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Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Debicki, Giancarlo Esposito, Moses Sumney and Ti West discuss the characters they want to see get the next origin story in the series.

Amazon Prime Day is right around the corner! Literally thousands of products will go on sale during Amazon's two-day shopping event, but not all of those sales will be good deals.

Best headphone and speaker deals ahead of Prime Day Best noise-canceling headphones deal Sony ULT Wear headphones $178 at Amazon (Save $21.99) Get Deal Best AirPods deal Apple AirPods Max $449.99 at Amazon (Save $100.01) Get Deal Best wireless earbuds deal Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II $179 at Amazon (Save $100) Get Deal Best Bluetooth speaker deal Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 3 $63.99 at Amazon (Save $36) Get Deal

Prime Day isn't for another couple of weeks, but you don't have to wait until July 16 to score a good deal on headphones or speakers.

Though the deals that are live now aren't officially tied to the sale, they give folks who aren't Prime members or who don't like dealing with the chaos of Prime Day to save some cash. So far, we've seen markdowns on headphones from Sony, Apple, and Bose, as well as on Bluetooth speakers from JBL and Ultimate Ears.

SEE ALSO: Walmart vs. Amazon: Which retail giant has the best deals?

We'll be keeping this post updated with this best deals at Amazon in the lead up to Prime Day, so check back if you don't see anything catching your eye quite yet.

Best noise-canceling headphones deals Opens in a new window Credit: Sony Sony ULT Wear headphones $178.00 at Amazon
$199.99 Save $21.99 Get Deal Why we like this

Check out our full review on the Sony ULT Wear headphones.

Though not a huge discount on its face, the Sony ULT Wear headphones offer a very competitive price point when they're not on sale, making this $22 markdown even more enticing. In her review of the headphones, Mashable Deputy Shopping and Reviews Editor Miller Kern compared these headphones against Sony's $399 WH-1000XM5 headphone and found that "the ULT Wear’s sound was fuller and felt more like surround sound." You'll also get plenty of bass coming through on these headphones, along with active noise cancellation.

More noise-canceling headphones deals

• Anker Soundcore Q20i headphones — $39.99 $69.99 (save $30)

• JLab JBuds Lux headphones — $64.99 $79.99 (save $15 with on-page coupon)

• Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones — $278 $348 (save $50)

• Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones — $348 $399 (save $51)

Best AirPods deals Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple AirPods Max $449.99 at Amazon
$549.00 Save $99.01 Shop Now Why we like this

Check out our full review of the AirPods Max.

In all honesty, the AirPods deals at the time of writing aren't too thrilling, but this AirPods Max one is the best of the bunch. We generally consider these AirPods to be way too expensive at full price, but markdowns like this one make them (somewhat) more of a reasonable buy. You'll get easy pairing with any Apple device, great sound and ANC, and if you like the look of them, the style bonus. However, they don't have a wired connection, nor can you turn them off, so their battery life suffers.

More AirPods deals

• Apple AirPods (2nd generation) — $89 $129 (save $40)

Best wireless earbuds deals Opens in a new window Credit: Bose Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II $179.00 at Amazon
$279.00 Save $100.00 Get Deal Why we like this

The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II are down to their lowest price ever, according to the price tracker camelcamelcamel. Though these earbuds were released in 2022, they remain an Editor's Choice award winner at our sister site PCMag (also owned by Ziff Davis) thanks to their "astoundingly effective noise cancellation" and sound signature that's great for "anyone who likes rich bass and bright highs." At $179, these earbuds are much more affordable than newer premium models while offering you a similar product, minus extras like turning the ANC off or wireless charging for the case.

More wireless earbuds deals

• Anker Soundcore P20i earbuds — $19.99 $24.99 (save $5)

• JLab Go Air Sport — $19.88 $29.99 (save $10.11 with on-page coupon)

• Anker Soundcore Space A40 earbuds — $50.15 $79 (save $28.85 with on-page coupon)

• Samsung Galaxy Buds FE — $79.99 $99.99 (save $20)

• Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II — $179 $279 (save $100)

• Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds — $278 $299.99 (save $21.99)

Best Bluetooth speakers deals Opens in a new window Credit: Ultimate Ears Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 3 $63.99 at Amazon
$99.99 Save $36.00 Shop Now Why we like this

The Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 3 is a great value speaker when it's at full price, making it an absolute steal at $63.99. The price cut comes as Ultimate Ears has just released their next gen of the speaker (we're currently testing it to see if it belongs on the list of our favorites), but it doesn't seem there's a stark difference between the two speakers. If you need a speaker that's compact, rugged, and don't care too much about having customizable EQ or a companion app, the Wonderboom 3 will check your boxes.

