Author: Press Room
Amazon’s Fire TV Stick is one of the best tech purchases that I have ever made. Especially since it can turn my old dumb TV into a smart one, it has its own perks, including easy plug-and-play setup, a smooth UI, and a vast app library. All in all, the Amazon Fire TV Stick is a handy and sleek device that can enhance your everyday experience. However, there are instances when I felt that my Fire TV Stick could be improved. At first, I thought I had to live with those shortcomings, but then I tried several apps, and most…
This January, HBO will debut a new show set in the Game of Thrones universe: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, based on the Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas by George R.R. Martin. All signs point to it being the pick-up this beleaguered franchise needs. It’s a badly needed change of pace Lighter and brighter (but still bloody) Game of Thrones was defined by its complicated plots, sky-high stakes, and layered characters. The cast was massive; it was one of those shows you watched for the ensemble. The spinoff show House of the Dragon, which is also coming back…
I’ve bounced between pretty much every big-name music streaming service out there — Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, even Deezer. Each one promised better recommendations, better sound, or better exclusives that would finally make it “the one.” What I got instead were creeping prices and algorithm fatigue. Then one day, while scrolling through an FOSS forum, I stumbled on a post about a streaming music app that caught my attention right away: OuterTune. I grabbed the APK, sideloaded it, and was surprised by how refined it looked. A week later, I realized something funny. I hadn’t opened my paid streaming…
ChatGPT is famously polite (and so are we). It agrees, elaborates, and rarely challenges you. Its lightning-fast answers make us feel productive. But after a while, the responses sounded smart but safe. I realized the importance of making AI stop agreeing with me. I didn’t want it as an echo chamber, but a thinking partner. One day, I typed: “Play devil’s advocate and argue against my idea.” With this tweak, ChatGPT went from agreeable assistant to critical partner. It uncovered weak arguments, questioned my logic, and even highlighted blind spots. Since then, the “devil’s advocate prompt” has become one of…
Right now, YouTube Shorts are awash with a dual-horned scarlet character making pixel-perfect jumps in a bid to ascend a murky cavern, all the while avoiding spiked floors, making use of shelled enemies to bounce off of and desperately clinging onto tiny safe spaces on walls desecrated with thorns. This is Hornet, lead character of the latest Metroidvania game Hollow Knight: Silksong, and she needs to ascend the bug-infested land of Pharloom by jumping fiendish platforms, negotiating labyrinthian cave networks and violently parleying with monstrous insectoid bosses. After ascending continuously using a furious repertoire of double jumps, wall jumps and…
I finally got around to watching the new version of The Toxic Avenger, and it pretty much delivered what you’d expect if you’ve seen the original. I’ll admit I’m actually not a big fan of the 1984 original because its commitment to gore outdid its sense of fun. The new one is not much different in this regard, but I found that director Macon Blair made it much more stylish, and the cast is just great. But this got me thinking about other superhero movies that just full-on embrace the gore and violence that you don’t really see in the…
It’s October. The leaves are falling, the weather is cooling, and pop-up costume shops are opening on every corner. It’s Halloween season, and Hollywood knows you want to be scared round the clock. They’re obliging with a bunch of new shows and movies designed to chill you to the bone. The first couple are already here: Monster: The Ed Gein Story Streaming now on Netflix The Monster series on Netflix focuses on a different true crime story each season: first, Jeffrey Dahmer; then, Lyle and Erik Menendez; and now, Ed Gein, played by Charlie Hunnam. If you’re looking for a…
In November, a new sci-fi show called Pluribus will debut on Apple TV+. Apple has only released one official image. It hasn’t released a trailer despite the premiere being only a few weeks away. We only have a vague idea of what Pluribus is about, and yet people are already expecting it to be the show of the year. But from what we do know about Pluribus, I can see why the excitement is building, and it’s time for you to get involved and feel the hype, too. Pluribus comes from the guy who made Breaking Bad Résumés don’t come…
This week, California governor Gavin Newsom signed a law forbidding ads that play on streaming services like Netflix, HBO Max, and YouTube from being louder than the content they interrupt, meaning that Californians will no longer be startled by blaring commercials asking if they’re satisfied with their car insurance. The reason advertisers crank up the volume on their ads is obvious: they’re hoping the sudden burst of noise will make viewers pay attention, which is very annoying. I’m glad someone did something about it. But given how streaming is getting worse and worse these days — even high-powered Hollywood executives…
Apple design has always been famously opinionated. The company does what it thinks is right for you. If you disagree, well, you’re wrong. But lately, chinks have appeared in Apple’s design armour. Customisation options could suggest a lack of confidence at the top, or simple acknowledgment that people like being able to make devices their own. Even so, it’s rare for a major feature to vanish and then claw its way back from the dead. But that’s exactly what happened this week as Slide Over triumphantly returned in iPadOS 26.1. The feature originally debuted in 2015, when Apple first started…