TL;DR: The Xbox Nano Controller will launch on Nov. 4. Preorders for this retro mini controller are now live for $49.94.

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Credit: Microsoft

Xbox Nano Controller

$49.94 at Amazon

 

Shop Now at Amazon

I try to keep a cool head when online shopping. Sure, there are some cool products that turn heads, but you need to keep your wits about you when navigating the murky waters of the online shopping world.

When I first met the Xbox Nano Controller, I truly tried to keep my composure. I desperately wanted to find something that I didn't like, but just look at this thing. Isn't it the cutest little guy you've ever seen? I have thrown off the shackles of editorial discretion and will defend this adorable controller with my life. I will die for you, Xbox Nano Controller.

Credit: Microsoft

The Xbox Nano Controller is officially available for preorder for $49.94 at Amazon, with general availability kicking off on Nov. 4 across the U.S., UK, and major global markets. Amazon is 4 cents cheaper than Microsoft at the time of writing — another banger of a deal courtesy of Mashable!

Amazon is also offering its preorder price guarantee. That protects you against future price drops. The price you're charged when Amazon ships it to you will be the lowest price offered between the time you placed your order and the release date.

Clocking in at just over 5 inches long and weighing just 3.5 ounces, the Xbox Nano is shorter and lighter than most modern smartphones. Despite the miniature footprint, Microsoft didn't cut corners: you get all 18 standard gameplay buttons, twin analog sticks, a rechargeable battery, and a remappable Action Button that "can be customized for features like screenshots, gameplay capture, and other frequently used shortcuts."

I know the Nano won't replace your Xbox Elite Series 2. I might be smitten, but I'm not blind to the reality of tighter ergonomics. But for under $50, the Xbox Nano Controller is a top pick for younger players, smaller hands, or anyone who wants to game on the go.

Taskmaster is back on Say More! Taskmaster's Greg Davies and Alex Horne join Mashable Executive Producer Mark Stetson to dive into the utterly chaotic Series 22, featuring contestants Richard Ayoade, Chloe Petts, Isy Suttie, Matt Lucas, and Nina Conti. Davies and Horne go deep on their approach to handling "chaos agents" like Rich Ayoade and Jason Mantzoukas, the most iconic outfits throughout the show's run, and the hilarious moments that have made them break character. Plus, Greg opens up about his obsession with Caramac bars!

On Taskmaster, the tasks are like a serving platter for the comedy, allowing the contestants to infuse the tasks with their own unique brand of comedy. However, for some of the contestants, their particular brand of comedy is subverting the rules and expectations. In Series 22, that chaos agent is Rich Ayoade. "We knew what we were getting into with him," Alex Horne says in the interview. "He doesn't like playing by the rules. So... he's going to be trying to unpick it."

"Alex is very organized and has spent a great deal of time designing these games," Davies adds. "And you know, with someone like Richard, he's not going to just fall into line. He's a very strong flavor of character, and he's going to play things his way."

When asked if he ever builds "chaos agent" contingencies into his games, Alex said, "Not really. You'd be amazed how little has changed. Because it's still going to be five different people coming in trying to do the thing. And once the cameras roll, they are just in the moment and they forget about everything else. So if you've got a Rich Ayoade, he will turn things on their head."

Mark made sure to ask Alex about his cameo on Dropout's Game Changer and whether we can expect another crossover. Alex answered, "I don't know. We saw that we were both doing vaguely similar shows, and so he got in touch and came over to England. We are also both very busy, so I think we'll keep tantalizing people. So who knows? I mean, currently no big plans, but Greg and I hope to come to America again very soon, so you never know."

Taskmaster Series 22 is currently streaming on YouTube

What's a Grand Theft Auto game without a killer soundtrack?

From the sun-soaked synth-pop of Vice City to surfing a sea of radio stations, music has always been an essential part of Rockstar Games' gritty, open-world franchise. And with Grand Theft Auto VI taking players back to Vice City, the sprawling soundtrack is shaping up to be just as ambitious as the game itself.

Rockstar has already revealed a 34-track album featuring artists like Travis Scott, Cardi B, and PinkPantheress, along with an original score composed by the French electronic duo Justice. Meanwhile, the game's fictional radio stations are bringing some familiar voices to the airwaves, including Robyn, Bad Bunny, and Lana Del Rey.

And that's just what we know so far. Ahead of GTA 6's Nov. 19 release, we're keeping track of every confirmed song, artist, radio station, and celebrity DJ coming to Leonida. Consider this your unofficial guide to the sounds of Vice City.

What songs are on the GTA 6 soundtrack?

Rockstar has announced Grand Theft Auto VI: The Album, a 34-track collection of original music arriving Nov. 19, the same day as the game.

The album features an eclectic mix of artists and genres, from hip-hop heavyweights Travis Scott and Cardi B to country star Morgan Wallen and Puerto Rican singer Rauw Alejandro. There's even a collaboration between CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso, PinkPantheress, Fred again.., and French producer Etienne de Crécy. And somehow, someway, Morgan Wallen's single is the most-streamed track from the soundtrack on Spotify, with more than 25 million streams. Yung Lean, fight back!

Here are the nine songs Rockstar has revealed from the album so far:

• "That's It" — Yung Lean feat. Future & Metro Boomin

• "RHYNO" — Travis Scott

• "Sexy Magic" — CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso, PinkPantheress, Fred again.. & Etienne de Crécy

• "Flower in a Hurricane" — Justice feat. Tame Impala, SZA & King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard

• "Last Thing You Need" — Morgan Wallen

• "Suzuki" — Fuerza Regida

• "Macacoa 2000" — Rauw Alejandro

• "Don't Chart" — Cardi B

• "Bright Lights, Big City" — Keith Richards

Fans can listen to the available singles on Rockstar's official GTA 6 music website, where the album is also available to pre-save or pre-order on vinyl and CD.

Justice is composing the original score for GTA 6

The French electronic duo Justice, consisting of Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay, is responsible for the original score of Grand Theft Auto VI.

Rockstar confirmed the news on Oct. 15 alongside the game's launch trailer, which features the debut of Justice's new single, "Flower in a Hurricane," featuring Tame Impala, SZA, and Australian psychedelic rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard.

It's a fitting collaboration for a game returning to Vice City, a fictional playground known for its vibrant nightlife and electronic music. Justice's signature blend of distorted synths, disco, and dance music feels particularly suited to Rockstar's radiant criminal underworld.

The duo previously collaborated with Tame Impala on "Neverender" from their 2024 album Hyperdrama. The song won Best Dance/Electronic Recording at the 2025 Grammys.

Rockstar has also confirmed that an official score album is on the way, although additional details, including its release date and tracklist, have yet to be announced.

Which celebrity DJs are in GTA 6?

The fictional radio stations are one of Grand Theft Auto's most beloved features, and GTA 6 is bringing some major star power to the airwaves.

On Oct. 8, Rockstar unveiled six radio stations, each with its own musical identity and celebrity hosts. Among the biggest names are Bad Bunny, Robyn, Lana Del Rey, Burna Boy, and members of Slayer.

Here's a breakdown of the confirmed stations and their hosts:

Cocoteo FM

Hosts: Bad Bunny and RaiNao

Bad Bunny is bringing the sounds of Puerto Rico to Vice City. Alongside singer RaiNao, the superstar hosts Cocoteo FM, a station dedicated to modern Latin music, including reggaeton and other Caribbean sounds.

Flash FM

Hosts: Robyn and Alex Consani

A familiar name for longtime Vice City fans, Flash FM returns with Swedish pop icon Robyn and model Alex Consani behind the microphone. The station promises a steady stream of pop music and dance-floor favorites.

Back Country Radio

Hosts: Morgan Wallen and Lana Del Rey

Country music gets its own corner of Leonida with Back Country Radio, hosted by Morgan Wallen and Lana Del Rey. In perhaps the most unexpected casting choice, Del Rey's husband, Jeremy Dufrene, also makes an appearance as the station's "roving reporter, swamp meteorologist, and airboat captain."

AfroBank FM

Hosts: Burna Boy and Palms Trax

Afrobeats superstar Burna Boy teams up with DJ and producer Palms Trax for a station spotlighting amapiano, African classics, and other sounds from across the continent.

The Chamber

Hosts: Kerry King and Tom Araya

Metal fans aren't being left out. Slayer's Kerry King and Tom Araya host The Chamber, a station dedicated to heavy metal.

Dirty South Classics

Hosts: Trick Daddy and Trina

Miami rap legends Trick Daddy and Trina are taking listeners through the history of Southern hip-hop on Dirty South Classics, a particularly fitting addition to a game inspired by South Florida.

These are only the stations Rockstar has revealed so far. The developer says GTA 6 will feature its biggest and most wide-ranging collection of in-game radio stations and podcasts yet, with everything from classic rock to talk radio.

What songs are featured in the GTA 6 trailers?

Long before Rockstar began revealing the official soundtrack, the game's trailers were already giving fans a taste of what to expect musically.

The first GTA 6 trailer, released in December 2023, featured Tom Petty's "Love Is a Long Road," a track from his 1989 album Full Moon Fever. The song was an especially fitting choice given Petty's Florida roots and the game's focus on Jason and Lucia's relationship.

The Oct. 15, 2026, launch trailer introduced "Flower in a Hurricane," the new Justice collaboration featuring Tame Impala, SZA, and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard.

Where can you listen to the GTA 6 soundtrack?

Rockstar has launched an official music hub where fans can preview the game's radio stations and listen to singles from Grand Theft Auto VI: The Album.

The album arrives Nov. 19, 2026, alongside the game, with digital, vinyl, and CD editions planned.

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Credit: Rockstar Games/Atlantic Records

Grand Theft Auto VI: The Album (Amazon Exclusive)

$49.98 at Amazon

 

Preorder at Amazon

As Rockstar reveals more music, we'll update this guide with additional songs, artists, radio stations, and soundtrack details.

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

SAVE OVER $700: As of Oct. 16, the Sunseeker X3 Plus robot lawn mower has hit its lowest-ever price of $836.98 at Amazon. That's $762.01 off its full price of $1,598.99.

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Credit: Sunseeker

Sunseeker X3 Plus Robot Lawn Mower

$836.98 at Amazon
$1,598.99 Save $762.01

 

Get Deal at Amazon

As we inch closer to winter, outdoor work like mowing the lawn starts winding down. However, there's nothing wrong with planning ahead for next year's yard chores, and Amazon can help by offering stellar discounts on select robot lawn mowers right now. Among them is the Sunseeker X3 Plus, which is nearly half off.

As of Oct. 16, this robot mower has plummeted from $1,598.99 to $836.98, saving you 48% overall. It also marks the lowest price we've seen for the mower, which is a huge bonus.

The Sunseeker X3 Plus is designed for yards in a small-to-medium size range. That means lawns up to 0.3 acres/13,000 sq. ft. There's no need to bury perimeter wires, as you can create virtual boundaries in the app. When it comes to cutting, it features an offset blade design which helps it trim closer to fences and borders, and cutting height can even be adjusted in the app. Plus, it can handle slopes up to 30 degrees, so if your yard has a few bumps, it won't be slowed down.

This mower even features a camera and ultrasonic sensor that help it find and maneuver around objects on the lawn.

If the Sunseeker X3 Plus has caught your eye, act fast to save at Amazon.

TL;DR: The Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Delta Reign Elite Trainer Box is available to preorder for $137.89 at Amazon, but Walmart is cheaper at just $113.99.

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Credit: The Pokémon Company

Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Delta Reign Elite Trainer Box

$113.99 at Walmart

 

Preorder at Walmart

It's only been a week since preorders for the Pokémon TCG Delta Reign Elite Trainer Box first became available for around $140 at Amazon, but prices for the upcoming expansion have already taken a big dip. Walmart has now dropped considerably, offering one of the best preorder prices we've seen for the new ETB.

As of Oct. 16, the Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Delta Reign Elite Trainer Box is available to preorder for just $113.99 at Walmart. Compared to Amazon's current lowest price of $137.89, that's a $23.90 difference.

Even better, the new Walmart offer slips beneath the ETB's current estimated market price of $118.85. The lowest-priced listings on TCGplayer currently sit at $118.60.

You’ll be getting what you can usually expect from a Pokémon ETB: nine titular booster packs from the Delta Reign expansion, a full-art foil Kyogre promo card, 65 card sleeves, 40 Energy cards, seven dice, a plastic coin, six dividers, a collector's box, a player's guide, and a Pokémon TCG Live code card.

When not counting the extras, you’ll be paying $15.56 per pack. 

In this particular expansion, you’ll have over 135 cards to collect. If you want to check out which sort of beautiful Special Illustration Rares you can get (including Mega Rayquaza ex, Raikou ex, Mega Golurk ex, etc) — you can check out the Japanese versions with single cards available to buy right now on TCGplayer. 

TL;DR: The Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Delta Reign Booster Display Box is on sale for $249.45 at Amazon, down from its $279.99 list price.

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Credit: The Pokémon Company

Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Delta Reign Booster Display Box

$249.95 at Amazon
$279.99 Save $30.04

 

Preorder at Amazon

The Pokémon TCG Delta Reign expansion is just three weeks away, and there seem to be price wars across our go-to trading card retailers. Amazon initially had the 36-pack Display Box available for around $270 when preorders first dropped last week, but there's now a chance to save another $20 on top of that.

As of Oct. 16, the Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Delta Reign Booster Display Box is available to preorder for just $249.45 at Amazon, with $30.54 knocked off its $279.99 list price. With this new 11% discount from third-party seller Kings Games, you save $20.54 extra compared to the $269.99 Amazon deal we spotted back on Oct. 8. This will arrive later than the expansion’s Nov. 6 release date, but you can get this as soon as Nov. 9.

Although Amazon's offer is considerably better than before, Walmart currently has an even cheaper option at $229.99 through a third-party seller. That's another $19.46 saved, with free delivery expected Nov. 16. That's $16.37 below TCGplayer’s estimated market price, and listings there only go as low as $244.70. 

For the Amazon price, you're effectively paying $6.93 for each of the 36 Delta Reign booster packs from the 135+ card expansion, giving you 360 random Pokémon cards to open altogether, excluding Energy and code cards.

The U.S. is a big country, and we don't all experience the seasons in the same way, but for a lot of us, fall is definitely here. The weather is cooler, football is happening, new iPhones have arrived, and all of that means it's almost time to move the clocks back to close out Daylight Saving Time 2026.

Since you're reading this, you're probably wondering exactly when that's supposed to happen. After all, it can get confusing as to whether or not we're even in DST at any given point in time, and the beginning and end of it always sneak up on us every year. Fret not, though, because we have an answer: DST ends this year on Nov. 1, with clocks moving back from 2 a.m. to 1 a.m. overnight.

Yes, that means you get an extra hour of sleep.

This, of course, does not apply to municipalities that don't observe DST, such as Hawaii and most of Arizona. But for the rest of us, we're going to have to manually adjust some of our clocks to reflect the change...after that extra long night of sleep, of course. It's also worth noting that any device you own that's connected to the internet, such as a smartphone or laptop, will most likely change its own time automatically.

But if you have an older car or you rely on the clock on your stove, make a note to move it back an hour on Nov. 1.

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

Jimmy Kimmel is under fire from the Trump administration this week. First the president went after him at a rally, and now the White House itself has got involved.

"The White House also issued a not-so-fabulous statement today about me, in response to my monologue. To be honest I'm not even sure which one pissed them off. One of the monologues prompted White House spokesboy Davis Dingle to say 'Jimmy Kimmel is a no-talent loser who has beclowned himself with tanking ratings and by spewing disgusting lies to his dwindling audience,' says Kimmel in the clip above, before bringing up a photo of Dingle stood outside the president's plane.

"And by the way, in case you were wondering what a person who uses the word 'beclowned' looks like, this is Davis Dingle — you can see him clicking on his pen, moments before they buckled him into his booster seat on Air Force One."

Want more of the best of late night? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter.

Astronomers peering past the crowded, dusty plane of the Milky Way have spotted a tangle of radio light, glowing inside a massive collision of lots of galaxies.

The space object loops and curls in thin strands, earning its nickname, the Treble Clef. It's what researchers refer to as a "radio phoenix," a cloud of faded particles brought back to life. It lurks inside a galaxy cluster — a huge group of galaxies bound together by gravity — and that cluster is in the throes of a merger with another cluster.

Long ago, a giant black hole in the cluster fired out jets of energetic particles. Over time, those particles lost energy and went dark. Then, the violent crash squeezed and stirred the leftover material, and it lit up again in radio light.

The discovery shows how far radio astronomy has come, according to the researchers, whose paper appears in the Astronomy & Astrophysics journal. A new generation of telescopes tuned to long radio waves, especially the European Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) network, now captures images sharp and sensitive enough to resolve blurry smudges into detailed filament tapestries. Radio telescopes also "see" through the gas and dust that block ordinary telescopes.

The Treble Clef first surfaced in radio surveys years ago, and some astronomers thought it might be a pulsar, a fast-spinning dead star. A 2004 study tied it to a possible galaxy cluster, but still couldn't make out its shape because the telescopes of the time couldn't pick out fine enough detail. 

After that, the object faded from view in the scientific literature too. It popped up once more, in a 2022 list of possible "X-shaped" radio sources.

But that changed when the team combed through new LOFAR survey data and saw its twisting structure clearly. They followed up with India's Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope to study the object across a wider range of wavelengths.

The Chandra X-ray Observatory, along with eROSITA, picked up the multi-million-degree hot gas that showed the treble clef sits in two merging galaxy clusters. Credit: NASA illustration

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To size up the cluster itself, the team turned to NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the German eROSITA space telescope, which detected X-rays pouring off super-hot gas that fills the cluster. That signal let the researchers pin down the cluster's distance — about 1.6 billion light-years away — temperature, and mass for the first time, and it confirmed the ongoing collision. The cluster weighs about 600 trillion times as much as our sun.

The researchers think churning gas from the smashup mangled the phoenix into its treble clef shape. The same event also may have sparked a broad, dim haze of radio light at the cluster's center, called a radio halo, but so far only the Indian telescope has detected it.

The object ranks among the most extreme faint, spread-out radio glows ever found in the hot gas that fills the space between a cluster's galaxies. These delicate threads could help crack a bigger puzzle about how cosmic rays — high-energy particles zipping through space — travel through clusters. Scientists still debate what keeps them shining. 

Best iPhone Duo preorder deals:

---

Apple Store (AT&T)

$799 (save up to $1,200 with eligible trade-in and AT&T Elite 2.0 or Premium 2.0 plan)

Pre-Order Here

---

Apple Store (T-Mobile)

$999 (save up to $1,000 with eligible trade-in and Experience Beyond or Go5G Next plan)

Pre-Order Here

---

AT&T

$799 (save up to $1,200 with trade-in worth $230 or more and AT&T Elite 2.0 or Premium 2.0 plan)

Pre-Order Here

---

Xfinity Mobile

$999 (save up to $1,000 with qualifying trade-in and new Mobile Plus line)

Pre-Order Here

---

Verizon

$1,999 (no activation fees for new and Verizon Loyalty customers)

Pre-Order Here

Apple is about to launch the iPhone Duo, its first-ever foldable phone, and preorders begin Oct. 16. The passport-style device starts at $1,999, making it the most expensive iPhone ever. Maxed out with 2TB of storage, it'll run you a cool $3,199 — the same price as a 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 Pro chip and the same storage capacity. (Ah!)

The good news is that you don't have to pay full price if you take advantage of various iPhone Duo preorder offers. One major carrier will give it to you for as cheap as $799, provided you trade in an older phone and sign up for certain wireless plans. (That makes the Duo $100 less expensive than the standard iPhone 17.) Below, we've rounded up the best iPhone Duo preorder deals currently live.

Not sure whether the Duo is right for you? Read senior editor Stan Schroeder's hands-on impressions.

The very best iPhone Duo preorder deals require a trade-in. Credit: Apple

Apple Store: Save up to $1,200 with AT&T or T-Mobile

Shoppers can leverage two iPhone Duo carrier deals directly through the Apple Store, both in person and online. AT&T customers can save up to $1,200 on their new foldable (via 36 monthly bill credits) by trading in an iPhone 14 Pro Max or newer and activating a new AT&T Elite 2.0 or Premium 2.0 plan. Earning the full trade-in amount means you'd only pay $799 for your new iPhone Duo, excluding any applicable taxes or fees.

Meanwhile, T-Mobile customers can save up to $1,000 on the iPhone Duo through Apple (via 24 monthly bill credits) by coughing up an older device and signing up for an Experience Beyond or Go5G Next plan. That brings it down to $999 — right between the iPhone 17 and the $999 iPhone Air.

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Credit: Apple

Preorder the iPhone Duo at the Apple Store (AT&T)

$799
$1,999 Save $1,200

Requires eligible trade-in and AT&T Elite 2.0 or Premium 2.0 plan.

Preorder

Opens in a new window

Credit: Apple

Preorder the iPhone Duo at the Apple Store (T-Mobile)

$999
$1,999 Save $1,000

Requires eligible trade-in and Experience Beyond or Go5G Next plan.

Preorder

Apple Trade In

Trading in your current iPhone through the Apple Store nets you up to $885 in instant credit towards an iPhone Duo. The newer the device, the more credit you'll earn. (The oldest you can go is an iPhone 13, according to a company press release.) You can put that credit towards one of the aforementioned carrier plans, monthly Apple Upgrade payments (see below), or Apple Card Monthly Installments. Here are Apple's maximum trade-in values for older iPhones:

• iPhone 17 Pro Max — $885

• iPhone 17 Pro — $785

• iPhone Air — $585

• iPhone 17 — $585

• iPhone 16 Pro Max — $610

• iPhone 16 Pro — $510

• iPhone 16 Plus — $430

• iPhone 16 — $430

• iPhone 16e — $270

• iPhone 15 Pro Max — $455

• iPhone 15 Pro — $370

• iPhone 15 Plus — $315

• iPhone 15 — $305

• iPhone 14 Pro Max — $360

• iPhone 14 Pro — $285

• iPhone 14 Plus — $210

• iPhone 14 — $195

• iPhone 13 Pro Max — $320

• iPhone 13 Pro — $255

• iPhone 13 — $175

Apple Upgrade

Apple Upgrade is the company's relatively new Klarna-powered product leasing program. You can rent an iPhone Duo for as low as $57.99 per month on a 24-month plan. (That doesn't include taxes or any trade-in credit you've earned.) Once your lease term has ended, you can buy your iPhone Duo outright, upgrade it to a newer device, or just return it.

The iPhone Duo is a passport-style foldable with a nano-texture (matte) inner screen. Credit: Apple

AT&T: Save up to $1,200

AT&T is offering the same iPhone Duo preorder deal directly on its website: trade in another device and sign up for an eligible unlimited plan to save up to $1,200 (via 36 monthly bill credits). The offer specifically requires an older phone from any brand that's worth at least $230 and an AT&T Elite 2.0 or Premium 2.0 plan.

Shoppers switching to AT&T from a different carrier will get a bonus AT&T Visa Reward card worth up to $800 to pay off their old contract. You can get an additional $200 off just by signing up for your new line online. (Getting paid to stay home and avoid the preorder day crowds? You love to see it.)

Opens in a new window

Credit: Apple

Preorder the iPhone Duo at AT&T

$799
$1,999 Save $1,200

Requires trade-in worth $230 or more and AT&T Elite 2.0 or Premium 2.0 plan.

Preorder

Xfinity Mobile: Save up to $1,000

New Xfinity Mobile Plus customers and existing Diamond members with a Mobile Plus plan can also preorder an iPhone Duo for as low as $999 with an eligible trade-in. Your savings will be applied as 36 monthly bill credits.

If you don't have an older device to trade in, you can still save $400 on an iPhone Duo through Xfinity by signing up for a new Mobile Plus line.

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Credit: Apple

Preorder the iPhone Duo at Xfinity Mobile

$999
$1,999 Save $1,000

Requires qualifying trade-in and new Mobile Plus line.

Preorder

Verizon: No activation fees

As of this writing, Verizon was just waiving activation fees on iPhone Duo preorders for new and Verizon Loyalty customers — a $40 value. (Verizon Loyalty is a free-to-join rewards program that offers 3% back in "Verizon Dollars" every month, plus exclusive access to certain sweepstakes, dining discounts, gift cards, and concert presales.) Verizon usually offers much more competitive iPhone preorder deals, so we expect this offer to improve in the near future.

Opens in a new window

Credit: Apple

Preorder the iPhone Duo at Verizon

$1,999

No activation fees for new and Verizon Loyalty customers.

Preorder

TL;DR: Get lifetime access to UPDF’s PDF editing, conversion, OCR, annotation, and document management tools for $69.99 (reg. $149.99).

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Credit: UPDF

UPDF - Edit & Convert PDF: Lifetime Subscription

$69.99
$149.99 Save $80.00

 

Get Deal

PDFs are supposed to make sharing documents easier. Editing them, however, can feel like an entirely different assignment. UPDF offers a lifetime subscription to its PDF editing and conversion toolkit for just $69.99 (reg. $149.99), giving you the tools to manage documents without adding another recurring software payment.

UPDF works across Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android, so you’re not tied to one type of device. Its redesigned UPDF 2.0 interface, introduced in 2025, brings a range of document tools into a single workspace.

Need to fix a typo or replace an image? You can edit PDF text, adjust fonts, crop images, and add links directly within your documents.

UPDF also converts PDFs into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, image files, and other formats. Its OCR technology recognizes text in 38 languages, turning scanned documents into searchable, editable files.

For everyday organization, you can merge, split, rotate, extract, and rearrange pages. Annotation tools let you highlight text, add comments, insert signatures, and mark up documents without printing anything.

Batch processing handles tasks such as conversion, compression, encryption, and merging across multiple files at once.

You can also create fillable forms, add password protection, and sync documents across supported devices using UPDF Cloud.

There are a couple of important details: This offer is for new users only, and UPDF’s optional AI Assistant requires a separate purchase. Mac users who need OCR should download UPDF directly from its website rather than the Mac App Store.

For anyone regularly handling PDFs, this is a practical way to bring essential document tools under one roof. Get UPDF’s lifetime PDF editor and converter for a one-time $69.99 (reg. $149.99) for a limited time.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Get a lifetime Windows 11 Pro license for one PC for $9.97 (reg. $199) during the Microsoft Flash Sale through Oct. 20.

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Credit: Microsoft

Microsoft Windows 11 Pro

$9.97
$199 Save $189.03

 

Get Deal

If your PC has been running a little sluggish or you’ve been meaning to bring your system up to speed, Windows 11 Pro is just $9.97 (MSRP $199) through 11:59 p.m. PT on Oct.20 as part of this Microsoft Flash Sale — a rare, time-sensitive offer that rewards quick, savvy decisions.

This isn’t about chasing trends; it’s more about giving your computer the modern foundation it deserves. Windows 11 Pro brings a sleeker UI, better multitasking, and enhanced security — all in a one-time lifetime license.

Think of it as the difference between driving a reliable car and suddenly upgrading to one with a smarter dashboard, smoother handling, and built-in security features.

For professionals, creators, and power users, this upgrade also unlocks features like Hyper-V, Windows Sandbox, BitLocker encryption, and seamless Azure AD integration — tools that make a real difference when you’re working across projects or managing sensitive data.

And yes, Windows 11 comes with Copilot, Microsoft’s AI-powered assistant that can summarize pages, change settings, or even help you generate code on the fly. It’s like having a co-pilot (literally) inside your OS.

But you don’t need convincing — you already know a smart upgrade when you see one.

Get Windows 11 Pro for just $9.97 (reg. $199) through Oct. 20 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Check out the other products in the Microsoft Flash Sale.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Gay men are absolutely spoiled for choice in the world of hookup apps and sites, but that doesn't mean every option is worthy of your time. If you're looking for a fast connection, whether virtual or in person, some services clearly stand out. 

Today, we're pitting one of the internet's oldest hookup sites against one of the newest hookup sites in a head-to-head battle to see which option comes out on top. Will it be AdultFriendFinder, the 30-year-old online kink community with millions and millions of active members, or Sniffies, Grindr's less-famous relative that's only been around since 2018? 

Because both sites operate in very different ways, we're comparing them in five unique categories to help you figure out which one is worth your time and, potentially, money. 

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Credit: AdultFriendFinder

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Credit: Sniffies

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Community size

While we may know size isn't everything, it stands to reason that having a larger pool of potential matches improves your hookup odds, and this is one area where AdultFriendFinder has a clear advantage. From their homepage, AFF boasts nearly 8 million active users across the United States, making it relatively easy to find matches in more rural communities. Sniffies, on the other hand, has just three million active monthly users, and because of its location-based matchmaking algorithm (more on that later), it's a lot more effective for people in or near metropolitan areas. 

Given the sheer size of its community and its dispersion, we give the edge to AFF. 

Winner: AdultFriendFinder

Culture

If you're looking for a hookup, it really helps if the site or app you're using isn't ambiguous about its purpose. Tinder is great and all, but every match produces the same dance: is this person looking for something serious or casual? Both AdultFriendFinder and Sniffies are unambiguously hookup apps, and one clear tell there is in their embrace of nudity.

On both AFF and Sniffies, you can and should expect to see some full-frontal nudity. In fact, it's not uncommon to only see full-frontal nudity, without an accompanying face photo. In contrast to these two raunchy sites, even Grindr, with its strict prohibition against nudity, looks tame by comparison. 

Winner: Tie

Ease of use

One area where AFF really shows its age is in its interface and site architecture. It's not that it's overly complicated, but it isn't nearly as straightforward as it could be, and certainly not as straightforward as Sniffies. 

On AFF, for example, you have to create a profile and then spend time searching through singles profiles or participating in the community section of the website (forums, stories, and live webcam shows) to find someone to match with. Sniffies dispenses with all that noise, getting straight to business: your profile is just an image on a map of your area, with other profiles of "cruisers" (people looking exclusively for a quick hookup) shown based on their proximity to you. 

If you're just looking for a quick hookup, this one is a no-brainer: Sniffies will help you meet someone new much faster. 

Winner: Sniffies

Value

The best thing to say about both sites is that they offer a good amount of features to free users. With a free AFF membership, you can participate in all community areas, including the discussion forums and live webcam feeds, but you can't message people one-on-one. On the other hand, with a free Sniffies membership, you can create a single cruising profile and are restricted to your actual location, while a premium Plus membership unlocks quality-of-life features like zero ads, unlimited profiles, and the ability to "cruise" in other places, like a city you'll be visiting in the near future. 

Because both offer generous free memberships, we're reluctant to give either site the advantage here. 

Winner: Tie

Success rate

When it comes to finding in-person connections, what we would traditionally call a "hookup," there's really no contest. Sniffies users know why they're using the site, and they love the convenience, speed, and ease of access that the location-based service enables. Does that mean you can't find a person on AdultFriendFinder? Of course not. And in fact, if you're happy to confine your pleasures to the digital world, you might want to go with AFF, especially because its user base is larger and more spread out.

Winner: Sniffies

Lastly, it's worth noting that Sniffies now has an iOS app, though it's a much tamer version of the web experience, as the Apple App Store strictly prohibits nudity. But no worries; it functions in the same way, helping you find the nearest hookup in no time at all.

The energy in the lobby of Alice Tully Hall was kinetic on the night of Sept. 30, as press, patrons, and the public eagerly awaited the New York Film Festival's New York premiere of You Can See Everything. The documentary's existence went from a well-kept secret to an internet sensation when A24 dropped a teaser on Sept. 6 showing notorious Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes having an intimate conversation with heralded comedian Nathan Fielder. 

The project seemed preposterous, like something born from MadLibs or a brain-rot meme. However, the world premiere at a secret screening at the Telluride Film Festival, which was timed to the teaser debut, not only proved this movie was real, but also launched much buzz and absolutely unhinged rumors about what it contains.  

The New York crowd was downright giddy to see for themselves if You Can See Everything, co-directed by Fielder and Lance Oppenheim (Primetime), could live up to the hype. Personally, I was dubious. Holmes had already been the subject of the heralded book Bad Blood, an Alex Gibney documentary called The Inventor, the podcast series The Dropout, and Hulu's dramatic adaptation of the same name, which starred Amanda Seyfried as Holmes. What could be left to say on this subject? 

Well, I was wrong. Because the answer there is plenty. And You Can See Everything is a masterwork of interrogation, not only of the whole Holmes situation but of documentary as a form itself. And if you're thinking that sounds dry, let me confirm some of the rumors. Yes, there's full-frontal nudity, outrageous statements, bonkers twists, and laughs big and uncomfortable. But there's something more cerebral and unnerving that makes this not exactly a crowdpleaser, but a real stunner.

You Can See Everything is ridiculous on its face. 

