The next PlayStation and Xbox consoles are still years away, according to Sony and Microsoft, yet chatter around new consoles has already begun.

Crazier still, several new games announced this week are headed to so-called "next-generation" game consoles. And we're talking big games, like the long-anticipated followup to "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim":

It's been nearly five years since the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One launched — it makes sense that new consoles would already be in the works. What's less normal is major games being announced for that next generation of consoles so early. 

Yet, here we are. These are the four surprisingly huge games that are headed to consoles that are still years from launching:

SEE ALSO: The 13 biggest announcements from E3 2018

1. "Starfield"

The team behind blockbusters like "Fallout 4" and "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" have an entirely new game franchise in the works. "Our first wholly original franchise in 25 years," studio director Todd Howard said during Bethesda Softworks' annual briefing at the E3 2018 trade show in Los Angeles this past Sunday.

Howard called "Starfield" a "brand new, next-generation, single-player game." 

There's no release date, or release window — Howard said, "Everyone should be very, very patient," when asked by GameSpot about when to expect "Starfield." When asked specifically about what "next generation" means in the context of "Starfield"— whether it refers to the game's engine, or to the next generation of console hardware — Howard said, "It's a bit of both."

Given that "Starfield" is seemingly so far away — at least three years in the case of the next PlayStation, according to Sony— Howard's next announcement was even more of a surprise in scope alone.

Check out the teaser announcement for "Starfield" right here:

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2. "The Elder Scrolls VI"

"We're also building toward the game after that," Howard said. "And it's the one you keep asking about."

In a brief video depicting a sprawling landscape, Bethesda teased "The Elder Scrolls VI"— the next game in the "Elder Scrolls" series, and the first since 2011's "Skyrim." 

"The Elder Scrolls VI" is planned for after"Starfield," which is itself years away. 

"It's very early. Very early," Howard told GameSpot. "It's in the concept and design [stage] — this is what it is, this is what it will be, these are some of the parts it will have."

There is no announced launch window for "The Elder Scrolls VI," but we can guess based on Howard's statements that it's anywhere from three to six years away. Of all the games listed here, it appears to be earliest in production.

It's no secret that recruiters scour LinkedIn for potential job candidates. Indeed, your LinkedIn might even be your first point of contact with a recruiter or a potential employer.

If you want to become a LinkedIn networking powerhouse, and maybe find your best job, here are some tips and tricks to turn you into a power user. 

SEE ALSO: Uber's next battle with Lyft could be over the electric scooters that are slowly taking over the country

Make sure your profile has a picture, your current position or education, location, industry, and skills.

You  want a complete LinkedIn profile that's easy for recruiters to read. That means you need:

• A professional photo
• Your current position or education
• Your location is especially important because recruiters will often search for candidates by location.
• The industry you're in
• Skills

Having these things included makes you easier to find. Just by including your location, for example, users are 23 times more likely to show up in searches, according to LinkedIn.

Create a custom URL.

When you first create a LinkedIn profile, the url you get consists of a long string of letters and numbers. It does the job, but if you want people to easily find you via Google or LinkedIn search, making a clean and simple URL will do the trick. It'll look like this: http://www.linkedin.com/in/yourname

To change your url, go to your profile and click on "Edit Public Profile and URL."

Make yourself an "Open Candidate."

If you're looking for a job, turning on the "Open Candidates" feature is one of the most important things you can do. It's a secret switch that quietly tells recruiters you're actively seeking a job — and it'll hide it from your current employer or any recruiter affiliated with them. But, as with anything, be careful if you're looking to be extra secretive; all it takes is a friend of a friend blabbing to ruin your plans. 

According to LinkedIn, profiles with the Open Candidates setting on get twice as many messages from relevant recruiters. 

To turn the setting on, you can go to the Career Interests section within Your Dashboard on your profile, or you can click here.

• The Honda Accord is one of the best-selling cars in the US. Last year, Honda sold more than 322,000 Accords.
• Over the decades, the Accord has earned a sterling reputation for having strong build quality, great interior ergonomics, and impeccably engineered powertrains.
• The 10th generation Accord is all new for 2018.
• Our Honda Accord 2.0T Sport test car is powered by a 252 horsepower, 2.0-liter, turbocharged, inline-four-cylinder engine. A 192 hp turbo four and a 212 hp hybrid are also available.
• We were impressed by the Accord's new infotainment system, interior design, and powerful turbocharged engine.
• The base 2018 Honda Accord starts at $23,570 while our mid-tier Sport model starts at $25,780. The top-spec Touring starts at $33,800.

The Honda Accord has long been one of the best selling cars in the US.

