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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: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Friday, September 6, 2024:

AcrossPioneering video game in which you slither around and eat apples

• The answer is Snake.

Mailing alternative to a home address

• The answer is PObox.

Grammy winner Hayes

• The answer is Isaac.

Words on a book's spine

• The answer is title.

Bona fide

• The answer is real.

Down___ valve (drainage feature on a brass instrument)

• The answer is spit.

Respectful denial

• The answer is nosir.

Subside

• The answer is abate.

Animal whose closest living relative is the wombat

• The answer is koala.

Microsoft's alternative to Google Sheets

• The answer is Excel.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

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

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Mini Crossword.

What if a ghost could tell its own story but not speak? That is the wildly compelling premise of Presence. Director Steven Soderbergh reteams with Kimi screenwriter David Koepp for an unconventional haunted house story, creating a film that is sharply funny, beguiling, a bit chilling, and ultimately sweet.

And it all begins with a dizzying opening shot.

SEE ALSO: Steven Soderbergh's 'Kimi' is an electric thriller with an encrypted message of hope The camera is a character in Presence

Presence opens within a house on the break of sunrise. It's still dark inside as the camera swans around from kitchen to hallway, up the stairs and through the bedrooms and back again. There's a slight fish-eye lens effect, even in the darkness, turning the corners of a house into ominous shadows. And the movement of the camera suggests not some passive viewer, but a perspective, a presence.

The next scene is established with daylight. The presence watches (as do we) as a posh real estate agent (Julia Fox) arrives to show the space to the Payne family. The mother, Rebecca (Lucy Liu), is immediately sold, gushing about how the location means her golden child Tyler (newcomer Eddy Maday) could be in the best school district to follow his trajectory as a trophy-winning swimmer. Meanwhile, dad Chris (This is Us' Chris Sullivan) worries the move would be hard on their other teen, Chloe (Foundation's Callina Liang), who has recently lost her best friend to a presumed drug overdose. 

The inherent conflict between Lui's smothering Boy Mom and Sullivan's earnestly vulnerable Girl Dad plays out in passive aggression and outright arguments, all with the wandering eye of the presence floating around as a silent witness. But this being, whose identity, name, and gender are unclear for much of the movie, is most focused on Chloe, who is alone in her grief — until she's not. 

Featured Video For You 'Cuckoo' is Hunter Schafer's first movie. How that helped ground her performance.

The point-of-view perspective in horror is chiefly used to inspire fear in the audience, implying a sinister force or slasher is sizing up a potential victim. But here, the camera's movement conveys no ill intent, in part because of the way the presence tends to hide in Chloe's closet, as if it is scared, not aiming to scare. Props to Soderbergh, who also serves as the film's editor and cinematographer. Long takes that move from one room to another, following conflict and conversation, create a pulsing vulnerability for a character we cannot see or hear, yet understand all the same. I was in awe that when the camera pans from one hurting family member to another, I could feel the yearning of the presence to be seen, to join in, to scream. Presence is extraordinary for all it tells through its moving camerawork alone. 

Presence's cast is extraordinary

Of course, all Soderbergh's sublime cinematography could have been for nought if it weren't for a cast that could grasp the concept. As it is, I'll be absolutely shocked if Presence doesn't get a Best Cinematography Oscar nomination. 

The film demands actors play out long takes that sometimes involve complex choreography. Within that, they need their lines to land on camera but casually. And beyond that, there's the creeping shift in behavior as the presence makes itself known. Some in the house begin to sense it, and their gaze must connect to the lens in a way that is present but not concrete. This way we believe that what they see appears as nothing, as the camera will never leave the presence's perspective to reveal the living's. Liang has the heaviest lift here, as she engages most directly with the ghost, sometimes sensing it, but also realizing how it has the power to move things in her room. Sharing this revelation with her family only sparks a fight and more violent paranormal activity.

SEE ALSO: TIFF 2024 preview: 15 movies you ought to know about

For her part, Liu is perfectly cold as a corporate shark with a ruthless sense of right and wrong, delivering a monologue to her smirking son that's so electrifyingly frank it sparked laughs from a shocked audience. Sullivan is her foil, playing a human teddy bear desperate to save his daughter from a despair he grapples to comprehend. Maday sizzles as a cruel jock who has little patience for his freaky sister, while Liang shoulders the bulk of the film, balancing her scenes of ghostly intrusion with meditations on grief and a budding secret romance with "the coolest guy in school" (West Mulholland in Jared Leto circa My So-Called Life mode). Together, they feel like a real family, the dialogue current and crisply natural, grounding the real so the uncanny hits all the harder. 

Presence is a welcomed genre twist

Soderbergh has played in various genres from heist movies like Ocean's Eleven and Logan Lucky, to psychological thrillers like Unsane and Kimi, the espionage actioner Haywire, and the sexy comedies that make up the Magic Mike trilogy. While technically Presence is a horror movie in conceit, Soderbergh doesn't feel bound by the demands to make it spooky. In fact, the house is not remotely creepy. Admittedly, the music has a flare of whining instruments that recall gothic horror movies of the the 1940s, but this clashes with the girly-pop aesthetic of Chloe's bedroom, effectively underlining how the presence feels out of place here. 

Credit to Koepp, who like Soderbergh has lept from one genre to another, with screenplay credits on everything from Jurassic Park to Mission: Impossible, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and my personal favorite, the dark diva comedy Death Becomes Her. But his most relevant work to Presence is the woefully underrated Stir of Echoes, a 1999 horror movie, where Kevin Bacon plays a man with newly awakened abilities to commune with the dead. Now, Presence isn't as overtly eerie as Stir of Echoes, which is a more traditional ghost story in that sense. But they share a similar sensibility in Koepp's carefully constructed characters and final act twist. Essentially, his thumb print is clear. 

Koepp employs genre conventions like poltergeist activity: objects moved when the living aren't looking or rooms trashed before their very eyes. But because of Soderbergh's committed POV shots, these actions don't feel like they're intended to scare as much as they are to express a wordless frustration. Likewise, when the family brings in a medium, Lisa (Natalie Woolams-Torres), she looks nothing like you might expect. Rather than a frail white woman in black witchy attire, this supernatural communicator is a robust woman of color, wearing a warm flannel and jeans, as if she's just come from her job as a barista or a kindergarten teacher. These subtle tweaks give a thrilling sense of possibility to Presence, promising the audience it won't play by the rules and so the film could go anywhere. And where it goes it is not only satisfyingly surprising, but smartly sentimental. 

In the end, Presence is a remarkable union of a clever concept and a superb execution. In the wrong hands, fumbled or flashy camerawork could have crushed the character building of the ghost. Soderbergh's steady hand is so mindful in its performance that you can practically feel the expressions of a face you cannot see. The cast expertly builds a believable and complex family bond while effortlessly completing choreographed blocking. And Koepp delivers a final act that is stomach-churningly tense yet tender. All of this collides to make a sublimely realized ghost story that is easily one of the best films of the year. 