More Bluetooth speaker deals

• JBL Clip 4 — $49.95 $79.95 (save $30)

• Sony ULT FIELD 1 — $98 $129.99 (save $31.99)

• Marshall Emberton II — $119.99 $169.99 (save $50)

• JBL Charge 5 — $139.95 $179.95 (save $40)

• JBL Xtreme 3 — $229.95 $379.95 (save $150)

SAVE $100.99: As of July 3, get the Dyson Airstrait Straightener for $399 at Amazon. That's a discount of 20% off its normal price of $499.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Dyson Airstrait Straightener $399.00 at Amazon
$499.99 Save $100.99 Shop Now

Dyson's newest hair tool is the Airstrait Straightener, which lets you style your hair wet or dry without heat damage. It's another luxe option in line with the company's Supersonic hair dryer, and as such you can expect to pay a premium for it. Luckily, it's gone on sale a few time since its debut, and you can get it right now for a great price if you've been thinking about giving it a try.

As of July 3, get the Dyson Airstrait for just $399 at Amazon. That's $100.99 off its normal price of $499.99 and a discount of 20%. This straightener doesn't go on sale often, so this is a great time to buy.

SEE ALSO: The best 4th of July deals are already happening — here's what you need to know

This hair straightener launched in spring 2023, and it's been discounted a few times since. It uses high pressure airflow instead of hot plates, which helps your hair avoid damage from high temperatures, according to Dyson. It also dries your hair as it straightens, so that saves you a step. If you're the type of person who needs to save time when styling, or you just want to give your hair a bit of a break from high temperatures and heat damage, the Airstrait might be what you're looking for.

This deal is live ahead of Amazon Prime Day, so it's possible it could dip lower when the sale event hits, but if you're interested, now is probably the best time to go ahead and pick yours up.

HYBE has launched a new AI-powered artist, SYNDI8, throwing yet another spanner in the debate around AI-generated music and copyright. And this time, it's a girl group.

The K-pop mega label behind the likes of BTS, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, NewJeans, SEVENTEEN, and more unveiled SYNDI8 (pronounced "Syndi-eight") in late June, following weeks of teasers on social media. The group is made up of four members named Canary, Nest, Goyo, and Raven, who hail from the fictional realm of Nansy Land and deploy "voice magic" using "unique magic tools."

Tweet may have been deleted

For SYNDI8, HYBE teamed up once more with AI voice tech company Supertone, which was acquired by HYBE for ₩45 billion (approximately $32 billion) in 2022. HYBE launched its first AI-powered artist MIDNATT last year with Supertone, a virtual alter ego of Korean singer Lee Hyun using his vocals, and featuring specially developed multilingual pronunciation correction technology.

Who is SYNDI8, really?

SYNDI8, Forbes reports, uses AI voice synthesis to create artificial speech that mimics human voices. Supertone's signature AI speech synthesis technology, the NANSY (neural analysis and synthesis) model, "has the special ability to divide and re-assemble voice components", Supertone president Kyogu Lee told Music Business Worldwide.

Member-wise, there's a whole backstory to SYNDI8's origin published on the band's website, detailing the four SYNDI8 members Canary, Nest, Goyo, and Raven.

Tweet may have been deleted Tweet may have been deleted Tweet may have been deleted Tweet may have been deleted

According to the group's website, "Nest is the daughter of a scientist from the Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) tribe. Canary is the daughter of a chieftain from the Canary (Serinus canaria) tribe. Raven is a hunter from the Common Raven (Corvus corax) tribe. However, Goyo is the only human in Nansy Land."

SYNDI8's debut release, MVP, launched June 27, features three singles "My Fantasy," "ATOTA," and "True Color."

An accompanying YouTube clip titled "Magic Voice Prism: The Journey Begins", credits Kayle of Supertone as executive producer alongside Han and Deja as A&R and voice director, and Chaiyeon Cho and Haeon as tech director. At present, it has 53K views, which is relatively modest by K-pop standards.

But the group's beginning has already been beset with backlash.

Yes, there's already controversy around SYNDI8

Since SYNDI8's release, allegations of plagiarism have emerged around the group's illustrations. Fans have also called out HYBE for the similarity between SYNDI8’s name and that of SEVENTEEN’s Xu MingHao, who’s known as The8.

Virtual groups aren't anything new in K-pop, with artists like K/DA and aespa defining the push into the metaverse and other virtual worlds. K/DA's League of Legends-based members are all voiced by real singers — (G)I-DLE's Miyeon and Soyeon, Madison Beer, and Jaira Burns. And AI-generated group Eternity uses face-swapping tech and AI-generated voices.

But it remains to be seen how audiences respond to HYBE's latest experiment with AI-generated music. HYBE chairman Bang Si-Hyuk told Billboard in 2023, "'I have long doubted that the entities that create and produce music will remain human." And it's not just K-pop; YouTube is reportedly talking to major U.S. labels for AI music deals.

Musicians in the U.S. have been vocal about the threats AI poses to human creativity and compensation, with 200 artists, including Billie Eilish, Stevie Wonder, Nicki Minaj, and more, signing an open letter in April denouncing AI in music. The letter specifically called out companies that were "employing AI to sabotage creativity and undermine artists, songwriters, musicians and rightsholders."

With Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event around the corner (on July 10, to be exact), we're expecting to see a bunch of phones unveiled, including the new Z Fold 6, Z Flip 6, and the Galaxy S25 series of devices.

