CES 2025: Govee’s New Pixel Light Will Remind You of a Lite Brite

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Today at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Govee is debuting a series of new light products, and while previous endeavors like lamps and holiday lights have focused on function, today’s releases are all about fun. Govee has also leaned in hard to a retro theme, debuting a set of digital tablets that display pixelated images or gifs: They're giving a real Lite Brite vibe.  

The Pixel Light looks a lot like a gaming console, so much that I spent some time trying to figure out if that was a feature I could unlock. Instead, it is a large pixel display, and you can use Govee’s app to change what it displays.  

While it’s not the touch screen I’d have liked for my 2025 Lite Brite fever dream, it does offer the same feel through the app, which does allow you to hand draw what you’d like to see on the screen using the DIY feature. You can select colors, shapes, and drawing tools, and when you're done, you tap “apply,” and the image is sent to your display. 

Credit: Amanda Blum

There are also lots of presets, from nature to sports to food. This is perhaps the best use of the tablet, because these images are well-refined already and there are many animated gifs you can use. You can display livestreams of information, from weather to sports scores to Bitcoin values. There are patterns that will move to any music you play, and some patterns play 8-bit music. 

Now, if you’re looking at a wildly pixelated image alongside 8-bit music, and early Nintendo games don’t come to mind, you’re playing in a different technological bubble, because it is all I could think of. And while the console did come with static images of arcade games you could display, it didn’t have any animated gifs, and I thought that was a real miss. If this tablet showed Frogger or Super Mario Bros. or Donkey Kong incessantly, I’d let it play until it burned itself out. 

You can upload an image of your own and have it sent, in wildly pixelated format, to the display. This wasn’t fantastic, if you ask me, but it was an interesting experiment. 

And that is how pointillism works. Credit: Amanda Blum

There is an AI engine you can ask to generate images for the tablet, and experiences will vary. For instance, I asked a number of times for Rainbow Brite or Super Mario Bros. (I was determined), and in both cases, the AI engine had no idea what I was talking about. But if you ask for a rainbow, you get one. 

Credit: Amanda Blum

The last thing is that you can, actually, create an animated gif of your own. However, it’s unlikely you would from your phone, which is where my issues with the Pixel Light lie. All of the DIY and drawing tools are touch screen but are absurdly small. Too small to reasonably use the tip of your finger in drawing. It’s very clumsy, perhaps intentionally so (so you lean into the “fun” aspect), but I can’t imagine spending the time to create an animated gif because of the frustration with the touch screen size. 

The Pixel Light comes in two sizes: 5.75 x 7” and 5.75x 10". It comes with mounts for the wall or a shelf. It’s expected to be released for sale in early summer, with a target price of $100-$200.

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CES 2025: Belkin Finally Made a Tripod for Its TikTok Creator Stand

Last year, frequent Apple collaborator Belkin released what might be the most over-the-top phone stand of all time, doubling as a cameraperson to track and record you as you move. The catch? It didn’t come with a tripod—until now.

The Belkin Auto-Tracking Stand Pro is a $150 motorized MagSafe phone charger that, in addition to providing standard 15W wireless charging, also works with Apple’s DockKit framework to rotate 360 degrees and tilt 90 degrees so that it can always keep you in frame. It’s intended for livestreamers and vloggers and can automatically follow you around as you present or act out a skit, making it easier to shoot while solo. (That said, you can also use it casually, say to make a FaceTime call).

But at just under nine inches tall, its usability out of the box was severely limited. It’s great for shooting from a desk, but if your videos require you to stand up or get further away from your phone’s microphones, it can be a bit trickier to place. That made it difficult to sell to its core influencer audience.

You could get around this using third-party solutions, since the stand comes with a standard tripod screw hole on the bottom, but now Belkin is offering a more official answer. Announced during this year’s CES, the Belkin Stage Creator Bundle adds on to the Auto-Tracking Stand Pro with a 5.6-foot tripod and a pair of wearable clip-on microphones. It also comes with a magnetic phone mount, so technically, you could still use the bundle without the tracking stand as well, assuming you don’t need your phone’s camera to follow you around.

Credit: Belkin

There’s still no word on Android support, although it’s probably not likely, given the tracking stand’s reliance on DockKit. Even if you put a MagSage sticker on your Android phone, it just won’t play well with its software.

Pricing is MIA for the moment, as are specs for those clip-on microphones, as the bundle’s release is a bit far out. (It's currently set for May.) Still, even if it’ll have to compete with third-party alternatives (tripods and wireless mics aren’t exactly new), the bundle will go a long way towards making Belkin’s motorized stand feel like a more complete product.

Credit: Belkin

Also set for May is the Stage PowerGrip, which is similarly still waiting on a price. This is a bit more of a novelty product, as it’s a MagSafe power bank that also makes your phone look a bit more like an instant camera. Completing the aesthetic (yes, it does come in multiple colors) is a grip for lining up your shots as well as a button for taking them, but where a camera viewfinder would be, you’ll instead find a small screen depicting the bank’s remaining battery percentage. Like some other MagSafe Belkin power banks, you can also stand up the PowerGrip vertically to use it as a sort of phone kickstand as well, and it has a built-in USB-C cable for wired charging.

