Converting between currencies when you're traveling can make it difficult to know exactly how much you're spending when you're making a purchasewhich, along with conversion fees, can lead to surprises when you see your card or bank statement. Uber now has a feature that'll show you the cost of your ride in your preferred or home currencybut you'll pay a conversion fee for the convenience, so you may not want to have this enabled. Regardless of which currency your Uber account is set to, the actual fare for your trip is the same. But if the price of your ride is shown and charged in your home currency rather than the local currency, Uber tacks on a 1.5% conversion fee. (The 1.5% is applied to your fare but not tips.)Paying in the local currency insteadand simply calculating the conversion on Google if you really need to knowmay allow you to skip fees entirely if your credit card provider or bank allows fee-free foreign transactions. Be sure to check with the terms of your payment method for any applicable fees. Unfortunately, you can't change your preference after booking once you've seen the price in your preferred currency, as new settings apply to the next eligible trip. Uber's preferred currency pricing option is available for rides in the United States, Canada, and the Eurozone. It does not apply to split fares, Uber Cash, Uber Money, Uber Eats/Delivery, or gift cards. How to change your currency for Uber ridesAccording to Uber's FAQ, the company may assign your home currency as your preferred currency by default. To change from your home currency to the local currency (or vice versa), open the Uber app and tap the Account icon in the bottom-right corner. Tap Wallet > Set preferred currency. Once you've booked a trip, you can switch your payment method for that trip but not your currency.

The winter sky has some brightly lit star patterns visible this month, including a triangle featuring Mars at one of its points, making it worthwhile to brave the winter temperatures for stargazing. These shapes aren't constellations, but asterisms: groups of stars that form recognizable patterns but that don't have official locations from the International Astronomical Union. The Big and Little Dippers are asterisms, for example, though their stars are part of the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. The Winter Triangle, which is especially visible now, is made up of the stars Sirius, Procyon, and Betelgeuse, which are found within the constellations Canis Major, Canis Minor, and Orion, respectively. And the asterism is part of an even larger asterism known as the the Winter Circle (or Winter Hexagon), which is also visible in the winter sky from December to mid-April. For the next few weeks (until about mid-March), there's another triangle lighting up the night. The "Mars Triangle" is an even less official shapenot technically an actual asterismwith the name merely a suggestion by Space.com. If you connect Mars with Pollux and Castor, both from the constellation Gemini, you get smaller isosceles triangle, with the Red Planet as the brightest of the three points. This triangle will slowly shift as Mars moves relative to the fixed stars until they are all in a straight line in early April. Unlike asterisms, the so-called Mars Triangle is temporary and in flux. Where (and when) to look for the Winter and Mars TrianglesThe Winter Triangle is visible in the Northern Hemisphere now through the rest of this month. Look high in the southeast sky, near Orion's belt, after sunset. Sirius, the brightest of the three stars, will appear first, followed by Procyon and Betelgeuse. The triangle is visible until the early morning hours, when it will set toward the west-southwest. (The Winter Triangle appears in the Southern Hemisphere between May and August.) To see the Mars Triangle, Space.com suggests looking east around 6:30 p.m. local time. Mars is the brightest point and currently the vertex of the triangle, with Castor and Pollux making up the base. The triangle will be visible until about mid-March, though again, the shape will shift significantly between now and then. The Winter Circle, which includes Sirius and Procyon (from the Winter Triangle), Castor and Pollux (from the Mars Triangle), as well as Rigel, Capella, and Aldebaran, rises in the east and sets in the west throughout the winter.

