Technology

You no longer have to launch Gemini to have Google's AI handle some tasks. Google is rolling out connections between AI Mode in search and multiple popular services, making it possible to complete some tasks with little more than a prompt.

At the end of the 1990s, IBM took the same basic machinery found inside regular HDDs and squeezed it into a package barely larger than a quarter. The Microdrive contained a tiny spinning platter, a motor, and a moving read/write head.

I have a lot of smart home automations that can sometimes feel like magic. I still get a small thrill when I sit down in the reading chair in the living room, and the lamp next to the chair turns on automatically. While some automations can feel like magic, there are plenty of Home Assistant projects that can replicate actual magic.

My relationship with to-do apps usually follows a predictable course. I install one, spend an unreasonable amount of time choosing colors and categories, enter every task I can remember, and then stop opening it after three days. The task list survives somewhere in the cloud, quietly preserving plans that even I have forgotten.

For the past couple of years, I’ve had a brief but passionate love affair with Samsung foldables. That changed with the release of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, which disappointed me so much that I now own a Motorola Razr Fold instead. I’ve since discovered a surprising number of ways in which Motorola phones are simply better.

In 2002, the production version of the Hummer H2 debuted at the Los Angeles Auto Show, becoming an immediate symbol of American excess. It had a thirst for gasoline that was punchline-worthy, but a flashy shade of yellow paint that turned it into an eye-catching status symbol.

Streaming services have made watching movies almost frictionless. However, most people don't think much about what they're giving up for it. Every time you open Netflix or Hulu, you're not just watching something; you're being watched in return. The platform logs what you pause, what you skip, how long you hover over a thumbnail, and that data feeds into profiles that eventually get sold. If you've ever felt vaguely uneasy about how well an algorithm seems to know you, there's a reason for that, and buying used DVDs with cash is one of the few remaining ways to actually opt out.

TL;DR: iClever’s Q950 Kids Headphones are now on Amazon for $69.99. They pack hybrid ANC, an 80dBA volume limit, 60-hour battery life, and a kid-proof design.

Opens in a new window Credit: iClever iClever Q950 Kids Headphones $69.99 at Amazon
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iClever has launched the Q950 Kids Headphones, a new pair of wireless over-ear headphones designed to make listening safer for younger users. Available in the U.S. from iClever and Amazon for $69.99, the Q950 comes in two colors: blue and purple.

The headphones are built around iClever’s SafeSound technology, which keeps volume capped at 80dBA while adding noise cancellation to help kids hear clearly without needing to turn the volume all the way up.

What makes the Q950 stand out is its TÜV Rheinland Hearing Care certification, a third-party certification that recognizes the headphones’ focus on safer listening and hearing-friendly design. For parents, that adds an extra layer of confidence that their kids are using headphones designed with hearing health in mind.

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Beyond hearing protection, the Q950 packs features you’d usually expect from adult headphones. Wear Detection automatically pauses audio when the headphones are removed, Transparency Mode lets kids hear what’s happening around them without taking the headphones off, and Bluetooth Audio Sharing allows two headphones to connect to the same device for shared listening.

Battery life reaches up to 60 hours on a single charge, while ANC still works when using the included wired AUX connection. Built for everyday use, the Q950 includes an adjustable headband, soft ear cushions, and rotating ear cups for a comfortable fit as kids grow.

Grab the iClever Q950 Kids Headphones on Amazon for safer listening on the go.

ESP32 boards are popular for home projects because they're small, versatile, and, most of all, cheap. Not only are ESP32 boards affordable, but if you use them for the right projects, they can also help you save money. Here's how.

For a long time, Pi-hole was the go-to option for anyone that wanted to use DNS filtering on their home network. It is easy enough to set up on any old laptop, PC, or even a low-power Pi and then connect it to your network.

OnePlus is officially exiting the U.S. and Europe after months of shrinking its presence. Parent company Oppo has confirmed that OnePlus will no longer release new products in North America or Europe, although it will continue to provide support.

TL;DR: Spotify's Managed Accounts are now free for more families. Parents can create kid-friendly Spotify accounts with parental controls, private profiles, and personalized music recommendations without needing a Premium Family subscription.

Spotify is making it easier for parents to give younger listeners their own music experience without handing over the keys to the entire app. Previously available only with a Premium Family subscription, Managed Accounts are now free for parents on any Spotify plan in the U.S., UK, Australia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and several other supported regions.

