Technology

The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.

With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.

So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player's flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: How to play Pips, the newest NYT game

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Friday, Oct. 10, 2025:

AcrossGo off the ___ ... like the last letter of 8-Across?

• The answer is Grid.

The "R" of P.R., on a map

• The answer is Rico.

Patient's share of the cost

• The answer is Copay.

São ___, Brazil

• The answer is Paulo.

Totally disconnect and enjoy nature

• The answer is Unplu.

DownRhyming partner of moan

• The answer is Groan.

Tear to pieces

• The answer is Rip Up.

Daring response to "All in"

• The answer is I Call.

"___ get my drift?"

• The answer is Do You.

Computer's "brain," for short

• The answer is CPU.

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

Featured Video For You The Wordle Strategy used by the New York Times' Head of Games

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

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to the latest Mini Crossword.

SAVE $20.01: As of Oct. 10, the Google TV streamer is on sale for $79.98 at Amazon. That's a 20% savings on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Google Google TV streamer $79.98 at Amazon
$99.99 Save $20.01 Get Deal

Prime Day has come to an end, and the deals are starting to wither away. The next big sales event will be Black Friday at the end of November, so there's some time to wait. But if you're in need of a tech upgrade now, don't fret, there are still some post-Prime Day sales lingering, and not to mention, Amazon's Daily Deals are often impressive. Like this deal on the Google TV streamer, still sitting at its Prime Day price.

As of Oct. 10, it is currently priced at $79.98. Now, it's not its lowest-ever price, but it's close. According to camelcamelcamel, in May, it hit $79, just 98 cents better than it is now. This model also made it to our list of the best streaming devices for 2025.

The device setup is similar to most streaming device setups, except rather than a stick that plugs directly into your TV, for the Google TV streamer, you connect it via an HDMI cable.

This streaming device is a great way to make watching easier on a non-smart TV, or even just upgrade your setup to a Google platform. It brings together content from all your streaming services on a single home screen. You can also access live TV and more than 800 free channels from apps like Pluto TV and Tubi.

The 4K edition has support for up to 4K HDR and Dolby Vision. It delivers a clear, detailed picture quality, and you can connect speakers with Dolby Atmos for an even more immersive sound experience. The latest model includes a faster processor, double the memory, and 32GB of storage, so switching between apps is nice and easy, and above all, fast.

Get this streaming device deal from Amazon.

If you’re looking for some good shows to binge this weekend that will indeed set the tone for your spooktacular month, Amazon Prime Video has you covered. This weekend, we’re diving into a supernatural neo-Western starring Josh Brolin, a super creepy sci-fi horror series that’ll have you scratching your head, and a dark, provocative Tom Hardy series that’s making a comeback.

There's plenty to not like about the winter. It's cold, it's icy, it's windy, and — yes — it's very, very dark. And as far as we're concerned that's the worst part: Having to endure those short days, and dark mornings and evenings. The darkness takes its toll.

It's draining trying to live your life without enough sunlight. That's especially true for office workers who spend every hour of daylight stuck inside a building. It can be a struggle to get out of bed in the morning, and even harder to be productive and then kick back when the working day is done. But it's not all doom and gloom.

SAD therapy lamps are a great way to help relieve the winter blues. And there's a wide range of these devices available, helping alleviate the symptoms of SAD (seasonal affective disorder) if you're not getting enough natural light. All of which means you don't have to suffer through six months of darkness. But which is the right SAD therapy lamp for you? Let us help put some light on the subject with some useful information and a selection of the best SAD therapy lamps available right now.

What is seasonal affective disorder?

Just as it sounds — and appropriately shortened to SAD — seasonal affective disorder is a type of depression that follows a seasonal pattern. It usually affects people during the winter months, causing sufferers to feel low, lethargic, anxious, or irritable.

What causes seasonal affective disorder?

According to the NHS guidelines, the cause of seasonal affective disorder is not fully understood though it’s usually linked to the lack of sunlight, which may prevent the brain from producing certain hormones or upset your body clock.

How does light therapy work?

Spending around 30 minutes in front of a light is thought to reduce the effects of SAD by simulating sunlight, which can encourage your brain produce melatonin and serotonin to help with your sleep and moods. The NHS recommends light therapy as one of standard treatments for seasonal affective disorder.

What does lux mean?

You’ll see this term a lot when shopping for therapy lamps. Lux is the unit of measurement for light intensity. According to some research, a light intensity of 2,500 can improve your wellbeing. Most of the lights listed below have a lux of up to 10,000.

How big are light therapy lamps?

While the desired effects are essentially all the same — a means of getting some light on you — they do come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some are portable, which allows you to take them wherever you go — particularly into the office, where a healthy amount of light can be hard to come by — while others are made to stay in a fixed spot.

What is the best SAD therapy lamp?

It's up to you to decide the lamp that works best for you, your home, and your daily routine. But we’ve done the research and put a spotlight on the very best models.

These are the best SAD therapy lamps for 2025.

Netflix has a wealth of TV shows at your fingertips—the tough part is deciding what to watch. If you've carved out some viewing time this weekend, I've got three recommendations for shows that are bound to entertain.

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Hurdle: Everything you need to know to find the answers Hurdle Word 1 hint

A bottomless space.

