Latest news with #April2024
Gizmodo
3 days ago
- Business
- Gizmodo
AirPods Pro 2 Are Back at Their Lowest Price as Apple Clears Out Limited Stock on Amazon
Scoring a huge deal on Apple's top-rated AirPods Pro 2 wireless earbuds is a matter of timing. There's a 32% off deal that drops on Amazon which brings the price of these state of the art earbuds down to just $169, but you have to keep a sharp eye out for it. Or, better yet, we can just tell you when it's back. Like right now. This $80 price drop on the AirPods Pro 2 hadn't been around for the past month before now, but with the exception of the small Black Friday/Cyber Monday 2024 window when the AirPods Pro 2 dropped to a record low $154, this elusive $169 deal is the lowest price on Apple's best-ever AirPods since they were released in April 2024. See at Amazon Top of the Line What's earned the AirPods Pro 2 that stellar 4.6-star rating from nearly 30,000 Amazon reviewers, and all of those professional reviews calling them Apple's best AirPods yet? Start with the new H2 chip that drives all of the many great features of the AirPods Pro 2. The state of the art H2 processor makes it all possible: the adaptive noice cancellation that intelligently detects the noise level of your surroundings, the transparency mode that lets in enough of your surroundings to keep you safe, and the vastly improved sound and call quality. Tack on the 6-hour battery life, seamless linking with Apple's Find My with Precision Finding app to keep your AirPods Pro 2 secure, IP54-level dust, sweat, and water resistance, and the new ability to recharge with the Apple Watch charger in addition to USB-C, MagSafe, and other Qi-certified chargers, and those rave reviews make total sense. Medical Marvel Perhaps most impressively, the AirPods Pro 2 come with hearing health support that's a first in any mass-market earbuds. This includes a hearing test that allows you to check your hearing without a trip to the doctor's office, hearing protection for when you're in loud environments, and a clinical-grade hearing aid feature that assists people with mild to moderate hearing loss. There's no predicting when that Amazon deal that drops the price of the AirPods Pro 2 from $249 to just $169. But when it does swing around — like right now — it's more than worth jumping on. You get the industry-leading AirPods Pro 2 with all of their upgrades and advanced features, not to mention the pristine sound and peerless performance when you're using them to take or make a phone call, and you get $80 back in your pocket. See at Amazon
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Gypsy-Rose Blanchard Celebrates Boyfriend Ken Urker's First Father's Day Since Welcoming Daughter Aurora: 'Amazing Man'
Gypsy-Rose Blanchard and Ken Urker marked their first Father's Day together as parents The reality TV star shared a snap of Urker and their daughter on her Instagram Story, calling him an "amazing man and father" The pair reconnected in April 2024 after calling off their engagement while Blanchard was still incarceratedGypsy-Rose Blanchard is celebrating Ken Urker's first Father's Day as a dad. After rekindling their romance in April 2024, Blanchard, 33, and Urker welcomed their first child together, daughter Aurora Raina Urker, the following December. In her post via Instagram Stories, the proud mom shared a snap of Urker holding onto their little one, whose face is covered by a baby emoji. "Happy First Father's Day @kenurker,' Blanchard wrote in text over the photo. "You are an amazing man and father 🥰 WE love you.' Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Blachard previously opened up to PEOPLE about witnessing Urker step into the role of father in March, noting the beauty of their family of three growing together. 'It's adorable. It really is,' Blanchard said. 'It's one of those heart-touching moments because it's like, this is new for the both of us, but also Ken was young when we met, and so it's adorable and really heartwarming to see him grow and mature through this process.' 'I've learned that he is a lot more patient than I gave him credit for,' she continued. 'So it's been wonderful to watch him grow as a person through the last year, but also step into this new mature role.' Urker — who chose the name Aurora — told PEOPLE they've been borrowing a neighbor's scale to periodically weigh Aurora. They've loved "just watching that number grow," as well as witnessing in real time what her eye color will be and what kind of hair she'll have. 'I love her to death, and every day I get to see her grow more and more in all these little ways,' he told PEOPLE. 'Her eyes opening wider as the weeks go on, and her starting to develop a little bit of a social smile now, and just watching her get bigger.' 'I really am just soaking in all these moments and enjoying them to the fullest,' Urker added. 'I want to spoil her and just make her happy.' is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more! The pair first connected while Blanchard was serving time in prison for her role in the killing of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard. Urker began writing letters to her after seeing HBO's documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest, and they began dating while Blanchard was still incarcerated. Urker proposed to Blanchard in October 2018, but they eventually broke off the engagement. But after Blanchard's split from ex-husband Ryan Scott Anderson in March 2024, she and Urker reconnected romantically. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Costco's Gold Bars Are So Popular, There's a Limit on How Many You Can Buy — Should You Invest?
