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Mashable is a leading source for news, information & resources for the Connected Generation. Mashable reports on the importance of digital innovation and how it empowers and inspires people around the world. Mashable's 25 million monthly unique visitors and 10 million social media followers have become one of the most engaged online news communities. Founded in 2005, Mashable is headquartered in New York City with an office in San Francisco.
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NYT Pips hints, answers for February 10, 2026

Mon, 02/09/2026 - 22:00

Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue.

Released in August 2025, the Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.

Currently, if you're stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move onto the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level.

How to play Pips

If you've ever played dominoes, you'll have a passing familiarity for how Pips is played. As we've shared in our previous hints stories for Pips, the tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between a traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you have to address. The touching tiles don't necessarily have to match.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for February 10, 2026

The conditions you have to meet are specific to the color-coded spaces. For example, if it provides a single number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the number provided. It is possible – and common – for only half a tile to be within a color-coded space.

Here are common examples you'll run into across the difficulty levels:

  • Number: All the pips in this space must add up to the number.

  • Equal: Every domino half in this space must be the same number of pips.

  • Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a completely different number of pips.

  • Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.

  • Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.

If an area does not have any color coding, it means there are no conditions on the portions of dominoes within those spaces.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for February 10, 2026 Easy difficulty hints, answers for Feb. 10 Pips

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 2-5, placed horizontally.

Number (11): Everything in this space must add up to 11. The answer is 2-5, placed horizontally; 6-5, placed horizontally.

Number (9): Everything in this space must add up to 9. The answer is 6-5, placed horizontally; 4-1, placed horizontally.

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 4-1, placed horizontally; 2-3, placed horizontally.

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 2-3, placed horizontally; 1-1, placed horizontally.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for Feb. 10 Pips

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 1-2, placed vertically; 3-4, placed horizontally.

Equal (2): Everything in this dark blue space must be equal to 2. The answer is 2-2, placed vertically.

Equal (5): Everything in this green space must be equal to 5. The answer is 0-5, placed vertically; 2-5, placed vertically.

Equal (2): Everything in this orange space must be equal to 2. The answer is 2-5, placed horizontally; 4-2, placed vertically.

Equal (4): Everything in this red space must be equal to 4. The answer is 3-4, placed horizontally; 4-2, placed vertically.

Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 1-0, placed horizontally; 0-6, placed vertically; 0-5, placed vertically.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for Feb. 10 Pips

Greater Than (2): Everything in this green space must be greater than 2. The answer is 0-3, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 6-6, placed horizontally; 0-3, placed horizontally.

Number (11): Everything in this space must add up to 11. The answer is 6-6, placed horizontally; 3-5, placed horizontally.

Equal (2): Everything in this orange space must be equal to 2. The answer is 2-2, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 3-5, placed horizontally; 2-3, placed horizontally.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 0-1, placed vertically.

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 2-3, placed horizontally; 2-1, placed vertically.

Equal (1): Everything in this red space must be equal to 1. The answer is 0-1, placed vertically; 2-1, placed vertically; 1-6, placed horizontally.

Number (12): Everything in this space must add up to 12. The answer is 1-6, placed horizontally; 6-0, placed horizontally.

Less Than (4): Everything in this green space must be less than 4. The answer is 3-6, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 3-6, placed horizontally.

Equal (0): Everything in this red space must be equal to 0. The answer is 6-0, placed horizontally; 0-5, placed horizontally.

Equal (5): Everything in this green space must be equal to 5. The answer is 0-5, placed horizontally; 5-5, placed horizontally.

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

NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for February 10, 2026

Mon, 02/09/2026 - 22:00

Today's Connections: Sports Edition is for the Winter Olympics enthusiasts.

As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, 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 the latest 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 What is Connections: Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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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.

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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: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. Here's a hint for today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

  • Yellow: Competitive ice skating

  • Green: Olympic features

  • Blue: Hockey penalty

  • Purple: Used in a biathlon

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

  • Yellow: Figure Skating Disciplines

  • Green: Winter Olympic Movies

  • Blue: Hockey Infractions

  • Purple: Biathlon Equipment

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: Sports Edition #505 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?
  • Figure Skating Disciplines - ICE DANCE, PAIRS, SINGLES, TEAM EVENT

  • Winter Olympic Movies - COOL RUNNINGS, I, TONYA, MIRACLE, THE CUTTING EDGE

  • Hockey Infractions - BOARDING, HOOKING, ICING, OFFSIDE

  • Biathlon Equipment - POLES, RIFLE, SKIS, TARGETS

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports 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.

NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for February 10, 2026

Mon, 02/09/2026 - 22:00

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult to solve if you're a movie collector.

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games 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 today'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 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.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

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.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

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 Pips hints, answers for February 10, 2026 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

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

  • Yellow: Conference

  • Green: Two syllables

  • Blue: Movie add-ons

  • Purple: They turn

Here are today's Connections categories

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

  • Yellow: Exhibition

  • Green: Words spelling out initialisms

  • Blue: DVD bonus features

  • Purple: Starting with parts of a wheel

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 #975 is...

What is the answer to Connections today
  • Exhibition: CONVENTION, EXPOSITION, FAIR, SHOW

  • Words spelling out initialisms: DEEJAY, EMCEE, KAYO, OKAY

  • DVD bonus features: COMMENTARY, INTERVIEW, OUTTAKES, TRAILER

  • Starting with parts of a wheel: HUBBUB, RIMSHOT, SPOKESPERSON, TIRESOME

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.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for February 10, 2026

Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today's puzzle.

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.

NYT Strands hints, answers for February 10, 2026

Mon, 02/09/2026 - 22:00

Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you're a great builder.

Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game, 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: Answer, hints for February 10, 2026 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for February 10, 2026 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: It's on the house

The words are related to carpentry.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe building makeups.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is vertical.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Siding Material.

NYT Strands word list for February 10
  • Stucco

  • Stone

  • Wood

  • Composite

  • Brick

  • Vinyl

  • Siding Material

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.

Wordle today: Answer, hints for February 10, 2026

Mon, 02/09/2026 - 22:00

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you're a film buff.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today'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 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for February 10, 2026 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 was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

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 Pips hints, answers for February 10, 2026 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

A setting.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

The letter E appears twice.

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

Today's Wordle starts with the letter S.

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...

SCENE

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.

OpenAI begins testing ads in ChatGPT

Mon, 02/09/2026 - 18:26

OpenAI has begun rolling out ads inside ChatGPT, marking a major shift for a product that has largely operated without traditional advertising since its launch in 2022.

In a blog post published this week, the company confirmed it is testing ads for logged-in users on its Free and Go plans in the U.S., while keeping paid tiers like Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education ad-free. OpenAI said the move will help fund broader access to advanced AI tools without requiring every user to pay a subscription.

SEE ALSO: ChatGPT GPT-4o users are raging at OpenAI on Reddit right now

"Our focus with this test is learning," OpenAI's blog post read. "We’re paying close attention to feedback so we can make sure ads feel useful and fit naturally into the ChatGPT experience before expanding."

