We may earn a commission from links on this page.It's amazing how many problems can be solved with good sleep hygiene. If you often feel low on energy, one of the first things you should ask yourself is how much sleep you're getting. Good sleep also helps our overall health, our recovery from exercise, our ability to focus, and more. And while there are plenty of gadgets and biohacks that claim to help, the fundamentals of sleep hygiene are basic and simple. How to know if you need more sleepMost adults need seven to nine hours of sleep, on average, each night. This varies: Uou might be a seven-hour person or a nine-hour person. (Young people usually need even more; older adults may be okay with less.) So if you’re feeling tired all the time, an easy gut check is to note how much time you spend in bed, on average. If it's fewer than seven hours, it's probably not enough. And even if it's within that seven- to nine-hour window, try getting an extra hour or two of sleep for a few days in a row. If you feel a lot better, you have your answer. If you have trouble waking up on time but easily fall asleep when you’re sitting quietly (like watching a movie), that's another sign you're probably not getting enough sleep. If you sleep in when you get the chance, your wake-up time is another hint. If you sleep in two hours or more past your normal time, that's your body applying a short-term fix (getting enough sleep now) to a long-term problem (chronically getting too little sleep). If you know you should sleep more, but you can’t seem to figure out how, below are the basics of sleep hygiene you need to master.Stick to a sleep scheduleSet a wake-up time that you can stick to every day. Consistency is important here: don’t set the alarm for 6 a.m. on weekdays and sleep until noon on weekends. If you can’t be perfectly consistent—for example, if you work different shifts—adjust as needed, but try to do your best. Next comes setting a bedtime. Figure out what time you need to hit the hay to get enough sleep before your alarm goes off. Then work backward from that to figure out when to start changing into jammies and whatever else your nighttime routine involves. (More on that routine below.)Crucial to both steps is prioritizing sleep so you can actually get yourself on schedule. If you’ve been having trouble getting enough sleep lately, give yourself a week or two to make your bedtime and wake-up time (and nine or so hours in between) the highest priority appointments in your calendar. Don’t go out too late, and don’t stay up revenge procrastinating. There will be time for occasional indulgences once your everyday schedule is more consistent. Include these four things in your bedtime routineOkay, so what goes into that routine? Feel free to personalize the specific, but sleep experts recommend that you include the following as basic building blocks: At least 30 minutes dedicated to winding down. Don’t expect to switch off the lights and instantly be able to zonk out.No screens right before bedtime. No, not even with blue-blocking glasses. Those glasses don’t actually block very much blue light anyway. Videos and social media keep your brain awake and unrelaxed, so they don’t really have a place in your wind-down time anyway. Dim the lights. A cool, dark bedroom makes it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep. Do something relaxing. Read a chill book. Take a luxurious bath. Do some breathing exercises. Whatever works for you. Sticking to this routine not only helps you get into a relaxed mood for sleeping, it also helps you stick to that sleep schedule you set in the first step. After all, you can't be halfway through a