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The Steam Deck is my favorite way to play emulated games. I’ve probably spent as much time playing retro titles on Valve’s handheld as I have playing regular Steam games, and it’s wonderful.

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: after raising $10B, xAI is now working with a trusted financier to secure up to $12B to buy Nvidia chips, led by Elon Musk-linked Valor Equity Partners  —  xAI is tapping into the booming private-credit market to find the cash it needs to build massive data centers

Here's the sex tech that'll love you in 2025.

If your partner is having a bad day, a simple text can be an excellent way to show that you’ve got his or her back. Even if you’re not sure

exactly what to say, the sentiment of solidarity can mean a great deal whether it’s sent in shorthand, a few sentences, or some carefully curated emojis. Expressing faith and unity toward your partner can help boost their mood, confidence, and outlook just enough to help them make it through even the worst days. We spoke to two experts — both licensed clinical psychologists, and experts on relationship dynamics — who told us just how effective these seemingly modest shows of affection and/or attention can be at reviving a day that’s gone awry. And whether it’s work, personal stuff, or some gray area in between, these texts can provide some heavy-lift help to the burden. Obviously, you know your relationship better than us and our experts. So, while these texts would probably be effectively sent verbatim, try to look at the nuts and bolts of their message so you can ensure you’ll send a greeting, pick-me-up, or commiseration that’s unique and meaningful within the confines of your partnership. In any case, these suggestions are curated and expert-endorsed so that you can use them the next time your partner is having one of those days.

1. What can I do to help?

Let’s get this one out of the way early because, assuming you’re a loving partner, you want to help. It’s a gimme. But why is it so important to state outright? According to psychologist Dr. Heidi Heimler, this question can open up a dialogue between the two of you that can lead to some potential breakthroughs. “Avoid telling your partner what he or she needs,” says Heimler. “Instead of suggesting solutions, inquire. Even if they have no idea what they need, they’ll feel good knowing you’ve offered.” As blunt as it may sound, it’s a time-tested assist they’ll likely appreciate.

2. I’ve got you in my heart.

Or something similarly sweet. Feel free to tailor this phrase to suit your unique brand of ‘couples talk’, but keep the core notion in mind. The intent, after all, is to let your partner know you’re thinking about them. Going overboard may sound silly, but sometimes silly is just what the situation needs, according to Dr. Heimler. “It’s good to let someone know they’re the center of your universe, especially when they’re feeling like they’re on the outside looking in,” she says. Letting them know they matter can shift their focus from “everything is awful” to “there’s this really good thing in my life, so not everything is bad.”

3. We’ll work on making the rest of today better.

When we have shitty days, we tend to laser-focus on the bad. We forget that the current mess isn’t the end of the world. A friendly reminder can help mitigate the sorrow. “The key here is zooming out,” says Dr. Heimler. “With a text like this, the person having a rough day can look at the bigger picture. He or she can shift from a focus on the really bad right now, to a vision of a more pleasant and positive later.” Feel free to offer up specific suggestions for how you can make the rest of the day better, too. Dinner. Netflix. Something you know will distract your partner from life for a bit.

4. Keep me posted.

This might sound impersonal and dismissive, but it’s a way to offer space. You can couch this phrase with some niceties to make it seem not so “down to business”, but the gist is you communicating that you have a vested interest in how your partner’s day unfolds, and that you want to support them. “When things keep piling up, a person can feel like the universe is conspiring against them,” says Dr. Heimler. “They can feel misunderstood and alone. Letting them know that you are interested in how things shape up shows that you care, and that they can update you at their convenience.”

5.[Hug emoji], [Kiss emoji], etc.

Get creative with a string of digital icons, and send them to your ailing partner. Why? According to clinical psychologist Dr. Bethany Cook, this little trick is rooted in the neurochemical response emojis elicit. “Imagining someone you love giving you a hug or kiss can actually trick the brain into thinking they are really doing it,” she says. “So when your partner sees the emojis, he or she will actually get a boost of oxytocin – the ‘love hormone’ – from your text.” Sending a virtual embrace is also great if you haven’t figured out the right words to say just yet.

