Life Style

Many, but far from all, otherwise mobile-only applications are available on the Mac App Store for Macs with an Apple silicon processor. Such Macs can hypothetically run any iPhone or iPad application, though individual developers can choose whether or not to offer that functionality. There are multiple reasons why a company might not offer their iPhone app on Mac—maybe they don't want to optimize it for a bigger display, maybe it's broken in some way, or maybe they just aren't interested in supporting another platform.You might disagree with that decision, though, and wondering whether it's possible to use those apps on your Mac anyway. And it is, sort of: PlayCover is an app capable of running any iPhone application you can think of, at least in theory. The problem is, there's no straight...

The Department of Education announced Monday that the FSA will finally restart collections on defaulted student loans beginning May 5, 2025, following a five-year pause that began during the COVID-19 pandemic.This decision affects approximately 5.3 million borrowers who were in default before the pause. For these borrowers, the government can soon begin collecting repayments from tax refunds, withholding Social Security benefits, and even garnishing wages (up to 15% of disposable income). How do you know if you're already in default on your loans, or if you're at risk of defaulting soon? Here's what you need to know about the upcoming changes, and how to prepare for them.What the end of the pause means for youThis change primarily impacts borrowers who were already in default before pandem...

While it may not have the high profile of Spotify or Apple Music, YouTube Music has its own band of loyal users—not least because of the wealth of audio material you can find across YouTube as well as the designated YouTube Music library. The service integrates neatly with other Google services of course, and is available across a multitude of devices.Despite the rather functional and basic appearance of the YouTube Music apps, there's plenty going on behind the scenes, from the option to upload your own MP3s to your library, to the opportunity to collaborate on playlists with other people.Add videos to playlistsYouTube Music gives you something you don't get with any other music streaming service out there, which is access to the whole of YouTube, and all the music videos, rarities, and l...

Obsidian is my favorite productivity tool. I use it for all of my writing, as a journaling app, and to replace multiple productivity tools. There's a big downside, though: no grammar checking tool.Grammarly is the best known grammar checking tool, but there's no way to add it to Obsidian. I also wouldn't enable it even if I could. Grammarly processes text on their own servers, which is a potential privacy issue and also generally inefficient. This is why I've come to love Harper, a free and open-source alternative that runs entirely on your device and can be added to Obsidian in a couple of clicks.Harper isn't just an Obsidian tool—there are also plugins for WordPress, Visual Studio Code, or any developer tool that supports the Language Server Protocol. If you'd like to see Harper in actio...

Max's May lineup brings the return of two of the streamer's original comedy series. First up is the second installment of Conan O'Brien Must Go (May 8), an unscripted travel series in which Conan reconnects with fans he previously met on his podcast, Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend. This season's three episodes will debut weekly. At the end of the month, Sex and the City spinoff And Just Like That... (May 29) returns for its third season, following original SATC characters—plus a few additions—navigating life in New York City in their 50s. On the film side, Max will debut HBO original Mountainhead (May 31), starring Steve Carrell, Jason Schwartzman, Cory Michael Smith, and Ramy Youssef as billionaire friends navigating a financial crisis. Mountainhead was written and directed by Succession...

True crime podcasts have been in the zeitgeist for quite some time, but those focusing on scams seem to get less mainstream attention than their bloody, murder-heavy counterparts.I’ve gathered recommendations for the best, most fascinating scam podcasts on the digital airwaves right now. Catch up, follow along, then pick your jaw off the floor as you learn the shocking ways some truly manipulative people were able to take advantage of the most vulnerable, robbing them of their money, friendship, and trust. From mysterious boys emerging from the wild to con a whole town, to an entrepreneur bilking investors out of millions of dollars for bunk science, each of these true life tales is dripping with lies and deceit.The Con: Kaitlyn's Baby ...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. We like to think that our home is also our fortress of privacy: Once you walk through your front door, you’re free from prying eyes (or lenses) and can relax. There are a ton of ways to ensure your privacy inside, starting with items like window films, shades, and curtains. And if you want to protect your outdoor space from neighbors peering over the fence, you have several easy options.Most of those options, however, assume your neighbors are on the same level as you. If the neighboring homes are located above yours, you’ll need to re-think your privacy plan. This is especially true if your neighbors have outdoor areas that offer a perfect view of your backyard. If you get the sense you’re being watched every time...

Is the treadmill harder or easier than running outdoors? Survey runners, and you’ll get plenty of different opinions on which feels harder or easier, but the basic physics of running are the same on both. (I promise.) So why do people who are used to treadmills find that they’re slower when they run outdoors? I’m going to run through the factors that are at play here, and talk about how to adapt if you want to be able to enjoy both. If you find treadmill running harder, you probably already know the reason: it’s boring. You have nothing to distract you from your own effort and the glowing numbers telling you how little progress you’ve made. This is a problem that we can train our brains to solve for us over time, whether with distractions, mindfulness, or simply being grateful that we’re n...

This week, OpenAI announced its latest models: o3 and o4-mini. These are reasoning models, which break down a prompt into multiple parts that are then addressed one at a time. The goal is for the bot to “think” through a request more deeply than other models might, and arrive at a deeper, more accurate result. While there are many possible functions for OpenAI’s “most powerful” reasoning model, one use that has blown up a bit on social media is for geoguessing—the act of identifying a location by analyzing only what you can see in an image. As TechCrunch reported, users on X are posting about their experiences asking o3 to pinpoint locations from random photos, and showing glowing results. The bot will guess where in the world it thinks the photo was taken, and break down its reasons for t...

Instagram has a new feature that curates custom Reels feeds for you and your friends. Blend, an invite-only option within individual or group chats, refreshes daily and suggests content based on participants' tastes. Spotify has a similar Blend feature that creates shared playlists—also updated daily—based on both listeners' tastes. Note that Instagram Blend, which is a mobile-only feature, is not yet available to all users, even if the icon appears in your chats. How to use Instagram BlendTo start a blend, you'll need to invite users via your individual or group chats. From Messages on the mobile app, open the one-on-one or group chat you want to create a blend with and tap the new Blend icon. Everyone in the chat will receive an invite—if at least one person accepts, a blend will be cr...