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How to Get the Most Out of (or Into) Your Robot Vacuum

How to Get the Most Out of (or Into) Your Robot Vacuum

If you have elected for a robot vacuum with mapping capabilities, it usually gives you the option of a quick mapping run without cleaning. It might seem like a waste, but it does save time in the long run. Use the mapping run to take a quick walk around your house and look for dangling shoelaces, wired headphones, or any long strings or fringes that will trip up the smartest robot vacuum.

And turn on your lights. Your robot might have optical sensors, which require ambient light to operate. If you find that your vacuum is getting stuck a lot, don’t schedule your cleanings at night. (Try 9 am, which is when my vacuum is usually scheduled.) If you have a dog, cleaning right after you leave will also give your pup less time to have an accident on the floor.

Nowadays, your robot vacuum will also ping you if it has navigation issues. In my house, dust often gets on top of the optical sensors, which can be removed by wiping with a soft cloth.

Empty the Bin

Yes, unfortunately, a robot that routinely digs into the yuckiest corners of your house will need a little routine maintenance. More than a few people have complained to me that their robot vacuum doesn’t work and just drags dirt around. If yours is doing this, then the bin is probably full. A robot vacuum’s dust bin is pretty small. Most robot vacuums have a bin size of around 0.6 liters. The dust bin on my Dyson ball vacuum is twice that, and I still need to empty it from room to room.

Dealing With Clogs and Clots

Many robot vacuums now come with tiny tools embedded inside the body of the vacuum that make routine maintenance slightly easier. I also keep scissors and, er, poking tools (a chopstick) on hand for cutting through hair or yarn that has snarled a roller brush or to push an obstinate Lego through the vacuum chute on a self-emptying bin.

I do have to say here that robot vacuums are not unique in this regard; these are all problems that have befallen my handheld push vacuum. I have yet to come across a robot vacuum problem that could not be solved with a few minutes of routine maintenance (well, and the occasional factory reset).

Divide and Conquer

Photograph: Carol Yepes/Getty Images

Ideally, you’d automate your robot vacuum’s cleaning cycles, not give it another thought, and come home to a clean house every day thereafter. But as helpful as robot vacuums are, they cannot pick up your kid’s 1,000-piece puzzle set for you or put away the dirty laundry that you’ve left in a pile on the floor.

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#Robot #Vacuum

In the years following the book’s release, a bro-y community of hobbyists has dabbled with their own wires and screens to create homebrew devices, frequently for hacking purposes or on-the-go coding. Historically, decks have resembled a heavy-duty laptop, featuring a screen and small keyboard, often sleek, utilitarian, and housed in a Pelican briefcase to survive imagined, apocalyptic scenarios. One niche ham radio YouTuber, over a year ago, titled his tutorial video “DIY Doomsday Cyberdeck EMAIL/TEXT without INTERNET” and, of course, included the “prepper” hashtag.

What sets Tan’s cyberdeck apart is its aesthetic. Inside her refurbished clamshell purse, hardware-wise, is a Raspberry Pi single-board computer with a small keyboard and screen. All fairly standard stuff—the cyberdeck’s feminine shell and crafty details are what subverts expectations. “I’ve not seen anyone do a hyper-femme one before,” she says. Tan felt an appreciation for the tactical aesthetic previously established by the cyberdeck community, but she wanted to craft a version that felt more authentic to her style. “I’ve always been very anti-minimalist,” she says. “In my life, I want color, and I want everything that I own to convey that it’s me.”

To make her mermaid cyberdeck less reliant on internet access, she has transferred heaps of files from her PC, uploading songs, books, maps, Wikipedia articles, and even some photos of her cats directly onto the device. When the custom mouse is connected, she can even run Doom on it.

Photo of Cyberdeck

In addition to her mermaid-inspired cyberdeck, Tan also shared the construction of a deck featuring solar panels on TikTok.

Courtesy of Annike Tan

Tan says the audience for her widely viewed TikToks are around three-fourths women. “A lot of people had the response, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you could make a computer like this. I thought it had to be a gray box, like every other Mac or Dell or whatever,’” says Ling Lu, a 28-year-old product designer and illustrator who lives in New York City. She was inspired by Tan’s videos to try to make her own whimsical gadget, the “cyberduck” audio journal, an avian-shaped recording device for personal use.

