IT General

The Xbox Kinect was Microsoft’s big push into motion and gesture-controlled gaming, debuting right around the same time as the PlayStation Move and the up-on-your-feet console that started the craze, the Nintendo Wii. The only issue is the latter hardware had a head-start over the competition by about four years. Microsoft never really knew how to market the Kinect, which is too bad because—for 2010—it was pretty cutting-edge.

A Raspberry Pi is a great way to get started in the world of self-hosting. Some models are still relatively inexpensive; they use very little power, and you can run a surprising number of self-hosted services. Some services, such as Pi-hole, can run well on a Raspberry Pi indefinitely, but there are other services that can soon grow beyond what the single-board computer can handle.

Meta has been ordered to pay $567 million to fund youth mental health services in New Mexico in the final phase of a child safety trial.

Meta lost the lawsuit in March when a New Mexico jury found the social media company liable for misleading consumers about the safety of its platforms and endangering children.

At the time, Meta was ordered to pay the maximum penalties for each violation of New Mexico’s consumer protection laws, amounting to $375 million.

SEE ALSO: Digging into Gen Z's love/hate relationship with AI

On Thursday, a New Mexico judge assessed the new financial penalty after deciding Meta was liable for causing a teen mental health epidemic in the state. The penalty will fund treatment for young people harmed by Meta's platforms, as well as pay for mental health prevention and awareness services.

“For years, Meta knew its platforms were harming New Mexico’s kids, from feeding a youth mental health crisis to connecting predators with children, and it chose engagement and profit over their safety," said Attorney General Raúl Torrez. "Today, Meta is paying for that choice."

In total, Meta is required to pay nearly $942 million.

Andy Stone, vice president of communications for Meta, shared in a statement on X that the company disagrees with the ruling and will appeal it.

"We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content," the statement said. "We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts."

In addition to creating an abatement fund to address harms, Chief Judge Bryan Biedscheid also required the company to implement certain safety features, such as ensuring that no account for a user under 18 is recommended to an adult and preventing minors from engaging in romantic or sexual interactions with Meta's AI chatbots.

Last year, Reuters found that Meta's policies had allowed chatbots to "engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual." Such guidelines were removed from the company's policies. In January, Meta made its AI characters temporarily inaccessible to teens pending an "updated" experience for them.

Netflix's library is full of acclaimed movies that can often get buried under the rubble of trending titles that turn up every week. Whenever I can't decide what to watch on Netflix, I like browsing through older award-winners. And more often than not, I end up finding some real winners.

The problem with high-performance cars is that the version at the top of the lineup isn't always the one that makes the most sense. Manufacturers spend years perfecting their flagship models, adding sharper handling, more power, and track-focused upgrades, but those improvements often come with compromises that make them harder to live with every day.

I've been using an M4 Mac mini as my main workhorse since December 2024, and for most of that time, its lack of USB-A ports was a major limitation, as I noted in my review. For more than a year and a half, I had to make do with USB-A adapters, using them to connect all kinds of peripherals, and they genuinely limited how I used the tiny Mac desktop. Recently, however, I got my hands on a Thunderbolt dock, which allowed me to finally start using the Mac mini as a proper desktop PC.

I never realized that 3D printing could be used in so many ways. Recently, I wanted to mount an LED strip in a way that I would normally have to either buy a special light kit for or a custom LED channel. However, with some translucent filament and a few clicks, I printed my own LED channel for a fraction of the cost.

If you've ever put too much faith in a storage device, you're not alone. We've all been there. It doesn't matter if you're buying a portable SSD, an NVMe drive that goes inside your PC, or even a good old HDD—the risk of data loss is always real, and always mildly scary.

Reddit's legacy experience may be under threat.

The internet's home page is constantly undergoing little changes here and there, but as Engadget reported, there's reason to believe Old Reddit might not be long for this world in its current state.

The legacy version of the message board website, which some users prefer to the modern interface, will see unspecified "changes" over time, according to an official blog post. The idea is to combat AI scraping, which has been rampant on Reddit over the last few years.

SEE ALSO: Reddit is ramping up its AI moderation tools. Moderators aren't happy.

Reddit has already made some changes to Old Reddit in this regard, as you currently can't use Old Reddit without being logged into a real account.

