Amazon's early Prime Day deals are here, with deals on school supplies, TVs, Blink security cameras, and more leading up to Prime Day on July 16. Yet another deal has arrived, this time on an Eero router, which can help your wifi reach every area in your home. Amazon has a single router that expands your wifi up to 1,500 square feet for $39.99 (originally $69.99) or a three-pack that expands it to 4,500 sq. ft. for $99.99 (originally $214.96).
Mesh wifi is great if you can justify the cost for the extra devices. It doesn't make your internet faster per se, it just expands your same router speed to different points in your house so the whole house (ideally) is covered. Mesh wifi uses nodes or points that you can physically put around your home where the signal is weak so your devices seamlessly connect to the one with the best connection as you move around the home. It's like copying and pasting your router to different places.
The Eero router expands your reach up to 1,500 square feet, and each router works as a router or "extender." One of the Eero devices must be connected to your router physically with an ethernet cable. The other two just need to be plugged in with their power cord and be within a certain distance of the main router.
If you're more of a Google person, the three-pack Google Nest Wifi Routers are also available for $155.23 (originally $349.99). They work the same way but extend your wifi up to 5,400 square feet and each point doubles as a Google smart speaker.
You can get this refurbished iPad 7th Gen with Beats Flex wireless headphones and accessories on sale for $199.97 right now (reg. $299.99) through July 21. The iPad has a 10.2-inch Retina display, 32GB of storage, 8MP rear and 1.2MP front cameras, up to ten hours of battery life, and updates to the latest iPadOS. It's in grade "A" condition, meaning it has only light wear, no scratches on its screen, and minimum 80% battery health. The Beats Flex headphones are open-box items—excess store inventory or customer returns—verified to be in new condition. They have dual-chamber acoustic sound and up to 12 hours of listening time on a single charge. It also includes an iPad case (color varies), screen protector, stylus (color varies), and a charging block and cable.
You can get this refurbished iPad 7th Gen bundle on sale for $199.97 right now (reg. $299.99) through July 21 at 11:59 p.m. PT, though prices can change at any time.
It wouldn’t be fair to say that I bought an air fryer simply to reheat french fries, but it would be disingenuous to claim that my desire to reheat french fries had nothing to do with the purchase. A few years ago—when we were young and the air was sweet—I wrote a blog claiming that waffling sad, cold fries was a first-rate way to reheat them.
Almost immediately, the comments started rolling in. “You fool, you absolute imbecile,” they said. “An air fryer is the only tool you should use to reheat french fries, and you are an idiot for suggesting otherwise.” (I am paraphrasing, but this was the feel of the comments, at least as I recall it.)
“Maybe I should get an air fryer,” I thought, before waiting another eight months to get one. (I finally got the Instant Pot Vortex Mini, because it is small and red and $50.)
The tiny, powerful convection oven—which does not technically fry anything—is quite handy. I’ve already got a whole list of stuff I plan to air fry, but I started with cold fries (and ate them for breakfast), because that’s what brought us to this point in the first place.
My friends, you (and everyone else who yelled at me) were not lying. When it comes to restoring limp, cardboard-like fries to their former crisp, golden glory, the air fryer kicks the waffle maker’s ass (though I maintain waffled leftover fries make excellent breakfast potatoes).
How to reheat cold fries in the air fryer
Beyond reheating completely cold fries, this is a great way to revive takeout fries that may have sat in a paper bag or plastic container for too long. Just five to 10 minutes in a 375-degree air fryer perks ‘em right back up. Timing will vary from air fryer to air fryer but, unlike the Instant Pot or a sous-vide circulator, it’s very easy to check on your air fried food mid-cook—just slide the little basket out. Try not to over-pack the air fryer; you want the hot air to be able to circulate around each fry. It took my air fryer a mere five minutes at 375℉ to restore cold, lifeless, fairly thick-cut breakfast fries to their former glory, which is dangerously quick, particularly in a household that is prone to over-ordering french fries.
While a little overlapping is fine, try not to crowd your fries.Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
What makes leftover fries so sad?
Leftover fries are sad and soggy due to moisture migration, and the air fryer takes care of that nonsense in short order. Once a fry starts to cool, the water inside the fluffy starch granules moves out towards the crust, rendering the insides of the fry grainy and the outsides mushy.
Why reheat fries with an air fryer?
An air fryer can’t rehydrate those starch granules, but it certainly revives a fry’s soggy outsides. The hot, circulating air drives off moisture and gets any dormant fry grease movin’ and groovin’, re-crisping the potato’s crust. And while the insides aren’t quite as tender and fluffy as they are when you first take them out of a deep fryer, they are pretty damn close. The ones I ate for breakfast this morning were almost indistinguishable from fresh fries, though it’s worth noting that they seemed to be a “fresh-cut, once cooked” kind of fry, so this may have only been their second (not third) heating.
Tips for reheating fries in the air fryer
Don't crowd the pan. Lay the french fries in a single layer and try to avoid a lot of overlapping. This will prevent any steam from getting trapped and allow your taters to crisp faster. If you have a lot of fries to reheat, it might be best to do it in batches.
Spritz 'em with oil. For a just-out-of-the-fryer crust, give your fries a light spritz with a neutral cooking oil. The fresh layer of fat conducts the heat from the air fryer that much more effectively.
Check on them mid-cook. Your air frying time will vary depending on the thickness of the french fry you're reheating (steak cut? shoestring? crinkle?), so it's important to check on your spuds once or twice. The convection air flow is so efficient, a few minutes too long and you'll go from crisp and fluffy to hard and dry.
Unlike the weather, the real estate market hasn't been as hot as usual this June, with the typical home selling for 0.3% below its asking price, according to new data from Redfin. While it's a welcome shift for homebuyers, those getting ready to put their home on the market now face a harder sell.
At the same time, you may have heard about homes in your area that sold for over the asking price, following a bidding war involving multiple parties, and wondered what they're doing right. As it turns out, there are several tactics sellers can use to improve their chances of having similar results. Here are a few realtor-approved methods for sparking a bidding war.
How to trigger a bidding war when selling your home
In theory, all you need for a bidding war is at least two people who fall in love with a home and have the money to offer more than the asking price. You could hope that you get lucky and it happens organically, but according to Dana Hall-Bradley, a realtor with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Fine Living in Celebration, Fla. and Joe Muck, a realtor at J Muck Realty, there are several ways you can make your home more appealing to buyers and increase your chances of getting multiple offers.
First, there are the tried-and-true methods: Pricing your home lower than the comps, hiring a successful realtor, making it available for private showings, hiring a professional photographer to take the listing photos, making cosmetic repairs to the interior, improving curb appeal, and making sure your home smells good during a showing or open house.
If you've done all of that and your freshly painted colonial still isn't bringing all the buyers to the yard, here are a few other tactics to try:
1. Set a deadline for offers
Instead of putting your home on the market and waiting for offers to roll in, this will help create a sense of urgency. "Offer deadlines are a good idea as long as you already have an offer your client/s like," Much says. "This can push those sitting on the fence to submit an offer and perhaps even include an escalation clause, which can move the current offer to do the same."
Once you receive more than two offers, have your realtor message the potential buyers saying something like: “We are in receipt of multiple offers. The seller has requested all buyers submit their highest and best offers no later than Tuesday at 7 p.m.” At that point, you can also add a line to the listing to that effect.
2. Respond to all offers
So, someone submitted a lowball offer for your home. Instead of getting annoyed and ignoring the message, use it as an opportunity to talk up your property and the interest it's generating. When you (politely) respond thanking them for their offer, you can also mention that you've received multiple higher offers. That way if they really are interested in your home and have the money to buy it, they'll know they have to step it up.
3. List the home around the holidays
Muck recommends this strategy for two reasons. First, there are fewer homes on the market at that time of year, so there won't be as much competition. Also, "you can display how your home 'feels' at a time of the year when that is top of mind for many buyers," he says.
4. Host an over-the-top open house
If you're having trouble getting people in the door for public and private showings, you may want to consider holding an open house that feels more like An Event.
"I would highly recommend an 'over-the-top' and themed open house or broker’s open house to spark interest to buyers," Hall-Bradley says. "[It] make[s] it a more fun and inviting space for local realtors/brokers to preview," and, in turn, make them excited to promote your home to potential buyers.
But you're going to have to get creative: Baking a few dozen cookies and putting some balloons on the mailbox isn't going to cut it. Here's what Hall-Bradley suggests:
Hold the event immediately after listing the property.
Create personalized invitations geared toward the theme.
Advertise a give-away of some sort. "In the past, I have had the local spa in our town donate spa gift certificates," she says. "The guest would leave their name or business cards, and we would have a drawing after the event."
Have a goodie bag for each guest—perhaps containing something local to your neighborhood.
Roll out a (literal) a red carpet for guests, specifically if it’s a higher-end home.
Have an open bar with themed cocktails.
Order snacks from a local chef.
Offer a photo booth where the potential buyer would need to put their phone number or email in order to get their photo sent to them.
For example, Muck once hosted an ice cream social open house during the summer—complete with an ice cream truck—that resulted in a bidding war. "[It] encouraged families to come to the open house and view the home, but also gave them a sense of what living in the house would be like for their family," he says. Muck has also threw a lakefront BBQ as an open house for a lakefront property, which also helped generate multiple offers and resulted in selling the home for more than the asking price.
"By transforming your open house into an unforgettable event, you create a buzz that attracts serious buyers and highlights the uniqueness of your property," Hall-Bradley says. "This approach can make potential buyers feel special and excited about their prospective new home."
A good productivity method can mean the difference between a disorganized, unfulfilling day and one during which you get a lot done and feel great about it. That tradeoff is why so many of these methods, techniques, and hacks exist.
That said, not every productivity method will work for every person. To find the one that works best for you, take a look through this guide to seven of my favorites. Try one that sounds like a strong match for how you think and work (or try to avoid work).
The “Action Method” of productivity
This method is one of my favorites for keeping on task when I’m juggling multiple projects. It calls on you to organize your tasks into three categories: Action steps, references, and back-burners. Once you’ve done that, you put it all into a spreadsheet with those three categories as the column headers. You slot tasks into each column alongside notes, supplemental material, and whatever else you need—and move them around as they change their designations, as what is a back-burner today might be an action step tomorrow. Organizing it all this way helps you keep on top of the most pressing needs.
Here’s a full explanation of how to employ the Action Method. (The “ABC” method is very similar, with “A” tasks being must-do and high-priority, “B” tasks being should-do activities, and “C” tasks being low-priority ones.)
The 3-3-3 productivity method
Using this technique, you aim to plan your day in threes: Spend your first three hours engaging in deep work on your most important project, then complete three other urgent tasks that require less time, and then do three “maintenance” tasks, like answering emails or scheduling other work. This method works because you do your deep, focused work up-front, which gets you in the zone and gives you a sense of accomplishment, which makes tackling the stuff afterward easier.
Similar to 3-3-3, the “Eat the Frog” method invites you to tackle work on your biggest, scariest, wartiest task first thing in the morning. Whatever time-intensive task that has kept you up at night is, that’s what you should do first. After that, everything else should be easy. Some proponents argue you should “eat the frog” as soon as you wake up, but this method can work on any schedule as long as you commit to jumping into the hard thing early, enthusiastically, and without hesitation, thus freeing up the rest of your day for other work and lowering your overall stress level.
Kanban is similar to the Action Method but requires you to label your tasks as to-do, doing, and done. It works best when managed in a spreadsheet or even on a big board with sticky notes, but you need the three columns so you can move whatever is completed into your “done” pile and anything that still needs doing into “to-do.” If you’re a visual person, this is going to be a game-changer, as it helps you easily see what needs to be done, and gives you some satisfaction when you see what you’ve already accomplished piling up under “done.”
Here’s a guide to implementing the Kanban productivity method.
The timeboxing productivity method
Another trick for the visually inclined and motivated, timeboxing requires you to schedule your entire day. Every activity, from answering emails, to working on a big project, to eating a snack, should go on your calendar. It’s much easier to use a digital calendar, like Google Calendar, for this, since so much of the average day is subject to change and it’s simpler to move things around there than in a physical planner, but try not to deviate from the schedule too much. The idea behind this method is that it allows you to plan to devote exactly as much time to each task as you need to complete it while still filling your entire day with activity.
This is an old standby that has withstood the test of time because it works so well: Work for 25 minutes on a task, take a short break of about five minutes, and work for 25 minutes again. Every time you complete four 25-minute cycles, take a longer break. This gets you into the groove of working hard in those 25-minute bursts, since you know a little reprieve is coming. The break recharges you and you get back at it, over and over again, until your job is complete. To maximize the benefits of Pomodoro, get a specialized timer so you don't have to set alarms on your phone and can work without glancing at it and all its distracting apps.
Here’s a guide to getting started with the Pomodoro method.
The Results Planning Method (RPM)
This technique comes from famed motivational speaker Tony Robbins, who outlined it in his Time of Your Life program and designed it to be motivational, fast, and efficient. Not only does does the acronym stand for Rapid Planning Method, but it can also serve as a guide to what your day should look like: Results-oriented, purpose-driven, and built around a "massive action plan."
Consistently—every morning or week—ask yourself these three questions:
What do I want?
What is my purpose?
What do I need to do/What is my massive action plan?
By doing this, you connect more to your mission and get more energized about getting to work right away on the answer to the third question, rather than spending a bunch of time deliberating about what you should or shouldn't be doing with your time.
You're probably familiar with two of the most common ways to earn travel rewards: take a flight to accrue miles, or open a credit card—ideally one with a generous welcome bonus—that gives you points for purchases. But if you aren't a frequent flyer, don't want to open a bunch of travel card accounts (or can't, thanks either to your own credit or rules aimed at reducing churning), or aren't able to spend a ton of extra cash, there are other ways to rack up points and miles for your next vacation.
Maximize your existing card benefits
If you already have a card that earns you points and miles, you can leverage several strategies to rewards more quickly than you would just by swiping your card for everyday purchases. One obvious approach is to spend smarter by buying certain items at merchants that qualify for category bonuses (such as cleaning supplies at the grocery store).
Collect referral bonuses
Some issuers offer referral bonuses (typically 5,000 to 15,000 points) if someone signs up for a new card using your unique link. If you have a spouse or partner to refer, they could earn a sign-up bonus while you get the referral bonus, maximizing the points you can redeem together. You can also add an authorized user, which can help a family member build credit while you earn extra miles.
Link to other loyalty programs
You can also link your credit cards to other loyalty programs to earn bonus airline miles on unrelated spending (such as on dining or other travel). For example, connecting your Lyft account can net you extra Delta SkyMiles, Alaska Mileage Plan, Hilton Honors points, or Bilt Rewards points.
Shop via online portals
To earn even more—anywhere from 2X to 5X points—on top of your standard credit card rewards accrual, try using a shopping portal to make purchases with participating retailers you would shop directly with anyway. Some airlines also have their own shopping portals that link with your membership number to earn miles that go into your loyalty account.
If you have a handful of loyalty programs you could earn points with, consider using a tool like Cashback Monitor or add the Chrome extensions for several shopping portals to compare where you get the most bang for your buck. Note that the bonuses may be even greater around big shopping holidays.
Sign up for dining rewards
Most major airlines and some hotel chains also have dining rewards programs, including Delta SkyMiles Dining, American Airlines AAdvantage Dining, Southwest Rapid Rewards Dining, and United MileagePlus Dining. All you have to do is connect your credit card and use it when you dine at or get takeout from participating restaurants. You may even be eligible to earn bonus miles in the first month after you sign up. It doesn't hurt to register and simply earn bonuses in the background, and you can register multiple cards even if they're not travel rewards cards specifically.
Complete opinion surveys
Filling out surveys doesn't have the greatest ROI in terms of time vs. points earned, but it is another way to add to your mileage account without spending any money. The following airlines will award you small bonuses for completing opinion surveys:
Both banks and airlines have been known to offer points and miles bonuses as incentives to sign up or retain customers, so don't just toss mailed offers or delete emails without reading them.
For example, American Express and Chase have awarded points to anyone who enrolls in (free) features like mobile wallets and pay over time. Similarly, opening a new checking or savings account can earn you travel rewards. Bask Bank offers 2.5 AAdvantage miles (instead of interest) for every dollar saved, with points awarded monthly. Citibank also occasionally runs promotions with AAdvantage miles and ThankYou points. (Be sure to research interest rates and fees before deciding to open new accounts.)
Book a rental car with an airline promo code
Major rental car companies, including Avis, Alamo, Budget, Hertz, and National, will award airline miles (and/or hotel points) if you book with a promotion code. You typically need to be a member of the rental company's loyalty program and enter your frequent flyer information when making your reservation. However, note that you may pay a surcharge to receive airline or hotel credits, so it may not be worthwhile depending on how many points you are earning.
How you store your cleaning supplies is important, not just for safety considerations, but also just in terms of keeping your home tidy. Not having a protocol in place when it comes to how you store your cleaning supplies will only lead to clutter—and that will defeat the purpose of cleaning.
But you also have to consider how easy it is to use the things you have stashed away. If it's too difficult to actually access and use your tools, you aren't as likely to do it. A cleaning cart that's been popular on TikTok... TK
The cleaning cart
When you're storing and organizing your things, one of the most important rules to keep in mind is that similar items should be categorized together. This usually means tossing all your Pine Sol, Windex, Clorox, and Mr. Clean under your sink, but that doesn't mean it's easy to get them all back out, let alone take them with you to other rooms that need cleaning. Try storing everything on a rolling cart instead, like this:
This slim, wheeled cart that's been popular on TikTok can fit into small spaces easily—but it's also mobile, which means you can take all your supplies with you around the house. My only additional recommendation would be to make sure you get a cart with a sturdy handle in case you have a lot of stairs in your home. The one in the video has two small handles on the sides, but one with a larger handle and slightly deeper shelves is perfect for tilting on an angle and dragging up the steps. Consider this one:
I also like that one because the wheels are lockable, so whether it's in storage or next to you while you clean, it won't roll all over the place.
Making the most of a cleaning cart
The cart is great on its own, but it can be improved with a few little tweaks, depending on the tools you use for cleaning most frequently.
A sponge holder ($9.99) affixed to the side of a shelf will keep your sponges from getting the cart and cleaning products wet, and it help your sponges dry after use.
These multipurpose hooks (six for $10.75) can hold brushes, spray bottles, rags, and other implements off the side of the cart for easy access and drying.
Some drawer organizers (25 pieces for $18.45) can also help you keep smaller pieces grouped together within the cart so nothing shifts around or gets lost.
As for what to put in the cart in terms of actual cleaning supplies, the short answer is "everything" and the longer answer is "it depends what you usually clean." In general, your cart should contain all of your cleaning essentials so, again, everything is located in one place. You could dedicate the top rack to kitchen cleaning supplies, the middle to the bathroom, and the bottom to everything else in general. If you have a ton of different cleaning supplies or a lot of rooms, you might even consider getting two carts and organizing them based on your different spaces.
If you need some cleaning products to stock up your cart once it arrives, you can't go wrong with these, which are my favorites:
Google Translate can come in handy when you're traveling or communicating with someone who speaks another language, and thanks to a new update, you can now connect with some 614 million more people. Google is adding 110 new languages to its Translate tool using its AI PaLM 2 large language model (LLM), which brings the total of supported languages to nearly 250. This follows the 24 languages added in 2022, including Indigenous languages of the Americas as well as those spoken across Africa and central Asia.
Many of the recently added languages are ones you've probably never heard of, as they're spoken only by small communities or have no native speakers.
