There are a lot of different versions of iOS on the market right now. You could install the iOS 18 beta, which sports upcoming features like total Home Screen customization and message scheduling. You can even try iOS 18.1 on your iPhone 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max, and test out Apple Intelligence features before they officially drop this fall. But if you're not one for testing beta software on your iPhone, you should install Apple's latest official update, iOS 17.6, as soon as possible. You might be putting yourself at risk without it. iOS 17.6's many security patchesApple dropped iOS 17.6 on Monday, for all compatible iPhones, but because of the news surrounding iOS 18.1, it didn't make much of a splash. It doesn't help that Apple includes no new features in 17.6's release notes: The update screen simply says: "This update provides important bug fixes and security updates and is recommended for all users."Apple isn't lying: The update does contain important bug fixes and security patches30 of them, to be precise. While the company doesn't share these patches in the release notes, it does provide a link to a site containing the security notes for all updates, where you click on the notes for iOS 17.6. There are a lot of patches here, for bugs affecting many different parts of iOS. Luckily, Apple doesn't report that any of these bugs have had exploits in the wild, which means, to Apple's knowledge, bad actors haven't discovered how to use them against usersyet. Still, that doesn't mean you should delay installing the update. Now that these vulnerabilities are out there, it's only a matter of time before bad actors figure out how to exploit them. They might figure out how to use Siri to access sensitive data, or use VoiceOver to view restricted content from your Lock Screen. They might discover how to view your Private Browsing tabs in Safari or your Hidden Photos Album without authentication.But it might be the kernel vulnerabilities that are the most important to patch. Kernel is the core of a computer's OS, so security vulnerabilities affecting it are particularly dangerous. Apple highlights two kernel patches in its security notes, one that blocks bad actors from determining kernel memory layout, and another that prevents a malware file from causing "unexpected app termination." As Forbes reports, these flaws are serious enough to get this update on the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency's (CISA) watchlist. The organization is encouraging users and admins to update as soon as possible. Even if your iPhone does not support iOS 17, you likely have an update to patch many of these flaws. Apple also released iOS 16.7.9 and iOS 15.8.3 for older iPhones. The former fixes 20 flaws, while Apple has not disclosed what 15.8.3 patches. Either way, you should also update to whichever version your iPhone support ASAP. iOS 17.6 does add one new featureWhile Apple didn't highlight it, this latest update does include a new feature: Catch Up. As 9to5Mac explains, Catch Up is a sports feature that kicks in when you join a game's livestream midway through. It shows you a series of highlights from the parts of the game you missed, so you can "catch up" as you tune in. Right now, this feature is only part of Apple's MLS Season Pass subscription, but 9to5Mac believes it will expand to other sports beyond soccer.How to update to iOS 17.6 and patch these security flawsTo update your iPhone, head to Settings > General > Software Update. Let this page load a moment, then look for iOS 17.6, or the latest update available. Follow the on-screen instructions to download and install the update.

House hunting can easily turn into house fever, especially as home prices keep rising and you keep losing bidding wars on the houses you want. The desire to finally own your own home can drive you to some creative decisions, especially around mortgages, which can be challenging in the best of times. When you crunch those numbers on affording your dream home, you might look at current interest rates (hovering close to 7% at the time of this writing) and then look (longingly) at a decade agothe average mortgage rate in May 2013 was just 3.35%.If only you could use a time machine to buy your house eleven years ago! And then someone tells you that you can time travel to that lower rate: All you need to do is assume someones mortgage, and it might seem like a magical solution to your house-hunting blues. But there are plenty of downsides to an assumed mortgage that make it unlikely to be a wise decision.How do you assume a mortgage?Assuming a mortgage is a simple concept: You take over an existing mortgage, agreeing to make the monthly payments (including escrow payments) at the same terms and interest rate. The seller signs the title of the house over to you, you pay them any difference between the homes value and the loan balance, and bam! You own a house and have a mortgage with the interest rate of a much happier time.For example, lets say you find a house thats being sold for $300,000. The seller has an existing mortgage with a 4% rate and a $200,000 balance. You pay the seller $100,000, you pay some fees to the lender, and you assume the mortgage, maintaining the 4% rate.There are two basic versions of assumable mortgages:Simple assumption is a private arrangement between the buyer and the seller that doesnt involve the lender. The seller remains officially responsible for the loan, but the buyer makes the payments and takes the homes title. If the buyer defaults, both the buyer and the seller are on the hook, because the lender didnt approve the assumption.Novation-based assumptions are more official, and require the lender to approve the buyer for the loan and officially change the debt over to them. These require