Blogroll

If you're looking for a mix of classics and modern blockbusters, there are few platforms with a catalog quite as strong as Paramount+. There are some really solid new movies to choose from alongside some brilliant genre-defining films that are well worth revisiting. The list of choices keeps growing every month too, with November bringing things like Gone Girl and Twister to your TV screen.

The market for wireless over-ear headphones is crowded, but the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 wireless headphones remain a standout for listeners who prioritize sound quality. Right now, Amazon's got these headphones on sale for $200, down from their standard $300 price tag.

As Congress returns to Washington this week, the massive power demands of the AI boom have forced a reckoning over data center infrastructure.

The Senate is preparing for a pivotal procedural vote on legislation that would speed approvals for energy projects while requiring large data centers to shoulder more of the costs they impose on the power grid. The bipartisan bill would add much-needed regulations on data centers, but, as some politicians believe, may also encourage more data center construction.

Silicon Valley vs. a changed D.C.

In the sweeping and history-making midterm elections last week, voters didn't just elect a new generation of Democratic lawmakers. They also sent a pretty unmistakable message to Big Tech, particularly the artificial intelligence industry: Enough with the data centers already. Or, more bluntly, "get out of town."

Across the country, local communities are pushing to stop, restrict, or impose conditions on data center development. The election results reinforced that message, making clear that the AI gold rush is facing growing resistance.

For the last two years, Silicon Valley has busied itself building more, building bigger and doing it ASAP. If a tech giant wanted to drop a warehouse-sized data center into a community, local governments often offered tax breaks and other incentives, then told residents it was harmless and would mean more jobs.

Voters increasingly aren't buying it.

Democrats now find themselves in a pickle. Many campaigned on restricting data center development, responding to voters concerned about electricity costs, water consumption, and the impact these enormous facilities have on their communities. 

Now, the aforementioned pending legislation forces a stark about-face — since, as Reuters reports, some Democrats believe provisions in the proposed bill could encourage the creation of more data centers. If that comes to pass, incoming lawmakers would need to explain why those campaign promises to halt data center construction no longer apply. 

Can data centers be built responsibly?

There's a risk, too, in the new Democratic Congress pushing too forcefully for restrictions on AI, specifically on data centers. My well-seasoned brain believes AI companies will respond to restrictions not simply by complaining about the cost of doing business, but by slowing down the rollout of new technology.

Some of that slowdown will be unavoidable. Without enough data centers, electricity, and computing capacity, companies cannot expand indefinitely. But some of it could be strategic.

I suspect the message from Silicon Valley will be slightly PR-ish: If you don't want us building data centers, don't expect your ChatGPT, Claude, or Siri to keep getting faster, smarter, and more capable. That "hurry up and now" diagnosis for your sore knee might take a little longer.

SEE ALSO: Is this the only U.S. town to vote 'yes' on data centers?

Picture AI as something other than a magical cloud floating above our heads. Every time you ask an AI assistant to write an email, generate an image, or summarize a document, powerful chips in actual buildings are cranking away, consuming tremendous amounts of electricity and water and pressuring local power grids. 

And all that power costs mega cash. Utility rates, grid upgrades, and higher electricity bills have turned an abstract technology debate into something much more personal.

I don't blame communities for pushing back. Why should residents subsidize a multibillion-dollar technology company's expansion while wondering whether their electric bills will keep climbing? They're already fed up with rising gas and grocery prices and the cost of a new home.

But there's another side to this costly coin that Democrats shouldn't ignore. Data centers can bring economic benefits, too, provided technology companies invest in the communities that host them.

While data centers rarely employ local, low-skill workers directly, AI companies can bridge this gap by funding local infrastructure projects that immediately put the existing workforce to work. Furthermore, the resulting influx of permanent, high-salaried technicians injects new tax revenue into the community, triggering a powerful economic ripple effect for local restaurants and shops.

Communities shouldn't have to choose between protecting residents and benefiting from technological investment. Companies that want to build in these towns should contribute meaningfully to their economic well-being.

