If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

Hurdle Word 1 hint

Water-based.

Hurdle Word 1 answer

HYDRO

Hurdle Word 2 hint

Comical.

Hurdle Word 2 Answer

FUNNY

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today

Hurdle Word 3 hint

To spin.

Hurdle Word 3 answer

TWIRL

Hurdle Word 4 hint

Barbecue.

Hurdle Word 4 answer

GRILL

Final Hurdle hint

3D shape.

Hurdle Word 5 answer

PRISM

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

The Moon will look nearly full tonight as it continues through the waxing gibbous phase. Although the Full Moon is still a few days away, where we are in the lunar cycle means that most of its visible surface is already illuminated.

What is today’s Moon phase?

As of Sunday, July 26, NASA's Daily Moon Guide tracker tells us the Moon phase is in Waxing Gibbous phase, with 90% of its surface visible.

Without the assistance of any visual aids, tonight you should be to see the Mares Fecunditatis, Serenitatis, and Tranquillitatis. Binoculars will also help you to see the Alps Mountains, Archimedes Crater, and the Gassendi Crater. Finally, with a telescope you'll see all this plus the Apollo 12 landing spot, the Schiller Crater, and the Caucasus Mountains.

When is the next Full Moon?

The next Full Moon will take place on July 29.

What are Moon phases?

The Moon takes roughly 29.5 days to complete its journey around Earth, passing through eight distinct phases during each lunar cycle, according to NASA. While the Moon’s same side is always visible from our planet, the portion of its surface lit by the Sun changes as it moves along its orbit. These shifting levels of illumination are what create the different appearances we see throughout the month, from a slender crescent shape to a half-lit Moon and finally a bright Full Moon, before the cycle begins once again.

The eight phases are:

New Moon - The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it's invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent - A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter - Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.

Waxing Gibbous - More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon - The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous - The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)

Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) - Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent - A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

Today's Connections: Sports Edition will be easier if you've ever gone fishing.

As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight, and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

What is Connections: Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. The sports Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Each puzzle features 16 words, and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes before the game ends.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here's a hint for today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Ohio

• Green: Gone fishing

• Blue: Seen in a logo

• Purple: Sounds like an NHL team

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Ohio Teams

• Green: Fishing Gear

• Blue: Found in MLB Team Logos

• Purple: Ends in an NHL Team

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections: Sports Edition #671 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Ohio Teams: BROWNS, BUCKEYES, CAVALIERS, CREW

• Fishing Gear: HOOK, SINKER, SPOON, TACKLE BOX

• Found in MLB Team Logos: BASEBALL GLOVE, BRIDGE, CROWN, SOCKS

• Ends in an NHL Team: BLUE DEVILS, BOILERS, PF FLYERS, STOCKINGS

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue.

Released in August 2025, Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.

Currently, if you're stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move on to the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level.

How to play Pips

If you've ever played dominoes, you'll have a passing familiarity with how Pips is played. As we've shared in our previous hints stories for Pips, the tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between a traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you have to address. The touching tiles don't necessarily have to match.

The conditions you have to meet are specific to the color-coded spaces. For example, if it provides a single number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the number provided. It is possible — and common — for only half a tile to be within a color-coded space.

Here are common examples you'll run into across the difficulty levels:

• Number: All the pips in this space must add up to the number.

• Equal: Every domino half in this space must be the same number of pips.

• Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a completely different number of pips.

• Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.

• Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.

If an area does not have any color coding, it means there are no conditions on the portions of dominoes within those spaces.

Easy difficulty hints, answers for July 26 Pips

Number (8): Everything in this space must add up to 8. The answer is 2-3, placed vertically; 6-6, placed horizontally.

Number (11): Everything in this space must add up to 11. The answer is 6-6, placed horizontally; 5-3, placed vertically.

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 2-3, placed vertically; 1-3, placed horizontally.

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 1-3, placed horizontally; 5-3, placed vertically.

Less Than (2): Everything in this space must be less than 2. The answer is 4-0, placed vertically.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for July 26 Pips

Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 5-4, placed horizontally; 5-0, placed horizontally.

Equal (4): Everything in this space must be equal to 4. The answer is 4-4, placed vertically; 5-4, placed horizontally.

Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 5-5, placed vertically; 5-3, placed vertically.

Greater Than (2): Everything in this space must be greater than 2. The answer is 5-3, placed vertically.

Equal (2): Everything in this space must be equal to 2. The answer is 2-2, placed vertically; 2-1, placed horizontally.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for July 26 Pips

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 2-3, placed vertically.

Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 2-3, placed vertically; 1-2, placed horizontally.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 1-2, placed horizontally; 1-3, placed horizontally.

Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 1-3, placed horizontally; 2-5, placed vertically.

Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 2-5, placed vertically.

Number (9): Everything in this space must add up to 9. The answer is 4-5, placed horizontally.

Number (10): Everything in this space must add up to 10. The answer is 0-5, placed horizontally; 5-1, placed horizontally.

Not Equal: Everything in this space must be different. The answer is 0-3, placed horizontally; 2-2, placed vertically; 0-5, placed horizontally; 1-6, placed vertically.

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 3-4, placed vertically.

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 5-1, placed horizontally; 2-0, placed vertically.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 2-2, placed vertically.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 1-6, placed vertically.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 2-0, placed vertically.

Equal (0): Everything in this space must be equal to 0. The answer is 0-3, placed horizontally; 0-0, placed vertically; 0-6, placed vertically.

Number (7): Everything in this space must add up to 7. The answer is 3-4, placed vertically; 3-5, placed vertically.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 0-6, placed vertically.

Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 3-5, placed vertically.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you're a parent.

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

What is Connections?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Kid celebrations

• Green: Old gadgets

• Blue: Precipitation

• Purple: Outer layer

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

Here are today's Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Baby milestones

• Green: Outmoded consumer tech

• Blue: Expressions for rain

• Purple: What "Shell" might refer to

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #1141 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Baby milestones: CRAWLING, FIRST WORDS, ROLLING OVER, SOLID FOOD

• Outmoded consumer tech: BLACKBERRY, DISCMAN, DVD PLAYER, PLASMA TV

• Expressions for rain: APRIL SHOWERS, LIQUID SUNSHINE, SCOTCH MIST, WET WEATHER

• What "Shell" might refer to: CARAPACE, GAS STATION, PASTRY CRUST, ROWING BOAT

Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today's puzzle.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you're well-versed in a specific subject.

Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.

NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: All-knowing

The words are related to professionals.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe masters.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Big Brain.

NYT Strands word list for July 26

• Pundit

• Expert

• Big Brain

• Specialist

• Authority

• Maven

• Guru

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Strands.

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you're a healthy eater.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

A tiny fruit.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no recurring letters.

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter G.

The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is...

GRAPE

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints. Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Wordle.

TL;DR: Get a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Home & Business for Mac 2021 for $42.97 (reg. $219) until July 26 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

Opens in a new window

Credit: Microsoft

Microsoft Office Home & Business for Mac 2021: Lifetime License

$42.97
$219 Save $176.03

 

Get Deal

Whether you’re balancing household finances, finishing a presentation, or updating your resume, some word processing tools become second nature over time. Microsoft Office Home & Business for Mac 2021 combines the familiar Office apps into a single purchase that’s currently price-dropped to $42.97 (reg. $219) through July 26 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

This version of Microsoft Office is designed specifically for Mac users who want the classic desktop experience without ongoing monthly or annually costs. The lifetime license includes Word for documents, Excel for spreadsheets, PowerPoint for presentations, Outlook for email, Teams (Basic), and OneNote (Free version). Once it’s installed on one Mac, the software is yours to keep.

Sticking with familiar software also means less time adjusting to new menus, shortcuts, and workflows. Whether you’re writing a resume, organizing household finances, creating a presentation, or managing email for a small business, you’ll already know where most of the tools are.

After purchase, your license key and download instructions are delivered instantly, so you can install the software without waiting for physical media. Microsoft also includes customer support if you need help getting everything up and running.

This license is valid for one Mac only, and you’ll need to redeem your code within seven days of purchase. It’s also a standalone 2021 release rather than a Microsoft 365 subscription, so it doesn’t include the ongoing feature updates that come with Microsoft’s subscription service.

If you’re looking for the Microsoft Office apps you already know in a one-time purchase instead of another recurring bill, Microsoft Office Home & Business for Mac 2021 is available for $42.97 (reg. $219) through July 26 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

There's always an anxiety around signing up for a new dating site, particularly one of the spicier variety like AdultFriendFinder. Signing up for any paid-for service leaves a digital paper trail — one that could be pretty embarrassing if it involves sex, kinks, and hookups. This kind of thing is personal, and everyone deserves their privacy when it comes to online fun.

There are lots of reasons to feel cagey about the digital paper trail. For starters, you could be married or in a relationship. Or perhaps you and your ex haven’t got round to dividing your financial lives yet. Maybe you just don’t like the idea of your bank teller or financial advisor knowing what you get up to online, which is totally fair enough. Whatever the reason, it’s your prerogative — and it's your right to keep it all hush-hush.

It's perfectly natural to worry about what your dating app subscription will look like on your bank statement, especially if that subscription service contains loaded words such as “adult” — folks can be super judgy and conservative about this kind of thing.

Opens in a new window

Credit: AdultFriendFinder

AdultFriendFinder

 

Learn More

Thankfully, AdultFriendFinder has anticipated this exact issue. So, if you do decide to upgrade from a free membership to a paid one — whether you opt for their Gold or VIP subscription tiers, which boast their own features and benefits — your monthly billing statement will only show up as FFNHelp.com*FRIENDF.

It's a relatively cryptic and innocuous name that won’t arouse undue suspicion or unfair judgment (not that you should have to worry about that anyway — what you get up on consenting dating sites is your business).

Be aware that AdultFriendFinder subscriptions default to “auto-renew,” so if you purchase a membership and want to cancel, you’ll need to disable auto-renew. Otherwise, you risk having the mysterious FFNHelp.com*FRIENDF pop up on your statement month after month — and you'll continue paying, of course.

But what if even that isn’t good enough for you?

If you’re super cautious — or super paranoid — you can actually bypass bank statements entirely by paying with a gift card or a cash, check, or money order (available only to users in the U.S.). You can even use an e-wallet option like AirTM. Residents of the UK can opt to pay by SMS. AFF really has thought of everything with this particular issue.

If avoiding a digital paper trail is your top priority and privacy is paramount, you’re much better off using these payment options and not handing over your credit card details in the first place. Whatever you choose, AFF is safeguarding your anonymity.

TL;DR: The iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro are available for free right now with T-Mobile. Here's how to qualify for this limited-time offer.

Opens in a new window

Credit: Apple

Apple iPhone 17

Free when you trade in your eligible phone on an Experience More or Experience Beyond plan..

Shop Now

Opens in a new window

Credit: Apple

Apple iPhone 17 Pro

Free when you switch to T-Mobile and bring your number on an Experience Beyond plan.

Shop Now

Samsung has been the center of attention this week, and that's totally fair. It's not every week that a major brand drops three new foldables smartphones, two smartwatches, and smart glasses. But can we hold some space for Apple?

Apple prices are bumping in the face of RAMageddon, but you can still secure a special offer on iPhones from T-Mobile. This popular mobile carrier has just dropped a fresh batch of free iPhone deals on the latest handsets:

• Apple iPhone 17 — free when you trade in your eligible phone on an Experience More or Experience Beyond plan.

• Apple iPhone 17 Pro — free when you switch to T-Mobile and bring your number on an Experience Beyond plan (no trade-in needed).

Needless to say, T-Mobile isn't handing over a new iPhone without some strings attached. The retail cost of your new phone is offset by 24 consecutive monthly bill credits. Your monthly statement will show a standard charge for financing the phone, which is immediately balanced out by an equal credit.

What exactly does this mean? You're signing up for a 24-month commitment with the network, and any unpaid balance on the phone's retail value will become due immediately if you decide to cancel your service, switch to another carrier, or upgrade to the iPhone 18 before the end of your deal.

You will also need to pay standard upfront taxes and a one-time $35 activation fee, but that's a small price to pay for the latest iPhone.

We get that at this point, it's tempting to wait for the next batch of iPhones to be announced. According to our rumor tracker, Apple is "widely expected to launch a new lineup of iPhones later this year, including the iPhone 18 Pro, 18 Pro Max, and the rumored iPhone Ultra, the company's first-ever foldable." That's exciting news for iPhone fanatics, but with prices on the rise, this could be the last example of mobile carriers offering new phones for free.

Get the Apple iPhone 17 for free this weekend with T-Mobile.

How to choose a red light face mask: Look at wavelength first

There are some ways to tell that a red light face mask won't be effective before you buy it and use it for a few months.

Wavelength is the first factor anyone will tell you to consider. You want to find products that emit light within the therapeutic window, or the range of wavelengths that can be effective when treating common skin conditions. There is now an abundance of evidence that specific wavelengths of red light can be effective for:

• Reduction of fine lines, dark circles, and crow's feet

• Improving skin texture

• Fighting wrinkles

• Boosting collagen production

• Reducing inflammation and redness

To be effective, the light coming from the mask must penetrate different layers of your skin. There are optimal wavelengths for each type of light a face mask emits, and any reputable brand will put their mask's wavelengths front and center in the listing. These carefully chosen ranges are strong enough to penetrate your skin, but gentle enough to avoid over-activating delicate face skin.

Red light does its work in the middle layer (dermis) of your skin, requiring wavelengths between 630 and 633 nm to reach past the top layer. There, red light stimulates cells to produce rejuvenating proteins like collagen and elastin, evening out surface redness, and preventing scarring or post-pimple red spots.

The Shark CryoGlow's Better Aging routine combines red and near-infrared light. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

The Shark CryoGlow's Skin Clearing routine uses a special sequence of red, near-infrared, and blue light. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

Most red light masks also use near-infrared red light therapy, which requires longer wavelengths to travel further than regular red light. Near-infrared light between 830 and 850 nm reaches into tissue under the dermis to further stimulate cell turnover, firm skin, and heal deep-seated spots or stubborn dark circles.

What about blue light therapy?

Blue light is often used to target acne, and some of the best red light masks use a combination of blue and red light therapy.

Blue light operates on the top layer (epidermis) of your skin, so its ideal wavelength is shorter than either red light standard. Blue light at 415nm has an antimicrobial effect, ideally killing the bacteria that cause acne before a breakout starts. If hellbent bacterial acne makes it past the blue light phase — or if you're also dealing with hormonal or cystic acne not caused by bacteria — red light swoops in to neutralize inflammation and speed up the healing process.

The thing is, most mainstream LED face masks hit those wavelength marks. So, how do you choose between masks if their wavelength numbers are all the same?

The importance of irradiance

Irradiance is another major element that determines whether or not a red light mask actually works. While wavelength refers to the length the light can travel, irradiance refers to the amount of light energy that's actually reaching your skin per session (not just the intensity of light being generated at the bulb). If wavelength numbers are correct but irradiance is low, the mask will still be kind of a dud.

Bulb placement is one of the key factors we considered in our test. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

Comfort is another key factor, as consistent use is key to results. Credit: Miller Kern / Mashable

Irradiance is officially expressed as milliwatts per square centimeter. The optimal irradiance range for a red light face mask is pretty wide (anywhere between 30 and 100 mW/cm²), though many brands don't directly provide that number.

Most brands do note the length of each session, which is one way to quickly gauge irradiance without getting into calculations. Dr. Mamina Turegano sums it up best on her YouTube account: "Higher irradiance means more effective energy delivery per minute of use." Longer sessions don't automatically mean that results will be more powerful — a mask with sessions that last for less than 10 minutes has higher irradiance than a mask with sessions that last for 20 to 30 minutes. Since a mask with lower irradiance needs to sit on your face for longer, you might be less likely to keep up with wearing it.

Are bulb count and bulb placement a big deal?

The number of bulbs and the placement of bulbs inside the mask can also impact efficacy, especially if you're expecting results on a specific area of your face. Masks with more bulbs packed evenly across the face will provide more even coverage across every inch of your face than masks with more sporadically-placed bulbs.

Some masks also provide more light sources overall by emitting both red and blue light simultaneously from every single bulb, like the Shark CryoGlow. This would be a better option for full-face acne prevention than masks with blue and red LEDs only concentrated in certain spots, like the Dr. Dennis Gross DRx SpectraLite.

What red light masks worked for us?

Of course, you probably didn't come here for a science lesson. You want to find the best red light masks Mashable's testers used and loved.

After trying out 11 different products, we ultimately found six that we can recommend. These masks delivered visible results for our product testers.

Remember: Consistency is essential for the best results (or any results)with LED face masks. You'll need to wear your mask consistently for at least 1-2 months.

The prospective merger between entertainment giants Paramount and Warner Bros. has been officially delayed, prolonging the drama over what is proving to be an extremely controversial business decision.

Twelve states, led by California, and the Writers' Guild of America have filed a lawsuit to block the $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. by Paramount Skydance, citing antitrust concerns, and a recent court order, voluntarily agreed to by Paramount, will see the merger delayed until either June 2027 or five days after the judge's ruling, whichever comes first. 

Amusingly, though, both sides of the case are claiming the delay as a victory. New York Attorney General Letitia James released a statement on Friday describing the delay as a "critical victory in our efforts to uphold the law and protect the film and television industry." At the same time, California Attorney General Rob Bonta characterized the delay as a "tremendous win" and "great news for audiences, movie theaters, and the many people who write, build, and create the art, news, and entertainment so many of us enjoy." 

But a Paramount spokesperson told Variety that the company was also viewing the agreement as a victory: "Today’s agreement is a significant win because the result is exactly what we have sought from the outset: a direct path to a trial based on the evidence. This is the fastest and clearest way to prove that this transaction is good for competition, good for consumers, and good for creators, a conclusion dozens of competition authorities around the world have already reached."

Any time two massive corporate entities merge, antitrust concerns arise. After all, LAMagazine has estimated that the two companies combine for roughly 34 percent of combined streaming viewership, which would give them significant control over industry practices. Concerned critics, who have mobilized behind the hashtag #BlockTheMerger, allege that this acquisition jeopardizes everything from fair hiring and wage standards to the artistic freedoms of creators, and it will be the job of the courts to assess these claims. But there's another angle adding fuel to the fire: politics.

Paramount CEO David Ellison, son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, is perceived to be sympathetic to President Donald Trump, whose own Justice Department approved the merger back in June. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery owns CNN, the media network most critical of the President, whom Trump has singled out for criticism and name-calling on numerous occasions.  

Since David Ellison took over Paramount, the company has been accused of purging unfriendly CBS staffers and skewing coverage of the President in a favorable direction, as well as "spineless capitulation" in agreeing to a $16-million settlement with the President in his lawsuit against 60 Minutes. 

In addition to the typical antitrust concerns, this merger also raises serious issues about freedom of the press, as more and more newsrooms end up in the hands of an ever-smaller number of media conglomerates. In other words, expect to hear a lot more about this deal in the near future.

One of the world's leading generative AI companies, with products licensed by tech powerhouses like Meta, has just announced its acquisition of one of the most popular astrology apps — and we didn't have that on our Bingo cards in 2026.

Banu Guler, founder and CEO of Co-Star Astrology, took to X recently to announce her company's acquisition by AI lab Midjourney, best known for making the generative AI tools used by popular services like Discord and Facebook. And because, on its surface, this is an odd acquisition to say the least, Guler went into some detail about the shared origins of these two companies:

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

In a nod to the general public's fear of artificial intelligence (a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 71% of Americans worry that their job will be replaced by AI), Guler took pains to distinguish the Co-Star/Midjourney partnership by pointing to the shared interests she has with Midjourney founder David Holz as well as his lab's commitment to "beauty, imagination, and supporting human thriving with technology." 

And to further reassure Guler's users, most of whom are young and therefore no strangers to tech-induced anxiety, Midjourney used its announcement to reiterate that Guler would retain "complete control" of Co-Star. 

But what does a generative AI company want with an astrology app? 

Because of the company's forays into health, including the development of a full-body ultrasonic scanner, as well as Midjourney Medical, a novel concept that would see the AI company create a series of spas focused around combining older technology (saunas, hot tubs and cold plunges) with the aforementioned ultrasonic scanning technology, it's possible that this is just another step towards a more holistic approach to healthcare, a kind of mind-body-spirit gambit that would cover all our bases. 

As a result of the partnership, Banu Guler will also become Midjourney's new Chief Design Officer, so we should expect to see some of the seamless design touches that made Co-Star such a standout success incorporated into the Midjourney ecosystem.

I recently got to spend a couple hours of my workday playing with the new Lego Pokémon Smart Play Sets, and my inner 8-year-old is still screaming. So, I'll put this the way a child might: I love the new Lego Pokémon Smart Play Sets so much I want to marry them.

Seriously, though: These sets totally rule.

I'll admit that I was underwhelmed by the Lego Smart Play Star Wars sets released earlier this year. So I was a bit skeptical when Mashable got the chance to demo the new Lego Pokémon sets ahead of their Aug. 1 launch. However, my Pokémon-loving colleagues and I had an absolute blast playing and geeking out over these sets.

Lego Charizard and Mewtwo in Battle Mode. Credit: Joseph Maldonado / Mashable

I'm excited to break down how they work, which sets are coming, and whether they're worth adding to your Lego collection.

What are the Lego Pokémon Smart Play Sets?

Charizard in all its glory. Credit: Joseph Maldonado / Mashable

Mashable has been following the Lego Smart Play rollout closely. We were there for the Smart Brick's big debut at CES 2026 and on hand for the London launch event for the Pokémon Smart Play Sets this summer.

The Smart Brick enables interacitivity with the Mewtwo's Lab Break set. Credit: Joseph Maldonado / Mashable

The Smart Play system is built around a new Smart Brick, a modified 2x4 Lego piece. Lego crammed a lot of hardware into this brick, which features an accelerometer, microphones and speakers, LED lights, magnetic field sensors, a gyroscope, and a color sensor. The Smart Brick responds to Smart Tags included with the Smart Play sets, as well as various Smart Minifigures. An included wireless charger provides extra juice when the battery runs out.

Recharge your Smart Bricks with the included charging pad. Credit: Joseph Maldonado / Mashable

The end result is a Lego set that responds to your play. Now, your Lego Mini Figures can talk to each other. They also light up or make noises based on your movements.

Here's the Lego Jolteon with a Smart Brick. Credit: Joseph Maldonado / Mashable

The Lego Pokémon Smart Play Sets take this even further: Your favorite Pokémon not only make adorable little noises, but also enter into a battle mode. You can charge up special powers, level up your Pokémon, and pit them against each other.

The Smart Brick sits right in Charizard's tummy. Credit: Joseph Maldonado / Mashable

The Lego Pokémon Smart Play Sets make incredibly cute noises

The real secret sauce behind the new smart Lego Pokémon sets? Pikachu, Squirtle, Bidoof, Geodude, Charmander, and Eevee make adorable little noises. They squeak and chatter back and forth when you place them near each other. When you push Squirtle's buggy around, it makes little choo-choo engine noises.

Lego Smart Play Training House with Pikachu Set. Credit: Joseph Maldonado / Mashable

And the pièce de résistance? The Pikachu Treehouse Set contains a hidden Murphy Bed. Place Pikachu or one of its smart friends on the bed, and they fall asleep and snore.

Lego Smart Play Pikachu takes a nap in the Training House. Credit: Joseph Maldonado / Mashable

It's enough to make you squeal at the cuteness overload, which is exactly what we did as we played with these little monsters at the Mashable office.

The aforementioned battle mode is also really cool. Some of the sets come with training stations, where you can level up Pokémon for a better chance at winning a match-up. You can power up your Pokémon's special power (shake too hard, and the move fizzles out), dodge attacks, and generally just have fun.

These are just some of the primary interactive elements, and a lot of the fun here will be trying out new things. You can add the Smart Tags and Smart Bricks to different creatures to explore new ways to play.

Squirtle comes with a buggy and barbecue set, obviously. Credit: Joseph Maldonado / Mashable

Again, I've never been a huge Pokémon guy (I'm an OG Harry Potter nerd), and even I had a blast playing with these cute little dudes.

The Lego Pokémon sets arrive Aug. 1

There is one thing I don't love about the Lego Smart Play sets: they don't all come with a smart brick. That's not as big of a deal here as it was with the pricey Star Wars sets, but check the product details carefully. You'll need to buy at least one set with a smart brick and charger. From there, you can build your own collection. I appreciate that the add-on sets start at $19.99, and you can get all-in-one sets for $69.99. Lego's prices aren't always so friendly.

The Lego Pokémon Smart Play: Charizard vs. Jolteon Ultimate Battle set. Credit: Joseph Maldonado / Mashable

The adorable Training House with Pikachu and the Charizard vs. Jolteon Ultimate Battle sets are all-in-one kits that include Smart Bricks.

Geodude rocks! Credit: Joseph Maldonado / Mashable

You can also buy interactive "Smart Play Compatible" sets, which include:

• Mewtwo's Lab Break

• Eevee and Lapras's Treasure Hunt

• Berry Bash with Bulbasaur and Bidoof

• Trainer's Buggy Adventure with Squirtle

• Charmander and Geodude's Cavern Clash

• Cubone and Gengar's Spooky Showdown

Three of the sets are available on Amazon, and the rest are available for preorder at the Lego online store. Presumably, more smart Pokémon sets will be coming in the future.

Are the Lego Pokémon Smart Play Sets worth it?

Absolutely! We had a blast playing with these sets, and we appreciate that there are a lot of sets available for under $75. If you love Lego and Pokémon, we think this one will be fun for all ages.

The Lego Pokémon Smart Play collection

---

All-In-One SET

Lego Smart Play Pokémon Training House with Pikachu

$69.99 at Lego

Pre-Order Here

---

Lego Pokémon Smart Play: Mewtwo's Lab Break set

$69.99 at Amazon

Pre-Order Here

---

All-In-One Set

Lego Pokémon Smart Play: Charizard vs. Jolteon Ultimate Battle set

$119.99 at Amazon

Pre-Order Here

---

Lego Pokémon Smart Play Trainer's Buggy Adventure with Squirtle

$29.99 at Lego

Pre-Order Here

---

Lego Pokémon Smart Play Charmander and Geodude's Cavern Clash set

$19.99 at Lego

Pre-Order Here

---

Lego Pokémon Smart Play Eevee and Lapras's Treasure Hunt set

$59.99 at Lego

Pre-Order Here

---

Lego Pokémon Smart Play Berry Bash with Bulbasaur and Bidoof set

$19.99 at Lego

Pre-Order Here

---

Lego Pokémon Smart Play Cubone and Gengar's Spooky Showdown set

$89.99 at Amazon

Pre-Order Here

Is iRobot out of the bankruptcy hole?

When iRobot filed for bankruptcy in December 2025, the company insisted that a glow-up was in the works — but we didn't know when or if we'd actually see a new Roomba again. Well, it finally happened: In July 2026, iRobot released new Roombas in the U.S. for the first time under its new ownership. But are they smart enough cleaners at practical enough prices to outpace Shark, or serve as real competition with the rest of the best robot vacuum brands?

Let's break down why Roombas were considered the best for so long, where iRobot went wrong, and what the 2026 Roombas are doing to change the "overpriced and underwhelming" narrative.

Where Roomba wins: Small obstacle avoidance and more variety

Shark's family of robot vacuums is definitely growing. But the variety in the Roomba lineup offers slightly more flexibility for mixing and matching staple features like smart mapping, self-empty docks that also wash and dry the mopping pads, automatic cleaning boosts when a mess is detected, and most importantly, small obstacle avoidance technology.

Plus, there are just more Roombas to choose from than there are Shark robovacs. The last two Roomba drops haven't just introduced one or two new Roombas, as is the case with Shark announcements — we're used to getting at least five new Roombas at a time.

The 2025 Roombas all have LiDAR towers — a first for iRobot. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

You can still buy a few of the 2025 Roombas that were released pre-bankruptcy, and they often go on sale. The best Roombas that I've tested recently include the Roomba 105 (a standalone model with smart mapping) that has permanently dropped to $159 and the Roomba Plus 505 Combo (self-washing and -drying mopping pads, small obstacle avoidance) for as low as $499 on sale.

iRobot thankfully diverted from the traditional flat mopping pad with its 2025 overhaul. Now, several mopping Roombas use dual spinning mopping pads — a design that the majority of iRobot customers prefer, iRobot told me in a press briefing. The Roomba Max 705 Combo was actually one of the first mainstream roller mop robot vacuums, which debuted months before that became a major trend at CES 2026. Still, the Max 705 Combo wouldn't be a worthwhile purchase over better roller mop robot vacuums like the Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Flow or the Eufy C28.

Not for nothing, iRobot heard the cries of the anti-mop crowd on Reddit and answered with a vacuum-only version of one of its more powerful models, the Roomba Max 715 Vac. A lot of people simply don't want to deal with water tanks or anything soggy at all, but finding a vacuum-only robot vacuum typically means settling for a super basic model — all of the most advanced robot vacuums are automatically hybrids nowadays. But since it's completely skipping such a main feature, I think the Roomba Max 715 should be a little cheaper than $699.99.

The Roomba Max 705 Combo has a paint roller-esque mop and a wooden dock. Credit: iRobot

The new Roomba Plus 405 Combo has two spinning mopping pads — a first for iRobot. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

iRobot's widespread application of small obstacle avoidance does provide some leverage over Shark. This staple feature is what keeps the vacuum from eating common floor items like cords, shoes, and toys — and that means less pre-tidying and less babysitting on the human's end.

The cheapest Roomba with front-facing obstacle avoidance cameras, the Roomba Plus 415 Combo, is now just $599.99. Only Shark's top three premium robot vacuums feature small obstacle avoidance cameras, and they're much more expensive than this.

Where iRobot loses: Forgettable vacuums, iffy finances

iRobot isn't exactly the pioneer it once was.

The self-emptying, smart mapping Roomba S9+ of 2019 and the 2021 Roomba j7+ that could avoid cords and pet waste were huge deals when they first hit the scene — they truly set the standard for the rest of the vacuum market. iRobot's star power was so influential that "Roomba" became the colloquial generic term for any robot vacuum.

But somewhere down the line, iRobot stopped innovating in the ways that once justified its steep price points. Roombas started costing way too much for the brainpower or cleaning performance they offered. The Roomba flop era was kind of inevitable.

The Roomba Plus 505 Combo isn't anything special, but it's fine if you find it on sale. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

iRobot has released new Roombas for the first time since filing for bankruptcy and handing ownership to its manufacturer, Picea. I'll give credit to iRobot for getting more practical with its prices, specifically in terms of expanding staple smart features like LiDAR, the self-washing mopping pad system, or small obstacle avoidance to more affordable models. But none of it is anything we haven't seen before.

At this point, iRobot is merely playing catch-up to budget-friendly behemoths like Dreame and Roborock. None of the 2026 Roombas have any overly exciting features that make them stand out in any given price range. Plus, we can't pretend like iRobot's recent financial blunder hasn't soured the trust of customers who heard about the bankruptcy news. Even though things are stable enough to continue manufacturing new products, that doesn't promise that iRobot's finances are in order. After all, iRobot filed for bankruptcy less than a year after releasing eight new Roombas in March of 2025.

Where Shark wins: Spot cleaning and the UV light

Shark robot vacuums haven't exactly been known for their innovation. Historically, it felt like the Sharks were several months to a year late on premium features that all of the other brands had. So the genius packed into the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal 2-in-1 that dropped in March 2026 was a pleasant surprise. The UV Reveal uses a real UV light to detect invisible stains on the floor that a robot vacuum using AI cameras or plain LEDs may not see.

The Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal 2-in-1. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

One memorable moment from my testing is the UV Reveal finding and mopping up dried cat puke that another premium robot vacuum mop combo didn't thoroughly scrub the week before. It's a game-changing feature for mopping hardwood floors.

In June 2026, Shark had the genius idea to release its two best vacuums in more colors than plain ol' black and white. The Shark UV Reveal is available in four chic earth tones that should better blend in with the room's decor: espresso, evergreen, deep harbor, and ivory. It wouldn't surprise me to hear that the aesthetic color options alone were enough to convince someone to buy a Shark over a Roomba.

The colors of the Shark Luxe collection. Credit: Shark

So yes, the Shark UV Reveal breathed life into an otherwise just OK lineup of Shark robovacs. But for everyone trying to spend less than $1,299.99 on a robot vacuum (or even $949.99, if it's on sale), are the other Shark robot vacuums worth it?

I've always found Shark to be in tune with what the average person is willing to spend on a robot vacuum. The brand consistently offers core capabilities like smart mapping and mopping at affordable price points, topped with a straightforward user experience that doesn't involve a million high-level app functions. It's a particularly enticing brand for first-time robot vacuum owners.

The Shark Matrix RV2310 is a reliable little vacuum. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

Shark's approachable price points don't necessarily mean it skimps on cleaning performance, though. Shark Matrix vacuums clean in a grid pattern, approaching the area several times from multiple angles to grab anything it may have missed in the first pass or two. According to Shark, Matrix mode dishes out 30 percent better carpet cleaning than the older RV Shark models. For Shark 2-in-1 robot vacuums, a mop in Matrix mode vibrates 100 times per minute to scrub at stains that likely wouldn't budge from a single pass of a cheaper robot mop or a paper towel. Matrix mopping always comes in clutch for keeping up with the constant layer of shoe prints by my front door.

Shark even extends the Matrix cleaning mechanism to most of its super-affordable models, making any of the RV2310 or RV2300 models a solid choice for a budget robot vacuum. Shark's spot cleaning has been such a streamlined, reliable feature in every Shark robot vacuum I tried. My ultimate spot cleaning test is the area outside either of my cats' litter boxes — even the cheap Shark robot vacuums always got to the right spot and cleared the kitty litter before I walked in there with bare feet.

Every other big brand had at least one model with self-washing and -drying mopping pads far before the Shark PowerDetect Pro series hit the scene in September 2024. They originally cost between $999.99 and $1,199.99, which seemed reasonable (at the time) compared to the models that cost $1,599.99. Both Pro models can now be found on sale for around $699.99.

The Shark PowerDetect NeverTouch Pro. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

For good measure, the PowerDetect models are also equipped with large wheels that hoist the vac over carpet to keep it dry during mopping mode. Those hydraulics put the PowerDetect robot vacuums in the small group of robot vacuums that have never gotten stuck on one of my rug corners or scrambled up my bath mats.

Where Shark loses: Small obstacle avoidance and slow releases

Shark's biggest shortcoming might just be that it takes forever to release new robot vacuums. Brands like Roborock and Dreame seem to drop new crops of robot vacuums twice in the time period that Shark introduces a single new model, making its lineup feel outdated quickly. The typical iRobot release introduces at least three new vacuums at once.

But there are smarter robot vacuums out there for that same $699.99 or less.

Overall, Shark's lineup outside of the UV Reveal feels a little basic compared to its competitors. For instance, the original PowerDetect line was in desperate need of a successor for a while. When Shark did finally "revamp" the series in fall 2025, the upgrades were criminally underwhelming. The major difference is heated mop washing and drying for improved sanitation between mopping sessions, hence "ThermaCharged" in the title. That's not exactly a front-page headline when the vacuum is still so far behind other brands' models in the same price range.

The purple lights indicate "Dirt Detect" mode. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

Another lesser-known late 2025 model, the Shark Stratos NeverTouch robot vacuum, is similarly bland. Its description mentions "ultra-powerful suction" and states that the Stratos delivers twice the suction power of the Roomba i5 Combo. A $799.99 robot vacuum is more powerful than an entry-level Roomba that came out in 2023? Yeah, I would hope so.

Shark is the lone major robot vacuum brand that hasn't really invested in small obstacle avoidance past its fanciest model. Multiple models feature Shark's NeverStuck technology to some degree, but the UV Reveal is the only one I've tested that actually felt like it was really perceiving items lying in front of it. Meanwhile, brands like Eufy, Roborock, Dreame, and now even iRobot have prioritized small obstacle avoidance in robot vacuums at the $500 to $700 range.

The lack of agility around common items like cords, laundry, or pet toys seriously cramps the "premium" feel. This is such a staple feature in my life, as I'm sure it is for anyone whose floor might be cluttered lived in from time to time. In my testing, the Shark ThermaCharged was so inept at diverting obstacles (even large ones) that it gave up on cleaning missions instead of simply driving around a tote bag of groceries or a cordless Dyson vacuum attachment lying on the ground.

In the same vein of too-basic navigation, only the most premium Shark robot vacuums automatically stop mopping when carpet is sensed. This means vacuum and mop mode aren't possible at the same time with any of the 2-in-1 Shark Matrix models, and a person needs to manually attach the water tank to switch to mopping mode. That's enough of a pain to make someone want to skip mopping altogether. Even the cheap Roomba 105 Combo can detect carpet — the first time in recent memory where a base-tier Roomba outshines a base-tier Shark.

For the first time in forever, I think iRobot has stronger cheap robot vacuum options than Shark does. You'd be able to squeeze stronger suction power, better edge mopping, and smarter navigation out of $300 or $400 with a budget Roomba or Roborock vacuum than you would with the $449.99 Shark Navigator or $299.99 Shark IQ, which doesn't even self-empty.

It's the same story on the premium end of the spectrum: UV Reveal aside, the fanciest Sharks cost too much given their skills. They don't necessarily have any glaring flaws, but they're certainly not the most competent or most autonomous robot vacuums you could find for between $500 and $900.

Shark is still locked into a single style of mopping pad

Shark also has yet to grow out of the D-shaped mopping pad, while every other major brand has graduated to dual rotating mops or roller mops. The sonic vibrations of the PowerDetect NeverTouch Pro and PowerDetect ThermaCharged did a solid job of wiping up small spills and shoe stains on my apartment's hardwood, but they weren't able to scrub in corners and along edges as the Roomba 405 or 505 Combo's flexible spinning mops can.

Shark thankfully gave the PowerDetect UV Reveal's mopping pad some mobility. It can slide past the circular body of the vacuum to scrub against flat edges, much like the Roborock Saros 20 Sonic's design. I've personally witnessed the UV Reveal's extending mop pad scrub much closer to walls than other Sharks.

Unfortunately, the UV Reveal's mopping is only geared toward scrubbing dry stains or sticky droplets, not liquid spills. I'm still not 100 percent sold on the D-shaped pad design for that reason, and it's disappointing that Shark locks shoppers into that style of scrubbing. iRobot has branched out to spinning pads and even a roller mop, so people with different mopping needs have more options going with iRobot.

Shark doesn't do itself any favors by refusing to list its vacuums' suction power in Pascals (Pa). Almost every other major robot vacuum brand measures suction power in Pa (even iRobot now), which makes comparing options easy. Shark still insists on keeping an air of mystery by solely comparing suction power to other vacuums in its own family tree, or by making vague claims like "50% better suction than the best-selling iRobot."

Where iRobot and Shark both lose: Their apps suck

Ironically, two of the most longstanding names in the robot vacuum game have the two most outdated-feeling apps. The bare bones home maps in both the Roomba Home and Shark Clean apps are far less intricate than the color-coded maps that Roborock or Eufy offer. Pausing a clean or adding an extra room to the queue is similarly clunky on both.

Our winner: Shark

Neither Shark nor iRobot is in the running to be the best robot vacuum brand overall in 2026. But if you want to pit them against each other for old time's sake, Shark is the more reliable robot vacuum brand.

Revisiting the Shark vs. Roomba debate, my answer is pretty much, "Uh, is there a third option?" It's hard to get enthusiastic when one brand has a singular memorable robot vacuum and the other brand has... none. The Shark UV Reveal 2-in-1 is far more innovative than the latest Roomba 400, 500, and 700 Series Combo models that we have to choose from. Since the rest of the Shark and iRobot lineups are a wash, I think it's safe to give Shark the top spot based on the UV Reveal 2-in-1 alone.

The fact that Shark hasn't gone bankrupt is another bonus point by default, presumably putting it in a more cushioned financial position to keep putting out new products.

However, my mind could change once I'm able to test a majority of the newest Roombas at home.

There are other brands that deserve your attention

Overall, I still think that Dreame vs. Roborock is the new Shark vs. Roomba, and I highly recommend taking a look at all of the Dreame robot vacuums and Roborock robot vacuums within your budget. You're probably going to find an option that's smarter and more powerful than the Roomba and Shark vacuum cleaners in your cart.

Opens in a new window

Credit: Roborock

Roborock robot vacuums

 

Shop Now

Opens in a new window

Credit: Dreame

Dreame robot vacuums

 

Shop Now

Opens in a new window

Credit: Shark

Shark robot vacuums

 

Shop Now

Opens in a new window

Credit: iRobot

iRobot Roomba robot vacuums

 

Shop Now

If you're a Woman on the Internet, you've probably seen the Hello Nancy Lem come across your feed in one form or another — either as a "wellness" ad or in a full-on TikTok review by a sex educator/influencer.

It's the toy of the season (IMO), and it's everywhere. I honestly haven't seen a vibrator get this much attention since the Rose (you know the one) came out. And, like the Rose, dupes are now flooding the internet, but we're interested in testing the real product.

That said, not all toys are as good as a company's marketing budget (that's an understatement). If you're wondering if the Hello Nancy Lem is as good as they say it is, I've done the research and hands-on testing to give you an honest review.

Why should you listen to me? I've been testing, reviewing, and covering sex tech for years. My office is basically a makeshift sex shop, I have a certificate from Sextech School, and probably most importantly, I have endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, and occasional vaginismus spasms — so I am adamant about finding the best toys for people with pelvic pain in addition to my usual service journalism.

What is the Hello Nancy Lem?

If your algorithm hasn't served you the Lem on a carousel or 15-second hype video yet, let me introduce you.

The Lem is a clitoral massager that looks like a lemon (hence the name). It has 12 intensities and patterns, is made of medical-grade silicone (hallelujah), and has a noise level of Hello Nancy website, the Lem is slightly quieter than a refrigerator's hum at its lowest setting (~35–40 dB) and just a hair louder than "light rainfall" at max speed (

Credit: Tabitha Britt | Mashable

It's also IPX7-rated, which means it's waterproof, and it comes with either a magnetic charger or a Type-C port, depending on when you ordered. I actually have both versions; the one with the "flap" has a C-port charger, and the one without the "flap" has the magnetic charger. (Both are 100 percent waterproof!)

What's in the box?

You'll obviously get the Hello Nancy Lem Clitoral Massager, a satiny pink storage pouch, a little packet of helpful cards (a starter guide with a QR code to help you set up your toy, a 10 percent discount code that you can give to a friend, tips for getting in the mood, and a quick care guide), and of course, the charger. Note: You will not get a charging block, which isn't a dealbreaker but something to consider since the end of both the magnetic charger and the C-charger is a USB.

Your Lem may also come with a packet of lube and some toy cleaner (I believe my first Lem did; that was around the time it became popular).

How does the Hello Nancy Lem work?

The Lem is easy to use, and both versions only have one button. If you have the USB-C version of the toy, the button will actually look like a button; if your toy has a magnetic charger, the "button" will look like an "N."

Just hold the "N" (or button) down until the toy vibrates once to activate it, then press it to access the first setting. The only downside to having one intuitive control is that it's impossible to go back to a previous setting; you have to cycle through all of them to get back to the start.

The intensities range from a Level 1, which Hello Nancy describes as "gentle," and a level 7-8, which is "intense." Patterns 9-12 are rhythmic, so if you prefer some variety, those might be for you. I personally just like to keep it at a steady pace and slowly work my way towards climaxing.

It really is just a tiny, non-threatening lemon. Credit: Tabitha Britt | Mashable

Before your solo sesh, go ahead and charge your Lem to 100. It'll take about 90 minutes (or less, considering it comes with a little bit of juice right out of the box). Once it's fully charged, experiment! There's nothing worse than placing a literal sucker on your clitoris and just waiting to see what happens. Get familiar with the controls, cycle through the settings, and feel the suction on a non-sexual body part like your arm or stomach before touching your sweet bits.

You don't have to use lube, but lube does make everything better (despite the bad rep it gets on the streets; needing/wanting lube isn't a failure!). If you do decide to use lube, use a water-based one. Oil, silicone, and alcohol-based products will degrade your toy.

Start slow and gradually increase the intensity to see what works best for you. Again, the toy is waterproof, so if you have roommates or just like playing in the bath/shower (I definitely did this during college!), you can take it in there without worrying about breaking it.

Here's what I think about the Hello Nancy Lem Clitoral Massager

The Hello Nancy Lem is ideal for a few different scenarios: anyone who prefers clitoral stimulation over penetration, anyone who wants a powerful clit sucker that'll give them a run for their money while using a penetrative toy (dual-stimulation for the win), or anyone who experiences pelvic pain and just can't handle penetration.

The Lem will give you sweet, sweet butterfly kisses on your vulva until you turn it up, and then it's like ohhh. You could honestly play with it for hours if you can control yourself, or if you want to have multiple orgasms. It’s also great for foreplay if you have trouble getting wet before sex (I do, thanks to my many pelvic conditions and issues). Plus, if you've always wanted to squirt, I think this is a great toy to have in your kit.

In terms of ergonomics, I love how it fits in my hand; it's not too big or too small. It also fits over the clitoris in a way that isn't awkward or weird. (Sometimes clitoral suction toys just don't fit, no matter how you position them.) Because of the easy-to-hold shape, I think it'd also be a good pick for someone with arthritis or carpal tunnel (which I also have, LOL).

Personally, I've never not come after using the Lem. It can get me there in just a few minutes sans pelvic pain. That said, I think it's important to note that not having an orgasm doesn't mean the experience was a failure. As long as it feels good to you and you're satisfied, playtime doesn't always have to end in a climax.

Design-wise, it's completely unassuming and non-threatening. It's perfect for beginners, college students, or anyone with roommates who doesn't want a vibrator sitting out. This one is cute enough that you could totally forget it on a nightstand and leave people none the wiser. It's also TSA-friendly, has a convenient travel lock (just double-press the power button to unlock it), and the drawstring pouch makes it easy to just throw it into a carry-on and go.

What do the reviews say?

I'm obviously not the be-all and end-all, so here are a few "outside" reviews gathered from the Hello Nancy site itself (there are 15K+ reviews) and Reddit:

"GIRLS!!! 🍋🍋🍋🍋 This is THE best clit stim vibe hands down! I’m obsessed. I think about this little Lem way more than I should, and I am using it at least twice a day! The O’s this little baby gives are incredible! The suck is just insane. This Lem turns me into a puddle 🫠 💦"

"Omfg! I bought this thinking 'it's just going to be another generic vibrator and nothing much to write about.' BOY! How wrong was I!? This little piece of ingenuity is the absolute best purchase I've ever made. I have never squirted without penetration before, until this! 🫠 Ladies, make sure you put a towel down first! Protect that mattress 🤭"

"Wow… it was absolutely awesome!! I have not dated for a while and have had some health issues. Furthermore, taking muscle relaxants, it was difficult to attain some pleasure, I mean the big O. I did not have great expectations, but….The Lemon was very successful. I highly recommend, and I’m over 70ish!"

"I bought the Lem about two months ago, and I use it daily, sometimes twice a day. I've never been able to give myself a clitoral orgasm. Before the Lem, I had a wand, and it never got me there. Being able to actually give myself an orgasm has been life-changing to say the least! My husband jokingly said great..now you don't need me anymore."

So, is the Hello Nancy Lem worth it?

If you're new to sex toys, struggle with pelvic pain, are perimenopausal or menopausal, have had issues orgasming in the past, or cannot tolerate penetration, the Hello Nancy Lem is definitely worth trying. It's also really good for foreplay and getting warmed up.

But, if you're someone who's used to intense clitoral suction (e.g., you're an experienced user), you might want to try Satisfyer or Womanizer first. At $89 (that's with the on-page discount), the Lem's price point is also higher than the Satisfyer (currently retailing for around $55 on its website) and several versions of the Womanizer, including the new $59 "Peach Toy," though that's currently sold out. So keep that in mind when purchasing, too.

The Hello Nancy Lem, although I think it's intense, might not be strong enough for some power users, according to a few Redditors. But for me? A cute, whisper-quiet little lemon that guarantees an orgasm without triggering my endo is worth every single penny of that $89.

Where to pre-order the new Samsung Galaxy phones:

---

Samsung

Galaxy Z Flip 8

$1,199.99 at Samsung

Pre-Order Here

---

Amazon

Galaxy Z Flip 8

$1,199.99 at Amazon (get a $200 Amazon gift card)

Pre-Order Here

---

T-Mobile

Galaxy Z Flip 8

$1,199.99 at T-Mobile (save up to $1,100 when you add a new line)

Pre-Order Here

---

Amazon

Galaxy Z Fold 8

$1,899.99 at Amazon (get a $350 Amazon gift card)

Pre-Order Here

---

Samsung

Galaxy Z Fold 8

$1,899.99 at Samsung

Pre-Order Here

---

T-Mobile

Galaxy Z Fold 8

$1,899.99 at T-Mobile (get it for $0 with eligible trade-in)

Pre-Order Here

---

AT&T

Galaxy Z Fold 8

$1,899.99 at AT&T (get it for $0 with eligible trade-in)

Pre-Order Here

---

Samsung

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra

$2,099.99 at Samsung

Pre-Order Here

---

Amazon

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra

$2,099.99 at Amazon (get a $350 Amazon gift card)

Pre-Order Here

---

T-Mobile

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra

$2,099.99 at T-Mobile (save up to $1,100 when you add a new line)

Pre-Order Here

New Samsung phones are here. At Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026, three new phones were announced: the Galaxy Z Flip 8, Galaxy Z Fold 8, and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. The new phones are successors to the Z Flip 7 and Z Fold 7, so if you're ready for a new phone, get ready to pre-order these devices.

We've been anticipating the new models for weeks, vetting rumors of what's to come with the latest foldables. Now that we're here, we can finally confirm exactly which models are available and just how much each will cost.

Galaxy Z Flip 8, Z Fold 8, and Z Fold 8 Ultra pricing breakdown

Here's the pricing breakdown:

• Galaxy Z Flip 8 (pink, graphite, cream, mint) — starting at $1,199

• Galaxy Z Fold 8 (lavender, graphite, cream, pistachio) — starting at $1,899.99

• Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra (violet shadow, graphite, cream, green shadow) — starting at $2,099.99

Both the Z Flip 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra are $100 more than last year's models; no surprise in the face of the global memory crisis. All of the new models are up for pre-order as of July 22 and will be available Aug. 7.

If you've previously owned the Z Flip and Fold series, the successive models are slightly different. So here's what you need to know about the new Samsung smartphones.

About the Galaxy Z Flip 8

The Galaxy Z Flip 8 is the successor to the Z Flip 7. Credit: Joseph Maldonado / CNET Group

The Galaxy Z Flip 8 is the successor to the Z Flip 7. It folds down into a pocket-sized square, flipping open to a 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED display. The display is phenomenal and extremely impressive; the crease of the phone is indistinguishable when flipped open. It comes with a dual-lens camera with up to 10x zoom and 4K video at 60 fps. It has 12GB of RAM (more than some computers) and either 256GB or 512GB of storage space.

The Z Flip 8 comes in four different colors: pink, graphite, cream, and mint (online only). It starts at $1,199.99.

Galaxy Z Flip 8

$1,199.99 at Amazon

 

Pre-order Here at Amazon Pre-order Here at Samsung Pre-order Here at T-Mobile

About the Galaxy Z Fold 8

The dimensions of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 are suspiciously close to the leaked foldable iPhone. Credit: Joseph Maldonado / CNET Group

Apple has yet to release a foldable iPhone, but Samsung has already come out with a phone destined to compete. Rumors were floating about this model, with some thinking it would be called the Galaxy Z Fold Wide. Now we know it's actually the Galaxy Z Fold 8, a new model with a fullscreen ratio of 4:3.

It's a midrange option between the Z Flip 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra, with a 5.5-inch folded screen and a 7.6-inch full-size screen. Like the Flip, it has a dual lens camera, but is able to film in up to 8K at 30 fps. You can go for models with 12GB of RAM and either 256GB or 512GB of storage, or a model with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.

The Z Fold 8 starts at $1,899.99. It comes in lavender, graphite, cream, and pistachio (online only).

Galaxy Z Fold 8

$1,899.99 at Samsung

 

Pre-order Here at Samsung Pre-order Here at Amazon Pre-order Here at T-Mobile

About the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra

The successor to the Z Fold 7 is the Z Fold 8 Ultra. Credit: Joseph Maldonado / CNET Group

If you've previously seen or used the Z Fold 7, its successor is the new Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. It's the largest phone among all of Samsung's foldables with a 6.5-inch cover screen and an 8-inch full screen. It's the only foldable with a three-lens camera, letting you film in up to 8K with 3x optical and 30x space zoom.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra comes in violet shadow, graphite, cream, and green shadow (online only). It starts at $2,099.99.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra

$2,099.99 at Amazon

 

Pre-order Here at Amazon Pre-order Here at Samsung Pre-order Here at T-Mobile

TL;DR: As of July 25, Hostinger's Website Builder starts at $2.69 per month (down from $11.99 per month), with plans available directly on Hostinger. You can build a full site by chatting with AI, plus get a free domain for the first year.

Opens in a new window

Credit: Hostinger

Hostinger Website Builder

$2.69 per month (down from $11.99 per month)

Get Deal

Building a website used to mean either paying someone else to do it or losing a weekend fighting with a clunky drag-and-drop editor that never quite matched what you had in your head. Hostinger has an easier approach: you just describe your site to their AI, and it builds a live, professional-looking site in seconds.

This weekend, you can get up to 82% off Hostinger, with prices starting at $2.69 per month.

There are two plans to pick from, and which one is right for you depends on what you're building. The Premium Website Builder is the more basic option at $2.69 per month (regularly $11.99 per month), letting you build up to three websites with 20GB of storage and a free domain for the first year. Here's what you get:

• Drag-and-drop website builder

• 300+ designer-made templates

• AI tools to write your copy and design your logo

• Free domain for 1 year

• Email campaigns with AI

• Mobile editing

That's solid if you're building something like a portfolio, a blog, or a simple business site. It's worth noting that you save the most with the 48-month plan, totaling $446.35. The 12-month plan saves less, at $100.79.

If you're planning to sell products, the Business Website Builder is the one for you. It's $3.41 per month (down from $18.99 per month), and on top of everything in Premium, you get the following:

• Sell up to 1,000 products with zero transaction fees

• Support for 100+ payment methods

• Live analytics

• Printful integration for custom merch

• AI blog post generator

• AI SEO assistant

• AI tools that write product descriptions for you

Just like with Premium, the 48-month plan saves you the most, with total savings of $747.79. The 12-month plan saves less, at $173.99.

This deal is worth considering if you're a new business owner who's been hesitant to explore website building. Between the discount and the 30-day money-back guarantee, it's a low-risk way to try it out — both plans include real hosting, a free domain, and 24/7 support.

Stop putting it off — build your dream site with Hostinger, with plans starting as low as $2.69 per month.

If a chatbot can insist it's right while being totally wrong, imagine the stakes when NASA starts leaning on artificial intelligence to help with life detection.

Could the rovers suddenly hallucinate aliens?

Michigan State University researchers wanted to know, so they trained an AI system to spot the difference between digital "organisms" that can copy themselves and others that can't, using a computer program called Avida. In test runs, the algorithm nailed the distinction, getting it right 99.97 percent of the time. 

Then, the team tried to fool it. They took nonliving chunks of code and made small changes over and over, nudging the AI to feel more confident that it was looking at something alive. Eventually, the system became almost 100 percent certain that many of the fakers were alive, even though they never exhibited the one behavior defined as "alive" in that virtual world: replication.

The work shows how AI can latch onto patterns in its training data without fundamentally understanding what makes something alive, said Ankit Gupta, a doctoral student in computer science and engineering. Gupta and his coauthor, Christoph Adami, a professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, physics, and astronomy, warn that this weakness could foil space missions that send smart instruments to Mars, icy moons, or other extraterrestrial environments to hunt for signs of life.

The team will present their findings in August at the 2026 Conference on Artificial Life in Waterloo, Canada.

"AI is highly accurate at classifying things that are 'usual,'" Gupta told Mashable. "The problem occurs when it is presented with examples that are unlike the common things, which AI will misclassify with confidence. This is much more likely with extraterrestrial life, for obvious reasons."

The Perseverance rover on Mars collected a rock sample with fossilized material that ancient alien microorganisms could have created. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU / MSSS

At the same time, NASA and its partners are pouring money into AI‑driven life‑detection projects, betting that machine learning can sift through huge, complex data sets that scientists could never fully analyze on their own. It's setting the stage for a future in which AI helps flag promising clues, with humans making the final call. 

In one NASA‑funded effort, a large team led by Carnegie Science's Michael L. Wong and NASA's Caleb Scharf is building machine‑learning tools to pick out patterns of life in complex chemical data. Their project, supported by a $5 million grant, aims to train AI on at least 1,000 samples — from meteorites and rocks to fossils and living organisms.

Some of the data comes from real instruments, including mass spectrometers like those already flying on NASA missions. The algorithm learns how a mix of molecules shifts when life has shaped that material versus when simple physics and chemistry have done the job.

While Wong welcomes the fresh scrutiny, he isn't sure the experiments exposed a serious vulnerability in AI approaches. In his view, the way the study actually created its fake life matters. The authors used a kind of selection process that kept refining the code until it looked increasingly lifelike.

"I don't think it's that bad, to be honest," he told Mashable. "To generate their life mimics — their spoofs — they actually had to perform natural selection, which is a living process. I don't know of any actual physical environment that performs that kind of selection, where it says, 'I will prefer entities that just look like life, but don't actually do lifelike things.'"

But the research did push Wong to think more about what kinds of examples he feeds into life‑detection models. His group wants to continue training AI not just on things that are alive, but also on the remains and byproducts of life — the fossils, goo, and waste. 

After all, if the models are only taught to identify living things, they won't be able to recognize the dead ones, he said. That could create a massive blind spot if Mars or another world hosts only the chemical leftovers of a long‑extinct biosphere. 

Some sea squirts host photosynthetic algae in their outer tissues. Credit: Hal Beral / Getty Images

"A fossil is evidence of life. So is the chair that I'm sitting on because those don't just magically pop into existence thanks to geology," he said. "A fossil and my chair are not alive, but I think they're part of life. They are a product of life."

Wong's team also spends a lot of time trying to deceive its models. In some cases, the algorithm has surprised the scientists by picking up on patterns the humans initially missed. In one test, the system kept insisting that a sea squirt sample looked photosynthetic, even though sea squirts don't make their own food from sunlight. What initially looked like an error was anything but, Wong said: Those creatures often host algae that do use sunlight, and the AI had spotted the chemical fingerprints. 

Despite the advances in technology, the Michigan State team is not convinced the tools are ready for spacecraft. The team's lab is also working on its own machine-learning methods to defend against this kind of trickery. 

"We can wait," Gupta said. "Clearly, we are not there yet." 

This week sees the release of The Dink, which — on top of being a hilarious underdog comedy about pickleball — is also the last film in which Lynne Marie Stewart appears.

Perhaps best known as the beautiful Miss Yvonne on Pee-wee's Playhouse or Charlie's mom on It's Always Sunny on Philadelphia, the American actress had a prolific career in comedy, appearing in more than 150 films and TV shows.

At the age of 78, she passed away on Feb. 21, 2025, not long after she was featured in the critically heralded Paul Reubens documentary Pee-wee as Himself. But before that, she was able to see a cut of The Dink, thanks to director Josh Greenbaum.

In The Dink, Stewart plays Judy, a seventy-something pickleball player who befriends recent divorcee Candace (Mary Steenburgen) and has-been tennis phenom Dusty (producer Jake Johnson). Flirty, joyful, and a fan of trash talk, Judy brings her own bounce to the pickleball comedy.

In an interview with Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko, Greenbaum shared how Stewart came to join The Dink, the unique improvisation she added, and how she got to see the movie before her passing.

Jake Johnson faces off against Lynne Marie Stewart in "The Dink." Credit: Apple TV

You have an amazing cast, but I want to talk about Lynne Marie Stewart, because I love her, and I think she's so, so funny in this. Can you tell me what it was like to work with her? She is such an icon of comedy.

Josh Greenbaum: She's the best. We auditioned people for that role for Judy, and you know, a lot of very, very funny women came into the room. So many so that I was like, well, this is a difficult decision. They're all really, really funny. I think at that age, there's not a lot of roles for older women. 

Which, also to interject, I love that in The Dink, the joke is never on these women for being older. They've got jokes. There are no jokes about treating their age as a cheap punchline, which is true in [Greenbaum's other films] Barb and Star and in Will & Harper too.

You don't stop being funny when you're 70. So, no, that was never the joke. And she came in the room — I remember Jake Johnson and I were in the audition room — and she walked in with this big smile on her face, and her arms out wide. And she shuffled in as though to say, "I'm here. Here's your Judy."

And before she said a word, we both looked at each other and we were just like, "Oh well, that's, it's clearly Lynne Marie." And then, of course, she crushed her audition. Felt funny that we even had to audition her, but I hadn't seen her in a little while. Obviously, I saw her on It's Always Sunny. But you know, [it had] been a few years. But she was just, like, such a joy.

I mean, one of my favorite lines in the whole film is is her whole run about the butter knife, and that is totally Lynne. I said, give me a long, overly explained run that's supposed to be trash talk, but it's about like, "Are you in the kitchen?" And she did this long run about forgetting the butter knife because you took your butter knife and a pat of butter, but you forgot the muffin — this long explanation about how you left the butter knife in the kitchen. And it just brings me such joy when she delivers that line, and so many other lines. Unfortunately, we didn't know she was terminally ill while we were filming.

[Editor's note: Matt Wolf, the director of Pee-wee as Himself, did not know Reubens was terminally ill while they were shooting footage for that documentary.]

She discovered that shortly after filming, and unfortunately passed shortly after that, which was heartbreaking. But her sister reached out and said, "Hey, is there any chance you could get us the film? She would love to watch it." And so I sent her sister and Lynne a copy of the film. They watched it together and sent me a beautiful note back that Lynne was dying laughing and full of joy watching what obviously became her last performance. So, that's really special.

I just love her. She was such a special woman. I was able to go to her her funeral and reception here in in L.A., and it was full of thousands of people who had she had worked with and who were her friends. She just put such warmth and love out into the world. I'm just very grateful she was with us, and that I had a chance to kind of work with her, even briefly.

The Dink is now streaming on Apple TV.

TL;DR: Get the 1min.AI Advanced Business Plan Lifetime for $79.97 (reg. $540) through tomorrow, July 26, and access leading AI models plus millions of monthly AI credits from one all-in-one workspace.

