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My top-rated laptop power bank works with almost any model - and has a useful display

ZDNET's key takeaways The Bluetti X20 has a massive capacity designed for high-draw devices, available now for $199. It's kitted out with a DC port, and it comes with a dozen adapters covering most laptops on the market. There's no carry handle, so the unit can be a bit cumbersome to carry. View now at Walmart Most of us think of power banks as small, smartphone-sized battery packs that can be slipped into a pocket or clamped onto the back of a smartphone. But there's a category of power bank

This countertop ice maker makes the 'good ice' you only get in restaurants

ZDNET's key takeaways The GE Profile Opal 2.0 nugget ice maker is a smart kitchen appliance that sells for $599. This machine will do the trick if you want those satisfyingly munchable ice pellets often served at fast food restaurants It's also operable via a mobile app. It's pricey, especially given what it is, but I've found the machine well worth the investment. View now at Amazon Whether you call it the good ice, Sonic ice, nugget ice, or pellet ice, there's no denying that the small, mu

Pebblebee’s AirTag alternative now doubles as a panic alarm

is a senior reporter who’s been covering and reviewing the latest gadgets and tech since 2006, but has loved all things electronic since he was a kid. Pebblebee has announced a new personal safety feature for its Clip location tracker that’s compatible with both Apple’s Find My and Google’s Find Hub network. Alert is being introduced as a free update to the Pebblebee app today, and the company says it will work with current and future versions of the Clip without requiring a subscription fee. P

The Oura Ring 3 is still discounted to a great price

Nina Raemont/ZDNETLink Text: Oura Ring 3URL: https://www.amazon.com/Oura-Ring-Gen3-Horizon-Tracking/dp/B0CSRF3Y2F/Merchant: Offer Type: MONETIZATION PENDING please save and reload Edit UnlinkOura Ring 3 Wanna know a secret? Besides one more day of battery life and a slimmer build, there really isn't much of a difference between the Oura Ring 3 and the Oura Ring 4. That's because they both have nearly the exact same software and app user experience. So if you've been eyeing an Oura Ring but are

What happens when a brand built for sport loses some of its focus?

I’m Carter, I lead growth and operations at Handstand [a bit more on me here]. I grew up just outside of Portland, Oregon - naturally, Nike has been in my orbit and part of my life since day one (see below: “Dear Santa, please bring me a pair of Chicago 1s”). It’s an inspiring brand we discuss and think about often, so I decided to write about it. Excited to continue sharing more perspectives from different voices on the team. Visiting Santa at Meier & Frank - Portland, OR “When you see only p

Mortgage Rate Predictions: Here's Why Rates Are Staying High in July

Buyers should keep an eye on the possibility of rate cuts in the next few months. Tharon Green/CNET After the rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage dipped to around 6.7% (its lowest level in months), prospective homebuyers jumped to take advantage. Before the July 4 holiday weekend, mortgage loan applications increased 9.4% week over week, per the Mortgage Bankers Association. Homeowners also seized on refinancing, with refinance activity 56% higher than the same time last year. But the reprieve di

Happy 20th Birthday, Django

On July 13th 2005, Jacob Kaplan-Moss made the first commit to the public repository that would become Django. Twenty years and 400+ releases later, here we are – Happy 20th birthday Django! 🎉 Join the celebrations We want to share this special occasion with you all! Our new 20-years of Django website showcases all online and local events happening around the world, through all of 2025. As well as other opportunities to celebrate! Expect birthday cake 🎂 and singing Happy Birthday A special qu

At Least One Familiar Face Won’t Be Back for ‘Practical Magic 2’

Clay McLeod Chapman’s Ghost Eaters is coming to the big screen. Get a creepy teasing look at IT: Welcome to Derry. Plus, what’s coming on Invasion and Rick & Morty. Spoilers, away! Practical Magic 2 In a recent social media post (via Deadline), Evan Rachel Wood confirmed she “wasn’t asked” to return for Practical Magic 2, stating she believes her character, Kylie, is set to be recast. I am getting asked about this a lot, so l’ll just clear it up now;I was not asked to come back and be in the

This Galaxy S26 leak is bad news for small-phone lovers

C. Scott Brown / Android Authority TL;DR A Korean outlet reports that Samsung is working on the Galaxy S26 Edge instead of the S26 Plus. The outlet also revealed screen sizes for all three models, and the base model might get a small size bump. The Samsung Galaxy S26 series is still roughly six months away from launch, but that hasn’t stopped the steady stream of leaks. It now looks like we’ve got screen-related details for all three phones. The Elec reports (h/t: Jukanlosreve on Twitter) th

