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If nothing else, Sand Land is a testament to its legendary creator’s timeless charm.

Going into this video game adaptation of a 24-year-old manga by Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama, I wasn’t sure how to feel. Bandai Namco’s numerous adaptations of manga and anime (it’s published pretty much every recent Naruto and Dragon Ball and One Piece game) have mostly left me cold over the years. Put simply, they tend to be pretty average video games wrapped in the shell of something you already know and love — and that doesn’t always do it for me.

Normally, it’s not a big deal if a licensed game comes out and isn’t great, but Sand Land took on an extra burden when Toriyama tragically passed away at the beginning of March. In a sense, it feels like this game needs to be good. Even if his involvement may have mostly been in a supervisory role, Sand Land is one of the last things Toriyama worked on. 

Thankfully, Sand Land is, at the very least, not bad. Its basic open-world design benefits from a unique vehicular hook, a lighthearted story with a likable cast of characters, and the fact that it doesn’t overstay its welcome by too much. As a big time Toriyama fan, I’ll remember it as a solid way to spend 25 hours in a world devised by one of the best to ever do it, less than two months after he was taken from us.

SEE ALSO: 'Dragon's Dogma 2' will drag you into the mud — and you'll like it Sand Land plot Belz is a cool little dude and so are his friends. Credit: Bandai Namco/Steam

One of my favorite things about Sand Land as both a fan of video games and a fan of Toriyama’s work is how much its setting plays with familiar tropes while managing to stand on its own. 

What I mean by that is that Sand Land is a post-apocalyptic story like many other video games, but it doesn’t feel anywhere near as dreary or hopeless as contemporaries like The Last of Us.

Set 50 years after a vaguely described war reduced a fictional kingdom to, well, sand, Sand Land tells a story of hope, peaceful co-existence, and rebuilding. What starts as a straightforward story about finding a reliable water source for Sand Land’s remaining citizens eventually centers around things like redemption, the morality of war itself, what it means to be good and evil, and who ultimately gets to be good and evil. 

Mind you, Sand Land doesn’t go especially deep on any of those subjects, but that’s fine. Some of Dragon Ball Z’s most potent messages were mostly there to justify another 10 episodes of guys powering up and yelling at each other. In Sand Land, the contents of the cutscenes exist to get you to the next batch of bad guys to blow up with tank shells. 

Put another way, I appreciate that Sand Land at least gestures at being anti-war. At a time when I can’t open my phone without being confronted by horrifying images of children in mass graves, I found it mildly touching that Sand Land occasionally takes a second to say something as simple as “genocide is bad,” even if it’s in the same kid-friendly tone that Toriyama specialized in. 

Sand Land characters The vehicles are kind of characters, too. Credit: Bandai Namco/Steam

Of course, the people who populate Sand Land are what make it worth saving. It’s just that the person who does the saving is not quite who you’d expect.

Players step into the shoes of Beelzebub, the prince of demons and son of Lucifer. Yes, angels and demons are also running around doing angel and demon things in this world that humans destroyed. It’s a fun twist on the typical post-apocalyptic setting — and Beelzebub’s home village is full of goofy demon designs. I’m a big fan of the talking ferret who has a scythe, personally.

Joining Beelzbub in his journey are his fellow demon friend Thief and an elderly human sheriff with a mysterious past named Rao. It doesn’t take long before that trio is joined by a woman named Ann, who specializes in vehicle maintenance. (More on that later.)

What I like about Beelzebub is that, being a demon, he’s generally repelled by the idea of doing good things for other people. It’s what makes him a fun protagonist. Over the course of the game, there’s some relatively satisfying character development as you see Belz (as his friends call him) very slowly come to terms with the fact that helping people can be better than pulling pranks on them. 

Of course, he’s still doing good deeds for selfish reasons a lot of the time. His entire motivation for looking for a water source at the beginning of the game is that his dad will let him play more video games if he succeeds. Having said all that, though, Belz is never really a jerk to anyone. He thinks he’s supposed to be bad because that’s what demons do, but you can tell he’s not really about that life. 

Sand Land mechanics Prepare to spend a lot of time in and around tanks. Credit: Bandai Namco/Steam

Unfortunately, Sand Land is not likely to win any awards for its open-world game design. But there’s enough meat on the bone to make it far less of a bore than, say, Rise of the Ronin was.

The elevator pitch here is “action game with silly anime vehicles instead of weapons or abilities.” Once you’ve played an hour or two and unlock the garage feature, Sand Land invites players to go to town creating their own wacky vehicles to tackle its harsh world. At first, you can only make a tank, but the roster eventually balloons to include various types of hovercraft, motorcycles, bipedal jump-bots, and humanoid battle-mechs. 

To build a vehicle, you need frames and blueprints, which can be found randomly out in the world at shops or enemy encampments, or as quest rewards. Each vehicle is assembled out of parts, including primary and secondary weapons, engines, and suspensions. Naturally, every part has to be crafted out of materials you find in chests or on the corpses of enemies.

Don’t get it twisted: Sand Land has a lot of crafting in it. If you want to build the best, most fully upgraded and unstoppable vehicles, you’ll have to do some farming. If you just want to finish the story, you can mercifully skip that step and just roll with what the game gives you most of the time. This is for the best because Sand Land lacks some modern quality-of-life conveniences other farming-heavy games have, like pinning materials or even getting useful hints about where to find them. It’s often up to you to just remember where you last saw something, which can be bothersome.

The vehicular action is a good time, though. Whether you're engaging in tank battles across open fields, using a jump-bot to navigate a platforming challenge, streaking a hover-scooter across a body of water, or using a battle-bot to punch the living daylights out of other battle-bots, it’s all snappy and satisfying. A decent (but not overwhelming) variety of weapons and abilities helps add some much-needed depth, too.

