President Donald Trump’s latest pardon got brutal marks in a new poll that showed almost seven to one disapproval of one pardon — with twice as many Trump voters opposing it as supporting it.

Trump has faced criticism for pardoning former president of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was sentenced to 45 years in prison for drug trafficking. The pardon comes as Trump wages a deadly campaign against alleged Venezuelan drug boats — including one strike in which the survivors were ordered to be killed.

But according to a new Economist/YouGov Poll taken December 5-8, that’s not even his most unpopular pardon. Respondents were also asked about Trump’s pardon of Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and convicted fraudster David Gentile. Respondents were asked:

• Last week President Trump pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who in 2024 was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 45 years in prison. Do you approve or disapprove of this pardon?
• President Trump pardoned Texas Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar and his wife, who had been charged with accepting $600,000 in bribes. Do you approve or disapprove of this pardon?
• President Trump commuted the sentence of David Gentile, who had been convicted of a $1.6 billion financial fraud and had served two weeks of a seven-year prison sentence. Do you approve or disapprove of this commutation?

The results were a disaster for Trump:

• What do Americans think about Trump’s recent uses of the pardon power? Far more disapprove than approve
• 66% disapprove and 15% approve of the pardon of Texas Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar and his wife, who had been charged with accepting $600,000 in bribes
• 66% disapprove and 13% approve of the pardon of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who in 2024 was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 45 years in prison
• 67% disapprove and 11% approve of the commutation of the sentence of David Gentile, who had been convicted of a $1.6 billion financial fraud and had served two weeks of a seven-year prison sentence

Even among Trump voters, all three of these pardons were overwhelmingly opposed — 46 percent to 23 percent for Gentile, 49 percent to 28 percent for Cuellar, and 51 percent to 23 percent for Hernandez.

The post NEW POLL: Trump Gets Destroyed 6-to-1 On Pardons — Including Whopping 2-to-1 With Trump Voters first appeared on Mediaite.

Whether you're an academically inclined student looking for study hacks, or a more creative person who's just looking to work smarter instead of harder, there are lots of little ways to make getting through school a little easier. Even as students deal with increased competition and rising costs, you can make life just a little bit easier with each of these hacks.

Make the most of student discounts

Everyone knows about student discounts on laptops, streaming platforms, and some productivity services. However, there are plenty of other great deals for students that aren't as widely known. For instance, you can get a Setapp subscription for 50% off as a student, which gives you a year of access to over 200 Mac apps. You can also get some great deals such as scoring a free year of Google's Gemini Pro if you're a U.S. college student (the offer expires on January 31, 2026).

If your college provides you with a .edu email address, that's an easy way to score student discounts with practically every digital service. Some institutions let you keep that email address even after you graduate, as long as you keep the account active. You can also keep your student ID after graduation to get a few more discounts. Although it's not always considered ethical to get student discounts when you're working, this method could help you tide over a difficult time financially, as rent and bills tend to hit a lot harder when you're working on a low wage at the start of your career.

3D printing is sometimes better than buying

I've visited a few universities that have 3D printers their students can use for free (my editor went to one). If that's the case with your college, then you can use it to save yourself a bit of money by 3D printing objects you'd otherwise end up buying. These can include desk lamps, phone stands, small desk organizers, and much more. If you're mechanically savvy, you can even print small car parts that are expensive or hard to find.

Even if your university doesn't have a 3D printer, it's not too hard to find stores or websites where you can upload a design and get the finished product shipped to you. Quite often, 3D printing is a lot cheaper than buying new or even used items. You can check out the FunctionalPrints community and Makerworld for great 3D printing ideas, and often, downloadable design models. This means that you can take the design to a 3D printer near you and get it printed easily.

Consider writing your notes by hand

Credit: Joel Cunningham

I had a rough time studying in high school, as I got distracted immersing myself in novels, video games, and the internet. When I started college, I noticed that my focus time was lower when I was using computers to study. So, I switched to writing notes by hand ,and it was like a switch flipped in my brain. When I read those notes ahead of exams, I was able to recall the parts of the class I wrote them down in, which noticeably improved my scores.

I took the GMAT exam a few years ago and I got a pretty decent score all thanks to handwriting all of my notes, and solving all math problems by hand. I'm not a gifted math student, and in spite of that, I did pretty well in the math exam, only because I avoided using my iPad or Mac for studies. Of course, I used those devices to read textbooks, but I did all my note-taking and problem solving by hand.

While I prefer old-school methods like pen and paper to handwrite notes, you can also use modern technology to your advantage here. An iPad with an Apple Pencil, or something like the reMarkable tablet, can make a great study tool. The reMarkable uses an e-ink screen that mimics real paper, which makes it feel far more like an actual notebook than using an iPad.

Use meditation apps to reduce anxiety

While exercise is my number 1 recommendation to anyone who's looking to relieve anxiety, it's not always possible to make time for workouts during busy periods as a student. If you're in this boat, I highly recommend using a free meditation app to reduce anxiety and focus better on studies. During my GMAT prep, I was confronting multiple demons at once. I was quite scared of math, tests, and had a crippling fear of failure. I had a 40-minute train ride back from work and I used it to do a 20-minute guided meditation on Headspace's free tier.

