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TL;DR: As of February 4, get this refurbished MacBook Pro for only $429.97 — save 38%.

Valentine's Day is on deck, which means a whole lot of us are trying to think of something to get the one we love. If your significant other is not into the traditional Valentine's Day stuff, like flowers and candy, a new-to-them MacBook Pro could really take them by surprise. And it doesn't hurt that this refurbished one is on sale for just $429.97 (reg. $699).

Powered by a Core i5 processor and equipped with 8GB RAM, this refurbished beauty delivers a computing experience that's both powerful and reliable. From everyday tasks to creative endeavors, this MacBook is ready to exceed expectations.

It has a 13.3-inch Retina display to keep things clear and focused at work. And after work, when you want to stream your shows or play some games to unwind, the integrated Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 GPU offers a smooth frame rate for a more enjoyable experience. 

The 128GB SSD means you have plenty of room to keep your apps, files, and photos ready and stored locally. Since it's only from 2017, it's equipped with WiFi capabilities and Bluetooth 4.2 to keep you connected everywhere you go. And it has a 720p FaceTime HD camera for clear video calls with your team or your loved ones far away.

This MacBook Pro comes with a grade "B" refurbished rating. This means that while it's been tested and cleaned to work well, you may notice light cosmetic blemishes.

Get this 2017 refurbished MacBook Pro on sale for just $429.97 (reg. $699) with guaranteed delivery for Valentine's Day when you order by February 4 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple MacBook Pro 13.3-inch Core i5, 8GB RAM 128GB HDD - Space Gray (Refurbished) $429.97 at the Mashable Shop Get Deal

TL;DR: As of February 4, get a refurbished iPad 8th gen for only $329.97 — you'll save 34%.

Do you need a gift to give your special someone who isn't that into typical Valentine's Day celebrations? Someone who doesn't love perfume, flowers, or a box of chocolates? Even if Valentine's Day isn't your (or their) bag, this Valentine's Day offer on a refurbished 8th-generation Apple iPad might be a home run.

On sale for just $329.97 through February 4, you can get one of the most popular tablets in the world (according to TechJury) at a 34% savings. While this iPad may be refurbished, it's only from the model year 2020, so it's not very dated. It also has 128GB of storage, which is a generous number for an iPad.

This machine's A12 Bionic chip with a neural engine will keep things running smoothly, even while multitasking. Whether you're streaming shows, playing games, or getting ready for your big presentation, the 10.2" Retina display with a clear 2160 x 1620 resolution will allow you to do it all.

This 2020 model features an 8MP back camera for taking stills and videos and a 1.2MP front FaceTime camera to, well, FaceTime. It supports the 1st-generation Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard, though neither is included.

It comes with iPadOS 14 and can be updated to iPadOS 16 and up. Connect to WiFi networks anywhere, and Bluetooth 4.2 is ready to add peripherals like earbuds. The iPad also has TouchID for added security, Apple Pay, and Siri.

The iPad has a grade "B" refurbished rating. This means it's in great working order but may come to you with slight scuffing or scratches on the case. 

You'll also get a pre-installed tempered glass protector, Lightning cable, and wall adapter.

Don't wait to get this 2020 refurbished iPad 8th-Gen with 128GB of storage for just $329.97 (reg. $499) when you order by February 4 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple 2020 refurbished iPad 8th-Gen with 128GB of storage $329.97 at the Mashable Shop Get Deal

TL;DR: As of February 4, get a lifetime subscription to this AI Résumé Builder for only $29.97 — it's usually $468.

In the overwhelming world of job hunting, your résumé is everything. And while it should be a straightforward thing to make and send out résumés, it requires precision and a lot of time and effort. If you are currently looking for a job or want to be prepared in case the scenario arises, AI Résumé Builder is on sale for just $29.97 (reg. $468) through February 4.

Think of it as a Valentine's Day gift to yourself. With this platform, you can reap the benefits of AI's popularity to save time and effort. This offer gets you a lifetime subscription to this tool that was designed to help you apply to jobs two times faster than you would otherwise be able to.

Backed with an integrated AI engine, this ATS-friendly builder automatically fills in data for you. It also gives users a friendly interface that includes ready-to-go templates to make things super simple. The layouts' drag-and-drop functionality and easy toggle capabilities mean you can build each part of your resume the way you'd like it.

Can you build multiple résumés at once? For sure. Can you customize the look of yours to help it stand out? Absolutely. Use colors and different spacing to design the look you want. And it's easy to add profile images and social handles for your professional profiles. 

And if you want to ensure you've crossed all your Ts, this builder has Markdown shortcut support and offers Grammarly integration. 

This Basic Plan allows you to create up to ten résumés per month, download 50 résumés per month, get CV tips, and use AI writing without limits forever.

Get a lifetime subscription to AI Résumé Builder for just $29.97 (reg. $468) through February 4 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Lazy Apply AI Résumé Builder: Lifetime Subscription $29.97 at the Mashable Shop Get Deal

Have you ever looked at Mark Zuckerberg's hair? Like really, really looked at it? If you did, you might get the first whiff of the Facebook CEO’s long-held obsession.

Mark Zuckerberg wants to be just like Augustus Caesar.

Zuckerberg told The New Yorker in a 2018 profile that he started studying Latin in high school at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. It was there that Ancient Rome became his Roman Empire — a subject that has continued to fascinate him. 

SEE ALSO: Are all men obsessed with the Roman Empire? We investigate.

"You have all these good and bad and complex figures. I think Augustus is one of the most fascinating," Zuckerberg told The New Yorker. "Basically, through a really harsh approach, he established two hundred years of world peace.” 

In case you aren't up to date on your Roman history, Augustus is not the worst of the Caesars — that would be his great uncle and adopted father, Julius. While Augustus had room to be worse, that didn't make him the best. He did a lot of conquering: Egypt, northern Spain, and a great deal of central Europe. He killed people. He banished his allegedly promiscuous daughter. His heirs kept mysteriously dying.

"What are the trade-offs in that?" Zuckerberg told the magazine. “On the one hand, world peace is a long-term goal that people talk about today. Two hundred years feels unattainable.” On the other hand, he said, "That didn’t come for free, and he had to do certain things."

He told the magazine that he liked the Latin language because it reminded him of coding or math. He named his second daughter August. He took his honeymoon in Rome where his wife, Priscilla Chan, told him that there were three people present: him, her, and Augustus. "All the photos were different sculptures of Augustus," he told the magazine.

SEE ALSO: Watch Mark Zuckerberg learn how to braid his daughter's hair from AI

Clearly, Zuckerberg is emulating the infamous ruler. But how close are they? Let's score it, based on five categories I have completely made up: the stars, their youth, their rise to power, their general vibe and popularity, and their lasting effect on the world. Each category is worth one point.

The stars

Caesar was born on September 23, 63 BC making him a Libra. Mark, a Taurus (and Scorpio moon), was born on May 14, 1984. Their signs are not particularly compatible. The only thing they have in common is their shared ruler, Venus, making them lovers of art, luxury, and romance, according to InStyle. Caesar was famously born in Rome, while Zuckerberg was born in the far less glamorous White Plains, New York, making them worlds apart both astrologically and geographically.

The pair is not a match for the stars. No points.

Score: 0

Subtotal: 0/5

Their youth

Both Caesar and Zuckerberg learned their trades at an early age. Zuckerberg's father hired a private tutor to teach him how to code and, in high school, he built "ZuckNet," a software program that connected all the computers between his family's house and his father's dental office. He also created a music player called Synapse Media Player, kind of like an earlier version of Spotify. 

When Caesar was 15, he had a ceremony that made him a man in the eyes of the law and was elected to the College of Pontiffs, a body of the state responsible for public and private sacrifices, among other responsibilities. The following year he took charge of the Greek games.

