TCL’s QM7L is back in the spotlight after a fresh round of discounts pushed the big-screen model well below its usual price. According to the report, the 85-inch version of the 2026 mini-LED QLED TV is now $1,697.99, down from $2,499.99, which works out to an $800-plus savings and the lowest price tracked so far for this model.

The deal isn’t limited to the 85-inch set. Other sizes in the QM7L lineup are also marked down, including the 65-inch, 75-inch, and 98-inch versions. The series sits between TCL’s more affordable QM6L and the higher-end QM8L, and it’s available in sizes ranging from 55 inches to 98 inches, making it a flexible option for people shopping for a large living-room TV.

On the spec side, the QM7L is built around mini-LED QLED tech and uses different numbers of dimming zones depending on screen size; the 85-inch model has 1,624. That helps deliver strong contrast, with deep-looking blacks even in scenes that include bright highlights. The TV is rated for up to 3,000 nits of brightness, though reviews cited in the report suggest it may reach as high as 3,500 nits. Its glossy screen can help with sunlight reflections, but it may also show rainbow smearing if a light source is directly in front of it.

The main drawback noted in the report is color accuracy. Out of the box, the picture tends to run warmer than intended, while HDR content can lean a bit blue. For viewers who want the most faithful color reproduction, that may be a downside, though the TV can be professionally calibrated. Even with that caveat, the report says the QM7L stands out for offering a lot of premium-style features at a lower price, especially compared with the QM8L.

Source: lifehacker.com

The post TCL’s Massive QM7L Mini-LED QLED Drops $800 in a New Deal appeared first on toppoptoday.com.

Wispr Flow, best known for its dictation app, has rolled out a meeting notetaker for Mac that works in a Granola-like way, according to the report. Rather than joining a call as a participant, the tool uses system audio to capture what is being said and turn it into a transcript.

The new feature is designed to do more than just record conversation. Wispr Flow says it can clean up transcripts, generate action items, and surface insights from meetings. Users can also view a live transcript during the meeting and ask AI to catch them up, while the app lets them query across their meeting history.

The launch puts Wispr Flow in a crowded category alongside products such as Granola, Fireflies, Read AI, Otter, and Fathom. The company’s updated Terms of Service and privacy policy had already hinted at the feature, describing the kinds of meeting data it may process, including audio, participant information, metadata, speaker labels, and transcripts. The terms also say the output can include AI-generated summaries, action items, speaker attribution, and other meeting-related content.

According to the report, the move could give Wispr Flow more context about how people use its software and open the door to broader AI assistant features beyond dictation cleanup. It is still unclear whether the company intends to stick with a system-audio approach that avoids storing a recording, or whether it may eventually offer a fuller meeting recording product. Wispr Flow has raised more than $81 million so far and was last valued at $700 million, while Bloomberg reported in May that it was in talks for a new round at a $2 billion valuation.

Source: techcrunch.com

The post Wispr Flow adds a meeting notetaker that works from system audio appeared first on toppoptoday.com.

Amyl And The Sniffers are heading into new territory with a project that shifts their catalog into country. While the Australian punk band is on tour across Continental Europe, they shared that a film is on the way featuring country covers of their own songs.

The group announced the project on social media, and the film will be directed by John Angus Stewart, a frequent creative partner who has previously worked with the band on videos for tracks including “You’re a Star,” “Jerkin’,” “U Should Not Be Doing That,” and “Hertz.” Stewart’s video for “Hertz” was nominated for best video at the 2022 ARIA Awards. Chris Chang and Jason Baum are set to produce the film.

The move is not entirely unexpected. Frontwoman Amy Taylor said last year that she wanted the band to make an Australian country album, naming artists such as Chad Morgan and Slim Dusty as reference points. She also suggested that talking about the idea could help the band avoid simply staying on the road indefinitely.

