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GET TWO FREE KINDLE BOOKS: Amazon Prime members get two free Kindle e-books with Amazon's First Reads program during the month of October. No Prime membership? Get these books for $1.99 to $4.99 each.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Two free Kindle books with Prime membership Non-members can score Amazon First Reads for $1.99 to $4.99 each Get Deal

Fall is here, and if you're planning to spend much of it snuggled up in a blanket with a good book, you're in luck. Amazon's First Reads program has you covered, helping you enjoy the cooler weather as you lounge around inside with some free books.

The First Reads program lets Amazon Prime members choose two totally free Kindle books from a selection of nine books to read without paying a dime. Normally, you just get one, making October's two-book selection a nice little bonus. Choose from a variety of genres, from horror to historical fiction and more, with options hand-picked by Amazon editors. You can also get a free short story: Joe Hill's Ushers, an Amazon original.

SEE ALSO: October Prime Day is just around the corner. Here's what to buy, and what not to.

Prime members can sign up for the Amazon First Reads program for free to choose your two October books. If you aren't a Prime member, you'll pay anywhere from $1.99 to $4.99 for each of these picks — still a bargain. They're great on Kindle, but you can read them anywhere you can log into the Kindle app. So whether you have a shiny new e-reader or you'd prefer to read on your phone, you can still get the free books and enjoy them throughout the season.

You have all month to score your free reads, but don't forget to check back for more free and cheap books as each new month arrives. Plus, don't forget to scope out the best Kindle deals ahead of Prime Big Deal Days next week.

Some app makers worry that a subtle change to the iPhone’s contact-sharing permissions could make it hard for them to get the fast growth they need to compete.

GET 35% OFF: As of Oct. 2, you can get a three-pack of eero 6+ mesh WiFi routers for just $194.99, down from $299.99, at Amazon. That's $105 off.

Opens in a new window Credit: eero Our pick: Amazon eero 6+ mesh Wi-Fi router (3-pack) $194.99 at Amazon
$299.99 Save $105.00 Get Deal

If you’re tired of sluggish internet speeds and staring at a blank screen as you frantically wait for a webpage to load, it might be time to upgrade your WiFi setup.

As of Oct. 2, you can get a three-pack of eero 6+ mesh WiFi routers for just $194.99, down from 299.99, at Amazon. That’s a 35% discount or $105 off — it’s also just $0.99 more than this product's all-time low price. This is just one of the many early Prime Day deals we're seeing ahead of Prime Big Deal Days on Oct. and 9.

SEE ALSO: Creating an Amazon wishlist is our go-to Prime Day shopping hack

These little mesh WiFi routers can cover up to 4,500 square feet and connect to more than 75 devices, so the entire family can enjoy fast, reliable WiFi without any dead zones or buffering. With WiFi 6 and TrueMesh technology, you’ll be able to stream, game, and work without interruption.

Plus, it’s easy to set up (like, even your technophobic relatives who still use AOL could manage it) and has a built-in smart home hub that you can connect to compatible Thread and Zigbee devices.

Robbie Williams biopic "Better Man" hits select theaters December 25 and opens nationwide on January 17.

I thought I had the best iPhone camera settings simply because I have the iPhone 16 Pro Max — the latest and greatest smartphone offering from Apple.

However, I was humbled quickly when I saw Mashable's professional photographer, Joe Maldonado, shooting out in the field with a highly tuned iPhone 14 Pro. Although we were taking the same photos, and despite using the best handset out of Cupertino, Maldonado's photos turned out more crisp, sharper, and more vibrant than mine.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

At first, I thought a dirty lens was the problem. But even after carefully cleaning the sensors with a microfiber cloth, Maldonado’s photos were still far superior to mine.

Finally, I asked, "Wait, how does your iPhone 14 Pro take better pictures than my iPhone 16 Pro Max?"

"It's all about the settings," Maldonado said.

Best iPhone camera settings, according to an expert

So how do you get the crème de la crème of photo quality out of your iPhone? Follow these steps — and thank Maldonado later.

Total Time

• 5 min

What You Need

• iPhone
• preferably a recent Pro model

Step 1: Go to 'Settings'

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Step 2: Tap on 'Camera'

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Step 3: Tap on 'Formats'

Here, make sure "High Efficiency" under Camera Capture is ticked as well as "24 MP" under Photo Mode. Plus, make sure "ProRAW & Resolution Control" is toggled on.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Step 4: Tap on 'Pro Default'

Ensure there's a checkmark next to "ProRAW Max (Up to 48MP)" as well as JPEG-XL Lossy (the latter is only available for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max).

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Step 5: Go back to 'Camera' menu and tap on 'Preserve Settings'

Make sure the following are toggled on: Camera Mode, Creative Controls, Macro Control, Exposure Adjustment, Night Mode, Portrait Zoom, ProRaw & Resolution Control, Live Photo. Like the menu name suggests, this ensures that your current settings are preserved every time you open the Camera app.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Step 6: Return to 'Camera' menu

Enable 'Grid' and make sure 'Level' is toggled on. According to Maldonado, these settings help him line up his shots. Plus, ensure that 'Portraits in Photo Mode,' 'Prioritize Faster Shooting,' 'Lens Correction,' and 'Macro Control' are enabled.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

And that's it as far as the Settings app is concerned.

While you're actually in the Camera app, Maldonado suggests that users toggle "Raw MAX" on.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Plus, while shooting, make sure you're hitting "1x" (the main sensor known as the wide camera) to get the best-quality photos.

Now, go out there with your newly tweaked iPhone and let us know in the comments if you notice a difference.

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max $1,199.00 at Apple.com
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Moo Deng, the baby hippo that oozes cuteness and attitude, is all over the interwebs, including a 24-hour live stream of her habitat in the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand.

And when something is as viral as Moo Deng is, it is only a matter of time until someone creates a memecoin with the same name.