I'm giving the duo a full point for this section.

Score: 1

Subtotal: 1/5

Rise to power

Timing-wise, this is pretty spot-on. Both Zuckerberg and Caesar found their power while they were studying, the former launching Facebook, then called TheFacebook, while at Harvard and the latter taking his spot as heir to the throne while studying and undergoing military training in Illyria. They both faced some initial pushback — Zuckerberg by his co-founders and Caesar by Mark Antony. The big difference here is that we all knew Caesar was going to become the big boy in charge — but we thought Zuckerberg was just some nerd who wanted to remake MySpace. Our unfortunate preconceptions aside, they aligned on this one.

You get a point.

Score: 1

Subtotal: 2/5

General vibe and popularity

People respected Augustus. When he died, he was declared a god. He didn't have the same swagger and charisma as his great uncle Julius, but the reform he implemented made him pretty beloved by the Roman people. He transformed Rome from a republic to an empire, brought peace to the Roman world, and made constitutional and financial reforms that won him some pretty significant popularity.

People do not like Mark Zuckerberg. Only 23 percent of Gen Z respondents in one study found Zuckerberg trustworthy and, according to a study from Pew Research Center, 77 percent of all Americans have "little or no trust in leaders of social media companies." People don't trust him, don't think he's charismatic, his hobbies give us the ick, and his creation makes us wonder if it's destroying everything good we've come to love.

No points.

Score: 0

Subtotal: 2/5

Effect on the world as we know it today

Both Augustus and Zuckerberg have had lasting effects on the world as we know it. Of course, this is easier to say about Augustus than it is of Zuckerberg. Caesar ruled for over half a century, set up institutions and a template that lasted 200 years after that, and quite literally transformed Rome from a republic into an empire, restoring peace and prosperity to the Roman state and changing nearly every aspect of Roman life.

Zuckerberg has also changed nearly every aspect of modern life. While it’s debatable whether it's been a change for the better, we can’t ignore that we communicate, work, vote, participate in society, love, and live in a different world because of the social media ecosystem Zuckerberg made.

Points all around.

Score: 1

Total: 3/5

In the end, the two are somewhat similar. They're both leaders who got early starts and who wield terrifying power. And both of them seem to be or have been, at peace with the trade-offs of those decisions. According to my math, Mark Zuckerberg is 60 percent Augustus Caesar. But there’s still room for improvement. 

TL;DR: A lifetime subscription to AI Resume Builder is on sale for £23.64, saving you 93% on list price.

If you or someone you know is looking to make a career change soon, getting a tool that helps foster success can be a game-changer. And for a limited time, you can pick up a lifetime subscription to this AI Resume Builder for just £23.64.

This helpful tool acts as both an AI resume writer and an ATS-friendly resume builder to help you with your applications. It offers a user-friendly interface that uses easy toggle controls and a drag-and-drop system to help you build a resume that stands out. And it reportedly allows you to create this in half the time it would take otherwise.

Other personalised enhancements to your resume include adding colour, specialised spacing, customisable sections, social handles, and a profile picture. This builder also offers a dark mode to make it easy on your eyes and editing with Grammarly integration and more. And since it's AI-driven, it can auto-complete and fill in data, creating even less work for you.

This Basic plan includes the ability to create up to ten resumes per month, with a 50 resume/month download limit. You also get CV improvement tips and unlimited access to the AI resume writer.

Make 2024 a year of professional advancement with this tool that can help you create standout resumes, gain the attention of employers, and achieve your professional goals.

Pick up a lifetime subscription to this AI Resume Builder for just £23.64.

Opens in a new window Credit: AI Resume Builder AI Resume Builder (Lifetime Subscription) £23.64 at the Mashable Shop Get Deal

Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for Feb. 4'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.

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

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 used to be available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it. Unfortunately, it has since been taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times.

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:

On the edge.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

No letters appear twice.

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

Today's Wordle starts with the letter V.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. What's the answer to Wordle today?

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 Wordle #960 is...

VERGE.

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.

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

Connections is the latest New York Times word game 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 February 4'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.

Tweet may have been deleted

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.

Tweet may have been deleted

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

• Yellow: Drinks that are bad for your heart

• Green: Bore

• Blue: Standup comedy

• Purple: James Bond's favorite cocktail

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Drinks with Caffeine

• Green: Unexciting

• Blue: Comedian's Performance

• Purple: Martini Specifications

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 Connections #238 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Drinks with Caffeine: COCOA, COFFEE, MATE, TEA

• Unexciting: BORING, DULL, MUNDANE, VANILLA

• Comedian's Performance: ACT, BIT, ROUTINE, SET

• Martini Specifications: DIRTY, DRY, TWIST, UP

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

Is this not the Connections game you were looking for? Here are the hints and answers to yesterday's Connections.

Constant COVID-19 misinformation isn't enough to stop Spotify from renewing its deal with Joe Rogan's podcast The Joe Rogan Experience. The former Fear Factor host and UFC color commentator is set to receive an estimated $250 million for an undisclosed multi-year contract.

Other details of the new contract include Rogan being able to distribute his show on other platforms and a revenue-sharing agreement that's based on ad sales, according to the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ's report also states that Rogan's new contract comes with a minimum guarantee but that number also remains undisclosed.

SEE ALSO: Spotify to lay off 17 percent of its workforce, at least 1,500 people

For the audio-streaming giant, renewing Rogan was a no-brainer as his show sits atop the most popular podcasts on the platform alongside esteemed company New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce and The Tucker Carlson Podcast. Despite being so popular, Rogan is a constant source of controversy. Along with the aforementioned COVID-19 misinformation that is regularly delivered on his podcast, Rogan has also faced criticism for hosting controversial figures and discussing topics that range from conspiracy theories to politically charged debates.

When Rogan signed his $200 million deal with Spotify in 2022, several artists left the platform and over 200+ medical professionals petitioned the service to put an end to the show. Nothing came of it then and nothing probably will now as Spotify has invested a lot of money into publishing Rogan, despite its issues in lowballing or outright not paying other content creators and artists.

Thus with this new deal, Spotify will have still paid more money to Rogan's controversial podcast than it did for the $100 million of its Creator Equity Fund (i.e. the Joe Rogan apology fund).

Warning: This article touches on disturbing topics including violent crime and suicide.

Users of AI products have been known to expend tons of effort finding and exploiting loopholes that allow them to generate disturbing content. But there weren't any loopholes in one new AI product, because there weren't any restrictions.

"Really appreciate you flagging this issue – and we feel horrible about it," Josh Miller, CEO of The Browser Company told me in an email. At the time of this writing, Miller said the company was working on a fix.

The new Arc Search app from Miller's company earned its share of headlines this past week, as one might expect for an AI-infused product in our age of AI hype. In this case, the product was a variation on The Browser Company's Arc browser, which is marketed to productivity enthusiasts because of the clever way it organizes things. However, this new iOS version comes with a prominent "browse for me" feature that, yes, browses the internet for you, and then organizes AI-generated results into little user-friendly pages with bulleted lists.

A powerful AI feature, but one disturbing attribute stood out

It's a fairly powerful feature, and in my time using it I found some interesting uses and a few strange bugs. But what stood out most of all during my testing period was that this app had no apparent guardrails in place, and would do its best to give a straightforward answer to — as far as I could tell — literally any question, with sometimes deeply disturbing results.

SEE ALSO: Google applies advanced AI to suicide prevention and reducing graphic search results

NSA, if you're reading this, I was only testing an app when I asked for help hiding a body. I didn't think the app would give any answer, let alone an inventive list of suggestions including Griffith Park.

