Tag: Stop

Star Wars should learn from Andor and stop making Disney Plus shows that are so obsessed with the Jedi

Post author By lisa nichols
Post date May 3, 2024
No Comments on Star Wars should learn from Andor and stop making Disney Plus shows that are so obsessed with the Jedi

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I very much enjoyed the Obi-Wan Kenobi, and stuck it out with Star Wars: Ahsoka, when this highly anticipated Star Wars TV duo landed on Disney Plus. But, by the time the credits had rolled on the latter in mid-2023, I think I’ve had my fill of Jedi-led stories in Lucasfilm’s iconic galaxy far, far away.

Sure, seeing these series’ Force-wielding protagonists clash with their Sith counterparts and other overtly villainous folks – amid the crackle and buzz of lightsabers – is always highly enjoyable. But the bits in between – channelling the Force and so on – have become rather stale in my eyes. Blah blah “concentrate”, blah blah “use your feelings”… you get the idea.

Even in Disney Plus shows that initially don’t revolve around the Jedi, such as The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, still tread old ground and eventually lead to the telekinetic hot-glow-stick wielders showing their faces. While I was entertained by the Kill Bill-style battle between Ahsoka and Morgan Elsbeth at the end of The Mandalorian, other appearances from the Jedi have either been a tad underwhelming or overbaked. Yes, I know ‘Baby Yoda’ is cute and all, but seeing Grogu train with a digitally recreated Luke Skywalker in season 2 of The Mandalorian (one of the best Disney Plus shows, in many people’s eyes) wasn’t the dose of nostalgia and role-reversal I think Disney hoped it would be.

A screenshot of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Jedi's Disney Plus TV show — Obi-Wan Kenobi’s self-titled Disney Plus series wasn’t as good as it could’ve been. (Image credit: Lucasfilm/Disney Plus)

Andor, though, showed me and many other Star Wars fans that you can make a great Star Wars show without a single Jedi appearance. In fact, I’d argue that Andor is the most interesting piece of Star Wars content that Disney has done to date – something that TechRadar’s senior entertainment reporter Tom Power also claimed in his Andor season 1 review.

Yes, I know it was a slow-burn to begin with, but the series’ determination to explore how planets and societies operate under the yolk of the Empire is fascinating, as is peeking behind the curtain of how the Imperials maintained galactic control (beyond their legions of Stormtroopers) across the cosmos post-Star Wars Episode III. Andor’s morally gray characters with a strange mix of selfless and selfish motivations, including its so-called heroes in the titular renegade, Luther Rael, and even Galactic Senator Mon Mothma, made for far more interesting viewing than the stereotypical good and bad guys that we’ve come to expect from those on the Light and Dark, and the Republic and Empire, sides of the divide.

Andor gave me all of that, as well as a planet-hopping yarn, complete with tense action, cool ships, great costume design, and even discussions over the foundations of society and rebellion to fuel one’s mind with discourse. Throw in its multi-genre appeal – Andor is filled with sci-fi drama, political thriller, and espionage-based action – and here is one of the more recent new Star Wars shows and movies that feels creatively unique among its peers.

Kino Loy and Cassian Andor clash in in Star Wars: Andor season 1 on Disney Plus

Andor‘s story isn’t over yet – we’re getting a second season, which is likely to air in 2025. (Image credit: Lucasfilm/Disney)

So I want to see Lucasfilm lean more into other parts of the lived-in Star Wars universe, especially projects that ask audiences to question what we know of it. Okay, Star Wars: The Acolyte (out on June 4), is yet another tale based around the Jedi, which contradicts the points I’ve made. But, considering it’s set during the High Republic era – the first time we’ll see this period in a live-action production – and it’ll be similarly amoral to Andor with how it positions the too-comfortable Jedi and their Sith underdogs, it should deliver something befitting the kind of show that I want to see from the Disney subsidiary.

But that’s all I’d like to see. Not only do I want more Andor (thankfully, Andor season 2 is on the way), but how about a series that goes deeper into exploring what life is like from an Imperial point of view – the Star Wars: Tie Fighter videogame did this, as did other recent gaming titles like Star Wars: Battlefront II and Star Wars: Squadrons. Disney has a vein to tap into there.

Ahsoka Tano holds up one of her lightsabers in her standalone Star Wars TV show on Disney Plus

Star Wars: Ahsoka tried to give us something different from other Jedi-centric TV series, but didn’t quite stick the landing. (Image credit: Lucasfilm/Disney Plus)

Equally, I’d like to see a series that looks at Han Solo and Lando Calrissian. Okay, Solo: A Star Wars story already did this to some extent, but I feel there’s more to dig into there. Could something of this ilk happen in the apparently still-in-development Lando project, which may see Donald Glover play the roguish schemer once more? I live in hope.

