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CNN
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
This Shark TurboBlade Fan racked up millions of views on Instagram. I tested it to see if it actually lives up to the hype
This week marks the start of summer, which means I'm officially serious about shopping for products that'll help me beat the heat — and apparently, so is my For You Page. That's how I first stumbled upon the Shark TurboBlade Tower Fan, which has since racked up over 75 million views on Instagram and TikTok. But is it as good as the internet thinks? I used it while I slept to find out. Shark TurboBlade Tower Fan The ultra-sleek TurboBlade Bladeless Tower Fan isn't just a warm weather essential; it's also a statement piece for any room in your home. It comes in two neutral colors, white and charcoal gray, and features a unique T-bar design that delivers highly customizable airflow, 10 speed settings and various modes, from Natural Breeze to Sleep. Trust me, you don't want to sleep on this fan. For as long as I've lived with my husband, we've always had the same bedtime battle: He runs hot, and I run cold. So, when I found out that the Shark TurboBlade Fan (which first hit the market back in March) could pivot and twist to be vertical, horizontal or even diagonal, it looked like the answer to our temperature feuds. And based on its virality, I'm guessing we weren't the only ones who thought so. It should come as no surprise that plenty of people consider themselves hot sleepers, which means they're always searching for products to keep them cool at night. It makes sense that an innovative fan with customizable airflow, like the Shark TurboBlade, would rack up millions of views on social media. First, let's address the obvious: Yes, it really does resemble a hammerhead shark. But it's exactly that innovative, rotating T-bar design that truly sets this cooling fan apart. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that you can customize and circulate airflow up to 80 feet in any direction you want. And regardless of whether you're using the vertical Tower or horizontal Air Blanket mode, the bar is bladeless, so you can sleep soundly knowing it's safe for your little ones and fur babies. After testing the fan in rooms of various sizes —my small bedroom, my spacious living room and even my windowless kitchen — I found that it was comparable to my built-in AC unit, which always cools my stuffy apartment pretty quickly. I was especially impressed with the magnetic remote, which allows you to control the 10 speeds, time and other specialty modes (like Sleep, Breeze Boost and Natural Breeze). Sleep preferences are obviously personal, but if you're like me and need a little noise to doze off, I've found that Sleep mode is the most soothing. During the day, I almost always gravitate toward Natural Breeze since it genuinely feels like having the windows open on a breezy, summer day. To be honest, I was pretty surprised to find out this viral Shark fan doesn't offer in-app control — especially since that was one of my favorite features of our previous Dyson Tower Fan — and the TurboBlade isn't exactly cheap at $300. But given the seemingly endless customization options, it has earned a permanent spot in our bedroom regardless, and thankfully, it has solved the temperature battles with my husband. He can finally rotate a fan so it's only angled toward him and pivot it away from me at night, and during the day, our home can reap the benefits from that cool breeze of circulating air. While the TurboBlade is definitely worth the hype, I'm aware that dropping $300 on a new home appliance is not realistic for everyone (especially in this economy!). So, I'd also highly recommend checking out Shark's other new fan, the FlexBreeze, which is half the price and has also earned fame on Instagram. Are bladeless fans better than traditional fans? Are bladeless fans better than traditional fans? Whether one type of cooling fan is 'better' than another truly depends on your personal preferences, such as power, noise level, safety and price. Typically, traditional fans are more powerful, require minimal setup and are significantly less expensive, while bladeless fans are safer, more stylish, quieter and easier to clean. How tall is the Shark TurboBlade? How tall is the Shark TurboBlade? The sleek yet substantial fan stands 44.84 inches tall and measures 31.57 inches wide when assembled in its standard, upright T-shape position. CNN Underscored has a team of skilled writers and editors who have many years of experience testing, researching and recommending products, and they ensure each article is carefully edited and products are properly vetted. We talk to top experts when applicable to make certain we are testing each product accurately, recommending only the best products and considering the pros and cons of each item. For this story, director of social Stephanie Griffin tried the viral Shark TurboBlade fan to see if it's actually worth the hype.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
I'm a mom of 5 and thought work would get easier as the kids got older. I was wrong.