more paperwork, but the seller is completely released from responsibility for the debt.And assumed loans are getting more popular: In 2022, 2,221 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans and 308 Veterans Administration (VA) loans were assumed; in 2023, 3,825 FHA loans and 2,244 VA loans were assumedand were on pace to break both those marks by end of 2024.And this can work, yes. If any new mortgage you qualified for would come with a 6% or 7% rate, you could save yourself a lot of money over the course of owning that home. If it was that simple, it would be a no-brainer. But its rarely that simple, for a long list of reasons.The downsides to assuming a mortgageTrying to assume a mortgage comes with a lot of potential downsides:Finding one. Your first problem is going to be finding a mortgage you can assume, because the majority of conventional mortgage loans cant be. Generally only government-backed loans from the FHA, VA, or the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) are assumable. These loans make up roughly one-fourth of the mortgages in existence, so youre already boxed out of 75% of the possible homes you could buy this way.Strict criteria. If you do identify a loan that has the right mix of sale price, loan balance, interest rate, and government-backing, your next problem is going to be the strict criteria involved (unless youre doing a simple assumption). In a novation assumption, you have to apply to the lender just as you would when originating a mortgage. Each government agency has its own set of requirements, including minimum credit scores and requirements that the house be the sellers primary residence.No shopping around. When assuming a mortgage, you are locked in to the existing lender. You cant go to another bank to get a better deal, and you cant negotiate any of the termsyou just assume them as-is. Youll need to be sure that every aspect of the loan works for you, and get comfortable not being able to choose the financial institution you work with.Costs. If we return to the example of buying a $300,000 house by assuming a mortgage with a $200,000 balance, youll have to come up with $100,000 to make the seller whole, so youre either going to pay cash or youll need a second mortgagewhich means you dilute the benefit of your low interest rate. Plus, theres usually a loan assumption fee involved. The VA will charge 0.5% of the remaining mortgage balance, for example.If youre doing a simple assumption with a family member or very close friend that you trust completely, assuming a mortgage can be a way to own a home with a lower interest rate and less trouble than getting a new loan. Otherwise, assuming a mortgage is rarely going to be your best option, even if the rate is good.

While Id long entertained the idea of raising a flock of chickens in my backyard, I knew it wouldn't be easy. Caring for living things takes a lot of work, and I need more on my to-do list like a chicken needs a xylophone (more on that later). But I was undeterred. From robot vacuums in my living room to programmable hoses in may garden, I use a lot of smart tech to make my life easier. I figured someone had to have cracked the code on automating at least part of the care and feeding of suburban fowland if they hadnt, I could.It turns out my thesis was both right and wrong. Yes, there is a lot of smart tech you can use to make chicken herding less cumbersome. But you're still dealing with living, breathing, clucking beings, and theyre always going to be both more expensive and more time consuming than you might think. On the other hand, they also can be pretty flocking delightful creatures to raise, and by using smart tech to do some of the heavy lifting, you can spend more time dispensing chicken cuddles and contemplating how you became a person who always carries around a can of dried worms. Heres how I used smart tech to "hack" my flock of four backyard chickens (Cacciatore, Marsala, Kiev, and Korma). Just look at these adorable freeloading idiots: Marsala, Cacciatore, Korma and Kiev. Credit: Amanda Blum Start with a smarter chicken coopIm handy and I have a Pinterest account, so I was well-positioned to build the coop of dreams in a weekend, but that involves actual work, and the point was to avoid that nonsense. Instead, I was only too happy to try out the Smart Coop. Made of metal and pre-formed plastic, this wifi-enabled coop can be purchased with or without a run. It includes a door that can be programmed via an app to open and close at specific times (or at sunrise and sunset), with a number of preset options (close 20 minutes after sunset; close halfway then pause to as a last opportunity for a straggler to run inside; use latitude and longitude to determine sunrise/sunset, etc.) that give it far more functionality than your standard automatic coop door. Once you dial in the settings that work for you, your chickens will quickly learn to go in on their own when its time. I only had to rescue poor Marsala a few times (because she is that chicken), and even that process is easier, because the app sends me an alert notifying me one of the girls didn't make it in the coop before the door closed.Additionally, the Smart Coop has two wifi enabled cameras that watch the run and the coop. They use a proprietary surveillance algorithm called EggsteinAI to determine where your chickens are, if there are predators about and what kind, if there are eggs to be grabbed, and when the door opens and closes. Notifications are sent to your app or via text so you can react to them appropriately (for example, if you get a predator alert, you can send an SOS that turns on an alarm, activates a light, and shuts the coop door). From the app, you can watch motion captures of your chickens to ensure they got into the coop