Why Nathan Fielder? It's a question he asks Holmes in the film's first half, as he's a comedian known for blurring the lines of reality and performance with shows like Nathan For You and The Rehearsal. Holmes responds with a warm smile and an answer that is intriguingly elusive, as much of her answers will be. Over and over, she insists she's being transparent and truthful. But as that much-talked-about teaser clip suggests, it's hard to trust her, and harder to tell if she's telling the truth. 

Making the movie more bizarre, You Can See Everything began shooting in the 36 days before Holmes turned herself over to authorities to begin her prison sentence for fraud. And during that time, not only did she allow Fielder and his crew of seven into her home with her children and her fiancé, Billy Evans, but she invited him to move into their cramped beach house in the San Diego neighborhood of Del Mar. And he did. 

This should make the audience question Fielder's perspective on Holmes, as he might be accused of getting too close with the subject he's meant to investigate. But this is precisely what You Can See Everything wants you to question — but not just this. 

The film begins with camera angles and conversations between Holmes and Evans (or Liz and Billy, as they call each other) as if we're a fly on the wall. Then, Fielder becomes visible, lurking from a corner or outside their home. He is the audience surrogate in these moments, curious but looking from the outside, trying to make sense of this infamous woman. However, as the film progresses, his getting closer to Holmes and her family puts Fielder in the position of those she's beguiled and impressed before. 

Through Fielder and Oppenheim's suffocatingly intimate approach to the cinematography, we're strapped to his hip on the experience. You Can See Everything is shot in a 4:3 aspect ratio, which is like that of an old-school television from the '90s. This concentrates the audience's attention on to a smaller area, more specifically to the claustrophobic close-ups of Fielder, Holmes, Evans, and others. A multi-camera setup in the home means that the speaker and the spoken-to are caught on tape, so that we can see every microexpression, every flinch or twitch. And in that way, we — like Fielder — are forced to look Holmes in her unblinking eyes and determine for ourselves what is truth and what is a lie. And it's not easy. 

You Can See Everything is a fabulous mindfuck.

Even after all the internet rumors, the most surprising bit — that's not a spoiler — is that Holmes goes to prison around the halfway point of the nearly three-hour-long movie. After that, Fielder and Oppenheim's access to her becomes extremely limited. So, they begin to use reenactments to continue telling their story. That's a standard documentary tool. But the way they use reenactments introduces a new wrinkle in parsing the reality of Holmes' story. As in The Rehearsal, Fielder brings in an actor to play opposite him to recreate moments the crew couldn't catch on camera. And, similar to The Rehearsal, he has conversations with the actor to get a deeper understanding of the interaction. However, because the original interactions are not recorded, it's only Fielder's memory that they can pull from. Even as they read through his scripts, he questions his own memory. His perspective is challenged repeatedly within the film, with the actor even accusing him of liking Holmes too much to be objective. 

This is the core of You Can See Everything that makes it about more than Holmes. Documentaries themselves can never be objective, because they are — as Holmes says — human stories. When the frame is chosen, what is kept in is just as crucial to what is cropped out. When the edit comes together, the moments that are deemed meaningful versus unimportant shape the message. So, while You Can See Everything challenges you to question Holmes and Fielder, it also challenges its audience to think more broadly about documentary and news media. Objectivity is an impossibility. We are creatures of blood and emotion, driven by impulse and a need to protect ourselves from the reality of how we are capable of hurting others. 

It's not just Holmes who is questioned on this point in the film. And so, You Can See Everything becomes an interrogation of how we decide what's true. As a movie, it's a hell of an experience. Personally, I gasped, shouted, laughed, and even gagged. But as a work of art, it's one that's sure to live on for its bold choices, interrogation of form, and for Fielder's brave vulnerability in exposing his own doubts and shortcomings. 

You Can See Everything was reviewed out of the New York Film Festival and will open in theaters on Oct. 16. 

The love stories of Jane Austen might be set in England's Regency era of stiff gender norms and even stiffer social hierarchies, but their appeal is timeless. Austen's novels have been adapted over and over for film and television. Sometimes they are set within their traditional setting, like Ang Lee's rapturous Sense and Sensibility, Joe Wright's Pride and Prejudice, and Autumn de Wilde's Emma. Other times, they get a modern overhaul, like Bridget Jones's Diary, Fire Island, or Clueless. Still other adapters might shift the focus to a character or a fan insert, leading to inventive reimaginings like Lost in Austen and The Other Bennet Sister. 

Each incarnation allows audiences a chance to see Austen's work in a new way — but only if the filmmaker embraces such an opportunity. And so, I am at a loss when regarding director Georgia Oakley's Sense and Sensibility. 

It dedicatedly captures the plot points of Austen's 1811 novel about the penniless Dashwood sisters' search for happiness in a society obsessed with status. But the film lacks a distinct identity, leaving me to wonder why Oakley wanted to bring Elinor and Marianne back to the big screen to begin with. Her passion for the project feels as thunderous as Colonel Brandon's (Herbert Nordrum) in the film's first act. But unlike him, Oakley's passion never ignites. 

What's Sense and Sensibility about? 

Austen's novel follows the misadventures of the Dashwood family, which includes mother Mrs. Dashwood (Caitríona Balfe), and her three daughters, Elinor (Daisy Edgar-Jones), Marianne (Esmé Creed-Miles), and the youngest, Margaret (Bodhi Rae Breathnach). The death of the girls' father has thrown their lives into spin, as he left his house and wealth to a half-brother they hardly know. 

With aggressive speed, this Mr. Dashwood (a dryly funny Tom Brooke) appears on their doorstep with his greedy wife Fanny (a hilarious vicious Stacy Martin), ready to seize all that is legally theirs. 

Poverty is an obvious obstacle for the Dashwood girls in finding a good match. But good fortune seems to fall on Elinor as she falls — in her quiet way — for Fanny's brother Edward Ferrars (George MacKay). Meanwhile, Marianne is being pursued by an elder gentleman of means, the aforementioned Colonel Brandon, but she only has eyes for the galavanting John Willoughby (Frank Dillane). 

Over the course of Sense and Sensibility, the Dashwoods will move to a new — and much humbler — home, find curious new acquaintances, and travel to London in search of love, or at the very least truth. But can they find happiness?

Sense and Sensibility (2026) is charming, but not enchanting. 

Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features

Arguably, Sense and Sensibility is a trickier movie adaptation than Austen's other most-revisited works, because its heroine Elinor Dashwood is less spirited and impetuous than Emma's eponymous protagonist and Pride and Prejudice's Lizzie Bennet. More than the other Austen adaptations, this one requires a balancing of the double act that is Elinor and Marianne. 

Dedicated to be proper and good above even her own happiness, Elinor is a sharp foil to her impulsive younger sister Marianne. Where Elinor meticulously strives to say the civil thing, Marianne rarely has a thought that goes unspoken. To put it simply, where the former is ruled by her head, the latter is ruled by her heart. 

Through their intertwined tales of love and heartache, Austen exposes how in the pursuit of happiness both reason and feeling — or sense and sensibility — are essential. And so, the sisters must learn from each other, however reluctantly. 

In Lee's adaptation, a young Kate Winslet brought girlish verve to Marianne, while Emma Thompson, who also penned the adapted screenplay, brought a trembling vulnerability to Elinor. In Oakley's version, the performance style overall is more restrained, rejecting the romance of Lee's interpretation. But it's hard to say what she chooses to put in place of the romance. 

Edgar-Jones delivers a performance that is so restrained that it can feel vexingly wooden. Opposite her, MacKay becomes her mirror, his eyes shining but vacant as the two could-be lovers struggle to confess their true feelings. 

Meanwhile, Creed-Miles is engaging as Marianne. But Oakley's presentation of this Austen character is less playful and more proto-goth girl. Creed-Miles excitedly chatters about passion and a wish for a lover with a "dark past," while greasy locks of hair tumble across her face and shoulders, a constant reminder of Marianne's love of nature and untamed temperament. 

It is an interesting take on the character, but it becomes one-note as Marianne's pleas for the attentions of Willoughby get angsty. Making matters worse, despite so much talk of passion, neither of Marianne's would-be suitors are beguiling. Across the board, the chemistry of these leads is inert. No dashing gentleman will rise from a pond, his white shirt clinging to his broad shoulders. There's no flexing hand to make audiences swoon. And even Sense and Sensibility's ballroom dance scenes, which are traditionally a terrific place to exude sexual tension within the socially restrained setting, are lacking in allure. 

Fiona Shaw is the MVP of Sense and Sensibility. 

Credit: Alex Bailey / Courtesy of Focus Features

I was overall underwhelmed by the leads of Oakley's adaptation. But her supporting players are terrifically alive, bringing a spark that was a reprieve to such sternness. Screenwriter Diana Reid makes the most out of dinner scenes, and that's where many characters get to shine. 

As mentioned, Martin is deliciously wicked as the Dashwood's scheming, gold-digging sister-in-law. Breathnach, to her credit, is impishly amusing as the youngest sister. Playing boisterous cousin Sir John Middleton, Turlough Convery is warmly amusing, while Chloe Pirrie is cringe-inducingly funny as his socially awkward wife, who treats the weather like a hobby. Plus, Eliot Sumner is bitingly funny as Mr. Palmer, a quiet gentleman who is ever-irked by his relentlessly chatty wife. 

But make no mistake, Fiona Shaw steals scenes she's not even in as Mrs. Jennings. A widow with wealth and way too much time on her hands, Jennings is treated within the plot as a busybody who unintentionally pokes at the emotional bruises of Elinor and Marianne's flailing romances. But Shaw plays more than the silliness or obliviousness of this merry widow. She also radiates with gaudy joy. Her snuffling laughter introduces her character as it echoes through the halls of the Dashwood house, even before she shows up onscreen. 

It's brilliant casting, but beyond that, little elements like how Mrs. Jennings holds her placid pug puppy or offers a heartbroken girl a fortified wine, paint a possibility of womanhood neither Dashwood can currently imagine. Youth is such a volatile element in Austen's stories, because to be deemed an old maid could ruthlessly limit a lady's options. But being old and rich, with unquestionable status, Mrs. Jennings is offered the most freedom in Sense and Sensibility to truly do as she likes. She flaunts etiquette when it doesn't suit her, takes penniless girls on as pets for her travels, and shares her opinions loudly and fearlessly. 

To the girls, she's a reckless and nosy bother. To me, she's a Golden Girl long before her time. Whenever the Dashwoods and their wooden suitors bored me, I waited (not so patiently) for Mrs. Jennings and her quirky family members to return and make me laugh again. 

In the end, Sense and Sensibility is not a bad adaptation of Austen's work as much as it is a boring one. Oakley looks to ground her version in costuming and make-up that feels natural and true to the Regency era. She shies away from theatrical performances in her leads, perhaps seeking to create a timelessness out of a naturalistic approach. But such a tone doesn't fit the poetry of Austen's prose or dialogue. And so, the central romances feel lifeless over lived-in. 

Thus, this Sense and Sensibility is sincere and at times amusing, but shrinks in comparison to other Austen adaptations. 

Sense and Sensibility opens in the UK on Sept. 25 and in the U.S. on Oct. 16.

It's now official: "Swipe fatigue" has made the transition from casual online buzzword to an actual IRL experience. It's now a statistically observable phenomenon, and it's affecting how people approach dating, not to mention their ability to find matches on popular apps.

Indeed, 78 percent of Gen Z dating app users report experiencing some level of "burnout" from dating apps. That research comes from a Forbes survey, while Match Group, Inc., the conglomerate that owns Tinder and Hinge, has seen its stock value plummet by two-thirds since its peak during the pandemic. 

This fatigue has seen an increase in "IRL singles events," forcing the likes of Tinder and Hinge to take note and switch up their game plan. For instance, Tinder launched an Events feature earlier this year to highlight IRL meetups, as well as a new Festival Mode to help strangers with mutual interests meet. Meanwhile, Hinge has reportedly pumped over a million dollars into promoting offline meetups. Things are changing, and it could be for the better — certainly better for your chances of meeting someone and hooking up.

Alternatively, you could look at retro dating directories that refused to jump on the swipe bandwagon and have stuck their guns with offering something different. The issue with swipe-based dating is that it's so binary — yes or no, like or don't like — but sites such as AdultFriendFinder have instead built online communities of people looking for fun (and the spicier the fun, the better). It's about giving users multiple avenues to interact or come together (quite literally in some cases) over shared interests. 

Here's why AdultFriendFinder is the perfect example of this approach:

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Credit: AdultFriendFinder

AdultFriendFinder

 

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Matchmaking beyond the swipe

As fun as mindlessly swiping through singles profiles can be, it should dawn on you at some point that your fellow eligible locals are putting exactly the same amount of effort into evaluating your profile as you are into evaluating theirs. And that's genuinely terrifying.

If you're looking to meet someone, you need more to go off than just photos and a 200-word biography. In the past, people met at work, in college, or at their place of worship, but in the decentralized, delocalized world of the internet, that kind of constant proximity to others is becoming a rare commodity. 

Sites poised to succeed in a post-swipe-fatigue landscape are aware of this fact and are actively trying to solve the problem.  

Yes, AdultFriendFinder has its own version of the singles search, where you put in your location and filters, and it generates a list of eligible people, but that's only a small fraction of what the site offers.

Digital communities are the future

The best way to cure swipe fatigue is to remove the mechanism entirely. Instead, allow people to meet organically through interest-based online communities.

AdultFriendFinder has an entire Community section built around blogs, group chats, and shared stories, where the purpose is more than just matching with someone you might have something in common with. You can read other people's stories, share your own (with or without pictures), or participate in group discussions. There's even a handy Trending filter, so you always know what stories and discussions are generating the most buzz.

And, if you have a way with words, it's surprisingly easy to build your own following, especially when you consider how many niche or esoteric interests AFF caters to. 

Centering live chats and webcam broadcasts

For all their self-promoting talk about being the future, dating apps are shockingly low-tech. After all, we've been able to send and receive texts for over two decades now, and the swipe mechanism itself dates to before the original iPhone. What, exactly, is so special about their design? And why have they been so reticent to adopt video messaging?

Look at two of the most popular and most downloaded apps of the last decade, Snapchat and TikTok, and it's easy to see that the age of the photo is on its way out, while text messaging is as archaic as the dinosaurs at this point.

Plus, let's be real here: people already use both Snapchat and TikTok as lowkey dating sites, flirting via video chat.

This is another place where AdultFriendFinder, despite its age, is obviously ahead of its time. It made live broadcasting and video chatting a major component of its site more than a decade ago. Click on the Live Action tab at the top of their banner, and you can gain access to their Member Webcams section, where singles regularly interact with their audiences (and not just in naked, NSFW ways!). 

If you're tired of always being the one chasing and want to experience people coming to you for a change, start your own broadcast and engage with the people who watch your stream — you may be surprised by who shows up!

The future of dating apps

To be clear, we're not arguing that AdultFriendFinder is about to replace Tinder or Hinge as the go-to dating app for young daters. But we are telling you that, by every evaluative metric we have, online daters are sick of swiping and looking for something more substantive. 

We fully expect the next big dating app to offer community-based interactions rather than one-on-one swiping, and to natively support video chatting or messaging, stealing a page from TikTok's playbook.

Kicking off the Tesla Roadster unveiling on Thursday, CEO Elon Musk said he brought a live audience to make sure people don't think what the company will show was AI-generated.

He wasn't joking.

During the presentation, the Tesla Roadster successfully performed a number of tricks that boggle the mind and are mostly at odds with anything any regular car can even come close to doing. This includes stupidly fast acceleration, hanging upside-down on an inverted C-ramp, and, yes, flying.

For details about the launch and the car itself, go here. Now, let's just enjoy the best moments from the show. Here are all the tricks Tesla Roadster has performed (the names come from Musk, but we've taken the liberty of naming a few of them ourselves).

The bat

If you've just seen Tesla's tweets and not the whole event, you may have missed the best part. Prior to launching itself into the air (the car was remotely controlled; the "driver" sitting inside was a robot) on that C ramp, the Roadster slowly climbs the ramp and first stands completely still vertically, and then goes a step further and literally stands hanging upside down, with the suction fans on the bottom holding it in place and, seemingly, defying gravity. See the entire sequence in the recording of the event, starting at about 6 minutes and 11 seconds in.

The flight

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Moments after that, the car speeds up that same ramp, launches itself into the air whilst upside down, uses the thrusters to flip itself over, and gently sets itself to the ground. That's the moment shared by Tesla's X account, and it's worth singling out, but do watch the entire sequence as we did, again. And again. And again.

The kickflip

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Next, the Roadster propels itself over Tesla's entire fleet of vehicles, consisting of Tesla Model 3, Model Y, Cybercab, Cybetruck, and the massive Tesla Semi. But it doesn't just fly over the cars; it also performs a horizontal spin that Musk calls the kickflip. To us, it doesn't look like it would be a pleasant experience for a human driver inside, but it look survivable. Maybe.

The launch

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Besides being a flying car, the Roadster is also a super-fast sports car. It can go from 0-60mph in 0.81 seconds (yes, that zero point eighty-one, well below one second), and Musk claims it will ultimately be even faster. The limit? When it starts detaching retinas from unfortunate drivers' eyes, that's where Tesla will stop. The video is short on purpose; it lasts exactly 0.81 seconds.

The other kickflip

For its last trick, the Roadster does another kickflip, this time launching itself vertically and spinning before landing back on the ground. This doesn't make it any less cool than the first one. It starts at about 21:39 into the unveiling video.

The photos

Tesla's official X account also shared a cool gallery of pro-grade photos taken during the event. Check them out below.

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For more Tesla Roadster coverage, go here.

The best early Black Friday outdoor deals:

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Best portable power station deal

Anker Solix C1000

$499.99 (save $100)

Get Deal

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Best tent deal

Kelty Timeout 6 Tent

$134.73 (save $46.22)

Get Deal

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Best cooler deal

Yeti Roadie 48 Wheeled Cooler

$340 (save $85)

Get Deal

Whether you like to get outdoors yourself or your favorite people go camping often, shopping Black Friday deals for outdoor gear is always a great move. Just like pumpkin spice seeping further into sweaty summer months, Black Friday deals are landing earlier than ever this year.

That's good news for those of you who've realized the camping gear you used all summer needs replacing. It's also a great time to snag a bigger cooler for all the dishes you'll need to transport to holiday meals. Power stations are also on sale and work great for both camping and winter power outages.

Whatever you need, outdoor deals are already rolling in well ahead of Black Friday. Peep some of our favorite options below, and check back often as we keep this page updated ahead of the big holiday shopping event.

Best portable power station deal

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Credit: Anker Solix

Anker Solix C1000

$499.99 at Amazon
$599.99 Save $100

 

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Why we like it

One of my favorite portable power stations is on sale well ahead of Black Friday, and it's a great model for taking outdoors. The Anker Solix C1000 comes with plenty of ports for recharging phones, tablets, earbuds, and powering up small appliances like the kettle or a fan.

Plus, the Anker Solix C1000's built-in lightbar is perfect for nights at the campground, keeping things well illuminated.

More portable power deals

• DJI Power 1000 V2 — $399.98 $449.99 (save $50.01)

• Bluetti Elite 100 V2 — $499 $899 (save $400)

• Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 — $499 $559 (save $60)

Best tent deal

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Credit: Kelty

Kelty Timeout 6 Tent

$134.73 at REI
$180.95 Save $46.22

 

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Why we like it

With space to sleep six people, the Kelty Timeout tent uses sturdy, durable fiberglass poles. It's designed to come with an easy, intuitive setup that'll get the trip off on the right foot. The large D-door makes it easier to get in and out. The included duffle bag makes for simple transportation and storage.

More tent deals

• Coleman Skydome Camping Tent (6 person) — $129.99 $189.99 (save $60)

• REI Flash Air 2 Tent — $299.93 $429 (save $129.01)

• Snow Peak Amenity Dome 3 Tent — $575.95 $639.95 (save $64)

• White Duck Regatta Canvas Bell Tent Yurt — $820 $999 (save $179)

Best cooler deal

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Credit: Yeti

Yeti Roadie 48 Wheeled Cooler

$340 at Amazon
$425 Save $85

 

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Why we like it

Every good outdoor adventure needs cool treats and beverages. The Yeti Roadie Wheeled Cooler has non-slip feet, durable wheels, and a periscope handle for ultimate adventures. The Roadie 48 can fit 76 12-ounce cans without ice or up to 54 pounds of ice. The included dry goods basket also helps keep snacks and sandwiches dry and cool. Plus, it comes with Yeti's five-year warranty.

More cooler deals

• Dometic Unrestricted 11L Insulated Tote Cooler — $121.94 $140 (save $18.06)

• Stanley Outdoor Hard Cooler (50 quart) — $169.90 $179 (save $9.10)

• Coleman Snap 'N Go Collapsible Hard Cooler (55 quart) — $179.99 $239.99 (save $50)

• Igloo Trailmate Journey Wheeled Cooler (70 quart) — $229.98 $289.99 (save $60.01)

• Dometic CFX Electric Cooler — $621.15 $660 (save $38.85)

More outdoor deals ahead of Black Friday

• Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Dry Bag (5 liters) — $14.83 $24.95 (save $10.12)

• Rumpl Original Puffy Blanket — $69.93 $99.95 (save $30.02)

• Expeed DeepSleep 30F Sleeping Bag — $77.83 $129.95 (save $52.12)

• Gregory Terros 28 Backpack — $82.46 $109.95 (save $27.49)

TL;DR: Dunkin’ is giving away free bat-winged drink koozies for one day only on Friday, Oct. 16. To grab one, just order the new Berry Battie Daydream Refresher at participating locations while supplies last.

Halloween has officially taken over Dunkin', and the chain has another surprise brewing for its Refresher fans. The spooky season already brought plenty of colorful drinks to the menu, but Dunkin' wasn't finished having fun with its holiday lineup.

Now, there’s a new reason to keep an eye on their Refreshers this month: Dunkin’ is giving away a free bat-themed koozie when you buy their newest drink, but the deal is only good for one day.

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The Berry Battie Daydream gets a Halloween makeover

The new Berry Battie Daydream Refresher just hit the Dunkin' menu on Oct. 14. The drink starts with Dunkin’s Berry Clementine base, giving it a sweeter, creamier makeover with blueberry flavor and oat milk. It’s topped with bright purple Marshmallow Cold Foam and a pair of edible candy eyes for a full Halloween look.

Designed to fit around the cup, the koozie features purple bat wings that stick out from the sides, essentially giving your drink its very own costume. The bat koozie arrives right in the middle of a packed seasonal rollout at Dunkin', which first started hitting stores on Sept. 30.

The giveaway runs on Friday, Oct. 16, at select Dunkin’ locations while supplies last. Keep in mind that you must buy a Berry Battie Daydream Refresher to get one, as it isn't available as a standalone freebie.

If you want to make sure your iced drink gets its wings, plan to hit the drive-thru or order ahead in the Dunkin' app early on Friday morning before local stores run out.

The difference between Prime Day and Black Friday — their roots, anyway — probably isn't a mystery to anyone who has dabbled in online shopping before.

Most of us know that Black Friday is the big sale frenzy that happens around Thanksgiving as a precursor to the holidays, and that almost every store you can think of participates. Alternatively, the name "Prime Day" suggests that the event is indeed an Amazon-specific event made up by Amazon for members of its Prime subscription service.

The lines between these two shopping holidays also aren't quite as blurred as they are between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which have become pretty indistinguishable from each other due to 1. being just a few days apart on the calendar, and 2. Black Friday relying just as heavily on online shopping as Cyber Monday does.

But back to the question at hand. Most people aren't concerned with the semantics of these shopping holidays. The people just want to know: Does Prime Day or Black Friday have better deals? Let's dig in.

Does Amazon have better deals on Prime Day or Black Friday?

Amazon hypes Prime Day up so much that you can't help but assume those few days in the summer are its Olympics. The retail giant also hosts a 48-hour fall counterpart called "Prime Big Deal Days" in October, which really makes you wonder: It can't possibly have the bandwidth to turn around and do the same damn thing a month later for Black Friday, right?

Jeff Bezos is heard cackling in the distance.

Amazon's price history shows that, in many cases, it goes just as hard for Black Friday as it does for Prime Day. It's not uncommon to plug the Amazon URL for any popular item into the price-tracking site CamelCamelCamel and see a handful of very consistent dips to that item's all-time low pricing — those few instances being in June or July (Prime Day) and the end of November (Black Friday), plus a common third dip in October (Prime Big Deal Days).

One thing to note: Amazon's Black Friday deals tend to be more accessible than its Prime Day deals, since you don't have to be a paying Prime member to unlock them. (It's the same story for Walmart's Prime Day-esque sale and Black Friday sales, though being a paid Walmart+ member still has its perks, like getting early access to deals.)

In terms of what's on sale, there's a ton of overlap between Prime Day (including Prime Big Deal Days) and Black Friday deals. Robot vacuums, headphones, Apple devices, and kitchen gadgets are likely to get similar treatment at both events, so if you find a stellar deal on one of those items, there's probably no need to hold out until the other event to see if the deal is better then.

Categories that are better to shop on Black Friday

A few categories do play favorites: TVs, laptops, toys, and streaming services.

While you no longer need to wait in line and get in fist fights at 4 a.m. to score doorbuster TV deals like back in the day, the TV discounts still remain epic on Black Friday. Amazon does offer some decent TV deals on Prime Day, particularly on Fire TVs, but Black Friday is the absolute best time to buy a TV.

Best Buy has a much wider selection on its (virtual) shelves at any given time, offering far more premium big-screen options than Amazon. Though Best Buy does hold competing sales during Prime Day, it tends to put on the bigger show during Black Friday. Not to mention, Amazon will often try to price-match Best Buy on the inventory it has.

We see better laptop deals on Black Friday for the same reason. Amazon's selection just isn't as widespread as its competitors, who typically reserve their best offers for the year-end holiday shopping season. It's not just because they know more shoppers are primed to shop at that point: According to Mashable's Haley Henschel, it's also because "manufacturers are trying to offload their inventories ahead of next-gen refreshes" at the start of the following year.

In true nostalgic holiday form, toy deals are much more dramatic during the Black Friday shopping season. Santa isn't made of money, after all. If you're looking to grab a Lego set, board game, Tonies, or other hot-ticket item, you'll likely find a better price on Black Friday. But you'll want to grab these deals quickly, as they often sell out.

Finally, if you're looking to sign up for a streaming service for less (aren't we all?), many of the big ones, like Hulu, Paramount+, and HBO Max, often have Black Friday sales. While many streamers have started to toss their hats in the ring on Prime Day in recent years (typically in the form of Prime Video add-ons), these deals still don't compare to the widespread, long-term discounts we see on streamers during Black Friday. In 2025, for instance, we saw HBO Max on sale for $2.99 per month for 12 months, and the Disney+ and Hulu bundle dropped to $4.99 per month for 12 months.

Swedish television channel TV4 has refuted reports that an AI agent deleted an entire season of a television show mere weeks before it was scheduled to air. Instead, the problem was allegedly caused by human error.

As initially reported by Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet (translated via Google Translate), sources stated that production company Mastiff gave an AI agent access to its servers, enabling it to autonomously delete the entire edited second season of reality show The Challenge Sverige. Based on the U.S. show The Challenge, the Swedish reality series has contestants compete in various challenges in hopes of winning one million kr (around $100,600).

Sources speaking to Aftonbladet stated that the deleted files are unrecoverable, meaning that the season must now be reedited —  a task which reportedly originally took an entire year the first time around. A spokesperson for The Challenge confirmed to Aftonbladet that the files had disappeared, stating that the show's premiere has been delayed from Nov. 22 to some time next year due to the need to reedit.

However, said spokesperson did not confirm AI involvement, saying only that there was a technical breakdown. TV4's program director Mia Lindqvist subsequently denied that AI was responsible for the mishap, telling Aftonbladet in a later statement that the primary problem was that a backup had failed. An investigation by TV4 had found that The Challenge's edited second season had been deleted due to human error, with no AI involved.

Lindqvist did state that AI is now used by the majority of production companies. However, in this case, it apparently was not to blame for the deleted episodes.

Tesla's Roadster may be a few years late, but at least it launched with a bang.

The new Roadster, unveiled late on Thursday in McGregor, Texas, is an electric supercar boasting numbers that seem impossible.

Far more fascinating than the numbers was a demo in which the car was driven upside down on a ramp and then, using boosters on the bottom and the sides, flips itself over mid-air and gently lowers itself to the ground.

"You're gonna see what happens when you have a collaboration between the world's best car company, and the world's best rocket company," said Tesla CEO Elon Musk during the event introduction. The car, as it was explained, has suction fans on the bottom allowing it to stick itself to a surface with an incredible amount of force, so it can actually remain upside down for a while. This is good for stunts, but it will also be good for speedy driving, as the extra downforce makes the car extra nimble in turns. The Roadster also has a retractable rear wing that can dynamically adjust downforce, further helping with the car's behaviour at high speeds.

Tesla Roadster goes from 0 to 60 mph in well under one second. Credit: Tesla

As for the rocketry that propels the Roadster upwards, that's "borrowed" from SpaceX, and it consists of ten air nozzles that use compressed air from a special tank to push the car up or sideways. The important part: No special fuel is needed; it's all just air, and the tank can be refueled when needed.

In another demo, the Roadster performs a "kickflip" as it lifts itself into the air and does a roll over Tesla's entire fleet of cars, including the Tesla Semi.

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But is it quick, you may ask? Yes, it is. Very quick, in fact; in a live demo happening behind Musk's back on the pad, the car went from 0-60mph in an apparent 0.81 seconds, which would make it a lot faster than anything else out there. For comparison, Rimac Nevera R, the quickest production car out there, does a 0-60mph in 1.66 seconds; a Formula 1 car can do it in 1.6 seconds.

It gets better (crazier?). Musk says the production car will actually be quicker. The limit, apparently, isn't how fast it can go; according to Musk, it's "don't detach the retina" of the human behind the wheel.

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Some of the specs are murky. According to Tesla VP of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy, the Roadster has a top speed of 230 mph, but "it can go a lot faster than that." Musk took over at that point saying that it'll get to halfway the speed of sound or Mach 0.5, which is approximately 370mph. The massive discrepancy is unclear, but everything about this car was unclear for so long, nothing can surprise us at this point.

The retracable rear wing actively maintains the optimal amount of downforce. Credit: Tesla

Inside, the Tesla Roadster is a two-seater with sporty seats, a yoke wheel and a large, centrally placed infotainment display. Specifics about the display were left out; as for the materials used, the seats and interior detailing is all microsuede. The car is apparently only available in white, with the "Iconic Ultrawhite" interior.

Tesla Roadster's exterior is pretty clean, as is expected from the company. Credit: Tesla

Many questions remain unanswered, including battery size and life and the powertrain (beyond the rocketry bit). As for the flying bit, we've seen it go up in the air and perform stunts, but it's unclear just for how long and how far it can fly. And don't even get us started on whether any of this flying business will be road-legal anytime soon.

Of course, there's a pretty big catch to all this. The car you can reserve now is the Performance variant, which is a two-seater with the active rear wing and a multi-mode suction system mentioned above. Just the reservation will cost you $5,000 today and an additional $45,000 due within 10 days.

The Thrust variant has all of the above plus the acceleration thrusters. It's available in a limited fashion (one order per customer) and subject to "each region’s legal requirements and applicable laws." To get that one, you'll have to dish out $5,000 now and an additional $245,000 within 10 days.

Finally, the one that can actually fly is called the Rocket variant. It's a one seater with everything that the Performance and Thrust versions have, "plus a full flight system." But that one's "invite only," and details on availability aren't explained on the company's website.

Those numbers above, however, are just the cost of the reservation. Neither Tesla nor Musk ever shared the final price of any of the variants.

As for when the Roadster can actually get to customers, Musk said it "actually" enters production in 2028 (no word on when in 2028, exactly). It's already nine years too late (it was originally announced in November 2017), and we wouldn't be too surprised if it reached customers in 2029 or later.

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Dark Matter Season 2 is refusing to neglect the multiple versions of its characters.

We already had a very strong standalone episode that tracked the lives of several of the Jasons (Joel Edgerton) who leave their family behind at the end of Season 1, and episode 8 has just delivered more of the same.

This time, we have the backstory to new character Laurel (Margo Martindale), who we met back in episode 7, and an answer to the question of who Charlie saw come through the doorway at the episode's end.

What happens in Dark Matter Season 2, episode 8?

Episode 8 goes back in time, tracking the history of Laurel and her relationship to the box, starting with her saving the life of a version of Amanda (Alice Braga) after she's carried in by another Jason (Edgerton) with a tree branch sticking out of her chest. Laurel, who is something of a paranoid recluse due to the political climate in her world, nurses Amanda back to health, then sends Jason and Amanda on their way. But she's not done helping people.

