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The core cast of Bridesmaids reunited for the 2026 Oscars to announce the awards for Best Original Score and Achievement in Sound — but there was some important business to attend to first.

In the clip above Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Ellie Kemper read out notes apparently sent to them by various audience members, from Stellan Skarsgård writing "you're ageing well" to Leonardo DiCaprio telling Rose Byrne to "stop looking at me."

"I apologise, I have been staring at you," Byrne said. "I thought you were somebody else."

Extra points for the audience reaction shots.

For the full list of Oscars winners, Mashable's got you covered. We've also rounded up the wildest moments from the awards, and the best red carpet looks.

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you know US geography.

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

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

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

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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

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

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

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for March 16, 2026 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: They travel together

• Green: Not in a rush

• Blue: Not pronounced

• Purple: There are 50 of them

Here are today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Animal group names

• Green: Things associated with being slow

• Blue: Silent "W"

• Purple: Words that sound like state abbreviations

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

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

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #1007 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Animal group names: GAGGLE, PACK, POD, PRIDE

• Things associated with being slow: GLACIER, MOLASSES, SLOTH, TRAFFIC

• Silent "W": CARTWRIGHT, TWO, WRATH, WRESTLE

• Words that sound like state abbreviations: ANY, EMMY, ENVY, OKAY

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

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for March 16, 2026

Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today's puzzle.

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

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

Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you're an NCAA fan.

Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for March 16, 2026 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for March 16, 2026 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Best of all

The words are related to sports.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe a sports tournament.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is March Madness.

NYT Strands word list for March 16

• Chalk

• Bracket

• March Madness

• Overtime

• Bubble

• Cinderella

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

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

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you love a Broadway show.

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

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for March 15, 2026 Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for March 15, 2026 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

A spectacle.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

The letter A appears twice.

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter D.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is...

DRAMA

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints. Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

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

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

WIndows popularized GUIs on the PCs, but it's always had a command-line interface lurking underneath the surface. Windows Terminal is the latest way to harness the power of the command line. It's much more powerful than the old "DOS box," letting you tap into Linux and PowerShell as well as the classic Command Prompt. Here's what you're missing by ignoring it.

In recent weeks, there's been an increasing number of people posting their own Home Assistant integrations and custom components on popular forums. Many of these vibe-coded tools are closed-source and lock key features behind a subscription. This worrying trend is the exact opposite of the ethos of Home Assistant.

The 2026 Academy Awards was a bumper night for horror, with Sinners picking up four awards (watch Michael B. Jordan's passionate acceptance speech), and Amy Madigan picking up Best Support Actress for her iconic role in Zach Cregger's Weapons.

In her entertainingly chaotic acceptance speech above, Madigan starts things off with an Aunt Gladys-style cackle before nodding to the fact she was last nominated for an Oscar 40 years ago — for 1985's Twice in a Lifetime.

"This is great!" Madigan says. "Everybody's asking me in the press and all this, 'Well, it's been 40 years, what's different about this time?' What's different is I have this little gold guy!"

For the full list of Oscars winners, Mashable's got you covered. We've also rounded up the wildest moments from the awards and the best red carpet looks.

SAVE $300: As of March 16, the Hisense 85-inch CanvasTV is on sale for $1,896.99 at Amazon. That's a 14% discount on list price.

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If you’ve been eyeing the Hisense CanvasTV, now is a great time to grab it. The 85-inch model is on sale at Amazon, dropping by $300 for a limited time. That brings the price down to $1,896.99 from $2,197.99. Amazon has marked this as a limited-time deal, so it won't be around for long.

This is a great TV for a number of reasons, but its main selling point is its ability to transform into works of art. If you're not familiar with how it works, the Hisense CanvasTV doubles as a digital gallery. In Art Mode, you can display a single artwork or a slideshow of paintings, an ideal way to give your TV some meaning in your space when it's not beign watched. It even has a Hi-Matte display to make the images look like real paintings.

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The TV also benefits from a 4K QLED panel with Quantum Dot technology to give you over a billion colors. For gamers, you'll get 144Hz Game Mode Pro with Variable Refresh Rate, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, and low-latency features for a smooth, lag-free experience.

And for streaming and downloading apps, you'll have all the benefits of Google TV. Access to services like Netflix is a breeze, and all your favorite apps will live in one easy-to-navigate home screen.

Pick up this TV deal at Amazon ahead of the Spring Sale.

It was one Oscar after another for Paul Thomas Anderson at the 98th Academy Awards.

The director's three-hour-long epic One Battle After Another picked up the Oscar for Best Picture, along Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Sean Penn), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, and Best Casting. With six Oscars to its name, it was the most awarded film of the night.

Ryan Coogler's Sinners also won big at the Oscars ceremony, picking up four awards: Best Actor (Michael B. Jordan), Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Cinematography. With its 16 nominations, Sinners holds the record of most-nominated film of all time.