at night, have figured out roosting, or are playing with their toys. Or you can watch them being little weirdoes (my IG stories are forever changed). The Coop cameras work a lot like any other security camera, except that Eggstein AI looks for predators, eggs and keeps track of your chickens. Credit: courtesy of Smart Coop Of course, you could simply install smart cameras in any old coop, and doors for coops that open and close automatically are nothing new. But the AI alerts have helped me stress less about whats happening in the coop because I can more easily monitor it from afar. Unlike my chickens, I have a job; I cant spend all day outside hanging with them. Plus, no matter what kind of relationship you have with your flock, your presence is always going to freak them out a little because, well, theyre chickens. Mine regard me as their one true leader, and the moment they see me, they stop being adorable and turn into excited idiots. Using a camera to check that theyre roosting, eating, or enjoying the vibes creates less disruption for everyone. I can now spy on how my dog interacts with the coop, and see what local wildlife has become interested in them too, without triggering the observer effect. (Having an easy way to share clips of my chickens' exploits with the world is just a bonus.) Smart Coop also sells accessories to make coop keeping easier, from coop liners so cleaning the coop is roughly the same as cleaning your litter box, solar panels for the cameras and weather covers for the coop. The coop and run are built like a tank, its not going anywhere. The coop itself is highly secure so the chickens are safe at night, in a way that any wood coop Id have built wouldnt be. The double walled plastic is completely sealed around, except for the vents which allow airflow, and all the doors feature locks.Coop has in app support and a community tab that will connect you to other chicken and duck owners. Honestly, I was pretty impressed. The Smart Coop $1,695.00 at Coop Learn More Learn More $1,695.00 at Coop Install sensors that are smarter than the chickens (which wont be hard)As useful and full-featured as it is, the Smart Coop does not monitor temperature in the coop or run, and within a week or two of moving my sweet dumb chicks outside, my city was dealing with a heat dome and temperatures soaring over 100 degrees. While chickens dont usually require temperature controls, they are susceptible to high heat, so I wanted to find ways to cool them off. Monitor temperatureI installed Aqara temperature and humidity sensorsone in their coop (which is essentially a big plastic box, so it gets hot at night when theyre all sealed in there), and one in the run. I now get real time alerts when temps exceed a certain threshold, so I can choose to take action. I can also use the sensors to trigger automations: I set up a Dreo smart fan in the coop that turns on when the temps go above 80 degrees. (It turns out chickens love a breeze.) This automation was simple to set up, as the sensor and the fan will both integrate with most smart hubs. I keep check of the chicken's temperature and humidity inside the coop and run using sensors. Credit: Aqara app Get water alertsPart of my fowl learning curve was discovering the astounding amount of water four chickens can down in a day. I didnt want to have to check or top up the water every single day, so I installed a water sensor. While a water leak sensor usually tells you when unwanted water is present, the YoLink water level float sensor tells you when the water sinks below an acceptable level. I next connected an emitter from my existing smart drip irrigation system to the chickens watering station so that when the sensor says it needs water, the smart irrigation kicks on, refilling the waterer for me. It's supremely satisfying every time. Monitor their feedIve yet to find a dedicated wireless light sensor to control the lighting in the coop, but most motion sensors have them. I chucked an Eve motion sensor into the bottom of the chickens food dispenser. As they eat, they eventually uncover the sensor, exposing it to light, and I get an alert so I know its time to add feed. (My deliveries of food are automated via Chewy to arrive every few weeks.)Use smart tech to train your chickensLet me preface this by noting that I am probably more concerned with my chickens' extracurricular activities than most people: Ive installed a swing, a bridge, a mirror, and that aforementioned xylophone in their pen, even thought they mostly just want to stand in front of the fan impersonating Beach Ken. That said, what I want is for the chicks to crave is my approval. The solution involves dispensing treats when they do what I want them to do. For this, I turned to the Switchbot bot. This is a tiny articulating finger that you can use to turn on a switch or punch a button. I use it to activate a treat dispenser when my chickens peck a corresponding Switchbot button. Hilarity ensues. (I am also considering installing the dog treat dispenser that my dog couldnt figure out; I think the chickens could, though Im not sure what that says about my dog.)I hope all of this doesn't suggest that I use smart tech to ignore my chickens. Far from it: Removing some of the more mundane tasks has given me more time to enjoy the little buggers. I still check in on them daily, usually in early evening, to offer attention and hugs before bedtime (listen, Cacciatore is a highly sensitive chicken). I also use that time to double check all my systems and ensure everything is online and working. Theres plenty about raising chickens that cant be automated, like cleaning out treat trays, changing out the shavings, and refilling grit and dirt bath stations. Automating what I can has helped me actually enjoy managing my little flock.

