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For a reporter, trying to wrap your head around TED can be difficult. Famous people stride by everywhere. The sessions come in a deluge of sweeping, world-consequential themes: artificial intelligence, climate change, “the future you.” By day three, the number of noteworthy events has grown so large that trying to cram them into some kind of overarching narrative becomes a kind of journalistic ove...

It might begin with a table lamp. Tap the shade, give it a spin. Turn the entirelamp, watchingthe red of its body blot out the yellow of the shade—and then the other way arounduntil all the red disappears, drowned in yellow. Keep turning, and you have a lightbulb. Tap it, and it blazes with green light. Turn it just right, until the green becomes just a formless circle, and you have a bowl. Or a g...

You arranged your TV room so you can sit around in comfort. Now, prepare your virtual-reality space so you can thrash around without breaking your damn neck. Clear Some Space Virtual reality goggles make you completely blind to your surroundings. Put plenty of distance (at least 7 feet) between you and items you can break—or that can break you. Push the coffee table to the farthest wall, or better...

You arranged your TV room so you can sit around in comfort. Now, prepare your virtual-reality space so you can thrash around without breaking your damn neck. Virtual reality goggles make you completely blind to your surroundings. Put plenty of distance (at least 7 feet) between you and items you can break—or that can break you. Push the coffee table to the farthest wall, or better yet, banish it f...

In the days that followed my tragic foot fracture—don’t text and walk down stairs, folks!—I learned to loathe crutches. They were incredibly awkward to manipulate. Getting around was slow and tiring. They hurt my rib cage, rubbing the skin raw under my arms on long trips. I couldn’t carry anything. Stairs were a nightmare. And they were just plain in the way, no matter what I tried to do. Learn mo...

No one needs an activity tracker. Sure, you feel a whiff of superiority wagging your wrist and boasting about how much ground you’ve covered today. But let’s not pretend that wearing a wrist computer makes you a better person. If you want to boost your athletic training, get a good sports watch and a heart rate monitor. If you want to count your steps, use your phone. If you need a reminder to mak...

Good news: Tooth decay and other dental problems are on the decline. Bad news: Not by much. If you’re over 20, there’s a 91 percent chance you’ve had at least one cavity; by the time you’re middle-aged, some of those will have rotted and fallen out of your mouth. The solution? Brushing your teeth, just like mom told you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before its 2,000-plus videos had been viewed 8 billion times, TED was an annual conference for wealthy eggheads. Starting in February 1984, 1,000 people who could afford to pay $4,000 (and up) would gather in Monterey, California, to hear 18-minute lectures on technology, entertainment, and design. (TED, get it?) Then, in 2006, TED started posting the presentations on its website, transforming a o...

The first thing I noticed about the Samsung Galaxy S8, only a momentafter turning it on, was the screen. There’s so much of it. An enormous 5.8 inches of bright, crisp, super-saturated colors illuminatedmy face as the phone booted. Istaredat the round corners and curved edges ofthe glass. Holding it in my left hand, it looked and felt like holding a screen and nothing more. So many phones feel lik...

Bob Marley turned reggae into a global phenomenon, introduced the world to Rastafari, and put Jamaica on the map. Three decades after his death, his message still resonates. Marley’s appeal remains so universal that his brand powers a massive licensing business. Everywhere you go, you’ll see Marley’s face on t-shirts, flags, stickers, energy drinks, pipes, hats, beach towels, and pint glasses. Pre...

Everyone knows distracted driving is dangerous. Everyone knows it’s happening, and that it’s responsible for deaths on American roads. But when it comes to specifics, the knowledge runs dry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before I begin The Ringed City, the final downloadable expansion for From Software’s existentialist fantasy epic Dark Souls 3, I have to prepare. Unlike most games, the expansions to Dark Souls titles aren’t additional, isolated new bits of game—they’re embedded directly into the world as it already exists. If you don’t have a save file progressed enough to access the new stuff you just bought, yo...