Most often, these memecoins are drowned with the thousands of others that appear daily, and never reach stardom. But because this is Moo Deng we're talking about, the memecoin is of course doing exceptionally well.

SEE ALSO: Why we’re all in love with a little hippo named Moo Deng

For those not following the recent crypto scene, memecoins are cryptocurrencies residing on crypto ecosystems like Solana or Ethereum, which typically promise very little and are mostly traded by speculators. In the vast majority of cases, their value never exceeds a couple hundred dollars total before they vanish into the annals of blockchain.

But Moo Deng is a bit different. According to Dexscreener, Moo Deng currently has a market cap of over $227 million (a cryptocurrency market cap represents the total value of all available coins at current prices). Given that it started from virtually zero, some speculators have gotten rich by buying Moo Deng and not selling it for a few weeks

Tweet may have been deleted

If you're thinking of doing the same, be warned: These memecoins are incredibly volatile and are prone to suddenly losing all value within days or even hours. Just because Moo Deng is currently in its "pump" stage, does not mean a "dump" isn't coming.

Moo Deng, the actual baby hippo, probably does not care about Moo Deng, the memecoin. Heck, I bet she doesn't even have a Solana wallet. But that also means she's certainly not about to lose money on it. Good for you, baby pygmy hippo; good for you.

It’s officially that time of year when watching The Holiday on a Sunday huddled under a blanket on the sofa is not only acceptable but compulsory. There's a chill in the air, which means one thing: cuffing season is here. Your Instagram feed will soon be awash with couples cosying up at festive markets, and festive soirées together, it can feel like everyone apart from you has done the unthinkable and found someone to love. 

What is cuffing season?

So, what exactly is cuffing season? And is it a real thing, or merely a marketing slogan designed to get singletons swiping while they lie under a blanket watching Gilmore Girls for the 10th time? If you, like me, reside in the camp of single, flirty and (mostly) thriving, you may find this time of year either overwhelming or mentally strenuous. Cuffing season typically starts in mid-October and ends after Valentine’s Day, with the term originally coined in 2011 when it began appearing in college newspapers. The term comes from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), stemming from the term "cuffed" which means you’re dating someone. This was around the time it was entered into the Urban Dictionary, too. 

Dating app Bumble told Mashable that this time of year sees an influx of users logging in and swiping to find a match. So if your dating app profile is suddenly popping off, this could be why. 

What's behind this sudden surge in swiping? This need to couple up and find a mate in the colder months comes down to our biology, too, with a drop in serotonin levels causing us to seek out connection. In the northern hemisphere, our days are getting shorter, nights are longer, and temperatures are dropping. Historically, the colder seasons are when humans would be looking for an additional mate or people to spend that time with, as strength came in numbers to forage for food and get through the tough months with. 

SEE ALSO: Welcome to the 'Lover Girl' dating era. It's time to embrace romance.

The shift in seasons can also trigger Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) for some people, a type of depression people experience when the seasons change due to the colder, darker weather. This change in weather and temperature can influence how we feel, due to the fact that our serotonin and melatonin levels change. Serotonin is the ‘happy’ chemical our body produces, so a lack of this could mean we feel lonelier and thus pursue more companionship or physical touch from others. Researchers think that this drop in serotonin could be linked to why we go in search of a mate, and why cuffing season has become commonplace in modern dating. 

Whilst using apps to date and find a match has become the most common method of meeting someone, that doesn’t mean it’s made it any simpler. Eimar Draper is a dating coach and believes this time of year can see us run the risk of settling for situations that don’t serve our true needs and desires. 

"If you're looking for something serious, don’t deviate from that path," Draper says. "It's tempting to agree to just hook up with someone new for the sake of getting to know them, but if you know it’s not what you want long term, then your emotional and mental capacity for handling something casual potentially isn’t quite there."

SEE ALSO: Is Seasonal Affective Disorder impacting your sex life? Here's how to cope. Avoiding situationships during cuffing season

If you’ve been in the dating sphere for the last few years, you’ll know all too well either through lived experience or watching friends go through it that it’s very easy to find yourself a situationship — whether that's what you're looking for or not. With the language of heartbreak more focused on that of people coming out of long-term relationships, the pain of post-situationship heartache is something that doesn't get the validation it deserves. 

In fact, almost 65 percent of singles surveyed by the dating app eHarmony admitted to having their heart broken from a short-term relationship or situationship, with 56 percent sharing that their situationship heartbreak was equally or more painful than what they experienced after ending a longer, committed relationship.

SEE ALSO: How to move on after a situationship ends

Draper believes this is due to the fact that we allow things on our deal-breaker list to fall by the wayside when we enter dynamics that lack clear boundaries and expectations. "Sometimes if you're entering into a situationship with the hope of it turning into commitment, you’re not really living in alignment with your values," she says. "I think going against what our needs and wants are from a relationship creates quite a bit of shame for us, which is a difficult emotion to process and one we’re reluctant to honestly share."

Why do we seek connection during the colder months?

So, why does this time of year cause us to seek out and form attachments that perhaps don’t fully serve our needs emotionally? "It's ingrained in us to seek that human connection, but there’s also loads of different societal pressures in the world of dating now, too," Draper explains. "I feel like there's a lot of pressure on women especially now to stand strong in their independence and claim they don't need anybody, and at the same time, there’s an equal pressure for them to be okay with something casual and surface level. Yet, we’re still slut-shamed and judged for doing so."

"It's ingrained in us to seek that human connection, but there’s also loads of different societal pressures in the world of dating now, too."

Open communication and spending time with yourself, she believes, is key to making a healthy and happy relationship dynamic come to fruition. "Spend some time with yourself to figure out and get clear on what it is that you expect out of a relationship," she says. "Unpacking that will naturally give you the boundaries that you are going to need or want to achieve."  

