We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.The PlayStation 5 Slim has been hard to come by since its release, spurring some shoppers to pay over-market prices from other sellers. But for now, there seems to be ample supply during the Christmas holiday from major retailers. Currently, the PlayStation 5 Slim Digital Edition is on sale for $374 (originally $449.99) after a $75 discount from Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Best Buy. The PlayStation 5 Slim Digital Edition is also available for $399 (originally $449.99). The physical disc version is also available at its lowest price of $424 (originally $499.99) on Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy. PlayStation 5 Slim Digital Edition $399.00 at Amazon $449.99 Save $50.99 Get Deal Get Deal $399.00 at Amazon $449.99 Save $50.99 PlayStation 5 Slim Digital Edition $399.00 at Walmart $449.99 Save $50.99 Get Deal Get Deal $399.00 at Walmart $449.99 Save $50.99 PlayStation 5 Slim Digital Edition $399.99 at Best Buy $449.99 Save $50.00 Get Deal Get Deal $399.99 at Best Buy $449.99 Save $50.00 1TB Storage and Ultra HD Blu-ray Player. PlayStation 5 Slim Console $449.00 at Amazon $499.99 Save $50.99 Get Deal Get Deal $449.00 at Amazon $499.99 Save $50.99 1TB Storage and Ultra HD Blu-ray Player. PlayStation 5 Slim Console $449.99 at Walmart $499.99 Save $50.00 Get Deal Get Deal $449.99 at Walmart $499.99 Save $50.00 1TB Storage and Ultra HD Blu-ray Player. PlayStation 5 Slim Console $449.99 at Best Buy $499.99 Save $50.00 Get Deal Get Deal $449.99 at Best Buy $499.99 Save $50.00 SEE 3 MORE As mentioned, consoles tend to sell out, so keep an eye on stock if you plan to buy, and consider acting quickly. Depending on how close you are to an Amazon warehouse, you might have the option to get it delivered before Christmas. Best Buy, Walmart, and Target all offer shipping that can arrive before Christmas for both versions of the console. (Of course, you can always go pick it up in person if you want.) If you already have the older PS5 and are wondering about upgrading to the slim version, keep in mind that it offers more than just a sleeker design (about 30% slimmer, according to IGN's review). The PS5 Slim also has 1TB of internal storage space, which results in an additional 181GB of usable space when compared to the original PS5. This addresses two of the biggest cons of the original PS5: the bulkiness and lack of storage space compared to the Xbox Series X. The PS5 Slim can be oriented both horizontally and vertically, but if you choose the latter, you'll need a vertical stand, which costs $29.99.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.Blenders are a staple appliance for all kinds of cooks, and if you're one of them then heres an upgrade you should consider. In my 12+ years as a professional chef, most of the time I would tell folks to consider a good food processor instead of a blender. That is, until I tested the Vitamix Ascent X5. After some rigorous food testing of this Vitamixs features, I must say, Im pretty damn impressed.The Vitamix Ascent X5Vitamix is a well-established name in the blender world, so it didnt surprise me that the newest line of their brand would be a force to reckon with. There are four models in the Ascent X series, the X2, X3, X4, and X5, ranging in price from $550 to $750. These arent budget models, thats for sure. Keep in mind that good blenders from lower-priced brands are still $200 or more. Vitamix Ascent X5 $649.95 at Vitamix $749.95 Save $100.00 Shop Now Shop Now $649.95 at Vitamix $749.95 Save $100.00 This blender has 10 preset programs, including for smoothies, dips, nut butters, and hot soup. It also comes with a tamper (more useful than I imagined), and the digital touch display is backlit and easy to navigate. The display is easy to use and the presets help make recipes even easier. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann This particular unit comes with a 10-year warranty. Not only is it reassuring to know you can get help if you need it, but also that the company fully expects this appliance to last at least a decade. You can think of the expense as $75 per year of use.Even still, I wanted to know if the performance was worth the price tag. So I put the machine through tests that many blenders fail at.Testing the Vitamix Ascent X5Even the crummiest blender can make a smoothie, so I skipped over that and instead set up a series of three trials: bean dip, nut butter, and hot soup. These recipes have sticky ingredients that most blenders cant fully run down, let alone make into a smooth paste. The soup might seem easy, but the special task here is that Vitamix claims you can make and heat the soup right in the blender. Apparently the friction of the blade will get hot enough to heat an entire batch of soup in about seven minutes.The bean dip testI decided this was a good time to make my favorite kalamata and white bean dip, so I gathered the ingredients and chucked them in. I normally make this dish in my food processor. Since beans are sticky, if I make this (or any other bean dip) in a blender some beans get smashed just above the blade, leaving the bottom beans to over-pure and the top beans to barely get crushed. It becomes an annoying process of stopping the machine and pushing beans down multiple times. Mid-blend, as the Vitamix finishes the preset dip cycle. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Not with the Vitamix Ascent X5, however. I navigated to the dip preset with the rotating knob and pressed start. The machine used two different preset speeds to absolutely devour the ingredients. In less than three minutes I had the smoothest kalamata bean dip ever. The only thing I missed from my food processor was pulsing in a few olives, so I chopped them up with a knife instead and mixed them into the dip at the end.The hot soup testFor this test, I decided to make a simple tomato soup. I knew at this point that the soup would be smooth, so I basically wanted to see if the heating feature was all lip service.Well: I was floored. Stunned. Slightly intimidated. This machine did exactly as promised and made me perfectly hot soup.I roasted tomatoes in the oven and added them, seeds and all, to the blender. I dropped in a few roasted garlic cloves, tomato paste, chicken broth and seasonings, navigated to the hot soup icon on the touch screen and pressed play. Most of the other features do their business in three minutes or so, but the hot soup feature carries on for seven. I initially noticed the color of the mixture was pale pink, which you can make out in the picture. After a couple minutes, I didnt see much change so I left the room to check back in a bit. A minute or so after blending began. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Once I returned with a couple minutes left in the program, there was a markedly different color and steam collecting at the top. The machine was really heating the soup to the point where the ingredients were cooking, to what I now know was a near simmer. Toward the end of the soup cycle, the soup had become bright orange-red. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann After it finished, I tested the temperature: 180F. The soup was as good as if I had simmered it for 20 minutes on the stove, and a texture silkier than my immersion blender could have ever managed. (Keep in mind that it doesnt get hotter than that so youd want to add pre-cooked vegetables to the blender.)The nut butter test I would never ever ever tell anyone to make nut butter in a blender. Youll burn out your motor, end up with an inconsistent texture, or get tired of waiting because it can take 20 minutes of constant blending. Even in a food processor, which is much more equipped for making nut butters, youll be waiting for some time.I settled on making cashew butter this time because the cashews in the bulk bin of my corner store were especially handsome. Nut butters are nothing as far as ingredients go. I dry roasted the cashews for about seven minutes in the oven, cooled them, and added them to the blender. I found the cute nut butter icon and let er rip. This is when the tamper comes in. I was too enthralled by the machines power on the first run, so I started tamping too late, but on the second spin I was smashing and pressing the nut butter the whole time with great success. You must tamp! The Vitamix also has a tamping notification feature in case you need a reminder. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Within four minutes I had top-quality cashew butter from my blender. (The preset is for two minutes, so if you tamp right away youll be faster than me.) It was faster than opening a store-bought jar and stirring in the separated oil with a knife and cleaning up the resulting oily mess.Is the Vitamix Ascent X5 a good blender?This is the best blender Ive ever usedno contest. One thing that I didnt love, however, is that it's also loud AF. My cats hated it, my fiance grumped at me, I considered ear plugs during the soup cycle. Still, this blender absolutely crushes any challenge you throw at it. Ive never had smoother soups or dips from an appliance. I can actually understand now how and why folks make baby food with this particular brand of blender. Its fast and uncompromising in its velvety results. Making a hollandaise or mayonnaise in this blender would be carefree.Is it worth the price?This is a question only you can answer but heres what I would consider. What do you make, and how often? If you can see yourself ripping soups, nut butters, or baby food on a regular basis then you absolutely should invest in this blender. If you use a blender for smoothies, or sauces every day, or youre considering starting your own at home business where this appliance can serve a purpose, then yes, this blender can handle the pressure.But if you dig your blender out of the closet when you occasionally need it, make smoothies in the summer and store your blender away for the rest of the year, then I would consider a cheaper model from another brand.The last thing you have to consider is cleanup. My favorite feature is the self-clean program: I hate cleaning as much as I like cooking. Unlike other blenders where you have to take the container apart to clean every piece, the instructions forbid you from taking off the bottom with the blade. But that's okay, you see, because aside from a soapy sponge to wipe the tough spots, the self-cleaning feature works like a charm. The Vitamix Ascent X5 is on sale from the Vitamix online store for 649.95 right now, $100 off the original price. Its a great time to nab one for yourself or as a gift.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.A friend of mine used to say that the first question we ask when were introduced to a new piece of technology is, How can I use this to have sex? To that end, heres how to use a Meta Quest 2, Quest 3, Quest 3S, Apple Vision Pro, PSVR, Vive, or other VR headset to have sex...or watch virtual porn, anyway.(If you're wondering what else you can do with your Quest 3 or 3S, here's a guide to the must-have apps for both.)How to watch VR Porn with a Meta Quest 2, Quest 3, Quest 3S or other VR headset Its almost comically easy to have an entry-level VR porn experience in virtual reality with any headset that isn't manufactured by Apple. (More on that below.)Entry level porn VR porn viewing, step-by-stepLock the door.Put on your headset.Click on your web-browser-of-choiceNavigate to a site that hosts VR porn. Free video megasites like Youporn have a VR section, or just use Google to search something out. Clicking on a video should launch you into VRbut "should" is doing a lot of work. These are random files hosted on janky free porn sites, so don't be surprised if you need to do a little trial-and-error to find one that works right. Thats all you need to know to get a taste of the VR porn thing, but because of the massive file sizes of VR video, streaming is likely to be choppy, and free movies are usually not in the highest resolutionagain, janky but free. To get a better experience, youre going to have to (gasp) pay to watch it.Suggested headsets for VR porn-viewing:Valve Index VR Full KitMeta Quest 2Meta Quest 3HTC Vive Pro 2How to watch VR porn with a Meta Quest 3 and 3SThe above instructions for streaming "regular" VR porn work on Meta Quest 3 and 3S headsets, but the "3 series" has front-facing pass-through camera arrays that add a new wrinkle to "adult content": augmented reality. Getting your pass-through-porn on can be fairly complicated, so here's a separate post that goes into detail about how to get augmented reality porn to work on your Meta Quest 3 and 3S.How to watch Porn with an Apple Vision ProApple's Vision Pro can stream, download, and play normal videos (both adult and "mainstream") on gigantic virtual reality screens easily through its web browser, but immersive, 3D videos produced specifically for virtual or augmented reality will not work on your Apple Vision Pro's browser. Part of the issue is that WebXR, the programming interface for accessing augmented reality and virtual reality devices, is not automatically enabled in the Vision Pro's browser. Not having WebXR enabled means no VR porn, but it also means you won't have access to a slew of non-adult VR and AR content like web-based games, tours, productivity apps, etc. Here's how to turn WebXR on:Open Settings.Select Apps.Select Safari.Scroll to the bottom of the window and select Advanced.Scroll to the bottom of the window and select Feature Flags.Under Experimental XR Features, enable WebXR Device API and WebXR Hand Input Module.Under WebKit Feature Flags, enable WebXR Augmented Reality Module and WebXR GamePads Module.Exit Settings.Open Safari, or if it's already open, refresh a WebXR-enabled page to check it is working.But even with WebXR enabled, you still can't launch full VR porn videos on an Apple Vision Proyet. I spoke to Alex Novac, of VR Porn site SexLikeReal, and he said, "a lot has been done on our end to make things work with AVP. It's a great tool for videos. Will be making a huge update soon."Advanced VR porn viewingPick a VR website. Because VR porn is relatively new, more costly to produce, and has a smaller audience than normal adult videos, there arent an overwhelming number of sites dedicated to it. Most of them have sample videos to view, and some provide single-day access for very cheap so you can see if you dig it. Check out this list of the most well-known producers, and make a choice. Did you lock the door?Open the browser, navigate to your newly chosen site and enter your credit card digits. Membership fees vary from site to site, but expect a range of $20 to $30 a month. From here, you can stream full-length videos at very high quality, but the streaming might still be choppy. If soDownload and save video to your device These videos can be over 10 gigs, so it might take a little bit. Play the videoMajor VR headsets come with great video browsers, but if you want advanced features, download Skybox for 10 bucks. That way you can save video to your PC and stream from your computer easily. Get the right player: Some adult VR sites are configured to work best with specific browsers or video players, and you should be directed as to what to install. If you want to get really advanced, you can delve into the world of (link is NSFW) virtual reality sex toys. These are devices designed to vibrate and oscillated in sync with videos. I have no idea how well these work and I'm not super anxious to find out. Is virtual reality porn any good?Now that you know how to view porn in virtual reality, you have to ask yourself if you should. Virtual realitys you are there immersion provides an experience that is markedly different from traditional porn, but its not necessarily better. Like all things of this nature, it comes down to personal taste. I checked out a little bit of the stuff (for research purposes only, of course), and, without going into too much detail, here are the pros and cons:Locked-in perspective: The idea of putting the viewer right up in the action means the camera is locked to your perspective. If you like that kind of thing, its gravy for you, but if you dont well, you gave it a shot.The performance: The camera/you feel very close to the performers in VR porn videos and the illusion is fairly convincing, but actually selling that kind of intimacy requires acting talent. Its a different kind of performing than film or stage altogether, and, at the risk of being negative, many pornographic performers dont have the chops to really pull it off, so it can just feel weird, and not sexy-weird. Again, your mileage may vary.Limited content: Because it is more expensive and more difficult to shoot VR video, and there is a smaller audience, it seems like almost all VR porn is geared toward a mainstream porn audience. If you share the tastes of the majority of porn viewers, youll be happy. If youre into something more esoteric, you might find it difficult or impossible to find what you like, at least until more pervs join the virtual world.Gender-bending: Most virtual reality porn is designed for heterosexual men, but not all of it. There is VR porn from the point of view of queer people, which provides maybe the most unique possibility of VR porn: putting yourself in the skin of someone else. Looking down at yourself and seeing a different body (one that doesnt skip ab day) is strange enough, but looking down and seeing a differently gendered body is positively freaky in the best possible way. I can only assume this will lead to a new age of empathy and the end of sexism and homophobia. For couples? Realistically, most porn is going to be consumed solo, but some couples are strapping on headsets (and maybe other devices) and incorporating the virtual into their shared real sex lives. I think a real experience while wearing a headset would be a little ridiculous, but maybe I'm just old-fashioned.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.Something Ive noticed as I get older is that the gifts I receive tend to be more useful, and less fun. This year, I say its time to rebalance the scales and give the older adults in your life a gift that checks both boxes.Smart tech is a great way to do this. There are a lot of gadgets out there that can provide a light assist and some added fun for your parents or grandparents as they pursue their hobbies or around-the-house activities. Here's what I'd pick for my own parents.A smart bird feederYou dont typically sell someone on the concept of a birdfeeder by talking about the feeder itself, but when people see the photos and videos a smart feeder can deliver, they become instant evangelists. Given that many older folks already love birdwatching, a good smart bird feeder is aperfect gift.The concept isnt any different from a regular bird feeder. Smart feeders come in different formats for hummingbirds and songbirds, and depending on which you choose, you put different food into them. In either case, the feeder delivers notifications when birds are eating, as well as a daily summary of how many visitors you got. The cameras capture images and video that will make anyone giggle.While there are many smart bird feeders on the market, I recommend going with a Bird Buddy feeder. While they are a little tricky to pair with Bluetooth the first time, once up and running, they work great. I recommend getting a feeder with solar panels, so you don't have to worry about batteries, and I think the hummingbird feeder is particularly well designedI've been evjoying the videos mine captures every day. Bird Buddy - Smart Hummingbird Feeder with Solar Roof - White $239.99 at Best Buy $299.99 Save $60.00 Shop Now Shop Now $239.99 at Best Buy $299.99 Save $60.00 A TV-mounted smart camera for better video callsAt this point, most people have a smart TV, and most smart TVs have the ability to add a webcam. If you do, you can make Zoom, Google Meet, and other video calls from your TV. The benefit here is that you dont have to stare up grandpas nostrils when he picks up your call on his smartphone.Instead, Gramps and Nana can settle in on the living room couch and see their whole family on the TV, while you can enjoy a conversation in which you can actually see them both.Youll need to check that their TV has the ability to add a webcam and offers apps like Zoom or Google Meet. After that, its as simple as plugging the webcam into a USB port on the TV and going through the setup process. Logitech Webcam for Smart TV $42.90 at Walmart $139.26 Save $96.36 Shop Now Shop Now $42.90 at Walmart $139.26 Save $96.36 A smart picture frame you can load from afarWifi-enabled frames are nothing new. However, in the past few years, a rush of brands come to market with highly stylized smart frames that have accompanying apps so you can add pictures from anywhere. While Aura frames have earned top marks, Ive been using one from Skylight for the last year to trade photos with friends. I appreciate that there are both low-fi methods for sending photos (via email), and an app for more tech-savvy folks. Given that all my friends with kids have bought one of these frames for the grandparents, I think it's worth buying them in pairs. Get one for the grandparents and one for yourselves, so they can send their own photos back to you. It's a fun, tech-y way for them to interact with you and the grandkids. Skylight Digital Frame $149.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $149.99 at Amazon A smart telescope for easy stargazingIve toyed with telescopes over the years and given up when theyve been too heavy to lug around hard to use without submitting to a steep learning curve. This year, I tried a smart telescopeit's small, fitting in a bag smaller than most camera bags.It mounts to a standard tripod, and from the moment you turn it on, the app helps you find and identify stars. It is tremendously satisfying and far less intimidating than a "real" telescope. Unfortunately, they are pricey, starting at $500 and climbing over $1500. If you're in the market for a larger gift for an aging stargazer, though, the Celestron is a good middle ground model. For $639, it gives you a number of computerized controls that make finding and tracking what you see in the sky easier. It's still small, though not as small and sleek as more expensive models, and easy to set up. Celestron Smart Telescope $639.95 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $639.95 at Amazon Permanent outdoor smart lights I know outdoor lights don't scream "fun," but hear me out. The new take on holidays lights are permanent, so you never take them down, and you can change the entire color scheme from your phone. This means that far beyond the holiday season, your parents can tinker with the light scheme for any holiday that arrives. Valentines, St. Patty's, Arbor Day, et al can provide a new outlet for their creativity. The lights are certifiably fun to play with. You create programs on your phone and send them off to the lights, which change instantly. An added benefit: This also means your parents won't need to go climbing all over the roof each holiday season to put up and take down their lighting. Another win, as far as I'm concerned. Govee Permanent Outdoor Lights Pro $699.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $699.99 at Amazon The best gifts come with support from the kidsDepending on the savviness of the parent youre gifting these tech-y items to, you may want to consider setting them up for them (perhaps during your holiday visit). Pairing Bluetooth devices can occasionally take a few tries, but while most products are relatively easy to get online, setting up the gift together can become a multi-generational family activity.