Shame you'll have to wait until next year to see it. 

Presence was reviewed out of its international premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. The film is scheduled for theatrical release in the US Jan. 17, 2025. 

We already know that Stephen King thinks his latest story adaptation is "a happiness machine", but his latest post about The Life of Chuck is even more glowing.

SEE ALSO: Every single Stephen King movie adaptation, ranked

Taking to X (formerly Twitter) to share his thoughts on Mike Flanagan's upcoming adaptation of his novella of the same name, King described it as "one of the good ones."

Tweet may have been deleted

"It's sad, has a touch of the paranormal, but it's also joyful and life-affirming," said King. "Maybe not what you'd expect from me, but there ya go."

It's not such a surprise if you've read the story – a novella in King's If It Bleeds collection – which follows a man whose world falls apart when he starts to see the same mysterious image of a man called Chuck popping up everywhere.

Tom Hiddleston, Karen Gillan, and Mark Hamill star in the adaptation, which will like have Being John Malkovich surreal mystery vibes.

The Life of Chuck's release date is TBC.

Stephen Colbert has mocked footage of JD Vance's recent appearance in a donut shop.

Huawei's tri-folding phone, the Mate XT, is seemingly pulling off the greatest trick a folding phone can: It looks ordinary (when folded).

In a new teaser posted by Huawei on Weibo, the phone is clearly visible from the back, fully folded, and you could mistake it for any regular smartphone. The phone is also partially shown fully unfolded, and while we don't get to see all that glorious screen real estate, it really does appear you get something akin to a full-sized tablet.

Can you tell that this is a folding phone? Credit: Huawei

Rumors say the size of the display, when fully unfolded, will be 10 inches diagonally, which is comparable to the 8.3-inch iPad mini (though inevitably with a very different aspect ratio, as the Huawei certainly won't be 5.3 inches tall like the iPad mini).

SEE ALSO: What to expect from Apple event 2024: iPhone 16, Apple Watch 10, and more

The big question, of course, is just how thick the Huawei Mate XT will be when folded. From what we can see in the video, it won't be too bad, but it'll certainly be thicker than an average phone.

Another interesting aspect of the Huawei Mate XT is the timing of its launch. Huawei has a launch event in China that starts hours after Apple's iPhone 16 launch in California.

Check out the full teaser video for the Huawei Mate XT over on Weibo.

No one wants to tag their friends on Instagram anymore.

Instagram is one of the most powerful leaders in the attention economy. Meta knows how much the eyes of its users are worth — a few billion dollars — and has taken virtually every step to cement its role in our social lives. You can post on your grid, like other people's posts, comment on them, and send them to your friends. You can post a note or a song, comment on a note or a song, and respond to someone's note or song. You can post on your Story, repost someone's post on your Story, repost someone's Story on your Story, like someone's Story, respond to someone's Story, and now, you can even comment on someone's Story. You can send private messages, group chats, and make video calls in the DMs. 

SEE ALSO: Is Instagram going to ruin your grid with rectangles?

Despite Instagram's many faults — and this, too, may be one — it knows how to encourage users to stay on its app with near-constant changes to how we communicate on it. As one kind of action organically changes (people stop posting hashtags, for example), another feature (the explore page) takes its place. Tagging is no different.

Since its inception, we've seen a shift in how users tag one another in posts. Before disclosing branded content on Instagram was mandatory, influencers and wannabe influencers would tag the brands they were — or wanted to look like they were — collaborating with. That would change with the implementation of mandatory disclosures. The trend of tagging your friends or brands maintained its staying power for a bit, but now, no one wants to tag their friends.

A few months ago, Instagram changed how it notified users that they were tagged in a photo. Instead of simply sending a notification, it would send users a notification and a direct message to the tagged user from the tagger of the post. So, if you hosted a party, took a photo, and tagged all 48 attendees, you would have sent 48 DMs. There is no way to turn this feature off. The only way to avoid it is to stop tagging people. People hated it.

Tweet may have been deleted

In response to the change, or perhaps just in the typical way social media interactions evolve, users stopped tagging people altogether. As I scroll through my feed, I see dozens of photo dumps, each including five to 20 pictures of someone and their friends — but none of the friends are tagged. It's unclear if implementing the DM feature spearheaded a new movement away from tagging friends in posts, but the timing can't be denied. 

Beyond the DMs, there are plenty of other reasons not to tag your friends in a photo. Privacy concerns, for one. There's also the age-old oversaturation problem; as Instagram shifts from a platform for casual social interactions to one focused on curated, aesthetic, and branded profiles, tagging could distract from a more clean and polished look. It has also been around for so long and has become so common that tagging might have lost its novelty and now leans toward feeling outdated or cringeworthy. Some users on Reddit worry that their posts are seen less if they tag too many people, although there's no proof that this has any bearing in reality.

SEE ALSO: Instagram is currently in its flop era

Or maybe it has less to do with engagement and more with a user's intended vibe. Maybe people want a little mystery. Mystery is hard-fought and rarely won in the age of social media, but perhaps not tagging the people in your photos lends itself to an air of secrecy in a time of oversharing. 

It's difficult to pinpoint a single reason for how and why social trends change — tagging included. But if Instagram's history is any indicator, it'll find some new way to steal your attention.

Australian Olympic breakdancer Rachael "Raygun" Gunn has given her first interview since her viral performance earned her international infamy. Appearing via video on Australian talk show The Project, Raygun acknowledged that she's had a tough time since her much maligned Olympic debut, but continued to defend her moves and insist that her critics just don't know much about breakdancing.

"It has been honestly so amazing to see the positive response to my performance," said Raygun, attempting to put an optimistic spin on the overwhelmingly negative situation. "I never thought that I would be able to connect with so many people in such a positive way."

SEE ALSO: Australian Olympic breakdancer Raygun calls response to her viral performance 'pretty devastating'

It's surprising that Raygun's Olympic performance apparently inspired enough positive reactions to galvanise her. The 37-year-old university lecturer became the subject of global criticism after she not only lost every round of her Olympic breakdancing battles, but did so with moves the vast majority of viewers considered laughably embarrassing. These included Australian-inspired moves such as hopping like a kangaroo.

Raygun's reaction to the Olympic breakdancing backlash

Fortunately, Raygun said she wasn't initially aware of the backlash to her Olympic performance, having been advised to avoid the internet shortly after her events. She also quickly got mental health support.

"As soon as I finished my rounds, my media liaison from the [Australian Olympic Committee] said, 'Oh, there's a bit of a storm brewing on social media, you might want to go off socials,'" Raygun told The Project. "And I was like, 'Oh, OK.' I didn't understand the scale of it."

Her blissful ignorance didn't last long though. Raygun got a "sick feeling" when she did eventually see what the internet was saying about her, which was further solidified, she said, when an Australian reporter questioned her about the backlash in the street.

