In a candid interview for a magazine's cover story, the 'Tap In' hitmaker admits she has learned that the world does not stop for her just because she got her heart broken.

In this episode, Thomas Domville introduces us to the new “per voice settings” introduced with iOS 17.

These can be found by navigating to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Speech, and then selecting the language and desired TTS voice. After selecting the voice, flick up or down with one finger, or press space with dot 3 or dot 6 on a Braille display, to access the per voice settings.

The configurable parameters available vary by voice. For example, Vocalizer voices can tweak sentence pause and timbre, while for Alex you can adjust pitch range and words per minute.

In this episode, Tyler demonstrates how to change Safari's default search engine on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.

To do this on iOS and iPadOS, go to Settings > Safari and double-tap "Search engine" to specify the search engine for standard browsing windows, or "private search engine" if you want to specify a different search engine to be used in private browsing windows. On macOS, in Safari, choose Safari > Settings (or press Command-Comma) click the Search button in the toolbar, and choose from the "Search engine" or "private browsing search engine" popup menus.

Join Thomas Domville as he explores the new feature in iOS 17.2. that allows you to modify the default notification alert.

Previously, users were restricted to Apple's default notification sound. However, with iOS 17.2, Apple has added a new “Default Alerts” section in the “Sounds & Haptics” settings. This feature enables you to choose the sound for all incoming notifications, except for texts, mail alerts, and calendar alerts, which already had customization options.

You now have the freedom to use any of the text tones as your notification sound. This is a major update for those who have always desired to choose a sound.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to change your default notification sound:

Launch the Settings app.
Select “Sounds & Haptics.”
Select “Default Alerts.”
Choose your preferred text tone from the list.
Enjoy your new personalized notification sound!

You also have the option to alter the default haptic feedback. Apple made some adjustments to the default haptic alert in iOS 17, but now you can revert it or customize it if the update didn’t quite meet your expectations.

Michelle Brasier; a woman obsessed with Brummie accents and coffee.

Improve your health and wellbeing with a new addition to the family.

Walsall councilors donate to needy.

Labour group say "bar set far too high".

Region’s showcase of ambitions sees 50% increase in media profile.

Solihull Junior School pupils were so impressed by their visit to a local children’s charity that they made an Olympian effort to support it.

Athletes lend a helping hand to stock food bank in Birmingham.

Why vote? They’ll just ignore you says Steve Beauchampé.

Aim to boost central government help for devolved region.

Stephen Pennell meets Jo Jeffries, inspiration behind the upcoming Birmingham Music Awards.

New jobs aid West Midlands' "world-class" reputation.

Glynn Purnell leads Health for Life cookathon.

Public support for benefits 'safety net'.

The British Heart Foundation Acocks Green Furniture & Electrical Store was broken into last Thursday.

Helping with the work-life balance.

How to succeed at buy to let.

How to make the most of your display.

On Saturday 2nd April some of the region’s top authorities on voting reform will gather in Kings Heath, Birmingham, to present their perspectives

Forget the current obsession with reforming the EU, reform of our domestic political institutions is far more important says Steve Beauchampé.

Laurence Inman is not in a hopeful mood, despite receiving good news

670 Grams will offer an "unpretentious and accessible" menu.

Businesses in the region are being encouraged to find out more about the importance of the growing digital economy at a free event taking place at Coventry University in January.

The benefits of short food chains and local produce were the focus of an event on Wednesday 3 July organised by Coventry University’s Centre for Agroecology and Food Security

Vivek Rajkhowa writes about the man who transformed Birmingham.

£250,000 upgrade gives back community centre to Quinton.

Returnless refunds are a tool that more retailers are using to keep online shoppers happy and to reduce shipping fees, processing time and other ballooning costs from returned products. Companies such as Amazon, Walmart and Target have decided some items are not worth the cost or hassle of getting back. Think a $20 T-shirt that might cost $30 in shipping and handling to recover.

