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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.

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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: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for May 16 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: Greenery

• Green: Termination

• Blue: Stubborn as a ____

• Purple: What a structure could be made of

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: Kinds of plants

• Green: Discontinue

• Blue: Associated with bulls

• Purple: Ending with building materials

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 #705 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Kinds of plants: HERB, SHRUB, TREE, VINE

• Discontinue: DISSOLVE, END, SCRAP, SUNSET

• Associated with bulls: MICHAEL JORDAN, RODEO, TAURUS, WALL STREET

• Ending with building materials: HOLLYWOOD, HOURGLASS, KUBRICK, NEUROPLASTIC

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 May 16

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.

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 preferrined pace.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for May 16 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for May 16 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: To a degree

The words are education-related.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words are things found at an educational ceremony.

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 Graduation

Featured Video For You Strands 101: How to win NYT’s latest word game NYT Strands word list for May 16

• Speech

• Diploma

• Photo

• Graduation

• Procession

• Tassel

• Gown

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.

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 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 today: Hints and answers for May 16 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's The Mini crossword answers for May 16, 2025 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

After the fourth.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

The letter F appears twice.

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...

FIFTH.

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.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for May 16

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.

Back in 2022, Panasonic released a men’s grooming tool called the MultiShape. It had a simple value proposition: Built with swappable heads, this multi-groomer lets you combine a beard trimmer, body groomer, electric razor, nose hair trimmer, and electric toothbrush into one gadget.

Three years later, I’m still using that same MultiShape on a near-daily basis. In that time, Panasonic has also introduced new accessories for this multi-groomer, including hair clipping tools, a facial brush, and an electric foot scrubber. Is it weird to brush your teeth and scrub your feet with the same device? Yup, and that's why I recommend choosing your accessories wisely.

We saw this men's multigroomer hit a new record-low price of $147 recently, and at the time of writing, you can get it for $170. Obviously, it's not as steep a price cut, but it's still $40 off full price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Panasonic Panasonic MultiShape Ultimate All-In-One Kit $170 at Panasonic
$210 Save $40 Get Deal What makes this grooming gadget unique?

After the MultiShape came out, I expected Philips-Norelco, Braun, and other big brands to launch similar multitools. However, it's still the only gadget that can go from electric toothbrush to beard trimmer to electric shaver. The MultiShape is also waterproof, so you can clean it pretty easily.

I use the MultiShape for daily shaving. Credit: Timothy Beck Werth / Mashable It's also one of the only beard trimmers that can trim long hair. Credit: Timothy Beck Werth / Mashable

When this product first came out, GQ called it a “god-tier” grooming tool. Whenever I write about the MultiShape, I reference that line because it pretty much sums up my experience. I’ve tested hundreds of grooming products. So. Many. Grooming. Products. I’m probably one of the few men in the world who has more beauty products than his female partner. A lot more. As I write this, I have a locker next to my desk filled to the brim with beard trimmers, beard oils, face moisturizers, retinol serums, face masks — you name it. The vast majority of these products I never recommend; I'm only looking for the rare exceptions.

I’ve written about the MultiShape a few times over the years, and it’s the grooming product I use more than any other. As someone with a longer beard, it’s one of the few beard trimmers that can handle longer hair. Popular trimmers from Philips-Norelco just don’t work for long facial hair, unfortunately. It’s also my everyday shaving tool. When I travel, I bring the electric toothbrush head. The other tools I use on more sensitive areas — like my ears — so I'll leave it at that.

Right now, you can grab a MultiShape all-in-one kit from Panasonic on sale for $170. You can also buy the MultiShape with a handful of pre-selected accessories at Amazon or build your own kit at Panasonic.

Best Panasonic MultiShape Kits All-in-one kit Panasonic MultiShape All-in-One Kit $150 (save $40 ) Get Deal For Amazon shoppers Panasonic MultiShape Trim and Shave Kit $87.09 (Save $42.90) Shop Now For guys without beards Panasonic MultiShape Clean Cut Shaver Kit $149.99 Shop Now For beard trimming Panasonic MultiShape Beard Trimmer Kit $79.99 Shop Now Build your own kit Panasonic MultiShape and accessories Starting at $85 Shop Now

With apologies to anyone hoping this prequel show might squeeze in a season 3 before the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Andor has reached its inevitable bittersweet conclusion.

Even the title of the last episode of season 2 now on Disney+ — "Jedha, Kyber, Erso" — reminds us of the tragic movie narrative in store for Cassian Andor (Diego Luna). That list (a planet, a crystal, an engineer) is what sucks Cassian, along with reprogrammed Imperial droid K-2SO (Alan Tudyk) and Andor's old prison buddy Melshi (Duncan Pow), into the hunt for those all-important Death Star plans, at the cost of all their lives.

So now we have a complete narrative, the longest unbroken one in the Star Wars franchise; call it the Death Star trilogy. Andor ends minutes before Rogue One, which itself ends minutes before the 1977 movie now known as Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope.

That's a lot of data tapes to take in at once, so here's a Yavin-style debrief that can handle your biggest burning questions.

What happens to Cassian next? Enjoy your last ever stroll, Captain Andor. Credit: Disney+

As his show ends, Captain Cassian Andor, Head of Rebel Intelligence (his full title, only used in Rogue One) is on his way to meet with a source named Tivik (Daniel Mays) on a deep-space trading outpost called Kafrene. Cassian knows Tivik already, from some time between the show's BBY time jumps — so don't worry, you didn't miss him in Andor.

Tivik is one of the informants that General Draven (Alistair Petrie) placed inside the increasingly paranoid team of rebels led by Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) on Jedha. The information he'll only give to Cassian is that an Imperial pilot has defected with a message from Galen Erso, engineer of a weapon that Tivik reveals for the first time is a "planet killer": the Death Star.

The meeting doesn't go well, as you may recall. Tivik is so anxious he draws the attention of Stormtroopers, and his broken arm means he can't climb out of their dead-end meeting place. Cassian is forced to kill Tivik along with the troopers — his most morally compromised action yet.

