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Trump officials may be encouraging banks to test Anthropic’s Mythos model

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell summoned bank executives for a meeting this week where they encouraged the executives to use Anthropic’s new Mythos model to detect vulnerabilities, according to Bloomberg

Indeed, while JPMorgan Chase was the only bank listed as one of the initial partner organizations with access to the model, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley are reportedly testing Mythos as well.

Anthropic announced the model this week but said it would be limiting access for now, in part because Mythos — despite not being trained specifically for cybersecurity — is too good at finding security vulnerabilities. (Others suggested this was hype or simply a smart enterprise sales strategy.)

The report is particularly surprising since Anthropic is currently battling the Trump administration in court over the Department of Defense’s designation of Anthropic as a supply-chain risk; that designation came after negotiations fell apart over the company’s efforts to limit how its AI models can be used by the government.

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Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports that U.K. financial regulators are also discussing the risk posed by Mythos.

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7 Of The Best Harbor Freight Deals In April 2026

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Harbor Freight has used deals to get people in the door since the company’s inception. April 2026 is no exception, as the store is celebrating a few sales, including its Spring Black Friday sale over the first couple of weeks of the month, additional coupon deals that are available, various brand deals, and special deals for the company’s Inside Track members. All told, there are more than a few hundred items on sale, which is a lot to keep up with. It takes hours to scroll through that many deals to see if any of them are any good. 

That’s precisely why we went ahead and did just that and then posted the best deals we could find below. They are a mixture of all the deals seen above, excluding the store’s Dollar Days deals since they’re mostly odds and ends that are lightly discounted. The list below also only contains items that are at least 25% off and consist of things we think might be helpful around the house, garage, or workshop. Harbor Freight sells all kinds of niche and obscure tools, so if you need them, some are on sale as well. 

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Many of these deals finish up by mid-April, so if you’re reading this later, you may want to check again for a fresh set of deals, as most will have expired by then. Good luck and happy shopping. Should none of the deals below appeal to you, you can find the full list of deals here.

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Bauer 1,800 PSI Portable Pressure Washer

The Bauer 1,800 PSI Portable Pressure Washer is a pretty decent tool for light power washing work around the homestead. It boasts 1.2 gallons per minute (GPM) of flow, which doesn’t quite stack up to industrial strength power washers, but is more than good enough for DIY stuff at home. Bauer says this electric power washer is best used for cleaning patio furniture, barbecues, bikes, campers, and other stuff, and it should stack up well with competitors for car cleaning. It should also be strong enough to clean the actual patio itself and other similar tasks. It’s also relatively small, making it easier to store when you’re done. 

The power washer is on sale for $70, down from its typical $100 price tag, which means it’s 30% off until mid-April. For the money, you get a reasonably competent pressure washer that comes with three quick-connect nozzles that includes one for soaping, a 15-degree wide-area nozzle, and a high-power nozzle. You also get a 35-foot power cord with GFCI protection, and a 20-foot hose that can also be used with soap. Everything can be stored on the device itself, and it weighs a total of 14.8 pounds, which is light enough to carry around. 

Current owners seem to like it as well. Bauer’s pressure washer scores a 4.6 rating with 197 customer reviews. Owners say you may have to buy a replacement nozzle every now and then, but otherwise, the machine works as described and works best for small tasks.

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U.S. General Magnetic Paper Towel Holder

Having a clean roll of paper towels handy is imperative for any garage or workshop, and the U.S. General Magnetic Paper Towel Holder can solve the problem of having paper towels readily handy without breaking the bank. This one is quite simple. It comes in two pieces that each have powerful magnets. You affix them to virtually any toolbox or some other metal surface at the correct distance, and then you hang a roll of paper towels on it. U.S. General says this design helps accommodate any width for paper towels, so no need to buy special ones just for this holder.

The magnetic paper towel holder is on sale for $10, which is 33% off of its usual $15 price tag. This one is for Inside Members only and the deal expires on April 30. It comes in nine colors, including some pretty bright ones in case you want to match your decor or place it somewhere inside the house. U.S. General says that the magnets are rubber coated, so it won’t damage the surface if it happens to slide around. Each magnet is rated to hold two pounds, which is more than enough for a paper towel holder. 

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Customers have few negative things to say about it. It has a 4.9 rating with nearly 5,000 reviews, and if it had a chronic issue, it probably wouldn’t have such stellar review numbers. Owners praise it for doing what it’s supposed to do, and that’s about all anyone says about it.

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Predator 3500-Watt Inverter Generator

There are benefits to keeping a generator around, up to and including having power during an outage or having power while camping. The Predator 3,500-Watt Inverter Generator is a reasonable pickup for folks looking for a backup plan. Predator’s generator includes two 120-volt 5-20R outlets, which are your standard three-prong house outlets. It also comes with a 120-volt L5-30R twist-lock outlet, and one 12-volt DC plug. It won’t have enough electricity to power your entire house, but it should be more than enough to keep your fridge, freezer, and a few lights going until the power comes back on. 

