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For me, part of the appeal of TikTok is seeing smaller, less polished videos from people who don't fashion themselves as influencers. But what do I know? The company has announced it is holding its first U.S. awards show later this year. It seems the Oscars-ification of short form video is here. In a blog over on the TikTok site, the company said the show, fittingly called the TikTok Awards, will be held in the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles on Dec. 18, 2025, and will "honor the creators who have inspired, entertained, and connected communities across the country." To that end, the site also says it will invite users to "vote for their favorite creators" starting on Nov. 18. So, how will all of this go down? Who is nominated for the TikTok Awards?TikTok says it will have announce nominees in 14 categories, including Creator of the Year, Video of the Year, Breakthrough Artist of the Year, and Muse of the Year, whatever that means. But don't assume you can put forward any old channel for an award. Towards the end of its announcement post, TikTok included a "Meet the Nominees" section that makes it clear the company has already chosen the competitors—and it might not be anyone you recognize. As someone who has spent a total of 13 hours on TikTok over last week (the things I admit for this job), I only recognize one of them. To be fair, the company says there are "more to come," so it's possible someone I recognize will get added to the list of options. Regardless, it seems like the nominees are being chosen by some internal board, so your mileage may vary on whether you agree with the picks. Personally, I'll admit that a lot of my favorite channels are journalists, spicy comedians, and political commentators, so it's possible they're not showing up here due to an effort to appear apolitical and family friendly. (Justice for Dave the cat, though). You can vote Voting for the TikTok Awards will start on Nov. 18, and the company says you can cast your votes using the in-app TikTok Awards hub. While it's currently unclear how you'll find the hub, my guess is it will show up as a pop-up over your feed when you first open the app, as it did with prior TikTok giveaways. I'm sure nominated creators will also be quick to link users to the hub. It's unclear at the moment how many votes users will get to cast. Some sites, like Crunchyroll, like to let users vote on their awards once per day, likely to encourage engagement or discourage dummy accounts. Whether TikTok will implement a similar system remains to be seen. How to watch the TikTok AwardsIf all you want to know is who wins, then you'll be able to watch the TikTok Awards themselves live on Dec. 18 starting at 6 p.m. PT, with a "red carpet livestream" starting an hour before. If you're comfortable watching from your phone, you'll be able to tune in via the TikTok app, but for better TV integration, TikTok says Tubi will also host the program. If you happen to show up late, Tubi will also have an archive of the Awards available to watch on demand "the next day." Can I go to the TikTok Awards In Person?While TikTok is promising "an immersive IRL experience with interactive moments," it's not posting any links to purchase tickets, which means the event is likely invite-only. That's probably important for creator safety, but a bummer for anyone looking to help bring "the For You Feed to life," as TikTok puts it. Are these really the First TikTok Awards?While 2025 is the first year the U.S. has had TikTok Awards, prior years have seen them come to countries including Korea, Japan, Australia, and Brazil. Likely, the delay has been due to the app's uncertain future in the U.S., but with a final deal now reached transferring control of the company to U.S. entities, it's likely TikTok is looking to make up for lost time by amping up its presence in the country. So, will you be watching the TikTok Awards? Personally, I'm not sure they jibe with what I like most about the app—there's a whole category celebrating people who sell via commission with the TikTok shop, something I immediately scroll by whenever I see it—but it could be a funny way to spend an evening, I suppose. So, basically the same approach I take with the Oscars—and at least it should make for some good hot takes on the accounts I do watch. View the full article

Restaurants, food banks, nonprofits, and other organizations have stepped up to offer assistance to the 41 million Americans who have been thrust into limbo this month regarding SNAP benefits that have been halved. But retailers are prohibited from offering discounts on groceries. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has sent notices to retailers alerting them that they can’t offer special discounts to customers affected by the lapse in funding. Despite skepticism about the authenticity of these reports, the USDA confirmed the veracity of the notice to Fast Company, though a spokesperson didn’t provide any additional comment. “You must offer eligible foods at the same prices and on the same terms and conditions to SNAP-EBT customers as other customers, except that sales tax cannot be charged on SNAP purchases,” the notice reads. “You cannot treat SNAP-EBT customers differently than any other customers.” The USDA has sent out these notices despite the government shutdown that began last month. ‘EQUAL TREATMENT RULE’ The USDA appears to be invoking the “equal treatment rule” in an unprecedented way: The rule was intended to ensure that retailers couldn’t discriminate against SNAP recipients by charging them more for eligible items. Now, the USDA wants to ensure that grocery stores don’t charge these customers less for eligible items. What’s also unusual is that grocery stores, at their discretion, regularly offer discounts to customers for a variety of reasons — including designated discount days for seniors. ACTION FOR SNAP VIOLATIONS It’s unclear what penalties, if any, the USDA will impose on retailers who ignore this rule and offer discounts to SNAP beneficiaries. However, a discount apparently is considered a SNAP violation, and the Food and Nutrition Service within the USDA is tasked with monitoring such violations. “FNS takes immediate administrative action to ensure stores that violate SNAP rules no longer participate in the program,” reads a March 2025 fraud notification letter sent to retailers and posted on the USDA website. “Retailers that commit program violations will face consequences, including losing the ability to accept SNAP benefits. Retailers who commit program violations may also be subject to monetary penalties, fines, and/or criminal prosecution.” RETAILERS THRUST INTO LIMBO Some locally-owned grocery stores had promised discounts to SNAP recipients, along with DoorDash and Instacart, which deliver groceries for hundreds of grocery store chains. DoorDash sees no issue in waiving or reducing service and delivery fees for SNAP beneficiaries, as the company announced it would do previously, a company spokesperson told Fast Company. The company is among a group of pilot retailers for online SNAP that received a blanket regulatory waiver issued by FNS that waives the equal treatment requirement, said the spokesperson, who shared a copy of that notice. Instacart also received a similar waiver from FNS and had offered SNAP customers a 50% off their next grocery order, though a company spokesperson didn’t explicitly confirm to Fast Company whether it would continue with this offer. At least two retailers had offered discounts to struggling customers and retracted them after receiving the notice from the USDA, according to Catherine Rampell, an MSNBC anchor, in a post on the X platform. View the full article

