My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: This TCL 75-Inch QLED TV

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TCL makes good non-OLED TVs (arguably some of the best when compared to the cost), as is the case with last year's QM7 that I got my hands on, which is still a bargain in 2025. There are plenty of differences between QLEDs and OLEDs, but unless you're planning on dropping thousands of dollars, a QLED will do just fine.

Consider TCL's new QM6K QLED, going for $749.99 (originally $999.99) for the 75-inch model. This is the lowest price this TV has been, according to price-tracking tools. I've had mine for a couple of months and have been surprised by its value for the price. If you're looking for different sizes, the 55-inch is $497.99 (originally $599.99), and the 85-inch is currently $999.99 (originally $1,499.99)

TCL's QM lineup offers a good value regardless of which size you pick. The QM6K is much better than last year's rendition, now with local dimming zones (500 of them, according to CNET's review) and a mini LED panel, improving contrast dramatically. The color accuracy is also surprisingly accurate out of the box for HDR content, which is great for people who don't like to mess with settings.

With the QM6K you get 144Hz native refresh rate, HDR formats like HDR ULTRA with Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10+, HDR10, & HLG, Dolby Atmos Audio, an anti-glare screen, 4 HDMI Inputs (one of which is an eARC), and the Google TV Smart OS (my favorite OS) with Chromecast built in, meaning you can cast your phone to it. You also get Apple AirPlay 2 and Alexa built in, according to ZDNet's review.

If you're a gamer, there's a lot to like in the QM6K, according to IGN's review. The Game Bar feature lets you adjust settings on the fly. There's also a VRR accelerator that doubles the refresh rate to a perceived 288Hz. It also has AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, so you can experience smooth gameplay on a PC or console. Truly a lot to offer for a budget QLED TV.


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Five of the Best Ways to Study (but Not Cheat) Using AI

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In the years since the launch of ChatGPT, AI tools have developed a bad reputation in the academic world for how easy they make it for students to cheat, passing off the work of a large language model as their own. Even if an LLM can produce writing for you that doesn't come off as unnatural and riddled with hallucinations, you'll be shortchanging yourself, because you won't actually absorb any of the material.

But that's not to say these tools serve no purpose in the academic world. If used correctly, they can actually help you study more efficiently. Here are five ways you can use AI in your schoolwork without cheating—or cheating yourself.

Use ChatGPT to discuss concepts

One study technique I've previously recommended is simply having a conversation with another person who doesn’t know anything about the topic you’re studying, to identify areas where your own understanding is lacking. It's a great option because it helps you make connections between concepts as you're working out how to explain them to someone else, and it boosts your confidence in the subject matter when you are able to present it as the expert. But you might not always have someone around to serve as the uninformed rube in your roleplaying, which is when ChatGPT can help you out.

When I was in grad school, I asked ChatGPT to allow me to "teach" it about a topic I was studying—community-based health interventions—and we “discussed” different levels of community engagement. ChatGPT actually had interesting questions that helped me think of creative solutions I could investigate in the course of my work.

As the American Psychological Association notes, going back and forth with the language model like this not only helps you think critically and creatively, it also helps you practice managing technology in our changing world—a win-win.

Use AI to summarize articles

If you have to read a ton of articles or reports, try getting an AI tool to summarize them for you. This is great when you need to compare similarities or differences between pieces of research or get top-line bullet points to help you round out a paper. I fed ChatGPT an old article and asked for a summary and the language model took about 30 seconds to condense 61 pages into one key paragraph, highlighting the study design, the study goals, its findings, and its recommendations. This gave me a good idea of whether it was worth further study.

If you've only got a few documents to read, it's still best to do it yourself, but this trick that can come in handy if you've got a large number of them you're looking to sort through quickly. Just make sure you double-check the summary against the source document before you take anything in it as gospel.

