If you're looking for a new show to watch this week, the vast landscape of streaming networks will provide plenty. So if someone tries to tell you "there's nothing good on," tell them they're a liar, because there's a lot. There's a new season of Rob Lowe's family comedy Unstable. There's crime-solving show A Good Girls Guide to Murder. There's a new animated Batman cartoon, new Futurama episodes, new Unsolved Mysteries, and more.Unstable, season 2 Unstable's first season earned fans' loyalty for its mix of family comedy and scathing satire, and now Rob Lowe and his real-life son John Owen Lowe are returning for a second season of workplace comedy. They play fictional father and son Ellis and Jackson Dragon. Ellis is a bio-tech billionaire genius who can't keep his shit together, and his son is the only thing that grounds him, but Jackson just wants to play his flute. If you missed season one, don't sleep on season two.Where to stream: NetflixCowboy Cartel This Apple TV+ original docuseries details the connection between horse racing and Mexican drug cartels by telling the story of FBI agent Scott Lawson. Lawson spearheaded an ambitious operation that took down the heads of the brutal Los Zetas cartel by following the money. It led from a successful horse racing concern directly to the most violent drug cartel on earth. Where to stream: Apple TV+Good Girl's Guide to Murder This Netflix original series is a modern take on a classic formula: a plucky, precocious teen sets out to solve a mystery. Emma Myers, who you might remember as Wednesday Addams werewolf roommate in Wednesday, plays wannabe detective Pip Fitz-Amobi, a character created by YA novelist Holly Jackson in the book upon which this series is based. If you like Nancy Drew, but feel like it's a little old fashioned, check out A Good Girls Guide to Murder.Where to stream: NetflixUnsolved Mysteries,Volume 4 The first three seasons of Netflix's revival of Unsolved Mysteries are excellent. Netflix hasn't released a ton of details about volume four yet, but if previous seasons are any indication, it will feature a mixture of unexplained deaths, strange disappearances, paranormal activity, UFOs, and other "what the hell?" content presented in a thorough, thoughtful way.Where to stream: NetflixFuturama, season 12 Matt Groening and David X. Cohen's iconic sci-fi cartoon Futurama is back this month for a 12th season, with 10 new episodes coming. Fry, Bender, Leela, and everyone else will be back to discover the secret of Bender's ancestors, learn the story behind coffee, and make sardonic jokes about the present even though it takes place in the year 3,000 or so. If you've never seen Futurama, you'll have nearly all month to catch up on the previous 12 seasonsthey're also available on Hulu.Where to steam: HuluBatman: Caped Crusader, Season 1 The newest animated iteration of Batman was produced by Matt Reeves, J.J. Abrams, and Bruce Timms, so I have high hopes. Caped Crusader is a family-friendly Batman series, so gather the kidsbut that doesn't mean there won't be serious action and thrills as Batman faces off against Clayface, Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and a female version of The Penguin.Starts streaming August 1.Last week's picksTime Bandits I'm a huge fan of 1981's Time Bandits. Terry Gilliam's hallucinogenic movie about a gang of thieves who travel through time thanks to a temporal wormhole in a little boy's closet is a rip-roaring adventure that's ostensibly for children but isn't afraid to be brutal and cynical. Whether 2024's Time Bandits comes close to the mad genius of Gilliam's vision is an open questions, but it was created by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi and stars Lisa Kudrow, so I'm going to give it the benefit of the doubt. If it doesn't work out, the original is streaming on Max. Where to stream: Apple TV+The Decameron If you like unconventional comedy, check out The Decameron. Loosely based on Giovanni Boccaccios The Decameron, published in the 14th Century, this Netflix period comedy is set in Florence, Italy, in 1348 among a rag-tag group of nobles and their servants who are camped out in an opulent villa as the plague rages outside. To pass the time, they tell each other stories that range from from touching to ribald, while the social order descends into chaos. Seems relatable. Netflix describes it as "Like Love Island, but Back in the Day," and that's enough for me to give it a watch.Where to stream: Netflix2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony I'd like to find the pageantry of Olympics opening ceremonies ridiculoushow dumb that we pretend these little games mean something in our fractured and treacherous world?but every four years, my cynicism fails and I start to believe in the unifying power of athletic competition and a world where we settle our differences through breakdancing and men's artistic swimming. At least for as long as the ceremonies go on. (And that's a long time!)Where to stream: PeacockOlympic Highlights with Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson Speaking of the Olympics, if you think the reverence and weightiness of traditional Olympics coverage is a little much, check out Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson's highlights streaming throughout the Olympics. This talk-show style stream will feature recaps of the best moments of the games and, if all goes well, many funny jokes.Where to stream: PeacockDirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam Lou Pearlman, the impresario behind The Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, and Britney Spears might not have been a super honest guyshocking, I know. Dirty Pop details how Pearlman changed music while building his personal empire, and doesn't shy away from the dark side of the business of fame, power, and exploiting talented young artists.Where to stream: Netflix

