April 2026

There were 1,683 posts published in April 2026 (this is page 127 of 169).

Is Cade Cunningham playing tonight? Pistons star expected to return vs. Bucks

It’s been a good week for Detroit basketball.

The Pistons, for the first time in 19 years, have sewn up the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed in the NBA playoffs. The University of Michigan won its first men’s basketball national championship since 1989.

On top of that, there’s great news about the status of Pistons star Cade Cunningham.

After missing time after suffering a collapsed lung, Cunningham is expected to make his return Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks, according to ESPN’s Vincent Goodwill.

Cunningham missed the previous 11 games. He was last active during a March 17 game against the Washington Wizards. Detroit won that game, 130-117, but Cunningham left with his injury after about five minutes of playing time.

The Pistons went 8-3 without Cunningham. Overall, the team has a 13-5 record and has averaged 114.8 points per game without its MVP candidate.

Cunningham has averaged 24.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and a career-high 9.9 assists in 61 games this season. With just three games remaining, Cunningham seemingly won’t be eligible for end-of-year awards, such as Most Valuable Player, due to the league’s 65-game threshold.

More important for Cunningham and the Pistons’ brass, though, is his return in time to make a run in the postseason.

It’s the first time that the Pistons have been the top dog in the East since 2007. That season ended with an Eastern Conference finals loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, led by a 22-year-old LeBron James.

Last year, the Pistons snapped a five-year postseason drought with a playoff berth as the No. 6-seed. However, they lost a hard-fought series in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs to the New York Knicks, 4-2.

The Pistons selected Cunningham with the first overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft out of Oklahoma State. He’s helped lead the charge to get the franchise back to its winning ways.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cade Cunningham playing tonight? Pistons star expected back vs bucks

Dick Vitale, ESPN analyst, announces new health update with ‘some abnormalities’

Beloved sports commentator Dick Vitale delivered some bad news on his health on Wednesday, March 8.

Through a statement from ESPN PR, Vitale announced that he received bad news after going through a series of routine tests last week. The iconic college basketball personality revealed that there were some “abnormalities” found.

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“While I feel great physically and sharp mentally, I heard from my doctors that the latest tests (which included a PET scan, then a CAT scan with two MRIs) showed some abnormalities,” Vitale said in a statement shared by ESPN. “They are recommending some additional testing to determine next steps. I’m hoping for the best and we will see what the roadmap looks like after an upcoming biopsy.

“As always, I plan to remain as active as ever and fight as hard as can be.”

Vitale, 86, was declared cancer-free last year and made his return to broadcasting. Last month he called a First Four game between North Carolina State and Texas, with Charles Barkley, the first time the two called a game together.

“I’m still doing games,” Vitale told USA TODAY Sports in March. “It’s a miracle. It’s absolutely a miracle. I get emotional about it sometimes.”

Since 2021, Vitale has battled with cancer when he was diagnosed with melanoma and lymphoma. He was then diagnosed with vocal cord cancer in 2023. He made an emotional return to ESPN, broadcasting games, last February.

Here’s a look at the full statement on his health:

Full Dick Vitale statement on health

“Like countless others, each time I go for any kind of test, I am a nervous wreck,” Vitale said. “The latest example is my scans last week. The anxiousness you feel about the uncertainty is off the charts. You just never know what’s next, and it can be surprising or scary.

“While I feel great physically and sharp mentally, I heard from my doctors that the latest tests [which included a PET scan, then a CAT scan, and then two MRIs] showed some abnormalities.”

“They are recommending some additional testing to determine next steps. I’m hoping for the best, and we will see what the roadmap looks like after an upcoming biopsy,” Vital added.

“As always, I plan to remain as active as ever and fight as hard as can be.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dick Vitale announces new health update after routine tests

10 Hacks Every Apple Vision Pro User Should Know

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The Apple Vision Pro is a beast of a machine. By putting an M5 chip under the hood—a 3-nanometer processor with a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine— Apple leapfrogged the M3 and M4 entirely, putting more raw power on your face than most people have on their desks. But like any high-performance machine, you have to tune it up and drive it right to get the most out of what’s under the hood. Whether you’ve had yours since launch or just unboxed it, these ten hacks will help you get more out of your Apple Vision Pro. Some are simple adjustments, some are deeper dives, but all of them are worth your time.

Apple Vision Pro


$3,499.99
at Apple

Access the Vision Pro’s “hidden” settings

Apple’s going for a specific aesthetic with the Vision Pro UI, so there aren’t as many things to customize in the “settings” menu as you might like, but there are a lot of useful adjustments buried in the Accessibility menu. These settings are designed for users with dexterity, visual, or hearing impairments, but anyone might prefer a zoom feature or an modification to the click speed of the digital crown.

Here’s what I’ve changed in my Vision Pro’s via the accessibility menu:

  • Bold Text

  • Increase Contrast

  • Reduced Motion (Reduces the movement of user interface elements)

  • Set it so saying “shh” turns down the volume.

You might be interested in the same settings, or others presented here, so take a peek into the Accessibility menu to see what works for you. Pro tip: You can triple-click the digital crown to toggle accessibility features on and off instantly.

