Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, Sydney Sweeney and the cast of Euphoria explain all the backstory you need to know before diving into the show’s second season.

SAVE UP TO 39%: Get a head start on filing your 2021 taxes. Amazon has a bunch of TurboTax software for PC and Mac on sale as of Jan. 10. Take your pick from TurboTax Deluxe (now $39.99), TurboTax Premier (now $54.99), TurboTax Home & Business (now $64.99), or TurboTax Business (now $104.99).

Yes, we’re not even two weeks into 2022 yet. Yes, it’s already time to start thinking about filing your taxes. (Insert screed about the g*vernment’s absolute audacity to ask for money after the past year here.) But at least you’ll be done with 2021 for good as soon as your return is processed — that’s something, right?

If you need some assistance navigating the process, head over to Amazon to pick up some TurboTax tax prep software. As of Jan. 10, select packages were on sale for up to 39% off. Each one is designed to get you your biggest refund possible, with tools that reduce your chances of an audit, guide you through various life/company changes, and search for over 350 potential deductions and credits — even industry-specific ones for different businesses. Simply download it onto your preferred platform (there are separate versions for PC and Mac) and import your W-2s and investment information to get started.

You can take your pick from TurboTax Deluxe, Premier, Home & Business, or just plain Business, depending on your filing status. We’ve included a brief rundown of your options below.

Note: You can do your taxes for free on TurboTax.com through Feb. 15, but only if your return is super simple (i.e., you’re just filing Form 1040).

TurboTax Deluxe 2021 — $39.99 (save $20)

Who it’s for: Anyone who owns a home, has charitable donations to deduct, and/or has high medical expenses.

What it includes: Five federal e-files and one for the state of your choice, plus extra guidance for homeowners and a tool that tracks/values stuff you’ve donated to charities in the past year.

It usually retails for $59.99, but Amazon has it on sale for just $39.99 — a 33% savings.

TurboTax Premier 2021 — $54.99 (save $35)

Who it’s for: Anyone who owns rental property, sold stock/bonds/mutual funds, sold employee stock, and/or is a trust beneficiary.

What it includes: Five federal e-files and one for the state of your choice, plus retirement tax help, IRA tools, support with employee stock plans, and guidance on setting up new rental properties (including how to determine their fair market rent value).

Grab it on sale from Amazon for $54.99, which is 39% off its suggested retail price of $89.99.

TurboTax Home & Business 2021 — $64.99 (save $35)

Who it’s for: Anyone who’s self-employed, a freelancer, an independent contractor, a small business owner/sole proprietor, and/or has a home office or home-based business.

What it includes: Five federal e-files and one for the state of your choice, plus guidance for industry-specific write-offs (like vehicle tax deductions) and those notoriously complicated self-employment deductions (like office space, phone bills, and utilities).

A $99.99 value, it’s yours for just $64.99 (or 35% off) when you buy it from Amazon.

TurboTax Business 2021 — $104.99 (save $45)

Who it’s for: Anyone who needs to file a separate tax return for their business, has a partnership, owns an S or C Corp, is part of a multi-member LLC, or manages a trust/estate.

What it includes: Five federal e-files in addition to unlimited W-2 and Form 1099 prep for employees and contractors; the ability to import QuickBooks data; a tool that calculates asset depreciation; help with industry-specific deductions (from advertising to travel); and extra tips for new businesses.

Amazon’s 30% discount brings it down to just $104.99 (typically $149.99).

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Netflix has officially ordered not one, but two more seasons of Emily in Paris starring Lily Collins.

The second season of the fish-out-of-water comedy series dropped on Dec. 23 and debuted in the Netflix Top 10. Ever since its 2020 premiere, Emily in Paris has proved to be a breezy binge and veritable meme factory. Is it good? Does anything happen? Has anyone on the show ever used social media? These are questions that no longer matter, and maybe never did. Emily in Paris is now one of our few chaotic constants in this world, and we must accept it.

