If you get a million app notifications a day, and have become numb to the important ones, iOS 15’s Notification Summary feature is about to be your new best friend.

Notification Summary will let you zero in on what you might call your “important-but-overwhelming-due-to-constant-pestering” apps, and receive a summary report of their notifications for you to review at a time of your own choosing. By default, you’ll get your report twice a day, but you can opt to see it anywhere from once to 12 times a day.

To get your personalized app updates in a format that won’t immediately induce a headache, follow this step-by-step guide.

1. Go to Settings, and tap on Notifications

Searching through the many iPhone settings can sometimes be a long haul. Luckily, the Notifications settings are right near the top of the list.

2. Tap “Scheduled Summary”

And our luck continues! The “Scheduled Summary” feature is also near the top of the Notifications settings, right under “Show Previews.”

3. Toggle on the feature

If this is your first time setting up your summary, the next screen should also be very simple: just one toggle button. Tap it, watch it go green, and an Apple pop-up instruction box should appear.

4. Follow the prompts and choose your preferred summary schedule

The initial setup screen will show time options for a first and second daily summary. Choose your times, and tap on the red minus button if you only want one summary per day, or the blue plus button if you want more than two per day.

5. Choose what apps you want summarized

The next screen will show what apps can be included in the daily summaries. This will include both system apps, like Phone and Messages, and downloaded apps, like Instagram and TikTok.

If there’s an app you want included in your summary but don’t see on the list, make sure you have allowed that individual app to send notifications. To check this, go back to the general Notifications settings, and scroll down to the specific app.

6. Edit as you please

If you later decide you don’t want scheduled summaries, want different apps included in the summaries, or want them delivered at different times, you can edit all of this in the Scheduled Summary settings menu. This will now display when you tap on “Scheduled Summary,” since you have completed the initial setup.

And there you have it! You now have slightly more control over how often your phone bugs you, and you can rest easy knowing that you won’t miss anything important.

A robot gave me a manicure last week.

Let me stop you before you envision a bipedal humanoid carefully dipping a brush into a bottle and lacquering my nails. Instead, the experience felt more like inserting my hand into a 3D printer.

Cameras inside an oversized microwave-like purple box scanned each fingernail. Then a small tube of purple-gray polish that I had loaded into a front-facing compartment like a printer cartridge started “painting” my nails one by one in a circular pattern. But the tube only started painting after I clearly said, “Ready” — or hit a button on the touchscreen — with my hand in position, making sure to keep still. It wasn’t even painting as much as calculated squirting, since there wasn’t a brush.

After about 10 minutes of inserting and re-inserting my fingers into the machine, my fingertips were neatly and consistently polished. All for under $8.

The process reminded me of those key-copying machines at home improvement stores, where you stick in your key and after some noise and moving parts, you have a new copy. Instead, the key was my finger, and the big box was one of two robots from the robotics company Clockwork.

Clockwork’s “lab,” a storefront in San Francisco’s hip Marina District, is the first known nail salon to feature any robot nail techs. It’s something of a pop-up for at least the next few months as the company tests the machines. Appointments are booked solid into July.

This robotic experience wasn’t devoid of human contact. Far from it. Two Clockwork employees, including the recently hired director of business development and operations, Tracy Torhan, welcomed guests, helped us select from 10 color options (ranging from dark reds to bright blues and greens), and explained how everything worked. If any customers came in with old polish, these two helped remove it.

Near the two humans, the two Clockwork machines sat on tables across from each other. Even though the machines’ screens clearly explain what to do, taking you through each step on how to position your hands and fingers, some guidance from the humans helped things run more smoothly. For instance, when I sat waiting for the tube to start painting but hadn’t pushed my finger far enough into the hand slot, the humans gave a helpful nudge or suggestion: “Just a bit more until you hear the click.” The robot doesn’t have that personal touch.

With 10 fingers, you have enough time to get into the rhythm and cadence of the robotic dance. By the time I inserted my last pinky into the soft plastic strap used to keep each finger in the right spot and grabbed the hand rest that I clicked into place for each finger, I was already envisioning coming back for another manicure. I was impressed, not just with the low price but also the efficiency. It was faster, so exacting, and more consistent, with no stroke lines compared to a traditional manicure.

Eventually I would be a pro, I imagined, with no need for a human to remove the paint for a re-do like I needed on one of my smudged thumbs after the robot painted it. I’d be in and out within roughly 10 minutes, not including the time to let my nails air dry. The next time I wouldn’t be distracted by the novelty of the machine and human-free process. I’d also know how to position my hands so that my painted thumb wouldn’t nick the side of the hand rest in the future.

This is a bare-bones manicure: no pedicures, gel paint, acrylics, designs, or French tips. There’s a single coat of polish, and no nail clipping, trimming, cuticle removal, buffing, or filing. And there are no hand massages with lots of lotion. The nails you came in with will look and feel the same on the way out, just with some color on them.

But the whole thing cost just $7.99, pre-paid online or at the store through a digital wallet. No tip. No awkward money exchange. No stilted small talk. And this is where it gets uncomfortable. It was almost too easy, too fast, too efficient, too cheap. (The workers assured me that each manicure uses a high-quality, though unnamed, polish.)

You’re lucky to find a traditional manicure in a city like San Francisco for $15, not including a tip. It takes time (about an hour) and requires a person to deal with your fingers and nail clippings and the grime underneath your nails. It can be awkward to pay someone to pamper you for this purely aesthetic, unnecessary beauty ritual.

