If you’re the kind of person who gets nervous or squeamish at the doctor’s office, you might find that collecting your own samples doesn’t freak you out as much as someone in a white coat doing it.
Depending on where you live and your transportation situation, at-home STD tests might be more accessible than visiting a clinic or making a doctor’s appointment. And you can pay for them out of pocket, which might be a better option based on your health insurance.
Finally, and unfortunately, sexually transmitted infections have a stigma attached to them. You shouldn’t feel ashamed of checking up on your sexual health—far from it, in fact—but at-home tests might be a better option if you’re concerned about what others may think.
The Cons of At-Home STI Tests
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At-home STI tests are expensive. Depending on your specific health care situation, they might be more affordable, and many of them are FSA- and HSA-eligible or may be covered by insurance. But if you live in an area where there’s free testing through your city or state health departments, or a third-party clinic like Planned Parenthood, those options are likely going to be much cheaper than testing at home.
There’s also the risk of you collecting your samples incorrectly, which can lead to false negatives. Depending on the test you choose, if you do get positive results for a sexually transmitted infection, you might still end up having to go visit a doctor in person to get it treated. While many tests are reputable, it’s still important to ensure that the lab analyzing your results is well-regulated (and that the test itself comes from a reputable company). “It’s important to follow the kit instructions exactly and collect the sample properly while avoiding contamination. You should also follow the warnings and avoid factors that can interfere with results, including incorrect kit storage or use of certain products in the last 48 hours,” says Dr. Gary Schoolnik, Chief Medical Officer at Visby Medical.
Your individual health and timing can impact the accuracy of at-home tests, too. For example, if you’re on your period or have recently used antibiotics, those variables might affect the quality of the samples you can collect. A health care provider can take these things into account and adjust your testing protocol accordingly.
If the situation is urgent—for example, if you’re experiencing physical symptoms that raised concerns, or you’re immunocompromised, or you’re pregnant, or you know you were exposed to an STI—it’s important to actually visit a health care provider rather than trying to treat your condition at home. “I still recommend people who’re having symptoms or know they’ve been with someone that has an STI to seek professional sexual health care to be completely sure, as a false result from a do-it-at-home-kit can make you think you’re okay and therefore dismiss or overlook symptoms,” says Roos.
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If privacy is a concern, it might actually be more beneficial for you to go to a routine doctor’s appointment rather than having the packaging for an STD test in the trash. And if you think you might test positive for something, it might be beneficial for you to hear that news from a health care provider rather than finding out while opening the mail in your kitchen. It’s something that’s important to think through before you decide to go with testing at home.
A new report claims that Apple will repeat the vibrant color of the iPhone 17 Pro Max and offer options including a return to a deep red for the iPhone 18 Pro Max, but not the iPhone Fold.
Mockup of a deep red iPhone 18 Pro Max
It has traditionally been that lower-end iPhones can get bright colors such as the purple iPhone 12, while with exceptions, the Pro models have more muted ones. Now according to Bloomberg, the iPhone 18 Pro line will also get stronger than usual colors. This is said to be specifically because the orange iPhone 17 Pro Max has allegedly been particularly popular in China. Consequently, the claim is that deep red is in consideration as the color of the two Pro models in the iPhone 18 range. Rumor Score: 🤔 Possible Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
Mega Man is a popular video game character who is perhaps most notable for having a sort of lasery-type blaster for an arm. A real hand cannon, if you will. It’s officially called the Mega Buster, and [Arnov Sharma] recently recreated it for cosplay purposes.
Key to any good cosplay build is getting the visuals right, and [Arnov] achieved that well. The Mega Buster was first recreated in Fusion 360, scaled to an appropriate size to fit [Arnov]’s arm. It was 3D printed in several sections, with the body including a grab handle and fire button inside, and the side panel and blaster nozzle having provision for installing LEDs. The former is the blaster’s “power meter” which shows how many shots it has left until it runs out of energy, with the blaster able to fire six times before needing to cooldown. A Raspberry Pi Pico controls the LEDs and provides sound effects with the aid of a PAM8403 class D amplifier module and a small speaker.
The 3D files are available on Instructables for the curious. Perhaps by virtue of its arm-mounted nature, this build reminds us of the venerable Pip Boy from Fallout, of which we’ve seen many grand recreations before. Video after the break.
