We may earn a commission from links on this page.Chances are good that if you've ever owned an e-reader, it was one of the many varieties of the Amazon Kindle. But though the Kindle is the most ubiquitous e-reader, that doesn't mean it's the bestnor does it mean that other companies haven't bettered Amazon at the game it more or less invented.One of the most interesting competitors in the space is Onyx International, a Chinese company that has been producing innovative e-readers for more than a decade under the brand name Boox, often including new features (like color e-ink displays) years before Amazon brought them to the Kindle. Though Boox makes my own favorite e-book device (that would be the phone-shaped Boox Palma, which I'll recommend every time I get the chance), they've expanded well beyond the e-reader market, launching multiple lines of e-ink notebooks. You can think of these devices as a cross between a Kindle and an iPadthey've typically got those familiar greyscale screens, but can run apps and work with a stylus, like a full-fledged tablet.I recently reviewed the Boox Note Air 4C, the latest model of the company's color e-ink digital notebook, and came away very impressed: While the price might be a deterrent for some, it's a fabulous option for anyone looking for a device with a writeable, paper-like screen and enough features and processing power to serve as as a truly versatile productivity tool. For the past two weeks, I've been testing out Boox's newest release in the space, and I think I like it even better than the Note Air 4C, for one simple reason: As the name implies, the Boox Note Max is freaking huge, in a good way. BOOX Note Mac 13.3" E-Ink Notebook $649.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $649.99 at Amazon BOOX Note Max Keyboard Cover $169.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $169.99 at Amazon BOOX Note Max Magnetic Cover $50.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $50.99 at Amazon SEE 0 MORE A truly massive deviceI know they make big iPads, but the biggest tablet I'd used prior to the Note Max had a 10-inch screen. This 13.3-inch device feels much larger. It's like that math equation that proves you should always order the bigger pizza, because it turns out there is quite a big difference between a 16-inch pizza and an 18-inch pizza. The Note Max is roughly the size of my laptop screen, but holding it, it feels a lot biggerbut it's also super thin, which makes it feel truly high-end (as befitting the price tag, I suppose). The included stylus, with a 4096-level pressure sensitivity, is also on par with the Apple Pencil in terms of the writing experience and the solidness of the build. Credit: Joel Cunningham For most of the stuff you'll want to do with this device, you'll truly appreciate the extra real estate. Whether you're marking up a PDF, paging through a recipe book, reading manga, or using split screen to read a book and take notes at the same time, it's wonderful for everything to be so big (and I say that as someone who prefers to read on an e-read the size of an iPhone). The 13.3" Note Max (left) is significantly larger than the 10.3" Note Air 4C, not to mention the iPhone-sized Boox Palma. Credit: Joel Cunningham The screen is an HD E Ink Carta 1300 screen with a resolution of 3,200 x 2,400 pixels (300ppi) that delivers impressive claritytext looks especially sharp even blown up, and images are crisp enough that you'll have no problem reading the tiny dialogue bubbles in your comic. The Carta 1300 is supposed to look brighter and whiter than older e-ink displays, but to be honest, if you asked me what color the screen is, I'd still say gray.And that brings me to the one big love-it-or-hate-it caveat with this device.There's no front light, for a reasonSince at least the release of the first Nook Glowlight, a front lit e-ink screen has been a standard feature for most every e-readercertainly any pricier model. So why, then, does the Boox Note Max lack a front light?It has to do with Boox's intended use case for this device. This is a digital notebook aimed at a user with specific and relatively sophisticated needs: reading and editing documents, organizing their calendar, and, most importantly, taking written notes. It turns out that putting a front light on an e-ink tablet involves putting an additional layer between the display and the outer glass. That also means that when you use the stylus, the tip of your pen is that much farther from the surface you actually appear to be writing on. It doesn't affect performance that much, but the effect is certainly a little less smoothor so I've ascertained from comparing the Note Max to the Note Air 4C I mentioned earlier. Taking notes or doodling on the latter delivers a good approximation of putting pen to paper, but the Note Max really perfects it. Eliminating that little bit of extra distance adds that much more verisimilitude to the experience, which in turn makes the device very satisfying to write onkind of