SEE ALSO: Apple’s new M3 MacBook Air is $300 off at Amazon. And yes, I’m tempted. Hurdle Word 1 answer

ABYSS

Hurdle Word 2 hint

A Nascar driver.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for August 4, 2025 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

RACER

Hurdle Word 3 hint

To hit hard.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for August 4 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for August 4, 2025 Hurdle Word 3 answer

SMITE

Hurdle Word 4 hint

Similar.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for August 4 Hurdle Word 4 answer

ALIKE

Final Hurdle hint

A curved pathway.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Games available on Mashable Hurdle Word 5 answer

ORBIT

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

The Moon is up and easy to spot tonight. Its surface is covered in craters and plains that are nice and easy to see, thanks to where we are in the lunar cycle. The lunar cycle is the Moon’s regular orbit around Earth, which causes it to go through different phases from new to full and back again.

What is today’s moon phase?

As of Thursday, Oct. 10, the moon phase is Waning Gibbous. Tonight, only 84% will be lit up, according to NASA's Daily Moon Observation.

The moon is covered in interesting craters, mountains, and Apollo landing spots. And we can see lots of them tonight. With just your naked eye, spot the Oceanus Procellarum, the Mare Serenitatis, and the Mare Tranquillitatis. If you have binoculars, pull them out to see the Grimaldi Basin, the Mare Humorum, and the Gassendi Crater. And if you have a telescope, you'll also see the Rupes Altai, Fra Mauro Highlands, and the Rima Hyginus.

When is the next full moon?

The next full moon will be on Nov. 5.

What are moon phases?

NASA explains that as the Moon completes its 29.5-day orbit around Earth, it passes through a series of phases. These changes happen because the positions of the Sun, Earth, and Moon relative to each other shift over time. From Earth, we see the Moon as fully bright, partially lit, or completely dark, but the same side always faces us. The differences in appearance come from how much sunlight hits its surface at each point in its orbit.

The eight main moon phases are:

New Moon - The moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it's invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent - A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter - Half of the moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-moon.

Waxing Gibbous - More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon - The whole face of the moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous - The moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)

Last Quarter (or Third Quarter) - Another half-moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent - A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

Why are today’s games so cinematic? Why do so many video games feel like full-blown movies now?

Well, because they kind of are, or at least they can be. And while that mix doesn’t always land, when it does, it can make for some incredible storytelling. And no one embodies that more than the Big Boss himself, Hideo Kojima. In this episode of How it Hits, we look at the directors, techniques, and stories blurring the line between film and play.

Microsoft suffered a relatively brief but certainly inconvenient outage on Thursday. A number of its popular productivity services went down — most notably its Microsoft 365 software, which includes Word and Excel — causing issues for U.S. employees in the middle of a workday. In addition, users reported problems accessing popular productivity apps like Teams and Outlook.

User-reported issues for Microsoft 365 surfaced on Down Detector around 2 p.m. ET, peaking at 2:30 p.m. ET. (Disclosure: Down Detector is owned by Ziff Davis, which also owns Mashable.) As of about 5 p.m. ET, user-reported issues with 365 had fallen off precipitously.

Is the Microsoft outage over?

In short: Yes, it seems so. Microsoft itself confirmed the problem appeared to be resolved, though it did so in corporate speak.

"We identified that a portion of network infrastructure in North America was misconfigured, resulting in impact," read a statement from its 365 status account on X. "We’ve confirmed after a period of monitoring that rebalancing the affected traffic successfully resolved the issue and service health has recovered."

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

An inability to access 365 means big problems for workers, considering it means losing Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneDrive. It's hard to work without such key services. Reuters also noted that there were earlier reported issues with Microsoft Teams and Exchange Online, two other key work services.

Here's what you need to know about the outage.

What happened to Microsoft 365? The answer lies with Microsoft Azure.

Microsoft's issues on Thursday stemmed from a problem with Azure, the company's cloud platform. The company said there was a problem with its Azure Front Door (AFD) service, which is its content delivery network. That meant customers couldn't access some of their services.

Microsoft said that "a platform issue resulted in impact to the Azure Front Door (AFD) service. Impacted customers experienced intermittent delays or timeouts when accessing their services." Microsoft noted the issue began in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

All told, the outage was relatively short-lived. Thankfully, it's nothing like the massive 2024 Microsoft outage that was caused by CrowdStrike. It was a chaotic afternoon for some 365 users, but it all seems to be resolved hours later.

Microsoft is testing a revamped Start Menu for Windows 11, starting in the Canary Channel for Insiders. It’s much larger than the previous design, and it will hopefully require less scrolling or searching to find the apps you need.

The best streaming deals to watch NHL games at a glance: Best for ESPN, ABC games ESPN Unlimited annual plan $299.99 (save $59.89) Get Deal BEST FOR TNT GAMES HBO Max Standard annual plan $169.99 (save $33.89) Get Deal BEST OVERALL Sling TV Orange Season Pass $199 for 5 months (save $30.95 ) Get Deal Best for out-of-market games ESPN Select (formerly ESPN+) annual plan $119.99 (save $23.89) Get Deal

Another hockey season is upon us, which means it's time once again to figure out how to watch your favorite NHL team. And fair warning: it's not easy. We recently estimated that it would cost over $800 and 11 different streaming services to watch every NFL football game this season. The NHL streaming situation isn't that bad, but it's not great.

