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Product Reviews

Some iPhone 17 models are reportedly prone to very visible scratches

by admin September 21, 2025

Early shoppers are taking to the web to warn about the potentially scratch-prone nature of specific iPhone 17 model and color combos. According to a Bloomberg report, those demoing the latest iPhone in-store noticed that the iPhone 17 Pro in Deep Blue and the iPhone Air in Space Black models already had very noticeable scratches and scuffs. The report is backed up by social media posts following the release, where users recorded display models with residual marks from being used with a MagSafe charger and showed off photos of the back camera housing with chipped edges.

In a video by JerryRigEverything, the YouTuber puts the iPhone 17 models to the test with razor blades, coins and keys. The video highlights the edges of the iPhone 17 Pro’s back camera housing as particularly prone to scuffing since the colored aluminum oxide layer from the anodization process tends not to stick to sharp corners. However, the YouTuber also purposely marked up the iPhone 17 Pro blue model’s camera plateau itself and the phone’s back, which showed clear scratches that were easily wiped off.

The visibility of the scratches could be attributed to Apple’s decision to switch back from the iPhone 16 Pro’s titanium chassis to aluminum, which is known to be susceptible to marking. However, all of these scratches are cosmetic and won’t affect how these latest iPhones function. Many iPhone buyers may not even run into this issue at all, considering a majority of owners use a case.

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September 21, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Baldur’s Gate 2 has great dungeons and epic quests, but my real love is for my fake friends: BioWare’s first truly great companions

by admin September 21, 2025

I loved the idea of Dungeons and Dragons when I was young, but can’t claim the same about playing it. Because I didn’t play it: Circumstances—small town boy, limited circle of friends, not very outgoing—meant that while I could and did spend hours poring over rules, sourcebooks, and even a few modules, I got very little in the way of actual playtime. A good, deep D&D adventure as I imagined them to be—basically Mazes and Monsters, minus the moral panic psychosis—was out of reach.

The first Baldur’s Gate changed all that, with great dungeons, an epic quest, and most important of all, a deep cast of characters with their own thoughts, beliefs, and personalities—and who, just like in the real world, would sometimes gel or clash with their fellows in unexpected ways.

Some became fast friends, others would try to literally murder each other, and a handful would just throw their hands up in disgust at my obvious incompetence and leave, after giving me a good telling-off of course.

Baldur’s Gate 2 raised the stakes with a more focused cast and wider range of interpersonal possibilities, plus an unpleasant kickoff that reminded me just how much these characters meant. Discovering that two beloved* party members from BG1 (your mileage may vary on that point, but they were with me from start to finish in the first game and would’ve been for BG2, too) had been killed in pre-game events—irretrievably, irreversibly, no-resurrecting-thing dead—was a genuine gut-shot: We’re supposed to be the heroes, and now a third of us are just… gone.

It took a while to get my head around that, but I was fortunate enough to find a new companion of poise, ability, and coolness while making my way out of that first dungeon: Yoshimo, an immediately likeable bounty hunter who proved his worth a dozen times over on our adventures across Amn. And then, after weeks of camaraderie and good times, he screwed me!

I trusted you, you beautiful bastard. (Image credit: BioWare, Wizards of the Coast)

I was less upset about Yoshimo’s betrayal than I might otherwise have been for two reasons. One, potential spoiler here⁠—but come on, it’s been exactly 25 years⁠—it wasn’t really his fault, right? Lawyers call it “The Geas Defense.” Two, speaking of spoilers, that major twist had been spoiled for me weeks earlier by a jerk in a Baldur’s Gate 2 IRC channel. I was seriously pissed off at the time and yes, I still harbor a grudge.

Anyway, even though I knew it was coming, I was still heartbroken in the moment. Yoshimo was such a good guy, a solid all-arounder, and I’d grown genuinely attached to him and his presence in my party. It wasn’t the betrayal that hurt, it was knowing that—like Khalid and Dynaheir, victims of the madness of Irenicus—he was gone forever.

Party down

It sucked! But it’s also at the heart of why Baldur’s Gate 2 was, and is, so special to me. No game before or since has so perfectly captured the sense of a gang of pals (or occasional allies of convenience) roaming a massive fantasy world, butt-kicking for goodness.

And what a gang it was: The bloodthirsty berserker Korgan, occasionally setting aside his evil ways to mack on Mazzy Fentan, the halfling fighter desperate to be a paladin; sad Aerie and her broken wings, Valygar and his family problems, insecure Anomen, old friends Imoen, Minsc, and Jaheira, and of course Viconia, the original BioWare bad girl with a deeply-buried heart of gold—all of them and others shared the road with me in Baldur’s Gate 2.

I’d appreciate it if you didn’t bring up what happens to my Dark Elf gf Viconia in Baldur’s Gate 3. (Image credit: Larian)

And yes, I did put the smooth moves on Viconia. Of course I did! Videogame romances can be trite and formulaic these days, but 25 years ago that kind of NPC relationship was new, unexpected, and real in a way that gave it a sense of significance beyond the mechanical necessity of cranking out loyalty missions.