Credit: Belkin

Belkin does also have some CES 2025 products with pricing already announced. In addition to a new BoostCharge Compact USB-C wall charger and new BoostCharge Power Bank with 20,000 mAh of capacity and an integrated USB-C cable, the BoostCharge Pro Magnetic Wireless Charging Pad is a small wireless charging puck that should be great for travel. This small circular charger connects to the back of your phone using MagSafe (or a MagSafe style sticker) and is about as thick as a power bank, but takes up much less space overall. Because of its integrated kickstand, the idea is you can easily use it as your phone charger while on-the-go, propping your phone up overnight so it can work like an alarm clock. The only catch? You’ll still need to plug its 6.6-foot USB-C cable into some kind of power source. Luckily, you can get a power supply with the unit, or forgo one for a supply already have, so you at least have options there.

The BoostCharge Pro Magnetic Wireless Charging Pad will release in the U.S. in April and will run you $20 without a power supply and $30 with one. If you do want to provide your own power supply, the BoostCharge Compact USB-C charger will work for that, and will release in March for $30, coming with 45W of max capacity and one USB-C port. A 65W version of the BoostCharge Compact will also start selling in March for $40, while the BoostCharge Power Bank with 20,000 mAh capacity and an integrated cable hits shelves in April for $50. The USB-powered products should work with any product that charges via a compatible port, while the BoostCharge Pro Magnetic Wireless Charging Pad will work with any Qi2 compatible device.

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CES 2025: Mammotion Just Released Two Mini Robot Lawnmowers

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Last week, in advance of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), I said, “I would love to see a fleet of small robot lawnmowers, perfect for tiny lawns, and for them to be sold at tiny prices.” Mammotion and I must be on the same wavelength because today at CES, they announced a miniature version of their two exceptional robot mowers: the LUBA and the YUKA. The idea of a mini robot lawnmower is brilliant— there are plenty of people with smaller lawns, and a smaller mower means accessibility and removal of unnecessary labor without having to stow or pay for a big machine.

I found myself thinking a lot about the Switchbot K10+, a mini robot vacuum that I am a huge fan of. The charm of the K10+ isn’t that it's for smaller spaces—it actually handles a whole house better than most—but that the diminutive size allows it to fit into spaces bigger robots can’t, and get a tighter radius around objects. The Luba and Yuka Mini should do the same. They can access lawns through smaller pathways, and navigate around obstacles like planters and lawn lights with more ease. They won’t tear up your lawn when making a turn, since their wheels should be smaller and the robot should be lighter. 

The Mammotion Luba 2 was the first robot lawnmower I tested, and I assumed all other mowers would live up to it, but I was sadly mistaken. Despite testing many mowers over last summer, it wasn’t even close. The Luba is highly competent, navigating any terrain without blinking, reliably starting and returning to the base when it should and sticking to the areas it is plotted to. 

The Yuka came at the end of the summer, and it is akin to a little sister to the Luba. A bit smaller, more agile, and with a hopper to automatically collect and then dump leaves, trimmings, or debris where you want it to. The Yuka can handle more mowing areas than the Luba, but the Luba is unperturbed by any landscaping you throw at it; it easily traverses a large rock wash in my neighbor's lawn.

The Luba mini will weigh just 33 lbs., which is dramatically lighter than the original; the Yuka mini clocks in at 22 lbs. 

One of the key things that sets robot lawnmowers apart from one another is how easy they are to set up. The Mammotion mowers are exceptional because you simply walk them around your yard using the remote control on your phone app, and once they have the area mapped, they navigate the interior of the space flawlessly. The  AI used in this auto mapping will be present on the minis. 

The Luba mini starts at $1,499, and the Yuka mini starts at $799; both are available for pre-order on the Mammotion website now and are expected to ship before April.

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CES 2025: This New Robot Vacuum Has an Arm That Picks Stuff Up

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Over the past week, I’ve gotten a sneak peek at tons of smart tech being released at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). But the only tech that made me jump up and clap in excitement was the Roborock Saros Z70: specifically, the moment when the top of the Z70 opened up and a long robotic arm emerged. This arm can gently pick up a shoe, sock, or toy in the robot's path, and then gracefully deposit it in a location of your choosing.

For the past 18 months, I have not been coy about how much I like Roborock robot vacuums and mops, if you choose the top of the line models like the S8 MaxV Ultra and the QRevo MaxV or QRevo Curv. Among the reason for my devotion: Roborocks are more autonomous than other robot vacuum cleaners—they don’t get clogged or lost or stranded as often as other brands. Also, they seem to get the floor cleaner. 

Yes, Roborock has a lot of models, but the company is aiming to streamline the confusion a little bit with a brand-new naming convention: Saros. Roborock has already released two robots under this new naming convention—the Saros 10 and 10R—but the Z70 will be the flagship.

The arm (officially called the OmniGrip) will be able to pick up six or so different items at a time, from socks to toys, and then, depending on what the AI identifies the object as, will drop it in a pre-designated spot. While it already recognizes 108 objects, the open-source AI model will let users identify and name 50 additional objects. In other words, the Roborock can now pick up after your family. You can ask the Saros where it last saw your kid’s missing sneaker. 

If the idea of a robot arm emerging from your vacuum cleaner freaks you out, it won’t work until you set it up. One of the nice aspects about the arm is that future improvements to the arm are mere software updates. I asked if the arm would be able to help free the robot from a stuck spot, like it would on an excavator; while it can’t currently, future updates might make that possible. 

As exciting as that is, it’s not the only upgrade in the Z70. Every brand I spoke to this week insisted that their vacuum would have “the highest suction power in the industry” but Roborock is going to win that battle, with 22,000Pa. To put it in perspective, plenty of robots I tested in the last year did an admirable job at less than 10,000Pa. There’s a question to be asked about how much we gain from this continued escalation of suction power—does it actually help debris, particularly large debris, move through the rollers so it will not get stuck? 