August is not the greatest month for original and new-to-streaming content on Max, but there are a few new and notable movies and shows coming to the platform. The one I'm most excited about (and it's not even close) is Chimp Crazy, an HBO original documentary about Tonia Haddix, the Dolly Parton of chimps," and her battle against the authorities on behalf of her chimp baby. If your tastes are more refined than "lol monkeys," there's a new season of white collar drama Industry to enjoy, or you could settle into an old Hollywood vibe with Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes.Chimp Crazy Chimp Crazy is an HBO original documentary that tells the story of nurse-turned-exotic-animal-broker Tonia Haddix, who battles law enforcement, animal rights activists, and common sense on behalf of a great ape that could rip her face off at any time because it's a wild animal, not a baby. There are also interviews and profiles of other chimp moms. Starts streaming August 18.Industry, Season 3 Working in an office sure is exciting on television! Season 3 of Industry continues the story of the back-biting, scheming, and vicious politics behind the scenes at London investment banking firm Pierpoint & Co., where people I would not want to hang out with in real life fight to get ahead in the corporate finance world. According to the HBO, this season, Pierpoint "looks to the future and takes a big bet on ethical investing," while "Yasmin, Robert, and Eric find themselves front and center in the splashy IPO of Lumi, a green tech energy company led by Sir Henry Muck."Starts streaming August 11.Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes In 1964, actress Elizabeth Taylor recorded over 40 hours of interviews; this HBO original documentary dug 'em up and is playing The Lost Tapes for the first time. These intimate recordings go deep into the vagaries and contradictions of stardom and the forces that influenced Taylor's complicated life as an actress, an activist, and the most beautiful woman in the world.Starts streaming August 3.Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Chicago Bears The long-running HBO reality show Hard Knocks is going behind the scenes and into the locker room of the floundering Chicago Bears. Can the squad's new, #1 draft quarterback Caleb Williams transform The Bears from a franchise with a 7 and 10 record in 2023 to a franchise with maybe an 11 and 6 record in 2024? Tune in to find out.Starts streaming August 6.Rick and Morty: The Anime If you can't get enough Rick and Morty, Max is presenting a spin-off series that puts the titular characters in an anime setting. Directed by Takashi Sano, Rick and Morty: The Anime is a 10-episode series showing Rick "relaxing in a pseudo-world between multiverses," Summer helping Space Beth battle the Galactic Federation, and Morty falling in love with an atemporal being. Starts streaming August 16.Alien Encounters: Fact or Fiction, Season 1 Spoiler: Fiction.Starts streaming August 8.Taken Together: Who Killed Lyric and Elizabeth? This HBO original true crime documentary tells the tragic story of the abduction and murder of Lyric Cook-Morrissey and Elizabeth Collins in Evansdale, Iowa, in 2012. The cousins were last seen riding their bikes near a park when someone snatched them in broad daylight. The bodies were discovered months later, but no one knows who was responsible for their deaths. This doc digs into theories around the crime through interviews with family members and authorities. Starts streaming August 8.Last month's picksLove Lies Bleeding (2024) This sexy, slow-burn thriller earned a 94% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes for its can-you-believe-this-shit? plot and nuanced performances from a talented cast including Kristen Stewart, Katy O'Brian, and Ed Harris. Love Lies Bleeding tells the story of Lou (Stewart), a gym owner in New Mexico who falls in love with Jackie (O'Brian), a 'roided-out new bodybuilder in town. The relationship and their lives quickly spiral out of control in unpredictable, violent ways that I won't spoil. But see this movie if you like edgy flicks that embrace riskiness and the unexpected. Starts streaming July 19. Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants This season of Hard Knocks takes you inside the locker rooms and boardrooms of the New York Giants as they try to put together a viable squad for the franchise's 100th season. In case you missed it, 2023 was not a good year for the Giantsthey ended up with dismal six wins and 11 losses, so there's a lot of work to do and a lot on the line for the old hands and new draftees wearing Giants colors. Even though I have feelings about the Giants, I'll still watch this, like every football fan, because there aren't any games on. Starts streaming July 2.Knox Goes Away(2024) If you saw Michael Keaton in 1983's Mr. Mom, you probably didn't imagine that its seeming lightweight star would still be active in the 21st century and his thing would be making complex, dark films like Knox Goes Away. Keaton directed and stars as the title character, a hitman who's stricken with dementia, trying to help his estranged son who's committed a murder. So it's weird, intriguing, and not quite like any other movie. Starts streaming July 26.Kite Man: Hell Yeah! Season 1 Kite Man is an actual DC Comics supervillain who uses kites and gliders to commit super-crimes. He's as ridiculous as he sounds, but Kite Man became a fan favorite for his ridiculous gimmick, can-do spirit, and dumb catchphrase: "Kite Man! Hell yeah!" In other words he's the perfect subject for a comedy superhero cartoon. In Kite Man: Hell Yeah!, the title character and his lover Golden Glider open a bar near the Legion of Doom headquarters to sling drinks to Lex Luthor's team of more successful supervillains. Starts streaming July 18.Faye Faye tells the story of difficult-but-talented actress Faye Dunaway and her tumultuous life and career. Through archival footage and interviews with Dunaway and the people close to her, Faye takes us deep inside the life and times of one of the last real movie stars. If you like old Hollywood, this documentary will be right up your alley. Starts streaming July 13.The Commandant's Shadow The Commandant's Shadow tells the real story behind Oscar-award winning film The Zone of Interest. 87-year-old Hans Jrgen Hss' father was Rudolf Hss, the notorious commandant of Auschwitz who was responsible for the murder of over a million Jews. In this documentary series, Hss confronts his father's monstrous legacy and meets some of the survivors of Auschwitz. Starts streaming July 18.Wild Wild SpaceThis HBO original documentary tells the story of a wild west drama happening right now, just outside of our atmosphere, as visionaries and capitalist shoot satellites into space in a battle for control of the new frontier: low Earth orbit. Should we be around for The Future, there's a good chance the subjects of Wild Wild Space will have a hand in what it's like, so check this out for a sneak peak of a new age of space capitalism. Starts streaming July 18. Quad Gods Richard, Blake, and Prentice met at a New York rehab center where they were being treated for quadriplegia. They were all hardcore gamers and formed the Quad Gods, the first all-quadriplegic esports gaming team, where they pwned noobs all over the world. More than just a fun hobby, gaming is part of their cutting edge neurological rehab process; Quad Gods tells their story and digs into the medical advancements that might come from their hobby. Starts streaming July 10.Teen Torture Inc. In this three-episode documentary series, a band of survivors from various "troubled teen" programs (including rap star Bhad Bhabie) team up to blow the whistle on the exploitative, nightmarish industry where children are routinely subjected to cult-like conditioning and physical and sexual abuse in the name of "tough love." These young people have a serious axe to grind, and are using social media and the court system to try to shut down their former captors. If you like a Good vs. Evil true story, don't miss Teen Torture Inc.Starts streaming July 11.Sharks, sharks, sharks!Do you like sharks? Because HBO and Max are going shark crazy in July. Shark fanciers will gorge like a great white on a defenseless porpoise with these 20 shark-centric specials produced by the Discovery Channel, including Belly of the Beast: Bigger and Bloodier, Sydney HarborSharkInvasion, Great White Serial Killer: Sea of Blood, something called Mothersharker: Hammertimeand many, many more.Heres the full list:Starts streaming July 7Belly of the Beast: Bigger and BloodierJaws vs. LeviathanMakozillaSydney HarborSharkInvasionStarts streaming July 8BigSharkEnergyBodies in the WaterGreat White Serial Killer: Sea of BloodSharkFrenzy: Mating GamesStarts streaming July 86000-LbSharkDeadliest BiteMonster Hammerheads: Species XStarts streaming July 10Alien Sharks: Ghosts of JapanExpedition Unknown:SharkWrecks of WWIIStarts streaming July 11Caught! When Sharks AttackGreat White Danger ZoneStarts streaming July 12SharkAttack IslandSharks of the Dead ZoneThe Real SharkanoStarts streaming July 13Mothersharker: HammertimeSharktopia

If your home is a mess but you don't really know where to start, it's time to set a daily cleaning schedule, but don't feel the need to do everything all at once. It's well established that working in short bursts can help keep you motivated when you're feeling overwhelmed, and cleaning in 15-minute bursts will do the trick. There are a bunch of areas around your home where that's all you need, so start today and thank yourself in a few weeks.What to do when you cleanFirst, commit to spending 15 minutes per day cleaning. It can be in the morning or the evening or whenever you want, really, but ideally, it should always happen at the same time. (More on that here.) Each day, pick a new spot to clean. I'll share some ideas below, but overall, you're looking for a small chunk of a larger room to avoid getting overwhelmed. It might make sense to divvy up the rooms in groupsso for a few days, you tackle spots in the bathroom, then move to spots in the kitchen for a few days, etc., but