CDC is releasing the latest provisional estimates for suicide deaths in the United States in 2022. The provisional estimates released today indicate that suicide deaths further increased in 2022.
Life
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Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Thursday, July 18, 2024
If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for July 18, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is medium difficult; I got it in four. Beware, there are spoilers below for July 18, Wordle #1,125! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.
How to play Wordle
Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.
Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)
Ready for the hints? Let’s go!
Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?
We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)
Four of today’s letters are from our mnemonic. The fifth is uncommon.
Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?
An adjective for someone who is highly passionate about a pursuit.
Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?
There are no repeated letters today.
How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?
There is one vowel and one “sometimes” vowel.
What letter does today’s Wordle start with?
Today’s word starts with N.
What letter does today’s Wordle end with?
Today’s word ends with Y.
What is the solution to today’s Wordle?
Ready? Today’s word is NERDY.
How I solved today’s Wordle
I started with RAISE, TOUCH, and BLEND, after which there were only two possible words (ENDER and NERDY) and I guessed the latter.
Wordle 1,125 4/6 🟨⬛⬛⬛🟨 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Yesterday’s Wordle answer
Yesterday’s Wordle was medium difficult. The hint was “either fairly or completely” and the answer contained four common letters and one uncommon letter.
The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was QUITE.
A primer on Wordle basics
The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word.
Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)
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Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)
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Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)
With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.
The best starter words for Wordle
What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:
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CRANE
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TRACE
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SLANT
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CRATE
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CARTE
Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:
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SALET
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REAST
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TRACE
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CRATE
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SLATE
Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.
How to win at Wordle
We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.
The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.
One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.
Wordle alternatives
If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:
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Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.
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Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.
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Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.
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Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.
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Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.
Four of the Weirdest Mac Apps That Are Actually Kinda Useful
At some point, macOS became boring. What was long ago a quirky operating system, today feels sterile and corporate. You can add a bit of humanity back by installing kinda useful (but kinda dumb) software from independent developers.
I write a lot about useful applications. This is not one of those articles. Which isn’t to say that the apps featured here are completely useless—they’re not—but none of them are the most efficient way of doing something. I’m talking about animated flies circling your trash bin and emojis that replace your battery indicator—that sort of thing. Here are some of the oddest ones I’ve found.
BananaBin: Animated, realistic flies when your trash is too full
Credit: Justin Pot
It’s really easy to let your computer’s trash fill up without noticing. BananaBin is a playful app that adds flies to your dock’s trash bin when it gets too full—you can decide whether 10MB, 1GB, or 10GB is your threshold.
The flies are … shockingly realistic. They circle your trash icon and even scatter when your mouse pointer gets too close. I’ve had to fight the reflex of trying to catch them. On one hand, this is obviously silly. On the other hand, if you’re the kind of person who likes to regularly free up space on your device, this serves as a helpful reminder—if you see flies, it’s time to empty the bin.
Juice: Replace your battery indicator with emoji or text
Credit: Justin Pot
The Mac battery icon is boring. Juice doesn’t have to be. This application allows you to replace the battery icon with emoji, ASCII art, or even weird strings of text that say things like “i’m full.” You can use one of the built-in sets or get truly weird and design your own. This won’t make you any more efficient, sure, but it might make you smile, and life is too short to not occasionally do dumb stuff on your computer.
FuzzyTime: Know slightly less about what time it is
Credit: Justin Pot
Do clocks stress you out? FuzzyTime can’t reduce the existential horror of time, but it can dampen that horror just a bit. This app can be used to replace your clock with a string of fuzzy text—for example, it will say “ten to three” when it’s roughly that time. Set this up and disable the clock in the menu bar settings and you’ll be able to think about time in a less precise way. Just don’t blame me if you end up missing meetings.
Rocket: Slack-like emojis in every application
Credit: Justin Pot
One of the best Slack features is the ability to type a colon and then a few letters in order to quickly search for and add an emoji. Rocket is a free Mac app that brings this power to every application on your system. If you’re the kind of person who uses a lot of emoji this application is for you—you’ll wonder how you lived without it.
Now, have any of the applications on this list made you a better, more productive individual? Probably not. But they’ve made your computer just a little bit more personal, and dare I say human. That’s why I love finding small applications like these, and why I hope you’ll get in touch and let me know if you know of any others. I’m looking forward to hearing what you found.
Raspberry Pi Starter Kits Are on Sale for Prime Day
Raspberry Pis were hard to find a bit during the pandemic, but the cheap system-on-a-chip computer is finally back in stock, so it’s time to get back to your projects. You can use a Raspberry Pi to build a basic computer, a custom retro game console, or even a weather station. The beauty is in how small, simple, and affordable Raspberry Pis are to work with—whenever a project calls for brains, a Raspberry Pi is usually the best answer. And thanks to Prime Day, you can get a starter kit at a pretty hefty discount.