Every year, watching live sports get more and more difficult for those without cable (and even those with cable). But lucky for you, we've done some of the dirty work for you to make your life a little bit easier. Hockey season is stressful enough without having to figure out how to watch the next game.

Behold, the ultimate guide to watching every NHL game in the 2025-2026 season.

When does hockey season start?

The 2025-2026 NHL season opened on Oct. 7 with a triple header, including the Stanley Cup-winning Florida Panthers raising their banner. The regular season runs through April 16, 2026, but thanks to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, there will be almost a month-long break in February. You can check out the full schedule on the official NHL website.

What channels are the NHL games on?

If you have cable or access to a cable login, live games will air on the ESPN/ESPN2/ABC family of networks, TNT/truTV/TBS family of networks, NHL Network, and regional sports networks throughout the season. If you don't have cable, you'll need a streaming service or two to catch live games (more on that below).

Check out the official schedule on NHL.com to find out which channel to tune into for specific games.

How can I watch NHL games without cable?

Here's where things get complicated. If you don't have cable access or a cable login, you'll need at least one streaming service to catch NHL games live. Let's start with the easy part: national broadcasts. Nationally broadcast games will either be on ESPN's family of networks, TNT's family of networks, NHL Network, or ESPN+ (now ESPN Select). Here's a breakdown of their streaming counterparts.

• ESPN+ Broadcasts: Stream with ESPN Select or Hulu

• TNT Broadcasts: Stream on HBO Max

• ESPN Broadcasts: Stream with ESPN Unlimited

• ABC Broadcasts: Stream with ESPN Select or ESPN Unlimited

• NHL Network Broadcasts: no streaming counterpart

In-market games

As NHL fans know, national broadcasts only make up a small fraction of the full slate of games. Most games are broadcast locally on regional sports networks (RSNs). Many of these RSNs (but not all) offer their own streaming subscriptions, like FanDuel Sports Network or Gotham Sports. If you're unsure which RSN you need to watch your local team, the NHL actually does a great job of laying it all out on their website — you can also check out the FAQs below.

The most direct way to access these RSNs is through their individual subscription offers. Of course, because streaming sports is notoriously complicated, not every RSN has its own streaming counterpart. For these, you'll need a cable alternative like Fubo or DirecTV Stream, which cost a pretty penny.

Out-of-market games

If you're a fan of an out-of-market team, it's actually a bit easier to watch your team's games than it is if you're in-market (crazy, right?). ESPN Select (formerly ESPN+) streams practically all regional broadcasts for teams that aren't in your local market. For example, I live in Nashville, but I'm a Washington Capitals fan. I can watch all regional Capitals broadcasts on ESPN Select, but Nashville Predators broadcasts are blacked out. For national broadcasts, you'll still need access to ABC, ESPN, NHL Network, and TNT (see above streaming counterparts).

SEE ALSO: The popular sports piracy network Streameast shut down, and sports fans are not OK Which streaming services do I need to watch NHL games?

If you're a fan of your local team, your first order of business should be to figure out which regional sports network you need. If the RSN offers its own streaming subscription, this is your best bet for watching the most games. If it doesn't, you're going to need a cable alternative that offers RSN access — most likely Fubo or DirecTV Stream.

If you don't have cable access or a cable alternative, you'll need a couple streaming services for every game that's not regionally broadcast: HBO Max and ESPN. HBO Max will give you access to all TNT broadcasts, while ESPN will unlock access to ABC and ESPN broadcasts, as well as ESPN+ exclusive games.

The best streaming deals to watch NHL games

Just because sports require a ton of subscriptions doesn't mean you have to break the bank. We've found several streaming deals that can keep some extra money in your pocket this hockey season.

Best for ESPN, ABC, and ESPN+ games: Save 16% on the ESPN Unlimited yearly plan Opens in a new window Credit: ESPN ESPN Unlimited annual plan $299.99/year (save $59.89) Get Deal

ESPN's direct-to-consumer streaming service, launched this past summer, now offers access to the entire suite of ESPN networks and services to sports fans in one subscription. For the sake of hockey, you'll get to stream games from ESPN, ESPN on ABC, and ESPN+ (ESPN Select). It typically costs $29.99 per month, but if you commit to a full year, you'll save about 16% or nearly $60. Of course, you can watch a whole lot more than just NHL games, making the yearly plan worth it particularly for fans of multiple sports.

Best for TNT, TBS, and truTV games: Save 16% on the HBO Max Standard yearly plan Opens in a new window Credit: HBO Max HBO Max Standard annual plan $169.99/year (save $33.89) Get Deal

A Max Standard subscription includes the B/R Sports add-on, which includes access to the NHL on TNT games (and simulcast TBS and truTV games). It costs $16.99 per month, but if you opt for a yearly plan, that cost drops down to just $14.16 per month. You'll save 16% or $33.89 by paying for the full year up front.

The most games for the lowest price: Sling TV Orange Season Pass Opens in a new window Credit: Sling Sling TV Orange Season Pass $199 for 5 months (save $30.95) Get Deal

Sling TV's Orange plan is your best bet to watch the most NHL national broadcasts in one place for the lowest price. The Orange plan includes access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, TNT, and TBS, plus 30 other channels. While that doesn't include ABC, most ABC NHL games are also available through ESPN3, so you'll be all set.