Wakefit cofounder Chaitanya Ramalingegowda attributed the increase in revenue to the company’s focus on strengthening its omnichannel presence, with some stores reaching maturity and a new wave of outlets opening, along with the benefits of an automated mattress factory.

The brand is expecting at least a 30 per cent increase in corporate gift sales during the festive season, with a growing number of corporate clients opting for bulk purchases.

Colgate-Palmolive India is experiencing growth in the expanding oral care market. The company reported a 10% rise in revenue. However, it recognizes market difficulties like fluctuating demand and rising costs. Colgate remains dedicated to improving oral health awareness in India. It aims to achieve this through education and product innovation. The company is focused on sustainability and social responsibility initiatives.

Infiniti Retail, that operates popular electronics retailer Croma, is preparing for a leadership transition. Shibashish Roy, the current Deputy CEO, will step into the role of CEO on November 18, 2024, succeeding Avijit Mitra. Mitra, who has been instrumental in Croma's growth.

Apple could double its iPhone production in India to over $30 billion annually if the US imposes tariffs on Chinese imports. This shift could create 200,000 jobs and increase India's share in iPhone production to over 26%. However, the move depends on US policy and India's ability to address cost and policy challenges.

Mumbai-based Pidilite Industries, the maker of Fevicol and M-Seal adhesive brands, has approached the court to restrain Dubond Products from allegedly infringing its registered trademarks, copyright and passing off for its waterproofing brand Dr Fixit LW.

FirstCry’s IPO size will be the same, as per the IPO papers. It intends to raise $218 million (about Rs 1,815 crore) in primary funding through issuance of new shares and divestment of 54 million shares from existing investors.

Thinking about refreshing your podcast branding? Before I discuss the "when," let's consider how your podcast might benefit from a branding refresh.

The post 6 Benefits of a Podcast Branding Refresh first appeared on The Audacity to Podcast.

After considering the benefits of refreshing your podcast branding, you need to decide when it's the right time to do so. Here are some suggestions!

The post When Should You Refresh Your Podcast Branding? first appeared on The Audacity to Podcast.

After sharing multiple considerations for refreshing your podcast branding, it's time to wrap it up with the big question: how?

The post How to Refresh Your Podcast Branding first appeared on The Audacity to Podcast.

Do you have a plan to purchase electronics and other gear in 2025? You may want to accelerate those purchases to the end of 2024 because President-Elect Trump demonstrated in his first term that he had no issue with dramatically increasing the cost of appliances for Americans with previous tariffs, so there's no reason to expect him not to do it again.

After being tapped to lead the Department of Government Efficiency with Vivek Ramaswamy, Elon Musk said all of the actions taken by the department will be posted online for "maximum transparency."

President-elect Donald Trump has gone against media expectations by tapping Marco Rubio, Kristi Noem and a number of other Capitol Hill veterans to fill posts in his second administration.

Again, we say hello! Just a reminder that the self-nominations for the inaugural Metafilter Steering Committee (SC) close on August 7th! The purpose of said committee will be to develop and implement site policy, code updates, and ensure the financial health of the site, i.e. help guide the direction of the overall site and act as the voice of the community. Interested? Come over to Metatalk to view details and learn how to apply by August 7th!

How do women who mud wrestle or take regular mud baths (esp. naked, say at a spa) avoid getting mud in their, er, orifices—or do they avoid it? Would tampons be useful in preventing such an occurrence? Or is that even necessary?

And if mud is allowed into the vagina or anus, does that lead to an increased incidence of infection (whether by yeast or bacteria)? How would one go about (or, ladies, how have you gone about) preventing such resultant infections? And do spas have problems with the transmission of such infections in their mud baths?

I've found an abstract from a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found a greater incidence of pustular follicular dermatitis outbreaks among mud-wrestling college students (no joke) at the University of Washington in Seattle—but that doesn't speak to the question of vaginal, anal or urethral irritation stemming from prolonged mud exposure.

(And yes, this is a serious question, I promise—the topic came up during a conversation I was party to a while back about, well, vaginal irritation/infections. Fun stuff, huh?)