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You have a few options here depending on your budget and needs, but for ease of use, you’ll always want to make sure you have a few basics. Unless you have a specific use case in mind for it already, you don’t want to get your motherboard in the mail and find out there’s nothing you can do with it out of the box. For ease of use, be sure to get a kit with a power supply included, and preferably a case. A Micro SD card is a nice bonus, if you don’t have any spares laying around, and you may want a heatsink or fan based on how hard you intend to push the little computer.
With that in mind, the cheapest deal I could find at the moment was for the Raspberry Pi Zero W, with a kit containing all the essentials on sale for $24 (down from $50). This is a smaller, older, and somewhat weaker Raspberry Pi, so it’s best for lighter projects. Still, its inclusion of Wi-Fi 4 allows it some basic connectivity that you could use to offset processing elsewhere.
For something stronger, this $128 Raspberry Pi 5 starter kit (down from $160) gives you everything you need to get started, including a case with a fan and even a 128GB Samsung EVO+ Micro SD card. The Raspberry Pi 5 is the current top-of-the-line, making it better for more demanding projects.
Finally, there’s the slightly cheaper Raspberry Pi 4, which is still respectable when it comes to specs. This kit is discounted to $120 from $140, and is the one I use at home. I used it to make a Steam in-home-streaming box before I got my Steam Deck, and it worked great for playing Final Fantasy IX, a game that has become a favorite of mine.
The Prime Day Deals Lifehacker Readers Love Most (So Far)
For two days now, we’ve been bringing you all kinds of Prime Day deals that we, the Lifehacker writers, actually like, use, or want to buy. I’ve gotten to recommend my favorite storage mirror, the ever-expensive but always worthwhile Dyson Airwrap, and a super-cool mop/vacuum combo.
But this shopping holiday isn’t just about you learning what we’re into; we’re learning about you, too. After looking into which products Lifehacker readers are actually buying, here’s what we’ve learned—and if you’re on the fence about something, maybe seeing how popular it is among your peers will help you make an educated buying decision.
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Most popular vacuums on Prime Day
Three robot vacuums have been especially attractive to Lifehacker readers: The SwitchBot Mini Robot Vacuum K10+ ($299.99, down from $399.99), the Eufy BoostIQ RoboVac 11S Max ($129.99, down from $249.99), and the iRobot Roomba 692 ($149.99, down from $269).
You can find more robot vacuum Prime Day deals here, but those three have a nice selection of features at low prices. As for more traditional vacuums, I’m happy to announce that my personal pick, the Bissell CrossWave OmniForce mop/vacuum combo, is on your list of Prime Day favorites since it’s been reduced by $160.
The best power station to get on Prime Day
Portable power has proven popular among Lifehacker readers, but that’s not surprising: We need power all the time to charge up the tech we use (and recommend) for everything. You really like the EF Ecoflow Portable Power Station DELTA 2, which is down to $479 from $999.99. This fast-charging solar generator is great for home or RV backup power and is a whopping 52% off.
The best security cameras and doorbells to get on Prime Day
This is a great time to get security cameras, since those always seem to have new features (and high prices), but it’s hard to put a price on safety and security. Well, there is certainly a price—but it’s slightly cheaper during Prime Day. Readers are feeling the Eufy Security SoloCam S340 ($139.99, down from $199.99), the Blink Mini 2 ($19.99, down from $39.99), and Blink Outdoor 4 ($64.99, down from $129.98).
Smart doorbells are also in the same security category, but you especially like the Blink video doorbell that is marked down to $29.99 from $59.99.
Your favorite Prime Day tool deal
Home improvement—lifehacking at its finest, really—is a year-long endeavor, but you can get the perfect tool for the job during Prime Day, which it looks like many of you are doing. In particular, you like the KERYE mini hand saw, which is down to $8.99 from $23.99.
You really like these Prime Day LEGO deals, too
After vacuuming and doing home reno, you want to relax, apparently. At least, that’s the vibe I’m picking up from how into these LEGO sets you are, especially the Disney Princess Asha’s Cottage ($19.99, down from $49.99), the Madrigal House ($34.99, down from $49.99), and this Star Wars Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing Fighter (also $34.99, down from $49.99). The X-Wing fighter is a classic, sure, but the Madrigal house is especially pretty—and with 587 pieces, you’ll be admiring it a long time.
