AO3 is finally out of beta after 17 years
Archive of Our Own (AO3) is officially exiting beta. The Organization for Transformative Works - the nonprofit behind the fanfiction site - announced the update on Thursday, which comes 17 years after AO3's launch in 2009.
"Since 2009, AO3 has grown and changed a lot," the announcement says. "We've introduced many features over the years through the efforts of our volunteers and coding contributors, as well as the contractors we've been able to hire thanks to generous donations from our users."
The post highlights some of the features that AO3 has since its launch, including a tagging system, fanworks downloads, privacy settings that allow …
PSA: Anyone with a link can view your Granola notes by default
If you use the AI-powered note-taking app Granola, you might want to double-check your privacy settings. Though Granola says your notes are "private by default," it makes them viewable to anyone with a link, and also uses them for internal AI training unless you opt out.
Granola describes itself as an "AI notepad for people in back-to-back meetings." It integrates with your calendar to capture audio from your meetings, and then uses AI to generate a bulleted list of what you've heard, which it calls a "note." You can edit the AI-generated notes, invite other collaborators to view them, and use Granola's AI assistant to ask questions about y …
Reddit is moving on from r/all
Reddit is deprecating r/all, one of its feeds that shows popular posts on the platform, as part of "ongoing efforts to simplify Reddit and improve Home feed personalization."
Reddit has offered both r/popular and r/all as ways to see trending posts, with r/all being a "less filtered feed" where "sexually explicit posts are filtered out but other popular Not Safe for Work (NSFW) posts are included." But in January, Reddit said it had removed r/all from its apps as part of an "experiment" and that, as part of a separate experiment, some desktop users wouldn't see r/all in their sidebar. (The company earlier announced r/all's removal from its …
The best AirPods deals you can get right now
If you know where to look, you can often score deals on Apple’s ever-expanding AirPods lineup. Both the AirPods Pro 3 and the AirPods 4 (with and without ANC) now consistently receive discounts, as do the AirPods Pro 3. And while major shopping events like Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day have delivered some of the biggest price drops, there are still good deals to be found on every model — including the recently released AirPods Max 2.
Below, we’ve rounded up the best deals currently available on each set of AirPods, including both iterations of the AirPods 4 and AirPods Max, as well as the third-gen AirPods Pro.
The best AirPods 4 deals
AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation
Where to Buy:
At the end of 2024, Apple introduced the AirPods 4, a pair of wireless earbuds available in two variations: a $129 standard model and a $179 noise-canceling model. Both versions represent significant upgrades over the third-gen AirPods, with a more comfortable design and improved audio performance. They’re also better for taking calls thanks to Apple’s Voice Isolation feature, which focuses the mics on your voice so you can be heard more clearly in noisy environments.
The $179 AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation offer a surprisingly effective noise-canceling mode, a helpful transparency mode, and several other Pro-level features. The latest AirPods Pro do a better job of tuning out noise, but the AirPods 4 with ANC still do a good job of reducing sound. They also feature other perks formerly reserved for Apple’s top-of-the-line earbuds, including wireless charging and a case with a built-in speaker that allows you to easily track it down via Apple’s Find My app.
Given they’ve been out for over a year, we consistently see discounts for both iterations of the AirPods 4. During Black Friday, we saw the standard model drop to a new low of $74; however, right now, they’re only down to $119 ($10 off) at Amazon, Walmart, and B&H Photo. The AirPods 4 with ANC, meanwhile, are on sale for $154.99 ($24 off) at Amazon, Walmart, and Costco (for members), which is significantly more than their recent low of $99.
Read our full AirPods 4 review.
The best AirPods Pro 3 deals
At its “Awe Dropping” event in September, Apple introduced the AirPods Pro 3. In addition to improved ANC and sound, the third-gen earbuds include a built-in heart rate sensor that syncs with the iPhone Fitness app, allowing you to track your pulse and calories burned across more than 50 workout types. They’re also more comfortable and secure than their predecessor, thanks to a redesigned, angled fit and five ear tip sizes — including a new XXS option. Additionally, they carry a more robust IP57 rating and support Apple’s new live translation feature, which, in our testing, generally conveys the gist well but still can’t beat a human interpreter.
Given how recently they launched, we’ve been surprised by how often the AirPods Pro 3 have been discounted. In fact, last month we saw them drop to $199 ($50 off), which is $15 shy of their all-time low. Unfortunately, while they’re still on sale, they’ve since increased in price to $224 ($25 off) at retailers like Amazon and Walmart.
Read our full AirPods Pro 3 review.