"That really did put me in a state of panic for a while after that, and I was quite nervous being out in public because I just didn't know what was safe, if anyone was going to recognise me [and] how they were going to respond to seeing me," said Raygun.

She also revealed that while she typically doesn't watch past battles regardless, it will be some time before she revisits her Olympic performances. She hasn't seen late night host Jimmy Fallon's skit about her either.

"I don't know whether to hug him or yell at him," said Raygun, acknowledging that Fallon's skit helped bring her to people's attention. "I haven't actually seen the sketch because I don't think I'm in a place yet to watch it, but I will watch it at some point."

Raygun: 'It's just a different approach in breaking' Credit: Photo by Elsa / Getty Images

Raygun's disappointing Olympic performance led many to question exactly how she was selected for the Australian team, with some even speculating she made it to Paris via underhanded means. Though she previously addressed such rumours in an Instagram video last month, Raygun took the opportunity to refute them once more on The Project, stating that she qualified by winning the 2023 Oceania Breaking Championships and hadn't known any of the nine judges. 

"A lot of the responses though is also just due to people not being very familiar with breaking and the diversity of approaches in breaking,'" said Raygun. "It's just a different approach in breaking. You have the athletics style breakers, you also have the more artistic style breakers, and all of them are very valid."

Offering some insight into her Olympic strategy, Raygun said she chose to primarily focus on three of the five judging criteria: originality, vocabulary ("the range and repertoire of movement"), and musicality.

"I knew my chances were slim," said Raygun. "I knew that I was going to get beaten and I knew that people were not going to understand my style and what I was gonna do… I had to go with what I was good at, I had to go with my strengths."

According to Raygun, her Olympic performance was actually fairly typical in the breakdancing community. Even so, she still hasn't been free of admonishment from other breakdancers. While she expressed remorse for the backlash the breakdancing community has received, Raygun noted that she "can't control how people react," and proposed that Australian breakdancing needs more resources to be able to compete on the world stage.

"In the last year I have trained my hardest," said Raygun. "Learning power moves in your mid-30s is not easy, let's just say that! I have really put my body through it, put my mind through it. But if that's not good enough for someone, what can I say?"

Raygun's breakdancing future Credit: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images

In the interview, Raygun also briefly touched on discourse regarding the gentrification of breakdancing, though unfortunately she focused on her ethnicity rather than socioeconomic or academic concerns. The breakdancing subculture originated from disenfranchised Black and Puerto Rican youth in America. As such, seeing it become an Olympic event featuring a university academic kangaroo hopping rubbed many people the wrong way.

"I think even if it went to the second or third [place winners], that it still would have been a white girl representing [Australia]," said Raygun.

Second and third place at the 2023 Oceania Breaking Championships went to Molly Therese "Holy Molly" Chapman and Hannah Georgina Belet respectively.

"It's been a bit of a process to try and start dancing again."

Despite the global condemnation of her dance moves, Raygun still stands by them. When asked whether she genuinely believes she's the best female breaker in Australia, the Olympian merely stated that she thinks her "record speaks to that," then proceeded to list her breakdancing accolades.

"The record is there, but anything can happen in a battle," Raygun told The Project. "It's always about what happens on the day. That consistency shows my level."

Regardless of this, we won't be seeing Raygun at more breakdancing competitions any time soon. 

"It's been a bit of a process to try and start dancing again," she said. "That's actually been tough. It was my medicine, and then it turned into my source of stress. I'm really happy that it gets to go back to being my medicine… I'm looking forward to breaking, but no, I don't think I'll compete for a while."

Credit: Rene Nijhuis / BSR Agency / Getty Images

Unfortunately for Raygun, her interview with The Project doesn't appear to have pacified her detractors. The overwhelming majority of commenters have reacted with derision, lambasting Raygun for refusing to own up to what was widely considered an embarrassing performance.

"The level of her delusion is Olympic!" commented YouTube user yopomiles.

"'I know people weren’t going to understand my style' nah girl no one expected you to flounder like a fish," wrote MadelinFox18.

"She claims others 'dont understand breaking' when it's clear she is the one who doesn't understand breaking," altruism123 posted.

"'my record speaks to that...' pure narcissism right there," allmightyx7600 wrote.

"The Olympics is not about having fun," said peachstars219. "The Olympics is about seeing the best of the world. Raygun is not the best of Australia."

Following NASA's tense decision to pull its astronauts off Boeing's spaceship for their ride home, lots of eyes will be on Starliner this evening to see how it performs a landing uncrewed.

The capsule, which launched in June, took test pilots Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams to the International Space Station for its first human spaceflight. But what was supposed to be an eight-day visit for the pair turned into an indefinite stay after Starliner experienced propulsion problems and helium leaks in space. 

SEE ALSO: Boeing's Starliner was mysteriously blooping like a submarine in space. Here's why.

After reviewing flight and test data, NASA concluded it would be too risky to send Wilmore and Williams home on Starliner. The agency instead made arrangements for them to return in a SpaceX spaceship in February 2025. NASA officials said the Columbia and Challenger space shuttle disasters informed their safety-focused decision. 

"There was just too much uncertainty in the prediction of the thrusters," said Steve Stich, NASA's commercial crew program manager, at a news conference on Aug. 24. "If we had a way to accurately predict what the thrusters would do for the undock and all the way through the deorbit burn and through the separation sequence, I think we would have taken a different course of action."

The above embedded video is where NASA will stream Starliner's undocking and departure from the ISS live.

Starliner will undock autonomously, firing a few short bursts of its thrusters to reverse from the space station. Those little pulses are not likely to cause overheating, which may have played a role in the spaceship's reduced propulsion in June, NASA officials said. 

The most concerning maneuver will be the use of thrusters while trying to leave orbit. Doing so will require some thrusters that had previously malfunctioned.

Boeing's team believed Starliner would have safely returned Wilmore and Williams, and it appears NASA's decision has created some friction with the developer. Boeing representatives have not participated in the past few NASA news conferences. But Stich rejected any claims that meetings between the partners were heated. 

The above embedded video is where NASA will stream Starliner's reentry and landing live.

"I wouldn't say it was a yelling, screaming kind of meeting," he told reporters this week. "It was a tense technical discussion where we had both sides listening intently to all the data, and, in the end, to make a decision whether to return crewed or uncrewed."

How to watch Boeing Starliner's landing

The return journey will begin this evening with a robotic undocking from the International Space Station. The U.S. space agency will broadcast the departure on YouTube and NASA's website at 5:45 p.m. ET Sept. 6. 

The coverage will continue at 10:50 p.m. ET when the empty spaceship attempts to leave orbit, re-enter Earth's atmosphere, and land in a New Mexico desert. If the descent happens on schedule, flight controllers anticipate Starliner will touch down at the Army's White Sands Missile Range a little over an hour later, just after midnight ET Sept. 7. 