Doing this for a few weeks helped me calm down immensely. On the day of the test, I remember being completely unfazed by the difficult questions, and I was able to follow all the exam strategies my tutor had suggested. My score was a lot higher than what I was expecting, and most of it was down to getting my anxiety out of the way. You can use any free meditation app to get started. Remember that you don't need to sit under a tree in the forest to meditate. You can start wherever you are.

Try a few different study methods

I must admit that I really didn't know about any study methods when I went to university, and I just did whatever helped me remember things. Working at Lifehacker has been an eye-opening experience in many ways, and one of those is learning that you can actually use more than one method to grasp difficult subjects. My colleague Lindsey Ellefson has written at length about the best study methods, and you should definitely give it a read to see if a different study method can help you.

I'm now a big fan of the Feynman method, which says that once you've finished studying a topic, you should explain it to someone who knows nothing about it. If you're able to do this and answer follow-up questions the person has, then it means you know the subject pretty well. If not, it's time to study again. I generally don't encourage using AI too much to study, but you can tell ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini that you're using the Feynman method to study a concept, and explain what you've learned. These tools will help you identify what you've explained correctly and ask decent follow-up questions to help you deepen your understanding of the subject.

Try flashcard apps for faster learning

Credit: Brainscape

Pretty much every student has used flashcards to study in school, but it's not easy to keep making flashcards for every subject when you have way too much to study. This is when it's a good idea to outsource the work to flashcard study apps. These are great tools to commit things to memory, and particularly useful when you're trying to learn a new language, memorize chess openings, or if you're studying for exams.

You can try Brainscape if you want pre-made flashcards, which eliminates the effort of generating the cards, too. It's great both for students prepping for a specific exam and for adults learning different skills. The variety of pre-made cards is vast, and you probably won't ever have to make any cards on the app. The free tier lets you use text, and the paid version lets you access audio, images, removes limits on studying, and many more useful features. It costs $20/month, $96/year, or $200 for a lifetime membership.

Don't forget the Pomodoro technique

At times, the simplest advice is the best. I only learned about the Pomodoro technique after I started working, and I still wish I'd known about it during my student days. The concept is simple: Follow a schedule where you study or work on a project for 25 minutes and then take a five-minute break. Rinse and repeat until your large task is done. The work and break time intervals should be changed based on what works best for you.

If you like the idea of using a dedicated app to follow this technique, you should consider FocusPomo, which has a solid 4.5/5 score in Lifehacker's review. The biggest downside of this app is that you still have to check your phone to use it, and if that's a no-go for you, then you can try alternatives such as following this 3-hour Pomodoro study video or using a Pomodoro app that works in your desktop browser, such as My Study Life.

Block distractions to focus better

Credit: Lindsey Ellefson

You should definitely use a distraction blocker app to stop doomscrolling and focus on what you need to do. Be it studying, journaling, meditation, or any other hobby you're fond of, using distraction blocking tools can help you focus at a time when every major internet company is out to get your attention. You can try tools such as Cold Turkey or StayFocusd, both of which let you block distracting websites for free. Similarly, Steppin is a great distraction blocking tool for your smartphone.

Befriend the power nap

When you're focused on studies, don't neglect the importance of a healthy sleep cycle. Ideally, you want to use the wind down feature on your phone to remind you that it's time to stop using all apps and get to bed. On iPhones and Android phones, you can also quickly switch to grayscale mode at bedtime, which is another way to trick your brain into getting off the screen. I find that I sleep better when all my gadgets aren't right next to my bed.

But more than that, I highly recommend taking a power nap when you're tired. Sometimes, I get home from a long day and I feel too tired to do much. If I'm able to take a 30-minute nap, I often wake up refreshed and feeling a lot better. Adding a little bit of rest to your day can make a big difference to your ability to get things done, so you should consider adding power naps to your day.

In case you find it hard to relax and sleep, I've had good results with progressive muscle relaxation. It's a simple technique that requires you to tense and relax various muscles in your body, which in turn helps you relax enough to go to sleep. The Insight Timer app has a great guided relaxation exercise by Shinzen Young, which I've used more often than I can count.

Consider a change in location

Once again, this may sound like simple advice, but it's incredibly effective. Whenever I've found it hard to study or complete assignments at home, it's always helped to go sit at a library or a cafe to get work done. A lot depends on how good the public libraries are in your locality, but even if that's not an option for you, try to see if you can go to a friend's place or anywhere other than your usual place for assignments. Sometimes, a change in environment can help you get work done faster.

If that doesn't help break a pattern of procrastination, then you can consider gamifying the process. You can use Stickk as a motivational tool to stick to your goals. The app makes you commit to donating money or posting on social media if you don't meet your goals, which is one way to put something real on the line as a penalty for not honoring your commitment. There are plenty of tools to help you stay on track with your commitments to hobbies or academics, so there's bound to be one that works for you.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem pounced on top Democrat Bennie Thompson’s (D-MS) assertion that the shooting death of a National Guardsman and wounding of another in Washington, D.C. before Thanksgiving was an “unfortunate accident.”