Typically, we'd expect to see the Samsung Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25+, and Galaxy S25 Ultra launch at the event, but a recent rumor from Android Headlines said there would be no "plus" model this year. The report cited filings in an IMEI database that don't mention the S25+ variant, only the S25 and S25 Ultra.

That would be a pretty big departure from the norm, given that it's been Samsung's practice to launch three variants of its Galaxy S flagship device for years (the division between the "regular" S, the S Plus, and the S Ultra started in 2020, with the launch of Samsung Galaxy S20).

The report may have been premature, though. According to SamMobile, which cites "multiple sources," the Galaxy S25+ is still very much in development.

With no other details in either report, it's tough to figure out who to trust, though we're leaning towards Samsung staying the course it set years ago; in any case, we'll know for sure in a week when Samsung makes it official.

SEE ALSO: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 leak in new pictures

Notably, little has leaked about the Galaxy S25 series of devices this year, though we did hear they're getting pricier compared to last year's models, due to the addition of the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip. On the other side, leaker Evan Blass recently shared images of both the upcoming Z Fold 6 and the Z Flip 6, so we can be fairly certain that those phones are, indeed, coming.

Deleting duplicates, bad shots and other unwanted files makes it easier to find the good pictures — and gives you room to take more.

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 July 3 SEE ALSO: 'Wordle' today: Here's the answer hints for July 3

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Wednesday, July 3, 2024:

AcrossDefrosts

• The answer is thaws.

Event with barrel racing and bull riding

• The answer is rodeo.

"Gosh darn it!"

• The answer is aw man (no space).

Rocker who plays himself, as a murder suspect, on Only Murders in the Building

• The answer is Sting.

Have the ___ for (be attracted to)

• The answer is hots.

DownTotally awful, in slang

• The answer is trash.

Words on many self-help books

• The answer is how to (no space).

Confess

• The answer is admit.

Gradually introduces to solid food

• The answer is weans.

Best Original ___ (Oscars category)

• The answer is song.

Featured Video For You The Wordle Strategy used by the New York Times' Head of Games

Getting a new Apple Watch is fun, but learning how to clean your Apple Watch is not — unless you're getting easy-to-follow tips from Mashable.

We're going to tell you how to clean your Apple Watch properly, so you don't have to think about getting a new smartwatch just yet.

SEE ALSO: 7 best Apple Watch apps to download now
How to clean Apple Watch screen

Besides wanting to earn style points for a sleek and stylish timepiece, cleaning your watch and band regularly and thoroughly to get rid of build up of dirt, bacteria and grime is just good hygiene.

Credit: Mashable

To keep the display squeaky clean and "like new," you’ll need a nonabrasive lint-free cloth (so your screen isn’t scratched or damaged). And remember: never soak your watch or dry them with heat. 

1. Turn off your Apple Watch and remove it from the charger.

2. Remove your band, especially if it’s leather.

3. Dampen (not soak) your cloth with water. Do not use soap.

4. Gently wipe down the screen with the aforementioned cloth.

5. Dry your watch with a dry cloth.

How to clean Apple Watch band

There are different kinds of Apple watch bands, which means they all have slightly different instructions for cleaning. 

Credit: Mashable

Before you do anything else, remove your band from your watch. 

Leather bands and Hermès knit bands:

1. Wipe with a cloth.

2. If needed, lightly dampen the cloth with water. Don’t use soap and don't soak the band.

3. Let it air dry completely before wearing it and keep it away from heat, high temperatures and direct sunlight.

Solo Loop, Braided Solo Loop, Sport Band, Sport Loop, Ocean Band, Alpine Loop, and Trail Loop, Hermès Rubber bands:

1. Wipe with a cloth.

2. If needed, lightly dampen the cloth with water. You can also use a mild hypoallergenic hand soap.

3. Dry the band with a cloth.

Woven (Apple brand and Hermès), Magnetic link and Buckle bands:

1. Create a cleaning solution: 1 tsp or 5 mL of liquid laundry detergent and 1 cup or 250 mL of water.

2. Dip your cloth into the solution and gently rub the cloth on your band for one minute.

3. Clean with a separate damp cloth.

4. Dry the band with a cloth and make sure to remove excess moisture.

5. Make sure you let your band dry for one day before using it again.

Don’t forget to check if your band is water resistant (woven bands and leather bands aren’t). If your band type is not listed, just stick to cleaning with a non-abrasive, lint-free cloth, dampen if necessary — and dry with another, lint-free cloth (or follow the cleaning instructions that came with the band).

It's recommended that you wash your Apple Watch band as often as you do laundry: about once every one to two weeks.

Apple Watch $300.00 at eBay
Shop Now

Meta has already changed how AI-generated content is labelled on its platforms like Instagram and Facebook.

In a statement released on July 1, the tech giant said it relied on "industry standard indicators" to make an informed decision on how to approach AI content. Previously, the label read "Made with AI", but will now say "AI Info", a broader title to encompass how AI is used to create photographs and videos posted on Meta apps.

SEE ALSO: Reports that Apple and Meta in talks for an AI partnership disputed

The change comes after backlash from creatives and photographers, and general user confusion, about what "Made with AI" actually means on Meta platforms.