#Hottest #AntiAI #Gadget #Cyberdeckcomputer,diy,hacking,tiktok,trends,social media">The Hottest Anti-AI Gadget Is a CyberdeckIn the years following the book’s release, a bro-y community of hobbyists has dabbled with their own wires and screens to create homebrew devices, frequently for hacking purposes or on-the-go coding. Historically, decks have resembled a heavy-duty laptop, featuring a screen and small keyboard, often sleek, utilitarian, and housed in a Pelican briefcase to survive imagined, apocalyptic scenarios. One niche ham radio YouTuber, over a year ago, titled his tutorial video “DIY Doomsday Cyberdeck EMAIL/TEXT without INTERNET” and, of course, included the “prepper” hashtag.What sets Tan’s cyberdeck apart is its aesthetic. Inside her refurbished clamshell purse, hardware-wise, is a Raspberry Pi single-board computer with a small keyboard and screen. All fairly standard stuff—the cyberdeck’s feminine shell and crafty details are what subverts expectations. “I’ve not seen anyone do a hyper-femme one before,” she says. Tan felt an appreciation for the tactical aesthetic previously established by the cyberdeck community, but she wanted to craft a version that felt more authentic to her style. “I’ve always been very anti-minimalist,” she says. “In my life, I want color, and I want everything that I own to convey that it’s me.”To make her mermaid cyberdeck less reliant on internet access, she has transferred heaps of files from her PC, uploading songs, books, maps, Wikipedia articles, and even some photos of her cats directly onto the device. When the custom mouse is connected, she can even run Doom on it.In addition to her mermaid-inspired cyberdeck, Tan also shared the construction of a deck featuring solar panels on TikTok.
Courtesy of Annike TanTan says the audience for her widely viewed TikToks are around three-fourths women. “A lot of people had the response, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you could make a computer like this. I thought it had to be a gray box, like every other Mac or Dell or whatever,’” says Ling Lu, a 28-year-old product designer and illustrator who lives in New York City. She was inspired by Tan’s videos to try to make her own whimsical gadget, the “cyberduck” audio journal, an avian-shaped recording device for personal use.#Hottest #AntiAI #Gadget #Cyberdeckcomputer,diy,hacking,tiktok,trends,social media

hacking purposes or on-the-go coding. Historically, decks have resembled a heavy-duty laptop, featuring a screen and small keyboard, often sleek, utilitarian, and housed in a Pelican briefcase to survive imagined, apocalyptic scenarios. One niche ham radio YouTuber, over a year ago, titled his tutorial video “DIY Doomsday Cyberdeck EMAIL/TEXT without INTERNET” and, of course, included the “prepper” hashtag.

What sets Tan’s cyberdeck apart is its aesthetic. Inside her refurbished clamshell purse, hardware-wise, is a Raspberry Pi single-board computer with a small keyboard and screen. All fairly standard stuff—the cyberdeck’s feminine shell and crafty details are what subverts expectations. “I’ve not seen anyone do a hyper-femme one before,” she says. Tan felt an appreciation for the tactical aesthetic previously established by the cyberdeck community, but she wanted to craft a version that felt more authentic to her style. “I’ve always been very anti-minimalist,” she says. “In my life, I want color, and I want everything that I own to convey that it’s me.”

To make her mermaid cyberdeck less reliant on internet access, she has transferred heaps of files from her PC, uploading songs, books, maps, Wikipedia articles, and even some photos of her cats directly onto the device. When the custom mouse is connected, she can even run Doom on it.

Photo of Cyberdeck

In addition to her mermaid-inspired cyberdeck, Tan also shared the construction of a deck featuring solar panels on TikTok.

Courtesy of Annike Tan

Tan says the audience for her widely viewed TikToks are around three-fourths women. “A lot of people had the response, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you could make a computer like this. I thought it had to be a gray box, like every other Mac or Dell or whatever,’” says Ling Lu, a 28-year-old product designer and illustrator who lives in New York City. She was inspired by Tan’s videos to try to make her own whimsical gadget, the “cyberduck” audio journal, an avian-shaped recording device for personal use.

#Hottest #AntiAI #Gadget #Cyberdeckcomputer,diy,hacking,tiktok,trends,social media">The Hottest Anti-AI Gadget Is a Cyberdeck

In the years following the book’s release, a bro-y community of hobbyists has dabbled with their own wires and screens to create homebrew devices, frequently for hacking purposes or on-the-go coding. Historically, decks have resembled a heavy-duty laptop, featuring a screen and small keyboard, often sleek, utilitarian, and housed in a Pelican briefcase to survive imagined, apocalyptic scenarios. One niche ham radio YouTuber, over a year ago, titled his tutorial video “DIY Doomsday Cyberdeck EMAIL/TEXT without INTERNET” and, of course, included the “prepper” hashtag.

What sets Tan’s cyberdeck apart is its aesthetic. Inside her refurbished clamshell purse, hardware-wise, is a Raspberry Pi single-board computer with a small keyboard and screen. All fairly standard stuff—the cyberdeck’s feminine shell and crafty details are what subverts expectations. “I’ve not seen anyone do a hyper-femme one before,” she says. Tan felt an appreciation for the tactical aesthetic previously established by the cyberdeck community, but she wanted to craft a version that felt more authentic to her style. “I’ve always been very anti-minimalist,” she says. “In my life, I want color, and I want everything that I own to convey that it’s me.”