Watch Emily in Paris on Netflix.

The metaverse, a VR playground Mark Zuckerberg is forcing down everyone’s throats, might threaten to consume us all over the next few years. However, it seems Apple CEO Tim Cook isn’t buying what Zuck is selling yet.

That’s if Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is to be believed, anyway.

Gurman wrote in his weekly Power On newsletter that Apple won’t participate in the metaverse zeitgeist, most recently accelerated by Meta, even with plans to release its own mixed reality headset possibly as soon as this year. The excerpt in question is in the subscribers-only section of the newsletter, but Gurman shared it for everyone on Twitter.

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“I’ve been told pretty directly that the idea of a completely virtual world where users can escape to — like they can in Meta Platforms/Facebook’s vision of the future — is off limits from Apple,” Gurman wrote.

He went on to say that Apple wants the headset to be used for “bursts of gaming, communication, and content consumption” rather than lengthy VR excursions like the ones Meta seems intent on bringing to the world.

Apple’s currently unconfirmed and unnamed headset is said to have two 8K displays as well as a significant focus on augmented reality. In other words, Apple plans on users spending more time looking at the real world around them than an Oculus Quest allows, lending some credence to Gurman’s prediction.

Though we have yet to hear a firm “no” from Apple itself, the company’s stance, as described by Gurman, would be an encouraging one for anyone who’s suspicious of big tech’s metaverse push. Now you’ve got at least one big tech titan on your side. They’ll still try to sell you an expensive cyber helmet, but at least you probably won’t wear it for all your work meetings.

Save for one day only: The TCL 55-inch Class 4-Series LED 4K TV is just $319.99 — $130 off its usual price — at Best Buy. You’ll want to act fast, as this 29% savings is active through Jan. 10 only as part a flash sale.

Now that we’ve officially started a new year, you might be looking to refresh some spaces in your home. Maybe you’ve been thinking about getting finally getting that new TV for your living room, but also want to avoid folding on your “save money” resolution so soon. Don’t worry, we’ve got a solution for you.

As of Jan. 10, you can grab the TCL 55-inch Class 4-Series LED 4K TV for just $319.99 at Best Buy. Its affordable price, size, and smart TV capabilities make it a solid choice for those investing in their first TV, or for those ready to add a second TV to their space.

The 4K LED screen makes your picture pop with plenty of color contrast and brightness. It also runs Android TV, so all your fave streaming apps will be ready to use the first time you turn it on. It’s also compatible with Google Assistant, so you can run these fun features and more with just the sound of your voice.

While this TV is no top-of-the-line OLED, it does provide quality picture, good sound, and smart capabilities for a fraction of the price of fancier models. Sounds like a good deal to us.

Explore related content:

• The best 4K TVs: For gamers, Netflix binge-watchers, and everyone else

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Anyone who turned on a TV in the 1990s is a little sadder today, as beloved comedian and actor Bob Saget has died at the age of 65.

Saget played Danny, the patriarch of the Tanner family, on Full House from 1987 to 1995 (and its Netflix revival Fuller House from 2016 to 2020). He was also the long-serving host of America’s Funniest Home Videos between 1989 and 1997, and the warm-voiced narrator of How I Met Your Mother (2005 to 2014), as the never-seen older version of protagonist Ted Mosby.

While that’s more titanic success than most working actors ever get to see, Saget’s uniqueness in pop culture stemmed just as much from his more crass and adult-oriented comedy as it did from his wholesome sitcom persona. There can’t be more than a handful of Gen Xers across America who don’t fondly recall seeing Saget’s post-Full House coming-out moment in the pot comedy Half Baked, where this lovable TV family man suddenly showed up as a recovering drug addict with a bluntly profane point to make.

Saget was reportedly found unresponsive in a hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando on Sunday, and pronounced dead at the scene, the Orlando Sheriff’s department confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. The department said that there were no signs of foul play or drug use.