My favorite tool for doing this is Google's NotebookLM. Despite my broader hesitancy about AI, I use this free software frequently because I find it's more like a personal assistant than a source of knowledge. It is similar to ChatGPT and other language models in that you can ask it questions via text-entry box, but dissimilar in that it only pulls answers from resources you've provided it. You upload PDFs, links, YouTube videos, and whatever else you want to serve as source material, then NotebookLM helps you sort through that material.

When you're using ChatGPT, it pulls answers from the entire internet, and can make serious mistakes as a result. With NotebookLM, anything it generates includes a citation you can click that reveals the exact spot it pulled the info from in your cache of resources. Instead of doing the work for you, this tool just helps you make sense of and organize all your materials.

Use ChatGPT to streamline your notes

If your notes are difficult to read or sort through, ChatGPT can help. In grad school, I assigned each of my classes a Google Doc and took notes in it all semester, but inevitably, each document eventually got disorganized, chaotic, and nearly impossible to navigate. As a test, I put my entire semester’s worth of notes for Research Methods into ChatGPT and asked it to pull out the most important information. Not only did it extract the nine steps of research planning and implementation and the principals of the Belmont Report (which were major parts of the midterm), but it reminded me how much of my grade was determined by each test, a fact I had apparently jotted down somewhere in that mess of words. It particularly emphasized things I had written down multiple times, creating a perfect study guide.

Use AI to create flashcards and quiz yourself

Flashcards and practice quizzes are excellent ways to study because they force you to use active recall to pull information from your memory. Making these materials yourself is smart, because even by sorting through your notes and writing down your practice questions, you're studying. But I'll be the first to admit that when I'm in charge of making my own quiz, I tend to go a little easy on myself. (When I'm both the student and the teacher, I somehow always get an A+. Funny how that works.) It's better to outsource the creation of these materials to an unbiased third party, and here's another area where AI can be helpful.

You can ask ChatGPT to make flashcards and quizzes, but its interface isn't really designed for that, so what it will spit back is an outline of what your flashcards should include based on the notes or resources you upload. From there, you can make the cards yourself, and get to studying (I recommend drilling flashcards using the Leitner system, which is better for helping you retain information over the long-term). You can also ask ChatGPT to quiz you, but you have to be specific with your instructions: Ask ChatGPT to quiz you one question at a time, and to not move on to a new question until you've answered the previous one correctly.

But again, here's where I recommend NotebookLM. It has built-in flashcard and quiz features that are much more interactive and easy to use. You can click a button to generate a multiple-choice quiz or flashcard deck based on the materials you uploaded. The quizzes and cards it creates are clickable, like a quiz you would take in an online class, and are based only on what you upload.

Use AI to outline essays and suggest sources

You definitely don't want ChatGPT or similar language models to "write" your whole essay—more than cheating yourself out of the learning experience, consider the fact that your teacher may run your assignment through a tool like ZeroGPT to get a report on how much of it was likely written by AI, which probably won't do wonders for your grade.

Instead, you can use AI tools to help you plan and organize your essays. I've already assembled a list of the best AI essay-helping tools, but here's the gist: You can ask ChatGPT to help you brainstorm a topic or create an essay outline. You can also ask for suggestions for sources you can then research and add into your work that you wouldn't have considered otherwise.

Two notes of caution: ChatGPT is sometimes known to make up citations, inventing a convincing article title and attributing it to a well-known source. This is why you don't want to rely on it to fully do the work for you, whether writing or research—just use it to source suggestions that you can hunt down and evaluate on your own. It won't take long to realize a source you've been given just doesn't exist.

Likewise, when ChatGPT gives you a link to a source, it adds a little code at the end of the URL that says "/?utm_source=chatgpt.com." Even if you're being as ethical as possible and clicking every link to read the material fully and consider its merits, it's a very bad look to have a bibliography full of links that make it clear you used ChatGPT for your research—a reader might even assume you had the AI write everything for you. So before turning in work, I recommend searching your documents for mentions of "chatgpt," and deleting that sneaky bit of code from any URL where you find it. Snip out everything from the question mark onward and link will still work, but won't make you look like you're doing something untoward.