Opens in a new window

Credit: 1minAI

1min.AI Advanced Business Plan Lifetime Subscription

$79.97
$540 Save $460.03

 

Get Deal

If your browser is filled with separate tabs for writing, image generation, document analysis, video editing, and AI chat, there’s a simpler approach. Through tomorrow, July 26, you can get the 1min.AI Advanced Business Plan Lifetime Subscription for a one-time $79.97, bringing a wide range of AI tools into one platform for life.

Instead of bouncing between different services, 1min.AI gives you access to leading AI models — including GPT, Claude, Gemini, Llama, Mistral, and Cohere — alongside specialized tools for content creation, design, document management, audio production, and video editing.

Some of the features users are likely to appreciate most include:

• 4,000,000 AI credits every month, plus opportunities to earn up to 450,000 additional monthly credits

• AI writing tools for blog posts, rewrites, summaries, grammar, and brand voice

• AI image generation, editing, background removal, and upscaling

• PDF chat, document translation, presentation generation, and multi-document analysis

• Text-to-video, image-to-video, YouTube summarization, and caption generation

• Unlimited prompt library, unlimited storage, and unlimited brand voices

Because everything is organized within one interface, it’s easier to move between projects without constantly copying content between different AI platforms.

Whether you’re creating marketing content, researching, editing media, analyzing documents, or experimenting with AI for business, 1min.AI offers a practical way to consolidate your workflow into one subscription.

Get the 1min.AI Advanced Business Plan Lifetime Subscription for just $79.97 (reg. $540) through tomorrow, July 26, and simplify your AI toolkit with one all-in-one platform.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Get ChatPlayground AI Unlimited Lifetime for $57.97 through tomorrow, July 26, and compare ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, and more side by side with unlimited messages.

Opens in a new window

Credit: ChatPlayground AI

ChatPlayground AI: Lifetime Subscription (Unlimited Plan)

$57.97
$619 Save $561.03

 

Get Deal

AI is incredibly useful, but relying on just one model can sometimes leave you wondering if there’s a better answer. That’s exactly the issue ChatPlayground AI is designed to solve.

Through tomorrow, July 26, you can get the ChatPlayground AI Unlimited Lifetime Subscription for a one-time $57.97 payment, giving you one place to compare responses from 20+ leading AI models instead of bouncing between multiple websites.

Rather than copying and pasting the same prompt into different chatbots (and paying for each of them), ChatPlayground lets you ask once and instantly compare answers from ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Llama, Perplexity, and other leading AI models.

Seeing multiple perspectives side by side makes it easier to refine ideas, verify information, brainstorm, or simply choose the response that best fits your needs.

The platform also includes much more than AI chat. You can upload PDFs and images to ask questions about your files, generate AI images, save your chat history for future reference, and use built-in prompt engineering tools to improve the quality of your results over time.

With the Unlimited Plan, you’ll get unlimited messages each month, making it a practical option for anyone who uses AI throughout the workday. Writers, marketers, developers, students, entrepreneurs, and researchers can all benefit from having multiple AI models available through a single streamlined dashboard.

If you’re already using AI regularly, comparing answers rather than relying on a single response is a simple way to work with greater confidence and resources.

Get the ChatPlayground AI Unlimited lifetime subscription for $57.97 through tomorrow, July 26.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Here at Mashable, we're constantly testing the best laptops based on an exhaustive in-house methodology that combines real-world use with performance benchmarking. In the past two years alone, we've tried over 80 different models across a range of price points.

To determine which of them fit the bill for college students, specifically, I researched the top 10 public universities' hardware recommendations for the upcoming fall 2026 semester. These include processor types, operating system support, RAM and storage minimums, and other spec requirements for different majors. I honed my guidance based on the common threads I noticed.

I also gave special preference to laptops that are long-lasting and portable enough to be toted around campus, and those that are competitively priced for the current market. Laptops aren't cheap right now, but a solid splurge can last you well past graduation. (Take advantage of student discounts whenever possible.)

Based on this analysis, I eventually settled on six top picks that make the best laptops for college students. Whether you're a humanities student, a STEM major, or still undeclared, I'm confident that at least one of my options will be your ideal machine. You can read more about these picks and my research below.

What to look for in a college laptop, based on my research

A Windows laptop with a mid-tier Intel Core or AMD Ryzen 7 processor is suitable for most college students. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

Six of this year's 10 top-ranking public universities tell their incoming students to purchase Windows 11 laptops or MacBooks that are less than two years old. I wouldn't go any older than that for the sake of future-proofing.

Most of those schools tell their students to purchase laptops with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage at minimum. (Liberal arts majors might be able to get away with 256GB of storage, but you'll probably have to supplement that with an external hard drive.) More RAM and storage is better if your budget allows; more is mandatory if you're an engineering, design, or computer science major. Students in those fields are generally advised to get a laptop with at least 24GB to 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.

You can approach your processor options in a similar way. For Windows laptops, most schools suggest a mid-range CPU like an Intel Core/AMD Ryzen 5 at minimum, and a mid- to high-end Intel Core/AMD Ryzen 7 or 9 chip for more demanding workloads. Several schools recommend tacking on a dedicated GPU for such coursework, too (i.e, Nvidia GeForce RTX/Radeon RX graphics). On the Apple side, the MacBook Air and Pro with the base M5 chip are go-to recs for most students.

Two schools tell their students not to buy ARM-based Windows laptops (with Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors) because they can't run certain software natively, and because they don't support older peripherals like university printers and scanners. One software example is AutoCAD, a popular 2D and 3D design app that engineering and design students rely on heavily. I love a lot of ARM laptops because they're fast and long-lasting, and I will say that their compatibility is improving every year. Still, I've opted to keep them off my list of 2026 picks out of an abundance of caution; stick with Intel and AMD CPUs for now.

Be sure to budget for an extended warranty with accidental damage protection, as suggested by over half of the top 10 public universities. For reference, AppleCare+ for Mac costs $67.99 to $139.99 a year for students, depending on the MacBook model.

What type of laptop should college students buy?

Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

This is a question that only your college can answer for sure, as laptop type recommendations can vary by major. For example, the University of Virginia and the University of California, Davis approve MacBooks for their general student populations, but their engineering departments tell certain tracks to avoid them. Likewise, UCLA's Anderson School of Management hardware requirement page says, "Mac computers are acceptable to use as primary computers for study at Anderson. However, please note that some elective course software is only available for Windows. Students are responsible for ensuring compatibility and configuring their Macs accordingly."

I can say for sure that you probably shouldn't buy a Chromebook. Three schools in my research pool discouraged them for some or all majors, and one school — the University of Florida — only recommended them "as supplemental devices." I included a Chromebook in a previous version of this guide as a secondary option for note-taking, but price increases amid the ongoing RAM shortage have made many of them just as expensive as Apple's budget MacBook Neo (if not more so), which is a much nicer and more powerful computer, relatively speaking.

Do you need your own laptop for college?

Yes, you should have your own laptop at college. Most universities let students temporarily borrow laptops through their libraries and/or tech desks. However, these loaners are available on a first-come, first-served basis and wiped upon return (i.e., you can't save anything on them long-term).

I wouldn't rely too heavily on your school's computer lab, either, because you can't take bring those desktops to class or your dorm. Ultimately, owning your own laptop is way more convenient and ensures you'll have the exact specs needed for your major's coursework.

The most recent updates to this guide

• July 25, 2026: Now that the Acer Swift X 14 is back in stock, we've added it to this guide in place of the Acer Swift X 14 AI. While these laptops are similar (and both excellent), we prefer the non-AI model.

• July 18, 2026: We've overhauled our selection of the best laptops for college students, with new options from Apple, Acer, and Dell; all of the products in this guide have been rigorously tested by Mashable laptop reviewers

In the age of on-demand everything, it’s no surprise that we can get "dates" (and I use that term loosely) with the tap of a button. Thanks to classic hookup apps like Tinder and newcomers like Pure, finding a sexy new friend can be as straightforward as ordering a pizza. As for the quality? That’s about the same as your pizza — hit or miss, depending on the time of day, where you're located, and how hungry you are.

Fortunately, you’ve got me, your resident dating app expert (though I prefer modern-day Carrie Bradshaw), to guide you to the promised land, aka the best hookup apps.

I’ve spent the past three years (yes, years) researching, downloading, and testing dozens of the top dating apps to find the best ones for all kinds of daters, including the one-night-stand crowd. From discreet sexting apps to dating sites for serious relationships, I've swiped through them all. I also consulted a helpful panel of sex and relationship experts to make sure my picks are solid.

How to get the most out of hookup apps

My number one rule is to be brutally honest about what you want. Are you here for a good time? Own it. That means staying in your lane; don't go looking for a one-night stand on an app like eharmony.

"Hookup apps help prevent situations where people are on mainstream dating sites with the intention of having a casual hookup but are unclear about these intentions," Suzannah Weiss, resident sexologist for Biird and author of Subjectified: Becoming a Sexual Subject, tells Mashable. "They also give women a space to be openly sexual creatures without judgment."

And here's a little secret I picked up from Alexander Liebisch, the CEO and founder of TinderProfile.ai: Timing is everything. He found that people messaging on Tinder's "free tonight" feature after 10 p.m. on a weekend had a 45 percent higher chance of hooking up.

So, whether you're looking for a one-night stand, a regular FWB situation, or just a space to explore your sexuality, I've got you covered. Based on all my hands-on testing and expert consultations, I’ve broken down the best hookup app for every type of person and mood.

Recent updates to this guide

• Hinge: Hinge just keeps getting better, so I’ve bumped it up higher on my list as of October 2025. In our most recent update in July 2026, it still earns the top spot. Its user base is growing, and my own recent tests on the app have been surprisingly positive.

• Sniffies (added September 2025): I've added Sniffies, the map-based app for queer men, because it's been gaining a lot of traction. (It got a little too spicy for Apple and was pulled from the App Store, so it's now technically a dating site.) Don't say I didn't warn you about the NSFW content.

• FetLife (added September 2025): FetLife is my new favorite "Honorable Mention." It's not your typical hookup app; it's more of a social network for the kink community (and, oddly enough, the best hookup app for gamers). Just remember: it's a community, so don't treat it like Tinder.

• Plenty of Fish (removed January 2025): POF went through a rebrand recently, and honestly, I'm not impressed. My latest tests showed they got rid of key features like free messaging for non-matches, and I kept running into the same old profiles.

• Match (removed August 2025): I know some people say they've found casual hookups on Match, but that's not what it's for. Match is where you go to find a serious, long-term relationship, and I still recommend it for that. But for a hookup? You're just fishing in the wrong pond.

Why some popular hookup apps didn't make the cut

You might notice a few apps that pop up in ads or other lists are missing here. That’s intentional. I swipe through the good, the bad, and the downright sketchy so you don’t have to. For an app to make my list, it has to be effective, safe, and worth your time.

Here's a shortlist of apps that didn't make the cut this year:

• Wild: You’ve probably seen ads for this one. On paper, Wild sounds like the perfect casual dating app. In practice, the paywalls are aggressive, the distance filter doesn't work, and you have to pay for anything that's even remotely useful. Unless you're willing to spend serious cash upfront (and hope for the best), the experience feels limited compared to more open apps like Tinder.

• DOWN: This app (formerly "Bang With Friends") is known for its simple "Get Down" vs. "Get Date" feature. It sounds clever, but in reality, the experience is messy at best. Many users report feeling scammed by subscriptions that don't deliver matches, or finding that the few real people on there are... let's say "odd." It’s hard to recommend an app when the main user complaint is "Is anyone real?" Hard pass.

• Facebook Dating: Yes, Facebook has a dating section, and it’s surprisingly massive (and completely free, which is huge). While it's a decent option for casual dating, the vibe tends to be a bit more "friends of friends" and "relationship-focused" than the anonymous, no-strings energy you get from apps like Pure or Feeld. (For Mashable's Chance Townsend, signing up was "the most uneventful dating experience" of his life.) It's worth a shot if you're already on Facebook, but it didn't quite crack my top tier for hookups specifically.

SAVE $76: As of July 25, the DJI Mini 5 Pro is down to $683 at Amazon — a 10% discount and its lowest-ever price.

Opens in a new window

Credit: DJI

DJI Mini 5 Pro

$683 at Amazon
$759 Save $76

 

Get Deal

The DJI Mini 5 Pro is on sale for for $683 at Amazon, down from $759. That's the best price we've ever seen.

It's built for beginners but doesn't skimp on features. You also get a 20-kilometer transmission range, so you can fly it well beyond what most starter drones allow.

The DJI Mini 5 Pro packs a lot into a small drone — it folds up palm-sized and slips into a pocket, and it comes with 42 GB of built-in storage. The camera has a 1-inch sensor (bigger than what most drones this size use), which means your 4K footage looks sharp and the colors come out looking real, not washed out.

For creative shots, the gimbal can flip to true vertical and rotate up to 225 degrees, so you can capture angles that many beginner drones can't pull off. It's also safer to fly as it uses LiDAR and vision sensors to detect obstacles from every direction, which matters if you're flying at night or letting it auto-return home.

Battery life is solid too — you get up to 36 minutes per flight, and if you buy extra batteries, the charger can fully charge three of them in under two hours. It comes with everything you need to fly right out of the box: the drone itself, the remote controller, one battery, and spare propellers.

Grab the DJI Mini 5 Pro for $683 this weekend.

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

Hurdle Word 1 hint

Lost a spouse.

Hurdle Word 1 answer

WIDOW

Hurdle Word 2 hint

Shapeshift.

Hurdle Word 2 Answer

MORPH

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today

Hurdle Word 3 hint

To bang on.

Hurdle Word 3 answer

KNOCK

Hurdle Word 4 hint

Embarrassment.

Hurdle Word 4 answer

SHAME

Final Hurdle hint

To cheer.

Hurdle Word 5 answer

WHOOP

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

We're approaching the Full Moon, with the Moon continuing to grow brighter each night as it moves through its Waxing Gibbous phase.

What is today’s Moon phase?

As of Saturday, July 25, NASA's Daily Moon Guide tracker tells us the Moon phase is in Waxing Gibbous phase, with 84% of its surface visible.

Without the assistance of any visual aids, tonight you should be to see the Mares Fecunditatis and Tranquillitatis, as well as the Copernicus Crater. Binoculars will also help you to see the Alps Mountains, Archimedes Crater, and the Gassendi Crater. A telescope helps you see much more, including the Apollo 14 and 15 landing spots, and the Rima Ariadaeus.

When is the next Full Moon?

The next Full Moon will take place on July 29.

What are Moon phases?

The Moon takes roughly 29.5 days to complete its journey around Earth, passing through eight distinct phases during each lunar cycle, according to NASA. While the Moon’s same side is always visible from our planet, the portion of its surface lit by the Sun changes as it moves along its orbit. These shifting levels of illumination are what create the different appearances we see throughout the month, from a slender crescent shape to a half-lit Moon and finally a bright Full Moon, before the cycle begins once again.

The eight phases are:

New Moon - The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it's invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent - A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter - Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.

Waxing Gibbous - More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon - The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous - The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)

Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) - Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent - A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

Today's Connections: Sports Edition will be easier if you ever went to school in North Carolina.

As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight, and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

What is Connections: Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. The sports Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Each puzzle features 16 words, and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes before the game ends.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here's a hint for today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Racing teams

• Green: GOAT pitchers

• Blue: All-Stars

• Purple: Green

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: F1 Teams

• Green: Hall of Fame Pitchers

• Blue: 2026 WNBA All-Stars, Familiarly

• Purple: Green___

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections: Sports Edition #670 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• F1 Teams: FERRARI, MCLAREN, MERCEDES, RED BULL

• Hall of Fame Pitchers: FORD, PAIGE, PERRY, SPAHN

• 2026 WNBA All-Stars, Familiarly: A'JA, ANGEL, KIKI, MARINA

• Green___: BAY, FEE, MONSTER, WAVE

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Connections.

Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue.

Released in August 2025, Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.

Currently, if you're stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move on to the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level.

How to play Pips

If you've ever played dominoes, you'll have a passing familiarity with how Pips is played. As we've shared in our previous hints stories for Pips, the tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between a traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you have to address. The touching tiles don't necessarily have to match.

The conditions you have to meet are specific to the color-coded spaces. For example, if it provides a single number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the number provided. It is possible — and common — for only half a tile to be within a color-coded space.

Here are common examples you'll run into across the difficulty levels:

• Number: All the pips in this space must add up to the number.

• Equal: Every domino half in this space must be the same number of pips.

• Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a completely different number of pips.

• Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.

• Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.

If an area does not have any color coding, it means there are no conditions on the portions of dominoes within those spaces.

Easy difficulty hints, answers for July 25 Pips

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 6-3, placed vertically; 3-3, placed horizontally.

Number (8): Everything in this space must add up to 8. The answer is 4-4, placed horizontally.

Less Than (2): Everything in this space must be less than 2. The answer is 1-2, placed vertically.

Greater Than (7): Everything in this space must be greater than 7. The answer is 5-5, placed vertically.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for July 25 Pips

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 3-4, placed horizontally; 0-6, placed vertically.

Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 3-4, placed horizontally; 1-5, placed vertically.

Number (8): Everything in this space must add up to 8. The answer is 4-2, placed vertically; 4-6, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 4-6, placed horizontally.

Less Than (3): Everything in this space must be less than 3. The answer is 4-2, placed vertically

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 3-3, placed horizontally.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 1-1, placed vertically.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for July 25 Pips

Equal (4): Everything in this space must be equal to 4. The answer is 4-4, placed horizontally; 4-1, placed vertically.

Equal (1): Everything in this space must be equal to 1. The answer is 1-6, placed vertically; 1-0, placed vertically; 4-1, placed vertically; 1-1, placed horizontally.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 4-0, placed horizontally.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 1-0, placed vertically.

Number (7): Everything in this space must add up to 7. The answer is 4-0, placed horizontally; 4-3, placed horizontally.

Equal (6): Everything in this space must be equal to 6. The answer is 1-6, placed vertically; 6-2, placed vertically.

Number (7): Everything in this space must add up to 7. The answer is 2-4, placed horizontally; 5-6, placed vertically.

Equal (4): Everything in this space must be equal to 4. The answer is 2-4, placed horizontally; 4-6, placed vertically; 4-3, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 6-3, placed vertically.

Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 5-5, placed horizontally; 5-3, placed vertically.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 6-2, placed vertically.

Equal (6): Everything in this space must be equal to 6. The answer is 5-6, placed vertically; 4-6, placed vertically; 6-6, placed horizontally.

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 6-3, placed vertically; 5-3, placed vertically; 3-3, placed horizontally.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you're good with money.

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

What is Connections?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Uno, dos, tres

• Green: To get emotional

• Blue: Foreign money

• Purple: A sliver

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

Here are today's Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Spanish relatives

• Green: Start to cry, with "Up"

• Blue: African currencies

• Purple: Strip ___

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #1140 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Spanish relatives: ABUELA, HIJO, MADRE, PRIMO

• Start to cry, with "Up": CHOKE, MIST, TEAR, WELL

• African currencies: KWANZA, LEONE, NAIRA, RAND

• Strip ___: CLUB, MALL, POKER, STEAK

Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today's puzzle.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Connections.

Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you love dresses.

Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.

NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Frocks and smocks

The words are related to clothing.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe long clothing.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is diagonal.

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is You Wear it Well.

NYT Strands word list for July 25

• Dirndl

• Pinafore

• Muumuu

• You Wear it Well

• Tunic

• Gown

• Kimono

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Strands.

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you're Hawaiian.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

Hawaiian hello.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

The letter A appears twice.

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter A.

The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is...

ALOHA

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints. Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Wordle.

Elon Musk's Boring Company has been hard at work on its Vegas Loop transportation system for years, and it's now in operation in 10 stations — including two at the city’s Harry Reid International Airport.

Well, kind of in operation. While the Loop operates a system of tunnels connecting the Las Vegas Convention Center to multiple hotels, its tunnel to the airport is not yet open. So the Loop’s service to Harry Reid is ... a human-driven Tesla, driving on surface streets rather than tunnels.

YouTuber Ray Delahanty, who goes by the moniker CityNerd, recently visited the Loop — and the resulting video highlighted what he called the "farce" of its airport stations, as well as a lack of signage directing riders. 

What is the Loop?

The Loop opened five years ago, whisking people around the convention center in human-driven Teslas traveling in single-lane tunnels dug by the Boring Company (which, like Tesla, is owned by Elon Musk). The initial three-station, $47 million Loop (that's the cost quoted by the Boring Co.; other reports indicate it was closer to $52 million) was paid for by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which is funded by hotel bed taxes; the LVCVA also covers $5 million in annual maintenance.

The stations are paid for by the casinos (and airport), with future tunnels paid for by the Boring Company. Currently, the system operates five stations at the convention center, two at the airport, and stops at Encore, Westgate, and Fontainebleau resorts, with tickets costing between $6 and $12.

When the Loop is finally complete, the Boring Company envisions 155 mph travel through 68 miles of tunnels and 104 stations — with riders driven by autonomous vehicles carrying 90,000 passengers an hour — a dubious number that would require every Vegas resident and visitor to use it multiple times a day. Currently the system carries around 1 million riders annually, or little more than 114 people an hour.

What’s the issue with the Loop?

At stations like the one at the Fontainebleau resort, Teslas exit Boring tunnels and then enter the Fontainebleau parking garage, just like any other car. The airport stations, which opened in December 2025, travel on surface streets for the entire five-mile route to the convention center.

The Boring Company is currently digging the underground tunnel to the airport and plans to open it before the year is out, according to Delahanty’s Loop driver.

The biggest problem with the stations? Not the inconsistency of the underground routes or the fact that the narrow tunnels only allow travel in one direction. It's how difficult it is for passengers to even find the stations (a problem that has bedeviled the Las Vegas Monorail).

Neither the casinos nor the airport offer signage to the stations. The stations themselves often lack amenities like seating or, as Delahanty discovered, working escalators.

To make matters worse, some of the few riders using the Loop were confused about how to access the vehicles (cars are requested via an app, like Uber or Lyft), leading to awkward encounters.

After some trial and error, Delahanty summoned a car at the airport and got a ride to the convention center for an unbeatable $12 — a fraction of the price of an Uber, Lyft, or taxi. The drivers also seemed friendly and willing to help customers, at least in Delahanty’s video.

While the Boring Company didn’t respond to our questions about Delahanty’s gripes, we did follow-up with the urbanist YouTuber on his Loop experience. Here's our conversation, edited for clarity and brevity.

It seemed like one of the biggest problems with the Loop is the shortage of information on how to ride and locate stations. Did riders appear confused or familiar with the Loop’s protocols?

My experience was that a few of the riders appeared familiar with how the system works — as if they'd used it before — but most seemed confused about how to know when and which arriving vehicle was supposed to pick them up. Some of the riders seemed confused about how to buy a ticket and order a ride, although this seems pretty clear to me once you manage to find the station.

There is no Boring tunnel connecting to the airport yet, so why is the company offering a $12 airport service?

I really don't know why they've elected to start providing this service before the connecting tunnel, which is supposed to be complete by the end of 2026. It really functions like a typical Uber/Lyft ride, just one you have to go to an unmarked location on an airport concourse sublevel to use.

The LVCVA is subsidizing the tunnels and maintenance. What do you think it should have used that money for?

When they initially did a call for proposals, it was for a people mover of some sort to connect the far-flung halls on the Las Vegas Convention Center campus. Think an internal airport tram at a major airport hub like Atlanta, Dallas, or Denver, or even Las Vegas! — that is probably what they should've been building.

Instead, the Boring Company came in with the low bid. I'm not privy to how the project pencils out for the Boring Company. My guess is, on a project level they are way, way, way in the red, but they saw the Vegas Loop project as research and development, so they were willing to take a loss.

You mentioned that no one seems to be loudly criticizing the Loop’s shortcomings. Do you expect its expansion to continue without resistance from officials?

So far, all the funding is coming out of hotel room taxes and private contributions from resorts. If there comes a point where the City or County are spending public funds that could've been spent on public transit or any number of other public goods, then the political calculus changes. [Boring has made a deal with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, for a station on campus, with costs covered by the company.]

What is it like to actually ride in the Loop?

It's like riding an Uber or a Lyft that occasionally uses a narrow, brightly colored tunnel. I'm not a claustrophobic person, but I wouldn't wish the experience on someone who was.

Today is not only the San Diego Comic-Con panel for Spaceballs: The New One, but also the Apple TV premiere of The Dink. Both are helmed by Josh Greenbaum, who spoke with Mashable about the pickleball comedy and the long-awaited sequel to Mel Brooks' Star Wars spoof.

In an interview with Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko, Greenbaum dug into the themes of friendship and identity in The Dink, as well as what it meant to have comedy icon Lynne Marie Stewart join the cast, in what would become her final film role. They also got into Spaceballs: The New One.

Specifically, Puchko asked the question fans of the 1987 comedy had about the title. See, in Spaceballs, the wise Yogurt (played by Brooks) says the star-flung heroes might meet again "in Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money." So, why is this sequel called Spaceballs: The New One?

Greenbaum said, "If you didn't see our announcement video, Mel Brooks himself found the money. It was in his basement, and so he doesn't need any more money at this point."

Greenbaum continued, "We really love the idea of obviously there's the old one, and now this is the new one. We like the joke that this is, you know, 'It's just like the old one, but newer.' So, this is the new one.

"We obviously discussed it with Mel," he added, "but we all felt like, as great as that joke [from the first movie] was, paying that joke off? You'll see when you see the new one why it makes sense for this one to be called that."

Spaceballs: The New One will see Brooks, Bill Pullman, Rick Moranis, Daphne Zuniga, and Michael Winslow reprising their roles from the first film. Joining the cast are Lewis Pullman, Keke Palmer, Anthony Carrigan, and Josh Gad.

Spaceballs: The New One is slated to open in the U.S. on April 23, 2027.

I've never heard a movie be described as both "grotesque" and "gorgeous," but that's what Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko called Mother Mary. And naturally, that made it a must-watch for me. It stars Anne Hathaway as pop icon Mother Mary and features songs by Jack Antonoff, Charli XCX, and FKA Twigs. We named it one of our favorite movies of the year, and now it's officially heading to streaming.

The best ways to watch 'Mother Mary' at home:

---

Watch now

Buy or rent 'Mother Mary' on Prime Video

$9.99 or $5.99

Shop Now

---

Watch now

Buy or rent 'Mother Mary' on Fandango at Home

$9.99 or $5.99

Shop Now

---

Watch as of Aug. 21

HBO Max (With Ads)

$109.99/year (save $21.89)

Get Deal

---

Watch as of Aug. 21

HBO Max Standard

$184.99/year (save $36.89)

Get Deal

---

Watch as of Aug. 21

HBO Max Student

$5.49 per month for 12 months (save 50%)

Get Deal

---

Watch as of Aug. 21

HBO Max Basic With Ads

Free for Cricket customers on the $60/month unlimited plan (save $10.99/month)

Get Deal

---

Watch as of Aug. 21

Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max bundle

$19.99 per month (with ads), $32.99 per month (no ads) (save up to 42%)

Get Deal

---

Watch as of Aug. 21

Netflix and HBO Max bundle (with ads)

$10/month with Verizon myPlan (save $9.98/month)

Get Deal

---

Watch as of Aug. 21

Netflix, Peacock, and HBO Max (with ads)

$22/month with Xfinity StreamSaver (save $8.97/month)

Get Deal

In addition to Hathaway, Mother Mary stars Michaela Coel, Hunter Schafer, Atheena Frizzell, Kaia Gerber, Jessica Brown Findlay, Alba Baptista, Isaura Barbé-Brown, and Sian Clifford. It defies genre, as the trailer even highlights that it's neither a love story nor a ghost story. Though, as Puchko points out, it's kind of both. She dubs it a "gothic horror story," while the official synopsis refers to it as a "psychosexual pop thriller." Whatever you deem it, it's quite the journey.

If you have yet to watch Mother Mary, or if you can't wait to see it again, you can stream it at home this summer. Here's a breakdown of everything you need to know to watch.

What is Mother Mary about?

Directed by David Lowery (The Green Knight), Mother Mary follows the eponymous pop star (Hathaway) as she's readying for a comeback. She reaches out to her former friend/costume designer, Sam Anselm (Coel), for help crafting the perfect dress. The reunion dredges up old wounds the women can't escape and spirals into a supernatural reckoning. Things get pretty tense, to say the least.

Check out the official trailer for Mother Mary below.

How to watch Mother Mary at home

Credit: A24

Mother Mary launched in theaters in limited release on April 17th and hit digital on-demand retailers on May 19th. Now it's officially headed to streaming, giving you three different options for watching at home. We've broken down the details below.

Buy or rent on digital

Mother Mary made its at-home debut via digital-on-demand retailers on May 19, 2026. You can either buy the film for your digital library for $9.99 or rent it for $5.99. Note: If you choose the rental option, you'll get access for 30 days, but only 48 hours once you start watching.

Quick links to buy/rent Mother Mary on digital:

• Apple TV —  buy for $9.99, rent for $5.99

• Fandango — buy for $9.99, rent for $5.99

• Google Play — buy for $9.99, rent starting at $4.99

• Prime Video —  buy for $9.99, rent for $5.99

• YouTube — buy for $9.99, rent starting at $4.99

Stream it on HBO Max

Since A24 renewed its output deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, new A24 theatrical releases exclusively stream on HBO Max before anywhere else. Mother Mary is set to make its HBO Max streaming debut on Aug. 21, 2026, which follows the same theater-to-streaming schedule as other recently released A24 films (Marty Supreme, The Drama, and Bring Her Back).

HBO Max subscriptions start at $10.99 per month. However, there are some ways you can save money on your plan. Check out the best HBO Max streaming deals below.

The best HBO Max streaming deals

Best for most people: Save 16% on HBO Max annual subscriptions

Opens in a new window

Credit: HBO Max

HBO Max Basic with ads annual subscription

$109.99 per year (save $21.89)

Get Deal

Opens in a new window

Credit: HBO Max

HBO Max Standard annual subscription

$184.99 per year (save $36.89)

Get Deal

The best way to save money on HBO Max (or most streaming services, for that matter) on any given day is by opting for the annual plan. Yes, it costs more up front, but you'll save about 16% over the course of a year — up to $45.89 in savings.

A monthly plan with ads typically costs $10.99 per month, but a full year costs $109.99, which breaks down the monthly cost to only $9.17. If you want to go ad-free, the annual HBO Max Standard or Premium plans will also save you about 16% over their monthly equivalents.

Standard subscriptions cost either $18.49 per month or $184.99 per year (which breaks down to $15.42 per month). Premium subscriptions cost $22.99 per month or $229.99 per year (about $19.17 per month). Both plans are ad-free, but only the Premium option will unlock 4K Ultra HD video quality, Dolby Atmos, and the ability to download more offline content.

Get HBO Max for free: Switch to Cricket's Supreme Unlimited plan

Opens in a new window

Credit: HBO Max / Cricket

HBO Max (with ads)

Free for Cricket customers on the Supreme Unlimited plan

Get Deal

While it's definitely not the most convenient option, switching your phone plan to Cricket's Supreme Unlimited plan for $60 per month is the only way to get HBO Max with ads for free. Once you're a Cricket customer, you can use your provider credentials to log in via the HBO Max app or website.

Best HBO Max deal for students: Save 50% on HBO Max Basic with ads

Opens in a new window

Credit: HBO Max

HBO Max Student

$5.49 per month for 12 months

Get Deal

College students get an entire year of HBO Max Basic with ads for 50% off. Use UNiDAYS to prove your student status, then you'll receive a unique discount code that'll drop the cost per month down from $10.99 to $5.49. Once the initial 12-month promotional period is up, the price will jump back to the full cost unless you cancel.

