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TL;DR: Practice your game in any weather with this refurbished PhiGolf World Tour Edition — on sale for $159.97 (reg. $249) through July 21.
Opens in a new window Credit: phigolf PhiGolf World Tour Edition: Special Sensor with 38,000+ Actual, Real Golf Courses (Refurbished) $159.97 at The Mashable ShopGolfers, here's something that might just take your game to the next level without ever leaving your home. The refurbished PhiGolf World Tour Edition, available for a limited time at $159.97, brings the world's most famous golf courses right to your living room.
This special golf simulator device is a fantastic way to enjoy golf, practice your swing, and have fun with friends and family, all from the comfort of home. And although it's refurbished (open box versions are also available at the same price), it's been certified and tested to work and look like new, which is part of the reason you get a reduced price.
The PhiGolf World Tour Edition isn't just another golf simulator; it's a comprehensive experience designed to bring real-world golfing to your fingertips. It's also on sale for $159.97 (reg. $249) through July 21.
This simulator allows you to play on over 38,000 real-life golf courses worldwide. With PhiGolf, you can practice your swing on famous greens and fairways, experience new challenges, and refine your skills no matter where you are located or what the weather is like.
The PhiGolf sensor is designed to capture your swing accurately, providing a realistic golfing experience. It also gives you a real-time 3D analysis of your swing, chip, drive, and putt to help you refine your skills. Plus, you can connect with other PhiGolf golfers around the world.
Compatible with both iOS and Android, it offers an exciting and practical way to enjoy golf at home.
Get this refurbished PhiGolf World Tour Edition with a special sensor on sale for $159.97 (reg. $249) through July 21 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
TL;DR: Get a lifetime of flight savings with a Matt's Flights Premium Plan, on sale for $79.97 until July 21.
Planning a getaway? You probably started looking up flights and immediately slammed your laptop closed. But fear not, your secret weapon to saving on airfare has arrived: Matt's Flights.
Matt's Flights is an alert service that sends flight deals straight to your inbox based on the airports of your choosing. Through July 21, a lifetime subscription (only pay once!) to Premium Plan is on sale for $79.97.
Fly smarter with your own personal travel agent — you'll get one-on-one support 24/7 from Matt himself by sending your departure and arrival cities along with the dates of your trip, and... bam — discounts right to your email. With this Premium Plan, you'll get five times more deals than free members, making it a worthy investment.
How is this magic possible? Well, sometimes airlines have tiny windows of time where they lower their prices, or even make mistakes and post incorrect fares. Matt's Flights detects these moments right away and sends you the info so you can book your flight and cash in on the savings.
You can access Matt's Flights on your phone or computer. Once you purchase your Premium Plan, you'll receive email instructions with a redemption code. Be sure to redeem it within 30 days to take advantage of this deal.
Take flight with this discount on this lifetime subscription to a Matt's Flights Premium Plan on sale for $79.97 until July 21 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Opens in a new window Credit: Matt's Flights Matt's Flights Premium Plan (Lifetime Subscription) - Save up to 90% on Domestic & International flights $79.97 at The Mashable ShopTL;DR: Only through July 21, you can get this Dual USB-C + USB-A 3.2 high-speed flash drive with 1TB storage capacity on sale for $74.97 (reg. $109.99).
The ability to easily share and store data across various devices is essential in our interconnected world. The Dual USB-C + USB-A 3.2 high-speed flash drive, available for $74.97 (reg. $109.99), is designed to simplify your digital life.
This high-capacity flash drive is perfect for anyone who needs to move files between different device types. It helps ensure your data is always accessible when you need it. It's ideal for everyone, from busy professionals and on-the-go students to those who want a backup of important documents or family moments.
Featuring both USB-C and USB-A 3.2 connectors, this flash drive allows you to transfer data between a wide range of devices, including laptops, tablets, smartphones, and desktop computers. No more worrying about compatibility—this drive works with virtually any device you have.
Switch between USB-C and USB-A. Credit: UGR TechIt uses USB 3.2 technology for lightning-fast data transfer speeds. Whether moving large files, backing up important documents, or sharing photos and videos, this flash drive allows for quick and efficient performance.
With 1TB of storage space, you can store your most important files, from work documents to multimedia, making it easy to keep your data organized and within arm's reach.
