An anonymous reader quotes a report from 80 Level: Microsoft has officially confirmed development of its next-generation Xbox console, currently known internally as Project Helix. While concrete details remain limited, early information suggests the company is positioning the device as a hybrid between a traditional console and a gaming PC, capable of running both Xbox titles and PC games. The codename was revealed recently by new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, who reaffirmed Microsoft’s continued commitment to dedicated gaming hardware despite speculation that the company might shift entirely toward cloud or platform-based ecosystems. According to Sharma, Project Helix represents the next step in Xbox’s console strategy.
Although official specifications have not yet been announced, early reports indicate the system will likely rely on a new AMD system-on-chip combining Xbox hardware with PC-style architecture. The device is expected to emphasize high performance while maintaining compatibility with existing Xbox game libraries. […] If the concept holds, Project Helix could mark a significant shift in how console ecosystems are structured, moving away from tightly closed hardware platforms toward something closer to a unified PC-console environment. Sharma wrote in a post on X: “Great start to the morning with Team Xbox, where we talked about our commitment to the return of Xbox, including Project Helix, the code name for our next generation console. Project Helix will lead in performance and play your Xbox and PC games. Looking forward to chatting about this more with partners and studios at my first GDC next week!”
NVIDIA released today the beta version of the NVIDIA 595 graphics driver for GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris systems, introducing various new features and improvements.
The fourth-generation Giant Propel is here and it weighs as little as 6.56kg in a top-spec, size-medium build.
Despite a reduction in complete bike weight of around 350g (for the top-spec, Advanced SL 0 model), Giant claims the new version doesn’t skimp on aerodynamics or efficiency.
In total, Giant says the 2026 Propel has an 18.4-watt ‘advantage’ at 40kph over the previous model, thanks in part to a suite of new and improved components and finishing kit.
Ahead of the bike’s launch, we got our hands on the flagship, Propel Advanced SL 0 AXS (£10,499 / $13,500 / €11,999), the mid-range Advanced Pro 0 Di2 (£5,799 / €6,499) and the cheapest bike in the range, the Advanced 0 (£3,499 / €4,399).
Let’s take a look at what’s changed, and how much difference it makes going from the flagship Propel down to the more affordable models.
Total System Speed
The Giant Propel remains an all-rounder aero bike. Simon von Bromley / Our Media
While many aero road bikes take an ‘aero is everything’ approach, the Propel has always been more weight-conscious.
The latest model doubles down on that ethos, shaving weight from almost every part of the bike.
Nevertheless, the new Propel looks almost identical to the old one at a glance.
The most obvious changes are the more heavily dropped seatstays and the move to an integrated cockpit up-front. Simon von Bromley / Our Media The Propel Advanced Pro 0 Di2 is a mid-range model, which forgoes an integrated seatpost. Simon von Bromley / Our Media
As with the latest Cannondale SuperSix EVO, there are plenty of small changes – which Giant says add to a big overall improvement. However, it’s fair to say Giant has refined the Propel formula rather than reinventing it.
That’s nothing to grumble about. Both the Advanced SL and Advanced Pro versions of that bike performed extremely well during testing (bar a couple of somewhat outdated spec choices), so a more drastic change to the design would have likely alienated fans of its existing charms.
In terms of what’s new and improved, let’s run through the headline features on the 2026 Giant Propel platform.
Frameset refinements
There’s some (very) subtle reshaping up front, plus a bump in tyre clearance to 32mm. Simon von Bromley / Our Media
While the overall silhouette is very similar, the 2026 Propel gets subtle reshaping across the frameset to improve aerodynamic performance, as well as a bump in tyre clearance to 32mm (up from 30mm).
Vertical compliance at the rear of the bike is also said to be 25 per cent better, thanks to more heavily dropped seatstays, and Giant has refined the carbon layup to save 40g and improve the bike’s pedalling and handling stiffness.
