Tag: tech

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For an audiophile, there are few experiences more disappointing than not getting the performance you expect from your gear. You spent a fortune on high-end equipment like the best wireless speakers, agonized over proper installation and placement, only to be rewarded with muddy bass or a poor soundstage. But before you go and splash more cash trying to brute-force this problem, there’s one tweak you should try that can make a massive difference to audio quality (and will cost you very little, particularly compared to investing in new equipment).

Even high-end bookshelf speakers are highly reliant on the surface they’re perched on. One major and oft-neglected problem, even with cheap wireless speakers you can find on Amazon, is caused by placing speakers on a hollow surface. That space can create subtle vibrations that can have a significant impact, making bass feel bloated, instruments sound displaced, and the soundstage feel broken. Filling in your shelves can transform a setup from mediocre to stunning, and can be done for a fraction of the price of investing in new, high-end speakers.

Fill out your speaker stand to drastically improve sound quality

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Removing empty spaces in the foundation that your speakers sit on can instantly improve your listening experience, leading to clearer, more balanced-sounding vocals, tighter bass, and an immersive soundstage. A lot of speaker stands come with hollow posts or a hollow base that can exaggerate (or create) flaws in a recording. To address the issue, you can simply fill in all that empty space with a common material.

For the cheapest solution, you can simply choose sand or odorless cat litter. For a more acoustically advanced solution, consider Atabites from Atacama Audio. Atabites are high-density zinc-coated metal pellets, specially designed to fill spaces such as empty speaker stands. They reduce vibrations and resonance in the stand itself, which can help speakers perform more cleanly, and because they’re denser than sand, you get more mass into a smaller volume.

However, Atabites are significantly more expensive than the alternative, so if cost is an issue, sand or litter should suffice. Regardless of what you choose, make sure you pick a material that’s pH-neutral, moisture-free, and won’t absorb ambient moisture.

Other tips for improving bookshelf speaker sound

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Of course, there are a number of other quick tips that can help you get the most out of your bookshelf speakers without splurging on new gear, including knowing which speakers to avoid. For one, make sure your speakers have enough of a buffer between them and any walls, as boundary reinforcement can lead to exaggerated bass or muddy sound.

You should also consider the 83% rule, popularized by high-end audio expert Jim Smith. The idea is that the distance you sit from the midpoint between your speakers should be 83% of the distance between the speakers, which Smith says contributes to clear imaging and an ideal soundstage. You should also “toe-in” the speakers, angling them toward the listener to improve stereo imaging, center focus, and treble clarity.

Finally, speaker height is an oft-overlooked element that can help achieve an ideal soundstage. Because high frequencies are directional, aligning the tweeters with the seated ear level’s height will help provide the most accurate sound.

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For many electronics manufacturers, turning a device on isn’t enough to indicate the gadget is running. Many install a power light that shines when the gadget is activated. However, the power lights of devices such as smart TVs often stay illuminated even when the TV isn’t. We’d insert a “That light confirms that it’s off” joke from “The Simpsons” here, but that would imply modern smart TVs are even capable of turning off.

When you turn a smart TV off, you aren’t actually turning it off. According to manufacturers such as Sony, if the screen isn’t on but the power light is, the TV has entered a “standby mode.” Depending on the brand and model, standby mode can install apps and updates in the background, maintain voice recognition features, and quickly power the set on to resume watching TV. It’s sort of like leaving your Switch 2 in sleep mode, although unlike that console, turning off these smart TVs can prove to be a humongous hassle.

Different manufacturers often hide an actual powered-off state behind a maze of settings menus, although some, such as Amazon Fire TV, simply don’t give you the option — you either have “On” or “Standby.” If you can’t find the option to turn off your TV (or it doesn’t come with one), you can always just unplug it or hook up a smart plug between the TV and the wall so you can physically cut off power through an app. Just make sure the TV is the only gadget connected to the plug; you should never run a power strip through the smart plug.

Is standby mode really such a drain?

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Like with computers, a smart TV’s standby/sleep mode uses more power than turning it off. However, modern technology hasn’t stopped at making these devices more powerful. They’re also more efficient, squeezing extra power out of every kilowatt-hour.

According to sites such as ZDNet, the average cost of keeping a smart TV on standby requires so little money that you could probably cover it by searching the couch covers for loose change. The site took two TVs — an LG G5 OLED 55-inch and a Toshiba C350 55-inch — and crunched the numbers. Assuming over 200 kWH per year for each set, operating costs would only require $39.82 for the LG and $37.50 for the Toshiba, with standby only adding $0.11 to the total bill. Of course, that is an idealized calculation and highly dependent on your watching habits and energy provider, but the point stands. There aren’t enough hours in the day for a TV’s standby mode to put a dent in your budget.

