IT General

Cordless power tools are as capable and convenient as ever these days, but one thing owners frequently overlook is how to care for those expensive battery packs. Ryobi's ONE+ battery system is a staple in garages everywhere, but a few common user habits could be quietly shortening your battery's lifespan.

My husband and I can’t even agree on what should play in the car, so you can imagine how our Android Auto vs. Apple CarPlay debate goes. He’s a CarPlay fan, while I’m firmly on the Android Auto side. We both think our preferred platform does things better, and neither of us likes admitting the other has a point.

Keyboards are a remarkable invention. I’ve been fascinated by them (along with typewriters). Aside from the eternal struggle between QWERTY and Dvorak, Human Interface Devices (HID) like keyboards and mice are just interesting in design and function. But what strikes me as most interesting is how a USB drive, a banana, or just about anything can be an HID. And while some of them are pretty fun and safe, there’s actually a bit of a darker side to the story.

There are charging stations, and then there is the Smartlinx Thunderbolt 4 21-in-1 Docking Station. Charging hubs and docking stations minimize the hassle of unplugging all of your components every time you decide to take your laptop somewhere. With its 21-port design, this Smartlinx model gives those accessories (keyboard, monitor, mouse, external drive) a more permanent home and lets you connect your computer with a single cable. Even better news? It's now $40 off on Amazon.

It might not be widely known, but Netflix has a wealth of great science fiction movies (and TV shows) for those who like to take their imaginations off-planet or into the depths of Earth-based coolness. And with Ben Affleck dominating the Top 10 with his kidnapping thriller, Animals, you might be looking for something a little more out there.

SAVE $150: As of Oct. 15, the 2025 Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on sale for $649 at Best Buy. That's 19% off its $799 MSRP and its lowest price ever.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Watch Ultra 3 (GPS + Cellular, 49mm) $649 at Best Buy
$799 Save $150   Get Deal at Best Buy

Don't look now, but the last-gen Apple Watch Ultra 3 is still in stock at Best Buy — and on sale for a record-low price.

Apple's rugged smartwatch from fall 2025 is currently marked down to $649 on the electronics retailer's website, which is $150 off its usual sticker price of $799 (a 19% savings). According to the price-tracking site camelcamelcamel, the only other time it's been this cheap on Amazon was during its huge Prime Day sale in June.

The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is harder to find in stock these days. Apple discontinued it after launching the new Ultra 4 last month, and third-party retailers' inventories are dwindling. In fact, I spotted the same $649 Ultra 3 deal on Amazon earlier this morning, but it sold out as I was writing this. (It's now only available in used condition there.) Hustle if you're still trying to nab it from Best Buy.

The Apple Watch Ultra 3's titanium case comes in natural (pictured) and black finishes. Credit: Apple

The Ultra 3 has the same rugged design as its successor, which also starts at $799, complete with a mega-bright, always-on OLED display, a 49mm titanium case, and a water-resistance rating of up to 100 meters. The Ultra 4 has better heart rate sensors, a slightly longer battery life, and a faster chip that supports a new Readiness app and Audio Intelligence tools. But otherwise, the two wearables' core feature sets are identical. To name a few, there's sleep tracking (including sleep apnea alerts), hypertension notifications, and Emergency SOS via satellite.

Mashable's Stan Schroeder recommends the new Ultra 4 "if you're an athlete, especially an endurance athlete," and the Ultra 3 for those who just want "a cool watch on your wrist that you sometimes use for workouts." With a $150 difference now separating them thanks to Best Buy's deal, the Ultra 3 is also the cost-effective choice for the time being.

Don't pay full price for your new power tools when you can get them at huge markdowns at Home Depot. You'll find plenty of great deals, and the massive savings on the DeWalt 20V Max Cut-Off Tool are almost enough to cover the cost of the Cordless Impact Driver and Circular Saw combo.

Google is one of the biggest software companies out there, best known for Google Search, Android, and its internet ad business. But engineers at Google didn’t only create a bunch of products. They also created tools used to build some of those products in the form of full-fledged programming languages. The company has at least 10 programming languages under its belt, with the three below leading the pack in importance.