This stuff stinks. Credit: Bandai Namco/Steam

I wish I could say the same for Sand Land’s on-foot sections. The game often tasks Belz with navigating through tight spaces and even fighting enemies on his own. Basic movement and platforming is responsive and forgiving, but Belz’s combat mechanics are probably Sand Land’s biggest weakness. He has some basic melee combos he can bust out to go along with a few marginally useful abilities (governed by a typical meter), but fighting enemies on foot is usually a chore at best.

The good news is you don’t have to do this very often — and many of these scenarios actually let you just pull a vehicle out and wail away on enemies in more fun ways. But if you were hoping for some good non-vehicular action, Sand Land is not the game for you.

Lastly, Sand Land has one of my favorite things any game can have: a little central hub town that grows as you play the game. The village of Spino starts off as a trash-filled dump and eventually grows into a beautiful little community, full of NPCs Belz and his crew recruited via side quests around the world. 

Aside from the aesthetic charms of Spino’s gradual development, doing all of these quests will open up new shops and other quests, so I would say they are definitely worth your time.

Sand Land graphics I mean, that's basically just Bulma's motorcycle from 'Dragon Ball.' Credit: Bandai Namco/Steam

Akira Toriyama’s art has translated well into 3D video games for a long time and Sand Land is no different. 

There isn’t much to say other than that this is often a gorgeous game to look at. For a post-apocalyptic world, Sand Land often has attractive vistas and more color than you’d expect. Characters have the kinds of big, expressive eyes you expect from Toriyama’s work — and the design work is top notch all around.

That goes for vehicles, too. Sand Land’s tanks and robots and cars all skew more towards silly than badass, and that’s for the best. Toriyama was always renowned for his vehicle designs and in this sense, Sand Land is a loving tribute to its creator. You, as the player, get to actually make the funny little cars and bikes now, and that’s a pretty good selling point for the game in general.

Sand Land soundtrack and audio

There isn’t a ton to say about Sand Land’s audio presentation, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. 

Music is moody and appropriate, if not especially memorable. You get some nice strumming acoustic guitar while exploring and some decent sneaking music when infiltrating enemy bases. It’s all fine, but I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to any of it outside of the game.

Voice acting, too, is adequate but not spectacular. It sounds like the English dub of an anime, for better and worse. You’ll either vibe with the shouty, intentional obnoxiousness of Belz or you won’t. I did, but I can’t promise that you will.

Sand Land challenge and difficulty

On its default difficulty setting, Sand Land is not particularly challenging. As long as you update your vehicles’ gear at regular intervals, you’ll be fine. The same goes for regularly stocking up on healing supplies at shops, as those are pretty cheap and money quickly stops being a problem midway through the game.

My one real criticism of the vehicle fights in Sand Land is that they don’t often take full advantage of the mechanics available to them. An early tutorial asks you to position your tank at an angle to shoot targets in the sky since tank cannons can’t aim straight up, but the game never really asks you to consider that again. You can also switch between up to five different vehicles on the fly, even during fights, but very few encounters actually incentivize this.

The nuances are there, so why not use them?

Sand Land performance

I can only speak to the PlayStation 5 version of Sand Land, but it runs nearly flawlessly at 60 frames per second. There are occasional, very small dips when a lot of smoke effects are on screen, but while these are visible to the naked eye, I never found them that distracting. As soon as the smoke clears a second or two later, things are back to normal.

Oh, and the load times are nearly instantaneous, too. It helps a lot when fast traveling back and forth between places.

Is Sand Land worth it? Do it for Spino. Credit: Bandai Namco/Steam

Based entirely on its merits as an open-world action game, Sand Land is merely decent. It plays fine, boasting a few enjoyable concepts that it occasionally fails to fully exploit. However, it lacks distinctiveness in design and mechanics. Its 25-hour-ish playtime is also fairly slight by modern genre standards, but considering you can play that much of Starfield while barely seeing the game and also being bored the entire time, I’m not so sure that’s a bad thing.

Whether Sand Land is for you depends on your affection for the original manga or Toriyama’s work in general. As a lifelong Dragon Ball fan who has never read Sand Land, I found the game to be a comforting little sojourn back into the mind of a man whose work shaped my childhood. 

Toriyama’s ability to draw funny little guys doing funny little things in funny little places was nearly unmatched, and the Sand Land game is a pretty good tribute to that.

If you were captivated by Toriyama's blend of charmingly juvenile humor, excessively theatrical fights, abundant yelling, ludicrous vehicle designs, or the underlying humanity woven throughout, chances are you'll find something to like in Sand Land.

The robotic nerd depicted in “The Social Network” has turned into the kinder, more accessible face of Silicon Valley. What’s going on?

SAVE $140: Best Buy Plus and Total members are eligible to snag the Dyson Airwrap Long Complete for $459.99 instead of the normal $599.99. That's a 23% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: Dyson Dyson Airwrap Long Complete $459.99 at Best Buy
$599.99 Save $140.00 Sale price extends to Best Buy Total or Plus members Get Deal

Hair care has come a long way from scorching hot tools and blazing hair dryers. We now have options that include lower-heat hair dryers and stylers which translate to less work and far less damage to our locks. If you've been eyeing a high-end hair styler that focuses on lower heat, you're in for a treat at Best Buy.

As of April 24, the Dyson Airwrap Complete Long is just $459.99 for Best Buy Plus and Total members, marked down from the usual price of $599.99. That's a savings of $140 or a 23% discount. An annual membership to Best Buy Plus costs $49.99 while Best Buy Total costs $179.99. The memberships come with perks like exclusive sales, free 2-day shipping, tech support, and more.