Spotify says more countries, including Canada, New Zealand, and much of Europe and Latin America, are already live or will be added soon.

What is a Spotify Managed Account?

A Managed Account is a kid-friendly version of Spotify designed for listeners under 13. It gives children their own Spotify profile while letting parents stay in control through built-in parental settings.

Instead of opening up the full Spotify experience, Managed Accounts focus on music. Kids can listen to Spotify's music catalog, create playlists, and discover new artists, but podcasts, audiobooks, video content, and Canvas visuals aren't included by default.

Kids still get personalized recommendations through features like Discover Weekly, Daylist, and Made for You mixes. They'll also get their own Spotify Wrapped, so the whole family doesn’t end up with one giant mashup of music tastes.

Every new account starts with explicit content filtering turned on automatically, and parents can also block specific artists or songs through Spotify's Parental Controls Hub. Profiles are private and can't be searched by other users, messaging features are disabled, and kids use preset avatars instead of uploading profile pictures.

The idea is to give younger listeners a more independent way to enjoy music while still keeping parents in the driver's seat.

How to create a Spotify Managed Account

Parents can set up a Managed Account directly from the Spotify app in just a few steps:

1. Open Spotify and tap "add account" from the app's side menu

2. Select "add a child"

3. Select "create a managed account"

4. Complete the parental consent process

5. Choose your child's settings and parental controls

As children get older, Spotify also lets them transition from a Managed Account to a standard Spotify account, giving families a smoother way to grow with the service over time.

Ready to set it up? Learn more about Spotify Managed Accounts here.

The explicit tube site Pornhub is now blocked in 25 U.S. states — half of the country.

This is due to age-verification laws. These laws vary state by state, but typically require visitors to a site with over a third of explicit content to submit a government ID or other form of age authentication. Louisiana was the first state to enact such a bill a couple of years ago, and now others have followed suit. In June 2025, the Supreme Court ruled that Texas's age-verification law was constitutional, setting a precedent for similar bills that came before and after.

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According to one preliminary study, age verification won't work to keep minors off porn sites. This is because of software like VPNs that allow someone to appear to be in a different location, and because of non-compliant websites. (The Florida attorney general is suing foreign-based porn sites for not instituting age verification.) Yet, these laws keep getting passed — and are encroaching on non-explicit websites as well, experts told Mashable.

While Pornhub is not blocked in Louisiana, it is blocked in these states as of July 2026:

• Alabama

• Arizona

• Arkansas

• Florida

• Georgia

• Idaho

• Indiana

• Iowa

• Kansas

• Kentucky

• Mississippi

• Missouri

• Montana

• Nebraska

• North Carolina

• North Dakota

• Oklahoma

• South Carolina

• South Dakota

• Tennessee

• Texas

• Utah

• Virginia

• West Virginia

• Wyoming

Pornhub isn't blocked in Ohio despite the state's age-verification law, due to a clause stating that establishing age verification methods doesn't apply to a provider of an interactive computer service (Aylo considers itself one).

In Louisiana, where users must submit ID to view Pornhub, the site has seen traffic decline by around 80 percent, Aylo (Pornhub's parent company) told Mashable.

"These people did not stop looking for porn. They just migrated to darker corners of the internet that don't ask users to verify age, that don't follow the law, that don't take user safety seriously, and that often don't even moderate content. In practice, the laws have just made the internet more dangerous for adults and children," Aylo stated when asked for comment by Mashable back in Jan. 2025.

In a statement to Mashable, Aylo continued:

First, to be clear, Aylo has publicly supported age verification of users for years, but we believe that any law to this effect must preserve user safety and privacy, and must effectively protect children from accessing content intended for adults.

Unfortunately, the way many jurisdictions worldwide have chosen to implement age verification is ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous. Any regulations that require hundreds of thousands of adult sites to collect significant amounts of highly sensitive personal information is putting user safety in jeopardy. Moreover, as experience has demonstrated, unless properly enforced, users will simply access non-compliant sites or find other methods of evading these laws.

Industry experts say that, in addition to not working for their intended purpose, age verification laws also raise concerns about privacy protection and safety since websites now have to host (even more of) people's personal information. It will be harder to be anonymous online, which experts warn is dangerous to free speech. Adult industry experts Mashable spoke to in an explainer on age-verification laws advocated for device-level filters, as did Aylo in its statement.

