Lisa Jones has been a Nintendo fan since the company’s first major console, the NES, launched in the 1980s. “I’ve actually had every system, including the Virtual Boy,” she says. So, with Nintendo about to release its newest console, the Switch 2, Jones knew she had to own it on day one. “I took the day off just to make sure I’d get one,” she told PCMag as she waited outside a Best Buy store, sitting on the concrete while occasionally stretching. Jones was among the diehard Nintendo fans who began lining up outside the store in San Francisco, hoping to snag the console on launch day. The Switch 2 becomes available to consumers at 12 a.m. EST / 9 p.m. PST. But not everyone managed to snag a preorder, prompting some to fall back on the tried-and-true method of lining up in person.“Yeah, I’m cold,” said Doonie Love, an actor and model who was first in line at the store. He spoke to us with his black hoodie pulled over his head as the San Francisco wind blew by. (Credit: PCMag/Michael Kan)Love began waiting at about 9 a.m. after failing to secure a preorder, which sold out quickly across retailers weeks ago. Although he’s a Nintendo and Pokémon fan, he actually showed up to the Best Buy on a “whim,” curious to see if people were lining up.“There’s no work today, I just needed something to do,” he said on deciding to wait in line. “I just called someone to bring a jacket, chair, and burrito," he later added. Others like Brad Reinke were ready to line up. “I took the day off. Yeah, I was totally prepared to play video games all day,” he told us while sitting in his foldable chair and eating a pasta takeout order from DoorDash. “We’re here all night so I've got to get lunch and dinner in me.” He too is a major Nintendo fan, and also bought the Switch 1 on launch day back in 2017. “I’m a big collector and I’m probably going to buy everything they have on sale.” he said. While Reinke wasn’t able to secure a preorder, he said he enjoys the experience of the “midnight releases," which attracts other devoted fans. “There’s good company, everyone’s here for the same reason, so we all have stuff to talk about,” he said.Meanwhile, another consumer named James Gualtieri was prepared to work remotely while waiting outside the Best Buy, carrying his laptop and a Wi-Fi hotspot. “I was in a (remote) meeting for half an hour, chatting with folks,” he said. Recommended by Our Editors(Credit: PCMag/Michael Kan)We visited the Best Buy at around 2 p.m. on Wednesday, where the line for customers without preorders was relatively small, at about 10 people. As a result, it looked like all the consumers had a strong chance of scoring the console on launch day. But Gualtieri told us Best Buy staff wouldn’t commit to confirming if everyone in line would come away with the Switch 2 since the retailer also has to prioritize preorders.  “At the end of the day, it’s not the end of the world if I don’t get one,” he said after already waiting for two hours. Fortunately, Gualtieri’s workplace is located next to the Best Buy store. “If I can’t get one, I’ll try to get in line tomorrow morning. I would really love to get one before the weekend,” he said. Meanwhile, others like Jones said it was important to snag a Switch 2 soon, rather than wait, citing the risk of Trump’s tariffs raising the price. “Get it while you can,” she said, noting Microsoft recently increased the price for its Xbox consoles.  Best Buy isn’t the only location in San Francisco to offer the Switch 2 for tonight’s release. Nintendo’s official store in the city opened last month and is slated to sell the console as well. But the product will only be available to lucky consumers who were able to snag a preorder, or “warp pass.” (Credit: PCMag/Michael Kan)Hours before the sales were set to begin, the store held a prelaunch “celebration” event, giving fans a chance to demo the Switch 2. The event attracted a long line of over 80 people when it began at 1 p.m. Several Nintendo fans also dressed up for the event, including a consumer named Annie, who cosplayed as the Zelda character, and said “I came here from Mexico.”"When I was a child I play the Nintendo so much with my friends," Annie added, while also showing off a Zelda tattoo. Another consumer named Greg H. also looked forward to tonight’s launch, having scored a warp pass to buy the Switch 2 from the official Nintendo store in San Francisco. “There is this nostalgic factor of waiting up until midnight to pick up the console,” he said while standing at the prelaunch event with a Nintendo N64 bag. “There’s also a communal aspect, where you meet a lot of people with the same interest.”(Credit: PCMag/Michael Kan)

When the Call of Duty Season 4 update arrived this week for Black Ops 6 and Warzone, players quickly noticed that some multiplayer lobbies did not display player levels and level icons. Some theorized that Activision did this on purpose to help prevent people from quitting lobbies if they noticed they were going up against a group of high-level players. But it turns out this was only a bug.Activision's Call of Duty Updates account confirmed that the developer is investigating a bug that is causing player levels and level icons to fail to appear in lobbies. "Thank you for your reports! We are actively investigating this issue," Activision said on the game's Trello board.Some of the other known issues for Black Ops 6 multiplayer include theater mode being temporarily disabled due to an issue loading replays, lobbies showing the wrong platform icon next to a player's name, and the Winner's Circle failing to appear in some cases on Stakeout. Another known issue is that players who call in a Dreadnought may get stuck in a state where they're unable to crouch or slide.Continue Reading at GameSpot