fun, even, though I assume the novelty will wear off.Apparently the lack of a front light also improves overall clarity, which is a good thing, because you'll need it if you are trying to use the Note Max in anything but direct light. I'm old enough to already need to crank the brightness on my laptop just to read it comfortably, and I had a little trouble with smaller print on the note max unless I was sitting in a fairly bright room.Is the tradeoff worth it? I think if you plan to take a lot of handwritten notes on it, yesthe improved writing experience and larger screen will serve you well. But if you really want that front light, the significantly smaller but still very capable Note Air 4C is probably a better choice.A dream digital note-taking deviceIf a device has been optimized to best serve as a digital notebook, then it had better perform well enough at those tasksnote-taking, marking up PDFs, linking files, working on- and offlineto justify the loss of a useful feature like a front light. And it's here that the Note Max truly excels.It has basically the same functionality as the Note Air 4C, but with a larger screen. Using the Notes app is effortless, and there are a lot of options to customize, from the type of virtual writing instrument you're using to the thickness of the lines. You can zoom into a PDF and move it around with little lag time. The split screen mode allows you to run any two apps side-by-side, so you can, for example, read an online article while taking notes on it at the same time. Credit: Joel Cunningham Though I haven't used the the Kindle Scribe, Amazon's flagship e-notebook, I have read many user reviews filled with complaints about the difficultly in getting files on and off the device. The Note Max solves for that by integrating with most of the major cloud services, like Google Drive and Dropbox. Importing and exporting PDFs, notes, and anything else you are working on is a matter of a few taps (and, OK, mastering the not always intuitive file structure). Credit: Joel Cunningham In short, if you are looking for a digital notebook that can handle any planning, research, and organizational tasks you can throw at it, this one is it.Be prepared for a learning curveConsidering the native Boox apps were likely developed in Chinese and localized for the English-language version, I'm all the more impressed at how straightforward they are to use (this definitely hasn't been the case with every app-in-translation I've used). That isn't to say it's simple, however.The fact is that the Note Max can do so much, that figuring out how to make it work best for you is going to take a lot of poking around, experimentation, and trial and error. Multiple times throughout my testing, I'd have to google how to accomplish a particular task, from opening a PDF in splitscreen mode to linking a website directly from a particular word in my notes or a PDF.On the plus side, I never encountered a need the Note Max wasn't capable of handlingthe native notes apps are truly feature-packed, and built with power users in mindbut it took some work to figure them all out. If you're used to Apple hand-holding you through using one of its apps, you might get frustrated, but I think the robust tool set and customization options are worth the tradeoff. A lot more than just a digital notebookWhile the digital notebook capabilities are definitely the reason to pick up the Note Max, that's not to suggest it doesn't excel as an e-reader, for many of the same reasons I praised both the Palma and the Note Air 4C. Like those devices, the Note Max runs on a fairly basic version of Android 13 that allows you to access the Google Play Store out of the box. This means you can install basically any apps you want, and the format agnosticism is great if you've amassed a collection of e-books from different sources over the yearsKindle, Nook, Kobo, and more.A great device for reading books, manga, and black and white comicsThe massive screen is nice to read on if you're sitting comfortably, though I do think the device is heavy enough to make it impractical for reading in bed or while commuting. Still, the size is particularly nice if you want to read anything with a lot of graphical elements, like comics or manga. Credit: Joel Cunningham Granted, black-and-white-only display means it takes some fiddling with the settings to make color images more legible, and certainly something is going to be lost in the translation. But reading manga or other black and white comics is a real joy, thanks to the size and crisp resolution. Use any apps you like (with mixed results)The app store access doesn't limit you to just e-reading apps, and you can definitely use the Note Max to access your Gmail, use Google Docs, play games, and even watch videos. Like Boox's other signature devices, the Note Max includes multiple screen modes, from "Normal" to "Regal" to "A2" that control how quickly the e-ink display will refresh. More than that, you can set how often the screen will