SEE ALSO: Snag the customizable Dyson Airwrap for $100 off through the end of April

The Dyson Airwrap styling tool has become a cult-favorite beauty tool even though, like many Dyson products, it comes with an eye-watering price tag. But thanks to today's deal, Best Buy Plus and Total members can take $140 off the multi-styler, which makes this deal $40 less expensive than the current deal at Dyson.

The Dyson Airwrap Long Complete bundle is designed for those with hair that's chest-length or longer. It boasts three heat and air speed settings for easy styling and fast drying time without heat damage. The airflow aims to reduce static in the hair, which could be ideal for anyone who deals with flyaways often. The deal also includes several accessories like the long barrel, smoothing brush, and round volumizing attachment, plus a convenient storage case.

If you're a My Best Buy Plus or Total member who's been considering the Dyson Airwrap, today's a great day to buy thanks to a price drop that saves you $140.

A tiny group of lawmakers huddled in private about a year ago, aiming to keep the discussions away from TikTok lobbyists while bulletproofing a bill that could ban the app.

In 2012 journalist Joshuah Bearman, whose 2007 Wired article fuelled Ben Affleck's Argo, wrote another article about a fake movie used in an escape plan to smuggle someone out of a country. For Playboy, he wrote about Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton and his escape from the U.S. to Cuba with the help of Hollywood producer Bert Schneider.

And now, it's been made into an Apple TV+ series, with the first two episodes directed by Don Cheadle.

Moonlight star André Holland is out front as revolutionary and activist Newton, the founding leader of the Black Panther Party. The cast also includes Alessandro Nivola, Tiffany Boone, PJ Byrne, Marc Menchaca, Moses Ingram, Rebecca Dalton, Olli Haaskivi, Jordane Christie, and Glynn Turman.

How to watch: The Big Cigar premieres on May 17 with the first two episodes, with new episodes every Friday after that.

Stellar Blade surprised me twice. When I played the demo back in March, I didn’t realize how much of an influence the Soulslike sub-genre had on the game. With all of the comparisons to other action games like Bayonetta and Nier: Automata because of its female lead, I expected Stellar Blade to be similar.

But after playing through a few hours of the full game, I didn’t expect it to also have an open-world. Based on the demo, I expected tightly designed levels with interesting puzzles — and Steller Blade delivered that in spades. The open-world can be tedious and the story can be predictable at times, but Stellar Blade’s strong points shine through. With its real-time action combat, Stellar Blade is a thrill to play, and the gorgeous graphics make it a spectacle to behold.

Crash landing

Stellar Blade follows a woman named Eve who gets sent down from space along with her soldier peers to reclaim Earth from an alien race called Naytibas.

Credit: George Yang / Mashable

These grotesque organic monsters look like something out of a Resident Evil game, contrasted by the sleek and robotic design of Eve. I also love how much variety there is among the Naytibas too. For example, the Lurkers are plant-based desert crawlers reminiscent of the Infected from The Last of Us — and the Skull Troopers reminded me of Pyramid Head from Silent Hill.

Stellar Blade deals with themes of existentialism, and for the most part, handles them well within the story. For example, you’ll find collectibles called Memory Sticks from deceased individuals scattered throughout the world. These add a lot of worldbuilding as these sticks contain the thoughts and dreams of these individuals. What was it like during the war effort against the Naytiba? What was Earth like before the invasion?

Credit: George Yang / Mashable

That’s where I saw its comparisons to Nier: Automata the most. However, Stellar Blade’s plot twists are rather predictable and ultimately doesn’t land the emotional gut punch like some of its contemporaries. Still, the story is far from bad and it’s an admirable effort.

The game does a great job of keeping its main cast small. Its side quests involving its supporting characters and NPCs are worth taking on, as they always provide rewards in the form of skill points for Eve or useful items. While many of them are fetch quests, they always have some sort of backstory that helps make the city of Xion, the game’s central hub, feel more immersive. For example, in one mission, Eve restores a singing android named Enya back to life and then helps her regain her old memories as an opera performer before Earth was invaded.

Stellar Blade’s presentation is top notch, with breathtaking realistic visuals as well as its soundtrack. The holy choir fits the game’s existentialism and religious themes, and the blaring guitars get me amped up for boss battles. I personally love the jazz jingle that plays whenever I visit Xion’s side quest job board, and it sounds like something out of Persona 5.

Fighting spirit

As previously mentioned, Stellar Blade’s combat has a lot of Soulsike influence, which means players have to be more deliberate. There’s a heavy emphasis on parrying and dodging attacks while waiting for the right time to strike. Eve’s sword strikes feel incredibly satisfying, especially with the DualSense’s haptic feedback features. The window for parrying attacks isn’t as forgivable as Rise of the Ronin, but every time I successfully pull them off, I can feel the controller shaking, which I absolutely love.

Credit: George Yang / Mashable

Thankfully, as a Sony published game, Stellar Blade offers plenty of accessibility options, such as slowing time with a button prompt to let you know when to parry if you’re having trouble, as well as filters to help with colorblindness.

Eve has access to a gun, too, which adds even more variety to the gameplay. Between standard bullets, rockets, and even a giant laser beam, it was great switching between close and ranged combat in order to keep combat from feeling stale.

Credit: George Yang / Mashable

I also enjoyed how simple Eve’s gameplay progression was. After defeating enemies, you earn Skill Points to invest in Eve’s combat abilities, such as making her attacks stronger or giving her extra room to dodge enemy strikes. Her weapons and parameters like HP are upgradeable with items dropped by powerful enemies or materials found on her fallen soldiers bodies throughout the world. It’s all very straightforward — and I didn’t feel overwhelmed by any complex stats or numbers.