To make her mermaid cyberdeck less reliant on internet access, she has transferred heaps of files from her PC, uploading songs, books, maps, Wikipedia articles, and even some photos of her cats directly onto the device. When the custom mouse is connected, she can even run Doom on it.

Photo of Cyberdeck

In addition to her mermaid-inspired cyberdeck, Tan also shared the construction of a deck featuring solar panels on TikTok.

Courtesy of Annike Tan

Tan says the audience for her widely viewed TikToks are around three-fourths women. “A lot of people had the response, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you could make a computer like this. I thought it had to be a gray box, like every other Mac or Dell or whatever,’” says Ling Lu, a 28-year-old product designer and illustrator who lives in New York City. She was inspired by Tan’s videos to try to make her own whimsical gadget, the “cyberduck” audio journal, an avian-shaped recording device for personal use.

#Hottest #AntiAI #Gadget #Cyberdeckcomputer,diy,hacking,tiktok,trends,social media

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition will require some knowledge of popular U.S. sports and pop culture.

As we’ve shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

What is Connections: Sports Edition?

The NYT‘s latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication’s sports coverage. The sports Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

Each puzzle features 16 words, and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes before the game ends.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here’s a hint for today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

Here are today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:

Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today’s Connections: Sports Edition #582 is…

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

  • MLS Teams — RAPIDS, TIMBERS, UNION, WHITECAPS

  • NASCAR Tracks — BRISTOL, DAYTONA, POCONO, WATKINS

  • New York Knicks — BRIDGES, BRUNSON, HART, TOWNS

  • Words in the Names of Premier League Venues” — CRAVEN, MOLINEUX, STAMFORD, VILLA

Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.

If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.

#NYT #Connections #Sports #Edition #hints #answers #April #Tips #solve #Connections">NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for April 28: Tips to solve Connections #582
                                                            Today’s Connections: Sports Edition will require some knowledge of popular U.S. sports and pop culture.As we’ve shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans. Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
        SEE ALSO:
        
            Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable
            
        
    
What is Connections: Sports Edition?The NYT‘s latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication’s sports coverage. The sports Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
    
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Each puzzle features 16 words, and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes before the game ends.
    
        This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
    


Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
        
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        SEE ALSO:
        
            Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL.
            
        
    
Here’s a hint for today’s Connections: Sports Edition categoriesWant a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:Here are today’s Connections: Sports Edition categoriesNeed a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.Drumroll, please!The solution to today’s Connections: Sports Edition #582 is…What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?MLS Teams — RAPIDS, TIMBERS, UNION, WHITECAPSNASCAR Tracks — BRISTOL, DAYTONA, POCONO, WATKINSNew York Knicks — BRIDGES, BRUNSON, HART, TOWNSWords in the Names of Premier League Venues” — CRAVEN, MOLINEUX, STAMFORD, VILLADon’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.

                    
                                            
                            
                        
                                    #NYT #Connections #Sports #Edition #hints #answers #April #Tips #solve #Connections

New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

What is Connections: Sports Edition?

The NYT‘s latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication’s sports coverage. The sports Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

Each puzzle features 16 words, and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes before the game ends.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here’s a hint for today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

Here are today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:

Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today’s Connections: Sports Edition #582 is…

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

  • MLS Teams — RAPIDS, TIMBERS, UNION, WHITECAPS

  • NASCAR Tracks — BRISTOL, DAYTONA, POCONO, WATKINS

  • New York Knicks — BRIDGES, BRUNSON, HART, TOWNS

  • Words in the Names of Premier League Venues” — CRAVEN, MOLINEUX, STAMFORD, VILLA

Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.

If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.

#NYT #Connections #Sports #Edition #hints #answers #April #Tips #solve #Connections">NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for April 28: Tips to solve Connections #582

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition will require some knowledge of popular U.S. sports and pop culture.

As we’ve shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

What is Connections: Sports Edition?

The NYT‘s latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication’s sports coverage. The sports Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

Each puzzle features 16 words, and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes before the game ends.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here’s a hint for today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

Here are today’s Connections: Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:

Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today’s Connections: Sports Edition #582 is…

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

  • MLS Teams — RAPIDS, TIMBERS, UNION, WHITECAPS

  • NASCAR Tracks — BRISTOL, DAYTONA, POCONO, WATKINS

  • New York Knicks — BRIDGES, BRUNSON, HART, TOWNS

  • Words in the Names of Premier League Venues” — CRAVEN, MOLINEUX, STAMFORD, VILLA

Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.

If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.

#NYT #Connections #Sports #Edition #hints #answers #April #Tips #solve #Connections

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