perform a full refresh on a per-app basis, which is a good option considering not all tasks will put the same demands on the hardware. Credit: Joel Cunningham High resolution modes will offer super crisp text and images, but you're likely to see a lot of ghosting (afterimages are visible after you change what's onscreen), making them best for relatively static tasks like reading a print e-book. The faster modes allow for faster scrolling and far less ghosting, which is a must when trying to scroll through a website or watch a video, but there's a tradeoff: You'll lose a lot of detail.In short, this means that while the Note Max can technically do anything you'd ask of your iPad short of making FaceTime calls, those experiences won't necessarily be all that satisfying. It's great for reading Reddit, but you probably don't want to use it to watch Netflix.A note about reliabilityTo be clear, I've experienced no hardware issues in my time testing this device. It has continued to perform as you would expect a new device to perform. That said, Boox devices aren't exactly known to receive much in the way of customer support, and if you have a problem with yourssay, you drop it and the screen breaks, or you experience an unexplained screen failure like those I've read about on Redditit's likely you'll be footing the bill for a repair. Unhappy customers have reported having little luck getting what they believed were faulty devices repaired under warranty, and mailing it in involves shipping to China. That said, if you purchase the device from Amazon, instead of directly from the company, you'll be covered under Amazon's typically generous return and exchange policies.The optional keyboard case is nice-looking but not quite there yetIf you buy the Boox Note Max direct from Onyx, it comes with a relatively basic magnetic cover (which you can also pick up separately from Amazon, if you're not comfortable ordering from a China-based company with questionable customer service reviews), but you can also pay another $170 for a case with a built-in keyboard. I got one of them to test out alongside the Note Max, and I would say that, like the tablet itself, it's not for everyone.One thing the keyboard case has going for it is build quality: With a faux-leather look, a weight that feels substantial if not heavy, a large trackpad, and a keyboard that feels roughly as comfortable to use as the one on my MacBook Air, it definitely has premium trappings. Just look at it: Credit: Joel Cunningham Unfortunately, it's not nearly as nice to actually usebut I think that's mostly down to the peculiarities of e-ink. You can open up the Notes app or an email window and start typing away, but the lag time between your input and the character appearing onscreen is...not short. It's very noticeable, and if you're an awkward touch-typer like me, it will mean a lot more typos. The trackpad also gave me some trouble; again, the culprit was lag time. You feel less like you're moving the cursor and more like you're dragging it along. This makes it surprisingly hard to do things like select from a drop-down menu or click a button.It's very pretty though, and I've read anecdotal reports suggesting it has continued to improve through subsequent rounds of software updates.The bottom lineAfter spending more than a week testing out the Boox Note Max, I feel like I'm only just starting to realize its potential. Its premium build quality and massive size in comparison to other digital notebooks make it a joy to read (and write!) on, but the complex array of features and settings are far from intuitive, and it will take some effort to fully grasp, let alone make work for you. That's not really a negativeall those options mean you can basically configure it how you likebut it does suggest to me that this is a device for power users. That is to say: If your needs include a lot of text editing and digital note-taking, you're going to love it. If they don't, it's probably more device than you really need. BOOX Note Max E-Ink Notebook $649.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $649.99 at Amazon Onyx Boox Note Max specsDisplay: 13.3" E Ink Carta Plus (Carta1300), 300 ppiCPU: 2.8Ghz Qualcomm Octacore processorRAM: 6GBStorage: 128GBConnectivity: Wi-Fi 5 (2.4/5GHz), Bluetooth 5.0Lighting: NoneOperating system: Android 13Battery/charging: 3,700 mAh via USB-CSize: 287.5 x 243 x 4.6 mmSD card support: NoneWeight: 615g

