13 Best TVs of 2024, Tested by Our Experts

The TV test team at Consumer Reports puts every TV through a battery of tests in our TV labs. We first set up each TV and carefully note all of its key features, such as resolution, the number of HDMI inputs, and support for streaming services and voice-enabled digital assistants. We then set up the…

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The Music Industry’s ’90s Hard Drives Are Dying

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…

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Kraft Heinz Pulls Lunchables From National School Lunch Program

Kraft Heinz did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Consumer Reports.  In April 2024, Consumer Reports’ tests found that various Lunchables kits available at supermarkets contained potentially concerning levels of lead, phthalates (chemicals found in plastic), and very high sodium levels. While CR didn’t test the school lunch versions of the Lunchables kits,…

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Hackers Linked to Russia’s Military Claim Credit for Sabotaging US Water Utilities

Russia’s military intelligence unit known as Sandworm has, for the past decade, served as the Kremlin’s most aggressive cyberattack force, triggering blackouts in Ukraine and releasing self-spreading, destructive code in incidents that remain some of the most disruptive hacking events in history. In recent months, however, one group of hackers linked to Sandworm has attempted…

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Foods You Can and Can’t Put Down the Garbage Disposal

“Grease is related to up to 65 percent of sewer overflows,” adds Rebecca Shelton, a wastewater engineer in the Atlanta metro area. To dispose of FOGs properly, experts suggest using oil solidifers like FryAway. You might not realize that creamy foods like peanut butter and dairy products fall into the FOGs category. So butter, heavy…

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How to Protect Yourself From Pesticides in Produce

For items that aren’t always peeled but can be—like apples, potatoes, and carrots—peeling likely removes some residues, but not all. That’s because some pesticides are systemic, meaning they’re absorbed into the plant. Peeling can have a downside, too, because the skins contribute healthy fiber and other nutrients, says Amy Keating, a registered dietitian at CR,…

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Sam Altman’s Eye-Scanning Orb Has a New Look—and Will Come Right to Your Door

While the biometric-scanning Orb and the World network have their roots in crypto tokens, “crypto” wasn’t an oft-mentioned word during the event. Instead, Altman and Blania emphasized World’s blockchain service, digital asset management, and virtual communication tools. Blania claimed during the press briefing that, in the future, World hopes to build the “largest finance network”…

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11 Best Lubes of 2024, Tested and Reviewed

Over the years we’ve tested dozens of different lubes, and some of them are pretty good if not exactly the best in any particular category. For those, we have this section, our Honorable Mentions. #LubeLife Water-Based Lube for $10: I’ve been a fan of #LubeLife for a while. It’s a reliable brand with water-based lubes…

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