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Wondering how to watch college basketball this season? Here are your best options: Most affordable Sling TV Orange Plan $20 for the first month, then $40/month (save $20 ) Get Deal BEST FOR SINGLE GAME FuboTV Pro plan 7-day free trial, then $79.99/month Get Deal

The Duke and Clemson men’s basketball teams are scheduled to meet in an Atlantic Coast Conference contest at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, on Saturday, Jan. 27. The game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. ET. 

Duke, ranked No. 12 in The Associated Press poll, enters the matchup 14-4 overall and 5-2 in the ACC. Most recently, Duke defeated Louisville 83-69 on Tuesday. After 18 games, Kyle Filipowski leads Duke with 18.2 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. 

Clemson comes into the contest 13-5 overall and 3-4 in the ACC. On Jan. 20, Clemson beat Florida State 78-67. PJ Hall is Clemson’s top scorer with 19.7 points per game after 18 contests.

SEE ALSO: How to watch college basketball without cable

Jon Scheyer is the Duke men’s basketball head coach. Brad Brownell is the Clemson men’s basketball head coach. 

Duke vs. Clemson basketball game time and network

The Duke vs. Clemson men’s basketball game is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 27. ESPN broadcasters for the game are scheduled to be Dave O’Brien (play-by-play) and Cory Alexander (analyst). 

If you don’t have cable or satellite TV, online live-streaming platforms such as FuboTV and Sling offer alternatives for enjoying the game.

Best streaming services for the Clemson vs. Duke basketball game 

If you’ve gotten rid of cable and satellite TV, you'll need a streaming platform. To see Saturday’s Clemson vs. Duke men’s basketball game, here are the top streaming solutions available to you. 

Most affordable: Sling TV Opens in a new window Credit: Sling Sling Orange Plan $20 for the first month, then $40/month Get Deal

Sling TV's $55/month package provides 46 channels, catering to the needs of college basketball fans and includes ESPN coverage of showdowns like the Duke vs. Clemson men’s basketball game. Newcomers to Sling TV enjoy a $27.50 rate for the first month. 

If you’re looking to just watch the Duke vs. Clemson game, the Orange Plan includes ESPN and is available at $20 for the first month, followed by $40 monthly. 

Sling TV’s sports channel offerings include ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNews, ESPNU, Fox, FS1, FS2, NBC, NFL Network, Pac-12 Network and SEC Network.

Best for single game: FuboTV Opens in a new window Credit: FuboTV FuboTV Pro plan 7-day free trial, then $79.99/month Get Deal

You can try FuboTV free for seven days and explore its extensive selection of more than 250 live TV channels. If you’re a college basketball fan, the Pro package costs $79.99 per month with channels like ESPN to watch the Clemson vs. Duke men’s basketball game.  

FuboTV’s sports channel offerings include ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, CBS, CBS Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, Fox, FS1, FS2, Golf Network, Marquee Sports Network, Monumental Sports, NBC, NBCSN, NFL Network, Pac-12 Network, and SEC Network. 

Wondering how to watch college basketball this season? Here are your best options: Most affordable Sling TV Blue Plan $20 for the first month, then $40/month (save $20 ) Get Deal BEST FOR SINGLE GAME FuboTV Pro 7-day free trial, then $79.99/month Get Deal

The Iowa Hawkeyes and Michigan Wolverines men’s basketball teams are scheduled to meet in a Big Ten Conference contest at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Saturday, Jan. 27. The game is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT. 

Iowa enters the matchup 11-8 overall and 3-5 in the Big Ten. Most recently, Maryland beat Iowa 69-67 on Wednesday. After 19 games, Ben Krikke leads the Hawkeyes with 16.1 points per game.

Michigan comes into the contest 7-12 overall and 2-6 in the Big Ten. On Tuesday, Purdue defeated Michigan 99-67. The top two scorers for the Michigan Wolverines are Dug McDaniel at 17.4 points per game and Olivier Nkamhoua with 16.5 points per game through their first 19 contests. 

SEE ALSO: How to watch college basketball without cable

Fran McCaffery is the Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball head coach. Juwan Howard is the Michigan Wolverines men’s basketball head coach. 

Michigan vs. Iowa basketball game time and network

The Michigan vs. Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball game is scheduled to be broadcast on FS1 at 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT on Saturday, Jan. 27. FS1 broadcasters are scheduled to be Dave Sims (play-by-play) and Nick Bahe (analyst). 

Discover live streaming possibilities with platforms like FuboTV and Sling to enjoy Saturday’s game without the need for cable or satellite TV. 

Best streaming services for the Iowa vs. Michigan basketball game

Watching college basketball is possible without a cable or satellite TV subscription by opting for a streaming service. Ready for Saturday’s Michigan vs. Iowa game? Here's a list of the top streaming platforms you should consider.

Most affordable: Sling TV Opens in a new window Credit: Sling Sling Blue Plan $20 for the first month, then $40/month Get Deal

If the Michigan vs. Iowa men’s basketball game is your reason for choosing Sling TV, the Blue Plan is your go-to option, featuring FS1. Enjoy a discounted rate of $20 for the first month, with a standard charge of $40/month thereafter. The Sling TV Blue Plan enhances your viewing experience, permitting three concurrent streams and providing 50 hours of complimentary DVR space. 

Sling TV’s sports channel offerings include ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNews, ESPNU, Fox, FS1, FS2, NBC, NFL Network, Pac-12 Network and SEC Network.

Best for single game: FuboTV Opens in a new window Credit: FuboTV FuboTV Pro 7-day free trial, then $79.99/month Get Deal

You can get FuboTV with a seven-day free trial period, providing more than 250 channels of live TV and the convenience of watching 10 screens concurrently. FS1 coverage for games like Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Michigan Wolverines men’s basketball is available through FuboTV’s Pro tier, which has a rate of $79.99 per month.

FuboTV’s sports channel offerings include ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, CBS, CBS Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, Fox, FS1, FS2, Golf Network, Marquee Sports Network, Monumental Sports, NBC, NBCSN, NFL Network, Pac-12 Network, and SEC Network. 

It was around episode 7 of the second season of The Traitors UK, where I had a weird realisation: I was getting just as excited about new episodes as I did about Succession Season 4, back when that was all people were talking about.

My initial reaction to this thought? Shame. Was I even thinking about comparing one of the best TV shows of 2023 (probably of all time) with a reality competition show? Was I just forgetting how much I'd loved Jesse Armstrong's Emmy-winning series? Was it just a one-off, really good episode of The Traitors that caught me by surprise?

SEE ALSO: 20 of the best reality shows on Hulu for when you need an escape

The honest answer to both those questions, now that Season 2 of the BBC's The Traitors is almost over, is no. The show really is just that good. Though I'm doing just that for a moment, you can't directly compare it to Succession, because — although the backstabbing and treachery is high in both — the format and genre are so different. But you can compare how a show makes you feel. And The Traitors is the kind of show that sinks its hooks into you and doesn't let go until you've binged everything there is to binge.

What's The Traitors about?

In a nutshell, it's a Mafia-style murder mystery game show set in a Scottish castle, in which a group of contestants compete to reach the final and win a cash prize. The Traitors is based on the Dutch series De Verraders, and has seen spinoffs in the U.S. and Australia.

In the first episode, the 20-odd contestants are blindfolded and a small group of titular "traitors" are picked by host Claudia Winkleman (in Peacock's U.S. version of the show, which is filmed in the exact same castle. the host is Alan Cumming). This essentially divides the players into two teams: the traitors, whose mission is to "murder" (not literally) the rest of the contestants known as "faithfuls" and make it to the final without being caught, and said faithfuls, whose mission is to identify and banish the traitors before they're picked off themselves.

If all faithfuls make it to the end of the game, they split whatever money they've accumulated during the daily missions. If there's a traitor hiding among their number who hasn't been unmasked, though, then they take all the money for themselves.