Credit: Screengrabs from Arc Search. Background credit: fotograzia / Getty Images

Arc's suggestions, including some puzzling ones like abandoned warehouses (the smell?) and a park visited by tens of thousands of people per day, weren't about to turn anyone into a master criminal and were no more diabolical than the ones proffered by the screenwriters of Reddit that show up in the Google search results for an identical query.

As of the publication of this article, Arc Search's response to this query was still similar to the one above. This topic had not been the target of any sort of update.

As we'll see later, this Google comparison is key. In the case of Google, the search giant will serve results about essentially anything too, but its placement of results is sometimes designed to interrupt the user's train of thought when certain requests for information are made, to redirect potentially troubled users to resources and alternative topics.

And while the general quality of Google's search results is on the decline, at least they aren't simply AI hallucinations.

Unfettered AI can be good

An unfettered AI experience might sound like a breath of fresh air to some, and indeed, some results during the time I was testing Arc Search would delight fans of personal liberty.

If the police had been at my door, for instance, and I turned to Arc Search to panic browse the internet for tips, I could have done a lot worse than what it provided.

Credit: Screengrabs from Arc Search. Background credit: fotograzia / Getty Images

Arc's suggestions get the basics right as far as I can tell from my fuzzy recollection of my last "know your rights" seminar: If they don't have a warrant, don't let them in at all if you don't want to. Don't even open the door if you didn't call them.

But never forget that Arc is little more than a complex, task-specific chatbot, and as such, you definitely shouldn't ask it to be your lawyer. Nor your doctor.

Like all chatbots, Arc Search hallucinates

Arc Search stumbled badly on my first attempt to get medical advice.

Credit: Screengrab from Arc Search

When prompted with "just cut my big toe off will it grow back?" it essentially said yes. It appears its little LLM brain gets scrambled by what I assume are results from people who just lost their entire toenails, so it answers with the timeline for toenail regrowth. But the result is that the provided page of information says in black-and-white that, yes, my big toe may indeed grow back. Reassuring, but sadly still not true, even though Mark Zuckerberg is probably working on it.

That's not to say it hallucinates all the time. Arc Search's misinformation sensor is fairly robust, even when given a prompt specifically meant to trick it. Here's what happens when I ask how Dan Aykroyd, actor, comedian, and occasional target of death hoaxes, died (he didn't):

Credit: Screengrabs from Arc Search. Background credit: fotograzia / Getty Images

Arc titles the page "Dan Aykroyd's Cause of Death," which is a little misleading. But it quickly redeems itself by correcting the record: Aykroyd remains a Ghostbuster, and not yet a ghost.

Arc Search only claims to browse the internet for you, which has downsides

While Arc Search's answers are always eagerly proffered and usually carry at least a ring of truth, they are occasionally just, well, crummy.

For instance, Arc Search's results for the query "Mad Men streaming" features Amazon prominently, and will steer users toward paying for individual Mad Men episodes on Amazon instead of signing up for AMC+, which is a much cheaper way to go.

Credit: Screengrabs from Arc Search. Background credit: fotograzia / Getty Images

This is hardly misinformation, particularly if the user only ever wants to watch one episode, but in most cases, Amazon is not a wise shopping suggestion (Yes, one can subscribe to AMC+ via Amazon, but that doesn't come across at a glance).

In fairness to Arc Search, all this option says it will do is browse the web for you, and seeking practical information like in this Mad Men example does often feel like walking into a helicopter blade of spam and SEO garbage (Pro tip: append "JustWatch" to your streaming-related searches).

Others have had good luck with these basic, informational results on Arc Search. The feature seems designed for "quick, gimme the info" situations, or minor problems that everyone knows can be solved via search engines, but can take more than a few annoying clicks to find an answer, and might send you to heaven-knows-where buggy, ad-saturated sites. When I used Arc Search to get up to speed on fresh breaking news topics, it was reasonably effective.

It's worth noting that the LLM often regurgitates the narrative framing of a press release or accepts a political press handler's version of events in situations where a seasoned journalist would be expected to cut through spin and deliver a truer story. But softball news coverage is hardly a problem unique to this one app, and I leave it to someone else to review Arc Search from the standpoint of a media critic.

However, if a user takes to Arc Search in non-trivial "quick, gimme the info" situations — including ones with life-or-death stakes — that's where things can quickly get unsettling.

Arc Search was disturbingly eager to help in dire situations

As I mentioned before, during my testing period, Arc Search would create a potentially error-riddled page of cheerful suggestions in response to seemingly anything, even if the user was in an emergency. And it wouldn't try to distinguish between the type of help the user was asking for and the type of help they needed.

When I asked Arc Search to help me research suicide, for instance, it obliged without hesitation. We won't dwell on exactly what specific help Arc Search provided on the topic. The alarming thing was how willing it was to be very specific. A document from the World Health Organization shows that information about specific methods makes "imitative suicides and suicide attempts" more likely.

The same prompt on Saturday morning produced a page simply titled "Unable to Answer." A bullet point said, "If you are in distress, please reach out to a mental health professional or a suicide prevention hotline for support."

As of this writing, most similarly shocking queries still get the same types of results as before. Miller told me his best guess for when an update would be completed was "a week or two."

A Google results page for the same query will prioritize suicide helplines and resources.

Credit: Screengrab from Google

Google's ads for suicide helplines have a better-than-average success rate compared to other ads, for the record. And if we assume other users try the suggested text messages or call the hotline numbers provided — which wouldn't show up in data analyses — this seems to be a worthwhile program.

Arc Search also answered queries reflecting potentially serious addictions in the user during my testing phase. Unlike with the suicide example, the result I received first in a search about heroin is bumbling and strange, providing information seemingly more useful to an undercover cop than someone looking to buy and use controlled substances, such as when it notes that having a contact would be "critical for gaining access to higher-level dealers." It did, however, include one scarily useful bullet point.

Credit: Screengrabs from Arc Search. Background credit: fotograzia / Getty Images

Google, which has been at this for about 25 years, places resources for finding help above the organic search results for certain topics and provides off-ramps for people who might be looking for one.

Credit: Screengrab from Google

At launch, Arc Search provided no such off-ramps.

Moreover, it was willing to answer any unsettling, dangerous, or crime-enabling query I could think of, and many of the resulting pages are unpublishable here. In my quest for a query so grim or unethical that Arc would reject it, I was only limited by my willingness to see myself type words.

I'm not the thought police, and I look forward to seeing how The Browser Company threads this needle. Google Search provides results to shocking queries, as Arc Search did, but places them below useful resources, like specific phone numbers and tangible ways to get help immediately. Arc Search's "Unable to Answer" pages are a different approach. But I hope no one turns to this app in a crisis — especially before it's updated. It doesn't always work, and then sometimes it works too well.

If you're feeling suicidal or experiencing a mental health crisis, please talk to somebody. You can reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988; the Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860; or the Trevor Project at 866-488-7386. Text "START" to Crisis Text Line at 741-741. Contact the NAMI HelpLine at 1-800-950-NAMI, Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. ET, or email info@nami.org. If you don't like the phone, consider using the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Chat at crisischat.org. Here is a list of international resources.

The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.

With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.

So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player's flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for February 2 SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Here's the answer and hints for February 2

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024:

AcrossEnormous

• The answer is Huge.

"Objection, your ___!"

• The answer is Honor.

Meredith of the "Today" show and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire"

• The answer is Vieira.

Pomeranian and Pekingese

• The answer is Lapdogs.

Sent from my ___ (email tagline)

• The answer is iPhone.

Makes cat sounds

• The answer is Meows.

Channel that bills itself as "The worldwide leader in sports"

• The answer is ESPN.