Failing that: how about focusing on the adventures of explorers or traders adapting to the new Imperial rule, or ignoring it completely and pushing into the worlds on the far edges of the Outer Rim? We could bounce forward into the era of the recent Star Wars movies and examine how Benicio Del Toro’s DJ, the oddball slicer first and last seen in 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, came to be. Speaking of those movies, Finn was basically side lined after Star Wars: The Force Awakens, so I’d love for that wrong to be righted, and for us to get a look at how Finn became a Stormtrooper under the First Order. John Boyega, who played Finn in the sequel films, exclusively told TechRadar (in a chat with Tom Power) that he’s “open” to appearing in another Star Wars movie, so give him the tale that he deserves.

In summary: there’s a rich tapestry of untapped potential in the Star Wars franchise that Disney could explore without looking all doe-eyed at the Jedi – and I, for one, want them to actively lean into this more. Make it so, please.

“Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose”

A hooded Mae stands on a shoreline in Star Wars: The Acolyte

Star Wars: The Acolyte is another Disney Plus series that’ll star the Jedi and the Sith. (Image credit: Lucasfilm/Disney Plus)

In a chat with fellow Managing Editor Matt Bolton, we brainstormed a few er… creative… Star Wars show ideas. Read on for our machinations:

How about Pod Racing: Drive to Survive, where we follow pod racers in their efforts to gain renown while staying alive.
Jawa Storage Wars could follow plucky Jawas in the bowels of a Sandcrawler as they try to trade all manner of items scraped and scrounged across Tatooine.
One Man and His Droid: a touching tale of a moisture farmer bonding with an errant astromech.
Keeping up with the Kashyyykians, a semi fly-on-the-wall docuseries following socialite Wookiees as they go about the high life on their homeworld of Kashyyyk, compete with jewel-encrusted bowcasters.
Similarly, The Real Housewives of Coruscant could explore the glitz and glamour of the spouses of high-ranking senators in the capital of the Republic/Empire, complete with high-drama and high-fashion inspiration from Padmé Amidala.
Below Deck: A Star Wars Documentary would be a reality show-meets-documentary following the life of select crew members of a Super Star Destroyer, where we see junior officer Bendak Willough-tee get in a steamy relationship with TIE pilot Courtnita Skipponch.
Deal or No Deal: Tatooine Edition sees new contestants try and get a good deal out of Jabba the Hutt – only those that fail to strike said deal get fed to a Rancor.
Cantina Nightmares where galactic chef Goron Rancorsey tries to save falling cantinas around the Outer Rim, all the while yelling “you’re serving f***king blue milk!”
Frozen Planet could feature Droidvid Clatteborough, renowned nature documentary presenter and protocol droid with dulcet tones, exploring life on Hoth while dodging predatory wampas.

There are some ideas for you there, Disney. Matt and I are happy to consult – just please cut the amount of Jedi shows and realize that not everything has to happen on Tatooine and/or feature those crowd-pleasing but overused Jedi, you hear?

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Tags Andor, Disney, Jedi, learn, Making, obsessed, Shows, Star, Stop, Wars

Bisnis Industri

Stop using these stupid, stupid passwords immediately

Post author By miranda cosgrove
Post date May 2, 2024
No Comments on Stop using these stupid, stupid passwords immediately

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Stop using these stupid, stupid passwords immediately — “Another fool who used ‘123456.’ Time to harvest some credit card numbers.”
*Photo: Nikita Belokhonov/Pexels*

Some people simply can’t stop using stupid, weak passwords. An analysis of the phrases used to secure various accounts in 2023 finds that “123456” was used 4.5 million times, making it the most popular. And the rest of the top 10 are all easily guessed, too.

It’s World Password Day, a good opportunity to change the horribly weak ones you’re using now. Especially as Apple makes it easy

Stupid passwords that crooks can guess in less than a second

Using a weak account password makes as much sense as posting your credit card number on a sign in your front yard. Using an easily guessed word practically invites crooks to steal from you.

And yet, researchers at NordPass found no shortage of terrible passwords in the company’s list of 2023’s most common ones. The list includes a ton of entries that can be guessed in less than a second, like “password,” “111111” and “admin.”

In four out of the five years this annual study has gone on, “123456” was ranked as the most common password. In the one exception, “Password” held this not-so-noble title.

Streaming video seems to make people impatient with passwords. Compared to other popular websites, NordPass found that people choose the weakest passwords to secure accounts on these services.

Password managers offer more security

People choose terrible passwords because they’re easy to remember. But a password manager takes the hassle out of using strong passwords. These applications also make it easy to avoid another common problem: reusing passwords. Utilizing the same password — even a strong one — on multiple websites is a big no-no.

Luckily for Apple fans, iPhone, iPad and Mac all come with a password manager built-in for your safety and convenience. Apple’s iCloud Keychain can suggest strong passwords, share them across a user’s Apple devices, and automatically fill them in on websites and applications. It also makes it easy to find out if a user’s passwords showed up in data leaks so they can be changed.

If that’s not enough, Apple is working to kill the password completely and replace it with passkeys that depend on biometric security.