The comedian had performed in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday night, and posted a warm message to social media about the show. “I had no idea I did a 2 hr set tonight,” he said in the final post. “I’m happily addicted again to this shit.”

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Saget’s signature mixture of raunchy humor and kind sincerity both took the spotlight on Sunday evening as fans, friends, and peers flooded Twitter with emotional and shocked posts. For all the nods to Half Baked and his other hilariously offensive work, almost all made a point of also highlighting the kindness of this multi-faceted entertainer.

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When Euphoria premiered in 2019, Sam Levinson’s dark portrait of modern adolescence shocked audiences. The Emmy-winning HBO drama wasn’t wholly reduced to on-screen penis tallies, but the series’ toxically cool material made it notoriously controversial. Levinson’s no-holds-barred approach to drugs, sex, and violence, paired with Euphoria‘s super popular costume and makeup aesthetic, worried critics who felt it glorified dangerous behavior for teens. Fans argued it was precisely that rebelliousness that made Euphoria‘s oozing angst exceptional.

Then, against the backdrop of the 2020-2021 holiday season, Levinson released two Euphoria specials that were notably tamer. The restrictions of the pandemic made the dialogue-heavy episodes smaller in scope and more intellectually complex. Each focused on main characters Rue (Zendaya) and Jules (Hunter Schafer) in a Marriage Story-esque narrative that finally got into the guts of the star couple’s tumultuous romance and innate incompatibilities through lengthy, intimate scenes. The specials were cozier and sadder than anything we’d seen from the show or Levinson before.

Two years into a global crisis, “Euphoria” feels remarkably grown up in its broadening of traditional teen narratives for an audience permeated by insecurity and fear at all ages. 

It is from these dueling phases of Euphoria that its triumphant second season emerges at the start of 2022. The seven episodes provided to critics (there will be eight in total, released week to week) are as stupefyingly bold as any of Season 1. But in Season 2, Euphoria‘s flagrant disregard for mainstream acceptability is elevated by an earned confidence in Levinson’s writing and direction, making the series’ ballsy bluster feel better justified. If previous episodes left you wondering what the kids of East Highland High School were being put through all this emotional, psychological, and even physical hell “for,” these new installments defend and deepen the meaning of that suffering expertly.

Maybe I’m projecting. But two years into a global crisis, Euphoria feels remarkably grown up in its broadening of traditional teen narratives for an audience permeated by insecurity and fear at all ages. 

Dominic Fike as Elliot.
Credit: HBO

Levinson achieves this growth, at least in part, by incorporating more adult characters, highlighting the downward spiral of Nate’s father Cal (Eric Dane), relentless optimism of Rue’s mother Leslie (Nika King), and quiet alcoholism of Lexi and Cassie’s mother Suze (Alanna Ubach). As the parents of Euphoria lose control of themselves — having lost any control of their children during, or long before, the events of Season 1 — the sense that this entire community is hurtling into chaos grows stronger. This show has always been about a feeling of panicked helplessness, the sort of intangible anxiety you never really age out of, and this season every character exhibits that tortured state of mind at one point or another. 

The plot mirrors this emotional precariousness through an unpredictability that pairs enormous suspense with hyper-articulate character work. As with real teenagers, the time between revelation and reaction is lightning quick. At the end of the breakneck premiere, a miscalculation from Nate (Jacob Elordi) and a meltdown from Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) kicks off a season-long saga with Maddy (Alexa Demie) that never lets up. Simultaneously, Rue’s addiction drives her further into dysfunction and deception as she reassesses her relationship with Jules and befriends newcomer Elliot (Dominic Fike). (This culminates in the best hour the series has ever seen, by the way.)

In the periphery, Lexi (Maude Apatow) and Fezco (Angus Cloud) find an unlikely connection, even as Fezco’s illegal business with his brother Ashtray (Javon Walton) grows more dangerous through a host of new characters.

