Author: Awais

If you’ve been waiting for the right moment to try MasterClass, now’s a great time to sign up. The online learning platform is offering 50 percent off all annual plans for a limited time with its Black Friday sale. With hundreds of classes across topics like cooking, writing and music, it’s one of the best deals we’ve seen from MasterClass this year.MasterClass has built a reputation as one of the best streaming platforms for learning new skills and creative hobbies. The service features courses led by industry leaders who share practical insights drawn from their own careers. Whether you want…

I enjoy personalizing my Windows PC; it makes me feel at home. I can customize Windows’ taskbar or even change its entire UI appearance. But the first and most basic step in customizing a Windows PC? Changing the wallpaper. However, the default wallpaper options on Windows 11 were too plain for me. That’s why I started using Lively Wallpaper. This lightweight wallpaper customization app is easily the best tool I’ve found for Windows wallpapers, and I’ve gone so far as to install it on all of my devices. OS Windows Developer rocksdanister Lively Wallpaper is a free and open-source Windows…

Headlines predicting another “AI winter” are beginning to emerge, and the numbers back the skepticism. MIT reports that while 80% of organizations have piloted GenAI and 40% report deployment, only 5% have reached scale, with seven of nine sectors showing no structural change. McKinsey finds the same disconnect: 36% of executives report no revenue impact, only 19% say revenues have grown more than 5%, and 87% admit growth is still years away. Adoption is everywhere, but impact is almost nowhere. But those headlines and numbers miss what’s happening inside enterprises right now. SEO leaders are being tapped to guide GEO—generative…

If you worry about the moisture levels and air quality in your home during seasonal transitions, a humidifier can be an essential cold-weather home appliance. And a voice- and app-connected smart humidifier, like this 8-liter Dreo Smart Humidifier, can make managing humidity levels even easier. On sale for 21 percent off at Amazon, the Dreo HM717S features a long list of sought-after features in this type of device. In addition to the app and Alexa and Google Assistant convenience for controlling schedules, monitoring humidity levels, adjusting settings, and extras like ambient lighting, you can also use onboard buttons. This humidifier…

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s a long one, since it’s Saturday, and some of them were tough today. (Two Bee clues?) Read on for the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.Read more: Tips…

While many of us celebrate Thanksgiving at home surrounded by family and friends, the joy of eating out cannot be denied. Heaven is someone else stressing over the turkey, preparing the roster of sides that accommodate all dietary needs, and then sticking around to clean up and do all the dishes.But going out on Thanksgiving also means that all those folks cooking in restaurant kitchens and working the dining room are giving up their holidays to make yours flawless and festive. Good manners and generous tipping should be standard practice at a restaurant any night of the week, but diners…

PPC news this week focused on creative tool updates and the people shaping how we use them. Google Ads brought Nano Banana Pro into its creative workflow, giving advertisers sharper, more flexible options for generating images. Microsoft Ads introduced Image Animation and new Performance Comparison features in Copilot, so turning static assets and raw numbers into something usable feels less painful. And the Top 100 PPC Influencers shortlist sparked a wave of personal posts, especially from people like Jyll Saskin Gales, about what real influence actually feels like. Here is a closer look at what changed and how it might…

The SaaS world is full of brand names you couldn’t even dream of pronouncing (Zapier rhymes with happier). n8n heard “hard to pronounce” and said “hold my beer.” And while it would be fun to ditch a tool just because of its name, there might be other reasons you’re looking for an alternative to n8n.Maybe you’re running into setup or maintenance headaches. You might want more out-of-the-box integrations, or maybe you’re looking for a platform that supports AI orchestration without requiring a server room or a crash course in DevOps.Zapier EnterpriseAutomation for every team, approved by IT. Since I work at…

Google is pushing back on viral social media posts and articles like this one by Malwarebytes, claiming Google has changed its policy to use your Gmail messages and attachments to train AI models, and the only way to opt out is by disabling “smart features” like spell checking.But Google spokesperson Jenny Thomson tells The Verge that “these reports are misleading – we have not changed anyone’s settings, Gmail Smart Features have existed for many years, and we do not use your Gmail content for training our Gemini AI model.”You may want to double-check your settings anyway, as one Verge staffer…

Forget shopping sprees this Black Friday – it’s all about the cleaning spree with Roborock’s Black Friday deals across its range of vacuum cleaners. From robot vacuum cleaners to cordless stick designs, there are some huge savings to be had, with some of its models dropping to their lowest ever prices.Hoovering no longer needs to be you wrestling with a winding cable or inhaling a cloud of dust while trying to empty it. Roborock is making vacuuming more seamless and, where its robovacs are concerned, a non-existent chore for you.Self-cleaning with incredible suction and extra smarts to navigate your home…