We may earn a commission from links on this page.Like any surface, a wood floor can get stained and dirty, but you have to be really careful with how you clean it. You shouldn't use harsh chemicals, whether your floor is sealed or unsealed, because you don't want to damage the wood itself, but that leaves you with fewer options. I tried twowell, three, but we'll get to thatsimple techniques that didn't require any intense chemicals today and they both worked well. Remove stains from wood floors with vinegarFirst, I assessed the stains I was dealing with, which I noticed while cleaning under my couch earlier in the week. They appeared to be leftover from a project I did a while back involving glue, newspaper, and paint, so I had a big selection of stain types to test my methods on. In general, whether you're working on sealed or unsealed floors, you want to dab, not drench, your stain, so liquid doesn't seep into any cracks and cause damage underneath, which I kept in mind while I got to work with my first test: vinegar. If you're not sure whether your floor is sealed or unsealed, place a few drops of water on the surface. If they stay beaded up on top, it's likely sealed, but if they absorb quickly, it likely isn't. I am a renter in my home and wasn't here when this floor was put down, which means I don't know anything about it for sure, so checking that was important. If your floor is unsealed, try these steps with soap and water before moving on to vinegar if you have to, but since mine is sealed, I went straight to the cupboard staple. I mixed equal parts vinegar and warm water, then dabbed it up and down on the stains, pausing every few seconds to give the stain I was working on a good scrub with my rag. The dilution here is important, as pure vinegar can be too acidic and can break down sealant if it's too strong. It definitely took some time (and smelled bad, of course) but slowly, darker stains started to lift up. Once I'd removed them most of the way, I went in with a melamine sponge and they basically disappearedand with them went the fear I'd need to make an emergency Target run to get something stronger. Remove harder stains with baking soda paste The problem on the left. Baking soda paste and vinegar on the right. Credit: Lindsey Ellefson A few stains seemed more deeply set-in, but I knew I didn't want to leave them drenched in vinegar and risk the integrity of the floor. For those, I made a paste by filling a small bowl halfway with water, then adding and stirring in baking soda until it was thick. I'm a fan of the abrasive quality of baking soda when used to clean, but also its lack of acidity. I left the paste on the stains for about 20 minutes, wiped it off, and proceeded with my melamine sponge. These, too, came right up. You shouldn't use this technique to clean the whole floor. It's just not necessary. The best uses for baking soda paste on wood floors are these:When a stain is really set in there and regular cleaning doesn't budge itWhen the stain is oily or greasyBonus: Glue and squished sticky stuff get the hair dryerThose two methods worked really well and thankfully didn't require harsh chemicals or cause any damage to my floors, but at the end of my experiment, I was still left with some splotches. They were raised, not technically "stains," but they deserve inclusion here nonetheless. I'd been afraid that those were made up of glue, but now I was sure. I tried prying them up with a knife and got nowhere; they were stuck. I read up on what to do and found that most pros suggested I trek to the hardware store for professional adhesive remover. For under $15, you can definitely do that, but before I spent hard-earned money on a solution I needed to use just once, I had the idea to try something else for free. Two weeks ago, I wrote about how easily you can remove stickers from household goods by blasting them with a hair dryer. It couldn't hurt to give that a shot on the floor, right? I directed the heat at all four glue spots, one at a time, for about 45 seconds. Each one peeled up like magic, despite being very firmly attached just a minute prior. Beyond not having to spend $15 on a product that would then clutter up my cleaning shelf for years to come, I didn't have to apply anything harsh to the floor. For messes that are gelled, stuck, or otherwise squished onto your wood floor, try the hair dryer first. Overall wood floor stain-removing tipsWhichever method you try, do a spot test first in an inconspicuous place, like under a big piece of furniture. As mentioned, dab, don't drench, and avoid using anything really acidic or harsh, like acetone (which I was close to doing for the glue before reconsidering what a nightmare that could be for my sealant). If baking soda paste isn't quite abrasive enough, don't reach for anything too stiff to scrape at stains. Instead, opt for a semi-sturdy sponge or an old toothbrush. The goal here should be spot-treating only, too. Don't distribute your vinegar or baking soda paste any farther than you have to. Just keep it on the stain and dab up and down. When I finished up and had all my stains removed, I definitely had some crusty baking soda left over, as well as some suds from using the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Ultra Foamy, so the job didn't end there. I wiped the whole area down with some Fabuloso, the same as I would for normal cleaning, and then let it air dry. Unless you have great luck with the vinegar from the get-go, this isn't a quick process from spot testing to finishing, so make sure you allot enough time.

