The latest crop of AI-enabled wearables like Bee AI and Omi listen to your conversations to help organize your life. They are also normalizing embedded microphones that are always on.

By abandoning fact-checkers and loosening its Hateful Conduct policy, Meta has made clear the future it wants for its platforms.

OpenAIs chief executive and founder denies the allegations, which are similar to claims his sister has long made online.

Cybersecurity company Esetis now urgingWindows 10 users to upgrade to Windows 11 or another operating system well in advance of Oct. 14, 2025, when support for Windows 10 ends.intoIts about five to twelve minutes to avoid a security fiasco in 2025, Eset security expert Thorsten Urbanski said,according to Bleeping Computer .Eset estimates there are around 32 million computers still running Windows 10 in Germany alone, roughly 65% of all devices in the country. Windows 11 runs on 16.5 million devices, corresponding to approximately 33%. According to Statcounter, global figures for Windows 10 and 11 use are similar.Many Windows 10 users have not upgraded because of Windows 11s higher hardware requirements, which make it inaccessible for older computers.The situation is much more dangerous than when support for Windows 7 ended in 2020, said Urbanski.

Computers get clogged with digital stuff over time, and while we all like to think were good at managing all that D-detritus, theres somehow never quite enough time to clean things up. If youre new to the Mac, or even if youve used an Apple computer for decades, you need to learn these tips to prune the trash. But first, open the Finder item in the Menu and choose Empty Trash.Youd be surprised how many Mac users forget to do so regularly.Check your storageYour Mac has a really excellent storage management system that is available in System Settings in the General tab. (This is also available via the Apple menu, About this Mac, More info). Open that tab and then select Storage. Your Mac will have a little think and reward you with a nice graphic that shows you what is taking up most space on your machine. This information is divided across numerous sections:ApplicationsBinBooksDocumentsiCloud DriveMailMessagesMusicPhotosPodcastsTVOther Users & SharedmacOSSystem DataNow that youve got a birds eye view of your storage, you can begin to get rid of some of the clutter.Use the RecommendationsApple has built a system to help you delete some of the most commonly accumulated stuff, which it makes available as Recommendations. These Recommendations usually appear at the top of the list of stored media, just beneath the image in Storage. You will not see these if you have already followed them, but if you do these may include:Store in iCloud:This stores all your Desktop and Documents files in the cloud and only keeps recent files locally available on your Mac. The too will also store messages, attachments, photos, and videos for you. This maximizes storage space.Optimize Storage:This tool automatically removes movies and TV shows sourced from Apple from your Mac, though you can still download them again.Empty Trash automatically:This tool is recommended as it will automatically erase anything that has been in the Trash for over 30-days.Open your IsTake a look at the above and youll find that each section has a small I beside it. Tap this and youll get more information to help you manage each of those sections. Tap the I icon for Applications, for example, and youll find all those you have installed; you should delete all those you no longer use. if you find any software you dont need, you can select it in this view and hit Delete to get rid of it, freeing up a little space.Its good to take a look inside each category, particularly Messages, where you can delete some of these huge attachments you might not realize you have stored on your device.What about your Downloads folder?When did you last take a look inside your Downloads folder? Open it now. (Go>Downloads in the menu bar). Most Mac users find they have lots of items stored there, many of which might still be important. You can free up huge quantities of space on your Mac by going through what you have stored in the folder, filing important items in relevant folders on your Mac, and deleting the rest. Of course, the easiest way to review all those items is to view the files as a list using View>As List.Manage all your largest filesHeres a way to quickly review all the largest files you have stashed on your Mac. Lets create a Smart Folder to monitor for larger files.In the Finder Menu choose New Smart Folder.A New Smart Folder window appears. Youll see an option to search This Mac. Select that.Look to the left along the row and youll see a Save command (which we will use later). You will also see a Plus (+) button. Tap this.A set of choices comes up. The first defaults to Kind. Tap this to access a drop down menu where you should tap Other.A long list appears; the one you want is File Size, which you should check.Once you do so, youll be able to select it in the drop down list to replace Kind.In the next item on the row, youll get to choose a parameter. I suggest you use is greater than.Two more choices appear in the row; the first lets you set a number try 100. The second lets you define a size try MB.You will immediately see every file on your Mac that is larger than 100MB. You can delete any of these items by control-clicking them and choosing Move to Bin. But be certain not to delete any System files, as doing so may damage your system. In general, its a good rule not to delete anything you do not recognize.Now you have this birds eye view into large items on your Mac you can Save it for