IT General

Music icon Cyndi Lauper is this week's guest on Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware and honestly, it's a feast to remember.

In the foodie interview podcast released Wednesday, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and forever New Yorker sat down with the Wares for her favourite meal of borscht, with fig and almond tart for dessert.

Between bites, Lauper unpacked everything from her Sicilian family upbringing, her major hits like "True Colors" and "Girls Just Want To Have Fun," the realities of making marinara, documentary Let The Canary Sing, the lawsuit with her band Blue Angel, her favourite New York restaurants (Le Veau d’Or, Lucien, Frankie's), and her charity which advocates for the rights and health of women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people.

"The only time that I really felt and cried was at the first women's demonstration when everybody wore pink hats, and I saw these young girls with these signs, "Girls Just Want to Have Fundamental Rights." And I used to get in trouble for talking about feminism!" says Lauper in the video above.

Honestly, my kingdom for a seat at this table.

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.

It's fair to say that streaming has completely revolutionized the way that many of us consume media. While streaming offers convenience, there are some key reasons why owning physical media is still superior.

If you have kids, you'll know how too much screen time can seem to affect your kids' mood and behavior. During the school year, limiting their screen time is fairly easy to do as they're not at home for most of the day. During the summer break, the kids are at home a lot more, so I built a chore tracker for my kids that rewards them with screen time.

TL;DR: Starting Sept. 5, DoorDash's Streaks program rewards college football fans for ordering on Saturdays: 1,000 fans who place four qualifying $20+ orders get $250 in DoorDash credit, one fan wins a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, and college students nationwide can get free Student DashPass through Oct. 12.

Opens in a new window Credit: DoorDash DoorDash Streaks   Learn More

Saturday college football and DoorDash orders already go hand in hand — now DoorDash is making sure you get something back for it.

The company's Streaks program is returning for the 2026 season, and starting Sept. 5, fans can score everything from game-day credit to free DashPass to a literal muscle car, just for doing what they were already going to do anyway: order food and watch the games.

How to score $250 for your watch party

1,000 fans who place four qualifying orders (each with a $20+ subtotal) will get $250 in DoorDash credit to cover a Saturday watch-party order for their crew. Basically, keep ordering through the season, and DoorDash foots the bill for one big one. One fan will also win a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat — the ultimate game-day ride upgrade.

DoorDash is also giving college students nationwide a free Student DashPass through Oct. 12, which helps reduce delivery costs for game-day orders all season long. If you're in school and ordering food most Saturdays anyway, this one's an easy way to save.

The real jackpot: $757,500 toward a house

Every month that fans hit their Streak milestone, they earn an entry toward the grand prize: $757,500 toward the house of their dreams, plus a new fridge stocked with a year's supply of Dr. Pepper. So the more consistently you're ordering on Saturdays, the more entries you're racking up toward that.

These September rewards are just the start. DoorDash says new deals and prizes will keep dropping throughout the season for fans who order on Saturdays, and October's next big prize is still on the way, so there's reason to keep ordering well past September.

Google Pixel phones are not exactly renowned for having a huge selection of features—the downside to minimalism. That’s why I was recently surprised to find a suite of diagnostic tools in the settings. These tools can be helpful for troubleshooting and determining the health of your device.

I stopped using portable applications for a long time. Between cloud storage, web apps, modern package managers, and the ever-growing number of regular apps you can download and install, they just didn't seem all that necessary. That changed when I ran into a situation with a friend's laptop where the operating system was so badly messed up that nothing would work correctly, including internet connectivity. All the cloud apps and installers in the world couldn't help. So, I went home and put together a toolkit to repair any PC I might encounter.

An over-the-air, or OTA, update is any software fix or feature update an automaker sends to a car wirelessly, through a cellular or Wi-Fi connection, the same way a phone downloads a new app or security patch. The car downloads the code, installs it while parked, and comes back online running something different than it did the night before, all without a trip to a dealership.

When it comes to multitasking, Liz Plank (@feministabulous) might just be the poster-child. She is a content creator, journalist (Vox), author (For the Love of Men), podcaster (Boy Problems), amongst too many titles to name. Liz Plank is a true queen of all trades.

