Follow the old Christchurch-Little River railway line on two wheels, tracing history through shimmering lakes and thriving wetlands. Read...

Chris Bishop is rejecting criticism over a funding decision shifting Kainga Ora money to a walking and cycling bridge in his electorate. Read...

Chris Bishop is rejecting criticism over a decision to reallocate funds to a walking and cycling bridge in his electorate. Read...

Three friends returned to Chile to finish a leg of a 17,000-mile cycling trip they did in 1985. Read...

Cycling advocates are urging Auckland Transport not to bow to pressure from Simeon Brown and scrap a planned bike lane in East Auckland. Read...

Olympic champion Ellesse Andrews secured her first podium at the Track Cycling World Championships on the penultimate day of competition. Read...

If you’re paying year-round for subscriptions to Peacock, HBO Max, Disney+, or Hulu, you’re probably wasting money. While each of these services has raised prices this year, you can get them at a discount as part of various food delivery, grocery, and credit card services. The total cost will be less that what you’d pay for each service alone; plus, you’ll get some extra perks on the side. Here’s how to take advantage. Walmart+ includes Peacock for less than the price of Peacock Walmart’s alternative to Amazon Prime costs $96 per year and includes your choice of either Peacock or Paramount+ (both with ads). Peacock alone costs $110 per year now, so you’ll save $14 annually by getting it through Walmart+, whose other perks include free shipping, prescription deliveries, and discounts on gas. The savings are greater for AARP members, who get $40 off Walmart+ with the same streaming benefits. Walmart also offers half-price memberships to folks who quality for various government assistance programs. (Getting Paramount+ through Walmart+ isn’t as a great of a deal, since that service only has a value of $60 per year, but you can switch between the two services once every three months.) What about ad-free? Unfortunately you can’t upgrade to Peacock’s ad-free plan via Walmart+. Instacart+ includes Peacock for less than Peacock by itself If you’re more interested in grocery delivery than free Walmart shipping, opt for Instacart+ instead. It includes Peacock’s ad-supported plan at no extra cost, and at $99 per year, it’s $11 cheaper than a Peacock subscription by itself. Instacart+ reduces fees on deliveries from grocery stores and restaurants, with the company claiming that it pays for itself after approximately two monthly orders. Either way, you’d come out ahead compared to the standalone cost of Peacock. What about ad-free? Unfortunately you can’t upgrade to Peacock’s ad-free plan with Instacart+. DoorDash DashPass includes HBO Max for less than HBO Max alone With an annual DashPass subscription, you can get HBO Max’s ad-supported plan at no extra cost. DashPass costs $96 per year, which is $14 less than HBO Max’s annual ad-supported plan after its latest price hikes. (Month-to-month DashPass subscriptions do not include HBO Max.) DashPass is DoorDash’s subscription service that reduces fees on food deliveries and offers some extra perks, such as restaurant deals and discounts on Lyft rides. Even if you never use those benefits, you’ll come out ahead compared to a standalone HBO Max subscription. What about ad-free? Upgrading to HBO Max’s ad-free plan with DashPass costs $11 per month, which works out to $228 per year. Given that HBO Max charges $185 per year for its Standard plan without ads, the DoorDash route isn’t worthwhile unless you were going to pay for DashPass either way. Kroger Boost lets you pick a Disney service for less than the standalone price The grocery megachain has its own delivery service with streaming included. With a Kroger Boost annual membership at $99 per year, you get a choice of ad-supported Disney+, Hulu, or ESPN Select (formerly ESPN+) at no extra cost. Disney+ and Hulu each cost $12 per month on their own, while ESPN Select costs $13 per month, so you’d save either $45 or $57 per year compared to each service’s standalone cost. Note that Kroger owns a bunch of other grocery store chains with their own branded Boost memberships, including Fred Meyer, QFC, Ralph’s, Smith’s, and the fantastically-named King Soopers. Sign up with whichever Kroger-owned store offers Boost near you. What about ad-free? Unfortunately you can’t upgrade to ad-free Disney+ or Hulu. Get $7 per month toward any Disney service with a free Amex card Jared Newman / Foundry The American Express Blue Cash Everyday card offers an easy way to defray the cost of Disney+, Hulu, or ESPN. The card has no annual fee, and Cardholders get $84 in statement credit per year (or $7 per month) toward any Disney-owned streaming service. You might also consider Amex’s Blue Cash Preferred card, which bumps the Disney credit to $120 per year (or $10 per month) but has a $95 annual fee after the first year. This would be worthwhile if you spend a lot on groceries, as the card’s main benefit is six percent cash back on up to $6,000 in annual grocery spending. Either way, the credit can apply to either ad-supported or ad-free plans, and it’s valid for individual services or Disney’s various bundles. It’ll even stack with other discounts, such as Hulu’s Black Friday offer from last year. The only catch is that you must subscribe directly through the Disney+, Hulu, or ESPN websites. The credit won’t apply if you use Apple’s or Google’s in-app billing systems, for instance, or if you’re billed through HBO Max for a bundle that includes Disney+ and Hulu. Also, once you’ve activated the card, you must enroll in the Disney streaming credit separately. On the American Express site, just head to Rewards & Benefits, select the “Benefits” tab, then click the Disney offer to enroll. Why you might still want to skip these offers While the above offers make more sense than paying full price for any individual service year-round, you might still want to avoid them for several reasons: Annual commitments and ads: With the exception of Amex’s statement credit for Disney services, the above offers require an annual subscription, and most don’t allow for ad-free streaming. If you don’t mind cycling through streaming services one month at a time, you’ll come out far ahead of any annual plan. Other deals: Seasonal sales and come-back offers might be cheaper than any of the above offers. During Black Friday last year, for instance, Hulu offered 12 months of service for just $1 per month, while Peacock offered a full year for $20. (We don’t yet know what discounts will be available on Black Friday this year, though.) Better bundles: Instead of getting free streaming through a grocery or delivery service, you might be better off bundling streaming services together directly for a discount. A quick refresher: Apple TV and Peacock: $15 per month together, or $20 per month with ad-free Peacock. Disney+ and Hulu: $13 per month with ads, $20 per month without. Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max: $20 per month with ads, $33 per month ad-free. ESPN, Disney+, and Hulu: $36 per month with ads ($30 per month during the first year) ESPN and Fox One: $40 per month Starz and HBO Max (no ads): $22 per month when bundled through Prime Video. You can also get Hulu (with ads) for free with some T-Mobile plans, while Verizon offers a $10-per-month bundle of Netflix and HBO Max (both with ads). Unlike the offers I outlined earlier, these bundles cost more than any one service by itself, but they’re worth considering if you intend to pay for those services year round. As long as you’re not paying full price for each individual service, you’re doing it right. Sign up for Jared’s Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter for more money-saving advice. Read...