Amyl And The Sniffers have already built a strong record in punk and rock. Their self-titled debut arrived in 2019, followed by Comfort to Me in 2021, which reached No. 2 on the ARIA Chart and won best independent punk album or EP at the 2022 AIR Awards. Their most recent album, Cartoon Darkness, also hit No. 2 on the ARIA Chart, entered the Billboard 200, and earned major honors including ARIA wins for album of the year, best group, and best rock album. It also brought the band its first Grammy nomination, for best rock performance, with “U Should Not Be Doing That.”

The band’s tour continues this Friday in Trieste, Italy, before dates in Poland, Croatia, Norway, Portugal, Denmark, Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and France. U.S. shows begin on Oct. 1 in Dallas.

Source: billboard.com

The post Amyl And The Sniffers Tease Country Covers Film Project appeared first on toppoptoday.com.

Nicole Kidman has spent decades transforming herself for the screen, but when it comes to her own appearance, she says the goal is much simpler: to feel comfortable and free. According to the report, the actor wants to walk a red carpet feeling like herself, not boxed in by the pressure of looking a certain way. That confidence, she says, has come more fully with age.

Kidman also looked back on the mixed messages she heard as a teenager, when she began modeling at 14 and 15 while also pursuing acting. At the time, people told her she would be beautiful when she grew up, a comment that left her questioning what she was supposed to think about her appearance. She described herself then as awkward and tall, with long limbs and hair she wished were straight and blonde. Those early insecurities did not stop her career, and she now sees her features differently, saying her coloring and facial structure make it easier for her to change her look.

That flexibility has helped shape both her work and her beauty routine. Kidman said she loves building characters through makeup, costumes, hair, and even the way she moves, and she has no interest in playing herself on camera. She also noted that movement coaches are becoming important again in film, which she welcomes. Off camera, she recently added dermaplaning to her skincare routine and says it helps her moisturizer and serums go on more smoothly while giving her skin a natural exfoliation.

The conversation also touched on her busy year, which includes the new season of Lioness, the upcoming sequel to Practical Magic, and her work on a Clé de Peau Beauté campaign titled The Many Sides of Radiance. Beyond beauty, Kidman mentioned watching a Rafael Nadal documentary series and reading books by Arundhati Roy and Elizabeth Strout, a mix she described as part of her own cultural taste.

Source: allure.com

The post Nicole Kidman on Beauty, Makeup, and the Freedom to Look Like Herself appeared first on toppoptoday.com.

The Boox Palma has built a devoted following because it blends the feel of a pocket-sized phone with the flexibility of an Android device. According to the report, that means it can handle sideloaded ebooks through its native NeoReader app, but it can also run many apps from the Google Play Store. That extra freedom is part of the appeal, though it also makes the device a little more complicated to set up than a standard Kindle.

One of the biggest quality-of-life upgrades is enabling page turns with the physical volume buttons. The Palma still has hardware buttons, which is useful for readers who prefer not to tap the screen constantly. The report notes that this can require a few different settings changes depending on the app. In the Kindle app, for example, users need to open the reading controls, go into display settings, turn off continuous scrolling, and then switch on the option for volume-based page turns.

For other reading apps, the fix may live in the device’s system settings instead. The report says users can long-press an app icon, open its optimization options, and then look under the button customization area to assign the volume keys to page turning. There is also an option for continuous scrolling if that is preferred. These tweaks make the Palma feel more natural for readers who want physical controls without giving up app flexibility.

Another helpful adjustment is disabling the touchscreen when needed to avoid accidental page changes. The report says there is no built-in system or app setting for that, so users have to rely on a third-party tool. One suggested option is Touch Protector, though it is not available on Google Play and requires installing Aptoide first. The article also points out that users should be careful with decentralized app stores and look for the green Trusted label, which indicates the app has been scanned for malware and checked against other versions.

Source: lifehacker.com

The post Five Boox Palma Tips That Make Everyday Reading Easier appeared first on toppoptoday.com.

For readers who have drifted away from ebooks, Amazon’s Kindle still has one major advantage: its growing library of short story collections. According to the report, Amazon’s Original Stories imprint has quietly built a large catalog of themed anthologies that often feature well-known authors, with a particular appeal for fans of genre fiction.

