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Bose Ultra Open Earbuds hit new low price after Prime Day

Mashable - Thu, 10/10/2024 - 16:51

Save $50: The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are discounted at Amazon, even after Prime Day wrapped up. They're priced at $249, a new all-time low.

Opens in a new window Credit: Bose Bose Ultra Open Earbuds $249.00 at Amazon
$299.00 Save $50.00 Get Deal

If you're in the market for really good earbuds, the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds — on sale at an all-time-low price at Amazon — might be your next purchase. The earbuds are on sale for $249, a 17% drop from the typical list price of $299.

The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds promise to deliver high-quality sound while keeping your ears open, as the name implies. That could be the perfect thing for runners, bikers, or folks who otherwise might not want to shut-out the world via noise cancelling.

Mashable's review of the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds gave them a really good 4.4 out of 5 rating.

Wrote RJ Anderson for Mashable:

"When Bose announced these headphones, they described them as the solution to the “one bud phenomenon” — aka needing to pull out one of your earbuds to interact with the world — and I was surprised to find that they lived up to the hype. Not only are the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds cool and functional, but the sound quality is great, the fit is incredible, and the comfort level is off the charts."

So if you ever wanted to cut down on taking out a single earbud, this might be just the deal you need.

More Prime Day earbud deals still available

YouTube responds to accusations that it’s been 'hiding' the skip button on ads

Mashable - Thu, 10/10/2024 - 15:26

Recently, the internet was worried that YouTube was phasing out the skip button on ads. It turns out that's not really true.

In a statement to The Verge, YouTube confirmed that the option to skip some ads isn't going away, but is rather getting a visual overhaul. According to a YouTube spokesperson, the site is trying to clean up the way ads look, and part of that is by changing the skip button into a progress bar on the bottom of the video. This will apparently be the case for both desktop and mobile users.

SEE ALSO: Not so short, YouTube Shorts announces 3-minute videos

YouTube needed to address this in a statement because various places such as Reddit and AndroidPolice noticed that the skip button wasn't appearing on desktop or mobile. On desktop, things got particularly interesting, as it appeared that the YouTube video player was drawing a black rectangle over the skip button, almost as if to discourage people from using it. However, according to YouTube, that's not what's happening.

As always, you can avoid this entirely by paying for YouTube Premium. Such is life.

Fidelity data breach compromises more than 77,000 customers

Mashable - Thu, 10/10/2024 - 15:19

One of the largest financial services and asset management companies has just been breached.

According to a new notice filed with the Office of the Maine Attorney General, Fidelity Investments was targeted in a data breach. More than 77,000 customers have had their sensitive personal information compromised.

SEE ALSO: Internet Archive data breach: Hacker claims to ‘See 31 million of you' on Have I Been Pwned

"Between August 17 and August 19, a third party accessed and obtained certain information without authorization using two customer accounts that they had recently established," Fidelity said in a letter sent to affected customers.

Upon noticing the breach on August 19, Fidelity says it immediately cut the unauthorized party's access to its systems.

It's unclear as to what specific personal data was stolen. It's also unclear how a bad actor was able to access private data tied to 77,099 customer accounts by "using two customer accounts that they had recently established." 

According to Fidelity, customers' accounts were not compromised. The company also shared that those who were affected make up a small subset of its more than 50 million customers.

Fidelity will be providing the affected customers with two years of credit monitoring services.

This Fidelity data breach marks yet another instance of users' data being compromised just in this week alone. Comcast, MoneyGram, and the Internet Archive all notified customers and users that their data had been stolen in a data breach.

The Sonos Ray soundbar is still 40% off after Prime Day

Mashable - Thu, 10/10/2024 - 15:12

Save $110: The Sonos Ray compact soundbar is discounted 39% on Amazon despite Prime Day officially coming to a close. You can grab it for $169, down from its typical list price of $279.

Opens in a new window Credit: Sonos Sonos Ray Compact Soundbar $169.00 at Amazon
$279.00 Save $110.00 Get Deal

Prime Day might officially be over, but there are still deals to be found on Amazon. The Sonos Ray compact soundbar is on sale for $169, for instance, which is a nearly 40% drop from its typical list price of $279.