One of the missions in Season 2 involved this very creepy field of scarecrows. Credit: BBC/Studio Lambert

It sounds simple enough, and simplicity is a major strength of the show. Each day in the castle is broken up into key stages. There's breakfast, where the contestants nervously wait to see who's been killed off (i.e. evicted from the game via signed decree) by the traitors overnight; there's the daily missions, in which the contestants have to put their differences aside and complete a host of physical and mental challenges to try and bulk up their prize pot; and then, finally, there's the show's best bit — the nightly roundtable where the faithfuls have the chance to try and banish a traitor. This is typically the time when tensions bubble over, accusations are wildly thrown, and emotions reach boiling point. Each day ends the same way, with the remaining traitors donning black cloaks and meeting in a creepy little room to discuss who's going to get the chop before everyone wakes up and the cycle starts over again.

Why is The Traitors UK so good? Because of the people.

While the U.S. version of The Traitors included some TV celebrities as contestants, The Traitors UK relies solely on members of the public. In Season 2 this tactic has worked phenomenally, as the people involved — and the relationships they form — are every bit as entertaining as anything a scripted show might conjure up.

Without going too far into spoiler territory, this season has seen some hero and villain arcs that Shakespeare himself would be proud of, from the intense scheming of business manager Paul to the practically prophetic traitor-hunting abilities of account manager Jaz (a contestant social media has subsequently dubbed "Jazatha Christie", a title that is very much earned).

The contestants are what make the show. Credit: BBC/Studio Lambert

The people involved are from a diverse range of backgrounds, and their own stories form a backdrop to the main game. There's Andrew, the burly Welshman who was told he'd never walk again after a near-fatal car crash; Mollie, a 21-year-old disability model who is keen to advocate for people, like herself, that have limb differences or a stoma bag; and the aforementioned Jaz, who had to rebuild his family after discovering that his father had another secret family somewhere else ("I know a traitor when I see one," he says after telling the story.)

As the series progresses, and we get to know more about the people involved, we become more and more attached to them, raising the emotional stakes at the roundtables and murder meetings. Popularity can secure a traitor's safety from banishment, and the lack of it can see a faithful sent home. At its heart, The Traitors is a social experiment, perhaps revealing more about internalised biases than the players may have thought.

The Traitors is a masterclass in tense viewing.

When I first started watching The Traitors, I was a little confused by the decision to show us who the traitors are from the beginning, unlike a show like The Mole that has viewers yarn-walling it until the final reveal. Where would the suspense come from if we already knew which people to trust?

As I kept watching, though, I realised how wrong I was about this. The show works precisely because we know their identities. There's nothing more tense — and sometimes more funny — than watching the faithful desperately trying to work out who a traitor is while we're smugly sat at home knowing whether they're right or wrong. Sometimes I find myself rooting for the traitors in this scenario (who do, in fairness, have a very stressful job to do), and other times I want the faithfuls to catch them. Once again, it's all to do with the people involved.

So much scheming. Credit: BBC/Studio Lambert

But will the people I want to win emerge with the money in Season 2? It's a testament to how unpredictable the show can be that I really don't know. With one episode left, it could still go either way. But regardless of who ends up taking the money I'll be watching, hooked, before eagerly waiting to discuss the end results with anyone who'll listen. That's the kind of show it is.

How to watch: The Traitors Season 2 is currently streaming on BBC iPlayer. If you're based in the US, you can watch it using a VPN. It's worth it.

Wondering how to watch college basketball this season? Here are your best options: Most affordable Paramount+ with Showtime 7-day free trial, then $11.99/month Get Deal Most channels FuboTV Pro plan 7-day free trial, then $79.99/month Get Deal

The Kansas Jayhawks and Iowa State Cyclones are scheduled to meet in a Big 12 Conference contest at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa, on Saturday, Jan. 27. The game is scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m. CT. 

Kansas, ranked No. 7 in The Associated Press poll, enters the matchup 16-3 overall and 4-2 in the Big 12. Most recently, KU beat Cincinnati 74-69 on Monday. Through the first 19 games of the season, Kevin McCullar Jr. leads the Jayhawks with 20 points per game. 

The No. 23-ranked ISU Cyclones come into the contest 15-4 overall and 4-2 in the Big 12. On Wednesday, Iowa State defeated Kansas State 78-67. Tamin Lipsey with 14.1 points per game and Keshon Gilbert with 13.6 points per game are the top two scorers for ISU after 19 games.

SEE ALSO: How to watch college basketball without cable

Bill Self is the Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball head coach. T.J. Otzelberger is the Iowa State Cyclones men’s basketball head coach. 

Kansas vs. ISU Cyclones basketball game time and network

The KU Jayhawks vs. Iowa State Cyclones men’s basketball game is scheduled to be broadcast on CBS at 12:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, Jan. 27.  

Cable and satellite TV are no longer necessary for enjoying live sports. Consider live streaming options to watch Saturday’s game via services like Paramount+ and FuboTV.

Best streaming services for the Iowa State vs. KU basketball game

Watching college basketball requires a streaming service if you don’t have cable or satellite TV. For the ISU Cyclones vs. Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball game on Saturday, here are your top streaming options.

Most affordable: Paramount+ Opens in a new window Credit: Paramount+ Paramount+ with Showtime 7-day free trial, then $11.99/month Get Deal

If you want to watch just CBS or just the Iowa State Cyclones vs. KU Jayhawks men’s basketball game, Paramount+ offers a solution. 

New subscribers to Paramount+ get a seven-day free trial. Then for the Paramount+ plan that includes live streaming CBS, you need the Paramount+ with Showtime tier, which is $11.99/month. If you choose the annual plan, it is $119.99 for a year, saving about $1.99/month. 

For students, Paramount+ will give you a 25% discount.

Most channels: FuboTV Opens in a new window Credit: FuboTV FuboTV Pro plan 7-day free trial, then $79.99/month Get Deal

With FuboTV, new subscribers can enjoy a seven-day free trial and more than 250 live TV channels, along with the ability to simultaneously stream on 10 devices. College sports fans who want access to CBS for matchups such as the Kansas Jayhawks vs. Iowa State Cyclones men’s basketball game will want the FuboTV Pro tier, which has a rate of $79.99 per month. 

FuboTV’s sports channel offerings include ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, CBS, CBS Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, Fox, FS1, FS2, Golf Network, Marquee Sports Network, Monumental Sports, NBC, NBCSN, NFL Network, Pac-12 Network, and SEC Network. 

SAVE $100: The Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar is now on sale for $799, down from $899, at Amazon for a limited time. That's a discount of 11%.

Opens in a new window Credit: Bose Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar $799 at Amazon (save $100) Get Deal

You don't need to go to the movie theater to feel like you're part of the action in your favorite films. With the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar, you can experience fully immersive sound from the comfort of your living room.

As of today, Jan. 26, the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar is on sale for $799. That's $100 less than its usual price of $899. This marks a return to the soundbar's lowest price, which we first saw over the holiday shopping season. While the soundbar is still an investment even with the 11% savings, if you're ready to pull the trigger you'll want to act on this limited-time deal now before it jumps back up to full price.

SEE ALSO: January 2024 TV deals include a ton of Samsung QLEDs that keep getting cheaper and cheaper

The powerful soundbar is equipped with Dolby Atmos and Bose TrueSpace technology, which work together to fill your room with sound by separating sounds and directing them to different parts of the room. All the while, the sound keeps its integrity and is ultra-clear — especially when it comes to dialogue, which is balanced by the A.I.-supported dialogue mode.

Despite its sophistication, the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar is easy to use. There's no complicated setup; simply connect to your TV with Bluetooth or the included audio cable and start rediscovering your favorite shows and films immediately.

Upgrade your home entertainment system and save $100 when you shop the Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar today.

SAVE $150.99: Dyson's slimmest hard-floor vacuum, the Omni-Glide, is on sale for just $199 at Amazon as of Jan. 26. That's a 43% discount and its lowest price to date.