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Starliner successfully performed an uncrewed landing in 2019. It was the first time a U.S. spacecraft designed for human passengers had landed on soil rather than splashing down into an ocean. A system of parachutes and air bags should cushion Starliner's drop to the ground.

“This is not a normal legal dispute.”

So-called agentic artificial intelligence doesn’t require a human to tell it what to do. At least, that’s the idea.

Using a VPN (or virtual private network) on your PC is a good way to reclaim some of your online privacy. But if you're downloading any random VPN app in the Microsoft Store just because it's 100 percent free, you could be risking the safety of your device and personal data. You have to be careful — free VPNs can be doing some really sketchy stuff behind the scenes.

The good news is that some trustworthy premium VPNs do offer free subscription tiers or trials for users' most basic needs. While these options come with fewer features, servers, and support options than the providers' paid subscriptions, they're covered by the exact same airtight privacy and no-logs policies. You know — the whole point of getting a VPN in the first place.

I've tested all of the top VPNs previously for Mashable, and after conducting new testing on Windows devices, I'm ready to recommend the best free VPNs for PC users in 2024.

SEE ALSO: The best VPN services of 2024, tested and reviewed

Proton VPN is the top pick for most people: It doesn't place data or time limits on its free users, and transparency and digital safety are core tenets of its business model. For new users who aren't very familiar with VPNs, I also endorse TunnelBear: Its app is simple (and adorable), and it gives you 2GB of data per month plus country-level server selection with a free account.

As an honorable mention, CyberGhost VPN's 24-hour trial gives you full, free access to its gigantic server network, which is capable of skirting geo-restrictions on regional content — a decent short-term solution for fans of international TV shows. I felt like it was important to include here because so many people seek out VPNs for this secondary use case, but I want to stress that its track record isn't quite as proven and pristine as the competition. Maybe that matters to you; maybe you just want to binge the latest season of Love Island UK.

Will the e-reader future be in glorious e-ink color?

Probably, but the question of how soon was top of mind as I tested the Kobo Libra Colour, the first color e-reader from a major brand. (Color e-ink e-readers and tablets like the Pocketbook Ink Pad Color 2 and BOOX Tab Ultra C have been around, but generally at a higher price point with a more sluggish performance).

I should also disclose my bias upfront: As a lifelong reader and someone who majored in English, I am unfortunately hardwired to have a superiority complex about preferring physical books. And though that will likely forever be a part of me, I’d be lying if I said that the Kobo Libra Colour didn't help me read in moments I would’ve been scrolling through my phone, and significantly upped my annotation game. 

SEE ALSO: Amazon Kindle vs. Kindle Paperwhite: Which one is for you?

However, along with the Kobo Clara Colour, the Libra is the brand’s first crack at a color e-reader, so it’s not without its flaws. Whether or not they’re enough to dissuade you from picking it up largely depends on what you want out of your e-reader, so let’s jump into the specifics. 

How much does the Kobo Libra Colour cost?

If this e-reader put a premium price tag solely because it offers color e-ink, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Luckily, this isn't the case, and at $219.99, it feels more than competitively priced with Kindle's offerings. Here’s how it breaks down: 

• Kobo Libra Colour: $219.99, $289.99 with Kobo Stylus 2 (sold separately for $69.99)

• Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition: $189.99

• Kindle Scribe with Basic Pen: $339.99

We’ll get more into performance and hardware differences below, but cost-wise alone, the Kobo Libra sits just over $30 more than the Kindle Paperwhite (which we admittedly love but has no color or tablet-like abilities) and $120 less than the Scribe (which has the writing abilities of the Kobo Libra without the color). Plus, the Kindle Scribe’s Premium Pen is a better analog to the Kobo Stylus 2, but the addition of the better pen brings the Scribe’s price up to $369.99, making the Kobo a full $150 cheaper.

SEE ALSO: New iPad mini might be coming soon

Honestly, my expectations were that the Amazon Kindles would be a better value: for starters, Kindles don’t offer color e-ink yet, and it’s no secret that Amazon treats its books side of the business as a loss leader. But Kobo surprised me, restraining itself from overpricing a color e-reader and making it more than competitively priced with Kindles. 

Along with the e-reader itself, Kobo sent me the Kobo Stylus 2, which as I mentioned above, costs $69.99. They also sent me the Kobo Libra Colour Sleepcover, which retails for $39.99 and worked as an excellent kickstand in both portrait and landscape mode.

Kobo Libra Colour specs

The Kobo's competitive cost falls in line with what it's offering beyond the color display. The basic overview of what this e-reader offers includes:

• 7-inch E Ink Kaleido 3 screen

• 300 PPI (pixels per inch) for black-and-white content

• 150 PPI for color content color content

• 32GB of storage

• Bluetooth compatibility

• Dark mode available

You might notice that the color screen isn't made by Kobo, which is why you can find the exact same Kaleido 3 on other e-ink devices — however, as I mentioned up top, they're usually more expensive, and generally, Kobo seems to offer the most streamlined e-reader experience.

As for a comparison with the rest of the specs, the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition has a 6.8-inch 300 PPI display with 32GB of storage and an estimated 10 weeks of battery life. It's nearly identical, but Kindle does have one over Kobo here: in the roughly two and a half months I used the Kobo (about 10 weeks), I charged it twice.

SEE ALSO: Google Pixel 9 Pro XL: The longest battery life we've ever recorded

That said, I didn't give the battery its best chance — in most cases, the WiFi and Bluetooth were on when I read, mostly because I was trying to use the device as I would normally, and realistically, that would not include optimizing its battery life. Depending on the time of day my brightness could be at 75 percent or 5 percent, so that fluctuated greatly too. Though I wish it lasted a little longer, about five weeks of continuous use under those conditions is still pretty decent.

How much color do you get with the Kobo Libra Colour?

The display is arguably the draw of this particular e-reader, so naturally, it's garnered some mixed opinions.

Online, you'll find folks who say the technology still isn't there with the Kaleido 3 screen, with the colors appearing washed out and grainy. Defenders of the Libra Colour will say you shouldn't expect iPad-level performance and that finding the right brightness setting goes a long way.

Personally, I find myself falling more into the defender camp, but rather than try to describe why, I figure some pictures might help me make my case. For starters, the highlights and annotations looked great:

The highlighter colors are vivid and distinct. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

Before we get more into the next pictures, I need a second to sing the praises of how nice highlighting and switching highlighter colors felt, especially with the Kobo Stylus 2. Writing notes in the margins, on the other hand, was just OK: Some lag (which I'll get more into below) and truly subpar palm rejection soured the experience, but I appreciated that all my highlights and annotations were saved in one long list.

As for how the display looked beyond annotations, book covers on the lock screen came through clearly, even when in the direct sun:

The picture came through clearly at full, 50 percent, and 0 percent brightness in the full sunlight. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

Even compared to the cover of the physical book, I could play around with the brightness of the Kobo to get a relatively accurate recreation.