The ads appear outside of ChatGPT’s responses and are clearly labeled as sponsored content. OpenAI says ads do not influence how the chatbot answers questions and that user conversations are not shared with advertisers. Instead, ads are selected based on broad conversation topics and how users interact with ads, with restrictions in place to prevent sponsored content from appearing alongside sensitive topics such as health, mental health, or politics.

Those who use ChatGPT's free service can opt out of the ads, with a caveat.

"If you prefer not to see ads, you can upgrade to our Plus or Pro plans, or opt out of ads in the Free tier in exchange for fewer daily free messages," according to the company.

The opt-out options on ChatGPT found in the user settings Credit: Mashable screengrab via OpenAI

Users who do consent to ads will also have the option to opt out of ad personalization, limiting how sponsored content is selected. There are also options to stop ChatGPT from utilizing past AI chats to tailor ads, as well as deleting "all ads history and data" the company has compiled on a user.

At the time of publication, Mashable attempted to surface ads during regular use of ChatGPT but were unable to trigger any sponsored content, which aligns with OpenAI’s description of the rollout as a limited test rather than a full launch.

The rollout follows months of user confusion and frustration after widely circulated screenshots appeared to show promotional content embedded in ChatGPT responses. OpenAI previously dismissed those incidents as poorly timed "suggestions," but the distinction did little to calm concerns. As Mashable reported earlier this year, OpenAI has been quietly experimenting with ad formats internally while signaling that monetization would eventually be necessary to support the platform’s massive infrastructure costs.

With ChatGPT now testing ads and offering opt-out controls, OpenAI appears to be betting that transparency and choice will soften the transition to a more familiar, ad-supported internet model. However, that shift hasn’t gone unnoticed by competitors. Anthropic, one of OpenAI’s biggest rivals, used its Super Bowl LX ad buys to openly mock the idea of advertising inside AI chatbots.

The ads promote Anthropic’s chatbot, Claude, by staging scenarios where seemingly helpful conversations suddenly pivot into awkward sales pitches, ending with the tagline, "Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude."

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

11 Super Bowl ads from the past that were actually funny

Mon, 02/09/2026 - 18:07

Gen Alpha kids raised on iPads and streaming services may not get it, but Super Bowl ads used to mean something in this country.

I'm talking about frogs that say "Bud," "Weis," "Er." I'm talking about handsome, shirtless men on horses. And let's not forget the absolute stranglehold those "Wassup?!" guys had on American culture circa 1999.

So, if you were one of the many people who were largely disappointed with this year's crop of Super Bowl ads, then join me in looking back on the best Super Bowl commercials from yesteryear — a time before generative AI and legal sports gambling.

Though, I do have to give it up to the "Relax Your Tight End" prostate exam ad featuring Rob Gronkowski.

Doritos "Finger Cleaner"

I feel like this ad should come with a trigger warning, but you really have to see it for yourself. I still see this commercial go viral on TikTok every once in a while.

Now, technically, this Super Bowl ad didn't actually air during the Super Bowl. Let me explain.

Frito-Lay used to host an annual Crash the Super Bowl contest, which let fans submit their own commercials for a cash prize. The winners would get their ads played during the game. While the unforgettable Finger Cleaner ad was one of the finalists in 2014, it didn't actually air, which is a damn shame.

Still, it lives on in commercial infamy.

Old Spice and "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like"

This 2010 classic introduced the world to Isaiah Mustafa, aka "the Man Your Man Could Smell Like," aka that guy on the horse. (Fun fact: Mustafa would go on to star in It: Chapter Two.)

Pringles "Stuck In"

According to very serious scientific research conducted by Pringles scientists, 43 percent of American Pringles customers have had their hands stuck in a tube of Pringles. Who among us hasn't wondered if there isn't a better shape for these potato snacks?

This Super Bowl ad dates back to 2022, a time before ChatGPT.

Pepsi and "The Joy of Pepsi"

So, you think you love all things Y2K, do you? Well, is the pre-9/11 Britney Spears "The Joy of Pepsi" ad seared into your brain forever?

Sure, it's less funny than it is iconic, but we had to include it.

Snickers, Betty White, and The Brady Bunch

Snack food brands really bring out the big guns for the Big Game. Or, at least, they used to. You may remember the late Betty White starring in this Snickers commercial, also for the 2010 Super Bowl.

But that's not the only Snickers ad worth remembering. The candy bar returned in 2015 for a Brady Bunch-themed commercial that's also a lot of fun.

Say it with us now: Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.

General Motors hates Norway

There was a time when you could put Will Ferrell in anything, and he could make you laugh. This 2021 electric vehicle ad sees the Saturday Night Live legend taking aim at those bastards in Norway.

Reebok and Terry Tate, Office Linebacker

This classic Reebok Super Bowl ad sees Terry Tate tearing through an office. And while that certainly looks like Oscar from The Office, this ad was made two years before we were introduced to the Dunder-Mifflin accounting department.

Wendy's "Where's the Beef?"

The infamous "Where's the Beef?" ad debuted in 1984 and launched actress Clara Peller to worldwide fame.

E*Trade Dancing Monkey

Who doesn't love a dancing monkey? This E*Trade commercial was instantly famous for its clever tagline, “Well, we just wasted $2,000,000. What are you doing with your money?”

Volkswagen "The Force"

German car company Volkswagen is famous for iconic ads, dating back to its "Lemon" magazine ad, which even earned a shoutout in Mad Men. But modern audiences may best remember this adorable and hilarious Star Wars-themed ad instead.

The best Disney+ deals and bundles in February 2026

Mon, 02/09/2026 - 18:00

DISNEY+ BUNDLES: Disney+ is offering bundle deals so you can stream the best of its library at a lower price.

The best Disney+ deals and bundles in February 2026: Best Hulu Bundle Deal Disney+ and Hulu Bundle 1st month for $9.99 Get Deal Best HBO Max Bundle Deal Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max Bundle $19.99/month with ads, $32.99/month ad-free Get Deal Best ESPN Bundle Deal Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN Unlimited Bundle $35.99/month Get Deal

Whether you're looking to jump into the latest superhero saga or journey to a galaxy far, far away, Disney+ is the streaming service for you.

Home to Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar, Disney+ offers a library that's stuffed-full of shows and films to keep both adults and kids entertained. With Disney+, you can watch The Muppet Show, Wonder Man, and much more.

If you've had this streaming service on your radar but you've been unsure which plan is the best fit for you, we've got you covered with a selection of Disney+ streaming deals. This includes a great deal at the moment on the Disney+ and Hulu Bundle, which is offering its first month for just $9.99. This offer only runs until Feb. 17, so now is the time to take advantage of this limited-time deal.

SEE ALSO: 'Daredevil: Born Again' Season 2 trailer reunites Matt Murdock and Jessica Jones

Alongside that deal, there are a few more bundles to check out with Disney+ right now, including the Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max package. This is a great investment for those who already own the other two streaming services and are looking to cut down on costs. Considering Disney+ has recently increased its prices, now is as good a time as any to check out this bundle.

We've detailed all of the available bundle deals below, alongside basic information on Disney+ plans if you just want the House of Mouse's service on its own.

