A good tripod is a photographer’s best friend. It’s also bulky, heavy, and difficult to re-position. If you need to move around a lot, bring a monopod instead.
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A good tripod is a photographer’s best friend. It’s also bulky, heavy, and difficult to re-position. If you need to move around a lot, bring a monopod instead.
We’re doing something a little different this week: Since tomorrow is Election Day in the U.S., and because we here at The A.V. Club think it’s important to vote, we’re recommending 15 podcast episodes to listen to while you’re waiting to vote tomorrow. They’re organized from shortest to longest, so we’ve got…
If you are physically unable to reach the polls or face extra challenges due to a disability, there are still ways to make sure your vote is counted.
High-fee, premium credit cards give cardholders plenty of benefits, including lounge access, travel stipends and deals on flights and hotels, in some cases. But how do you know when a $500-plus annual price tag is worth it?
The weather doesn’t stop for anyone, including voters. For many folks heading to the polls this week, a big mess of rain, snow and possibly severe weather is on tap starting on Monday and stretching into Tuesday. But the impacts aren’t expected to last all day, so you should be able to find a window to go vote.
Are the midterm elections upping your stress level? I feel you. Our current political climate is causing all of us to drink more, and according to a new poll is even leading some voters to “eat their feelings,” neither of which are exactly the healthiest way to combat the issue.
If your supply of pantry staples like coffee, tea, and protein bars was running low, now’s your chance to replenish your stash. Amazon has marked down all of the above in today’s Gold Box, including a few of our favorites. Get your daily does of veggies with cans of V8, munch guilt-free on the Maple Sea Salt RXBAR…
In any given household, there is that one dish that makes Thanksgiving. I’m not talking about the turkey—that’s too obvious. I’m talking about a dish—usually a side—that is always on your table, even though its status may be less than canonical. It’s the dish you missed when you attended your first Friendsgiving or…
I think the last time I played a Windows game—as in, a Microsoft game that comes baked into the Windows operating system—was back in Windows 95. Ah, FreeCell. That’s not to say that Microsoft’s games were bad, it’s just not very often that I find myself needing to strike up some Minesweeper to kill time.
The average American eats almost a ton of food a year. This breaks down to roughly 630 of milk, cheese and ice cream, 185 pounds of meat, and an increasingly high dosage of anti-depressants. But where does human flesh fit in? Humans shed something like 500 million skin cells a day. The fact is that these literal…
At the University of Wisconsin-Madison in late August, chancellor Rebecca Blank and Foxconn chairman Terry Gou announced the largest industry research partnership in the school’s history. The Taiwanese tech giant would invest $100 million in the school and help establish a new research facility for the College of Engineering. “UW–Madison and Foxconn share a commitment to pushing the boundaries of knowledge through interdisciplinary research and we are deeply grateful for Chairman Gou’s support and partnership,” Blank said.
Last year, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker wooed Foxconn to the state with the promise of a $3 billion subsidy, which grew to $4.1 billion and included exemptions from environmental regulations, special treatment from...
Blind baking pie crusts should be so simple: line crimped, chilled pastry with parchment or foil, fill with dried beans to weigh it down, and bake until crisp. This works out okay most of the time, but for truly crisp crusts with no puffy spots, reach for the sugar.
Apple has released a new watchOS 5.1.1 update, which fixes the last update’s issues with bricking users’ Apple Watches. The latest watchOS update includes more than 70 new emoji released with iOS 12.1, new full-screen color watchfaces, and support for group FaceTime audio for up to 32 people.
watchOS 5.1 was released and quickly pulled last week, after users reported the update rendered their watches unusable during the installation. Affected users had no options other than calling Apple support and waiting for a replacement watch, as the watch can’t be plugged into a computer if something should go wrong. Apple Watch owners can rest assured that today’s update is specifically built not to brick their devices.
One of the latest fads to wash onto the shores of YouTube comes from TikTok, a grander version of Musical.ly that gives users an array of editing options to make short, Vine-like videos. In one corner of YouTube, TikTok’s biggest fans upload challenge compilations and weekly updates, each playing like a more elaborate Vine supercut — something you can watch on repeat without getting bored. Type in “TikTok compilation” into YouTube’s search bar, and thousands upon thousands of answers generate. Videos have anywhere from 500,000 to more than a million views.
Another, perhaps louder corner — one which has come to include some of YouTube’s biggest commentators, react channels, and memesters — has become obsessed with the app’s more...
The American Academy of Pediatrics is coming out strongly against the use of spanking, calling for a ban on corporal punishment. It also now says that “harsh verbal discipline,” including shaming and humiliation, is harmful to a child’s developing brain.