The flash drive's sleek, compact design makes it easy to carry wherever you go. Slip it into your pocket or bag, or attach it to your keychain for convenient access.
Manage your digital life and share digital files across multiple devices with this dual-USB flash drive.
This Dual USB-C + USB-A 3.2 high-speed flash drive with 1TB storage capacity is on sale for $74.97 (reg. $109.99) through July 21.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Opens in a new window Credit: UGR Tech Dual USB-C + USB-A High-Speed 1TB Flash Drive $74.97 at the Mashable ShopTL;DR: This video editing master class bundle offers five comprehensive courses on tools like Adobe After Effects. Get it while it's on sale for 66% off its usual price of $150.
Opens in a new window Credit: StackCommerce The 2024 Video Editing Master Class Bundle $50.00 at the Mashable ShopIf you've always wanted to learn video editing, then try this all-inclusive course bundle, a must-have collection for anyone looking to transform their editing skills. For just $50 (reg. $150), you'll get lifetime access to a seamless blend of five comprehensive courses, covering everything from Adobe After Effects to DaVinci Resolve.
Learn to create stunning motion graphics, professional-quality videos, and engaging social media content, all from the comfort of your couch. This bundle is designed to cater to beginners and experienced editors alike, providing a diverse range of tools and techniques that will elevate your editing game.
You'll start by mastering the basics of Adobe After Effects, learning to navigate the platform and bringing your visual concepts to life. Then, you’ll dive into CapCut, where you'll discover how to create captivating videos with basic and advanced techniques like keyframing and background removal. This course is ideal for social media enthusiasts and online content creators.
Lessons on Filmora 12 offer a user-friendly approach to professional editing and teaches you how to organize and edit footage, apply advanced elements like color grading, and add transitions, text, and audio. Then, learn how Canva's intuitive platform allows you to produce polished videos without any hassle. Finally, DaVinci Resolve course ties it all together, offering powerful tools for those serious about learning video production and creating ready-to-share content.
Whether you're a vlogger, a content marketer, a small business owner, or aspiring social media star, this bundle has something for you. Each course is packed with practical knowledge, hands-on projects, and expert tips, providing the skills needed to learn video editing for beginners.
Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity to enhance your creative abilities and produce high-quality content. You can enroll in this video editing master class bundle today — on sale for $50 (reg. $150) for a limited time.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Before I saw Twisters, I wondered what merited a sequel to the 1996 smash hit Twister. Surely there's got to be more to it than the box office records smashed by that Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton vehicle, which awed audiences with a compelling ensemble and groundbreaking visual effects — including an iconic flying cow. Perhaps a new angle on the story? A fresh embrace on what natural disasters mean in our current climate crisis? Or a worthwhile spin around the tornadoes with mind-snapping visuals?
Nope.
Though Twisters boasts heralded Minari director Lee Isaac Chung, rising stars Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, and Anthony Ramos, and a big budget that dwarfs that of its predecessor, this disaster film is a wobbly ride that leaves disappointment in its wake.
Is Twisters a Twister sequel? Credit: Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Amblin EntertainmentSure, technically. Do these two movies have any characters in common? No. Does this new one acknowledge the plotline of the 1996 hit? Only in the most cursory of ways.
Remember the research gadget that Dr. Jo Harding (Hunt) and Bill Harding (Paxton) were trying to send up into a tornado so they could improve weather warning systems? It was named Dorothy, and that device — inspired by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's TOTO (TOtable Tornado Observatory) — pops up here, accompanied by some newfangled tech similarly named after The Wizard of Oz. Otherwise, the script by Mark L. Smith (The Boys in the Boat) steals so heavily from the plot of the previous movie that he owes its screenwriters, Anne-Marie Martin and Michael Crichton, a thank-you card, if not royalties.
Remember how Twister began with its female storm-chaser's tragic origin story, in which an F5 tornado ripped her farmer father right out of their storm shelter? Well, Twisters takes that plot and applies Scream's slasher rules to it: bigger, deadlier, higher body count.
Weather scientist Kate Cooper (British actress Daisy Edgar-Jones with a very dodgy Southern-ish American accent) is testing her own experimental tech with a batch of colorful friends, all with the hope to "tame the twister!" But just as we get into the groove of this rowdy crew's journey, they all get sucked away from the story, leaving behind a blandly traumatized heroine and her furrow-browed pal Javi (Hamilton's Anthony Ramos in a thankless role).
