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Get a Babbel lifetime language subscription at a big discount right now.  StackSocial Learning a new language can be daunting. But right now, you can buy a lifetime subscription to Babbel Language Learning from Stack Social that lets you choose from 14 languages and access more than 10,000 hours of online language education for $130 — that’s 78% off.  Not everyone has the time or resources to study a brand-new language. Babbel keeps you organized with…

While Apple doesn’t give a timetable, we have pointers and historical data to fall back on. First, Apple dropped a swath of release candidates yesterday, indicating that — barring some last-minute catastrophe — everything is ready. Also, going back through my calendar – yes, I log operating system releases in my calendar – iOS 17.2, 16.2, and 15.2 were released Monday, Dec. 11, 2023, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022, and Monday, Dec. 13, 2021, respectively. So,…

Jason Hiner/ZDNET Is your smart TV acting not-so-smart? Does it exhibit lag in sequences or a slow response to your remote control? You aren’t the only one who’s experienced the frustration of watching a juddering screen or disconcerting digital hang-ups. Also: How to calibrate your TV for the best picture quality – 2 easy and simple methods Modern TVs have plenty of features and apps (and services that run in the background) which can leave them…

Long-Term Support Linux Kernels December 2024 sjvn/ZDNET As expected, the recently released Linux 6.12 will be the next Long-Term Support (LTS) version of the Linux kernel, according to Greg Kroah-Hartman, Linux kernel stable maintainer. This new LTS kernel comes with many useful new features, the most significant being the inclusion of real-time support in the mainline kernel, which — after 20 years of work — dramatically improves the performance of real-time applications. Also: 5 first-rate Linux distros for power…

Charlie Osborne/ZDNET Here at ZDNET, we extensively cover the virtual private network (VPN) market and keep an eye out for any worthwhile deals.  Over at Stack Social, we’ve spotted an interesting promotion for anyone who wants to use VPN software to mask their online activity from prying eyes, including ISPs, marketers, and other groups that may track what websites you visit and what online services you use.  Also: The best VPN services The VPN in question…

The Oura Ring 4 is a competitive sleep tracker, with insights into everything from sleep efficiency, restfulness, readiness, latency, and more. I’ve been using the Oura Ring for a while now, and it’s not only given me deeper insight into my sleep but also supplements those data points with explanations behind the numbers. Oura claims to accurately track sleep cycles, total sleep time, resting heart rate, heart rate variability, and movement.  These features have been…

Adam Breeden/ZDNET Say you picked up a shiny new TV this holiday season. You unbox it like a kid at Christmas and prepare yourself to binge-watch Squid Game 2. You think to yourself, “This is 2024. TV technology is sizzling, and it’s going to look amazing no matter what.” So you plug it in and don’t take one look at the default settings. Big mistake. I’ve been guilty of it. And I’m okay with that…

Tim Bieber/Getty Images It’s no secret that Meta has been enhancing and building out its Twitter-like offering Threads over the past few weeks — likely to remain competitive against X competitor Bluesky. Recent improvements include custom feeds, advanced search, the option to choose a default feed, AI-powered summaries of trending topics, and more.  Also: 8 Bluesky tips every new user should know On Thursday, Instagram boss Adam Mosseri announced another change that would potentially attract more…

NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty Images With the holiday season upon us, many companies are finding ways to take advantage through deals, promotions, or other campaigns. OpenAI has found a way to participate with its “12 days of OpenAI.”  On Wednesday, OpenAI announced via an X post that starting on Dec. 5, the company would host 12 days of live streams and release “a bunch of new things, big and small,” according to the post. …

NurPhoto/Getty Images If you’ve used Google over the last few months, you may have noticed not only an increase in AI summaries but — as some in the search community are speculating — an increase in personalized search results. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it does mean you might not see the results you want. Fortunately, there’s something you can do about it.    Over the past few days, a new link has started appearing…