Mashable

Hurricane Helene spawned tempestuous seas.

A collaboration between the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Saildrone, the company that builds innovative sailing drones, sent a robust robot into Hurricane Helene, the major hurricane that made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region on Thursday night. Before hitting land with catastrophic storm surge and extreme 140 winds, a drone captured footage in the storm's eyewall, home to some of its strongest winds.

The 30-second video below, beamed out from the drone, was captured on Sept. 26 at around 7:45 p.m ET (a short ad plays first). The average height of the tallest waves is around 30 feet, or 9 meters. Winds gusts knock the drone around.

SEE ALSO: Why it's impossible to forecast the weather too far into the future

These robots are specifically designed for hurricanes, and meant to gather novel data about these cyclones, and how they evolve.

The location of the Saildrone above, SD-1083, as it captured footage in Hurricane Helene's eyewall. Credit: Saildrone / NOAA

NOAA employs Saildrones because they've proven excellent at directly gathering observations of ocean and atmospheric conditions on the sea surface. It's there, where the oceans interact with the air, that hurricanes start to strengthen, sometimes rapidly.

Though a number of factors influence the formation of strong hurricanes (a lack of opposing winds that can break apart storms, moist or dry air, etc.), a vital influence is warm sea surface temperatures of over 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius). Warm oceans act as jet fuel for hurricanes, storm scientists explain. That's because warmer oceans fuel tropical storms as more water naturally evaporates into the air, giving storms energy and moisture to intensify.

Hurricane Helene, for example, exploited record warm ocean temperatures to rapidly intensify into a monstrous storm. Today, Atlantic hurricanes are already twice as likely to develop from a milder storm into a major hurricane.

Xiaomi's new top phone is here, and it looks familiar.

With the Xiaomi 14T Pro, it appears that the design heads at Xiaomi simply said: Well, let's imagine the next year's iPhone, and then design our phone to look like that.

The result, unsurprisingly, looks pretty great, even if it's not the most original. Xiaomi sent me a 14T Pro review unit in the Titan Gray color, and I was surprised at how much I liked it. It has flat, aluminum edges, interspersed with antenna lines, and on the back, there's a giant camera bump that's unmistakably iPhone-ish, with one big difference: It hosts four camera units instead of three.

Flat edges, aluminum body. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

The phone is slightly bigger than my iPhone 15 Pro Max, with ultra-thin bezels on the front. The only thing that really betrays it as an Android phone is the dot-sized camera cut-out on the top of the display; had Xiaomi placed a pill-shaped, Dynamic Island-like cut out there, it would have probably been too much.

All in all, I love the design. The phone is simple yet elegant. And I've had several people ask me "what kind of iPhone is that," so that's been fun.

Even the antenna lines remind me of the iPhone. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Other than that, the new Xiaomi phone is a mighty beast, with a MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ chipset powering things, 12GB of RAM, 256/512/1,024GB of storage, and a 5,000mAh battery with 120W wired charging and 50W wireless charging. The 6.67-inch AMOLED display has a 2,712x1,220 pixel resolution, a refresh rate that goes up to 144Hz, and 4,000 nits of peak brightness.

Finally, the Leica-branded rear camera on the back consists of a 50-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel telephoto camera, and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera (the fourth circle hosts the flash). On the front, there's a 32-megapixel selfie camera.

On the front, it's still recognizably Android. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Finally, the phone comes with a number of AI features, including Circle to Search with Google and Google Gemini support. This is big, as these features were previously only available on Google's Pixel devices and some Samsung phones. There's also a number of other AI features on the Xiaomi 14T Pro that were made by Xiaomi, such as AI Notes, AI Recorder, and AI Image Editing.

SEE ALSO: Xiaomi Mix Flip is a flip phone that stretches the outer display to its limits

Xiaomi 14T Pro is available globally (but not in the U.S., at least not directly) and starts at €800. The Xiaomi 14T, a similar looking model but with a slightly less powerful chip and lacking certain features such as wireless charging, is also available, starting at €650.

Hurricane Helene has barreled down on Florida, with the extremely dangerous Category 4 storm making landfall on Thursday night. Those in its path are being instructed to shelter in place, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) advising communities to prepare for "catastrophic, life-threatening inland flooding" in areas around Tallahassee, metro Atlanta, and western North Carolina. 

In fact, Hurricane Helene is expected to be so bad that 24/7 breakfast stalwart Waffle House has closed several locations in its path. Though you really shouldn't try to go for waffles in the middle of a hurricane anyway.

SEE ALSO: See Florida road conditions on live webcams as Hurricane Helene hits

Waffle House has reportedly closed all its locations in Tallahassee, battening down the hatches in preparation for Hurricane Helene. It has also closed Waffle House #2468 in neighbouring Crawfordville. This has put Hurricane Helene at a red on the Waffle House Index — the most severe rating on the restaurant-based disaster scale, and a strong indication that the community is likely to suffer significant damage.

"In areas predicted to be hit hardest hit [sic], we will preemptively close restaurants with a goal of reopening them as soon it is safe to do so, to serve communities that have been there for us over the years," Waffle House said in a statement to the Tallahassee Democrat.

Pictures of Waffle Houses that have been closed or boarded up are circulating on social media, with users widely acknowledging the sight as a portent of doom.

Tweet may have been deleted

Despite this, most of Tallahassee's Waffle House locations are still marked as open on the restaurant chain's official website. It's unclear whether this is because not all restaurants are being closed, or if the website simply hasn't been updated. It wouldn't be surprising if amending opening hours on the Waffle House website isn't a terribly high priority amidst a hurricane. Either way, now isn't really the best time for people in Florida to pop in for grits.

Mashable has reached out to Waffle House for comment.

What is the Waffle House Index?

In addition to its titular waffles, Waffle House is famous for serving its customers 24/7. The breakfast restaurant chain has stubbornly kept its locations open through tornadoes, blizzards, and hurricanes, albeit sometimes resorting to a limited menu.

This long-running practice has resulted in the Waffle House Index, an unconventional metric for determining the severity of a storm. Created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) former administrator Craig Fugate, the Waffle House Index offers an indicator of the damage to a neighbourhood.

"If a Waffle House can serve a full menu, they’ve likely got power (or are running on a generator)," FEMA wrote in a 2017 blog post. "A limited menu means an area may not have running water or electricity, but there’s gas for the stove to make bacon, eggs, and coffee: exactly what hungry, weary people need."

