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New York State may soon have its own legislation to prevent crypto scandals on par with FTX's downfall. Attorney General Letitia James has proposed a law, the CRPTO Act (Crypto Regulation, Protection, Transparency and Oversight), that's meant to thwart cryptocurrency fraud and protect investors. Whether or not it's the "strongest and most comprehensive" set of crypto regulations that James touts, it would theoretically prevent repeats of some high-profile incidents.

The CRPTO Act would bar conflicts of interest, such as owning multiple practices or marketplaces that trade for their own accounts. Companies would have to publicly report financial statements, including risk disclosures. There would be a host of investor safeguards, such as "know-your-customer" requirements, compensation for fraud victims and a ban on stablecoins (crypto coins whose value is tied to a safe asset) that aren't pegged directly to US currency or "high-quality" liquid assets.

The bill would let the Attorney General's office shut down lawbreakers and fine $10,000 per violation for individuals, and $100,000 per violation for companies. The office would also have the power to issue subpoenas and demand damages, penalties and restitution. The Department of Financial Services, meanwhile, would be ensured authority to license various crypto service providers.

James pointed to multiple real-world examples of alleged abuse the CRPTO act would potentially stop. Terraform Labs, for instance, promised a very high 20 percent interest rate to investors in one token on its marketplace if they bought the company's other token, supposedly hiding the assets' real value. Celsius, meanwhile, bought up its own token and created an artificial appearance of demand. That left investors "caught by surprise" when Celsius declared bankruptcy, according to the Attorney General.

The federal government is already cracking down on crypto fraud. The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) believe existing rules already cover numerous crypto-related activities, and in some cases have jockeyed to claim primary responsibility for regulating the technology. Politicians in the House and Senate are pushing for nationwide regulations. New York's efforts go one step further by tackling crypto-specific problems, though, and the state's role as a financial hub may effectively let it dictate policies guiding firms across the US.

Bipedal locomotion is the worst. You take a step forward and you end up standing there, legs akimbo, until you repeat the process with your other foot. And then do it again, and again, and again — back and forth, left and right, like a putz, until you reach your destination: hopefully, somewhere to sit.

Even worse, walking requires real physical effort. For our distant ancestors migrating into colder climates, slogging through mud and snow and across ice, on foot, quickly ate into their already tight caloric budgets, limiting the distances they could hunt and travel. Sure, the advent of wheels in the fourth millennia BC drastically improved our transportation options but it would be nearly another 6,000 years before we’d think to strap them to our feet.

A 2007 study by a team out of Oxford University and published in Biological Journal of the Linnean Society of London suggests that the practice of ice skating potentially emerged in Finland based on evidence from a set of bone “skates” dated to around 1800 BC. The team argued that the region’s large number of interconnected waterways, which froze over every winter, was the only place in the ancient world cold enough and flat enough to make strapping horse shins to the bottoms of our feet make caloric sense. In fact, the research team found that these skates — even if they were only a quarter as efficient and quick as modern models — offered a ten percent energy savings versus traveling the same route by foot, which added an extra 20 km total distance to travel each day.

“Ice skates were probably the first human powered locomotion tools to take the maximum advantage from the biomechanical properties of the muscular system: even when traveling at relatively high speeds,” the team argued. “The skating movement pattern required muscles to shorten slowly so that they could also develop a considerable amount of force.”

The practice also appears in western China. In March, archaeologists discovered 3,500-year-old skates made from oxen and horse bone in the country's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The dig team, led by archaeologist Ruan Qiurong of the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology, argued that their skates bear striking similarities to those found previously in Europe, suggesting a potential knowledge exchange between the two Bronze Age civilizations.

It wouldn’t be until the mid-1700s that the wheeled variety made their first appearance. Those early bespoke prototypes served in London stage shows as props to simulate ice skating winter scenes, though the identity of their creators has been lost to history. 18th century Belgian clock- and instrument-maker, John Joseph "The Ingenious Mechanic" Merlin, is credited with devising the first inline roller skate, a two-wheeled contraption he dubbed “skaites” and unveiled in the 1760s.

"One of his ingenious novelties was a pair of skaites contrived to run on wheels.” Thomas Busby's Concert Room and Orchestra Anecdotes mentioned in 1805, “when not having provided the means of retarding his velocity, or commanding its direction, he impelled himself against a mirror of more than five hundred pounds value, dashed it to atoms, broke his instrument to pieces and wounded himself most severely."

By the middle of the 19th century, roller skating had migrated out of the art house scene and into the public consciousness. London’s first public roller rink, The Strand, opened in 1857 and set off a decades-long love affair with the English populace. As the burgeoning sport grew in popularity, the skates themselves quickly evolved to flatten the learning curve in taking up the activity.