Best Hulu bundle deal Opens in a new window Credit: Disney Disney+ and Hulu Bundle Get your first month of the Disney+, Hulu Bundle for $9.99 Get Deal Why we like it

For those interested in the ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu Bundle, it's currently enjoying a limited-time offer. Until Feb. 17, new and returning subscribers can get their first month of this streaming bundle for just $9.99. Usually it costs $12.99, which it will auto-renew at after the first month is up, but it's still a sweet deal to take advantage of while it's still available.

Unfortunately, this deal does not apply to the Premium ad-free version of this plan, which is still available for $19.99 per month.

Best HBO Max bundle deal Opens in a new window Credit: Disney Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max Bundle $19.99/month with ads, $32.99/month ad-free Get Deal Why we like it

The Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max bundle is one of the best available at the moment. Starting at $19.99 per month, you can have three excellent streaming services right in the palm of your hand. The $19.99 per month option is for the With Ads plan, but if you'd prefer to watch your favorite content without ads, the No Ads plan comes to $32.99 per month. Compared to what you'd pay for each of these on their own, you're saving 42% with the ad-supported plan and 41% with the ad-free plan.

Best ESPN bundle Opens in a new window Credit: Disney Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN Unlimited Bundle $35.99/month Get Deal

If you're a sports fan looking to add ESPN to your bundles, you're in luck: Disney offers bundles with both ESPN Select and ESPN Unlimited. According to ESPN, "ESPN Select includes ESPN+ content only. Fans who want ESPN+ exclusively may subscribe to the ESPN Select plan. ESPN Unlimited includes all of the ESPN networks and services, including ESPN+."

The Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Unlimited Bundle, which has ads, is available for $35.99 per month. The Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Unlimited premium bundle without ads is available for $44.99 per month.

Best Disney+ monthly plans

Disney+ offers two standard plans if you just want the service on its own. The Disney+ ad-supported plan comes to $11.99 per month while the ad-free Disney+ Premium plan will set you back $18.99 per month or $189.99 per year if you'd rather pay annually.

Disney+ has also created an "extra member" plan for people using your account that live outside of your household as they crack down on password sharing. If you're looking to add another person onto your account, you're only allowed one extra profile and can choose from the following add-on plans:

  • Disney+ (With Ads) — $6.99 per month

  • Disney+ Premium — $9.99 per month

  • Disney+, Hulu Bundle — $7.99 per month

  • Disney+, Hulu Bundle Premium — $10.99 per month

  • Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Select Bundle — $11.99 per month

  • Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Select Bundle Premium — $14.99 per month

There's a wealth of shows and films to check out on Disney+ after you sign up. If you want some help finding something to watch, check out our roundups of the 12 best TV shows for adults on Disney+ and the 20 best movies on Disney+ to start building out your watchlist.

Why so many people hate Rings Search Party Super Bowl ad

Mon, 02/09/2026 - 17:29

Why is everyone so mad about the Ring Super Bowl ad? The short TV spot "Search Party" should pull at the heartstrings — it's got a puppy, lost dogs, a father and daughter, and a happy ending. It even promises viewers they can "Be a hero in your neighborhood.”

What more could you want?

Privacy.

Many viewers on both the right and left were disturbed by the privacy implications of the advertised "Search Party" feature. This AI tool is designed to reunite lost dogs with their owners, and the Super Bowl ad claims that one lost pet is found every day thanks to the technology.

Here's how Search Party works: When a dog is lost, pet owners can upload a picture of their pet, at which point their neighbors' Ring video doorbells and security cameras will start looking for the lost pup. Of course, as viewers quickly realized, if Ring can do this for lost dogs, there's no reason it couldn't identify a human face just as easily.

I was at the November 2025 Amazon event where Search Party was first announced, and the AI detection feature seemed problematic from the jump. As I reported at the time, privacy advocates warned that some of Amazon's new AI features could even violate state privacy laws.

Of course, those privacy laws don't apply to dogs, which is why critics are calling Search Party a Trojan horse for mass surveillance technology.

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For progressive Americans on alert because of increased ICE activity, the ad seemed especially poorly timed.

Ring's history is also working against it. In the past, progressives have criticized Ring for sharing footage with law enforcement, which the company has said it only does in rare emergencies, with customers' permission, or when required to do so by a subpoena or warrant. On top of that, back in 2023, the Federal Trade Commission accused Ring employees and contractors of accessing customers' private videos.

Despite these controversies, Ring remains very popular, including among Mashable readers. Remember: for many customers, cooperating with law enforcement is a feature, not a bug, in a home security company.

Regardless, it's clear that the Search Party Super Bowl ad struck a nerve. Strangely, it wasn't the only vaguely dystopian advertisement from Amazon this year.

A Super Bowl LX commercial for Alexa+ showed actor Chris Hemsworth being repeatedly killed by the newly AI-powered smart home assistant.

For the “I’ll read later” crowd — Headway is on sale for just $40

Mon, 02/09/2026 - 17:00

TL;DR: Headway Premium gives busy people the key ideas from top nonfiction books in just 15 minutes in text or audio — and it’s on sale for a one-time payment of $39.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Headway Headway Premium: Lifetime Subscription $39.97
$299.95 Save $259.98   Get Deal

Personal growth sounds great, exciting, and like something you want, until you look at your calendar. Between work, family, and everything else competing for attention, sitting down with a 300-page book often feels unrealistic. That’s exactly the gap Headway is designed to fill.

Headway Premium distills the core ideas from bestselling nonfiction books into focused 15-minute summaries you can read or listen to. Instead of committing hours, you get the concepts that matter most — whether that’s leadership, productivity, health, mindset, or money — right when you need them.

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The experience goes beyond simple summaries. The app builds personalized self-growth plans based on your goals, mixes in quizzes and trivia to reinforce learning, and uses spaced repetition to help ideas stick.

Prefer audio? Professional voice actors turn summaries into podcast-style listens that fit perfectly into commutes, workouts, or daily routines.

There’s also a thoughtful layer of motivation involved. Progress tracking, streaks, highlights turned into flashcards, and even short role-play videos make learning feel more interactive and less like another task on your to-do list.

With over 2,000 summaries and new content added regularly, Headway works especially well for people who want to keep growing but don’t want self-improvement to take over their lives.

Don’t miss this practical way to keep learning, one focused session at a time.

Get lifetime access to Headway Premium while it’s just $39.99 (reg. $299.95) with code SUMMARY20 through Feb. 22.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

"Wuthering Heights" review: Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi front a perplexing and provocative romance

Mon, 02/09/2026 - 15:00

There's no question: This is not the Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë wrote. But Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman, Saltburn) never intended that.

Ahead of the release of Fennell's "Wuthering Heights," (yes, the quotation marks are part of the title), the English filmmaker has dropped controversial clues that her film adaptation would reject much of what Brontë fans might anticipate. In casting Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as damned lovers Catherine and Heathcliff, Fennell ignited outrage from fans who decried the Barbie star as too old for her role and Elordi too white for his.