Harbor Freight is selling this one for $600, which is $200 off of its list price, or about 25%. It’s expensive, but generators often are. Predator says that the best use for this is for powering RVs and campers, and even comes with an RV adapter. It runs at 56 dBA, which is reasonably quiet, and it can run for over 11 hours at 25% capacity. There are also automatic shutdowns in case a harmful amount of carbon monoxide is detected. Even so, you shouldn’t use this indoors ever. 

Despite its higher price tag, there are still plenty of customer reviews. This inverter generator scores a 4.7 out of 5 rating with 755 total reviews. Customers note that it works best for camping applications, as a temporary backup for homes, and even on some jobsites. Users also enjoy the push-button start

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Bauer 15-Amp Cut Off Saw

There are tons of uses for a saw, and there are many saws for various occasions. You can check one of them off the list with the Bauer 15-Amp Cut-Off Saw. This little guy mounts to a work surface with a vise, and then you can use its 15-amp, 3.8-horsepower motor to cut through a bunch of different things. Bauer says it’s designed for metal use, but also works for drywall track, angle iron, conduit, piping, tubing, and rebar. It also comes with features such as a depth stop for more precise cutting, a 45-degree miter angle, and a vise that holds material in place while you cut.

This one is on sale with a coupon, so you won’t see the sale if you go to the product listing. Instead, you’ll need to head to Harbor Freight’s coupon webpage and find it there. The coupon brings the price down to $120, which saves you 25%. The saw is otherwise pretty simple. It plugs into the wall and cuts stuff. It’s not the most powerful saw on the market, but for basic DIY use, it’s more than good enough. It also has a 4.5-star rating with nearly 300 reviews, so people tend to like what it offers. 

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Even if you don’t go for the saw, the link above to the coupon webpage is worth your time to check out, since those sales aren’t listed on the product webpages.

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Pittsburgh 6,500 lb. Portable Ramp Set

It’s generally recommended to have something more reliable than a floor jack when working on a car. Car ramps and jack stands do the trick nicely, and Harbor Freight had jack stands on sale last month. This month, the store has the Pittsburgh 6,500 lb. Capacity Portable Ramp Set on sale. This is a pretty simple product. You get two ramps, each of which is capable of holding up to 3,250 pounds of weight while you do something like change your car’s oil. The ramps offer six inches of lift, which isn’t as much as a jack stand, but it’s close enough for basic maintenance tasks. 

The ramps are on sale for $40 and retail for $60, for a 33% savings. Pittsburgh says that it can support vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of up to 13,000 pounds, which should handle just about every car a consumer can own, including some of the heaviest ones known to exist. It also helps that Harbor Freight car ramps have a decent reputation, making it a solid purchase.

For reference, these are not made for loading things into vehicles. However, if you are in the market for something like that, Harbor Freight has the Haul-Master Steel Loading Ramps on sale for $50, 41% off the list price of $85. They support 1,000 pounds and work with trucks, trailers, and vans.

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Doyle 4.5-inch Swivel Vise

Vises are one of those things you may have seen in your parents’ garage that was there before you were born and will be there until the garage collapses. Harbor Freight has such an item on sale right now with the Doyle 4.5-inch Swivel Vise. This is a simple tool that does one thing really well, which is to hold something in place while you polish, cut, or otherwise work on it. The base screws into the work surface for extra stability, and steel jaws are replaceable, so you can keep using it without having to replace the entire contraption. The base also swivels, which, while niche, can be useful from time to time. 

This vise is on sale at Harbor Freight for $100, which is 33% off of its $150 price tag. It seems like a lot, but these types of vises can last for decades with proper care, and potentially even longer since this tool has a lifetime warranty from Harbor Freight, like most of the brand’s hand tools. It also weighs 39 pounds, so the screw holes to secure it to your work surface are likely necessary to keep this thing in place. 

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The vise is quite popular among those who purchased it, garnering a 4.9 rating with a little over 300 reviews. Customers say that the vise is sturdy, functions well, and the swivel moves smoothly when you do need to engage with it. 

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A bunch of Icon and Quinn hand tools

Perhaps the most enticing items on sale are a slew of screwdrivers and pliers from Doyle, Icon, and Quinn that are on sale. There are a few dozen tools and tool sets on sale, including screwdriver sets, bolt cutters, needle nose pliers, a pliers wrench, and basically any other clamping or screwdriver tool you can imagine. This is an excellent opportunity to fill any gaps in your toolbox, especially since Harbor Freight offers lifetime warranties on all hand tools, regardless of brand.

The prices vary from item to item, but everything on this webpage is 35% off until around mid-April. Harbor Freight tools tend to work as well as their big brand-named counterparts, and usually cost less. In terms of tool hierarchy, Quinn is closer to a budget brand while Icon is Harbor Freight’s higher-end brand. Doyle is the brand Harbor Freight uses to sell tools that are expected to get professional use. 

There are too many sets, tools, and deals here to list them all individually, so the link above is a good place to start learning more about what tools are available, how much they cost, and what they do. Harbor Freight also has sales like this going for lighting, gloves, cordless power tools, and other tools as well, if the hand tool angle isn’t your thing. The savings range from 30% to 40%, depending on the category you look at.

