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Streaming service price hikes are happening all around, but there’s good news for students. Entertainment-seeking pupils may be able to take advantage of deals that keep the cost of streaming low.

Services like Peacock and Amazon Music Unlimited provide discounts for students who qualify, and students may be eligible for bundles of multiple services, such as the combo Spotify and Hulu or Apple Music and Apple TV Plus. While offers for eligible high schoolers are out there, post-high school students appear to have the most opportunities to score.

If you plan to stream during the school year, see if you qualify for one of these deals.

Demand for IT experts is only growing, particularly in cybersecurity. If you’ve been considering taking the leap into cybersecurity, now is a great time to start. You can get lifetime access to the The 2023 Ultimate Advanced CyberSecurity Professional Certification Bundle for just $79 right now, saving you hundreds off what it would cost you to take each course individually. But if you’re interested, act soon, because this offer isn’t going to stick around for long.

You’ll get access to a ton of content and courses including some on cybersecurity and risk management frameworks as well as courses from CompTIA and others. A total of almost 176 hours of content is now available for one payment across five different courses including:

• NIST Cybersecurity & Risk Management Frameworks
• (ISC) CISSP – 2021
• ISACA Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
• CompTIA CASP+ (CAS-004)
• CompTIA CASP+ (CAS-003)

Read more: Best Identity Theft Protection and Monitoring Services for 2022

X, the company formerly known as Twitter, has gotten rid of free access to its productivity-minded TweetDeck platform. Now renamed to XPro, the platform is only available as a perk in the X Premium subscription service.

A support account for the company known as X posted on July 3 that the change was coming and that in 30 days, users must be Verified — aka, must pay $8 a month on desktop or $11 on Android or iOS for X Premium — to access “a new, improved version” of what is now called XPro.

Several of XPro’s listed features have already existed in TweetDeck, while new perks include advanced search, continuing to watch a post’s video while scrolling through XPro and choosing whether to view top posts or latest posts in columns.

The X Support post noted that Teams functionality would be unavailable and “restored in the coming weeks,” but it’s unclear if that has happened. X didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

This is the latest in a series of changes to Twitter, now X, after Elon Musk acquired it in October 2022. Under his leadership, the company introduced a new subscription program and verification system before getting rid of Twitter branding and, most recently, changing X’s app icon to look dirty and smudged for some reason.

The company formerly known as Twitter paid $40 million in 2011 to acquire TweetDeck, then a third-party desktop client popular with power users of the social media platform. But it may not have been all Musk’s idea to restrict TweetDeck to only paid users — a month before Musk made his initial bid for the social media platform, a March 2022 code leak suggested Twitter was looking into adding TweetDeck to its Twitter Blue subscription perks.

For now, visiting TweetDeck’s old URL (tweetdeck.twitter.com) redirects users to X’s homepage with a popup prompting them to subscribe to X Premium. Visiting Xpro.com leads to a completely different company.

Summer is almost over, but you still have time to finish your back-to-school shopping. And we’re not just talking about notebooks, pens, pencils and the usual school supplies. We’re talking about the essential tech gadgets that’ll help make the school year a lot easier. We’re here to help by providing a list of some of the best gear for limited budgets — and these gadgets are all punching above their price tag. These are the back-to-school essentials under $100 that we heartily recommend.

More back-to-school recommendations

• 8 Back-to-School College Essentials to Keep in Your Backpack
• Great Back-to-School Gifts for Your Teacher
• Best Lunch Boxes and Backpacks to Take Back to School
• 15 Dorm Room Essentials You Need From Amazon Now
• Free Apps You Need to Download Before Starting College

If you’re an avid shopper at large retail stores like Walmart, Target and Amazon, listen up, because you could be saving (and earning) money each time you shop. These stores have rewards programs that pay you to shop, as well as members-only deals you can cash in on.

Be aware that for some of these stores, you’ll need to have a paid subscription to gain access to freebies and benefits. For instance, Walmart Cash is only available to those who have a Walmart Plus account. But reward programs from other stores, such as Target, don’t have any paid requirements.

We’ll tell you all about the rewards you can get from Walmart, Amazon, Target and Best Buy. For more, here’s how to get shipping costs cut at major retailers.

