IT General

The Xbox Ally X may be a fantastic handheld, but its improvements weren't enough to convince me to upgrade from the ASUS ROG Ally X, my PC gaming handheld of choice for over two years. What about an Xbox Ally X Plus, though, delivering a handful of fresh upgrades on top of everything that makes the original great? In a nutshell, that's the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X20, a special edition handheld that does a lot more than celebrate 20 years of Republic of Gamers and 25 years of Xbox.

Our friends and coworkers at XDA just debuted XDB Builder, a super-streamlined tool for designing, optimizing, and buying the components for your next PC.

These three Bash features turn the terminal into something closer to a file browser, with saved locations, a quick way back, and a full history of where you’ve been. None of them need a plugin, an alias framework, or a new shell.

Google's latest earnings call has caused quite a kerfuffle on the stock market.

It turns out that Google's AI Mode, the AI summaries that help answer user search queries right on the search page instead of directing them to the most authoritative links, is eating into the company's ad revenue — an extremely predictable problem. There's even a term for the phenomenon — zero-click searches.

This is an obvious problem for Google Ads, a pay-per-click advertising service that generates billions of dollars in revenue each quarter. Google isn't going to backtrack on AI; the company has too much invested into the technology now. So, what's Google's fix?

More ads.

As Ars Technica points out, in Google's financial disclosure, the company shared plans to bring even more search ads into AI Mode.

Google currently shows contextual ads within AI Mode alongside the AI-generated responses to user queries. However, Google is planning to include even more ads by swapping out sponsored links throughout a user's session as they interact with the AI Mode chatbot. In addition, Google will soon be rolling out AI Mode ads in international markets as well.

The search giant did warn investors that this won't be a quick fix. Google currently earns less via AI Mode ads than from traditional search ads as there are fewer advertisers running ads in AI Mode. In addition, it will take some time, Google says, for advertisers to understand the benefits of running ads in AI Mode too.

Regardless, Google will go forward with its AI plans, even at the expense of a major revenue driver, Google Search ads. In the meantime, users will be seeing more ads.

For a long time, the way to access your notifications and quick settings on a Galaxy device was the same. You swipe down once for notifications and a second time for settings. It was intuitive and simple, and that was the way that just about everybody liked things to be. Then Samsung decided to change things.

Netflix has always had a strong documentary section. One of the more recent documentaries making headway is Instadocs: AI Gone Wild, a wild hacking story about a breach caused by autonomous agents created by OpenAI researchers. If you're fearful of AI, this documentary will amplify that anxiety.

While Linux’s app ecosystem isn’t as rich as that of Windows, especially when it comes to commercial and professional software, the open-source community has filled a lot of that gap with a bunch of well-made apps.

If you live in an area with limited high-speed internet options and use SpaceX's Starlink, then it's time to check your emails in case you get a notice about recent changes to your monthly bill. Starlink users have taken to Reddit to discuss upcoming increases to the cost of their service. The catch? Changes appear to be regional, and a lucky few have reported decreases. Here's what we know so far and what to look out for if Starlink is your current ISP. This is yet another blow to customers, as the company got rid of its cheapest plan earlier this year.

All-in-one desktop computers beat laptops for users who don't need mobility, offering higher performance and larger displays at lower prices. High-end desktops aren't cheap, but you don't have to pay full retail price when you can get a huge $1,000 discount on this powerful Dell All-in-One Desktop.

The original Benchy is a relic of the past, a benchmark print that no longer challenges modern printers. But Benchy occupies a special place within 3D printing lore as an unofficial mascot of sorts, an immediately-recognizable model that the community keeps coming back to.

Everyone seems to love Apple's MagSafe system. Sure, there was plenty of wailing and gnashing of teeth when the company first discontinued it, but now MagSafe is back and as popular as ever.

Anthropic’s unreleased Claude AI model has uncovered a critical Linux kernel flaw. And it didn’t just stop at spotting it; it built an attack that could give someone root access, the highest level of control on Linux. The attacker can run commands, change settings, access files, and potentially take over the machine remotely. No clicks, file opening, or password needed. The flaw is tracked as CVE-2026-98432 and scores a critical 9.8 out of 10 in severity.

