretty complicated installation on Android 5.0 and above, so read up if your device is compatible before you install. It opens the door to any of the apps below on this list. Apps below require Xposed to work or function fully.

[Xposed] Amplify

Amplify is a battery saving app similar to Greenify, except it works on a different scale. While Greenify hibernates specific apps, Amplify limits certain wakelocks. Apps cause wakelocks when they want to wake your device up from sleep to complete an action. Sometimes, wakelocks can go out of control, preventing your device from entering sleep and drastically lowering battery life. Amplify makes it so these wakelocks are limited or stopped completely.

[Xposed] GravityBox

GravityBox is a simple app which aims to tweak aspects of stock AOSP. If you have anything other than stock Android, it most likely will not work. GravityBox is famous for providing many of the same features of custom ROMs without the need to install a new ROM.

Quick Tip: Free Credit for Google Play

While you may pay $4.00 for coffee without thinking, paying $1.99 for an app seems a little steep in today's society. Thankfully, I haven't actually had to pay my own money for apps in a long time thanks to Google Opinion Rewards. Simply put, Google Opinion Rewards is an app directly made by Google, so you know it's trustworthy. It will ask you 1-5 question surveys that take less than a minute to complete every week or so. You'll just get a notification that there's a new survey available, and once completed, anywhere between $0.10 and $1.00 will be added to your Google Play balance. These add up fairly quickly, causing myself to not have paid for an app in months. Check it out!

Google Opinion Rewards


Image source: Droid Life

Net Neutrality: The What, Who, and Why?

In order to understand what a lack of net neutrality can do to society as a whole, I'll have to first explain what it is. To put simply, net neutrality is the concept of Internet service providers treating all content across the web equally. It's what keeps all websites running at nearly the same speed, as long as they keep their servers healthy. Without net neutrality, it's possible for us to see plans like the image I used above. The image is fake, thankfully, but it could be extremely possible if net neutrality isn't enforced.

Verizon and Comcast made headlines in 2014 for requiring Netflix to pay them in order to deliver their service at the same speed as the rest of the Internet. Verizon and Comcast's logic was that since Netflix is taking up so much of their bandwidth, Netflix should pay a fee in order to give it to customers at a fair rate. When you think about it, shouldn't Verizon and Comcast be happy that Netflix is giving them more business? If their customers want faster Internet to watch their Netflix shows, Verizon and Comcast will end up selling more plans, building faster lines, and making this better for everyone! The only problem is, big ISPs don't think that way. They'd rather sacrifice what's best for customers and small businesses in order to make more money. They control the roads that your data is travelling on, so they want to set up toll booths for certain websites. What happens when a Netflix competitor starts up and can't afford to pay ISPs to deliver their content at the same speed as Netflix? They'd lose all their business. Lack of net neutrality creates monopolies across the board.

Thankfully, net neutrality has been a major talking point in politics the past few years. Organizations like Fight for the Future aim to increase awareness and prevent bills violating net neutrality from being passed. Democrats such has Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been major supporters of net neutrality, aiming to increase regulation and set up stern rules which would outlaw violations. Unfortunately, not all politicians are in favor of this. Republican Ted Cruz has gone on record against net neutrality. On Facebook he said, "It puts the government in charge of determining Internet pricing, terms of service, and what types of products and services can be delivered, leading to fewer choices, fewer opportunities, and higher prices for consumers,"

"Net Neutrality" is Obamacare for the Internet; the Internet should not operate at the speed of government.

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) November 10, 2014

Throwing around anti-Democrat buzzwords such as "Obamacare for the Internet" just shows how ignorant he truly is about the subject. The government regulating what ISPs can do isn't going to limit choice or opportunities, it's going to increase them by letting small online businesses grow. Without it, we're going to allow major ISPs to become an even larger monopoly than they already are.

Sources: Time, CNBC, Verge

The Battle of Online Music Streaming (Spotify v. Apple Music v. Google Play)

If you love music like I do, then chances are you've looked into a service like Spotify. Spotify is definitely one of the most popular online music streaming services, but does that make it the best? I'm going to break down some top features of three different music streaming platforms and help you make the decision that helps you listen to the most music.

Starting with Spotify, Spotify pioneered the online streaming model as we know it today. Unlimited music for a monthly price wasn't always a common idea, many record labels refusing to let their music be a part of Spotify's library. Thankfully, as Spotify grew, record labels had less of a say in whether they should join up. Spotify has a free listening tier, meaning you can listen to as much music as you want with some restrictions and advertisements. Beyond that, like the two other competitors, the premium option is $9.99/mo. Spotify once had the largest library out of the competition, but thanks to the growing market and competition, that isn't as true anymore with all three competitors I'm talking about having about equal libraries; around 30 million songs. Some notable features Spotify has include the ability to match the pace of your running to the beat of a song, and listening synced across devices. Spotify does not do well with local files, however. To sync your files it must download them from one device to another. There is no online streaming of local files.