According to Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter, Georgia’s citizen’s arrest law is rooted in medieval times and is an “outmoded concept” in this age of “increased police forces.” Porter made those remarks at a Georgia House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee hearing on Monday.

Were you really that frozen with fear? Doubtful

There's nothing I can say to this dismissive nonsense that won't get me thrown off Metafilter.

I keep returning to two things.

1) building on the idea of community, trying to spread as much love as I can in the world. The time for action will be soon but right now is the time to love each other as much as we possibly can.

2) we aren't the only country to have elected a far-right or fascist leader recently. I'm looking to the people I know who live in other countries with leaders like Trump. There is still joy and possibility in their lives, even though their fight is hard, just like ours will be.

Love and joy are exactly what the far right wants to take away from us so let's stick it to them and not let them.

Let me tell you a story about a woman I know who votes conservative. She isn't the type of person I would self-select to be a friend, or even a friendly acquaintance — perhaps to my detriment! — because she's well-to-do, right-leaning, and very Christian. But I see her every week and have talked to her quite a bit because she's one of my medical providers.

Because I'm disabled, she charges me half of what she'd normally charge; every time I thank her, she says it's no big deal, and that, "Disabled people deserve every break they can get!" This saves me something like $3,000 dollars a year: that's an extra $3,000 a year she could be making, and actually now can't be making, because she's using her hours to treat me instead of other patients. She does a lot of volunteering. Donates a lot of money. She talks about how she's disappointed that certain social services, like disabled transit, fail disabled people, and has a fairly robust understanding of how that plays out because she listens carefully to her disabled patients. In her church, she's taken a stand for welcoming gay members of the community into the congregation, and into leadership positions, and was heartbroken and felt powerless and bewildered when the higher-up leadership blocked several of these things.

Whenever I've talked about the difficulties my trans friends are facing, she is genuinely sympathetic to the individual friend, interested in their life, and sad about their suffering, but sometimes expresses the concern-trolling talking points of the right-wing media — I read this as her being very responsive and caring to any unique individual she knows, but not recognizing the perils of the wider systemic discrimination going on.

Last time there was an election, I was talking about how conservative funding cuts impact the disabled community, and she expressed a lot of opinions along the lines of, "Of course I think everyone who needs disability income should have it! But don't you realize that the left-wing government will get us further into debt, whereas the conservatives will improve the economy so that we have more government funds to give social programs?" This coming from a person whose personality is very caring, motherly, and friendly, not at all a combative or hostile "debater:" normal people genuinely believe these things because the right-wing media repeats them over and over again.

I think that you really are right when you say, I truly believe they are good, kind, thoughtful people. Most of them probably are. But they are being lied to and duped by right-wing politicians, and not realizing the extent to which they're being lied to, because they believe we still live in a reasonable society in which no one would actually lie that much ... so some of the things they're saying must be true, right?

They don't realize the extent to which BIPOC, queer, disabled, immigrant, etc. minority groups are in very real danger, and think it must be exaggerated, because they don't really know that many, or the few that they know appear to be doing just fine. And so they vote with their worry and their fear, and their vote does not truly carry through their intentions about the kind of world they wish to live in.

This is not, of course, all people. Some people really are deep into right-wing ideology and have entire groups that they do not see as real people. But I find that most of the people I meet are like her: I could have several conversations with them not knowing they are right-wing, and get along with them just fine, because their day-to-day values of how to treat other human beings really are quite similar to mine. But because of their political/cultural education, their sociological and media literacy, and the demographics of people that make up their workplace, friends, and family, they are being fed a different set of facts, a different "reality."

This all makes me incredibly sad but also gives me bit of hope, and I hope it will bring some peace to you.

I live in Canada, so it's not the same, but I do live in one of the most right-leaning provinces. I really feel what you're going through. I am also surrounded by people I care about — who appear to care about me — who vote in one awful conservative government after another. Stay strong: sending love and sympathy.