Recently, Plank met up with Mashable's Executive Producer, Mark Stetson, in New York's Washington Square Park, her "favorite place." On a much too sunny park bench, the two delved into the nooks and crannies of content creation, why dating can be wildly different for men and women, and what it truly means to "win the career lottery."

"My favorite thing right now is my podcast!" Plank's latest venture is her podcast, Boy Problems, which soared into the 1% of Spotify podcasts and is still one of the most listened podcasts on Spotify. "I had to teach myself how to do a 3-camera setup in my own bedroom because that's what you have to do when you have zero budget. And in the end I think it made the show that much better. I love to connect, I am a connection slut. And so I loved that it felt like I was on the same level as the audience."

Plank opened up about the realities of modern content creation, from navigating burnout and the pressure to monetize, to building a genuine connection with your audience and maintaining authenticity. "If you're trying to be authentic, then you're already not. It was easier to be authentic earlier on because there was no model. And now there are so many models and influencer culture and so many people that you can imitate and use as role models. I think that role models are great, but be you. Don't try to be someone else."

Boy Problems is available anywhere you find your podcasts and on YouTube.

The PC market is a hot mess right now, with GPUs priced at up to $5,000 and 32GB of RAM going for, at minimum, $400 (DDR5). It's not a good time to buy ... well, basically anything, including SSDs and RAM (obviously). But this is when unexpected purchases start making more sense.

While I like messing around in Linux, it's not my daily-driver operating system. I tend to use it for specialized projects, or when I have no other choice, such as using a Linux Netbook in college, or with handheld gaming systems that work best with Linux for various reasons.

ChatGPT can now check your insurance, cancel flights, or reschedule deliveries for you, all seemingly without seeing your login details.

Announced by OpenAI on X, the AI assistant will be able to complete tasks for users that they'd usually have to open a new browser and log in with a username and password to do. (And please don't tell us you've been dropping your login details into AI chatbot conversations. Stop that now.)

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Available on mobile and web for Plus, Pro, and Business users, the update functions within the GPT‑5.6-powered ChatGPT Work, a task management agent within the chatbot that pulls workflows into one spot.

However, the tool is focused beyond boardrooms. According to OpenAI, ChatGPT Work can now do things like set up utilities for your home, book a passport or medical appointment, buy or cancel plane tickets, or rearrange a package's arrival, all without viewing your login details. This moves the chatbot beyond its current in-chat booking abilities into deeper, more serious purchasing waters.

SEE ALSO: ChatGPT will let you book a table mid-chat

But how is ChatGPT actually blocked from seeing your username and password?

On OpenAI's help page, updated with the announcement, the company says ChatGPT Work functions through a cloud browser that can "read web pages, click buttons, enter information into forms, and carry out steps on supported public and signed-in websites." This means you're not putting your details directly into the Large Language Model (LLM) powering the chatbot, and again, it's unwise to drop these into your chats.

You'll need to start a task within ChatGPT, write your request as a prompt, and the chatbot will pause the conversation to generate a "secure form" for logging into a website through a remote browser. You might need to approve the website to ChatGPT and complete any two-factor authentication. According to OpenAI, "the username and password entered [in the secure form] are not visible to the model, and ChatGPT does not store those sign-in credentials."

The company adds that all sign-in requests are reviewed by an additional model for "signs of phishing or deception."

Featured Video For You Is ChatGPT Changing the Way We Write?

You can also control which websites ChatGPT has access to in Settings > Cloud browser, where you can select options to "Always ask," "Auto approve," or "Always allow." And some websites might restrict access from AI agents, so you might run into some that won't work with this automation.

Once you've done all the approvals and you're logged in, ChatGPT will unpause the conversation and move to complete requests. Notably, ChatGPT will ask you for confirmation in the chat "before actions that could be hard to reverse or create a financial, legal, account, or other real-world commitment, such as confirming a booking or making a payment." So, if you're about to drop cash on a flight, you'll have to give it the green light.

ChatGPT users can already connect their bank accounts and medical records to the platform, so this feels like just another step of handing the keys over to AI.

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.

Cable management is not a fun task. I’m not talking about routing cables under your desk in a satisfying way; I mean literally organizing a box of loose cables. Rubber bands? Velcro straps? I’ve tried them both, but the best method I’ve found is an incredibly simple 3D print.