Control your smart home with spatial widgets

The latest update to VisionOS added spatial widgets so you can pin information in places it makes the most sense—e.g. put a timer next to your stove for cooking, or the weather and news right by the front door. But if you have any Matter-compatible smart home devices, you can take widgets to the next level with Apple Home. This app lets you pin controls for things like your air conditioner and lighting wherever you like, so you can stick the “night mode” button above your bed and turn everything off with a click when the day is over. If you want to take it further, download Widgetsmith and customize the appearance of smart home controls. Once you pin a widget, it will stay there until you move it or delete it, even when you restart.

Use “connect to server” for unlimited storage

With visionOS, you can connect to a local server on your network, like your PC or Mac, or cloud storage providers, and access files without saving them to your headset. It’s a great way to work with large files without filling up your Vision Pro’s storage—especially if you opted for the base 256GB. To set it up, you need to allow sharing on the remote computer, then go to “Files” within the Vision Pro, enter your server’s host name or network address, then choose “Connect.” Depending on the server, you can connect as a guest, or you can enter your username and password, and you’re good to go.

Use settings and mirroring to securely share the Vision Pro experience

One of the biggest downsides to AR and VR is the inability to say “take a look at this!” and show your friend. The Apple Vision Pro’s Guest User mode isn’t quite that, but it’s at least an easy and quick way to hand around your headset. Here’s how it works:

  • Go to Control Center.

  • Pinch “Guest User.”

  • Hand your headset over and the Vision Pro will run a quick set-up and calibration, then open on what you were looking at, while protecting your private data.

  • When you put the headset back on, your original calibration will return.

If you don’t want to fully share your headset, you can still share your view. AirPlay Mirroring lets others see what you’re seeing on their phones or other devices. You can beam your view to any nearby iPad, Mac, or AirPlay-compatible TV that shares a wifi network with your Vision Pro. Here’s how it works:

  • On your headset, go to Control Center and select the “Mirror My View” icon (it looks like two overlapping squares).

  • You should see a list of any compatible devices on your network. Choose the one you want to stream to.

  • If you don’t see a device, you may need to turn on AirPlay Receiver (found in System Settings > General > AirDrop & Handoff on macOS and within the Apple Vision Pro app on iOS).

Use “Gaussian splats” to create 3D virtual spaces you can walk around in

One of the standout features of the Vision Pro is the device’s ability to instantly upscale and alter existing 2D photos into spatial 3D images. You just open the photo gallery, select a picture, and click the “spatial” and/or immersion icons and it instantly gives your pics depth. But that’s only the first level of the 3D you can achieve.

Third-party apps like Spatial Media Toolkit and Spatial Video Studio let you control parameters like depth intensity, crop for the best 3D effect, and save in formats that can be viewed outside of the Vision Pro. That includes anaglyph, so you can view pictures with those old 3D glasses; side-by-side 3D, so you can view them on VR headsets or 3D TVs; and “wiggle” videos that can be viewed by anyone by moving their device slightly, like so:


Credit: Stephen Johnson

But if you want to go even deeper, the Apple Vision Pro is an amazing tool for viewing and creating Gaussian splats. This cutting edge tech creates 3D models by stretching, rotating, and positioning millions of tiny, colored, and transparent 3D “blobs” (Gaussians). While spatial photos add AI-assisted depth, “splats” allow you to capture 3D versions of real objects, save them, and walk around them. You can also scan a 3D space and walk around inside it.

Gaussian splats capture lighting really well, but add a weird, surreal “blobbiness” to physical objects (the tech isn’t fully in place). But the lighting and reflections are evocative in a way that’s hard to describe. Gaussian splats of familiar places feel like walking into hazy memories. If your parents had this, you could hang out in a digital replica of your childhood bedroom. If you scan your own children with this, you’ll have weird, blobby digital child who will never grow up. It’s not super hard to do, either. You can use an app like Scaniverse or Polycam on your phone to scan a room or object in different ways, then you can export it to your Vision Pro and experience it in 3D through the same apps on your Vision Pro. Bonus: Polycam lets you explore captures from users all over the world, including large-scale scans of things like cathedrals.

Use your Vision Pro as a gaming device

Gaming has never been the focus of the Vision Pro—a shame, since it’s such a powerful machine—but that seems to be changing. The most recent update to visionOS 26.4 introduced NVIDIA CloudXR 6.0, a native streaming framework that allows the headset to act as more of a monitor, while another computer handles the number crunching. Valve has also announced Steam Link, an app that lets Apple Vision Pro users stream Steam games from their PC or Mac to their headset.

The first high-profile games playable through the NVIDIA new framework are iRacing and X-Plane 12. I don’t have a PC, so I wasn’t able to test this one out, but here are the the instructions from NVIDIA on how to get it going.

Steam Link is currently in Beta, but the Beta is easy to get into. Here’s how:

  • Go to the App Store on your Vision Pro and Install TestFlight.

  • Make sure you have a game controller paired to your Vision Pro and your wifi is fairly fast.

  • In your Apple Vision Pro, click on this link.