Feeling like 'Mad Max' and 'Dune'

Stellar Blade has both an open-world and closed level areas. They both compliment each other and add a lot of environmental variety. However, there are some small gripes I have with them. For starters, the open-world feels unnecessarily big. The two big open-world areas, the Wasteland and Great Desert, feature large swathes of sand that take forever to traverse across. I wish Eve had something like a horse from Tears of the Kingdom or Chocobo from Final Fantasy VII Rebirth to ride on to make the trek faster.

Credit: George Yang / Mashable

The closed levels are much more cleverly designed and they feel more like classic stages in a Bayonetta or 3D Mario game. Sometimes you’ll be in a flooded city or even an underground lab. They feature puzzles such as moving a certain amount of weight to unlock a door, or twisting knobs in a certain direction to get electricity going. They strike the perfect balance of not being not particularly challenging, but not too easy. This made solving the puzzles quite fun and I never felt like they impede my progress.

One thing I’m not fond of, however, is the imprecise platforming in these levels. For example, I barely missed a platform I was trying to jump to, leading to my death. This meant I respawned at the save point, but it was actually quite a bit away from where I had perished. These instances felt like an insult to injury.

Is 'Stellar Blade' worth it?

I finished Stellar Blade feeling more positive than I initially anticipated.

Credit: George Yang / Mashable

The gameplay is fun and exhilarating, on top of having top-notch production values. While the story isn’t the most mind blowing, the cast of characters are a delight and the excellent worldbuilding makes the game worth experiencing. And despite some open-world and platforming woes, Stellar Blade is one of the best action games this year.

Tackling a spring cleaning to-do list? Go ahead and leave some of those cobwebs intact: According to Home Depot, it's already time to start thinking about Halloween decor.

The home improvement retailer is celebrating the almost-halfway point to spooky season this week with a limited initial release of its 2024 Halloween collection, including an upgraded version of its iconic 12-foot skeleton and its new skeleton dog sidekick. Products will be available online starting Thursday, April 25 while supplies last.

SEE ALSO: Live, laugh, LifeEyes™️: How the 12-foot Home Depot skeleton became a perennial hit

A representative for Home Depot couldn't confirm a sale start time, but recommended that interested shoppers pay close attention to Home Depot's website and social media accounts for availability intel. We'll update this story as soon as we see product listings start to go live (likely around 6 a.m. ET, if past restocks are any indication).

The sale marks the second year in a row that Home Depot has hosted a "Halfway to Halloween" event in April, and shoppers can expect to see a bigger selection of products compared to its spring 2023 surprise drop.

You are feeling veeery eager to spend $300. Credit: Home Depot

The star of the show is, once again, the 12-foot Giant-Sized Skeleton with LifeEyes LCD Eyes, a viral hit that's sold out every year since 2020. "Skelly," as it's affectionately known to fans and admirers, will make its fourth coming with newly enhanced light-up eyes that have eight swappable settings while remaining at its same usual price of $299.

Skelly is joined by two new colossal companions this year — one being the aforementioned five-foot Skeleton Dog ($199), a cadaverous canine with a posable mouth and the same changeable LCD eyes. Mashable humbly submits Wishbone to the nickname suggestion list.

I'm literally shaking buy him brown contacts pls. Credit: Home Depot

The other XL newcomer is a 12.5-foot Giant-Sized Inferno Deadwood Skeleton, an arboreal horror with built-in color-changing lights that looks like Groot's evil cousin. It will sell for $379.

I am evil Groot. Credit: Home Depot / Mashable composite

Rounding out Home Depot's Halfway to Halloween lineup is a seven-foot Animated LED Frankenstein’s Monster ($249), which says lines from Universal's 1931 Frankenstein film, and a three-pack of five-foot Pose-n-Stay Skeletons ($119) with moveable arms and light-up eyes.

Shoppers can expect to encounter even more new Halloween props at Home Depot later in the coming months, including a 7.5-foot animated plague doctor, a 10-foot haunted maple tree, a nine-foot headless horseman, a six-foot animatronic pirate named "Captain Cuts," and a six-foot card-playing skeleton called "Jack of Spades." The fate of the 12-foot, gourd-headed Inferno Pumpkin Skeleton that's been sold alongside Skelly since 2021 is still in limbo, but Home Depot's rep said more announcements are imminent.

Another online launch of Home Depot's Halloween collection will likely happen sometime in July, as we've seen in past years, so save up accordingly.

Merle Meyers, who left Boeing last year after a 30-year career, said he was speaking publicly about his experience because he loved the company “fiercely.”

The Deep Robotics bionic dog combines AI technology with robotic software, to enable maneuverability in a variety of terrains. Through first-person real-time image transmission and self learning capabilities this robot dog exhibits autonomous and agile movements. High torque density and reverse transmission make it so nothing will keep this little dog down.

Forget about Ludicrous, it's all about Performance.

After months of speculation, rumors and leaks, the worst kept secret of the automotive industry has become a reality: Tesla has finally launched the new Tesla Model 3 Performance.

Despite indications about the "Ludicrous" moniker, the name hasn't changed from the previous generation. But unlike the original Model 3 Performance, which was a very slightly upgraded (but quicker) variant of the old Long Range Model 3, the new Performance model is a major upgrade. Here are the most important details about the new Tesla Model 3 Performance.

SEE ALSO: The case for Tesla without Musk The good pointsIt's quicker, and more powerful

There's no two ways about it: With a 2.9 second 0-60 mph time, this is the quickest Tesla Model 3 ever. It also has a 510 hp peak power, and a 163 mph top speed, making it second only to Model S Plaid.

It's also worth comparing the old and new Model 3 Performance. The original Tesla M3P had a 3.1 second 0-60 mph time and a 162 mph top speed, making the new model only slightly quicker and faster. However, at these levels of performance, every tenth of a second counts.