The Kobo at a low brightness doesn't look great next to the original text. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable Bumping up the brightness to about 60 percent helped the color pop more without becoming washed out. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

Obviously, the display isn't one-to-one with the color saturation of the real thing, but I was still pleasantly surprised. The above side-by-side honestly feels like the least favorable comparison I was able to draw out of the Kobo — most times, when I saw my lock screen with the title of whatever book I happened to be reading at the moment, I was impressed.

With that said, devout graphic novel readers or fans of full-color manga might prefer to stick to an iPad if they want the most vibrant color possible. I saw the comparison of the Kobo offering newspaper-esque color ink, and that feels fairly apt — if you expect that level of color saturation, you won't be let down.

The “screen door” display

Of course, most of the time, when you're reading an e-reader you won't be seeing color. So how does the Kobo stack up with black and white material?

As I mentioned above, the resolution is the same that you'll find on a Kindle Paperwhite. However, some people find the Kobo's display leans warm whereas they prefer the truer black-and-white display of a Kindle. I didn't have a Kindle to compare, but I felt like I was able to adjust the warmth of the screen to my preferences easily.

Adjusting the brightness and screen warmth is easy. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

However, if you've spent any time on r/Kobo, you'll know a particular gripe of e-reader enthusiasts is that Kobo has the "screen door" effect. The effect is what it sounds like — there's a faint grainy quality to the "page" that again, gives an almost newspaper-like look to the display, where a Kindle might look more akin to a standard tablet display.

A close up on the slightly grainy Kobo display. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

To be clear, this doesn't really affect the sharpness of the words themselves. Some folks online mentioned that this graininess made them return their Kobo altogether. While it didn't bug me at all, I can see where having the other preference would turn me off from this e-reader. My advice? Go with a Kindle if you know you like a razor-sharp display.

The tablet features aren't there yet

Even though some features were promising, I have to agree with what Mashable’s Alex Perry said about the Kindle Scribe last fall: e-readers just aren’t comparable to tablets yet.

When using the notebook feature on the Kobo, you can pick from over 35 page formats, five different pen types, five pen sizes, four highlighter colors, and 10 pen colors. While I appreciate that the tablet-like functions allow the Libra to offer more ways to use its color e-ink than the Clara Colour, compared to an iPad or on its own merit, writing on a Kobo isn't nearly as fluid for note-taking or drawing. Plus, as I mentioned above, the palm rejection sucks.

In other words, it's hard to see the use case where someone would turn to their Kobo as the place to jot down their to-do lists, meal plans, or Cornell notes over a tablet or a notebook.

The color comes through decently, but the actual drawing experience still needs improvement before its fit for more much than this. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

The other major issue that keeps the Kobo from being a viable notebook replacement is the display's occasional ghosting issue. While I really didn't notice a lot of ghosting throughout testing, it cropped up randomly when I was messing around with the notebook features: once, when I was using the resize tool, and another time when I was using the Kobo stylus to erase some text I'd written.

Ghosting defeated the purpose of the resize tool. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable Believe it or not, I'd erased the word testing. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

I was especially surprised by the erasing ghosting — I'd erased plenty of annotations in highlights in e-books with the Kobo stylus and found it to work incredibly well. My guess is that the Kobo's system isn't powerful enough to support to smooth notebook experience it tries to offer.

Kindle vs. Kobo: Pros and cons

I've already pointed out some key differences between the two e-readers throughout this review, but there are a few more factors to take into consideration beyond the display and battery life.

Library book support

If you read a lot of library books, the Kobo might be for you for one simple reason: integrated Libby (formerly OverDrive) support. On a Kobo, you can place holds, check out, and download library books directly from your device, which is way more convenient than checking out books via the Libby app like you have to with the Kindle. If you happen to prefer using the Libby app, it syncs with the Kobo without issue.

You can borrow library books directly from the Kobo store. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

That said, I'd still appreciate the option to add more than one library card at a time to the Kobo, especially as the Libby app supports that exact functionality.

EPUB files

Kindles can't read EPUBs, Kobos can. What that means is that it's much easier for you to access and download files to the Kobo from outside the Kobo store. Whether that be an article or a short story, adding an EPUB file is as easy as uploading it to your Google Drive and seeing it show up directly on your Kobo.

I was skeptical that this process would be one of those features that in theory sounds simple and actually requires an hour of troubleshooting to set it up, but I was able to grab a PDF of an essay without a hitch and watch it load up on my home screen.

Pocket integration

Speaking of articles, as an avid Pocket user prior to any e-reader use, I was stoked when I found out that the app is integrated with Kobo e-readers.

The color display added a nice touch to the tile view screen. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable I could perform basic Pocket functions directly from the Kobo. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

The syncing process between my Pocket app and the Kobo was basically seamless, whether I was saving articles from the browser on my laptop or from my phone. I could favorite, archive, and delete articles directly from the Kobo, and the color display added a nice touch when I was viewing everything I'd saved.

The major downside was that the Pocket app didn't support any annotation, so I couldn't mark up any articles the same way I'd enjoyed doing with books and EPUB files. Still, considering that Amazon doesn't offer this kind of Pocket integration at all, this felt like a minor gripe.

Amazon's catalog

Where Amazon does have a huge advantage is its catalog. As Deputy Shopping and Reviews Editor Miller Kern mentioned in her comparison between the two brands, Kindle's catalog is simply bigger. This is especially apparent as Kindle Unlimited, the brand's subscription service, offers over 4 million digital titles to Kobo Plus's 1.5 million.

You can also buy e-books directly from your Kindle, while Kobo requires you to scan a QR code to buy them on a phone or computer.

Honorable mentions

A few more rapid-fire odds and ends that might sway you to one e-reader over the other: the Kobo Libra Colour has page-turning buttons, which Kindle doesn't currently offer (RIP, Kindle Oasis). These buttons work without a hitch in landscape, portrait mode, or even upside down, and can be programmed to suit what makes the most sense for you.

The page-turning buttons could be used in the default or inverted mode. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

Speaking of design, I liked that the Kobo's on button was on the back of the device so I couldn't never accidentally lock the device (the Kindle's sits on the bottom, and is much more prone to that issue).

SEE ALSO: PS5 Pro: It looks like a sketch of the design just leaked

Finally, I appreciated that the stylus magnetically attached to the Kobo and the sleep cover they sent me — sometimes, if I placed it wrong on the button side it would rest on the button and turn a bunch of pages, so a fix for that in a future generation would be great to see. However, it was easy to troubleshoot by placing it on the left side of the tablet while reading, and keeping it on the case when I wasn't using the device.

Is the Kobo Libra Colour worth it?

I'll keep it short and sweet: the Kobo Libra Colour is definitely a first-generation product with a few issues to work out, especially with its notebook feature. However, if you love using your library card, marking up your books, appreciate a color display, and prefer page turn buttons to a full touch screen experience, you'll likely be happy with the Kobo Libra Colour.

