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I write a lot about decluttering and organizing, especially when it comes to closets, and that’s because I am in a constant state of overhauling my own closets. Tiered, cascading hangers that can accommodate multiple items of clothing are a go-to solution for small closets, but there are a few different kinds that do different things. Before you buy the first set you see, let me help you figure out what kind will suit your needs best.
There are a few different kinds of cascading hangers you can get. Currently, I have two: A hanging metal chain variety and a more rigid plastic kind.
In the past, I've mostly used the plastic kind, but the first major downsides of those is that they can break with too much weight on them, or the weight can slowly pull down on the part that hangs around the rod, warping it and ultimately rendering it useless. I have gone through a lot of these plastic ones for those reasons, which is why I ordered the metal ones a few months ago.
The metal ones come with their own challenges, however. While they're a lot sturdier, can hold more weight, and don't warp, the fluid movement of the chain is extremely annoying when you're trying to move it around on the rod. I keep a shelving unit behind my hanging clothes (which is a closet-organizing tip all its own), so I have to move the hanging parts to access the folded items on the shelf all the time. Grabbing the chain hanger from the top and dragging it along the rod almost always causes two or three hangers to fall out of their slots on the chain, which doesn't happen with the more rigid plastic version.
If your clothing is light or you need to move the hangers often, opt for something rigid, like these:
An eight pack of plastic space-saving hangers from Gillraj. ($8.99)
100 standalone hooks that attach to regular hangers, so you can make the chain of clothing as long as you want. ($9.99)
If your clothing is on the heavier side, consider metal versions for maximum holding power:
A six pack of hanging chains. ($6.99)
If you want the best of both worlds—a cascading hanger that is rigid, unwarpable, and strong—split the difference with this slotted metal hanger:
Beyond that, you can also use over-the-door racks to hold heavier items, like coats, blazers, and dresses. They're relatively inexpensive and make it much easier to see all of your items when you open the door. If you pretend hard enough, it's almost like having a walk-in closet.
Not every decluttering hack works for every person, but there's a decluttering hack out there for everyone. If you're looking to really clear out or revolutionize a room or space in your home, the Peter Walsh method might be the one for you. It's a little intense, but also sure to help you get your space in order.
Peter Walsh is one of those organizational gurus, and he has offered up a lot of organizing tips and tricks ain his books, which include Let It Go: Downsizing Your Way to a Richer, Happier Life and Enough Already!: Clearing Mental Clutter to Become the Best You. A decade ago, the "Enough Already” concept even served as the basis for a show on OWN in Walsh sought to help families across the country realize how destructive their clutter was—and deal with it.
In order to do do that, he used a five-step system that aims to reframe your thinking around not only your clutter, but the space it's currently cluttering up—which is why the first step involves emptying the entire space and creating a vision for what it could be without all the clutter. Research has shown there’s a significant link between clutter and your sense of wellbeing, and that relationship goes both ways: Think of what a downer it is to be in a disorganized room filled with junk, and how being in that negative headspace doesn’t exactly put you in the frame of mind to clean. That's why creating (or recreating) a strong, positive vision of what the space could be (with a little effort) is the crucial first step in Walsh's method.
Here are the five steps to follow to carry out this aggressive process:
Empty out the space. No, really: Clear everything out. If you’re decluttering your kitchen, put everything in bins and stick those bins in the dining room. If a room is too big and contains too much stuff, work in smaller chunks. Instead of pulling everything out of your bedroom at once, for instance, you can work these steps for your closet, then your open space, your desk, etc., one at a time. But be sure you select and define a space, then start by clearing it completely.
Create a vision for the space, and set an intention for it. Your vision and intention for the kitchen could be to have enough room to cook more often, but still have adequate storage space for the tools you’ll need. Your vision for your closet could be to see all of your clothes and accessories more easily so you can get dressed more efficiently. Ask yourself what you want from the space, and envision yourself living it.
Sort everything you removed into two categories: You need a “vision” pile and an “out-the-door” pile. If something aligns with that vision and intention you set, it can stay. If it doesn’t, throw it away or donate it. The point of setting that intention in Step 2 is to give you something concrete to work toward, so use that as a guide.
Get rid of what you don't need: Go through the “out-the-door” pile and designate any items you want to donate, then put the rest in the trash or recycling. Don’t hold onto them or store them anywhere else; Walsh makes it clear that procrastinating on getting rid of stuff will only lead to more clutter. Put your donation bin in your trunk or by your door, and the put the trash bag outside. It can’t stick around.
Reimagine what you want to keep: Move everything from the “vision” pile back into the room, arranging it in a way that will serve your goals for the space. This could involve finding a workable storage solution, like cabinet organizers or over-the-door racks. A crucial component of real organizing and decluttering is making sure everything you do keep has its own place.
Walsh's approach is obviously a little more intense than others, because it involves clearing a whole space and reimagining how you might use it—but keeping that idealized vision at the center of what you’re doing will not only help you declutter, but to keep the space decluttered once you're using it the way you really want to.
It’s rare, but occasionally I’ll drop by a restaurant and come across a peanut butter burger. Peanut butter. On a meat burger. I may be behind the herd, but this sounds like a trick to me. It’s possible that I'm slightly scarred from that awful peanut butter omelet I made once (in my defense, I was 10 years old), but I usually chalk this burger up as the odd restaurant’s playful menu item—pointed at, but never to be ordered. That’s not fair of me though, is it? As they say in the world of earnest food exploration, don’t knock it ‘til ya try it. So I did.
Admittedly, as I rolled into the supermarket to pick up ingredients, I had a negative mindset. I was thinking of ingredients that could make the burger better, assuming from the jump that it would need help. I wasn’t totally wrong, but a tad circumspect I guess.
Peanut butter has a powerful flavor. If it has its druthers, it will command the stage and the entire roof of your mouth. I wanted a few co-stars for balance, so I chose bacon and an aged Dubliner cheese from Kerry Gold. I usually love a burger that's been run through the garden, but this didn’t seem like the right time, so I held off on the usual vegetables.
I expected the burger to be extremely nutty and dull, lacking the normally juicy and umami-packed experience I love when devouring a burger. I was wrong.
I’m surprised I didn’t think of it at first, but peanuts and peanut sauces aren’t new companions to meats and savory dishes. Think of Thai chicken or pork satay with peanuts, or kare-kare, a stew from the Philippines featuring a thick peanut sauce and beef or oxtail.
Peanut butter, especially the unsweetened kind, has an earthy, roasted flavor, and a subtle sweetness. It plays well with fats and spices. Peanut butter sits in a special category with cocoa and cinnamon—flavors initially considered sweet, but they actually have a natural bitterness or tannic quality that can complement a range of dishes. If spicy peanut sauce makes sense on your fried chicken wings, I have to say, it certainly has a place on your burger.
Make a good burger. This might seem obvious, but tell that to the restaurants that made me unseasoned burgers, dry burgers, low-quality, and under-cooked burgers. It’s tempting to try and pile on the condiments in an effort to save the burger, but if the central ingredient is off then it’s over. Peanut butter isn’t going to save a bad burger. Furthermore, peanut butter is sticky and can leave your mouth feeling dry. It needs moisture to help wash it down, and the fat from a thick, juicy burger does exactly that. Season it well, and cook it with love.
Use salty companions. I usually aim for balance when working with powerful ingredients, and the same is true with peanut butter. Peanut butter has a natural sweetness and slight bitter quality I mentioned earlier, and that tastes great with plenty of salt and a hint of acid. To reach these marks I used crispy, old-school bacon (not that low-sodium stuff, or uncured lies), and aged cheddar, which has a faint bite to it. I also tried tomato and pickles on my burger—for science—and while they both work, pickles are better.
Don’t be afraid. I tried one burger with Crazy Richard’s crunchy, unsalted, unsweetened peanut butter. I also tried a burger with Jif and all its sugar-boosted, hydrogenated glory. I’m shocked to say it, but they were both great. Jif is thicker, of course, but the flavor combination, even with the sweetness, never went south. As long as your burger is juicy, the layer of peanut butter won’t be too dry or sticky either.
Should peanut butter go on burgers? Yes. I believe this well-loved condiment is more versatile than I gave it credit for. So go ahead, mix it into your cookie batters, stir it into an umami dipping sauce, and slather it on your meat burgers. When you’re ready for your next food adventure, peanut-butter-topped burgers don’t disappoint.
Head of TED Chris Anderson speaks at Session 9 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Jason Redmond / TED)
In Session 9 of TED2024, great minds working on world-shifting innovations shared their work, from a biologist who raised mice with two dads to a computer scientist with a more democratic crowdfunding model. Whether at home or on the global stage, these big ideas have the potential to shape what’s possible.
The event: Talks from Session 9 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, hosted by head of TED Chris Anderson
When and where: Thursday, April 18, 2024, at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, BC, Canada
Speakers: Katsuhiko Hayashi, Carole K. Hooven, Chris Duffy, Anima Anandkumar, Kevin Owocki, Gibran Huzaifah
Elle Cordova performs at Session 9 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Ryan Lash / TED)
Performance: Writer, musician and comedian Elle Cordova personified the most beloved fonts, including Futura, Times New Roman, Garamond and more. The funny and smart typographical adventure included a nod to TED’s preferred Helvetica, as well as an audition from Comic Sans to represent the org with a new motto: “thinky thoughts are good.”