SEE ALSO: 'Wuthering Heights' trailer: Emerald Fennell pairs Emily Brontë with Charli XCX and steamy romance

The movie's ad campaign leaned into romance-novel tropes, featuring posters of the two locked in an embrace, on the verge of kissing, with the tagline "Come undone." Then came assurances that Fennell's film would be willfully anachronistic from the book's late 18th-century setting, as Charli XCX teased the film's dance-pop soundtrack, and production stills revealed a synthetic latex-like dress, a shimmery negligee, and teeny rose-colored glasses that evoke a far more modern feel.

Finally, in pre-release interviews for "Wuthering Heights," Fennell spoke to her approach in adapting a book "as dense and complicated and difficult" as the Brontë classic. "I can't say I'm making Wuthering Heights. It's not possible," she told Fandango. "What I can say is I'm making a version of it. There's a version that I remembered reading that isn't quite real. And there's a version where I wanted stuff to happen that never happened. And so it is "Wuthering Heights," and it isn't. But really, I'd say that any adaptation of a novel, especially a novel like this, should have quotation marks around it."

After all of this, it should surprise no one that Fennell's "Wuthering Heights" is radically different from Brontë's. The question is not if the film is faithful to the book, or even better than it. The question is, does this film work on its own terms, as a half-remembered fantasy of wild, enviable romance? And the answer is simply: No.

"Wuthering Heights" radically reimagines Catherine and Heathcliff.

The bones of our famed protagonists' story remain: Catherine and Heathcliff meet as children in the moors of West Yorkshire, England, where she's the spoiled daughter of a drunken landowner, and he's a poor boy brusquely adopted to be raised alongside her. They share a wild nature in their remote surroundings, but as they grow, Catherine longs for luxury, which her gruff crush with no societal standing can't promise. She breaks both their hearts by accepting the proposal of proper, aristocratic gentleman Edgar Linton (Shazad Latif), from the estate next door, which spurs Heathcliff to run away. Upon his return to Yorkshire five years later, he is rich, dashing, and determined to make a mess of Catherine's life, for better or worse.

However, despite the familiar framework, the dynamic of Catherine and Heathcliff in Fennell's film feels more like The Princess Bride than Wuthering Heights. For one thing, Heathcliff's cruelty is considerably softened. Like Westley, the sweet stable boy, he will suffer any abuse if it means being close to his blonde ladylove. In particular, Heathcliff will endure a violent whipping from Catherine's father, which gives the boy a chance to prove his immovable dedication to her.

Heathcliff's own violence and wrath in adulthood are channeled by Elordi into smoldering and brooding, with a tame frisson of kink, whether he's forcefully gripping Catherine's mouth or later degrading his bride, Edgar's ward Isabella (Alison Oliver) with pet play. Meanwhile, Catherine is a beautiful brat who, in the blink of an eye, goes from a rosy-cheeked child to a picture-perfect doll of a woman. So, of course, Fennell cast Barbie.

Draped in meticulously crafted skirts and dresses in bold reds and whites and corseted into an impossible waist, Robbie looks like a fashion doll, especially as she marries into wealth via Edgar. This metaphor is made blatant as Isabella presents her new sort-of sister-in-law with a doll made in her likeness, complete with a giant dollhouse that resembles their shared home, Thrushcross Grange. Yes, Catherine has achieved all the luxuries she dreamed of, but now she feels trapped, a pretty plaything in a dollhouse. The dream is not what she hoped.

"Wuthering Heights" is juvenile in its provocations.

To kick things off, two evocative sounds play over the film's opening credits. One is the rustling of fabric, the other a man groaning, an ambiguous preview of an imminent scene of sex or violence.

The intensity of both sounds grows to reveal not a sexual scenario, but a man being hung at a public execution. However, Fennell still blends sex and violence here. A young Catherine (Charlotte Mellington) thrills at the depravity of it, while Fennell is sure to include a close-up of the dead man's "stiffy," obvious even through his pants. Such twisted melding of themes will thread throughout "Wuthering Heights," but in ways more trashy than transgressive.

Brontë fans might clutch their pearls that Fennell has not just a sex scene between Heathcliff and Catherine, but a montage of them, spanning from beds to carriages to the sweeping plains between their estates. And yet, while these scenes have the iconography of classic romance novels — the rich settings, the posh clothes, the forbidden attraction, the beautiful characters on the cover feigning elation — they fall flat. While Robbie is rigorous in bringing Catherine's ire and yearning to life, and Elordi is strong and seething, the pair have all the chemistry of Barbie and Ken dolls bumping rubber when they collide.

Perhaps to add Saltburn-like spice, BDSM is worked into various love scenes, bringing horse bridles, shackles, and a metal collar into sex games of degradation. This makes the depravity of the novel more playful than dark. Now, Heathcliff, who comes off like a towering Dom, is less threatening, as his violence is channeled through consensual kink. Yet this depiction of BDSM still feels half-hearted next to more successfully sexy and psychologically provocative films like Babygirl and Pillion.

Featured Video For You Is cinema starting to get BDSM right? The race-bending in "Wuthering Heights" is a problem Fennell created.

Heathcliff's racial identity has been studied by Brontë scholars due to the author's descriptions of his "dark-skinned" appearance, which is why Elordi's casting incensed some fans of the novel. However, it's not Heathcliff's casting alone that becomes problematic in Fennell's version. Perhaps the director looked to Bridgerton for inspiration, both in the show's colorblind casting and barrage of sex scenes that have fueled debates on historical accuracy for the period. Fennell not only casts both of her romantic leads with white actors, but casts actors of color in the roles of Edgar and Nelly (Hong Chau), characters who are regarded in the film as less desirable than the protagonists, instead assigned roles of boring cuckold and bitter old maid.

In addition, the film's cinematography and set design fetishize white skin. Following the childhood scene of Catherine consoling Heathcliff over his whipping by her father, the scene dissolves from the bloody, clothed back of a boy to the bared back of a man (Elordi), striped with whiplash scars. Cinematographer Linus Sandgren offers a close-up, leering over Heathcliff's scars as if these are proof of his love — sweaty, plump, and terrible. Perhaps Fennell feared such fetishizing would be problematic if Heathcliff were "dark-skinned" as Brontë wrote. But she doubles down with this painting of whiteness as desirable with Catherine's skin room.

After their wedding, Edgar is giddy to show Catherine the bedroom he designed for her, painted in the "most beautiful color," that of her face. It's not just white flesh or flushed cheeks that Edgar has had recreated. The room is lined with vinyl-padded panels, each bearing birthmarks and light blue veins translucent beneath the faux skin. Far from romantic, the gesture is repulsive, and only becomes more so when an intruding Heathcliff licks the wall as if it were his beloved's flesh. And in this, it becomes clear how much of Brontë's novel Fennell ignored or stripped away to make her version. And what is left?

As an admirer of Promising Young Woman and Saltburn, I was cautiously optimistic about Fennell's "Wuthering Heights." Adaptations are never what the book was, because the book is different depending on who reads it. This is why I like seeing movie adaptations of novels I loved and hated, because it's like getting to walk around in someone else's brain, seeing the story as they did. However, Fennell's adaptation goes both too far and not far enough.