Best of all, amidst that bantering, bickering crew was me, ostensibly the leader of the pack but also just one among many: Grown from a young half-elf caught up in events beyond my understanding to a seasoned adventurer, but with still so much to discover and learn. I called the shots but my companions had their own ideas, and I ignored them at my peril.

Baldur’s Gate 2 anniversary

(Image credit: Beamdog)

25 years ago, one of the most important RPGs of all time was released onto PC, and today we’re celebrating that prestigious anniversary. You’ll find our thoughts and musings on what makes the game so special to us across the site, and we’ve also talked to the original developers about its ambitious and turbulent journey to release.

That’s what really sealed the Baldur’s Gate 2 deal for me: I wasn’t an unseen hand controlling an anonymous party of min-maxxed randos, I was that guy on the screen right there, and yes I was the boss but I was also getting yelled at by Jaheira on a regular basis and spending more time than I probably should wondering why I’m still putting up with Anomen’s bullshit. Sort out your daddy issues on someone else’s time, bud.

Baldur’s Gate 2 did so many great things: The art, the audio, and the huge, packed game world remain among the best of the RPG genre. But it was the decision to focus on the characters, and to make me one of their number, that elevated it from a great RPG to one of the most important and unforgettable videogames of all time.

It gave the game a feeling of tabletop authenticity I’d never previously experienced, and for someone who spent his youth on the outside looking in, suddenly having a seat at that table was nothing short of magical. That’s the real legacy of Baldur’s Gate 2 for me: Imoen, Jahiera, Minsc, Mazzy, and Viconia: Literally, and without a shred of irony, the friends I made along the way.

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September 21, 2025 0 comments

A screenshot of the Windows NT Server logon screen, which requires you to press Ctrl+Alt+Del to proceed

Product Reviews

Microsoft’s pivotal Windows NT 3.5 release made it a serious contender, 31 years ago today

by admin September 21, 2025

The Windows 11 you use today is still identified as “Windows NT” in some ways, and that’s because its lineage extends all the way back to the venerable Windows NT. Version 3.5 is widely considered the most pivotal release for the “New Technology” version of Windows, so today we cast a glance back at Windows’ forebears, as it was 31 years ago today that Windows NT 3.5 released to the public.

When Microsoft first announced NT, it wasn’t aimed at the family PC. NT was built for the enterprise, where Novell NetWare ruled networking and UNIX workstations were the only type of workstation taken seriously by “serious” computing guys. Windows 3.1, the friendly GUI most people knew, was still fundamentally an MS-DOS front-end, and that means it was for baby computers used by baby users, at least in the minds of workstation guys.

By contrast, Windows NT was designed as a clean-slate fully-32-bit operating system with a portable kernel, preemptive multitasking, and protected memory. Dave Cutler and his team — many of whom were veterans of DEC’s VMS — engineered Windows NT with long-term ambitions that went far beyond Microsoft’s popular consumer products.

We Need to Talk About Smart Glasses

by admin September 21, 2025

With any new device category comes a whole host of novel and sometimes exhaustingly complex questions. Smartphones, for example, no matter how mundane they seem right now, are still nagging us with existential quandaries. When should we use them? How should we use them? What in God’s name happens to us when we use them, which, last I checked, is literally all the time?

These are important questions, and most of us, even if we’re not spending all day ruminating on them, tackle the complexity in our own way, setting (or resetting) social norms for ourselves and other people as we trudge along. The only thing is, in my experience, we tend to ask these questions mostly in retrospect, which is to say after the cat (or phone, or smartwatch, or earth-shattering portal into the online world) is out of the proverbial bag. It’s easy to look back and say, “That was the time we should have thought about this,” and when I put Meta’s new smart glasses with a screen on, I knew that the time, for smart glasses in particular, was now—like, right f**king now.

In case you missed it, Meta finally unveiled the Meta Ray-Ban Display, which are its first smart glasses with an in-lens display. I flew out to Meta headquarters for its annual Connect conference to try them, and the second I put them on, it was clear: these are going to be big. It probably seems silly from the outside to make a declaration like that. We have screens everywhere all the time—in our hands, on our wrists, and sometimes, regrettably, in our toasters. Why would smart glasses be any different? On one hand, I get that skepticism, but sometimes function isn’t the issue; it’s form. And when it comes to smart glasses, there is no other form like it.

Meta’s Ray-Ban Display aren’t just another wearable. The screen inside them opens up an entirely new universe of capabilities. With these smart glasses and Meta’s wild new “Neural Band,” a wristband that reads the electrical signals in your arm and translates them to inputs, you’re able to do a lot of the stuff you normally do on your phone. You can receive and write messages, watch Reels on Instagram, take voice calls and video calls, record video and take pictures, and get turn-by-turn navigation. You can even transcribe conversations that are happening in real time. You’re doing this on your face in a way that you’ve never done it before—discreetly and, from my experience, fairly fluidly.

If there were any boundaries between you and a device, Meta’s Ray-Ban Display are closing them to a gap that only an iPhone Air could slide through. It’s incredibly exciting in one way, because I can see Meta’s smart glasses being both useful and fun. The ability to swipe through a UI in front of my face by sliding my thumb around like some kind of computer cursor made of meat is wild and, at times, actually thrilling. While not everything works seamlessly yet, the door to smart glasses supremacy feels like it’s been swung wide open. You are going to want a pair of these smart glasses whether you know it or not. These are going to be popular, and as a result, potentially problematic.