But the nail industry is also a major job source, even if it’s a dangerous workplace, especially for undocumented workers. In New York City alone, there are more than 4,000 salons, according to the New York Nail Salon Workers Association. During the COVID pandemic, as many as 80 percent of nail salon workers in the city didn’t qualify for federal assistance even though most salons shut down, permanently closed, or drastically cut hours, as Allure magazine reported.

Now salons are reopening, and there’s even more competition — from a contact-free nail technician that doesn’t want your tip and isn’t poisoned by salon fumes and chemicals. Automation is coming for more and more jobs in trucking, manufacturing, retail, and healthcare: as many as 20 million by 2030, according to a study from Oxford Economics. For the beauty industry, robots have typically been more involved in cosmetics production as opposed to providing the services. More robots interacting with customers could make nail work healthier by taking the brunt of workplace risks, and yet, what happens to human workers when their jobs are taken over by robot techs?

Clockwork’s CEO Renuka Apte, a Georgia Tech computer science alum with a background in engineering, doesn’t intend to run nail salons out of business or replace human nail workers. Instead, the Bay Area-based company views itself as complementary, for in-between appointments. In the New York Times, the CEO called her service “minicures.” Clockwork claims it could be incorporated into a salon, working alongside nail workers for touch-ups and quick re-colorings. The lab location in SF is more about proof-of-concept than a long-term salon setup.

Ideally, Clockwork wants other businesses (whether they be traditional beauty salons or apartment buildings looking to offer better amenities) to lease or buy its manicure machines.

Clockwork —formerly known as Marionet AI when it first formed as a beauty tech company in 2017 — recently emerged out of stealth mode after raising its first round of $3 million from Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian’s venture firm, Initialized Capital. Now it’s anything but stealthy.

TikToks, Instagrams, YouTube videos, and selfies of robo-painted nails are peppering the internet and blowing up discussions about our inevitable robot takeover. The robotic nail salon even made it onto a recent episode of NPR’s weekend quiz show, “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me” as a part of a limerick clue: “When your fingers come out, they’ll look so hot…manicures done by a robot.”

Other nail tech is popping up, but that’s more focused on the at-home experience, like the ManiMe app that ships custom 3D-printed nail stickers after photographing your hands. Or the Nimble home manicure machine with a robotic arm that brushes on polish; it’s already fully backed on Kickstarter.

A steady stream of passersby stopped by during my Friday afternoon appointment to check out what was behind the sign in the window that read, “The First Robot Manicure for Unstoppable Humans.”

The company keeps collected camera footage of your fingernails for about 24 hours, but that’s to train and improve the machine-learning algorithm. As the bot made its public debut less than two months ago, it’s still learning more about different types of nail shapes, sizes, and lengths. Each day Clockwork engineers overview what mistakes and issues came up from the “lab” appointments, like when a nail needed to be repainted because of a missing spot or uneven painting. Data from my manicure should help with future shorter nails after the machine glossed a small smudge onto my fingertips beyond the nails.

Maybe next it’ll learn how to do pedicures.

Sometimes feedback in the form of comments is welcome on Facebook posts. Other times, not so much. For those moments you may be wondering how to turn off commenting on your Facebook posts, the short answer is: You can’t. Facebook states: “Unfortunately, the functionality to disable comments on your posts is not currently available. Anyone included in the privacy setting of your post will be able to view, like, and comment on your post.”

You can, however, stop commenting on posts in a Facebook group page. Bear in mind, you must be a group admin or a moderator of the group to turn off commenting on a post in a group.

How to turn off comments on a Facebook group post

It’s a quick and simple job to turn off comments on a Facebook group post. Simply click on the three dots icon at the top right of the post.

From the options that pop up, tap on “Turn off commenting.” Comments will now be disabled.

How to hide posts from a certain person or people

While you can’t turn off comments outright in non-group posts, there are some other workarounds. If you have a particular person, or people, who regularly make annoying comments on your posts, it is possible to hide your posts from them. Here’s what to do:

When you create a post, look for the “Friends” dropdown menu underneath your name.

Click this. In the window that pops up, look for the “Friends except…” option.

Click this, and select the person or people you want to hide the post from.

How to hide comments containing certain words from your profile

Another thing you can do for your personal Facebook profile is to hide comments containing certain words. You can generate a personalized list of up to 1,000 words which, if someone uses one or more of them in a comment, will result in the comment automatically being hidden.

To set this up, click on the triangular icon at the top right of your Facebook and select “Settings and privacy.”

In the “Settings and privacy” menu, select “Settings.” Now look to the left of your screen and select “Profile and tagging.” In the “Viewing and sharing” section, look for the option to “Hide comments containing certain words from your profile.” Click “Edit.”

This gives you the option to “choose a list of words, phrases, or emojis that you want to hide from your profile.” Enter your undesirable words in the text box, and click “Save.”

Now, if anyone comments on any of your Facebook posts and uses one of those words or phrases, the comment will automatically be hidden from you and everyone else. Only the person who posted the comment will still be able to see it.

The obvious hack here: If you enter a ton of commonly used words as your words that mean the comment gets hidden, it’s unlikely that many comments will pass your filter.

Whether you’re selling an Apple Watch, giving it away, or trading it in for a newer model, you’ll want to make sure that all your content and data are fully wiped from the device.

But the reset options might require a little digging around within the Settings to find. So, we’re going to break down the steps for you.

Here’s how to reset your Apple Watch.

Reset using your Apple Watch

If you don’t mind carrying out important tasks on a tiny screen, your data wipe can be performed on the watch itself. Simply head to Settings and tap General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. If your watch is password protected, you’ll then be prompted to enter it. From there, tap ‘Erase All’ and your Apple Watch will reset to back to factory settings.