Source: NordPass

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Tags immediately, passwords, Stop, stupid

Featured

Your phone’s blue light won’t actually stop you sleeping, according to an expert – but your phone is still the problem

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We all have days when we use our phones right before going to bed, even though we know we shouldn’t. Admit it. We know our phones keep us awake. Some people try to mitigate the negative effects on sleep with blue-light glasses, which claim to block out rhythm-affecting blue tones in screen light, but if you’re using a fitness tracker (and if you are, it’s probably one of the best sleep trackers or best fitness trackers from our lists) you’ve likely had at least one morning when you’ve woken up, checked your stats and seen exactly how little sleep you had the night before.

It turns out, it’s not the blue-light effect from your phone that’s keeping you awake at night, according to sleep scientist Dr Sophie Bostock. I met Dr Bostock at an event to celebrate the launch of the OnePlus Watch 2 Nordic Blue in Helsinki, and she was able to answer a few burning questions about late-night phone use.

“There are several aspects of light which affect your circadium rhythm. Brightness of light is really important. If you get very bright light it’s going to activate the receptors, which contain a pigment called melanopsin, in the back of your retina. This sends a message to the clock in your brain which tells you to be alert.

“This pigment is more sensitive to light in the blue visible end of the spectrum, true, and when you look at a phone, it tends to be rich in blue wavelength light. But that is completely irrelevant if the light from your phone is very dim.

“The light you typically get from your phone is about 80 lux. Usually, in the studies used to look at impact on your circadian rhythm, you expose someone to at least 2000 lux, perhaps 5,000 lux. A SAD lamp is usually 10,000 lux. The light from your phone’s impact on circadian rhythm is negligible.”

Girl in bed using smartphone

(Image credit: Getty Images)

So if it’s not the blue light beaming from your phone, what’s actually keeping you awake? Dr Bostock had the answer.

“Research has found using the bright light element of your phone only delays sleep for around 10 minutes. People getting locked into losing track of time, delaying sleep because of what they’re doing on their phone, probably delays sleep by closer to an hour. Relative to that sleep displacement, the blue light exposure is negligible.”

Fear around phones comes from massive large-scale studies that state people who use phones before bed sleep really poorly, so the conclusion was always ‘phones must be causing poor sleep’.

“There are two more aspects to consider. One is that people leave their phone by their bed, while it pings and alerts during the night… but phones can be helpful, some people use it as a distraction. Audiobooks are phenomenally popular.”

While Dr Bostock’s main advice is to keep your phone out of the bedroom to avoid the temptation to doomscroll, if you use it to play sleep-aid content, it’s perhaps worth keeping it across the room on another surface, out of arm’s reach.

This Android TV update will stop your Gmail details from being exposed

Post author By lisa nichols
Post date April 26, 2024
No Comments on This Android TV update will stop your Gmail details from being exposed

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The thing about Android TV is that it’s Android, the same operating system used by tablets and smartphones – and that’s good, because it’s very powerful. But it also means that it’s quite complex, and that complexity inevitably leads to the odd loophole. The latest such loophole on Android TVs could potentially let other people access your Gmail, but the good news is that Google is working on a fix for it.

The problem was reported this week by 404 Media, which makes it clear that the problem doesn’t mean your neighbor will suddenly be able to get into your inbox: the other person needs physical access to your TV. But a risk is still a risk, and Google says it’s now working on a fix for the issue.

So how on earth does your TV expose your email? It’s all about the logins.

Why Android TVs can potentially expose your email

The exploit takes advantage of Android’s Google account login, which is what enables you to log in automatically to your apps without having to enter your account details every time you want to use one of your TV’s apps. Those apps don’t include the Chrome browser, but there’s a way around that – and if you can get Chrome onto a TV where the user is logged in, then you can get that browser to open up their Gmail with the same login credentials.

Google told 404 Media that “most Google TV devices running the latest versions of software already do not allow this depicted behavior [but] we are in the process of rolling out a fix to the rest of devices”.

Although this particular exploit isn’t likely to affect many people and will be eliminated fairly soon anyway, it does act as an important reminder that we need to keep even the best TVs up to date with the latest OS and security updates too: it’s easy to forget sometimes that your TV is just a computer with a really big display panel glued to it, and that means it’s potentially vulnerable to the same kind of security issues that all our other devices are potentially vulnerable to.

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Tags Android, details, Exposed, Gmail, Stop, update

Featured

Boston Dynamics reveals its most astonishing humanoid robot so far – and I can’t stop watching it

Post author By lisa nichols
Post date April 17, 2024
No Comments on Boston Dynamics reveals its most astonishing humanoid robot so far – and I can’t stop watching it

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Boston Dynamics all but trade-marked jaw-dropping robot videos with its hydraulics-power Atlas robot’s dancing and parkouring videos. Now it’s upped the ante and I’m scraping my jaw off the floor again after watching the brief introduction video for its all-electric and completely redesigned Atlas robot.

The All New Atlas is Boston Dynamic’s first all-electric humanoid robot and the robotics firm claims it’s stronger and more agile than all previous iterations. What jumps out at me in the video, though, is the robot’s far more human-like body.