SEE ALSO: YouTube will begin using AI for age verification next week

Some in the adult industry worry about what Trump's second presidential term will bring due to the conservative policy outline, Project 2025, and its measures to ban porn. One of Project 2025's authors, Russell Vought, was caught on a secret recording stating that age-verification laws are the "back door" to a broader porn ban.

This article was first published in 2025 and updated in July 2026.

Home Depot Halloween 2026 lineup: 5-foot Wicked Woods Wishing Well $149 at Home Depot Shop Now 3.5-foot Wicked Woods Hell Hound $159 at Home Depot Shop Now 4-foot Animated Flying Monkey $199 at Home Depot Shop Now 11-foot Giant-Sized LED Mummy $299 at Home Depot Shop Now 8-foot Wicked Woods LED Perilous Plant Monster $299 at Home Depot Shop Now 8-foot Grave & Bones Zombie Velociraptor $299 at Home Depot Shop Now 12-foot App Controlled Skelly with LCD LifeEyes $379 at Home Depot Shop Now 8.5-foot LED Knight Frostbane $399 at Home Depot Shop Now

July may not scream Halloween, but Home Depot clearly didn’t get the memo.

The retailer’s 2026 Halloween collection is here, with nearly 30 new decorations and animatronics landing online and in the Home Depot app — including a new app-controlled 12-foot Skelly that takes the iconic lawn skeleton to a whole new level.

The spooky drop is live from July 16, with products available while supplies last. Some decorations will arrive in stores in August, though the most popular animatronics could disappear much sooner.

11-foot Giant-Sized LED Mummy Opens in a new window Credit: The Home Depot 11-foot Giant-Sized LED Mummy $299 at The Home Depot
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If Skelly feels a little too mainstream for your haunted yard, this 11-foot mummy brings a different kind of creepy energy. The towering Grave & Bones Giant-Sized LED Mummy lights up with glowing eyes and a decayed, illuminated chest, while its adjustable shoulders let you adjust its zombie-like stance. Motion activation triggers three spooky sound effects and includes cloth strips that add a worn, just-escaped-from-the-tomb look. It’s rated for both indoor and outdoor use, so it can guard your front yard, entryway, or Halloween party setup all season long.

8-foot Grave & Bones Zombie Velociraptor Opens in a new window Credit: The Home Depot 8-foot Grave & Bones Zombie Velociraptor $299 at The Home Depot
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Forget skeletons and ghosts — this year, Home Depot is bringing a prehistoric monster to the lawn. The 8-foot Grave & Bones Zombie Velociraptor adds a creepy fossil-inspired twist to your Halloween setup with glowing LED eyes and a lit-up mouth, plus a moving jaw and sound effect triggered by motion. It comes with adjustable volume, a built-in timer that can run on a 6-hour on/18-hour off schedule, and ground stakes to keep this oversized predator planted. It takes just one person and about 15 minutes to assemble, so you can spend less time building and more time scaring the neighborhood.

12-foot App-Controlled Skelly Opens in a new window Credit: The Home Depot 12-foot App-Controlled Skelly $379 at The Home Depot
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If you’re only buying one giant Halloween decoration this year, this is the one to check out. This 12-foot Skelly is built to do more than just stand around. Using the Decor Pro app, you can pick from 20 different LCD eye effects, record up to 30 custom voice lines, or talk through Skelly live with built-in voice-changing effects.

Its head moves, its mouth matches your audio, and it can help make your yard the Halloween stop everyone remembers. Designed for indoor and outdoor use, Skelly takes about 60 minutes to put together with two people.

8.5-foot LED Knight Frostbane Opens in a new window Credit: The Home Depot 8.5-foot LED Knight Frostbane $399 at The Home Depot
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The 8.5-foot skeletal knight arrives on a ghostly horse, complete with glowing eyes, a lit-up chest, and three synchronized movements that bring the whole scene to life. The knight’s arm moves, its jaw drops while it speaks five spooky phrases, and the horse’s head sweeps back and forth for a dramatic entrance. Motion-activated and ready to haunt, Frostbane plugs in for power and can be assembled by one person in about 30 minutes.