Cantonese, which is spoken predominantly in southeastern China, Hong Kong, and Macau as well as communities across the world, may be one of the most recognizable additions with this update. According to Google, the overlap between Cantonese and Mandarin—which was already available—makes it difficult to train LLMs. Punjabi (Shahmukhi), the most spoken language in Pakistan, is also now available.
A quarter of the newly supported languages come from Africa, and include Afar—spoken in Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia—and Tamazight (Amazigh), a Berber language used across North Africa, as well as NKo, Fon, Kikongo, Luo, Ga, Swati, Venda, and Wolof.
You can also now use Google Translate to communicate in Manx, a Celtic language from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea. The last native speaker of Manx died in 1974, leading to its near-extinction, but thanks to revitalization efforts, there are now a few dozen first-language speakers, and a couple thousand who speak Manx as a second language.
The update also includes Portuguese (Portugal), Tongan, Tibetan, Tahitian, Venetian, Sicilian, Fijian, and Jamaican Patois.
The Google Translate app is available in the Apple App Store and the Google Play store. It can translate text you paste in, as well as text appearing in photos. It can also translate voice input as well as handwritten characters.
Today, about half of renters are “cost-burdened,” which is a fancy way of saying the rent is too damned high (more than a quarter of them spend more than half their income on housing). And older Americans—your Baby Boomers—aren’t selling their big, comfortable houses like they used to, which is driving up housing prices and exacerbating a housing shortage that began during the pandemic.
There’s also a “loneliness epidemic” as our increasingly isolated and online lifestyles leave many of us (of all ages) feeling depressed and alone on a regular basis. Put together, the struggle for connection and an affordable place to live can pose a formidable challenge for people on both ends of the age spectrum.
There’s an unexpected solution to both problems, however: Boommates.
What is a "boommate"?
The traditional progression for people used to involve starting a family and buying a house large enough to accommodate those kids, then selling the big, empty house when the kids were grown up. But Baby Boomers, who are hitting “peak 65” as the youngest members of that generation hit retirement age, have a lot of reasons not to sell those big houses. Many are paid off, and those that still carry mortgages have interest rates so low they seem almost mythical in the modern age. And about three-fourths of people over 50 want to “age in place” in the houses they’ve built their lives in.
What that means is that a lot of older Americans are rattling around large houses with several bedrooms and bathrooms, all by themselves. And these older homeowners have figured out that they can rent those bedrooms: Close to a million people over the age of 65 now have intergenerational housemates. There are even platforms that help people find housemates with a focus on intergenerational living, like HomeShare Online and Nesterly, which specifically offers discounted rent to people willing to take on some of the household chores for aging homeowners.
Why you should consider a "boommate"
There are a lot of potential benefits of intergenerational living with a boommate:
Economically, all those empty bedrooms represent income for the homeowner. The vast majority of people over the age of 65 don’t have enough money saved for retirement, and renting their empty bedrooms could net them as much as $14,000 annually to supplement their retirements.
For younger folks, there’s an opportunity for a lower rent. Renting a single room is cheaper than renting an entire home or apartment (and can save renters as much as $24,000 on rent annually). And many older homeowners are willing to negotiate a lower rent in exchange for helping out with chores and maintenance. Additionally, the overall cost of living can be reduced for both the homeowner and the tenant due to expenses being shared between the two.
Psychologically, bringing in roommates can help alleviate the loneliness and isolation experienced by many older people who have become “empty nesters,” with adult children living far away, while simultaneously experiencing the challenge of keeping and making friends after age 50; having younger adults around can fill that void. And loneliness isn’t just for the Olds: Nearly 80% of Generation Z and more than 70% of Millennials describe themselves as lonely, so they can benefit psychologically from a boommate situation as well.
A lower rent and less loneliness—if you’re struggling to find an affordable rent, a boommate might be the ideal solution, especially if you’re handling everything alone, without a support network.
Figuring out how to structure your days so they're as productive as possible is hard, not to mention sticking to such a routine going forward. This is where RPM can help. The Rapid Planning Method, or RPM, can help you streamline your daily planning process and get started working on your action steps sooner, making you more productive overall. And since RPM is fairly straightforward, you're more likely to stick with it.
What is the Rapid Planning Method (RPM)?
This technique comes from famed motivational speaker Tony Robbins, who outlined it in his Time of Your Life program. Robbins may have a slightly cheesy rep, but RPM has the goods: Not only does does the acronym stand for Rapid Planning Method, but it can also serve as a guide to what your day should look like: Results-oriented, purpose-driven, and featuring a massive action plan.
It starts with asking yourself three questions consistently—every morning, for instance, or every week:
What do I want?
What is my purpose?
What do I need to do/What is my massive action plan?
You can write down your answers or just keep them in mind, but they're intended to drive you forward into action that will be efficient and lead to accomplishing your ultimate goal. (For best results, I recommend writing the answers down in a planner, so you can stick your guiding principles somewhere you'll continually see them.)
How RPM makes you more productive
There are a whole lot of productivity methods out there—and the benefit of RPM is that it can be easily combined with many of them. For example, you can implement a 1-3-5 to-do list as part of your overall action plan. The defining feature of RPM is that it keeps your goals and desires front and center, giving you something to strive for. and organize your actions around. Just by keeping that central plan in mind, you can weed out what isn't important and highlight what you want to prioritize, all without a lot of time-wasting deliberation.
Like using SMART goals, using RPM infuses your daily tasks with a sense of purpose or a mission, helping you stay focused and engaged.
Every year, my stone fruit trees sprout a comforting number of cherries, plums, and peaches. But by the time I should be harvesting, 90% of it is gone. It’s as if I can hear the birds laughing at me. For every perfect strawberry, there are four that have gotten hit by pill bugs before they ripened. Our fruit is highly susceptible to local foraging wildlife, bugs, and even sunburn. Here are all the ways you can protect your fruit so it’s there for you when it’s time to harvest.
Gauze your plants
In order to get fruit, you need pollination. But once that pollination occurs, and you have unripened fruit on your trees or shrubs, you can cover it to protect it. If it’s an entire tree, you can shroud it with a veil, but for individual fruits, you can also use gauze bags specifically for this purpose. The gauze allows light through, but not bugs or birds. I prefer the bags because they’re less likely to trap pollinators or birds. I have started using the bags on my grapes because I found it made them far easier to harvest. You simply plucked the bags away, with the grapes already contained. You can protect your perfect figs or apples, too, using this method. So far, I’ve been highly pleased with the success rate and at the end of the season, I wash the bags.
Kaolin clay on your fruit trees
You can make a slurry of kaolin (a benign powder of refined clay) and spray your fruit trees with it. The clay coats the fruit in a harmless coating that deters pests by disguising the fruit. Smart bugs who can still find the fruit are going to become more occupied with grooming those clay particles off of themselves and will eventually give up and leave. The benefits don’t end there: The kaolin protects the fruit from sunburn, too. This method is more labor intensive, because you have to spray once a week to build up a suitable layer of clay. Since this method can deter the apple maggot, plum curculio, codling moth, European apple sawfly, cucumber beetle, oriental fruit moth, tufted apple bud moth, white apple leafhopper, and pear psylla, I’m going to try it for the first time next year on the apple and pear trees that bear too much fruit to sleeve in gauze.
Distract and deter for strawberries
When bugs aren’t trying to worm into strawberries from below, birds are trying to get to them from above. The birds are easily distracted by red rocks the size of strawberries, painted the same color red, spread around your berry patch. I’m amazed each year at how effective this low-effort method is. Deterring bugs, however, is a little harder. Pill bugs can be deterred by diatomaceous earth (a finely crushed plankton)—but although it’s organic, I try to avoid using it because it can harm beneficial insects in the soil, too. I’ve resorted to elevating the berries to eliminate the problem. Every spring, as soon as the berries start to produce runners, I add a hefty amount of straw to the berry bed, so the berries will sit on top of the straw once they ripen. I’ve also started to plant most of my berries in vertical planters, so they hang, rather than sit on the ground. These two methods have greatly increased my fruit yields.
Shade cloth to avoid sunburn
Sunburn has become a bigger problem in recent years due to heat domes and plants that are not prepared for that kind of prolonged direct sunlight and heat. The most effective way to protect plants is to create an overstory and understory, so your berries (the understory) are protected by trees overhead (overstory). If you can’t do this, it’s time to create some trellises or temporary structures from which to hang shade cloth. This UV-blocking fabric allows airflow but blocks out a percentage of the UV from the sun (it comes in varying degrees of UV blocking). It doesn’t harm the fruit in any way, so long as it’s not on the fruit, but hung above it, creating shade.
Plant sacrificial fruit
Though I have many blueberry bushes, I started with one large one, and I made an agreement with the birds. “You get the top; I get everything else." Now I have enough berry plants around the property that there’s plenty to share. Planting pollination stations with native berries will be a distraction for the local wildlife population.
Traps and beneficial insects
Each kind of fruit has natural predators, and they likely make traps for those insects. Check your nursery for them—they’re usually cardboard and sticky, and come with a specific pheromone. They can be hung in the area of your fruit and be changed out every so often. You can also consider beneficial insects, where you purchase the predators of the problem pest, introduce them to your garden and hope they want to stay.
Job hunting is a process full of so many lows that when you come across a position that matches your skillset and sounds interesting, it feels like a minor victory before you even apply. But that feeling usually doesn't last very long, after days and eventually weeks pass, and you haven't heard a peep from the company—not even a rejection.
Perhaps a friend tries to console you, saying that, in all likelihood, it was always going to be an internal hire, but they were required to post the job. And while that may have been the case, it's also possible that the opening—or even the role itself—never existed in the first place. Also known as "ghost" jobs, a recent survey from Resume Builder found that 40% of companies posted a fake job listing this year so far. Here's how to spot ads for nonexistent jobs, and why companies post them in the first place.
How to identify fake job postings
To be clear, when I say "ghost" job postings, I'm not talking about postings that are actually scams aimed at getting jobseekers to fork over money and/or their personal data. (But if you're looking for tips for spotting those, you can find them in previousLifehackerarticles.) Instead, I'm focusing on postings for nonexistent jobs with legitimate companies. Here's how to identify them.
1. Look for details
Sometimes companies post ads for jobs that don't exist in order to become more familiar with the talent that's out there, and identify potential candidates in the event that there will be actual roles to fill in the future. For this reason, ghost job listings are usually pretty vague, both as far as the specific qualifications they're looking for, and the responsibilities associated with the role. When in doubt, contact the company's HR department and ask for additional details about the position to help you determine whether you'd be a good fit.
2. Check the date
As a general rule, it's best to apply for the job within a week of it being posted. Of course, re-listing a job—so the post gets a new date—takes little effort, so a recent date isn't a guarantee that a role is real. However, if a position has been posted for more than a month or two, it's typically not a good sign.
According to a 2023 report, it takes an average of 44 days to fill an open role, so if you find one that's been advertised for that length of time or more, you may want to contact the hiring manager or HR department and ask if the job is still available. Another possibility is that at one point, the posting was for a real job, and—intentionally or not—it wasn't taken down after it was filled.
3. Look for duplicates
In an attempt to attract a broad pool of talent, some companies create two (or more) slightly different listings for one open position, career coach and former hiring manager Mandi Woodruff-Santos told CNBC earlier this year. To avoid wasting time applying for both—and having more realistic expectations about the opportunities with the company—check their full list of openings and look for potential duplicates.
Why companies post fake jobs
So, why are companies messing with job seekers in the first place? One reason, it turns out, is to boost morale among current employees by tricking them into thinking that new hires will be joining their team soon to help alleviate their workload. Along the same lines, according to the 649 hiring managers who participated in Resume Builder's recent survey, posting fake jobs also helps convince employees that they're replaceable and should be grateful for having a job at all. Other times, it's to stockpile resumes for potential future openings. Finally, it could be for optics: In other words, the company wants it to make it look like it's growing and thriving, and someone decided posting fake jobs was the best way to do that.
Looking for a fast-moving car chase? Aerial acrobatics? How about a bit of fisticuffs? Or a tiger eating a dude? Look no further: Netflix has what you need.
The best action movies streaming on Netflix right now run the gamut: You can catch a high-minded thriller that uses action to underline plot, character, and message; or a hyper-stylish beat-em-up with cinematography and choreography that make art of violence; or you can just watch a lot of stuff blow up real good. No judgments! The only criteria is that the movie provides a fair share of fast-paced action thrills.
Damsel (2024)
Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things, Enola Holmes) is virtually the face of Netflix at this point. In her latest movie, she plays the title's damsel, Elodie, who agrees to marry a handsome prince, as young damsels did back in medieval times. Only she discovers that it's a trap, and she's actually meant to serve as a sacrifice to satisfy an ancient magical debt to a dragon. Luckily, our distressed damsel is far more resourceful than her would-be in-laws might have guessed. Angela Bassett, Robin Wright, and Shohreh Aghdashloo round out the cast of this fun action fantasy.
The Woman King (2022)
Though the movie has deeper ambitions, and succeeds on multiple levels, the fun here is in watching surprisingly swole Viola Davis lead a team of all-but-unstoppable African women warriors as they fight back against colonialist invaders. Set in West Africa in 1823, and based on the real-life the Agojie (also known as the Dahomey Amazons). Davis is General Nanisca, leader of the country’s army, forced to navigate complicated regional politics even though her skills, and the movie’s most exhilarating scenes, involve kicking slave-trader ass.
RRR (2022)
A fast-paced action movie should almost certainly not be as long as RRR, but there is not one single dull moment in this nearly three-hour Bollywood film. Likewise, a historical drama that touches on the national trauma brought on by the British Raj and depicting two real-life revolutionaries who died as martyrs to the cause of independence shouldn’t be this much pure fun, but somehow the context only makes it more satisfying. Find me a more thrilling moment in the movies than the bit where a truck full of wild animals is forcefully unleashed upon a sedate gathering at a British politician’s compound, or when a meet-cute between the two main characters involves wild acrobatics over and around a bridge. If American action epics insist on being this long, they could learn a thing or two or three from RRR’s refusal to ever sag.
Kill Boksoon (2023)
Gil Bok-Soon (Jeon Do-yeon) is just a working single mom struggling to relate to her teenage daughter. Or, at least, that’s how it looks. It turns out that the company she works for, M. K. Ent., is in the assassination business, and Bok-Soon is their top-rated killer—she’s also in a slightly awkward relationship with one of her co-workers. It’s not a comedy, but the movie has fun playing up its parallels between a typical corporate job and Bok-Soon’s gig, while also offering up some impressively well-defined characters. What’s at least as important as all of that, though, is the plethora of spellbinding action sequences and brilliant fight choreo.
Starship Troopers (1997)
Director Paul Verhoeven pulled off a rather brazen bit of literary criticism by adapting the Robert Heinlein military sci-fi novel without changing much, while bringing the book's fascistic undertones to the fore. It's a brightly colored satire, but it also works as an absolutely over-the-top action movie (so much so that many contemporary critics and audiences didn't get the joke) involving Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) and the rest of his squad at war with "Bugs," insect-like aliens that appear to represent an existential threat to humanity. Filled with the same subversive touches as the director's earlier RoboCop (including fake news broadcasts and propaganda), it's a hoot on many levels. Do you want to know more?
Conan the Barbarian (1982)
The '80s fantasy movie wave saw a string of movies about sweaty, shirtless guys in loincloths battling dragons and demons, and the greatest of these was, of course, Conan the Barbarian, a brilliant vehicle for a young Arnold Schwarzenegger to show off those famous biceps. Here, Conan begins a lifelong quest of vengeance against the evil sorcerer Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones), beset by giant snakes, cannibal orgies, and the Wheel of Pain. It's all very silly while taking itself very seriously, which is just the right approach for adapting the pulpy novels of Robert E. Howard, and kind of the sweet spot for action movies of the era.
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
On a relatively small budget, Beverly Hills Cop became an instant blockbuster, turned Eddie Murphy into an international superstar, and even earned an Oscar nomination for its screenplay. This was the golden age of the buddy comedy, and few succeeded on the same level. Murphy plays Axel Foley, a Detroit cop moonlighting in sunny California to solve an old friend's murder. He reluctantly teams up with Judge Reinhold's bumbling Detective Billy Rosewood, and action-packed antics ensue. It's success led to a trilogy and a 2024 legacy sequel, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. And that soundtrack!
Godzilla Minus One (2023)
Even given the success of Hollywood's recent stabs at the franchise, the best Godzilla movies still come from Japan, a fact made crystal clear by this emotional roller-coaster, set in the aftermath of World War II. With clear-cut and inventive action set against a story involving human characters who we genuinely care about, this isn't just the best recent kaiju movie...it may be the best ever.
The Matrix (1999)
The Wachowskis redefined the action movie for a generation with this stylish and cerebral bit of sci-fi that blends philosophy with Hong Kong-style martial arts action in an expertly cool package. Subsequent movies (even its own sequels) chased the highs produced here for years without ever quite managing to top them.
Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
Burt Reynolds has a long way to go and a short time to get there. He's Bo "The Bandit" Darville, running point for an illegal shipment of bootleg beer (400 cases of Coors, to be precise) from Texas to Atlanta, using his cool car to draw attention from Jackie Gleason's Sheriff Buford T. Justice. He's joined along the way by Sally Field's Carrie, a runaway bride who makes a surprisingly helpful companion. The practical car action makes it a slightly more believable alternative to the Fast and the Furious films.
The Guns of Navarone (1961)
With plenty of action and hints of melodrama, this World War II-set adventure finds Gregory Peck, David Niven, and Anthony Quinn leading a commando unit tasked with taking out a couple of giant guns on the titular island in order to clear a path to rescue 2,000 marooned soldiers. Dogged by Nazis, the team faces the Germans on sea and land, with guns, fists, and their wits. It doesn't have much more on its mind that Nazi-punching action, and that's not a bad thing.
The Equalizer (2014)
2014's TheEqualizer was the first of two ongoing, largely unrelated, takes on the original 1980s TV series—a new CBS show starring Queen Latifah premiered in 2021. Given the success-to-failure ratio of reboots, finding success with two of them is no small feat, and it doesn't hurt the film version reunites Denzel Washington with Training Day director Antoine Fuqua. The setup is straightforward—former marine and intelligence officer Robert McCall is drawn out of retirement when a young woman he meets at a diner turns out to be connected to a world of sex trafficking and Russian oligarchs—but the plot is really secondary. This one's all about watching Denzel getting violent, action-packed revenge.
The Old Guard (2020)
Greg Rucka wrote the screenplay for this adaptation of his graphic novel about a mercenary special ops team made up of impressively long-lived humans with unexplained regenerative powers. Charlize Theron leads the cynical group of warriors in a movie that effectively blends superhero tropes with military action. The lack of superpowers that don't have to do with healing helps differentiate it from Marvel and DC flicks, foregrounding skillfully choreographed fight sequences that don't feel like complete fantasy.
Kill Bill: Volumes 1 and 2 (2003/2004)
Quentin Tarantino's two-part martial arts spectacular pays brilliant homage to the classics of the genre, with Uma Thurman as a nameless (at least initially) vengeful bride out to kill everyone who destroyed her happiness (specifically: her one-time fellow assassins, played by Lucy Liu, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, Vivica A. Fox, and David Carradine). With brutal, beautiful fighting and colorful, over-the-top set-pieces, it's a heightened and bloody experience with real emotional resonance.