While Apple's new iPhone 16e may be the big tech news of the week, it's one of Google's Pixel phones that leads our latest weekly deal roundup. More specifically, the Pixel 9 Pro our pick for the best Android handset is down to $799 at several retailers, a $200 drop that represents the lowest price we've tracked for an unlocked model. If you don't need a new phone, a few other gadgets we recommend are also on sale, including Crucial's X9 Pro portable SSD, Apple's AirTag trackers, ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 gaming laptop and Ultimate Ears' Wonderboom 4 speaker. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still buy today. Spotlight deal The rest of the best tech deals this week Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 for $70 at Amazon ($30 off MSRP): We've previously recommended the adorably compact Wonderboom 3 in our guide to the best Bluetooth speakers. The Wonderboom 4 is more or less the same device, only it charges over USB-C instead of microUSB and adds a "Podcast Mode" that better tunes the sound profile for, well, podcasts. Otherwise, it still sounds punchy and spacious for a speaker that's only four inches tall, and its IP67-rated design is both rugged and easy to control. The battery typically lasts more than 10 hours on a charge as well. Just don't expect super-high volume or bass response. The speaker fell to $60 for a week back in December, but this discount ties its lowest price outside of that. Also at B&H and Best Buy. Crucial X9 Pro (1TB) for $70 at Amazon ($31 off): This deal has popped up a few times in recent months, but it matches the lowest price in a year for the 1TB version of our favorite portable SSD. While the drive itself isn't the absolute fastest model out there, it's quick enough for most needs at a more reasonable price, it stays cool with extended use, and its rugged design is shorter than a credit card. Also at B&H and Best Buy. The Crucial X9 Pro portable SSD. Jeff Dunn for Engadget JLab Go Air Sport for $13 at Amazon ($17 off): This is the lowest price we've tracked for the budget pick in our guide to the best running headphones. You should see the full discount at checkout. The catch is that the offer only applies to the neon yellow model, which, let's say, won't be for everyone. This pair's boomy sound isn't the best, either, and it's light on features, with no active noise cancellation, multi-device pairing, wireless charging or automatic wear detection. Still, its sweat-resistant design stays secure during workouts, and its battery life is solid at roughly eight hours per charge. For $13, it's hard to complain if you just want a cheap set of beater headphones for the gym. LG C3 OLED TV (65-inch) for $1,197 at Amazon ($303 off): The LG C3 was released in 2023, but it's not a huge downgrade from last year's LG C4, so it's worth considering when it's discounted to this extent. While it can't quite match the brightness and color volume of a QD-OLED set like the Samsung S90D, it still gets you the usual benefits of a good OLED panel: excellent contrast, vibrant colors, wide viewing angles and minimal blurring from objects in motion. It's also equipped with four HDMI 2.1 ports that support a fast 120Hz refresh rate, so it can make the most of a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X. This discount ties the lowest price we've seen for the 65-inch version outside of a handful of in-store-only and eBay coupon deals. LG will release a new "C5" TV in the coming months, but we doubt it'll be available at this price anytime soon. The LG C3 OLED TV. LG Alan Wake 2 (PC) for $25 at Epic Games Store ($25 off): This matches the lowest price to date for the surreal survival horror game Alan Wake 2, which we recommend in our guide to the best PC games. The PS5 version is also on sale for $30, which is an all-time low for that platform. You shouldn't go into this one expecting tons of action, and the story definitely isn't immune to navel-gazing, but it's delightfully tense and voice-y in a way most high-production games are not nowadays. It's graphically gorgeous, too. Baseus Blade Laptop Power Bank for $48 at Amazon ($52 off, Prime only): The Baseus Blade is the budget pick in our guide to the best laptop power banks. At 20,000 mAh, it doesn't have enough juice to completely refill larger notebooks, but it can deliver a relatively speedy 100W charge from either of its two USB-C ports. There are two USB-A ports and a battery status display on top of that, and its tablet-like shape is fairly easy to tuck in a bag. This deal is only for Amazon Prime members, but it comes within a couple bucks of the lowest price we've seen. To see the full discount, click the 10 percent coupon on the product page and use the code BGAEY8HX at checkout. The Baseus Blade power bank. Amy Skorheim for Engadget PlayStation Plus Premium (12-month) for $100 at PlayStation ($60 off, new and returning subscribers only): Through February 24, new and lapsed subscribers can get a year-long PlayStation Plus Premium subscription for $100. That's $60 less than usual. As a refresher, this is the top-end tier of Sony's online service. It gets you the core benefits of any PS Plus subscription online play, cloud saves and a selection of free titles every month plus access to a Game Pass-style catalog (including several retro PlayStation games), time-limited game trials and cloud streaming support. Most people will be fine without it, and Sony has only jacked up the service's price over time, but any sort of discount should be welcome if you're interested in the retro catalog and want to stream games remotely. Just remember to cancel before the subscription ends if you don't want to be auto-renewed at the standard rate. Apple Music (6-month) for $3 at Apple ($52 off, new subscribers and select devices only): Apple is running a promo that gives six months of Apple Music for $3 total. Normally, a solo subscription costs $11 per month after a 30-day free trial (or a three-month trial if you recently bought an Apple device). This offer comes with a few caveats, though: You must be new to Apple Music, not eligible for the aforementioned three-month trial and able to redeem the offer through an iPhone, iPad or Mac. If you meet all of that, however, this is a nice way to get a half-year of music streaming for cheap. We praise Apple Music in our guide to the best music services for its lossless streaming quality, ease of use with Apple devices and emphasis on letting actual people introduce you to new music. This deal runs through February 27, but remember your subscription will be set to auto-renew until you cancel. The ASUS ROG Ally. Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget ASUS ROG Ally (Z1 Extreme) for $450 at Best Buy ($200 off): The original ROG Ally isn't as powerful, ergonomic or long-lasting as the newer ROG Ally X, and all Windows gaming handhelds are stuck with clunkier software than Valve's Steam Deck, which remains the top pick in our buying guide. But when it's discounted to this extent, the older Ally is worth considering if you really want a handheld PC that can play games from any client, be it Steam, the Epic Games Store or the Xbox app. It's still a touch more powerful than the Deck, too, and its 120Hz VRR display does wonders to keep games looking smooth. And for as sloppy as Windows can be, ASUS has made its Armoury Crate app at least a little easier to navigate over time. Just don't expect more than a couple hours of battery life, and don't bother using the microSD slot. This deal ties the all-time low for the model with an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip. ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024) for $1,074 at Best Buy ($525 off): Here's the lowest price we've seen for this configuration of the ROG Zephyrus G14, which includes a Ryzen 9 8945HS chip, a GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and a 14-inch 2.8K OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. Be aware that this is last year's model; ASUS has already announced an upgraded version for 2025 that should arrive in the coming weeks. That said, the current G14 is the top pick in our gaming laptop buying guide, and it remains a decent buy at this price if you want a gaming machine that's premium-feeling and long-lasting enough to delight as an everyday laptop. The main downsides are that the memory isn't upgradeable and the design can get toasty under load. You'll also have to turn down graphics settings to get some games to run well at the display's native resolution. Still, that OLED screen is gorgeous, and there's enough power to play many titles just fine. We gave the ROG Zephyrus G14 a score of 91 in our review last year. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14. Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget Chipolo One (4-pack) for $68 at Chipolo ($32 off): The Chipolo One tops our guide to the best Bluetooth trackers. While it doesn't have the enormous crowd-sourcing network of Apple's AirTags, we've found it send separation alerts faster when you've left an item behind and ring louder when you're back in the vicinity. It also has a hole for attaching to key rings, unlike Apple's tracker. It may not be the safest choice if you're worried about losing your luggage on a long-distance trip, but as a security blanket for keys, wallets or handbags, it's convenient. This discount on a four-pack isn't the lowest price we've seen, but it's still a bit lower than its usual street price. Use the code ENGADGET10 at checkout to get the full deal. If you do want a set of AirTags, meanwhile, a four-pack of those is also on sale for $70 at Amazon and other retailers. ThermoWorks Thermapen One for $79 at ThermoWorks ($30 off): The Thermapen One is a buttonless instant-read meat thermometer that we highlight in our guide to the best grilling gear. It reads temperatures quickly and accurately, its backlit display is easy to read and the whole thing sleeps and wakes automatically. It's definitely not the cheapest option, but its faster readings may be worth the extra cost for frequent grillers. While not an all-time low, this Engadget-exclusive deal marks the lowest price we could find in the last couple of months. 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/googles-pixel-9-pro-is-200-off-plus-the-rest-of-the-weeks-best-tech-deals-180041864.html?src=rss