Today is just another day online. It’s also a day when we received news of a new Nook tablet from Barnes & Noble. The Nook 10.1” costs $129.99 and has the line’s largest display ever at — you guessed it — 10.1 inches. That IPS display is 1920 x 2000 pixels with 224 ppi. It goes on sale on November 14th. Some other specs to note:
Unlike 2017’s Nook GlowLight 3, the new Nook is a true tablet that’s not just designed for reading. It also runs Android and ships with the Play Store, so you can do everything you’d usually do with an Android tablet —...
Just a few days before the midterm elections, Georgia’s Republican gubernatorial candidate and secretary of state, Brian Kemp, accused Georgia’s Democratic Party of hacking into the state’s voter registration base. It was a controversial move that is already generating concerns regarding conflicts of interest. Kemp’s office has yet to provide any evidence in support of these claims, and with mere hours left before the final votes are cast, it’s unclear what his motives are in announcing the investigation.
It now seems like Kemp’s accusation may have referred to a legitimate cybersecurity investigation by Georgia Democrats, which uncovered real and significant flaws in the state’s voter registration system. If that research was the source...
The release of the new Apple Watch Series 4 coincided with a price drop for the still-excellent Series 3. Today though, Walmart’s taking an extra $20 off those newly reduced prices, and throwing in a free official Apple Watch band of your choice.
Facebook is gearing up for the holiday season by launching a small number of pop-up shops around the United States.
The company announced today that it will open pop-ups with more than 100 brands in nine different Macy’s locations. The 100 brands’ products will be available for purchase through the pop-up shops, and they are some of the “most-loved brands” on Instagram and Facebook, according to a blog post on the company’s website. Some of those brands include Love Your Melon, an apparel line that helps raise awareness and fight against pediatric cancers, and Two Blind Brothers, a nonprofit clothing line that donates all proceeds to blindness research.
Although this is a tepid step into physical retail stores for Facebook, it could be...
Lenovo is the next company to get into cashier-less convenience stores, following Alibaba, Walmart-owned Sam’s Club, JD, and Amazon. The hardware maker launched a cashier-less store in Beijing last week that sells Cup Noodles, juice boxes, and other small snacks.
To enter the “Lenovo Lecoo Unmanned Store,” customers wave to a tablet with a camera, which uses facial recognition to identify their account profile. Then, like Amazon Go’s system, customers can browse, pick up the items, freely exit, and the charges will be automatically deducted from their mobile payments accounts.
Although Lenovo is best known for making computers, phones, and smart home devices, its Lecoo convenience store mainly carries food. Many Chinese tech companies...
Every election, millions of Americans who are registered to vote don’t cast their ballots simply because they can’t get to their polling place. If you’re one of them, here’s how you can get a ride.
Last week on The Walking Dead, it appeared that the show had taken a step in a bold new direction. Press releases had announced that series star Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) would depart the series well ahead of the expected midseason finale send-off. And then it looked as if new showrunner Angela Kang had opted to kill Rick off even before the announced date. It was quick, clean, and surprising — a stark contrast to the show’s tradition of milking key dramatic moments to the point of audience fatigue. The episode’s ending seemed in line with Kang’s vision for a reimagined Walking Dead. It seemed too good to be true.
It was.
Last night’s episode, “What Comes After,” not only undid that invigorating switcheroo, but it subverted the entire...
I share my bedroom with at least one person, sometimes two or three depending on whether any children migrate during the night. So I feel like I have a superpower when I wake up and silence my alarm five minutes before it actually goes off. I’m not super, of course: it’s just a silent alarm on my Apple Watch.
A freshly-upgraded SpaceX ship and its crew just went through dramatic dress rehearsals, running through how they’d rescue injured astronauts after they return to Earth. When SpaceX starts ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station next year, the company’s ocean vessel Go Searcher will be tasked with recovering SpaceX’s crewed Dragon capsules that splash down in the Atlantic. The ship is now equipped for a worst-case-scenario with medical treatment facilities and a helipad, in case returning astronauts need to be evacuated quickly to a hospital.
Go Searcher is part of a fleet of ocean vessels that SpaceX has acquired over the years to aid in its spaceflight efforts. The most famous of these are SpaceX’s autonomous...
Leave it to Amazon to begin Black Friday shopping festivities a few weeks early. Like Target, Amazon has already started cutting prices on several of its own devices, and it’s introducing several more discounted products on a rotating basis.