Chrysler is recalling more than 320,000 Jeep plug-in hybrid vehicles due to a faulty battery that can fail and lead to a fire, U.S. traffic safety regulators said. Chrysler, which is owned by Netherlands-based Stellantis, is aware of 19 reports and 1 injury potentially related to the issue. Owners of the vehicles, which include 228,221 Jeep Wranglers model years 2020-2025 and 91,844 Jeep Grand Cherokees model years 2022-2026, are being advised to park the vehicles outside and away from structures until a remedy for the problem is determined. Vehicle owners are also being told not to charge their vehicles, the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration said. Interim notification letters are expected to be mailed to vehicle owners by December 2, 2025, with additional letters to be sent once the final remedy is available. The number for the recall is 68C and owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 800-853-1403. Vehicle Identification Numbers for this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning November 6, 2025. Vehicles that were previously recalled for the same issue under previous recalls will need to have the new remedy performed, the NHTSA said. The batteries were manufactured by Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Samsung SDI America. View the full article

Apple dropped iOS 26.1 on Monday, introducing some small but meaningful changes to iPhones. But just one day after changing how alarms work, and adding options to adjust the look of Liquid Glass, the company is back at it with another update: iOS 26.2. To be clear, iOS 26.2 is not currently available to the public. Instead, Apple is now beta testing this version of iOS, allowing developers to trial the software against their apps, and report any and all issues back to Apple. While anyone can technically download this new software, I wouldn't recommend it. iOS 26.2 is not intended for public use, and, as such, it might introduce problems on your device. If you'd like to beta test iOS 26.2, I'd encourage you to at least wait for Apple to ship the public beta version, which should arrive soon. As to be expected, iOS 26.2 doesn't appear to be a major update. Apple clearly added most of the features and changes it had in mind with iOS 26, and a handful of new features and adjustments with iOS 26.1. Still, iOS 26.2 does bring some changes, even with the first beta. Here's what's new, at least at this time: Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen clockWith iOS 26.1, Apple added an option to adjust the look of Liquid Glass. With it, you can choose from two options: "Clear," the iconic Liquid Glass look, or "Tinted," which increases opacity of the elements, and turns Liquid Glass into more of a Frosted Glass. While this is a helpful addition for users who didn't like the look of Liquid Glass, some wanted Apple to go a step further, and add a slider to more finely adjust the look of the glassy design. It seems Apple has done just that with iOS 26.2, but not for the system-wide Liquid Glass UI. Instead, with this new version, you get a slider to adjust the look of your Lock Screen clock: This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. Alarms for remindersReminders are an indispensable part of my iPhone. I rely on them on a daily basis to make sure I keep up with important tasks. However, reminder alerts are as present as any other notification on your iPhone. If you frequently watch your notifications, that's just fine, but if you don't check your iPhone so much, or you use Focuses or Do Not Disturb, it can be easy to miss a reminder—and easy to forget to do the thing you were reminding yourself to do. iOS 26.2 has a solution: alarms for reminders. When you set a reminder as "Urgent" while running iOS 26.2, you'll see a pop-up asking for permission to to schedule alarms and timers. The idea is, rather than rely on a simple alert, the Reminders app can play an alarm when your reminder is due. I imagine that will help avoid forgotten reminders: You might miss a short ping, but you probably will hear if your iPhone is continuously blaring. Sleep Score updatesIf you have an Apple Watch running watchOS 26, you can take advantage of Apple's new Sleep Score feature. Sleep Score looks at your sleep duration, bedtime, and sleep interruptions to assign you a score to summarize how well you slept. Duration can go up to 50 points, bedtime up to 30, and interruptions up to 20, culminating in a highest possible score of 100. With iOS 26.2 and watchOS 26.2, Apple is adjusting the Sleep Score metrics, which should hopefully make it a bit more accurate for users at a glance. Here's how it changed, as noted by MacRumors: Very Low: 0–40 (previously 0–29) Low: 41–60 (previously 30–49) OK: 61–80 (previously 50–69) High: 81–95 (previously 70–89) Very High: 96–100 (previously 90–100) In addition, "Excellent" is now "Very High," to keep the naming scheme more consistent. Podcasts changesApple is introducing three new changes for the Podcasts app in iOS 26.2. You'll see all three in a pop-up menu the first time you open the app post-update. First, all Podcasts in English will come with chapters by default. Podcasters can include these chapters themselves, or, if none are available, the app will generate them automatically with AI. If podcasters don't want their episodes to have chapters, they can disable the feature on their end. The app will also collect any podcasts mentioned during the show you're listening to in one location, so you can easily find those other podcasts if interested. Similarly, podcasters can roundup any links they want to share in one place, including with timestamped entries in the transcript of the episode. The app may automatically create these links too, based on the contents of the episode. EU users are getting Live TranslationLive Translation is a promising new feature for AirPods owners running iOS 26. When you're wearing your AirPods, and you start talking to someone who speaks a different language than you do, your iPhone will translate their words on the fly, and you'll hear what they're saying in your target language through your AirPods. Apple isn't the first company to offer this feature and it isn't perfect, but it's great to have it nonetheless. However, EU users running iOS 26 or iOS 26.1 can't use Live Translation. Apple cited the region's Digital Markets Act as the reason it couldn't bring Live Translation to the EU, but the company seems to have sorted out whatever logistical and bureaucratic issues it had been dealing with: Once iOS 26.2 drops, AirPods users in the EU will be able to use Live Translation, too. View the full article

