Is it antisocial to wear AirPods in public spaces like the grocery store?
Is wearing earbuds in the grocery store antisocial?
There’s no shortage of debate about AirPods etiquette.
By Evan Porter
If it feels like everyone in public is wearing earbuds—Apple AirPods, specifically—that’s because the behavior is on the rise. In fact, the phenomenon has even been the subject of scientific inquiry, with one study out of the New Jersey School of Architecture examining people’s creation of “private sound environments” in busy urban spaces.
People might choose to listen to calming music, a podcast, upbeat tunes, or even just silence or white noise. But it’s not the content causing debate—it’s the etiquette involved. There’s been no shortage of discourse around the use of AirPods in public, and one of the most hotly discussed places, fittingly enough, is also one of the most common: the grocery store.
| Read the story |
The Free Newsletter That Tech Geniuses Love
Looking for a free tech newsletter trusted by the industry’s biggest names? Subscribe to The Current, a free daily tech newsletter written by Kim Komando to help you understand AI, keep up with tech news, and learn useful tips in just 5 minutes a day.
Brendan Fraser dressed as Rick O'Connell.
Brendan Fraser surprised everyone at a screening of ‘The Mummy’ by showing up in costume
Now we want a “Mummy 4.”
By Heather Wake
Brendan Fraser might be making the greatest career comeback ever, having won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his dramatic, transformative role in “The Whale.” But the OG Fraser fans (the ones who watch “Doom Patrol” solely to hear his voice and proudly pronounce his last name as Fray-zure, for this is the proper pronunciation) have known of his remarkable talent since the ’90s, when he embodied the ultimate charming, dashing and slightly goofball Hollywood action lead.
Let us not forget his arguably most well-known and beloved ’90s character, Rick O’Connell from the “Mummy” franchise. Between his quippy one-liners, Indiana Jones-like adventuring skills, and fabulous hair, what’s not to like? During a double feature of “The Mummy” and “The Mummy Returns” in London, moviegoers got the ultimate surprise when who should walk in but Brendan Fraser himself, completely decked out in Rick O’Connell attire. The brown leather jacket. The scarf. Everything.
| Read the story |
Gen X started babysitting at shockingly young ages.
Gen Xers recall how young we were when we started babysitting. It’s even blowing our own minds.
What were the adults thinking?
By Annie Reneau
Much has been made of the contrast between Gen X and Gen Z/Gen Alpha childhoods, but some differences feel more significant than others.
Obviously, Gen X didn’t have smartphones, social media, or even the Internet during our formative years. We roamed and explored our towns with little to no adult supervision. We came home when the streetlights went on or when our parents came to find us after the television PSA that said, “Parents, it’s 10 p.m. Do you know where your kids are?“
Some realities of Gen X childhood sound made up to younger generations, but some even sound bonkers to our own adult ears. Topping that list is how old so many of us were when we started babysitting. Some of us have had to check in with one another to make sure our memories are correct. Was I really putting someone else’s babies to bed at age 11?
| Read the story |
Why do we use $ to represent a dollar?
The surprisingly mysterious reason we use the $ symbol for the U.S. dollar
The U.S. dollar and its symbol have an international origin story.
By Annie Reneau
We see many symbols in our everyday lives that we likely don’t pay much attention to: the @ in our email addresses, for instance, or the % in our weather forecasts. But do we ever wonder where these symbols came from? Why they look like they do? Or how they came to mean what they mean?
One of the most commonly used symbols that most of us are clueless about is the dollar sign ($). Why does it have an “S” if there’s no “s” in “dollar”? Is there supposed to be one line or two? And where did the $ symbol even originate?
As educator and etymology enthusiast Rob Watts (better known as RobWords on YouTube) explains, the answers to those questions are surprisingly complicated.
| Read the story |