6. Remember when you thought you couldn’t do X, Y, and Z? Well you did!

Now’s the time to ramp up your partner’s confidence. Whether he or she is dealing with a jerk boss at work, a tricky day at home, or infuriating family issues, chances are they’ve been in similar situations before…and survived! “When we’re upset, our brains don’t function from the ‘reason’ part,” explains Dr. Cook. “Instead, they work from the midbrain, the emotional center. Sending your partner a message that connects them back to the front of the brain, where reasoning occurs, can help them recenter and remind them that they’ve got this!

”

7. Take some time to unwind tonight. I’ve got everything.

Not in a passive-aggressive “whatever” way. But in the form of a genuine encouragement stating that, when your partner is able to unearth him or herself from their day, whatever they feel like doing to unwind or relieve stress is a-okay. “Permission to be ‘alone’ feels very freeing,” says Dr. Cook. “You’ll need to know your partner well enough to decide if this will be something they’d respond to, but telling them to do whatever they need to after a tough day is a show of love. Some people don’t find alone time pleasant, but those who enjoy it rarely get it.” If your partner is among the latter, make yourself scarce so he or she can refocus and regroup.

8. I’m canceling my plans so we can spend time together tonight.

On the other hand, maybe your partner can’t think of anything but seeing you to make the day better. Letting him or her know that you’re reprioritizing to make that happen can be a helpful, authentic way to brighten the light at the end of the tunnel. “Some spouses really benefit from and enjoy quality time together,” says Dr. Cook. “When your partner sees that you’re willing to spend time with them, it can give them something to look forward to and ‘make it through’ a bad day.” Even if you don’t have plans to cancel, let your partner know that you won’t be making any so that you can be there strictly for them.

9. I appreciate all you do for me/the family.

On bad days, we tend to feel worthless. Hard work seems to go a little bit more unnoticed, and no matter what we do, it’s never enough. Reminding your partner that you see them – their efforts, contributions, sacrifices, etc. – will help them realize they’re valued where it counts. “Telling your partner or spouse you appreciate all their sacrifices and efforts is so empowering,” explains Dr. Cook. “When was the last time you thanked your spouse for just being themself? Verbally acknowledging all your partner does to support you – while also juggling their own responsibilities – can really motivate someone who might think their efforts are being overlooked.”

10. Do you want to talk about your day?

You don’t want to see your partner hurting. That’s understandable. But, offering them the opportunity to dictate how they deal with the deconstruction of their crappy day can alleviate the potential stress of having to relive it all over too soon. “Sometimes, a really bad day can take a while to get over,” explains Dr. Cook. “Many people cope by emotionally shutting down, and truly not wanting to talk about it. Asking your partner if he or she would like to vent – rather than assuming that to be the case – will allow you to become more aware of their situation, and adjust as needed.” In this case giving your partner space is the best way to show them you’re close by.

Sales of chips and the new Galaxy S22 phones help the company hit its third straight quarter of record revenue.

Nothing finishes off a bowl of pasta like grated parmesan or pecorino—unless you’re vegan. Good vegan hard cheeses are probably out there somewhere, but I have yet to find a brand or recipe that comes close to the real thing. Instead of going broke betting my dinner on one failed contender after another, I gave up and…

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It’s going to be a challenging year for trick-or-treaters, given that the safest approach to collecting candy is to simply not to. But that hasn’t stopped Halloween die-hards from finding clever ways to distribute treats while still social distancing, including Hershey’s. The company invented a rolling door with a…

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As protesters take precautions to avoid getting infected with COVID-19 when they attend demonstrations, public health officials around the country worry they’re going to see more coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.

Shopping for a mattress is a pain in the ass; it’s expensive, after all, and it’s hard to distinguish one mattress from another when they look identical, except for the fact that one might be a few inches longer or wider. If you’ve ever wondered which mattress to buy, how much bigger a queen is than a full—or what the…

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A California politician is outraged by The Boring Company's popular flamethrowers, but fans are sticking up for the fiery gadgets.