With gold having tipped a recent record high price of just over $3,500 per troy ounce (31.1 grams) on April 22, interest from investors — both individual and institutional — has been piqued. Costco has been a major player in the physical bullion game for most casual investors. In early 2024, CNBC reported that Wells Fargo projected Costco was selling an estimated $200 million worth of gold bars and coins on a monthly basis. Read Next: Check Out: And now Costco is tightening its restrictions on how many gold bars its customers can purchase. Read on for more details, as well as whether you should invest. In response to the dramatically increased demand, as a May 23 Money report indicated, Costco began tightening restrictions around how many gold bars could be purchased. Customers can buy two 1-ounce gold bars per transaction, as they could previously. However, they are now restricted to just one transaction in a 24-hour period. Costco has quite a few gold options on its website, including coins and bars. Most options are around $3,500 as of June 16. It's clear there's a demand for gold, as Costco's new restriction shows. However, the question remains: Are physical gold bars, or bullion, worth buying as an investment? Learn More: In April, Sameer Samana — head of global equities and real assets at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute — expressed some degree of hesitation about buying into physical gold at that time (prior to it hitting its record high), CNBC reported. 'We're probably close to maximum optimism on gold at this point,' Samana said. 'It's so overbought. Buying gold right now, you're coming a little late to the party. It doesn't mean it's over, but you're not early.' Samana suggested a gold bullion-backed ETF rather than the purchase of physical bars or coins. However, in May, Goldman Sachs Research commodities strategies Lina Thomas provided an exhaustive breakout of gold's past, current and future performance. She gestured toward the notion that traders often buy gold when confronted with macroeconomic uncertainty, and further that central banks were also buying large quantities of the yellow metal. 'The long-run bull story for gold is that central banks are buying large amounts of it. We expect that to continue for at least another three years,' Thomas said, adding that Goldman Sachs predicts gold to hit $3,700 per troy ounce as 2025 draws to a close. 'While the key factor since 2022 used to be central bank buying alone, ETF investors are now joining the gold rally. As both compete for the same bullion, we are expecting gold prices to rise even further,' she added. No matter where you buy your gold from, such a pricey buy should be made through reputable dealers, according to Brett Elliott, director of content at APMEX. Elliott was also bullish over gold's performance prospects in 2025, according to CBS News. 'The most important decision you'll make is where to buy from,' Elliott said. 'Choose a reputable dealer, preferably one that has been in business for some time with good reviews and will also buy back from you when you're ready to sell.' More From GOBankingRates How Far $750K Plus Social Security Goes in Retirement in Every US Region This article originally appeared on Costco's Gold Bars Are So Popular, There's a Limit on How Many You Can Buy — Should You Invest?
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
My doctor turned me down 6 times when I asked about weight loss drugs. I fought until I got them.