If you want to save money with your TV, you have plenty of other options than worrying about standby mode. For instance, many sets have an Eco Mode that reduces power consumption at the cost of low performance. If you don’t mind this setting ruining your screen’s brightness (and other quality-enhancing features), activate Eco Mode, and you will probably see more savings in one day than you would with a year of standby.

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During the past decade, Apple has helped popularize the smartwatch market with the Apple Watch. However, this kind of watch didn’t start with Apple, as the popular athlete watch brand, Garmin, has been making smartwatches for over two decades. Smartwatches add value to your life, as you can get the best insights on your health, workouts, and still be connected with your phone. You can decide whether or not to take a call or reply to a notification, right from your wrist. However, these are also among the reasons why people are ditching their smartwatches, as they can also keep you even more addicted to your phone, exhaust you from this hyper-exposure to data, and more.

Ditching smartwatches isn’t a one-off phenomenon as there are several threads online where people explain why they moved from a smartwatch to a regular watch. I also decided this year that I would be more mindful about my Apple Watch usage. I own an Apple Watch Ultra 2 and I’m the kind of person who tracks workouts, my sleep, and even how much water I drink in a day. This overreliance on my watch also brought frustration whenever I couldn’t close my rings, meet a goal, or when something went off schedule. Besides that, there’s something terrible about going to a nice party or a date and you just have your Apple Watch buzzing all the time.

A smartwatch keeps you connected all the time

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Have you heard about ghost vibrations or experienced them? It’s the feeling that your phone is buzzing in your pocket even though the phone is on a table. Well, this also happens with smartwatches. Sometimes I’m just lying down without my Apple Watch and I feel a buzz.

When I first started using the Apple Watch in 2019, I remember how I felt it was the perfect tool to keep me away from my phone. After all, I could get glimpses of what was going on without actually picking up my phone. As the years went by, I realized that I was usually picking up my phone as soon as I got a notification on my watch, as it always felt urgent. Worse than that, whenever I needed to focus on an article, a task, or anything that does not include picking up my phone, I only needed one notification buzzing on my wrist to get distracted.

While you could argue that it’s more about me than the smartwatch, it’s also important to understand that these products have been made to addict you. For example, the “Close Your Rings” movement created by Apple was great to give me some help for a healthier lifestyle, but years later, I know exactly how I run, how my workouts impact me, and even if I had a good night of sleep, and not because I read the data, but because, as a person, I can also assess myself.

You need to replace smartwatches

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A more straightforward issue with smartwatches is that they’re gadgets, and gadgets get old. Truth be told, you could still be holding up just well with an Apple Watch Series 4 in 2026 — as long as your watch’s battery health is fine. However, if you want the crispier display, the biggest battery life, and the latest health sensors, you do need to spend money on a newer generation. While the old model can be repurposed to a family member or a friend, eventually it needs to be discarded, which generates e-waste. Meanwhile, regular watches can be worn for life, if you take good care of them. 

As a tech journalist, I have tested most of the Apple Watch models since the Series 3. Unfortunately, many of them just ended up sitting on a shelf. Others were damaged by accidental drops, worn off due to sweat, or just life happening. For the current two regular watches that I own (big collection, I know), they have been around for three years, and they just look amazing. They’re timeless pieces that I can have with me forever.

You might suffer from skin problems

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There’s a saying that everything that is too much can be harmful. Guess that sleeping, showering, working out, and just wearing the Apple Watch for most of the day can be classified as “too much.” Like many other people, I also had to stop using the Apple Watch regularly because I would get the top of my wrist slightly red, irritated by the prolonged moments of wearing this smartwatch.

This Apple Watch rash became particularly worse when Apple introduced sleep tracking, which meant that I would then start sleeping with my Apple Watch for a better understanding of my health data. While just removing the smartwatch for a few hours or even a day is usually enough to make my skin go back to normal, some people do get worse experiences — even from Apple Watch bands.

It’s unusual for someone to have these issues with a regular watch, as you would usually put them on to go out for dinner, to work, or any outdoors occasion. However, by the time you’d get home, you’d remove it. With the Apple Watch, and other smartwatches in general, you just keep them on all the time, because you need to be reminded to stand up, about an important meeting, to check your heart rate during a stressful Zoom call, and so on.

There’s something about timeless designs

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Smartwatches still look like gadgets from the future. After all, having a touchscreen display on your wrist that can help you make payments, open doors, track workouts, and listen to music wirelessly is just super cool. Apple, specifically, releases regular updates bringing new watch faces with nice complications to help users find the perfect balance between looking good and having useful data. The company offers artsy, minimalist, feature-heavy, and classic watch faces, in addition to an incredible number of bands with the most different colors and fabrics.

However, as I started seeing the Apple Watch as a fashion accessory, in addition to a tool for health data, I embarked on a journey that most people face with watches in general; Going from not caring about them at all to really noticing the different brands, styles, and how to match them with my outfits.

