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Another week, another round of must-see movies on Amazon Prime Video. This week, yes, we’re going to laugh a little, but we’re also embarking on some wild, heartfelt, and harrowing adventures.

I do a lot of photography and videography, and those files can take up a lot of storage. I used to just store the footage and photos on my laptop’s internal storage, moving it to the NAS only when needed. Now, I just back up the footage to my NAS first and work from there, and that workflow is so much better. Here’s how I automatically back up my SD card to my NAS, and how you can too.

Tired of desktop environments (DEs) that keep “improving” things that already worked perfectly? Does your modern Linux desktop feel like it was designed for someone else’s workflow? Well, MATE preserves the old way of using a computer—and here’s why it’s the best DE for retro enthusiasts.

I recently turned my old Android phone into a media server with a simple setup. It allows me to broadcast any media files saved in my phone’s storage and make them accessible for streaming on any device with a browser.

NASA will soon run a high‑stakes fueling test on its Artemis II rocket, a practice run that must succeed before four astronauts can fly around the moon.

The U.S. space agency inched the 11 million-pound Space Launch System and mobile launcher to a Cape Canaveral, Florida, launchpad on Saturday, Jan. 17. The slow procession of the 322-foot rocket, topped with the Orion spaceship, took 12 hours on the aging crawler-transporter to complete. 

That four-mile trek could mark the first leg of Artemis II, a 10-day journey around the moon and back that will put the spaceship through its paces. The lunar mission will be NASA's first with astronauts —Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman, and Canada's Jeremy Hansen — in 53 years since Apollo 17. 

The so-called "wet dress rehearsal" will load the mega moon rocket with 700,000 gallons of ultra‑cold liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen propellants and take the countdown all the way to 29 seconds before liftoff. How this test goes will shape the flight timeline and determine whether launch opportunities in February remain in play.

"We need to get through wet dress, we need to see what lessons we learn as a result of that, and that will ultimately lay out our path toward launch," Artemis Launch Director Charlie Blackwell‑Thompson said. "With a wet dress that is without significant issues, if everything goes to plan, then certainly there are opportunities within February that could be achievable." 

SEE ALSO: NASA says Artemis II can fly without its big, broken deep space antenna NASA's mega moon rocket emerges from its massive warehouse at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Jan. 17, 2026. Credit: NASA / Joel Kowsky When is the wet dress rehearsal?  The 322-foot rocket, taller than the Statue of Liberty, rolls past the firing room on its way to the launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Jan. 17, 2026. Credit: NASA / Aubrey Gemignan

During the test, teams will fill the rocket and rehearse every major step of launch‑day fueling. Controllers will run through all countdown procedures, including the final "terminal count," then stop on purpose at T‑29 seconds. NASA is targeting Feb. 2 for the crucial exercise, though that could change, depending on preparations. 

"We'll review the data,"  said Blackwell‑Thompson, "then we'll set up for our launch attempt." 

The results will determine whether NASA will hit its soonest launch window, which opens Feb. 6.

NASA's crawler-transporter carries the 11-million-pound rocket stack and mobile launcher to the launchpad at Kennedy Space Center on Jan. 17, 2026. Credit: NASA / Aubrey Gemignani

Artemis II builds on lessons from the uncrewed maiden voyage in 2022, which needed several tries to complete fueling. Engineers adjusted how they load liquid oxygen after seeing temperature issues and modified hardware after hydrogen leaks were discovered in the connection between the ground systems and the rocket. They also changed and cryogenically tested a key valve that caused trouble during the final uncrewed countdown.

Since Artemis I, the Kennedy Space Center has revised procedures and upgraded hardware as part of the Artemis II plan.

The mega moon rocket traverses 4 miles to get to the launchpad for a wet dress rehearsal at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Jan. 17, 2026. Credit: NASA / Ben Smegelsky From left, NASA administrator Jared Isaacman, Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch, pilot Victor Glover, and Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman take questions from reporters as the mega moon rocket rolls behind them to the launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Jan. 17, 2026. Credit: NASA / Kim Shiflett When will Artemis II launch? After 12 hours of crawling, the rocket reaches launchpad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, after 6 p.m. ET on Jan. 17, 2026. Credit: NASA / Brandon Hancock

Once the wet dress rehearsal ends, engineers will pore over the performance of the rocket, the Orion spacecraft, and the ground systems. Only if the data looks clean will the mission managers move on to setting a specific launch date. 

NASA officials have rejected any characterization that the team has "launch fever" or that preparations have been rushed.

"I've got one job, and it's a safe return of Reid and Victor and Christina and Jeremy. I consider that a duty and a trust," said John Honeycutt, chairperson of the mission management team. "We're going to fly when we're ready."

Just when did USB ports become such a complete mess? They're easy to follow on the surface, with two relevant types to pay attention to. But if you look closer, they're all kinds of confusing.

Contact sensors, often known as door or window sensors, use magnets to sense open or closed states. You can use this information and the changing of these states to do all sorts of neat things in your smart home.