  • You’ll be guided through the rest of the set-up process.

If you want to stream games directly from someone else’s servers, you can use NVIDIA GeForce NOW. The bad news: It’s going to cost a subscription fee for the best stuff. Here’s how it works:

  • Pair a Bluetooth game controller to your Apple Vision Pro.

  • Open Safari on your Vision Pro and go to play.geforcenow.com.

  • You should be able to play any games you own on Steam that are also on NVIDIA’s platform.

  • The free subscription gives you hour blocks of playtime after waiting in the queue. If you spring for the “Ultimate tier subscription” for $19.99 a month, you get to the front of the line, and you’ll unlock the Vision Pro’s 4K/90 FPS cloud mode, which gives you better performance than most consoles without a single wire.

Those are the official gaming options. If you want to be a hacker and walk outside Apple’s cultivated garden, you can play streamed OpenVR games from your gaming computer to your Vision Pro with ALVR. But it’s not for the faint-of-heart. Running ALVR requires specific network and software configurations, and a measure of technical knowledge. If you want to give it a shot, here are the official instructions for setting up the app on your PC.

Keep Vision Pro awake with a post-it note

This hack takes no technical ability at all, and it’s adorably janky. The Apple Vision Pro is designed to go into a sleep mode the moment you take it off, but if there’s some reason you’d rather the display stay on, you can defeat the auto-sleep sensors with a simple Post-it note. Slide it over your eye while the headset is off, then you can keep your headset on while it’s supposed to be sleeping, like so:


Credit: Stephen Johnson

This actually has some uses. VisionOS often pauses active tasks like file transfers when it’s sleeping, so if you’re transferring a huge file, this could keep it going while you’re headset-less. Also: if you’re running something with a delicate connection, like ALVR mentioned above, this would theoretically make it more likely you keep your connection.

Use physical buttons to force quit if your Vision Pro is unresponsive

If a Vision Pro app becomes unresponsive, you can force quit with the physical buttons. Unlike clicking the “X” to close out an app, force quitting kills the process that’s running completely. Here’s how it works:

  • Press and hold both the digital crown and the top button.

  • Wait for the menu of open apps to appear.

  • Click the app you want to kill.

Create an ultrawide virtual display for your MacBook

You can turn your MacBook into a wrap-around workstation with infinite screen real estate, and it’s crazy easy:

  • Make sure your computer and Vision Pro are both on the same network, and that both have bluetooth and keychains enabled.

  • Then just look at your open MacBook while wearing the headset. A “Connect” button will float above the screen.

  • Pinch it, and you’ll have a virtual screen that can be huge. You can expand to a 32:9 panoramic display that wraps around you. You get the equivalent of two 5K monitors side-by-side while sitting at a coffee shop or on a plane. So cool.

Hunt for hidden easter eggs in Vision Pro environments

The Vision Pro’s environments are way more than static backdrops. They’re highly detailed, animated vision and soundscapes filled with small details and, supposedly, mysterious rare encounters. There’s a kind of mythology about some of these events, because they’re hard to capture, so anyone can say they saw or heard anything—like a roadrunner in White Sands or gunshots or Bigfoot in Mount Hood. Those are dubious, but there are some confirmed, or at least plausible, environment easter eggs that suggest you might find something:

  • Haleakalā: if you yell loud enough in this environment, you can hear an echo. This one is confirmed.

  • Mount Hood (Dynamic Weather): If it is raining in your actual physical location, the Mount Hood environment will often mirror those conditions. Users have reported seeing subtle raindrops hitting the “glass” of their open app windows as well.

  • Keynote’s hidden environment: If you open the “Keynote” app in your Vision Pro and open a presentation, one of your options will be “rehearse.” You’ll have two choice, a boardroom and a theater. The theater is an exact replica of the Steve Jobs Theater. This is confirmed too.

Android 17 Will Finally Let You Remap Your Gaming Controllers

While iOS has caught up in recent years, Android is still the most versatile OS when it comes to smartphone gaming—especially if you’re looking beyond downloading games from app stores. Android supports a huge number of emulators, as well as game controllers and game pads. If you want to play a game, there’s a decent chance you can get it up and running on Android.

And yet, the OS doesn’t have something that many other modern gaming platforms do: native controller remapping. The idea is, you get to choose which of your controller’s buttons do what. If you’d prefer your down button to have the same effect as the L1 button, or the D-pad to have the same inputs as the right stick, you can. While individual Android games may offer these options, it doesn’t apply to the entire OS, which leads to some inconsistent gameplay situations.

GameSir G8 Plus


$79.99
at Amazon

Google is testing controller remapping with the Android 17 beta

As it turns out, Android 17 will introduce system-wide controller remapping options—assuming it makes it out of beta. Former tech journalism-turned Google employee Mishaal Rahman shared the news in a post on r/AndroidGaming, acknowledging the Android gaming communities’ repeated requests for controller remapping, and confirming the company is testing the feature in the Android 17 beta. Rahman says that Google is interested in two key points here: accessibility, so more players can remap buttons to fit their physical needs; and reducing issues with muscle memory when swapping between games.

