Technology

There are many options for a mini PC, but not all of them have a Nintendo Entertainment System-inspired design. Acemagic wants to fix that with its new Retro X3 mini PC.

There was a time when only geeky tech enthusiasts used Android phones. That’s certainly not the case anymore, but there’s still some jargon that the average person probably doesn’t know. You might not use these terms in your daily life, but knowledge is power.

Ever found yourself juggling between your terminal and a grep command guide when you're deep inside a project? Meet Clapgrep, a sleek, modern utility that brings the speed of terminal search tools into a user-friendly graphical interface. It's how I turn complex queries into a simple "point and click" operation.

Reliability is often the first thing buyers think about when choosing an SUV, and for decades, Japanese-built crossovers have dominated that conversation. Yet one American SUV has quietly edged past many of its Japanese rivals in dependability scores, surprising shoppers who assume domestic models can’t compete on long-term reliability. In 2025, its track record makes it a compelling choice for anyone who wants peace of mind without sacrificing practicality or everyday usability.

There are tons of Linux distros. Most of them are new, some of them are old, some of them so old they don't exist anymore. But there's one distro that has stood the test of time, surprisingly. And that's none other than Slackware.

I've cut my streaming subscriptions and replaced them with a mix of digitized CDs and FLACs, but the default media players built into Windows and Linux don't offer the same convenience as Spotify. This is how I made my own music streaming service.

I have a bunch of cheap smart devices, and I've never felt comfortable putting them on the same Wi-Fi network as my phone and PC. When you hook up a new Wi-Fi-powered smart home gadget, it always asks to connect to your home Wi-Fi. But did you know that there’s an easy way to make the devices work without giving out your real Wi-Fi password?

Recently, we've heard a rumor of a coming apocalypse in the tech world: QR codes will soon be used up. I can tell you that this simply isn't true. In reality, it's an absurd way to talk about QR codes and similar technologies. Here's why.

Matter was meant to unite smart home ecosystems, but instead, it has made the landscape more confusing. Rather than simplifying compatibility, it has added another layer to the problem it set out to solve.

SAVE $50: The M4 Mac Mini is on sale at Amazon for $549, down from the normal price of $599.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple M4 Mac Mini (2024, 256GB) $549 at Amazon
$599 Save $50   Get Deal

Silicon Valley is going wild for the 2024 M4 Mac Mini, but it's not for the reason you might think. No, it's not being used as a traditional desktop computer in the way we assume. People are using it to run the latest AI assistant, Clawdbot. With a cute lobster mascot, the Clawdbot hype is driving up sales and snatching up stock of the Mac Mini with an M4 chip. Before it becomes impossible to find in-stock, check out this sale price.

As of Jan. 31, the M4 Mac Mini is on sale at Amazon for $549, marked down from the standard price of $599.

Why use a Mac Mini for running Clawdbot? The answers are pretty similar to why you'd want a Mac Mini in the first place. Like the name implies, it's a tiny beast that has 16GB of unified memory and 256GB SSD. Plus, you can leave it running at all times with no issue. If you live in the Apple ecosystem and plan to adopt Clawdbot, a dedicated Mac Mini could be an awesome sidekick.

SEE ALSO: Clawdbot is a viral AI assistant: What it is, how to try it

This 2024 version of the Mac Mini comes with Apple's powerful M4 chip, two USB-C ports, a headphone jack, ethernet, HDMI, and Thunderbolt 4 ports. All of that is housed in the compact five inch by five inch Mac Mini housing. This size makes it simple to add to your current desktop setup or take along on the next work trip.

If you're looking for the smallest possible personal assistant, running Clawdbot on a Mac Mini might be your best option. Before demand reaches even higher levels, snag the M4 Mac Mini from Amazon while it's on sale for $549. That's $50 off the normal price.

Excel tables are essential for keeping large datasets organized, but they're even better when you know the right keystrokes. Whether you're inserting new rows or toggling a total row for a quick analysis, these shortcuts will speed up your daily workflow, leaving more time for the work that actually matters.

