Wake me up before you go go: iPhone alarm being finicky? Check these settings. In Settings > Sounds & Haptic, turn the alarm slider all the way up. Under Settings > Focus, make sure Sleep is off.
The future is hybrid
Volvo just dropped its all-electric plan, joining other carmakers moving away from EVs. With limited charging stations and a focus on hybrids, the push for electric cars is losing steam.
🤔 AI’s dumbing us down: A study found that students using ChatGPT to write SAT essays showed lower brain activity and focus compared to those who didn’t. Over four months, they went from asking for some help to copy-pasting entire sections. Maybe the future shown in WALL-E isn’t that far off.
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That’s all it takes for your body to freeze under stress and start making smarter decisions. In a wild twist on the panic playbook, Dutch professor Karin Roelofs says freezing under stress is your nervous system’s version of going into “emergency focus mode.” Not stuck, strategizing. Less deer in headlights, more sniper on a mission.
⌨️ Mac window shortcuts: Don’t waste time clicking the yellow dot to minimize. Press Cmd + M to shrink the active window. Hit Cmd + Option + H to hide all other windows and focus on the one you’re working on. It’s faster than dragging your mouse around.
🔦 Let there be light: On iPhone, you can control your flashlight’s brightness. Open Control Center, press and hold the flashlight icon, and wait for the larger beam slider to appear. Slide up to brighten or down to dim. Bonus: If your model has a multi-LED flash, swipe left or right to adjust the beam’s focus.
Mac multitasking trick: Hold Command (⌘) to use background windows without switching focus. For example, if Safari is in front and Notes is behind it, hold ⌘ and drag a corner of the Notes window to resize it without bringing it forward. You can also select text in the background this way.
✍🏻 Need to concentrate? Windows 11 has a focus mode that hides notifications and those red dots on your task bar. Go to Settings > System > Focus, choose how long you want, then click Start focus session. A timer from the Clock app will pop up. Taking a break? Hit Pause.
🤖 OpenAI’s working with the Pentagon: The ChatGPT maker just landed a $200 million deal with the U.S. Defense Department. The goal? Use AI to tackle military and national security challenges. No, it’s not for weapons (yet). The focus is cutting paperwork and improving cyber defense.
📉 Pocket, zipped: Mozilla’s Pocket app — yes, the “save it for later” one — is shutting down July 8. Mozilla reasoned it needs to focus on Firefox, of all things. Data vanishes in October. If you’ve got a decade of unread articles, now’s your moment. Or just accept you’ll never finish that 2016 “Rise and Fall of Vine” op-ed.
🚁 End of an era: DJI is grounding its iconic Phantom drone series. Starting June 1, 2025, support for the Phantom 4 Pro and Phantom 4 Advanced will fly off into the sunset. These drones helped kick off the quadcopter craze in 2013. DJI is shifting its focus to newer birds like the Inspire, Mavic, Air, Mini and the beginner-friendly Flip line.
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🤳 Skip the digital zoom: It makes photos look worse by stretching pixels instead of capturing real detail. Instead, use your phone’s highest megapixel setting, take the shot and then crop in on what actually matters. Bonus: Before you snap the pic, tap to focus so there’s no annoying blur.
Students shocked by smartphone bans
Could this be the key to better learning? Students think so! With more focus, less anxiety, and better social interactions, many are seeing real benefits from the change.
Kids shouldn't learn computer coding
Coding was once hailed as essential for future careers, but AI advancements are quickly changing that.