SEE ALSO: What is BBY? A guide to 'Andor' time

At the same time, Draven sends Melshi to extract Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), daughter of Death Star engineer Galen (Mads Mikkelsen), from an Imperial work camp on the planet Wobani. Andor meets Erso back on Yavin IV, then takes her to Jedha for a fateful meeting with Saw. The defecting pilot brought a message from Galen Erso, who reveals he's put a flaw in the Death Star.

That flaw can only be found in the data tapes housed on the Imperial planet of Scarif. Which is where Cassian and Jyn die, courtesy of a Death Star attack, having transmitted the plans that will find their way to Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), and ultimately save the Rebellion in A New Hope.

Was there a budding romance between Cassian and Jyn on that Scarif beach as they faced their doom, or just a close friendship? It's still an open-ended question, but Andor gives us reason to think Cassian actually had the love of his life on his mind as he was vaporized by the explosion.

What happens to Bix? Credit: Disney+

At the very end of Andor, we see Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona) back on the farming planet of Mina-Rau, where she and Cassian lived during the first three episodes of Season 2. Turns out this was the secret location where she fled a year before, BBY 2, to stop getting in the way of Cassian's essential work for the Rebellion.

Not very secret, in other words — suggesting that she was torn about her selfless act, and wanted Cassian to find her easily. This gives fresh poignancy to what Vel (Faye Marsay) tells Cassian in the final episode of Andor, that he should look her up. He promises to do so after his next mission (sob!).

As she searches the sky for a love who will never return, Bix also has the show's final surprise in her arms: her child, and yes, definitely Cassian's. We don't know anything about the child, not even its gender, so it's possible this is a character that will crop up in future Star Wars entertainment.

For now, think of the scene as mirroring the final shot of Rogue One. The child in Bix's arms, like the Death Star plans in Leia's hands, provides a new hope.

What about Cassian's sister?

Before his final fateful walk on Yavin at the end of Andor — during which he sees the Force healer one last time — Cassian has a dream where he sees his long-lost sister as she was back on his home world, Kenari. The entire narrative of Andor began with him chasing down reports of a Kenari woman on the industrial planet of Morlani.

So, has he found her or not?

SEE ALSO: 'Andor' showrunner Tony Gilroy explains how the Force just awakened

Given that Cassian just helped rescue Luthen's assistant Kleya (Elizabeth Dulau) and her vital information on Erso, and given that we learned Kleya (in season 2, episode 10) was found by Luthen as a war orphan on an unnamed planet at around the same age as Cassian's sister, you might be forgiven for thinking they're one and the same. But that's not the case.

"His sister died on Kenari," Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy confirmed to Mashable. "Her absence is much more valuable as a motivator" for Cassian, in order to give him a "savior complex" that drives him to rescue people whenever he can — including Kleya, a character Gilroy intended to reveal as the real brains behind Luthen's nascent rebel network.

What happens to Saw Gerrera and the rest of the rebels?

"We're running on fumes," Tivik tells Cassian in that fateful meeting at the start of Rogue One. He's talking about Saw Gerrera's ragtag operation on Jedha, which receives only suspicion, not aid, from rebel HQ on Yavin.

We thought Tivik was just talking metaphorically — but now, thanks to Andor, there's a literal meaning too. Saw is addicted to the fumes given off by rhydonium or "rhydo," a volatile fuel for starships, which explains his need for a breathing apparatus in Rogue One.

Saw also appears to be inducting newcomers by making them inhale rhydo, on the grounds that "revolution is not for the sane" and that the rebels need to be more like rhydo themselves — "the thing that explodes when there's too much friction in the air."

As crazy as he is, Saw is not wrong: With the fast-approaching completion of the Death Star, the Rebellion needs more friction in order to explode it.

SEE ALSO: 'The galaxy is watching!' How 'Andor' connects to a history of protest

We saw Cassian's information meet with distrust on Yavin, where Senators including Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) and Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits in Rogue One, Benjamin Bratt in Andor). In Rogue One, they're still inclined to capture Galen Erso so he can testify before the Senate, which wouldn't have done any good (the Emperor disbands the Senate in A New Hope). So, General Draven goes rogue himself, ordering Cassian to kill Galen.

Saw dies with a smile on his face, casting aside his oxygen mask as the explosion from the Death Star's destruction of an ancient city on Jedha reaches his compound. Bail Organa, having gone home to tell his people of the Death Star, is killed when Alderaan is the first to be entirely wiped out by the planet-killer. Draven, according to the canon storyline in Star Wars comics, is killed helping rebels escape from Darth Vader a year after the Death Star's destruction.

Mon Mothma survives as Commander-in-Chief of the Rebellion, coordinating the attack on the second Death Star in Return of the Jedi. Her famous line, "Many Bothans died to bring us this information," now bears a lot more weight considering all the people who died in Andor bringing her news of the first one.

What happens to Orson Krennic and the rest of the Imperials?

"I was due on Scarif two hours ago," Death Star director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) tells Imperial Security Bureau honcho Lio Partagaz (Anton Lesser) during Krennic's final dialogue scene in Andor. Scarif, home to all information on the Death Star, is where Krennic dies at the hands of Jyn in Rogue One. He lives just long enough to see the Death Star appear in orbit above the planet.

But Krennic is not going directly to his doom on Scarif. First comes the scene where we see him at the end of Andor, watching the Death Star's final component being hauled into place. He's confronted here by Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing, or at least the creepy Rogue One CGI version), who takes the Death Star out from under Krennic's control after its first live test on Jedha City.

Krennic then seeks a meeting with Darth Vader, hoping the Dark Lord of the Sith can intercede with the Emperor; he's desperate for Death Star credit. But there is no honor among Imperials, and a mortally wounded Krennic is wiped out on Scarif by Tarkin's hand. Partagaz, meanwhile, has taken his own life rather than face up to the Emperor's displeasure at letting Kleya go.

SEE ALSO: 'Andor' creator on Lucasfilm censoring f-bomb: 'They were right.'

Syril (Kyle Soller), of course, died back in the genocide on Ghorman in episode 8, abandoned by Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) just as he was starting to figure out what the Empire was doing; Dedra had just learned about the Death Star herself.