Noem appeared for a Homeland Security hearing on worldwide threats on Thursday, when Thompson addressed her and a representative of the National Counterterrorism Center.

“Madam Secretary, you and the gentleman NCTC, referenced the unfortunate accident that occurred with the National Guardsmen being killed,” said Thompson.

“You think that was an unfortunate accident?” Noem retorted. “It was a terrorist attack!”

Thompson sputtered, “I mean, wait, wait. I’ll get it straight then you can —”

“He shot our National Guardsman in the head!” Noem exclaimed.

“It was an unfortunate situation,” Thompson maintained, “But you blamed it solely on Joe Biden. I want you to know, who approved the asylum application for this same person?”

Noem answered that the asylum application “was put into place under the rules established by the Biden administration.”

Thompson challenged that assertion, saying, “I don’t want to charge filed perjury charges against you, but I’m of the opinion that the Trump administration — DHS, your DHS — approved the asylum application.”

After more back-and-forth, a Republican lawmaker interrupted: “Point of order, Mr. Chairman. That was a murder that took place in D.C. It was not an unfortunate incident. And those comments are effing disrespectful!”

Twenty-year-old West Virginia National Guardsman Sarah Beckstrom died a day after she and 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe were shot in Washington, D.C., where they had been deployed by the Trump administration to combat violent crime.

A 29-year-old Afghan immigrant, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was charged with one count of murder, two counts of assault with the intent to kill, and one count of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.

Lakanwal, who was living in Bellingham, WA, with his wife and five children, and who previously worked with the CIA in Afghanistan, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

According to ABC News, “the FBI is investigating the shooting as a potential act of international terrorism, suggesting authorities are trying to determine if it may have been inspired by an international terrorist organization.”

Watch the clip above via MS NOW.

The post ‘A Terrorist Attack!’ Kristi Noem Loses It After Democrat Refers to National Guard Shooting as an ‘Unfortunate Accident’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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Gift shopping for the DIYer in your life can be a challenge. Tools are the obvious choice, but truly handy folks probably already have most, if not all, of the tools they need (in addition to a long list of tools they only needed once but still hang onto). And even if they do need a specific tool, your chances of picking out the precise make and model they want are pretty slim.

But no matter what level of DIYer you're shopping for, they likely need other stuff besides tools, from safety gear (which too many DIYers neglect), to cold-weather accessories, to the little extras that can make around-the-house projects a little easier, and maybe even more fun.

Protective gear is a great option for DIY gifts

Safety is paramount—it’s terrifyingly easy to injure yourself while working with any kind of tool. Just as important is the “wear and tear” your body goes through while working with loud power tools and while contorting your body in ways nature never intended. A few safety and comfort essentials for the DIYer in your life include:

• Work boots: Cold, wet feet make any job more miserable than it has to be, and if your DIY friend hasn’t dropped a hammer on their foot yet, don’t worry, they will. A pair of waterproof, toe-protecting work boots is a great gift.

• Cut-resistant gloves: Working with power saws or hand saws means risking a nasty cut. Cut-resistant gloves protect those hands from all kinds of nicks and scrapes—and worse.

• Safety glasses: The number of DIYers who think they don’t have to worry about eye injuries is, frankly, stunning. Do your handy loved one a favor and give them some protective eyewear.

• Knee pads: I once spent a few days bent over in my crawl space, working, and my knees took a real beating. Knee pads may not be sexy, but they will be appreciated.

• Hearing protection: Working with power tools can be hard on the ears. A pair of noise-canceling, rechargeable headphones that play music and allow hands-free operation of your phone while preventing hearing damage are a must-have.

Cold-weather work gear is a practical gift option

When I first started my DIY journey, my solution for working outside in the cold was to put on multiple layers of my regular clothes, which limited my mobility and made me sweat up a storm. A better idea? Some work gear designed for the cold weather:

• Thermal gloves will keep hands from going numb while still offering protection.

• Base layers: The key to staying warm without getting chilled by your own sweat while working outside lies in having the right base layers—tops and bottoms.

• Headgear: Keeping the head and neck warm while working outside is the key to keeping your whole body warm, because so much heat is lost through the head. A combination hat, scarf, and headlamp solves the problem.

Stocking stuffers for DIYers

Some gifts for the DIYer are just about making every job a little easier or a little more fun.

• Tool belts and work aprons: I went an embarrassingly long time carrying my tools around in my pockets or in awkward bundles. A tool belt gives you a perfect hands-free way to transport your gear, and a work apron does the same while protecting your clothes and body from dirt and projectiles.

• The Bucket Boss: Another solution for lugging around your tools is a bucket organizer like the Bucket Boss, which makes bringing along every tool you might need a lot easier.