you can also devote your energy to whichever location is needing it most on a given day. No matter what you pick, it's important to be decisive and actionable. Select a cleaning or decluttering method that works for your situation and apply it to each of the regions you focus on. Regardless of what method you choose, you'll essentially be clearing the space out, making choices about what stays and what goes, then reorganizing what you keep. Use the principles of time boxing and limit yourself to just 15 minutes per day. When you're using time boxing, you dedicate a predetermined amount of time to a specific task and work on it with no distractions, but you stop when the allotted time is up. If necessary, you pick the task back up during the next time box. Even if you're really getting into the cleaning groove, try to stay within the 15-minute mark every time to stave off burnout and keep yourself challenged to stay totally on-task the whole time. Spots you can clean in 15 minutes or lessDepending on what circumstances you work best under, you might want to plan out what you'll clean a week or even a month or advance. I'm not going to tell you what to do, exactly, but I will say a little pre-planning is helpful when you're lacking motivation because you go into the time box already aware of what you need to do. If you're stuck on what to clean, here are some ideas for areas that take 15 minutes or less (or at least can be mostly finished in that time, with the occasional need for a revisit the next day). Don't limit yourself to the list, though; go through your home, pick small areas, and take on whatever makes sense in your situation. Here are some starting points to help generate ideas: A junk drawerThe silverware drawerThe pantryYour spice cabinet Your vanity or personal care area Your medicine cabinetThe spots where you keep your accessories, like belts or bags The spot where you toss your mail, your keys, or whatever is in your hand when you enter the houseYour fridge A shelving unitA closet, whether it's the coat closet or the one in your room Your entertainment station or where you store your remotesYour deskYour book shelfThe place where you store your cleaning suppliesThe list goes on and on, but would you look at that? It appears I've already written handy guides for cleaning and organizing those spots, which means you might as well start with them and follow along. But you'll also notice all of those are really specific areas. Your goal here isn't to, say, clean the bathroom in a day. Rather, it's to break down the task of cleaning the bathroom into a bunch of smaller tasks, from the toilet to the medicine cabinet and everything in between, so you don't get burned out doing it. Breaking it down also helps build cleaning into a habit so, gradually, you just do it instinctively. A little bit of work every day adds up and you'll feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of each 15-minute bout, which will propel you into the next day's effort. By the end of a few weeks, you'll have a noticeably cleaner space, all without having to strain yourself or dedicate a whole precious weekend day to tidying up.

One of the biggest downsides of a black and white e-readers is that highlighting and annotating them is hardly as easy as it would be on a full-featured tablet, let alone a physical book. Amazon aimed to directly address those problems with the Kindle Scribe, an e-reader with a writable screen and a stylus. Now through August 4 at Best Buy, you can get the 16GB Kindle Scribe for $269.99 (down from $339.99). This is the lowest price for the Kindle Scribe I have seen, beating Prime Day and Black Friday prices, according to price-checking tools. If you've been considering getting one (or any of the other Kindles currently on sale during Best Buy's 48-hour Flash Sale), now may be the time. Kindle Scribe Digital Notebook- 16 GB with Basic Pen - 2022 - Gray $234.99 at Best Buy $339.99 Save $105.00 Get Deal Get Deal $234.99 at Best Buy $339.99 Save $105.00 A great upgrade for Kindle users Compared to a vanilla Kindle, the Kindle Scribe is expensive. It runs a bit over twice the price of the most basic model, but the upgrade is worth it for the right user. If you think the Kindle or Paperwhite screens are too small and you find yourself reading in landscape mode to make the font larger and more legible, then you might love the Scribes big screen. And if you need a digital notebook, it's great for that too. It offers weeks of battery life, Bluetooth capabilities, and auto-adjusting lighting. There are downsides: Unlike the Kindle Paperwhite, the Scribe is not waterproof. It also doesnt have the page turn buttons the discontinued Kindle Oasis had, which some prefer to a touchscreen. What you can and cant do with the ScribeThe Kindle Scribe syncs with cloud storage, allowing you to transfer your notes to other devices. When using PDF files, you can write directly on the page as long as they are imported through the "Send to Kindle" option. You can write on your books, but not comics or illustrated childrens books. You can make handwritten sticky notes, text notes, and highlights to the following file types: DOC, DOCX, TXT, RTF, HTM, HTML, PNG, GIF, JPG, JPEG, BMP, EPUB. (You can see the full list of features here.)The Kindle Scribe is much cheaper than similar e-readers, like the reMarkable 2.