As its daily Black Friday sales continue, we’ll be adding and removing items in order to reflect what’s currently available. We’ve also included the deals that have been confirmed by Amazon to arrive later in November. Use it to plan your holiday shopping and compare prices with other retailers.
Amazon is bundling its Echo Input, the $34.99 device...
Social network Gab, a less-moderated alternative to Facebook or Twitter that’s popular among far-right figures, is back online after losing its domain registrar and hosting service. The site resumed operations on Sunday, slightly more than a week after a Gab user allegedly shot and killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue, prompting several companies to stop working with the site.
Gab went offline on October 28th, following news reports that shooter Robert Bowers maintained a site profile full of anti-Semitic tirades. Payment processor PayPal quickly banned Gab for “explicitly allowing the perpetuation of hate, violence or discriminatory intolerance.” It was followed by hosting company Joyent, payment processor Stripe, domain registrar...
Election Day is tomorrow, November 6th, in the United States, and the 2018 midterm elections are likely going to be some of the most contentious elections in recent history. While President Donald Trump isn’t up for reelection yet, the House of Representatives and Senate are in play for both parties, along with gubernatorial races, attorney general elections, and marijuana legalization initiatives in four different states.
It’s a lot to take in, but the internet is here to help. Here’s everything you need to get ready for the big day, complete with registration information, polling locations, ride-sharing deals, and more.
You can’t vote if you’re not registered, so be sure to check that your registration is set...
Niantic Labs made itself a global name when it worked with Nintendo to create augmented reality hit Pokémon Go. But the game developer that originated as an internal Google startup first got off the ground developing one of the earliest mainstream AR apps years earlier. Called Ingress, the mobile game introduced many of the same features that later became core pillars of Pokémon Go — particularly the capturing and controlling of virtual locations overlaid onto the real world. It was, however, very early in the AR trend, and Niantic’s ambitions outpaced the available software and the smartphone hardware of the time.
Now, five years after its first game launched and with much more advanced AR tools at its disposal, Niantic is rebooting...
With Chrome 71, Google is stepping up its fight against the internet’s abusive ads problem by blocking every ad on a site that persistently shows them. Abusive ads come in many forms, but broadly speaking cause your browser to misbehave by either generating fake system messages, automatically redirecting you, or attempt to steal personal information.
This isn’t the first time that Google has tried to use Chrome to address the problem. Back in July, Chrome 68 would prevent sites from opening new tabs or windows if they were reported for serving abusive experiences. Chrome 71, scheduled for release in December, will give site owners a 30 day grace period to clean up their site after an abusive experience is reported. Failure to remove the...
Thanksgiving morning can be weird, if you’re the host. You wake up with fair bit of work left to do, and often lots of folks milling around, fiddling with your coffee maker. This is where cold brew concentrate comes in.
A Dyson fan/space heater, the Apple Watch Series 3, and bamboo mattress pads lead off Monday best deals from around the web.
Often, there’s a moment early in a medical emergency when you know something is wrong, but aren’t sure you want to call 911. When I reacted to some antibiotics by breaking out in hives earlier this year, I stared at my phone for about 15 minutes before calling 911—I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know what to…
When the OnePlus 6T was officially announced last week, the Chinese manufacturer revealed two colors — both of them black. Now, a purple model is on the way (via 9to5Google), but, unfortunately, it’s exclusive to China for the time being.
Country-exclusive handset colors have become a fairly common feature of international smartphone releases, with manufacturers grappling to serve different looks around the world. Interestingly, it always seems to be the bolder color schemes that miss out on a Western release, like the recent copper-colored Samsung Galaxy Note 9 that was exclusive to India.
The purple OnePlus 6T is available in China now for ¥3,399 (around $490) with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. When contacted for comment, a...
7-Eleven announced today that it’s installing scan-and-go technology in 14 Dallas-based stores this week, according to Digiday. The technology will allow customers to scan the barcodes of items they want to buy and then pay through their phone, either with a card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay.
Customers will need the 7-Eleven rewards app to complete the transaction. People will have to then scan a QR code on their way out of the store to confirm payment. The entire purchasing process is done through the 7-Eleven rewards app, which will determine when customers are within range of an equipped store and will load the feature automatically.
These stores won’t be completely cashier-less, however: employees will still need to handle hot food and...
It’s easy enough to say you’re going to the polls, but nobody is really tracking whether you cast your ballot — until now. Two new political apps, VoteWithMe and OutVote, will help you see if your friends voted and what their party affiliations are. Both apps were designed to help you encourage your friends and family to vote in the upcoming midterm election, as first reported by The New York Times.