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Quordle hints and answers for Monday, April 13 (game #1540)

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Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing ‘today’s game’ while others are playing ‘yesterday’s’. If you’re looking for Sunday’s puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Sunday, April 12 (game #1539).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,500 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

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Best VPN 2026: Surf the web securely

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Even if you’ve never subscribed to a VPN service, there’s a good chance that you’ve already heard about its importance. Constantly advertised on podcasts and around the web, VPNs have taken off in the last few years and while it’s easy enough to get caught up in the noise of it all, just know that they are worth the hype, and we should know – we’ve tested the best of them.

For anyone who’s completely out of the loop, virtual private networks are able to mask the location of the device you’re using to browse the web, which means that bad actors aren’t able to track your whereabouts, nor are they able to access your device if you’re connected to a public Wi-Fi network.

Although masking your IP address and keeping your online activity safe is the core appeal of having a VPN, there’s a lot more to it. For instance, if you’re travelling abroad and want to read the news in your mother tongue, then you can use a VPN to have your browser believe that you’re back in your home country.

When it comes to signing up for a VPN, there’s almost always a ton of deals available for first-time customers, so it helps to shop around to get the best price. As with most bits of tech however, you’ll always find the best deals for VPNs if you shop around Black Friday in November.

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Regardless of when you sign up, this guide can pair you with the best VPN for your needs as we’ve highlighted the areas that each service excels in. Keep on reading to see which VPNs most impressed our tech experts, but if you’re completely strapped for cash and want to keep your devices free of malware then our guide to the best free antivirus may serve you better.

Which is the best VPN?

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Learn more about how we test VPNs

We carry out speed tests to get a general feel for how each service performs. We test all services using their clients’ default settings.

We run tests from a London-based connection that typically sees speeds between 500Mbps and 700Mbps, which means that we’re able to get a good idea of what each VPN’s maximum speeds currently are. We test multiple endpoints from each provider in three locations: the UK, the Netherlands and the US.

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  • Fast HTTPS transfer speeds

  • Wide range of endpoint countries

  • No price increase on renewal

  • More expensive than many rivals

If you don’t want to spend any time diving into the details and would rather get straight to enjoying the benefits of having a VPN, then ExpressVPN is where your search ends. This is by far the best VPN that we’ve tested, with incredible speeds and a variety of countries to connect to.

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During our testing we picked up on unbelievable download speeds across the board, including 278.4Mbps in the UK and 195.2Mbps in the United States. For productivity users who don’t want to be caught out by web pages that take an age to load, this is the service to go for.

It’s not just the speed of ExpressVPN that’s impressive though, as the service boasts one of the most expansive suites of extras that we’ve come across. There’s ExpressKeys which can be used to safely store and access all of your passwords, and can be handy if you’re constantly forgetting them, alongside ExpressMailGuard which can stop phishing emails from ending up in your inbox.

One of the most recent additions to the company’s toolbox is ExpressAI. This service lets you converse with an AI chatbot for help with any queries or issues that you might typically use AI for, except that unlike those other options, ExpressAI doesn’t log your conversation so it’s all private.

It should be said that ExpressVPN isn’t the cheapest VPN service available, but for all that you get here, it’s well worth the expense as you certainly won’t be wanting for anything. The company also lets you connect with no less than 105 countries so you have plenty of options available to you when hiding your IP address.

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  • Blisteringly fast

  • Good for streaming

  • Unlimited devices

  • Great value subscriptions

  • Subscriptions renew at a higher rate

  • You have to interact with a human being if you wish to cancel your subscription

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Although ExpressVPN, for our money, provides the best overall VPN package that you can buy right now, if you’re someone who is solely focused on speed and wants to make sure that they can access the fastest possible internet connection whilst masking their IP address then Surfshark VPN is the option for you.

When putting the service to the test, we picked up on 264.8 Mbps download speeds in the UK, 297.6 Mbps in the Netherlands and 228 Mbps in the US, which averaged out to around 263.47 Mbps. That average comes in only ever so slightly behind NordVPN in our tests, but consistency is the name of the game with Surfshark – helpful for when you’re working for a long period of time and need to keep a connection going without interruption.

In terms of security, Surfshark is one of the best companies out there for transparency so you can surf the web with peace of mind in knowing that your data and browsing history isn’t logged. The company also publishes a Transparency Report to let you know if it’s been contacted by government agencies over access to information.

Going one step further, Surfshark also makes use of independent audits to make sure that everything’s in check and that there’s nothing for customers to be worried about. It’s gestures like these that go a long way towards consumer confidence in a VPN service, and we would love to see them adopted industry-wide.

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With regards to the connections on offer, Surfshark currently uses more than 4500 servers across 100 countries. Although that’s slightly less than the 105 countries connected to ExpressVPN, it’s still a significant amount and won’t leave you wanting. Just bear in mind that Surfshark’s renewal prices can be higher than what you initially paid to sign up, so double-check the rate ahead of renewal to make sure you’re happy with the cost.

  • Large number of servers

  • Wide range of security features and endpoints

  • Clear, audited no-logging policy

  • Great for streaming

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  • Relatively expensive

  • Subscriptions renew at a higher rate

Out of all the VPN services we’ve tested, it’s NordVPN that provides the best alternative package to ExpressVPN. Although the latter can be more affordable in the long run, you may appreciate NordVPN’s more robust approach to online security, so it’s best to compare the features that these two services have before deciding on which to sign up to.