Amazon acquired Bee over a year ago to get into AI devices, and now it's showing the first results of that deal. Bee is releasing the Frontier wearable and Eclipse phone add-on that provide "personal AI," both of which unsurprisingly tie into Amazon's universe.

For almost 90 years, the mystery of what happened to Amelia Earhart has endured. She and her plane disappeared somewhere over the central Pacific Ocean on July 2, 1937. Since then, it seems like every few years, an expedition sets out to find her plane.

The boats and recovery teams have always been armed with the latest equipment, historical diaries, and maps. I’m old enough to remember the 1989 TIGHAR expedition, the first modern civilian search to focus heavily on the "castaway hypothesis."

Yes, some people thought she might still be alive, but most thought it was a big waste of time. That '89 castaway trek, like all the searches before and since, returned empty-handed. Around eight years ago, there was a glimmer of hope that bones discovered in the Pacific were Earhart’s, but that study has been heavily disputed.

Well, here we are again. There’s renewed hope of finding Amelia and determining where she actually perished. A fresh team of researchers from Purdue University has arrived on the remote island of Nikumaroro.

The crew was featured on Wednesday’s Good Morning America. The segment noted that the island where they’ve set up their HQ is home to flesh-eating crabs whose claw power rivals the bite of a lion. This is a trip I would decline, even in the almost-impossible instance that I was invited.

Crabs aside, they are there to investigate a mysterious underwater shape in the island’s lagoon known as the "Taraia Object." Once again, some are on pins and needles over whether the Earhart conundrum will finally be resolved so she can rest in peace.

There’s a twist this time, because AI was deployed. So, obviously, if the plane is found, those AI agents who banded together to hack Hugging Face will most certainly come together again and try to take credit for the discovery. But I digress.

In all seriousness, generative AI models like ChatGPT were prompted to analyze historical theories and place a digital pin where Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10-E might be resting. Ironically, the algorithm pointed to the same visual anomaly that human scientists had spotted on satellite imagery years earlier.

SEE ALSO: When it comes to election advice, maybe AI isn't so bad after all?

At first glance, this all looks impressive, but ChatGPT didn’t analyze the ocean floor, for example. Instead, AI synthesized decades of human speculation. And there’s been a helluva lot of speculation over the last nearly 90 years.

Yet while the Earhart-AI connection makes for some flashy pop-culture and scientific headlines, it also represents something happening beneath the surface — literally, beneath the world’s oceans. Artificial intelligence is stepping out of science-fiction and becoming the ultimate tool for modern treasure hunters and maritime archaeologists.

We’re currently swimming in a golden age of deep-sea exploration, but, like everything else, it’s drowning in too much data and missing things, as The Conversation noted in March. For example, the ocean floor is estimated to hold up to 3 million undiscovered shipwrecks and downed aircraft.

So, you’re saying to yourself right now, "Well, it’s impossible that 3 million things can’t be found in the ocean." But what if I told you that well over 70 percent of the Earth’s ocean floor remains unmapped in high-resolution detail?

What does this mean? I live in NYC, so I asked AI for a metaphor to visualize it. It explained that if New York City sat in one of those unmapped regions, the resolution would be so low that you’d see only a single, blurry shape where Manhattan used to be, while every skyscraper, neighborhood, street, and subway entrance would remain invisible.

Now you understand why 3 million ships and aircraft remain undiscovered.

When modern underwater drones dive into the deep ocean, they return with mountains of sonar data and millions of hours of murky video. For decades, human researchers had to painstakingly review every second of footage by hand. That’s a brutally boring process that took months, sometimes even years, and is ripe for errors.

That’s where AI comes in and says something like, "Years?"

Instead of waiting for a chatbot to guess a location, institutions like NOAA and the University of Michigan are using specialized AI built for one job: spotting anomalies directly on the ocean floor. Scientists feed these models thousands of hours of footage so the AI learns what the normal ocean floor looks like; reefs, sand ripples, cliffs, and more.

Once it knows the natural layout, AI can spot the telltale right angles of man-made metal and rotting wood. To someone like me, who has had a lifelong fascination with the ocean, this is incredible.