Max has always benefitted from being the home for HBO hits like Game of Thrones and The Last of Us, but the streamer produced some quality original programming right out of the gate, too. Hacks is a buzzy award winner, and shows like Peacemaker and The Sex Lives of College Girls have drawn eyeballs toward the former "HBO Max."Given the volume of streaming content, and the number of shows Max has already produced, there are some great choices that might have flown under your radar. In our new era, in which good shows arent just canceled but erased from existence (ahem, Raised by Wolves), it never hurts to take a moment to consider the slightly less buzzy shows that are equally worthy of your attention. Max has begun to fall victim to the streaming implosion that's hitting pretty much every streaming service, but pretty much all of the already-ended shows here have some sense of completion.The shows here are all Max originals, which means they were either initially produced for and/or are currently distributed exclusively by the streamer, at least in North America. Because of the existence of the hyper-mega-conglomerate that is WarnerMedia, that can get a little complicated, and shows get shared around a bit. So, when calling something an Original, Im relying largely on Maxs own definition, even if they started life elsewhere.Hacks (2021 , renewed for a fourth season) After getting canceled over a tweet, 25-year-old writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder) struggles to get her career back in order, reluctantly taking a job for Deborah Vance (Jean Smart)a comedy trailblazer who remains popular with an older Vegas crown, but whose career is largely on autopilot. They're an entirely mismatched pair, but their chemistry is ultimately explosive, with Jean Smart doing some of the best work of her incredible career as the (often) deeply unlikeable Vance, and Einbinder more than holding her own. It's funny, bitchy, and surprisingly moving when it wants to be.Doom Patrol (2019 2023, four seasons) Maxs early DC show was originally ported from the now-defunct DC Universe streamer (past and future episodes are now Max-exclusive), a largely forgotten effort. Thank goodness it survived; though ended after four seasons, it was an uncharacteristically bold and freaky entry in the superhero canon. Nearly indescribably weird, the show includes characters like the non-binary Danny the Street (a literal street), paranormal investigators the Sex Men, Imaginary Jesus, and orgasm-generating body builder Flex Mentallowhile also grounded in some really excellent, frequently emotional character work from the entire cast, including Brendan Fraser, Matt Bomer, Michelle Gomez, and Timothy Dalton. Its also very queer and sex positive, making it a standout among the usually chaste and straight world of superhero cinema.The Flight Attendant (2020 2022, two seasons) Kaley Cuoco plays hard-living (i.e. alcoholic) flight attendant Cassie Bowden, who, in the first episode, wakes up in a Bangkok hotel room with no memory of the night before. Which could be a good thing or a bad thing, given that she's sharing a bed with a dead passenger from her last flight. Afraid to call the police, she tries, on her own, to piece together the increasingly convoluted memories of that last night. Impressively twisty-turny, but also with a hallucinogenic sense of fun, it's an impressively unique show that earned several Emmy nominations, including for a great Cuoco. Despite generating plenty of buzz and seemingly good numbers, it was canceled after two seasonswhich will become something of a theme with Max. The Sex Lives of College Girls (2021 , renewed for a third season) Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet) is an endlessly nave scholarship student; Bela (Amrit Kaur), is an aspiring comedy writer on the make for the hottest guys; Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott) is an overachieving athlete and senators daughter; Leighton (Rene Rapp) is a closeted sorority girl. They're randomly assigned to room together as freshmen at the fictional Essex College in Vermont, a mismatched quartet exploring young adulthood together. Created by Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble, the comedy-drama isn't nearly as salacious as its title suggests: There's sex, for sure, but like Sex and the City before it, the funny and queer-friendly show is more about female friendship. Jellystone! (2021 , three seasons) The Hanna-Barbera cartoon pantheon has been largely dormant in recent decades, but this is a fun revisit, with the titular town serving as home to dozens of characters from back in the day, led by Mayor Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear (now a doctor at Jellystone Hospital), Augie Doggy, Jabberjaw, Top Cat, and dozens more, with out-of-towners like The Jetsons and Space Ghost popping in now and again. The show's silly, anarchic style is definitely not a one-for-one match to the source material, but it's not a terrible thing that the show is focused on appealing to modern kids rather than their parents (or grandparents, at this point). It's fun for that older elementary age group.Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai (2023, renewed for a second season) It was weird, but kinda cool, that the original Gremlins movie was marketed toward kids, given that the plot turns on moments like a Mogwai blowing up in a microwave and an anecdote about someone's dead dad mouldering in a chimney dressed like Santa Claus. That all being said, this animated prequel is legit kid-friendly, even if it doesn't shy away from the Looney Tunes-esque style of the live-action movies. It also takes the awkward Orientalism of those movies and makes it a virtue: Sam Wing (played by Hollywood legend Keye Luke in Gremlins) is, here, a 10-year-old boy who meets Gizmo and is then forced to join him on a journey through the Chinese countryside, sometimes encountering mythical creatures. The stacked voice cast includes Izaac Wang, Ming-Na Wen as Fong Wing, B. D. Wong, and the great James Hong. The Other Two (2019 2023, three seasons) Helne Yorke and Drew Tarver stars as a couple of meandering siblings whose lives are turned upside down when their younger brother becomes a viral sensation. The show has a lot of fun dissecting modern pop culture, and, though it has a sweet side, its some of the best cringe comedy you'll find on Max. As class satires go, it never quite achieved Succession levels of obsession, but deserves a bit more love.Tokyo Vice (2022 2024, two seasons) Your tolerance for Ansel Elgort may vary (given assault allegations), but he stars here alongside always-welcome Japanese actors Ken Watanabe and Rinko Kikuchi as a young journalist who becomes embedded with veteran detectives in Tokyos vice squad circa 1999. The show pays tribute to both the glitzy and wonderfully seedy aspects of the title city, while also working as an effective crime drama set in a very different context from more typical America-set shows.Rap Sh!t (2022 2023, two seasons) Issa Rae follows up Insecure with the story of socially conscious Miami rapper Shawna (Aida Osman), who winds up selling out, at least in her own eyes, when she teams up with her friend Mia (KaMillion), whose popular OnlyFans brings the new rap group a built-in fanbase. Meanwhile, Shawnas boyfriend Cliff (Devon Terrell) has to come to terms with the fact that Shawnas more commercial career path might put his dreams of political success in danger. Like Insecure, its deeply funny, but also has plenty to say about friendship and ambition between young Black women.The Big Brunch (2022, one season) Finally: a reality show for people who love brunch (some of whom, Im informed, might even be straight). Schitts Creeks Dan Levy hosts the cooking show involving ten chefs competing for the money to make all their dreams come true (to the tune of $300,000)but only if they can make the perfect brunch. The show avoids the stressful elements of a Gordon Ramsey-type competition, while being quite a bit funnier than a GBBO. Its a solid entry in the reality-cooking world with a unique style, though its one-and-done single season (at least so far) will be a pro or a con depending on how hooked you find yourself.Its a Sin (2021, miniseries) Russell T. Davies (Queer as Folk, Doctor Who) revisits the 1980s through the story of a group of friends living in London during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis. The miniseries brings an impressive cast to bear on a story that tracks them through the early days of queer liberation through the developing menace of a disease that no one in the broader world was willing to talk about, much less do anything about.Peacemaker (2022 , renewed for a second season) A funny and violent bright spot in the wildly convoluted onscreen world of DC Comics, Peacemaker spins out of James Gunn's snarky 2021 entry The Suicide Squad, with John Cena reprising his role. Having survived the events of that film, he's recruited once again by the United States government to join a team trying to stop mysterious butterfly creatures inhabiting human hosts. It's got the same bloody comic tone of the movie, but adds just enough dimension, and an emotional arc, to the the jingoistic superheroes' story that it's easy to root for him, even as his self-awareness remains limited.South Side (20192022, three seasons) Creators/writers Bashir Salahuddin and Diallo Riddle (who also have parts in the series) brought a unique style to their three-season sitcom set in Englewoodthe close-knit cast and production crew (Bashirs brother, Sultan, plays one of the leads) give the show a familial vibe. it follows two mismatched friends (Sultan Salahuddin and Kareme Young) trying to find success while running a rent-to-own store amid a widely diverse ensemble, and trying to find some kind of accord with the local PD.Through Our Eyes (2021, miniseries) An original production from Sesame Workshop, each episode of the docuseries deals with a distinctive issue facing children, and each is directed by a different talented and acclaimed director. The four current episodes engage with kids with incarcerated parents, families displaced by climate crises, the children of veterans relying on caregivers, and those without permanent housing. The series offers a rare perspective, and takes an appropriately straightforward and honest approach without feeling the need to manipulate our emotions. Its a miniseries at the moment, although there might be more coming.Equal (2020, one season) The well-done docuseries pulls in some star power to tell stories around some of the most significant events in LGBTQ+ history during the 20th century. The combination of talking head-style discussions alongside scripted reenactments is particularly effective.Julia (2022 2023, two seasons) Im increasingly drawn to stories of people who made it later in life, probably unrelated to being solidly middle-aged while having accomplished (as yet) nothing of note. Sarah Lancashire plays Julia Child magnificently, capturing