It may be too late to get new gear in time for the Super Bowl, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't consider the tech sales that are available thanks to the big game. Key among them is a Sonos sale on Amazon and the company's own site. Speakers and soundbars are up to $250 off this time around, and one of our favorite Sonos products, the Era 100, has dropped to an all-time-low price of $199. The speaker will typically run you $249. The Era 100 is our pick for the best midrange smart speaker and we gave it a score of 88 in our review. It delivers great audio and can reach loud volumes, while Bluetooth and line-in support are certainly welcome. With the Era 100, Sonos has simplified its Trueplay tuning feature by making use of built-in microphones to optimize audio output for the room the speaker is in. On the downside, while the Era 100 works with Alexa and Sonos' own voice assistant, it doesn't support Google Assistant. Like other Sonos speakers, the Era 100 can be used as part of a whole home audio system. So you'll be able to set up units in other rooms so that even when they're away from the TV, your guests can still hear all of the action at the same time as everyone else. It's also possible to set up two Era 100 units as rear speakers in a home theater setup. If that's the route you wish to go down, you might want to have a soundbar in place too. As it happens, several of Sonos' models are on sale. The original Arc soundbar is down to $649, which is $250 off. As for the Beam Gen 2, that can be yours for $100 less than usual at $399. We reckon the Beam is the best midrange soundbar. However, the Arc Ultra, our recommendation for the best premium soundbar, isn't on sale this time, unfortunately. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/sonos-speakers-and-soundbars-are-on-sale-for-record-low-prices-155920437.html?src=rss

Here's another chance to get a discount on Amazon's first ereader with a color display. The Kindle Colorsoft has dropped back down to $230. That's $50, or 18 percent, off. The deal brings the Kindle Colorsoft back down to a record low price. We saw the Kindle Colorsoft hit $230 for the first time in January. However, that discount was only available to Prime subscribers. There's no such restriction this time around, as you don't need a membership to take advantage of this deal. There's one additional perk here: the Colorsoft comes with three free months of access to Kindle Unlimited. As such, you'll have access to more than 4 million ebooks during that time. After the free access period is over, your Kindle Unlimited access will automatically renew. The service costs $12 per month, so be sure to cancel before your three-month freebie expires if you don't want to pay for it. A number of early Kindle Colorsofts, including our initial review unit, developed a yellow bar across the bottom. However, Amazon said it was resolving the issue, and it offered refunds and replacements to those affected. Although we haven't encountered the problem on our replacement, we have removed the score from our review until we've tested the ereader for a longer period of time and made sure the issue doesn't re-occur. That said, we appreciate the quick load times and page turns of the Kindle Colorsoft. The auto-adjusting front light is a plus, while it was very welcome to see that, by default, this model does not have ads on the lock screen. A pinch-to-zoom feature is also handy, especially when it comes to reading graphic novels. The ereader has 32GB of built-in storage and it supports Audible audiobooks. It should run for up to weight weeks on a single charge. You can recharge the battery wirelessly or via USB-C. The big selling point is, of course, the color screen. The Colorsoft has a seven-inch display with a 300 pixel-per-inch (ppi) density for black-and-white material and 150 ppi for color content. Last but not least, the ereader has an IPX8 rating, meaning it can withstand immersion in up to two meters of freshwater for up to 60 minutes and 0.25 meters of seawater for three minutes, per Amazon. As such, you won't have to worry too much about getting the Colorsoft wet when you take it to the pool or beach. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-kindle-colorsoft-is-back-on-sale-for-50-off-160601607.html?src=rss

OpenAI changes the way the ChatGPT 03-mini reasoning model works to make it easier to read.

Amazon says it expects to spend in excess of $100 billion this year, with the vast majority going straight into AI projects.

Amazon has removed any references to diversity and inclusion from its most recent annual report.

French prosecutors have opened an investigation into X over allegations that it distorted its algorithms.

