If you’re looking to buy a printer for a home office, your best bet is likely a laser printer 🖨. They’re significantly more reliable than inkjets over time, and churn out pages of text faster, too.

And if you buy a black-and-white laser, your per page printing costs will likely be much less than an inkjet.

The emergence of potentially faster spreading variants of the coronavirus is increasing concern about the virus’s path. The variant causing the most alarm has prompted new lockdown restrictions within the United Kingdom.

🧵 Here's what we know about it: The US now requires that people arriving here from the UK to test negative by a PCR or antigen test no more than 72 hours before departure.

Experts note that viruses always mutate. This virus, like many others, constantly acquires and loses genetic traits as it spreads.

Is more exercise part of your New Year's resolution?

With gyms and in-person exercise classes off-limits to many people these days because of COVID-19 concerns, it can be tricky to know where to start.

Follow this advice to return to exercise safely. 🧵 • ᴛᴀʟᴋ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀ

This is a must if you have a chronic health condition, recovering from an injury, or COVID-19.

But it’s also a good idea if you’re generally healthy—your doctor may have personalized advice to help you get the most out of your efforts.

How to use an air purifier when a family member has COVID? 🧵

To use a HEPA purifier at home to help prevent transmission of the virus to other family members, place the unit three feet from the person who is sick with COVID-19. Run it 24 hours a day on the highest setting that won’t disturb the sick person’s sleep.

In addition, keep the air purifier separated from anything that can obstruct airflow, such as curtains or furniture, and keep the door to the room closed.

One takeaway from today's #AppleEvent is that the new iPad will be ditching the lighting cable in favor of USB-C.

A lot of consumers are still confused about Type-C connectors and how they differ from all the other connectors out there.

So here's what you need to know 🧵: Type-C plugs can do the work of any other USB connector, but they are small enough to fit into mobile devices (like a phone or tablet) as well as computers.

They’re about the same size as Micro-B and just half of the height of Type-A ports.

Hurrican Sally is expected to make landfall on the Gulf Coast tonight.

For those evacuating, we recommend you pack 3-days worth of supplies, try to keep it lightweight but remember to pack your COVID protection supplies. Your kit should include a 3-day supply of items such as food, water, personal hygiene items, and cleaning & disinfectant supplies (hand sanitizer with 60% alcohol, and disinfecting wipes).

Remember to pack enough face masks for everyone in your household.

Children are returning to school this month but many are attending classes virtually this year.

For the millions of families who don't have reliable broadband access, the #digitaldivide is more prevalent than ever.

Here are a few resources that can help bridge the gap. (🧵) Reach out to your local school district.

Since the pandemic hit, school districts have been scrambling to provide laptops and tablets to students in need. Now many are focusing on WiFi access, too, partnering with city and state agencies, community groups to offer support.

We're excited to welcome our inaugural cohort of Digital Lab Fellows!

With support from @SloanFoundation, these five public interest technology researchers are focused on a range of emerging consumer harms, from connected devices to the data broker economy.

Meet the fellows: Kasia Chmielinski (@kaschm) of @Harvard will conduct research and build materials to support the Dataset Nutrition Label, a tool, and framework that encourages conscious and appropriate use of datasets.

Do you wear a seatbelt when riding in the back seat of a car? (thread) You should.

Unbelted rear-seat occupants are eight times more likely to be injured and twice as likely to die as belted rear-seat occupants in a crash

Americans across the country have been organizing protests all summer in support of equality and social justice.

Make sure to take these precautions to protect yourself and your privacy while protesting peacefully.

(🧵) Before attending a protest, understand the risks involved. To start, we are still in a global pandemic and #COVID19 is still a concern.

You can minimize your exposure by staying outside, wearing masks and maintaining social distance.

See more tips here:
consumerreports.org/coronavirus/ho…

As wildfires continue to burn through California, residents in surrounding areas may begin shopping for air purifiers.

As you begin your search here are some things to keep in mind. (🧵) Not all air purifiers do a good job removing smoke particulates. As a group, the most effective against smoke have a HEPA filter, which uses a fan to force air through a fine mesh to trap particles.

A few weeks ago, @publicknowledge convened a panel discussion: How Do We Move Beyond Consent Models in Privacy Legislation?

CR’s @stephtngu detailed the discussion in @Medium: medium.com/cr-digital-lab…

Here are the key takeaways (thread): This event featured:
-@SenSherrodBrown
-@SNolanCollins, Policy Counsel at @publicknowledge
-@ygetachew2, Director for Media & Democracy Program at @CommonCause
-@MarechalPhD, Senior Policy Analyst at @rankingrights
-@stephtngu, Researcher at CR
-@JoeProf, Professor at @Penn

#ICYMI: Epic Games filed a lawsuit against @Apple claiming that Apple is abusing its market position to extract money unfairly from apps (and by extension, from consumers)

They publicly announced their lawsuit yesterday with this video; a remake of Apple’s iconic “1984" ad.
(🧵)

https://twitter.com/FortniteGame/status/1294006412931223552

The ad aired nationally once, during the 1984 Superbowl; announcing @Apple’s new Macintosh computer.

What was innovative about the ad was the portrayal that “big brother” controlled the representation of tech.

Some believe this was a message to @IBM.

Social media is overflowing with lies, hoaxes, and misinformation. These types of posts can be really hard to spot, and social media platforms don’t always help.

Here are the misinformation policies behind some of social’s leading companies: consumerreports.org/social-media/s… One of the major reasons social media platforms fail to police misinformation is because their policies are "confusing, unclear, or contradictory,” says CR’s @funnymonkey

In what ways will the #coronavirus pandemic impact your future? As states begin lifting restrictions, our May 2020 survey sheds a revealing light on how Americans feel. More black and Hispanic Americans are highly concerned than white Americans about the virus’ spread.

(1/9) Here’s a challenge: Do you know the names of common attachments for canister and upright vacuums and what they’re meant to help clean? (2/9) The airflow brush. You can maneuver it into tight spaces where the larger powerhead won’t fit. Some manufacturers say you can use it for upholstery, too.

Now is the time to assess finances impacted by the #coronavirus crisis. Consider these key takeaways from our experts. (1/6) (2/6)

Winter's chill won't last forever. With spring on the horizon, our experts are hard at work testing lawn mowers at our testing facilities in Ft. Myers, Florida. Senior Editor @TobieStanger recently traveled down to sunny FL to watch the testers in action. Here’s a sneak peek: We test push, self-propelled, and riding lawn mowers for side discharge, mulching, bagging, even cutting, handling, and noise.

When it comes to cleaning, is vinegar good for... countertops?