• A magnetic wristband: Give the gift of never having to carry a dozen nails in your mouth ever again.

• A headband lamp: At some point, every DIYer gets tired of trying to balance a flashlight in just the right spot. A lamp they can use hands-free will quickly become a favorite gift.

• A rugged Bluetooth speaker: Sure, everyone owns a bluetooth speaker these days—but handypeople will appreciate a Bluetooth speaker that’s durable enough for a worksite and that also uses the same batteries as their power tools.

• Anti-fatigue mat: Ah, the simple joys of standing hunched over a workbench for hours at a time. An anti-fatigue mat will spare your DIYer’s back and leave them refreshed after every job.

• Boot and glove dryer: There’s nothing worse than getting up to continue a big project only to discover that your boots and gloves are still soaked from the day before. Drying those items out in an hour or less? Magical.

• Beverage holster: Anyone who’s done work around their house knows that DIY work is fueled by refreshing beverages. Whatever your drink of choice, make it easy to have on hand at all times with this nifty holster.

President Donald Trump, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, shake hands before their meeting at Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

The New York Times revealed that Chinese dictator Xi Jinping harbors fear that the United States might design a disease to target him personally in an editorial published on Tuesday.

Under the headline, “This Is the Future of War,” the Times led by observing that “Something strange happened at the meeting between President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping of China in a mansion south of San Francisco on Nov. 15, 2023. After a working lunch, as the two leaders rose to leave, an aide to Mr. Xi signaled to one of the Chinese president’s bodyguards, who approached the table, took a small bottle out of his pocket and quickly sprayed down every surface that Mr. Xi had touched, including what remained of the almond meringue cake on his dessert plate.”

“The purpose, the Americans concluded, was to remove any trace of Mr. Xi’s DNA that his hosts might collect and exploit. ‘This is the way they’re thinking,’ said an official who attended the meeting, ‘that you could design a disease that would only affect one person.'”

Earlier this fall, The New York Post reported that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un had traveled to China with his own personal toilet “designed to protect his DNA and any clues about his health,” and that “aides were also spotted meticulously cleaning the room where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.”

For its part, the Times warned that if you “ask any five veteran national security experts,” you will “hear about five different emerging technologies with the potential to change the world of combat.”

“Swarms of robotic aircraft that work in unison to find and kill targets without any human oversight. Advanced cyberweapons that can immobilize armed forces and shut down electrical grids across the country. A.I.-designed bioweapons engineered to kill only those with certain genetic characteristics,” it continued. “Some of these weapons will remain confined to the pages of science fiction, but others are already in the works.”

The post Chinese Dictator Reportedly Scared America Could Design Disease to Target Him first appeared on Mediaite.

Elon Musk admitted this week he wouldn’t join DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) under President Donald Trump if he could have a do-over.

Musk joined former Trump official Katie Miller, wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, on Tuesday for her podcast where the billionaire X owner opened up about his feelings on his work with the government.

Musk was a major supporter of Trump’s in the 2024 presidential election and he went on to work with the administration through DOGE for months, ending his time with the White House in May. Musk primarily recommended spending cuts and the job earned him plenty of backlash, with protesters taking to burning and vandalizing Tesla vehicles. Musk’s relationship with Trump also somewhat soured, with the pair taking public shots at each other.

Musk argued on Miller’s podcast that DOGE was “somewhat successful” in its mission.

“We were a little bit successful. We were somewhat successful. I mean, we stopped a lot of funding for that really just made no sense, that was just entirely wasteful,” he said.

He went on to say that if he could go back in time he would prefer to simply work on his companies rather than jump so directly into politics.

Check out the exchange below:

KATIE MILLER: Would you ever do DOGE again?

ELON MUSK: Do you mean would I repeat history or would I —

MILLER: Two ways to think about it. One is if you could go back and start from scratch, like it’s January 20 again, would you go back and do it differently? And knowing what you know now, do you think there’s ever a place to restart? You, not saying others. You go back and restart doing DOGE.

MUSK: I mean, no, I don’t think so. Would I do it? I think probably…I don’t know.

MILLER: Would you do DOGE again knowing what you know now?

MUSK: I mean, the thing is, I think instead of doing DOGE, I would have basically built, you know, worked on my companies essentially. So and not and the cars would they wouldn’t have been burning the cars.

MILLER: You gave up a lot to do DOGE.

MUSK: Yeah. If you stop money going to political corruption, they will lash out, big time. They really want the money to keep flowing.

Watch above via The Katie Miller Podcast.

The post Elon Musk Admits He Wouldn’t Join DOGE if He Could Go Back in Time first appeared on Mediaite.

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The Soundcore Boom 2 is built for people who don’t want to baby their speakers. With an IPX7 rating and a floatable design, it’s something you can toss in the pool, hose off after a beach trip, or take out on a boat without much worry. And right now, the black model is $89.99, down from $139.99, its lowest price ever according to price trackers.