In 2026, it's difficult to detangle love with tech, given the rise of dating apps and now AI. But an evolutionary biologist doesn't think it's changed the fabric of how relationships form.

"I think that these technologies are becoming more popular and more pervasive and more advanced, but they're still not at a place where they're overturning four million years of evolution in terms of our desire to form intense bonds," said Dr. Justin Garcia, executive director of the Kinsey Institute, in an interview with Mashable. 

SEE ALSO: Adult creators are still getting debanked — but it doesn't just impact them

Garcia is the author of the just-released book The Intimate Animal, all about the science behind sex and love. He sat down with Mashable to discuss AI, dating apps, and Gen Z daters — just in time for Valentine's Day. 

AI relationships as 'training wheels'

Singles are using AI in different ways to date. Some use it to optimize their photos and bios, while others skip over human relationships entirely and date AI. In a survey last year, AI companion company Joi found that eight out of 10 Gen Zers would "marry" an AI.

Garcia sees AI as somewhat helpful if you think of it as "training wheels" — if you want a bit of advice or want to build confidence and practice. 

"The thing about training wheels is the best case, you take them off at some point," he said. 

There are elements of a relationship that aren't replicated in chatting with an LLM (as of this publication, anyway — who knows what advances can be made). One that Garcia identified is the reciprocal nature of relationships. "Part of what we want in a relationship is 'I want to do good things for you. I want you to do good things for me,'" he said. 

The psychology of a couple's relationship includes the dyadic (consisting of two parts) process of whether you're growing together and making each other's lives better. For example, waking up early when you don't want to and making breakfast for you and your partner. 

Three elements of a relationship are me, you, and us, Garcia explained. "I'm not convinced at current that people interacting with these AIs think there's an 'us.'"

AI relationships seem more transactional. "If I have a relationship with AI, yeah, it's going to tell me every day that I'm smart and I'm handsome…there's something nice about that," he said, "but do I really think I'm making its life better?" Part of a happy, satisfying relationship is making your partner's life better. 

Pluses and minuses of dating apps

Garcia has worked with Match as a scientific adviser since 2010, but he's not afraid to be critical of the apps. 

"The challenge with the apps is they're divorced from how we've engaged in courtship for millions of years," he said. When we meet a potential partner, we want to hear their voice, see their body language, smell them, feel them, know their social network — you can't get that from an app (OK, maybe their voice if you're using Hinge's voice note feature). 

That's not to say apps haven't been a boon to different groups of people, such as those who are neurodivergent or daters who want something very particular, whether it's a certain religion or fetish. You can find someone with an app. "That's so incredible to me, that we have that ability," he said.

But its positives don't erase the negatives of dating apps, like distraction, attention, and overoptimization. Ghosting and bad user behavior are other gripes. 

And dating app burnout doesn't exist in a vacuum. People have reported burnout in other areas of life, not just dating, and Garcia sees that as adaptive in some ways to our current political, financial, and environmental climates.

But even with these challenges, courtship has always been a competition, Garcia said, and it wasn't any more fun 100 or 200 years ago. So the real question of dating apps is, how do we use them better?

"We can think about being more intentional. We can think about filling out our own profiles, thinking about engaging with a profile," he said. And remember that dating is also a dyadic process, meaning between two people, so more intentional choices are not going through 1,000 people swiping, going on second dates, even though there are other options on your phone. 

"Similar to AI, [apps are] tools that we can use. When we let them run the show, we get ourselves into trouble," Garcia said. 

Gen Z daters need to stop self-optimizing 

There are other challenges that don't have to do with dating apps, but might be the fault of technology. Newly published research from Match Group and the Kinsey Institute suggests that young adults want love, but believe they're not ready for it. Only 55 percent of 18-29 year-olds feel prepared to pursue a romantic relationship, while 80 percent believe they'll find true love. (This is according to a survey of 2,500 U.S. singles conducted by The Harris Poll between September and October 2025.)

"We're seeing a generation of people who are too focused on self-actualization."

"We're seeing a generation of people who are too focused on self-actualization," Garcia told Mashable, such as the belief that you have to work on yourself before you enter a relationship.