There are a lot of apps on the App Store (Apple says it's just shy of two million). You might think with a market so varied, that the competition for the "most popular" apps of the year would be fierce. But if you look back, the apps that top the charts seem to remain about the same from year to year.Temu is topsOn Monday, Apple dropped its list of the most popular iPhone and iPad apps of the year across a number of categories. Just like last year, Temu was the most popular free app of 2024. People still love buying cheap products, so perhaps that isn't a surprise. But it's app number two that I'm most interested in: Threads. Meta's version of "X" has had a great year, as former X users look for an alternative to the platform formerly known as Twitter. We'll have to see if Bluesky keeps its current momentum, though. If it does, it just might make it to the list in 2025.In third place is TikTok, which also isn't all that surprising: There isn't a short-form video platform more popular. Don't expect to see it on the list in 2025, though, unless the Supreme Court steps in to save the app from being banned in the U.S. AI apps from OpenAI and MetaChatGPT was the fourth most downloaded free app of 2024, and it makes sense: AI is everywhere, and people are still curious about it. But it is the only overtly AI app to make it onto the top 10 lists here. Perhaps that speaks to ChatGPT's notoriety, or that AI's hype isn't as huge as some would portray it to be. In any case, I think it was a smart move for Meta to integrate its AI services directly into apps like Instagram and WhatsApp. As much as I dislike Meta AI, these apps were the sixth and seventh most popular of the year. That's a lot of exposure, something that a dedicated Meta AI app probably wouldn't have achieved. Top paid apps: VPNs, productivity, and creativityThe paid apps are an interesting bunch. If you're like me, you probably haven't heard of many of them. The top three apps, Shadowrocket, HotSchedules, and Procreate Pocket are the exact same as last year: Shadowrocket is like a highly-configurable VPN, which lets you channel your internet traffic through proxy servers. HotSchedules is an employee-scheduling app, while Procreate Pocket is the iPhone version of Procreate, a popular art app for iPad.The most popular gamesAs far as games go, MONOPOLY GO!is still on the list, but drops to the second most popular free game. Topping the chart this year was Block Blast!, a puzzle game that was seventh on the list in 2023. Roblox andSubway Surfers were back this year, as was a Call of Duty title, but this yearCall of Duty: Warzone Mobile. The top two paid games of 2024 are exactly the same as they were last year:Minecraft andHeads Up! No surprises there.Here's the full list of categories, including iPhone, iPad, and Apple Arcade games: Top free iPhone appsTemu: Shop Like a BillionaireThreadsTikTokChatGPTGoogleInstagramWhatsApp MessengerCapCut - Video EditorYouTube: Watch, Listen, StreamGmail - Email by GoogleTop paid iPhone appsShadowrocketHotSchedulesProcreate Pocket75 HardAnkiMobile FlashcardsAutoSleep Track Sleep on WatchPaprika Recipe Manager 3TonalEnergy Tuner & MetronomeGoblin ToolsForest: Focus for ProductivityTop free iPhone gamesBlock BlastMONOPOLY GO!RobloxCall of Duty: Warzone MobileTownshipLast War:SurvivalRoyal MatchBrawl StarsSubway SurfersMy Perfect HotelTop paid iPhone gamesMinecraft: Play with FriendsHeads Up!Geometry DashPapa's Freezeria To Go!Bloons TD 6Five Nights at Freddy'sPlague Inc.MONOPOLY: The Board GameStardew ValleyRed's First FlightTop free iPad appsYouTube: Watch, Listen, StreamNetflixMax: Stream HBO, TV, & MoviesCalculator - Pad EditionDisney+Google ChromePeacock TV: Stream TV & MoviesAmazon Prime VideoTikTokGoodnotes 6Top paid iPad appsProcreateProcreate DreamsShadowrocketforScoreNomad SculptToonSquidBluebeam Revu for iPadAnkiMobile FlashcardsTeach Your Monster to ReadEndless PaperTop free iPad gamesRobloxMagic Tiles 3: Piano GameMONOPOLY GO!Subway SurfersBrawl StarsGeometry Dash LiteBlock BlastAmong Us!My Perfect HotelRoyal MatchTop paid iPad gamesMinecraft: Play with FriendsGeometry DashFive Nights at Freddy'sStardew ValleyBloons TD 6Papa's Paleteria To Go!Five Nights at Freddy's 2Poppy Playtime Chapter 1MONOPOLY: The Board GameUltimate Custom NightTop Apple Arcade gamesNBA 2K24 Arcade EditionSnake.io+Hello Kitty Island AdventureSneaky SasquatchBloons TD 6+Sonic Dream TeamNFL Retro Bowl '25Disney Dreamlight ValleyCooking Mama: Cuisine!Solitaire by MobilityWare+

Even if you're not one for getting dressed up and going out to ring in the new year, there's still something to celebrate on Jan. 1: a new batch of copyrighted works entering the public domain. In 2025, the rights to characters, books, plays, movies, drawings, paintings, and photography from 1929, as well as sound recordings from 1924 will expire, meaning that the public (that's us) can legally copy, share, and build upon them without permission or paying a fee, according to the Center for the Study of the Public Domain at Duke University. Here are some of the highlights.Notable characters entering the public domain in 2025Popeye: E.C. Segar's strapping sailor man first appeared in Gobs of Work in his Thimble Theatre comic stripTintin: The young investigative reporter made his debut in Les Aventures de Tintin by Belgian cartoonist Herg in the magazine Le Petit Vingtime Notable books and plays entering the public domain in 2025William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to ArmsVirginia Woolf's A Room of One's OwnDashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon (as serialized in Black Mask magazine)John Steinbeck's Cup of Gold (his first novel)Arthur Wesley Wheen's first English translation of All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria RemarqueAgatha Christie's Seven Dials MysteryRobert Graves's Good-bye to All ThatNotable films entering the public domain in 202512 more Mickey Mouse cartoons, including Mickeys first talking appearance in The Karnival Kid (Mickey and Minnie Mouse first entered the public domain this year)The Skeleton Dance, directed by Walt Disney and animated by Ub Iwerks (the first Silly Symphony short from Disney)Blackmail, directed by Alfred Hitchcock (Hitchcocks first sound film)The Cocoanuts, directed by Robert Florey and Joseph Santley (the first Marx Brothers feature film)The Broadway Melody, directed by Harry Beaumont (winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture)Hallelujah, directed by King Vidor (the first film from a major studio with an all-Black cast)The Hollywood Revue of 1929, directed by Charles Reisner (featuring the song Singin in the Rain)The Wild Party, directed by Dorothy Arzner (Clara Bows first talkie)Show Boat, directed by Harry A. Pollard (adaptation of the novel and musical)Notable musical compositions entering the public domain in 2025Singin in the Rain, lyrics by Arthur Freed, music by Nacio Herb BrownAint Misbehavin, lyrics by Andy Paul Razaf, music by Thomas W. (Fats) Waller & Harry Brooks (from the musical Hot Chocolates)An American in Paris, George GershwinBolero, orchestral composition by Maurice Ravel(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue, lyrics by Andy Paul Razaf, music by Thomas W. Fats Waller & Harry Brooks (a song about racial injustice from the musical Hot Chocolates)Tiptoe Through the Tulips, lyrics by Alfred Dubin, music by Joseph Burke (Note: the 1968 recording by Tiny Tim is still copyrighted)Happy Days Are Here Again, lyrics by Jack Yellen, music by Milton Ager (the theme song for Franklin D. Roosevelts 1932 presidential campaign)Notable sound recordings from 1924 entering the public domain in 2025Nobody Knows the Trouble Ive Seen, recorded by Marian AndersonRhapsody in Blue, recorded by George GershwinShreveport Stomp, recorded by Jelly Roll MortonEverybody Loves My Baby (But My Baby Dont Love Nobody But Me), recorded by Louis Armstrong and Clarence Williams' Blue FiveDeep Blue Sea Blues, recorded by Clara SmithIt Had To Be You, recorded by the Isham Jones Orchestra and by Marion HarrisCalifornia Here I Come, recorded by Al JolsonFor additional works entering the public domain, check out the lists from the Center for the Study of the Public Domain at Duke University and Copyright Lately.

Now that Apple has finally brought OLED to the iPad in the form of the most recent iPad Pro, its next goal seems to be foldable devices. According to Bloombergs Mark Gurman, the iPhone maker is working towards releasing a foldable iPad by 2028, while the Wall Street Journal says the company hopes to have a foldable iPhone on the market in 2026.The iPad news comes courtesy of Gurmans Power On newsletter, where the reporters (unnamed but frequently reliable) sources tell him that the folding iPad would be a whopping 18.8-inches and would be like two iPad Pros side-by-side. For comparison, the current iPad Pro caps out at 13-inches, and even the MacBook Pro only gets as large as 16 inches.This isnt the first time Gurman has reported on a folding iPad, as he previously covered a rumored 20-inch iPad meant to work like a MacBook, but with a touchscreen instead of a keyboard. This rumor originally came from Display Supply Chain Consultant Ross Young, but Gurmans sources did confirm to him that Apple is considering such a device. If it comes to market, Young says it would likely be in 2026, although Gurmans most recent rumors seem to indicate the 2028 device might supplant it.Regarding the folding iPhone, the Wall Street Journal says itll have a bigger screen than the 16 Pro Max and should hit the market in 2026. Technically, The Information was the first to report on this phone way back in July, and Gurmans gotten in on the speculation too, saying not to expect it before 2026 at the earliest.As for why these devices are projected for so far out when companies like Asus and Samsung are already putting out foldable tablets and phones, its likely because Apple is working on a nearly invisible crease, which might be what it takes to compete in an increasingly intense market space.Returning to the iPad, Gurman technically wasnt the first to report on the rumored 18.8-inch device, as market research firm Omdia had previously predicted that one was in development. However, Gurmans reporting adds significant credence to the idea.Gurman also says that the device, while not confirmed to be running MacOS, will have elements of both, including being advanced enough to run macOS apps.That should help justify the size a bitlike Asus Zenbook Fold line, a folding Apple tablet will likely be able to connect to an external keyboard, allowing it to also serve as a sort of portable desktop environment. That said, Korean outlet The Elec has previously said that Apple is considering 7- or 8- inch folding tablets as well, although that publications timelines dont fully match up with the other reporting, so Apple might still surprise us all yet.

The holidays are here, and with them, all kinds of winter-themed updates to your favorite online games. Seasonal events are common in games like Final Fantasy XIV and Fortnite, but recent game of the year winner Astro Bot is surprising players with a brand-new level thats already becoming a holiday classic.Titled "Winter Wonder," the level does take a bit of doing to get to. Most importantly, you need to beat the main Astro Bot campaign before you can unlock it, so if youre brand new to Sonys award-winning platformer, be prepared to spend eight to ten hours playing it before you can get in the festive mood.Once thats done, youll just need to load into the main universe hub where you normally access the games major areas, called galaxies. It wont be too long before youll see a small flying planet wearing a Santa hat. Smack into it (use R2 to boost if youre having trouble) and the planet will move to the right side of your screen and morph into the level in question. Now, simply fly over it and press X to begin playing.Once youre in the level, youll be treated to a snowy platforming paradise with 15 gifts to chase down, each containing different bots, speeders, and costumes to unlock. I wont spoil your presents early, but even playing as efficiently as possible, getting everything should take you about 15 minutes. Along the way, youll run and jump across gingerbread houses, ball pits full of ornaments, candy cane gardens, and fields with grazing robotic reindeer (and maybe the odd elephant or monkey).Winter Wonder isnt the first free post-game level to be added to Astro Bot, with five speedrun-focused challenges having preceded it over the past few months, but it is possibly the one with the most staying power. The vibes here are just immaculate, and I could easily see replaying it becoming a new holiday tradition in some households.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.One bit of wisdom that has come to me with age is that, sometimes, there is value in doing things the way they've always been done. Just because something can be modernized doesn't always mean it needs to be. The best example of this, to me, is the humble filing cabinet. Yes, you can (and still should) digitize all your documents, since that makes them searchable and easy to find, but there are still great reasons to keep a real-deal, physical filing cabinet in your home. First of all, filing cabinets aren't just for files. The one I use has two drawers for file folders, but a smaller third drawer at the top that is ideal for office supplies. I'm a diehard supporter of the Organizational Triangle as a method to keep my home in order and that technique calls for everything you own to have a designated storage space and be stored with similar items. Keeping highlighters, a magnifying glass, staplers, etc. together with the stuff you use them for is an ideal organizational system. The ones with extra storage space are typically taller than your one-off file storage boxes, too, so they provide helpful flat space that can be used for more storage or as a writing surface in a pinch. If all-in-one organization is your interest, try a file cabinet like this: LYS SOHO 3-Drawer File Cabinet $109.99 at Amazon Get Deal Get Deal $109.99 at Amazon Some documents can't be digitizedI am the person my friends and family members call on when they want help finding digital documents. I'm a meticulous organizer of my computer and phone and spend a lot of free time (generously) helping my loved ones organize their devices, too. But I learned this trait from my mom, who is diligent about physical document organization. When I need a copy of my birth certificate, that woman can produce it in seconds because it's placed carefully in a clearly labeled folder in one of her many filing cabinets. Documents like thatcertificates, social security cards, etc.tend to need to be originals to count when it matters, like when you're opening an account or getting your passport. Digital copies can only get you so far most of the time, so having a dedicated, labeled, organized storage space for the real stuff is key. But other kinds of documents also need the physical treatment. In my mom's job, for instance, some of the docs she handles are sensitive and can't be digitized. A locked file cabinet is her best friend in that case. Other documents she handles are required to be kept for a certain amount of time before being destroyed. She tells me she doesn't see the point of digitizing them just to delete them, so she keeps them in a special drawer of her file cabinet, then shreds them when the time is up. What you need in this case is a lockable filing cabinet, like this: VASAGLE 2 Drawer File Cabinet with Lock $79.99 at Amazon Get Deal Get Deal $79.99 at Amazon Both drawers on this model lock independently with keys, which I like more than the cabinets that have one lock at the top that controls all the drawers. Filing cabinets offer safety and protectionFollowing a very memorable incident in which my childhood dog tore apart not only my parents' cardboard file boxes, but the files within them, my family switched to heavy-duty filing cabinets. In addition to ones that lock like the cabinets above, you can even get ones that are fire- and water-resistant. Yes, you can protect your documents from fire, water, and other physical threats by digitizing them, but the fact still remains you will always have important docs on hand in your home. Instead of keeping them piled up on a shelf, invest in a quality protective file cabinet or box. Some are pretty pricey, so it's a good idea to determine how much you really need to store in something so hardcore, but you can also find smaller ones on the cheaper side, like this: SentrySafe 1170 Fireproof Box with Key Lock $46.56 at Amazon $59.99 Save $13.43 Shop Now Shop Now $46.56 at Amazon $59.99 Save $13.43 General filing cabinet tipsIn my experience, the best way to use filing cabinets is by getting really nitty-gritty with your organization. I'm talking about labeled folders for everything. Each tax year should have its own folder. Each income source, asset, and person in your family should have one. In addition to clear labeling, I recommend using a variety of colors to represent all the different categories. You can get 100 multi-colored folders for $18.99. Categorizing and organizing your documents and necessary items physically has a lot of benefits. I've found that it can actually be easier to pull open a drawer and look for something than to open and close a bunch of tabs and files on the computer. Plus, when you take the time to hand-write a label and physically handle a document, you really entrench it into your mind. It'll be easier to remember where it is in a pinch for the same reason it's easier to recall hand-written notes over digital ones when you're studying. I'm a file cabinet evangelist, I guess, and I think every home should have at least one. You don't have to break the bank to do it or turn your back entirely on modernity. In fact, the easiest way to get a cheap one is by embracing modernity: Check Buy Nothing groups on Facebook or the free giveaways section of Craigslist regularly, as filing cabinets are usually abundant on there. When offices close or remodel, they give away a lot of stuff.

AirTags are pretty great. They let you keep tabs on things that have a habit of going missing, like keys and wallets, and other items that are targets for theft, like bags and bikes. Of course, sometimes a bag doesn't go missing because of theft. One popular use for these tiny trackers is for tracking missing luggage: People will throw an AirTag in their bag and hand it off to their airline. If that bag doesn't make it to the luggage carousel at the destination, a quick glance at the Find My app can offer some indication as to where that bag is. If the airline tries to say "we don't know where your bag is," you can hold up your iPhone and say, "I do." Lost luggage is more common a problem than it should be. But, on the bright side, airlines appear to want to do something about it. Share Item Location in iOS 18.2It all has to do with a new Find My feature rolling out with iOS 18.2, "Share Item Location." The new feature lets you temporarily share a link to your Find My accessory's location with a trusted third party. For a limited time (one week appears to be the default) they'll be able to see your item, such as an AirTag, as if it were their own Find My device, and can help you locate it. While this feature lets you share your AirTag's location with anyone you want, part of the pitch is the ability to share these locations with airlines: If your luggage goes missing, you can share your AirTag's coordinates with your airline directlyno more frustrated confrontation necessary. United Airlines was the first to announce their the support for the feature. The airline shared the news on Thursday, Dec. 12, one day after Apple released iOS 18.2 to the public. United says you'll be able to share your Find My device's location link directly to delayed baggage report tool in the airline's app. Once returned, United says it will disable the location link, but you can disable the link yourself at any time.Following this announcement, Apple's Senior Vice President of Marketing, Greg Joswiak, shared on X that Delta and Air Canada would also start supporting the feature. Unlike United, which appears to already support it, Delta and Air Canada will support it "this week," so keep an eye out if you fly with any of these airlines.Apple says more airlines will support the feature in "coming months," including Aer Lingus, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and Vueling.How to use Share Item LocationTo start, make sure your iPhone is running iOS 18.2 or later. Then, open Find My, tap the "Item" tab, then choose the item you'd like to share. Scroll down, then choose Share Item Location. Tap Continue on the popup, then either copy the link provided, or choose Share Link to share it direct with a contact. Remember that even if the airline has the link to your AirTag, it isn't a guarantee they'll know its exact location at any given moment. AirTags aren't live, real-time trackers. They have no way to constantly beam their location to the internet on their own. Instead, they rely on other internet-connected Find My devices (often iPhones) to anonymously and securely share their location to the Find My network on their behalf. Because they rely on other nearby devices to update their whereabouts, they're great for general location tracking, but not for always-updated GPS coordinates. Don't use them to track your kids, for example.