August consistently offers some of the best skygazing of the year, thanks in large part to the prolific Perseids meteor shower that peaks mid-month. But there are a handful of other planetary events worth staying up late forhere's when and how to catch the best celestial events this month.Where and when to see the Perseids meteor showerThe Perseids offer some of the best meteor viewing all year, with up to 100 meteors per hour at the shower's height. This year, the Perseids span from July 14 to Sept. 1 and are expected to peak in the early morning hours of Aug. 12 as the Earth passes through the dust trails left behind by the 109P/Swift-Tuttle comet. Those in the Northern Hemisphere will have the best view after the moon sets between midnight and 1 a.m. local time on Aug. 12, with the highest number of meteors in the few hours before dawn. For maximum results, head to a location with little to no light pollution and an open view of the sky, and look toward the Perseus constellation in the northeast/east. If you can get up highabove any hazeeven better. If you need a guide for where to look and when, stargazing apps like Sky Tonight and Star Walk 2 can point you in the right direction. Where and when to see Augusts supermoonA supermoon is a full or new moon that passes especially close to the Earth in its orbital path, which makes it appear bigger and brighter than a regular moon. The first supermoon of 2024 will be visible on August 19. You'll get the best sighting around sunset toward the east-southeast horizon. The August supermoon has a number of names from Indigenous cultures, such as the Sturgeon Moon, Corn Moon, Ricing Moon, and Black Cherries Moon, as well as the Flying Up Moon and Red Moon. Where and when to see Mars and Jupiter in August 2024At the end of the month, stargazers will be able to see Mars and Jupiter near the moon. NASA predicts the best view in the eastern sky on Aug. 27, about one hour before sunrise. Mars and Jupiter will also be close to one another on Aug. 14 and visible near the east-northeast horizon around 2 a.m. local time. On Aug. 28, six planetsMercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturnwill be in close proximity to one another, with Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn being the most visible. According to Star Walk, Saturn will be visible near Aquarius starting in the late evening, while Jupiter and Mars will appear at night.

Election season occupies enough mental real estate as it is, so Reddit is letting its users preserve a modicum of sanity by permitting them to opt out of political ads. The news came in a wider post to r/redditsecurity yesterday, where an admin said the company has updated its Sensitive Advertising Categories list to include ads related to politics and activism. This means you can opt out of these topical ads using the sites existing ads filtering tools, per an update to the Reddit Changelog also released yesterday.Politics and activism join alcohol, dating, gambling, weight loss, and pregnancy and parenting in the list of ads you can filter out, as well as another newly added categoryreligion and spirituality.To opt out of political ads (or any other ads from the above categories) on desktop, go to reddit.com and click on your profile page in the top-right of the page, then click the cog next to Settings. Choose the Preferences tab and scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the Limit ads in selected categories button. Click it to expand a list of toggles, then choose which ads to limit and click Done. Credit: Reddit On Reddit for iOS or Android, tap your profile picture in the top-right corner, then tap the cog icon next to Settings. Under Account Settings, click your username, wait for the next page to load, and scroll down to Sensitive Advertising Categories. Toggle which categories you want to see ads from, and your account settings will update automatically. Credit: Reddit The ability to filter out political ads on Reddit comes after another post stating that politicians must now hold an AMA with the Reddit community before being able to post political ads on Reddit. AI-generated content in political ads must also now be clearly marked.