Soon, she's visited by a version of Leighton (Dayo Okeniyi), who tells her he'd like to make her home a kind of way-station for travellers in need. Blair (Amanda Brugel) is next to visit, and then ultimately Amanda and Jason make another stop when they're running low on vials. First, Amanda decides to stay put in Laurel's world, and then Jason — having given up hope of finding his original family — decides to join her. Like the other Jason in episode 5, he finds his own version of happiness.

Who does Charlie see at Laurel's house?

All of which brings us up to the present day, and Charlie's visit. Episode 7 left us on something of a cliffhanger, with Charlie seeing someone in Laurel's house that made him stop in his tracks.

At the time, based on his reaction, we thought this was likely someone he knew well — and sure enough, it turns out to be the version of his dad that's now living with Amanda in Laurel's world.

In a bittersweet moment the two share a heart-to-heart, with Jason learning what became of his old family before offering his son some advice for his own future.

"Life, it'll take you this way and that way. It'll toss you round. It'll knock your teeth in," says Jason. "But if you choose the genuine real life that you want, you won't need to look back."

Dark Matter Season 2 is streaming on Apple TV, with new episodes dropping every Friday.

Today's Connections: Sports Edition will be easier for those who've been to an NFL game.

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.

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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.

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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: Rule enforcement

• Green: Announcer sounds

• Blue: NFL fields

• Purple: Cross

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: Soccer Referee Decisions After a Foul

• Green: Onomatopoeias

• Blue: First Words in NFL Stadium Names

• Purple: Can Be Preceded by "Cross"

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 #753 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Soccer Referee Decisions After a Foul: ADVANTAGE, CARD, FREE KICK, PENALTY

• Onomatopoeias: BLOOP, CLANK, DOINK, SWISH

• First Words in NFL Stadium Names: BANK, LINCOLN, LUCAS, RAYMOND

• Can Be Preceded by "Cross": BAR, CHECKING, COUNTRY, OVER

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 catalog.

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 October 16 Pips

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

Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 3-5, placed vertically; 5-4, placed vertically.

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

Greater Than (1): Everything in this space must be greater than 1. The answer is 4-6, placed horizontally.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for October 16 Pips

Less Than (1): Everything in this space must be less than 1. The answer is 0-1, placed vertically.

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 4-2, placed horizontally; 0-1, placed vertically.

Greater Than (2): Everything in this space must be greater than 2. The answer is 4-5, placed vertically.

Greater Than (9): Everything in this space must be greater than 9. The answer is 1-5, placed horizontally; 5-5, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (9): Everything in this space must be greater than 9. The answer is 5-5, placed horizontally; 4-5, placed vertically.

Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 1-5, placed horizontally; 0-4, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 0-4, placed horizontally.

Less Than (1): Everything in this space must be less than 1. The answer is 3-0, placed horizontally.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for October 16 Pips

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

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

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

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

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

Not Equal: Everything in this space must be different. The answer is 6-2, placed vertically; 1-4, placed horizontally.

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

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

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

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

Greater Than (9): Everything in this space must be greater than 9. The answer is 0-3, placed vertically; 4-3, placed vertically.

Greater Than (8): Everything in this space must be greater than 8. The answer is 3-2, placed vertically; 4-5, placed vertically.

Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 3-5, placed vertically; 4-5, placed vertically; 5-5, 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.

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.

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

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

Hurdle Word 1 hint

Vital organ.

Hurdle Word 1 answer

HEART

Hurdle Word 2 hint

Breezy.

Hurdle Word 2 Answer

WINDY

Hurdle Word 3 hint

Verdict decider.

Hurdle Word 3 answer

JUROR

Hurdle Word 4 hint

Elevated toilet.

Hurdle Word 4 answer

BIDET

Final Hurdle hint

A sheep's call.

Hurdle Word 5 answer

BLEAT

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

Looking for spoiler-free NYT Connections hints or just wondering why Connections is trending today? We've got what you need to understand the clues for today's puzzle without spoiling any of the answers.

Of course, Mashable has also provided daily hints and answers for Connections, Wordle, and Strands for years, so we can help you if that's also what you need.

While we are focused more on meanings than hints in this story, sometimes learning that many of the words have completely unrelated meanings is a clue in and of itself. Connections frequently includes clues that involve words within words and other visual clues.

Bulgari meaning

A luxurious jewelry retailer.

Cyrus meaning

An Old Persian name meaning sun or throne.

Hungry meaning

Feeling a natural urge or an uncomfortable feeling in the stomach from lack of food.

Span meaning

The physical distance between two points, supports or limits.

Chip meaning

A tiny fragment or flake broken off from a larger object like glass, wood or stone

Mark meaning

A stain, scratch, scar or smudge on a surface.

Nick meaning

A small cut, notch or groove on a surface.

Scratch meaning

To cut, scrape or mark a surface or skin lightly with something sharp, jagged or pointed.

Chicken meaning

A feathered bird, often kept on farms for eggs and meat.

Coolidge meaning

The 30th president of the United States.

Hippo meaning

A large, semi-aquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa.

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

Smarties meaning

Compressed sugar tablet rolls, typically in shades of pink.

Chad meaning

A landlocked country in central Africa.

Hungary meaning

A landlocked country in central Europe, with the capital city of Budapest.

Laos meaning

The only landlocked country in mainland Southeast Asia.

Paraguay meaning

A landlocked South American country.

Have you learned the meanings and still want the things? Check out the hints and answers for today's NYT Connections puzzle.

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

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

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.

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you're well-traveled.

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: Minor flaws

• Green: Inland

• Blue: Across the Atlantic

• Purple: Fashionable

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

Here are today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Surface imperfections

• Green: Landlocked countries

• Blue: European countries minus a letter

• Purple: Starting with words for "Stylish"

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 #1223 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Surface imperfections: CHIP, MARK, NICK, SCRATCH

• Landlocked countries: CHAD, HUNGARY, LAOS, PARAGUAY

• European countries minus a letter: BULGARI, CYRUS, HUNGRY, SPAN

• Starting with words for "Stylish": CHICKEN, COOLIDGE, HIPPO, SMARTIES

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

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

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

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 will be easy if you come in a small package.

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: Just a little bit

The words are related to size.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe exactly as the hint implies: Really tiny things.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

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NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Lighthouse.

NYT Strands word list for October 16

• Pinpoint

• Molecule

• Small World

• Atom

• Follicle

• Mite

• Amoeba

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

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 always up to no good.

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:

Suspicious.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no recurring letters.

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

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

Today's Wordle starts with the letter S.

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...

SHADY

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.

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

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.

If you grew up in Spain or know your arts, you'll likely know Federico García Lorca. If not, be seated. The iconic, Granada-born 20th century poet and playwright — a friend of Salvador Dalí, and a gay man — lived during the Spanish Civil War, a time when political violence was rife and queerness was persecuted. 

Lorca began writing the play La Bola Negra in 1936, the first year of the war between Republicans and Franco's fascist Nationalists — and the same year he was murdered by the latter. And it's this piece of unfinished theatre that lies at the heart of Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi's extraordinary 2026 film, a magnificent epic that draws threads between Lorca's work and the Spanish men connected to it. 

It's a devastating film that will leave you heartbroken, for sure, but it's a vital, transcendent experience. With exemplary performances, transfixing cinematography, and a non-linear narrative fuelled by a family mystery, La Bola Negra brings lost pages of queer, literary, and political history to life. And we won't be forgetting that musical appearance from Penélope Cruz anytime soon, either.

La Bola Negra humanises history, drawing threads from the Spanish Civil War to the present.

A film of three contexts, La Bola Negra connects gay men across time within Spain: Carlos in 1932, Sebastián in 1937, and Alberto in 2017. Here, Calvo and Ambrossi, with fellow screenwriter Alberto Conejero, run parallel to Mascha Schilinski's Sound of Falling, with both films weaving a complex tapestry of characters across time. But here, thanks to editor Alberto Gutiérrez, these men's stories are directly connected, and it's the puzzle of the film to bring them together.

We first meet Sebastián (an exceptional debut from Álvaro Lafuente Calvo, aka musician Guitarricadelafuente), who is forced into the Nationalist army. We meet this gentle trumpet player in a shocking opening scene in which his northern Spanish village in Cantabria is destroyed by Italian forces. It's a sequence visually reminiscent of Pablo Picasso's 1937 masterpiece Guernica, the nearby site of similarly devastating Civil War violence (and painted in the same year as Sebastián's storyline). Horses run in terror, homes burn, children mourn slain mothers, and soldiers surround the village, as Raül Refree's haunting choral score sounds.

Forced into the ranks of fascists, Sebastián is assigned to a Nationalist army hospital near key battleground Santander, where truckloads of wounded bodies arrive daily, very few alive. He's ordered to guard injured Republican lieutenant colonel Rafael Rodríguez Rapún (a wonderful Miguel Bernardeau), a prisoner of war peeled from the pile. No hate in his heart, Sebastián feels drawn to this beautiful stranger, supposedly the enemy. As for Rafael, he holds the key to the whole triptych, the heart of La Bola Negra itself.

Second, we meet the young Carlos (talented newcomer Milo Quifes) in pre-war Granada, rejected from an aristocratic casino because of his homosexuality. Third, with a rattling cut to modern smartphone technology, we meet Alberto (an excellent Carlos González) in the near-present, a historian and playwright whose casual Grindr dalliances are interrupted by an unexpected family inheritance. Such a mystery sends him on a quest into the past — and into uneasy conversations with his chaotic mother (a flawless Lola Dueñas). 

How these three storylines connect is the true magic of La Bola Negra, with each tale shedding light on the other, and building a powerful portrait of queer identity across decades.

La Bola Negra weaves queer desire through decades.

Like Glenn Close's historian character in the film (she's in it!), La Bola Negra is more concerned with the people between the historical events, especially those of the LGBTQ community, existing surrounded by violent heteronormativity and political chaos. Each storyline simmers in the Spanish heat, with all three mainly set in the height of summer in Granada, Santander, and Madrid.

A profound, steamy connection in the aftermath of violence, the forbidden love story between Sebastián and Rafael simmers with longing, melancholy, and inevitability, with director of photography Gris Jordana exquisitely crafting a glimmer of desire in a hopeless place. In the film's sparkling musical highlight, a dazzling Penélope Cruz plays Nené Romero, a cupletista who performs for the rowdy Nationalist troops and opens Sebastián's perspective to the queer experience. (This performance feels deeply linked to Marlene Dietrich's performance in Witness for the Prosecution as the military crowd grows more and more aggressive). 

In Granada, the socially rejected Carlos finds solace with fellow outcasts in sweaty tavernas with his friends, the openly queer Lorenzo (Mario Silva) and painfully tempting Enrique (Hugo Welzel). And in the 2010s, Alberto's queerness is inextricable from his everyday existence, living a full life in Madrid with his beloved Juan Pablo (a wonderful appearance from Problemista's Julio Torres), a historian hesitant to investigate his own story.

And while you're figuring out the connection between all three storylines, and surviving the tragedies within them, the film thrives from some of the most jaw-dropping production design you'll see onscreen.

La Bola Negra boasts exquisite historical (and surreal) production design.

Giving you a complicated glimpse into Spain during the Civil War, art director Roger Bellés and costume designer Ana López Cobos have crafted something truly staggering — particularly within the two storylines set in the 1930s. The bloody halls of wartime in Sebastián's narrative are set against cocktail-abundant Granadan casino parlors in Carlos' story, the spilt blood and festering wounds of the army hospital contrasting with pure pre-war decadence. The film also plays with surrealism through some stunning sequences, particularly in Carlos' storyline.

And beneath all of this, Lorca's poetry and prose burns, the inspiration for such an ambitious triptych. In La Bola Negra, Calvo and Ambrossi not only pay tribute to the Spanish icon, but examine common threads through queer history, ask important questions of inheritance and secrets, and craft a love story so real and devastating you'll be unlikely to forget it. It's probably best expressed by Lorca himself, who makes an appearance in the film courtesy of the magnetic Alberto Cortés. "This country has too many love stories buried in the fields," he says of Spain, but really, you could be anywhere. 

La Bola Negra was reviewed out of BFI London Film Festival. It will open in NYC and L.A. on Oct. 16.

Yet another major privacy issue has hit a Meta-owned company.

This time it's a Meta product that certainly could not afford to have any privacy issues: Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses.

According to numerous reports from users, Meta's smart glasses have been making audio recordings of their conversations without the user's permission. 

Meta has since confirmed the issue and have said it's been fixed.

"This issue has been resolved," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to Android Authority. "People can manage, review and delete voice logs of their interactions with Meta AI via settings at any time."

In a post on Reddit earlier this week, one user explained that Meta has been recording and making transcripts of their conversations without activating the smart glasses to do so via the "Hey Meta" prompt. The setting to activate recording without that prompt was also turned off when Meta's smart glasses recorded the conversations. The user said that they noticed the white light on the smart glasses that indicate activation turn on during their conversations.

Even worse, this wasn't an isolated glitch on a single device. The user shared that they observed the issue occur on three different pairs of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which included both second- and third-generation models.

Users in the comments also chimed in sharing their own similar experiences. 

Earlier this year, an investigation uncovered that videos recorded by Meta smart glasses were being sent to offshore Meta workers in Kenya for data labeling used to train AI models. These videos included disturbing clips and intimate moments including bathroom footage of users who likely did not realize that their recordings were being viewed by third-parties.

While Meta says it has since fixed the problem, the company did not share what caused the issue.

Smart glasses are already criticized for their ability to covertly record people. Devices recording without even the product owner's knowledge is are certainly not ideal.

American writer/director Rian Johnson awed audiences and critics alike in 2019 with Knives Out. The hilarious murder mystery not only laid out a curious case in the style of Agatha Christie's works, but also stacked it with stars who brought bite to the in-fighting Thrombey family. Whether you were swooning over Chris Evans in that chic sweater, cackling over Toni Collette's flighty socialite, or rooting for Ana de Armas' put-upon nurse to survive her brush with this toxic clan, Johnson had you hooked.

By the film's end, audiences were demanding more adventures with Southern gentleman detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), and Johnson would oblige with 2022's Glass Onion and 2025's Wake Up, Dead Man. But perhaps you want more movies in the vein of the Knives Out universe?

Here are Mashable's picks for the best movies like Knives Out, and where you can stream them.

Clue

Written and directed by Jonathan Lynn, this clever comedy was a box-office bomb that confounded critics upon its initial release in 1985. But over the years of TV broadcasts, Clue became a cult classic, revered for its madcap humor, beguiling stars, and a TV edit that added more fun with alternative endings, playing one after another.

Based on the board game of the same name, Clue is set in a secluded mansion, where six strangers convene to meet a blackmailer known as Mr. Boddy. When he turns up dead, it's up to Miss Scarlet, Mr. Green, Colonel Mustard, Mrs. White, Professor Plum, Mrs. Peacock, and a butler called Wadsworth to discover the murderer before they kill again. Along the way, there'll be plenty of macabre humor, wordplay, double entendres, and pratfalls, along with some blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameos. Like Knives Out, Clue is a funny, sexy, and satisfying murder mystery that's a joy to rewatch over and over.

Starring: Eileen Brennan, Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Martin Mull, and Lesley Ann Warren

How to watch: Clue is now streaming on Pluto TV.

The Thursday Murder Club

Adapted from the first novel in Richard Osman's book series of the same name, this cozy crime thriller begins in a charming retirement village of Cooper's Chase in rural England. But don't underestimate its pensioners. When chatting over tea, it's not the news or grandchildren they're discussing, but unsolved homicide cases.

Named for their curious weekly activity group, the Thursday Murder Club is made up of former firebrand union leader Ron Ritchie, semi-retired psychiatrist Professor Ibrahim Arif, retired trauma nurse Joyce Meadowcroft, and former MI6 agent Elizabeth Best. Together, they are a force that rivals even the local police. So, when a murder happens on their grounds, they're on top of it with a fearsome intellect and hilarious wit. Director Chris Columbus' star-studded cast brings Osman's novel to such vivid life, you might be tempted to dive into pages of his book series too. (Do it!)

Starring: Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie, David Tennant, Jonathan Pryce, Naomi Ackie, Daniel Mays, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Richard E. Grant, Tom Ellis, Geoff Bell, Paul Freeman, and Ingrid Oliver

How to watch: The Thursday Murder Club is now streaming on Netflix.

The Sheep Detectives

The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin channeled his softer side with this cozy crime movie based on Leonie Swann's novel Three Bags Full. As you might gather from the title, The Sheep Detectives centers on a flock of sheep who set out to discover who murdered their beloved shepherd (Hugh Jackman).

While the premise is ridiculous, director Kyle Balda and his cast plumb surprising emotional depths here. Sure, on the surface there's a lot of silliness about all the ways that sheep — even those nurtured with nightly readings from mystery novels — misunderstand the ways of mankind. But beneath the charming surface of this rural English village, they discover not only a dark underbelly, but also a deep grief they must confront to move through. The result is a movie that presents a satisfying puzzle in an unexpected form that's winsome and a tad heartbreaking.

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Hong Chau, Emma Thompson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O'Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, and Brett Goldstein

How to watch: The Sheep Detectives is now streaming on Prime Video.

Murder on the Orient Express

I was tempted to add several Agatha Christie adaptations to the list. Even beyond direct adaptions of her work, this legendary dame with 66 detective novels to her name was a seminal influence on many movies. But if we had to pick just one, it'd be Sidney Lumet's Murder on the Orient Express. (Yes, yes, Kenneth Branagh adapted the same novel in 2017. This one is better and not an eyesore!)

Christie's iconically mustachioed detective Hercule Poirot is traveling on the eponymous train route, when American businessman Samuel Ratchett is killed in the night. Long before Knives Out, Christie mastered the storytelling method of setting up a murder mystery in a confined space, where all eccentric suspects are interrogated as fear of more murder hangs heavy like a guillotine's blade. Bringing together a cast of critically acclaimed stars, Lumet draws out the suspense and dark humor of Christie's works with a timeless appeal.

Starring: Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery, John Gielgud, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Vanessa Redgrave, Michael York, Rachel Roberts, Jacqueline Bisset, Anthony Perkins, Denis Quilley, Colin Blakely, and Wendy Hiller

How to watch: Murder on the Orient Express is now streaming on YouTube.

The Last of Sheila

Johnson has cited this under-appreciated film as a big influence on his Knives Out franchise. Written by Psycho star Anthony Perkins and Broadway composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim, this curious thriller explores the sordid underbelly of the filmmaking industry.

The film begins with gossip columnist Sheila Greene fleeing a Bel Air party, only to be fatally rundown in a hit-and-run. One year later, her husband, movie producer Clinton Greene, reunites the revelers from that night on a boat named Sheila. What begins as a swanky getaway for Hollywood elites becomes a dastardly game, as the secrets of this group float to the surface with deadly consequences. Scandalous and surprising, it's a must-see for murder mystery fans.

Starring: Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon, James Coburn, Joan Hackett, James Mason, Ian McShane, and Raquel Welch

How to watch: The Last of Sheila is now streaming on YouTube.

Warning: This article discusses self-harm.

Five episodes into Peacock's Crystal Lake, Friday the 13th fans come across a familiar sight.

With all of Camp Crystal Lake's campers asleep in their beds, their counselors gather by a fireplace for some late-night singing. Couple Claudette (Danielle Kotch) and Barry (Phoenix Parnevik) make eyes at each other throughout the song, then ruin off to a shed to fool around. It's an uncanny mirror to the opening sequence of the original Friday the 13th, right down to foreboding shots from the point of view of an unseen figure stalking the pair.

Anyone who's seen Friday the 13th would think that that figure is Pamela Voorhees (Linda Cardellini), camp line cook and mother to the late Jason Voorhees (Callum Vinson). In the original movie, she admits to killing Claudette and Barry to get revenge on them for shirking their counselor duties and running off to have sex. When they did, they left campers unsupervised, meaning they weren't around to save Jason from drowning.

However, Crystal Lake switches up this defining moment from the franchise, handing the kill over to an entirely different character.

Who kills Barry and Claudette in Crystal Lake?

The culprit in Crystal Lake is actually Grace (Gwendolyn Sundstrom), a young camper who was Jason's only friend. Due to her closeness to Jason, Grace becomes a fixation for Pam. She obsesses over protecting her, even killing her abusive mother, Valerie (Tonya Glanz), in a diner beatdown. In a twist, it turns out that the cigarette burns Pam thought Valerie gave Grace were actually from Grace herself, who was self-harming.

Between Jason's death and her mother's demise, Grace lives in a constant state of emotional turmoil. No wonder she begins to gravitate towards the hippies who are temporarily staying at Camp Crystal Lake. However, the hippies decide they can't take Grace with them to their commune in Maine, and Harmony (Manon Gage) shows more interest in having sex with Barry than in hanging out with Grace. From there, Grace's jealousy takes hold. She takes acid herself. Soon after, she's following Claudette and Barry to the shed.

For Grace, seeing Claudette and Barry hooking up again is a horrifying moment of déjà vu. She witnessed the pair having sex the day Jason died and has been haunted by the encounter ever since. Now, in her altered state, she believes she can prevent Jason's death if she can prevent Claudette and Barry from having sex in that moment. Cue the stabbing! Moments later, Pam rushes in and immediately sets about protecting Grace — but not before she drives the final stab home on Claudette, one last piece of vengeance for her abandoning Jason.

Pam does plenty of killing elsewhere in the show, including unleashing a full bloodbath in the very next episode. That doesn't change the fact that altering the fundamental kills from the first film is an odd move to make in a prequel series, especially one that hews so closely to the style of the original. Instead of adding depth to an iconic horror moment, Crystal Lake pulls a cheap gotcha twist that feels designed to spark outrage from diehard franchise fans.

There is no meaningful recontextualization here, just a surprise that Crystal Lake moves on from far too quickly as it zips towards unpacking Jason's (Callum Vinson) backstory. On top of that, the Grace reveal softens Pam's villainy, removing the stalker-like intention behind the original kills and turning it into her simply taking advantage of an accidental slashing. For a show that's all about putting Pam Voorhees back in the spotlight, Crystal Lake simply couldn't get her biggest moment right.

Crystal Lake is now streaming on Peacock.

Peacock's Crystal Lake conjures up a bloody backstory for Pamela Voorhees (Linda Cardellini), mother to horror icon Jason Voorhees and the killer behind the carnage of Friday the 13th.

The prequel series also dives deeper into Jason's past, long before he drowned in Crystal Lake. At the heart of his and Pam's origin story is a mysterious program known as Argonaut, teased briefly in flashbacks towards the end of Crystal Lake's first episode.

So, what is Argonaut, and how does it shape Jason's journey to slasher fame? Let's dive into the muddy waters of Crystal Lake to find out, but beware: Spoilers lurk beyond this point.

What is Argonaut?

After six episodes of buildup, Crystal Lake's seventh episode, titled "Friday...," reveals everything audiences need to know about Argonaut.

Argonaut is a secret project carried out by Bellflower Chemical in the late 1950s and early 1960s. (While Jason originally drowns in 1957 in the film franchise, Crystal Lake pushes up the timeline so he drowns in 1971, meaning he isn't even born until 1959.) The project is named after the Argonauts, a group of heroes from Greek mythology who sailed on the Argo on the quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their leader was the hero Jason, giving extra meaning to Jason Voorhees' name.

However, Bellflower's Argonaut has a much less shiny goal in mind than the Golden Fleece. Borne from Cold War anxiety, its goal is to prepare humans for inevitable nuclear war between the Americans and the Soviets.

To do this, Bellflower's scientists turn towards the cockroach, claiming it's the "one creature on Earth who can survive an atomic blast." (An assertion that is a myth.) They work to mimic cockroaches' resistance to radiation and nuclear fallout in a human subject. That subject is none other than Jason Voorhees, once known as Jason Whittering.

How does Jason become a part of Argonaut?

At the start of "Friday...," Pam is living the dream: Her singing career is on the rise, she appears to be in a fulfilling relationship with Bellflower employee Elias Whittering (Hamish Linklater), and she's pregnant with her first child. However, after she experiences a miscarriage during a TV performance, Elias whisks her away to Bellflower's state-of-the-art medical facility in Houston, where the company has hired the best obstetricians.

There, Dr. Valentine (Jeffrey Bean) informs Pam that she's actually still pregnant, but her placenta is having trouble staying attached to the uterine wall. In order to help her, he suggests she takes part in a clinical trial for an experimental new treatment.

The trial, however, is not solely to help Pam or her unborn child. It's part of Argonaut's plan, turning Pam and Jason into test subjects through compromised consent. The only other subject she encounters is Trish (Olivia Macklin), another wife of a Bellflower employee. After months of suspecting that her husband and the other doctors are lying to her, Trish's baby is stillborn, and she dies by suicide. Trish's entire life is a testament to the horrors of Argonaut, and a huge warning bell for Pam.

Jason is the first test subject to be successfully carried to term, and the effects of the Argonaut treatment begin to show from an early age. When he's still a baby, he drowns in an overflowing bathtub while an exhausted Pam falls asleep. However, once lifted from the water, he begins crying as if nothing had happened. The incident echoes Jason's later drowning in Crystal Lake, and his survival of such an impossible circumstance is why Pam is so sure Jason is still alive in the present day.

As Jason grows, so does Elias' status at Bellflower. He'd often tell Linda that he was taking Jason to the doctor for treatments, but in reality, the treatments were further experiments that pushed Jason's limits, making him sick with radiation poisoning.

In a keynote speech at a Bellflower event, Elias explains that exposure to physical trauma accelerates Jason's growth and makes him physically stronger. That explains why, in the present timeline, Jason has grown so quickly and intensely after drowning in Crystal Lake.

What Elias fails to mention is that Argonaut treatment and repeated physical trauma could cause heightened aggression in subjects. When Pam sneaks into the Argonaut lab during Elias' speech, she discovers a subject whose head is covered, thrashing about like an animal — not unlike Jason's behavior in the woods around Crystal Lake.

Pam is able to flee Bellflower with Jason, but the impacts of Argonaut leave lasting scars on both of them. Jason can't escape his increased resilience or its unintended side effects, while Pam is forever haunted by the harm Elias and Bellflower enacted on her son. She vows to never let anyone hurt him ever again, and it's that same fiery protectiveness that later manifests in her killing spree around Crystal Lake.

Crystal Lake is now streaming on Peacock.

TL;DR: Give your PC a total refresh with this lifetime license to Microsoft Office 2024 Professional Plus for Windows, now on sale for just $49.97 (MSRP $249.99) through tonight, Oct. 18, at 11:59 p.m. PT.

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Credit: Microsoft

Microsoft Office 2024 Professional Plus for Windows: Lifetime License

$49.97
$249.99 Save $200.02

 

Get Deal

Sometimes you don’t appreciate how helpful an app is until you need access and no longer have it. That’s the case with Microsoft Office tools, and if you’re in the market for a fresh license for your PC, you’re in luck. You can currently snag a lifetime license to Microsoft Office 2024 Professional Plus for Windows for only $49.97.

If you’ve been missing access to the Microsoft Office staples like Word, PowerPoint, and more, it’s time to get yourself a new license. Microsoft Office 2024 Professional Plus for Windows breathes new life into your PC with six new tools to help you tackle all your tasks.

With this Microsoft Office 2024 Professional Plus license, you only pay once and get permanent access to all tools. It’s a non-binding key with a download link sent right after your purchase. It links to your device and not your Microsoft account, keeping it more affordable and helping you avoid monthly subscriptions and recurring fees.

Own the classics like Excel, Outlook, Word, and PowerPoint, plus two new favorites with OneNote and Access. They have upgraded features such as data analysis and database management, as well as a dark mode option.

You’ll also enjoy enhanced security and compliance capabilities in Microsoft Office 2024 Professional Plus for Windows that help keep you safer.

Secure your own lifetime license to Microsoft Office 2024 Professional Plus for Windows for just $49.97.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Learn all 14 Babbel languages for life for $159 (reg. $540) with StackSocial code LEARN during this extended Deal Days sale.

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Credit: Babbel

Babbel Language Learning: Lifetime Subscription (All Languages)

$159
$299 Save $140

 

Get Deal

Your next vacation might be months away, but your language-learning plans don’t have to wait. Learning a new language isn’t easy, but it also might not be as hard as some apps make it seem.

If memorizing vocab lists isn’t working for you, check out Babbel. They take a more practical approach to teaching, and there’s even an AI conversation partner who can help you practice your pronunciation.

Today’s the last day to get a Babbel Lifetime Language Learning Subscription for just $159 (reg. $299) during the extended Deal Days sale when you use StackSocial’s code LEARN.

What can Babbel teach you?

Babbel gives you lifetime access to courses in 14 different languages, and the format is designed to fit into real life. Each lesson takes around 10 to 15 minutes, so you can actually stick with it whether you’re commuting, traveling, or just squeezing in some study time between meetings.

Here are a few of the included languages:

• Spanish

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Unlike other apps that focus heavily on word games or repetitive matching drills, Babbel centers its content around practical conversation topics. You’ll get lessons on travel, shopping, business, culture, and more, all developed by expert linguists and backed by academic research. Speech recognition helps fine-tune your pronunciation, while the new AI-powered conversation partner lets you practice speaking in real time.

Lessons sync across devices, so you can start on your computer and finish on your phone. There’s also an offline mode if you want to download lessons ahead of time. You can move at your own pace, revisit review sessions, and jump between beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels based on your comfort.

Use code LEARN to get a Babbel lifetime subscription for only $159.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Apple and Meta have found something they can agree on. Apparently, it takes a very large AI model.

The longtime rivals have teamed up to make Meta’s new Muse Spark Open model run locally on Apple’s M5 Ultra Mac Studios. Announced Oct. 15, the release lets developers download and customize the new open-weight model, though two connected Apple desktops are required to power it. "The result is two Mac Studios behave like one supercomputer," Meta wrote in a blog post.

"We're excited for mommy and daddy to be playing nice again," Meta’s AI chief Alexandr Wang told Axios.

An unusual way to describe a corporate collaboration, sure. But these companies do have some history. As recently as January 2025, Mark Zuckerberg was criticizing Apple on Joe Rogan’s podcast for its lack of innovation and restrictions on other companies’ products. Now, Meta is helping show off what Apple’s silicon can do.

Muse Spark Open builds on the Muse Spark model family Meta introduced in April. Meta calls it the most capable U.S. open-weight model available, a claim based on its own evaluations. "Open-weight" means developers can download the model’s learned parameters and run them themselves, subject to the model's license, rather than accessing it exclusively through a company’s app or cloud service.

Meta says the model is designed for coding, multistep reasoning, and "agentic" work — using tools to complete tasks. In its tests, the company says it used Muse Code, powered by the new model, to make changes to the Mastodon app Ice Cubes and operate video editor DaVinci Resolve, reviewing footage and cropping clips vertically. (To learn more, read Meta's methodology.)

There is a sizable catch to the desktop pitch, however. This is an 816-billion-parameter model, and Meta's highlighted setup uses two M5 Ultra Mac Studios with up to 512GB of unified memory each. It runs through Apple’s MLX machine-learning framework. So, your everyday MacBook is sitting this one out.

The release follows Muse Glimmer, Meta’s smaller model designed to run on a laptop or PC. Both reflect the appeal of running AI on hardware you control, allowing local processing without sending each prompt to a hosted model.

That also gives Apple and Meta a way around a longstanding source of tension: privacy. Wang told Axios that Meta has no visibility into developers' local use of the model.

For now, the collaboration is about making Meta's AI work on Apple hardware. Whether that working relationship extends to the AI features most Apple users actually encounter is the next question.

Muse Spark Open is available now via GitHub, as is the MLX Adapter required to run it.

Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.

Some people go to film school. Others watch Jujutsu Kaisen.

For Obsession star Inde Navarrette, anime became an unlikely screenwriting teacher during a period of uncertainty in her acting career. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actress revealed that she spent the time between filming Obsession and its release studying movies and television, particularly anime, to better understand what makes a good story.

And she wasn't just watching for entertainment. She was taking notes. "What I like is anime, so like, why do I like that?" Navarrette said, explaining how she began comparing the storytelling techniques of popular anime Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer.

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Her biggest takeaway? The way different anime series approach narrative structure.

"With Jujutsu Kaisen, they play with timelines, right? With Demon Slayer, they don't; it's very linear," she explained. "And what does that mean, and how does that affect storytelling?"

Navarrette became particularly interested in how Jujutsu Kaisen uses nonlinear storytelling to reveal information, sometimes planting seemingly insignificant details that don't pay off until several episodes later. The anime's second season, for example, opens with a five-episode flashback arc exploring the complicated history between Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto, giving new emotional weight to a relationship viewers were already familiar with.

Navarrette began applying those kinds of observations to her own screenwriting. (Inde, may I also recommend Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood?)

It's a pretty good reminder that anime has plenty to teach us about storytelling beyond spectacular fight sequences and dramatic power-ups. And Navarrete isn't the only Hollywood star looking to anime for creative inspiration.