The talks in brief:
Katsuhiko Hayashi speaks at Session 9 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Ryan Lash / TED)
Biologist Katsuhiko Hayashi dives into the science behind how his team used breakthrough assisted reproductive technology to raise healthy young from the skin cells of two male mice. The accomplishment has implications for endangered species — and the shape of all future families.
Carole K. Hooven speaks at Session 9 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Ryan Lash / TED)
Exploring the intersection of science, parenthood and societal norms, behavioral endocrinologist Carole K. Hooven delves into the evolutionary biology and cultural influence behind the differences between sexes — starting with how and why kids play.
Chris Duffy speaks at Session 9 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Ryan Lash / TED)
Before he was a comedian and host of the TED podcast How to Be a Better Human, Chris Duffy taught elementary school. He shares what he learned from his fifth graders about nurturing your grown-up sense of humor, proposing that there are perks in seeing the world as a kid does: full of hilarious, amazing and extremely weird things.
Anima Anandkumar speaks at Session 9 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Ryan Lash / TED)
Perhaps generative AI can write a competent song lyric, but by itself, it lacks the physical knowledge to build a better airplane. To model physical processes, says AI professor Anima Anandkumar, these systems must grasp the finest details of the real world, from molecular bonds to ocean currents. She shares recent AI projects that demonstrate this ability — forecasting weather, designing medical devices and more.
Kevin Owocki speaks at Session 9 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Ryan Lash / TED)
Gitcoin founder Kevin Owocki introduces quadratic funding, a new kind of crowdfunding model. Unlike Kickstarter or Patreon, quadratic funding uses a mathematical formula to match contributions based on the number of contributors rather than the amount given. The more people who care about a project, the more funding it will get.
Gibran Huzaifah speaks at Session 9 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Ryan Lash / TED)
When Gibran Huzaifah started an aquaculture farm in Indonesia, he was quickly confronted by the lack of technology in the industry. Farmers had insufficient data insights into murky ponds and spent huge sums on manual feeding. So he launched a start-up to automate feeding, eliminate resource waste and solve supply disadvantages for small farmers.
TED attendees during Session 9 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Jason Redmond / TED)
TED2024, held April 15-19, 2024, in Vancouver, BC, Canada, is a week of talks, discovery sessions, excursions, dinners, performances and more celebrating “The Brave and the Brilliant.” Special thanks to our strategic partners PwC, Adobe, Schneider Electric and Northwestern Mutual.
TED2024_20240418_2JR1727-medium
Like them or hate them, YouTube Shorts are here to stay. If they wish they weren't constantly popping up on your feed, you can do a few things to weaken their pull on your already declining attention span. YouTube's own option lets you temporarily hide them, but you need third-party extensions to banish them forever.
The quickest way to remove YouTube Shorts from view on Chrome is to click the X (Not interested) button on the top-right of the Shorts row. But there are two things to note:
This is a temporary solution, as YouTube will resume recommending Shorts after 30 days.
The Not interested button only works for Chrome on desktop and not on the mobile apps for iOS and Android.
Even if you remove it from the homepage, Shorts make an appearance on the sidebar when you are watching a particular video. While you can tell YouTube that you are "Not Interested" in a specific Short, you cannot remove the suggestions from view.
You cannot remove all shorts in the apps for iOS and Android. But you can train the algorithm to stop showing you certain Shorts by selecting the three vertical dots on each short and choosing Not interested in the menu. Tapping on Report and Send feedback are options if you find certain Shorts in bad taste. I've had limited success with the mobile options, honestly—it's like pushing back against a firehose.
While Chrome might give you a tiny bit of control, other browsers don't. Chrome or not, if you really want to remove YouTube Shorts, look at these browser extensions and add-ons.
ShortsBlocker (Chrome and Firefox): This extension improves your YouTube experience by hiding Shorts from your view entirely. This includes the homepage, subscriptions, search results, the navigation column on the left, and the video recommendations column on the right.
Unhook (Chrome, Firefox, and Edge): This extension gives you more control about what you want to hide on the YouTube homepage. The setting includes the option to hide YouTube Shorts along with other distractions like related videos, comments, homepage recommendations, trending tab, etc.
YouTube Shorts Blocker (Chrome): This extension removes Shorts from view from the necessary pages. But it also gives you a custom block list to selectively block content from channels you don't want on your feed. You can choose to automatically convert Shorts videos into a regular format if you want to watch specific Shorts from some channels.
BlockYT for Safari: This Safari extension makes YouTube distraction-free by blocking Shorts, comments, and recommendations. It also works on the Safari browser on iPhones and iPads.
Like all extensions, these, too, come from third-party developers. Use them with caution and stay aware of bugs and bug fixes.
It’s hard to imagine a time when hotels didn’t have smart TVs. Not all that long ago, some even made their TVs a selling point, plastering “free HBO” all over their roadside signs. These days, guests are more likely to stick to their phones, sacrificing their room’s beautiful 48-inch flatscreen on the altar of TikTok and YouTube. But with just a little extra work, you can get the best of both worlds, as cast whatever is on your phone to your hotel room's smart TV.
There’s official and unofficial options to send what's on your iPhone to a TV. Let’s start with the most legit.
Beginning today, iPhones can now use AirPlay to stream content from their phone directly to a TV at select hotels. The feature is launching at “more than 60” IHG Hotels & Resorts locations across the US, Canada, and Mexico, so give it a try the next time you’re staying at a Holiday Inn or Candlewood Suites.
The process is pretty painless: Upon turning your TV on, you should notice a QR code on the welcome screen. Simply scan it with a compatible Apple device to both connect to wifi and authorize AirPlay to that screen.
And that’s it—because the QR code is unique to your hotel room, you shouldn’t find yourself accidentally streaming to other guests' sets, or vice-versa. Apple says more locations will be added “in the coming months,” which makes sense–the limited rollout probably has something to do with the special LG TVs required for the setup.
But what if you’re not staying at an IHG property? This is where the hacks come in.
There’s plenty of dongles, like Roku and Fire TV sticks, that work with AirPlay right out of the box. The problem is getting a hotel TV to accept them.
Hotel TVs tend to be a bit strict about which devices they’ll let you plug in. That’s thanks to special control boxes that lock them down. Luckily, if you can physically get to your TV’s hookups, you can (carefully) remove these boxes. Lifehacker has covered it before, but the gist is to look for an ethernet cable (or possibly an HDMI cable), gently remove it, and restart the TV before hooking up your accessories. Depending on your hotel, you might also want to disconnect the control box from power if you’re able.
Once your device is plugged in, try swapping the TV input to your dongle and seeing if it works. If it does, simply connect it to wifi (you might need to open a browser page to do it, depending on your hotel) and you’re good to go. If using the hotel's wifi isn’t an option, don’t worry—AirPlay can work without it, and you can always fall back on a mobile hotspot.
(Just be sure to hook your TV’s control box up again before checking out!)
Streaming an Android phone, like a Pixel 8 Pro or Galaxy S24 Ultra, to a hotel TV is much like streaming an iPhone, but with a few extra quirks, some of which can work in your favor. For instance, hotel chains like Wyndham and Hyatt already have Chromecasts built into their TVs, letting you cast from your phone, or at least log into your streaming services, depending on how locked down they are. If you’re lucky enough to have a Chromecast officially set up from the start, just follow your hotel’s instructions and you should be good to go.
For everyone else, you’re probably going to want to bring your own dongle, like a Fire TV Stick or Chromecast. While it’s possible to stream content from an Android phone to a TV without a dongle, it’s probably not going to be easy in a hotel environment, since these workarounds usually require accessing specific smart TV apps or functions that you can’t depend on your hotel to have or allow you to access.
For the most seamless experience, I recommend a Chromecast, as certain other dongles can only mirror your screen, rather than cast content across devices. With casting, you’ll ensure you get the best resolution, and generally have a more intuitive experience. (Note, though, that Chromecasts do require wifi when they boot.)
Once you’re in your hotel room with your dongle, you’ll want to connect it to your TV following the same steps outlined in the iPhone section above: gently remove the hotel control box’s connection to the TV, restart the TV, plug your Chromecast in, and swap to the proper input to test that everything worked.
If it did, try to connect your dongle to wifi (again, you may need to open a browser page). If the hotel’s wifi isn’t working, you can either use a mobile hotspot to try casting, or you can screen mirror without using wifi at all, depending on your dongle (the Fire TV Stick is a good choice if this is a concern).
I recently upgraded my "unsupported" PC to Windows 11 and was immediately bombarded with banner alerts, ads, and current affairs news that I'd rather not be force fed by my operating system. Windows 11 doesn't exactly offer a pleasant experience out of the box, but you can adjust a few settings to fix most of its issues.
You may be tempted to use a third-party tool to disable all of Microsoft's invasive tracking with one click. While this may sound like the easier method that following this guide, I don't recommend it—it's difficult to know what kinds of changes such tools are making under the hood, and if anything goes wrong, it'll be hard to troubleshoot the problem, as these apps generally tweak dozens of settings in one go.