Googles NotebookLM AI podcast tool recently got launched into the mainstream thanks to a collaboration with Spotify Wrapped, but after a recent update, its suddenly much more interactive. Now, instead of just sitting back and listening, you can actually join in on the conversation.According to Google, NotebookLM users have already generated more than 350 years worth of Audio Overviews, which essentially take uploaded documents and turn them into AI-hosted two-way conversations to help make them easier to digest. The idea is that you could submit a 50-page long research white paper, for example, and the podcast would give you a quick breakdown that you could listen to while doing other things.Maybe its because Google uses the same voices for every audio overview, but in my experience, they usually sound eerily similar to a real back and forth, if not without some jank or robotic stiffness. That said, for a tool thats supposed to make complicated topics easier to understand, its given users little control in how to guide its AI conversationsuntil now.As part of a larger update that overhauls the user interface and adds some extra features for enterprise customers, Google is also now allowing you to join in on the AI podcasts. The feature, called Join, wont let you directly converse with your AI hosts, but rather interrupt the podcast to ask a question and direct the conversation. For instance, if youre listening to a breakdown of important dates in American history, but your hosts get distracted talking about state birds, you could stop them to get them back on track.Alternatively, you could simply ask them to go deeper on a particular topic, or reiterate something theyve already covered.The feature is currently rolling out in a beta, and unfortunately, I havent gotten my hands on it yet. If youre luckier than me, Google says you can try it out through the following steps:Create a new Audio OverviewTap the new Interactive mode (BETA) button and hit playWhile listening, tap Join, A host will call on you.Ask your question!The company has posted an example of the feature in action, and it seems like youll need to hit "join" for each question youve got. It really seems like Google is going for more of a Q&A format here, rather than treating you as a third host. The result reminds me a bit of Gemini Live, which similarly lets you talk to Googles AI in real-time, but has had some quirks regarding accuracy or understanding when Ive tried using it in the past. It makes sense, then, that Google is iterating that the Join feature is experimental, and that hosts may pause awkwardly before responding and may occasionally introduce inaccuracies. Additionally, the feature will only work for new podcasts, so dont expect to suddenly reinvent conversations youve already generated.

Monitoring your credit report is more important than you might think. Even if you don't spot something as extreme as identity theft (knock on wood), minor errors here and there could be damaging your overall credit health. The accuracy of your credit report impacts your ability to secure loans, rent apartments, and even obtain certain jobs. Unfortunately, errors are more common than many people realize, and these mistakes can cause serious financial headaches if left unaddressed.Common errors people find on their credit reportUse this list to review your own credit report and make sure everything checks out.Identity and personal information mistakesSeemingly minor errors can cause major problemsthey can lead to confusion with credit agencies and potentially mix up your credit history with someone else's.Misspelled nameIncorrect address historyWrong Social Security NumberIncorrect birth dateFraudulent accounts and identity theftOne of the most dangerous types of credit report errors involves accounts opened without your knowledge:Credit cards you never applied forLoans taken out in your nameUnauthorized financial transactionsAccounts resulting from identity theftDuplicate debt listingsSometimes, the same debt appears multiple times on a credit report:The same collection account listed more than onceTransferred debts showing as separate entriesPaid-off debts still appearing as activeIncorrect account statusesCredit reports can incorrectly show:Accounts marked as late when payments were made on timeClosed accounts appearing as openIncorrect credit limitsWrong payment historiesOutdated negative informationNegative information should automatically drop off after a certain period:Bankruptcies older than 10 yearsLate payments older than 7 yearsOutdated collection accountsHow to fix errors on your credit reportIf you do spot mistakes on your credit report, you'll want to take these steps to submit a dispute.Obtain your credit reports. You can request free reports from all three major bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) at AnnualCreditReport.com.Document the errors. Review each report carefully for discrepancies and gather any supporting documentation that applies. Make copies of proof (payment records, identity documents). Write a clear, concise explanation of each error.File a dispute. I have a more thorough guide to filing a credit dispute here, but what you need to know is there are three primary methods to submit disputes: Online, by mail, and by phone. Online is the most efficient method, but by phone could suffice for simple, straightforward errors. Follow up. Bureaus must investigate within 30 days. Track your dispute's progress until you receive a written resolution. If your dispute is valid, the bureau must correct information and notify other the bureaus to do the same.How to protect your credit scoreYour best strategy is to take preventative measures like checking credit reports annually, using credit monitoring services, and placing fraud alerts or credit freezes if you find yourself a victim of identity theft. In general, do what you can to give away less of your personal data. In cases of significant identity theft, contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or file a report with local law enforcement.Credit report errors are not just inconvenientthey can be financially devastating. Remember, you are your own best advocate when it comes to maintaining accurate credit information. For more, check out some of my tips for boosting your credit score here.

The term high income is a moving targetjobs that once allowed folks to afford a nice lifestyle can lose their luster over time as inflation and other economic forces conspire to erode their value. If you want to be in the top 10% of income in the United States, for example, you have to earn at least $160,000 annually. Which is a lot, considering that the average income these days is around $60,000.If youre trying to bridge that $100,000 gap, there are some surprising ways to earn six figures, and some jobs that pay pretty well without requiring a degree. But if you really want to rake in the cash, you might have to consider not only getting out from behind your desk, but also risking your dignity and possibly your physical safety. The jobs on this list pay extraordinarily wellbut that high income comes with a cost.FishermanWhen the subject of high-paying, dangerous jobs comes up, someone will always mention commercial fishing in Alaska. Is it dangerous? Well, when no one died in 2021 it was big enough news to be mentioned by the Alaskan government, so theres your answer. But it can be incredibly profitable in the short term: While the average annual income for commercial fisherman in general is just $28,530, deckhands working boats in Alaska can make as much as $50k in a few months, and even young kids like this guy can earn $100-$125 per dayhe eventually hauled in $7,000 over one summer. Most boats pay out a percentage of the profits instead of a salary, so earnings can vary wildlybut you can definitely make a ton of cash in a short time if youre willing to work incredibly hard and deal with the danger and harsh conditions.Whether this remains true is a good questionthe Alaskan fishing industry is in crisis and shedding jobs instead of adding them, so finding a job there might not be as easy as it once was. If youre interested and have some fishing or maritime experience you can check the Alaska Job Finder board, and if you dont have any experience but want to check out this career, you can contact the Alaska Longline Fishermens Association (ALFA) about their training program.Garbage collectorThe average earnings for garbage collectors vary from area to areawhile the median salary was just $43,540 in 2022, garbage collectors in San Francisco could make more than $72kand in some areas, like New York City, garbage workers can pull in well into the six figures once overtime kicks in. So if youre willing to deal with one of the dirtiest jobs in the world (as well as long shifts that often take place in the middle of the night), you can really earn a good living.Oil rig workOil rigs offer a career path that can lead to high earnings, but come with significant danger and separation from family and other aspects of your life. Starting off as a Roustabout will usually bring a relatively modest salary between $35k and $45k, but being promoted to Roughneck can bump your salary into six figures in some circumstances. If you stick with this dirty, dangerous career path, you can work your way up to Tool Pusher, where the salaries max out closer to $250,000 per year in some casesthough it can take decades to get there.Certified public accountantCertified public accountants can eventually earn an average salary of over $122,000 per year. While you obviously need to have a way with numbers and math (and a love for taxes) to do the job, you might be surprised to find out its a job no one wantsas it turns out, theres a dire CPA shortage in this country because becoming a CPA is actually really, really hard. In addition to a bachelors degree, you usually have to complete whats known as the 150 Hour requirement, which is basically a two-year apprenticeship before you can even sit for the exam, which itself is no walk in the park. But if you can get through the process, you have the potential to earn a very high income.Solid waste managerIf the phrase sold waste makes you wince, you already know why nobody wants to be a Solid Waste Manager. As you might imagine, the job is chiefly concerned with properly collecting, processing, and disposing of waste from cities and organizations, which can involve some, er, hands-on work in landfills or with hazardous materials. But the average annual salary for the job is $121,755, with a high-end nearing $160k. Best of allyou dont necessarily need a college degree to become one.GastroenterologistIt might seem strange to think that being a doctor of some sort could be on a list of jobs no one wantseveryones parents dream of their kids becoming doctors, dont they? Sure, but then you realize which part of the body gastroenterologists deal with and it all makes sense. Despite the fact that gastroenterologists earn an average income of $501,000thats half a million dollarstheres a severe shortage of them, fueled by both increasing demand from an aging population and a lack of new physicians pursuing the specialty.While the unglamorous nature of the work likely has something to do with a lack of gastroenterologists, it can also be a very high-stress job with long hours, a lot of emotional impact, and a very high burnout rate.Truck driverWhen you look for jobs with high salaries, youll often be directed to look into truck driving. Theres a huge demand for drivers with their commercial drivers license (CDL), and trucking companies are so hard up for drivers theyre often willing to train you and help you get your CDL. And the jobs pay really well: While your pay varies by region and the kind of driving you do (the longer youre willing to stay out on the road, the more you get paid), some driver salaries scrape near $200k annually. Walmart advertises that their drivers can earn up to $100,000 in their first year.There are downsides, however. Driving a truck not only means being away from family for long stretches, enduring loneliness and very high stress levels, it also means a very sedentary lifestyle, which can have a severely negative impact on your health. Whether those six figures are worth it is something youll have to decide for yourself.

In the latest ChromeOS 131 update, Google is rolling out a new feature called Safety reset, which, as the name implies, will let you reset your Chromebook to a stable state. This option is for the times when you need to get rid of unwanted pop-ups or when you're having issues like network connectivity.Prior to this new update, Chromebook users who wanted to reset their machine would need to do a Powerwash, which would factory reset a Chromebook to default settings and wipe any user data. This would ideally be used when selling or giving your Chromebook to someone else. If you'd rather not wipe all your data, though, this new Safety reset setting in ChromeOS 131 might be a better option. When using Safety reset, it will reset Chrome settings and Chrome shortcuts, disable extensions, and delete cookies and other temporary site data. User data such as bookmarks, history, and saved passwords won't be affected when using Safety reset.You can find the Safety reset option under Settings > Safety and Privacy. It can also be accessed using the keyboard shortcut, CTRL + Shift + Search + R.In addition to Safety reset, ChromeOS 131 has a couple of other new features, including a new design for Quick Answers, which is a GenAI-powered reading assistant in ChromeOS, and also a new accessibility feature that will flash the screen when a new notification appears. ChromeOS 131 is rolling out now over the coming days; Chromebook users should see it on their devices soon.

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds, available in white smoke, black, and chilled lilac are currently $129 (marked down from $179)their lowest price ever, according to price trackers. Bose QuietComfort Earbuds (2024) $129.00 at Amazon $179.00 Save $50.00 Get Deal Get Deal $129.00 at Amazon $179.00 Save $50.00 The touch controls on these earbuds are said to be quite responsive, with a light tap letting you manage your media. You can also tweak features like noise control, EQ settings, and Aware mode through the companion app. That said, their slightly bulkier design might not be the most comfortable for extended listening sessions (though they come with three pairs of wings and eartips to help you find a fit that works for you). The earbuds also feature an IPX4 water-resistance rating, making them suitable for light rain or sweat, though this protection doesnt extend to the charging case, unlike the AirPods 4 (currently $169, down from $179).Bose is practically the gold standard for noise cancellation, but according to this PCMag review, the QuietComfort Earbuds dont block out as much noise in the lower and mid frequencies compared to the QuietComfort Ultra ($229, down from $299). Even so, they deliver strong overall performance. Equipped with 10mm drivers, these earbuds produce crisp and balanced audio across a wide frequency range (20Hz to 20kHz), offering an immersive listening experience for music, podcasts, and more. However, they lack advanced features like spatial audio and Google Fast Pair functionality.On the plus side, they offer Bluetooth multipoint pairing so that you can connect two devices at once. Codec support includes AAC and SBC, which should satisfy most users, though high-res audio fans might miss options like LDAC. Bose claims the QuietComfort Earbuds can last up to 8.5 hours with ANC on, with the charging case providing an extra 31.5 hoursenough to get you through a busy day easily. Charging is convenient too, with support for both USB-C and Qi wireless charging options available.

This week's look into the culture of young people is like Uber Eats Roulette: there's all kinds of different things to enjoy, but none of it fits together. I'm taking a look at maximalist Christmas decorations; a classroom TikTok challenge; Catly, a video game that gamers find sus; and a viral video about what happens to the millions of things that people send back to Amazon. Have yourself a maximal ChristmasMaximalism, the design aesthetic that says "more is more," is having a moment online, especially now that it's Christmastime. There is no holiday tradition more suited to maximalism than decorating for Christmas, and TikTok's maximalists are leaning into it hard, decking out their halls with ungodly amounts of tinsel, holly, angels, shiny stars, and every other decoration they can find. Here's some inspiration, if you're going for the look: This "every-branch-enhanced" tree from @tnkyla: Self-proclaimed "autistic maximalist" @candy.courn's Pokemon tree: @whilefloriansleeps' retro-Maximalist decoration: One more: @thekitchenmagpie. I'm not even sure there's a tree under that decoration. What is the "slowly leaving the classroom" challenge?Even though most schools are still in session, holiday malaise has overtaken many classrooms, leading to shenanigans like the "slowly leaving the classroom" trend that's taking off online. It's as simple as it sounds: Kids are filming each another slowly moving their desks toward the door of the class, as if they're stealthily making an escape. It looks like this: "Catly" video game raises questionsIf you're a crusty old cynic like I am, it's hard to not feel dismayed on behalf of younger people who seem to fall victim to transparent money-grab schemes from "influencers," whether it's YouTubers abusing their young fans' trust to sell junk food, or meme-stars trying to cash out as their 15 minutes of fame tick away. But there are reasons to be hopeful, too, like the reaction of the gaming community to the release of the trailer for Catly shown at the GAME awards this week. Check it out: Rather than fall all over themselves for a cat-based game endorsed by popular streamers Ninja, Felicia Day, and Pokimane, the gaming community immediately reacted with healthy skepticism, pointing out the trailers suspiciously AI-looking sheen, and digging up connections between the founder of the company behind Catly and blockchain games/NFTs. On the other hand, a PR representative for Catly developer SuperAuthenti told IGN that neither the trailer nor the game employ generative AI, and that there has been "zero blockchain technology" involved in Catly. Which might be true; it's just good that questions are being asked and research done.How to play "Uber Eats Roulette"Most food-related trends from young people are terrible, but I like the idea of Uber Eats Roulette, a party idea/game that's becoming popular in online foodie corners. It's a twist on the traditional pot luck, where the host gives guests a price point and invites everyone to order something to eat from whatever Uber Eats place they want. If you want, you can have your guests keep what they ordered secret from each other and try to guess, or just have the food delivered so everyone can have a feast and a laugh. I want to go this party: Viral video of the week: Man buys box of Amazon returns, instantly regrets it Unlike most YouTubers who are popular among young people, Danny Gonzalez is not annoying: He's sometimes funny and sometimes interesting. In this week's viral video, Gonzalez has teamed up with Climate Town for a video about what happens when you return items to Amazon. You might think Amazon put those items back on sale, but nope. Big retailers throw most of their returns into landfills. But some of the six billion pounds (per year) of returned items end up at re-sellers. These bulk item liquidators then re-sell the items, sometimes in bulk. In this video, Gonzalez picks up one of these mystery pallets and tries to flip it for a profit through Facebook marketplace. It's an amusing way to talk about the ungodly amount of crap we generate, without preaching.