In a 2025 Vanity Fair video, Michael B. Jordan introduced fellow actors Austin Butler and Paul Mescal to My Hero Academia, using a pivotal scene from the series to explain his appreciation for anime's emotional storytelling. Jordan, a longtime anime fan, also revealed how he studied anime fight sequences while directing Creed III, looking for ways to translate the medium's heightened action and emotion into live action.

The actor and filmmaker drew inspiration from Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, and Hajime no Ippo for his directorial debut, incorporating anime's visual language and emotional storytelling into the film's boxing sequences. In particular, Jordan looked to the complicated relationship between Naruto and Sasuke when developing the climactic confrontation between Adonis Creed and Damian Anderson. The influence extended beyond choreography to the way the film visualized its characters' internal conflicts.

It's a familiar kind of enthusiasm to anyone who's spent time watching anime breakdowns on YouTube, where fans can spend hours analyzing a single fight scene, character arc, or narrative choice. But what's interesting is how that same curiosity is finding its way into Hollywood's creative process. What starts as fandom can become a way of understanding how stories are made.

For Navarrette, anime offered lessons in screenwriting. For Jordan, it became a visual reference for directing. The appeal isn't just what happens onscreen, but how a series structures its narrative to make those moments resonate.

There's something refreshing about seeing Hollywood stars talk about anime as more than a guilty pleasure. For decades, anime fans have used the internet to find community, share their enthusiasm, and make the case for why their favorite stories matter. Now, actors like Navarrette and Jordan are having similar conversations in mainstream entertainment spaces, openly discussing how anime has shaped their understanding of storytelling.

And Hollywood seems increasingly interested in taking notes. Just last week, Tom Cruise and director Alejandro G. Iñárritu visited an exhibition in Tokyo celebrating the 15th anniversary of MAPPA, the Japanese animation studio behind Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, and Attack on Titan: The Final Season. In the video uploaded to MAPPA's YouTube channel, it looks like Cruise took a particular interest in the original Jujutsu Kaisen animation drawings, even asking about the studio's use of traditional hand-drawn animation.

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Between Navarrette studying its scripts, Jordan borrowing from its visual language, and Cruise examining its animation, anime is getting some serious attention from Hollywood.

Anime has long been a source of inspiration for filmmakers, but as more actors and directors openly discuss its influence on their work, it's clear that the medium isn't just shaping what Hollywood looks like — it's shaping how Hollywood tells stories. And really, isn't that the magic of anime?

SAVE $60.99: As of Oct. 15. the Shark Glossi 2-in-1 Blow Dryer Brush is on sale for the record-low price of $119 at Amazon and Sephora. That's 34% off its regular price of $179.99.

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Credit: Shark

Shark Glossi 2-in-1 Blow Dryer Brush

$119 at Amazon
$179.99 Save $60.99

Raspberry or lychee colorways.

Get Deal at Amazon

Opens in a new window

Credit: Shark

Shark Glossi 2-in-1 Blow Dryer Brush

$119 at Sephora
$179.99 Save $60.99

Lychee colorway only.

Get Deal at Sephora

Dyson was very late to the game when it debuted its first-ever dryer brush this fall, the Dyson AirSmooth. When Mashable's Bethany Allard wrote about its launch, she noted that "dryer brushes have been an option from other brands for quite some time" (since the late 2010s). And Shark — perhaps Dyson's closest rival — came out with its Glossi blow dryer brush a year prior.

While the Glossi wasn't exactly a breakthrough, either, it stands out because it can double as a heat styling brush. That helps justify its $179.99 price tag, which is higher than alternatives like the Revlon One-Step and WavyTalk Blowout Boost. However, you won't pay that much for it right now.

The Shark Glossi is currently on sale for just $119 at Amazon and Sephora, which is a 34% savings and a match of its all-time low price from Prime Day in June. You could buy two of them for the price of one AirSmooth.

Here's the Shark Glossi in "lychee." Credit: Shark

Amazon has the Glossi on sale at this price in its raspberry and lychee finishes (hot and light pink, respectively), while Sephora just carries it in lychee. You can get it in juniper (aqua) for 99 cents extra on Amazon and at other retailers like Best Buy, Kohl's, Target, and Shark itself.

Suitable for use on wet or dry tresses, the Glossi never heats up past 302 degrees Fahrenheit to avoid frying your hair. Its teardrop-shaped head, which has a built-in ceramic hot comb on one side, makes it easy to get right up to your roots.

Who should get it? According to Allard, "anyone looking for smoothed, straightened, and volumized hair might find their ideal tool in the Shark Glossi."

Meta wants Muse to take errands off your hands. But if your to-do list involves your Chase account, you’re still doing the banking yourself.

JPMorgan Chase is blocking outside AI agents, including services like Meta's Muse and Instinct, from directly accessing retail customers' accounts and acting on their behalf, CNBC reported. Coming weeks after Amazon blocked Muse from shopping on its site, the restriction puts another dent in the idea of one assistant that can handle your everyday tasks.

Speaking during the bank’s Oct. 13 earnings call, CEO Jamie Dimon warned about potentially thousands of rogue agents.

"We’re not going to allow just any … outside agent to come in inside the company, because it’s just too risky for clients and for JPMorgan," Dimon said.

Dimon isn't the only financial leader worried about AI agents. Recently, Bank of America and other major banks issued a warning about AI agents and the potential fraud risks associated with them.

A Chase spokesperson confirmed to CNBC that third parties cannot obtain customers' banking credentials and log in on their behalf. There's no timeline for when the bank might allow agents to interact directly with customer accounts.

What does this mean for Chase customers?

An assistant might be able to help you figure out what to do with your money. Actually moving it is where Chase draws the line.

The bank still supports secure, customer-authorized data sharing through open banking providers, allowing an agent to access certain information, such as account balances, through an approved connection. That access does not extend to sending money or paying bills.

Say you ask an assistant to find a savings account with a better interest rate and transfer some money into it. It could help research your options, but you’d still need to complete the transfer through an authorized banking channel. The same obstacle applies to a bill payment that requires the agent to log into Chase.

That leaves users finishing precisely the kind of tedious financial admin they might have hoped to hand over. And for Muse, completing those tasks is a big part of the pitch. In its September launch announcement, Meta described an assistant that works across everyday apps, booking travel and sending emails rather than simply explaining how to do those things.

But an assistant’s ability to follow instructions only gets it so far when the service on the other end won’t let it through.

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Amazon has already pushed back on Muse

Muse users encountered that problem at checkout last month, when Amazon began blocking the assistant from shopping on its site. The retailer said Muse failed to identify itself and raised concerns about its handling of customers’ credentials and account data.

"We think it's fairly straightforward that third-party applications that offer to make purchases on behalf of customers from other businesses should operate openly and respect service provider decisions about whether or not to participate," an Amazon spokesperson previously told Mashable. "Agentic third-party applications such as Muse have the same obligations, and we've requested that Meta remove Amazon from the experience."

Both Amazon and Chase, however, are making room for automation of their own.

Amazon is testing its shopping agent, Buy for Me. JPMorgan has begun a targeted pilot of Smart Cash, which CFO Jeremy Barnum described as a tool to forecast cash flow and move funds to maximize yield.

The bank had been laying out those ambitions well before this week's comments. In his April shareholder letter, Dimon described plans for Smart Cash to automate transfers between checking accounts and higher-yielding brokerage products, with AI eventually helping anticipate bills and budgeting needs.

That means Chase and Amazon are restricting outside AI assistants while developing their own tools to do some of the same tasks, raising questions about competition as well as security.

For users, that could mean keeping track of which tasks Muse can actually finish before handing them over. Until Meta secures more access, asking the assistant to do something may still leave you with work to do. The horror!

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Job interviews are already awkward enough when there's another human being on the other side of the conversation. Now, companies are increasingly turning to AI recruiters, and job seekers aren't exactly embracing their new robot interviewers.

Some are walking away. Others are deliberately confusing the bots with nonsense answers. And a few have decided that if employers can automate their side of an interview, there's no reason they can't do the same.

That's exactly what comedian and YouTuber Graham Dot Zip did, and the results offer a pretty good glimpse of how ridiculous hiring can get when neither side is human.

On Oct. 13, Graham created an AI representative named Victor to attend an interview with an AI recruiter. The arrangement quickly became a lesson in why you probably shouldn't let a chatbot negotiate your salary. The video (as of Oct. 15) has over 2.5 million views.

Victor began embellishing Graham's qualifications and suggested he'd accept around $60,000, despite Graham wanting somewhere between $140,000 and $150,000. The AI recruiter, meanwhile, wouldn't go above $90,000. Then Graham stepped away, leaving the two bots to continue their conversation. Without him, they arranged another interview and eventually got stuck exchanging professional pleasantries.

It's funny, especially if you've ever sat through an interview that could have been an email. But there's also something revealing about watching two chatbots negotiate a job neither of them will ever have. Neither side is learning much about the person or company they're supposedly representing, yet the hiring process somehow keeps moving along.

Graham's experiment is part of a growing collection of videos in which people are treating AI interviewers less like potential gatekeepers to employment and more like technology to be tested, confused, or outright mocked.

The internet has some questions for its new AI interviewers

Creators have been finding increasingly creative ways to "rage bait" automated interviews. One creator, The Dreadful Studio, answered an AI interviewer's questions entirely in gibberish. Instead of questioning the nonsensical responses, the bot continued the conversation, at times responding as though it had understood something meaningful, before eventually ending the interview.

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The creator has also experimented with other ways of confusing automated recruiters, including answering questions with song lyrics and turning the interviewer's own questions back on it. What makes the videos particularly strange is how easily a chatbot can appear to follow along, even when nothing being said makes sense.

These are deliberately absurd experiments, but the appeal goes beyond watching a chatbot struggle. Job interviews are one of the few situations where people are expected to explain why they deserve to be chosen, often after navigating an application process that can feel impersonal and exhausting. Watching someone turn the tables on the interviewer, even an artificial one, offers a kind of satisfaction most can get behind.

And while some people are intentionally trying to break the technology, others have encountered AI interviewers that seem perfectly capable of doing that themselves.

In one viral video from 2025, an AI interviewer repeatedly uttered the phrase "vertical bar pilates" for nearly 30 seconds during what was supposed to be a job interview. Kendiana Colin, the college student who shared the encounter, said she wouldn't participate in another AI interview.

"It was like she was going through a tongue twister," Colin told Gazetteer SF. "It was really creepy."

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For some job seekers, the issue isn't even whether the chatbot works. It's that they're being asked to interview with one at all.

Research from hiring platform Greenhouse published earlier this year found that 38 percent of surveyed job seekers had walked away from a hiring process because it involved an AI interview. Another 21 percent said they hadn't realized AI would be involved until the interview began.

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Employers, however, see opportunities that extend well beyond having a chatbot ask introductory questions.

Companies are making AI interviews part of the hiring process

Earlier this month, TechCrunch reported that technical hiring platform HackerRank was making its AI interviewer, Chakra, generally available after more than 500,000 interviews during beta testing. Unlike a chatbot that simply works through predetermined questions, Chakra can observe candidates completing technical assignments, ask follow-up questions, and evaluate how they approach problems.

For employers, that could mean assessing more applicants without requiring a human interviewer for every interaction. But other companies are using AI interviews to test something different: how well candidates can work with the technology themselves.

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Consulting firm McKinsey, for example, is experimenting with an AI-powered client simulation for some entry-level business analyst interviews, according to an Oct. 14 report from the Wall Street Journal. Candidates interact with a simulated client while human interviewers observe their performance. The firm is also reportedly testing how applicants use its internal AI assistant, Lilli, to work through business problems.

That creates an interesting distinction. Knowing how to use AI can be a qualification employers want, but using it without permission during an interview can still be considered cheating. According to a survey by the UK's Institute of Student Employers, 66 percent of surveyed employers had identified or suspected unauthorized AI use during interviews.

The concern is understandable. Someone secretly relying on generated answers might appear more knowledgeable than they actually are. But there's also an irony in companies embracing AI to evaluate candidates while investing in technology to catch applicants doing the same. Accenture, for example, says it uses AI to screen résumés, match candidates to jobs, and assist with assessments, while also employing proctoring tools and AI-detection methods to flag unauthorized AI use. HackerRank similarly monitors candidates' screens for suspicious activity, even as it allows them to use its own AI assistant when employers enable it.

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When both sides use AI, who can you trust?

For applicants, the rules aren't always obvious. In Greenhouse's 2026 survey, 70 percent of respondents said they weren't clearly informed upfront that AI would assess them.

And employers aren't the only ones worried about being deceived. Research attributed to Gartner suggests only about half of job seekers believe the postings they're applying to are legitimate. As AI makes it easier to generate convincing applications and automate interviews, both sides have more reasons to question who, or what, they're dealing with.

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That could make something as ordinary as meeting face-to-face more appealing. Another Gartner finding suggests 62 percent of candidates would be more likely to apply for a job requiring an in-person interview. After years of moving more of the hiring process online, actually sitting down with another person could become a way to establish trust rather than just another step in the application process.

Companies may be able to automate more of hiring than ever before. But if neither side can be sure who's actually on the other end of an interview, will getting hired eventually require going back to meeting face-to-face?

When Girls premiered in 2012, I was a twentysomething living in New York City, fresh out of college and making my own questionable decisions. So were Hannah (series creator and co-writer Lena Dunham), Marnie (Allison Williams), Jessa (Jemima Kirke), and Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet). I spent six seasons watching them make terrible choices, occasionally recognizing myself in their worst impulses, and even recapping their misadventures for a living.

Nearly 15 years later, HBO is bringing Girls back for a limited, five-episode run with Lena Dunham at the helm. All four titular girls are reprising their roles. I'm older, presumably wiser, and still deeply invested in whether Patrick Wilson's hot doctor is single.

The original series captured a very specific moment in millennial adulthood, when your career was perpetually on the verge of taking off, and every bad decision could be rationalized as a formative experience. Hannah famously declared that she might be "the voice of a generation," or at least a voice of a generation. At the time, the line was both ridiculous and painfully recognizable.

But a lot has changed since we last saw these women in 2017. Our friendships look different. Some of the people who once seemed destined to be in our lives forever are now complete strangers. And the internet, which was already shaping how we lived and understood ourselves, has become an even more inescapable part of everyday life.

Which raises some very important questions. Is Jessa an anti-vaxxer? Does Marnie have a podcast? Has Hannah been publicly shamed on TikTok? Is Shoshanna the terrifyingly successful girlboss she was always destined to become? And do any of them even talk to each other anymore?

I don't necessarily need these women to have figured everything out. In fact, I hope they haven't. Part of what made Girls so compelling was how spectacularly messy, selfish, and insufferable its characters could be. I just want to know what that particular brand of chaos looks like with another decade of life experience.

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So, as someone who grew up alongside the girls (and spent an embarrassing amount of time thinking about their lives), here's a list of very specific things I want to see in the Girls revival.

1. The return of Joshua (Patrick Wilson), the hot doctor. Is he still single? Does he still live in that gorgeous Brooklyn brownstone? Because I, for one, have never forgotten that kitchen.

2. Jessa as an anti-vaxxer and wellness grifter. She's drinking raw milk, selling overpriced tinctures, and scamming women with healing retreats in the Hudson Valley. She calls herself a certified trauma healer, but nobody knows who certified her.

3. Marnie as a divorced mommy influencer with a podcast. Her Instagram is full of beige interiors, inspirational captions, and sponsored posts about gut health. Her podcast is called Becoming Marnie, and she still occasionally releases music.

4. Shoshanna as a successful startup founder. She's built a multimillion-dollar wellness empire, has a Forbes profile, and uses phrases like "circle back" in casual conversation. She's also the only one who actually knows how to use LinkedIn.

5. Hannah accidentally becoming a viral TikTok villain. She publishes a deeply personal essay about her son, only to discover that the internet thinks she's a terrible mother. Her Notes app apology somehow makes everything worse.

6. An update on Caroline (Gaby Hoffmann), Laird (Jon Glaser), and their daughter, Sample. Is Sample being raised in a Brooklyn commune? Is Caroline a homeschooling influencer? And is Laird still wearing that beanie?

7. Elijah (Andrew Rannells) as a gay elder on Fire Island. He's a moderately successful Broadway actor who complains that young gay men don't know their history. He also has a 26-year-old boyfriend and an extremely active Instagram Close Friends story.

8. Ray (Alex Karpovsky) is running for local office. His campaign platform includes protecting independent coffee shops, fighting corporate landlords, and banning TikTokkers from filming in public.

9. Marnie discovers her mother has become more successful on social media than she is. Evie (Rita Wilson) has a thriving TikTok account where she gives dating advice to divorced women. Marnie is horrified to discover that her mother's followers think she's the emotionally stable one.

10. A humiliating encounter with Gen Z twentysomethings. Hannah tries to bond with a group of younger women at a Williamsburg bar, only to discover they think millennials are cringe. One of them calls her "mother," and she takes it literally.

11. Desi (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as a men's spirituality influencer. He hosts a podcast about divine masculinity, sells expensive breathwork courses, and has definitely participated in an ayahuasca retreat. His Instagram bio includes the word "consciousness."

12. A reckoning with getting older in New York City. Their favorite bars have closed, their old apartments cost three times as much, and the neighborhoods they once called home are barely recognizable. Nothing makes you feel older than realizing you're no longer the target demographic of Williamsburg.

13. Mimi-Rose Howard (Gillian Jacobs) becoming a successful AI artist. Of course she's embraced generative AI as the next frontier of conceptual art. Hannah finds this morally reprehensible, mostly because Mimi-Rose is getting profiled in The New Yorker.

14. Marnie's wedding makeup tutorial resurfacing as a TikTok meme. A new generation discovers her disastrous wedding look and turns it into a viral trend. Marnie tries to reclaim the moment with a sponsored GRWM video.

15. Hannah getting an adult ADHD diagnosis. She immediately writes a 5,000-word essay about how it explains every decision she's ever made. She also starts a Substack about neurodivergence, which she abandons after three posts.

16. Booth Jonathan (Jorma Taccone) as a bankrupt NFT guy. His latest art installation involves blockchain technology, a members-only Discord, and a collection of digital assets that have lost 98 percent of their value. He still insists he's a visionary, but he's really just a fraud.

17. Dan Levy as Hannah's increasingly exasperated literary agent. He's spent the last decade trying to get Hannah to finish her book, which she insists is actually three different books. He keeps suggesting she write a commercial memoir about motherhood, but Hannah considers that beneath her. She's also convinced he's giving all his attention to a 24-year-old BookTok sensation.

18. Andrew Scott as Hannah's literary rival-turned-lover. He's an acclaimed Irish novelist teaching at Hannah's university. His books are universally praised for their emotional honesty, which Hannah finds infuriating because she believes she invented writing about herself.

Ukrainian drones struck data centers belonging to Russian tech giant Yandex over the past week. Following the strikes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that there was a sudden drop in Russian bot activity and political disinformation campaigns on platforms like X. Social media users took the story — Ukraine had taken out a massive Russian bot operation — and ran with it.

However, a new report from Cloudflare, which monitors internet traffic, tells a more complicated story.

Cloudflare found that while there was some bot interruption, bot operators were able to quickly migrate their systems to alternative cloud operators and continue running undeterred. Furthermore, Cloudflare could not determine if this disruption in bot activity had any effect on social media campaigns specifically.

How did the Yandex strikes affect social media bots?

A lot of the confusion stems from the fact that people are using the word "bot" to refer to distinct types of activity.

"'Bot traffic' refers to automated requests to websites on Cloudflare's network, such as crawlers and scripts, not necessarily activity on social media platforms," said Lai Yi Ohlsen, Head of Radar, a Cloudflare monitoring tool.

So, while social commentators have used Cloudflare's data to state that the strikes had a major effect on social media bots, that's not quite right. Ohlsen told Mashable that "Radar does not have visibility into HTTP traffic reaching any specific customer, including X or Reddit," and that "Radar does not have any visibility into where accounts posting on those platforms are hosted."

In short, Cloudflare data can't substantiate the claims that the strikes affected social media disinformation campaigns, but the company didn't rule out the possibility entirely.

"Based on our assessment, the data does not appear to support the claims that the strikes crippled social media manipulation, though without further analysis with data outside of Cloudflare, we cannot conclusively say there is no connection," the company said in its report.

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How the Yandex drone strikes affected Russian bots

After Ukraine's attack on the Yandex data centers, Cloudflare's Radar service picked up a massive outage, as traffic from Yandex Search and Yandex.Cloud dropped off. Traffic from Yandex Search and Yandex.Cloud fell 99 percent and 90 percent, respectively, below the pre-attack baseline. In addition, bot activity on Yandex.Cloud dropped by 40 percent, with traffic from "attack-like categories" in particular dropping 90 percent or more.

These are big drops in traffic, but remember that a lot of that activity comes from innocuous bots, such as search crawlers. 

Yandex Search and Yandex.Cloud are two very different services run by the Russian company. As Cloudflare explains, Yandex Search traffic would come mostly from "verified search crawlers indexing web pages, images, and site resources." This is normal traffic to find from a search engine operator. Yandex.Cloud is the company's cloud computing service, and this is where Cloudflare says it sometimes finds malicious bot traffic.

Again, Cloudflare says the drone strikes did disrupt malicious bot activity. However, the operators behind these bots merely migrated their automated systems to different cloud service providers, minimizing the disruption.

In one notable example, Cloudflare showed how the strikes impacted malicious bot activity in the gambling sector.

"Nearly all of Yandex.Cloud’s bot requests were targeted at one gambling customer account, with traffic shifting among its hostnames. Immediately following the October 8 disruption, bot requests from Yandex.Cloud to this account dropped to zero. Simultaneously, identical requests began appearing from other Russian hosting [autonomous system numbers]," the report says.

Chance Townsend contributed additional reporting to this story.

If you've noticed people dropping the fries emoji in TikTok comments lately, they're probably not hungry.

The French fries emoji (🍟), sometimes accompanied by a peace sign (✌️), has become a way for Gen Alpha to tell someone they're being corny, embarrassing, or simply talking too much. Think of it as the emoji equivalent of telling someone to wrap it up.

And like so much of Gen Alpha's internet slang, the joke isn't entirely new. It's the latest evolution of a meme that's been circulating online for years.

What does the fries emoji mean?

Depending on the context, the fries emoji can have a few different meanings, none of which have much to do with fast food.

On its own, 🍟 can be used to call someone or something "corny" or "cringe." It's a dismissive reaction to a joke that doesn't land, an embarrassing comment, or someone who's trying a little too hard.

Paired with the peace sign, 🍟✌️ generally means "wrap it up" or "just put the fries in the bag, bro." In other words, stop talking. (And if that sounds familiar, then keep reading.) The peace sign adds a little extra attitude, like waving goodbye to someone after deciding you've heard enough.

Of course, emoji slang isn't an exact science. Meanings can shift depending on who's using them and where they appear. But the underlying message is pretty consistent: Bro, just stop.

Where did the fries emoji meme come from?

To understand why Gen Alpha is using the fries emoji, you have to go back to the phrase "just put the fries in the bag, bro."

According to the internet anthropologists over at Know Your Meme, the meme became popular on TikTok in 2024 as a way to mock someone for talking too much, oversharing, or acting as if their opinion were more important than it actually was. Imagine someone delivering an unsolicited monologue when all you wanted was your fast-food order. Just put the fries in the bag, bro.

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The joke has roots in an earlier variation, "just put the ketchup in my bag, bro," which started on Facebook and circulated online in 2022 before the fries version took off.

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Over time, the phrase became a recognizable internet put-down. And now, instead of typing out an entire sentence, younger social media users are communicating the same sentiment with a couple of emoji.

It's a pretty efficient evolution of internet slang. A phrase becomes a meme, the meme becomes an inside joke, and eventually the joke gets reduced to a symbol that only makes sense if you're already in on it.

But there's also a more uncomfortable implication behind the original meme. "Just put the fries in the bag, bro" isn't simply telling someone to stop talking. It's telling them to know their place, using fast-food work as the punchline. The joke relies on the idea that someone working a service job isn't worth listening to, or that their job somehow makes their opinions less valuable.

That context is easy to lose when the entire phrase gets reduced to 🍟✌️. For younger Gen Z and Gen Alpha, the emoji combination might simply mean "wrap it up," but its origins reveal how quickly an internet joke can become detached from the attitudes that made it funny in the first place.

So the next time someone responds to your TikTok with 🍟✌️, consider it a sign that your audience thinks you've said enough.

SAVE $150: As of Oct. 15, the 2025 Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on sale for $649 at Best Buy. That's 19% off its $799 MSRP and its lowest price ever.

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Credit: Apple

Apple Watch Ultra 3 (GPS + Cellular, 49mm)

$649 at Best Buy
$799 Save $150

 

Get Deal at Best Buy

Don't look now, but the last-gen Apple Watch Ultra 3 is still in stock at Best Buy — and on sale for a record-low price.

Apple's rugged smartwatch from fall 2025 is currently marked down to $649 on the electronics retailer's website, which is $150 off its usual sticker price of $799 (a 19% savings). According to the price-tracking site camelcamelcamel, the only other time it's been this cheap on Amazon was during its huge Prime Day sale in June.

The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is harder to find in stock these days. Apple discontinued it after launching the new Ultra 4 last month, and third-party retailers' inventories are dwindling. In fact, I spotted the same $649 Ultra 3 deal on Amazon earlier this morning, but it sold out as I was writing this. (It's now only available in used condition there.) Hustle if you're still trying to nab it from Best Buy.

The Apple Watch Ultra 3's titanium case comes in natural (pictured) and black finishes. Credit: Apple

The Ultra 3 has the same rugged design as its successor, which also starts at $799, complete with a mega-bright, always-on OLED display, a 49mm titanium case, and a water-resistance rating of up to 100 meters. The Ultra 4 has better heart rate sensors, a slightly longer battery life, and a faster chip that supports a new Readiness app and Audio Intelligence tools. But otherwise, the two wearables' core feature sets are identical. To name a few, there's sleep tracking (including sleep apnea alerts), hypertension notifications, and Emergency SOS via satellite.

Mashable's Stan Schroeder recommends the new Ultra 4 "if you're an athlete, especially an endurance athlete," and the Ultra 3 for those who just want "a cool watch on your wrist that you sometimes use for workouts." With a $150 difference now separating them thanks to Best Buy's deal, the Ultra 3 is also the cost-effective choice for the time being.

For almost 90 years, the mystery of what happened to Amelia Earhart has endured. She and her plane disappeared somewhere over the central Pacific Ocean on July 2, 1937. Since then, it seems like every few years, an expedition sets out to find her plane.

The boats and recovery teams have always been armed with the latest equipment, historical diaries, and maps. I’m old enough to remember the 1989 TIGHAR expedition, the first modern civilian search to focus heavily on the "castaway hypothesis."

Yes, some people thought she might still be alive, but most thought it was a big waste of time. That '89 castaway trek, like all the searches before and since, returned empty-handed. Around eight years ago, there was a glimmer of hope that bones discovered in the Pacific were Earhart’s, but that study has been heavily disputed.

Well, here we are again. There’s renewed hope of finding Amelia and determining where she actually perished. A fresh team of researchers from Purdue University has arrived on the remote island of Nikumaroro.

The crew was featured on Wednesday’s Good Morning America. The segment noted that the island where they’ve set up their HQ is home to flesh-eating crabs whose claw power rivals the bite of a lion. This is a trip I would decline, even in the almost-impossible instance that I was invited.

Crabs aside, they are there to investigate a mysterious underwater shape in the island’s lagoon known as the "Taraia Object." Once again, some are on pins and needles over whether the Earhart conundrum will finally be resolved so she can rest in peace.

There’s a twist this time, because AI was deployed. So, obviously, if the plane is found, those AI agents who banded together to hack Hugging Face will most certainly come together again and try to take credit for the discovery. But I digress.

In all seriousness, generative AI models like ChatGPT were prompted to analyze historical theories and place a digital pin where Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10-E might be resting. Ironically, the algorithm pointed to the same visual anomaly that human scientists had spotted on satellite imagery years earlier.

At first glance, this all looks impressive, but ChatGPT didn’t analyze the ocean floor, for example. Instead, AI synthesized decades of human speculation. And there’s been a helluva lot of speculation over the last nearly 90 years.

Yet while the Earhart-AI connection makes for some flashy pop-culture and scientific headlines, it also represents something happening beneath the surface — literally, beneath the world’s oceans. Artificial intelligence is stepping out of science-fiction and becoming the ultimate tool for modern treasure hunters and maritime archaeologists.

We’re currently swimming in a golden age of deep-sea exploration, but, like everything else, it’s drowning in too much data and missing things, as The Conversation noted in March. For example, the ocean floor is estimated to hold up to 3 million undiscovered shipwrecks and downed aircraft.

So, you’re saying to yourself right now, "Well, it’s impossible that 3 million things can’t be found in the ocean." But what if I told you that well over 70 percent of the Earth’s ocean floor remains unmapped in high-resolution detail?

What does this mean? I live in NYC, so I asked AI for a metaphor to visualize it. It explained that if New York City sat in one of those unmapped regions, the resolution would be so low that you’d see only a single, blurry shape where Manhattan used to be, while every skyscraper, neighborhood, street, and subway entrance would remain invisible.

Now you understand why 3 million ships and aircraft remain undiscovered.

When modern underwater drones dive into the deep ocean, they return with mountains of sonar data and millions of hours of murky video. For decades, human researchers had to painstakingly review every second of footage by hand. That’s a brutally boring process that took months, sometimes even years, and is ripe for errors.

That’s where AI comes in and says something like, "Years?"

Instead of waiting for a chatbot to guess a location, institutions like NOAA and the University of Michigan are using specialized AI built for one job: spotting anomalies directly on the ocean floor. Scientists feed these models thousands of hours of footage so the AI learns what the normal ocean floor looks like; reefs, sand ripples, cliffs, and more.

Once it knows the natural layout, AI can spot the telltale right angles of man-made metal and rotting wood. To someone like me, who has had a lifelong fascination with the ocean, this is incredible.

And so are the results! The U.S. Navy and NOAA recently tested a predictive model across the coastlines of the U.S. and Puerto Rico. The AI scanned the data and correctly flagged known shipwreck sites with 92 percent accuracy, showing how quickly it can shrink massive search areas.

What the Earhart experiment really shows is that intelligent machines are learning to see through the darkness of the deep, helping make the abyss more transparent. Amelia Earhart may have been lost to the limitations of 1937 technology, but if she’s ever found, it could be because tomorrow’s technology finally caught up with her. 

This article represents the opinions of its writer.

John Casey is a columnist at Raw Story, the Advocate, Daily Beast, and Outsports. He's also the author of Love: The Heroic Stories of Marriage Equality.

Street Fighter returns to theaters this week with a live-action movie stuffed with stars like Noah Centineo, Andrew Koji, Callina Liang, Joe "Roman Reigns" Anoa'i, David Dastmalchian, Cody Rhodes, Eric André, Andrew Schulz, Vidyut Jammwal, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, and Jason Momoa.

Directed by Kitao Sakurai, this video game adaptation explores several story threads. M. Bison is on a quest for power as he mounts the World Warrior Tournament II. Chun-Li is on a quest for vengeance. Ryu and Ken are estranged, but could they reunite during the tournament to battle together for good? Does all that plot mean the movie will include a post-credit scene that provides a bit more context for what comes next?

We've got the spoiler-free answer below.

Credit: PARAMOUNT PICTURES, CAPCOM AND LEGENDARY

Does Street Fighter have a mid-credit scene?

There is. It's brief and wordless. But it does give a hint on where a could-be sequel might go.

Does Street Fighter have a post-credit scene?

When Street Fighter screened for critics, it did not have a post-credit scene. However, we'd recommend sitting through the credits to take in the full scope of the artists who collaborated to bring this film to life.

Plus, you might want to note those soundtrack songs to make a real banger of a workout playlist.

Street Fighter is now in theaters.

Just as the weather turns, EcoFlow is launching new whole-home power backup solutions in the U.S. The Titan series consists of three models that technically could qualify as portable power stations, although you probably don't want to lug one of these on a camping trip. Instead, they're a great solution for keeping your home powered up when grid power fails.

All new EcoFlow Titan models are available to order. Below, you'll find detailed specs on all models to help you decide which is best for your home.

Credit: EcoFlow

Specs on the Titan 5000 Plus, Titan 5000, and Titan 5000 Classic

The Titan series from EcoFlow differs from your average portable power station in that each model packs in a ton of power. Instead of using it to recharge your phone and keep a lamp on, the Titan models can power up large appliances like your washer and dryer or your home's HVAC system. Of course, it can also keep your phone topped up and the lights on, too.

The smallest and most affordable model is the EcoFlow Titan 5000 Classic with 5,000Wh capacity and 4kWh output. It includes AC ports, USB-A, USB-C, and a TT-30R with 120V configuration.