Telefónica DE shifts VMware support to Spinnaker due to cost

The German arm of telecoms biz Telefónica has shifted support for its VMware installed base to Spinnaker after Broadcom quoted it a renewal figure five times the size of what it was previously paying. Telefónica Germany made the switch to Spinnaker at the start of the year when its existing support with VMware, now a subsidiary of silicon-and-software giant Broadcom, expired. VMware must support crucial Dutch govt agency as it migrates off the platform, judge rules READ MORE The telco was run

Dyson Reveals Its Futuristic Farming Vision

Dyson, a company best known for its vacuums and hair dryers, unveiled a new circular farm design featuring rows of strawberry plants that rotate to share sunlight, robots that do everything from harvesting to releasing helpful insects, and sensors to help farmers keep an eye on things. The company is also getting into the renewable energy game. Check out the video in this article to find out how it all connects and what it could mean for the future of food.

The Structure of Ice in Space Is Neither Order nor Chaos—It’s Both

Ice is a key component in the universe. There are frozen water molecules on comets, moons, exoplanets, and in your drink as you cool off from the summer heat. However, under the microscope, not all ice is the same, even though it is made of the same components. The internal structure of Earth’s ice is a cosmological oddity. Its molecules are arranged in geometric structures, usually hexagons that repeat each other. Ice on Earth forms this way due to the temperature and pressure of the our plane

AirTag 2: Here’s what we’re expecting

Apple has long wrapped up its spring releases, including the new iPhone 16e, M4 MacBook Air, M3 iPad Air, and A16 iPad. While the iPhone 17 lineup will certainly be the star of the show for this fall’s hardware releases, there’s something a bit unique coming later this year: AirTag 2. Why AirTag 2 Despite the fact that it sounds like an uninteresting refresh, AirTag 2 will actually pack a number of relatively important upgrades for the everyday user. A new version of a tiny little item tracke

Dyson Reveals Futuristic Farming Vision

Dyson, a company best known for its vacuums and hair dryers, unveiled a new circular farm design featuring rows of strawberry plants that rotate to share sunlight, robots that do everything from harvesting to releasing helpful insects, and sensors to help farmers keep an eye on things. The company is also getting into the renewable energy game. Check out the video in this article to find out how it all connects and what it could mean for the future of food.

Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for July 14, #294

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles. Today's Connections: Sports Edition might be tough, if timely. I guess I'm not up on the 2025 HR Derby, but maybe you are. Read on for hints and the answers. Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That's a sign that the game has earned e

Species at 30 makes for a great guilty pleasure

Earlier this month, Hollywood mourned the passing of Michael Madsen, a gifted actor best known for his critically acclaimed roles in Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, and Donnie Brasco, among others. Few obituaries have mentioned one of his lesser-known roles: a black ops mercenary hired to help hunt down an escaped human/alien hybrid in 1995's Species. The sci-fi thriller turns 30 this year and while it garnered decidedly mixed reviews upon release, the film holds up quite well as a not-quite-campy B

Gasp! Researchers Say There’s an Inaccuracy in Popular Teen Movies

Image by Peacock / NBC Studies According to a new study, teen films have a dirty little secret — and it's harming the real-life adolescents who watch them. After analyzing dozens of teen films, communications researchers at the University of Ohio found, per a new study published in the Journal of Children and Media, that the experiences depicted in them was so different from the lives and experiences of actual teens that they may as well have been speculative fiction. Looking at 53 teen films

A Company Tried to Put Real Estate on the Blockchain and Now It's Facing a Legal Disaster

Detroit is a city that's used to fighting. Once the third most populous city in the country, its citizens have long struggled against robber barons, anti-communist witch hunts, private sector looting, and racist housing laws. It hasn't had it easy, to say the least. Now, Outlier reports, the city is doing battle against a $93 million crypto real estate scheme. The city recently announced a massive lawsuit filed against RealToken, a cryptocurrency business that's snapping up hundreds of subsidi

Report: Apple’s all-new smart home hub is no longer likely to launch this year

The all-new smart home hub was supposed to be Apple’s star of the show this year. There was just one problem: Siri. After a multitude of Siri hiccups and delays, it begun to look more and more unlikely that the product would launch in 2025. Now, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is reporting that a 2026 launch is almost a guarantee. Originally, it seemed all but confirmed that we’d see the Apple smart home hub around March or so. The product was well rumored throughout 2024, and we essentially know every

Topics: apple home new siri smart

Human-Constructed Dams Have Shifted the Earth’s Poles, Scientists Say

Humans have built so many dams around the world that the Earth’s poles have wandered away from the planet’s rotational axis, new research suggests. Over the last 200 years, humans have constructed nearly 7,000 massive dams, impounding enough water to nudge the Earth’s poles by about three feet (one meter) and cause a 0.83-inch (21-millimeter) drop in global sea levels, according to a new study in Geophysical Research Letters. This drift is possible because Earth’s solid crust forms a hard shel

The Whoop 5.0 Is a Massive Upgrade to Health Tracking. I Wasn’t Ready.