Those two points really are huge for gamers. It can be frustrating to jump between games with different button layouts, and make mistakes only because you’re used to the layout from the previous game. But, more importantly, controller remapping makes gaming much more accessible for players who might not be able to play with a game’s default layout or control scheme. When some games support it and others don’t, it makes gaming on Android unbalanced. Now, assuming Android 17 really does launch this feature, gaming on phones like Pixel and Galaxy will be more accessible for everyone.

How to try controller remapping on Android 17

These tools are currently live in the latest Android 17 beta (beta 2). You can try it out now if you enroll your eligible device in the Android beta—just be warned that installing beta software on your device may result in bugs, instability, or data loss. I’d recommend making a full backup of any important data before install the beta.

With the latest Android 17 beta running on your device, you have two choices, depending on whether you’re using a wired or Bluetooth controller:

  • Wired controllers: Head to Settings > System > Game Controller and choose your controller from the list.

  • Bluetooth controllers: Head to Settings > Connected devices then choose the menu icon next to your controller. From here, go to the Device details page then choose “Game Controller” settings.

Either way, you’ll see a list of all the buttons and inputs on your controller. Tap one to make any available adjustments. Rahman does warn that glyphs—the icons that appear next to each button or input—may not be accurate as of this beta.

MLB injury check-in: How will teams navigate injuries to Cade Horton, Hunter Brown, Mookie Betts and others?

For a handful of MLB clubs, the start of the regular season has already been soured by injuries to key players. These ailments range in severity — some absences are expected to extend a few weeks, while others could stretch for the remainder of the season — but what’s undeniable is that several of the most important players in the sport have already landed on the injured list just as the season is getting going.

Here’s a look at the five most prominent injured stars, their timelines for return and which players will need to step up while their teammates are on the shelf.

A fifth-round pick out of Division II Wayne State in 2019, Brown has gradually grown into one of the best right-handed pitchers in the game. His third-place finish in the AL Cy Young race last year exemplified that growth, and with longtime Astros rotation mainstay Framber Valdez departing in free agency, there was zero doubt entering this season who the ace of the Astros’ staff would be. But after just two starts in which Brown largely looked like his dominant self, he landed on the injured list for the first time in his career due to a Grade 2 shoulder strain, which is expected to keep him on the shelf for several weeks at least. This is a devastating blow for an Astros team that spent much of last season navigating a slew of arm injuries to pitchers not named Brown and Valdez, who each made 31 starts. 

Houston spent the offseason restocking its staff around Brown, but the biggest names brought in have delivered mixed results so far, with Tatsuya Imai starting to flash his impact potential while Mike Burrows has been just OK. The more familiar faces have also provided varying results, with the long-tenured Lance McCullers Jr. seemingly having reinvented himself for the better after a disastrous 2025 while Cristian Javier is struggling badly in the early going. Beyond those four, the door would seem to be open for Spencer Arrighetti — who thrived as a rookie in 2024 but was a relative nonfactor last season due to poor performance and injury — to reemerge as a rotation option, and there are some long-relief types who could handle bulk innings as well (Ryan Weiss, Cody Bolton, AJ Blubaugh). 

All of these pitchers will need to step up their game in Brown’s absence, especially with a bullpen that has underperformed while closer Josh Hader works his way back from his own ailment; Bryan Abreu’s brutal showings thus far have been particularly concerning. The Astros have done an excellent job in recent years of conjuring effective pitching staffs regardless of the personnel involved, but Brown’s absence will really put that core competency to the test. 

The Astros announced that Brown will refrain from throwing for a few weeks, at which point he will likely require a build back up before he’s available for major-league games. That’s assuming no setbacks in the interim, which is hardly a safe assumption for a pitcher battling a serious injury for the first time in his career. A late May or early June return seems plausible given the information we have now, but that’s a long time for a team to go without one of the best pitchers in the league. Fortunately for Houston, the AL West does not currently seem to have any team eager to zoom ahead in the standings, so if the Astros’ stellar offense can continue to mash, they should be able to stay in the mix until their ace is reinstalled atop the rotation.

For the first time since a left shoulder strain cost him a couple of weeks early in the 2021 season, Soto has landed on the injured list. This time it’s a right calf strain suffered while running the bases during the Mets’ game April 3 in San Francisco. The team announced an expected return timeline of roughly two-to-three weeks, so this injury isn’t nearly as troubling as some of the others highlighted here. Even so, any absence for a player of Soto’s status is significant, especially considering how rare they’ve been throughout his career. In addition to his generational hitting ability, Soto has been tremendously durable as a big leaguer. He ranks sixth in games played since the beginning of the 2019 season, and only ironman Matt Olson (486) played more regular-season games the past three years (2023-2025) than Soto (479). Availability might not be Soto’s best ability, but it’s unquestionably part of what makes him so valuable.

But now, at least for a stretch, Soto will not be slotted near the top of the Mets’ lineup. Manager Carlos Mendoza has thus far moved the heart of the order up a spot, with Bo Bichette, Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr. occupying the 2-3-4 spots behind leadoff man Francisco Lindor, as opposed to 3-4-5 behind Soto. Having switch-hitters in Lindor and Polanco ensures a baseline of lineup balance no matter what, but it’ll be interesting to see if Mendoza experiments with any other configurations while Soto is out.