TL;DR: The Motorola Razr and Motorola Razr+ are available for free right now with T-Mobile. To qualify for the Motorola Razr, simply activate a new line on an Experience More plan. For the Motorola Razr+, activate a new line on an Experience Beyond plan.

Opens in a new window Credit: Motorola T-Mobile: Motorola Razr and Motorola Razr+ for free   Shop Now

The conversation around Apple's next event is getting louder. We're constantly inundated with new rumors, leaks, and genuine news about the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max that are likely to arrive this fall. That's exciting for Apple fanatics keen on owning the latest tech, but believe it or not, not everyone is obsessed with the iPhone.

No, there's actually a significant group out there who rep Samsung, Google, and Motorola. And if you're the latter, T-Mobile has got a real treat for you right now.

T-Mobile is giving away the new Motorola Razr and Motorola Razr+ for free, with no trade-in required:

• Motorola Razr — activate a new line on an Experience More plan

• Motorola Razr+ — activate a new line on an Experience Beyond plan

The total cost is covered with up to 36 monthly bill credits. If you cancel or switch carriers before the two-year mark, you’ll owe the remaining balance on the phone’s full retail price. You will also need to pay taxes and a one-time connection charge with this deal, but that's a small price to pay for the latest from Motorola.

Score the new Motorola Razr and Motorola Razr+ for free this week with T-Mobile.

As a writer, programmer, and Linux enthusiast, I often tend to make my workflow use the mouse as rarely as possible. Windows being my primary workstation, I've been trying to use the keyboard more and more, so I don't have to reach for the mouse.

TL;DR: SanDisk just launched two Pokémon-themed storage drives for the franchise's 30th anniversary. The Mew Edition 128GB USB-C flash drive is $27.99 (down from $34.99), and the Mewtwo Edition 500GB portable SSD is $119.99 (down from $149.99).

Opens in a new window Credit: SanDisk Mew Edition 128GB USB-C Flash Drive $27.99 at SanDisk
$34.99 Save $7.00   Shop Now Opens in a new window Credit: SanDisk Mewtwo Edition 500GB Portable SSD $119.99 at SanDisk
$149.99 Save $30.00   Shop Now

SanDisk just gave your everyday storage a serious glow-up. To mark Pokémon's 30th anniversary, the company has launched two officially licensed drives that turn Mew and Mewtwo into storage you'll want to show off — and both are launching with a discount, so the collectible factor doesn't come at collector prices.

The Mew Edition flash drive is built around the character's status as the ancestor of all Pokémon, with a design made for grab-and-go convenience. It plugs in via USB-C and works with compatible phones (with an app), plus Mac and Windows computers, and the 128GB of storage holds around 5,000 photos, with room left for video and music.

Read speeds top out at 250MB/s, and the SanDisk app handles file transfers, copying, and backups across all your connected devices, so you're not manually dragging folders around every time you plug it in.

The Mewtwo Edition SSD is for heavier workloads. SanDisk says it moves data up to five times faster than an old-school portable hard drive, with read speeds up to 1,000MB/s — useful for offloading video, RAW photos, or larger creative projects rather than the occasional photo dump.

Credit: Sandisk / Pokémon

It's also built to hold up: no moving parts inside, and it's rated to withstand drops of up to 2 meters. Between the 500GB and 1TB options, it's meant for people who need higher capacity storage that still fits in a pocket.

Pick your Pokémon, then grab the drive before it's gone.

TL;DR: The Pokémon TCG Scarlet and Purple Prismatic Evolutions Elite Trainer Set is on sale for $198.96 at Amazon, down from its list price of $219.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Mashable Composite Team/The Pokémon Company Pokémon TCG Scarlet and Purple Prismatic Evolutions Elite Trainer Set $198.96 at Amazon
$219.99 Save $21.03   Get Deal

We all love Pokémon TCG. Why else are we here? But no one ever said that collecting Pokémon was cheap. That's why collectors and wannabe trainers are always on the hunt for a good deal on high-ticket collections.

Here's one that's caught our attention today — a 10% price drop on the Pokémon TCG Scarlet and Purple Prismatic Evolutions Elite Trainer Set.

As of Aug. 26, the Pokémon TCG Scarlet and Purple Prismatic Evolutions Elite Trainer Set is on sale for $198.96 at Amazon. You'll save $21.03 from the regular list price of $219.99. And you’ll get free delivery as soon as Sep. 2 at the time of writing.