One Reddit admin admitted recently that the company "can't promise it will be around forever." However, that doesn't necessarily mean a total shutdown; CEO Steve Huffman also recently said Reddit is looking into limiting access or rebuilding it with modern tech rather than getting rid of it wholesale.

So, not only is AI making everything more expensive, but it's also making it harder for older websites to exist. At a certain point, one has to wonder if it's all worth it.

I have several security cameras in my smart home, both inside and out. I wanted to use a security camera for another project, but I didn't have one spare. Instead, I used a free app to turn my old Samsung Galaxy S8 into a dedicated smart camera.

My current phone is a Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra with 256GB of storage. While that doesn't sound like much, thanks to a 2TB cloud Google One subscription, it's never been an issue. My photos, videos, and other files are just offloaded to the cloud.

Another solar eclipse is coming. If you're ready to look up to the sky for the special event, don't forget to protect your eyes. As Europe gears up to witness a total eclipse, parts of North America will enjoy a partial eclipse.

The solar eclipse is taking place on Wednesday, Aug. 12. According to NASA, a total solar eclipse will be seen in Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia, the Atlantic Ocean, Spain, and a small corner of Portugal. However, partial eclipses can be seen in the northern U.S. (from Alaska to North Carolina), most of Canada, much of Europe, and northwestern Africa.

If you're planning on watching the eclipse, you'll need a pair of solar eclipse glasses. Be wary, there are plenty of solar eclipse glasses available, especially on Amazon, but you must make sure they're ISO 12312-2 Certified for the safest eye protection. The American Astronomical Society has a list of approved manufacturers you can verify too.

Since the glasses are delicate, make sure to check them before use, making sure there are no punctures or tears. To test them, wear them inside your home, and you shouldn't be able to see any light fixtures besides a small filament.

To prepare for the upcoming solar eclipse, here's a list of all the options available at Amazon. All the options on this list are either CE, ISO, or AAS-certified to protect your eyes during the eclipse. Plus, they all arrive before Wednesday, Aug. 12.

Solar Eclipse Glasses in the UK

• Absolute Eclipse Solar Eclipse Glasses — £4.79

• Soluna Solar Eclipse Glasses — £5.99

• Solar Optics Solar Eclipse Glasses 5-pack with Phone Filters — £14.99

• Lunt Solar Eclipse Glasses 5-pack — £15.99

• Kesseph Solar Eclipse Glasses — £17.99

Solar Eclipse Glasses in the US and North America

• PNJ Solar Eclipse Glasses — $9.85

• Lunt Solar Eclipse Glasses — $9.95

• Soluna Solar Eclipse Glasses — $14.99

• AAA Eclipse Solar Glasses — $17.95

With the economy in shambles, I'm a fan of repurposing the hardware you already own. I've even found uses for my tiny 120GB SATA drives, so it shouldn't surprise you that I believe a 250GB SSD can be just as useful.

SAVE 8%: As of Aug. 7, you can get the 11-inch Apple iPad Air (M4) for $689 at Amazon, down from $749. That's an 8% discount or $60 in savings.

11-inch Apple iPad Air (M4) $689 at Amazon
$749 Save $60   Get Deal at Amazon

With back-to-school shopping in full swing, finding a deal on a brand-new iPad is tough — especially after recent price hikes across Apple's lineup. But if you're looking for a powerful tablet for classes, note-taking, or general productivity before the semester starts, any markdown on their latest tech is worth jumping on.

SEE ALSO: Tax-free weekend: The best deals on laptops, power stations, and more you can get right now

Right now, the 11-inch Apple iPad Air (M4) is on sale at Amazon for $689. While it did hit an all-time low of $519 back in June, this is still a great way to save. While it did hit an all-time low of $519 back in June, this is still the best price you'll find on an M4 model right now. It's also worth noting that Amazon's pricing varies by color: if you choose space gray, you'll pay $709.

This deal is for the 128GB WiFi model in Starlight. It comes equipped with an 11-inch Liquid Retina display, Touch ID, WiFi 7, and all-day battery life. It also features 12MP front and rear cameras, which are ideal if you have a lot of virtual classes or video calls on your schedule. Plus, the new M4 chip keeps everything running fast, even with heavy multitasking, and you can pair it with a Magic Keyboard or Apple Pencil Pro if you need it for typing up papers or drawing.