The 2024 Paris Olympics ended its first week with the women's all-around gymnastics competition, an event that is always among the most-watched contests at the games. While the outcome wasn't a surprise, it was inspiring. USA! USA!Day six Olympics wrap-up: Biles wins goldBy far the biggest story of day six at the Paris Olympics is gymnast Simone Biles winning gold in womens all-around gymnastics. The 27-year-old athlete edged out Brazilian Rebeca Andrade by just 1.199 points.Other notable day six finishes: 17-year-old swimming phenom Summer McIntosh won her second gold medal by dominating the 200-meter butterfly. Chinas Zheng Qinwen upset heavy favorite Iga Swiatek by knocking her out of medal contention in the tennis semifinals. And Liam Corrigan, Justin Best, Michael Grady, and Nick Mead won the first U.S. rowing gold medal in mens four since 1960.Gender and the 2024 OlympicsThe Paris Olympics opened with some gender-based envelope pushing: drag queens (gasp!) were included in the opening ceremony. The usual suspects decried it as a "disgrace" and headed for their fainting couches, while everyone else thought "cool" or barely noticed. But the drag queen dust-up was only a preview of a larger gender issue facing the Olympics and sports as a whole.The Olympics has made steady progress toward gender parity over the last 30 years or so, and 2024 marked a milestone for the games. For the first time ever, half of the athletes competing the Olympic Games are women. A 50/50 split feels like a goal achieved, but the more complex (and politically charged) issue lies within those gender categories. Algerian boxer Imane Khelif instantly became the center of a gender-based firestorm on day six of the Olympics when her opponent, Italian boxer Angela Carini, threw in the towel less than a minute into their fight, leading Donald Trump, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, and others to protest Khelif's inclusion in the games. Khelif's lifetime record in the ring is 42 wins and 9 lossesrespectable, but not indicative of an overpowering fighterbut she was disqualified from the World Boxing Championships in 2023 by the International Boxing Association which said she failed a gender eligibility test, reportedly due to "high levels of testosterone." The IBA isn't clear about how it tests its athletes, though, and the circumstances behind Khelif's disqualification are murky, to say the least. Khelif was assigned female at birth. Her passport says she's female, and that's the criteria the Olympics uses to determine eligibility. But, according to the Associated Press, since the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, many sports governing bodies like World Aquatics, World Athletics, and the International Cycling Union have updated eligibility rules, and now bar athletes from womens events who have transitioned from male to female and went through male puberty. The IOC's position is that no scientific or political consensus exists on gender and fairness issues.Why are Olympic athletes pictured biting their medals?You may have seen photos of various Olympians biting into their medals on the the podium like they're chocolate bars. Biting used to be a down-and-dirty way to check if something was gold. Gold is soft, so you can leave teeth marks in it. The Olympics, though, haven't awarded gold pure gold medals since 1912, so athletes are not checking purity. Instead, they're following the directions of photographers. Its become an obsession with the photographers, Olympic historian David Wallechinsky told CNN. I think they look at it as an iconic shot, as something that you can probably sell. I dont think its something the athletes would probably do on their own.The oldest and youngest Olympians at the 2024 OlympicsMary Hanna is the oldest athlete at the 2024 Olympics. She's 69 years old and is a reserve rider for the Australian equestrian team. Hanna will only compete if another member of her team can't, but 65-year-old Juan Antonio Jimenez Cobo from Spain, also an equestrian, isn't a back-up, so he's is likely to be the oldest athlete to actually compete at the games this year. So if you want a shot at Olympic glory, get up on that horse; you got four years until the Los Angeles games.The youngest athlete competing at the Olympics this year is 11-year-old skateboarder Zheng Haohao representing China. She turns 12 a few days after the Women's Final on August 6. There are several other young skateboarders competinglike Thailand's Vareeraya Sukasem who is 12 years old, 13-year-old Heili Sirvi from Finland, and 14-year-old Canadian skater Fay DeFazio Ebertbut there's also a skater on the other side of the age spectrum. Great Britain's Andy Macdonald is competing in the park event on August 7, and he's 50 years old. Macdonald is proof that it's never too late, although whether he breaks a hip remains to be seen.

