Everybody thinks their dog is the best dog in the world — and they’re right. All doggos are the best doggos in the world. 11/10. 100% good boy/girl.
You already know that your dog is unique, but you’re probably wondering what about your pet’s genetic makeup makes them so special. Why are his eyes two different colors? Why does she have spotted fur? Why does he insist on barking any time something walks past the window?
SEE ALSO: Which DNA test kit should you get? This guide can help.
You could put a picture of your dog on Twitter and have people vote on what he or she is — but Mashable did a What’s your mutt? quiz in 2017 that proved that all of us suck at guessing. Read more…
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OUR TOP PICK
Embark
Spending as much as 23andMe’s test costs gets you a full look at your dog’s familial and medical history.
Breed tests: 200+
Wait time: 3-7 weeks
Health screening: Yes
Wolf and coyote test: Yes
$199 from Amazon
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BEST FOR SUPER MIXED MUTTS
Wisdom Panel 3.0
Pinning down a mutt’s breeds is often a shot in the dark, but this robust collection of breeds is your best bet.
Breed tests: 350
Health screening: No, but Wisdom Panel Premium offers it
Wolf and coyote test: Yes
Wait time: 2-3 weeks
$108 from Amazon
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BEST FOR NEW DOG PARENTS
HomeDNA Orivet Dog DNA Test and Life Plan
Not sure how to parent your pup? HomeDNA gives a customized life plan, but DNA results are less detailed.
You can’t buy motivation. But, you can buy a fitness tracking device that lights a fire under your ass to take more than 500 steps in a day, and that’s not nothing.
The rhetoric around fitness has changed quite a bit over the past few years (as made clear by Every Fashion Brand Ever releasing a line of matching leggings and sports bras). We can thank the self-care revolution for this one. Actively monitoring your fitness progression isn’t just for athletes or people training for their hometown’s 5K — and this was not the case when I was in high school. It’s a building block of wellness that people are baking into their daily groove, just like keeping up with a skincare routine or eating your vegetables. Read more…
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BEST OVERALL
Apple Watch Series 6
Apple’s cutting-edge tech blazes past rivals with ECG, a new SPO2 sensor, and 911 calls from anywhere.
Battery life: 18 hours
Built-in GPS/cellular: Both
Water resistant: Yes
Tracks: Steps, calories, sports (including underwater), heart rate, ECG, SPO2, time asleep, fall detection, women’s health tracking
$399 from Amazon
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BEST EVERYDAY TRACKER
Fitbit Charge 4
With built-in GPS and the same week-long battery life, you can’t argue with Fitbit’s latest Charge.
Battery life: 7 days
Built-in GPS/cellular: Just GPS
Water resistant: Yes
$149.95 from Amazon
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BEST FOR RUNNING
Garmin Forerunner 745
Smarter training insights and better tracking of a runner’s favorite paths make the 745 a true running buddy.
Battery life: Up to 7 days
Built-in GPS/cellular: Just GPS
Water resistant: Yes (50 meters)
Tracks: Steps, calories, sports (including underwater), heart rate, personal running maps, SPO2, fall detection, recovery, women’s health tracking
$499.99 from Amazon
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BEST SAMSUNG WATCH
Samsung Galaxy Watch 3
Samsung’s latest is a true Apple Watch challenger, featuring better sleep tracking and the beloved rotating bezel.
The learning experience is fundamentally different for kids now than it was even for today’s 20-somethings — especially for elementary and middle schools. A lot of that change can be attributed to laptops.
The Covid-induced school closures that spanned 2020 cemented the cruciality of a kid having easy access to a laptop at home. Both teachers and parents were forced to make online learning work — and now that the groove has been found, a hybrid model may just be the future for some classrooms even after pandemic protections are a thing of the past.
Sheer convenience isn’t the only reason for kids to have a laptop. The importance of access to email and virtual learning platforms like Blackboard while a kid’s not at school can’t be understated (and for a lot of kids, it’s far less intimidating than talking to a teacher IRL.) Digital accessibility to school materials and other resources can cultivate a sense of autonomy and responsibility in students: The Speak Up Research Project for Digital Learning found that high schoolers who were assigned a laptop were more likely to take notes in class, do internet research, create documents to share, collaborate with their peers on projects, check their grades, and get reminders about due dates or tests. Read more…
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BEST 2-IN-1 WITH INCLUDED STYLUS
Microsoft Surface Go 2
Microsoft’s 2-in-1 laptop is a slick studying sidekick that comes with a stylus and an app for scanning whiteboards.