Best bundle deal: Get HBO Max, Disney+, and Hulu for up to 42% off

Opens in a new window

Credit: Disney / Hulu / HBO Max

Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max

$19.99 per month (with ads), $32.99 per month (no ads)

Get Deal

The Disney+ bundle deal, which includes HBO Max and Hulu, is one of the best deals in streaming. For just $19.99 per month, you'll get all three streaming libraries with ads, which is about $15 cheaper than paying for each one separately. If you want to go ad-free, it'll run you $32.99 per month as opposed to $56.47 for all three. That's up to 42% in savings.

Best for Verizon customers: Get Netflix and HBO Max for $13/month

Opens in a new window

Credit: Netflix / HBO Max

HBO Max and Netflix (with ads)

$13 per month for Verizon customers with Simplicity Plan (save $6.98 per month)

Get Deal

If you're a Verizon customer on the Unlimited Welcome, Unlimited Plus, or Unlimited Ultimate plan, you can add the Netflix and HBO Max bundle (with ads) to your plan for only $13 per month. A $19.98 per month value, that's about $7 in savings each month. Once you enroll in the promo, you'll have to complete the account setup separately for each service. Check out Verizon's support page for all the eligibility details, terms, and FAQs.

Best for Xfinity customers: Bundle HBO Max, Peacock, and Netflix and save $10/month

Opens in a new window

Credit: Netflix / Peacock / HBO Max

Netflix Standard with ads, Peacock Premium, and HBO Max

$22/month with Xfinity StreamSaver (save $8.97/month)

Get Deal

Xfinity Internet and TV customers can also get in on the bundle action with Xfinity StreamSaver packages. The package that includes Netflix Standard with ads ($8.99 per month), Peacock Premium ($10.99 per month), and HBO Max Basic with Ads ($10.99 per month) can be added to your existing Xfinity service for only $22 per month. It typically costs $30.97 for all three, so that's about $9 in savings monthly.

TL;DR: Get Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2026 for $29.97 through July 26 and build faster with AI-powered coding tools, Live Share collaboration, and cross-platform development support.

Opens in a new window

Credit: Microsoft

Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2026

$29.97
$499.99 Save $470.02

 

Get Deal

Modern software development isn’t getting any simpler, but the tools behind it keep getting better, too. That’s exactly what Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2026 aims to deliver: a faster, more capable development environment that helps you spend less time managing code and more time building great software.

For just two more days, you can get a lifetime license to Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2026 for $29.97 (reg. $499.99). Whether you’re building desktop applications, web apps, cloud services, or mobile experiences, it’s a practical upgrade for developers who want the latest tools without paying ongoing subscription costs.

The newest version introduces deeper AI integration throughout the IDE. Intellicode provides context-aware code suggestions, predicts your next edits, and helps reduce repetitive coding, while built-in AI-assisted refactoring can streamline common development tasks and help catch issues earlier.

Visual Studio Professional 2026 also supports modern, cross-platform workflows. Build applications with .NET MAUI, create web interfaces with Blazor, develop and debug .NET and C++ applications for Windows, Linux, and containers, and integrate directly with Azure and GitHub.

For team projects, Live Share makes collaboration easier by allowing developers to work together in real time without cloning repositories or recreating identical development environments. CodeLens adds another productivity boost by surfacing commit history, test status, references, and code authors directly inside the editor.

If you’re already working in the Microsoft development ecosystem — or planning to — this is an easy way to upgrade your toolkit with the latest version of one of the industry’s most widely used IDEs.

Get Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2026 for $29.97 through July 26 (reg. $499.99) while supplies last.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TV is about to get a whole lot greener, thanks to Lanterns.

HBO released the official trailer for the Green Lantern-focused series at San Diego Comic-Con, giving viewers a deep dive into the dynamic between Green Lanterns Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre). They're intergalactic cops tasked with protecting Earth. Hal is a Lantern legend, while John is a new recruit who's still learning the ropes of how to use his magical ring.

Based on the trailer, Hal and John's mentor-mentee relationship is pretty strained. No wonder, given that Hal dumps water on a sleeping John, or that everyone refers to John as Hal's backup.

However, the two will have to learn to work together as they try to solve a new mystery right in America's heartland, one that has ties to the fearsome shape-shifting Manhunters.

Co-created by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King, Lanterns has a neo-Western flair. But that doesn't mean it's without Green Lantern magic. The trailer sees Hal using his ring to fly, and John... Well, John can create a very cute hummingbird with his ring, but it seems he still has a lot to learn.

The trailer also features appearances from Superman's Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), as well as classic Green Lantern villain Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen). Check out the full video above to see them, Hal, and John in action.

Lanterns also stars Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Poorna Jagannathan, Laura Linney, Jason Ritter, J. Alphonse Nicholson, and Jasmine Cephas Jones.

Lanterns premieres Aug. 16 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.

It's official. Out of San Diego Comic-Con, AMC Global Media has announced that Interview with the Vampire will return for Season 4. And as fans have predicted, showrunner Rolin Jones will change the title from The Vampire Lestat to Queen of the Damned, reflecting the shift from the second book in Anne Rice's beloved Vampire Chronicles to the third.

The teaser above focuses on Sheila Atim, who played Queen of the Damned Akasha in The Vampire Lestat. There, we saw her awake in flashbacks, as she suspended the Brat Prince in midair for three days as she ranted and declared herself "the answer."

If that's how she responded to Sam Reid saying "spoon," how might she respond to him performing a concert, by vampires for vampires? Well, there's been hints of that since the auction at the start of The Vampire Lestat. But in the teaser, she offers a pretty direct call to action:

You have called to me, not knowing my name.

You, with your dresses stained, your faces down in the mud.

I have heard you.

And I say this to you now: Do not let them shape you into the size of their cage.

Women, get up out of the ditches where they have thrown you, and come with me now to where the men are gathered, and do what you have long longed to do.

Kill them all.

We predict Gabriella (Jennifer Ehle) will like her.

What do we know about Queen of the Damned?

Atim will be back for Season 4, as — we expect — will Sam Reid, Jacob Anderson, Assad Zaman, and Eric Bogosian, who all joined her at the Comic-Con panel.

AMC's press release included assurance that executive producer/writer Hannah Moscovitch will have an important role in Queen of the Damn, specifically writing for Akasha and Gabriella as she did in The Vampire Lestat.

In a press release, AMC shared this statement from Dan McDermott, Chief Content Officer of AMC Global Media and President of AMC Studios about the new season, "In The Vampire Lestat, Mark, Rolin, Hannah and this extraordinary cast delivered an unforgettable season filled with propulsive storytelling that captivated the passionate and engaged fans of this franchise. We can't wait to continue the journey with Queen of the Damned, one of the most iconic stories in Anne Rice's mythology, and watch our established and beloved characters confront Akasha with their world, and ours, very much hanging in the balance."

When will Queen of the Damned be released?

AMC has not yet revealed when Queen of the Damned will come to TV and streaming.

Mashable will update as news develops.

Korean electronics giant LG is taking heat over intrusive settings on its TVs and computer monitors — and the backlash may just be getting started.

It all began on July 17, when an LG gaming monitor customer noticed a pop-up ad for McAfee antivirus software on their screen. The user took to X to vent their frustration.

"PSA: Do NOT buy an LG monitor, it automatically downloaded an app that gives me pop ups for their own apps and McAfee," wrote the customer identified as wexos.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

The YouTube channel Gamers Nexus looked into the report, finding that LG UltraGear monitors were installing a program called LG Monitor App Install after users connected them to Windows PCs.

As our colleagues at PCMag reported, "The program advises customers to install other apps, and shows a pop-up ad for McAfee’s Scam Detector software." (Disclosure: PCMag and Mashable are owned by the same parent company, Ziff Davis.)

The situation escalated quickly from there. Microsoft EVP for Windows and Devices, Pavan Davuluri, replied to wexos' complaint directly. Later he announced Microsoft had intervened, and that LG had agreed to disable the pop-up ads.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

LG offered this statement to Windows Latest: "LG Electronics reiterates that McAfee is not installed automatically and is never installed without the user’s explicit consent."

But that was not, as it turned out, the only case of intrusive ads on LG screens. Tom Warren at The Verge also took to X to criticize LG for serving ads on his TV homescreen. He didn't mince words.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

There may be many such complaints to come. In March at the advertiser event IAB NewFronts, LG's Ad Solutions division boasted that its home screen was the ideal place to serve video ads from the moment users turn on their TVs.

As Adweek reported at the time, "LG revealed a new, seamless home screen experience, which integrates immersive, full-frame video directly into the LG TV interface, putting brands at the first moment of viewer interaction."

LG is hardly the only brand to serve ads in internet-connected products. Amazon Echo Show devices are notorious for showing ads that can't be deactivated, and Samsung faced backlash recently for serving ads for the Apple TV Show Pluribus on the doors of smart refrigerators, of all places.

But pop-up ads, universally loathed on the internet, seem to stir a special kind of outrage. The speed of the LG backlash and response is notable. Whether it's enough to stop brands like LG from serving intrusive ads "at the first moment of viewer interaction" remains to be seen.

Mashable contacted LG with questions about its advertising strategy, and we'll update this story if we receive more information.

Anthropic has unveiled a new AI model it says comes close to Claude Fable 5 in its levels of intelligence — at half the price.

Claude Opus 5 was just released by Anthropic on Friday. The AI company is already pushing the model out as the default model on Claude Max, Anthropic's highest subscription plan which starts at $100 a month. It's also the strongest available model on Claude Pro, the company's $20-per-month subscription tier.

Claude Opus 5 tops Anthropic's other models in key areas

Opus 5 is "designed to be used every day," Anthropic says, adding that it's more efficient than the company's previous models.

Most notably, the company calls Opus 5 its "most aligned model to date." This means Opus 5 abides by "human values" and safety guidelines.

When compared to prior models like Opus 4.8, Sonnet 5, or Fable 5, Opus 5 has the lowest rates of deceptiveness and is the least likely to be tricked into misuse, Anthropic says of its "safest model yet."

One intriguing test highlighted by Anthropic: how fast Opus 5 solves a problem that the model has never seen before. The company says it's three times as fast as the next-best model, and scored nearly four times higher than OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol.

Claude Opus 5 benchmarks

Credit: Anthropic

Compared to Fable 5, Opus 5 performs better or the same in the vast majority of Anthropic benchmark tests. (Notable exceptions: health and legal benchmarks). It beats OpenAI's GPT 5.6 Sol in every benchmark except for Agentic coding.

Anthropic is especially proud of Opus 5's science benchmarks, calling the model the "most capable generally available model for scientific research." Still, Mythos 5 beats Opus 5 in areas such as biology research.

Cybersecurity is another area where Opus 5 falls behind, and that's by design. Anthropic says it purposefully left such tasks out of Opus 5's training. The model can still find vulnerabilities as it expands its dataset, but is much worse at exploiting them than Mythos and previous models.

The choice is a notable one in the wake of an OpenAI agent recently going rogue and hacking a client's server. Opus 5 was clearly trained by Anthropic with safeguards in mind.

How to try Claude Opus 5

Claude Opus 5 is available as of Friday July 24, across Anthropic's platforms.

Opus 5 is now the default AI model on Claude Max and the strongest available model on Claude Pro. The model costs $5 per million input tokens and $25 per million output tokens, which is equivalent to Opus 4.8's pricing.

The general perception of RAMageddon has been, for a while now, that it will get worse before it gets better. Qualcomm is seemingly confirming that.

Bloomberg reported on Friday that the chip maker, whose chips can be found in all of Samsung's new foldables, Windows laptops, and smartwatches, has reportedly told clients to expect a price increase on its products for anything shipped after Sept. 1. The specific size of the price increase is not known at this time, but Bloomberg said it will be a percentage in the double digits, so it's not a small one.

All of this, of course, was attributed to rising memory component costs due to the AI spending spree. AI companies are in the midst of a huge data center construction boom, and the industry requires massive amounts of memory. This phenomenon, commonly called RAMageddon, has contributed to a wave of price increases across the tech industry, and it doesn't show any signs of slowing down.

In our previous reporting on the global memory crisis, experts have told Mashable the situation will likely get worse before it gets better. International Data Corporation research manager Jitesh Ubrani told Mashable earlier this year that relief will likely not happen until at least 2028, and even then, don't expect much.

"The memory supply will remain tight from a device's perspective for the remainder of 2026 and well into 2027," Ubrani told Mashable in May. "We will see some alleviation in 2028, but keep in mind that prices will continue to rise throughout. And even in 2028, assuming this new [memory] capacity comes online and is able to provide some alleviation, we don't see device prices dropping significantly."

In other words: Ouch. Not good.

Mini, pocket-sized e-readers are having a moment. The Xteink e-readers are catching eyes for their truly pocket-sized build that can even attach to the back of your iPhone. Well, they're not the only ones embracing the mini e-reader: Boox just revealed its Picco.

The Boox Picco (cutest name ever?) comes with a 3.97-inch monochrome ePaper display. It's even smaller than Boox's current smallest tablet, the Palma Pro. It will have a front light and TF card support, too. And well, that's about all we know about the mini e-reader at the moment.

While no exact price was provided, in a press release, Boox says the Picco has an "accessible price point." There's no release date available for the Picco at this time, either.

The Boox Picco is a phenomenal development for readers looking to get a mini e-reader. While I do love the concept and size of the Xteink e-reader, the issue is that those e-readers only support DRM-free files. This means if you use Libby or have a bountiful Kindle library, you can't access any of those books on an Xteink e-reader.

However, the Boox ecosystem is far more expansive. As long as the Picco has access to the Google Play store, users will be able to download the Kindle, Kobo, and Libby apps. That means any of the books you read on your Kindle can be accessed and synced on the Picco.

Boox has yet to confirm that the Picco has the same ecosystem as the rest of its e-readers, but if it does, that's massive potential for such a small e-reader.

Prime Video released the teaser for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power at San Diego Comic-Con, and things are looking bad for Middle-earth.

Season 3 picks up five years after the fall of Eregion, with Sauron (Charlie Vickers) now comfortably in control of Middle-earth. His armies have swept across the world, and only a few places remain free from his dark grasp. The dwarves have shut themselves away in Khazad-dûm, while the elves remain ensconced in the realms of Lindon and Rivendell, protected by their three rings of power. Their time of relative safety may be coming to a close, though, because Sauron is hard at work on his greatest piece of statement jewelry yet: a little bauble called the One Ring. Surely that won't cause any problems, right?

The teaser isn't all doom and gloom, though. It offers up our first glimpse of the reunion between Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and her long-lost husband, Celeborn (Jamie Campbell Bower), who share some passionate moments even as the world crumbles around them.

Celeborn isn't the only new character joining this season. The Rings of Power Comic-Con panel also saw the announcement of three major players this season: Thrain (Eddie Marsan), older brother of King Durin IV (Owain Arthur); Anarion (Andrew Richardson), the younger son of Elendil (Lloyd Owen); and Marnûkh (Adam Young), a mysterious Orc. Oh, and for the first time ever, the ferocious Balrog will be speaking, and will be voiced by Simon Pegg. More Balrog can only mean one thing: Khazad-dûm isn't long for this world.

To watch all these characters and more — including the Nazgnagôl, early incarnations of the Nazgûl — in action, check out the full teaser above.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3 premieres Nov. 11 on Prime Video.

In a sea of bad headlines for PlayStation, a big network outage probably isn't going to help.

PS5 owners logged into their consoles on Friday to find that PlayStation Network, the online infrastructure that makes everything from game purchases to online matches work, was experiencing an outage. Multiple sources, both primary and secondary, confirm this, as DownDetector shows a steady stream of complaints starting on Friday morning and continuing into the afternoon. On top of that, PlayStation's own server status page showed that all services were experiencing issues at the time of publication.

Credit: Screenshot courtesy of PlayStation

Mashable has reached out to Sony for comment and will update this article if we receive a response. As of early Friday afternoon, the PlayStation support account on X had not acknowledged the outage at all.

All of this comes amidst a very, very rough time for PlayStation's public relations.

PS5 consoles recently saw price increases nearly six years after the initial launch, and word is that the next PlayStation console might cost north of $1,000 whenever it launches. If that wasn't bad enough, every single PlayStation social media account has been hounded by angry comments from players who are aghast at Sony's recent decision to stop manufacturing games on physical discs in 2028.

Needless to say, this is not the best time for a major, unexplained network outage.

This is a developing story...

Google made nearly $120 billion in earnings last quarter. Somehow, that still was not enough to cover what the company is pouring into AI.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, announced Wednesday, July 22, that it recorded negative free cash flow of $5.9 billion for the second quarter of 2026, marking the first time that figure has fallen below zero since the company went public. Google generated $39.1 billion in operating cash flow, but spent $44.9 billion on capital projects, with most of the money going toward the servers, data centers, and networking equipment needed to support its AI products.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

To be clear, Google is still making plenty of money. In the Q2 2026 earnings report, the company disclosed $119.8 billion in quarterly revenue, a 24 percent increase from the same period last year. Its operating income reached $40.8 billion, while its net income climbed to a record $112.1 billion.

There is an important catch to that record profit, however. Much of it came from Alphabet’s investments rather than its main businesses. The company reported approximately $98 billion in other, primarily from unrealized gains in its portfolio of equity investments. Those gains reflect assets that increased in value but were not necessarily sold for cash.

Free cash flow offers a look at the money Google actually had left after covering its operating expenses and investments in assets such as equipment and facilities. The company typically produces billions of dollars in free cash flow each quarter. This time, though, its rapidly growing infrastructure costs consumed more cash than its businesses generated.

And Google does not plan to slow down.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Also on July 22, the company raised its expected capital spending for 2026 to between $195 billion and $205 billion. Google had previously told investors during its first-quarter earnings report on April 29 that it expected to spend between $180 billion and $190 billion this year. The updated forecast would be more than twice the approximately $91 billion it spent in 2025.

The bill is expected to keep growing next year. During Alphabet’s call on Wednesday, Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi told investors that capital expenditures would increase "significantly" again in 2027.

"We expect that free cash flow will remain under pressure driven by our investments in technical infrastructure, which enable us to capitalize on the AI opportunity and continue to drive attractive returns," Ashkenazi said.

So, where is all that money going?

According to Ashkenazi, approximately 60 percent of Google’s technical infrastructure spending during the quarter went toward servers. The remaining 40 percent went toward data centers and networking equipment.

Google also said it needs that additional capacity to meet demand from outside cloud customers and support its own products, including Search, Gemini, and Google Workspace. There are already signs that some of the spending is paying off: Google reported that Cloud revenue reached $24.8 billion during the quarter, an 82 percent increase from the previous year, while its operating income more than tripled to $8.8 billion.

Google’s other major businesses continued to grow, too. The company also reported that Search advertising generated $63.3 billion, YouTube advertising brought in $11.1 billion, and revenue from subscriptions, platforms, and devices reached $12.9 billion. Google said demand for AI subscriptions helped boost its Google One business.

They are hardly the only company writing enormous checks for AI. Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta are collectively expected to invest more than $700 billion this year, largely in data centers, chips, and electricity required to build and run their AI systems.

Investors, however, did not appear reassured by Google’s growth. Alphabet shares fell nearly 7 percent on Thursday, July 23, the day after the company raised its spending forecast and warned that free cash flow would remain under pressure.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Google still has a substantial financial cushion, but with the company already warning that infrastructure spending will climb significantly again in 2027, this may not be the last quarter in which Google’s enormous AI bill outpaces the cash coming in.

Prime Video revealed the first teaser for Blade Runner 2099 at San Diego Comic-Con, and the sneak peek is as rainy and neon-lit as you'd expect.

The sequel series, executive produced by Blade Runner director Ridley Scott, takes place 50 years after the events of Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049. In those 50 years, Los Angeles has been transformed by a replicant uprising. Now, these synthetic humans are running the show, but that doesn't mean blade runners aren't still around to hunt down any replicants who step out of line.

One of those blade runners is Olwen (Michelle Yeoh), a replicant who's tracking down a group of missing replicants who have gone rogue. With only days left to live, she'll stop at nothing to complete her mission.

She'll team up with Cora (Hunter Schafer), a human fugitive who becomes a blade runner in an attempt to finally stop running. The teaser shows her fleeing through Los Angeles and getting captured by Olwen, so it looks like their partnership will get off to a contentious start. Can this unlikely duo find the runaways and save their fragile city from total collapse?

Watch the full teaser above to see Olwen and Cora in action, plus the return of the iconic Voight-Kampff test.

Blade Runner 2049 also stars Dimitri Abold, Lewis Gribben, Katelyn Rose Downey, Daniel Rigby, Johnny Harris, Amy Lennox, Sheila Atim, Matthew Needham, Tom Burke, and Maurizio Lombardi.

Blade Runner 2049 premieres Nov. 20 on Prime Video.

Jimothy has crossed Seattle streets and climbed neighborhood staircases, and now he's wandered into the gaming world.

The unusually shaped raccoon became an internet celebrity after Seattle resident Kiana Hall spotted him in the city’s Ballard neighborhood on July 13, 2026. Since then, his compact torso, rounded back, and long legs have inspired memes, murals, tattoos, merchandise, and an expanding collection of digital recreations.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Players and developers have already begun recreating Jimothy across video games and tabletop worlds. And now, one of gaming’s biggest studios is preparing to make room for him.

“You asked, Jimothy answered,” the official World of Warcraft X account wrote on July 24. “Coming soon to Azeroth.”

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

It is the latest step in Jimothy’s rapid transformation from neighborhood raccoon to cross-platform gaming character.

How Jimothy scurried his way into gaming

Before Jimothy became a prospective Azeroth resident, he was simply an unusual-looking raccoon walking beneath a parked car in Seattle.

Hall initially mistook the animal for a cat, then began recording when he emerged with the masked face of a raccoon and a noticeably shortened torso and neck. She named him Jimothy because, as she later explained to Today.com, he simply looked like one.

The brief video accumulated millions of views. Experts believe Jimothy’s appearance may be caused by a congenital spinal deformity resembling short spine syndrome. Despite his compressed build, videos show him walking, climbing, finding food, and independently navigating the neighborhood.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Those same physical features also made him immediately recognizable when artists began translating him into different virtual worlds. Some redrew Jimothy in their games’ established art styles, while others creatively repurposed existing character models to reproduce his distinctive silhouette.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

In an Old School RuneScape tribute, Jimothy becomes a low-poly raccoon who looks as though he has always been wandering through Gielinor. Mouse: P.I. For Hire transported him to Mouseburg, redrawing him in the black-and-white rubber-hose animation style of its 1930s-inspired world.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Dead by Daylight gave him a horror makeover complete with glowing features and bloody tentacles. The official Sims account attempted to build him using a human Sim, producing a character who resembled someone wearing a slightly unsettling raccoon costume.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Halo’s interpretation required another inventive workaround. Rather than creating a new animal model, senior community manager John Junyszek bent a Spartan onto all fours and extended its neck and feet to imitate Jimothy’s proportions.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Other images placed the resulting raccoon-like soldier near Master Chief’s crashed escape pod in scenes based on Halo: Combat Evolved and its Campaign Evolved remake.

Jimothy also reached several other established gaming worlds. Warner Bros. Games imagined that he had arrived in Gotham City, while the teams behind Among Us and Cult of the Lamb redesigned him to fit their respective visual styles.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Most of these official tributes exist only as images. Fans and modders, however, have gone further by turning Jimothy into a character people can actually play with.

Fans make Jimothy playable

Artist and entrepreneur Chris Pirillo built an entire browser game around Jimothy. The four-level, NES-style game borrows elements from classic arcade titles including Frogger and the original Donkey Kong, transforming parts of the raccoon’s real and imagined adventures into short challenges.

One level asks players to help Jimothy cross traffic, while others involve raiding garbage cans, escaping paparazzi, and climbing ladders.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Fans have also inserted Jimothy into several popular games through mods. In Skyrim, one fan-made addition turns him into a character players can approach and speak with. Stardew Valley modders have created multiple versions, including options that let players keep Jimothy as livestock or purchase him from Marnie as a companion.

In Minecraft, a creator modified the raccoon from the Naturalist add-on to match Jimothy’s proportions, translating his shortened body and long legs into the game’s blocky visual style.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Dungeons & Dragons has produced one of the most elaborate interpretations so far. Its official Jimothy stat block identifies him as a "Beloved Cryptid" and gives him abilities based on both his physical appearance and the increasingly elaborate stories surrounding him.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

"Compact Frame" allows Jimothy to squeeze through gaps measuring less than four inches wide. "Hurl Garbage" lets him attack enemies with trash, dealing both bludgeoning and poison damage. The stat block contains everything players need to add him to a tabletop campaign, where he can search for food, befriend adventurers, or become an unexpectedly dangerous opponent.

Together, these official tributes and fan-made creations have allowed Jimothy to enter gaming in nearly every possible form: artwork, character models, mods, browser games, and tabletop campaigns.

The real Jimothy remains a wild animal roaming Seattle, where wildlife officials have advised people to observe him from a distance. His digital counterparts, however, are proving much easier to approach — and collect.

For some social media users, Facebook may feel like an app left behind in an online era of the past. However, for others, Facebook has reinvented itself as the modern-day Craigslist with Facebook Marketplace.

Meta seems to have taken notice and is now releasing a standalone app for the Facebook Marketplace power users who keep the platform going: It's sellers.

The new app, aptly named Seller, launched on Friday and provides Facebook Marketplace sellers with tools to list their wares and manage their current listings. 

Like Facebook Marketplace itself, the Seller app is free for users. Meta monetizes Facebook Marketplace with ads and does not take any percentage of its users' sales. Users will be able to download the app and login with their Facebook account starting today.

Credit: Facebook

Seller provides a tool to post new listings, a dashboard to manage their existing ones, an in-app inbox to reply to prospective buyers, and analytics for all of their old listings. 

Seller also introduces a few new tools for sellers as well. According to Facebook, Seller users will be able to scan their products with their smartphone, and AI will fill-out the listing details automatically.

In an interview with the New York Times, Facebook head Tom Allison said that the app would be the Marketplace seller equivalent of a video editing tool for content creators. Allison also explained how Meta is experimenting with more standalone products for Facebook's power users, which include Marketplace Sellers and Facebook Groups administrators.

As social media users move to competing platforms like TikTok and Meta's own Instagram, Facebook has found new life within specific, once-niche features on the platform. In May, Facebook launched a standalone app called Forum for its Facebook Groups power users. Now, the company is doing the same for Facebook Marketplace sellers.

Meta says that one-third of young adults who use Facebook also use Marketplace. And, every month, more than 420 million items are listed on the Marketplace platform. 

A member of the Ferrell family is going viral, although this time, comedy has very little to do with it.

Magnus Ferrell, the 22-year-old musician and oldest son of Will Ferrell, is reaching a wave of new listeners (and arguably becoming social media's summer boyfriend) through "Asleep Talking," his bedroom-pop single about being unable to stop thinking about someone, even while asleep.

"I AM SO HAPPY!" he captioned a July 3, 2026 TikTok, calling the number of new people showing love to the song "absolutely mind boggling."

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Released April 24 (but gaining fresh momentum this summer), "Asleep Talking" features understated piano and guitar production as Magnus returns to the song’s central idea: someone has occupied so much of his mind that he talks about them in his sleep. Its official video has received more than 400,000 views on YouTube and has over 600,000 streams on Spotify.

The track is also reaching some of the internet’s largest music-reaction creators. The Morning Shift Show, which has more than 1 million followers on the platform, listened and reacted to "Asleep Talking" July 23, introducing the song to its own audience — one commenter arrived on Magnus’ page writing "sent here by ma boys The Morning Shift," adding that the track was already "on repeat."

The song received another endorsement on July 1, when Ferrell appeared on Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson’s IMO podcast. Will played "Asleep Talking" for the hosts, and Obama gave the song a round of applause.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

For those unfamiliar with the Ferrell family tree beyond Will, Magnus is the oldest of the actor’s three sons with his wife, Swedish auctioneer Viveca Paulin. The couple, who married in 2000, also shares sons Mattias and Axel.

Magnus began playing piano as a child and later became interested in jazz, which gave him more freedom to improvise and develop his own approach to music. He has frequently collaborated with his longtime friend Gabe Yaron, who co-wrote the viral song.

By the time Magnus enrolled at the University of Southern California (USC), his father’s alma mater, he and Yaron were roommates, posting covers and original songs online. Magnus later took a leave of absence from USC to focus on music full-time and signed with Republic Records.

In a 2025 interview with Atwood Magazine, he described his approach as "groove therapy," or a way to share his love of music while allowing listeners to take their own feelings from it.

On TikTok and X, listeners have been finding their own ways to describe its dreamy, nostalgic sound. One called it "dancing in the kitchen making dinner sipping wine music," while another heard "Super 8 rom com vibes."

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Like many celebrity children (or "nepo-babies") pursuing careers of their own, Magnus has acknowledged that his father’s fame inevitably affects how audiences first encounter his work.

"I’m not someone who’s going to pretend it’s not a thing," Magnus also told the publication. "Most definitely, it is. I’m not going to hide it."

"Asleep Talking" may be introducing Magnus to a much larger audience, but it’s far from his first release. His earlier catalog includes tracks like "Drinks on Me," "Life or Death," and "Miss Me Vendetta," along with the EP Hasn’t Even Started. He’s also no stranger to the stage, having performed at the 2025 Summer Bash in New York and the MTV Video Music Awards that September as a solo artist.

One of Magnus’s earlier tracks made its way into a project starring his father. He and Yaron wrote "Slow Down" while trying to break out of a creative rut, then sent it to Will during production of the 2025 Prime Video comedy You’re Cordially Invited. The song eventually landed in one of the movie’s party scenes. Later, at his band’s first live performance—a 2022 Cancer for College benefit—his father joined him onstage with a cowbell, recreating the instrument at the center of his famous Saturday Night Live sketch.

The father and son generated another viral moment the following year when Will DJed a USC fraternity tailgate at Magnus’ invitation. With Magnus beside him, the actor played tracks including Survivor’s "Eye of the Tiger" for the crowd.

Magnus later explained that he simply asked his dad whether he wanted to take over the music for a few minutes. Will agreed, and another Ferrell family video began making its way across social media. When asked where he learned to DJ, Magnus joked, "I got my chops from my pops."

"Asleep Talking" is producing a different introduction. This time, Will Ferrell may provide a familiar name, but Magnus has given TikTok a song it cannot get out of its head.

San Diego Comic-Con, the annual gathering for all things comic books and nerd culture, is here. This year's event kicked off on July 23 and runs through July 26, so you'd best prepare for a weekend of big reveals and new movie trailers.

This year's edition of the long-running pop culture showcase features panels from all over the world of movies, TV, video games, and maybe even a comic book or two, here and there. Our friends at IGN created an excellent rundown of the weekend's schedule of events, but there are a few announcements in particular we're looking forward to. (Mashable and IGN are both owned by the same parent company, Ziff Davis.)

So, here are some of the biggest panels and announcements we expect this weekend at SDCC 2026.

Somehow, Spaceballs returns

Comedy legend Mel Brooks just celebrated his 100th birthday, and he still has jokes to tell, as a long-awaited sequel to his old Star Wars parody, Spaceballs, is in the works. Spaceballs: The New One comes out next April. There's a panel at SDCC on Friday featuring the cast and crew of the new movie, where they will discuss the project in detail, and maybe even give us a real look at it, since it's only been shown in brief teaser form thus far.