"Like others across the industry, we’ve found that our labels based on these indicators weren’t always aligned with people’s expectations and didn’t always provide enough context," reads the updated blog post.

The new label will indicate content made and/or modified with the use of AI.

There's a new version of macOS coming, but your laptop might not get every new feature.

When macOS Sequoia launches later this year, it will introduce a variety of new features, including iPhone screen mirroring to MacBooks. Importantly, according to MacRumors, it will be compatible with any MacBook that currently supports macOS Sonoma, meaning an upgrade may not be necessary. Or will it?

Cutting to the chase, there are a couple of features you'll miss out on if you don't have a MacBook powered by Apple silicon. That means your MacBook needs to have at least an M1 chip inside of it, if not a newer one. So what exactly does macOS Sequoia bring to the table? Let's dive in.

SEE ALSO: iPhone X and first-gen HomePod are now 'vintage' Apple products macOS Sonoma features that won't come to Intel MacBooks

The two macOS Sonoma features you won't get on Intel MacBooks are, unsurprisingly, related to artificial Apple Intelligence.

1. Live audio transcriptions in Notes

The new macOS is getting the ability to record notes within the Apple Notes app and have AI automatically transcribe what is said in them. Well, it's getting that ability if you have an M1 MacBook or better, anyway.

Per MacRumors, this is one of the features you won't get with an Intel MacBook. Live audio transcription can be very useful, so Intel folks will be missing out.

2. Apple Intelligence

Intel MacBook users will be missing out on Apple Intelligence. Apple's AI initiative, which includes partnerships with ChatGPT and possibly Google Gemini, will only work on Apple silicon. (This is due to Intel chips not having a neural engine.) That means people with slightly older iPhones and iPads are out of the picture, too. It's not great, but hey, that's technology.

A U.S. reconnaissance plane swooped through Hurricane Beryl — the earliest-recorded Category 5 storm to ever form in the Atlantic Ocean basin.

The powerful hurricane capitalized upon anomalously warm sea surface temperatures and favorable atmospheric conditions to intensify into a powerful cyclone, with winds reaching some 165 mph. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sent a hardy four-engine turboprop aircraft through the tempest in a mission to gather valuable storm observations. Meteorologists then feed this data into complex computer simulations to forecast the storm's future track and intensity.

On July 2, the agency posted images the mission captured as it flew through the hurricane's eye. In the views below, you're looking at a grandiose "stadium effect," showing Beryl's towering stack of clouds.

SEE ALSO: If a scary asteroid will actually strike Earth, here's how you'll know

"OVER THE CARIBBEAN - Inside the eye of Category 5 Hurricane #Beryl!" NOAA's Aircraft Operations Center wrote on the website X, formerly Twitter. "NOAA WP-3D Orion #NOAA43 'Miss Piggy' continues operations into Hurricane #Beryl to collect data for hurricane forecasting and research."

A NOAA hurricane hunter craft flies through the eye of Hurricane Beryl on July 2, 2024. Credit: NOAA The "stadium effect," as seen by hurricane hunters in the eye of Hurricane Beryl. Credit: NOAA Tweet may have been deleted

Although the eye of a hurricane is relatively calm, the storm's strongest winds are located in those cloudy walls, called the eyewall. Strong rotating winds create these iconic, if not unsettling, hurricane eyes.

Though a number of factors influence the formation of strong hurricanes (a lack of opposing winds that can break apart storms, moist air, etc.), a vital influence is warm sea surface temperatures of over 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius). Warm oceans act as jet fuel for hurricanes, storm scientists explain. That's because warmer oceans fuel tropical storms as more water naturally evaporates into the air, giving storms energy and moisture to intensify.

Tweet may have been deleted

In the coming years and decades, increasingly warmer oceans may play a role in boosting the odds of rapidly intensifying hurricanes, which pose a great risk to people in hurricane country. Beryl, for example, intensified from a tropical depression (winds of 38 mph or less) to a major hurricane (111 mph or above) in under 48 hours. That's fast.

The extremely absorbent oceans soak up over 90 percent of the heat that humans, due to fossil fuel burning, trap on Earth. And there's no sign of ocean warmth slowing down. Today, Atlantic hurricanes are already twice as likely to develop from a milder storm into a major hurricane.

Beryl, now churning through the Caribbean, is expected to remain a powerful hurricane this week and will bring "Life-Threatening Winds and Storm Surge to Jamaica on Wednesday," the National Hurricane Center said.

The 4th of July is just days away, and that means the best 4th of July deals are up for grabs. Check out our picks for some of the best laptop deals you can find ahead of the holiday:

Overview Best Laptop Deal Lenovo IdeaPad (AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $479.99 at Best Buy (Save $320) Get Deal Best Chromebook Deal HP Chromebook Plus x360 14c (128GB SSD) $509.99 at HP (Save $280) Get Deal Best Gaming Laptop Deal Acer Nitro V 15 (Intel Core i7-13620H, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $849.99 at Amazon (Save $150) Get Deal

Laptops can be huge purchases. That's why it's a good idea to shop for them around sales holidays when you can potentially save some serious cash. The 4th of July is just a couple of days away, but there is already a wide selection of laptops on sale to choose from at a variety of retailers.