The newest release, called Magic and Mystery, arrived this week and brings together fantasy writers who each take on puzzle-box mystery stories, many involving murder. The collection follows earlier themed sets that have ranged from outer space to horror, and the stories are described as highly varied in how they interpret the central idea. Among the standouts mentioned are Travis Baldree’s Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk, which centers on an armored elderly detective, and Robert Jackson Bennett’s The Lion’s Tusk, which unfolds around a brutal killing at a royal wedding and a strikingly unusual murder weapon.

Other stories in the collection are highlighted for packing substantial worldbuilding into a short format. Heather Fawcett’s A Labyrinth of Honeybees introduces a fantasy setting shaped by ancient gods and competing religions, while Scott Lynch’s The Wizard Who Kept Himself Suspicious presents a long-established circle of magic users who have known one another for centuries and reunite every 13 years. The report says the appeal of these collections is twofold: they offer strong stories on their own while also giving readers a way to discover new authors and see established ones experiment with form and tone.

Past collections have featured writers including Min Jin Lee, Lauren Beukes, N. K. Jemisin, and Jeff VanderMeer, and one original six-part story from Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan is reportedly being adapted by Netflix. In that sense, Amazon’s short fiction line is presented as more than a side project for Kindle owners — it is one of the clearest reasons the device still matters for readers who want quick, inventive, genre-focused books.

Source: theverge.com

The post Why Amazon’s Kindle short story collections still stand out for readers appeared first on toppoptoday.com.

Linda Perhacs has been located safely after friends, collaborators, and her manager helped organize a public search for the cult singer-songwriter this week, according to the report.

Perhacs’ manager, Laurel Stearns, said in a statement to Rolling Stone that she was grateful to everyone who shared information, offered support, and showed concern for the artist’s well-being. A post on Perhacs’ Instagram account also said she is now in a new care facility.

Stearns had previously told Pitchfork that Perhacs was reported missing in early June after several months with no contact. The article notes that Perhacs had been discharged from a long-term care facility late last year and was under the supervision of caregivers. Authorities were unable to provide information to people without legal ties to the singer-songwriter.

On Tuesday, July 28, Stearns and several friends and collaborators, including Julia Holter, posted online in an effort to find her. In her latest statement, Stearns thanked fans, musicians, journalists, and others in the creative community for their response, and also said authorities helped bring clarity to the situation. She asked that Perhacs’ privacy be respected while those close to her decide what comes next.

Source: pitchfork.com

The post Linda Perhacs Located Safely, Manager Confirms appeared first on toppoptoday.com.

Blush used to be a much simpler category, with pressed powder as the default option in most makeup bags. Today, the cheek-color aisle is far more crowded, offering powders in multiple finishes alongside creams, gels, stains, and unusual hybrid textures that bounce back when pressed. According to the report, that variety is exciting, but it can also make it harder to know which formula suits your routine and how to apply it well.

Makeup artists say there is no single best blush type. The right choice depends on the effect you want, whether that is a subtle flush or a more dramatic wash of color. Some formulas are easy to use and forgiving, while others require quicker blending or a bit more technique. To clarify the differences, artists broke down the major blush categories and shared how each one performs on the skin.

Pressed powder remains the most versatile option

Pressed powder blush is described as the most adaptable format, with finishes that range from matte and satin to luminous and shimmer. It can be used on bare skin, over foundation, or on top of set makeup, as long as the base is not still wet. Artists note that it is easy to control, buildable, and beginner-friendly, with wear time that can last through much of the day. It can also help set cream or liquid blush underneath for longer-lasting color.

For application, the advice is to start with a small amount and add more only if needed. A fluffy blush brush is recommended, with color swept onto the apples of the cheeks and blended upward toward the temples for a lifted look. Some artists also like to add a touch across the bridge of the nose. Powder blush can also be layered over cream or liquid formulas once they have dried down, which can make the color appear more opaque.

Cream blush has become another favorite because it blends easily into the skin and can look fresh, dewy, or satin depending on the formula. Artists point out that many cream blushes include skin-care ingredients such as squalane and peptides, and they can be especially flattering on mature skin because they do not emphasize texture the way some matte powders can. The tradeoff is that creamy formulas may fade faster unless they are set with powder.