You don't have to scroll very far down most social media feeds to find a screenshot of a text, comment, or postmaybe a ridiculous Reddit post, or a hilarious reply on X, or an incriminating WhatsApp conversation. But how can you tell the screenshot is genuine, and not artificially created to mislead you?First of all, it's important to bear in mind that fake screenshots can be made very easily. Web browsers have HTML editing features that mean you can temporarily change what articles and online posts say, and there are an abundance of photo editors that will happily help you change text in an image with just a few clicks.There are even free tools that will create fake social media posts for you. As a result, it's often difficult to definitively prove the authenticity of a screenshotbut there are clues you can look for to help you make a judgment one way or another.Check the contextIf you're dealing with a supposed screenshot of a post or article that's in the public domain, your first question should be why the original content was screengrabbed and not linked to directly. Even if people are posting screenshots for convenience, they should still be linking back to the content they're referring to.If there's no link back, see if you can find the original source yourselflook up the X account, the blog post, the Reddit thread, or whatever it is. If there's no sign of it, that's another reason to be suspicious. Posts can always be deleted of course (the Wayback Machine can help here), but it's still worth investigating. It's all too easy to fake social media posts, and take snaps of them. Credit: Lifehacker Think too about what the screenshot is doing. Does it depict something controversial, illicit, or likely to stir up emotions? Essentially, is it possible that it's just been made for clicks? That's another warning sign. Getting a viral post is often worth the few minutes it takes to fake a screenshot, and there are plenty of people trying it.Even when context is harder to figure outwith a private text message thread, for examplelook around the main screenshot itself for clues. Who are the people involved? Have they made any official comment? Is there any background to how the screenshot was obtained? Is the screenshot from a trustworthy source (like a verified news organization)? This can all add to (or take away from) the credibility of an image.Study the imageScreenshots may be easy to fake, but they can be rushed, and can come with inconsistencies. Study the image for inconsistencies: Bad alignment, broken or misplaced elements, or strange formatting. If the screenshot is from an app, try comparing it to the actual app on your own phone, or the Google Play Store or Apple App Store listing. Fakes will often use the wrong stylings or an out-of-date interface.To try and hide these inconsistencies, fake screenshots will often be pixelated and of a low qualitythis is something else to look out for. Genuine screenshots should be crisp and clear, and shouldn't look fuzzy or over-processed: Unless a screenshot has a reason for being poor in its quality and resolution, be wary. There are plenty of clues that this is a fake screenshot. Credit: Instagram The usual rules for spotting fake pictures apply to fake screenshots: Does everything fit? What's the source? Does this actually make sense? Take this faked screenshot of a news story about child soldiers, where you can see straight away the fuzzy graphics and text. If you properly look at the image though, the uniforms look like play outfitsthe kids don't look particularly distraught or determined, and one of them is almost laughing.Sure enough, the photo is from a war camp game and has nothing to do with any actual battles. Resources such as PolitiFact and Snopes can help in your screenshot debunking efforts, as can other detectives on social media and sites like Reddit (they might spot a problem with an image that you wouldn't otherwise see). Where images are involved, it's often worth using the TinEye reverse image search too.Use a photo editorSometimes the metadata of a screenshot will reveal more about it. You can check this on Windows by right-clicking an image and choosing Properties; on macOS, right-click and choose Get Info. Look for details like the dates the image was created and last modified, and where it was last downloaded from. Not all screenshots will have all of this information attached, but it's a good idea to check, just in case.Getting the questionable screenshot up in a photo editor of your choice can help you get a closer look at it, and possibly spot some of the mistakes its creator has made in choosing the right fonts and graphics, getting elements properly aligned with each other, and removing evidence of fakery. You can usually check image data in photo editors too (in Photoshop, it's File > File Info). Photo metadata can sometimes reveal some secrets. Credit: Lifehacker Forensically is an excellent, free image analyzer that runs in your browser, and can help you take a closer look at screenshots (and any other picture type). As well as letting you magnify any part of an image, it also has a range of tools for detecting editssuch as looking for luminance values that don't match, or checking for areas of an image that may have been cloned.As I mentioned right at the top, proving that a screenshot is real or fake isn't always possible, as these images are so easy to createbut once you've worked your way through all those steps, you should have a much better idea whether something you're looking at is genuine or not.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.If you know a runner, I have the perfect gift recommendation for you. If you are a runner, I know what you should tell your mom you want for Christmas. And even if there isnt a gifting holiday in your immediate future, you should still know the Good News about water-resistant running shoes. Theyre out there, they might be on sale right now, and they will change your life. Nike Pegasus Trail 4 Gore-TEX Women's Waterproof Trail Running Shoes (FN7102-010, Black/Light Magenta/Pink Foam/Chlorophyll) Size 9 $184.99 at Amazon $193.94 Save $8.95 Shop Now Shop Now $184.99 at Amazon $193.94 Save $8.95 I speak from experience. Not long ago, my birthday was coming up and I had no idea what to tell my mom I wanted. (She kept asking.) I was giving the matter some thought while I was jogging at the local track, in a drizzling near-freezing rain, and my toes were going squish with every step. I suddenly remembered that Gore-Tex shoes exist. I had owned a pair years ago and loved them, but never replaced them when they wore out. They felt like too much of a luxury somehow. Most runners get through wet weather in regular shoes and wool socks, so why not make do?Ill tell you why not. Wool socks can keep your feet warm, but they dont keep them dry. If youve traveled to a park to get your run in, youre driving home with soaking wet feet. Youll come home, wring out your socks, and have to air out your shoes and hope theyre mostly dry by the time you go for your next run. Putting on wet shoes is about as much fun as putting on a wet bathing suit. Returning home from a drizzly run with dry feet is, by contrast, one of this cruel worlds great creature comforts.What weather are water-resistant shoes good for?Water-resistant shoes are great in drizzling rain, or in snowy conditions. In regular shoes, your body heat tends to melt any snow that contacts your shoes, making your feet wet even on a below-freezing day. Water-resistant shoes are great for when its snowing, when theres a small amount of snow on the ground, or when its raining. This covers pretty much all of the weather Im likely to consider running-friendly in a Pennsylvania winter.What dont water-resistant shoes do?Water-resistant is not waterproof, though. In Gore-Tex and similar materials, you cannot step into an ankle-deep puddle and expect to stay dry. A heavy enough downpour will probably eventually work its way through or around the material.Note that water-resistant shoe material doesnt stop snow or rain from getting into the top of the shoe. For trudging through deep snow, you probably want to attach a gaiter (or buy a shoe that comes with built-in gaiters).And if you run in a variety of wintry conditions, you may want more traction on the bottom of the shoe as well. You can buy shoes with spikes built in, or add your own.What are the best water-resistant running shoes?I know youre dying to see mine, so here they are: the Nike InfinityRN Gore-Tex. (Mine are white.) To be honest, I didnt do a lot of research and will not swear that these are the best. My requirements were (1) water-resistant, and (2) Nike, since Nikes always fit me well. These fit the bill, and Ive had many pleasant runs in them in the rain and snow. Nike InfinityRN 4 Gore-Tex Women's Waterproof Running Shoes $150.00 at Amazon $162.08 Save $12.08 Shop Now Shop Now $150.00 at Amazon $162.08 Save $12.08 Based on reviews, forum posts, and other things Ive heard runners say about their favorite weatherproof shoes, Ive collected some other excellent models to consider. For each, Im linking one model, but click around to see its other colors, sizes, and mens/womens versions.Nike Pegasus Trail 5 Gore-TexSaucony Peregrine Ice+3Hoka Clifton 9 GTX TSPuma Deviate Nitro 3 WinterizedBrooks Ghost 16 GTX Brooks Women's Ghost 16 GTX Waterproof Neutral Running Shoe - Moroccan Blue/Pink/Yellow - 8.5 Medium $169.95 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $169.95 at Amazon Note that Gore-Tex is a name brand of breathable, water-resistant fabric, but other brands exist (for example, Saucony has their own, which they call Runshield). Gore-Tex is often abbreviated GTX in shoe model names, so consider looking for that when searching for shoes. And a bonus on many of these shoes is that they include high-traction outsoles to reduce the chances of slipping on wet surfaces.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.Hosting for the holidays is hard work, and even with the best of intentions of making your guests as comfortable as possible, the experience can be stressful. A helpful mindset for minimizing that stressand maximizing your guests' experienceis include amenities you appreciate (or wish vacation rentals provided) that will also allow your guests to be both comfortable and self-sufficient during their stay. Provide options for temperature controlYou probably don't want guests with varying indoor temperature preferences adjusting your thermostat or suffering in silence because they are too hot or too cold in your homeespecially at night. Get ahead of this by stocking bedrooms with fans and/or space heaters, as well as extra blankets so guests can be comfortable while sleeping. While you're at it, make sure you have enough pillows to go around without spreading everyone's supply too thin. Jollyvogue Bed Pillows for Sleeping $20.99 at Amazon $39.99 Save $19.00 Shop Now Shop Now $20.99 at Amazon $39.99 Save $19.00 Stock bathrooms like a fancy hotelWhile some guests may travel with every toiletry they could possibly use, others will appreciate having a few items on hand like they might find in a nice hotel: shampoo, conditioner, soap/body wash, lotion, and tissues are obvious choices. But you can go even further to include toothpaste, floss, toothbrushes, and basic first aid (bandages, pain relievers, lip balm, etc.). Other extras like a hairdryer, cotton balls, Q-tips, makeup towels, and menstrual hygiene products are also nice touches. Finally, stack enough and toilet paper and clean towels in bathrooms ahead of time to keep guests from having to ask or borrow these items later onand make sure guest bedrooms have extra hooks on the backs of their doors so everyone has a place to hang their damp towel to dry.Place extra chargers around the houseAgain, some guests will come fully equipped with the cords and chargers for all of their devices, but it's a nice touch to have extras plugged in where they are needed most, like below bedside tables and in high-traffic common areas. Obviously, you may not have every type of cable available, but USB-C is a good betLightning and Micro USB are good to have around, too. You should also consider clearing outlets of unneeded cords to open space for guest chargers. 6-Foot USB-C Charger (2 pack) $7.98 at Amazon $9.98 Save $2.00 Shop Now Shop Now $7.98 at Amazon $9.98 Save $2.00 Add night lightsYou can likely make your way through your own house in the dark like a ninja; so unless you've got small children, you might not realize how valuable a couple of nightlights can be for guests who aren't used to navigating your hallways at night. Add night lights particularly to hallways and bathrooms so no one has to feel around in the dark. You might even include one in each guest bedroom so guests can choose a spot for one that is most helpful for them. You can get packs of plug-in motion sensor lights on Amazon for as little as $5 per light. L LOHAS LED Motion Sensor Night Light, 2Pack, Motion Activated Night Light, Night Lights Plug into Wall Motion Sensor, 3000K Warm White, Adjustable Brightness 30/60LM, for Kids Adults Bathroom Bedroom $12.99 at Amazon $15.99 Save $3.00 Shop Now Shop Now $12.99 at Amazon $15.99 Save $3.00 Collect snack and breakfast requests ahead of timeA thoughtful way to prepare for your guests is to have a few food items they like on hand when they arrive so they can snack freely and without feeling guilty about raiding the fridge or pantry. Plan to get a couple of cereal, oatmeal, or other breakfast staples they like to eat, as well, so they can help themselves to a quick and easy breakfast whenever they are up and ready to start the day.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.I picked up the habit of bird-watching early in the pandemic, socially distancing on a patio, watching the bird feeders my friend had installed at his home. I added my own and quickly became one of those people who would stare out the window and invest too much money in sunflower seeds. But then I started seeing Instagram posts from my friends smart bird feeder and realized this was the perfect marriage of technology and nature. There are tons of smart bird feeders on the market now, and I've tested a bunch of them. If you're looking to buy one for yourself (or as a gift), here are some considerations to make.How to choose what kind of bird feeder to getNon-smart bird feeders come in all different forms to support different bird food and birds speciessome are meant for seed, some for suet, and some for sugar water. Smart bird feeders only exist in two forms (so far): seeds and sugar water for song birds and hummingbirds, respectively. Hummingbirds are incredibly delicate and need their water changed out every few days in winter and every single day in summer. Also, you have to make the sugar water. Its not hard, but it is an added chore (and you should not buy the red hummingbird premade food, according to experts). Bird seed, in contrast, needs only be changed and cleaned every week or so, (unless you see sick birds at your feeder, in which case you should remove the feeders immediately for a period of time and sterilize everything).Songbirds are year round, but hummingbirds have a season. Many hummingbirds migrate in winter, so you might experience less sightings than you would with songbirds. Obviously, there are more varieties of songbirds, so you may get to see a lot more kinds of birds with a songbird feeder. Still, there is simply nothing as delightful as video of hummingbirds at your feeder, so all arguments aside, I still recommend it.Are Bird Buddys worth it?I have two Bird Buddy feeders: the original songbird feeder and the new hummingbird feeder. Ive had the original for a year or so, and I wont say its been seamless. First and foremost, despite having a solar panel on the bird house, the camera is constantly running out of battery. This is annoying since it means the camera goes offline and you have to take the feeder down, and turn it back on once it has enough charge again. I have a lot of smart cameras around the yard, and none of them have this issue with solar panels powering them. The hummingbird feeder, despite a much smaller solar panel, does not seem to have the same issues as the original feeder, but I eventually purchased an additional third party solar panel for my original Bird Buddy.I have also found Bird Buddy support to be responsive, but not terribly customer forward. In cases where the solution was obvious (the camera is dead), it took a number of exchanges of information and video for customer support to agree to a replacement.As a last hit, it is often hard to pair the Bird Buddy cameras to your wifi, as was the case of each of my Bird Buddy houses. Bird Buddy Smart Hummingbird Feeder $239.99 at Best Buy $299.99 Save $60.00 Shop Now Shop Now $239.99 at Best Buy $299.99 Save $60.00 Bird Buddy Smart Bird Feeder $259.00 at Amazon $299.00 Save $40.00 Shop Now Shop Now $259.00 at Amazon $299.00 Save $40.00 SEE -1 MORE Bird Buddy is still the best smart bird feederSo it might seem odd to still suggest the Bird Buddy, but it has one feature far above any competitor: the app. The Bird Buddy app is downright addictive. Youre notified you have a visitor to your bird feeder with an adorable chirp, and if you click through fast enough, youll get a live view of the camera with crisp, clear color. Even if you miss it, your camera collects postcards in photo and video form that are easy to download for sharing on social platforms. Then, at the end of the day, you get a roundup of all activity at the feeder that is pretty delightful.Even better, the app will take a crack at identifying the birds for you, though not always accurately. This is a big deal because once you start bird watching, you immediately start to want to know more about the birds themselves so you can sound appropriately haughty to others when you brag about the nuthatches and sparrows visiting your yard. Finally, while Bird Buddy offers subscriptions, you don't need one to enjoy the feeder. While the subscription lets you check in on other, more interesting feeders around the world and lets you name your favorite returning birds, plus adds some cloud storage, you can get all the important functionality of the feeder without the subscription. The reality is that if you can get past the connection and charging issues, once the BirdBuddy is in place it is, without a doubt, the best experience for actually watching birds. Every day, my Bird Buddy hummingbird feeder sends me video of the same two hummingbirds, and every single day, I am riveted.Despite promise, other bird feeders dont come throughGiven my frustration with my Bird Buddy's, I was eager to find other brands that would serve me better. To that end I tried both the Vicohome Hummingbird feeder, and the Hello Birdy Smart Birdbath and feeder. In favor for both of these feeders? They connected instantly with no issues whatsoever. In the case of the Vicohome, you barely need to do more than remove it from the box and it is ready to go. In fact, before it even made it outside, it was serving consistent notifications of activity nearby, which should have been a red flag.Once outside, the Vicohome notified me so often of activity that I quickly turned off the notifications. Not once was the alert for a bird, but more often a nearby car or person walking along. I tried changing the direction of the birdhouse, but the slightest wind resulted in a notification of activity. It takes birds a while to find a new birdhouse, so eventually those notifications would have led to a bird sighting, but Ill never know because those notifications also drain the battery. After recharging twice just to lose all charge after a day or two, I gave up on the Vicohome.The Hello Birdy birdbath is a great concept a plastic birdbath with a space for hummingbird food and fresh fruit, which birds like orioles enjoy. I know that birds already love my yard for bird baths; I have a few, and a number of hummingbirds are territorial of my yard.While the Hello Birdy camera was easy to connect, it required the most assembly. It is the only camera that comes with its own stand, but that stand is only three feet off the ground, which I find far too susceptible for squirrels, and not very interesting for hummingbirds. If it were merely a bird bath, that height would be fine, but I decided to give it a try with all the optional food sources and see what happened.The upside was I wasnt assaulted with notifications. To the contrary, there were zero notifications. Despite seeing birds in the bath a few times and the orange I placed in the feeder being gone, there were no recordings or clips of activity at the feeder.There are other brands of feeders, including Birdfy, which Im excited to try. But for now, the two Bird Buddy feeders remain in my yard, while the other feeders have been sunset. The Bird Buddy, despite all its fussiness, is still the closest youll get to bird-watching nirvana.