Whether you want a daily driver, a gaming laptop to play some of the year's hottest releases, or a Chromebook to handle the kids' homework, there's something out there for you. You just don't need to pay full price when there are sales events everywhere right now – including the upcoming Amazon Prime Day, where you can also expect to see price cuts across just about every category.

We've rounded up several of our favorite deals that you can pick up right now ahead of the holiday. Be sure and grab yours quickly, because they won't last long.

Best laptop deal Opens in a new window Credit: Best Buy Lenovo IdeaPad (AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $479.99 at Best Buy
$799.99 Save $320.00 Get Deal Why we like it

This affordable IdeaPad is a great overall pick for anyone in the market for a new laptop. It boasts a large 15-inch touch display, powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 processor and 16GB of RAM with a 512GB SSD. It weighs just 3.53 pounds, and at just 0.7 inches thick, it's a great pick to take along with you or leave at home as your desktop replacement. Plus, it comes with a webcam as well so you can take all your work calls and hang out with friends and family straight from your computer. And if you need physical media, it even has an SD card reader built-in, a rarity these days.

Best Chromebook deal Opens in a new window Credit: HP HP Chromebook Plus x360 14c (128GB SSD) $509.99 at HP
$789.99 Save $280.00 Get Deal Why we like it

This 14-inch Chromebook comes packed with useful AI features that can help you figure out what to write next, edit photos, and create your own wallpapers. Most importantly, it's perfectly portable and lightweight so it makes for a good on-the-go computer or daily driver for work or play. It has an excellent keyboard, a variety of accessible ports, and plenty of RAM to handle just about anything you throw at it. For a Chromebook under $600, it's an excellent option — and maybe something to give any of the students for their homework needs.

Best gaming laptop deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Acer Nitro V 15 (Intel Core i7-13620H, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $999.99 at Amazon
Get Deal Why we like it

This budget gaming laptop took home our Mashable Choice Award thanks to its low price and range of fantastic features. Not only does it boast a powerful Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU and an Intel Core i7 H-series processor, but it's able to run just about every one of the latest titles available now, plus it's capable of handling the other games coming down the pipeline. It's an attractive computer at that, with 16GB of RAM to back up the power it's got under the hood. If you've had your eye on a gaming laptop for some time, you really can't go wrong with this one for the price.

More laptop deals:

• Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (Apple M2, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $849 $999 (save $150)

• HP Envy x360 15t-fe100 (Intel Core Ultra 5 125U, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $629.99 $999.99 (save $370)

• HP Envy 17t-da000 (Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $849.99 $1,299.99 (save $450)

• Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1, 14-inch (Intel Core 5 120U, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $609.99 $819.99 (save $210)

• Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i, 16-inch (Intel Core 5 120U, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $639.99 $849.99 (save $210)

• Lenovo Legion Slim 5, 16-inch (AMD Ryzen 5 7640HS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $899.99 $1,349.99 (save $450)

• Lenovo Yoga 7 2-in-1, 14-inch (AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $819.99 $999.99 (save $180)

• Samsung Galaxy Book4 (Intel Core 7 150U, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $599.99 $899.99 (save $300)

• Acer Swift Edge 16 (AMD Ryzen 7 7840U, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $999.99 $1,299.99 (save $300)

• Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 (Intel Core i7-13620H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,099.99 $1,449.99 (save $350)

• Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (Apple M3, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $949 $1,099 (save $150)

• Dell Inspiron 16 Plus 7640 (Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $949.99 $1,099.99 (save $150)

• Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 (Intel Core Ultra 7, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,099.99 $1,499.99 (save $400)

• LG gram SuperSlim (Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $999.99 $1,399.99 (save $400) + free 16-inch LG gram +view IPS Portable Monitor

TL;DR: Pay only $19 for the Steam key to World War Z and slay zombies on your PC.

Remember the days when zombies were almost everywhere in pop culture? Nearly every company had its own version of the undead. But truth be told, only a few managed to leave a lasting bite, and one of those was World War Z.

If you're still not over Brad Pitt's zombie-slaying spree, you can step into his shoes with the World War Z video game. Even better, the Steam key for PC gaming is on sale for $19 (reg. $29.99). Inspired by the blockbuster Paramount Pictures film, it promises fast-paced gameplay that should keep you on edge and, probably, yelling at your screen.

This co-op third-person shooter allows up to four players, taking you on a global zombie-killing tour from New York to Moscow, Japan, and Jerusalem. Your main goal? Outlive the dead (obviously) by battling swarms of zombies. But these aren't your typical brain-dead walkers; the in-game zombie hordes are designed to move like real crowds and get progressively harder to defeat as you advance through the game.

While you can always tough it out and play solo, where's the fun in that? The game allows for teaming up with friends in PvPvZ modes. You can choose your class, level up to different classes with distinct perks and play styles, and unlock weapon upgrades to tackle even tougher challenges.