People will notice the difference

The original Model 3 Performance looked exactly the same as the other Model 3 versions, save for a carbon fibre spoiler on the back. The new version, however, should be a head turner, with 20-inch Warp Wheels with large, red brake calipers, as well as a sportier-looking front lip and rear diffuser, and (again) a carbon fibre spoiler.

As a result, the new M3P looks more aggressive and just better overall than the regular variant.

Ridiculous speed might not be enough. We're pushing this one to Ludicrous. Credit: Tesla

One cool detail: Even though the "Ludicrous" and "Plaid" monikers were not used in the official naming, you do get a "Ludicrous" speed badge on the back of the car, a reference to 80s comedy film Spaceballs.

Better brakes and suspension

This is massive. As a Tesla Model 3 Long Range owner, I can attest that the brakes and suspension sometimes feel a bit lacking, especially if you really step on it on a winding road. The Model 3 Performance should fix this, with larger brake rotors, calipers and performance brake pads, as well as improved springs, dampers, bushings, and stabilizer bars.

"Ultra-responsive handling." Credit: Tesla

As Tesla puts it: "An all-new adaptive damping system keeps Model 3 Performance planted to the road , so you can confidently tackle corners at any speed with maximum control and comfort." If you like to drive a bit more aggressively, these improvements might be the biggest reason to go for the Performance variant.

New Track Mode Here you can fine-tune your Tesla M3P to behave exactly to your liking. Credit: Tesla

Eager to test your brand new Model 3 Performance on the track? Exclusive to this Model 3 you get a new Track mode, allowing you to calibrate stuff like handling balance, regenerative braking, stability assist and more. You also get a number of presets so you can quickly change from one driving mode to the other.

Sporty seats The drawn-out star lines are another reference to Spaceballs. Credit: Tesla

Inside, you probably wouldn't notice anything new if it weren't for the new Sport Seats, which have a deeper, "more engaging" driver position. The front seats are both heated and ventilated, which should reduce sweating while you're accelerating at near-ludicrous speeds. The interior also features carbon fibre details, which is not available in other models.

Okay, but what are the drawbacks?

It's not all great, though. If you do opt for the quickest Model 3 Performance, you do lose on some fronts compared to the Model 3 Long Range.

Big price difference

We knew the Model 3 Performance would be pricier than the other variants, and at $52,990, it's not too bad — $5,250 more than the Long Range All-Wheel Drive model, and $14,000 more than the Rear-Wheel Drive variant. You do have to ask yourself whether it's worth it though, given that the Performance variant of the roomier Model Y is cheaper at $51,490.

Significantly lower range Spot the differences. Credit: Tesla

This is a big one. Due to all of the performance enhancements it has, most notably the massive, 20-inch Warp Wheels, the Model 3 Performance takes a massive range hit. According to Tesla, it has 296 miles of estimated range. For comparison, the Long Range model has 341 miles of range, while the significantly cheaper Rear-Wheel Drive model has 272 miles of range.

Less ground clearance

This one is easy to miss, but it might be important for some buyers. The Model 3 performance has 5 inches of ground clearance, compared to 5.4 inches on other models. You don't want some nasty curb scraping the underside of your brand new Tesla, do you?

Like the rest of us online, dating app users must dodge unwanted messages. Forty-one percent of U.S. adults have personally experienced online harassment, and that number spiked to around two-thirds of adults under 30, according to a 2021 report from the Pew Research Center. Dating apps have made varying attempts to stop this on their platforms. For instance, Tinder recently launched a new warning to curb inappropriate messages — the latest in a years-long effort.

SEE ALSO: Gen Z should embrace being cringe to find love, Hinge says

Today, Hinge launches its own spin to engender a "more positive dating experience": Hidden Words. The feature allows users to filter out words, phrases, and even emojis in their incoming Likes with Comments (aka, people who have "liked" them on the app and added a comment).

Here's how it works: In Settings, select Hidden Words. Add whatever you want to filter out. If you report a message as inappropriate, you'll be able to add Hidden Words to your list from there as well.

Likes with Comments that include Hidden Words (or emojis) are moved out of the usual Like count, and will be in the Hidden Words section of the app. You can view these Hidden Likes and still skip, match, or report them if you'd like. You can also delete these hidden likes.

Hinge's VP of trust and safety, Jeff Dunn, said in the press release that this feature is about giving daters the ability to define their boundaries and embracing their confidence. Confidence is apparently something Gen Z daters lack. In a report released this February, Hinge found that Gen Z daters are more likely than millennials to say the pandemic made them less confident on a first date.

Dunn continued, "Our hope is that with Hidden Words, users will feel reassured they can explore potential connections in a way that's most comfortable to them, leading to safer and more satisfying dating experiences."

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 April 24 SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Here's the answer and hints for April 24

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Wednesday, April 24, 2024:

AcrossSpeak with a gravelly voice

• The answer is rasp.

Sound of an angry grunt

• The answer is humph.

Very excited, with "up"

• The answer is amped.

Lies around lazily

• The answer is lolls.

Ridge on a guitar's neck

• The answer is fret.

DownSpot of tea?

The answer is rumor.

Plentiful

• The answer is ample.

Ancient grain in a healthy cereal

• The answer is spelt.

Degrees conferred after successful defenses

• The answer is PhDs.

___-baked (unsound)

• The answer is half.

After 10 episodes, FX's Shōgun ends not with a violent bang, but with mournful contemplation.

Toda Mariko's (Anna Sawai) death has shaken all of Japan, turning the Council of Regents against Ishido Kazunari (Takehiro Hira) and priming Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) for a decisive rout at the upcoming Battle of Sekigahara. However, just like in James Clavell's original novel, Shōgun chooses not to focus on said battle, only showing a snippet of Toranaga's assured victory in a flash forward.