The upgraded EcoFlow Titan 5000 comes with higher performance compared to the Classic model. It can handle both 120V and 240V.

The movable EcoFlow Titan models come with the ability to add expansion batteries. Credit: EcoFlow

The largest in the lineup, the EcoFlow Titan 5000 Plus is rated for 7.2kWH from the 5,000Wh battery. EcoFlow mentions that it is powerful enough to keep a 3-ton central AC unit running, along with a TV, refrigerator, and lights, all at the same time. Keep in mind that the EcoFlow Smart Home Panel 10 connects your home's power system to the Titan models.

The Titan 5000 Plus and the Titan 5000 can connect to your home's existing rooftop solar system when combined with the EcoFlow Smart Home Panel 10. That means you can rely on the Titan system to power your home and lower your power bills, not just in emergency scenarios.

All Titan models can expand with up to five EcoFlow Titan Battery units for up to 30kWh. Most homes find it best to start with the base unit and add expansion batteries as you find out the exact power needs.

How to order the EcoFlow Titan models

The most affordable option is the Titan 5000 Classic with a list price of $2,499. The Titan 5000 comes in at $3,199. Add on installation and the EcoFlow Smart Home Panel 10, and you'll be looking in the $5,000 range.

The more advanced Titan 5000 Plus will land at $3,699 for a single unit. The Titan 5000 Plus with the Smart Home Panel 10 costs $4,799. Adding two Titan expansion batteries to that bundle will bring the total to $8,699.

Add your email address to the preorder page at EcoFlow, and you'll be in for an early-bird discount that can take as much as $2,999 off the above prices. Reserving your unit for $50 will earn you a 5% off coupon and two free 220W solar panels.

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Credit: EcoFlow

EcoFlow Titan Series

 

Preorder at EcoFlow

In terms of quality, 2026 has been a bleak year for big-budget video game adaptations. Yes, yes, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie made over a billion dollars, and Mortal Kombat II turned a lean profit. But they were also two of the very worst movies I've seen all year. The former made me all too aware of what a short span of time we have in this life, and how much of it I was obliged to sacrifice for a relentless Nintendo ad. The latter urged me to ask, "The bar is in hell for video game movies, huh?"

So, my expectations were admittedly very low for Street Fighter, the latest movie adaptation of the Capcom video game series known for badass characters and eye-popping special moves. I'm more surprised than anyone to confess that I had an absolute blast at this movie.

Directed by Kitao Sakurai, Street Fighter leans hard into a '90s aesthetic of glorious neon lighting, hard-hitting pop music, unhinged action, and a general lustiness that's been bled out of mainstream American cinema. Plus, Sakurai and co-writer T.J. Fixman understand that the best way to have fun in this franchise is not to take it too seriously.

Street Fighter (2026) has a lot of spinning plates in terms of plot.

One might well argue too many! First off, you've got egomaniacal tyrant M. Bison (a sneering David Dastmalchian) hosting the World Warrior Tournament II to set a trap for the first tournament's winner, Ryu (Andrew Koji). See, Bison is so power-hungry that he wants to milk all the "psycho power" from Ryu's body to fuel his own. There's just one problem: Ryu has gone missing after the death of his sensei, Gouken, and the subsequent estrangement from his best friend, Ken Masters (Noah Centineo).

Meanwhile, Ken emerges from Ryu's shadow to become a stunt fighter who battles panda bears and parked cars to line his own pockets and those of his manager, Dan (Andrew Schulz). Tasked with finding the best street fighters in the world, Bison's emissary Chun-Li (Callina Liang) invites Ken not because of his bad reputation, but to lure in his estranged brother-in-arms. Determined to prove himself, Ken enters the tournament, ready to face off against fighters like Guile (Cody Rhodes), Dhalsim (Vidyut Jammwal), Balrog (Curtis "50 Sent" Jackson), Zangief (Olivier Richters), E. Honda (Hirooki Goto), and Vega (Orville Peck, who is, of course, masked).

Meanwhile, Chun-Li has her own secret mission, with a tragic backstory fleshed out in gorgeous anime flashbacks. And on top of all that, Ryu's secret struggle is to resist the darkness within him that surfaces in battle. Should he give in to it, he could become evil, like his master's fiercest foe, Akuma (Joe "Roman Reigns" Anoa'i).

Simply put, it's a lot for one movie. Maybe too much? For better or worse, Sakurai's approach to Street Fighter is more is more.

Street Fighter is too much, but I'm not mad about it.

This movie begins with a flashback to the first World Warrior Tournament in 1986, and, like the Chun-Li flashbacks, it's presented in an anime style. This presumably allows Sakurai to save some money on effects, allude to Street Fighter's various incarnations, including animation, and bring nostalgia out of the gate for longtime fans of the franchise.

As the movie leaps ahead to 1993, it will not address the mixed-media use of live action and animation. And that same unapologetic attitude is applied to the film's design. The cinematography of Ken Seng leans into neon lighting that swaths these iconic characters in brazen purples, pinks, reds, and blues to a thrilling effect.

The score by composers Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson leans on electric guitar and synth keyboards that throw back to '90s action-movie sensibilities. And the soundtrack boasts bangers like 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up?," White Zombie's "More Human Than Human," Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun," and Montell Jordan's "This is How We Do It." (Yes, several of these songs are anachronisms, as they came out after 1993. But this is a movie where people can levitate, stretch like rubber, and shoot electricity from their bodies. Let's not get hung up on petty things like historical accuracy!)

This '90s aesthetic is echoed in slyly leering shots that revel in a bit of flesh, an exposed six-pack here, a flash of sideboob there, and a bit of bum. This kind of PG-13 horniness made me unexpectedly nostalgic for an age where Hollywood movies casually recognized that humans are sexual beings.

Fans of the franchise will be glad to know the costumes by Kym Barrett draw heavily from the games, while allowing a sense of self-aware winks. This is reflected in a screenplay that not only loops in tons of catchphrases from the game but also a cheeky sensibility that brings some irreverent humor and some wonderfully dumb jokes into the mix.

Noah Centineo is the MVP of Street Fighter.

To the credit of the ensemble as a whole, they're all game.

Koji is compelling as the tortured warrior Ryu. Liang brings a terrific ferocity to Chun-Li, whether delivering exposition or performing the Hundred Lightning Kicks. Mel Jarnson is surly fun as Cammy, while Peck revels in the fluid fighting style of Vega. Richters, Jammwal, 50 Cent, and Goto all step into their roles well, brandishing confidence, power, and attitude swiftly.

Dastmalchian has arguably the toughest role here, as Raul Julia created a truly iconic movie villain with M. Bison in 1994's live-action Street Fighter. Even people who barely remember that movie remember Julia's impeccably scathing delivery of "It was a Tuesday." Wisely, Dastmalchian takes a different angle to Bison, making him less suave and more of a power-hungry, sadistic weirdo. He sneers out commands to his Dolls, ruthlessly throttles those who fail him, and sniffs things — like the feet of a wounded Ryu or the burning flesh of Chun-Li. He's making weird choices, but they are entertaining.

Bringing laughs to Street Fighter is Schulz as Dan Hibiki, an unpopular character from the games who's a mouthy sidekick here. Schulz gives spirited silliness in the role, especially when he faces off against Rhodes, who, as Guile, seems to be channeling the homoerotic masculinity that Val Kilmer brought to Top Gun. Rhodes, best known as a pro wrestler, has sharp comedic timing and a fearlessness in playing the fool that's well utilized here.

Jason Momoa, who also produces, brings some signature spunk to Blanka. He's wild and playful in the part, but his performance is marred by some deeply clunky CG that turns the big green brute into an eyesore. Comedian Eric André also appears in this movie as garish ring announcer Don Sauvage. And, well, he's certainly in this movie a lot, while being loud.

The funniest and most entertaining fighter is Noah Centineo. In montage scenes of Ken's downward spiral into D-list celebrity, Centineo playfully parodies tabloid clichés, such as public meltdowns, embarrassing TV commercials, and publicity stunts gone wrong. But it's when he unexpectedly reunites with Ryu that Centineo's Ken really comes alive. Look, later, in the arena, Ken will show what he's truly capable of. But in this first fight, where Ken is hurt, and Ryu is trying to give space for his big feels without physically injuring him, Centineo masters a style I'll call clown-fu.

The stakes aren't life or death, but they are big, affecting the future of this fractured brotherhood. Slipping in gym socks, misfiring high kicks, all while mugging comically and slinging insults, Centineo is a force of action and comedy. Throughout the film, he's hitting punchlines with the force of hadoken.

While the ensemble as a whole brings a lot of attitude and flavors to Street Fighter, Centineo becomes its heart. Where Ryu hides his feelings under a facade of stoicism, and Chun-Li channels hers into action, Centineo's Ken is practically bursting at the seams with emotion. While the movie leaps from one location and battle to another, sometimes to a dizzying effect, it's Centineo's earnest, stupid, handsome tough guy that pulls it all together.

Still...

The fighting and the funny in Street Fighter could be stronger.

To the credit of its writers, this movie takes the battles to the streets and unexpected locations more than you might expect. Sure, there's a tournament. But Sakurai offers visual diversity by skipping a lot of the bracket battles in favor of off-site brawls at a posh hotel, a cool nightclub, a festering prison, M. Bison's lair, and, of course, some actual streets.

The cast and their stunt doubles throw themselves into the physical demands of the movie, and the fight choreography is carefully woven with familiar special moves that are pretty thrillingly recreated from the games. However, Seng often favors medium or close-ups, and editor Luke Lynch leans on quick cuts. While this makes for kinetic action, it also means the choreography that could wow us in a wide is rarely present. So, while Street Fighter is a blast, its actual fight scenes don't hit as hard as one might hope.

My other beef with this adaptation is that Sakurai doesn't know when to cut a joke. At 120 minutes, Street Fighter begins to drag, in part because of comedy bits that go nowhere. André, who previously worked with Sakurai on The Eric Andre Show and Bad Trip, is the biggest offender here. Dressed in tacky gold lame suits, Don Sauvage's dialogue occasionally drops helpful exposition. But mostly, André delivers lazy jokes or agog reactions that are blandly one-note.

Elsewhere, Saturday Night Live alum Kyle Mooney pops up as an unappealing Interpol employee, who exists solely to moon over Chun-Li. It's easy to imagine Sakurai and Fixman felt this might be a way to spoof fanboys' lusty love of the female fighter. But it's thin, unfunny, and takes up way too much screen time.

As the fighting could use more technical panache and the comedy comes with a few bits too many, Street Fighter may infuriate fans who feel Sakurai isn't taking the franchise seriously enough. However, I had a lot of fun in this goofy-ass video game movie.

It's chaotic. The plot is all over the place, so the themes about honor, power, loyalty, jealousy, and revenge are barely probed. But I won't deny that it gave me the feeling of being a kid again, sitting in the theater, giddy to be surprised by something familiar yet weird.

I suspect the people behind Street Fighter won't appreciate this comparison. But I mean it as a compliment. In a world of video game movies, Street Fighter is way less Super Mario Galaxy The Movie and way more the live-action Super Mario Bros. Movie. Which, yes, was a box office bomb that critics reviled. But where it succeeded was in being a wild watch that had me laughing, cheering, and giddy — even when I was utterly bewildered. Street Fighter is that kind of fun. It scratched the bit of my brain that loved button-mashing these games, and it tickled me to see a video game movie be proudly bonkers.

Street Fighter is now in theaters.

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Grand Theft Auto VI is co close that we can almost taste it. Let's celebrate by watching some trailers.

As we wait the next few weeks for the game's Nov. 19 launch, it's worth taking a few minutes to reminisce about its marketing. There hasn't been all that much of it because, well, it's GTA 6 and Rockstar knows that people want to play it regardless.

Still, there are a few trailers (and one very big extended look) to check out prior to release. Here they are.

GTA 6 trailer 1

GTA 6 Trailer 2

GTA 6 Extended Look

GTA 6 Launch Trailer

Rockstar Games' games tend to be full of little details that players might barely notice (if at all), and it sounds like Grand Theft Auto VI is no different.

Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier published a deep dive into the development history of GTA 6 this week, complete with an accompanying YouTube video that explores key aspects of the story that didn't make it into print. One such aspect is a realistic sweat system that Rockstar apparently developed for the game. According to Schreier, protagonists Jason and Lucia will develop believable amounts of sweat depending on the physical activity they're doing.

Examples include working out in gyms or dancing in nightclubs. If you perform actions like that, Jason and Lucia will get a little moist, as you'd expect in the real world. Details like the sweat mechanic help explain why GTA 6 took nearly a decade to finish. It's also perfectly in character for Rockstar, as the company also previously developed a realistic horse testicle shrinkage system for cold weather in Red Dead Redemption II.

Yes, you read that right. And, no, I will not elaborate further. As a reminder, GTA 6 launches on Nov. 19, and you can preorder the game now for Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5.

TL;DR: Through Oct. 28, several Prime Video streaming subscription add-ons are on sale for just $1.99 per month for two months, including Apple TV, Starz, MGM+, Crunchyroll, and AMC+. That's up to $13 per month in savings.

Prime Video add-on streaming deals:

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Best Apple TV deal

Apple TV (Prime Video add-on)

$1.99/month for 2 months (save $26)

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MGM+ (Prime Video add-on)

$1.99/month for 2 months (save $12)

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Best Starz deal

Starz (Prime Video add-on)

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AMC+ (Prime Video add-on)

$1.99/month for 2 months (save $18)

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Best Crunchyroll deal

Crunchyroll (Prime Video add-on)

$1.99/month for 2 months (save $24)

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Fall is the perfect opportunity to diversify your streaming lineup. Not only is it prime time for spooky streaming sessions and the precursor to holiday movie marathons, but it's also a great time to lock in a deal, thanks to Prime Video.

Through Oct. 28, several of Prime Video's streaming subscription add-ons are on sale for just $1.99 per month for two months. These include the heavy hitter Apple TV, as well as more under-the-radar picks like AMC+, Starz, Crunchyroll, and MGM+. The most expensive of the bunch, Apple TV, usually costs $14.99 per month, so you'll save $26 with this two-month discount. Other streamers on the list range from $7.99 to $13.99 per month, saving you as much as $24.

The only stipulation is that you'll need to be an active Prime Video subscriber to be eligible for each add-on. If you're not already a Prime member or Prime Video subscriber, you can sign up for a 30-day free trial to secure these deals (if you act fast).

You'll be charged for add-ons in the same monthly streaming bill as your Prime Video or Amazon Prime membership. Plus, the content library for each service will appear in your Prime Video account without you needing to download or open a separate app. It's basically like expanding your existing streaming library.

Since streaming deals are pretty hard to come by outside of Black Friday, the ability to lock in two months of streaming for less than $4 is pretty epic. The Apple TV deal is particularly good, considering its most recent price hike in late August bumped it up to a painful $14.99 per month.

YouTube might be coming for your next audiobook listen.

The Google-owned video platform is reportedly looking to expand into audiobooks, potentially putting it in direct competition with Spotify and Amazon Audible. According to the Wall Street Journal, YouTube has been in talks with book publishers in recent months about developing an audiobook feature that could launch as early as 2027.

The company has also reportedly considered bundling audiobooks with YouTube Premium, its ad-free subscription service that currently costs $15.99 per month. However, it's unclear whether subscribers would get unlimited listening, a monthly allotment of hours (like Spotify offers its Premium subscribers), or the option to purchase individual titles. YouTube has not officially announced the feature.

Of course, audiobooks aren't exactly new to YouTube. The platform already hosts countless audiobook recordings, including public-domain classics and uploads from authors and publishers. But it also has a piracy problem. Unauthorized recordings, including AI-narrated versions of copyrighted books, have become increasingly common on the platform. An official audiobook offering could give publishers another way to monetize their titles while potentially addressing some of those concerns.

YouTube would also be entering an increasingly competitive market. Spotify, which expanded into audiobooks in 2023, currently offers eligible Premium subscribers 15 hours of audiobook listening per month, with additional listening time available for purchase.

Spotify currently offers eligible Premium subscribers 15 hours of audiobook listening per month, with the option to purchase additional listening time. Its U.S. catalog includes more than 700,000 titles. Just last week, Spotify announced plans to expand its audiobook offerings from 22 markets to more than 180 by the end of 2026. According to the company, monthly audiobook listeners have grown nearly 40 percent over the past year. And earlier this year, Spotify took its ambitions in the book market a step further, announcing its plans to sell physical books through its app.

Amazon's Audible, meanwhile, offers subscription plans that give listeners access to audiobooks through monthly selections, credits, and an included catalog. The service also works with Amazon's Kindle e-readers.

There's plenty of money at stake, too. According to the Audio Publishers Association, U.S. audiobook sales reached $2.43 billion in 2025, a nine percent increase from the previous year. And YouTube is already part of that listening ecosystem. In a 2026 survey, 45 percent of audiobook listeners who had listened in the past year reported listening to a free audiobook on YouTube during that period, raising concerns about piracy on the platform.

For YouTube, the appeal is fairly obvious. The platform has already become a destination for music, podcasts, and long-form video. Adding audiobooks would give users another reason to spend time on the platform, and potentially make a YouTube Premium subscription more appealing.

Whether YouTube can compete with established audiobook services will ultimately depend on its catalog, pricing, and listening experience. But its biggest advantage might be the millions of people who already use YouTube to listen to just about everything else.

TL;DR: Daily Red is a free, daily Pokémon battle game where everyone gets one chance a day to defeat Red on Mt. Silver. Red's team stays the same, but your lineup is randomly generated every 24 hours — forcing you to win with whatever random squad you're dealt.

If your morning browser routine already includes Wordle or the Mini Crossword, there is a new fan-made puzzle game making the rounds among Pokémon fans. Daily Red takes the most legendary boss encounter in franchise history and reimagines it as a fast-paced, tactical puzzle you can solve in under five minutes.

Instead of spending dozens of hours training a competitive squad, the game puts you right on top of Mt. Silver for a Level 100 showdown against Red. The catch? You do not get to pick your party. Every 24 hours, every player worldwide is handed the exact same randomly generated lineup of six Pokémon. Your job is to figure out how to pilot whatever unusual, bench-warming team you've been dealt to victory.

Is Daily Red an official Pokémon game?

No. Daily Red is an unofficial, free-to-play fan project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo, Game Freak, or The Pokémon Company. It runs entirely in your browser with no microtransactions, ads, or sign-ups required.

How to play Daily Red

Getting started takes zero downloads and no account registration. Here is the step-by-step breakdown:

1. Head to the site — Go to daily-red.com on your mobile device or desktop browser.

2. Inspect your squad — Click to begin your daily match at the peak of Mt. Silver. Once the fight starts, inspect your six assigned Level 100 Pokémon — checking their movesets, abilities, and type coverage — before locking in your first move against Red's lead Pikachu.

3. Outsmart Red — Defeat all six of Red's classic Level 100 Pokémon before he wipes your party out.

4. Share and track — Copy your spoiler-free results grid to share with friends, then return the next day to protect your streak.

Your win streaks and battle stats are saved directly to your browser's local cache. If you want to keep a long streak going, stick to the same device and browser for your daily battles. 

Daily Red relies on the same viral mechanics that made Wordle a massive hit: every player tackles the same daily puzzle, your wins are tracked through an ongoing streak, and you can share a color-coded grid of your results without spoiling the winning moves for others.

Knowing your enemy: Red's fixed team

While your party changes every single night, Red's team remains completely static. Knowing who he brings to the fight lets you plan your strategy before making your first move:

• Pikachu (Level 100 — always his starting lead)

• Espeon (Level 100)

• Snorlax (Level 100)

• Venusaur (Level 100)

• Charizard (Level 100)

• Blastoise (Level 100)

Because Red always leads with Pikachu, your first big tactical decision happens the second the match loads. Check your six assigned Pokémon to see who has the best matchup or immunity against an electric lead, then plan how you'll handle his bulkier threats like Snorlax later in the match.

The daily battle resets every night at midnight in your local time zone. A live countdown timer at the top of the site tracks how much time remains in the current window. Once the clock strikes midnight, everyone receives a brand-new randomized party to take on Red all over again.

Whether you get handed an overpowered legendary or find yourself trying to defeat a Level 100 Snorlax using a Luvdisc, it’s easy to see why Daily Red is blowing up across the Pokémon community right now.

Did you put your PTO requests in for the middle of November? Because Grand Theft Auto VI is right around the corner, as evidenced by Rockstar publishing a launch trailer for the game on Thursday morning.

Amid yet more GTA 6 leaks, we have our first official glimpse of the game since the Netflix extended look premiered.

This latest look at the game is brief, but it's GTA to the core, with lots of open-world vibe shots, a good deal of action, and in a new twist for the series (at least for a recent entry), lots of romance between protagonists Jason and Lucia. As a reminder, the game is out on Nov. 19, so this may be the last bit of marketing Rockstar does before GTA 6 is in our hands. Savor it, folks.

The Elf on the Shelf x Disney collection:

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Disney's Mickey Mouse-Inspired Ready to Roll Travel Set

$14.95 at Elf on the Shelf

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Disney's Mickey & Friends Oh Deer Tee Set

$14.95 at Elf on the Shelf

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Disney Frozen Olaf Hoodie Set

$16.95 at Elf on the Shelf

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Disney Princess Pretty in Pink Party Dress

$16.95 at Elf on the Shelf

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Disney Princess Royal Slumber Party Set

$29.95 at Elf on the Shelf

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If you find yourself running out of creative ideas for your Scout Elf every December, this year’s setup is going to be a whole lot easier. The Lumistella Company has officially teamed up with Disney, bringing characters like Mickey Mouse, the Disney Princesses, and Olaf straight into the North Pole universe.

Instead of trying to pull off crazy setups with flour and pipe cleaners late at night, you can just pop a cute Disney outfit on your elf and call it a day. It takes about two seconds, and kids love it.

Mickey and friends travel gear and tees

If you want something quick and easy, the Disney Mickey & Friends Oh Deer tee set is a super simple pick. It comes with a graphic T-shirt and a tiny Mickey ears headband that slips right onto your elf.

If you want to build a little scene around them, the Disney's Mickey Mouse-Inspired Ready to Roll travel set gives your elf a full vacation look. It comes with a functional mini rolling suitcase that opens, a neck pillow, a belt bag, a tiny passport, and Mickey ears. It’s especially cute if you’re traveling over the holidays and want your elf to pack their bags, too.

Royal dresses and slumber party sets

If your kids are big into Disney Princesses, there are a couple of really cute ways to style your elf. The Disney Princess Pretty in Pink party dress gives them a full royal look, complete with a tulle skirt, snowflake details, and a tiny matching tiara.

You can also grab the Disney Princess Royal Slumber Party set, which gives you an entire cozy setup ready to go right out of the box. It comes with two sets of princess-inspired pajamas, a tiara-shaped pillow, a mini sleeping mask, a cuddle buddy, and a sleeping bag.

Frozen hoodies and other fan favorites

For fans of Arendelle, the Disney Frozen Olaf hoodie is an easy favorite. It features a cheerful Olaf print on a soft hoodie and includes a double-sided movie-scene standee you can set up right behind your elf for extra atmosphere.

The fun doesn't stop with Disney, either. The new lineup also dips into a few other iconic worlds, including Harry Potter Hogwarts house robes and Gryffindor pajamas — perfect for celebrating years of Hogwarts magic — as well as Spider-Man hoodies for Marvel lovers. There are even standing pants and ski sets if your elf is more into winter sports, giving you plenty of ways to keep the morning surprises fresh all December long.

Bring the magic home and shop the full Disney x The Elf on the Shelf collection today.

TL;DR: The Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box is available for $159.99 at Amazon. Due to high demand, shoppers need to request an invite to buy.

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Credit: The Pokémon Company

Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box

$159.99 at Amazon

 

Shop Now at Amazon

There was a time when Amazon listed preorders for the Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box at $89.99. We made some noise about this deal, but we truly didn't know how good we had it. We wish we had stocked up, because prices have climbed post launch and stayed there.

The Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box is currently listed at $159.99 on Amazon, with shipping and sales handled directly by Amazon rather than a third party. Demand for the product remains high, so Amazon is routing orders through its "request invite" system.

We do have eyes on how many of these boxes are selling. We won't get into the details, but it's a lot. Requesting an invite to buy is a hassle, but the system is clearly working for a lot of shoppers.

At $159.99, Amazon’s price isn't a million miles away from TCGplayer’s market price. It's also cheaper than a lot of the actual listings on TCGplayer. It might not look like a great deal, but Amazon's price is something for collectors to seriously consider.

The 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box is packed with nine 30th Celebration booster packs, an exclusive full-art foil Nidorina promo card, 16 foil Basic Energy cards, 65 custom card sleeves, damage-counter dice, a condition marker, card dividers, a collector’s player guide, and a code card for Pokémon TCG Live.

Shop the Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration ETB for $159.99 at Amazon.

SAVE OVER $50: As of Oct. 15, the DJI Power 1000 V2 portable power station is on sale for $399.98 at Amazon. That's $50.01 off its full price of $449.99.

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Credit: DJI

DJI Power 1000 V2 Portable Power Station

$399.98 at Amazon
$449.99 Save $50.01

 

Get Deal at Amazon

The DJI Power 1000 V2 is a "near-perfect portable power station for content creators," according to our review by Lauren Allain. Of course, you don't need to create content to get a lot from this machine — it's a solid portable power station for just about anyone. If it's caught your attention, Amazon currently has it on sale, but only through the rest of today.

As of Oct. 15, shoppers can snag the DJI Power 1000 V2 for $399.98, down from its full price of $449.99. Ultimately, that saves you $50.01. It's worth noting that this model is sold by a third party, but they have an 88% positive rating over the last 12 months.

With a 1,024Wh capacity and 2,600W output, the DJI Power 1000 V2 boasts plenty of power to boost your devices. Allain's review highlights that it's "an upgrade from the original, offering two extra AC ports, a higher max power output, and quicker recharging." And as for why we think it's a great pick for content creators, it's also "super quiet and has dedicated SDC ports to quick-charge DJI drones."

Alongside the SDC ports (including a 1440W Max SDC port and a 400W Max SDC Lite Port), this power station also comes with a 1440W Max AC input, two 140W Max USB-C ports, two 24W Max USB-A ports, and four 2600W AC outputs. Its battery even has a 10-year lifespan, making it a very solid investment.

Time is running out to save on the DJI Power 1000 V2 at Amazon. Don't miss out on this great deal while it's still live.

SAVE OVER $500: As of Oct. 15, the Anker Solix C2000 Gen 2 portable power station is on sale for $899.98 at Amazon. That's $599.02 off its full price of $1,499.

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Credit: Anker

Anker Solix C2000 Gen 2

$899.98 at Amazon
$1,499 Save $599.02

 

Get Deal at Amazon

Amazon's still dropping exciting deals for shoppers during this quiet period between Prime Day and Black Friday. Among them are portable power stations like the Anker Solix C2000 Gen 2, which is currently 40% off.

As of Oct. 15, this power station has received a massive $599.02 price cut, bringing it down from $1,499 to $899.98. It's only available at this price for a limited time, so be quick to grab this compact, lightweight station before the price goes back up.

Whether it's used as backup power for the home or brought along on a camping trip, the Anker Solix C2000 Gen 2 is a mighty helpful power station to have around. It boasts a 2,048Wh capacity and 2,400W output, with 4,000W peak power, to provide a nice boost to various appliances. It can power a dual-door fridge for up to 32 hours, which is great news if you run into a power outage in winter.

With two handles on its side and a lightweight build (41.7 pounds), this power station is easy to take on the go. Plus, its battery has a 10-year lifespan.

Keep in mind that this Anker Solix C2000 Gen 2 deal is only available for a limited time.

TL;DR: The Pokémon Center just launched its 2026 Winter Night Sky holiday collection, packing over 400 festive items spanning tree toppers, knit sweaters, plushies, and kitchenware. Every order from the drop placed before Dec. 25 includes a free sticker sheet while supplies last.

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Credit: Pokémon Center

Pokémon Center Holiday Collection 2026

 

Shop Now

The Pokémon Center just dropped its official 2026 holiday collection, and this year’s Winter Night Sky theme leans into pastel auroras, starry night aesthetics, and Pokémon getting up to festive winter activities.

With over 400 new items hitting the digital shelves, trying to scroll through the entire drop can get overwhelming fast. However, any purchase from the holiday lineup made between now and Dec. 25 comes with a free Winter Night Sky sticker sheet at checkout, while supplies last.

What I loved while digging through this collection is just how accessible it is — almost everything sits around $40 or well under. Plus, whether you’re looking to grow an existing Pokémon stash, deck out your tree, or just add a subtle charm to your kitchen counter, there’s a piece tailored for every corner of your home.

If you want to deck out your home or score a few gifts early, here is a look at what is floating around in this year's lineup.

Tree decor and living room upgrades

Mew is taking center stage as this year's literal star. The Mew tree topper puts the Mythical Pokémon right at the peak of your Christmas tree, complete with a matching Mew Winter Night Sky stocking if you want to keep the theme going.

If you prefer classic tree ornaments, there are new individual pieces featuring Piplup, Amaura, and Slowpoke, as well as a particularly cute Pikachu and Munchlax cookie treat two-pack. For broader tree coverage, you can grab themed multi-packs like the Winter Wonders globe ornaments twelve-pack or tie everything together with the Winter Night Sky tree skirt.

Credit: Pokemon Center

Holiday village figures and display pieces

For mantelpieces or desk setups, The Pokémon Center added fresh display options to its Holiday Village figure line. Three new additions — Town Hall Greetings, Meloetta Majestic Theatre, and Yamper Snowy Scamper — bring little snow-covered scenes to life. If you want a larger centerpiece, the Aurora Sighting figure depicts Pikachu watching pastel lights dance across the sky.

Cozy apparel and cold-weather gear

If you are looking to stay warm this season, there are plenty of sweater and accessory options. Heavy knit sweaters feature detailed character art, including the Hisuian Zorua moonlight turtleneck, Arcanine flames sweater, and Wooloo winter wonderland sweater.

For smaller pieces or easy stocking stuffers, beanies like the Snom knit beanie or Espeon purple knit beanie are effortless add-ons. There are even touchscreen-friendly gloves like the Charizard chill touch screen gloves, so you can use your phone outside without freezing your fingers off.

Credit: Pokemon Center

Plushies, kitchenware, and holiday hosting

It would not be a Pokémon Center drop without a pile of festive plushies. A few fun picks this round include the Sylveon holiday wishes plush, Gardevoir holiday wishes plush, and the smaller Piplup and Mantyke undersea holiday plush.

If you like subtle holiday touches in your kitchen, you will find everything from a Wooloo mug and a six-pack of Pokémon cookie cutters to a four-pack of Winter Woodland pasta bowls. To settle in for a cozy night, you can also grab a Winter Woodland fleece throw blanket or a 1,000-piece holiday puzzle featuring Pikachu, Piplup, and friends under the northern lights.

Credit: Pokemon Center

Shop the full Winter Night Sky holiday collection at The Pokémon Center, and get a free sticker sheet with your order through Dec. 25.

Starbucks is teaming up with Disney for a 20-piece Starbucks x Winnie the Pooh collection celebrating 100 years of the Hundred Acre Wood. The limited-edition lineup drops on Oct. 20, delivering honey-drip cold cups, ceramic beehive mugs, and plush Bearista keychains.

It's an incredibly cute collection that is bound to cause a stir, but there's a catch. We hate to break it to you like this, but the collection is exclusive to the Asia-Pacific region.

Credit: Starbucks / Disney

What’s in the Starbucks x Winnie the Pooh collection?

The 20-piece range mixes aesthetic drinkware with lifestyle accessories:

• Hunny Pot Tumblers and Cold Cups: Cold cups with honey-drip lids, golden-yellow straw toppers, and Pooh illustrations.

• Ceramic Beehive Mug: A textured, beehive-shaped ceramic mug featuring Pooh stuck in a honey pot entry.

• Bearista Costume Keychains and Phone Straps: Collectible Starbucks Bearistas dressed in plush costumes of Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, and Tigger.

• Packable Tote Bag: A reusable Hundred Acre Wood tote that folds into its own matching pouch.

Credit: Starbucks / Disney

We want everything, but here's where it gets complicated.

How to buy this collection?

If you live in North America or Europe, you won't find these on local Starbucks shelves.

On launch day (Oct. 20), the collection will be available at participating Starbucks coffeehouses in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Unfortunately for collectors elsewhere, the secondary market is going to be your best bet.

Exporters will begin listing inventory from Oct. 20, but you should expect a significant markup over retail prices on high-demand pieces like the ceramic beehive mug and plush Bearista straps. Head over to eBay and good luck.

If you desperately want official Disney x Starbucks drinkware without paying reseller markups, the Disney Store regularly stocks collaboration tumblers that ship directly to U.S. and UK addresses. In fact, we've spotted a cute Winnie the Pooh tumbler going for $27.99.