The Z70 leverages the technology that we saw in the QRevo Curv, where the chassis can lift its front end to surmount obstacles like cords and rolled rug ends, but it will now use that same tech to exert more pressure on the robot’s back end, where the spinning mop brushes are located. That pressure is what has been missing from any robot vacuums released so far, and I, for one, could not be more excited. This could mean finally getting into depressions on tile, grout lines or getting rid of general griminess. 

With Saros, Roborock is making a deliberate move away from LiDAR, which has been a navigation standard for the last year or two. LiDAR uses light to measure distance, but requires a “tower” on top of the robot, which is why most robots you see these days have a circular “button” on top of the machine to house the LiDAR. Roborock is moving towards AI-assisted cameras to navigate—specifically, the Starsight Autonomous System 2.0. The Saros is equipped with cameras on the robot and the OmniGrip, and those cameras measure the distance between where the robot is and the space in front of it, both vertical and horizontal. LiDAR “guesses” the distance, so it is less accurate. This new navigation includes Vertibeam, a lateral obstacle avoidance so the robot can vacuum around obstacles like power cords. 

The Saros Z70 is also very thin, a smidge over three inches tall, so it will slide under your furniture, and includes all the features I love from previous Roborocks: hefty water tanks on the dock, a place for cleaning fluid in the dock, and very fast-charging (only 2.5 hours for a full charge). In news I’m less enthused about, Rocky, the on-board voice assistant, will continue to be present. I don’t find Rocky to be all that evolved yet, and he tends to respond to random phrases from my TV a lot, while not listening to me at all. 

The Saros Z70 is expected to be released in the first half of 2025; there’s no pricing information yet.

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How Identifying Your Money Values Can Help You Budget Better

In a time of resolutions, who doesn't reflect on where, exactly, their money goes? It's one thing to stick to strict dollar amounts and percentages that you set for yourself; it's another to actually understand why you picked those percentages in the first place.

Understanding your personal money values is the foundation for making meaningful financial decisions. While budgeting often focuses on numbers and categories, identifying your money values helps you align your spending with what truly matters to you. By exploring what you genuinely care about, you can create a financial plan that brings more satisfaction and purpose to your life—and helps you stick to your budget once and for all.

Why you should try values-based budgeting

I have nothing against the classic 50/30/20 budget—if it works for you, that's great. However, that sort of budget locks you into fixed spending ratios that may not make sense for your lifestyle. Values-based budgeting is an approach that puts your personal values at the center of your financial planning. Instead of starting with traditional budget categories, you begin by identifying what's most important to you. Then, you allocate your money in ways that support these priorities.

For example, if personal growth is a core value, you might prioritize spending on education and skill development over luxury purchases. If family connection is essential, you might allocate more money to family activities or travel to visit relatives, even if it means spending less in other areas.

Plus, this approach adds mindfulness to your spending as you consider each expense in relation to what's most important to you. Asking "Does this align with my values?" before each purchase can curb impulse spending tendencies. Percentage budgets don't encourage the same reflection—reflection that leads to dollars saved.

How to discover your money values

To start your values-based budget, your first step is to identify your money values. I define "money values" as the core principles and priorities that guide your financial decisions. These values reflect what matters most to you and shape how you prefer to earn, spend, save, and share your money. Unlike generic financial advice, your money values are deeply personal and unique to your life experiences, beliefs, and goals.

Start by listing all the areas where money intersects with your life. Consider:

• Career and income

• Home and lifestyle

• Health and wellness

• Relationships and family

• Travel and experiences

• Entertainment and leisure

• Retirement plans

And so on! Then, for each area you've identified, ask yourself deeper questions to uncover what matters most, and how that impacts your money habits:

1. Examine your emotions. What purchases bring you lasting satisfaction? Which spending decisions do you regret? What financial choices make you feel proud or aligned with your principles?

2. Consider your patterns. Where do you consistently choose to spend extra? What do you tend to prioritize when money is tight? Which expenses do you never question?

3. Explore your motivations. Why do certain financial choices feel important to you? What experiences from your past influence your money decisions? How do your spending habits reflect your hopes for the future?

From your answers, look for themes and try to name your money values. Think things like "experiences and adventure," "security and stability," or "comfort and quality."

Turning values into action

Once you've identified your money values, use them to guide your budget:

• Evaluate current spending. Review your recent expenses and assess how well they align with your identified values. Look for disconnects between what you say matters and where your money actually goes.

• Set value-aligned goals. Create financial goals that directly support your core values. For example, if adventure is a key value, you might set specific savings targets for travel or new experiences.

• Make intentional trade-offs. When faced with financial decisions, use your values as a framework. This makes it easier to say no to spending that doesn't align with your priorities and yes to expenses that do.

• Regular check-ins. Schedule periodic check-ins to ensure your spending continues to reflect your values. As your life evolves, your values may shift, and your financial choices should adjust accordingly.

The bottom line

Identifying your money values is an ongoing process of self-discovery and refinement. And hey: 'tis the season, right? Remember, there's no universal "right" set of money values—what matters is finding and honoring the values that resonate with your authentic self.

Take time to explore and articulate your money values, then let them guide your budget. When your spending aligns with your values, you're more likely to feel confident in what you do with your money.

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The Quickest Ways to Convert HEIC to JPEG

Back in 2017, Apple introduced a new default photo format for the iPhone, HEIC (or "high efficiency image container"). I've got nothing against this highly efficient format, since it takes up less space than JPG and its compression helps power Live Photos and Apple’s excellent image post-processing. But it can be a headache at times.