As a physics faculty, I have two jobs. The first is coach. I help students wrestle with concepts and ideas. That makes me something like Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs, but with more equations. I'm also an evaluator. I determine how well students understand the material I've taught them. Yes, I find it odd that I do both of these things. It's like having Popovich coach the team and refere...

Other than maybe the NSA, nobody knows more about you than Google. It’s got a read on where you are, what you’re doing, what you’re thinking and watching and searching for and chatting with your friends about. Which means nobody should be better equipped to soundtrack every second of your life than Google Play Music. Starting today, the company’s taking full advantage of its smarts to deliver you...

Before I get into this, I should admit something: my home audio setup is pathetic. I listen to shows and movies out of the speakers built into my TV. When I have friends over, a UE Megaboom Bluetooth speaker supplies the background music. Sometimes I catch myself listening to podcasts on my phone’s speakers. The best listening devices I own are headphones—which is why I often spend time on the cou...

Do Apple's AirPods sound great? Not really. But they're about way more than playing music. Let's just get all the fun comparisons out of the way up top. Wearing AirPods is like wearing a toothbrush in your ear. No, it's like your earbuds are melting down the side of your face. They look like tiny hair dryers! Tiny candy canes! Tiny bean sprouts! Tiny golf clubs! In truth, AirPods look like… Blueto...

If the quality of your laptop’s screen is a selling point—and it should have some sway with any serious buyer—then OLED-based machines, what few exist to date, should definitely be on your list. Alienware’s new 13.3-incher is the first gaming rig on the market with an OLED display. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Depeche Mode is touring the world, everybody’s talking about Star Wars, and Justin Bieber’s wearing drop-crotch pants. The 80s are back, people. But no matter how much you’re channeling the era, your smartphone is a dead giveaway that you’re living in 2017. That is, unless you wrap your iPhone in one of Slickwraps’ new retro skins, which put a little 80s back into your 21st-century tech. Learn mor...

Andrew Rotilio knows what it feels like to not fit in. Born to first-generation Italian-Canadian parents, the Expanse actor’s first language wasn’t what his teachers spoke in school. He grew up speaking Italian, then learned French and English as a way of surviving, of blending in. By the time he mastered his fourth language, he wasn’t trying to navigate the social complexities of the real world—h...

Wilderness camping offers a wonderful reprieve from our tech-filled lives. Computer screens and connected commutes give way to mountain-peak sunrises and hikes to secluded lakes. The distance from the rat race is rejuvenating. Then night comes, and technology creeps back in. Propane-powered lanterns barely shed enough light for you to see what you're eating for dinner, so you pull out your phone t...

If Boeing learns anything from today’s maiden flight of the 787-10 Dreamliner today, it means something has gone wrong. That’s because the planemaker has left the Wright brothers’ system—build something, throw it off a sand dune, observe—far in the past. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apple’s AirPods aren’t the only wireless earbud game in town. If the idea of earplugs as audio gear entices you, another option on the market arrives from Swedish startup Earin and its M-1 earbuds. Look ma, no wires, and no golf clubs dangling from my ears! Better audio quality than expected. Massive connectivity issues. No microphone/phone features at all (not even incoming audio). Very weak batt...

After four months off, the best drivers on the planet line up for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne this weekend. Fans hoping to see something more than yet another processional behind reigning champs Mercedes might just see some excitement this year. A raft of new rules designed to mix things up will make for faster lap times and, with luck, more overtaking. Learn more about your ad choices....

People always askme to recommend a portable Bluetooth speaker, and I reflexively mention the same one every time: the UE Boom. The latestversion of this portable powerhouse, the UE Boom 2, provides damn near everything most peoplewant in a speaker. It sounds great, the battery lasts half a day, and you can bring it anywhere. It’s even waterproof and mudproof, so you can take it rafting. All that f...

The sun has long since set by the time the cars and RVs ramble back into Alexandria to find a somber Rosita at the gate. She says nothing about Sasha's whereabouts, but instead tells Rick, Michonne, Tara and the rest that they have company. That company turns out to be the man in the shadows in last week's episode: Dwight. He wants to help, he says. While he may be Negan's bootleg version of Daryl...