Sling subscriptions are a la carte, so you can add to and take away from your plan with no worries and cancel or pause your subscription at any time. The Orange plan costs $46 per month, but if you sign up for a Season Pass (5 months), you'll pay about $39.80 per month in one lump sum. It's not the biggest savings — about $31 — but it's the most bang for your buck.

Best for out-of-market games: Save 16% on the ESPN Select annual plan Opens in a new window Credit: ESPN ESPN Select (formerly ESPN+) annual plan $119.99/year (save $23.89) Get Deal

As mentioned above, ESPN Select allows you to watch all out-of-market regional games all season long. It will also exclusively host 47 games this season. A monthly subscription will run you $11.99, but if you sign up for a year up front with the Select annual plan, it'll cost just $9.99 per month ($119.99/year). That's 16% or $23.89 in savings.

Note: ESPN+ is now ESPN Select. If you were formerly an ESPN+ subscriber, you'll automatically be switched to the ESPN Select plan.

Elon Musk's electric vehicle company Tesla is once again being investigated by federal regulators.

On Thursday, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced that it was investigating Tesla vehicles with "Full Self-Driving" (FSD) assistance installed over traffic safety violations.

That's 2.88 million Tesla vehicles that are part of the investigation, as they all have the FSD assistance system installed.

According to the NHTSA, the agency has 58 separate reports involving traffic safety issues with Tesla vehicles that use FSD. This includes 14 crashes and 23 injuries. The traffic violations ranges from FSD-installed Tesla vehicles running through red lights to the EVs driving the wrong way against traffic during a lane change. 

The NHTSA's reports include 18 complaints where a Tesla vehicle with full self-driving engaged “failed to remain stopped for the duration of a red traffic signal, failed to stop fully, or failed to accurately detect and display the correct traffic signal state in the vehicle interface.” NHTSA's reports also include six instances when a Tesla with FSD assistance engaged “approached an intersection with a red traffic signal, continued to travel into the intersection against the red light and was subsequently involved in a crash with other motor vehicles in the intersection”. 

A Tesla driver in Houston told the NHTSA as part of one of its reports that Tesla's FSD "is not recognizing traffic signals." As a result, Tesla vehicles are "proceeding through red lights, and stopping at green lights."

The NHTSA will also look into how Tesla vehicles with FSD engaged perform at railroad crossings.

Tesla's full self-driving assistance system requires drivers to pay attention to the road and intervene when necessary if FSD is engaged. However, the NHTSA says that Tesla's FSD has “induced vehicle behaviour that violated traffic safety laws," as reported by The Guardian.

The NHTSA's investigation is seen as a preliminary step to a potential recall of Tesla vehicles with FSD engaged.

The NHTSA had already opened a separate investigation into Tesla and its FSD assistance system in October 2024. That investigation's focus is on how FSD performs in "reduced roadway visibility conditions." It was opened after four reported Tesla crashes with FSD engaged, one which turned out to be fatal.

The U.S. agency had also reached out to Tesla over the summer after videos showed Tesla robotaxis violating traffic laws in Austin, Texas.

Samsung is staying quiet about it for now. But its mixed-reality Galaxy XR headset, code-named Project Moohan, is expected to launch very soon. Now, one early report suggests it will match Apple's troubled Vision Pro headset in a lot of ways — and maybe even best it in others.

According to Android Headlines, the Galaxy XR's user interface will look very similar to the Vision Pro's UI: a launcher with friendly app icons arranged in a grid over whatever you're seeing. More important is how many pixels the Project Moohan device appears to be displaying, and rumor has it the headset will offer a total of 29 million pixels across both eye displays.

That's 6 million more pixels than the Vision Pro, and around 3 million more than estimated in previous Project Moohan reports — suggesting Samsung is really going to town on besting Apple. With its Snapdragon XR+ second-generation processor, the Galaxy XR headset can reportedly render more than 4K resolution — another knock on the Vision Pro, which isn't quite 4K (the resolution, in pixels per inch, is more like 3.4K.)

Both Samsung and Apple know that device weight is crucial when it comes to headsets. And Samsung seems to have done better than its California rival here, too. While the Apple Vision Pro weighs in at a minimum 600 grams — with configurations up to 650 grams — the Galaxy XR will weigh 545 grams, Android Headlines says. Both devices shave off bulk with an external battery pack.

SEE ALSO: Mark Zuckerberg unveils Meta's 'AI glasses,' fails demos

But is that enough, in either case? As light as Samsung's mixed reality headset reportedly is, the new Meta Ray-Bans weigh one-tenth of that. Meta's decision to focus on glasses, after the lukewarm response to its VR headset-driven Metaverse, is starting to look like a signpost to other tech giants.

No wonder Apple is reportedly focused on building its own smart glasses rather than rushing out a cheaper Vision Pro. Samsung has suggested it is working on Galaxy glasses, too. Which makes one still-unknown metric about the Galaxy XR, its price, so crucial. Previous leaks put the number anywhere from $1,800 to $3,000 — again, a poke at Apple, which can't sell you a Vision Pro configuration below $3,500.