Boundaries also go beyond what you expect from someone face-to-face. Placing digital boundaries is also key to forming a healthy connection. Caitlin Begg is a sociology researcher, with a vested interest in how our communication and digital lives impact our relationships. 

"The way we communicate now is over-saturated and blurs the lines between real life and hyperreality," she says. "Hypercommunication is the notion that the amount of excess inbound and outbound comms we consume is impacting our brains and social behaviours. Which in turn, impacts how we navigate our relationships, too."

SEE ALSO: It's time to reclaim singledom as a symbol of power

Begg’s work has led her to believe that the excessive way we connect now has put our dating timelines in reverse. "Take dating in the '60s, let's say. You had maybe two channels maximum to communicate with someone — the telephone, or through a letter," she says. "Now, there are so many different channels to do so that we’ve fallen into cycles of overcommunication. This causes us to form attachments and ideas of a person before we even meet them, rather than getting to know them in person first and then figuring out their digital communication pattern."

Cuffing season, Begg believes, is a time of year where we collectively focus on the expectations, thinking ahead to how the relationship we form will end up, rather than staying focused on the connection with the individual.

"The way we speak to one another when it comes to dating has changed so much thanks to the advancement of technology," she says. "We need to be careful about how much we let our online presence and perceptions intercede our relationships in real life. Don’t let notification culture force you to project something private that you’re still figuring out into the public sphere just to be seen as successful."

Dating with intention

Cuffing season isn’t just for flings and surface-level connection, though. There’s still an opportunity to seek out a match who’s looking for the same thing as you. Dr. Caroline West, Bumble's sex and relationships expert, believes the low pressure and focus on the fun of the season could see us ending up with a genuine connection, no matter how long it lasts. 

"If you’re dating with intentionality, this time of year is a great opportunity to date and meet new people without the pressure of making it a long-term thing," she says. "Even short-term relationships can be a fulfilling and positive experience, so if you can, I’d recommend trying to see breakups in a new light."

Whilst short-term flings can be fun and serve a purpose, this time of year also brings with it a suddenly very heavily laden social calendar. From family events to work Christmas parties, sometimes the time to date and pursue multiple people is actually hard to find. 

"The pressure to not be seen alone at these events can lead people to enter into situationships, just so they don’t feel embarrassed in front of loved ones."

"People can feel pressured around this time to have a plus one, and having a consistent partner — no matter how long they’ve been on the scene — can make them easier to navigate," West says. "The pressure to not be seen alone at these events can lead people to enter into situationships, just so they don’t feel embarrassed in front of loved ones."

But being alone doesn’t hold the same negative connotations the romcoms would lead you to believe. Recent research from Bumble reveals that many people are now embracing a "Consciously Single" mindset when it comes to dating, with over half of them (53 percent) realizing that it can be empowering to be alone after a breakup.

Regardless of what your goals are for dating right now, the most important thing is to remember that nobody will see you as "less than" if you rock up to the pub solo for festive drinks. Your great aunt at the family Christmas party is only asking if you’ve met someone because she’s curious about your life away from home, and your friends who are coupled up and in love aren’t showing off, they’re just happy. So don’t let the green-eyed monster or fear of being alone lead you down the path of forced connections and half-baked intimacy with someone new for the sake of getting cuffed.

This article was first published in 2023 and republished in 2024.

"The Daily Show" host Michael Kosta has broken down the most memorable VP debate moments in a live monologue.

TL;DR: Live stream select games from the NBA for free on Ran.de. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The NBA is a unique sport. There's nothing else in which incredibly tall athletes can be made to look tiny by aliens who could probably touch the sun if they stood on tip toes. And almost all of these shockingly tall athletes display a skillset that mere mortals can't even fathom.

The NBA could make a legitimate argument that it hosts the very best athletes in the world. Sure, the NFL might disagree. And rugby definitely attracts some special specimens. But the NBA has a bunch of seven footers dunking on each other. That's tough to beat.

If you are interested in watching the NBA for free from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

What is the NBA?

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America made up of 30 teams (29 from the United States and one from Canada). The reigning league champions are the Boston Celtics.

When is the NBA?

The NBA regular season runs from Oct. 22 to April 13. The play-in tournament is scheduled to be played on April 15-18, followed by the playoffs on the next day, and concluding with the NBA Finals in June.

How to watch the NBA for free

Free-to-air channel ProSieben airs select NBA games, with free live streaming available on Ran.de. Fans can watch two NBA games every weekend during the regular season, with many playoff and finals fixtures also available to watch for free.

Ran.de is geo-restricted to Germany, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Germany, meaning you can access this streaming service from anywhere in the world.

Stream the NBA for free by following these simple steps:

1. Sign up for a VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

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

4. Connect to Ran.de

5. Watch the NBA for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Year Subscription + 3 Months Free) $99.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer money-back guarantees or free trials. By leveraging these offers, you can watch NBA live streams without actually spending anything. This isn't a long-term solution, but it does mean you can watch select NBA games before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to free streaming sites from around the world, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for streaming live sport is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for the NBA?

ExpressVPN is the best service for streaming live sport on Ran.de, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including Germany

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

• Strict no-logging policy

• Fast streaming speeds

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Watch the NBA for free with ExpressVPN.

A Crumbl Cookie pop-up in Sydney, Australia has gone viral after customers discovered that it had no actual affiliation with the TikTok famous U.S. bakery.

Crumbl Sydney's organisers literally just flew to the U.S., bought hundreds of Crumbl Cookies, then returned to Australia to sell them at $AU17.50 apiece. For those in the U.S., that's around $12 per cookie.

SEE ALSO: Baby hippo Moo Deng has a 24-hour livestream now. Here's how to watch.

Crumbl Cookies have gained notable popularity on TikTok, many users sharing videos of themselves digging into the viral treats and extolling their virtues. As such, hundreds of Australians were eager to try the famous baked goods when news spread that there would be a one-day Crumbl Cookie pop-up in Sydney on Sept. 29.