The best earbuds deal on Prime Day
Earbuds and headphones are commuting and gym essentials, so it makes sense we’re all scrambling for new ones during this period of markdowns. In addition to the great deals on Apple products, you’re all really digging the SHOKZ OpenRun Pro sport headphones, which are beloved by Lifehacker’s health guru Beth Skwarecki and are down to $124.95 from $179.95. They wrap around your head for a secure fit, are sweat resistant, and have a built-in mic, if you’re into talking to people while you run. (You do you!)
These Power Tools and Accessories Are on Sale for Prime Day for All Your DIY Needs
Building a tool kit that will allow you to tackle all of your DIY projects is exciting…and potentially expensive. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced veteran, there are some good Prime Day deals on tools for all your builds. Here are a few of my favorites.
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Prime Day deals on DeWalt cordless tools
A good set of cordless tools can make your DIY projects go much more smoothly. DeWalt is known for making durable and well balanced cordless tools with decent battery life.
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The DeWalt 20 volt 7 1/4 inch circular saw is on sale for $132.04, 40% off its usual price. This is a tool-only deal, so you’ll need a 20 volt DeWalt battery and charger to use it.
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The DeWalt 20 volt drill and impact driver set is on sale right now for $129, 46% off its regular price. The set comes with a drill, impact driver, battery, charger, and tool bag.
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The DeWalt 20 volt hammer drill is on sale for $143.45, 45% off its usual price. This is a tool only deal, so you’ll need a DeWalt 20 volt battery and charger to use it.
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The DeWalt 20 volt oscillating tool kit is on sale for $119, 56% off its regular price. The kit comes with an oscillating tool, two blades, a sanding attachment, sanding pads, accessory storage box, a depth gauge, a battery, charger, and tool bag.
Prime Day deals on bits, blades, and accessories
Driver bits, drill bits, and blades can wear out over time. Since these parts need to be replaced every so often, getting a discount on them can save you some money on your DIY projects.
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The Bosch 91 piece drill and driver bit set is on sale for $35.68, 56% off its regular price. The set comes with masonry, wood, and metal drill bits as well as an assortment of driver bits.
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The Bosch 13 piece spade bit set is on sale for $24.99, 53% off its usual price. The bits range in size from ¼ inch to 1 ½ inches, and come with a soft case for storage.
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The DeWalt driver bit set is on sale for $19.99, 50% off its usual price. The set comes with a variety of screwdriver bits as well as two nut driver attachments and an adapter that can hold sockets.
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The DeWalt 35 piece screw and nut driver bit set is on sale for $24.99, 47% off its usual price. I comes with a socket adapter and a set of sockets that range from 1/4 inches to 9/16 inches. The bit set also includes a variety of screw driver tips and a magnetic sheath.
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The DeWalt hole saw kit comes with a range of blades from ¾ inch to 2 ½ inch and it’s on sale for $73.49, 54% off its regular price. The kit comes with an arbor and case as well.
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A two pack of DeWalt 10 inch miter saw blades is on sale for $28.48, 53% off its usual price. There is one 60 tooth and one 32 tooth blade included.
Prime Day deals on clamps and jigs
You aren’t done yet—if you want to be ready to tackle every DIY project, you need other accessories, like clamps and jigs.
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This 2-pack of Jorgensen 12 inch bar clamps is on sale for $23.99, 40% off its regular price. These clamps can handle up to 600 pounds of pressure and the jaws have a 1 1/2 inch throat.
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Whether you’re woodworking or making a repair, a good set of clamps is a must. This two pack of right angle clamps from Royar’s are on sale for $14.99, 50% off its usual price. These clamps measure 5.5 inches each side and can be positioned both inside and outside the angle.
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The Kreg K4 pocket hole jig is designed to make joining simpler and faster. This jig is on sale for $65, 34% off its regular price. The kit comes with a pocket hole jig, drill bit, driver bit, collar for setting depth, screws, and pegs.
My Favorite Home Organization Items on Sale for Prime Day
If you really want to organize your home, you’ll need to invest in various carts, shelves, and cubes—but I know that can get expensive. It’s not cheap to buy a bunch of extra stuff to tidy up the stuff you’ve already spent so much money on. Luckily, amid the various bad Prime Day deals, there are some pretty good ones on home organization items.
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Best Prime Day deals on shelving
When organizing, it’s best to follow the rules of the Organizational Triangle, focusing on storing all similar items together and making sure they’re all in the same place.
First, you need a shelving unit, one that’s already divided into smaller cubes for added storage. A classic Songmics cube shelf, with 16 distinct units, is marked down to $45.59 from $56.99. Alternately, you can divide the shelves you already have into cubes or other smaller sections using these acrylic dividers, usually priced at $19.99, but marked down to $15.99.
