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Porn performers differ in their views on Project 2025, the right-wing plan to — among other measures — outlaw pornography and imprison its creators. As Mashable reported last month, some think it's merely a scare tactic used by Democrats. Others, however, see it as an existential threat to their livelihoods.

Nearly 20 performers in the latter camp are part of a new digital ad campaign announced today called Hands Off My Porn. The $100,000 campaign will appear on adult content websites in swing states — Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada — and warn viewers about the potential outcomes of Project 2025, according to a press release sent to Mashable. Pornhub is currently blocked in North Carolina due to age-verification laws, which require proof of age to view sites that primarily host adult content. The announcement also stated that the ads will soon appear in more states, too.

SEE ALSO: Top 5 digital security tips from sex workers

The ads will link to the Hands Off My Porn site, where viewers can watch safe-for-work video testimonials from performers like Siri Dahl about the dangers of Project 2025. The site also provides links to register to vote and donate to the political action committee Artists United for Change.

"In my 12 years since I started my career in the adult film industry, I've seen a lot of political attacks on our industry," said Siri Dahl in the press release. "But Project 2025's plan to make pornography illegal and throw all the pornographers in jail is really the worst example yet. This plan of Project 2025's is an egregious attack on your right to privacy, and not to mention it's just purely unconstitutional."

These performers are certainly not alone in their fears: nearly 89 percent of adult content creators are concerned about cultural and political attacks on the adult industry, according to research firm SWR Data. Concern among trans performers (93 percent), creators of color (94 percent), and gay and lesbian creators (100 percent) were the highest, in data sent to Mashable.

"I'm deeply concerned about how Project 2025 could impact not just our personal freedoms but also the rights of sex workers and the adult film industry as a whole,” said performer Cherie Deville in the Hands Off My Porn announcement. (DeVille has written for Mashable.) "These policies have the potential to undermine our work, our rights, and our ability to create content safely and freely. This is about protecting our livelihoods and ensuring that sex workers aren't pushed further into the margins."

SAVE $46.99: The Amazon Echo Pop is back at its all-time low price with the added bonus of a TP-Link Smart Color Bulb. Grab the bundle for $17.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Echo Pop with TP-Link Tapo Smart Color Bulb $17.99 at Amazon
$64.98 Save $46.99 Get Deal

The Echo Pop debuted in 2023 and is Amazon's simplest and least expensive smart home device. It can play music and podcasts and works with Alexa apps. While it lacks the Echo Dot's motion detection and temperature sensing capabilities, it otherwise performs similarly, comes in more fun colors, and is more compact. The TP-Link Smart Color Bulb allows you to control your lights and their colors via Bluetooth.

The Echo Pop regularly returns to this low price on shopping holidays. Normally priced at $39.99, the Echo Pop is on sale ahead of Prime Big Deals Days on Oct. 8 and Oct. 9 for $17.99, saving you 45% on the list price. The charcoal, glacier white, lavender bloom, and midnight teal models are all on sale and come with the TP-Link Smart Color Bulb.

Everyone is currently awaiting the new line of M4 Apple computers. New MacBooks, Mac Minis, and more are all expected — based on Apple's previous annual launch schedule. 

Apple has been fairly predictable when it comes to new product releases. Software announcements come in June at WWDC, followed by new hardware. For example, new iPhone announcements have long been slated for Apple's September event, followed by new MacBook launches later in the fall.

However, that dependable annual release schedule from Apple appears to be coming to an end. According to Bloomberg's Apple insider, Mark Gurman, Apple has been "slowly" moving away from this annual release strategy.

SEE ALSO: Apple's new M4 MacBook Pro is coming soon, but it may have already leaked Apple changes up it's annual product release cycle

For many years, Apple users have come to expect new Apple hardware releases to come on a fairly consistent schedule. 

According to Gurman, this was done for a few reasons. It provided employees with a deadline to work towards. It helped investors know what to expect. And it provided Apple's marketing team with the post-summer timeframe to go all out with its press and marketing push.

However, as Gurman explains, this has become more challenging as Apple expands well beyond just smartphones and computers. Some products, like certain AirPods or Apple Watch models, don't need a yearly hardware update.

In addition, certain Apple teams have been spread thin in order to work within these scheduled launch dates. Gurman shares that Apple's audio team needs to work on every device – from Macs and iPhones to the Apple Watch and AirPods.

Software updates have also made things more challenging, as Apple now deals with a range of operating systems from iOS to Apple Vision Pro's visionOS. Every time new hardware is announced, the work has to be done to make sure everything is compatible with the software too. 

Unfortunately, the timeframe to get both hardware and software out the door doesn't always line up. For example, Apple has heavily promoted its new iPhone 16 as being built specifically for Apple's AI, Apple Intelligence. However, Apple Intelligence hasn't even yet been launched even though the iPhone 16 launched last month and has been in customers' hands for weeks.

Gurman does expect iPhone's annual update and September announcement event to continue. However, Apple's experiment to ditch the annual announcements for certain products has already begun to roll out. In the past few years, there have been more random Apple releases for new Macs in January and in June. Apple launched new iPads in May, which is not a regularly scheduled Apple launch time period.