movie at 10 p.m. if you refrained from starting it at 9 p.m.Set your body clock during the daySleep and darkness aren't the only things that set your body's circadian rhythms. Daytime activities help to keep your internal clock on track, and these can help your overall health as well.Get plenty of sunlight in the morning. (In the winter, a light box may help.) Exercise during the day. You can combine this with sunlight by going for a morning or lunchtime walk. But any type of exercise will help you to sleep better. Eat meals during the day. We sleep best when we eat during the daytime; if a nice early breakfast fits your schedule, consider making it a regular thing. But at the very least, don’t eat right before bed. Avoid caffeine and alcohol in the eveningsCaffeine keeps you up, and its effects linger longer than you may realize. Caffeine has a half-life of five hours, with some of us processing it a little faster or a little slower. To put this another way, If the average person has a 250-milligram cup of coffee at noon (such as a Starbucks Tall sized brewed coffee), they'll still have about 125 milligrams in their system at 5 p.m. and 63 milligrams at 10 p.m.The speed with which we break down caffeine varies from person to person, but in general: It’s affecting you more than you realize. If you think of yourself as a person who “can have an energy drink and then fall right to sleep” you are probably (a) in denial—hey, you’re the one who clicked on an article about getting better sleep—and/or (b) you have built up a massive caffeine tolerance because you drink so much of the stuff to stay awake, which in turn is because you don’t get enough sleep so you’re tired all the time. Do yourself a favor and break the cycle. An easy way to back off is to give yourself a cutoff time. No caffeine after 5 p.m., let’s say. Once that’s part of your routine, walk it back to 2 p.m. or noon. Alcohol is another chemical that affects our sleep. A nightcap before bed may make you feel sleepy, but it tends to disrupt the quality of your sleep. If you aren’t convinced, just start keeping a sleep diary—on paper is fine if you don’t have a sleep-tracking gadget—and see if you don’t get more and better sleep on the nights you don’t drink.Make your bedroom a dark little caveA welcoming, cozy bed will help you get to sleep faster. Make it dark, with blackout curtains or an eye mask, if needed. Make it quiet, with a white noise machine or earplugs if you can’t completely silence your surroundings. And make it a comfortable temperature. Most people prefer a cool environment—usually around 66 degrees—but again, this varies from person to person.Comfortable sheets and pillows can help. If you’re always tossing and turning, try to figure out if there’s something that physically bothers you. A new mattress might not be in the budget, but a mattress topper or a different pillow is an easy fix.ExperimentWhile the tips here are the basic things you should at least try, you may not need every single aspect to be textbook. I freeze if my room is set to 66 degrees, for example, so I keep the thermostat a tick warmer and I make sure I always have a warm duvet, even in summertime. You may find that you can bend certain rules but not others. I always have a crappy night’s sleep if I’ve been drinking, but late meals don’t bother me much. Once you’re getting a solid night’s sleep on the regular, you can start playing with the routine. And if you’re doing everything you can for good sleep hygiene and you still feel tired all the time, consider seeking medical help in case you have sleep apnea or another condition that could be affecting your sleep or energy levels.