Cut to five years later: Kate has given up twister-chasing for a tame life in meteorology. But like Paxton's character in the original, Kate is drawn back for one last job. Just as in Twister, sneering but well-funded scientists are regarded with open hostility, while the scrappy crew using homespun gadgets and instinct are upheld as heroes. Chief among the latter is Hit Man's Glen Powell as Tyler Owens, a YouTube star famous for his cowboy persona and twister-chasing bravado. A romance will inevitably spark between Kate and Tyler, because that's what Hollywood demands.
Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell don't click. Credit: Melinda Sue Gordon / Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Amblin EntertainmentEdgar-Jones won praise for her performance on the BBC drama series Normal People and previously headlined the American mystery movie Where the Crawdads Sing. But here, she's out of her depth. Part of the problem is the script's spin on her backstory makes her tragic tornado more recent, so our heroine is still fairly deep in the throes of grief and survivor's guilt. Kate's nowhere near as plucky or as engaging as Hunt's storm-chaser was in Twister. But even when Kate eventually lightens up — her flirtation with Tyler has her trade her white mock turtlenecks and scowl in for a red T-shirt and clumsy smile — she still feels like a bore next to the other quirkier chasers.
Swaggering in a ten-gallon hat and a Tom Cruise grin, Powell better shoulders his heroic duty. As Tyler, he relishes the intensity of the chase and the risks of their DIY doodads, and that joy is contagious. Unfortunately, these thrills are short-lived, for a number of reasons. First, Twisters is burdened with a subplot about survivors left hurt and homeless by the storms, making for a series of scenes that are egregiously maudlin for a summer popcorn movie. Plus, the romantic subplot feels forced, highlighting Tyler's good-guy gestures until it seems like he just wears her down. They're a hard couple to root for. She's dull, and he's aggressively one-note; together, they're a cardboard cutout of a cowboy and the wet blanket who loves him.
Twisters wastes its best assets. Credit: Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Amblin EntertainmentBetween the sweeping scenes of tornado-related action and the hackneyed romance plotline, there's little sense of Chung's vision as a director. The connections to Minari become clearer in the moments of community, like when Tyler takes Kate to a local rodeo. Footage of strangers crowding into the stands and riders getting ready to take to the arena exude Chung's love for the American South and its people. Likewise, Tyler's rowdy crew of misfits shines with the chaotic but passionate bond seen in Chung's rightfully heralded family drama.
The character actor lineup in Twister was (and is still) absolutely astonishing. While there were plenty of "That Guy!" faces like Alan Ruck, Joey Slotnick, and Jeremy Davies, the group also included future Academy Award–winner Philip Seymour Hoffman and Todd Field, who would go on to write and direct critically adored dramas like In the Bedroom, Little Children, and Tár.
To Chung's credit, Twisters is suitably stacked in its own right. Brandon Perea, who played the camera-savvy Angel in Jordan Peele's Nope, plays Tyler's right-hand cameraman, Boone. Sasha Lane, who broke through as the captivating unknown in Andrea Arnold's road trip drama American Honey, brings her exuberance to fearless drone operator Lilly. Tunde Adebimpe (Rachel's Getting Married, She Dies Tomorrow, Spider-Man: Homecoming) manages to deliver the inevitable movie-science exposition with an earnest enthusiasm that is undeniably charming. Katy O'Brian, who elated critics earlier this year as Kristen Stewart's brawny co-lead in the gnarly thriller Love Lies Bleeding, brings her kinetic charisma as mechanic Dani.
Credit: Melinda Sue Gordon / Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Amblin EntertainmentElsewhere, Kiernan Shipka and Daryl McCormack (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande) entice with their very presence. Unfortunately, they're all given too little screen time. As in the original movie, this ensemble is far from the focus of the film. But unlike Twister, its sequel clearly forgets just how fun it is to watch a band of thrill-seekers do their thing! The hangout vibe of these eccentric storm-chasers has always been a major part of Twister's appeal, whereas Twisters is too eager to flee the party.