As someone who’s been using a standing desk for over a decade, I’ve ended up buying, trying, and reviewing all kinds of accessories over the years. A lot of them have improved my overall standing desk experience, but I’ve also run into several that are fun and interesting but extravagant, expensive, excessive, and downright ridiculous. When I say “ridiculous,” I don’t mean “pointless” or “terrible.” Most of them have legitimate uses… and a few of them I actually want! But they do make you raise an eyebrow and wonder. Even if they seem cool, they’re kind of hard to justify. That’s what I mean. With that said, here are some of the most fun, silly, and truly ridiculous standing desk accessories I’ve encountered. Bottle opener Jon Martindale / Foundry I might look forward to cracking open a cold one at the end of a workday, but I’m not sure I need a bottle opener built into my desk or added on as an accessory. I already have a novelty keyring that can pop open bottle caps, plus I have an actual one lying in a drawer somewhere. Worst case? I can always pry the top off with a spoon. OK, sure, having a bottle opener built into the desk right there is marginally useful, but who’s opening so many bottles at their desk that something like this is really needed? Why not just tuck a standard bottle opener in a drawer and call it a day? This is just plain unnecessary. Punching bag Jon Martindale / Foundry I get frustrated at work sometimes. We all do, I think. But enough to lash out with a need to punch something? Probably not. Yeah, it’s funny the first few times you do it, but that novelty fades fast. Honestly, this thing is more of a speed bag than a heavy bag—and it has a nice whip-back action—but I’m not exactly practicing head movement at my desk. And no matter how much I tighten it, I can’t help but wince as my monitors wobble around every time I strike it. It’s a fun idea and a novel conversation starter for anyone who happens to visit my office, but I think if you want a stress relief tool that you can safely use at your desk, I’d recommend these desk fidget toys. Leather desk pad @emiebel / Ergonofis A leather desk pad isn’t so much ridiculous as it is unnecessary. This thing harkens back to a day where leather surfaces were a premium, but these days I’d rather just have a neoprene mat that’s as comfortable, way cheaper, more washable, and less prone to damage. While I love the look of the leather desk pad that Ergonofis sent me, it blocks the view of my lovely butcher block desk underneath and leaves me paranoid about using it with care. (It’s so expensive, I worry too much about scuffing it or worse.) This might be great for someone with deep pockets, but for over $200? It’s not for me. All the different keypads Uplift All electric standing desks come with some form of keypad for raising and lowering the desktop, but did you know there are all kinds of keypad upgrades on the market? Yeah, it’s kind of crazy. There are flappy keypads that can adjust the desk height just by slapping at them, and light-up RGB keypads for gamers, and advanced keypads that store 5+ different preset heights… and I’m here to tell you that they’re all ridiculous. No, you don’t need them. Really. Jon Martindale / Foundry Trust me, I’ve been using a standing desk for 10+ years and you only need two height settings: the one for when you’re standing and the one for when you’re sitting. That’s it! If you’re sharing your desk with someone else, okay, that might warrant a third setting. And if you really love RGB bling, then maybe a gamer-style keypad would be good for you. But for everyone else, paying more just to change what moves your desk up and down is unnecessary. Under-desk hammock Jon Martindale / Foundry This is the one that always used to catch my eye when I’d scan the standing desk accessory pages of Uplift and other companies. I’ve seen a few people use it at major LAN parties before, but it never looked very comfortable. Plus, the idea of people just walking past where I’m sleeping meant I never thought to give it a try. As you can see from the image above, I recently took the plunge and… I’m not impressed. My back hated me 10 minutes after I got in it, and sleeping in it for any extended period of time seems impossible. If I were feeling skeptical, I’d say this was a gimmick product to draw attention to standing desks. It has certainly always grabbed my eyes. Digging a little deeper, the under-desk hammock feels like an embrace of crunch culture. I could imagine it being used as an upsell during an employment interview. “Everyone gets their own standing desk and it even has a hammock underneath!” Sleep at my desk, huh? Not going to happen, especially when I have a bed just down the hall. Dog beds Jon Martindale / Foundry If I’m not going to sleep at my desk, I don’t see why my pup needs to either. Uplift sells a very small dog bed—as you can see above, my svelte 20-pound French Bulldog mix is basically spilling out of it—that’s designed to fit in the desktop PC “CPU holder” extension that lifts your system up and down with the desk. It’s handy for preventing stretched cables and keeping the PC up off dusty floors. But for a dog? Come on. Uplift Firstly, small dogs shouldn’t be lifted off the floor to a height they’ll struggle to safely get down from. Secondly, they don’t need any help with their Napoleon complexes. Keep those little guys down where they belong: on the floor in a bed that’s appropriately sized. Cup holders Jon Martindale / Foundry I’m a clumsy guy, so I get not wanting to spill your drink on paperwork, electronics, fancy board games, or whatever else you might have on your desk. I really do. In fact, I have cup holders on my board gaming table for this exact reason. But a standing desk is a desk—and honestly, standing or not, a coaster is more than enough. If you’re particularly prone to knocking over drinks and don’t trust yourself, that’s fair enough… but $20 or even $30 just to hold a drink that you can easily place on the desk? I don’t think so. Headphone stand Jon Martindale / Foundry Headphones can be big, bulky, and take up a lot of valuable desktop space. I’m not entirely against the idea of reclaiming desk space with a good headphone mount. But some of the standing desk headphone stands on the market are plain ridiculous. Look at this Uplift one. It’s certainly classy and it provides a unique aesthetic when the wood is paired to the desk, but just look at the size of that thing. It takes up as much room as my SteelSeries Arctis Pro Wireless headset, so what good is it doing? And if you order it with the wood block, you’ll be billed closer to $50. Eesh… A simple hook on the underside of the desk can do the same job with a smaller physical footprint at a fraction of the price. Under-desk exercise bike Flexispot If you’ve seen my article on why I’m a standing desk convert, you’ll know I’m a big fan of moving around while standing. I use an under-desk walking treadmill, I rock back and forth on a balance board, and I’ve even tried cycling at my desk. (See my experience with under-desk treadmills!) I had a Flexispot desk bike for a few months and it did help me burn some serious calories as I sweated away while typing or gaming. But my problem with it? Desk bikes just aren’t sustainable. The bike seat isn’t designed for long-term use and it quickly adds… let’s say “too much pressure” to what you’re sitting on. It simply isn’t comfortable, and in my case it was overall deleterious to my health. Desk bikes are massive, unwieldy, and not really compatible with home office or work environments. They’re worse than simple treadmills. Your mileage may vary here, but I’m squaring these away as ridiculous. Bluetooth controller Ergodesks I’m all for convenience, but if I’m going to work at a standing desk, I really don’t mind waiting the five or so seconds it takes for the desk to reach my desired height. Most of the time, I don’t even have to touch it because it’s where I left it the day before. So paying over $100 for the ability to set the desk height “remotely” is peak ridiculous. Admittedly, I haven’t actually used one of these Bluetooth standing desk controllers—but going off my past experience with a million other Bluetooth accessories, I’m willing to bet it takes longer to whip out your phone and open the appropriate app than it does to just press the dang physical button that’s already there on the desk itself. Home automation nerds might have fun with the novelty of an auto-adjusting desk height when you walk into the room (or something like that), but that’s a whole other level of unnecessary ridiculousness. It’s not for me and not what I’d recommend for anyone else. If you’re interested to know what I would recommend, check out my article on standing desk accessories that are worth the money. Read...