Documentary fans have been treated to some pretty great stuff on Netflix lately, with a couple of chilling true-crime titles burning up the Top 10 charts in the U.S. recently—The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare and A Toxic Love Story—both of which we've covered in this weekly recommendation list. With August now upon us, though, the streaming giant isn't letting you off the hook just yet.

Luxury sedans aren't exactly known for being cheap, but there's a big difference between an expensive car and an expensive car that keeps getting more expensive as you add the features you actually want. That's where the BMW 5 Series can start to sting.

WLED lets you control multiple LED strips at a time using a single microcontroller. It’s accessible in that you can flash the firmware with a web browser, and minimal soldering is necessary. WLED can be controlled with a browser or a web app, and it even integrates natively with Home Assistant.

TL;DR: Now through Aug. 9, several states are waiving or cutting sales tax on select purchases. To get the biggest savings, skip the cheap school supplies and use the tax break on high-dollar items like laptops, power stations, and home tech.

I hate paying taxes as much as anyone, so whenever there's a (legal) way to keep a little extra cash in my wallet, I'm going to take full advantage of it.

This weekend is the biggest tax-free shopping event of the year. While state lawmakers pitch these sales tax holidays as a nice little break for families buying notebooks and backpacks, buying cheap school supplies only saves you a couple of bucks. If you want to make the tax break worth your time, you should use it on high-ticket tech items where skipping the tax saves real money.

SEE ALSO: We found the 6 best laptops for college students going back to school

Here's the breakdown of every state participating this weekend (plus a few running sales through August), along with the best ways to maximize your savings.

State-by-state breakdown Active this weekend (Aug. 7–9)

• Iowa (Aug. 7-8): Clothing and footwear under $100 per item.

• Illinois (Aug. 7-16): The state isn't eliminating the tax completely, but it is lowering the state sales tax rate from 6.25% to 1.25% on qualifying clothing (under $125) and school supplies.

• Massachusetts (Aug. 8-9): All personal retail purchases of $2,500 or less per item are tax-free.

• Missouri (Aug. 7-9): Covers clothing ($100 or less), software ($350 or less), graphing calculators ($150 or less), and computers and accessories up to $1,500 per item.

• Ohio (Aug. 7-9): Clothing ($75 or less) and school supplies ($20 or less).

• Oklahoma (Aug. 7-9): Clothing and footwear under $100.

• South Carolina (Aug. 7-9): Hands-down the best state to shop in this weekend. They waive tax on computers, printers, software, school supplies, and bed/bath products with no price caps.

• Texas (Aug. 7-9): Clothing, footwear, and backpacks under $100.

• Virginia (Aug. 7-9): Clothing ($100 or less), school supplies ($20 or less), and Energy Star items ($2,500 or less), plus portable generators up to $1,000 and gas chainsaws up to $350.

Other August sales tax holidays to keep on your radar:

• Florida (July 20 to Aug. 20): Computers and accessories up to $1,500, clothing up to $100, and school supplies up to $50.

• Maryland (Aug. 9-15): Clothing and footwear ($100 or less) and the first $40 of a backpack purchase.

• Connecticut (Aug. 16-22): Clothing and footwear under $300 per item.

• Mississippi (Aug. 28-30): Firearms, ammunition, and hunting supplies with no price cap.

Yes, you can shop online

These tax breaks still apply if you shop online from your couch! As long as your shipping address is in a participating state, online retailers are legally required to honor the sales tax holiday. Just keep a close eye on the final total before you click "buy." Different states have varying rules about how shipping and handling fees are treated. If a shipping charge accidentally bumps your laptop over your state's price limit, it might suddenly become taxable.

The 3 best big-ticket deals to shop this weekend

To get the best deals, look for the categories where states set high price limits (or no limits at all).

1. Mid-range laptops under $1,500 (Florida and Missouri)

If you live in Florida or Missouri, your state caps the tax-free limit on computers at $1,500 per item.

What to look for: Current-generation laptops priced between $500 and $1,200. Stacking an existing retailer markdown with a 4% to 6% tax drop saves you anywhere from $30 to $80 on top of the sale price.

Apple MacBook Neo $688.49 at Amazon
  Shop Now at Amazon

Read Mashable's full review of the Apple MacBook Neo.