When Apple Music was announced, many considered it the "Spotify killer." After all, why would you use Spotify when you have a built-in app on your phone that does the exact same thing? With Apple's music connections, it wasn't too hard to create a service that rivals Spotify. Apple Music does basically the same thing as Spotify, with the inclusion of Beats One radio and the fact that it syncs with your iTunes library. Apple Music has a 3 month free trial, but beyond that it's $9.99/mo.

Personally, I choose Google Play Music over all the competition. While "Google Play Music Unlimited" may not roll off the tongue, it is definitely the best option in my opinion. Mood radio, material design, an amazing web interface, and the ability to upload your own songs all make for the best overall experience. You can also re-arrange your queue of songs, see what's coming up, and share playlists. The best feature for me is the ability to upload up to 50,000 of your own songs to Google's servers to listen to anywhere. So if a song isn't in their library, you can upload it yourself and listen to it on the web, your phone, and anywhere else. Google Play Music allows free users to upload their own music and listen to radio stations for free. Unlimited, which unlocks the whole library, is $9.99/mo.

So just because Spotify is the most popular doesn't mean it's the best. If the features like running sync matter to you, it may be. But if being able to upload your own music is more important, Google Play or Apple Music would be the best for you.

Apple's MacBook 2015: What Were They Thinking?

Apple hoped to make a splash in the laptop market this year with the introduction of the new MacBook. Not Air or Pro, just "Macbook." Unfortunately for Apple, they cut all the wrong corners in order to make it seem better than it actually is. This makes sense for Apple's core audience, as most Apple users don't care about the specifications of what they're buying. All they know is that it's made by Apple, has Apple software, and it works.

I'll start off with what they compromised in order to get a thinner design. Apple chose to use an Intel Core M CPU, which is basically a tablet CPU. It has low power consumption, meaning longer battery life, but it has bad performance. The same can be said about its graphics card, again sacrificing performance for battery life and thinness. Other bad specifications is a 480p webcam, which is completely undesired in a modern laptop in the age of FaceTime and Skype.

But one of the absolute worst decisions with Apple's new MacBook is the choice to only include one port. That's right. One. For charging, data transfer, everything. If you want to charge your MacBook and use a USB drive at the same time, you're going to need a large, clunky adapter to do both. No CD drive is understandable to save space, but there is no excuse for not including at least one more port on the opposite side. On the bright side, Apple chose to use USB 3.1, a new industry standard which offers for faster data transfer. If only Apple would have added more than one.

Apple sacrificed performance and usability in the hopes that its new MacBook's thinness and style will convince its users to buy it. They're probably right. All these issues could be forgiven, if the new MacBook didn't cost as much as a MacBook Pro, which has much better specs for the exact same price. So if you are thinking about getting a MacBook, do yourself a favor and buy the MacBook Pro. It may not be quite as thin, or quite as stylish, but it'll last much longer and do your tasks much more efficiently.

Image source: Twitter @MKBHD

Top 6 Features of Android 6.0 Marshmallow

Android Marshmallow began rolling out yesterday to select Nexus devices, and while most devices won't be getting it right away, if you're an avid Android user it's bound to end up in your hands someday. Consider Android 6.0 a polished Lollipop. It doesn't have any drastic changes to the interface, but it polishes it and adds much needed features.

6. Smarter expandable storage.
SD cards to expand the storage on your device are perfect if you have the chance to use them. Unfortunately, Android handled external and internal storage differently. There was confusion of moving apps to and from external and internal storage, making it extremely difficult to use correctly. Marshmallow introduces Flex Storage, which basically allows your expandable storage to do what it should. Expand on internal storage. It acts just as if you would tack on a few extra gigabytes to your device's storage.

5. App backup and restore.
Lollipop had some great improvements to allow you to pick up a new device and re-download your apps automatically from the last one. Marshmallow takes things a step farther. Android 6.0 automatically backs up your apps as well as their data, and allows you to restore them across devices or ROMs. This means that your high score on your favorite game will be saved, as well as your login details for Twitter.

4. Fingerprint and USB-C support.
Following in the steps of Apple and Samsung, Google has finally embraced the use of fingerprint sensors officially in Android. With this, this opens up fingerprint technology to many manufacturers who don't have the resources to develop their own fingerprint software. Along with this, Google added USB-C support, meaning USB-C cables can now be used officially in Android. USB-C cables are reversible, with much faster connection and charging rates.

3. Permissions overhaul.
Android permissions have had problems since their conception. Why should this calculator app need access to my contacts and camera? Google hopes to address this issue in Android 6.0. Marshmallow lets you edit permissions individually for apps without breaking the whole thing. And until an app explicitly asks to use some permissions—like the camera—through a pop-up, the app will not have access to it. Say goodbye to the days of confusing app permissions!

2. Battery improvements.
Doze and App Standby aim to greatly increase battery life. Doze mode senses when you aren't using your device through a combination of sensors and automatically puts your apps into a deep sleep. You don't miss out on notifications, but this drastically increases standby battery life. App Standby is a per-app setting comparable to the Greenify app. This causes apps that you haven't used in days to automatically be hibernated unless something important wakes them up, or you launch them. If you haven't used Facebook in a week, it probably shouldn't be eating up your battery in the background.