Mass-produced food, especially for giant events like the Olympics, never has much of a stellar reputation. Many Olympic athletes have been posting about the food offerings in Paris, but none have become viral in quite the way Henrik Christiansen has. This Norwegian swimmer has become obsessed with one thing (when he's not swimming): chocolate muffins. He has posted several chocolate muffin-centric videos, and has been thoroughly dedicated to making these muffins part of his Olympic legacy. Although I havent tasted this muffin from my seat here in Brooklyn, I have seen them, and, as creepy as typing this is, I've seen Henrik eat themand I gotta say, I get it. They look damn delightful. Theyve been identified by Eaters Kelin Carolyn Zhang as Maxi Muffin Chocolat Intense from Coup de Pates. You can see that they are chocolate, they are muffins, and there is a gooey chocolate center. You never like to see cheating at the Olympics, but these are desperate times. That gooey dining hall chocolate muffin at this years games seems to be winning over everyones heart, and I cant be bothered with making it from scratch, so I did what any hard worker clawing her way to victory does: I cheated. And you can too. Heres how you can have those TikTok-famous Olympic muffins tonight, just in time to switch on the games.How to make an Olympic chocolate muffinYou dont need much to replicate the look of this chocolate muffin. The defining factors are a chocolate muffin with chocolate chunks on top and a chocolate ganache center. Easy. Grab a bag of Nestle Toll House chunks, a box or bag of store-bought chocolate muffin mix, and some heavy cream.1. Make the muffin batterLine a muffin pan with paper liners and preheat your oven according to the packages directions. Store-bought muffin mix yields a soft and consistent product, and its pretty hard to screw up. Make the muffins as directed by the package. Scoop them into the muffin liners.Note that if your store only has chocolate chip muffins, you can easily make them chocolate by adding two tablespoons of cocoa powder to the dry mixture for every seven ounces of mix.2. Top them with chocolate chunksTap three to five chocolate chunks onto the top of each muffin. Aim to be off-center because well be cutting into it later to fill it with chocolate ganache. Bake the muffins according to the directions on the box. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann 3. Make ganacheWhen the muffins are out of the oven and cooling, make the ganache. Ganache is equal parts heavy cream and chocolate, but you can tip the scales by adding slightly more chocolate or cream to make it thicker or thinner depending on your preference. For five or six muffins, you dont need much. I used two ounces of cream and 2.5 ounces of chocolate chunks. Microwave a quarter-cup of heavy cream for 20 to 30 seconds, or until steaming. Pour in a third-cup of the Toll House chocolate chunks and let it sit for two minutes to soften. Whisk until smooth.4. Fill the muffinsOnce the muffins are cool and the ganache has cooled to a spoonable consistency, use a paring knife to cut out a small space in the center of the muffin. I cut an inverted cone shape out of mine, and you can scrape around a bit to make more room for ganache. Put a spoonful of ganache into the cavity. You can put the top back on if you want to, or just leave it open if you dont want to surprise anyone.Thats it. The boxed mix will never fail at delivering a tender muffin. The added chocolate ganache center is silky, rich, and all you need to really push this over the finish line. Theyre simple to make and perfect for your next Olympics watch party. Pretending to be an Olympian has never been easier. I just want to say thank you to everyone who has supported me so I could get this far. I owe it all to my village. Thank you so much. Enjoy the muffins.Cheater-cheater Olympic Chocolate Muffin RecipeIngredients:1 small box (or 7-ounce bag) of chocolate muffin mixChocolate chunks for toppingFor the ganache filling:A heaping cup of chocolate chunks cup heavy cream1. Preheat the oven according to the directions on the muffin mix. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.2. Mix the muffin mix as directed on the package. Place the batter in the muffin cups and place three to five chocolate chunks on top of each muffin. Bake as directed.3. Once the muffins are baked and cooling, you can make the chocolate ganache. Heat up the heavy cream in a microwave-safe measuring cup. This only takes about 30 seconds to begin steam. Pour in the chocolate chunks and let it sit as-is for two minutes. Whisk until smooth. Pop it into the fridge to firm up for about 20 minutes.4. When the muffins are cool, cut a small hole out of the center with a paring knife. Fill it with a spoonful of ganache. You can place a bit of the cut-out back on top to seal the muffin if you like. Enjoy these muffins while watching your next big competition.

The U.S. Department of Justice is escalating its battle with TikTok and, by extension, its parent company ByteDance. The government is suing the company for illegally collecting the data of users under 13 without permission from those children's parents.The suit alleges TikTok knew these users were under 13 years old when they allowed them to make accounts on the app. What's worse, the DoJ claims that when parents asked TikTok to delete their kids' accounts, the company frequently did not oblige. There are two key violations at play here, according to the government: The DoJ believes TikTok violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which has strict rules about tracking kids' activity online. The Justice Department also says TikTok violated a 2019 agreement the company made with the government, in which TikTok would both let parents know before they collected data from children, as well as delete videos from users under the age of 13.TikTok and the U.S. are at oddsThis is just the latest development in the battle between TikTok and the U.S. government. Congress has been after TikTok for years, seeing the app as a major security risk for Americans. ByteDance is based in China, which means it is beholden to the Chinese government's data requests. The U.S. government believes this is a huge vulnerability, potentially allowing the Chinese government to harvest American user data, as well as influence the content users in the U.S. actually see.Earlier this year, Congress got their wish, when they passed a bill that would ban the app in the U.S. unless ByteDance divested from the app. President Biden signed the bill into law, which means ByteDance either needs to sell, or risk losing its hundreds of millions of American users. For a full explanation of the situation, check out my timeline of the TikTok ban.TikTok shot back, however, suing the U.S. over this bill, citing constitutional violations. Now, there are two lawsuits between the U.S. and TikTok, and a looming ban. However you slice it, things aren't looking great for so many people's favorite short-form video app.

