Tangle Tech

Homescreen Heroes This is part of a regular series of articles exploring the apps that we couldn't live without. Read them all here . For someone who has a degree in journalism and a master's in English, I should read more than I actually do. But movies are my thing, and apps like Letterboxd encourage me to broaden my cinematic horizons. That said, there’s one app that’s lifted me out of my years-long reading slump — and no, it’s not Goodreads. Fable is a reading and book club platform on iOS and Android that launched in 2021, but it’s only been an integral part of my homescreen for the past year or two. When I saw that most of my friends were migrating to Fable from Goodreads, I joined the club — and I don’t regret it. Now, Fable hasn’t completely seized the throne from Goodreads; the latter is still widely used and takes the number four spot in the iOS App Store’s ‘Books’ category (Fabl...

KEF LS Luxe: Two-minute review The LS Luxe is the new high-point — by which I mean ‘most expensive’ — of KEF’s fêted range of wireless stereo speaker systems. Having precisely nothing left to prove where products of this type are concerned in the lower $1,000 / £750 - $3,400 / £2,500 arena, the company has made a decisive move upmarket — and the LS Luxe seems to leave very little to chance where engineering, specification and aesthetic shock and awe are concerned. You will make your own mind up about the looks, of course; for my money, the ‘eclipse black’ of my review sample is the least successful of the three available finishes, but there’s no denying the LS Luxe is an individual looker in a market where design flourishes are always at a premium. But when talk turns to engineering and specification, subjectivity ceases to be all that much of an issue. Numerous input options (both wired and wire...

I never cease to be amazed at the effectiveness of small habits. Standing up and moving every hour. Drinking small sips of water regularly. Leaving your phone downstairs when you go to bed. Flossing straight after brushing. Giving thanks for one thing as soon as your head hits the pillow. They seem small and insignificant. Can habits like these really make a difference? In my experience, yes, and James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, agrees. The reality is that each habit may not seem like a big deal, but when combined and performed over time, they can lead to massive changes. One app that has helped me build and cement new habits in the area of health and fitness is GO Club . This beautifully designed app is the epitome of simplicity. It may only perform a few simple functions, but what it does, it does incredibly well. Over the past few weeks, I’ve grown to love it and have come to rely on its...

We're still a few weeks out from the big day itself, but several retailers have already started their annual Labor Day sales this week. In fact, tons of excellent laptops are on sale right now if you're looking for a new machine. I've been scanning through the various listings at my favorite retailers, and both HP and Best Buy have excellent deals on laptops of all shapes and sizes right now. You can check out my top picks just down below. Highlights include the excellent Acer Aspire Go for just $549.99 (was $699) at Best Buy , which is an excellent mid-range laptop for covering the basics like working from home or streaming content. While not a super high-end machine, its combination of a Ryzen 7 chipset, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD is a real selling point at this budget range. I also like the look of this HP Omnibook 5 at the official HP Store for $679 (was $1,149) . Not only is th...

I’ve been writing about AI for more than a year now. During that time, people have told me they think their bosses, colleagues, partners and relatives might be suffering from AI psychosis — several even admitted they may have even experienced it themselves. But every time I hear “AI psychosis”, I bristle. Because, at least in my limited understanding of mental health terminology, psychosis is a very serious state that needs to be identified and treated by professionals. So should we really just be bolting “AI” onto it and then using “AI psychosis” as a label for everyone who seems to be relying on AI too much? At the same time, there have now been a growing number of reported cases of people experiencing significant mental health crises involving prolonged interactions with chatbots. Some of these have even resulted in people seeking professional treatment , committing crimes and death . So alt...

McKinsey report into the state of AI finds more businesses are deploying agentic solutions 20% of organizations have been constrained by operating costs but plan to increase investments into AI However some are still concerned about job cuts due to AI replacement More companies are adopting agentic AI solutions, but are also facing difficulties in making the technology pay for itself, according to new research from McKinsey - however, there is good news on the horizon, with reports of an encouraging financial impact attributed to AI use. Several cost-saving advantages of AI adoption have been found, with almost 33% of respondents saying they had moved away from software procurement in favor of developing in-house solutions with agentic coding tools. Interestingly, the survey has found that while AI use for organizations at large seems relatively muted, it is boosting the performance of individual...

EPA wants states to decide whether residents receive pollution permit notices Data centers could face less public scrutiny under the proposed changes Minor pollution permits would no longer require federally mandated public notice A newly proposed rule from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would eliminate federal requirements for public notice on many minor pollution permits. The change specifically concerns so-called minor New Source Review permits issued under the Clean Air Act framework across the country. Critics argue the shift could let power-hungry data centers avoid scrutiny while running on-site gas turbines near residential neighbourhoods. State regulators would gain control over public notice Under the proposal, state and local air quality authorities would decide whether communities are told about new pollution sources. This would replace a long-standing federal requireme...