For starters, NordVPN can connect up to six devices simultaneously, so if you live in a large household and you want to protect everyone as they browse the web then this is the option for you. Plus, with dedicated apps for iOS, Android, Windows, MacOS, Linux and Google TV, NordVPN has put in the work to meet you where you’re at and make the process of getting connected a simple one.

Once you are connected to the service, you have a ton of features at your fingertips. Anyone who uses the Tor browser can enable Onion over VPN so that Nord and Tor can work hand in hand for a highly secure session. Regardless of your chosen browser, Nord’s Threat Protection Pro goes one step further than an average VPN by ensuring that phishing scams and malware can’t access your device, so you have an extra layer of security as you search.

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In terms of your own data and how it’s stored by NordVPN, the company presents a clear no-logging policy so your internet history isn’t tracked, and the brand has built up a solid degree of trust in this area thanks to regular audits to ensure that everything is still working to the company’s vision.

NordVPN now provides access to servers in 211 locations which isn’t quite as varied as what we’ve seen on some of the other services we’ve tested, but what you do get from those locations is an impressively stable connection. In fact, NordVPN came out on top with regards to the average speed recorded when all of our test locations were taken into account.

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  • Unlimited-bandwidth free tier

  • Wide range of endpoint countries

  • Paid version is great for streaming

  • Quick download speeds

  • Subscriptions renew at a higher rate

As much as we recommend opting for a paid VPN service as you’ll get so much more in return, especially with features like malware protection and an onboard password manager which feel more essential than ever in the modern age, there are options available to you if you have no cash to spend. While quite a few free VPNs have popped up in the last few years, the only one you need to concern yourself with is ProtonVPN.

What’s most surprising about ProtonVPN is that unlike a lot of free VPNs which throttle the available bandwidth as a means of enticing you towards a paid version of the same service, ProtonVPN lets you surf the web with unlimited bandwidth. This is great if you have a particularly speedy router at home as you won’t feel capped by going down the freebie route.

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ProtonVPN has also made privacy a core tenet of its business practices. The company has a regularly updated transparency report to let users know of any changes they should be aware of, but the company does currently employ a strict no-logging rule so your data isn’t stored. However, the Swiss Government does have the right to order the collection of data in the event of a criminal case.

There’s also a kill switch feature built into the brand’s free VPN service so you don’t have to worry about any gaps in your internet connection that bad actors could exploit. Although there’s a decent number of countries included with the free tier, it’s worth upgrading to the paid version of ProtonVPN if you want a wider variety of locations to choose from.

Still, if speed is your main concern then we reckon that you’ll be quite pleased with what ProtonVPN is able to offer. Across our testing of speeds in the UK, the Netherlands and the US, we noted an average speed of 164.27Mbps which is more than enough for the average user and excellent value when you consider that it’s available at no cost whatsoever.

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  • Fast speeds

  • Low, consistent price of €5 a month

  • Great range of cross-platform clients

  • Not reliable for streaming

If there’s one complaint that can be thrown at most VPN services, it’s that things can get a bit out of control when it comes to renewing your subscription. Oftentimes you’ll see very tempting introductory prices which get you through the door, but once your subscription runs out you can be presented with a nasty bill if you’re not careful. For those who would rather avoid that scenario entirely, Mullvad VPN is our go-to pick.

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Mullvad VPN costs just €5 (roughly £4.35/$5.84) a month, and in the face of rising costs for pretty much every aspect of the tech industry, that monthly rate has stayed the same. It’s brilliant value for money, and a much better option for anyone who doesn’t want to get tied into a long-term contract or who only needs a VPN for a few months.

What’s even more impressive is what you get for that low monthly cost. Mullvad has a strict no-logging policy, and that was put to the test in 2023 when authorities carried out a search warrant at the company’s office in Gothenburg and came away with no customer data. The brand also uses RAMdisk servers which are far more secure than the standard servers typically used by VPN companies.

Beyond that, a Mullvad subscription comes with a ton of extra security features including a kill switch (ensuring that you’re never connected to the internet unless there’s a VPN protocol to go with it), split tunnelling and an ad blocker that can stop you from accidentally clicking on junk ads as you surf the web.

It’s not a perfect service however as we did notice some irregularities when trying to access streaming websites, although the general speeds that we noted were fairly solid. Across our three test countries, we noted an average download speed of 229.87 Mbps which is very respectable. Unless you want a wider suite of features, the likes of which ExpressVPN and Nord VPN can provide, Mullvad is a great option to go with.

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Test Data

  ExpressVPN Surfshark VPN NordVPN ProtonVPN Mullvad VPN

Full Specs

  ExpressVPN Review Surfshark VPN Review NordVPN Review ProtonVPN Review Mullvad VPN Review
UK RRP £10.19 £14.79 £2.99 £7.98 £4.29
USA RRP $12.95 $12.95 $4.19 $9.99 $5.43
EU RRP €5
Manufacturer ExpressVPN
Size (Dimensions) x x INCHES x x INCHES x x INCHES x x INCHES x x INCHES
ASIN B00GAZ1T9U B07KFLMM6Z B09KTX5FKM B09RFFWTFM B092M55HJ2
Release Date 2021 2021 2021 2021 2021

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How to keep an older iPad safe, reliable & useful over time

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Older iPad tablets often remain in daily use years after purchase, making long-term maintenance increasingly important as hardware ages. Here’s how to restore their usefulness and keep them running safely.