Target Circle rewards

If you’re not a Target Circle member and you regularly shop at Target, it’s time to sign up today (it’s free). Being a member gets you perks like 1% cash back on purchases, digital coupons and personalized bonus offers. I shop regularly at my local store, and Target has the best rewards program, in my opinion.

You can use the cash back you receive on future purchases, whether you’re shopping in-store or online. The coupons typically give you anywhere from 5% off to 30% off, depending on the product. You can also earn cash rewards by making qualifying purchases.

Also, as a Target Circle member, you get extended trial subscriptions through Target partners like Apple and TripAdvisor.

Walmart Cash

If you’ve got a Walmart Plus membership, you can earn Walmart Cash on purchases. With this new loyalty program, you can earn Walmart Cash through manufacturer offers on select items and the Walmart Plus Travel promotions.

Walmart Cash can be redeemed on purchases in stores or online and never expires. Even if you cancel your Walmart Plus subscription, you can keep the cash you’ve accumulated.

You can also cash out in the store if you have a minimum of $25 in Walmart Cash. The maximum amount you can redeem for cash is $100 a day, $700 a week and $2,000 a month. If you’re redeeming it on a purchase in store or online, you can use up to $2,000 in Walmart Cash per day.

Amazon Prime

While Amazon doesn’t offer rewards for just anyone, it does have its Prime membership that includes a slew of perks to paying subscribers. For instance, free same-, one- or two-day delivery on most items and Amazon Fresh discounts. You also get access to Prime Video, as well as free games and a Twitch channel subscription.

But what about rewards? As a subscriber, you receive Prime member-only prices on products and exclusive deals. You also get special access to Prime Day deals. And if you have an Amazon Visa credit card, you’ll earn rewards when you shop, which convert to points you can use when you spend money in future. You don’t even have to be a Prime member to use the credit card and points.

My Best Buy rewards

Best Buy has a rewards program, My Best Buy, with three tiers. The first one is free and comes with free standard shipping on any purchase. My Best Buy Plus ($50 a year) offers free two-day shipping, along with exclusive member prices, sales and events and a 60-day return policy. My Best Buy Total ($180 a year) offers all of the above, plus protection plans, tech support around the clock, VIP member support and 20% off repairs.

Depending on how regularly you shop at Best Buy, you may choose to go with one of the paid tiers for extra perks. But in any case, it never hurts to sign up for a free membership to get free shipping with any purchase.

In addition, if you’ve got a My Best Buy credit card, you can receive 5% off your purchases.

For more, check out these restaurants that offer free rewards on your birthday. Headed back to school? These are the best deals you can find on Amazon.

If you’re in the market for a stunning OLED TV, it doesn’t get much better than LG’s C Series. We we’re impressed by last year’s C2 model — which we named the best high-end TV overall — and right now you’ve got a chance to snag a next-gen model at a serious discount. Amazon currently has the new 65-inch LG C3 OLED 4K TV on sale for $1,947, which saves you over $650 and is the absolute lowest price we’ve seen since this TV first hit shelves in the spring. Though there’s no set expiration for this deal, so you may want to get your order in sooner rather than later if you don’t want to miss out on these savings.

According to CNET’s resident TV expert David Katzmaier, the LG OLED C3 Series “sets the standard for high-end TV picture quality.” It features a stunning self-lit OLED 4K display, as well as Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG support for vibrant colors, sharp contrast and dazzling brightness. And its new sixth-gen A9 processor uses AI to automatically upscale the look and sound of your shows and movies for a better experience. It also supports Dolby Atmos for immersive, room-filling sound, and has a dedicated filmmaker mode, which makes it a great choice for serious cinephiles. It’s a great pick for gamers thanks to its fluid 120Hz refresh rate and impressive 0.1ms response time. And with an ultra-thin bezel, it has a sleek look that won’t clash with your home’s decor.

If you’re in the market for a different size or model, you can check out our full roundup of all the best TV deals for even more great bargains.

There’s now a one-stop shop for Google users to learn more about the tech giant’s product policies, including reporting inappropriate content or appealing a ban from a Google service. The company’s new Transparency Center, was unveiled Thursday in a blog post by David Graff, Google’s vice president of trust and safety.

“The Transparency Center collects existing resources and policies, and was designed with you in mind, providing easy access to information on our policies, how we create and enforce them, and much more,” the announcement reads.