Sure, Twisters throws plenty of storm action at audiences, pitching in fireworks, flames, and even ripping a movie theater to shreds for good measure. But none of this touches down if you don't feel invested in the characters. Edgar-Jones' and Powell's characters are too two-dimensional to hook us. Ramos is kicked to the sidelines with a haphazard sinister business subplot. And the most dynamic characters are treated as little more than window dressing for a plot that's so close to the original Twister I marvel it was (re)made at all.
In the end, Twisters is big and flashy, but not fun or frightening. There are better movies — even better popcorn movies — out there. So, don't waste your time with this tiresome retread masquerading as a stale sequel.
Oddity begins with an impossible choice. A woman alone in a remote country house hears a knock at the door. There, a strange man with panic in his stare declares she must let him in. He claims to have seen someone sneak into her home, and tells her she is not safe. She doesn't have her phone with her. And was the creak upstairs an intruder? Or just an old house settling? Dare she stay inside with an unknown threat? Or go outside with a disheveled stranger whose presence is as alarming as his appearance?
Writer/director Damian McCarthy hooks viewers from the start with this scary scenario. But then he takes a radical turn. Instead of following this poor woman named Dani (Carolyn Bracken) through a night of terror and threat, he leaps to a full year later, where her sister Darcy (also played by Bracken), a blind medium who owns an oddity shop, is seeking to understand exactly what did go down that terrible night. (Spoiler: It was nothing good.)
SEE ALSO: 'Oddity's Damian McCarthy reveals the origins of his Wooden ManThis nonchalant temporal leap pitches viewers off-balance, like when a roller coaster abruptly tilts to the side, precise and perturbing. As he did with his stellar feature directorial debut, 2021's Caveat, McCarthy doesn't play by the cliched rules of horror. So, a slasher setup spins into a tale of ghosts, witchcraft, a murder investigation, and grim vengeance. Atmospheric and unpredictable, Oddity is a rare treasure.
What's Oddity about? Credit: Courtesy of Colm Hogan / IFC and ShudderThe main thrust of the plot follows Darcy as she intrudes on the renovated home of her sister and the renovated life of Dani's uptight widower, Ted (Gwilym Lee), and his new girlfriend, Yana (Caroline Menton). On the one-year anniversary of Dani's death, Darcy pays an unexpected visit and brings an unusual family heirloom. As in Caveat, a creepy handmade figure plays a central role in McCarthy's haunted house tale. There, it was a festering rabbit toy that banged cymbals. (Eagle-eyed viewers might spot it on display in Darcy's shop!) In Oddity, the creepy craft is a full-sized man, carved out of wood, his mouth agape in a silent scream.
Understandably, Ted isn't keen to keep this eerie thing around. But he's got work at the asylum to get back to, so he awkwardly excuses himself, leaving his flustered girlfriend home alone with Darcy and her demented bauble. It's not long before unnerving things begin to happen around the house. Is Dani's ghost haunting the place? Is Darcy toying with this surviving couple out of a twisted sense of retribution for so swiftly moving on? Is the wooden man really moving on his own? As magic and mental illness play a part of the story, anything is possible, which is precisely what makes Oddity so thrilling.
Damian McCarthy builds an expanding horror universe with Oddity. Credit: Courtesy of Colm Hogan / IFC and ShudderNods to Caveat aside, the stranger at the door is named Olin Boole (Tadhg Murphy), a fellow with a prosthetic eye and a tragic backstory that was unfurled in McCarthy's short film "How Olin Lost His Eye." Beyond a crossover of props and characters that may not be explicitly bound, McCarthy is brewing a brand of horror that's mind-bending, menacing, and so putrid with decay you can practically smell the rot. Like poor Dani, the hero of Caveat (played by Jonathan French, who also pops up in Oddity) was also put in a curious position at the film's start: a job offer that might seem bizarre, but is desperately needed. So what's a set of shackles between paychecks?