Application is flexible: fingertips, a damp sponge, a dense brush, or a stick applied directly to the face can all work. Some artists prefer fingertips because the warmth helps the product melt into skin and gives more control. Others recommend picking up product with a brush instead of swiping directly from the stick, especially when foundation is already in place, because it offers more precision and helps protect the base underneath. For a softer, more natural finish, one artist suggests trying the product under foundation.

Source: allure.com

The post A Guide to Every Major Blush Formula and How to Wear It appeared first on toppoptoday.com.

Instagram is increasing scrutiny on smart glasses videos that appear to cross into harassment. In a recent Instagram story, head Adam Mosseri said the platform will remove content that exploits or targets people for views, including the kind of pickup-style clips that have become more common as camera glasses have spread.

Mosseri said the company does not want people secretly filming others and then posting the material on Instagram. The report notes that these videos are not new, but the easier access to camera-equipped glasses has helped fuel a rise in hidden-camera pranks and similar clips across video-sharing platforms, from attempts to flirt with strangers to stunts involving retail workers.

Meta has also recently removed two accounts with more than one million followers, according to Business Insider, after they posted pickup-artist videos involving women who may not have realized they were being filmed. A Meta spokesperson said the accounts were taken down under the company’s existing bullying and harassment policy. That policy covers content meant to degrade or shame people, but the report points out that enforcement can be murky because context and intent matter so much.

The privacy concerns around smart glasses are growing beyond Instagram, with some apps aimed at detecting them in public and some places moving toward bans. Meta’s own glasses include a front-facing light that turns on during recording, though the report says that safeguard has been a recurring issue. Hackers have found ways to work around it, prompting Meta to push a mandatory update that can disable glasses if the indicator is tampered with.

Source: lifehacker.com

The post Instagram Is Taking a Harder Line on Smart Glasses Videos That Cross the Line appeared first on toppoptoday.com.

In a warehouse in San Leandro, California, Encord is experimenting with a new twist on robot training data: a headset that tracks a human pilot’s brain waves while he completes a simple Jenga-like task. The company, which already helps robotics firms annotate and evaluate data, is now trying to produce the kind of physical-world training material that many AI systems still lack.

That headset comes from Zander Labs, a German neuroscience startup that believes brain activity can reveal useful signals such as intent, error and surprise. Encord is currently treating the project as a trial. The plan is to build a small brain wave-tagged dataset, test whether it improves customer robotics models, and only then decide whether it is worth expanding. According to Zander neuroscientist Lucas Gehrke, the amount of brain activity seen during a task may also help model builders determine when to reserve their most capable systems for the hardest moments.

For Encord, the bigger story is the data bottleneck facing robotics. Vineeth Velmurugan, who leads robot learning at the company, says the challenge is no longer just model design but the lack of enough real-world examples to train them. He says many customers have shifted toward end-to-end learning for manipulation tasks, which means companies increasingly need to create their own datasets instead of simply organizing existing ones. In his view, the needed scale is enormous — roughly five times the size of YouTube’s video corpus — which is one reason data generation has become a business of its own.

Encord is collecting that data in several ways. One stream comes from “egocentric” video captured by workers wearing cameras, often paired with other sensors. Another comes from remote-controlled robots. At the San Leandro site, pilots were using leader-follower robotic arms to record tasks such as pouring coffee, stacking poker chips and handling ethernet cables in a server rack. The facility also stores props like fake flowers, books, plastic vegetables, kitty litter trays and bundles of wires to simulate household manipulation jobs. Velmurugan says many humanoid robotics teams have asked for these kinds of datasets.

The company is also testing forearm sensors that measure electrical signals in muscles, with the goal of reconstructing hand position more accurately than video alone can. Encord then adds detailed physical labels to its datasets, such as describing a motion as “right hand tightens bolt.” Velmurugan says that level of dense annotation can be far more valuable than basic ego video when training robots for specific tasks.