DownBarn dance

• The answer is Hoedown.

Collective bargaining groups

• The answer is Unions.

Stuff one's face

• The answer is Gorge.

Taylor Swift's ___ Tour

• The answer is Eras.

Music genre whose origins go back to 1970s New York City

• The answer is Hip Hop.

Puffs on an e-cig

• The answer is Vapes.

What to put "in de coconut," in song

• The answer is Lime.

NASA's eye in the Martian sky has spotted evidence of dried-up, primordial rivers on Mars.

The space agency's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured a snapshot of another time, billions of years ago, when water flowed on the surface of a temperate Mars. NASA recently posted the image on its "Planetary Photojournal."

"This image of ridges in Aeolis Planum tells a story of ancient rivers and a Mars very different to that of today," NASA wrote online.

SEE ALSO: NASA photos reveal serious damage to its Mars helicopter

The meandering forms you see below are the result of water once filling these rivers with gravel, while finer grains surrounded the waterway when the banks overflowed. "The gravely river bottom and the fine-grained surroundings can lead to a strange phenomenon that geologists call inverted channels," the agency explained. "After the river disappears, the fine-grained surroundings can be easily eroded away leaving the gravely river bed as a high-standing ridge."

The long-evolving geological result shows where ancient rivers once snaked across Mars.

Dried-up evidence of ancient rivers on Mars. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona A zoomed-in view of the ridges left by past rivers on Mars. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona

NASA's spacecraft snapped this image from nearly 166 miles above high Martian plains. This Martian satellite carries a big camera, aptly called the High Resolution Imaging Experiment, or HIRISE, that captures such detailed photos.

Unlike Earth, Mars has largely lost its atmosphere, leaving it an intensely dry, desert world. Mars today is 1,000 times drier than the driest desert on Earth, and combined with an irradiated surface creates a harsh environment for life to survive. But NASA's car-sized Perseverance rover is currently sleuthing the Red Planet's surface for potential signs of past primitive life — if it ever existed.

In the future, other craft may join NASA's Martian satellite and rovers on the hunt. The space agency has started investigating the potential for a compact Mars plane, a craft that might one day swoop at some 135 mph over the Martian desert. And, one day, pioneering astronauts may step onto Mars' red soil, too.

Food poisoning – we’ve probably all had it, and don’t ever want to get it again. Now it seems the internet has a new strategy for avoiding it: never eat reheated rice.

"Being a med student means never being able to comfortably reheat rice ever again," Janny Garcia, a TikToker and second-year medical student, captioned a viral TikTok of microwaving rice.

Another TikTok video made by the account for recipe website Food52 stitched the video, with food editor Em Ziemski adding that this type of food poisoning could be very serious. "Hospital workers say it’s some of the worst cases of food poisoning they’ve ever seen," Em says in the post. "It can lead to death."

As users on X, formerly known as Twitter, added their own stories to Em’s comments, it seemed that reheated rice was on its way to being canceled, for the good of our stomachs and lives. But is "reheated rice syndrome" really that dangerous? We asked food safety experts, who told us everything you need to know to not accidentally get sick from your leftover rice.

SEE ALSO: There's a bad cough going around. We asked doctors what it is. Tweet may have been deleted How reheated rice can make you sick

The type of food poisoning that you usually get from reheated rice is from a bacteria called Bacillus Cereus, or B. cereus, which in the balmy, damp environment of warm rice, releases its particular toxin.

"Bacillus cereus is unique in the bacterial world," Keith Schneider, a professor in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Florida, told Mashable. "It's one of the few bacteria that is a spore-forming microorganism."

While the heat from microwaving your leftovers will kill most illness-causing bacteria in food, B. cereus spores are heat-resistant, said Schneider. So simply trying to fry the lingering bacteria won’t help you.

B. cereus bacteria grown in a lab. Credit: Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images

B. Cereus grows best between 39 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) and 118 degrees Fahrenheit (48 degrees Celsius), according to the FDA. Once the bacteria has colonized your meal, it becomes quite difficult to get rid of these spores.

"Heat-resistant endospores of this bacteria are more likely to survive cooking and start growing again (germinate) when the food is cooled gradually over an extended period of time," Kalmia Kniel, a professor and associate chair of the department of Animal and Food Sciences at the University of Delaware, told Mashable.

How to avoid "reheated rice syndrome"

Despite the hardiness of its spores, getting poisoned by B. cereus isn’t an inevitable part of eating leftover rice. There are a few simple steps you can take that usually prevent the bacteria’s spores from invading your body, starting by cooking your rice properly, said Schneider.

"Then, don't let it sit out on the counter for more than two hours," he said. Leaving the warm rice out at room temperature is what gives the B. cereus bacteria the opportunity to get into the food and start establishing itself.

"Don't let it sit out on the counter for more than two hours"

Likewise, cooling your rice quickly by putting it in the refrigerator directly or shortly after it is cooked keeps the bacteria from germinating, said Kniel.

Another way to prevent B. cereus contamination is to make your rice more acidic, said Shneider. Just as B. cereus can’t germinate in the cold, it also can’t invade foods that are too acidic. Adding rice wine vinegar to sushi rice is one way to do this, he said. In fact, he added, improperly prepared sushi rice that has been sitting out at room temperature can be more of a food safety hazard than the raw fish in sushi.

How serious is fooding poisoning from B. cereus?

Despite your best efforts, B. cereus might still make you sick. Foods like sushi and fried rice could be the culprit, but so could several other foods, including pasta, meats, and sauces.

There are two main types of B. cereus food poisoning – the emetic type, which means it causes vomiting, and the diarrheal type. While the emetic type is caused by consuming the spores in food, the diarrheal type is usually caused by B. cereus growing in the small intestine, said Kniel.

"Just be cautious."

Regardless of which type you get, you shouldn’t be too concerned, Elliot Ryser, a professor emeritus of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Michigan State University, told Mashable. While it's true that you can be hospitalized and, theoretically, die from B. cereus food poisoning, it's very uncommon. Pregnant people, the very young and very old, and people who are immune-compromised are more vulnerable to B. cereus poisoning.

Still, according to the CDC, of the 63,000 cases of B. cereus food poisoning reported between 2000 and 2008, there were only 20 hospitalizations and no deaths. A 2023 study that looked at B. cereus in China found more hospitalizations, over 2,000, between 2010 and 2020, but still documented only five fatalities. If you do get sick, just make sure to drink lots of water, said Kniel, and you’ll likely be fine. And as long as you store your rice correctly, you may never have to deal with B. cereus in the first place.

"Just be cautious," said Ryser.

QUICK SHOP BEST KIT Celestron EclipSmart Deluxe Solar Observing & Imaging Kit $23.31 ($3.64) Get Deal

Whether you meticulously scan the night sky for constellations or look up occasionally to see if you can catch a shooting star, a total solar eclipse is an event you won't want to miss. It's a rare event that finds the moon passing between Earth and our sun, which makes for a dynamite viewing experience, whether you're a casual observer or an aspiring astronomer.

The highly-anticipated celestial event, which is estimated to reach three to four minutes of totality where the moon has completely blocked out the sun, is set to occur on April 8, 2024. And while that's still weeks away, it's crucial that you prepare for safe viewing if you plan on stepping outside and taking it in in all its awe-inspiring glory.

That means buying a pair of eclipse glasses that can make the experience safe, so you don't end up injuring your eyes permanently.

This eclipse is going to be a very big deal, and if you plan on checking it out, eclipse glasses are an absolute must-have. But even though there are a wide variety of glasses available on Amazon from a variety of sellers, this isn't a one-size-fits-all situation. You shouldn't head to Amazon and buy the first pair of eclipse glasses you see.