While HEIC works fine if you’re sharing a photo with other Apple devices, you'll often run into a problem when you need to upload a photo to an online form or open it in Windows: it won't be compatible.

There are a couple of ways to handle this. You can use a workaround to convert HEIC images to JPG (or JPEG) on your iPhone, or you can adjust your settings and switch back to shooting photos in JPG. If the photo is already on your Mac or Windows PC, you have some options there as well, including opening the photo natively on your PC.

Here are your options to convert HEIC to JPG, or otherwise access your HEIC photos.

Change your iPhone's default photo format

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

If you don’t like the HEIC format, the first thing you should do is switch the default format for your iPhone's Camera app to JPG. Go to Settings > Camera > Formats and switch to the “Most Compatible” option. Now, any new photos that you take will be saved in JPG, making it much easier to share everywhere.

There’s also a special mode in Settings that automatically converts photos to JPG when sharing to Windows or Mac, but keeps them as HEIC on iPhone (helping save some storage space). To enable this feature, go to Settings > Photos > Transfer to Mac or PC and choose the “Automatic” option.

Batch Convert HEIC Images Using Mac Quick Actions

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

If you’re using a Mac running macOS Monterey or higher, there’s a quick image conversion tool built into the Finder app that supports multiple images at once. Select the HEIC photos you want to convert, right-click, and go to Quick Actions > Convert Image. Here, choose the “JPEG” format and click the “Convert to JPEG” option.

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

Convert HEIC Images using Preview

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

If you're using an older Mac, you might not have access to the new Quick Actions feature. In that case, you can use the trusty old Preview app to convert images to JPEG. First, open the image in the Preview app.

Then, go to File > Export. Here, choose JPEG as the format and click Save. This will create a new file in the same folder as the original image.

Batch Export HEIC Images from the Photos app

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

The Photos app on Mac seamlessly syncs all your photos from your iPhone to your Mac using iCloud. But all those photos are still in HEIC format. Thankfully, you can quickly export HEIC images from the Photos app. Select all the photos you want to export, then go to File > Export > Export [X] Photo(s). Make sure to use the JPEG format, and click the Export button.

Alternatively, a simple drag and drop gesture is enough to turn an HEIC image to JPEG. Select images from the Photos app, then drag and drop them to the desktop or any folder in the Finder app. The resulting image will be formatted into JPEG format.

Quickly convert an HEIC image to JPG on your phone using the Files app

Credit: Khamosh Pathak

A quick way to convert HEIC photos to JPG right on your iPhone is to use the Files app. Open the Photos app on your iPhone and select the photos that you want to convert. Then, tap the Share icon and choose the “Save to Files” option.

Go to the Files app, find the image that you saved, press and hold on it, then go to Quick Actions > Convert Image. Choose the JPEG file format, then choose the image size (best to stick to the Original size option). The image will instantly be converted to JPEG. And yes, this works for either a single image or a huge batch of images.

Open HEIC images in the Photos app on Windows

Windows does let you open HEIC images in Photos, but not by default. You’ll need to download both HEIF Image Extensions (free) and HEVC Video Extensions ($0.99) from the Microsoft Store—but once you do, you’ll be able to open HEIC files in your Photos app, as well as convert them to JPG.

With these extensions installed, you can open your HEIC photos using your PC's photo app, and even convert them to JPG by navigating to Three dots menu > Save as > Save as type > JPG. Alternatively, with the extensions installed, you can also open your HEIC photo in Paint and navigate to File > Save as > JPEG picture to do the same thing.

Use Clop for Mac to Automatically Convert HEIC Images from Downloads Folder

Credit: Clop

For every roadblock, there's a Mac utility. For obscure image and video formats, there's Clop. Once installed, the app automatically converts images that you download or import to JPG. This is useful when downloading WebP images online, and when you're airdropping HEIC files to your Mac. The app handles image conversion in the background, and after the 14-day trial, you're limited to five conversions per session. You can remove all limits by upgrading to Clop Pro for $15.

After installing the app, go to Settings > Images > Watch Paths and add /Downloads as a path, as this is where your airdropped HEIC images will show up. Now, whenever you Airdrop or transfer HEIC images to your Mac, they will be converted to JPG without you having to lift a finger. Ah, automation is bliss.

Convert HEIC to JPG on Windows with a right-click using CopyTrans

You can also use the popular CopyTrans for Windows app to more easily convert HEIC to JPG on a Windows computer. This app is free for personal use, and it has a direct integration in the File Explorer. All you have to do is select the HEIC file you want to convert, right-click, and choose the “Convert to JPEG with CopyTrans” option to automatically create a JPG version of the same image, in the same folder.

Use online websites to convert HEIC photos

Want to quickly convert a couple of HEIC photos, and don’t want to bother setting up apps? There are free image converters all over the internet, although you'll want to be careful about which you use. A reliable option is Cloud Convert. Just drag in HEIC photos, hit the “Convert” button, and download the resulting JPG files.

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There's No Such Thing As the 'Best' Diet

U.S. News has once again ranked all the diets, with the groundbreaking result that...they are all different ways to eat food. Their website does provide a nice comparison of various diets’ pros and cons, but the whole concept of declaring one diet better than another is broken to begin with.

The whole idea of a "best" anything assumes that each thing is competing against the others, and that those at the top of the list are better than those at the bottom. (U.S. News says that they are rating diets and no longer ranking them—but, I'm sorry, when you produce a list with the "best" items at the top, that is a ranking. And it feeds into the misconception that you just have to find the right diet, the "best" diet, to solve what you see as your weight-loss problems or health problems.