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted Tuesday that there could be chaos in the skies next week if the government shutdown drags on and air traffic controllers miss a second paycheck. There have already been numerous delays at airports across the country—sometimes hours long—because the Federal Aviation Administration slows down or stops traffic temporarily anytime it is short on controllers. Last weekend saw some of the worst staff shortages and on Sunday, flights at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey were delayed for several hours. Duffy and the head of the air traffic controllers union have both warned that the situation will only get worse the longer the shutdown continues and the financial pressure continues to grow on people who are forced to work without pay. FAA employees already missed one paycheck on Oct. 28. Their next payday is scheduled for next Tuesday. “Many of the controllers said, ‘A lot of us can navigate missing one paycheck. Not everybody, but a lot of us can. None of us can manage missing two paychecks,’” Duffy said. “So if you bring us to a week from today, Democrats, you will see mass chaos. You will see mass flight delays. You’ll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it because we don’t have air traffic controllers.” Most of the flight disruptions so far during the shutdown have been isolated and temporary. But if delays become more widespread and start to ripple throughout the system, the pressure will mount on Congress to reach an agreement to end the shutdown. Major airlines, aviation unions, and the travel industry have been urging Congress to end this shutdown as soon as possible by voting to support the clean funding resolution that Republicans have proposed. The U.S. Travel Association said in a letter to Congressional leaders this week that the economy has already lost more than $4 billion because of the shutdown, and the industry worries the impact will get significantly worse if the shutdown continues into the holiday travel season. “With Thanksgiving, the busiest travel period of the year, imminently approaching, the consequences of a continued shutdown will be immediate, deeply felt by millions of American travelers, and economically devastating to communities in every state,” the U.S. Travel Association said. Normally, airlines strive to have at least 80% of their flights depart and arrive within 15 minutes of when they are scheduled. Aviation analytics firm Cirium said that since the shutdown began on Oct. 1, the total number of delays overall has not fallen significantly below that goal because most of the disruptions so far have been no worse than what happens when a major thunderstorm moves across an airport. But on Sunday, only about 56% of Newark’s departures were on time, and the Orlando airport reported that only about 70% of its flights were on time, according to Cirium. As of midday Tuesday, there have been 1,932 flight delays reported across the United States, according to www.FlightAware.com. That is lower than what is typical although the FAA did say that flights in Phoenix were being delayed Tuesday morning because of staffing shortages. Strong winds are also causing delays at the Newark and LaGuardia airports Tuesday. —Josh Funk, AP transportation writer View the full article

While FHFA reduced most of the single-family low-income goals, the MBA wants the refinance target for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac cut as well, its letter said. View the full article

Results from New York to Virginia will give signal of electorate’s mood in president’s second term View the full article

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, one of Tesla’s biggest investors, said Tuesday that it will vote against a proposed compensation package that could pay CEO Elon Musk as much as $1 trillion over a decade. There will be more than a dozen company proposals up for a vote Thursday during Tesla’s annual meeting, but none have generated more division than Musk’s potentially massive pay package. “While we appreciate the significant value created under Mr. Musk’s visionary role, we are concerned about the total size of the award, dilution, and lack of mitigation of key person risk consistent with our views on executive compensation,” said Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages the country’s Government Pension Fund Global. “We will continue to seek constructive dialogue with Tesla on this and other topics.” The fund has a 1.16% stake, the sixth largest holding among institutional investors. Baron Capital Management, which holds about 0.4% of Tesla’s outstanding shares, said Monday that it will vote in favor of the compensation package. “Elon is the ultimate ‘key man’ of key man risk. Without his relentless drive and uncompromising standards, there would be no Tesla,” wrote founder Ron Baron. “He has built one of the most important companies in the world. He’s redefining transportation, energy, and humanoid robotics and creating lasting value for shareholders while doing it. His interests are completely aligned with investors.” Musk is the company’s largest investor, holding 15.79% of all outstanding shares. Tesla management has proposed a compensation arrangement that would hand Musk shares worth as much as 12% of the company in a dozen separate packages if the company meets ambitious performance targets, including massive increases in car production, share price, and operating profit. View the full article