Merlin’s early two-wheel inline design gave way to the classic four-wheel side-by-side (aka “quad”) build we all remember from the Disco Era. (New York City’s James Leonard Plimpton is credited with their invention in 1863.) Not only did Plimpton’s skates offer a more stable rolling platform, they were the first to incorporate “trucks,” the cushioned, pivoting axles that virtually all modern skates and skateboards use.

A dozen years later, someone finally got around to inventing proper wheel bearings. That someone being William Brown of Birmingham, England. He patented the first modern ball bearing design in 1876 and quickly followed that with a larger design for bicycles in 1877. These patents directly led to today’s ball bearing technology which we can find in everything from skateboards to semi-tractor trailers.

On modern skates, the rotating wheel and the stationary axel are separated by two hollow-disc shaped devices called bearings. These bearings are designed so that the inner and outer surfaces, which each sit in contact with the wheel and axle, can spin freely. They can do this because of a ring of small spherical metal balls sandwiched between the two plates, which roll and rotate without generating significant amounts of friction or heat (thanks to inventor Levant M. Richardson who patented the use of harder steel bearings in 1884), allowing the spinning wheels to do the same. The advent of this tech meant we no longer had to smear our axles with animal grease so that in and of itself right there is a win for humanity, saving us from a future where every indoor roller derby meet would smell of cooked pork fat.

With bearings in your wheels, it's far easier to pick up velocity and achieve a higher top speed, so rather than let the public go “full Merlin” at the local rink, the toe stop was invented in 1876. It remains a common fixture on modern quad skates as well as a select number of inlines - though those more commonly rely on heel stops instead. Despite their origins in the 18th century, The Peck & Snyder Company holds the patent for inline skates, two-wheeled ones at that, from 1900.

From the dawn of the 20th century, roller skating has been an intractable part of American culture despite generational swings in the pastime’s popularity. The sport rolled right over from the UK in the early 1900s and experienced an initial surge in popularity until the Great Depression hit in the 1930s.

To keep the interest of an economically stricken public, Chicago-based sports promoter Leo Selzer invented roller derby in 1935. Selzer had originally owned a string of movie theaters in Oregon but got into live event promotions when they became losing propositions during the economic downturn, which coincided with a national endurance competition fad (think marathon dancing and pole sitting competitions).

Derby as we know it today, grew out of Selzer’s early roller marathon idea. His inaugural Transcontinental Roller Derby in 1935 lasted several days and drew a crowd of more than 20,000 spectators. In 1937, Selzer tweaked the competition’s format to allow for more physicality between contestants and modern roller derby was born.

Derby, and skating in general, fell off during WWII, though many derby stars served abroad as USO entertainers for the troops. It saw a massive resurgence in the Post-War ‘40s and ‘50s when — just like with Rock & Roll and the Blues — white folks helped themselves to the already-established Black skating culture. Skating fell off a bit in the ‘60s but reemerged stronger than ever in the Disco Era when white folks came back around and did the same to queer culture.

At the tail end of the 1970’s the industry once again reinvented itself with the introduction of inline skates. In 1979, Scott and Brennan Olsen happened upon an old pair of inline prototypes in Minneapolis that had been developed a decade earlier by the Chicago Roller Skate Company. Competitive ice hockey players themselves, the two immediately saw its potential as an off-season training aid. By this point, inline skate designs had been patented for decades. The tech itself was known, but nobody had managed to make the wheeled boots commercially viable — until the brothers Olsen founded the Rollerblade company in 1980.

You’d think that we’d have learned from Icarus but no, in 1999, Roger Adams had the bright idea for Heelys: skates that were actually shoes but with small wheels mounted in the heels. Not to be outdone, Razor debuted the Jetts Heel Wheels — imaging just the back half of a set of quad skates but they’re driven by an electric motor that hits 10 mph for up to 30 minutes — in 2018.

And in 2022, our wheeled footwear aspirations came full circle with the release of Moonwalkers: quad skates that are worn like skates but are powered like Jetts and are designed for stepping, not pushing and gliding. Designed “to make you feel like you’re on a moving walkway,” these devices can reportedly accelerate your strides up to 250 percent and adapt to your gait as you use them.

If you have a PlayStation Plus subscription and the ability to log in to a PlayStation 5 (a console that's far easier to come by these days), it’s worth bearing in mind that Sony is offering access to a bunch of great PS4 games at no extra cost. You’ll need to act pretty quickly to snag them if you haven't already though, as the PS Plus Collection is going away on May 9th.

That means this weekend is your last chance to snap up 19 notable first-party and third-party games from the collection. In a similar fashion to the monthly games that Sony offers all PS Plus members, you'll have access to titles that you claim from the collection on both PS4 and PS5 as long as you remain a subscriber. 