Since 1976, Americans have purchased more than 13 million Accords.  Even though sedans have had much of their market share stolen by crossovers and SUVs, they remain a sizable and highly competitive segment of the automotive universe.

So far this year, mid-size passenger cars account for roughly 9% of the US auto market with more than 627,000 vehicles sold. The Accord accounts for nearly 18% of those sales with more than 111,500 units rolling off dealership lots. 

Only the Toyota Camry has done better with more than more than 150,500 sold. 

In 2017, Honda sold nearly 323,000 Accords, making it the ninth best-selling vehicle in the US.

The Honda Accord is a car that's near and dear to me. Long ago, my first car was a fifth-generation 1997 Honda Accord LX sedan in Heather Mist. It had a slick five-speed manual transmission, 130 non-VTEC horsepower, and a sunroof. I got it as a four-year-old used car with 94,000 miles on the clock. Yet, over the next decade, the Accord remained as faithful as the family dog and as reliable as the Japanese rail network. This is in spite of all the pain and suffering college-age me put it through.

Even at the end of its life, my Accord's 2.2-liter, naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine remained as silky smooth as the day I got it.

I still miss my trusty old Honda Accord.

It's not just me. Over the years, the Accord developed a reputation for bullet-proof reliability, attention to detail, and perky driving dynamics. It's generally considered, one of the best cars in the world. 

This brings us to the 10th generation Honda Accord. It's brand new for the 2018 model year. After a decade in the wind, Honda's passenger cars have been resurgent in recent years. The Japanese automaker absolutely nailed the current 10th generation Civic back in 2016. 

And Honda looks to return the Accord to its former glory after earning mixed reviews for its eighth and ninth generation models. (My mother actually drives an eighth-generation 2012 Accord EX-L and let's just say I'm not exactly thrilled with the ownership experience.)

Recently, Honda dropped off a 2018 Honda Accord 2.0T Sport in San Marino Red for Business Insider to evaluate. The base 2018 Accord LX starts at $23,570, while the top-of-the-line Touring model starts at $33,800. 

Our mid-grade Sport model starts at $25,780, but fees and the optional 2.0-liter engine pushed the as-tested price up to $31,200.  

So, has the Honda Accord returned to its former glory? Let's find out:

SEE ALSO: We drove a $39,000 Toyota Camry V6 to see why it's the best selling car in America — here's what we found

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Since its debut in 1976, the Honda Accord has been one of the most popular passenger cars in the US.

Through the decades, the Accord's reliability,...

... Impeccable engineering, and...

• Swimming pools get abandoned because of natural disasters, poor management, and other reasons.
• Years later, images of the pools are often bleak and eerie.

We usually think of swimming pools as places for fun, relaxation, and exercise.

But what happens when those pools are abandoned and left to nature?

A number of factors can lead to a pool's abandonment, from mismanagement to natural disasters to political unrest. But no matter the cause, the resulting images are often eerie and bleak.

Here are 10 photos that show what swimming pools look like once they're abandoned for good.

SEE ALSO: Inside the eerily quiet streets of Kazakhstan's 20-year-old capital city, where futuristic skyscrapers tower over the grasslands of a former prison camp

DON'T MISS: North Dakota's oil boomtowns are facing an uncertain future — here's what it's like to live there

This used to be a gleaming upscale resort on the Adriatic island of Krk, Croatia. But today it sits abandoned because of ownership and management issues.

Source: Associated Press

Hosts of the Olympic Games are notorious for abandoning their venues after the festivities have ended. Here's what the Olympic swimming pool in Athens — hosts of the 2004 Olympics — looks like today.

Source: Getty

Nearby, the outdoor pool in the Olympic Village isn't doing much better. Hosting the Games cost Athens an estimated 9 billion euros.

Source: Getty

I'll say this about the HTC U12+: At least it's different. 

HTC's newest flagship smartphone made its debut last month. It's shiny, squeezable, and has two camera lenses on the back and front. And if you get the blue version like I did, it has a transparent back so you can see inside the device. 

But there's also a lot to be desired.

I've been using the HTC U12+ over the last few weeks. I found features I enjoyed, traits I hated, and aspects of the device that were both delightful and frustrating all at once. 

Here are all the things I loved and hated about using the HTC U12+. 

SEE ALSO: What it's like to use Wyze Cam, the $20 home security camera trying to take on Amazon and Nest

Love: The transparent back

HTC added a fun new feature on the HTC U12+: a transparent back that allows you to see some of the phone's internals. 

The transparent back is only available on the blue version of the phone — the black version and red option (coming later this year) both have opaque backs. All three phones have HTC's now-signature shiny metallic finish.