If you have a GPS + Cellular model with a data plan, nothing will happen to your actual plan (which will be fine if you’re upgrading). But if you’re going watch-free, you’ll want to cancel via your carrier, or use the Watch app on your phone.

Reset using your iPhone

You can also perform the whole reset on your iPhone. Open the Watch App, tap General > Reset > Erase Apple Watch Content and Settings.

And if you do have that cellular plan mentioned above, you can remove it right from the Watch App. All you have to do is tap ‘Remove All Cellular Plans.’

If you just want to unpair your Apple Watch from your iPhone (without factory resetting it), tap ‘All Watches’ on the Watch App and then the information icon on the right. From there, tap on ‘Unpair Apple Watch.’

Despite being a writer who specializes in motherhood, I didn’t buy my first nursing bra until I had my second daughter this past February. Since I work from the privacy of my home, I can breastfeed her easily, so I never thought I needed to invest in a nursing bra, let alone a pumping one. (Because I’m at home, I don’t pump much anyway.)

But here’s the other side of that: When I do pump (before bed or if I miss a feeding), I dread it. I never feel like I produce as much milk as when I breastfeed (which might be an accurate assessment, as some research suggests that a baby’s suckling is more effective than a breast pump’s work). My arms wind up tired from holding the bottles. I fear clogged ducts (even though I’ve never had one). Mostly, I just dread it.

Enter: the Lilu Massage Bra, a hands-free pumping bra that mimics compression massage, a technique shown to help increase and maintain milk supply and make pumping easier. I’ve been using it for three weeks to write this article, and I really like it. Not only that, I think it works.

Does the Lilu Massage Bra actually work?

Your first question is likely, “do you actually pump more milk when you use this bra?” To that, my short answer is yes.

Every time I have used Lilu’s bra while pumping, I have noticed that I have pumped more milk than I usually do, even at the end of the day when supply tends to be at its lowest. This leads me to believe that the bra’s compression massage—it’s actually quite relaxing—does indeed help me better empty my breasts. (For what it’s worth, the brand says you could pump up to 50 percent more milk each session. While I haven’t found that significant of an increase, I have noticed a bump.)

As for the claims about increasing and maintaining milk supply, I’m not sure. I’ve never had an issue with milk supply, nor am I looking to increase my supply. I’d be inclined to say that I do notice a slight increase in supply overall while using this bra (even just using it once or twice a day), but it’s not something that’s overly noticeable. Though if you were using this bra as part of a regular pumping routine, it could have an impact on your overall supply.

What’s it like to use the Lilu Massage Bra?

Baby and motherhood products that promise the moon and come with multi-page instructional packets scare me. (Just the other day, I spent 30 minutes sitting on my kitchen floor installing a battery in a play sink for my two-year-old; something I thought would be a two-minute process.)

But using Lilu’s bra is surprisingly easy. The directions are simple and easy to read, too. Even if you didn’t read them, you’d figure out how to use the bra.

All you have to do to start the massage once wearing the bra (you just put it on like you would any other bra and slip the pump flanges through openings) is push a button. From there, it’s nothing fancy: The massager works at two speeds, high and low.

What does it do well (and is there anything terrible about it)?

Anyone who’s bought any item of maternity clothes (bras included) knows that sizing can be incredibly variable, making the process of shopping frustrating.

I was impressed by the sizing chart on Lilu’s website that is easy-to-use. Based on your current bra size, the chart suggests sizing for the Lilu (S-XL).

I also think this bra does what it’s supposed to do in a functional way with an added benefit of making the pumping process easier (no hands!).

Some drawbacks: My first thought upon opening the Lilu was that it was heavy (though it doesn’t feel heavy when you wear it). The cute bag it comes in is a tight squeeze for the bra and its bulky massage parts. I also find the bra’s plastic clasp to be a bit cheap.

In a market of sleek and semi-silent wearable pumps (the Willow, the Elvie) the Lilu’s noise also stands out. It isn’t discreet or quiet, though I doubt that it was designed to be either. Frankly, I don’t really care. I use it in the privacy of my living room when the kids are asleep, and I’d trade a little bit of noise and clunk for efficacy any day.

Who’s it good for?

It’s hard to say who the Lilu massage bra is best for. I like it and I’ll continue using it, but I also don’t know if I would have bought the Lilu to begin with because I didn’t think I’d need it or like it. It’s also expensive, though the company states that the bra can be paid for with funds from a Flexible Spending Account or Health Savings Account. You should confirm eligibility with your insurance carrier.

If you work in an office and are pumping every three hours or so, you might find it annoying (and a little bit more time-intensive) to put the bra on multiple times a day. The company notes you can wear the bra over a nursing bra and you can—I’ve tried it. (But personally, I might just suck it up and hold the pump versus undressing and dressing for pumping sessions.)

But I could also be wrong: Maybe if you work in an office and you’re sick of holding your pump to your breasts every three hours and you’re worried about supply or you just want to sit back and (try to) relax for a few minutes, this could be for you. A pleasant surprise for me is that this bra truly does allow you to do just that: relax a little bit.

And that’s one of the main benefits I’ve noticed. Even though it’s a bit of a nuisance to put on the bra before you pump (it is, after all, just another *thing* you need), the Lilu does eliminate some of the work and stress of pumping—and there’s some research to suggest that simple relaxation goes a far way in helping to increase your supply and help you remove more milk.

So would I suggest you or a friend buy it? If you’re stressed about pumping, sick of holding your pump on your own, and hoping to increase supply, I’d say give the Lilu a shot.