You'll also be getting a quality product that's significantly less expensive than the premium soundbar options. Mashable's review gave the Sonos Ray a very solid 3.9 score out of five.

"The Sonos Ray soundbar is sleek, petite, crisp (in make and sound), and an all-around small but mighty soundbar to add to your entertainment system" wrote Han Schneider in that review.

SEE ALSO: The Sonos Ray brings into question why soundbars have to be so large and unwieldy

Overall, Mashable's review noted that the Sonos Ray sounded great, was easy to set up, and was a cheaper option that discarded some of the frills folks might not need. And now that cheap option is even cheaper.

More Prime Day soundbar deals still live

No, Starlink isn't actually 'free' for Hurricane Helene victims

Mashable - Thu, 10/10/2024 - 13:26

Elon Musk's 30-day offer of free Starlink internet to the thousands of displaced and disconnected Hurricane Helene victims isn't as good as it sounds.

First reported by the Register and Gizmodo earlier this week, the "free" Starlink trial is more like a classic marketing ploy than a legitimate option for disconnected residents. The offer doesn't include the satellite internet's required hardware — including a $350 Starlink terminal kit — and, at the end of the 30 days, customers could be auto-enrolled in the $120-per-month subscription plan.

Tweet may have been deleted

"Please note," the Hurricane Helene support page reads. "A Starlink kit is required to access this free service. If you do not already have a Starlink kit, you will need to purchase one from starlink.com/residential or an authorized retailer such as Best Buy or Home Depot." The offer does extend a 30-day credit to existing customers, however. But they still have to create a help ticket in order to receive a waiver at an undetermined date, according to the company.

All of this is gambling on individuals having access to stable electricity or generators. One week after Hurricane Helene's devastation, more than 850,000 residents across seven states were still powerless, and restoration efforts are ongoing as a second storm, destructive Hurricane Milton, just touched down in Florida.

SEE ALSO: How to connect your iPhone to a satellite to send messages

Despite the company's promotional bait and switch, Starlink's emergency services are helping humanitarian efforts, with the federal government deploying emergency Starlink satellites and dozens of ground devices to support relief organizations in the region. On Tuesday, Starlink announced it was unlocking Direct to Cell satellites, which enables SMS text messaging, for T-Mobile users ahead of Hurricane Milton.

A 10-foot skeleton named Steve is on sale at Walmart

Mashable - Thu, 10/10/2024 - 13:24

Save $75: Walmart's 10-foot-tall skeleton named Steve is on sale for $174, down from its typical list price of $249. It might just be the next best thing to Home Depot's viral, sold-out giant skeleton.

Opens in a new window Credit: Walmart Steve the Poseable 10' Skeleton $174.00 at Walmart
$249.00 Save $75.00 Get Deal

Walmart might have the deal to make all your spooky season dreams come true. Its 10-foot skeleton decoration, dubbed Steve, is $75 off on the heels of Amazon's Prime Day.

Typically, Steve will run you a $249 but its price is reduced 30 percent to $174.

Walmart's giant, 10-foot skeleton is not the viral giant skeleton you might've seen everywhere for the past few years. Home Depot's Skelly has become a Halloween staple since its debut in 2020. But Skelly, which retails for $299, is currently out of stock, meaning ol' Steve might be your next best option.

Still, Walmart's Steve is pretty massive and can be put into different poses — so let your creativity run wild this Halloween season.

The 'hear me out' cake TikTok trend, explained

Mashable - Thu, 10/10/2024 - 13:15

You might be curious why people are putting print-outs of cartoon characters into cakes. And, well, the answer is a tiny bit uncomfortable: It's basically confessing an attraction to the strangest characters, people, or things

So the so-called "hear me out" cake is basically the people somewhat jokingly saying, "Hear me out; I would hook up with this character."