The finish, combined with the cool, almost futuristic transparent glass, make the HTC U12+ a truly stunning device. I often found myself turning the phone over just to look at it, and I love that it doesn't look like any other phone on the market. 

Also on the subject of design: HTC moved the fingerprint sensor to the back of the device and centered the horizontally aligned rear cameras. From the back, the HTC U12+ is just plain good-looking. 

Hate: The slipperiness

That beautiful shiny finish has a major downside: the HTC U12+ is dangerously slippery. 

The HTC U12+ slides off of any surface that's not perfectly flat. If you place the phone face-up on your couch cushion and walk away, expect it to be on the floor upon your return. 

The HTC U12+ will slip right out of your hand, seemingly on its own. You'll think you have a tight grip on, but it won't matter, because you will undoubtedly fumble it in a way that would be comical if you weren't terrified of cracking your $800 glass smartphone. 

I love you, shiny finish, but you are not meant for the cruel realities of this life. 

Love: USB-C charging

It's basically the norm for an Android phone to have USB-C charging these days. But what isn't yet the norm is using that USB-C port for more than just charging up your phone. 

HTC is kind enough to include a pair of headphones in the box when you buy an HTC U12+, which is great since the headphone jack has been removed. But the bonus of USB-C headphones — no matter how cheap and basic-looking they are — is that they're able to support noise-canceling. 

HTC does another cool thing where its headphones are concerned: You can create a personal audio profile on the U11 Life in order to tune the headphones to your own hearing. The phone will play sounds through the buds to scan your ear structure, then tune the noise canceling for your personal needs. It seems a little gimmicky, but it also seems to actually work.

• Macy's is doubling down on its off-price concept, Backstage, which sells many of the same brands as a typical Macy's store but at a steep discount. 
• In February, Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette said the retailer would be rolling out 100 more of these outlets to Macy's stores. 
• We compared the shopping experience at Macy's Backstage and TJ Maxx to find out which off-price store is better. 

Macy's wants in on the off-price boom. 

America's biggest department-store chain is doubling down on its off-price concept, Macy's Backstage. In February, the retailer announced that it would be adding its Backstage outlet to 100 of its stores this year, bringing the total to 145. Backstage sells Macy's brands at steep discounts of as much as 80%. 

Macy's isn't alone here. Nordstrom has a similar concept, called Nordstrom Rack, that similarly takes inspiration from off-price stores like TJ Maxx and Ross Stores. 

It makes sense that department stores would want to emulate an off-price model. Same-store sales numbers have been strong at off-price stores while many department stores have suffered in recent years.

But department stores have one major disadvantage while operating in this space. Their off-price stores have to co-exist with their full-price stores, which also offer discounted products, potentially leading to brand confusion for customers and vendors.

"The deck looks stacked against them," a group of Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a note in May 2017. 

The analysts wrote that off-price stores such as TJ Maxx have a structural advantage over department stores since they have a large vendor base that has been built up over decades. Some of the products sold at TJ Maxx are made specifically for the store by certain brands. 

Macy's Backstage has a separate buying team and sells a mix of products from new and existing vendors, both from the current and the last season. A spokesperson for Macy's confirmed that Backstage also sells overstock from its full-price stores.

We decided to put the two stores to the test to see how the shopping experience differs and who does it better overall. Here's the verdict:

SEE ALSO: We shopped at Target and TJ Maxx to see which was a better store — and the winner was clear

Our first stop was at a Macy's Backstage store in Queens Place Mall, New York.

Though this is a standalone Macy's Backstage store, there is a traditional Macy's store in the same mall.

We were greeted by makeshift tables with deals on Father's Day gifts at the front of the store.

We headed to the beauty section first. It was instantly apparent that this store doesn't stock only well-known brands, as there was a wide mix of lesser-known labels.

The store, overall, stocked more inventory on each item than we expected. 

• New York City contains dozens of neighborhoods across its five boroughs: Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island, Queens, and the Bronx.
• Residents of those neighborhoods speak an abundance of languages.
• Using census data from the Minnesota Population Center, we found the three most commonly spoken languages in each neighborhood.

New York is a city of neighborhoods, and those neighborhoods have a diverse array of people from all over the world.

The Census Bureau's American Community Survey provides a picture of several demographic, economic, and social characteristics of the US population. One of the questions on the survey asks respondents which language they mainly speak at home. Using data from the Minnesota Population Center's 2011-2015 ACS Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, we found the top three languages spoken in each New York neighborhood.