Mortal Kombat (2021)
This reboot doesn't quite reach the gloriously cheesy heights of the 1995 version, but at least retains a charming B-movie feel, despite the larger budget. Blending fighting action with CGI goofery, this story of a mystical martial arts tournament that will determine the fate of Earth doesn't take itself any more seriously than is strictly necessary, making for an enjoyable live-action video game. (Never mind that it doesn't actually get to the tournament itself—I guess they were saving that for the sequel.)
The Harder They Fall (2021)
The modern western takes on the story of real-life Black American cowboy Nat Love (played by Jonathan Majors), and he’s joined by several other characters out of actual American history, played by the likes of Idris Elba, Zazie Beetz, Regina King, and Delroy Lindo. It’s not a history lesson, but western movies have never been particularly troubled by the idea of heightening the true stories of the old American west into something like mythology. Here, young Nat Love’s parents are killed by Elba’s outlaw Rufus Buck, sending Love on a lifelong quest for revenge. This leads to a series of brilliantly exciting shoot-outs, stunts, and chases that pay tribute to the classic movies of the western genre, while also nodding to modern fight choreography and staging.
The Night Comes for Us (2018)
A sort-of successor to The Raid series (including many of the same actors), this movie from Indonesian writer/director Timo Tjahjanto (May the Devil Take You, a great horror movie also on Netflix) tells the story of a Triad member forced to fight his way out of the organization. The movie is on the bloodier end of its genre; the action is brilliant and stylized, but there’s quite a bit more realism in terms of blood and gore. The concluding fight scene is an all-time great one, if you’ve got the stomach for it.
Kate (2021)
Though it’s lead by a French director and an American actor (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Kate stands apart in its anime-inspired, neon-lit, new-Tokyo aesthetic. There’s nothing new here, plot-wise, but that’s beside the point. Assigned to kill a yakuza assassin by her handler (Woody Harrelson), the titular assassin discovers that she’s been poisoned and has only 24 hours to live (i.e., 24 hours to get violent revenge). Imagine if the 1940s film noir classic D.O.A. were a martial arts action movie.
Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)
An appearance by Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh doesn’t necessarily guarantee guarantee “action” (the Everything Everywhere All at Once and Crazy Rich Asians star can do it all)—but an appearance from Yeoh is guaranteed to be the icing on any action-movie cake. A modern take on classic gun-fu, this one further gilds that lily by adding in Lena Headey, Karen Gillan, Carla Gugino, and Angela Bassett(!) The cast aside, the film deals with two rival groups of assassins battling it out over the fate of a kidnapped child.
Baahubali (2015)
The two Baahubali movies might not have quite the rousing political appeal of RRR (they’re all from the same director, S.S. Rajamouli)—honestly, it’s hard to beat the thrill of watching snotty colonials being eaten by tigers—but, if anything, these movies are even bigger, grander, and more operatic in their interests. Roughly inspired by the ancient Indian stories of the Mahabharata and featuring endless sweaty shirtless men (and not a few women, although more often clothed) fighting people and animals, the first film includes a 45-minute battle sequence that’s topped by the sequel. There’s just enough plot and romance to propel the action, but they’re the kinds of movies that know exactly what we’re here for, and they’re not afraid to give it to you. Baahubali: The Beginning and Baahubali: The Conclusion are both on Netflix, in English-dubbed and subtitled versions.
Enola Holmes (2020)
Her brother Sherlock wasn’t above a bit of fisticuffs now and then, but it was his sister, Enola (Millie Bobbie Brown), we learn here, who really got to mix it up—with some help and training from their mother, Eudoria (Helena Bonham Carter). Enola uses that combat training throughout the movie in fights involving fists, guns, knives, explosives, and a moving train or two as Enola searches for her missing mum while staying a step or two ahead of big bro (Henry Cavill). The sequel is just as fun.
Outlaw King (2018)
Chris Pine plays Robert the Bruce in this film that, unsurprisingly, takes plenty of liberties with the Scottish Wars of Independence of the 14th century. No matter. The film sees underdog Robert lead a guerrilla campaign against the future Edward II of England in a number of exceptionally (though believably) bloody Medieval battles. Spears and swords clash in a number of extended and expensive-looking sequences, making it look like a real-life (well, kinda) Game of Thrones.
Beckett (2021)
The film aspires to the paranoid, conspiracy-style of movies like The Parallax View, The Bourne Identity, or Enemy of the State, but the plot here is a little too thin to work on that level. Where Beckett excels, though, is in presenting a straightforward man-on-the-run action thriller. John David Washington stars as the title character, who finds himself getting chased through Greece, for reasons unclear to him, following an auto accident. Washington is fun to watch as he runs and gets shot at; the scenery is striking; and the movie does a good job of making Greece feel incredibly sinister, especially for a lead character who doesn’t know the language.
Da 5 Bloods (2020)
It feels strange to include Spike Lee’s thoughtful Vietnam War story—one that grapples with the experiences of Black American soldiers during that conflict as few (if any) movies have before. Nevertheless, part of the reason that it works as well as it does is that Lee’s film does all of that while also offering up plenty of impressively shot and choreographed action sequences. With a cast led by Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, and Clarke Peters, the movie finds four aging Vietnam vets returning to that country to recover the remains of their fallen squad leader—and also to dig up the gold bars they left behind. Set in two time frames, it plays as a war movie in the past and, often, a thriller in the characters’ present, as they’re hunted by mercenaries while they hunt their lost treasure.
The indoor grill is the center of debate—is it really a grill? To me, it’s a bit like asking if an air fryer actually fries anything. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is if you like what it’s doing. If the answer is “yes,” then who cares what the haters say. You’re grilling for you. Aside from being today’s motivational food speaker, I’ll mention a few other pros to indoor grilling that might even bring the outdoor grill stans to the yard. Well, kitchen.
Indoor grills are electric appliances that have the grill rack set over a heating element underneath. They’re simple to use, with the convenience of an on-off switch and easy to operate temperature control dials. Many brands have a cooking surface similar to a Foreman grill where the plate is one solid piece of metal with raised bars. This allows the fat to drip down away from the food like on any other grill rack, but is also legitimately easy to clean.
Why indoor grills are helpful
No-worry heat source: Instead of controlling charcoal briquettes or wondering if anyone cleaned the grease pan of your gas grill, your indoor grill doesn’t involve any live flames to cause plumes of smoke or flare-ups. Simply plug it in like any electric appliance and enjoy the dial-controlled temperature.
Great for apartments and small spaces. Most indoor grills range in size but many of them have a cooking surface about the size of a large laptop and are relatively easy to store, especially when compared to other major cooking appliances like a toaster oven or an air fryer. Obviously you don’t need an outdoor space to use it either; it’s safe to use in your studio apartment.
Year-round use. “Grilling season” can be fully extended to be 12 months a year. Since it’s all done indoors, you don’t have to wait until the weather warms up.
Temperature control. This point is worth repeating simply because controlling the heat on a charcoal grill and the hot spots on a gas grill can be challenging for beginners. On an electric appliance, you can easily change the temperature from high heat for your steak, to low heat for your corn.
For kebabs and skewers, try the Zojirushi
The Zojirushi Indoor Grill has a hybrid grill top design where sections are completely punched through bars and areas that are simply raised. The top temperature is listed as 410°F and the grill top is removable for easy clean-up. The Zojirushi’s grilling surface does not have a raised lip or lid that cuts off the edges, so this model is great if you envision yourself cooking large or long foods, like kebabs and skewered foods, corn on the cob, or breads that might puff up and a lid or edges could interfere with the rise.
For an indoor grill on a budget, check out the Chefman
The Chefman Smokeless Indoor Grill has surprisingly high reviews for an appliance that clocks in at just under $50. This grill sets you up with a 15- by 10-inch non-stick surface, a notably longer cooking surface than many others, and the parts are dishwasher safe.
For high temperature searing, there’s the Ninja Sizzle
Aside from having a pretty rad name, the Ninja Sizzle is a versatile indoor grill. It has a reversible grill plate, one side with raised grill bars and divots for the fat to run down into, and another side that’s flat like a griddle. For those who want that outdoor grill level of searing, the Sizzle is one of the few that shows the actual degrees (instead of low, medium, or high) and can be cranked up to 500°F.
Regardless of how you choose, the indoor grill is a great option if you’re limited on space, worry about sparks and flare-ups, or you just enjoy getting your grill on indoors during the off-season.
When you make playlists in Apple Music, the service lets you use a custom cover. You can either choose a photo from your library or pick one of the covers it generates. I tend to pick the latter, but over the past few months, I've become bored with Apple's playlist cover options—choosing from the same six templates gets boring after a certain point. That's when I discovered Denim, an app that lets you make custom Apple Music playlist covers.
Denim's been around for a couple years, and it recently got a big update that added a many more cover art options. Its developer also made Hezel, which lets you back up all of your Apple Music playlists.
How to use Denim to make custom Apple Music playlist covers
When you open Denim, the app will ask for access to your Apple Music data. This is required for the app to see your playlists and help you generate cover art for them. Once you grant this permission, the app shows you all your playlists in helpful sections. One of these highlights all the playlists that have one of Apple's default covers and the other shows you the ones with a custom cover.
This makes it easy to find the playlists with stale cover art. It's also good that the app only shows custom playlists you've created. That saved me a lot of trouble because I have around 200 playlists on my Apple Music account, including around 50 that I've created. To get started with creating a cover, tap any of your playlists and Denim will generate a whole bunch of covers. There is a good variety of basic covers with a solid background color, and some with gradients and textures in the background.
Credit: Pranay Parab
I like the Denim covers that prominently display an artist from your playlist. Another personal favorite is the emoji cover, which looks at the region and genre of music, and picks emoji for the cover based on those factors. You may see the flag of the country that songs are from and some instruments commonly used in the songs. But the real fun begins when you tap the Browse More Covers button. This lets you see covers that are based on moods, scenes, genres, activities, seasons, and much more.
Denim is a free download and it has a $5 in-app purchase that unlocks editing options to let you personalize the covers to your liking, including changing the font, the background, and the text on the cover.
Apple's Calendar and Reminders apps are so closely related, it's baffling that the company never tried to bridge the gap. On any given day, you might have your meetings and events scheduled in the Calendar app, while the actual tasks you need to get done for those events live in the Reminders app.
But after upgrading to iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia updates (which you can currently try out in Developer beta), you won't need to jump between two apps anymore—your reminders will automatically show up in the Calendar app. Here's how it works.
How to see your reminders in the Calendar app
Apple's implementation of this feature is quite simple. Any reminder or event that you create in the Reminders app that has a due date and time will automatically show up in the Calendar app. You don't have to do anything else, and the feature is even enabled by default, provided you're running iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia. This works for all your reminders—the Calendar app will even show the relevant color of your list in the checkbox icon.
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
The integration is well done: The reminder shows up with a checkbox, so you can mak it complete from the Calendar app itself! You can see your reminders in the day view, and even the new Month view, if you use the new pinch-to-zoom feature to zoom into a particular week.
Once a reminder shows up in Calendar, you can move it around to change the time (just like you can with an event), and the change will be instantly reflected in the Reminders app.
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
Conversely, you can also create a reminder from inside the Calendar app, thought the interface is a bit clunky. Click the Plus button from the top, and switch to the Reminder tab to create a reminder instead of an event. Here, you can give it a name, set a date and time, and add it to your overall Reminders list.
Third-party tools are still an option
There are already a couple of interesting third-party options that can help integrate reminders with the Calendar app, but they can't integrate a checkbox for reminders in the Calendar app, like Apple can. However, they do offer customization options.
The ReminderCal app serves as a way to automatically share reminders to the Calendar, but the reminders show up as events, not tasks. Still, the app gives you more control over which reminders show up in Calendar (something Apple doesn't offer yet). On the other hand, being a third-party app, it suffers from sync and connectivity issues that aren't an issue for Apple's feature.
Another thoroughly different option is to use a day planner app like Structured that can combine both tasks and the calendar events into one app, helping you check off events and related tasks in a single pane. This is something that Apple still doesn't do, as despite finally working together in iOS 18, the Reminders and Calendar apps remain separate apps. If you want to create and control reminders and subtasks right from the Calendar app, the Structured app is still your best bet.
Back in 2017, Apple introduced a new default photo format for the iPhone, HEIC. Nothing against this highly efficient format (it literally stands for High Efficiency Image Container)—it powers Live Photos and Apple’s excellent image post-processing, and it still manages to take up less space than JPG—but it can be a headache at times.
While HEIC works fine if you’re sharing a photo among other Apple devices, but you'll often run into a problem when you need to upload a photo to an online form or open it on Windows: It’s often not compatible, and won’t open.
There are a couple of ways to handle this. You can use a workaround to convert HEIC images to JPG (or JPEG) on your iPhone, or you can adjust your settings and switch back to shooting photos in JPG. If the photo is already on your Mac or Windows PC, you have some options there as well, including opening the photo natively on your PC.
Here are your options.
Change your iPhone's default photo format
If you don’t like the HEIC format, the first thing you should do is switch the default format for the Camera app to JPG. Go to Settings > Photos > Formats and switch to the “Most Compatible” option. Now, any new photos that you take will be saved in JPG, making it much easier to share everywhere.
There’s also a special mode in Settings that automatically converts the photos to JPG when sharing to Windows or Mac, but keeps them as HEIC on iPhone (helping save some storage space). To enable this feature, go to Settings > Photos > Transfer to Mac or PC and choose the “Automatic” option.
Use the Finder feature in Mac to convert HEIC to JPG
If you’re using a Mac running macOS Monterey or higher, there’s a quick image conversion tool built into the Finder app that supports multiple images at once. Select the HEIC photos, right-click, and go to Quick Actions > Convert Image. Here, choose the “JPEG” format, and click the “Convert to JPEG” option.
On an older Mac, you can use the Preview app. Open the image in the Preview app, and go to File > Export. In the File drop-down, choose the “JPG” option, hit the “Save” button, and Preview will save the JPG version of the image in your chosen destination.
Quickly convert an HEIC image to JPG on your phone using the Files app
A quick way to convert HEIC photos to JPG right on your iPhone is to use the Files app. All it takes is a simple copy and paste: Open the Photos app on your iPhone and select the photos that you want to convert. Then, tap the Share icon, and choose the “Copy Photos” option.
Go to the Files app, choose the On My iPhone location, then create a new folder. Tap and hold on an empty space, then tap the “Paste” button. The HEIC photos will now show up in JPG, and you can share them in any app you want. If you want to put them back in the Photos app as JPG files, tap the Share button, and choose “Save Image.”
It’s best to reserve this method for only a couple of photos at a time, as it gets exhausting for a large batch.
Use the Documents app to share JPGs without converting
You’ll find a plethora of HEIC to JPG convertor apps on the App Store, but they might haggle you for a subscription, and it might not be safe to hand over your entire photo library to a random app.
If you want to use an app to do this, we would suggest you use the Documents by Readdle app, which comes from a trusted company. It has a built-in Photo library itself, and converts HEIC images to JPG by default, so you don’t even need to wait to manually convert and duplicate the images. Open the app, go to “Photo Albums”, choose an image, tap the Share button, and send it along using AirDrop, email, or via chat message, with confidence the image is now in JPG.
Open HEIC images in the Photos app on Windows
Windows does let you open HEIC images in Photos, but only if you’re set up for it. You’ll need to download both HEIF Image Extensions (free) and HEVC Video Extensions ($0.99) from the Microsoft Store—but once you do, you’ll be able to open HEIC files in your Photos app, as well as convert them to JPG.
With these extensions installed, open a photo on your PC, choosing “Photos” as the app to open it in.
Convert HEIC to JPG on Windows using CopyTrans
You can also use the popular CopyTrans for Windows app to convert HEIC to JPGs on a Windows computer. This app is free for personal use, and it has a direct integration in the File Explorer. All you have to do is select the HEIC file, right-click, and choose the “Convert to JPEG with CopyTrans” option to automatically create the JPG version of the same image, in the same folder.
Use online websites to convert HEIC photos
Want to quickly convert a couple of HEIC photos, and don’t want to bother with apps? Use a free image converter website like Cloud Convert. Just drag in HEIC photos, hit the “Convert” button, and download the resulting JPG files.
Like most other streaming services, Prime Video's slate of new content in July is pretty slim. There are two original films coming to the platform, starting with Space Cadet (July 4), a Legally Blonde-style comedy starring Emma Roberts as an aspiring astronaut trying to survive NASA's training program. My Spy: The Eternal City (July 18) is a sequel to the 2020 movie starring Dave Bautista as a CIA agent and Chloe Coleman as his stepdaughter, both of whom get wrapped up in a terrorist plot while on a school field trip to Italy.
On the TV side, there's the Seth Rogen adult animated series Sausage Party: Foodtopia (July 11), which is based on the 2016 film and features the voices of Kristen Wiig, Michael Cera, David Krumholtz, and Edward Norton.
Here’s everything else coming to Prime Video and Amazon-owned, ad-supported Freevee in July.
What’s coming to Prime Video in July 2024
Arriving July 1
A Fistful of Dollars (1967)
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982)
A Separation (2011)
Absence of Malice (1981)
American Outlaws (2001)
Amistad (1997)
Animal House (1978)
Bananas (1971)
Billy Madison (1995)
Blue Chips (1994)
Blue Crush (2002)
Blue Crush 2 (2011)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Bottle Rocket (1996)
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Charlie Bartlett (2008)
Chato's Land (1972)
Code Of Silence (1985)
Colors (1988)
Dances with Wolves (1990)
Death Rides A Horse (1969)
Death Warrant (1990)
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Easy Rider (1969)
El Dorado (1967)
Event Horizon (1997)
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
For a Few Dollars More (1967)
From Here To Eternity (1953)
Gladiator (2000)
Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967)
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
Hang 'em High (1968)
Hannibal (2001)
Hard Target (1993)
Harsh Times (2006)
Jagged Edge (1985)
Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
Love & Mercy (2015)
Masquerade (1988)
Mermaids (1990)
Mr. Majestyk (1974)
Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939)
Mrs. Winterbourne (1996)
My Left Foot (1990)
No Country for Old Men (2007)
Non-Stop (2014)
Original Sin (2001)
Picture This (2008)
Pompeii (2014)
Postcards From The Edge (1990)
Private Parts (1997)
Rocky (1976)
Rocky II (1979)
Rocky III (1982)
Rocky IV (1985)
Rocky V (1990)
Sahara (2005)
Savages (2012)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Scorpion King 4: Quest For Power (2015)
Scorpion King: Book of Souls (2018)
Seventh Son (2015)
Shane (1953)
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Spy Game (2001)
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Star Trek VII: Generations (1994)
Star Trek VIII: First Contact (1996)
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
Star Trek X: Nemesis (2002)
Stephen King's Thinner (1996)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Amazon has a bit of a hold on the e-reader industry. Like Kleenex did with tissues before it, Kindle has become so synonymous with e-readers that it’s easy to forget there are other brands out there. That’s a bit of a shame, because it’s only with companies like Rakuten that you’ll find more experimental features like color e-ink.
Rakuten’s latest e-readers, the Kobo Libra Colour and the Kobo Clara Colour, aren’t the first color e-readers to hit the market. But since Rakuten is the Pepsi to Amazon’s Coca-Cola, they offer a familiar, Kindle-like form factor and an extensive e-book ecosystem. They’re a prime example of the kind of innovation a second place manufacturer needs to make to stick out, but their niche use cases and multiple drawbacks show why Amazon has yet to follow suit.