Apple’s early March string of announcements will include at least five product launches capped off by its triple-location event on March 4, with the budget MacBook and iPhone 17e tipped to appear.
iPhone 17e and new MacBooks are expected in March
An “Apple Experience” is being held on March 4, which is widely expected to include multiple product launches. While no-one knows definitively what will be promoted by the company, it will consist of quite a few product introductions. In Sunday’s “Power On” newsletter for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman writes that Apple is planning three days of announcements. They will take place on Monday, March 2, until Wednesday, March 4. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
Going online in 2026 means subjecting yourself to a relentless bombardment of generative AI tools. How about a few AI agents to get you started? Do you want to use this chatbot sidebar? Would you like every search query to be answered with an AI summary? While there’s no off switch to avoid this smorgasbord of AI tools entirely, there is one keyboard trick you can use to dodge Google’s AI Overviews for a brief respite.
If you don’t want to see an AI-generated summarization of webpage links when you use Google Search, you can type “–ai” at the end of your query. It’s an option WIRED readers highlighted under a recent article about scams found in Google’s AI Overviews. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed using this nifty addendum over the past week, and I wish Google offered a permanent toggle with similar zapping capabilities.
“People find Search more helpful with AI Overviews, and they’re coming back to search more as a result,” a Google spokesperson tells WIRED. “We offer a ‘web’ filter to see links only, but people only use it for a tiny fraction of searches.” The spokesperson compared AI Overviews to other features baked into the search results, like knowledge panels, that can’t be removed.
If you want to try this out, you can put any combination of letters or numbers attached to an en dash, like “–1” or “–z,” at the end of your Google search, and it works just the same, as reported by PCMag. It prevents AI Overviews from appearing completely. The en dash function in Google is designed to remove whatever topic you attach to it from the search results. The removal of AI Overviews seems incidental, and it’s unclear how long this trick will stick around. After typing in a result, you can also tap on the “Web” tab—sometimes hidden under “More”—right below the search bar to see site links.
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In my tests, the –ai trick appears to be limited to search queries in computer browsers. When I tried it in the Safari and Chrome apps on iOS, Google’s AI-generated “web guide” still popped up prominently in the results. However, Google does offer a Classic Search button on the right side of these results. After clicking that button, the results will reload and show you a mix of website links and short-form videos. The exception seems to be on Android—at least on a Google Pixel phone we tested with, using “–ai” removed AI Overviews.
It’s a nice change from the current default when I’m using my laptop, and I’ll likely continue typing “–ai” at the end of every search until it becomes muscle memory, just like I add “Reddit” all the time to my queries. Even so, I feel nostalgic for the minimalist Google I grew up with and the utter simplicity of those top 10 blue links.
If you’re looking to switch search engines to a service without any generative AI, DuckDuckGo and Brave are two solid options worth considering. Both search engines allow users to toggle AI summaries on and off in the settings. You don’t need to change browsers to use a different search engine, as Google lets you swap the default search engine in Chrome’s settings menu.
When Google launched AI Overviews in 2024, it was a major turning point for the search engine. But AI Overviews was widely mocked on social media for incorrect answers, like an infamous result that suggested baking pizza with glue. It didn’t stop Google, though, as the company has continued to lean further into AI tools since the initial release of AI Overviews and has kept iterating on the user experience.
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While Google claims the accuracy of these results has improved over time, generative AI tools still sometimes insert inaccuracies when summarizing information. So, it’s always worth clicking through and double-checking anything you read in an AI Overview. All the more reason, I think, to cut out the middlebot completely and visit those dang websites directly.
I’m still reeling from the surprise release of Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. Not only because it’s quite possibly the worst title for a re-release I’ve ever seen, but also due to it literally coming out of nowhere with Nintendo posting the trailer and shadow dropping it on the eShop simultaneously.
Having played Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Editionfor review last year, racking up more than 100 hours of gameplay and ticking off almost every activity the game had to offer, the Switch 2 upgrade admittedly doesn’t offer much for me. Like Tears of the Kingdomand Breath of the Wild, it is a basic upgrade that allows the game to hit a 4K resolution (depending on your console’s settings and TV’s capabilities) at up to 60fps.
That being said, I downloaded the upgrade to my Switch 2 almost immediately, deeply curious to see how the mind-boggling scale of Xenoblade Chronicles X would handle this performance touch-up. The results maybe aren’t quite as breathtaking as the aforementioned Zelda duology (the image quality certainly isn’t quite as crisp), but the higher frame rate makes a world of difference in busier environments and during combat.
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I’m definitely happy Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is now, well, even more definitive on Switch 2 for those who chose to wait for an upgrade before diving in. However, I’m now even more interested in what the future holds for developer Monolith Soft, especially now that this version of the game has provided something of a benchmark for future games or even other Xenoblade Chronicles trilogy ports.
