CNN’s Michael Smerconish recalled James Carville’s famed catchphrase Saturday morning when he asked the architect of Bill Clinton’s 1992 election victory why Democrats are not running away with the race if the economy is strong.

Friday’s jobs report showed 254,000 jobs were added while unemployment was at a healthy 4.1 percent. Meanwhile, numbers have continued to indicate inflation is cooling.

Still, polling has shown Vice President Kamala Harris has not pulled away from former President Donald Trump, while the former president is actually ahead in some surveys in key battleground states.

On CNN’s Smerconish Saturday morning, the host welcomed Carville on to discuss the November election and reminded the veteran Democratic strategist of his utterance of one of the most famed statements in politics.

In 1992, Carville said bluntly of elections, “It’s the economy, stupid.”

Smerconish asked Saturday, “James, big jobs report yesterday, robust stock market, declining interest rates, tamed inflation, if it’s the economy, stupid, why isn’t Harris ahead?”

Carville reminded the host that there are still more than four weeks until the election and predicted that either Harris or Trump would catch momentum between now and then. He said:

Well, first of all, you forgot to drop in crime rate, which is really impressive. You know, she’s slightly ahead in this not the election. These things tend to break one way or the other at the end. There are seven swing states. The least likely result is they break 4-3. But I can’t stop the commentariat from saying it’s going to be neck and neck and it’s going to come down to this. I think it will break at the end, I think someone will carry swing states 5-2 or 6-1. Whoever does that will do well in the House and do well in the Senate. But this is this thing is a long way from decided.

Watch above via CNN.

Judge Matthew Barrett pulled no punches when sentencing former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peterson Thursday after she was convicted on seven felony counts for election tampering during the 2020 election.

Peters, a pro-Trump Republican and one-time hero of the MAGA right, continued to push the roundly debunked claim that voter fraud caused Donald Trump to lose re-election in 2020. “I’ve never done anything with malice to break the law. I’ve only wanted to serve the people of Mesa County,” Peters told the court as she sparred with Judge Barrett throughout the trial.

Peters was indicted in March 2022 and convicted in August for her role in allowing an unauthorized person, later linked to MyPillow’s Mike Lindell, to tamper with election equipment during the 2020 presidential election while serving as Mesa County’s Clerk and Recorder.

Peters’s conviction stemmed from her participation in a plot to break into election machines under her supervision and copy data from them to prove fraud — instead voter information from the machines appeared online in August 2021, published in part by QAnon-affiliated conspiracy theorists like Ron Watkins.

Barrett slammed Peters for continuing to promote the false election claims during the trial and accused her of betraying her oath of office for celebrity. “Your reputation at this point is poor because of what you’ve done here and after. Your lies are well documented and these convictions are serious,” he began, adding:

I’m convinced you would do it all over again if you could. You’re as defiant as a defendant as this court has ever seen. There are many things in my mind that are crystal clear about this case. You are no hero. You abused your position and you’re a charlatan who used and is still using your prior position in office to peddle a snake oil that’s been proven to be junk time and time again.

This is nonsense! Our system of government can’t function when people in government think that somehow, someway, the power they’ve been given is absolute in all respects. And that’s where you fell. You have no respect for the checks and balances of government. You have no respect for this court. You have no respect for law enforcement. At the end of the day, you cared about the jets, the podcast and the people fawning over you.

You abdicated your position as a servant to the Constitution and you chose you over all else. Yes, you are a charlatan and you cannot help but lie as easy it is for you to breath.

Watch the clip above.

Every once in a while on PC, I have no choice but to just quit an unresponsive app. Usually, closing the app does the job, but sometimes a frozen app doesn't respond to clicking the close button. In such cases, I usually force quit the app by firing up the task manager. There are a few ways to do this, but it still takes a bit of time to open the task manager, look for the offending processes, and then quit them. Turns out, there's a much faster way to quit unresponsive apps in Windows 11.

The fastest way to force-quit apps in Windows 11

Credit: Pranay Parab

I discovered this tip on Reddit, and it's as simple as enabling one checkbox in your settings. First, open the Start Menu in Windows 11 and click on the gear icon in the bottom-right corner. This will open the Windows 11 Settings. Now, go to System > For developers, which is the ninth option under System Settings. On the For developers page, enable End task.

Once this is done, you can right-click any app icon in the taskbar and select End task to force quit it. That's it! As a reminder, you shouldn't use this option unless you're forced to. If an app is responsive, using the usual close button (the X in the top-right corner, or the exit feature baked into your app) should work fine and is less likely to introduce issues. Force quit should be used as a last resort, if you want to avoid worrying about losing data.