Where the hydraulics-based Atlas always looked charmingly like a mash-up between a line-backer and some scaffolding, the new Atlas is much more in the vein of Tesla’s Optimus, and Figure AI’s Figure 01, quickly shifting the legendary robotics company back into a pole position in the growing humanoid robotics race. What stuns here, though, is not just the robot’s looks, it’s how the New Atlas moves.

The clip starts with the new Atlas motionless and splayed out on the floor. It lifts its two legs up and rolls them back until they’re in a position no human who is not a contortionist could easily match. With both feet planted on the ground, the new Atlas rises up from the floor but with its chest, head, and legs facing away from the camera. First, the head, which has a circular glass panel for a face, spins around, and then each leg rotates at the hip to face the camera as Atlas effortlessly walks forward. Finally, the torso spins around under the head until the entire New Atlas is facing the camera.

As Boston Dynamics notes in the release, “Atlas may resemble a human form factor, but we are equipping the robot to move in the most efficient way possible to complete a task, rather than being constrained by a human range of motion. Atlas will move in ways that exceed human capabilities.”

Giving Atlas super-human capabilities that include more strength and the ability to move in ways we can’t is all about efficiency. Humans are constrained by their physiology in ways that robots don’t have to be. We joke about people “keeping their heads on a swivel” to remain aware of their environment, but robots can literally do this.

Boston Dynamics continues to focus on bi-pedal robots because it believes it’s a useful form factor in building robots to work “in a world designed for people.” It’s unclear if the shift to all-electric augurs a similar change for its popular SPOT robot (the one that looks a bit like a dog), which currently uses battery power and hydraulic actuators.

Just the start

Even though Atlas now looks more human, it’s still a long way from commercial or consumer availability. Its initial test bed, according to Boston Dynamics, will be with company investor Hyundai. “In the months and years ahead, we’re excited to show what the world’s most dynamic humanoid robot can really do—in the lab, in the factory, and in our lives,” notes the company in the release.

On the back end, the New Atlas will be powered by, among other things, the company’s latest AI and machine learning. When it places robots in factories, Boston Dynamics ensures that the programming knows as much about the factory as possible so the robots can work independently and safely.

The dawn of a New Atlas does mean the sunsetting of the beloved hydraulic-based robot. Boston Dynamics gave the original Atlas a sweet sendoff with a video recounting its successes and numerous gaffes. For every time that Atlas successfully completed a parkour routine, it also tipped over, face-planted, and spectacularly burst a hydraulics line. The video is a funny and loving tribute to a robot that’s captured the imaginations of millions of viewers.

It’s a fitting way to end one chapter and launch this new one with the all-electric Atlas. Sure, we’ve only seen 30 seconds of movement, but I’m sure we’ll soon see this more personable robot dancing with SPOT, back-flipping off ledges, and parkouring its way into our hearts.

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Tags astonishing, Boston, Dynamics, humanoid, reveals, robot, Stop, watching

Computers

How to Stop Your Data From Being Used to Train AI

Post author By miranda cosgrove
Post date April 10, 2024
No Comments on How to Stop Your Data From Being Used to Train AI

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On its help pages, OpenAI says ChatGPT web users without accounts should navigate to Settings and then uncheck Improve the model for everyone. If you have an account and are logged in through a web browser, select ChatGPT, Settings, Data Controls, and then turn off Chat History & Training. If you’re using ChatGPT’s mobile apps, go to Settings, pick Data Controls, and turn off Chat History & Training. Changing these settings, OpenAI’s support pages say, won’t sync across different browsers or devices, so you need to make the change everywhere you use ChatGPT.

OpenAI is about a lot more than ChatGPT. For its Dall-E 3 image generator, the startup has a form that allows you to send images to be removed from “future training datasets.” It asks for your name, email, whether you own the image rights or are getting in touch on behalf of a company, details of the image, and any uploads of the image(s). OpenAI also says if you have a “high volume” of images hosted online that you want removed from training data, then it may be “more efficient” to add GPTBot to the robots.txt file of the website where the images are hosted.

Traditionally a website’s robots.txt file—a simple text file that usually sits at websitename.com/robots.txt—has been used to tell search engines, and others, whether they can include your pages in their results. It can now also be used to tell AI crawlers not to scrape what you have published—and AI companies have said they’ll honor this arrangement.

Perplexity

Perplexity is a startup that uses AI to help you search the web and find answers to questions. Like all of the other software on this list, you are automatically opted in to having your interactions and data used to train Perplexity’s AI further. Turn this off by clicking on your account name, scrolling down to the Account section, and turning off the AI Data Retention toggle.

Quora

Image may contain Page Text File and Webpage

Quora says it “currently” doesn’t use answers to people’s questions, posts, or comments for training AI. It also hasn’t sold any user data for AI training, a spokesperson says. However, it does offer opt-outs in case this changes in the future. To do this, visit its Settings page, click to Privacy, and turn off the “Allow large language models to be trained on your content” option. Despite this choice, there are some Quora posts that may be used for training LLMs. If you reply to a machine-generated answer, the company’s help pages say, then those answers may be used for AI training. It points out that third parties may just scrape its content anyway.