For our working definition of neighborhood, we used the Census Bureau's Public Use Microdata Areas, which are designed to allow small-scale geographic analyses of individual-level ACS data. In New York, these areas mostly correspond to the city's community districts (or groups of two for areas with smaller populations), so they're a pretty good proxy for neighborhoods.

Here are the three most common languages spoken at home in each New York City neighborhood.

SEE ALSO: The most and least expensive places to live in America

Manhattan CD 1 & 2: Battery Park City, Greenwich Village & Soho

Most commonly spoken language at home: English

Second most common language: Spanish

Third most common language: Chinese

Manhattan CD 3: Chinatown & Lower East Side

Most commonly spoken language at home: English

Second most common language: Spanish

Third most common language: Chinese

Manhattan CD 4 & 5: Chelsea, Clinton & Midtown Business District

Most commonly spoken language at home: English

Second most common language: Spanish

Third most common language: Chinese

• Learning a few key phrases in another language can help you in your travels.
• They include basics like "excuse me" and "thank you" as well as ways to help you navigate around busy cities.

There are more than 6,000 languages in the world, but the vast majority of people won't learn more than two or three.

Language barriers can cause frustration and inconvenience if you're traveling to a country where English isn't commonly spoken. I experienced the difficulties firsthand throughout my travels, which have taken me to 25 countries across Southeast Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

Although most of us would love to have fluent conversations in every local language we come across, it simply isn't a realistic option. Still, I managed to get by in places like Thailand, Sri Lanka, and France by studying up on just a few key phrases in the local languages.

Here are the 11 words and phrases I recommend anyone learns in a new language before they travel to a foreign country.

SEE ALSO: 13 places to travel in July for every type of traveler

DON'T MISS: The most annoying things about the English language, from people who are learning it

"Thank you"

If I could only pick one phrase for foreign travelers to learn in a new language, it would be "thank you."

Travelers often find themselves relying on the kindness of strangers to navigate unfamiliar cities, plan their trips, and get home safely. Learning how to say "thank you" goes a long way to showing your appreciation, and most people will respect the effort you took to acknowledge in their own language.

"Hello" and "goodbye"

Learning how to open and close a conversation is another polite thing you can do to show your appreciation for the people you're speaking with. Even if you have to revert to English for the rest of the conversation, a simple "hello" and "goodbye" in your speaking partner's local language can show you care.

"Excuse me"

"Excuse me" comes in handy on countless occasions, from asking someone for directions to squeezing your way through a crowded subway car. 

• Astana was named the capital of Kazakhstan in 1997, and has undergone a massive transformation since then.
• The city is filled with futuristic skyscrapers that resemble a science-fiction movie.
• But Astana's streets are suspiciously clean and quiet, leading some to comment on its eerie atmosphere.

Twenty years ago, Kazakhstan's president Nursultan Nazarbayev made a radical move by moving his country's capital to a little-known town in the middle of barren grassland.

He renamed the town "Astana," meaning "capital," and hired a world-famous Japanese architect to plan every aspect of the city, from its eye-popping skyline to its grandiose government buildings. Today, the city is compared to other planned capitals like Canberra, Brasilia, and Washington, DC.

Yet between Astana's architectural marvels are streets that are perfectly manicured and eerily quiet, contributing to a surreal atmosphere that permeates the city. CNN called Astana"the world's weirdest capital city," while the Guardian called it"the space station in the steppes."

Israeli photographer Tomer Ifrah recently documented life in Astana, from its nearly empty and suspiciously clean streets to its futuristic skyscrapers that look like something out of a science fiction movie.

Read on to see what life is like in Astana, a planned city like no other.

SEE ALSO: A photographer spent 3 months following commuters on the Moscow Metro to see what life is really like in the capital of Russia

DON'T MISS: There's only one women's prison in Israel — and a photographer documented the inmates in harrowing detail

Astana was declared Kazakhstan's capital city in 1997. Before that, it was a small provincial town named Aqmola, best known for being a former gulag prison camp for wives and children of enemies of the Soviet government.

Source: CNN,Dark Tourism

"Astana" simply means "capital" in the Kazakh language. President Nursultan Nazarbayev moved the capital there from Almaty to breathe life into northern Kazakhstan and move the heart of the country farther away from China.

Source: Science Direct

Astana's master plan was designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa, who detailed the construction of skyscrapers, roads, housing units, government buildings, and man-made forests.

Source: Kisho

It's surprising that keyboards aren't getting the same kinds of beautiful designs that some computers have these days. 

The only company that's clearly giving attention to its keyboards is Apple, which gives its accessories the same sleek, modern, metallic look as its computers. 