Crumbl Sydney had been promoting the event on TikTok for weeks, and hype had been effectively built by the time the pop-up opened in North Bondi on Sunday. Unfortunately, reports of an hours-long queue for stale, horrendously overpriced cookies quickly began to spread.

Tweet may have been deleted

Then it got even worse. It was quickly revealed that Crumbl Sydney had not been officially authorised by Crumbl Cookie, and in fact had no connection to the U.S. store. Instead, some aspiring entrepreneur had travelled to the U.S. to buy a ridiculous number of Crumbl Cookies and resell them to Australians at a significant markup.

The backlash was swift and furious. Some were upset they'd been duped, labelling the pop-up a scam, while others were incredulous that anyone fell for Crumbl Sydney's ploy in the first place. Australian TikTok is currently awash with takes on the Crumbl Cookie drama, with many predicting an incoming lawsuit.

Crumbl Sydney responds to anger at unauthorised Crumbl Cookie pop-up Tweet may have been deleted

In response to the furore, Crumbl Sydney published a Google Doc addressing the allegations against them, linking to the statement on TikTok.

"[W]e never claimed to be an official Crumbl store," wrote Crumbl Sydney, stating that they had not used Crumbl Cookies' trademarks in their TikTok content. "This was clearly stated in [our] bio and our comments. Our goal was to bring the authentic Crumbl cookies to Australia by importing the cookies directly from the USA."

This defence is somewhat undermined by the fact that the boxes and signage used at the Crumbl Sydney pop-up clearly displayed Crumbl Cookie's trademarked name and logo, using the same font and recognisable shade of Millennial pink. Users have also noted that Crumbl Cookie's TikTok page initially didn't include any such disclaimer, only adding it after the backlash. 

Then there's the videos. Though Crumbl Sydney has now wiped all of the videos from its TikTok account, copies remain online via other users reacting to the clips. Some of Crumbl Sydney's deleted videos are also available on the CrumblCookieAus YouTube account, which appears to belong to the pop-up judging by the matching video content and the dates of its uploads.

CrumblCookieAus clearly uses Crumbl Cookies' trademarked name and logo in these YouTube videos, and even writes as though it is an officially authorised account. On Sept. 11, CrumblCookieAus uploaded a video consisting of clips and audio taken from Crumbl Cookies' official YouTube account, specifically its one and two year celebration videos.

"Just a small peek of our studio," CrumblCookieAus wrote in the description.

CrumblCookieAus also appeared to encourage commenter's misconceptions that they were an official Crumbl Cookies outlet.

"Yoo ive seen these everywhere online and now getting them here? Thats pretty good," @likebutton1233 commented on a Sept. 10 Short.

"Yup! I can’t wait for all you guys to come and try our cookies!" CrumblCookieAus wrote. "We love our Australian 🇦🇺 fans we gotta let them have some Crumbl cookies!"

Mashable has reached out to Crumbl Cookie for comment.

'This event was never about profit': Crumbl Sydney on its $17.50 cookies Credit: Mashable screenshot from @CrumblCookieAus on YouTube

Though Crumbl Sydney seemed happy to take credit for Crumbl Cookies' cookies not long ago, it's now singing a much different tune.

"We traveled to the US to purchase the cookies and imported them with their original packaging," Crumbl Sydney wrote in its Google Doc. "We did not bake them ourselves." 

According to a cost breakdown supplied in Crumbl Sydney s Google Doc, the organisers spent $AU6,000 to purchase the Crumbl Cookies and their packaging. On top of this, $AU4,000 was budgeted for flights and luggage; $AU2,000 for duties, taxes, and customs; around $AU1,000 for staffing; plus additional costs for the pop-up setup such as tables, the venue, microwaves, and marketing. 

"This event was never about profit," the organisers continued. "We aimed to bring the cookies to Crumbl fans…. We set the prices without an intention of making a large profit."

This may be true. Videos uploaded by CrumblCookieAus weeks ago promised further Crumbl Cookie locations in other Australian states, which would have no doubt gotten significant publicity and many more customers had the Sydney pop-up gone well. Considering how it actually went down, it seems safe to say that they won't be going ahead any time soon.

Tweet may have been deleted

Regardless of whether or not Crumbl Sydney hoped to make a profit from Sunday's event, many have noted that $AU17.50 is an exorbitant amount to ask for a single cookie, no matter how viral it is. TikTok user sofiaqistinee noted that she only found out the price once already at the pop-up.

Though Crumbl Sydney claimed that most of the pop-up's customers were satisfied, it did at least acknowledge that not everybody was happy. Unfortunately, they appeared dismissive of such concerns, attributing complaints to customers' personal distaste for the flavours they'd chosen.

"While most customers enjoyed the cookies, a couple of influencers felt they didn’t meet expectations," they wrote. "We apologise that they don't live up to expectations however they are just cookies at the end of the day. While there may be a small difference in quality, some flavours may not appeal to some people."

"Crumbl cookies should be kept at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or refrigerated for up to 7 days. We kept them to these requirements. Some were warmed to enhance their texture, which is what crumbl does as well."

Can Crumbl Cookie sue Crumbl Sydney? Credit: Mashable screenshot from @CrumblCookieAus on YouTube

Crumbl Sydney has claimed that its pop-up was perfectly legal as it was selling Crumbl Cookies as parallel imports. Also known as grey or direct imports, a parallel import is when a product is brought into a country and sold without the specific permission of the manufacturer to do so. Such imports are sometimes the only way people can get their hands on region-exclusive products.

Parallel imports aren't against Australian law. However, trademark infringement is. 

As noted above, Crumbl Sydney clearly used Crumbl Cookies' logo and branding during their pop-up. Under Australia's Trade Marks Act 1995 (Cth) Section 122A, parallel importers must make "reasonable inquiries" regarding a trademark before using it. They can then only proceed if a "reasonable person" would conclude that they'd been given permission to use the trademark by someone with the authority to do so.