Now that I’m trying to take a break from my Apple Watch whenever I don’t need it, I’m switching between two classic watches. One of them is by the fashionista brand MJW from London. It has unique watches, and one that caught my attention the most is called “A Perfectly Useless Afternoon.” Whenever I wear it and I look at the time, it just gives me utter joy to see that person in a pool chilling. I’d say life should be more about that than buzzing notifications.

Your phone might just do exactly what you need from your smartwatch

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Again, as a tech journalist, I surround myself with technology, and sometimes I don’t even realize how one product overlaps the other. Still, I’ve come to realize that one of the primary reasons to ditch a smartwatch is because a phone already does most of what the watches can do. For example, I can see the time, check my walk distance, get notifications, and most other smart features right from my iPhone.

With the latest iOS updates, Apple even made the iPhone a lot better to help you work out. For example, Apple Fitness+ now works without an Apple Watch, and the other day, for the first time in a lifetime, I went for a run with my iPhone and AirPods Pro 3. While the phone tracked the route with its built-in GPS, the AirPods Pro was responsible for tracking my heart rate and measuring my calorie expenditure. When I finished the run, I was wondering how different it would’ve been if I had my Apple Watch around. And, to be fair, not much.

While I still think that my Apple Watch is great for emergencies, as I can still pay for stuff, get directions, and call people if my phone dies, I also have realized that I don’t need an Apple Watch to remind me to pick up my phone to do some tasks, and this is what so many people have also realized. Smartwatches are cool, but touching grass can be a lot more.

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Even in its infancy, scientists are finding that AI is changing its users’ brains. Headlines proclaiming the dangers of AI are proliferating at an alarming rate, particularly for vulnerable populations like children and those with preexisting mental health issues. At the center of this debate is a trend known as “AI Psychosis,” a phenomenon in which users experience AI-inspired delusions. News cycles are rife with anecdotal AI horror stories attesting to the trend, including users who suffered from romantic delusions, conspiratorial paranoia, or even committed suicide. Several families have even filed lawsuits against OpenAI, Google, and Character.AI, claiming their popular chatbots contributed to their loved ones’ suicide.

Underpinning this evidence is a growing bed of scientific studies dissecting the phenomenon. Dr. Hamilton Morrin, a psychiatric researcher who conducted a meta analysis of the phenomenon, wrote in Lancet Psychiatry that “emerging evidence indicates that agential AI might validate or amplify delusional or grandiose content, particularly in users already vulnerable to psychosis.” Importantly, Morrin stresses that consensus remains split on whether AI chatbots can cause “the emergence of de novo psychosis in the absence of pre-existing vulnerability.” The most common cases were users who suffered grandiose delusions that often infused AI with mystical sentience.

Despite this growing bed of evidence, the phenomenon is contested within the industry. Some executives, like xAI’s Elon Musk, have blamed rival algorithms for the phenomenon. Others, like Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, have been more forthright in warning against AI’s potential psychological effects. Sam Altman, head of OpenAI, has largely framed the issue as the unfortunate costs of doing business. In an X post responding to Musk’s criticism, Altman wrote “Almost a billion people use [ChatGPT] and some of them may be in very fragile mental states.” 

AI is your sycophantic therapist

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While scientists have pinpointed several factors that contribute to AI psychosis, one aspect that stands out above the rest is its constant need for user approval. In a mental health context, this manifests in what researchers call AI’s social sycophancy, in which LLM’s overly affirm user’s behavior and beliefs regardless of merit. A study published in Science, for instance, found that AI systems endorsed users’ behavior 49% more than their human counterparts. Furthermore, LLMs encouraged problematic behaviors roughly half of the time. 

Such sycophantic behavior, encoded into AI models can have catastrophic consequences. A February 2026 study at Aarhus University in Denmark, found that AI chatbot use possesses “serious negative consequences for people with mental illness.” Co-authored by Professor Søren Dinesen Østergaard, it is one of the first studies to dissect the problem at scale, searching through nearly 54,000 anonymized medical records for patients that cited AI use. According to Østergaard, results showed that prolonged AI usage “appears to contribute significantly to the consolidation of, for example, grandiose delusions or paranoia.” Researchers also saw an increase in suicidal tendencies, eating disorders, obsessive–compulsive disorder, and other mental health issues. Furthermore, the study found that the longer a user had a relationship with an AI agent, the more negative the effect.

Ambitious CEOs have touted AI as a solution to the mounting loneliness epidemic. Unfortunately, the Aarhus study contradicts such claims, since AI use was found to alleviate loneliness in only 32 out of 54,000 patients. Several previous studies support such findings, and suggest that heavy AI use correlates with increased feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Collectively, the studies paint a worrying picture of AI’s consequences on users’ mental health.