Not every Halloween setup needs a 12-foot skeleton. Here are all the other new decorations joining Home Depot’s 2026 lineup:

• 2-Piece Grave & Bones Animated LED 'Til Death Duo — $99

• 2-Piece Wicked Woods Animated LED Burlap Twins — $99

• 3.5-Foot Wicked Woods Animated LED Baby Troll — $119

• 3.5-Foot Wicked Woods Animated LED Plague Rat — $129

• 5.5-Foot Grave & Bones LED Gargoyle — $129

• 3.5-Foot Wicked Woods Animated LED Hell Hound — $159

• 7-Foot Wicked Woods Animated LED Macabre Witch — $159

• 6.5-Foot Wicked Woods Animated LED Stalking Scarecrow — $159

• 5-Foot Dead Water Animated LED Rotwing Parrot — $179

• 6-Foot Grave & Bones Animated LED John the Last Call Mixologist — $179

• 6-Foot Wicked Woods Color Changing LED Scowling Sapling — $179

• 3.5-Foot Animated LED Mohawk — $179

• 7.5-Foot Grave & Bones Animated LED Soul Stealing Reaper — $199

• 3-Foot Animated LED Stitch — $199

• 5.5-Foot Wicked Woods Animated LED Evil Pixie — $199

• 2-Piece Dead Water Animated LED Duo — $199

• 6.5-Foot Grave & Bones Animated LED Grave Robber — $199

• 4.5-Foot Grave & Bones Color Changing LED Groundbreaker — $199

• 6-Foot Wicked Woods Animated LED Creeping Spider — $249

• Animated LED Gremlins 3-Piece — $249

• 7-Foot Wicked Woods Animated LED App-Controlled Lethal Lily — $299

• 9-Foot Wicked Woods Giant-Sized LED Dry Rot Dennis — $299

The scares don’t stop here — explore the full Home Depot Halloween 2026 lineup before popular picks sell out.

Earlier this week, Apple launched the first public beta of iOS 27. With it comes the new, smarter Siri, which is now both a standalone app, and a set of features embedded into various apps across the operating system.

The new Siri truly is smarter, but the name confusion (Siri is now called Siri AI) as well as the fact that some features are baked into other Apple apps can make things overwhelming for users. Let's check out which new Siri AI features are truly worth trying out.

SEE ALSO: How to try the Siri AI beta: Join the waitlist

Before we start, one caveat: Almost none of these features are available in China and Europe due to issues with regulators. While it appears that the problems in China have been resolved, Apple still doesn't have a timeline for Siri AI launch in Europe.

Also, for instruction on how to install the public beta and get your hands on the new features, Mashable's published a guide.

Siri, the app

For the longest time (since 2011 actually, when Siri was first introduced) Apple refused to give Siri a proper body. The idea is that it's the invisible helper, the voice you interact with, but not something you want to tap and chat with.

Then came the OpenAI ChatGPT era, and everything changed. It took Apple a few years, but the company relented, and with iOS 27, the company launched Siri as a standalone app.

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

So what's the experience like? Well, think ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. You start the app, and you're welcomed by a grid of your previous convos with Siri. Start a new one, either by voice or by typing, and Siri will answer. Since this is a smarter Siri, you needn't be afraid of asking something more complex than "what's the weather like tomorrow." And it's not just general purpose queries such as "will the yellow cards in the World Cup semifinal carry over to the final" — you can also ask personal questions, including mentioning the content from your past emails, notes, and events.

Visual Intelligence This is, indeed, a traditional cricket ball. Credit: Apple

This is a really useful one, because it ties to the way you use your iPhone in ways that weren't possible before. Say you're on YouTube, and a video showing a moment from a famous TV show pops up; the problem is, you just can't remember the show's name. No problem; invoke Siri by long-pressing the side button on your phone, and ask it about the content you're watching on the display right now. Pretty cool, right?

You can do that in various contexts; whatever's on your screen at the moment, Siri can tell you something about it.

Same goes for the stuff that's in front of you, in real life. The new Siri mode in the Camera app lets you point your lens at anything and get Siri to provide some information on what you're seeing.

Image Playground

This feature has been here before but it's been...well, maybe not a complete joke, but definitely a cartoon version of the real thing; that is, the only type of images it could generate were cartoon-looking ones.

With Siri AI, this has changed. You can now get realistic photos such as futuristic cityscapes and beautiful landscapes, or combos such as a bear dancing on a massive block of cheese.