But, fear not Apple fans. Gurman says that Apple's decision to change up strategy will likely result in "more frequent releases and fewer jarring delays." When a product is ready to go, Apple will plan its roll out accordingly instead of trying to work within the predetermined Apple event schedule.

Wondering how to factory reset a PS4? Sony's PlayStation 4 has been a trusty sidekick for over a decade (yeah, it’s really been that long), but with the PlayStation 5 Pro hitting shelves soon, you may be opting to sell the console.

Or maybe your PS4’s cluttered with years of digital baggage — and you're ready for a clean slate.

SEE ALSO: Sony finally announces the PS5 Pro, including release date and preorder details

Whatever your reason — whether you’re passing it on, trading it in, or just craving that new console feeling — we’ve got you covered.

How to factory reset a PS4

Here’s how to factory reset your PS4 and give it a proper send-off, no matter the occasion. Let's get into it.

1. Deactivate your PS4 account

Simply factory resetting your PS4 won’t cut it if you’re prepping to sell it or pass it on. If you skip a crucial step — deactivating your PS4 as the primary console — you could run into headaches when trying to sign in on new devices later. Plus, leaving your account linked could give the next owner access to your digital content. So, here’s what you need to do first:

1. Fire up your PS4 and head to the Settings menu.

2. Scroll down and select Account Management.

3. Next, choose Activate as Your Primary PS4.

4. On the following screen, hit Deactivate. (Don’t worry if the "Activate" button is grayed out—that just means your account is already active on this system.)

5. Confirm by selecting Yes, and you’re all set.

Once your PS4 is deactivated, you can safely proceed to the factory reset.

2. It's reset time

Now for the main event: the factory reset. Thankfully, it’s a straightforward process — just follow the steps below, and your PS4 will be as clean as a whistle, with all your personal info, downloaded games, and save data gone for good. (Quick tip: If you want to hold onto your save data, back it up first using a USB or via PSN's cloud storage if you’ve got a subscription.)

Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to the Settings menu on your PS4.

2. Scroll down and select Initialization.

3. Choose Initialize PS4 to see options on how much you want to clear.

4. For a full reset, select Full—this will completely wipe the console, leaving only the operating system intact.

Once you've done this, your PS4 will be wiped clean and ready for its next adventure.

Google is stepping up its device security game for Android users, with long-promised theft protection tools that are beginning to make their way to select devices this week.

Spotted by Android journalist Mishaal Rahman on X (formerly Twitter), the rollout introduces three major features: Theft Detection Lock, Offline Device Lock, and Remote Lock. Initially spotted on devices like the Xiaomi 14T Pro and some Pixel models, these tools aim to give users more control when their phones are stolen, offering quick lockdown options even when the device is offline.

SEE ALSO: Google Search is testing blue checkmark feature that helps users spot genuine websites

The new features are designed to be straightforward. Theft Detection Lock leverages Google’s AI to sense when your phone is physically snatched from your hands, locking the device instantly. If the thief cuts off internet access, Offline Device Lock kicks in, keeping your phone secured even when it’s not connected.

Then there's Remote Lock, which simplifies locking your phone from a distance. While you can already do this with Google’s Find My Device, Remote Lock eliminates the hassle of logging into your Google account. Instead, you just enter your phone number and pass a quick security check to lock things down.

According to Rahman, these features are being rolled out globally and will be available on all phones running Android 10 or higher.

TikTok parent company ByteDance is amassing huge volumes of web data way faster than the other major web crawlers

ByteDance may be planning to release its own LLM, and is aggressively using its web crawler, "Bytespider," to scrape up data to train its models, Fortune reported.

Bytespider showed up on the scene in April, and since then, its rate of consumption puts web scrapers from OpenAI, Google, Meta, and Anthropic to shame.

SEE ALSO: Texas adds to TikTok's legal woes over children's safety concerns

Sam Crowther, CEO of Kasada, a company that specializes in bot management, told the outlet that Bytespider's scraping rate is 25 times more than OpenAI's GPTbot and 3,000 times the rate of ClaudeBot, which is Anthropic's web crawler for its Claude LLM. Crowther also said that Kasada's data has seen "huge spikes in scraping activity" from Bytespider in the last six weeks.

As Bytespider voraciously consumes the web, the U.S. government is trying to inhibit potential access of American user data to the Chinese government. In April, President Biden signed a bill forcing the ban of TikTok unless it was sold by ByteDance within the year. Given ByteDance's ticking clock for selling TikTok, the sense of urgency fits the massive rate of its web crawling activity — whether for an LLM, a better algorithm, or something else, we don't know.

What ByteDance plans to do with all of its newly-mined data remains to be seen. But TikTok has launched several AI-powered features for the platform. In May, it announced a suite of tools for advertisers to create AI-generated ads, and AI-generated avatars for brands and creators. TikTok is also rumored to be working on an internal search engine, with results powered by AI — possibly using ChatGPT.