Now's your chance to take on the zombie apocalypse, Pitt-style. Normally retailing for $29.99, you can score the Steam key to World War Z on sale for just $19 — no coupon necessary.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Aspyr World War Z: Steam Key for PC Gaming $19.00 at The Mashable Shop
$29.99 Save $10.99 Get Deal

TL;DR: Effortlessly convert your documents with a lifetime license to PDF Converter Pro, on sale for only $24.97 (reg. $99) through July 21. 

Opens in a new window Credit: Acethinker PDF Converter Pro: Lifetime License $24.97 at The Mashable Shop
$99.99 Save $75.02 Get Deal

When you need a high-quality PDF, this all-in-one converter and creator software makes it easy to convert PDF documents into several formats or processes. PDF Converter Pro's software preserves original layouts, texts, images, and hyperlinks without compromising the document's clarity.

Effortlessly convert your documents with a lifetime license to PDF Converter Pro, on sale for only $24.97 (reg. $99) through July 21.

Converter Pro gives you the ability to convert to and from PDF to several document formats, including MS Word, JPG, Excel, and more. The built-in OCR technology lets you extract text from image-based PDF documents with the original format and graph when converting scanned PDFs. 

Other features include merging multiple PDFs into one document, splitting, and compressing. Easily extract JPGs and PNGs from PDFs in a single click. Whether you’re an at-home or professional user, there comes a time when we all need a document signed, converted, or edited, and this PDF document conversion tool makes it simple. 

With PDF Converter Pro, you’ll never have to worry about the security of your documents. Lock or unlock your PDFs with password protection encryption and rest easy knowing your data is secure. 

Upon purchase, you’ll get a lifetime license to PDF Converter Pro for desktop access on up to devices. Be sure your system requirements are updated to Windows 8/10/11 or macOS X 10.8 or later. 

Get a lifetime license to PDF Converter Pro for just $24.97 (reg. $99) through July 21. 

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Enjoy a lifetime subscription to HostVerge and get your websites up and running conveniently for only $178.99 (reg. $699) for a limited time. 

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Having a website is a crucial part of running a business. Even if your business has a physical location or shop, it's your digital storefront that informs potential customers about you before they even walk inside. So if you're trying to get your new venture off the ground or bring your old one into 2024, it's probably time to make a website. And HostVerge is there to make hosting plans for that website much more convenient. 

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TL;DR: 1minAI puts AI models from OpenAI, Meta, Google, and more at your disposal to generate text, images, or edit audio, and you can get it for life for $39.99. 

ChatGPT was a huge deal when it dropped, but it's not the only big AI model on the playground anymore. GPT-4 is pretty fancy, but it's not always the best option for every type of content you want to create. The only problem is if you want more options, that often means more subscriptions. At least, it would if you didn't have the option to get multiple AI models for life in one place by getting 1minAI. This lifetime subscription gives you access to GPT-4, Mistral AI, and a lot more for just $39.99. 

What does 1minAI do?

One AI hub where you can access models for generating text, images, and editing audio seems a little too good to be true, so here's the catch. There's a finite amount you can generate every month, but you get 450,000 free credits per month, and unused credits roll over. If you're using 1min for work, that means your vacation time isn't wasting credits you've already paid for. 

The list of AI models included with 1min is seriously impressive. Check it out: 

• GPT-4o, GPT-4 Turbo, GPT-4, GPT-3.5 (OpenAI)

• Claude 3 Opus, Claude 3 Sonnet, Claude 3 Haiku, Claude 2.1, Claude Instant 1.2 (Anthropic)

• Gemini Pro 1.5, Gemini Pro 1.0 (GoogleAI)

• Llama 3, Llama 2 (MetaAI)

• MistralAI

• Command (Cohere)

The AI writing tools are super versatile. Working on an SEO project? Save time doing keyword research. Can't remember what passive voice is? One can be helped by an AI grammar tool. There's even a paraphraser for research and a ton of social tools for writing Facebook, LinkedIn, and X content. 

Not all of these AI models are for generating text. You can generate images, turn text to speech or speech to text, enhance videos, or even use AI to look over a PDF file. Now, instead of skimming a whole long document, you can just ask AI to answer your questions for you. 

Your AI team

You don't have to subscribe to every big AI tool. 

Just get a lifetime subscription to 1minAI for $39.99. 

StackSocial prices subject to change. 

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The Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, bordering Central Park on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, was a flurry of activity. Staff lugged cases of wine upstairs and placed branded hand fans on the pews. Rayne Fisher-Quann, the 22-year-old Canadian TikTokker turned writer of Internet Princess, a Substack newsletter, stood at the back of the church surveying in a poofy red dress and black sling-back heels. She apologetically abandoned set-up to speak with me. 