For folks who want the best unlimited subscription service, don't like a newsprint-like look, and prioritize the most vibrant colors possible when reading comics or manga, you'd likely be better off with a Kindle or a traditional tablet until Kobo (or another brand) improves on the color e-reader.

Kobo Libra Colour $219.99 at Amazon
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No one seems to know the exact hue of the iPhone 16 Pro models' rumored "Desert Titanium" colorway.

On X, popular leaker Majin Bu claimed that Apple is scrapping the iPhone 15 Pro models' "Blue Titanium" for "Desert Titanium" on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Tweet may have been deleted

Bu called it a "dark gold" color.

Back in February, Bu said that Desert Titanium is similar to the Gold colorway that was featured on the iPhone 14 Pro, but "deeper and heavier."

The gold model on the iPhone 14 Pro is the third one from the left. Credit: Apple Tweet may have been deleted

However, other leakers seem to have a slightly different perception of the new Desert Titanium variant that Apple will likely reveal at the Sept. 9 Glowtime event.

SEE ALSO: What to expect from Apple event 2024: iPhone 16, Apple Watch 10, and more Desert Titanium: Is it bronze? Is it beige?

Bu isn't the only bean spiller who claims they have the scoop on Apple's new color.

In late August, a leaker with the moniker Sonny Dickson dropped a picture of iPhone 16 Pro dummy models on X, with the far-right color catching followers' eyes.

Tweet may have been deleted

"Is that Brown??" @brunomfviegas asked.

"The new brown or bronze gold color looks hideous," @thatJohann said.

"Oh my god bronze gold beautiful," @HjeinK1805 said.

Dickson's leak appeared to suggest that Apple's Desert Titanium iPhone 16 Pro models will be draped in some sort of bronze-like hue.

It doesn't stop there. Zac Hall from 9to5Mac claimed that the new Desert Titanium color has more of a beige-like color, according to "a new piece of reliable data."

Tweet may have been deleted

Further adding credibility to his claims, Hall said that his source "correctly identified the natural gray titanium color of the iPhone 15 Pro prior to being announced last year."

In July, a leaker from Weibo, a China-based social media platform, claimed the iPhone 16 Pro models will come in some sort of rose-like color.

So which is it?

It's likely that leakers are proclaiming different hues for the same colorway due to varied perceptions of color, different lighting conditions, and different color terminology. For example, one color may be "brown" to you, but "earthy mocha" or "rich chestnut" to someone else.

Based on the rumors, it looks like Desert Titanium is somewhere in the bronze-esque, beige-like, dark-gold-ish territory. Nailed it!

(It's worth noting, though, that leakers appear to agree on the other three colors set for the iPhone 16 Pro models: white, black, and gray.)

We'll find out which leaker was spot on when Apple officially reveals the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max models at the Glowtime event on Sept. 9.

A robotic orbiter just took its first closeup pictures of Mercury's poles, passing about 100 miles above the planet in space as the probe harnessed the small world's gravity.  

Mercury, the closest planet to the sun, is perhaps the most overlooked of the rocky worlds in the solar system. Hot and harder to reach than Saturn, it hasn't enjoyed the level of study that other worlds have, but a joint mission of NASA's European and Japanese counterparts seeks to change that. 

The BepiColombo mission just completed its fourth of six planned flybys on Sept. 4 before ultimately entering orbit around the planet to begin its science mission in late 2026. All three of the spacecraft’s monitoring cameras were switched on for the close approach, beaming back tantalizing new images.

SEE ALSO: Mission control is trying 'restlessly' to save a spacecraft to Mercury BepiColombo sees Mercury's south pole at 2,000 miles away from the planet after a close approach on Sept. 4, 2024. Credit: ESA / JAXA / BepiColombo / MTM

The altitude of the flyby was actually lower than originally planned — a late change to the spacecraft's trajectory to compensate for earlier difficulties. During a maneuver on April 26, the electric propulsion module, which runs on solar energy, didn't provide enough power to the thrusters, according to the European Space Agency. About 11 days later, engineers had restored the spacecraft's thrust almost to its previous level, but still at 10 percent lower performance. 

"A team of experts is restlessly working on understanding the root cause of the problem and further impact on the remainder of the trajectory," Camille Bello, a spokesperson for ESA, told Mashable then. 

Mission controllers said a new revised trajectory — and closer flyby — will allow BepiColombo to reach Mercury with the lower level of power. But the tradeoff means the spacecraft won't enter orbit around Mercury and begin its science observations until November 2026, one year later than expected. 

A revised trajectory for BepiColombo means the probe won't begin orbiting Mercury for its science observations until November 2026, one year later than expected. Credit: ESA graphic

BepiColombo approached Mercury from the side facing away from the sun, with Mercury’s cratered surface becoming increasingly brighter as the spacecraft sped past.

The mission's many years of complex flybys are necessary because of just how difficult it is to get to Mercury. To enter orbit around the planet, the spacecraft needs to be flying slow enough to be reeled in by Mercury's gravity. Too fast and it will skip right past it. The trouble is, as the spacecraft gets closer to the sun, it picks up speed like a bicycle going downhill. 

Putting the brakes on in the vacuum of space is no easy feat. The careful choreography of swinging around planets is a way for the spacecraft to burn off energy without carrying the excessive amounts of propellant required in order to slow down the vehicle. Too much fuel would render the spacecraft too heavy to rocket off Earth in the first place. 

In a Mercury flyby on Sept. 4, 2024, the BepiColombo spacecraft gets closeup views of peak ring basins, such as the one within the Stoddart crater in this image. Credit: ESA / JAXA / BepiColombo / MTM

Launched in October 2018, BepiColombo set out to study Mercury's magnetic field, polar craters filled with ice, and the enigmatic "hollows" on the surface. The planet's crust is covered in ancient lava flows, pitted by space rocks over the past 4 billion years or so.

During BepiColombo's fourth flyby, the spacecraft got detailed views of so-called peak ring basins, craters with inner rings of peaks on an otherwise flat bottom. An example of this is seen in the Vivaldi crater, pictured at the top of this story, where there is a visible gap in the ring of peaks. Mission scientists say the gap is the result of volcanic lava later flooding into the crater and resurfacing it.

"Mercury’s peak ring basins are fascinating because many aspects of how they formed are currently still a mystery," said David Rothery, a professor of planetary geosciences at Open University in the United Kingdom, in a statement. "The rings of peaks are presumed to have resulted from some kind of rebound process during the impact, but the depths from which they were uplifted are still unclear."

BepiColombo spies a rugged part of Mercury during a flyby on Sept. 4, 2024, from a distance of about 110 miles from its surface. Credit: ESA / JAXA / BepiColombo / MTM

Scientists believe that by broadening their knowledge of Mercury's composition, atmosphere, and magnetism, they can better understand how Earth-like terrestrial worlds came to be.

