It’s been one week since Apple announced that third-party Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services, such as Affirm, will be offered within the Apple Pay platform. Now, Apple says that its in-house BNPL service, called Apple Pay Later, is no longer offering loans. Apple Pay Later launched inmid-2023. It was a fairly typical BNPL service, offering short-term loans with a 0% interest rate and minimal regulatory guardrails. The only thing that made Apple Pay Later stand out from the crowd was its Apple Pay integration—any purchase made with Apple Pay was eligible for an Apple Pay Later loan....

There are a ton of things that you need to consider when buying a used crossover on a budget. You need to strike a good balance between price, comfort, practicality, efficiency, and reliability. In all of these areas, there is one subcompact SUV that manages to perform exceptionally. If you’re on a budget, you want to get as much as you can for your money. You also want to make sure that you’re not having to shell out tons of cash on long term costs like fuel, maintenance, or repairs....

Summary Just a year before getting my hands on theBluetti AC200L Portable Power Station, I gave a glowing review to the older Bluetti’s AC200MAX Expandable Power Station. With many of the same conventions and design, the slightly upgraded model delights in all the same ways. I missed the dual wireless charging pad that’s surprisingly absent from the AC200L, but it’s a small price for a just as efficient model. BLUETTI AC200L Portable Power Station BLUETTI’s AC200L Portable Power Station features 5 AC outlets, 2 DC outlets, and four USB ports ideal for emergency scenarios and camping....

ChatGPTfrom OpenAI is an increasingly-popular chatbot, but without knowledge of recent world events, its usefulness has been limited. OpenAI is now introducing plugins for ChatGPT, including some that give ChatGPT access to web data. ChatGPT doesn’t have the ability to search the internet for information, which is something Microsoft partially addressed withBing Chat(based on the same OpenAI technology). OpenAI’s solution is a new plugins feature, which allows other developers to create add-ons for ChatGPT that can be turned on or off as needed – many of which connect to web services....

Quick Links Creative’s Sound Blaster line started in the 1990s as computer sound cards, but now that name applies to a range of products. A case in point is theCreative Sound Blaster X1, a portable digital-to-analog converter and amplifier meant to help you get the most out of your favorite headphones. Often, these portable DACs are aimed at the audiophile crowd. While the Sound Blaster X1 is definitely meant for music, it doesn’t stop there, as it uses Creative’s Super X-Fi technology....

Summary The terms “analog” and “digital” are thrown around a lot in the audio world, and the assumption is often that you’re completely familiar with the nature and meaning of both terms. Just in case you’re not completely sure how these two types of audio recording and reproduction differ, I’ll break it down to the simplest facts. What Is Analog Audio? The term “analog” in the context of sound recording means exactly what you think....

Quick Links Modern Android phones hide a menu called Developer Options. Most people never touch it. But if you’ve ever wanted to understand what your phone is doing under the hood, this is where you look. How to Unlock Developer Options Go to Settings > About Phone > Tap “Build Number” 7 times. You’ll see a message that says “You are now a developer.” Go back to “Settings” and you’ll find anew menu called “Developer Options”(sometimes under System)....

Summary Job hunting can be a huge hassle and it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the processes, and to make matters worse, a lot of listings are flat-out fake or unreliable, which can complicate things even more. Instead of risking your personal information or wasting your precious time with fake jobs, learn how to spot them and only apply to the ones that will actually lead to something real. Look Out for Generic Website Names A lot of companies will use third-party websites or recruiters to handle their application processes, and while these can be reliable,it’s important to know which ones are legitimate....

The first release ofWear OS (formerly Android Wear)was in 2014, and yet, for some reason, we never had a first-party Google smartwatch — neither from Google’s defunct Nexus lineup nor from its current Pixel series. That’s changing today: the Pixel Watch is finally here. Google unveiled its Pixel Watch smartwatch today at its Made by Google hardware event, alongside the Pixel 7 series. And it looks like a slick product — even as it’s suffering from some first-gen flaws that Google will need to address in future iterations....

Summary Many fear that AI might stifle human creativity. However, my personal journey with creative hobbies and AI tools tells a different story. Let me share my story of using generative AI tools and how it helped me reconnect with my creative side. I Always Fancied Myself a Creative Animated movies were a huge part of my early childhood. The stunning visuals, the imaginative world-building, the gripping drama, and the epic orchestral scores made the real world look pale in comparison....

Quick Links Most Microsoft apps use the same font by default. However, if you want to always use a different font in one or all of your desktop 365 apps, you can change the default manually. Although you can’t change the default font for all apps at the same time, here’s how to do it separately in each program. Changing the default font does not affect the fonts used in Word, Excel’s, and PowerPoint’s templates, as their designs are pre-formatted with selected typefaces....

Summary You can delete a single message or multiple by selecting them, right-clicking, and picking Delete. You can also remove all messages by moving specific files from the Messages folder in your Library to the Trash. When your text messages start to build up, it might be time for some cleanup work. You can delete specific or all texts and conversations in Messages on adesktop MacorMacBookin just a few steps....

Quick Links Summary Drafts are the posts that you have yet to discard or publish on your Facebook account. If you want to return to a previously saved draft so you can continue editing it, we’ll show you how to do that in Facebook. Let’s get started. Find Drafts in Facebook’s Android App If you’re using Facebook on an Android phone, you have a quick and easy way to access your saved drafts....