By slicing the book in half and cutting loose a clutch of relatives, she's simplified the story to focus on the love between Heathcliff and Catherine. But for all the substance she's cut away, only style has been put in its place. And it's not enough to make this "Wuthering Heights" feel full or affecting. Instead of a cohesive re-imagining or even a titillating romance, "Wuthering Heights" feels like a passionate but incoherent collage of teenage lust and rebellion, the kind better suited to a high school locker than a movie theater.

Wuthering Heights opens in theaters on Feb. 13.

Whats AI.com, the mysterious website with the Super Bowl commercial?

Mon, 02/09/2026 - 14:41

If you were one of the hundreds of millions of people watching Super Bowl LX on Sunday evening, you saw Bad Bunny, all the other Halftime Show celebrities, some viral commercials, and of course the Seahawks beating the Patriots in the football game.

One of the commercials that had people talking was for a new website called AI.com. The commercial informed users to go to the website so they can reserve a username of their choice, even suggesting that names like "Elon" were available. The site went down almost immediately after the Super Bowl commercial aired as it struggled with the influx of traffic.

And, that might make sense when you find out the story behind the domain name AI.com, which sold to its new owners for a record-breaking amount shortly before the Super Bowl.

What is AI dot com?

AI.com is a new website from the co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com, Kris Marszalek.

As of right now, users can simply go to the website, sign up with a Google login, and claim their own @ handle along with a separate handle for their AI. After finding two available handles, the user must then confirm their identity with a credit card. However, the site doesn't charge users anything for the transaction confirmation. After that, users are informed that their handles are reserved.

There is a footnote on the website that says they will verify users who are a "celebrity with more than 100,000 followers" and allow them to reserve a handle that matches their X account.

Marszalek shared that AI.com will be an AI assistant platform, and it seems like there is some social media aspect, but anything more regarding AI.com unclear right now.

How much did AI dot com sell for?

Marszalek paid $70 million for the AI.com domain name, as confirmed by the domain name broker Larry Fischer of Get Your Domains

In March 2025, Fischer announced that AI.com was for sale with an asking price of $100 million. The domain sold for $30 million less than that price. Perhaps the seller made even less than that, as the purchase was made entirely with cryptocurrency, which has seen prices fall dramatically in recent weeks.

Regardless, $70 million is still a new record high for a sale involving nothing more than a domain name. (No website or other assets were included in the sale. Just AI.com, the domain name.)

AI.com's $70 million selling price shattered the record previously held by CarInsurance.com, which sold for $49.7 million in 2010.

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Marszalek first publicly announced the acquisition of the domain on his X account last week, saying he acquired the domain in April. The site went live, however, on the same day as the Super Bowl, just hours before the AI.com commercial aired.

Marszalek is no stranger to big acquisitions regarding domain names or even naming rights. The Crypto.com domain name was reportedly acquired for his crypto company's use in 2018 for between $10 and $12 million. And, in 2012, Crypto.com acquired the naming rights for the Staples Center for a whopping $700 million.

Mashable previously reported on a prior sale of AI.com in 2021, after it became public knowledge in 2023. It first appeared as if OpenAI acquired the domain name, as the URL forwarded to ChatGPT's website. However, AI.com later was updated to forward to Elon Musk's xAI website, further muddying the waters surrounding its ownership.

With the latest $70 million sale to Marszalek, it appears that the mystery around the previous acquisition has been resolved. Early Bitcoin investor Arsyan Ismail is the current seller and appears to have been the person who last acquired the domain name for $10 million from domain name portfolio company Future Media Architects.

Discord defaults to teen experience for all users

Mon, 02/09/2026 - 14:12

The messaging platform Discord announced Monday that all user accounts will default to teen safety settings beginning in March.

Discord, which has more than 200 million global monthly active users, will age-gate content and communication tools unless an individual verifies their age or if the platform has independently assessed their account as having a high likelihood of belonging to an adult.

Discord will use the third-party verification service k-ID for age and identification checks and rely on an inference model with hundreds of signals to detect the accurate age of an account holder.

SEE ALSO: Discord launches new safety features following lawsuits

"We would like the experience to feel more like you are on Main Street," Savannah Badalich, head of product policy at Discord, told Mashable. "If you're going into an adult space, you do ID verification or something like that, whereas the Main Street itself is built for just generally [everyone]."

Badalich suggested to Mashable that users will not be able to circumvent the safety measures by relying on a virtual private network, or VPN, that conceals their location, since the default settings will be universal.

Discord under pressure on teen safety

The new policy arrives in the wake of sustained pressure on social media platforms to improve safety for minors.

A 2025 lawsuit filed against Discord and the gaming platform Roblox alleged that together the platforms created a "breeding ground for predators." At the heart of the complaint is an anonymous 11-year-old girl who was allegedly groomed, sexually exploited, and raped by a perpetrator who used Roblox and Discord to communicate with her.

In late 2025, the platform launched a hub that allows parents or guardians to view the top five users a teen messaged and called, the servers they messaged most frequently, their total call minutes in voice and video, and all the purchases they've made.

At the time, Haley McNamara, executive director and chief strategy officer of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, told Mashable in a statement that Discord's new safety features fell short by placing the burden of youth safety on parents rather than implementing fundamental design changes.

Age-gated content and experiences on Discord

Badalich said that though Discord will have teen safety settings for all users by default, the platform will preemptively assess accounts that seem to belong to adults and permit them to access age-gated content and features.

While Discord hopes to keep false positives to a minimum, Badalich did not share the platform's confidence in accurately predicting user age.

Beginning in March, any user whose age is unverified or whose account has been placed in teen settings will need to either submit an ID or go through the facial estimation process in order to have full access to Discord.

Only adults will be able to unblur sensitive content, or turn off the setting; access age-gated channels and servers; receive message requests directly, instead of to a separate inbox; and speak on a "stage" in a Discord server.

Badalich described the new policy as "a foundational change to how we think about Discord."

Age verification on Discord

Discord began using age assurance measures in the UK and Australia last year, though not without challenges.

In the UK, some users also initially bypassed the age check requirement by submitting a realistic-looking selfie of a video game character, which was deemed adult. Badalich told Mashable that Discord and k-ID worked "tirelessly" to patch that vulnerability, and that the experience has informed its subsequent age assurance efforts.

Discord's new age-assurance efforts will restrict adult servers. Credit: Courtesy of Discord

"[W]e know that teens are creative," Badalich said. 'They're going to try to find ways around it."

There are privacy concerns, too. In October, Discord announced a third-party customer support vendor had been hacked, breaching 70,000 government IDs provided by users.

When users submit identity documents to k-ID, the documents will be deleted quickly, if not immediately, according to Discord.

How to unblock Pornhub for free in Texas

Mon, 02/09/2026 - 13:43

TL;DR: Unblock Pornhub from Texas with a VPN. The best service for unblocking porn sites is ExpressVPN.

More than a third of U.S. states have introduced age verification laws for online adult content, including Texas. In response, Pornhub banned access for users in those locations. That means millions of users in Texas are now unable to access Pornhub.

There are complicated reasons for this restriction, but the workaround is simple. If you want to unblock porn sites like Pornhub for free from Texas, we have all the information you need.

How to unblock Pornhub for free in Texas

VPNs are useful tools that can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to secure servers in other locations. This straightforward process bypasses geo-restrictions so you can access sites like Pornhub from anywhere in the world.