Amazon Fire tablets are primarily known for one thing: being cheap. Plenty of sacrifices have been made to hit the low price points, and performance is often where it's most noticeable. That's why the best way to repurpose one is to make it a unitasker.

Did you know that your SSD can fail even at 100% health? Cheerful, isn't it? HDDs are unpredictable too; a study shows that half of the ones that fail do so within their first year. Amazing.

It was supposed to be for one night only. (Or a one-night stand?) But Black Bear has announced Wicker 4DX is getting an extension in theaters for an added week.

What does that mean? Well, for one, basketheads — as fans of the romance film have been dubbed — have many more chances to experience the motion-enhanced theater experience. And yes, that means sharing in the Fisherwoman's (Olivia Colman) experience of getting her world rocked by her Wicker Husband (Alexander Skarsgård).

For more on what that involves, you can check out my review of the Wicker 4DX experience.

SEE ALSO: I've lived the dream of 'Wicker' 4DX, and it was phenomenal

Or you can take a look online.

Various audience members have shared illicit footage from inside their 4DX screenings to give others a sense of what went down. Which seems pretty fitting, as the very reason Wicker got a 4DX release to begin with was because of fans thirsting over the Wicker Husband. And while I didn't record during the movie, I too was shook.

But the fun doesn't start at the theater.

When another Mashable staffer was checking out showtimes on Fandango, she spotted that reserved seats are signified by a little wicker basket.

Wicker 4DX Fandango screenshot Credit: Fandango screenshot

But what do Wicker's stars think of 4DX? Well, Here's Colman and Skarsgård on this unique experience.

Wicker 4DX seats are now on sale.

Instagram's pitch to longform video creators now reportedly comes with a paycheck, and for some, it could reach half a million dollars.

The platform has offered select creators deals worth up to $500,000 to post longer videos through its new Features format, Business Insider reported Oct. 29, citing people familiar with the agreements. Some offers are worth $50,000, while others reach six figures, according to the outlet.

The deals reportedly don't require creators to make their videos exclusive to Instagram. One person familiar with the offers told BI that Instagram is asking creators to upload the longform videos they publish on YouTube to Instagram on the same day.

For the creators already making those videos, this news could mean another place to distribute their work, with a payment attached.

"We've been public about the fact that we are funding Features content directly with some creators right now to support them," a Meta spokesperson told Business Insider. "The details of those deals are confidential, but we're excited to see the content going live."

The report adds a financial incentive to Instagram's latest attempt to get people watching longer videos. As Mashable reported earlier this week, Features will allow uploads of up to 90 minutes, with an emphasis on horizontal video that people can watch on their phones, computers, and TVs. Instagram is conducting small tests in the U.S. and Brazil.

SEE ALSO: Instagram is testing 90-minute videos

Instagram announced Features Monday, with Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri and VP of Product Tessa Lyons explaining how longer videos could fit alongside Reels.

"So many creators are producing longer videos, and they're using clips of those videos to drive discovery on Reels and help build their audience," Lyons said in the announcement. "Features would let those viewers watch the full video without leaving Instagram."

The format also gives Instagram more content for its television app,

"We've been working on a TV version of Reels, and we know that to do that well, we need more than just short-form video," Lyons said.

As Mashable reported, Instagram's TV app began testing on Amazon Fire TVs in late 2025, expanded to Samsung TVs in mid-2026, and arrived on Apple TV in October. Features would give people more to watch on those bigger screens, including longer, horizontal videos.

These additions reflect how Instagram is positioning itself to be more in direct competition with YouTube, giving viewers a new place to discover short clips and watch full-length videos on the same platform.

YouTube is still the platform to beat

Instagram is chasing a platform with both a bigger audience and an established way to pay creators. A Pew Research Center survey published Oct. 19 found that 84 percent of U.S. adults use YouTube, making it the most widely used platform surveyed, compared with 51 percent for Instagram. Among adults ages 18 to 29, YouTube reaches 95 percent, compared with Instagram's 79 percent.

Credit: Pew Research Center

YouTube's Partner Program gives eligible creators 55 percent of net ad revenue from their longform videos, offering a way to earn money beyond brand partnerships and individual platform deals. But qualifying will soon get harder. Starting Feb. 1, 2027, new applicants will need 8,000 qualified watch hours over 12 months or 20 million qualified Shorts views over 90 days — double the current thresholds. Both routes will still require at least 1,000 subscribers, while creators already enrolled will remain in the program.

