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I know we're all in deep prep mode for this week's eating holiday, but it's worth thinking about the holiday feasts to come. Right now, you can buy a reliable TempSpike smart meat thermometer at a great Black Friday discount. It probably won't arrive before Thanksgiving, but it will serve you well throughout the rest of the winter holidays and beyond.

TempSpike Wireless Meat Thermometer

$99.99 at Amazon

$179.99 Save $80.00

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$99.99 at Amazon

$179.99 Save $80.00

A major failure point of cooking a bird as large as a turkey is not heating it to the temperature. You can't rely on that absurd popup thermometer that comes with the bird you just paid $30 to $50 dollars for. Your entire holiday meal is relying on it, so use a real thermometer.

Wireless thermometers have improved over the last few years, and though I have tested a few I liked, I love the TempSpike, and have used it repeatedly over the last few months—on the grill, in my sous vide, in the oven, and on the stovetop. I appreciate how simple it is: This model comes with two easily identifiable probes, one black and one white. It pairs easily with the accompanying app, which allows you to see the current temperature as well as the target temp, and set alerts to notify you when they merge.

I suggest using the black probe for the breast and the white for the thigh or the stuffing, so you have an overall picture of when to pull the bird out of the oven (for the record, that's at 155ªF for the breast, 165ªF for the thighs, and 155ªF for the stuffing, as all will rise another 10 degrees once you pull the bird out and allow it to rest.)

After the holidays are over, you'll be able to use the probes everywhere you cook. Since they're wireless, you can pop them into sous vide bags. They're fantastic on the grill, offering handsfree monitoring. They work in toaster ovens, on the stove top, and anyplace else you need a read on the temperature and don't want to stand around watching the meal cook.

ESPN

University of Connecticut men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley had a fiery exchange with a referee before trashing the officiating in Monday’s upset loss to Memphis.

Hurley’s Huskies — the two-time defending national champions — lost to unranked Memphis in the Maui Invitational. In the final minute of overtime, the head coach lost it when UConn forward Liam McNeeley was called for an over-the-back foul on an offensive rebound. Hurley was given a technical foul for the outburst — resulting in two free throws in addition to the two free throws Memphis was already given for the foul. Memphis guard PJ Carter hit all four free throws to give the Tigers a 96-92 lead.

UConn lost 99-97.

After the game, Hurley continued to criticize the officiating.

“But I had a lot of issues with what went on out there in the game,” Hurley said. “That over-the-back call at that point of the game — there was no attempt to block out. There was a player on Memphis that made a half-ass effort to rebound that basketball, and Liam McNeeley high-pointed that rebound. For that call to be made at that point in the game was a complete joke.”

Hurley even singled out one referee and seemingly questioned his credentials.

“I’ve never seen the one ref before,” he continued. “I didn’t even know he was a college ref. And then, you know, I’m familiar with the other two, so I’m not surprised.”

—

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The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro ($188.98, down from $249.99), available in white or silver (with a matching case), features angular stems with customizable LEDs that can blink, fade, or stay steady—adding a bit of flair to their functionality. These earbuds pack a punch with their dual-driver system (a 10.5mm dynamic driver and a 6.1mm planar driver), delivering a rich sound experience across a wide range of frequencies (20Hz to 40kHz). That said, this PCMag review notes that turning on ANC can slightly reduce the clarity of higher frequencies.

SAMSUNG Galaxy Buds 3 Pro AI True Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds, Noise Cancelling, Sound Optimization, Real-Time Interpreter, Redesigned Comfort Fit, White [US Version, Amazon Exclusive 2Yr Warranty]

$188.98 at Amazon

$249.99 Save $61.01

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They support Bluetooth 5.4 and work with popular codecs like AAC and SBC, plus Samsung’s proprietary Seamless Codec for 24-bit/96kHz playback. Unfortunately, the SSC codec doesn’t work with non-Samsung devices, and LDAC—a more universal high-res option—is missing altogether. On the bright side, these earbuds come with an IP57 rating, making them resistant to dust and light water exposure, including submersion up to one meter for 30 minutes, so sweaty workouts or accidental splashes are no problem. If rugged durability is a must-have for you, the Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 (IP68-rated, $169.99 from $229.99) might be a better fit.