Opens in a new window Credit: Dyson Dyson Omni-Glide cordless vacuum $199 at Amazon (save $150.99) Get Deal

If you've always wanted a Dyson vacuum, but scoff at the typical prices, we've found a deal for you. The brand's slimmest hard-floor cordless vacuum is currently sitting at less than $200 at Amazon just waiting for you to nab it.

Typically $349.99, the Dyson Omni-Glide is on sale for just $199 at Amazon as of Jan. 26. Not only is that a 43% discount from its MSRP, but it's also the lowest price we've ever seen on this model. It previously dropped to $216.99 around the holidays, but this is the first time it's broken through the $200 barrier. You can also pick up the vacuum for just 99 cents more at the Dyson website at the time of writing.

SEE ALSO: This week's best robot vacuum deals include almost every Roomba and the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra

The Omni-Glide certainly isn't the biggest and baddest Dyson on the block, but it does the job. It weighs just over four pounds and is designed to swivel in all directions. Plus, its compact form allows it to lie flat, so you can reach all those nooks and crannies your bulkier vacuum can't get to. Its soft nylon brush bars capture large debris, while the anti-static, carbon fiber filaments take on the finer dust and allergen particles, making it a solid match for hard floors. It may not be the best for deep cleaning, but it's a gem for quick pick-ups.

Wondering how to watch college basketball this season? Here are your best options: Most affordable Sling TV Orange Plan $20 for the first month, then $40/month (save $20 ) Get Deal BEST FOR SINGLE GAME FuboTV Pro plan 7-day free trial, then $79.99/month Get Deal

The North Carolina Tar Heels and Florida State men’s basketball teams are scheduled to meet in an Atlantic Coast Conference contest at the Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Florida, on Saturday, Jan. 27. The game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. ET. 

UNC, ranked No. 3 in The Associated Press poll, enters the matchup 16-3 overall and 8-0 in the ACC. Most recently, the Tar Heels defeated Wake Forest 85-64 on Monday. Through the first 19 games of the season, RJ Davis leads North Carolina by scoring 21 points per game. 

FSU comes into the contest 12-7 overall and 6-2 in the ACC. On Tuesday, Florida State beat Syracuse 85-69. Jamir Watkins leads FSU in scoring at 13.9 points per contest after the first 19 contests. 

SEE ALSO: How to watch college basketball without cable

Hubert Davis is the North Carolina Tar Heels men’s basketball head coach. Leonard Hamilton is the Florida State men’s basketball head coach. 

UNC vs. FSU basketball game time and network

The North Carolina vs. Florida State men’s basketball game is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 27. ESPN broadcasters for the game are scheduled to be Kevin Brown (play-by-play) and Debbie Antonelli (analyst).

If you don’t have cable or satellite TV, online live-streaming platforms such as FuboTV and Sling offer alternatives for enjoying the game.

Best streaming services for the FSU vs. North Carolina basketball game 

If you’ve gotten rid of cable and satellite TV, you'll need a streaming platform. To see Saturday’s Florida State vs. North Carolina men’s basketball game, here are the top streaming solutions available to you.

Most affordable: Sling TV Opens in a new window Credit: Sling Sling Orange Plan $20 for the first month, then $40/month Get Deal

Sling TV's $55/month package provides 46 channels, catering to the needs of college basketball fans and includes ESPN coverage of showdowns like FSU vs. North Carolina men’s basketball. Newcomers to Sling TV enjoy a $27.50 rate for the first month. 

If you’re looking to just watch the UNC vs. Florida State game, the Orange Plan includes ESPN and is available at $20 for the first month, followed by $40 monthly.

Sling TV’s sports channel offerings include ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNews, ESPNU, Fox, FS1, FS2, NBC, NFL Network, Pac-12 Network and SEC Network.

Best for single game: FuboTV Opens in a new window Credit: FuboTV FuboTV Pro plan 7-day free trial, then $79.99/month Get Deal

You can try FuboTV free for seven days and explore its extensive selection of more than 250 live TV channels. If you’re a college basketball fan, the Pro package costs $79.99 per month after the free trial, with channels like ESPN to watch the UNC Tar Heels vs. Florida State men’s basketball game.  

FuboTV’s sports channel offerings include ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, CBS, CBS Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, Fox, FS1, FS2, Golf Network, Marquee Sports Network, Monumental Sports, NBC, NBCSN, NFL Network, Pac-12 Network, and SEC Network. 

Honor's Magic V2, the super-thin foldable smartphone that launched in July 2023 in China, is now available in Europe.

While the wait has been a long one, the Magic V2 still has the honor (no pun intended) of being the world's thinnest inward-folding smartphone, at just 4.7 millimeters of thickness when unfolded and 9.9 millimeters of thickness when folded. For comparison, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 5 measures 6.1 millimeters when unfolded, and 13.4 millimeters when folded.

Honor was able to achieve this feat by using a new generation silicon-carbon-dual-battery, which holds a capacity of 5,000mAh in a body that's just 2.72 millimeters thick, on average.

Honor Magic V2 will initially be available in Europe in two colors: Purple and Black. Credit: Honor

The rest of the specs are top notch as well. On the back, there's a triple camera system with a 50-megapixel main sensor, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide sensor, and a 20-megapixel telephoto camera. There's also a dual, 16-megapixel camera setup on the front.

The display is a 7.92-inch OLED with a 120Hz refresh rate, 1600 nits of brightness, and a 2,156x2,344 pixel resolution. It's coupled with a 6.43-inch, OLED cover display with 2500 nits of brightness and a 2,060x2,376 pixel resolution.

Honor was able to make the Magic V2 very slim by using a new generation, super-thin battery. Credit: Honor

The Magic V2 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, coupled with 16GB of RAM, and up to 1TB of storage.

Other notable specs include a stereo speaker system, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, and 66W wired charging.

The price matches the specs, unfortunately. The Honor Magic V2 will be available starting today through Honor's website, in Purple and Black colors, for €1,999.

SEE ALSO: Apple takes the smartphone market crown for the first time

There will also be a more luxurious, Porsche Design Honor Magic V2 RSR variant. We don't have the pricing for that one yet, but will update this article when we do.

Another day, another recall for Tesla, but it's also another one of those recalls which don't really require the customers to do anything besides update their car's software.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Tesla is recalling up to 199,575 Model S, Model X, and Model Y vehicles. In particular, these are 2023 models equipped with Tesla's Full Self Driving (FSD) 4.0 system, and running software versions 2023.44.30 through 2023.44.30.6 or 2023.44.100.

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk confirms: Tesla to build new, cheap model in 2025

The culprit is a software instability that could prevent the rearview camera image from displaying, which can be quite an inconvenience. "If the condition is present, the rearview camera display will appear blank when the vehicle is shifted to Reverse," the NHTSA's Safety Recall Report says. "Unavailability of the rearview camera display upon starting a backing event may affect the driver’s rear visibility and increase the risk of a collision."

The NHTSA says, however, that Tesla has already released a free software update that fixes the issue. Affected customers will get a notification by mail starting March 22. Yes, that's two months from now. No, it doesn't make a lot of sense.

According to NHTSA's document, Tesla users started sending complaints about the issue in December 2023, and the company decided to do a recall on Jan. 12, 2023. Per the report, Tesla claims it is not aware of any crashes, injuries or deaths related to this particular bug.

Tesla recalls happen quite often; the last big one we remember was the company recalling more than 2 million cars in December over autopilot issues. Most of these, however, were due to software issues which Tesla was able to fix remotely, with an over-the-air software update.

Being a woman online is scary. In the digital world, as in the real world, harassment and abuse affects women and people of marginalised genders every day.

What happened to Taylor Swift this week is a prime — and terrifying — example. AI-generated, pornographic images of Swift went viral on X (formerly Twitter), with one such post garnering over than 45 million views. Outraged fans quickly intervened, flooding the platform with positive posts and images of the singer attached to search terms like "Taylor Swift AI" and "Taylor Swift deepfake". Swift's dedicated fanbase also got the hashtag #ProtectTaylorSwift trending, with thousands of posts condemning the nonconsensual images.