For the last 10 years, all of my moves have happened within about a 15-block radius. For personal reasons (a dislike of annoyance and paperwork), I may never leave this neighborhood in Manhattan. Then again, I may not have a choice. You never know when something—a great job opportunity or the sudden desire to experience something new—may come up. If and when you find yourself moving not just locally, but quite a distance, there are some unexpected hurdles you'll need to keep in mind that differentiate this from your standard move. Your budget has to be on pointBudgeting for any kind of move is a key to not going broke during the process, but your expenses for a longer move are going to be more, obviously, and are also going to include quite a few things that you may not immediately think of. Monthly billsIf you're undergoing a more significant move, chances are good that you'll have a rent and utilities overlap, which should be part of your budget planning.In addition to billing overlap, consider any fees you may incur for canceling utility accounts or opening new ones—be sure to check with your new city on how much all of that costs around there. The city you're moving to might have higher taxes, for instance, which may make your monthly bills higher than you expect. You should also think about your other monthly expenses that may change after your move. Your gym membership is a good example. Are you locked into one that is going to be hard to cancel? Many gyms require proof that you're moving out of the region or a certified letter to cancel your membership. On this topic, while it's not quite related to budget, necessarily, check with your doctor, dentist, and other providers about getting referrals, having prescriptions moved to new pharmacies, and if there's anything you should consider related to your healthcare in the new city while you find new providers. Do a quick scan of your checking account to identify any city-specific recurring charges, like public transit passes or bills. Repairs on the new placeRepairs on the old or new home can also add up, especially if you're moving to the new place sight-unseen or if you haven't had a chance to truly assess it. One person I spoke to who moved cross-country, for instance, said the new house they moved to was great—but it had been unoccupied for a while before they moved in, which resulted in spending some time and money cleaning up that they hadn't accounted for.Food and lodgingThe farther you move, the longer you'll spend without a roof over your head and possibly even without a lot of your possessions, as they may still be in transit after you arrive. Don't forget to budget in some money for takeout and even hotel stays, if necessary.Building the budget will take time. Get quotes from a variety of moving companies, figure out your travel situation, add in money for food and bills in the new city, consider whether you need to make any repairs on your old place, and determine what, if anything, it will cost to update your identification and utilities. When you're done ballparking all that, add 10 to 15% onto the number you end up with, advises Rob Rimeris, owner of EverSafe Moving Co. According to him, that "isn't just practical," but "gives people back a sense of agency when plans shift." When you find yourself in a brand-new town, having a sense of agency will keep you feeling sane. How to choose the right moversFinding a good moving company is crucial for any move, but when your stuff is getting hauled across the state—or across the country—it's even more important to do your research. "Find a company that is licensed, insured, has good reviews, and has the proper checks and balances in place," says Charles Chica, co-owner of CT Best Movers. You might be tempted to go with whatever company is the cheapest, but it's important to weight price as just one of many factors.Spend time looking for a company, get your estimates in writing, and provide as much detail as you can about whether you will need help with packing and furniture disassembly and reassembly, as well as what the parking situation is at both the pickup and drop-off locations. Communicate clearly and honestly and make sure all of the communication you receive is backed up in writing. The farther you move, the more complicated this might be, so use an honesty-first approach to avoid any surprise fees or issues.What you might not realize about long-distance movesAlex Girard, whom I interviewed for this story, has lived in four states and recently completed his farthest move. He said that the process for selecting a moving company was trickier than he anticipated, partly because moving works a little differently over long distances."I didn't realize (though it makes sense) that basically the way it works is local movers on either end partner with some national trucking company to do the actual long-haul, so it was kind of hard to compare services," he says. Another difference is that the movers won't load your stuff up and drive directly to your new place, which requires extra planning on your part. "Since the moving companies are partnering with trucking lines," Girard says, "they don't do a special delivery straight to the new house from the old one. Your stuff sits at a warehouse on both sides for a while until they can be loaded onto the next truck out." To avoid the disastrous situation of having to live in a new home with absolutely nothing for two or three weeks, plan for this in advance. Most places Girard spoke to said the boxes and furniture would arrive within 10 to 20 days, so he shipped his most important necessities to his new house in advance, relying on the postal system to make sure he arrived to a new home that contained the essentials he needed to work and live. That was smart, since it actually took a few weeks for the moving companies to deliver everything else, but it was also "a bit expensive."Regardless of how far you're moving, there are things you'll need to keep with you, as movers may not want to (or may not be able to) move all of your belongings. These types of things include identification documents, medications, perishables, hazardous materials, pets (obviously), and even plants. Knowing in advance you'll need to find a safe way to transport all of these and keep them on you is important to ensuring a smooth move. Read online reviews, but don't obsess over themYou'll certainly spend time reading online reviews as you select your moving company—and that's good, but read them with skepticism, too. Girard says he spent a lot of time researching moving companies and pointed out that he read a lot of nightmare-sounding online reviews, but didn't experience anything as catastrophic as what they described. That's a good thing to keep in mind as you do your own research: In general, remember that online