Meta’s “Neural Band” looks as discrete as the glasses. © James Pero / Gizmodo

We may have a solid grasp on where and when we’re supposed to use phones, but what happens when that “phone” in question becomes perfectly discreet, and the ability to use it becomes almost unnoticeable to those around us? When I use a smartphone, you can see me pick it up—you know there’s a device in my hand. When I use Meta’s Ray-Ban Display, however, there’s almost no indication. Yes, there’s a privacy light that tells outside people that a picture or video is being taken, but there’s also less than 2% light leakage through the lens, meaning you can’t tell when the screen inside the glasses is on. I certainly couldn’t tell when I watched others use them. It’s as ambient as any ambient computing I’ve witnessed so far.

I talked to Anshel Sag, a principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy who covers the wearable market, and he says the privacy framework around technology like this is still in flux.

“We are still very much in the infancy of the smart glasses, AI wearable, and AR privacy and etiquette era,” he said. “I think that the reality is that having a wearable with a camera on your face is going to change things, and there are going to be places where these things are banned explicitly.”

Some of those environments, Sag said, are private areas like bathrooms or locker rooms, but it could extend beyond just places where you might catch a glimpse of someone naked. Driving, for example, is a major question. Meta’s Ray-Ban Display have navigation built in, and while the company tells me that the feature is designed for walking right now, it’s not actually preventing anyone from using its smart glasses in the car. Instead, it will provide a warning before you do so by detecting what speed you’re moving at. Other companies like Amazon seem not to have even thought that navigating on smart glasses while driving could be a safety hazard at all. Early reports indicate that Amazon is plowing forward, making smart glasses that are specifically designed for its delivery drivers to use in a car.

While regulators like the NHTSA have issued warnings about people using VR headsets while driving (yes, people were actually doing that), it hasn’t, according to my research or knowledge, addressed the impact of smart glasses, which are much more likely—especially if they become widespread—to enter the equation while driving. I reached out to the NHTSA for comment, but have not yet received a response.

Privacy concerns shouldn’t just stem from the form factor, either. You also have to think about the company that’s making the thing you’re wearing on your face all the time and whether it has shown to be a good steward of your data and privacy. In Meta’s case? Well, without going into an entirely separate diatribe, I think it could do a lot better. And other companies that are also in hot pursuit of screen-clad glasses, like Google? Well, they haven’t been much better.

And makers of smart glasses shouldn’t be surprised if, when these things wind up on people’s faces, they get some shit for it. Google Glass, which came out in 2013, may seem like a different age, and in a lot of ways it is (people’s expectations for privacy are almost nonexistent now), but we also haven’t had to confront the idea of pervasive camera-clad wearables in a long time, so who’s to say things have really changed? Sag says, while he expects some backlash, it may not be like the Glasshole days of yore.

“I think there will be some backlash, but I don’t think it’s gonna be as bad as Google Glass,” he says. “Google Glass had such an invasive appearance. You know, it didn’t really look normal, so it really caught people’s attention more. And I think that’s really what has made these classes more successful, is that they’re just inherently less intrusive in terms of appearance.”

I may not be an industry analyst, but I agree with Sag. I’m not sure there really will be a category-ending backlash like we saw back in the Google days, and a part of me doesn’t want there to be. As I mentioned, I got a chance to use Meta’s Ray-Ban Displays, and the idea all but knocked my socks off. These are the smart glasses that anyone interested in the form factor has been waiting for. What I really want is to be able to live in a world where we can all use them respectfully and responsibly, and one where the companies that are making them give us the same responsibility and respect back. But in my experience, the only way to get toward a more respectful, harmonious world is to try everything else first, and in this case, the first step might be your next pair of Ray-Bans.

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September 21, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

The Best Mushroom Gummies on the Market, Lab-Approved (2025)

by admin September 21, 2025

Compare Top 3 Mushroom Gummies

Honorable Mentions

Courtesy of Alice Mushrooms

Alice Mushrooms Nightcap for $59: Mushroom chocolate aims to aid in nighttime relaxation while also regulating sleep cycles long-term. Alice Chocolates uses reishi, a substance that comes from fruiting mushrooms, along with chamomile, L-theanine, magnesium, and zinc. The idea is that the reishi will help regulate and promote healthy sleep patterns over time, while the added supplements will aid in helping with sleepiness more immediately. The chocolates are vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and kosher, and also come in Brainstorm, to aid in energy and focus, and Happy Ending, for arousal and pleasure. The chocolate was tasty—it wasn’t overly sweet and had a nice bitterness like a robust dark chocolate should. The first few nights of testing, I woke up around 4 am, but after I upped the dose to two chocolate squares, I felt more relaxed before bed, fell asleep in a little over an hour, and stayed asleep all night. —Molly Higgins

Photograph: Boutayna Chokrane

Sunday Scaries Mushroom Gummies for $23: Sunday Scaries deliver a noticeable jolt. Thirty minutes after consumption, I felt that unmistakable caffeine buzz. Flavor-wise, the orange is OK. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it. Every batch comes with third-party certifications verifying purity, potency, and safety. The ingredients are sourced—a blend of Lion’s Mane Extract, organic Chaga powder, and Gingko Biloba (not a mushroom) extract—from KND Labs in Denver, an FDA-registered, cGMP-certified facility.