If you hate the Windows 11 Start menu, you can replace it entirely. However, if you're willing to put up with it, you can at least remove ads from the Start menu. To do this, go to Windows 11's Settings menu. Then navigate to Personalization > Start and disable the following options:
Show recommendations for tips, shortcuts, new apps, and more
Show recently added apps
Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer
These options will give you more control over the Start menu and prevent random files and apps from appearing there. Next, remove the ads masquerading as pinned apps. To do this, open the Start menu and right-click the app icon for apps you'll never use, such as LinkedIn or Instagram, and select Uninstall or Unpin from Start.
It's unfortunate that Microsoft doesn't want you to enjoy a clean, beautiful lock screen. Yes, the company has used the space to show you ads too. You can fix this by going to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen. Click the drop-down menu next to Personalize your lock screen and select Picture or Slideshow. A new option will appear below the photo selector, labeled Get fun facts, tips, tricks, and more on your lock screen. Disable this to stop promotional content from showing up there.
Microsoft loves to nag you about signing up for OneDrive. To stop these ads too, go to Settings > System > Notifications and turn off alerts from OneDrive. Next, open File Explorer and click the three dots icon in the toolbar. Select Options, followed by the View tab. Now scroll down and disable Show sync provider notifications.
Speaking of spammy alerts, you should also take a moment to disable unwanted notifications. Go to Settings > System > Notifications and disable notifications for every app that spams you. Some apps don't appear in this list; in such cases, you'll have to open that app and disable alerts from its notification settings.
By default, Microsoft collects your data to show you ads. Put a stop to this by going to Settings > Privacy & security > General and disabling everything on the page.
Windows 11 tracks your device usage as another way to serve you ads. Go to Settings > Personalization > Device Usage and disable each setting on this page to stop them.
If you don't want to use Microsoft's Copilot AI or see the news widgets in the taskbar, then you can hide them. Go to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar and turn off the following options:
Copilot
Task view
Widgets
This will give you a cleaner taskbar with just the Start button and the apps you've pinned. If you prefer to have weather on the taskbar, you can enable Task view from the settings mentioned above. Its icon will appear in the bottom-left corner of the screen. Click it and hide widgets manually until only the weather widget (and any others you actually want) remain.
Finally, you can stop Microsoft from collecting diagnostics data for ads. To do so, go to Settings > Privacy & security > Diagnostics and feedback and disable Tailored experiences. For good measure, you should also disable Send optional diagnostics data.
When you're cleaning your home, you fall into one of two categories: Someone who's cleaning up after people and someone who's cleaning up after people and pets. There is little reasoning to be done with a dog or cat, and accidents happen more than we'd like—so it's helpful to have the best products and tools on hand to combat them when they do.
These are the best products for battling fur, odors, and stains:
First, you need a vacuum that's equipped to deal with pet hair—and not all of them are. Pet-loving TikTokkers recommend the Bissell CleanView Swivel ($106.44) for its ability to suck up long hairs without getting clogged like a stick vacuum, and the Hoover Powerdash Pet ($109.99) is popular on pet care sites.
For smaller areas, rugs, and upholstery, try a pet hair rake. These are also wildly popular on TikTok and there are a ton of very similar ones on Amazon, like this well-rated two-pack for $8.99.
Arm & Hammer Pet Fresh odor eliminator ($18.29 for a pack of three) comes recommended by the pet experts at Rover, who say it truly does mask bad odors in your carpet. Just sprinkle it on before you vacuum.
Before you mask smells, of course, you do have to get that pee out of the carpet. Try the Resolve Ultra Pet Odor and Stain Remover spray ($9.46), which is formulated for this exact task. When dealing with bodily fluids, animal or otherwise, it's best to get a real cleaner than try any homemade hacks.
Because the best defense is a good offense:
To stay on top of hair and shedding, don't just stop at periodically brushing your pet and bringing them to the groomer. Take matters into your own hands with tech designed to groom and dry your dog. Try the Airrobo dog hair vacuum ($89.99), which has brushing attachments you can use while you literally suck the loose fur off your pet, or the Shelandy Groomer Partner dryer ($75.00) that is safe to use on your animal after a bath.
Get the right brush. According to Rover, a slicker brush ($9.99) works well for maintenance of any kind of fur, while a Furminator ($35.25) is especially good for dogs with double coats. You can also try a shedding glove ($6.99) if your pet is afraid of the brushes or you simply want to get in some extra petting and scratching time.
Mesh wifi is a newer way to distribute internet across homes with thick walls, multiple stories, or larger square footage while still keeping a strong connection. Mesh networks work differently from extenders and boosters and do a much better job of keeping your signal strong. If you've tried solutions like mounting your router on the ceiling and are still not getting the speeds you need, a mesh network might be in order. Depending on your situation, certain mesh wifi systems will be a better fit than others, but there is one particular mesh system deal also offering Wi-Fi 7 that you should consider.
For a limited time, TP-Link's three-pack Deco BE85 BE22000 Tri-Band Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi 7 System is $1,299.99 (originally $1,499.99) after a $200 discount, the lowest price I've seen after checking price tracking tools. These three nodes can cover up to 9,600 square feet with the latest Wi-Fi 7.
Of course, not everyone needs that much coverage. The two-pack is $899.99 (originally $999.99) after a $100 discount and covers up to 6,400 square feet. A one node mesh system is $499.99 and covers 3,200 square feet. You can take advantage of the better three-pack discount if you know other people who could benefit from a mesh system; that way, each node would come out to $433.
The Deco BE85 BE22000 nodes came out in 2023 with an "excellent" review from PCMag and do more than just extend your wifi to justify their high price. The nodes are easy to install and manage with their dedicated Deco mobile app. They provide free basic parental control and basic HomeShield network security to protect you and your devices. They also offer multiple wired LAN ports on each node and a USB port, which you don't see in most mesh systems. Other top mesh systems like the Netgear Orbi 970 series are more expensive, while others like Eero's Max 7 don't cover as much square footage.
So many apps and websites these days have dark mode that it's a bit jarring when one doesn't. While most of Google's products offer dark mode (Gmail offers a ton of customizable themes), the company has continued to leave users of many of its web apps in the, well, light. That is, at least, until now: Google Drive has dark mode, people.
According to Android Police, Google has been working on this rollout for about a month, starting with a limited release. As of Tuesday, however, it should now be rolling out to all users, although it might take until May 1 for all users to see it. As part of that rollout, Google is prompting users about the change with a pop-up that reads "New! Dark mode: Continue to enjoy Drive in the dark." When you receive the pop-up, you'll be able to easily change your Drive theme from Light to Dark, or to Device, which will set Drive's theme to whichever theme your machine is currently set to.
Depending on when you're seeing this post, however, you might not see this pop-up, and, without it, you may never know Google Drive actually added dark mode as a feature. That's because there's no obvious toggle or option for dark mode when you're using Drive, like some web apps have. If you want to find the option, you'll need to click the setting gear at the top of the page, hit Settings, then look for Appearance. Here, you'll find the same three theme options as the pop-up: Light, Dark, and Device default.
Google Drive on mobile already matches your system theme. You can change this option in the settings menu of your Google Drive app on Android, while on iOS, Drive will always match your system theme. That's fine for people like me who use light mode during the day and dark mode at night, but it'd be nice to have some control for Drive users on iPhone.
Now that Google Drive won't blind us when we're accessing our files at night, it'd be great to see some other Google apps join the fray. If I could check my schedule on Google Calendar or type up some notes in Google Docs with the same dark theme as my computer, that'd be great.
Personally, I think any variation of bread and cheese is appropriate for most meals, but it usually functions like a snack, a partner dish, or an appetizer. Finally I’ve had a cheesy bread that feels like a meal—khachapuri. This brilliant Georgian dish is all the melty cheese you could dream of, surrounded by carbs. And with this pizza dough hack, you don’t even need to proof the bread for hours.
Khachapuri originated in Georgia (the country, not the state) and is so beloved, it’s Georgia’s national dish. This particular type of khachapuri is Adjarian khachapuri, named for the region of Georgia. The bread is shaped like a boat, and its passengers are a pool of cheese, an egg yolk or whole egg, and a pat of butter. This is a boat I’d like to be in.
Traditionally the bread portion is a yeast dough made from scratch in a fairly typical manner— knead, proof, deflate, shape, and proof again. Though I’ve seen recipes that may incorporate milk, sugar, or yogurt, many are simply composed of flour, liquid, yeast, and salt. Perfect. Your grocery store sells bread just like this and the hard part is done already. Grab a ball of pizza dough from the freezer section or the refrigerated aisle. We’re building a boat.
If you're using frozen dough, you’ll need to thaw it first. I usually put it in the fridge overnight but if you’re short on time use this water bath method. Split the dough ball. A 20-ounce ball of dough can make four personal-sized khachapuris, or you can cut the dough in half for two big shareable ones.
Since the finished shape will be an oval, the dough should start in an oval too. The best way to do this is to shape the cut segments into dough balls. (Check out my video if you need a dough ball tutorial.) Now you can use a rolling pin—or use your hands if the dough is relaxed enough—to start stretching out the dough in one direction to get a flat oval. My store-bought dough was pre-rolled into a large circle (a luxury I seldom have), so I just cut it in half and stretched the center out a bit. Put the ovals on a parchment lined baking sheet, and cover it with a tea towel.