You'll need to claim them on a PS5 console, rather than on PS4 or the web version of the PlayStation Store. To do so, go to the Benefits section of the PS Plus tab. The games in the PS Plus Collection are:

• Batman: Arkham Knight

• Battlefield 1

• Bloodborne

• Call of Duty: Black Ops III (Zombies Chronicles Edition)

• Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy

• Days Gone

• Detroit: Become Human

• Fallout 4

• Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition

• God of War (2018)

• Infamous Second Son

• The Last Guardian

• The Last of Us Remastered

• Monster Hunter World

• Mortal Kombat X

• Ratchet and Clank

• Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

• Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

• Until Dawn

There's something for just about everyone on that list, though it got a little shorter last May when Sony removed Persona 5. The Last of Us, God of War, Bloodborne and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End are among the most highly regarded PlayStation titles (even if versions of all those except Bloodborne are nowavailableon PC). Some of the games, such as God of War and Ratchet and Clank, have been updated to optimize them for PS5.

It's worth noting that most of the games in the collection are also available to PS Plus Premium and Extra subscribers, so it's a better deal if you're on the Essential plan. However, Sony has started rotating some of its first-party games out of the Premium and Extra catalogs. Claiming the games from the PS Plus Collection now will ensure you have permanent access to them — as long as you keep paying for your subscription, of course.

Ever wish your Fortnite skills could lead to Olympic glory? They can now. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has addedFortnite to the Olympic Esports Finals lineup. A dozen players from the Fortnite Champion Series will participate in an International Shooting Sport Federation-backed sharpshooting competition on a special Fortnite Creative Island. There won't be any last-one-standing battles or building demonstrations, then, but this will give you a chance to see some of the world's best virtual sport shooters in action.

Simultaneously, the IOC has opened up ticket sales for the Olympic Esports Week, which centers on the first in-person finals of the 2023 competition series. If you can make it to Singapore between June 22nd and June 25th, it will cost you 10 SGD (about $7.50) to attend one day or 20 SGD ($15) for the three days of competition starting June 23rd. The Fortnite sport shooting matches take place June 24th. You can stream the events through both Olympics.com and the Olympics' social media channels.

The Olympic Esports Series already included nine games that roughly line up with real-world sports run by international federations. The mix includes Just Dance, Gran Turismo racing, Zwift cycling and even web chess. It's a follow-up to the Olympic Virtual Series from 2021, which covered five digital sports. The IOC sees this as part of a broader effort to foster esports and connect with the video game community.

The addition of a Fortnite island is in step with the Committee's esports goals: this is a "peaceful competition" with a physical equivalent. You still aren't about to see a digital Olympics featuring Counter-Strike 2 or League of Legends. With that said, Fortnite is clearly the most popular game to reach the Esports Series. Theoretically, that could bring in audiences who would otherwise pass in favor of conventional esports tourneys.

Luddites had the right of things all the way back in the 1800s. When textile factory owners in early 19th century England used the industrialization of their industry as an excuse to underpay and overwork employees in dangerous, dehumanizing conditions, the secret organization of workers set about smashing the machines of the capitalists who exploited them. Today, the Writers’ Guild of America faces a similar threat from those in control of a new transformative technology, generative AI, and it’s part of the reason they’re currently on strike for better working conditions.

On March 7, 2023, WGA members voted to approve the 2023 Pattern of Demands by a count of 5,553 voting yes to 90 no’s. On Tuesday morning, more than 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America shut Hollywood down for the first time since 2007 when they last had to fight for their livelihoods.

“Though we negotiated intent on making a fair deal … the studios’ responses to our proposals have been wholly insufficient, given the existential crisis writers are facing,” read a statement from WGA leadership to CNN on Wednesday. “They have closed the door on their labor force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession. No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership.”

As such, the guild is demanding significant increases to the industry’s minimum compensation “to address the devaluation of writing in all areas of television, new media and features” as well as standardize the amount writers are paid writing for streaming or theatrically released features, among a host of other long-deferred needs. The guild is also looking towards the future in its negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) in efforts to prevent the studios’ from using AI and their own words) to put WGA writers out of work.

“It is not the tool itself, it's not an objection to the tool,” WGA member and writer behind Sinister,Doctor Strange and The Black Phone, C. Robert Cargill told Engadget regarding generative AI systems. “What we have asked of the studios is that they do not generate any material themselves that they have not been handed by writers.”

This is because writing contracts in Hollywood are very specific about the circumstances of how credit is attributed because residual payments are paid out based on them, Cargill explains. For example, writing the first draft of a feature pays at a higher rate than the subsequent rewrites and the amount of residuals the first screenwriter receives depends on what percentage of their original script made it into the final product.

“The fear here is very simple,” Cargill said, and one that is already being realized in the wake of the strike’s launch. “Which is, they get an idea and they put it into one of the generative programs… and then it kicks out something that looks like a script. Then what they do is they hand it over to a writer and say, ‘we're going to pay you your rewrite wage to go ahead and make it sound more like a human wrote it and to fix any of the problems.”