While sleek and modern is cool, retro designs are making a comeback, and the classic look is now coming for your desk and office setups. 

Accessory company KnewKey has made a keyboard that looks absolutely stunning. It has a modern flair that will look right at home among your modern computers and mobile devices. 

Check it out:

SEE ALSO: I accidentally ran over the Samsung Galaxy S9 with my car – and it's still as good as new

The Rymek is a beautiful keyboard with a typewriter design.

It also comes in a creamy off-white color with orange keys, too.

The Rymek keyboard is made of plastic, which could disappoint those who were hoping for the ultra-sturdy metallic feel of an old-fashioned typewriter. With that said, the Rymek is also designed to be somewhat portable; a metal build would make the keyboard far too heavy to carry around. 

Unlike an old typewriter, the Rymek connects to your modern computer, and even your tablet or smartphone.

You can connect the Rymek to your computer with a USB cable, or to mobile devices like tablets or smartphones via Bluetooth. 

The world's oceans are rapidly rising as waters warm and ice sheets melt. 

Coastal cities like New York — much of which lies on an island barely above sea level — are at serious risk of flooding.

Research group Climate Central has created a plug-in for Google Earth that illustrates how catastrophic an "extreme" sea-level rise scenario projected for the year 2100 would be, based on data in a 2017 report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA).

The group's estimates are based on the worst-case scenario forecasting from NOAA's data, and it puts into perspective how dangerous the situation could get for the lowest-lying New York City neighborhoods. 

The Financial District — the birthplace of New York City and home to a number of landmarks, institutions, Wall Street banks, and tech companies — will be particularly hard-hit.

We've compiled Climate Central's data into a series of maps to see which of the world's largest financial institutions could be inundated if climate change continues unabated.

Goldman Sachs, one of the most powerful of all the banks, could be completely flooded. The same goes for Citigroup and Merrill Lynch. Banks that have decamped to Midtown offices in recent years will be relatively unscathed. 

Check out the maps below:

SEE ALSO: Disturbing before-and-after images show how San Francisco tech companies could be underwater by 2100

Let's start off with an overview of Manhattan. Here's what the island looks like today.

According to Climate Central's data, huge swaths of the most densely-populated areas of the city will be flooded by 2100 in the worst case scenario.

Here's lower Manhattan today, which includes some of the city's most densely populated areas.

You'd be surprised by how much raw material goes into the everyday items you use.

For example, take your coffee habit. The average cup of coffee requires about 100 beans. So if you drink one cup per day, you'd need at least nine coffee trees producing full-time to give you a year's worth of joe. (That's not to mention the vast amounts of water, fertilizer, and manual labor needed to keep a coffee plantation running.)

In our modern lives, it's often easy to forget our impact on the natural world, since most of us are far removed from the places and processes in which most foods and products are made. 

For that reason, we've compiled a list of how much raw material goes into nine common food items and products below.

SEE ALSO: 15 books Bill Gates says you should read this summer

One loaf of bread requires just under a pound of wheat.

When wheat is harvested, it's gathered into 60-pound bushels. According to the National Festival of Breads, one bushel can produce around 42 pounds of flour, which is enough to make around 70 loaves of white bread.

You need about 12 oranges to make the average liter of orange juice.

PepsiCo's signature orange juice brand, Tropicana, uses about 12 oranges in each liter of orange juice. If you're making orange juice at home, the general rule is about two to three oranges per cup. 

It takes two chickens an average of one week to lay a dozen eggs.

Depending on the breed, the average hen can lay four to six eggs in a week, for a total of around 200 eggs per year (everybody needs a day off). That means it takes two hens a week's worth of work to produce a dozen eggs. 

"The Americans" ended in May with an incredible finale that was the perfect end to one of the best TV series of all time. But not every series finale is as brilliant.

A few of the best shows in TV history ended terribly, including "Seinfeld" and "Girls." The worst series finales ignore the show's themes, or abandon some of its main characters to tell a detached story. 

It's a daunting task to wrap up a series in just one episode, comedy or drama. It takes an overwhelming amount of thought and planning since it requires wrapping up both the show and the season. Series finales also require closure for characters, but not so much that there's nothing left to think about after it airs. 

Here, we collected some of the best and worst series finales that left us either fully satisfied or screaming at the TV. 

Here are 29 of the best and worst series finales of all time, from "The Americans" to "Gossip Girl":

SEE ALSO: 'The Americans' ended with one of the greatest series finales ever, and it marks the end of TV's Golden Age

THE BEST:

"M*A*S*H*"— season 11 episode 16, "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen"

When it aired: February 28, 1983

After 11 years on the air, "M*A*S*H" lived up to expectations in its series finale. And it is still the most-watched TV series finale of all time. In the end, the characters finally get to go home, but that also means they won't be together anymore. It's a bittersweet ending that forever changed what a series finale for a TV show can be, because it doesn't always have to be the happiest ending possible.