Even better, once an image has been generated, you can tweak it with additional prompt. If you want a sign saying CHEESE above that image you've just created, tell Siri to add it and it'll show up in the next iteration.

It's not the most advanced AI-based image generation out there, but it does the job and for many users, it'll be the quickest and most convenient option.

Photo editing The image is good, I just need more space around the subject. Credit: Apple

Open a photo, tap the edit button, and you'll see an option on the bottom right called Tools. Tap that, and you'll see three options. The Clean Up lets you tap or circle an unwanted object to make it disappear. That feature already existed (it might work a little better now), but the other two are new.

Extend will use Siri AI to make the picture bigger. Pinch to zoom out, and the AI will analyze the photo and add more stuff at the edges to make the photo larger. It doesn't always work, but when it does, it does feel a little magical.

The other new option is Reframe, which lets you change the perspective of the photo after you've taken it. Don't expect miracles here (I'd only use this on photos that desperately need it) but again, when it does work it's pretty cool.

Writing with Siri

Siri AI is now baked into various writing and communication tools across iOS. For example, in the Notes app, just above the keyboard, you'll see an option called "Write with Siri." Tap that, and write by using a prompt instead of actually entering text.

This can be pretty powerful. Let's say you want to sum up an entire trip itinerary, or write a movie plot (without spoilers!), but you don't actually want to type all that. Well, instead, just tell Siri what you want and it'll generate the text for you.

You can also highlight a chunk of text and tell Siri to generate an image that relates to it, or use it to solve math problems.

Smarter Calendar and Reminders entries Sometimes you'll need to tap on things and provide additional context, but the new Calendar is way better than before. Credit: Apple

Siri is baked into Apple's Calendar app, too, allowing for natural language recognition. For example, you can create a new event and describe what you want to do (dinner with wife at Joe's tomorrow at 7 p.m.), and the Calendar app will automagically recognize the right people from your Contacts, and create the event at the right time.

Same goes for Reminders, which is an app I feel I should use more but it just never clicked for me. Once again, describe what you need to be reminded of, and details such as location, time, and date will be picked up automatically.

Shortcuts that you'll actually want to use

Let's face it: Shortcuts is the best iOS feature that almost no one uses, simply because the idea of turning a chain of events/commands into a single command sounds too intimidating for a lot of people.

Now, thanks to Siri AI, you can just describe the shortcut and have it created automatically. To access this feature, open Shortcuts, tap New Shortcut, and describe what you want the Shortcut to do. Want the iPhone to audibly tell you that it's been charged to 90 percent? Just type that down into the Shortcuts app, and you're done.

Want to get started? Here's how to get try the Siri AI beta.

TL;DR: The Samsung 27-inch Odyssey G5 G53F QHD gaming monitor is on sale for $169.99 at Amazon, down from its $249.99 list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung Samsung 27-Inch Odyssey G5 (G53F) $169.99 at Amazon
$249.99 Save $80 Get Deal

A decent QHD gaming monitor no longer has to push your setup close to premium OLED price brackets, and Amazon has now dropped one of Samsung’s faster Odyssey G5 models well below $200.

As of July 16, the Samsung 27-inch Odyssey G5 (G53F) gaming monitor is on sale at Amazon for $169.99. With $80 removed from the $249.99 list price, that’s 32% off the display price — the lowest price we've seen since April (confirmed with price tracker camelcamelcamel).

The listing is shipped and sold directly by Amazon, with free delivery currently set for July 21. Prime members can get it sooner, with delivery showing for July 17 at the time of writing. Thankfully, Amazon is also including its standard 30-day return or replacement window, which is ideal if anything goes wrong with your order. 

This Samsung monitor’s 27-inch IPS panel with 2560 x 1440 resolution gives you a stunning jump above standard 1080p. It’s a nice middle ground since it doesn’t push your PC’s graphics card nearly as hard as when trying to hit full 4K. 

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These types of monitors are best in rigs where you’re trying to prioritize the smooth gameplay that comes with higher FPS, and the G5’s 200Hz refresh rate will more than have you covered for high-speed games like League of Legends, Rocket League, Marvel Rivals, Overwatch, and of course — Fortnite. 

If you’re a single-player gamer who’s catching up on Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced or you’re looking for a new monitor for Grand Theft Auto VI, the G5’s HDR10 will make these games look amazing — courtesy of the feature adding brighter highlights and more detailed shadows, while the IPS panel offers a wide 178-degree viewing angle and more consistent color across the screen. 