As such, an open, fully functional restaurant is a green on the Waffle House Index, meaning that the zone is more or less fine. A limited menu is yellow on the scale, indicating that the local area could use some assistance. The Waffle House Index hits red when a restaurant is closed, signifying that the local community needs significant help.

Fugate's metric is technically more suited to evaluating the damage after a storm than predicting its severity beforehand. Even so, the preemptive closure of Waffle House locations remains a decent indicator that something big is about to go down. It's also a visible, memorable sign of danger to the average American.

Judging by Waffle House's response to Hurricane Helene, those in its path should not take this storm lightly.

Listen, I, too, tried to be loyal to physical books. While you can't replace the feel of paper, the beauty of bound hardcovers, and the ritual of turning the page, an e-reader brings convenience and portability that, yes, a book can't beat. Sure, you can throw a book in your tote bag, but what about an entire library?

SEE ALSO: We tried every Amazon Kindle to find the best for every bibliophile — just in time for Prime Day

When you think of e-readers, your first thought is likely an Amazon Kindle, and while it wasn't the first e-reader to hit the market, it indeed became the one to dominate the market. While Kindles are great — there's certainly no denying that — there is a whole world of e-readers that are equally wonderful. And Prime Day might just be the best time to buy one.

Which e-reader is the best? From left to right: Kindle Paperwhite, Nook GlowLight 4 Plus, Kindle Scribe Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

Choosing the right e-reader is a decision based on price, the need for special features, and where you get your books from. For instance, a loyal Barnes & Noble shopper might prefer a Nook over a Kindle simply based on where they like to shop.

To decide what kind of e-reader is right for you, consider the overall design that best suits you. Is a touchscreen okay, or do you need buttons? If you want to take your e-reader near water, whether it be a bathtub or a pool, you'll also need to make sure you have a waterproof device.

Plus, it's worth considering special features. Are you an annotator who wants to write in the margins of your e-book? Or are you sick of multiple devices and need a tablet that you can read and stream on? All of these questions help you determine which e-reader or tablet will blend into your habits.

Can you read on an iPad? The iPad Mini is just the right size for reading compared to a larger model like the iPad 9th generation. Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

Yes, you can read on an iPad, and as an iPad reader, I highly recommend it. iPads come with the Apple Books app. However, other reading apps, including Libby and the Kindle app, give access to the world of books.

For this reason, I included an iPad in my testing. The iPad Mini made my list because it is the perfect size to feel like you're reading a paperback novel versus larger iPad models like the 9th generation (pictured above), which feel like reading a clunky magazine.

Featured Video For You Kindle Paperwhite vs. Kobo Clara Colour: Which one is better?

Unlike giant stars that explode into a supernova and collapse into a black hole, a medium star like Earth's sun just keeps on trucking until it runs out of nuclear fuel, suffering a more prolonged death. 

As a sun-like star nears the end of its life, it expands into a red giant, about 100 to 1,000 times its original size, eventually overtaking the space around it, including nearby planets.

For decades, astronomers have seen the "before" and "after" of this process — when a planet is orbiting very close to its star and the bloated stellar old-timer has engulfed the planet. Just last year, an MIT-led research team caught a dying star in the act of absorbing a planet. 

Many astronomers think this is the fate of Earth in about 5 billion years: The sun will puff up and eventually consume Earth, along with Mercury and Venus. But a new observation with the W. M. Keck Observatory's 10-meter telescope in Hawaii is challenging that prediction with another potential outcome. About 4,000 light-years away in the Milky Way, scientists have seen a rocky world continuing to orbit a white dwarf, the remaining dim core of the once-active star. 

"Whether life can survive on Earth through that (red giant) period is unknown. But certainly the most important thing is that Earth isn't swallowed by the sun when it becomes a red giant," said Jessica Lu, chair of astronomy at the University of California at Berkeley, in a statement. "This system … is an example of a planet — probably an Earth-like planet originally on a similar orbit to Earth — that survived its host star's red giant phase."

SEE ALSO: Spectacular Webb telescope image shows a stellar death like never before These side-by-side images show the area of the sky where astronomers observed the distant planetary system years before a microlensing event, left, shortly after peak magnification, center, and years after the event ended. Credit: OGLE / CFHT / Keck Observatory

The research, led by astronomer Keming Zhang while a doctoral student at Berkeley, will be published in the journal Nature Astronomy. The discovered exoplanet's system is composed of a white dwarf about half the mass of the sun, a so-called "brown dwarf" sometimes described as a failed star, and an Earth-size world. Viewing the extremely distant system was made possible through microlensing, a natural phenomenon that extends a telescope's range by acting as a colossal magnifying glass in the sky.  

The paper suggests that as a medium star inflates into a red giant, its diminishing mass could push its planets out to farther orbits. If this scenario happened in our solar system, this could offer a sliver of a chance for Earth to survive longer. 

By the end of the red giant phase, the sun is expected to have withered to a white dwarf no bigger than Earth with about half its mass intact. By that point, Earth would be in an orbit twice its current size.

A new discovery of a rocky world orbiting a dead star has astronomers rethinking the possibilities of what could happen to Earth billions of years from now. Credit: Mark A. Garlick / markgarlick.com illustration

Two years ago when the James Webb Space Telescope was commissioned, NASA revealed a highly detailed glamor shot of the Southern Ring Nebula, a gas cloud surrounding a white dwarf that sloughed off its outer layers. The sun, estimated to be at the midpoint of its own life, is halfway there, Klaus Pontoppidan, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, explained at the time.

Of course, Zhang points out, life on Earth will face mortality much sooner than when the planet comes face-to-face with the sun in its red giant era. A runaway greenhouse effect is expected to vaporize all of Earth's oceans in just a billion years.

But here's another thin shred of hope: As the red giant version of the sun grows, the habitable zone may move as far out into the solar system as Jupiter and Saturn. Perhaps some of these gas giants' moons — Europa, Callisto, Ganymede, and Enceladus — could turn into hospitable water worlds as their icy shells melt. 

"I think, in that case, humanity could migrate out there," Zhang said.

The 62nd New York Film Festival kicks off today, bringing some of the most heralded movies from preceding fests — like Cannes, Venice, Telluride, and TIFF — to the United States, ahead of their much-anticipated theatrical releases. With so many fascinating features and shorts to consider, NYFF's slate can be overwhelming. But whether you're a cinephile or simply seeking an early edge on your Oscar picks, we've got you covered.