This would essentially preclude human — more importantly, unionized — writers from earring the highest pay rate while forcing them to still perform the highest pay grade work. “What Hollywood can be doing is cutting us out of that very lucrative first step of generating the initial script and story ideas,” he said.

The guild is also, rightfully, concerned with the potential for their existing writing content be used to train future iterations of generative AIs. “I had a fan reach out to me because he was playing around with [ChatGPT] a few weeks ago and wanted to get a couple ideas to a horror story,” Cargill recalled. “He says, ‘Give me some horror prompts based on, I want to write a horror movie that is a mystery thriller, I want it to be creepy and kind of like Sinister.’”

“What it spit back out was the plot to Sinister,” Cargill, who wrote Sinister. “A family moves into a house and finds a videotape of the murder of the family that previously lived there, and the only thing that was changed from my movie is ours happened on film and not video — and that's how it changed it.”

Cargill’s concern is that “by using our previous scripts, what the studios will be doing is essentially getting lines of our dialogue and our jokes sent back into the industry — but without our attribution, without our credit, without our pay.”

He elaborates that the guild is not seeking a full ban on generative AI’s use and that screen are welcome to use it if they want. In the same way that “you don't have to use a computer with spellcheck. You can write your script on yellow line paper by hand if you want — Quentin Tarantino still does that.”

“You don't you don't have to use the technology,” he continued. “But if you want to you can but what we want is to make sure studios aren't using that to replace that and then pay us lower rates just to rewrite what a computer sent back.”

The WGA did not respond to multiple written requests for comment. The AMPTP issued the following response:

We’re creative companies and we value the work of creatives. The best stories are original, insightful and often come from people's own experiences. AI raises hard, important creative and legal questions for everyone. For example, writers want to be able to use this technology as part of their creative process, without changing how credits are determined, which is complicated given AI material can't be copyrighted. So it's something that requires a lot more discussion, which we've committed to doing. Also, it’s important to note that the current WGA Agreement already defines a “writer” to exclude any “corporate or impersonal purveyor” of literary material, meaning that only a “person” can be considered a writer and enjoy the terms and conditions of the Basic Agreement. For example, AI-generated material would not be eligible for writing credit.

Teachers can be some of the most important individuals in our lives. Whether you had one this past year that truly inspired you, or one that just made getting through the daily grind of classes easier, now’s a great time to show them your appreciation. If you want to skip the standard gift basket or bouquet of flowers in favor of something a bit more personal (or perhaps practical), these are some of the best gifts for teachers that you can surprise them with this year.

Hario cold brew bottles

We recommend the Hario cold brew tea maker in our gift guide for tea lovers because it makes a beautiful, functional gift for anyone who likes loose-leaf iced tea. The heat-proof glass exterior has a wine bottle shape and the green silicone top houses a mesh strainer that keeps tea leaves where they belong. If the teacher you know is more into coffee, you get them the equally attractive cold brew coffee maker from the same Japanese manufacturer. It brews up a batch in the fridge overnight and has graduated milliliter markings that make it look a little like a chemistry class beaker. – Amy Skorheim, Commerce Writer

Ember Mug 2

Many of us rely on caffeine to get through the day and teachers are no different. But dealing with students, lectures and other classroom activities may mean their beverage of choice grows cold before they can drink it all. The second generation of Ember’s smart mug, the Mug 2, doesn’t just keep tea or coffee hot — it keeps it at a steady temperature for a long time. The app integration lets you set the temp of the mug, while interior sensors shut the heat off when the mug’s empty or hasn’t been touched in two hours. The 10-ounce size has a battery life of up to an hour and a half and the 14-ounce capacity adds another 20 minutes. They can also stick the mug on the included charging coaster to keep their java warm all school day long. – A.S.

Aura Mason

If your teacher is a sentimental type, a digital photo frame like the Aura Mason can let them easily add and look back on their favorite snapshots. The Mason itself has a crisp, nine-inch, 1,600 x 1,200 resolution display and a minimalist design that should look normal on a work desk or a side table back home. It can display photos in portrait or landscape mode, and uploading photos (or videos) through the Aura app is uncomplicated. Just note that it can sometimes add black boxes around photos that don’t match its 4:3 aspect ratio.

If you want to save $50, the Aura Carver is a larger 10.1-inch frame with similar benefits, though it has a lower resolution (1,280 x 800) and only works in landscape. You could also gift a multi-function smart display like the Google Nest Hub, but those usually have lower-quality screens and aren’t as simple to mount on a wall. — Jeff Dunn, Senior Commerce Writer

Book of the Month

If you know a teacher who’s still a champion of the printed word, they might appreciate a Book of the Month subscription. I like how BOTM does the hard work of figuring out what’s new and good in fiction so all I have to do is read. The club selects seven or so books each month for members to pick from, and the selection is diverse enough that most readers will find something to meet their tastes. And if nothing looks good, they can always pick something from the back catalog or skip the month altogether. At first I thought it would be too much pressure to contend with a new book every month, but the option to skip effectively just extends their subscription, so there’s no pressure. You can gift a three, six or twelve month membership for $60, $100 or $200, respectively. – A.S.

