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Ever since we saw Hagrid buy Harry an elegant white owl in Sorcerer’s Stone, J.K. Rowling knows that she’s already hooked us in her make-believe world where every ten-year-old gets their own magical pet. Suffice to say, it was what everyone wanted and the pets of the Wizarding World made dogs and cats look boring (never thought I’d say that). Hagrid, meanwhile, has a broader idea of which creatures in the Wizarding World can be tamed; he’s like everyone’s spirit character in that regard....

In the Harry Potter series, there’s no denying that Gryffindors and Slytherins get all the fame and infamy. While Gryffindors get most of the good attention for being good and daring, Slytherins get talked about just as much but often for being the evil house. However, among fans, Slytherin and Gryffindor are often the two houses people want to be in most. But, this is a real shame because there are just as many great things about Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw....

Four new Harry Potter focused ebooks are hitting the “shelves” this summer. The first two are already out, and the second two will be out shortly. The first of the ebooks is Harry Potter: A Journey Through Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts. This ebook covered a lot of the influences J.K. Rowling found for her much-loved series. That includes everything from charms and spells, to Defense Against the Dark Arts....

Another piece of Baby Yoda merchandise has come to light for The Mandalorian, as Hasbro’s first Baby Yoda toy, which releases in May 2020, has been revealed. Disney+’s The Mandalorian, written and produced by Jon Favreau, focuses on a lone bounty hunter in the outer reaches of the galaxy. However, as a lot of fans are aware, arguably the most talked about and popular element of the new series is Baby Yoda, who has captivated the internet by being turned into memes, Jurassic Park viral videos, and even fan art that was shared by Dwayne Johnson....

In some ways, the premise of DC’s He-Man and The Masters of The Multiverse is almost so obvious, it’s no surprise it hasn’t been attempted before. What if the famous Crisis on Infinite Earths event happened… but inside the He-Man universe? And if you’re not on board with seeing that question answered, then this new series is probably too much fun for you anyway. The six-issue series has officially begun, sending the evil Anti-He-Man traveling from one parallel universe version of Eternia, slaying his heroic doppelgangers, and claiming their power swords – meaning only HE has the power....

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, the recently announced sequel to developer Ninja Theory’s hit 2017 game Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, will also be coming to PC. The game was only announced a few short weeks ago with a dramatic trailer as part of Xbox’s showcase at The Game Awards 2019, but now it seems Hellblade II will be released for PC as well as the new Xbox Series X, presumably next year to coincide with the debut of the new console....

One of the most highly anticipated features announced at WWDC this year was support for storing IDs in the Apple Wallet application. Touted by Apple as the last step before you are “fully free of your physical wallet,” the feature was ultimately delayed until 2022. Nonetheless, there are now at least 30 states working towards adopting digital IDs for citizens… As we reported yesterday, the TSA is preparing to launch a pilot program for accepting digital IDs in February 2022 at two airports and expanding it to two more airports in March....

Short of hiring a private investigator, what can you find out? A lot, actually. You’d be amazed how much public information is tangled up in the web. No matter how hard we might try to disguise our past, much of our lives has been digitized and archived, just waiting to be discovered. This is a double-edged sword, of course. If you want to find information on other people, that process has never been more streamlined....

Recently, we’ve seen a good amount of iPhone 7 rumors with everything from USB-C support to Apple potentially removing the 3.5mm headphone jack. It all sounds a bit crazy, but today we’ll get to the bottom of the rumors and discuss what’s actually possible and what makes sense. Big thanks to Jamf Now (formerly Bushel) for sponsoring this week’s episode. To find out what awesome cloud-based mobile device management can do for you, check out https://www....

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/316573528″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] New episodes of Happy Hour are available every week. As mentioned, you can download this podcast via iTunes or plug in our RSS feed link into your favorite podcasting app. Note: Subscribing to the podcast feed will guarantee the latest episode is downloaded as soon as possible. Hosts: Benjamin Mayo Zac Hall Here’s what we discussed in this episode: Apple upgrades Mac Pro, promises radical modular models and new displays after this year Apple promises pro iMacs later this year, says Mac mini is a consumer/pro mix Running with Apple Watch Nike+: NRC is an effective coach, but app reliability can be spotty Apple’s new Clips social video editing app for iOS is now available Review Roundup: Apple’s Clips app offers promising & fun editing features, but confusing & difficult UI Potential specs for new pro iMac surface, 8K display & taller Mac mini rumored Rumor: Modular Mac Pro may not ship until early 2019, new iPad Pro and Mac integration planned Sponsor: Blue Apron — visit BlueApron....