Rev

Rev, a voice transcription service that uses both human freelancers and AI to transcribe audio, says it uses data “perpetually” and “anonymously” to train its AI systems. Even if you delete your account, it will still train its AI on that information.

Kendell Kelton, head of brand and corporate communications at Rev, says it has the “largest and most diverse data set of voices,” made up of more than 6.5 million hours of voice recording. Kelton says Rev does not sell user data to any third parties. The firm’s terms of service say data will be used for training, and that customers are able to opt out. People can opt out of their data being used by sending an email to [email protected], its help pages say.

Slack

All of those random Slack messages at work might be used by the company to train its models as well. “Slack has used machine learning in its product for many years. This includes platform-level machine-learning models for things like channel and emoji recommendations,” says Jackie Rocca, a vice president of product at Slack who’s focused on AI.

Even though the company does not use customer data to train a large language model for its Slack AI product, Slack may use your interactions to improve the software’s machine-learning capabilities. “To develop AI/ML models, our systems analyze Customer Data (e.g. messages, content, and files) submitted to Slack,” says Slack’s privacy page. Similar to Adobe, there’s not much you can do on an individual level to opt out if you’re using an enterprise account.

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Tags Data, Stop, train

Featured

Top AI researcher says AI will end humanity and we should stop developing it now — but don’t worry, Elon Musk disagrees

Post author By lisa nichols
Post date April 7, 2024
No Comments on Top AI researcher says AI will end humanity and we should stop developing it now — but don’t worry, Elon Musk disagrees

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Here’s something cheery to consider the next time you use an AI tool. Most people involved in artificial intelligence think it could end humanity. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the odds of it happening vary wildly depending on who you listen to.

p(doom) is the “probability of doom” or the chances that AI takes over the planet or does something to destroy us, such as create a biological weapon or start a nuclear war. At the cheeriest end of the p(doom) scale, Yann LeCun, one of the “three godfathers of AI”, who currently works at Meta, places the chances at <0.01%, or less likely than an asteroid wiping us out.

Sadly, no one else is even close to being so optimistic. Geoff Hinton, one of the other three godfathers of AI, says there’s a 10% chance AI will wipe us out in the next 20 years, and Yoshua Bengio, the third of the three godfathers of AI, raises the figure to 20%.

99.999999% chance

At the most pessimistic end of the scale is Roman Yampolskiy, an AI safety scientist and director of the Cyber Security Laboratory at the University of Louisville. He believes it’s pretty much guaranteed to happen. He places the odds of AI wiping out humanity at 99.999999%.

Elon Musk, speaking in a “Great AI Debate” seminar at the four-day Abundance Summit earlier this month, said, “I think there’s some chance that it will end humanity. I probably agree with Geoff Hinton that it’s about 10% or 20% or something like that,” before adding, “I think that the probable positive scenario outweighs the negative scenario.”

In response, Yampolskiy told Business Insider he thought Musk was “a bit too conservative” in his guesstimate and that we should abandon development of the technology now because it would be near impossible to control AI once it becomes more advanced.

“Not sure why he thinks it is a good idea to pursue this technology anyway,” Yamploskiy said. “If he [Musk] is concerned about competitors getting there first, it doesn’t matter as uncontrolled superintelligence is equally bad, no matter who makes it come into existence.”

At the Summit, Musk had a solution to avoiding AI wiping out humanity. “Don’t force it to lie, even if the truth is unpleasant,” Musk said. “It’s very important. Don’t make the AI lie.”

If you’re wondering where other AI researchers and forecasters are currently placed on the p(doom) scale, you can check out the list here.

Here’s exactly when to stop drinking caffeine for the best chance of a great night’s sleep

Post author By lisa nichols
Post date March 28, 2024
No Comments on Here’s exactly when to stop drinking caffeine for the best chance of a great night’s sleep

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Can’t start your day without a hearty dose of coffee? Regularly brew a cup of green tea after lunch? While these caffeinated drinks offer health benefits that go beyond helping you perk up and stay focused, relying on them in high quantities and/or drinking up too late in the day could mean bad news for your shuteye come nightfall, and having even the very best mattress may not be enough to lull you off to sleep.

If you can’t bear to part ways with your go-to sources of caffeine, it’ll be in your best interest to at least cap off intake at a certain point in the day; it’s also useful to know that the best time in the morning to drink coffee is 10am, not first thing.

We spoke to a dietician to discover if there’s an ideal time to stop caffeinating for the sake of better sleep, and also learned why caffeine and sleep are at odds with each other, as well as finding out about some surprising sources of the stimulant you may also want to steer clear of.

When should I stop drinking caffeine before bed?

“It is suggested that most people should stop consuming caffeine at least six hours before bedtime [to avoid] disruptive effects on sleep,” says Amy Shapiro, MS, RD, CDN, founder and director of Real Nutrition in New York City.

According to a 2013 study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, participants who consumed 400 milligrams of caffeine 0, 3, or 6 hours before their regular bedtime led to significantly disturbed sleep compared to placebo groups.