Avoid These Mushroom Gummies

Photograph: Boutayna Chokrane

Space Goods Moon Chews and Star Chews: Frankly, I somewhat hate to do this, because these chewies taste like candy, but that was the first red flag. No one can make mushrooms taste that good, and Space Goods has no published reports or certifications to back up any of its claims—despite stating they are third-party tested. Not much information on the mushrooms, except that they’re sourced in North America and China, which is as vague as a brand can get. “Frustratingly, there are many ingredients and benefits of our products that we can’t legally tell you about,” the site’s Health Claims page reads. I’m sorry, what?

FAQs About Mushroom Gummies

What to Look for When Buying Mushroom Gummies

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Decide if you want a mushroom-exclusive gummy or a blend. Some brands add other adaptogens, like ashwagandha or vitamins.
Check the amount per serving. Many gummies only include trace amounts (50-100 mg), which may not be enough to have any effect. More research-backed doses usually range from 500 milligrams to two grams daily, depending on the shroom—but consult a healthcare provider to determine the appropriate dosage for you, especially if you’re taking other supplements or medications.
The label specifies fruiting body extract. Some brands use mostly mycelium on grain, which is cheaper and less potent. Fruiting body extracts are richer in beta-glucans and other active compounds.
Look for mention of standardized extracts or percent of beta-glucans. Hot water or dual-extracted mushrooms are better for bioavailability.
Certificates of Analysis (COAs) should be accessible on the brand’s site. Credible supplements are third-party tested for purity, potency, and heavy metals. Bonus if the brand works with mycologists or sources mushrooms from reputable growers.
Since these are gummies, check how much sugar or sweeteners are in each serving. I would aim for less than three grams. If you’re intolerant to sugar alcohols, this is especially important.

Are There Any Potential Side Effects of Mushroom Gummies?

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Functional mushroom gummies are generally considered safe for most healthy adults, but like any supplement, they can cause side effects or interact with medications. Possible side effects include, but are not limited to: gastrointestinal discomfort, drowsiness or stimulation, and allergic reactions. It’s best to start with a low dose and talk to a doctor before adding a new supplement to your daily routine, especially if you have chronic health conditions.

In the past, mushroom gummies sold at convenience stores and smoke shops have tested positive for undisclosed, illegal stimulants (including psilocybin and kratom). Because labels can be misleading, avoid impulse buys of mushroom gummies from non-regulated retailers, and choose only lab-tested supplements with third-party certificates.

How We Test Mushroom Gummies

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Ingredients: I start by checking whether the mushroom gummies contain fruiting body extracts or mycelium, which are the two most common sources of functional mushrooms. The fruiting body—which is the stem and cap of the shroom—typically has higher concentrations of beta-glucans and triterpenes than the root, or mycelium. I also flag any additives, added sweeteners, or mysterious proprietary blends.
Third-Party Testing: Since the FDA doesn’t evaluate supplements before they hit the market, I prioritize brands that publish third-party certificates of analysis (COAs).
Taste and Texture: What’s the point of a gummy supplement if it doesn’t taste good? I gauge flavor, chewiness, and aftertaste. I also pay attention to packaging and take note of how they hold up over time with proper storage.
Experience: We can’t verify every wellness claim, but I do regularly take the gummies myself and track whether products seem to support the health benefits they advertise. I also look through the customer reviews to get an idea of what other users’ experiences are.

What Are We Testing Next?

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September 21, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Our favorite slim MagSafe power bank is down to a new low price

by admin September 21, 2025

Carrying around charging cables, adapters or even a bulky power bank defeats the purpose of traveling light. But now there are plenty of options for those who want a power bank as svelte as their phone — even those who are investing in an iPhone Air. One of Anker’s latest fits the bill: the Anker Nano 5K MagGo Slim power bank.

Now, both Anker and Amazon are running sales on it, dropping the price from $55 to $46. The 16 percent discount a new low for the power bank and available in the black and white models. It’s just about a third of an inch thick and attaches right to your iPhone. On that note, it works with any MagSafe compatible phone with a magnetic case.

Anker

Anker’s Nano 5K MagGo Slim is our pick for best, well, slim MagSafe power bank. It took two and a half hours to charge an iPhone 15 from 5 percent to 90 percent. However, it could boost the battery to 40 percent in just under an hour. Overall, though, the minimalist design and easy to grip matte texture, really sold it to us.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

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September 21, 2025 0 comments

Making cappuccino with Terra Kaffe TK-02

Product Reviews

Terra Kaffe TK-02 brings the high-end coffee shop to your home

by admin September 21, 2025

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Terra Kaffe TK-02: two-minute review

Who knew excellent coffee could be so easy? Fill up the water tank and pour your bag of whole coffee beans into the hopper. If you like milk-based drinks, put your milk of choice into the milk carafe and attach it to the machine. The Terra Kaffe TK-02 will craft your favorite drink that rivals your local coffee shop with just a tap.

