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Photographs by Alex MajoliAt the Vatican Museums, the nightly ritual of the keys begins in Room 49A, a tight, windowless chamber, generally referred to as il bunker, which I entered one evening last November from a grassy courtyard as rain began to fall. The keeper of the keys—the clavigero—is a former member of the carabinieri named Gianni Crea. He has a staff of about a dozen, and keeps nearly 3,000 keys in the bunker. Can he match each one to a lock? At the Vatican, yes, he said; he has trouble at home. Some keys, like No. 401, which weighs...

After welcoming Virgin Atlantic to the alliance earlier this year, SkyTeam now has 19 member airlines connecting almost 350 million yearly passengers on more than 10,000 daily flights to 1,000-plus destinations across 184 countries. SkyTeam, like competitors Star Alliance and Oneworld, is a group of airlines that work together and allow frequent flyer members to earn and redeem miles across the network. In theory, if there’s award space, you should be able to redeem your rewards from one member’s program for flights on another. To get the most out of airline alliances and maximize your points and miles, you need...

Save big on your holiday gifting or treat yourself with the best retail & restaurant gift card deals of the year! Get a great deal on restaurant and retail gift cards! 🎁 Gift cards are great to keep on hand for so many different occasions and celebrations that occur throughout the year. Not only are they the perfect way to ensure that the recipient will get something they really want, but they’re also super easy and convenient to give, too! We recommend buying a few extra gift cards to have available for last-minute gifts, and it’s a good idea to...

Omid Scobie wrote a “reporter’s notebook” piece about the coronation for Harper’s Bazaar this week. I would imagine that he’s still hard at work on his latest book, Endgame, about the declining power and declining popularity of the British monarchy. I mention that because that’s the vibe of his Bazaar piece – praise for the Windsors for pulling off a coronation without any catastrophes, but also acknowledging that this might be the last Chubbly, or perhaps the penultimate Chubbly. Still, Scobie’s piece was full of some interesting details and shady asides. Some highlights: Why the Waleses were late to the...

Among the many initial concerns around AI and ChatGPT is that students would use it to write their school papers or essays or otherwise cheat on assignments. While you obviously shouldn’t do that—you’ll never learn anything that way, and the risks outweigh the rewards—you can use ChatGPT to help you study in more…Read more...