Mira image
(Image credit: Nintendo)
So as mentioned, the Switch 2 upgrade for Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition allows for 60fps gameplay, and resolutions up to 4K. And that’s it, as far as I’m aware, and as far as Nintendo has divulged. There are seemingly no extra quests or any content hidden away for returning players to find.
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But that’s okay. I already had a deeply rewarding open-world RPG experience with the Switch version last year, and Switch 2 owners who’re yet to land on Mira are in for a real treat. Not only does the game hold that 60fps target, even in areas dense with foliage or while facing off against towering endgame bosses, the frame rate simply did not budge.
There are some elements that unfortunately haven’t been touched up. Menus still display at 30fps, for example, and I have noticed some instances of dynamic resolution in play – especially when flying over big sweeping landscapes aboard your Skell. There is still a noticeable amount of pop-in, too, which was very easy to spot in the hub city of New LA, and amidst the dense jungles of the Noctilum biome.
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To be fair, that’s all stuff that was likely baked into the original Wii U release, to a degree. Many of those same issues, while slightly improved, were also present in the Switch version of Definitive Edition. So, there’s probably only so much Monolith Soft could achieve without rebuilding wholecloth sections of the game from the ground up.
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Let’s show ’em an edition or three
(Image credit: Nintendo)
The single best thing about this Switch 2 upgrade, at least in my view, is what it hints at for the future of the Xenoblade series or whatever big project Monolith Soft is cooking up next.
While it’s true that the developer has had a knack for punching well above its weight under Nintendo’s supervision (remember, a game as massive as Xenoblade Chronicles could run on both the Wii and New Nintendo 3DS), it’s still been held back by the company’s relatively limited hardware.
This largely ceases to be the case on Switch 2. The console’s specs are an impressive leap over the original Switch and as evidenced by the Switch 2 Edition of Xenoblade Chronicles X, Monolith Soft doesn’t seem to be constrained by underpowered hardware or custom mobile chipsets anymore.
I’m excited for whatever Monolith Soft has in store for its next big project, but I certainly would not say no to Switch 2 Editions of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Xenoblade Chronicles 3, especially.
These games have yet to receive the Definitive Edition treatment, and I think bundling them together with their expansions in an upscaled, performance-improved package would be a fantastic way to fill the void until the developer’s next big reveal.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2, especially, could use some work. This game has my favorite battle system in the series, but deeply frustrating aspects like field skills and the gacha-like method of unlocking characters meant I never had the patience for a full 100% completion rate.
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Xenoblade Chronicles 3, meanwhile, improved greatly in terms of story (I’m still astounded by how crushingly bleak its world is), exploration, and side content, but its battle system felt like a step back overall. I wasn’t as keen on Ouroboros fusion or the Heroes system as much as I was with XC2’s elemental combos or ultra-satisfying chain attacks, for example.
Believe it or not, next year will be Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s fifth anniversary, so the time feels right for a brand new entry in the series. While I certainly won’t be upset if Monolith Soft chooses to focus on its new project over Switch 2 re-releases, I’ll nonetheless be there day one if it chooses to apply the Definitive Edition treatment across all remaining Xenoblade titles.
And of course, you can also follow TechRadar on YouTube and TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.
The AI pendant and AirPods with cameras are getting a big push from Apple CEO Tim Cook, with his Visual Intelligence chatter a big indicator of where Apple’s focus is going.
Looking up AirPods from an image on AppleInsider, using Visual Intelligence
Recent rumors have claimed Apple is working on a form of pin or pendant that works with Apple Intelligence. They, alongside other forecasts about AirPods with cameras, form part of an apparent third product category that Apple CEO Tim Cook is keen to introduce. In Sunday’s “Power On” newsletter for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman recaps the recent hints from Cook about AI wearables and their connection to Visual Intelligence. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
University of Surrey researchers discovered a compound known as nanostructured sodium vanadate hydrate (NVOH) – a layered sodium-based material that naturally contains water within its crystalline structure. Traditionally, researchers treat such compounds with heat to evaporate that water, assuming it weakens the material’s stability. The Surrey team tested that assumption… Read Entire Article Source link
Lockheed Martin’s F-35 combat aircraft is a supersonic stealth “strike fighter.” But this week the military news site TWZ reports that the fighter’s “computer brain,” including “its cloud-based components, could be cracked to accept third-party software updates, just like ‘jailbreaking’ a cellphone, according to the Dutch State Secretary for Defense.”