If you’re into MMOs, then you need a proper mouse to fire all your skills and spell combos with ease. The Razer Naga V2 HyperSpeed is the mouse for that, and right now it’s available for 38% off. That means you can grab it for just $62.49, considerably less than its original $99.99 and close to its cheapest sale price of all time. The Razer Naga V2 HyperSpeed isn’t just uber-fast with a 30K optical sensor, but it also comes with an insanely high number of programmable buttons. I’m talking a total of 19 buttons that you can set up to do whatever you need, with 12 of them being on the side of the mouse. Just imagine playing World of Warcraft and cycling through your action rotation without touching your keyboard. Fantastic! The Naga V2 HyperSpeed also features Razer’s HyperScroll technology, which allows you to quickly scroll through all the content you need at blazing speed, even entering free-spin mode. It’s totally wireless—with both 2.4GHz and Bluetooth options—also has excellent battery life, with a single AA battery providing almost 400 hours of usage, which is pretty great because you won’t be spending a fortune on batteries. If you’re into MMOs, you’ll love the convenience of a button-loaded wireless mouse like this. Get the Razer Naga V2 HyperSpeed for $62.49 while you still can and level up your MMO experience! The Razer Naga V2 HyperSpeed is a dream for all MMO gamersGet the Naga V2 mouse for 38% off Read...