SEE ALSO: 'Shōgun' review: 2024's first great TV epic is here

Instead, the finale episode, titled "A Dream of a Dream," focuses on the lingering emotional impact of Mariko's passing. John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) and Usami Fuji (Moeka Hoshi) grieve her loss, releasing her ashes and rosary into the sea. Kashigi Yabushige (Tadanobu Asano) seeks forgiveness for betraying her and pays with his life in the process. And Toranaga reveals that Crimson Sky, his much-hyped battle tactic to defeat Ishido, was none other than Mariko's arrival in and attempted departure from Osaka.

"I sent a woman to do what an army never could," he tells Yabushige. He adds, disappointed that Yabushige still believes Crimson Sky to be an action-heavy war plan: "I thought you of all people would see."

SEE ALSO: 'Shōgun' episode 9: Mariko's gate scene revisits a key moment from episode 3. Here's why.

Shōgun's finale operates on a similar level to Toranaga's Crimson Sky. Based on audiences' prior experiences with epic TV shows, people may have anticipated a massive military set piece. However, as Shōgun co-creators Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo emphasized in an interview with Mashable, this series was never about Sekigahara. It was about Mariko, and now that she's gone, the people in her orbit must process her death — and its aftermath.

Throughout our interview, Marks and Kondo discussed their approach to Sekigahara, making sure Mariko felt present in the finale, and those quick flashes of an elderly Blackthorne we glimpse throughout the episode. The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Tadanobu Asano and Hiroyuki Sanada in "Shōgun." Credit: Katie Yu / FX

Mashable: I think people often expect big battle episodes from historical epics, but we don't get that here or in the original novel. Instead, we get quick descriptions of what will happen at the Battle of Sekigahara, where Toranaga will triumph over Ishido. Were there ever conversations about actually trying to put the Battle of Sekigahara on screen?

Justin Marks, co-creator, showrunner, and executive producer of Shōgun: There were definitely conversations. I feel like when you say things like "the Battle of Sekigahara on screen," I feel it in my bones, how painful it would be to shoot that. We'd still be shooting it!

But at the same time, I get [the sense of wanting the battle to play out], and I feel like sometimes maybe James Clavell felt that, too. We were talking to Michaela Clavell, his daughter and an executive producer on the show, and she was saying, in her memory, her father did want to get the story there. Then he got so preoccupied and in love with the characters who were already there, with Mariko especially and Blackthorne, that he got to the end and said, "You know what? The story is done. I told this story."

Rachel Kondo, co-creator and executive producer of Shōgun: Michaela said that the battle stood before him, and he thought, "I don't have another two years to write this one battle." So the story was brought to completion.

It's always been about [Mariko]. - Justin Marks

JM: We also have to be honest with ourselves and honest with our story if we're going to tell a good one, and I felt like [including the Battle of Sekigahara] was a little dishonest to the story. Because what it would end up being would be a lot of moments that would absolutely be in the trailer for this show. It would not be where our heart was and where the audience's heart was for where the story ought to be. So we chose to honor that.

Even in the book, I was reading it and getting to the end and wondering, "How many pages are left? Are we really going to miss out on the battle?" And then there it is: It's mentioned in the last paragraph of the final page. You're just like, "Oh," and I think that's what Clavell wants us to feel. He wants us to think that we're getting something in a certain way, and then to realize at the end that if we really thought we were getting that, we weren't really watching what was happening. 

RK: We weren't really studying Toranaga.

JM: Right, and we weren't really studying and understanding Mariko. It's always been about her. The only character who ever knew that was Toranaga, and the only character who learns it is Blackthorne. That's it. That's our three characters, and that's the only thing that counts.

SEE ALSO: How Japanese dry gardens inspired 'Shōgun's stunning title sequence

Like you said, this is a show about Mariko, and even though she's no longer alive in the finale, she's still very present. How did you go about writing her in ways where she's still present, even though she's not physically there?

RK: I always go back to the scene in the tea house from episode 6. The young apprentice Hana brings a new flask of sake, and as she removes the empty flask, Kiku asks her, "What do you see in that space?" She says, "I see nothing," and Kiku responds, "Not nothing. It's where the flask has been." The reason why I thought it was important to keep that scene in there is because that was the foreshadowing of her absence. Mariko's absence would say more than her life itself, and that's the secret weapon that Toranaga wields.

JM: There's a shot in episode 10 that director Fred Toye always had in his head. It's this shot of Fuji reuniting with Blackthorne in their home, and it's a callback to a shot that Fred and [cinematographer] Sam McCurdy shot in episode 4, where Fuji, Blackthorne, and Mariko stare out at the rain in their garden. We frame that shot in the exact same way in episode 10, as if Mariko were sitting there. She's not, yet you feel her presence in that garden always. She's the crucial third leg of that stool for Fuji and Blackthorne, and without her, they really have nothing to say, because they lost their translator. Yet they feel at peace.

RK: They almost don't need to say anything because they feel the same thing, which is a profound sense of loss. And change is upon them because of this loss.

Mariko's absence would say more than her life itself, and that's the secret weapon that Toranaga wields. - Rachel Kondo Cosmo Jarvis and Moeka Hoshi in "Shōgun." Credit: Katie Yu / FX

JM: There was also this scene in the finale, of Blackthorne and Fuji in the rowboat, which is not in the book and which one of our producers, Mako Kamitsuna, was really crucial in helping us put together. Fuji and Blackthorne give up Mariko's ashes, which is this preposterous process from the place of a Japanese person who's meant to hold on to these ashes and bury them in the family plot. But Blackthorne manages to persuade her from the place of a sailor, saying, "This is the way that I would do it if you want to keep someone with you forever."