Choose from a limited menu on the Terra Kaffe TK-02’s screen, or select from a longer list in the app. Create custom beverages to suit your personal taste. You can also teach (Amazon assistant) Alexa to brew your drink of choice on your voice command.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

While it’s certainly not perfect, this is the be-all, end-all coffee maker that replaces the two Nespresso machines, drip coffee machine, and coffee grinder I had in my coffee nook. The Terra Kaffe TK-02 is an expensive machine, though one could argue that if this gets you to eliminate your daily coffee shop runs it could pay for itself in a couple of years or less. The footprint is pretty large, though not nearly as big as the four machines it replaces for me. And like any coffee machine, it does require regular cleaning and maintenance, though none of it is difficult.

The bottom line is this: I’ve tested a lot of coffee machines in my personal and professional life, but I have never made better-tasting coffee and espresso drinks more quickly and easily than I have with the Terra Kaffe TK-02.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

Terra Kaffe TK-02: price and availability

Available at Terra Kaffe and several high-end online and brick-and-mortar retailers
Retails for $1,995 (£1,461 / AU$2,991)
Terra Kaffe has a rental program

You can purchase the Terra Kaffe TK-02 directly from Terra Kaffe’s website, where it retails for $1,995 (£1,461 / AU$2,991). Currently, there is a $300 discount offer if you pair the machine with a coffee subscription. You can also rent the machine from Terra Kaffe for $119 per month.

Other places you can purchase the machine include high-end retailers like Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, CB2, and Seattle Coffee Gear. The Terra Kaffe TK-02 is available in two colors: black and white.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

Terra Kaffe TK-02: specs

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Name

Terra Kaffe TK-02

Type

Automatic

Dimensions (D x W x H)

17.5” (D) x 10.4” (W) x 14.3” (H) / 44.45 cm (D) x 26.42 cm (W) x 36.32 cm (H)

Weight

29.5 lbs / 13.38 kg

Water reservoir capacity

75 fl oz / 2.22 liters

Milk frother

Yes

Bars of pressure

Terra Kaffe TK-02: design

Modern, sleek design
Everything you need except coffee and cups included
So easy to use

The Terra Kaffe TK-02 is sleek and modern, basically a giant rectangular cube with a drip tray sticking out the front. It’s not immediately identifiable as a coffee machine, on looks alone. I tested the white model, but it also comes in black. I’d recommend the black version if you don’t have a strong preference, since white shows the coffee spatters. The touchscreen on the top left front of the machine comes awake when you tap it.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

The Terra Kaffe TK-02 is pretty big and heavy, at 17.5” (D) x 10.4” (W) x 14.3” (H) / 44.45 cm (D) x 26.42 cm (W) x 36.32 cm (H) and weighing in at 29.5 lbs / 13.38 kg. Still, it easily fits into my coffee nook with plenty of room to spare. And it takes up a lot less room than the four machines I had in there previously. My husband likes to use his own beans, so his coffee grinder and drip machine, plus my two pod machines (both coffee and espresso) were previously filling up that entire nook. The Terra Kaffe TK-02 eliminates the need for all the other machines.

It comes with a milk carafe that hooks up to the Terra Kaffe TK-02 to make lattes and other milk drinks, a wooden spoon for measuring ground coffee, a water filter, cleaning solution, and descaling solution.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

There are two coffee compartments on top. The main hopper holds up to 16 ounces (a typical bag) of whole bean coffee. A smaller, secondary compartment is for pre-ground coffee. If you use this option, add just one scoop of ground coffee and select the pre-ground coffee option from the brewing menu. Note that Terra Kaffe does not recommend using oily or flavored coffee beans.

A dial on the right side of the machine adjust the amount of steam you get in your milk. Dial it to the top to just heat your milk, or dial it to the bottom marker to froth.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

The water tank sits behind a door on the front of the machine. As with all maintenance, the Terra Kaffe TK-02 will alert you when the water is running low, though the water level is visible even with the door closed.

The touch screen is the brain of the machine, and it will also let you know when the grounds container (which holds nine pucks) or drip tray needs to be emptied, when you need to descale or deep clean the machine, and when you need to refill the coffee hopper.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

Terra Kaffe TK-02: performance

Crafts amazing coffee and espresso drinks
Steam or froth your milk of choice
Could not be easier to use

What you really want from a coffee machine is delicious coffee, and the Terra Kaffe TK-02 delivers. You probably also want flexibility to create different kinds of beverages, easy/quick brewing, and easy clean-up. You get all of that with this machine. There are definitely some quirks, but overall, this machine’s performance is excellent.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

The Terra Kaffe TK-02 has lots of pre-set coffee and espresso settings, but any of them can be altered to your tastes. You can adjust the grind size, the amount of coffee, the amount of water, and the amount of milk. When making espresso, you can choose between “TK Standard” and “TK Specialty” brew. The TK Specialty tastes slightly stronger to me, so I reached out the company and they confirmed that it is indeed a stronger brew.