The trend follows a few key beats. Two or more people — sometimes large groups — take turns placing skewered print-outs of their "hear me outs" into a cake. Oftentimes, things get more unhinged or obscure as the TikTok goes on. You might hear the dad from Finding Nemo, a background character in Spongebob, or the literal number eight, for instance.

The trend has proven to be really popular, seemingly as viewers either find themselves agreeing or being shocked. Here's one from the couple account @MeghanandJack that's racked up some 3.4 million views.

Here's a group of friends that posted one that's garnered nearly 28 million views.

There are lots of videos with lots of views.

It's not totally clear where the trend started, exactly. Crush cakes have been a thing online for a while, where people put their crushes into cakes. Today noted that one of the earliest videos with a crush cake and the phrase "hear me out" came from user @desgovname in late September. The video initially highlighted K-Pop idols before transitioning to the types of unconventional crushes typically featured on "hear me out" cakes.

So, yes, that really is what's happening — people are posting their strangest crushes via skewers in a cake. The internet is a wild place.

Is this image AI-generated? How to tell in 3 easy steps.

Mashable - Thu, 10/10/2024 - 12:41
As AI gets better and better it may seem harder and harder to tell what's real and what isn't, but not all hope is lost. Here’s how you can tell the difference between the real and the computer-generated.

Study: Reports of nonconsensual nude images are ignored on X

Mashable - Thu, 10/10/2024 - 12:31

X (formerly Twitter) takes swift action when taking down deepfake nude images that are reported as copyright violations — but not when they're reported under "nonconsensual nudity," a study has found.

The paper, published by researchers at the University of Michigan and Florida International University, is an audit of X's reporting systems and hasn't yet been peer-reviewed, 404 Media reported. Researchers created five AI "personas" of young white women (to prevent further variables of race, gender, and age) and then made 10 replica images of each, resulting in 50 images. In terms of the ethics around generating deepfake porn themselves, researchers said these images underwent a "rigorous verification process" to ensure they didn't represent an existing individual.

SEE ALSO: How Big Tech is approaching explicit, nonconsensual deepfakes

They posted these images to X on 10 "poster accounts" they created, and then they created five X accounts to report the images. Twenty-five images were reported as Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) violations, and the other 25 were reported as nonconsensual nudity.

Researchers then waited three weeks to see the results of these reports. All 25 images reported for copyright were removed from X within 25 hours. In contrast, none of the images reported for nonconsensual nudity were removed within the three-week waiting period.

"Our findings reveal a significant disparity in the effectiveness of content removal processes between reports made under the DMCA and those made under X's internal nonconsensual nudity policy," the study states. "This highlights the need for stronger and directed regulations and protocols to protect victim-survivors."

X owner Elon Musk dissolved the platform's trust and safety council in 2022, but the site has recently opened up two dozen safety and cybersecurity positions in the U.S. Mashable has reached out to X for comment.

Earlier this year, WIRED found that victims of nonconsensual deepfake porn leveraged copyright laws to take down deepfakes on Google.

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

Save nearly $30 on 'EA College Football 25' with this Prime Day deal still available

Mashable - Thu, 10/10/2024 - 12:15

SAVE $27: Amazon has EA Sports College Football 25 for nearly 40% off. It's currently $42.99, a huge discount from its $69.99 list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Electronic Arts EA Sports College Football 25 $42.99 at Amazon
$69.99 Save $27.00 Get Deal

In real life, college football is heating up with thrilling upsets and a race to a new 12-team playoff that's sure to pack plenty of excitement in the postseason. You probably can't go and join the roster at Georgia right now, but you can step into their cleats virtually with EA Sports College Football 25, which is deeply discounted for October Prime Day.

The first official college football video game in a decade is a delightful return to form for a series that was a good deal better than Madden when it went dormant in 2014. The developers lovingly rendered and included stunningly accurate portrayals of each included school's stadium, including obscure pre-game rituals that only alumni should know about.

The part where you actually play football is really good, too, thanks to a variety of modes that let you inhabit whatever role you want to inhabit and do almost anything you want. Do you want Kennesaw State to suddenly become a national powerhouse? The world is your oyster in College Football 25.

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