Belkin BoostCharge Pro with MagSafe

A pick from our guide to the best wireless chargers, Belkin’s BoostCharge Pro is a compact charging pad that should be a useful addition for any iPhone-owning teacher’s desk. It’s MagSafe-compatible, so it can snap magnetically onto the back of any recent iPhone, and it delivers up to 15W of power, which is the fastest rate available for this class of device. It won’t be as quick as using a cable, but there’s a certain pleasure to simply plopping your phone down on it to recharge, and it can still deliver about a 70 percent charge to an iPhone 14 in an hour. The BoostCharge Pro also has a built-in kickstand for propping up a phone to watch videos and the like. This is far from the cheapest charging puck around, but as a gift, it’s a convenient way to top up. Just try to get it with a power supply, if possible. — J.D.

Blue light blocking glasses

Your favorite teacher or professor probably looks at a screen for just as long as you do every day. Blue light blocking glasses can be a great gift since they’ll make it easier for them to get work done while (hopefully) reducing eye strain, headaches and other ailments. These are probably best bought for educators who don’t wear prescription glasses already, since you don’t want to impede their actual eyesight with non-prescription lenses. Plenty of eyewear companies make stylish blue light glasses, but you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg on a pair. Privé Revaux has a ton of options priced as low as $30 each, or if you have a feeling your teacher would like to swap styles more often, Amazon has a number of multi-packs to choose from. — Valentina Palladino, Senior Commerce Editor

Headspace

The most tenured college professor and the newest preschool teacher could likely use a little more calm in their day, and Headspace is one way to get it. The brightly colored app has a slew of meditations, guided breathing sessions and inspirational talks to choose from and each one lists its duration. I often just have a minute or two before I have to get back to what I was doing, and following even a one-minute-long breathing exercise can noticeably change my mood (and posture and general awareness). Headspace includes sleep programs too, like wind-down sessions, stories, white noise sounds and soundscapes. You can gift one year of the service for $70, or three months for $39. – A.S.

Kobo Clara 2e

We don’t want to make generalizations, but if there’s a segment of the population who likes to read, it’s probably teachers. The Kobo Clara 2E is our current favorite e-reader because it’s easy on the eyes, comfortable to hold and offers the right amount of customization. The waterproof design makes it a good candidate for vacations and pool-side reading, and the warm lights make it easy to read late into the night. Considering Kobo now has an unlimited read and listen subscription in Kobo Plus, the company's well-built devices are even better equipped to compete in a space where Kindles have dominated for years. – A.S.

Bellroy Desk Caddy

They say an organized desk is an organized mind. Whether that’s true or not, it can certainly be difficult to keep track of all the tech you need on a regular basis. Bellroy’s Desk Caddy has pockets, pouches and loops to keep cords, plugs, earbuds, and dongles in their place. The structured shape stands up when you load it, but is flexible enough to fit into a crowded backpack if you need to take it with you. We also like that it’s water resistant and made from recycled materials. – A.S.

Trade Coffee subscription

A Trade Coffee subscription can help the teacher in your life shake up their morning cup of joe. It offers a curated selection of more than 450 coffees from across the US and smartly personalizes which ones it recommends to each subscriber. Upon redeeming their gift, your teacher will be prompted to take a brief quiz that asks about their flavor and brew preferences, information Trade will use to suggest a specific bag catered to their taste. They can then give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to any coffee they receive, which the company considers to hone future recommendations. Managing all of this online is straightforward. You can gift anywhere from two to 24 bags, and Trade says any gift subscriptions will not automatically renew, so nobody will have any surprise charges to deal with down the line. — J.D.

Purist Mover

The Purist Mover is the closest thing to a “premium” water bottle that I’ve tried, with a clean, minimalist aesthetic and a satisfying textured finish. Its biggest hook, though, is the ultra-thin layer of glass that lines its interior. Apart from insulating your drink, this is designed to keep fluids from gaining a metallic taste or unwanted odors as quickly as they might with other bottles. The whole thing will still need washing every so often, but in my experience, this has actually worked.

The Mover is an 18oz bottle, but there are different size and lid options to choose from (the “Union” spout top is my preference, though it can be somewhat noisy, if that matters). No Purist bottle is especially cheap, but it should make hydrating a little more convenient for your teacher’s day-to-day, on top of providing a nicer piece of design for their desk. — J.D.