Why “best diet” lists are bullshit

Before you even start ranking (sorry, rating) the "best," there’s the question of what a “diet” really is. The diets on the U.S. News lists form a bizarre mix. Some are vague approaches to eating, like the "flexitarian diet," which just refers to the concept of not eating meat very often. Some are commercial products intended to help people lose weight, like the subscription app Noom or the multi-level marketing product Optavia. Some are diets meant to manage a medical condition, like the low-FODMAP diet. Putting these disparate items into a lineup is not really helping anyone.

And while I do appreciate that U.S. News has stopped including crash diets like the Master Cleanse, this year's list includes the "BRAT diet," which is not a competitor to any of the above (nor a marketing vehicle for Charli XCX). It's mnemonic for four foods—bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast—that are considered bland enough to not trigger nausea in patients who are experiencing gastrointestinal illness. Restricting patients to those four foods is not even recommended by medical professionals anymore, so it's wild that U.S. News decided to introduce it this year as a "new" diet on their list.

How to actually choose the right diet

First, if you’re looking to lose weight, recognize that all weight-loss diets work the same goddamn way: They give you a framework to eat fewer calories than you burn. The “best” diet to do that is whichever one you find easiest to stick with, so long as it still gets you a reasonable amount of protein, veggies, fats, and micronutrients like vitamins.

Some people feel great on a keto diet; some find intermittent fasting convenient; some would rather eat low-fat and vegan. It doesn’t really matter, so long as the calorie deficit isn’t too extreme and you’re not depriving yourself of important nutrients like fiber, vitamins, or protein.

Whether you’re trying to change your body weight or not, the basics of a healthy diet are pretty straightforward: lots of fruits and vegetables, enough protein, not too much sugar. If you have specific health concerns that you’ve discussed with a doctor, make sure to account for those. (For example, the DASH “diet” is a list of guidelines you can follow if you need to lower your blood pressure. It involves eating less sodium and more potassium, among other things.) If you’re willing to pay for help, you’re better off consulting a dietitian than buying into the latest expensive weight-loss product.

So are you looking to eat more healthily, lose weight, or manage a health condition? Find an approach to eating that meets your goals and that you can stick with. If you want some structure, it’s fine to buy a book that gives you recipes and a fancy name for the diet. The top-ranked diet, the Mediterranean diet, is fine. But the #23-ranked (sorry, rated) paleo diet, despite its silly premise—that cavemen made lots of fake pizzas from almond flour and coconut oil, if I understand correctly—might do the job just as well.

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There's No Such Thing as the 'Best' Diet

U.S. News has once again ranked all the diets, with the groundbreaking result that...they are all different ways to eat food. Their website does provide a nice comparison of various diets’ pros and cons, but the whole concept of declaring one diet better than another is broken to begin with.

The whole idea of a "best" anything assumes that each thing is competing against the others, and that those at the top of the list are better than those at the bottom. (U.S. News says that they are rating diets and no longer ranking them—but, I'm sorry, when you produce a list with the "best" items at the top, that is a ranking. And it feeds into the misconception that you just have to find the right diet, the "best" diet, to solve what you see as your weight-loss problems or health problems.

Why “best diet” lists are bullshit

Before you even start ranking (sorry, rating) the "best," there’s the question of what a “diet” really is. The diets on the U.S. News lists form a bizarre mix. Some are vague approaches to eating, like the "flexitarian diet," which just refers to the concept of not eating meat very often. Some are commercial products intended to help people lose weight, like the subscription app Noom or the multi-level marketing product Optavia. Some are diets meant to manage a medical condition, like the low-FODMAP diet. Putting these disparate items into a lineup is not really helping anyone.

And while I do appreciate that U.S. News has stopped including crash diets like the Master Cleanse, this year's list includes the "BRAT diet," which is not a competitor to any of the above (nor a marketing vehicle for Charli XCX). It's mnemonic for four foods—bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast—that are considered bland enough to not trigger nausea in patients who are experiencing gastrointestinal illness. Restricting patients to those four foods is not even recommended by medical professionals anymore, so it's wild that U.S. News decided to introduce it this year as a "new" diet on their list.

How to actually choose the right diet

First, if you’re looking to lose weight, recognize that all weight-loss diets work the same goddamn way: They give you a framework to eat fewer calories than you burn. The “best” diet to do that is whichever one you find easiest to stick with, so long as it still gets you a reasonable amount of protein, veggies, fats, and micronutrients like vitamins.

Some people feel great on a keto diet; some find intermittent fasting convenient; some would rather eat low-fat and vegan. It doesn’t really matter, so long as the calorie deficit isn’t too extreme and you’re not depriving yourself of important nutrients like fiber, vitamins, or protein.

Whether you’re trying to change your body weight or not, the basics of a healthy diet are pretty straightforward: lots of fruits and vegetables, enough protein, not too much sugar. If you have specific health concerns that you’ve discussed with a doctor, make sure to account for those. (For example, the DASH “diet” is a list of guidelines you can follow if you need to lower your blood pressure. It involves eating less sodium and more potassium, among other things.) If you’re willing to pay for help, you’re better off consulting a dietitian than buying into the latest expensive weight-loss product.

So are you looking to eat more healthily, lose weight, or manage a health condition? Find an approach to eating that meets your goals and that you can stick with. If you want some structure, it’s fine to buy a book that gives you recipes and a fancy name for the diet. The top-ranked diet, the Mediterranean diet, is fine. But the #23-ranked (sorry, rated) paleo diet, despite its silly premise—that cavemen made lots of fake pizzas from almond flour and coconut oil, if I understand correctly—might do the job just as well.