SEE ALSO: Celebrity-voiced erotica is the new frontier in online celeb thirst

It's two hours before Fisher-Quann's first live show in New York City, organized for her paid subscribers in collaboration with Substack. The event conveniently brought together a roster of other Substack writers — Eliza McLamb, Mackenzie Thomas, Marlowe Granados, Terry Nguyen, and P.E. Moskowitz, as well as Dead Weight author Emmeline Cline — for a night of secrets, shame, and confession. Each writer, including Fisher-Quann, read another writer's essay revealing a secret aiming for anonymity, although attendees described the writer of each essay as "obvious." None of the essays were published before, or will ever be, ephemeral in a way that Fisher-Quann's online work isn't.

There's not much privacy in a church, and with all the private rooms already in use for the event, the church's point person offered us the organ pit. We walked up the stairs to a balcony overlooking the ornate gold apse and the dark wooden pews. She paused to photograph the view on her iPhone, and we sat down in two black folding chairs next to the large green organ.

Some internet personalities might have chosen a church as the setting of their live event because of its "aesthetic shock value." But for Fisher-Quann, the meaning lies in its relationship to the night's subject matter. "A church is a place where you can have these emotional, intimate moments that might seem unacceptable or cross a certain line in the outside world," she tells Mashable. "It felt really beautiful to take this space that has meant so much to me in positive ways and a space that has also been complicated for me and use it to celebrate shame and secrecy." Growing up Catholic, her relationship to shame and guilt has always been tied to religion, and her hope for the event was to reclaim it from the right wing and create a space of "leftism and pride" without shame.

A church, the physical locus for celebrations of the defining parts of birth, life, and death, is also a location fit for Fisher-Quann's aim: to seek something real in her amorphous and intangible internet fame. 

Distancing herself from TikTok

Fisher-Quann first came to prominence on TikTok for her conversational, feminist takes. Her videos were part of a larger moment that established the social media platform as a potential home of Gen Z cultural criticism. But exhausted from the constraints of the algorithm and wanting to write long-form, Fisher-Quann left after cultivating an audience. 

On TikTok, she felt that everything she and her peers tried to do was challenged by the platform's mechanisms. Her videos were constantly reported, and her account was taken down for "talking about feminism." TikTok would have permanently deleted her account if her manager hadn't stepped in.

"You'll get so many people saying the stupidest shit you've heard about the things you're saying."

"There was a point where I [realized] I am dedicating so much of my time to generating profit for this third party that doesn't care about me. I don't own any of my work," says Fisher-Quann.

It wasn't just the restrictions on her videos and financial implications that steered her away from the platform but also the algorithm. Rather than people opting into her content, the algorithm sent viewers to her page indiscriminatly, resulting in what she describes as a unique kind of "brain rot."

SEE ALSO: How 'blue comments' turned the TikTok algorithm into a protest tool

"You'll get so many people saying the stupidest shit you've heard about the things you're saying," she says. Moving over to Substack allowed her to write for an audience that engages with her work in good faith, empowering her to take more creative risks. Instead of being served on indiscriminate FYPs, her thoughts are delivered exclusively to paying subscribers.

Fisher-Quann hasn't been on TikTok in over a year. "It was making me a little dumber," she explains. Although she acknowledges that creators on TikTok introduced her to books, art, and even some of her closest friends, she thinks those are instances where people trumped the way TikTok was supposed to work. "Every time that I felt myself falling into what TikTok wanted me to do — the mindless scrolling — I felt my attention span getting smaller, I felt my world getting smaller," she adds.

Creators working against the grain of TikTok and making thoughtful, challenging content are trapped between social media's limitations and the harassment it enables. Many followed in Fisher-Quann's footsteps and left the platform. Yet, it may be young people who suffer the future consequences. At a lecture at McGill University last year, she was approached by two tenth-grade girls who were inspired to look up Karl Marx during her talk. Where will teenage girls learn about radical politics if people like her move behind paid events and subscriptions?

Now freed from TikTok's discourse of the day, Fisher-Quann spends most of her time on Instagram and X, preferring Reels to her TikTok FYP. "[Reels is] always giving me Southern Protestant women talking about how they need to serve their husbands," she says. "[TikTok's algorithm] had me so down, and I found it quite scary. Reels is less scary because they haven't quite nailed it yet. It's a comforting thing to have a bumbling overlord."

A fitting location for her event. Credit: Anna Maria Lopez Becoming the Internet Princess

On her Substack, she was an early critic of how women are encouraged to brand themselves online into highly readable "eras." Since her essay, "standing on the shoulders of complex female characters," published in 2022, women defining themselves in this superficial way have exploded and have since evolved from eras into types of "girls."

"Women are pressured to brand themselves and to shape themselves in accordance to the desires of another from the day that we're born. That's something that's exacerbated online," she explains. "It is really easy, especially online, to tie up every facet of your worth with the way that people perceive you and to distill yourself down to this list of identity markers and consumable objects."

SEE ALSO: 2023's girl dinner, girl math, girlhood: What did we gain from a year of girl trends?

Often approaching her subjects as a participant rather than an observer, she first tackled the way women are encouraged to brand themselves online because she personally struggled with the pressure to define herself in that way but found it a dangerous venture. 