A worrying future

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Gauging the pervasiveness of AI psychosis continues to be a challenge. However, a recent study by AI giant Anthropic gave the first glimpse of the problem’s potential scale. Conducted with researchers at the University of Toronto, it studied 1.5 million conversations with Anthropic’s AI agent Claude. Although researchers found that severe “disempowerment” occurred in “fewer than one in a thousand conversations,” they noted, “given the scale of AI usage, even these low rates translate to meaningful absolute numbers.” 

Concerns will continue to mount as users emotionally invest in AI. A 2025 study by the Collective Intelligence Project found that most people trust chatbots more than elected officials, faith leaders, and civil servants. Two-thirds already use the technology for emotional support. Moreover, minors, who are more susceptible to AI delusions, increasingly use chatbots in ways that invite AI psychosis. According to a 2025 report by Common Sense Media, roughly a third of American teens used AI for emotional support, social interaction, or romance, oftentimes favoring chatbots over human interactions. As our emotional and intellectual dependence on LLMs increases, a trend which has already caused cognitive decline, the risks are only likely to heighten.

Solving AI psychosis is difficult. Some advocate for developers to add disclaimers onto their platforms, however, such labels have been ineffective in curbing consumption of dangerous products like cigarettes or alcohol. Instead, companies must reimagine their priorities. Without changing the algorithms themselves, sycophantic behavior will remain a feature of AI chatbots. And while it should be the companies’ responsibility to protect their users, developers instead continue to loosen safety guardrails and downplay risks to advance in an ever-escalating AI race. Unless firms drastically change this approach, AI empires will be built at the expense of their users.

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We are well into the mid-to-late stages of the ninth console generation, meaning the Xbox Series X and S have been out for a while. Plenty of great controller brands have had time to create various versions of this important Xbox peripheral, so there is one suitable for everyone’s spending levels, whether you’re looking for something premium, midrange, or budget to last you until the coming of the next-generation Xbox (Project Helix).

Sure, the Xbox Wireless Controller exists, and it comes packaged with Xbox consoles to boot. But considering that the Series X and S consoles have been out for over five years, some people’s controllers might be worn out and need a replacement. Other gamers might be looking for something that offers more in terms of features, durability, and performance.

For many, cost is a concern, while others just want the flashiest controller on the market for some heavy gaming sessions. Regardless of budget, these controllers will take care of you for the rest of the generation. They are designed for Xbox, as evidenced by the Xbox branding they bear, meaning Microsoft approves of them. This comes with a guarantee of compatibility, build quality, and support for native features.

Premium: Razer Wolverine V3 Pro

The Razer Wolverine V3 Pro is a $199 premium controller for competitive and hardcore gamers. On top of the standard face buttons, D-pad, thumbsticks, bumpers, and triggers, you get two extra bumpers at the top for players who love the six-finger claw grip. On the back, you have four more mouse-click buttons that not only offer tactile feedback but also allow you to map additional actions so you always have more control. It also features advanced haptic feedback that ups the immersion.

The Hall Effect triggers have a button you can flip to switch modes, depending on whether you want short clicks for faster input or long pulls for great precision and control. It also has Hall Effect analog sticks with drift resistance. You can also switch between a tall and short cap for thumbsticks, depending on whether you prefer precision or speed. Through the companion app, you can customize thumbstick sensitivity, button layout, and vibration intensity to match your gaming style.

On the Xbox, the controller has a polling rate of 250 hertz, which is good for standard play. If you’re on PC, you can switch to Tournament Mode, which bumps up the polling rate to 1,000 hertz, making it suitable for competitive play. There’s also the more affordable Razer Wolverine V3 Tournament Edition at $99, with the biggest differences compared to the Pro, in terms of built-in features, being that it’s wired and has less advanced haptics.

Midrange: GameSir G7 Pro

The GameSir G7 Pro is a midrange wireless controller that costs $79 and is considered one of the best third-party Xbox controllers by many. Because of that, it sits somewhere between a pro and a standard controller — hardcore gamers can still get the most out of it, though. As such, you can expect to have a good set of standout features, including micro switches for its Hall Effect triggers that allow you to switch between short mouse clicks and precision pulls, two extra bumpers at the top for claw grip enthusiasts, and some back paddles for additional button input (perfect for running, jumping, and dodging without taking your thumb off the right analog stick).

The GameSir G7 Pro has TMR (Tunneling Magnetoresistance) thumbsticks, which offer greater precision than Hall Effect thumbsticks and are designed to completely eliminate stick drift. It can also be customized via software, has four rumble modes, and a 3.5-millimeter audio jack. If you are using it on a PC, the controller will be able to achieve a polling rate of 1,000Hz, and it also supports motion controls via the built-in gyroscope.