Samsung has also added a few practical gaming tools. Black Equalizer can brighten darker areas to make enemies easier to spot, Virtual Aim Point puts an adjustable crosshair on-screen, and Auto Source Switch+ automatically changes inputs when a newly-connected device turns on. 

SAVE OVER $40: As of July 16, the Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 portable speaker is on sale for $51.44 at Amazon. That's $48.55 off its list price of $99.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Ultimate Ears Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 $51.44 at Amazon
$99.99 Save $48.55   Get Deal

If you're looking for a good portable speaker for your summer festivities, the Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 is one of our favorites. Right now, it's 49% off at Amazon.

As of July 16, the Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 portable speaker has dropped from its list price of $99.99 to $51.44, saving you just over $48 in total. Not to mention, this deal price is incredibly close to its lowest-ever price of $49.39, so why not pick it up now?

SEE ALSO: 16 summer hosting essentials that cost under $25 at Amazon

We have a lot of love for the Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4. In our roundup of the best portable Bluetooth speakers, it landed as the top pick under $100. It's "a powerhouse for its size and price." When it comes to the sound profile, it's "well-rounded and can get loud."

Our roundup highlights that "you can drop it from heights of up to five feet without worrying about destroying it." And on top of that, "It’s also waterproof with an IP67 rating. If you drop it in water, it can float for up to 30 minutes and come out the other side working completely fine." Perfect for a day at the pool or beach. Plus, it has a battery life that can keep you listening for up to 14 hours.

If its caught your eye, don't miss out on this chance to save on the Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 portable speaker at Amazon.

Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.

TL;DR: The Magic: The Gathering The Hobbit Play Booster Box is available to pre-order for $199.70 at Amazon, down from its $209.70 list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Magic: The Gathering Magic: The Gathering Avatar The Last Airbender Jumpstart Booster Box $199.45 at Amazon
$209.70 Save $10.25 Pre-order Here

There’s still almost a month to go before Magic: The Gathering returns to Middle-Earth, but Amazon has now made the expansion’s biggest standard booster product slightly cheaper ahead of launch.

As of July 16, the Magic: The Gathering The Hobbit Play Booster Box is available to pre-order at Amazon for $199.70 via Kings Games. That takes $10 off its $209.70 list price, bringing the complete 30-pack display down by around 5% — ahead of the expansion’s release date of Aug. 14. 

At that price, you’ll be paying roughly $6.66 per Middle-Earth-centric Play Booster before tax. The listing is sold and shipped directly by Amazon, comes with its pre-order price guarantee, and is currently marked as final sale, so it can’t be returned, refunded, or replaced once purchased. 

Walmart has the same Play Booster Box listed for $159.99, while TCGplayer’s lowest shipping-included listing is $160.99. That means both deal prices are lower than The Hobbit Play Booster Box’s market price of $161.65. 

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Keep in mind that Walmart’s listing is sold and shipped by third-party marketplace seller Cataclysm Games rather than Walmart itself. It’s also marked as non-returnable, although free shipping and a pre-order price guarantee are included.

Whichever retailer you choose, the sealed display includes 30 Magic: The Gathering The Hobbit Play Boosters and one traditional foil Middle-earth Box Topper card. Designed for drafting, Limited games, and building decks, each booster contains 14 cards, including one to three cards of rare or higher rarity, three to five uncommons, seven to nine commons, one land, and one traditional foil card of any rarity. 

When teens talk to Meta AI about suicide or self-harm, the conversation will trigger a parental notification, Meta said in a blog post Thursday.

The new policy expands on existing teen measures designed to inform parents about how their child is using Meta AI. Only parents using Instagram supervision controls will receive the notification.

SEE ALSO: What to do when your teen replaces you with a chatbot

"We worked with parents and experts to understand which AI conversations warrant an alert — such as those where a teen makes a clear reference to hurting themselves, even if that reference is subtle," Meta said.

How does Meta AI crisis alerts work?

Meta AI already cites crisis helplines and encourages teens considering suicide or self-harm to seek help from a trusted adult. Now, parents will get an alert about such conversations. Meta said it would err on the side of caution for the time being.

While concerning chats are flagged by artificial intelligence, Meta manually reviews them before sending an alert. The parent also receives expert-developed suggestions for discussing self-harm and suicide with their child.