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The Best Cleaning Products on TikTok (and the Ones You Should Avoid)

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TikTok is useful for many things, but for me, learning how other people clean and what they use to do it has been especially valuable. CleanTok is a sensation in its own right, and for the most part, you can find great tips and recommendations there. Some recommendations, though, are better than others. Here are some great products TikTok loves, and a few you can skip.

Great cleaning products recommended on TikTok

Keep in mind that influencers across all platforms may get commissions or other kickbacks for certain recommendations, which they're supposed to disclose, but don't always. The products below will be from a mix of Target and Amazon, but can be found in a variety of places—and even purchased directly from creators' videos on TikTok Shop.

We'll start with an all-timer, a product that is universally adored across TikTok: The O-Cedar EasyWring mop.

O-Cedar EasyWring Spin Mop and Bucket System

$32.81 at Amazon

$39.99 Save $7.18

$32.81 at Amazon

$39.99 Save $7.18

This product is popular because you can pump the spinner with your feet, not your hands. It keeps clean and dirty water separate, plus the mop head is shaped like a triangle, making it easy to shove into tight spaces and corners.

Next, another all-timer: An electric spin brush. CleanTokkers use these all the time, comparing brands and recommending them for everything from shower cleaning to floor scrubbing. All of the brands seem comparable in price and reviews, so feel free to pick one that's on sale, like this bad boy:

LyriFine Electric Spin Scrubber

$31.99 at Amazon

$49.99 Save $18.00

$31.99 at Amazon

$49.99 Save $18.00

Other than those, you have lots of options for TikTok-approved cleaning products:

• Car owners love cleaning gels, like the Colorcoral universal dust cleaner ($9.99 for two jars), which goes into small spaces easily and pulls dust right out.

• The Bissell Little Green Cleaner ($123.59) has been trending on the app for a few years because, despite its small size, it pulls big stains out of upholstery, carpet, and more.

• The Scrub Daddy ($13.99 for three) may seem like just a sponge, but with its slots for cleaning utensils, different levels of coarseness, and friendly little face, it's developed a major cult following.

• Soap-dispensing brushes, like this one from Scotch-Brite ($6.47), are also popular. They make doing the dishes easier, but can also be used to clean the shower or anything around the house with minimal effort. (The most popular one on the app is the OXO version, but it's $4 more than the Scotch-Brite; since they do the same thing, go for the cheaper one.)

• TikTokers are also really into pet hair removers, like this Lintplus rake (two for $16.99), because they work and are satisfying to use.

• I recommend these a lot, but only because they're so cool: Drill brush attachments, like this eight-piece set from Holikme ($11.99), which turn your power tools into power scrubbers for an intense clean.

• The Chomp wall cleaner ($39.97) has remained popular on CleanTok for a long time and the videos of the telescopic scrubber blasting through wall grime are very satisfying to watch.

• Speaking of satisfying, the mini desk vacuum from ODISTAR ($12.98) remains a crowd pleaser on TikTok because it takes up barely any space.

TikTok cleaning products you should avoid

There are a few hacks out there that recommend using certain products, but not only are they unnecessarily expensive in the name of being a "trend," they can be dangerous. For instance, the "overloading" trend asks you to mix a variety of products in your toilet bowl for the pleasing color effects, but overlooks how you may be creating noxious gases that could hurt you or just damage your pipes while you seek a TikTok-worthy swirl of hues.

You also don't need to buy Fabuloso to stick in the back of your toilet tank. While the colored water swirls look nice in a video, they can damage the toilet overall.

Finally, don't boil air freshener wicks to make your home smell clean, no matter what TikTok says. It's not clear if it's dangerous, but it is a waste. Just plug them in.

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I Made This Anime Convention Scavenger Hunt for My Family (and You Can Use It for Free)

When I bought tickets for Anime NYC, I worried that the chaos would be overwhelming for my daughters' first convention. I started my own con-going tradition a decade ago with New York Comic Con, and I've attended countless conventions since, but Anime NYC was my twin 15-year-old daughters' first time going to an event so massive. To help, I planned to download a scavenger hunt to help guide them through the convention hall, but I couldn't find one anywhere online. So I stayed up late the night before Anime NYC, and I made an anime convention scavenger hunt myself.

Credit: Jordan Calhoun / Anime NYC

Like New York Comic Con, Anime NYC is held at the Javits Center, a 3.3 million square foot convention hall. Anime NYC was filled with over 100,000 people in 2024, the largest crowd yet in its seven-year history, and if you've been to a con before, you know how overwhelming and exhausting they can be: Countless events, panels, booths, and advertisements compete for your attention as you walk for miles through crowds. They're not beginner-friendly experiences, and Anime NYC was no exception.

My goal for the scavenger hunt was to give our exploration more focus and to distract from the fatigue, and it worked. It made the experience much less overwhelming for my family—and a lot more fun. I might never do another convention without one.

Customize this comic convention scavenger hunt

You can download this comic and anime convention scavenger hunt for free to use at your next convention, or use it as inspiration to make your own. The scavenger hunt is broken down into three sections:

• The first section has easier searches worth one point each. With a few bonuses involved, there are a maximum of 15 points possible in the first section of the scavenger hunt.

• The second section has challenges that are more involved or need more social interaction with strangers, and are worth two points each. With bonuses, there are a possible 20 points in the second section.