There’s more to the Kobo Libra and Clara Colour than their color screens, but the screens are certainly the standout difference here, especially because Kobo is the biggest e-reader company to use a color screen thus far. For most devices, buying the color version has always seemed like a no-brainer. A color TV can display more lifelike imagery, and a color Game Boy can give the player clearer visuals. For e-readers, upgrading to color isn’t so clear cut.
That’s because books are, for the most part, black-and-white anyway. Dune will read the same on paper as it does on Kindle as it does on a computer monitor, barring each medium’s individual quirks. You’re not losing out on information by going for black-and-white, except maybe on the cover. That’s why Rakuten’s been focusing on two use cases in its marketing for the Kobo Libra and Clara Colour: comics and notetaking.
The first is pretty cut and dry. Most western comics publish in color, so reading them on a black-and-white e-reader just isn’t comparable to reading them on a tablet or on the page. It won’t make much of a difference for manga readers, since those stories usually publish in black-and-white anyway, but color e-ink finally makes e-readers viable for fans of Marvel and DC. It should also help with more traditional books that have color elements, like textbooks, children’s books, or cookbooks.
The second is notes. The Kobo Libra Colour also functions as an e-note, meaning it has a notebook feature for use with a compatible stylus. Color e-ink allows note takers to jot down doodles and handwriting in multiple colors, or for highlighters to mark up e-books with proper color coding. (The Clara Colour does not work with a stylus, but still has color highlighting.)
Overall, color is the type of feature that won’t be necessary for many users, acting more as a bonus than a must-have. Still, if you can afford it, why not spring for the option to use it when needed, right? Well, the downside is that the inclusion of color e-ink here causes standard black-and-white content to look worse.
How does color e-ink work, and what are its problems?
Rakuten’s color e-readers use a 7-inch E Ink Kaleido 3 display, which means they work much like a traditional black-and-white e-reader, but have an additional layer in their screen that produces color by filtering content through a red, green, and blue mosaic that is too small for the human eye to resolve. By controlling which pixels shine through where, the e-reader can produce up to 4,096 colors and up to 16 levels of grayscale. More traditional tablet screens can show billions of colors, so you’ll definitely sacrifice some vividness, but the result will look more like a printed page than an iPad or computer screen.
Unfortunately, the color filter’s presence raises a number of issues for black-and-white content, especially when it comes to having a paper-like display. Chief among these are contrast and the rainbow effect.
While most modern e-readers come with a front light, to get a truly book-like experience, you’ll want to keep the light off and read with a lamp. With a black-and-white e-reader, this isn’t much of an issue, but color e-readers suffer from a lack of contrast, especially with their light off. This means text can tend to blend into the background, even if you point a lamp right at the screen.
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt
That’s because a color filter generally darkens the display even when it’s not being used, as your content still needs to pass through it. The background will just never be a perfect “paperwhite,” as Amazon likes to say, even with the front light on. Turning on the front light will help considerably, though, and is recommended for comfortable reading (as for why it helps when a lamp doesn’t, proximity to the screen and evenness of coverage certainly play a role).
Whether that’s an issue to you depends on what you want out of these devices. For some, needing to use the front light is an immediate red flag, going against the whole premise of a digital book. For others, the content being displayed with physical pigment rather than LEDs is enough.
Regardless, there’s no escaping the rainbow effect. While the color mosaic is too small for your eye to make out the individual red, blue, and green dots, it’s not invisible, either. This means you’re likely to see grid-like artifacting in some of your content, ranging from a slight glittery texture in the background to a full-on spectrum of color.
None of this is unique to Kobo, but it’s important to note before buying that, unlike other devices, a color screen is more of a lateral move on an e-reader than a straight upgrade.
What are the Kobo Libra Colour’s specs?
While companies like Boox and Pocketbook have previously released color e-readers, Rakuten is the largest company to do so yet. That means the Kobo Libra and Clara Colour come with full access to its extensive store and intuitive UI, plus they work with the optional Kobo Plus subscription.
Rakuten knows how to make an e-reader, and when it comes to the basics, the Libra Colour, which is what I tested for this review, is excellent. Its 1,264 x 1,680 resolution means text is never fuzzy, its 2,050 mAh battery can last weeks at a time before shutting off (I never dipped below 90% while testing), and its front light is both plenty bright and can display various levels of warmth.
It’s also comfortable in the hands. Being a premium e-reader, the Libra Colour comes with an extended side panel with buttons and an ergonomic grip, giving you something to hold onto like with a Kindle Oasis. The Clara Colour doesn’t have this side panel, and though I didn’t get a review model for it, if it’s like past Rakuten e-readers, it should be about as comfortable to hold as equivalent Kindle models without a side panel.
There’s also Bluetooth support for headphones and audiobooks, but maybe the best reason to opt for a Rakuten e-reader over an Amazon one is that it gets you out of the Kindle ecosystem. That means a wider support for e-reader formats, including EPUB, which makes it easier to share files across devices and read free content. Kindle notably does not include EPUB support, and while there are ways to convert unsupported files for reading on Kindle, they don’t always work out. It can also be difficult to convert Kindle files for use on non-Amazon e-readers.
Throw in an extensive default font library and a large print mode for visually impaired readers, and it’s clear Rakuten made about the best color e-readers it could.
The question, then, is if color itself is worth it.
Testing the Kobo Libra Colour
It’s hard to really visualize the pros and cons of color e-ink without trying it out in person, so I tested a number of titles—including traditional books, comic books, and manga—on both the Libra Colour and my personal current generation Kindle Paperwhite. Technically, the premium Kindle Oasis would be a fairer comparison, although it’s been discontinued (and I don’t have one). Still, the Paperwhite’s display is comparable in size and resolution.
Starting with what I’ve been reading lately, I preferred Dune on the Kindle. My fiancé and I disagree on this, but it all comes down to the rainbow effect for me.
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt
He says he doesn’t notice much of a difference, but whereas I see a smooth background while reading on the Kindle, the Kobo looks like Edward Cullen standing in sunlight to me—glitters everywhere. Yes, even with the front light off, since the rainbow effect is more of a matter of how the screen reflects ambient light than anything else. There’s a “reduce rainbow effect” option in the Kobo’s settings, although I didn’t notice much of a difference with it on.
I also appreciated that the Kindle made it easier to read without a front light, but what will likely matter to you more is how sensitive you are to the “texture” of the page. My fiancé likes to compare the glittering to the grain on real paper, but it seems far too uniform to have the same effect for me. In certain lighting conditions, reading plain text on the Libra Colour almost feels like reading on graph paper. It’s possible, but distracting enough to be night and day next to a purely black-and-white e-reader.
Onto something that actually takes advantage of the color, I read a number of comics across both devices. I’m of two minds here.
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt
First, I was impressed by the image quality. For color content, the Kobo has to cut its PPI (pixels per inch) in half to achieve its effect (meaning less dense pixels), but everything still looks like it’s been drawn on the page. There’s occasional jagged edges that don’t show up on more traditional screens, but for the most part, the look is natural and detailed. It’s pretty special, too—short of real paper, there’s nothing else like it. A modern Kindle can do this as well (older models had issues with resolution), but without a color screen differentiating hues, color comics blend together so much that they’re pretty much illegible (assuming you would even want to try to read a color comic in black-and-white).
That gives the Kobo Libra Colour a key advantage, in that it’s a viable way to read content that the Kindle struggles with. But even with content that should be its bread and butter, the Kobo Libra Colour still falters in key respects, which means it may not necessarily be better than more traditional tablets.
The most obvious is in how vivid its colors are. While E Ink’s Kaleido 3 display promises 30% more saturation than previous iterations, everything here will still look a little dull and a little on the darker end. Older comics, which also had limitations on what could be printed on physical paper, fare better here, but bright and colorful modern works suffer a bit.
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt
That tradeoff might be worth it for those who love a hand-drawn look, but there are two things that truly stopped me from enjoying comics on the Kobo: text size and accessing my comics library.
It depends on the comic, but for stories with lots of text, the 7-inch screen just isn’t enough to easily read it. Kindles have a “panel view” mode that allows them to load images on a panel-by-panel rather than page-by-page basis, but there’s no such solution on the Kobo. The best you can do is zoom in manually with pinch motions or a slider, but the screen’s limited refresh rate can make this a slow process, which can be extra difficult if your comic doesn’t have uniform pages and you need to adjust the zoom for each new page.
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt
Maybe more annoying is that, because Kobo devices don’t use Android, you won’t be able to access any of the popular comics reading apps on the Libra Colour. I like to catch up on old comics using Marvel Unlimited, DC Infinite, and the Shonen Jump app, and none are available here. Instead, the most convenient way to get comics on a Kobo is to buy them piecemeal off the Kobo store, which is a much more expensive proposition. You could sign up for a Kobo Plus subscription, but then you’re locking yourself into what’s on the Kobo store, which may not be as extensive as what’s on publishers’ official apps.
Alternatively, because of the more open format compatibility, you could sideload comics from elsewhere, but you’ll still need to get your files somewhere, which will probably cost you a pretty penny at some point (assuming you keep things legal).
Granted, Kindles also have this issue, but they don’t market themselves as comics readers. Even so, they might be a better way to read black-and-white comics, which is what I tested next.
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt
Reading Sailor Moon and Berserk on both the Kobo Libra Colour and my Kindle Paperwhite, I noticed some familiar issues rear their heads again. Notably, the rainbow effect was maybe more noticeable in these titles than in plain text.
That’s because the artifacting, when layered over a character’s face, can come across less as page texture and more as a straight-up defect. In negative space, it can bloom into full-on rainbows rather than small glitters.
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt
None of these issues were present on my Kindle, which, unlike with color works, is a pretty great way to read black-and-white comics. While turning the Kobo’s “Reduce Rainbow Effect” mode did actually seem to help here despite it not helping much with text, it also made images appear fuzzier and generally unpleasant to look at. Overall, the Kobo’s comics superiority doesn’t keep up when it comes to manga and other similar content.
Finally, I wanted to test the Libra Colour’s Dual 2.0 GHz CPU with a PDF, something that would require frequent zooming and reconfiguring. It wasn’t a great experience, which is to say, it was about on par with the Kindle and every other e-reader I’ve used. Don’t get an e-reader for PDFs.
Draw in color
There are a few benefits to color e-ink that come outside of the direct reading experience, and while none of them are system sellers, they’re all certifiably nice to have.
The most extensive update comes to highlighting and other types of markups, as the Kobo Libra Colour is able to draw notes and make highlights in various colors, both in documents and in dedicated notebooks. There are four color options for highlights (yellow, pink, light blue, and light green) and ten for drawings (black, red, brown, yellow, dark green, light green, pink, light blue, purple, and gray), as well as multiple options for pen size. The Clara Colour does not work with a stylus, but it can still highlight in color.
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt
The Kobo Libra Colour is not the first or only Kobo with e-note features, but markups are still snappy here, and the notebooks feature is robust, giving you the option between blank pages and ruled pages that can be populated with digital text and diagrams in addition to written notes and drawings. When starting with a blank page, you can also choose from backgrounds including anything from a grid to a storyboard layout, although you’ll need to start with a ruled page for help with diagrams.
Pocket integration also benefits here, and is a unique advantage over the Kindle, as while the Kindle Scribe at least allows for black-and-white e-notes, all Kindles need to rely on older “Send to Kindle” tech for reading web articles. On the Kobo Libra Colour or Clara Colour, you can simply save an article using your phone’s Pocket app, then automatically find it on your Kobo later. And thanks to the color e-ink, you’ll be able to better appreciate any of the article’s art. There’s Google Drive and Dropbox integration as well, which are features also missing on the Kindle.
Menu navigation is also just generally a little nicer on the Kobo, as all of your book thumbnails will show up in full color, making them easier to navigate. Again, when reading a traditional book, you’ll be spending most of your time in black-and-white, but there’s less friction here for when you start reading.
Is a color e-reader worth it yet?
The Kobo Libra Colour is a solidly made e-reader that nonetheless shows that color e-ink just isn’t there for most people. Far from being a strict upgrade, it is instead more of a lateral move, with niche use cases and severe compromises in black-and-white content.
The ideal audience for the Libra Colour is someone who reads a lot of color comics, especially those that are light on text, and who also likes to take a lot of notes. Younger readers would probably do well here, enjoying picture books and text-light comics on the device, although it could also be good for students thanks to its more colorful notebooks system and Pocket integration.
Unfortunately, readers of traditional books as well as black-and-white comics will have to put up with a number of annoyances on the Libra or Clara Colour, including low contrast, occasional artifacting, and the rainbow effect. If you’re like me, you read a good mix of content, but these downsides might not be worth being able to read color comics on your e-reader.
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt
That said, the Kobo Libra Colour is about as good as a color e-reader can get right now, at least for a traditional, Kindle-like format. Alternatives from companies like Boox do offer larger screens and Android support, which can help with some pain points for comics readers, but they’re significantly more expensive. Also, while Android does give access to more comics apps, it can be generally slow to navigate with e-ink.
The truth is that there’s no perfect solution for color e-ink at the moment, so if there’s anything to take away from this review, it’s that it’s not as obvious an upgrade as color TV was. Still, there’s also nothing quite like it if you’re willing to deal with some compromises in exchange for spectacle. If you have limited space on your shelf for physical comics, or if you just generally prefer the convenience of an e-reader, the Kobo Libra Colour is a great way to read those stories digitally while still getting a hand-drawn look: something that undeniably feels special no matter how many asterisks you attach to it.
The Kobo Libra Colour costs $220 while the Clara Colour costs $150. For comparison, the current Amazon Kindle Paperwhite starts at $150.
A major component of productivity is prioritizing your daily responsibilities, which is why to-do lists are so important. Usually, I suggest using the Eisenhower Matrix, which helps you visually sort tasks according to how urgent and important they are, but there is another way: The ABCDE method, which comes from Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Timeby Brian Tracy. Obviously, eating the frog—or doing your biggest, most demanding task first—is one way to tackle the day’s duties, but structuring out how you’ll do the rest is pretty important, too. Here’s how it works.
What is the ABCDE method of productivity?
The ABCDE method is a simple way to categorize whatever you need to do. Using it can be a solid first step to making your to-do list, especially if you’re following a model like the 1-3-5 list, which requires you to do one major task, three medium-sized ones, and five small ones every day. Figuring out the big, medium, and small tasks is actually a task in itself (but it doesn’t count as one of the five, sorry).
When you are planning out your day, you’re going to give each task in front of you a grade. First, list out everything you need to do. This can be a list of your tasks for the day, week, or month—you’ll weed it all down eventually. Then, give them each a grade based on this outline:
A is for the most important tasks, like anything that will have a consequence if it doesn’t get done. These are those “frog” tasks that will require resources and time, but they can also be something that doesn’t take a lot of time but does have a hefty associated punishment for failure, like paying a bill on time.
B tasks are ones that also need to get done, but won’t have such serious ramifications if they’re not done immediately. You know you need to do them at some point (lest they escalate to the urgency of an A task) but you have a little wiggle room.
C tasks don’t have any consequences for not getting done, but are things it would be good to get taken care of. For me, a C task might be responding to a PR pitch to say I’m not interested in interviewing their client. I didn’t need to do it, but it’s a nice thing to do that keeps a professional relationship friendly. (Conversely, a B task would be responding to someone’s publicity agent right away when they’re trying to nail down a time for an interview. An A task would be doing the interview.)
D tasks are anything that you can delegate to someone else. The person you give it to shouldn’t have any A or B tasks it will take away from; it should become a priority for them, even if it’s not major for you or simply something you trust they’ll get done right.
E tasks are ones you eliminate altogether. If they serve absolutely no purpose, have no consequences attached to them, or may even pull you off course or be a detriment, just don’t do them. This is a pretty relative grade, though: Say you wanted to go to the grocery store tonight but just don’t have time. You have enough food at home or could order takeout. It’s fine to eliminate it this time, but when you deplete all your food, the grocery store trip will roar back onto the list in a higher position. Other E tasks may never reappear; they’re just inconsequential. Ignore them to reduce pressure on yourself.
Bear in mind this should be a little subjective. There are other, more intense ways of categorizing your daily tasks and if you're struggling with giving your responsibilities a grade, you might need to try something a little more data-focused. The goal here is to be quick and efficient so you can stop stressing about what needs to be done, prioritize it, and just start doing it.
Use the ABCDE grades to be more productive
Once every task has been assigned a grade, start planning out your day (and week and month). Here’s where that 1-3-5 to-do list comes in: The one big task should be an A task, something that is urgent and timely, and/or requires major resources and focus. The three medium-sized tasks might include a smaller A-level one, but will most likely be Bs. For the five smaller tasks, pick up any leftover B grades and, if you want, Cs. As for the D-level things, outsourcing and coordinating on them might still require enough work to qualify carrying out the delegation as one of your five smaller tasks, but it depends how much effort that really takes and what the rest of your day is looking like. Don’t shoot the messenger, but you might have to fall back on a C task to get the delegation taken care of.
The E grades can just be crossed off. Go ahead and delete them or strike them out. It’ll feel good (and productive) to get that finality on them.
Once you’ve organized which tasks are necessary for the day, look ahead at the week and make sure you keep any B-level responsibilities in mind and roll them over to a day that works for you if you don’t have time that particular day. Putting them off will turn them into As pretty quickly.
As always, rely on timeboxing to schedule out the day from there. Allocate time for each task in your calendar, giving yourself the most time for major A-level duties and less and less time for B and C. Don’t multitask; instead, do each thing in order, starting by eating the frog and moving through the other things one at a time until they’re done. (The exception here is that if you’re delegating tasks, try to get it done early so the other person has time to complete what should be an A- or B-level job for them, too.)
Grading your responsibilities is an easy way to get perspective on them and enhance your sense of urgency around them, which compels you to be more productive. Getting it all into an ordered list gives you structure and direction, wastes less time throughout the day, and will give you a sense of accomplishment when you’re done, which itself is a productivity win.
If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for June 28, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is medium difficult; I got it in five. Beware, there are spoilers below for June 28, Wordle #1,105! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.
Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)
Ready for the hints? Let’s go!
Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?
We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)
Almost all of today's letters are from our mnemonic! Only one is uncommon.
Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?
As a verb, past tense; as a noun, a flock of animals.
Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?
There are no repeated letters today.
How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?
There are two vowels.
What letter does today’s Wordle start with?
Today’s word starts with D.
What letter does today’s Wordle end with?
Today’s word ends with E.
What is the solution to today’s Wordle?
Ready? Today’s word is DROVE.
How I solved today’s Wordle
I started with RAISE and TOUCH followed by BIPED to eliminate likely consonants. With a few possible solutions, I guessed DRONE, leaving DROVE as the answer.
Wordle 1,105 5/6
🟨⬛⬛⬛🟩
⬛🟨⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Yesterday’s Wordle answer
Yesterday’s Wordle was medium difficult. The hint was “as a noun, something you place at a restaurant” and the answer contained all common letters.
The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was ORDER.
A primer on Wordle basics
The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word.
Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)
Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)
Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)
With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.
The best starter words for Wordle
What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:
CRANE
TRACE
SLANT
CRATE
CARTE
Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:
SALET
REAST
TRACE
CRATE
SLATE
Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.
How to win at Wordle
We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.
The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.
One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.
Wordle alternatives
If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:
Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.
Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.
You can get a Microsoft Office 2019 lifetime license for Windows or Mac on sale for $24.97 right now (reg. $229) through July 4. Both versions include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote; and the Home & Business edition for Mac includes Teams, while the Professional Plus version for Windows comes with Publisher and Access. Unlike Microsoft 365, this is a one-time download for lifelong access with no recurring payments to access the apps.