Other ways to quit unresponsive apps in Windows 11

Credit: Pranay Parab

There are some alternative ways to open the Task Manager and force quit apps in Windows 11. The easiest method is to press Ctrl-Shift-Esc on your keyboard, which directly opens Task Manager. Go to the Processes tab, select the frozen app, and click End task to force-quit it. Alternatively, you can press Ctrl-Alt-Del, select Task Manager, and follow the same steps. You can even open the Start Menu and use the search bar to look for Task Manager.

Amazon’s October Prime Day is around the corner, offering Prime members exclusive deals on all kinds of products sold by the e-commerce giant. But like many Amazon sales, you won’t need to wait until then to get significant deals. For instance, Amazon has several robot vacuums with good deals that are already available today for Prime members and non-Prime members. Here are the best early deals for robot vacuums.

Robot Vacuum and Mop, 8000Pa Strong Suction, 7-week Dust Storage, Bagless Dust Container.

Yeedi C12 PRO PLUS

$369.00 at Amazon

$599.00 Save $230.00

Get Deal

Get Deal

$369.00 at Amazon

$599.00 Save $230.00

Wi-Fi Connected Robot Vacuum – Clean by Room with Smart Mapping Compatible with Alexa, Ideal for Pet

iRobot Roomba i4 EVO

$139.99 at Amazon

$249.99 Save $110.00

Get Deal

Get Deal

$139.99 at Amazon

$249.99 Save $110.00

Robot Vacuum and Mop, 8000Pa Strong Suction, 7-Week Dust Storage, Bagless Dust Bin.

Yeedi C12 Plus

$349.00 at Amazon

$479.00 Save $130.00

Get Deal

Get Deal

$349.00 at Amazon

$479.00 Save $130.00

SEE 0 MORE

If you want an iRobot

Amazon's Prime Day and October Prime Day are reliable times to scoop up a robot vacuum at a good price and the iRobot line always has at least one solid deal running. This time, it's on the iRobot Roomba Vac Robot Vacuum (Q011), which is marked down to $139.99 from $249.99. The brand is well known for its quality machines at a variety of price points and this one features self-charging, app connectivity, and smart navigation that guides the machine in neat rows.

The Yeedi C12 PRO Plus is $369

Yeedi seems to have come out of nowhere with some impressive robot vacuums. The C12 Pro, which we've covered before, is one of them—and it's $20 cheaper this time than it was during the big Prime Day earlier this summer. It has a self-emptying dust bin that can last up to seven weeks before needing to empty it; an impressive 8,000 Pa of suction power; a mop pad that scrubs the floor 480 times per minute with a downward force that can get some dry stains off the floor; smart mapping of your home; the ability to set schedules; boosted suction on carpet; anti-tangle technology on the roller; and up to five hours of battery capacity. You can get the C12 Pro for $369 (originally $599) after the $110 on-page coupon, the second lowest price I've seen it.

The Yeedi C12 Plus is $349

Another impressive Yeedi at a budget price, the Yeedi C12 Plus is a step down from the C12 Pro in its mopping and scrubbing abilities, but it has the same battery life (300 minutes), suction power of 8,000 Pa, and the same seven-week debris storage for a more budget price of $349 (originally $479) after the $150 on-page coupon. If you're looking to spend less and don't care about the mopping features as much, this is a great option.

Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni Robot Vacuum and Mop

Featured Product

$949.99 at Amazon

$1,499.99 Save $550.00

Learn More

Learn More

$949.99 at Amazon

$1,499.99 Save $550.00

CNN’s Manu Raju was stunned after his guest Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) said that former Vice President Mike Pence “wasn’t really in peril” on January 6 while protestors chanted “Hang Mike Pence” outside the Capitol.

The conversation stemmed from what was inside special prosecutor Jack Smith’s new unsealed indictment against former President Donald Trump and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Part of Smith’s evidence included an account of a Trump aide informing then-President Trump that Pence had to be moved to a secure location as the Capitol was breached by violent rioters. Pence had been certifying the results of the 2020 election that Trump lost to President Joe Biden. Trump’s response to his VP’s safety was: “So what?”

Raju, filling in for Dana Bash, asked Mast about the exchange, and Mast severely downplayed the evidence contained in the indictment as well as the events of the January 6 insurrection:

Raju: What is your response to the president’s apparent reaction to his then-vice president, his life being in danger?

Mast: I don’t think that that should be categorized as anything other than hyperbole right there. He had said–

Raju: I think it’s based on the evidence that the prosecutors found, though.