The lineup of Hulu originals in January is on the lighter side, the biggest title of which is Paradise (Jan. 28), a new drama series from This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman. Sterling K. Brown plays the head of security for the U.S. president (James Marsden), who is murdered early in the show, and Brown's character's role is in question. Hulu subscribers can also catch the season premieres of numerous ABC franchises in January, including season three of Celebrity Jeopardy! (Jan. 9) with host Ken Jennings, season 29 of The Bachelor (Jan. 28) featuring former The Bachelorette season 21 contestant Grant Ellis, and a new iteration of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (Jan. 3). There are also new seasons of crime drama The Rookie (Jan. 8) starring Nathan Fillion, and police procedural Will Trent (Jan. 8), based on the Karin Slaughter novels. Finally, end the month with the debut of docuseries Scamanda (Jan. 31), which is based on the titular podcast about a California woman who faked having cancer for seven years and solicited more than $100,000 in donations. Heres everything else coming to (and leaving) Hulu in January, including a new stand-up special from comedian Roy Wood Jr. (Lonely Flowers, Jan. 17).Whats coming to Hulu in January 2025Arriving January 1Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2025: Special PremiereKids Diana Show: Let's Celebrate Together: Complete Season 1Papa Jake: Epic Box Forts: Complete Season 1After Earth (2013)American Psycho (2000)The Devil's Own (1997)The Devil's Own En Espaol (1997)Dirty Grandpa (2016)Empire Records (1995)Ender's Game (2013)The Great Debaters (2007)Heat (1995)Insidious (2011)Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)Insidious: Chapter 2 En Espaol (2013)Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015)Insidious: Chapter 3 En Espaol (2015)The Intouchables (2011)John Wick (2014)John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)John Wick: Chapter 3 (2019)The King Of Comedy (1983)Little Manhattan (2005)Man of the House (2005)Man Of The House En Espaol (1995)Mr. Deeds (2002)Pacific Rim (2013)Paddington (2014)Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009)Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (2015)Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 En Espaol (2015)Paul Blart: Mall Cop En Espaol (2009)Shutter (2008)Sorry To Bother You (2018)The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada (2005)The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada En Espaol (2005)Threesome (1994)The Town (2010)To Rome With Love (2012)The Walk (2015)xXx (2002)xXx En Espaol (2002)xXx: State of the Union (2005)xXx: State of the Union En Espaol (2005)Arriving January 22024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony: Special PremiereAmerican Pickers: Complete Season 25Beyond the Headlines: The Tanya Kach Story with Elizabeth Smart: Complete Season 1The Butcher: Complete Season 1Dark Side of the 90s: Complete Season 3My City's Just Not That Into Me: Complete Season 1The Unbelievable with Dan Aykroyd: Complete Season 1Arriving January 3Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: Series PremiereAnimal Control: Season 3 PremiereGoing Dutch: Series PremiereMother's Instinct (2024)Arriving January 7Dead Pixels: Complete Seasons 1-2Stopmotion (2023)Arriving January 8The Rookie: Season 7 PremiereWill Trent: Season 3 PremiereDoc: Series PremiereIshura: Season 2 PremiereFall (2022)65 (2023)Arriving January 9Celebrity Jeopardy!: Season 3 PremiereShifting Gears: Season 1 PremiereBiography: Alice Cooper: Complete Season 1Biography: Chris Farley - Anything for a Laugh: Complete Season 1Biography: Jeff Dunham - Talking Heads: Complete Season 1Biography: Jeff Foxworth - Stand Up Guy: Complete Season 1Booked: First Day In: Complete Season 2Extreme Builds: Complete Season 1Interrogation Files: Complete Season 1MASHLE: MAGIC AND MUSCLES: Complete Season 1 (Subbed & Dubbed)More Power: Complete Season 1My Hero Academia: Season 7, Episodes 148-159 (Dubbed)Kitchen Nightmares: Season PremiereSpecial Forces: World's Toughest Test: Season 3 PremiereDance First65 En Espaol (2023)Arriving January 10Goosebumps: The Vanishing: Season PremiereThe Girl Locked Upstairs: The Tanya Kach Story (2024)American Star (2024)Arriving January 12The Silent Hour (2024)Arriving January 13Toilet Bound Hanako-kun: Season 2 Premiere (Subbed)Biography: WWE Legends: Complete Season 2The First 48: Complete Season 25The Mega-Brands That Built America: Complete Season 2Murder At The Motel: Complete Season 1Quarter Ton Teen: Complete Season 1Arriving January 14My Penguin Friend (2024)Arriving January 15Unmasked: Complete Season 1 (Subbed & Dubbed)Sniper: The Ultimate Competition: Complete Season 1Arriving January 17Roy Wood Jr.: Lonely Flowers: Special PremiereThe Bad Shepard (2024)Arriving January 20Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai: Complete Season 1 (Subbed & Dubbed)Arriving January 21Rurouni Kenshin: Complete Season 1 (Subbed & Dubbed)Sleep (2023)Arriving January 22Whiskey on the Rocks: Complete Season 1 (Subbed & Dubbed)Arriving January 23The Misfit of Demon King Academy: Complete Season 1-2 (Subbed & Dubbed)PERSONA5 the Animation: Complete Season 1 (Dubbed)Swamp People: Serpent Invasion: Complete Season 4Theresa Caputo: Raising Spirits: Complete Season 1Arriving January 24The Killer Inside: The Ruth Finley Story (2024)Arcadian (2024)City of Dreams (2023)Arriving January 28Paradise: Series PremiereThe Bachelor: Season 29 PremiereHumane (2024)Arriving January 30The First 48 Presents: Critical Minutes: Complete Season 3AThe Food That Built America: Complete Season 5Holy Marvels with Dennis Quaid: Complete Season 1Arriving January 31Rachael Ray's Meals in Minutes: Complete Season 1Scamanda: Series PremiereTake Cover (2024)Whats leaving Hulu in January 2025Leaving January 2Mia and Me: Hero of Centopia (2022)Leaving January 6The Year of the Everlasting Storm (2021)Leaving January 9Pharma Bro (2021)Leaving January 13Ailey (2021)Leaving January 14Bergman Island (2021)Leaving January 20"Paris, 13th District" (2021)Leaving January 21The Estate (2020)Leaving January 26Happening (2021)Leaving January 27Mayday (2021)Leaving January 289 Bullets (2022)Assassin (2023)Stop and Go (2021)Leaving January 29The Reef: Stalked (2022)Gigi & Nate (2022)Leaving January 31Small Engine Repair (2021)10.0 Earthquake (2014)12 Pups of Christmas (2019)A Chance for Christmas (2021)A Christmas Movie Christmas (2019)A Snow White Christmas (2018)A Unicorn for Christmas (2021)An En Vogue Christmas (2014)Christmas Crush (2019)Country Christmas Album (2018)Four Cousins and a Christmas (2021)Merry Kissmas (2015)The Spruces and the Pines (2017)

If you find yourself losing motivation to do much else besides scroll on your phone, TikTok, ironically, may offer a solution: Create a dopamine menu. It's not obvious by the trendy name what that even means, but there is no shortage of videos out there explaining the concept. Essentially, you're creating a list of the things you love to do or the things you need to do, as long as you get a little rush of fulfillment or joy from them, then referring back to it when you feel stuck. Here's what you need to know about the new viral trend.Why is there a menu involved?First of all, a dopamine menu is actually what it sounds like, which is to say it looks similar to a restaurant menu. You have appetizers, entrees, sides, desserts, and specials. These categories each serve a purpose: to help you figure out which kinds of activities belong under which heading. You're familiar with how restaurant menus work, so these groups can help guide you as you figure out how much time and energy each activity might cost you. Here's what each means:Appetizers are small activities that bring you a quick rush of fulfillment or happiness, but don't take a lot of time or effort. Going on a walk or grabbing a coffee can be an appetizer. Entrees are still accessible, but require a little bit more from you. If texting an old friend is an appetizer, getting dinner with an old friend is an entree. Think of these as activities that pay off a little more. Going to the gym is an entree, for instance, because it requires more out of you than an appetizer, but it also gives you a greater reward at the end.Sides are activities that work together with a different task. Perhaps cleaning your bedroom could be an entree, as you do feel accomplished when it's over, but that's still hard work and can be frustrating, so listening to a podcast or favorite artist while you do it could count as a side. Desserts are indulgences you don't always "order" but really cherish when you do, like a bubble bath or splurging on something from your Amazon wishlist. Getting takeout can be a dessert. Then again, if you really enjoy cooking, making a delicious meal could literally be an entree. Where you sort things depends on how much effort they require of you, personally, and how great you judge the reward to be.Specials are similar to desserts, but less accessible and frequent. Going to a museum might be a dessert but going on a vacation would be a special. They are more resource-intensive than your standard self-treats but should give you a major sense of happiness or accomplishment.What do you do once you've made a dopamine menu?It's best to actually write this out somehow. A contributing factor to why these menus are all over social media is that there is an appeal to actually making a menu by hand. If you're the crafty type, creating one using paper, markers, stickers, and other art supplies could even be an entree for you. Once you've made your dopamine menu, you keep it on hand so that when you're feeling low on energy or joy, you can whip it out and pick from it, like you would at a restaurant. Depending on how "hungry" you are for something to do and how much time and energy you have to "spend," you select what you want. The goal here is to create some structure so you can look at a ready-made list of things that will increase your mood, motivation, and overall happiness. You're aiming to deny yourself the opportunity to claim you just couldn't think of anything to do on a day you're bored or lackluster. Spending some time thinking about what really makes you happy or what will thrill you when it's finally taken care of reminds you that there's plenty to do, so even making the menu itself can be a little dopamine hit. I decided to try it out. Here's what I came up with: Credit: Lindsey Ellefson It was actually trickier than I thought it would be since a lot of the things I do for self-care and funlike take classes, have meetings for my personal businesses and projects, go to in-salon appointments, or go on tripsare pre-planned and don't lend themselves to day-of dopamine hunting. I had to think about tasks I enjoy that are accessible on any given afternoon when I'm feeling low. I was impressed that I came up with so much, but I'll warn you this does take some time. Ultimately, I was pleased to see the variety among the things that make me happy.

Google has announced a big upgrade for the document scanner in Google Drive for Android. The company is now adding auto-enhancement to the app's feature set, which will remove shadows and fix lighting issues in your document scans. In addition to making your scans look nicer, Google also says auto-enhancement will allow the app to digitize documents faster, so you can spend less time fixing scans and more time getting work done. The catch? At this time, the auto-enhancement feature isn't coming to Google Drive for iPhone, which can also scan documents.Auto-enhancement is a part of the latest Google Workspace updates for December. At launch, it'll include auto sharpening, white balance correction, contrast enrichment, shadow removal, and a few more benefits. Which effects you can apply depend on the state of the document you're scanning and how much work needs to be done to make it easy to read. To use auto enhancement, first scan any document using the Google Drive app. Then, tap the Enhance button in the top-right corner.Auto-enhancement is currently rolling out to Android phones. Devices on the rapid release schedule should get it by January 2, 2025, while those on the scheduled release cycle should start to see it around January 6, 2025. This feature is available to all Google Workspace users, even those on free or personal accounts; however, only paid accounts have access to the rapid release schedule.The feature follows additional updates that introduced the option to save scanned documents as either PDF files or JPEG images, plus gave users the ability to add a black-and-white filter to scanned documents. Google Drive still is one of the best document scanner apps on Android. iPhone users might instead prefer to use Apple Notes to scan documents or try an alternative called QuickScan (a personal favorite).

When Apple dropped iOS 18.2, it made a bit of a splashespecially for iPhones compatible with Apple Intelligence. The update brought dedicated image generation to iOS, including both Image Playground and Genmoji, as well as an AI-updated Mail experience and more control over default apps.Now, we have our first look at the company's next update for iPhones: iOS 18.3. Apple seeded developers the first beta for 18.3 on Monday, but since developer betas aren't really developer-only, it means anyone with an interest in iOS betas can check out what's new. There's not much new, however. If this first beta is any indication, iOS 18.3 is not going to be a feature-filled update; rather, it will be one that brings some minor changes and bug fixes to iPhones. Big Siri changes, for example, will probably ship with iOS 18.4.That said, Apple could add more features and changes in subsequent beta updates for iOS 18.3. As the company continues beta testing, and eventually releases the full iOS 18.3 update to compatible iPhones, I'll update this piece to report on what's new. In the meantime, here's what we know is coming based on this first developer beta:Robot vacuum support in Home appApple's Home app does not currently support robot vacuums, but it will soon. The company first announced support as part of iOS 18 back in June, but then kicked back the release. Officially, robot vacuum support is delayed, but MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris found code in iOS 18.3 beta 1 indicating the new update supports these vacuums: This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. Currently, Apple says the following about robot vacuum support in iOS 18, which it still says is coming in an update: "The Home app now supports the core functionality of robot vacuum cleaners, such as power control, cleaning mode, vacuum, mop, and charge status. They can also participate in automations and scenes, and respond to Siri requests. So you can add them to your cleaning routines or tell Siri to do some spot cleaning in the living room." Give AI image generation feedbackPart of how AI image generation improves is through user feedback: If a model spits out an image, and the user says something went wrong, the model can then take that feedback in as part of its training, and, hopefully, return a result that is closer to the expectation over time. With iOS 18.3, Apple has added a thumbs-up and thumbs-down option for image generation for both Image Playground and Genmoji. When using the beta, you'll have the option to quickly tell iOS whether the image or emoji it generated is right, or if it missed the mark. Credit: Brandon Butch/YouTube Camera control settings icon has dark mode optionThis one's a very small change, but a good one for those with an eye for these details. On iPhone 16 devices, the settings icon for the Camera Control button now has a dark mode option. If you go to Accessibility settings on iOS 18.2 and older, this icon will be bright in both light and dark modes, mismatched from the rest of the icons, which adjust depending on the system theme. Credit: Zollotech/YouTube Bug fixesiOS 18.3 developer beta 1 adds two fixes for bugs in previous versions of iOS. One is for Genmoji, and fixes an issue where a personalized Genmoji wouldn't generate without selecting another person first. The other fixes a bug with Writing Tools, where third-party apps using the Writing Tools API wouldn't be able to use the inline experience if the first responder is not a UIView. (This one, as you might guess, is specifically for developers.)Genmoji is coming to macOS 15.3This one won't apply to your iPhone, but if you have a Mac, be aware that Apple is bringing Genmoji support with macOS 15.3. Genmoji is probably my favorite of the Apple Intelligence features: I would, quite literally, never use images generated from Image Playground for anything, but I do enjoy generating a custom emoji to react to a part of my current conversation. Apple isn't bringing Image Playground to the Mac yet, but that's fine: Genmoji support will be more than enough. How to install iOS 18.3Again, iOS 18.3 is currently in betadeveloper beta, no lessand should not be installed haphazardly. At this time, the beta really is meant only for developers to test their apps out on the new OS, and alert Apple to any bugs they find. As such, it's not meant for general use, so unintended consequences could arise from downloading it on a personal device. If you're okay assuming those risks (please, back up any important data first), it's quite easy to install 18.3 right now. You'll just need an iPhone compatible with iOS 18. To start, sign into developer.apple.com on this iPhone with your Apple ID. Then, head to Settings >General > Software Update. From here, tap Beta Updates, then choose iOS 18 Developer Beta. Tap Back, then, after a moment, you should see iOS 18.3 Beta. Follow the on-screen instructions to download and install the software on your iPhone.

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.Teens are uniquely terrifying creatures. They are simultaneously confused and cool: As they struggle to figure out who they are as individuals, they have no problem identifying the finer points of popular culture. Simply put, they know whats cool long before we do. If you have to shop for one this holiday season, heres a guide for what is on trend in their world, which takes place, at least partially, on TikTok.Gifts for a teenager's bedroomA teens room is a sanctuary. They dont have their own home, but they do have their own space, and that space is very important to them. Here are the things they want for that sacred spot:Desk vacuums remain very popular this year. This mini vacuum from Odistar ($12.98) will pick up whatever crumbs a teen is producing at the workspace where they spend so much of their time.This year, teens are interested in a specific brand of speaker: Turtlebox. It is $399.99, so quite spendy, but it's also extremely popular and could be a hit if you're willing. If your teen is less interested in brands than quality, here's the Lifehacker roundup of the best bluetooth speakers on the market right now at a variety of price points. Turtlebox Gen 2: Loud! $399.00 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $399.00 at Amazon LED strip lights have been big for a while now, but theyre holding on in terms of trendiness even after a few years. If you get some for a teen, make sure to get ones that sync up to a smartphone for easy color-changing, like this 100-foot set from Ksipze ($11.99).Search TikTok for birthdate candle and try to convince yourself teens dont love these things. You cant convince yourself of that, so it looks like youre about to drop $48.99 on a candle with their birthday written on the side.Watching movies is a well-established teen pastime. Watching them blown up huge on the wall is a newer twist that this generation is especially keen on. This AuKing projector ($67.99) is going to be a hit.New to the list this year is the Jellycat. What is a Jellycat? It's a brand of plushies. To be clear, Squishmallows aren't fully out, but Jellycats are in, so if you're looking to get your teen a stuffed animal (which they genuinely like, I promise) start here. Prices vary.Gifts for a teenager's wellbeingEveryone needs self-care, including teens who are just a few years into the lifelong compulsion to look presentable out in the world. Help them achieve thator just some plain old relaxationwith these gifts.Brazilian Bum Bum Cream from Sol de Janeiro has gotten more and more coveted over the years and now dominates social media. It smells amazing, absorbs fast, is a celeb favorite, and claims to firm up the skin. On TikTok, influencers discuss the benefits of layering it under certain perfumes to achieve out-of-this-world scents. As a Sol de Janeiro fan myself, I recommend the brand's own extremely popular body sprays. Get 2.5 ounces for $24.Any teen who is into makeup wants lip oil, same as last year. Lip oil is having a major moment and one can simply never have enough of it. Not only is it glossy, its hydrating. Trust and believe this is a good gift, whether you go for the well-rated NYX Fat Oil Lip Drip ($9) or the ever-coveted Dior Addict Lip Glow Oil ($40).I own a number of the Dior ones and can vouch that they're glossy, smooth, and long-lasting. If you're not sure which colors your teen has or wants, play it safe and go with clear. Similarly, lip balm is very big right now, but Chapstick isn't going to cut it. If you're shopping for a teen who is into makeup and/or self care, learn two brand names: Summer Fridays and Rhode. The Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm is $24 and often hard to find. You may have to visit multiple Sephora locations or settle for whichever color isn't sold out on the website. Rhode Peptide Lip Tints and Peptide Lip Treatments are $18 each, but the real draw is a special phone case that protects the teen's iPhone and has a molded holder for the lip product on the back. That's $38. (It's very likely the teen already has this, so check first, but if they don't, this one is an easy win. Just make sure to buy a lip treatment or balm with it.) Its hard to explain, but Stanley cupsthe kind of insulated, massive-capacity mug you associate with truckersare still very popular with teens. They come in all kinds of colors. Get a 40-ounce Stanley for $45 (which is a lot less than they were going for last year). Stanley's reign is ongoing, yes, but there are some contenders sneaking up and threatening to usurp the mug giant. Namely, Owala FreeSip tumblers are really popping off lately. Personally, mine is green and pink, but the variety of color combos on the market means you'll be able to get something truly eye-catching for your teen. They're cheaper and more spill-proof than a Stanley, too, making them the better gift, in my opinion. Owala FreeSip Insulated Water Bottle $27.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $27.99 at Amazon Shopping for a fashionable and/or athletic girl? Lululemon Everywhere Belt Bag ($48). Done.Be careful with other athleisure. Leggings are out and flared pants are in, for instance, but getting the right ones requires knowing the teen's exact height and preferences. Some, especially athletes, still want leggings. Best to give a Lululemon or Alo gift card if you're not sure. Other random gifts for teensSome gifts fall outside the parameters of home goods and self-care. These are still crucial for teens, who require many trinkets and knickknacks.Still holding strong at the top of teens' wishlists this year is the Fujifilm Instax. The instant camera produces a physical photo they can display, usually in that all-important bedroom. A kit with 40 photo papers and a carrying case, as well as the camera itself, is $139.95. Were getting a little meta here because while all these gifts are popular on social media, this one is for social media: The TikTok remote control ring ($19.99) offers the ability for hands-free scrolling as well as the ability to film from far away. Its a cooler version of the old millennial favorite, the selfie stick.Prices are accurate as of publication, but are always subject to change.