As for the defensive alignment, joining Soto in the outfield this season have been a pair of fresh faces in offseason acquisition Luis Robert Jr. and rookie Carson Benge, but Soto’s temporary absence will open some more outfield opportunities for Brett Baty, who was previously on the outside looking in at a crowded infield picture. The left-handed-hitting Baty looks like the natural temporary replacement for Soto in one of the corner outfield spots alongside Benge, but Benge has struggled since homering in his debut, so perhaps Mendoza will seek at-bats for some of the other non-regulars on the roster, such as Jared Young, Mark Vientos and Tyrone Taylor. That group also includes the polarizing yet talented Ronny Mauricio, who was the corresponding move for Soto’s IL placement and delivered a walk-off hit in his first at-bat of the season on Tuesday. 

Assuming Soto’s absence is indeed rather brief, this should be an early-season blip of unusual lineup construction. That said, his impact is so outsized that it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Mets’ new-look offense take some time to figure out its identity without Soto anchoring the top of the order. Seeing Soto stuck watching from the bench, if even for a couple of weeks, will feel unfamiliar. At the same time, this is a golden opportunity for some of the new names to endear themselves to the fan base with a step up in performance while Soto is out.

The runner-up to Drake Baldwin in last year’s NL Rookie of the Year race, Horton appeared primed to build on his stellar debut season and solidify himself as a fixture in the Cubs’ rotation for years to come. Instead, he departed his April 3 start in Cleveland due to forearm discomfort and shortly thereafter received a recommendation for elbow surgery — the second such procedure of his young career after he underwent Tommy John surgery in college. The Cubs received an additional wave of bad news earlier this week, with All-Star lefty Matthew Boyd being placed on the injured list due to a strained biceps, but it’s Horton’s injury — which is expected to wipe out the rest of his season — that is particularly gutting and daunting to deal with in both the short and long term.

It was about a year ago that another frontline Cubs arm, Justin Steele, went down with an elbow injury that required surgery. In that way, Horton’s early exit from the rotation is an unwelcome case of deja vu, and now Steele’s impending return to the rotation this summer becomes all the more pivotal for Chicago. That’s still at least a month away, though, which means the spotlight brightens on the likes of Shota Imanaga and new addition Edward Cabrera to be the anchors atop this rotation in the meantime. Cabrera has looked terrific to start the season, allowing just two hits across 11 ⅔ scoreless innings and showcasing why the Cubs were willing to pay a reasonably steep price to snag him from Miami in the offseason. The talent has rarely been in question with Cabrera, but now there’s even more pressure on his durability — which has frequently been a concern — to hold up while other key arms are on the shelf.

Besides the hard-throwing Jaxon Wiggins, who could use some more development time in Triple-A, the Cubs do not have a wealth of MLB-ready pitching prospects to call on, so it’ll be on veterans Jameson Taillon, Javier Assad and Colin Rea to steady the ship after Imanaga and Cabrera. And however the pitching staff shakes out, it’ll be even more important for the Cubs to start hitting consistently, as an offense that was supposed to be the team’s clear strength has yet to really start humming.

The reigning American League champions’ injured list is as crowded as that of any team in the league through two weeks, but arguably the most consequential absence that Toronto is currently navigating is Kirk, who is expected to miss six weeks after fracturing his left thumb and undergoing surgery. It’s impossible to overstate the value of a franchise catcher capable of impacting both sides of the ball, and that key cog in Kirk will be unavailable for the next month-plus while the Blue Jays try to dig themselves out of an early, ugly hole in the unforgiving AL East. 

Kirk has been a mainstay behind the dish for the past half-decade for Toronto, ranking ninth in MLB in innings caught and fifth in fWAR among catchers since the start of the 2022 season. That makes him particularly challenging to replace, in terms of both how his defensive acumen impacts the pitching staff and his role in the middle of the lineup as a well-above-average bat for his position.

The two tasked with filling in for the two-time All-Star catcher will be Tyler Heineman and Brandon Valenzuela. The 34-year-old Heineman is a strong defender who reached base at a solid clip (.361 OBP) in a small sample (174 plate appearances) last season, but he has generally been limited to backup roles and offers essentially zero slugging upside. Valenzuela is a 25-year-old rookie who was acquired in a trade with San Diego last season, and he has long been known more for his glove than his bat. Both Heineman and Valenzuela are switch-hitters, affording some matchup flexibility for manager John Schneider.

But far more crucial will be how they manage Toronto’s injury-ravaged yet still talented pitching staff while Kirk is out. Ensuring a sense of stability with the glove will be paramount. Any offensive contributions from these backup backstops will be gravy, while the other hitters atop the order will be relied on far more heavily to compensate for Kirk’s absence.

The defending champs are off to a rip-roaring start to their quest for a three-peat, with only one glaring setback surfacing in the early going: Mookie Betts, the eight-time All-Star and sudden defensive stalwart at shortstop, suffered a right oblique strain. Return to play for such an injury commonly requires four-to-six weeks, but Betts and manager Dave Roberts are hopeful that he can return on the earlier side of that timeline.

