Apple has launched a new web page that brings together links and information about its online services for customers shopping from home during the global health crisis.


Titled "Everything you love about our stores is online," the new catch-all page links from the Apple.com home page and includes details about no-contact delivery options, Apple Specialist help, financing and credit options, Apple Trade In, Apple Card, order status checking, service and support.

The page also links out to "Today at Apple - At home," a series of fun how-to videos to help users get creative during the ongoing stay-at-home measures, and there's a series of category links for customers to explore products on Apple's online store.

Apple has been gradually re-opening its retail stores in countries where lockdowns have eased, although some are operating on limited hours.

Apple CEO Tim Cook last week said that Apple was going to reopen stores in Austria and Australia this week, and Apple's sole Apple Store in Vienna will be reopening on Tuesday, May 5.

We're still waiting to hear exactly when stores in North America will reopen, but Cook also said that Apple is planning to reopen a few stores in the U.S. starting in May. Store openings will be staggered, with Apple evaluating data that includes local guidelines and recommendations before reopening.
This article, "New Apple Web Page Directs Customers to Its Online Shopping Services" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Woot is ending the week with a refurbished sale on the 15-inch MacBook Pro, available in multiple storage sizes and colors. The sale starts with the 256GB SSD model (16GB RAM, Intel Core i7) for $1,579.99.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Woot. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

For more storage, the 512GB SSD model (16GB RAM, Intel Core i9) is on sale for $1,849.99. Woot's refurbished sales are offering more than $800 in savings when compared to the original prices of these notebooks, which began at $2,399.00 when they launched in May 2019.

Similar to previous Woot sales, each MacBook Pro comes with a One Year Limited Woot Warranty. Each device has been refurbished and is ensured to be in full working condition. When shipped, they are packaged in a generic white box.

You can find even more discounts on new MacBooks by visiting our Best Deals guide for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. In this guide we track the steepest discounts for the newest MacBook models every week, so be sure to bookmark it and check back often if you're shopping for a new Apple notebook.

For this week's giveaway, we've once again teamed up with Throwboy to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win one of Throwboy's plushes modeled after classic Apple products and icons.


Throwboy makes a whole range of different plush pillow options priced at $30 to $40, with each one designed to look like an Apple product of some kind, including classic Macs, the iPod, the iPhone, and more. Each pillow features detailed embroidery and careful construction to highlight each component and to accurately represent Apple's designs.

The 1998 pillow, for example, is modeled after Apple's original iMac with its bright Bondi Blue design, while the 2001 pillow modeled after the original iPod comes complete with a screen and click wheel embroidery.


The 2007 pillow looks like the original ‌iPhone‌ with black bezels and a silver backing, and the Icon Pillow looks like Apple's classic happy Finder icon.


There's even a rainbow-colored Spinning Wheel Pillow that's designed to look like the dreaded spinning pinwheel that the cursor morphs into when an application is busy.


All of Throwboy's plushes are soft, squishy, huggable, and the perfect accent piece for an Apple fan. Each pillow is the ideal size to be used as a comfortable throw pillow for a couch or a chair. Photos of the pillows in action can be seen on Throwboy's Instagram account.


We have 10 of Throwboy's pillows to give away to MacRumors readers, and each winner will be able to pick their favorite pillow: ‌iMac‌, iPod, classic ‌iPhone‌, Finder Icon, or Spinning Wheel.

To enter to win our ‌giveaway‌, use the Gleam.io widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the ‌giveaway‌ restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

On Wednesday, May 1, 2019, Flayrah contributor 2cross2affliction wrote in the article 'Sonic the Hedgehog' ... the movie ... the trailer:

Fun fact: no movie directly adapted from a video game has ever scored as "fresh" on the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. [...] But, a new challenger approaches! [...] The question of whether this movie is going to be any good, perhaps unfairly, has mostly already been answered by the Internet. The answer so far has been no. No. Just no. Okay, maybe Jim Carrey? But otherwise, why? Why the human teeth? Why ten times?

Whoops. Turns out Sonic the Hedgehog somehow, against the odds, is rated Fresh by Rotten Tomatoes, with a score of 64% positive reviews from 175 professional opinions, as of this writing.

read more

Disney has announced that it will be producing a new Robin Hood movie.