You can create your own custom beverages to your exact specifications, so the possibilities are nearly endless. You can only put 10 drinks at a time on the machine’s touchscreen menu, but it’s easy enough to add and remove your favorites in the Terra Kaffe app.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

I brewed an iced coffee, which comes out at a slightly lower temperature and is specially designed for drinking over ice. I found it a bit weak, so I just changed the recipe, reducing the amount of water and increasing the amount of coffee. That made it perfect for my tastes. I also created a drink just for my husband, which is basically a standard Americano with an extra two shots of espresso. You can literally create anything and make it an option on your touchscreen menu.

The touchscreen menu is limited to ten drinks, so put your ten favorites there. You can still access plenty more (or create more anytime) easily with the Terra Kaffe app. You can teach your Alexa Amazon Assistant to work your Terra Kaffe TK-02, but I found that connection to be rather inconsistent.

The machine has to be on already; Alexa won’t turn it on. Then you have to ask Alexa to launch the machine, because if you just ask to brew right away, she won’t get it. Even then, sometimes she doesn’t do what you ask. And she keeps asking you questions when you’re done brewing, which is kind of annoying. Frankly, I found myself not really using Alexa much; both the touchscreen and the app are so easy to use. I open the app and wake the machine while I’m still in bed; by the time I get downstairs, the Terra Kaffe TK-02 is ready to brew.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

Though I’m not really a milky coffee drinker, I did test out a number of milk-based drinks such as latte, cappuccino, macchiato, and flat white. They were all quite good, the milk frother heats and froths the milk as you’d expect. How much foam you get can also depend on the sort of milk you use. I used 2% dairy milk.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman /Future)

The Terra Kaffe TK-02 automatically grinds your beans to the correct size for the type of coffee you’re brewing. For drip coffee, the beans will be ground on the coarser side. For espresso, you’ll get a finer grind. Both of those can be adjusted to your preferences. Like all the best espresso machines, the Terra Kaffe TK-02 brews espresso at 9 bars of pressure.

If you prefer to use pre-ground beans, you put them in a separate designated hopper and select the pre-ground beans option before brewing. This is helpful for the occasional cup of decaf or using gifted grounds, but otherwise I’d stick to fresh whole beans.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

Cleaning is pretty simple, but the machine does require regular attention. The Terra Kaffe TK-02 self-rinses frequently. I got in the habit of keeping a cup under the spout when not in use to catch the majority of rinse cycles. You can expect the machine to rinse out a few ounces of water when warming up, and again when shutting down. It also just rinses itself at random times.

We drink four cups a day on average, and even with the cup under the spout, I still have to empty the drip tray roughly daily. This is because water comes out directly into the drip tray sometimes too. If you froth milk, you’ll need to run a rinse of the milk system right after. As you might expect, the water tank needs to be refilled pretty frequently as well.

Cleaning up the grounds couldn’t be easier. All of the grounds end up as pucks in the grounds bin, you just have to pull it out and dump it roughly every nine brew sessions.

At some point, I’ll need to do a deep clean and a descale. But in several weeks of use, it has not come up yet. You do not have to guess when to do any of this maintenance, as the machine will let you know when to do it and offer guidance if you’re not sure how to go about it.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

Should you buy the Terra Kaffe TK-02?

Swipe to scroll horizontallyTerra Kaffe TK-02 score card

Attribute

Notes

Score

Value

It’s expensive, but is it cheaper than your daily coffee shop runs?

4/5

Design

It’s cleverly designed and looks sleek on your countertop.

4.5/5

Performance

There’s no learning curve. Brewing amazing coffee and espresso drinks is so easy.

5/5

Buy it if

Don’t buy it if

Terra Kaffe TK-02: also consider

How I tested the Terra Kaffe TK-02

Over the course of two weeks, I brewed multiple variations of coffee, espresso, iced coffee, and Americanos. I also made espresso-based milk drinks such as latte, cappuccino, macchiato, and flat white using cold 2% dairy milk. I performed maintenance on the Terra Kaffe TK-02 as directed by the machine: emptying the drip tray, refilling the water, emptying the coffee grounds, and adding new coffee beans.

First reviewed September 2025

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September 21, 2025 0 comments

The Sims 4 - A sim in a laundromat small business puts her clothes in a washer

Product Reviews

The Sims 4 gets a much-needed update to the increasingly buggy base game, as EA assures players that ‘your concerns are heard’ over issues like deformed pets and missing ghost children

by admin September 21, 2025

The Sims 4 has been going through a bit of a mid-life crisis lately. A wayward patch issued in July triggered a rampant pregnancy epidemic, while the most recent Enchanted by Nature DLC received a less-than enthusiastic response from players. Now, it seems the community is generally fed up with the increasingly buggy state of the base game, with EA revealing plans for two solid months dedicated to bugfixes and quality-of-life support.

“We see your feedback on technical issues and game performance. And we want to assure you that your concerns are heard,” the publisher wrote in a post on Monday. “Over the next 8 weeks, our dedicated teams will dive in to resolve current issues and get ahead of unforeseen technical disruptions.”

Those plans kicked off in earnest with a big update to the base game that arrived late on Thursday. The headline feature of this patch was a newly added playpark for kids to run themselves ragged on, as well as a ‘play pretend’ interaction for kids who presumably can’t get to said playpark for whatever reason. The update also adds a prototype “memory boost” feature to eke some extra performance from your PC, though you’ll need to opt into this in the game settings.