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The 'Leitner System' Is a Better Way to Study With Flashcards

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Diversifying your studying techniques is a great way to stay more engaged as you learn new information, but know this: The classic methods are classic for a reason. Take flashcards, for instance. You've certainly used them in the past, but you may not have been using them in a way that maximized their benefits.

Behold the Leitner system, which provides more structure to the tried-and-true practice of studying with flashcards and might be the jumpstart your studying needs. This memory-enhancing method is best suited for when you have a substantial amount of time to learn your material, so avoid it for cramming. Instead, get going with it as soon as a semester or new chapter starts.

What is the Leitner system for studying?

This system was devised by science writer Sebastian Leitner in 1972, which is why he gets the honor of having it named for him. (It’s from his book How to Learn to Learn, but while old copies retail for about $4, they're only available in German, so just trust me on this one.)

For the first few decades of its use, it relied solely on on physical tools: flashcards and boxes. (You’ll also need a pen or pencil to make the flashcards.) Writing out your flashcards by hand is generally a good idea, as handwriting something helps stick it into your memory, but these days, you have other, more modern options for your Leitner sessions. We'll get to those, too.

At its core, this is a version of spaced repetition, an evidence-based technique that helps learners absorb numerous pieces of information and store them in their memory. The system is best used when you have ample time but have to learn a lot of concepts, phrases, or ideas—so use it for an entire course or a really hefty chapter instead of a section or topic that only includes a few new things to learn. Now let's get into what it is and how to execute it.

How to use the Leitner system

Let's assume for a moment you're doing this the old-school way—relying on index cards and a pen. The first thing you’re going to do is make your flashcards. Don’t worry about the other steps involving the boxes just yet. Make the flashcards as you normally would by including vocabulary words, new concepts, phrases, important dates, and anything else you need to know. It helps to first use a reading comprehension technique to go through the chapter or subject at hand, so try the SQ3R method, which has you identify questions you have about the material before you start reading, then has you write down the answers to those questions as you find them, plus anything else you learn. You base those questions on subheadings, graphs, tables, summaries, and other key parts of the chapter, but you can later base your flashcards on those same pieces of information, plus the answers you find. Be thorough and include concepts and words you already feel confident you know, even if that seems silly. It’s all part of the Leitner method and will come in handy.

Once you have a comprehensive flashcard deck, it’s time to use the method. You’ll need five boxes (or envelopes or even labeled binder clips, as long as it’s something that can hold big stacks of cards). You should label them on a timeline, ideally by how long you have to grasp the information. If you have a big midterm in two months, for instance, label Box 1 “daily,” Box 2 “every other day,” Box 3 “weekly,” Box 4 “biweekly,” and Box 5 “monthly.”

Now, do a round of flashcards. Every card you get right, move to Box 2. Every card you get wrong, keep in Box 1. You see where this is going, but I'll spell it out: Box 1 is a daily review, so you do those flashcards every day, but if you start this activity on a Monday and your Box 2 is designated for every-other-day study, you won’t return to that one until Wednesday. If you answer cards from Box 2 correctly, they’ll go to Box 3, which in this example is your “weekly” box. If you answer any cards in Box 2 incorrectly, you move those back to Box 1, where you’ll study them every day until you get them right.

In short, when you answer a card right, it moves forward into a box that will have you reviewing it less frequently. When you answer a card wrong, it moves backward into a box that will have you reviewing it more frequently. Eventually, you’ll have cards all the way down in Box 5. Those will be the cards containing information you have effectively stored in your memory and really grasp, so you don’t need to go over them as often. Cards in the lower-numbered boxes contain information you’re not retaining as well and should go over more.