reviews only tell part of the story. Someone is more likely to write one when they're super mad and more likely to forget to write one when they have a totally unremarkable experience. Your best bet is to call as many companies as you can, speak to them directly, and make sure they're insured, knowledgeable, and reasonable. (And if you end up having a positive experience with them, consider writing a review just to help out the next person in this position.)Get on the phoneThis is a tip I learned from my mom and am always happy to share: Call people. You can get more done in a 15-minute phone call than a four-day email thread. Whenever she and I go on a trip, she calls the chamber of commerce in that city to ask a local what, exactly, we should be sure not to miss, which has resulted in us having incredible experiences we would never have found if we'd just relied on TripAdvisor or Reddit. The same applies here. Contact your new local government to get a straightforward answer to what, exactly, you need to do to have a smooth move. You'll need a new driver's license, for instance, and the process for obtaining it should be pretty simple, but that can vary by jurisdiction. Turning on your new utilities, updating your mailing address, learning about any new taxes or regulations—all of this should be explained to you by a knowledgeable local. It's likely they'll direct you to an online portal, yes, but you'll know you're working with the right information, which is half the battle. Ask for help from a localFinally, try to find a local who might be willing to answer some questions or tell you more about the town. When I moved from North Dakota to New York at 18, I was enrolled in a university where there were campus reps whose job it was to teach us about the city, but what I learned from them was nothing compared to what I ultimately learned from befriending kids who were born here. City employees can only get you so far. If you don't know anyone in the new place, post an inquiry on Reddit (most cities have their own subreddits—do some Googling to find the most active ones wherever you're moving). In my experience, people love talking up their hometowns. From hidden gems in the culinary landscape to unexpected expenses (Girard notes that he was unpleasantly surprised by the higher taxes on alcohol in his new town), everyday people will be more likely to tell you about the everyday experiences of living there, which will help you acclimate a lot faster.

Everything you purchase for your home says something about you and your personal style, and we've found that to be especially true when it comes to your dishes. Which ones do you use to set the table on a Tuesday night when you and your family are gathered around the table to discuss what the kids learned today in school? And which set are you choosing for your annual dinner party with your longtime friends? Whether you like it or not, your choice in dishware—and ultimately, your tablescape as a whole—says a lot about you. As dishware aficionados, we can attest that there are simply too many patterns to analyze and assign to a type of person, so we picked five beautiful options that are both timelessly popular and unique. What's more, we asked Rebecca Gardner, founder of the interior design firm, event planning service, and online shopping platform Houses & Parties, for her hot take. "Things that you touch several times each day, like dinner plates, are due thoughtful consideration," she explains. "Imagine starting your day with a pretty coffee cup and saucer in lieu of a clunky handled mug. Suddenly, you're a new person." She's not wrong. Enjoying meals on beautiful pieces is transformative in a way that we may not realize.Below, the charismatic design expert assigns each of these pinnacle plates to a specific fictional "character," if you will. We dare you not to laugh.Related StoriesGinori 1735 Oriente ItalianoThe SophisticateProduct Shot Image"You registered for the Oriente set in the sophisticated Vermiglio colorway. Your sister has the Malachite. Thank goodness you two live in the same city with 24 dinner plates combined. The big oval platters are on her Christmas list—eight of them are for a bountiful breakfast or family-style feast. 'It's surprising how these two colors go with everything,' you surmise. The dishes are especially fresh with your tufted dining banquette that's upholstered in Le Lac chintz fabric. Your friends constantly say you're such a 'fearless' decorator."Buy them here.Hermès Cheval D'OrientThe BachelorProduct Shot Image"This pattern belongs to you, a dapper bachelor in your late 50s. You live in a contemporary apartment at the very end of the very coveted and exclusive South Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach, and your home's marble floors are covered in myriad Turkish rugs. Your Cheval D'Orient coffee cups get the most use, and you never take a sip without pointing your pinkie finger, donning a signet ring, straight up."Buy them here.Carolina Irving & Daughters Blue FlowerThe TraditionalistProduct Shot Image"These Portuguese blue flower dinner plates stack on the open kitchen shelving in her revival-style home in Buckhead, Atlanta. The kitchen was just renovated with a hidden coffee bar and a big island for casual cocktail buffets."Buy them here.Bordallo Pinheiro CabbageThe DecoratorProduct Shot Image"Half of these cabbage plates came from your grandmother's collection, but you bought 10 more to anchor the table with repetition. After all, they mix so well with your pantry that's full of mismatched treasures (sterling silver julep cups to Murano tumblers), which, somehow, are always on top of the frayed Decor Barbares fabric left over from a project you worked on years ago. You use the Cabbage tureen for cosmos and zinnias from the garden. Dinner is takeout, but you always take the cake."Buy them here.Crate & Barrel Cielo Scalloped The HostessProduct Shot Image"You are a regular host to your friends and family and known for serving fresh paella at summer soirées in Montauk. You have 50 of these white plates that your guests always want to know where to buy. The scalloped edge adds a little low-maintenance je ne sais quoi that lets your culinary creations shine.Buy them here.Follow House Beautiful on Instagram and TikTok.

