We may earn a commission from links on this page.If you tend to get overwhelmed by the prospect of cleaning your house, heres some good news: One of the best cleaning methods out there is designed for people like you. Called the 20/10 rule, its been around for a few years, but has really withstood the test of time because of its simplicity and how effective it is.What is the 20/10 method of cleaning?The 20/10 method comes from Rachel Hoffmans 2017 book, Unf*ck Your Habitat: Youre Better Than Your Mess. The title is at once bracing and comforting, just what you need as motivation to clean your place and keep it clean. While the book goes into a lot of detail about all the methods you can use to do that, like taking progress pictures and tidying up spaces in a certain order, its first tipthe 20/10 methodis key here.At its most basic, the method calls for you to spend 20 minutes cleaning and 10 minutes chilling. Thats it, essentially. Its similar to other productivity techniques, like the Pomodoro method, but gives you less work time and more break time than those do. For maximum efficiency, devote each 20-minute block to a certain surface or area, like a messy desk or a pile of laundry. Chunk by chunk, the task will get done.What makes 20/10 one of the best cleaning methodsThe importance of taking breaks in between bursts of hard work is well-documented. If you work too much, too hard, for too long, youll burn out and give up. When youre using a work-and-rest technique to study or work, you have to think deeply during your on times; cleaning, on the other hand, can be slightly more mindless, which is a good thing. You dont need 25 minutes, as the Pomodoro technique calls for, but you should devote 20.The breaks are super important, so dont skimp on them. Try to use them to enjoy the space you just cleaned. If you cleaned a desk, sit at it for your 10 minutes, relishing the experience of using it while its tidy. If you folded all the laundry piled on a chair, you should sit in that chair, by God. Giving yourself a full 10 minutes to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor gives you immediate gratification and time to recharge before getting back at it. How to adapt this method to fit your needsIf you want to try out the 20/10 method, I recommend slotting it into your cleaning schedule for a week or two, but keep track of how it goes. Take notes on whether you feel rested enough after the 10 minutes of break time, or whether you find it hard to sink into a groove in just 20 minutes of effort. After all, these are just guidelines, not rules set in stone. Even the vaunted Pomodoro method has seen adaptations like "animedoro" crop up that make it work better for some people. Feel free to tinker with the 10/20 timing to suit your own needs, provided you are still prioritizing that all-important break.

Researchers from Kaspersky have identified malware being distributed within apps on both Android and iOS mobile storefronts. Dmitry Kalinin and Sergey Puzan shared their investigation into a malware campaign, which they have dubbed SparkCat, that has likely been active since March 2024."We cannot confirm with certainty whether the infection was a result of a supply chain attack or deliberate action by the developers," the pair wrote. "Some of the apps, such as food delivery services, appeared to be legitimate, whereas others apparently had been built to lure victims."The Kaspersky duo said SparkCat is a stealthy operation that at a glance appears to be requesting normal or harmless permissions. Some of the apps where the pair uncovered malware are still available to download, including food delivery app ComeCome and AI chat apps AnyGPT and WeTink.The malware in question uses optical character recognition (OCR) to review a device's photo library, seeking screenshots of recovery phrases for crypto wallets. Based on their assessment, infected Google Play apps have been downloaded more than 242,000 times. Kaspersky says "This is the first known case of an app infected with OCR spyware being found in Apples official app marketplace."Apple often promotes the rigorous security of the App Store, and while instances of malware appearing have been rare, this discovery is a reminder that the walled garden is not impervious to attacks.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/kaspersky-researchers-find-screenshot-reading-malware-on-the-app-store-and-google-play-211011103.html?src=rss

OpenAI is showing no signs of slowing down its recent pace of updates. On Wednesday, the company announced the expanded availability of ChatGPT Search. After rolling out the tool first to paid subscribers last fall, and then making it available to all logged-in free users at the end of 2024, now anyone can use ChatGPT Search with no account or sign-in necessary."Like the logged-in experience, ChatGPT can search the web and get you fast, timely answers with links to relevant web sources directly in ChatGPT," OpenAI said.In most cases, ChatGPT will automatically search the web to source the most up-to-date information related to your question. Users can also force the chatbot to scour the internet by tapping the "Search" button below the prompt bar.ChatGPT search is now available to everyone on https://t.co/nYW5KO1aIg no sign up required. pic.twitter.com/VElT7cxxjZ OpenAI (@OpenAI) February 5, 2025 Effectively, today's announcement means OpenAI is ready to take on Google's dominance in search, though, if I had to guess, right now it's more concerned about staying ahead of upstarts like DeepSeek. In just the last week, the company announced the availability of its latest AI model, and a new ChatGPT feature called Deep Research. Oh, and it even showed off a new logo.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/chatgpt-search-no-longer-requires-an-openai-account-to-use-205538282.html?src=rss

Contrary to rumors being spread on TikTok and elsewhere, iOS 18.3 doesnt install Elon Musks Starlink tech on your iPhone.