For Samsung users, these earbuds pair effortlessly through the Galaxy Wear app as soon as you open the case. The app gives you access to features like noise modes (Active Noise Cancellation, Adaptive, Ambient Sound), a nine-band adjustable EQ, and an Adaptive Equalizer that adjusts audio based on how the earbuds fit in your ears. Non-Samsung Android users can still use the Wear app via the Google Play Store, but iOS users are out of luck. Without the app, these earbuds can only connect as standard Bluetooth headphones without access to customization features, missing out on AI-powered tools like Interpreter mode (for real-time translation) and Listening mode (for translating videos or lectures).

The new Google Pixel 9 phones didn't just bring hardware upgrades with them: They also brought a selection of useful AI-powered apps as well, including the Screenshots app (for picking information out of screenshots), and a new Weather app. If you own a Pixel 9 device, you'll find another standalone app on there too, called Pixel Studio.

It's an app for quickly generating AI art on your phone, and Google has clearly tried to make it as user-friendly as possible. It's up against plenty of other competing apps, though. Here's what you can do if you've got Pixel Studio on your phone, as well as some of the alternatives you might want to try instead.

How to use Pixel Studio

Load up Pixel Studio on your Pixel 9 phone, and straight away you'll get some examples of the sort of artwork you can create: Tap the prompts at the top of the screen to see more examples. They can range widely in terms of art style and topics, and there's plenty to scroll through if you're stuck for inspiration for your own projects.

To make your own picture, tap Create, then write out your prompt. This can be anything from "a bicycle leaning against a tree in a country lane" to "a small spaceship hovering above a futuristic cityscape." As always with these prompts, the more detail you can include, the better—and the closer the picture will match what you want.

Images can be created from simple prompts. Credit: Lifehacker

Tap the art style button underneath the prompt text to choose a particular type of picture. It'll say Freestyle by default, but other options like Anime and Cinematic are also available. One of the limitations of Pixel Studio is you can't specify the art style (or the dimensions for that matter) in the prompt, so you have to use these presets.

Tap the checkmark to generate a picture. The icons underneath the AI art let you regenerate another image from the same prompt, change the art style, and give feedback on the quality of the image. If you generate a new picture, it gets added to your gallery, rather than replacing what you've already made. Up at the top, you've got icons for saving, sharing, copying, and deleting the image.

You can then select Stickers and tools to apply some basic edits to your new graphic. You can drop in captions and stickers, and select parts of the picture that can then be moved, resized, or erased (using more AI trickery). It's all pretty rudimentary, and you don't get anywhere as near as much control as you would in an actual photo editing app.

You've got a choice of art styles. Credit: Lifehacker

Back on the front screen of Pixel Studio, you can find all the pictures you've generated by tapping the folder icon in the top left corner. You can also tap the photo icon (to the right of Create) to add stickers, captions, and other edits to an image in your phone's gallery—but you can't use these images as the basis of AI prompts.

It's a fun, easy-to-use option if you need some AI art—perhaps to drop into a group chat—and it's similar in some ways to what you get with Apple Intelligence on the iPhone. However, you don't get much control over your final image, and you can't currently include people in your images.

Other AI image generators

You've got no shortage of options if you need AI-art-generating capabilities beyond those offered by Pixel Studio—and if you need the best results in terms of quality, as well as the most flexibility in terms of prompts and edits, then you're probably going to want to look elsewhere for your AI image app.

Google's very own Gemini is a good place to start: Now available on iOS as well as Android, it gives all users the ability to generate AI art via the Imagen 3 model (just like Pixel Studio). Just type out your prompt as part of a conversation, including all the details you want to see and your choice of art style. The only restriction is you can't generate images of people, unless you're paying $20 a month for Gemini Advanced.