Hardware and software requirements are pretty straightforward: Macs need at least macOS Monterey, 4GB of RAM, and 10GB of free device space, while PCs need a minimum of Windows 10, 1GB of RAM, and 4GB of space. Licenses come from a trusted Microsoft partner.
You can get a Microsoft Office 2019 lifetime license for Windows or Mac on sale until July 4 at 11:59 p.m. PT, though prices can change at any time:
Depending on where you live, the summer months might mean lazy afternoons and cookouts by the pool, or cowering in dark rooms with the air conditioning cranked up. Air conditioning is great, of course, but sun exposure plays a huge factor in your home’s overall temperature.
You can’t easily move your house to a shadier spot, but you can take some steps to sun-proof your home. Here are five options to consider.
Repaint in a color that reflects the sun's rays
The color of your house can have a big impact on the ambient temperature inside. White paint has been shown to be very effective in reflecting the sun’s rays—and just about any white paint will do it (it reflects about 80% of visible light, though it will still absorb the non-visible radiation that warms up surfaces). White paint so effective that science went to the effort of inventing the whitest paint possible in the hopes it could have a dramatic impact on cooling down our houses. And while white paint will be most effective, if your home currently has a darker exterior color, lightening it to any significant degree will have at least some impact on the amount of heat it absorbs.
Add a reflective roof coating
Just as you paint the walls of your home, you can paint your roof with a reflective coating to bounce all that heat away. Again, white is the coolest color—a white roof can reflect 80% of the sun’s rays, keeping the roof about 50°F cooler—which means a lot less heat being transferred down into the interior of your house. Coating your roof is a relatively easy DIY job, but you can also hire contractors to take care of it for you.
Choose the right window treatments
The main villains keeping your house hot? Your windows, which just indiscriminately allow all that heat-producing solar radiation to stream into your home. About 76% of the sunlight that hits your window will transform into palpable heat. Keeping that sun out of your house is a key way to cool things down, so invest in some window treatments.
Blackout shades or blackout curtains can be very effective because they stop all the sunlight from getting into your rooms and heating them up, but they can make the house dark and aren’t always the most attractive option. Heat-blocking films can block out the ultraviolet (UV) rays that heat up your house. They’re relatively easy to apply and remove, they're affordable, and they can be a better option than shades or curtains because they don’t obscure your view or make you feel like you’re living in a cave.
Skylights are great if you lack exterior windows or just love a home awash in natural light, but they can also act as heat beams during the summer. Just like your windows, you can cut some heat-blocking film to fit your skylights—though it can be trickier than applying to windows. If you can't access the skylight easily, or you’re not sure how to cut and apply the film to a curved surface if you have a bubble skylight, you should seek out a professional to do it for you.
As with a regular window, a UV-blocking film will allow your skylight to still be, you know, a skylight. But you can also purchase waterproof skylight covers that will block the sun during the hotter months. These can then be removed when the temperatures fall so you can go back to enjoying all that light.
Add some shade
All the strategies you pursue to mitigate the impact of the sun on your home’s interior temperature will be even more effective if you stop the sun from reaching your house in the first place by increasing the amount of shade cover it enjoys. There are a variety of ways to do this:
Landscaping can be really effective at adding shade while enhancing your home’s curb appeal. Leafy trees do a great job of blocking the sun, but a trellis with a robust climbing vine along the sunny side of your home is another way to create a living wall between you and those damaging, heating rays.
Awnings installed on the exterior walls of the home will keep the sun off the walls of your house. A retractable awning offers flexibility because you can roll it up when it’s not so hot out, or when you’re willing to trade heat for light. You can also consider a side awning for the later hours when the sun’s heat is blasting from the side instead of overhead.
Keeping your house cooler in the summer isn’t just about your HVAC settings. Keeping the sun away from and out of your home will have a dramatic impact on your level of comfort—and your AC’s ability to work efficiently.
Today, YouTube added five new features for YouTube Premium subscribers—two are rolling out widely now, and three more are experimental features you can enable if you wish. Here's what's new.
Jump Ahead
Following a round of testing, YouTube is going ahead with Jump Ahead. The new feature uses AI to analyze the "best" parts of a video, based on where most users scrub to while watching. When you double-tap the player window to skip ahead 10 seconds, you'll now have the option to "Jump Ahead" to this "best" spot.
YouTube says this feature is rolling out first to YouTube for Android, but it will be available on the iOS app for Premium subscribers soon.
Picture-in-picture for YouTube Shorts
Picture-in-picture is a convenient way to watch videos on platforms like YouTube while switching to other apps. Now, Premium subscribers on Android will be able to use PIP for the TikTok-esque YouTube Shorts as well. I suppose this feature will be helpful for Shorts that aren't too short, but I can't really see a strong use case for keeping 15 to 30 second videos in PIP while doing things in other apps.
Smart downloads for Shorts (experimental)
If you opt-in to this experimental feature, YouTube will automatically download new Shorts to your smartphone so you can watch them with or without a connection. The company didn't specify, but I'd guess these Shorts would also work in PIP mode, as well.
Conversational AI (experimental)
YouTube also announced it's bringing back its conversational AI to Android devices. When available, YouTube's AI will appear underneath videos via an "Ask" button. You can ask the bot questions and request similar content to videos you're watching, even while a video is playing. I doubt this is going to be a game-changing AI by any means, but it's an interesting experiment nonetheless.
New watch page UI (experimental)
The one change to the YouTube web app for Premium subscribers is an experimental new watch page. YouTube didn't share much about it, but said the new watch page will make it easier to find new videos and engage with comments.
How to opt-in to YouTube experimental features
If you want to try out these three new experimental features, as well as any other experimental features YouTube is currently testing, head to YouTube's "New" webpage and opt-in.
It is truly luxurious to have a garden where sprinklers and drip irrigation are already present, but that’s not the case for most people with gardens. That means people spend a lot of time and wasted water on cobbled-together systems involving hoses, timers, and those awful oscillating sprinklers. These overhead watering sprinklers aren’t precise, so water is wasted and rain down water hard enough that they can lead to virus and fungus spreading in the garden as the water bounces off the soil and back onto plants—plus, they’re always in the way, with hoses snaking across the lawn. Soaker hoses coming off your hose bibb aren’t much better, breaking down in a few summers and leaking endlessly. A better solution is to water via a real dripline at the root and put sprinklers only where you need them, focused specifically on the small areas they should water. While it is certainly better to have a real drip or sprinkler setup, there are a variety of ways you can accomplish a semi-professional watering system on your own, using the same tools to achieve a much cleaner look in your yard.
Divide up the space into zones
The first thing you’ll need to do is divide your yard into zones. Sketch out your whole garden and all your boxes and grass spaces—anything that needs to be watered. The grass is one zone, and perhaps all your garden boxes are another. The zones can be based on area instead, so you simply divide your yard into four smaller areas. A zone will all be watered at once, so what you’re really considering is what areas need the same amount of water. You don’t want to overload any one zone, since your hose bibb has less pressure than the main water line (you can run a test on your hose bibb to see how much pressure it has). Since you won’t be tapping directly into your waterline, using your hose bibbs instead, the zones must relate to the location of the bibb. Note all the bibbs on your sketch and then look at how each zone relates to that hose bibb. If you had to run a line to that zone from the bibb, where would it go? It’s OK if it just runs on the ground next to the house, but draw it out, trying to arrive at the shortest distances possible, since unlike professionally installed lines, you’ll see these above ground. Minimize how much line you’re using, how many turns it takes, and crossover of lines. Now, go outside to start measuring those lines and visualizing each turn so you can translate that to fittings.
I used color lines to divide this area of my yard into zonesCredit: Amanda Blum
Attach timers and run blank line to each zone
Although most people don’t know this, in most places even the driplines or overhead oscillating sprinklers you run should have a backflow prevention device, per city code. This prevents the water, once it leaves the hose bibb, from flowing back into city water. These small devices aren’t hard to install inline; you just attach it to the hose bibb before any timers. You’ll want to control each zone it independently. Since we’re not using a professional watering timer, you’ll use hose timers. There are a number of smart hose timers, and having tested a number of them, the one I prefer is Racchio, which still occasionally has leak issues, but is better than other brands like Bhyve. I also continue to use non smart timers like Orbit, which have the benefit of having multiple outlets, so you can run many zones off one timer. Otherwise, you’ll need a splitter coming off the hose bibb, and then a smart timer on each outlet.
Now we’re going to start laying down the tubing that will take the water from your hose to the zone, and to do that we’re going to use blank tubing. This means there isn’t any holes in it, so it won’t drip. This tubing is usually a golden brown, so it will disappear into the landscaping. It accepts 17mm fittings, so whether you need an elbow, tee, or straight connection, they’re easy to source. Run this tubing from the hose all the way to where your zone starts, making all the connections you need. A final fitting at the start of the tubing will allow you to connect the pipe to the timer. Repeat this for each zone. The goal is to tuck the tubing out of the way by going around the yard. While this isn’t as good as a buried line like a professional install, the tubing you’re using is far more reliable than a hose, and less conspicuous.
Credit: Amanda Blum
Attach micro emitters, sprinklers, and dripline
Now that the line is run to your zone, you can start attaching watering lines. For a dripline, you connect tubing that has holes in it and will slowly leak water out of it. You want to run this in a circle so it gets consistent pressure, but the tubing is the same diameter and style as the blank line, so you just use additional fittings to connect it. This is the ideal way to water a large area like planting beds around your lawn or raised beds.
You can also connect micro emitters for specialty watering needs like planters or a particular plant that needs its own emitter. You will use smaller ¼ line and fittings to connect these emitters to the main watering line. Using a punch made specifically for this, punch a hole in the main line, and then using a straight fitting on the end of the ¼ line and secure that in the hole. Place any kind of emitter on the end, and use a stake designed for this purpose to hold the emitter in place. The nice thing about emitters is that you can adjust each individually. So if one pot needs more or less water, you can make an adjustment or turn it off entirely. The smaller ¼ line makes it easy to jump from the main line up into planters.
You can use the same ¼ line for micro sprayers, which will act as sprinklers here. There are even pop-up micro sprayers, which mean that when not in use, your sprinklers disappear into the lawn. You simply need to dig a hole about three inches in diameter, as deep as the sprayer stake. Place the sprayer stake in, and then backfill the hole. I like this application as you can easily change out the sprayer head to a 90, 180, or 360 degree angle and then position it as needed. The spray is really fine, but it works well for smaller areas.
How to maintain it
At the end of each season, you need to blow out your tubing (with an air compressor), because it is above ground rather than below the frost line: This will ensure there’s no water left in any of the tubing. In spring, you’ll want to test each line and ensure each of the pop-up sprayers pops up and the emitters are in the right position. Walk around and listen to each zone; you’ll hear if there’s a leak or tear in one of the lines and can fix it by cutting the tubing in that spot and repairing it with a coupler.
It's one thing to get a credit card when you have no credit history—but what if the history you do have is, well, not great? Sure, having a low credit score will make obtaining a traditional credit card challenging, but it's not impossible. Let's take a look at the options available to help you secure a credit card, even with bad credit.
Consider secured credit cards
Secured credit cards are an excellent starting point for those with poor credit. With a secured card, you place a refundable security deposit, typically $200 or more, that becomes your credit limit. The deposit acts as collateral, reducing the issuer's risk. Many major banks and credit card companies offer secured cards.
Of course, be sure to make all of your payments on time and keep your balance low. After 12 to 18 months of responsible usage, you can often upgrade to a regular unsecured card and get your initial deposit back.
Look for cards designed for bad credit
Several issuers offer unsecured credit cards specifically designed for people with poor credit. However, do keep in mind that these cards often have higher fees and interest rates, and lower credit limits. Read the terms carefully before applying to understand all associated costs.
Become an authorized user
This strategy involves asking a family member or trusted friend to add you as an authorized user on their credit card account. You'll receive a card in your name linked to their account, and their positive payment history can help boost your credit score. Ensure the primary cardholder has a good credit history and responsible habits. Not all issuers report authorized user activity to credit bureaus, so check first.
Try store credit cards
Target, Kohl's, whatever suits your fancy—retail store cards can be easier to qualify for than traditional credit cards. While not ideal in the long run, retail store credit cards can at least help give your score a boost, since they often have more lenient credit requirements. However, it's crucial to be cautious of high APRs on these bad boys, which can often exceed 25%. Still, their limited use (only at the specific store or chain) can help control spending. Some stores offer instant approval, allowing immediate purchases.
Explore alternative credit cards
Some newer companies offer credit cards based on alternative data, considering factors like income, employment, and bank account history instead of just credit scores. While I don't have any personal experience with them, examples include the Petal Card and the Tomo Credit Card.
Reduce your credit utilization ratio by paying down existing debts.
Dispute any errors on your credit report.
Avoid applying for too many cards in a short period, as this can further lower your score.
As your credit improves, you'll qualify for better card offers.
Get a credit-builder loan
With a credit-builder loan, you borrow an amount like $500 or $1,000 and make fixed payments over six to 24 months. The lender deposits the borrowed amount into a locked savings account, and once you've completed the loan payments the money is unlocked and given to you. These loans are designed solely for building credit history.
Be cautious of predatory lenders
When desperate for credit, it's easy to fall prey to predatory lenders. Avoid:
Cards with extremely high fees or interest rates.
Offers that seem too good to be true.
Lenders who use high-pressure tactics or rush you to decide.
Many credit card issuers offer pre-qualification tools on their websites. These tools perform a soft credit pull, which doesn't affect your credit score. Pre-qualification gives you an idea of your approval odds before applying, but it doesn't guarantee approval.
Remember, the key to rebuilding your credit is using any new credit responsibly. Make payments on time, keep your credit utilization low, and avoid overspending. With patience and good financial habits, you can improve your credit score and qualify for better credit cards in the future. For more, here are some of the best credit cards for people with bad credit.
You use your cleaning supplies to keep your home safe from germs, bugs, and mess, but that doesn't mean they're safe themselves. Whether you have kids or pets you don't want getting into harsh chemicals, or you just want to know the right ways to store your products without them going bad, it's important to have a strategy for organizing and storing everything you use to keep your home clean.
How to store cleaning chemicals
The labels on any chemicals you use should tell you the best conditions for their storage, but if the label gets damaged or if you are a fan of decanting your goods into prettier or more stackable vessels, you may not be able to check those. In general, chemicals should be stored in a cool, dry place, far from anything that gets too hot, like pipes or vents. As long as you keep everything in its own bottle or container, you don't run the risk of them mixing together, so you're good to store them all in one place, which you should be doing because it's a key part of maintaining an organized home.
If your concern is kids and their possible access to the products, you should store chemicals in places they can't easily reach. If your kitchen is big enough, dedicate one of your upper cabinets to cleaning products and pick up a set of child safety locks for the knobs. Use low baskets to keep them organized by type and prevent any leaks from getting onto the wood shelving. Better yet, if you have space in your storage room, get a free-standing, lockable storage shelf, like this:
I'm not a big fan of putting everything under the sink because of the temperature variations that can come with all the pipes, but if that's your best option, make sure you're using a shelving unit that pulls out, so you're not having to crawl deep into the recesses of the cabinet to get to any infrequently used product. Try something like this:
Store your most used products toward the front and your least used ones toward the back. No matter which kind of storage tool you choose, remember to keep everything cool and dry.
Storing your other cleaning supplies
Everything should be stored together, as mentioned above, but if you have kids or pets, remember to keep abrasive or dangerous items like hard brushes or steel wool somewhere high or locked up. Other than that, these tools will help you organize and store everything:
These wall hooks (six for $14.99) are specially designed to hold spray bottle nozzles, so they're great for empty bottles you fill with diluted cleaner or even frequently used products, like Windex.
This cleaning caddy ($14.99) has space for bottles, paper towels, and brushes, plus a handle so you can pull it out, fill it with what you need, and stay organized while you tackle the mess in any room, no matter how far it is from where you keep the products.
This hanging rack ($16.97) for brooms and mops helps keep those bigger tools out of reach of kids and stops them from getting dirty on the floor. It also has some standard hooks for rags, brushes, and more, so everything you need is in one place.
Your TV can stream movies and shows, so why not video games? That’s what Xbox is looking to solve with its new Fire TV Stick app, which will allow players to stream cloud-enabled Xbox Game Pass games without a console.
Technically, this isn’t Xbox’s first time coming to TVs, as the Xbox TV app previously premiered on some Samsung Smart TV models in 2022. But the addition of Fire TV Stick compatibility means any TV with an HDMI port can now become an Xbox, in a way.
To get started, gamers will need either a Fire TV Stick 4K or a Fire TV Stick 4K Max. The latter has a slightly more powerful processor and supports the newer Wi-Fi 6E standard, but both will work with the Xbox app. Otherwise, you’ll just need a Bluetooth compatible controller—it doesn’t need to be an Xbox controller—and an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription. Oddly, the Xbox app is only coming to these two Fire TV Stick models for now, with no announced support for Fire TVs themselves.
There are some caveats, the most obvious being that the service is kicking off in just 25 countries to start. It won’t be available until July, according to an Xbox blog post, so neither Xbox nor Amazon have clarified which countries will have it yet.
The second issue is that cloud streaming has some limitations, and is technically still in beta for Xbox games. For casual access to single-player content, you should be OK, but your performance in multiplayer games could suffer from input lag. You might also notice some artifacting or quality issues when streaming from a remote server, as video will be compressed before making its way to you.
Remember that the Fire TV Stick won’t actually be running your games, but instead sending your inputs to a server, where you’ll need to wait for them to be processed and for video to be sent back to your TV. It all happens in less than a second, but even that minute delay could make a game feel less responsive, especially if your wifi is experiencing issues.
You also won’t be able to play games not included with Game Pass, and you’ll need to keep your subscription up-to-date for every title except Fortnite. Some games also won’t work with cloud gaming yet, even if they’re included in your Game Pass Ultimate subscription.
If you want to try out Xbox cloud gaming before July but don’t have a Samsung TV yet, don’t worry. All Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can already stream games to a browser, an iPhone/iPad, an Android phone, or even an Xbox system.
OLED TVs are some of the best high-end TVs you can get, and LG makes some of the best ones on the market. If you're on the prowl for one, Best Buy has the 48-inch LG B4 OLED smart TV for $799.99 (originally $1,499.99) after a $700 discount. This is the best discount this TV has had since its release, according to price-tracking tools.
OLEDs are great, but they're not for everyone. Here's what this TV offers and if it's a good fit for you.
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.
Prime Da7 2024 is almost here, and early Prime Day deals are going strong. Unsurprisingly, some of the best deals are for Amazon's own products, like this Blink Video Camera Bundle for $59.99 or this 4K Fire TV for $149.99.
If you're a Prime Member looking for a video doorbell deal and you wouldn't mind a free smart speaker too, consider this Blink Video Doorbell and Amazon Echo Pop Bundle, which will run you $34.99 (the same devices would cost $110 if purchased separately).
Blink is owned by Amazon, so it's no surprise to see the doorbell get a big Prime Day discount. However, it is surprising how much you'll get for your $35: The Blink Video Doorbell with the Sync Module 2 alone normally costs $69.99, and the Echo Pop normally goes for $39.99.
The Blink Video Doorbell can be wired or use batteries. It uses your phone as a chime bell, has two-way audio so that you can communicate with guests from your phone, and supports 1080p resolution and infrared night vision. The Sync Module 2 lets you control up to 10 Blink devices with your phone and use local storage for your video files instead of paying for cloud storage, but you'll need to buy a USB flash drive of up to 256 GB. Keep in mind that you will still need a Blink subscription to use all of Blink's features. The Blink subscription plan starts at $30 a year for Blink Basic.