Mast: He had Secret Service protection. Now at that time, we thought that Secret Service protection was the gold standard of protection and they would be keeping him safe. He was under protection. Okay. He’s being brought to a secure facility. Okay. That’s something that’s being done. It doesn’t really require a great deal of thought. And he wasn’t really in peril. That’s the truth of the situation.

Raju: They were saying “Hang Mike Pence” in the Capitol. You don’t think his life was in peril?

Mast: No, his life wasn’t really in peril. He was protected by Secret Service. That is a fact. And the people that came to the Capitol — as we know, it doesn’t like to get reported — the president told them to go there peacefully, not anything otherwise. But the unsealing of these documents by Jack Smith, that’s — clearly it’s political. That’s the point I would make, number one, this has political intentions. They want to affect November 5th.

Watch the video above via CNN.

The rumors are true—Oura has come out with a fourth generation of their smart ring, and it officially launched today. The new ring starts at $349 and now comes in a wider range of sizes, from 4 through 15. You can pre-order the ring starting today, and Oura says the rings will start shipping on Oct. 15.

Oura Ring 4 - Brushed Silver - Size 11 - Smart Ring - Size First Ring 4 Sizing Kit - Sleep Tracking Wearable - Heart Rate - Fitness Tracker - Up to 8 Days of Battery Life

$399.00 at Amazon

Pre-order Here

Pre-order Here

$399.00 at Amazon

What’s new in the Oura Gen 4? 

The shape is “sleeker,” as the company puts it. Where previous generations’ sensors were encased in small bumps on the inside of the ring, the Gen 4 has recessed sensors for a smooth interior. There is a small indent on the inside of the ring to help you align it with the charger, and a small decorative indent on the outside. 

The Gen 4 also has more sensors and an updated algorithm, which the company says makes it more accurate. They cite a study, but the full details have not been published; the algorithm is proprietary and the study results are presented as a brief article and video.

Oura is also rolling out a new version of its app, with just three tabs along the bottom (instead of five). It includes an improved version of the daytime stress algorithm, identifies a fertile window if you’re using the ring for menstrual cycle tracking, and brings the Oura Labs collection of experimental features (previously iOS-only) to Android. 

How much does the Oura Gen 4 cost, compared to previous versions? 

The current prices on the Oura website for the Gen 4 ring are $349 for silver or black, $399 for brushed silver or “stealth” (matte black), and $499 for gold or rose gold. 

Oura’s Gen 3 ring previously sold for those same prices in the smooth “Horizon” shape, and $50 less in the flat-topped “Heritage” shape, but today on Amazon I’m seeing discounts on Gen 3 rings. For example, here’s a silver Horizon for $299.

The Oura ring still requires a subscription to enjoy most of its features. (You can still get readiness and sleep scores without it, but you won’t have access to the more useful data like HRV or the newer features like resilience.) The subscription is $5.99 per month, or $69.99 per year.

Oura points out that the ring and the subscription are considered eligible expenditures for FSA and HSA accounts.

How does the Gen 4 sizing compare to Gen 3? 

The previous generations came in sizes 6 to 13, but the new Gen 4 rings feature two larger and two smaller sizes, with the full range now encompassing sizes 4 through 15. 

The interior shape of the ring has also changed (no more bumps), so there is now a new sizing kit. The sizing kit contains plastic rings in all of the available sizes, and Oura recommends that you try them on and wear your chosen size for 24 hours to test it out. Your fingers may swell during exercise, in hot weather, and during sleep, so this test run ensures that you’ve chosen a size that will work for you 24/7.

You can order a free sizing kit directly from Oura, or buy one for around $10 from Amazon or Best Buy. If you go with one of those retailers, the kit comes with a $10 credit that you can use toward your purchase of the actual ring. 

Oura Ring 4 Sizing Kit - Size Before You Buy Oura Ring 4 - Unique Sizing - Receive Credit for Purchase

$10.00 at Amazon

Shop Now

Shop Now

$10.00 at Amazon

How does the battery life compare between Gen 4 and Gen 3? 

Oura says that the Gen 4 rings last eight days on a charge, compared to seven days for Gen 3. The exact time you get per charge will depend on the size of the ring and the features you have enabled in your settings.

Over the long term, battery life has notoriously been an issue as the rings age. My own Gen 2 lost any useful battery life just short of two years after I bought it; its replacement, a Gen 3, seems to by dying on the same schedule (I’ve had it 22 months and it only lasts 1-2 days on a charge). Will the Gen 4 last longer? Only time will tell. 