"You think our ancestors 'worked on themselves'?" he joked. We, young adults in particular, are focused on the idea that we have to "work on ourselves" in isolation, then show up to a potential date ready. And some self-improvement can happen on one's own, but Garcia said, "working on yourself happens in the context of a relationship." 

"That relationship is the container for making mistakes and finding yourself and having a trusted co-pilot to pick you up and to support each other," he said. 

Young people might have too much emphasis on "I need to be perfect, and you need to be perfect, and we have to go figure out what we want in a corner," he said. "I don't think it's helpful."

Match Group's Human Connections Lab researcher Amelia Miller believes tech plays a role in these feelings among young adults. 

"Social media and AI companions are teaching Gen Z that the messiness of human relationships is something to be tamed, not embraced, but vulnerability and friction are essential ingredients of intimacy," Miller said in the press release for the data. "The self-actualization that Gen Z is seeking out solo is actually unlocked through relationships with others."

So maybe in 2026, we don't need more tech to optimize ourselves; we don't need to optimize at all. Maybe to find love, we need to be a bit more human. 

Despite my best efforts, I still spend way too much time on my phone. Some of that time is genuinely useful, such as dealing with work issues or responding to important messages. However, we all have plenty of bad smartphone habits that waste our precious time.

In September 2025, Nintendo announced something I never thought I would see: The triumphant return of the Virtual Boy. This was easily the biggest and most embarrassing hardware failure in the company's history.

Thirty years is apparently long enough to get over the shame, though, because Nintendo is bringing Virtual Boy games to the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service on Feb. 17. You won't be able to play them on your TV. Instead, you'll need a $99 add-on that recreates the console's two-legged original form factor, which you shove your Switch or Switch 2's handheld screen into. There's also a $24.99 cardboard alternative, in case $99 is too much for you.

I got hands-on time with the more expensive Virtual Boy accessory at a Nintendo preview event, and I'm pleased to report that all of the cornerstones of the Virtual Boy experience are present ... for better and worse.

SEE ALSO: Nintendo Switch 2 in 2025: the hot console's first year evaluated What matters is that it's faithful

Nintendo launched the Virtual Boy in 1995, when the Super Nintendo Entertainment System was in its twilight and the next-generation Nintendo 64 still a year away.

The Virtual Boy sat between a home console and a fully portable handheld device like the Game Boy; it didn't plug into a TV, but it stood on two legs and needed a flat surface to play on, as well as several batteries or a power adapter. It promised stereoscopic 3D gaming, at a time when the mere notion of a third dimension was relatively novel.

And yet, few bought it. Those who did complained of neck and eye strain, because you had to shove your face into the module to play games on it. Games were only displayed in red and black, which was not the most pleasing aesthetic. Only 22 Virtual Boy games were ever released, and few were memorable. Nintendo withdrew the product in 1996.

Fast forward to 2026, and the Virtual Boy is back on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. Even a few minutes with the peripheral told me basically everything I needed to know. I got to sample the Feb. 17 launch lineup, which includes Wario Land (generally considered the best game on the platform), Teleroboxer, 3-D Tetris, and a game called The Mansion of Innsmouth that was previously only released in Japan.

Go on, shove your face in there. Credit: Alex Perry/Mashable

The Virtual Boy add-on for Switch works exactly like it should. You set it on a table in front of you, grab a controller, and stick your face into the machine. By default, games are displayed faithfully in red and black (though there are some new options that let you adjust that) and the stereoscopic 3D effect that defined the original hardware is in full force.

I suspect that's the reason why you can't just play these games on a TV — and after seeing them in action, I get it. These games were designed to only be seen in 3D, and as much as it sucks to charge $99 for the ability to play them correctly, I don't think the novelty would exist to the same extent on a flat display.

Wario Land definitely seemed neat, especially with 3D background elements being relevant to gameplay sometimes, while The Mansion of Innsmouth was completely inscrutable.

The most vital aspect of all of this: after just a few minutes, my eyes and neck began to hurt and I had to back away. I got the same feeling of being disconnected from the physical world around me and needing to re-integrate with it as soon as I was done that I normally get from using modern VR headsets.