Nvidias GeForce Experience app, the longtime driver downloader, game launcher, and recording tool, is gone, and with its disappearance, some gamers have noticed a sizable hit to their performance. As reported by Toms Hardware, GeForces successor, the much less excitingly named Nvidia App, comes with a few default settings that can drain performance by up to 15%.The news started to spread among gaming circles earlier this week, following a Dec. 5 driver update that skipped GeForce Experience in favor of the Nvidia App (all future updates will follow its lead). The new app is meant to streamline the grab bag of features Nvidia has accumulated over the years, pairing its driver updating utility with a streamlined gaming overlay and improved tools for easily optimizing graphics or enabling G-Sync and other advanced settings. However, upon installing it, some gamers noticed their games running a bit more slowly.Weve confirmed reports around the web that the Nvidia App using the default settings can impact gaming performance, writes Toms Hardwares Jarred Walton, dropping frame rates by up to 15% in some cases.In particular, Walton saw performance drops ranging from 2% to 12% across the games he tested, which included Assassins Creed Mirage, Baldurs Gate 3, Black Myth: Wukong, Flight Simulator 2024, and Stalker 2. While user reports said the issue primarily lies in games developed in Unreal Engine 5, Waltons biggest loser in performance was actually Assassins Creed, which uses a proprietary engine. Meanwhile, his instance of Wukong actually performed the best out of his tests, although still suffered some performance drops.A potential 15% drop in performance is hefty, and can be enough to make upgrading to a new graphics card seem almost imperceptible. So whats happening, and can you fix it?Is the Nvidia app hurting your gaming performance?According to continued reporting, the issue doesnt have anything to do with the engine the game youre playing is developed in or the app itself, but rather in some of its default settings. In other words, you can have the Nvidia App installed without a performance hit, so long as you adjust it a bit.Specifically, both Digital Foundry and Hardware Unboxed found that their performance only dropped when the new apps Nvidia Overlay was toggled on, and in Hardware Unboxeds case, only with the overlays Game Filters and Photo Mode setting enabled. When they turned off the overlay (or that specific setting), their games functioned as well as they did prior to installing the app.Thats both good and bad news. The overlay, summoned by pressing Alt+Z while playing a game, is where youll find the Nvidia Apps most useful features, including game statistics, and the game filter and photo mode option is what allows you to most customize what your graphics card puts out. To clarify, the overlay doesnt need to be summoned to hurt performance, but just turned on in your settings.Still, the app being OK to use otherwise does leave you open to continuing to use it to upgrade your graphics card drivers, without having to install them manually.In a statement to Walton, Nvidia confirmed that the issue is specifically with the Game Filters and Photo Mode setting, and that the company is actively looking into a fix. So while you might not be able to play your games with an RTX HDR filter in the meantime, youll be able to use the rest of the app, even the overlay, as you would have before. Walton confirmed that disabling the setting does indeed work and amended his charts accordingly with new testing.How to fix the Nvidia AppWhile Nvidia works on a more permanent solution, there are a few steps you can take to keep its new app from hurting your gaming performance.The simplest solution, and probably the best one for most people, is to follow Nvidias official advice and turn off the Game Filters and Photo Mode setting. To do this, just navigate to Settings > Features > Overlay > Game Filters and Photo Mode and toggle it off. If youre already running a game, youll need to relaunch it for the change to take effect. Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt This will keep you from applying Nvidias post-processing effects to your screen (examples include Letterboxed and Colorblind, in addition to some fancier AI-powered options), as well as from using the Nvidia Photo Mode in supported games. If youre like me, you wont miss it, but its certainly a notable loss, especially given its accessibility features.Alternatively, you could turn off the Nvidia Overlay altogether. While Hardware Unboxed said the overlay itself wasnt contributing to most of his frame drops, he did acknowledge that there could be a small performance impact from running the rest of the overlay. Thats not necessarily a surprise, but its worth looking into if you never find yourself summoning the overlay. Turning it off will keep you from using it to record or see statistics, but you can do so from Settings > Features > Overlay if so inclined. Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt Finally, if youd rather avoid this headache for good, you can still install Nvidia graphics card drivers without an app. Simply navigate to Nvidias website, select your graphics card from the dropdown menu, download the appropriate driver, and click on the .exe file you just downloaded. An install wizard will walk you through the rest of the processjust be sure to install Nvidia Graphics Driver rather than Nvidia Graphics Driver and Nvidia App, or else youll end up with the app youre trying to avoid. Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.Christmas is a week away, and that present-ordering deadline is nearly upon us. If you're looking for a last-minute gift idea for something that will arrive in time to be wrapped, consider the new Beats Pill speaker. It is down to $99.99 (originally $149.95), the lowest price it has been since its recent release, according to price-tracking tools. For less than a hundred dollars, this speaker is a steal. Beats Pill Bluetooth Speaker Bluetooth Speaker and Portable Wireless Charger via USB-C - Up to 24 Hours Battery Life, IP67 Water $99.95 at Amazon $149.95 Save $50.00 Get Deal Get Deal $99.95 at Amazon $149.95 Save $50.00 I've been trying out the Beats Pill speaker since it came out in June, and it has everything I would want in a portable speaker: a stereo sound when connected to another compatible speaker, multi-room mode to play the same music on multiple speakers, the Find My Device feature in case you misplace it, and a speakerphone to use it as an extension of your phone. This Beats speaker is not just for Apple users, since Android users can also connect to the Bluetooth 5.3, but it only supports AAC and SBC codecs, so there is no Android-friendly codec options that will make the audio pop out. Apple users will get the most out of the Pill, with seamless iOS compatibility for a much smoother experience. In other words, the speaker will automatically show up as a pair option on iPhones while Androids will have to search for it. You can read about it in more detail on PCMag's "excellent" review.When it comes to battery life, you can expect around 24 hours per charge depending on your use, which is up there with other speakers of its size. The sound is the classic bright Beats sound signature, offering a balanced yet bass-heavy sound. It is rated IP67 for being dust-proof and waterproof, so it can be submerged for up to 30 minutes. The main con on this speaker is that there is no adjustable EQ on the app, but it already comes with a great sound signature.

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.It's not too late to shop for some Christmas gifts, and if you're looking to wow a loved one (or splurge for yourself), this OLED TV from LG is a great option. Best Buy has the 55-inch LG B4 OLED smart TV for $999.99 (originally $1,399.99) after a $400 discount. The deal is also one of the 52 TVs that comes with a $100 Best Buy gift card. This is the best discount this TV has had over the last few months, according to price-tracking tools. OLEDs are great, but they're not for everyone. Here's what this TV offers and how to determine if it's a good fit for you. 55-inch LG B4 OLED Smart TV Resolution: 4K (2160p), Size: 55 inches, Display Type: OLED, Voice Assistant Built-in: Amazon Alexa. $999.99 at Best Buy $1,399.99 Save $400.00 Get Deal Get Deal $999.99 at Best Buy $1,399.99 Save $400.00 One of the main things you need to know about OLEDs is that they are susceptible to burn-in. If you plan on leaving the TV running for a long period with the same image, like a channel that keeps the logo on the same corner, you run the risk of that image permanently getting burned onto the display. Another thing to keep in mind is that OLEDs don't get as bright as other TVs, so if you plan on using them in a bright room, your image quality will not be optimal.Despite those downsides, OLEDs offer some of the highest-quality images available on modern televisions. The B4 OLED just came out this year and has 4K capabilities with 2160p resolution, High Dynamic Range (HRD), 120 Hz refresh rate (which is great for gaming), and webOS smart platform with voice assistant and access to many streaming services. If you're looking for a 55-inch OLED TV under $1,000 that will arrive before Christmas, this is the best bang for your buck.

Nothing says "Christmas" quite like non-stop ads for cars, all adorned with giant car-sized bows on top. While I've never personally been gifted a car with a giant car-sized bow (and feel free to change that for me), it's true that this time of year is one of the best time to go car shopping. Many automakers offer sales and financing deals on cars right now to help push them off the lot as the new model year cars roll in. If youre in the market for a new or used car, this time of year can be a great time to buy for added savings, but only with the right plan. Time your purchase right Aim to purchase near the very end of December, as salespeople scramble to meet monthly quotas and annual sales goals before the year concludes. Christmas Eve and New Years Eve are excellent times to get the best offers. Model year-end clearance sales will also net steep discountsjust be sure youre comfortable buying the prior years model if going this route.Research at homeBy the time you arrive at the dealership, you should already know the following:Your budgetWhether you're leasing or buying (Although you should probably buy, not lease.)Your top choice (plus two back-up models)Research market prices for vehicles using price-comparison sites like Edmunds or Kelley Blue Book. Gauge the fair-market value of the make and model you're interested in.In terms of payment, the gold standard is to pay for a car in cash and in full, but that's not a realistic possibility for all buyers. Instead, opt to get pre-approved for an auto loan from your bank or credit union and compare the offer to dealer financing. Your credit score plays a major role in determining your interest rate and whether youll get approved. Before applying for a loan, check your credit score so you know where you stand. If its low, here are ways to boost it.Another holiday-specific tip is to look at year-end inventory on last year's models. As the 2024 models come in, dealers will be looking to offload 2023 and even 2022 models still sitting on the lot, giving you negotiation power.Arrive informed about the deals Look out for holiday-exclusive pricing packages and cut preferential financing rates. Monitor sales highlights and fine print exclusions on manufacturer and dealer websites. Check to see if manufacturer financing or customer rebates are available for the cars you're considering. Keep in mind that some holiday-related manufacturer incentives might actually be in place before the holiday weekend and may extend past it. Be decisiveTime to put all your research to use. Cars are hot commodities, so be ready to pull the trigger at the dealership. You should mention any competing offers you've received to use as leverage, even if they aren't an exact apples-to-apples comparison. Then again, the old days of walking away as a negotiating tactic are over for the time beingby the time you come back, your car will most likely have been sold.One area to be flexible: car color and trim options. Opting for colors/options that aren't as popular can save you money as the dealer may be trying harder to move those vehicles.If you're trading in your existing vehicle, its age or mileage will determine its baseline value regardless of whether it's the holidays or not. But you gain leverage negotiating the purchase price for the new vehicle during peak sale promos. Highlight applicable retail rebates and reference year-end volume goals salespeople are striving towards when pressing for the lowest overall price. Review which dealership fees you can and cannot avoid.The festive chill in the December air doesnt have to dampen big-ticket purchaseswith the right mindset, you can unwrap a sweet new car deal this holiday season.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.When you have a reliable internet connection, you don't think about how you watch YouTube on your iPhone. It just works. But there are plenty of times when you either need to go offline, or give your data plan a break. For these situations, it's pretty easy to download YouTube videos on your iPhone to watch them offline or without using databut not all the methods are exactly equal. Is downloading YouTube videos legal?This ones a bit complicated. If you download videos to your iPhone using YouTubes service (more on that below), its 100% on the up-and-up. However, the platform does not approve of downloading videos from its servers outside of that capacity. Its actually against YouTubes terms of service for app developers to make YouTube downloaders and put them on app stores. That said, the company wont do a thing about it if you do download videos from third-party solutions. Where it will take action is if you upload those videos, especially copyrighted videos, back online. So, play it safe: Download these videos only for your own personal use. How to download videos using YouTube PremiumYouTubes preferred method for downloading videos on your iPhone is, of course, by paying for the service. With YouTube Premium, youll find a convenient Download button next to most videos on the platform, so you can quickly save your favorite videos for offline viewing anytime. Sometimes, the button is tucked away, but if you swipe on the row of options below the channel's name, you'll find it. The first time you tap "Download," YouTube will offer you quality options for your download: Low (144p), Medium (360p), High (720p), or Full HD (1080p). If you choose "Remember my settings," YouTube won't ask you next time, and will default to whichever quality setting you choose here. Unless storage isn't a concern, I'd suggest letting YouTube ask you each time, since you'll see the total download size of each quality choice with this menu. You'll find your videos under your profile tab on the bottom right, in the Downloads section. You can watch your videos from here, as well as delete any you no longer want saved to your iPhone. Your downloads will stay put so long as your iPhone connects to the internet at least once every 30 days. That's a bit annoying, but unless you're backpacking off the grid for over a month, you should be alright. Credit: Jake Peterson There are other perks to YouTube Premium, including avoiding ads before videos and the high-quality 1080p Premium bitrate, for $13.99 per month. Its an expensive way to download your YouTube videos, but it is the way YouTube approves of.Use a YouTube downloader site (but be cautious)Mobile browsing on iPhone has come a long way. In many respects, its just as capable as browsing on a Mac or PC. For example, you can actually use a YouTube downloader in Safari and download a YouTube video just as you would on desktop. This type of downloader is far from a perfect option, however. The YouTube downloaders online can be spammy, blasting you with sketchy ads and giving off an overall malicious vibe. Still, they do work, so its a notable option.About ShortcutsIn the past, my go-to has typically been Apple's Shortcuts, a treasure trove of powerful programssome of which happened to be YouTube downloaders.The problem is, these shortcuts tend to break fast. It's not clear exactly why, but it's possible YouTube frequently changes things on its end and stops these shortcuts from working. That wouldn't be so bad if developers stuck around and patched the issues are they pop up, but, unfortunately, these shortcuts are often abandoned. So, when something goes wrong, the shortcut is useless. Previous versions of this article recommended JAYD (Just Another YouTube Downloader), as well as Sur. Unfortunately, both seem to have met the same fate as other YouTube downloaders, so I can't recommend them anymore. Most other YouTube downloader shortcuts I can find are also old and abandoned. At this point in time, you really have two options for downloading YouTube videos on your iPhone: paying YouTube for the privilege, or using a free downloader site.

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.If youve been considering adding a smart security camera to your home, the Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen) is now $29.99 (down from $59.99), its lowest price ever according to price trackers. Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen) $29.99 at Best Buy $59.99 Save $30.00 Get Deal Get Deal $29.99 at Best Buy $59.99 Save $30.00 Available in white, black, charcoal, starlight, and blush, this indoor cam is compact enough to sit on a shelf, mount to a wall, or tuck into a corner, so it wont stick out or take up too much space. Despite its small size, it delivers 1080p HD video with a wide 143-degree field of view, offering clear visuals both day and night. For low-light situations, it uses infrared LEDs for black-and-white night vision, and when theres enough ambient light, it displays color night vision (though this PCMag review notes that the nighttime colors can look a little muted).This model comes with a manual privacy cover that you can slide over the camera lens to block the feed whenever you want, adding an extra layer of peace of mind for moments when you need privacy. Additionally, the Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen) features two-way audio, allowing you to listen in or speak through the Ring appwhether its telling your dog to get off the couch or checking in on family members. For added convenience, it integrates seamlessly with Amazon Alexa, letting you view the live feed or control the camera using voice commands.The Ring Indoor Cam also works with IFTTT and third-party devices. However, it doesnt support Apple HomeKit or Google Assistant, which could be a downside if you rely on those platforms. Also, its worth noting that while the camera functions well on its own, accessing recorded footage requires a Ring Protect subscription. Plans start at $4.99 per month and include 180 days of video history, the ability to save and share clips, notifications with photo previews (so you can see whats happening without opening the app), and more. The subscription also adds support for automation with a Ring Alarm system.If HomeKit and Google Assistant integration is a dealbreaker for you, the eufy Security Indoor Cam E220 ($31.99, down from $54.99) makes for a solid alternative.

The rapid improvements in AI video generation don't appear to be slowing down any time soon, and Google has announced a major upgrade to its own video maker in the form of Veo 2. It follows the introduction of Veo in May, and OpenAI rolling out its Sora AI video generator to the public earlier this month.Google says Veo 2 beats Sora and other competitors in terms of user preferences and prompt adherenceyou can see the relevant charts for yourself on the Veo 2 websiteand that the new model brings with it "enhanced realism and fidelity" as well as better handling for motion and improved camera controls.What Veo 2 can doVeo 2 has boosted its video-generating capabilities through "an improved understanding of real-world physics and the nuances of human movement and expression," according to Googleso it sounds like you'll see less weirdness in your clips. The new model also has a better handle on the language of cinema and film. That means prompts can include a specific movie genre, a certain type of lens, or a particular cinematic effect. There's now support for terms such as "low-angle tracking shot," "close-up shot," or "shallow depth of field," which can help generated videos fit more closely to a prompt. Videos can be created at resolutions up to 4K (an upgrade from 1080p), and can now run to several minutes in length. Some of the example clips Google has been showing off look impressive: We've got drinks being poured, dogs riding inflatables in pools, cartoon characters talking to the camera, and scientists peering down microscopes.It's not flawless, however, and Google admits Veo 2 still struggles with consistency in complex scenes. This is an issue with AI video generators as a wholethey don't understand the physics and space of the real world, even if they can do a rough approximation of it based on a vast amount of training data. You'll notice that none of these videos show something going out of shot and then coming back in, most probably because the AI would forget about it or render it differently.How to try Veo 2The process for getting at Veo 2 is the same as it already was for the first Veo model: You need to head over to Google's VideoFX tool on the web, which is part of Google Labs, and sign up for the waiting list. For now, you need to be in the U.S. to try out Veo 2, and you need to be 18 or older.Google is promising an expansion of Veo 2 availability over the course of next yearincluding putting it into YouTube Shorts for creatorsbut for the time being it's not available in other tools such as Google Gemini (which does offer access to the latest Imagen 3 art generator model). As I don't currently have access to Veo 2, I can't give you too many details on the limitations that are in place. Google says "each user is limited to a certain number of daily generations" but it's not clear how many videos you can whip up each day, or how long they can be. OpenAI is letting ChatGPT Plus users produce up to 50 videos per month, with the length capped at five seconds and the resolution limited to 720p.Any videos you produce will come with an "invisible SynthID watermark" that identifies them as having been AI-generatedpart of Google's attempts to minimize the risk of Veo 2 being used to deceive viewers and spread misinformation (safety concerns are also part of the reason for the slow rollout, Google says).