Prime Video shows off its Blade Runner and Lord of the Rings shows

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Earlier on Friday, you can expect some new info from Amazon about two of its higher-profile streaming TV projects.

First, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is set to return for its third season, after season two took the series to new heights all the way back in 2024. Amazon's panel will feature a look at season three of the expensively produced and divisive fantasy epic.

Beyond that, Blade Runner 2099 will make its debut at this panel. The new Prime Video series stars Michelle Yeoh and Hunter Schafer and returns viewers to the bleak techno-dystopia that somehow became a nearly 50-year-long media franchise.

A look at the future of Apple TV

Apple is holding a panel focused on original Apple TV programming, which has really hit its stride recently with shows like Silo and Widow's Bay. Apple's official description for this panel is very vague, but hopefully, we'll get updates on the streaming app's best new shows. Check in on Saturday if you want to hear more about the next moves for Apple TV.

Some fresh God of War: Laufey insight

SDCC is not generally a big gaming show, especially with Gamescom coming up in August. But PlayStation will have a presence at the show, and that includes a God of War: Laufey panel on Friday night.

And finally, the MCU returns with Doomsday

You may have heard that there's a new Avengers movie coming out. I mean, there usually is, but this one seemingly has way more guys in it than usual. It also features the MCU debut of fan-favorite villain Dr. Doom, played by returning star Robert Downey Jr.

Saturday night will see a Comic-Con panel featuring Kevin Feige and other "special guests," and they should give us an idea of what to expect not just from Doomsday, but from the next year or two of the MCU.

The best TV deals to shop this weekend:

---

Best Art TV deal

Hisense 65-inch S7 Canvas Hi-QLED 4K TV

$899.99 (save $1,100)

Get Deal

---

BEST RGB TV deal

Hisense 65-inch UR8 RGB Mini LED 4K TV

$1,299.99 (save $700)

Get Deal

---

Best OLED TV deal

LG 65-Inch C6 OLED 4K TV

$1,799.99 (save $900)

Get Deal

---

Best cheap TV deal

LG 55-inch 75B QNED 4K TV

$379.99 (save $220)

Get Deal

While it's not traditionally the best time to buy a TV, I did some digging and found plenty of TVs from our favorite brands — Hisense, Samsung, LG, etc. — in all shapes and sizes for cheaper than usual.

If you've recently realized your TV is on its last leg, now's as good a time as any to make the investment in something better. With a new NFL season on the horizon and a ton of new series and movies coming to streaming, you'll be glad you upgraded.

We've rounded up the best TV deals to shop this weekend at Amazon and Best Buy below, so you can weigh your options.

Best Art TV deal

Opens in a new window

Credit: Hisense

Hisense 65-inch S7 Canvas Hi-QLED 4K TV

$899.99 at Amazon
$1,999.99 Save $1,100

 

Get Deal

Why we like it

Hisense's 2026 version of the highly popular Canvas TV features a Hi-QLED display with an AI RGB ambient light sensor. So, not only does it offer deeper color accuracy and richer hues, but it can also auto-adjust brightness and color temperature based on the lighting in the room. It also added a motion detection (and energy saving) feature that can wake up your display when you enter the room and fade when you walk away. Otherwise, it still packs the same 144Hz refresh rate, Hi-Matte design, teak frame, and free digital art library that transforms your TV into fancy artwork. As of July 24, it's down to $899.99 at Amazon, just $51 away from its record low.

Best RGB TV deal

Opens in a new window

Credit: Hisense

Hisense 65-inch UR8 RGB Mini LED 4K TV

$1,299.99 at Best Buy
$1,999.99 Save $700

 

Get Deal

Why we like it

Hisense finally launched its highly anticipated RGB TVs in early June, and just a month later, there are deals on both the UR8 and UR9 at Best Buy. The UR8 is the more affordable option (about $400 cheaper at the time of writing) and can reach a peak brightness of 3,500 nits, has a 180Hz refresh rate, and offers a panel of four HDMI ports. Of course, it also features new RGB technology that utilizes pure red, green, and blue LEDs for seriously precise lighting and color vibrancy. The entry fee for this technology can be steep, so a savings of $700 is a pretty sweet deal.

Best OLED TV deal

Opens in a new window

Credit: LG

LG 65-Inch C6 OLED 4K TV

$1,799.99 at Amazon
$2,699.99 Save $900.00

 

Get Deal

Why we like it

The C6 is LG's mid-range OLED model for 2026, so its price tag and performance are a bit more modest than the flagship G-Series. Still, it's a pretty awesome value, especially now that it's $900 off its list price. At $1,799.99 for the 65-inch model, it's just $200 more than the entry-level B-Series and $3 more than its best-ever price. Mashable's sister site PCMag calls the C6 the "best midrange OLED TV out this year," highlighting its brilliant picture, strong streaming features, hands-free voice control, 165Hz refresh rate, and, of course, its price.

More of the best TV deals this weekend

• Hisense 58-inch QD50 QLED 4K TV — $199.99 $399.99 (save $200)

• LG 55-inch 75B QNED 4K TV — $379.99 $599.99 (save $220)

• Insignia 85-inch Class F50 Series 4K Fire TV — $599.99 $899.99 (save $300)

• Insignia 85-inch QF QLED 4K TV — $629.99 $1,099.99 (save $470)

• Hisense 50-inch S7 Canvas Hi-QLED 4K TV — $647.97 $1,299.99 (save $652.02)

• Amazon 55-inch Ember Artline QLED 4K Art TV — $699.98 $899.99 (save $200.01)

• Hisense 85-inch QD6 Mini LED QLED 4K TV — $749.99 $1,099.99 (save $350)

• Samsung 55-inch The Frame Pro Neo QLED TV — $1,297.99 $1,497.99 (save $200)

• Hisense 65-inch UR8 RGB Mini LED 4K TV — $1,299.99 $1,999.99 (save $700)

• Samsung 65-inch S85H OLED 4K TV — $1,497.99 $1,997.99 (save $500)

• LG 65-Inch B6 OLED 4K TV— $1,599.99 $1,999.99 (save $400)

• TCL 75-inch QM8L SQD-Mini-LED QLED TV — $1,698.99 $2,999.99 (save 1,301)

• Hisense 65-inch UR9 RGB Mini LED 4K TV — $1,699.99 $2,199.99 (save $500)

• Samsung 65-inch S90H OLED 4K TV — $1,797.99 $2,697.99 (save $900)

• Samsung 77-inch S90F OLED 4K TV — $1,799.99 $3,499.99 (save $1,700)

• Hisense 85-inch UR8 RGB Mini LED 4K TV — $2,199.99 $3,499.99 (save $1,300)

• Hisense 85-inch UR9 RGB Mini LED 4K TV — $3,499.99 $4,499.99 (save $1,000)

Before Cindy Pham became a New York Times bestselling author, she spent years building an audience on YouTube as Read With Cindy, where nearly 600,000 subscribers tune in for her thoughtful book commentary. In today's publishing industry, that's the kind of platform many authors dream of, one that can help sell books long before readers crack open the first page.

But Pham has always been wary of turning creativity into a commodity.

She still works full-time as a graphic designer, deliberately keeping writing and content creation separate from the job that pays her bills. It's a choice that gives her the freedom to write slowly, chase ideas that genuinely excite her, and resist the pressure to create for algorithms or sales numbers.

That philosophy shapes every part of her career, from the way she approaches YouTube to the way she wrote her debut young adult novel, The Secret World of Briar Rose, a sapphic reimagining of Sleeping Beauty that asks one haunting question: What if Sleeping Beauty didn't want to wake up?

For this edition of Creator Playbook, Pham reflects on balancing three careers, navigating the blurry line between author and influencer, and why she believes the goal isn't representation — it's resonance.

Cindy Pham wants her work to outshine her platform Credit: Ian Moore/Mashable/Kokila

Mashable: Before nearly a million people followed your book recommendations on YouTube and TikTok, what was your relationship with books and reading growing up?

Cindy Pham: I actually wasn't a big reader growing up. I started reading avidly after I graduated from college, and I think part of it was that no one was telling me I had to read anymore. Once it became something I chose for myself instead of an assignment, I became much more interested in it.

Writing actually came first. I'd been writing since elementary school as a form of escapism. Reading came later, and thankfully, that made my writing a lot better. You're probably not going to become a good writer if you aren't reading a lot of books.

I definitely came to reading later than most people. I missed the Twilight era, The Hunger Games, Harry Potter — which, in retrospect, maybe missing Harry Potter wasn't the worst thing. But once I started a YouTube channel dedicated to talking about books, it made me much more conscious of the stories I was consuming. It helped me understand what I loved, what I didn't, and ultimately the kinds of stories I wanted to write. It was a little backward, but everything came together in the end.

What came first: the YouTube channel or the idea for The Secret World of Briar Rose?

The writing always came first. In elementary school, I'd get obsessed with a video game or TV show and write novelizations of it. In middle school, I wrote fanfiction. By high school, I was writing original fiction, and during my senior year, I wrote the first draft of The Secret World of Briar Rose. Then I went to college and put writing aside to focus on becoming a designer.

After graduation, I started reading a lot more. I was reading so much that I needed somewhere to talk about the books because posting a photo on Instagram just wasn't enough. I wanted to rant about whatever shenanigans had happened in the story, so I started a YouTube channel. Honestly, I thought I'd lose interest after a week or a month. It was just something to do. But people started watching, commenting, and subscribing, and that encouraged me to keep going.

The channel really grew alongside my interests. I've always approached content creation by making videos about whatever I'm genuinely excited about, rather than thinking, I need to make a video about this because it'll perform well. As I became more immersed in books and storytelling, my brain kept returning to that novel I'd written in high school. Only this time, I had a fully developed frontal lobe. I was more socially conscious, more politically conscious, and much more widely read.

The core of the story stayed the same. I'd always wanted to write about depression and suicidal ideation, using Sleeping Beauty as an allegory. But revisiting it as an adult gave me the tools to tell that story with a lot more depth. Reading a lot of books doesn't necessarily make you a better writer. I think it makes you a more purposeful one. It helps you figure out what you actually want from a story instead of chasing whatever the average person thinks makes a good book.

Opens in a new window

Credit: Kokila / Penguin Random House

The Secret World of Briar Rose

$15.59 at Amazon
$21.99 Save $6.40

 

Get Deal

One thing that really stood out to me is that you still work a full-time job as a graphic designer while writing books and making YouTube videos. A lot of creators wrestle with when, or whether, to quit their day jobs.

I like my job being just a job. It gives me financial security, which means I can write books and make videos because I genuinely enjoy doing them, not because I need them to pay my rent or because I need strangers on the internet to like me to make a living. That balance has been really important for me.

I see similar pressures with full-time creators and full-time authors. When your creative work becomes your entire livelihood, everything feels heavier because it's your whole world. I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket, especially living in New York. It becomes harder to enjoy what you're making when it's fully monetized, and you're constantly worrying whether you can live off it.

I'm also a very slow writer. I like to sit with ideas. I like to experience life and let that inform the story. That isn't always compatible with what publishing wants, so I'd rather create on my own timeline than someone else's.

I'm always amazed by someone like Brandon Sanderson, who's somehow writing thousand-page books every other year.

[Laughs.] That's definitely a particular kind of creative personality. I'm the turtle in that race. I like taking my time, and right now I'm also juggling three jobs: designer, content creator, and now author. That's been its own challenge.

One of the biggest buzzwords in the creator economy is authenticity. The creators who build the strongest communities are usually the ones who are the most authentic to themselves. Reading your book, it feels like that same philosophy applies here. This story feels deeply personal — not just because it draws from your experiences, but because it's rooted in the themes and worldview you wanted to explore.

I think there's definitely a lot of overlap. Being a content creator for so many years before becoming a published author helped shape that mindset. It thickened my skin when it comes to public perception, but it also reinforced something I've believed for a long time: I never want my livelihood to depend on whether people like me.

I want to create because I'm genuinely interested in something. If other people connect with it, that's wonderful. If they don't, that's OK too. I don't want validation, or my ability to pay rent, to depend on strangers enjoying my work. That's the attitude I've tried to bring into publishing as well.

Unfortunately, writers can't really just disappear into a room and write anymore. So much of publishing is now tied to your public identity. I think that's a shame, even if it's something that's ultimately worked in my favor.

We've written about that at Mashable — the way BookTok and social media have pushed authors to become content creators and marketers. Publishers increasingly want authors to have an online presence, to promote themselves alongside the book. You were already ahead of that curve because you had built a community before publishing.

I think it's a flawed system. Authors shouldn't have to become marketers. The book should be able to speak for itself.

At the same time, I recognize that I benefit from that system while also critiquing it, so I try to make the most of that privilege. One way I do that is by spotlighting other debut authors who don't have the same publisher investment or platform that I do. When The Secret World of Briar Rose debuted at No. 1, I made a point of highlighting other books that released the same day because there are so many incredible authors whose work deserves attention. A bestseller list isn't a pure meritocracy. It's also a reflection of which books publishers are willing to invest in and promote.

There's another downside, too. Because my name is so closely associated with the book, I don't think the novel will ever completely stand on its own. If someone thinks my videos are annoying, they'll probably approach the book with those assumptions. If someone loves my channel, they may expect the book to be a masterpiece before they've even opened it. Neither is really fair to the reader or the writer.

That's why it's so important for me to always come back to my North Star: why I wrote the book in the first place. It can't be about external validation or the credibility of being an author. It has to be about self-expression and writing something that would have mattered to my younger self, not writing for a market or an impossible standard. A lot of this is really about building the mental fortitude to resist the pressure of numbers, sales, and validation. I think creators and authors are fighting a lot of the same battles.

At least publishing gives you a team whose job is to worry about those numbers.

Exactly. [Laughs.] They're the ones who can worry about sales. I'm just here to have fun. The other thing that's been really meaningful is that everyone involved in the creative production of this book is a South or Southeast Asian woman. I'm Vietnamese. My editor is Pakistani. My cover artist is Filipina. My cover designer is Taiwanese. My interior designer is Black and South Asian. The imprint itself focuses on marginalized voices. So when something good happens to the book, it isn't just a win for me. It's a win for everyone who worked on it. Whenever I start getting too self-conscious, I try to think about the ripple effects. It's never just about me.

Maybe you should judge this book by its cover. Credit: Kokila / Penguin Random House

I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but I have to say: it's a gorgeous cover.

In this case, I absolutely think people should judge the book by its cover. I was lucky enough to have a lot of creative control over it. I got to put my designer hat back on and be really specific about the direction, even choosing the cover artist. That ended up being one of the most fun creative parts of the whole process.

I read your People essay, which is beautiful, and you describe how public conversations around your book made you more self-conscious about your own identity and queerness. Looking back, do you think the internet made it harder to figure yourself out, or did it ultimately push you to ask questions you might not have otherwise?

I think it's both. The internet helped me become more socially and politically conscious. Honestly, I don't think I would've realized I was queer without it. I was exposed to more queer media and more conversations about identity and diversity, which changed how I understood both myself and the stories I wanted to tell.

Before that, my writing was very heteronormative. It was very colorblind. Becoming more aware of those things changed the way I approached storytelling. I was also the only "straight" person in my friend group for a long time. I met my girlfriend through the book community online, and even before I realized I was queer myself, I was participating in queer culture through friendships and allyship.

At the same time, being perceived publicly comes with its own pressures. Early on, people assumed I was a straight woman writing a queer story, and those conversations made me second-guess myself. I started wondering, What if they're right? What if I'm exploiting something I shouldn't be? I knew why I'd made those creative choices. The queer relationship wasn't there for representation alone — it reinforced the book's themes of escapism and the oppressive forces the characters were trying to escape. But the internet doesn't always leave room for that kind of nuance.

When my girlfriend first confessed her feelings for me, I didn't have an answer right away because I'd spent so much time compartmentalizing that part of myself. Even after we started dating, I worried I was somehow "queerbaiting" her. That's such an internet thought. A normal person who's never been online wouldn't think, "Oh my God, I'm queerbaiting someone." That's something that comes from living inside internet discourse.

Overall, though, I think the positives outweigh the negatives. As I've gotten older, I've become better at separating public speculation from who I actually am. People are always going to make assumptions about you online, but they don't really know you. That's why it's so important for me to have a balanced life and relationships outside the internet.

One thing you wrote that really stayed with me was the idea that your goal wasn't representation so much as resonance. What's the difference?

I completely understand why representation matters. When I see queer stories now — or Vietnamese women in books — that means something to me. But I don't think any marginalized group is a monolith. There's no single story that can represent every queer person or every Asian person. That's why I prefer to think about resonance. I'm not trying to write a story that represents everyone. I'm trying to write something that feels true to me.

If that resonates with another queer person, or another Asian reader, that's incredible. And if someone doesn't necessarily feel represented but still connects with the emotional truth of the story, that's meaningful too. For me, that's the priority. When I'm writing, I start with the character and the themes. Once I understand who this person is and what role they play in the story, then I ask how their identity adds another layer to those themes. I don't usually start with identity and build outward from there. I know other writers do that beautifully, but resonance is the framework that makes the most sense to me.

Looking back now, after more than a decade with this story, how does the finished book differ from the one you first wrote in high school?

It really grew up alongside me. The core idea was always there. I always wanted to write about depression and mental health. But high school Cindy didn't know herself or the world the way I do now. Living life, going through depressive episodes, going to therapy, growing older... all of that gave me the emotional intelligence to write richer characters.

Even when I wasn't actively working on the manuscript, I was still writing it in a way because I was living the experiences that eventually shaped it. The first draft was mostly interested in the personal. As an adult, I realized those personal choices are political, too. If your story is about characters escaping oppressive systems, then asking what it means to ignore politics is itself a political question. Those were ideas I never would've understood as a teenager.

I think of that original manuscript as a seed. Over the years, it just kept growing new branches as I learned more about myself and the world.

I love the central question of the novel: What if Sleeping Beauty didn't want to wake up? Even as a teenager, that's such an emotionally rich question to ask.

Thank you. I also think it's important that YA stories are allowed to be dark. I was a depressed, angsty teenager, and this is exactly the kind of book I would've wanted to read. Before you can get to hope, you have to acknowledge the darkness. Hearing platitudes like "It gets better" never really resonated with me because nothing is guaranteed.

I think it's more honest to say that there are objectively awful things in the world, and we still owe it to ourselves and to each other to stay here and help one another. Holding both of those truths at once is what growth looks like.

Where to preorder the new Samsung Galaxy phones

---

Samsung

Galaxy Z Flip 8

$1,199.99 at Samsung

Pre-Order Here

---

Amazon

Galaxy Z Flip 8

$1,199.99 at Amazon (get a $200 Amazon gift card)

Pre-Order Here

---

T-Mobile

Galaxy Z Flip 8

$1,199.99 at T-Mobile (save up to $1,100 when you add a new line)

Pre-Order Here

---

Amazon

Galaxy Z Fold 8

$1,899.99 at Amazon (get a $350 Amazon gift card)

Pre-Order Here

---

Samsung

Galaxy Z Fold 8

$1,899.99 at Samsung

Pre-Order Here

---

T-Mobile

Galaxy Z Fold 8

$1,899.99 at T-Mobile (get it for $0 with eligible trade-in)

Pre-Order Here

---

AT&T

Galaxy Z Fold 8

$1,899.99 at AT&T (get it for $0 with eligible trade-in)

Pre-Order Here

---

Samsung

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra

$2,099.99 at Samsung

Pre-Order Here

---

Amazon

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra

$2,099.99 at Amazon (get a $350 Amazon gift card)

Pre-Order Here

---

T-Mobile

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra

$2,099.99 at T-Mobile (save up to $1,100 when you add a new line)

Pre-Order Here

New Samsung phones are here. At Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026, three new phones were announced: the Galaxy Z Flip 8, Galaxy Z Fold 8, and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. The new phones are successors to the Z Flip 7 and Z Fold 7, so if you're ready for a new phone, get ready to preorder these devices.

We've been anticipating the new models for weeks, vetting rumors of what's to come with the latest foldables. Now that we're here, we can finally confirm exactly which models are available and just how much each will cost.

Galaxy Z Flip 8, Z Fold 8, and Z Fold 8 Ultra pricing breakdown

Here's the pricing breakdown:

• Galaxy Z Flip 8 (pink, graphite, cream, mint) — starting at $1,199

• Galaxy Z Fold 8 (lavender, graphite, cream, pistachio) — starting at $1,899.99

• Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra (violet shadow, graphite, cream, green shadow) — starting at $2,099.99

Both the Z Flip 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra are $100 more than last year's models; no surprise in the face of the global memory crisis. All of the new models are up for preorder as of July 22 and will be available Aug. 7.

If you've previously owned the Z Flip and Fold series, the successive models are slightly different. So here's what you need to know about the new Samsung smartphones.

About the Galaxy Z Flip 8

The Galaxy Z Flip 8 is the successor to the Z Flip 7. Credit: Joseph Maldonado / CNET Group

The Galaxy Z Flip 8 is the successor to the Z Flip 7. It folds down into a pocket-sized square, flipping open to a 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED display. The display is phenomenal and extremely impressive, the crease of the phone indistinguishable when flipped open. It comes with a dual lens camera with up to 10x zoom and 4K video, filming at 60 fps. It has 12GB of RAM (more than some computers) and either 256GB or 512GB of storage space.

The Z Flip 8 comes in four different colors: pink, graphite, cream, and mint (online only). It starts at $1,199.99.

Galaxy Z Flip 8

$1,199.99 at Amazon

 

Pre-order Here at Amazon Pre-order Here at Samsung Pre-order Here at T-Mobile

About the Galaxy Z Fold 8

The dimensions of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 are suspiciously close to the leaked foldable iPhone. Credit: Joseph Maldonado / CNET Group

Apple has yet to release a foldable iPhone, but Samsung has already come out with a phone destined to compete. Rumors were floating about this model, with some thinking it would be called the Galaxy Z Fold Wide. Now we know it's actually the Galaxy Z Fold 8, a new model with a fullscreen ratio of 4:3.

It's a midrange option between the Z Flip 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra, with a 5.5-inch folded screen and a 7.6-inch full-size screen. Like the Flip, it has a dual lens camera, but is able to film in up to 8K at 30 fps. You can go for models with 12GB of RAM and either 256GB or 512GB of storage, or a model with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.

The Z Fold 8 starts at $1,899.99. It comes in lavender, graphite, cream, and pistachio (online only).

Galaxy Z Fold 8

$1,899.99 at Samsung

 

Pre-order Here at Samsung Pre-order Here at Amazon Pre-order Here at T-Mobile

About the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra

The successor to the Z Fold 7 is the Z Fold 8 Ultra. Credit: Joseph Maldonado / CNET Group

If you've previously seen or used the Z Fold 7, its successor is the new Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. It's the largest phone among all of Samsung's foldables with a 6.5-inch cover screen and an 8-inch full screen. It's the only foldable with a three-lens camera, letting you film in up to 8K with 3x optical and 30x space zoom.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra comes in violet shadow, graphite, cream, and green shadow (online only). It starts at $2,099.99.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra

$2,099.99 at Amazon

 

Pre-order Here at Amazon Pre-order Here at Samsung Pre-order Here at T-Mobile

GET A FREE $200 GIFT CARD: Pre-order the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 for $1,199.99 at Amazon by August 6 and get a $200 gift card for free.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 Unlocked Cell Phone + $200 Gift Card, 256GB Graphite

$1,199.99 at Amazon

 

Pre-order Here at Amazon

Getting a new phone is almost never cheap. But if you're already planning to upgrade to Samsung's latest flip phone, you might as well get paid to do it.

Right now, if you pre-order the 256GB Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 in Graphite at Amazon for $1,199.99, they'll throw in a $200 Amazon gift card. You just have to place your order by August 6 (its official release date is August 7).

The Z Flip 8 features a 6.7-inch main screen and a 4.1-inch cover screen (which Samsung calls the FlexWindow). It lets you check notifications and send messages without opening your phone. As for the cameras, you get a 50MP wide lens and a 12MP ultrawide lens on the back, plus a 10MP front camera. Thanks to the folding design, you can set it down half-open on a table to take hands-free photos or shoot Super Steady video — no tripod required.

Considering a $200 gift card basically covers your screen protectors, a durable case, and a few other things in your cart, this is a pretty good pre-order bonus.

Oura isn't the only one with a new smart ring. RingConn, a subscription-free alternative, just dropped its Gen 3 smart ring. It measures all the essential biometrics you want in a smart ring, and works around the screen-free design with a new innovation: a vibration motor.

The announcement of the new RingConn Gen 3 also comes the same week as Garmin announced the Cirqa, a tracker that looks noticeably similar to Whoop's health trackers.

About the RingConn Gen 3 Smart Ring

The new RingConn Gen 3 comes in 10 sizes and five finishes. Credit: RingConn

What sets RingConn apart from fellow smart ring maker Oura is that it is subscription-free, meaning once you buy the ring, there's no recurring cost. The new Gen 3 comes in 10 sizes (6 to 16) and five different finishes, including silver, gold, black, brushed silver, and brushed rose gold.

The new ring claims outstanding battery life, up to 14 days, one of the longest of any fitness tracker we've seen. However, it's a bit shorter if you have vibration turned on. The vibration motor is a new addition to the Gen 3, notifying you of health alerts, sedentary reminders, and low battery.

When Oura launched the Oura Ring 5, its slimmer design was the headline, and the RingConn Gen 3 is only slightly bigger. It has a thickness of 2.3mm and a width of 6.8mm, while the Oura Ring 5 is 2.28mm thick and 6.09mm wide.

Take the RingConn Gen 3 with you in the water as its waterproof up to 100m. Credit: RingConn

The Gen 3 now detects blood pressure and sleep apnea, although neither feature is FDA-cleared. It's water-resistant, waterproof up to 100m.

Included with RingConn Gen 3 models is a travel charging case, which provides over 150 days of battery life.

The RingConn Gen 3 starts at $349 (brushed finishes cost $369) and is now available to order from RingConn and Amazon.

RingConn Gen 3

$349 at Amazon

 

Shop Now at Amazon Shop Now at RingConn

SAVE $800: As of July 24, LG's 83-inch OLED evo AI 4K C6 Series Smart TV is down to $4,499.99 at Amazon. That's a 15% discount off its usual $5,299.99 price.

Opens in a new window

Credit: LG

LG 83-inch OLED evo C6 Series Smart TV

$4,499.99 at Amazon
$5,299.99 Save $800

 

Get Deal

LG's 83-inch OLED evo 4K TV just dropped to $4,499.99 at Amazon, a 15% discount that saves you $800. If a bigger screen has been on your radar, this one delivers — 83 inches of OLED, with AI upscaling that cleans up older or lower-res content too.

This TV can get up to 3.2x brighter in the highlights, and since it's OLED, you still get deep, true blacks along with that brightness — over 8.3 million individually lit pixels mean the contrast looks accurate instead of washed out. The processor is fast too, so menus and streaming apps load and respond quickly.

For movies, you get Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, plus a Filmmaker Mode that shows the film the way it was actually shot, without extra picture enhancements added on top. If you game, this TV supports a 165Hz refresh rate, both NVIDIA G-Sync and AMD FreeSync, and a 0.1ms response time, so fast-moving games look smooth without lag.

The OLED Care feature is built to help protect the screen's picture quality over time, and the TV runs on webOS, LG's smart TV platform, which now includes Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot for AI-assisted searching and streaming.

83 inches of pure OLED confidence — grab LG's evo 4K C6 Series Smart TV on Amazon before it goes back to full price.

Folding phones have a pricing problem — but Apple may answer that with a new leasing program. CNET’s Bridget Carey explains how challenges around Apple’s folding iPhone remind her of the criticism of Apple’s first iPhone 19 years ago.

Facebook's got a new way to stop scammers on its platform: A "Verified" badge that every real human can get for free.

In a blog post published Friday, Facebook explained that the primary reason for the move is AI, which "makes it easier to generate content, profiles, and messages."

To make it easier to tell which is which, Facebook Verified is a badge that any user can obtain by going through the process of recording a short video selfie. Facebook then checks whether it matches your existing profile photos, which should take just a few minutes.

There are a few caveats, though. The badge is available for users 18 years and older who are in good standing with the company's Community Standards, which means they should not be flagged for fraud, scams, and deceptive practices, and should exhibit no evidence for inauthentic behavior (check out Meta's policy on that here).

Also, the badge is not available for Pages or ProMode accounts.

At first, the badge will only show in places where "it matters most," which means Marketplace, Dating, Groups, and Profile. Facebook says it'll add badges in Feed posts "over time."

The Facebook Verified program will be rolled out in phases starting in "select markets," but Facebook plans to expand it globally.

One of the key points of Facebook Verified is that it's free. In 2023, Facebook's parent Meta introduced "Meta Verified," a paid subscription bundle that included verification, similar to the post-Elon Musk checkmark on X.

Sleek sex toy brand LELO is riding the red light therapy craze with the Mona Spectra, a "red light intimate wellness massager."

In dermatology, red light therapy has been studied for uses like skin rejuvenation, acne, hair growth, and wound healing, dermatologist Shoshana Marmon told Mashable over email. Marmon is an assistant professor of dermatology and director of clinical research at New York Medical College and chair of the American Academy of Dermatology's (AAD) Menopause and Women’s Health in Dermatology within AAD's Division of Science and Quality.

She wrote, "Some studies are promising, particularly for modest improvements in wrinkles and collagen production, but the results depend on the wavelength, dose, and device being used."

You've probably seen red light in the form of masks that take up someone's whole face. There are also wands and panels on the market — and now, vibrators.

The Mona Spectra is an internal toy meant to stimulate the G-spot (an area inside the vagina part of the clitorial network known to cause intense orgasms if triggered a certain way), and it's the latest addition to LELO's Mona line of G-spot vibrators. But it's the first to include red light in the wand, which, according to the product page, "stimulates collagen and elastin production, supports tissue elasticity, natural lubrication and sensitivity."

The LED light also emits thermal energy, which helps increase blood flow, the page states. "The result is a gentle yet powerful activation of your body's own renewal processes, which enhance both intimate wellness and sensation from within."

(The product can also emit blue light, which LELO states has an anti-inflammatory function, and green light, which the company states has a calming effect on the skin and may help with hyperpigmentation.)

Regarding red light, Marmon wrote that LELO's claims seem to go beyond what has been studied. The limited vaginal research has involved postmenopausal women with a condition called genitourinary syndrome of menopause or GSM, which is a condition caused by declining estrogen. GSM can lead to vaginal dryness, burning, pain with sex, and urinary symptoms, Marmon wrote.

"A few studies suggest that red-light therapy may improve some GSM symptoms or measurements of vaginal health," Marmon wrote. "However, most studies have been small, lacked a placebo group or focused on urinary incontinence. The research has not established that red light improves sexual sensitivity, and it has not been meaningfully studied in healthy women without GSM."

There's limited research on red light therapy in this area, and there's no strong evidence that a toy like the Mona Spectra improves lubrication, tissue elasticity, or sexual sensitivity.

LELO, meanwhile, told Mashable that the efficacy of red light technology is supported by a substantial body of well-documented scientific research. "Although evidence regarding its utility for chronic pain management and athletic recovery remains inconclusive or mixed, empirical data substantiates its application in several key areas," the company said, including specific wavelengths and near-infrared light that stimulate the production of collagen and fibroblasts (which makes collagen).