Then when Blackthorne puts Mariko's cross in the water, Fuji says, "Let your hands be the last to hold her," which is a callback to what Mariko says to her when she says goodbye to her baby in the first episode. That scene continues to break me every time I watch it. That's my scene to cry about.

RK: I just remember in that scene, the impulse within me — maybe it's a Western impulse, maybe it's a hoarder impulse — to think, "Don't let her rosary go! You'll never have it again, you won't remember her through that." But for some reason, it made sense to let the pouring of the ashes happen because that's very familiar.

JM: She's not yours to remember, I think is the acknowledgement that Blackthorne also has to make here. He doesn't own that rosary. Mariko owns that rosary. It's like Toranaga returning his falcon Tetsuko to the sky, she is returned to the sea.

In this case, I guess that's like Blackthorne dropping her into his living room. [laughs] But the message stands.

If anything else, what I hope episode 10 demonstrates in terms of Clavell's book and also what we as a writers' room tried to do with the book is that Shōgun is not really a story about culture. It's a story about death and bargaining.

RK: And the life that precedes it and follows it.

Shōgun is not really a story about culture. It's a story about death and bargaining. - Justin Marks

JM: It's these ruminations on death that really took us in from the first episode: the different cultural understandings of it and our trying to understand something that we never could.

The other thing that the book does differently than we do is Blackthorne's attempt to commit seppuku. In the book it happens in the space of chapter 31, which is episode 4. We chose to move it all the way to the end, not just because it felt more appropriate there, but also because we didn't feel ready to understand his choice at that point — not that we understand the act of seppuku now.

RK: We didn't purposefully do that, we just didn't include it earlier on because we were all feeling very fragile around it and not knowing how to deal with it. We did ultimately come back to it, but we didn't set out to say, "Let's just deal with it in episode 10." It was only through sitting with it and having conversations with our Japanese consultants and learning about it that it felt a little more appropriate to bring it in.

Cosmo Jarvis and Hiroyuki Sanada in "Shōgun." Credit: Katie Yu / FX

Staying with Blackthorne, the episode opens with a snippet of an older Blackthorne at home in England, being asked about his experience with "savages." That image returns throughout the episode. Tell me about the weight it carries and the decision to include it as a kind of framing device.

JM: We wanted to do a misdirect. For a second you think we're framing episode 10 as an old man looking back on his life filled with regret, only to realize that no, you're looking at a young man looking forward to a possible future with regret. It was a writers' room invention and wasn't actually part of the book, but it was something that we felt was true to the mythos of "a dream of a dream," to quote the Taikō in episode 2.

We called [old Blackthorne] Father Christmas because of how Cosmo looks in it, but that version of him is a projection of his colonial self that he has to sever his path from in episode 10. That is the final journey that I hope is also us as American or Hollywood filmmakers severing ourselves from these conversations, because I think it's kind of boring nowadays to tell those stories. We really wanted to turn our back on the "stranger in a strange land" trope. And our version of Blackthorne here — which I credit Cosmo for his performance a lot — was going for something different that didn't just say, "There's no reason to tell these stories." Obviously we have a history and a legacy and it's worth looking back on, but maybe let's look back on it through a new lens of saying, "What new stories can we tell of those past stories?" 

All episodes of Shōgun are now streaming on Hulu.

Baby Reindeer, Richard Gadd's Netflix series about a budding comedian's experience with a stalker, is — as we wrote in our review on Mashable — one of the most upsetting and brilliant shows of the year. And the fact it's based on Gadd's own experiences makes it all the more disturbing.

As the show has quickly grown in popularity, though, the armchair detectives have come out in force. Despite real names being changed in the show, people on TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) have been trying to work out the real identities behind the characters.

On Tuesday, Gadd took to Instagram to tell people to stop.

"People I love, have worked with, and admire (including Sean Foley) are unfairly getting caught up in speculation," wrote Gadd. "Please don't speculate on who any of the real life people could be. That's not the point of our show."

Tweet may have been deleted

Sean Foley, a theatre director who previously worked with Gadd on Urban Myths and who has been the subject of some of this online speculation, shared Gadd's post on X. He also shared a separate post saying that he'd been in touch with police.

"Police have been informed and are investigating all defamatory abusive and threatening posts against me," reads Foley's tweet.

Tweet may have been deleted

Although Baby Reindeer is based on Gadd's life, he previously told The Guardian that some events have been "tweaked slightly to create dramatic climaxes". But the two most disturbing elements of the show — the stalking, and the sexual abuse Gadd suffers at the hands of an older man in the entertainment business — are real.

"It's very emotionally true, obviously: I was severely stalked and severely abused," Gadd said. "But we wanted it to exist in the sphere of art, as well as protect the people it’s based on."

How to watch: Baby Reindeer is now streaming on Netflix.

Every app now, it seems, wants you to be watching videos.

X, formerly Twitter, is launching a dedicated video app, bringing "real-time, engaging content to your smart TVs" according to CEO Linda Yaccarino, who announced it on X on Tuesday.

SEE ALSO: LinkedIn is testing a TikTok-like video feed

According to Yaccarino, the new app will have a trending video algorithm and AI-powered topics, and will be available on both smartphones and smart TVs.

"This will be your go-to companion for a high-quality, immersive entertainment experience on a larger screen," she wrote.

Tweet may have been deleted

The CEO added that the app is still being built and asked for X users to share their ideas.