The Echo Pop is Amazon's latest, most budget-friendly Echo smart speaker. It's an "excellent" smart speaker according to PCMag's review. One of its best features has nothing to do with the speaker abilities— if you use the Eero Mesh wifi system, the speaker doubles as a node to expand your wifi coverage.
Adobe Acrobat isn’t just for PDFs anymore. Both Acrobat Standard ($12.99 per month) and Acrobat Pro ($19.99 per month) now offer a voice-activated AI Assistant that works across more of the file formats you use every day. It can help you tackle your work at a quicker clip.
Adobe Acrobat AI Assistant is available as an add-on to existing Acrobat subscriptions. Take advantage of early-access pricing of $4.99 per month through Sept. 4. Or jump on Adobe’s seven-day free trial of Acrobat Pro for desktop, web, and mobile—and the AI Assistant is included for free during the trial.
Here are a few ways Acrobat’s new AI tools can help you save time and boost your workflow.
Get quick insights across documents
Acrobat’s AI Assistant can search through single PDFs, Microsoft Word docs, PowerPoint files, emails, and even blog posts for keywords and topics. Or, select a group of documents, ask the AI Assistant your questions, and the tool will analyze and pull information across all of your selected files.
Summarize work meetings and move forward
Whether you’re putting together a meeting recap or you missed a meeting and need a rundown, Acrobat’s AI-powered meeting transcript support can generate an easy-to-understand summary identifying the main topics that were covered, key points, and next steps.
Create AI-generated visuals from scratch
Sign up for your seven-day free trial of Adobe Acrobat Pro, powered by Adobe Express, and use the baked-in image-generation tool to uplevel your decks and presentations. Just enter a text prompt for any image you’d like—a dog on a surfboard wearing a lei, for example—and the AI tool will generate images that you can then drop into your Acrobat file or document.
Jump on Adobe Acrobat Pro’s seven-day free trial, and the new AI Assistant will help you chew through your workload faster so that you can enjoy your summer.
Bread is the one food that never lets me down. It’s always filling, delicious, and the variety offered around the globe always keeps it interesting. One of my favorite breads is the pudgy gua bao bun, and if you haven’t already, you should definitely add this one to your weekly rotation.
What are gua bao (buns)?
The gua bao (additionally transliterated as koah-pau, gua-pao, or simply called a bao bun) is a small wheat flour-based bread originating from China. The word “bao” already means “bun,” so similar to "chai tea," adding the redundant word “bun” at the end is more to help English speakers recall what it is. You might notice other types of buns or dumplings with the word “bao” on restaurant menus with or without the follow up of “bun.”
The special thing about it, in my fanatical bread-eating opinion, is its shape and cooking method. Gua bao are made from fairly typical bread ingredients: wheat flour, yeast, baking powder, sugar, salt, and milk. But instead of baking them at an aggressive 400 F to 500 F in a dry environment like a lot of Western breads, they steam at a much gentler temperature of 212 F. As far as shape is concerned, instead of a round ball like a dinner roll, gua bao are flattened into a long oval shape that’s then folded in half. What you see looks kind of like the face of a sock puppet. But fluffier, of course, and far more appetizing.
Where can you get gua bao?
While you can absolutely make them at home, I usually don't. Not because it’s hard to do, but because it’s easy for me to buy them pre-made. (But if you’d like to take a crack at it, here’s a recipe you can try.) I buy them frozen from Asian grocery stores. They’re affordable, and taste great.
To reheat them, follow the package directions first and foremost. If there are no instructions, or it’s in a language you can’t read, you can technically re-steam them on the stove, but I usually just use the microwave. Pop one or two of the buns on a microwave-safe plate, and cover it with a damp paper towel. Microwave it in 15 second bursts, checking on it in between. It’ll only take 30 seconds or less.
How to eat gua bao
The steam creates a special sort of texture for a roll. It develops a shiny, slightly tacky skin, and the interior crumb is tight and airy. Gua bao are mild in flavor, making them the perfect vehicle for a wide array of flavors, and the soft texture invites a little bit of crunch in the fillings. The resulting morsel is the perfect size for picking up with one hand and scarfing down in three or four bites.
Usually you’ll see them at restaurants stuffed with succulent braised meat, julienned carrots, cucumber, and a sprinkle of crushed peanuts. This is definitely something worth replicating at home. However, if that’s not an enticing option, they’re very versatile. You can stuff them with anything, sweet or savory. Try the gua bao as an alternative hot dog bun, scoop in some cheesy scrambled eggs, or sandwich in some crisp nutritional yeast-coated tofu. Stuff it with barbecued pulled pork, fried chicken, or Thai fried bananas. Put any unused buns in a container and store them in the freezer, because just like most breads, gua bao freeze spectacularly well.
Water is the enemy of all homes—a little over one-fifth of insurance claims involve water damage, and not only from a broken pipe or a leaking toilet. Just about any aspect of your living space can be ruined by a rainstorm, which is why we have complex roof systems to keep all that water out.
But keeping water off your head with a solid roof is just half the battle—you also have to keep water running off the roof from pooling around your home’s foundation. Most people accomplish this with gutters—metal troughs that run along the edge of the roof, diverting the rainwater into a downspout that aims it away from your home. But traditional gutters have some downsides, and there are possibly superior alternatives you might want to consider.
The downsides of traditional rain gutters
Metal gutters are relatively cheap and easy to install, and they work well enough in most conditions. But if you have gutters, you already know that they can be a real pain in the butt.
Significant cleaning and maintenance. Gutters tend to get filled with dirt and debris—it’s not uncommon to find neglected gutters with weeds thriving in them. Cleaning out your gutters is a relatively dangerous and arduous task, and filter systems can be expensive (the average price of a 200-foot LeafFilter system is about $4,500—although you have some DIY options). But a clogged gutter won’t do its job, leaving your home vulnerable to floods.
Visual appeal. Gutters are, honestly, kind of ugly—especially after a few years, when they start to rust and collect grime and nothing you do (short of repainting them; see above, re: maintenance) will hide the fact that you have cheap metal tubes nailed onto your home.
The best alternatives to metal rain gutters
If you don’t like the look of your gutters, if you don’t want to deal with their maintenance, or you just want a different way to handle rainwater, rejoice: There are options.
Rain chains
Credit: takayan / Shutterstock.com
Rain chains go back a long way, and they work really well. Attached to spots where your roof system guides rainwater, they rely on the water’s surface tension to guide the water down the chain to a spot safely away from your home (or a collection spot like a barrel).
You can buy a rain chain pretty cheaply, or DIY your own out of just about any metal you have lying around. One of the chief advantages of a rain chain over gutters is visual appeal: Rain chains can be very decorative, and provide a calm, zen-like atmosphere around your home—especially since you know water is being carried away from your house.
Hidden gutters
Credit: Douglas Cliff / Shutterstock.com
Hidden gutters are gutters that are integrated into your roof system, so the water is channeled inside the roof to a downspout. They function very similarly to traditional gutters, but their hidden nature improves the aesthetics of your rain diversion system. These are sometimes called box gutters, but this can be confusing because this term also refers to an older style of gutter commonly found on historic homes and rarely used today.
Usually more expensive than traditional gutters, while box gutters offer sleek visuals they are lacking in other ways. Just like the aluminum gutters attached to your roof’s exterior, they can become clogged with dirt and junk—and they can be a lot harder to clean because they’re located inside the roof. They can also be harder to repair for the same reason.
Ground-level solutions
If you don’t want to clutter up your roofline with gutters or rain chains or anything else, you could opt to go with just a drip edge and some ground-level solutions to divert water away from your home. Almost all modern roofs already have a drip edge, which is a piece of metal that diverts water away from your roof’s fascia. This is really only a viable option if you don’t get a lot of rain in your area; most homes will need some sort of drainage solution at the roofline in addition to ground-level solutions like one of these:
French Drains: These are essentially gutters in the ground. To install a French Drain, you dig a trench, install a perforated pipe, then cover the pipe with gravel. Water falling off your roof drains into the pipe, which carries it away from the house. French Drains are very effective, but can be very expensive to install, with the high end costing anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000—or more.
Drip paths: Drip paths are a combination of a trench and other materials (paver stones are common, but you can make drip paths from metal or concrete, for example). The stone, metal, or concrete is installed at an angle, so water dripping off the roof is drained away from the house. Drip paths can be cheap to install (and can be DIYed by just about anyone), but getting the angle correct can be tricky, so it’s best to rely on experts if you don’t want to wake up to a flooded basement.
Landscape grading: Labor-intensive and not exactly cheap (the typical cost is about $1,600), grading your outdoor space so that water dripping off the roof naturally flows away from the house is another alternative to an extensive gutter system. All this means is that a slight incline is created, sloping the ground away from your foundation so gravity can do its thing.
Warm up your credit card: Target is throwing a mid-summer bargain-palooza to compete with Amazon Prime Day. Target Circle Week runs from Sunday, July 7 through Saturday, July 13, and the company promises savings of up to 50% on thousands of things you totally need and want. Plus, the company is rolling out a new paid subscription service, Target Circle 360, for half-price during sale week. Target's old loyalty program, Target Circle will remain free.
According to the company, a year of Target Circle 360 will cost $49 instead of $99 if you sign up between July 7-13. 360 members can use Target's same-day delivery as much as they'd like, with no delivery fees on orders over $35.
I think saving should be a complicated and aggressive nightmare, and shopping should be a source of misery, but Target disagrees. According to Cara Sylvester, Target's executive vice president and chief guest experience officer, "We believe saving should be simple and shopping should be fun." I guess that's why Target is worth a billion dollars and I'm barely a thousandaire.
"Is Circle Week really going to be as awesome as I imagine?" you're probably asking yourself. Well, buddy, check out the early Circle Week deals below and make up your own mind.
Buy one, get one 50% off food and beverage summer favorites, including ice cream, all chilled juices and chilled coffee beverages, all fresh berries and more
Spend $40 on select products at Ulta Beauty at Target and receive a $10 Target GiftCard
How to sign up for Target Circle
It’s almost comically easy to join either the Target Circle or Circle 360 program and they will accept anyone, even total jerks. Simply visit the Target Circle signup page, click “create account” and give ‘em your name, email, and phone number.
The perks of Target Circle membership go beyond the admiration of your peers. You’ll also enjoy access to members-only deals, 1% rewards on non-RedCard purchases you can use at Target, 5% off an item purchased during your birthday month, and the chance to influence how Target focuses its charitable giving.
If you want to avoid high energy bills from running your AC at full blast all summer long, there’s one often overlooked feature that can help: Your landscaping can help to keep your house cool in the summer by adding shade to areas that would otherwise absorb a lot of heat. Adding plants and other smart landscaping features can make a big difference in keeping your interior cooler and reducing utility bills.
How to increase shade around your house
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, trees can cool the surrounding air by as much as 6 degrees Fahrenheit—and because hot air rises, while cooler air tends to settle near the ground, the temperature in an area shaded by a tree can be up to 25 degrees F cooler than unshaded blacktop. For your home, this means that shade trees, as well as hedges and even vines, can play an important role in saving energy during warm weather. While shade trees can take a decade to mature, and tend to be a long-term investment, hedges can fill out in about three or four years, providing faster shade. Using trellised vines for an even faster-growing shade can give you results in a single season.
Where to plant for maximum shade
The sun is strongest on your windows on the East- and West-facing sides of your house because you will get the most direct sun through windows when the sun is low on the horizon. To reduce heat absorption through windows, plant your shade trees and other plants on the East and West sides of your home. Make sure to take into account the area that a plant's root system will need, and space them safely from your home to avoid damage to your foundation.
What kinds of trees should you plant?
In areas that are cold in winter and warm in summer, deciduous trees and shrubs are an excellent choice because they will drop their leaves in fall, shading less during winter months when sun exposure is desirable for heat retention. In areas where sun exposure is never desired, like in hotter climates, you can choose coniferous trees and shrubs that will hold their leaves or needles all year, continuously shading your home from sun exposure. In colder climates, you might choose less shade on the sunny sides of your home, allowing sunlight to help warm your house.
Create a wind tunnel effect
If you live in a warmer area where creating a cooling breeze is helpful, having shade trees on one side of your house and then a wall, a hedgerow, or fence on the other side can have a wind tunnel effect, encouraging a breeze. Air will move faster below tree branches than through them, so trimming the lower branches of shade trees will help to create more air circulation that can help with cooling.
Shade your AC unit
While your air conditioner is designed to work in the summer heat, adding some shade can help it to use a little less energy. Planting a coniferous tree that will shade your unit all year long is a good choice, but you will need to remove needles at least once per season to make sure your AC is clear of debris. Avoid planting anything within two to three feet of your AC unit to keep the air around it moving freely.
Materials to avoid for cooler landscaping
Highly reflective materials that could reflect heat and sunlight onto your house, like lightly colored gravel or concrete, can increase your home’s interior temperature. In general, large, unshaded areas, especially on the East and West facing sides of our home will make it warmer inside, so larger shade plants are a better idea for these areas. You should also avoid dark-colored awnings or patio covers because these will absorb sunlight in the form of heat, and hold in heat close to your house.
Until now, Windows has always offered better split-screen multitasking and window management features than Mac. Sure, it's right there in the name, but Window's Snap assistant offered perhaps the most intuitive way to split and manage multiple windows on the same screen. Mac tried with Stage Manager, but it's not the same thing.
Now, with macOS Sequoia (currently available as a Developer beta), Apple is finally offering its own take on window snapping, and it's quite similar to what Windows offers, albeit lighter. Let's get into it.
Installing the macOS Sequoia Beta
Before we start, let's install the macOS Sequoia beta. I recommend using a backup device for this if possible, as using a beta risks instability. Start by backing up your Mac. Then open System Settings, navigate to General > Software Update and click Beta updates. Select the latest macOS Sequoia developer beta, then follow the instructions to install it.
Tiling windows on macOS using mouse gestures
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
macOS Sequoia supports tiling windows using a mouse gesture. When you drag a window to any edge of your screen, you'll notice a white outline. Release the cursor and the window will snap to fill out the outline. You can speed up this process by holding the Option key when you're moving the window, which will highlight the screen's left or right panel without you needing to move your mouse to the edge of your desktop.
Once you've snapped a window, you'll notice that macOS puts a little border around it, even if a window is covering the whole screen. This is one of those weird Apple design touches, but it can be disabled. Go to System Settings > Desktop and Dock > Windows and disable the Tiled windows have margin feature.
Automatically arrange windows on macOS
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
If you don't like dragging your mouse cursor all over the screen, macOS Sequoia also has an option to automatically arrange all open windows (or at least the most recent ones), using a layout of your choice. Hover over the green stoplight icon in the top left of any window to see new arrangement options. You can either move the current window to a specific section of the screen, or you can choose one of the four Fill & Arrange options to automate the process.
Click one of the options and macOS will automatically take your foreground windows and arrange them in that pattern. This, sadly, is all it can do. Unlike Windows, the grid stops at four apps on screen, and there are no layout options for 6 apps. Plus, the process is automatic. Windows will show you all other apps that are available to place on the grid, and you can choose which window can go where. This feature isn't available on macOS, and I hope it gets added in a future update.
If you find these features limiting, check out third-party options like Loop, which give you a lot more freedom over how exactly windows can be tiled and arranged on screen.
The old method of split-screen multitasking, which opens both windows full screen and in a new Desktop, also still exists. It now lives in the Full Screen section in the green stoplight menu.
Snapping windows using keyboard shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts offer a great option for arranging windows in neat halves and sections. Most of the time, you're going to be splitting the screen into two anyway. With macOS Sequoia, you can use the keyboard shortcuts Globe + Control + Left to dock the window to the left, or Globe + Control + Right to put it over to the right.
You can also use keyboard shortcuts to automatically arrange two windows. Use Globe + Control + Shift + Left to dock the current window to the left, and the next available window to the right. You can flip the order by using the Right key in the same keyboard shortcut. This also works with the Up and Down keyboard combination. To see all available keyboard shortcuts, go to Window > Move & Resize from the menu bar.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve painstakingly roasted your very first broiler chicken, or you’ve realized that tearing apart the grocery store rotisserie bird with your hands isn’t good etiquette for when your date comes over. At some point, you’ll need to know how to carve a chicken. The good news is, it’s pretty easy. Here’s how to carve a chicken in a few simple steps.
Sure, maybe I could take down a whole rotisserie bird alone with these two paws, but occasionally I like to join polite society and plate my dinner. Carving a chicken is the practice of slicing the cooked chicken into separate parts so it’s easier to eat and share—plus it creates a rather attractive presentation.
If your chicken is cooked properly (and by that I mean it’s not undercooked), it practically carves itself. Aside from the breast, the thighs, legs, and wings are all carved through the joint. When cooked completely, the connective tissues around the joint shrink and weaken significantly. If the joint is giving you trouble and the tendons seems really stubborn, make sure you've checked the temperature of your chicken. There's a chance it needs more time in the oven.
In the best cases, carving can be as simple as finding the joint and applying some pressure to separate it from the rest of the chicken; the knife really just helps you make clean and tidy cuts through the skin.
How to carve a chicken
It’s very similar to carving a turkey, with one small upside: It’s much smaller. Turkeys are hulks, comparatively, so you’re going to take it apart from pretty much one angle only. The petite stature of a chicken means you can actually flip it around and rotate it easily to manipulate the joint and get the best angle for your cut.
Step 1. Work on the thighs first
The first thing you should do is set up a cutting board on a flat surface and put your chicken on it. Start with the chicken breast-side up. A lot of photos show folks carving with a carving fork, but I usually get in there with my hands—not because I’m a barbarian, but because you can locate the joint easier if you can actually feel it. Grab the thigh and begin slightly pulling it away from the body. Feel along the outside to identify where the thigh muscle is connected to the body.
Sometimes I'll flip the chicken for a better angle to score the skin.Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
Use your knife to cut through the skin along this line. That’ll help the thigh to come away easily without tearing the skin. I actually like the angle from the underside, so I flipped my bird for this part, but many folks prefer to go through from the breast-side.
Now you can flip the chicken back breast-side up (if you had it turned over), and use your hand to pull the thigh away. It may begin to easily separate. Feel around for the joint and use the tip of your knife to separate the bones, or cut through the cartilage. Feel free to rotate or flip your chicken for this. Cut straight through any remaining muscle or skin to completely remove the thigh and leg. Repeat this on the other side.
Step 2. Separate the leg from the thigh
The same idea applies here. Move the leg away from the thigh to see where the two meet at the joint. Use the knife to slice through the skin and cut through the joint. Repeat this with the other leg and thigh. Arrange the four pieces on the plate.
Find the joint to separate the leg from the thigh.Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
Step 3. Carve the breasts
Make sure your chicken is breast-side up. Locate the center of the breast plate and use your knife to cut through the skin slightly off to the left or right so you don’t hit the bone. Slice with the knife while also using it as a wedge to pry the entire breast off in one piece. It may also help to make a cut horizontally at the base of the breast by the “armpit” so it comes off cleanly. Plate the breast and repeat this on the other side, rotating the chicken for the best angle.
Score the skin first, and then use your knife to slice and push the breast away.Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
Step 4. Remove the wings
Now you just have a carcass with wings. Use your knife to cut through the joint that holds the wing to the body. Now you can either plate it as-is, or clean it up. I like to cut off the wing tip and separate the drum from the flat by cutting through the joint (which you’re very skilled at by now). Plate the wing pieces alongside the rest of the carved chicken.