Back in the old days, when BlackBerry was the premier smartphone maker, you could count on its devices to feature two things: a physical keyboard and long battery life. Things have changed a lot since then, but part of that legacy lives on in the Bla...

Kellen / Droid Life:
Google CEO Sundar Pichai says Pixel 2 pre-orders were double that of last year, and the company plans to partner with more retailers, sell in more countries  —  During today's Q3 2017 Alphabet earnings call, Google CEO Sundar Pichai talked about the company's recent hardware announcements …

Tycho: We and Privateer Press are trying to figure out who’s from our Sponsored Stream is playing at their Lock & Load event.  Right now, there’s a three way tie between myself (Menoth), Erick (Cryx), and Jamie (Cygnar, a.k.a., the Goddamn Swans). Gabe’s drawing on the stream from 1 to 2 PDT, but from 2 on its Wargames A-Go-Go, with massive 75 point armies and lots of pretty figs.  Come check it out! (CW)TB  

Yeah, the AirPods come with their own charging case. But this new Catalyst AirPods Case makes a good case for adding a case to that case.

After scaring our socks off at Gamescom, Capcom has now revealed Resident Evil 7's collector's edition -- and it's not for the faint hearted... or the financially minded.

The following post is brought to you by Nest. Our partners are handpicked by the Design Milk team because they represent the best in design.

Here’s a thought: what if we applied the same sort of New Year-inspired aspirational and proactive lifestyle changes for our homes as we hope to accomplish for our bodies. Imagine, instead of planning, purchasing, and promising all in the hopes of dropping a few pounds, what if the goal was to make your home a better place to live, work, and relax. With that in mind we’ve set out to list a roadmap for modernizing and upgrading a home, from room to room:

Declutter: Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up
Marie Kondo became a bit of a cultural phenomenon with her first book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. It seemed like everyone we knew had picked up a copy or was handed one down from a friend already infected by the Zen of decluttering as prescribed by the Japanese expert. She has a new follow-up book, a sort of illustrated Cliff’s Notes for decluttering and organizing, filled with line drawings illustrating clothing folding methods and storage organization techniques. It seems appropriate a new year requires a new way of living, starting with a more organized home as “step one”.

Improve Airflow: Big Ass Fans Haiku with SenseME
I have one of these ceiling fans installed in our dining room and it’s made a huge difference over this summer, circulating air efficiently and quietly on a programmed schedule (a big deal because we live without air conditioning), a feature that I can adjust remotely using their iOS app (Android compatible too). Surprisingly, it’s also been great at circulating warm air during this autumn too, and the powerfully bright array of LED lights is effective of bringing in simulated sunlight into the darkest room in our home and turning on automatically using a motion sensor at predetermined times. The sleek Haiku was a big upgrade from the frankly unsightly big box home improvement store ceiling fan that it replaced, and I’m planning to purchase a second unit for the TV room.

Upgrade Your Lighting: Cree Connected LED Dimmable Light Bulb
The Cree Connected dimmable LED light bulb, a much more affordable $15 compatible bulb that syncs with either Wink or a ZigBee certified hubs upon entering bulb’s six digit serial number into your existing system. Rated for 815 lumens with an eye-pleasing 2700K light temperature, Cree’s LED bulbs only require 11.5 watts and are rated for a life expectancy of 22.8 years. This is the sort of low hanging fruit home upgrade that seems a little expensive today, but over the lifetime of use will prove to be a smart energy and cost efficient DIY.

Cool Down: Noria Air Conditioner
Not everyone lives in a home or apartment with an HVAC system. For those living in an older building, it’s more likely than not you rely upon a window AC unit during the summer to keep things bearable. But it’s hard to call window AC units anything but an eyesore; at best, they’re tolerable necessities. Plus they’re extremely heavy and difficult for one person to install or remove. The Noria from Likuma Laboratories is shaping up to be a contender as an intriguing cooling solution for renters or those with double-hung windows, addressing traditional negatives associated with window units with a slim and lightweight design that makes installing and removing the unit seasonally a snap. Wi-fi connectivity and control via mobile device are in the plans too!