It goes on to note that the site will include information on Google’s policy development process, its policies by product or service, reporting and appeal tools, transparency reports, and Google’s principles for privacy and artificial intelligence.

“As the online threat landscape changes, our policies evolve, helping to prevent abuse on our platforms,” Graff wrote in the post. “And since the uses of our products differ, we tailor our policies to each platform, aiming to create a safe and positive experience for everyone. With the Transparency Center, you can learn about our policy development process, how we enforce our policies, and view each policy by product and service.”

Perhaps the most practical use of the Transparency Center will be the option to report harmful content and to appeal bans or other enforcement actions. The site has a page dedicated to appeals and reporting. And a safety section explains the company’s work in security, noting that Gmail blocks over 100 million phishing attempts every day.

“Our appeals process aims to ensure due process, efficiency and transparency for users appealing our enforcement decisions,” the post notes.

Google first launched transparency reports over a decade ago, and they can now be viewed in full on the site.

If you’ve looked at the app logo for X, formerly Twitter, on your phone recently, you may’ve thought your screen was dirty. I know I did. But after trying to clean my screen more times than I’d like to admit, it appears that’s just how the new app tile looks. Unkempt and unwell.

The new logo is just one of a handful of new changes, like the subscription program and the new verification system, that Elon Musk has brought to the platform since purchasing it in 2022. And this isn’t the first time the app logo has changed since the purchase.

On July 23, Musk posted on the platform that Twitter’s bird logo would soon vanish.

And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 23, 2023

The bird logo was replaced with a simple white x, from the font Special Alphabets 4, on a black background. And now it appears the logo’s black background has some white streaks in it, which can resemble smudges or maybe scratches on your device’s screen.

See also: Threads: Everything to Know About Meta’s Twitter Alternative

It’s unclear if this will be the permanent app logo. X didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

For more, here’s how you can permanently delete your account on X and what to know about X’s new CEO, Linda Yaccarino.

When you think about some of the best headphones and earbuds available today, Sennheiser can’t be all that far from your mind. And now you can pick up some of the company’s most popular wares with up to 50% slashed off the normal price.

Products like the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 earbuds are already well reviewed at full price, so imagine what people would make of them with a discount.

Right now there are a number of different headphones and earbuds available as part of an Amazon sale that ranges from 13% off all the way to a full 50% discount. The largest price cut comes to the Sennheiser CX Plus earbuds, making them available for less than $90. The aforementioned Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 earbuds aren’t far behind thanks to 43% savings — order now and you’ll pay just $150 instead of the usual $280.

The deals continue. How about the Sennheiser HD 600 audiophile headphones with a 34% discount that brings the price down to $299 from $450? No fewer than 10 different Sennheiser products are part of this sale, so before you make your buying decision, be sure to check the deal landing page for the full lowdown on what’s available.

When it comes to earbuds, make sure to check that your preferred color is discounted before ordering. Another thing worth remembering is that Amazon hasn’t said when these prices will go back to their usual levels. Consider placing your order soon if you want to be sure to get the price that’s available today.

On Thursday, Apple Arcade added Kingdoms: Merge & Build, a medieval-themed puzzle game, to its library of games. If you subscribe to Apple Arcade ($5, 5 or AU$8 a month), you can play this game at no additional charge, and without ads or in-app purchases.

This game was developed by Cherrypick Games, which also developed mobile games like My Spa Resort and Golf Solitaire TriPeaks Cards!

Kingdoms: Merge & Build is a match-two puzzle game where you have to combine certain items to form new items and resources. Like in this game, crafting two hammers together make a shovel — don’t ask me how. This title is also a kingdom-builder game where you have to use your new items and resources to rebuild homes, markets and more in your kingdom after a disaster struck.

While you craft items and rebuild your home, you’re also working to uncover the mystery of what happened to the last king who vanished right before the kingdom collapsed. Surely those two instances aren’t connected or anything.

You can play this game, and many others, in Apple Arcade for $5 a month, or $60 annually. You can also try Apple Arcade for free for one month with your first sign-up, or you can get a three-month free trial whenever you buy a new Apple device. To access Apple Arcade, open the App Store on your iOS device and tap the joystick in the menu bar.