The latest case comes after at least three other zombie lawsuits in the past year, with the owner of the loan in question claiming $173,000 in past-due interest. View the full article

Cautious comments from top bank executives add to jittery sentiment on Wall StreetView the full article

Pizza Hut could soon be up for sale. Yum Brands, Pizza Hut’s parent company, said Tuesday it’s conducting a formal review of options for the brand, which has struggled to compete in a crowded pizza market. Yum CEO Chris Turner said Pizza Hut has many strengths, including a global footprint and strong growth in many markets. Pizza Hut has nearly 20,000 stores in more than 100 countries, and its international sales were up 2% in the first nine months of this year. China is its second-largest market outside the U.S. But Pizza Hut gets nearly half its sales from the U.S., where it has around 6,500 stores, and U.S. sales fell 7% in the same period. Pizza Hut was long saddled with large, outdated dine-in restaurants at a time when consumers wanted fast pickup and delivery. In 2020, one of Pizza Hut’s largest franchisees filed for bankruptcy protection and closed 300 stores. Pizza Hut now controls 15.5% of U.S. pizza chain sales, down from 19.4% in 2019, according to Technomic, a food service consulting company. “The Pizza Hut team has been working hard to address business and category challenges; however, Pizza Hut’s performance indicates the need to take additional action to help the brand realize its full value, which may be better executed outside of Yum Brands,” Turner said in a statement. “To truly take advantage of the brand we’ve built and the opportunities ahead, we’ve made the decision to initiate a thorough review of strategic options.” Yum has not set a deadline for the completion of the review. The company said it will not make any further comments on the review. Yum Brands shares were up nearly 7% in early afternoon trading Tuesday. The company also owns KFC, Taco Bell, and Habit Burger & Grill. Yum said Tuesday that its third-quarter revenue rose 8% thanks to strong sales at both KFC and Taco Bell. Pizza Hut was founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas, by two brothers who borrowed $600 from their mother to open the store. They chose the name because their sign only had room for eight letters. Pizza Hut’s familiar red roof debuted in 1969, and by 1971, it was the top pizza chain in the world by sales. PepsiCo acquired Pizza Hut in 1977 but spun off its restaurant division — which became Yum Brands — in 1997. Domino’s, with its focus on delivery and carryout pizza, has since become the world’s largest pizza chain, with 21,750 stores. The news of Pizza Hut’s uncertain future comes the day after another 1950s-era dine-in icon, Denny’s, announced it was being sold to an investor group and taken private. Like Pizza Hut, Denny’s has also struggled with customers’ shift to delivery and growing competition in casual dining options. —Dee-Ann Durbin, AP business writer View the full article

Responding to posts on social media claiming that ChatGPT will no longer offer legal or health advice, OpenAI is clarifying that "model behavior remains unchanged" and there is "not a new change to our terms." The clarification follows a since-deleted viral post from betting platform Kalshi, which claimed "JUST IN: ChatGPT will no longer provide health or legal advice." Since then, concerned users have repeated the claim, while others have attempted to push back against it. The confusion likely stems from an Oct. 29 update to OpenAI's Usage policies, which appeared to add a stipulation that users cannot use OpenAI for "provision of tailored advice that requires a license, such as legal or medical advice, without appropriate involvement by a licensed professional." While it would be easy to read that as meaning the AI will no longer give advice on those topics, the reality is a bit more complicated. In fact, the previous usage policy already banned "activities that may significantly impair the safety, wellbeing, or rights of others," with its first example of one such activity being "providing tailored legal, medical/health, or financial advice without review by a qualified professional." However, this was hidden under a subsection targeted at those building with the OpenAI API, and so might have been missed by average consumers. While the new usage policy keeps the same rules, the change was that it now merges them into one, unbroken list, meaning that while the rule is still targeted primarily towards developers and businesses, it is now more visible to everyone. Technically, this also makes it clearer that the rule applies to everyone and not just those using the OpenAI API to build an app, but average users are unlikely to see a change. The important words here are "provision" and "providing." The terms, as written, don't necessarily ban the average person from getting legal and health advice from ChatGPT, but instead discourages developers and hospitals or law offices from using the chatbot to give specific advice to a client without first checking in with a licensed professional. As an average person doing background research, you're unlikely to bump up against it, and there's no language indicating a change to the chatbot's functionality. In short, the update is intended as a rewording, not a change to rules, enforcement, or functionality. This is backed up by OpenAI's statement, which comes from the company's head of health AI Karan Singhal, and says "ChatGPT has never been a substitute for professional advice, but it will continue to be a great resource to help people understand legal and health information." Despite this, responses to OpenAI's statement denying a change to model behavior still claim to have seen more difficulty looking certain topics up, although it's important to note that OpenAI's release notes don't indicate any new model developments having been made since the update to the company's usage policies. On an anecdotal note, I was able to get ChatGPT to offer me advice on how to fight a traffic ticket in court, as well as suggest brands for a supplement a user said the model refused to provide specific advice about following the new policy update. Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt While I cannot test every possible use case, the situation seems clear to me. Are you using ChatGPT or the OpenAI API to give others specifically tailored legal or health advice, without review by a licensed professional? If so, the same rules apply as before. If not, you're unlikely to see a change in your results. View the full article

