Technology

If you're still using Excel's default layout, you're making things harder than they need to be. The software's interface is surprisingly flexible if you know where to look, and making just a few tweaks can turn a standard spreadsheet app into a personalized number cruncher.

Guillermo del Toro is one of the most celebrated filmmakers in modern Hollywood, who has built up an incredible reputation for making the uncanny beloved. The director has tackled a wide range of genres through his unique lens, championing the practical work of artists while calling out unfair practices. Del Toro is beloved within the industry and by audiences across the world.

I've recently been on a little bit of a self-hosting and homelab kick, so I'm trying to get the most out of the hardware I have lying around. It recently hit me that Kindles make excellent dashboards because of their low power consumption and beautiful E-Ink displays. So I've been using mine as a Spotify remote control and dashboard.

Phone prices have been creeping upward for years due to a long list of factors. Most of the time, the increases felt gradual, fair, and manageable. However, the recent memory price spikes have hit the entire tech industry hard, and phones are no exception.

Full Circle, the gaming studio behind the new iteration of Skate, has recently announced a restructuring involving layoffs at its headquarters in Burnaby, British Columbia. Founded in 2021 as a subsidiary of Electronic Arts, Full Circle is just the latest in a series of AAA gaming studios to be hit by layoffs, with Ubisoft Toronto laying off 40 employees last week. 

SEE ALSO: 'Mario Tennis Fever' takes Mario sports back to arcade basics in the best way

In their public-facing announcement, entitled “skate.’s Next Chapter,” the company lamented that the people affected by layoffs "are talented colleagues and friends who helped build the foundation of skate," while shouting out the “tens of millions” of people who have explored the Early Access version of skate. released last September. "To our departing teammates: thank you. skate. exists because of your hard work and dedication to the craft."

The original Skate games were released in the late 2000s for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and marketed as more realistic skateboarding games compared to the rival Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series. Fans responded well to the tight controls, inventive city settings, and fun soundtrack, which won the first Skate game the "Sports Game of the Year" award at the 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, and resulted in commercial success, but the series had been on indefinite hold until the announcement of skate. (known among fans as Skate 4), which was to be a live-service game built around a sandbox-style multiplayer experience, a move that didn’t sit well with many long-time fans of the series.

While the latest Skate game has not yet had a final release, the Early Access version has been available to fans for almost half a year now, and early reviews are mixed. Critics have pointed to the inclusion of microtransactions ($25 clothing for your digital character), the online-only gameplay restriction, and the homogenized character design, while others have praised the free-to-play accessibility.

We don’t yet know how many employees lost their jobs at Full Circle, as the company was not forthcoming, but the parent company, EA, lost approximately 5% of its workforce in 2024, during its last round of layoffs. As for the fate of skate. after these layoffs, much is still unknown and the game still doesn’t have a final release date.

Trusting external drives with your backups can get risky, but at least an HDD or an SSD is relatively sturdy. But microSD cards?

I live on a few acres of half-wooded land, and I maintain our surrounding environment almost exclusively using electric yard equipment I've bought from Greenworks. A few years into my investment, I don't regret a single one.

One of the key pillars supporting the vinyl fandom is the analog nature of the medium. Some audiophiles argue that because digital music is sampled, it sounds "choppy" and lacks perceivable detail compared to an analog recording.

Starting next month, Discord will start its "teen by default" policy, meaning all accounts will be treated with a restricted experience unless they clear age verification. Apparently, Discord plans to use AI to infer if a user is an adult, so you might be automatically verified. However, if the AI throws up a red flag or makes a mistake, you'll have to verify your age to keep accessing all of Discord's features. You have to either submit a valid government ID or upload a video selfie. If you got hit with age verification or if you're simply looking for an alternative to avoid the possibility altogether, here are a few alternatives that I tested and liked.

Android has matured a lot since its early days, but there are some features that I keep wishing would be included already. One of those features is the ability to set a different volume for each app. I have found an excellent workaround to get this feature.

The Simpsons is one of the most popular cartoon series of all time and is currently streaming on Disney+. The series began on December 17, 1989, and has since become a widely recognizable cultural phenomenon.

In a joint effort between Minnesota lawmakers, local law enforcement, and the Department of Commerce, legislation has been introduced to ban crypto ATMs across the state in response to widespread fraud and financial abuse, particularly of the elderly. 