There’s plenty of room to spare around the 28c tyres fitted as stock on the new Propel. Simon von Bromley / Our Media Giant says the more heavily dropped seatstays improve rear-end compliance by 25 per cent. Simon von Bromley / Our Media
It also gets a Universal Derailleur Hanger rear dropout, for compatibility with SRAM’s recently launched direct-mount rear derailleurs.
As before, the Advanced SL frames get an integrated seatpost and Giant’s lightest carbon fibre blend, while Advanced Pro and Advanced frames use a telescoping aero seatpost plus a heavier (and cheaper) carbon layup.
The more meaningful changes come elsewhere on the new Propel, however, with new and updated components bringing more tangible gains – especially at the front of the bike…
Integrated and narrower cockpits
Giant’s new Contact SLR integrated carbon fibre cockpit cuts drag and weight. Simon von Bromley / Our Media
While many (myself included) valued the adjustability of the old two-piece cockpit, the direction of travel in road cycling is clear – fully integrated, one-piece handlebars are more aerodynamic, lighter and, perhaps most importantly, make a bike more attractive to prospective customers on shop floors. They’re what 99 per cent of pros use at the Tour de France, after all.
Notably, Giant has also got on board with the trend for narrower handlebars and flared drops – which contributes to that 18.4-watt advantage.
The bar features a narrow hoods position with wider, flared drops. Simon von Bromley / Our Media
A size-medium Propel, for example, now comes with a 400mm-wide bar (measured centre-to-centre at the drops), compared to 420mm on the previous model, and that 400mm bar measures only 370mm-wide at the brake hoods.
Bike fitters will be relieved to read there are plenty of choices, with bar widths from 360 to 440mm and stem lengths from 80 to 140mm. The D-shaped OverDrive Aero steerer and cable-routing system is also carried over from the previous model, so riders can still use a two-piece setup (or a third-party option) if desired.
The Propel Advanced Pro also gets a one-piece carbon cockpit, albeit a slightly heavier version. Simon von Bromley / Our Media Advanced builds get the two-piece aluminium cockpit, which is carried over from the previous version. Simon von Bromley / Our Media
The top-spec Contact SLR 1 Aero handlebar is claimed to tip the scales at 286g (420x100mm), saving 77g compared to the old two-piece cockpit.
Advanced Pro builds also get an integrated cockpit, albeit a slightly heavier, 350g version. The Advanced builds make do with the two-piece setup from the previous Propel, with an aluminium stem and aero handlebar.
Trickle-down carbon spokes and Aero tyres
The Advanced SL builds get the new Cadex Max 50 wheelset. Simon von Bromley / Our Media
Designed as a “unified aerodynamic system”, these 1,290g, carbon-spoked wheels and aero-optimised tyres come fitted to Propel Advanced SL models, such as the Advanced SL 0 AXS model we got hands-on with prior to the launch.
Cadex’s new Aero tyres are also specced on Advanced SL and Advanced Pro builds. Simon von Bromley / Our Media
As detailed in our news story on those wheels and tyres, the carbon spokes are bonded directly into the hub flanges for a lightweight and reactive construction, while the new Aero tyres are claimed to have lower rolling resistance as well as a tread pattern that helps improve aerodynamic performance.
All bikes in the new Propel range are specced with 28c tyres, up from 25c on previous models, which is a welcome update (even if pro choices are trending wider nowadays, as evidenced by our bike checks at this year’s Opening Weekend).
Together, these wheels and tyres cut another 240g of weight compared to the top-spec old model – the most significant saving of all the changes.
The Advanced Pro 0 Di2 is specced with Giant’s SLR 0 50 wheelset, with carbon spokes. Simon von Bromley / Our Media
The two pricier Advanced Pro builds, which feature Shimano Ultegra Di2 (£5,799 / €6,499) and SRAM Force AXS groupsets (£5,999 / $7,800 / €6,499), have Giant wheelsets with identical rim dimensions and carbon spokes, but more conventional hubs. This bumps the weight up to 1,410g. They also get the Cadex Aero tyres.
