Give Your TV a 2024 Summer Olympics Tuneup

All TVs now come with a menu of picture modes with names such as “vivid,” “natural,” “sports,” and “cinema.” When you select one, the brightness, contrast, and sharpness are adjusted to preset values. Our advice: Don’t choose “sports” mode for watching sports—or anything else. That could artificially boost brightness, contrast, and colors, and turn on…

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When to Replace Your Tires

Before you start shopping, it’s good to know some tire basics. Tires carry a speed rating, usually from S (112 mph) to Y (186 mph), with some winter tires having a lower speed rating. That indicates the tire’s maximum speed when carrying a load. Higher speed-rated tires tend to have better grip and handling but…

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Video Game Performers Are Going on Strike Over AI

Actors in the video game industry are going on strike. On Thursday, the union representing voice and motion-capture performers announced they would be walking off the job after talks with major video game companies broke down over concerns over AI protections. The work stoppage is set to begin Friday. “We’re not going to consent to…

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The Thomas Crooks Conspiracy Theories Aren’t Going Anywhere

As Jefferson Morley, who’s published several books about the CIA and written extensively about the JFK assassination, notes, if people believe that the government is capable of concealing facts about an attempt on the life of a US president, that’s probably because it’s demonstrably done so and is actively doing so. Similarly, if people believe…

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The Mysterious Discovery of ‘Dark Oxygen’ on the Ocean Floor

This story originally appeared on WIRED Italia and has been translated from Italian. For more than 10 years, Andrew Sweetman and his colleagues have been studying the ocean floor and its ecosystems, particularly in the Pacific’s Clarion-Clipperton Zone, an area littered with polymetallic nodules. As big as potatoes, these rocks contain valuable metals—lithium, copper, cobalt,…

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Your Car Repair Handbook

Front Suspension Shock/StrutCost, Ford F-150: $926Cost, Toyota Highlander: $767 The problem: Suspension parts are regular wear items that, if in poor condition, could cause unsafe braking and handling. How long shocks and struts last depends primarily on the road surfaces you usually drive on. Rougher roads are harder on these parts. Their replacement is fairly…

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