Soundcore Boom 2 by Anker

$89.99 at Amazon

$139.99 Save $50.00

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Get Deal

$89.99 at Amazon

$139.99 Save $50.00

Note: While the Boom 2 floats, Bluetooth doesn’t work underwater. So your playlist cuts off as soon as it dips below the surface. Still, for outdoor parties where someone will eventually knock the speaker over, that floatability is peace of mind.

The Boom 2 pumps out 80 watts of sound thanks to two 15W tweeters and a 50W woofer. Turn off BassUp mode, though, and output drops to 60W, so if you’re into room-shaking bass, you’ll want to leave it on. And while you can link a second Boom 2 for stereo sound, you’ll be working with Bluetooth only, since there’s no wifi support. The speaker’s LED lights sync to your music, which is fun at night but does drain the battery faster. On that note: Expect around 24 hours of playback with lights and bass boost off, but less if you’re maxing out the volume. It takes about 5.5 hours to charge fully via USB-C. That might be a long wait if you're in a rush, but decent for overnight charging.

There’s a companion app where you can tweak the sound profile and control the light settings. That adds a level of customization some speakers skip. But this isn’t a speaker for someone who wants elegant design or deep audio fidelity, notes this PCMag review. The JBL Flip 6 might feel nicer in the hand, and the Sony SRS-XB23 offers slightly better balance across mids and highs. What the Boom 2 does well is give you bold sound, big volume, and enough durability to handle messy environments.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt sparked a wave of condemnation on Tuesday by claiming China was not buying soybeans during the Biden administration as a way of defending President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which were the actual reason China stopped purchasing soybeans from American farmers this past May.

Leavitt made the blatantly false claim while on Newsmax, “Another huge win for our farmers. Following his successful meeting with President Xi Jinping in South Korea, President Trump convinced President Xi to continue purchasing, or begin purchasing again, American soybeans, which is something China wasn’t doing under the last administration because they had no respect for President Biden or for the country at the time.”

“But now they know President Trump is not messing around. He’s going to stand up for American farmers and American families. And so those purchases have begun from China, and American soybeans are being exported from the United States as we speak because of President Trump. He promised the farmers he would be there for them. He is delivering on that promise,” she added.

On Monday, Trump announced a $12 billion bailout for farmers impacted by the loss of access to foreign markets – something that also happened as a result of his trade wars during his first term. In September, Politico reported on the key background:

China has not purchased any U.S. soybeans since May, according to the American Soybean Association. Beijing has pivoted to suppliers in Brazil and Argentina — logging huge orders for Latin American beans and leaving U.S. farmers in the cold and panicking.

The dramatic shift echoes China’s response to the tariff war during Trump’s first term when the value of U.S. soybean exports plunged to $3.1 billion in 2018 from $14 billion in 2016.

Leavitt’s claim that China’s buying freeze had begun during the Biden administration was quickly called out by economists and journalists online, many of whom accused her of ham-fistedly trying to pass the blame.

Erica York of the Federal Tax Policy Foundation shared a graph showing the drop of Chinese soybean purchases during Trump’s two terms in office and added, “Which president presided over two major drops in U.S. soybean exports to China?”

Political Science Professor Branislav Slantchev replied, “It will surprise no one that reality is exactly the opposite of what Baghdad Barbie says. Trump has decimated the farmers — twice — so it remains a mystery why they keep voting for him.”

Below are some additional replies:

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The post Karoline Leavitt Roasted Over Blatantly False Claim on Trump’s Tariffs Impacting Farmers first appeared on Mediaite.

The term 'Mac power user' is a bit vague and almost sounds exclusionary, but I'm here to tell you that if you regularly use your Mac, you absolutely are a power user. You don't need to exclusively be using command line tools or keyboard shortcuts to be a power user. Even though I use my Mac all day, every single day, I keep discovering new shortcuts, awesome apps I'd never heard of, or just general tips that I hadn't come across until now.

So, if that sounds like you, you absolutely are a Mac power user, and I'm here to share some tips that have helped me optimize my workflow over the past few years. From setting up automation routines to save time, to a faster way to launch apps, there's something in this guide for everyone who uses a Mac.

Spotlight Search is your best friend

Spotlight Search is one of the most underrated tools on the Mac. Even though I've had a fair share of complaints with its occasional sluggishness, it's still my go-to for so many things. You can fire it up by pressing Command-Space on the keyboard, and use it for everything from launching apps to converting currencies. Just open Spotlight and type 100GBP (or any other currency), and you'll see it convert that to your local currency automatically. You can also use it to convert imperial units to metric, create calendar events, search for files, or create shortcut actions.

And if it still doesn't suit your workflow, you can always replace Spotlight with a better alternative such as Alfred or Raycast.

Try advanced Spotlight features

Credit: Pranay Parab

If you've upgraded to macOS 26 Tahoe, you'll notice that Spotlight is slightly better than before. It now allows you to do two things it didn't before—check your clipboard history, and create shortcuts to execute common actions. You can enable clipboard history by going to System Settings > Spotlight > Results from Clipboard, and access it by using the keyboard shortcut Command-Space-4.