Like Marmon, LELO also acknowledged that research suggests red light therapy helps with acne and hair loss.

LELO clarified that the Mona Spectra isn't a medical device, and no medical claims have been made. The toy's development is based on the research from reputable institutions, the company's internal research and development department, and comprehensive testing throughout all primary phases of product engineering. 

This was all done to ensure product safety — and, according to the AAD, red light therapy use is safe in the short term.

The company is overseeing customer experience through studies, such as one currently underway in Spain. 

"Consequently, the LELO Mona Spectra is designed strictly as a wellness and pleasure device, integrating the advantages of red light technology to enhance intimate well-being via a non-hormonal, non-invasive methodology," LELO told Mashable. 

The benefits of the Mona Spectra haven't been proven, Marmon said. But, like early adopters of red light therapy masks, there might be those out there who want to be the first to try it out. LELO's Mona Spectra is available on its website for $299.

TL;DR: Becky G has partnered with Patrón on a limited-edition Our Rainwater Collection for National Tequila Day, including a $60 Patrón Silver bottle (available starting today, only 350 made) and a $42.99 Patrón Silver collectible tin, both containing 750ml bottles of tequila. The collab supports Patrón's funding of 200 rainwater-harvesting systems in Jalisco, Mexico, in partnership with the nonprofit Isla Urbana.

Becky G has partnered with Patrón for National Tequila Day, and it's a pretty personal collab. She's been name-dropping the brand in her recent single Patrona, and now helped design two limited-edition products with them. There's a $60 Patrón Silver bottle (only 350 exist, dropping today) and a $42.99 Patrón Silver tin, both containing 750ml bottles of tequila.

The design itself has plenty of meaning behind it — both products lean into blue and green tones meant to represent water. Patrón is funding 200 rainwater-harvesting systems across Jalisco, Mexico, in partnership with the nonprofit Isla Urbana, and the collection is a nod to that partnership. As the campaign puts it, "every drop counts."

Jalisco holds real significance for Becky G since it's tied to her family's roots. In her own words: "It's where Patrón is made and where all four of my abuelitos are from. Working with Patrón on Our Rainwater Project Limited-Edition Patrón Silver gave us an opportunity to celebrate that connection, while helping shine a light on something incredibly important."

Credit: Patrón

The $60 Silver bottle is available to pre-order starting July 24. It's the same Patrón Silver we know and love — crystal clear, with fruit and citrus notes, a smooth, slightly sweet taste, and a light pepper finish (40% ABV, 750ml) — just in Becky G's custom bottle design, complete with a custom cork and wearable scarf.

The tin, meanwhile, is available at spirits retailers nationwide and on Reservebar for $42.99 while supplies last. It's got the same tequila inside with the same taste profile, ABV, and bottle size — but in a differently designed package themed around the Isla Urbana collab.

Credit: Patrón

Every drop counts, but this drop won't last — grab the limited-edition Our Rainwater Collection before it's gone.

SAVE OVER $10: As of July 24, the Lego Art Vincent Van Gogh Sunflowers is on sale for $181.45 at Amazon. That's $18.54 off its full price of $199.99.

Opens in a new window

Credit: Lego

Lego Art Vincent Van Gogh Sunflowers Building Set (31215)

$181.45 at Amazon
$199.99 Save $18.54

 

Get Deal

Lego's Art line is full of amazing builds that recreate unforgettable works of art (with some incredible new sets coming soon). If you're particularly fond of the Vincent Van Gogh Sunflowers and hoping to add it to your collection, we have good news: Amazon has it on sale for $181.45.

Usually, this Lego set is priced at $199.99, so this offer saves you just over $18. It's also not terribly far off from its lowest-ever price at the retailer. Price tracker camelcamelcamel lists it at $171.16.

This Lego set is a fun brick-built reimagining of Van Gogh's Sunflowers painting, created in collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Consisting of 2,615 pieces, you'll create the iconic artwork that features 16 bright yellow sunflowers in a vase. It even comes with a tile featuring Van Gogh’s signature that helps bring it all together.

Alongside the painting itself, you'll also piece together a removable frame for it, and there's even a hanger element on the back. With that, you can put it up for display after you're finished building it.

If the Lego Art Vincent Van Gogh Sunflowers set has been on your radar, this is an excellent opportunity to grab it for less at Amazon.

Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.

What happens when Kevin Hart, Marcello Hernández, Ben Marshall, Kam Patterson, and Mason Gooding draft their dream bachelor party lineups? Pure comedy chaos!

Mashable's Executive Producer, Mark Stetson, met up with the hilarious stars from Netflix's '72 Hours' to find out who they would invite to their ideal bachelor party.

In this draft, the cast of 72 Hours picks from a star-studded roster featuring Will Ferrell, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Bad Bunny, Adam Sandler, Tracy Morgan, and more. From attempted trades to hilarious debate over who can actually handle the vibe, watch to see whose squad comes out on top!

72 Hours in now streaming on Netflix.

How to live stream 2026 F1 for free:

---

Best Apple TV Deal

Apple TV

7-day free trial

Shop Now

---

Best Prime Video Deal

Apple TV Prime Video Channel

7-day free trial

Shop Now

---

Best Apple One Deal

Apple One

30-day free trial

Shop Now

This season of F1 is unlike any other. Every season of F1 has a number of fascinating storylines to follow, but due to a major set of regulation changes, there's so much uncertainty right now. And uncertainty can lead to exciting racing.

Lando Norris secured an incredible title victory on the final day of last season. Now the pressure is on McLaren to defend that title against a long list of talented drivers and motivated teams. The likes of George Russell, Kimi Antonelli, Charles Leclerc, and Lewis Hamilton are all challenging for race wins this season. Mercedes are the team to beat this season, but Ferrari are not far behind.

If you are interested in watching F1 2026 for free from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

What is F1?

Formula One (F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars. A season consists of a series of races (Grands Prix) that take place in multiple countries and continents on either purpose-built circuits or closed public roads.

Lando Norris is the defending champion. McLaren won the Constructors Championship in 2025.

When is F1 in 2026?

The 2026 F1 season is the 77th edition of the championship. This year's championship features 24 Grands Prix events held all over the world between March and December:

1. Australian Grand Prix — March 8

2. Chinese Grand Prix — March 15

3. Japanese Grand Prix — March 29

4. Miami Grand Prix — May 3

5. Canadian Grand Prix — May 24

6. Monaco Grand Prix — June 7

7. Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix — June 14

8. Austrian Grand Prix — June 28

9. British Grand Prix — July 5

10. Belgian Grand Prix — July 19

11. Hungarian Grand Prix — July 26

12. Dutch Grand Prix — Aug. 23

13. Italian Grand Prix — Sept. 6

14. Spanish Grand Prix — Sept. 13

15. Azerbaijan Grand Prix — Sept. 26

16. Singapore Grand Prix — Oct. 11

17. United States Grand Prix — Oct. 25

18. Mexico City Grand Prix — Nov. 1

19. São Paulo Grand Prix — Nov. 8

20. Las Vegas Grand Prix — Nov. 21

21. Qatar Grand Prix — Nov. 29

22. Abu Dhabi Grand Prix — Dec. 6

It's important to note that these dates are only for race days. The Chinese, Miami, Canadian, British, Dutch, and Singapore GPs will host a sprint race.

How to watch F1 for free

For the first time, Apple TV has made an entire F1 race weekend available for free to viewers in the U.S., with live coverage of the Austrian Grand Prix from June 26–28. Fans can watch every session live on Apple TV — including practice, qualifying, and Sunday’s Grand Prix — with no subscription required.

In the U.S., F1 is now exclusive to Apple TV. If you want access to the whole season, an Apple TV subscription costs $12.99 per month or $99 per year.

Apple TV

Opens in a new window

Credit: Apple TV

Apple TV (7-day free trial)

Apple TV comes with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers. This is a sneaky trick, but you could sign up to watch the next F1 race and then cancel your subscription before you need to spend anything. This obviously isn't a long-term fix, but it does give you the opportunity to live stream select F1 race weekends for free.

Shop Now

Apple TV Prime Video Channel

Opens in a new window

Credit: Amazon

Apple TV Prime Video Channel (7-day free trial)

Already an Amazon Prime member? You're in luck. You can sign up for a 7-day free trial of Apple TV+ through Prime Video Channels. This lets you watch select F1 races live with the Prime Video app. The subscription typically costs £9.99 per month after the trial ends, but you can cancel at any time. That means you can watch select races without actually spending anything.

Shop Now

Apple One

Opens in a new window

Credit: Apple One

Apple One (30-day free trial)

Apple One bundles Apple TV with Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness Plus, Apple News Plus, and 50GB of iCloud Storage for $19.95 per month after a one-month free trial. Time it right and this trial could provide access to up to four race weekends for free. You do need to be a new or returning subscriber to each of the included services to get the free trial.

Shop Now

It's worth noting that the best Apple TV free-trial offer comes with purchases of new Apple devices. New subscribers can get three months of Apple TV for free after purchasing any eligible Apple product, including iPhones, iPads, Macs, or Apple TVs. This special offer goes live for 90 days after the new device is activated — that's a good chunk of the season.

TL;DR: Sign up for a 7-day free trial of Apple TV+ through Prime Video Channels to watch select F1 races for free. Watch the Hungarian GP for free with the Prime Video app.

Opens in a new window

Credit: Amazon

Apple TV Prime Video Channel

Watch the Hungarian GP for free with a 7-day trial

Shop Now

Another weekend, another battle between the best drivers in the world. Seriously, what would we all do without a little bit of F1 to see us through to Monday?

This season of F1 continues to throw up interesting storylines. Mercedes is flying at the top of the standings, but there are clearly some issues between George Russell and his team. Meanwhile, Kimi Antonelli raced away from the competition to win again at the Belgian GP. He extended his lead over Lewis Hamilton, but Ferrari continues to cut the gap. Will we see another epic battle this weekend in Hungary?

If you want to watch F1 2026 for free from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

When is the Hungarian GP?

The Hungarian GP is the 11th race of the 2026 F1 season. Here's the full schedule from the Hungaroring:

• Practice 1 — 7:30-8:30 a.m. ET on July 24

• Practice 1 — 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET on July 24

• Practice 1 — 6:30-7:30 a.m. ET on July 25

• Qualifying — 10-11 a.m. ET on July 25

• Race — 9 a.m. ET on July 26

Fans can follow all the action from this race weekend without spending anything.

How to watch the Hungarian GP for free

Most subscribers hang onto Amazon Prime for the fast shipping, Prime Day discounts, and Prime Video library. But for F1 fans in the U.S., Prime Video is a secret weapon. Because Apple TV holds exclusive U.S. broadcasting rights for F1, you can sign up for a seven-day free trial of Apple TV directly through Prime Video Channels.

That trial gives you full access to stream select races — including this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix — for free. While the subscription rolls over to $12.99 per month after seven days, you can cancel auto-renewal in your settings right away and still stream the entire race weekend for free.

Of course, if you're already paying for Amazon Prime, calling it "completely free" is open to interpretation. But if you don't have an active membership, Amazon offers a 30-day free trial for new users. Stacking that Prime trial with the seven-day Apple TV channel trial means you are genuinely spending nothing to stream the race.

If you've already burned through that specific loophole earlier in the season, you still have a few solid workarounds:

• Apple TV: New standalone subscribers qualify for a direct seven-day free trial through Apple's app.

• Apple One: If you want more than just streaming, the Apple One tier packages Apple TV alongside Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple News+, and 50GB of iCloud storage — and it comes with a full one-month free trial ($19.95 per month after the promotional period).

• Apple: The most generous Apple TV offer is tied to new hardware purchases. Buying an eligible iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV grants new subscribers three months of free service. You obviously have to spend money on hardware, but if you were already planning an upgrade, it effectively unlocks a massive chunk of the F1 season for free.

How to live stream 2026 F1 for free in 2026

---

Best Apple TV Deal

Apple TV

7-day free trial

Shop Now

---

Best Prime Video Deal

Apple TV Prime Video Channel

7-day free trial

Shop Now

---

Best Apple One Deal

Apple One

30-day free trial

Shop Now

SAVE OVER $50: As of July 24, the RØDE Wireless GO (Gen 3) is on sale for $146.30 at Amazon. That's a 26% discount on list price.

Opens in a new window

Credit: RØDE

RØDE Wireless GO (Gen 3)

$146.30 at Amazon
$199 Save $52.70

 

Get Deal

From TikTok videos and podcasts to social media clips and interviews, creators need reliable audio that won’t let them down.

While built-in phone and camera microphones can do the job, a dedicated wireless mic can take your content to the next level. If you've been looking to upgrade or add a new piece of kit to your setup, check out this latest Amazon deal on the RØDE Wireless GO (Gen 3).

As of July 24, this wireless mic is down to $146.30 from $199, its best-ever price. That's a saving of more than $50. This price applies to the purple and red models, but there are various discounts across a range of colors.

The mic is compatible with cameras, smartphones, and computers, so it's ideal for use on the go or at your desk. It uses RØDE’s Series IV 2.4GHz digital transmission with 128-bit encryption to provide a stable connection and clear audio, even over a long range.

It features more than 40 hours of 32-bit float onboard recording, allowing you to recover audio files that are too quiet or have been clipped during recording. It also benefits from Intelligent GainAssist technology, adjustable output-gain control, and a safety channel to help maintain consistent audio levels when recording directly to a camera or other device.

This RØDE deal is available at Amazon now, so don't miss out.

SAVE OVER $30: As of July 24, the Soundcore C50i by Anker open ear earbuds are on sale for $39.98 at Amazon. That's $30.01 off their full price of $69.99.

Opens in a new window

Credit: Soundcore

Soundcore C50i by Anker Open Ear Earbuds

$39.98 at Amazon
$69.99 Save $30.01

 

Get Deal

Earbuds come in many different forms these days. If you're someone who likes to stay aware of what's going on around you rather than having the sounds of the world blocked out by noise cancellation tech, open earbuds are worth looking into. There are numerous models of these buds available, but we've spotted a great deal on the Soundcore C50i at Amazon that deserves attention.

As of July 24, you can snag Soundcore C50i by Anker open earbuds for $39.98 at Amazon. Normally, they're listed for $69.99, so this is a big 43% discount to jump on.

Compared to other earbuds that fit in your ear, the Soundcore C50i have a clip-on design that hooks around your ear without blocking the ear canal. According to the store page, they have a lightweight, stable titanium FlexiClip memory build that fits any ear shape. That clip design is also helpful if you're wearing them during a long run or an intense workout, as you won't have to worry about them falling out.

They also offer solid sound quality, with the store page noting they feature 12mm drivers for deep bass and an 86dB max output. On top of that, their battery life will keep you going all day, with up to eight hours on a single charge or up to 28 hours with the charging case.

This offer may not be available for long, so act fast to save on the Soundcore C50i by Anker open ear earbuds at Amazon.

Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.

National Tequila Day lands on July 24. Major chains like Chili's, Applebee's, Twin Peaks, and On The Border are dropping limited-time deals to celebrate the occasion.

Whether you take your tequila straight or blended into a frozen margarita, today is officially your excuse to indulge (responsibly, of course). These national holidays can sometimes feel like internet fluff, but restaurant chains across the country are using the date to drop legitimately solid discounts. That matters to us.

These are our favorite National Tequila Day deals in 2026:

Applebee's

The famous $1 Dollarita is back for National Tequila Day. You can grab a classic margarita on the rocks for just $1 at participating locations every day in July.

Chili’s

Score $5 Classic Margaritas and $7 Patrón Frozen Margaritas all day on July 24. Chili’s is also running its July "Rita of the Month" — the $6 Bombshell Marg, made with El Jimador Blanco tequila, triple sec, dragonfruit, strawberry, and house sour.

Chuy’s

Grab $1 floaters (an extra shot poured directly over your drink), $1 off Frozen Patrón Pineapple 'Ritas, and $5 queso appetizers.

Cuervo Tequila

Get a free margarita on National Tequila Day. To qualify, upload a photo of your receipt for a Cuervo cocktail directly to Cuervo, and you will be reimbursed via PayPal or Venmo (up to $10).

On The Border

Specials include $4 Cuervo 'Ritas, $3 Cuervo Shots, $2 Queso Cups, and $1 Meltdowns (a shot topper for your cocktail).

Taco Cabana

Taco Cabana is running a weekend-long celebration from July 24–26, featuring $2 Margaritas & Huracáns, $20 Gallon Margaritas to-go, and $0.99 Bean & Cheese Tacos.

Tocaya

All-day happy hour running on National Tequila Day.

Twin Peaks

Participating lodges are serving $5 Peaks Margaritas, $6 House Margaritas, and $7 Tequila Sunrises or Twin Peaks Barrel Select Margaritas all day.

Elon Musk wanting to make his own "historically accurate" AI version of The Odyssey is a headline ripe for the late night picking — Kimmel guest host Colman Domingo already had his say, and in the video above Seth Meyers gleefully wades in too.

"Wow, I can't wait for that to suck," says Meyers. "Elon Musk is going to use fake actors stolen from real actors to make a fake movie that's a real version of a fake story. I'm so excited for the AI dialogue. I hope it's like ChatGPT. 'Odysseus, you must return home.' 'You got it, I can't wait to embark on this journey with you! Let's keep it light and fun! And I'm here for whatever you need.'

"Also, what do you mean historically accurate? It's a myth! Are you also making a historically accurate version of The Santa Clause?"

Want more of the best of late night? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter.

SAVE OVER $200: As of July 24, the GoPro MAX2 and accessory bundle is on sale for $369 at Amazon. That's $200.99 off its list price of $569.99.

Opens in a new window

Credit: GoPro

GoPro MAX2 + Accessory Bundle

$369 at Amazon
$569.99 Save $200.99

 

Get Deal

If you're feeling adventurous this summer and want a camera that can capture your trips, look no further than the GoPro MAX2.

This high-quality action camera can help ensure you never miss a moment of fun in the sun this year, and Amazon even has an excellent bundle offer available right now to get you started for a little less.

Originally priced at $569.99, this GoPro MAX2 and accessory bundle has dropped to $369 at Amazon, saving you just over $200. According to price tracker camelcamelcamel, this is the best-ever price.

Alongside the GoPro MAX2 camera — which can capture in 8K resolution and 360-degree video — this bundle is stacked with extra accessories. Included is a four-foot extension pole, two 1960mAh Enduro batteries, two curved adhesive mounts, a 64GB SanDisk microSD card, two protective lens caps, a mounting buckle and thumb screw, USB-C cable, and a microfiber lens cloth. With all that, you'll be ready to go right away.

The GoPro MAX2 is a tiny but mighty camera. Its compact size makes it easy to take on the go, and it also has replaceable lenses. According to the store page, these are made from strong optical glass and are water-repelling, so there's no need to worry about them being easily damaged.

This bundle is currently marked as a limited-time deal, so be quick to save on the GoPro MAX2 and accessory bundle at Amazon.

Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.

TL;DR: The ASUS ROG Flow Z13 (2025) gaming laptop is on sale for $1,699.99 at Amazon, down from its $2,099.99 list price.

Opens in a new window

Credit: ASUS

ASUS ROG Flow Z13 (2025) Gaming Laptop

$1,699.99 at Amazon
$2,099.99 Save $400.00

Get Deal

Gaming laptops do not usually look much like tablets, but the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 has always been built around doing both jobs. Now Amazon has made that unusual setup considerably more affordable by taking $400 off the 2025 model for a limited time. 

As of July 24, the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 with the AMD Ryzen AI MAX 390 processor is available on Amazon for $1,699.99 — down from $2,099.99, a 19% savings on the list price. The listing is sold and shipped by Amazon, with free delivery currently set for July 29, while Prime members may be able to get it as soon as July 25. 

If you haven’t heard of the Flow Z13 before, the best part of this laptop’s package is its 2-in-1 design. 

With its detachable keyboard and adjustable kickstand, you can use it as a traditional laptop at a desk, then strip it back into a 13-inch touchscreen device when you want something easier to carry around. The kickstand can move through 170 degrees — giving you more freedom to position the screen for gaming, drawing, watching videos, or getting through work. 

In terms of specs, AMD Ryzen AI MAX 390 combines a 12-core processor with RDNA 3.5 graphics, so the machine does not need a bulky separate graphics card to deliver its gaming performance. ASUS pairs that chip with 32GB of fast LPDDR5X memory and a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD, leaving plenty of headroom for multitasking and a decent-sized game library.

You’ll be able to run even demanding triple-A titles with ease — including Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring, and Black Myth: Wukong. That also includes the usual go-to multiplayer games like Fortnite and Valorant.

No matter what you play, the 13.4-inch ROG Nebula touchscreen will make everything look nice and sharp with a 2560 x 1600 resolution, a 180Hz refresh rate, and a 3ms response time. As for technical specifics, it reaches 500 nits of brightness and covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color range, which should help games, films, and creative projects look extra vibrant. 

One of the downsides of being president is you get asked to do a lot of things, and Donald Trump wants you to know he's done with all the incessant nagging.

In the Daily Show clip above host Desi Lydic plays a clip of the president at a recent rally in Georgia, moaning about how the press were asking him what he planned to do about high prices on his very first day in office. "I said 'I just got here!'" says Trump in the clip. "Give me a break!"

"Give me a break, I didn't expect to jump into work right away, I just ran to stay out of prison!" responds Lydic. "What do you mean you just got here? You already had the job for four years. You probably still had old pens in the desk. Guy's acting like he was expecting an onboarding. 'This is Joe B., you're gonna spend the day shadowing him.'

"Look I do get it, he just wanted to spend his first day settling in, putting his stuff down, pardoning January 6thers..."

Want more of the best of late night? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter.

TL;DR: The Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Chaos Rising Booster Display Box is available at Amazon for $195.48 (including delivery), down from its $279.99 list price.

Opens in a new window

Credit: The Pokémon Company

Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Chaos Rising Booster Box

$195.48 at Amazon
$279.99 Save $84.51

 

Get Deal

Chaos Rising’s biggest sealed box has taken another sharp fall at Amazon, bringing all 36 Pokémon TCG booster packs below $200 for the first time we’ve seen — even after the delivery charge is added. 

As of July 24, the Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Chaos Rising Booster Display Box is listed at Amazon for $189.99, plus $5.49 shipping for a $195.48 total. That wipes $90 off its $279.99 list price and gives collectors a 32% discount before shipping, with price-tracking site camelcamelcamel confirming this is the lowest Amazon price we’ve ever seen. 

The listing is sold and shipped by third-party seller Glaceon Island, with delivery currently estimated for July 30 to Aug. 13. However, if you want yours guaranteed to arrive before the end of this month, the listing sold by venado comes as soon as July 26 — for a slightly higher total of $197.99.

Even with delivery included, each of the 36 Chaos Rising packs works out to roughly $5.43 before tax. Based on the $189.99 product price alone, that drops to about $5.28 per booster — comfortably below the $6.09-per-pack rate from Amazon’s previous $219.55 low.

Outside Amazon, TCGplayer’s lowest unopened English boxes start at $190.01 with shipping included; that goes slightly above the Chaos Rising Booster Display Box’s $188.82 market price, saving you even more if you don’t mind shopping beyond the traditional retailer. 

No matter where you buy, you’re still getting a display box with 36 booster packs from the Pokémon TCG’s Chaos Rising expansion. This is a 120-plus-card set that includes more Mega Evolution Pokémon ex, over 25 Trainer cards, and more than 35 Pokémon and Trainer cards with special illustrations. 

Those three-dozen packs will give you plenty of chances to pull Chaos Rising’s most valuable chase cards (or buy individually off TCGplayer) — including SIR Mega Greninja ex, MHR Mega Greninja ex, SIR Cinccino ex, SIR Mega Dragalage ex, and SIR Mega Floette ex.

SAVE $200: As of July 24, the Alienware 15 gaming laptop is on sale for $1,299.99 at Amazon. That's a 13% saving on the list price.

Opens in a new window

Credit: Alienware

Alienware 15 Gaming Laptop

$1,299.99 at Amazon
$1,499.99 Save $200

 

Get Deal

Gaming laptops don’t come cheap, especially when you’re looking for the power and performance needed for a smooth gaming experience. If you've been shopping around for a good deal, don't miss out on this latest Amazon discount on the Alienware 15 gaming laptop. As of July 24, this laptop is down to its lowest-ever price of $1,299.99. That's a savings of $200.

The Alienware 15 is a portable gaming laptop ideal for gamers who want performance on the move. It is powered by an AMD Ryzen 5 220 processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU with 6GB GDDR6 VRAM. With 16GB DDR5 RAM and a 1TB NVMe SSD, it offers fast loading times, responsive multitasking, and ample storage for games and apps.

Connectivity options include USB 3.2 Type-A and Type-C ports, HDMI 2.1, Ethernet, and a 3.5mm headset jack, alongside WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 for wireless connections. It also benefits from a built-in HD camera, dual-array microphones, and an Alienware white backlit keyboard. Inside, the laptop runs Windows 11 Home with Copilot AI features.

You can find this gaming laptop deal at Amazon now.

When Roborock and Dreame announced their flagship robot vacuums for the year at CES, I was immediately dreading trying to choose between them.

Now that I've spent a month with the Saros 20 Sonic in my apartment, I've officially tested the trifecta of the most powerful robot vacuums on the market. As someone who spent most of 2025 vehemently recommending the Roborock Saros 10R, I'm shocked to be Team Dreame this year.

What's special about the Roborock Saros 20 Sonic?

The Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete, Roborock Saros 20, and Roborock Saros 20 Sonic were all being advertised as ultra-slim vacuums with ultra-high suction power and the ability to scale thresholds close to 3.5 inches tall. With such similar specs and dock designs, the only real wild card was the Sonic's extendable vibrating mop.

I miss the Saros 10R's sleek mirrored dock. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

We've seen this D-shaped mopping plate from Roborock a lot in the past. The VibraRise system is known for scrubbing with strong downward force and tiny, speedy sonic vibrations. Most notably, the newest version of the mop can stretch out past the vacuum's circular body to scrub closely along flat edges — and ideally, compete more closely with the corner mopping abilities of dual spinning mopping pads.

The Sonic's small obstacle avoidance is top tier

Navigation technology is the other major difference between the Saros 20 and Saros 20 Sonic. In theory, the Saros 20's AI camera-based technology should be slightly more reactive around smaller, irregularly-shaped obstacles than the Saros 20 Sonic's traditional LiDAR tower. But the Saros 20 Sonic has an immaculate obstacle avoidance track record in my household.

This would be a terrifying view for a more basic robot vacuum. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

The Saros 20 Sonic always recognizes the jumble of cords under the TV stand. Credit: Screenshot / Roborock

Any shoes or slippers, pieces of laundry, cords, and even bags of recycling that need to go out have been correctly identified in the app. The Sonic even knows when it's approaching one of my cats. Like other premium robot vacs, the Saros 20 Sonic offers livestream video and two-way audio with someone who's not home.

Is the Roborock Saros 20 Sonic good at mopping?

The Saros 20 Sonic's sonic mopping seems a little overhyped to me. That's not the result I expected from a robot vacuum literally named after its mopping skills.

The Sonic does accurately sense walls and furniture edges and scoots the mop out accordingly. But the Sonic's mop plate still sometimes rescinds too early when the vacuum is changing direction, resulting in corners literally being cut.

The Saros 20 Sonic did a pretty good job at wiping up body oil and conditioner. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

The Sonic thoroughly scrubbed crystal cat litter dust and paw prints off my bathroom floor. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

Sure, roller mop robot vacuums like the Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Flow also have a tendency to reel the roller in too early. However, I feel like I give them a pass because of how much I appreciate their real-time rinsing abilities. This allows for cleanup of larger liquid spills without dirty water being used to mop the rest of that room. But the Saros 20 Sonic's mop is essentially relying on absorbency.

I toggled on "Intelligent Auto-Remop" in settings, alerting the Saros 20 Sonic to automatically go back to extra slimy areas after washing the mop. This worked well for some wet spills but not others, so I wish there were more flexible options to customize the frequency of mop pad washing in the app. Unfortunately, the Saros 20's AI mess detection doesn't feel as detailed as the Narwal Flow 2's, which is $200 cheaper.

Compared to spinning mopping pads, the Sonic's vibrating plate is better for eating away at actual dried stains or wiping up residue. The elbow grease and flat microfiber surface is the closest you'll get to a human wiping with a towel. The Saros 20 Sonic's heated water did well with oily droplets and syrup without leaving much of a sticky trail.

The Roborock Saros 20 Sonic is also great for pet hair on hardwood and tile. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

The Saros 20 Sonic's very first test was to clean up the shoe prints and general outside germs near my front door. I recently got a nice tufted wool rug for the entryway that's not supposed to be vacuumed. So, I simply shook it out to test the mop's dusting abilities on hard floors. I always feel like a damp cloth is more likely to pick up fine hair and dander stuck to the floor than pure suction power alone.

So much more dust and cat fur fell out of the rug than I care to admit. I sprinted to crank the air purifier immediately, then watched the Saros 20 Sonic do such a thorough job that my Dyson vacuum's laser could barely find a speck left behind.

Is the Roborock Saros 20 Sonic good on carpet?

I've been incredibly pleased with the Saros 20 Sonic's performance on plush carpet and flat rugs alike. Compared to the Saros 20, the Saros 20 Sonic has been tougher on pet hair, crumbs, and powder on my various rugs — despite the two having the same 36,000 Pa suction power.

I spread around 10 tufts of fur onto the rug. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

Sansa was shocked that more of her fur didn't show up on the lint roller. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

I tasked the Saros 20 Sonic with cleaning my medium pile living room rug after two days of no vacuuming. (Pet owners know that two days feels like two weeks in terms of how quickly shedding builds up.) To up the difficulty for this powerhouse of a vacuum. I ChomChom-ed the cat tree, took out some clumps of cat hair, and pressed them into the rug. The lint roller test afterward showed nothing more than the expected rug fuzzies and a hair or two.

On a fluffy rug, the Saros 20 Sonic handled every type of debris I threw at it with ease. The rug was covered in long human hair, more cat hair, cardboard shavings from a nearby cat scratcher, and a handful of dry chia seeds. Its initial single-pass test on max suction was enough to pick up around 98 percent of the unrealistic mess, so my normal two-pass routine would have gotten a pretty perfect result.

Not all robot vacuums are compact enough to drive between these table legs, but the Sonic is. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

This rug was a complete mess beforehand. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

More factors to consider

The Saros 20 Sonic has a few other quirks that probably shouldn't be present with a $1,699.99 robot vacuum. Like, why does the strongest robot vacuum you can buy in the U.S. still struggle with sucking up debris along rug edges?

A mess of sprinkles, Cheetos, dry cat food, and dryer lint. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

Rug performance was great, but too many sprinkles were missed along the flap. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

The Sonic's AdaptiLift chassis is constantly raising and lowering when there's not a rug or threshold in sight to climb over. Just up and down, over and over again. The Sonic is already a slow cleaner as it is, so the random lifting every few seconds can be a drag.

It's not that the Roborock Saros 20 Sonic isn't a good robot vacuum. It's just that there are more good robot vacuum mop combos competing with Roborock in 2026 than there were in 2025, and a few are more reliable and a few hundred dollars less.