future use.Return to the original Row you first looked at, and tap Save.Give the search a name, such as Large Files.By default, the search saves in Saved Searches, which is as good a place as any.Also by default, the search can be added to the sidebar just make sure this option is ticked.In the future, youll find your new Large Files search is available to you in Favorites from within the Finder sidebar, making it super easy to swiftly identify any space invaders you still have on your system.Take a look in MailYour email application is full of stuff. All those Mail attachments mount up over the years, and while you need to keep some of them some of the time, you probably dont need to retain all of them forever. The best practice is to delete attachments in emails you no longer need; you can do this by deleting the message itself or selecting a message and choosing Remove Attachments in the Messages menu.You can also create a search in Mail that lets you identify emails containing attachments. Try Mailbox>New Smart Mailbox, select contains attachments and save. This is a very unsophisticated tool that just makes it easier for you to monitor any emails you might have received that contain attachments, though it still makes for a very manual process. This is actually the problem with Mail: it doesnt let you easily manage emails containing large attachments. It does let you do one more thing, however, which you should do now: Open Mailbox and choose Erase Junk Mail to get rid of all the junk that has accumulated. You should also select Erase Deleted Items.Run Onyx or CleanMyMacThere are numerous applications that claim to help you free up and better manage space on your Mac. I like the freeOnyxapplication, which has been my go-to troubleshooting solution for years. But many users also like MacPawsCleanMyMacapplication. What these applications do is make it possible to delete data you cant easily or safely get to on your Mac, including unwanted database files, bloated logs, and more. Apple says that macOS will automatically clear such data including temporary database files, interrupted downloads, staged macOS and app updates, Safari website data, and more when space is needed on your Mac. But some users might prefer to be proactive.With Onyx, install the software, open Maintenance and select and run the Cleaning options available there.Using CleanMyMac, run the Cleanup routine, which will scan your Mac to present you with a selection of choices of what to clean.What both applications do is force the Mac to run tasks it should do automatically. Delete old user profilesIf you are using a shared Mac it is likely it will also be a managed Mac, in which case the following option might not be available as it may be managed on your behalf by IT. The problem this solves is that each user on a Mac gets its own user profile which contains all the data and documents that relate to that user. Thats fine when everyone is actively using the Mac, but when someone stops using the machine it becomes necessary to delete their profile to free up the space though they should get the data they need off the Mac before you do.To delete an unwanted User profile open System Settings>Users & Groups. If you see the word Admin under your name you will be able to follow the rest of these steps, once you click the lock icon and enter the password. Then choose the user you intend to delete and click Delete User by clicking the (minus) button.Three options appear:Save the home folder in a disk image: All the information will be archived for potential restore,Dont change the home folder: Everything is left in place and the user can be restored.Delete the homefolder: Everything is deleted.Before choosing the third option, its incredibly important to ensure you have the right to delete the user.If you have additional suggestions, please let me know.You can follow me on social media! 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Satechi's SM3 Slim Mechanical Backlit Bluetooth keyboard is its first full-size version, offering many of the key features of the smaller predecessor, the SM1.Satechi SM3 Slim Mechanical Backlit Bluetooth Keyboard - Image credit: SatechiDuring CES 2024, Satechi introduced the SM1 Slim Mechanical Backlit Bluetooth Keyboard. For 2025, it's introducing a bigger version.The SM3 Slim Mechanical Backlit Bluetooth Keyboard is Satechi's first full-size mechanical keyboard. It offers a very similar spec list to its stablemate, the SM1, including the use of low-profile brown switches and a rechargeable battery, but it's a lot bigger. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Apple is expanding its presence in the Evergreen State, signing a direct lease for nearly 193,000 square feet of office space in South Lake Union.Image Credit: Discover South Lake UnionThe deal, rumored since 2019, has finally materialized. Initially, it was speculated that Apple would purchase roughly 630,000 square feet of office space.That's a far cry from the nearly 193,000-square-foot deal the Cupertino tech giant actually signed. However, it still marks the largest new office space least since 2019, according to Komonews. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Pick up the M3 15-inch MacBook Air with a bump up to 512GB of storage for just $1,299 in the latest price war.Apple retailers are engaged in a MacBook Air price war.The $200 price drop on the upgraded laptop can be found at both Amazon and B&H Photo as the Apple Authorized Resellers engage in a price war.Get the M3 15-inch MacBook Air with 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD for $1,299 at B&H and Amazon Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