Get Energy Efficient: Nest Learning Thermostat
The Nest Learning Thermostat was arguably the first important mainstream Internet of Things device that sparked home improvement types to look beyond the hammer and nails aisles and into integrating energy monitoring into their homes. People who had never given much thought about HVAC system were suddenly singing the praises of a device, which looked like nothing before in the category. With its success, manufacturers and developers spiderwebbed outward into every niche of home management and monitoring, with more arriving each day. The Nest Learning Thermostat has evolved further since launch, now in its 3rd generation, even sleeker in shape and size, a brighter and sharper screen, more sensors, and a smarter learning AI capable of adjusting temperature to your preference, then turning itself automatically down to save energy when you’re away. The coolest new feature in this 3rd generation of the Nest Learning Thermostat line is Farsight, a room monitoring technology which lights up the display when you enter the room, showing the temperature you set or the time (with a choice of a digital or analog clock face). Nest is also being continually developed to work in connection and coordination with an expanding stable of other thoughtful home devices in the home, from washing machines to pet feeders, making it a futureproofed ecosystem.

Automate Your Front Door Security: August Smart Home Access System
With the Doorbell Cam, Smart Keypad, and Smart Lock combo, the August system upgrades any entry point into a home security system with monitoring and automated security features all accessible via app. Designer Yves Béhar conceived the systems as an easy way for homeowners to upgrade their front doors without having to call in a locksmith, with the Smart Lock designed to be easily installed onto existing door entry hardware. The new Doorbell Cam automatically notifies users via app when someone is at the door, providing a “peephole” view of the front door even when you’re away from home. It’s a convenient feature for someone like myself who works in a room far from the front door; in practice, I could take a peek at who has rung the doorbell, giving friends entry access, while ignoring the doorbell of an uninvited solicitor.

Automate Chores – Feeding Time: Petnet
I was actually one of the early beta testers who paid to help refine this automated pet feeder. For years we had a hulk of an automated pet feeder, which relied upon manually inputting the feeding times like an old VCR. So when I learned the Petnet was completely app controlled, I was ready to dive in and manage our cats’ feeding schedule using a pair of these units. Beyond a slightly bumpy first few months, the Petnet has gotten better and is extremely reliable after moving from beta to a final product. The unit dispenses dry kibbles in portions from 1/16 – 1 1/2 cups, which keeps our cats on a set schedule and amount, insuring they stay at a healthy weight. It also lessens the morning routine of the “wake up and feed me, stupid human” paw in the face routine. And for that alone it’s worth the price.

Upgrade Your Home Audio: Sonos PLAY:5
I already was convinced the Sonos PLAY:5 system was the best multi-room streaming audio solution on the market today after testing it firsthand. They’ve since solidified that opinion with a recent announcement that Apple Music compatibility will be available via their beta app program, joining nearly every other major music streaming service. As noted in our recent review of the system, the Sonos PLAY:5 is adept at customizing its output using an interior decor acoustic measurement technology called Trueplay, adjusting how and where music is output according to what’s nearby; the speakers also adjust automatically to work in either vertical or horizontal orientation. The PLAY:5 is for someone who wants to upgrade their home audio without having to worry about component compatibility nor a multitude of accessories. It’s just unpack, plug-in, connected to a mobile device, then stream and listen.

Dark chocolate ice cubes are a great way to sneak some chocolate into your hot weather routine. These beauties would be perfect as a addition to your afternoon iced coffee or plunked into a glass of cold milk. Add them to chocolate milk if you want to get really crazy.

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Thanks to a tip from a friend from the Washington, D.C. area, I decided to try out the Waze community-based navigation app on my most recent road trip. I honestly didn’t know much about it, being that I live in a less-metropolitan geographic area.  I tried it on a couple of local trips earlier in June, and I didn’t get much out of it.  I’ve relied on the CoPilot Live app more recently, and it seemed to have worked well for me.

But I didn’t give up—last week I made an almost-1000 mile drive from Florida to West Virginia. Somewhere around Knoxville, where I hit some traffic, I decided to give Waze a second chance.