SAVE $20: As of Oct. 7, get the Ninja Single-Serve Pods & Grounds Specialty Coffee Maker for just $79.99. That's a 20% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Ninja Single-Serve Pods & Grounds Specialty Coffee Maker $79.99 at Amazon
$99.99 Save $20.00 Get Deal

Some mornings, there's nothing more revitalizing than a delicious cup of coffee. But if you're tired of a boring old cheapie coffee maker that does little more than brew you a single cup from whatever brand you grab off the shelf, you might be ready for something new. Something stronger, more powerful. Because as the weather gets cooler, you're probably going to start relying on that bean elixir even more. What better way to do that than with a discounted coffee maker ahead of Prime Day?

As of Oct. 7, you can get the Ninja Single-Serve Pods & Grounds Specialty Coffee Maker at Amazon for just $79.99. That's $20 off its normal price of $99.99 and a 20% discount.

This coffee maker, as it says in the name, can use both grounds and pods to brew your morning java. It can whip you up a single-serve cup with four different brew styles: classic, rich, over ice, or specialty, no matter whether you use grounds or pods. It also has a variety of brew sizes from 6 to 12 ounces.

Though it comes with a slew of different options, it only requires a small footprint. Its compact design means it won't take up too much space on your countertop, and you can store your brew basket or pod adapter in its storage drawer to save even more space. It even comes with a hot or cold milk frother that you can fold away to save additional space.

Don't spend all your cash at Starbucks this fall. Make all your fave coffee drinks at home exactly how you like them and save some money up for the holidays.

SAVE $220: As of Oct. 7, the Sony WH-1000XM4 wireless headphones are on sale for $129.99 at Amazon. That's a saving of 63% on its list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Sony Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Headphones $129.99 at Amazon
$349.99 Save $220.00 Get Deal

October Prime Day has not kicked off yet, but we would be seriously surprised if any headphones deal during this shopping event can top the offer on Sony WH-1000XM4 wireless headphones. These award-winning headphones are available for a record-low price on Amazon, so save yourself the stress of checking out hundreds of deals and shop early this year.

The Sony WH-1000XM4 wireless headphones are on sale for $129.99 at Amazon, saving you 63% on list price. You can secure this same low price on both the Black and Silver models.

SEE ALSO: 8 best noise-cancelling headphones to buy on Prime Day

These headphones are tough to beat. They come equipped with premium noise canceling with Dual Noise Sensor technology, a battery life of up to 30 hours with quick charging, and helpful touch sensor controls. They are also super comfortable for wearing all day, every day.

Don’t miss the Sony WH-1000XM4 wireless headphones at their lowest-ever price ahead of October Prime Day.

SAVE 50%: As of October 7, Amazon Prime members can save up to 50% off Prime Video movies and TV shows.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon 50% off Prime Video movies and TV shows Get Deal

Prime Day is nearly here, but you don't have to wait around to find the best deals possible on a variety of categories. You can already shop some of the biggest discounts of the event, but there are also perks beyond that of the more obvious deals to be had. For instance, Prime members get access to even more than just discounted physical goods. If you've been looking to stock up on your digital media collection, you won't want to miss this deal.

As of October 7, Prime members can save up to 50% off select Prime Video movies and TV shows. This discount is available on both titles you want to buy or rent. Buying a title means it'll be added to your library and you can watch it whenever you want. Rentals include 30 days for you to start watching your content, and 48 hours to finish once you begin.

Eligible titles include the newly-released Harold and the Purple Crayon for $8.99 and the original Joker movie for $6.99. Other options include Fall Guy, If, and Borderlands. While they aren't all winners, this is a great perk if you're looking to find something to watch alone or with friends and family and you don't want to shell out for a streaming service for a glimpse at a new movie or show.

This is one lesser-known perk that's well worth taking advantage of, especially if you're someone who needs to catch up on some of the newer movies and TV that released in the last few months, and it's always good to own instead of rent when you can. Grab the content you're interested in before Prime Day officially kicks off.

A new update on iPhone allows users to add new text effects to their entire messages — or just specific words. You can make words big, small, bold, italicized, underlined, or struck through. But you can also make the words shake, nod, explode, ripple, bloom, and jitter. This is going to revolutionize the way I thank door dash delivery drivers.

It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it, but the first step is imperative: you've got to update your phone and download iOS 18. As a reminder, you can do that by navigating to settings, clicking "general," and tapping "software update." This will tell you if you already have iOS 18 or if you need to update your software. These tools are only available on iPhone's iMessages, furthering the debate between green Android message and blue Apple message supremacy.

Here's a step-by-step guide to adding text effects to your iMessages.

Total Time

• 1 min

What You Need

• iPhone
• iMessage app
• verve

Step 1: Open a message

When you open a message, you'll see an A above the "P" in the keyboard and next to where you typically see recommended text.

Credit: Screenshot / Mashable

Step 2: Click the A

Once you click the A, your entire message will be highlighted. You'll be able to choose between four stagnant effects — bold, italic, underlined, and struck through — and eight effects with movement — big, small, shake, nod, explode, ripple, bloom, and jitter.

Credit: Screenshot / Mashable

Step 3: Choose your fighter

Now, simply click which effect you want to use and iMessage will give you a preview of how it'll look. For instance, if you click "ripple," the message will ripple for you.