The Fourth of July is a weird time for James DeMonaco.

“It’s become almost like ‘Purge Day’ in my life,” the creator of Universal’s popular action horror franchise jokes over Zoom. “I try to hide a little bit from it because I get overwhelmed, but [the movies] have definitely changed the meaning of the holiday for me.”

“I didn’t want to do another one unless we could flip The Purge upside down.”

Set in a dystopian America where all crime, including murder, is legal one night per year, The Purge is a touchstone reference among horror fans — and, thanks to some clever marketing and well-timed release dates, is closely associated with Fourth of July weekend. So, ever since unleashing The Purge onto unsuspecting audiences in 2013, DeMonaco has spent summer after summer promoting new chapters in his savage satire. You know, fireworks and hotdogs, murder and mayhem.

But as moviegoers flock back to theaters this Independence Day, the first after one of the most politically fraught times in our nation’s recent history, DeMonaco is breaking the Purge mold with The Forever Purge. It’s a sprawling thriller that opens up exciting possibilities for the franchise that could take us far away from the U.S.A. — and maybe give DeMonaco back his holiday weekend — if we get another sequel.

“I didn’t want to do [The Forever Purge] unless we could flip The Purge upside down,” DeMonaco explains of the fifth film in the series, directed by Everardo Valerio Gout. “Then, something hit me. Purgers are not people who listen to laws, so why would they ever stop?”

“I’ve always said you can’t contain this; it’s a virus of hatred.”

Viciously expanding on the pulpy patriotism of the New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA) — a pro-Purge political party we got to know better in The Purge: Election Year (2016) — The Forever Purge focuses on a rogue group of Purgers intent on keeping the country’s lawless night of ultraviolence going year-round. By the film’s terrifying end, they’ve succeeded, and, just as the NFFA loses power, what these aggressors call the “Ever After Purge” takes hold.

“I’ve always said you can’t contain this; it’s a virus of hatred,” DeMonaco explains, referencing Purge Night’s long history of targeting vulnerable groups, including people of color and the poor. “That was where [this idea] started taking off — this idea that you can no longer contain the Purge to one evening, that people are not going to listen to that final siren, that they’re going to keep going.”

This apocalyptic “end to America,” as DeMonaco describes it, sends U.S. citizens not so keen on living in Mad Max times fleeing to foreign countries. And, in a not at all subtle nod to the Mexico-U.S. border crisis, The Forever Purge’s final scene sees its surviving heroes actually escape from Texas to Mexico, where the first post-United States “American” baby is born on Mexican soil.

“We’ve always wanted to go international with it.”

But the destruction of America — a country supposedly “reborn” through this night of barbarity — doesn’t mean the Purge is over for fans of the franchise.

“Four months ago, if you asked me if there was going to be a Purge 6, I would be like, ‘No way, it’s over. Purge 5, that was it,'” DeMonaco says. “Then I woke up one day and I had an idea.”

Although The Forever Purge was previously thought to be the last movie in this hellish storyline, DeMonaco says a sixth Purge movie could see the Purge tradition/holiday/horror show spread across the globe. It’s an idea DeMonaco had been workshopping for a Purge TV series, but now seems better suited to the big screen.

“We’ve always wanted to go international with it,” the screenwriter says, adding the script he’s currently working on features the return of fan favorite character Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo).

“American culture spreads throughout the world… In the fictional world of the Purge, the Purge might spread too. So we’ve always wanted to explore that.”

The Forever Purge is in theaters on July 1.

Mars is dusty. Like, really dusty. And that dust may suffocate NASA’s InSight mission.

InSight sits on the surface of Mars measuring marsquakes and observing the local weather, powering itself with a pair of solar arrays that soak up energy from the sun. Since it landed in November 2018, InSight has been operating for more than 920 sols (Mars days), equal to about 940 Earth days.

That’s seven months longer than its planned two-year mission. In that time, dust has obscured around 80 percent of the arrays, InSight’s principal investigator Bruce Banerdt shared in a presentation on June 21.

The team expects to keep InSight running through the summer, but as that dust keeps piling up, it won’t be able to press on much longer.

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Along with his work on InSight, Banerdt was project scientist on the Mars Exploration Rover Project, which launched the solar-powered Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity in 2003. He’s been dealing with Martian dust for years.

“Dust is definitely up there as one of our major design challenges,” he said in an interview. “My black piano notwithstanding, we don’t really have a lot of dust on Earth compared to Mars.”

“My black piano notwithstanding, we don’t really have a lot of dust on Earth compared to Mars.”

Where there are rocks, there is erosion, and where there is erosion, there is dust. On Earth, 71 percent of the surface is water, and when dust touches water, it sticks to it and eventually gets deposited on the ocean floor. Mars is notably devoid of water, so all the dust that’s blowing around just keeps blowing around, sometimes even resulting in planet-wide dust storms.

Shortly before InSight landed, Opportunity found itself in such a storm, which blocked out the sun for multiple sols. Having run for 14 years on the red planet, the storm was too much for Opportunity’s solar panels. Last contact with the rover was made on June 10, 2018, just a few days into the storm.

Spirit and Opportunity were both encumbered by dust at various points in their journeys, but the rovers caught breaks that InSight just can’t seem to match: cleaning events. Strong Martian winds can blow dust off of technology, giving them much-needed power boosts and prolonging their operations.

“We think this is because of dust devils, or more precisely ‘atmospheric vortices,’ that actually passed over the spacecraft,” Banerdt said, referring to the rovers’ cleaning events. “We hoped that we would experience the same thing with InSight.”