Yes, that Robin Hood.

read more

Let me talk to you about “Crash” by the Primitives. Except I’m not actually going to be talking about “Crash” by The Primitives. Get me going about music long enough, and I will tell you about how “Crash” is a perfect pop song. Perfect. The chiming, arpeggiated guitars contrasted with the choppy, crunchy guitars; the … Continue reading Crash

Erowid Exp101191

After being elected in 2008 on "hope and change", "change you can believe in", and "change the way Washington works", President Obama now says that he cannot change Washington from the inside? Then why should we re-elect him in 2012? Continue reading →

Barack Obama promised to change the way things work in Washington, and after four years, nothing has changed: Corporate money controls President Obama and Congress. We need real change: vote for Rocky Anderson. Continue reading →

Accountants CPA Hartford Connecticut LLC:  This transcript may contain errors. The Willis Report:  And tonight’s stunning accusation against Intuit, the maker of Turbotax, the popular tax preparation software.  Two whistleblowers claim that Intuit knew that criminals used its tax software … Continue reading →

Hillary Faces Questions About Cash Donations to Clinton Foundation. Continue reading →

Accountants CPA Hartford Connecticut LLC:  This is a rush transcript for April 26, 2015. It may contain errors. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, HOST: And the author of “Clinton Clash,” Peter Schweizer, joins us now. Thank you for joining us this morning, Peter. … Continue reading →

Clinton Cash - do you trust Bill and Hillary Clinton in positions of power Continue reading →

On April 30, 2015 Ed Schultz, host of The Ed Show, interviews Senator Bernie Sanders on his announcement that he will run for President of the United States in the Democratic Primary. Continue reading →

The response of Senator Richard Blumenthal to my letter in opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Ask yourselves how American labor can compete against Vietnamese workers earning on average $0.56 per hour. Continue reading →

The Senate considered H.R. 1314, the legislative vehicle for trade promotion authority reauthorization.?It would give the president broad fast-track authority when negotiating trade agreements and require Congress to consider treaties without an amendment process. Senator Bernie Sanders speaks out against this bill before the Senate on May 12, 2015. Continue reading →

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Tuesday unveiled a plan to address income inequality by taxing Wall Street speculation and using the money to eliminate college tuition. Continue reading →

Bernie Sanders calls out Hillary Clinton to announce her position on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement; however, Hillary Clinton refuses to reveal her position, hoping that the agreement will be passed and she won't have to take a position. Continue reading →

Chris Hedges speaks the truth about American politics while Robert Reich shows that he is still an establishment Democrat after all, like Bernie Sanders. Continue reading →

Bernie Sanders and Jane Sanders are mere actors serving as pressure valves which release from time to time all excess heat emanating from failed policies, scandals, and the worsening economic conditions, so that a catastrophic systems’ collapse can be prevented. They are sheepdogs for Hillary Clinton, preventing progressives from supporting a third party progressive candidate and to herd them back into the corral of the Democratic Party. Continue reading →

People from outside the major parties who are pursuing elected office are exercising their First Amendment rights, and calling them spoilers is an act of “political bigotry” that should never be tolerated by the American people, civil rights champion and four-time presidential candidate Ralph Nader told “Democracy Now!” Nader’s comments come one week before the 2016 nominees’ first presidential debates, which the Commission on Presidential Debates—a private corporation owned and controlled by the Republican and Democratic parties—announced Friday will exclude both Jill Stein of the Green Party and Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party. Continue reading →

The Brainwashing Of Hillary Voters Is Complete. Hillary Clinton voters are either getting paid or have been brainwashed into defending her pro-corporate status quo policies. Jimmy Dore breaks it down on his broadcast, October 20, 2016. Continue reading →

The middle class needs to vote for Donald Trump in order to oppose the elites, Corporate America, Wall Street, the career politicians, and the media, who have all conspired to destroy the middle class. Donald Trump is the Molotov cocktail, the human hand grenade, that every beaten-down, nameless, forgotten working stiff who used to be part of what was called the middle class can legally throw into the system that stole their lives from them. Continue reading →