Besides the unique shape, the cheese mixture is khachapuri’s signature feature. In Georgia it’s common to use imeruli or sulguni cheese. The cheese melts, has a bit of stretch to it, a fine curd texture, and a pleasant tanginess. If those cheeses aren’t available or reasonably accessible you can use a cheese mixture that replicates their characteristics. I used a mixture of shredded mozzarella, muenster, ricotta, and feta cheeses. The next time I make it I think I’ll use more feta because I missed the tangy flavor. Mix the chopped or shredded cheeses in a bowl along with an egg, salt, pepper, and freshly chopped parsley if you like.
Uncover the bread boats and split the cheese mixture evenly among them. Put the cheese mixture in the center and flatten it out in an oval shape, but leave a one or two-inch border of dough. Roll the edges of the dough up against the cheese center so the dough curls over the edges of the cheese slightly but don’t cover the mixture completely. Twist the ends to hold the shape.
My boats had a lot of excess dough on the ends because of the pointed shape I started with. There’s no need to aim for that; just seal or twist the ends however it feels natural.
Egg wash the dough edges and bake the boats in a preheated 375°F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the bread browns, and the cheese sets and begins to slightly puff on the edges. Take the khachapuri out of the oven. Use the back of a spoon to press a small divot into the cheese and drop a raw egg yolk into the depression. Add a pat of butter and serve it immediately. Alternatively, if you’re weirded out by raw egg, take the bread out of the oven halfway through the bake time, make a divot in the cheese, and drop a whole egg onto the bread. Return it to the oven to complete the bake time and cook the egg.
The cheese should still be hot when you serve the bread. Use a fork to scramble up the cheese with the melted butter and egg yolk, so the yolk cooks in the residual heat and the mixture becomes thick and spreadable. Rip off chunks of the boat and make sure you pick up some of the cheese mixture from the center.
Pizza dough cooked at this temperature stays soft and easily rippable, and this mixture of cheeses provides a nice balance of tangy, melty stretch. I have a feeling all the other variations of khachapuri are as good as this one, and I can’t wait to try them. I think I might need to get a cheese-only fridge.
Ingredients:
1 ball of pre-made pizza dough (cut in half or quarters)
1 egg
½ cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded whole milk mozzarella
½ cup shredded muenster cheese
¾ cup crumbled feta cheese
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Egg wash for the bread
2-4 eggs or egg yolks (one per boat)
Pats of butter for finishing
1. Stretch out the dough balls, or roll them with a pin, until you have a long oval (about 14 inches long for half the dough, or eight inches long for personal size). Place the ovals on parchment lined baking sheets. Cover the dough with a tea towel and set aside. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the egg, cheeses, salt, pepper, and parsley together until well combined.
3. Uncover the dough boats and divide the cheese mixture among them. Spread out the cheese mixture to fill the center, but leave a one to two-inch border all the way around. Roll the edges up to the cheese and have it curl over the filling a bit. Don’t cover the filling completely. Twist the ends to hold the shape. Repeat this with the other boats.
4. Egg wash the edges and bake the khachapuri breads for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the bread browns and the cheese is melted and ever so slightly puffing around the edges. Use the back of a spoon to press an indent into the cheese and add a raw egg yolk. Add a pat of butter and immediately serve the boats piping hot.
For cooked eggs, remove the khachapuri halfway through the cooking time. Press an indent into the cheese with a spoon and add a whole egg to each boat. Return them to the oven for the rest of the cooking time, until the eggs are cooked to your liking. Serve immediately.
In my home growing up, “spring cleaning” was kind of a misnomer. We didn’t clean so much as we decluttered—my hometown even had a day every spring where people were invited to put all their junk on the curb and the city would remove it by the next day (of course, the true self-starters used this as an excuse to go around in big trucks at night scooping up anything of value).
Maybe it's my upbringing talking, but I think spring decluttering is better than spring cleaning, because it sets you up to have a neater home all year. And decluttering isn’t even that hard if you have a good system to follow. The 12-12-12 method is a good system.
This idea comes from Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist. He has rounded up 14 achievable methods you can use to declutter, and 12-12-12 tops the list. It's simple: Every day, you find 12 things to throw away, 12 things to donate, and 12 things to be put away where they actually go.
Twelve is a good number to work with. It’s small enough to feel achievable, but big enough to present a bit of a challenge. The first five or so things you throw away will be easy: Find some trash and some broken stuff and toss it. But then keep going, being a little more judicious (or ambitious) so you can hit 12.
Pre-determining how many items you want to get rid of helps you stay on task and gives you a more concrete goal, which is key if you tend to back off a cleaning project when you start feeling overwhelmed. If you surpass 12 in any category, good for you! But keeping that as the benchmark can give you a little push when you're struggling.
Here’s the thing: Becker’s explanation of this method is just three sentences and one of those sentences is simply, “That’s it.” There’s a lot of wiggle room for you to adapt it to your specific needs.
I suggest going room by room, tackling a different room every day. I live in a studio apartment, so I don’t have “rooms” to take on, but I have “areas.” In my spring decluttering this year, I’ve chosen one a day, from my sitting area, to my eating area, to my kitchen, my bathroom, my bed loft, and, most dauntingly, my closets. Don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to do two rooms in a day—for bigger rooms (say, the garage) you can even break it down so you’re attacking the same one for two or three days or more. (In the spirit of transparency, I have been battling my closets for a week and a half.) It's a good idea to take it slow rather than rush through, as that's a surefire way to get rid of things you might regret later, or get fatigued and start holding onto things you should really part with.
Choosing what to throw or donate can present a challenge, so I recommend starting with two categories: One will be the 12 things you need to put back in their proper place, and the other will be the 24 things you want to get rid of in some way—whether by throwing them away or donating them. If you’re having a hard time parting with things early on, call in reinforcements: An objective person, like a friend, is more likely to harshly (but lovingly) talk you out of holding onto something useless.
I’ve used this method in various ways for a few weeks now, setting goals for how many items I want to get rid of every day. I’ve also added in a bonus category: Items to sell. If you want something gone immediately, throw out or donate it. But if you could stand to hold onto it a while and it has a little value, list it or designate it to a pile bound for the consignment shop. I sell a lot of bags and shoes on Poshmark, for instance, but only list things I know I’ll keep wearing in the time it takes for someone else to find and buy them. If I truly don’t see myself wearing it again (and the resale value is low), into the donation box it goes.
If you aren't sure if something is worth selling, google it with "used" or "resale" to see how much others are selling it for, and decide if that amount is worth keeping around until it sells. A lot of resale sites, like Poshmark and Vestiaire Collective, will even show you how long someone's item has been listed, so you can get a sense of the demand for it. If someone else has had that item listed for six months and you don't want to keep yours around for six months, it's donation time.
Make the whole process easier by picking up a set of storage bins so you can do a sweep through each room or area, tentatively putting items into the “toss,” “donate,” “organize,” or “sell” box instead of dealing with everything one by one. Even two boxes—"get rid" and "keep"—will streamline things. As a bonus, you can use those bins for seasonal storage once you're done with your big decluttering.
Sometimes major life events—like a divorce or a job in a new city—make our real estate decisions for us. The rest of the time, however, we're left to our own devices. While there are a number of factors that determine when, exactly, is the best time to put our home on the market, real estate analysts and forecasters can turn to data from previous years to make a general prediction as far as the time of year when sellers stand to benefit the most.
According to a recent report from realtor.com, this very week—April 14-20, 2024—is the best time this year to sell a home. That may be nice to hear if your home is currently on the market, but it's not necessarily useful information for other would-be sellers, who have missed 2024's sweet spot. The good news is that if they don't need to sell immediately—they can take the next year to get their home ready to list in time for the best time to sell in 2025.
Based on real estate trends in past years, spring is the best time of year to sell a house, according to data from realtor.com. "Housing conditions in April may differ year to year, but seasonality suggests that within a given year, the best time to sell will fall around mid-April," says Hannah Jones, an economic research analyst for realtor.com. "For example, today’s market is relatively challenging and this year’s sellers have adjusted their expectations accordingly, but this spring will be the best combination of conditions within the year for sellers."
So what is it about spring that puts people in the mood to buy new homes? According to Jones, it comes down to two major factors. First, spring "starts the seasonal ascent in home prices, and quickens the pace of sale," she says. Also, because housing inventory typically increases in the spring, but hasn't yet reached the heights of summer and early fall, sellers can expect more buyer attention. "The combination of higher-than-average prices and buyer demand, coupled with quick market pace and low competition from other sellers makes mid-April the best time to sell," Jones says.
Even if you haven't officially gotten the ball rolling—or are still on the fence about selling your home—there's still time to get it ready and listed for next year's spring selling season. While forecasters haven't pinpointed the specific week yet, according to Jones, mid-April 2025 will likely be the best time to sell a home next year, "assuming typical seasonal housing market patterns hold."
Of course, the amount of time you'll need to get your home market-ready depends on variables like its current condition, and how much work (if any) you plan on putting into it before selling. But to give you a general idea, the findings of a different survey from realtor.com indicate that roughly 80% of sellers take between two weeks and six months to prepare their home for sale, with the largest share taking between one and three months.