And so are the results! The U.S. Navy and NOAA recently tested a predictive model across the coastlines of the U.S. and Puerto Rico. The AI scanned the data and correctly flagged known shipwreck sites with 92 percent accuracy, showing how quickly it can shrink massive search areas.

What the Earhart experiment really shows is that intelligent machines are learning to see through the darkness of the deep, helping make the abyss more transparent. Amelia Earhart may have been lost to the limitations of 1937 technology, but if she’s ever found, it could be because tomorrow’s technology finally caught up with her. 

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.

One of the worst feelings for me while driving is using maps or an app and seeing something missing that would have helped. Car infotainment setups run on firmware that's set at the factory and only gets refreshed occasionally, whether at a dealer, by USB, or through an over-the-air update. Android Auto works differently. It's basically a phone app that beams onto your car's display, and you don't get warned when changes come.

College can be the best years of your life, but also some of the most stressful. It’s hard enough to stay academically prepared while still making ends meet and enjoying a scholarly lifestyle that will change after graduation.

Street Fighter returns to theaters this week with a live-action movie stuffed with stars like Noah Centineo, Andrew Koji, Callina Liang, Joe "Roman Reigns" Anoa'i, David Dastmalchian, Cody Rhodes, Eric André, Andrew Schulz, Vidyut Jammwal, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, and Jason Momoa.

Directed by Kitao Sakurai, this video game adaptation explores several story threads. M. Bison is on a quest for power as he mounts the World Warrior Tournament II. Chun-Li is on a quest for vengeance. Ryu and Ken are estranged, but could they reunite during the tournament to battle together for good? Does all that plot mean the movie will include a post-credit scene that provides a bit more context for what comes next?

We've got the spoiler-free answer below.

SEE ALSO: 'Street Fighter' review: What if it's giving Super Mario Bros. live-action, but I love that? Credit: PARAMOUNT PICTURES, CAPCOM AND LEGENDARY Does Street Fighter have a mid-credit scene?

There is. It's brief and wordless. But it does give a hint on where a could-be sequel might go.

Does Street Fighter have a post-credit scene?

When Street Fighter screened for critics, it did not have a post-credit scene. However, we'd recommend sitting through the credits to take in the full scope of the artists who collaborated to bring this film to life.

Plus, you might want to note those soundtrack songs to make a real banger of a workout playlist.

Street Fighter is now in theaters.

There's something mildly rewarding about downloading an app for one reason and discovering it's useful for several others. I initially installed PowerToys after reading about FancyZones, the tool that lets you create custom grid layouts for snapping and organizing app windows. But the more I explored, the more features I found myself using every day.

Just as the weather turns, EcoFlow is launching new whole-home power backup solutions in the U.S. The Titan series consists of three models that technically could qualify as portable power stations, although you probably don't want to lug one of these on a camping trip. Instead, they're a great solution for keeping your home powered up when grid power fails.

All new EcoFlow Titan models are available to order. Below, you'll find detailed specs on all models to help you decide which is best for your home.

Credit: EcoFlow Specs on the Titan 5000 Plus, Titan 5000, and Titan 5000 Classic

The Titan series from EcoFlow differs from your average portable power station in that each model packs in a ton of power. Instead of using it to recharge your phone and keep a lamp on, the Titan models can power up large appliances like your washer and dryer or your home's HVAC system. Of course, it can also keep your phone topped up and the lights on, too.

The smallest and most affordable model is the EcoFlow Titan 5000 Classic with 5,000Wh capacity and 4kWh output. It includes AC ports, USB-A, USB-C, and a TT-30R with 120V configuration.

The upgraded EcoFlow Titan 5000 comes with higher performance compared to the Classic model. It can handle both 120V and 240V.

The movable EcoFlow Titan models come with the ability to add expansion batteries. Credit: EcoFlow

The largest in the lineup, the EcoFlow Titan 5000 Plus is rated for 7.2kWH from the 5,000Wh battery. EcoFlow mentions that it is powerful enough to keep a 3-ton central AC unit running, along with a TV, refrigerator, and lights, all at the same time. Keep in mind that the EcoFlow Smart Home Panel 10 connects your home's power system to the Titan models.

