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No, noncitizens are not voting in droves.

NYT Technology - Mon, 10/28/2024 - 23:33
Studies have shown that noncitizen voting is essentially nonexistent in federal elections in the United States.

No, poll workers aren’t handing out Sharpies to invalidate ballots.

NYT Technology - Mon, 10/28/2024 - 23:30
The writing utensils figured prominently in conspiracy theories in previous elections. But they’re often fine to use on paper ballots.

Wordle today: Answer, hints for October 29

Mashable - Mon, 10/28/2024 - 22:00

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 October 29'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 October 29 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 October 29 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

A loose garment worn by the ancient Greeks.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no reoccurring letters.

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

Today's Wordle starts with the letter T.

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...

TUNIC.

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 October 29

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.

NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for October 29

Mashable - Mon, 10/28/2024 - 21:00

Connections is the latest New York Times word game that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for October 29'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 October 29 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

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

  • Yellow: Brand new

  • Green: Jobs at a hospital

  • Blue: Parts of a Julius Cesar quote

  • Purple: Types of squares

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: In Pristine Condition

  • Green: Medical Roles

  • Blue: Singular Noun in a Famous "Julius Caesar" Line

  • Purple: ___Square

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 #506 is...

What is the answer to Connections today
  • In Pristine Condition: MINT, NEW, ORIGINAL, UNUSED

  • Medical Roles: ATTENDING, FELLOW, INTERN, RESIDENT

  • Singular Noun in a Famous "Julius Caesar" Line: COUNTRYMAN, EAR, FRIEND, ROMAN

  • ___Square: PERFECT, POCKET, TIMES, TOWN

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 October 28

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.

How to know whether you can trust a poll

Mashable - Mon, 10/28/2024 - 18:25

A close election is all about uncertainty. So it's not surprising that many Americans are relying on polls to offer comfort, or warning. Not all polls are created equal, however — and election experts caution that some are more impartial than others.

Not only that, pollsters vary wildly in their level of outreach, and how much they adhere to industry norms regarding data accuracy.

Take this poll released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University, which says Vice President Kamala Harris was ahead of former President Donald Trump by three percentage points in the battleground state of Michigan. On Twitter/X, the improved result for Harris buoyed her supporters, while Trump fans challenged the poll’s veracity.

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Samara Klar, Ph.D., a political science professor at the University of Arizona’s School of Government and Public Policy, stresses transparency when it comes to deciding what polls to give credence to. 

“A poll consumer should be able to clearly see how the data were collected, when it was administered, how many people are in the sample, and demographics of who they are,” Klar tells Mashable. 

A weighty matter

Pay attention to whether a poll’s results are weighted, Klar adds, referring to the statistical technique done to data after collection. Weighting aims to correct sampling errors by measuring certain responses differently to account for the poll's underrepresented groups.

For example, if few respondents of a poll are Gen Z, or female, that pollster may give more weight to younger women’s responses than older, male participants.

"If the data are weighted, it is helpful to know the criteria upon which the weighting was done," says Klar.

Ideally, she adds, polls should have sample sizes close to 1,000 respondents, "as this allows for smaller margins of error and closer estimates."

SEE ALSO: Why Elon Musk is skipping around on stage for Donald Trump

A margin of error — typically around 3% for 1,000 respondents — is a caveat, acknowledging a sample can never provide a full picture. The American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) describes error margins as “the range that [a respondent’s] answer likely falls between if we had talked to everyone instead of just a sample.

"For example, if a statewide survey of adults with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points finds that 58% of the public approve of the job their governor is doing, we would be confident that the true value would lie somewhere between 55% and 61% if we had surveyed to the whole adult population in the state."

'No way to be sure a poll is reliable'

Even accounting for ideal sample sizes, weighted data, and margins of error, David Wasserman, senior editor and elections analyst at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, paints a less rosy picture of polling accuracy.

"There is no way to be sure a poll is reliable because response rates are very low these days," Wasserman says. "Every pollster is making a different assumption about who will turn out and vote that may or may not turn out to be accurate. You can give the same raw data set to 10 different pollsters and you might get seven or eight different top-line results of a survey based on how the pollsters assume each cohort of voters are going to comprise the electorate."

If it seems like random polls are popping up everywhere lately — not just the ones from established pollsters like YouGov or The New York Times/Siena College — well, that's because they are. "There are plenty of newer pollsters with no track record or very limited track record this cycle, as there were in 2022," Wasserman says. "Democrats are fond of pointing to Republicans flooding the zone with Republican-leaning surveys."

"There is obviously an effort by mainstream and other pollsters to correct the under-sampling of Trump’s base of support in 2016 and 2020. Pollsters are going about that in different ways but one of the most common ways is to weight their sample by how voters recall voting in the 2020 election."

The weighting of so-called "recall votes" aims to correct the hesitation of some voters to admit they voted for a past presidential loser. So pollsters weighting recall votes this cycle would give more emphasis to those admitting to voting for Trump in 2020. 

One thing that unites all good pollsters, according to both Klar and Wasserman, is adherence to standards set by the AAPOR. Members of the organization, which includes the most respected pollsters, agree to abide by the organization’s Code of Professional Ethics and Practices. That includes standards on training, transparency, sampling methods, and weighting.

Reaching voters in the modern age

The dearth of responses to most polls requires careful consideration regarding weighting, Wasserman says. While the idea that pollsters are ringing up landlines is outdated, Wasserman says, even contacting people through cell phones, texts, or online panels is a challenge.

Many pollsters have also started utilizing mail to reach respondents, according to the New York Times — often with an offer of a financial incentive to take an online poll, referred to as a probability panel. The new methodology is a way to counter the low response rates of randomly calling potential voters, which is something only one notable pollster, Quinnipiac, still does.

"It's common for telephone polls, even if they’re overwhelmingly cell phone samples, to wield less than 1% completed responses," Wasserman says. "For every 100 phone calls you’re making, you might get one completed survey, sometimes it’s less than that.

"Text to web modality is reaching younger voters. But it’s difficult to reach 18-34-year-old voters no matter what mode you’re using, so what ends up happening is pollsters up-weight the respondents they do get in that age bucket to reflect their expected share of their electorate. But pollsters have to make a judgment call about what share they expect."

The Cook Political Report features a national polling average on its website, culling the latest data from a range of respected and diverse pollsters, like Fox News and ABC News/Washington Post. Three times this year, Cook conducted their own battleground state polls with a large online panel.

“We can’t be positive that our numbers reflect the true state of play, but we made our best effort to come up with an approach that our polling partners, a Democratic firm and a Republican firm, both felt comfortable with,” Wasserman says.

While imperfect, polls still serve an important purpose, Klar insists.

"Polls are great at showing us a snapshot in time: what do people think now," she says. "Forecasting requires that polls predict the future: Who will actually show up to vote weeks, or months, or sometimes years, from now? Will people change their minds between now and then? If you're interested in learning what people think today, then polls are tremendously valuable."

On the other hand, "if you're looking for a crystal ball to predict the future, you have to take poll results with a grain of salt."

The best gifts for teenage girls, according to teenage girls

Mashable - Mon, 10/28/2024 - 16:44

Trends among teen girls are an ever-changing hellscape. Even millennials — people who are not that old, thank you very much — can have trouble navigating the world that's ruled by TikTok trends and whatever else high-school-aged girls can't seem to stop raving about.

Funneling those trends into a gift that she’ll like and use for longer than a month seems nearly impossible. But you know who does get teenage girls? Other teenage girls. We asked our families, polled our staff, and scoured the internet to find out exactly what teenage girls actually want. 

The same items popping up over and over again each year is a constant reminder that, though the VSCO girl lifestyle meme may have ended in 2019, a few overarching concepts remain alive and well. Gen Z girls are loyal to a defined handful of brands and have very specific aesthetic goals. They don't just want workout gear, they want Lululemon yoga pants. They don't just want skincare products, they want serums from The Ordinary. They don't just want a reusable water bottle, they want the (weirdly specific) Stanley Quencher H2.0 tumbler. You get it.

To make it easier for you to shop for a teen girl — when you're not a teen girl yourself (we get it, it's hard) — we've rounded up the very best gifts for the demographic in this easy-to-browse gift guide that's in the process of being updated for 2024.

'A Man on the Inside' trailer: Mike Schur and Ted Danson reunite for an undercover comedy

Mashable - Mon, 10/28/2024 - 15:44
Trailer for "A Man on the Inside," the latest sitcom from "The Good Place" creator Mike Schur, starring Ted Danson, is coming soon to Netflix.

Dwyane Wade's Miami statue has the internet in tears

Mashable - Mon, 10/28/2024 - 15:14

Dwyane Wade is the latest athlete to suffer the slings and arrows of the internet's jokes after having the bad fortune of a bewilderingly unrecognizable statue.

In the annals of the internet, typically speaking, you see the word "unrecognizable" to describe a celeb whose weight fluctuated or hair changed. But in this case, I'd wager it'd be hard to decipher if this statue was intended to be Wade, were it not for the Miami Heat jersey. It was unveiled Sunday in front of Miami's Kaseya Center, honoring a moment in which the retired NBA legend shouted "this is my house" after a big shot.

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I mean...come on. At least, to my eye, that does not look like Wade. It's perhaps not as bad as that infamous Cristiano Ronaldo debacle from 2017, but it's reminiscent. There is a long history of these sorts of bad statues, but the Wade one really isn't great. Sports pundit and Ringer founder Bill Simmons said it's the worst he's ever seen.

The internet, naturally, responded with jokes.

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Wade himself said he loves the statue, so perhaps that's all that matters.

Waymo Raises $5.6 Billion From Outside Investors

NYT Technology - Mon, 10/28/2024 - 15:07
Alphabet’s driverless car unit now has vehicles operating in San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles.

How long does it take to get off the Apple Intelligence waitlist?

Mashable - Mon, 10/28/2024 - 14:41

As part of its big week of Mac announcements, Apple let slip on Monday morning that the first wave of Apple Intelligence features have been let loose unto the world immediately.

Of course, that doesn't mean anyone with a newer iPhone, iPad, or Mac can just use Apple Intelligence right now. It would be silly to simply allow people to use features that are out. Instead, you need to go through a (hopefully quick and painless) process to get Apple Intelligence activated on your iPhone. Here's how it works.

SEE ALSO: Apple Intelligence is finally here, but these 5 features won’t be available until December Apple Intelligence: How long it takes to get off the waitlist

On its support website, Apple has a handy how-to list for getting Apple Intelligence off the ground on your device. Here's a basic rundown of how it works:

  1. Update to iOS 18.1

  2. Go to Settings

  3. Go to "Apple Intelligence & Siri"

  4. Tap "Join Apple Intelligence Waiting List"

According to Apple, everyone has to sit on the waiting list before they can use Apple Intelligence. The company says you can expect to be let off the waiting list "within a few hours" of joining it, but wait times may vary. Ideally, it'll be less than a day, but we'll have to wait and see how it works for people online before knowing for sure.

As a reminder, this is just the first step of Apple Intelligence infecting all your devices. This rollout features rools for summarizing and proofreading text and removing unwanted images from existing photos, but heavily generative features like Genmoji and Image Playground aren't available yet.

Philadelphia sues Elon Musk for his $1 million voter payouts

Mashable - Mon, 10/28/2024 - 14:41

Elon Musk's dubious $1 million voter lottery is getting a dose of legal scrutiny, as the city of Philadelphia sues the billionaire and X owner to stop the swing state payouts.

The city's district attorney Larry Krasner is accusing Musk of trying to influence voters and running an illegal lottery, opening up the business owner to local prosecution under the state's strict lottery regulations. Krasner has asked a judge to order Musk stop the giveaway immediately, with more than 280,000 Pennsylvanians already signed up for the raffle.

SEE ALSO: The truth about voting machine security in the 2024 election

The payouts come from Musk's new America PAC, created to back the presidential campaign for Donald Trump and support "constitutional values," which ostensibly include secure borders and free speech. Musk has donated more than $118 million to the PAC, eclipsing other high-dollar contributions from the likes of the DeVos family, the Winklevoss twins, former U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft, and Jimmy John's founder James Liautaud.

Following the super pac's unveiling, Musk said he would award daily $1 million payouts to randomly-selected voters residing in swing states who signed his petition to "support the Constitutional rights to free speech and bear arms." The giveaway wasn't the first money offer from the billionaire, and many have questioned the payouts' legality under federal law. Others expressed concern about personal data privacy for those entering.

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To get around finance laws, Musk has called the lottery winners "America PAC spokespeople" and refers to the six-figure offers as "paychecks," not winnings. According to the lawsuit, Musk's actions also violate consumer protection laws by allegedly favoring winners that have attended Trump rallies. The Justice Department has also warned Musk against further action under the America PAC "lottery." Trump has avoided associating with the lottery, but has called on Musk as an ally.

Musk has recently joined the Trump campaign trail in addition to his vocal support for the candidate online. A recent New York Times report alleges that Musk's motive for supporting the twice-impeached former president is to protect himself and his companies from dozens of federal probes and to maintain his billions in government contracts.

Missing From the 2024 Presidential Election: Feminist Media

NYT Technology - Mon, 10/28/2024 - 14:39
The robust feminist blogosphere of 2016 is all but gone. Some of the creators are missing its perspective.

'The Sticky' trailer: Margo Martindale, Jamie Lee Curtis, and the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist

Mashable - Mon, 10/28/2024 - 14:32
"The Sticky," starring Margo Martindale and Jamie Lee Curtis, hits Prime Video December 6.

Watch Saoirse Ronan stun male actors into silence on 'The Graham Norton Show'

Mashable - Mon, 10/28/2024 - 13:19

It's not often a talk show goes silent. After all, it's right there in the name — it's a talk show.

But actor Saoirse Ronan did just that on a recent episode of The Graham Norton Show, the British talk show that typically features a roundtable discussion among famous folks. Ronan was the lone woman on the panel, which also featured actors Denzel Washington, Paul Mescal, and Eddie Redmayne and the host, Norton.

SEE ALSO: 'The Outrun' review: Saoirse Ronan leads a tender and poetic addiction drama

Redmayne mentioned being taught how to use a phone as a defensive tool for his role in the assassin series The Day of the Jackal. Mescal and Norton cracked a few jokes about searching for your phone in a self-defense situation.

"Who is actually going to think about that?" Mescal said while miming the act of pulling a phone out of his pocket. "If someone actually attacked me, I'm not going to go 'phone.'"

The men laughed and Redmayne agreed, before Ronan pointed out that, actually, women need to constantly think of ways to defend themselves.

"That's what girls have to think about all the time," she said.

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A hush immediately overtook the panel and the crowd, and the male actors made sounds of agreement while nodding.

Then Ronan broke the silence with, "Am I right, ladies?" which was met with applause and cheers.

It has become a super viral moment, with lots of people posting clips online and people loving the point Ronan made.

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It was a brief moment in the show, but Ronan powerfully reminded the room how different the world can be for women and men.

Open-source TikTok alternative Loops coming to the fediverse

Mashable - Mon, 10/28/2024 - 13:14

The fediverse is growing.

Loops, an open-source TikTok clone, has started to accept sign ups, as first reported by TechCrunch.

The short form, looping video platform will provide an open-source alternative to TikTok in the same way that Mastodon provides an alternative option for X, formerly Twitter. Loops was created by Daniel Supernault, the founder of the open-source Instagram alternative Pixelfed. The project is being financed by user-support.

For those unfamiliar, the fediverse is a group of social media platforms that are working together through a federated protocol in order to allow users to communicate and interact with one another between social networks. A number of online platforms like Mastodon, Wordpress, Flipboard, and even Meta's Threads have joined the fediverse in the past year or so. By implementing this protocol, Threads users can choose to have their content automatically become accessible on platforms like Mastodon.

Loops will work much like TikTok, allowing users to post short form videos as well as comment on and share clips. However, for new users, content will be held in a moderation que as they build their "trust score." This trust score will also help the platform hide certain comments and apply warning labels to clips. Users with high trust scores will be able to post content immediately without having to wait for approval.

SEE ALSO: Bluesky gains half a million new users in one day after X changes how blocking works SEE ALSO: Bluesky is developing paid subscriptions — but will always be free to use, it says

As with most open-source platforms, Loops is user privacy-oriented. The platform says it will not sell user data to third-party advertisers or allow user content to be used to train AI.

It will be interesting to see an independent alternative to TikTok. While the viral video platform has found competition with YouTube Shorts, most other attempts to take on TikTok have yet to be successful. Facebook, for example, tried to take on TikTok with an app called Lasso which it eventually shut down in 2020.

Will Loops be successful? Judging by the surge in popularity for X alternatives like Bluesky and Threads, it certainly has a shot.

Timothée Chalamet showed up at the Timothée Chalamet lookalike competition

Mashable - Mon, 10/28/2024 - 13:14

On Sunday afternoon in New York City's Washington Square Park, Timothée Chalamet "did the funniest thing possible" by showing up to his own lookalike competition.

SEE ALSO: What is facial contrast makeup? It's the latest TikTok trend dictating how to feel beautiful.

Over 1,000 people gathered in the park after signs advertising a Chalamet lookalike competition with a $50 cash prize appeared all over Lower Manhattan and social media. The sign directed potential Timmys and attendees to a Partiful event that boasted over Tk RSVPs.

At 1 p.m. yesterday, the event (and madness) ensued under the Washington Square Arch, which was live-streamed across news channels and social media. There were Wonka Timmys, Bob Dylan Timmys, and Dune Timmys battling it out for a giant trophy and $50 check, and the New York Police Department showed up and arrested a Timmy. But it was Chalamet's surprise appearance that caused the biggest stir online.

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A tweet with over 450,000 likes and 15 million views broke the news. It featured a photo of the real Chalamet posing with a lookalike and said, "LMAOO TIMOTHEE CHALAMET ACTUALLY SHOWED UP TO THE TIMOTHEE CHALAMET LOOKALIKE CONTEST IN WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK." The user replied with a charming video of Chalamet surprising his lookalike.

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Fans were quick to post footage from every angle of Chalamet's quick walk through the crowd and comment on their favorite part of the saga. One wrote, "the best part is him making his way through that entire crowd and no one noticing because there’s 100 other people that look like him there." Another said, "him arriving in a mask i know his dramatic ass wanted a big reveal he’s so funny."

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Chalamet's surprise arrival came after a photo of him walking next to one of the posters advertising the event while shooting his upcoming film Marty Supreme circulated on social media. One user posted that image next to a photo of Chalamet at the event, writing, " This was the greatest cultivation of events."

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The silly competition and Chalamet's appearance brought joy to New York City and fans far and near, a rarity in today's social media climate. One user wrote, "Such charm, such whimsy… the city needed this." Another said, "timothee chalamet lookalike contest is giving me the most joy i’ve felt in a hot minute."

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Google's AI Overview is rolling out worldwide

Mashable - Mon, 10/28/2024 - 13:00

Google's AI Overviews are rolling out to over 100 more countries today, including Australia and New Zealand, bringing the algorithmically generated search summaries to millions more users five months after its US launch. It seems pretty safe to say the search giant considers the feature a success.

"We can actually do better than what's on your Search page," Hema Budaraju, Google's Senior Director of Product Management for Search, told Mashable.

SEE ALSO: The new Google AI Overview layout is a small win for publishers

Rather than completely replace your standard Google Search, Budaraju stated that AI Overviews are intended to be a "jumping off point" for further investigation, quickly addressing questions that are more complex, nuanced, or have no immediate answer. As such, they may not appear for more straightforward questions which are satisfactorily answered by the Search results page.

"We add AI Overviews where we believe that it has additional value," said Budaraju.

Noting that AI Overviews have been tested "extensively," Budaraju emphasised that Google focused on Search quality and safety, implementing extra precautions concerning important topics such as health information. 

"For us, quality and responsibility is very important to the system," said Budaraju. "And some of it is learning — learning very actively through our users and learning very actively through our system."

According to Google, its testing has shown that users find search results with AI Overviews more helpful, and that younger people aged 18 to 24 have higher engagement with the feature. Users are reportedly staying longer on websites when they do click through as well. Hopefully this means people are being vigilant about thoroughly double-checking any information they're served with authoritative sources.

AI Overviews will be rolling out globally in the coming weeks, and will be available in all currently supported languages regardless of the country users access the feature from. At present, Google's AI Overviews are available in English, Hindi, Indonesia, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Credit: Google

Google initially launched AI Overviews for U.S. users in May, and was very quickly met with both jokes and criticism. Users posted screenshots of incorrect AI-generated summaries on social media (some of which were wrong to a dangerous extent), while Mashable's testing found that AI Overviews were generally "a little worse" than standard Google Searches. 

Though Google claimed that "a very large number" of screenshots were faked, the company did state that it was working to address issues with AI Overviews via improving its algorithms and removing erroneous responses.

Such improvements were apparently enough that Google felt comfortable rolling out AI Overviews to the UK, India, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, and Brazil in August. It also updated the AI Overview interface, more prominently displaying relevant websites on the right side of the page instead of below the generated summary. With today's rollout, millions more will now have access to Google's AI-generated search summaries.

Today's your last chance to score $100 off YouTube's NFL Sunday ticket

Mashable - Mon, 10/28/2024 - 12:58

GET $100 OFF: Don't miss out on $100 off YouTube's NFL Sunday Ticket! Today's the last day to score this deal and watch every out-of-market NFL game this season.

Opens in a new window Credit: YouTube Our pick: NFL Sunday Ticket $379.00 at YouTube
$479.00 Save $100.00 Get Deal

We’re just one month into football season, and if you haven't already bought an NFL Sunday Ticket subscription, today's your last chance to take advantage of a limited-time offer that could save you $100.

As of Oct. 28, you can score $100 off YouTube’s NFL Sunday Ticket package, which gives you access to every out-of-market NFL game on Sundays. Typically, the full-season NFL Sunday Ticket package costs $479, but with this limited-time deal, you can get the full season for $379. (If you’re a student, you can get it for $199.)

SEE ALSO: So your NFL team stinks: The 2025 NFL Draft online resources you need to survive

In addition to watching every out-of-market NFL game on Sundays, the NFL Sunday Ticket package through YouTube lets you watch up to four live games on one screen in multiview. You can also get unlimited in-home streams and two streams outside your home, so you can watch games on your smartphone, tablet, or other connected devices. Plus, you can track your fantasy football players throughout the games with Fantasy View.

Want even more? This deal is also available for the NFL Sunday Ticket + NFL RedZone package, which gives you all the benefits of the NFL Sunday Ticket and up to seven hours of live football coverage with Scott Hanson, featuring up to eight games within the octobox.

Note: This subscription will auto-renew at the regular price after the season ends. If you don’t want that to happen, cancel before the renewal date.

Apple Intelligence is finally here, but these 5 features won’t be available until December

Mashable - Mon, 10/28/2024 - 12:37

Apple’s much-anticipated Apple Intelligence suite is finally rolling out with iOS 18.1, bringing a range of AI-driven features straight to your iPhone. The free update is live as of today, though some of the more advanced tools are slated to drop in December, per Apple’s latest announcement.

SEE ALSO: Every Apple Mac announcement so far

Leading off the announcement was Apple’s new Writing Tools—a versatile assistant designed to elevate your writing across the board. Writing Tools will let you rewrite, proofread, and summarize text directly in apps where you’re typing, from notes to messages. Apple Intelligence also includes a revamped, more conversational Siri and a new notification summary system that aggregates key updates across your emails, group chats, notes, and more.

SEE ALSO: Apple just announced the M4 Apple iMac: Here's how to pre-order it Still waiting for key Apple Intelligence features

More features are set to arrive in December with three new tools: Genmoji, Image Playground, and Image Wand.

Genmoji lets users create personalized emojis based on descriptions or photos, allowing for unique likenesses of family and friends. Image Playground enhances user-created sketches with AI, turning rough drawings into refined images. Image Wand goes a step further, generating images based on on-screen context—like creating bird illustrations while reading about birds. These tools build on the AI features in iOS 18.1, pushing Apple deeper into the generative AI space.

SEE ALSO: The real AI update: Apple launches iOS 18.2 developer beta

Apple is rolling out updates to Writing Tools, adding context-specific prompts that let users generate creative text—like transforming a dinner invite into a poem. Apple is also integrating ChatGPT’s data directly into Writing Tools and Siri, enhancing response depth and variety to better compete with popular language models.

According to Apple, the iPhone 16 lineup will also be getting a unique addition with Visual Intelligence — a feature limited to these models due to its integration with the new Camera Control button. Visual Intelligence allows users to look up information by simply pointing the camera at an object, bypassing the need to snap a photo or navigate photo app settings. It’s not revolutionary, but it streamlines searches.

Apple Intelligence won’t be available for all devices, with support limited to newer models. Only users with an iPhone 16 series (including the 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, and 16 Pro Max), iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, iPads with an A17 Pro or M1 chip and later, and Macs running on M1 chips or newer will have access.

Netflix just made it easier to stan their shows

Mashable - Mon, 10/28/2024 - 12:36

A new era of fandom has entered the villa: Netflix will now let you save and reshare your favorite scenes directly to your friend and followers. That's right. No more black screens or scrounging the timeline for ripped clips to share to your stan account, the app will do it for you.

Introduced to iOS users exclusively on the Netflix app, the new Moments feature allows users to pause their content, save a clip of what they just watched to their account (to revisit over and over again, of course), and then share to external social media platforms, group chats, you name it. Saved Moments will live under the "My Netflix" tab, and media rewatches will begin wherever you last saved a Moment. The feature will be added for Android users in the coming weeks, the company said.

SEE ALSO: What to Watch: Best scary movies

Fans at large have turned clip sharing into an economy of its own. As a popular way to evangelize your favorite shows, movies, or actors to the greater public, started by the mid-2000s GIF obsession, clip sharing has taken over apps like TikTok and Twitter on dedicated clip farming accounts that rake in millions of views. Until now, attempts to screen record or screenshot Netflix content have been fully blocked by the site, leaving most of the internet's beloved fancam makers and stan accounts at the whim of ripped illicit recordings of their favorite media.

The company will also release a celebrity video series featuring Netflix stars going over their favorite scenes. "You know that feeling when a scene, character, or line from a show or movie just sticks with you," Netflix chief marketing officer Marian Lee shared with Variety, "And you can’t help but text your friends, ‘You have to watch this, it’s so good!?' Our new campaign is all about celebrating these unforgettable moments, taking you back to the feeling you had when you first became obsessed with a great show on Netflix."

The new feature may be a calculated advertising move for Netflix itself, with viral clips often dictating public interest in both new and old media.

SEE ALSO: This is how those sexy 'Challengers' fan edits got made so quickly

But as some rejoiced, other users were quick to point out the irony of Netflix finally allowing a (monitored) version of content sharing, while at the same time cracking down on password sharing, striking its most affordable plans, and erasing digital content — including originals — from its platform.

Tweet may have been deleted Tweet may have been deleted How to save and share a Moment Total Time
  • 2 min
What You Need
  • Netflix mobile app

Step 1: Download the Netflix app and log in to your account.

Step 2: Begin playing your favorite piece of media.

Step 3: When you get to your favorite part, tap on the screen and select "Moments" on the bottom left corner of the screen.

Step 4: Hit "Save" on the scene (timestamp will be included).

Step 5: You can save Moments in the app or export them to platforms like X, Instagram, or Facebook, or send them directly to your friends with a link.

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