Blogroll

Four years after the ChatGPT revolution began, it's fair to say the humans are getting a little restless. AI's infinite slop machine cannot go on unchallenged; it's time for creatives to fight back. That much is clear from anyone who's joined the cult known as Your AI Slop Bores Me, where users conspire to steal AI's job.

The viral hit of the week, YASBM — let's just call it that — is a website where humans go to pretend to be AI to other humans. Users LARP (that's live-action role-play to you non-nerds) by writing or drawing anything that other humans request, within a strict time limit. You earn tokens by LARPing successfully; you spend tokens asking questions yourself.

The result? Amateurish and charming, which is very much the whole YASBM aesthetic (the site was designed to mimic the lo-fi coding of the 1990s web) — and very much the opposite of AI slop.

For example, I spent a token asking "AI" for a picture of "a vampire drinking a cup of blood" — an image conjured up earlier in the day by a friend going through chemo who found herself oddly jealous of other patients getting transfusions. The resulting scribble from a stranger brightened my friend's day more than any polished-but-soulless image I could have asked for on ChatGPT. (What's more, it was better for the environment.)

YASBM reminded me of the 0.5 selfie, Gen Z's deliberately silly, surprisingly meaningful revolt against the too-perfect selfie world of Millennials. I was also reminded that humans creating freely for humans can hold a lot more interest to humans than machine content. Funny, that.

And it seems like a lot of other humans agree — because YASBM doesn't seem to be one of those viral hits that fades after a week. There are early signs that YASBM has what it takes to become something bigger.

'People enjoy being the AI'

"We’re now seeing a more loyal user base with people returning daily," YASBM creator Mihir Maroju tells Mashable. That is, roughly a million unique visitors (not to mention more than 25,000 hardcore fans on the YASBM Discord server) coming back for more "helpful" answers and charming sketches. "People still enjoy being the AI over the human, though."

Navigating a week's worth of viral exposure — from Reddit, to a Twitter/X trending topic, to TikTok — hasn't been easy. Earlier this week, YASBM practically melted down its hosting company's server farm, leaving the site barely useable. But in the spirit of YASBM, Maroju found human help.

In just a few days, "the project has grown into a small volunteer team," he enthuses — with four humans on website and support, and five more managing the Discord server. "We’ve also tightened moderation systems and queues to make sure spammers don’t ruin the fun for everyone else," Maroju adds. Appropriately enough, that means users must click to confirm they're human.

What's next? When I asked Maroju if there was a YASBM app in the works, here was his reply: "We have some very cool stuff cooking! Stay tuned."

There's something else humans do best: create mystery around what's next. Your move, ChatGPT.

TL;DR: Live stream South Korea vs. Dominican Republic in the 2026 World Baseball Classic for free on Tele Rebelde or Venevision. Access these free streaming platforms from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The 2026 World Baseball Classic pool stage is completed. Now things get serious in the knockout stage. Places in the semi finals are up for grabs as South Korea and Dominican Republic face off in the first quarter-final matchup.

Dominican Republic come into this clash with a perfect record from the pool stage, topping Group D against tough opposition like Venezuela. South Korea placed second in Group C, narrowly qualifying ahead of Australia and Chinese Taipei. We're expecting an exciting contest when these teams meet at LoanDepot Park in Miami.

If you want to watch the 2026 World Baseball Classic for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is South Korea vs. Dominican Republic?

South Korea vs. Dominican Republic in the 2026 World Baseball Classic starts at 6:30 p.m. ET on March 13. This fixture will take place at LoanDepot Park.

How to watch South Korea vs. Dominican Republic for free

The 2026 World Baseball Classic is available to live stream for free on a number of platforms:

• Cuba — Tele Rebelde

• Venezuela — Venevision

These streaming platforms are geo-restricted, but anyone can access for free with a VPN. These handy tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in another location, meaning you can unblock free streaming sites from anywhere in the world.

Live stream South Korea vs. Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic by following these simple steps:

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

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

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in a location with access

4. Visit Tele Rebelde or Venevision

5. Live stream the 2026 World Baseball Classic for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.99 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can gain access to free live streams without committing with your cash. This is obviously not a long-term solution, but it does give you time to watch every game from the 2026 World Baseball Classic before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to the best free streaming platforms from around the world, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for live sport is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for live sport?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries

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

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

• Fast connection speeds

• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).

Watch South Korea vs. Dominican Republic in the 2026 World Baseball Classic for free with ExpressVPN.

TL;DR: Planning a big trip? Babbel’s lifetime subscription lets you learn 14 languages with bite-sized lessons, conversation practice, and offline access — for a one-time $159 payment.

Opens in a new window Credit: Babbel Babbel Language Learning: Lifetime Subscription (All Languages) $159
$646.20 Save $487.20   Get Deal

Travel gets a lot more interesting when you can speak the language — even just a little. Ordering dinner, asking for directions, or chatting with a shop owner suddenly feels less stressful and more like a real cultural exchange. This All-Language Lifetime Subscription to Babbel is currently available for $159 (reg. $646.20) with the StackSocial code LEARN.

Babbel offers courses in 14 languages, including Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Swedish, Turkish, and more. Lessons focus on practical conversation skills, so instead of memorizing random vocabulary, you’re learning phrases you’re more likely to use while traveling.

Mashable Deals Be the first to know! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Get editor selected deals texted right to your phone! Loading... Sign Me Up By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Thanks for signing up!

Each lesson takes about 10 to 15 minutes, making it easy to practice during a commute, lunch break, or while waiting for a flight. Babbel also includes speech recognition technology to help you improve pronunciation, plus an AI conversation partner to practice realistic back-and-forth dialogue.

The platform adapts to your skill level — beginner through advanced — and reinforces what you’ve learned with personalized review sessions. You can even download lessons for offline learning, which comes in handy when Wi-Fi isn’t available.

If you’ve got a big trip on the horizon, learning some key phrases beforehand can go a long way — and Babbel makes that process surprisingly manageable.

Get lifetime access to Babbel for a one-time $159 payment (reg. $646.20) with the StackSocial code LEARN while you can.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

If you're interested in a career as a creator, you can go a long way with a tripod and a smartphone equipped with 4K video (which is most of them). Maybe you upgrade, at some point, to a gimbal.

But when you're ready to graduate from a webcam or smartphone to a more professional setup? That's when livestreaming suddenly gets a lot more complicated. And that's where multi-camera livestreaming products from a Chinese company called Obsbot can help.

At the International Innovations expo at SXSW 2026 in Austin, Texas, I got the chance to try out Osbot's setup. Using the company's touchscreen Video Switcher Monitor, you can combine up to seven streams at once — in theory, cutting between shots, angles, and cameras for your audience on Twitch or YouTube.

Osbot cameras at SXSW 2026. Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable

This could be particularly useful when hosting a livestream with multiple participants — but even for a simple setup where you're talking to the camera, having multiple angles and cameras will instantly make your show look more professional.

Obsbot has been on the livestreaming scene since 2016; it was the official webcam partner of the 2025 Esports World Cup. Still, the company cites a very broad range of potential use cases: pastors livestreaming church services, gamers livestreaming on Twitch, professors teaching digital classes, and video creators of all kinds (or as we used to call them, vloggers).

The company's app supports livestreaming on Twitch, YouTube, X, Vimeo, and other popular platforms. Obsbot has webcam-style cameras and tracking cameras that can follow your face using AI, or operated by remote control.

In the demo, there was something very satisfying about remote-controlling the cameras, and watching them track my face as I moved around. Most webcams now offer some type of face tracking, of course, but Osbot's gimbal cameras are rare in offering 360-degree facial tracking.

Osbot cameras at SXSW 2026. Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable

Unfortunately, there is a downside to graduating from your camera and tripod era: the price tag.

The Osbot Video Mixer Monitor will set you back $1,099, and the Tail Air 4k Streaming Camera and remote is priced at $549. Still, you can supplement these pricier elements with more traditional webcams, like the Obsbot Tiny 2 Lite, a 4K webcam, for only $179.

When you start adding all the cameras and accessories you need to make the mixer monitor work, the price can rise quickly. For example, if you want to go all-in, B&H Photo & Video has an Obsbot Streaming bundle with the video mixer, three Tail 2 AI cameras, three NDI license keys, three tripods, filters, and more accessories. The cost? A cool $6,669.

But, hey, if you're a professional creator, you can always write it off come tax season.

Products featured in this story Tiny 2 Lite 4K Webcam $119 (save $60) Get Deal OBSBOT Tail Air NDI 4K Streaming Camera $499 Shop Now Obsbot Talent Video Switcher Monitor $1,099 Shop Now Obsbot Tail 2 Streaming Combo $6,669 Shop Now

NASA has cleared Artemis II for launch following a lengthy flight readiness review, mission managers said Thursday, as teams work toward a liftoff as early as April 1.

The new timeline follows the discovery of a helium-flow problem in the mega moon rocket's upper stage that required teams to roll the vehicle back to its enormous hangar for repairs. After swapping out seals and testing them, along with replacing some batteries, mission managers said they're ready to fly. 

So dead set is the space agency on launching next month that its managers have refused to provide launch windows beyond April 30. 

"I've said in the past that, yes, there are opportunities in other months," said Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator for exploration systems development, on Thursday, "but right now, we are solely focused on April." 

The flight readiness review serves as the final, agency-level check of hardware, teams, and plans before the Space Launch System and Orion spaceship move back to the launch pad. "Polling go" means the agency is comfortable sending astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day flight around the moon, the first crewed deep space mission in more than 50 years.

SEE ALSO: The interstellar comet gets stranger as scientists learn what's in it

Mission managers said they expect to roll the 322-foot stacked rocket back to its launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, next week on March 19.

Engineers identified and fixed a blocked helium seal in a ground line. The problem caught teams by surprise after a near-perfect fueling test in late February. NASA tested a redesigned connector and installed the modified part on the upper stage. Teams also replaced flight-termination system batteries and tested abort system batteries for the crew module.

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

NASA said it remains on track to attempt liftoff as early as April 1, with the launch window opening at 6:24 p.m. ET. Backup dates are available April 2 through 6. The crew will enter pre-launch quarantine on March 18 and travel to Kennedy Space Center in Florida about five days before the launch, as part of standard procedures to protect crew health and readiness.

During the news conference, NASA officials had a tense exchange with reporters regarding the probability of a mission failure or crew loss. When pressed for a single risk number, mission managers balked, offering rough historical comparisons. Test flights often face high uncertainty, said John Honeycutt, chairman of the Artemis II mission management team.

When asked about it again, NASA moderator Rachel Kraft declined to let the panel answer. 

"We've addressed the risk question several times," she said. "We have plenty more questions to get to."

From left, astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Jeremy Hansen will be the first crew to fly in deep space since Apollo 17 about half a century ago. Credit: NASA / Joel Kowsky

Work still remains in the Vehicle Assembly Building. Teams will complete checkouts, remove access platforms, and secure the hardware for moving back to the pad. 

NASA does not plan to have another wet dress rehearsal, a practice launch countdown with actual fuel, that would eat up time in the April launch window. Instead, the agency aims to fill the rocket on a day that could lead directly into a launch.

The flight readiness review, albeit a significant achievement for any mission, was just a "step along the way," Honeycutt said. 

"We're not going to celebrate 'til we get Reid and Victor and Christina and Jeremy safely home," he said.  

Nothing captures the hearts and attention of an American audience like a good old-fashioned romance. Love Story is the latest obsession sweeping the internet. From executive producer Ryan Murphy and creator Connor Hines comes Love Story, an FX limited series about the tragic relationship between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.

At a Wednesday rally in Kentucky, President Donald Trump heaped praise on YouTuber Jake Paul and insinuated the influencer would soon run for political office.

Trump was in the Bluegrass state to campaign for Congressional candidate Ed Gallrein, who is running against Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican and avowed enemy of Trump’s. After Gallrein spoke to the crowd, Trump heaped praise on Paul, calling him a powerful fighter, a "great guy," and "a very tough cookie."

Paul came out briefly, saying he and Trump "never back down from a fight." The influencer also stated that he hopes to see more factories thriving in the area and throughout the country, possibly hinting at future issues he’ll campaign on.

SEE ALSO: Jimmy Kimmel reacts to Jake Paul speaking at a Trump rally

After Paul left the stage, Trump said, "I predict, I’m gonna make a prediction, that [Paul] will be, in the not-too-distant future, running for political office. And you have my complete and total endorsement."

Trump’s embrace of Paul is quite a reversal for the creator, whose California home was raided by the FBI in 2020. The raid was connected to a looting at an Arizona mall; Paul was never charged with any crimes.

Paul was accused of sexual assault by TikTok star Justine Paradise in 2021, but denied the claims.

In the years since, Paul has become as well known for his MMA and boxing careers as his highly lucrative work as a YouTuber and influencer.

Google Maps just got a major upgrade. A really major upgrade. In fact, according to Google, it's the biggest update to the company's mapping service in more than a decade.

What's new? Two features that have the power to change how users use the app entirely: Ask Maps and Immersive Navigation.

Ask Maps

The new AI feature, Ask Maps brings Google's most advanced Gemini models into the app. The goal: allow users to ask destination questions in a conversational way.

Users can get real specific, the company says, and ask questions like “My phone is dying — where can I charge it without having to wait in a long line for coffee?”

Ask Maps will then suggest locations where they can do exactly that. How accurate the suggestions are is another question.

Ask Maps Credit: Google

Google Maps users can also provide Ask Maps with a list of locations they are planning to visit, and ask if there's anything interesting they should check out.

The company says that it "analyzes information from over 300 million places, including reviews from our community of more than 500 million contributors" in order to build each user's itinerary.

Ask Maps will also reference your previous preferences when recommending locations and businesses — for example, a type of restaurant.

Ask Maps Credit: Google

Once a user picks a spot, Ask Maps says it can help book reservations at the restaurant, save the location to a list for a later date, and share locations with friends.

Immersive Navigation

What's a bigger deal than yet another Google app getting an AI feature? Answer: Immersive Navigation.

Google has basically introduced a whole new way to use Google Maps, with a redesign that the company is calling "a complete transformation of the navigation experience, with redesigned visuals and more intuitive guidance."

Immersive Navigation provides a 3D way to navigate in the app. The environment your avatar is driving through highlights important road details like lanes, crosswalks, traffic lights, and stop signs. Surrounding buildings, overpasses, and terrain will match more closely what they look like in real-life.

Immersive Navigation Credit: Google

Google Maps is also getting a slew of smaller features: more advanced notices for your routes, more natural and conversational voice guidance, parking recommendations when approaching your destination, and real-time road disruption alerts.

And when you're deciding whether to continue using the current direction, or opting for an alternate route that the app discovers, Google Maps will now offer more context for your decision.

Ask Maps is rolling out today in the U.S. for iOS and Android devices, and will come to the desktop app later in the year. Immersive Navigation will begin to roll out today in the U.S. and expand over the next few months to eligible iOS and Android devices, CarPlay, Android Auto and cars with Google built-in.

There's a slippery magic that can occur between two strangers. At first, they are nothing to each other, except perhaps a means to an end. Maybe they are even slightly repelled by each other. Then something flicks, and they are not just strangers anymore. They are people who, for better or worse, can see truly each other, even if they never see each other again.

This is the story at the core of Anima, which has a sci-fi setup that might suggest a cold world of disconnected folk. The story begins with Beck (Alien: Earth's Sydney Chandler), a young woman with a bob that's best described as retro-futuristic while French. Though trained as an engineer, Beck's lack of people skills has her searching for work. When a company that promises it can upload human consciousness into a cloud system is hiring, she'll take any job they've got on offer. Little does she expect it'll be a life-changing journey.

Anima is an entrancing road-trip movie.

An unappealing entry-level gig is how Beck meets Paul (Shōgun's Takehiro Hira), a man who's made his fortune on buttons (the clothing kind, not the pushing kind). Paul is a client of this consciousness-cloud storage company; she's been hired to pick him up and drive him to his final appointment. There, he will, according to the sales pitch, be copied over to a computer drive and then euthanized.

The instructions Beck is given from a formal executive (Birth/Rebirth's Marin Ireland) are simple: Drive him here and see that he has a good last meal. But Paul throws a curve into their journey by demanding they make a few stops along the way.

See, before he goes, Paul wants to make amends. Well, maybe "amends" isn't the right word. But he has some regrets to get off his chest, and Beck will be his sidekick whether she likes it or not.

Anima is a tale of opposites finding common ground.

At first, Beck regards Paul as a job, perhaps in part so she won't think too much about what their destination has in store for this soon-to-die man. But as their car ride kicks off, she soon is sneering at him — and understandably so! Sulking in a leather trench coat and business suit, he demands detours, detests the radio, and drags Beck into backyards, shops, and humble homes on his unhinged quest for resolution.

Along the way, they'll meet characters who burst with energy neither of these heroes can muster. A poolside vixen with a mouth painted perfectly red and welcoming. An American business colleague who practically cheers at Paul's arrival. An awkward teen clerk whose hobby is talking to an AI chatbot modeled after a Twin Peaks character. With each encounter, Beck sees who Paul is in contrast to those he'll leave behind. And in each stop, she reveals a bit of herself too.

Sydney Chandler and Takehiro Hira have a strange but compelling chemistry.

Writer/director Brian Tetsuro Ivie sculpts a story lean yet deep, where small plot points echo across the road trip. A stolen CD plays a song about a broken parent-child bond, allowing Beck and Paul to connect over a shared heartache from opposite sides. Something flips, just like that, and these two are not strangers but friends. So what will that mean for the end of their journey? I wouldn't dare reveal. But I will say that Chandler and Hira manage each step with a resonating reserve.

In dialogue, they move from crisply rude to hesitantly curious to trippingly warm to achingly vulnerable. Yet despite its themes of life, death, and regret, Anima never falls into suffocating sentimentality or tear-jerking theatrics. Its tone is softer and more elegiac, but never stoic.

Don’t miss out on our latest stories: Add Mashable as a trusted news source in Google.

There's a thrum of yearning reverberating through Ivie's vision of a not-so-distant future. There, these heroes are often bathed in cool tones, perhaps reflecting the icy exteriors that have been their respective shields. But as they collide with the friends and family of Paul's life, the palette grows warm, as if to indicate life choices that really could have made the grass greener.

Paul's early rejection of the radio sets up a soundtrack that is selective, not constant. Sometimes the only music is the whispering of a river, or the hum of the car speeding down the highway. Other times, it's a deceptively cheery pop song, an artist perhaps singing the feelings neither Paul or Beck can dare to confess.

In the end, Anima is a touching story of human connection in a world where tech suggests we can do without. Moving and meditative, this drama is a ride well worth the taking.

Anima was reviewed out of SXSW.

Google Chrome has been a first-class web browser on Linux for years, but there has been a problem over the years: no Chrome builds for Raspberry Pi boards and other ARM hardware. That’s finally changing.

This weekend, we’ve set you up with some engrossing drama series to watch on Amazon Prime Video. Each features a well-structured, character-driven narrative in an immersive world of deeply flawed personalities, solid performances, and strong thematic depth. They’re guaranteed to strike a bingeworthy chord of connection.

The latest trailer for Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day, ahem, discloses a bit more information about the film's plot than its initial teaser.

According to the trailer, Josh O'Connor plays a whistleblowing cybersecurity administrator who's planning to reveal the sensitive information he's paid to protect. The information? That humans aren't alone in the universe.

SEE ALSO: Netflix's 'Thrash' trailer is hungry sharks after tsunami after hurricane

Soon, he'll be mixed up in a vast fight for the truth, and he won't be alone. He'll team up with a Kansas City TV meteorologist (Emily Blunt) who begins emitting alien clicking sounds while on air. His acquaintance Jane (Eve Hewson) also gets wrapped up in things, crossing paths with a menacing administrator (Colin Firth) who appears to be able to project himself anywhere in the world thanks to a machine he's wired up to. Said machine also seems to give him mind control powers and the ability to change his eye color, making it a Swiss Army knife of cool powers. (That doesn't mean I'd like to cross paths with anyone using it, though.)

The rest of the trailer is chock-full of intriguing imagery, from crop circles to a mysterious deer leading a young girl toward a glowing door. Do I know what's going on? No. Do I trust Spielberg to deliver another alien banger? Given that he's behind E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, that's going to be an absolute "yes."

Disclosure Day was written by Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp, from a story by Spielberg. Colman Domingo and Wyatt Russell also star.

Disclosure Day hits theaters June 12.

One of the primary issues people face when using Microsoft Word is how the program deals with formatting. At times, it seems the program has a mind of its own! However, many of these frustrations can be solved by displaying non-printing characters.

This weekend is the Super Bowl for cinema. Sunday marks the 98th Academy Awards, and by all accounts, it should be an unpredictable show. One Battle After Another and Sinners are set to duel it out in 11 different categories, including the night's top prize, Best Picture. Other categories to keep an eye on are Best Actor, featuring Timothée Chalamet versus Michael B. Jordan, and Best Supporting Actress.

The floppy ruled removable storage for decades, but it quickly became too small and spurred on many pretenders to the throne. Yet while many tried to topple the floppy from its throne, it clung on far longer than you'd expect.

America’s appetite for SUVs isn’t slowing down, and Toyota is leaning into it with a whole lineup of high-riding family haulers. Among them is a three-row model that’s quietly putting up some impressive numbers in the brand’s early-2026 sales reports.

If you're looking to curate your Netflix watch list, what better place to start than with the titles that swept the awards at their peak? From Oscar-winning movies to Emmy-winning shows, the platform has many decorated titles to choose from.

Tinder just announced several product updates at its inaugural event, Tinder Sparks — from its subtly teased AI matchmaker to safety upgrades and an astrology mode.

Up top, Tinder is "modernizing" its look with a Liquid Glass design (like Apple's) and full-screen photos and content. The app also wants to enhance onboarding new users by encouraging them to complete their profiles — from bios to multiple photos, instead of just uploading a selfie. Beyond that, here's a breakdown of all the newness coming to the dating app:

SEE ALSO: All your Tinder questions, answered New Tinder AI features

Like other major dating apps, Bumble and Hinge, Tinder is leaning into the AI craze. This isn't new — they've rolled out AI-powered features before — but today's announcement continues the trend.

First, there's Chemistry, an AI-powered matchmaker that's already being tested in Australia and New Zealand, but rolls out in the U.S. and Canada today.

Chemistry is "Tinder's AI-powered way of cutting through dating fatigue," according to Tinder's press release. Chemistry will use a Q&A and scan your camera roll to "get a better sense" of who you are, and in return, Tinder users will receive a daily curated match recommendation.

Credit: Tinder

The camera roll scan is an opt-in feature within Chemistry that helps discover "Photo Insights" such as your interests based on patterns in your camera roll. This seems similar to Photo Selector, an AI feature Tinder rolled out in 2024, that helped you pick a profile pic.

Similar features in the pipeline are Visual Interests and the AI-powered Photo Enhanced, which will reportedly highlight individuals' favorite things and make photos clearer, respectively.

Want our dating and relationships stories and more in your inbox? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter today.

In addition, Tinder's real-time recommendation system, "Learning Mode," aims to quickly understand what you're looking for and gather feedback to serve you better potential matches. Internal testing of Learning Mode suggests that, for women joining Tinder for the first time, it's associated with a higher likelihood of returning to the app within the first week.

New modes for music and astrology lovers

Tinder previously introduced College Mode and Double Date Mode, and now it's continuing the trend.

Music Mode launched in 2021 in collaboration with Spotify, but Tinder has now redesigned it. Music Mode will now prioritize profiles with shared tastes and promises a sleeker user interface. In early testing, one in 10 Tinder users under 22 adopted it.

Then there's the new Astrology Mode, likely building on the growing online interest in astrology and already influencing Tinder users. Now, users can add their birth data to "unlock" their Sun, Moon, and Rising signs and see compatibility insights with a potential match. Women with Astrology profiles sent 20 percent more Likes in early testing, according to Tinder.

Credit: Tinder

Both Music Mode and Astrology Mode are live globally.

Encouraging more IRL moments

Capitalizing on the IRL trend, Tinder is piloting an Events feature in Los Angeles that lists local IRL happenings, allowing users to signal their interest in attending. Tinder plans to partner with event hosts to offer opportunities to get off the app and into in-person flirting, say, at a pottery class or trivia night. Both Tinder and Bumble have thrown IRL events in the past, but this is new.

Credit: Tinder

If you'd rather stay home but still want to see a date's face, you may prefer the new video speed-dating feature (also testing in Los Angeles). If you're photo verified (and all new U.S. users need to scan their face to join the app as of October last year), you can join scheduled, three-minute-long speed dates. You can add more time if you'd like, or connect with multiple matches in real time. Very 2020 of Tinder!

Tinder safety upgrades

Tinder has long had twin features, "Are You Sure?" and "Does This Bother You?", which ask users whether they want to send a potentially harmful message and prompt them to report if a message is making them uncomfortable, respectively.

Credit: Tinder

Now, Tinder announces that these features are (unsurprisingly) getting an AI-powered upgrade. "Are You Sure?" is "being fine-tuned to more accurately detect harm," according to Tinder, while "Does This Bother You?" will soon auto-blur potentially disrespectful messages.

Duolingo and Beli...on Tinder?

Tinder's had Spotify integrations since 2016, and now the app is introducing more partnerships — with language-learning app Duolingo and restaurant review app Beli. Expect that to drop globally later this year.

"With more than half our users under 30, we're building alongside a generation that wants dating to feel more authentic, lower-pressure, and worth their time," Match Group and Tinder CEO Spencer Rascoff stated in the press release.

If you're looking to get into Tinder but don't know how it all works, read Mashable's guide to Tinder.

Apple surprised no one (and surprised us all at the same time) with the MacBook Neo announcement. This low-priced laptop is a showcase of modern tech prowess though, in ways you probably didn’t realize. The MacBook Neo is powered by the same processor in your iPhone 16 Pro.

We've already reviewed (and loved) the MacBook Neo, the newest member of Apple's laptop family. Its positive aspects include that $599 price point (or $499 with open-to-all education pricing), fun colors such as citrus, and a powerful A18 Pro chipset. And that sentiment is pretty much unanimous amongst tech reviewers.

Still, amongst all the adulation for Apple's most affordable laptop ever, there are drawbacks. These aren't necessarily flaws — Apple had to pick and choose what to include and what not to include in order to make its low-cost MacBook a reality. The positives outweigh the negatives, but it's still important for consumers to know what they're getting into. Here's why the Neo might not be your cup of tea.

Only 8GB of RAM

Most outlets, from Mashable to The Verge, have pointed out that the MacBook Neo only comes with 8GB of RAM. Regardless of which model you buy, there's no option to upgrade your MacBook Neo's memory nor is it possible to upgrade it at a later time. For most general use cases — writing documents, browsing the internet — 8GB will be more than enough. But if they need to multitask — or perform processor-hungry video editing, say — users will likely feel the need for a few more GB.

Few ports in a storm

The MacBook Neo is seriously lacking ports. As our review notes, the MacBook Neo doesn't have a Thunderbolt 4 port, meaning that it can only offer transfer speeds of up to 10Gb/s. Compare that with 40Gb/s for the latest MacBook Air.

As for the Neo's two USB-C ports? Well, as Macworld writes, they aren't exactly equal. One is for 10Gb/s data transfer and displays, while the other one is only a 480Mbps port — which should be used mostly for charging purposes.

Single-core processes: Good. Multi-core processes? Ehh.

The MacBook Neo and its A18 Pro chip are surprisingly faster at many single-core processes than even the more powerful M Series chipsets. In 9to5Mac's benchmark tests, the Neo was faster than the M1, M2, and even M3 MacBook Air laptops when used for tasks like web browsing and basic photo editing. 

However, the MacBook Neo is significantly slower when it comes to more complex use cases like video exporting and AI processing  that require multi-cores. 9to5Mac found that the MacBook Neo was only slightly faster than the more than a 5-year-old M1 MacBook Air, and slower than the rest of the M Series chips.

Want slim? Consider the MacBook Air

Bloomberg, as well as our colleagues at CNET, make an interesting point. While the MacBook Neo is small thanks to its 13-inch display, it is still thicker than the MacBook Air. This makes sense — when you're paying the extra for an Air, you're paying for a slim build. But it means the Neo isn't quite as easy to tote around as you might think. (The Neo and the 13-inch MacBook Air both weigh the same, around 2.7 lbs.)

CNET also found that the MacBook Neo's battery life didn't last as long as some other MacBooks, including the MacBook Air.

MacBook Neo's base model may not be enough

As many reviewers noted, the $599 model only comes with 256GB of storage space and does not have Touch ID. In this day and age, 256GB of storage space isn't much. System data will take a chunk of that space off the bat; once you install apps, there might not be too much left for documents and downloads. Touch ID is really handy, meanwhile; it removes the need to type in most passwords.

Apple does provide an upgraded MacBook Neo model which doubles the storage space to 512GB, and includes Touch ID, for an extra $100. But that takes away the allure of the base model MacBook Neo's extremely low pricing.

As BGR points out, it seems Apple sent most early reviewers the 512GB model with Touch ID. That hints at which MacBook Neo model Apple considers standard. 

Bottom line: the MacBook Neo appears to be a powerful computer at an amazing price as long as you're using the device for basic, everyday tasks. In more advanced use cases, it may still fit your purposes — but we recommend taking a look at what else Apple has to offer, just to be sure you're buying the appropriate MacBook for your needs.