We may earn a commission from links on this page.Being a houseplant mom or dad is not easythose babies are a lot of work. Smart technology has made managing them a lot easier for me, though. If you've still got someone on your gift list who will spend all winter tending to their beloved plants, here are some ideas for gifts they're likely to love. Indoor Plant Watering System $69.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $69.99 at Amazon Flora Pod AI-Powered Smart Plant Monitor | for Indoor or Outdoor Plants | Personalized Alerts for Moisture, Temperature, Humidity, and Light $44.99 at Amazon $54.99 Save $10.00 Shop Now Shop Now $44.99 at Amazon $54.99 Save $10.00 App Store Gift Card for Planta App at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now at Amazon Google Play Gift Card for Planta App at Amazon Get Deal Get Deal at Amazon Modern Sprout Smart Landscape Growframe Wall Mounted Planter with LED Grow Light, Emerald $299.00 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $299.00 at Amazon SEE 2 MORE An automatic indoor watering systemI love my plants, but watering them is a consistent chore I struggled to masterand if I'm being honest, all my plants used to get the same drink of water when I knew some should get watered more often or less often. An automatic waterer is what saved their lives. It was simple to set up: It's a pump that pulls water from a source you designate (I use a tall pitcher). You set up 1/4-inch black poly tubing to each plant, with included stakes and emitters, and adjust the emitters for each plant. It can even supply water vertically, so I was able to run tubing to my hanging plants. Using the app, you tell the system how often to water and for how long. I have two systems set upone for the plants that need water more often and one for the ones that enjoy more dry time. A smart plant moisture sensor that actually worksPlant sensors have existed for years; even Ikea had one. They've all been a bust, but Flora Pod actually worksI have a few of them. You stick them into the soil around your plant and the app gives you insights on that particular plant. Obviously it acts as a moisture sensor, but Flora Pod can also diagnose plant problems, give you access to experts and give you specific advice for the identified plant species. Technically, it can work outside or inside, but I've found that it's not as impervious to weather as it implies. This is for indoor plants, in my opinion, and it works fantastically. A way to keep track of my entire plant familyWhen you start amassing plants, keeping track of them becomes a challenge. Now, there is an app that will help make that task easier: Planta. Not only does it act as an inventory for your plants, but helps create a calendar of reminders for each one with specialized recommendations. One of the best features is a light meter in the app so you can gauge how your plant should fare and if it's getting enough light. Planta takes local weather and conditions into account to advise you on adjusting watering schedules, and has a diagnostic tool. There's a community you can join, so there's that benefit, but the best benefit? You can share your plant schedules with other people, like house sitters. A subscription runs $36 a year through the App Store or Google Play, so a gift card would be the perfect gift. Smart plant frames free up floor space and turn plants into artPlants take up space, which I want. I enjoy sharing my space with them, but they also crowd countertops, hang from ceilings and use up floor space. Modern Sprout has designed frames so your plants can reside on your walls, akin to living art. They are genuinely beautiful (and pricey), but include their own grow light and water reservoir, and they come in a few different configurations. In short: I want one. Gift cards to plant marketplacesI love my local nursery, but it's not where I get houseplants, and your houseplant-loving friend is probably the same way. In addition to trading clippings with other plant lovers, they're more likely to shop for houseplants on marketplaces like Etsy and Palmstreet. Gift cards to either would be welcome so your friend could acquire more plants, because if there is one thing every plant parent has in common, it is an inability to stop adopting new plant babies.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.The holidays are a time for big emotions. The weather can get extreme, theres too much to do, and family gatherings offer up wild swings of intense feeling: joy, excitement, apprehension, annoyance, exhaustion. The movies (and life) teach us that any holiday meal with a sufficient number of guests must involve drama of some sort: Somebodys pregnant, somebodys getting married or divorced, someones coming out of the closet, someones dying. The season truly has it all.Movies offer us the opportunity to escape from all that by watching other people deal with their dramaand were not so much interested in subtlety and nuance, because thats not whats in the air. Is it even a Christmas movie if youre not bawling into your eggnog? Many of the saddest Christmas movies share very similar plot beats (its Dickens world; were just living in it), but its in the execution that they rise or fall. The most successful of them take big swings and hit us right where we live.Its a Wonderful Life (1946) Obviously. Its easy to dismiss Its a Wonderful Life as over-played holiday schmaltz; constant public-domain airings resurrected it from near-obscurity, but also turned it into seasonal wallpaper. Its always playing in the background, but nobodys paying all that much attentionwhich is too bad, given that its a much weirder and more nuanced film than the bit about angels and bell-ringing would suggest. We can only watch as George Bailey compromise his dreams over and over again, only to find that what little he has built rests on a house of cards. America, amirite? Theres real emotion in Georges breakdown, and a (mostly) satisfying catharsis in the ending, which is harder won than in many other gentler, cozier Christmas classics. You can stream It's a Wonderful Life on Prime Video and The Roku Channel. Its a Wonderful Life (1946) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Carol (2015) The chemistry between Rooney Maras Therese and Cate Blanchetts Carol is palpable from the moment their eyes meet across a crowded department storebut its the 1950s, and theirs is a love that dare not speak its name, even to one another. Queerphobia was, as we all know, entirely eradicated decades ago, so it might seem odd that a gay romance would raise eyebrows, but thats just how things were back then. The women suffer for their love, but the tears come less when things are going bad as when it starts to feel like they might just possibly start to go a little right. You can stream Carol on Paramount+ and Netflix or rent it from Prime Video. Carol (2015) at Paramount+ Learn More Learn More at Paramount+ The Best Man Holiday (2013) The sequel to 2013's The Best Man, this one quickly updates us on the fallout from that earlier film before moving into new territory (its not strictly necessary to have seen the original if youre looking to dive straight into the holiday festivities). Morris Chestnut, Taye Diggs, Regina Hall, Terrence Howard, and Sanaa Lathan lead the sequel, which offers a bold blend of off-color humor, hot shirtless guys, sincere religious themes, and shamelessly heartbreaking plot twists. It all somehow mostly holds together. Its a well-acted soap opera with over-the-top moments of comedy, family drama, and tragedy, hitting every emotional beat youd want from a holiday movie. You can stream The Best Man Holiday on Prime Video. The Best Man Holiday (2013) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Joyeux Nol (2005) A fictionalized version of a true story, this Academy Award nominee deals with an unusual moment during the first year of World War I, when, at several points along the front lines, French, German, and British soldiers called a series of informal truces, often mingling to celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The German Crown Prince even sent the lead singer of the Berlin opera to perform along the front lines, entertaining both sides. In dramatizing the event, the filmmakers understand that the truce was both glorious and absurd. Those complicated feelings, and the knowledge that what were seeing represents a momentary lull in a war that would continue for years, make for powerful emotional moments. You can stream Joyeux Nol on Paramount+ or rent it from Prime Video. Joyeux Nol (2005) at Paramount+ Learn More Learn More at Paramount+ A Midnight Clear (1992) A different war, and a different Christmas truce (after a fashion) feature in Keith Gordon's A Midnight Clear, set during the Battle of the Bulge near the end of World War II. A small, inexperienced intelligence squad is sent to occupy an abandoned chateau to gather information on German movements. The Germans quickly have them dead to rights, but step away and, instead, begin to send signals (Christmas carols; a snowball fight) that they're not interested in fighting anymore. They realize that the war is coming to an end, and they hope to make a deal with the Americans: a mock fight and a quick surrender to avoid bloodshed. Of course, what sounds reasonable to soldiers on the frontline is completely anathema to the ones giving the orders. You can stream A Midnight Clear on Prime Video, Peacock, and Tubi. A Midnight Clear (1992) at Peacock Learn More Learn More at Peacock Stepmom (1998) The ingredients for a fairly typical seasonal comedy (or dramedy, anyway) are all here: Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire) directs Susan Sarandon as Jackie, a woman forced to spend the holidays with her ex-husband's girlfriend (played by Julia Roberts). The reason for this meeting, however, is less the stuff of rom-coms: Jackie has lymphoma, and neither she nor we are given any false optimism. She's dying, and this younger woman will likely become a stepmother to her children. Both the relationship between the two, and Jackie's illness, come to a head at Christmas time.You can rent Stepmom from Prime Video. Stepmom (1998) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video The Christmas Tree (1969) Terence Young, best known for his early James Bond films, directs William Holden as Laurent Sgur, a wealthy Frenchman on the verge of a new romance who learns that his 10-year-old son Pascal is dying following exposure to radiation. Determined to make his son's last days as special as possible, the three embark on a series of small adventures. The tone isn't overtly tearjerking, but there's no escaping the poignance of the central message about appreciating what you while you have it. You can stream The Christmas Tree on Tubi. The Christmas Tree (1969) at Tubi Learn More Learn More at Tubi Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) For a musical thats perhaps best known for Judy Garlands epic ode to old-timey streetcars, theres a surprising bit of emotional depth here. Following the upper-class Smith family for a year starting in the summer of 1903, the movie tracks changing times and changing circumstancesnothing excessively dramatic, unless youre Margaret OBriens joyfully morbid Tootie, who suddenly finds that the things that she expected never to change are more precarious than she thought possible. The key moment is Judy Garlands heartbreaking performance of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, a song that was later brightened up for radio but that, here, implores us to enjoy what we have while we have itbecause the future is uncertain. You can stream Meet Me in St. Louis on Max and Tubi. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max Full-Court Miracle (2003) Blending inspirational sports-movie stuff with a bit of holiday magic, this seasonal staple finds the young teens at Philadelphia Hebrew Academy struggling build up their basketball team in spite of their truly awful coach. A struggling outsider enters the picture, and might be the one who can put them on the right trackif only the students and faculty will put their trust in him. The moment when the local rabbi relates the story of Hanukkah in relation to the kids basketball game is honestly pretty darned effective. You can stream Full-Court Miracle on Disney+. Full-Court Miracle (2003) at Disney+ Learn More Learn More at Disney+ In the Bleak Midwinter (1995) Writer/director Kenneth Branaghs indie isnt nearly as dour (or bleak) as its title might suggest, being more of a black comedy about a depressed, out-of-work actor who gets talked into staging a Christmas production of Hamlet (very Branagh, that) in an effort to save his sisters church from greedy land developers (arent they always). The lets-put-on-a-show-to-save-whatever premise has been done, but sharp performances and the directors clear affection for Shakespeare lend the film added emotional resonance, even if youre not a sucker for stories about finding the true spirit of the season in connecting with othersbut who isnt, really? You can stream In the Bleak Midwinter (a.k.a. A Midwinter's Tale) on Hoopla. In the Bleak Midwinter (1995) at Hoopla Learn More Learn More at Hoopla One Magic Christmas (1985) The Grainger family could be forgiven for giving up on the holiday spirit entirely: Jack is out of work, and Ginnies job at the grocery store isnt enough to save the family homewhich doesnt matter much, as shes about to lose that gig too. Thats all before a botched bank robbery leaves their two kids with only one parent. Fortunately, theres an angel waiting in the wings, but hes played by Harry Dean Stanton, so definitely not the cheerful sort. Daughter Abbie winds up being the familys only hope for something resembling a happy ending, but there are a lot of reasons to shed tears before the final act. You can stream One Magic Christmas on Disney+ or rent it from Prime Video. One Magic Christmas (1985) at Disney+ Learn More Learn More at Disney+ The Family Man (2000) We cant get enough of alternate timelines and glimpses into roads not taken, and Family Man represents a slightly more modern, fully Nicolas Cage-ized, and therefore more extreme, version of the trope. Here, a boring (but successful) corporate drudge gets sucked into an alternate timeline where he married Tea Leoni (the one who got away in his native timeline) but is also jobless and stressed by his inability to provide for his family. No life is ever perfect, I guess. When returned to his own timeline, he takes the opportunity to reconnect with the old girlfriend who might have become his wifeexcept that, even with lessons learned, theres no way to get back the time they lost or the children they had in the other timeline. (Its all very that-one-episode-of-Star Trek: The Next Generation.) You can stream The Family Man on Netflix and Peacock. The Family Man (2000) at Peacock Learn More Learn More at Peacock Remember the Night (1940) With a bit of the ol Christmas spirit, otherwise tough New York District Attorney John Sargent (Fred MacMurray) agrees to let shoplifter Lee Leander (Barbara Stanwyck) out on bail, and even offers her a ride to her mothers house in Indiana on the way to his own family gathering. The trip naturally includes moments of comedy and hints of romance, but its the ambiguous, not entirely happy ending that really packs a punchsuggesting that the manipulative Lee might have been genuinely moved by her time with John. You can stream Remember the Night on Plex. Remember the Night (1940) at Plex Learn More Learn More at Plex Last Christmas (2019) Emilia Clarke and Americas sweetheart Henry Golding have tremendous chemistry as a down-on-her-luck aspiring singer and the slightly mysterious man with whom she shares a lovely and inspiring holiday season. The twist ending here will either work for you, or it really wont (either way, its hilarious on paper). I was prepared to chuckle, but it still got me in the end. You can stream Last Christmas on Max or rent it from Prime Video. Last Christmas (2019) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) I have yet to find a Muppet movie that wont leave me in a puddle, so this ones an easy addition. Its more true now than ever, thoughDisney+ has finally made available a musical segment that was cut shortly after release and that, while sporadically available in various home releases, hasnt been part of the movie for quite some time. Its a moment between Scrooge (both present and past), and Belle, whose love he cast aside before giving in to a life focused on money. The Muppet goofiness stops for just a few moments that make the emotional stakes for Scrooge clear, and gives Sir Michael Caine an opportunity to warble a tune. You can stream The Muppet Christmas Carol on Disney+. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) at Disney+ Learn More Learn More at Disney+ A Christmas Tale (2008) A Christmas Tale plays with some of the same ideas as does The Family Stone, even to the point of casting a legendary lead actressin this case, Catherine Deneuve as the matriarch recently diagnosed with leukemia. This French comedy-drama goes a bit deeper and darker in its exploration of family dynamics around the holidays, but also approaches its central family with more empathy, acknowledging that, as we change, so do even our most stable relationships. You can stream A Christmas Tale on AMC+. A Christmas Tale (2008) at AMC+ Learn More Learn More at AMC+ Christmas, Again (2014) A face familiar (and welcome) to American indie movie fans, Kentucker Audley stars as a Christmas-tree salesman returning home to New York, an act which only exacerbates the downward spiral of depression and a sense of failure hes been mired in for years. Hes living in a trailer and just barely getting by before a mysterious woman enters his life, alongside some weird and eclectic customers who help him fight his self-destructive impulses. There are familiar beats here, but filmed with more realism and restraint (writer-director Charles Poekel partially financed the film with money from his own depressing Christmas-tree salesman job), so the darker moments hit a bit harder, while the moments of light feel very well earned. You can stream Christmas, Again on The Roku Channel. Christmas, Again (2014) at The Roku Channel Get Deal Get Deal at The Roku Channel Klaus (2019) A charming, bespoke Santa origin story based on nothing in particular, Klaus finds the lazy son of a postmaster general in 19th-century Norway forced to a distant island town where hes tasked with delivering 6,000 letters within a year, otherwise hell be cut off from the family fortune. Arriving there, he discovers the two primary feuding families cant be bothered to send letters for him to deliver, but that an elderly widower might be able to help him in a scheme hes concocted to convince the towns children to write letters in the hopes of receiving toys in returntoys crafted by old Klaus in hope of a family that never materialized. Its all beautifully hand-animated, and the genuine emotion wrings tears with Pixar-like efficiency. I defy you not to cry during the final act. You can stream Klaus on Netflix. Klaus (2019) at Netflix Learn More Learn More at Netflix Collateral Beauty (2018) Will Smith plays an advertising executive who retreats from life following the death of his daughter. His friends and loved ones arent able to connect, and he tries to cope by writing letters to his conceptions of Love, Time, and Deathall of whom respond. Its all a bit silly, but Smith leads a fabulous cast who very nearly sell the fantastical premise, and offer some genuinely weepy moments. You can rent Collateral Beauty from Apple TV. Collateral Beauty (2018) at Apple TV Learn More Learn More at Apple TV Mon Oncle Antoine (1971) Less an outright tearjerker than a quietly emotional coming-of-age story, this Qubec-set story sees young Benot helping his undertaker uncle on the day before Christmas in their rural town. The two bond, and fall out, while transporting the body of a teenager whod died unexpectedly. Once Benots hero, Antoine reveals, over the course of the day, that he hates his job and his life, and that drink has become his only escape. As a picture of growing up during troubling times, its an all-around great movie. You can stream Mon Oncle Antoine (a.k.a. My Uncle Antoine) on The Criterion Channel. Mon Oncle Antoine (1971) at The Criterion Channel Learn More Learn More at The Criterion Channel Jack Frost (1998) Though, at moments, it looks a bit like a horror movie, the Michael Keaton-starring Jack Frost is surprisingly affecting, especially for a generation of kids who saw it at just the right age. A year after the Christmas-day death of his often-absent father, his young son Charlie finds that hes been magically restored to life as a snowman on the lawn. On paper, the idea of a snowman possessed by the ghost of your dead dad mustve been a tough sell, but as a story about the deep-rooted desire for just one more day with a lost loved one, it works. You can stream Jack Frost on Hulu. Jack Frost (1998) at Hulu Learn More Learn More at Hulu Prancer (1989) This grim seasonal drama is already depressing on its facethe plot follows a young girl who determinedly maintains her holiday spirit despite the recent death of her mother, her fathers depression, and the failure of the family businessbut is somehow made all the worse for the stark realism with which director John Hancock treats the material; the movie is slowly paced, nearlu colorless, and nakedly unsentimental even when the girl rescues a wounded reindeer she is convinced fell off of Santas sleigh. The ending refuses to be too happy; the most it can offer is a reconciliation between the girl and her depressed dad, who offers that even if their whole lives continue going to shit, at least theyll still have each other. Merry Christmas! You can stream Prancer on AMC+ and MGM+. Prancer (1989) at AMC+ Learn More Learn More at AMC+ The Snowman (1982) The beautiful Oscar-nominated short film finds a young boy having a series of adventures with an especially well-crafted snowman. Suffice it to say that snow-people have all too short a season, and the lesson here winds up being a deeply poignant one about the bittersweet beauty of impermanence and change. You can stream The Snowman on Vudu and Pluto TV or watch it on YouTube, above. The Snowman (1982) at Pluto TV Learn More Learn More at Pluto TV

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.This holiday season, give the gift of relaxationbut do not just pick up some lotion for someone and call it a day. Not to be ungrateful, but is there anything more boring than receiving another gift basket with a lotion and a loofah in it? There really isnt. There are better ways to give relaxing, self-care-focused gifts that are actually useful and cool. Please consider the following.The best gifts for skincareIn the parlance of social media, self care and skincare are nearly interchangeable a lot of the time. The good news is there are all kinds of little tools and doodads that can be used for skincare, and these make superb gifts. Depuffing gifts are nice stocking stuffers, and theyre not very pricey. I've been on a wild depuffing kick in my own life lately and use these three things consistently: Try these globes that you freeze and rub on your face ($12.98), a gua sha tool ($7.99), and a gel mask that can be frozen ($8.59). The NuFace MINI+ ($175) remains a covetable, popular present. It uses microcurrents to smooth and lift the skin, plus it's fun and high-tech.However, I've had better results with a competitor, which is even $5 cheaper: The MyoLift QT Plus ($170). It also uses microcurrent technology, but has some added perks: It uses a phone app to analyze your face and give you guidance during microcurrent sessions and comes with pads you can plug into the device and stick on your face so you don't even have to do the work of delivering the currents to yourself. I've noticed slight tightening and a little extra glowiness in my skin with consistent use.Getting someone actual chemical skincare products is difficult, since you might imply you see some kind of flaw in their face they should fix. Avoid this drama with a variety pack of sheet masks, like the Tony Moly All You Need set ($25). I have been a Tony Moly loyalist for 10 years and find their masks and other products to work much better than competitors, for what it's worth. I am especially fond of the caffeinated one foryou guessed itdepuffing.Sheet masks are simple to use, but you know whats simpler? Under-eye patches. In the last year, I switched to the Peauamie multipack, which gives you 30 pairs for $12.99. The pack comes with different varieties that address different concerns, and I use them religiously. A slam-dunk gift. Like I said, getting someone actual chemical skincare products can get dicy. But one kind is always appreciated: Products that provide hydration and improve skin texture and glowiness. I always have a COSRX Favorites set ($36) on hand. It's cleanser, toner, snail mucin (gross but effective!), and moisturizer. Nothing offensive there. Also, a tip: I usually see this set at Marshalls for about $16, so it's definitely possible to get it cheaper if you're going shopping in-store. The best gifts for relaxingWhen its time to relax, you need no less than four products to make it perfect. These are just the rules. We live in a very materialistic society and unwinding from the capitalist grind often paradoxically requires stuff.Shower steamers are cool because they serve no purpose other than to relax you. Theyre like bath bombs, but they release scents in the shower. Its pretty straightforward and they make a nice stocking stuffer. You can get seven for $9.99 at Target.I run through these quickly.A random candle from that gimmicky aisle at the checkout of TJMaxx only shows you put no thought into your gift. But a trendy candle? Thats different. Homesick candles ($28.50 and up) are big, as are birthdate candles ($48.99) and the ever-popular Maison Margiela Replica candles ($70). Win the holidays outright with a Diptyque candle ($45 or $74, depending on size).Everyone loves the Comfy ($49.99), a truly gigantic oversized sweatshirt made of blanket material that is ideal for shuffling around the house in a relaxed daze.One tried-and-true option here is a massage gun, but you should go big or go home: Homedics has a heated one available for $49.99.