1. Now on Tap.
Just when we thought Google's takeover of Android was slowing down, here we see it escalating. Google Now on Tap allows Google's famous search assistant to read over whatever is on your screen and give you relevant information. So if you get a text asking you if you want to meet at Olive Garden, you can hold your home button and Google will give you reviews, opening times, locations, and more about the nearest Olive Garden to you. Other improvements to Google Now allow other apps to tap into Google voice search and ask follow-up questions. For example, I could say "Ok Google, listen to Spotify." and Google would respond with, "Alright. What would you like to listen to?" assuming Spotify has support for this.

Google has really decided to up its game with useful and original upgrades to Lollipop without drastically changing the experience. I consider Android 6.0 one of the best upgrades Android has had in awhile.

Image source: Android

iOS v. Android Fanboyism: Apple and Google's Audiences, Goals, and Values

We all know of those people who say iPhones suck, or that Android sucks and iPhones are way better in every way. This isn't true at all. Neither sides paint the full picture. To understand both sides of the argument, you have to understand the pros and cons of both sides as well as what both sides' goals are.

Apple and Google have completely different methods of obtaining profit. Apple is primarily a hardware company, meaning they obtain their profit from selling iPhones, Macs, etc. On the other side of the coin, Google is primarily a software and advertising company. They make their money from the most possible people using their software, collecting data, and selling advertisements. What does this have to do with iOS v. Android? Well, many of the arguments against Apple is that iOS is such a closed system and they never release any of their apps for Android. Reason being, they want people to buy their products for their OS. If they released iMessage for Android, they would lose a lot of money due to people no-longer buying their hardware to use it. Google, on the other hand, releases almost all their apps for iOS and Android because they want people using their software to sell ads. Both companies have different business models, so it's unfair to dock either side for what they choose to do in that department.

Customization is also a major talking point, but again, both companies have different audiences. Apple focuses on the common user, making iOS less customizable, but at the same time easier to use. Android tries to strike more of a balance between customization and simplicity, but ends up missing the common user at some points.

Being locked inside a certain ecosystem can cause users to refuse to change sides. For example, iOS users use iMessage, iCloud, iTunes, etc. and there is no way they're going to just abandon all that to try something new because some random person on the Internet told them to. Android users are ingrained in Google's ecosystem as well. Neither side is going to get the other side to change their opinion if they're already ingrained in the OS.

So next time you see an iOS user that refuses to acknowledge Android as a legitimate option, or vise-versa, remember that you probably aren't going to change their mind and it's just a waste of time to argue with them. iOS and Android both have their respective audiences and goals, so who cares what anyone else uses as long as you can still use your preferred option?

Image source: ThinkApps

[Root] Tasker Tutorial: Automate Your Device

If you're a root user, Tasker is definitely one of the apps you should be taking advantage of. Tasker is an app that in simple terms, tells your phone to automate certain things. This is extremely useful with infinite possibilities. Currently, I have Tasker profiles to turn my notifications off if my phone is in proximity to school WiFi, make notifications priority mode when my phone is face-down, turn auto-rotate on when in certain apps like YouTube or Gallery, auto-connect my VPN, and more.

Tasker is currently $2.99 on the Play Store, but it's quite a deal for what it does.

So you can see why Tasker is such a big deal for a phone of mine. It's gotten to the point where I'd consider it one of the best reasons to root your device. With Tasker, you can tell your device if "this" happens, then do "that."

I'm going to explain how to make your device silent when in proximity to a certain WiFi network. Once you open Tasker, hit the + button on the bottom-right corner. Select "State" > "Net" > "WiFi Near." You should be met with a screen to edit this state. This is the "this" action, meaning that Tasker is waiting for this to happen before it preforms the next action. In the text field called SSID, put the exact name of the WiFi network you wish to be silent around. If you want to put multiple WiFi networks, separate them with a forward-slash. ("School WiFi/Work WiFi") Once you're done with that, hit the back button. A screen should pop up with a "New Task" option. The task is the "that" action, meaning once "this" happens, the task will happen. Tap New Task, then name it "Mute." Click the + on the bottom, go to "Audio" > "Notification Volume" and set the level to zero. Go back, and do the same for alarm volume or media volume if you wish. Finally, if you're on Android 5.0 or above, add "Interrupt Mode" and change it to either "None" or "Priority" depending on how many notifications you want to get through. If you're on Lollipop you should be familiar with these settings. Lastly, go back to the profiles screen and hold down on the profile you made. Press the settings icon at the top and make sure the "Restore Settings" option is checked. This causes the changes you've made through the task to be reversed if you are no longer near that WiFi.

And you're done! Now that you've made one Tasker profile, it should be fairly easy to create more. Explore all the options for profiles and tasks and think about some things you do every day that could be automated. It takes a bit to set up and understand how to use it, but in the end it saves a lot of time and hassle.