Coinbase says that the SEC has agreed to end an enforcement case that accused it of illegally running an unregistered securities exchange. This could signal a major change in how the US government will enforce the crypto market now that Trump is in office. The lawsuit, which was filed during the Biden administration, has long-been considered an attempt to bring the crypto industry under the same investor-protection rules that govern stocks and other securities.Coinbase had been fighting the lawsuit on the grounds that it didnt run a securities company, likening the commodities it sells to baseball cards. That appeal will soon be moot, assuming the SEC officially votes to dismiss the suit. This should happen next week.Its a great day for Coinbase and for crypto, Paul Grewal, Coinbases chief legal officer, told The Wall Street Journal. We were committed to defending it to the gates of hell, for as long as it took and for as much money as it took.Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong went on CNBCs Squawk Box and said that the company will not be paying a fine of any kind. He also said the agreement to end the case marks a huge day for Coinbase and that it will cause a domino effect for the rest of the industry. He also blamed the original suit on a small group of activists in this prior administration.https://t.co/0iY0E7Mc9q pic.twitter.com/hVsGpnpNZd Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) February 21, 2025 This move doesnt come as a huge surprise, given President Trumps recent embrace of crypto. He even has his own digital coin. To that end, the SEC has already started to break up the special enforcement unit that was devoted to investigating crypto organizations. Coinbase and its rivals spent millions of dollars throughout the last election cycle to help elect crypto-friendly lawmakers. It looks like that investment is paying off.Acting SEC Chairman Mark Uyeda recently said that the organization would now deploy enforcement resources judiciously when investigating crypto companies. He also said that a new task force would be moving away from the commission's previous approach toward the crypto market.Republican House and Senate lawmakers are working on legislation that would reclassify cryptocurrencies as commodities, according to The Wall Street Journal. This change would likely hand oversight of crypto assets to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which is a much smaller agency than the SEC. The CFTC is actually smaller than ever right now, given that the Trump administration laid off a bunch of employees earlier this week.The crypto market is certainly responding favorably to all of this news. Coinbases stock price is up, and the same goes for Robinhood. Rival market Binance even restored fiat deposits and withdrawals this week, which were suspended in 2023 after the SEC sued the company for violations of securities laws.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/coinbase-says-trumps-sec-has-ended-its-enforcement-case-against-the-crypto-company-171331785.html?src=rss