In the near future, according to a recent news release, Meta wants to systematically save and analyze its users’ conversations with the company’s own AI chatbot on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook. The initiative will begin starting December 16th, 2025, initially outside the EU and UK where stricter data protection laws will force a later introduction. The data will be used to further personalize advertising and content, and it won’t be possible to opt out. Meta wants to study your AI chats According to Meta, all user inputs to the AI chatbot in WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook will be stored and analyzed. The company wants to use this data to personalize advertising and content. Anyone who talks to the AI about topics such as cycling or cooking, for example, could start receiving targeted ads for bicycles or kitchen appliances. Users might also start getting suggestions and recommendations for relevant groups and posts. Meta emphasizes that sensitive information—such as health, religion, or political views—won’t be used for advertising purposes. Nevertheless, that kind of data is still technically collected and processed in order to provide the AI functions. No way to opt out of data collection There won’t be a way to keep using the AI chatbot while also opting out of data collection and analysis. If you don’t want Meta to read and study your conversations for advertising purposes, your only option is to stop conversing with the AI chatbot altogether. WhatsApp offers an option for blocking the automatic integration of AI. To do this, open the relevant chat, go to the settings, and activate the “Advanced chat privacy” option. This must be done for each chat. Note that Meta plans to compile the AI chat data collected across platforms. Anyone who has linked their accounts in the “Accounts Center” must be aware that AI interactions on one platform can also influence the display of advertising on another. Meta says it won’t analyze private end-to-end encrypted messages between real contacts. Only AI conversations. Launch in Europe still up in the air While the new policy is due to come into force in most regions worldwide starting December, the launch date for the EU and UK remains unclear. Meta is still examining how the changes can be reconciled with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws. According to the company, over one billion people already use Meta’s AI services, including the chatbot and the “Imagine me” image function. What does this mean for users? In the future, anyone who chats with Meta AI will have their full conversations stored and examined by Meta. As the data analysis can’t be deactivated after its introduction, the only protective measure you can take is to not use any Meta AI features. (In WhatsApp only, you can activate chat data protection on a per-chat basis.) For more information, check Meta’s privacy policy. Read...