The risks of slowing down the AI gold rush

Government intervention, even when well-intentioned, can also produce unintended consequences that ultimately hurt consumers.

Just look at Europe. In 2024, Apple said it would hold back Apple Intelligence and other new features from EU customers, citing "regulatory uncertainties" tied to the Digital Markets Act. Regulators were trying to rein in Big Tech and protect competition. Whether you buy Apple's explanation or see it as a pressure tactic, European customers were left waiting while others got the shiny new toys.

This doesn't mean all regulation is bad. It's a reminder that lawmakers cannot promise to put a tight leash on an industry without potentially creating bottlenecks in the products and services it provides. That's precisely the dilemma Democrats now face.

If they make it too difficult or expensive to build data centers, AI companies will have fewer places to house the computing power necessary to expand their products. New features could take longer to arrive. More sophisticated applications could cost more.

And I wouldn't be surprised if the industry makes sure consumers understand exactly who's responsible. They'll be smug about it: "OK, you wanted restrictions. You got them. Now don't lose it when your AI assistant takes longer to answer. Or, we might have you paying a monthly fee."

It's a convenient argument for Big Tech, shifting attention away from an industry that hasn't always sought communities' permission or given much thought to ordinary consumers.

That's why Democrats need to be thoughtful about what comes next. Protecting communities, keeping electricity affordable, and demanding that tech companies pay their fair share are entirely reasonable goals. But a political victory over data centers could become a consumer defeat if lawmakers don't consider the consequences.

This article represents the opinions of its writer.

John Casey is a columnist at Raw Story, the Advocate, Daily Beast, and Outsports. He's also the author of Love: The Heroic Stories of Marriage Equality.

Even if you’ve never used it before, there’s a very good chance that your CPU actually has a GPU built into it. This extra hardware often goes unused because of dedicated graphics cards, but there are quite a few reasons why you might want to put that integrated GPU to work, like offloading your Plex transcodes or speeding up your video editor’s timeline.

Smart lighting often promises more than it delivers, usually resulting in a dim bulb that barely illuminates your room while demanding a dozen apps to function. Govee’s Pendant Lights break that pattern by offering genuine utility alongside millions of color options. It currently sits at $110 on Amazon, which is a $40 discount off its regular $150 price.

The iPhone Duo is an expensive grab-bag of compromises that definitely is not for everyone. But it's also the most fun iPhone I've used in years

Every week, I'd receive another Excel report that eventually had to make its way into a PowerPoint presentation. Then came the repetitive part: combining the latest figures with previous data, updating my charts, and making sure the slides reflected the changes. None of those tasks were particularly difficult, but they were easy to forget and tedious to repeat.

TL;DR: Get your website noticed on Google and AI search with this lifetime subscription to SEOAgent, now only $69 (reg. $999).

Opens in a new window Credit: SEOAgent SEOAgent: Lifetime Subscription (Tier 1) $69
$999 Save $930   Get Deal

These days, getting your website noticed online takes more than sprinkling a few popular keywords into your content. You’ve also got to be on top of what people are searching for, which terms you can rank for, and whether your brand is showing up in AI answers. SEOAgent helps you keep track of all this info in one convenient spot.

Right now, you can lock in a lifetime subscription to SEOAgent Tier 1 for just $69.

It’s 2026 — you can’t just try to optimize your website to pop up on Google and call it a day. You’ve got to take a different approach, and SEOAgent can help. This SEO platform actually reads your website and finds Google searches it can realistically rank for, while also tracking how you’re showing up in search and AI answers.

Instead of wasting time on high-volume keywords you don’t have a chance of winning with, get queries that could actually help your site thrive.

With SEOAgent, you connect Google Search Console, GA4, PostHog, and Bing to see traffic right next to your rankings. You can run an audit of your site and even see whether the big AI models like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews are naming or citing your brand.

Unlike other tools, SEOAgent focuses on winnability. Your 5 keyword research runs will help you find searches your site can realistically rank for, without just focusing on volume. You can also follow your Google positions for the searches that matter most for your site via 50 tracked keywords. It can even find technical SEO issues that might be holding your site back in the rankings.