The latest Dodge Momentum Index (DMI) report for the month of December has indicated an encouraging 10% increase to a new score of 212.0 after Novembers revised reading of 192.3. Over the month, commercial planning increased by 14.2% while institutional planning improved by 2.5%."Commercial activity rebounded strongly in December, thanks to a re-acceleration in data center and warehouse planning activity," states Sarah Martin, the associate director of forecasting for the Dodge Construction Network. "Overall, the strong performance of the Momentum Index this past year is expected to support nonresidential construction spending throughout 2025."Data center projects once again propelled growth on the commercial side, while strong healthcare and education activity helped support the institutional portion.Decembers DMI was up 19% when compared to year-ago levels. The commercial segment was up 30% from December 2023, while the institutional segment was flat over the same period.T...

Portrait of a Jester looking through his fingers, circa 1548 The Phoebus FoundationWhile the fool is often associated with the Middle Ages, the figures role evolved a great deal in the centuries that followed. Now, an exhibition at the Louvre in Paris is celebrating the complex character, following the fools dance through art history.Titled Figures of the Fool: From the Middle Ages to the Romantics, the show features eight sections that examine the fool in different contextssuch as In the Beginning: The Fool and God, The Fool and Love, The Fool at Court and Fools in the Cityto teach visitors how the character changed with the times.La Collation, circa 1520 GrandPalaisRmn / Michel UrtadoThe figure of the fool walked off the margins of medieval manuscripts into the unholy courts of the Renaissance, then returned to the page as Hamlets Yorick, writes theWall Street Journals Dominic Green. Later, in the age of reason and democracy, the parodist of royal dignity became a mirror of the universal condition: Dostoevskys holy fool and Picassos grubby clowns; Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.Museumgoers can peruse more than 300 pieces of art from 90 European and American institutions. These items follow the fool across hundreds of years, beginning in the Middle Ages and ending in the 19th century.Such characters appear in architectural adornments, frescoes, tapestries, etchings, ceramics and ivory or carved-wood miniatures, or in chess sets as an alternative to the bishop, writesArtforums Charlotte Kent. Fools came from all social strata. One drawing has them falling from trees; an anonymous Netherlandish oil on panel shows fools hatching from eggs beneath an enormous chicken.Aristotle and Phyllis, Aquamanile, circa 1380 The Metropolitan Museum of ArtLater depictions often portray the fool as someone to relate to rather than someone to mock. As the Louvre explains on the exhibition website, the character became a figure with which artists identified, wondering: What if I were the fool?Many of the fools in the exhibition wear bright, colorful outfits and evoke a sense of levity. But many others dont fit this stereotype, appearing morose or burdened.In Jan Matejkos 1862 depiction ofStaczyk, a famous Polish court jester, the figure sits slumped over in a chair, having just discoveredpresumably indicated by papers on the tablethat the Polish city of Smolensk has been lost (1514) during war with Moscow, per Encyclopedia Britannica. Behind him, the rest of the court enjoys a ball.Staczyk, Jan Matejko, 1862 Varsovie, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie / Piotr LigierThe fool allows for a figurative representation of questions troubling society, Elisabeth Antoine-Knig, one of the exhibitions curators, tellsArtnetsThese days, most of us dont want to be called a fool. Still, the exhibitions curators think modern audiences have a lot to learn from the character. I feel that the figure of the fool, as it existed in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, is lacking today, in helping us face the crises we are experiencing, Antoine-Knig adds.Figures of the Fool: From the Middle Ages to the Romantics is on view at the Louvre in Paris through February 3, 2025.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Art, Art History, Artists, Arts, Exhibitions, Exhibits, France, History, Medieval Ages, Painters, Painting, Renaissance, Sculpture