Credit: Screenshot / Mashable

Step 4: Specify which part of the message you want to add an effect

If you want to specialize your message even further, you can choose to just add the effect to one specific word. For instance, if you want to really make the "yeah" in "hell yeah brother" pop, you can highlight that word and click "big" or "bold" or "explode."

Credit: Screenshot / Mashable

Of course, you can still add the other special effects to your iMessages, like confetti when you text "congrats" or fireworks when you text "Happy New Year." And, as always, if you long press on the send button, you can still add bubble effects like slam, loud, gentle, and invisible ink and screen effects like sending with echo.

Disclaimer: This is a review-in-progress, as I haven't finished this game yet. As such, the score is subject to change.

I’ve spent nearly a decade aggressively trying to like Persona 5 as much as everyone else I know, but it turns out the trick was just to wait until the chief creatives behind it made a different game instead.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is, in its own way, the game of my dreams. That’s because it takes everything good about Persona, including the effervescent sense of style, fun turn-based combat, and engaging calendar-based structure, and recontextualizes it into a substantially more interesting experience. By ditching the trappings of modern Japanese high schools and embracing a unique, colorful fantasy world with a fun road trip conceit, Metaphor rises above the limitations of its spiritual predecessor.

Persona series director Katsura Hashino (with character artist Shigenori Soejima and composer Shoji Meguro, among others) has put his name on something special, provided the game doesn’t completely fall apart in the third act. After about 40 hours, though, I’m in love. 

SEE ALSO: 'The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom' review: Princess Zelda shines in her protagonist debut I just can’t wait to be king  Our hero for this journey. Credit: Sega/Atlus

Fair warning: I haven’t seen the end of Metaphor’s story yet, so I can’t pass full judgment right now. But so far, so good.

Rather unlike the Persona series, which has traditionally melded a real-world setting with supernatural nonsense, Metaphor cuts out the middleman and is a full-on fantasy adventure. The United Kingdom of Euchronia’s king has been assassinated and, thanks to a series of simultaneously wacky and very cool magical shenanigans, a new contest for the throne has been declared. Anyone can sign up and whoever gains the trust of the people (as judged by magic) through a series of kingly challenges around the world is declared king at the end.

Naturally, our protagonist joins the fray, accompanied by a diverse, constantly growing group of friends along the way. As one might expect, the contest for the throne is made exponentially more complicated by the circumstances around it. The true heir is either missing or dead, depending on who you ask. There’s an unwritten but widely accepted racial hierarchy that favors some tribes over others, and the state church is trying to rig the game so its chosen candidate will win.

That’s all exciting and intriguing in its own right, but a lingering mystery about the nature of this world keeps driving the plot at crucial moments. I’ll just hint that the giant, terrifying monsters threatening the kingdom’s safety are called “Humans,” so there’s definitely something strange going on.

This is what Humans look like in 'Metaphor.' Credit: Sega/Atlus

Metaphor’s narrative is hard to fully judge without having finished it, but after 40 hours, it’s got me hooked. One of the reasons why I didn’t vibe with Persona 5 was the central cast of characters; a few of them were simply very annoying to me — and I never grew attached to them. That isn’t the case here, at least partially because the story is about people who scan as adults rather than high school kids with problems that I don’t care about.

Here, we get to pal around with a talking rodent who is also a master assassin and the fantasy equivalent of Taylor Swift instead. These are fascinating people with backstories that I want to discover and problems that I want to help them solve. It’s really all I ask for from any RPG party, and Metaphor delivers on that front handily.

I’m a little less sure about Metaphor’s overarching themes. Racism is a major part of this world, as the kingdom is made up of several tribes with varying levels of political power. However, where I’m at in the game, it feels like a story where racism happens rather than a story about racism. It’s very nice that each member of the central party is from a different tribe, but characters repeatedly saying “it’s bad to be racist” feels a bit simplistic without much examination of how the culture got to this point or how to fix it. 

Of course, I could feel totally differently about that by the time the credits roll. Time will tell.

Metaphor is giving me what Final Fantasy couldn’t

The crown contest involves traveling from place to place and solving various local problems to win the support of the populace.

Who doesn't love cooking with the homies? Credit: Sega/Atlus

However, regular carriages are too slow and not grotesque enough, so you and your buddies travel the world in a fantastical tour bus called a Gauntlet Runner, which looks like a boat with two enormous, disgusting monster legs. I love it.

In this way, Metaphor quietly became the version of Final Fantasy XV I always wanted, but never got. Yes, I’m going to complain about a game that came out in 2016 for a second. Bear with me.

FFXV’s entire selling point was that it was about a group of close friends on a road trip together. When I played the game at launch, huge amounts of backstory and character development had been off-loaded to a movie and a five-episode anime miniseries. In addition to that, the main cast of dudes almost never spoke to each other in the game itself. I spent like 80 hours driving around the world with those boys and learned almost nothing about them. It was a broken, fractured story that didn’t fulfill its most basic promise at all.

Talking to your friends is very important in 'Metaphor.' Credit: Sega/Atlus

A cavalcade of post-launch DLC eventually “fixed” FFXV, but if you want a road trip JRPG, just play Metaphor instead. It adapts the calendar-based structure from Persona, in which you have to carefully think about how to spend time each day because there are hard deadlines for finishing major story dungeons. Even in a Gauntlet Runner, traveling takes time, so you wind up spending a lot of Metaphor just kind of screwing around with your buddies on your tour bus.