Tribit StormBox Micro 2

For audio-related lessons in class or just enjoying music while out and about, the Tribit StormBox Micro 2 is a highly portable Bluetooth speaker that pumps out good volume for its compact size. Its playback controls are simple to operate, and its built-in strap lets it connect to things like a bag or bike handlebars on the go. It can also double as a power bank and charge a smartphone in a pinch. A speaker this small will never be the fullest sounding, but for what it is, the Stormbox Micro 2’s audio quality is fine as well. If you like the idea of gifting a portable speaker but want something that sounds richer, though, you can check out our Bluetooth speaker buying guide for more recommendations. — J.D.

Criterion Channel subscription

If your teacher considers themselves a film buff, a Criterion Channel subscription might suit their tastes. This is the streaming service of The Criterion Collection, a video distribution company that restores and preserves a carefully curated selection of acclaimed films that span genres and languages. It doesn’t have the same deluge of content as a Netflix or Prime Video, but it also has a lot less trash.

The service bundles many films into helpful collections, from Afrofuturism to Foreign-Language Oscar Winners to Short Films by David Lynch. Various titles come with bonus features like cast interviews as well. Unfortunately, not every film in the Collection is available on the Channel at any given time. (There are gift cards that can go toward films that are only available in physical form.) Nevertheless, for movie-loving teachers who feel like they’ve watched everything on the usual suspects, the service should still provide hours of stimulating works. Gift subscriptions are available in one- to 12-month increments. — J.D.

The Sill plant gifts

You can’t go wrong with a gift of greenery to show your appreciation for a beloved teacher. You could pick up a flower arrangement locally or send them a fancy one from Bouqs or another online service, but something more unique like a plant from The Sill could be a gift they’ve never gotten before. The site has a bunch of options that will appeal to all kinds of people, from those who have never taken care of a plant before to green-thumbed veterans. There are even pet-friendly plant gifts you can buy for those teachers you know have little creatures in their households. The Sill also has regular deals on plants that you can snag (be it for someone else or yourself), so you don’t have to sacrifice even if you’re working with a tight budget. — V.P.

Amazon gift card

If you’re at a loss over what to get your favorite teacher to show your appreciation, an Amazon gift card is a good catch-all solution. Whether it’s supplies for their classroom, household essentials for their family or just something they’ve had on their wish list for themselves, most teachers will find a way to spend a few extra dollars at Amazon (or Walmart, Target or another retailer they prefer). — V.P.

A relaxing video game or two

For teachers who like to wind down with a video game after an aggravating day of work, a recommendation from our list of good relaxing games could make for a gift that’s both thoughtful and fun. A couple of standouts: PowerWash Simulator is a game about cleaning grimy environments that has a similar soothing effect as those deep-cleaning videos on YouTube, while Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a delightful puzzle game from Nintendo about exploring and reexamining diorama-like levels from new angles. — J.D.

This is a good moment to buy wireless earbuds as a Mother's Day gift, or just as a treat for yourself. After a month, Amazon is once again selling third-generation AirPods for $150, or $20 off. That's near the best price we've seen, and makes them easier to choose if you're looking for mid-priced personal audio. You can also get the second-gen model for $99 if you're just looking for the fundamentals.

The third-gen AirPods represent a major improvement over their predecessors. They sound dramatically better, with a more open sound that delivers clearer highs and richer bass. They're more comfortable to wear for prolonged periods, and the longer six-hour battery life can help you get through a longer flight or a long stretch of the workday. Water resistance also makes them better-suited to use in the rain or certain workouts.

They're not for everyone. This model won't sound as good or fit as snugly as the AirPods Pro. You also won't get active noise cancellation (ANC) to shut out the rest of the world. And while you can use them with Android, they're still best-suited to Apple devices. The tight ecosystem integration makes them extremely convenient if you have Apple gear, though, and you might even prefer the lack of ANC if you need to pay attention to coworkers or traffic.

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When it comes to earbud innovation, these days advances typically come in reduced size, longer battery life and improved audio. Rarely does a company offer something truly unique. But JBL seems to think there’s room for improvement in the charging case. With the Tour Pro 2, JBL has installed a touch screen display, giving you access to settings and tools without having to dive into its app. On top of that, these are a feature-packed set of true wireless earbuds, with a ton of options for sound customization, hearing assistance and more. But with everything the $250 set offers, JBL might’ve been too ambitious.

Design

JBL’s product range features a mix of “traditional” earbuds, stick buds and sport models with an over-the-ear loop. The Tour Pro 2 fits in that middle category with a design akin to Apple’s AirPods. These certainly have a more refined look, though, with a mix of matte and gloss black plastic. The shape of the inner part of the earbud is ovular, which is, again similar to the AirPods Pro.

The curves here combine with lower weight to make for a comfy fit. The Tour Pro 2 are one of the few sets of true wireless earbuds I can wear for hours at a time without it becoming a chore. There’s a touch panel on the outside of both buds that can accept single, double and triple taps, in addition to long presses, for a variety of on-board controls. Plus, you can reconfigure those to your liking inside the JBL Headphones app.