Source: techcrunch.com

The post Why brain waves could become the next big ingredient in physical AI training appeared first on toppoptoday.com.

TCL’s QM7L is back in the spotlight after a fresh round of discounts pushed the big-screen model well below its usual price. According to the report, the 85-inch version of the 2026 mini-LED QLED TV is now $1,697.99, down from $2,499.99, which works out to an $800-plus savings and the lowest price tracked so far for this model.

The deal isn’t limited to the 85-inch set. Other sizes in the QM7L lineup are also marked down, including the 65-inch, 75-inch, and 98-inch versions. The series sits between TCL’s more affordable QM6L and the higher-end QM8L, and it’s available in sizes ranging from 55 inches to 98 inches, making it a flexible option for people shopping for a large living-room TV.

On the spec side, the QM7L is built around mini-LED QLED tech and uses different numbers of dimming zones depending on screen size; the 85-inch model has 1,624. That helps deliver strong contrast, with deep-looking blacks even in scenes that include bright highlights. The TV is rated for up to 3,000 nits of brightness, though reviews cited in the report suggest it may reach as high as 3,500 nits. Its glossy screen can help with sunlight reflections, but it may also show rainbow smearing if a light source is directly in front of it.

The main drawback noted in the report is color accuracy. Out of the box, the picture tends to run warmer than intended, while HDR content can lean a bit blue. For viewers who want the most faithful color reproduction, that may be a downside, though the TV can be professionally calibrated. Even with that caveat, the report says the QM7L stands out for offering a lot of premium-style features at a lower price, especially compared with the QM8L.

Source: lifehacker.com

The post TCL’s Massive QM7L Mini-LED QLED Drops $800 in a New Deal appeared first on toppoptoday.com.

Wispr Flow, best known for its dictation app, has rolled out a meeting notetaker for Mac that works in a Granola-like way, according to the report. Rather than joining a call as a participant, the tool uses system audio to capture what is being said and turn it into a transcript.

The new feature is designed to do more than just record conversation. Wispr Flow says it can clean up transcripts, generate action items, and surface insights from meetings. Users can also view a live transcript during the meeting and ask AI to catch them up, while the app lets them query across their meeting history.

The launch puts Wispr Flow in a crowded category alongside products such as Granola, Fireflies, Read AI, Otter, and Fathom. The company’s updated Terms of Service and privacy policy had already hinted at the feature, describing the kinds of meeting data it may process, including audio, participant information, metadata, speaker labels, and transcripts. The terms also say the output can include AI-generated summaries, action items, speaker attribution, and other meeting-related content.

According to the report, the move could give Wispr Flow more context about how people use its software and open the door to broader AI assistant features beyond dictation cleanup. It is still unclear whether the company intends to stick with a system-audio approach that avoids storing a recording, or whether it may eventually offer a fuller meeting recording product. Wispr Flow has raised more than $81 million so far and was last valued at $700 million, while Bloomberg reported in May that it was in talks for a new round at a $2 billion valuation.

Source: techcrunch.com

The post Wispr Flow adds a meeting notetaker that works from system audio appeared first on toppoptoday.com.

Amyl And The Sniffers are heading into new territory with a project that shifts their catalog into country. While the Australian punk band is on tour across Continental Europe, they shared that a film is on the way featuring country covers of their own songs.

The group announced the project on social media, and the film will be directed by John Angus Stewart, a frequent creative partner who has previously worked with the band on videos for tracks including “You’re a Star,” “Jerkin’,” “U Should Not Be Doing That,” and “Hertz.” Stewart’s video for “Hertz” was nominated for best video at the 2022 ARIA Awards. Chris Chang and Jason Baum are set to produce the film.

The move is not entirely unexpected. Frontwoman Amy Taylor said last year that she wanted the band to make an Australian country album, naming artists such as Chad Morgan and Slim Dusty as reference points. She also suggested that talking about the idea could help the band avoid simply staying on the road indefinitely.