Immigration and border security will be the likely focus of U.S.-Mexico relations under the new Trump administration. But there also is a growing water crisis along the U.S.Mexico border that affects tens of millions of people on both sides, and it can only be managed if the two governments work together.Climate change is shrinking surface and groundwater supplies in the southwestern U.S. Higher air temperatures are increasing evaporation rates from rivers and streams and intensifying drought. Mexico is also experiencing multiyear droughts and heat waves.Growing water use is already overtaxing limited supplies from nearly all of the regions cross-border rivers, streams and aquifers. Many of these sources are contaminated with agricultural pollutants, untreated waste and other substances, further reducing the usability of available water.As Texas-based scholars who study the legal and scientific aspects of water policy, we know that communities, farms and businesses in both countries rely on these scarce water supplies. In our view, water conditions on the border have changed so much that the current legal framework for managing them is inadequate.Unless both nations recognize this fact, we believe that water problems in the region are likely to worsen, and supplies may never recover to levels seen as recently as the 1950s. Although the U.S. and Mexico have moved to address these concerns by updating the 1944 water treaty, these steps are not long-term solutions.The Rio Grande flows south from Colorado and forms the 1,250-mile (2,000-kilometer) Texas-Mexico border.[Image: Kmusser/Wikimedia,CC BY-SA]Growing demand, shrinking supplyThe U.S.-Mexico border region is mostly arid, with water coming from a few rivers and an unknown amount of groundwater. The main rivers that cross the border are the Colorado and the Rio Grande two of the most water-stressed systems in the world.The Colorado River provides water to more than 44 million people, including seven U.S. and two Mexican states, 29 Indian tribes and 5.5 million acres of farmland. Only about 10% of its total flow reaches Mexico. The river once emptied into the Gulf of California, but now so much water is withdrawn along its course that since the 1960s it typically peters out in the desert.The Rio Grande supplies water to roughly 15 million people, including 22 Indian tribes, three U.S. and four Mexican states and 2.8 million irrigated acres. It forms the 1,250-mile (2,000-kilometer) Texas-Mexico border, winding from El Paso in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east.Other rivers that cross the border include the Tijuana, San Pedro, Santa Cruz, New and Gila. These are all significantly smaller and have less economic impact than the Colorado and the Rio Grande.At least 28 aquifers underground rock formations that contain water also traverse the border. With a few exceptions, very little information on these shared resources exists. One thing that is known is that many of them are severely overtapped and contaminated.The Colorado River flows through seven U.S. states and crosses into Mexico at the Arizona-California border.[Image: USGS]Nonetheless, reliance on aquifers is growing as surface water supplies dwindle. Some 80% of groundwater used in the border region goes to agriculture. The rest is used by farmers and industries, such as automotive and appliance manufacturers.Over 10 million people in 30 cities and communities throughout the border region rely on groundwater for domestic use. Many communities, including Ciudad Juarez; the sister cities of Nogales in both Arizona and Sonora; and the sister cities of Columbus in New Mexico and Puerto Palomas in Chihuahua, get all or most of their fresh water from these aquifers. View this post on Instagram A post shared by NOAA Climate.gov (@noaaclimate)A booming regionAbout 30 million people live within 100 miles (160 kilometers) of the border on both sides. Over the next 30 years, that figure is expected to double.Municipal and industrial water use throughout the region is also expected to increase. In Texas lower Rio Grande Valley, municipal use alone could more than double by 2040.At the same time, as climate change continues to worsen, scientists project that snowmelt will decrease and evaporation rates will increase. The Colorado Rivers baseflow the portion of its volume that comes from groundwater, rather than from rain and snow may decline by nearly 30% in the next 30 years.Precipitation patterns across the region are projected to be uncertain and erratic for the foreseeable future. This trend will fuel more extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, which could cause widespread harm to crops, industrial activity, human health and the environment.Further stress comes from growth and development. Both the Colorado River and Rio Grande are tainted by pollutants from agricultural, municipal and industrial sources. Cities on both sides of the border, especially on the Mexican side, have a long history of dumping untreated sewage into the Rio Grande. Of the 55 water treatment plants located along the border, 80% reported ongoing maintenance, capacity and operating problems as of 2019.Drought across the border region