Separate the drum from the flat if you like.Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
I actually find that you can swap these last two steps if you want, but it’s a personal choice between you and your bird. Sometimes I do the wings first because if they’re too chunky they get in my way, but if you leave them for last they can help stabilize the rib cage and make it easier to carve the breasts.
Now your pretty plated chicken is ready to serve. Save the carcass to make chicken stock tomorrow, or tie it up in a plastic bag and pop it in the freezer to do so at a later date.
I’ve always been perfectly content to watch movies by myself. Seeing a movie with a crowd is all well and good if it’s an action flick or a comedy,but there are movies that demand more focus and reward careful attention—and having kids, partners, and even friends in the room with you can frankly be very distracting.
(Note: There are a lot of American films here, in part because quiet introspection is a bit more novel in Hollywood; a list of introspective Swedish films, for example, would be a heck of a lot longer.)
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
Charlie Kaufman’s film about a theater director (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who lives his life within the context of a theatrical mock-up is seen as either assertively pretentious or utterly life-changing. Much of the film’s appeal is in the desire, made real here, to pull ourselves out of our own miserable lives and view them from a more objective place.
I’m not sure that Waking Life’s experimental animation style is strictly necessary, especially given the rotoscoping that required the bodily presence of actors—but there’s enough in the film’s discussions of free will and existentialism to make for an enjoyably thoughtful film about a man on the verge of a full-scale existential crisis. The ambitious visual style, though, does add a dreamlike quality that makes it harder to see as some sort of cinematic bull session.
There have been quiet, contemplative alien invasion movies before—but it’s not exactly the style we’ve come to associate with the form. The movie that solidified Denis Villeneuve’s reputation as a maker of smart, heady genre films deals with the universal challenges and rewards of communication, topped with a unique sci-fi twist.
Written by sci-fi legend Jerome Bixby while on his deathbed, an appropriate mournfulness hangs over this (very) low-budget movie abut a man who might or might not be 14,000 years old. David Lee Smith plays John Oldman (*wink*), a professor having some friends over for a going-away party. Over the course of the gathering, he lets his secret slip, prompting an evening of conversation during which his fellow professors grill him about his life from their own academic perspectives. Heady stuff.
Marketed as the sexiest movie you’d ever see in major movie theaters, Eyes Wide Shut is, instead, a dreamlike walk through a twilight world of joyless, mechanistic sex: the message being not “sex is bad,” but, instead, that sexual obsession can be as dehumanizing as anything else in a Stanley Kubrick movie.
A bit more intense than some others here, Darren Aronofsky’s feature directorial debut involves a mathematician who becomes obsessed with the idea that math can entirely elucidate the world’s underlying meaning, even as his own mental health struggles as an imperfect and irreducible human make that quest increasingly quixotic.
Idiosyncratic indie director Jim Jarmusch takes "contemplative" to new levels with this film following a week in the life of a New Jersey transit driver played by Adam Driver (hmmm). During breaks from work, Paterson writes small poems with encouragement from his wife (Golshifteh Farahani), but his dreams of publishing them go out the window when a dog gnaws his notebook. With impressive performances from the two leads, this quiet and rather moving film turns on the seemingly minor occurrences that can upend our own small universes.
Louis Malle’s My Dinner with Andre has a fanbase to rival many more obvious cult classics in American film history; fascinating in that it’s a movie about two actors playing themselves (they share names, anyway) chatting at a cafe for nearly two hours. Yet people watch it over and over. The material veers from funny to despairing, but it’s always surprising, with the two actors selling their stories at least as well as any special effects could.
There's very little consolation to be found in the first and only film from novelist Hu Bo, which turns on an anecdote about an elephant in a circus in Manzhouli that remains absolutely still under any provocation: perhaps feeling peaceful, perhaps just surviving without living. The film's characters determine to visit the elephant, their stories cumulatively speaking of disconnection from and disaffection for life.
Directed by Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky, Werckmeister Harmonies might be the most approachable of Tarr's film projects. Which admittedly isn't saying much, given that his previous film, Satan's Tango, is over seven hours long. Here, we take a long, languid, and beautifully shot tour of a small village in Hungary, following its residents through their lives as a slightly sinister circus comes to town. The film isn't much interested in plot or incident, preferring instead to languidly observe its characters.
On one level, George Washington is the story of an unintentional murder by a school kid and the efforts to hide the evidence...but that synopsis doesn’t in any way capture the feel of this deliberately-paced and beautifully shot tone poem.
As offbeat dark comedies go, they don’t get much more offbeat than this: in Yorgos Lanthimos’ dystopian dark comedy, single people get exactly 45 days to find romantic partners—otherwise they’re turned into animals. It’s definitely weird, but no weirder than the modern courtship rituals it satirizes.
Hal Ashby’s film is, on one level, a particularly biting satire involving a (very) simpleminded gardener (Peter Sellers) whose every banal, plant-related utterance comes to be seen as a piece of wisdom by a world desperate for meaning. While it mocks our willingness to see what we want to see, it centers the gentle presence of Chance the gardener, and invites us to ask whether his innocent view of the world is really such a bad thing.
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)
Slow and sometimes baffling, Uncle Boonmee is also a funny and beautifully meditative story about a man’s final days, and about the literal and figurative ghosts that haunt our lives.
After the apocalypse, a guide sets out with a writer and a scientist across a distinctive and highly stylized wasteland in search of The Room, the one place left on earth where someone’s desires might still be fulfilled. There are elements of political and religious metaphor, but no one meaning really satisfies here, and it’s precisely that slipperiness that makes it so haunting.
Our leading man here is a non-speaking, one-eyed former prisoner (played by Mads Mikkelsen), who begins a long, hypnotic journey over the sea when the Norseman falls in with Christian Crusaders in the nasty, brutish middle ages. There’s blood and battle here, but the idiosyncratic director is more interested in the silences in between.
Not many of the films on this list topped the box office when they were released, but director Isao Takahata's anime (from Studio Ghibli) was the highest grossing film of its year in Japan. Twenty-seven-year-old Taeko Okajima works in the city but takes a train trip into the country side to visit relatives and escape from the hectic pace of Tokyo. The journey conjures memories of her life, some good, some less so, forcing her to reconcile her present with everything she has left behind.
A ghost (Casey Affleck) returns to the home he shared with his wife (Rooney Mara), only to discover that he’s untethered in both time and space, forced to view events in seemingly random order. Desperate to connect, all he can do is observe.
After Frances McDormand's Fern loses her job at a gypsum plant, she sells everything and buys a van to live and travel in while she hunts for work (including at an Amazon warehouse). Attachments come and go during her travels, as writer/director Chloé Zhao's funny, elegiac film considers life within America's increasingly precarious capitalist system, while also exploring more general themes of permanence and impermanence.
A grace note at or near the end of the careers of Lillian Gish, Bette Davis, Ann Sothern, and Vincent Price, Whales of August finds two elderly and very different sisters spending yet another summer in the same seaside house in Maine that they've visited since childhood. Davis' bitter Libby is ready to give up on life, while Gish's Sarah is tired of being a caretaker and is increasingly delighted by the prospect of a romance with local widower Price. The gentle film explores the potential for dignity and liveliness among these octogenarians.
Though early reviewers saw it as pretentious, there’s no mistaking the quiet ambition of Terence Malick’s gorgeously rendered exploration of the meaning of life itself, with a stopover in 1950s Texas. It’s probably the closest any director has come to the scale and scope of 2001 since that movie’s 1968 release.
What starts out as a novelty gradually builds to something breathtaking as director Alexander Sokurov’s follows a mysterious narrator through the walls of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, encountering different moments and historical characters from the building’s history as he goes. It’s mostly a film about philosophical conversation, but Sokurov filmed the movie in one continuous cut, with no false cuts, choreographing a cast that, by the end, is in the thousands.
Where to stream: Hoopla, Kanopy, Plex
Wild Strawberries (1957)
Ingmar Bergman’s Wild Strawberries has some of his most nightmarish imagery, but ultimately it’s the most humane of all his works. Its story of an old man recalling his past is as sad as it is sweet, but builds toward something very nearly celebratory.
There are some big emotions in Dee Rees’ semi-autobiographical coming-out story Pariah, and so, in that sense, it’s not the most quietest of quiet dramas. In its performances and visual style, though, it’s utterly hypnotic, conjuring a world that, for all its turmoil, I could get lost in forever.
An alien seduces men by the side of the road in this languid and elusive study of sex and power relationships. With a stroking visual style that evokes Blade Runner (just a bit), Under the Skin is as haunting as it is tough to pin down.
Bafflingly dreamlike—but so beautiful that it’s hard to care—Alain Resnais’ masterpiece takes place at a luxury hotel and involves two lead characters who seem to have become completely untethered in time and space, and who might have met at Marienbad once before. It plays much like a ghost story, minus the horror-movie trappings.
Kim Ki-duk’s story follows a Buddhist monk (O Yeong-su) from young apprentice to old age, with the different seasons representing phases of life and the circular nature of existence. It’s appropriately meditative, without extraneous or excessive drama, and not even much dialogue. It’s (nearly) as quiet as filmmaking gets, but rather lovely and rewarding.
With the launch of the Passwords app in macOS Sequoia and iOS 18 (currently in Developer beta), Apple has made it easy to find and access all your passwords, Passkeys, and even two-factor authentication codes with ease. What used to take a trip through various Settings app menus is now just a click away.
But as good as the Passwords app is, it's little more than an app wrapper for the iCloud Keychain. While that itself is a huge improvement, we can make your Mac's Passwords app even better by enabling a menu bar list that's hidden by default.
How to enable the hidden Passwords menu bar list on macOS Sequoia
Before we start, you'll need to install the macOS Sequoia beta. I recommend doing this on a backup device if possible, as it could introduce instability to your main device. First, back up your Mac. Then open System Settings, navigate to General > Software Update and click Beta updates. Select the latest macOS Sequoia developer beta.
Now, open the Passwords app and authenticate with your Mac password or Touch ID. From the menu bar, go to Passwords > Settings. Here, enable the Show Passwords in Menu Bar option.
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
You will see a key icon in the menu bar. That's your Passwords app. Click the icon to see a drop-down menu. Authenticate using Touch ID or your Mac password, and you will see a list of all your passwords.
The really neat thing about this menu bar app is that it's context aware. So it will automatically find a login that corresponds to the app that you have open. This works for desktop apps, and also for websites in third-party browsers like Chrome, Arc, and more.
If you're trying to log in to Discord, for example, your Discord login will be at the top of the list, where you'll be easily able to copy your password to your clipboard.
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
It's no secret that I'm a fan of menu bar utilities. And seeing a useful little utility from Apple itself is quite refreshing. The Passwords utility will definitely be helpful for people who use third-party browsers, but don't want to save passwords in Chrome or provide access to third-party browser extensions.
The biggest downside, though, is that the menu bar list doesn't yet support autofill. If you're used to just authenticating passwords using Touch ID in Safari, you'll find this an odd adjustment.
There's no shortage of realty sites out there, and there's not a huge amount to differentiate them—in the end, they're all built to facilitate property deals. One of the things they have in common is that they all keep details of properties—including listing photos—online, even years after they are sold, rented, or otherwise taken off the market.
In other words, if your home or apartment has ever been listed for sale or rent, there might still be interior and exterior pictures of it online, as well as other sensitive information such as floor plans. This is all useful information for someone who might want to pose as you, or perhaps pay a call to your home in the middle of the night.
The good news is that you can arrange for the images to be scrubbed from these sites, though it does take a little bit of work. You'll first need to claim ownership of a property, and then petition to get the relevant details taken down. Here's how it works for major sites, including the MLS, Zillow, Redfin, and Realtor.
How to remove house photos from an MLS
An MLS listing site.Credit: Lifehacker
A multiple listing service, or MLS, is where the likes of Zillow and Redfin get a lot of their data, so it makes sense to start here. Generally this is where brokers first upload home information and photos, and where real estate agents get a lot of their details when showing you homes.
Only licensed agents and brokers can access MLS portals (membership fees are involved). If you want to get your information scrubbed at the source, then you need to ask a listing agent (either one you employ or one used by the other party involved in a real estate transaction) to do it on your behalf.
This isn't necessarily a speedy process, and there's no obligation on the part of the listing agent to do it unless it's in the contract (the thinking is that leaving the information there saves a lot of work if the property goes up for sale again, or if interested parties are looking at homes in the area and want to see information on comparable sales).
How to remove house photos from Zillow
A llsting on Zillow.Credit: Lifehacker
While you need help removing details from a MLS, that's not the case for sites that pull data from there, including Zillow. To get photos removed from this site, first sign into your account (or create one if you don't have one already). If you haven't already claimed a home as yours, find it on the site, then select More and Claim ownership. You'll be asked a few questions to help verify that you are who you say you are.
Then you can click your account avatar (top right) and Your homes to make changes. Select the property you want to manage, then choose Edit facts from the owner view. To get rid of a photo, select it and click Remove photo. There are options to delete all the images at once, or just hide them from view (so you can still see them). Click Save changes when you're ready.
Note that Zillow won't remove properties and property information completely. "Our mission is to empower consumers with information and tools to make smart decisions about homes, real estate and mortgages. For this reason, we do not remove property pages from Zillow," Zillow says.
How to remove house photos from Redfin
A listing on Redfin.Credit: Lifehacker
If you can find your property on Redfin, the process is the same as it is for ZIllow: Claim your home (if you need to), then edit the listing. After signing in, hover over your profile badge (top right), then click Owner Dashboard and Claim Your Home.
You can then select the property from the owner dashboard, which will give you access to an Edit Photos button. There's no option to delete individual photos here; all you can do is check the box marked Hide listings photos, and then choose Save and confirm your decision.
Only one home photo will then be shown, with a Google Street View picture of your house substituted for whatever was there before. (If you want to scrub images of your property from Google Street View as well, we've got instructions here.) As with Zillow, there's no way to completely remove the listing from the web.
How to remove house photos from Realtor
A listing on Realtor.Credit: Lifehacker
If you've already been through this process for Zillow and Redfin, then you aren't going to come across any surprises with Realtor. Once you're signed into your account, you can click My Home at the top, then enter your home address to find your property, and click Yes, claim it.
You'll need to answer a security question or two to prove you do own the property, and you can then visit the property page as an owner rather than a member of the public. Click the Edit home link, and you're able to make changes to which photos are shown alongside the listing.
There are some extra restrictions on Realtor: After a home is sold, for example, there's a period of six months where changes can't be made to the listing. In some cases, you'll need to contact your listing agent to make the changes instead. And, as with Zillow and Redfin, there's no way to erase the listing completely.
Prime Day kicks off July 16, but you don't need to wait that long if you're looking for school supplies. Amazon already has sale pages dedicated to K-12 school and college students with products from many categories. If you wait for Prime Day to officially arrive, you might find better deals; but if you're looking to get started on your shopping now, here are the best sales to check out.
The Echo Dot Kids 5th generation (released in 2022) is hitting its lowest price yet at $27.99 (originally $59.99), according to price-checking tools. The kid's version comes with parental controls, has an owl design, and includes one year of Amazon Kids+, a subscription for books, games, videos, and other educational content for kids. You can read more about the Echo Dot from PCMag's review here.
Kindle Scribe Bundle for $324
If your kids like to use pen and paper and enjoy reading as well, the Kindle Scribe might be a good addition to their school supplies. This Kindle Scribe Bundle comes with the 64GB (which usually costs $419.99), the Premium Pen, a leather cover, and an Amazon power adapter for $324 (originally $519.97). This is a good value bundle if you were considering getting the Scribe for your kid anyway.
Iniu chargers starting at $15.98
I've had an Iniu portable charger for a few years now, and it has saved my butt a couple of times from driving without Google Maps. It is a fast and reliable charger, and if your kid takes the bus back and forth to school, having a backup battery for their phone is always a good idea. According to Amazon, this Iniu Portable Charger 10000mAh power bank can charge most iPhones up to 78% in about an hour. Not bad for $17.99 (originally $29.99).
If your kid prefers a desk charger, the Iniu Wireless Charger also doubles as a prop for your phone. It is $15.98 (originally $26.98). It won't charge the phone as fast as the portable charger, but it is wireless.
HP printer for $59.99
The HP DeskJet 2755e is a budget HP printer that gets the job done. For $59.99 (originally $84.99), you're getting good value for your money with this printer. It can also make copies and scans, but it relies on a wifi connection and pushes you to get the HP+ ink subscription, which starts at $1.49 per month for certain features and to get better ink prices.
Sony headphones
When it comes to headphones, having a reliable pair with a long battery life is key. Sony made the WH-CH520 with those things in mind while keeping the price low, currently $35.99 (originally $79.99). The Sony WH-CH520 are on-ear headphones (the headphones rest on top of the ears) with a stylish design and 50 hours of playtime. They give you a multipoint connection so your kid can switch between their computer and cell phone quickly. (Only the cappuccino color has a 55% discount.)
I knew that other people ran in sun shirts, but I never thought running in a sun shirt was for me. Long sleeves on a hot day? No thanks. Instead, I coated my arms, neckline, and back in sunscreen, and cringed as it mixed with sweat during my run and turned into a gross, drippy slime. I sometimes missed a spot, and enjoyed patches of sunburn on my shoulder blades. Just comes with the summer running territory, right? And then, one day, I got a sun shirt.
It wasn’t even a fancy one. Everybody on Reddit says to get the Rabbit hoodie, but it wasn’t in stock when I went looking. Instead, I ended up getting this UPF 50+ rashguard from Amazon for under $30, and a second shirt that I didn’t end up liking as much. And I started wearing them on my runs.
What are sun shirts for, and do they really work for runners?
Sun shirts have one main job: They protect you from UV rays (doing the same job as sunscreen). The good ones also wick sweat, which can end up keeping you cooler than if you were running without the shirt.
When it comes to UV protection, they definitely work. Dermatologists, including those at the American Academy of Dermatology Association, actually recommend wearing sun-protective clothing, in addition to seeking shade and using sunscreen. When you’re out on a run, shade may not be an option. And you’ll still need some sunscreen to cover your face and hands. But when it comes to your torso and arms, a sun shirt offers some pretty significant advantages over slathering on sunscreen:
You can’t miss a spot, as you might when you’re trying to get sunscreen on the back of your arms and shoulders.
You don’t need to reapply (as much) sunscreen on long runs, which can feel nearly impossible when you’re sweaty.
You won’t have to deal with sunscreen sweating off or working its way across your skin (which is the main reason we need to reapply, anyway).
If you use a spray sunscreen like I sometimes do, you won't have to deal with its sticky feel, and the fact that you're supposed to rub it in anyway.
You’ll go through far less sunscreen each year—a pretty significant savings if you have sunburn-prone skin like me.
Aside from these objective points, the thing that really sold me was just that I hate the feeling of that suncreen-and-sweat slime dripping down my arms. It's gross, it gets on everything, and I do not want it.
What it feels like to run in a sun shirt: A lot less sweaty
I wore a sun shirt for the first time during a recent sweltering heat wave. I try to run in the evening or morning when it’s cooler, but no matter the time of day, the humidity was ridiculous and the wet bulb temperature was oppressively high.
I put on the shirt for an evening run first, sunscreened only the parts of me that weren’t covered (face, hands, lower legs), and ventured out. On balance, I don’t think I was hotter or cooler than I would have been without the shirt, but the slime situation was much improved. The shirt also absorbed and (sort of) wicked away my sweat. On the one hand, that means I’m running in a damp shirt. On the other: no dripping.