I’m glad I did.

Waze started in Israel in 2008 and when it crossed the pond to the U.S. about two years ago, it took the app world by storm. In 2013 it was awarded the Best Overall Mobile App by the Mobile World Congress, thus cinching its position as a must-have app!

I’ll get to the local metro features momentarily, but I just want to share with the world how awesome it was traveling on Interstates 40 and 81 and being among other Waze users—called “Wazers”—as we shared traffic, construction, and hidden police information. My experiences so far have been with long-distance driving; there’s much more it can do in heavier traffic and in areas with more “Wazers.”

So I’m driving down the highway; the Waze app is running happily on my iPhone (which is mounted to my GripGo mount). Every once in a while I would encounter icons such as these ones pictured.

The pink “Wazer” icon was heading towards me on I-40. It has a crown on its head, designating it a “Waze Royalty”—the top 1% of high scorers in whatever state I’m in (Tennessee, in this case). There are varying levels of “Wazers”; I had to endure 100 miles of being a baby before promoting to a “Wazer Grownup.”

Those exclamation points are identifying hazards. If you tap the icons—easy to do with my GripGo mounted-phone—a pop up window will provide more information.

You can also get information about hidden police cars and road construction. While I’m not suggesting that drivers spend too much time on his/her phone, for what it’s worth, it’s very easy to mark locations for this information. Three taps on the phone, and you’re done!

The police car information was very helpful and pretty accurate.

In more densely-populated metropolitan areas, there is quite a bit more utility for users. The more Wazers there are in an area, the more information becomes available. You can easily connect Waze with your mobile Facebook app and you’ll automatically be friends with those drivers. Waze will alert you when your friends are on the road, and you can chat with them (which I don’t recommend if you’re the driver). I enjoyed sending “Beep Beep”s to my friends, which only takes two taps on the iPhone.

GeekMom Helene, who lives near the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore metro areas, isn’t that happy with Waze’s chat function. Her app pops up the chats if any of her friends are within a certain range. She finds that distracts her from trying to get to her destination.

GeekMom Kristen provided me the following pros and cons of using Waze throughout the Los Angeles area. And I quote….

• Nearly everyone I know in LA loves Waze.
• I use it every day, even for places I know the way, because she’s taught me new ways to get to work, to the studio, and home. After a while it anticipates where you’re going. I nearly squeaked with delight the first time it said, “Good afternoon! Are you on your way home?” It recognized that I go to the same place every Tuesday at 3:00pm.
• As an LA driver, the most shocking thing about Waze is how often she tells us to take the freeways. I usually avoid them like the plague—but it turns out that even when they’re jammed sometimes, they’re still the fastest route.
• Another reason I use her every time I get in the car—unbelievably accurate ETAs.
• Downsides: That thing where she anticipates where you’re going—if you’re going someplace different than usual and don’t notice she’s asked you if you’re going to your typical place—she will override what you’ve plugged in. I discovered that a couple of times in the beginning. You know a, “Heyyy wait, why am I turning on Olympic?”
• She will also take you down side streets—which at time has been a revelation—”I’m bypassing all the traffic on the main road!” But I wish she was more intuitive about what side streets have traffic lights. Often she will send you up a side street, telling you to cross a major thoroughfare. Or make a left onto one. Uh, yikes, and hello extra ten minutes added to commute.
• I love points—it appeals to the gamer in me—and when I’m the passenger I’m always yelling when we get points. My husband will say, “But you don’t GET anything!” My response: “You get POINTS!”**
• I love her. Yes I said her. Google better not [mess] her up.

**Waze awards you points based on how many miles you’ve traveled with Waze, how many friends you have, and how often you report items such as traffic jams, gas prices, and map problems.

In a timely twist of fate, as several of us GeekMoms were discussing our adventures with Waze last week, Google was busy finalizing their acquisition at the tune of just over $1 billion!

Well, as Kristen suggested above, we hope that Google does a good job with Waze.

Waze is available for free download for the iOS, Android, and J2ME platforms.

The post Waze: Exciting News for This Exciting App appeared first on GeekMom.