Only two previous spacecraft, both NASA missions, have flown to the Swift Planet, nicknamed as such for being the fastest world in the solar system. It travels about 29 miles per second. 

Mission controllers are proceeding with the remaining two flybys, one in December and another in January 2025.

TL;DR: Live stream Sinner vs. Draper in the 2024 US Open semi final for free on 9Now or TVNZ+. Access these free streaming platforms from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The story of the US Open has been the progress of Jack Draper. The youngster has surprised everyone by making it through to the semi-final stage. Can he reach another level and make it to the final? It's not going to be easy, as the top seed stands in his way.

If you want to watch Sinner vs. Draper in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

How to watch Sinner vs. Draper in the 2024 US Open for free

Fans can live stream the 2024 US Open for free on these platforms:

• Australia — 9Now

• New Zealand — TVNZ+

These streaming services are geo-blocked, but anyone from around the world can access these sites with a VPN. These handy tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to secure servers in other countries, meaning you can unblock 9Now and TVNZ+ from anywhere in the world.

Access free live streams of the 2024 US Open by following these simple steps:

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4. Visit 9Now or TVNZ+

5. Watch Sinner vs. Draper in the 2024 US Open semi final for free from anywhere in the world

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The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer deals such as free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can access free live streams of Sinner vs. Draper without actually spending anything. This clearly isn't a long-term solution, but it gives you enough time to watch every US Open match before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for the US Open?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream the US Open for free, for a number of reasons:

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

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There's a moment in Rebel Ridge where ex-Marine Terry Richmond (Aaron Pierre) ends a phone call to his adversaries with a threat that would send a chill up anyone's spine. He takes a beat, looks at a cop he's holding captive, and asks, deadpan, "I put too much sauce on that?"

SEE ALSO: 42 movies you'll want to see this fall

The audience, like Terry, knows there's only one right answer: Nope, you used the exact right amount.

The same goes for Rebel Ridge, which is filled to the brim with cinematic sauce. Packing shades of Rambo's First Blood, as well as director Jeremy Saulnier's other films, like Blue Ruin and Green Room, Rebel Ridge is a monster of a thriller that thrives on perfectly calibrated tension — and on dissecting the injustices at the heart of America's justice and policing systems.

What's Rebel Ridge about? Don Johnson and Aaron Pierre in "Rebel Ridge." Credit: Allyson Riggs / Netflix

Rebel Ridge opens with a foreboding image: A police car prowls behind Terry as he bikes toward the town of Shelby Springs. With Iron Maiden blaring in his ears, he doesn't realize he's being tailed until the cops ram him off the road.

While unspoken, the threat of police brutality against Black men hangs over the ensuing traffic stop. Terry spends much of the sequence trapped in the back of the cop car, while white officers Evan Marston (David Denman) and Steve Lann (Emory Cohen) roam around freely, looking down at Terry from the outside. There's a real sense of claustrophobia from Terry's perspective, highlighting a power imbalance that only grows more skewed as the scene plays out.

SEE ALSO: Netflix Geeked Week 2024 trailer teases 'Arcane,' 'Squid Game,' and a ton more

Marston and Lann find $36,000 in cash in Terry's bag, some of which Terry intends to use to post bail for his cousin Mike (C.J. LeBlanc), who's headed to prison for weed possession. Terry explains that the rest of the money will help him and Mike start a boat-hauling business. The cops confiscate the cash anyway, claiming that it's drug money. Without the cash, and with the clock ticking until Mike's prison transfer, Terry tries to bring his case to police chief Sandy Burnne (a spectacularly slimy Don Johnson). But as it becomes clear how corrupt Sandy and his cronies are, Terry realizes that the only way he'll get his money back is by taking matters into his own hands.

Rebel Ridge is a tight thriller about corruption. AnnaSophia Robb and Aaron Pierre in "Rebel Ridge." Credit: Allyson Riggs / Netflix

As the Shelby Springs police department quickly learns, Terry is a force in his own right. In a sequence that's as suspenseful as it is darkly humorous, the cops discover that Terry was a martial arts instructor for the Marines, and that he could probably take any of them out in two seconds if he was so inclined. Lucky for them, he's not... yet. Early action scenes involving Terry see him trying to de-escalate conflict and avoid collateral damage, a choice that's on par with his training. Don't expect any Green Room-level box cutter shenanigans from Saulnier here, although there's still much pleasure to be had in Terry's cool, efficient style of combat.

Over the course of Rebel Ridge, though, the powers that be in Shelby Springs will push Terry to more extreme measures. The police department, rife with racism, antagonizes him at every turn. Indifferent officials at City Hall turn away from his pleas for help. Only law clerk Summer McBride (AnnaSophia Robb) is willing to help — especially when her work on Mike's case begins to uncover a town-wide conspiracy.

SEE ALSO: The 20 best action movies on Netflix right now

From here, Saulnier spins a tale that goes beyond Terry's attempts to help Mike, showing how everyone in Shelby Springs is impacted by — or complicit in — the cops' scheming. Basically, if you didn't know much about civil asset forfeiture before watching Rebel Ridge, you're going to know a lot about it by the end of the film — and be livid about it!

Terry and Summer's thorough unspooling of Shelby Springs' dark secrets builds nicely to spurts of explosive action, including a pulse-pounding shootout at a police station. There isn't as much fighting in Rebel Ridge as trailers may have you believe — this is definitely a quality over quantity situation — but they're informed so much by the investigative work that came before them that they still pack a mighty punch. Plus, as we see right from Terry's first interaction with the cops, Saulnier has a knack for wringing the most tension from any dialogue-heavy scene, so that every exchange will send you to the edge of your seat.

Aaron Pierre delivers a star-making performance in Rebel Ridge. Aaron Pierre in "Rebel Ridge." Credit: Allyson Riggs / Netflix

At the heart of Rebel Ridge is Aaron Pierre's remarkable performance, one that's part action hero, part negotiator. He's the very definition of commanding as the often soft-spoken — but never meek — Terry. A taut intensity burns through his every word, unleashing itself when Terry finally gets physical with the people who have wronged him. Even then, Pierre's execution of Rebel Ridge's action is remarkably calm and calculated. He's a one-man army who won't be denied.

Pierre is also strikingly funny when he needs to be. Take the aforementioned sauce line, or a moment when he fakes Sandy out with a truce proposal, then hits him with a no-nonsense, "nah." If overdone in another performer's hands, these badass one-liners could risk undermining Rebel Ridge's exquisitely built tension. Instead, Pierre's delivery both breaks the tension just enough for a laugh, yet continues to build it with the promise that Terry is not a guy to be messed with. This is a star-making performance, pure and simple, and Pierre — who's done remarkable work in projects like The Underground Railroad — deserves to go straight to the stratosphere following this film.

So too, does Rebel Ridge, which checks all the boxes any thriller aficionado could possibly want, and then some. Full of action and crackling dialogue that'll leave you buzzing, and enough real-world issues to leave you fuming, Rebel Ridge cements itself as one of standout action films of the year.