much of her distinctive style and patter, and the show has a lot of fun with the production woes of early public television. Even though it has a light touch, the shows also an important reminder of the importance of a woman like Julia, a woman in her 50s who become an unlikely trailblazer as not just an on-camera personality, but also as an innovative producer. Another one that deserved more than two seasons, but still delightful.Expecting Amy (2020, one season) Not a stand-up special (although it does interweave with the development of one), but instead, another in Maxs impressive and (fairly) diverse docuseries offerings. What might otherwise be a vanity project (a doc about comedian Amy Schumers complicated pregnancy) is buoyed by a real sense of honesty, and by discussion of her husband Chriss autism diagnosis around the same time. It probably requires a bit of an appreciation for Schumer going in, but its a fairly fascinating journey.Titans (20182023, four seasons) Theres an almost relentless edginess to an awful lot of the movies and shows based on DC superheroes, feeling at times as though theyre apologizing for the source material. Titans is right there, but with swearing, fucking, and some fairly intense violence. What it has, though, that some of the movies lack, is an addictive quality that mimics the feel of getting really into a good long-form superhero comic book storylinebut more swearsy.Young Justice (20102022, four seasons) This is the little cartoon that could: canceled way back in 2013, picked up by the defunct DC Universe streamer for season 3, and then getting a final season as a Max original (those first three seasons are also on Max). Theres a reason it has hung in there, even without the name recognition of some of DCs other stuff: Its an impressively animated series that draws from any number of comics sources while scrupulously developing its characters. Unlike a lot of cartoons (or comics), its also allowed its characters to grow up over the years and introduced new generations of heroes along the way.Heavens Gate: The Cult of Cults (2020, one season) Its not always an easy watch (the ending episode, not surprisingly, is downright harrowing), but its not a terrible time to revisit the story of the Heavens Gate UFO-worshipping cult and its leader, Marshall Applewhite. The group had come to believe strongly in ideas that are fundamentally goofy, with deeply tragic consequences. Which is all sounding a little familiar lately. The doc makes use of never-before-released footage.Station Eleven (2021, miniseries) The miniseries, based on the Emily St. John Mandel novel, was released at either the best time or the worst possible time, the story of a flu pandemic landed on the former HBO Max right in the middle of the first phase of COVID. The show follows Kirsten Raymonde, a young stage actor whose performance in a production of King Lear is cut short by the onset of a virus with a 99% fatality rate. We meet Kirsten at the outset of the pandemic, and then visit her 20 years on, still an actor, in a world very much changed. Its a slow burn, but ultimately, the series makes a moving case for the power of art, even (or especially) in moments when survival is on the line.Harley Quinn (2019 , renewed for a fifth season) Kaley Cuoco voices Harley in this very adult cartoon series starring the anti-hero who made her debut in Bruce Timm and Paul Dinis Batman: The Animated Series way back in the day. Dont expect traditional superheroicsits very much a zany comedy, but its often funny and delivers some solid queer representation.The Staircase (2022, miniseries) Going beyond the standard true crime tropes, The Staircase stars Colin Firth as Michael Peterson, the real-life novelist convicted of murder after his wife, Kathleen, was found dead at the bottom of the titles staircase. Uniquely, the miniseries deals not primarily with the events surrounding the death, but instead the aftermath, and the filming of a French documentary during Petersons legal battle. The result is a smart look at the medias impact on crime and punishment in our true-crime obsessed world.Love & Death (2023, miniseries) The story of 1970s housewife Candy Montgomery has been told several times before, most memorably via a 1990 TV movie and a Hulu series from just last year. Here, Elizabeth Olsen gives a stellar performance as the woman who kills her lovers wife, maybe in self-defense? It hits plenty of the expected true crime notes, but Olsens performance is top-tier, humanizing the lead character.Search Party (20162022, five seasons) This very dark comedy became an HBO Max/Max original following its cancellation by TBSbut it still counts, kicking off with a Veronica Mars vibe involving Alia Shawkats Dory and her hunt for a missing college friend. The largely narcissistic characters are hunting for meaning and attention as much as for the missing friend, while the show grows weirder, funnier, and more interesting with each season, becoming a convincing chronicle of the absurdities of modern millennial existence.Our Flag Means Death (2022 2023), two seasons I think everyone probably knows about this one alreadyat least those of you who are extremely onlinebut the swashbuckling pirate comedy isnt only wonderfully goofy and funny, it also features, unexpectedly, one of the most believable and compelling gay romances of the last several years, so I just wanted to give it a little extra love. Max cut it short after a mere two seasons which, boo! But that doesn't mean it's not worth diving in.