How your friends voted in previous elections remains secret, but their voting histories are not. The two apps take information from public government records and make it more easily accessible. Now, instead of having to look up each of your friends to see if they’ve voted, you only need to sync your phone contacts.
The makers of the apps are...
One of the biggest advantages of the USB Type-C port on the new iPad Pro is that it opens up the possibility for the tablet to be used with existing laptop USB-C hubs. However, that doesn’t mean that the iPad Pro won’t get a couple of dedicated hubs of its own, and this HyperDrive model will be one of the first.
The dock sits flush with the side of the display when attached, and adds many of the same ports you’d expect to see on a laptop. There’s an HDMI port, SD and microSD card slots, USB-A, and USB-C PD ports, as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack that Apple didn’t include on the tablet. However, despite the range of ports, the things you’ll be able to do with connected devices may still be limited. For example, while the image above...
Receive a text from your bank letting you know your account’s been locked? You might want to think twice before following its instructions.
Samsung’s developer conference kicks off later this week, and that means we might finally get to see the long-awaited reveal of its foldable smartphone. In anticipation of the reveal, Samsung has placed some not-so-subtle hints on its Twitter and Facebook profiles, changing the profile pictures on both accounts to show a folded take on the company’s logo.
The phone, which is expected to feature a tablet-sized screen that can be folded to fit in your pocket, has been rumored for almost half a decade now. (A concept trailer was even produced about it back in 2013.) Earlier this year, Samsung’s CEO teased that we might see a reveal at the developer’s conference, although we might have to wait until next year for a public release.
When...
TV Club Rick Grimes deserved a better sendoff than The Walking Dead’s idiotic goodbye | Deadspin Michael Thomas’s Cell Phone Celebration Was Cool, No Matter What The Announcers Said | Jezebel Mo’Nique Gives Rebel Wilson a History Lesson After ‘Plus-Sized’ Comments | The Root Iowa Teacher Who Wore Blackface Cries…
League of Legends developer Riot Games opened its annual world championships with a special K-pop augmented reality performance created specifically to promote its new K/DA skins.
Riot introduced four new K/DA skins for League of Legends players recently, and to celebrate the launch, the developer teamed up with popular K-pop stars Madison Beer, (G)I-DLE, and Jaira Burns. The song, “Pop/Stars,” is performed by the aforementioned artists in the video above, and they’re accompanied by some of the four K/DA skins onstage via augmented reality.
Not only is the opening ceremonies performance incredible to watch — especially as AR versions of the K/DA skins glide across the stage or emerge from the air — but the song is also a straight up...
It’s not unusual to see a Fortnite dance celebration at the end of a goal in any sport, so it was only a matter of time before the battle royale game officially teamed up with someone to bring that connection in-game. Today, Epic Games announced a partnership with the National Football League that will bring a variety of jersey cosmetics that players can wear.
According to Epic, these outfits can look like any of the thirty-two NFL teams on the roster, though players will be able to choose their own number. There will also be a made-up Fortnite team jersey. All jerseys will be available on November 9th in the in-game shop, though the price is unknown. Based on the video accompanying the announcement, it seems that this tie-in will also...
A large part of parenting is trying to raise our kids to be good citizens. We give them chores to teach them to contribute to the work of the household, we take them to volunteer to get them involved in their community, and we model kindness and respect to those around us.
Cameras have been getting progressively more advanced from a technical side of things. Some companies are replacing simple dials and knobs with giant touchscreens and even integrated Adobe Lightroom software. Taken in that light, the Yongnuo YN450 seems like the logical conclusion here: it’s a full-fledged mirrorless camera with support for Canon’s EF line of lenses, but it also runs Android Nougat on a 5-inch touchscreen display, via PetaPixel.
And it sure does look a whole lot like Youngnuo has literally bolted a camera together with an Android phone. The photography side of things offers a 16-megapixel Four Thirds sensor that can shoot in RAW, along with 4K video at 30 fps (and the aforementioned Canon EF lens compatibility).
But...
We roasted Verizon last year when it brought it merged its AOL and Yahoo purchases into a new group called Oath. Today, the company’s CEO Guru Gowrappan announced that Oath is no more; Verizon’s collective media outlets will be called the Verizon Media Group starting in 2019.
This shift comes with other organizational changes that mostly involve segmenting Verizon’s respective businesses from one another, including new consumer and business-focused groups. Oath’s media assets (including the Huffington Post, TechCrunch, Engadget, and Tumblr) are all continuing onward under the new, less bizarre parent company name.
Oath, HuffPost's oddly-named corporate parent company that came of merging AOL and Yahoo, is phasing out the name and...