The meat of the update, though, is a voluminous list of bug fixes. These address a mixture of issues, some raised by the community, others selected from EA’s existing “bug archive”. There are far too many to list here, but a couple of highlights include pets being straightened out so they “no longer get deformed when traveling to another lot after aging up”, while unfortunate child sims “now show up as ghosts when they die due to over heat and freezing”.

EA plans a second round of bugfixes in October, and is asking the community to upvote their most desired fixes in The Sims 4’s bug report section of the EA forums. “Each upvote you cast on a reported issue helps us determine which problems are causing the biggest disruptions across the community,” the publisher points out. “The earlier we receive votes, the better. We’ll provide an update on our progress if we’re unable to address all of the top-voted issues in our October Laundry List.”

(Image credit: EA)

It’s good to see EA working to tidy The Sims 4 up a bit, but I do wonder whether part of the problem is simply that The Sims 4 is now 12 years old, and wasn’t designed to be the platform that EA has decided it is going to be. There was supposedly a fifth Sims game in development under the codename Project Rene, which would seem like an ideal opportunity to create a more robust launchpad for the all-encompassing Sims experience that EA wants.

EA president Laura Miele has since ruled this out, claiming that it wouldn’t be fair to existing fans who have invested lots of time and money into The Sims 4:

“What I wouldn’t want to have happen is you have to start from day zero and start from scratch and give up all of the things that you have created, give up all of the content that you’ve purchased over the years,” Miele said during an interview with Variety in July. “We put out over 85 content packs over the last 10 years on The Sims 4, and so resetting that is not player friendly and not a good idea for our community.”

It’s a reasonable line of argument, but players are well accustomed to new games supplanting old ones, and the existence of a Sims 5 doesn’t stop them from playing The Sims 4, unless EA decided to withdraw the game from sale.

In the same interview, Miele mentions that EA is planning a technology refresh and additional modes of play for The Sims 4, the former of which might help with all the bugs and other issues. Alternatively, it might break the game entirely, especially given the sheer amount of additional, optional stuff players can plug into the game.

Moreover, such an approach doesn’t offer the opportunity to address some of the more fundamental issues with The Sims 4. While it certainly has plenty to offer players these days, it was never the deepest of Maxis’ simulations (The Sims 3 had far richer AI, for example) and stubbornly sticking with it seems like a missed opportunity to create a strong foundation for a new era of Sims play.

Nonetheless, for now EA is sticking to its plan of retrofitting The Sims 4 with platform heels, so we’ll just have to hope the next few weeks of hardcore bug-fixing gives them a sufficiently clean foundation to work with.

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September 21, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

‘Dead’ Star Caught Snacking on Pluto-Like Object

by admin September 21, 2025

Nature can get brutal. On a cosmic scale, things get even more destructive—leaving behind carnage made of stellar dust the size of an entire planet.

Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope spotted a white dwarf—the remnant of a dying star’s core—enjoying a meal of some fragment researchers later identified as coming from a Pluto-like object. According to a paper on the finding published September 18 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, astronomers seemingly caught the dwarf near the tail end of its meal; some time ago, the dwarf’s intense gravitational pull likely snatched an icy planet from its regular orbit.

What’s more, further analysis of the doomed object revealed that its chemical composition included key elements such as carbon, sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen—suggesting that, before its demise, the tiny planet may have held some water on its surface.

A ‘cosmic crime scene’

The atmosphere of a white dwarf typically consists of hydrogen and helium. But this particular dwarf, WD 1647+375, carried an unusual supply of volatiles, or chemical substances with low melting points. That told the researchers that something was off.

“White dwarfs act like cosmic crime scenes,” study lead author Snehalata Sahu said in a release. “When a planetesimal [small solid objects thought to form planets] falls in, its elements leave chemical fingerprints in the star’s atmosphere, letting us reconstruct the identity of the ‘victim.’”

So the team embarked on some detective work. One thing that stood out to them was the abundance of nitrogen in WD 1647+375, which the researchers explained was a “particularly important chemical fingerprint of icy worlds.” The dwarf’s oxygen gain was also much higher than it would have been had the victim been a rocky object.

“We know that Pluto’s surface is covered with nitrogen ices,” Sahu added in a Hubble statement. “We think that the white dwarf accreted fragments of the crust and mantle of a dwarf planet.”

From Hubble’s ultraviolet signals, the team was able to deduce that the star’s meal had been ongoing for at least the last 13 years, consuming the object at a rate of around 440,925 pounds (200,000 kilograms) per second. If so, the victim at its prime would have had a minimum diameter of about 3 miles (5 kilometers).

All the evidence suggested that WD 1647+375 was snacking at an object that was once an icy planetesimal floating around the local version of the Kuiper Belt, an icy ring of debris around our solar system.

A peek into the past and future

This discovery offers a surprising window into both the past and future of cosmic systems, the researchers explained.