"Cheers"— season 11 episode 26-28, "One for the Road"

When it aired: May 20, 1993

Besides the return of Diane, the series finale of "Cheers" is still so great because it isn't much different than a typical episode. All of the characters have similar problems: Jack and Diane get back together but then they break up (they were the original Ross and Rachel), and Cliff is annoying, as always. The series ends as most episodes of the show do: with the Cheers gang contemplating life at the bar. 

I am by no means a professional photographer. I do have a DSLR, but I neglect it far too often and don't bother to take it with me.

Luckily, phone cameras have come a long way.

With the addition of portrait mode and dual lenses, iPhones are capable of producing some pretty stunning images — even ones that could be mistaken for being taken on a more expensive camera. 

But a camera is only as effective as the person using it. Whether you're using a $2,000 DSLR, or an iPhone that you can fit in your pocket, you need to know how to use it to get the best results.

Here's how to make your boring phone shots more Instagram-worthy with just a few clever edits:

Step 1: Framing, grid, and rule of thirds

Before you can take a picture of anything, you need to get it in the frame. After that, it's pretty much up to you where you want to frame your subject — but there are a few rules that can help with your composition if you're not sure where to start.

The "rule of thirds" is a popular method of composition in photography, and your iPhone has tools built right in that will help you achieve it. Basically, following the rule of thirds means imagining the image split into nine equal parts, with a grid of three horizontal and three vertical lines dividing the image. You want to keep your subject, or other important elements, in one of the "thirds" of the image, close to where the lines intersect, as seen in the grid above. 

To get the grids on your camera, go to Settings > Camera > Grid, and turn it on. 

You by no means need to follow this rule, but it definitely helps create some pleasing images if used correctly. 

Step 2: Setting your exposure

You probably know that tapping on the screen while in the camera will focus on the area you're tapping on. However, it also matches the exposure to whatever you're tapping on as well.

To test this out, point your phone at a window where a lot of light is coming in. If you tap on the window, everything outside will become visible, but everything inside will get pretty dark. If you tap on something outside of the frame of the window, the light coming through the window will get blown out, while everything in the room is visible. 

If you want a little more control over this, you can tap and drag your finger up or down after tapping. Dragging down will set the exposure lower, as you can see above, and dragging up will bring the exposure higher.

If you want to lock your exposure and focus to a specific object, hold your finger down on that object for a few seconds until you see "AE/AF LOCK" appear at the top of the screen. Now you can point the camera anywhere you want, and the focus and exposure settings from what you tapped on will be saved.

Step 3: Taking your photo; use portrait mode, if you have it

The portrait mode, regardless of its name, isn't only for taking pictures of people. It's really useful for getting up close to your subject and blurring out everything in the background. This is an effect known as "bokeh," or depth of field, and it's an easy way to make your photos look much crisper and more professional.

For best results, get close to your subject. This will create maximum blur in the background (if that's what you want), and your subject will be nice and focused. 

And, if you have friends to take pictures of, this is a great way to make them look like an Instagram model without doing much work. 

The US Navy announced in February that five types of warships would compete for a bid to supply the branch with 20 next-generation guided-missile frigates. 

And last week, we got to tour one of those five frigates: Fincantieri's FREMM Alpino, a ship outfitted with anti-submarine systems.

"The world has changed certainly in the last two years when you take look at what Russia is doing and what China is doing," retired Admiral Rick Hunt, who now works for Fincantieri, told Business Insider on the ship's bridge. "And frankly, I think that means we got to up the game of the high-low mix that we have traditionally held," Hunt said. 

"We got our Aegis fleet of destroyers and cruisers," Hunt said, but "we need to have kind of a smaller utility ship that covers down on the rest, that gives you forward presence, independent ops, escort capability ... and value added to the larger carrier strike groups."

And that is exactly what the heavily-armed Alpino can provide, Hunt said, adding that it's a frigate with "destroyer-like capabilities."

Check it out below: 

SEE ALSO: We took a rare tour of one of the US Navy's most dangerous warships that entered combat for the first time in Syria

SEE ALSO: Step aboard the USS Zumwalt, the largest destroyer the US Navy has ever built

The Alpino is about 472 feet long, about 65 feet wide, has about a 17 foot-draft, and a total displacement of 6,500 tons.