Intel is selling off its majority share in chip-maker Altera as part of its new CEO's first steps toward stabilizing the company. The 51 percent stake sold today for $4.46 billion in a deal that is expected to close in the second half of this year. "Today's announcement reflects our commitment to sharpening our focus, lowering our expense structure and strengthening our balance sheet," CEO Lip-Bu Tan said of the sale. Altera makes field programmable gate array chips, which are often used to power retro gaming hardware such as the Analogue consoles. The company's other products have applications ranging from military to telecom sectors. Intel acquired Altera in 2015 for a hefty $16.7 billion, which means its current valuation has taken quite a dive since that purchase. However the sale should still provide some cash flow to Intel at a critical juncture. Tan was appointed Intel's CEO in March, following the departure of Pat Gelsinger as the company's top exec. He is expected to help change course for the company following a long string of poor decisions, and from the start of his appointment, it seemed likely that Intel would see some streamlining of its business.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/intel-is-selling-off-a-majority-stake-in-chip-maker-altera-for-446-billion-205015269.html?src=rss

xAI is adding a memory featur to Grok.

The 33 billion won figure was about a quarter more than the 26 trillion committed last year.

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. April is Earth Month and that means all I want to do is talk about plastic.  Last August, I learned of a new study that revealed that the human brains studied were nearly 0.5% plastic by weight. Let that sink in. Plastic has infiltrated our bodies so thoroughly that it’s likely now a measurable part of our minds. Shouldn’t our brains just be, well, brain matter? How did we get here?  For decades, we’ve been misled about plastic. Those blue recycling bins and chasing-arrow symbols gave us the illusion that the plastic we use is being recycled and repurposed. In reality, only 5-6% of plastic in the U.S. is actually recycled, depending on the municipality. The rest? Some of it is incinerated, releasing harmful emissions into the atmosphere. The majority is either buried in landfills or, worse, left to break down into microplastics and nanoplastics that now contaminate our environment—and our bodies. And even that small percentage of plastic that does get recycled? After just one or two cycles, it, too, ends up as waste.  But the crisis isn’t just environmental anymore—it’s personal. Plastic pollution is now a major concern for our human health. Microplastics haven’t just been found in our brains; they’ve been found in our blood, breast milk, placentas, testicles, and arteries. These aren’t harmless splinters floating through our systems—they’re petrochemical-based materials that can leach toxins into our bodies, potentially increasing risks for serious health issues like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.   Recycling isn’t the answer  When I decided to join Grove Collaborative, I had just read a book by William McCaskill that highlighted the importance of long-termism—how we should aspire to make decisions that are not just right today, but for future generations. This becomes more acute in parenthood (I’m a lucky father of three), where I quickly realized it’s not about me and us, but about kids—mine and others’—and future generations.   We are surrounded by plastic, a petrochemical product that never biodegrades and instead breaks down into microplastics that live inside all of us—forever! As a business leader, I also feel an immense responsibility. The consumer products industry that I’m part of helped create this problem. For years, businesses assured consumers that plastic was fine and that recycling would solve the issue. But now we know that assurance turned out to be a lie.  So what do we do now?  A path forward  First, we need to educate ourselves and others. The more we understand about how plastic affects our planet and our personal health, the more we can push for change. As each study comes out, we learn more about the impact of microplastics on our environment, but also our own health. Scientists, journalists, and researchers are increasingly sounding the alarm. Now it’s time for businesses and consumers alike to listen.  Second, we must reduce our plastic consumption wherever possible. While going 100% plastic-free is nearly impossible (believe me, we’ve tried at Grove Collaborative), striving for progress rather than perfection is key. Small, mindful choices add up. When shopping for personal care, cleaning supplies, or food storage, opt for refillable or reusable formats, concentrated formulas, or materials with higher recycling rates, such as aluminum, glass, bamboo, or paper. Lean into the circular economy and repurpose items where you can by thrifting or shopping with Goodwill or ThredUp, and avoid companies like Temu and Shein that push fast fashion and consumerism.  However, let’s be clear: This crisis cannot be solved by individuals alone. Industry must step up.  As CEO of Grove Collaborative, I’m proud to lead a company committed to offering sustainable everyday essentials. Since our founding, we’ve focused on creating and curating brands that go beyond the norm—products are better for the planet without sacrificing performance. We’ve championed plastic reduction initiatives, but our mission is evolving. Packaging matters, but what’s inside the packaging matters just as much.  We’ve long held ourselves to a higher standard when it comes to both ingredients and materials. Now, we’re deepening our commitment to educating consumers on why both are crucial—not just for environmental sustainability, but for human health as well.  This approach goes against conventional business wisdom. The old saying goes, “You need to walk the walk before you talk the talk.” Too often, businesses master the art of talking without truly walking. We need more companies to be transparent—not just about their sustainability claims but about their actual impact. Consumers deserve to know what’s in their products, how they’re made, and the consequences of their production choices.  This is not about corporate altruism. It’s about business—and the future of it. Millions of consumers are actively seeking healthier, more sustainable alternatives. The market is demanding change.  We’re ready to meet that demand. Will you join us?  Jeff Yurcisin is CEO of the Grove Collaborative. 