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This box is based around fan-favorite Eevee and its multiple evolutions. It includes an illustrated promo card, nine booster packs — a total of 90 cards — plus 65 Eevee card covers, 45 Energy cards, dice, and more. It's a pricey set overall, but you're sure to find valuable cards inside.

Grab the Pokémon TCG Scarlet and Purple Prismatic Evolutions Elite Trainer Set for $196.98 at Amazon and save over $21.

TL;DR: Canoly's new 4-in-1 C50 Smart Cold Press Juicer is available for $399.99, down from $599.99 — a 33% discount on launch price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Canoly Canoly C50 Smart Cold Press Juicer $399 at Amazon
$599 Save $200   Get Deal

Your kitchen counter is about to get a lot less crowded.

Canoly just dropped the C50, its new flagship cold press juicer, and it's launching with a $200 discount right out of the gate — putting Canoly's most capable machine yet within reach for under $400.

This one machine does four jobs. The C50 makes cold-pressed juice, smoothies, sorbet, and nut or plant milk, swapping between them with three interchangeable strainers. If you've ever bought a juicer only to realize it can't do smoothies, or a blender that leaves pulp everywhere, this is Canoly's answer to that problem.

The touchscreen panel on the juicer has five one-tap modes, and the Bluetooth app lets you start or schedule a juicing session from your phone and pull from 50 built-in recipes. A smart anti-clog program, paired with a pre-cut blade, is designed to prevent jams before they happen, and the 7.1-inch feed chute is wide enough to fit whole fruits and vegetables without much chopping beforehand.

Credit: Canoly

There's also a 100-ounce hopper, so you're not stuck refilling it for every glass, and the AC brushless motor runs at around 35 decibels, quiet enough that it won't wake up the rest of the house on an early morning smoothie run.

SEE ALSO: A new Ninja Boss blender is here: Meet the CrushBoss

It's built to hold up over time thanks to a food-safe PC chamber, a stainless-steel auger, and BPA-free strainers, all held together with a detachable latch system that makes it easy to break down and clean. It's also a step up from Canoly's previous model, the C16, which offered three functions and no smart controls — the C50 isn't just an upgrade, it's a full redesign.

Four appliances' worth of counter space, back down to one — grab the Canoly C50 while the $200 discount lasts.

Reviewing the Pixel 11 Pro felt like watching the classic rock movie This IsSpinal Tap, where guitarist Nigel Tufnel proudly shows off a custom guitar amplifier with volume knobs marked up to 11 instead of 10. When asked why it's better, he explains that it gives you "one louder" for that extra push over the cliff.

Smart rings monitor your health in a tiny, inconspicuous package. At first glance, they look like any other piece of jewelry, a simple gold or silver ring. But with tiny sensors, these rings track biometrics through your finger. Yes, they'll track your step count and calories burned, but more advanced technology allows them to track sleep and stress levels, all detected through heart rate and variability.

After extensive testing — including some epic marathon training — we selected the best smart rings of the year so far. This year, Oura debuted the Oura Ring 5, which is an exceptional ring for comfort, design, and overall health tracking. While it takes the top spot in our guide, we tried plenty more options.

This guide compares the top options for fitness-minded tech users who want a low-profile health tracker. To compare the rings, we dug into what actually separates these rings: design, battery life, health features, price, subscription costs, and device compatibility.

SEE ALSO: I ran the NYC Marathon wearing 7 fitness trackers and they all watched me throw up

Latest updates to this guide

As of August 2026, we've replaced the Oura Ring 4 with the Oura Ring 5. Yes, it's the latest model, but its smaller size has greatly improved its comfort, making it the best Oura Ring but also the best overall smart ring.

We've also removed the Evie Ring from this list as it appears to be out of stock. The website for the Evie Ring appears to be unavailable, and the product is no longer listed for sale. We've reached out to Evie for comment on whether the ring is officially discontinued and the status of the company.

We're in the process of testing the RingConn Gen 2 Air for inclusion in this guide. Currently, we've included the Ultrahuman Air in this guide, which is no longer being made but is still available for purchase. We'll update this guide with the Ultrahuman Ring Pro once we've completed testing.

What's the best smart ring?