It's also worth noting that more than half of seller surveyed (56%) said that the process of getting their home ready to list took longer than they had expected—so learn from their mistakes, and make sure you give yourself plenty of time. Not sure where to start? Here are some of the steps you'll likely need to take in order to list your home next spring:
Before reaching out to potential listing agents, you should have a general idea of where you want to be after you sell your home, says Maureen McDermut, a realtor with Sotheby's International in Montecito, California. Are you moving out of state, abroad, or staying local? Whether you're moving to a new state, country, or staying local, start familiarizing yourself with the real estate market in that area so there are no major surprises further down the road.
According to Jones, it's helpful to engage with an experienced listing agent early on in the process. In addition to walking you through what needs to be done in order to get your home ready to list in the spring, they'll also help set your expectations for a listing price based on the area, and help you determine whether it makes more sense to take on major renovations and repairs, or sell your home as-is.
But don't simply hire the first agent who comes up in an online search; keep in mind that this is the person you'll be advising you on how to get top dollar for your home. McDermut recommends looking up reviews for your potential listing agents on Zillow or other real estate websites, then interviewing between three and five local agents before making a decision. "While almost all of us have an agent in the family, it might be a better move to hire someone else, especially to avoid family conflicts," she says.
Ideally, you should have your listing agent in place roughly four to six months before getting your home live on the market, McDermut says. For example, if you want to list your home in April 2025, you should interview agents in December and make your decision by January. "I would absolutely make sure an agent is hired 90 days prior to your target listing date," she says.
After assessing your home, your listing agent will probably have a few recommendations for making it more appealing to potential buyers. Remember that they're on your team and also benefit from your home selling for as much as possible. "While some of the advice might sound insulting—especially when it comes to a large project you undertook on the home—your agent wants to help you get your home in the best shape possible to sell," McDermut says.
Take sliding barn doors, for example. While it wasn't that long ago that they were all the rage, they've since fallen out of favor, and according to McDermut, buyers don't want the hassle of having to replace them. That's why as a listing agent, she would advise sellers to have new doors installed before putting their home on the market.
Start the decluttering process as soon as possible. "In today's market, buyers may wish to move in as quickly as possible, so you want to be ready," McDermut says. "If it isn't a necessity of everyday living, move it into storage or sell it."
While you have some time before you need to worry about interior listing photos, don't put off the exterior shots for too long. More specifically, arrange to have exterior photos taken of your home when it looks its best—which in many cases is when your trees, flowers, and plants are in full bloom and looking lush, says Haley Bartlett, a realtor at iGo Realty Denver. "Planning ahead and taking outside photos during that season can lead to more buyers taking note of your home when it is time to sell," she says.
If you're having your home professionally staged, the interior listing photos are typically taken seven to 14 days before it hits the market, says Ashley Oshinsky, a real estate broker and the owner of Higher Living Real Estate. "The reason for this is staging charges by the month, so the longer it sits in your home the longer it needs to be paid for," she says.
According to McDermut, this is often the hardest step for sellers who have a lot of memories attached to their home. "As you're going through the process, it helps to start thinking of your home as an investment, which it is," she says. "The sooner you can get to that state of mind, the sooner you will be able to carry on with the other tasks of selling your home."
Apple is finally loosening its strict stance towards video game emulation, meaning iPhone users can now play retro video games right on their phones, even if those games don’t have official mobile apps yet. All it takes is a simple download from the App Store and some setup within the emulator, and your iPhone will be one step closer to being the best gaming phone around. And one of the first emulators to get the official Apple sanction, Delta, makes the whole process surprisingly easy.
First: What is a game emulator, and how could it possibly be legal to play Super Mario World or Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on your phone? Well, as devices like the Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis age, it becomes easier for programmers to reverse engineer them and make apps that can mimic all of their hardware and software interactions, but this time entirely through software.
Basically, an emulator can run a virtual Super Nintendo inside your iPhone, which can then run Super Nintendo games as usual. It can be a taxing and sometimes glitchy process, since your device doesn’t just have to run the game, but also a whole console at the same time. Modern computers are powerful enough, though, that plenty of emulators still eclipse original hardware in some respects, being able to play games at higher-than-usual resolutions or speeds and even save them at a moment’s notice—perfect for portable play.
Thanks to an old U.S. Court case, emulators are also legal, so long as the emulator just mimics the consoles themselves rather than distributing any games or operating systems.
Which brings us to how to actually use Delta to play retro games on your phone. Delta is actually a fairly mature app, and using it is pretty intuitive. It’s been available to sideload for almost half a decade now, with today simply being its first day Apple has allowed it on the App Store.
Delta can run games from the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Super Nintendo, the Nintendo 64, all Game Boy systems, the Nintendo DS, and even the Sega Genesis. The catch is that you’ll need to provide the game files yourselves.
Delta’s site tells you which file formats it supports, but as for where to get your games, you’re on your own. Emulation enthusiasts assure players that U.S. law allows them to make digital backups of games they own, and there are plenty of devices and techniques for doing just that, although the practice has yet to face much legal scrutiny.
Once you have a compatible game file on your phone, you simply need to tap the “+” button in the top right corner of the app, select the file, and you’re good to start playing. Delta will automatically find box art and sort your systems for you.
Note that for Nintendo DS games, you’ll also need to add a bios file to Delta, which you’ll also need to get on your own. Once you have one, just tap on the gear icon in the app’s top left corner, scroll down until you see “Nintendo DS” under “Core Settings,” then add your files under “DS BIOS FILES.”
This is where things get fun. Because of its age, Delta is a robust app with support for touch controls, Bluetooth controllers, haptic feedback, fast forward, cheats, save states, and even cloud backups. You can connect anything from a PS5 controller to Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons to play games on Delta.
When you first load up a game, things will probably look pretty normal. You’ll see the gameplay either up top or in the middle of your screen (depending on whether you’re holding your phone vertically or horizontally). Below or to the sides of your game will be your controls, done up in a snazzy pre-made skin (which you can also swap for custom imported skins later). But hidden among the standard controls should be the menu button. Here, you can enable cheat codes, alter the game speed, set a certain button to be held down, and manage your save states.
Save states are maybe the most convenient feature an emulator can have. They allow you to save a game at absolutely any point, separate from the game’s own save system. It’s a neat trick enabled by the virtual nature of the setup—the program just remembers how it was operating at any point in time, and can recall it later.
Now you don’t need to worry about finishing a level before your bus arrives, and if you’re feeling nefarious, you can save right before a tough boss fight so you can retry right away if you lose without having to replay the whole level again. Your call.
To adjust more settings than the in-game menu button will allow, just navigate back to the Delta main menu (your game will pause) and click the gear icon in the top left corner, where you’ll be able to set up controls for all your players, home screen shortcuts, and optionally link your files and saves to a Dropbox or Google Drive account.
More emulators are likely going to hit the App Store soon, but Delta is the first to stay, as well as the most robust and likely to stick around. Previously, a Game Boy Advance emulator called iGBA was pulled by Apple for violating its spam and copyright rules, which might have something to do with the code’s alleged connection to Delta’s predecessor, according to a statement Delta developer Riley Testut gave to The Verge. A Nintendo Entertainment System emulator called Bimmy was also pulled by its developer “out of fear.”
While emulators are legal, having to fight large companies like Nintendo in court can still be a daunting task, as evidenced by the recent shutdown of Switch emulator Yuzu. Delta's team, however, has been at this for a while, and doesn't show any signs of stopping soon.
Allowing Delta to hit the App Store is also smart on Apple's part, since Google already allows emulators on the Android Play Store. The app's presence will help Apple's ecosystem shore up its retro coverage while the iPhone maker works with larger developers like Capcom to continue to bring recent big budget releases like Resident Evil 4 to its devices.
Touch controls work well, but a Bluetooth controller makes retro gaming on iPhone even better. Here are some great options:
Backbone One (USB-C): $99
8BitDoPro 2: $49.99
8BitDo SN30 Pro: $44.99
StoryCorps founder Dave Isay and TED’s Helen Walters open Session 6 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Gilberto Tadday / TED)
In Session 6 of TED2024, we heard from bridge-builders — inspiring speakers working to unite people across political divides, conflicts, differences and more.
The event: Talks from Session 6 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant, hosted by TED’s Helen Walters and Dave Isay, the founder of StoryCorps and winner of the 2015 TED Prize
When and where: Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, BC, Canada
Speakers: Gabrielle Rifkind, David Finnigan, Ketakandriana Rafitoson, Spencer J. Cox, Daniel Lubetzky
Micah Handler (left) and Amer Abu Arqub speak at Session 6 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Gilberto Tadday / TED)
Performance: The Jerusalem Youth Chorus (JYC) is a choral and dialogue program for Palestinian and Israeli youth in Jerusalem. JYC’s founder Micah Hendler and executive director Amer Abu Arqub discuss the impetus behind the program, how music creates cross-cultural understanding and introduce the chorus itself for a rousing performance.
Gabrielle Rifkind speaks at Session 6 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Gilberto Tadday / TED)
Gabrielle Rifkind is director of the Oxford Process, an organization devoted to ending armed conflict with the tools of mass psychology and geopolitics, rather than the weapons of war. With inclusive negotiating strategies, she believes we can create a world where nations rush to the bargaining table rather than to their guns.