Alas, it seems that there just aren’t as many dust devils spinning around InSight’s landing site as there were around Spirit and Opportunity. If a cleaning event does happen for InSight though, it could remain in action for a long, long time.

Learning from the dust

As we spend more time exploring Mars, scientists can develop new strategies to tackle problems like dust in the future.

“[InSight] is the first mission that was actually designed to last a long time” Banerdt said. “We didn’t really have a lot of a lot of information and data to go on.”

As it happens, solar arrays tend to maintain an electric charge, as do particles banging around in the sun’s radiation on Mars. That means the dust is extra attracted to solar arrays.

Future missions could use special coatings on arrays to make them less adhesive, or even a grid of electrical wires above the arrays that a spacecraft could run a charge through and zap dust off, Banerdt said. Another option involves double-sided arrays set on a revolving joint that could flip over every couple of years.

For InSight, the team has found a method that sometimes helps to push some dust off the arrays: Pouring sand on them. Using a scoop, InSight grabbed some sand and dropped it upwind of a solar array. As the grains blew over, they picked up some dust, giving InSight a measurable power boost. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always seem to be very effective.

“People are always asking us why we don’t just put wipers on to clean them off,” Banerdt said. “The main reason we don’t do that is because of weight and complexity. It’s not a trivial thing to set something up there with motors, and rubber doesn’t work very well in a vacuum with an oxidizing environment.”

In the future, astronauts on Mars could just sweep a rover’s solar arrays every once in a while. Or future rovers could just rely on nuclear power, like NASA’s Perseverance and Curiosity rovers.

But using nuclear power is expensive. Perseverance’s plutonium-based power supply cost NASA $75 million. Solar arrays are much cheaper.

Nuclear power involves environmental risks, too. If something went wrong, radiation could contaminate parts of Mars and ruin the results of future research missions.

“People are always asking us why we don’t just put wipers on to clean them off.”

If astronauts make it to Mars, dust could also be a serious health problem.

“The dust might be kind of toxic,” Banerdt said. “Mars is a very oxidizing environment, and the ultraviolet radiation hitting the ground is not filtered out by the atmosphere. So the dust could be kind of reactive, and probably not deeply poisonous, but could be very irritable to lungs and mucous membranes and things like that.”

Over long periods of time, dust can mess with a rover’s other parts, even corroding wheels. Spirit lost the use of two wheels, and Curiosity has some wheel damage that NASA chemist James Gaier pinned mostly on Martian dust in a Medium article.

Martian dust will continue to be a challenge, but that’s just part of the fun of exploring places that aren’t like Earth.

Whether you’re planning on spending the summer traveling, staying home in the air conditioning, or working extra hours, these software and app deals — active as of July 4 — can help improve your season.

From apps that automate your social channels to software that makes learning a new language a breeze, you can save on these 25 apps and software picks for a limited time.

Surfshark VPN Subscription

Block ads and trackers, browse securely with efficient encryption, and access regional content on Netflix and other streaming services with Surfshark VPN. Use the code SUMMER20 at checkout and snag a two-year subscription for only $45.60 (regularly $290) or opt for a three-year subscription for only $67.20 (regularly $430).

Tweet Ninja Twitter Automation Solo Plan: Lifetime Subscription

With built-in tools for automated retweeting and following and suggestions for the right people to follow, Tweet Ninja is a powerful platform that saves you time by setting your Twitter account to autopilot. A $540 value, you can use the code SUMMER20 at checkout and score this lifetime subscription for just $39.20 for a limited time.

Scopio Authentic Stock Photography: Standard Lifetime Subscription

Scopio’s royalty-free stock photos are part of a growing library of more than 300,000 diverse images taken by more than 13,000 photographers in more than 150 countries. A standard lifetime subscription to Scopio is valued at more than $3,000, but you can get it for just $29 for a limited time.

Mashvisor: Lifetime Subscription

If you’re looking to invest in real estate, you’ll want access to data and analytics to save you time and energy, which is precisely what Mashvisor does. This lifetime subscription lets you easily find investment properties and optimize their rental performance — and it’s on sale for only $39.99 ($1,499 value).

Beelinguapp Language Learning App: Lifetime Subscription

Beelinguapp’s innovative audiobook-style language learning makes it easier to learn to read a second language. Sign up for a lifetime subscription for only $39.99 (regularly $100) and start learning Spanish, Russian, German, and more.

LingvaNex Translator: Lifetime Subscription (Desktop and Mobile Bundle)

If you’re not quite there yet when it comes to being multilingual, this app for desktop and mobile can help by translating text, voice, images, websites, and documents in more than 100 different languages. While a lifetime subscription to LingvaNex Translator is usually $399, you can get it for only $79.99 for a limited time.

BetterMe Home Workout and Diet: Lifetime Subscription

The BetterMe fitness app is loved for its customized exercises and nutrition plans, plus access to a personal trainer. While it’s valued at $1,200, you can sign up for life for just $39.99.

Degoo Premium: Lifetime 10TB Backup Plan

With this deal, you can get 10TB of secured backup space for life with Degoo for just $89.40 ($3,600 value) when you use the code SUMMER40 at checkout.

Hushed Private Phone Line: Lifetime Subscription

A Hushed phone line lets you set up a secure second phone number to keep your real contact details hidden. A lifetime subscription is usually $150, but when you use the code SUMMER20 at checkout, you can get it for only $16.

iMazing iOS Device Manager

iMazing is an iOS device manager that lets you browse and manage your backups, extract and print texts, drag and drop songs to your phone, and more. You can get a license to use it on two iOS devices for just $16 (regularly $44) for a limited time when you use the code SUMMER20. Got more devices? You can get a license for three iOS devices for $20 (regularly $49) with code SUMMER20 or five iOS devices for just $24 (regularly $69) with (you guessed it) code SUMMER20.