Source: Fincantieri

The ship accommodates about 200 people, and has a full load displacement of about 6,500 tons.

Source: Fincantieri

Now let's go aboard.

• Over the past month, college and high school graduation ceremonies featured speeches from high-profile figures.
• Oprah told graduates at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism to strive to aim high in their skills.
• Actor Chadwick Boseman encouraged graduates at Howard University to find purpose rather than a job or a career. 
• Apple CEO Tim Cook advised graduates at Duke University to act with decency and kindness.

The 2018 graduation season is finally wrapping up for colleges and high schools across the country, and even if you didn't get a diploma, hopefully you're walking away with some solid life lessons.

Over the past month, a slew of high-profile commencement speakers have dispensed valuable pieces of advice they gleaned from their own careers. Chance the Rapper, President Donald Trump, and Apple CEO Tim Cook were among the leaders who took the stage to talk to new graduates about money, jobs and the meaning of success.

Weren't paying attention in class? We've got you covered. Here's a round-up of the 10 smartest tips we heard this year:

SEE ALSO: Supreme Court Justice John Roberts' best advice for young people takes 'exactly 10 minutes a week'

Oprah Winfrey: Aim high

While speaking at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism last month, the so-called "Queen of All Media" told students they should always be looking for lessons in the workplace. Winfrey added that graduates should strive to become so skilled in their fields that their "talent cannot be dismissed."

Then, for good measure, she gave some specific life guidance:

Anne-Marie Slaughter: Make an impact

Slaughter, the president and CEO of a think tank called New America, acknowledged that Washington University graduates were entering the world during a turbulent time. But she said that amid, the uncertainty, it's time to "renew our economy and the social infrastructure that supports it" so all Americans can thrive.

Slaughter then outlined the next steps for graduates hoping to do just that — and make money:

Chadwick Boseman: Find your purpose

The Black Panther star made headlines last month for doing the "Wakanda Forever" salute at Howard University, but his speech was profound, too. Boseman, a Howard alumnus himself, told graduates that they won't regret taking a harder, longer path to success.

He also gave them a pep talk for their job hunt:

This fall, a major new update for iPhone and iPad is scheduled to arrive: iOS 12, the latest version of Apple's smartphone and tablet operating system software. 

Its standout feature? A new way to turn your face into a living cartoon, called Memoji:

It's true! That grinning cartoon above is none other than Apple CEO Tim Cook.

But let's not kid ourselves — the stuff that will really impact your daily iPhone use is far more mundane. To that end, Apple is making some major strides in iOS 12 towards ease of use and convenience that are worth highlighting.

Here are the five most important changes and additions coming in iOS 12:

SEE ALSO: Apple just announced iOS 12. Here are all the major changes coming to iPhones and iPads.

1. iOS 12 makes old iPhones faster.

There are plenty of new features coming in iOS 12 that are intended for the latest models of iPhone, such as the aforementioned Memoji.

But one huge feature that's aimed squarely at older iPhones is a major performance improvement. In testing thus far, according to Apple VP of software engineer Craig Federighi, iOS 12 makes older phones like the iPhone 6+ run far more quickly: 40% faster app launches, 50% faster keyboard opening, and a 70% improvement in opening the camera. 

It's not sexy, but it's stuff like this that makes the user experience for most iPhone owners so, so much better. Apple is directly addressing the common complaint that each year, with each new iOS update, older iPhones get slower. 

That iOS 12 will support iPhones going all the way back to the iPhone 5S is another subtle nod of acknowledgement to the tens of millions of people using older iPhone models.

2. The Notifications tray is getting a major update, smartly copying Android's best feature.

Ever slide down your notifications tray and find a mess of nonsense? That's most interactions with the notifications tray on iOS, unfortunately. One of the major arguments for using Android over iOS is how useful the notifications tray is in the former (and how poor it is in the latter).

Apple's seemingly addressing that disparity with iOS 12, finally adding support for grouped notifications in the notifications tray. All your text message notifications will be automatically bundled together, for instance, rather than showing each one individually. You can still tap in and see each one, or you could swipe left on the whole stack to clear them all at once.

It's a small but crucial change to daily iPhone use.

3. Customize your life with Siri Shortcuts.

Siri is kind of a mess in general use, but a new tool for Siri has a lot of promise. It's called "Shortcuts," and it essentially allows you to program a series of actions tied to a specific command phrase.

In the example Apple gives, an iPhone owner has set a shortcut to the phrase, "Heading home."

When Siri hears that phrase, it automatically enacts a series of actions: 

— Retrieves directions home with the least traffic.
— Text messages the user's roommate to let her know she's on the way.
— Sets the home thermostat to 70 degrees and turns on a fan.