Joie Armstrong's life looked pretty good — at least on paper. A loving husband of nearly 20 years. Six kids. The freedom to focus on her family as a stay-at-home mom. Between picking up and dropping off kids at school, soccer practice or ballet, she'd make frequent stops for pick-me-ups: popcorn, Wendy's lemonade, a Cinnabon. 'I was free to follow my own ambitions, but I wasn't happy,' she tells Yahoo Life. 'I felt very solo. I was in this place where everything felt OK, or like it should be, but on the inside, you consistently have sad days.' Armstrong weighed 277 pounds and woke up most days in pain and still exhausted. Her attempts at the old-fashioned 'eat less, move more' strategies hadn't paid off. Armstrong asked her doctor about GLP-1 medications. But the former theater teacher says she was turned down as many as six times. And, when she finally did get a prescription, she was denied insurance coverage and started to consider bariatric surgery instead. Then, during an April 2024 trip to New York City, Armstrong suffered a severe allergic reaction to something. She'd had bad allergies and asthma her entire life (her mother used to call hospitals in places they were planning to visit when she was a kid, to warn them her daughter would likely be coming in). But this time, Armstrong had to be placed in the intensive care unit. After her health scare, Armstrong decided she couldn't wait to get insurance coverage for GLP-1s, and bought her first order of compounded tirzepatide. She wasn't sure that it would help with her allergies, but she knew the number on her scale was 'probably too much weight for most Americans to carry,' she says. 'And I'm only 5 feet tall, so it was just way too much for my knees, my back and most of all, my heart.' It's been nearly a year since Armstrong took her first injection (she's since switched to Eli Lilly's Zepbound). Not only has she lost significant weight, but she's rediscovering herself. 'The GLP-1 has really helped me to reclaim my confidence,' she says, adding that she's taking 'steps toward being the woman I want to be.' For Yahoo's On My Weigh series, Armstrong shares how starting on the medication 'freed up space to examine, 'Joie, you take care of everyone else, but how are you taking care of yourself?'' Read on to see how she's now prioritizing her 'only Earth suit.' Name: Joie Armstrong Age: 40 The method: Tirzepatide, 15 milligrams The goal: I just wanted to wake up and not feel out of breath and in pain and to be able to exercise again — simple, basic life things. I was always tired, my mobility was starting to be affected by my weight and I was just feeling worn out, lonely and consistently sad and depressed. I was just kind of ready to feel better. Progress report: I've lost a total of about 87 pounds. I'm now 190 pounds. I'm being more active and my knee, hip and foot pain are pretty much nonexistent. One positive side effect I didn't expect: Tirzepatide seems to have helped a lot with my allergies and asthma! Within about eight weeks of starting tirzepatide, I started to feel like myself. Weight loss is no longer the main ambition; it's just to be healthier and to have a better overall sense of well-being. Even if I don't lose any more weight, I feel like myself. Food noise volume: My food noise volume used to be between an 8 and a 10. But around four to six weeks after starting medication, it dropped to about a 4. I remember just looking up one day and being like, Did I eat today? I have so many things I can do in life now because I'm not constantly thinking about where I can stop to get food or a treat. Prior to starting tirzepatide, I always overslept. I was just tired all the time and it seemed like I couldn't get enough rest. The worst part about being an obese person is waking up in the morning — not because you don't want to live, but because you're just still so tired and sleepy, wondering, What did I do last night, if I didn't get any rest? About four weeks into taking the medication, I realized I was getting up in the morning. Now, I typically wake up with the sun. It's so unique. When I wake up, nothing is hurting. I'm able to get some things done in the hour or two before the rest of my house wakes up. I just feel free. I used to wake up thinking about getting a cinnamon bun or my favorite vegan chocolate chip cookies from Insomnia Cookies. And I used to have coffee first thing, but now I only have it in the morning three times a week or so. I'm such a boring eater now! I typically have two eggs, boiled, scrambled or fried. If I didn't eat enough the day before, I might have three eggs, with sliced tomatoes or some other vegetable and some kind of protein. I like to get the protein in right away. The kids get toaster waffles or pancakes and sausage. I don't force them into eating how I eat now, but the options I give them now are a little cleaner than they used to be. I used to be so tired when I woke up, or when my kids would have to wake me up, like, 'Mom, I gotta go to school, we're late.' I would just dress myself quickly in whatever was clean and start going, and sometimes I wouldn't stop until later that night. Now that I've made more time for myself in the mornings, I love