CuriosityStream HD Plan: Lifetime Subscription

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Stop me if this sounds familiar: It’s a Friday night, you’re in the mood for a movie, you’ve fired up Hulu…and now you’ve spent 40 minutes racked with indecision, just trying to decide which of the endless options in front of you feels right for right now.

Well, we can’t tell you what your heart wants. But we can tell you what our hearts want — what movies we love the most, which ones we never get sick of, which ones we still think about, which ones we’d happily recommend to anyone asking. Like, you know, yourself. Here are the best films on Hulu.

1. Gone Girl

Gone Girl, directed by David Fincher and adapted by Gillian Flynn based on her own bestselling book, stands out as one of the sharpest dissections of modern gender roles put to the big screen. Nominally, it’s a thriller about a twisted cat-and-mouse game played out between a heterosexual married couple, and it’s a spectacularly entertaining one at that. But in the process of puzzling out exactly what happened to Amazing Amy, Gone Girl becomes so much more. It delves into the impossible standards placed on women, the expectations we have of men, the unknowability of a marriage’s secrets, our national obsession with dead white girls, and the vast chasm between public perception and private truth, in ways only fiction can. (*)

How to watch: Gone Girl is streaming on Hulu.

Can’t get enough Fincher? His The Social Network is also streaming on Hulu.

2. Romeo + Juliet

Countless filmmakers have tried to modernize Shakespeare for the big screen, but for our money, few have managed to do it more memorably than Baz Luhrmann with Romeo + Juliet. His is an adaptation that goes way over the top on every single level, and then keeps going several more miles for good measure: Everything, from the flamboyantly colorful costumes (by Catherine Martin), to the unimpeachably cool soundtrack, to the tongue-twisting delivery of the Bard’s best lines, seems to be taking a more-is-more approach. What grounds it is the believably raw passion between its star-crossed lovers, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes at the respective heights of their teen-idol powers. Is it maybe a bit cheesy? Yes. Do we fall for it every single time? Also yes.

How to watch: Romeo + Juliet is streaming on Hulu.

Love a romance with a killer soundtrack? Julie Taymor’s Beatles musical Across the Universe is also streaming on Hulu.

3. Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Taika Waititi’s last New Zealand-set film, released after What We Do In The Shadows but before Thor: Ragnarok, follows a spiky, defiant young teenager named Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) who finds himself and his dog Tupac on the lam in the New Zealand bush with a cantankerous and reluctant carer (Sam Neill), pursued by a dogged but well-meaning child services agent. Dennison is a gift in this, his toughness and sweetness and indignant speeches creating one of the most instantly memorable, lovable teenage characters in recent memory. And Neill’s gruff “Uncle” Hec traces the contours of the “taciturn old fella comes to care for the scrappy kid” arc with so much nuance it feels made anew. The utter genius Rachel House, meanwhile, whom Waititi rightly yoinked into the MCU with him in Ragnarok, almost steals the show as the hysterically relentless “villain” of the film. (“I’m like the Terminator. You’re like Sarah Connor. In the first one, before she could do chin-ups.”) 

It’s an occasionally devastating coming-of-age tale for both main characters, a story of the revelation that you can go much farther when you let other people in. But more than anything, it’s hysterically funny. — Caitlin Welsh, Australia Editor (*)

How to watch: Hunt for the Wilderpeople is streaming on Hulu.

Big Waititi fan? Boy, from his early career, is also streaming on Hulu.

4. Bound

Before The Matrix, before Speed Racer and Cloud Atlas and Jupiter Ascending, there was Bound. The Wachowskis’ directorial debut is a slick neo-noir thriller centering on an ex-con (Corky, played by Gina Gershon) and a mobster’s girlfriend (Violet, played by Jennifer Tilly) who fall first into a dangerous affair, and then into an even more dangerous scheme to steal from the Mafia. Compared to the sprawling, effects-heavy epics the sisters became known for later on, Bound feels positively tiny — but what it lacks in scope and budget, it more than makes up for with style, swagger, and seductive allure.

How to watch: Bound is streaming on Hulu.

Up for a very different take on neo-noir? Robert Altman’s idiosyncratic The Long Goodbye is also streaming on Hulu.

5. Die Hard

Die Hard may be a Christmas movie, as a certain subset of its fans are all too eager to point out each December, but its appeal endures year-round. Bruce Willis lends an everyman charm to John McClane, a New York City cop caught in the crosshairs of a terrorist plot during one extremely stressful office holiday party. But it’s Alan Rickman who very nearly steals the show as the slick, scornful villain Hans Gruber. Though John McTiernan’s action classic has inspired several sequels and countless knockoffs in the years since, few have matched or surpassed the 1988 original for sheer, simple fun. (*)

How to watch: Die Hard is streaming on Hulu.

Craving more ’80s action goodness? The Terminator is also streaming on Hulu.

6. Fast Color

Julia Hart’s Fast Color is set in a dystopian, drought-struck near future, and centers on a family with special powers: Ruth (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), her mother Bo (Lorraine Toussaint), and her young daughter Lila (Saniyya Sidney). But it’s not your typical sci-fi superhero movie. It’s less interested in explosive action or intricate mythology than in nuanced character work, charting the family’s emotional journeys as they work to heal the bonds between them and learn to harness their gifts for good. The results are thoughtful, moving, and — in a sea of same-y blockbusters about great powers and great responsibility — refreshingly unique.