The Advanced Pro 1 (£4,599 / €4,999), with Shimano 105 Di2, sees a step down to steel, Sapim CX-Ray spokes, plus Giant’s Gavia Course 0 tyres. These have also been updated to feature a lower-rolling-resistance rubber compound and an aero tread pattern, Giant says.
The cheapest build in the range gets aero-optimsed aluminium wheels. Simon von Bromley / Our Media
Advanced builds also feature Giant’s SLR 2 carbon wheels and the Gavia Course 0 tyres, except on the cheapest, Advanced 2 model (£3,499 / €4,399), which rolls on aluminium Giant P-A1 hoops.
The Propel Advanced SL 0 AXS tipped our scales at 6.56kg as pictured. Simon von Bromley / Our Media
Giant says the net effect of these changes is an 18.4-watt improvement to aerodynamic and rolling efficiency, compared to the previous model, plus – according to our scales – a drop in weight of roughly 350g.
Showing it’s working, Giant breaks down where these efficiency savings come from in its press materials:
Model
Previous Propel Advanced SL (watts)
New Propel Advanced SL (watts)
Linear drag (+/- 20 degrees yaw)
234.9
222.48
Wheel rotating drag (front & rear)
5.46
5.04
Tyre rolling resistance (front & rear)
27.4
21.8
Total resistance
267.76
249.32
Total energy savings
-18.44
The previous Propel was set up with the old two-piece cockpit, with Cadex Ultra 50 wheels and 25c Cadex Aero tyres. The new one had the new one-piece cockpit, plus the new Max 50 wheels and 28c Cadex Aero tyres.
Both bikes were ‘ridden’ by Giant’s Grischa 2.0 dummy, which simulates a rider on the bike with articulating legs.
Left to right, the Propel Advanced SL 0 AXS, Advanced Pro 0 Di2 and Advanced 2 on our scales. Simon von Bromley / Our Media
To underscore how impressive the Advanced SL 0’s 6.56kg weight is, that figure represents a fully painted bike with aero components, bottle cages, a computer mount and sealant in the tyres.
Essentially, it’s ready to race once you add pedals, and riders with smaller sizes taking part in UCI-sanctioned events might even need to add some ballast to their bike to comply with the minimum bike weight rule.
Of course, the big caveats to that are that we’ve not yet had a chance to ride the new Propel, and the Advanced SL build is obviously very expensive (£10,499 / $13,500 / €11,999).
The Propel Advanced Pro 0 Di2 is just over half the price of the top-spec model, but is still competitively light. Simon von Bromley / Our Media It gets an Ultegra Di2 (or SRAM Force AXS) plus Giant SLR 0 50 carbon wheels. Simon von Bromley / Our Media
Stepping down to the Advanced Pro 0 Di2 build still nets you a lightweight bike, though, with the size-medium model we saw weighing only 7.18kg.
That’s also impressive, given it costs just over half what the Advanced SL 0 AXS does and it stacks up very well compared to the competition. The £6,995 / $6,999 Cannondale SuperSix Evo 3 I tested recently weighed 7.7kg, for example.
Unsurprisingly, the Advanced 2 build (£3,499 / €4,399) is substantially heavier, at 8.73kg for a size medium.
The Propel Advanced 2 is the cheapest and heaviest bike in the range. Simon von Bromley / Our Media A mechanical Shimano 105 R7100 groupset and aluminium wheels help get the price down. Simon von Bromley / Our Media
You’re still getting a full-carbon frame and fork with the same aero shaping as the more expensive models, though, with plenty of scope to upgrade the spec down the line, should you wish.
All things considered, it looks to be an impressive package at first glance. Giant hasn’t simply put the Propel on a crash diet and compromised its aerodynamic capabilities just to shed a few grams and grab some headlines.
Giant hasn’t revolutionised the Propel platform, but perhaps that’s no bad thing. Simon von Bromley / Our Media
It’s a restrained update, but one that appears to smartly refine and modernise the Propel platform. It still doesn’t have the outlandish design features of pure aero bikes such as the Ribble Ultra SL R, Factor One or Cervélo S5 (and may not be as slippery as a result), but it also looks to retain the all-rounder characteristics that make the Propel a compelling bike to own and ride.