Yesterday, Reuters ran a story with the headline “Weeks after Amazon’s Alexa+ AI launch, a mystery: where are the users?,” in which it detailed its difficulty locating first-hand accounts of the AI-upgraded assistants’ use online. The Verge asked Amazon about the story, and the company has responded to say that the idea that Alexa Plus isn’t available is “simply wrong.”Here’s the company’s full — and rather strongly-worded! — statement on the matter, provided by Amazon spokesperson Eric Sveum via email to The Verge:It’s simply wrong to say that Alexa+ isn’t available to customers—that assertion is false. Hundreds of thousands of customers have access to Alexa+ and we’re constantly inviting more customers that have requested Early Access.Sveum also shared the below screenshot of what the email invite should look like.Image: AmazonAlexa Plus is Amazon’s generative AI-updated version of Alexa, which it announced in February is free to Amazon Prime subscribers or $19.99 a month otherwise.While Reuters doesn’t say Alexa Plus isn’t available to customers yet, it does quote an analyst who said, “There seems to be no one who actually has it.”The outlet also reported that its efforts to find any real-world Alexa Plus users came up empty, writing that it had “searched dozens of news sites, YouTube, TikTok, X, BlueSky and Meta’s Instagram and Facebook, as well as Amazon’s Twitch and reviews of Echo voice-assistant devices on Amazon.com.” It added that it spoke with two people who’d posted on Reddit claiming to have used Alexa Plus, but that they “did not provide Reuters with hard evidence and their identities could not be corroborated.”Still, Engadget reported today that a wave of emails had gone out on Friday, inviting Amazon Alexa users to try out Alexa Plus. The outlet also reported that an Amazon spokesperson had told it “hundreds of thousands” of customers have tried the assistant.Amazon started rolling out its early access program to a few customers at the end of March. At the time, it was missing features like the ability to order takeout from Grubhub using conversational context, or identify family members and remind them about chores. A page on Amazon’s website notes that some features are still “coming soon,” like being able to access Alexa Plus in a web browser or on a Fire TV or Amazon tablet. The company has said it’s prioritizing those who own certain Echo Show devices above others.See More:

Sam Altman's OpenAI launches Codex, an AI tool to write codes and fix bugs for developers. Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS 2025-05-16T22:17:35Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? OpenAI launched Codex, an AI tool to write codes and fix bugs for developers. As an AI Agent, Codex could also help users with an Amazon order or a dinner reservation. Codex and GPT-4.5, which was launched in April, both come with a heftier price tag of $200 per month. OpenAI on Friday rolled out a powerful new tool for software developers, as the company pushes further into automating coding tasks with AI.The new product, called Codex, is an AI agent designed to help programmers write code, fix bugs, and run tests — often simultaneously."Technical teams at OpenAI have started using Codex as part of their daily toolkit," OpenAI said in a blogpost. "It is most often used by OpenAI engineers to offload repetitive, well-scoped tasks, like refactoring, renaming, and writing tests, that would otherwise break focus.""When uncertain or faced with test failures, the Codex agent explicitly communicates these issues, enabling users to make informed decisions about how to proceed," OpenAI added.Unlike traditional chatbots that respond to prompts and generate responses in mostly words, AI agents like Codex can interact with other software and online services, such as helping you with a DoorDash order or booking a dinner reservation.The Codex rollout came after OpenAI launched GPT-4.5 in February. A livestream demo highlighted its improved reasoning, intuition, and reduced hallucinations.CEO Sam Altman described it as "the first model that feels like talking to a thoughtful person," but also said that its intelligence and nuance comes at steep computational cost. Due to GPU shortages, GPT-4.5 was initially available only to $200-per-month ChatGPT Pro users.Codex is now available to subscribers of OpenAI's ChatGPT ProOpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comments. Recommended video