Modifications and things to keep in mind about the Leitner system

How you use the system will depend on how much time you have to study, as well as how much you have to learn. For instance, if you have just a few concepts you want to drill or you have only two weeks until a big test, you might use three boxes to designated daily, every-other-day, and weekly study. You also have some wiggle room when it comes to incorrect answers. The most faithful adherence to the method would have you moving any incorrect cards all the way back to Box 1 no matter what box it had previously made its way to, for instance, but you can make a judgement call on whether getting it wrong one time means you need to study it every day or whether you think it should only be demoted one box. Personally, I don't see the harm in demoting it all the way to Box 1; if you got it wrong due to a momentary brain fart, it'll make its way back up to the higher numbers easily enough in time; if you got it wrong because the information truly slipped out of your memory, it deserves to get some daily attention until you know it well enough to advance it.

You also need to be strategic when you’re studying on a day that involves multiple boxes. If you start on a Monday and use a daily, every-other-day, and weekly setup for your first three boxes, for instance, Friday is going to be pretty big for you. Start with whatever the highest box of the day is, then move backward. By doing this, you’ll get to study any you got wrong and moved backward twice, but won’t have to study any you got right and moved forward twice. Plus, it’ll be a little confidence boost to start on the harder ones and get some right, moving them to a box you won’t have to look at for a while.

The goal here is to really hammer the cards that contain information that isn’t sticking for you without bogging yourself down studying things you already know. As more cards move into the higher-numbered boxes, add information from new chapters so your deck is a comprehensive overview of everything you’ll need to know for a cumulative test or, ideally, long-term in the real-world application of the information.

Apps can make this easier

Yes, the classic approach to this involves handwriting cards and physically moving them around in boxes or envelopes and while that can be beneficial in its own way, the process is also laborious, time-consuming, and a little hard to manage. Where will you store all those flashcards? Are you going to bring them around to study on the go? The answer is probably no, which means you may find yourself skipping some days if it's not feasible to haul around a stack of cards—and that defeats the purpose of the system entirely.

That's where apps come in. Always be wary when using your phone to study, since it only takes a few taps of your finger to get distracted by non-educational messages and apps, but honestly, flashcard apps make all of this a lot easier if you can exercise the self-restraint necessary to use them.

Flashcards in any form are useful, as they force you to engage in active recall and pull the answers from your memory, so any flashcard app you download is better than nothing. Be advised, though, that not all of them follow the Leitner method. For Leitner-specific flashcard drills, I recommend Brainscape (my personal favorite), Cram, and Flashcard Lab. You can read my full reviews of them through those links, but generally, Brainscape is a sleek and well-produced app that comes with a ton of pre-made decks and simple options for making your own, Cram is much more basic but easy to use, and Flashcard Lab creates flashcards out of your own spreadsheets so the production part is almost too easy. All of them let you indicate whether you got a flashcard answer right or wrong, then move it around in your schedule so you see it more or less frequently.

Outsourcing the creation and sorting of the cards to tech leaves more time for studying and streamlines the whole process, making you more likely to stick to your Leitner practice.



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I Replaced My Massage Gun With This Orbital Massager and I'm Not Going Back

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After years of wincing through aggressive massage gun sessions, I just assumed muscle relief required enduring a little bit of pain. There's a reason for the saying, "hurts so good," right? But it turns out you don't need to suffer to see results: The Rally orbital massager, which I have previously reviewed, has completely changed my hard-ass approach to recovery.

Don't get me wrong—percussive massage guns have their place. They're powerful and effective at working out the deepest knots. But after months of inconsistent use, I realized something: I was avoiding my own recovery tool. The aggressive pounding felt like punishment rather than self-care, turning what should've been a daily wellness ritual into something I'd postpone until I was in serious pain.

I'd skip sessions when I needed them most, only reaching for my massage gun when my muscles were screaming for attention. By then, I'd need that aggressive percussion just to make a dent in the tension I'd allowed to build up. During marathon training especially, I simply can't let this happen. That's where orbital massages come in.