As with any new bike, though, the proof is in the riding, so we’ll reserve final judgement on the new Propel until we’ve had a chance to test one fully.
Giant has updated two of its helmets, both with wind-tunnel developed aero features. While the Pursuit is an aero road helmet tuned for aero gains at higher speeds, the Rev Pro is a more vented helmet with low weight and heat management its focus, but still with aero credentials.
The Pursuit was due an update, because the previous model was introduced 10 years ago. We highlighted it as among the oldest gear still being used in pro cycling, worn on his way to Giro d’Italia victory by Tom Dumoulin, back in 2017 when rim brakes still ruled and cable integration was a twinkle in a bike designer’s eye.
Giant claims the new Pursuit MIPS helmet will save you an average of 1.55 watts over its previous-generation Pursuit and that a size medium weighs 280g.
The MIPS Air Node Pro system is integrated into the helmet’s padding.
The helmet has a shell with a central longitudinal groove, which Giant says helps smooth airflow over a range of wind yaw angles. There’s a Fidlock magnetic buckle for easy strap closure, Giant’s Cinch Pro adjustment and dual-density EPS foam.
Giant uses the minimalist MIPS Air Node Pro rotational impact protection system. Virginia Tech awarded the Pursuit MIPS a five-star rating in its independent impact-protection tests.
Giant claims the Rev Pro is cool at climbing speeds, while still aero when riding faster.
The Rev Pro hasn’t been around as long as the Pursuit, having been launched in 2020 and followed by the mid-tier Rev Elite MIPS in 2024.
The updated Rev Pro MIPS helmet’s venting has been developed using thermal mapping to ensure effective cooling. Giant claims the interior channelling helps remove heat at climbing speeds, without compromising aero efficiency when going faster.
The shell is reinforced to enable Giant to include larger vents and keep the weight of a size-medium helmet down to 280g, the same weight as the Pursuit MIPS and 5.4% lighter than the previous-generation helmet.
Both Giant’s helmets have a magnetic Fidllock buckle for easy strap closure.
The Rev Pro MIPS has the same MIPS Air Node Pro rotational impact protection system and other features as the Pursuit MIPS and, as with that helmet, the Rev Pro has a five-star rating from the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab.
In the UK, the Rev Pro MIPS helmet is priced at £189.99 (€280 in Ireland), while the Pursuit MIPS is priced at £199.99 / €290. Both are available in three sizes to fit head sizes between 51cm and 63cm and either black or white, with either Giant or Liv branding.
The Pentagon has formally designated Anthropic as a “supply chain risk,” ordering federal agencies and defense contractors to stop using its AI tools after the company sought limits on the military’s use of its models. In a written statement, the department said it has “officially informed Anthropic leadership the company and its products are deemed a supply chain risk, effective immediately.” Politico reports: The designation, historically reserved for foreign firms with ties to U.S. adversaries, will likely require companies that do business with the U.S. military — or even the federal government in general — to cut ties with Anthropic.
“From the very beginning, this has been about one fundamental principle: the military being able to use technology for all lawful purposes,” the Pentagon said in the statement. “The military will not allow a vendor to insert itself into the chain of command by restricting the lawful use of a critical capability and put our warfighters at risk.”
A spokesperson for Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But the company said last week it would fight a supply-chain risk label in court.
Because it takes all kinds, this is a video of artist Shoji Yamasaki dressed like, and dancing like, random pieces of trash blowing in the wind. Oh man, I’ve known my fair share of pieces of trash in life, and none of them danced like this. Most of them moved like SNAKES. Real jerkbags!
Today, X announced some updates to its creator subscriptions platform. The leading change gives participating accounts the option to make part of tweet threads only visible to subscribers. This new Creator Subscriptions feature is called Exclusive Threads, an ironic name choice given X’s main text-based social media posting competitor is called Threads.