This year, NYFF has on display a dazzling array of comedies, dramas, and documentaries from around the world. Keep an eye out for the latest features from Steve McQueen, Mike Leigh, Pablo Larrain, Pedro Almodovar, and Luca Guadagnino, just to name a few. Their movies, ranging from heart-warming to heart-breaking, are studded with the likes of Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore, Zoe Saldaña, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Angelina Jolie, and Daniel Craig.

What are you most excited to see? Sound off in comments.

Anora

This summer Anora took home the Palme d'Or, the top prize at the illustrious Cannes International Film Festival. But don't let its posh pedigree have you mistaking Sean Baker's latest with some stuffy art house drama. The writer/director behind such deeply poignant yet brightly funny films as Tangerine, The Florida Project, and Red Rocket has done it again, delivering a drama that is lusty and alive.

SEE ALSO: 'Anora' review: Sean Baker's 'Pretty Woman' is a triumph

Mikey Madison (Scream 5) stars as Anora, a Brooklyn sex worker whose fling with a Russian playboy swiftly leads to wedding bells. But the fantasy of wealth and wonder comes crashing down when the cronies for her new oligarch in-laws come banging at the mansion door. You might think you know how this story goes. You'd be wrong.*

Starring: Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, and Aleksei Serebryakov

Blitz

Writer/director Steve McQueen has awed critics with hard-hitting dramas like Shame, 12 Years a Slave, Widows, and his anthology Small Axe. Now the acclaimed British filmmaker has turned his lens on World War II for this historical drama about a young boy in London who sets out for adventure but instead finds himself in the middle of a blitzkrieg.

Between McQueen's sterling oeuvre, a stacked cast, and this stirring first trailer from Apple TV+, Blitz looks primed to knock us out and lift us up.

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Harris Dickinson, Benjamin Clementine, Kathy Burke, and Elliot Heffernan

The Brutalist

Actor-turned-director Brady Corbet polarized critics in 2018 with his daring pop star drama Vox Lux, but his latest film is drawing wild praise. In Mashable's review, Siddhant Adlakha writes, "The Brutalist is a towering paean to the American dream, in all its force and folly. Set over several decades, Brady Corbet's post-World War II immigrant saga is — like the architectural achievements of its protagonist — constructed with meticulous consideration, resulting in a work of multifaceted technique and piercing humanity."

Adrien Brody stars as László Tóth, a Jewish architect from Hungary who survives the Holocaust and emigrates to the U.S. with his wife, Erzsébet (Felicity Jones). Set over 30 years, the film is boldly ambitious and — per Siddhant — "a modern American masterpiece."

Starring: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Joe Alwyn, Alessandro Nivola, Jonathan Hyde, and Guy Pearce

Emilia Pérez

Per Siddhant Adlakha's review out of Cannes, "The tale of a vicious cartel boss who undergoes gender-affirming surgery, Emilia Pérez places women front and center in a traditionally male-led gangster genre. But rather than subverting its visual and tonal hallmarks, French filmmaker Jacques Audiard compliments them with a liberating sense of expression through song and dance."

That's right, a gangster musical. We've gotten a taste of what Audiard has in store for us with the Cannes Jury Prize–winning film's tantalizing teaser. But we can't wait to see what leading ladies Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, and Adriana Paz deliver to this intriguing crime movie, as all four collectively won Cannes' Best Actress honor.*

Starring: Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, and Édgar Ramírez

Hard Truths

English writer/director Mike Leigh reunites with Secrets & Lies star Marianne Jean-Baptiste for a new social drama about a misanthrope waging war in suburbia. Jean-Baptiste stars as Pansy, a very vexed wife and mother always ready with a rant. Could reconnecting with her joyful sister Chantal (Michele Austin) change things for Pansy?

In Mashable's review, Siddhant Adlakha writes, "Hard Truths becomes a complex showreel for humanity at its most bitter and pained, with characters forced to turn inward and at least recognize (if not introspect and improve upon) the worst corners of themselves. Through long, unbroken close-ups and scenes of familial interaction in which tensions subtly build, Leigh's stark naturalism is brought slowly and fiercely to the fore by an accomplished actress at the height of her power, and at the height of her vulnerability. Scene by scene, she slowly chips away at Pansy's armor until all that's left is sinew, blood, and bone, leaving her exposed to the world in all its cruelty and kindness and indifference. It’s harrowing to watch, but Jean-Baptiste makes it impossible to look away."

Starring: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, David Webber, Tuwaine Barrett, Michele Austin, Ani Nelson, and Sophia Brown

Maria Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas in "Maria," Credit: NYFF

Chilean director Pablo Larraín has previously helmed such breathtakingly bold biopics as Spencer and Jackie, which offered fresh looks at the lives of Princess Diana and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. This time around he's teamed with Angelina Jolie to re-examine the last days of opera legend Maria Callas. Together, Larrain and screenwriter Steven Knight build what Mashable critic Siddhant Adlakha called "a platform to craft what is perhaps the most complex performance of [Jolie's] illustrious career."

From his review: "Not just a famous actress, but arguably one of the world's most famous people in the mid-2000s, Jolie has achieved a level of global stardom of which few can even dream....In a recent press junket for the movie's Venice Film Festival premiere, Jolie was asked about the degree to which she drew on her personal life for her performance, though she refused to elaborate. However, seeing the degree to which she places her most vulnerable self on screen in Maria, it's clear she doesn't need to. Everything she has to say on the subject is contained within the four corners of the frame."

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Alba Rohrwacher, Valeria Golino, and Kodi Smit-McPhee

Nickel Boys

NYFF's opening night film comes from Oscar–winning documentarian RaMell Ross (Hale Country This Morning, This Evening), who makes the leap to feature-length narrative film for this promising adaptation of Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize–winning novel.

Ethan Herisse and Brandon Wilson star as Elwood and Turner, two Black teenagers who become friends while under the thumb of a grim reformatory school in Jim Crow-era Florida. Out of its world premiere at Telluride, Nickel Boys generated big buzz, with some critics declaring it a "masterpiece," as quoted in the trailer above. This seems certain to be one of the year's major award season contenders.

