Your NFC payments could soon be truly contactless

Sometimes it seems like the opposite is true, but technological advancement generally makes things more convenient. We can comfortably attribute an improvement in the quality of our lives to futuristic features likeHold For Me, Magic Eraser, and contactless payments, among other things. The latter is enabled by the underlyingNFC technologybaked into thebest Android smartphones. This tech has improved since its introduction, but the standard’s governing body has big plans for the next five years....

July 31, 2025 · 2 min · 404 words · Anna Barajas

Your Smart TV Might Be Watching You—How to Check Your TV for Cameras

I’m willing to bet you shot a quick look over at your TV the moment you read the title. Yeah, you read right; your smart TV could have a camera, and here’s how you can figure out where it’s hiding. Smart TVs With Built-In Cameras Are Not Inherently Bad Hold on; just in case you happen to find that your TV has a camera, I’d like to categorically state that built-in cameras on smart TVs aren’t entirely designed with malicious intent....

July 31, 2025 · 6 min · 1207 words · Michael Cline

"Exaggerates Everything": Why Quentin Tarantino's 2012 Oscar-Nominated Western Movie Is Inaccurate Explained By Historian

Summary A real-life cowboy and Old West historian analyzesDjango Unchainedand gives Quentin Tarantino’s Western a middling accuracy grade. Released in 2012,Django Unchainedmarks Tarantino’s first major foray into the Western genre. The movie tells the tale of freed slaveDjango (Jamie Foxx), who partners with a German bounty hunter, Dr. Schultz (Christoph Waltz), to rescue his wife from evil plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). The film brings many aspects of the Old West to life, all in a very Tarantino way....

July 30, 2025 · 4 min · 695 words · Joseph Harrington

10 Longest Calvin and Hobbes Storylines

Summary Calvin and Hobbeswas best known for its daily musings on life and its look inside the mind of a 6-year-old with an overactive imagination. While some weeks would focus around a particular theme or setting, for the most part, each day’s strips were standalone works of art. However, throughout the course of the strip’s 10-year run, creator Bill Watterson did occasionally experiment with longer story arcs. These stories started off relatively short, with Watterson devoting a week’s worth of strips to a narrative like Calvin getting sent to the principal’s office or a dog running off with Hobbes....

July 30, 2025 · 12 min · 2373 words · Hannah Smith

4 Reasons I Dropped ChatGPT and Started Using DeepSeek

Quick Links I’ve used ChatGPT since it launched, and it retains its first-mover advantage in the AI chatbot space. However, I have decided to move to its newest direct competitor, DeepSeek, and for a good reason. 1DeepSeek Is Free DeepSeekis the name of a Chinese artificial intelligence company and its eponymous chatbot. Its leading models, DeepSeek-V3 and DeepSeek-R1, made waves for being cheaper to train and use than comparable models....

July 30, 2025 · 3 min · 524 words · Nicole Miller

4 reasons why smart rings are the next big thing in fitness tracking

Smart ringshave been around for a while, but considering their compact build, they’ve been a niche wearable device with very specific functions. But this year, whenSamsung teased its first smart ringat theGalaxy S24launch stage, it gave the entire smart ring category legitimacy and a fair chance of going mainstream. Given how quickly smart rings are evolving to do far more things than they could only a few months ago, they could soon be your default fitness tracking device....

July 30, 2025 · 5 min · 917 words · Danny Oconnor

49ers vs Steelers live stream: How to watch from anywhere today

Quick Links The NFL 2023-2024 season has kicked off this week, and plenty of action can be seen. This weekend, the San Francisco 49ers and the Pittsburgh Steelers will face off on the gridiron, and both teams will want to start the season with a bang. The 49ers are coming off an excellent season last year, which saw them end in the top spot in the NFC West division and battle their way pretty far into the playoffs; however, their preseason record this year was spotty, only winning one of their three matchups....

July 30, 2025 · 3 min · 472 words · Jeremy Hill

7 Things to Consider When Using the Raspberry Pi as a Server

7 Things to Consider When Using the Raspberry Pi as a Server Despite its small size and low cost, a Raspberry Pi single-board computer can be used to run servers. In fact, server hosting is one of the most popular uses for a Raspberry Pi, and for good reason. They are cheap, power-efficient, and very powerful for their size. However, there are several factors that need to be taken into consideration when choosing a Raspberry Pi to run your server....

July 30, 2025 · 5 min · 983 words · Sharon Becker

Admit It, Boruto: The Hidden Leaf Village Really Does Need Naruto and Sasuke

WhenBorutofirst debuted,the overwhelming expectation from viewers was thatNaruto’s next generation would surpass their elders.While much of this belief stemmed from the commonly held idea that each new generation evolves and advances, there were also several in-story factors that contributed to this impression. For one, the post-war era of peace played a significant role in shaping the next generation. Unlike their parents, who were preoccupied with conflict, Naruto’s generation had the time and opportunity to focus on raising their children and building upon the lessons they learned during their own tumultuous, conflict-filled upbringing....

July 30, 2025 · 5 min · 978 words · Samantha Rodriguez

After all these years, Gmail for Android gets a feature it needed from day one

Gmail is, without a doubt, one of thebest email apps for Android, and it has earned its place as the most widely-used email service in the world — but it’s definitely not perfect. Like most Google products, it has some glaring weaknesses that make you scratch your head, especially in the context of all the industry-leading features, likeHelp Me Writeandadvanced search filters, that itdoessupport. Perhaps the most puzzling omission over the years has been the app’s lack of a Select All option — instead, you’ve had to manually select each email you want to delete, archive, or recategorize....

July 30, 2025 · 3 min · 463 words · Charles Lambert

Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids vs. Fire HD 10 Kids Pro: Which is right for your child?

Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids (2023) Amazon’s new Fire HD 10 Kids tablet features performance enhancements. In addition to a faster processor, the Fire HD 10 Kids can last up to 13 hours on a single charge. As expected, Amazon limits internet access and includes extensive parental controls to make the tablet appropriate for young audiences. Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro (2023) The Fire HD 10 Kids Pro edition features a bright 10....

July 30, 2025 · 7 min · 1322 words · Selena Alvarado

Captain Sandy Slams Below Deck Med Stars' Poor Performances Amid Producer Manipulation Accusations

Summary Captain Sandy Yawncriticized her fellowBelow Deck Mediterraneancast members after they came under fire for their poor performances. So far inBelow Deck Medseason 9, Captain Sandy hasn’t fired anybody yet. However, that could soon change after she confronted Bri Muller and Elena “Ellie” Dubaich in the most recent episode following their escalating feud. Meanwhile,Johnathan “Jono” Shillingford and Iain Maclean’s performancesas chef and bosun, respectively, have been underwhelming, to say the least....

July 30, 2025 · 3 min · 637 words · Danielle Green

Daily Themed Crossword June 09, 2025 Answers (7/8/25)

Our Daily Themed Crossword June 24, 2025 answers guide should help you finish today’s crossword if you’ve found yourself stuck on a crossword clue. TheDaily Themed Crosswordis available as a mobile app on both iOS and Android devices. It has become a popular crossword app due to its regular crossword offerings and difficulty level (not too easy, not too difficult, generally). They release a new crossword each day, every day of the year, and each crossword has a theme and allows for hints in case an answer involves a more obscure word....

July 30, 2025 · 2 min · 346 words · Bryan James