How to watch: Fast Color is streaming on Hulu.

Looking for more grounded, emotional sci-fi? Arrival is also streaming on Hulu.

7. Parasite

Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite is a shapeshifter: Just when you think you’ve finally got a handle on the thing, it has a way of slipping through your fingers and transforming into something else entirely. It’s a heist film, a black comedy, a thriller, a horror, a satire, a tragedy, and part of the fun is simply sitting back to see what new shades it might take on next.

Through all these turns, though, the one thing that’s never in doubt is that we’re in the hands of a master. Every frame, every line, and every twist of Parasite feels considered and deliberate, and yet it never feels clinical or contrived, because the twin engines driving the whole thing forward are empathy and rage — specifically, class rage, directed not so much at the 1% (though they do get a healthy skewering) as at the entire rotten system that makes a story like this plausible in the first place. Parasite is one of the most entertaining movies in recent memory, and one of the cleverest, and one of the most deeply affecting. Simply put, it’s the best. (*)

How to watch: Parasite is streaming on Hulu.

Want more where that came from? The Host, also by Bong, is also streaming on Hulu.

8. Akira

Plenty of people have heard of Akira, or have at the very least seen enough of the sci-fi anime classic’s iconic motorcycle to have an association with that title. But have you ever sit down and watched it? It’s time to correct that if not. Akira isn’t just one of the best anime stories ever told, it’s also a shoe-in for virtually any “greatest sci-fi of all time” round-up that gets put together. The story, adapted from the manga created by Katsuhiro Otomo (who also directed), follows Shotaro Kaneda, leader of the Capsules biker gang, as he fights to save his telekinetic friend Tetsuo Shima from forces that want to exploit those abilities. The plot eventually spins outward into a much bigger cyberpunk-fueled story set against the backdrop of a dystopian “Neo-Tokyo” in 2019. — Adam Rosenberg, Senior Entertainment Reporter (*)

How to watch: Akira is streaming on Hulu.

Feeling extra dystopian? RoboCop is also streaming on Hulu.

9. If Beale Street Could Talk

So much of Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk, based on the novel by James Baldwin, plays out in the way people look at each other: with love, with longing, with expectation or anger or pride. All those gazes make the film breathtaking in its intimacy, even as it connects a large cast of characters across years and even countries.

The plot is explicitly about racial injustice — it concerns a young Black man (Stephan James) sent to jail on a false accusation, as his fiancée (Kiki Layne) discovers she is pregnant — and the film does not shy away from the ugliness of their ordeal. But what’s most striking about it is its insistence on joy. Beale Street is a film concerned not just with the hardships of life, but in the big and small blessings that make it worth living anyway. (*)

How to watch: If Beale Street Could Talk is streaming on Hulu.

Interested in Baldwin? I Am Not Your Negro is also streaming on Hulu.

10. The Virgin Suicides

To watch The Virgin Suicides is to fall, as its narrators do, under the dreamy spell of the Lisbon sisters — five beautiful but untouchable teenage girls in 1970s Michigan — and then to be haunted, as its narrators are for decades to follow, by the unknowable mystery of the tragedies that befell them. But what the teenage boys miss even in their obsessive scrutiny of the Lisbons, writer-director Sofia Coppola catches. There are no satisfying answers to be found here. But in the questions, there emerges an empathetic portrait of growing up female in a world that seems more interested in projecting its fantasies and fears onto you than in trying to see you for who you truly are.

How to watch: The Virgin Suicides is streaming on Hulu.

Ready for another teen girl classic? Heathers is also streaming on Hulu.

11. Palm Springs

When Palm Springs arrived in 2020, most movie releases had been postponed because of the pandemic — yet here was a movie, a new movie, a festival darling, about people going quietly insane with monotony and losing grip on time itself.

Max Barbakow’s film showcases a cheerfully nihilistic Andy Samberg, along with Cristin Milioti in her best work to date as his increasingly frenzied companion, in “one of those infinite time loop situations you might have heard of.” Their chemistry makes Andy Siara’s script soar, leaving ample room for J.K. Simmons’ sinister interludes and just the right amount of time travel interrogation. It’s a sharp, original comedy worth revisiting again, and again, and again. — Proma Khosla, Entertainment Reporter (*)

How to watch: Palm Springs is streaming on Hulu.

Stuck in a time loop of time loop rom coms? 50 First Dates is also streaming on Hulu.

12. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

There’s a reason Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid has a reputation as a stone-cold classic: It’s really that good. The story, which centers around two outlaws on the run after a train heist gone bad, provides plenty of thrills, but what really the film special is the chemistry between its two leads, Paul Newman as the charismatic Butch Cassidy and Robert Redford as the sardonic Sundance Kid. Bolstered by witty dialogue from screenwriter William Goldman, their friendship set the gold standard for countless buddy films to come — and remains irresistibly endearing to this day. (*)

How to watch: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is streaming on Hulu.

Ready for a different kind of Western? The Sisters Brothers is also streaming on Hulu.

13. The Princess Bride

Based on the fantasy novel by William Goldman (yes, the same William Goldman from the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid entry), The Princess Bride spins a fairy tale that’s equal parts sweetly sincere and cheekily self-aware. Cary Elwes and Robin Wright star as the dashing Westley and the beautiful Buttercup, a pair of star-crossed lovers who — alongside allies like the gentle giant Fezzik (André the Giant) and the vengeful fencing master Inigo Motoya (Mandy Patinkin) — must prevail over countless sword fights, Rodents of Unusual Size, an evil count, and even death itself on their way to happily ever after. (*)

How to watch: The Princess Bride is streaming on Hulu.