Is there an upgrade or trade-in deal for Gen 3 users? 

No. When the Gen 3 launched, the company offered a trade-in credit, and gifted early adopters a lifetime subscription to the app. There are no such deals available for Gen 3 users who wish to upgrade to Gen 4.

There's a good reason those of us who write about tech typically advise readers not to install beta software on their main devices: Betas are, by definition, unfinished software, and are intended for software testers to look for bugs, glitches, and anything else wrong with the update. That way, developers can fix those problems before seeding the software to its larger general user base.

Usually, the chances of catastrophic failure when installing a beta are slim: Most negative experiences with unfinished software, especially from established companies, tend to revolve around smaller, pain-in-the-ass glitches that disrupt typical use. However, a big beta disaster is always a possibility, as some Apple Watch users are now discovering.

watchOS 11.1 beta 3 is broken

As reported by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris, Apple pulled the latest beta for watchOS 11.1 on Wednesday, just hours after it initially seeded the beta to developers. Some Redditors on r/watchOSBeta complained of various Apple Watch issues following the install. Messages, for example, would load endlessly before crashing, while trying to access Privacy & Security settings had a similar effect. Worse of all, some watches would totally freeze up, even after rebooting, with no clear way to get watchOS working again.

Why watchOS betas are different (and dangerous)

Apple pulling the update means that no one else will be able to install the buggy beta. The company will no doubt isolate the problem, fix it, and rerelease the beta for anyone interested. However, I strongly discourage you from doing so. Apple Watch betas are riskier than most, because Apple does not offer you a way to downgrade to a previous OS if you change your mind after the fact. With other betas, like iOS or macOS, you can restore your device and reinstall the public version of the software, but not watchOS. Once that beta's installed, it's on there until Apple releases a new update.

What to do if watchOS 11.1 beta 3 broke your Apple Watch

If you installed this buggy beta on your Apple Watch and the device is freezing up, your only option is to take your device to an Apple Store or authorized Apple repair shop. While Apple hasn't publicly recommended this course of action, according to 9to5Mac and comments on r/AppleWatch, Apple will send your watch out, remove the beta, reinstall the official watchOS, and ship it back.

Again, the watchOS beta is simply not worth it, unless you are a developer or have a spare Apple Watch on hand. If you're a curious user with a one main watch, however, just wait for the official watchOS release.

Amazon’s second biggest sale of the year, October Prime Day, is set to start Oct. 8, but many early deals are already rolling in, as they have in the past. To take advantage of everything the sale has to offer, you’re going to need to be a Prime Member. If you sign up for an Amazon Prime account to take advantage of Prime Day but decide you don’t want to pay for an ongoing membership, you’ll need to cancel your subscription before the end of your free trial.

How to cancel your Amazon Prime membership

You can cancel your Prime subscription via browser by first logging into your Amazon account. Amazon has an End Your Prime Membership button on its support page to launch the process, or you can follow the steps detailed from Amazon's page:

1. Head to Amazon.com in your web browser.

2. Hover over the Accounts & Lists menu on the top-right of the window, then select the Prime Membership option.

3. Hover over the Manage Membership section at the top-right of the screen, then tap the End Membership button.

4. Follow the on-screen instructions to proceed to canceling your Prime subscription.

Note that Amazon requires a bunch of clicks to finalize your cancellation, giving you lots of “opportunities” to change your mind.

How to cancel Amazon Prime via mobile app

If you prefer, you can cancel your Prime membership via Amazon’s Shopping app. To do so:

1. Open the Amazon Shopping app on your mobile device.

2. On the bottom of the screen, tap the Profile button, which looks like a silhouette of a person.

3. Scroll down and select Manage Prime Membership.

4. Press on the Manage Membership drop-down menu, and press the Manage Membership button in that menu.

5. Press on the End Membership button.

6. Follow the on-screen instructions to proceed to canceling your Prime subscription.

What to know when canceling your Prime membership

As mentioned, closing your account will immediately end your access. Amazon also offers you the option to pause your benefits and billing temporarily instead of canceling them completely. Either way, your Amazon account is still active—you simply won’t have Prime benefits.

Finally, if you have other subscriptions connected to your Prime account, those will end when your billing is up. And if you signed up for Prime through the Android mobile shopping app or the Prime Video Android app, you’ll have to go through Google Subscription to manage your membership.

Good news, fans of Android and AI assistants: The latest Gemini Live upgrade is now available to everyone with an Android phone set to use English, with no need for a Gemini Advanced subscription. As long as you've got Gemini for Android installed on your phone, you can start chatting with this upgraded assistant right away.