You can read books by your lonesome to develop the protagonist’s personality traits like courage, tolerance, and eloquence, which, in turn, unlock other gameplay opportunities around the world. If you’d rather cook meals with beneficial status effects in the Gauntlet Runner’s kitchen, you can call a friend over and do that with them. And, like Persona, each character has a corresponding social level that goes up the more you spend time with them.

This can be accomplished on the Gauntlet Runner while traveling, which is great and heightens the feeling that this is a real road trip that’s having real effects on these people’s lives.

A very accommodating road trip

None of the above would be very compelling if there weren’t also an excellent turn-based RPG under the hood. 

You gotta beat up enemies in real-time before you get to beat them up in turns. Credit: Sega/Atlus

Metaphor takes the basics of Persona and tweaks them in additive and smart ways. This is still, at its core, a turn-based RPG about carefully enduring long dungeons that can’t be completed in a single in-game day because there intentionally aren’t enough magic potions to go around. Eventually, you have to turn back and go to sleep to recharge. That’s also how real life works if you think about it. 

There are some key differences that elevate the experience, though. For instance, hitting enemies with their elemental weaknesses doesn’t automatically stun and knock them down like it does in Persona. Rather, it does extra damage and gives you an extra turn before the enemies act again. Fights feel less like puzzles where the goal is to knock everyone down at the same time and more like, you know, actual fights because of this change.

There’s also a formation system wherein each active party member can switch between standing in the front or back row at any time. Being closer to enemies means your melee attacks do more damage, but you’ll take more, in turn. Step back, and both the damage you deal and damage you take go down. This isn’t particularly complicated, but it gives you more to think about during fights, which I appreciate.

A real-time action element enhances things further. You can simply start turn-based combat as soon as you see an enemy, but if you’re feeling brave, you can bang out quick melee combos against them in the overworld to drain a stun meter. If you drain it and then go into turn-based mode, you’ll start with stunned, half-dead enemies instead of fully healthy, pissed off ones.

Oh, and if an enemy hits you in the overworld, the opposite happens. They get a big advantage over you, and your best bet at that point might be to run away. Encounters against even weak, basic enemies can quickly go haywire if you aren’t careful. 

Mapping out trips is vital. Credit: Sega/Atlus

Problematically, the camera can be a bit uncooperative when fighting in real-time. There were more than a few instances where I was hit by an enemy I couldn’t see and nearly hit a game over screen because of it. Still, I find the real-time bits to be an overwhelmingly positive addition to the game. It keeps the player on their toes and adds a layer of challenge that wasn’t in this crew’s previous games.

Archetypes are the cherry on top of the combat cake in Metaphor. These are magical alter-egos you unlock through making friends with people outside of combat that basically act as equippable classes for each party member. Every character can equip every Archetype, and Archetypes level up independently. Max out an Archetype’s level, and eventually you can evolve it into a more powerful one.

This is an incomprehensibly huge upgrade over Persona, which had a similar system wherein the protagonist could switch between combat roles at will, but each party member was stuck doing whatever they were designed to do. In Metaphor, tinkering with party composition and planning out your long-term upgrade path are both vitally important and extremely fun. Each Archetype has a different weapon associated with it, and these weapons behave differently in real-time combat, so that has to enter the equation, too. I’m just a sucker for a class system in any RPG and this is a really, really good one.

All of this is wrapped in a level of difficulty that I would describe as accommodating and fair. After 40 hours of gameplay, I haven’t hit any frustrating roadblocks, likely because Metaphor is generous with optional hints about which party members to bring to each dungeon and offers items that allow you to quickly level up Archetypes you’re not actively using. If you’re a couple dozen hours into the game, and you suddenly find yourself in need of strong fire magic, you won’t need to do any grinding to get it.

Even armed with the knowledge of what to expect and the tools to deal with it, Metaphor still requires just the right amount of tactical awareness and planning to feel challenging without being excessively hard.

Everything looks awesome in Metaphor

There’s no reason to dance around this: Metaphor looks amazing.

Dude, even the menus look sick. Credit: Sega/Atlus

It’s largely due to art direction, too. The kingdom’s capital city of Grand Trad looms large in the distance, thanks to a giant inverted pyramid that looks rad as hell. Humans (the enemies, not people) are nasty freaks who often defy description. And perhaps most importantly, the fashion is out of this world. Nearly every character is absolutely rocking whatever outfit they’re wearing, especially the nasty fella you’ll meet fairly early on who rolls around in a purple cheetah print robe.

The only criticism I can offer is that, at least on Xbox Series X, Metaphor doesn’t run very well. It targets 60 frames per second and is able to hit that when indoors or fighting enemies. Go outside or run around a bustling city, however, and everything tanks a bit. This almost exclusively affects non-combat situations and doesn’t inhibit playability at all, but it’s very noticeable.