The headline feature though, is undoubtedly the case. Most earbuds come with a charging case, the feature list basically ends at charging. Some companies have added wireless transmission for use on planes, but nothing too crazy. The Tour Pro 2 comes with a “smart case,” complete with a touch screen on the outside. As you might expect, it’s larger than what we typically see, but it’s not huge by any means. It’s equipped for wireless charging and there’s a USB-C port on the button for wired top ups.

Software and features

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

The Tour Pro 2 offers a ton of features for audio setup, convenience and customization. All of which are accessible inside the JBL Headphones app and some are available via the charging case display. When you pair the earbuds to the app for the first time, the software will prompt you to complete a few steps for initial setup. Those include an ear tip fit and ear canal tests for ANC performance, voice assistant setup and a quick feature tour. The main section of the app displays battery status for both earbuds individually and the case right up top.

Everything else is situated on that main screen, accessible with a simple scroll. Ambient Sound Control is up top, giving you the ability to choose between active noise cancellation, Ambient Aware (transparency mode), TalkThru for IRL conversations and off. There’s the option to further tweak ANC by opting for Adaptive, automatic adjustments or by enabling leakage and/or ear canal compensation. Ambient Aware allows you to adjust the level of environmental sound the earbuds pick up with a slider.

Next on the list is Personi-Fi. This is JBL’s take on personal audio profiles. After completing a hearing test, the app creates a sound profile that also takes into account your listening preferences. Personi-Fi considers gender, age and more to build its custom preset. Before completing the process, the audio on the Tour Pro 2 was… fine. After the five-minute bout with tones at various volumes and frequencies, my sound profile produced improved bass response from the earbuds and what felt like a slightly wider soundstage. However, the tailored setting did lose some detail in things like softer background vocals, guitar distortion and subtle noise.

Sound options follow Personi-Fi. Here, JBL gives you a collection of audio presets as well as the ability to manually adjust the EQ curve. Any tuning you create can be saved for future use. You also have the option of enabling Spatial Sound on the Tour Pro 2, JBL’s take on spatial audio. Once you turn it on, the company offers three options based on what you’re listening to: movie, music and game.

The app gives you the ability to change the gestures for the on-board controls from this menu too. There’s a limit to the fine-tuning here as JBL has grouped all the options under Ambient Sound Control, Volume Control or Playback & Voice Assistant Control. Those are self-explanatory and you can choose to put one on the left and a different one on the right. The only consistent behavior is that a long press will summon your voice assistant on all three gesture options.

Three of the most useful features on the Tour Pro 2 are VoiceAware, SilentNow and Personal Sound Amplification. VoiceAware is an adjustable tool that allows you to tweak how much of your voice you hear during calls. JBL describes SlientNow as a quiet bubble, a feature that disconnects Bluetooth and turns on ANC. The company goes a step further by allowing you to schedule when the mode will turn on, how long it will be active and if you want an alarm when it ends (in case you’re planning to nap). Personal Sound Amplification is designed for hearing assistance, boosting environmental sound by 15-20dB and helping with conversations. When it’s enabled, you can adjust left/right balance and gain to fit your needs.

The smart case

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

While the main purpose of the smart case is to give you easy access to the Tour Pro 2’s features. I’m happy to debate the utility of putting everything on the charging accessory instead of leaving it in an app – software that takes only a couple more taps to open. But, if you find the entire concept convenient, I’m happy to report that the touch screen works well. You swipe from side to side to scroll through the myriad options available on the case and that panel is receptive to taps without issue. Plus, JBL decided to put battery levels, a clock and handy icons on the top edge, giving you crucial info at a glance. What’s more, when you’re on a call, those controls pop-up on case too.

The JBL Headphones app includes a section for customizing the smart case. Here, you can adjust the display brightness, select a screensaver, enable message notifications/previews and choose which features will be accessible on the touch screen. By default, the case shows Ambient Sound Control, Spatial Sound, EQ presets, VoiceAware and auto play/pause (when you remove the buds from your ears). That’s in addition to the lock screen wallpaper selector, screen brightness, timer, volume, playback controls, flashlight and Find My Buds that can’t be removed. The only additional feature that isn’t enabled by default that you can add to the case is SilentNow.

Sound quality and noise cancellation

The default tuning on the Tour Pro 2 is pretty average. There’s some decent clarity and detail, but the soundstage feels compressed despite a good amount of bass and a smidge of punch in the treble. Overall, things converge on the midrange, leaving the extra oomph on the table with tracks like Better Lovers’ “30 Under 13” and boygenius’ “$20.” Personi-fi helps open things up a bit, but as I mentioned, it comes at the cost of lost detail. You lose some of the texture of the vocals and guitars in that boygenius song, for example.

