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Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images The rivalry between Threads and Bluesky continues to heat up as Meta steps into Bluesky’s territory to reveal a new feature.  On Thursday, Instagram boss Adam Mosseri announced that Meta, which owns Threads, is testing a feature that enables users to “find and easily follow collections of profiles that post about popular topics on Threads.” These collections will be suggested both when new users sign up for the site and in their For You…

June Wan/ZDNET ZDNET’s key takeaways IPVanish secures an unlimited number of devices for $39.96/year. The VPN is tailored for high-end online protection with turbocharged speeds, performing much better on North American connections. Its jurisdiction in the US raises privacy concerns, and some servers drop connections. (Editor’s note: IPVanish is owned by Ziff Davis, ZDNET’s parent company. For more, see our Editorial Guidelines.) IPVanish has a fairly large number of users and also good ratings (4.2 and…

Amazon Have you ever scrolled Prime Video trying to find the perfect thing to watch but couldn’t settle on something? Amazon is rolling out a new tool to help you find content you’ll love. Called AI Topics, the feature uses AI to review your watch history and get an understanding of what you enjoy. It then analyzes thousands of shows and movies from Prime Video’s library and groups those titles into relevant topics to choose…

Hector Roqueta Rivero/Getty Images Before web-based banking, I was a fanatic about tracking my spending. Although web-based banking is simpler than manually keeping detailed financial records, it’s still not always ideal.  Also: This Linux distro is so Windows-like, it even comes with Microsoft apps For example, when I need to track down a transaction, it’s not exactly easy through my bank. I typically have to go to my history section, create filters, generate a report,…

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” event series. 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…

OLED laptops are typically going to run above the $1,000 price point for their top-tier displays. However, that doesn’t mean sale prices or promotions won’t see prices dip below that. The most inexpensive laptop on this list is the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x for $1,199, which is a steal for how premium and high-performing that machine is. In a more general sense, budget laptops, by and large, cost less than $800. $1,500 and above is…

Keeper ZDNET’s key takeaways Keeper offers secure password management starting at $34.99 annually for individual users and $74.99 annually for families of up to five. Secure file storage and data breach alerts are available as add-ons starting at $9.99 per year and $19.99 per year, respectively.  Keeper offers the essentials of password management with an easy-to-learn interface and excellent user guides. It also has more granular settings for record types and encrypted sharing than some…

For experienced content creators and those just starting out on YouTube or Twitch, the quality of your streaming microphone can make all the difference in your production values and audience engagement. While there are plenty of high-end, expensive options for studio-level recording, many brands offer more affordable and easier-to-use models that can be set up almost anywhere with almost any device.   Also: What are the best webcams for streaming, and are 4K ones worth…

For as long as college football has been around, deciding who the actual national champion was usually consisted of little more than endless bar and sports talk radio arguments. Then, in 1998, the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) appeared to pick out the top two teams battling it out for supremacy. Except, of course, people could never agree on who the top two teams were. Just ask the fans of the undefeated 2004 Auburn Tigers, 2009 Boise…

ZDNET’s key takeaways The Brane X Bluetooth speaker is available now on Amazon for $499. It delivers the loudest, clearest bass of any portable speaker I’ve tested. Getting the Brane X connected to the app can be a bit tricky. If bass is your jam, then you probably know that most Bluetooth speakers don’t always deliver those deep low ends. There’s little “punch” or separation between the kick drum and bass guitar, and things can…