The sixth book in the Harry Potter franchise is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This book is the penultimate book in the series and it sets up the final battle and journey for the Horcruxes that follows in the seventh book. It also introduces quite a bit of romance into the series with Ginny and Harry getting together and Ron and Hermione dancing around the truth of their feelings. It’s also one of the darker entries into the book and contains one of the biggest deaths of the entire series....

Harry Potter was the hero of his book series, but he wouldn’t have gone far without the help of Hermione Granger. Hermione may have been raised by a pair of Muggle dentists, but that didn’t stop her from becoming one of the most accomplished witches of her era. Hermione was so trusted by the Hogwarts staff that she was given an incredibly dangerous time machine in order to take more classes, which goes to show how disciplined and intelligent that they thought she was....

Things have been a little weird in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter over the past few years; the books and movies have all long since fallen from the height of their popularity, and J. K. Rowling has moved on to side stories and ancillary online media riddled with issues of retroactive continuity. While most were simply happy to hear anything from the famous Harry Potter author, some of what she has put into writing recently makes little sense....

When adapting a novel into a film, more than a few things are bound to be left out. There’s just more leeway to tell a story in 800 pages than there is in two and a half hours. That’s especially true for the Harry Potter series. Some notable storylines and characters were cut entirely from the films. Some of these characters would have added some depth to the story and the decision to leave them out is questionable....

Apple announced yesterday that it sold 50.7 millions iPhones during the most recent quarter which disappointed Wall Street because it was a slight year-over-year drop instead of growth. China performance and a “pause” on iPhone sales are partly “due to the earlier and much more frequent reports about future iPhones” according to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Supply chain rumors about the so-called iPhone 8 have been surfacing for over a year now — months before the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus debuted — but have they been a factor for you not buying a new iPhone recently?...

HBO and BBC’s adaptation of Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy is off to a great start and is already fixing the movie’s biggest mistakes. His Dark Material’s series premiere introduced fans to a new version of Pullman’s world and reassured everyone who was afraid that the TV series would fall into the same pitfalls as the film. The movie adaptation The Golden Compass was released in 2007, and despite a star-studded cast and an existing fanbase, it was a critical flop, and the planned sequels were canceled....

Ookla has shared its latest study today focused on WiFi performance at the 50 busiest US airports. While the top 17 saw speeds between 100-203 Mbps, the bottom 12 airports included speeds under 10 Mbps. Here’s how the US airports’ free WiFi stacked up. Ookla, makers of the popular Speedtest app posted the new report on its blog: “The holiday travel season is fast approaching in the United States and with it the anticipation of spending more time than you’d hoped at the airport....

Harrison Ford was as surprised as fans to learn that Han Solo would make one final appearance in JJ Abrams’ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Ford, who originated the role of Han Solo in 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope, has “been arguing for [the character] to die for about 30 years.” His wish was granted when Abrams, who wrote and directed the first installment in the franchise’s sequel trilogy, The Force Awakens, killed Solo about 2/3 of the way through the film....

Last month, Twitter announced that it was ending support for its desktop Mac Twitter client today. The app had been abandoned for months (years?) before that, so it wasn’t exactly a huge loss, but it meant that I needed to migrate to a new app. Believe it or not, I’ve used Twitter for Mac until the very end. Below is my roundup of the best Twitter client apps for Mac currently available: Tweetbot, Twitterrific and TweetDeck....

When you think of a cryptocurrency mining rig, it’s easy to associate it with large rigs featuring multiple GPUs in some type of air-cooled room. While that may be true, not every cryptocurrency needs hulking GPUs and rigs designed specifically with mining in mind. In fact, thanks to a handy app called MobileMiner, it’s even possible to mine certain cryptocurrency from a device as diminutive as the iPhone in your pocket....