TL;DR: Watch Olympique Lyonnais vs. Crystal Palace in the Europa League for free on CazéTV. Access this free livestream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The Europa League always feels like a winnable competition for Premier League sides. Crystal Palace won the Conference League last season, so they've got recent experience of winning a European trophy. The opposition will be much stronger this time around, and Olympique Lyonnais will pose a tough test at the Groupama Stadium.

If you're interested in watching Olympique Lyonnais vs. Crystal Palace in the Europa League from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

When is Olympique Lyonnais vs. Crystal Palace?

Olympique Lyonnais vs. Crystal Palace in the Europa League kicks off at 12:45 p.m. ET on Oct. 15. This fixture takes place at the Groupama Stadium.

How to watch Olympique Lyonnais vs. Crystal Palace for free

Olympique Lyonnais vs. Crystal Palace in the Europa League is available to live stream for free on CazéTV.

CazéTV is geo-restricted to Brazil, but anyone can secure access with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Brazil, meaning you can live stream Olympique Lyonnais vs. Crystal Palace for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Olympique Lyonnais vs. Crystal Palace for free by following these simple steps:

1. Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN (we recommend ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Brazil

4. Visit CazéTV

5. Watch Olympique Lyonnais vs. Crystal Palace for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window

Credit: ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan)

$12.99 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee)

Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer generous money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Olympique Lyonnais vs. Crystal Palace without committing your cash. This is obviously not a long-term strategy, but it gives you enough time to stream this fixture (plus Premier League action) before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for Europa League?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on CazéTV, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries, including Brazil

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices, including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and usually offers a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99.

Live stream Olympique Lyonnais vs. Crystal Palace for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

TL;DR: Watch Celta Vigo vs. Juventus in the Europa League for free on CazéTV. Access this free livestream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

There are a number of really interesting Europa League fixtures taking place this week, including Celta Vigo vs. Juventus at the Balaídos Stadium. Juventus are coming into this fixture at the top of the standings after winning their opening game 5-0. Celta Vigo narrowly lost their first game, but they'll come into this clash with the belief that they can secure three points.

If you're interested in watching Celta Vigo vs. Juventus in the Europa League from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

When is Celta Vigo vs. Juventus?

Celta Vigo vs. Juventus in the Europa League kicks off at 3 p.m. ET on Oct. 15. This fixture takes place at the Balaídos Stadium.

How to watch Celta Vigo vs. Juventus for free

Celta Vigo vs. Juventus in the Europa League is available to live stream for free on CazéTV.

CazéTV is geo-restricted to Brazil, but anyone can secure access with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Brazil, meaning you can live stream Celta Vigo vs. Juventus for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Celta Vigo vs. Juventus for free by following these simple steps:

1. Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN (we recommend ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Brazil

4. Visit CazéTV

5. Watch Celta Vigo vs. Juventus for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window

Credit: ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan)

$12.99 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee)

Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer generous money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Celta Vigo vs. Juventus without committing your cash. This is obviously not a long-term strategy, but it gives you enough time to stream this fixture (plus Premier League action) before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for Europa League?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on CazéTV, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries, including Brazil

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices, including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and usually offers a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99.

Live stream Celta Vigo vs. Juventus for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

TL;DR: Watch RB Salzburg vs. Milan in the Europa League for free on CazéTV. Access this free livestream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The Europa League showcases some really interesting fixtures this week, including RB Salzburg vs. Milan. The Italian side lost their opening game in this competition, so the pressure is on Ruben Amorim's side to get a result at the Red Bull Arena Salzburg. The home team are sitting on three points after beating Levski Sofia in their first-round fixture.

If you're interested in watching RB Salzburg vs. Milan in the Europa League from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

When is RB Salzburg vs. Milan?

RB Salzburg vs. Milan in the Europa League kicks off at 12:45 p.m. ET on Oct. 15. This fixture takes place at the Red Bull Arena Salzburg.

How to watch RB Salzburg vs. Milan for free

RB Salzburg vs. Milan in the Europa League is available to live stream for free on CazéTV.

CazéTV is geo-restricted to Brazil, but anyone can secure access with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Brazil, meaning you can live stream RB Salzburg vs. Milan for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream RB Salzburg vs. Milan for free by following these simple steps:

1. Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN (we recommend ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Brazil

4. Visit CazéTV

5. Watch RB Salzburg vs. Milan for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window

Credit: ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan)

$12.99 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee)

Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer generous money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch RB Salzburg vs. Milan without committing your cash. This is obviously not a long-term strategy, but it gives you enough time to stream this fixture (plus Premier League action) before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for Europa League?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on CazéTV, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries, including Brazil

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices, including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and usually offers a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99.

Live stream RB Salzburg vs. Milan for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Where to preorder 'GTA 6':

---

Amazon

GTA 6

$79.99 at Amazon

Pre-Order Here

---

Best Buy

GTA 6

$79.99 at Best Buy

Pre-Order Here

---

GameStop

GTA 6

$79.99 at GameStop

Pre-Order Here

---

Target

GTA 6

$79.99 at Target

Pre-Order Here

---

Walmart

GTA 6

$79.99 at Walmart

Pre-Order Here

It's the last call for your "we got X before GTA 6" memes. Preorders for Grand Theft Auto 6 are live ahead of its Nov. 19 release. The highly anticipated game is available in two editions for PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S: an $80 standard edition and a $100 Ultimate Edition. Both come with a slew of preorder bonuses if you purchase them before launch.

Physical copies of GTA 6 are available for preorder at Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, Target, and Walmart. Digital copies are available through the PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, and Rockstar Games Store.

What does the GTA 6 Ultimate Edition include?

The $100 GTA 6 Ultimate Edition features "an exclusive collection of premium vehicles, weapons, apparel, and action," according to a press release from developer Rockstar Games. It's previewing these extras on its website, which include:

• A ’95 Grotti Cheetah vehicle

• Hawk & Little Morgan Revolvers

• Personalized sidearm variants

• Exclusive outfits and tattoos

• Exclusive hairstyles, makeup, and nail art

• Jason's Safehouse vehicles

• A Vapid Ganado modkit

• Access to two exclusive vehicle mod shops and a clothing store

• A Shitzu Squalo boat

• A '67 Vapid Dominator Buggy vehicle with a garage

• A raid mission for the PTT Youngin$ Illegal Goods Store, a gang compound

• A side mission to find and restore classic cars

The GTA 6 Ultimate Edition is only available for preorder on digital through the PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, and Rockstar Games Store.

GTA 6 Ultimate Edition

$99.99 at PlayStation Store

 

Preorder at PlayStation Store Preorder at Xbox Preorder at Rockstar Games

What are the benefits of preordering GTA 6?

All players who buy GTA 6 before Nov. 20 will get a bonus Vintage Vice City Pack, which Rockstar describes as "a collection of items that flash back to when the neon burned brightest." There's a yellow ’55 Vapid Stanier vehicle with its own garage; special outfits and hairstyles for Jason and Lucia, the game's two protagonists; and a palm tree weapon pattern.

Those who preorder digital copies will also get a free month of GTA+, a membership service that unlocks GTA Online bonuses and a library of older Rockstar titles. It normally costs $7.99 per month.

Here's a look at the exclusive outfits included in "GTA 6's" preorder-exclusive Vintage Vice City Pack. Credit: Rockstar Games

Is it better to buy GTA 6 on digital or physical?

You'll only get the free month of GTA+ if you preorder the digital version of GTA 6. Physical copies of the game just come with a download code in the case instead of an actual disc, so the biggest reason to buy that version instead is if you want to collect the box art.

When will GTA 6 preorders arrive?

Players who preorder a digital copy of GTA 6 will be able to preload the game on their consoles starting Nov. 12. All major retailers plan to ship physical copies, which will also arrive on Nov. 12 and can be preloaded ahead of launch day.

When is GTA 6 coming out?

GTA 6 is set for release on Thursday, Nov. 19. Don't forget to submit your PTO request.

Why was GTA 6 delayed?

The game was announced in December 2023 and was originally supposed to launch in late 2025, but Rockstar delayed it to May 2026 and then again to this fall. Both times, the company said more time was needed in order to deliver "the level of quality" and "polish" that players "expect and deserve." Hey, what's a couple more months after 13 years?

This boat is exclusive to the "GTA 6" Ultimate Edition. Credit: Rockstar Games

Is GTA 6 a multiplayer game?

Rockstar told IGN that GTA 6 will be "a single-player experience," but it seems likely that the game will eventually get a multiplayer mode given the massive success of GTA Online. (That's the multiplayer side of 2013's GTA 5, the most recent installment of the Grand Theft Auto franchise.) It could come in the form of a free update or a separate purchase; Rockstar added GTA Online to GTA 5 two weeks after its release, then made it available as a $20 standalone title in 2022.

Twitch CEO Dan Clancy told Bloomberg in September that he expects Rockstar to add multiplayer to GTA 6 next year, but Rockstar itself has yet to confirm that.

When is GTA 6 coming to PC?

GTA 6 is reportedly launching on PC in early 2027, according to the gaming business site GamesBeat.

We regret to inform you that the president has been posting AI videos again.

In the late night clip above, Jimmy Kimmel recaps Trump's latest slop post of himself chasing and wrestling a tiger, before appearing to befriend it.

"To me the most unrealistic part of that video is him running," says Kimmel. "I guess maybe he's bored? How can you be president and be bored? If you want to know how brave he really is around wild animals, this is from a photo shoot he did with an eagle."

Cue some (real) footage from 10 years ago of Trump flinching away from a bald eagle during a photoshoot. "He would definitely suplex a tiger," says Kimmel.

The AI video is bizarre when viewed by itself, but it gets worse when you add in context. Prior to sharing the AI footage, Trump posted a clip of a British man, William Chapman, inside a tiger enclosure — video that was taken moments before he was killed on Saturday. Chapman's family has called the circulation of the footage "deeply offensive", and said it's causing them "severe distress".

Want more of the best of late night? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter.

SAVE UP TO $150: Secretlab is offering tier-based savings up to $150 off on eligible chairs, desks, and accessories through Nov. 12. Apply the relevant promo code at checkout to unlock your discount on orders of $885 or more.

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Credit: Secretlab

Secretlab Sale

Save up to $150 sitewide on premium gaming chairs, standing desks, and setup gear with tiered promo codes.

Get Deal at Secretlab

If your current desk chair is doing your back no favors, Secretlab is running a spend-tier promo across its U.S. store through Nov. 12. By applying specific discount codes at checkout, you can save anywhere from $100 to $150. Discounts depend on how much you spend and what you add to your cart.

Whether you’re building a new desk setup from scratch or upgrading to an ergonomic chair for long workdays, here's how to claim the discount codes and what you need to know before checking out.

The Secretlab discount codes

Secretlab uses three separate promo codes depending on your order total and the types of items in your cart:

• Save $100 on orders over $885 — Your order must include an eligible Secretlab TITAN Evo chair. Use promo code SLEV-MINC7LTO26 at checkout.

• Save $120 on orders over $1,640 — Your order must include an eligible desk. Use promo code SLEV-MIND7LTO26 at checkout.

• Save $150 on orders over $1,999 — Applies sitewide across eligible products when your cart hits $1,999 or more. Use promo code SLEV-MINSW7LTO26 at checkout.

Terms, conditions, and fine print

Before building your setup, keep a few key terms and conditions in mind:

• Promo Window — The sale runs through Nov. 12 at 12 a.m. PST (or while supplies last).

• Code Stacking — Minimum-spend promo codes cannot be combined or stacked with other coupon codes.

• Excluded Chairs & Collections — Special collab editions like the TITAN Evo T1 Edition, Oracle Red Bull Racing Edition, Marvel Spider-Man Edition, Monster Hunter Zinogre Edition, Automobili Lamborghini Collection, and McLaren Collection are excluded from the promo.

• Excluded Accessories — Certain add-ons like the SKINS Lite Pokémon Collection, World of Warcraft Murloc Lumbar Pillow, Max Verstappen #3 Lumbar Pillow Pro, On-Stage Standard MAGPAD desk mats, EasyFold armrests, digital gift cards, and spare parts do not qualify.

If a Secretlab upgrade has been sitting on your wishlist, now’s the time to build out your setup and grab the savings before the codes expire.

SAVE OVER $9: As of Oct. 15, select colors of the new Apple HomeView smart display are available to preorder for $289.99 at Amazon, which is $9.01 cheaper than Apple's list price.

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Credit: Apple

Apple HomeView

$289.99 at Amazon
$299 Save $9.01

 

Get Deal at Amazon

Apple is officially jumping on the smart display bandwagon. During the company's recent "Welcome Home" launch, it revealed the new Apple HomeView smart display, which is set for release on Nov. 13. If you're excited to get your hands on it, don't head to Apple to preorder, as Amazon actually has it for a little bit less right now.

As of Oct. 15, select colors of the Apple HomeView — rose pink, silver, and space gray — are available to preorder for $289.99, down from the full list price of $299. That's nearly $10 in savings ($9.01, to be exact), which may not be a lot, but we'll certainly welcome any kind of preorder discount when tech prices just keep climbing.

The HomeView has Siri AI built in and a 7-inch Liquid Retina display. It also comes with speakers that support Spatial Audio for immersive sound, and you can easily use it to FaceTime people, send messages, make calls, and more. Of course, you can also customize its main display screen with your favorite photos or a calendar.

The HomeView can recognize up to six people in a household. Each user can have a personalized setup, which is a fun bonus.

There's no telling how long this offer will stick around. Save about $10 on the Apple HomeView at Amazon.

Shop the Stoney Clover Lane x New Heights collection:

---

Stoney Clover Lane New Heights Patch

$24 at Amazon

Shop Now

---

Stoney Clover Lane Clear Fanny Pack in Sand

$75 at Amazon

Shop Now

---

Stoney Clover Lane Clear Pouchette Crossbody Bag

$89 at Amazon

Shop Now

---

Stoney Clover Lane Large Pouch in Noir

$117 at Amazon

Shop Now

Whether you’ve been tuning in every Wednesday since day one or joined the 92 percenters fandom right along with the Swifties, tailgate season just got a serious style upgrade. Jason and Travis Kelce officially linked up with Stoney Clover Lane to drop a stadium-friendly Stoney Clover Lane x New Heights collection, designed to get you past security guards without ruining your game day fit.

The launch coincides with a new "Outta The House" hub on the Kelce Clubhouse site, where the brothers are hosting IRL events — starting with a tailgate that Jason is throwing at Arrowhead Stadium on Oct. 18 ahead of the Chiefs game.

If you aren't making the trip to Kansas City, you can grab the full drop online. If you just want to customize something you already own, the Stoney Clover Lane New Heights Patch comes with a heavy-duty 3M peel-and-stick backing. So you can press it straight onto your favorite jacket, tumbler, or bag without pulling out an iron or needle and thread.

If you're heading straight into a stadium or concert venue this season, you know the clear-bag policy pain is real. The Stoney Clover Lane Clear Fanny Pack in Sand solves that without making your outfit look like a security afterthought. It’s clear vinyl, fits your phone, keys, and lip balm, and has an adjustable strap so you can wear it across your chest or around your waist. Plus, it comes pre-patched with "We Gotta Talk About It," which is pretty much guaranteed to get a nod from other listeners in line.

If you like a bag with a bit more structure, the Stoney Clover Lane Clear Pouchette Crossbody Bag gives you that elevated, polished look. It pairs clear vinyl with faux-leather trim and a top handle, so it feels more like an actual purse while still getting you straight past security guards. Naturally, it features a front-and-center "92%ers" patch.

And if you just need something to keep your bigger essentials from rolling around inside a game day tote, reach for the Stoney Clover Lane Large Pouch in Noir. It's a fully lined nylon travel case that keeps everything organized, finished off with the show's iconic "92% of the Time Everytime" patch.

Head on over to Amazon to explore and shop the full Stoney Clover Lane x New Heights collection.

It's been a tough year for e-readers (and all tech) with prices on the rise, so we finally needed some good news. On Oct. 1, Amazon released a redesigned collection of Kindles that we simply couldn't wait to try out. The first to be released is the flagship Kindle. It's the entry point into Amazon's e-readers and the most affordable.

The Kindle (2026) now features a flush-front design with either a plastic or an aluminum backing, and in this new batch of Kindles, Amazon is embracing color with the e-reader available in ube, graphite, alpine sky, and seaglass green. So I got my hands on the newest Kindle to experience the design changes and put it to the test.

What's changed between the Kindle 2024 and 2026 models

The 2026 Kindle (right) has some notable design changes from the 2024 Kindle (left). Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

There weren't many changes between the 2022 and 2024 Kindles, but this launch brings much bigger changes that you can actually see.

The 2026 Kindle now has a flush front compared to the 2024 model's raised border around the screen. This provides a uniform look across all Kindles from the basic model all the way up to the Scribe.

In addition to a flush front, the design team behind the Kindle moved its power button. Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

A smaller change, but one that I'm more than thrilled to see, is that the design team moved the power button on the Kindle to the side of the device. While it's just a small detail, my colleague Stan Schroeder pointed it out in his Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition (2021) review, and I did the same in my 2024 Kindle review.

Otherwise, many of the e-reader's specs are the same between generations. The device still has a six-inch screen with 300 ppi resolution and a built-in front light. It has up to six weeks of battery life, but it is not waterproof, nor does it have an adjustable warm light.

It's unbelievably lightweight

The first thing I noticed about the new Kindle is just how featherlight it is — I almost thought the box was empty. Luckily, it was not. Amazon dropped the weight of the basic Kindle by 18 grams (.66 ounces). While it doesn't seem like much, it's a noticeable difference when holding the device.

The 2026 Kindle is lightweight and easy to tote around in any bag, Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

This lighter weight makes all the difference, especially when traveling. My first weekend with the Kindle, I packed it in my carry-on bag, and it barely added any weight. It tucks nicely into small pockets, too. While it isn't quite palm-sized like a trendy Boox Palma or Xteink X4, it's Amazon's smallest e-reader and still extremely portable. Plus, you can hold it for hours at a time without your arm aching.

Kindles keep getting faster and faster

You can't beat the clear, crisp screen on the 2026 Kindle. Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

Every time Amazon releases a new batch of Kindles, it claims the new e-readers are faster than the previous generation. The 2026 Kindle is supposedly 30 percent faster than the 2024. While I can't verify that exact amount, I can confirm that these are speedy devices. Books open quickly, and pages turn swiftly. Since I spent so little time waiting for things to load on the Kindle, I had more time to read, which was smooth and easy on the eyes.

The front light on the Kindle is clear and bright (though I do wish it had adjustable warmth like the Paperwhite), and the display responds quickly. When I changed the font size, it took less than a second to adjust. The screen is responsive and definitely seems to open faster than previous models, especially when tapping through the options along the bottom of the screen to adjust your progress status.

What it's missing

I still wish the Kindle had a warm light display and a waterproof rating. Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

The new Kindle is a really seamless reading experience. While I don't have many complaints, two things could make it a perfect e-reader. Since this is the entry-level Kindle, Amazon keeps affordability top of mind, which does mean there are sacrifices. There's no warm light on the basic Kindle, which would reduce blue-light strain on the eyes. Plus, I wish it were waterproof. I'm a beach reader, so the basic Kindle certainly won't be a summer companion for me, as I wouldn't want to put it near a splash zone.

However, adjustable warm light and waterproofing are both features on the Paperwhite, so we really can't fault the base model for not having them. If those are non-negotiables for you, upgrade to the Kindle Paperwhite.

Is the 2026 Kindle worth it?

While the 2026 Kindle isn't an essential upgrade, it's an improvement over previous generations. Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

Amazon's latest Kindle is an exceptional e-reader. It's lightweight and compact, quick and responsive. Sure, it has a couple of misses, like no warm light or a waterproof rating, but those are for the sake of affordability, according to Amazon. At $149.99, it's Amazon's cheapest e-reader. It's also the same price as the 2024 model, so if you're deciding between the two, go for the new 2026 Kindle.

However, if you're looking to upgrade from another Kindle model, I don't think you necessarily need to run out to grab it, especially if you have a 2022 or 2024 model. However, if you want to use the Kindle Click, you will need to upgrade to a 2026 (or 2024) Kindle.

Amazon Kindle (2026)

$149.99 at Amazon

 

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When you think of the Friday the 13th franchise, you think of Jason Voorhees, his hockey mask, and his perpetually bloody machete. But never forget that the original slasher in the first Friday the 13th was actually Jason's mother, Camp Crystal Lake cook Pamela Voorhees.

Now, Pam takes center stage in Peacock and A24's prequel series Crystal Lake, in which she's played by Emmy winner Linda Cardellini.

What's Crystal Lake about?

Credit: Matt Infante / Peacock

Crystal Lake revisits classic moments of the Friday the 13th mythology through Pam's eyes. We witness firsthand her grief at Jason's (Callum Vinson) drowning, and the rage that sparks her later killing spree. Notably, showrunner Brad Caleb Kane (IT: Welcome to Derry) moves the timeline up so that Jason drowns in 1971 as opposed to 1957.

Much of Crystal Lake will feel familiar to anyone who's watched Friday the 13th. The series mimics the film's title sequence, POV killer shots, and score, while also managing to capture the summery vibes of Camp Crystal Lake. However, it also conjures up an entirely new backstory for Pam, one that begins to come to light when two strangers show up at her house, ready to ask her questions about her past and spirit her away. Of course, Pam fights back, resulting in the first of many bloody kills for Mama Voorhees.

It's an invigorating sequence, complete with a gnarly set piece I can only describe as "blood balloon." Yet Crystal Lake doesn't follow through on the intrigue of Pam's past — at least, not until its penultimate episode, which appears to be the industry standard for where TV shows cram all their flashbacks nowadays. In the meantime, Crystal Lake follows Pam as she tries to find Jason, whose body was never found. She attends an abrasive self-help summit, develops an obsessive attachment to Jason's friend Grace (Gwendolyn Sundstrom), and yes, stacks up more bodies. All the while, the show emphasizes that there's a hidden darkness to her that she needs to unleash, but Crystal Lake's examination of that feels more like a generalized stab at "female rage is empowering!" than an actual dissection of Pam's psyche.

Linda Cardellini and glorious kills make Crystal Lake a fun watch.

Linda Cardellini in "Crystal Lake." Credit: Peacock

While Crystal Lake's story is thin and familiar, there are some saving graces in the form of Cardellini's performance and the bloody havoc Pam wreaks across Crystal Lake.

From Dead to Me to DTF St. Louis, Cardellini elevates every series she's a part of, including Crystal Lake. Here, she is a ball of righteous fury and grief. In one scene, after camp counselor Claudette (Danielle Kotch) confesses that she and Barry (Phoenix Parnevik) left Jason unsupervised at the lake to go have sex, Cardellini's reaction is one of wordless multitudes. Though she's killed prior to this confession, this moment is when she becomes the vicious Pam we see in the original Friday the 13th.

Crystal Lake also excels on the gore front, cooking up tremendous kills. From the aforementioned blood balloon to a literally eye-popping demise, the series finds new and inventive ways to send many of its ensemble members out with a bang. (There's some classic machete action in there as well.)

Overall, Crystal Lake does deliver on the fronts we expect anything Friday the 13th-related to deliver on: its main villain and its violence. It's just a blood-splattered shame that the story holding it all together isn't quite worthy of its main star.

Crystal Lake is now streaming on Peacock.

When much of the world looks at Andrew Garfield, they see a hero. Not only has the charismatic English actor played Spider-Man, but he's also been the noble protagonist of The Uprising, Under the Banner of Heaven, Silence, and tick, tick…Boom! Yet when Italian film director Luca Guadagnino looks at Garfield, he sees that the actor's potential as a villain lies in his charms.  

Last year, with After the Hunt, Guadagnino employed Garfield's sex appeal to set up a flirty academic who is then accused of sexual assault. The audience's presumed appreciation for Garfield scratches us in this role, as we're asked to consider if such a beguiling man could be a rapist. Now, with Artificial, Guadagnino weaponizes Garfield's charms more extensively. Together, they portray OpenAI cofounder Sam Altman as a cult leader, and by extension the artificial intelligence industry as a cult desperate for all of us to, if not join, then at least submit. 

Artificial centers on the rise of OpenAI, but not Sam Altman.  

The controversial AI exec is a sly antagonist in Artificial. The film itself follows Ilya Sutskever (Anora's Yura Borisov), a Soviet-born computer scientist who was making waves with his research in Canada when Altman came knocking. 

In Ilya, Artificial presents an idealist who is drawn in by Sam's argument that OpenAI is not a company built to prioritize profits over the well-being of mankind. Together, they dream of changing the world. But Ilya, who never lies, is confounded by the double-talk Sam performs, making false promises and schemes as easily as breathing. Artificial is the story of Ilya's disillusionment, as he battles Sam for the future of AI — and mankind. 

Elon Musk is a clown in Artificial.

Guadagnino sets up the main figures of his film as a study in contrasts. Where Ilya is unflaggingly honest, generally stoic, and endlessly eager, Sam is deceptive, breezy, and relentlessly strategizing. Then there's Elon Musk. 

Played here by comedian Ike Barinholtz, Musk is portrayed as an egomaniac who bosses around his underlings, turns up hours late for a dinner he's hosting, and eats McDonald's on a private jet while grumbling about his business rivals. Which is all to say, screenwriter Simon Rich delves as shallowly into a critique of Musk as your average Saturday Night Live sketch. 

Musk's main role in Artificial is to establish the baseline for tech bro behavior, post-The Social Network. In that David Fincher hit, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was memorialized as a smug Harvard student who flexed his power by wearing dorm wear as business casual. Here, Musk's macho posturing and brashness are positioned as the new normal. In real life, this enhanced machismo in the tech space led to threats of a real fight between Zuckerberg and Musk. Sadly, that was another false promise from Musk, like the time he said he'd end world hunger. 

Andrew Garfield is a shrewd villain in Artificial. 

Artificial lacks the teeth to dig into any of this toxic masculinity, instead showing how Altman may have set himself apart by seemingly rejecting it. In the movie, where Elon swaggers and snarls, Sam swans about in skinny jeans, impishly sits on tables cross-legged, and speaks in a gentle, cajoling voice, even when he's being dastardly and manipulative. He's slight and non-threatening with a jaunty bounce in his step, even as he trots down to his hidden bunker, meticulously stocked with doomsday supplies, including a John Wick-level firearms cache.

Through this depiction of Altman, Guadagnino begs us to look past the enchanting facade. Resist Garfield's smile. Don't trust his entreating tone, reminiscent in some regard to Jack O'Connell's alluring vampire Remmick in Sinners, as he pled with song and smile to be let into Smoke and Stacks' juke joint.

In this way, Artificial leans away from its historical-drama expectations and toward a horror movie vibe, despite its atypical setting. The gorgeous streets of San Francisco are picturesque, as are the hiking trails that look adoringly down on the Golden Gate Bridge, or the lush green vineyards of Napa Valley, where OpenAI employees go on retreats. But when Sam goes home, there are dark caverns that lead to his bunker. When his position is threatened, Artificial shows him in a shadowy, posh penthouse, overlooking an urbanscape, lit with neon like his secret armory. 

These visual cues add depth that Rich's screenplay lacks, as much of the dialogue turns into computer scientists and capitalists talking in circles about the potential pros and cons of AI. Guadagnino's supporting cast, which also boasts Monica Barbaro, Mark Rylance, Cooper Hoffman, and Jason Schwartzman, brings verve to these sections. But even collectively, they can't save Artificial from feeling like a finger-wagging parable that doesn't seem to fully understand the tech it's critiquing. 

Maybe that doesn't matter, though.

Perhaps it's enough that Garfield makes Altman a movie monster, as Robert Pattinson does with Primetime. Rejecting the bland salesman pose that Altman most often presents to the public, Garfield makes our skin crawl with Sam's melodic lies. His smile becomes a sickening smirk. In framing OpenAI's story as a collective with good intentions being steadily corrupted by a self-appointed savior, Artificial aims to urge its audience to question the truth rather than giving in to Altman and the temptations of AI.

Artificial was reviewed out of the New York Film Festival, and will open in limited release on Dec. 25.

Looking for something great to watch at home? Streaming subscribers are spoiled for choice between Hulu, Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Apple TV, Prime Video, Shudder, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. And that's before you even look at the vast libraries of movies and television programs within each streamer!

Don't be overwhelmed or waste an hour scrolling through your services to determine what to watch. We've got your back, whatever your mood. Mashable offers watch guides for all of the above, broken down by genre: comedy, thriller, horror, documentary, and animation, among others. But if you're seeking something brand new (or just new to streaming), we've got you covered there, too.

20. Hallowarrior

Postapocalyptic survival meets home invasion survival in Ben Sottak's Hallowarrior, which follows Pumpkin (Milly Shapiro of Hereditary fame) as she struggles to get by in a plague-ravaged world. The really bad news? Her Halloween is about to be made even worse by the arrival of a gang of violent raiders. This one looks like a much, much more brutal version of Home Alone. — Sam Haysom, General Assignment Editor, UK

Starring: Milly Shapiro, Ajani Russell, A.J. Bowen, Shannyn Sossamon, Vic Plajas, Taylor Valentine Lupini, Logan Beveridge, and Bobby McFarlane

How to watch: Hallowarrior debuts on Shudder on Oct. 16.

19. The Disciple: A Wu-Tang Fable

If you're a Wu-Tang Clan fan, love a good music documentary, or just want to watch something unique, The Disciple hits Netflix this week. Directed by Joanna Natasegara, this RZA-produced film follows Dutch Moroccan rapper and producer Tarik Azzougarh (aka Cilvaringz) and how he ended up collaborating with the iconic New York rap collective. Notably, Cilvaringz helped the group create their notorious 2015 album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. Only one copy was ever made (and was once owned by Martin Shkreli), and the path it took is the stuff wild documentary dreams are made of. — Shannon Connellan, Senior Editor

How to watch: The Disciple: A Wu-Tang Fable debuts on Netflix on Oct. 16.

18. Clown Panic

From The Trouble with Mr Doodle documentarian Ed Perkins comes Clown Panic, a feature doc that explores that bizarre time in 2016 where scary clowns seemed to be coming out of the woodwork.

Perkins sits down with police officers, witnesses, and one good clown to make sense of this weird phenomenon that lead to a full-on clown panic. — Kristy Puchko, Entertainment Editor

How to watch: Clown Panic is now streaming on Hulu.

17. Instadocs: AI Gone Wild

Netflix's Instadocs series is made up of documentaries that were created with a quick turnaround so they can delve into recent headlines. In new entry AI Gone Wild, Instadocs takes a look at this year's cyberattack on open-source AI platform Hugging Face, which was conducted by AI agents created by OpenAI. — Belen Edwards, Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: Instadocs: AI Gone Wild is now streaming on Netflix.

16. Kate Berlant: Parmesan

Looking for a laugh this weekend? You'll certainly find one in Kate Berlant: Parmesan, the first HBO stand-up special from comedian and actor Kate Berlant. Known for her absurdist comedy and her frequent collaborations with John Early, including this year's Maddie's Secret, Berlant is an undeniable comedic force. In Parmesan, she dissects modern life, social media, and even stand-up itself. — B.E.

How to watch: Kate Berlant: Parmesan debut on HBO Max on Oct. 16.

15. Buddy

The horror comedy that got a lot of buzz out of Sundance is now coming home.

Directed by Casper Kelly (Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell, Too Many Cooks) and co-written by Kelly and Jamie King, Buddy imagines what might happen if Barney the dinosaur were a cult leader who kills anyone breaking the rules of his seemingly wholesome world. Sure, the orange unicorn named Buddy looks fluffy and friendly. But there's something sinister beneath his stitched-on smile.

This is a solid pick for spooky season, but be warned: It's rated R for graphic violence. — K.P.

Starring: Cristin Milioti, Delaney Quinn, Patton Oswalt, Clint Howard, Michael Shannon, Topher Grace, and Keegan-Michael Key

How to watch: Buddy is now available for rental and purchase on digital.

14. Tulsa King, Season 4

Sylvester Stallone returns as Dwight "The General" Manfredi for another season of mafia drama.

Created by Taylor Sheridan, Tulsa King imagines what might happen if a New York gangster set up shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And in the show's fourth season, Dwight is battling to protect his empire from corrupt politicians and some deadly new foes. The hits are coming fast and hard. How will the king handle it? — K.P.

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Andrea Savage, Martin Starr, Jay Will, Max Casella, Domenick Lombardozzi, Vincent Piazza, A.C. Peterson, Garrett Hedlund, Dana Delany, Tatiana Zappardino, Annabella Sciorra, Neal McDonough, Frank Grillo, Chris Caldovino, McKenna Quigley Harrington, Mike Walden, Beau Knapp, Robert Patrick, Bella Heathcote, Kevin Pollak, and Gretchen Mol

How to watch: Tulsa King Season 4 premieres on Paramount+ on Oct. 16.