Pink Apple iPad standing upright on a gray fabric couch in a cozy living room, with sunlight highlighting its back and blurred furniture visible in the background
The iPad rehab guide

Many iPads become obsolete before they cease functioning due to the evolution of demanding workflows. Consequently, they are often repurposed for lighter tasks such as smart home control, media playback, or casual browsing.
Despite steady pressure to upgrade, most iPads can remain useful for years with basic maintenance and realistic expectations. This guide covers how to clean and protect aging hardware, manage safety risks, and find new roles once performance starts to taper.
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5 Budget-Friendly Digital Calendars To Help Organize Your Home

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We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Managing a home with multiple people can feel like a thankless and never-ending project management exercise. From making sure the plants get watered, the pets are fed, the bathrooms are clean, and the kitchen is stocked up, it’s a logistical feat just to get to the end of the week.

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This challenge only gets harder when there are multiple people of different ages in your home that need to be on the same page, which is why you might want to invest in a digital calendar. These days, one of the most popular options is the Skylight Digital Calendar, which starts at just under $160. Although there are several digital calendar alternatives, it can be hard to find one that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg up front and may include subscription fees. 

If you’re looking for a cheaper way to keep everyone in your home aligned, you could use an old iPad to be a smart home hub that doubles as a calendar. But if you don’t have one lying around your house, there are plenty of budget-friendly options that might work for you instead. To help you know what’s out there, we’ve rounded up some highly rated digital calendar options that are under $100. For more details on why we think they might be great for you, we’ve elaborated more on our methodology at the end. But, if you’re in desperate need to make sure no one feeds the dog twice, keep reading.

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YPI 10.1-inch Digital Calendar

Available in seven sizes, budget conscious customers can opt for YPI’s cheapest offer, the 10.1-inch Digital Calendar that retails for $89.99. Measuring 10.5 inches by 7.3 inches, it has a 10.1-inch HD touch screen that can be used in both portrait or landscape with its included stand. You can sync with all kinds of calendar providers, such as Google Calendar, Microsoft’s Outlook, and Apple’s iCloud. With its own eCalendar app, you can also color code schedules of up to 20 users. Apart from a calendar, it lets you display tasks, meals, photos, and more.

On Amazon, the YPI Digital Calendar has an average rating of 4.3 stars from 450+ customers. Among the 74% of users who rated it a perfect rating, an iPhone owner mentioned that it takes less than a minute to set up. Some of the recurring positive feedback also mentions its screen for its automatic brightness adjustment, visibility from multiple angles, and responsive screen. That said, there were about 10% of people who rated it a single star that said that they had issues with connecting to the Wi-Fi, the app crashing, and poor customer service.

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DXMART 10.1-inch Digital Calendar

Priced at $99.99, the DXMART 10.1-inch Digital Calendar sets itself apart with its LED reminder light border, plus a built-in speaker that you can use for audible reminders. Apart from auto sync features with major calendar apps, it has interactive tasks and rewards systems, meal planning, and custom lists.

With its dashboard, you can switch between day, week, and month views. It’s made to be wall-mounted or standing in either portrait or landscape mode. It also doubles as a digital photo frame, and you don’t need a subscription to display screensavers. For people who are particular about their privacy, the European-owned brand also boasts both GDPR and CCPA-compliance.

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DXMART also has a larger model, and together, both models have an average rating of 4.3 stars from 200+ Amazon users, wherein 71% of people gave it a perfect 5 stars. While it markets itself as a calendar, there are a lot of people who mentioned how they thought it was great value for displaying photos. One person even noted how their kids would drop photos while they’re on holiday, which they could view from their home. But take note, there were also a few dissatisfied customers, such as the 7% who rated it a single star. They lamented how there were issues with durability and not being able to connect to the internet.

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Roxicosly Large Digital Display Calendar

The Roxicosly Digital Calendar is designed specifically with the elderly in mind. Measuring 7.2 inches by 4.65 inches, it’s one of the most compact options in this list. With a dozen different theme options, it also comes with 18 ring times for alarms with a 9-level volume, which you can use for everything from wake up to medication reminders. Aside from the calendar function, wherein it lets you see the date, time, and what period of the day it is; it lets you share photos via microSD and USB flash drive.

Available in two colors (black and white), you also have the option to get a plugged AC-powered model ($29.99) or one with a rechargeable battery ($37.99). An Amazon’s Choice product, the Roxicosly Digital Display Calendars have a 4.6-star average from more than 1,400 customers. In addition, 81% of users have rated the elderly-friendly calendar an impressive 5 stars, while only 4% have it a single star.

It’s not a perfect product, since multiple people complained that it can be difficult to set up, there were more users who were satisfied with it. In fact, several people shared that their elderly loved ones who had bad eyesight liked how it was easy to read. Apart from seniors, some customers mentioned that it also worked well for students and for their home school set up.