As for automation, Spotlight has a new feature that lets you add quick keys to speed up common actions. You can press Command-Space-3 to open the Actions tab in Spotlight, and you'll see a list of supported actions. Next to some, you'll see a button called Add quick keys. Press this button and you can set up a keyboard shortcut to execute it. As an example, I've set up "sm" as the keyboard shortcut to send a message. The moment I type it and select the action via Spotlight, it allows me to type a message and send it to anyone from my contacts without opening the Messages app. Feel free to set up as many quick keys as you want and use Spotlight as your gateway to different actions within apps.

Use an app to control per-app volume

One of the most common annoyances with the Mac is that it doesn't easily let you set a different volume level for each app. If you find that app notifications are too loud and getting in the way of your video viewing experience, the easiest workaround is to use an app to set a custom volume level for different apps. The free Background Music app does a decent job with this, and if you're willing to pay for a much more polished experience, you should get SoundSource ($45).

Optimize your window tiling setups

macOS didn't have any useful window management features for very long, but now it has some good basic options. You can try pressing fn-ctrl-left arrow or right arrow to move windows around, or just drag an app's window to the left or right edge of the screen to see tiling options. You also have the option of hovering your mouse pointer over the green button to the top-left of any app's window, where you'll see lots of options to arrange windows. There are some window tiling settings available under System Settings > Desktop & Dock > Windows, too, so be sure to check them out.

While macOS' built-in window tiling features work just fine, the implementation isn't as polished as that on third-party apps, which also offer lots of advanced features that Apple does not. Free window management apps such as Loop and Rectangle offer many more window positioning and layout options. If you're willing to pay, apps such as Moom ($15) and Rectangle Pro ($10) are even better, as they have support for precise custom layouts, and handling multi-display setups, too.

Make the most of your Mac's display notch

Credit: Pranay Parab

Newer MacBooks have a notch in the display, which is a design choice Apple made to give you a larger screen without increasing the size of the MacBook. The notch looks like dead space on your MacBook, but some apps add a ton of useful features to this space. You can have things like music controls, calendars, battery status indicators, AirPods connectivity indicators, and more sitting right in your Mac's display notch. Alcove ($15) is my favorite app for this, as it brings the iPhone's Dynamic Island to your Mac. It shows you when your Mac enters a Focus mode, highlights volume and brightness changes, and when AirPods are connected. It also has gesture-based music playback controls, and much more. But if you just want music controls, you can get Tuneful ($5), which does that job quite well and costs a lot less.

The Option key hides a treasure trove of features

The humble Option key on your Mac's keyboard holds the secret to many hidden features. Hold the Option key and click the clock icon in your Mac's menu bar. You'll notice that this toggles Do Not Disturb mode on your Mac. It also reveals advanced wifi network information, shows more export formats in Preview, and has several more tricks that only appear when you press the Option key while opening menus from the menu bar.

You can customize the dock

Your Mac's dock is a great place to keep the apps that you use the most, so that you can launch them quickly. However, there are lots of fun ways to customize the Mac's dock to make it even more useful. Once you've cleaned up the dock by removing apps you don't use and replacing them with ones you do, you can also add spacers to organize the dock and use folders to group multiple apps in one icon. All these options are built into macOS, but third-party apps let you access even more options. The free TinkerTool app makes it easier to add spacers and has extra dock customization options, while uBar ($30) gives you the freedom to completely change the look and feel of the dock. If you're really missing Windows, uBar lets you replace the dock with something that looks like the Windows 11 taskbar, too.

The screenshot tools are great

Credit: Pranay Parab

Your Mac has some amazing built-in screenshot tools, and you should absolutely make the most of these. Press Command-Shift-5 to see the breadth of the screenshot and screen recording tools you get for free. These tools are great, and have been designed with a lot of thought and care, but for some people, they aren't going to be enough. If you want some neat features like taking scrolling screenshots of entire webpages, repeatedly capturing a specific part of the screen, or showing the keyboard buttons you're pressing during a screen recording, then you should consider replacing your Mac's screenshot tool with something better. My favorite app is CleanShot X ($29) and I've used it for over six years now. It has every screenshot feature you could ask for, and its screen recording tools are quite good, too.

There are easy ways to free up your Mac's storage

If your Mac's storage is full, it'll slow down a lot, and eventually you may experience a system crash. That's why it's important to keep some free space at all times. Your Mac has an easy built-in way to free up storage space now. Go to System Settings > General > Storage to get started. If you just pay attention to the recommendations on this page, you'll find it easy to clear out lots of storage space in just a few clicks. Beyond that, don't hesitate to enable automatically deleting files in Trash on your Mac.

These tools are all really good, but I highly recommend DaisyDisk ($10) for those who want to free up even more space. This app is faster than macOS' built-in methods, has a prettier interface, and lets you see exactly which apps or folders are taking up too much space. Cleaning up also takes just a couple of clicks.