Tucker Carlson: Elizabeth Warren's enemies on Wall Street and Big Tech are not really her enemies. Elizabeth Warren is really just this season's Hillary Clinton -- faithful party robot, stalwart defender of the prerogatives of the establishment. Continue reading →

Группа SHAKRA опубликовала еще три "unplugged@home"-клипа на композиции "When It All Falls Down", "Snakes & Ladders", "Medicine Man". #Shakra #HardRock #Hard_Rock

Вокалист SHINEDOWN Brent Smith опубликовал в своём аккаунте в Инстаграм фрагмент с выступления группы и написал:

«Я так же сильно, как и любой из вас, хочу, чтобы такие моменты, как этот, вернулись. Я люблю выступать, и я люблю #massgatherings или, как я люблю называть их, #familyreunions. Так что, сказав это, я хотел бы воспользоваться моментом, чтобы поделиться чем-нибудь со всеми вами по всему миру.

Такие моменты, как этот, обязательно вернутся. Все мы сможем пойти и посмотреть на выступление нашего любимого артиста вживую, на соревнования наших любимых спортивных команд, и да — это будет безопасно.

В течение последних 72 часов я наблюдал, как части #usa начинают открываться заново, а также другие страны за рубежом начинают процесс снятия некоторых ограничений, и я наблюдаю, как много взволнованных и благодарных людей, готовых вырваться в мир, который они так любят, но, я также вижу, что есть люди, которые имеют серьёзные опасения из-за открытия различных регионов.

С самого начала блокировки я сделал одну вещь, которая действительно помогла мне лично сориентироваться в этой #pandemic, и это просвещает меня.

Мы должны уважать не только друг друга, но и позволять людям, которые работают круглосуточно и без выходных, обеспечивать нашу #safety и наше #future.

Я знаю, что мы все #Anxious и хотим вернуться к #Life, но я прошу всех нас быть уважительными друг к другу и не быть эгоистичными.

Я знаю, что это трудно, но, я обещаю вам, что если мы все будем работать #together, то и сможем #riseuptogether.

У всех нас в @shinedown — меня, @zmyersofficial, @bkerchofficial и @ebassprod есть поговорка, которая дорога нашим сердцам... И она звучит так: "Дело не в художнике, дело в картине".

Мы #love всех вас, и мы скоро будем вместе. #westandtall #atlasfalls #directrelief #shinedown #shinedownnation #shinedowncrew #shinedownfamily #respect». #Shinedown #AlternativeRock #Alternative_Rock #GrungeRock #Grunge_Rock

Посмотреть эту публикацию в Instagram

“FULL DISCLOSURE” This is MY opinion 👇 I want moments like this back just as much as anyone. I love performing, and I LOVE #massgatherings or as I like to call them #familyreunions 🤗. So that being said, I wanted to take a moment to share something with all of you around the world. Moments like this WILL happen again. All of us will be able to go, and see our favorite artist perform live, our favorite sports teams compete, and yes it will be safe to do so. For the last 72 hours, I have watched parts of the #usa begin to reopen, and also other countries abroad begin the process of lifting certain lockdown restrictions, and I can see so many people excited, and grateful, and running out into the world they love so much but, I am also seeing that there are people that have serious concerns in their eyes, as parts of the world begin to open back up. Since the very beginning of the lockdown, I have done one thing that has truly helped me personally navigate through this #pandemic, and that is educate myself. We must be respectful of not only each other, but also allowing the people that are working 24/7 around the clock to insure our #safety and our #future. I know we are all #Anxious and we want to get back to living #Life , but I ask all of us to be respectful of each other, and to not be selfish. I know this is difficult but, I promise you if we all work #together we will #riseuptogether. All of us in @shinedown myself, @zmyersofficial @bkerchofficial and @ebassprod have a saying that we hold dear to our hearts... And that is “It’s not about the painter, it’s about the painting 🌎”. We #love you ALL, and we will be together soon. ❤️⚠️❤️. #westandtall #atlasfalls #directrelief #shinedown #shinedownnation #shinedowncrew #shinedownfamily #respect Moving pictures by THE MAN!!! @sanjayparikhphoto