Of the Imperial figures we've been following in Andor, Dedra is the only survivor — albeit in the same kind of prison where Cassian found himself in season 1. Presumably she stays there for the next three years, during which time the Empire needs more prison labor to construct the second Death Star; she may, if she's lucky, survive long enough to see the Republic founded in its ashes.

If Andor and the rest of the Death Star trilogy tells us anything, then, it's that working for the Empire is unlikely to lead to any more longevity than working for the Rebellion. If you're heading for prison or an early death anyway, you may as well be on the side of the good guys.

Andor is now streaming on Disney+.

Apple's CarPlay has been a part of our lives for more than a decade, and the feature just got its biggest upgrade in a long time.

The company announced in a press release that CarPlay Ultra, which was first teased all the way back in 2022 (hat tip to our friends at Lifehacker for remembering that), is finally available. Some Apple fans had assumed the feature would never see a release.

This is an upgraded version of CarPlay with some really interesting bells and whistles, but the main thing to know upfront is that the only way to use it right now is to order a new Aston Martin vehicle in the U.S. and Canada. Existing Aston Martin models with the proper tech inside of them will get CarPlay Ultra in an update "in the coming weeks," while Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia have all agreed to incorporate it over time.

In other words, relatively few people will get to experience CarPlay Ultra in the near term, which is unfortunate because it does sound pretty useful.

SEE ALSO: Trump to Tim Cook: I don't want you building iPhones in India

The big addition here is the ability for CarPlay to take over every screen in a car, as opposed to using up one main display or just part of a display. That means you can put pertinent information like a GPS route, what music you're listening to, and other UI elements on the screen behind the steering wheel, for instance, so that info lives directly next to your fuel gauge and speedometer. Theoretically, it sounds much easier to keep your eyes on the road this way.

Apple said it will also work with auto manufacturers to come up with appropriate visual themes for different cars. Luckily, the wait for CarPlay Ultra to come to other vehicles isn't astronomically large; according to Apple, it will roll out to other cars globally in the next 12 months.

If you're trying to load or watch videos on TikTok and it's not refreshing quite right, you're not alone.

So, is TikTok down? It sure seems like it.

Around 4:08 EST on May 15, users started noticing that things were not quite right on the TikTok app, according to Down Detector. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis owns both Mashable and Down Detector.) By around 5 p.m. EST, more than 33,000 users reported errors with their TikTok app on Down Detector.

When Mashable tried to bring up TikTok, we were able to load some videos, but only intermittently. We also repeatedly received loading screens.

Credit: Screenshot courtesy of Timothy Beck Werth Credit: Screenshot courtesy of Timothy Beck Werth

Meanwhile, users on X are not happy.

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It's unclear what, exactly, is causing the app to glitch. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Mashable.

We'll update this post if we receive more information. In the meantime, you can check Down Detector for the latest user error reports.

While TikTok was briefly banned in the United States earlier this year, we have no reason to believe this outage is related to that ongoing political dispute.

Waymo recently recalled 1,212 of its self-driving taxis, according to the Alphabet-owned company.

The recalled cars, which comprised the entirety of the company's fleet at the time, received a software update in November designed to significantly decrease the likelihood that Waymos would collide with stationary objects.

Last May, the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into Waymo for 22 reported incidents in which its AVs collided with objects like gates, chains, and parked vehicles. The cars also appeared to disobey traffic safety control devices. 

The accidents occurred at low speeds and didn't result in injuries. NHTSA's investigation remains open.

SEE ALSO: Smooth, silent, strange: What it's really like to hail a robotaxi

Waymo voluntarily submitted the recall. It does not affect Waymo's current operations, which include providing rides in cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin. Waymo currently logs 250,000 paid trips every week.

"We hold ourselves to a high safety standard, and our record of reducing injuries over tens of millions of fully autonomous miles driven shows our technology is making roads safer," a Waymo spokesperson said in a statement to Mashable. "NHTSA plays a vital role in road safety, and we will continue to work collaboratively with the agency as part of our mission to be the world's most trusted driver."

As AV companies like Waymo bring their self-driving cars to cities across the U.S., experts say unexpected safety issues may emerge.

Waymo recently published research comparing its vehicles to human drivers and found its driverless technology led to far fewer pedestrian-injuring crashes.

Plaintiffs in the landmark Kadrey v. Meta case have already submitted the U.S. Copyright Office's controversial AI report as evidence in their copyright infringement suit against the tech giant.

Last Friday, the Copyright Office quietly released a "pre-publication version" of its views on the use of copyrighted works to train generative AI models. The consequential report contained bad news for AI companies hoping to claim the fair use legal doctrine as a defense in court.

Less than a day after the report was published, Shira Perlmutter, the head of the Copyright Office, was fired by President Donald Trump. It's still unclear exactly why Perlmutter was fired, but the move alarmed some copyright lawyers, as Mashable previously reported.

And on May 12, the plaintiffs in Kadrey v Meta, which includes artists and authors such as Junot Diaz, Sarah Silverman, and Ta-Nehisi Coates, submitted the report as an exhibit in their class action lawsuit.

What's in the U.S. Copyright Office's AI report?

The Office's report was the conclusion of a three-part investigation into copyright law and artificial intelligence, which it calls uncharted legal territory. The "Copyright and Artificial Intelligence Part 3: Generative AI Training" report examined exactly the type of legal issues at stake in Kadrey v Meta.

While some copyright lawyers and Democratic politicians have speculated the report led to Perlmutter's firing, there are other possible explanations. In a blog post, copyright lawyer Aaron Moss said "it’s more likely that the Office raced to release the report before a wave of leadership changes could delay — or derail — its conclusions."

The report addressed in detail the four factors of the fair use doctrine. Meta and other AI companies are being sued for using copyrighted works to train their AI models, and Meta in particular has claimed this activity should be protected under fair use.

The lengthy 113-page report spends around 50 pages delving into the nuances of fair use, citing historic legal cases that ruled for and against fair use. It doesn't goes as far as making any blanket conclusions, but its analysis generally favors copyright holders over AI companies and their unprecedented stockpiling of data for model training.