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Canupdog 10.1-inch Digital Calendar

For fans of the mid-century interior design look, the $89.99 Canupdog 10.1-inch Digital Calendar can mesh well with your vintage, hardwood furniture. Compatible with major calendar apps, like Google, iCloud, Microsoft, and Yahoo, you can also see the integrated calendar across multiple accounts via its app. It also has streamline lists, for things like to-dos or groceries. It also has a chore chart and a reward system once tasks are accomplished.

Canupdog also sells larger sizes as well. All together, more than 700 Amazon users have rated them 4.2 stars on average, wherein 71% thought they were worth 5 stars. In particular, a lot of people mentioned that they thought it looked stylish, were impressed with the high storage capacity, and that it didn’t need a subscription to work. In fact, one reviewer even called it one of the best purchases they had made.

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That said, there were also a significant number of customers who thought it didn’t deliver its promises. With 12% of people rating it a single star, one of the most common negative feedback items is that it tends to freeze, experience calendar sync glitches, and shut down for no reason. Not to mention, multiple people lamented the poor tech support whenever they encountered any problems.

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Dragon Touch Digital Calendar

For people who want to integrate rewards and meal prep, the Dragon Touch Digital Calendar has features that do both. Apart from the standard multi-view calendar features and 32GB capacity photo display, it has both sleep more and alarm functions for wake up times and reminders. Not to mention, you can create rewards for yourself (or your kids) whenever you check off things from your lists. If sustainability matters to you, this particular digital calendar has been certified by Global Recycled Standard on Amazon for being made of recycled materials, safer chemicals, and manufactured with worker well-being in mind.

Available in two colors, you can opt to get the 10-inch white ($89.99) or black ($97.99) model. Dragon Touch also lists 21-inch models and collectively, they have been rated 4.5 stars on average by 350+ Amazon customers. In general, it holds a pretty positive ratio of satisfied customers — 79% of buyers thought it was perfect rating material.

Among 5-star reviewers, people have mentioned how they liked the screen quality and enjoyed the breadth of features without a subscription fee, such as the automatic grocery list maker. On the other hand, the 7% of people who didn’t like it so much and rated it a single star mentioned that their unit arrived broken and with cracks, struggled to connect to Wi-Fi, or stopped working within months.

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Methodology

To make this list of budget-friendly digital calendars, we’ve rounded up different models that range from $29.99 to just under $100. For people with higher budgets, we’ve also listed similar items from the same manufacturers that offer larger screen sizes.

Next, we narrowed down to products that have a general average rating of 4 stars from more than 200 customers. Then, we selected digital calendars that at least 70% of users have rated a perfect rating, as well as 15% or less rating 1-star. When possible, we also noted if it was listed as an Amazon’s Choice product to highlight how it stands out in its category.

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To help you differentiate the options, we noted any special features that the digital calendar might have, as well as who we think might benefit from it, such as if it’s designed for the elderly, children, or particular aesthetics. While it didn’t affect their inclusion in our list, we also mentioned unique aspects, such as LED lighting, speakers, notable sustainability certifications, or privacy features.



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NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, April 13 (game #1037)

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Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing ‘today’s game’ while others are playing ‘yesterday’s’. If you’re looking for Sunday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Sunday, April 12 (game #1036).

Good morning! Let’s play Connections, the NYT’s clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

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Apple smart glasses might avoid the creepy reputation of Meta Ray-Bans with a light trick

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Apple’s upcoming smart glasses could sidestep one of the biggest issues facing the category – privacy concerns – by rethinking something as simple as the camera indicator light. According to a recent report by Bloomberg, the company is working on display-free smart glasses that focus on everyday functionality, but with a design approach that may make them feel less intrusive than current offerings.

The device, internally codenamed N50, is expected to arrive around 2026 or 2027 and will function more like a companion to the iPhone than a standalone augmented reality system. Instead of a display, the glasses will rely on features like photo and video capture, voice interactions via Siri, notifications, and media playback.

A Subtle Hardware Shift With Big Implications

What sets Apple’s approach apart is how it plans to handle recording visibility. Unlike existing smart glasses that use small LED indicators, Apple is reportedly experimenting with a more prominent lighting system integrated directly into the camera module.

The design includes vertically oriented lenses surrounded by visible lighting elements, making it harder to hide when recording is active.

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This could address a key concern that has plagued smart glasses since their inception: the fear of being recorded without consent.

The Privacy Problem Others Are Still Facing

The issue isn’t theoretical. A report by WIRED highlights how users of Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses have attempted to bypass privacy safeguards. Third-party sellers have even promoted accessories like “ghost dots,” designed to dim or block the recording indicator light.

These attempts, while often ineffective due to built-in protections, reveal a broader problem. If users actively try to hide recording signals, the trust required for widespread adoption breaks down.

Even unsuccessful workarounds contribute to the perception that smart glasses can be misused, reinforcing the “creepy” reputation that has limited their acceptance.

Apple’s Strategy: Solve Trust Through Design

Rather than relying solely on software restrictions, Apple appears to be addressing the issue at the hardware level.