Last month, Yaccarino declared X's intention to become a "video first platform". Almost all social networks have been shifting towards the same field, blatantly taking inspiration from reigning video platforms, especially TikTok. LinkedIn is currently testing a TikTok-like video feed, while Meta products continue to adopt TikTok's vertical video format. Meanwhile, YouTube, arguably the original leader in video content, still holds significant viewership. And it looks like other apps want in.

The Rabbit R1 launch party, reserved for press and early adopters who managed to secure an RSVP, was held at the funky, retro-futuristic TWA hotel in Queens, New York.

And yes, Mashable was there.

Jesse Lyu, CEO of Rabbit, walked out on stage to many "woos!" and "yeahs!" from avid fans. Why were they so excited? This ambitious man is determined to wean us off apps — for good.

No more navigating through pesky drop-down menus and employing countless taps to simply order an Uber or grab DoorDash. You could simply use your voice to do those things with your Rabbit R1.

The Rabbit R1 can also tap into the "Rabbit Eye," which is really just the camera, to identify objects in front of you and describe them. It can also "listen" to audio and summarize it for you. And really, that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Although Lyu had the audience standing for about one hour and 12 minutes (people complained that their feet and back were hurting), I can't deny that he dropped some gems during the presentation.

1. The Rabbit R1 ships with a travel case that doubles as a kickstand

The $199 Rabbit R1 comes with a travel case in the box, allowing you to stuff it in your pocket or bag without worrying about scuffs and scratches.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

It can already stand on its own due to its flat edges, but it's worth noting that the travel case also doubles as a kickstand, giving it a more convenient angle for interactions.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Just make sure that you put the Rabbit R1 in the case in a way that aligns with the labeled diagrams on the case.

For example, the Rabbit R1's camera should align with the labeled squircle on the case that says "Rabbit Eye." If you don't put it in the right way, you may find it difficult to remove it (I learned from experience).

2. It uses shaking gestures

To access the Settings menu, you need to shake the Rabbit R1 like you've got maracas in your hand. (I tried it myself and it worked like a charm).

Credit: Rabbit Inc.

To fire up the camera, you simply need to double tap the button on the right. To issue a prompt or command with your voice, you can long press the same button.

Keep in mind that the 2.88-inch display isn't a touchscreen; you'll need to use the scrolling wheel to navigate the UI.

3. It can digitalize your handwriting

In the demo, Lyu showed a handwritten chart on a table.

Credit: Rabbit Inc.

Using the "Rabbit Eye," Rabbit R1 "saw" the chart and transformed it into a digitalized chart.

Credit: Rabbit Inc.

Finally, it sent the chart to Lyu's email as a downloadable .csv file.

4. It has a virtual keyboard

Lyu said that many people have been asking him to include a virtual keyboard with the Rabbit R1, so at the launch party, he announced that he decided to make this oft-asked request a reality.

Credit: Rabbit Inc.

I've tried the keyboard. There's barely there haptic feedback, and yes, it's quite comfortable to type on. There's even a blinker, too, making it easy to select where, exactly, in the field you'd like to type.

It's also worth noting that it supports wireless keyboards, too, via Bluetooth.

5. Play Spotify

The Rabbit R1 can play music for you via voice commands, but it has to be connected to a Spotify account — and yes, it must be a paid account.

Credit: Rabbit

Apple Music and Amazon Music support may be on the way.

6. Order food, but only with one app

So far, the Rabbit R1 only features support for DoorDash.

Credit: Rabbit

You can use the companion browser website (i.e., The Rabbit Hole) to connect your DoorDash account to the Rabbit R1, allowing you to order from any restaurant you desire (as long as they're open).

Rabbit is working on bringing UberEats support to Rabbit R1, too.

7. Hail a rideshare

At the launch party, the audience watched Lyu call an Uber to a random location in Manhattan with the Rabbit R1. He had to quickly cancel the order, though, as it was just for a public demo.

Support for Lyft appears to be on the Rabbit R1's roadmap, too.

8. Merch for carrying the R1

Sure, you can put the Rabbit R1 in your pocket, but what if, one day, the outfit you're wearing doesn't have any?

Credit: Rabbit

Lyu announced that the Rabbit team is working on rolling out merch that makes the R1 more wearable, including a crossbody bag, a funky fanny pack, and a black shirt with a pocket tailor-made for the Rabbit R1.

9. A wearable?

It looks like Lyu teased a wearable at the event, but he was unwilling to divulge more details other than showing an image of a blurry wrist-bound gadget and making us fantasize about a future in which we can direct AI by simply pointing to what we need.

Credit: Rabbit

Stay tuned for Mashable's first impressions of the Rabbit R1. In the meantime, check out more things the Rabbit R1 can do here.

Pablo Berger's dialogue-free film Robot Dreams promises a sweet, heartfelt ride through loneliness and the giddy highs of a new friendship. Even if that friendship has been hand-built from out of a box.

Based on Sara Varon's graphic novel, the animated film follows Dog, a New Yorker who orders a DIY BFF in Robot. As you can see from all the Central Park roller skating, subway turnstile jumping, and hotdog inhaling in the trailer, Manhattan's quite the setting for this unlikely bond.

Robot Dreams premiered at Cannes Film Festival last year, then hit the Toronto International Film Festival. It hits cinemas May 31.

If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.

That seems to be the message of Zoë Kravitz' directorial debut Blink Twice, a thriller about a waitress (Naomi Acke) being invited to the private island of tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum).

As you can probably imagine, despite the luxury, there also appears to be something more sinister at play in the background. Christian Slater, Adria Arjona, and Kyle MacLachlan also star.

Blink Twice is in theaters from August 23.

Despite Mark Zuckerberg’s hope for the chatbot to be the smartest, it struggles with facts, numbers and web search.

A new category of apps promises to relieve parents of drudgery, with an assist from A.I. But a family’s grunt work is more human, and valuable, than it seems.