Tech
My Robot Vacuum Is My Only Friend
Every single day—weekend, weekday, rain or shine—whichever robot vacuum I’m currently testing starts running at 9 am. It’s always a good sign. I heave a sigh of relief and continue with whatever else I was doing, content that at least that f*cking chore in my house is getting done.
When I first started testing robot vacuums eight years ago, it sometimes seemed like more trouble than it was worth. I cleaned up the floor. I meticulously maintained the different sensors. Now I just don’t care. (I mean, yes, I do care, robot vacuum manufacturers, I just care slightly less.) Even if it gets tripped up on my daughter’s latest knitting project, or it can’t mop the kitchen because I haven’t emptied the water tank. Just go, little soldier, go.
Robot vacuums are so much smarter now. They can navigate through many more surprising minefields of Lego bricks, stuffed animals, or piles of shoes than you might have expected even two or three years ago. As a working parent with two elementary-school-aged kids and a dog, I need all the help I can get. Maybe it will clean the whole house; maybe it will only clean up 50 or 65 percent of it. But as someone who is constantly fighting chaos, consistency is what counts.
It’s a Miss
It took a while for me to reach this Zen state (and also to collect enough robot vacuums to have an army running in every room and floor of my house). Based on my years of talking to many families (and trying to foist used robot vacuums on them), these are a few reasons why a robot vacuum might not be worth it for you.
- You live in a small space. If it only takes you an hour or so to vacuum, why bother?
- Your home has a complicated layout. A lot of 1970s homes have strange, complicated designs—a sunken living room, a playroom that’s up a few stairs, bedrooms upstairs. Although stair-climbing vacuums are on the way, for now, it’s not worth carrying a vacuum from room to room.
- You have rugs with weird tassels. The 1970s were bad for robot vacuums. Shag carpeting is also bad, as is a lot of low furniture.
- You hate maintenance. You really can’t stand emptying the fussy little dust bag or refilling the water container. I’m going to say here that you probably have other problems that need addressing before getting a robot vacuum.
Even I don’t rely solely on a robot vacuum to keep my house clean. I also have a Dyson stick vacuum, a carpet cleaner, and a regular broom and mop in a closet. If my kid spills a bunch of flour under the counter while she’s making pancakes, I’m not going to pull out my phone, open the app, and watch a robot vacuum slowly trundle over to spot-clean it.
It’s also not great for deep-cleaning. No matter how much a company hypes up a robot’s suction power, it will just never be as thorough as even the smallest hand vacuum. It’s just physics. A robot vacuum’s motor and battery are smaller.
Even the best navigation system cannot accommodate everything that happens in a crazy, dynamic environment with a bunch of gremlins and animals running around. If I have people coming over, I still have to walk around and do things like put away cushion forts and pick up the shreds of a log that my dog decided to pluck off the woodpile and bring into the house to gnaw in the warmth and comfort of the living room.
Tech
The Best Babbel Promo Codes and Deals for April 2026
I’ve been trying to become fluent in Spanish for the last decade. After spending most of my adult life surrounded by multilinguals, I often feel like I’m playing an impossible game of catch-up. Like everyone else, I’ve tried to become regimented with practicing on an in-phone app like Duolingo, which attempts to ‘game-ify’ language learning, but mostly ends up with a sad and sick-looking green bird icon guilting me to practice every time I open up my phone.
Babbel aims to help people actually learn the language through practical conversation and grammar, using proven pedagogical methods and speech recognition technology. Each lesson is short, with 10 to 15 minute lessons developed by a team of over 150 linguists. Instead of learning the same simple phrases in ad-ridden games on an endless loop, take charge of your language learning this year and make that commitment a reality. No more excuses—we’ve got a Babbel promo code and a Babbel coupon to help you hit your goals. Maybe you’ll be fluent by your next vacation (or at least able to order a chopped cheese with confidence at the bodega).
Unlock Your Babbel Promo Code and Save Big in April 2026
Not only is Babbel a helpful interactive app to simplify language learning, but it also has holistic services to help introduce the language to every part of your life. These are things like Babbel videos, which do a deep dive into what makes a language so fascinating, Babbel podcasts, which are led by Babbel experts who take an inside look at local culture and break down language secrets, and Babbel magazine, which highlights stories from around the world so you can better understand the history, culture, and people from the language you’re learning (and maybe will inspire you to take a trip to practice that language IRL!).
Make sure you check back often to find the latest Babbel promo code for sitewide savings. There are often discounts on the subscription tiers, which range from three month plans to annual memberships. Plus, springtime is usually when there are significant Babbel discounts for new users. And, if you sign up for the Babbel newsletter, you can receive a link for a Babbel coupon in your inbox.
Save 60% on 6-Month Plans With the Healthcare Workers Discount
As stated, knowing another language is an invaluable life skill, and a skill that is immeasurably valuable to healthcare workers, who may be able to more easily give lifesaving care. Healthcare professionals and nurses get a Babbel discount of 60% off a six-month Babbel subscription. To claim the Babbel discount, users just need to verify their medical credentials via ID.me.
Claim Your 60% Military Discount on 6-Month Subscriptions
This Babbel discount also applies to active duty military, veterans, and their families, who are also eligible for 60% off six-month Babbel subscriptions. This Babbel military coupon is valid for National Guard, reserve members, and immediate family members of service personnel, and all you need to do is verify your status at ID.me.