Looking back, there are a few mistakes I made while traveling internationally with my grandma. Emily Schlorf 2025-05-13T14:12:01Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? In summer 2024, I traveled with my grandma, mom, and sister to Montreal. I wish I'd thought more about my grandma's physical needs when planning the itinerary. It would've been nice to have more downtime in our schedule, too. Despite living 1,800 miles apart, my 81-year-old grandma and I have always been close. We share a love for "Downton Abbey," cross-stitch, and strong coffee, and I couldn't imagine spending weeks in the summer anywhere but her sunny kitchen table in central Minnesota.Of course, I'd be naive to assume my time with her is unlimited. That's one reason my grandma, mom, sister, and I decided to embark on a trip to Montreal together last summer.Although I'm grateful we were able to take this trip, it could have gone a lot smoother had I known these three things about traveling with an older relative. The itinerary should have reflected everyone's physical needs, not just my own I should've considered how long it would take my grandma to get to excursions like our afternoon tea. Emily Schlorf I'm the most frequent traveler in my family, so I took on all the planning myself and approached the task the same way I do for solo travel: leaving no stone unturned.I thought my grandma would be well-prepared for the long days, given that she walks 3 miles a day and eats a far more balanced diet than I do.What I failed to consider, though, was how difficult it would be for her to walk on the uneven cobblestone streets. On our first day in the city, we nearly missed an afternoon tea reservation since I didn't factor in the slower pace we'd have to take to accommodate my grandma's careful steps.I also didn't realize just how exhausting a full-day Three Pines tour would be. Although fantastic — with stops at a monastery, local museum, and five-star resort for lunch — our visit to the villages that inspired the fictional location of my grandma's favorite mystery series was nine hours long. My family and I went on a nine-hour tour of Three Pines. Emily Schlorf As the day progressed, we took turns snoozing in the back seat of our tour guide's van. Upon arriving back at the bed and breakfast, my grandma exclaimed how long of a day it was; and I didn't disagree.Similarly, I didn't consider my grandma's physical limitations when choosing restaurants. Although they weren't lacking in ambiance — picture patios swallowed in bougainvillea and cool, brutalist interiors overlooking Lake Saint Louis — the dim lighting and small font sizes made it challenging for her to read the menu.My mom, sister, and I mitigated my grandma's vision issues by taking turns reading the menu aloud, line by line, but that got old fast.In retrospect, I wish I'd shown up equipped with solutions, such as finding the menu online so she could zoom in on my phone or reminding her to bring her readers, to improve everyone's dining experience. A long trip means extended time away from routinesEveryone gets to a point on vacation when they're ready to return home, but I would argue that the feeling is stronger for older adults like my grandma, who travel once or twice a year and may be used to a strict daily routine.Although my grandma never expressed this feeling to me outright, I noticed as the days went on, she became less game for her granddaughters' plans.For example, on our last evening, my sister and I wanted to check out the shops lining Saint-Laurent Boulevard, but my grandma preferred to have takeout in the hotel.We compromised, and my sister and I walked to the boulevard to pick up dinner, but we ditched our shopping plan since we felt bad keeping my mom and grandma waiting.I wish we'd had more downtime together One of my favorite memories from the trip was when we spontaneously visited a speakeasy. Emily Schlorf Instead of jam-packing every day with new experiences, I wish I'd taken my foot off the gas as the trip progressed — for my grandma's sake as well as my own.As we reached days five and six of the trip, my excitement for the activities I planned dwindled, and I found myself wishing I hadn't planned them at all.Besides, the memories I cherish most from the trip weren't the museums or guided tours, they were the unplanned ones: a shared bottle of wine with our bed and breakfast hosts, a visit to an outdoor antique market, and a nightcap at a speakeasy.Despite the challenges, I'd love to travel with my grandma again I would love to go on another trip with my grandma. Emily Schlorf To anyone contemplating a multigenerational trip, I say do it, but be more considerate than I was. Take time to plan the trip together, think of everyone's needs, and be content with slowing down.Strolling through the city hand-in-hand with my grandma, I learned that it's OK to leave some stones unturned, because the real joy comes from who you're turning them with. Recommended video