At some point in the late 2010s, I became obsessed with my heart rate. I was at a point in my fitness life that I was training for marathons and I cared a whole lot about every process involved. I spent a certain percentage of my workday staring at my heart rate on my fitness watch and feeling smug if I kept my resting heart rate below 50 beats per minute (bpm) and wigging out if it went over 60 bpm. Heart rate was my gateway drug into health tracking, and it soon devolved into an unhinged compu

The Fantastic Four Were Too OP For the Infinity Saga

One of the big draws of next week’s Fantastic Four: First Steps is seeing Marvel’s First Family in the retrofuturist Earth-828. They’re Earth’s only heroes in that dimension, and before Galactus shows up, it sounds like they’ve done a pretty good job protecting the planet. They might even be too good at it, which is why they’re in their own universe to begin with. During a recent MovieWeb interview, director Matt Shakman discussed how the Four were made “in this time of optimism during the spac

A new Martian climate model suggest a mostly cold, harsh environment

The Curiosity rover was sent up the Mount Sharp, the biggest sediments stack on Mars. On the way, it collected samples that indicated a portion of carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere might have been sequestered in the sedimentary rocks, just as it happens with limestone on Earth. This would have drawn carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, reducing the greenhouse effect that warmed the planet. Based on these findings, a team of scientists led by Benjamin Tutolo, a researcher at the Universi

I’ve tested all the best smart rings in 2025, and these are the only ones I would buy

While fitness trackers and smartwatches are the better-known devices in the wearable tech world, there is a third, less popular option. Smart rings are slowly becoming more attractive alternatives. I’ve tested more than a dozen of these minimalist devices, and below are the best smart rings you can buy. Oura Ring 4: The best smart ring overall Oura Ring 4 Thinner design • Refreshed app experience • Smarter health sensing MSRP: $399.00 The top smart ring gets an upgrade. The Oura Ring 4 is the b

Edward Burtynsky's monumental chronicle of the human impact on the planet

If there was one absence in Burtynsky’s account of our time, however, it was the single greatest result of all that mining, burning, and consuming: the transformation of the atmosphere. Nothing else comes close in scale to the chemical disruption of the air—the flood of CO 2 now rapidly overheating the Earth and producing a series of changes so titanic they dwarf even the forces that these photos depict. But carbon dioxide is invisible, which is a problem for photographers. That’s why in some w

Marc Andreessen reportedly told group chat that universities will ‘pay the price’ for DEI

In Brief Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen sharply criticized universities including Stanford and MIT, along with the National Science Foundation, in a group chat with AI scientists and Trump administration officials, according to screenshots viewed by the Washington Post. According to the Post, Andreessen described MIT and Stanford (which I attended two decades ago) as “mainly political lobbying operations fighting American innovation.” He also reportedly complained that Stanford “forced my

Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for July 13, #293

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles. Today's Connections: Sports Edition has some fun categories. There's only one requiring last names, and one requiring teams, so if you can sort those easily, you should be in good shape. Read on for hints and the answers. Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Sup

'Starter packs' have played a central role in Bluesky's rapid growth

“Vital onboarding strategy for the emerging social media systems” “Our findings go beyond Bluesky: they point to a new framework for launching successful social platforms,” said Dr Onur Ascigil, Lecturer in Computer Science at Lancaster University and Principal Investigator of the study. “Starter packs are becoming a vital onboarding strategy for the emerging social media systems that are seeking to attract users from dominant platforms.” The researchers believe their findings could help platfo

Hertz Deploys AI Scanner That's Charging Hundreds of Dollars for Tiny Scratches on Rental Cars

Car rental giant Hertz is facing some blowback as customers report that its "AI-powered" vehicle scanner charges them hundreds of dollars for tiny cosmetic dings. Earlier this summer, a Hertz customer in Atlanta was charged a jaw-dropping $440 for an inch-long bit of curb rash — a cosmetic scuff — on the wheel of his rental, as our sister site The Drive first reported. Out of that, $190 was earmarked for "processing" and "administrative" fees, which were automatically calculated by the rental c

If You Still Vape, You Might Wanna Read This

Image by Getty / Futurism In the wake of a terrifying study about heavy metals in vape clouds, experts who have long warned about the potential dangers of vaping are again ringing alarm bells. Researchers from University of California, Davis recently found such high levels of heavy metals like lead and nickel when analyzing vape mist for a recent study that they thought their equipment had gone haywire. But the findings were very real. And while the precise long-term health implications of va