Unblock Pornhub by following these simple steps:

  1. Sign up for a 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 a location that supports access to Pornhub

  4. Visit Pornhub

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (2-Year Subscription + 4 Months Free) $139 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for unblocking porn sites are not free, but most do offer free-trial peiods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can unblock porn sites like Pornhub without actually spending anything. This is obviously not a long-term solution, but it does give you the opportunity to temporarily retain access to Pornhub before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to sites like Pornhub, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for bypassing content restrictions is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for Pornhub?

ExpressVPN is the top choice for unblocking porn sites like Pornhub, 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 streaming speeds free from throttling

  • Up to eight simultaneous connections

  • 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $139 and includes an extra four months for free — 61% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Unblock Pornhub for free in Texas with ExpressVPN.

Amazons early Presidents Day deals include discounts on Apple, Roborock, and more

Mon, 02/09/2026 - 13:07
Best early Presidents' Day deals as of Feb. 9: Best Apple deal Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 42mm) $299 (save $100) Get Deal Best Amazon device deal Amazon Echo Show 11 (2025 release) $179.99 (save $40) Get Deal Best TV deal Insignia 55-inch Class F50 Series LED 4K UHD Smart Fire TV (NS-55F501NA26) $179.99 (save $170) Get Deal Best robot vacuum deal Roborock Q10 S5+ robot vacuum-mop combo $299.99 (save $250) Get Deal

If you missed out on last year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, Presidents’ Day is the next major sales event worth shopping — and the first big opportunity of 2026 to save. Historically, this holiday is known for its discounted prices on large appliances, mattresses, and furniture, but if you know where to look, you can find some pretty good deals on smaller home goods and tech.

SEE ALSO: The best Presidents' Day streaming deals: Starz, YouTube TV, Hulu, and more

Here’s everything we know so far about Amazon’s Presidents’ Day sale, including the deals you can shop right now.

When is Amazon’s Presidents’ Day sale?

Presidents’ Day is Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. While Amazon has yet to announce an “official” sale event, the retailer typically treats the holiday as a long-weekend clearance event, and there are tons of deals already available. As we get closer to the weekend, we anticipate even more markdowns, particularly on Amazon devices (e.g., Echos, Kindles, Fire Sticks) and floor-care brands like Roborock and Dyson.

When does Amazon’s Presidents’ Day sale end?

As with previous sales events, Amazon’s Presidents’ Day deals will run through the three-day weekend, likely capping off late Monday night. In true Amazon style, we expect some Lightning Deals to pop up in the days leading up to the holiday, but don't expect the best inventory to linger past Monday.

Below, we’ve rounded up the best early Presidents’ Day deals we could find as of Feb. 9:

Best Presidents' Day Apple deal Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 42mm) $299 at Walmart
$399 Save $100   Get Deal at Walmart Get Deal at Amazon Why we like it

The Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 42mm) is down to $299 right now. That’s a $100 discount, which isn't too shabby for a deal this early in the year. It's the lowest price we’ve tracked on this model (according to CamelCamelCamel, it last hit this price on Dec. 30, 2025).

The Series 11 is a Mashable Choice Award winner that features advanced health tracking, up to 24 hours of battery life on a single charge (normal use), and a more durable exterior that’s 2x more scratch-resistant than the previous generation.

More Apple deals Best Presidents' Day Amazon device deal Amazon Echo Show 11 (2025 release) $179.99 at Amazon
$219.99 Save $40   Get Deal at Amazon Why we like it

The Amazon Echo Show 11 (2025 release) was just announced this past October as part of Amazon’s big smart home refresh, and it’s already hitting its lowest price ever. Right now, you can grab it for $179.99, which is an 18% discount off the list price of $219.99.

It features a vibrant 11-inch Full-HD display (offering 60% more viewing area than the Echo Show 8) and room-filling spatial audio, making it a legitimate kitchen TV for streaming Netflix or Prime Video while you cook. It runs on the AZ3 Pro chip for faster responses and includes Alexa+ integration. Plus, the camera is upgraded with auto-framing and zoom for better video calls.

More Amazon device deals Best Presidents' Day TV deal Insignia 55-inch Class F50 Series LED 4K UHD Smart Fire TV (NS-55F501NA26) $179.99 at Amazon
$349.99 Save $170   Get Deal at Amazon Why we like it

The Insignia 55-inch Class F50 Series LED 4K UHD Smart Fire TV (NS-55F501NA26) is 49% off right now, bringing its price down to an impressive $179.99. That’s a solid deal for a 55-inch TV with smart capabilities (it’s also an Amazon’s Choice product with a 4.3-star rating from over 6K+ Amazon reviews).

The F50 Series includes an Alexa Voice Remote and features a 4K Ultra HD display with dynamic range, DTS Virtual:X sound, and Amazon’s Fire TV experience built in for seamless streaming. You’ll find your favorite streaming platforms, including Netflix and HBO Max, plus millions of free movies and TV episodes.

More TV deals Best Presidents' Day robot vacuum deal Why we like it

Right now, you can get the Roborock Q10 S5+ robot vacuum-mop combo for $299.99, down from $549.99. This is the lowest price we've ever tracked for this model, and it's our all-time favorite "quietest" robot vacuum.

Mashable's vacuum expert, Leah Stodart, says this combo vac offers the best bang for your buck. With 10,000 Pa of suction and an auto-lift feature for the mop (so it doesn't wet your carpets), you honestly can't go wrong with the Q10 S5+.

More robot vacuum deals

TV upgrade in order? Snag the Hisense 85-inch QD7 Mini LED TV while its $500 off.

Mon, 02/09/2026 - 12:42

SAVE $500: As of Feb. 9, the Hisense 85-inch QD7 Mini LED QLED 4K TV is on sale for only $799.99 at Amazon and Best Buy. That's 38% off its list price of $1,299.99 and just $2 away from its best-ever Black Friday price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Hisense Hisense 85-inch QD7 Mini LED QLED 4K TV $799.99 at Amazon
$1,299.99 Save $500   Get Deal

If the Big Game really highlighted how much you need to upgrade your TV, we've got some good news for you. It's still one of the best times to buy a new one, as several 2025 models are on sale — including this 85-incher from Hisense.

As of Feb. 9, you can get the Hisense 85-inch QD7 Mini LED QLED 4K TV for only $799.99 at Amazon or Best Buy. That's 38% or $500 off its list price of $1,299.99 and only $2 away from its best-ever price from Black Friday.

This deal really highlights why Hisense is one of our favorite TV brands; you can get top-notch features for a wallet-friendly price. Our friend at CNET (also owned by Ziff Davis) named the QD7 model the best budget TV, thanks to its full array local dimming, excellent contrast, and fully saturated picture. TV expert Ty Pendlebury says it offers "the best price-to-performance ratio of any model I have ever reviewed" and heartily recommends it.

It's built with the Fire TV operating system and has Alexa built in, so you can press a button on the remote and ask it for content recommendations, sports scores, or to adjust your smart home lighting. Its native 144Hz panel with Motion Rate 480, Game Mode Pro, and AMD FreeSync Premium offer gamers a smooth, lag-free gaming experience. Plus, an AI upscaler and Filmmaker Mode ensure your streaming sessions look as good as possible.