Starring: Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Hamish Linklater, and Daveed Diggs

Pavements Credit: NYFF

From Alex Ross Perry, the director of Her Smell and Listen Up Philip, comes an odd and enchanting documentary about the Californian band known as Pavement.

In Mashable's review, Siddhant Adlakha writes, "Every band has its biggest fans. The '90s slacker/alt rock group Pavement is probably the greatest, most vital musical group in existence to someone, but right from its opening frames, Alex Ross Perry's Pavements deflates the grandeur of this idea, sarcastically overstating the band’s stature in its opening text. In an age of musical biopic plenty, this semi-ironic, postmodern take — which runs through Perry's part drama, part documentary, and part mockumentary — may be just what the doctor ordered."

Starring: Stephen Malkmus, Scott Kannberg, Joe Keery, Jason Schwartzman, Fred Hechinger, Nat Wolff, Tim Heidecker, and Logan Miller

Queer Credit: NYFF

Director Luca Guadagnino has awed critics and audiences with his distinctive romances, from the gay drama Call Me By Your Name to the coming-of-age cannibal tale Bones and All and the love-triangle thriller Challengers. Now, he re-teams with Challengers scribe Justin Kuritzkes for this adaptation of American author William S. Burroughs' 1985 novel.*

Queer stars Daniel Craig as an American expat wandering around the gay bars of postwar Mexico City seeking thrills — and maybe himself. There, he'll yuck it up with friends (Jason Schwartzman and Drew Droege), find a young new lover (Drew Starkey), and throw himself into booze and drugs in a chaotic quest for love. A challenging adaptation, a crackling cast, and a heralded filmmaker make Queer a must-see.

Starring: Daniel Craig, Drew Starkey, Drew Droege, Lesley Manville, and Jason Schwartzman

The Room Next Door

Boundary-pushing Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar has bestowed upon us such wondrous films as All About My Mother, The Skin I Live in, Talk to Her, and most recently, the queer Western short Strange Way of Life. Now he's tackling his first English-language feature with a cast that has us absolutely screaming in excitement.*

Based on Sigrid Nunez's acclaimed novel What Are You Going Through, The Room Next Door stars Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore as two longtime friends who face a rough final chapter. Ingrid (Moore) is a novelist who finds inspiration in her life. Martha (Swinton) is a war journalist suffering from a terminal illness that makes her death imminent. Before she goes, she'd like to spend some time in a lovely retreat with her dear friend, and then she wants to go out on her own terms. What does this mean for Martha and Ingrid? You'll have to enter The Room Next Door to find out.

Starring: Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore, John Turturro, and Alessandro Nivola

The New York Film Festival runs Sept. 27 – Oct. 14.

TL;DR: Cultivate your Canva skills with the 2024 Canva Essentials Master Class, now $29.99 (reg. $54). 

Opens in a new window Credit: Skill Success The 2024 Canva Essentials Master Class Bundle $15.97
$54.00 Save $38.03 Get Deal

Having strong design skills can be invaluable, whether you’re creating content for personal projects, promoting a business, or enhancing your professional profile.

The 2024 Canva Essentials Master Class Bundle offers a comprehensive way to develop these skills efficiently, featuring six courses with over 11 hours of practical content tailored for beginners who want to gain proficiency quickly, and it's on sale for just $15.97 (reg. $54). 

Design courses for Canva

If you haven't used it before, Canva is an in-browser design app that's free to use. There's a paid version of the software, but you can still make some great stuff without dropping a dime. However, it can be tough to get the hang of. That's why it's worth it to check out a few dedicated courses on everything from building e-books to crafting YouTube shorts, all in Canva. 

In the course on creating e-books, you’ll learn how to generate and validate ideas, structure your content, and establish a cohesive visual identity. This includes step-by-step guidance on designing elements like the cover, master pages, and even crafting a landing page for distribution. You’ll discover how to source high-resolution images, insert graphics, and include hyperlinks, making your e-book not just visually appealing but also interactive and user-friendly.

Another highlight is the course on creating YouTube Shorts. Here, you'll gain insights into producing short, engaging videos optimized for social media. The training covers everything from adding animations and formatting text to using templates effectively. This hands-on approach allows you to create dynamic content that captures attention, essential for standing out in today’s fast-paced digital landscape.

Additionally, the bundle includes courses on crafting personalized greeting cards and understanding the basics of passive income through design. These courses teach you how to identify design niches, utilize Canva templates, and publish your creations, empowering you to turn your design skills into a potential income stream.

With lifetime access to all the materials, you can revisit lessons whenever you need a refresher or want to explore new features as Canva evolves. This bundle is a solid asset for anyone looking to enhance their design capabilities efficiently, providing the tools and knowledge to create stunning visuals and grow your skill set effectively.

Get the 2024 Canva Essentials Master Class Bundle on sale now for just $15.97.

StackSocial prices subject to change. 

TL;DR: Get lifetime access to the online course platform, OnlineCourseHost, for just $99.99 (reg. $540) for a limited time.

You've got the experience, you've got your vision and your plan— all you need is a place to start teaching people all you know. If you’ve been searching for an affordable and easy-to-use platform to create and sell your online courses, look no further than OnlineCourseHost.com.

For just $99.99, you can get lifetime access to a platform designed specifically for course creators with no design or technical skills. Whether you're a teacher, entrepreneur, or industry expert, you can launch your online course in minutes, with no need for coding or web development knowledge.

With OnlineCourseHost, you can create a professional-looking sales page by simply filling out a form. Set your branding, choose your URL, and start accepting payments instantly with PayPal or Stripe. Plus, every course is optimized for mobile devices to help create a smooth experience for students on phones or tablets.

The platform also comes equipped with many of the marketing tools you'll need, including lead generation, Facebook Ads integration, email marketing, and student discussions. You’ll have full control over your courses without a marketplace middleman taking a cut of your profits. Plus, with this stackable offer, each code gives you 5GB of extra storage to build even more robust courses.

Set yourself up for success with OnlineCourseHost.com, and start turning knowledge and expertise into money ASAP. Make professional video courses and add digital downloads like PDFs for easy assignments. You can even access a live sample page to see what it will look like for your students.

No tech skills, no hassle—just a simple and effective way to grow your online course business.

