Friday, August 14

Life Style

Is Virtual Reality Really Dead?
Life Style

Is Virtual Reality Really Dead?

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Things don't look great for virtual reality. Once seen as the future of online interaction, the present has caught up to VR, and it's brutal: Meta is by far the biggest dog in the virtual reality kennel, and its virtual reality division, Reality Labs, lost over $73 billion since it launched five years ago, leading the company to pull some resources from VR to focus on smart glasses and AI. Apple, seen as the runner-up in the VR market, shipped only 45,000 Vision Pro headsets in the final quarter of 2025, a rounding error compared to the 82.6 million iPhones Apple sold in the same period. At his metaverse introduction in 2021, Mark Zuckerberg envisioned Horizon Worlds as a vast digital continent, but its active user bas...
Best Fitness Hacks Every Apple Watch User Should Know
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Best Fitness Hacks Every Apple Watch User Should Know

We may earn a commission from links on this page. The Apple Watch is a powerful tool for following and tracking exercise. We’ve already shown you 10 hacks for all Apple Watch users, but I’m here with a follow-up on the fitness features, specifically. With these lesser-known settings, apps, and features, you can get more out of your workouts and your health data.Give your Apple Watch rings a "rest day" Credit: Beth Skwarecki The Apple Watch’s Fitness app famously includes three rings (Move, Exercise, Stand) that you can close with activity throughout the day. Not only should you change your Move and Exercise goals to numbers...
How EU Regulators Might Change TikTok
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How EU Regulators Might Change TikTok

If you've ever joined me in the misfortune of downloading TikTok, you've probably spent at least one evening mindlessly scrolling until two or three in the morning, not even looking for anything in particular to watch. According to the EU, that needs to change, as the region has preliminarily determined that the "addictive" app is in violation of its Digital Services Act. The decision came on Feb. 5 and followed an investigation from the European Commission into the effects that features including infinite scrolling, autoplay, push notifications, and the fabled TikTok algorithm have on the minds of users. According to the commission's findings, "TikTok did not adequately assess how these addictive features could harm the physical and mental wellbeing of its users, including minors and vuln...
This Substack Data Breach May Have Compromised Nearly 700,000 User Records
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This Substack Data Breach May Have Compromised Nearly 700,000 User Records

When you sign up for a subscription on Substack, you're thinking you'll receive newsletters and posts from online creators, not lose the data you share with the platform. But like any digital service, the data you provide when signing up is at the mercy of Substack, or anyone who happens to gain access to that data. Unfortunately, that's now the case. Substack may have lost nearly 700,000 user recordsAs reported by BleepingComputer, Substack recently disclosed a significant data breach. The company's CEO, Chris Best, sent users a notice of the breach this week, sharing that email addresses, phone numbers, and "other internal metadata" were shared from Substack accounts without their permission. The company reportedly discovered the breach on Feb. 3, even though hackers accessed the data it...
The TCL QM5K Was Already Affordable, and Now It’s an Extra $450 Off
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The TCL QM5K Was Already Affordable, and Now It’s an Extra $450 Off

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. TCL makes incredible budget QLED TVs. I've been using TCL's QM6K since its release last year, and I frequently recommend it to anyone looking for a QLED TV for a great price. Right now, Best Buy has the 65-inch TCL QM5K (a slightly less expensive model than the one I have) for $449.99 (originally $899.99) after a 50% discount. The QM5K is an exclusive model made for Best Buy that's nearly identical to the QM6K, but it has fewer gaming-centric features. The QM5K caps at a refresh rate of 60Hz at the native 4K resolution—it's still great for casual gamers, but hardcore players who want top-of-the-line specs might want shell out $80 fo...
This JBL Party Speaker Is on Sale for $600 Right Now
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This JBL Party Speaker Is on Sale for $600 Right Now

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The JBL PartyBox 520 is the kind of speaker you buy when phone speakers and compact Bluetooth boxes stop cutting it. It’s currently $599.95 at Woot, a steep drop from its usual $879.95 price. Price trackers show the lowest it’s ever hit before was $699.95, so this is the best deal yet. Prime members get free standard shipping,and the deal runs for another three weeks or until it sells out. This is a tall, tower-style speaker that sits above the PartyBox Stage 320 in JBL’s PartyBox lineup. ...
Everyone Can Now Use Alexa+, but the Full Experience Might Cost You
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Everyone Can Now Use Alexa+, but the Full Experience Might Cost You

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Amazon announced Alexa+, its overhauled digital assistant with generative AI capabilities, about a year ago. Shortly thereafter, it kicked off an early access program allowing interested users to try it out free of charge. Unfortunately, that honeymoon period has come to an end: Alexa+ has now officially launched, and now you'll need to pay to access its most useful features.While certain features will still be free to use, the majority of the Alexa+ experience is now locked behind a paywall. True, you might already pay for that paywall—but if you don't, it's going to cost you quite a bit to keep the features you've been test driving for months. (Of course, the standard Alexa assistant still exists if you don't care fo...
How to Keep Your Gym Gear From Stinking
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How to Keep Your Gym Gear From Stinking

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Does your gym bag reek? You’re not alone, but it doesn’t have to be this way. With proper care, you can keep your workout gear stink-free. The key is to do yourself a favor and start taking care of everything before it starts to smell. But even if you’ve already let things get bad, I have some tips for you.I'll get into specifics below, but first, it can help to understand why the gym stink develops on clothing and other items that contact your skin. You sweat into them, but it's not the sweat itself that is the problem. It's the bacteria that feed on your sweat. So you'll need to either get rid of the sweat before the bacteria can grow, or handle your clothes and gear in a way that the bacteria won't be able to grow. ...
This Is What You’ll Find the Best Deals on During This Year’s Presidents Day Sales
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This Is What You’ll Find the Best Deals on During This Year’s Presidents Day Sales

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. It feels like the year just started, but we're already approaching the first major retail holiday of 2026, and as Lifehacker's deals writer, I'm here to tell you how to make the most of the upcoming Presidents Day sales. Here are my tips on which products are likely to be a great buy, and which ones your better off waiting to pick up during a future sale.When is Presidents Day 2026?Presidents Day is a federal holiday that originally started to honor George Washington's birthday, but eventually evolved to recognize all U.S. presidents. Presidents Day falls on the third Monday of February each year, which means this year, it will take ...
Current Trends Explained: Humans Are in a Dance Battle With AI Babies
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Current Trends Explained: Humans Are in a Dance Battle With AI Babies

Your social media feed is probably showing you something totally different, but this week in young-people-land, Humanity is locked in a high-stakes dance battle with artificial intelligence, food is yelling at everyone, and we're learning a lot about "young hos." Viral video of the week: human vs. AI baby dancingThis week's viral video is more of a viral video trend, and it involves a battle of dancing babies. It starts with the post below, from @mindalchemy0236, which I apologize for in advance. An ad for the "Baby Dance" app, this video has been viewed over 100 million times. It became so overplayed on TiKTok that users fought back in the only way they could: Through dance. In a modern re-enactment of the American myth of John Henry vs. the Steam Engine, users on TikTok are locked ...