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By making the recording indicator more visible and integrated into the design, the company is attempting to remove ambiguity. If successful, this could make it significantly harder to use the glasses in a way that feels covert or deceptive.

This aligns with Apple’s broader approach to new product categories. As seen with devices like the iPhone and Apple Watch, the company often enters markets later but focuses on refining user experience and addressing key pain points.

Part Of A Larger AI Wearables Push

The smart glasses are not being developed in isolation. Bloomberg notes that they are part of a broader strategy that includes AI-powered AirPods and other wearable devices designed to interpret the user’s surroundings.

These products will rely on computer vision and Apple Intelligence to provide contextual information, from navigation assistance to real-time reminders.

This suggests that Apple’s goal is not just to build smart glasses, but to create an ecosystem of devices that make AI more ambient and seamlessly integrated into daily life.

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What This Means For Users

For consumers, the success of smart glasses will depend as much on perception as on functionality.

If Apple can make its glasses feel transparent and trustworthy, it could overcome one of the biggest barriers to adoption. At the same time, tight integration with the iPhone and Apple’s ecosystem may make the device more useful in everyday scenarios.

What Comes Next

Apple’s smart glasses are still in development, with a launch expected no earlier than 2026 or 2027. Fully featured augmented reality glasses remain further out, likely toward the end of the decade.

Until then, Apple’s focus appears to be on getting the basics right – functionality, usability, and most importantly, trust.

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From Microsoft to “microslop”: The AI backlash that forced a reset

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At some point in 2025, Windows stopped feeling like an operating system and started feeling like a demo for AI. Open Notepad to jot something down, and there it was, nudging you to summarize. Fire up Edge, and Copilot would politely wave from the sidebar. Even apps like Microsoft Paint began to feel different, not because they got simpler, but because they suddenly wanted to generate, edit, and enhance images for you.

Microsoft wasn’t just adding AI, it was threading it into every corner of the experience. And for a while, that felt exciting. Then it started to feel… a bit much.

Microslop: The Internet’s Favorite Roast

That’s roughly when the internet did what it does best. It coined a name: Microslop. Crude, catchy, and brutally effective. Borrowing from the broader idea of “AI slop,” which refers to low-quality, mass-produced AI output, the term quickly became shorthand for something more specific.

Not just bad AI, but unwanted AI.

The kind that shows up uninvited, sits too close, and insists on helping when you really just wanted to type a grocery list. It captured a growing frustration that Microsoft’s software was becoming noisier, heavier, and a little less predictable.

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Microsoft says it won’t automatically install the Microsoft 365 Copilot app on Windows 11 PCs, at least for now.

This comes as the company faces growing backlash online, with users increasingly mocking it as “Microslop” over its aggressive Copilot push.

Microsoft previously… pic.twitter.com/G8uiBqEXan

— Windows Latest (@WindowsLatest) March 18, 2026

The backlash got loud enough that even CEO Satya Nadella publicly pushed back on the idea of AI being dismissed as “slop.” Ironically, that only made the term spread faster. By early 2026, it had become a full-blown cultural shorthand for dissatisfaction with Microsoft’s AI push, even getting banned in some official communities. At that point, this wasn’t just a meme anymore. It was feedback.

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The Moment Microsoft Blinked

For a while, it felt like Microsoft would just keep pushing forward. But then, in March 2026, in a surprisingly candid blog post titled “Our commitment to Windows quality,” Microsoft acknowledged what users had been saying for months. The company talked about improving reliability, reducing friction, and making Windows feel smoother and more dependable again. Among other things, Microsoft said that it’d also be cutting down on Copilot’s presence across Windows.

And those weren’t just hollow promises. Across multiple apps, the company has reduced the number of entry points where AI showed up. Features that had been announced earlier, like deeper Copilot integrations in notifications, have quietly been shelved. What’s more, is that apps like Notepad, Photos, and Snipping Tool no longer have visible Copilot hooks.

On paper, it looks like exactly what users had been asking for. Less AI clutter. More focus. Naturally, the narrative became simple. Microsoft had heard the backlash and was scaling things back. But like most simple narratives, this one doesn’t quite hold up.

Why Microsoft Can’t Just “Turn Off” AI

Here’s the thing. Microsoft can’t actually walk away from AI, even if it wants to. This isn’t a feature toggle. It’s the foundation of everything the company is building right now. From Azure infrastructure to Microsoft 365 to Windows itself, AI is deeply baked into the strategy. Billions have already been invested. Entire product lines are being reshaped around it.

Microsoft was an early backer (read: billions of dollars) of OpenAI, heavily integrated ChatGPT in its products, and then borrowed rival Anthropic’s Claude AI to boost Copilot — all while developing its own AI models. The AI push even birthed a whole new breed of laptops with a Copilot+ branding and a dedicated Copilot button on the keyboard deck.

Yeah, “preposterous,” you might say.

Even now, while scaling back visible integrations, Microsoft is still pushing Copilot into enterprise tools, workflows, and services. So what you’re seeing isn’t a retreat. It’s a recalibration. AI isn’t going away. It’s just being repositioned by making it less visible, but silently seeping into the foundations.

Stealth Mode Activated?