The patch was released in mid-December but only made public now.

A veteran finance executive, Robin Washington has been on Salesforce's board of directors for over a decade.

Qualcomm reported first-quarter earnings on Wednesday that beat consensus expectations on both the top and bottom line.

Amazon-owned Whole Foods is asking the National Labor Relations Board to set asidethe results of a union electionin which the first group of the companys employees voted in favor of collective bargaining.In a filing submitted to the agency this week, attorneys for Whole Foods Market argued the union involved with the election, held last week at a store in Philadelphia, interfered in the process by promising employees a 30% wage increase if they unionized and providing free transportation to them the day of the vote.The company also accused The United Food and Commercial Workers International Unionwhich worked to unionize workers through a local chapterof intimidating employees who supported Whole Foods. The company did not provide specific details on its allegations, which the union disputes.Pro-union workers prevailed last week after 130 employees in the store or about 57% of the ballots castvoted in favor of organizing. The election results still need be certified by a regional director of the NLRB, which Whole Foods says cant lawfully be done since the agency currently does not have a third board member in Washington. Gynne A. Wilcox, one of the agencys board members, wasfired last weekby the Trump administration.In a statement, UFCW Local 1776, the local union that pulled off the labor win, called the companys allegations baseless. It also said the objections filed by Whole Foods was a legal maneuvering done to delay the bargaining process.We fully expected Whole Foods to try to stall this process, said Wendell Young IV, the president of the local union. Amazon has a well-documented history of using baseless objections to undermine the rights of workers seeking representation, and this case is no different.In its objection to the election, the upscale grocery chain also accused the NLRB of tainting the process by restraining the company from communicating its views on unionization to employees through required meetings held during work hours.In November, the agencys board had issued a decision that found these meetings commonly known as captive audience meetings were unlawful because they forced employees to attend gatherings that they may otherwise choose to skip. Companies typically use these meetings to deter employees from unionizing.The board said employers may still hold meetings about unions for their workers. But they must make attendance voluntary with no adverse consequences for employees who fail to show up.The union election in Philadelphia marked the first successful entry of organized labor into Amazons grocery business, which includes Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh and the Amazon Go convenience stores. Amazon, whichpurchased Whole Foodsin 2017 for $13.7 billion, has tried to fend off organizing efforts bydelivery driversand warehouse workers.Haleluya Hader, Associated Press