I'm a mom of five kids ranging from ages 5 to 17. I thought having teens would be easier than having toddlers for my career. Turns out teens are even more demanding, and I need to give myself grace. As the mother of five kids, four of whom were born in six years, I have spent all of my 17 years of parenting working from home in some capacity. And in those 17 years, I've been successful under the definition of a capitalist viewpoint. The first year I hit a profit with my writing business was the same year I birthed my fourth child. I went viral, was interviewed by Good Morning America, and churned out work at a rate that left many people wondering how I did it all, considering my oldest child was only 6 and my husband worked several jobs. I struggled to balance it all, but I remember thinking that that time in my life, full of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers, would be the hardest part of my life. I just had to make it through, and then I could coast. I was so terribly wrong. Now that most of my kids are tweens and teens, I find myself in the weeds of parenting all over again, but this time I'm somehow even more exhausted, confused, and overwhelmed. Instead of dealing with potty training and tantrums, I'm dealing with teen drivers, volatile emotions, and big life decisions. I feel frustrated and guilty, like I'm doing something wrong for somehow being less productive as the mother of older kids. I think part of it is that when they were small, there was a routine that let me get some work done. There were daily nap times I could count on, movies I could turn on, or playdates I could schedule. But with teens, I am never off the clock. I'm always a text away, and with a teen driver, I feel like I can't not be available 24/7. Also, older kids take up more space, are louder, and have more intense needs than I anticipated. Every day feels like a circus show of juggling, and I'm kind of holding my breath and hoping I'll have enough breathing room to manage any work. While a cartoon and snuggles could suffice with a toddler, teenagers require 50 memes, a thoughtful conversation, and probably Chick-fil-A to connect. I feel a pressure to be emotionally available in a way I didn't when they were younger, and that makes it hard to switch back and forth to work mode when working from home. I don't want to be resentful of being "interrupted," and of course, I want to be there for my kids and hear all the details and be available for their lives. I want to be that person for them, and I'm all too aware how fast and fleeting it all is, and I could lose one of them next year to college. You know the guilt heaped on moms of young kids about how fast it all goes, so you better soak it in? Well, as a mom of teens, that guilt is magnified by about a million because this is exactly the time they were talking about — we're living the slow slippage of our kids out of our lives daily. I want to embrace it, soak it in, and be here for it. But I also have to pay my bills, and I don't know how to do both right now. I'm trying some new things, like getting noise-cancelling headphones, setting more firm boundaries about when I can and can't be interrupted, and trying to shift more of my morning chores to later in the day so I have more work time. The pressures and intensity of this stage feel a lot like the new parent stage all over again, only without the cute baby to cuddle. I still have plenty of sleepless nights, too — watching your child on Life360 is the new baby monitor. Maybe I just need to give myself the same amount of grace (and coffee) as I did back then. Read the original article on Business Insider
Irish Times
13 hours ago
- General
- Irish Times
From layout to lighting: an interior designer's non-negotiables
There's an overwhelming amount of design advice out there, from influencers and endless online tips to ever-changing trends. It can be hard to know what to trust. But when it comes to renovating a home, not all advice is created equal. To help cut through the noise, I'm sharing a few of my non-negotiables: simple, often-overlooked design principles I rely on in every project. These details consistently make the biggest difference to how a home looks, feels and functions. Avoid corner units Linear kitchen design by Optimise Design Avoid corner units wherever possible when planning cabinetry or built-in joinery. Whether it's in a kitchen, walk-in wardrobe or utility room, corners are rarely your friend. They tend to be awkward to access, inefficient to use and often end up as dead space. In kitchens especially, L-shaped and U-shaped layouts are common, often because people feel they need to use every available millimetre. But in reality, trying to fill every corner can lead to a layout that's harder to use and more frustrating day to day. A simple linear kitchen run is often far more effective. It may sound counterintuitive, but removing the corners can actually increase the amount of usable storage and workspace. With everything laid out in a clean, straight line, access is easier, the flow is smoother and the design looks more polished. READ MORE When planning a linear layout, think in zones. Place the fridge and larder at one end to group food storage. Locate the wet zone, sink and dishwasher at the opposite end. Position the hob in the middle of the run or, if space allows, on an island or peninsula to keep the main run uninterrupted. This kind of layout doesn't just look sleek, it's intuitive to use, easier to keep tidy and allows for clear movement through the space. So don't be afraid to leave the corners out. You'll gain more than you lose. Pay attention to 'door swings' Bedroom by Optimise Design It might seem like a small detail, but the direction a door opens can have a big impact on how a room feels and functions. Ideally, internal doors should open