Creator Subscriptions 2.0 is here: powerful new tools to grow your subscribers and earn more.
Introducing Exclusive Threads — lock any post in a thread for subscribers only. Tease in the parent, monetize the rest. Subscribe buttons are now embedded directly in the conversation. pic.twitter.com/j8Bg3bMDiW
The new tool allows a creator to tease paywalled content, rather than keeping all of the material behind a subscribers-only gate. A gif shared both by the X Creators account and by the company’s head of product, Nikita Bier, show how it will look in practice. Buttons to sign up as a subscriber will be embedded into the post chain, with the hope that the need to see the rest of the thread will be a big enough draw for readers to pay up. X has been making a push to draw content creators, offering other recent features like a ‘paid partnership’ label for sponsored posts.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/xs-exclusive-threads-feature-lets-creators-paywall-the-end-of-tweet-threads-000246204.html?src=rss
Meta’s approach to user privacy is under renewed scrutiny following a Swedish report that employees of a Meta subcontractor have watched footage captured by Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses showing sensitive user content.
The workers reportedly work for Kenya-headquartered Sama and provide data annotation for Ray-Ban Metas.
The February report, a collaboration from Swedish newspapers Svenska Dagbladet, Göteborgs-Posten, and Kenya-based freelance journalist Naipanoi Lepapa, is, per a machine translation, based on interviews with over 30 employees at various levels of Sama, including several people who work with video, image, and speech annotation for Meta’s AI systems. Some of the people interviewed have worked on projects other than Meta’s smart glasses. The report’s authors said they did not gain access to the materials that Sama workers handle or the area where workers perform data annotation. The report is also based on interviews with former US Meta employees who have reportedly witnessed live data annotation for several Meta projects.
The Armbian project has released Armbian 26.02, the latest update to the lightweight Linux distribution designed specifically for ARM and RISC-V single-board computers (SBCs). Known for its stability and hardware optimization, Armbian continues to evolve with improved hardware support, new desktop options, and updated core components in this release.
Apple has removed the 512GB RAM configuration for the Mac Studio, leaving 256GB as the new maximum. The remaining 256GB upgrade has also increased in price and now faces longer shipping delays as demand grows “due to consumers seeking machines suitable for running local AI agents,” reports MacRumors. From the report: The Mac Studio starts with 36GB RAM, but there were upgrades ranging from 48GB to 512GB, with the higher tier upgrades limited to the M3 Ultra chip. Now there are options ranging from 48GB to 256GB, with wait times into May for the 256GB upgrade. Apple has also raised the price for the 256GB RAM upgrade option. It used to cost $1,600 to go from 96GB to 256GB on the high-end M3 Ultra machine, but now it costs $2,000. 512GB was $4,000 when it was available.
From white-hat hackers to casual users: Italy’s Parrot OS 7.1 Home Edition flies beyond its security reputation with a surprisingly polished KDE Plasma desktop.
System76 published a statement today regarding the recent laws coming about in California and likely Colorado and New York too around requiring age verification on operating system accounts and ultimately exposing the information (or at least age brackets) to apps and websites. System76’s position is interesting given that they sell Linux-loaded desktops, workstations and laptops plus being an operating system vendor with their in-house Pop!_OS distribution and COSMIC desktop environment…
If you’ve been wearing a Whoop, you’ve probably explored some of the features of its incredibly rich app—but chances are, some things are still hiding from you. I’ve been wearing a Whoop off and on since version 3.0, so let me tell you some of the best ways to use the Whoop (and a few things I think you should do differently than you’re “supposed” to).
Use the Whoop’s strength trainer after (not during) workouts
I’m going to start off with my strongest opinion, and you’re free to disagree: Whoop’s strength trainer is a pain the butt to use during workouts, but you get all the benefits with less hassle if you use it to attach a workout after you finish recording your gym session.
The Strength Trainer knows what exercises you’re doing, and so it can calculate a “muscular load” for the workout. This is great, because you now get an appropriately high strain score for a hard workout. (Without Strength Trainer, Whoop only uses heart rate data to calculate strain, which of course underestimates your strength workouts.)