Why Rally's gentler recovery changes everything

The Rally's orbital massage technology works differently than traditional percussive guns—instead of hammering muscles with rapid-fire pulses, picture the circular motion of a car buffer. Luckily, the motion is gentle enough that it feels more like a human touch, as opposed to turning me into a car getting buffed.

The Rally has taught me something crucial about sustainable self-care: I'm infinitely more likely to reach for a device that feels good to use, rather than one that hurts. It's a game-changer for consistency. With my old massage gun, I'd psyche myself out before sessions: "Do I really need this? Can I handle the intensity right now?" With the Rally, there's no mental barrier. I can use it while watching TV, during work breaks, or as part of my bedtime routine, without dreading the experience.

Building up when you need to

Here's the best thing about the Rally: It can double as a percussive massager when you need more intensity. But now, instead of starting with the nuclear option, I work my way up to it. It's more comfortable and, I find, more effective: My muscles respond better to massage when they're already relaxed and have good blood flow.

I'll begin with the gentle orbital motion to warm up tissues and increase circulation, then switch to percussion mode if I encounter stubborn knots. I am far from anti-percussion massage—there are times when you need that deeper, more aggressive treatment, like after a particularly intense workout, when dealing with chronic knots, or for trigger point therapy. But now, those hurt-so-good instances are the exception, rather than the rule.

The Rally's ability to switch between modes means I'm not locked into one approach. I have the gentleness for daily maintenance and the power for when things get serious.

The best recovery tool is the one you actually use

By embracing the gentler, orbital massage as my daily default, I've created a sustainable self-care routine that prevents problems rather than just treating them. Proactive care beats reactive treatment every time.

Maybe my muscles are thanking me not because I'm punishing them less, but because I'm caring for them more consistently. Sometimes the revolutionary approach is simply being kinder to yourself, and having the tools that make that kindness effective.

If you've been avoiding your massage gun or find yourself using it only when you're already in pain, consider making the switch to orbital massage as your primary recovery method. Your future self (and your muscles) will thank you for choosing consistency over intensity.



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My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: This 65-Inch TCL QLED TV

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It's impressive how far TCL has been pushing the limits of QLED technology. The QM7K is its latest mid-tier QD-Mini LED smart TV and it offers great value for your money. Right now, the 65-inch QM7K is marked down 41%, bringing its price down to $877.99 (originally $1,499.99), the second lowest price it has ever been, according to price-tracking tools. The 85-inch QM6K, which is the more affordable version, is 37% off right now.

The QM7K is better in every way than the QM6K except for color accuracy. It has better contrast, brightness, gaming specs, black levels, processing, and other specs, but the QM6K is still a great option for those on a tighter budget.

I personally tested the QM7, which is a slightly older model of this TV, as well as the more budget QM6K, and I can tell you TCL is not skimping out on these TVs. They feel and look truly premium. This QM7K is no different. Its highlights are a bright panel, making it great for sunlit rooms. It has deep blacks and almost no light bloom, giving it that premium picture quality. Gamers will appreciate the 144 Hz native refresh rate and 288 Hz support panel with VRR and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, making it a smooth experience. Since it's a Google TV, it has hands-free Google Assistant and Google Cast, which makes streaming almost anything from your phone or computer a breeze. It can also do the same for iPhones with AirPlay.

If you're a color stickler, you might notice that the colors run a little warmer out of the box, according to PCMag's "excellent" review, but that's something you can edit easily in the picture settings. If you want a massive, bright, colorful smart TV with that "wow" factor, get the 65-inch QM7K, but if brightness is not as important to you, consider the 85-inch QM6K. Either option is a great TV for a killer price.


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The Out-of-Touch Adults' Guide to Kid Culture: Who Is D4vd?

This week's tour of the world of young people careens around like an out-of-control bullet train. Everyone's talking about a pop star with a body in his trunk, a dental trend powered by TikTok, astrology-based beauty tutorials, and a football stat hound's ultimate rabbit hole. It’s a lot to take in.