Parents will receive the alert via an app notification and a separate email, text, or WhatsApp message, depending on the contact information they provided.

Meta alerts parents whose child may have discussed suicide or self-harm with Meta AI. Credit: Courtesy of Meta The types of alerts parents can receive from Meta. Credit: Courtesy of Meta

In February, Meta launched a similar notification feature for Instagram.

Dr. John Ackerman, clinical manager for the Center for Suicide Prevention and Research at Nationwide Children's Hospital, told Mashable at the time that he welcomed expanded protections for teens. He noted, however, that such a feature could amount to "lip service" if notifications are inaccessible, difficult to navigate, or don't lead to "actionable change."

Meta will send alerts to parents in the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. It will be globally accessible by the end of the year, according to Meta.

New limited content setting for Meta AI

Meta also announced Thursday the addition of a limited content setting for Meta AI. It debuted that feature for Instagram last year.

That setting enables Meta's strictest filters. Meta AI is already trained not to engage in sexual or romantic conversations with teens, or provide alcoholic drink recipes, for example, according to the company.

When the limited content setting is turned on, Meta's models become even more aggressive in identifying problematic prompts and decline to answer a broader range of queries. Meta said the approach further reduces "the chance of potentially inappropriate conversations."

Teen safety concerns

Child safety advocates have criticized Meta's recent parental control updates as insufficient.

In April, Meta gave parents some insight into their child's conversations with Meta AI. The feature highlights broader topics, such as school, entertainment, writing, health, and wellbeing. Parents can click on the topic for additional but limited detail.

Josh Golin, executive director of the children's advocacy nonprofit Fairplay, said the parental control "once again" burdens caregivers with monitoring their child's online activity in lieu of "building a safe product to begin with."

Meta continues to face legal scrutiny for its performance on child safety. Earlier this year, Meta lost two separate landmark trials related to child safety protections and the allegedly addictive design of its products. The company said it will appeal both verdicts, but hundreds of pending lawsuits alleging child harm have yet to be tried.

If you're feeling suicidal or experiencing a mental health crisis, please talk to somebody. You can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. You can reach the Trans Lifeline by calling 877-565-8860 or the Trevor Project at 866-488-7386. Text "START" to Crisis Text Line at 741-741. Contact the NAMI HelpLine at 1-800-950-NAMI, Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. ET, or email info@nami.org. If you don't like the phone, consider using the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Chat. Here is a list of international resources.

AI really, really, really wants to write your emails for you, and with Google's AI Gemini now in your inbox, your Gmail can feel a little out of your hands.

If you're worried about privacy, feel like your writing skills are becoming too reliant on AI, or simply don't need Gemini features, it's pretty easy to disable Gemini in Gmail, as well as other Google platforms like Drive, Calendar, Meet, Maps, and more.

SEE ALSO: Is ChatGPT ruining your attraction to your partner?

Here's a handy guide to switching it off.

How to turn off Gemini in Gmail Total Time

• 5 min

What You Need

• Laptop
• desktop or smartphone
• Gmail

Step 1: Open Gmail.

Step 2: Go to Settings.

It's the icon that resembles a cog.

Step 3: Click "See all settings."

Step 4: In the "General" section, scroll to "Google Workspace smart features."

Step 5: Click "Manage Workspace smart feature settings."

Credit: Mashable screenshot / Google

Step 6: Toggle smart features on or off.

If you're looking to turn off Gemini in Gmail, toggle off "Smart features in Google Workspace." This will also turn off the AI for Drive, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Meet. The second toggle for "other Google products" will switch Gemini off for Maps, Wallet, Google Assistant, and the Gemini app itself.

Credit: Mashable screenshot / Google

Step 7: Click "Save" at the bottom right of the pop-up.

If you want to turn Gemini on again in Gmail, follow the same steps. It's your life.

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Switching off Gemini will remove the "Help me write" prompt, AI Overviews, email summaries, search personalisation, and other AI features. Hitting the "/" key will no longer trigger a Gemini AI prompt.

It won't quite clear all traces of Gemini from Gmail, however. You'll still see the sparkle icon at the bottom of all of your emails. 

But clicking that icon or using the "Help me write" keyboard shortcut (Ctrl-H on Windows; Option-H on Macs) will result in a pop-up window explaining that you'll need to turn on Gmail smart features again in order to use Gemini.