I don’t like using the Strength Trainer during workouts because you have to remember to start and stop each set, and mid-workout editing is annoying. But there is an easier way! Just record an appropriate workout type (like “weightlifting”), and then after your workout Whoop will prompt you to attach a Strength Trainer workout. You select your exercises, fill in your weights, and then Whoop re-processes the workout to give you your new, higher strain score.
Turn your phone sideways
Credit: Beth Skwarecki
This is a little Easter egg that you may never discover except by accident. When you’re on the home screen, turn your phone sideways. You’ll see a long, horizontal graph of your heart rate for the day so far, with sleep and workouts highlighted. (You need to have rotation unlocked in your phone settings, of course.)
Set up a custom weekly plan
The weekly plans are a truly underrated feature of the Whoop app. They give you a way to focus on the firehose of data Whoop can track, turning it into a few simple tasks you can work on throughout the week. If you’re feeling either stumped or overwhelmed when you look at your Whoop app, set up a plan and check on your progress throughout the week.
If you don’t know where to start, you can choose one of the pre-made plans. For example, the “Feel Better” plan gives you a target for daily steps, suggests meeting a hydration goal four days per week, and doing “any recovery activity” three days per week. All of these parameters are editable, if you’d like to tweak something.
But you can also set up a custom plan, or ask the Whoop Coach to write you one. The plan can use any combination of Journal answers (“did you hydrate today?”) and data that Whoop gathers (for example, I’m aiming for 65% sleep consistency). I find it more motivating to chip away at weekly targets rather than follow (or ignore) individual recommendations each day.
Use the “daily outlook” rather than just tapping the Whoop Coach icon
Whoop Coach is the only fitness AI I’m currently on speaking terms with. They all have their flaws, but the Whoop Coach is pretty good about delivering the highlights of your data each day and telling you how you’re doing compared to your weekly goals.
That said, there are two ways to access Whoop Coach, and one of them is more useful than the other. The way I like to use it is to look for the “daily outlook” button in the middle of the home screen, right under “My Day” and above the timeline. Tap this, and you’ll get a full rundown of what you’ve been doing well lately and where you may want to focus your efforts today. (If I’ve been doing a lot of outdoor workouts lately, I’ll even get a weather report.)
Meanwhile, the “W” button in the corner of the screen also brings up the Whoop Coach, but it’s a lot less helpful. This coach seems to focus on designing my next workout, whether I want to do that or not, and it doesn’t usually take my weekly plan or other relevant goals into account.
If you miss the old strain/recovery view, get it back with a widget
Top: the “old” view. Bottom: the new one. Both are available as home screen widgets (shown on iPhone). Credit: Beth Skwarecki
The Whoop app offers widgets you can put on your home screen, which mostly just replicate data you can get in the app. But one of them is slightly different—a widget that shows strain and recovery the way the app used to. This view is arguably confusing, and I understand why Whoop moved away from it: your strain and recovery are shown as concentric circles, and sleep score is missing.
But who really needs the sleep score? This widget gives my HRV and the calories it thinks I’ve burned so far today, with little icons in the corners for how long a streak I’ve kept up and the current battery life of the device. If you’d prefer the current design, with separate circles for sleep, recovery, and strain, there’s a widget option for that as well.
Broadcast your heart rate to gym equipment
The Whoop sensor picks up your heart rate, so why not use it as a heart rate monitor with other devices? It’s not as accurate as a chest strap, so I wouldn’t advise using it in place of one, but it’s a convenient way to broadcast your heart rate to a treadmill or elliptical machine at the gym. This way you can see your heart rate on the machine’s display in real time, while still tracking the workout to your Whoop app as usual. To turn on heart rate broadcasting, tap the icon for your device (in the top right corner of the app) and you’ll see a toggle labeled broadcast heart rate.