David Finnigan speaks at Session 6 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Ryan Lash / TED)
In the wake of his production Kill Climate Deniers, playwright David Finnigan received countless messages from everyday individuals defending their beliefs. While climate deniers still refuse to believe science, says Finnigan, they’re right about one thing: climate action requires us to change how we live — and that’s something we all should embrace.
Ketakandriana Rafitoson speaks at Session 6 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Gilberto Tadday / TED)
In Madagascar, activist Ketakandriana Rafitoson empowers citizens to protect their rights in the face of systemic exploitation. In the absence of strong democratic traditions, her grassroots toolkit of citizen assemblies, legal aid and collective action is helping to organize Madagascar, one community at a time.
Governor of Utah Spencer J. Cox speaks at Session 6 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Ryan Lash / TED)
When he felt his faith in the peaceful transfer of power in the US eroding, Governor of Utah Spencer J. Cox reached out to his political opponent to produce a campaign ad — together. It sparked a nationwide conversation about bridging political divides and fostering a united society. On the TED stage, he shares three things we can all do to disagree without hate.
Daniel Lubetzky speaks at Session 6 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Gilberto Tadday / TED)
We’re being programmed to think every issue is binary: “us versus them.” But Daniel Lubetzky says the real enemy is not a person but a mindset: extremism that hijacks the agenda and foments division. He previews a new initiative that aims to bring together “builders” (instead of “dividers”) from around the world and across the political spectrum, to replace eternal conflict with practical problem-solving.
Backstage at Session 6 of TED2024: The Brave and the Brilliant on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo: Jasmina Tomic / TED)
TED2024, held April 15-19, 2024, in Vancouver, BC, Canada, is a week of talks, discovery sessions, excursions, dinners, performances and more celebrating “The Brave and the Brilliant.” Special thanks to our strategic partners PwC, Adobe, Schneider Electric and Northwestern Mutual.
TED2024_20240417_1GT8203-medium
Amazon’s TV adaptation of Fallout is among the best game-to-screen adaptations ever made; it's so good, even people who’ve never played a Fallout game, or any game, are hungry for more of the franchise's unique vibe. If that’s you, and you want to dive into the Fallout game universe but don’t know where to start, read on for a list of which games to play first, and what to know about Fallout before you begin.
There are a lot of games in the Fallout universe, between six and nine, depending on how you count them, but Amazon’s Fallout isn’t a direct adaptation of any of them. The series is an original, standalone story set within the larger Fallout universe, as is each of the individual Fallout games, so you could play any title and not miss important information. That said, all Fallout games aren't created equally, especially if you're a fan of the series, so choose wisely.
While the first two games birthed much of the franchise's unique style, Fallout 3, the first “modern” Fallout game, crafted the raw material of alternative history, atomic-core design, and over-the-top black humor into a masterpiece. Unlike the first two Fallout games, Fallout 3 features action-rich first-person shooter gameplay that has the same whacked-out, so-violent-it-feels-like-a-cartoon style as the series. In other words: It's fun.
Fallout 3's story shares broad strokes with show's as well. Like Lucy in the series, Fallout 3's central character, The Lone Wanderer, was born in a Vault-Tech vault generations after the bombs destroyed earth. The game’s introductory section lets you experience peaceful underground life, like episode one of the series, then thrusts you into the unforgiving wasteland of Washington, D.C. in 2277, like episode 2 in Los Angeles circa 2296. Also like Lucy, The Lone Wanderer is on a quest to find their father and will meet ghouls, the Brotherhood of Steel, mutated creatures, and other familiar delights and horrors in the above-world. You’ll also learn more than you want to know about “The Enclave,” a faction shown briefly in the series during Dr. Siggi Wilzig's escape, and be introduced to Deathclaws and Super-Mutants, both of which, I'm sure, will play prominent roles in Season 2 of the series.
Fallout 4 is also a great starting point for new players. Released in 2015, during the Xbox One and PS 4 era, Fallout 4 took advantage of the extra power of those new-at-the-time consoles to expand and refine the Fallout universe. Fallout 4’s New England is a bigger, more varied world than the settings of previous Fallout games. It's a more colorful, detailed game too, that looks uncannily like the series. Fallout 4’s opening chapter takes place in a shiny pre-apocalypse suburb in 2077 reminiscent of Cooper Howard's flashback adventures in pre-bomb Hollywood. When you end up in 2287, the contrast is a lot like the series flashing forward to 2296. I won't spoil anything, but Fallout 4's starting vault makes a lot more sense when you know what happened in the show's Vault 31. On the negative side, in contrast to the fast-as-charging-Yao Guai pace of Fallout: The Show, Fallout 4 puts a heavy focus on exploration, discovery, side-quests, and colony building, so the story can feel a little slack at times and it’s easy to get side-tracked. A free Fallout 4 next-gen update for Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 is scheduled to come out on April 25, so it's a great time to give it spin.
Set in the American west in 2281, Fallout: New Vegas is a great choice if you are a fan of the dusty cowboy vibe of The Ghoul, you want to learn more about the New California Republic, the faction lead by mysterious revolutionary Moldaver in the Fallout series, or you want to dig into the likely setting of Season 2 of the Amazon show.
New Vegas is widely regarded as the overall best Fallout game by hardcore fans of the franchise. It’s heavier on role-playing than the other modern Fallout games, so it’s a more open-ended experience and it allows players to create more varied characters and overcome challenges in different ways than either Fallout 3 or 4.
While New Vegas is definitely a great game, I didn’t connect with the characters and the extra-gritty setting as strongly as I did with the other games. Story-wise, it feels the least like the series of the modern games to me. But that's probably just a taste thing; it's still a solid introduction to the franchise.
If you want a super-casual Fallout experience, check out Fallout Shelter. This free game can be played on consoles, but it’s really designed for wasting a few minutes on your iPhone or Android. Shelter casts you as the overseer of a Vault-Tech vault. You’re in charge of expanding your home/prison, attracting new residents, and keeping everyone inside safe, sane, and radiation-free until it’s safe to return to the surface (like that will ever happen).
It may be a silly mobile game, but Fallout: Shelter is the only Fallout title that features the characters from the show. A recent update added Lucy MacLean, Maximus, The Ghoul, and (for some reason) Ma June as “legendary dwellers,” who might show up to live in your vault if you’re lucky enough to open the right lunchboxes. You can't play as them, but you can see them, and that's something I guess.
"The beginning" might seem like the most logical place to start a series, but 1997’s Fallout and its sequel Fallout 2 are bad jumping off points for most people, particularly non-gamers. Both are punishingly difficult, hardcore role-playing games with turn-based combat and confusing, antique controls—fun for some, but torturous for most. They're groundbreaking, fascinating titles to be sure, but even if you manage to suffer through the deadly beginning of each game, they don't provide the same feel as the series; the run-and-gun gameplay of Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, and Fallout 4 is way closer to the series than the slow-but-deadly vibe of the early games. Also 3, 4, and New Vegas have a “Very Easy” difficulty setting, so your rip-roaring Fallout adventure won't end in frustration.
While it won't be as deadly as the first two games, Fallout 76 is not a great place to jump into Fallout world either. Released in 2018 and set in Appalachia in 2102, Fallout 76 is an online multiplayer game with a steep learning curve, MMO-style grinding and crafting, and a different overall vibe than the TV show and the other games. It tries to provide a Fallout-like experience, but the addition of other players means you’re not really the main character, and MMO-specific mechanics don't translate well to Fallout. All that plus second-tier writing and voice-acting make Fallout 76 the least Fallout-y modern Fallout game.
I’m a completist, so I’m including these two obscure, non-canonical Fallout games at the bottom of the list. I haven’t played them, but that's OK; according to Todd Howard, director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios and executive producer of the Fallout series, “neither Fallout Tactics nor Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel happened." Howard is the God of all things Fallout, so if he says they don't count, they don't count. Skip 'em.
A lot of people with perfectly good computers cannot upgrade to Windows 11. When Microsoft released the latest version of Windows, it put some stringent minimum system requirements in place, the toughest of which was TPM 2.0 support. Plenty of people have PCs with older versions of Trusted Platform Module (TPM) or good gaming machines that lack TPM entirely, which means that Windows 11 is out of their reach. However, there's an easy way to bypass TPM checks and install Windows 11 on your PC.
Let me state the obvious right up front: it's not a good idea to upgrade low-end PCs to Windows 11. Microsoft requires a minimum of 4GB RAM and 64GB of free space to install Windows 11, and if your PC doesn't have that, you should avoid this upgrade. This guide is primarily for those who have perfectly capable PCs, but can't upgrade to Windows 11 due to TPM restrictions.
Microsoft's main reason behind pushing for TPM is to increase security. PCs with TPM are more resilient against malware and ransomware attacks, and are able to store sensitive data locally in a more secure way. The company says that if you install Windows 11 on an unsupported PC, you may face compatibility issues, may not receive support from Microsoft, and may experience poor performance. You're also warned that any damage to your PC won't be covered under warranty.
If your PC is under warranty, it's recommended that you don't mess with it. However, if the warranty has expired, you might want to consider upgrading it to Windows 11 anyway because another deadline is looming. Microsoft has announced that it'll be discontinuing updates for these computers starting Oct. 14, 2025.
Once the last security update is issued, it's strongly recommended that you don't use your PC on the internet. You'll be vulnerable to new types of malware, viruses, and other threats from the internet, and there'll be no real security patches to protect you.