• And the last section involves taking videos of group members more actively engaging with the community, each worth 5 points. With bonuses, this section is worth up to 25 points.

The scavenger hunt format is malleable to most comic, anime, and gaming conventions, so you should customize it for your group and interests. For example, you may want to swap in other comic or video game characters, or raise or lower the difficulty levels based on age (or nerdiness). My family is Black and likes to notice such characters in anime, so one of our options included asking strangers if they can name five Black anime characters.

How long does the scavenger hunt take?

For adults, you can expect the convention scavenger hunt to take around 4-6 hours to finish. With kids, you can expect the search to be slower depending on how much walking they can handle. My family spent around six hours at Anime NYC, and out of a total possible 60 points, the winning team scored 48 points against the losing team's 47.

Credit: Jordan Calhoun / Lifehacker

How to make your own convention scavenger hunt

Of course, you can make your own scavenger hunt to be as unique as you want. The simplest scavenger hunts just need a list of items to find or tasks to accomplish, along with some basic rules around teams, time limits, and prizes. If your group is competitive, a few common questions to consider include:

• Whether teams can make alliances

• Whether teams can sabotage each other

• Whether teams can spend money for clues (This was a particular point of contention during my family's scavenger hunt, as my team paid for an autograph from an anime voice actor for a bonus point.)

• And a pre-agreed tie breaker

Scavenger hunts are a great way to organize conventions

One of my favorite productivity quotes is, “There is only one way to eat an elephant: one bite at a time." It reminds me that any large accomplishment can be made less daunting and more manageable by breaking into smaller tasks. I try to keep "one bite at a time" in mind whether training for a marathon, writing a book, or convincing my daughters to love conventions as much as I do: If I organize your tasks and focus on the one in front of me, the goal will happen along the way. Ultimately, a scavenger hunt can function as a great task management tool—essentially a checklist, but disguised for fun—and I plan to use them more often for events like vacations, museums, and trips. And when I can't find a good one online, I hope to find time to keep building them on my own.

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11 Hidden Features in Apple Music Every User Should Know About

Apple Music (previously iTunes) is a behemoth of a music manager app for macOS and Windows—and it has changed and developed so much since its launch in 2001 that you may well have not come across everything this piece of software has to offer. It has evolved almost as rapidly as the digital music industry.

Whether you turn to Apple Music as your default audio player or you're wondering if it's worth switching to, these lesser-known features should give you a better idea of what the application is capable of—beyond the basics of streaming music from the web and playing local files.

(The guide below describes the features as they're found in Apple Music for macOS. The same features are all available in the Windows version, but might not be in exactly the same place or on the same menu.)

Build a radio station based on your favorite song

If you've got a track you're particularly taken with in Apple Music, you can build an entire radio station mix around it—as long as you're a subscriber to the Apple Music streaming service. With a particular song selected in the app, open the Song menu and choose Create Station. It's a really good way of discovering new artists similar to your favorites.

Switch to the mini player

Apple Music comes with a useful mini player. To access it, open the Window menu and choose Mini Player to see it (click and drag on it to move it around). Via Music > Settings > Advanced you can find a checkbox to keep it on top of other program windows on macOS, so you always have access to key playback controls.

You can specify when songs start and stop. Credit: Lifehacker

Cut out intros and outros

You can set timestamps for individual songs in Apple Music that tell the app where to start and stop playback whenever the song is played on any device—so you can cut out a lengthy intro or outro, for example. Right-click on a track, then choose Get Info and switch to the Options tab, where you'll find Start and Stop fields. Click OK to confirm.

Tweak your recommendations

Not every track in your library will be a five-star anthem, and you don't necessarily want the tracks that you like less to influence the recommendations you see across Apple Music—even if you keep the tracks themselves around. To make a song have less of an influence over recommended music, right-click on it and choose Suggest Less.

Use Suggest Less to tweak your recommendations. Credit: Lifehacker

Clear out the duplicates

You don't want your playlists and your Mac storage getting unnecessarily cluttered with duplicate files, which can be a problem for both local and streamed music. Open the File menu, then choose Library and Show Duplicate Items. You can then see all the tracks that are in your library more than once, and remove the extra copies you don't need.

Switch to lossless audio

The Apple Music streaming service supports lossless audio now—that's up to 24-bit/192 kHz in quality across the entire catalog—and you can switch to the higher resolution sound if you don't mind the extra demands on your bandwidth and file download sizes. To enable or disable the lossless audio feature in the app, head to Music > Settings > Playback.

Add comments to tracks

You can add comments to any of the tracks in your library. Just right-click on a song, then choose Get Info and head to the Details tab. You can use the comments field to label songs in any way you like—as instrumentals, or favorite songs, or upbeat songs, or golden oldies—and then set up smart playlists to pick out tracks using the comments data.

Sound Check will level out the volume levels. Credit: Lifehacker

Normalize the volume

It can be jarring when different songs have been recorded at different volume levels, which leaves you continually searching for the volume slider when a new track starts. To stop this from happening, open the Music menu, choose Settings, then head to the Playback tab and enable the Sound Check feature. Apple Music then makes adjustments automatically.

Skip songs when shuffling

Many of us turn to the shuffle feature to save having to queue up albums and songs manually, but not all songs lend themselves to a shuffled selection—you might want to cut out those lengthy post-rock tracks or spoken word skits, for example. To do this, right-click on a song, then choose Get Info: On the Options tab, check the Skip when shuffling box, then click OK.