TL;DR: Watch the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations for free on Channel 4. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

There is quite simply no tournament like the Africa Cup of Nations. It's an electric combination of heated rivalries, colorful fans, and flair that is sometimes lacking from elite competitions. We know that the eyes of the footballing world are already fixed on the 2026 World Cup, but this incredible tournament should whet the appetite of fans before the main event next summer.

The likes of Mohamed Salah, Achraf Hakimi, Sadio Mane, Bryan Mbuemo, and Victor Osimhen have been battling it out in Morocco. After weeks of fantastic competition, the trophy is up for grabs. Hosts Morocco are facing off against Senegal in the final. It's going to be fascinating to watch these talented sides battle it out in front of a passionate home support.

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If you're interested in watching the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

What is the Africa Cup of Nations?

The Africa Cup of Nations (or AFCON) is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. 24 teams are drawn into six groups of four teams. The top two teams from each group and the four best third-placed teams advance to the knockout rounds.

The defending champion is Ivory Coast. Egypt is the most successful nation in the tournament's history, winning seven times and securing three consecutive titles in 2006, 2008, and 2010.

When is the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations?

The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations is the 35th edition of the competition. This year's event takes place from Dec. 21 to Jan. 18 in Morocco.

How to watch the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations for free

The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations is available to live stream for free on Channel 4.

Channel 4 is geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can stream the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations for free by following these simple steps:

1. Sign up for 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 the UK

4. Connect to Channel 4

5. Watch the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer pretty generous money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch AFCON without committing with your cash. This is obviously not a long-term strategy, but it gives you enough time to stream the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations before recovering your investment.

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

What is the best VPN for Channel 4?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for streaming live sport on free platforms like Channel 4, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including the UK

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

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds

• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $139 and includes an extra four months for free — 61% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.95 (with money-back guarantee).

Live stream the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations for free with ExpressVPN.

The HTPC or Home Theater Personal Computer was an idea before its time. Something only well-heeled and tech-savvy tinkering media geeks could even achieve, and then, more often than not, the juice wasn't worth the squeeze. Yet, we have the HTPC to thank for our myriad modern media options. So let's look back at the HTPC and give it the respect it deserves.

If you have a big house, or if you just have thick walls, a mesh network is a really good way to make your network reach every corner of your home. But you'd be surprised by how many people mess up the installation.

Smutty fan fiction is having a moment, and the writers at 30 Rock are clearly more than happy to indulge. This time, Saturday Night Live reimagines the upcoming Harry Potter TV series as Heated Rivalry — but make it Quidditch.

SEE ALSO: 'SNL' returns with another Trump Cold Open

In the sketch, dubbed Heated Wizardry, Harry (Finn Wolfhard) and Ron (Ben Marshall) tumble into a torrid Hogwarts romance, with the faux trailer going out of its way to clarify that everyone involved is very much 18+. "Hogwarts is basically college now," the narrator helpfully explains. Plot? Lore? World-building? Irrelevant. We’re here to watch two hot wizards kiss.

Is the writing particularly good? Probably not. But that’s beside the point. The sketch fully commits to the genre, delivering steamy glances, breathless longing, and a surprisingly faithful production design for what is, at its core, a shamelessly horny retelling of Harry Potter. If nothing else, it proves that nothing is immune to the gravitational pull of thirst.

There are major Linux distributions dropping releases and patches every week. That means it can be hard to tell which ones really matter. There's one in particular coming later this year though that will change the game for me.

Home Assistant is a Linux-based smart home operating system with a very low barrier to entry. In addition to being completely free, its minimum system specifications mean it works on most computers produced within the last 10 to 15 years (plus humble single-board computers).

OpenAI is now doing the thing everyone assumed it eventually would: bringing ads to ChatGPT.

After weeks of user frustration over what appeared to be ads slipping into conversations, OpenAI finally laid its cards on the table. In a blog post published on Friday, the company confirmed it plans to begin testing ads in ChatGPT for U.S. users on the free and Go tiers, while promising that paid tiers like Pro, Business, and Enterprise will remain ad-free.

SEE ALSO: Could OpenAI buy Pinterest? Here’s how that would impact users and non-users alike

OpenAI insists this isn’t a betrayal of trust, but a trade-off.

"As ChatGPT becomes more capable and widely used, we’re looking at ways to continue offering more intelligence to everyone," the company wrote, framing ads as a way to expand access without forcing users to pay. The company also stressed a hard line between answers and advertising, saying users need to trust that ChatGPT’s responses are "driven by what’s objectively useful, never by advertising," and that conversations will not be shared or sold to advertisers.

That reassurance comes after a messy few months. In December, ChatGPT users flooded social media with screenshots of chatbot responses that suggested apps, stores, or products entirely unrelated to their prompts.

OpenAI pushed back, saying those were just poorly timed "suggestions," but the distinction didn’t land. Even users paying $200 per month for ChatGPT Pro said the experience felt off.

