Inspired by the movie Dune, NASA gives you…recycled drinking water.
House swapping is hot right now – Do it the right way
Want to try out a new city or travel over the long term for cheap? You need to know about home swapping. There are dozens of home-swapping groups on Facebook for everyone from women over 50 to vegans who like baseball. But it’s not for everyone, and you have to do your homework.
Swap smart
My advice: Eat the fee the first time and use a third-party site to see if home swapping is for you. (I’ve got options and costs below.) You can try it by yourself to avoid fees, but be sure to do your due diligence and create an agreement.
🚩 Secrecy is the biggest red flag. If the other party refuses to video-chat on a platform like FaceTime or sign a formal agreement, move on. Ask about security systems and anyone else who has access to the property while you’re staying there, too.
What about your home?
If you’re a renter, check your rental agreement for restrictions and rules around subletting. And if you own your home and still owe on your mortgage, see if your loan agreement lets you rent your place.
Take precautions. Have a plan in place for unexpected maintenance problems and a local contact for your swapper to reach out to about plumbing issues, TVs or pests.
Lock any closets and rooms off-limits to guests, and store all your valuables in a portable safe (this one’s $19).
Insurance is part of this convo, too. Ask if your renter’s or homeowner’s policy extends to anyone you swap homes with. You may need additional coverage.
🦺 Guardhog and Pikl specialize in insurance just for home sharing. Who knew?
Arrivederci, beaches
When you’re getting started with home swapping, going through a vetted third-party website is your safest bet. Here are a few to check out:
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Gifts that give them something to do
🏡 And they won’t even have to leave the house.
- Stop spending hours in the candle aisle trying to guess what scent they like. They can make their own with this kit!
- A cozy cup holder is great for movie lovers … or anyone who doesn’t want to tear apart an entire sectional looking for a lost remote.
- You’ll have the hottest gift of the day with a hot sauce-making kit. Maybe pair it with a gallon of 2%.
- A dream decoder ($16) might help them figure out why they keep dreaming about pugs wearing tuxedos.
- For the person who loves YouTube and podcasts more than crafting, these headphones sound as good* as models three times the price.
- A sushi-making kit (23% off, $8), because paying $16 for a California roll at a restaurant is lunacy.
- Channel Columbo with a fun murder mystery game (33% off).
- This cookbook (29% off) has 100 recipes straight from Disney’s parks. And yes, it has the Magic Kingdom Dole Whip. Mmm.
- This book (34% off) is like paint-by-numbers but with stickers. Even I can do that!
We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.
⌛ Quick TV tip: You might be tempted to change your TV’s picture mode to Game for football, but that mode is for video games. The best setting for sports is Cinema or Movie. Sports mode is generally too bright, so the game may look washed out.
Free video editing software
Just back from vacation and ready to create a family movie? You don’t need expensive editing software — these free tools will do the trick!
A wicked amount of money: A mom is suing Mattel for $5 million. The “Wicked” movie doll she bought for her daughter had a link to a p*rn website instead of the film’s official page. Mom says visiting the site caused lots of emotional distress for them both … that only money can help.
9,000,000 tulips
Planted for the “Wicked” movie. The movie’s director wanted real flowers in the scene for “Over the Rainbow,” not CGI. The flowers were grown on 500 acres at Belmont Farms in Norfolk, England. Only an American could’ve written “The Wizard of Oz;” anywhere else, he’d be “The Wizard of 28g.”
What I'm watching this weekend
The movie ‘Thelma’ follows a 93-year-old on a mission to get back $10,000 from a phone scammer. The scam is 100% real. A crook used an AI voice clone to pose as Thelma’s grandson in jail. Luckily, the real Thelma was smart enough to call her kids, who stopped her from sending the money.
AI becomes way too human: A startup called Altera lets its AI-powered agents run wild in Minecraft. What happened? The bots made friends, created jobs, debated taxes and spread the parody religion Pastafarianism, all with zero direct human input. “A Minecraft Movie” is coming out in April 2025, and it’s going to be a blockbuster. (Now, that was a good one!)
Binge-watch at 30,000 feet: Just download a movie or show while you’re at home. For Netflix, click the title > Download (down arrow icon). For kiddos watching Disney+, open the app and hit download below the title. You’ll see a checkmark when it’s done. Heads-up: Not all content is downloadable.
Looking for something to watch? FlixPatrol has a daily top 10 chart of what’s trending. If you’re in the mood for something specific, use JustWatch to find exactly where a movie or TV show is streaming. It’s so much easier than opening and searching Netflix, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video … You get the idea.
It’s not the holidays without a Hallmark movie or five … And here’s a link so you can print this list out if you want.
📺 The first time I saw a universal remote, I thought, “This changes everything”: Upgrade to a bitchin’ universal remote that controls it all and lets you set up shortcuts, aka macros. Say you make a “Movie Night” macro that turns on the TV, soundbar and streaming box, then switches the TV to the right HDMI output. This brand is regarded as the best out there. Enjoy!
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$2.2 billion
How much movie theater chains are spending to lure us back. It’s not just better screens (though there are plans for 21,000 of those), beefed-up sound systems and comfier seats. You may see pickleball courts, arcades, ziplines and bowling alleys at a theater near you … all of which will be grossly overpriced.
$1 million-plus invested
Into an old cruise ship purchased on Craigslist. A tech entrepreneur spent 15 years restoring the 293-foot vessel. It was built in Germany in 1955, inspired “The Love Boat” and was in the 1963 Bond movie “From Russia with Love.” After they decided to sell the slice of history, it mysteriously took on water and was decommissioned. Weird, right?
🔥 Don’t buy off-brand or cheap accessories: A 16-year-old girl was watching a movie at a friend’s house when she heard a sizzle and looked down to see her sweatshirt on fire. Her portable phone charger had exploded. Thankfully, the girls are OK, and firefighters arrived in time to put out the flames.
Instead of turning up the volume, turn on the closed captioning. My son, Ian, uses closed captioning and once asked me to turn it on when we were watching a movie. Now I can’t go back!
I’d rather watch a movie at home: Apple is rethinking its movie strategy after a string of box-office flops. The new plan: Limited theatrical runs before streaming on Apple TV+. Take “Napoleon,” which cost $200 million to make but grossed $221 million. “The Instigators,” streaming this month, pulled in about 50,000 new subs.
How do you sell a $20K TV? By including lots of freebies. TCL is giving a free Super Bowl ticket to the first 115 people to buy its massive 115-inch TV. Fine print: If they run out of tickets, you might have to settle for a Hollywood movie premiere or a trip to the next CES tech conference.
“Alexa, who plays [character] in [movie or show]?” That phrase, which you can say to any smart assistant, just solved your next three TV-related fights.