Jens Stoltenberg says move will avoid forced sale of shares in Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet over their work for IsraelView the full article

Newer automation that can serve as a wraparound to existing technology can cut servicing costs in a competitive industry, according to fintech executives. View the full article

If you're keeping up with generative AI, especially generative AI video models, then you've probably heard about Sora, OpenAI's short-form AI video app. Even though the app has only been available for a bit over a month, you've probably seen Sora videos on your other feeds—whether you realized it or not. Sora is capable of producing hyperrealistic AI videos that can be hard to distinguish from clips of actual reality. It doesn't help that the app's "cameo" feature lets you insert real people into these videos, leading to confusion and creating a risk of spreading misinformation. While the memes might be fun, if you ask me, there's really not much good that can come out of it. Up until now, Sora has been iOS-only. So while iPhone users in the U.S. have been able to check out the app for themselves, Android users have largely been left behind. If you have a Pixel, Galaxy, or any phone not made by Apple, you've had to turn elsewhere for your AI video viewing and generating needs. Any Sora apps you happened to see on Android marketplaces were total fakes. That changes now. As of Tuesday, Nov. 4, Sora is now available to download for free on the Google Play Store. Sora announced the news on X Tuesday afternoon, revealing the app is ready to install for users in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. To complete the announcement, Sora included an AI-generated video of a reporter interviewing an alien about Sora landing on Android (no pun intended): This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. As the app makes its way to the Play Store, Android users will be walking into a slightly different situation than iOS users did when the app first launched. At first, free users were limited to 30 generations per day, but as of last week, you can now pay to generate even more videos. The app's cameo feature is also experiencing a reckoning, as Sora has had to block users from making cameos with famous figures like Martin Luther King, Jr. At the same time, you'll be able to generate cameos of your pets, as well as inanimate objects. With a whole new platform of users hopping on the app, the quantity of hyperrealistic AI slop will only continue to grow. Sora does include a watermark on all video generations, but it's not hard to find ways to remove it. As I've said for much of this year, the time has come to stop assuming what you see on your feeds is real. It's now much safer to assume what you see is fake: If a video is real, its creator can do the work to prove its legitimacy. Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Lifehacker's parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems. View the full article

Alfred Lin and Pat Grady will take over as ‘senior stewards’ following a tumultuous period for the groupView the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Amazon is having a big Google sale right now while retailers are churning out early Black Friday deals. The standout deal is the Google Pixel 10, with the 128GB going for $599 (originally $799) and the 256GB for $699 (originally $899), both at record low prices, according to price-tracking tools. Google Pixel 10 - Unlocked Android Smartphone with Gemini, Your AI Assistant - Advanced Triple Rear Camera, Fast-Charging 24+ Hour Battery, and 6.3" Actua Display - Frost - 128 GB $599.00 at Amazon $799.00 Save $200.00 Get Deal Get Deal $599.00 at Amazon $799.00 Save $200.00 Google Pixel 10 - Unlocked Android Smartphone - Gemini AI Assistant - Advanced Triple Rear Camera, Fast-Charging 24+ Hour Battery, and 6.3" Actua Display - Frost - 256 GB (2025 Model) $699.00 at Amazon $899.00 Save $200.00 Get Deal Get Deal $699.00 at Amazon $899.00 Save $200.00 SEE -1 MORE The Google Pixel 10 is the latest in the series to be released this year, back in September. It's the model under the Pixel 10 Pro, which is also at its lowest price right now and has a much faster chip. As Lifehacker's Associate Tech Editor Michelle Ehrhardt says in her review, the Pixel 10 features a telephoto lens, brings the Pixelsnap (Google's version of MagSafe), and has new AI features. However, the ultrawide lens gets weaker, and there are some problems with the chip for third-party apps (but it can be fixed). This Pixel 10 has a lot of the same features you'll find in the Pixel Pro for $150 less, making it a great budget option for those who don't want or need all the fancy specs and features. It comes with a Google Tensor G5 chip, and the camera resolutions are 48MP, 13MP, and 10.8MP for the rear and 10.5MP for the front-facing one. You can expect about 24 hours of battery life, depending on your use. One of my favorite things about Pixel phones is the ongoing support for many years. My Pixel 6A still gets all of the updates and tons of AI features that make the phone feel fresh many years later, with the latest ones dropping in September. With the Pixel 10, you'll be getting a quality phone with software updates for a while (as long as seven years). Our Best Editor-Vetted Early Black Friday Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 2 Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds — $169.99 (List Price $249.00) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $299.00 (List Price $349.00) Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Plus — $29.99 (List Price $49.99) Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam, White with Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen), White — $59.99 (List Price $99.99) Blink Video Doorbell Wireless (Newest Model) + Sync Module Core — $69.99 (List Price $69.99) Blink Mini 2 1080p Indoor Security Camera (2-Pack, White) — $27.99 (List Price $69.99) Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 with Ring Chime Pro — $149.99 (List Price $259.99) Introducing Amazon Fire TV 55" Omni Mini-LED Series, QLED 4K UHD smart TV, Dolby Vision IQ, 144hz gaming mode, Ambient Experience, hands-free with Alexa, 2024 release — $699.99 (List Price $819.99) Blink Outdoor 4 1080p 2-Camera Kit With Sync Module Core — $129.99 (List Price $129.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