People who are sensitive to caffeine and/or have ongoing sleep issues may want to cease caffeinating even earlier than the six-hour mark. On the other hand, some may take to a post-dinner shot of espresso just fine and have no difficulty catching their ZZZs within a few hours’ time.

A cup of black coffee surrounded by coffee beans

(Image credit: Getty Images)

In short, the ideal caffeine cutoff time will be based on the individual, so the six-hour mark is a decent general guideline. “The timing may vary due to the high variability of individual responses to caffeine consumption based on sex, age, diet, health, metabolism etc.,” Shapiro explains. “Depending on the individual, the effects of caffeine consumption can last up to 12 hours.”

The amount of caffeine present in the beverage will also play a role, she adds. For example, a large cup of coffee can pack over 400 milligrams of caffeine, while a bottle of iced tea can offer 20 to 50 milligrams per serving. Caffeine content will vary based on factors such as the size of the drink, brands, and brewing times.

What caffeine does to your body

“Caffeine is a stimulant that increases activity in your brain and nervous system, and increases circulation of neurotransmitters including cortisol and adrenaline,” Shapiro explains. (Cortisol is known as the stress hormone yet it also helps us stay alert. Similarly, adrenaline helps prepare us for fight-or-flight mode and allows us to react quickly.)

A scoop of ground coffee

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Short-term effects of caffeine, she continues, typically include:

Mental alertness
Physical energy
Increased breathing
Faster heart rate

Caffeine isn’t without its risks. Shapiro warns that high doses, frequent use, or potential adverse effects may include:

Restlessness
Excitement
Tremor
Anxiety
Headaches
Insomnia
Physical and/or psychological dependence

Why caffeine disrupts sleep

Most people reach for caffeine since it helps them stay awake, so it makes sense that it’d be at odds with falling asleep.

“Caffeine acts primarily on receptors in the body that are related to functions of the brain associated with sleep, arousal, and cognition,” Shapiro explains. “Adenosine receptor agonists in the brain generally promote sleep, and caffeine promotes wakefulness by antagonizing [i.e., inhibiting or counteracting] those receptors.”

A person in bed at night, unable to sleep

(Image credit: Getty Images)

In other words, caffeine disallows certain sleepiness cues to kick in when they should—which is how coffee, caffeinated tea and the like can prevent a good night’s rest.

In addition to affecting sleep latency (i.e., the time it takes to fall asleep), caffeine may also worsen sleep quality. In a 2021 randomized controlled trial in healthy men, published in the Journal of Biological Rhythms, those who had 150 milligrams of caffeine three times in the daytime over 10 days experienced the following sleep issues compared to a placebo group:

Delays in REM sleep (a sleep stage that heavily influences subjective sleep quality)
Greater difficulty waking up
Feeling more tired upon arising

What foods and drinks contain caffeine?

You likely already know that coffee, some teas (namely black and green tea), and energy drinks contain caffeine. However, they’re not the only dietary items that pack the stimulant.

According to Shapiro, additional sources of caffeine you may want to cut off by the afternoon include:

Soft drinks, such as soda
Gum
Some protein bars
Chocolate/cacao
Some medications

Moreover, it’s worth remembering that the terms ‘decaf’ and ‘caffeine-free’ aren’t interchangeable. The former indicates that caffeine was removed from a given product and trace amounts will likely remain present. Meanwhile, the latter indicates that caffeine wasn’t in a given product (such as the majority of herbal teas) to begin with.

The takeaway

If you struggle to fall asleep at night, you may find relief by ceasing caffeine intake 6 hours before bedtime. However, since caffeine tolerance varies by the individual, you might need to extend this timeline, sometimes to as long as 12 hours.

It could also benefit your ZZZs to reduce the amount of caffeine you consume (i.e., going from two cups to one cup daily) or perhaps even slowly taper off caffeine entirely.

Last but not least, you can always add items that promote better rest—such as chamomile tea and tart cherry juice—into your nightly regimen.

Amy Shapiro

Amy Shapiro MS, RD, CDN, has been the founder and director of Real Nutrition, an NYC-based private practice, for over 15 years. She is dedicated to healthfully and successfully guiding clients to their optimal nutrition, weight, and overall wellness. Recognized for her individualized, lifestyle-focused approach, which integrates realistic food plans, smart eating habits, and active living.

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Want to beat TV reflections? Here are the different types, and how to stop them

Post author By lisa nichols
Post date March 23, 2024
No Comments on Want to beat TV reflections? Here are the different types, and how to stop them

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We’ve all been there – settling down to watch a movie and you suddenly see your reflection on your TV’s screen. Whether it’s the light from a lamp at night or from the sun creeping in through windows during the day, reflections seem unavoidable on a lot of TVs.

Some of the best TVs now, though, are taking steps to limit these reflections even in the brightest daylight viewing conditions using different technologies. These technologies, which include mini-LED and Micro Lens Array (MLA), are being integrated into the latest TVs, and the good news is that you don’t always have to pay a premium for them.