Unfortunately for Crumbl Sydney, there's no indication that the pop-up ever sought or received such permission. This was made even more apparent by Crumbl Cookie founder Sawyer Hemsley's response to the drama.

"It appears we need to expedite our visit to Australia," Hemsley wrote in a comment on TikTok. "Please note, this pop-up is in no way affiliated with @CrumblCookies."

If Crumbl Sydney has any sense, they're probably steeling themselves for a lawsuit. On the face of it, it seems as though Crumbl Cookie would have a pretty solid case. Their best hope now is for Crumbl Cookie to show some mercy and decide that going after such a sorry pop-up simply isn't worth their time.

Pluto is the most famous dwarf planet, due in part to its very public demotion from ninth planet of the solar system two decades ago. 

But a relatively obscure dwarf planet in the main asteroid belt could be the most accessible icy world to Earthlings in space. Though it's less than 600 miles wide, Ceres appears to be rich in water ice, and new research from Purdue University and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is helping to confirm it was once drenched in flowing water. 

For years, Ceres confounded experts with its cratered surface. These pits seemed too deep and rigid to exist on a retired water world. Scientists now think that may not be a contradiction after all, if they account for a key ingredient: mud — and maybe lots of it. 

"Our interpretation of all this is that Ceres used to be an 'ocean world' like Europa (one of Jupiter's moons), but with a dirty, muddy ocean," said Mike Sori, a planetary geophysicist at Purdue, in a statement. "As that muddy ocean froze over time, it created an icy crust with a little bit of rocky material trapped in it."

SEE ALSO: NASA just found a new type of ancient asteroid loaded with water NASA's Dawn spacecraft observed craters on the dwarf planet Ceres between 2015 and 2018. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA / ASI / INAF

Using computer models, the team discovered that dirt mixed into Ceres' ancient ocean could have reinforced the dwarf planet's ice, holding the craters' shapes and preserving some of its other geology for long periods of time. This mixture would allow the surface to be both icy and strong. The study appears in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Previous thinking suggested that if the dwarf planet were icy, the craters would deform easily, like glaciers flowing on Earth — or like gooey honey, Sori said. 

The paper, led by doctoral student Ian Pamerleau, posits that Ceres' surface is, in fact, loaded with ice — perhaps as much as 90 percent of it. Through simulations, the team tested different crust scenarios and found that dirty ice could keep the crust from "flowing" over billions of years. With this structure, the dwarf planet would get gradually muddier and less frozen at lower depths. 

A NASA spacecraft got a closer look at Ceres' surface between 2015 and 2018 through the Dawn mission. Those observations revealed the dwarf planet's unusual bright patches as a salty crust of sodium carbonate, the same type of salt people use as a water softener. 

After looking at the mission data, scientists thought perhaps the salt was the residue of a vast, briny reservoir about 25 miles underground and hundreds of miles wide. Meteorite impacts either melted slush just below the surface or created large fractures in the dwarf planet, allowing salt water to ooze out of ice volcanoes.

Bright features on the surface of dwarf planet Ceres are a salty crust of sodium carbonate, the same type of salt people use as a water softener. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA

Astrobiologists have wondered if simple, microbial life could exist on Ceres, the closest frozen ocean world to Earth at an average of 260 million miles away. The National Academies Planetary Science Decadal Survey recently recommended that NASA return to Ceres to collect samples.

More robotic missions to the dwarf planet could provide greater insights and points of comparison for the icy moons of the outer solar system, such as Saturn's Enceladus and Jupiter's Europa and Ganymede, Sori said. 

"Some of the bright features we see at Ceres' surface are the remnants of Ceres' muddy ocean, now mostly or entirely frozen, erupted onto the surface," he said. "So we have a place to collect samples from the ocean of an ancient ocean world that is not too difficult to send a spacecraft to."

The reign of the Dyson Airwrap has reached its end — and even better, the Shark FlexStyle is no longer your only option for a dupe.

I've tested both of the above tools and compared them head to head, and while I used to think the Shark FlexStyle was undeniably the best value hot air multi-styler out there, recent releases from other brands are making it hard to say that without hesitation.

SEE ALSO: Dyson Airwrap vs. Shark FlexStyle: Here's which hot air tool is worth your money How to choose the best Airwrap dupe

Just a few years ago, if you wanted one hair tool to blow dry your hair, as well as help you achieve a blowout, more defined waves, or pin-straight hair, you were basically limited to the $600 Dyson Airwrap. The much cheaper Revlon One-Step offered another alternative for getting a blowout, but it also increased your risk for heat damage and wasn't honestly a one-to-one tool.

Then Shark FlexStyle hit the market in 2022, giving consumers a real multi-styler alternative to the Airwrap for the first time ever, and at half the price. Though it wasn't a perfect duplicate, it did use the same Coanda airflow technology that helped the Airwrap go viral in the first place, and innovated on the original iconic design in a way that actually gave the Shark an edge over the much pricier hair tool.

SEE ALSO: Is this $45 red light gua sha a promising Solawave dupe?

These days, typing "Airwrap dupe" into Google will get you plenty of results that can deliver on the Coanda effect — but naturally, not all these dupes are made equal. That's why I spent time testing out options from brands like T3, Sharper Image, and FoxyBae to see how well they stacked up against the FlexStyle (which I consider a gold standard dupe) and the Airwrap itself. I came away with some new favorites — and new opinions on what makes a good Airwrap dupe. Below, you'll find Mashable's updated list of recommendations for the best Airwraps as of 2024.

Note: In Aug. 2024, Dyson released the Airwrap i.d., a new version of the multi-styler which features the same standard Airwrap technology, but with the addition of new attachments and a companion app. Due to the basic similarities between this new Airwrap and past versions, we're still comfortable recommending the below as good dupes, but we'll be updating this guide as soon as we test out the newest Airwrap.