Who is D4vd and why was there a body in his trunk?

Everyone under a certain age is talking about the singer D4vd, and it's not because he has a new album out. On September 8, Los Angeles police discovered a body in the trunk of an abandoned Tesla registered to David Anthony Burke, the birth name of the 20-year-old musician. The body was later identified as the remains of Celeste Rivas, who was reported missing from her home in Riverside on April 5, 2024, when she was just 13 years old.

The online speculation is that D4vd was in a relationship with Rivas, but that has yet to be confirmed. The singer has reportedly been cooperating with authorities, no cause of death has been determined, and no charges have yet been filed.

If you're wondering who D4vd is, you're not alone: The singer's rise to fame is a quintessentially Generation Z story. His career began with online fame gained through posting Fortnite videos online, but YouTube removed his content for using copyrighted music. At the suggestion of his mom, D4vd began recording original songs using free iPhone tools, which he posted to SoundCloud. The end result was a recording contract, an album, and a couple of songs with over 1.5 billion plays on Spotify.

D4vd's biggest hit, "Romantic Homicide" mixes the pop music of the 1970s with 1990s-style lo-fi production, and it's actually good. But D4vd's lyrics are chilling given later developments. "I killed you and I didn't even regret it," he sings on the track, "I can't believe I said it, but it's true."

But just because you write a song about killing your lover doesn't mean you're guilty of it. In any case, the story is dark, tragic, and developing, and D4vd is innocent until proven guilty.

Hot Generation Z trend: veneers

Yeah, it's a mood shift to go from murder to teeth, but such is the nature of life in 2025. Anyway, the newest dental trend among younger people is veneers. Whether it's speculation that Gen Z super-celebrity Mr.Beast is rocking a set of artificial choppers, the 250,000 videos posted to TikTok's #veneers tag, or the below deep-dive on the topic from venerable YouTuber Papa Meat, false fronts are very of-the-moment.

Maybe the fascination comes from the straight, white teeth of influencers. Maybe it's hyper-awareness of teeth caused by taking too many selfies. Or maybe it's because veneers are sort of funny. Choose your own explanation.

Hot Generation Z trend: astrological makeup

I'm fascinated with makeup trends and pop occultism, so I'm glad makeup influencers are bringing my two interests together on TikTok. The new hotness among makeup influencers is the “rising sign" beauty trend, where the makeup you wear is determined by your astrological sign.

In astrology, your "rising sign" supposedly represents how other people see you. So if your rising sign is Scorpio, you might go with a look that's "intense, dark, and dramatic." If Gemini is rising, you want to go "playful and vibrant."

I don't understand how the position of the stars at the time you were born could possibly inform the makeup choices you make next Thursday, but if combining mysticism with style choices makes it a little easier for people to slog through another day, I'm in favor.

First AI-animated feature film in production

We all knew it was going to happen eventually, and now it has: OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, announced today that it's producing the first feature film animated solely through artificial intelligence. Critterz, a feature-length version of the AI-made short film above, has a $30 million budget, and production will be finished in nine months, an impossibly short time-frame for a traditionally animated or CGI film. Critterz's animation may be AI, but its script and voice acting are being done the old-fashioned way—by professional Hollywood actors and writers who will gladly let OpenAI pay them a lot of money for making funny voices.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, Open AI hopes to premiere Critterz at the Cannes Film Festival, presumably in 2027. Whether anyone wants to see an AI-animated movie remains to be seen. It sounds like a terrible idea to me, but I'm not the target demographic. Anyway, you can check out the first teaser/promo video here.

Viral video of the week: Scorigami returns

Leave it to Gen Z to come up with a new way to enjoy football. "Scorigami" is a term coined by writer/YouTuber John Bois that describes an NFL final score that has never happened before in the league's history. YouTube channel Secret Base is in the middle of a four-part examination of the phenomenon that starts with the first ever NFL football game played in 1922 and continues to the present, seen through the lens of "this is the only time any two pro teams have ended a game with this score."

