Crypto bragging rights aren’t worth 17 days as a hostage. Plus, LexisNexis data breach, how to spot digital cheaters, and Paul from Missouri wants to turn his 3D-printed puzzle hobby into a hit YouTube channel.
Where to watch TV without paying a dime
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The average household coughs up nearly $70 a month on streaming subscriptions, and that’s before your internet tab. But let me tell you, I spend a lot more than that. It’s closer to $125.
Add it all together, and congratulations, you’re back in 2011 with your overpriced cable bundle, except this time, there’s no DVR to save you.
Good news: You can cut your bill without cutting the fun. Here are 10 legit, totally free streaming services you can start watching now.
1. Pluto TV: With 250+ live channels and a huge library of on-demand content, Pluto brings the binge without the bill. Owned by Paramount, so expect solid picks.
2. Tubi: Backed by Fox, Tubi serves up over 50,000 titles from big studios like MGM, Lionsgate and Paramount. It’s on every platform you can think of.
3. YouTube: You already use it, but explore the “Free with ads” movies and shows. You’ll find full-length features, classic TV, and yes, my shows, too.
4. The Roku Channel: No Roku device needed. Stream 500+ live channels, thousands of movies and TV shows, plus originals like Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.
5. Freevee: Amazon’s ad-supported streamer has fewer commercials than regular TV and some fun originals. Jury Duty is Emmy-nominated for a reason.
6. Kanopy: This one’s the sleeper hit. All you need is a library card to unlock a curated library of indie films, documentaries and foreign titles. It’s ad-free, too.
7. Xumo Play: Built by Comcast and Charter, Xumo delivers 350+ live channels and an on-demand library with everything from news to nostalgia.
8. Plex: Once just a media server, Plex now streams movies, TV and live channels. Plus, if you have your own digital movie collection, Plex organizes it beautifully.
9. Hoopla: Another library-connected gem. It offers free movies, TV, audiobooks, comics and more completely ad-free. Perfect for families or book lovers.
We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.
People are glued on YouTube, watching planes land at LAX
https://www.youtube.com/@AirlineVideos
Move over, cat videos and cooking hacks, there’s a new YouTube obsession, and it’s planes landing at LAX. No, really.
I thought you’d find it interesting that a channel called Airline Videos Live is racking up millions of views pointing a camera at the runway at Los Angeles International Airport.
YouTube ads are getting tricky: They’re testing an AI tool called Peak Points that finds the precise moments when viewers are most engaged in a video. Then it drops ads right after. The goal? Help advertisers catch you when you’re paying attention and more likely to click. Kill it with fire.
400 million
That’s how many subscribers MrBeast just hit on YouTube. The data supports it, he’s the undisputed king of the algorithm. He’s got more subscribers than the U.S. has citizens. At this rate, he could drop a video called “I Breathed Air,” and it’d hit 50 million in an hour.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: YouTube shortcuts: K to pause, J to rewind 10 sec, L to skip forward.
Why you can’t focus and 3 sneaky fixes that work
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Work got beef with your focus?
You’re not imagining it, according to Microsoft, employees get interrupted every two minutes. Emails. Pings. Meetings that could’ve been Slack messages.
📺 Streams constantly buffering? Even if your Wi-Fi is stable, your internet speed might be the issue. Run a test and check your download rate. 4K videos on YouTube or Netflix need about 25 Mbps to play smoothly. Got a family with multiple devices on the same network? Time to upgrade to at least 100 Mbps.
$249.99
That’s how much Google wants for the Gemini AI Ultra VIP pass, monthly. You get AI everything: video gen, doc summarizing, Chrome copilots and a personal bot concierge named Mariner that’ll shop online for you. It also includes YouTube Premium and 30TB of storage because apparently, your digital clone needs closet space.
The top pods: Check out YouTube’s new Weekly Top Podcast Shows chart to see what folks are tuning in to. Right now, “Rotten Mango,” “The Joe Rogan Experience” and “48 Hours” are leading the pack. Subscribe to mine to help it climb up there.
Have a YouTube channel? The algorithm might not know who to show your videos to. Give it a nudge by adding channel tags. Click your profile picture > YouTube Studio > Settings > Channel, fill in your Keywords (like “travel”) and hit Save. It’s a small step toward building your audience.
🎶 Rockin’ votes: Planning a road trip? YouTube now lets your friends add and vote on songs in shared playlists. Here’s how to create one. Then, click the three-dot menu > Collaborate > toggle on Collaborators can add songs and videos. Hit Share to send the link to your pals. No arguing over who gets to DJ.
Gen Z is a national security threat
Sixty percent get their news from TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. Here’s why that has experts alarmed.
What’s that song’s name? The YouTube Music app can help you track it down. Just hum, sing or whistle the tune. Open the app, tap search and hit the audio wave icon (top right) and give it a try. Heads up, it works best with popular or catchy tunes, not indie ones.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Got kids? Set up YouTube Kids with age filters and disable the search bar to avoid sketchy content.
Up to $1.4 million
How much MrBeast made from YouTube revenue in the past week, according to Viewstats. He launched the app himself to track creators’ estimated earnings, views and subscribers. And yep, you can look them up, too! It also shows what’s going viral, so if you’ve got a channel, steal some inspo.
Watchful gestures: Get around the YouTube app faster with these tricks. Swipe up in the video player for full-screen mode, then swipe down when you’re ready to exit. Head over to my YouTube channel and give it a try (I know, shameless plug).
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Want a distraction-free YouTube? Add -nocookie to the URL to skip tracking cookies. Whoa. That was a good one!
$10 million
How much revenue TikTok creators are collectively pulling in daily. New data also shows it’s now the second most-watched livestreaming platform on the net. So far in Q1: Twitch has 4.85 billion hours, TikTok Live 8.03 billion and YouTube leads with 14.98 billion hours. Dang, that’s crazy.
▶️ Play and navigate: Adding video chapters lets your YouTube audience jump right to the parts they want to see. Pop an intro to your description, then list the time stamps like this: “0:00 – Intro” and “12:30 – Q&A.” YouTube will make them clickable, so they’re easy to navigate.