The Copyright Office's stance on the white hot issue doesn't line up with the wishes of Big Tech titans, who have cozied up to the Trump Administration. In general, President Trump has taken a pro-tech approach to AI regulation.

The plaintiffs in the Kadrey v. Meta case are clearly hoping the report could tip the scale in their favor. The lawyers who submitted the report as evidence on Monday didn't explain in detail why it was submitted as a "Statement of Supplemental Authority." The brief simply said, "the Report addresses several key issues discussed in the parties’ respective motions regarding the use of copyrighted works in the development of generative AI systems and application of the fair use doctrine."

AI models can harm creative markets, Copyright Office finds The controversial AI copyright report could tip the scales for the case against Meta. Credit: wildpixel / iStock / Getty Images

The part of the report that's potentially the most damning for Meta is the Copyright Office's assessment of the fourth factor of fair use, which considers the effects on current or future markets.

"The use of pirated collections of copyrighted works to build a training library, or the distribution of such a library to the public, would harm the market for access to those works," said the pre-publication version of the report.

The analysis also considers possible market dilution for authors. "If thousands of AI-generated romance novels are put on the market, fewer of the human-authored romance novels that the AI was trained on are likely to be sold. Royalty pools can also be diluted," the report stated. In addition, the plaintiffs have argued that Meta's use of piracy to access the authors' books deprived them of licensing opportunities.

For its part, Meta argues that its AI model Llama doesn't compete with the authors' market, and that the model's transformative output makes the fair use argument irrelevant.

While the report favors the plaintiffs' argument, we don't know if the judge in the case will agree. And because this is a pre-publication version, it could be edited or even rescinded by a future leader at the Copyright Office.

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.

The government showed hundreds of internal documents as it sought to prove that the social media company bought Instagram and WhatsApp to neutralize a threat.

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The inquiry continued even after the commission dropped a lawsuit accusing Coinbase of illegally marketing digital currencies to the public.

Though 2025 won't mark the return of astronauts into deep space as NASA had hoped, launchpads still will be scorching-hot from a procession of robotic spacecraft attempting to land on the moon. 

How many of these moon landings will succeed? Will the number top the two-ish (one of which made a heckuva comeback) last year? 

Giant commercial rockets, such as SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origin's New Glenn, will likely also have several uncrewed orbital test launches as they iron out the kinks in their hardware. And while people await scientific missions to distant solar system destinations, a few probes will send home close-up pictures of planets as they snag gravitational boosts from flybys. 

Here's a round-up of space missions and cosmic events just around the bend. Bookmark this calendar and look for updates from Mashable throughout the year. 

SEE ALSO: NASA leader doubts Elon Musk will push Trump to axe moon rocket BepiColombo makes final Mercury flyby: Jan. 8

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

But BepiColombo, a joint mission of the European and Japanese space agencies, seeks to change that. The spacecraft makes its sixth and final flyby on Jan. 8 before returning to enter orbit around the planet in late 2026. Closest approach will take the spacecraft just 160 miles above the surface of Mercury. Mission controllers will release images of the event on Jan. 9.

Two moon landers on one rocket: Jan. 15

Two small uncrewed spacecraft, one of which is carrying several NASA instruments, will try to land on the moon with a boost from the same rocket. 

Both Firefly Aerospace and Japan's ispace will ride a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket slated to leave Earth as early as 1:11 a.m. ET Jan. 15. Firefly's Blue Ghost lander was originally scheduled to lift off in late 2024, and the launch will mark its maiden voyage. The spacecraft is slated to travel for 45 days before trying to touch down in early March. 

Firefly's flight will be the first Commercial Lunar Payload Services mission of the year. The NASA program has recruited vendors from the private sector to help deliver instruments to the moon and send back crucial data.

Ispace's new Hakuto-R mission will be its second try, after it ran out of fuel and crashed on the lunar surface in April 2023. The Resilience lander, a partnership with Japan's space agency JAXA, is taking a long way to the moon to save on fuel, arriving about four to five months after launch.

Blue Origin's first flight for New Glenn: Jan. 16

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will soon get a chance to see his giant rocket New Glenn launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida. 

His aerospace company Blue Origin started a countdown on Jan. 13, but launch controllers waved off the opportunity when a technical issue arose. The company will try again no earlier than Jan. 16, targeting a three-hour launch window that opens at 1 a.m. ET.

Blue Origin's goal is to reach orbit, and the company will also try to land its booster on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean so that it can be reused on future flights, though executives admit doing so would be "ambitious" on the first try. 

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. SpaceX tests upgraded Starship: Jan. 16

SpaceX is preparing to launch another uncrewed Starship test, this time with an upgraded spacecraft and 10 mock satellites to practice a payload deployment in space. 

This SpaceX launch would mark the seventh Starship test and feature a reused engine from the booster returned from the fifth test. Weather-related postponements have made it possible that Starship and Blue Origin's New Glenn will lift off for these tests on the same day. Starship's one-hour launch window opens at 4:00 p.m. CT.

NASA moon rover and orbiter delivery: Feb. 26

Intuitive Machines made history last year as the first company to reach the moon intact — though its lander, Odysseus, broke a landing leg and touched down tilted. 

The Houston-based company is now gearing up for a second moon landing — this time with the Athena lander. The mission, referred to as IM-2 or PRIME-1, will carry a NASA rover. The spacecraft will test a drill and mass spectrometer, a device that identifies the kinds of particles in a substance. Liftoff is targeted for a four-day launch window that opens no earlier than 7:02 p.m. ET Feb. 26.

Another spacecraft, NASA's Lunar Trailblazer, will also hitch a ride on this flight. The small satellite will orbit the moon to map out the locations of lunar water. 

Europa Clipper flies by Mars: March 1

After a successful October 2024 launch, the Europa Clipper spacecraft has been hurtling through space. It's on schedule to make its first flyby of Mars on March 1, where it will get a gravity assist to continue its journey. Its closest approach to the Red Planet is expected at 12:57 p.m. ET, when it will zip 550 miles above the Martian surface. The probe won't arrive at Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, for its mission until 2030. 