For a limited time, you can get lifetime access to the online course platform OnlineCourseHost for just $99.99 (reg. $540).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: OnlineCourseHost OnlineCourseHost: Lifetime Subscription $99.99
$540.00 Save $440.01 Get Deal

TL;DR: Track items like wallets and bags with the KeySmart SmartCard for just $34.95 (reg. $39.99) plus free shipping. You can also save 24% when you buy a 3-pack for $89.99 (reg. $119.97).

Opens in a new window Credit: KeySmart KeySmart SmartCard - Thinnest Card Tracker & Works with Apple Find My $34.95 at the Mashable Shop
$39.99 Save $5.04 Get Deal

Who hasn't misplaced or lost their bag or wallet? While some of us may lose these important items more frequently than others, it doesn't have to be a crisis anymore. 

The KeySmart SmartCard is a discreet, slim GPS tracking device that fits into places where bulkier trackers like AirTags can’t. This credit-card-sized tracker slips right into your wallet, passport holder, or any slim compartment where an AirTag just won’t work.

For only $34.95 (with free shipping), the SmartCard offers seamless Apple Find My network compatibility, making it easy to track your belongings right from your iPhone. 

One of the biggest advantages of the SmartCard is its wireless charging capability. Unlike AirTags that require disposable battery replacements, the SmartCard is Qi-enabled, allowing you to charge it wirelessly, reducing hassle and waste. And a single charge can last up to five months.

In addition to being a great fit for wallets and other tight spaces, the KeySmart SmartCard is also ideal for lanyard usage. Its credit-card-sized design and lanyard slot make it discreet yet easily attachable to a lanyard. This works really well for keeping track of your work ID, badge, or other essential items that you carry on you. Whether you’re at work, traveling, or attending an event, having the KeySmart SmartCard on your lanyard ensures that your most important items are never out of reach.

Plus, with an IPX8 waterproof rating, it’s a durable Bluetooth tracker. This means it can withstand being submerged in water for extended periods, which is ideal for outdoor enthusiasts or anyone needing extra protection.

Give yourself or an absentminded loved one this handy tracker before the next item goes missing.

For a limited time, you can pick up the KeySmart SmartCard for just $34.95 (reg. $39.99), plus free shipping.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Own this grade-A refurbished 13-inch Apple MacBook Air (2020) for just $449.99 (reg. $999) — a 54% discount on a like new Apple laptop.

If you’re looking for a sleek, powerful laptop loaded with features, then a grade-A refurbished Apple MacBook Air is a terrific choice — especially at just $449.99. This MacBook offers the premium performance and cutting-edge design you’d expect from Apple, all at a fraction of the original price.

One standout feature of the MacBook Air is its MagSafe charging port. This smart design allows for a quick, secure connection to your charger while minimizing the risk of damage. Accidentally trip over the cord? No problem — MagSafe safely disconnects, protecting your MacBook from a damaging fall.

Another key highlight is the Thunderbolt 3 ports, which open up a world of possibilities. With two Thunderbolt 3 ports, you can connect high-speed external storage devices, charge your laptop, hook up multiple 4K or even possibly 5K displays, and transfer data at lightning-fast speeds (up to 40Gbps). It also supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 for faster file transfers, and with DisplayPort compatibility, you can use external monitors for an expanded desktop experience.

Beyond the ports, this MacBook Air features a stunning 13.3-inch Retina display with True Tone technology, which adjusts color temperature to match your environment for the most comfortable viewing experience. The 10th-generation Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB RAM, and 256GB SSD storage help give you smooth multitasking and fast access to your files, making it ideal for work, entertainment, or creative projects.

The backlit Magic Keyboard and Touch ID offer convenience and security, while the Intel Iris Plus Graphics provide superior visuals, whether editing photos, watching videos, or creating presentations. Plus, this refurbished model is in grade-A condition, meaning it’s near-mint with minimal to no signs of wear.

Get a grade-A refurbished Apple MacBook Air 13" for just $449.99 (reg. $999) at the Mashable Shop. This laptop is available in Silver, Space Gray, and Gold — all at the same low price.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple MacBook Air 13-inch, Refurbished (2020, Intel Core i3, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Gold)) $449.99 at the Mashable Shop
$999.00 Save $549.01 Get Deal

If you know nothing about The Room Next Door beyond its co-stars, Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, you might understandably assume the film would be a heart-wrenching drama like We Need to Talk About Kevin and Magnolia or a brilliantly offbeat comedy like Problemista and The Big Lebowski. That the film is written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar isn't really a clue one way or the other. After all, the celebrated Spanish filmmaker has run the gamut from tender melodramas (All About My Mother, Parallel Mothers) to outrageous comedies (Dark Habits, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!) to sentimental Westerns (Strange Way of Life) and nerve-shredding thrillers (The Skin I Live In). Essentially, between the three of them, there's so much range that anything is possible in The Room Next Door. 

Some may be disappointed that rather than the theatrical symbolism of Almodóvar's last collaboration with Swinton, the short film "The Human Voice," or the bonkers broad comedy of the airplane-set musical I'm So Excited, the multifaceted filmmaker offers something subtler. But once you've found the wavelength of The Room Next Door, it's undeniably beautiful, smartly amusing, and definitively humane. 

What's The Room Next Door about? 

Adapted from Sigrid Nunez's novel What Are You Going Through, The Room Next Door centers on two old friends who reconnect in New York City as one is releasing her latest book and the other is facing a terminal diagnosis. Novelist Ingrid (Moore) is quick to reconnect with war reporter Martha (Swinton) as soon as she hears the tragic news through a mutual friend. A visit in the hospital swiftly reignites a lively friendship, as the two share stories, memories, and regrets. Before long, Martha hatches a plan.

Death is inevitable, particularly hers. So she decides to go out on her own terms. Having secured a drug from the dark web, she proposes to Ingrid that they go to a beautiful rental house in a lush forest in upstate New York for one last trip. It's a vacation where they can sunbathe, read, relax, and where Martha is determined to die. It's important Ingrid be there, but not too close, just "in the next room." Reluctantly, Ingrid agrees, and Martha's death becomes more real with every moment, whether they're watching an old movie or swapping notes on a once-shared lover (silver fox John Turturro). In this, Almodóvar and his stars perform a moving ballet of mortality, grief, and acceptance. 

The Room Next Door is defiantly beautiful in the face of death.  