Another prime example of the lack of space in the sound profile is on Nickel Creek’s Celebrants. That album was recorded in a way that sounds like you’re in the room getting a private performance. Guitar, fiddle, mandolin and bass surround you with vocals sprinkled around to complete the vibe. On the Tour Pro 2, you lose the sense of the virtual room, so the songs just become music in your earbuds instead of capturing the atmosphere and energy of the tracking session. Personi-fi makes no noticeable difference here.

While there are a number of audio customization options in JBL’s app, they don’t do much to improve things. In fact, some make the sound worse. Spatial Sound’s effectiveness can vary depending on the genre. Sometimes there’s a noticeable improvement in the immersive nature of the audio. But with some content, like that Nickel Creek album, it seems like positioning is just moved up slightly, like it's trying to simulate up-firing drivers in a soundbar. In those cases, the sound is just relocated, not improved. I found it best to leave Spatial Sound off.

In terms of ANC performance, the Tour Pro 2 does a solid job in most circumstances. They’re very good at blocking the constant roar of a dishwasher, clothes dryer or white noise machine – things that conspire for the daily droning at my house. However, the earbuds struggle with human voices, especially if the person is closeby. Listen to anything relatively quiet and you’re sure to hear the chatty person behind you.

One note on noise isolation that’s worth pointing out. Despite the ear tip fit test determining that all was well with the Tour Pro 2, there was a lot of sound leakage so the people around me could clearly hear what I was listening to. My wife was the first to notice, and while she says it happens occasionally while I’m testing, it has never been this bad. Sure enough, when she popped in the earbuds, I could clearly hear the tunes at volumes above 60 percent or so. It’s something to consider if you like to blast heavy metal in the office.

For calls, the Tour Pro 2 is a mixed bag. Confusingly, the TalkThru option in the Ambient Sound Control menu can’t be activated here. You can enable ambient sound mode, but that doesn’t pick up a considerable amount of your chatter. Instead, there’s that separate VoiceAware feature and it only works during calls. Again, it’s adjustable, so you can select the amount of your speech you want sent back through the earbuds. It works okay, but it’s nowhere near as natural sounding as what you get on the AirPods Pro. While TalkThru is meant for in-person conversations, it doesn’t pipe in much more of your voice than the transparency mode Ambient Aware. So, even if you could use it for calls, it’s not a great option for them. In the end, it just feels like different features here do variations of the same thing. Overall, call quality is just okay here, despite JBL’s promise of “perfect calls” via six on-board mics.

Battery life

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

JBL says you can expect up to eight hours on a charge with ANC on, plus another three full charges in the case. Turn noise cancellation off and you could muster two additional hours on both the buds and per charge in the case. During tests consisting of “normal” use – a mix of ANC, transparency mode, calls and leaving the buds to power off automatically – I got seven hours before having to dock the Tour Pro 2 in the case.

Oddly, I started getting low battery notifications when the case was still showing 25 percent left on both earbuds. Power plummeted quickly from there and after less than 30 minutes the pair was dead. I mention this to point out that the battery estimates on the case don’t seem to be entirely accurate, especially when you hit 25 percent. If you unexpectedly encounter a faster-than-expected drain, there is a 15-minute quick-charge tool that will give you up to four hours of use.

The competition

When it comes to premium true wireless earbuds, Sony’s WF-1000XM4 are the best you can buy right now. The company includes just as many features as JBL, if not more. You won’t find a smart case, but you will find handy tools like Speak-to-Chat automatic pausing when you start talking and the ability to automatically change sound settings based on location or activity. Plus, the M4s offer better sound quality and more effective noise cancellation on top of all the conveniences. They’re starting to get some age on them as they debuted in mid-2021, but that means you’re currently privy to a discount: they’re currently going for $200.

Wrap-up

JBL threw every feature it could at the Tour Pro 2. And that’s without even considering the smart case. That touch-screen-enabled accessory is the main draw but I’m not sold on the concept just yet. Sure, there’s something to be said for easy access to settings, but that only works if you leave the case sitting out on your desk. Otherwise, you can probably get your phone out just as quickly. JBL isn’t the only company putting a display on a charging case, so who knows, maybe it will become standard. Tour Pro 2 do offer handy tools like VoiceAware, SilentNow and Personal Sound Amplification. But overall they’re an average set of earbuds with okay sound, decent ANC and so many features you might not use some of them more than once.

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This week, Senior Editor Jessica Conditt joins to discuss what went wrong with Redfall, Microsoft’s latest Xbox exclusive that launched to middling reviews. Jess says it’s good enough for Game Pass, but that’s pretty disappointing for a game from Arkane, the studio behind Dishonored and Prey. Also, they chat about Star Wars: Jedi Survivor and its horrendous PC port, and weigh in on how AI and streaming affects the WGA strike. Stay tuned at the end for an interview with Nida Manzoor, the director of Polite Society, who talks about how she lives with tech.

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• Jess Conditt’s review of Redfall, a surprise disappointment from Arkane – 1:17

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