Snag a 60% Teacher Discount on Your Next 6 Months
Babbel is also extending the 60% discount to the real unsung heroes, teachers. Knowing more than one language is an invaluable tool for educators to be able to talk more effectively to parents or guardians, as well as to more deeply understand their students’ cultural identities. Educators and teachers, like K-12 teachers, university professors, and other educational staff members, are eligible for 60% off a six-month Babbel subscription. And like the others, you just need to verify credentials through ID.me.
Grab Top Lifetime Subscription Deals and Save in April 2026
Everyone knows that learning a language is a lifetime process, and Babbel wants to make it even easier for you to commit to it. If you pay once, you’ll get access to all available Babbel languages forever with Lifetime deals. You’ll just need to look for the “Lifetime Subscription” Babbel promos that could potentially save you hundreds of dollars over several years. Be sure to check back often, as these rotating deals often pop up during major holiday sales. While the upfront cost is higher, you’ll get access to all 14 available languages with this Babbel promo code lifetime subscription deal.
Tech
Robotaxi Outage in China Leaves Passengers Stranded on Highways
An unknown technical problem caused a number of robotaxis owned by the Chinese tech giant Baidu to freeze on Tuesday in the middle of traffic, trapping some passengers in the vehicles for more than an hour.
In Wuhan, a city in central China where Baidu has deployed hundreds of its Apollo Go self-driving taxis, people on Chinese social media reported witnessing the cars suddenly malfunction and stop operating. Photos and videos shared online show the Baidu cars halted on busy highways, often in the fast lane.
A college student in Wuhan tells WIRED that she was stuck in a Baidu robotaxi with two friends for about 90 minutes on Tuesday. (She asked to be only identified with her last name, He, to protect her privacy.) The student says the car malfunctioned and stopped four or five times during the trip before it eventually parked in front of an intersection in eastern Wuhan. Luckily, it was not a busy road, and the group was not in immediate danger. The screen display in the car asked the passengers to remain in the car with seatbelt on and wait for a company representative to come “in five minutes,” according to a photo He shared with WIRED.
He says it took about 30 minutes to reach a Baidu customer representative on the phone. “They kept saying it would be reported to their superior. But they didn’t explain what caused [the outage] or let us know how long we needed to wait for the staff to come,” He says. But no one ever came, and after another hour of waiting, the three passengers decided to just get out and go home by themselves (the doors weren’t locked).
On Chinese social media, other passengers also complained about being unable to reach Baidu’s customer support. “I tried every way I could think of to call for help using the options the app showed, but the phone line wouldn’t go through, and when I pressed the SOS button it told me it was unavailable. So then what exactly is the SOS for?” wrote one person in a post on RedNote alongside a video showing the button not working. She said she had to force the door to open and get out of the car as traffic halted to a complete stop behind her robotaxi. “Apollo Go, you really owe me an apology,” she wrote.
Baidu didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Local police in Wuhan issued a statement around midnight in China that said the situation was “likely caused by a system malfunction,” but the incident is still under investigation. No one was injured and all passengers have exited the vehicles, the police added. It’s unclear how many of Baidu’s robotaxis may have been impacted.
One dash cam recording posted to RedNote shows a car passing 16 Apollo Go vehicles parked on the road in the span of 90 minutes. On several occasions, the video shows the driver narrowly avoiding hitting the robotaxis by braking or changing lanes at the last minute.
Others were apparently not as fortunate. In another RedNote post, a man claimed he crashed into one of the malfunctioning Baidu vehicles. The man wrote in the caption that he was driving over 40 mph on a highway when the car in front of him suddenly changed lanes to avoid the stopped robotaxi. He couldn’t react fast enough and ended up running into the self-driving car. Photos of the man’s orange SUV being towed away show that the car’s front-right fender was completely torn off, and other parts appeared to have sustained major damage.
Tech
Our Favorite Affordable Air Purifier Is Temporarily Even Cheaper
Tired of the stale, fetid air looming over your apartment like a cloud? Check out the Coway Airmega Mighty, an already wallet-friendly home air purifier that’s even cheaper right now as part of the Amazon Big Spring Sale. It’s currently marked down to just $154, a $76 discount from its typical price, but you’ll want to move quickly if you’re interested, as the deal is only available for a limited time.
Despite its low price tag and squat stature, the Airmega Mighty is capable of cleaning a substantial amount of space. At full bore, it can handle a 361-square-foot space, although you’ll get the best performance, and save your ears, if you’re closer to a 200-square-foot room. If you don’t want it running constantly, there are built-in timers to automatically shut off after 1, 4, or 8 hours, or you can use Eco Mode, which will run until the Might doesn’t sense any dirty air for half an hour.
That’s right, the Airmega Mighty has a built-in air quality sensor, and it reflects the current state of the air quality using a colored light with three levels. It uses those readings to automatically adjust the fan speed and timing settings on the fly, as well as giving you a peak into how bad the air you’re breathing right now is for you. While it lacks integration with smart home setups like Google Home, it makes up for it by handling all of its own business without Wi-Fi or extra apps on your phone.
While the Coway Airmega Mighty is available in three colors, only the black and silver model is currently discounted, so you’ll have to pay full price if it doesn’t match your living room’s color scheme. We’ve put in the work testing every air purifier we could get our hands on, so make sure to check out the full guide if you’re trying to clean up your space. The Coway is discounted as part of Amazon’s Big Spring Sale, and we’ve got the best deals from products we’ve tested gathered in one place if you want to save some bucks.
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