Satirical fairy tales your thing? Shrek is also streaming on Hulu.

14. 28 Days Later

Ah, the fast zombies movie. There’s a lot that stands out about 28 Days Later, from it being the sweetest fruit of a collaboration between director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland to the credit it’s gotten for reviving the zombie genre of horror movies (Robert Kirkman’s comic The Walking Dead arrived a year later). But the thing that most people remember about 28 Days Later is a new, fast-moving breed of zombie that’s inherently more terrifying and also rooted in the deeply unsettling fiction — especially in 2021! — of a global pandemic setting off a different kind of zombie apocalypse. — A.R. (*)

How to watch: 28 Days Later is now streaming on Hulu.

Can’t get enough of fast-moving zombies? Train to Busan is also streaming on Hulu.

15. Jennifer’s Body

Jennifer’s Body may have received a chilly reception upon its release in 2009, but as it turns out, it wasn’t so much a bad movie as one that was ahead of its time. Directed by Karyn Kusama and written by Diablo Cody, the feminist cult classic stars Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried as teenage BFFs whose lives are ripped apart when the former becomes possessed by a demon and starts killing local boys. Alternately creepy and hilarious (“You’re killing people!” / “No, I’m killing boys” will never not be funny), but shot through with an undercurrent of heartbreak, Jennifer’s Body speaks volumes about sexual abuse, female friendships, and the hell that is a teenage girl.

How to watch: Jennifer’s Body is streaming on Hulu.

Want more from Diablo Cody? Young Adult is also streaming on Hulu.

16. Fargo

25 years after its release, Joel and Ethan Coen’s Fargo remains so beloved, there’s a whole TV series that keeps trying to recapture its magic. But there’s still nothing like the original, with its mix of bleak humor, unexpected warmth, and “Minnesota nice.” Frances McDormand leads Fargo as Marge Gunderson, a small-town police chief investigating a spectacularly bungled kidnapping perpetrated by a desperate used car salesman (William H. Macy) and two career criminals (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare). You’ll groan at the grisly kills (one involves a wood chipper), laugh at the awkward details, and maybe come away realizing that Marge is right — there is more to life than a little money.

How to watch: Fargo is streaming on Hulu.

Like your murders with a side of comedy? The Nice Guys is also streaming on Hulu.

17. MLK / FBI

Directed by Sam Pollard and produced by Benjamin Hedin, MLK/FBI explores the damning relationship between its title subjects — the FBI’s consistent harassment of Martin Luther King Jr. at the height of his role as a civil rights activist. J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI spied on King, exposed his personal affairs, and planned to discredit him in the eyes of the American people and thereby destroy the civil rights movement from within.

The full story has yet to be told — more documents will be declassified in 2027 — but Pollard’s film sets your teeth on edge, exposing the insidious actions of institutions that are supposed to protect and uphold American values. The system is broken, and MLK/FBI reminds us that it has been that way for a long time. — P.K. (*)

How to watch: MLK / FBI is streaming on Hulu.

Fascinated by the late ’60s? Summer of Soul (… Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) is also streaming on Hulu.

18. Galaxy Quest

This loving parody of, and tribute to, Star Trek‘s storytelling tropes and obsessive fandom has a heart of gold that would make Gene Roddenberry himself proud. Galaxy Quest sees the has-been cast of the eponymous cult sci-fi TV serial plucked off the regional fan-convention circuit by a people from a far-flung world who believe the show to be documentary footage of their heroics — making the pissy, self-absorbed, and cynical actors the very real last hope of the adoring (and adorably literal-minded) aliens.

A stacked cast — including Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, plus Rainn Wilson and Justin Long in their first film roles — is armed with a sweet and sly script that remains one of the best Hollywood stories ever about the power of falling in love with a fictional world. — C.W.

How to watch: Galaxy Quest is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

Prefer the real thing? Star Trek Beyond is also streaming on Hulu.

(*) indicates write up adapted from previous list.

Sometimes innovators are punished or laughed at, or they’re simply ahead of their time.

I’m not sure that’s the case here but whatever. You’ve still got to hand it to a motorist who apparently attached a Starlink satellite dish to the hood of their car. Starlink, for the unaware, is Space X’s satellite-based internet service provider.

Anyway, here, look at this innovation.

The California Highway Patrol posted on Facebook that the driver claimed the dish only blocked their view “when I make right turns,” which wouldn’t be great. CNBC reported that CHP gave the driver a ticket for the obstruction and that the motorist told an officer they used the dish to work from their car.

“Yes, it is in fact illegal to mount a satellite dish to the hood of your vehicle, obstructing your view under section 26708(a)(2) of the California Vehicle Code,” CHP Antelope Valley wrote on Facebook. “You also may not hang things from your rear view mirror, mount a GPS or cell phone in an unapproved location on your windshield, or display a handicap placard while the vehicle is in motion under this section. It’s about safety folks.”

As The Verge noted, Elon Musk, head of Space X, once said in a 2020 earnings call that he supposed “technically, you could buy [a Starlink antennae] and just stick it on the car.” He noted on Twitter, however, that it definitely wasn’t intended for cars.

Tweet may have been deleted

Musk said this week that Starlink has more than 1,500 satellites in orbit and more than 69,000 users. He has said the goal is to bring more affordable internet to places with lower populations.

“It’s really meant for sparsely populated areas,” Musk said during an interview at Mobile World Congress.

Got it: rural areas and not the hood of a car.