If a TV upgrade is in order, but you don't want to spend a ton of money, the Hisense QD7 is an excellent value.

Bad Bunny Super Bowl Halftime Show Easter eggs: 15 things you might have missed

Mon, 02/09/2026 - 12:41

Bad Bunny promised good vibes and a whole lot of dancing during his Super Bowl halftime show, and he didn’t disappoint. But beneath the perreo-ready hits and viral clips was something deeper.

The performance unfolded as a densely layered visual essay, moving from Puerto Rico's sugar cane fields to New York bodegas, from reggaetón history to quiet political protest, and packing decades of memory, migration, and resistance into just 13 minutes of television.

SEE ALSO: Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime show: See it now if you missed it

From set pieces referencing the island's ongoing infrastructure collapse following Hurricane Maria to cameos honoring small-business legends and community elders, nearly every frame carried meaning. Some references were immediately legible. Others were designed for the fans who know where to look.

It was a case of storytelling: a reminder that Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio didn't just bring Puerto Rico to the Super Bowl. He brought its history with him. Here are some of the Easter eggs you may have missed.

Returning to the roots of the sugar cane fields

Before fireworks, choreography, or surprise cameos, Bad Bunny began his Super Bowl halftime show in a quiet, sunlit sugar cane field, worlds away from the stadium spectacle to come.

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Sugar cane fields are deeply woven into Puerto Rico's history, tied to colonial exploitation and the agricultural labor of generations of working-class people. By opening the performance there, Bad Bunny grounded his global moment in the island's past, honoring the people whose work and resilience built Puerto Rico long before it became a cultural export. It was a reminder that everything that followed grew from this soil first.

Bad Bunny's "Ocasio 64" jersey carries history

When Bad Bunny stepped onto the Super Bowl stage in a custom Zara jersey stitched with the name "Ocasio" and the number "64," it immediately sparked speculation. The name referenced his full surname, Martínez Ocasio. The number, however, carried a heavier weight.

SEE ALSO: Bad Bunny's 'Ocasio 64' jersey meaning explained

On a personal level, "64" honors his late uncle, who once wore the same number as an athlete. But it also echoes the Puerto Rican government’s initial claim of just 64 deaths after Hurricane Maria in 2017 — a figure later revealed to be a devastating undercount.

Falling into YHLQMDLG

Midway through "Party," Bad Bunny plunged through the roof of the casita into a family's blue living room, a moment that felt both unexpected and deeply intentional.

The visual mirrored the aesthetic of his 2020 album YHLQMDLG, whose blue-hued visualizers defined an era fans never got to see live. The pandemic canceled that tour, making the Super Bowl moment a belated love letter to longtime listeners who’ve been riding with him since the beginning.

Toñita's surprise cameo

Among the star-studded spectacle, one of the night's most meaningful appearances belonged to someone far from the pop spotlight: Maria Antonia "Toñita" Cay, the beloved owner of Caribbean Social Club.

A fixture of Puerto Rican life in Williamsburg for decades, Toñita has been name-checked in Bad Bunny's lyrics and embraced by the Nuyorican community. Her presence in the show was about honoring the everyday institutions that keep culture alive.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. Victor Villa and the power of the side hustle

Another blink-and-you'll-miss-it guest was Victor Villa, the founder of Villa's Tacos. You'll see Benito pass a Villa's Tacos truck during "Tití Me Preguntó."

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Villa's journey — from selling tacos in his grandmother's yard to running acclaimed brick-and-mortar locations — mirrors Bad Bunny's own narrative of grassroots success. His cameo not only celebrated immigrant hustle but also spoke to Bad Bunny's larger message of believing in where you come from, a belief he made explicit when he told Super Bowl viewers that he never stopped believing in himself and that others should believe in themselves, too.

Coco frío and island street life

During "Tití Me Preguntó," Bad Bunny moved past dancers gathered around a coco frío cart, a small detail loaded with nostalgia. Fresh coconut water, sold by street vendors across Puerto Rico, is part of daily life on the island. By centering it in a Super Bowl spectacle, Bad Bunny elevated an ordinary ritual into a symbol of home.

"Gasolina" and the lineage of reggaetón

No, your ears did not deceive you. After blending "Yo Perreo Sola" and "Voy a Llevarte Pa’ PR," Bad Bunny pivoted into a snippet of "Gasolina" by Daddy Yankee, a defining anthem of the genre.

The track, inducted into the Library of Congress in 2023, helped globalize reggaetón in the 2000s. Bad Bunny's performance also sampled Tego Calderón's "Pa’ Que Retozen" and Don Omar's "Dale Don Dale," situating himself within a living musical lineage.

Concho the toad makes an appearance

Before launching into "Monaco," the camera cut to an image of Concho, the animated amphibian mascot of Bad Bunny's latest album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos. Modeled after the endangered Puerto Rican crested toad, Concho represents environmental fragility and cultural survival.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. Jíbaros, power lines, and "El Apagón"

Men in straw hats (pavas) and white clothing — jíbaros, Puerto Rico’s traditional mountain farmers — appeared climbing power lines, blending folklore with modern crisis.

Historically associated with rural life and folk music, jíbaros symbolize resilience. Here, their placement on broken infrastructure referenced post–Hurricane Maria privatization, rolling blackouts under LUMA Energy, and the economic displacement explored in the song "El Apagón." It was a visual essay on who gets left behind when "progress" arrives.

Ricky Martin's Spanish-language reclamation

When Ricky Martin joined to perform "Lo Que Pasó a Hawaii," the moment felt both nostalgic and quietly radical. For an artist long associated with English-language crossover hits like "Livin' la Vida Loca" and "She Bangs," returning to a Spanish-language ballad on the Super Bowl stage carried its own symbolism.

The song reflects on migration and loss. Singing entirely in Spanish, sitting in a monobloc chair, marked how far Latin music has pushed the mainstream. What once felt risky now feels inevitable.

The light blue flag of Puerto Rican independence

At one point, Bad Bunny held la bandera con azul celeste, the light-blue version of Puerto Rico's flag linked to the independence movement.

Once associated with calls for Puerto Rican sovereignty and traced back to pre-U.S. colonial revolts, the light-blue variant of the Puerto Rican flag has become a symbol of resistance and cultural pride. Historians identify azul celeste as the original shade tied to late-19th-century independence movements, and its use today often signals a deeper conversation about the island's identity.

Bad Bunny previously featured it in "La Mudanza," and bringing it to the Super Bowl transformed a political statement into a global broadcast.

A quiet nod to Haiti's visual history

In one of the show's most subtle visual callbacks, a woman waving Haiti's flag wore a green-and-orange ribbed knit top that closely echoed Jay Maisel's 1973 Haiti series, particularly "Haiti No. 59." The styling — easy to miss amid the spectacle — felt deliberately precise, mirroring the texture, color, and composition of Maisel's iconic image.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. Lady Gaga and the maga flower

Lady Gaga’s baby-blue dress, paired with a red floral brooch resembling Puerto Rico's national maga flower, was more than a fashion moment. Designed by Luar founder Raul Lopez, the look wove national symbolism into couture, reinforcing the night’s emphasis on Puerto Rican pride.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. "La Marqueta" and the roots of diaspora

During "NUEVAYoL," Bad Bunny walked past a New York–style streetscape featuring a storefront labeled "La Marqueta."