Tweet may have been deleted

The incident certainly isn't an isolated one. Swift, one of the most recognizable figures on the planet, is the latest to have deepfakes weaponized against her. This has happened to K-pop stars, TikTok creators, journalists, and high school girls.

SEE ALSO: Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez deepfakes used in Le Creuset giveaway scam What is deepfake porn?

Deepfake porn is artificially-created images or videos generated by a specific kind of machine learning. These synthetic visuals depict people's likenesses superimposed into sexual acts without their consent. The act of sharing it is a form of image-based sexual abuse, and has been criminalized in some countries. Much like revenge porn, deepfake porn has caused harm for those it depicts, whether psychologically, personally, or professionally.

A 2023 study from Home Security Heroes, a research firm focusing on identity theft and digital harm, found that deepfake porn makes up 98 percent of all deepfake videos online. Further, 99 percent of deepfake targets are women.

Where does the law stand on deepfake porn?

When it comes to nonconsensual sharing of explicit images, some countries worldwide have or are implementing laws to protect survivors.

In England and Wales, sharing deepfake porn has been criminalized since June 2023, with the UK government announcing a crackdown on "abusers, predators and bitter ex-partners who share intimate images online without consent of those depicted."

In the U.S., 48 states and the District of Columbia currently have anti-revenge porn laws. Some states have been working to update their language to include deepfake porn under this umbrella, including Illinois, Virginia, New York, and California. However, regulations vary by state and, as some have pointed out, certain laws don't include the pressing issue of technology's role in the creation and proliferation of such images and videos.

However, many governments are failing to tackle the problem. "Most governments aren’t taking action. Most don’t have laws, or their laws are full of loopholes," according to #MyImageMyChoice, a campaign dedicated to amplifying the voices of those who have encountered image-based sexual abuse. "Most countries don’t have a framework around who is responsible for policing online spaces."

How has Big Tech approached this problem?

X, where the pictures of Swift have been distributed widely, explicitly forbids sharing "synthetic, manipulated, or out-of-context media." This includes content that deliberately intends to "deceive people" or those that falsely claim to depict reality. The company says it has a "a zero-tolerance policy towards such content", according to a post from its official safety account.

Tweet may have been deleted

Other platforms, like Reddit, also have policies preventing the sharing of intimate or sexually-explicit media without a person's consent.

Social media platforms and Big Tech have been put to the test when it comes to detecting and preventing deepfakes, despite policies. In 2021, Meta implemented a new tool to do so, partnering with the UK Revenge Porn Helpline's platform StopNCII.org. More recently, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram announced that any digitally-altered images pertaining to social, electoral, and political issues must be labelled — a policy intended to protect upcoming elections that some of the world's biggest democracies are gearing up towards.

SEE ALSO: Google's new AI video generator is great — but what about deepfakes?

Many platforms struggle to contain such content. The images of Swift, notably, were created and spread on a Telegram group chat, as discovered by 404Media. Telegram has failed to prevent this kind of content in the past. Others have too: just this month, NBC News found that nonconsensual deepfake porn featuring the likeness of female celebrities appears at the top of search engines like Google and Microsoft’s Bing.

Here's the real question: how does this keep happening? The alarming reality is that AI-generated images are becoming more pervasive, and presenting new dangers to those they depict. Exacerbating this issue is murky legal ground, social media platforms that have failed to foster effective safeguards, and the ongoing rise of artificial intelligence. International women's rights organization Equality Now detailed these factors in a January 2024 report, calling for "urgent and comprehensive responses from technological innovation, legal reform, and societal awareness" to tackle the undeniable rise of deepfake porn.

The circumstances surrounding Swift's case highlights the reality that this can happen to just about anyone – and before this kind of digital crisis worsens, it's time for a change.

If you have experienced sexual abuse, if you are based in the U.S., 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. If you have had intimate images shared without your consent, call the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative’s 24/7 hotline at 844-878-2274 for free, confidential support. The CCRI website also includes helpful information as well as a list of international resources.

If you are based in the UK and have experienced intimate image abuse (aka revenge porn), you can contact the Revenge Porn Helpline on 0345 6000 459. If you have experienced sexual violence and are based in the UK, call the Rape Crisis helpline 0808 802 9999.

The estate of late comedian George Carlin is suing the creators of a comedy "special" that used AI to recreate his persona.

Posted on YouTube in early January, the AI-generated George Carlin: I'm Glad I'm Dead was scripted and presented by comedy AI Dudesy, steered by humans Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen. The hour-long video doesn't actually feature the real comedian, who died in 2008. Instead, it's an AI-generated impersonation of Carlin talking about "the topics I think the comedy legend would be talking about today." Currently, the video has over half a million views.

The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles, accuses the video's creators of copyright infringement, saying they didn't have permission to use Carlin's likeness or material, including his albums and comedy standup specials, which the AI was trained on. The lawsuit describes the video as "computer-generated click-bait which detracts from the value of Carlin’s comedic works and harms his reputation."

"It is a casual theft of a great American artist’s work," it reads.

SEE ALSO: AI George Carlin releases comedy special that real George Carlin would've despised

In the filing, Carlin's estate also said the AI-generated video "may also deter younger audiences, who are unfamiliar with George Carlin, from engaging with his real work that is his legacy," and that the creators also infringed on copyright in their promotion of the "special" on the Dudesy podcast and its social media accounts.

The estate is suing for damages and demands the creators take down the video from all platforms and destroy any copies.

"The Dudesy Special is a bastardization of Carlin’s real work and his legacy," reads the filing. "George Carlin, if he were alive today, may well have commented upon the topics discussed in the Dudesy Special, but he would have had control over what those comments were."

"The Dudesy Special is a bastardization of Carlin’s real work and his legacy."

In the video in question, the AI claims the impersonation is "developed in the exact same way a human impressionist would...I listened to all of George Carlin's material and did my best to imitate his voice, cadence, and attitude as well as the subject matter I think would have interested him today." As Mashable's Tim Marcin writes, "The Dudesy special is a voice-accurate copy of Carlin, not adding context but rather trying to resurrect a ghost. It's a weird, less funny version of Carlin."

Carlin's daughter, Kelly, posted a thread on Twitter/X following the video's release. "My dad spent a lifetime perfecting his craft from his very human life, brain and imagination. No machine will ever replace his genius," she wrote.

Tweet may have been deleted

The lawsuit is just the latest fiasco in AI and copyright and follows the major conversations around AI and writers sitting at the heart of the recent Hollywood strikes.

Sydney Sweeney has taken on intense high school drama, intense vacation drama, and intense convent drama — so it's really no surprise that isn't too phased by a few spicy wings.

Appearing on First We Feast's Hot Ones, the actor munches through increasingly spicy wings while casually chatting about everything from the outfits in Euphoria to her favourite books.

Admittedly she does hit a bit of a wall with Da Bomb, but this only proves that she's human after all.

A photo of Japan's robotic moon lander shows that though the spacecraft did make the quarter-million-mile journey to the lunar surface, it landed upside down.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency — NASA's Japanese space counterpart known as JAXA — released the image Jan. 25, five days after it descended onto the moon. Shortly after touchdown, the mission team for SLIM — short for Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon — realized the spacecraft's solar panels weren't making electricity.

Seeing the golden ship in such a precarious position, yet somehow not shattered into pieces, comes as perhaps a startling reminder of just how difficult it is to get on the lunar surface, even 60 years after the first uncrewed moon landings.

SEE ALSO: Here are the 2024 space moments you won't want to miss Tweet may have been deleted

Face-planting on the moon wasn't part of the plan, but the JAXA team said data confirms the spacecraft achieved its main goal of a so-called "pinpoint landing" — that is, a landing with an accuracy of less than 100 meters, or under 100 yards. Given that most landing targets are many square-miles in scope, this demonstrates an unprecedented level of precision. The lander was at most 10 meters off its mark, according to space agency officials, which is comparable to 11 yards or less.