The smart ring market is ever-growing, with new models debuting each year. Samsung launched a smart ring in 2024, and while Apple doesn't have a smart ring on the market yet, we're sure it will be here in a matter of time. But smart rings are synonymous with the Oura Ring, a leader in the field, and for good reason. Having tried multiple Oura rings (the Oura Ring 4 and Oura Ring 5), testing their hype, and comparing them to other devices, we can confidently say Oura makes the best smart ring in 2026.

Oura offers the most expansive biometric tracking, monitoring your health around the clock. It focuses on daily and long-term health goals more holistically than other rings.

However, the Oura Ring has downsides, like a monthly subscription fee. If you're not down for a monthly fee, we tested some popular alternatives to Oura rings.

Why should you buy a smart ring? So you think you want a smart ring? Here's what you need to know about the latest tech wearable. Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

Smart rings are not just another fitness tracker. Yes, they do track your activity, steps, and calories burned. However, they're really meant to offer a more holistic view of your health so you can gain deeper insights into your sleep habits, cardiovascular health, and more.

You're a good candidate for a smart ring if you hate the look of a smartwatch or fitness tracker with LED screens, which are categorically not cool. Smart rings are posed as a discreet option, looking like a regular piece of jewelry. However, to be frank, they don't blend in that well. In my weeks of testing, while wearing the rings during hangouts, someone would inevitably ask me, "What's that?"

Since a smart ring doesn't have a screen, you have to pull out your phone and open an app whenever you want to track activity. That's certainly not the end of the world, but if you convert from a smartwatch, you'll miss the convenience of tapping your wrist. That being said, I actually find a smart ring most useful when paired with a smartwatch. I ran all my testing while simultaneously wearing an Apple Watch, and I appreciated the smart rings that were compatible with my watch so I could receive push notifications.

Uber will now let parents remotely watch children's rides through their drivers' smartphones. Announced on Tuesday, the rideshare service has added a live video streaming feature to teen accounts, allowing their guardians to monitor them on their trips.

SEE ALSO: Flock pitched turning Uber and Lyft drivers into a mobile surveillance network

To use this new feature, the Uber driver must first have enabled live video. If they've done so and someone with an Uber teen account begins a trip, the adult linked to the account will receive a push notification alerting them that live video of the ride is available. The parent simply needs to tap the notification, and they'll be treated to a live feed from the front-facing camera on the driver's phone. Both the teen and the driver will receive notifications letting them know a parent is watching, and the stream will automatically end at the conclusion of the trip. 

Of course, this feature doesn't guarantee that anxious parents will be able to see their child in the Uber. Depending upon how the driver's phone is positioned, they may only get a view of the car's ceiling. However, considering that phone mounts are extremely common amongst Uber drivers, there's a good chance that at the very least they'll see the driver. Uber even suggests that drivers use a phone mount if they don't have app integration in the car itself.

The new feature launched in select U.S. regions on Tuesday, with rollout to continue across the country in the following weeks.

"Live video is the latest way we're updating teen accounts to meet the needs of families and build on existing safety features like live trip tracking, PIN verification, and audio recording," Uber's director of product management Ashu Manohar wrote in the announcement. "As live video expands nationwide over the coming weeks, we'll continue listening to feedback and improving the experience to help families stay connected when they’re on the go."

Interestingly, while adults linked to a child's account can watch the live video stream while their Uber trip is active, it will become inaccessible once the ride has concluded. Uber will apparently still keep the footage, stating that it will be reviewed if a safety incident is reported, but the encrypted video will not be viewable by the child, adult, or driver.

Credit: Uber

Last year, Uber admitted that it routinely approved people convicted of violent felonies to be drivers, provided the convictions were over seven years ago. While potential drivers convicted of murder, kidnapping, or sexual assault were subject to a blanket ban, other crimes such as assault and child abuse were permitted. According to Uber, this was an effort at "striking the right balance" between keeping riders safe and allowing felons to move on with their lives. 

A New York Times investigation also found that Uber had received reports of sexual abuse or misconduct every eight minutes between 2017 to 2022. In response, Uber stated that 75 percent of these reports were "less serious." A Phoenix court subsequently found Uber partially liable for rape and violence its drivers committed against passengers. 

Uber has since expanded its safety measures, and now runs background checks on the past 99 years of a driver's life rather than just seven.