The real La Marqueta in East Harlem was once a hub for Latino immigrants, helping shape Spanish Harlem in the mid-20th century. Its inclusion honored the diaspora communities that carried Puerto Rican culture beyond the island — and brought it back, amplified, to the global stage.

"Together We Are America"

Toward the end of the halftime performance, Bad Bunny — notably speaking in English — said, "God Bless America." He then expanded the phrase to encompass all the countries of the Americas, not just the United States, re-framing it as a message of unity and belonging. Holding up a football emblazoned with "Together We Are America," he made the point explicit.

Then, switching back to Spanish, he added: "seguimos aquí" ("we’re still here"), before spiking the ball and launching into "DtMF." The moment crystallized the show's larger thesis: presence as resistance, visibility as power, and community as the foundation of everything.

Last-minute shopping for Valentines Day? Two of our Dyson beauty favorites are $150 off.

Mon, 02/09/2026 - 12:24
Best Dyson beauty deals Dyson Supersonic Nural $399.99 (save $150) Get Deal Dyson Airwrap i.d. $499.99 (save $150) Get Deal

Valentine's Day is less than a week away, but if you haven't bought a gift just yet, Dyson's giving last-minute shoppers a pretty sweet deal.

Well, technically two deals. As of Feb. 9, you can grab the Dyson Supersonic Nural hair dryer for $399.99, saving you $150 on the $549.99 list price. The same discount is also available on the Dyson Airwrap i.d. multi-styler, which comes down to $499.99 from its full price of $649.99.

At the time of writing, neither tool is on sale at Amazon, and while the Airwrap i.d. is on sale at Best Buy for the same price, the Supersonic Nural is still at full price. Sephora, on the other hand, has both the Airwrap i.d. and Supersonic Nural on sale, but only in the amber silk colorway, whereas Dyson's site offers more variety.

So which is the best to pick up for your boo (or yourself)? As Mashable's beauty tech expert, I broke it down below.

Dyson Airwrap i.d. deal Opens in a new window Credit: Dyson Dyson Airwrap i.d. $499.99 at Dyson
$649.99 Save $150   Get Deal Why we like it

I've tested every Supersonic model available, and while I maintain the supremacy Shark FlexStyle in a pure value sense, the Airwrap i.d. is the multi-styler that made me most get Dyson's popularity. Typically, the curling barrels on multi-stylers provide more of a blown out than truly curled look — and if your hair has trouble holding a style, the wave you do get might not last.

The Airwrap i.d. makes this process better by including a conical barrel in the attachments for tighter curls, and automatic temperature cycling — meaning the hair is hit with properly timed hot then cool air with the press of a button — making styling with this tool as mindless as it should be. In addition to the conical curling attachment, you'll get five more attachments (which vary slightly depending on whether you opt for the straight and wavy or curly and coily model).

Dyson Supersonic Nural deal Opens in a new window Credit: Dyson Dyson Supersonic Nural $399.99 at Dyson
$549.99 Save $150   Get Deal Why we like it

This is not the hair dryer for the dupe lover. This is the hair dryer for the person who rarely air drys, and wants one of the fastest and easiest hair dry experiences on the market. It comes with smart attachments that automatically adjust temperature and air speed, a scalp protect mode for closer and more comfortable drying, and automatic pausing. For textured hair folks, the diffuser has a removable center that's especially useful for pixie diffusing and maximizing your volume potential.

The giant 57-inch Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 curved gaming monitor is $800 off at Amazon

Mon, 02/09/2026 - 12:15

SAVE $800: The 57-inch Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 curved gaming monitor is on sale at Amazon for $1,499.99, down from the normal price of $2,299.99. That's a 35% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung 57-inch Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 curved gaming monitor $1,499.99 at Amazon
$2,299.99 Save $800.00   Get Deal

Sometimes, bigger is better. Think that bag of potato chips from Costco, getting upgraded to the seats with extra legroom on the plane, or streaming your favorite Olympic sports on a giant TV. The same can be applied to gaming on a giant monitor. If you need something bigger (and better), check out this Amazon deal.

As of Feb. 9, the 57-inch Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 curved gaming monitor is on sale for $1,499.99 at Amazon, marked down from the standard price of $2,299.99. That's a 35% discount that slashes $800 off the price.

So long as your computer desk has room, gaming on a giant 57-inch curved monitor could be incredible. Samsung makes some top-tier gaming monitors that'll massively level up your experience. Of course, it comes with a nice 240Hz refresh rate, a 1 millisecond response time, and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro. There's also something to be said about gaming on a Quantum Mini-LED display.

SEE ALSO: This stunning LG UltraGear gaming monitor is over $300 off at Amazon

Nice extras include the ergonomic stand from Samsung and the DisplayPort 2.1, HDMI 2.1, and USB hub. There's also the Samsung Picture-by-Picture feature which gives you access to viewing two sources at the same time in their native resolution.

While we're still in the depths of winter, upgrade your gaming set up with the 57-inch Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 curved gaming monitor. Since you'll be saving $800 thanks to Amazon's sale price, you'll be able to snag new game titles or maybe even an ultra-comfortable gaming chair.

YouTube puts lyrics behind a paywall

Mon, 02/09/2026 - 12:14

YouTube Music is rolling out new community-focused features aimed at superfans and expanding its use of paywalls, including a requirement that users subscribe to Premium to view full song lyrics.

According to reporting from 9to5Google, YouTube Music has begun enforcing a lyrics paywall globally after months of testing. Free users are now limited to viewing lyrics only a handful of times before being prompted to subscribe to either YouTube Premium or YouTube Music Premium. Once that limit is reached, lyrics are partially blurred and cannot be scrolled unless the user upgrades.

SEE ALSO: Google Maps adds Gemini to a major feature in new test

The company offers five free lyric views before the restriction takes effect, signaling a clear shift toward monetizing features that were previously free. Mashable reached out to YouTube for comment, but did not receive a response before publication.

The move comes as YouTube Music is simultaneously positioning itself as a more social and fandom-driven platform. As Mashable previously reported in August, the service recently introduced Spotify-like features such as comments on albums and playlists, shared "taste-matching" playlists that update daily, and artist-focused tools like milestone badges and live event notifications through a partnership with Bandsintown.

YouTube Music Premium currently costs $10.99 per month in the U.S., while the broader YouTube Premium subscription runs $13.99 and includes ad-free viewing across YouTube, background playback, offline downloads, and access to experimental AI features. Google has reported more than 325 million paid subscriptions across its consumer services, with YouTube playing a major role in that growth. In 2025 alone, YouTube generated more than $60 billion in revenue from ads and subscriptions combined.

Still, the decision to gate lyrics behind a paywall may feel like a step backward for some users, particularly as competitors like Spotify continue to offer full lyrics for free.

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