More information about Salt Typhoon's October 2024 attack has been revealed.

With just two new movies debuting on the biggest streamers this week, it's up to some exciting shows to pick up the slack.

Wt FXs breathtaking visual effects are featured in this rare behind-the-scenes look to Better Man from Paramount Pictures. Under the direction of VFX Supervisor Luke Millar and Animation Supervisor Dave Clayton, the group realized a bold concept that combines metaphor and reality.The complex process of turning Robbie Williams into a monkeya potent symbolic aspect in his biopicis revealed by director Michael Gracey and Williams himself. This VFX breakdown highlights the creativity and talent that went into making Better Man a visually captivating film, from the initial animation tests to the final cinematic magic.The post Better Man The VFX Magic Behind Robbie Williams Transformation appeared first on Vfxexpress.

G20, a gripping political action thriller featuring Viola Davis as US President Sutton, is presented by Amazon MGM Studios. She must avoid capture and struggle to save lives and nations in a never-ending race against time as a deadly siege breaks out at the G20 conference.Leading VFX companies, such as Spin VFX, Cinesite, Boxel Studio, Mr. Wolf, and Atomic Arts, create the films captivating graphics. The effects, which are overseen by VFX Producer Harrison Marks and Production VFX Supervisor Sean Farrow, increase the reality and stress of this crucial mission.G20, which is directed by Patricia Riggen, promises to be an exciting film full of action, suspense, and state-of-the-art visual effects.The post G20 High-Stakes Action with Stunning VFX appeared first on Vfxexpress.

Youve probably heard AI is coming for many of our jobs. But how would you feel about getting a medical diagnosis from an AI doctor? Would you trust a verdict delivered by an AI judge?A new study of 10,000 people in 20 countries, including the United States, India, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and China, found when it comes to artificial intelligence replacing human jobs, people are most concerned about AI replacing doctors and judges, and least concerned about AI replacing journalists.The findings, published inAmerican Psychologistby the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, focused on the study participants attitudes to AI taking over six occupations: doctors, judges, managers, caregivers, religious leaders, and journalists.Researchers looked at eight psychological traitswarmth, sincerity, tolerance, fairness, competence, determination, intelligence, and imaginationand assessed AIs potential to replicate these traits. The studys findings suggest that when AI is introduced into a new job, people instinctively compare the human traits necessary for that job with AIs ability to imitate them. The level of fear that study participants felt about AI taking certain jobs appeared to be directly linked to a perceived mismatch between these human traits and AIs capabilities.For example, the prospect of AI-driven doctors and care workers elicited strong fears in some countries due to concerns about AIs lack of empathy and emotional understanding.But when researchers looked at widespread concerns about AI replacing human workers, they found peoples attitudes also varied widely among nations.For example, people in the U.S., India, and Saudi Arabia reported being most afraid of AIs role in jobs, particularly of judges and doctors, reflecting concerns about fairness, transparency, and moral judgment. (AI-driven journalists were the least feared, likely because people feel that they retain autonomy over how they engage with the information provided by journalists.)However, people in China, Japan, and Turkey were least afraid of artificial intelligence overall.And other studies have found that people in China place less importance on controlling AI and more on connecting with AI compared to European Americans. Theyve also found that 47% of North Americans are worried about harmful AI, while only 25% of Southeast Asians and 11% of East Asians have similar feelings.That is due, at least in part, to different countries having different traditions of depicting AI as benevolent or malicious, as well as different historical interactions with intelligent machines. Its also affected by people in countries having been exposed to different governmental policies about AI.