In Oddity, rather than a house in ruins, Dani's home is a historic old home being carefully renovated. A collision of coarse stone walls and modern paintings pinned upon them shows not only the contrast of old and new, but also the past of Dani colliding with the present of Yana, her youthful, smirking replacement. McCarthy smartly accentuates this dynamic in his use of color. Cool tones like the blue-grey stone or Yana's shiny navy blouse present a world of seeming civility, entitlement, and order. But splashes of stark red blood or the bright yellow of the pup tent in which Dani once slept stand out, driving home the dissonance of random acts of violence in this supposedly reasonable world. There's an elegance amid this eeriness, even in the design of the wooden golem, plugged up with bobs of blood, hair, and family photos. He is at once gorgeous and horrific; clearly static, yet so lifelike that when Yana irreverently pokes her hand into his open mouth, your body may well rattle with the anticipatory fear of a gnarly bite!
Every twisted turn is smoothly made, thanks not only to McCarthy's skill in honing tone, but also courtesy of an ensemble cast that delivers performances grounded yet edged with intensity. Pulling double duty, Bracken gracefully switches from the easy-breezy Dani to the dubious Darcy, her physicality growing tighter as her broad smile tightens to sharp grin. Lee brings surly irritation as the widower, playing Ted like a pretentious schoolmaster tired of lecturing children that there are no monsters under their beds. Murphy and French fold in layers of fear and panic in small but pivotal roles, while Menton delivers a sophisticated snottiness that makes her a sharp foil to the scheming Darcy. All in all, it's a cast of characters at each others' throats, and utterly mesmerizing.
Oddity is a savage original. Credit: Courtesy of Colm Hogan / IFC and ShudderIncredibly, McCarthy weaves in elements of many horror genres. The remote setting and ghostly possibilities lean into haunted house territory. But Darcy's wooden man was made by a witch (so she says), skewing the plot into dark magic. Dani's sequence, with its isolation, intrusion, and bloody result, plays out like a slasher. Then, the central conflict between the could-be newlyweds and Darcy strums at the core of folk horror, in which educated city folk come to a rural village and sneer at believers (Darcy) and superstition to their detriment. Yet Oddity does not feel like a pastiche. Instead, McCarthy takes each of these elements and uses them as a hue in his distinctive palette of horror. He blends them beautifully and harrowingly, pulling us in with their mystique and making us howl with their darkest revelations.
Watching Oddity, I briefly worried there's no way the movie could maintain this ferocious momentum. It's not that the film is frantically paced, more that it strides. When McCarthy sets up a familiar beat, he knows you know what will come next. A woman alone in a big, spooky house will be attacked. A sister-in-law discouraged from dropping by absolutely will at a most inopportune time. And by moving to these beats so quickly, McCarthy leaves us no room to breathe or anticipate where the story will swerve next.
Other filmmakers might have us slog through a trilogy for all the story he weaves into one 98-minute film. Soon, the focus is not so much about who killed Dani, but how Darcy's quest for understanding will play out for anyone remotely involved. And the ending — I'm elated to report — is as sick as it is satisfying. Not just because of how this plot unravels, but also because of how McCarthy, after racing us around timelines and subgenres, takes his time to deliver a final beat that brings a major blow.
In a word, Oddity is awesome.
Oddity opens in theaters July 19.
UPDATE: Jul. 18, 2024, 2:05 p.m. EDT This review was first published on March 9, 2024, as part of Mashable's SXSW 2024 coverage. It has since been updated to reflect its theatrical premiere date and ticketing options.
The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.
With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.
So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player's flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.
SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for July 19 SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Here's the answer hints for July 19Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Friday, July 19, 2024:
Across"Blue Ribbon" breweryThe answer is Pabst.
The answer is allay.
The answer is slurp.
The answer is tinge.
The answer is antes.
The answer is pasta.
The answer is allin.
The answer is blunt.
The answer is sarge.
The answer is types.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.
Windows computers around the world are being hit by the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) thanks to an outage caused by services provided by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. The issue has impacted everyone from banks to airlines, with flights grounded, grocery carts abandoned, and productivity even lower than usual for a Friday.
Fortunately, CrowdStrike has since announced at 2:30 a.m. ET that it has identified the update causing the issue and rolled it back. The company also offered a workaround for anyone having problems:
"Boot Windows into Safe Mode or the Windows Recovery Environment
"Navigate to the C:\Windows\System32\drivers\CrowdStrike directory
"Locate the file matching 'C-0000029*.sys', and delete it.
"Boot the host normally."
Of course, having to do this for every single computer in multiple companies across the globe is still likely to take some time.
Windows PCs all around the world are crashing, and it's getting uglier fast.