Amazon is set to release its long-awaitedand delayedAlexa generative artificial intelligence voice service, said three people familiar with the matter, and has scheduled a press event for later this month to preview it.Once released, it would mark the most significant upgrade to the product since its initial introduction accelerated a wave of digital assistants more than a decade ago.Amazon on Wednesday sent press invites to an event to be held on February 26 in New York featuring the head of its devices and services team, Panos Panay. A spokesperson said the event is Alexa-focused, while declining to elaborate.The new generative AI-powered Alexa represents at once a huge opportunity for Amazon, which counts more than half a billion Alexa-enabled devices in the market, and a tremendous risk. Amazon is hoping the revamp, designed to be able to converse with users, can convert some of its hundreds of millions of users into paying customers in an effort to generate a return for the unprofitable business.The AI service will be able to respond to multiple prompts in sequence and, company executives have said, even act as an agent on behalf of users by taking actions for them without their direct involvement. That contrasts with the current iteration, which generally handles only a single request at a time.Executives have scheduled a meeting, known as a Go/No-go, for February 14. There they will make a final decision on the street readiness of Alexas generative AI revamp, according to the people and an internal planning document seen by Reuters.Alexas revamp carries with it all the challenges inherent in now-familiar generative AI chatbots from OpenAI, Alphabet and others including the possibility of fabricated answers, known as hallucinations. With access to Alexa available in cars, televisions, thermostats and mobile phones, it could become an essential daily tool for scheduling and even shopping.Initially, Amazon plans to roll out the new Alexa service to a limited number of users and will not charge for it, the people said, though it has considered a $5 to $10 monthly fee. The company will also continue to offer what it is calling Classic Alexa, the version broadly available today for free. One of the people said Amazon has discontinued adding new offerings to Classic Alexa.Bezos visionWhile Apples Siri voice assistant preceded Alexas 2014 release by three years, the Amazon service supercharged the acceptance of voice assistants. But for many people, Alexa is now used for little more than kitchen timers and weather updates due to its lack of significant overhauls in the last few years.Alexa is the brainchild of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who envisioned a service that would resemble the voice-activated computers on TVs Star Trek. The hope was that once perfected, users would turn to the voice assistant for hundreds of everyday tasks like turning on lights, preheating the oven, accessing the internet, playing music, writing emails and summoning taxis.Someday in the future that might be years or decades away it could answer everything that you would ever ask it, Amazons then chief of devices, Dave Limp, said nearly a decade ago.With those weighty expectations, the move to upgrade Alexa has suffered delays over concerns around the quality and speed of its responses, people familiar with the matter have told Reuters. Amazon dubbed the new service Banyan internally, as well as Remarkable Alexa, though it was not immediately clear if the Seattle company planned on using either as a new product name.In a January Financial Times interview, Amazon executive Rohit Prasad acknowledged some of the obstacles in developing what is effectively an entirely new service, including the work to eliminate hallucinations.Analysts at Bank of America estimate Amazon could generate $600 million annually if 10% of active users, which it estimates at around 100 million devices, pay $5 per month for the service.Greg Bensinger, Reuters

The Los Angeles City Council has "unanimously approved" Foster + Partners redevelopment of the Television City in Los Angeles, a 25-acre site with sound stages and production studios dedicated to CBS programming.Located in Fairfax just south of West Hollywood, the campus contains a host of buildings and offices designed in the 1950s by Transamerica Pyramid architect William Pereira that will be updated under the Foster + Partner masterplan, while new offices, stages, and retail space will also be added to the property.A redevelopment of Television City in LA has been approved by the local City CouncilThe Foster + Partner design organises Television City into two distinct zones dedicated to content production and media operations, with Pereira's buildings at the centre.As the complex was designated a Historic-Cultural Monument in 2018, Pereira's work will be preserved and updated, while new buildings will be placed along the perimeter on former parking lots.Under a Foster + Partners master plan, original buildings will be preserved and updated while new buildings will be added to the propertyAccording to Foster + Partners, it seeks to make the development greener and more community-oriented."Our Television City scheme reinvigorates Pereira's landmark building and extends this approach across the whole site, with a series of vibrant new workspaces, pocket parks, and green rooftops that merge the experience of indoors and outdoors," said Foster + Partner head of studio David Summerfield.Pocket parks and greenery will be added throughout the site"We are honoured to be part of the team making this project a reality transforming a parking lot into a green landscaped campus that will give back to Los Angeles and generate long-term growth."Architectural design across the masterplan includes buildings "flooded with natural light" and the use of locally sourced low-carbon materials and renewable energy.It will be organised into two distinct zonesThe development will be a "low-rise multi-modal campus" was informed by the Los Angeles Case Study Houses, a series of houses designed and built by architects post World War II that experimented with affordable, midcentury design.It will also be "LA's first all-electric studio" according to the studio.Located in West Hollywood, the complex sits just outside the spread of one of the recent deadly Los Angeles wildfires, which were fully contained as of February 1 according to the New York Times.Read: Apple Park by Foster + Partners was the most significant building of 2017In total, the two largest fires destroyed more than 16,000 structures across the city.According to Foster + Partners, planning decisions behind Television City were "more or less concluded" before they broke out.A timeline for construction has not been released, although property owner and real estate investment company Hackman Capital Partners hopes to complete the project before the impending 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games according to local outlet Beverly Press Park Lebrea News.Retail shops will be located along the perimeterTelevision City was previously owned by CBS before Hackman Capital Partners bought the property in 2018, thus spurring its redevelopment. CBS still exclusively leases its production facilities.Other Foster + Partners projects in progress include a Brazilian beachfront hotel and skyscrapers in Manila.The images are courtesy of Foster + Partners.The post Foster + Partners redevelopment of Television City in LA moves forward appeared first on Dezeen.