against a wall, meaning when you push the door open, it swings toward the wall beside you, not out into the middle of the room. This allows you to enter naturally, without having to walk around the door or lose usable space. In many period homes, the opposite is true, where the doors swing into the room, often interrupting the flow and usability of the space. Historically, this was intentional. In grand homes, doors were designed this way to offer privacy from household staff. But unless you're keen on preserving traditions of the past, there's no need to hang on to that quirk. Keep heights consistent One of the most effective, yet often overlooked ways to bring cohesion to a space is by aligning the heights of doors, windows and built-in joinery. When these elements line up, they create strong horizontal sightlines that naturally guide the eye and give a room a sense of order and balance. Conversely, when heights are mismatched, it creates visual clutter and a sense that something's not quite right, even if you can't pinpoint why. For example, if you're designing a living space with built-in joinery, aligning the cabinet tops with the height of the internal doors gives the space a clean, cohesive look. Similarly, in a room with a mix of doors and windows, matching the head heights will visually tie the elements together and make the space feel considered and intentional. It's particularly important in renovations, where old and new elements often meet. And if you can't do it everywhere, focus on the high-impact view lines: what you see as you enter a room, or along a hallway. Match your metal finishes Choosing one metal finish and carrying it through across all your hardware, from door handles and hinges to light switches, sockets, and fittings, brings a sense of unity and polish to your home. Whether you go for brushed brass, matt black, or polished chrome, the key is consistency. When finishes are mixed, say a chrome light switch next to a brass door handle, it can feel chaotic and visually jarring, even if everything else in the room is beautifully curated. Worse, it can cheapen the look of an otherwise high-quality scheme. There is one exception that works well both visually and practically, however. Opting for white sockets, switches, and downlights. This can be a clever way to streamline the look and reduce costs, allowing you to invest more in higher-quality hardware where it really matters, such as your door handles, hinges, and cabinetry fittings. Colour-match your lighting One of the most common mistakes I see is ignoring the colour temperature of your bulbs. Colour temperature is measured in Kelvins (K). At one end of the spectrum, you have warm white (around 2,700K), ideal for creating a welcoming, relaxed atmosphere. At the other end, cool white (4,000K and above) emits a brighter, bluish tone, which can feel crisp and clinical. Most good bulb brands will display these ratings on the box. Mixing different colour temperatures within the same space is a common pitfall. It creates visual inconsistency, throws off your paint colours, and can make the room feel disjointed and uneasy, even if everything else has been carefully considered. Warm white lighting, ideally between 2,700K and 3,000K is the ideal choice to use throughout the home. It creates continuity from room to room and gives the overall effect of a softer, more welcoming, and relaxing atmosphere.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
36% Off Eero Pro 6E Mesh Wi-Fi That Actually Reaches the Upstairs Bathroom
This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this page. Terms of use(Opens in a new window) . There's nothing quite like moving into a new place or rearranging your space only to find that your Wi-Fi now mysteriously refuses to reach your couch. The Eero Pro 6E is basically the fix for that, with zero tech headaches involved. This 3-pack gives you strong, stable internet across up to 6,000 square feet, and it's currently 36% off at $349.99. That's a serious upgrade to your home network without the usual wallet sting. Each Eero Pro 6E node supports fast speeds up to 2.5Gbps, which means your streaming, gaming, and Zoom calls can all happen at once without fights over bandwidth. It handles more than 100 connected devices, so you can go full smart home mode without slowing things down. And setup is honestly painless with the Eero app walking you through every step. Unlike routers that look like they belong in a 2008 IT closet, this mesh system blends in with modern decor and just quietly does its job. The 6GHz band adds an extra lane for newer devices to zip through, while older gear still gets solid coverage on the 2.4 and 5GHz bands. Plus, you get built-in Zigbee and Thread support to connect smart lights, locks, or anything else with ease. This mesh Wi-Fi also plays nice with Alexa, lets you manage profiles and parental controls, and keeps security updates running in the background so you don't have to think about it. For anyone sick of dead zones or roommates yelling about lag, this setup is peace of mind disguised as Wi-Fi. At $349.99, the Eero Pro 6E takes away every excuse for dealing with slow or patchy internet. Just plug it in, forget it exists, and enjoy your fully connected life in every corner of your space. Need more options? You'll find plenty in our router and mesh Wi-Fi deal guide.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- General
- Daily Mail
I spend £1,800 on supplements from collagen to everyday vitamins. This is what it's done to me: OLIVIA DEAN
If someone were to burgle my flat, they'd find little worth taking. Frankly, if they want my 11-year-old MacBook or my TV that only works at a certain angle, they'd be doing me a favour. But if they made it to my bathroom, my breath would quicken. You see, I've got a stash in there worth a fortune.