Sydney Sweeney as Cassie.
Credit: HBO

Occasional wisdom is offered by Rue’s sponsor Ali (Colman Domingo) and the wealthy mother of a kid Maddy babysits (Minka Kelly). But for the most part, Euphoria makes its second outing stick by letting the action fly and leaving the audience to watch its cataclysmic consequences. The fallout is less predictable than last season — no one gets pregnant, for example — but it’s still Levinson’s expert rendering of all-consuming emotion that makes these various storylines, touching on a dozen different corners of life, work as a coherent whole. 

That doesn’t make for an especially relaxing Sunday night show — though the nail-biting agony is eased by Levinson’s blending of reality and fantasy. The series’ characteristically trippy sequences return this time around with a second classroom lecture from Rue, a Martin Scorsese homage with Fezco, a Lexi stage play episode, and more. If it can be said that Levinson ever loses his way, then it is in some — but not many — of these reality-bending moments. There are those that are spectacular, but there are others that feel superfluous, bordering on hammy. Kat (Barbie Ferreira) suffers especially. Her provocative online sex work plotline from Season 1 morphs into a snooze-worthy drama with her boyfriend Ethan (Austin Abrams) that culminates in some fantasy sequences, including a dated Game of Thrones reference, that made me cringe.

Angus Cloud as Fezco.
Credit: HBO

Still, Euphoria‘s intoxicating blend of striking music, visuals, and supercharged feeling makes for a dream-like watch. From intimate betrayals to public humiliations, the agony of these newest episodes channel existential themes beyond the outrage of one generation; and Levinson delivers them in enough style to make the discomfort of that broad, cynical thesis bearable. Not to mention, Zendaya is at a career-best with a performance so dazzling they might as well engrave her trophies now.

Over the next eight weeks, you can expect a steady trickle of obsession-worthy television reaching new heights in its sophomore season. That said, waiting until it’s out might be smart. Euphoria Season 2 is an electrifying ride you won’t want to wait for.

Euphoria Season 2 premieres Jan. 9 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO Max.

The annual CES technology conference closed out at more than 170 mph on Friday with the Indy Autonomous Challenge.

The autonomous race car competition came to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway with five teams from seven universities racing self-driving cars for the first place title and $150,000.

Team PoliMOVE from Politecnico di Milano in Italy and the University of Alabama beat out Team TUM Autonomous Motorsport from the Technische Universität München in Germany in the final head-to-head race.

The race was close with Team TUM spinning out at the end. But TUM couldn’t catch up from behind nor keep up with PoliMOVE’s record speed of 173 mph.

TUM had won the original race in October at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Like at the October race, every team at CES competed with the same Dallara AV-21 race car outfitted with top-of-the-line sensor equipment including LiDAR from sensor maker Luminar for measuring distance with lasers.

More clips from the race are on Twitch and YouTube.

Your iPhone background and lock screen aren’t the only things you can customize on the Apple handset.

The digital keyboard you use for typing can transform from the drab QWERTY layout into a portal for typing in French, Chinese, Portuguese, and most of the world’s languages. You can also use the keyboard to spice up your texting with GIFs, emoji, memes, and stickers. Other custom keyboards change the layout of the keys or how you type.

Let’s explore how to take your typing beyond the standard, default keyboard.

Languages

The easiest way to change up your keyboard is to add more language options. For an iPhone follow these steps to add as many options as you’d like.

• Open Settings and find General

• Within General you’ll see “Keyboards”

• Click on that and you’ll see all the keyboards already loaded

• At the bottom of the list click “Add New Keyboard”

• From there you can scroll through or search through all available languages (it’s a long list from Ainu to Welsh)

  

  Add a new keyboard on the bottom.

  Credit: Sasha Lekach / Mashable

  

  And make a selection from a long list of language options.

  Credit: Sasha Lekach / Mashable

Layouts

A bevy of apps let you redesign your keyboard.