WhatsApp is catching up with Google Meet and Zoom.

On Tuesday, the company announced that it added backgrounds and filters to video calls. The filters on offer include options such as warm, cool, black and white, dreamy, and fisheye. You can also choose from backgrounds such as living room, office, beach, forest, and sunset. If none of these quite work for you, there's also the option to just blur your background and hide the horrendous mess that is behind you.

SEE ALSO: WhatsApp 'View Once' messages are far more permanent than you realize

Finally, the Touch Up and Low Light options are there to make your video calls "more vibrant and enjoyable."

Based on WhatsApp's examples, the filters and backgrounds on offer seem fine, but are not as fun as the stuff you get on Google Meet, for example.

Post by @whatsapp View on Threads

The popular messenger's video call feature has long been adequate, but far behind on features when compared to other video calling apps. In particular, the ability to blur the mess that is my living room has been a very important feature for me on Meet; now that WhatsApp has it as well, I'd be more inclined to take a business call through Meta's messaging app.

Excited to try out the new filters, I updated and fired up the WhatsApp app on my iPhone, but the filters and backgrounds, which should be available via a new icon that appears in the upper right corner during a video call, were not available. WhatsApp says the effects will be available to everyone "in the coming weeks."

The initial version of Apple Intelligence focuses on helping you with words and photos. Prepare to be impressed and unnerved.

CRV, based in Silicon Valley, plans to return to investors $275 million because the market for mature start-ups has soured.

I got a chance to demo Recall — and it's a lot more polished than I thought.

What is Recall? Only the most controversial AI-powered feature that Microsoft has dropped this year.

Long story short, it's like your own personal digital scrapbook. Using frequently taken screenshots, it saves snapshots of your PC activity, allowing you to go back and revisit them whenever you want.

Thanks to a timeline scrubber, you can scroll through everything that happened each day. Plus, you can use natural language to search for things within your Recall history.

However, some security experts expressed concerns about Recall, fearing that hackers would see it as a gateway for stealing user data.

Microsoft rep using facial authentication for Recall. Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

In response, Microsoft delayed Recall's rollout and addressed fears and anxieties by, in part, requiring Windows Hello (e.g., biometric authentication like fingerprint scanning and facial recognition) to access Recall.

Now that Recall is more secure, Microsoft wants Windows users to give it a chance.

SEE ALSO: Recall just got a release date window for Windows PCs. Here’s when you’ll get to test it. Windows Recall demo with Microsoft

I had a Microsoft rep demo Recall at a recent press event.

Demonstrating a practical use case, the rep pretended that he was interested in running the Boston Marathon and discovered a PowerPoint-based itinerary for it — but never saved it.

Microsoft rep searching for Boston itinerary. Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

He launched Recall and searched for the word "itinerary" — and voilà — it appeared in his search results because the AI recognized the word among some screenshots in his timeline.

The Microsoft rep boasted that Recall can even identify images.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

After typing, "Chart with purple arrow," Recall was able to find a document with — you guessed it — a purple arrow, even though the words "chart with purple arrow" never appeared in the timeline.

While these perks are pretty impressive, it's the following three features that won me over.

1. You can access links in Recall's search results

Once search results populate in Recall, you can click on a screenshot and a button below it will allow you to access the URL associated with it.

For example, if you want to find that Mashable article about the "Lover Girl" dating trend, but you forgot to bookmark it, you can lean on Recall and type in the words "couple in love."

Credit: Mashable

Not only will you see the screenshot of the article (thanks to the AI-based image recognition), but you'll be able to access it again via Microsoft Edge.

Recall can pull up files stored locally, too, if you click on a screenshot of a document you saved on your computer.

2. Recall screenshots are interactive

You can interact with screenshots of documents, webpages, and more without ever leaving Recall.

For example, if a screenshot captures a PDF you opened during your PC activity history, you don't need to pull up the actual document to interact with it.

Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

If there is text, your PC will recognize it and allow you to copy and paste it elsewhere. You can click on URLs, too.

3. Don't worry about storage

I asked the Microsoft rep, "Wouldn't Recall destroy my storage?" As it turns out, in the Settings menu, there's a way to limit Recall's presence on your storage in the Settings app.

Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

Depending on your preference, you can ensure that the PC doesn't exceed the following storage thresholds:

• 25GB

• 50GB

• 75GB

• 100GB

• 150GB

The Microsoft rep explained that 150GB is "over a year's worth of snapshots" while 25GB will save about "several months" of data.

Recall's privacy and security

As we reported last week, Microsoft announced a slew of updates to Recall to make it more secure.

Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

In addition to requiring a Windows Hello login, Recall requires an opt-in process. It's not on by default.

Secondly, users can uninstall Recall from their system. Thirdly, Microsoft said that Recall data is encrypted and isolated in something called a "VBS Enclave." In layman's terms, this means that your screenshots will be secured in a contained environment that is safe and unreadable from third-party apps and users.

Plus, Microsoft says that AI for Recall is processed on-device and Microsoft never uploads user data to the cloud.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, a Recall-supported PC Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

Keep in mind that only Copilot+ PCs, like the Surface Laptop 7, support Recall. Laptops with this branding can handle on-device AI processing due to their NPUs (a processor that is dedicated to running AI tasks).

How to get Recall

I tried to get Recall on my own PC (i.e., Surface Laptop 7), but it required me to jump through several hoops. Firstly, I had to sign up for a free Windows Insider membership.

Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

Secondly, I had to go through a wave of updates to make sure that my system is on the latest Windows version available.

The Recall button looks like the recycle icon. Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

But even then, because Microsoft is doing a staggered rollout of Recall to Windows Insiders, I haven't seen Recall appear on my machine yet. Bummer!

Is Recall on its way to redemption?

Microsoft has tough challenge on its hands: redeeming Recall from a sullied reputation. Recall has been called creepy, dystopian, controversial, and gimmicky.