The United States Department of Education has announced borrowers should check their emails to learn if they may be eligible for the wide-scale loan cancellation. This move is part of the Biden-Harris administrations efforts to work around the Supreme Court's previous ruling against Biden's original sweeping student loan forgiveness plan. Now, the proposed rulewhich is still being finalizedaims to provide narrower, more targeted debt relief. What this news means for youBorrowers who may qualify for this relief should keep an eye out for official communications and be prepared to take any necessary steps to apply or confirm their eligibility. In its email to borrowers, the department lists four categories of eligibility:Borrowers who owe more than they did at the start of repayment.Those who entered repayment on their undergraduate loans on or before July 1, 2005, or, if they have graduate loans, on or before July 1, 2000.People who are already eligible for student loan forgiveness under one of the governments existing programs but just havent yet applied.Students from low-financial value programs.In general, when it comes to more targeted eligibility, there are three main programs at play: Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan, and income-driven repayment (IDR) plans. "Hopefully, millions will get their student loans forgiven under these programs," says Shaan Patel, CEO of Prep Expert.According to Patel, there are strong indications that more and more loans will be forgiven, as well as expanded relief through means like "waiving interest, automatic forgiveness, specifically targeted assistance for those facing financial hardship," and more. The final rule on this debt reliefis expected to go out sometime in October. For now, the Department of Education says those who want to be included in the relief do not need to do anything. No application will be needed.So, as the landscape of student loans and college financing continues to evolve, staying informed about new programs and opportunities is crucial. This potential debt relief for millions of borrowers marks a hopeful shift in addressing the student loan crisis. However, for incoming students, a proactive and comprehensive approach to financing their education remains essential.Finding the best way to pay for collegeFor most incoming college students, the path to financing their education can be daunting. Scholarships and loans are often some of the only viable options, and the number of choices can be incredibly overwhelming.Patel breaks down the main two paths forward for prospective students: loans and merit-based aid.When it comes to loans, Patel urges borrowers to regularly visit studentaid.gov, in order to stay on top of any updates to eligibility, deadlines, or new programs available to you.Another tip from Patel is to negotiate your financial aid packagean option "many students and parents don't even realize is available to them." If your family's financial situation has changed since you originally applied months agofrom, say, job loss or medical expensesthen you should document these circumstances and send a formal appeal letter to your financial aid office. Patel stresses the importance of going in person or speaking to the office over the phone, if possible. Compared to the impersonal communication of an email, you'll be better poised to make your case and understand the timeline for getting a response. And like with any negotiation, if you have a better offer from another school, bring that up. The financial aid office may be able to match or approve upon that competing offer. When it comes to scholarships and other types of merit-based aid, Patel's big tip is go local. "When I was a senior in high school, I applied to 100 scholarships," shares Patel. "I won 20, and 19 of those scholarships were local to my city and state." It makes sense: With national scholarships, your competition is stiff. With niche, local scholarships, you increase your odds tenfold. Do some in-depth research about scholarships available in your area. There could be a local business you've never heard of that has a program with money available to fund your way to school.Patel shares one more underrated strategy for anyone short on college funds: Consider attending a junior community college for two years, and then transferring to a traditional four-year institution. You can save significant amount on tuition and fees, and "many community colleges have existing transfer agreements with four-year universities to ensure a seamless and cost-effective transition." Patel knows many students who have been able to transfer to top universities after essentially halving the cost of a four-year degree.The takeawayBy exploring all available options, including federal aid and niche, local scholarships, students can make informed decisions that align with their educational goals and financial circumstances. Remember, the key is to start early and stay organized. Again: Regularly visit studentaid.gov to take advantage of the most up-to-date tools and information for debt relief.