ChatGPT can generate images as part of conversations. Credit: Lifehacker

Then there's ChatGPT for Android and iOS, powered by the company's DALL-E 3 image model. As with Gemini, there's no dedicated image generator component—you just tell ChatGPT what you want to see as part of your conversations with it, including details such as the art style, if needed. You don't have to be a paying user to create artwork, and images of people are allowed, but free users are limited to two generations per day.

ChatGPT does give you a few more options when it comes to editing your image: You can use prompts to tweak what's already been generated, and select specific parts of a picture to make changes to. For example, you could highlight the windows in an interior shot, and ask for a different kind of weather outside.

You also have Copilot for Android and iOS, which works in a similar way to Gemini and ChatGPT, with a built-in image generator that can be used for free. (It uses DALL-E 3 as well.) You can specify your choice of art styles, and produce pictures of anything you like (including people), but you don't get anything in the way of editing features.

Midjourney offers plenty of options for editing images. Credit: Lifehacker

As for Midjourney, while it's undoubtedly one of the best AI image generators out there right now, it doesn't currently have a mobile app: You have to go through the website. You can do this on a phone, and the site adapts pretty well to a smaller screen, but the experience isn't quite as smooth as it would be in a dedicated app.

Midjourney is hard to beat in terms of the quality and variety of the images it produces, and in the flexibility you get in terms of art styles. You get a host of editing options, too: You can generate remixes, pan across a scene, or produce subtle variations on something that's already been rendered. The downside? It's not free: You'll need to pay $10 a month to create imagery.

Is Pixel Studio the best for your needs?

Pixel Studio is certainly not the most advanced in terms of its scope or the quality of the images you can produce—but it is fast (thanks to the on-board Gemini Nano model), and it is free (once you've paid for your Pixel 9). If you need something quick and not too complicated, it's ideal.

Gemini is the next-best option if you don't want to pay for another subscription (assuming you don't need people in your images). I'd be tempted to use Gemini for more complex AI image prompts, but stick to Pixel Studio for everything else, because it has a more user-friendly interface and a greater variety of editing tools.

Outdoor cameras are useful for far more than actual security: They can show you if your dog is in the backyard, or if the gate is open, or alert you when friends show up or you get a package delivered. These cameras are there for more than just catching intruders—they capture life as it is happening outside your door.

These are the cameras I've tested and loved.

Eufy Solocams

Eufy Solocams are the cameras I rely on when I'm not testing other cameras. I love the dual lenses and 360º field of view. Also, you can store clips locally if you have a eufy backup hub, called a Homebase.

• eufy Security Floodlight Cam S330: regularly $299.99, now $169.98

• eufy Security Floodlight Camera E340: regularly $219.99, now $149.98

Eufy Security Floodlight Cam 2 Pro

$299.99 at Amazon

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$299.99 at Amazon

Reolink PoE security cameras

I was a little slow to Reolink—I tried and didn't love their Argus line, either the physical appearance or the app. But their PoE (power over ethernet) PTZ (point, tilt, zoom) cameras are a different story, and now they'd be my pick if I was buying cameras for the first time. You want PTZ to give you the best 360º view of your space, and PoE provides better security from wifi hackers.

• Reolink 4K PoE Security Outdoor IP Camera now $62.99, was $89.99

• Reolink 4K UHD PoE PTZ Camera for Outdoor Security, now $174.99, was $249.99

• Reolink 4K Wired Wifi Outdoor Camera, 8MP w/Auto Tracking now $118.99, was $169.99

Reolink 4K Wired wifi outdoor camera

$118.99 at Amazon

$169.99 Save $51.00

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$118.99 at Amazon

$169.99 Save $51.00

Blink Outdoor 4 camera

Blink cameras are a little rudimentary compared to other high-end security cams, but for $39.99, they’re a great deal. I find them easy to put up, and they keep a decent battery charge and offer a pretty good field of vision. The resolution is great, and the system is extendable, which I really like. Pro tip: Get a Sync module so you can store clips locally, skipping the subscription. 