Amyl And The Sniffers have already built a strong record in punk and rock. Their self-titled debut arrived in 2019, followed by Comfort to Me in 2021, which reached No. 2 on the ARIA Chart and won best independent punk album or EP at the 2022 AIR Awards. Their most recent album, Cartoon Darkness, also hit No. 2 on the ARIA Chart, entered the Billboard 200, and earned major honors including ARIA wins for album of the year, best group, and best rock album. It also brought the band its first Grammy nomination, for best rock performance, with “U Should Not Be Doing That.”

The band’s tour continues this Friday in Trieste, Italy, before dates in Poland, Croatia, Norway, Portugal, Denmark, Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and France. U.S. shows begin on Oct. 1 in Dallas.

Source: billboard.com

The post Amyl And The Sniffers Tease Country Covers Film Project appeared first on toppoptoday.com.

Nicole Kidman has spent decades transforming herself for the screen, but when it comes to her own appearance, she says the goal is much simpler: to feel comfortable and free. According to the report, the actor wants to walk a red carpet feeling like herself, not boxed in by the pressure of looking a certain way. That confidence, she says, has come more fully with age.

Kidman also looked back on the mixed messages she heard as a teenager, when she began modeling at 14 and 15 while also pursuing acting. At the time, people told her she would be beautiful when she grew up, a comment that left her questioning what she was supposed to think about her appearance. She described herself then as awkward and tall, with long limbs and hair she wished were straight and blonde. Those early insecurities did not stop her career, and she now sees her features differently, saying her coloring and facial structure make it easier for her to change her look.

That flexibility has helped shape both her work and her beauty routine. Kidman said she loves building characters through makeup, costumes, hair, and even the way she moves, and she has no interest in playing herself on camera. She also noted that movement coaches are becoming important again in film, which she welcomes. Off camera, she recently added dermaplaning to her skincare routine and says it helps her moisturizer and serums go on more smoothly while giving her skin a natural exfoliation.

The conversation also touched on her busy year, which includes the new season of Lioness, the upcoming sequel to Practical Magic, and her work on a Clé de Peau Beauté campaign titled The Many Sides of Radiance. Beyond beauty, Kidman mentioned watching a Rafael Nadal documentary series and reading books by Arundhati Roy and Elizabeth Strout, a mix she described as part of her own cultural taste.

Source: allure.com

The post Nicole Kidman on Beauty, Makeup, and the Freedom to Look Like Herself appeared first on toppoptoday.com.

The Boox Palma has built a devoted following because it blends the feel of a pocket-sized phone with the flexibility of an Android device. According to the report, that means it can handle sideloaded ebooks through its native NeoReader app, but it can also run many apps from the Google Play Store. That extra freedom is part of the appeal, though it also makes the device a little more complicated to set up than a standard Kindle.

One of the biggest quality-of-life upgrades is enabling page turns with the physical volume buttons. The Palma still has hardware buttons, which is useful for readers who prefer not to tap the screen constantly. The report notes that this can require a few different settings changes depending on the app. In the Kindle app, for example, users need to open the reading controls, go into display settings, turn off continuous scrolling, and then switch on the option for volume-based page turns.

For other reading apps, the fix may live in the device’s system settings instead. The report says users can long-press an app icon, open its optimization options, and then look under the button customization area to assign the volume keys to page turning. There is also an option for continuous scrolling if that is preferred. These tweaks make the Palma feel more natural for readers who want physical controls without giving up app flexibility.

Another helpful adjustment is disabling the touchscreen when needed to avoid accidental page changes. The report says there is no built-in system or app setting for that, so users have to rely on a third-party tool. One suggested option is Touch Protector, though it is not available on Google Play and requires installing Aptoide first. The article also points out that users should be careful with decentralized app stores and look for the green Trusted label, which indicates the app has been scanned for malware and checked against other versions.

Source: lifehacker.com

The post Five Boox Palma Tips That Make Everyday Reading Easier appeared first on toppoptoday.com.

For readers who have drifted away from ebooks, Amazon’s Kindle still has one major advantage: its growing library of short story collections. According to the report, Amazon’s Original Stories imprint has quietly built a large catalog of themed anthologies that often feature well-known authors, with a particular appeal for fans of genre fiction.