Battery life: 10 hours
Weight: 1.2 pounds
Display: 1920 x 1280
RAM: 4GB, 8GB
Storage: 64GB, 128GB
$399.99 from Amazon
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BEST FOR HOMEWORK
Lenovo Chromebook Duet
Lenovo’s true detachable Chromebook has impressive specs for its price, and you don’t need to buy a separate keyboard.
Battery life: 10 hours
Weight: 2.03 pounds altogether (0.99 pounds without keyboard)
Display: 1920 x 1200
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 128GB
$299 from Amazon
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BEST 2-IN-1
Acer Chromebook Spin 713
Visual learners and streaming fans will be psyched on the glorious hi-res screen of this souped-up Chromebook.
Battery life: 12 hours
Weight: 3.02 pounds
Display: 2256 x 1504
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 128GB
$679.99 from Amazon
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BEST CHROMEBOOK FOR OLDER KIDS
Google Pixelbook Go
The newest Pixelbook is a cool lightweight powerhouse that averts the “clunky Chromebook” rep.
Battery life: 12 hours
Weight: 2.33 pounds
Display: 1920 x 1280
RAM: 8GB, 16GB
Storage: 64GB, 128GB, 256GB
$649 from Amazon
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BEST FOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADS
Apple MacBook Air
The 2020 Air is a real Pro competitor with a Retina display and beefy M1 processing chip.
Battery life: 18 hours
Weight: 2.8 pounds
Display: 2560 x 1600
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 256GB, 512GB, configurable up to 2TB
$999 from Amazon
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BEST CHROMEBOOK WITH INCLUDED STYLUS
Samsung Chromebook Plus V2
The garaged battery-free pen will be a game changer for both learning and creativity.
Battery life: 9.5 hours
Weight: 2.98 pounds
Display: 1920 x 1200
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 32GB eMMC
$499.99 from Amazon
IMAGE: Dell
BEST FOR DURABILITY
Dell Chromebook 11 3100
Clumsy kids are in good hands with this spill resistant 2-in-1 that stores everything in the cloud.
Facebook’s Oculus is testing in-headset VR advertising, because not even our virtual realities can escape the claws of capitalism.
On Wednesday Oculus announced it will begin a “small test” to insert ads into VR games, starting with 2020 indie shooter Blaston. Ads will be added to more VR titles in the following weeks, with the aim to deploy them more widely across the Oculus Platform after gathering feedback from both developers and players.
“We want to help developers generate revenue and help people find great experiences at better prices — this is a part of how we’ll create a healthy, self-sustaining platform for everyone,” said Andrew Bosworth, head of Facebook Reality Labs, on Twitter. Read more…
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Mashable’s Rebecca Ruiz moderated a discussion between LGBTQ mental health experts as part of the latest installment in our ongoing Social Good Series. Read more…
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If you’re on the hunt for a flashy smartwatch that caters to a wide array of activities, has a high-res, full-color screen, and can measure nearly any variable you can think of (plus plenty you never knew existed), the Garmin Forerunner 35 is probably not for you.
But if you’re a dedicated runner more interested in a simple interface, a comfortable, low-profile look, and a few key metrics — like pace, distance, and cadence — then the Forerunner 35 definitely deserves a spot on your shortlist.
At $169.99 on Garmin.com (and $99 on Amazon), not only is it more affordable than most smartwatches on the market, but it’s also sleeker, it actually fits small wrists, and it requires minimal effort to set up or use. Read more…
More about Reviews, Wearables, Workout From Home, Tech, and Consumer Tech
Jim Gaffigan, Jacob Tremblay, and Jack Dylan Grazer join Luca director Enrico Casarosa in discussing the importance of parents letting their kids have their own adventures. Read more…
More about Disney, Mashable Video, Pixar, Jim Gaffigan, and Luca
As of June 16, select DNA test kits are on sale on Amazon for up to 42% off:
AncestryDNA—save $40
AncestryDNA + Traits — save $50
23andMe Ancestry + Traits — save $10.05
23andMe Health + Ancestry — save $50 with coupon
It’s a good year to be procrastinating on your Father’s Day shopping, considering it falls the day before one of the biggest shopping events of the year and the deals are coming in hot. (We’re talking about Prime Day, of course.) But just because you *can*get a nerdy tie or some bullet-shaped whiskey stones on sale right now doesn’t mean you *should*, you know? Let’s think outside the box of assorted cured meats a little bit, people. Read more…
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