• Blink Outdoor 4 Camera, was $99.99, now $39.99

Blink Outdoor 4 1080p Security Camera

$39.99 at Amazon

$99.99 Save $60.00

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$39.99 at Amazon

$99.99 Save $60.00

Ring Wired floodlight camera

As discounts go, 40% off is nothing to sneeze at, and as someone with a lot of Ring products at home, I like the level of notifications I can achieve after a few adjustments to the cameras settings. This 1080p camera has two-way talk in addition to the security siren.

• Ring Wired Floodlight Cam, was $199.99, now $119.99

Fox News contributor Leslie Marshall made an impassioned case against President-Elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth on Sunday’s MediaBuzz.

Hegseth has been under intense scrutiny since allegations arose claiming he sexually assaulted a woman at a conference some seven years ago.

Fox’s Howard Kurtz cited reporting by Mediaite’s Diana Falzone and Aidan McLaughlin when explaining the allegations against Hegseth, who most recently co-hosted Fox & Friends Weekend.

“Mediaite obtained this police report from California authorities from back in 2017, and says Hegseth, Pete, very drunk, he got into a fight with Jane Doe, that’s how she’s being referred to. That she repeatedly said, ‘No,’ and a rape kit confirmed the sexual encounter. Again, Pete Hegseth says this was consensual.”

Marshall took a deep breath before stating, “I dreaded talking about this today. I met Pete a long time ago. We spent, middle of the night, waiting to go on during 2016, before the election, and I like him as a person.” She went on to cite the Uniform Code of Military Justice:

With all due respect to my former colleague, we know that there were three cases of adultery for Pete Hegseth, and it is relevant. And the reason why it’s relevant is, Article 134 of the UCMJ considers adultery against the military, which the Department of Defense is part of. You can’t lead an entire organization and all these people if you can’t lead by example, one.

Two, I am a rape victim, and I can tell you there’s a reason one in 10 rapes go unreported, and it’s very difficult for a woman to go in and have a rape kit done. It’s physically, mentally, and emotionally very difficult to go through that process, as I have. And I can tell you, that just very personal, in my deep core…Somebody doesn’t go into the hospital and subject herself to that. And I have to say, I, as a woman and as a victim, I believe the victims, and this is a problem for me. And then on top of that, although Pete has an incredible military career, he doesn’t have the leadership career in the military that I feel the Department of Defense requires as their head.

Kurtz then discussed Hegseth’s qualifications to manage the “massive Pentagon bureaucracy,” before thanking Marshall for sharing her story.

“I appreciate your candor in describing your own personal experience that obviously was very moving, and gives us a different perspective,” Kurtz said.

Watch the clip above via Fox News.

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) claimed that her congressional oversight role with the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) won’t leave room to “care about people’s feelings,” as she’ll be too busy rooting out institutional waste and doling out “pink slips” to government employees.

Greene appeared on Sunday Morning Futures with Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo to talk about the yet-to-be created subcommittee that will work with Trump-appointees Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to “eliminate government waste.”

“We’ll be looking at everything from government-funded media programs like NPR that spread nothing but Democrat propaganda,” Greene began. She continued:

We’ll be going into grant programs that funds things like sex apps in Malaysia, toilets in Africa. All kinds of programs that don’t help the American people. I want to talk t the people at the Pentagon and ask them why they can’t find billions of dollars every single year and why they fail their audit.

But not just that, Maria, I’d like to talk to the governors of sanctuary states and the mayors of sanctuary cities and have them come before our committee and explain why they deserve federal dollars if they’re going to harbor illegal criminal aliens in their states and their cities. We’re going to look in every single aspect. And, we don’t care about people’s feelings; we’re going to be searching for the facts and we’re going to be verifying if this is worth spending the American hard-earned, the American people’s hard-earned tax dollars on.

Kentucky Rep. James Comer (R) appointed Greene last week to lead the subcommittee he’s been tasked with organizing.

Greene told CNN, “I’m excited to chair this new subcommittee designed to work hand in hand with President Trump, Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, and the entire DOGE team. Our subcommittee’s work will expose people who need to be FIRED. The bureaucrats who don’t do their job, fail audits like in the Pentagon, and don’t know where BILLIONS of dollars are going, will be getting a pink slip.”

Watch the clip above via Fox News.