While the subject matter risks falling into maudlin territory, Almodóvar balances the thematic darkness with visual splendor. As the sun sets on the skylines of New York City, the buildings glisten in lavender, punctuated with pink windows alive with light. The forests surrounding the upstate vacation home are almost unreal in their rich greens, yellows, and purples. The spaces where these women move about are striped with bold reds and deep teals. And the women themselves are bedecked in gorgeous shades of fuschia, neon yellow, mustard, and lime. Beyond being pretty, these elements serve as a visual reminder of the persistent beauty found even in the darkest days. 

Almodóvar applies a painter's eye in The Room Next Door, reflecting the emotional state of Ingrid and Martha through where they stand in the frame. In moments of brewing stress, his cinematographer Eduard Grau often positions Ingrid alone, far off the center of the frame, reflecting her unease in this painful scenario. By contrast, Martha thrives in the center of the frame, confidently resigned. Yet their moments of quiet understanding and affection are visually balanced, with the cinematographer putting them either together in the center or spaced just so that a scale wouldn't topple. 

In one of the film's most visually striking moments, Almodóvar creates his version of Christina's World, the famous Andrew Wyeth painting that presents a woman, seated in a grass field, looking off to a distant house. While the message (and politics) of that painting have been debated since its debut in 1948, here Almodóvar contextualizes the image as an eerie moment of death and fate, two things which even the most gorgeous, vividly dressed woman cannot escape. And in doing so, The Room Next Door quietly urges its audience to embrace the now, for it is all that's certain beyond an end. 

Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton are wondrous in The Room Next Door. 

Compared to Almodóvar's brassier offerings, The Room Next Door plays as subdued. But that's a suitable reflection of Martha's serenity in the face of death. Tears won't help. Tantrums will only waste time. And so she, and through unintentional peer pressure, Ingrid, regards this final chapter of their shared story with a warm reflectiveness. Flashbacks pull us into a careless youth, made more romantic by remembering. Playing narrator to such scenes, Swinton has a slight swoon to her voice, as Moore's tone takes on an encouraging curiousness. 

Whatever the mood, be it jubilant, blissful, or wounded by loss, these two connect in tone and touch, masterfully establishing a friendship loyal and robust. Then, in a third act that leaps to an unpredictable chapter, Swinton and Moore's dynamic shifts. And once more, they find a mesmerizing balance between two women looking from different sides of an experience. Incredibly, The Room Next Door gently lays us in their space of overlap, presenting not just a life and a death, but a friendship that defined both. 

The Room Next Door was reviewed out of its North American Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The movie will next screen as part of the New York Film Festival, Oct. 4. 

TL;DR: Live stream New Zealand vs. Australia in the 2024 Rugby Championship for free on NZR+. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Everyone wants to end the Rugby Championship with a win, but wins are hard to come by in this tough competition. Australia have really struggled this year, but they will still believe that they can overcome the All Blacks in New Zealand.

If you want to watch New Zealand vs. Australia in the 2024 Rugby Championship for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is New Zealand vs. Australia?

New Zealand vs. Australia in the 2024 Rugby Championship kicks off at 3:05 a.m. ET on Sept. 28. This fixture takes place at the Wellington Regional Stadium.

How to watch New Zealand vs. Australia for free

You can live stream the 2024 Rugby Championship for free on NZR+, including New Zealand vs. Australia.

The catch is that this free live stream is only available to fans in Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Turkey, and Ukraine.

If you do not live in one of these countries, you can use a VPN to change your digital location and stream for free. VPNs can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to secure servers in other countries, meaning you can unblock free live streams of the Rugby Championship on NZR+ from anywhere in the world.

Access free live streams of the 2024 Rugby Championship by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

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

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in one of the countries listed above

4. Visit NZR+

5. Live stream New Zealand vs. Australia for free from anywhere in the world

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

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can gain access to a free live stream of New Zealand vs. Australia without actually spending anything. This clearly isn't a long-term solution, but it gives you enough time to watch the 2024 Rugby Championship before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for the Rugby Championship?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live rugby on NZR+ for free, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries

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

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure

• Fast connection speeds

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

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

Live stream New Zealand vs. Australia in the 2024 Rugby Championship for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

What has A Quiet Place wrought? The alien-invasion horror hit that used silence to amp up tension in its rural setting was brilliantly executed. Because the movie's ravenous extraterrestrial creatures chase sound, the characters don't speak aloud, and even their audience feels the pressure not to scream. A Quiet Place's success with critics and audiences not only spurred a sequel (A Quiet Place Part II) and a prequel (A Quiet Place: Day One), but also opportunistic imitators, eager to take the muted gimmick to make their unaffiliated movies stand out. 

Last fall, writer/director Brian Duffield hit Hulu with a strikingly similar concept in No One Will Save You, in which Kaitlyn Dever stars as a country girl plagued by invading aliens while she doesn't say a word. With Christmas came John Woo's deeply dismal action dud Silent Night, in which Joel Kinnaman plays a vengeance-fueled anti-hero who, because of a scarring act of violence, is unable to vocalize — but for no apparent reason, no one else talks around him either. Now comes Azrael, a horror collaboration from Cheap Thrills director E.L. Katz and You're Next writer Simon Barrett. Despite the noteworthy talent attached, it too leans hard into this scream-free gimmick that can't make up for its flimsy storytelling. 

What's Azrael about?

Written by Barrett and helmed by Katz, Azrael stars Samara Weaving as the titular young woman who is not only named after the Angel of Death but is also part of a post-apocalyptic cult living deep in the woods, under a vow of silence. Blood-red text splashes across the screen to succinctly introduce the big rule of the cult: Don't speak; or else evil will come. 

In a rugged village, the cultists worship the wind that rips through their drafty church bedecked with crucifixes. They communicate with each other through stern glances and huffs of air. It seems a relatively peaceful place, save for their ritual of human sacrifice. Silence or not, something needs to be fed to the vampire-like creatures that shamble through the woods seeking human blood.

Selected by her community to be fed to the Nosferatu-looking ghouls, Azrael is bound to a chair, where she is left like that poor goat in Jurassic Park — a meal to be enjoyed tied up and alive. But this clever girl breaks her way free, not only setting the ghouls upon her traitorous community but also hunting them down so she might live. It's a tale full of graphic violence that's best described as gloppy, but the plot is achingly thin: Survive. 

Azrael feels like a short film stretched beyond its limits. 