Finally, I really love this shelving unit for use above a washer and dryer. Typically $99.99, it’s on sale for $67.99 and has three shelves, a space for hanging clothes to dry, and hooks for all the little tools you use to do the laundry.
Best Prime Day deals on kitchen storage
I love rolling carts with tiered shelving because they can be used to tote around cleaning supplies or keep cooking implements handy. Usually $25.99, this one is just $16.70 right now.
I feel like I’m always recommending these pull-out organizers for under kitchen sinks (and that’s because I am), but they really are a great way to keep your cleaning supplies in order and accessible when you need them. You can get two for $19.99 right now. Another good option are these pull-out cabinet organizers, which will make it so much easier to access your pots and pans, plus keep them separate inside your cupboards. They’re marked down to $43.19 from $53.99.
Best Prime Day deals on bathroom organization
OK, don’t be annoyed that I keep bringing up pull-out storage, but I really do swear by it—in addition to keeping all your stuff together, it makes it easier to actually access the stuff when you need it. These two stackable, pull-out baskets are ideal for smaller things you need to keep organized, plus the baskets themselves have dividers in them for even more intense categorization. They’re down to $19.45 from $29.99.
I’m a well-documented lover of using turntables and lazy Susans to organize every room of the house. This is especially key in the bathroom or wherever you store hair and makeup supplies. For Prime Day, you can get a cute, three-tiered spinning organizer for $23.99 instead of $29.99.
Finally, whip your shower into shape with this set of five adhesive caddies that will hold all your shampoos, conditioners, body washes, bar soaps, and whatever else you have in there. Usually $69.99, these are marked down a whopping 73% to $18.98.
Prime Day Is a Good Time to Buy a Handheld Gaming PC (but Not That One)
The 2024 Steam Summer Sale is over, and with it, the sale on Steam Decks. But Amazon Prime Day has provided another opportunity for any gamers still in search of a handheld PC: The Asus ROG Ally, a Windows-based machine that’s a little smaller than the Steam Deck, has multiple models on sale for the occasion.
Right now, the base ROG Ally Z1 model is priced identically to the current 256GB Steam Deck LCD, while the ROG Ally Z1 Extreme is the same price as the entry-level Steam Deck OLED.
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The ROG Ally offers a few advantages over the Steam Deck. The most obvious is its use of Windows over Linux, which means it has a familiar interface and is compatible with everything your home PC can run, all without needing assistance from software. The downside is that certain handheld-centric features can be a little harder to access than on the Steam Deck’s custom version of Linux. But if you play a lot of Xbox Game Pass or games that use anti-cheat software, you’re going to have a much easier time playing them here.
There’s also a slightly higher resolution screen, at 1920 x 1080 vs. the Steam Deck’s 1280 x 800. Both systems have roughly the same screen size, at around seven inches, and either resolution looks good on such a small display. You’re also going to need to lower the resolution below 1080p if you plan on playing any demanding titles anyway. But for lightweight games, you’ll be able to eek out a bit more detail on the ROG Ally.
Performance also sees a bit of a jump, but mostly only on the Z1 Extreme model. (Note that Asus is currently planning a new ROG Ally, the ROG Ally X, and while it will have the same processor, the Z1 Extreme will no longer be the top-of-the-line pick come next week.)
There are still benefits to a Steam Deck—there’s no OLED model for the ROG Ally yet, and the Steam Deck has simple out-of-the-box integration with your Steam library. But either way you play, you should definitely get a handheld PC. I used to feel obligated to buy as many games on Nintendo Switch as I could, since I liked the option to play portably, but that usually meant getting an inferior version for when I wanted to play on the TV. With a portable PC, I can just buy games for PC and play them either at my desktop or on-the-go, without compromising either experience.
Other Prime Day deals to check out
iRobot Roomba Essential Vac Q011 Robot Vacuum Cleaner
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$159.99
(List Price $249.99)
Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ 10.9″ 64GB Wi-Fi Tablet
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$184.73
(List Price $219.99)
Apple AirPods Pro 2nd Gen With MagSafe USB-C Charging Case
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$168.99
(List Price $249.00)
Fitbit Charge 6 Fitness Tracker With 6-Months Membership
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$99.95
(List Price $159.95)
Apple Watch Series 9 (GPS, 41mm, Midnight, S/M, Sports Band)
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$279.99
(List Price $399.00)
CDC Data Shows Over 70 Million U.S. Adults Reported Having a Disability
Today CDC released the annual update to the Disability and Health Data System (DHDS), providing quick and easy online access to state-level health data on adults with disabilities.
CDC Reports Fourth Human Case of H5 Bird Flu Tied to Dairy Cow Outbreak
A human case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5) (“H5 bird flu”) virus infection in the United States has been identified in the state of Colorado.