Intrigued, I wore a shirt again for a sunnier morning run, and had a similar experience. In a real show of how much I trusted these things, I even wore a sun shirt for the time I planned poorly and ended up having to do a midday run in 93-degree weather (don’t worry, I carried ice water and stayed safe); it worked well then too. On one of these runs, I noticed a light breeze, so I peeled off the shirt as I finished the run. The breeze on my skin felt nice and cooling, but it was more like a nice treat than regret that I'd been wearing the shirt in the first place. Safe to say I’m now a convert.
I did have one further “aha” moment. On one of my runs, I noticed that the shirt was long enough that it bunched up a bit around my hips. That extra fabric wasn’t doing me any favors, so I got out a pair of scissors and cropped the shirt just below my waistline. Now I get a bit of a breeze on my torso, while still keeping my skin out of the sun.
What to look for when buying a sun shirt
Any clothing marketed to runners tends to be expensive, although to be fair, it’s often lighter weight or better quality than bargain-basement stuff. Still, you don’t have to just search for “running sun shirt.” Also consider looking for “long sleeved wicking shirt,” “UPF shirt,” or even “rash guard” (a rash guard being a long sleeved shirt worn for surfing).
The ideal running sun shirt will have most or all of these features:
A UPF rating (like SPF, but for clothing) - the higher the number, the better.
Wicking or “cooling” fabric.
A high neck or even a hood, to protect your neck and/or head.
Thumb holes, which means longer sleeves, the better to protect your hands.
Lightweight fabric—beware the rashguards that are designed with thicker swimsuit-type fabric.
A moderately loose fit (although this is up to preference). If you normally buy from the women's section, consider the "men's" styles too—you might prefer the way they fit.
Sun protection experts tend to recommend colors that are dark (black, blue) or bright (red, yellow) rather than white or pastel. That’s because darker colors absorb more ultraviolet rays. Personally, I haven’t been able to convince myself to get a dark color when the shirts are available in white. Maybe black is more sun protective, but I’m worried it will be hotter. (This may be a “me” problem, so if you’re looking for good advice, listen to the dermatologists.)
With that in mind, here are some sun shirts, in a variety of styles and price ranges, that fit the bill. If you aren’t totally sold yet, start with a cheaper one and see how you like it. You might just join me in the less-slimy runners club.
Student loans, credit cards, medical bills—we've all thought about just saying, you know, "screw it." I mean, seriously—what's the worst that can happen if you simply never pay off your debts? Sure, there are obvious impacts, like a major blow to your credit score. But if you're feeling tempted to eschew a debt payment plan altogether, you should know that the long-term consequences are often severe.
What happens if you just don't pay your debts
Ignoring debts doesn’t just cause your credit score to drop and your balance to increase, according to debt attorney Leslie Tayne Esq. of Long Island-based Tayne Law Group. She explains how your creditors will begin collection efforts, "which means you’ll start receiving regular calls and letters, even messages on social media, from debt collectors." These calls can feel like borderline harassment, coming in at all times of the day and night.
"While collectors are legally prohibited from discussing your debt with your family, friends, and coworkers, they can reach out to these people to verify your contact information and essentially try to track you down," Tayne says. Think how this invasion of your privacy would add significant stress and annoyance not just to your life, but to those around you.
If you continue to ignore these debts or fail to pay them down, creditors may pursue legal action, which can lead to a lawsuit. If you lose, a judgment will be filed against you, giving the creditor the legal authority to garnish your wages, seize certain assets, or place a lien on your property. Tayne explains how these consequences work:
Wage garnishment: Imagine a portion of your paycheck automatically deducted and sent to your creditor each payday. This can significantly impact your take-home pay, making budgeting tight and even more difficult to keep up with your daily living expenses.
Asset seizure: Depending on the debt and state laws, creditors might be able to seize non-essential assets like a second car or expensive jewelry to recoup their money. This can be a traumatizing, stressful, and humiliating experience.
Property lien: A lien placed on your property essentially restricts you from selling it or refinancing freely. You'd either need to pay off the debt first or convince the creditor to remove the lien before selling or refinancing. So with refinancing, if and when interest rates go down, you may not be able to take advantage of getting a new lower interest rate, keeping your mortgage interest rates high. And, with selling, this can significantly complicate the process, which could severely delay the time it takes for you to go through with the whole transaction. Depending on your situation with the home sale, this could put your whole life on hold until the lien is removed.
The consequences of being late on credit card bills
The most immediate consequences of skipping your credit card bills are increased costs due to late fees and penalty APRs.
"A penalty APR is a higher interest rate that kicks in if you miss a payment, making it even harder to pay off your debt," says Tayne. "Your credit score will also take a hit, making it tougher to borrow money in the future or be approved for things like renting an apartment, opening utility accounts, or getting a cell phone."
However, if you continue missing payments, your account will go into collections. This is even worse for your credit, and you’ll start getting calls from debt collectors. Eventually, unpaid debt could lead to a lawsuit.
Some people believe that just because the debt isn’t on their credit report, it’s gone away. But that simply is not accurate. If the debt indeed exists, then a simple search will lead to the debtor and could have long-term effects described above.
Bankruptcy should be a last resort
Although it can be tempting, Tayne urges that bankruptcy really should be a last resort since the consequences can impact you far into the future. While you may be overwhelmed by high debt balances and find paying bills challenging, bankruptcy "can be—and often is—a long and expensive process."
Depending on the type of bankruptcy, you may have to sell some of your assets (real estate, vehicles, etc.) in order to come up with the funds to pay back creditors, or you may be on a payment plan that lasts three to five years that forces you to pay back 100% of the debt amounts you owe. It’s also not automatic—you have to qualify through a means test.
The impact on your credit score is significant and lasts seven to 10 years. This can make it incredibly difficult to secure loans, buy a home, or even get a job in some cases. Essentially, bankruptcy can derail your financial life for a decade, making it much harder to rebuild. That’s why it should only be considered if the benefits of getting out of debt outweigh these negative and long-lasting consequences. For more, here's our guide to what really happens when you declare bankruptcy.
Don't make these mistakes when you're in debt
One of the biggest mistakes Tayne sees her clients make is paying the minimum on all debts and "thinking that’s enough." With interest rates on credit cards at an all-time high, paying only the minimum won’t make a dent in your balance, and your debt will continue to grow. Instead, it's crucial to identify your highest-rate debts and create a plan to tackle them aggressively before they balloon out of control.
Another mistake is simply not knowing how much you owe or to whom. Tayne says many clients find this question difficult to answer, "which is a huge problem because we need to know and understand the baseline debt to really address the root of the problem." Many times, those who get in over their heads with debt will ignore the problem, but this only leads to worse consequences down the road. Without a clear understanding of your debts, creating a plan for tackling them is impossible.
It's easy to overspend if you aren't focused on the end goal. Tayne sees clients with out-of-control spending, and she'll typically recommend budgeting before spending to know what funds are available and resist the temptation of impulse buys.
Not reviewing your credit report annually is another common mistake. Tayne recommends pulling free copies of your credit reports from annualcreditreport.com and making a list of all your debts, the current balance on each, and the interest rates. She explains that "this gives you a clear picture of your debt journey and helps in setting appropriate goals."
The bottom line
The consequences described above are all major headaches on their own. In terms of your debt, each consequence significantly reduces the amount of income you have access to, making these headaches even greater. In other words, ignoring debt won’t make it go away, and your creditors will get that money one way or another. So it’s better to take a proactive approach to handling debt and look for possible solutions, rather than let things get progressively worse.
If you're struggling with debt, consider speaking to a credit counselor or financial advisor about your options. There are better solutions than simply walking away.
Things have changed a lot since I was a kid. Science is actually cool now, for example—my kids actually want to learn as much about the world around them as they can, and they can do so in their home with the wide variety of educational kits available to help them learn about geology, physics, paleontology, chemistry, and other branches of study. Not only do these kits give kids a head start in the classroom, but they also impart principles like observing and problem-solving.
If you have an inquisitive kid looking for fun while deepening their understanding of science, here are 10 affordable kits to help them get started.
Engino Stem Toys: Physics Laws
Sure, your kid can build a rocket with a LEGO set, but it takes science to project it into the air. With this six-in-one set, your child can make a working launcher, crash test rig, rubber band car, sharpening wheel, bow and arrow, and an inertia test platform while learning basic physics principles. Reviewers say this STEM kit has easy-to-follow instructions that even elementary school-aged kids can understand.
National Geographic Stunning Science Chemistry Set
We all made model volcanoes for our science fair project, but your kids can take their experiment to the next level with some pop crystals to make it change colors and fizz. That's just one of the many chemistry-based experiments this kit offers, which also include building a geyser or rocket launcher. The educational instruction booklet also has 30 additional experiments kids can conduct using everyday household items.
KiwiCo Science of Cooking: Ice Cream
What kid doesn't love ice cream? Now, with this hands-on kit created by the popular educational subscription service, they can make their own while learning the materials and methods involved in creating the cold concoction. The kit also includes an illustrated book explaining the science behind the delicious dessert and features recipes for different flavors and sorbet.
Dig a Dozen Dino Eggs
Studying dinosaurs doesn't mean watching Jurassic Park over and over again. Paleontologists have to dig for their discoveries, and your kid can get an idea of what excavating bones is like with these eggs with a toy dinosaur hidden inside by using smaller versions of the same tools scientists use. My oldest son loved playing with these when he was younger, but be warned: They can cause a real mess if used indoors.
Bill Nye's VR Space Lab
The "Science Guy" will immerse your kids in the wonders of the galaxy with a set of goggles that work with an app and smartphone. Activities include over 125 games and engaging augmented-reality experiences that show kids the universe's wonders. The award-winning toy also includes crafts, experiments, and a 96-page project book perfect for pre-teens interested in space exploration.
Mega Cyborg Hand
If only Luke Skywalker had this around when his father cut off his hand! My son built this 203-piece set (mostly) on his own, so parents can breathe a sigh of relief knowing they don't have to construct this STEM toy entirely on their own. There are no wires or electronics here, either. The hand utilizes pneumatic and hydraulic systems to grip, lift, and move objects. Most importantly, the hand only has four fingers, so your child cannot flip anyone the bird when playing with it.
Klutz LEGO Gear Bots
This kit explains the fundamental physics behind the LEGO Technic line with amusing characters, such as an octopus named DJ Bubbles. It includes a book with clear step-by-step instructions, which is important if you've ever tried building a Technic kit.
5-in-1 Robot Building Set
If your little scientist wants to upgrade DJ Bubbles, this robot set is a good next step. They can build a Wall-E knockoff that might upset Disney's lawyers or a robotic dino that is eerily similar to a Dinobot from a particular toy robot-in-disguise line. Appearances aside, commenters love the educational aspects and quality of the toy, while some found it easier to build than others.
National Geographic Rock Tumbler Set
If your child leans toward geology or wants to make their own jewelry, this rock tumbler is the perfect way to uncover the hidden beauty of the Earth. It comes with its own rocks, and while some commenters debate the quietness of the tumbler's three-speed motor, most agree it's easy to use.
Kidzlabs Crystal Science Kit
My first (and only) chemistry set was supposed to help me create crystals through chemical reactions, but it did not include instructions on how to even get started. Thankfully, this set does, so your kids can create moon crystals and snow trees with the included materials and other common household items. You may need to supervise, though.
If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for June 27, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is medium difficult; I got it in four. Beware, there are spoilers below for June 27, Wordle #1,104! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.
Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)
Ready for the hints? Let’s go!
Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?
We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)
All of today's letters are from our mnemonic!
Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?
As a noun, something you place at a restaurant.
Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?
There is one repeated letter today.
How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?
There are two vowels.
What letter does today’s Wordle start with?
Today’s word starts with O.
What letter does today’s Wordle end with?
Today’s word ends with R.
What is the solution to today’s Wordle?
Ready? Today’s word is ORDER.
How I solved today’s Wordle
I started with RAISE and TOUCH then tried ORBED, which left only ORDER as a solution.
Wordle 1,104 4/6
🟨⬛⬛⬛🟨
⬛🟨⬛⬛⬛
🟩🟩⬛🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Yesterday’s Wordle answer
Yesterday’s Wordle was harder. The hint was “a step in baking bread” and the answer contained four common letters and one less common letter.
The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was KNEAD.
A primer on Wordle basics
The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word.
Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)
Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)
Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)
With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.
The best starter words for Wordle
What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:
CRANE
TRACE
SLANT
CRATE
CARTE
Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:
SALET
REAST
TRACE
CRATE
SLATE
Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.
How to win at Wordle
We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.
The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.
One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.
Wordle alternatives
If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:
Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.
Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.
Tired of popups constantly asking you to enable cookies or pop-ups asking you to sign up for a newsletter? A free and open source extension for Safari called Hush means you'll never see them, along with nags for things like enabling notifications. It's the kind of thing you install and then forget about until you use someone else's computer or phone, then wonder how anyone lives without it.
Hush isn't an ad blocker, though it does use the same Safari features utilized by ad blockers. Joel Arvidsson, who created and maintains the tool, states that it has "absolutely no access to your browser habits or passwords" and that it doesn't track behavior.
After installing Hush, you will need to ensure that the extension is enabled in Safari. On a Mac, you can do this by opening Safari, opening Safari's settings, and heading to the Extensions tab. Make sure that "Hush" is checked. On an iPhone or iPad you'll need to open the Settings application, scroll and open Safari, then scroll to an open Extensions. Ensure that Hush is set to on.
Credit: Justin Pot
After that, you're done—Hush will run in the background and block various annoyances. The entire application is half a megabyte, meaning it won't have a significant impact on your system performance.
What it does have an impact on is your browsing. All of us are sick of prompts for enabling cookies and will be glad to simply not see them. Now, this doesn't mean that you're blocking all cookies—that would break a lot of websites. Legally, according to the European Union regulation known as GDPR, websites have to ask permission for any "non-essential" cookies. Not every website complies with that law, though, in part because it only applies in Europe and in part because some people disobey the law. Hush simply stops you from every seeing the cookie pop-up, which means you can browse the web without that particular interruption. It also means that you never give consent to non-essential cookies, which probably on balance is good for your privacy even if it doesn't force anything.
It's hard to resist the urge to crank up the AC during a heatwave. But if you rely on a window unit to stay cool, you may notice that when temperatures soar, your AC isn't as effective as usual, and may even cut out altogether from time to time.
The cause could have nothing to do with your window unit—in the past, you've probably received messages from your local electricity supplier about conserving energy and possible outages during a heatwave, and if your window unit is suddenly not keeping you cool, that could be why.
Asif Bux, the service manager at Comfort Union, a full-service HVAC and plumbing company, says it's a question he deals with a lot: Is it a power issue, or is my AC failing?
Common signs your AC window unit might be failing
According to Bux and Brad Roberson, president of Aire Serv Heating & Air Conditioning and an expert in HVAC and indoor air quality, some common signs that your AC window unit might be dying include:
It stops blowing cold air (or the air is not as cool as it used to be)
It's making loud, unusual noises (e.g. grinding or buzzing)
It's leaking water
It's frequently switching on and off
You're getting unusually high energy bills, even accounting for regular AC use (a sign of reduced efficiency)
Reasons your AC unit may be struggling
Before writing your current AC window unit off completely, do some detective work to figure out if it's actually broken, or there's something else going on.
1. It's a power issue
According to Roberson, AC window units are designed to lower temperatures by a certain amount, and sometimes the heat becomes too much for them. "During times of extreme heat and extended use, the unit may struggle to achieve or maintain desired temperatures," he says.
Power supply issues might also be to blame, Bux says—especially during peak usage times, when the electrical grid could experience voltage drops. "Dimmed lights or other electrical anomalies can indicate a grid issue," he says.
If the unit functions properly again when outdoor temperatures cool down, you'll know it was likely a heat-load or electrical grid issue, Bux says.
2. The filter is dirty
The first thing to check is your unit's air filter. These get dirtier quicker than you think they will, and can reduce cooling efficiency, Bux says. A filthy filter can also cause your unit to cycle on and off frequently.
3. The coil fins are bent and/or dirty
Check to make sure the coil fins—located on the part sticking outside of the window—aren't bent and/or folded over, which will restrict airflow, Roberson says. While you're back there, clean off any dirt or debris on the coils, which Bux says can "impeded heat exchange." Frost buildup is another sign clogged condenser coils, he says.
4. Something is blocking the airflow
Make sure the outside part of the window unit isn’t blocked by anything that would reduce airflow, Roberson says.
5. The condensate drain is blocked
Check the condensate drain to make sure it's not obstructed and operating properly, Roberson adds.
6. There's a problem with the settings and/or power supply
Check the unit's thermostat settings. This sounds obvious, but maybe you forgot that you set it to "low" at night and forgot to set it back to full capacity during the day. Bux also recommends making sure the power supply is adequate by checking the breaker panel and inspecting the power cord.
7. It's the wrong size
If your AC unit is switching on and off frequently, Bux says that it could be a sign that the unit isn't powerful enough to cool the room or space that it's in. One way to find out if this is the case is to check the BTU rating and ensure that it's high enough for the square footage of the room.
8. It's actually broken
If you've checked all of the areas mentioned above and you're not in the middle of a heatwave, your AC window unit may actually be broken. "The unit may have a problem with the compressor, or refrigerant levels may be low, or there is a refrigerant leak," Roberson says. Water leakage can stem from a failing gasket, Bux says, while unusual noises—like buzzing or grinding—may be the result of loose components, a failing motor, or electrical issues.
Should you repair or replace a broken AC window unit?
In short, it comes down to the age of the AC unit. If it's more than eight to 10 years old, it's usually less expensive to replace the unit because parts to fix it may be harder to find, and it may use outdated, less-energy-efficient technology, Roberson says.
For newer AC window units, Bux says that if repair costs exceed 50% of a new unit's price, you're better off replacing it—especially considering the likelihood future repairs. Plus, because new units are more energy efficient, you'll likely save money on your electricity bills.
You can get this USB-C Apple Pencil on sale for $59.99 right now (reg. $79). You can use it for writing, drawing, and marking up, and it comes with low latency, magnetic attachment, hover for previewing your marks, and tilt sensitivity, but it doesn’t have pressure sensitivity or magnetic charging. It works with the latest versions of the iPad, iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad mini, and some older models. It’s cheaper than buying from Apple’s website because it's an open-box model—excess inventory from store shelves or customer returns—but it’s been repackaged and verified to be in new condition.
You can get this USB-C Apple Pencil on sale for $59.99 right now (reg. $79), though prices can change at any time.
Windows lets you preview a window by hovering your mouse over the icon in the taskbar. The Mac can't do that, unless you install DockDoor. This free and open-source application adds previews to the dock and also gives you a proper Ctrl-Tab keyboard shortcut for switching windows.
DockDoor is simple to install: just download it, drag it to the applications folder, and launch it. You will need to provide both accessibility and screen recording permission to the application in order for it to function. After that, the application will run in the background—you can configure it by clicking the menu bar icon.
Hover over any dock icon and you will see a real-time preview of what's happening in that application. If there are two windows open in that app you will see both windows, and you can click on it to open it. These are all features Windows has had for over a decade that haven't yet made their way to macOS.
You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Tab to cycle through all windows open on the current space. This is a great way to jump to a particular window without having to hunt it down with the mouse.
Credit: Justin Pot
DockDoor isn't perfect. It can't preview hidden windows, or windows on another space, due to limitations in how macOS operates. If you're a single-space-full-of-windows kind of person, and you miss the window preview from Windows, DockDoor just might be perfect for you.
Login