Rebel Ridge is now streaming on Netflix.

Pachinko Season 2, episode 3 shifts gears in a major way, as Sunja (Minha Kim) and her family flee to the Japanese countryside in order to escape the bombing of Osaka. There, they live and work on a rice farm (as opposed to the sweet potato farm in Min Jin Lee's original novel). But as shooting for this stretch of the season got underway, production encountered an unlikely challenge: the rice itself.

"The amount of meetings we had on rice is pretty funny," Soo Hugh, creator and showrunner of Pachinko, told Mashable.

SEE ALSO: 'Pachinko' showrunner Soo Hugh on how Season 2 gives Isak the farewell he deserves

Originally, Hugh thought production could use fake rice plants for the farming sequence, which she describes as one of her favorite moments in the book. However, procuring enough fake rice plants to fill an entire farm would have been far too costly. The Pachinko crew would have to work with the real rice plants at the Korean rice farm where shooting took place.

These real plants presented their own logistical issues. Sunja and her family are on the rice farm for months, meaning the show's version of the rice farm would have to play out different seasons.

Minha Kim and Lee Minho in "Pachinko." Credit: AppleTV+

"When Sunja, Hansu [Lee Minho], and her family first arrive, you'll notice they arrive in winter, so there can be no rice there," Hugh explained. "But then when we cut back to them, it is now the first part of spring, so the rice is supposed to just start growing. Later on, we go through the whole cycle of the rice farm. At the end of that sequence, it's the harvest."

Since Pachinko wasn't shooting over the course of an entire year, production had to grow out rice fields of varying heights. So as the series shot in Toronto in March of 2023, a crew flew out to Korea to begin cultivating seeds. That way, by the time the shoot in Korea started at the end of May, the rice fields would be camera-ready.

However, that cultivation process wasn't without its challenges, either. "We had a lot of weather issues where the rice ended up actually growing too fast. We were so worried that we weren't going to get enough rice, and then, because of the rains, we had an overabundance," Hugh said.

Luckily, the abundance of rice you see onscreen in Pachinko Season 2 didn't go to waste. On top of starring in one of the best shows of 2024, the rice ended up being harvested for real by the owners of the farm where shooting took place.

"Someone out there is eating Pachinko rice," Hugh said.

Pachinko Season 2 is now streaming, with a new episode every Friday.

TL;DR: Live stream Philadelphia Eagles vs. Green Bay Packers for free on 7plus. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers are set to meet in São Paulo in the NFL's first game in South America, and you can watch all the action without spending anything. This is a big moment for the NFL in an untapped market, so you won't want to miss a second.

If you're interested in watching Philadelphia Eagles vs. Green Bay Packers for free, we have all the information you need.

When is Eagles vs. Packers?

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Green Bay Packers starts at 8:15 p.m. ET on Sep 6. This fixture takes place at the Arena Corinthians in São Paulo, Brazil.

How to watch Eagles vs. Packers for free

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Green Bay Packers is available to live stream for free on 7plus.

7plus is geo-restricted to Australia, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Australia, meaning you can bypass geo-restrictions to access 7plus from anywhere in the world.

Access free live streams of the NFL by following these simple steps:

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4. Visit 7plus

5. Live stream Philadelphia Eagles vs. Green Bay Packers for free from anywhere in the world

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The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but top VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By making the most of these deals, you can access free live streams of the NFL without actually spending anything. This is obviously a quick fix, but it gives you enough time to watch Philadelphia Eagles vs. Green Bay Packers before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for the NFL?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream the NFL live, for a number of reasons:

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A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95, saving you 49% on list price. With this limited-time deal you'll also get an extra three months at no additional cost, a whole year of unlimited cloud backup for free, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

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TL;DR: Grab UPDF Pro for just $49.99 with promo code TAKE10 through September 8 and enjoy lifetime access to a powerful PDF editor that works on all platforms.

Opens in a new window Credit: Superace UPDF Pro: Lifetime Subscription $49.99
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Dealing with PDFs shouldn’t feel like pulling teeth, but it often does. Whether you’re tweaking a contract, filling out forms, or just trying to make quick edits on the go, you need a tool that’s flexible, easy to use, and works wherever you are.

That’s where UPDF Pro comes in, offering you a seamless way to edit any document across all your devices. You can get a lifetime subscription for just $49.99 (reg. $149.99) through September 8 when you enter promo code TAKE10 at checkout.

Perfect for both personal and business use, UPDF Pro gives you full control over your PDFs on Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, and Android, in case you need to make edits while you’re out of the office or want to quickly update a document from your phone. With UPDF Pro, you can edit text, images, and links, annotate with comments, highlight, and even organize pages with just a few clicks.

What sets UPDF Pro apart from other services is its lifetime access at an unbeatable price, with no recurring fees and no hidden costs — just a one-time payment for a tool that makes managing PDFs easy.

So, whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who deals with PDFs regularly, UPDF Pro could be a game-changer.

Normally $149.99, you can get a lifetime subscription to UPDF Pro on sale for $49.99 with promo code TAKE10 through September 8.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL:DR: The mbeat Bluetooth Hi-Fi Turntable with two bookshelf speakers is on sale for just $209.97 (reg. $299).

Streaming music is as easy as telling Alexa what to play. But there's something undeniably special about the warm, rich sound of vinyl. The xmbeat® Bluetooth Hi-Fi Turntable offers an elevated way to enjoy your favorite tunes, whether you're prepping Sunday breakfast or entertaining guests.

It's currently on sale for just $209.97 (reg. $299) and comes with two bookshelf speakers. With its retro charm and modern features, this turntable brings a homey, nostalgic vibe to any situation.

At the heart of the mbeat is a commitment to high-fidelity sound. The solid metal platter, designed with a sub-platter system, helps dampen unwanted resonance and noise, ensuring that every note is crisp and clear. The adjustable counterweight and anti-skating force are essential for accurately tracking record grooves without distortion, making sure you hear your music just as it was meant to be heard.

Equipped with a moving magnet cartridge that comes pre-fitted and aligned out of the box, the turntable delivers clean, articulate sound. This is enhanced by a built-in preamplifier, making your vinyl collection sound better than ever. Plus, the Bluetooth transmitter lets you enjoy your records on wireless speakers or headphones, blending vintage warmth with modern convenience.

The included 18W speakers ensure that your music fills the room with rich, powerful sound. And if you want to take your vinyl on the go, the record-to-PC feature allows you to digitize your collection easily.

Grab this beautiful equipment before holiday party season starts.

Get the mbeat Bluetooth Hi-Fi Turntable with two bookshelf speakers on sale for just $209.97 (reg. $299) through September 25.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: mbeat mbeat® MB-PT-28 Bluetooth Hi-Fi Turntable with Bookshelf Speakers $209.97
$299.99 Save $90.02 Get Deal