"The pinpoint landing performance was evaluated to be at approximately 10m or less, possibly about 3 - 4m," according to JAXA in a statement.

Japan is the fifth nation to land on the moon, following the former Soviet Union, the United States, China, and India. But JAXA controllers soon realized after the landing that their mission was in peril, with the spacecraft quickly losing battery life.

The SLIM spacecraft's navigation camera snaps a photo of the terrain. JAXA rotated the image so that it would appear right side up. Credit: JAXA

Because of the lander's now-apparent inverted position, its solar panels weren't oriented correctly to generate power, according to the space agency. The team elected to conserve power by shutting down the spacecraft about 2.5 hours after landing.

What's perhaps as surprising as the photo of the lander is how it was taken. Two small rovers separated from the crewless mothership just prior to touchdown. It was one of these baseball-sized robots that was able to snap the image of the spacecraft with its head in the moondust.

The rover, built with the help of Japanese toy maker Takara Tomy, is a sphere that splits in half to expose a pair of cameras that point front and back. The two hemispheres also become the rover wheels.

An onboard rover camera scans the lunar surface. Credit: JAXA / RITSUMEIKAN UNIVERSITY / THE UNIVERSITY OF AIZU

"The company is perhaps most famous for originally creating the Transformers, the alien robots that can disguise themselves as machines," said Elizabeth Tasker, who provided commentary on the moon landing in English on Jan. 20.

The space agency still isn't entirely sure what went wrong. At about 55 yards above the ground, the spacecraft performed an obstacle avoidance maneuver, part of the pinpoint-landing demonstration. Just prior to this step, one of the two main engines stopped thrusting, throwing the lander's orientation off. JAXA is continuing to investigate what caused the engine problem.

Landing on the moon remains onerous, with less than half of attempts succeeding. The moon's exosphere — an extremely thin atmosphere of gasses barely held by the moon's gravity — provides virtually no drag to slow a spacecraft down as it approaches the ground. Furthermore, there are no GPS systems on the moon to help guide a craft to its landing spot.

In a close-up view of lunar ground, rocks are labeled with names, including "Bulldog" and "Toy Poodle," to help differentiate them. Credit: JAXA

For the pinpoint landing, the SLIM spacecraft was outfitted with photo-matching technology to determine its location. The matching algorithm only requires a few seconds to figure out where the spacecraft is and whether it needs to correct its course.

Despite the fact that the spacecraft is now sleeping, the SLIM team hasn't lost hope for a recovery. With solar panels facing west, the lander still has a chance of catching some rays and generating power. If the angle of sunlight changes, SLIM could still be awakened, mission officials said.

That would have to happen soon, though. Night will fall on the moon on Feb. 1, bringing about freezing temperatures. The spacecraft was not built to withstand those conditions.

This content originally appeared on Mashable for a US audience and has been adapted for the UK audience.

We love a good party as much as anyone, but the logistics of trying to get to know someone in a packed basement over thumping tunes while everyone is doing shots in the corner are a bit challenging. It's not exactly the prime environment for romance.

Dating apps are the saving grace of university students everywhere. Whether you’re serious about finding someone, or just looking for a quick hookup, you may just need the right app.

After all, everyone’s doing it. 

Why should you consider using dating sites?

Yes, you can still find love in the real world, because meeting in bars, clubs, parks, and other romantic locations still happens every day. By subscribing to a dating site, you're simply shortening your odds of finding someone special.

Dating sites and apps let you put your information out there to a massive network of potential dates. Plus, you can save a lot of time, energy, and cash by testing out a potential relationship on an app before meeting in real life.

Do you need to pay for the best dating apps?

The good news is that are absolutely loads of free dating sites and apps out there, and the likes of Tinder and Hinge are seriously popular options with students. Most of the biggest and best dating sites also have free versions with limitations on certain features. So you can easily enter the online dating game without spending anything.

As with most things in life, you get what you pay for with dating sites and apps. For the best experience with the greatest possibility of finding exactly what you're looking for, the best option is probably not a free app. We're sorry to break it to you, but the best dating sites don't come cheap. Of course you can still find a date with a free app, but if you're looking for compatibility tests, chat rooms, videos, and a greater level of control, we recommend upgrading.

What should you consider before using a dating app?

It probably seems obvious, but the first rule of online dating is to just be yourself. It's all too easy to pretend to be someone you're not online, but that kind of catfishing game won't garner you a true connection. By being yourself and presenting yourself accurately and honestly, you open yourself up to the possibility of a great relationship with someone who likes you just the way you are. And isn't that the whole point of dating?

Don't be afraid to make the first move. Forget all those outdated rules that say a man is supposed to make the first move or that a woman can't pay on a first date. Instead, focus on finding an equal partner who helps support your goals, wants to see you succeed, and has dreams of their own.

SEE ALSO: The best dating sites and apps for women

Get a bit more creative with your messaging than the standard "Hey." If you're looking to connect with someone on campus, then open up the conversation with a question about them and a little bit about yourself. Messaging someone is more discussion group than lecture hall — it's about passing the conversation back and forth. 

Once you decide to meet up — which is the entire point, after all — stay open. We often come up with an idea for how someone will be after meeting them online, and it's rare that your expectations sync up with reality. Allow yourself to really get to know this person for who they are rather than who you thought they would be before you make up your mind.

That said, it's crucial that you're honest. If you really don't feel a connection, then do the right thing and tell them. A good line to use is something like, "I've really enjoyed meeting you but I think there are probably better people out there for both of us." Not only will they appreciate your direct approach, but it will alleviate that post-date awkwardness of wondering where you stand. Ghosting sucks for everyone. Just be up front and save each of you a lot of discomfort.

On the other hand, what if you really do like them after finally meeting in person? Then what? Set up your next date while you're still hanging out. That old rule about waiting three days to call? It's dead. RIP outdated dating rules. Make plans to do something low-key, and for the first few dates make sure the plans are to meet in a public place. The benefits of making a date to do an activity cannot be overstated. It provides you with ample conversation starters and gives you an opportunity to get a little competitive and joke around. Some playful teasing goes a long way. And remember: It's all about having fun.

What is the best dating app for university students?

At this point there are dating apps for every niche you can think of, whether you're into gaming, geek culture, or focusing on your career — there are people seeking the same things you are. As a university student, you have specific needs and probably don't want to wade through all the older people trying to get married. You need dating apps that are specifically good for uni-aged people.

To help you find the perfect dating app, we’ve tracked down the best options for whatever kind of university experience you want, including leading sites like eharmony, Match, and AdultFriendFinder.

These are the best dating apps for students in 2024.

This content originally appeared on Mashable for a US audience and has been adapted for the UK audience.

There are three realisations you come to once you enter the real world as a working adult: 

1. A 9 to 5 job is rarely ever just 9 to 5.

2. Your free time is pretty limited.

3. Dating kinda sucks.

The social freedoms you enjoyed before joining the rat race take a hit once you're a working professional. Unfortunately for singles, this can be hazardous for your dating life. 

There is no need to despair though, because you can have the best of both worlds with the help of a dating site.

Should working professionals consider dating sites?

For busy professionals, the idea of "finding someone" might seem like a daunting task. With deadlines, work dinners, and meetings galore, trying to meet someone often falls to the very end of your to do list. If you're an introvert as it is, your social meter is way too drained from small talk with colleagues to even think about introducing yourself to a cute random. This is why dating apps were invented though: to make online dating way easier, enabling you to use your free time wisely. 

SEE ALSO: The best dating sites and apps for women

Being a single, working professional is actually kind of a weird time: Somehow, you can have the career and money part of your life so together while the love part is a flaming pile of garbage. While the gist of online dating is easy, finding someone who's also goal-oriented and will understand your lifestyle can be tricky. Not every dating app will make sense for career-focused folks, but looking at things like user base, requirements to sign up, and overall vibe of the app can up your chances of finding what you're looking for. Most dating apps have a section to write in your job or career, which makes it easier to weed out people who don't quite match your goals or lifestyle.