But even assuming Samsung launches Project Moohan on the low end of that estimate, we're still talking a hefty price point. For that amount of scratch, you could buy you a Meta Quest 3 ($500), a pair of the Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses (also $500), and Meta's first "AI smart glasses" ($379), plus all the chargers and battery packs you'd need to keep them running all day.

Mixed reality headsets may be great devices for a specific niche (gamers, I'm looking at you). But if Apple and Samsung leadership still see as big a future for them as for the coming wave of smart glasses, they may need their eyes tested.

Some iPhone apps can use critical alerts to bypass your iPhone's settings and play audible notifications even when your iPhone is in Silent mode or Do Not Disturb focus. Using Home Assistant, it's possible to send bespoke critical alerts for any reason that you want.

When I visited IFA 2025 in Berlin, I came across a company called Elegoo that makes 3D printers, which are also available on Amazon. As much of a nerd as I am, I never got into 3D printing. There are a number of reasons for that, but most predominantly, it seemed vaguely out of reach. There just seemed to be so much that went into it — CAD, filaments, slicing, balancing, and the like; I was frankly too intimidated to even try.

Enter Elegoo. This company makes the Centuri Carbon 3D printer, which it says can print right out of the box. It has a full auto calibration cycle that basically levels and calibrates itself, freeing the user from technical tasks that, to be frank, I don't have time to master.

Opens in a new window Credit: Elegoo Elegoo Centauri Carbon 3D Printer $339.99 at Amazon
$379.99 Save $40 Get Deal

So, is it that easy? That's what I wanted to find out, and I'm going to teach you some things I've learned about 3D printing along the way. Elegoo sent over a Centauri Carbon and a roll of grey filament for me to test and see if it could make me a 3D printing pro right out of the box, and the answer is yes and no.

I was pretty new here Credit: Elegoo

I had dabbled with 3D printing over the years, through my local library, which will print models you send them for the cost of the filament, which is usually $10 or less, depending on the build. I have printed playing card holders, phone holders, and a few other things over the years. My teenage son had as well. 

Because of this, I already had a few models I wanted to print, including a nifty multiple phone holder that is great for holding open book-style foldables when not in use. I opened the box, I set up the printer, and let it run through its calibration and self-leveling processes. I loaded the phone holder onto a USB stick and tried to print it. It didn't go well. I tried again — same results. So I took a step back and tried printing a pre-loaded file that came with the printer. This one was of the Eiffel tower, and lo and behold, it went off without a hitch. As I quickly realized, my file was to blame.

Next, I tried downloading other files that looked neat, and I found out there are a number of file types, including a popular .STL file, that 3D printers can't work with — until they go through a slicer program. Basically, a slicer program takes a 3D model and slices it up to what it'll look like layer by layer, which is how most 3D printers operate. Only after the slicing program has done its work can the 3D printer do anything with your file.

Off to the races! Credit: Adam Doud / Mashable

I tried three slicers before I finally gave in and asked Elegoo which one to use. The answer was the completely unsurprising, and appropriately named Elegooslicer. Who knew? This app is pretty great, because it's one-stop shopping for all of your slicing and printing needs. With this app you can set up prints, import print files, position them on the tray, and start prints. You can even monitor the print as it happens by watching a camera that is built into the printer.

Left: Credit: Adam Doud / Mashable Right: Credit: Adam Doud / Mashable

This was the final hurdle I needed to clear. I've been printing almost constantly since I got set up with the right slicer. I've printed playing card holders, pen holders, phone props, and a few other things for Halloween. It's been a lot of fun, and I feel like I wouldn't have gotten this far without getting over that initial setup hurdle. I still had to learn a lot along the way, and reach out to Elegoo for some help as well, but still, I really feel like this is a good solution to those who are interested in trying out 3D printing, but feel similarly intimidated.

Credit: Adam Doud / mashable Here's what you get

So, let's talk about the machine itself. The thing I like most about it is it's an entirely self-contained device. Everything happens within the confines of the enclosed printer. I've seen several models of printers that are basically just a table with an extruder over it, and those wouldn't do well in my house. I need everything to be inside an enclosure.

There's a door that opens on the front and a top that comes off. I'm not 100 percent sure why the top comes off, except I read in the instruction manual that if you leave the top on during prints, it may get too hot inside the machine. OK, that's fair enough.

Credit: Adam Doud / Mashable

The machine has a fairly large footprint of 16" x 16" x 20". On the inside, you have a printable area of 256mm x 256mm x 256mm or roughly 10" x 10" by 10". This printer only handles a single filament at a time, so there's no automatic switching of colors — everything I've printed is grey so far. There's a USB-A port on the front of the machine and a touchscreen control panel that you can use to browse files and set up prints. I prefer to use the slicing software myself.

All of that comes at a fairly friendly sub-$400 price point on Amazon, or even less if you shop directly at Elegoo, where the printer starts at $299 when it's on sale.

Credit: Adam Doud / Mashable Is the Elegoo 3D printer worth it?

I've seen cheaper 3D printers on the market, but this feels like a nice, contained, all-in-one solution that can help give you that push to get started. For me, that's worth the extra money.

I'm sure there are more advanced models for hardcore 3D printing hobbyists. But when I consider that my entire journey from unboxing the printer to printing 24/7 happened over less than a week, I'm impressed both with Elegoo for making an idiot-friendly 3D printer that even I could understand, and with myself for finally embracing a new category of tech that I had previously thought beyond my abilities.

