I’ve got a long way to get to Mordor‚ but an imaginary destination can be more fun than metrics. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge In mid-November‚ my nagging calf strain became a full-blown injury. Techtember and Techtober kicked my butt. My grandma died. Also‚ my lease was running out and I had about two weeks to find somewhere to live. These are the perfect conditions for a fitness slump. Slumps happen to everyone. But I still beat myself up pretty hard. I review wearables and fitness tech for a living‚ but that doesn’t make me immune to the toxic aspects of fitness culture. Didn’t my failure to perform‚ even during difficult times‚ make me a fraud? With each run‚ I found myself chasing a past version of myself who was thinner‚ faster‚ and stronger. Logically‚ I knew better‚ but it was depressing. On Christmas‚ I was cleaning out my old apartment by myself‚... Continue reading…

Otter’s AI Chat in Channels. | Image: Otter AI Otter‚ the automated transcription service‚ is rolling out a new AI feature that lets groups ask a chatbot questions about what happened in their past meetings. It takes information from all the meetings that group members were in and answers prompts like‚ “What did we decide on yesterday?” The feature is called “AI Chat in Channels‚” and it basically opens up Otter’s AI chats to a group instead of the single-user experience they are now. Channels‚ which can be found within the Otter platform‚ function a lot like Slack chats. They let people talk with frequent collaborators and share transcripts with each other. Most generative AI chat features — the kinds that trawl through a user’s agenda or emails — are normally only available in... Continue reading…

The Kimi app as viewed in the macOS App Store. | Screenshot: Wes Davis / The Verge There’s a vision testing app called Kimi sitting at number eight in the Apple iOS App Store’s trending list of free entertainment apps right now (and number 46 overall for free apps!). But it’s not an app for testing your eyesight‚ at least not unless you consider watching pirated movies on your smartphone a form of vision testing‚ which‚ I suppose you could? I called Kimi sneaky in the headline‚ and it is insofar as if you glanced at it‚ you’d probably dismiss it immediately because it looks so very scammy and it’s actually not the vision testing app it claims to be. But it’s also simultaneously astoundingly blatant. There’s a half-assed description (beneath the quarter-assed screenshots) that says it’s “an interesting APP that tests... Continue reading…

Photo by YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images Even though New York City schools shut down ahead of the heavy snowfall expected to blanket the area for most of Tuesday‚ the city is still requiring kids to attend remotely. The only problem is: schools couldn’t actually get the remote learning system working. At 8:22AM ET‚ the NYC Public Schools account on X said that it’s “currently experiencing issues with services that require IBM authentication to login.” The issue is preventing students from logging into Google Classroom so they can attend class remotely‚ according to local news station PIX11. UPDATE: IBM has added capacity and improvements are rolling out across the system.⁰⁰For context: IBM provides support to validate NYCPS users logging in to NYCPS systems (Single Sign On)... Continue reading…

Roborock’s entry-level robot vacuum comes with dual rubber brushes‚ which are far better at removing pet hair from rugs than single brushes.  Our furry friends are adorable‚ perfect little angels in every way except for one: they can leave one hell of a mess. Thankfully‚ the Roborock Q5 Pro is available from Amazon and Roborock starting at $319.97 ($110 off)‚ which is an all-time on the excellent midrange robot vacuum. Thanks to a pair of dual rubber roller brushes and 5‚200 Pa of suction power‚ the Q5 Pro sucks up pet hair and dirt from carpets impressively well — so well‚ in fact‚ we named it our top robovac pick for families with pets. Although it can’t empty itself or scrub your floors‚ its removable mopping pad does come in handy when the dog walks in with wet‚ muddy paws. The robot vacuum also features a massive 770ml bin with big wheels that enable it to easily climb... Continue reading…

Image: Alex Parkin / The Verge Passkeys: how do they work? No‚ like‚ seriously. It’s clear that the industry is increasingly betting on passkeys as a replacement for passwords‚ a way to use the internet that is both more secure and more user-friendly. But for all that upside‚ it’s not always clear how we‚ the normal human users‚ are supposed to use passkeys. You’re telling me it’s just a thing... that lives on my phone? What if I lose my phone? What if you steal my phone? On this episode of The Vergecast‚ we bring in an expert: Anna Pobletts‚ the head of passwordless (best title ever?) at 1Password. She has been working on all things post-password for a long time and has seen every use case you can think of. She’s convinced that passkeys are the future but also has... Continue reading…

Nothing on Tuesday announced the Phone (2a) smartphone in an attempt to drum up excitement for the handset. The company gave the world the Nothing Phone (2a)'s launch date‚ without actually showing the new mid-range handset or revealing the key details you need to know. The Phone (2a) design‚ specs‚ and price are not likely to be revealed until March 5th‚ when Nothing will officially unveil the new phone.  However‚ Nothing did tease that the Phone (2a) would be cheaper than its first ever phone‚ the Phone (1). That handset sold for under $500 initially‚ though it wasn't available in the US. Continue reading... The post Cheaper Nothing Phone 2a launches March 5 with sub-$500 price appeared first on BGR. Today's Top Deals This $16 clip-on lens kit fits the iPhone or any Android phone‚ and it’s awesome Amazon deal offers a 7-inch Android tablet for under $43 Save 61% on a 6-port USB rapid charger on Amazon Save 75% on a Canon black and white multifunction laser printer on Amazon

Long before the Roman Empire came along‚ the Ancient Greeks controlled much of southern Italy. From the 8th to the 5th centuries BC Read moreSection: NewsAncient PlacesEuropeHistoryImportant EventsRead Later 

House GOP plan to keep questions about President Joe Biden's age and capacities alive for some time‚ including with hearings that include testimony from special counsel Robert Hur‚ who chose not to charge the president in his documents case on his mental state.

House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik‚ R-N.Y.‚ on Tuesday filed a complaint against New York Attorney General Letitia James‚ claiming her civil fraud case against former President Donald Trump was "biased."