Do you need to pay for the best dating apps?

There are a lot of free dating sites and apps out there, and the likes of Tinder and Hinge are seriously popular options with massive networks of users. Plus, most of the biggest and best dating sites have free versions with limitations on certain features. So yes, you can easily enter the online dating game without spending anything. There are levels to this game though, and sometimes free apps just don't cut it.

This won't be a surprise to hear, but you get what you pay for with dating sites and apps. For the best experience with the greatest possibility of finding exactly what you're looking for, you are going to have to cough up the cash. We're sorry to break it to you, but the best dating sites don't come cheap.

What is the best dating site for working professionals?

Whether it's something casual or a long-term relationship that you want, there's an app that will make your search a whole lot easier. We found that with sites like EliteSingles, eharmony, and Match, the initial output (such as the lengthy sign up and/or membership fee) is worth it for the return. After all, those who are willing to pay the price for love are clearly serious, unlike some swipe-based free apps where the likelihood of even meeting up in real life can be slim to none.

The good news is that there are plenty of other options out there for working professionals, so you should always be able to find something that ticks your boxes. We've lined up a selection of dating sites to suit every dater and budget. You just need to pick a favourite from the bunch.

These are the best dating sites for working professionals in 2024.

You can't have Percy Jackson and the Olympians without monsters from Greek mythology, and you can't have monsters from Greek mythology without Medusa.

The iconic, snake-headed figure of Medusa (Jessica Parker Kennedy) appears in the third episode of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Like every monster in the series, from the Minotaur to Cerberus, she presented a unique set of challenges for the show's team.

"How do you take something that has a history of interpretations back to clay pots and find something new to do with it that doesn't break it?" asked executive producer Jon Steinberg on a video call with Mashable.

SEE ALSO: How is 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians' different from the books?

Guidance came from Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson books. "The voice that the Percy Jackson universe has helps point you in the right direction," Steinberg continued. "Everything feels scary and grounded and real, but it also has a bit of a wink through it. That was always the target with all of the monsters, to try to figure out where their humanity was."

That emphasis on humanity comes through even in the pilot episode, when Sally Jackson (Virginia Kull) tells a young Percy (Azriel Dalman) that not everyone who looks like a monster is a monster. It's that thinking that leads Percy (Walker Scobell) to initially give Medusa a chance.

She presents herself as an ally to him, Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries), and Grover (Aryan Simhadri), as opposed to outright trying to petrify them like she does in the books. She even shares her side of her transformation myth, revealing that she was a victim of Poseidon's advances. "There's a turn that happens there, where the more you invest in her story at the beginning as a victim, the more complicated it gets for Percy to kill her," Steinberg said.

Jessica Parker Kennedy in "Percy Jackson and the Olympians." Credit: Disney / David Bukach

All the complication and realistic humanity of Medusa as a character also had to come through visually — even in the nest of snakes coiled around her head. "We never really wanted the snakes to give a performance. They weren't going to stare at Percy and hiss in unison; that started to feel like you're in a cartoon," Steinberg said. "There was something interesting about the idea that part of the immortal torture of Medusa is that it's really annoying to have snakes on your head. You want to feel the sense of how uncomfortable that must be. So that requires them to be messy and to feel real."

From there, the visual effects team at Industrial Light and Magic, including visual effects supervisors Erik Henry and Jeff White, set about creating and animating the snakes. This wasn't Henry's first time working with snakes: He worked as a visual effects supervisor on 2006's Snakes on a Plane.

SEE ALSO: Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition review: The upgrade is worth the money

"He had deep, deep experience with what it takes to make a snake look real," Steinberg said. "And I think from the get-go that [Medusa] was probably the effect that kept him up at night, because a snake moves strangely: the way its muscles move, the way gravity applies to all those mechanics. It's really easy for that illusion to break down, so a lot of effort went into every snake on her head."

"It took a lot of time," added executive producer Dan Shotz. "Not only the specifics of each snake, but how they interact with each other, how they connect. You're also helped by doing it in the dark. A lot of that scene takes place in the dark, but it also makes it a lot more challenging to pull the details out so that you can really, really feel it and see it."

As with every visual effect, the process of creating Medusa's snakes went through several stages. Check out an exclusive clip of the animatic process for our first up-close look at Medusa's hair, as well as a look at concept art for Medusa's lair below:

Concept art for Medusa's lair. Credit: Disney+

As for the monsters a potential Season 2 might hold, what are Shotz and Steinberg most excited or worried about?

"I feel the same way about Tyson the Cyclops that I did about Medusa, which is that that's a hard man to make feel real," Steinberg said of Percy's half-brother, who first appears in The Sea of Monsters. "And not just to make real as a creature, but so much of the emotional weight of that story rests on Tyson shoulders. So if every time you look at him you're not fully immersed in his humanity, it won't work."

"When I think about the potential of making Season 2, I think about never sleeping," Shotz said. "We tease Rick all the time like, 'You didn't make this easy, man!' Every season is doubling down on the season that came before.

"But I think what's also so exciting about the story is all of the worlds," Shotz continued. "Being able to go to these different places, it never gets stale."

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is now streaming on Disney+.

As Generation X and elder millennials are tramping into middle age, we look back on our youth achingly aware of how fast some things change. This is particularly true for queer folks in these groups. All of Us Strangers uniquely speaks to this experience through a ghost story that offers humor, heartbreak, and an unapologetic horniness in leading men Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott. But beyond their tear-jerking romance, writer/director Andrew Haigh's adaptation of Taichi Yamada's novel Strangers offers a gift to generations of queer people who grew up in the shadow of the AIDS crisis and so found coming out to our parents difficult, if not impossible.

Set in modern-day England, All of Us Strangers stars Andrew Scott as Adam, a screenwriter who is looking back at his youth for inspiration. Specifically, he focuses on the days before his parents died in a car accident when he was 11 years old. His research includes a journey to his childhood home, which seems to resurrect the ghosts of his parents preserved in that house like mosquitoes in amber.

From there, he gets to know Mum (Claire Foy) and Dad (Jamie Bell) as grown-ups, and they get to know him. And a major part of this exchange is his parents — who remain as they were in the 1980s — realizing that their son is "homosexual."

It's a journey studded with hurt, but its destination is a place many of us aspire to reach. 

How does All of Us Strangers handle coming out? Claire Foy and Andrew Scott in "All of Us Strangers" tackle coming out. Credit: Searchlight Pictures

As Mum and Dad died before Adam's 12th birthday, this child of the '80s didn't come out to them while they lived — yet there's a sense they know. Upon the family's initial supernatural reunion, queer audiences will recognize some code words in their reminiscing. Mum notes, "You've always been a sensitive boy," evoking the phrase so many parents of that time used to avoid using words like "gay." But when Adam returns later and talks to her alone, she brightly asks if he has a girlfriend. The conversation quickly goes downhill from there.

Adam takes the opportunity to say it outright: "I don't have a girlfriend because I'm not into girls, into women…I'm gay." His mother, previously full of warmth and smiles, is now fidgety and perturbed. She utters phrases that sting queer ears with their familiarity, asking for how long he's been that way and insisting, "You don't look gay." (Adam replies kindly, "I don’t know what that means.") With a sharp tone, she asks if he wants to be married and then huffs over the very idea, "Isn’t that like having your cake and eating it?" She also trots out the age-old fear tactic: "They say it's a very lonely kind of life."  

"They don't say that anymore," Adam says, visibly annoyed but trying to comfort her as she practically shrieks over AIDs without even saying the word, referring to "this awful ghastly disease." Adam gently but firmly defends himself, but he's wounded. Especially when he asks if she'd ever suspected, and she answers, "What parent wants to think that about their child? No parent I know." 