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.You've probably seen or heard about Sony's headphone WH-1000X series. The series has been around since 2016, with a new version of the series released every year or two. The WH-1000XM4 headphones are the fourth in the series, and they're currently $198 (originally $348), matching the record-low price on Amazon, according to price-checking tools. And if you order the black or silver color, you can get them delivered before Christmas. Sony WH-1000XM4 Headphones Premium Noise Canceling Overhead Headphones with Mic for Phone-Call and Alexa Voice Control. $198.00 at Amazon $348.00 Save $150.00 Get Deal Get Deal $198.00 at Amazon $348.00 Save $150.00 The WH-1000XM4 headphones came out in 2020 to an "outstanding" review from PCMag and were eclipsed by the WH-1000XM5 (which are also hitting their lowest price right now) in 2022. Although the WH-1000XM4 are four years old already, they are still one of the best value wireless headphones for audio quality you can get today. Unlike phones, headphones don't need security or software updates to stay relevant as time goes by. Excellent audio stays excellent no matter how many years go by.If you like to have conversations but don't like to take your headphones off, the WH-1000XM4's automatic conversation feature will pause your audio and turn on an ambient mic when you talk, letting sound from outside pierce through the headphones. They also have that fancy AirPod feature that resumes playing or powers off when taking them on or off.Although these headphones are renowned for their audio quality, their active noise-canceling feature is also top-notch. The app lets you customize and adjust the ANC to your liking. You can also find the right EQ so you can listen to your music how you please. These headphones will give you about 30 hours of battery life with a full charge. For the price, you won't find a better combination of audio and ANC quality than the WH-1000XM4. If you're looking for the best ANC headphones, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra are currently at Prime Day prices and are considered one of the best headphones of 2024.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.Welcome to Cookbook of the Week. This is a series where I highlight cookbooks that are unique, easy to use, or just special to me. While finding a particular recipe online serves a quick purpose, flipping through a truly excellent cookbook has a magic all its own.I am obsessed with the winter holiday season. It feeds into all of my slightly unhealthy tendenciesshopping, snacking, use of glitterand gives them space to flourish for four to six weeks. One more of my great seasonal passions is holiday entertaining with festive cocktails. Not the brooding G&T or fluttery Aperol spritz but cocktails that function as a treatones that are celebratory, ones that require loved ones to be gathered round. You can probably understand why my choice for Cookbook of the Week, at this point in December, is Gather Around Cocktails.About the bookWhile I chose this with the holiday season in mind, this cocktail book isnt just centered around beverages for winter holidays, but has loads of drinks to celebrate usual and unusual holidays too. You can find the right cocktail for a Groundhog Day party, a Purim Rager, May the Fourth, or even mocktails for Dry January.The author, Aaron Goldfarb, describes himself as a Brooklyn husband and dad who likes to throw a great party. Most of that, I can relate to. (Im a Brooklyn mother of two cat-children.) This cocktail book doesnt waste any time getting to the good stuff, either. Goldfarb has a short preamble in the front, mostly describing what youre about to jump into, and kicks it off with a syrups and sweeteners section that youll be directed back to throughout the pages.Goldfarbs creativity and obvious inclination toward being silly and having fun with your beverages is what really sold me on this collection of repeatable cocktail recipes. In the section For Hanukkah Menorah Lighting, he has a Jelly Doughnut Beertail, which looks tempting, followed up on the next page with The Rum Fire Shots Menorah. It is a stack of shots mimicking the shape of a menorah. They are all on fire. Its incredible. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann/Gather Around Cocktails A great cocktail book for someone who celebrates every occasionYou know the type: Your mother-in-law who is always throwing a party; your nephew who celebrated National Grilled Cheese Day last month and National Dalmatians with Bowties Day last week. Anyone from New Orleans. There are some folks who can find joy in all occasions, big and small, and this is a book that seems to have been written for them. Obviously, if they like alcohol then theyll get a lot more out of it.The recipes you can expectYou wont find boring recipes in Gather Around Cocktails. There seems to be a little twist with every recipe; something that makes you think, Ooh I didnt expect that. You must expect to put a little work in with making the occasional syrup, and having an adventurous palate will help, as well. Each recipe has the serving size written at the top right, the type of party its matched for (like A New Years Eve Blowout or New Years Day Gathering) on the top left, and a headnote with useful tips, and an easy to read recipe. This formatting makes it a breeze to flip through as you look for your occasion, and if youll need to scale up the recipe or not.Gather Around Cocktails has an array of batch sizes too, from single-servings to massive batchessuch as Ponche Navideo, which serves 16 to 24 cocktails. I rather like those options because having a group of friends over might be a party of four, or a bash for 20. With this book you dont have to math your way up and calculate dilution for a large party; you can just choose among the batched recipes. Likewise, you dont have to reverse it for just one serving.Like eggnog, for example. (Foreshadowing!)The drink I made this weekI dive headfirst into the Christmas season, and surprisingly, this book doesnt start with January holidays; it starts with winter ones. I didnt have to go far to find the most Christmas-y drink: eggnog. Goldfarb kicks things off with his Homemade Eggnog recipe, and it looks fluffy and delicious. Sadly, it is for 10 to 15 people, and I am just one. Well it seems like Aaron Goldfarb has had this happen to him before too. because the next pages are replete with single-serving eggnog recipes and notes about eggnog from other countries.Once I discovered Spiced Mexican Chocolate Nog, I knew I had arrived. Makes one cocktail. Perfect. I scanned the six-part ingredient list and got to work. Im not vegan, and I have no problem drinking raw eggs, but I had an open can of coconut milk in the fridge that Ive been trying to use up. Plus, Masala Chai blend is an ingredient in this cocktail and I simply cannot resist.The only hesitation I had was that the main alcohol used is mezcal, which I dont normally go for. However, I trust coconut milks power to tame harsh flavors so I went along with the recipe. Im glad I did. This is a holiday nog I would gladly make again for myself or batch up for others. The smoky notes from the mezcal play nicely with the chai seasoning and chocolate bitters, while the coconut milk mellows everything out with its fats, and of course, brings in a delicious flavor of its own.Its listed as a good cocktail for a Vegan Christmas Bash, and I couldnt agree more. The coconut milk is beautifully thick and velvety, something youd normally get from the egg and heavy cream. I didnt miss those ingredients at all. Plus, if youre a coconut lover then youre bound to be smitten, vegan or not.How to buy itNow is a great time to grab a copy of Gather Around Cocktails. Do a practice run this coming week and settle on which cocktail best fits your New Years Eve party. For additional party inspiration, check out my write up of Batch Cocktails for even larger party prepping. Gather Around Cocktails: Drinks to Celebrate Usual and Unusual Holidays (The Hosting Hacks Series) $20.55 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $20.55 at Amazon

We may earn a commission from links on this page.Outdoors, smartwatches do a great job of telling you how far you ran or walked. Indoors, they often disagree with the readout on the gyms treadmill. Which leaves a lot of us wonderingshould we trust the treadmill, or the watch?The answer to this question is the treadmill. The treadmill will always have a better idea than the watch of what your feet are doing. But I dont blame you for doubting everything you see on a gym machines readout. After all, their calorie counts are notoriously inaccurate.Why the treadmill is more accurate than your watch (for distance)Whenever were evaluating accuracy, its important to know whether a device is measuring something directly, or interpreting data to make a guess. In this case, the treadmill is measuring distance, while the watch is guessing at it. (Calories are always interpreted, which is why they are never truly reliable.)Distance is pretty simple: Its the number of miles (or meters) of treadmill belt that passed under your feet while you ran. The treadmill knows how long its belt is, and how fast the motor is running, so its pretty directly measuring how much belt its sending under your feet.(Sticklers will note that technically there is still some interpretation going on here, since the relationship between the motor's performance and how much belt it moves can change over time, which is why treadmill calibration is a thing. But it's still pretty close, and is your best bet for the purposes we discuss here.)Your watch, by contrast, is on your wrist. Theres no way it can know what your feet are doing. It can make some guesses based on how much your wrist is swinging back and forth, and thus pick up a cadence (each arm swing corresponds to one footstep). Youll swing your arms a bit harder and higher when youre running faster, so it can use the oomph in your arm swing to make a guess at the speed youre running. From there, it estimates the distance.How to get the most accurate numbersNeither is guaranteed to be perfect, but the treadmill is a lot more likely to get the right idea. A treadmill can be slightly miscalibrated, and give you a distance thats a smidge off from what you actually ran. But a watch is just riding on your wrist, guessing. Ive noticed that my arms dont swing all that differently when Im running at a fast versus a slow pace.In fact, while following an interval workout on the treadmill on a Garmin Forerunner 265, Ive found that the watch thinks Im going slower than I am during the fast parts. When it buzzes to chide me (Pace low) I can convince it Im in range by pumping my arms a little harder. This isnt really a solution, though. Garmin Forerunner 265 GPS Smartwatch $449.99 at Best Buy Shop Now Shop Now $449.99 at Best Buy Instead of trying to get more accurate numbers from my watch during the run, I approach my treadmill workouts with the knowledge that the following things are accurate:The treadmill speed during the workoutThe treadmill distance at the end of the workoutThe heart rate from my watch (especially if Im using a chest strap)The time from either or both devices (which should be the same if I started them at the same time)I then follow my workouts appropriately. If its a heart-rate-based workout, I let my watch handle everything. (Garmin might tell me to do 32 minutes at 139 to 167 beats per minute. Perfect. All you, Garmin.)But if I want to do a speed- or distance-based workout, I manage that manually, with my human brain. A quarter mile at 7.5 miles per hour, repeated eight times? I boop the buttons on the treadmill accordingly. At the end of the workout, Ill either calibrate (from the watch) or edit the distance on my app to make sure it recorded the correct total distance.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.Just like last holiday season, everybody wants a Stanley mug this year. That's fine, except for a few issues: Those bad boys are pretty expensive for insulated travel tumblers; a lot of the people who want one already have one (or five); and 2.6 million Stanley mugs were recently recalled due to a potential burn hazard. Whether gifting a cup to someone else or broadening your own trendy collection, maybe it's time to start looking elsewhere. Owala FreeSip First up is my favorite tumbler of all time: the Owala FreeSip. I have a green and pink one, but regularly see dazzling color combinations in my travels. These trendy buggers are everywhere and I can't just attribute that belief to some weird Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, since they were everywhere before I even got my hands on one a few months ago. In addition to coming in all kinds of cool color combos, it's just a superior travel cup. It has a push-to-open lid that makes it very difficult to accidentally open or spill. Once open, you have the option of sipping through a spout or using an attached straw. The plastic loop around the lid also doubles as a carrying hook, which is how I've come to notice so many in the wild: People just clip them right on their bags. That makes them more convenient than the Stanley Quencher by a mile. Owala FreeSip Insulated Stainless Steel Water Bottle $27.94 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $27.94 at Amazon Owala also produces a more direct Stanley Quencher competitor in the form of an insulated tumbler that retails for $30.39 and has a 40-ounce capacity. Contigo West Loop I also like the Contigo West Loop. Contigo made the water bottle I had way back in college (because I could buy one with my Barnes & Noble employee discount). Contigo has withstood the test of time, creating mugs and bottles that feel nice in the hand, keep drinks at your preferred temperature, are easy to drink from, and aren't outrageously expensive. Contigo Autoseal West Loop Stainless Steel Travel Mug $24.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $24.99 at Amazon HydroFlask Travel Tumbler Next up is the tumbler from HydroFlask, which is also very popular. Personally, I only recently learned that HydroFlask is a brand name itself; my friends and I accidentally committed a bit of a genericide years ago, incorrectly calling any to-go tumbler a "hydroflask." As it turns out, that's a good sign, sincelike when people use "Kleenex" to mean "tissue"it implies brand trustworthiness and dominance. Reviews for real-deal HydroFlasks frequently hover around the 4.7-star mark and are based on thousands of ratings, so the general population agrees that this one keeps drinks the temperature you like them and is easy to tote around. Hydro Flask All Around Travel Tumbler Trillium 40 Oz $33.97 at Amazon $39.95 Save $5.98 Shop Now Shop Now $33.97 at Amazon $39.95 Save $5.98 Brmate Era The Brmate Era tumbler seals completely shut. It's not necessarily cheaper than a Stanley, but you're saving money and time by not destroying the inside of your bag in a freak spill accident. The Brumate Era even seals its straw completely. Yes, you can get little straw covers for the Stanley, but they're more decorative than effective. That's not true here. This is one tumbler that is truly spill-proof Brmate Era 40oz Tumbler $44.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $44.99 at Amazon Yeti Rambler A Yeti 10-ounce Rambler is just $20. It's Yeti, so you know the insulation is top-tier; plus the lid is vacuum-sealed and the opening to the spout uses a magnet, so you can feel confident it won't spill all over you. Thanks to its size, you also know it'll fit in a cup holder, which is kind of a big deal and something at which Stanley Quenchers historically fail. YETI Rambler 10 oz Tumbler, Stainless Steel, Vacuum Insulated with MagSlider Lid, White $20.00 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $20.00 at Amazon

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.I don't use the kind of water filter that's heavy-duty and attached to the tap. I care about the purity and taste of my water, but not enough to do all that. Instead, I use a water-filter pitcher. The one I use is the Culligan ZeroWater pitcher, which I've had for monthslong enough to swap out the filter three timesand have found it to improve the taste and quality of my water to my liking. Right now it's on sale for 29% off, so if you've been looking for one, this is a great place to start. The Culligan ZeroWater filtration pitcherWhy is it called ZeroWater, you ask? The goal of the filter is to reduce the total dissolved solids (TDS) in your water down to zero. The coolest thing about the pitcher is it comes with a little meter to check whether that's working. My model is older, so TDS is represented as parts per million (PPM) on my quality-checking stick, but it's all the same thing. ZeroWater 10-Cup Water Filter Pitcher $26.92 at Amazon $37.99 Save $11.07 Get Deal Get Deal $26.92 at Amazon $37.99 Save $11.07 TDS are organic and inorganic materials like metals, minerals, salts, and ions that are dissolved in water. I don't know exactly what the TDS in my water arethough the Culligan site says its ZeroWater filters produce "significant reductions in the forever chemicals PFOA and PFOS, lead, chromium, and mercury"but without them, my drinks taste better. Contaminant parts per million in tap water (L) vs. filtered water (R) Credit: Lindsey Ellefson It lasts a while, too. I would say I use mine every day and in about 10 months, I've changed the filter thrice. I use the little stick to check my water every week or so and only when I see the number rising up from zero do I know that the filter is losing effectiveness and it's time for a swap. I can taste it, too. It tastes just a little off as the filter runs out of power. Changing it isn't hard. You just unscrew the filter from the cap, screw a new one in, and call it a day. From there, it operates like any other water-filter pitcher. You fill the top with tap water and let it make its way through the filter and into the base. From there, you can dispense it using the spigot or the pour top, which is convenient when you're storing it in the fridge and don't want to haul it out just to pour. Do you need a water filter pitcher?There is a hierarchy of filters out there and if you're looking for something serious, check out the Lifehacker guide to the best ones. Pitchers are mostly useful for improving taste, as they can filter out minerals and other particles, but not viruses or bacteria. It really depends on where you live and how worried you are about the quality of your water. My boyfriend lives in a county that was awarded millions of federal dollars to combat lead in the water last year, so he's spent a lot on bottled water since moving there. The addition of the ZeroWater pitcher has saved him a boatload of cash and added some peace of mind, plus it's way better for the environment than constantly repurchasing those big plastic jugs.If you're someone who spends a lot on bottled or pre-filtered water, this could be helpful for you. To me, it does enhance the taste. I've always been a big fan of tap water, personally. Prior to owning this, I found the idea of not drinking the free water in your own home pretentious beyond belief. I still enjoy my late-night sips from the bathroom sink faucet, but I'm not too proud to admit that this has improved the overall taste of my water.