The Titan 5000 Plus and the Titan 5000 can connect to your home's existing rooftop solar system when combined with the EcoFlow Smart Home Panel 10. That means you can rely on the Titan system to power your home and lower your power bills, not just in emergency scenarios.

All Titan models can expand with up to five EcoFlow Titan Battery units for up to 30kWh. Most homes find it best to start with the base unit and add expansion batteries as you find out the exact power needs.

How to order the EcoFlow Titan models

The most affordable option is the Titan 5000 Classic with a list price of $2,499. The Titan 5000 comes in at $3,199. Add on installation and the EcoFlow Smart Home Panel 10, and you'll be looking in the $5,000 range.

The more advanced Titan 5000 Plus will land at $3,699 for a single unit. The Titan 5000 Plus with the Smart Home Panel 10 costs $4,799. Adding two Titan expansion batteries to that bundle will bring the total to $8,699.

Add your email address to the preorder page at EcoFlow, and you'll be in for an early-bird discount that can take as much as $2,999 off the above prices. Reserving your unit for $50 will earn you a 5% off coupon and two free 220W solar panels.

Opens in a new window Credit: EcoFlow EcoFlow Titan Series   Preorder at EcoFlow

Many of us plug a Fire TV Stick into our TV, install the necessary streaming apps, and then never think about it again. If you use Home Assistant, your Fire TV Stick could become a useful part of your smart home.

In terms of quality, 2026 has been a bleak year for big-budget video game adaptations. Yes, yes, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie made over a billion dollars, and Mortal Kombat II turned a lean profit. But they were also two of the very worst movies I've seen all year. The former made me all too aware of what a short span of time we have in this life, and how much of it I was obliged to sacrifice for a relentless Nintendo ad. The latter urged me to ask, "The bar is in hell for video game movies, huh?"

SEE ALSO: 'The Super Mario Galaxy Movie' review: Death is coming for us all

So, my expectations were admittedly very low for Street Fighter, the latest movie adaptation of the Capcom video game series known for badass characters and eye-popping special moves. I'm more surprised than anyone to confess that I had an absolute blast at this movie.

Directed by Kitao Sakurai, Street Fighter leans hard into a '90s aesthetic of glorious neon lighting, hard-hitting pop music, unhinged action, and a general lustiness that's been bled out of mainstream American cinema. Plus, Sakurai and co-writer T.J. Fixman understand that the best way to have fun in this franchise is not to take it too seriously.

Street Fighter (2026) has a lot of spinning plates in terms of plot.

One might well argue too many! First off, you've got egomaniacal tyrant M. Bison (a sneering David Dastmalchian) hosting the World Warrior Tournament II to set a trap for the first tournament's winner, Ryu (Andrew Koji). See, Bison is so power-hungry that he wants to milk all the "psycho power" from Ryu's body to fuel his own. There's just one problem: Ryu has gone missing after the death of his sensei, Gouken, and the subsequent estrangement from his best friend, Ken Masters (Noah Centineo).

Meanwhile, Ken emerges from Ryu's shadow to become a stunt fighter who battles panda bears and parked cars to line his own pockets and those of his manager, Dan (Andrew Schulz). Tasked with finding the best street fighters in the world, Bison's emissary Chun-Li (Callina Liang) invites Ken not because of his bad reputation, but to lure in his estranged brother-in-arms. Determined to prove himself, Ken enters the tournament, ready to face off against fighters like Guile (Cody Rhodes), Dhalsim (Vidyut Jammwal), Balrog (Curtis "50 Sent" Jackson), Zangief (Olivier Richters), E. Honda (Hirooki Goto), and Vega (Orville Peck, who is, of course, masked).

Meanwhile, Chun-Li has her own secret mission, with a tragic backstory fleshed out in gorgeous anime flashbacks. And on top of all that, Ryu's secret struggle is to resist the darkness within him that surfaces in battle. Should he give in to it, he could become evil, like his master's fiercest foe, Akuma (Joe "Roman Reigns" Anoa'i).

Simply put, it's a lot for one movie. Maybe too much? For better or worse, Sakurai's approach to Street Fighter is more is more.

Street Fighter is too much, but I'm not mad about it.