Making her living as an internet personality in the years since the essay was published, Fisher-Quann grappled with her relationship between art and her presentation of self online. "For me, it comes down to thinking a lot about whether I love the things I love because of how they make me feel, or whether I love these things or promote my consumption of these things because of how I want people to perceive me, or because I love how I think I might be perceived for being seen with those things," she says, as Madonna's "Like A Prayer" blasts through the church's sound system in preparation for the night's event.

"This is so funny," she laughs.

Building an online-to-IRL audience

Ahead of her lecture at McGill, she was convinced no one would show up. Building her career online at the beginning of the pandemic made it challenging to grasp if her audience had an appetite for in-person events. "When people are just numbers on a screen, it's impossible to know who's going to show up. You can get a lot of likes or a lot of followers and have nobody want to show up to an event that you do," she says.

SEE ALSO: Unlearning loneliness: How TikTok is rewriting the rules of connection

The Internet Princess Substack event only solidified her readers' hunger for in-person events. The church was at full capacity, with 400 to 500 people sitting in the pews. Fisher-Quann joined me on Zoom a week later to reflect on the evening. "I have a lot of trouble sometimes trying to hold onto concrete meaning on the internet because everything feels so ephemeral, but [it] also feels devoid of meaning, overly commercial, aesthetic, meaningless, and intangible. [The event] felt like something to hold on to, like a real thing," she adds.

By the end of our conversation at Holy Trinity, the church was bathed in pink light. Fisher-Quann left with one final thought: "I have to put on some chainmail."

I slipped out the side entrance 45 minutes before the doors opened, yet a crowd of diehard fans had already begun to form in front of the church's red doors. I saw on Instagram that the line later wrapped around two city blocks. The young women dressed in the uniform of daily posters: a black slip dress over a pink lace long sleeve, low-slung jeans and a tight white baby tee, and a blue-and-white dress with puff sleeves. They were there not just for a glimpse of an Internet Princess but for a piece of the real, tangible community she built.

Max shared a video of the "House of the Dragon" cast reacting to comments from fans. Watch.

Google just released its annual sustainability report on Tuesday, and the numbers aren't great. The company revealed its greenhouse gas emissions have increased by almost 50 percent over the last five years, which hasn't been helped by AI's considerable energy consumption. It looks like Google has a long way to go before its anywhere near its goal of net zero emissions by 2030.

SEE ALSO: Here's how Google thinks AI should be regulated

The most egregious statistic in Google's 2024 Environmental Report is the tech giant's whopping 48 percent increase in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 2019, the base year against which the company's progress is tracked. That's a 13 percent increase year on year, amounting to 14.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. 

For comparison, the average car produces 4.6 tonnes per annum, meaning Google emitted more greenhouse gas than over 3.1 million cars last year. 

Google's report blamed this jump primarily on "increases in data center energy consumption and supply chain emissions." In short, it comes down to artificial intelligence — an unsurprising culprit considering Google's AI search summaries alone use 10 times the amount of energy as a standard Google search (as do ChatGPT queries). Like many tech companies, Google has been rapidly implementing AI in practically every area of its business, from its Translate tool to its Photos app.

"As we further integrate AI into our products, reducing emissions may be challenging due to increasing energy demands from the greater intensity of AI compute, and the emissions associated with the expected increases in our technical infrastructure investment," read Google's report.

Despite having no intention to slow its AI integration, Google seems blissfully unconcerned about whether it can realistically continue its current course and still reach its 2030 net zero goal. The tech giant stated that it expects its greenhouse gas emissions to temporarily rise before falling, though provided little practical explanation for how the company intends to achieve this. Google even acknowledged that some issues keeping it from its net zero target just don't have solutions right now. 

Those bars should be getting lower, not higher. Credit: Google

That, it seems, is a problem for future Google.

"Our approach will continue to evolve and will require us to navigate significant uncertainty — including the uncertainty around the future environmental impact of AI, which is complex and difficult to predict," wrote Google. "In addition, solutions for some key global challenges don’t currently exist, and will depend heavily on the broader clean energy transition."

The company did note that while its total emissions have increased, they've done so at a slower rate than the past two years. Still, pointing out that you aren't polluting as much as you could have been feels like a feeble defence. If Google continues to progress as it has been, it could very well double its greenhouse gas emissions rather than reach net zero by 2030.

Google further cited a 2021 report by Boston Consulting Group claiming that AI has the potential to help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by five to 10 percent. Specifically, the report stated that AI can cut emissions by analysing areas such as production and transportation to improve efficiency. However, it paid significantly less attention to the emissions cost of AI technology itself. The report was also conducted by members of BCG GAMMA, which sells AI solutions to companies.

In any case, 10 percent is pretty inconsequential when compared to 48 percent.

Google's 2024 Environmental Report isn't all bad news. The company stated it replenished around 18 percent of freshwater used by its data centres and offices, tripling the percentage from 2022. It's still a far way off from Google's 120 percent goal, but substantially better than six percent. Packaging for new products launched in 2023 were also 99 percent plastic-free, an improvement of three percent.

However, Google backslid in other areas. Food waste diverted from landfill decreased from 85 to 82 percent, while the amount of recycled plastic in Google products fell from 41 to 34 percent.