Home screen customization is finally coming to the iPhone with iOS 18. You'll be able to place apps and widgets anywhere on your home screen, so long as they're in a grid layout. Apple will also now let you tint the app icon colors, or switch to a darker color palette.But included in all this is a more hidden feature that lets you remove name labels from apps and widgets. Until now, you had to resort to third party apps or clunky shortcuts to get that clean home screen look that Android users take for granted.A seemingly small change, this gives a huge aesthetic boost to your home screen. Switching to a larger home screen layout increases the size of app icons and widgets a bit, but keeps the general layout the same. Here's how it works.This feature only works if you're running iOS 18, so start by upgrading your OS. At the time of writing, iOS 18 is available for free as a Public beta, with a stable release set for Fall 2024.On your iPhone, go to the home screen and tap and hold an empty part of the home screen. Here, tap the Edit button in the top-left corner, then choose the Customize option. Credit: Khamosh Pathak This will show you the new home screen customization option. Here, switch to the Large mode. Credit: Khamosh Pathak Instantly, you'll notice that the home screen icons will become bigger, and they will lose their name labels (as shown in the screenshot below). This change will occur across all home screens. Swipe up from the home bar to save your preferences. Left: iPhone Home Screen with text labels. Right: Without text labels. Credit: Khamosh Pathak While you're in the customization screen, you can go one step further for a more uniform look. Switch to the Tinted mode, choose a tint color, then optionally activate dark mode. This will make your screen really pop. Play around to see what looks best to your eyes.

Day four of the Paris Olympics included a bronze medal for USA's women's rugby sevens team, a silver medal for the internet's new favorite person ever, sharpshooter Kim Ye-ji, more bad news about the Seine, and whole lot of cheating. Allegedly. Spy drones, crooked officials, and bad calls: cheating at the Paris OlympicsCheating is an Olympic tradition that dates back at least to the 67 CE Olympic Games when Emperor Nero rode a 10-horse chariot in the four-horse chariot race, fell off during the race, and was still declared the winner. In keeping with this example of the ancient games, here are some of the cheating scandals and accusations at the Paris 2024 games. Canadian soccer team allegedly used spy drones. The Canadian women's soccer team is doing better than expected at this year's games, but the team's accomplishments are being overshadowed by underhanded help they may have had. On July 22, New Zealand's soccer team called the police over a suspicious drone hovering around their practice field. French authorities traced the drone to Joseph Lombardi, a staff member of Canada Soccer. Canada admitted they were spying. Lombardi and an assistant coach were sent back to Canada and FIFA is investigating. How the Olympic authorities will respond if Canada wins a medal isn't known, but it's not unheard of for medals to be taken back long after they're awarded. USA fencing's alleged crooked officials. I find the rules of fencing to be incomprehensible, so how one would go cheat them is even harder to understand, but here's the gist: A lot of referees in the USA's Olympic qualifying contests have been accused of fixing results so that specific fencers will make the Olympic team. Two referees at an Olympics qualifying tournament were suspended for allegedly working together to fix matches so fencer Tatiana Nazlymov would make the U.S. Olympic team. Two other referees were accused of making calls that favored fencer Mitchell Saron. Disgruntled fencing fans allege that fixing results to help specific athletes is rampant in fencing, a sport that's doesn't seem to have a particularly powerful oversight body. The only saving grace of this scandal is that "helping" unqualified people make a fencing team isn't cheating in a way that hurts our competitors. It just hurts us! The USA! Basketball refs allegedly hate The Lakers. The star of Japan's Olympic basketball team is LA Laker Rui Hachimura. In a game against France today, Hachimura was ejected from the game after a second unsportsmanlike conduct foul that many basketball fans are calling sus. Basketball twitter is chalking the ejection up to the refs hating The Lakers, which seems farfetched. But still, it was a very weak foul. Was it simply bad officiating? A cultural difference in how fouls are called in International competition vs. the NBA? Unconscious bias on the part of the refs? Could be a little of each or none of the above. U.S. Womens Rugby takes home the bronze Credit: USA Rugby/X I told you yesterday that it was a good time to get into womens rugby, and I hope you listened, because today in the bronze medal match for women's sevens, the underdog U.S. team pulled out a last-second victory against rugby powerhouse Australia with an all-time Olympic highlights play. Down 12 to 7 with only eight seconds left and backed way up to the opposing line, USAs Alex Spiff Sedrick caught a pass, found a hole in Australias defense, and sprinted down the entire field. With no time left on the clock, Spiff crossed the line and snatched a historic victory for USA, the first medal the USA has ever won in any Olympic rugby competition. Oh, and New Zealand won the gold, beating second-place