Top offers on Elegoo 3D printer AMAZON Elegoo Centauri Carbon 3D Printer $339.99 (save $40) Get Deal ELEGOO Elegoo Centauri Carbon 3D Printer $299.99 (save $80) Get Deal

In the past years, AI has taken on an unsettling number of new roles, from virtual boyfriends to educational tutors. But what if it became judge, jury, and executioner?

That's the premise of the upcoming film Mercy, starring Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson.

SEE ALSO: 2025 fall movie preview: Every upcoming film you ought to know about

Pratt plays Chris Raven, a detective who helped champion a new, AI-powered justice system: the Mercy Capital Court. Under Mercy, defendants sit before an AI judge and must plead their case until their guilt falls below a certain threshold.

Since Detective Raven was a staunch supporter of the creation of the Mercy program, he's stunned when he winds up facing AI judge Maddox (Ferguson) on charges of murdering his wife. Faced with almost certain execution, Detective Raven has 90 minutes to prove his innocence. From the Mercy Capital Court, he has access to all the video feeds, security footage, and documents he may need to discover the truth about what happened to his wife. Unfortunately, he accesses all of these helpful elements virtually from his chair in the Mercy court, and the effect is not unlike Ice Cube's predicament in 2025's widely panned War of the Worlds.

To watch Pratt and Ferguson square off in an AI-fueled showdown, check out the full trailer for Mercy above.

Mercy also stars Kali Reis, Annabelle Wallis, Chris Sullivan, and Kylie Rogers.

Mercy hits theaters Jan. 23, 2026.

We're fast approaching the end of the year, and as it's usually the case, we're starting to see the stuff that will power our hardware next year. Intel's Core Ultra Series 3 is finally here, and there's a few things you should know.

ChatGPT helped authorities zero-in on the alleged arsonist who started the deadly Pacific Palisades Fire, which tore through the Los Angeles area in January.

Authorities arrested 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht this week, and ChatGPT provided some of the key evidence in the case. Most notably, authorities pointed out that Rinderknecht had the AI chatbot render a strange, dystopian image that could hint at his potential motivations.

The prompt for ChatGPT read, according to court documents published online by Deadline and other outlets:

“A dystopian painting divided into distinct parts that blend together seamlessly. On the far left, there is a burning forest. Next to it, a crowd of people is running away from the fire, leading to the middle. In the middle, hundreds of thousands of people in poverty are trying to get past a gigantic gate with a big dollar sign on it. On the other side of the gate and the entire wall is a conglomerate of the richest people. They are chilling, watching the world burn down, and watching the people struggle. They are laughing, enjoying themselves, and dancing. The scene is detailed and impactful, highlighting the stark contrast and the direct connection between the different parts of the world."

The image in question appears in court docs.

The AI-generated images from Rinderknecht's prompt. Credit: ChatGPT / Court documents via Deadline

The Palisades Fire was incredibly destructive. It killed a dozen people, destroyed more than 6,000 homes, burned 23,000 acres of land, and ultimately led to $150 billion in damage.

Authorities believe the fire was originally sparked by buried embers from the earlier Lachman Fire, which began on New Year’s Day.

Authorities allege that Rinderknecht's location was pinpointed to a hidden, hilltop trail-clearing where and when the fire began on Jan. 1. Rinderknecht was in that area on New Year's Eve working as an Uber driver, according to a Justice Department press release. The complaint against him alleges that he delivered passengers around midnight on Dec. 31, then drove to the Skull Rock Trailhead, where the fire began just minutes after midnight.

Phone data allegedly showed he attempted to call 911 around this time but was unsuccessful for a while due to bad reception. ChatGPT was further involved in the case, too. Officials say that around the same time, Rinderknecht asked ChatGPT, "Are you at fault if a fire is lifted [sic] because of your cigarettes?"

Investigators alleged that Rinderknecht "wanted to preserve evidence of himself trying to assist in the suppression of the fire and he wanted to create evidence regarding a more innocent explanation for the cause of the fire."

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.

EcoFlow has announced a recall of its Delta Max 2000 power stations, due to a problem that caused some units to “overheat and ignite.” You don’t have to return or mail the power station, though—you just need to install a firmware update.

If you're not shopped out after Amazon Prime Big Deal Days, Best Buy is running a competing "Techtober Sale" through Sunday, Oct. 12. I've spent several hours combing through its listings, and while Amazon's deals were/are far more competitive, there are a few dozen Best Buy gems still worth considering.

Best Buy's best Techtober deals at a glance: Best Windows laptop deal Asus Zenbook A14 (Snapdragon X Plus, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $579.99 (save $420) Get Deal Best TV deal TCL 65-inch QM5K 4K QD-Mini LED QLED TV $449.99 (save $450) Get Deal Best vacuum deal Shark Matrix RV2320S $299.99 (save $200) Get Deal Best gaming deal "Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut" (PlayStation 5) $29.99 (save $40) Get Deal

For reference, Amazon has been hosting a two-day fall savings event for members of its Prime program every year since 2022 — and every year since 2022, Best Buy has held its own concurrent sale. (Previously, it came in the form of a 48-Hour Flash Sale.) Best Buy also times a savings event to run alongside Amazon's big flagship Prime Day sale in July, so this sort of counter-programming is par for the course.