Any team losing its starting shortstop would be a big deal, but this is a particularly intriguing case considering that the middle infield — or at least, second base before Betts’ injury — is arguably the only weak spot on the entire Dodgers roster. With Betts out, a group of unproven youngsters (Alex Freeland, Hyeseong Kim) and veteran utilitymen (Miguel Rojas, Santiago Espinal) will be tasked with covering both shortstop and second base, representing a clear collective shortcoming in a position-player group otherwise overloaded with impact talent. 

Viewed more favorably, the presence of all that star power elsewhere in the lineup should empower this group of middle infielders to make the most of their increase in playing time without the pressure of needing to replace Betts; there are plenty of other megastars to shoulder that burden in the interim. So whether it means a prospect such as Freeland breaking through as a regular or someone such as Kim establishing himself as a proven commodity, or the veterans Espinal and Rojas showing they still can play meaningful every-day roles, Betts’ absence could be a silver lining for other Dodgers to take advantage of. 

This Compact Bose Portable Bluetooth Speaker Is Cheaper Than Ever Right Now

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Bose knows how to make products that last, and very much follows the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mantra. Take the Bose SoundLink Micro: Released in 2017, it was such a hit, the company waited until last September to introduce a second generation. And right now, you can get the Bose SoundLink Micro (2nd Gen) from Amazon for $99 (originally $129), the lowest price it has reached anywhere, according to price-tracking tools.

Bose New SoundLink Micro Portable Bluetooth Speaker (2nd Gen)
Wireless Outdoor Speaker, Up to 12 Hours Battery Life, Waterproof and Dustproof, Black


$99.00
at Amazon
$129.00
Save $30.00

With the new speaker, Bose improved on the first generation model in two big ways: the charging port (which is now a standard USB-C) and the battery life (which has doubled to 12 hours). It’s also a bit heavier and larger, and comes with an adjustable nylon strap you can use to attach it to bikes, bags, or any other object. There’s also a new Spotify Tap button that plays your favorite Spotify playlist at a touch. The only real omission is the loss of a mic, so you won’t be able to use it to take phone calls anymore.

The Bluetooth multipoint connection lets you connect up to two devices at the same time and switch between them seamlessly. With Speaker Link, you can sync two Bose speakers ato create a stereo setup.

But the best feature of this small speaker is its strong sound for its compact size. It has rich lows and well-defined highs, according to PCMag’s “excellent” review, and the higher-resolution aptX Adaptive codec means you get that extra oomph from compatible devices. It’s tough to find a speaker that gives you more for your money than the SoundLink Micro (2nd Gen).

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Angels’ Jorge Soler homers in first at-bat after appealing suspension for fight with Braves’ Reynaldo López

Los Angeles Angels designated hitter and outfielder Jorge Soler and Atlanta Braves pitcher Reynaldo López are both facing suspensions and undisclosed fines from MLB in the wake of their fight that cleared the benches and bullpens on Tuesday, and they both appealed those punishments, according tomultiple reports Wednesday.

Later on Wednesday, López reportedly reached an agreement with MLB to reduce his suspension to five games, whereas Soler is still looking at a seven-game suspension.

Less than an hour after the initial news broke about their impending bans, Soler went yard again against the Braves at Angel Stadium.

In his first at-bat of the series finale, Soler teed off on an 84-mph slider from Atlanta’s Grant Holmes and sent the ball 402 feet to left-center field. The solo shot made it 2-1 in the second inning of what turned out to be an 8-2 defeat.

That dinger marked Soler’s third home run of the season and his second in less than 24 hours.

The night before, Soler, who notably earned World Series MVP honors while helping the Braves win a title in 2021, smashed a two-run home run against his former team in the first inning of a 7-2 Angels loss. It was his fifth homer off López, against whom Soler is now a career 14-for-23 hitter.

Two innings later, López pelted Soler with a 96-mph fastball.

Then, in the fifth frame, López missed high on a pitch that played some chin music and hit the backstop. After Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel stole second, the brawl began to take form, first with a staredown between López and Soler. Eventually, Soler started to approach the mound. He picked up speed after López winged out his arms.

Soon enough, they were throwing hands. López was even swinging with the baseball still in his right hand.

Amid the melee, Braves manager Walt Weiss tackled Soler to the ground, and Angels star Mike Trout pushed López away. Both Soler and López were ejected from the game.

“Obviously, I have good numbers against him,” Soler said afterward through interpreter Jobel Jiménez, per MLB.com. “After the home run and getting hit by a pitch after that, and then he missed way too high and close to my head.

“At this level, you can’t miss like that.”

López didn’t seem to see it that way.

“It’s just a shame, the situation and how things unfolded,” he said through interpreter Franco García, according to The Athletic. “On my part, there was never any intent to hit him at any point.”

Regardless of their differing interpretations of the chaos in Anaheim, MLB handed out punishments on Wednesday. Those suspensions were on hold while each player appealed, and, so, Soler kept on raking against the Braves.