This lifetime subscription to Tier 1 works for one website and includes 1,000 credits per month, 50 tracked keywords, 5 keyword research runs, and 4 AI visibility questions.

Get your own lifetime subscription to SEOAgent Tier 1 for just $69 today.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Get a lifetime Office 2019 license for one Windows PC for $15.98 with code DEAL20 through Nov. 15, including the full app suite with no recurring fees.

Opens in a new window Credit: Microsoft Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2019 for Windows $15.98
$229 Save $213.02   Get Deal

This is your chance to get a lifetime Office 2019 license for one Windows PC for $15.98. Simply use the code DEAL20 through Nov. 15 to qualify.

Here's how the deal breaks down:

• Lifetime license to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, and Access

• One-time purchase for one Windows 10 or 11 PC — device-based activation

• Improved inking, new Excel analysis tools, upgraded PowerPoint features

• Outlook refinements for email and contact management

• Instant email with download link and license key — redeem within 7 days

• All languages supported, updates included for the 2019 version

If your to-do list needs serious tools without a serious bill, this is the easy win — install once, get to work, and keep moving.

Grab a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2019 for Windows for $15.98 with coupon code DEAL20 (retails at $229) until Nov. 15.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

On Nov. 3, left-leaning Americans felt something that had lain dormant for a long time: hope.

The U.S. midterm elections resulted in historic wins, including Democrats flipping seats in several states. After the gut-punch of Trump's second win in 2024, and the subsequent human rights abuses and skyrocketing costs in the last two years, the "blue wave" (or bluenami, bluke, however you'd like to refer to it) swept over many of us like a calming balm. 

SEE ALSO: Midterms deliver clear message: 'The AI reckoning is here'

The election results haven't just caused democratic optimism (or millennial optimism). For some women who date men, it has also bubbled over into romantic optimism.

"I'm hopeful that with a shift in politics and culture, the values of individuals and groups will start to shift too," Bailey Cummings, a 27-year-old communications and marketing specialist based in Nashville, told Mashable over Instagram DM. 

Is heteropessimism fading?

The past few years have been less than stellar for heterosexuals. In 2019, writer and researcher Asa Seresin coined "heteropessimism," or feelings of shame, regret, and hopelessness when it comes to straight romance. The feeling seems to have only gotten worse since then, paving the way for 2025's "heterofatalism." The novelty of dating apps has long worn off, the debate over whether to engage in casual sex rages on, and having a boyfriend is embarrassing.

It doesn't help that young men and women have, at least in the past decade, held diverging ideological views. Men were becoming more conservative in the U.S. and elsewhere, and women more liberal. Politics are more polarized than ever, and the polarization carries over into our love lives.

"I'm on Hinge primarily, and if it says 'not political' or 'moderate' or 'conservative' in anyone's profile, regardless of their gender, I'm not gonna meet up with that person," said Ellie Rudy, a bisexual 27-year-old freelance journalist in Brooklyn.

Men under 30 had a 23-point shift to the right in the 2024 presidential election. But last Tuesday, they swung back nearly 40 points to the Democrats, the New York Times reported.

"After being told that men were basically a lost generation and that they'd been eaten up by the manosphere and Andrew Tate and were impossible to capture, we saw the opposite happen," journalist and author Liz Plank told Mashable.

Writer Magdalene J. Taylor proposed "hetero-optimism" in a New York Times op-ed back in May, but it's looking more relevant than ever.

That being said, Plank noted that while the results were uplifting, there's still a big divide between men and women.

The political gender divide

A 2024 Financial Times article argues that the #MeToo movement, which peaked in 2017 and 2018, was the trigger for the gender divide among Gen Z. In the years since, differences of opinion have expanded beyond the issue of sexual violence and into politics (like immigration), marriage, and children. 

Meanwhile, manosphere influencers like Andrew Tate sold a gender essentialist, traditional worldview to young men in which they are victims of feminism. Men, to Tate and others, should dominate women and be "alphas." 