Budget: GameSir G7 SE

If you’re a hardcore gamer, then cheaping out on a controller might not be the best option since you could easily wear it out. But for the average gamer, a budget controller like the GameSir G7 SE is a solid option for only $44.99. It’s part of the G Series of controllers by GameSir — just like the GameSir G7 Pro. The GameSir G7 SE is a wired controller with a three-meter-long cable, Hall Effect precision triggers and analog sticks, and two remappable paddle buttons at the back for extra input. It also has magnetic faceplates that you can swap out to give the controller a fresh look, depending on your gaming tastes and preferences.

Although it costs $5 more, the GameSir G7 HE is another great budget wired controller. There are a few things that make it different from the GameSir G7 SE, including microswitch face buttons and Hall Effect thumbsticks. Another one is the Hall Effect magnetic triggers that detect input and movement via magnetic sensors instead of contact. They feature two modes: Analog Trigger Mode for full-range motion when pulling the trigger, and Hair Trigger Mode for shorter input detection distance that allows for greater speed.

How we chose these Xbox controllers

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When picking these controllers, we looked into options that would satisfy both casuals and hardcore gamers. Another consideration was that they had to be Xbox-licensed controllers to ensure native compatibility and good build quality. However, the budget was the biggest consideration. For the premium controllers, we looked at those that were between $100 and $200 and had a good set of pro-level features. For the midrange options, they had to fall between $50 and $100, but they had to offer more than what basic controllers could (e.g., back buttons and customization). Finally, for the budget options, we looked at anything below $50.

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If you’ve ever gone through Amazon looking for Ethernet cables or other networking hardware, you’ve absolutely come across Ethernet splitters at some point. However, while Ethernet cables can do more than you think, products like splitters aren’t at all what they say on the tin. In fact, you’re probably really looking for a network switch. Ethernet splitters, for the most part, actually slow your connections down because of how they’re built.

Splitters turn one Ethernet connection into two by splitting the signal, but they halve the current signal instead of doubling it. Older splitters will almost certainly slow speeds down as they rely on 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps connections, forcing your speeds down to those levels. More recent devices, like those from UGreen, appear to get around this by serving as a pint-sized Ethernet switch rather than a splitter.

When faster connections became the norm, the issue with Ethernet splitters became more prominent. As speeds increased, Ethernet splitters couldn’t physically keep up, as the hardware has a maximum speed of 100 Mbps. As such, it’s better to consider a network switch, which can support a much faster, more modern connection without losing speed.

Ethernet switch vs. splitter

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Not only are internet splitters limited to two ports, but some brands also don’t support two connections simultaneously. This is, again, due to a physical issue: they’re soldered together with all the pins going to both sources rather than separate connections, treating it as one device. A network switch, meanwhile, is built so that each connection it provides is its own individual one on the network. That includes assigning IP addresses, as the splitter won’t be able to tell the router that each connected device requires its own IP address to avoid conflicts on the network.

Aside from this, a gigabit Ethernet switch will manage modern home connections far better than a splitter. Since most home connections now run at 100 Mbps or more, the splitter can’t handle the bandwidth. Switches provide the full speed of the connection with negligible speed loss, since most day-to-day traffic won’t flood the connection. Where this comes in handy is if you’ve turned an old computer into a server or home media center, since transferring files between your PC and your media center will be as fast as the connection allows.

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Paramount+ might be the hotspot to stop and make your way through just about anything with Taylor Sheridan’s name on, but there are a bunch of other shows that don’t have uber macho characters yelling at each other. We’re not talking about the lengthy entries all lined up on the streaming service, either. We get that life can be busy, and that’s why we’ve combed through some of the short and sweet stories that are worth a look. 

Stop feeling left behind with everything going on with the “Yellowstone” family, or the bajillion “Star Trek” shows seeking out new storylines and new civilizations. Instead, we’ve scanned the streaming service for shows that you can make your way through during a single day on the sofa, or maybe even a really long flight. From Stephen King scarefests to blockbuster franchises you didn’t even know existed, it’s a very varied watchlist we’ve found under that world-famous mountain, and we’re pretty sure there’s something for everyone. In fact, there’s even something for those uninitiated with “Yellowstone” that can be a great place to get things started. Just be prepared to feel absolutely broken by the end of it.

1883

Paramount+

The laws of online entertainment dictate that any list of Paramount+ streaming shows must include Taylor Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” universe in some capacity. Fortunately,  there’s a prequel miniseries drawn from the history pages of the Dutton dynasty that stands head and shoulders above the rest, and it follows the initial discovery of the land that would become home to the Yellowstone ranch. “1883” was a miniseries released in 2021 and follows James and Margaret Dutton (Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, respectively) as they travel across the Great Plains with their family to start a new life after the Civil War. It’s a road paved with danger and leading to immense tragedy, all to lay the foundations for one of the most popular families in television history.