You can see this most clearly in the small details. Take, for example, Notepad. A year ago, it had a bright Copilot button sitting right there in the interface. It was obvious, almost eager. In newer builds, that button is gone. In its place is a far more neutral “Writing Tools” icon. The features are still there. Rewrite, summarize, tweak tone. But the branding is gone. The loudness is gone.

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Breaking: Microsoft quietly removes Copilot branding from Notepad and Snipping Tool on Windows 11.

Microsoft appears to be doing exactly what it promised after the Windows quality reset.

Notepad has now removed Copilot branding and replaced it with a simpler “Writing tools”… pic.twitter.com/eEmxoIZ2Wm

— Windows Latest (@WindowsLatest) April 9, 2026

And this isn’t an isolated case. Across Windows, Microsoft is reducing how often Copilot shows up as a named feature while still keeping the underlying capabilities intact, from AI Features to Advanced Features, and whatnot. This is what some are calling “Stealth-Slop.” AI that hasn’t disappeared, but has learned to stay out of your way. Fewer announcements, more availability.

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What’s fascinating is that Microsoft’s core belief hasn’t changed at all. The company still sees AI as the future of computing. If anything, it’s doubling down behind the scenes. What has changed is the delivery. The first phase was about visibility. Ship AI everywhere. Make sure users see it, notice it, and ultimately, try it. That worked, but it also backfired.

People didn’t just notice AI. They felt overwhelmed by it.

Now we’re in phase two. Integration. Microsoft is being more selective about where AI shows up and how it behaves. Executives have even said they want to focus on AI experiences that are “genuinely useful,” rather than just widely available. It’s a shift from proving capability to proving value.

The Real Shift

Microsoft hasn’t exactly “fixed” the problem, but that might not even be the right way to look at it. The backlash wasn’t about AI being bad; it was about it being everywhere in ways that felt unnecessary and intrusive. That distinction is important. Even now, criticism around forced integrations and limited user control hasn’t fully gone away, but at the same time, Microsoft is clearly trying to clean things up with a more focused, less cluttered Windows experience.

What’s really changing is not the presence of AI, but how it feels. Instead of being a loud, in-your-face feature, AI is being reshaped into something quieter and more natural. The goal now seems to be simple. Make it helpful without making it obvious. Because for AI to actually work at scale, it cannot feel like an add-on. It has to feel like it was always meant to be there.

That’s the lesson Microsoft seems to have learned the hard way. It didn’t remove AI from Windows. It just made sure you wouldn’t notice it quite as much anymore. Microsoft isn’t a slouch in the AI game. Earlier this month, Microsoft announced not one, but three foundation AI models. Its Phi series of open-source small language models is fairly popular and capable.

By next year, Microsoft wants to release its own frontier models that compete with the likes of ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. “We must deliver the absolute frontier,” Mustafa Suleyman, chief of Microsoft’s AI efforts, said in an interview. As I said, the AI push is here to stay. I just hope it evolves without muddying up everything that Microsoft offers to hundreds of millions of users across the world — including lifelong die-hards like me!

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Today’s NYT Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for April 13 #1759

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Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.


Today’s Wordle puzzle is a very tricky one, as it’s an unusual word with at least one rare letter. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Read more: New Study Reveals Wordle’s Top 10 Toughest Words of 2025

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Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has two vowels.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with E.

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Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with N.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to a small and delicate person.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is ELFIN.

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Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, April 12, No. 1758, was ALLEY.

Recent Wordle answers

April 8, No. 1754: INLET

April 9, No. 1755: LADEN

April 10, No. 1756: CAROM

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April 11, No. 1757: PRUDE

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Robot Birds Deployed by Park to Attract Real Birds – Built By High School Students

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“Robotic bird decoys are being deployed at Grand Teton National Park,” reports Interesting Engineering, “to influence the behavior of real sage grouse and help restore a declining population.”. Robotics mentor Gary Duquette describes the machines as “kind of a Frankenbird.” (SFGate shows one of the robot birds charging up with a solar panel… “Recorded breeding calls are played at the scene, with clucking and cooing beginning at 5 a.m. each day.”)

Duquette builds the birds with a team of high school students, telling WyoFile that at school they “don’t really get to experience real-world problems” where failures lurk. So while their robot birds may cost $150 in parts, the practical experience the students get “is priceless.”

Spikes in the electric currents burned out servo motors as the season of sagebrush serenades loomed, Duquette said. “The kids had to learn the difference between voltage and amperage….” To resolve the problem, the team wired a voltage converter in line with the Arduino controller and other elements on an electronic breadboard. “We pulled through and got it done in time,” he said…

A noggin fabricated by a 3D printer tops the robo-grouse. Wyoming Game and Fish staffers in Pinedale supplied grouse wings from hunter surveys, and body feathers came from fly-tying supplies at an angling store. Packaging foam from a Hello Fresh meal kit replicates white breast feathers, accented by yellow air sacs…
The Independent wonders if more national parks would be visited by robot birds
During this year’s breeding season, which runs through mid-May, researchers are using trail cameras to track whether real sage grouse respond to the robotic displays and return to the restored lek sites. If successful, officials say similar robotic systems could eventually be used in other national parks facing wildlife management challenges.

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