13. The Strangers: Chapter 2 & The Strangers: Chapter 3

Chapters 2 and 3 of The Strangers franchise are hitting streaming together this week, which is splendid news for anyone who likes their horror films heavy on masked killers. It's a bit confusing, but these are actually the third and fourth movies in the series. Bryan Bertino's 2008 psychological slasher The Strangers introduced the concept of a couple terrorised by three masked strangers invading their home, while the more recent trilogy has brought in a new set of faces — while keeping the masks and murder the same. — S.H.

Starring: Madelaine Petsch, Gabriel Basso, Ema Horvath, Ella Bruccoleri, Richard Brake, Rachel Shenton, and Pedro Leandro

How to watch: The Strangers: Chapter 2 and The Strangers: Chapter 3 are now available on 4K digital.

12. Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald

Netflix is rolling out one comedian doc after another! Last week, we got one on Martin Mull. Next week will see the debut of Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story, and this week we get Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald.

The Saturday Night Live alumni died in 2021. However, his life, work, and influences are explored by director Judd Apatow in this documentary, which pulls together some of his famous colleagues and a treasure trove of archival footage. — K.P.

Starring: Norm Macdonald, Adam Sandler, and David Spade

How to watch: Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald debuts on Netflix on Oct. 16.

11. Hollywood Arts, Season 1

If you grew up watching Victorious, get ready for a blast of nostalgia from sequel series Hollywood Arts. The series reunites us with Trina Vega (Daniella Monet), whose one-woman show Trina! single-handedly changed the way I say "Chicago." Now a struggling actress, she returns to Hollywood Arts High School as a substitute teacher, where she'll teach the next generation of young artists. Also returning from Victorious are Eric Lange as Sikowitz, Yvette Nicole Brown as Principal Helen Dubois, Matt Bennett as Robbie Shapiro, and Jake Farrow as the voice of Robbie's puppet, Rex. — B.E.

Starring: Daniella Monet, Alyssa Miles, Peyton Jackson, Martin Kamm, Emmy Liu-Wang, and Erika Swayze

How to watch: Hollywood Arts Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.

10. Sacrifice

Celebrity, fashion, and eco-activism collide in Sacrifice. Written by Will Arbery and Romain Gavras and helmed by the latter, this movie folds in comedy, drama, action, and adventure to create a star-studded spectacle sure to lure in Netflix viewers.

Chris Evans stars as Mike Tyler, a big-name movie star who's already on the brink of an existential crash out when he turns up at a charity gala being held on a Greek island. Then, a gun-wielding radical (Anya Taylor-Joy) crashes the party with a bold plan to save the world. She wants to sacrifice three of these wealthy, famous folks to a nearby volcano. Forget eating the rich; Sacrifice is taking it to the next level. — K.P.

Starring: Chris Evans, Anya Taylor-Joy, Vincent Cassel, Sam Richardson, John Malkovich, and Salma Hayek

How to watch: Sacrifice debuts on Netflix on Oct. 16.

9. Katseye: Wild Hearts

Let's go, Eyekons. Katseye: Wild Hearts hits Disney+ and Hulu this week, a behind-the-scenes documentary that takes you into the world of pop powerhouses Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Manon Bannerman, Megan Skiendiel, Sophia Laforteza, and Yoonchae Jeung. Directed by Nadia Hallgren (Becoming), the film features interviews with the members of the global girl group about everything from their Dream Academy beginnings to latest EP Wild, as well as plenty of footage of their live shows and their dedicated fans. Pinky up, indeed. — S.C.

Starring: Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Manon Bannerman, Megan Skiendiel, Sophia Laforteza, and Yoonchae Jeung

How to watch: Katseye: Wild Hearts debuts on Hulu and Disney+ on Oct. 16.

8. Tenzing

Plenty know the story of Sir Edmund Hillary, who summited Mount Everest. But fewer know of Tenzing Norgay, the Nepalese Indian sherpa who got him there.

Director Jennifer Peedom has previously helmed documentaries Sherpa and Mountain, and now brings that awareness of mountaineering and Norgay's legacy to Tenzing. Genden Phuntsok stars as the eponymous historical figure, while Tom Hiddleston plays Hillary. Do you want to see the emotional heights they'll reach together?* — K.P.

Starring: Genden Phuntsok, Tom Hiddleston, Willem Dafoe, Caitríona Balfe, and Thinley Lhamo

How to watch: Tenzing debuts on Apple TV on Oct. 16.

7. Love of Your Life

Seeking romance? Then you'll want to watch Love of Your Life.

Written by Julia Cox and directed by Rachel Morrison, this romantic drama stars Margaret Qualley as Maya, a young woman who has some enviable highs and awful lows in her love life. When she was 26, she was a nurse in Boston, and madly in love with Charlie (A House of Dynamite’s Gabriel Basso). They got married, but their happily-ever-after was ruined when the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the world. Fleeing to Europe for a fresh start, Maya isn't looking for love. But then she meets Felix, played by the dashing Aaron Pierre.

After great loss, will Maya be brave enough to allow intimacy back in her life? Watch and see. — K.P.

Starring: Margaret Qualley, Aaron Pierre, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Gabriel Basso, Catherine Keener, Tamara Lawrance, and Corey Johnson

How to watch: Love of Your Life is now streaming on Prime Video.

6. Practical Magic 2

It's been 28 years since Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman played lovelorn sister witches, and now they're back with a sequel sprinkled with magic, sexual chemistry, and romance.

Based on Alice Hoffman's The Book of Magic, Practical Magic 2 follows Sally Owens (Bullock) on a quest to rescue her headstrong daughter (Joey King) from the influence of dark magic. Naturally, her sister Gilly (Kidman) is by her side, but so is a towering, tattooed male witch (Lee Pace) who might have more than magic in mind.

In my review, I wrote, "Practical Magic 2 is more than a good time; it's a source of inspiration and hope in dark times for women." — K.P.

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Dianne Wiest, Stockard Channing, Joey King, Lee Pace, Maisie Williams, and Xolo Maridueña

How to watch: Practical Magic 2 is now available for rental and purchase on digital.

5. VisionQuest

Marvel gets mind-bendy in the upcoming show VisionQuest.

Billed as the conclusion to the "Wanda trilogy," which also includes WandaVision and Agatha All Along, the series picks up with everyone's favorite philosophical android, Vision (Paul Bettany). He's dealing with a serious identity crisis after getting resurrected in WandaVision, and he's communicating with other Marvel AI in order to figure out who he is. Among them? Avengers villain Ultron (James Spader), appearing in a human avatar.* — B.E.

Starring: Paul Bettany, James Spader, Ruaridh Mollica, Todd Stashwick, T'Nia Miller, Lauren Morais, Orla Brady, Diane Morgan, Henry Lewis, Polly Frame, Jonathan Sayer, Emily Hampshire, and James D'Arcy

How to watch: VisionQuest episodes 1 and 2 are now streaming on Disney+, with new episodes weekly.

4. Crystal Lake

While Jason Voorhees and his hockey mask are the most memorable iconography from the Friday the 13th franchise, Camp Crystal Lake's first killer was actually his mother, Pamela (Betsy Palmer in the very first Friday the 13th). Now, Pamela gets her own origin story in Peacock's prequel series Crystal Lake, from A24 and showrunner Brad Caleb Kane. (Kane is no stranger to horror prequels, also serving as showrunner on IT: Welcome to Derry.)

Crystal Lake stars Emmy nominee Linda Cardellini as Pamela, who is still grieving the loss of her son, Jason (Callum Vinson). The arrival of two strangers inquiring into her past sets a series of disturbing events in motion, with Pamela at their heart. Get ready for gory kills and an exceptional performance by Cardellini, even if Crystal Lake's story doesn't always land.* — B.E.

Starring: Linda Cardellini, Will Catlett, Devin Kessler, Cameron Scoggins, and Gwendolyn Sundstrom

How to watch: Crystal Lake debuts in full on Peacock on Oct. 15.

3. The Diplomat, Season 4

Take a break from real-life political drama with some fictional political drama courtesy of The Diplomat. The Emmy–winning series returns for its fourth season this week, and the stakes have never been higher. The U.S. has stolen Russia's deadliest nuclear weapon, the Poseidon, putting the whole world at risk and placing diplomat Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) in an impossible position. Add to that the fact that President Grace Penn (Allison Janney, fresh off an Emmy win for Season 3) worked with Kate's husband, Vice President Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell), on the plot, and you're looking at a juicy web of politics and deception heading into Season 4. — B.E.

Starring: Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, Allison Janney, and Bradley Whitford

How to watch: The Diplomat Season 4 debuts on Netflix on Oct. 15.

2. Hope

You're not ready for Hope. Written and directed by South Korean filmmaker Na Hong-jin (The Wailing), this sci-fi epic clocks in at 156 minutes, and they breeze by like the galloping monsters at its center, fast and ruthlessly violent.

Hwang Jung-min stars as a small-town sheriff who is looking into the bizarre slaughtering of a cow near the forest. Soon enough, he'll come face to face with the killer creature, but only after a barrage of building-shattering, bone-snapping action that makes up the film's first act. You won't believe what comes next, but spoilers: It's epic.* — K.P.

Starring: Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Hoyeon, Taylor Russell, Cameron Britton, Alicia Vikander, and Michael Fassbender

How to watch: Hope is now available for rental and purchase on digital.

Best of streaming this week: The Lowdown, Season 2

If you haven't watched Season 1 of The Lowdown yet, I need you to run and do that now, please. Then, once you've witnessed its perfection, I've got great news for you: Season 2 is here!

Created by Reservation Dogs' Sterlin Harjo, The Lowdown is the perfect combination of gritty mystery and hangout comedy. It centers on Tulsa citizen journalist Lee Raybon (Ethan Hawke), a roguish "truthstorian" with a heart of gold and a knack for getting into nasty situations. In Season 1,  he uncovered a sinister conspiracy at the heart of Tulsa. In Season 2, he's back on the case, this time investigating the mysterious disappearance of a prison inmate. The Lowdown's first season was one of 2025's absolute best shows, and given Harjo's track record (and the arrival of incredible stars like Betty Gilpin and Tommy Lee Jones), it's no surprise that Season 2 is just as great.* — B.E.

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Keith David, Kaniehtiio Horn, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and Macon Blair

How to watch: The Lowdown Season 2 is now streaming on Hulu.

(*) denotes a blurb came from a prior list.

The glory days of online dating could be over. According to a survey by Forbes Health, almost 80 percent of Gen Z daters reported feeling swipe fatigue. And what about dating IRL? That seems to be dying a death too, with fewer people now willing to risk asking someone out — you know, the way your parents used to date people — so what is a single person supposed to do in 2026? 

If you're over hookup apps but don't see yourself going to a singles bar anytime soon, there are online alternatives to consider. AdultFriendFinder, for instance, is an example of a legacy hookup site that dates back to way before the days of the Tinder-led swipe app phenomenon. It's old school, and it still works.

Indeed, legacy sites such as AFF tend to have robust communities and more extensive personal bios, which make them a worthwhile alternative to the swipe-based mechanics on other dating apps. 

AdultFriendFinder was founded back in 1996, so it has three decades of hookup history. That experience is invaluable for connecting like-minded people seeking spicy fun. So, if you're burned out or striking out with apps, AFF is worth a closer look.

Let's get you started with a list of the pros and cons of AFF. If you're a Gen Z'er, this could swing it for you.

Pro: Built-in communities

Modern dating apps can be isolating. We all know the feeling: you're putting in the hours of swiping and liking, but you're just not getting anywhere. In other words: no matches. You might be carefully taking your time to assess compatibility with potential partners, only to find that all your attention hasn't been noticed or reciprocated. It's a total downer.

Thankfully, there are alternatives to this doom cycle. AFF cracked this code long ago: spaces where singles can meet in groups, have organic chats, and assess attraction more slowly and carefully, either through words, images, or webcam feeds. 

AdultFriendFinder has a Community tab, prominently displayed on the top-center ribbon, where you can interact with other users in public spaces such as blogs, contests, polls, stories, and interest groups. In addition, there's a Live Action tab where you can either broadcast your own webcam feed to attract interested viewers or join someone else's live feed if you catch their eye.

In all these cases, AFF has created pathways to connection that transcend the swipe, making it a great option for Gen Z daters dealing with app burnout.  

Con: Age distribution

One thing that's immediately striking upon logging into AdultFriendFinder is that the site hosts a wide range of ages, from the early 20s to the mid-60s and beyond. AdultFriendFinder has not responded to our requests for specifics about their age demographics, but past estimates have placed the majority demographic somewhere in the 30-38 age range, which means Gen Z, who are still not in their 30s, are not widely represented. 

In one sense, that's a definite con: you'll have a hard time meeting people your age. On the other hand, if you're not opposed to dating cross-generationally — and there's evidence that singles are becoming more open to this — this can work in your favor.

Pro: A site-only dating experience

Because it hosts nudity, AdultFriendFinder has never been allowed to offer an app in either the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store, and while there is a sneaky workaround for those who really want a phone experience, the truth is that a huge contributing factor to dating app burnout is the omnipresent nature of dating apps. If you can swipe on public transit, in between work sessions, at the gym, or on the toilet, you're never really away from the app. On the other hand, a dating website that requires a computer or tablet to access is a lot less accessible. 

If you can self-diagnose as suffering from swipe fatigue, compartmentalizing your dating life from, well, the entire rest of your existence is a good first step on the journey to recovery. It's also a good way to insist on taking the whole process seriously. It's easy to be casual about an app, especially one you can access anywhere, but navigating a dating site requires time and intention, both of which are the antidotes to the app burnout plaguing Gen Z. 

Con: Paid memberships are a necessity

In general, younger daters spend less on dates these days, so it's no small hurdle to ask them to drop precious cash on a monthly dating app subscription when there are other, totally free alternatives, but AdultFriendFinder offers some enticing, member-only perks, chief among them the ability to actually message people one-on-one. 

If you want to restrict yourself to a free membership, you can totally get away with it in public areas, where it's easiest to start conversations with strangers. But if you do happen to meet someone you vibe with, it will frustrate you that you can't take that conversation private. 

Subscription costs vary by location and the length of your commitment, but expect to pay between $20 and $35 per month for the Gold membership. It's not cheap, sure, but it's also a small sum to conquer swipe fatigue and give you a more community-based dating experience.

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Credit: AdultFriendFinder

AdultFriendFinder

 

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TL;DR: The 2026 Rugby League World Cup is available to live stream for free on 7plus. Access these free livestreams from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The 2026 Rugby League World Cup is officially kicking off in Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea, and if you are looking to catch every big hit, try, and high-stakes knockout match without spending big on a subscription, you're in luck.

Fans in Australia can watch every match live and free via Channel 7 and 7plus. Fans from other countries don't have it so easy, but there are some simple steps you can take to secure access to all the action without spending anything.

If you want to watch the 2026 Rugby League World Cup for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

What is the Rugby League World Cup?

The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league competition contested by senior men's national teams. The latest edition of the Rugby League World Cup will be jointly hosted by Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea.

The defending champions are Australia.

When is the 2026 Rugby League World Cup?

The 2026 Rugby League World Cup is the 17th edition of the competition. This year's tournament starts on Oct. 15 and runs until the final on Nov. 15.

How to watch the 2026 Rugby League World Cup for free

The 2026 Rugby League World Cup is available to live stream for free on 7plus.

7plus is geo-restricted to Australia, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Australia, meaning you can unblock free live streams of the Rugby League World Cup from anywhere in the world.

Access free live streams of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (we recommend ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Australia

4. Visit 7plus

5. Watch the 2026 Rugby League World Cup for free from anywhere in the world

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ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan)

$12.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee)

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The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer free trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can gain access to free live streams of the 2026 Rugby League World Cup without committing with your cash. This is obviously not a long-term solution, but it does give you time to watch the tournament before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for 7plus?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on 7plus, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries, including Australia

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices, including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure

• Fast connection speeds

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).

Live stream the 2026 Rugby League World Cup for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

TL;DR: The Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Ultra-Premium Collection Day (Espeon) and Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Ultra-Premium Collection Night (Umbreon) are available to preorder now on Amazon.

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Credit: The Pokemon Company

Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Ultra-Premium Collection Day (Espeon)

$694.94 at Amazon

 

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Credit: The Pokémon Company

Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Ultra-Premium Collection Night (Umbreon)

$694.94 at Amazon

 

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If you thought Pokémon TCG collectors were already losing their minds over 30th Celebration Booster Bundles and Elite Trainer Boxes, Amazon just opened preorders for the crown jewel of the anniversary expansion: the 30th Celebration Ultra-Premium Collections.

Both high-end boxes are currently available for preorder at Amazon for $694.94 ahead of their official Nov. 6 release date.

As the ultimate flagship products for the 30th Celebration set, both Ultra-Premium Collections come packed with 29 30th Celebration booster packs, one Classic Collection booster pack, custom metal coins, deck boxes, card sleeves, and damage-counter dice. Of course, the real driver behind the hype comes from the exclusive promo cards:

• Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Ultra-Premium Collection Day (Espeon): Includes the exclusive Espeon ex promo card with a Daytime Pikachu ex promo card and an Espeon playmat.

• Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Ultra-Premium Collection Night (Umbreon): Includes the exclusive Umbreon ex promo card with a Futuristic-rarity Pikachu ex promo card and an Umbreon playmat.

The big question when buying trading cards on Amazon is whether or not you're actually getting value for money. Amazon is a reliable pick for finding readily available stock, but you often pay above market price.

TCGplayer's market price for the Day Box is currently $561.42, so there's a decent markup from Amazon here. The market price for the Night Box is $687.73, so the convenience of Amazon actually makes sense in this case.

TL;DR: Physical preorders for Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake are already $10 off at Amazon. Preorder for $59.88 and get a preorder price guarantee.

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Credit: Nintendo

'The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time' (Digital)

$59.99 at Amazon

 

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Credit: Nintendo

'The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time' (Physical)

$59.88 at Amazon
$69.99 Save $10.11

 

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We're edging closer and closer to the Nintendo Switch 2 remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The official release date is Nov. 5, but Zelda fans are already buzzing thanks to the first-look gameplay footage.

Preorders for both the digital and physical copies are already available at Amazon. The digital version costs $59.99. The physical edition was initially priced at $69.99 but has been reduced to $59.88 — great news for those of us who prefer to have the actual game in our hands.

There's another good reason to order from Amazon, as the retailer is offering a preorder price guarantee. That means if the deal changes between now and when you're charged, you'll pay the lowest price point between when you order and when you receive the game.

If you're a serious Zelda fan, it's worth getting that preorder in soon.

Nintendo has revealed that the first print run of the physical edition will come with "special packaging that features textured foil cover art." That's one for the collectors, who will also love the Legend of Zelda-themed hardware coming this fall to mark the franchise's 40th anniversary. That will include a special-edition Switch 2 console, a Pro Controller, and a carrying case, all out Oct. 29.

Flock CEO Garrett Langley has stated that the controversial surveillance company would "immediately" stop partnering with any clients who abused its systems, including law enforcement agencies. However, he also claimed that Flock has not yet found any cause to do so, arguing that all incidents thus far have been the fault of a small number of bad actors within organisations.

Speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt on Wednesday, Langley attempted to allay widespread concerns that Flock could be facilitating mass surveillance and violations of privacy. There have been multiple instances of U.S. law enforcement officials being charged with abusing Flock's system, using it to stalk, harass, and surveil people without just cause. However, Flock has not cancelled its partnerships with any clients.

"Most of the debate is nuanced into 'what if two officers out of 50 were caught?'" said Langley. "Today, we haven't fired any customers, but it's not off the table in the case of some pretty drastic law-abiding issue."

According to the public interest law firm Institute for Justice, there have been over 240 incidents of U.S. law enforcement abusing automated license plate readers such as Flock's since 2021. Many cases involve officers tracking women or former partners.

Earlier this month, a U.S. federal judge found that an officer conducted an unconstitutional warrantless search of a driver after using Flock cameras to track their recent movements. Flock appeared to stand by the officer's use of its technology, with a spokesperson saying the company expected the ruling would be appealed and overturned.

Flock CEO claims microphones detect gunshots, not voices

Langley also spoke about Flock's surveillance microphones, stressing that they are targeted at detecting gunshots and do not monitor people's conversations. Formerly known as Raven, Flock's Gunshot and Audio Detection system is designed to recognise the sound of specific types of events, including gunfire, street takeovers, and car crashes. Flock says it can also differentiate between fireworks and gunshots to reduce false alarms.

"We said, 'OK, great, it's just going to do gunshots, plain and simple'," Langley said, as reported by TechCrunch. "If a gun goes off, we'll notify, and if not, that's all it's going to listen to."

Though Langley stated that Flock's system only detects gunfire, a spokesperson later clarified to TechCrunch that this is merely its primary focus, confirming that it also picks up fireworks, street takeovers, and vehicular accidents.

Flock had advertised its Gunshot and Audio Detection system as being capable of picking up human screaming and distress when introducing the feature last year. The company subsequently removed this feature following objections from privacy advocates, who voiced concerns about Flock listening in to every loud public interaction — a function that could enable mass surveillance.

"Gunshot Detection is designed to recognize specific sound events, not people," Flock wrote in a July blog post announcing that it was removing human screaming detection. "The system cannot understand speech, analyze language, or identify voices. It doesn't now, and it never has."

According to Flock, its Gunshot and Audio Detection system works by constantly analysing ambient audio on-device in three-second windows. The audio isn't saved if there is nothing of interest, but if there is a sound that matches what it's looking for, such as a gunshot or tyres screeching, the system will record the audio and send an alert to the relevant parties.

Despite such assurances from Flock, widespread concerns remain about its systems' implications for privacy and mass surveillance. Distrust toward the company has prompted activists to protest, map camera locations, and even vandalise Flock's hardware.

TL;DR: The latest Stuff Your Kindle Day takes place on Oct. 15-16. Mystery and Crime Collection, hosted by Book Below, offers free mysteries, thrillers, suspense, and crime books.

We're only a week on from the spooky Stuff Your Kindle Day event hosted by Indie Visible, and now we've got another opportunity to stock up on reads without spending anything. That's right, Stuff Your Kindle Day is back once again. And this time, the focus is on mystery and crime.

Mystery and Crime Collection, hosted by Book Below, is offering free mysteries, thrillers, suspense, and crime books until Oct. 16. Everything you download is yours to keep forever, so there really is no reason to hold back. Take this as your sign to significantly add to your TBR pile without any guilt.

Looking to make the most of the latest Stuff Your Kindle Day? We've lined up everything you need to know about this popular event.

When is Stuff Your Kindle Day?

Mystery and Crime Collection takes place from Oct. 15-16. This two-day giveaway shouldn't be super stressful. It won't cause the same level of panic as a 24-hour event, but you still need to be prepared.

Which books are free?

Mystery and Crime Collection promises to deliver "an incredible selection of suspenseful novels that will keep you guessing until the very last page." The hub page makes things very easy for participants by outlining the incredibly simple process:

• Browse free books

• Click store link

• Download free book

It really is that easy.

Is Stuff Your Kindle Day the same as Amazon Kindle Unlimited?

Everything you download on Stuff Your Kindle Day is yours to keep forever, and there's no limit on the number of books you can download. Stuff Your Kindle Day downloads don't count towards the 20 books that Amazon Kindle Unlimited subscribers can borrow at the same time.

The best Stuff Your Kindle Day deal

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Credit: Amazon

Kindle (16GB) + Kindle Unlimited (3 Months)

$149.99 at Amazon

 

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Why we like it

These popular e-readers let you take your entire library on the go. With weeks of battery life and an anti-glare display, you can read anywhere and anytime with the Kindle. Plus, you can get three months of Kindle Unlimited for free with your purchase for a limited time.

TL;DR: The Motorola Razr+ is available for free with T-Mobile. To qualify for this deal, activate a new line on an Experience Beyond plan.

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Credit: Motorola

T-Mobile: Get the Motorola Razr+ for free

 

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We know that Apple recently launched new iPhones and preorders for the iPhone Duo are dropping soon, but not everyone is totally obsessed with Apple. Believe it or not, there is actually life outside the Apple bubble.

Check out T-Mobile, and you'll soon discover that the free iPhone deals have largely disappeared. That's a shame, but do not fear. You can still pick up Motorola's latest handset for absolutely nothing. And the process of claiming this free phone is reassuringly straightforward. You don't even need to trade anything in to qualify.

For a limited time, the Motorola Razr+ is available for free with T-Mobile. To claim the new Motorola Razr+ for free, simply activate a new line on its Experience Beyond plan. Alternatively, you can get the Motorola Razr for free when activating a new line on most T-Mobile plans.

The total cost is covered via 36 monthly bill credits. If you cancel or switch carriers before the three-year mark, you’ll owe the remaining balance on the phone’s full retail price. You will also need to pay taxes and a one-time $35 connection charge.

In the market for a new phone but don't fancy jumping on board the Apple bandwagon? T-Mobile has you sorted with a couple of standout Motorola Razr deals this week.

TL;DR: Get lifetime access to 1min.AI’s all-in-one platform featuring GPT, Claude, Gemini, AI writing, image editing, PDF, and audio tools for $69.97 (reg. $540) through Oct. 15.

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Credit: 1minAI

1min.AI Advanced Business Plan Lifetime Subscription

$69.97
$540 Save $470.03

 

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AI subscriptions aren’t cheap, but it’s manageable if you only use one model like ChatGPT. However, if you need tools for generating images, writing copy, analyzing documents, or translating between languages, a platform like 1min.AI is a more viable option.

1min.AI gives you lifetime access to some of the most popular AI tools, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Mistral, and many others. It’s also only $69.97 (reg. $540) for a lifetime subscription, available today only as part of the extended Deal Days sale.

1min.AI runs in your browser and pulls a ton of everyday work into one place. You can research keywords, draft blog posts, rewrite and shorten text, generate social posts, and keep a consistent brand voice across projects.

There are tools to summarize or translate documents, chat with multiple PDFs at once, and spin up slide presentations. For visuals, you can generate images from prompts, upscale low-resolution pictures, remove backgrounds, extend edges, or turn rough sketches into cleaner artwork.

Here’s a small sample of the AI models you’ll get access to:

• GPT-5.5 Pro

• Claude 4.1 Opus and Claude 4.5 Sonnet

• Gemini 3.1 Pro

• Llama 3

• Mistral models

The Advanced Business Plan includes 4,000,000 credits each month, plus the chance to earn up to 450,000 more through daily logins and other tasks. Credits are shared across writing, images, audio, and video, so you can lean harder on whichever tools you need that month.

The plan supports up to 20 members, with shared workspaces, an unlimited prompt library, unlimited storage, and unlimited brand voices. If you don’t use all your credits, they just roll over, so you aren’t missing out if you have a lighter month.

It’s only $69.97 (reg. $540) to get a 1min.AI Advanced Business Plan lifetime subscription, but only through Oct. 15.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Today's Connections: Sports Edition will be easier for those who've participated in team sports.

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.

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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.

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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: Assist

• Green: Score

• Blue: Perfect pitchers

• Purple: Coverings

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: Deliver the Ball to a Teammate

• Green: Places Where One Scores

• Blue: MLB Pitchers to Throw a Perfect Game

• Purple: ___Mask

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 #752 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Deliver the Ball to a Teammate: DISH, DISTRIBUTE, GIVE, PASS

• Places Where One Scores: END ZONE, GOAL, HOOP, PLATE

• MLB Pitchers to Throw a Perfect Game: BROWNING, CAIN, CONE, LARSEN

• ___Mask: CATCHER'S, FACE, GOALIE, PROTECTIVE

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 catalog.

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 October 15 Pips

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

Number (10): Everything in this light blue space must add up to 10. The answer is 1-5, placed vertically; 6-5, placed horizontally.

Number (10): Everything in this space must add up to 10. The answer is 0-4, placed vertically; 6-5, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (1): Everything in this space must be greater than 1. The answer is 2-4, placed horizontally.

Number (10): Everything in this space must add up to 10. The answer is 2-4, placed horizontally; 6-3, placed vertically.

Greater Than (2): Everything in this space must be greater than 2. The answer is 6-3, placed vertically.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for October 15 Pips

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

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

Equal (4): Everything in this light blue space must be equal to 4. The answer is 3-4, placed vertically; 4-5, placed vertically.

Equal (4): Everything in this orange space must be equal to 4. The answer is 4-0, placed horizontally; 4-2, placed vertically.

Less Than (1): Everything in this space must be less than 1. The answer is 4-0, placed horizontally

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 4-2, placed vertically; 4-1, placed horizontally.

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 4-1, placed horizontally; 2-5, placed horizontally.

Number (20): Everything in this space must add up to 20. The answer is 4-5, placed vertically; 5-5, placed horizontally; 2-5, placed horizontally.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for October 15 Pips

Greater Than (1): Everything in this space must be greater than 1. The answer is 1-4, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (0): Everything in this space must be greater than 0. The answer is 3-5, placed vertically.

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

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

Number (9): Everything in this space must add up to 9. The answer is 2-0, placed vertically; 3-3, placed horizontally; 1-3, placed vertically.

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

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

Greater Than (9): Everything in this space must be greater than 9. The answer is 4-4, placed vertically; 2-2, placed vertically.

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

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 3-4, placed vertically; 5-0, placed vertically.

Greater Than (14): Everything in this space must be greater than 14. The answer is 5-0, placed vertically; 4-6, 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.

TL;DR: Watch Benfica vs. Celtic in the Europa League for free on CazéTV. Access this free livestream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The Europa League kicked off with a disappointing defeat for Celtic, and now they face a tough Benfica side at the Estádio da Luz. Benfica won their opening game and will come into this clash with a lot of confidence. It could be a long night for Celtic.

If you're interested in watching Benfica vs. Celtic in the Europa League from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

When is Benfica vs. Celtic?

Benfica vs. Celtic in the Europa League kicks off at 3 p.m. ET on Oct. 15. This fixture takes place at the Estádio da Luz.

How to watch Benfica vs. Celtic for free

Benfica vs. Celtic in the Europa League is available to live stream for free on CazéTV.

CazéTV is geo-restricted to Brazil, but anyone can secure access with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Brazil, meaning you can live stream Benfica vs. Celtic for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Benfica vs. Celtic for free by following these simple steps:

1. Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN (we recommend ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Brazil

4. Visit CazéTV

5. Watch Benfica vs. Celtic for free from anywhere in the world

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Credit: ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan)

$12.99 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee)

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The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer generous money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Benfica vs. Celtic without committing your cash. This is obviously not a long-term strategy, but it gives you enough time to stream this fixture (plus Premier League action) before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for Europa League?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on CazéTV, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries, including Brazil

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices, including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and usually offers a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99.

Live stream Benfica vs. Celtic for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

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.

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

Hurdle Word 1 hint

Skilled.

Hurdle Word 1 answer

ADEPT

Hurdle Word 2 hint

Clear glue.

Hurdle Word 2 Answer

RESIN

Hurdle Word 3 hint

Chill out.

Hurdle Word 3 answer

RELAX

Hurdle Word 4 hint

Picture border.

Hurdle Word 4 answer

FRAME

Final Hurdle hint

Baby bird.

Hurdle Word 5 answer

OWLET

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

Looking for spoiler-free NYT Connections hints or just wondering why Connections is trending today? We've got what you need to understand the clues for today's puzzle without spoiling any of the answers.

Of course, Mashable has also provided daily hints and answers for Connections, Wordle, and Strands for years, so we can help you if that's also what you need.

While we are focused more on meanings than hints in this story, sometimes learning that many of the words have completely unrelated meanings is a clue in and of itself. Connections frequently includes clues that involve words within words and other visual clues.

Base meaning

The lowest part or foundational support of an object, structure or system.

Bottom meaning

The lowest point or base of an object, page, stair or container.

Foot meaning

The lowest part or foundation of an object, structure or landscape.

Foundation meaning

A supporting base, structure or organization that holds up or gives rise to something else, depending on the context.

Basket meaning

A lightweight container made of interwoven materials like twigs, wood, straw, plastic or wire used for holding, packing or carrying items.

Goal meaning

A desired result, purpose or endpoint that a person or organization envisions, plans and commits to achieve through focused action.

Run meaning

To move on foot faster than a walk, with both feet leaving the ground at points during each step.

Touchdown meaning

A major scoring play in football or rugby.

Cannon meaning

A large, heavy-caliber gun or artillery piece designed to launch heavy projectiles using an explosive chemical propellant like gunpowder.

Forge meaning

To build, form, or establish something strong and lasting through hard work.

Racine meaning

The underground part of a plant that absorbs water and nutrients.

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Volley meaning

Hitting, kicking or returning a ball while it is still in the air, before it touches the ground..

Cure meaning

A treatment or medicine that permanently gets rid of a disease or medical condition so the patient recovers completely..

