Life Style

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Running seems like a cheap sport—you just need shoes!—until you actually go shoe shopping. The right footwear can make or break your experience. They can also break your budget; even the most basic models are well over $100 new. (That being said, keep in mind that the most expensive shoe isn't necessarily the best for you.)Of course, you can search for deals at any time—there's usually something being discounted no matter when you look. But if you want a specific shoe on sale, it's worth watching the schedule of new releases. And the ultimate hack: New shoe models tend to be introduced in the spring, making right now an excellent time to snag discontinued models. Spring is the best time to buy running shoesJust lik...

We may earn a commission from links on this page.Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Finding great travel deals is a skill, but it’s one that can be honed—if you know where to source a bargain, can be patient and flexible, and if you know you can take advantage of the 24-hour free federal cancelation policy to lock in a time-sensitive opportunity. Here are some of the best travel websites you can use to snag your next trip on the cheap.Use Skyscanner to find the cheapest flightsYes, Google Flights is more user-friendly and has cool features (like the “explore” tool to see a map of your potential destinations and their prices), but if you mean business and are looking for the cheapest flight options you can find, Skyscanner is...

We may earn a commission from links on this page.Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Amazon Fire Max 11 feels like the grown-up version of the Fire Tablets that used to be just good enough. It's bigger, cleaner, and doesn’t stutter when you try to do more than scroll through a book or stream a show. Right now, you can grab a certified refurbished unit with 128GB of storage and no lock-screen ads for $139.99 (down from $239.99). And it’s not old tech, either—it came out last summer and earned PCMag’s Best Budget Tablet of the Year 2024. Its 11-inch screen is a bright, crisp LCD panel with a 2,000 x 1,200 resolution and decent 213ppi sharpness. It’s not quite iPad-level quality, but it gets close, especially for reading, st...

I couldn't live without copy and paste—it's core to the way I write and work—but it's a pretty abstract feature when you think about it. Copy something and it goes... somewhere. Then you can paste it. Oh, and if you copy a second thing the first thing is gone.This is a problem solved by clipboard managers. These applications let you review everything you've copied recently and even select an older item to paste it. They work well, but generally require a lot of context switching. What if you want to copy multiple things and then paste them later, all in the order you copied them, without having to open a clipboard manager and choose the items in order? There's a free and open source Mac tool for that: Batch Clipboard (which I found via MacMenuBar).This application isn't a clipboard manager...

Microsoft is taking another big step toward eliminating passwords with a "passwordless by default" setting for new accounts. New users will be prompted to set up passkeys when creating their Microsoft logins, leaving passwords behind. The company has had passwordless sign-in options for Windows 11 and Microsoft accounts for several years, and in 2024 expanded passkey support across Windows, Android, and iOS. This is a big change, but not one without reason. In fact, it may make Microsoft accounts more secure, and render many scammers' phishing tactics obsolete. The benefits of passkeysPasskeys are not only easier to use than passwords combined with other forms of two-factor authentication (2FA) like SMS codes and authenticator apps—they're also more secure. Passkeys are cryptographically g...

We may earn a commission from links on this page.Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 might've made headlines for their heart-rate monitoring feature, but that's actually their worst feature. These new earbuds, which came out in February, compete against the AirPods Pro 2, since they're normally the same price. Right now, though, you can get Beats' Powerbeats Pro 2 for $199.95 (originally $249.99) after their first major discount, according to price-tracking tools. Beats waited five years to upgrade the Powerbeats Pro. For those who waited patiently for the new version (and now for a good discount), they'll be rewarded with great workout earbuds, according to Beth Skwarecki's review, for under $200. ...

Trump's tariffs mean the days of ultra-cheap online shopping from international retailers are coming to an end. Starting today, the long-standing exemption on import tariffs for packages valued under $800—known as the "de minimis" exemption—has been eliminated for shipments from China, a move that will dramatically impact consumers who have grown accustomed to suspiciously cheap e-commerce goods from sites like Shein and Temu. While the exemption remains in place for countries other than China, the Trump administration has indicated it plans to eventually eliminate those carve-outs as well. Here's how the end of this tariff loophole will impact you, and what you can do to make the most of it.What's is the de minimis exemption, and why is it ending?Previously, packages valued under $800 ent...

Gaming laptops are a great blend of portability and power, but you can usually only get one or the other at a time. Plug your laptop in and you can have top-notch graphics, but as soon as you unplug, all those polygons will drain your battery faster than you can say "Play of the game." Fortunately, there are some ways to mitigate this downside.The good news is that gaming laptop manufacturers have invested a good deal of effort into tools that will try to balance GPU performance with battery savings. Your laptop may have even come out of the box configured with some of my suggestions, but this varies widely by manufacturer, so be sure to check yours anyway.It's also important to note that battery life savings will vary widely by what type of game you play. A laptop that can last all day pl...

May's sky watching calendar includes planetary viewing, prime stargazing, and a meteor shower peak, so you have plenty of reasons to head outside and look up this month. Here's what's coming to the night sky. May 3: Mars and MoonThe first quarter moon this month will appear right next to Mars on the evening of May 3. Look toward the western sky in the first half of the night. You may also be able to see the Beehive Cluster (Messier 44), a cluster of 1,000 stars that's around 600 light years away, lit up by the glow of the Red Planet. May 5: Eta Aquarid peakThe Eta Aquarid meteor shower has been active since mid-April, but it will peak on the night of May 5–6. This event results from the Earth passing through debris left behind by Halley's Comet (which is also responsible for the Orionids i...