The issue is due to a issue with CrowdStrike's Falcon Sensor software, and it's spreading in unpredictable ways. But what is CrowdStrike? What's a "blue screen of death"? And how worried should Windows PC owners be? Here's what you need to know.
What is CrowdStrike, and what is Falcon Sensor?CrowdStrike is a cybersecurity company, and Falcon Sensor is software designed to prevent computer systems from cyber attacks. Earlier this morning, on July 19, the company warned its users that Windows systems are "experiencing a bugcheck/blue screen error related to the Falcon Sensor," and said that its engineering teams are "actively working to resolve this issue."
Apparently, an update to the Falcon software is what caused the issue; the company rolled back the update but numerous machines are still affected.
What's a blue screen of death?If you've been so fortunate to never see a blue screen of death, it is a type of critical error on Windows PCs which essentially halts whatever the computer's been doing and displays an error report on a blue screen.
How widespread is this issue?CrowdStrike's software is popular and widely used, and as a result, there are numerous outages across platforms including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft 365, Azure, Instagram, eBay, Visa, and AT&T. Downdetector is a good place to check which services are having issues. (Full disclosure: Downdetector is owned by Mashable's parent company, ZiffDavis.)
The problems are widespread enough to have caused some airlines, including Delta, American, RyanAir, and United Airlines, being grounded due to communications issues, apparently related to the outage.
Sky News was unable to broadcast live TV early on Friday, also apparently due to this problem.
Tweet may have been deleted
Even electronic payment systems in some supermarkets are down, rendering people unable to pay for groceries.
What should I do?CrowdStrike software is typically maintained by the company's system administrator. For most users experiencing problems, this means that they should probably report the issue to their system admin and wait for resolution.
In a notice to users, CrowdStrike said that there is no need to open a support ticket with CrowdStrike as the company's engineers are aware of the issue and are actively working on it.
For support from CrowdStrike, users can go to the company's Support Portal over at supportportal.crowdstrike.com/s.
There's also an active discussion on Reddit, where system admins are sharing their experiences while trying to resolve the issue.
If you're eager to try to fix the issue yourself, here's a workaround:
"Boot Windows into Safe Mode or the Windows Recovery Environment
"Navigate to the C:\Windows\System32\drivers\CrowdStrike directory
"Locate the file matching 'C-0000029*.sys', and delete it.
"Boot the host normally."
Developing...
Google is the king of leaks, there can be no doubt about it. The company's upcoming phones are often extensively leaked weeks or months before launch, and Google typically responds by revealing the phones early, announcement dates be damned.
Sure enough, it happened this year as well with the Google Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
Even though the two upcoming smartphones are scheduled to be unveiled on August 13, Google revealed their design in a pair of brief teaser videos.
The videos are focused on Google's AI assistant Gemini, but are clearly labeled "Introducing the Google Pixel 9 Pro" and "Introducing the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold," both giving us a glimpse at the upcoming phones near the end of the video.
In the first video, we see the Pixel 9 Pro's humongous, oval camera island with three lenses on the back, while the 9 Pro Fold sports a slightly shorter but double-stacked camera bump instead.
Google also followed up with another teaser, this time on the Google Store, which has a new landing page for the Pixels with images of the two phones, revealing even more details. The Fold is more interesting of the two reveals, as it also shows a redesigned hinge, flatter edges, as well as narrower bezels all around. The new Fold definitely looks to be a big improvement compared to the old Pixel Fold, which had quite unsightly bezels on both the inner and outer display.
SEE ALSO: Apple's creepy new ad appears to slam Google Chrome on iPhone: ‘You're being watched'The new teasers also tell us something we could've easily guessed: Google will place major emphasis on the phones' AI capabilities. Everything will be Gemini-fied, and the Pixels will likely get some exclusive features.
Full specs are still missing, but those will be revealed at the event, which kicks off at 10 a.m. PT on Aug. 13.
If your Windows computer is currently serving you the Blue Screen of Death, take heart in the fact that you aren't alone. Windows outages are being reported across the globe, apparently caused by a CrowdStrike issue.
"CrowdStrike is aware of reports of crashes on Windows hosts related to the Falcon Sensor," CrowdStrike wrote in an alert confirming the outage at 5:30 a.m. UTC. "Symptoms include experiencing a bugcheck\blue screen error related to the Falcon Sensor. Our Engineering teams are actively working to resolve this issue and there is no need to open a support ticket."