While there’s no question that “Yellowstone” made household names of the current generation of the Dutton family, “1883” has managed to capture something particularly special that it or other spin-offs have not. Sheridan’s introduction to the Dutton family is a beautiful and bleak road movie, with a real-life married couple leading the way. It’s ingenious casting to have McGraw and Hill play James and Margaret, with some extra help from Sam Elliott. The real star of the show, though, is Isabel May as Faith Dutton, whose narration runs through the entire series and leaves a lasting impact even after her exit.

The Stand

Paramount+

“The Stand” is one of Stephen King’s most beloved and massive works, which arrived on the small screen in 1994 as a TV movie, starring Gary Sinise, Rob Lowe, and Molly Ringwald. 26 years later, it reappeared in a longer format, admittedly at what couldn’t have been a worse time. Made for pandemic binge viewing, the story begins with a world-ruining virus called Captain Trips, which spreads and decimates 99% of the population. Randall Flagg (Alexander Skarsgård), a feared villain who appears across multiple Stephen King stories, seeks to build a new world from the chaos that remains, gathering a small band of survivors drawn together in a war for all humanity.

Facing off against him are a great collection of stars, including James Marsden, Whoopi Goldberg, Jovan Adepo, Henrique Zaga, and Greg Kinnear. The 2020 version of “The Stand” makes for an entertaining watch, exploring the terrain of a post-apocalyptic world and the social collapse that follows. That’s all before the gradual otherworldly elements come into play, giving Skarsgård a chance to shine as well as he does. The same can be said of Goldberg as the herald of the heroes, Mother Abigail. If you’re a fan of “The Last of Us,” “Fallout,” or other end-of-the-world tales, then this one-and-done series is absolutely worth a look.

The Flatshare

Paramount+

Like your rom-coms with some extra cheese and in a bashfully British backdrop? Then make sure to book a viewing for “The Flatshare.” Based on the book of the same name by Beth O’ Leary, the show follows two single and struggling Londoners — Tiffy (Jessica Brown Findlay) and Leon (Anthony Welsh) — who find themselves sharing the same flat and bed, but due to their hectic lives, never actually meet. He’s a nurse who looks after kids with terminal illnesses, and she’s a struggling journalist still sore from a recent break-up. Instead, their only way of communicating is through post-its they leave for each other, which gradually sparks a romance that’s as ludicrous as it is lovely.

If you’ve fallen for the likes of “One Day” or the fantasy lifestyle of “Emily in Paris,” there’s no doubt that “The Flatshare” is worth a viewing. Sure, it might make light of London’s living crisis, but Findlay and Welsh make for a compelling pair caught up in this romance that feels plucked from the early Aughts. It’s also short and sugary sweet at only six episodes. They don’t really make movies like this anymore, so just be glad you can get one on television instead.

Knuckles

Paramount+

One for the kids and “Sonic” fans the world over, “Knuckles” has Idris Elba reprising his role as the hard-fisted hero that made his debut in “Sonic the Hedgehog 2.” Sandwiched between the second and third film, “Knuckles” sees our hero team up with Deputy Sheriff Wade Whipple (Adam Pally), who learns the way of the Echidna warrior. This tough training regime couldn’t come at a better time, as two former G.U.N. agents are on the hunt for Knuckles under orders of a new villain that is after his otherworldly power.

If you’re already familiar with the “Sonic” franchise and its wild character list, then you should feel right at home with “Knuckles,” as it’s just as frantic and family-friendly as the hedgehog’s big-screen outings. While Jim Carrey’s absence is clearly felt (having become more of a scene-stealer than Sonic himself), there’s enough from the likes of Kid Cudi and Ellie Taylor as cliched henchmen, Mason and Willoughby, and their boss, The Buyer (“Game of Thrones'” Rory McCann) to keep interest. Throw in the voice talents of Christopher Lloyd as Knuckles’ former mentor, Chief Pachacamac, and Cary Elwes as Wade’s estranged father and bowling star “Pistol” Pete Whipple, and you’ve got a surprisingly fun time-filler that packs a fairly entertaining punch.

The Offer

Paramount+

In 2022, Paramount made a show that no reasonable fan of “The Godfather” could refuse, and the result was an impressive look into the creation of one of the greatest movies ever made. Created by Michael Tolkin, “The Offer” is a biographical drama that chronicles the fascinating journey of bringing the Corleone family’s story to the big screen. “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Whiplash” star Miles Teller plays producer Albert S. Ruddy, who saw promise in Francis Ford Coppola (here brilliantly played by Dan Fogler) and his adaptation of the Mario Puzo pageturner, going to extreme lengths to make the movie that fans now adore. Needless to say, they were onto a hit, and Tolkin’s tale takes us behind the camera and the highly pressured mission to get the job done.