Публикация от @ thebrentsmith 3 Май 2020 в 2:10 PDT

Вокалистка NIGHTWISH Floor Jansen недавно в интервью A&P Reacts поговорила о том, насколько пандемия коронавируса повлияла на туровые планы коллектива:

«Полагаю, все, кроме ученых, да даже и учёные в действительности ещё не знают, что будет дальше. Мы никогда не сталкивались с пандемией такого масштаба. Мы знаем, что в ближайшем будущем вакцина не появится. И пока её нет, очень трудно прогнозировать возвращение массовых мероприятий — таких, как музыкальные фестивали и крупные концерты. Наши европейские шоу собирают от семи до семнадцати тысяч зрителей. Сейчас коронавирус ежедневно уносит столько жизней, что восстановление концертной индустрии займет месяцы.

Очень хочется желать, чтобы осенью-зимой всё пришло в норму и обычная жизнь вернулась. Не хочу показаться пессимисткой, но вряд ли это возможно. И поскольку мы толком не знаем, что будет дальше, разработка "Плана Б" существенно осложняется, потому что всё сдвигается на более позднее время. Прямо сейчас мы должны были выступать в Китае. Немного погодя нам предстояло сесть в самолет, вылетающий в Мексику для тура по странам Латинской Америки, затем на очереди была бы Россия. Таким образом, гастроли как минимум в трёх частях света уже отложены. Такая же судьба, по-видимому, ожидает и североамериканский тур.

Но, опять же, самое важное — и я хочу это особо подчеркнуть — это наше здоровье. Если нам даровано хорошее здоровье, то жаловаться не на что. Происходящее по-настоящему подтверждает главные ценности в жизни, в данный момент это сохранение здоровья. Если вы здоровы — это просто отлично. Нечего жаловаться на карантин. Это, быть может, неудобно, зато даёт нам время на те дела, для которых ранее времени никогда не находилось. Лучше пересидеть и даже насладиться изоляцией изо всех сил, просто занимаясь обычными вещами, вроде изучения нового языка и очередного просмотра любимого фильма. Это подлинная роскошь в сравнении с переживанием болезни и связанных с нею кошмаров.

Вот поэтому я лучше отсижусь до следующего лета и буду уверена, что всё благополучно закончилось, что мы можем приступить к нормальной жизни в добром здравии и в безопасной обстановке, вместо того чтобы спешить. И если это означает, что нам следует подождать с концертами и шоу, пока мы не получим вакцину, — так тому и быть. Самое разумное, что мы можем сейчас сказать, — это что в настоящий момент не может быть иного "плана Б", кроме того, что мы просто хотим выступать.

Словами не передать расстройство от нахождения взаперти и невозможности играть, но моя личная точка зрения подразумевает, что нужно сосредоточиться на том, что вы реально можете делать. В моём случае — проводить время с мужем и ребёнком, гораздо больше времени, чем у меня обычно получается. И для других домашних занятий появилось время — можно сфокусироваться на чём-то особенном. Пока не поступит новая информация, мы должны всего лишь сидеть и надеяться, что не заболеем ни мы сами, ни наши любимые». #Nightwish #AcousticRock #Acoustic_Rock #PowerMetal #Power_Metal #SymphonicMetal #Symphonic_Metal #Instrumental #_Instrumental

We started Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories in 2006 as a “personal project blog”, to capture, organize, and share some of the things we do for fun. It has evolved over time to become a resource for our customers as well as a way for us to share interesting and educational information from a variety of … Continue reading Sheltering in place →

IBM has been awarded a 2017 Climate Leadership Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions and The Climate Registry.

The publisher is adding videos of their creators entertaining themselves while sheltering in place.

The post SHUT IN THEATER: What are Dynamite creators in quarantine up to? appeared first on The Beat.

What's the Beat staff reading this weekend? Let's find out!

The post SHUT IN THEATER: Weekend Reading 7 appeared first on The Beat.

IBM today announced its Health Cloud and Watson cognitive computing capabilities will support health data entered by customers in iOS apps using Apple's ResearchKit and HealthKit frameworks. The move, which complements IBM’s new Watson Health business unit, will arm medical researchers with a secure, open data storage solution, as well as access to IBM’s most sophisticated data analytics capabilities.