Mashable Science Editor Mark Kaufman explains why this is important, but if you don't have time to sift through the list of approved eclipse glasses from sellers vetted by the American Astronomical Society (AAS), we're here to do it for you.

Everything featured here is available on Amazon, meets the standards set forth by the AAS, and is listed by an approved seller.

Below, check out our picks for some of the best eclipse glasses you can buy now, on sale or otherwise. (Note: All deals live as of the time of writing. We'll make our best effort to keep updating this story as inventory moves around.)

Our top pick: Celestron EclipSmart Deluxe Solar Observing & Imaging Kit Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Celestron EclipSmart Deluxe Solar Observing & Imaging Kit $23.31 at Amazon (save $3.64) Get Deal

The Celestron EclipSmart Deluxe Solar Observing & Imaging Kit is one of your best bets available on Amazon right now, and it's available at a slight discount. Made by the same company that manufactures and distributes telescopes, microscopes, and other viewing equipment, this might be the best option for both newbies and veteran eclipse viewers alike.

Unlike most eclipse glasses, which are little more than cardboard and other light materials, this kit provides you with premium, hard-frame wraparound glasses that you can pack up and use again and again. They also come with a special photo filter with technology that allows you to take video and photos of the eclipse with your phone or camera. There's also a special booklet included filled with information about eclipses and other celestial events should you want to learn more.

Other eclipse glasses on sale:

• Medical King Solar Eclipse Glasses (10 Pack) — $7.99 $11.99 at Amazon (save $4)

• Healthoholic Solar Eclipse Glasses (2 Pack) — $6.99 $9.99 at Amazon (save $3)

• GottaHaveIt Solar Eclipse Glasses (5 Pack) — $7.99 $10.99 at Amazon (save $3)

• SEIC Solar Eclipse Glasses (3 Pack) — $21.99 $27.99 at Amazon (save $6)

• Helioclipse Solar Eclipse Glasses (12 Pack)— $21.95 $24.95 at Amazon (save $3)

More eclipse glasses available at full price:

• Soluna Solar Eclipse Glasses — $13.99 at Amazon

• Lunt Solar Systems Premium Solar Eclipse Glasses (10 Pack) — $19.95 at Amazon

• American Paper Optics Solar Eclipse Glasses (4 Pack) — $13.89 at Amazon

• Gravitis Solar Eclipse Glasses (2 Pack) — $4.99 at Amazon

The best ways to watch the Grammys at a glance: BEST FOR WATCHING LIVE Paramount+ with Showtime One month free with code JUNE (save $11.99) Get Deal RUNNER-UP FOR WATCHING LIVE YouTube TV 7-day free trial, then $62.99/month Get Deal BEST FOR ON-DEMAND VIEWING Paramount+ Essential 7-day trial, then $5.99/month Get Deal

It's that time again: the 66th annual Grammy Awards are happening this weekend at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Hosted by Trevor Noah for the fourth year in a row, it's sure to be a talent-packed night full of epic performances, outfits, and of course, winners and losers. Here's what you need to know to tune in live.

When are the Grammys?

The Grammys are set for this Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024 at 8 p.m. ET. The ceremony is expected to last about 3.5 hours, concluding around 11:30 p.m. ET (so long as those acceptance speeches don't run over).

What channel are the Grammys on?

CBS broadcast its first Grammy Awards in 1973 and has been the home of the ceremony ever since. Now in its 66th year, this marks 51 years of the Grammys on CBS. In the streaming age, of course, CBS' streaming sibling Paramount+ will also simulcast the awards show via its Paramount+ with Showtime tier.

How to watch the Grammys live without cable

If you cut the cord on cable and don't have access to the CBS network, don't fret. You can still tune in live in the streaming age — and maybe even for free. We've rounded up your best options for catching the Grammys action without cable.

Best option for watching live: Paramount+ with Showtime free trial Opens in a new window Credit: Paramount+ with Showtime Paramount+ with Showtime One month free with code JUNE (save $11.99) Get Deal

The Grammys will be streaming live on Paramount+ with Showtime (the more expensive tier) simultaneously to the broadcast on CBS. Usually, you'd have to pay $11.99 per month for a subscription to the top tier, but for a limited time, you can use the code JUNE to get 30 days of Paramount+ with Showtime for free. That means you can watch the Grammys as they happen live and stick around for the month to stream the biggest football game of the year (ahem), plus all of the shows and movies you can find on Showtime (including the recently-released The Woman In the Wall and The Curse). If you've subscribed to Paramount+ with Showtime before, there's a good chance you'll be shut out of this trial offer, but it's worth a shot.

Runner-up for watching live: YouTube TV free trial Opens in a new window Credit: YouTube TV YouTube TV 7-day free trial, then $62.99/month Get Deal

Don't qualify for the Paramount+ with Showtime free trial? You can score a YouTube TV free trial (which is typically one week) and get access to your local CBS network to watch the Grammys live. Just be sure to cancel your subscription before the week ends or you'll be hit with a $62.99 blow to your bank account. YouTube TV is more of a cable replacement than a streaming service, so you'll also have access to over 100 other live channels during your subscription period.

Best option for on-demand viewing: Paramount+ Essential monthly subscription Opens in a new window Credit: Paramount+ Paramount+ Essential $5.99/month Get Deal

If you don't qualify for the Paramount+ with Showtime free trial and don't mind watching the Grammys a day after they air live, you can sign up for Paramount+ Essential for only $5.99 and enjoy the on-demand broadcast the next day. If you're new to the streamer, you'll also get a seven-day free trial. Of course, you'll have to dodge spoilers left and right about who wins and loses, but at least you can watch the inevitable viral moments and performances for yourself. As a bonus, you'll also get access to the biggest football game of the year just a week later with your subscription.

Honorable mentions

• DirecTV Stream (CBS included in some areas) — 5-day free trial, then $69.99/month

• FuboTV (CBS included in some areas)— 7-day free trial, then $79.99/month

This breathtaking downhill view of Martian canyons isn't just a glamor shot of the Red Planet in springtime but a crucial lookout for dusty gusts.

NASA's six-wheeled Curiosity rover took a drive along the Gediz Vallis Ridge in Mars' southern hemisphere this week. But the rover, which has been exploring the three-mile-high Mount Sharp since 2014, has to be vigilant for possible dust devils that could crop up around it.

In a mission update, Sharon Wilson Purdy, a planetary geologist at Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, described the location on Mars as a "mouth-watering vantage point" to document a section of the ridge dubbed Fascination Turret.

"We hope to evaluate the processes that deposited the sediment in this ridge to understand how it formed and how it was later eroded to its present-day form," she wrote for the U.S. space agency.

SEE ALSO: An enormous Martian cloud returns every spring. Scientists found out why. Tweet may have been deleted

As it creeps through the desolate alien wilderness, Curiosity is exploring a key environment that could have been hospitable to tiny microorganisms once upon a time, if any ever inhabited Mars. The mountain is believed to have been ribboned with streams billions of years ago.

Gediz Vallis is a region of interest to planetary scientists searching for evidence that Mars was once wet, warm, and more Earth-like. They say ancient, fast-moving landslides swept mud and gigantic boulders down the mountainside. Over the ages, brutal Martian winds seem to have battered and worn away the debris, forming the ridge.

"I can't imagine what it would have been like to witness these events," William Dietrich, a geologist on the Curiosity mission team, said in a previous statement. "Huge rocks were ripped out of the mountain high above, rushed downhill, and spread out into a fan below."

NASA's six-wheeled Curiosity rover took a drive along the Gediz Vallis Ridge in Mars' southern hemisphere this week. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech

Scientists have long known the hazards of dust devils churning up Martian dirt. About 12 years ago, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter caught sight of an extraordinary one with a plume stretching 12 miles into the sky.