This movie begins with a flashback to the first World Warrior Tournament in 1986, and, like the Chun-Li flashbacks, it's presented in an anime style. This presumably allows Sakurai to save some money on effects, allude to Street Fighter's various incarnations, including animation, and bring nostalgia out of the gate for longtime fans of the franchise.

As the movie leaps ahead to 1993, it will not address the mixed-media use of live action and animation. And that same unapologetic attitude is applied to the film's design. The cinematography of Ken Seng leans into neon lighting that swaths these iconic characters in brazen purples, pinks, reds, and blues to a thrilling effect.

The score by composers Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson leans on electric guitar and synth keyboards that throw back to '90s action-movie sensibilities. And the soundtrack boasts bangers like 4-Non-Blondes' "What's Up?", White Zombie's "More Human Than Human," Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun," and Montell Jordan's "This is How We Do It." (Yes, several of these songs are anachronisms, as they came out after 1993. But this is a movie where people can levitate, stretch like rubber, and shoot electricity from their bodies. Let's not get hung up on petty things like historical accuracy!)

This '90s aesthetic is echoed in slyly leering shots that revel in a bit of flesh, an exposed six-pack here, a flash of sideboob there, and a bit of bum. This kind of PG-13 horniness made me unexpectedly nostalgic for an age where Hollywood movies casually recognized that humans are sexual beings.

Fans of the franchise will be glad to know the costumes by Kym Barrett draw heavily from the games, while allowing a sense of self-aware winks. This is reflected in a screenplay that not only loops in tons of catchphrases from the game but also a cheeky sensibility that brings some irreverent humor and some wonderfully dumb jokes into the mix.

Noah Centineo is the MVP of Street Fighter.

To the credit of the ensemble as a whole, they're all game.

Koji is compelling as the tortured warrior Ryu. Liang brings a terrific ferocity to Chun-Li, whether delivering exposition or performing the Hundred Lightning Kicks. Mel Jarnson is surly fun as Cammy, while Peck revels in the fluid fighting style of Vega. Richters, Jammwal, 50 Cent, and Goto all step into their roles well, brandishing confidence, power, and attitude swiftly.

Dastmalchian has arguably the toughest role here, as Raul Julia created a truly iconic movie villain with M. Bison in 1994's live-action Street Fighter. Even people who barely remember that movie remember Julia's impeccably scathing delivery of "It was a Tuesday." Wisely, Dastmalchian takes a different angle to Bison, making him less suave and more of a power-hungry, sadistic weirdo. He sneers out commands to his Dolls, ruthlessly throttles those who fail him, and sniffs things — like the feet of a wounded Ryu or the burning flesh of Chun-Li. He's making weird choices, but they are entertaining.

Bringing laughs to Street Fighter is Schulz as Dan Hibiki, an unpopular character from the games who's a mouthy sidekick here. Schulz gives spirited silliness in the role, especially when he faces off against Rhodes, who, as Guile, seems to be channeling the homoerotic masculinity that Val Kilmer brought to Top Gun. Rhodes, best known as a pro wrestler, has sharp comedic timing and a fearlessness in playing the fool that's well utilized here.

Jason Momoa, who also produces, brings some signature spunk to Blanka. He's wild and playful in the part, but his performance is marred by some deeply clunky CG that turns the big green brute into an eyesore. Comedian Eric André also appears in this movie as garish ring announcer Don Sauvage. And, well, he's certainly in this movie a lot, while being loud.

The funniest and most entertaining fighter is Noah Centineo. In montage scenes of Ken's downward spiral into D-list celebrity, Centineo playfully parodies tabloid clichés, such as public meltdowns, embarrassing TV commercials, and publicity stunts gone wrong. But it's when he unexpectedly reunites with Ryu that Centineo's Ken really comes alive. Look, later, in the arena, Ken will show what he's truly capable of. But in this first fight, where Ken is hurt, and Ryu is trying to give space for his big feels without physically injuring him, Centineo masters a style I'll call clown-fu.

The stakes aren't life or death, but they are big, affecting the future of this fractured brotherhood. Slipping in gym socks, misfiring high kicks, all while mugging comically and slinging insults, Centineo is a force of action and comedy. Throughout the film, he's hitting punchlines with the force of hadoken.