Back up your photos to local storage

Everyone knows about iCloud and uses it to back up photos to the cloud. My only issue with this approach is that iCloud is a sync service and not a true backup option. If you delete iCloud photos from your iPhone, they'll be deleted from all other Apple devices, too. To safeguard against accidental photo deletion or losing your precious memories, I recommend backing up your photos to a second location. Parachute Backup ($5) is an excellent Mac app that backs up your iCloud photos to an external drive . I recently used Parachute Backup to back up over 12,000 photos to a hard drive on my home network, and it did the job flawlessly in around 2 hours.

(AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

President Donald Trump allegedly committed the same kind of mortgage fraud his administration has prosecuted New York Attorney General Letitia James for according to a new ProPublica report.

Trump has accused several of his political enemies, including James and Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook, of committing “deceitful and potentially criminal” fraud by declaring more than one primary residence on loan applications.  Both James and Cook have denied wrongdoing. The charges against James were dismissed over a procedural error.

But according to the nonprofit investigative outlet, records show that “Trump did the very thing he’s accusing his enemies of.”

“In 1993, Trump signed a mortgage for a ‘Bermuda style’ home in Palm Beach, Florida, pledging that it would be his principal residence,” the ProPublica report said. “Just seven weeks later, he got another mortgage for a seven-bedroom, marble-floored neighboring property, attesting that it too would be his principal residence.”

The report continued:

In reality, Trump, then a New Yorker, does not appear to have ever lived in either home, let alone used them as a principal residence. Instead, the two houses, which are next to his historic Mar-a-Lago estate, were used as investment properties and rented out, according to contemporaneous news accounts and an interview with his longtime real estate agent — exactly the sort of scenario his administration has pointed to as evidence of fraud.

Mortgage law experts who reviewed the records for ProPublica were struck by the irony of Trump’s dual mortgages. They said claiming primary residences on different mortgages at the same time, as Trump did, is often legal and rarely prosecuted. But Trump’s two loans, they said, exceed the low bar the Trump administration itself has set for mortgage fraud.

Bill Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency director, brought the mortgage fraud issue to Trump’s attention as the president sought to prosecute his enemies. Pulte declared, “If somebody is claiming two primary residences, that is not appropriate, and we will refer it for criminal investigation.”

Under those standards, mortgage finance expert Kathleen Engel told ProPublica that Trump is “going to either need to fire himself or refer himself to the Department of Justice. Trump has deemed that this type of misrepresentation is sufficient to preclude someone from serving the country.”

ProPublica reported that Trump hung up on its reporter “after being asked whether his Florida mortgages were similar to those of others he had accused of fraud.”

Read the ProPublica story here.

The post Trump Allegedly Committed Same ‘Mortgage Fraud’ His Admin Prosecuted Letitia James For: Report first appeared on Mediaite.

For more than half a century, audiences have been captivated by the Planet of the Apes—a sprawling sci-fi epic that spans at least three timelines, 3,000 years of history, and a franchise that includes 10 feature films, two TV series, three video games, and dozens of comics and novels. Whether you're a long-time fan trying to make sense of the lore or a newcomer wondering how a talking chimpanzee led to a post-apocalyptic planet dominated by primates, I’ve laid out the Planet of the Apes series by release order, chronological continuity, critical and commercial reception, the technological milestones of ape civilizations, and more.

This is your illustrated guide to the rise (and fall... and rise again, and fall, etc.) of the Planet of the Apes.

What is the Planet of the Apes?

Planet of the Apes is one of the strangest, most ambitious, and longest-running film franchises in cinema history. Films in the series vary wildly in quality, ambition, competence, and style, but all Apes movies, from the 1968 original to 2024’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, share a narrative focus: a world-shaking conflict between humans and intelligent apes.

Every Planet of the Apes movie, in chronological order

The original saga (1968–1973)

Planet of the Apes (1968):Based on Pierre Boulle’s 1963 sci-fi novel La Planète des Singes, 1968’s Planet of the Apes tells the story of astronaut George Taylor, who crash lands on what he thinks is a distant planet where apes are intelligent and in charge, and the people are dumb slaves.

Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970): While star Charlton Heston appears in the film briefly, Beneath the Planet of the Apes is really the story of Brent, an astronaut who’s been sent to rescue Taylor.

Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971): You’d think the annihilation of the entire planet would end the Planet of the Apes series, but no: In Escape, Cornelius, Zira, and Dr. Milo manage to flee the planet on Taylor’s ship before the doomsday bomb explodes; the trio time-travel to 1973.

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972): The last two old-school Planet of the Apes movies had lower budgets than their predecessors, and it definitely shows. Lore-wise, Conquest presents a divergent narrative path to explain the development of ape intelligence and other events.

Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973): In the years since the Ape rebellion in Conquest, a nuclear war has killed most humans; humans and ape relations are good enough, but the fragile detente is broken by human-hating gorilla Aldo.  

The Burton reboot (2001)

Planet of the Apes (2001): After a nearly 30-year hiatus, 2001’s Apes is a thematically and tonally uneven summer blockbuster featuring a by-the-numbers plot, mid-tier action, and an ending that confuses everyone. (The makeup and production design are top-notch, though.) 