Typewise arranges the keys into an easier-to-type honeycomb shape, while apps like Microsoft’s SwiftKey let you type by swiping from key to key (a feature iOS has since adopted) and use a different text prediction tool.

Hexagons for better typing.
Credit: Typewise

KeyPro gives you fonts and skins for a more colorful keyboard arrangement, as do other apps like iKeyboard and Kika Keyboard.

Get creative.
Credit: Screenshot: Apple App Store

Fun stuff

If you want easy access to GIFs and memes, you can download different keyboard apps to do just that.

Google’s Gboard is known for being the ultimate keyboard alternative. You can search for GIFs, emoji, photos, even restaurants and other locations and put those directly into your text.

Search Google right on your keyboard.
Credit: Screenshot: Apple App Store

The straight-forward GIF Keyboard is made just for searching for GIFs from GIF site Tenor, since who needs words if there isn’t an image?

Grammarly even has a keyboard to keep typos and poor grammar out of your texts.

A grammar keyboard? Yes.
Credit: Screenshot: Apple App Store

There’s something for everyone.

There are two kinds of people in this world: People who have been late to an event because they cannot find their keys or wallet or purse, and people who are liars.

Apple’s AirTag, a tracking device released on April 30, 2021, set out to fix that first group’s problem. Designed to act as a key finder, the tool can also be slapped on an animals’ collar, tucked into a bag, or, yes, even attached to a car or a person. 

But what actually is an AirTag? 

Apple AirTags are built for your keychain — each unit is 1.26 inches in diameter, which is about twice the size of a quarter. Starting at $29, the water-resistant tool uses Apple’s Find My network and Bluetooth signals to connect your phone with the tag and guide you to your misplaced item. It’s compatible with any iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch device capable of running iOS and iPadOS 14.5 or later. If you’re familiar with other Bluetooth trackers, like Tile or Chipolo, the Apple ones work pretty much the same way.

Is it customizable?

Like most Apple products, the AirTag is customizable. You can get them individually or in a four-pack, and the only thing you can do specifically to the product itself is to engrave it, which is free. But that metal circle will need an attachment if you want to hook it to a keychain or a pet’s collar — in its most basic form, an AirTag really only works to slip into your wallet or purse.

You can get seven different colors of leather key rings, five different colors of a leather loop, or four different colors of the classic loop. If you venture outside of Apple, there are tons of AirTag accessories you can get elsewhere, including Belkin, Otterbox, Amazon, and Neiman Marcus. Apple also has a collaboration with Hermès, if you’re down to drop a few hundred dollars.

How do I use it?

Connect your AirTag with your Apple hardware by following the steps outlined in the Find My section of your device. Once you’re all set up, attach the AirTag to whatever you lose most (keys, wallet, TV remote). Now, if you misplace your item, you can either go to your Find My app or, if you use voice-activated features, say “Hey Siri, find my keys.” The AirTag will play a sound, and you can follow it to your missing item. Your phone can also lead you to it with “precision finding,” which will point you toward your AirTag with a compass-like arrow.

If your item isn’t nearby — like you left your wallet in an Uber or your keys at a friends’ house — you can put your AirTag into lost mode. That way, when it’s detected by an in-network device, you’ll get a notification about its location.

What about privacy

AirTags, or any digital trackers, naturally bring up plenty of privacy concerns. Apple reports that the entire online process of using an AirTag is anonymous and encrypted: You’re the only person who can see where your AirTag is, and your location data and history aren’t stored on the AirTag itself, meaning that even Apple doesn’t know the location of your device.

That opens into the whole concern about unwanted tracking. Theoretically, you could absolutely drop an AirTag into someone’s backpack or slip it onto someone’s car to track them. But there are a few safety features put in place that can potentially keep unwanted tracking at bay. If someone else’s AirTag is in your vicinity and traveling around with you, your phone will notice it and send you an alert. And if you can’t find where it’s hiding, the AirTag will play a noise to help you. Those alerts only get sent if the device is separated from its owner.