Microdosing isn’t just about mushrooms any more. While taking tiny non-psychedelic doses of hallucinogens was once the health craze du jour, small, sub-clinical doses of weight loss drugs have taken over the term “microdosing” in 2025. Little research has been done on the efficacy of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic when prescribed in smaller doses, but that hasn’t stopped the craze from catching on. People are turning to microdosed GLP-1s to manage their weight, stave off side effects and to make the medications more affordable on a long term basis. For telehealth companies cashing in on off-brand formulations of popular weight loss drugs, microdosing is an option they’re eager to pitch. Compounded versions of drugs like Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide (Zepbound, Mounjaro) proliferated over the last few years due to a shortage of their name brand counterparts. With those shortages officially over in the U.S. – and exact copies of those drugs now banned – companies that sell compounded GLP-1s are getting creative to get around the rules. One way to do that is to mix things up a little. Telehealth companies and compounding pharmacies can include the key ingredient in a weight loss drug while customizing it just enough to keep selling it to consumers – much to the chagrin of the drug’s developers. A knockoff version of Ozempic offered in a smaller dose or formulated with extra vitamins can skirt the FDA’s ban on copycat drugs. While these options remain lawful in the U.S. – at least for now – these creatively formulated drugs still aren’t subject to the same safety measures and regulations as their name-brand counterparts – a fact that doesn’t seem to be giving many people pause. “From the questions we get and the features people request, it’s clear there’s growing demand for tools that support microdosing and other personalized approaches,” Aja Beckett, founder of GLP‑1 tracking app Shotsy, told Fast Company. “That seems driven by a mix of curiosity, cost, and control; people are experimenting to manage side effects, stretch prescriptions, or fine-tune results once they’ve reached their goal weight.” Some people are tinkering with their dosage at home, while others rely on clinics and compounding pharmacies marketing “custom titration” and microdosing options for the smaller doses. “It’s a gray area, and the popularity of these programs shows how quickly real-world GLP-1 use is evolving beyond the official guidelines,” Beckett said. Big money, tiny doses Telehealth’s major players have pounced on the microdosing opportunity. The telehealth Noom began marketing smaller doses of the compounded version of Wegovy in May to comply with the FDA’s determination that shortages of Wegovy, Ozempic, Zepbound and Mounjaro were over. Noom later launched a full GLP-1 microdosing program for weight loss, recruiting actress Rebel Wilson, now featured prominently on the company’s homepage, as its microdosing spokesperson. Noom cites fewer side effects, improved adherence and lower costs in its marketing materials, with plans that start at $99 per month. “This approach stays intentionally low, aiming for a personalized balance between results and tolerability,” the company states. “The goal is to find the lowest effective dose that delivers meaningful weight loss benefits while keeping side effects manageable and costs more affordable.” Last month, telehealth giant Hims & Hers introduced its own microdosing treatment plan. In its announcement, the company touted the program’s flexibility while cautioning that the off-label use of weight loss drugs is an unexplored frontier that research has yet to catch up to. “While GLP-1 microdosing is an early-stage innovation that requires continued study, there’s emerging research suggesting that GLP-1s may be valuable beyond traditional weight management,” Hims and Hers wrote in the announcement, noting that microdosing plans can minimize side effects and provide a more gentle on-ramp to the class of weight loss drugs. Ro, which boasts Serena Williams as its GLP-1 spokesperson, has an in-depth info page noting some possible benefits and concerns around microdosing, but isn’t yet in the business itself. The weight loss industry might be out over its skis on the microdosing craze, but the anecdotal benefits are driving a ton of interest toward smaller, cheaper doses of GLP-1s. “My main concern is simply that without research, we don’t yet know which of these approaches are most effective or safe long-term,” Beckett told Fast Company. “Still, it’s clear that patients want more control and are looking for ways to personalize their care.” View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Every few decades, the pop culture machine spits out a person who purports to have supernatural powers. In the 1980s, it was spoon-bending swami Uri Geller. In the 1990s and 2000s, it was “mediums” like John Edward, who supposedly talked to people’s dead relatives. In 2025, we have Oz Pearlman. To be fair, unlike the rest of these examples, Pearlman doesn't claim supernatural powers himself, but a lot of people seem to be taking his stage patter explanation for his mentalist tricks as the unvarnished truth. They're wrong. Oz (pronounced “Oh’s”) has a hell of a schtick. The 43-year-old dude seems like an unassuming nerd, until he starts reading people's minds. In the years since he took third place on America’s Got Talent, Pearlman has done things like name NFL player A.J. Brown's first childhood crush during a performance for the Philadelphia Eagles; guess who John Cena was thinking of on the Today Show; and maybe most famously, correctly divine Joe Rogan’s ATM PIN on an episode of the Joe Rogan Podcast. It's only reasonable to assume that Oz Pearlman can’t actually read people’s minds, and “Magician Not Actually Doing Magic” isn’t much of a headline anyway. But the real story isn’t Pearlman, it’s the reaction