The first thing I noticed when taking the Lowrider out of the storage bag (which is much nicer than Bote’s older bags, more on that below) was the massive rear fin. It’s much longer than the detachable fin on the Breeze Aero, and by far the deepest fin I’ve seen on a paddleboard. A sailor…
Synthetic voices have been proliferating for years, and the generative AI boom of the new ’20s has sped that process right along. AI voices are everywhere—in podcasts, in political campaigns, and in chatbots where they maybe-not-so-subtly replicate celebrity voices. Soon, they’ll be all up in your audiobooks too. Audible, the Amazon-owned audiobook company, announced a…
Of course, many antenna users supplement over-the-air programming with free streaming services. People willing to pay for subscriptions can put together an even more robust package of streaming content for as little as $25 a month. If you want to use an antenna to get your local channels you’ll need to make sure you can…
What It Comes With• Plastic worm bin with cork lid• 1-cup food-waste container• Moisture/light/pH probe• Compost scoop• Spray bottle Size: The bin measures 18x9x6 inches (width by depth by height), and the manufacturer recommends starting with 1 pound of red wigglers (about 1,000 worms, which costs about $56 from a worm farm). The small, compact container can hold about…
One of the things enterprise storage and destruction company Iron Mountain does is handle the archiving of the media industry’s vaults. What it has been seeing lately should be a wake-up call: Roughly one-fifth of the hard disk drives dating to the 1990s it was sent are entirely unreadable. Music industry publication Mix spoke with…
If you want a large (but not huge) iPhone at a modest cost, the standard iPhone line is where to look. These models cost $200 less than their Pro counterparts, which offer the most premium features. But they still tend to perform very well in our tests where it matters on metrics like camera performance,…
There are currently no federal limits for lead in cinnamon or other spices. But Enrico Dinges, a spokesperson for the FDA, says that even without a limit, the agency can take action against a product, such as issuing a health alert, if it learns the product has excessive levels either from the agency’s or a…
Main theme: In this podcast episode, we share our first impressions of one of the most popular models on ConsumerReports.org, the Subaru Forester. This small SUV has been redesigned for 2025, and we just purchased a Premium model for our test program. Now in its sixth generation, the new Forester gets updated styling, highlighted by…
To keep gunk and odors to a minimum, make sure you’re always using the disposal with water—before, during, and after grinding food. “Oftentimes, odors from the sink actually come from foods that haven’t fully exited the disposal or drainpipes,” says Wiegand. “You can’t see it, but you can probably smell it.” Run cold water before…
If anyone could make the Dark Side sound good, it was James Earl Jones. The actor, who died Monday at the age of 93, provided the voice for Darth Vader in more than a dozen Star Wars properties, from A New Hope to Star Tours. He made the Force sound ominous in a way that…