TWZ notes that the Dutch defense secretary made the remarks during an episode of BNR Nieuwsradio’s “Boekestijn en de Wijk” podcast, according to a machine translation:
Gijs Tuinman, who has been State Secretary for Defense in the Netherlands since 2024, does not appear to have offered any further details about what the jailbreaking process might entail. What, if any, cyber vulnerabilities this might indicate is also unclear. It is possible that he may have been speaking more notionally or figuratively about action that could be taken in the future, if necessary…
The ALIS/ODIN network is designed to handle much more than just software updates and logistical data. It is also the port used to upload mission data packages containing highly sensitive planning information, including details about enemy air defenses and other intelligence, onto F-35s before missions and to download intelligence and other data after a sortie. To date, Israel is the only country known to have successfully negotiated a deal giving it the right to install domestically-developed software onto its F-35Is, as well as otherwise operate its jets outside of the ALIS/ODIN network.
The comments “underscore larger issues surrounding the F-35 program, especially for foreign operators,” the article points out. But at the same time F-35’s have a sophisticated mission-planning data package. “So while jailbreaking F-35’s onboard computers, as well as other aspects of the ALIS/ODIN network, may technically be feasible, there are immediate questions about the ability to independently recreate the critical mission planning and other support it provides. This is also just one aspect of what is necessary to keep the jets flying, let alone operationally relevant.”
“TWZ previously explored many of these same issues in detail last year, amid a flurry of reports about the possibility that F-35s have some type of discreet ‘kill switch’ built in that U.S. authorities could use to remotely disable the jets. Rumors of this capability are not new and remain completely unsubstantiated.”
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At that time, we stressed that a ‘kill switch’ would not even be necessary to hobble F-35s in foreign service. At present, the jets are heavily dependent on U.S.-centric maintenance and logistics chains that are subject to American export controls and agreements with manufacturer Lockheed Martin. Just reliably sourcing spare parts has been a huge challenge for the U.S. military itself… F-35s would be quickly grounded without this sustainment support. [A cutoff in spare parts and support”would leave jailbroken jets quickly bricked on the ground,” the article notes later.] Altogether, any kind of jailbreaking of the F-35’s systems would come with a serious risk of legal action by Lockheed Martin and additional friction with the U.S. government.
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader Koreantoast for sharing the article.
Programmer/entrepreneur Paul Ford is the co-founder of AI-driven business software platform Aboard. This week he wrote a guest essay for the New York Times titled “The AI Disruption Has Arrived, and It Sure Is Fun,” arguing that Anthropic’s Claude Code “was always a helpful coding assistant, but in November it suddenly got much better, and ever since I’ve been knocking off side projects that had sat in folders for a decade or longer… [W]hen the stars align and my prompts work out, I can do hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of work for fun (fun for me) over weekends and evenings, for the price of the Claude $200-a-month.”
I’m deeply convinced that it’s possible to accelerate software development with AI coding — not deprofessionalize it entirely, or simplify it so that everything is prompts, but make it into a more accessible craft. Things which not long ago cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to pull off might come for hundreds of dollars, and be doable by you, or your cousin. This is a remarkable accelerant, dumped into the public square at a bad moment, with no guidance or manual — and the reaction of many people who could gain the most power from these tools is rejection and anxiety. But as I wrote….
I believe there are millions, maybe billions, of software products that don’t exist but should: Dashboards, reports, apps, project trackers and countless others. People want these things to do their jobs, or to help others, but they can’t find the budget. They make do with spreadsheets and to-do lists.
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I don’t expect to change any minds; that’s not how minds work. I just wanted to make sure that I used the platform offered by the Times to say, in as cheerful a way as possible: Hey, this new power is real, and it should be in as many hands as possible. I believe everyone should have good software, and that it’s more possible now than it was a few years ago. From his guest essay:
Is the software I’m making for myself on my phone as good as handcrafted, bespoke code? No. But it’s immediate and cheap. And the quantities, measured in lines of text, are large. It might fail a company’s quality test, but it would meet every deadline. That is what makes A.I. coding such a shock to the system… What if software suddenly wanted to ship? What if all of that immense bureaucracy, the endless processes, the mind-boggling range of costs that you need to make the computer compute, just goes?
That doesn’t mean that the software will be good. But most software today is not good. It simply means that products could go to market very quickly. And for lots of users, that’s going to be fine. People don’t judge A.I. code the same way they judge slop articles or glazed videos. They’re not looking for the human connection of art. They’re looking to achieve a goal. Code just has to work… In about six months you could do a lot of things that took me 20 years to learn. I’m writing all kinds of code I never could before — but you can, too. If we can’t stop the freight train, we can at least hop on for a ride.
The simple truth is that I am less valuable than I used to be. It stings to be made obsolete, but it’s fun to code on the train, too. And if this technology keeps improving, then all of the people who tell me how hard it is to make a report, place an order, upgrade an app or update a record — they could get the software they deserve, too. That might be a good trade, long term.