The series is equal parts sports, history, comedy, and statistics, with fascinating digressions and side trips to explore things like how the NFL owes its entire existence to a random guy's truck breaking down in Texas at the turn of the century and how it's possible—extremely unlikely, but still possible—to score a single point in a football game. In other words, it's the kind of documentary that would be rejected by ESPN for being too math-y and rejected by PBS for being too sporty, but is able to find a home and hundreds of thousands of viewers because YouTube exists.



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This Samsung 4K OLED TV Is at Its Lowest Price Right Now

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The Samsung S90D 4K OLED TV is currently going for $1,697.99 on Woot until Sept. 30 or while supplies last. That’s over $180 cheaper than the current Amazon listing ($1,878.99), and the lowest price it’s hit so far, according to price-trackers. Just a heads up: Delivery is handled by a freight carrier, so you’ll need to provide a valid phone number and address during checkout to schedule it. Prime members get free shipping while everyone else pays a $6 fee. It comes with a standard one-year Samsung warranty and all the essentials in the box, including the stand and a SolarCell remote that charges via USB-C or sunlight.

This is a 77-inch QD-OLED from Samsung’s 2024 lineup, second only to their flagship S95D. It’s powered by their new Neo Quantum 4K AI Gen 2 chip, which helps with upscaling and automatic adjustments depending on what you’re watching or playing. Just know that while HDR10+ is supported, Dolby Vision is still missing. It’s a good pick for gaming with 4K at up to 144Hz, VRR support across the board (HDMI VRR, FreeSync, G-Sync), and a very low input lag in Game Mode. If you’ve got both a console and a gaming PC, you’ll appreciate the full HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on all ports. It’s also fully compatible with both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. As for the display itself, it’s what you’d expect from a quality OLED: deep blacks, rich contrast, and no blooming around bright objects. It holds up well in darker rooms and offers wide viewing angles, which is nice if you’re watching with a group.

In brighter settings, though, it doesn’t get as punchy. SDR brightness is average, and dark scenes can look a little washed out in harsh daylight. That said, reflection handling is solid for daytime viewing. And while it supports Dolby Atmos over eARC, there’s no support for DTS audio formats, so that’s something to note for Blu-ray fans. Samsung also dropped ATSC 3.0 support for the 2024 models, so no 4K over-the-air broadcasts. And like most smart TVs these days, the built-in Tizen interface has ads; although you can reduce them, there’s no way to turn them off fully. But for everything the S90D does get right, including gaming performance, viewing angles, and a clean panel with almost no blooming, it holds up well as a mid-high-end option for most setups.


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How to Use the Pomodoro Method to Study More Efficiently

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You may have heard of the Pomodoro technique before—perhaps even here at Lifehacker—and might already be aware it’s a solid productivity hack. But applied in another way, i can actually be more than that: This technique is also an excellent study tool that can help you maximize your focus and retention. It's time-tested, variable, and available to you whether you want to do it the old-fashioned way or call in the help of an app.

What is the Pomodoro technique?

Although it has a fancy name, the technique itself is simple: If you have a large task to complete, you should break it down into pieces and schedule breaks to reward yourself in between finishing bits of it. The scheduling is the key part: When following the classic Pomodoro model, you have to set an alarm for 25 minutes and 25 minutes only. So, work for 25 minutes, and when the alarm goes off, take a five-minute break, maybe to grab a snack, refill your coffee, or scroll social media. When the five minutes are up, get back to work. Do this over and over, but every four cycles, give yourself a bigger break, up to a half an hour.

In the event something distracts you—whether it’s your phone or another person—you have to reset your timer, so try instead to be direct and tell them you’re busy and will be able to reconnect with them in a bit. Then, put them off until you get your five-minute break or even after your whole task is finished.

This works because you are aware you’re getting that little reset once your 25 minutes are up. You can throw yourself into the task knowing there’s a little treat coming down the pipeline. And while you rest up, your brain is processing everything you just learned.