You do have the option to pay for updates as part of Microsoft's Extended Security Updates (ESU) program, but that is an expensive proposition. For businesses, it costs $61 per device for the first year, and the price doubles with each subsequent year. Microsoft hasn't revealed the pricing of these updates for individual users yet, but if you're a part of an educational institution, the pricing is $1 per device per year, which goes up to $4 per year by the third year.
If the pricing of ESU for home users is reasonable, it may be a good idea to stick with Windows 10. However, if you have a working Windows 10 license, the upgrade to Windows 11 is free and it comes with free security updates for many years to come.
Before you proceed with upgrades, be sure to back up your PC. You don't want to lose all your data during the upgrade, so please ensure that irreplaceable data such as photos, videos, and documents are all safely stored elsewhere. When all of this is done, you can start the upgrade process. First, download a Windows 11 ISO from Microsoft's website. On that page, scroll down to Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO) for x64 devices, select the edition from the drop-down menu, and click Download Now. Follow the directions until you get the option to click 64-bit Download. The ISO file is over 6GB and it'll take a short while to download.
While that's underway, you should download Rufus, which is a free tool that lets you create bootable USB drives. You're also going to need a USB drive with at least 8GB of free space. If you have one of these, take a moment to back up any important data on this drive because it'll be erased as we proceed.
Once the Windows 11 ISO is downloaded, plug in the USB drive, and install and launch Rufus. With this app open, go to the Device drop-down menu, and select the correct USB drive. Click the big SELECT button next to Disk or ISO image and pick the Windows 11 ISO that you just downloaded. Now, click the START button.
You'll see a pop-up asking if you want to customize your Windows installation. This is where you should ideally enable the following options:
Remove requirement for 4GB+ RAM, Secure Boot and TPM 2.0
Remove requirement for an online Microsoft account
Create a local account with username
Disable data collection (Skip privacy questions)
The first option is crucial if you want to install Windows 11 on unsupported PCs. The rest are good to have because they let you skip the online account sign-in process that Microsoft keeps trying to push, and they also skip a few annoying setup questions about data collection. With all this selected, click OK and wait for Rufus to do its thing.
Once it's done, double-check that your data is backed up, and it's time to start the upgrade. On your Windows 10 PC, go to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery and click Restart now under the Advanced startup section. This will reboot your PC and start the Windows 11 setup process from your USB drive.
I used this method to successfully upgrade my PC to Windows 11 and ran into just one hiccup. When the PC restarts for the first time during the upgrade, you should remove all USB drives from the computer (including the one with Windows 11). Otherwise, the installation may get stuck. Other than this, the upgrade went smoothly and I'm now happily running Windows 11. I didn't need to do anything to activate it either. I skipped the step asking me to type the product key and noticed that Windows 11 had activated itself after installation. My Windows 10 Pro key automatically activated Windows 11 Pro post the upgrade.
Movies can reaffirm or further our faith. For decades, they've been used to spread the Almighty's message, whether through epic productions like The Ten Commandments or Ben-Hur or low-budget indie dramas targeted toward church-goers, like Fireproof or Left Behind.
There are other films that, while not overtly Christian, have a subtle, positive message that can be equally inspiring. Here are 12 (one for each apostle) for you to choose from.
One could argue that the writer of Taxi Driver has been making Christian-themed movies all of his life, but Paul Schrader's faith (he is a graduate of Calvin College) is most apparent in this A24 film. It stars Ethan Hawke as a reverend looking for hope as the religious world becomes increasingly corrupt, but his existential journey leads him down a violent path.
Where to stream: Digital rental, Kanopy, Cinemax
Not quite as cynical as First Reformed, M. Night Shyamalan's horror film about an alien invasion has a faithless former priest as its protagonist. The movie's central theme—does the Almighty have a grand plan?—becomes fairly obvious as the plot's secrets become known.
Where to stream: Digital rental
Made at the height of Al Pacino's "shouting" period of his career, this legal thriller/horror hybrid revolves around a young lawyer (Keanu Reeves) whose spotless legal record takes him to a prestigious New York law firm where he is slowly corrupted by his boss (Pacino). The film's excessive nudity and crude language make it inappropriate for family film night, but it does touch on Christian themes such as the seven deadly sins and Lucifer's fall from heaven.
Where to stream: Digital rental, Tubi
When this big-budget adaptation of Madeline L'Engle's novel hit the screens, there were concerns about omitting its Christian elements. However, the film stays true to the book's core themes: There is meaning in our chaotic universe, and our weaknesses can be our greatest strengths.
Where to stream: Digital rental, Disney+
Speaking of young adult fantasy adaptations, this blockbuster about "two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve" who find a magical land inside a closet delves deep into Christian themes. They become undeniable when Aslan, the wise titular lion, returns to life after sacrificing himself for one of the children at the story's center, much like a certain Christian did for the world.
Where to stream: Digital rental, Disney+
Just like C.S. Lewis, the author of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, writer and devout Catholic J.R.R. Tolkien (also a friend of Lewis) did not shy away from the fact that his novels, upon which these award-winning films are based, are founded on religious themes. A simple Google search will reveal any number of interpretations, from the ring representing temptation to the wizard Gandalf's resurrection after his death.
Where to stream: Digital rental, Max
Between the epic car crash scenes, musical cameos, and classic soundtrack, the plot of this hilarious film, which revolves around a pair of brothers (Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi) who get their band back together to put on a fundraiser for the orphanage they grew up in, has religious undertones. Much like Joan of Arc, the titular characters see a heavenly vision that sets them out on "a mission from God," though it's doubtful He asked them to drive through a shopping mall to escape the police.
Where to stream: Digital rental
Ryan Gosling is having a moment right now, so it wouldn't be prudent not to include one of his films on this list. At first blush, this dramedy about a shy soul who becomes (chaste) friends with a sex doll doesn't seem like a movie that reflects Christian values. However, quite unexpectedly, its themes of tolerance, faith, and love have prompted churches to use the film as an instructional tool.
Where to stream: Fubo, MGM+, Hoople, Tubi, Pluto TV, Kanopy, Digital rental
One runs to overcome intolerance; the other runs to bring God glory. The true story of British sprinters Harold Abrahams, an English Jew, and Eric Liddell, a Christian missionary, at the 1924 Olympics was awarded the Oscar for Best Picture in 1982. What sets this inspirational film apart from other sports dramas is that both men firmly believe their athletic abilities are part of a higher purpose. They each find strength in remaining true to their beliefs.
Where to stream: Digital rental
Frank Capra's film about redemption and life is everyone's favorite holiday film for a reason. It also touches on faith, purpose, and family—many of the touchstones of Christianity.
Where to stream: The Roku Channel, Freevee, Plex, Hoopla, Digital rental
The recent drama between the real-life Michael Oher and his adoptive family aside, this inspirational sports drama wears its themes of charity and faith on its metaphorical sleeve. The Tuohy family openly talks about their Christian beliefs and believes that their faith in God makes everything possible.
Where to stream: Digital rental
This dramedy looks like a typical Steve Martin movie, with the comedian exchanging quips with the likes of Liam Neeson and Debra Winger. The film is about a traveling preacher/con man who performs “miracles” every night at his revivals, but when actual divine events occur, he doesn’t understand why. While the film begins by framing Christianity as a get-rich-quick scheme, it becomes a profound meditation on faith and God's plan.
Where to stream: Max, Digital rental
In this column I try not to cover topics that any normal person already knows are fake. I don’t bother writing about people who think Elvis is alive or that the Earth is flat, because anyone with two brain cells to rub together already knows those are bullshit, and believers are a tiny minority on the fringes of society.
I had considered “chemtrails” in the “no one takes this seriously” column, but I was wrong. This week, legislators in Tennessee passed a state law that bans “the intentional injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of chemicals … substances, or apparatus … with the express purpose of affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight." In other words, they banned chemtrails.
While the legislation was drafted partly in response to a Federal government report released last year on solar geoengineering—basically the idea of cooling the planet by reflecting sunlight back into space—some lawmakers didn't get the memo. Here’s what Tennessee Sen. Frank Niceley said in support of the law: “This will be my wife’s favorite bill of the year. She has worried about this, I bet, 10 years … If you look up—one day, it’ll be clear. The next day they will look like some angels have been playing tic-tac-toe. They’re everywhere. I’ve got pictures on my phone with Xs right over my house. For years they denied they were doing anything.”
The report that riled up Tennessee legislators explicitly says the research "does not signify any change in policy or activity by the Biden-Harris Administration." We don't even know how or if it would work, so solar geoengineering is a non-starter. Chemtrail conspiracy theories are fake and dumb. But Tennessee's decision to outlaw both could be a great and/or hilarious thing—if they follow the letter of the law they wrote.
Believers call the long, white trails sometimes left in the sky by jet airplanes "chemtrails." They believe chemtrails are the result of the government intentionally spraying biological or chemical agents into the sky in order to change the weather, control the population, and/or make people sick (the specifics depend on who you ask).
But the trails Sen. Nicely has pictures of on his phone are really called "contrails," short for condensation trails, and no one is denying anything. Contrails are the result of water vapor released from aircraft engines’ exhaust. They are mostly ice crystals, basically jet-made clouds, and there is no evidence they can control people’s behavior. But they might actually change the weather. (More on that below.)