Barrett and Katz have histories with horror anthology franchises ABCs of Death and V/H/S, which stitch together a collection of creepy shorts with some tenuous throughline or framing device. Azrael feels like it began as a short pitch that wasn't developed to its full potential before being unleashed on the world. 

Part of the problem is that the plot line is thinner than Weaving's well-groomed brows. Despite plopping in a boyfriend (Candyman's Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) for Azrael to try to rescue, a camp leader who has serious glower power (Katariina Unt), and a hapless passerby bewildered by her predicament, there is nothing substantial to this story. The lore around what happened to the world, what the creatures in the woods are, or how the cult came to be all are largely irrelevant. And frankly, that's fine. Those details don't matter to Azrael as she's just trying to get through the night, so they don't need to matter to her audience. But there's something crucial lacking here: character. 

Because Azrael has no dialogue, her actions become her primary character definition. And that leaves us with very little. She likes to kiss her boyfriend. She made him a bracelet from twigs. And she doesn't want to be eaten alive by forest vampires. It's relatable, but not much to get invested in. Azrael is a gesture toward a Final Girl archetype — sweet and resilient, but with no depth to make her come alive. 

Basically, Barrett and Katz take for granted the audience might want to understand the heroine they follow through a grueling night of mayhem and murder. Or maybe they thought casting Weaving would carry with it enough audience goodwill to paper over the lazily scripted protagonist. After all, genre fans lapped up every wicked smile, snarky rejoinder, and curse-laden rant Weaving delivered in The Babysitter, Guns Akimbo, and Ready or Not. But Azrael isn't like these movies.

This silent premise rob audience's of Weaving's sharp comedic timing and her undeniable charm as a foul-mouthed badass. It's not a frolicking collision of playful plotlines and ultra-violence. It's a grim and grisly religious pilgrimage that's gleeful in gore yet just not fun. 

The silent gimmick suffocates Azrael. 

In A Quiet Place, the family couldn't vocalize safely, but they did talk to each other through sign language. This gave the actors a way not only to express their character's thoughts, but also a grounded world from which to build the supernatural scares. In Azrael, the cult theatrically scowls or smiles or sighs heavily to get their points across. The result is a near-comical pantomime, reading as a crude reenactment of silent film acting. All the performances here rely on stricken faces, stern brows, or silent screaming. It's off-putting and goofy more than impactful or frightening. 

Perhaps Katz was striving for an atmosphere that felt far from grounded in the familiar, vibrating instead with raw emotion, heady atmosphere, and terror. But with no dialogue nor any defined characters to cling to, plus an episodic structure nakedly designed to favor sloppy slays over story, this religious horror flick feels horrid but humdrum. There's not enough for audiences to sink their teeth into. While full of blood and slicked with religious symbols, Azrael plays like an empty parlor trick — not even a cheap thrill. 

Azrael opens in theaters Sept. 27.

UPDATE: Sep. 26, 2024, 5:44 p.m. EDT Azrael was reviewed on March 13, 2024, out of SXSW 2024. This review has been updated for its theatrical release.

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Hurdle: Everything you need to know to find the answers Hurdle Word 1 hint

Another description of hot chocolate.

SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for September 27 Hurdle Word 1 answer

COCOA

Hurdle Word 2 hint

The clinical term for snot.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Here's the answer hints for September 27 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

MUCUS

Hurdle Word 3 hint

The worth of something.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for September 27 Hurdle Word 3 answer

VALUE

Hurdle Word 4 hint

It's at the back of your throat.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for September 27 Hurdle Word 4 answer

UVULA

Final Hurdle hint

To complain a lot.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Games available on Mashable Hurdle Word 5 answer

WHINY

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

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 SEE ALSO: Hurdle hints and answers for September 27

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Friday, September 27, 2024:

AcrossAptly named brand of road and mountain bikes

• The answer is Trek.

"CD"

• The answer is Seedy.

"XL"

• The answer is Excel.

Make amends

• The answer is Atone.

Alternative to Yahoo! or AOL

• The answer is MSN.

DownMuch political campaign outreach these days

• The answer is Texts

Mission for a scout, for short

• The answer is Recon.

Garden with forbidden fruit

• The answer is Eden.

Friend of Kenny, Stan and Cartman on "South Park"

• The answer is Kyle.

Feature that some undergarments claim not to have (but it's often just less noticeable)

• The answer is Seam.

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.

If you're reading this, you're looking for a little help playing Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game.

Strands requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

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

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.

If 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.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Here's the answer hints for September 27 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for September 27 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Medieval marvel

These words are noble homes.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

The answers are all related to castles and their features.

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 Castle.

Featured Video For You Strands 101: How to win NYT’s latest word game NYT Strands word list for September 27

• Keep

• Castle

• Moat

• Drawbridge

• Wall

• Turret

• Tower

• Courtyard

SEE ALSO: Hurdle hints and answers for September 27

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

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

The Samsung Galaxy S24 FE, a new budget-friendly, mid-range phone unveiled on Thursday, is designed to allow users to experience some of the Galaxy S24 series' bells and whistles — without spending nearly $900.

I spent about two hours with the new Galaxy S24 FE. As someone who uses the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra every day, I was curious to see whether I'd notice a stark difference between the two.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Granted, we're comparing apples and oranges here. A better comparison would be the new Galaxy S24 FE (starts at $649.99) and the entry-level Galaxy S24 (starts at $859.99). They share more of the same specs and the price difference between the two is only $210.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, priced at a steep $1,299, is nearly $650 more than the Galaxy S24 FE. Still, I didn’t anticipate such a dramatic difference — and boy was I way off.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE hands-on

The moment I picked up the Galaxy S24 FE, I said, "Whoa!"

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Only after holding the FE did I realize how luxurious my Ultra, with its refined titanium frame, truly feels.

Galaxy S24 Ultra - Corning Gorilla Armor (on the back), Corning Gorilla Armor (on the front), and titanium frame

Galaxy S24 FE - Corning Gorilla Glass 5 (on the back), Corning Gorilla Glass Victus+ on the front, and aluminum frame

The Samsung Galaxy S24 FE, unsurprisingly, doesn't feel as robust. If I didn't know any better, and you told me the Galaxy S24 FE was demo unit of sorts, I would have believed you.

Meanwhile, my Galaxy S24 Ultra feels like it's full of heft, density, and gravitas. If both were personified as wrestlers in a ring, you'd definitely be concerned for the Galaxy S24 FE while the Ultra model flexes its brawn.

