Star Wars: Visions season 2 makes the franchise feel like it’s capable of anything
The animated series’ producer says season 3 might return to anime — but season 2 is so much more than that
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The animated series’ producer says season 3 might return to anime — but season 2 is so much more than that
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Created by Filippo Tincolini and Giacomo Massari, Robotor is an automated robot chisel driven by self-programming software. Based in Carrara, Italy the robot can replicate some seriously impressive art.
Chief among the pesky drawbacks of pet ownership is the reality that there is pet hair everywhere. It covers everything at all times, and is somehow wildly resistant to most cleanup efforts.
Floors are hardly pet hair’s hangout of choice. That’d be too easy. Instead, it’s on your clothes or your couch, and in a pet-shaped crop circle made out of pet hair on your bed, serving as a lasting reminder of their favorite sleeping spot. No one is questioning the plausibility of fur tumbleweeds shoving themselves into the most awkward crevices when you’re not in the room, Toy Story style.
Of course, none of this is enough to make us not want pets. But that doesn’t mean we need to succumb to a house full of pet hair — not with the right squad of cleaning gadgets. A robot vacuum or upright vacuum has the floor covered for the most part, but for furniture, the car, and all of your home’s awkwardly-shaped crevices where pet hair loves to congregate, a reliable handheld is the vacuum of choice.
Is a new full-sized vacuum on your radar? If so, a handheld vacuum probably doesn’t need to be a side quest. Unless you’re looking for a handheld vacuum to keep in the car, the wisest move is actually to just invest in a cordless stick vacuum that converts into a handheld.
This could mean splurging on a Dyson or opting for a more budget-friendly pick from Black+Decker or Samsung. Either way, pet hair that’s all but woven into the threads of upholstery or the pile of carpet stands much less of a chance against the suction power that fuels a full-sized vacuum, just more centralized through attachments for cleaning on a smaller scale. Bigger, juicier batteries allow for 40 to 120 minutes of cleaning compared to the 15 minutes max churned out by a handheld.
Naturally, you can expect a full-sized vacuum to have a full-sized dust bin — one that doesn’t require daily emptying. Dust bin capacity becomes precious so quickly in homes where a single furry couch cushion could top off a handheld vac’s dust cup. In most modern cordless stick vacuums, that dustbin is typically guarded by a HEPA filter that traps allergens like dust mites and pet dander entering the vacuum.
If you’re set on getting a standalone hand vacuum, here’s what to consider:
Ergonomic design and weight: A handheld vacuum works best when — you guessed it — it’s comfortable to whip around in one hand. Portability is the whole point, so there’s no reason to shop for a handheld vacuum that’s not cordless. However, modern handheld vacuums vary between ultra-slim designs (probably around 1.5 pounds) that charge on the countertop or larger designs that are compatible with multiple attachments or have a larger dust bin (probably around 3.5 pounds). Your personal cleaning circumstances will determine how heavy-duty you’ll need to go.
Attachments: Worthy handhelds come with at least one or two attachments to customize cleaning to specific surfaces, like an extender tool to reach into corners or crevices or an upholstery brush. A motorized pet brush is easily the most valuable in homes taken over by shedding, though that attachment is a rare inclusion with budget-friendly handhelds. (And that’s another point to convertible cordless stick vacuums.)
Battery life and charging: The one downside of going the cordless route is not having an outlet as an unlimited power source. Handheld vacuums are, obviously, small on purpose, which means that they often don’t have room for a big motor with a hefty charge capacity. However, the average eight to 15-minute battery life should stretch long enough for your daily spot cleaning (if not, refer back to the “just get a stick vacuum” section.)
When you’re not cleaning, they’ll be recharging. Some cordless vacs just come with a cable, while others charge on a dedicated dock that can be stored on the countertop. The best docking stations will also have spots to stash the attachments.
Here are our top picks for best handheld vacuums for pet hair in 2022:
HOSPITALS will open 50 extra surgical hubs to speed up Covid backlog progress.
Ministers have pledged to open 100 new operating theatres at 50 centres capable of a million more operations per year by 2024.
Surgical hubs will keep patients out of general hospitals and speed up operations, say health chiefs[/caption]
More than 6.7million people in England are waiting for routine surgery, up from 4.4m before the pandemic, with the NHS wait list growing every month.
Health chiefs hope quick-fire hubs for simple ops will keep patients out of hospital beds and bust the backlog faster.
Ninety-one hubs have already opened and ministers have plans for 140 in total, with 20 new or repurposed locations already confirmed.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said: “In order to bust the Covid backlogs and keep pace with future demand, we can’t simply have business as usual.
“Surgical hubs are a tangible example of how we are expanding capacity to fill surgical gaps right across the country.
“These new hubs will deliver additional operations over the next three years, including over 200,000 this year alone.”
Read more on NHS crisis
The centres will do batches of similar operations to speed up patient turnover, focusing on eye surgery, bone and joint ops, gynaecology and urology, and ear, nose and throat.
Patients will be more likely to get home on the same day and recover faster, bosses hope.
NHS CEO Amanda Pritchard said: “The NHS has made significant progress already, virtually eliminating two year waits for care by the end of July.
“These new sites will be a welcome boost in helping us to further tackle the Covid-19 backlogs.”
After a week of being pelted with tomatoes in the internet town square over the low-quality graphics of Meta‘s Horizon Worlds, Mark Zuckerberg has emerged from the slush to clear the air. Despite the unimpressive WiiU-like avatars and low-res virtual landmarks we’ve seen so far, Zuck claims Meta is capable of creating pseudo-realistic worlds in the metaverse.
Earlier this week, Zuck posted to Facebook announcing the release of Meta’s platform Horizon Worlds in Spain and France. The post was accompanied by a “selfie” of Zuck’s giant-eyed avatar in Horizon Worlds. Behind him sit appallingly simple renderings of the Eiffel Tower and Barcelona’s Basílica de la Sagrada Família on the flattest plane of grass I have ever seen.
The internet was in agreement: Given the $10 billion Meta poured into the metaverse, this was an embarrassing result.
But today, Aug. 19, Zuck took to Instagram and Facebook to say the post was published “very quickly” in celebration and that Horizon Worlds is “capable of much more,” and is “improving very quickly.”
To prove it, he included two photos, both presumably from within more advanced versions of Horizon Worlds: one of his “yassified” avatar and another of a vaguely Roman-esque ruin landscape.
I honestly have no idea what the ruins one is supposed to show us — maybe that Horizon Worlds is capable of graphics that come standard with most modern video games? But we can’t deny it’s a welcome upgrade. We’ll keep an eye out, Mark.