The best AirPods Max deals
AirPods Max 2
Where to Buy:
Apple AirPods Max
Where to Buy:
The AirPods Max aren’t the iconic in-ears that have become synonymous with the AirPods name. Both the first-gen Max and the newer AirPods Max 2 are large and luxurious, comprised of aluminum, steel, and mesh fabric that remains comfortable during extended listening sessions. The original pair delivered clear, expansive sound, great noise cancellation, and lossless audio over USB-C; however, with the Max 2, Apple built upon that excellent foundation with improved ANC and a built-in amplifier for better sound. They also feature Apple’s newer H2 chip, enabling AI-powered live translation, adaptive audio, and other features once reserved for the AirPods Pro line. The over-ears aren’t the best noise-canceling headphones for everyone — blame the sticker price — but for iPhone users, they’re hard to beat.
The AirPods Max 2 retail for $549 — the same price as the original model — but you can currently save $20 on both the black and white versions at Amazon and Costco (if you’re a member), which is the first discount we’ve seen on the recently released headphones. If you’re okay with picking up the last-gen model, the original AirPods Max with USB-C are on sale in select colors for $399.99 ($150 off) at Woot through April 3rd, matching their best price to date. They’re also available in a wider range of hues at Amazon, Walmart, Target, and other retailers for $449.99 ($100 off), which is still a hefty discount.
Read our full AirPods Max and AirPods Max 2 reviews.
Update, April 2nd: Updated to reflect current pricing and availability, as well as the recent release of the AirPods Max 2.
This bike rack pioneer is selling Bluetooth suction cups to stick bikes to your car
Richard Allen didn't invent the automobile bike rack - his 1967 patent application makes it clear that others came before. But after nearly sixty years selling popular and simple mechanical bike carriers, his company Allen Bikes now offers a line of - yes - Bluetooth-monitored suction cups to stick bikes to your car.
If you feel stressed just looking at these pictures of the new $299 Smart Suction Go, you're not alone! It's the first thing my colleague Andrew Liszewski said, and I wholeheartedly agree. But apparently some people already swear by the ease and portability of suction-cup bike mounts - SeaSucker is the big name in that space.
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The ABS Challenge System is exposing the worst umpire in baseball
During Wednesday's game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Milwaukee Brewers, umpire CB Bucknor took a foul ball to the mask and had to be helped off the field. It was the cap to what has been a particularly bad week for one of the most controversial umpires in baseball.
It started with perhaps the best example of how MLB's Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System can inject drama in baseball. This is the first year for the new robot umpire, which allows hitters, catchers, and pitchers to challenge balls and strikes for the first time. Each team starts a game with two challenges. But they only lose a challenge if it's unsuccessful, so p …
Pinterest said he violated laid-off colleagues’ privacy. Now he’s going public
It was late January, and Pinterest engineer Teddy Martin was on edge about recent layoffs at the company. Martin had just survived a round of cuts, but he and other employees were confused about who was being let go and why, and explanations from top executives including CEO Bill Ready had done little to quell the unease. So when Martin saw someone mention a tool that would shed light on the scope of the impact, he decided to share it in Slack.
The tool was a simple command known as ldapsearch - it aggregated a list of deactivated employee accounts from the directory, organized by office location, spitting out only the number of recently de …
Trump fires US attorney general Pam Bondi
Taking a break from calling Bruce Springsteen a boring loser on Thursday, Donald Trump followed that up with another Truth Social post saying "loyal friend" Pam Bondi will transition to a yet-to-be-announced job in the private sector.
CNN, the New York Times, and Fox News all reported that Bondi, a figure in the TikTok takeover, pressuring tech companies to block ICE-tracking apps, and the Epstein files release, has been fired. Her departure closely follows the ouster of former Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem last month, as deputy attorney general Todd Blanche will now serve as acting AG.
Pam Bondi is a Great Amer …
Five questions for the guys who made a compass that points to the Times Square Olive Garden
Here's a question almost nobody is asking: how do you get to the Times Square Olive Garden? Well, these beautiful weirdos are answering it - the team that made the Times Square Olive Garden compass. If that's not clear enough, let me explain. They're making a compass that points you exclusively in the direction of the Times Square Olive Garden.
I thought this must have been an April Fools' joke when it came across my TikTok feed. Then I talked to the creators - Jason Goldberg and Steve Nasopoulos, who worked in collab with Glub Glub Labs - and learned it's, at least, not that kind of joke.
Disclaimer: I can't say you should buy this, use i …
Elon Musk is about to be a very busy boy!
To be honest, I thought Elon Musk would confidentially file for SpaceX's IPO on the 20th of this month, rather than the 1st. But maybe that just means he's moved on to other numbers, and we should all mark our calendars for June 7th as an IPO date just in case.
Based on the April 1st filing, and the general length of an SEC review before the S-1 document becomes public, the earliest I am expecting a SpaceX IPO is June. (At least, assuming there is still anyone left at the SEC who wants to do their job instead of just glance at the first page of the filing, say, "Seems fine!" and then go out for a smoke break.) Of course, this process could …