The newest release, called Magic and Mystery, arrived this week and brings together fantasy writers who each take on puzzle-box mystery stories, many involving murder. The collection follows earlier themed sets that have ranged from outer space to horror, and the stories are described as highly varied in how they interpret the central idea. Among the standouts mentioned are Travis Baldree’s Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk, which centers on an armored elderly detective, and Robert Jackson Bennett’s The Lion’s Tusk, which unfolds around a brutal killing at a royal wedding and a strikingly unusual murder weapon.

Other stories in the collection are highlighted for packing substantial worldbuilding into a short format. Heather Fawcett’s A Labyrinth of Honeybees introduces a fantasy setting shaped by ancient gods and competing religions, while Scott Lynch’s The Wizard Who Kept Himself Suspicious presents a long-established circle of magic users who have known one another for centuries and reunite every 13 years. The report says the appeal of these collections is twofold: they offer strong stories on their own while also giving readers a way to discover new authors and see established ones experiment with form and tone.

Past collections have featured writers including Min Jin Lee, Lauren Beukes, N. K. Jemisin, and Jeff VanderMeer, and one original six-part story from Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan is reportedly being adapted by Netflix. In that sense, Amazon’s short fiction line is presented as more than a side project for Kindle owners — it is one of the clearest reasons the device still matters for readers who want quick, inventive, genre-focused books.

Source: theverge.com

The post Why Amazon’s Kindle short story collections still stand out for readers appeared first on toppoptoday.com.

Linda Perhacs has been located safely after friends, collaborators, and her manager helped organize a public search for the cult singer-songwriter this week, according to the report.

Perhacs’ manager, Laurel Stearns, said in a statement to Rolling Stone that she was grateful to everyone who shared information, offered support, and showed concern for the artist’s well-being. A post on Perhacs’ Instagram account also said she is now in a new care facility.

Stearns had previously told Pitchfork that Perhacs was reported missing in early June after several months with no contact. The article notes that Perhacs had been discharged from a long-term care facility late last year and was under the supervision of caregivers. Authorities were unable to provide information to people without legal ties to the singer-songwriter.

On Tuesday, July 28, Stearns and several friends and collaborators, including Julia Holter, posted online in an effort to find her. In her latest statement, Stearns thanked fans, musicians, journalists, and others in the creative community for their response, and also said authorities helped bring clarity to the situation. She asked that Perhacs’ privacy be respected while those close to her decide what comes next.

Source: pitchfork.com

The post Linda Perhacs Located Safely, Manager Confirms appeared first on toppoptoday.com.

Blush used to be a much simpler category, with pressed powder as the default option in most makeup bags. Today, the cheek-color aisle is far more crowded, offering powders in multiple finishes alongside creams, gels, stains, and unusual hybrid textures that bounce back when pressed. According to the report, that variety is exciting, but it can also make it harder to know which formula suits your routine and how to apply it well.

Makeup artists say there is no single best blush type. The right choice depends on the effect you want, whether that is a subtle flush or a more dramatic wash of color. Some formulas are easy to use and forgiving, while others require quicker blending or a bit more technique. To clarify the differences, artists broke down the major blush categories and shared how each one performs on the skin.

Pressed powder remains the most versatile option

Pressed powder blush is described as the most adaptable format, with finishes that range from matte and satin to luminous and shimmer. It can be used on bare skin, over foundation, or on top of set makeup, as long as the base is not still wet. Artists note that it is easy to control, buildable, and beginner-friendly, with wear time that can last through much of the day. It can also help set cream or liquid blush underneath for longer-lasting color.

For application, the advice is to start with a small amount and add more only if needed. A fluffy blush brush is recommended, with color swept onto the apples of the cheeks and blended upward toward the temples for a lifted look. Some artists also like to add a touch across the bridge of the nose. Powder blush can also be layered over cream or liquid formulas once they have dried down, which can make the color appear more opaque.