These misogynistic talking points align with the online incel (involuntary celibate) community, which rose from a fringe movement into the mainstream consciousness, especially since 2020. Incel forums fostered the looksmaxxing trend and its totem, the influencer Clavicular, who was recently charged with rape. As Mashable's deputy digital culture editor Olivia Tauber wrote in Sept., Clavicular built a following by humiliating women.

Far-right influencers aligned themselves with Donald Trump, and it's easy to see why women reject this outlook.

"What we've seen lately is this dominant political model of, 'This is what it means to be a man, and you have to behave this way, and we don't necessarily believe that women have the same rights or the same freedom to different roles,'" Sarah Ketay, a social and health psychologist at the University of Hartford, told Mashable. "My personal take is that a lot of women don't appreciate that."

And, regardless of age, the Pew Research Center found in a 2024 report that men are more likely than women to associate with the Republican Party.

But despite whatever far-right influencers spew, men and women aren't actually that different, Ketay argued.

"What we found in social psychology is that men and women often want exactly the same thing. They want partners who are kind to each other, who pay attention to them, who care about them," Ketay said. 

The issues lie in how men are socialized, she continued. Generally, men are socialized to suppress their emotions except anger, and they're not taught to pay attention to how other people feel. This doesn't help heterosexual relationships. And these aren't inherent differences, Ketay said, but instead differences in how men and women are raised.

"Heterosexual relationships are actually at a disadvantage, not because of anything like biological, but because of how we're socialized," she said.

But there is good news: Positive qualities, like communication and awareness of other people's feelings, can be learned. And they don't have to be learned to be ready for a relationship, Ketay said; they can be learned while you're in one. 

"I hope people can be a little bit more optimistic," she said, and some are.

A cautious optimism

Rudy told Mashable that she's cautiously optimistic. While she is disappointed in men she personally interacts with and men as a larger group, she feels hopeful. Though, she did point out that she's encountered leftist men who vote Democrat but act misogynistic and homophobic behind closed doors.

"There's something that's particularly frightening about liberal men who initially can make women feel safe, and then once you get to know them better, you realize it's all just a facade," she said. She's also dating more women than men right now.

Another bi woman, 31-year-old New Jersey resident Kaitlyn Porter, told Mashable over DM she doesn't feel more hopeful, because this is just the beginning. "We are leaps and bounds before men treat women as equals. I think it's nice to see them voting for the collective, but there's so much more that needs to be done," said Porter, a State Judiciary staff member.

Plank said there's a pessimistic view of the election that men thought gas prices were too high and decided to vote left, and it's not an ideological shift. But there's also a more optimistic view: That white men have realized that what Black women and other women have been organizing for decades to achieve can benefit them as well (as Plank wrote on her Substack).

A bluer America is better for daters

While Plank believes men and women are in very different places, elections can give us a different understanding of a demographic we thought was unchangeable, or dynamics believed to be set in stone.

The 2026 midterms were a single election, and we don't know how it will impact us. But, given the policy platforms of the winners, there might be truth behind the "baby boom in 9 months" jokes.

"I think single straight women should feel more hopeful about all this!" Steffi Cao, a 28-year-old dating advice columnist and culture writer in New York City, told Mashable over Instagram DM.

Cao believes that the political divide between young, straight men and women is fueled by limited access to resources. These developments give her hope that change is possible. "Think about how the happiest countries are ones with strong social programs, and there's a correlation between marriage satisfaction and healthcare access," she said. Some Democrats, especially Michigan's Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed, campaigned on Medicare for All this election cycle.

"I'm not saying that things will change overnight," she said, "but I am more hopeful that with these incoming structural changes, culture has more potential to shift as young men can realize it was never immigrants or women or trans athletes that were preventing them from their own success, but rather [the] system that promised them things and never delivered."

Ketay also mentioned that politicians and their social programs can help improve relationships and families. She cited New York City's free babysitting program, which provides childcare for a "parents' night out."