Roborock Saros 20 Sonic

$1,699.99 at Amazon

 

Shop Now at Amazon Shop Now at Roborock

This week, Samsung announced a new addition to its foldable family, the Galaxy Z Fold 8, and so far, it looks like a very impressive device. It should be very competitive with Apple's still-unannounced iPhone Fold Ultra, which is rumored to have a similar design.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 finally made its big debut at Galaxy Unpacked, meaning all eyes are now on Apple's inevitable-feeling folding iPhone announcement in September. We've gone hands-on with the Z Fold 8 and can confirm it's pretty neat, to the point where we're wondering if Apple can keep up in a couple of months. Here are some of the best features the Z Fold 8 comes with that Apple will need to work hard to top.

Comprehensive creator tools

Credit: Joseph Maldonado / CNET Group

Samsung has gone hard on courting creators in recent years, and the Z Fold 8 is no different.

Specifically, the Z Fold 8 comes with something called "My Fan Cam," which uses AI to track a particular subject in a horizontal video and automatically crop a vertical clip for ready-made social clips. Between that and all the fun camera tricks you can do with the average foldable, people will probably get up to some fun nonsense once this phone is in the public's hands. On top of that, Galaxy AI and Gemini already offer a ton of great photo editing tools for creators.

To be fair, the Z Fold 8 doesn't have the most powerful cameras in the world, so any software-level assistance is going to be massive for creators.

Gemini out of the box

Speaking of Gemini and AI, Apple has been behind the curve in the department for a few years now.

However, the Z Fold 8 (and other new Samsung devices) has access to Gemini right out of the box thanks to a partnership between Google and Samsung. The conversational AI chatbot can help you perform tasks across apps, and it's a lot more advanced than what Apple offers on any of its devices right now. It should be noted, though, that Siri AI looms large over this discussion. It could, theoretically, get Apple up to speed once it launches in September.

As an added perk, the Z Fold 8 comes with six free months of Google AI Pro, giving users access to a bunch of premium creative tools and lots of cloud storage without having to pay anything...for six months. Galaxy users also get free access to the popular Gemini Notebook tool (formerly NotebookLM), which comes pre-installed on the Z Fold 8.

It's real, real thin

Seriously, it's tiny. Credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable

Samsung has recently mastered the art of creating ultra-thin, lightweight foldables, and the Z Fold 8 is no different. It measures in at 9.7 mm of thickness when folded and a mere 4.5 mm when unfolded. It also weighs just 201 grams. We don't yet know the physical dimensions of the iPhone Ultra, but Apple is going to have a tough time beating that.

The crease is invisible

Lastly, Samsung is using a new proprietary display technology for its latest foldables called Flex Titanium. Using titanium (duh), Samsung has been able to create more durable hinges and creases that are more or less invisible to the naked eye, at least when the phone is brand new. The verdict is still out on this new tech, but Samsung has a good track record in this regard.

Of course, Samsung Display is also making the flexible screens for the iPhone Ultra Fold, so the folding iPhone could match Samsung for the most part.

Powerful performance

Finally, the Z Fold 8 is built for multitasking and supports power users. It comes with 12GB to 16GB of RAM and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset. Apple has powerful processors of its own, and the iPhone Ultra certainly won't be a slouch in this department. However, it's a steep hill to climb, and Samsung has far more experience optimizing the foldable experience for multitasking.

One last note: Samsung has the experience

Don't forget, as excited as we are for the first foldable from Apple, Samsung has been making excellent foldables for many years. Apple could nail this form factor on the first try, but both Motorola and Samsung have had to spend years working out kinks to get these devices right.

Josh Greenbaum has swiftly become a pillar in modern comedy, having helmed such hilarious offerings as Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, Will & Harper, and Strays. Next year, he'll be at the helm of the long-anticipated sequel Spaceballs: The New One. But this week, comedy nerds can rally around his latest, the pickleball comedy The Dink.

Produced and headlined by Jake Johnson, The Dink focuses on a washed-up junior tennis pro, Dusty "The Hammer" Boyd. With his glory days long behind him, this middle-aged goofball works as a tennis coach to bored rich kids at the tennis club run by his tough-as-nails father, Chuck, played by Ed Harris. The only thing they seem to have in common is a love of tennis and a hatred of pickleball. But when an injury pushes Dusty to try out the fastest-growing sport in America, he unexpectedly befriends Candace (Mary Steenburgen), a recent divorcee looking for new friends and new hobbies.

An underdog story about pickleball becomes one of friendship and evolving identity, which keeps The Dink in line with Greenbaum's other heralded films, both narrative and documentary.

Ahead of The Dink's debut on Apple TV, Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko sat down with Greenbaum in a video call to talk about this hilarious movie, how it connects to his broader filmography, and the intense comedy prowess of Ed Harris.

Mashable: Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, Will & Harper, Strays, and The Dink all focus on tight-knit friendships. What draws you to this recurring theme in your work across documentaries and narrative films? 

Josh Greenbaum: I was fortunate enough to have some really meaningful friendships in my life. My best friend from childhood is still like my best friend now. And we're lucky enough that we live in the same city, even though we're both from across the coast. 

I think there's something very special in friendships, because it's like all the things you need in a romantic relationship, without the baggage of what a romantic relationship brings. There's an unconditional love that can come with it. Like, the way my friend and I look at each other and talk to each other, even back when we were in school, we could see the best version in each other. Which is very sweet, right? 

That's what a great friendship is — any good relationship. They force you to be the best version of yourself. 

I explored that in Will & Harper. I think [what] may be relevant to The Dink was this idea of identity and what happens when you change your identity. What happens to the friendships that existed prior to that identity change? And what does that mean for my friendships and relationships? 

The relevancy to The Dink is that there's certainly lots of friendships and relationships. Obviously, Dusty has a very unique relationship with PJ (Aaron Chen). It's a very odd, unique friendship, which I love. And he has a relationship with his father, which is not so much a friendship as a paternal one. But he forms this new friendship with, like, the least likely person, you know, a woman a few decades his senior — 

Mary Steenburgen and Jake Johnson in "The Dink." Credit: Apple TV

Who he has previously cussed out publicly —

— and banned from the club. And he forges this relationship in, like, the last locale he ever would think he would be in, which is on a pickleball court. Dusty's relationship with Mary Steenburgen, who plays Candace... I think that friendship and that relationship is probably, to your point, like one of these things that draws me into a film, where they're kind of two lost souls. 

They didn't know each other prior. They're both grappling with identity, right? With Dusty, he's the Hammer, and he was this ex-pro junior pro tennis player that really never made it. And he's still holding out on that, even though that's clearly not serving him. 

"Serving him" — good wordplay. 

Thank you. I didn't hear it until after you pointed it out. And then Candace is coming off of a divorce and grappling with, "Who am I? I was Mitch's wife, and that's all gone."

She's trying all sorts of new hobbies to figure out who she is and who she wants to be. And these two lost souls find each other, and it gets more complicated as you see in the film. It's not purely a friendship. There's more that happens, which complicates things. But I guess I'm just drawn to that universal emotional relationship that friends provide us. They become our surrogate families as we become older, right? We leave the home that our our mom and dad were at, and we fill that void with friends. So, I guess to your point, you're right. Barb and Star and Will & Harper and Strays are all about friends becoming family. So I guess that's without realizing it, it's a theme that I very much like, and I'm drawn to.

Mary Steenburgen and Jake Johnson in "The Dink." Credit: Apple TV

I appreciate the details in your movies. Like Harper, even though she's changed, still loves Natty Light. And here Candace has her hobbies. 

One of my favorite scenes in [Will & Harper] was not just the the Natty Light, which started it all, but then later on, Harper buys her and Will these beer koozies that are little jackets. And the two of them proceed to make up characters for their beers and their jackets and talk to each other in character. Their love language is this comedy. That's how they connect, and that's how they will always connect. Regardless of anything else in the world, and certainly Harper's transition. 

Similarly, in The Dink, you've got these tactile touch points, like when Dusty finally goes over to Candace's house later on in the film. He's learning about her, and she's got this cookie jar that she made, and it is horrible. Nothing is right about it. It's dented; it's poorly painted. 

I love that Candace is just like not ashamed of her hobbies, even if the results are not good.

What I love about that whole scene is, she is a person who is embracing her flaws and doesn't hide them, and [she] finds beauty in the flaws. She turns to that cookie jar — that's a disaster — and she says, "It's a diet cookie jar. It helps you eat less cookies, because you can't fit that many cookies in it." 

That philosophy is so at odds with Ed Harris' character in The Dink, who is really holding on to this idea that, like, you strive for perfection. You are a winner when you win, and when you are a champion, you defeat everyone. That might sort of work in sports, but what happens when you don't? What happens to the other 98% of people who don't win Wimbledon or whatever it is? How do you deal with your failure? How do you deal with your flaws? Do you face them? Do you own them? 

I think that's what Candace shows Dusty in the film, is flaws are a part of you. And you should embrace them. You should look at what maybe they give you. What's the positive spin on them? 

You look in her house, and you're like, "This is someone who's trying to figure out who they are. Clearly, they've tried like a dozen different hobbies. They haven't quite landed on one, but they like doing all of them." And that's also okay. Like, embracing the ambiguity of your identity and being like, we're all trying to figure out who we are, and there's never really an answer because you're constantly evolving. She's okay with that uncertainty. And I think Dusty, on the flip side, has been holding on to this identity probably for fear of, if he lets go of it, who is he? If he's not the Hammer, this guy who was a junior tennis pro, who is he? And that's scary to him.

I think we all do that. We all kind of hold onto identities we maybe want to let go of, but we're fearful of what might happen if we do. 

Better the devil you know, right? The Dink also reflects with Candace's hobbies —including her love of country western music — a certain devil-may-care attitude in your film. Where it's like, if it makes you happy and it's not hurting anyone, who cares what anyone else thinks?

Yes, totally. That's a great point. When I read Sean [Clements]' script, part of what I loved about that whole country music storyline is that's exactly my wife [and me]. My wife's from Northern California, and I'm from upstate New York. And when I met her, I would get in my car and be like, "The weirdest thing happened, sweetie, but my car radio is on this, like, terrible country music station." She's like, "No, I turned it to that."

She's like, "How dare you?"

Luckily, she didn't slap me the way Mary Steenburgen slaps Jake in the film. But yeah, what I love about that is my wife knows in L.A., it's not cool to love country music. Although I will say it's getting a little trendier at the moment, which is not a bad thing for our film. And look, there is great country music, and I love it. But what was so funny is my wife used to say, "The reason I like it is it tells a story." And that's in our film. When I read that line in the script, I was like, "Oh my god, that's exactly what my wife says." Meanwhile, I'm listening to the esoteric lyrics of Radiohead. She's like, "What does this mean?" And I was like, "I don't really know."

In that vein, The Dink has been described as "the pickleball movie," perhaps because of the popularity of the sport making a movie about it feel inevitable. But this doesn't feel like a film cashing in on a trend. For one thing, pickleball isn't treated like a punchline. 

If you're gonna be the first movie set in the world of pickleball, you should embrace that you're probably [going to be] called "the pickleball movie." But I was excited [to have pickleball] as a backdrop. There's a lot of great sports films, because they provide a really interesting backdrop to explore humanity and to explore universal human themes of underdogs and striving and identity and trying to be the best version of yourself, and how do you deal with failure? All these are things we can all relate to, even if we don't play the sport. 

My very first film was a feature documentary called The Short Game, in which I followed the best little kid golfers in the world. They're like seven- and eight-year-olds, and very funny as they trained and competed in the world championships in junior golf. 

I wasn't a big golfer at all. But I knew that I could make the film speak to everyone, because it's, like, little kids trying their best at this thing. And also, when you listen to a seven- and [an] eight-year-old, there's a lot of wisdom you can gather from them. 

[The Dink being] set in the world of pickleball really just provides the backdrop for a very human story. But it also provides a lot of comedy [because] the reality right now is the tennis world is at war with the pickleball world. And that's very funny. 

That PowerPoint presentation— 

I mean, getting Ed Harris to deliver a speech where he basically calls pickleball "a cancer on society" is a joy to watch. I remember giving him the direction. He has not really done any comedy before. He's obviously an unbelievable actor, and I felt so lucky to have him in our cast. My only advice to him in terms of doing a comedy is, don't play the comedy at all. Like, play it as though you're in the world you're in. This is very, very serious. The stakes cannot be higher. "So, if you can deliver that speech," I remember saying to him, "the same way you delivered your incredible speech in Apollo 13, it will crush comedically." 

And he did. He didn't even need that advice from me.

Jake Johnson and Ed Harris in "The Dink." Credit: Apple TV

How did it even come about that you guys were like, obviously Ed Harris?

Jake Johnson and myself, and probably Sean the writer and Ben Stiller, our producer, were like, who would be the funniest, scary, [most] intimidating dad? Who is Jake Johnson's dad, who doesn't respect him for the choices? 

Ed Harris is the dream, but it's like, [let's look for] an Ed Harris type. You don't think you're going to get Ed Harris. And lo and behold! I want to say most likely Ben Stiller connected us, and then Jake Johnson and I drove to Ed's house, where we did a read-through of the script. It was incredible. [Jake and I] were both very, very intimidated. On the drive over, I was like, "You're nervous, right?" He's like, "Incredibly." 

I've met Ed, and he's lovely, but also he's so big in my mind —

There's an intensity to him that is sort of unrivaled with any other actor that I've worked with. It's hard to put into words, but there's an energy and intensity that you know he brings to his work that I love. But when you're close to it, [it] can be a little intimidating.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

The Dink premieres on Apple TV on July 24.

TL;DR: Get lifetime access to Skoove Premium for $99.97 (reg. $299.99) with code PLAY and learn piano through interactive lessons.

Opens in a new window

Credit: Skoove

Skoove Premium Piano Lessons: Lifetime Subscription

$99.97
$299.99 Save $200.02

 

Get Deal

Learning piano is a lot more rewarding when you can play songs that you recognize instead of dull exercises. Skoove Premium combines interactive lessons, AI-powered feedback, and a library of popular and classical music to help you build skills at your own pace. Through July 26 at 11:59 p.m. PT, new users can get a lifetime subscription for $99.97 (reg. $299.99) with the code PLAY.

Skoove is designed to meet you where you are skill-wise, whether you’ve never played the keyboard before or you’re picking it up again after a long hiatus. As you play, the app listens to your performance and provides real-time feedback, helping you improve technique and accuracy one lesson at a time. With over 400 lessons, thousands of instructional videos, and new content added regularly, there’s plenty to keep you advancing.

The song selection also helps keep practice sessions from feeling tedious and repetitive. You can work through music by artists like The Beatles or tackle classical pieces by composers such as Bach and Beethoven. Lessons are geared to your experience level, making it easier to build confidence before moving on to more challenging arrangements.

If you get stuck or need additional guidance, you can reach out for one-on-one support with a real instructor instead of relying entirely on automated lessons. The platform also works with acoustic pianos and USB and MIDI keyboards, and you can access your lessons on iOS, Android, or a computer.

This offer is available to new users only. If you’re eligible, though, the lifetime subscription means you won’t have to worry about monthly renewals while working through the course library at your own pace.

If you’ve always wanted to learn piano — or simply want an excuse to finally play a few Fab Four songs yourself — you can get lifetime access to Skoove Premium for $99.97 (reg. $299.99) with the code PLAY, saving you $50.02 through July 26 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Get 100TB of encrypted cloud storage for life with Internxt for $974.97 (reg. $9,900) until July 26 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

Opens in a new window

Credit: Internxt

Internxt Cloud Storage Lifetime Subscription: 100TB

$974.97
$9,900 Save $8,925.03

 

Get Deal

If your work generates vast amounts of data, storage limits have a way of catching up with you. Internxt’s 100TB Lifetime Cloud Storage plan is built for businesses, agencies, creative professionals, and other power users who need room to archive years of files without adding another monthly bill. New users can get lifetime access for $974.97 (reg. $9,900) through July 26 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

Its storage capacity of 100TB leaves plenty of room to grow. Whether you’re storing years of client projects, high-res photo libraries, video footage, design assets, or long-term business records, this plan is designed to handle enterprise-scale storage without recurring subscription costs.

Internxt uses zero-knowledge, end-to-end encryption, meaning files are encrypted before they leave your device and remain inaccessible even to Internxt itself. It also uses post-quantum encryption, is open source, has undergone an independent security audit by Securitum, and complies with GDPR privacy standards.

Files sync across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and web browsers, with support for unlimited devices. Sharing files and folders with collaborators is built in, making the service practical for teams working across different operating systems.

This offer is available to new users only and covers encrypted file storage and sharing, not Internxt’s other services such as Mail, Meet, Backups, or Antivirus. If you eventually need more than 100 TB, additional plans must be purchased separately, as storage plans can’t be combined.

If you’ve outgrown traditional cloud storage plans or simply want to stop paying monthly fees for business-scale storage, this deal is for you!

Get Internxt’s 100TB Lifetime Cloud Storage plan while it’s on sale for $974.97 (reg. $9,900) through July 26 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

It can be hard to be an Avatar: The Last Airbender fan.

At the start, the animated series, which launched on Nickelodeon in 2005, was a breath of fresh air for children and grown-ups alike. The world that show creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko created brought together an anime style with traditional martial arts action, a rich lore of elemental magic, and a touching and often very funny coming-of-age story.

Week after week, audiences were welcomed into the inner circle of Aang, the 12-year-old air nomad/Avatar destined to save a world at war with itself. DiMartino and Konietzko balanced these high stakes with YA drama and heartwarming humor, as Aang befriended feisty waterbender Katara, her goofy but brave nonbender brother Sokka, the pugnacious and blind earthbender Toph, and eventually, the ostracized prince of the Fire Nation, a brooding Zuko. Over three seasons, this series delivered great episodes, compelling characters, and unforgettable moments.

So, when it was announced that acclaimed filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan was going to make a live-action movie based on the series, fans were initially hopeful. But I still remember the shattering disappointment of 2010's The Last Airbender, in which they didn't even get the pronunciation of Aang's name right. The movie was a major misfire that hurt more than a bolt from Azula's lightning bending.

Thankfully, 2012 brought The Legend of Korra, an animated sequel series set decades after the original, and focusing on the next Avatar. The characters in this spinoff were a bit older; the storylines were skewing more mature, reflecting the audience's growth with the franchise. Meanwhile, comics with the original characters addressed questions the shows didn't answer. Plus, the Kyoshi novels dove into the complicated and thrilling story of Aang's Avatar ancestor, known for her big feet, theatrical face paint, and bold moves. (Animated adaptation when?!)

In 2018, Netflix announced a live-action version of Avatar: The Last Airbender as a series, which was to be showrun by DiMartino and Konietzko. However, both left the production over creative differences in 2020. The resulting adaptation — while fun and earnest — lacked the emotional depth of the original, and notably shaved down Katara's rough edges to a dull effect.

Still, the animated series' presence on Netflix sparked a renewed interest in the franchise and initiated new fans, which spurred Nickelodeon to get back into the Last Airbender business. And so comes Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, a feature-length animated sequel that fans have yearned for since Book 3 closed back in 2008.

DiMartino and Konietzko are executive producers, but only score a "story by" credit on the screenplay. At the helm is Lauren Montgomery, who was a storyboard artist on The Legend of Korra, while William Mata (Dora and the Fantastical Creatures) and Steve Ahn (The Legend of Korra) co-direct.

After all these highs and lows, can this animated movie make up for the live-action mistakes of the past? Will it make missteps all its own? Let's get into it.

What is Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender about?

Aang connects with his past incarnations in "Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender." Credit: Paramount+

Years have passed since the end of Avatar: The Last Airbender's arc. Aang is a man now, and the founder of Republic City. He and Katara are not yet married with children, as we know they will be in The Legend of Korra. Far from settling down, Aang is focused on traveling to the far-flung Air Nomad temples, collecting the relics therein as he grieves his lost community. In these journeys, he learns about an artifact that could create rejuvenate the airbender community. But to secure this magical MacGuffin, he'll need a little help from his old friends, as well as a new ally, an airbender named Tagah (voiced by Dave Bautista).

This relic ties back to a lost Avatar, known as Sonam (Freida Pinto). Like Aang, she was an airbender who feared for the future of her tribe. Here's where wedging a prequel in between Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra gets messy, as the plot leans heavily into terrain from the latter. Sonam created a tool to turn non-benders into benders. But it's been long lost. Reclaiming it could bring back the airbenders. But in the wrong hand, it could weaponize the disenfranchised and violently enrage non-benders. So, yip yip — it's time for the Avatar and his friends to get moving.

Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender recasts Aang, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, and Toph.

Katara is grown up. Credit: Paramount+

The only voices from the core cast of characters that have remained the same are Aang's animal companions, the winged lemur Momo and the flying bison Appa, both voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. News of a recasting began circulating back in 2023, when Mae Whitman revealed she'd not be reprising the role of Katara. The effect of all these new voices is incredibly jarring — even the cabbage merchant has been replaced! Now, he's voiced by Ken Jeong.

Recalling the memorable opening of the series, Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender begins by having the now-grown Avatar gang giving a bit of backstory as a refresher. But because they are not the voices of Whitman, Zach Tyler Eisen, Jack De Sena, Jessie Flower, and Dante Basco, viewers can't immediately identify who's speaking. The familiarity that fans have built with these voice actors' performances can't be part of the nostalgia of this film. And so, the beginning feels less like diving back into the warm waters of Avatar: The Last Airbender and more like a cold plunge.

The voice performances in the film are fine. Eric Nam offers an understandably mellower take on Aang, as the Avatar has matured and into his role as peacekeeper. Jessica Matten brings a soothing patience as Katara; Román Zaragoza taps keenly into Sokka's bursts of frenetic energy. Dionne Quan locks into Toph's dry humor and unbothered façade. And Steven Yeun brings poise to Zuko, who is now outwardly chill in his Firelord role. But in handing over the reigns, there is a disconnect from this retooled opening. And this disconnect burrows deeper as Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender goes on.

Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender feels like an extended episode and not much else.

Appa flies the gang above the clouds. Credit: Paramount+

To the filmmakers' credit, Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender is gorgeous. The production design elegantly weaves the worlds of the first series and its Korra-focused sequel show together. The adult designs of Aang and the gang are thoughtfully done, staying close to the original designs with small details created to show growth — like Toph's cool new armor. But with the loss of their youth, there's also a loss of energy.

The pace of Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender is unwieldy, going from action sequences to heavy exposition drops and back again. More frustrating, Aang's new friend Tagah gets so much screentime that fans of Sokka, Katara, Toph, and Zuko will be frustrated by their lack thereof. On one hand, this shift in focus makes sense, as Aang is desperate to reconnect to his airbender culture. However, while Bautista's grumbling voice brings gravitas, a new bender stealing the spotlight is not likely to be what fans of this franchise were hoping for. However, each of the gang does get a spotlight moment — either in battle, strategy, or innovation — to remind us why we love them so deeply to begin with.

Sokka has a new design. Credit: Paramount+

With high stakes and lots of action, Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender largely satisfies in terms of action spectacle. It's a shame that Paramount is only releasing the movie in a handful of theaters before it hits the streaming service Paramount+. It's not so much that Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender demands to be seen on the big screen, but that this fandom decades in the making deserves a proper chance to revel together in the theaters. We're owed for the catastrophe that was Shyamalan's The Last Airbender, are we not?!

Yet even if Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender had gotten a big flashy theatrical release, it wouldn't have been all that fans want and yearn for. The screenplay by Kenneth Lin, Tim Hedrick, and Christopher Yost is a noble imitation, but it lacks the joie de vivre of the original series. The story itself fits well within the world established by DiMartino and Konietzko, but echoes so closely to Korra's season-long arcs that it feels shallow. Actually, Avatar Aang feels less like a movie until itself and more like a season condensed into feature-length, like The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart.

Sure, those animated series are wildly different in tone and genre. But both developed devoted fandoms who stuck around for decades, eager for whatever form the story would take next. The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart was made by Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer, the creators who started it all. And while it felt like a speedrun of a final season, it was still deeply ingrained in the story, in-jokes, and sensibility of the series it was sending off.

Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender is less successful here, as DiMartino and Konietzko's lesser involvement is felt in this sequel/prequel. While the movie certainly looks stunning, the spirit of the original is flickering at best. When the familiar theme music surged, my heart surged along with it, nearly thumping along in the familiar rhythm. But despite clear efforts, Montgomery and her team don't recapture the magic of the original.

Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender opens in select theaters on July 24, then premieres on Paramount+ July 25, 2026 at 12:00 a.m. PT / 3:00 a.m. ET. 

Christopher Nolan omitted several elements from The Odyssey in his own film adaptation, from Odysseus' (Matt Damon) "nobody" trick to the appearance of gods like Hermes. However, he also added something to the film: references to the mysterious "people from the sea."

Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and the rest of Ithaca fear these marauders, who have been raiding nearby shores following the end of the Trojan War. By the end of The Odyssey, Nolan reveals that these unknown attacks come from a lot closer to home than Penelope would have guessed. They're the Greeks, returning to their homeland after storming Troy and desecrating Zeus' law.

The people from the sea storyline isn't in Homer's Odyssey. However, it is rooted in the real history of the Late Bronze Age. Who were the real Sea Peoples, and could they have inspired portions of Homer's epic poem? Let's dig in.

Who were the Sea Peoples?

Credit: Melinda Sue Gordon / Universal Pictures

"Sea Peoples" is a blanket term coined by 19th-century French Egyptologist Emmanuel de Rougé, used to describe a number of seafaring factions theorized to have attacked and settled in Egypt and other parts of the eastern Mediterranean, including Eastern Anatolia, Cyprus, Palestine, and Syria.

Previously, historians attributed the Bronze Age collapse to the Sea Peoples' invasions throughout the 13th and 12th centuries BCE. This is essentially the route Nolan chooses in The Odyssey, as Odysseus believes the Sack of Troy and the Greeks' ensuing return home are bringing about the end of "our age of bronze."

However, that line of thinking has since changed, especially when considering environmental impacts around the region. In his book 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed, Eric Cline, professor of Classics and Anthropology at George Washington University, posits that the collapse of the Bronze Age comes down to a "perfect storm" of disastrous events, ranging from droughts and earthquake storms to rebellions and systems collapse. The blame, then, does not lay squarely at the feet of the Sea Peoples.

"It's a mixture of both a symptom and a cause," said Megan Daniels, assistant professor of Ancient Greek Material Culture at the University of British Columbia, in a phone interview with Mashable. "When you have mass instability, people leave. People migrate. People band together with one another to try to survive. Yes, that might involve getting in ships and raiding to stay alive, but they're often leaving because of other instabilities in their own societies."

The actual Sea Peoples are varied. Sources from the reigns of two pharaohs, Merneptah (1213-1203 BCE) and Ramses III (1187-1157 BCE), detail interactions with several groups. Daniels highlighted three in particular: the Peleset, the Denyen, and the Sherden. The Peleset are related to the Philistines, and based on aspects of their material culture like cookware and decorations, they likely originated from the Greek world. The Denyen carry a name that could be related to a term Homer used to describe the Greeks: the Danaans, after their ancestor Danaus. Finally, the Sherden's name could suggest ties to Sardinia. While they do show up in sources as attacking Egypt, they also appear as mercenaries for the pharaoh. In later records, they even settle in Egypt, buying land and paying taxes.

"It's not one people, and they're not simply invaders," Daniels said of the Sea Peoples. "They, in many ways, seem to also be mercenaries, traders, maybe pirates. With Merneptah, some of the language that he used talks about a Libyan king allying with these people, but he also talks about his wife and children with them. Once again, you get this question of, are they all simply just piratical invaders? Or are they people just migrating, families who are trying to leave and find a better life somewhere? It just goes to show the depth and the complication of this scenario that we call the Sea Peoples."

Did the Sea Peoples influence Homer's Odyssey?

Jimmy Gonzalez, Matt Damon, and Himesh Patel in "The Odyssey." Credit: Melinda Sue Gordon / Universal Pictures

The Sea Peoples were active from the 13th to 12th century BCE, while traditional dates for Homer range around the 8th century BCE. Could knowledge of the Sea Peoples' past exploits have wound up in The Odyssey in some way?

Potentially! In his book Black Ships and Sea Raiders: The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Context of Odysseus’ Second Cretan Lie, archaeologist Jeffrey P. Emanuel singles out an episode from The Odyssey and draws parallels between it and the activity of the Sherden. The episode in question is known as "the Cretan Lie" and appears in Book 14 of The Odyssey. Here, a disguised Odysseus tells loyal Eumaeus (John Leguizamo) a falsehood about his past. He claims to be the son of a rich Cretan and says that he carried out an unsuccessful raid on Egypt. After the pharaoh showed him mercy, he claimed he settled there for seven years.

Emanuel highlights the similarities between this tall tale and the activity of the Sherden in Egypt, suggesting that this falsehood may ironically bear a kernel of truth based in history. This isn't to say that the Cretan Lie actually happened, but rather, that it may draw from records of the Sea Peoples, emphasizing the interplay between history and epic poetry.

This is a theme Nolan highlights in his adaptation of The Odyssey. Towards the end of the film, as Odysseus and Penelope sail west, they talk, fairly heavy-handedly, about how the collapse of civilization will bring with it the loss of writing. Instead, oral storytelling will be how people will recall the Trojan War.

"It was definitely betraying Nolan's awareness that this odyssey that he's adapting was this preservation of these memories of this time," Daniels explained. "The later Greeks called it an Age of Bronze and an Age of Heroes, and it was looked back on as this golden age, a mythical time, even though it was actually real. Of course, things get embellished in different ways."

Nolan's inclusion of the Sea Peoples in his take on The Odyssey is one such embellishment. It may not be in keeping with the historical record, but it does serve the film's broader messaging about the devastation of war, one that leads to an Oppenheimer-esque reckoning for its hero. So, in bringing the Sea Peoples into The Odyssey, Nolan is also drawing a common thread through his own work that will be familiar to those who have seen his films.

As Daniels said, "Nolan is probably doing what Homer would have done too, which is repackage an age-old tale that has some basis in deeper history for his own audience."

The Odyssey is now in theaters.

If you have even just a modicum of experience with the online dating world, chances are you know AdultFriendFinder. It's one of the OGs of online hookups. Created all the way back in 1996 — the dark ages of the internet — it had become a top 100 website in the U.S. by the late 2000s. Despite that undoubted popularity, AdultFriendFinder has never quite managed to establish itself in the mainstream like Tinder or Hinge.

There’s a very good reason for that.

AFF, as it’s known among its users, is explicitly an “adult” dating site. And trust us when we say that we do mean explicit. It's hot, steamy, and anything goes. It's a badge that AFF wears proudly, of course, but one that has also prevented it from going truly mainstream. Users aren't likely to talk about their AFF activity in the same way they talk about their Tinder hit rate. And its NSFW content means there's no dedicated app on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

But what if you’re curious about how AFF works and whether it would be a good fit for you? What if you’ve always wondered whether you’re missing out on the best-kept online dating secret and want to join the NSFW party? Or maybe you’re worried it’s more hype and chatbots than organic, spicy fun. There's no need to fret about AFF FOMO because we've done the work for you.

Here's a breakdown of the AdultFriendFinder experience and what you can realistically expect to get from it if you decide to dip your toe into these naughty waters.

Opens in a new window

Credit: AdultFriendFinder

AdultFriendFinder

 

Learn More

AdultFriendFinder isn’t a traditional dating site

If you sign up for AdultFriendFinder for a standard online dating experience, you’ll most likely be disappointed. It’s not that AFF members aren’t interested in serious dating; it’s more that sex and sexuality are placed front and center, with everything else coming from there, so to speak.