Playlists can be made collaborative. Credit: Lifehacker

Create collaborative playlists

This is a newer feature that may have slipped under your radar: You can now work on playlists with other people in Apple Music, which is perfect for parties or road trips for example. With a playlist on screen, click the invite people button on the right (it's an icon of a head and shoulders), then choose Start Collaborating to pick your collaborators.

Customize the layout

Apple Music offers more flexibility in terms of its layout than you might have realized. If you've got a playlist on screen, you can open the View menu to choose between different groupings for your tracks (including Songs and Albums). You can also select how the tracks on screen are sorted and filtered (by artist name or number of plays, for example).

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What Garmin's 'Recovery Time' Estimate Actually Means

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As I sit here typing, my Garmin watch tells me that I have 21 hours until I’ve fully recovered from the workout I did earlier today. It wasn’t even a hard workout, but I’ve come to expect long recovery estimates from Garmin—and I won't let this number stop me from going on an easy run in the morning. The recovery time doesn’t mean what you might think it mean. 

What is the recovery time feature, and where can you see it? 

Most Garmin sport watches calculate a recovery time after each workout. You’ll see this number in the end-of-workout summary that you get right after you finish. It’s also available from the Training Status glance if you have that, or the Training Readiness tile in the Garmin Connect app if you have that. On my Forerunner 265S, I can even set it as one of the little complications on my main watch face. 

Garmin Forerunner 265S Running Smartwatch (Black/Yellow)

$422.00 at Amazon

$449.99 Save $27.99

$422.00 at Amazon

$449.99 Save $27.99

Garmin defines recovery time as “an estimate on how long it will take for you to fully recover and be ready for your next workout of the same intensity.” Note that phrase, fully recover. No athlete is fully recovered at the start of every training session; sometimes you carry a little fatigue from one session to the next. This number is just giving you a sense of how long you’ll be feeling the effects of this workout. 

The recovery time feature is available on most Enduro, Epix, Fenix, Forerunner, Instinct, Venu, and Vivoactive watches, among others (Garmin has a full list here). 

Do you have to wait until the recovery time hits zero before working out again? 

No! This is probably the biggest misconception about the feature (and it explains why the recovery times can be so long—up to four days). The idea isn’t that you have to rot in bed until the timer is up. It’s just that, between now and when the timer hits zero, you’ll be operating with at least a little more fatigue than usual. 

You can read Garmin’s explanation here. They say: “When your timer hits zero, it means you are ready to gain the maximum benefit from your next hard fitness-improving (i.e., training effect: 3.0+) type workout.”

So if I get a 38-hour recovery time after a hard workout, that’s just a signal that I won’t be in tip-top shape tomorrow. If I were planning the hardest workout of my week for tomorrow, I might want to consider delaying that workout so I can do it later on fresh legs. But if I’m planning on going for a recovery run instead, there’s no need to change my plans. 

Should you ignore Garmin’s recovery time? 

I mean, there’s an argument for ignoring any metric a watch gives you, at least some of the time. You don’t need to let Garmin’s recovery time run your life. If you still want to get your workout in, and you feel up to it, feel free to ignore the recovery numbers.

That said, I do find the recovery time useful as a gut check. If I get a long recovery time, that’s a reminder that I did actually work pretty hard, and I should make sure my efforts are balanced over time with easy and hard days. Any good training program will keep that in mind, anyway—with or without a watch putting a number on it.

Why does my recovery time keep changing?

Garmin is constantly updating its estimate of how far away you are from full recovery. If you do another workout before the timer hits zero, the number will go up again because you’ve given yourself more work to recover from. 

On the flip side, if you got a good night’s sleep, you may find that the number shrank more than expected during the night. Again, you don’t want to read too much into this number; it’s just an estimate, after all. But it’s a good sign if you find you’re recovering quickly from your hard workouts. 

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You Can Get the Ring Video Doorbell Pro for $70 Right Now

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This refurbished Ring Video Doorbell Pro is now $69.99, a significant drop from its original $139.99. Since it’s certified, you can expect it to look and work like new, having been thoroughly tested to meet quality standards.

Certified Refurbished Ring Video Doorbell Pro

$69.99 at Amazon

$139.99 Save $70.00

$69.99 at Amazon

$139.99 Save $70.00

As for the performance, the daytime footage of the Doorbell Pro comes through crisp and clean in HD (giving you a wide 160-degree view of your doorstep), while night vision holds up well—providing sharp, well-lit video up to about 20 feet. There is some barrel distortion at the edges of the frame, but according to this PCMag review, people and objects in the center look normal.

The Ring Pro also integrates with Amazon Alexa for voice commands and packs a built-in motion sensor, speaker, microphone, and chime, so you’re fully covered for any doorstep activity. It connects to your home wifi on either 2.4GHz or 5GHz bands using 802.11n circuitry, ensuring a stable connection. That said, this is a wired device that requires a 16 to 24 volt power source—the same wiring used for traditional doorbells. This constant power supply means no batteries to charge, which is great for reliability, but the catch is installation. If your home already has doorbell wiring, you’re good to go. If not, setting it up could involve some extra work and cost.

The camera starts recording when someone presses the doorbell or if motion is detected, and a push alert is sent to your phone. However, accessing recorded footage and unlocking the device's full functionality requires a Ring Home subscription, with the Basic Plan costing $4.99 per month for a single camera. The Ring Pro works with the Ring app, where you can manage all its features including adjusting motion sensitivity, setting up customized motion zones, toggling motion alerts on or off, and viewing live video with options for two-way audio, speaker mute, and more (though this requires a Standard ($10 per month) or Premium ($20 per month) subscription).

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