However, there are still some users who are optimistic about its usefulness. I fall in the latter camp; I've been in countless situations where I browse the internet, neglect to bookmark or save something, and end up pulling my hair out trying to rediscover it.

As someone who struggles with forgetfulness, I can see Recall playing the hero in moments when my mind fails me.

There's a tweet from former President Donald Trump I think about a lot. It is unintentionally hilarious and indicative of how the human experience works.

A dozen years ago he posted: "The Coca Cola company is not happy with me--that's okay, I'll still keep drinking that garbage."

Say what you want about the man — perhaps that he's a race-baiting compulsive liar who's hell-bent on subverting long-held democratic norms — but that's a great tweet. It's perhaps the gilded billionaire's most relatable moment: This thing sucks and of course I'm going to keep doing it. Most of us feel that way each morning as we rise for work.

Funnily enough, that Trump tweet is almost exactly how I feel about Elon Musk's X, the website formerly known as Twitter. Yes, it's awful. It has degraded in myriad ways, actively incentivizes the worst accounts, and has lost lots of the best users. But there is no real replacement and I've been using it for too long to change now.

Tweet may have been deleted

Previously I wrote that the best alternative to Twitter is Logging Off. In the piece I noted that Twitter had become markedly less fun, worse to use, and that the rip-offs — Threads, Blue Sky, etc. — didn't have the user-base or familiarity to scratch the same itch. I stand by all that. The best thing alternative to Elon Musk's X is to log off — I am just unable to do it.

Lots of folks have left X. Anecdotally, I've seen a bunch, especially among the folks who don't really need it. Frequent posters I used to follow like screenwriter Brian Koppelman, songwriter Jason Isbell, and sitcom guru/baseball guy/Mose fromThe Office Mike Schur have all left, for instance. Mashable's reporting noted that X lost daily active users after an initial post-Musk surge then stagnated over the summer. Some studies have shown a steep drop in Twitter use pretty much since Musk took over. In short, people are ditching X.

Tweet may have been deleted

But, queue the Leo in Wolf of Wall Street meme, I'm not freaking leaving. Let's be clear: This is not some show of support of Musk or his platform. I get all the reasons X sucks now. I can hardly scroll without seeing some ad for drop-shipped crap, a promoted post by some scammer, or a flood of replies from verified bots. And Musk, well, he's actively a rightwing shitposter remaking X in that image. He bans the people he doesn't like, yet reinstates far-right accounts that got barred for misinformation, abuse, or worse...all under the guise of loving free speech.

I should leave X. It's the right thing to do and would be a healthy choice. And from a purely practical perspective, the site sucks now. But let's be honest here, I'm lazy and I love posting. Sure, TikTok is an interesting and addictive platform, and Instagram is...fine I guess, but my formative social media years centered on Twitter and text-based jokes. It's not something I want to give up. At least not yet.

X is the rotting corpse of a website I once loved, but at least its limbs and appendages are familiar. The muscle memory remains. I know exactly where X's app is on my phone's home screen, I know exactly how to compose a tweet, I can bop over to my replies without thinking, as if breathing. My follower list is curated, as is my following, even if my engagement is nonexistent due to not paying Elon $8 per month for a check. Were it not for the inertia of its previous existence as Twitter, X would be nothing but Truth Social. But inertia is a hell of a force.

I've had this thought about not leaving Twitter — sorry, I mean X — for quite some time. But a tweet helped inspire me to finally write it. User @pankendev posted: "'if you hate elon so much then why are you still here' BECAUSE I WAS HERE FIRST. WHY SHOULD I LEAVE. HE'S THE ONE WHO SUCKS."

Tweet may have been deleted

And you know what, they're kind of right. Sure, Musk sucks, but it doesn't mean I can't use the decaying remnants of Twitter to enjoy what I can. For instance, the day less-than-beloved New York City Mayor Eric Adams got indicted was hilarious, especially as an NYC resident. I shouldn't have to miss that because a thin-skinned billionaire has decided to gut his favorite website. Also, I write about the internet for Mashable, meaning I can't fully leave X anyway — not that I'd actually be able to quit cold turkey.

Tweet may have been deleted Tweet may have been deleted

X is a sinking ship. But I just cannot seem to find my way to the life rafts. None of X's clones have come close to matching what Twitter once was and, thus, I'm left hanging onto the debris that remains.

Elon Musk's X is awful but that's OK — I'll keep logging onto that garbage. At least until I can log off for good.

The James Webb Space Telescope's latest psychedelic view reveals an exploded star.

But this supernova is special. That's because, from our perch in the galaxy, the new stellar blast appears three times in a warped line — like it's floating in front of a funhouse mirror. This distorting effect happens because objects in space can be so massive — often clusters of galaxies — that they warp the cosmos, like a bowling ball sitting on a mattress. This creates a curved "cosmic lens," bending and distorting light, while also magnifying and brightening the light.

"The lens, consisting of a cluster of galaxies that is situated between the supernova and us, bends the supernova’s light into multiple images," Brenda Frye, an astronomer from the University of Arizona who helped undertake the new research, said in a statement.

Though, she added, in the case of this supernova, a "trifold mirror" is even better suited to describe this triple view. "This is similar to how a trifold vanity mirror presents three different images of a person sitting in front of it," Frye said.

SEE ALSO: NASA scientist viewed first Voyager images. What he saw gave him chills.

Crucially, the mirror effect is of great value to astronomers. They can use the differences in light from the distant supernova to help measure the long-sought expansion of the universe (yes, the sprawling universe is constantly expanding).

"To achieve three images, the light traveled along three different paths," Frye explained. "Since each path had a different length, and light traveled at the same speed, the supernova was imaged in this Webb observation at three different times during its explosion. In the trifold mirror analogy, a time-delay ensued in which the right-hand mirror depicted a person lifting a comb, the left-hand mirror showed hair being combed, and the middle mirror displayed the person putting down the comb."