How to use Pomodoro for studying

We usually discuss the Pomodoro technique in terms of working professionally, especially when there’s a big project you need to complete, but its origins actually come from the academic sphere. The method was invented by Fancesco Cirillo, a developer and entrepreneur, but he came up with it when he was a student. It’s actually named for the little tomato-shaped timer he used when he was studying. Those methods are certainly still viable, but the popularity of his technique has also birthed a cottage industry of specialty timers. On Amazon, you can get a Pomodoro-specific timer for under $20. These offer different preset time allotments, so you don't have to stick to the 25 on, five off model—but I'll get to that in a moment.

You can use this method to study for a test by breaking up the content you need to review. You go by chapter, by content, or by “chunk,” if you’re using the chunking method to divvy up your study load (which you should be). It’s a good way to stay on task if you get easily distracted and dividing your topics up will help you remember them better. It’s not ideal for quick cramming sessions, however, since you need at least two hours to get four “Pomodoros” in. Do this on a day you have plenty of time to devote to studying—and, of course, relaxing.

Pomodoro variations that work for studying

As noted, the classic Pomodoro technique involves 25 minutes on and five minutes off, but you needn't be so rigid—there's a reason those Pomodoro timers don't lock you to those intervals. Twenty-five minute increments worked for Cirillo and countless adherents after him, but they may not work for you. I do recommend starting with the classic technique, but if you're not finding yourself falling into a state of deep work during those blocks of time, you have to switch things up.

There's a lot of flexibility to the method, so feel free to experiment. For instance, one student invented "Animedoro" a few years ago. This approach involves working for longer intervals, around 40 to 60 minutes, then getting 20 minutes to relax and do something you enjoy—like watching an episode of anime, which tend to be about 20 minutes long. With longer working time, you have a better chance of getting into deep work and focusing, plus not getting discombobulated when your timer suddenly goes off.

Another approach is called Pomodoro 2.0 and it involves adding 15 minutes to your work period every time you return to your task, so you focus longer and longer as you go. You still need to take breaks, of course, and you can even make those incrementally longer too.

Or maybe you prefer to work in quick bursts. You can try variations where you study for just 10 minutes before a short break, giving yourself a sense of urgency as you try to see how many flashcards you can study in that time. The point is it's up to you: A period of work interspersed with breaks is the only core element of the method, and you can approach it in whatever way you find most useful. Just keep in mind that you'll get better results if you commit to a set structure, even if it takes some time to adjust to it.

Pomodoro apps can help

I'm a fan of those Pomodoro timers because they keep me off my phone, which is a major distraction—it's a slippery slope from setting an alarm to checking a notification and then finding myself in a Reels hole 10 minutes of my allotted study time.

Then again, the phone can be useful if you're using it productively. Many focus timer apps can be used with the Pomodoro method, and will even block other apps during the work-time increments you set, or otherwise penalize you for getting distracted when you should be focusing. (If you need suggestions, I've previously written about a few of my favorites.)

There are also Pomodoro-specific apps—including my top pick, FocusPomo—that exist purely to help you structure your study or productivity time around the famous technique. If using your phone alarm seems risky and buying a tabletop timer off Amazon feels antiquated, look into one of these.



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My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: This Like-New Amazon Kindle Paperwhite

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It's not often I find sales on the Kindle Paperwhite, especially the latest version—but right now, the 12th Gen, 2024 "like-New" 16GB Kindle Paperwhite is $106.99 (originally $143.99 and $159.99 for a "new" one). The Signature Edition, with an automatically adjusting front light, double the storage, and wireless charging, is available for $126.99 (originally $179.99) and the Kindle Scribe, with note-taking capabilities, starts at $269.99. That's the lowest price for all of these devices, according to price-tracking tools. These deals on used Kindles usually sell out fast, so get one sooner rather than later if you're interested.

My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: This TCL 75-Inch QLED TV

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