The Galaxy S24 FE is also much lighter, which I thought I'd appreciate — but I don't. You know that satisfaction you get from wearing a high-end watch? It's heavier and more solid, and as such, it feels more quality. A budget watch, on the other hand, feels lighter and more flimsy.

This isn't to say that the Galaxy S24 FE is delicate — it's definitely not. It's still a well-crafted phone, but coming from the Galaxy S24 Ultra, you can really feel the difference.

The display threw me off

Again, keep in mind, that the Galaxy S24 Ultra is the display that I'm accustomed to.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

And it comes with the following specs:

• 6.8 inches

• 1,440 x 3,120-pixel resolution

• 2,600 nits of peak brightness

The 6.7-inch Galaxy S24 FE has a familiar size that's not too far off from my 6.8-inch Galaxy S24 Ultra, but with a 1,080 x 2,340-pixel resolution OLED screen, I noticed the difference right away.

The rich and vivid colors that I enjoyed on my Galaxy S24 Ultra were slightly reduced. There was also a minor loss of sharpness and detail. The Galaxy S24 FE, by itself, is well saturated, but compared to my Galaxy S24 Ultra, the budget model doesn't do it for me.

I'm also not a fan of the wider bezels on the FE model. On the plus side, I love how zippy it was to navigate on the Galaxy S24 FE with its 120Hz variable refresh rate. That's an experience that matches my Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Colors don't fit my taste

My Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra comes in a striking Titanium Yellow color, which makes it look as if it's been dipped in gold.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra in Titanium Yellow Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

The Galaxy S24 FE phones have pastel vibes, meaning they're devoid of vividness.

Credit: Samsung

As someone who prefers rich, deep colors, my only option is Graphite, which is miles better than the other offerings: (barely-there) Blue, (merely) Mint, and (ghostly) Gray.

Cameras are OK

Keep in mind that I only had two hours with the Galaxy S24 FE, but I shrugged when I took a selfie with the phone's 10MP front-facing camera.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

One of the best selling points of the Galaxy S24 Ultra is its selfie camera. Whenever I take selfies with my friends, even the iPhone snobs, they gush about how good the 12MP selfie lens is.

When I briefly tested the 10MP selfie lens, I was neither blown away nor disappointed; the picture was just OK.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

I guess I expected better color reproduction. Again, it's not bad. I'm just used to the impressive pictures that the Galaxy S24 Ultra takes.

Galaxy AI is a fun addition

I'm relieved that Samsung didn't reserve Galaxy AI for its flagship lineup. Galaxy AI may not be perfect, but it's been fun to explore on my Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Samsung Galaxy S24 FE series Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Whether you want to remove an object in a photo, need to communicate in a foreign language, or summarize a long-winded story, Galaxy AI has your back.

Conclusion: I'm too bougie for the Galaxy S24 FE

I get that some folks downgrade from a high-end phone once it’s run its course and splurging isn’t feasible, but I’d feel totally disoriented if I had to move from the Galaxy S24 Ultra to the Galaxy S24 FE.

I know what you're thinking. "Duh! Of course the Galaxy S24 FE doesn't come close to the Galaxy S24 Ultra." As I mentioned at the outset, I'm aware of this and even made a point to say that the Galaxy S24 base model would be a better comparison.

However, this hands-on was meant to highlight how taken aback I was regarding the stark differences between my Galaxy S24 Ultra. If you ever wondered if the Pro Maxes, Ultras, and XLs of the world are truly that distinct from their budget counterparts, the answer is a resounding yes.

The differences are far more pronounced than I expected, leaving me with an even greater appreciation for my Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Still, the Galaxy S24 FE appears to be solid sub-$700 phone with a 50MP wide camera that matches the Galaxy S24 (though not as good as the 200MP lens on my Galaxy S24 Ultra), Galaxy AI support, and a slightly bigger battery.

Once I receive a review unit, I’ll shift my focus and assess it through the eyes of a mid-range phone user, putting aside my spoiled experience with the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra $1,049.99 at Amazon
$1,299.99 Save $250.00 Get Deal

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 September 27's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: Hurdle hints and answers for September 27 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 deleted

Each 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 deleted

Players 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.

SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for September 27 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hit about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Plateaus

• Green: Very important

• Blue: Managing a football team

• Purple: Famous sci-fi flicks

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Area of High Ground

• Green: Significance

• Blue: Actions in Fantasy Sports

• Purple: Sci-Fi Movies, With "The"

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 #474 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Area of High Ground: BANK, DUNE, HILL, MOUND

• Significance: GRAVITY, IMPORT, SUBSTANCE, WEIGHT

• Actions in Fantasy Sports: BENCH, DRAFT, START, TRADE

• Sci-Fi Movies, With "The": ABYSS, FLY, MATRIX, THING

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.

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

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

TL;DR: Upgrade your AI content quality with a lifetime subscription to Undetectable AI and humanise your writing with a one-time payment of £29.81.

Creating content with AI is a game-changer, but let’s be honest — it doesn’t always hit the mark when it comes to sounding natural. Whether you’re a blogger, marketer, or student, you’ve probably found yourself tweaking AI-generated text to make it sound more human, more you. It’s a time-consuming process, and not everyone has the time or patience to edit every sentence. For a limited time, you can get lifetime access to the Undetectable AI content app, available at the Mashable Shop for £29.81 (reg. £805.16).

This tool is designed to refine that content to be engaging, relatable, and authentic. With a few clicks, you can transform AI-generated text into something that reads like it was crafted by a skilled writer. It takes the raw output of your AI tools and gives it that human touch, saving you time and effort while improving the overall quality.

Whether you’re working on a blog post, marketing campaign, or social media caption, Undetectable AI polishes your text, making it more persuasive and impactful. Enjoy endless opportunities to fine-tune your content.

Elevate your writing, connect with your audience, and make AI-generated content truly your own with a lifetime subscription to Undetectable AI on sale for £29.81 for a limited time.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Evaris Media Undetectable AI: Lifetime Subscription £29.81 at the Mashable Shop
£805.16 Save £775.35 Get Deal

Oh 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 September 27's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

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

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.

SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for September 27 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

Complete trust in one's beliefs.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no reoccurring letters.

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter F.

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 is...

FAITH.

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 Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

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

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