It's not the last thing she'll say, but it's among the most cutting. He’s visibly shaken by his mother's fear. Then, she practically kicks him out of the house, but not before offering him some flapjacks to go. She is still his Mum after all, can't let him go hungry.

Dad jokes and gender norms trip up Adam.  Jamie Bell plays Dad in "All of Us Strangers." Credit: Searchlight Pictures

Next comes Dad, who’s already been told by Mum. So when Adam visits again, his father is ready, offering dad jokes about how he always knew the boy was "a bit tooty fruity" because he "couldn't throw a ball for shit."

But their heart-to-heart gets serious when Dad admits he figured Adam was being bullied because he could hear the boy cry in his room after school. After 30 years, Adam tells his father about the abuse he endured in school for being the "sensitive" boy. And he challenges Dad, "Why didn’t you come into my room if you heard me crying?" 

Andrew Scott's delivery of this line is edged with anger, though his voice is soft. There's a raw need just below his calm surface, begging to understand and to be understood by the father who made him self-conscious about his masculinity, chiding him to not "cross his legs like a lady" when he sits down. 

Enforcing such gender norms may have seemed minor or helpful to our parents, but many LGBTQ people can recall the jolt of crossing a line they didn't know existed. The confusion it sparked could fester into shame and self-loathing for failing to fit in the box our parents put before us. And in this conversation, the surge of those feelings comes back for Adam and for us.

Then comes a moment shocking in its simplicity. Dad drops the jokes that are his shield against emotional honesty and says, "I didn’t want to think of you as the kind of boy that other lads picked on. I knew that if I was at your school, I’d have probably picked on you too."

It's a shocking revelation. Yet Jamie Bell delivers these lines not with disgust or scorn but a casual resignation, as if this father is realizing the truth as he says it. As their conversation continues, the recognition of how he failed his son weighs on him, literally dragging him down into the pose of The Thinker. Adam tries to comfort him, by recalling "good memories too." But Dad tears up, offering, "I’m sorry I never came into your room when I heard you crying." 

How many of us get to experience this moment in real life? This emotional honesty from a parent, recognizing where they failed us? Some parents may take years to reach such an epiphany. Some die first. Dad did. And yet Adam is gifted solace, which he shares with us. When Dad asks for a hug — the same man who earlier chided affection between father and son as "poofy" — we can practically feel the warmth of that embrace.

All of Us Strangers offers forgiveness.  Jamie Bell, Andrew Scott, and Claire Foy play a family in "All of Us Strangers." Credit: Searchlight Pictures

Mum's apology will come on their next visit, when the family decorates the Christmas tree like they did on their last night living together. They listen to the Pet Shop Boys' cover of "Always on My Mind," and Mum sings along, looking meaningfully at Adam. 

"And maybe I didn't hold you / All those lonely, lonely times / And I guess I never told you / I’m so happy that you're mine / If I made you feel second best / I’m so sorry I was blind..." 

Without a word, he forgives her. That night, he will curl into their bed as if he is 11 again, adored and accepted. But this time, they know who he is. Not just gay, but grown and lonely and creative and sensitive and forgiving. And through these visits, he knows them not just as Dad and Mum but as grown-ups just as complicated and confused and flawed as he is. But this is not their ending.

All of Us Strangers offers a farewell to remember.  Jamie Bell, Andrew Scott, and Claire Foy say goodbye in "All of Us Strangers." Credit: Searchlight Pictures

Realizing their time together is coming to a close, Andrew’s parents say the things we yearn to hear. In their final visit, they urge him to pursue love. But moreover, Dad proclaims, "I will say that getting to know you has made us very proud...You've got through it, some very tough times, I'm sure. And you're still here. That’s what we're proud of."

Adam is not a massive success in his career. He doesn't have a spouse and kids and a big house in the suburbs. He hasn't achieved the perfect picture his suburban parents had in mind for him. But he's still standing. His parents see him now, and they love him in his imperfection, in his incompleteness, in his figuring it out. This might be the kind of proclamation some straight dads can only have on their deathbed. Here, it's had in a tacky America-themed restaurant. And yet it is perfectly cathartic. We cry with Adam as his parents fade away, not only because they're gone but because we got to know them and see them know him. It's a treasure that feels like it is ours too. 

Admittedly, this is only half of the story in All of Us Strangers. The other half is the electrifying love story between Adam and his younger, lusty neighbor Harry (a scorching Paul Mescal). But one informs the other. Now able to believe his parents know and love him, he is ready to open himself to the love of another without reservation. But no love is perfect; all relationships are messy. I could go on for another thousand words about the thrills of this particular gay love story. ("I found you!") But maybe even more than queer audiences yearn for a sexy romance between Mescal and Scott, we year for the catharsis this film's bittersweet final act offers. 

Director Andrew Haigh on the set of "All of Us Strangers." Credit: Searchlight Pictures

All of Us Strangers feels deeply personal in every moment. Scott plays the part of Adam shorn of the cocky bravado he had as Fleabag's Hot Priest or as Sherlock's menacing Moriarty. He's so nakedly vulnerable onscreen that it feels almost rude to watch him here. Haigh's own experiences not only breathe life into the domestic dialogue, but he even shot the film in his actual childhood home. Perhaps that adds to the magic of those scenes with Dad and Mum.  

Overall, the arc from queer-coded words to coming out to hurt and healing is extraordinary in All of Us Strangers. Andrew Scott and Andrew Haigh take us by the hand and guide us through the hard moments, the cutting dad jokes, and beyond — to a parent recognizing their own fallibility. The apologies that follow may seem insufficient if you explained it to a friend over brunch. But in that moment, in that song, in that hug, you know you're speaking the same language. It's as real and undeniable as the blood you share. 

Some of us don't get this far with our parents, or if we do, it takes years or even decades. All of Us Strangers gives us this journey through a handful of visits and under two hours. The agony and ecstasy of it hits with equal measure. So, even though its ending may not be straightforwardly happy, it feels like a glorious queer victory. 

All of Us Strangers is now in theaters.

No matter the cleanliness of the user, MacBooks are prone to occasional fingerprints. Whether they're on the screen, keyboard, trackpad or the outer chassis, there are ways to clean a MacBook and make it look as good as new.

Apple itself provides tips on cleaning a MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air. Take a look at Apple’s support page if you’re interested. Apple appears to be more cognizant of how smudges affect the user experience. So much so that its latest 'Space Black' MacBook Pro features an anodization seal to resist fingerprints.

While cleaning your MacBook, make sure to indirectly use water and/or a 70-percent isopropyl alcohol (IPA) solution. The latter can usually be found by searching on Amazon, Best Buy, or a local tech shop.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Dealmed Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol 70% USP, First Aid Antiseptic $9.99 Get Deal
How to clean your MacBook

Step 1: Turn off your MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air and unplug it from its power source.

Credit: MacBook Pro

Step 2: Use a soft, damp lint-free cloth and go over the device’s exterior shell. During this process, try to remove any built-up debris on the chassis. 

Avoid getting moisture in any openings and creases.

Step 3: To clean the MacBook’s display, use a lint-free cloth. Only use water to dampen it beforehand. Avoid getting water directly on the screen. Gently use the cloth to get rid of smudges and streaks.

Step 4: Go over the exterior and MacBook screen with a lint-free cloth moistened by your 70-percent IPA solution if smudges persist. Again, gently wipe the MacBook.

Credit: Oscar Wong/Getty Images

Step 5: Finally, to clean the keyboard, use the 70-percent IPA solution or a traditional Clorox wipe. Due to the openings surrounding each keycap, ensure the cloth is damp and does not have excess liquid. 

For MacBook Pro units with the Touch Bar and Touch ID button, treat both as you would the main display. Indirectly use water and the 70-percent IPA solution if need be.

If excess liquid finds its way inside your MacBook, keep it turned off. You can then seek assistance from an Apple Authorized Service provider or Apple Store. Note that liquid damage isn’t covered under a warranty nor AppleCare.