Amazon was especially aggressive in price-matching or one-upping Best Buy's Techtober deals during Prime Big Deal Days, and that continues to be the case. Many discounts from the sale are still live even though it technically ended on Wednesday. (The differences between the two retailers' deals get as small as three cents, which is honestly just kind of petty.)

SEE ALSO: 200+ October Prime Day deals still live: Savings on Apple, Kindle, Sony, Ninja, and Lego

As of Thursday, Oct. 9, Best Buy was beating a post-Prime Day Amazon deal on only one product — an Ecovacs robot vacuum, dropped from $1,099.99 to $545.99 — but it came with an extra $16.98 shipping fee. Meanwhile, Amazon was selling it for 30 cents more with free shipping. Better luck on Black Friday, I suppose.

That said, I wouldn't snub Best Buy completely this week. Below, I've identified 56 deals there that you can't get on Amazon right now, either because the product is sold out there, unavailable in new condition, or because Amazon never carried the product to begin with. (Their inventories are very similar, but not identical.) That includes a metric boatload of Windows laptops, a really nice 65-inch TV, the best budget-friendly Shark robovac we've tried, and one of our favorite video games of 2020. I actually bought the latter myself.

None of the deals are exclusive to members of Best Buy's My Best Buy program, but folks who have signed up for the paid Plus and Total tiers do get extra bonus rewards with certain purchases.

Best Windows laptop deal

My Best Buy Plus and Total members get a $50 bonus reward when they spend at least $499 on select Windows laptops.

Opens in a new window Credit: Asus Asus Zenbook A14 (Snapdragon X Plus, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $579.99 at Best Buy
$999.99 Save $420 Get Deal Why I like it

The ultrathin and feathery light Asus Zenbook A14 is my favorite ultraportable. It's the fastest sub-$1,000 Windows laptop I've tried, and its svelte 2.4-pound frame (0.3 pounds lighter than a 13-inch M4 MacBook Air!) houses a good mix of ports and a vibrant OLED display. Plus, it lasts almost 22 hours per charge. Best Buy's massive Techtober discount turns it into a great option for budget buyers: The Zabriskie beige base model with a Snapdragon X Plus chip, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage is only $579.99, or 42% off. It's never been cheaper, and Amazon doesn't carry it.

More Windows laptop deals

• HP OmniBook 5 16 (Snapdragon X Plus, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $599.99 $799.99 (save $200)

• HP OmniBook X 17 (Intel Core Ultra 7 256V, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $879.99 $1,349.99 (save $470)

• Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge, 16-inch (Snapdragon X Elite, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $899.99 $1,449.99 (save $550)

• Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra (Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,799.99 $2,399.99 (save $600)

2-in-1 laptop deals

• HP OmniBook 5 Flip 14 (Intel Core 7 150U, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $549.99 $799.99 (save $250)

• Lenovo Yoga 7 2-in-1 16 (AMD Ryzen AI 5 340, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $599.99 $999.99 (save $400)

• Lenovo Yoga 7 2-in-1 14 (AMD Ryzen AI 5 340, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $649.99 $1,049.99 (save $400)

• HP OmniBook X Flip 16 (Intel Core Ultra 7 256V, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $699.99 $1,099.99 (save $400)

• Dell Plus 2-in-1 14 (AMD Ryzen AI 7 350, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $749.99 $999.99 (save $250)

• Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 14 (Intel Core Ultra 7 256V, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $899.99 $1,099.99 (save $200)

• Microsoft Surface Pro 11, 13-inch (Snapdragon X Plus, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) + Keyboard Bundle — $999.99 $1,349.99 (save $350)

• HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 (Intel Core Ultra 7 256V, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,099.99 $1,599.99 (save $500)

Gaming laptop deals

• Lenovo LOQ (AMD Ryzen 5 7235HS, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050, 12GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $549.99 $879.99 (save $330)

• HP Victus 15 (Intel Core i7-13620H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,049.99 $1,369.99 (save $320)

• Asus TUF Gaming A16 (AMD Ryzen 9 270, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,349.99 $1,699.99 (save $350)

• Lenovo Legion Pro 5 16 (AMD Ryzen 7 8745HX, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,399.99 $1,659.99 (save $260)

• Alienware 16X Aurora (Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060, 32GB RAM, 1TB SDD) — $1,399.99 $1,799.99 (save $400)

• Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S (Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070Ti, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,599.99 $1,899.99 (save $300)

• MSI Stealth A16 AI+ (AMD Ryzen AI R9-365, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $2,199.99 $2,929.99 (save $730)

• HP Omen Max 16 (Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080, 32GB RAM, 2TB SSD) — $2,599.99 $3,159.99 (save $560)

Chromebook deals

• Lenovo Chromebook Duet 11 (MediaTek Kompanio 838, 4GB RAM, 128GB eMMC) with keyboard — $249 $399 (save $150)

• Acer Chromebook Plus 516 (Intel Core i3-1315U, 8GB RAM, 128GB UFS) — $299 $479 (save $180)

• Acer Chromebook Spin 312 (Intel Core i3-N305, 8GB RAM, 128GB eMMC) — $319 $449 (save $130)

• HP Chromebook Plus x360 14 (Intel Core i3-N305, 8GB RAM, 256GB UFS) — $399 $629 (save $230)

• Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 (Intel Core i5-1335U, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) — $479 $599 (save $120)

• Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus (Intel Core 3 100U, 8GB RAM, 256GB UFS) — $599.99 $749.99 (save $150)

Best TV deal

My Best Buy Plus and Total members get a $50 bonus reward when they spend at least $499 on TVs.