SEE ALSO: YouTube just raised the bar for creators to earn ad revenue

Instagram's reported offers could make posting on both platforms more appealing for both reach and monetization, especially since the deals don't require exclusivity. But those payments are going to select creators, at least for now (though Instagram hasn’t announced a broader revenue-sharing program for Features).

"We understand the economics matter a ton, and are exploring multiple options to help long-form creators get paid," Mosseri wrote on X Wednesday.

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The next test is whether viewers who come for a quick Reel will stay for a full episode.

When I bought my OLED TV in 2020, I expected I would get a full decade or more out of it, just as I had the LCD model it replaced. Now, only six years later, the original LCD is still going strong, but the OLED has one foot in the grave.

Tech stocks are taking a big hit on the stock market today, and they really only have themselves to blame.

Just look at Google and Reddit's plummeting stocks. On Thursday, Google stock experienced its largest single-day drop ever, and Reddit is on track to have its worst-ever day on Friday. Other tech stocks are also down Friday. As of this writing, Intel is down 30 percent. NVIDIA is down almost 5 percent.

So, what's going on? The answer to this shouldn't surprise anyone: It's AI.

On a Q3 earnings call earlier this week, Google reported strong revenue growth, although weaker than expectations. However, in an earnings filing on Thursday, Google revealed that the company has substantially more exposure to AI risk than some investors realized, according to a Bloomberg report. For one, Google has now disclosed that in addition to its $1 trillion in future purchase commitments, it faces an additional $98 billion in possible future purchase commitments.

These commitments consist mainly of AI data centers and related computing power and hardware, Bloomberg reports. Basically, the company has a lot riding on the AI boom not going bust.

That's not the only concern either. Google's AI features are hurting one of the company's biggest moneymakers, Google Search advertising revenue.

According to Google's chief business officer Philipp Schindler, fewer users are clicking on Google ads in search because of features like AI mode. In fact, even though Google is currently experiencing more search queries than it has in the past five years, Google Search revenue growth is slowing due to these AI tools.

As click-through rates for websites appearing in Google Search decline, the effects are felt further down the line by websites that rely on Google Search traffic, as many websites do (including Mashable). And this is why Reddit's stock is dropping as well.

Last year, Reddit shared that a whopping 50 percent of its traffic comes from Google. As many Google users have noticed over the years, Reddit threads have been ranking quite highly on Google Search results pages for a variety of queries.

However, when Reddit released its Q3 earnings on Thursday, the company was singing a different tune about Google referral traffic.

"Our search referral traffic was down meaningfully in Q3, with the decline accelerating later in the quarter," Reddit said in a letter to shareholders, revealing that search traffic has been dropping by more than 1 million referrals per week.

In an interview with CNBC, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman outright blamed Google's AI Overviews for the drop in traffic.

“I think fundamentally that relationship between Google and the rest of the internet is evolving, and so for us, this means a continued focus on our core users that come to Reddit directly,” Huffman said

In addition to Reddit's woes with Google's AI features, the company announced it would soon require users to create accounts and log in to view content. This change is meant to combat AI scrapers, according to the company. However, this is undoubtedly going to result in further drops in traffic, as Elon Musk discovered when he briefly rolled out a similar login requirement on X, then known as Twitter, back in June 2023.

The tech industry continues to push AI into every facet of its multitude of products and services. It turns out that has had significant negative impacts on their successful existing businesses.

There's something special about building your own gaming rig from scratch, and you can't beat the satisfaction of seeing it work for the first time. The case is the foundation, and you'll need to get the right one to fit your components. Corsair's 3500X is an excellent choice for its space and quality, and you can get it 35% off with a limited-time Amazon deal.

The last time I talked about Docker, I mentioned several containers that I keep running 24/7. These are containers that I never spin down unless I'm updating them manually. Some readers had some fantastic suggestions for containers I hadn't tried yet. And for those who asked about containers that I don't actually keep running, I got to thinking about it, and there are definitely a few Docker containers that I only spin up when I need them. I was surprised to see that they're actually some of the most important containers I use.