2. High-end tech and gaming rigs with no price caps (South Carolina and Massachusetts)

South Carolina has zero price limit on computers and computer accessories, and Massachusetts covers almost any personal purchase up to $2,500.

What to look for: This is the time to buy expensive MacBooks, gaming desktops, or OLED monitors. Waiving a 6% tax on a $2,000 Apple or gaming setup keeps $120 in your pocket.

Apple MacBook Air, 15-inch (M5) $1,399 at Amazon
$1,499 Save $100   Get Deal at Amazon

Read Mashable's full review of the 15-inch Apple MacBook Air (M5).

3. Portable generators and power stations (Virginia)

Virginia explicitly includes emergency supplies in its weekend holiday, so you can save on portable generators priced up to $1,000. (Something you'll definitely need on the East Coast; did you see how flooded Norfolk got earlier this week?)

What to look for: Portable battery power stations or compact gas generators priced right under that $1,000 threshold. On an $800 to $900 unit, you'll save around $45 to $50 on state tax alone, which is ideal if you're trying to prep for storm season without paying extra fees.

DJI Power 2000 $719.98 at Amazon
$1,299 Save $579.02   Get Deal at Amazon

Read Mashable's full review of the DJI Power 2000 portable power station.

We're getting an extended look at Grand Theft Auto VI in a few weeks, but until then, we have some financial data to look at.

Take-Two Interactive, the parent company behind GTA VI publisher Rockstar Games, reported its earnings for the quarter ending on June 30 this week, per Variety, which included the first five days after the game became available for pre-order. According to Take-Two, the company recorded $1.4 billion in net bookings during the quarter, an industry metric that tracks orders placed. It's not the same as pure revenue, but considering the game isn't actually out yet, it's as good a metric as we've got.

Our big Guessing Game is back! Learn how to enter for a chance to win an Apple Watch.

SEE ALSO: A 'GTA VI' extended look will air on Netflix in August

“I can say that the level of pre-orders is unprecedented and astonishing, and we’re very grateful for that,” CEO Strauss Zelnick said. “But they are so unprecedented that we just don’t know how it’ll translate into sales, which is a question I answered earlier. We genuinely don’t, and we just don’t believe in claiming victory before it occurs.”

It should be emphasized that other Take-Two games, such as NBA 2K, probably contributed to that $1.4 billion number. That's also just a snapshot for a period that ended in June, and the game has certainly brought in even more pre-orders since then, despite its high price.

So, with months left before the Nov. 19 release date, it's clear that GTA VI is on track to surpass $1 billion in preorders, if it hasn't already.

No one is surprised to hear that GTA VI is being pre-ordered in high quantities, but it is still interesting to get an actual number that, to some extent, reflects the hype. And all of that is coming before we've seen actual gameplay footage yet.

'Grand Theft Auto VI' for PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X $79.99 at Amazon
  See It at Amazon See It at Best Buy See It at GameStop 'Grand Theft Auto VI' for PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X $79.99 at Amazon
  See It at Amazon See It at Best Buy See It at GameStop

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SAVE $60: As of Aug. 7, the TCL A1s smart projector is on sale for just $339.99, down from $399.99. That's a savings of 15%.

Opens in a new window Credit: TCL TCL A1s Smart Projector $339.99 at Amazon
$399.99 Save $60   Get Deal

Portable projectors have come a long way in recent years, even rivaling big-screen 4K TVs. The prices aren't too shabby either — especially if you can find one on sale. If you prefer a flexible TV experience and want a massive screen that won't break the bank, the TCL A1s smart projector is a solid pick that's cheaper than usual this weekend.

As of Aug. 7, Amazon has the TCL A1s smart projector on sale for $339.99. That's $60 off its usual list price of $399.99.

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Compact and convenient, the all-in-one TCL A1s can display images up to 150 inches, letting you set up a private movie theater experience from just about anywhere. It features a 1080p native resolution, up to 600 ISO lumens of brightness, autofocus, keystone correction, and 8W speakers with Dolby Audio. It also has Google TV built in, making it easy to access all of your favorite streaming services.

The A1s weighs in at less than four pounds and has an adjustable carrying handle attached. So it's ideal for bringing along on camping trips, setting up casual backyard movie nights, or posting up in your living room. It's not the most advanced projector on the market, but it delivers where it matters: a portable, flexible, and immersive home theater experience. Plus, it won't cost you an arm and a leg.