It’s 2025 and most of the tech around us is truly wireless. We can share audio wireless, we transmit internet wirelessly, we even charge wirelessly. But we’re still slaves to the HDMI cable – sure, there’s really no problem streaming video wirelessly, but casting is fundamentally broken. As someone who used Chromecast for the longest time, it was frustratingly slow with input/output lag that I could literally measure myself. That was years ago and casting today still remains fairly clunky – although the folks at TobenONE could be sitting on something fairly revolutionary – lag-free wireless HDMI transmission. Imagine this – you plug a transmitter into your iPad, a receiver into a monitor, and boom, you’ve got a secondary display that works as buttery smooth as if it were connected by an invisible HDMI cable. The TobenONE T1 connects to input devices via USB-C, so it works with your laptop, tablet, phone, even your handheld gaming console, giving you an instant connection to a nearby external display. However, it doesn’t limit itself to just being an HDMI transmitter – the TobenONE T1 works as a 6-in-1 multiport hub too, letting you charge devices, transfer data, and stream wirelessly, whether it’s a presentation at work, or just wanting to beam TikTok from your phone onto your TV. Designer: TobenONE Click Here to Buy Now: $99 $179 (44% off) Hurry! Only 16 Days Left The TobenONE T1 is about ruthless efficiency. Need to throw your laptop screen onto a projector across the room without crawling under a table with an HDMI cable in your mouth? Done. Thanks to built-in 5G Wi-Fi, the T1 transmits video and audio wirelessly up to 30 meters away, delivering a 1080p 60Hz signal with surprising stability. And for when you crave pixel perfection, the receiver actually works as an HDMI cable too, allowing you to simply connect it to the transmitter for native 4K at 60Hz through a wired connection. This thing handles both modes on command with a one-click switch that actually works as promised—white LED for wireless, green for wired. Simple, decisive, and more responsive than most coworkers in a Zoom meeting. What TobenONE has pulled off here is a kind of hybrid we rarely see in the accessories world—a dual-mode tool that doesn’t feel like it was compromised by the ambition of trying to be both. Wireless projection is buttery smooth, and the HDMI output through hub mode looks as sharp as you’d expect from a 4K 60Hz signal. You could run a Netflix binge, share a Figma prototype, or throw up a real-time DaVinci Resolve preview—all without stutters or sync issues. It even shrugs off minor latency concerns that plague similar wireless solutions, thanks to a hardware-level SoC video processor optimized for the job. Of course, “hub” means you’re getting more than just display mirroring. The T1 packs two USB-C ports, a USB-A 3.0 port (because some of us still use flash drives), a 100W PD 3.0 charging port, and the aforementioned HDMI. The USB ports push data at up to 5Gbps, which is fast enough to dump your entire photo library into an SSD before your coffee gets cold. The power delivery deserves its own ovation—100 watts of juice through the USB-C port is no joke. It’ll charge your MacBook Pro while simultaneously running external displays and transferring files, without blinking. The design itself is slick, intuitive, and massively reduces both visual and hardware clutter. The entire thing is a single black box with a one-button interface, making using it foolproof. A polymer shell with a tactile matte-gloss combo finish that resists fingerprints better than some phones. Smartly placed ventilation holes boost heat dissipation by 50%, making this one of the rare performance-forward hubs that doesn’t overheat halfway through a project deadline. But where T1 really earns its stripes is how seamless it feels. The pairing between the transmitter and receiver is pre-configured at the factory. No apps. No QR code dance. No desperate forum dives at 11 p.m. Just plug, press, and go. Even the initial sync, which takes a modest 5–10 seconds, gets cut down to near-instant speeds with each subsequent use. It’s clearly built for people who move fast—designers shifting between workstations, marketers pitching from laptops, educators sharing content on classroom screens. And despite its portability, it doesn’t cut corners on performance. That blend of mobility and muscle is rare, especially in a segment littered with undercooked gimmicks pretending to be productivity tools. The T1 hub starts at $99, an impressive 50% off from its original $179 price tag. It includes the transmitter itself, which serves as the 6-in-1 hub and a receiver for plugging into your HDMI-enabled external device. The receiver works as an HDMI cable too in a pinch, which means you don’t really need any extra cables, dongles, peripherals cluttering your desk or your life. Click Here to Buy Now: $99 $179 (44% off) Hurry! Only 16 Days LeftThe post RIP HDMI Cables – This 6-in-1 Wireless HDMI Transmitter Hub Lets You Stream Video Wirelessly first appeared on Yanko Design.

Assembling a computer yourself is a good way to learn how they work.