Scientists are intrigued by Europa because they believe it could hold double the water held by Earth's oceans. Could this small world in the outer solar system have conditions capable of supporting life? If NASA finds that Europa is a habitable place, a second Europa mission could return to determine if there are indeed any inhabitants. 

Firefly attempts moon landing: March 2 This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Following a successful launch in January, Firefly Aerospace will target a robotic landing in the Mare Crisium region of the moon, an ancient hardened lava flow, no earlier than 2:34 a.m. CT on March 2. Prior to descent onto the surface, NASA and Firefly intend to broadcast commentary, starting at 1:20 a.m. CT that morning. However, the broadcast will not include a live video stream of the spacecraft.

"Our available bandwidth will be dedicated to critical descent operations during landing," Firefly officials said on X, formerly called Twitter. 

Landing on the moon remains onerous. The moon's exosphere provides virtually no drag to slow a spacecraft down as it approaches the ground. Furthermore, there are no GPS systems on the moon to help guide a craft to its landing spot.

Blue Ghost shared a ride on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Japanese company ispace, which will try to land on the moon after a failed attempt in 2023. Its Resilience lander is taking a longer route than Blue Ghost to save on fuel, arriving in May or June. 

Intuitive Machines attempts moon landing: March 6

On the heels of Firefly Aerospace's moon landing attempt, competitor space company Intuitive Machines will try to touch down just four days later.

The landing is slated for 11:32 a.m. CT on March 6. Intuitive Machines will provide live event coverage, starting at 10:30 a.m. CT / 11:30 a.m. ET. The company's lander, Athena, will attempt to descend on Mons Mouton, a plateau at the moon's south pole. Before landing, the spacecraft is expected to orbit the moon for about one week.

SpaceX tests Starship following explosion: March 6

Coming off the heels of a Starship test that ended in an explosion and a scrubbed launch on March 3, SpaceX will try to fly the rocket and empty spacecraft again as early as 5:30 p.m. CT March 6. 

The upcoming launch will be the eighth for Starship and feature several hardware changes following January's mishap. During the previous test, two flashes occurred near one of the ship's engines shortly after booster separation. A post-flight investigation determined that strong vibrations led to fuel leaks that were too much for the ship's vents to handle, leading to fires that eventually triggered the flight termination system. 

Launch of new astrophysics observatory: March 11 This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

NASA intends to launch an astrophysics observatory to create a map of the entire sky in 3D. The mission, SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer), will orbit Earth while studying hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies, showing them in 102 invisible "colors." 

One of the main goals of the mission is to learn more about cosmic inflation, a brief but crucial phase of the Big Bang that contributed to the universe's expansion. It will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California as early as 11:10 p.m. ET on March 11. Live launch coverage will begin at 10:15 p.m. ET. NASA’s PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) probe is hitching a ride on the same rocket and will be the first to image the sun’s corona and solar wind together to better understand them as a connected system.  

European spacecraft Hera flies by Mars: March 12

Back in 2022, NASA deliberately crashed a spacecraft into a harmless asteroid to practice thwarting a space rock, should a hazardous one ever be on a collision course with Earth.

The European Space Agency is providing a follow-up to that test, known as Hera. The mission's spacecraft launched in October 2024 and will rendezvous with Dimorphos, the slammed asteroid, in 2026. But this March, it will also have a quick pop-in with Mars, closest approach at 7:51 a.m. ET, and one of the Red Planet's two moons, Deimos. Mission controllers will use the opportunity to collect data on the Martian moon. The agency plans to host a webcast image release from the flyby at 6:50 a.m. ET the next day, March 13.

Boeing astronaut crew returns home: March 18

Two astronauts whose eight-day visit to the International Space Station turned into a more than eight-month layover are expected to return to Earth in March. 

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been waiting for their ride since the space agency decided not to send them home on the spaceship they rode in on. That test vehicle, Boeing's Starliner, landed empty without any problems, but NASA hadn't wanted to risk it after the capsule experienced propulsion issues in space. 

The pair was supposed to return in a SpaceX Dragon capsule in February, but NASA announced at the end of 2024 that the flight would likely be pushed back to March. Wilmore and Williams, who were integrated into Crew-9, will fly back to Earth after the next crew arrives at the space station, allowing for a brief hand-off period. Crew-10 launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on March 14. Due to weather concerns later in the week, NASA has decided to move up the Crew-9 return. Their spaceship is expected to undock at 1:05 a.m. ET on March 18. A splashdown landing would follow at about 5:57 p.m. ET that evening.

Katy Perry and others head to space: April 14

Blue Origin will send an all-female crew to the edge of space in its next civilian astronaut mission. The flight will be the eleventh carrying passengers on the New Shepard rocket to the Kármán line, where Earth's atmosphere and outer space meet.

Katy Perry, CBS Mornings' Gayle King, and Jeff Bezos' fiancée Lauren Sánchez will join former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, bioastronautics scientist and social activist Amanda Nguyen, and fashion designer-turned-film producer Kerianne Flynn on the trip. The NS-31 mission will target liftoff from the company's private West Texas launch pad at 8:30 a.m. CT / 9:30 a.m. ET on April 14. Check back here for details about the webcast as the launch approaches. 

Lucy spacecraft flies by asteroid: April 20 This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

NASA launched the Lucy spacecraft on a grand 12-year asteroid tour last fall with plans to fly by several space rocks that share Jupiter’s orbit. On April 20, Lucy will encounter a small main-belt asteroid, Donaldjohanson, as a sort of test sequence before it visits seven Trojan asteroids. The asteroid, called DJ for short, is only 2.5 miles wide, with an extremely slow rotation that takes more than 10 days to complete. 

Peak of Lyrids meteor shower: April 21-22

Meteor showers happen every year or at regular intervals as Earth passes through the dusty wake of previous comets. Each time a comet zips through the inner solar system, the sun boils off some of its surface, leaving behind a trail of debris. When the planet intersects with the old comet detritus, the result can be a spectacular show, with sometimes up to hundreds of meteors visible per hour. The debris that creates the Lyrid meteor shower originates from comet Thatcher. The Lyrids, best viewed from the Northern Hemisphere, will be active from April 17 to 26.

Peak of Eta Aquariids meteor shower: May 3-4

The Eta Aquariids meteor shower, best viewed from the southern tropics, produces strong "persistent trains" of shooting stars. The shower is the first of two each year created by Halley's Comet debris. The celestial event will be active from April 20 to May 21.

Twin spacecraft go to Mars: no earlier than spring

A NASA-funded science mission seeks to get to the bottom of how solar radiation strips away the tattered Martian atmosphere. Called Escapade, the mission will involve two Mars orbiters built by Rocket Lab.

The flight was previously scheduled for October aboard Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket, which would have been its first launch. But, as rockets are wont to do, the inaugural flight was delayed. NASA and Blue Origin are now in talks for a new launch date for that mission, no earlier than spring 2025.

Japanese company tries moon landing: June 5 This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

After a failed attempt in April 2023, Japan's ispace will try to land an uncrewed robotic spacecraft on the moon and deliver a rover to its surface. 

The Hakuto-R mission is gearing up for a landing near the center of Mare Frigoris at 3:24 p.m. ET on June 5 (It will be June 6 for Japan). Livestream coverage will begin about one hour earlier, at 2:15 p.m. ET, with English translation. If conditions change, the company has identified three other potential sites for its lander, dubbed Resilience. The alternative locations have different landing dates and times. 

Private astronauts fly to ISS: June 8

Private astronauts will launch to the International Space Station for Axiom Space's fourth mission. Four crew members will launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, as early as 9:11 a.m. ET on June 8. The commercial space company has said this mission will consist of about 60 scientific studies on the effects of spaceflight on the body and how to improve health and medical treatments on Earth.

When Axiom flew its first private mission in 2022, it redefined the word "astronaut." For decades, that title was reserved for government space pilots and crew. More recently, uber-rich space tourists earned the distinction by breaching Earth's atmosphere. But with Axiom's private mission came a third possible description: Someone privately trained and sent into space to perform commercial scientific research. Axiom crews receive 750 to over 1,000 hours of training. 

Peak of Delta Aquariids meteor shower: July 29-30

The Delta Aquariids are another shower best observed from the southern tropics. Conditions will be favorable for viewing meteors in the morning. Astronomers suspect the interacting debris causing the event came from the strange Comet Machholz. The event will be active from July 18 to Aug. 12. 

Peak of Perseids meteor shower: Aug. 12-13 Perseids meteors streak across the sky over Bishop, California, in 2024. Credit: NASA / Preston Dyches

The popular Perseids, made up of remnants of comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, is usually a spectacular show for the Northern Hemisphere. The meteor shower is active from July 17 to Aug. 23. But don't get your hopes up this year: Experts say the waning gibbous moon, more than 80 percent full, will allow only the brightest meteors to be seen. 

Europe's Juice spacecraft flies by Venus: Aug. 31

The European Space Agency's so-called Juice mission is scheduled to fly by Venus on Aug. 31, though exact times and distances will be determined closer to the event. "Juice" is a wonky acronym for Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer.

The mission will study Jupiter's moons, including Europa, Callisto, and particularly Ganymede. These moons have intrigued scientists for years because they're thought to have liquid oceans trapped beneath icy shells. Before reaching Jupiter, the spacecraft will make flybys of Earth and Venus to get enough energy to slingshot to the outer solar system, reaching Jupiter in 2031.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. Astrobotic attempts moon landing, again: fall

Astrobotic Technologies tried to become the first commercial company to land on the moon last year, but it lost its chance just a few hours into the flight because of a fuel leak. The company will try again this fall with its Griffin lander. 

Originally, this mission was supposed to carry a NASA rover to drill for ice at the lunar south pole. But VIPER — short for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover — was canceled due to cost overruns. Griffin will still launch without the rover as a flight demonstration of the lander and engines.

Peak of Orionid meteor shower: Oct. 22-23

The Orionids meteor shower marks the return of activity caused by Halley's Comet debris. In recent years, the displays have been pretty lackluster, but a waning crescent moon rising near dawn means moonlight won't obscure the shower in 2025. The celestial event will run from Oct. 2 to Nov. 12.

Peak of Southern Taurids meteor shower: Nov. 3-4

The Southern Taurids make up a complex meteor shower. Usually, the displays are weak, but Taurid meteors are more numerous sometimes. Known as a "swarm year," 2025's event could offer more fireballs as Earth plows through a group of pebble-sized fragments from the Comet Encke. But given the moon's phase, there's a good chance moonlight will interfere with viewing most Taurids. Activity will go from Oct. 13 to Nov. 27. 

A Dream Chaser spaceplane, Tenacity, is expected to launch to the International Space Station in 2025. Credit: Sierra Space Peak of the Leonids meteor shower: Nov. 16-17

The Leonids are some of the fastest-moving meteors, traveling up to 44 miles per second. The debris that causes the show comes from Comet Tempel-Tuttle, but the displays are usually pretty weak. The exceptions are years when the showers become so-called "meteor storms," but that won't likely happen again until perhaps 2035. The shower will be active from Nov. 3 to Dec. 2. 

Peak of Geminids meteor shower: Dec. 12-13

Widely regarded as the best meteor shower of the year, the Geminids can be seen from most any part of the world, especially the Northern Hemisphere. The Geminids are denser meteors, allowing stargazers to see them as low as 29 miles above ground before the cosmic dust burns up. The shower will be active between Dec. 1 and 21.

This year the moon will have a waning crescent phase, which rises around 2 a.m. local time. Prior to that, views should be moon-free. You could glimpse bright meteors by facing a direction with the moon at your back, according to the American Meteor Society.

Peak of Ursids meteor shower: Dec. 21-22

The Ursid meteors are caused by debris from Tuttle's Comet, which orbits every 13 years. This shower, often overlooked because of its close timing to Christmas, can only be observed in the Northern Hemisphere. Because of a new moon at the shower's peak, moonlight won't interfere with the show. The event will be active from Dec. 16 to 26. 

Other possible missions in 2025

• Sierra Space has been working on a spacecraft with the nostalgia of NASA's space shuttle program. Dream Chaser, a cargo space plane capable of runway landings, is set to launch for the first time to the ISS for a resupply mission sometime this year. 

• Following Intuitive Machines' second mission in early 2025, the company will shoot for another later in 2025 or early in 2026. If successful, the lunar landing mission, IM-3 or PRISM, will deploy rovers and study a so-called "lunar swirl."

• NASA is teaming up with India's space agency on a mission to study Earth's land and ice, involving the NISAR satellite, which will scan all of the planet's surfaces twice every 12 days to measure changes. The satellite will launch from the Indian Space Research Organisation's space port, the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, on India's southeastern coast. It was supposed to liftoff this spring, but neither agency has provided an update on the mission's status.

Controllers switched frequencies and planes were “safely separated,” officials said. The 90-second outage on Monday followed communications problems at Newark airport.

SAVE $151: Walmart's onn. 50-inch 4K Roku TV is on sale for just $178 as of May 15. That's nearly 50% off its list price of $329.

Opens in a new window Credit: onn. onn. 50-inch 4K Roku TV $178 at Walmart
$329 Save $151 Get Deal

There's two kinds of people in the world: those who splurge on fancy specs and those who opt for the cheapest model they can find that'll still get the job done. I fall into that second category.

Nearly three years ago, I moved to a new place and needed a bigger (and newer) TV to fill the space a bit better than my old 32-inch model from college (don't judge me). I ended up grabbing the onn. 50-inch 4K Roku TV, which is Walmart's own TV brand, because it was on sale for only $238. After years of watching endless hours of New Girl and literally hundreds of NHL games, I can honestly say I love this thing. It's reliable, looks great, and is equipped with the best smart TV platform (in my opinion), Roku TV. The one thing I don't love? It's now way cheaper than when I bought it.

As of May 15, the onn. 50-inch 4K Roku TV is on sale for an outrageously low $178. That's nearly 50% off the list price of $329 and $60 less than when I found it on sale back in 2022.

Specs wise, the Walmart brand TV isn't anything spectacular, but if you just want a way to stream your favorite shows, movies, and sports, you probably won't care. It's equipped with 4K UHD and HDR10, so it looks good to the average viewer. It's compatible with Apple AirPlay, Apple Home, Google Home, and Alexa, includes plenty of connections for your peripherals (3 HDMI inputs, 1 composite, 1 USB, 1 LAN, 1 coaxial/cable, 1 optical, and 1 headphone jack), and can be set up in minutes. The sound isn't going to wow you, but you can always connect external speakers or a soundbar to boost it up a few notches like I did. With all the money you'll save on the TV itself, you can splurge on a sound system.

If you're concerned about buying a Walmart brand TV instead of a well-known brand like LG or TCL, a two-year limited warranty should ease your mind. Plus, mine has been kicking for nearly three years and I've never had a single complaint or issue. If you're like me and don't care much about specs and just want something reliable, it's going to be hard to beat a 50-inch 4K TV for only $178.

The best TV deals to shop this week

• Roku Ultra 4K Ultimate Streaming Player (2024 Release) — $79.99 (List Price $99.99)

• Amazon Fire TV 4-Series (43 inches, 2024) — $269.99 (List Price $329.99)

• 55-inch Sony Bravia 3 4K LED Smart Google TV (2024 Model) — $578.00 (List Price $699.99)

• LG 65-inch Class UR9000 Series 4K Smart TV — $496.99 (List Price $629.99)

• Hisense 85-Inch Class U8 Series Mini-LED ULED 4K UHD Google Smart TV — $1,697.96 (List Price $1999.96)

The biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States just confirmed that it was hacked.

On Thursday, Coinbase confirmed that their systems were breached by unauthorized users and that internal company documents along with customers' personal data were accessed. The company was made aware of the breach via an email from the threat actor on May 11.

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

Coinbase disclosed that in the email that the company received from the hackers was a demand for a $20 million ransom in exchange for not publicly leaking the stolen data. Coinbase says it will not pay the ransom and will instead establish a $20 million reward fund for anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the criminals behind the breach. The company also said it's cooperating with law enforcement.

The news of a data breach at Coinbase was first disclosed in legally required filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

Coinbase believes the intrusion occurred after cyber criminals recruited a group of overseas contractors and support agents. Coinbase detected workers with authorization to access its systems "accessing data without business need." 

The crypto exchange says it immediately fired contractors who were involved with the breach and warned customers whose information was accessed.

Less than 1 percent of the exchange's monthly transacting users have been affected by the breach, according to Coinbase. Based on previous company filings regarding its user data, that means around 100,000 Coinbase users were affected.

According to Coinbase, no user login credentials such as passwords, personal keys, crypto wallets, or exchange funds were accessed.

However, the affected data is still quite concerning. Coinbase says the hackers obtained names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of its users. In addition, customers' masked bank account numbers, photos of government IDs such as driver's licenses and passports, as well as the last four digits of social security numbers were stolen. Furthermore, the bad actors accessed certain user account data such as balance snapshots and transaction history.

As for company information, Coinbase says the hackers received limited corporate data such as training materials, support agent communications, as well as other internal documents.

In a video statement posted by Coinbase CEO Brain Armstrong, the Coinbase head describes changes being made to ensure a similar breach doesn't happen again. For example, the company is revamping its customer support systems and relocating its customer support operations as a result of the breach.

Armstrong also pledged to reimburse any customers who were socially engineered due to the breach and lost funds as a result.

SAVE $30: As of May 15, get the Google Nest Security Cam for $69.99, down from its usual price of $99.99. That's a discount of 30% and the lowest price we've seen.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Google Nest Security Cam (Wired) $69.99 at Amazon
$99.99 Save $30 Get Deal

If you want to make sure everything is copacetic around your home, it's a good idea to invest in a security camera. Just to see what's going on when you don't want to get up and look outside, or when you're away. And here's the good news: you don't to spend a bonkers amount of money on one if you're ready to make a purchase. Not if you shop at Amazon right now, anyway.

As of May 15, get the Google Nest Security Cam for $69.99, down from its usual price of $99.99. That's $30 off and a discount of 30%. It's also the lowest price we've seen. This price applies to all colorways, including Fog, Linen, and Snow.

This is a wired camera that gives you crisp 1080p HDR video as well as night vision, so you can still see what's going on when the sun goes down. What's more, it comes with 3 free hours of event history so even if you do happen to miss something, you can go back and review it. A Nest Aware subscription gives you 60 days of history if you prefer to pay though, so you have more options there.

You can access your camera feed 24/7 via app, and it uses AI to determine whether humans or animals or cars are passing by your home at any given time of day. That determines what types of alerts it'll send so you're not bothered all day by false positives.

This is a wired camera so you'll have to be strategic about placement, but it's worth picking up for the money saved alone. You can stay on your couch and keep a safe home. What a concept.

SAVE 31%: The De'Longhi Magnifica Evo Automatic Espresso and Coffee Machine is on sale at Amazon for $549.95, down from the listed MSRP of $799.95. That's a savings of $250 that matches the lowest price we've ever seen at Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: De'Longhi De'Longhi Magnifica Evo automatic espresso and coffee machine $549.95 at Amazon
$799.95 Save $250 Get Deal

Coffee is one of life's greatest pleasures. You can ignore that statement if you're not a fan of coffee, but if you are, you know how it goes. No morning is complete without a perfect cup of coffee. Sometimes it's not even the caffeine we crave, it's simply the routine of having something nice to enjoy each morning. If you're not in the mood to put on real clothes and head out the door to the local cafe, become your own at-home barista thanks to this deal at Amazon.

As of May 15, the De'Longhi Magnifica Evo Automatic Espresso and Coffee Machine is on sale at Amazon for $549.95, marked down from the listed MSRP at De'Longhi of $799.95. That's a savings of $250 and a sale price that matches the lowest we've ever seen at Amazon.

The best home and kitchen deals to shop this week

• Ninja BN701 Professional Plus Blender — $89.99 (List Price $119.99)

• Skylight Frame 10-inch Digital Picture Frame — $99.90 (List Price $159.00)

• Skylight Calendar 15-inch Digital Calendar & Chore Chart — $319.99

• Ninja Crispi Air Fryer — $159.99 (List Price $179.99)

• Birdfy AI Smart Solar Powered Bird Feeder with Camera — $179.99 (List Price $249.99)

• KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Tilt Head Stand Mixer — $349.95 (List Price $449.99)

• Eufy Omni C20 Robot Vacuum and Mop With Self-Emptying Base — $399.99 (List Price $699.99)

Convenience with quality is everything you need to know about the De'Longhi Magnifica Evo automatic espresso and coffee machine. With one touch, you'll be in line for a frothy cafe latte, a bold espresso, or an iced coffee. The built-in conical burr grinder has 13 settings which means you'll be able to grind beans to your exact desire. Plus, the De'Longhi LatteCrema system is friendly with both milk and milk alteratives.

Instead of getting dressed and heading to the coffee shop, snag the De'Longhi Magnifica Evo automatic espresso and coffee machine while it's back at the lowest price ever. For just $549.95, you can become your own at-home barista making perfect morning coffees and awesome espresso martinis come evening.

SAVE $8: As of May 15, preorder a digital copy of Elden Ring Nightreign for $31.99 at Newegg, down from its usual price of $39.99 ahead of release with promo code ERNSAVE. That's a 20% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: Newegg Elden Ring Nightreign $31.99 at Newegg
$39.99 Save $8.00 Get 20% off with promo code ERNSAVE Get Deal

There's a new Elden Ring adventure in town, and it's set to debut later this month. Elden Ring Nightreign is the first Elden Ring spinoff, and it's a co-op multiplayer adventure that changes things up significantly. There's still time to preorder if you want to get your game on with friends, but if you want to save some cash while doing so, Newegg has you covered.

As of May 15, preorder a digital copy of Elden Ring Nightreign for $31.99 at Newegg, down from its usual price of $39.99 ahead of release with promo code ERNSAVE. That's $8 off and a 20% discount.

This preorder is for the digital edition, so you'll be getting a code delivered to you via email, so you'll need to watch out for it after your purchase. The code won't go live until the game does, so there's still a bit of a wait left until May 29, but saving almost $10 on a brand new game is a good idea no matter how you slice it.

Journey to the land of Limgrave, now renamed Limfeld, and explore procedurally-generated versions of the area as one of a few premade characters with your friends. You can play in a single-player mode if you wish, but the game was created for teams of three to work together and clear out sections on their way to defeat a final boss.

If you're ready for another slice of Elden Ring, albeit in a different form factor, don't miss out on getting some cash off a game you probably planned on buying anyway.

Google today announced a suite of new accessibility features in honor of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, including AI-powered and personality-driven settings for users' most popular assistive tools.

SEE ALSO: Apple adds accessibility labels to App Store, braille options to hardware

Earlier this week, the company also announced new AI-powered scam prevention tools in Chrome browsers, as it tries to overhaul the public's perception of tech and its encroachment into our lives, Black Mirror-style.

Gemini for Talkback can carry a convo

For Android users, Google is enhancing the Talkback experience — the company's in-house screen reader tool for people who are blind or have low vision — with more Gemini features, including the ability to ask questions about Talkback's descriptions. Users can also get live information about their entire screens by asking specific questions to Gemini while using Talkback.

Google first announced Gemini for Talkback in 2024, intended to provide support for onscreen images without alt text.

More human captions

Google is also revamping its Expressive Captions feature, introduced in December to provide a more accurate captioning experience that includes the vocalizations and emotions of the speaker within the caption's text, such as gasps, raised voices, and background noise context. The new expressive captions will now add the flair of a speaker's vocal stylings, such as elongated vowels or dragged out sounds, and even more sound labels, like whistling.

New accessibility tools for students, and more

For Chromebooks, the company is collaborating with College Board — the national nonprofit that oversees AP, SAT, and college admissions curricula — to integrate Google's accessibility tools into the Bluebook testing app. Students will be able to use their Chromebook's assistive features, like ChromeVox screen reader and Dictation, when taking a College Board test.

In addition, mobile Chrome users will now be able to zoom in on just the text of a webpage, instead of the entire screen, with Page Zoom. And the company is also introducing Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for PDFs, which will allow screen readers to interact and understand scanned PDFs.