Steam Just Added Support for Apple Vision Pro Gaming

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The Apple Vision Pro is taking another step toward becoming the killer VR gaming device we all know it could be. Valve recently announced that it is adding Steam Link, an app for Vision Pro that will let users wirelessly stream Steam games from their PC or Mac to their headsets. Steam Link will allow streaming up to 4k and includes a panoramic mode with an adjustable screen curve.

Apple Vision Pro


$3,499.96

There’s a huge caveat though: Steam Link will not stream VR games, so you won’t be playing Half-Life: Alyx or any other Steam-based VR or AR games on your Vision Pro. At least for now.

Steam Link for iOS is currently in Beta, with no word yet on when the full version will be released, but getting into the Beta is painless:

  • Go to the App Store on your Vision Pro and Install TestFlight.

  • Make sure you have a game controller paired to your Vision Pro and your wifi is fairly fast.

  • In your Apple Vision Pro, click on this link.

  • You’ll be guided through the rest of the set-up process.

The state of gaming on the Apple Vision Pro

At launch, the Apple Vision Pro had few choices for gamers, but that’s been steadily changing over the last month or so. First Apple announced support for NVIDIA CloudXR, and now Steam, giving users two legitimate ways to game on the Vision Pro, but the Holy Grail of gaming, native PC VR games like Skyrim VR and Boneworks, remain out of reach unless you use a hacker-y workaround.

While there has been no announcement from Apple, enabling low latency tools like Cloud XR and opening Steam to Vision Pro may be leading to the next logical step: supporting OpenVR and/or SteamVR. The Vision Pro’s M5 chip certainly has the power to handle the frame-rates of AAA VR games, and Apple Pro users, I’m sure, would at least like the option of playing top-tier games on their face computers.

10 Shows Like ‘The White Lotus’ You Should Watch Next

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The next season of HBO salacious, schadenfreude-rich dramedy The White Lotus doesn’t premiere until October, so you’ll need to wait months yet to witness the antics of an all-new all-star cast (Helena Bonham Carter! Heather Graham! Rosie Perez! Sandra Bernhard!) as they travel to paradise and encounter murder, mystery, and the inevitable consequences of their own greed. In the meantime, here are 10 more shows about wealthy people getting their comeuppances (or not) in lush locales.

The Perfect Couple (2024)

Though the cast includes names like Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, and Dakota Fanning, the real star of The Perfect Couple is Donna Lynne Champlin as Nikki Henry, a police detective who has no idea what she’s getting into when she shows up in a wealthy Massachusetts island community to investigate a dead body on a beach. The beach is attached to a lavish mansion playing host to a society wedding involving some of the most self-satisfied rich people you’ll ever encountered on television. Kidman plays novelist Greer Garrison Winbury, the mother of the groom. She has nothing but icy disdain for her future daughter-in-law, who has committed the cardinal sin of having grown up not-rich. As in The White Lotus, the murder exposes the secrets and the fault lines in a seemingly “perfect” family. Stream The Perfect Couple on Netflix.

The Perfect Couple (2024)

The Perfect Couple (2024)

at Netflix

The Resort (2022)

Starring Christin Milioti and William Jackson Harper (The Good Place). this one plays a bit like a romantic drama take on White Lotus—the set-up and setting are similar, but it’s much more about relationships than social status. A couple celebrating their tenth anniversary arrives at a luxury Yucatan resort, but things aren’t as happy as they seem on the surface. Their marriage is quietly crumbling, but a young woman who went missing 15 years earlier might be the thing to bring them back together. The mystery has threads that catch on the pair’s own secrets, as well as the shady history of the the resort itself; eventually, things travel into even weirder territory than what we’ve yet encountered on The White Lotus. Stream The Resort on Peacock.

The Resort (2022)

at Peacock

Nine Perfect Strangers (2021 – )

It’s Nicole Kidman again, this time as Masha Dmitrichenko, overseer of up the posh wellness resort Tranquillum House. The nine strangers of the title (each season has a different all-star cast—sound familiar?) show up hoping for a little healing, but get much more than they bargained for from the mostly well-intentioned, but shady and mysterious Masha. She’s secretly drugging them, for one thing, and her therapy regimen includes things like digging your own grave. It’s pretty bonkers, but nobody ever said that personal growth would be easy. Stream Nine Perfect Strangers on Hulu.

Nine Perfect Strangers (2021 – )

at Hulu

The Comeback (2005  – )

Though it’s significantly less murder-y and generally much funnier than The White Lotus, this is another show about clueless rich people moving through life amiably enough while only occasionally realizing how fragile their self-worth is when tied solely to money and status. Lisa Kudrow is brilliant as actress-of-a-certain-age Valerie Cherish, who has plotted one comeback after another over the course of three seasons released across two decades. Her utter shamelessness in her quest for greater fame is simultaneously admirable and embarrassing, even as the show makes clear that women face different burdens in the effort to maintain relevance. It’s cringe comedy par excellence. Stream The Comeback on HBO Max.