While the ensemble as a whole brings a lot of attitude and flavors to Street Fighter, Centineo becomes its heart. Where Ryu hides his feelings under a facade of stoicism, and Chun-Li channels hers into action, Centineo's Ken is practically bursting at the seams with emotion. While the movie leaps from one location and battle to another, sometimes to a dizzying effect, it's Centineo's earnest, stupid, handsome tough guy that pulls it all together.

Still...

The fighting and the funny in Street Fighter could be stronger.

To the credit of its writers, this movie takes the battles to the streets and unexpected locations more than you might expect. Sure, there's a tournament. But Sakurai offers visual diversity by skipping a lot of the bracket battles in favor of off-site brawls at a posh hotel, a cool nightclub, a festering prison, M. Bison's lair, and, of course, some actual streets.

The cast and their stunt doubles throw themselves into the physical demands of the movie, and the fight choreography is carefully woven with familiar special moves that are pretty thrillingly recreated from the games. However, Seng often favors medium or close-ups, and editor Luke Lynch leans on quick cuts. While this makes for kinetic action, it also means the choreography that could wow us in a wide is rarely present. So, while Street Fighter is a blast, its actual fight scenes don't hit as hard as one might hope.

My other beef with this adaptation is that Sakurai doesn't know when to cut a joke. At 120 minutes, Street Fighter begins to drag, in part because of comedy bits that go nowhere. André, who previously worked with Sakurai on The Eric Andre Show and Bad Trip, is the biggest offender here. Dressed in tacky gold lame suits, Don Sauvage's dialogue occasionally drops helpful exposition. But mostly, André delivers lazy jokes or agog reactions that are blandly one-note.

Elsewhere, Saturday Night Live alum Kyle Mooney pops up as an unappealing Interpol employee, who exists solely to moon over Chun-Li. It's easy to imagine Sakurai and Fixman felt this might be a way to spoof fanboys' lusty love of the female fighter. But it's thin, unfunny, and takes up way too much screen time.

As the fighting could use more technical panache and the comedy comes with a few bits too many, Street Fighter may infuriate fans who feel Sakurai isn't taking the franchise seriously enough. However, I had a lot of fun in this goofy-ass video game movie.

It's chaotic. The plot is all over the place, so the themes about honor, power, loyalty, jealousy, and revenge are barely probed. But I won't deny that it gave me the feeling of being a kid again, sitting in the theater, giddy to be surprised by something familiar yet weird.

I suspect the people behind Street Fighter won't appreciate this comparison. But I mean it as a compliment. In a world of video game movies, Street Fighter is way less Super Mario Galaxy The Movie and way more the live-action Super Mario Bros. Movie. Which, yes, was a box office bomb that critics reviled. But where it succeeded was in being a wild watch that had me laughing, cheering, and giddy — even when I was utterly bewildered. Street Fighter is that kind of fun. It scratched the bit of my brain that loved button-mashing these games, and it tickled me to see a video game movie be proudly bonkers.

Street Fighter is now in theaters.

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Grand Theft Auto VI is co close that we can almost taste it. Let's celebrate by watching some trailers.

As we wait the next few weeks for the game's Nov. 19 launch, it's worth taking a few minutes to reminisce about its marketing. There hasn't been all that much of it because, well, it's GTA 6 and Rockstar knows that people want to play it regardless.

Still, there are a few trailers (and one very big extended look) to check out prior to release. Here they are.

SEE ALSO: 'GTA 6' preorders are live: Where to buy for PS5 and Xbox GTA 6 trailer 1 GTA 6 Trailer 2 GTA 6 Extended Look GTA 6 Launch Trailer

Remember when everyone tried to tell you that gold-plated HDMI cables were the (forgive me) gold standard of home theater? Or gold-plated audio cables, that was also a thing. Well, I think that home networking has finally found its equivalent, and it comes in the form of Cat 8 Ethernet cables.

Microsoft is delivering on its promise to fix more of Windows 11's longstanding problems. The company is starting a large-scale rollout for a series of updates that both improve performance and rework key apps, including a new Photos app.