Metaphor is full of earworms

Metaphor’s soundtrack is similarly dazzling, though not without some small imperfections. Composer Shoji Meguro brings the heat when it matters, as the main combat themes are serious toe-tappers with a male opera vocalist who kind of sounds like he’s rapping in gibberish. I’ve had the music that plays when you have an advantage in combat stuck in my head for several weeks.

Environmental and story tracks stand out less to me, but they’re all nice enough to listen to that I can’t complain. Meguro’s score is mostly made up of orchestras and choirs, as is befitting the setting, but I can’t help but yearn for the more rock or funk-inspired tracks he wrote for Persona at times. Pursuant to that thought, the boss fight music isn’t hype enough for me.

I’m willing to change my mind on that depending on what happens later in the game, of course. I’ll also say the English voice acting is excellent across the board.

Is Metaphor: ReFantazio worth getting?

In a year almost dangerously packed with exciting RPGs like Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Metaphor: ReFantazio is almost certainly, if nothing else, on the medal stand for that particular genre in 2024.

Granted, I need to wrap up the game before rendering my final verdict on it, but my 40 hours with Metaphor have been consistently delightful. Its endearing cast of characters populate a fascinating fantasy world with fictional layers that I just want to peel back until I see everything there is to see. Enhanced turn-based combat with real-time elements, combined with wholesome friendship mechanics and great road trip vibes, all work to seal the deal for me.

So, yeah, you should probably get Metaphor: ReFantazio.

SAVE $50: As of Oct. 7, the PS5 Digital Edition is on sale for $399.99 at Amazon. That's a saving of 11% on its list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Sony PlayStation 5 Digital Edition (slim) $399.99 at Amazon
$449.99 Save $50.00 Get Deal

When it comes to serious console gaming, one device stands above all others in 2024: the PS5. Sure, there are other consoles out there, but PlayStation fans will tell you that the latest gen of their favorite console is unbeatable for gaming. (And they're not wrong.)

There’s great news if you’re looking to get a deal on the PS5. The PS5 Digital Edition is currently on sale at Amazon for $399.99 during the mega-retailer's October Prime Day event. Officially called Prime Big Deal Days, the sale takes place on Oct. 8 and 9, but early deals are already live. We don't expect this console to get any cheaper tomorrow. And while $399.99 still sounds like a big figure, it’s actually a savings of $50 — a total of 11% off the regular price.

SEE ALSO: 8 best noise-cancelling headphones to buy on Prime Day

It’s worth noting that this is the pared-down version of the PS5. It has the same amount of storage — 1TB — but it’s physically smaller, weighing 1.3 pounds less. The real difference is that it doesn’t have a disc drive, so you can’t play DVDs or Blu-rays. But it cuts down on space and the gaming performance is exactly the same. So, if you can live without a Blu-Ray player or physical copies of games, there's no reason not to save $50. You can buy an extra game with your winnings.

If you’re serious about your gaming and want to upgrade at a discounted price, don’t miss the PS5 Digital Edition at this bargain price.

Hurricane Milton strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane this morning as it barrels toward a Florida landfall later this week.

Spaghetti models and the National Hurricane Center's prediction cone paint a stark picture of a major hurricane landfall as soon as Wednesday.

Now is the time when we all love to stare at cones and "spaghetti models" showing potential paths as the storm makes its approach, but right from the jump: Please be careful about how you consume this notoriously misunderstood information.

Tweet may have been deleted SEE ALSO: Why it's impossible to forecast the weather too far into the future Hurricane Milton update: See NOAA's storm path prediction

According to NOAA, as of 7 a.m. ET Monday, Hurricane Milton, is now a major hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph. It is expected to continue strengthening as it heads toward the Florida peninsula on Wednesday.

In graphic form, that looks like this:

Hurricane Milton is expected to hit Florida later this week. Credit: NOAA

As a reminder, NOAA's cone graphic is a fairly reliable prediction of the range of paths the center of the storm may take. The cone is not — as it may appear at first glance — a prediction of an ever-widening storm exploding into the inland United States. Severe wind and storm surge can, and probably will, occur outside the cone, and some areas inside the cone will emerge from the storm totally unscathed.

SEE ALSO: Drone sailed straight into Hurricane Helene, captured intense footage Hurricane Milton spaghetti models reveal likely track

Spaghetti models, like the NOAA cone model, visualize mathematical possibilities.

Unlike the cone, they present the actual paths predicted by a collection of computer models, all spilling out like spaghetti from Strega Nona's magical pasta pot. And like the cone, the spaghetti model can be deceptive. All the paths in the spaghetti model are both speculative and contradictions of one another. The actual storm will only follow one path, and it's almost certain that none of the predicted paths in this splatter of noodles will be perfectly predictive.

Tweet may have been deleted

The above model, posted online on the personal X account of Clark Evans, who works as a research physical scientist at NOAA, shows a fairly tight collection of paths. The storm appears to be headed toward Central Florida. How far north or south the storm will hit remains unclear, but Florida is within every predicted track. Tampa could face a direct hit.

Outlier events most often do not come true. But events also don't conform to averages of predictions. Though top weather models can be astonishingly accurate, the weather simply occurs, and its precise schema is, and will always be, totally alien thanks to the incalculable number of tiny natural and man-made factors that contribute to outcomes.