Contrails are an interesting conspiracy theory element because you can walk outside and see them for yourself; but sometimes you don’t see them, just like the Senator said. So are some aircraft spraying chemicals and others not? According to the authorities, no one is spraying anything. Contrails only form under certain atmospheric conditions, even if it looks like angels have been playing tic-tac-toe.
Chemtrail conspiracy theorists are partly right, but, as is usual with conspiracy theorists, not in the way they think they are. The U.S. government really is trying to control the weather by releasing a chemical into the air from planes. It’s called cloud-seeding, and the chemical, silver iodide, is harmless to humans. The idea is to prevent droughts by making clouds more productive. Cloud-seeding has been around since the 1940s. It's difficult to say for sure whether it works (it’s hard to get a control group of clouds), but it’s not secret. There are ongoing, relatively small, government funded cloud-seeding programs in several states, including Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado. But not in Tennessee, obviously.
The second part of the chemtrails theory is a little right too. You don’t need to be a conspiracy theorist to accept that the U.S. government has a long, troubling history of secretly dispersing chemical and biological agents in the air over the U.S.; They admit it themselves. But the government (officially) halted biological and chemical weapons programs in the 1960s, and in 2023, the U.S.’s last chemical weapon, a sarin nerve agent-filled M55 rocket rocket, was destroyed, according to the international oversight group The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
So weather control programs and secret dispersal of chemicals exist, and the U.S. is looking into solar geoengineering, but nothing connects jet engine vapor-trails to any of these things. That doesn't mean contrails are benign though; they might even be worse than conspiracy theorists fear.
In another “a broken clock is right twice a day” victory for conspiracy theorists, legitimate research indicates that contrails are harmful, maybe extremely harmful, but not because they contain population-control nanobots.
It's hard to pin down the specific causes of temperature changes in a system as complex as the climate of a planet, but research has long supported the theory that jets creating tiny clouds in the sky prevents heat from escaping the planet, leading many climate scientists to regard contrails as a major contributor to global warming.
Contrails may be worse than the effect of burning all that jet fuel in the first place. According to the Yale School of the Environment, the constant injection of jet-made clouds has a “daily impact on atmospheric temperatures that is greater than that from the accumulated carbon emissions from all aircraft since the Wright Brothers first took to the skies more than a century ago.” To make matters worse, efforts to cut the CO2 emissions by making jet engines more efficient tends to produce more contrails that last longer.
So yes, conspiracy theorists, those streaks in the sky are a serious problem that could be contributing to a lot of people dying in the future. (Don’t worry, we’re using AI to stop it, which should work out great.)
Tennessee law-makers may have crafted this legislation to thwart a federal program that doesn’t exist and fight a made-up phenomenon, but depending on how it's interpreted and enforced, this law could be the most consequential piece of environmental protection legislation in U.S. history—or it could be a clear enough lesson in what happens when you let conspiracy theorists pass laws that Tennessee won't vote for dumb people anymore. (I can dream, right?)
To really ban "chemtrails" you'd have to ban all jet travel over Tennessee, which would lower the total amount of contrail-based warming on earth. But that's just the beginning. Tennessee outlawed releasing anything that “affects temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight" without defining any of the terms, so it could be read to ban all pollution—from cars, airplanes, factories, or anywhere else—because it contributes to global warming (ie: affects temperature.)
To be fair, the law says the chemicals must be released with “the express purpose of affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight," so it probably wouldn't apply to factories, since raising the temperature of the earth is a secondary effect of industry. But sunglass manufacturers could be in the crosshairs. What is a pair of sunglasses if not an apparatus that affects the intensity of sunlight? Maybe sunglasses only affect sunlight's intensity on a personal level, but the law doesn't define what "affects the intensity of sunlight" means, so it could be read to cover Ray-Bans and beach umbrellas. You could make a case that the letter of Tennessee's law bans heaters, air conditioners, stoves, and ovens too, since they are all apparatuses with the express purpose of changing temperature. Water is a chemical, and spraying it onto people at an amusement park is an attempt to change temperature, so goodbye, cooling misters.
I could go on, but it's all ridiculous. We know that Tennessee is not going to shut down its airports and turn into a post-industrial, sunglass-free state where cooking is outlawed. The law isn't likely to be enforced in any way, and its only real-world effect will be to make people like Senator Niceley's wife happy that someone is finally doing something about those pesky angels playing tic-tac-toe in the sky.
Artificial intelligence is already so integrated into kids' lives, they may not even think of it as a distinct concept from “internet” or “computer.” It is their digital minion, their planning partner, an encyclopedia, a creative tool, and a homework assistant. Since we know kids of all ages are using AI, it falls upon parents to ensure they are aware of both the benefits and the risks.
Little kids are typically introduced to AI through age-appropriate educational games, interactive apps, and learning platforms that use AI to personalize content. These games and platforms may use a chatbot or virtual tutor to adaptively guide students through lessons. And when they take standardized tests at school, those tests are likely adaptive, meaning they use AI to tailor students’ test questions to the most suitable difficulty level based on prior responses.
As Leticia Barr, a middle school computer science teacher and technology, education, and parenting blogger said, AI image generators (used with supervision) can help children visualize things that only exist in their imaginations.
“AI tech can foster creativity and imagination. Image generators, for example, can translate text-based ideas into fantastical and increasingly realistic images and bridge artistic vision with any level of creative talent,” Barr said.
You can help kids get used to the ubiquity of AI technology by pointing out when an advanced computer process is creating something personalized for them, even on something like YouTube or TikTok, which uses algorithms to tailor the videos they're shown. Explain that these processes would typically have been performed by humans before AI programming developed. Help them understand the difference between human thinking and the programmed process of aggregating input and reproducing information or actions in a way that is human-like.
As homework and independent study become a bigger deal, tweens are more likely to use AI for on-demand homework help, Barr said. In the middle grade years, their research becomes more complex, and they may use AI to synthesize ideas or explain concepts.
“The most effective way students can use AI as a tool for their school work is as an explanation machine, as opposed to an answer machine,” Barr said.
This reminds me of the early days of Wikipedia. We were warning students from middle school to college to never trust it as a reliable source. In the last 20 years, we’ve come to accept Wikipedia as a way to get a quick understanding of a topic (with the caveat that serious fact checking is required before any of that understanding is incorporated into your dissertation).
Kids this age may also be learning to code on their own; they are not just using AI as a tool to teach or entertain them, they are wielding AI in their own contributions to technology.
Tweens are starting to get a sense of themselves as digital citizens, making this a good time to emphasize privacy, security, and the impact of AI on society. Reiterate that they should never share personal, identifying information online, even with friendly chatbots. Pay attention to what platforms or apps they are using to access AI, and help them distinguish between age-appropriate resources and unsafe resources.
Teens may be the group most vulnerable to misusing or facing negative consequences of AI. Teachers and parents are both worried about AI-driven cheating with artificially generated reports and essays or access to chatbots during testing.
“I’d be cautious of trying to use any GenAI tools, such as ChatGPT, for everything since it’s simply a chatbot that mimics an actual conversation with a human,” Barr said. “It can be wrong or deceitful. It’s better to teach kids how to find and use AI tools designed for specific purposes, such as image or voice generators, learning apps, etc.”
Teens are also vulnerable to bullying based on AI-generated images, which can be difficult to detect. The more teens use social media, the more likely they are to encounter AI-generated content.
Focus your conversations about AI on ethics and skepticism. Emphasize that it is unethical to use AI to misrepresent either their understanding of an academic concept or to misrepresent reality. Remind teens to assume that anything generated by AI—whether it’s funny photos on social media or an explanation of the Cold War—must be fact-checked.
“With any technology comes risks and rewards," Barr said. "A risk students must be aware of is that AI chatbots can often provide incorrect information, and not all AI is meant for educational purposes. If kids want to use AI for their schoolwork, they need to use AI platforms that are specifically designed for education and provide high quality learning experiences elevated by purpose-built AI."
Demonizing AI entirely because of the risks will cut teens off from its many benefits. Remind teens of all the ethical and constructive ways AI can make life easier for them if used responsibly:
To aggregate study materials and create flashcards and quizzes.
To generate a study plan based on their course load and available time.
To help them work toward a goal like completing college applications or learning a new language.
To learn in more depth about their interests and hobbies.
To enrich their creativity by creating images, music, or videos.
“Since students don’t always know how to start studying for a test or exam, AI can help guide them and get better organized,” Barr said.
At any age, using AI should be a collaborative effort between kids, parents, and (human) educators.
“By working together, children can learn how to find the right AI tools that can help them gather information, seek deeper understanding, or organize their learning,” Barr said. “For example, there are AI apps that can help students organize their thoughts before writing an essay. AI tools can help students understand the writing prompt, then brainstorm, and create an outline. AI can also help students plan a test prep study session to better organize the learning process."
To learn more about how to support your child as they navigate the world of AI, check out these resources:
Common Sense Media reviews tools for teaching about artificial intelligence and classroom tools that use AI.
An open-source curriculum on the ethics of AI for middle school from an MIT researcher
Science Friday explores AI for kids with chatbots
A developmental-behavioral pediatrician writes about the risks and benefits of AI for kids at healthychildren.org.
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