CrowdStrike's Falcon Sensor is software designed to prevent computer systems from cyber attacks.
Though the CrowdStrike issue is specifically causing Windows to crash, the problem seems to be having further reaching implications as well. Considering that Windows is an incredibly popular operating system and CrowdStrike an incredibly popular cybersecurity company, multiple companies and services also appear to be experiencing outages due to their computers being down.
As of writing, DownDetector is indicating a spike in issues across a slew of platforms and businesses, including Amazon Web Services, Instagram, eBay, Visa, ADT, and PlentyOfFish. Reports of outages have rolled in from multiple countries around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, India, and Japan.
Credit: Mashable screenshot: DownDetector Tweet may have been deleted Tweet may have been deletedThis story is developing...
TL;DR: As of July 17, you can now get the Complete 2024 CompTIA Certification Training Super Bundle for just £38.60 instead of £50.19.
For fast-growing industries like IT and cybersecurity, getting the right certifications can help you stand out from other candidates. And to get prepared for your exams, it may be worth it to go straight to a credible source.
That's why aspiring IT workers and students could benefit greatly from the Idunova Complete 2024 CompTIA Certification Training Super Bundle. This online learning bundle includes 15 courses and 262 hours of instruction. You can even get it for a reduced price, just £38.60 (at its original price, this course cost £451.92). That's a nearly £12 price drop since it first went on sale.
Save on a comprehensive IT introIf you're looking forward to a career in tech, this bundle could be a great place to get started. The courses do start with fundamental material, as the instructors recommend some basic understanding of computers and CompTIA objectives. So, give the course topics a once-over before purchasing.
When you're ready to get started, it's up to you which class you start with. There are introductory IT fundamentals courses, lectures on network security, guides for using Linux, an introduction to cloud computing, and a whole lot more.
This bundle itself won't certify you as an expert, but you could use it as a study guide for your CompTIA certifications. Just keep in mind that those exams are organised by CompTIA, so you'll still need to register through them.
Learn the basics of IT and cybersecurityGet a lifetime of CompTIA study materials at a drastically reduced price.
Get the Complete 2024 CompTIA Certification Training Super Bundle on sale for only £38.60, with no coupon needed.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Opens in a new window Credit: CommerceNova LTD Complete 2024 CompTIA Certification Training Super Bundle £38.60 at the Mashable ShopOh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer.
If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for July 18's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
Where did Wordle come from?Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once.
Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.
Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Wordle.
What's the best Wordle starting word?The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.
What happened to the Wordle archive?The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles used to be available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it. Unfortunately, it has since been taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times.
Is Wordle getting harder?It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.
Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:Subtly mention someone.
Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?There are 2 letters that appear twice.
Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...Today's Wordle starts with the letter R.
SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. The Wordle answer today is...Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.
Drumroll please!
The solution to today's Wordle...
REFER.
Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.
Reporting by Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.
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If you're reading this, you're looking for a little help playing Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game.
By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Here's the answer hints for July 19 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for July 19If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: And the Oscar goes to...They are class acts.
SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for July 19 Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explainedThe clues are the last names of Oscar winners in acting categories.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.
NYT Strands spangram answer today:Today's spangram is BestActing.
NYT Strands word list for July 18Field
Bridges
Stone
BestActing
Berry
Swank
Phoenix
Hunt
Looking for other daily online games? Find one you might like – or hints for another game you're already playing – on Mashable's Games page.
Connections is the latest New York Times word game that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for July 19's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections?The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
Tweet may have been deletedEach puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer. If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.
Tweet may have been deletedPlayers can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
Here's a hint for today's Connections categoriesWant a hit about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Yellow: My beloved
Green: Picking on someone
Blue: Filling up gas
Purple: Types of tables
Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:
Yellow: Romantic Partner
Green: Insult
Blue: Gas Pump Options
Purple: ___Table
Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today's Connections #404 is...
What is the answer to Connections todayRomantic Partner: FLAME, LOVER, STEADY, SWEETHEART
Insult: BURN, DIG, JAB, SLIGHT
Gas Pump Options: DIESEL, PLUS, PREMIUM, REGULAR
___Table: COFFEE, PERIODIC, POOL, WATER
Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.