taking care of my skin and taking a nice, relaxing shower. I have a whole skin care routine now that includes a cleanser, a moisturizer and something with some collagen because loose skin is a big thing for people on GLP-1s. So I'm using products that help keep my skin youthful and rejuvenated and help it retain its firmness. Sometimes I do that in the mornings, but I love doing my skin routine at night. When it comes to dressing, my taste in clothing is just not the same as it was before losing weight. For example, I used to wear clothes with a lot of ruffles all over them, because I thought that was more flattering to my body. But I just don't look forward to putting on something like that anymore. I feel a lot freer in my body and less cognizant of my undergarments. As an obese woman, you try to keep everything together by wearing Spanx or what the ladies of old would call a girdle, or a waist trainer. My whole life, I've only worn one brand of bras, and it's almost time for me to go looking for some new ones. I'm looking forward to having a bigger selection of undergarments to choose from, now that I don't have the same needs as I did when I was in a bigger body. I'm still a big online shopper, but it's nice to be able to go into the store and try on a size large, rather than going through the whole rack praying there's a size 2X. That has been a really significant and heartwarming part of this journey. I usually take my shot in my stomach, though recently I've started trying it in my arm, just because it's a little easier to access. But, generally, I'm a stomach girlie. I feel like I recognize my limits better when I take the shot in my stomach. There are lots of tips about 'pregaming' for shot day, and you can do things to reduce injection site irritation, like using an ice pack and rubbing some Benadryl on the spot. Sometimes, while your body is adjusting to the medication, it can make you feel tired. If I feel tired on shot day or a couple of days afterward, I've learned that it's OK to lie down and take a nap. I typically don't have much for lunch. If I do eat something, it's often a salad with a protein, like some precooked, presliced deli meats from the big-box stores. Or I'll add some smoked salmon, chunks of chicken breast or some Angus beef. Whatever I can grab and heat up easily! I actually started working out before I began taking tirzepatide. Before GLP-1s, obesity was just seen as a lazy man's disease. So, you were always told, 'Just eat less and do more.' Back in my 20s, when I moved more and ate less, I would lose weight. But it wasn't the same later in life. At 39, I started going to the gym again. I went every other day or every day for about eight weeks. I lost around 4 pounds. And it was just so discouraging to not be losing much weight, and my knees and lower back were hurting every morning. In August of 2024, four weeks after I'd started tirzepatide, I realized I was recognizing things that had gone undone around my house. I would think, I should organize that drawer, or I should clean out that closet. I noticed I had the energy to do those things. I decided to weigh myself, and I'd lost 7 pounds. I was in shock. I hadn't gone to the gym or changed how I ate yet. I couldn't believe it, and it just gave me such enthusiasm and motivation to keep going. Now that I'm feeling better, I've started doing weighted walks, where you wear a weighted vest, once or twice a week. It's an especially good way for women over 40 to do some strength training. Walking is good for your heart health, but when you add the weighted vest, it turns it into strength training! My husband enjoys joining me for walks too, and I've noticed a lot of my neighbors are also walking lately. I also try to do some strength training three times a week. Aside from the occasional celebratory drink, I don't really drink. Plus, I've heard that alcohol and GLP-1s clash, so I mostly steer clear. As far as my social life goes, I'm still relatively new to the Dallas area, and I can't say that I've made a ton of friends. But, since starting tirzepatide, I've been a lot less apprehensive about initiating new relationships or just inviting people to do recreational things. I'm also looking forward to an adult camp I signed up for in August, Camp Social, in New York. It's an overnight camp for women who are age 30 and up and want to make new friends. I'm so looking forward to meeting some new ladies there and at a local meet and greet. I feel like I'm getting back to the essence of who I truly am, without the weight and stress that I was carrying in a bigger body. Now that food is not something that I am constantly wrestling with, I have felt like I have more time for friends and a social life. And, of course, my spouse is a very good friend to me. We were friends long before we were married. I think I've become more aware of which of my relationships were draining me and which ones are fueling me. Before starting a GLP-1, I had relationships with some people who I believed loved me, but I was constantly giving. When I was more obese, that was just what I did to have friendship. Now, I don't want to have to perform or only focus on the other person for us to be friends. I