finisher Canada. The Seine is still unsuitable for swimmingAs predicted, Olympic officials pulled the plug on the swimming portion of the triathlon today, pushing it back until Wednesday, dependent on whether the levels of E. coli are low enough for the water to be safe. A Wednesday race seems unlikely too, though. Rain is on the forecast Tuesday night through Thursday, which will likely dump more E. coli into the Seine. If the swim can't happen on Wednesday, officials say it will be held on Friday; surely the river won't be polluted on Friday, right?Triathlete Seth Rider came up with his own (foul) strategy for dealing with bacteria. He told the New York Times, "I just try to increase my E. coli threshold by exposing myself to a bit of E. coli in your day-to-day life, Rider said. And its actually backed by science. Proven methods. Just little things throughout your day, like not washing your hands after you go to the bathroom. Note to self: Do not shake hands with Seth Rider.Paris sharpshooter wins the internet's heart Credit: @WomenPostingWs/Twitter I love the cool personalities that bubble to the surface during the Olympics. This year, South Korean sharpshooter Kim Ye-ji has captured the world's imagination. She took home the silver medal in 10m shooting today, but she won multiple gold medal in looking like a complete badass. Check out the video of Kim setting a world record a few months ago. She has pure ice water in her veins. Her black outfit, tactical specs, and that stance, with one hand casually in her pocket? Come on.

Yesterday, X user Avi Schiffman announced a new AI-powered device called simply "Friend." His post about it quickly went viralprobably not because people were excited about the technology on display, but because the video he used to promote it presents a depressing vision of our AI future that only a tech bro could find appealing. The video shows off the wearable pendant that purportedly listens to everything you say and responds to you "conversationally" via a chat window on your phone. You can speak directly to your Friend by hitting a button, but it's apparently always listening anyway, and it will comment, unprompted, on the goings-on in your life, like a Tamagotchi that spies on you, or a real person you'd get a restraining order against.Is the Friend even a real thing?My first instinct was that the whole thing is bullshit vaporware. It smells like an online hoax, like the air umbrella or those bonzai kittens. It's such a viscerally creepy idea that I figured it had to be some an attempt at social commentary, or joke, or an ad for next season of Black Mirror. The announcement video plays like a parody, and it didn't help that the official friend.com website was flagged as a "suspicious site" by my ISP: Credit: Stephen Johnson But on further investigation, it appears I was wrong: The Friend is still just as stupid seeming, but it's actually real. Wired says they've seen one and spoken to the creator, who has the right kind of background to have developed something like this. Twenty-one-year-old Avi Schiffman was named a Webby person of the year and was a guest at the 2020 WIRED 25 conference, among other accomplishmentsincluding spending $1.8 million of his company's $2.5 million in seed money to acquire the friend.com URL.How much does the Friend cost (and how does it work)?You can preorder the Friend right now for $99. Wired reports that will get you a pendant that's powered by Claude AI and connects to your phone via Bluetooth, has a battery life of around 15 hours, doesn't require a subscription fee (yet), and will ship sometime in 2025.Unlike multifunctional AI devices like the Humane Ai pin and Rabbit R1, Friend doesn't seem to do anything except have LLM-powered conversations with youit's not designed for productivity, just companionship, like an AI girlfriend you wear around your neck. Productivity is over, no one cares, Schiffmann told Wired. No one is going to beat Apple or OpenAI or all these companies that are building Jarvis. The most important things in your life really are people.The device's creator said the goal is for Friend to develop a personality that "complements the user" and that it could eventually become your best friend. I feel like I have a closer relationship with this fucking pendant around my neck than I do with these literal friends in front of me, Schiffmann said, which seems normal.Why is the Friend so creepy?I mean, did you watch the commercial? I'm not exactly sure why the mere idea of the Friend makes my skin crawl. It's not that different from the Rabbit AI or a Tamagotchi, but those have a reason to exist beyond providing a simulacra of another person to talk to. No one fell in love with their Tamagotchi; it was just a game. This is something else. It gives me the same sinking feeling as those Japanese robot companions. There's just something wrong about the concept that a machinewhether a robot or a LLMcan or should stand in for actual human companionship.Does anyone want this?People inventing tech gadgets to replace (as opposed to enhance) human connection feels like a line we shouldn't cross. It feels like evidence that things are going in a very wrong direction. Picture a world where The Friend catches on (it won't), in which people walk around talking to their AI friends all day, and ignoring all the real people they pass. It makes me want to buy a one-way ticket to someplace where no one has ever heard of AI.

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