Things To Do In SW Florida

Shut up! Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights event will include a haunted house based on the two “A Quiet Place” films, the company announced Thursday.

The movies, directed by John Krasinski, follow a family who must remain completely silent to avoid sightless extraterrestrials with extremely keen senses of hearing. The HHN houses, available at the Universal Studios theme parks in Orlando and Hollywood, California, “will embrace unique sound design, special effects and the adept performances of the scareactors to convey the ominous sense of dread depicted in the films,” a news release from Universal said.

In an HHN first, the houses will also utilize American Sign Language as part of the storyline.

“A Quiet Place,” starring Emily Blunt and Krasinski, was released in 2018. The couple, married in real life, also were in “A Quiet Place Part II” in 2020. “A Quiet Place: Day One,” a prequel, is set to be released this month, while “A Quiet Place Part III” is scheduled to be in theaters in 2025. read more

By Tommy Tindall | NerdWallet

It’s hard to believe Amazon.com started back in July 1995 as an online retailer that sold books only. Almost 30 years later, it’s likely the first place you look when you get the idea to buy anything.

Retailers like Walmart, Best Buy and Target can be quite competitive with Amazon. Still, with the number of Amazon Prime members in the U.S. at 180 million, according to an estimate by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners in March, dependence on Amazon runs deep. If you shop there, lead with needs over wants to save money where it counts. Here’s a short list of the best things to buy (and a couple to skip) on Amazon.

Buy: Personal care items you can put on autopilot

Product purchases new parents can knock out at Amazon include baby wipes and diapers. Items like these are competitively priced on Amazon, especially when using “Subscribe & Save,” said Kallie Branciforte, a blogger and YouTuber in Connecticut, in an email.

“I am always surprised by how many people don’t take advantage of ‘Subscribe & Save,’” she said. “It’s the easiest way to save on the stuff you use all the time.” read more

Boeing’s Starliner sprung two new leaks in its propulsion system after launch from Cape Canaveral on Wednesday, but NASA has told its two NASA astronauts on board that it’s safe to proceed with planned docking at the International Space Station today.

Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams are flying the Crew Flight Test mission that marks Starliner’s first human spaceflight. They awoke at 4:30 a.m. asking for an update after teams identified hours after launch two more helium leaks on top of one that was already known of before launch.

“Actually, umm, we’re kind of curious where we stand as far as our leaks. If we could get a summary on that, that would be wonderful,” Wilmore said.

Two of the valves were closed with the spacecraft remaining stable, according to NASA.

“Regarding the leaks we spoke of last night, the big picture is the current leak rates are, we are going to be able to support a rendezvous today with that,” replied the NASA capsule communications officer Rob Hayhurst from Houston. read more

The next SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy rocket is set to launch from Texas this morning on an orbital flight that aims to achieve more control in landing operations.

Watch Starship’s fourth flight test → https://t.co/bJFjLCiTbK https://t.co/SjpjscHoUB

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 6, 2024

The rocket became the most powerful rocket ever to achieve orbit in a February generating more than 16 million pounds of thrust on liftoff, but the Super Heavy booster crashed into the Gulf of Mexico while the Starship upper stage burned up during reentry over the Indian Ocean.

On what will be its fourth orbital launch attempt, SpaceX wants both parts to make more controlled descents mimicking landings as if they were touching down on drone ships at sea, but still just landing in the water, once again in the Gulf of Mexico and Indian Ocean.

The 2-hour launch window opens at 8 a.m. EDT but SpaceX said it was targeting an 8:50 a.m. liftoff with weather at 95% chance for good conditions. The 396-foot-tall stacked rocket would launch from SpaceX’s test launch site Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. Its first two tries in 2023 both ended explosively before the partial success in February. read more

By Amanda Barroso | NerdWallet

It’s college graduation season, a time to celebrate the years of hard work and effort you’ve invested in your education and career development. Hopefully, the future feels full of endless possibilities. But there’s also an undeniable reality: those possibilities cost money.

One antidote to the uncertainty you might feel about your financial future is to put together a plan. Here are five first steps you can take now.

1. Build a budget you can stick to

The best budgets account for your needs, wants and financial goals. A 50/30/20 budget might be a good place to start.

The idea is to spend 50% of your take-home income on needs including housing, utilities, groceries transportation and minimum monthly debt payments. The next 30% of your income goes toward wants, like travel, monthly subscriptions and entertainment. The last 20% should go toward savings goals and paying down debt.

While your circumstances — like living in a high-rent area — might require more flexibility, this is a good framework for managing your monthly income. The key is to find a budgeting approach that’s sustainable. read more