Cream blush has become another favorite because it blends easily into the skin and can look fresh, dewy, or satin depending on the formula. Artists point out that many cream blushes include skin-care ingredients such as squalane and peptides, and they can be especially flattering on mature skin because they do not emphasize texture the way some matte powders can. The tradeoff is that creamy formulas may fade faster unless they are set with powder.

Application is flexible: fingertips, a damp sponge, a dense brush, or a stick applied directly to the face can all work. Some artists prefer fingertips because the warmth helps the product melt into skin and gives more control. Others recommend picking up product with a brush instead of swiping directly from the stick, especially when foundation is already in place, because it offers more precision and helps protect the base underneath. For a softer, more natural finish, one artist suggests trying the product under foundation.

Source: allure.com

The post A Guide to Every Major Blush Formula and How to Wear It appeared first on toppoptoday.com.

Instagram is increasing scrutiny on smart glasses videos that appear to cross into harassment. In a recent Instagram story, head Adam Mosseri said the platform will remove content that exploits or targets people for views, including the kind of pickup-style clips that have become more common as camera glasses have spread.

Mosseri said the company does not want people secretly filming others and then posting the material on Instagram. The report notes that these videos are not new, but the easier access to camera-equipped glasses has helped fuel a rise in hidden-camera pranks and similar clips across video-sharing platforms, from attempts to flirt with strangers to stunts involving retail workers.

Meta has also recently removed two accounts with more than one million followers, according to Business Insider, after they posted pickup-artist videos involving women who may not have realized they were being filmed. A Meta spokesperson said the accounts were taken down under the company’s existing bullying and harassment policy. That policy covers content meant to degrade or shame people, but the report points out that enforcement can be murky because context and intent matter so much.

The privacy concerns around smart glasses are growing beyond Instagram, with some apps aimed at detecting them in public and some places moving toward bans. Meta’s own glasses include a front-facing light that turns on during recording, though the report says that safeguard has been a recurring issue. Hackers have found ways to work around it, prompting Meta to push a mandatory update that can disable glasses if the indicator is tampered with.

Source: lifehacker.com

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In a warehouse in San Leandro, California, Encord is experimenting with a new twist on robot training data: a headset that tracks a human pilot’s brain waves while he completes a simple Jenga-like task. The company, which already helps robotics firms annotate and evaluate data, is now trying to produce the kind of physical-world training material that many AI systems still lack.

That headset comes from Zander Labs, a German neuroscience startup that believes brain activity can reveal useful signals such as intent, error and surprise. Encord is currently treating the project as a trial. The plan is to build a small brain wave-tagged dataset, test whether it improves customer robotics models, and only then decide whether it is worth expanding. According to Zander neuroscientist Lucas Gehrke, the amount of brain activity seen during a task may also help model builders determine when to reserve their most capable systems for the hardest moments.

For Encord, the bigger story is the data bottleneck facing robotics. Vineeth Velmurugan, who leads robot learning at the company, says the challenge is no longer just model design but the lack of enough real-world examples to train them. He says many customers have shifted toward end-to-end learning for manipulation tasks, which means companies increasingly need to create their own datasets instead of simply organizing existing ones. In his view, the needed scale is enormous — roughly five times the size of YouTube’s video corpus — which is one reason data generation has become a business of its own.

Encord is collecting that data in several ways. One stream comes from “egocentric” video captured by workers wearing cameras, often paired with other sensors. Another comes from remote-controlled robots. At the San Leandro site, pilots were using leader-follower robotic arms to record tasks such as pouring coffee, stacking poker chips and handling ethernet cables in a server rack. The facility also stores props like fake flowers, books, plastic vegetables, kitty litter trays and bundles of wires to simulate household manipulation jobs. Velmurugan says many humanoid robotics teams have asked for these kinds of datasets.

The company is also testing forearm sensors that measure electrical signals in muscles, with the goal of reconstructing hand position more accurately than video alone can. Encord then adds detailed physical labels to its datasets, such as describing a motion as “right hand tightens bolt.” Velmurugan says that level of dense annotation can be far more valuable than basic ego video when training robots for specific tasks.

Source: techcrunch.com

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