Besides Teller and Fogler making the greatest gangster movie of all time, there are also some exceptional supporting performances that, just like the show, don’t get enough recognition. Juno Temple of “Ted Lasso” fame stepping into the shoes of Bettye McCartt, Ruddy’s secretary turned talent agent, as well as Giovanni Ribisi as real-life mobster, Joe Colombo, who held sway over just how much insight into the world of organized crime would make its way onto the screen. Whether you’re a fan of “The Godfather” or not, this is a great one-time watch that shouldn’t be ignored.

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Kindle users often wonder why the page count for Kindle books differs from their corresponding physical counterparts. It’s usually lower on Kindle books, even when the text is identical. That’s because there’s no fixed standard governing page size for eBooks. It’s not set in stone, unlike physical copies of the same edition, which always have the same number of pages. The version of the eBook you are reading plays a major role in the total number of pages. For instance, one version of the same book may feature 200 pages while another may have, say, 400 pages. On the former, you will have to swipe a couple more times for the page number to change, while on the latter, it will take fewer swipes.

Additionally, an eBook may miss out on the same degree of formatting as physical books and not take into account several pages, for instance, the introduction, acknowledgements, or the copyright page, basically things that are not a core part of the book. Even this results in fewer pages. To check that, open any eBook on your Kindle, swipe up from the bottom, then select “Grid View.” You will see how the pages are numbered and the ones that are not accounted for (marked with a hyphen near the top-left). The software used also influences the page count, which is why you will sometimes see a different page count on Amazon’s e-reader and Kindle alternatives. 

Font size, margins, and spacing don’t change the page count

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Font size, margins, and spacing are all critical aspects governing how text is displayed on the screen, but contrary to popular belief, changing one or more doesn’t directly increase the page count. Upon making the changes, your Kindle will redistribute the text and the same phrase or paragraph may now appear on another page, say from page 2 to page 3, but the total page count remains the same. You now have to swipe more or less number of times to finish a page, and that’s where the change really is, not to the total page count.

To verify that, switch to “Grid View” for the book you are reading, and look at how the text is distributed and how many swipes constitute each page. Then, increase the font size, go into “Grid View” again, and the distribution will now be different. But if you move all the way to the end, the total count remains the same. Although if you are content with just the feeling of more pages, increasing the font size will help. It’s also one of the settings you should change on a Kindle.  

This difference in page count between Kindle books and physical books, or even between different e-readers, often leads to a lot of confusion, especially amongst readers who need to share citations. With there being no standardization, citations often turn out to be inconsistent if others have a different version of the eBook. Perhaps, word count will turn out to be more effective for citations, say referencing using the initial and final word count of phrases.

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If you had a phone in the early 2000s, you’ll remember when the back of phones used to be mostly uniform, with the camera being just as thick as the rest of the device. Fast forward to 2016, and Apple’s iPhone 7 had its camera protruding from the back. You’d expect this trend to go away with time as technology develops, allowing manufacturers to fit more into less space, but the latest iPhone 17 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra models have the biggest camera bumps of their respective series to date.

Is there a reason that your smartphone’s camera can’t be flat, leaving a bump that makes your phone wobble each time you put it on a table? Well, yes — there are a number of factors that have led to this design, but it’s mostly a result of companies wanting to keep their phones slim. If you make your smartphone thinner but keep the camera size the same, there’s inevitably going to be a bump. With phones like the Galaxy S25 Edge being just 0.23 inches thick, the trend of camera bumps increasing in apparent size makes sense.

So why can’t these companies just make their cameras smaller? And when it comes to phones that aren’t getting thinner — such as the iPhone 17, which is slightly thicker than its predecessor — why are the cameras themselves increasing in size? The answer has to do with improving camera quality, the limitations of physics, and our current technology. Basically, if you want better photo quality, you need a bigger sensor that takes more space. This is why the best smartphone cameras all have noticeable camera bumps.

Why smartphone companies don’t make cameras smaller

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A camera with a higher resolution will take sharper photos, so manufacturers often add more pixels to the camera sensors in their phones. This is what a megapixel represents, a cluster of a million pixels. However, when a company upgrades from a 50-megapixel camera to a 200-megapixel camera, the new system still needs to be small enough to fit inside the phone. If it were a straight one-to-one swap, each of the 200 million pixels would have roughly a quarter of the previous area to capture light, leading to worse quality despite higher resolution. That’s why smartphone cameras need a certain thickness — the sensors need to be a certain size to capture enough light  to not compromise on picture quality.

Apart from the sensors, the physics of how a camera lens works also resist compactness. To get a clear image, you can’t place the image sensor too close to the lens itself. Light travels in straight lines and at specific angles. These rays of light converge at a specific focal point, and if there isn’t a certain distance between these two components — the camera sensor absorbing the light and the lens that redirects it — the resulting picture can appear blurry or have greatly reduced quality.