want to be myself! I now see a therapist every two weeks, and they helped me understand that weight loss as significant as mine is a huge change, and people who are not on this journey with you don't change that quickly. So, I have to be more patient and tolerant, but trust that people love me. Now, I usually eat the same thing for dinner that I had for lunch. Told you, I'm a boring eater! The most significant change in me and my life since I started a GLP-1 is how I think about food. When you're obese, you lead with your cravings. But I know from studying my entire dieting life, and trying keto and the like, that your body is an engine. Now, I prioritize protein so I can just be a constant fat burner. I do have children, so I probably still do 80% of the cooking for dinner. I rotate things like spaghetti and hamburgers. I always try to include a meat, two to three fruits or vegetables, and some kind of starch, like rice, pasta or a bun. I used to make fun of women who bought presliced fruit trays, but now those are my best friends! I still lead with what tastes good — maybe some tacos or fried pork chops — when planning dinners, but without cravings, it's a whole new world! Once a week, we eat out somewhere that has a drive-through or that's easy to pick up from. It's part of the culture of raising a family in America, I think. Five days a week, dinner is up to me, but once a week, we're having whatever the colonel — Colonel Sanders! — is frying up. But now we make healthier choices at those places. We go to Salata, where you can pick a protein to go with your salad, or Chick-fil-A, where we can get high-protein meals. And my mom cooks Sunday dinner for us. My food budget has declined dramatically. I order my groceries online and know what I'm going to order, so I don't impulse buy. I only go into the grocery store if I want to get those extra steps in. I figure, OK, I'll push that big heavy cart around and get some steps around the store. When you're a busy family, you're typically buying food on the go, but you're also buying groceries. So you're essentially buying double the food. I'm not doing that so much anymore. It really helps to make room in your budget for GLP-1s. My advice for people whose insurance maybe doesn't cover 100% of the medication and who feel like they can't afford it: Go back and look at how much money you spent in the last three months on just being in that drive-through. You can almost guarantee that you're already spending the money anyway — maybe more! — because the drive-through is not cheap. My budget has probably been cut down by 35%. My husband loves that because he hated seeing all those transactions on our account all the time. It feels good to be able to have the self-control to drive right past the cinnamon bun place or the grocery store with my favorite dill pickle popcorn or Sriracha-something. I don't have those cravings anymore, so if I decide to have it, I just have it, and then I'm finished.
Phone Arena
09-06-2025
- Phone Arena
Fairphone is going all out to make its next phone truly modular
Fairphone is a rather unique company in the smartphone space. The Dutch electronics manufacturer is one of the few that specializes in modular smartphones, a type of devices that heavily minimizes environmental impact because companies that make them typically use recycled materials. In addition to modular smartphones, Fairphone also provides replacement parts for its smartphones. The company's most recent product, Fairphone 5, made its debut back in April 2024. Because its phones are meant to be kept for longer periods of time, Fairphone promises five major OS updates and 10 years of security updates. The next Fairphone device will be even more customizable, at least according to the latest report from The German website got their hands on a picture showing the front part of the Fairphone 6, but the most important difference compared to the previous models would only be visible on the back 6 is supposed to feature a modular back panel, allowing owners to customize their phone to look the way they want. Apart from the fact that the phone will be available in three different colors – Horizon Black, Cloud White, and Forest Green, Fairphone 6 will also feature a two-part back cover, so the upper and lower covers could be of different colors. Fairphone 6 | Image credit: Besides that, Fairphone 6 will feature replaceable rear and front cameras, display, battery, earpiece, speaker, and USB-C port. But wait, there's more! Fairphone will sell interchangeable accessories through different partner retailers, including a card holder, a lanyard, and a ring that's supposed to make holding the device comfier. Unfortunately, no details about its specs are known at the moment except for the fact that it will pack at least 8GB RAM and 256GB internal storage. Also, Dutch publication Nieuwe Mobiel claims Fairphone 6 could be officially introduced on June 25. As far as the price goes, Fairphone 6 is rumored to cost as low as €550, a much lower amount compared to Fairphone 5's €700 price tag. It's unclear if Murena will bring this model to the United States like it did with the Fairphone 4 model two years ago, but one can only hope.