is already stoking domestic and bilateral tensions. Competing water users are struggling to meet their needs, and the U.S. and Mexico are straining to comply with treaty obligations for sharing water. View this post on Instagram A post shared by SOURCE Global (@sourcewater)Cross-border water politicsMexico and the United States manage water allocations in the border region mainly under two treaties: a 1906 agreement focused on the Upper Rio Grande Basin and a 1944 treaty covering the Colorado River and Lower Rio Grande.Under the 1906 treaty, the U.S. is obligated to deliver 60,000 acre-feet of water to Mexico where the Rio Grande reaches the border. This target may be reduced during droughts, which have occurred frequently in recent decades. An acre-foot is enough water to flood an acre of land 1 foot deep about 325,000 gallons (1.2 million liters).Allocations under the 1944 treaty are more complicated. The U.S. is required to deliver 1.5 million acre-feet of Colorado River water to Mexico at the border but as with the 1906 treaty, reductions are allowed in cases of extraordinary drought.Until the mid-2010s, the U.S. met its full obligation each year. Since then, however, regional drought and climate change have severely reduced the Colorado Rivers flow, requiring substantial allocation reductions for both the U.S. and Mexico.In 2025, states in the U.S. section of the lower Colorado River basin will see a reduction of over 1 million acre-feet from prior years. Mexicos allocation will decline by approximately 280,500 acre-feet under the 1944 treaty.This agreement provides each nation with designated fractions of flows from the Lower Rio Grande and specific tributaries. Regardless of water availability or climatic conditions, Mexico also is required to deliver to the U.S. a minimum of 1,750,000 acre-feet of water from six named tributaries, averaged over five-year cycles. If Mexico falls short in one cycle, it can make up the deficit in the next five-year cycle, but cannot delay repayment further. Since the 1990s, extraordinary droughts have caused Mexico to miss its delivery obligations three times. Although Mexico repaid its water debts in subsequent cycles, these shortfalls raised diplomatic tensions that led to last-minute negotiations and large-scale water transfers from Mexico to the U.S.Mexican farmers in Lower Rio Grande irrigation districts who had to shoulder these cuts felt betrayed. In 2020, they protested, confronting federal soldiers and temporarily seizing control of a dam.U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum clearly appreciate the political and economic importance of the border region. But if water scarcity worsens, it could supplant other border priorities.In our view, the best way to prevent this would be for the two countries to recognize that conditions are deteriorating and update the existing cross-border governance regime so that it reflects todays new water realities.Gabriel Eckstein is a professor of law at Texas A&M University. Rosario Sanchez is a senior research scientist at the Texas Water Resources Institute, Texas A&M University.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

If you scroll through your old photos from the mid-2010sthe golden era of Snapchatchances are a fair number of those pictures feature a dog filter or a flower crown.Now, nearly a decade later, one TikToker has now been struck by a unique dilemma. Your daughter wants to see her baby pictures, but she was born in 2016, user @themkidzmama3 posted in a video that has since gone viral. @themkidzmama3 I saw another creator do this and I realized my daughger was a victim of the snap chat filter era too #fyp #daughtersoftiktok #filtered #momsbelike #momsover30 #motherdaughterlove original sound Feez As the Adeles 2015 hit Hello plays, a slideshow of her daughters baby photos flashes across the screen. Each photo uses a different filter, from the dog ears to a Sia wig. Its undeniable: Her daughter is a product of the Snapchat filter era.There was a time when baby photos were professionally staged and displayed proudly in parents homes. But with smartphones and social media parents now have the ability to snap hundreds of photos a day (not all of them keepsake-worthy).The TikTok video gained over 26.5 million views, with other parents relating to Snapchat filters of that era. Theres gonna be money in defiltering apps in the future, one user wrote in the comments. Kids nowadays wont get photo albums, theyll get an icloud folder, another added.Following the virality of @themkidzmama3s video, another mom jumped on the trend, showing off her daughters baby photos from the same era. I have nothing to say for myself apart from Im sorry my princess. A true victim of the Snapchat era, she wrote in the caption of the video. @miaboardman0 I have nothing to say for myself apart from Im sorry my princess. A true victim of the Snapchat era original sound Feez Her slideshow includes a face-swap photo featuring mom-and-daughter and a picture with the ever-present flower crown. The flower crown was a universal baby photo for 2016-2017, one person wrote in the comments.Another confessed: The amount of photos I have of my baby as a chicken nugget.