In recent years, singles have said that the rising cost of living is just another reason dating is harder. They can't afford dinner and drinks, let alone move out of their parents' home and buy their own. 

But maybe politicians who want to get money out of politics, provide free healthcare, and tax billionaires could balance the economic scales somewhat and make every aspect of American life — including finding a partner — that much easier. 

An old video game can look just the way it did years ago, right up until a door that used to open won't budge, a character stops responding when you try to talk to them, or the game freezes every time you load a saved level. That's one way to run into what programmers call "code rot." The game itself may have stayed the same while the platform it runs on keeps getting updates. Over time, parts of the game stop working altogether.

On Gen Z TikTok, anything can be "code rotted," from a report card full of failing grades to a slushie machine that won’t dispense the goods. The joke is that real life is starting to break down like an old Roblox game, especially when something that's supposed to go right just doesn't.

Creators write text overlays in the voice of someone who's just confirmed a long-held suspicion: A baffling homework assignment? "Yup yup yup i f*cking knew it this assignment is definitely code rotted." Can't log into your Google account? "google is coderotted. it's coderot." Puppy acting up? It's code-rotted, too.

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

The phrase first gained traction on Roblox, specifically when some players revisited games they grew up with. In May, TikToker @planetaryequinox posted a clip of the apartments in Royale High, a school role-playing game, glitching in a loop. The game's developers said in an X post they'd received more bug reports from older areas and had already released several patches.

Later that month, another TikToker @forgottenfuture1 started a series revisiting older Roblox games, beginning with Greenwood Town, one of the first games they remembered playing. Users also found "code rot" in other games, like Fortnite and Genshin Impact.

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

By October, a Despicable Me 4 TikTok filter had brought the "code rot" joke beyond Roblox. The filter is a mini-game where players steer Gru toward gates marked with different characters' faces. But in an Oct. 13 TikTok from @diaryofawimpykidfan01, Gru barrels straight through every gate as if the choices don’t matter. The creator called the filter "code-rotted," and the clip's eerie, slowed-down soundtrack made a glitch in a Gru mini-game feel like the opening of a horror movie.

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

The joke borrows from something that really does happen online. The internet can feel permanent right up until an old bookmark leads to a 404, or an old forum thread still exists but the photos that made it useful have disappeared. That’s link rot, and it adds up. In a 2024 study, Pew Research Center found that 38 percent of the webpages it sampled from 2013 were inaccessible a decade later.

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

There's a visual version of that decay, too, with a similar name. "Pixel rot" is used to describe images breaking down into visible blocks and smears. A familiar version is the meme that's been saved and reposted so many times that the text is barely legible. Each round of compression can strip away a little more detail, so a picture can stay in circulation long after it stops looking like the original. For more of a visual, see PetaPixel's 2020 experiment with repeated Instagram uploads.

"Code rot" joins a growing vocabulary among Gen Z and Gen Alpha slang for describing real life as though it were a video game. An "NPC" is a "non-playable character," or someone who’s acting like a background character in someone else’s story. And "XP" measures experience in a game, which is why streamer Sykkuno once joked that his XP bar was low when talking about his dating life.

SEE ALSO: 'Larper' is the internet's new favorite insult. Here's what it means.

For generations that grew up learning, playing, and making friends online, it makes sense that the internet would shape the words they use to understand the world around them. We'll see which gaming term makes its way into the group chat next.

From YouTubers and TikTok stars to streamers and podcasters, Mashable talks to creators about how they built their platforms, the gear they swear by, and the trends they see coming next. Read more of our creator coverage, sign up for our Trending Now and Top Stories newsletters or get Mashable push alerts to discover the internet's most exciting voices. 

In today’s fast-paced world, who still carries cash? Let me tell you a secret: I do. I love having a few notes in my wallet instead of carrying a bunch of cards. It's comforting to know I have cash on hand whenever I need it.

Anthropic dropped two new frontier AI models on Monday, Claude Fable 5.2 and Mythos 5.2. 

According to the AI company, Fable 5.2 and Mythos 5.2 were designed to "tackle the most daunting technical challenges" and present "improvements in areas like coding, reasoning, and vision."