he’s getting: As more media sources feature him and more people become fans, it’s becoming clear that a lot people who should know better are falling for his act. How much can you tell from body language?In his TED talk and in numerous interviews, Pearlman claims that he has "reverse engineered the human mind" and is able to tell what people are thinking through their body language, micro-expressions, and other imperceptible-to-mortals physical cues. “I don’t read minds, I just read people,” Pearlman says. That may sound scientific, but it isn’t. While psychologists can sometimes interpret general emotions from micro-expressions and body language, there’s no evidence that these could help divine specific thoughts, including the word you're thinking of, your PINs, or your childhood crushes. At best, body language gives you a vague sense of mood, but it fails at even broad tests like revealing whether you’re being lied to. In other words, all his "reverse engineering the mind talk" is just patter from a magician, but it’s often reported as fact or left unexamined by media, as you can see in this recent 60 Minutes puff piece on Pearlman. This has led many to believe it’s actually possible to read minds if you know how (and of course Pearlman will sell you a book that can teach you). But Oz Pearlman is not reading minds, people, body language, or micro-emotions. He’s performing magic tricks—and old ones, at that. Oz Pearlman's carnival tricksAs with any kind of debunking, no one can prove a negative, so I can’t say for sure that Pearlman isn’t reading people’s postures, but if Pearlman could read people’s thoughts by how they hold their hands or whatever, why would he only prove it by doing variations on carnival mentalism gags that have been around for centuries? His gestures, nods, and pauses aren’t signs of mind-reading—they’re stage work. Pearlman's tricks will work whether the subject is expressive or stiff, because the outcome is already controlled through pre-show work, audience manipulation, and clever gimmicks. Pearlman often puts a high tech spin on old tricks, and he's really good at what he does. For instance, check out this involved trick where random numbers entered on an iPhone calculator add up to exactly the serial number on a randomly chosen dollar bill. Here's how it's done: First, Pearlman engages in the time-honored mentalist tradition of "sneaking a look." Here he is quickly memorizing the serial number on the random bill: Credit: Bussin with the Boys-YouTube Then he asks for a phone to use as a calculator. If you turn your iPhone calculator to the side, as Pearlman does here, Credit: Bussin with the Boys-YouTube it turns on scientific mode, and that lets you store a number. (Try it with your own phone if you wanna) Pearlman then quickly enters the serial number he's just seen, hits "store" and hands the phone back, so that it can be pulled up later. That's the whole trick. All the patter and dates and math whatnot are window dressing. The rest of his tricks have similar explanations: forced picks, sneaky looks, and magician's gimmicks explain almost all of his mentalism—except his most mind-blowing tricks, like guessing Joe Rogan's PIN number. But those have an even easier explanation. How Pearlman (probably) guessed Joe Rogan’s ATM PINTricks aimed at individuals, like the PIN number or the name of a childhood crush, are done by learning this information before the show begins. Pearlman is likely employing a mentalism technique that's been around since at least the 1800s: using an advance team to gather "secret" information about prominent audience members long before the curtain goes up. I’m not saying Pearlman hired someone to follow Rogan around or used a thermal camera pointed at a keypad to get his PIN, but it's possible, and that's what I would have done. All Pearlman needs to blow everyone's mind is a single piece of "unknowable" information about a prominent person—the name of a childhood crush or a high school teacher, say—and that these can be learned in advance through old-fashioned means like interviews with childhood friends, checking out a high school yearbook, or by employing technical hacks. With these kinds of tricks, you're often only seeing the second part of the illusion. The first, pre-show part might involve asking the mark visit an innocent-seeming website (actually the magician's own site) to search for the name of a childhood crush. The magician can then read the "most recent searches" from his phone and pull the answer out "thin air." Think of it this way: hackers use social engineering and technical exploits to get secret passwords all the time; why wouldn't a magician do the same kinds of things? The Uri Geller effectIn the 1970s and '80s, spoon-bending psychic Uri Geller occupied a similar place in popular culture as Pearlman does now. Geller was a frequent guest on daytime and late night talks shows, and his appearances were guaranteed to raise ratings. Hosts rarely challenged his claims of supernatural power, even though any magician could tell you how he did his signature spoon-bending tricks. Like Geller, Pearlman isn’t lying about bending spoons, he’s lying about how the spoons are getting bent. In 2025 Pearlman couldn’t credibly claim otherworldly forces were helping him bend spoons like Uri Geller could in the 1970s, but he can get people to believe that micro-expressions and knowledge of human psychology will help you divine someone’s ATM PIN code. And unlike the 1970s, there seems to be no Johnny Carson around willing to call bullshit on his work. I’m not knocking Oz Pearlman’s hustle—he’s a very skilled performer—but anyone should know that you can’t trust a magician. They entertain by making the impossible look real, but when supposedly serious journalistic outlets like 60 Minutes don’t even bother with a token pushback about a magician’s specious claims, there’s a problem. View the full article