Are you in the path of Hurricane Milton? See the latest evacuation orders and state-level information from the Florida Division of Emergency Management's Hurricane Milton website.

It's hard to imagine a person who wouldn't benefit from a good pair of headphones. In fact, you pretty much need a pair nowadays, whether you use them for work or just throughout your daily life, as many of us do.

No matter how you use them or what you listen to, one thing's for sure: You're going to end up wearing them for long periods of time, at least at some point. And if you don't have comfortable headphones, your poor little ears are going to suffer. If you haven't experienced headphone soreness and ear fatigue, just know that we don't recommend it.

SEE ALSO: Sony just announced its bass-heavy ULT Wear headphones: Our review

So, to help you take care of your ears and save you any shopping-related stress, we set out to find the most comfortable headphones. We tested dozens of options, from noise-cancelling headphones for flying to budget options, and we narrowed our top picks down to three contenders.

In-ear, on-ear, or over-ear?

If you're looking for comfort above all, over-ear headphones are always the way to go. They just wear better than earbuds) or on-ear pairs. On-ear headphones press more harshly on your ears, which gets uncomfortable quickly. In-ear buds are generally more comfortable than on-ear headphones, but can still begin to hurt after just a few hours depending on the model (they are jammed inside your ears, after all).

Although over-ear headphones are bulkier and less portable, it's worth the trade-off for comfort's sake. Plus, over-ear headphones can be safer for your ears compared to earbuds because the sound isn't being funneled directly into your ear canal. They also provide extra noise cancellation.

How much should you spend on comfortable headphones?

The good news is that comfortable headphones aren't locked to a specific budget range. You can find a super cozy pair at premium prices just as easily as you can find them at the budget end of the spectrum. The extra features you're looking for are what really determine how much you need to spend.

Want unrivaled active noise cancellation or the best sound quality in the business? Then be prepared to spend a minimum of around $200, all the way up to $500. If comfort is literally the only thing you care about and the extra bells and whistles are just nice-to-haves, you can expect to spend anywhere from $50 to $100. Go any cheaper, and you're probably not going to get a lot of value for your money. No shade toward your favorite pair of gas station headphones, but they probably aren't the best option for all-day wear.

If $400 is out of your reach, then look for these headphones on sale during events like Prime Day and Black Friday. The latest Prime Day event, Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days, takes place Oct. 8 and 9, and we expect both Bose QuietComfort and Anker Soundcore headphones to go on sale.

SEE ALSO: See all the October Prime Day deals on headphones and speakers What are the most comfortable headphones?

After extensive testing, we selected the three most comfortable headphones we've ever reviewed. Read on to find out which pairs emerged as the top contenders, including picks for those who want top-tier noise cancellation.

SAVE OVER $19: As of Oct. 7, the Apple AirTag (four-pack) is on sale for $79.98 at Amazon. That's a saving of 19% on list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple AirTag (4-Pack) $79.98 at Amazon
$99.00 Save $19.02 Get Deal

Just when it seems like Apple has thought of everything, the tech giant drops another ingenious smart device to make your life easier. If you’ve never seen the Apple AirTag before, it’s a handy device that will prevent you from ever losing your valuables again. You can slip one in your wallet or other items, such as a travel bag, and you’ll always be able to find them through the Find My app.

There’s never been a better time to add the Apple AirTag to your tech set-up. An Apple AirTag four-pack is currently on sale for $79.98 at Amazon ahead of Prime Day. That’s 19% off the list price — an overall saving of more than $19.

SEE ALSO: AirTag deals are starting out strong ahead of October Prime Day

The Apple AirTag works through either the Find My app or Precision Finding, which uses UltraWideband technology. You can also ask Siri to find your stuff, or get the AirTag to ping via its built-in speaker. If you’re part of a bigger household, an AirTag can be shared with up to five people — handy for shared household items.

Don’t miss your chance to find the Apple AirTag at this low price ahead of Prime Day.

Kamala Harris has appeared on the Call Her Daddy podcast for an interview with host Alex Cooper.

SEE ALSO: Tortured no longer: Taylor Swift endorses Kamala Harris after presidential debate

Over the course of their 40-minute conversation Cooper and the vice president and Democratic presidential nominee discussed abortion, how women's safety can be improved in the U.S., and Donald Trump's recent attempts to win over female voters by saying he'll be their "protector".

"So he who, when he was president, hand selected three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention that they would undo protections of Roe v. Wade, and they did just as he intended, and there are now 20 states with Trump abortion bans, including bans that make no exception for rape or incest, which we discussed, which means you're telling a survivor of a crime of a violation to their body that they don't have a right to make a decision about what happens to their body next, which is immoral. So this is the same guy that is now saying that? This is the same guy who said that women should be punished for having abortions? This is the same guy that uses the kind of language that he does to describe women?" says Harris in response to Trump's comments, before talking about the horrible realities faced by women living in states where abortion is banned.

"Here's the thing: You don't have to abandon your faith or your deeply held beliefs to agree the government shouldn't be telling her what to do."

You can listen to the full interview on Spotify.