The three circles below show the supernova, dubbed "H0pe" — H0 is short for the "Hubble constant," the name for the rate of the universe's expansion. The vivid, white, fuzzy objects are the galaxies in the foreground creating the lens, located some 3.6 billion light-years away.

The blown-up box shows the supervova "H0pe," which from our vantage point appears three times, due to the effect of gravitational lensing. Credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / B. Frye (University of Arizona) / R. Windhorst (Arizona State University) / S. Cohen (Arizona State University) / J. D’Silva (University of Western Australia, Perth) / A. Koekemoer (Space Telescope Science Institute) / J. Summers (Arizona State University) Tweet may have been deleted

The universe's rate of expansion is an ongoing area of research, with different methods employed to narrow down an answer. In this case, the light measurements Frye and the team recorded from supernova H0pe show an expansion of 75.4 kilometers per second per megaparsec, with an uncertainty range of plus 8.1 or minus 5.5 parsecs. These are big numbers. For reference, a parsec equals 3.26 light-years, and a single light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles.

Don't let your head explode.

The Webb telescope's powerful abilities

The Webb telescope — a scientific collaboration between NASA, ESA, and the Canadian Space Agency — is designed to peer into the deepest cosmos and reveal new insights about the early universe. But it's also examining intriguing planets in our galaxy, along with the planets and moons in our solar system.

Here's how Webb is achieving unparalleled feats, and likely will for decades to come:

- Giant mirror: Webb's mirror, which captures light, is over 21 feet across. That's over two-and-a-half times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope's mirror. Capturing more light allows Webb to see more distant, ancient objects. The telescope is peering at stars and galaxies that formed over 13 billion years ago, just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. "We're going to see the very first stars and galaxies that ever formed," Jean Creighton, an astronomer and the director of the Manfred Olson Planetarium at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, told Mashable in 2021.

- Infrared view: Unlike Hubble, which largely views light that's visible to us, Webb is primarily an infrared telescope, meaning it views light in the infrared spectrum. This allows us to see far more of the universe. Infrared has longer wavelengths than visible light, so the light waves more efficiently slip through cosmic clouds; the light doesn't as often collide with and get scattered by these densely packed particles. Ultimately, Webb's infrared eyesight can penetrate places Hubble can't.

"It lifts the veil," said Creighton.

- Peering into distant exoplanets: The Webb telescope carries specialized equipment called spectrographs that will revolutionize our understanding of these far-off worlds. The instruments can decipher what molecules (such as water, carbon dioxide, and methane) exist in the atmospheres of distant exoplanets — be they gas giants or smaller rocky worlds. Webb looks at exoplanets in the Milky Way galaxy. Who knows what we'll find?

"We might learn things we never thought about," Mercedes López-Morales, an exoplanet researcher and astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics-Harvard & Smithsonian, told Mashable in 2021.

Already, astronomers have successfully found intriguing chemical reactions on a planet 700 light-years away, and have started looking at one of the most anticipated places in the cosmos: the rocky, Earth-sized planets of the TRAPPIST solar system.

TL;DR: A wide range of AI courses are available to take for free on edX.

There are absolutely loads of free AI courses on edX. You can learn all about this new and exciting technology without spending anything (or leaving home).

We've checked out everything on offer and lined up a selection of standout courses to get you started. These are the best online AI courses you can take for free this month on edX:

• AI for Everyone: Master the Basics

• AI in Practice: Applying AI

• AI Prompt Engineering for Beginners

• Generative AI for Business Leaders

• Google AI for Anyone

• Introduction to AI for Digital Marketing

• Introduction to ChatGPT

• Introduction to Generative AI

• Prompt Engineering and Advanced ChatGPT

• Python for AI and Development Project

These free online courses do not offer certificates of completion, but that's the only catch. You can still learn at a pace that suits you, so there really isn't anything stopping you from enrolling.

Find the best free AI courses on edX.

Opens in a new window Credit: edX AI Courses Free at edX Get Deal

TL;DR: Capture stunning aerial footage with the Ninja Dragon Phantom 15PRO Dual Camera Drone, just $89.99 (reg. $199).

Adults don't just head outside and run around for hours like kids do. If you're looking for a fresh, exciting way to spend your time outdoors, get ready to take flight with the Ninja Dragon Phantom 15PRO Dual-Camera Smart Drone. It's on sale for just $89.99 (reg. $199) for a limited time and might just be your new favorite hobby.

Whether you're capturing stunning aerial photos or exploring new heights of creativity, this drone offers most of the thrills of a professional gadget without the huge price tag.

The Ninja Dragon Phantom 15PRO is built for adventure, packed with smart features that make every flight fun and easier than you might think. Thanks to its dual-camera system, you can shoot photos from multiple angles. The wide-angle HD lens captures stunning landscape views, while the optical flow camera stabilizes your shots so you can focus on creating incredible memories, not managing shaky footage.

Flying a drone doesn't have to be complicated. The Phantom 15PRO comes with intelligent flight modes that make piloting super easy, even for beginners. Whether using gesture control for hands-free selfies or setting up a custom flight path via the app, you’re in full control with minimal effort.

Want to impress friends and family? Show off with automatic takeoff, landing, and one-key return functions that help give you smooth and safe landings every time.

Worried about obstacles getting in the way of your fun? Don’t be. The Ninja Dragon Phantom 15PRO is equipped with 540-degree obstacle avoidance technology, so it will dodge and weave its way around anything in its flight path. You can fly with confidence, knowing your drone is looking out for itself—and your investment.

Get outdoors in any season with this smart drone.

For a limited time, this Ninja Dragon Phantom 15PRO Dual-Camera Smart Drone is on sale for $89.99 (reg. $199).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Onetify Ninja Dragon Phantom 15PRO Dual Camera Smart Drone $89.99
$199.99 Save $110.00 Get Deal