Dry meaning

Free from, lacking or depleted of water, liquid or moisture.

Pickle meaning

A cucumber preserved in a solution of salt water or vinegar.

Smoke meaning

A collection of tiny solid, liquid and gas particles suspended in the air.

Have you learned the meanings and still want the things? Check out the hints and answers for today's NYT Connections puzzle.

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

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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.

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

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.

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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.

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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: Cooking techniques

• Green: Game winner

• Blue: Floor

• Purple: Natural landscapes

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Here are today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Ways to preserve food

• Green: Things you can score in sports

• Blue: Lowest part

• Purple: Low landforms with a letter changed

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 #1222 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Ways to preserve food: CURE, DRY, PICKLE, SMOKE

• Things you can score in sports: BASKET, GOAL, RUN, TOUCHDOWN

• Lowest part: BASE, BOTTOM, FOOT, FOUNDATION

• Low landforms with a letter changed: CANNON, FORGE, RACINE, VOLLEY

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

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

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

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 will be easy if you're a sea lover.

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: Sailor's guide

The words are related to luminescence.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe exactly as the hint implies: Beams that lead seamen.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is vertical.

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NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Lighthouse.

NYT Strands word list for October 15

• Beacon

• Staircase

• Lighthouse

• Dome

• Lantern

• Tower

• Gallery

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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 not very bright.

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:

Idiot.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no recurring letters.

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

Today's Wordle starts with the letter D.

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...

DUNCE

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.

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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.

You put on a playlist to find something good to listen to. Checking whether the singer exists wasn’t supposed to be part of the process. But a song these days can fit your taste perfectly and still leave you wondering who, or what, made it.

This week, two music streaming services — Google’s YouTube Music and the French platform Deezer — announced features that could make that question easier to answer. YouTube Music is adding labels to AI-generated songs, while Deezer will let listeners filter fully AI-generated music out of search results.

For listeners who have been opening artist profiles and hunting for evidence of an actual musician, that could mean considerably less homework.

What’s changing when you press play?

YouTube says the new labels respond to something listeners have been asking for: "As these tools evolve, our listeners have told us they want transparency when they’re hearing an AI-generated track," the company wrote.

Starting Oct. 14, those labels will appear directly on YouTube Music’s player for songs created primarily using generative AI, including generated compositions and vocals. Tapping the label opens more information about the track. YouTube says it is working with music partners and using its own detection tools to identify AI-generated songs, with the labels also coming to the main YouTube app.

Credit: Screenshot: YouTube News

Deezer is offering an additional choice: leave those songs out of your search altogether. "We’ve seen a clear user demand for the ability to filter out AI-generated music," Deezer CEO Alexis Lanternier said in the company’s Oct. 14 announcement.

The toggle will launch worldwide before the end of 2026. Switch it on, and fully AI-generated tracks, albums, and related artists will disappear from search results. Switch it off, and they’ll be accessible again.

Deezer already keeps detected AI-generated songs out of algorithmic and editorial recommendations, so the toggle extends that control to music you actively search for. It targets fully generated music; songs with limited AI assistance within a broader human creative process are treated differently.

If you listen on Spotify or Apple Music, the approach looks a little different already. Spotify’s "AI Persona" badges, announced in Aug. with a rollout starting in mid-Sept., identify artist profiles depicting photorealistic AI-generated people. Spotify also said it would exclude those personas from editorial and algorithmic recommendations by default. The badge answers whether the artist’s public identity is synthetic, though it doesn’t specify how the music was made.

Apple Music’s reported "Transparency Tags," on the other hand get more specific about where AI was used, allowing labels and distributors to disclose generated content in recordings, compositions, artwork, and music videos. But that system relies on the companies delivering the music to declare it. An AI-generated album cover and an AI-generated vocal can receive different tags — provided someone reports them in the first place.

Your ears can only tell you so much

You don’t have to go looking for AI music to find it. Sometimes, your streaming service brings it to you.

That’s what happened to Mashable's Features Editor Rachel Thompson when Spotify’s Smart Shuffle slipped an AI-generated funk song into her queue. It fit alongside music she already liked, and she discovered how it was made only after investigating the artist. That’s a lot to ask of someone who just wants to listen to some funk!

But there’s a reason the song didn’t immediately stand out: in a Deezer/Ipsos blind test published in Nov. 2025, 97 percent of participants couldn’t correctly distinguish two AI-generated songs from a human-made one.

Once you start digging, though, even the usual signs of an established artist can leave you guessing. The Velvet Sundown attracted hundreds of thousands of Spotify listeners in 2025, complete with promotional images and song credits. Yet its supposed members had virtually no traceable existence beyond those suspiciously polished pictures, and the credits listed the band itself without naming a producer.

A label could put that information where listeners encounter the song, before they’ve opened an artist profile or searched for a band member. And plenty of people want that heads-up: in the same Deezer/Ipsos survey, 80 percent wanted fully AI-generated music labeled, while 45 percent of streaming users wanted the option to filter it out.

Credit: Spotify screenshot / The Velvet Sundown

There’s money behind all those uploads

A song showing up in your queue is one thing. That song collecting royalties from thousands of fake listeners is another.

Deezer says it receives nearly 90,000 fully AI-generated tracks daily, but they account for just 1 to 3 percent of its streams. And even those plays aren’t necessarily coming from people: the company says up to 85 percent of streams of fully generated tracks were fraudulent in 2025.

North Carolina musician Michael Smith turned that gap between uploads and actual listeners into a multimillion-dollar scheme. On Oct. 6, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Prosecutors said he generated hundreds of thousands of songs using AI, then had automated accounts stream them billions of times, collecting more than $8 million in fraudulent royalties.

The sheer number of songs helped him get away with it. By spreading the plays across thousands of tracks, Smith avoided drawing attention to any single one. Those streams pulled money from a shared royalty pool that, according to prosecutors, would otherwise have gone to musicians and songwriters with real audiences.

But "who gets paid?" gets complicated even when bots aren’t involved. A virtual artist’s face doesn’t tell you whose voice or writing you’re hearing.

Take FN Meka. In 2022, Industry Blackout criticized the virtual rapper for appropriating Black artists’ mannerisms and reproducing racist stereotypes, and Capitol Records subsequently dropped the project. Rapper Kyle the Hooligan also said he had supplied its voice without ever being paid. (Factory New co-founder Anthony Martini later clarified that humans had written and performed FN Meka’s vocals, walking back earlier claims about AI’s involvement.)

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That’s where a simple AI badge can run out of answers: It might flag the character or the recording without explaining who contributed what.

Still, YouTube Music’s labels and Deezer’s filter give listeners a place to start. A heads-up on the player could spare you a trip through an artist’s profile, while a search filter lets you decide whether you want fully generated music in the results at all.

How useful those controls become will depend on what platforms can reliably identify. If a song has no label, does that mean it’s human-made, or that it hasn’t been detected yet? And when human lyrics meet generated vocals, will the disclosure explain the mix?

For now, the promise is straightforward: finding something good to listen to could involve less detective work. The next step is making sure the information on your screen answers the questions that sent you searching in the first place.

A mother of two is suing OpenAI in a proposed class action lawsuit that alleges the company "stole" valuable data from millions of young users without their consent.

The anonymous mother, whose children are 12 and 16, resides in Hawaii. Both children signed up for ChatGPT accounts in early 2026 without parental permission.

OpenAI requires, but doesn't actively check, that a child has sought their parents' permission. Its terms of service prohibit minors younger than 13 from using ChatGPT, though many do regardless.

"OpenAI manipulates children into sharing their most private thoughts and images with ChatGPT," said lead counsel Paul Yetter of Yetter Coleman. "If some stranger did this to a child, there would be outrage."

The complaint alleges that ChatGPT "purposely extracted" sensitive personal information from both children, including emotional insecurities, relationship concerns, and selfies. It broadly argues that OpenAI "exploits" minor users through design features like speaking in first person, mirroring communication style, possessing memory to build on past chats, and being sycophantic, or overly flattering and agreeable.

"For years, it wrongfully has extracted vast amounts of highly sensitive and valuable data from millions of children," the complaint says of OpenAI. "It had no right to take this information, but it took it anyway. It then used that priceless trove of children’s information to train large language models, build detailed profiles of children, and enrich itself."

OpenAI recently sought a valuation of $1.4 trillion as it prepares to go public, according to Bloomberg Law.

"We strongly disagree with this misguided lawsuit that singles out OpenAI despite the industry-leading age-specific protections we’ve built into our product," OpenAI told Bloomberg News. "This risks pushing teens toward products with fewer safeguards or reduced parental controls."

The company made the same claim last week when the Youth AI Safety Institute at Common Sense Media called on OpenAI to pause ChatGPT for Teens after identifying safety problems and product concerns through independent testing.

OpenAI disputed those findings and suggested they could steer teens toward products with fewer safety protections.

In a separate announcement, OpenAI recently said that teens spend under 15 minutes a day on ChatGPT, on average. The company also said users with access to ChatGPT for Teens, which launched in August, sent 2.7 million more learning-related messages on average than those without the product.

The complaint filed Tuesday asks the court to award each class member a share of OpenAI equity, or its cash value. The amount would be determined by how much data OpenAI extracted from each child in the proposed class.

The next ACOTAR book isn’t out yet, but some readers are already muting fan pages.

Images purportedly showing pages from Sarah J. Maas's upcoming A Court of Splintered Harmony are circulating online, leaving fans with the choice between scrutinizing the alleged spoilers and trying to make it to the Oct. 27 release without seeing them.

For some, that second option is proving difficult. In the Facebook group A Court of Thorns and Roses 18+, one reader reported repeatedly encountering alleged leaks on TikTok. "I keep trying to avoid them like a plague, but it's literally EVERYWHERE," they wrote.

Another had already taken precautions: "I muted all of my ACOTAR fan pages for a month."

With almost two weeks until the sixth installment in Maas's romantasy series arrives, apparently even visiting a fan group has become a potential spoiler risk. Here’s what we know, without getting into the purported plot revelations.

What are the alleged ACOTAR leaks?

Much of the discussion centers on photos purportedly showing pages 242 through 247 that were shared in the r/acotar subreddit. (The linked thread contains potential spoilers.)

Readers have been picking apart everything from the characters' apparent behavior to the objects visible around the book, looking for clues about whether the images are genuine.

One commenter, identifying themselves as an Amazon fulfillment center employee, claimed to recognize the setting. "I work at an Amazon FC, I can confirm the books came in last week, and these are our yellow totes and the gloves we wear," they wrote.

Other readers questioned the images' appearance and whether the prose sounded like Maas, leaving the discussion caught between analyzing a possible scene and wondering whether there was any reason to analyze it at all.

"I am having the hardest time figuring out if it’s fake or real. I need to know! It seems like a lot of work to make a fake book," one commenter wrote.

Still, uncertainty hasn’t dampened everyone’s enthusiasm. "I kind of love how messy it is honestly," wrote another reader. For others, the alleged pages have simply added another thing to check on release day: "But if this is fake, I can’t wait to see what the real chapter looks like."

How are ACOTAR fan communities handling the alleged leaks?

The scramble to discuss the images is also testing how fan communities accommodate readers who want every possible detail alongside those trying to avoid them.

In r/acotar, moderators have opted to allow discussions about the leaks following a community vote. "We had a sub-wide poll on if we should allow leaks or not. The sub voted for yes," a moderator explained in the thread.

That permission comes with conditions. The subreddit’s leak protocol requires posts to include "[POSSIBLE LEAK]" in their titles, carry a spoiler tag and the appropriate flair, and go through moderator review with supporting evidence. It also prohibits sharing the full book or links to it, as well as leaks that confirm or rule out romantic pairings.

Other communities have drawn a firmer line. Moderators of r/Elucien have said their subreddit does not allow leaks, distinguishing unauthorized material from previews publicly released by Maas or Bloomsbury.

For readers counting down to Oct. 27, those rules can determine whether a favorite fan space remains somewhere to share their excitement — or becomes another page to mute.

Some people unwind with a good book. Others take a hot bath or watch their favorite comfort show. One woman spends two hours jumping on a trampoline in the middle of the night.

And honestly, she might be onto something.

TikTok creator @whatifimjustagirl is going viral after sharing her unusual nighttime ritual. For the past seven years, she says she's spent nearly every night jumping on a trampoline outside, usually sometime between midnight and 3 a.m. That's right. While most of us are sleeping, or scrolling TikTok when we should be sleeping, she's outside bouncing around in the dark

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And this isn't some elaborate fitness challenge or attempt to optimize her sleep schedule. She just really loves jumping on her trampoline.

"I look forward to it every single day," she says in a recent video posted to TikTok.

She's figured out what to wear, too: she says she has "a couple of things in rotation," including leggings and a flannel for colder nights — and, of course, a pair of headphones.

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But her unusual hobby has also prompted some unsolicited speculation about her mental health. "I'm a girl who's addicted to the trampoline," she says in another video, before addressing commenters who have speculated that she's autistic. "I just wanted to comment on the mental health aspect of it because I have a lot of people assume I have autism, and I do not," she explains. She goes on to share that she has OCD, which she says plays some role in her attachment to the activity.

"Yes, is my obsession with the trampoline a little extreme? Yes. Does my OCD play a factor in that? Yes, but that's not why I jump," she says. "I don't think there needs to be a diagnosis [for it]."

And really, why should there be? Sometimes you just find something you love doing, even if that something happens to be jumping on a trampoline at 2 a.m.

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There's something oddly charming about the whole thing. Most adults probably haven't spent much time on a trampoline since childhood, let alone made it a regular part of their daily routine. Yet here's someone who has apparently found an activity that brings her so much joy that she's continued doing it for seven years.

There's no elaborate morning routine to follow, no expensive wellness retreat to book, and no productivity hack to master. Just a woman, her trampoline, and a few hours under the stars.

Of course, jumping on a trampoline in the middle of the night isn't practical for everyone. For starters, you need a trampoline. And presumably some very understanding neighbors. Still, when even hobbies can come with pressure to earn money or improve yourself, there's something refreshing about watching someone do something simply because they enjoy it

Maybe the secret to happiness really is that simple.

Earlier this month, two former school students murdered a vice principal and attacked students at a Mexican secondary school in Torreón, Coahuila. Authorities say they were inspired by violent and extremist content online.

Today (Oct. 14), Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum signed a presidential decree barring social media and streaming platforms from displaying or recommending violent content to teens. The order places limits on content that "generates or promotes" hate speech, extremism, sexual exploitation, suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, cyber-bullying, and other illegal conduct, according to Mexico News Daily.

Like other social media safety bills, the decree also requires platforms verify user ages and institute parental controls. Companies have one month to get their platforms in compliance with the new law. If they fail to make changes, Sheinbaum said she will fast track a second law outlining punishment for offenders.

In September, Sheinbaum announced new nationwide education rules that included a bell-to-bell cellphone ban and restrictions on tablet use across Mexico's public education system. Similar phone bans have been implemented at the state and district-level in the United States, but federal leaders have yet to enact sweeping legislation regarding device use.

In response to concerns about the impact of social media and cyberbullying on youth mental health — as well as new research — many countries are exploring wholesale social media bans for kids and teens, as well. Australia was the first country to pass a complete ban on social media for users under the age of 16.

While many child safety advocates have encouraged government intervention as a necessary stop-gap to ongoing online abuse and harm, others have questioned the efficacy of age verification and parental controls tools.

Officials told the press that they had met with leadership from major tech companies, including Meta, TikTok, and Google, prior to Sheinbaum's announcement. None of the named companies have yet issued comment, reported Reuters.

SAVE UP TO $132.28: As of Oct. 14, SwissGear's two-piece Energie Spinner Luggage Set is on sale on Amazon for up to 35% off. Normally $375, you can score it in gunmetal for $281.08 or white for $242.72 (with an on-page coupon).

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Credit: Swissgear

SwissGear Energie Spinner Luggage Set (2-piece, gunmetal)

$281.08 at Amazon
$375 Save $93.92

 

Get Deal at Amazon

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Credit: Swissgear

SwissGear Energie Spinner Luggage Set (2-piece, white)

$242.72 at Amazon
$375 Save $132.28

Requires on-page coupon.

Get Deal at Amazon

I'm a serial overpacker who travels internationally at least once a year on top of regular domestic trips, which means my suitcases get put through the wringer. After being underwhelmed by a few different brands — Samsonites got dinged up shockingly fast — I landed on SwissGear's Energie Spinner hardside suitcases for their light weight, expandable design, and unmatched durability. They've survived tens of thousands of miles of travel at this point, and probably half a dozen friends and family members have bought them upon my rec.

I've found Energie Spinners on sale at a couple different retailers in the past, but right now, I'd buy them on Amazon. The two-piece set with a 19-inch carry-on and a 27-inch checked bag is currently on sale there for up to about $132 off, depending on the color. (It typically retails for $375, per SwissGear's website.)

I personally own the gunmetal set, which is marked down to $281.08, or 25% off. The white set is even cheaper at $242.72, or 35% off — note the coupon on its product page (below) — but bear in mind that it will show scuffs way more easily. Mine still look basically pristine.

Make sure to select the on-page coupon. Credit: Amazon / Mashable screenshot

Both suitcases have multi-directional spinner wheels, retractable locking handles, and a TSA lock. Inside, they've each got a zip compartment and clothing straps; the 19-inch carry-on also has a USB charging port that lets you charge your phone from a power bank you've packed. They're covered by a 10-year warranty.

A $5 first-person shooter called Hood Warfare 2 has gone from near-obscurity to one of Steam’s most talked-about releases in less than a week. Given the nature of the game, however, it's also drawn scrutiny for its content, its anonymous developers, and the creators who've played it live on stream.

Made by an anonymous dev team called TrapStar Games, Hood Warfare 2 is a gang-themed, multiplayer Call of Duty clone set in "the streets" of Chicago, Illinois. Like Call of Duty, it has killstreaks, including a "drive by" and a "snitch," its version of the UAV drone.

According to SteamDB data, it peaked at about 53 concurrent players on its Oct. 8 release day. Its player count climbed steadily before spiking past 11,700 on Oct. 12, with its all-time peak now at 15,258 as of this writing.

By Steam’s standards, that is a modest hit. The game's peak rank is around 1,151st all-time on SteamDB, and its current player count of roughly 4,000 puts it at 239th. Still, if Gamalytic's data is to be believed, Hood Warfare 2 has grossed $1.1 million with 219,000 units sold.

As you can tell from the title, the game is a sequel. TrapStar released Hood Warfare, a Detroit-based shooter, in 2023 to little fanfare, with an all-time Steam peak of 68 players. Hood Warfare 2 caught on in a big way thanks to a deluge of content creators and streamers amused by the exaggerated stereotyping of Black American gang culture.

That said, much of the online conversation does center on the game’s depiction of Chicago and Black communities.

Critics argue the game feeds a long-running narrative, pushed by right-wing outlets and influencers, that Chicago is one of the most dangerous cities in the country. The rankings they cite tell a different story. Despite being the nation's third-largest city, Chicago ranks outside the top 10 on a list of places with the highest crime risk, according to U.S. News & World Report. Others have noted that the game’s trailer uses virtually none of Chicago’s actual slang.

The popularity of these kinds of stereotypes of the Black community coincides with the rise of YouTube "gang war explainer" channels, such as TrapLoreRoss. These channels break down real local conflicts for largely outside audiences, turning figures like King Von and Chief Keef, along with the O-Block area around Parkway Gardens into a kind of online lore. On TikTok, you can find several videos of creators traveling to the Parkway Gardens area near 63rd Street and King Drive.

Speculation on social media about Hood Warfare 2 includes accusations of AI "vibe coding," astroturfing, and even claims that the game is a "CIA psyop." Defenders of the game are dismissing the backlash, stating that games like Hood Warfare 2 aren't meant to be taken seriously.

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The game holds a "Very Positive" rating on Steam, and many reviews lean into the stereotypes critics object to. One reviewer wrote that they could "feel the thrill as a white man roleplaying as an african american gang banger." Another called it "Counter-Strike meets Boyz n da Hood," a reference to John Singleton’s 1991 film, which is widely read as a critique of the forces that kill young Black men.

Playing a part in the game's growing popularity is the enthusiastic embrace from content creators and live streamers. Gameplay videos have spread quickly across YouTube and Twitch. Some thumbnails show creators, including white creators, posing in ski masks to match the game’s theme. Many YouTube uploads have titles that call the game "Hood Call of Duty."

Thumbnail from YouTuber MrMG titled "The *NEW* HOOD Call of Duty is HERE and INSANE!" Credit: YouTube / Mashable screenshot

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Not every attempt to stream the game has gone smoothly.

On Oct. 13, members of the YouTube comedy collective RDCWorld, which has 7.3 million YouTube subscribers and 963,000 Twitch followers, tried to play the game on stream after being repeatedly tagged in it posts about it on Twitter and Reddit. Much of their chat objected. The group dropped the game shortly after and moved on to Star Wars: Galactic Racer .

A clip of the exchange has since circulated on Reddit. In it, a viewer donates $20 with a message offering to pay the group not to play what they called a "racist cia made game." RDCWorld member Mark Phillips, who is Black, pushed back, saying he hadn’t expected viewers to go "straight think piece" on the game.

When Phillips questioned whether the group should then skip Grand Theft Auto VI, which launches in November, fellow member Dylan Patel said that both games are "the same thing." Critics argue that comparison is a false equivalence. Games like GTA and Def Jam have drawn their own controversy over how they portray Black communities, they say, but they’re fundamentally different from Hood Warfare 2 and shouldn’t be lumped in with it.

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Within the RDCWorld subreddit, many commenters criticized the group’s defensive response more than the attempt to play. Some accused stream moderators of timing out viewers who disagreed. Others defended RDCWorld, arguing that gang culture is not Black culture and that taking offense further entrenches that stereotype of the Black community. RDCWorld has not addressed the controversy outside the stream.

Who is behind TrapStar Games?

Little is known about who made Hood Warfare 2. The game appears to have been built in Unity 5, although there are unverified claims that it was AI vibe-coded.

The devs' purported website, Trapstar.games, was registered on Oct. 12, according to ICANN lookup data. The site displays a copyright notice, but a search of public copyright records found no registration under the name TrapStar Games.

The website's linked Twitter account also claims to represent the developer. It was created this month and has been promoting a cryptocurrency token called HW2. The account's bio lists New York, while its "About this account" panel shows it is based in the U.S. and connected through the Turkish App Store.

Neither the account nor the website could be confirmed to belong to the game’s developers, and it’s possible that a third party is exploiting the game’s popularity to run a pump-and-dump scheme. One reply to the account claims a developer denied any connection to that Twitter account and the crypto token on the game’s Discord server. That server could not be located.

A request for comment sent to an email address listed on the original Hood Warfare website has not been returned.

As Mashable and our colleagues at PCMag just reported, Grand Theft Auto VI leakers Cyberleek have seemingly abandoned their threats to leak a full build of the game – at least for now.

Why? Because the leakers had claimed that the release of the leaked build was tied to their memecoin. If GTA 6 fans pumped Cyberleek's cryptocurrency, they would receive the leaked game build as a reward.

That play failed spectacularly for Cyberleek. In fact, it seems to have fully backfired.

The Cyberleek memecoin's market cap hit a high of $7.8 million on October 11, shortly after the leakers claimed they would release the full build of GTA 6 supposedly in their possession. The catch? The Cyberleek memecoin had to hit a market cap of $30 million first.

While some GTA 6 fans appeared to have bought into the memecoin in an attempt to hit Cyberleek's goal, $7.8 million is still far short of the $30 million the leakers wanted. And since then, as it became obvious that most GTA 6 fans weren't going to give in to Cyberleek's demands, the memecoin has plunged even further, with a current market cap of $1.17 million.

Critics of Cyberleek celebrated the memecoin's failure, calling it a scam.

Cyberleek had been successful with their memecoin play before, giving those who bought their memecoin exclusive access to polls that determined what GTA 6 footage the leakers would release next.

However, it seems Cyberleek overplayed their hand this time around, and the full build, which they claim is 200GB, appears to be staying under wraps for now.

With that said, Cyberleek is still using their supposed access to a full build of GTA 6 to try to escape legal action from Take-Two, the parent company of GTA 6 developer Rockstar Games. The leakers claim that there is a "dead-man's switch" that will automatically release the ending of the game if there is an attempt to take down Cyberleek.

Aaron Sorkin, famed writer of The West Wing and Academy Award-winning The Social Network, is notoriously verbose. He has a reputation for linguistic flairs that some find awkward, and many find deeply compelling. 

But in The Social Reckoning, a follow-up to the 2010 tale of Facebook's founding, he is uncharacteristically sparing. 

Yes, Sorkin — who wrote and directed the new movie — crams the script with one-liners and existential metaphors, random pop culture references, and cries for change, but it's what he leaves out that viewers should pay attention to. 

What 'The Social Reckoning' omits

Through The Wall Street Journal's Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White) and Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison), The Social Reckoning recounts the two years of work that made up the publication's explosive 2021 series, The Facebook Files. The birth of the exposé, a series of insider accounts of Facebook's decision to reroute its algorithm in service of polarizing extremism, is presented in two competing timelines.

In one, Huagen and Horwitz attempt to penetrate the Silicon Valley giant's defenses to learn the true scope of its wrongdoing. In the other, CEO Mark Zuckerberg (Jeremy Strong) readies himself to testify before Congress — as Jan. 6th insurrectionists storm the Capitol.

So it's strange that it's characters — real-life journalists, brave whistleblowers, and profit-driven tech overlords who had a direct role in the current administration's success — don't say the name "Trump."

Despite a third of the movie set in 2020, COVID-19 is largely referred to as "the novel virus." The movie skirts the rampant medical misinformation, spread by conservative conspiracy groups, that flourished on Meta platforms.

The movie also omits the full details of Facebook's startling algorithmic misconduct that surrounded and informed the events of The Social Reckoning. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Meta IRL

In 2018, the tech giant was implicated in a massive data breach that harvested user profiles to target U.S. voters ahead of President Donald Trump's 2016 election victory. Facebook had already been accused of a host of reported user privacy violations, including conducting an algorithm-based psychological study on unwitting users. Due to Facebook's outsized role in spreading fake news, the company's CEO was given the title "Misinformer of the Year" in 2017 by Media Matters for America. 

Civil rights organizations like GLAAD have long deemed Meta's platforms unsafe for LGBTQ users. Facebook's algorithm has not only helped foster discord on home soil, but is also alleged to have had a role in global cultural genocides by human rights groups like Amnesty International. 

Following Haugen's real-life congressional testimony, used as the final beat of Sorkin's film, the company was accused of exacerbating a youth mental health crisis, multiple deaths by suicide, and an explosion of real and synthetic child sexual abuse materials (CSAM). The first point is briefly touched on in the film, while the last is completely sidelined.

Three weeks after Haugen's congressional appearance in 2021, Facebook changed its name to Meta. The company then underwent a brief public-image overhaul — until Trump came back into power. Following his reelection, Meta gave $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund. 

The Social Reckoning implores someone, anyone, to act. The film posits that the federal government may be able to hold Zuckerberg to account.

It hasn't. 

One character, a member of the company's civic integrity team who helps leak internal reports about Instagram's impact on teen mental health, tells Haugen that something needs to be done before the company proceeds with its plan for "Instagram Kids." 

In 2024, Meta debuted Teen Accounts to address growing unease about young people's online habits. Following studies that concluded the changes featured in Instagram's Teen Accounts were ineffective, the company overhauled them. In the months since the overhaul, advocates have alleged Teen Accounts are still failing to curb online abuse. 

Another real-life whistleblower, Arturo Béjar, has continued to testify to Meta's alleged intentional disregard for teen mental health in court. 

Will Meta change?

In the film's epilogue, Sorkin describes Haugen's disclosure as having "caused some pain" for the company.

"I would not call it a massive pain for Meta," said Christine McComas, founding member of child safety advocacy group Parents for Safe Online Spaces (ParentsSOS). "It was a moment of clarity for people to understand what's going on."

Unlike Sorkin's more timid portrayal, McComas describes Haugen as a person who knew what she needed to do. McComas credits Haugen with galvanizing the work of bereaved parents whose children had died by suicide following abusive social media interactions.

As of publishing, more than 3,000 federal lawsuits have been filed against Meta alleging intentional harm to teen users. The film briefly mentions the work of attorneys general in amplifying these claims. Many of these cases are still ongoing or have settled out of court, but a few have resulted in surface level changes to Meta platforms.

Much like Teen Accounts, researchers argue the changes did not do enough to protect young users. 

Concerted pressure from state leaders and child safety advocates has finally pushed Meta to agree to more substantive reform, such as algorithmic guardrails. Still, most argue that comprehensive federal regulation is the only way to truly curb Meta's harm. 

Congressional leaders have "completely failed" to hold Meta and its competitors accountable, says Ashwin Verghese, communications director of child safety nonprofit Fairplay. "In fact, Congress has not passed a bill focused on keeping kids safe online in nearly 30 years. That is an inexcusable failure of leadership," Verghese said.

It has been years since the Wall Street Journal published The Facebook Files. To be fair to Sorkin, political change is slow. Courts have their limits when powerful, near monopolistic, companies are involved. 

But there's a lingering question that the movie, given its timeline and broad topics, only mildly addresses through its luddite journalist, Horwitz: If Congress won't act, why won't we, as a society, just stop using Meta's problematic products?

Meta, why can't we quit you?

Compared to Horwitz, who is comedically introduced as someone who can't even use a GPS, Sorkin depicts Haugen as an idealist, clinging to the democratizing potential of Facebook. Her movie self is a firm believer that the platform's ability to foster social connection is a societal good. The character doesn't rally for Meta's shuttering, but for its reform. 

In early 2026, professor and marketing expert Scott Galloway called for an industry-wide boycott of tech platforms with disproportionate political and economic power. Included in that list were Meta platforms WhatsApp and Facebook (Instagram is also in Meta's corporate roster). 

One year earlier, swaths of users threatened to delete their Meta accounts following platform changes that signaled its alignment with the Trump administration, including the erasure of hateful conduct protections for LGBTQ users and the shuttering of its fact checking program. Years before that, users attempted to galvanize change through the 2018 #DeleteFacebook trend.

Yet, even with these calls, Meta has yet to see a mass exodus of users. The company only recently reported a substantial decline in daily users across its platforms. The loss was just 20 million of a reported 3 billion users. After the launch of its new AI agent Muse, Meta regained almost 2 million daily users. 

"Meta has spent millions of dollars in public relations campaigns to claim their platforms are safe while denying responsibility," said Maurine Molak, advocate and co-founder of ParentsSOS. Molak was one of a group of survivor parents who received an apology from Zuckerberg during his 2024 congressional testimony. 

Molak argues that Meta's billion-dollar PR spin has sowed confusion among parents, users, and even congressional leaders. Without clarity, users are more inclined to stay and avoid the pains of leaving.

"Too many people are complacent because they don’t know an alternative," explained Sam Hiner, executive director of the youth-led advocacy nonprofit Young People's Alliance. Hiner and Molak both argue one of the biggest hurdles to leaving Facebook is the Fear of Missing Out.

"If you’re not online, it feels like you’re missing out on an important cultural space," said Hiner. "It’s also hard for competitors to emerge because of the network effect — all of my friends are on Meta platforms, not whatever competitor may emerge."

Molak links this to Facebook's role as one of the first social media platforms. Millions, perhaps billions of adults, have spent nearly two decades building their accounts on Facebook and more than a decade on Instagram. Recntly, they have merged these accounts onto Meta's X-competitor Threads — a wave of users flocked to Threads after Elon Musk's take over of Twitter. It was the lesser of two evils.

Meta platforms are part of many's daily habit, maybe even their identity. With its foray into general AI and its diversification into massively popular chat platforms, users are getting wrenched deeper into Meta's web. 

"Algorithms aren't visible, so it's understandably been quite difficult for most folks to connect the harms they experience in their communities — more people angry and outraged, more mental health problems, more anxious children — with some computer code designed in a faraway lab," explained Julie Scelfo, founder and executive director of Mothers Against Media Addiction. 

This movie will not move the needle on Meta

Meta has not issued a statement on The Social Reckoning, and it probably never needs to. The film's opening weekend was an unequivocal flop.

The company is shielded by its buying power. In an April earnings call, the tech giant said it brought in $56.3 billion, probably tied to its ongoing generative AI investments.

"The monetary fines imposed on Meta are comparable to parking tickets," said Molak. In August, Meta settled out of a potentially consequential social media addiction lawsuit for the sum of $17 billion dollars — just one percent of its stock value, paid out over a decade. 

During one pivotal moment between Horwitz and Haugen in The Social Reckoning, Haugen ponders if it's possible to push powerful people toward change. 

"When it's about money, it's hard," says Horwitz. "When it's not about money, it's even harder."