Life Style

Sleepless nights are a reality for many of us: parents of newborns, students cramming for tests, people struggling with insomnia. We all know that we need to sleep, but come on, can’t we go without it for a while? Sort of, but it’s not pretty. The world record is 19 daysThe most famous record holder for sleep deprivation—although he doesn’t hold the current record—is Randy Gardner, who is widely considered to have undergone the best-documented period of extreme sleep deprivation by a human: 264 hours, or about 11 days. As NPR reports, Gardner was working on a science fair project with two other students in 1963, and they decided to beat the 260 sleepless hours they'd heard a radio DJ had accomplished. Gardner lost the coin toss, and he went without sleep while the others monitored him and ...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Roborock has come a long way from its first generation of clunky robot vacuums that got stuck in corners or blindly bumped into furniture. One of their latest innovations is the Saros Z70, which CNET calls an “AI-powered housekeeper.” It has a robotic arm that allows the device to tidy while it cleans, picking up items like socks and slippers and moving them to designated areas. Right now, the Roborock Saros Z70 robot vacuum and mop is half off, at an all-time low price of $999.99 (originally $1,999). While the star of the show is the robotic appendage on this AI-powered robot vacuum-and-mop hybrid, it also offers a range of other fe...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. As the old adage goes, the best camera is the one you have with you. People will fight about which smartphone has the most impressive camera specs or whether it's worth picking up a dedicated DSLR for more professional shots, but if you have an iPhone, it's undoubtedly your most reliable shooter. You always have it on you; it takes great photos out of the box; and it makes it easy to store and share your results with others. But that doesn't mean you can't make it better. Over the years, I've tinkered with my iPhone's Camera app to push it to its limits, so it can return the highest-quality photos and videos possible. If you're interested in doing the same, try these 10 hacks, tips, and tricks to get more out of your i...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Apple quietly dropped some bad news for music fans at the end of the week: Apple Music is getting more expensive. As of today, the company is raising prices on its popular music streaming service, but not necessarily for all subscribers: People on one particular type of plan will be able to keep their old rate.As you can see from Apple Music's official promo site, an individual plan is now $11.99 per month, up $1 from $10.99 per month. (Apple still offers one month free for new subscribers.) Student plans get the same $1 increase, bringing the total to $6.99 from $5.99. The hike on family plans is even pricier: They now cost $19.99 per month, up $3 from $16.99 per month. If you get Apple Music from an Apple One subscri...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. There are a lot of kid-friendly headphones on the market to choose from. Compared to adult headphones, kids’ headphones are designed to fit young heads more comfortably and generally include volume-limiting features to protect their ears. PCMag’s top pick is the iClever BTH20 ANC headphones for kids, currently 30% off at a record-low price of $34.98 (originally $49.99). These headphones earned a PCMag Editor’s Choice Award thanks to their comfortable fit and ability to blend passive and active noise cancellation, allowing for lower-volume listening. The maximum volume limit is 80dB, which protects your kids' ears, and their child-fri...

Messages is the default chat app for billions of Apple users. If you have an Apple device (but particularly an iPhone), you likely open the app dozens of times every day. And yet, this simple app can do a lot more than send texts. Whether you use it on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you can use these 10 hacks to make Messages a better and more productive chat app.Adjust your settings to filter out spam in Messages When you get a new text, you want it to be from a friend, not an obvious scam. Alas, the latter sort are all too frequent. But in recent years, Apple has added some helpful tools to filter out messages from unknown senders, and send obvious spam to its own unique folder.To set this up, open Settings > Apps > Messages, then choose both "Screen Unknown Senders" and "Filter Spam."...

Next spring, you'll notice a handful of new emojis pop up on your iPhone or Android device. As shared by Unicode Emoji Subcommittee Chair Jennifer Daniel, there are nine additions slated for 2027, including "Cracking Face," "Leftwards Thumb Sign," "Rightwards Thumb Sign," "Monarch Butterfly," "Pickle," "Lighthouse," "Meteor," "Eraser," and "Net With Handle." It's not the biggest update in emoji history, but it's a fun assortment. (I can imagine "Cracked Face" is going to get some use.) I always enjoy when new emojis hit the scene (who could live without the recent "Melting Face"), but I never really questioned how these emojis actually come to be. I imagine that's the same for most of us who use these icons. Maybe some of us think that the individual tech companies (e.g., Apple, Google, et...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Javier Bardem as Max Cady in 'Cape Fear' Credit: Courtesy of Mark Hill / Apple TV Cape Fear is one of those stories with a premise so sturdy and reliable, it can be reinvented and reinterpreted endlessly. The original 1957 novel (titled The Executioners) remains a pulse-pounding thriller, and the two film adaptations (from 1962 and starring Robert Mitchum, and the Martin Scorsese/Robert De Niro version from 1991) are wildly different in tone and approach but equally effective. Add to that list Apple TV’s brand-new take on the material, which brings a neon-lit sense of chaos and a modern edge of digital v...

We're firmly in the AI era, and chatbots and personal assistants are all the rage. Soon enough, eligible iPhone users will get the chance to experience an AI-powered Siri, Meanwhile, ChatGPT is available to answer your questions even while you're driving. It's increasingly all but impossible to use modern technology without being invited to interface with AI. Case in point: You can now "talk" to Spotify. On first blush, this struck me as a bit weird, but it might actually be useful—especially for users who want to know everything about their listening history. How talking to Spotify worksOn Tuesday, Spotify announced a new update that lets you text or speak directly with the app. The idea isn't to treat Spotify like a conversation partner; rather, Spotify wants you to tell the app what you...

Gboard is the default keyboard on many Android devices, including Google Pixels, and has more than 10 billion downloads on the Google Play Store, making it a widely used and trusted typing tool. It has plenty of useful features (some of which require a network connection), but it also has a few downsides—including some privacy concerns. While these issues may not be enough to get you to quit Gboard altogether, you should know what data it collects, where that information goes, and how to keep your inputs safe. Gboard's data privacy issuesMany Gboard users have expressed concern about the keyboard logging inputs and sharing data with Google. Reporting from Android Police found that Gboard activity could potentially be intercepted, decoded, and tied directly to users' identities.According to...