UnitedHealth Group, Americas largest insurer, is facing yet another crisis. The companys stock price (NYSE: UNH) plummeted in early trading this morning after a new report alleged that the private insurance provider is facing a probe from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) over its Medicare billing practices, a claim UnitedHealth Group denies. Heres what to know:UnitedHealths Medicare billing practicesShares in UnitedHealth Group fell this morning after the Wall Street Journal published a report stating that the $400 billion company was under investigation by the DOJ over its Medicare billing practices. The report states that the investigation is a civil fraud case and not a criminal one.At the heart of the investigation are DOJ concerns that UnitedHealth is recording patient diagnoses that generate additional payments to its Medicare Advantage plans. As the WSJ notes, UnitedHealth Group (aka UHG) and other insurers get lump sum payments from the federal government via the Medicare Advantage system. If patients have certain conditions, those lump sum payments can increase, generating more profit for insurers.Fast Company reached out to the DOJ for comment.The alleged investigation follows a December report from the WSJ in which the publication looked at billions of Medicare records. Those records allegedly showed that patients who joined Medicare Advantage plans saw huge increases in diagnoses that were more lucrative to UnitedHealth.Doctors said UnitedHealth . . . trained them to document revenue-generating diagnoses, including some they felt were obscure or irrelevant, the Journal reported. The company also used software to suggest conditions and paid bonuses for considering the suggestions, among other tactics, according to the doctors.In short, the DOJ may be concerned that UHG is trying to pad its bottom line by assigning unneeded diagnoses to patients in order to increase their taxpayer-fueled payments from the federal government.Reached for comment by Fast Company, a UnitedHealth Group spokesperson sent the following statement: The Wall Street Journal continues to report misinformation on the Medicare Advantage (MA) program. The government regularly reviews all MA plans to ensure compliance and we consistently perform at the industrys highest levels on those reviews. We are not aware of the launch of any new activity as reported by the Journal. We are aware, however, that the Journal has engaged in a year-long campaign to defend a legacy system that rewards volume over keeping patients healthy and addressing their underlying conditions. Any suggestion that our practices are fraudulent is outrageous and false.Yet another crisis for UHGThe alleged DOJ civil fraud investigation is the second major recent crisis for UnitedHealth Group. On December 4, a gunman fatally shot Brian Thompson, CEO of UHGs UnitedHealthcare unit, as he arrived for an early-morning investors conference in midtown Manhattan.Yet the murder of UnitedHealthcares CEO did not generate an outpouring of support for the company, as might be expected. Instead, it generated widespread glee on social media from Americans increasingly angry about the state of the countrys private healthcare industry, which many find unfair and unaffordable. That glee saw UnitedHealthcare and many other health insurers remove photos of their executives from their websites.UnitedHealth received further scorn after UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty published an ill-received op-ed in the New York Times, which generated an outpouring of new responses from Americans conveying the challenges theyve faced trying to get needed treatmentor getting UnitedHealth to pay for the treatment.In the aftermath of Thompsons killing and the public outcry from Americans about the struggles theyve faced with UnitedHealthcare, UnitedHealth Groups stock fell and hasnt recovered since.UNH shares fall againBefore the public outcry against UnitedHealthcare began in early December, the UnitedHealth Groups stock price was trading at over $600 per share. By mid-December, it had fallen to below $500 per share.Today, the companys stock is even lower. As of the time of this writing, UNH shares are down nearly 9% on news of the alleged DOJ probe. Shares are currently trading below $460 each.As of todays fall, UNH shares are now down over 9.4% year-to-date. Over the past 12 months, UNH shares have fallen over 12%.