Following the cleaning process, your MacBook should look good as new and can be powered on. 

Note: Do not clean your MacBook with an all-purpose cleaner (e.g., cleaners containing hydrogen peroxide, bleach, aerosols, etc.) Doing so may result in irreparable damage to the MacBook’s finish as well as internal components.

TL;DR: Through January 28, you can get lifetime access to Babbel Language Learning: Lifetime Subscription (All Languages) for $169.97 — that's 72% off the regular price of $599.

The hardest part of learning a new language? Arguably, it’s simply sticking with it. Too many take a class or download an app with high hopes, but not all cross the finish line of fluency. But, you might have better odds if you choose a method that adapts to your schedule, needs, and goals.

Meet Babbel, a language-learning app with engaging, challenging lessons and games that keep you motivated. They offer a lifetime subscription, which is currently discounted to $169.97 (reg. $599) through January 28.

Babbel: The starting line for a new language

Start your journey by choosing a language from 14 options, including Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Polish. Then, you’ll take a short quiz to assess your current skill level, whether you’re a total beginner or actually remember something from high school Spanish.

Babbel will also help you create weekly lesson goals — a few if you’re a casual learner or more if you’re aiming for quick fluency — and optional notifications that remind you when it’s time to come back for a lesson.

Language learning is a marathon, not a sprint

Each Babbel lesson is designed to take around 10 to 15 minutes, so you could do one each morning, over your lunch break, or during your commute. You’ll also have the option for review sessions where you choose the method from listening, flashcards, or playing skill-building mini-games. You can even practice your speaking skills with AI-powered tech that listens to your pronunciation and accent.

While the makers of Babbel think you could be speaking conversationally in as little as one month, it may take far longer to become fluent. However, there are tips and tricks to accelerate the process, like consuming immersive content or finding a learning buddy.

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Have you ever had the hots for your therapist? Or, if not a crush on your actual therapist, maybe you've just thought it would be kind of sexy to bang a therapist theoretically? If you're reading this and thinking, "Yeah, been there," you're definitely not alone. 

The 2023 instalment of Pornhub's Year In Review — their annual report telling us what porn watchers were enjoying the most throughout the year — states that therapists are essentially the new teachers when it comes to people's pornography habits.  

SEE ALSO: Porn site names the 2024 fetish of the year

Worldwide, "therapy" searches grew throughout last year on Pornhub, up a whopping 344 percent since 2022. In some Western countries, it was even a top trending search, including in Canada where therapy searches were up 566 percent, and Australia, where they were up 541 percent. 

Clearly, a lot of people are into the fantasy of therapist-patient sex, or at least interested in watching it. So, we spoke to sex therapists to understand why this kink exists and how you can play around with it in your own bedroom, if you fancy it. 

Why are so many people watching therapy porn? 

There are myriad reasons why so many people may be turning to therapy porn at the moment. Lyndsey Murray, sex therapist at Relationship Matters Therapy and co-host of the podcast Sex Positivity: Unfiltered, thinks it's partly down to the therapist-client relationship in real life. 

"It's extremely ethical and trusting. The therapist is an authority figure in a way (whether they try to be or not), and there's a given power imbalance; the therapist knows many intimate details about the client whereas the client doesn't know intimate details about their therapist," she explains to Mashable. 

"Given how the relationship is supposed to be, it can be taboo and like a fantasy to imagine having sex with your therapist, who is supposed to support you, emotionally, not have a sexual relationship with you." 

We see this a lot in the more common porn scenarios of sleeping with bosses or teachers. Almost everyone can relate to having a boss or teacher at some point, and it's a uniquely power-imbalanced relationship where sex would be forbidden. That's the perfect recipe for fantasy.

This is exactly why 30-year-old digital marketer Layla watches therapist porn. Layla and other therapy porn watchers are going by their first names only for privacy reasons. "I don't watch therapy porn all the time but I occasionally find myself searching for it and it's so hot. Just the fact that it's so wrong makes it such a turn on to think about," she tells Mashable.

27-year-old office manager Chris tells Mashable he's also into the power dynamic aspect of therapist porn.  "I've been watching therapist porn for about two years but I'd love to explore it outside of porn somehow, not with my therapist though," he says. "I just find the idea of sex with a therapist so hot — pretty much because I'm not allowed to do it!" 

This is sometimes referred to as the "forbidden fruit effect," which psychologists describe as an innate impulse for wanting things we're not allowed. In a world that can often feel full of routines and rules, the wonder of danger can feel like a fresh change, which can turn into allure. 

More therapists = more therapy porn 

Murray notes that therapy is becoming more common and less taboo. More people have a therapist today than in the past. It's hard to say exactly how many people have therapists as this isn't always recorded public information, but in 2020 and 2021, 1.46 million referrals to talking therapies were made on the National Health Service in the UK, up 24 percent from 2018. In the U.S., around 42 million people received therapy treatment in 2021 and one in five has recently received some kind of mental-health care, an increase of almost 15 million people in treatment since 2002.

That's a whole lot of people taking action and accessing the right services to help their mental health. So, we might be able to relate to having a therapist as much as we do with teachers and bosses now, and could unlock a new kink in the process. 

Layla adds that she has found herself watching therapy porn since she started going to therapy herself, but could never look at her own therapist like that. "I see him more like a parent half the time, which is maybe problematic in itself," she laughs. "I definitely couldn't look at him sexually. For me, it's definitely just a porn fantasy — not something to take seriously in real life." 

Since experiences from our daily lives can influence our kinks (and porn history), it makes sense that the more normalised therapy is, the more we might develop sexual fantasies about therapy. So, it's likely we'll see more and more love for therapists on porn sites as the years go on. 

What about real-life therapist fantasies?

People may experience an attraction to therapists offline as well. Murray explains that this is common. "In real life, clients can [develop] feelings for their therapist or even feel like they are falling in love with them; they are in a vulnerable state, and their therapist is someone who is there for them sometimes more than anyone else ever has been," she explains. "This can definitely turn into sexual thoughts." 

Dr. Lori Beth Bisbey, a clinical psychologist, sex/intimacy coach, author, speaker and podcast host, explains that this feeling is referred to as transference. "This is when the feelings you have about someone in your life or past are redirected (or transferred) to the therapist. This is one reason for sexual thoughts about actual therapists," she explains.

If you are in this situation, it's important to know that having sex with your actual therapist is, to put it bluntly, an awful idea. 

"There's an inherent power dynamic and if a therapist has sex with their client, I view it as taking advantage of someone who is in a really vulnerable state. There's never a situation, ever, where that would be okay," Murray says, adding that sleeping with a client would warrant a loss of license for therapists.

Of course, it's that dangerous power dynamic that makes the idea of sex with a therapist so sexy in the first place, but there are safer ways to explore the fantasy. 

SEE ALSO: Should I use a VPN to watch porn? How to explore a therapist kink 

Instead of trying to shag your therapist, you can watch some of the endless therapy porn that's on offer across explicit platforms, now that it's proving to be a popular genre. Watching porn is a brilliant way to explore sexual fantasies on your own, removing the pressure of working out the kinks (pun not intended) with another person's pleasure and expectations. 

You might find that therapy kink isn't something you actually want to bring into your partnered sex life, and is just something you like to imagine on your own. In this case, watching a bit of therapy porn is the right way to go. Alternatively, you can listen to audio porn or read erotica featuring stories with therapists. Taking away the visual element of porn can help stimulate your imagination! 

Bisbey also recommends trying role play to satisfy a therapist kink. This is a particularly good idea if you do want to play with doctor/patient power dynamics in the bedroom. This is something 32-year-old copyeditor Toni does with her partner, telling Mashable, "We love playing with the idea that I'm his helpless patient and once he's helped me, I have sex with him to thank him. It creates such a sexy divide of dominance and submission in the bedroom, and we get to dress up as our characters too!"

If you're into therapists, or it sounds like something you could get down with, there are plenty of ways to indulge in the fantasy while keeping things safe and ethical.