Wear it on your body (with or without buying more products from Whoop)
The wristband is convenient, but the ability to be worn in a bicep band is one of Whoop’s best features. You can buy Whoop’s own bicep band, but it’s not cheap. You can also buy compatible third-party bicep bands from other retailers like Amazon. This one snaps onto the Whoop device more easily than Whoop’s own band does.
Whoop also has its Body line of clothing, including sports bras and boxer shorts with a pocket for the device. If you’re handy with a sewing needle, you could create your own. And if you’re not, but want to get the Whoop off your wrist for a particular occasion, I’ve had success taping the device to my skin with athletic tape. Not my proudest moment, but it worked.
Set up custom bedtime recommendations
Whoop’s best sleep features are a little bit hidden. Since the app knows how “recovered” you are, it can estimate how much sleep you’ve been missing out on, and recommend a bedtime to help you catch up, if needed.
There are a few layers to this feature, so bear with me. First, scroll down on your home screen, and you’ll see a card with a recommended bedtime and wake time. Next, tap that card and you’ll see a screen where you can change what kind of bedtime recommendation you’ll get. You can choose to “meet my sleep need” (catch up if needed) or “improve my sleep” (try to stay consistent while still getting as much sleep as you reasonably can).
There’s more, though: tap the calendar icon at the top right corner, and you can set a weekly schedule. For each day on the schedule, you can decide if you want an alarm at a set time of day, or if you’d like the Whoop device to buzz you when you’ve hit a certain amount of sleep. This could be enough to “get by,” enough to “perform,” or enough to “peak” (meet 100% of your sleep need). You can also use the schedule to get recommendations even if you don’t want the alarm.
Only track some things in the journal
Every day, Whoop will prompt you to fill out a questionnaire about what you did the day before. This helps it to figure out what affects your recovery. A classic example is logging when you drink alcohol, and then getting hard data on just how poorly you slept on the nights you drank.
At first, you’ll be tempted to log everything. But that’s not the right way to use the journal. First of all, if you already know something (like that alcohol interferes with your sleep), there’s no need to track it. Secondly, tracking too many things is just a lot of hassle when it comes time to fill out your journal. You can tap the “use previous answers” checkbox, but then you’re likely to miss a few things.
Most importantly, Whoop can’t even use the data from your answers unless you’re racking up answers that are both yes and no. So there’s no need to log anything you always do, or anything you never do. I recommend paring down your journal questions like so:
Things that you sometimes do and sometimes don’t, and you don’t yet know how they affect your sleep and recovery
Things that you want to log for the sake of a weekly plan
Things that are directly relevant to your life right now, because you can always swap out your questions from time to time.
Use those guidelines to whittle down your journal questions to just the things that actually help you to accomplish some kind of goal. Revisit the list every month or so; for example, I track allergy symptoms during the spring allergy season, but I remove it from the list for the rest of the year. Keep the questions relevant and the journal will stay useful.
Charge the Whoop band when you shower
Whoop ships most of its devices with a wireless power pack. It’s a great idea, in theory: you can slip the battery pack onto the device while you’re wearing it, so you don’t miss a minute of valuable data. And I do appreciate this when I’m about to head out for a run and I realize my battery is at 2%. But I don’t routinely charge the Whoop this way if I can help it.
Because who wants to wear a strap with a giant battery pack hanging off it? Not me. And as for 24/7 wear, I do not want to shower with a fabric band around my arm, and then have a soggy band to wear for hours afterward. Instead, I take the Whoop off to shower, and if the battery level is low, that’s when I charge it. This way I avoid both of these inconveniences. I recommend you do, too.
United Airlines has updated its contract of carriage to require passengers to use headphones when playing audio or video on personal devices during flights. Travelers who refuse could be removed from the plane or even permanently banned from flying with the airline, reports CBS News.
United notes that it will offer customers who forget theirs a free pair of wired earbuds. “Don’t worry if you forget your headphones for your flight,” the airline states on its website. “If they’re available, you can request free earbuds.” You’d better hope your device still has a headphone jack…
Further reading: Flying Was Already the Worst. Then America Stopped Using Headphones.