The Comeback (2005  – )

at HBO Max

Big Little Lies (2017 – )

Much as with The White Lotus, part of the thrill of Big Little Lies is in watching some very rich, very attractive, very white (mostly) ladies facing tough times in beautiful locales (in this case, Monterey, California). And as on The White Lotus, any threat to the status quo can lead to big drama, as at least as much as small differences in perceived wealth. In season one, five women (played by Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, and Zoë Kravitz) become involved in a murder investigation connected to a school fundraiser that threatens to bring all of their private dirt out into the open—and there are secrets aplenty to uncover. Stream Big Little Lies on HBO Max.

Big Little Lies (2017 – )

at HBO Max

Billions (2016 – 2023)

Billions doesn’t have quite the bite of White Lotus, but it’s still plenty of fun, with Paul Giamatti playing rather ruthless U.S. attorney Chuck Rhoades (based in part on the real-life Preet Bharara), who is working to bring down shady hedge fund manager Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis). The tone is that of a darkly comic soap opera, and it stays fresh over seven seasons by playing off the contrast between Axelrod’s willingness to use all the money and power at his disposal to stay on top and out of jail, and Rhoades’ willingness to resort to shady, not-entirely-legal tactics to reel in his big fish. Stream Billions on Paramount+ and Prime Video.

Billions (2016 – 2023)

at Paramount+

Enlightened (2011 – 2013)

Before The White Lotus, Mike White co-created (with star Laura Dern) this beloved, if short-lived, comedy-drama about a middle-aged woman who experiences a complete mental breakdown following a demotion at the job to which she’s devoted her life. Following a two-month stay in an holistic treatment facility, Dern’s Amy Jellicoe becomes determined to approach life with a new perspective, focusing on meditation and positive change at work and at home. The results are mixed, but there’s also a rather beautiful sense that while change is absurd and difficult, but also entirely possible (in that, it’s perhaps a lot less cynical than White’s subsequent series). Stream Enlightened on HBO Max.

Enlightened (2011 – 2013)

at HBO Max

Mine (2021)

South Korean TV creators have no problem criticizing the ultra-wealthy, particularly the plutocratic chaebol families who control huge portions of the country’s economy. Mine targets the women who are jockeying for control of the massive, fictional Hyowon Group from within their family’s outrageously opulent (and extremely photogenic) residential compound. The plans of two increasingly powerful women who married into the family, Hi-soo and Seo-hyun, are thrown into disarray when the new housemaid begins a romantic relationship with one of the family’s male heirs, while a new tutor seems ready to expose old family secrets. It’s a Dynasty-style soap opera, but one that isn’t particularly besotted by its wealthy characters, and with a self-awareness that leads to moments of dark comedy as various family members crawl over one another in pursuit of power. Stream Mine on Netflix.

Mine (2021)

at Netflix

The Prisoner (1967 – 1968)

You want a show with a beautiful setting that confronts issues of identity and authoritarianism in a capitalist context? Fifty years on, The Prisoner remains one of television’s most starkly realized dystopias—and it’s set in a candy-colored, pop-art-inspired village that actually looks like a pretty great place to relax. Creator/director Patrick McGoohan plays Number Six, who has resigned from his government job over a matter of conscience. Apparently knowing too much, he’s rendered unconscious and taken to the remote, inescapable “Village,” which is full of others with numbers and no names. The Village has all the comforts and conveniences one could want, and most are perfectly content there—but rebellious Number Six can’t appreciate luxurious surroundings that look to him like a gilded cage. This surreal, psychedelic series builds to a wild conclusion as the mystery of where he really is and why plays out, and makes as good an argument against the soul-crushing impacts of consumer culture and conformity as anything ever on TV. Stream The Prisoner on Prime Video and Tubi.

The Prisoner (1967 – 1968)

at Prime Video

Your Friends and Neighbors (2025 – )

In Your Friends & Neighbors, Jon Hamm plays Andrew “Coop” Cooper, a recently divorced, recently unemployed New York hedge fund manager. In an effort to keep up an illusion that nothing in his life has changed, he begins breaking into the homes of his wealthy neighbors to steal and sell their stuff, inadvertently catching on to their secrets as well. This dark comedy isn’t exactly about how hard it is to be a once-rich white guy, but neither is it a pointed lesson in the downfalls toxic masculinity—Coop is an insider forced into the role of an outsider (playing an insider), offering him a unique perspective on the artifice at the center of a life based on flaunting wealth. Stream Your Friends and Neighbors on Apple TV.

Your Friends and Neighbors (2025 – )

at Apple TV

Amazon Big Spring Sale 2026 Live Blog: All the Best Deals From Apple, Kindle, Garmin, and More

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Early deals from Amazon’s Big Spring Sale were surprisingly good, and starting today, Wednesday, March 25, the sale is now in full swing. As is the case with other big Amazon sales, I’m going to highlight all best the deals as our team covers them throughout the event. All of our recommended deals have been vetted using price-tracking tools, so you can trust that the sales we’re talking about are actually good deals, and not just hype designed to fool you.

You can read more details about the spring sale here, like what to expect, how long it’ll last, and some tips to make your shopping experience better. You can also just browse what’s on sale here on your own. We’ll continue highlighting new deals as we find them, but you can scroll through to see earlier deals that may still be active.