Do you have any skills or tools for coping with your inner world? How are you managing your emotions and thoughts and physiology with all this stress? The better you handle your inner world, the better you will handle everything in your outer world, the better decisions you’ll make, the better you’ll perform, the more energy you’ll have, and the better you’ll influence or support your family and your team. Try practicing Coherence to restore your resilience and energy

Fake news, conspiracy theories, calls to stay calm. How can the media help contain the deadly spread?

The media name and shame people breaking the rules on social distancing and self-isolation.

The pad thai recipe you're looking for! Try this simple trick to make a turmeric noodle version.

Continue reading Sunshine Pad Thai (Vegetarian) on 101 Cookbooks

IBM and Sesame Workshop today announced that Georgia’s Gwinnett County Public Schools, one of the nation’s top urban school districts, has completed an initial pilot of the industry’s first cognitive vocabulary learning app, built on the IBM and Sesame intelligent play and learning platform. The new platform, powered by IBM Cloud, enables an ecosystem of software developers, researchers, educational toy companies, and educators to tap IBM Watson cognitive capabilities and Sesame Workshop’s early childhood expertise to build engaging experiences to help advance children’s education and learning. The cognitive vocabulary app is one of the first of many cognitive apps, games, and educational toys that will be built over time on this new platform, as a result of the two companies’ collaboration announced last year.

IBM has been recognized as a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Solid-State Arrays (SSA) for the fourth year in a row.

IBM today shipped the first of its breakthrough IBM Z mainframe from its factory in Poughkeepsie, NY. The IBM Z is the world's most powerful and secure transaction system capable of running more than 12 billion encrypted transactions per day - equivalent to 400 Cyber Mondays.

The Weather Company, an IBM Business, and PRISA Noticias, one of the world’s leading Spanish-language media groups and owner of EL PAÍS newspaper, announced today a collaboration to combine the most accurate forecasts with one of the Spanish-speaking world’s largest media groups. The Weather Company will provide in-depth weather data and forecasts, as well as tailored content across PRISA properties. In turn, PRISA Noticias will provide locally relevant articles, photos and video content within the Spanish versions of The Weather Channel app and website (weather.com). The collaboration will also enable local marketers to access advanced data-driven advertising solutions from IBM Watson Advertising (formerly The Weather Company’s ad sales business) across both companies’ properties.

IBM announced today that Acrow, one of Australia’s leading suppliers of scaffolding and formwork for the construction industry, has selected IBM and IT Easy , to implement a total infrastructure refresh built around IBM Cloud, mobile, and network technology.

IBM and Box today announced a global partnership that will combine the best-in-class technologies and resources of both companies to transform work in the cloud. Together, the companies plan to integrate their existing products and services and develop new, innovative solutions targeted across industries and professions ranging from medical teams working on complex cases to individuals negotiating consumer loans by mobile phone to engineers and researchers identifying patterns in patents, reports and academic journals.

IBM and MIT today announced that IBM plans to make a 10-year, $240 million investment to create the MIT–IBM Watson AI Lab in partnership with MIT. The lab will carry out fundamental artificial intelligence (AI) research and seek to propel scientific breakthroughs that unlock the potential of AI. The collaboration aims to advance AI hardware, software and algorithms related to deep learning and other areas, increase AI’s impact on industries, such as health care and cybersecurity, and explore the economic and ethical implications of AI on society. IBM’s $240 million investment in the lab will support research by IBM and MIT scientists.

IBM today announced new offerings to its Watson Data Platform, including data cataloging and data refining, which is designed to make it easier for developers and data scientists to analyze and prepare enterprise data for AI applications, regardless of its structure or where it resides. By improving data visibility and helping to better enforce data security policies, users can now connect and share data across public and private cloud environments.

I added my own commentary to Sacramento Gun Show signs

Last year I had an incredible night with the Rocky Challenge table in Sacramento. I offered people an opportunity to try something weird (drinking raw eggs) and it was a big hit! Since then, I've set up the Compliment Exchange table a few times, but I always had my mind on creating some kind of physical or psychological challenge. In August, I came up with a plan: Mystery Shots.

Desperate to see a show? Bring a sign and come alone.

What if you made it more comfortable to sleep at a bus stop?