Behind the scenes, though, advertising has clearly been on the roadmap. Reporting earlier this month revealed that OpenAI has been quietly testing ad concepts internally, experimenting with layouts and disclosures designed to create what employees described as "a new type of digital ads" that wouldn’t immediately drive users away

And CEO Sam Altman hasn’t exactly been subtle about warming to the idea. Back in June, he said he wasn’t "totally against" ads in ChatGPT, even calling Instagram ads "kinda cool" — a quote that aged about as well as anyone expected. At the time, Altman emphasized that ads would require extreme care to get right. Now, that theoretical future is becoming real.

OpenAI says ads will be clearly labeled, placed separately from responses, and initially shown only when there’s a "relevant sponsored product or service" tied to a conversation. Users will be able to dismiss ads or turn off personalization entirely, and ads won’t appear for accounts under 18 or near sensitive topics like health or politics

Whether that’s enough to keep ChatGPT from feeling like just another feed remains to be seen. But with operating costs reportedly in the billions and AI companies racing to prove sustainable business models, the era of the ad-free chatbot was probably always going to be temporary.

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

Ever since COSMIC was announced in summer 2024, it's been a recurring subject Linux discussions and headlines. I tracked it from its alpha, beta, and full release phases. After giving it a try myself, though, I didn't find it to fit my needs. Here's why.

TL;DR: Live stream Senegal vs. Morocco in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final for free on Channel 4. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

We couldn't have asked for more from the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. We wanted exciting football, passionate stadiums, and big moments of drama. We got all of that and more from this special tournament.

There's only one game left to play, and it's the one that really matters. Morocco face Senegal in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final. The hosts were favorites going into the tournament, and so far, they've delivered on expectations. Morocco just need to make it past Senegal to lift the trophy in front of their own fans. To course, that's not going to be an easy task. Senegal are stacked with talented stars. It's going to be a tense, evenly-matched battle.

If you want to watch Senegal vs. Morocco in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is Senegal vs. Morocco?

Senegal vs. Morocco in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final kicks off at 2 p.m. ET on Jan. 18. This fixture takes place at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.

How to watch Senegal vs. Morocco for free

Senegal vs. Morocco in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final is available to live stream for free on Channel 4.

Channel 4 is geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can unblock Channel 4 to stream AFCON for free from anywhere in the world.

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!

Live stream Senegal vs. Morocco for free 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 the UK

4. Visit Channel 4

5. Watch Senegal vs. Morocco 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 most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can access free live streams of AFCON without actually spending anything. This obviously isn't a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream Senegal vs. Morocco in the AFCON final before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for Channel 4?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on Channel 4, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including the UK

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

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $78.18 and includes an extra four months for free — 78% 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 Senegal vs. Morocco in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final for free with ExpressVPN.

Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard took hosting duties on Saturday Night Live following the show’s hiatus, kicking things off with a sketch about generational clashing and their deeply incompatible definitions of "selling out."

SEE ALSO: 'SNL' returns with another Trump Cold Open

Wolfhard plays a teenager eager to hit the road with his indie band, much to the dismay of his father (James Austin Johnson). Not because Dad is anti-dreams or anti-music, but because he’s a pop star — and his son absolutely will not be slumming it through grunge shows at East Coast dive bars. As he puts it, "What could be more fulfilling than selling out arenas for the year and a half preceding 9/11?"

The sketch hinges on the wildly different ideas of artistic fulfillment between father and son, while also finding time to pile on chaos elsewhere. Dad’s boy band mates keep shamelessly hitting on Mom (Ashley Padilla), adding another layer of absurdity to the family dynamic. Those members include Curtis 5000 (Marcello Hernández), Cyber (Jeremy Culhane), and K-Dog (Andrew Dismukes), who is unmistakably just Kevin Richardson from the Backstreet Boys.

Despite early criticism and plenty of skepticism from enthusiasts, one American coupe has done what few expected: it won the North American Car of the Year award for 2026. In a field packed with fresh rivals and evolving tastes, this model’s blend of performance, style, and overall engineering impressed judges enough to top the competition, proving that even controversial designs can succeed when the execution is right.

Saturday Night Live returned from its winter break and rang in the new year with what’s quickly become a familiar tradition now that Donald Trump is president again: letting James Austin Johnson suit up as Trump and riff on the absurd — and often deeply troubling — actions coming out of the White House since the show last aired.

As the saying goes, reality is stranger than fiction, and after a brief hiatus, the writers clearly had a lot of ground to cover. This time, Johnson wasn’t alone. He was joined by a full cabinet of “curiosities” and “little freaks,” including JD Vance (played by Jeremy Culhane), Marco Rubio (Marcello Hernández), Kristi Noem (Ashley Padilla), and Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost).

The sketch bounced rapidly from topic to topic, skewering everything from the (probably illegal) abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to ICE’s presence in Minnesota. It also found time for digs at rumors about Vance wearing eyeliner and increasingly pointed jokes about Trump’s deteriorating mental health.

There are a million and one Markdown editors out there, and many of them are actually pretty great. Despite the available options, I'm now using VSCodium almost exclusively when I need to work with Markdown. This is why.