Mashable

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

More Prime Day soundbar deals still live

• VIZIO 2.0 Home Theater Sound Bar — $69.99 $79.99 (save $10)

• Sony S100F 2.0ch Soundbar — $98 $129.99 (save $31.99)

• VIZIO V-Series All-in-One 2.1 Home Theater Soundbar — $98.58 $115.99 (save $17.41)

• VIZIO V-Series 2.1 Home Theater Soundbar — $129.99 $159.99 (save $30)

• JBL Bar 300 — $299.95 $399.95 (save $100)

• Samsung HW-Q600C 3.1.2ch Soundbar — $397.99 $597.99 (save $200)

• LG S80QR 5.1.3ch Soundbar — $446.99 $1,046.99 (save $600)

• JBL Bar 9.1 — $999 $1,199.95 (save $200.95)

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

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

Tweet may have been deleted

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There are lots of videos with lots of views.

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

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