New frontier models from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and Meta have been released at a rapid clip in recent months, and the two new Anthropic models closely follow the release of Google Gemini 4 Carbon, Meta Muse Wonder, and OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra. On launch day, Claude Fable 5.2 claimed the top spot on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence leaderboard, previously held by Gemini 4 Carbon.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. SEE ALSO: Jensen Huang Nvidia affair scandal: What we know, what we don’t

Anthropic said that in pre-release testing, the models "designed three working electronic devices from scratch, solved two open problems in the physics of black holes...and formalized the proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem in 30 hours."

Fable 5.2 and Mythos 5.2 also generate these outputs 30 percent faster than their 5.1 predecessors and "communicate more clearly" than previous models, Anthropic said.

Pricing for the new models is also lower than their predecessors at $8 per million input tokens and $40 per million output tokens.

Fable 5.2 launches today for all Claude users. The company said that Fable 5.2 has "strong cybersecurity and biology safeguards to guard against misuse," which is why it's available to all users. Mythos 5.2, however, is only available for verified organizations working on cybersecurity or biomedical research.

Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories and Deals newsletters or get Mashable push alerts today. 

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

More people are trying Linux distros these days. Modern desktop environments make Linux easier to use than ever, while offering the freedom and flexibility that Windows users often crave. But there's still one thing that intimidates newcomers: the terminal.

My oldest and my newest eReaders both have something in common: physical page-turn buttons. They may have been released more than a decade apart, but both have buttons built into the device that you can press to turn pages forward and backward. After using my wife's 2024 Kindle, I realized how much I'd miss these buttons if they were gone.

The holiday season is fast approaching, and many of us will be traveling to visit our loved ones. You can make your journeys more fun and less stressful with the right travel accessories.

By the time TikTok creator @wetsloppyswollen got to day eight of Skims' $148 advent calendar, she'd already opened a teddy bear keychain, hair ties, satin scrunchies, and a little foam toy with the Skims logo on it. Day eight was bobby pins, which would have been more of a surprise if day four hadn’t also been bobby pins. As one commenter put it, the whole thing was like a "box of pranks."

SEE ALSO: My favorite Advent calendars for 2026: Shop top picks from Papier, Red Bull, Lego, and more

The Nov. 6 video racked up 65 million views in just three days, and prompted many more shoppers to post their own unboxings. "Terrible!" beauty creator Kayla Ryan cried out to her 1.6 million followers. Some creators are also showing off other brands' advent calendars, like P. Louise and H&M's, to compare.

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

By Nov. 8, Kim Kardashian's loungewear and lingerie brand was offering refunds.

"We understand that the calendar didn't meet expectations," a Skims representative told Entertainment Weekly on Nov. 9, adding that the company had contacted everyone who bought the box. Customers can return it for a full refund or keep it and take store credit. Despite the backlash, the advent calendar appears to be sold out — the demand is there. As it always is for Kim.

Though a surprise to many (well, most) purchasers, when Skims first released the box as part of its Holiday Shop on Oct. 29, under the "Fit & Fabric" dropdown page, shoppers could see exactly what was behind each door. Seven of the 12 days were devoted to hair accessories, including two packs of satin scrunchies, two packs of bobby pins, and a pair of headbands made from bra elastic. Four more doors held keychains, including one with a comb and another with a fuzzy compact mirror, and the last item in the mix was the Skims squishy. The original product URL now redirects to the brand's accessories page.

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

Nevertheless, disclosure isn't exactly the issue here. On social media, people posted mock unboxings and compared the contents to what they might find under their couch cushions or on the floor of their car. "Not the SHEIN advent calendar being better than skims," wrote one TikTok commenter. Some online are replacing the word "SKIMS" with "SKAMS."

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

Some fans and customers defended Kim: Beauty creator Glamzilla argued that the calendar was for "fans of SKIMS" who’d get a kick out of opening a little something from the brand each day. One X user wrote, "Tbh I was mad about it until I saw it’s literally labeled as an accessories advent calendar. They made it very obvious there would be no clothes (all advent calendars are scams imo though)."