Is this not the Connections game you were looking for? Here are the hints and answers to yesterday's Connections.
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SAVE UP TO 62%: As part of Amazon's post-Prime Day deals, you can save 50% to 60% on classic sci-fi and fantasy books.
Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Shop Amazon Prime deals on books Shop NowOnce upon a time, a partially bald man named Jeff Bezos decided to launch an online book store. Thirty years later, and that store has evolved into a digital everything store. Amazon now makes Oscar-winning movies, provides healthcare services, delivers groceries, and sells smart home gadgets galore.
During Amazon's annual Prime Day event, professional deal hunters spend a lot of time focusing on gadgets, tech, and kitchen appliances. That's where we typically find the biggest discounts. But in all the hubbub of Prime Day 2024, you may have missed that one of Amazon's biggest sections was also full of deals. We're talking about books, obviously. And because quite a few of our readers are interested in science-fiction and fantasy, we wanted to give you a heads up that plenty of sci-fi bucket-list novels are on sale right now.
We're finding titles by legendary authors like Stephen King and Frank Herbert available at up to 60% off. You can also find contemporary titles like Three Body Problem and Project Hail Mary discounted by 57%. Now, because a lot of Amazon discounts are of the "always-on" variety, not all of these discounts are quite as big as they appear to be. But there are plenty of genuine deals.
Case in point, the paperback version of Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation is 61% off. It's new $6.99 price is the lowest it's ever been on Amazon. The same goes for Stephen King's The Shining sequel, Doctor Sleep. The hardcover edition is discounted by 65%, bringing it to a record low for Amazon.
The discounts span paperback, hardcover, box sets, and Kindle. So if there's a book that's been on your reading list for too long, there's a good chance it's on sale right now. Check out some of our favorite discounted reads below.
Post-Prime Day deals on books:A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J. Maas, Box Set — $51 $95 (save $44)
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Over the weekend, Elon Musk made his support for Donald Trump official by publicly endorsing the former-president shortly after Trump was wounded in the ear by a would-be assassin during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Now, it appears that Musk's social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, is also displaying support for Trump.
On Thursday, July 18, some X users began to notice that custom icons were appearing next to certain pro-Trump hashtags.
For example, when a X user posts the hashtag #MAGA, a small photo of Trump raising his fist after the shooting, automatically appears next to the hashtag in the post.
Tweet may have been deletedX takes things even further with another pro-Trump hashtag #Trump2024. When a user posts #Trump2024, an American flag icon appears beside the hashtag in the post. If a user clicks on that hashtag, as per usual, they are taken to the search page for #Trump2024 which displays other posts containing the hashtag. However, X has added a custom effect to the #Trump2024 search page: A display of American flags raining down on the page.
Tweet may have been deleted X's pro-Trump custom hashtag icons are a firstX has added emoji-like custom icons next to hashtags before. However, those icons usually appear as part of brand advertising deals for hashtags related to a live event or new movie release. For example, the #AppleEvent hashtag for Apple's annual iPhone launch event has previously appeared with a custom icon.
SEE ALSO: Elon Musk to move X and SpaceX's headquarters to TexasThen-Twitter did add custom icons to political-related hashtags before. However, these hashtags were for bipartisan events like Election Day and not for any particular candidate.
The addition of pro-Trump custom hashtag icons appears to be the first time X has added a custom hashtag icon in a partisan matter promoting a specific candidate.
The addition of these custom icons next to these hashtags appeared on the same day Trump is scheduled to give a speech formally accepting his nomination as the official Republican nominee for president on the final day of the Republican National Convention.
It's unclear at this time if the RNC paid X for these custom hashtag icons. Under usual scenarios, that would seem to be the likely case, as that's how companies and brands obtain a custom hashtag. Businesses and other users on X cannot create a hashtag icon on their own via the platform. Custom hashtag icons require action by X, the company, itself.
As of publishing, #MAGA and #Trump2024 appear to be the only pro-Trump hashtags given a custom icon by X. The #Biden2024 for President Joe Biden does not appear with any custom hashtag.
Mashable has reached out to X with questions about the scope of this change, whether it is a first-of-its-kind program, and to find out if money changed hands. We will update if we hear back.
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