Opens in a new window Credit: TCL TCL 65-inch QM5K 4K QD-Mini LED QLED TV $449.99 at Best Buy
$899.99 Save $450 Get Deal Why I like it

At 50% off, Best Buy's discount on this oversized mini-LED QLED TV is the kind of deal I wouldn't expect to see until Black Friday really gets underway. Mini-LED TVs are great if you care about stark contrast but don’t have an OLED-level budget. The variety of dimming zones you get from a mini-LED TV make it better at showing deep blacks and sharp, dark details than your average QLED display. This particular TCL model comes with built-in Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, and it's not sold on Amazon (though a newer model is $547.99 there, down from $999.99 — ignore its deflated MSRP).

43-inch TV deals

• Hisense 43-inch QD6 QLED 4K Fire TV — $189.99 $299.99 (save $110)

50- to 58-inch TV deals

• TCL 55-inch F35 4K LED TV — $199.99 $329.99 (save $130)

• Samsung 50-inch U7900 4K TV — $229.99 $299.99 (save $70)

• TCL 58-inch S5 4K Fire TV — $229.99 $379.99 (save $150)

• Hisense 55-inch QD6 QLED 4K Fire TV — $259.99 $379.99 (save $120)

• Samsung 55-inch U7900 4K TV — $259.99 $379.99 (save $120)

• LG 55-inch UA77 AI 4K TV — $299.99 $399.99 (save $100)

65-inch TV deals

• TCL 65-inch F35 4K Fire TV — $299.99 $399.99 (save $100)

• LG 65-inch 70A QNED AI 4K TV — $449.99 $579.99 (save $130)

Deals on 75-inch TVs and bigger

• Samsung 75-inch U7900 4K TV — $479.99 $649.99 (save $170)

• TCL 75-inch QM5K 4K QD-Mini LED QLED TV — $599.99 $1,199.99 (save $600)

• LG 75-inch 70A QNED AI 4K TV — $649.99 $899.99 (save $250)

• LG 77-inch B5 OLED AI 4K TV — $1,599.99 $2,999.99 (save $1,400)

Best vacuum deal

My Best Buy Plus and Total members get a $15 bonus reward with every $150 spent on floor care (up to $75).

Opens in a new window Credit: Shark Shark Matrix RV2320S $299.99 at Best Buy
$499.99 Save $200 Get Deal Why I like it

Shark's Matrix robovacs excel at spot cleaning, and the self-emptying Matrix RV2320S is our favorite model for shoppers on a budget. It "cleans circles around any cheap Roomba I've tried," said my colleague, Leah Stodart, who deemed it "a great contender for a first-time robot vacuum purchase." Stodart has seen the Matrix RV2320S drop to $249.99 at Best Buy before (normally $499.99), but at $299.99, its Techtober deal is still saving you a good chunk of cash. Over on Amazon, it's only available in refurbished condition through a sketchy third-party seller.

More robot vacuum deals

• Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 RV2610WA — $349.99 $699.99 (save $350)

• Dreame GoVac 300 — $399.99 $499.99 (save $100)

• Dreame GoVac 500 — $549.99 $1,099.99 (save $550)

Stick vacuum deals

• Dyson V11 Plus — $529.99 $629.99 (save $100)

• Dyson V15 Detect Extra — $599.99 $849.99 (save $250)

Best gaming deal Opens in a new window Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment "Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut" (PlayStation 5) $29.99 at Best Buy
$69.99 Save $40 Get Deal Why I like it

Ghost of Tsushima was our second-favorite game of 2020, a year packed with huge releases like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Hades, and Spider-Man: Miles Morales. (Suffice to say, that's quite a feat.) To quote our review, it "shines with an enthralling story, stunning environments, and slice-em-up melee combat innovations." This particular edition is the director's cut, which includes a story expansion and a multiplayer mode, among other extras that the original lacked. The PS5 version is only $29.99 at Best Buy, or 57% off its $69.99 MSRP — a deal so good, I had to buy it myself. It's 99 cents away from its previous all-time low on Amazon, where it's currently sold out.

Read Mashable's full review of Ghost of Tsushima.

More PS5 games on sale

• Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora — $19.99 $39.99 (save $20)

• Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection — $19.99 $49.99 (save $30)

• Star Wars Outlaws — $29.99 $49.99 (save $20)

• Assassin's Creed Shadows — $49.99 $69.99 (save $20)

• College Football 26 — $49.99 $69.99 (save $20)

• Madden NFL 26 — $49.99 $69.99 (save $20)

Xbox Series X/S games on sale

• Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora — $19.99 $39.99 (save $20)

• Alan Wake 2 Deluxe Edition — $39.99 $49.99 (save $10)

• Assassin's Creed Shadows — $49.99 $69.99 (save $20)

• College Football 26 — $49.99 $69.99 (save $20)

• Madden NFL 26 — $49.99 $69.99 (save $20)

Nintendo Switch 2 games on sale

• Madden NFL 26 — $49.99 $69.99 (save $20)