If you've ever used Automator on a Mac, Shortcuts will sound familiar — it's a way of setting up a sequence of actions that you perform frequently, tied to a single trigger. In the case of Siri Shortcuts, those triggers are whatever phrase you set. Pretty neat!

• Virtual reality may be better suited for arcades than people's homes. 
• One of the new startups creating shared VR experiences is called Sandbox VR.
• Its technology combines green screens and commercial VR headsets and you can book one for just over $30 per half hour. 
• It's an intense experience. 

There are a number of virtual-reality systems you use inside your house, but increasingly, many experts in the industry believe that VR may first find its footing in elaborate arcade experiences. 

VR arcades let people try cutting-edge technologies without spending money on a pricey headset, and the experiences and games can also be customized and administered by experts. 

One VR startup, Sandbox VR, even believes that VR can be a way to build stronger teams and friendships, according to its CEO, Steve Zhao, who said that it's a great option for corporate events and team building. 

"We see a lot of corporate [customers], it's kind of scary but it's about the chaos, what happens when everything goes wrong," Zhao said. "And you have to work together and talk to each other, communicate."

"We know a lady, she played seven times. I called her up, asked, 'why do you play so much?' She said 'I just want to play with my relatives, coworkers, friends.' She just wanted to share these type of experiences," he continued. 

That kind of fandom was enough to raise $3 million in seed funding from investors led by the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, according to Pitchbook data. 

My girlfriend and I actually got to check out one of Sandbox VR's game spaces in New York. Here's what happened: 

We checked out the Sandbox VR experience in an IMAX movie theater in New York.

The space was provided because Sandbox licenses its technology to IMAX.

When you first get there, you're led into a specially-built room with green walls and floors on three sides. It's a greenscreen — the same technology that Hollywood uses to put actors in exotic locations. You need at least two people to play.

The baristas at Cafe X can make two drinks in under a minute and will get your order right every time.

They're also not human.

The robotic coffee bar employs assembly line-style robots to build your coffee orders for you, making Cafe X a player in San Francisco's automated eatery scene that's also gaining traction across the country.

The trend has garnered pushback for impeding on jobs that could be filled by actual humans, yet Cafe X insists it focuses on "humans working alongside technology," not replacing them, said Cafe X community manager Sam Blum. And though the baristas are robots, a living and breathing Cafe X specialist is always on-site at each store.

The venture-backed company was founded in 2015 by Henry Hu, who received funds from The Thiel Foundation, PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel's philanthropic effort, to see his endeavor through.

I visited the newest of the two Cafe X locations in San Francisco to get a glimpse of the coffee bar of the future.

Take a look to see what it's like:

A Cafe X location looks like any other coffee shop...

Except that the barista is a little less talkative.

If you've ever avoided your usual coffee spot after realizing your favorite barista wasn't staffing the counter that day, you'll probably find Cafe X appealing. The coffee station is completely automated, meaning your dirty chai latte with dairy-free milk will come out the exact same every time you visit. 

Customers can use on-site kiosks to place their coffee orders.

The cafe can get busy, with both a morning rush and a lunch rush regularly coming in, but the upsides of an automated coffee service are its speed and efficiency.

Chinese smartphone maker Vivo's new Nex smartphone is missing something that all its competitors have: a "notch."

And that's a good thing. The lack of the divisive notch means more screen space on the phone's big, bezel-free display.

Many smartphone makers starting with Essential Phone (yes, before the iPhone X) have strived to give their smartphones edge-to-edge displays, but few could figure out how to deal with the problem of the notch. 

The notch is where a smartphone's earpiece, selfie camera, and various sensors are located, and smartphone makers can't cover those items up with a display. The result is an intrusive notch, a necessary evil that interrupts the screen from becoming a fully bezel-free design. 

Vivo, however, worked around the problem. 

Check out how Vivo solved the "notch" that divides opinions in the smartphone world:

SEE ALSO: This crazy new phone has more power than any other Android phone you can buy and comes with a fan to keep it cool

To get rid of notch, Vivo hid the selfie camera inside the phone itself.

It pops out from its enclosure whenever you want to take a selfie.

As a result, it has an astounding 91.2% screen-to-body ratio compared to the iPhone X's 83%, as measured by GSM Arena. 

As for the earpiece, Vivo is using the screen itself as the speaker.

Vivo's "Screen SoundCasting" technology transmits audio waves through the display itself. Vivo says that it's even better than the traditional earpiece that uses a tiny speaker, saying the technology "enhances sound quality with more powerful bass, and softer, smoother treble."