Although it may seem like there is only one type of reflection – seeing a mirror image of yourself or an object – there are different reflection types. I’ll detail these below, then discuss which new TVs successfully combat reflections, as well as strategies to limit them on your existing TV.

TV reflections demonstration from lecture by Michael E. Becker — The three types of reflection (from L-R top row) : Lambertian, mirror-Like and haze. (Image credit: Future)

The 3 key reflection types

When thinking about how to limit reflections, it’s first important to know what types of reflections we’re dealing with. At a recent LG event, I and other TV reviewers were shown a video from display expert and scientist Professor Michael E. Becker PhD in which he categorized three major reflection types: mirror-like, haze, and Lambertian.

Mirror-like refers to the most common type: direct reflections on a screen created by light sources. A diagram from The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato (shown below) demonstrates how mirror-like works, with the light bouncing back off a glossy LCD screen in one direction, which is why we see objects, our reflection and in-room light sources on the screen.

Different types of reflections diagram

(Image credit: The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato)

Haze reflections are not as direct, with the light reflecting in all directions. As you can see from the diagram below, haze reflections resemble diffuse reflections, and result from light hitting matte or anti-glare screen coatings, which are becoming more common on TVs (more on that below). Light is still reflected, but objects are less obvious, resulting in a more optimal viewing experience.

The third type is Lambertian reflection. This is reminiscent of haze reflections but takes things one step further by evenly distributing reflected light on the screen. A characteristic of Lambertian reflection is that light reflections will look the same no matter what angle you view from.

How are new TVs beating reflections?

Mini-LED TV

Mini-LED backlights allow for even higher brightness levels to combat pesky reflections. (Image credit: TCL)

As mentioned above, TVs are now using several technologies to beat reflections. The first is mini-LED. This allows for substantially more LED lamp modules to be packed in an LCD TV backlight than on a conventional set, resulting in higher brightness, better lighting control and better contrast. The best mini-LED TVs on offer include the Samsung QN90C, Hisense U8K and the TCL QM8, all of which have a peak brightness of over 1,500 nits (with the TCL QM8 reaching a staggering 2,321 nits).

When it comes to how we test brightness, full-screen brightness is an important indicator of how the TV will handle reflections. The three sets mentioned above all hit over 600 nits full-screen brightness. That’s substantially higher than OLED TVs and conventional LED TVs, which hit roughly 150-350 nits (there are exceptions, but this is an estimate based on TVs we’ve tested). Mini-LED’s ability to display bright, sustained full-screen images reduces mirror-like reflections, making it one of the best TV technologies for harsher lighting conditions.

One issue with some of the best OLED TVs in recent years has been low brightness. OLED TVs use self-emitting pixels rather than a conventional LED backlight, which results in incredible black levels and stunning contrast. But because conventional OLED panels, called W-OLED, have comparatively low brightness, reflections are common.

Philips OLED908 with geyser on screen

MLA tech on the Philips OLED908 (pictured) reduces reflections, even in our testing lab with overhead lights turned on. (Image credit: Future)

However, several new OLED models, such as the LG G3 and upcoming LG G4, Philips OLED908, and Panasonic MZ2000 use a technology called MLA that, simply put, is a type of lens that can be added to an OLED panel to increase brightness. To give an idea of how it gets implemented, 5,000 microscopic lenses can be added to a single OLED pixel. Yes, one OLED pixel. That means for a 77-inch OLED TV there would be 42.4 billion lenses in total. Compared with conventional W-OLED screens, which average 600 nits, and OLED EX panels, which are brighter but still only average 800 nits, we’ve measured up to 1,480 nits on MLA-equipped OLEDs. This massive brightness increase may not result in a total elimination of reflections, but it strongly reduces them. MLA could ultimately be the savior of W-OLED screens.

Back in early 2023, Philips demonstrated a further innovation to reduce screen reflections, a polarizer called ‘Vanta Black’. At that demo, we saw mirror-like reflections dramatically reduced by the polarizer. Later, when we viewed the OLED908 in intentionally harsh lighting conditions in our lab, only minimal reflections could be seen.

Other TV brands such as Samsung have introduced matte screens. This feature can be found on Samsung’s The Frame TVs and its upcoming S95D flagship QD-OLED model. Having seen the Samsung S95D in person, it’s clear that this method works. Haze reflections are visible on the S95D, but the matte screen creates diffuse reflections as discussed above and almost fully eliminates more frustrating mirror-like reflections. The result resembles the more ideal Lambertian reflections, meaning the S95D could be the best OLED TV option for bright rooms.

Samsung S95D and Samsung S95C side by side, with a strong reflection on the S95C and less reflection on the S95D

The Samsung S95D (right) uses a matte screen to reduce mirror-like reflections seen in the Samsung S95C (left), which has a glossy screen. (Image credit: Future)

What can you do to reduce reflections on your current TV?

Now, it’s all well and good to tell you about these wonderful new TVs with screens that can drastically reduce reflections and stop pesky sunlight from ruining your football match. But what if you aren’t planning to buy a new TV? Fear not, because we have tips on how to reduce screen reflections at home.