This is especially true if you want good-quality pictures from further away, such as when you’re using a telephoto lens. In the case of telephoto lenses, there are small mirrors that are used to physically increase the distance light travels. Since there’s no way to make a physical mirror or the real-world distance between any two objects more compact, a lens simply cannot be as thin as the rest of the phone without compromising on picture quality or zoom capabilities.

It doesn’t matter how thin a phone is if there’s a big camera bump

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Many smartphone manufacturers are chasing a certain aesthetic to ensure their devices are viewed as premium, luxury phones. Lately, this has manifested in design decisions that err on the side of thinness, with several OEMs one-upping each other in a race to have the slimmest phone on the market.

A sentiment shared by many users online is that a big camera bump more or less defeats the purpose of having a thin phone. When you’re talking about compactness, any object is only as thin as its thickest part. Certain phone cases solve the issue of camera bumps by making the entire phone a uniform thickness, but at that point, is the phone really thinner? 

If you use a protective cover for your phone that also makes it uniformly thick, then you didn’t benefit from it being slimmed down in the first place. However, if you’re using your phone without a case, the trend toward thinner devices will result in a more fragile phone with an uneven weight distribution and lots of wobble when you place it on its back. Considering there are no signs of camera innovations that would fix the above issues or indications that smartphone brands could revert to thicker phones, this trend is likely to continue. So your next phone might have an even bigger bump for its camera.

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If there’s one gadget in your home office you can replace without having to relearn it, it’s a computer mouse. But beyond these everyday functionalities, you might be surprised that your mouse actually hides some lesser-known tricks in the form of the middle button. Yes, that scroll wheel is also a button designed to do more than just scrolling. It comes in handy whenever you’re browsing the web and reading documents, providing quick shortcuts to what should have been multistep actions.

In case you’re using a laptop’s trackpad with no middle button, you can configure Windows 11 so that tapping the trackpad with three fingers will act as a middle button click. Just go to Bluetooth & devices in your Settings menu, select Touchpad, then Three-finger gestures, and finally click the dropdown menu next to Taps to select Middle mouse button. On macOS, you can achieve effects similar to a middle mouse button click by holding Command on your keyboard and clicking on the trackpad. So, here are 11 things you can do with your mouse’s middle button to boost your productivity.

Browsing tricks

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Some of the most practical functions for your mouse’s middle button are right in the browser. Generally, you’ll use it to open new tabs, close existing ones, and auto-scroll, but to be more specific, here’s a closer look at those functions:

• Open a link in a new tab: Just press the middle button on any link. Test it in our article on Windows Touchpad tips and tricks.
• Open other pages in a new tab: When you middle-click on the back, forward, refresh, or home icon in the top-left of your browser, it opens certain web pages in a new tab. The back button opens the previous page, forward opens the next page (if you’ve just gone back in your recent history), refresh opens the current page, and home redirects you to the home page, but all in a new tab.
• Open an autosuggestion in a fresh tab: If you type something on the address bar, some autocomplete suggestions appear. Middle-click on one to open it in a new tab.
• Open a bookmarked page or folder in a new tab: In the bookmark bar, simply middle-click on a bookmark or bookmark folder to open it in a new tab. If the folder has multiple pages, all of them will open in different new tabs.
• Close a tab: You won’t need to precisely click the X mark to close a browser tab. Just hover over it in the tab bar and click the middle button to exit it.
• Auto-scroll a web page or PDF: Whenever you’re on a scrollable page or reading a PDF, middle-click on any empty space and move your mouse slightly downward to activate the auto-scroll feature and start scrolling down. Move the mouse slightly up to scroll up the page. The farther you move your mouse from the starting point, the faster it will scroll. To exit auto-scroll, middle-click anywhere on the page.

System and productivity tricks

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Your mouse’s middle-click button works outside the browser too. Here are a couple of hidden tricks you can do on Windows and on some essential Windows apps:

• Open a File Explorer folder in a new tab: This works just like how you open items in a new browser tab. Middle-click on a folder to open it in a new tab in the same File Explorer window. You can’t, however, use middle-click for folders on the left-side panel.
• Close a folder in a different tab in File Explorer: If you have multiple tabs open on a single File Explorer window, hover over any of the folders and middle-click. That specific folder will then close.
• Open a new window of any app in your taskbar: If you have an active app shown on the taskbar and need a new window for it, go to the app icon in the taskbar and press the middle button. This also works for apps pinned to the taskbar that aren’t active yet.
• Close app windows from the taskbar: You can close minimized windows without having to open them in full screen. Hover over the app icon in the taskbar and middle-click on any window you want to exit. No need to press the X icon.
• Auto-scroll on Notepad: The same auto-scroll feature in your browser works on your Notepad.

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