SAVE $150: As of Oct. 7, the Apple AirPod Max are on sale for $399 at Amazon. That's a saving of 27% on list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple AirPod Max $399.00 at Amazon
$549.00 Save $150.00 Get Deal

If you’re an Apple user and you’re in the market for a new pair of high-quality headphones, there really is only one choice — the Apple AirPod Max. With Apple’s fantastic synchronicity across devices, they pair brilliantly with your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. If you’re not an Apple user, the Apple AirPod Max are still an excellent choice — one of the best options for sound and tech no matter what phone brand you're repping.

The only drawback is the price, but you can pick up a pair on sale at Amazon for $399 — a 27% discount from the regular list price. That’s an impressive overall saving of $150. The deal applies to a selection of colorways, though not the entire range.

SEE ALSO: 8 best noise-cancelling headphones to buy on Prime Day

The incredible Apple AirPod Max sound comes via the immensely powerful M1 chip. Features include active noise cancelling and transparency mode — which allows in certain ambient sounds — plus, personalized spatial audio that adapts to the shape of your ear.

The Apple AirPod Max are also comfortable and stylish — among the best looking headphones out there. Don’t miss this generous deal.

SAVE OVER $50: As of Oct. 7, the PlayStation 5 (Slim) is on sale for $449 at Amazon. That's a saving of 10% on list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Sony PlayStation 5 (Slim) $449.00 at Amazon
$499.99 Save $50.99 Get Deal

The Prime Big Deal Days event is not here just yet, but that doesn't mean you can't secure a big discount. And by shopping before the event properly drops, you can avoid all that panic that comes with these major shopping events.

The good news is that you can still secure best-ever prices before the thousands of deals drop over Prime Big Deal Days. And that very much includes the most sought-after products, like the PlayStation 5 (Slim). You can shop the PlayStation 5 (Slim) for $449 on Amazon ahead of Prime Day, saving over $50 on list price. This console has never been cheaper on Amazon, so this could be your best chance to finally bag this popular console.

SEE ALSO: I've tested over 20 robot vacuums — here are the top 5 to shop on Prime Day

The deal includes a DualSense Wireless Controller, along with everything you need to start gaming right away. Gamers can experience lightning fast loading with an ultra-high speed SSD, deeper immersion with support for haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, and 3D Audio. And of course, access to an all-new generation of incredible PlayStation games.

Save over $50 on the PlayStation 5 (Slim) before Prime Day.

SAVE $120: As of Oct. 7, the Apple iPad 9th Generation is on sale for $199.99 at Amazon. That's a saving of 39% on list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple iPad 9th Generation $199.99 at Amazon
$329.00 Save $129.01 Get Deal

OK, so you want a new tablet. While you can find a wide range of tablets from various tech brands — and at a range of prices — let’s be honest about the best model on the market. When it comes to visuals, slick features, and overall style, the Apple iPad just can’t be beaten.

The great news is that you can pick up an Apple iPad for a bargain price. As of Oct. 7, the Apple iPad 9th Generation is on sale for $199.99 at Amazon. That's a massive saving of 39% on list price — a total discount of over $129. However, this deal is exclusive to the 64GB, WiFi-only version.

SEE ALSO: Apple Watch Ultra 1 vs. Ultra 2: We'll make this simple

The Apple iPad 9th Generation is one of the best ever models, with a stunning 10.2-inch retina display and all the latest Apple smart features, such as Touch ID. It’s all powered by Apple’s A13 Bionic chip, which makes the iPad lightning fast and delivers incredible graphics performance. Not only that, the iPad is built with 12mp and 8mp cameras, front and back respectively.

As Apple users will already know, the iPad is especially good for creative tasks and syncs with the Apple Pencil for slick, high-performance graphic design work. Get yours before the deal ends.

SAVE $50: As of Oct. 7, the Oura Ring 3 is on sale for $299.99 at Amazon. That's a saving of 14% on list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Oura Oura Ring Gen3 Horizon $299.00 at Amazon
$349.00 Save $50.00 Get Deal

Health and fitness trackers have become the norm for most people. From tracking workouts, monitoring sleep, and checking how much water we're drinking — stats and data on how we live our lives are easily accessible through a wide range of watches, heart monitors, and now even rings.

Smart rings are the latest tracking devices that allow us to monitor our health stats, and one of the biggest names in this field is the Oura Ring. A tracker that provides overall well-being and recovery stats, it allows users to access their data via an app. Similar to some of our favorite smartwatches, but hidden away in a sleek, normal-looking ring.

SEE ALSO: Get moving with the best Prime Day fitness tracker deals

Intrigued? Well, as of Oct. 7, the Oura Ring Gen3 Horizon is on sale for $299.99 at Amazon. With this deal you're saving $50, or 14% on list price. This is also the lowest price for the Oura Ring 3 at Amazon, ever. It is worth noting, however, that this deal is only available on the silver model.

The Oura Ring 3 is perfect for sleep tracking, heart monitoring, and checking activity levels. It's even smart enough to record your body temperature and heart rate variability (HRV). The only downside to note of this otherwise amazing tracker is that after a month of free access to an Oura Membership, a subscription fee of $5.99 per month is required.

Save $50 on the Oura Ring Gen3 Horizon before Prime Day.