For instance, comets and icy planetesimals like WD 1647+375’s giant snack “deliver water and other volatiles to terrestrial planets in extrasolar systems—a prerequisite for the development of life in other worlds,” according to the paper. Now that we know such icy planetesimals do exist, this theory could be tested further with other objects, namely the recent interstellar comet visitor, 3I/ATLAS.

But WD 1647+375 itself offers a sneak peek of what’s to come for our own solar system, Sahu added. Our Sun will eventually burn out and collapse into a white dwarf like WD 1647+375. When that happens, the planets in our solar system may encounter a similar fate as this icy planetesimal.

“If an alien observer looks into our solar system in the far future,” Sahu said, “they might see the same kind of remains we see today around this white dwarf.”

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September 21, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

The NFL Goes MrBeast Mode

by admin September 21, 2025

The first international game of the National Football League season, a Friday-night tilt between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers in São Paulo, is celebrated on the ground by the usual pomp and circumstance.

There are photo booths and merch tents catering to local fans, samba dancers in feathered head-pieces entertaining American die-hards traveling across the equator, and a press conference where Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has to backtrack after calling association football (that is, the kind that is still most popular in Brazil, and the rest of the word) “soccer.” But fans tuning in at home are greeted by a different, somewhat more disturbing spectacle: news that YouTuber, prolific content creator, and protein-infused milk impresario Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson has purchased the NFL.

In a pregame preview airing on YouTube–which, for the first time ever, is broadcasting a regular-season NFL game globally, and for free–the platform’s most valuable creator appears opposite league commissioner Roger Goodell, in a purportedly comical “sketch” about MrBeast’s takeover of the league, which sees him assigning popular content creators to team rosters. A postgame stunt sees Donaldson awarding one hardcore fan a ticket to Super Bowl LX, and firing another out of a human cannon. Not everyone welcomes the NFL’s new zillennial overlord. “MrBeast on my television invading my beautiful sport,” one fan posts on X. A friend (a lifelong football fan in his mid-40s) who texts me during the game says the whole production, “Looks insanely gen z.”

Influencers haleyybaylee and Deestroying at YouTube’s first live NFL broadcast.

Photograph: Eli Tawil; YouTube TV

Which is of course the point. The September 5 YouTube-exclusive São Paulo game (the platform covered my travel expenses to attend), dovetails two of the NFL’s key priorities, spreading football both internationally and intergenerationally. “I completely understand that not all fans and audiences are going to welcome change,” Donaldson writes in a statement to WIRED. “Our hope is that over time they’ll recognize we are approaching everything we do with admiration and respect and want to be able to share something that’s as unique and special as the NFL with our fans.”

If the NFL fails to establish American football abroad, both with Gen Z—whose sports fandom, studies have shown, ranks the lowest among generational cohorts—and with international audiences unaccustomed to the distinctly American pastime, it won’t be for lack of trying. Since 2005, the league has been hosting regular-season games abroad. First was Mexico. Then London. Then Germany. Then Brazil. This season will see additional international games in Berlin, Madrid, and Dublin. The penetration into the South American market seems at once incredibly bold and completely sensible. Sensible, because players and fans alike don’t have to struggle against the pesky realities of time zones. And bold because, perhaps even more so than the UK or continental Europe, South America has its own distinct, passionate football culture that has nothing to do with its brawnier North American cousin.

“The world has changed and you’ve got to be part of it.”

Veteran broadcaster Rich Eisen

The NFL’s 2025 Brazilian operation offers a good matchup for further testing the viability of the South American market. Due to their long, somewhat challenging, history in Southern California, the Chargers boast a substantial Latino fan base, who call them Los Bolts. And the Chiefs (despite being dismantled humiliatingly in last season’s Super Bowl) remain a global brand. The Chiefs have also benefited from the A-list celebrity of some of their players, specifically Mahomes, and tight end Travis Kelce, whose recent engagement to pop star Taylor Swift makes him de facto one of the most famous human beings on the planet. As James Brighton, a Chargers fan and California native who traveled to Brazil for the matchup, grumbles to me before the game, “Mahomes is easily marketable … Kelce and Taylor Swift is the romance the world wants to see, I guess. They’re the face of the NFL right now.” The league is counting on it. But for the NFL’s second Brazil game, they aren’t taking any chances.

“There is no better platform than YouTube,” says veteran broadcaster Rich Eisen, his head literally framed by a YouTube logo as he lounges in the YouTube-branded green room deep in the concrete bowels of São Paulo’s Neo Química Arena in the idle hours before he ascends to the broadcast booth to provide play-by-play commentary. “There is no more powerful distributor to reach people of all ages, and to feed an insatiable desire of people to take in content.”

Eisen speaks from experience. At 56, he may be a generation or three removed from the Gen Z–dominated domain of professional content creation. Nevertheless, he has been able to parlay his success as a journalist and longtime Sportscenter and NFL Network anchor into an arguably ever larger audience, streaming his Emmy-nominated, three-hour daily sports-talk program The Rich Eisen Show on YouTube, among other platforms. “The world has changed and you’ve got to be part of it,” he tells WIRED. “I mean, the commissioner of the NFL didn’t do a video about the Brazil game with me. And I’ve been his employee for 23 years! He did it with MrBeast.”

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September 21, 2025 0 comments