The modern quadrilogy (2011–2024)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011): This movie blows the dust off the hoary old apes and breathes fresh creative life into a moribund franchise; Rise is a film packed with both action and dignity.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014): Dawn takes place about a decade after the events of the last movie, and apes are definitely on the come-up: It features the most nuanced (and most depressing) take on the conflict between species.

War for the Planet of the Apes (2017): If the message of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is “war is inevitable…,” the message of War for the Planet of the Apes is “..and war is hell.” It's a grim movie. 

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024): Kingdom explores an ape-dominated world where the few humans left are brainless scavengers (or so it seems). It doesn’t break new ground the way Rise did, but Kingdom opens the way for more Planet of the Apes sequels in the future.

Geographic location of each Planet of the Apes movie

Over more than five decades of films, Planet of the Apes has taken audiences from the shattered ruins of New York City to the tranquil redwood forests of Northern California, and even to entirely different worlds (maybe). This map tracks the primary settings of each movie, showing how the saga’s conflicts play out across Earth.

Who traveled where in time?

From astronauts overshooting the present by millennia, to apes hurtling back to the 20th century’s hippy era, time travel is integral to the Planet of the Apes, so lets take a look at the franchise’s major temporal tourists, charting when they left, when they arrived, and just how far they jumped.

The complicated chronology of the Planet of the Apes

If you’re considering a watch order for the Planet of the Apes, "in order by chronology" is the worst option—the Apes timeline is simply all over the place. While there are a few moments in the modern quadrilogy (2011–2024) that suggest the films are prequels to the original pentalogy (1968–1973), these are ultimately fan-service Easter eggs; the two series just don’t connect unless you get very creative with time-travel loops and offscreen assumptions. Hell, the first five films don’t connect with themselves unless you get creative with time-travel. So, I got creative with time travel to break down the major historical milestones in the Planet of the Apes Universe, across three timelines. (Four, if you count the self-contained 2001 Planet.)

Here are the Planet of the Apes movies listed in order of the year that each one takes place:

Critical reception of Planet of the Apes movies

Critics have a love-hate relationship with Planet of the Apes movies. According to Rotten Tomatoes, the “best” Apes movie is War for the Planet of the Apes, which was praised by 94% of critics. The “worst” is Battle for the Planet of the Apes, with only 33% positivity. That’s a big spread!

How much money did each Planet of the Apes movie make? 

Critical acceptance is great; but in cynical Hollywood terms, the only measure of a good movie is how much money it makes. By that metric, the “best” Apes movie is the 2001 reboot, Planet of the Apes. Despite mixed review, the movie made $328,049,530.32 in domestic ticket sales (adjusted for inflation), which is even more than the original and the 2014 blockbuster Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

A who’s-who of ape leadership

Any society is defined by its leaders, including ape society, so here is a breakdown of the doctors, generals, and tribal chiefs who have ruled the apes over the last 50 years.  

Dr. Zaius (Planet of the Apes, Beneath the Planet of the Apes): An orangutan Minister of Science and Defender of the Faith who balances political control with the fear of humanity’s return. 

General Ursus (Beneath the Planet of the Apes): This violent gorilla warlord never encountered a problem he couldn’t meet with violence. 

Dr. Zira (Escape from the Planet of the Apes, 1970): A compassionate and sharp-witted chimpanzee thrust into the role of cultural ambassador between societies on the verge of war, Dr. Zira is the defacto leader of a small band of ape time-travelers.

Caesar (Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Battle for the Planet of the Apes): The original Caesar is a fiery revolutionary who transforms ape resentment into a successful uprising against humanity.

General Thade (Planet of the Apes, 2001): A sadistic and cunning chimpanzee general obsessed with wiping out humanity.

Caesar (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, War for the Planet of the Apes): A hyper-intelligent chimp raised by humans, Caesar’s combination of tactical brilliance, political savvy, raw charisma, and genuine compassion for both apes and humans make him the best overall ape leader.

Koba (2014, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes): A bitter, scarred veteran of human torture and hero of the ape revolution, Koba has been through some shit.  

Proximus Caesar (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes): An iron-fisted militarist who twists the past to justify authoritarian rule, Proximus Caesar rules through fear and historical revisionism.

Ape technological and intellectual milestones by movie

Across the Planet of the Apes films, the ever-shifting balance of power between apes and humans often comes down to brains as much as brawn. Each installment shows apes using technologies, social systems, and tactics that they’ve either developed or borrowed from humans. From crude tools and simple rules to heavy artillery and complex political structures, these milestones mark the evolving capabilities of ape society over the decades (and timelines) of the franchise. Here's a breakdown of the technological highlights of ape society in each movie.

Ape-adjacent TV shows, video games, comic books and movies

If ten feature films isn't enough Apes for you, there's plenty more material out there. The Ape-verse began with a novel, and has grown to include a live-action TV series, a cartoon series, three video games, and dozens of novelizations and comic books.