We've come so far in terms of VR tech, but for me that sense of dislocation hasn't changed at all.

Playing a Virtual Boy after decades of just hearing about it was fascinating, if nothing else. I love that Nintendo is doing this, though I'm not sure $99 is worth it for the full experience, or that most of those games are worth playing for longer than five minutes.

There's genuine historical value to Nintendo's biggest gaming failure, and we should take it as a victory that Nintendo isn't running away from it anymore.

I used to shy away from buffers and tabs because the confusing terminology and obscure keyboard shortcuts put me off. But rest assured, learning all about buffers, windows, and tabs has transformed my Vim usage. I now wonder how I ever worked without them!

French prosecutors have raided the Paris officers of Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter) as part of a preliminary investigation into child abuse images and deepfakes proliferating on the platform.

The investigation was opened in January 2025, with charges including "complicity" in "in possessing and spreading pornographic images of minors, sexually explicit deepfakes, denial of crimes against humanity and manipulation of an automated data processing system as part of an organized group," the AP reported Tuesday.

The Paris prosecutor's office confirmed the news via its own X account on Tuesday.

"A search is carried out at X's French premises by the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor's office, with @CyberGEND and @Europol as part of the investigation opened in January 2025."

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Paris prosecutor's office also said it would be leaving X, inviting followers to find it on LinkedIn an Instagram.

Elon Musk and Linda Yaccarino, which served as X CEO from May 2023 to July 2025, are summoned for "voluntary interviews," on April 20, the Paris prosecutor's office said in a statement.

“At this stage, the conduct of the investigation is based on a constructive approach, with the aim of ultimately ensuring that the X platform complies with French law, as it operates on the national territory,” said the statement.

In a message posted in July 2025, X called the investigation "politically motivated," and said it would not cooperate.

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Grok, xAI's AI assistant which has a prominent place on X, has recently come under scrutiny as it was being used to produce millions of sexualized images of adults and children. Grok later took measures to address these concerns, primarily via limiting image generation to paid subscribers, though several regulators and governments called the move insufficient.

Those 24TB drives on Amazon look tempting, I know. Imagine all of the stuff that you can fit inside of that drive. But maybe you shouldn't pull the trigger yet.

There are few things more casual than professional climber Alex Honnold calmly describing his latest life-or-death escapades in interviews, and the footage above with Jimmy Kimmel is no exception.

Following his live Netflix free solo ascent of Taipei 101, the 11th tallest structure in the world, Honnold sits down on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to describe the experience, including the reason why the climber hung by his legs no-handed near the top of the building.

"Style points. You have to play around just a little bit," says Honnold. "I mean that was near the top of the building, so I'd already done most of the really hard stuff, and you're kind of having a good time, you're enjoying the view. It's like, you've got to play around a little bit."

Kimmel's reaction says it all.

While the franchise's future may be in the hands of Amazon MGM, the James Bond franchise has returned to Netflix. The entire 25-movie saga of Sir Ian Fleming's gentleman spy is currently available on the streaming service, allowing viewers to watch the franchise's evolution from the fantastical, over-the-top adventures of Sean Connery's era to the franchise-redefining debut of Pierce Brosnan's Bond in GoldenEye.

Apple TV is offering up sneak peeks at its 2026 TV and film slate, and Mashable has all the details for you.

At its 2026 Press Day, the streaming service behind Emmy-winning hits like Pluribus, Severance, The Studio, and Ted Lasso is unveiling first looks at what could become your next TV obsessions. New titles include the Elle Fanning-led adaptation of Rufi Thorpe's Margo's Got Money Troubles and Anya Taylor-Joy's heist thriller Lucky, while returning shows include MonsterVerse series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and Jon Hamm's meme-spawning Your Friends and Neighbors. On the film side, keep an eye out for Keanu Reeves and Jonah Hill's team-up Outcome and Jake Johnson and Mary Steenburgen's pickleball comedy The Dink.

We'll be updating this live blog all day to give you the latest updates on the event, including release dates, teasers, and any other surprises that may come our way.