The first is obvious: watch in the dark or with dimmed lighting. Wait until the evening to watch your favorite movies, as a dark or dimmed room will eliminate reflections and provide the full benefits of enhanced contrast and black levels.

Next, if your main light source is a lamp, can you move it? Glossy TV screens reflect light at an angle, so moving this light source will change the angle and the level of reflection.

Another way to reduce reflections is by ‘diffusing’ light from a lamp using a dark-colored shade or even angling it so the bulb is concealed. As for natural light coming from windows, invest in dark or ‘black-out’ curtains to block it.

It’s also worth considering the wall opposite the TV. A white or brightly colored wall will likely appear as a reflection, so painting it darker could reduce the negative effect.

In a lot of these situations, you may not fully eliminate reflections. But if any of these measures can transform more obvious mirror-like reflections into haze or Lambertian ones, they will almost certainly have a positive impact on your viewing experience.

“Sleep happens” – it’s time to stop micromanaging your nights, says sleep specialist

Post author By lisa nichols
Post date March 21, 2024
No Comments on “Sleep happens” – it’s time to stop micromanaging your nights, says sleep specialist

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When you think about how well you are sleeping, one factor that probably comes into it is the number of hours you’re clocking up each night. All of today’s best sleep trackers report this kind of data. But focusing on these numbers could be doing more harm than good, according to Angela Kondinska, a neuroscientist and sleep specialist who works with Emma (one of our best mattress brands).

“There’s a very strong focus on eight hours – that this is the solution for everybody,” she says. “I believe a lot of this focus is also the stress around sleep.” Rather than setting a mental timer and getting frustrated if you don’t hit your hourly goal, here’s what to do instead…

1. Explore what works for you

When working out your ideal bedtime routine, don’t get too hung up on following external ‘rules’. The best approach will always be whatever what works for you.

“It’s all about focusing away from micromanaging sleep,” she continues. “The more we say, ‘Okay, you have to do this, [the more] stress builds up, and then we end up sleeping less because of the stress. And then it creates this cascade.”

Instead she suggests trying out whatever methods appeal to you. “Allow yourself to explore in a curious way. There’s a long list of sleep tips. Try out different things… and see what works,” says Angela. “If [one thing] doesn’t work, that’s okay, because there’s something else that will work.”

2. Think about the hours either side of sleep

Rather than concentrating entirely on the time that you’re asleep for, Angela recommends widening that out to include the hours either side of bedtime. Figure out a bedtime routine that works for you – that might include saving special activities for bedtime, using music to relax you, trying a bedtime box, or even just adding some structure with something like the 10-3-2-1-0 sleep method.

And while you’re at it, take a look at your morning wakeup habits. If you’re finding you’re hanging about in bed for too long or developing an over-reliance on the snooze button, the 3-2-1 method might be the solution for you.

Man lying in bed with eyes closed and Airpods in

A little bedtime listening can help you relax and drift off (Image credit: Getty Images)

3. Give it time

While you’re figuring out your routine, don’t expect instant results. You need to give each technique at least a few nights’ trial to give it a fair chance. “What usually brings a lot of relaxation is repetitiveness – our brains love being able to predict something,” says Angela. Sleep studies are never just one night; they’re run over a few weeks in order to see the effects.

Angela suggests repeating the same routine every night, so you become familiar with the situation, the tasks, and the order in which you do them. That will help amplify the feeling of relaxation.

4. Listen to your body

The figure of eight hours a night isn’t a hard-and-fast rule in any case. General consensus is somewhere between seven to nine hours, and how much sleep you need varies by age, too, as well as from person to person. So the best way to tell if you’ve had enough sleep is by listening to your body, suggests Angela. If you wake up after seven hours’ sleep and you feel comfortable and awake, then that’s fine. If you’re an adult and you’re sleeping a bit more than 8 hours but you’re not having the effects of oversleeping, then that’s also fine.

A woman wakes up and stretches on her bed in a bedroom

If you’re feeling this perky after 7 hours sleep, that’s fine (Image credit: Getty Images)

5. Don’t rely on ‘topping up’ with naps

Angela flags that the focus on hitting a certain nightly quota of sleep means some people will try and ‘top up’ with naps in the day. “[There’s a belief that] we can sleep little, overnight, and then take naps to overcome the sleep debt,” she says. “Something that is still important is to have a full night of sleep, and to not chop it up throughout the day.”

That’s important because we need our body to go through sleep cycles – starting in light sleep, moving into deep sleep and finally REM sleep to get the full physical and mental benefits. A nap can be useful on occasion, but it’s rare you’ll be getting your full 90-minute sleep cycle, so it’s not a substitute for sleeping in one long block.

6. Don’t panic over a few bad nights

No one likes a sleepless night, but it’s not the end of the world, Angela reminds us. “Sleep happens, right?” she smiles. “It’s part of life. And sometimes it’s okay to have a few nights… of bad sleep.”

For the vast majority of us, it’s only going to be temporary. “Keep in mind that a good night is coming soon. It could be the next night; it could be in a night or two. So that’s okay.”

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