Bill HF3642, sponsored by Rep. Erin Koegel, would prohibit the use of virtual currency kiosks or "crypto ATMs," that also accept cash and debit cards, in response to 70 official complaints of financial fraud totalling over $540,000 in 2025.

SEE ALSO: Crypto prices on Friday: Bitcoin, Ethereum and more tick upward

The catalyst for the legislation was a single incident in which police officers responded to a call about a senior citizen who appeared confused at a gas station cryptocurrency kiosk. Upon further investigation, police discovered that she had been giving 50 percent of her monthly income to scammers, leaving her on the verge of having to live out of her car.  

According to law enforcement, the scammers often target the elderly, using false identities and emotional stories to gain power over them and coerce them into parting with their pensions or retirement savings. 

For scammers, the appeal of cryptocurrency is obvious, since converting digital currency into cryptocurrency makes it all but impossible for law enforcement to trace the money and make an arrest. But cryptocurrency platforms are opposing the ban, arguing that they’re being unfairly punished.

Larry Lipka, in-house counsel at digital currency platform CoinFlip, acknowledges the problem but opposes the proposed legislation.

"The scammers are vigilant. They’re terrible, and they’re stealing from Americans," he told Gizmodo before arguing that their existing safety protocols, which include transaction limits and a holding period, were sufficient protection. "I know that these tools work because we’ve got 8,000 customers in the state, we have 12,000 transactions that happened in the last year and less than 1% of those were refundable by customers."

The Commerce Department, however, disagrees. Sam Smith, government relations director at the Department of Commerce, points to the fact that just 48% of consumer complaints resulted in a refund, while those refunds averaged just 16% of the total fraud amount, as evidence that additional legislation is necessary.

As of now, approximately 350 licensed cryptocurrency kiosks operate in Minnesota, but digital currency companies across the United States could be affected by the legal precedent this bill sets. 

HDDs were, until not too long ago, seen as the premier option for escaping price hikes as SSDs began being affected by the ongoing global RAM shortage.

Do you wish your terminal could do more than just run commands? Imagine opening one window and seeing your calendar, system stats, RSS feeds, and more—all at once. That’s exactly what you can do with wtf—the modular dashboard that might change how you use Linux.

Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue.

Released in August 2025, the Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.

Currently, if you're stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move onto the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level.

How to play Pips

If you've ever played dominoes, you'll have a passing familiarity for how Pips is played. As we've shared in our previous hints stories for Pips, the tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between a traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you have to address. The touching tiles don't necessarily have to match.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for March 1, 2026

The conditions you have to meet are specific to the color-coded spaces. For example, if it provides a single number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the number provided. It is possible – and common – for only half a tile to be within a color-coded space.

Here are common examples you'll run into across the difficulty levels:

• Number: All the pips in this space must add up to the number.

• Equal: Every domino half in this space must be the same number of pips.

• Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a completely different number of pips.

• Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.

• Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.

If an area does not have any color coding, it means there are no conditions on the portions of dominoes within those spaces.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for March 1, 2026 Easy difficulty hints, answers for March 28 Pips

Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 0-3, placed vertically.

Equal (2): Everything in this space must be equal to 2. The answer is 2-2, placed vertically; 2-5, placed vertically; 6-2, placed vertically.

Equal (6): Everything in this space must be equal to 6. The answer is 6-2, placed vertically; 6-3, placed horizontally.

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 6-3, placed horizontally.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for March 28 Pips

Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 2-6, placed horizontally.

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 2-6, placed horizontally; 2-4, placed vertically.

Less Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 4-1, placed horizontally.

Equal (4): Everything in this space must be equal to 4. The answer is 2-4, placed vertically; 4-1, placed horizontally; 4-0, placed vertically.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 4-0, placed vertically.

Number (9): Everything in this space must add up to 9. The answer is 5-4, placed horizontally.

Number (9): Everything in this space must add up to 9. The answer is 2-3, placed horizontally; 6-3, placed vertically.

Less Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 2-3, placed horizontally.

Equal (3): Everything in this purple space must be equal to 3. The answer is 6-3, placed vertically; 3-0, placed vertically.

Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 3-0, placed vertically; 1-6, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 1-6, placed horizontally.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for Feb. 28 Pips

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 4-3, placed horizontally.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 2-1, placed horizontally.

Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 2-1, placed horizontally.

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 4-4, placed horizontally.

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 4-4, placed horizontally.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 2-4, placed vertically.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 2-0, placed horizontally.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 2-0, placed horizontally.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 2-3, placed horizontally.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 0-0, placed vertically.

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 2-4, placed vertically.

Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 1-3, placed vertically.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 0-4, placed vertically.

Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 1-0, placed horizontally.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 1-0, placed horizontally.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 0-0, placed vertically.

Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 1-4, placed vertically.

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 0-4, placed vertically.

Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 1-1, placed vertically.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 0-3, placed horizontally.

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 1-4, placed vertically.

Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 1-1, placed vertically.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 2-2, placed horizontally.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 2-2, placed horizontally.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Smart speakers aren't the only speakers in your home that you can connect to Home Assistant. You should be able to connect most speakers on your home network, and even dumb speakers can be connected with a little help.

Today's Connections: Sports Edition is for people who like to gamble.

As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections: Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. Here's a hint for today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Headed to the casino

• Green: Quarterback reads the play

• Blue: Buy a tennis racket

• Purple: Types of fields

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Bet

• Green: Pre-snap Football Motions

• Blue: Tennis Racket Brands

• Purple: ___Field

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections: Sports Edition #524 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Bet - GAMBLE, RISK, STAKE, WAGER

• Pre-snap Football Motions - AUDIBLE, HARD COUNT, MOTION, SHIFT

• Tennis Racket Brands - BABOLAT, HEAD, PRINCE, WILSON

• ___Field - PROGRESSIVE, RIGHT, SOLDIER, WRIGLEY

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

Thanks to steady hardware improvements and Samsung’s generous software support, even for its budget Galaxy models, your Galaxy phone might still have plenty of life left in it. If you’re not planning to upgrade anytime soon, a handful of simple tweaks can make your old Galaxy feel fresh again.

If you're tempted to reuse an old modular power supply cable on a new power supply, save yourself a lot of trouble and buy a new one instead. You could wind up completely frying thousands of dollars in components otherwise.

In the battle for AI supremacy, Anthropic’s Claude has just managed to dethrone OpenAI’s ChatGPT in Apple’s App Store, claiming the #1 spot as the most-downloaded free app in the United States, leaving ChatGPT in second and Google’s Gemini a distant fourth.

This sudden surge in the rankings is almost certainly due to public backlash at a recent announcement by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, released on X, that they would work with the Department of Defense (unofficially titled the Department of War) to deploy artificial intelligence through its classified networks.

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This announcement comes on the heels of a public stand by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei against the unrestricted use of AI by governments, in which he specifically highlighted the dangers of both "mass domestic surveillance" and "fully autonomous weapons" powered by AI.

While much of the general public, nervous about the speed and scope of AI’s sudden prominence, viewed this as a principled stand, President Donald Trump saw it as a rebuke of government policy: "The Leftwing nut jobs at Anthropic have made a DISASTROUS MISTAKE trying to STRONG-ARM the Department of War, and force them to obey their Terms of Service instead of our Constitution," he wrote in a Truth Social post.  

SEE ALSO: Trump orders Pentagon to stop using 'woke' Anthropic in fiery Truth social post

The Trump administration, acting through Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has since sought to designate Anthropic as a "supply-chain risk to national security," an unprecedented label for an American company and a move that would make it impossible for them to secure government contracts in the future.

In a cross-company show of support for Anthropic’s stance, more than 700 employees of both Google and OpenAI have signed an open letter, "We Will Not Be Divided," that concludes forcefully:

"We hope our leaders will put aside their differences and stand together to continue to refuse the Department of War's current demands for permission to use our models for domestic mass surveillance and autonomously killing people without human oversight."

More recently, and as proof that the average person is sensitive to these ethical issues, the general public is weighing in as well, shifting their loyalty from ChatGPT to Claude. To put this shift into perspective, an Anthropic spokesperson told Mashable over email that free users up 60%+ since January, daily signups tripled since November (breaking the all-time record every day this week), and paid subscribers more than doubled this year." Per the spokesperson, Anthropic ranked #42 before Super Bowl LX and has since ranked in the top 10 in the US app charts.

With the AI revolution still in full swing, the battle for its soul is still being fought, and this latest flare-up proves that the average person still has leverage.

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