You'll see that for the first moment to log on. Unlike mainstream dating sites, which ban nudity from profile photos, AFF allows it — encourages it, even — so that regular dating-app selfies sit side-by-side with full-on full-frontal nudity and live webcam feeds. It might be too hot for some would-be daters to handle. There is a content filter, accessible in your profile settings, but it defaults to "off," so if you would rather not see any nudity, or only see it when you deliberately choose to click on an NSFW picture, you should navigate to this setting ASAP.

For some people who aren't looking for a bare-all experience, this might sound off-putting, but to those who are looking for exactly that, it’s refreshing. (And if we're not using AFF to gawk at a little nudity, what are we even doing with our lives?) Unlike traditional dating apps, where early conversations revolve around figuring out what the other person actually wants, AFF members tend to be refreshingly upfront and direct about their intentions. Kinks and sexual preferences are the whole point. Plus, getting to the point is a welcome time-saver with online dating.

How to meet people on AdultFriendFinder

Every online dating site lives or dies by its algorithm, with new platforms constantly rolling out novel ways to connect singles. AdultFriendFinder, however, takes a maximalist approach to interacting with strangers.

You can search for members the conventional way, using specific criteria like gender, sexual orientation, age, location, and more, but you can also jump into themed chat rooms or follow other members’ live streams. Through the “Who’s Hot” tab, which highlights popular members as well as trending photo and video uploads, you can easily discover someone you might otherwise never have come across.

One thing you’ll notice quickly, however, is the presence of obviously fake profiles. When I searched for singles near me, I encountered a surprising number of stunningly beautiful women in a small rural town near my city. My excitement was quickly spoiled by their obviously airbrushed photos and vague, AI-sounding profile descriptions.

AFF makes it extremely easy to sign up and create a profile, requiring only a username, password, and basic personal information. The upside is that it lowers the barrier to entry; the downside is that scammers can exploit it. You'll be fine as long as you're aware of scams and stay vigilant on AFF by using good old common sense.

To help counter this, AdultFriendFinder offers a blue checkmark verification system and even incentivizes users to complete it by boosting their visibility as a reward. Verification requires a government-issued ID, which AFF uses to confirm your age, photo authenticity, location, and gender. It's an optional step, but one worth completing since it helps you signal to others that you are who you say you are.

If avoiding scammers and catfishers is a priority, looking for that blue checkmark before engaging is a smart move.

What kind of success rate can you expect from AdultFriendFinder?

So far, so good, but there is a catch. While you can browse and explore AFF for free, meaningful one-on-one interaction requires a paid Gold membership, available in one-month ($35.95/month), three-month ($26.95/month), or one-year ($19.95/month) packages, all of which renew automatically.

Understandably, most people hesitate to pay for a dating site from the outset. And because AFF places its best features behind a paywall, it requires a leap-of-faith to enter those credit card details. But in our experience, a premium AFF membership largely justifies its price.

With an AFF Gold membership, you unlock all kinds of features, including unrestricted messaging, high-resolution member videos and webcam streams, expanded profile galleries, and advanced filters that make narrowing down potential matches far easier. You'll quickly see the benefits of AFF's paid tier.

Does paying guarantee attention from everyone you message? Of course not. The usual dating-app dynamics still apply — heterosexual men, for instance, should expect to work harder for responses than heterosexual women. Being attractive, fit, or witty helps. Being all three helps even more, though we're not all so lucky when it comes to attracting the opposite sex.

What will work in your favor, regardless, is the size of the AFF community. Members span a wide range of ages, body types, orientations, and interests, all of which makes it easier — not to mention more interesting — to find someone. Especially if you’re hankering after something a little more casual and fun than serious and long-term.

Based on my personal experience of using AFF, as well as the limited statistics AFF has released, the platform skews male (roughly 60:40 in my area) and slightly older. That male/female ratio mirrors that of most dating sites, which tend to skew towards more men. The older skew can actually be an advantage if, like me, you prefer connecting with people closer to your own age.

Here's one parting piece of advice: Don’t ignore AFF’s broader community features. If you rely solely on search results and direct messages, you’ll face roughly the same odds as any other dating app. But if you explore the themed chat rooms — which can span everything from erotic fiction to body modification (whatever gets the juices flowing) — you’re more likely to find a connection that turns you on.

TL;DR: The Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Pitch Black Booster Bundle is on sale for $43.13 at Amazon, down from its usual $51.98 price.

Opens in a new window

Credit: The Pokémon Company

Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Pitch Black Booster Bundle

$43.13 at Amazon
$58.49 Save $15.36

 

Get Deal

Pitch Black’s six-pack Booster Bundle has already gone through several price cuts since its launch into the Pokémon TCG, but Amazon has now pushed it below the $50 mark for the first time. 

As of July 24, the Pokémon TCG’s Pitch Black Booster Bundle is available at Amazon for $43.13 — removing $8.85 from its typical price of $51.98, totalling a 17% discount and the lowest Amazon price we’ve seen for the box so far (confirmed with price tracker camelcamelcamel). 

Sold and shipped by Amazon itself rather than a third-party seller, you’ll get free delivery as soon as July 25. At $43.13, the bundle works out to roughly $7.18 per booster pack before tax — a much better rate than the $9.16-per-pack price we saw just a week ago.

Inside the box are six sealed booster packs from the titular Pitch Black expansion. Each pack contains 10 trading cards, one Basic Energy card, and a Pokémon TCG Live code card, giving you 60 standard cards across the bundle before counting the Energy cards. 

As for the most valuable chase cards you can get (or buy individually on TCGplayer), the top five right now are SIR Mega Darkrai ex, MHR Mega Darkrai ex, SIR Mega Morpeko ex, Mega Zeraora ex, and SIR Mega Chandelure ex. 

Avatar: Seven Havens has released its first trailer, the new animated series offering a glimpse of the world Aang and Korra left behind. Unfortunately, it looks like the four nations aren't living together in harmony any more. In fact, they might not even exist.

From Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, Avatar: Seven Havens follows Pavi, a young earthbender who's forced to go on the run when she learns that she is the next Avatar. It seems as though the Avatar is no longer seen as a saviour, but a danger to humanity. Thankfully, Pavi has allies in her airbender friend and mentor Jae, as well as her long-lost twin sister. She'll also have her own animal companion as is Avatar tradition: a giant cat-monkey named Geet.

It isn't clear exactly why attitudes toward the Avatar have changed since Aang and Korra held the position. However, we do know that the world was devastated by an unspecified calamity some time after The Legend of Korra — and it seems as though there is a non-zero chance that Avatar Korra was somehow involved. Despite the series looking as though it could be set hundreds of years after The Legend of Korra, Paramount has said that Pavi is the next Avatar after Korra.

Either something caused the Avatar Cycle to be put on hold for a long time, or that calamity changed the world in some unexpected ways.

Avatar: Seven Havens arrives Oct. 9 on Paramount+.

TL;DR: Liquid I.V. and Tom Holland's non-alcoholic beer brand Bero have teamed up on The Red Web Refresher, an official mocktail for the Spider-Man: Brand New Day red carpet. It combines Liquid I.V.'s limited-edition Sugar-Free Raspberry Lemonade with Bero's Kingston Golden Pils, and it debuts July 27 in Los Angeles.

To celebrate the premiere of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Tom Holland has teamed up with Liquid I.V., pairing the brand with his non-alcoholic beer company, Bero, to create a friendly neighborhood mocktail fit for a superhero. It's called The Red Web Refresher, and it's officially debuting on the film's red carpet.

This isn't Liquid I.V.'s first move in this partnership, either — as the exclusive hydration partner of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the brand already kicked off summer with two limited-edition flavors and an ad campaign featuring Jacob Batalon reprising his role as Ned Leeds. The Red Web Refresher is the next chapter, and it's mainly crafted for the premiere.

The mocktail combines Liquid I.V.'s limited-edition Sugar-Free Raspberry Lemonade with Bero's Kingston Golden Pils, giving it that refreshing quality while packing three times the electrolytes of the leading sports drink. The Red Web Refresher makes its official debut on Monday, July 27, in Los Angeles, where it'll be keeping Hollywood's biggest stars hydrated throughout the Spider-Man: Brand New Day premiere.

Not there to sip one yourself? Here's the official recipe, so you can mix up your own Red Web Refresher at home.

Credit: Bero / Liquid I.V.

SAVE $900: As of July 24, the Samsung 77-Inch Class OLED S90H Series is on sale for $2,797.99 at Amazon. That's a 24% discount on the list price.

Opens in a new window

Credit: Samsung

Samsung 77-Inch Class OLED S90H Series

$2,797.99 at Amazon
$3,697.99 Save $900

 

Get Deal

Big-screen TVs don't come cheap, so it's always worth keeping an eye out for discounts on premium models. And if you're a Samsung fan, you're in luck.

As of July 24, the Samsung 77-Inch Class OLED S90H Series is available at Amazon for less than usual, with a whopping $900 discount bringing the price down from $3,697.99 to $2,797.99. This is also the lowest-ever price for this TV, so you know you've found a great deal.

This TV combines OLED technology with glare-free technology to deliver bright images, deep contrast, and reduced reflections. It's powered by the NQ4 AI Gen3 Processor, and it uses 128 AI neural networks to optimize the picture and sound. It also benefits from the 4K AI Upscaling Pro, a feature that enhances lower-resolution content for higher-quality viewing.

Additional AI features include AI Motion Enhancer Pro, which is designed to reduce blur and flicker in fast-moving scenes, making it a great choice for gaming and live sports. Gamers will also benefit from the Motion Xcelerator 165Hz, NVIDIA G-SYNC, and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro.

Get this Samsung TV deal at Amazon now.

Google's Gemini Spark, the company's AI agent that completes tasks and monitors stuff in the background for you, is now more widely available. You still can't get it for free, though.

Starting today, Gemini Spark is available for users in the U.S. who are paying for the $20/month Google Ai Pro tier. Globally, you'll need to pay for Google AI Ultra, which starts at about $100 (depending on the market).

The one exception to this are folks in the European Economic Area (EEA), the UK, Switzerland, or Nigeria, which aren't (yet) getting access to Gemini Spark.

Google's support documents say you shouldn't worry if you don't have access to Spark yet, as the company is "rapidly expanding access to more users and businesses over the coming weeks."

Gemini Spark is based on Gemini 3.5 and, like other similar agents, is designed to work in the background. Offering a daily summary of your tasks for the day, based on your calendar, documents, notes, and inbox, is one example of what it can do.

Competitors offer a similar agent, and for a similar price. OpenAI's ChatGPT Work is only available on paid tiers, as is Anthropic's Claude Cowork. Pricing for both starts at about $20 per month, though the difference is that they're available in Europe and the UK.

Telecommunication analytics company Ookla has released its U.S. Speedtest Connectivity Report for the first half of 2026, evaluating how internet service providers have performed thus far. T-Mobile came out on top, sweeping the mobile category, while AT&T Fiber and Verizon both picked up awards for fixed internet.

Ookla's report crowned T-Mobile the best mobile network and best 5G network in the U.S. overall, with a median download speed of 275.55 Mbps (or 314.38 Mbps on 5G). According to Ookla's analysis, T-Mobile offered the fastest mobile speeds across 47 U.S. states from January to June this year. The exceptions were North Dakota and Vermont, who had no winners, and Alaska, where GCI came out on top for mobile speeds.

T-Mobile also received the highest experience scores across mobile and specifically 5G networks, including when specifically used for gaming or streaming video, and was found to be the most consistent network as well. Coverage is the only category where T-Mobile didn't come in first, with Verizon and AT&T taking the top two spots instead.

Even so, T-Mobile was the clear winner of the mobile category. While Ookla's rankings primarily focus on performance and don't take pricing or value into account, T-Mobile also had the highest consumer sentiment rating. Speedtest users gave T-Mobile an average of 3.77 out of five stars, while Verizon and AT&T scored 3.25 and 3.09 respectively. 

Credit: Ookla

Meanwhile, the fixed internet category belonged to AT&T Fiber. Ookla crowned AT&T Fiber the best internet service provider, with its median download speed of 374.75 Mbps making it the fastest fixed network. It was also the most consistent, and received the highest star ratings from consumers with an average of 3.63 out of five. 

Verizon did offer the best fixed gaming experience, which Ookla determined by evaluating and scoring factors such as latency, upload and download speeds, and jitter. Even so, Verizon's gaming score was just over one point ahead of AT&T Fiber.

Credit: Ookla

While these scores look at the U.S. as a whole, the report further breaks down median speeds and latency by state and city. Kansas had the fastest median mobile speed at 242.56, with T-Mobile the fastest provider in the state. For fixed internet, Connecticut had the fastest median download speed at 344.24 Mbps, its fastest provider being Frontier Fiber.

Ookla's report uses data gathered by the company's Speedtest service. Speedtest allows users to quickly check their internet's speed, measuring their download and upload rate as well as their ping. While it isn't clear how many U.S. Speedtest users' data contributed to this report, Ookla stated in its methodology that it receives hundreds of millions of results from across the globe every day.

Every time somebody journeys down to the depths of the silo, they seem to find something mysterious. Last season, it was the robotic voice of the algorithm. This season, it's Bernard (Tim Robbins).

But hang on a minute, isn't Bernard dead?

Well, that's what we were led to believe back in Silo Season 3, episode 1. But it looks like there may be more to the story...

What happens at the end of Silo Season 3, episode 4?

Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) spends most of episode 4 on the run after Camille (Alexandria Riley) tries to have her murdered in her hospital bed. With the help of her nurse (Jacqueline Berces), Juliette manages to escape, only to run into Sims (Common) waiting for her in the pump room. She runs away before he can tell her what he wants to say, and with the help of her friends in mechanical, she finds her way back down to the very bottom of the silo, where Lukas Kyle (Avi Nash) discovered the tunnel in Season 2.

Lukas isn't down there, though. Instead, Juliette hears a person coughing, pulls back a curtain, and sees her former nemesis, Bernard. He's badly burned, and lying in a bed.

"Hello, Juliette," he rasps.

How is Bernard still alive?

Okay, so a quick recap: Back at the end of Season 2, Bernard and Juliette were trapped in the airlock together while the anti-contamination fire burned its way through the confined space. Juliette was wearing a modified fire suit; Bernard wasn't. He managed to throw himself to the ground pretty quickly just before the fire started to burn, but his survival was looking questionable at best.

Then, in episode 1 of this new season, we were told he was dead.

"The flames melted holes in his suit, and the poison got in," Sims tells Juliette, while we see shots of what he's describing. "We couldn't take a chance with a farm burial. The stairs were evacuated. No one was allowed into the central shaft. It took six porters six hours to get him down to the incinerator. Bernard can't help you. Because I watched him burn."

So, what really happened? Well, it seems clear that somebody lied to Juliette. Bernard clearly was badly burned, and the shot of him being moved down the staircase could well be real. But we now know it wasn't his body that was sent into the incinerator.

The person most likely to have lied about Bernard, it seems, is Sims. But if he faked Bernard's death, why? What's the benefit of hiding the former head of IT down in the silo's depths? Could it be that he's actually changing his allegiance?

Silo Season 3 is streaming now on Apple TV, with new episodes dropping every Friday.

In the world of Silo, allegiances are constantly shifting, and you can never be 100 percent sure who to trust.

Sims (Common), however, has been a fairly consistent bad guy throughout — and there's never been any indication that he's anything but an enemy to Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson). Until now?

In Season 3, episode 4, there are a couple of moments that have led to us wondering if Sims might be slowly changing allegiances. So, what clues are there, and what could they mean?

What happens with Sims and Juliette in Season 3, episode 4?

Juliette starts off episode 4 in a tough spot. She's trapped in the silo's medical bay, and Camille (Alexandria Riley) has dispatched a trusted soldier to murder her in cold blood. The good news? Her nurse (Jacqueline Berces), who we previously thought was working against her, is actually Team Juliette.

"I'm the reason you started getting your memory back. I took you off the forgetting drugs," says the nurse, after she's saved Juliette's life and is helping her escape.

"No. I spit them out," Juliette replies.

"Even before that, somebody asked me to replace them," the nurse responds.

She then causes a distraction that allows Juliette to evade the raiders, but not before telling her to go to the pump room on level 76.

And who does Juliette find when she eventually makes it to the pump room in question? Sims himself, who says, "You need to listen to me," before Juliette quickly backs out of the room and locks the door behind her.

But hang on a minute — should she actually have listened to him?

Is Sims actually on Juliette's side?

Sims has been a bit displaced this season. After the algorithm picked his wife over him as its human confidante, he's been struggling to know what to do with himself. After Juliette's escape, though, he has a conversation with Camille in which we learn that he helped handpick Juliette's nurse himself.

"I know the nurse's file pretty well. If they get off this level, I have an idea where she might take Nichols," says Sims, adding that the nurse has family down below and that he'll happily take care of Juliette himself.

On the surface, this sounds like Sims is very much still a team with his wife. But when you start to look more closely into what happens in episode 4, the questions start to stack up: Who was the person who ordered Juliette's nurse to swap out her medication? How would Sims have known Juliette was heading for that specific pump room unless he'd arranged it beforehand with the nurse? And why, when Juliette opens the door and sees him there, does he immediately come out of hiding and try to talk to her — rather than simply laying low before attacking?

Silo Season 3 is streaming now on Apple TV, with new episodes dropping every Friday.

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

Hurdle Word 1 hint

To moan.

Hurdle Word 1 answer

GROAN

Hurdle Word 2 hint

Excited.

Hurdle Word 2 Answer

GIDDY

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today

Hurdle Word 3 hint

Filthy.

Hurdle Word 3 answer

DIRTY

Hurdle Word 4 hint

Central.

Hurdle Word 4 answer

FOCAL

Final Hurdle hint

Smell.

Hurdle Word 5 answer

AROMA

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

The Moon is even closer to full tonight, as the Waxing Gibbous phase continues and more of its surface is lit by the Sun.

What is today’s Moon phase?

As of Friday, July 24, NASA's Daily Moon Guide tracker tells us the Moon phase is in Waxing Gibbous phase, with 68% of its surface visible.

You won't need any visual aids to be able to spot the Mares Fecunditatis and Tranquillitatis, as well as the Tycho Crater. Binoculars will also help you to see the Mare Nectaris, Alphonsus Crater, and the Alps Mountains. A telescope helps you see much more, including the Apollo 11, 16, and 17 landing spots.

When is the next Full Moon?

The next Full Moon will take place on July 29.

What are Moon phases?

The Moon takes roughly 29.5 days to complete its journey around Earth, passing through eight distinct phases during each lunar cycle, according to NASA. While the Moon’s same side is always visible from our planet, the portion of its surface lit by the Sun changes as it moves along its orbit. These shifting levels of illumination are what create the different appearances we see throughout the month, from a slender crescent shape to a half-lit Moon and finally a bright Full Moon, before the cycle begins once again.

The eight phases are:

New Moon - The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it's invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent - A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter - Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.

Waxing Gibbous - More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon - The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous - The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)

Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) - Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent - A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

Today's Connections: Sports Edition will be easier if you ever went to school in North Carolina.

As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight, and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

What is Connections: Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. The sports Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Each puzzle features 16 words, and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes before the game ends.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here's a hint for today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: How high

• Green: Old North State sports

• Blue: New teams

• Purple: Pro softball

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Jump

• Green: Schools in North Carolina

• Blue: 1990s Expansion Teams

• Purple: Athletes Unlimited Softball League Teams

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections: Sports Edition #669 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Jump: BOUND, HOP, LEAP, SPRING

• Schools in North Carolina: APPALACHIAN STATE, DUKE, HIGH POINT, WAKE FOREST

• 1990s Expansion Teams: GRIZZLIES, JAGUARS, ROCKIES, SHARKS

• Athletes Unlimited Softball League Teams: BANDITS, BLAZE, CASCADE, TALONS

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Connections.

Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue.

Released in August 2025, Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.

Currently, if you're stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move on to the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level.

How to play Pips

If you've ever played dominoes, you'll have a passing familiarity with how Pips is played. As we've shared in our previous hints stories for Pips, the tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between a traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you have to address. The touching tiles don't necessarily have to match.

The conditions you have to meet are specific to the color-coded spaces. For example, if it provides a single number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the number provided. It is possible — and common — for only half a tile to be within a color-coded space.

Here are common examples you'll run into across the difficulty levels:

• Number: All the pips in this space must add up to the number.

• Equal: Every domino half in this space must be the same number of pips.

• Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a completely different number of pips.

• Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.

• Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.

If an area does not have any color coding, it means there are no conditions on the portions of dominoes within those spaces.

Easy difficulty hints, answers for July 24 Pips

Equal (0): Everything in this space must be equal to 0. The answer is 0-0, placed horizontally; 0-5, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (5): Everything in this space must be greater than 5. The answer is 2-6, placed horizontally.

Number (9): Everything in this space must add up to 9. The answer is 0-5, placed horizontally; 4-2, placed horizontally.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 2-3, placed horizontally.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for July 24 Pips

Greater Than (0): Everything in this space must be greater than 0. The answer is 0-1, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (1): Everything in this space must be greater than 1. The answer is 3-1, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 4-1, placed horizontally.

Equal (1): Everything in this space must be equal to 1. The answer is 3-1, placed horizontally; 4-1, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (7): Everything in this space must be greater than 7. The answer is 6-6, placed vertically.

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 3-2, placed vertically; 1-6, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 1-6, placed horizontally.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for July 24 Pips

Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 0-6, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (2): Everything in this space must be greater than 2. The answer is 4-0, placed vertically.

Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 5-0, laced horizontally.

Equal (0): Everything in this space must be equal to 0. The answer is 0-6, placed horizontally; 0-3, placed horizontally; 5-0, placed horizontally.

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 0-3, placed horizontally; 3-1, placed horizontally.

Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 3-1, placed horizontally.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 2-3, placed vertically.

Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 4-3, placed vertically.

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 4-5, placed vertically.

Equal (0): Everything in this space must be equal to 0. The answer is 0-0, placed horizontally; 4-0, placed vertically.

Greater Than (2): Everything in this space must be greater than 2. The answer is 2-3, placed vertically.

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 4-3, placed vertically.

Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 4-5, placed vertically.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 0-2, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 1-4, placed vertically; 0-2, placed horizontally.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 2-1, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 3-5, placed vertically; 2-1, placed horizontally.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you're talkative.

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

What is Connections?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Blabbermouth

• Green: Baseball

• Blue: To remember

• Purple: Holy titles

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

Here are today's Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Talk at length

• Green: Outcomes for a batter

• Blue: Bring to mind, as a memory

• Purple: Homophones of religious roles

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #1139 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Talk at length: BABBLE, DRONE, RAMBLE, YAK

• Outcomes for a batter: HOME RUN, SINGLE, STRIKEOUT, WALK

• Bring to mind, as a memory: JOG, PROMPT, REFRESH, SPARK

• Homophones of religious roles: CANTER, FRYER, LLAMA, NONE

Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today's puzzle.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Connections.

Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you're never lacking.

Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.

NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: There's more where that came from

The words are related to quantities.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe having more than needed.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is diagonal.

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is And Then Some.

NYT Strands word list for July 24

• Leftover

• Surplus

• And Then Some

• Spare

• Extra

• Unused

• Excess

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Strands.

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you're always put together.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

Sticky gum.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

The letter T appears twice.

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter P.

The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is...

PUTTY

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints. Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Wordle.

TL;DR: Get Curiosity Stream Standard lifetime access for a one-time $127.50 through July 26 with code STREAM15 and enjoy unlimited access to thousands of documentaries with no recurring subscription.

Opens in a new window

Credit: Curiosity Stream

Curiosity Stream Standard Plan: Lifetime Subscription

$127.50
$399.99 Save $272.49

 

Get Deal

Not every streaming night has to end with another sitcom rewatch or the same movie you’ve already seen three times. Sometimes it’s nice to come away having learned something new.

That’s the appeal of Curiosity Stream, a streaming service dedicated entirely to documentaries. Through July 26, new users can get a Curiosity Stream Standard Lifetime Subscription for $127.50 with code STREAM15, making it a one-time purchase instead of another recurring entertainment bill.

Founded by John Hendricks, the founder of Discovery Communications, Curiosity Stream focuses on documentaries covering science, history, technology, nature, engineering, art, and more. The library includes thousands of films and series, with new content added weekly, so there’s always something new to explore.

Popular titles include Engineering the Future, Planet of Treasures, Deep Time History, Into the Jungle, Autonomy, The History of Home, and many more.

The Standard Plan also makes it easy to watch wherever you are. You can stream in HD across multiple devices, download documentaries for offline viewing, bookmark programs to watch later, and quickly search by topic or subject.

Whether you’re fascinated by space exploration, wildlife, ancient civilizations, or breakthrough technology, Curiosity Stream is built around thoughtful, in-depth storytelling rather than endless scrolling.

If documentaries are the kind of content you find yourself returning to, Curiosity Stream Standard Lifetime offers a simple way to keep that library available whenever you’re ready to learn something new.

Use code STREAM15 to get Curiosity Stream Standard lifetime access for just $127.50 (reg. $399.99) through July 26.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Meta’s smart glasses allow creators to record strangers without holding up an obvious camera. Unsurprisingly, it's enabled a lot of bad behavior. Now, Instagram is placing new limits on what happens to that footage once it reaches the platform.

In an Instagram Story (first reported by Business Insider), Instagram head Adam Mosseri said the platform would remove smart-glasses videos that show people being harassed or taken advantage of.

"If you’re posting content that is taking advantage of people and harassing them, like a lot of these pickup line kind of videos that we’ve heard of and seen, then we’re going to take the content down," Mosseri reportedly said. "We don’t want people to be surreptitiously taking videos of other people and harassing them and then posting them on our platform," he added.

The belated crackdown covers formats including pickup videos — in which creators approach people who may not realize they are being recorded — and prank videos targeting cashiers, fast-food employees, and other workers.

The report also noted Instagram had deactivated two pickup-artist accounts that used smart glasses to film women in public, both with more than 1 million followers. Meta confirmed the accounts were removed for violating its policy against harassing content, but did not say when the removals occurred.

Meta also didn't explain how Instagram will determine when an interaction becomes harassment, or how many posts and accounts have been removed. But recent incidents show why the platform is under pressure to draw a clearer line — and how much damage can be done before a video is taken down.

Why Meta’s smart glasses have raised privacy concerns

Meta first introduced its Ray-Ban smart glasses in 2021 and has since expanded its wearable lineup through partnerships with Oakley and Kylie Jenner. Depending on the model, the glasses can record photos and videos, play audio, make calls, and respond to requests through Meta AI. Meta has also made it easy for users to upload their smart glasses footage to Instagram, and this content is often labeled "Made with Meta Ray-Ban."

A small white LED on the front flashes when the camera is operating. In a July 7 explainer, Meta said its second-generation glasses automatically disable the camera if they detect the light has been covered — a response to reports of users tampering with the recording indicator. People in at least 30 states are even offering this tampering as a service, according to journalist Joanna Stern. Meta also said it actively removes advertisements, posts, and Marketplace listings that offer Meta Ray-Ban-tampering services.

That discretion has helped fuel an ecosystem of pickup, prank, and “troll” accounts built around filming strangers without their knowledge. Creators have secretly recorded attempts to get women’s phone numbers in gyms, airports, bars, stores, and public streets. The women are then exposed to audiences that may scrutinize their appearance, sexualize them, or criticize how they responded to an interaction they did not know was content.

Back in April, one woman discovered online footage of a man asking for her number after he recorded their conversation through smart glasses. She said the video was posted despite her refusing permission.

Other videos use unsuspecting retail and restaurant employees as participants in pranks, confrontations, or deliberately uncomfortable exchanges. In one recurring Meta glasses prank, creators spray a foul-smelling substance on a candle, then approach Walmart shoppers or employees and ask them to smell the scent. In another video, a creator placed fake feces in a fast-food restaurant bathroom, then asked an unsuspecting cashier to leave the counter and inspect it.

There's more: one creator recorded visits to massage parlors and used sexually suggestive captions to tease explicit pay-per-view versions of the footage. Another built an Instagram page around non-consensually filming women’s bodies. After Mashable provided Meta with those examples back in January 2026, the company disabled both accounts for violating its policy on adult sexual exploitation.

Former prank creator Brad Podray, previously known online as Scumbag Dad, told Mashable in January that creators frequently target women and service employees because they are likely to provide usable reactions while being less able or willing to confront the person recording them.

“They want people who are good on camera, so they’re going to hit fast food employees, and they’re going to hit pretty girls,” Podray said. “A lot of random women walking around aren’t going to want to participate in a skit if you ask them to, so they remove the agency entirely by just running the glasses.”

Meta warned in an October 2025 statement that “people shouldn’t use them for engaging in harmful activities like harassment, infringing on privacy rights, or capturing sensitive information.” The company issued this warning after the University of San Francisco sent out a campus safety advisory. Multiple women reported that a man wearing Ray-Ban Meta glasses had approached them with unwanted comments and inappropriate dating questions. The university said he may have been recording these interactions for a pickup artist account on Instagram and TikTok.

Meta’s glasses are, of course, used for plenty of legitimate purposes beyond this inappropriate and often immoral content. Many wearers use them to capture travel, sports, concerts, and everyday moments from a first-person perspective without holding a phone. The glasses can also play music, make calls, send messages, translate conversations, answer questions about what’s around you, and provide directions or reminders through Meta AI. Athletes and creators also use them to record hands-free footage, while blind and visually impaired users can ask the glasses to read labels, identify objects, select clothing, and describe their surroundings.

Nevertheless, as the glasses become more common and harder to distinguish from ordinary eyewear, Instagram’s challenge will be keeping creators from finding new ways to turn that discretion into content at someone else’s expense.

The iPhone 18 is about to launch, along with the final version of its operating system, iOS 27, most likely in September. But a new report says it may arrive with a feature that lets Apple, and third-party lenders, remotely deactivate phones if customers fall behind on payments.

With the iOS 27 beta now widely available, 9to5Mac found code that would let Apple place delinquent iPhones in "Restricted Mode." This would limit users to a short list of widgets and apps, including the App Store, Clock, Settings, Wallet, and Passwords, according to the report.

In theory, 9to5Mac says the system could work like this: Authorized financing partners who lease iPhones to customers get to perform regular status checks to see if the contract is still valid. If a customer falls behind, Restricted Mode would be activated.

The feature is "unequivocally present" in the iOS 27 beta, according to 9to5Mac — and a future update to iOS 26 could bring this feature to older iPhones as well.

The era of internet-connected "smart" devices has had plenty of benefits for consumers, but as consumer advocates have long warned, it also allows brands to remotely turn off devices.

Why might Apple be testing a tool like this right now? Let's dive in.

Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable

If you've bought any new tech products recently, you've probably noticed: New devices are getting really expensive. Just this month Apple raised prices on a variety of its products. iPhone prices haven't risen just yet, but Tim Cook has prepared the ground for an "unavoidable" iPhone price hike.

Thanks to the ongoing global memory chip crisis known as RAMageddon, new phones now require a serious investment. The new foldable phones released by Samsung this week were preceded by a new Galaxy credit card program.

Apple is believed to be readying a new leasing program of its own. Bloomberg's Apple oracle, Mark Gurman, says Apple will launch the "Apple Upgrade" leasing program later this month.

Gurman calls it "one of the biggest-ever changes to how the company sells" new devices — and says Apple Upgrade will be part of a partnership with the online lender Klarna, giving buyers a lease-to-buy option. iPhone customers who qualify could make monthly payments over two years.

The code discovered by 9to5Mac also reportedly includes another type of locking mechanism called "Partner Finance Lock," which would stop users from trying to resell a financed device.