Here I'll explain what's new with Gemini Live and how you can get the most out of it—and if you've never heard of Gemini Live and are wondering where Google Assistant has gone, then I've got you covered as well. (If you're really not into Google AI, meanwhile, you could talk to ChatGPT instead.)

What is Gemini Live?

Credit: Lifehacker

Gemini is the name of both Google's latest AI-powered chatbot app and the models that run it, and Gemini Live is the newest way to interact with the app using your voice. It was announced at the Pixel 9 launch back in August, and was originally only available to users paying for Gemini Advanced.

The ability to talk to Gemini on your phone isn't new, but Gemini Live makes the chat experience more natural, in the same way as the Advanced Voice mode on ChatGPT does. For example, you can interrupt the bot mid-sentence, you can pause conversations to come back to them later, and you can choose from several different "natural" voices.

The actual AI underneath the chatbot is nothing new—you can still go back and view text transcriptions run through the same Gemini models as before. What Gemini Live does is make it feel (somewhat) more like you're talking to an actual person (you're not, obviously). It's distinctly more natural than the previous voice mode.

What Android phones support Gemini Live?

If you can run the Gemini app on your phone, you can use Gemini Live. Google says that you need a device with at least 2GB of RAM and Android 10 or up, so the majority of the phones (and tablets) in use today should qualify. If Gemini isn't already on your phone, you'll need to install the Android app, at which point it will replace Google Assistant.

Across Google's apps and devices, Google Assistant is out, and the more natural and powerful Google Gemini is in. Google Assistant will stay around for a while to support older devices and apps, but as Gemini picks up more skills, it's the AI bot Google will focus on in the future.

How to talk to Gemini Live

Credit: Lifehacker

Once Gemini is installed on your Android phone, all you need to do to talk to Gemini Live is to launch the app and tap on the small sound wave icon to the right of the text box. You'll then get access to the conversational bot. You'll be asked to choose a default voice, and you can then start a conversation about anything you like—and don't be afraid to interrupt your AI friend if it starts going off track.

Conversations can be paused or stopped using the buttons down at the bottom of the interface, and you can even switch away to different apps and keep on talking with Gemini (to end the conversation, say "stop" or pull down the notification at the top of the screen and choose End Live mode).

As you'll see in Lifehacker's Google Pixel 9 review, Gemini Live is no less susceptible to mistakes and hallucinations than any other AI—just because it sounds more natural doesn't mean it's any closer to being human. Gemini Live will sometimes tell you things that are not quite right, or completely wrong, so always double-check with a reliable source before taking anything it says as gospel.

How to see your chat history with Gemini Live

To access previous chats, tap the speech bubble (top left) to see the list. Tap on a chat to resume it, or tap and hold to pin it to the top of the list, rename it, or delete it.

How to change Gemini Live's voice on Android

Tap your Google account picture (top right) then choose Settings, and you're able to switch the voice that Gemini Live uses. In this menu, you can also turn the ability to interrupt Gemini Live on or off.

The other ways of interacting with Gemini are still available of course. You can type in the prompt box, upload an image or file for analysis, or tap the microphone button to speak out your prompt—but unlike when using Gemini Live, you'll get a text chat in response, rather than a spoken one. (You can also switch between modes in the same chat if you need to.)

CNN anchor and chief national security analyst Jim Sciutto posted footage of missiles landing in Tel Aviv and he and his team were a little too close for comfort.

“Oh God. Okay, guys, we got to get off the roof!” Sciutto can be heard saying in footage captured from the top of a building. Two missiles or missile fragments can be seen falling from the sky. “These are coming down right next to us here.”

Sciutto stopped recording as someone said they need to go inside and his report for CNN was cut short. Sciutto shared other footage of the missiles with CNN’s Dana Bash.

“Jim, please take cover,” Bash told her colleague.

“It’s practically like fireflies over the city of Tel Aviv,” Sciutto said during his report as he showed footage of numerous missile fragments making their way to the ground, describing it as a “major attack” and an “escalation” in the country’s war with terror groups like Hamas. Air raid sirens were going off throughout Sciutto’s report

Sciutto said he saw multiple impacts mid-air as Israel’s defense missile systems took effect, but missile fragments landed in densely populated areas, including not far from the reporter’s hotel. Sciutto later reported back to Bash from inside his hotel, which is being used as a shelter.

A senior White House official told Israel on Tuesday that Iran was planning an “imminent” attack.

Watch above via CNN.