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

But something that might go over well with a Skims superfan can play very differently on social media, where anyone can watch all 12 doors open and decide for themselves whether the box was worth $148.

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

As brands get better at making products people want to unbox on TikTok, they still owe the people who actually buy them a little respect. In this case, that means giving even the most devoted Skims fans something worth getting excited about.

From YouTubers and TikTok stars to streamers and podcasters, Mashable talks to creators about how they built their platforms, the gear they swear by, and the trends they see coming next. Read more of our creator coverage, sign up for our Trending Now and Top Stories newsletters or get Mashable push alerts to discover the internet's most exciting voices. 

Whether you're a longtime Samsung owner or just bought your first Galaxy, you know they're some of the best phones around. That said, they're also packed with bloatware and pre-installed apps that take up storage space, slow things down, and make the app tray a mess. Here are the apps I always uninstall within minutes of unboxing any new Galaxy phone.

On Sunday, chipmaker Nvidia posted an odd press release from its founder and CEO Jensen Huang on its website's newsroom page.

The press release, titled "A Message to Our Company," was also emailed to the company's employees. "I owe my family and all of you an apology. I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry."

Why did Huang, who leads one of the most valuable companies in the world, share this personal information through official corporate communications? It's because the woman he had an affair with has been accused of working as a spy for China, according to reports from the New York Times and the Financial Times.

And this goes beyond just a public relations scandal. With Huang being a leading figure in the AI industry, Nvidia being the major supplier of computing power for the AI boom, and the AI arms race between the U.S. and China, Huang's affair is also an issue of national security.

What we know

The New York Times and the Financial Times reported over the weekend that Jensen Huang had an affair with Alice Huang (no relation), a Chinese citizen and top executive at the Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed, a major purchaser of Nvidia's chips.

According to the outlets, U.S. intelligence agencies believe that Alice Huang had been recruited by China's Ministry of State Security as a spy.

U.S. surveillance of Alice Huang found that she had been in regular communication with an American citizen, who was later identified as Jensen Huang, the founder and CEO of Nvidia, according to the New York Times. The Megaspeed executive reportedly wanted the Nvidia CEO to lobby the Trump administration to loosen chip export controls. Huang reportedly did exactly that.

This discovery was treated as such a high-level national security risk that Secretary of State Marco Rubio himself helped draft a classified memo this spring warning the Trump administration of Huang's relationship with a spy working for China’s top intelligence agency, the New York Times reported.

The company said it has "no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised," per a statement from the company's board of directors posted to the Nvidia website on Sunday. The board also said that it had opened its own independent investigation into the relationship and what did and didn't occur.

The Associated Press reported today that China has denied that Alice Huang works for its government as a spy, calling the accusations a "smear campaign."

What we don't know

Aside from the affair being confirmed by Huang himself, and U.S. intelligence reportedly believing that Alice Huang is a spy for the Chinese government, there's a lot that we don't know.

We still don't know what Jensen Huang knew about Alice Huang, or to what degree he was or was not influenced. We don't know what Nvidia's CEO may have told Alice Huang and what information, if any, was compromised. If information was exchanged, we don't know what was passed to the Chinese government.

In addition, Alice Huang's current whereabouts are completely unknown, according to the Wall Street Journal. She was last confirmed to have been in China in 2024, right around the time U.S. intelligence agencies began investigating her. Pictures from 2025 of the two together surfaced recently, according to the Wall Street Journal.

It's unclear how wide the potential fallout of this international incident will be. Will Jensen Huang be indicted? Will he be forced to step down as CEO of Nvidia? If so, who is next in line to lead the California-based company, which has a current market cap of over $4.2 trillion?

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

So you've won the lottery, and the first thing you do is buy a shiny new graphics card, but what do you do with the old one? Common sense says you should sell it and defray the cost of the new card. However, what if I told you that your old GPU could keep providing value to you, worth more than any money you could get for it?