Macworld There’s been organizational turmoil lately at Apple’s Vision Products Group, which created the Vision Pro headset. Following the completion of that project, the group was essentially disbanded as a coherent body, with constituent parts reshuffled under other reporting lines within the company. Vision boss Mike Rockwell took over the Siri brief from John Giannandrea, while the group’s hardware and software engineers are now spread out across multiple teams. All this change might seem disruptive, and has reportedly led to fears of layoffs, but Apple is keeping its Vision-focused employees busy. And in the latest installment of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman reveals that the team is still working on not one but two new headsets to follow up on Vision Pro’s critical success but commercial failure. The first is an obvious attempt to address the two obstacles preventing Vision Pro from achieving widespread adoption: its high price tag and substantial physical bulk. “The new plan is to release a model that makes the headset both lighter and cheaper,” Gurman writes, noting that the first-gen Vision Pro version weighs almost 1.5 pounds and has received almost universal criticism about neck strain. He doesn’t explain how Apple will make the device lighter, though it will presumably turn to a different material than the original model’s aluminum frame or cut down on the size. He also fails to share details on how the price will come down, particularly in light of the current tariff turmoil. These, then, are obvious upgrades Apple was always going to attempt if it went ahead with plans for a sequel to Vision Pro. A more interesting prediction is Gurman’s claim that a second headset will be designed specifically for use with a Mac. “In January, I reported that Apple had scrapped work on augmented reality glasses that would tether to a Mac. Instead, it’s now working on a Vision Pro that plugs into a Mac,” he explains. “The idea is to create an ultra-low-latency system for streaming a user’s Mac display or for connecting to high-end enterprise applications. Some customers have been using the Vision Pro for things like viewing imaging during surgery or for flight simulators. Those are two areas where a user would want the least amount of lag possible–something that can’t be guaranteed by a fully wireless system.” Apple already offers a feature that lets Vision Pro users wirelessly access their Mac’s display wirelessly, though the problems above have limited its success. However, a headset designed to plug into a Mac would likely be significantly cheaper and lighter and could be marketed as a pro accessory rather than a high-priced standalone item. Ultimately, Gurman insists, Apple wants to create its long-awaited augmented-reality glasses, with an extremely low weight and discreet profile. He notes that Tim Cook is “hell-bent on creating an industry-leading product before Meta can,” but it’s still “many years” from launch. However, the two headsets currently in development could serve as a useful stopgap before the company gets there.

Microsoft has released emergency patches to fix an apparent reporting error in Active Directory (AD) Group Policy, which allows administrators to manage and configure user and computer settings in Windows. The company reported in a Microsoft 365 message center update that the status of local audit logon/logoff policies might be incorrectly displayed, with audits showing as not occurring when they were actually running in the background. The issue is occurring across various Windows and Windows Server versions, including Windows 11. The out-of-band (OOB) updates only need to be installed by impacted organizations, and can be downloaded and installed from the Microsoft Update Catalog. “The issue is that the setting to audit logon and logoff events may be disabled (set to ‘no auditing’) and yet still produce log entries for events of this type,” explained Fred Chagnon, principal research director at Info-Tech Research Group. “These events are triggered by users or devices authenticating to the local Active Directory when joining the domain.” Potentially confusing reports Out-of-band updates address urgent issues outside of regular release cycles, often for security or other critical issues. They require manual download and installation because they do not impact all users. The AD Group Policy inconsistency is visible in the Local Group Policy Editor (where administrators manage policy settings on a local computer) and Local Security Policy (where administrators manage security settings on individual computers). The ‘audit logon events’ policy setting allows system administrators to track logon and logoff events and create new entries in audit logs that register all user and service activities. It is typically used in security and compliance scenarios. The issue is that ‘audit logon events’ is set to ‘no auditing’ even if audits are indeed running in the background. In the this case, “the downstream effect is potentially confusing reports where such events are displayed alongside other more interesting events, despite an administrator’s attempt to filter them out,” said Chagnon. “Or that the setting merely appears disabled when it is actually acting as enabled.” Last Friday, Microsoft released updates to address the glitch: Windows 11, versions 23H2 and 22H2 (KB5058919) Windows Server 2022 (KB5058920) Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019 and Windows Server 2019 (KB5058922) Windows 10 LTSB 2016 and Windows Server 2016 (KB5058921) Azure Stack HCI, version 22H2 (KB5058920)

The Anker Solix C1000X is a capable portable power station for emergencies, but price and noise could be barriers to purchase.Anker Solix C1000XAnker stands out as one of the leaders of the home energy industry. Thanks chiefly to its wide range of products for every potential need, including charging electronics and portable power stations.With a reputation for quality and efficiency, Anker actively tries to push the boundaries of its approach to energy. It has a track record of consistently creating smaller, more powerful, quiet, and cost-effective options for home, campsite, and worksite. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums