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5 fantastic Paramount+ movies to watch this week (September 7 - 13)

How-To Geek - 37 min 14 sec ago

The most-watched movie on Paramount+ right now is the new Scary Movie, which critics have taken a baseball bat to. It may have a 24% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but folks keep pressing play on the Scream spoof, and honestly, I'm here for it because movie lovers can't go by critics alone.

Categories: IT General, Technology

I split my Chrome browsing into separate profiles, and suddenly ads stopped following me everywhere

How-To Geek - 1 hour 7 min ago

Most of you reading this probably use just one Google Chrome profile to do everything. So that means your banking, work, leisure, and all other activities happen using the same online identity.

Categories: IT General, Technology

I’ve programmed in VS Code for years and I’d recommend these shortcuts to every beginner

How-To Geek - Mon, 09/07/2026 - 23:30

VS Code is a big deal. In Stack Overflow’s 2025 Developer Survey, a whopping 76% of respondents said they use it regularly. That towers over the 29% who report using its nearest competitor, Visual Studio.

Categories: IT General, Technology

I ditched Google Keep and replaced it with a notes app that actually respects my privacy

How-To Geek - Mon, 09/07/2026 - 23:00

Google Keep is convenient, but convenience came with a cost many people would want to stop paying: my notes living in Google's cloud, tied to my account, scanned by whatever systems Google runs behind the scenes. Switching to Obsidian changed how I think about my own notes entirely.

Categories: IT General, Technology

I finally found a Linux music player that feels better than Spotify's desktop app

How-To Geek - Mon, 09/07/2026 - 22:30

I like to test out different music/media players on Linux every so often. I don't know how I missed out on Clementine. I've been using the Spotify desktop app on one of my machines for a little while as a media player. So, just for fun, I decided to pit them against one another in a bit of a "friendly competition." I was surprised to see which one I ended up liking better.

Categories: IT General, Technology

You probably bought the wrong NFC tags for your smart home projects

How-To Geek - Mon, 09/07/2026 - 22:00

NFC tags can be incredibly useful smart home tools. They're cheap to buy, and you can use them to trigger automations just by scanning them with a phone. Not all NFC tags are created equal, and it's all too easy to buy the wrong NFC tags for the job.

Categories: IT General, Technology

South Park creators troll Trump after Emmys win

Mashable - Mon, 09/07/2026 - 21:59

South Park celebrated its Emmy win with a public dig at Donald Trump.

Following the series' win for Outstanding Animated Program at the 2026 Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Sunday, the official South Park X account posted a jubilant message, congratulating creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and their team.

However, the message was accompanied by an image, showing a photo of the president's face attached to a cartoon body with his pants down, holding an Emmy. He's surrounded by South Park characters including Cartman, Kyle, Stan, Kenny, Mr. Garrison, PC Principal, Jesus Christ, and Satan.

"You finally got your Emmy," the image proclaims.

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

South Park's dig at the president is a one-two punch. Trump has been nominated for two Emmys — in 2005 and 2004 as executive producer of Outstanding Reality-Competition Program nominee The Apprentice — but has not won an award. South Park has now won six Emmys, with 21 nominations and Stone and Parker inducted into the 28th Television Academy Hall of Fame earlier this year.

SEE ALSO: 'South Park' closes Season 28 with a horrifying Jeffrey Epstein twist

However, the bigger upset to the president could be that South Park won this year's Emmy after a particularly anti-Trump Season 27, the premiere of which was the show's biggest in years. And it was this controversial opening episode, "Sermon On The 'Mount," which won the show its 2026 Emmy.

The episode was slammed by the White House for its depiction of Trump, portrayed in bed with Satan and later stumbling through the desert naked and revealing a talking micropenis in a deepfake PSA sequence. The episode also makes references to the Trump's urging for people to move on from the so-called "Epstein list".

When Parker and Stone were asked about the episode at San Diego’s Comic-Con International in July, they responded, "We’re terribly sorry," staring out to the audience.

Featured Video For You Will Forte, John Cena & Lana Condor draft the ultimate 'Coyote Vs. Acme' squad

And it wasn't the only anti-Trump moment of Season 27 (or 28 for that matter), with multiple episodes dedicated to lampooning the president and his administration.

Trump or the White House has not responded to South Park's Emmy win or the X post as of this publication.

South Park Season 29, meanwhile, is set to premiere Sept. 16 at 10 p.m. ET on Comedy Central, before streaming on Paramount+.

Want more film and TV news and reviews delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for Mashable’s Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

Categories: IT General, Technology

5 Google Messages features that make group chats far less chaotic

How-To Geek - Mon, 09/07/2026 - 21:30

I have a lot of family and friends, which means I’ve somehow ended up in hundreds of group chats. There’s one for discussing common life problems, another for vacation planning, one for the family, and a few that I’m honestly not even sure why they were created. After a while, all these conversations become my digital junk drawer.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Polymarket and Kalshi face possible regulation as Supreme Court monitors the situation

Mashable - Mon, 09/07/2026 - 21:01

Picture it: Prediction markets like Kalshi, platforms which allow users to make "predictions" on almost anything for financial gain, platforms which are plagued with accusations of insider trading, are actually regulated by U.S. state governments under gambling laws.

It could be a future possibility, if the Supreme Court could be convinced to make it happen.

As reported by The Hill, multiple states have filed petitions to enforce sports gambling laws on Kalshi and platforms like it, including New Jersey and Nevada, which are respectively home to gambling hubs Atlantic City and Las Vegas. And the outcomes of each case could potentially see the eventual involvement of the Supreme Court.

SEE ALSO: France orders Polymarket blocked over illegal gambling promotion

In the U.S., each state regulates its own gambling laws, including sports betting, which is legal in 39 states and Washington DC as of May 2026. However, Kalshi and "prediction market" platforms like it are federally regulated, sitting under the watch of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which oversees America's financial derivatives markets. (Polymarket is actually not registered in the U.S. or regulated by the CFTC, though it has established a U.S. outpost which is.) This means these platforms can operate in all 50 states and currently do not answer to state gambling laws — Kalshi has argued it offers "legal sports event contracts," not bets.

However, a bipartisan coalition of 44 states signed a letter in July, declaring prediction market platforms "a new form of casino used primarily for a few to manipulate others — the type of harms squarely within States' historic police powers to regulate gambling."

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has insisted "it is critically important that the CFTC's exclusive authority over Prediction Markets is maintained, and that they will thrive," even considering his own platform. The president's son, Donald Trump Jr., not only has a financial stake and an advisory role in Kalshi, but is also set to see his venture capital firm invest $300 million in Polymarket.

Featured Video For You How prediction markets got people betting on nuclear war

On Sept. 2, New Jersey officials petitioned the Supreme Court to enforce sports gambling laws on Kalshi. "Kalshi bills itself as 'the first app for legal sports betting in all 50 states' and believes it can offer that 'legal sports betting' without following the sports-gambling laws of any of those 50 States," the petition read.

The petitioners — New Jersey attorney general Jennifer Davenport and New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement interim director Mary Jo Flaherty — said that Kalshi and platforms like it had "discovered a major sports-gambling loophole in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act" enacted after the 2007–2008 financial crisis. The Act, they said, allows Kalshi to define its offerings as financial "swaps" instead of "bets."

The important part here is that in April, the New Jersey case was actually ruled by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in favor of Kalshi, meaning the platform could keep on offering its "legal sports event contracts" on college sports within the state's jurisdiction. However, that decision clashes with another decision made in Aug. by the Ninth Circuit, which covers Nevada among other states. An appeal from the Nevada Gaming Control Board saw the Court of Appeals siding not with Kalshi but with the state gaming regulator, which "sent a cease-and-desist letter notifying Kalshi that it was running a sports betting platform in violation of Nevada statutes and gaming regulations." Essentially, the differing state results could get SCOTUS' attention on a federal level.

Similar cases have been filed in Connecticut, New York, Arizona, Minnesota, and more states.

Next stop? The Supreme Court appeal from the New Jersey regulators. However, actually getting SCOTUS to consider the request isn't guaranteed, with the court receiving thousands each year and granting very few for consideration.

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Categories: IT General, Technology

4 BIOS settings that can quietly slow your SSD to a crawl

How-To Geek - Mon, 09/07/2026 - 21:00

Most people shouldn't worry about the majority of BIOS settings, since leaving them at their default values makes the most sense. This applies to most SSD-related BIOS settings as well. That said, there's a chance the previous owner messed with them if you bought a used PC, or that one friend who likes to tinker with PCs tweaked your motherboard's BIOS settings without your knowledge.

Categories: IT General, Technology

4 fantastic Netflix movies to watch this week (September 7 - 13)

How-To Geek - Mon, 09/07/2026 - 20:30

Even though the weather's getting cooler, the movies on Netflix are starting to heat up for U.S. subscribers, with The Whisper Man still holding court at the top of the streamer's charts. If you're into documentaries, maybe you've already checked out the wild-ride story of Australian Olympic breakdancer Rachael Gunn in Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly.

Categories: IT General, Technology

I stopped fighting my Alt+Tab habit in Excel and made it work instead

How-To Geek - Mon, 09/07/2026 - 20:00

I have an annoying habit in Excel. Whenever I want to switch to another worksheet, I instinctively press Alt+Tab. I know that's not what the shortcut does, but years of using it to jump between apps have made the habit almost impossible to break. So I found a way to make it work.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Grindr to pay £26 million to settle lawsuit after allegedly sharing users HIV status

Mashable - Mon, 09/07/2026 - 19:31

Grindr has agreed to pay £26 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that the gay hookup app shared users' personal information, including HIV status, with third parties, the BBC reports.

Mashable first reported that Grindr did this in 2018, based on an initial investigation from BuzzFeed News. Soon after that report was published, Grindr told Axios it would stop sharing HIV status with third parties.

SEE ALSO: We went to Madonna's steamy Grindr London party. Here's what happened.

In April 2024, UK law firm Austen Hays sued Grindr on behalf of thousands of UK users, claiming that the app breached the country's privacy laws by sharing sensitive information with third-party vendors prior to 2020. In April 2025, Austen Hays served Grindr's U.S. offices. By June 2025, over 11,000 claimants signed up, according to the firm.

In a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Sept. 2, 2026, Grindr stated that it resolved the class action, and that it occurred "when Grindr was owned and controlled by the Chinese conglomerate Kunlun."

"The settlement includes no findings or admission of liability. While Grindr disputes the allegations, it recognizes and acknowledges the distress and loss of trust expressed by some of its UK users regarding that pre-2020 period," the statement reads.

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The filing goes on to state that six years ago, Grindr was sold to new owners and appointed new management, with the company going public two years later.

"Since 2020 Grindr has overhauled its privacy program with a keen focus on the unique needs of its community. Grindr is and remains a safe space for users, committed to transparency, user control, and responsible data practices," Grindr stated in the filing.

Grindr has agreed to pay £13.0 million to claimants by Dec. 31, 2026, and £13.0 million by March 31, 2027.

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Categories: IT General, Technology

Android Auto is great until your passenger wants to use your phone — here's my workaround

How-To Geek - Mon, 09/07/2026 - 19:30

Android Auto does a great job of putting the things you actually need behind your car’s screen, so you can leave your phone alone and focus on driving. But there are still plenty of moments when your phone is simply the easiest way to get something done. That becomes especially awkward when you’re driving with a passenger who wants to take over for a moment.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Stop using the cd command — this Linux command is faster, smarter, and easier

How-To Geek - Mon, 09/07/2026 - 19:00

The cd command, short for “change directory,” is one of the most fundamental commands on Linux. It’s how you navigate the Linux terminal — moving between different working directories. That said, cd is an old-school way to navigate the Linux file system, and several modern alternatives have emerged that make the process faster and easier. Here’s a modern cd replacement that can help you navigate your file system with less typing and less guesswork.

Categories: IT General, Technology

I put an ESP32 in my car, and now I know things my dashboard won't tell me

How-To Geek - Mon, 09/07/2026 - 18:30

I use a lot of ESP32 boards around my home, but they don't always have to be stuck indoors. By putting an ESP32 in my car, I'm able to access live engine data from my car that tells me much more than my dashboard does.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Officials want to turn Miami into Vice City for GTA 6. Police disagree.

Mashable - Mon, 09/07/2026 - 18:04

Some officials in Miami-Dade County dream of turning Miami into Vice City for the release of Grand Theft Auto VI, The Miamian reported, but law enforcement isn't a fan of the idea.

GTA 6 takes place in the fictional, Miami-inspired Vice City, and county officials are trying to spin it into a marketing opportunity for the destination, according to the news outlet. On June 29, they reportedly submitted a pitch deck to Rockstar, the makers of GTA, which The Miamian obtained through a public records request.

SEE ALSO: Palms, neon, and Vice City vibes: How to preorder the limited-edition 'GTA 6' PS5 controllers

The slides include ideas such as transforming Miami International Airport and parts of the Metromover system with Vice City branding, to creating a Vice City Radio Lab in downtown Miami's Main Library. Carlos Suarez, a spokesperson for Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, confirmed to The Miamian that the mayor's office has had conversations with Rockstar about potential opportunities, but that nothing has been formalized or agreed upon.

The Miamian reported this on Aug. 27, and by Sept. 3, Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz criticized the idea (per Axios), saying, "Miami-Dade County is not Vice City," adding her view that GTA is a "video game franchise built around criminal activity…that the men and women of the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office work every single day to prevent."

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As reported by Axios, Cordero-Stutz also stated:

At a time when law enforcement is working every day to reduce violent crime, prevent robberies and car thefts, combat drug trafficking, and build stronger relationships between our deputies and the communities we serve, I believe we need to seriously consider the message we send when our own government promotes a fictional identity centered around many of those same crimes.

Miami-Dade District 12 Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez is also against the partnership. "I still cannot believe that we are even considering temporarily rebranding important County assets, including Miami International Airport, as 'Vice City Airport,'" he said, according to Axios.

The following day, The Miamian reported that a different commissioner wants big promotions of the game in the city.

City of Miami District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo is sponsoring an ordinance on the Sept. 10 city commission agenda that would grant Rockstar waivers to advertise GTA 6 with temporary banners, building wraps, and promotional displays. These waivers are usually reserved for events like the 2026 World Cup, according to The Miamian. The money received by Rockstar would go towards developing 33 acres of open space called the Rev. Edward T. Graham Heritage Trail, according to Pardo.

Whether Miami will become Vice City this fall remains anyone's guess. Mashable has reached out to Rockstar Games for comment.

Categories: IT General, Technology

5 new movies to watch this week across Netflix, HBO Max, and more (September 7-13)

How-To Geek - Mon, 09/07/2026 - 17:00

It's a new week, which means many of the major streaming services will be adding movies to their respective services. At HBO Max, one of the most divisive superhero movies in recent memory finally makes its streaming debut. Netflix has a pair of new releases: one comes from Tyler Perry, and the other is based on a beloved comedy series.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Moon phase today: What the Moon will look like on September 7

Mashable - Mon, 09/07/2026 - 16:32

The Moon is looking even slimmer again tonight as it continues towards the New Moon. There's now less of its surface lit by the Sun, which means we're not far away from the next lunar phase.

What is today’s Moon phase?

As of Monday, Sept. 7, NASA's Daily Moon Guide tracker tells us the Moon is in Waning Crescent phase, with 18% of its surface visible.

With just your naked eye, you'll able be able to make out the Aristarchus Plateau. If you have binoculars or a telescope, however, you should be able to see the Grimaldi Basin and the Gassendi Crater.

When is the next Full Moon?

The next Full Moon will take place on September 26.

What are Moon phases?

The Moon's appearance gradually changes as it travels around Earth, completing a full lunar cycle in approximately 29.5 days, NASA tells us. What we see from Earth depends on the Moon's position in relation to the Sun, which affects how much of its illuminated side is visible. As the cycle progresses, the Moon passes through a series of phases, from a thin crescent to a half Moon and then a Full Moon, before starting over.

The eight phases are:

New Moon - The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it's invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent - A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter - Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.

Waxing Gibbous - More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon - The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous - The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)

Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) - Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent - A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Best deals on Ryobi cordless tools in Home Depots Labor Day sale. Shop deals for under $50

Mashable - Mon, 09/07/2026 - 16:31
The best Ryobi Labor Day deals from Home Depot: Best beginner deal Ryobi ONE+ 18V Cordless 1/4 in. Hex Screwdriver Kit with Compact Battery and Charger $49.97 (save $108.97) Get Deal Best angle grinder deal Ryobi ONE+ HP 18V Brushless Cordless 4-1/2 in. Angle Grinder with 4.0 Ah High Performance Battery $99 (save $149) Get Deal Best multi-tool deal Ryobi ONE+ HP 18V Brushless Cordless Oscillating Multi-Tool with 4.0 Ah High Performance Battery $99 (save $149) Get Deal Best circular saw deal Ryobi ONE+ HP 18V Brushless Cordless 7-1/4 in. Circular Saw with ONE+ 18V 4.0 Ah High Performance Battery $139 (save $129) Get Deal

There's a version of every home project where you end up making three trips to the hardware store because you're missing one specific tool. Home Depot's Labor Day sale is a good chance to close that gap for good — it's taking up to 69% off Ryobi's 18-volt cordless tools, and since Ryobi's batteries are compatible with over 300 different tools, getting one today means you're already set up for future buys.

We rounded up the best deals from the sale below, from a circular saw that can handle your bigger cuts to a driver kit that covers everything else on your list.

Best beginner deal Opens in a new window Credit: Ryobi ONE+ 18V Cordless 1/4 in. Hex Screwdriver Kit with Compact Battery and Charger $49.97 at Home Depot
$158.94 Save $108.97   Get Deal Why we like it

Every DIY kit needs a reliable driver, and the Ryobi 18V ONE+ 1/4-inch Hex Screwdriver Kit covers the basics: driving screws, drilling holes, hanging shelves, or fixing a fence. It's lightweight, making it easy to handle for smaller jobs, and its design reduces hand fatigue during overhead or tight-space work, while an onboard LED worklight illuminates dark work areas. Swapping bits is also effortless thanks to the 1/4-inch keyless quick-connect collet.

Best angle grinder deal Opens in a new window Credit: Ryobi ONE+ HP 18V Brushless Cordless 4-1/2 in. Angle Grinder with 4.0 Ah High Performance Battery $99 at Home Depot
$248 Save $149   Get Deal Why we like it

An angle grinder isn't the flashiest tool, but it's the one you reach for when you need to cut or shape metal, or just nip off the end of a screw that's poking through where it shouldn't. The Ryobi 18V ONE+ HP 4-1/2-inch Angle Grinder can make up to 210 cuts on a single charge, so you're not stopping mid-project to recharge, and comes with an 18-volt, 4-amp-hour battery.

Its smart brushless motor keeps the tool cool so it lasts longer, while an updated design lets you make flat cuts easily against surfaces. With a comfortable grip, quick tool-free guard adjustments, and a battery that works across hundreds of other Ryobi tools, it’s built to handle tough DIY projects with total ease.

Best multi-tool deal Opens in a new window Credit: Ryobi ONE+ HP 18V Brushless Cordless Oscillating Multi-Tool with 4.0 Ah High Performance Battery $99 at Home Depot
$248 Save $149   Get Deal Why we like it

The Ryobi ONE+ HP 18V cordless oscillating multi-tool with 4.0 Ah high-performance battery does a little bit of everything: cutting wood, PVC, metal, or drywall, plus sanding and polishing depending on which attachment you swap in. It comes with a plunge-cut blade, a flush-cut blade, and a sanding attachment right out of the box, and you can adjust the speed depending on what you're working on, useful for anything from rough cuts to more delicate jobs like refinishing furniture.

Best circular saw deal Opens in a new window Credit: Ryobi Ryobi ONE+ HP 18V Brushless Cordless 7-1/4 in. Circular Saw with ONE+ 18V 4.0 Ah High Performance Battery $139 at Home Depot
$268 Save $129   Get Deal Why we like it

If you don't have a table saw, the ONE+ HP 18V Cordless 7-1/4-inch circular saw is basically your stand-in for one. It handles long, straight cuts through materials like plywood and two-by-fours, which covers a lot of ground for woodworking or repair projects. It also has an attachment port for a shop vac or dust collection system, so you're not left cleaning up sawdust for the rest of your weekend.

Categories: IT General, Technology
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