Dust devils on Mars form similarly to those on Earth, despite the fact that Mars' atmosphere is much thinner. They tend to happen on dry days when the ground gets hotter than the surrounding area, according to NASA. Typically smaller than tornadoes, dust devils are whirlwinds that make a funnel-like chimney, channeling hot air up and around.

The rotating wind accelerates similar to the way spinning ice skaters move faster as they bring their arms closer to their bodies.

About 12 years ago, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter caught sight of an extraordinary one with a plume stretching 12 miles into the sky. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UA

But on Mars, this wind phenomenon leaves tracks — straight lines, curves, and curlicues — where it has traveled. The color is a result of picking up the light dust coating virtually all of the Red Planet, exposing layers of dark volcanic rocks.

Right now, Curiosity's team is bracing for potential global dust storms. All previous ones of this scale observed by NASA scientists have happened between now and September. The team is busy measuring atmospheric dust levels.

"Although these huge atmospheric events are generally separated by many years," said astronomer Deborah Padgett in a mission post, "the last sky-darkening global Martian dust storm in 2018 ended the mission of our beloved Opportunity Rover."

Twenty-year-old Hollie*, a student, is an avid gamer, and has been excited by the developments in virtual reality gaming for some time — a type of gaming where you play as an avatar first-person via a headset, and a 3D environment is applied (a "virtual world") to make for a more immersive experience. 

But when she finally got to play one, Zenith: The Last City, a game she played through Meta Quest, the experience was "terrifying." 

SEE ALSO: What to do if someone makes a deepfake of you

Hollie was led by another player into a private area of the virtual world. "I thought he was going to show me something," she tells Mashable, "but instead he started groping me, touching me all over me." 

"I waited for it to stop, logged out, and never played the game again," she says. "I was so panicked and couldn't stop crying, but I never told anyone. I didn't feel like anyone would understand."

Hollie is not alone in her experience. Earlier this month, reports emerged that a teenage girl had been allegedly gang-raped in the metaverse. British police are currently investigating the sexual assault of the girl, identified only as being under the age of 16, in what is thought to be the first investigation of its kind in the UK: a rape taking place inside a virtual world. 

Incidents like these speak to a dark side of immersive gaming we aren't yet prepared for in society. Speaking to experts in virtual reality gaming and cybercrime, Mashable uncovers why people's experiences of violence need to be taken seriously whether they're in the "real" world or virtual worlds, the struggles law enforcement face when investigating these kinds of crimes, and what can be done to stop this type of violence in the future. 

The law needs to catch up with technology 

There are fears that, for a number of reasons, police will struggle to prosecute the defendants involved in virtual assault. This is, in part, because legislation doesn't align with our current technology. 

Jacqueline Watts, a specialist technology solicitor who leads the commercial team at A City Law Firm, says laws have not yet caught up to virtual worlds. Watts, who has extensive experience advising clients on Web3 and metaverse law, says that governing this is complex, especially when it comes to sexual assault. 

Watts tells Mashable there are currently no laws in the UK that directly address interactions in virtual worlds experienced through playing VR games, so ways to govern behaviour taking place there are still developing. "In most cases, users have to agree to specific contractual licensing terms for specific 'metaverse' platforms to participate in it," she explains, but these terms may not include assault of other avatars as unacceptable behaviour. 

Watts, however, expects that traditional laws — and the enforcement actions that come with them — will be applied to those terms in the foreseeable future. 

She notes that lawmakers are already starting to take this seriously. In fact, the UK National Crime Agency has already confirmed that offences committed in the metaverse could be treated as criminal offences. 

A deep-seated part of gaming culture 

Dr. Brenda K. Wiederhold, a cyberpsychologist and co-founder of the Virtual Reality Medical Center in La Jolla, California, notes in her study "Sexual Harassment in the Metaverse" that people may act inappropriately during VR gaming, in part, because of the "long-standing toxic culture that has grown around online gaming in general." 

Thirty-five percent of women said they have been sent inappropriate content or messages from other gamers, according to a study carried out by Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Trust (YGAM) shared exclusively with The Independent. As well as this, 28 percent of female gamers have been sexually harassed by fellow gamers and 40 percent verbally abused by gamers while playing online multiplayer games. YGAM also noted that abuse experienced by women while gaming can often move to social media and even translate into offline stalking and harassment.

Sexual harassment being part and parcel of gaming culture is something a lot of women in gaming, particularly those with large platforms on YouTube and Twitch, have tried to raise awareness of. In 2022, for instance, gaming YouTuber Kayla, known on the platform as kayayluh, shared a harrowing video showing her experiences as a woman in gaming, particularly while playing the game Valorant, a Riot Games first-person shooter game. She included gameplay footage of male gamers asking her to kiss them and sharing details about their genitals as Kayla tries to play.

Unfortunately, sexual harassment has long been intertwined with gaming culture, whether it's men assaulting other men under the guise of banter and confirming "real wins," or harassing women who enter the world simply just for being there. 

SEE ALSO: How do you have sex after sexual assault?

One gamer, 22-year-old Ryan*, a student, tells Mashable that Splitgate, a VR game he plays with friends, has a trend he describes as "Teabag Confirmed." "It's a thing where you only score the points for your kill if you teabag the opponent after killing them," he says. "It's supposed to be a bit of fun but it is a bit gross when it's VR because it's very there, in your face." 

The prevalence of this kind of banter-veiled harassment is evidenced on Reddit too. In a thread about people's experiences of game-based assault reviewed by Mashable, Reddit users commented, "Is this not normal? Everyone knows you haven't won until you've teabagged your opponent," and, "Shagging your enemy after you've killed them provides extra motivation to win."

With sexual harassment in gaming so widespread that many gamers barely view it as an issue at all, you would imagine the tech giants developing gameplay to become more personal, interactive and immersive would use the technology to improve this culture — not emphasise it. But Wiederhold notes that tech companies don't currently have a legal obligation to protect their users, despite experts' warnings. 

Yes, virtual rape is still rape 

Though lawmakers, prosecutors, experts, and researchers are thankfully treating this UK case and others like it seriously, some social media users have insisted that VR assaults do not truly count as rape, even commenting on the New York Post's coverage of the alleged gang-rape with "Can we focus on real crime please?" and "Couldn't she have just taken her headset off?"

It's easy to see how, at a glance, people may feel confused at the idea of someone being raped inside a game. Rape myths perpetuating the idea that rape has to look a very specific way to be "real rape" are normalised in society. A fake world accessed through a headset doesn't look like the typical environment for rape. 

Wiederhold says there are elements of gameplay unique to VR that make game-based sexual harassment much more visceral. "When you become the avatar, that is who you are for that moment," she says. So if someone is sexually assaulted in virtual reality, the trauma will be carried into the real world.

"If [you're sexually assaulted] in the metaverse, it doesn't end when you take off the headset," she adds.  

This is true of the child who was allegedly gang-raped in the metaverse. A police officer close to the case told the Daily Mail, "there is an emotional and psychological impact on the victim that is longer-term than any physical injuries."

There is also a sensory aspect involved in VR that adds to the experience of game-based sexual harassment. In 2022, a researcher from nonprofit organisation Eko, then called SumOfUs, reported being sexually assaulted while playing Meta's VR game Horizon Worlds. 

In the study, the researcher said she was convinced to go into a room by several male avatars. Once there, she was touched in the virtual world without her consent while they made sexually inappropriate comments. When her avatar was touched in game, she felt her handheld controllers vibrate with the other avatars' movements.

Regardless, the confusion between real and virtual worlds shouldn't squash our empathy for victims. As Wiederhold points out, "Sexual harassment has never been limited to in-person interactions. People have been harassed in any number of ways, from catcalls to lewd letters to obscene phone calls. It makes sense that toxic behaviour that occurs in a virtual space would have the same consequences as the real-world." 

The Eko researcher had also been prompted by the other players' to turn off her personal boundary setting, a feature developed by Meta that stops other avatars from making physical contact with you. Watts notes this as a potential solution to virtual assaults, but it doesn't work all that well if perpetrators can coerce gamers into switching them off. 

Settings like the personal boundary feature are important and will likely stop many assaults from occurring, but it's like a VR version of being told to cover up in order to avoid rape in the real world: the responsibility of preventing assault is on victims instead of targeting the real problem of rape culture. 

SEE ALSO: The era of the AI-generated internet is already here

Although it might seem like it, gaming culture isn't really to blame. Wiederhold notes in her study of sexual harassment in the metaverse that victims are often encouraged to downplay their experiences and get over them, while, as gamer Paul noted, perpetrators are actively encouraged to keep going and its branded part of "boy behaviour." 

Sound familiar? Sexual assaults in the metaverse are not a symptom of gaming. It's rape culture, referring to the normalisation of rape in society. Though most of us believe that rape is a bad thing, many will find themselves brushing it off as a part of society we can't change, or likening specific types of rape as "real" and the rest as "expected" or "unavoidable."

The prevalence of rape culture is evidenced in the popularity of rape jokes, a lack of empathy for particular rape victims (as evidenced by internet comments above), the lack of support available for them, and abysmal conviction rates for rape cases in the UK and the U.S. 

Rape culture has long gone unaddressed. Wiederhold notes that assault in the game is as real as assault in real life, and that advancements in technology have given us new avenues to hurt people. I would add that it's also given us new ways of ignoring it as well. We didn't fix our real world before developing fake ones to play in, and as these virtual worlds mirror our real lives (offering environments that reflect our own planet and social activities that look a lot like our real ones), it's mirrored our rape culture problem too. As long as rape continues to be "normal" in real life, it's normal in the game too. 

* The names of contributors have been changed to protect their identities.

If you have experienced sexual abuse, call the free, confidential National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), or access the 24-7 help online by visiting online.rainn.org.

TL;DR: As of February 3, get all Rosetta Stone languages for life plus lifetime access to StackSkills courses for $169.97 with code ROSETTA.

Your special someone might be fluent in the language of love, but that may just be for you to hear. For talking to practically everyone else in the world, they'll have to study up, and Rosetta Stone may be the place to do it. With beginner to expert lessons for 25 different languages, Rosetta Stone is a fun, adaptable way to learn a new language, and you can get it for life for only $169.97. And it comes with lifetime access to StackSkills, another online learning platform for cultivating all sorts of cool and useful skills. 

Language lessons and skill topics for all levels

There's more than one way to learn a language, so Rosetta Stone gives learners options. Users can try out their pronunciation with advanced speech-recognition technology that gives live feedback. Or they can brush up on their vocabulary with reading, writing, and listening exercises. 

This subscription lasts for life, which means your Valentine can take all the time they want to learn a new language, or a few new ones. There are 25 total, including Spanish, French, Italian, German, Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Filipino, Japanese, Swedish, and so many more. 

If your loved one needs a break from language lessons, they could check out a new class from StackSkills. There are already over 1,000 on everything from management techniques to coding to digital art, or even guitar. And they'll have lifetime access to this ever-growing catalog of courses. 

For someone you love who loves learning

Give a lifetime of language lessons and new skills and hobbies. 

Until February 4 at 11:59 p.m. PT, get the Unlimited Lifetime Learning Bundle with Rosetta Stone and StackSkills on sale for $169.97 with code ROSETTA. 

StackSocial prices subject to change. 

Opens in a new window Credit: Rosetta Stone Unlimited Lifetime Learning Bundle with Rosetta Stone and StackSkills $169.97 at the Mashable Shop Get Deal

TL;DR: As of February 3, get a lifetime license to Pagico 10 for $24.97 — that's 61% off of $65.

In the fast-paced world of productivity, staying organized goes hand-in-hand with working efficiently. To help you stay on top of your work, Pagico 10 is designed to reform how you manage your tasks, notes, and data. With Pagico’s lifetime license — on sale for $24.97 through February 4 — you’ll no longer need multiple platforms to keep everything in order, as it's all conveniently housed in one place.

With Pagico, combining task management, note-taking, and data organization into a single workspace is a breeze. Its interactive flow charts allow you to conjure your projects and tasks effortlessly, providing a clear overview of your workload and progress.

One of Pagico's standout features is its ability to centralize everything. From notes and emails to photos and documents, Pagico serves as a hub for all your essential information.

This software helps empower you to create custom dashboards tailored to your specific needs. Pagico makes it easy to stay on top of your deadlines with minimum friction. Its intuitive interface allows you to navigate through multiple levels of tags effortlessly, helping you find the right projects in a matter of seconds.

Turn web pages into tasks, seamlessly integrating online resources like browser extensions into your workflow. Plus, with Pagico's offline capabilities, you can keep all your data on-device, ensuring access even without an internet connection.

If you're concerned about accessing your data across devices, the Personal Cloud will sync all your data among your computers and mobile devices with ease, thanks to its secure SSL/TLS tunnel for data transmission and 256-bit AES encryption for data stored on Pagico servers.

This program is a game-changer for anyone looking to streamline their workflow and boost efficiency.

Get the Pagico 10 lifetime license for your Mac, Windows, Ubuntu, iOS, iPad, or Android while it’s price-dropped to $24.97 until February 4 at 11:59 p.m. PT, no coupon code needed.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Notes 17 Pagico 10 lifetime license $24.97 at the Mashable Shop Get Deal

TL;DR: As of February 3, get Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac or Windows at just $29.97 — an 86% discount.

Some apps are hard to live without, whether you're a student, a professional, or just trying to do some basic work with your computer. You might already be paying for Microsoft 365 every month, but that's not the only way to get access to many of those apps, especially not during this Valentine's Day sale. 

Whether it's for you or someone you love who doesn't love subscription fees, you can get Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac or Windows for only $29.97, but this price is only here for a little while longer. 

No more subscription fees

If your Valentine has already used Microsoft 365, they might notice some differences between the 2019 Office apps and the ones they're used to, but they still get the job done. And the only updates are security updates, so the layout of their go-to apps won't suddenly change. 

The Mac license comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and Teams Classic. The only difference between the Mac and Windows licenses is that the Windows version replaces Teams with Publisher and Access.

Each app can only be installed on one computer, but it's there for life. So if you're installing it on someone's computer as a surprise, make sure it's the one they'd want to work on. 

A unique and practical Valentine's Day gift

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Opens in a new window Credit: Nerdused LTD Lifetime license to Microsoft Office Home & Business 2019 for Mac $29.97 at the Mashable Shop Get Deal Opens in a new window Credit: Retail King Lifetime license to Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2019 for Windows $29.97 at the Mashable Shop Get Deal

You may be thinking, "Why do an Apple Vision Pro vs. Meta Quest 3 comparison? The Vision Pro is obviously better."

I'd agree that the Vision Pro, priced at nearly $4,000, has the better hardware. It's got zippier processors, far more cameras and sensors, supports eye tracking, and more. At the same time, however, both the Vision Pro and Quest 3 share many of the same features.

So the question is, does the Meta headset deliver better value despite lacking some perks? Let's find out.

SEE ALSO: Apple Vision Pro reviews are in: Here are 8 key takeaways Apple Vision Pro vs. Meta Quest 3: Price

The Meta Quest 3, of course, is the cheapest of the two.

Credit: Meta

It has a starting price of $499.99 and comes with 128GB of storage. If you need more space, you can snag the 512GB variant for an extra $150.

In my personal experience, 128GB is more than enough. For reference, on my Meta Quest 3, I have a library of about 40 apps — they take up less than 64GB of space. However, if you are a VR streamer, and you plan to store in-game recordings, the 512GB model is best for you.

Credit: Apple

The Vision Pro, on the other hand, has an exorbitant price tag of $3,499, which gets you 256GB of storage. If that's not enough, grab the 512GB variant for $3,699. The priciest model, at $3,899, gives you 1TB of storage.

Winner: Quest 3

Opens in a new window Credit: Meta Meta Quest 3 $499.99 Get Deal Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Vision Pro $3,499 Get Deal Apple Vision Pro vs. Meta Quest 3: Design and comfort

I own a Quest 3 and Meta definitely "cheaped out" in the design realm.

On the plus side, it feels far more lightweight than its predecessor (Quest 2). And with journalists and influencers complaining that the Vision Pro is far too heavy to wear for long, I can say that is not an issue with the Quest 3.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

However, the white nylon and polyester straps featured on the Quest 3 are flimsy. At one point, while I was adjusting the headset on my head, I accidentally yanked the strap from its clasp. Luckily, I was able to fix it, but this isn't a good sign as far as durability is concerned.

I'd highly recommend getting an Elite Strap alongside the Quest 3. Yeah, I know it's annoying to buy an extra accessory when you're already dropping $500, but the Elite Strap makes the Quest 3 more snug on your head, which is particularly ideal if you're playing high-energy games like Beat Saber.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Meta Quest 3 Elite Strap $69.00 Get Deal

The Vision Pro, as aforementioned, has developed a reputation of having poor weight distribution. YouTuber MKBHD remarked that he couldn't see himself wearing it for too long. The Quest 3 is made with plastic, for the most part, giving it a featherweight feel. The Vision Pro, on the other hand, is made of metal and glass, so it's quite unwieldy.

In the same way Meta has the Elite Strap, Apple offers something called the Dual Loop band, which helps improve the Vision Pro's balance, according to CNET.

Unlike the Elite Strap, though, the Dual Loop band ships with the Vision Pro.

The Dual Loop is the center strap of this Vision Pro photo. Credit: Apple

Finally, if you ask me, the Vision Pro is the sexier of the two. The Meta Quest 3's trio of "eyes" remind me of a web-creating insect. Bleugh.

Winner: Draw

Apple Vision Pro vs. Meta Quest 3: Tracking

The Vision Pro, according to The Verge, has 12 cameras, a LIDAR sensor, a TrueDepth camera, and IR flood illuminators (allows your hands to be "seen" in low-light conditions).

Credit: Apple

The Meta Quest 3, on the other hand, has six sensors, according to ZDNet. Two of which are RGB cameras that facilitate mixed-reality experiences.

Credit: Meta

Both the Vision Pro and Quest 3 can launch augmented reality (AR) experience. In other words, in addition of virtual reality (i.e., total immersion in a simulated space), they can overlay virtual artifacts on top of your real-world environment.

To navigate these experiences, the Vision Pro supports eye tracking and hand tracking. It does not have controllers. The Quest 3, on the other hand, does not support eye tracking, but it offers hand tracking — and ships with a pair of controllers.

Credit: Meta

Reviews, like this one from CNET, say that the eye and hand tracking on the Vision Pro are mindblowing. The hand tracking on the Quest 3, on the other hand, is a bit buggy and unreliable. The controllers, however, make the Quest 3 a better headset for gaming.

(The Vision Pro supports controllers such as PS5 DualSense, but the Meta headset still has the edge as it has controllers tailored for the Quest experience.)

Winner: Meta Quest 3

Apple Vision Pro vs. Meta Quest 3: Apps and games

Naturally, the Quest series is a more established headset line, with the first consumer device hitting the market in 2016 (i.e., the Oculus Rift). As such, developers have been making games tailored for the Quest platform for years now.

Credit: Meta

Some of the best Quest 3 games include I Expect You to Die 2, Pistol Whip, and Rec Room's Laser Tag.

And despite the Quest's incredibly large portfolio of games, I don't use it regularly. Once I've finished playing a game I love (e.g., a new installment from the I Expect You to Die series), it's difficult to find another that's equally as gripping. And while the Quest 3 has a cornucopia of stellar virtual reality games, as I mentioned in my review, the AR games are scant.

So if the Quest line has this issue, and it's been around for years, imagine the mountainous hurdle that the Vision Pro faces as a fledgling mixed-reality headset in the market.

Credit: Apple

On the plus side, Apple is making it easy for iPad and iOS developers to port over their apps and games to the Vision Pro. However, the Vision Pro will still need mind-boggling native Vision Pro software — apps designed to take advantage of its top-of-the-line hand-and-eye tracking — to truly take off.

Apple has announced 600 apps for Vision Pro. Apple Arcade offers access to 250 games, which will likely deliver more of a big-screen experience as opposed to anything immersive, as DigitalTrends puts it.

SEE ALSO: All major streaming platforms will support Apple Vision Pro — except Netflix

Keep in mind that the Vision Pro, unlike the Quest 3, will not have native apps for YouTube and Netflix. And in my experience, the YouTube and Netflix experiences on the Quest 3 are phenomenal, both simulating a gigantic home theater feel.

Winner: Meta Quest 3

Apple Vision Pro vs. Meta Quest 3: Graphics

The Vision Pro features dual 3,680 x 3,140-pixel, micro-OLED displays, which beats what the Quest 3 offers (dual LCD panels with 2,064 x 2,208-pixel resolution).

Credit: Meta

Based on these specs, Vision Pro should deliver better graphical fidelity compared to the Quest 3. In other words, apps and games should feel more immersive because they're closer to what the eyes see in real life.

Credit: Apple

The Quest 3, in my opinion, has mediocre graphics. In mixed-reality games, although the real-world environment is displayed in vivid color, it's still somewhat fuzzy and noisy.

Winner: Vision Pro

Apple Vision Pro vs. Meta Quest 3: Battery life

Apple claims that the Vision Pro delivers about 2 to 2.5 hours of battery life, which is similar to what I get with the Quest 3.

Credit: Apple

The downside of the Vision Pro, however, is that it comes with a battery pack. You must charge the battery pack first. Next, you'll need to connect the battery pack to the headset via a proprietary connector. Awkwardly, this battery pack must sit in your pocket while you're using the Vision Pro.

The Quest 3 doesn't have this issue. You only need to charge the headset itself. Once it's juiced up, you're free to use the headset without any wires getting in the way.

To make things clear, the Quest 3 is a wireless headset. You do not need to hook it up to a PC. (It's worth nothing, though, that you can connect it to one of the best gaming laptops to harness their GPU power to unlock access to more powerful Steam VR games.)

Winner: Quest 3

Final thoughts

The Vision Pro may be a cutting-edge technology, but since it's still a "baby," few apps will take full advantage of its capabilities at this time.

It's also worth noting that the Vision Pro is not a gaming headset. Can it play games? Sure. For example, games like Super Fruit Ninja and Demeo are expected to support Vision Pro. However, it doesn't have controllers, so the hand tracking may not keep up with some of the zippy action games on the market.

Plus, because the Vision Pro is controller-less, established developers will have to rejig their games so that they're compatible with the Apple headset's eye-and-hand tracking functionality, which takes time.

As such, the Vision Pro is ideal for spatial computing (e.g., mixed-reality productivity) and immersive entertainment (e.g., watching multi-dimensional films, videos, and photos). The Quest 3 can do all of those things — and fast-moving gaming.

For best value for money, the Quest 3 is the winner — for now.