The age at which people purchase their first home has climbed rapidly since 2021, when the median was 33, according to a National Association of Realtors survey of transactions from July 2024 through June. View the full article

Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said Tuesday that chartering compliant fintechs is "the only way" to level the playing field between banks and nonbanks. His comments come as the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency weighs new trust charters and stablecoin rules. View the full article

President under pressure to end stand-off that has put food supplies to millions of Americans at riskView the full article

Jailed crypto figure tries to get his conviction overturned in New York appeals court hearing View the full article

If you've been an iPhone user for a long time, you might remember "slide to unlock." When you wanted to use your iPhone, you had to physically move your finger along the screen to actually unlock the device. It was a clever way of ensuring than your iPhone didn't unlock in your pocket, or due to an accidental touch. With iOS 10, Apple killed slide to unlock in favor of pressing the Home button, then later swiping up on the bottom of the screen. Since then, for the better part of a decade, swiping right on the Lock Screen simply takes you to the "Today View," which contains your widgets. Change is good, and I don't necessarily think Apple should bring back slide to unlock for the Lock Screen, but sometimes, I miss how things worked on my old iPhone 3GS. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug. To my absolute surprise, however, the company is bringing back the slide function—just not to unlock. Instead, you're now able to slide to stop your alarms, which might come as a surprise to anyone used to the usual alarm routine. Imagine it: One morning, you're tapping to turn off your alarm as usual; the next, your taps are fruitless, and your alarm keeps blaring. Bleary-eyed, you look at your screen, to find a new "Slide to stop" function. If you're like me, you'll follow instructions, sliding to stop the alarm, only to forget the whole ordeal within moments, doomed to repeat the affair the next morning. This change arrives as part of iOS 26.1, which dropped on Monday, and Apple doesn't give you any say in the matter—at least, not at first. After updating to the latest update, your next alarm or timer will include the next slider (though "snooze" or "repeat" remain buttons), but the switch up is fine by me. I like it, and it brings back a fun feature from iOS' heyday. But if you dislike the change, and you wish you could simply tap a button to silence your alarms and timers, the good news is, you still can. How to disable "slide to stop alarm"Apple buried the option to revert your alarm and timers back to the way they used to be, so I wouldn't blame you for not knowing they even exist. You won't find them in the Clock app's settings page, which is confusing. Instead, it's part of a hidden system-wide setting, called "Prefer Single-Touch Actions." This setting will disable sliders across iOS, and replace them with buttons. For our purposes, that turns "Slide to stop" back into a simple off button. To find it, head to Settings > Accessibility > Touch, then enable the toggle next to "Prefer Single-Touch Action." Slide to stop (left) vs. stop button (right). Credit: Lifehacker View the full article

More than six years after a Boeing 737 Max jetliner crashed in Ethiopia, the first civil trial stemming from the disaster that killed all 157 people on board the plane appears poised to move forward. Boeing has settled most of the dozens of wrongful death lawsuits that families of the victims filed against the aircraft maker after the March 2019 crash, but two of the remaining cases are scheduled to open before a federal court jury as soon as Tuesday. The trial in Chicago, where Boeing used to have its headquarters, isn’t expected to examine the company’s liability. Boeing already accepted responsibility for what happened to Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 and for a similar 737 Max crash off the coast of Indonesia that killed 189 passengers and crew members less than five months earlier. Instead, an eight-person jury would be tasked with deciding how much Boeing should pay to the families of Mercy Ndivo, a 28-year-old mother originally from Kenya, and 36-year-old United Nations consultant Shikha Garg, who was from India. The fatal crash happened minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. Ndivo and her husband were returning from her graduation ceremony in London, where she had earned a master’s degree in accountancy. The couple are survived by their daughter, an infant at the time who is now almost 8. Ndivo’s parents sued Boeing on her behalf. Like a number of the other passengers, Garg, a consultant for the United Nations Development Programme, was on her way to attend a U.N. environmental assembly in Nairobi, Kenya. She is survived by her husband and parents. In a statement Monday, Boeing told the families of the 346 passengers and crew members killed in both crashes that it is “deeply sorry.” “We made an upfront commitment to fully and fairly compensate the families of those who were lost in the accidents, and have accepted legal responsibility for the accidents in these proceedings,” Boeing said, adding that it respected the families’ rights to pursue their claims in court. The two cases pending before U.S. District Judge Jorge Luis Alonso originally were among a group of five that potentially could have gone to trial this week. But Alonso said Monday that only two could proceed due to the U.S. government shutdown; an out-of-court settlement in either or both still could be reached at any point, even after a jury is empaneled and lawyers present their evidence. Details of prior settlements, many reached just before the start of scheduled trials, were confidential and have not been publicly disclosed. Robert Clifford, a Chicago lawyer whose firm represents many of the victims’ families, said attempts to reach a pre-trial settlement through mediation failed in recent months. “Boeing accepted full responsibility for the senseless and preventable loss of these lives, yet they have not been mediating in good faith to come to a resolution for these devastated families,” Clifford said in a statement. “We are determined to achieve justice for every one of them.” From nearly the moment pilots flying for Ethiopian Airlines took off in their new Boeing jetliner, they encountered problems with the plane. A device called a stick shaker began vibrating the captain’s control column, warning that the plane might stall and fall from the sky, and for six minutes, the pilots were bombarded by alarms as they fought to fly the plane. U.S. prosecutors later charged Boeing with conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with both crashes, accusing the company of deceiving government regulators about a flight-control system it developed for the 737 Max. In both crashes, the software had pitched the nose of the planes down repeatedly based on faulty readings from a single sensor. The Justice Department asked a federal judge in Texas to dismiss the felony charge and to approve an agreement between prosecutors and Boeing that is pending. If it is approved, the deal would allow Boeing to avoid prosecution in exchange for paying or investing another $1.1 billion in fines, compensation for the victims’ families, and internal safety and quality measures. —Rio Yamat, AP Airlines and Travel Writer View the full article