SEE ALSO: How many Oscars has 'Sinners' won?

Here is the full list of the 2026 Oscar winners. Winners are in bold.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role 

Benicio Del Toro – One Battle After Another

Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein

Delroy Lindo – Sinners

Sean Penn – One Battle After Another (WINNER)

Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

Best Actress in a Supporting Role 

Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value 

Amy Madigan – Weapons (WINNER)

Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners 

Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

Best Animated Short Film 

"Butterfly"

"Forevergreen"

"The Girl Who Cried Pearls" (WINNER)

"Retirement Plan"

"The Three Sisters"

Best Costume Design

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Frankenstein (WINNER)

Hamnet 

Marty Supreme

Sinners

Best Live Action Short Film

"Butchers Stain"

"A Friend of Dorothy"

"Jane Austen's Period Drama"

"The Singers" (WINNER — TIE)

"Two People Exchanging Saliva" (WINNER — TIE)

Best Makeup and Hairstyling 

Frankenstein (WINNER)

Kokuho

Sinners 

The Smashing Machine 

The Ugly Stepsister

Best Music (Original Score) 

Bugonia

Frankenstein

Hamnet

One Battle After Another

Sinners (WINNER)

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Will Tracy – Bugonia

Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein

Chloé Zhao and Maggie O'Farrell – Hamnet

Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another (WINNER)

Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar – Train Dreams

Best Writing (Original Screenplay)

Robert Kaplow - Blue Moon

Jafar Panahi - It Was Just an Accident

Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme

Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value

Ryan Coogler – Sinners (WINNER)

Best Actor in a Leading Role 

Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme

Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another 

Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon 

Michael B. Jordan – Sinners (WINNER)

Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent

Best Actress in a Leading Role 

Jessie Buckley – Hamnet (WINNER)

Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I'd Kick You 

Kate Hudson - Song Sung Blue

Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value 

Emma Stone – Bugonia 

Best Animated Feature Film 

Arco

Elio

KPop Demon Hunters (WINNER)

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

Zootopia 2

Best Picture

Bugonia

F1

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another (WINNER)

The Secret Agent

Sentimental Value

Sinners

Train Dreams

Best Casting

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another (WINNER)

The Secret Agent

Sinners

Best Cinematography 

Frankenstein

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sinners (WINNER)

Train Dreams

Best Directing 

Chloé Zhao – Hamnet

Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme

Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another (WINNER)

Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value

Ryan Coogler – Sinners

Best Documentary Feature Film 

The Alabama Solution

Come See Me in the Good Light

Cutting Through Rocks

Mr. Nobody Against Putin (WINNER)

The Perfect Neighbor

Best Documentary Short Film 

"All the Empty Rooms" (WINNER)

"Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud"

"Children No More: Were and are Gone"

"The Devil is Busy"

"Perfectly A Strangeness"

Best Film Editing

F1

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another (WINNER)

Sentimental Value

Sinners

Best International Feature Film 

The Secret Agent 

It Was Just an Accident 

Sentimental Value (WINNER)

Sirāt 

The Voice of Hind Rajab

Best Music (Original Song) 

"Dear Me" - Diane Warren: Relentless

"Golden - Kpop Demon Hunters (WINNER)

"I Lied to You" – Sinners

"Sweet Dreams of Joy" – Viva Verdi!

"Train Dreams" – Train Dreams

Best Production Design 

Frankenstein (WINNER)

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sinners

Best Sound

F1 (WINNER)

Frankenstein

One Battle After Another

Sinners

Sirāt 

Best Visual Effects

Avatar: Fire and Ash (WINNER)

F1 

Jurassic World Rebirth

The Lost Bus

Sinners

How to watch: The 98th Oscars airs live on March 15 on ABC and Hulu.

Mashable’s covering all things Oscars 2026, from Academy Awards live updates to red carpet style and the wildest moments from the show. Check back at Mashable.com throughout the night for winners announcements and more.

Where to buy the Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Ascended Heroes Elite Trainer Box Best Walmart Deal Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Ascended Heroes Elite Trainer Box $115.99 at Walmart ($34) Shop Now Best Amazon Deal Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Ascended Heroes Elite Trainer Box $133.88 at Amazon Shop Now

Ascended Heroes ETBs recently shot up in price after a post-launch pricing war that left Pokémon TCG collectors caught in the middle, but Walmart is balancing the scales again by allowing you to grab one for under $120.

As of March 16, Walmart has the Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Ascended Heroes Elite Trainer Box listed for $115.99, down from $149.99. Amazon has the same ETB at $133.88, making Walmart cheaper by $17.89. That’s already enough of a gap to make Walmart the better buy, but this price is also down to market price vs. TCGplayer. 

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You’re getting everything you’d expect from a Pokémon ETB based around Mega Evolution Pokémon — namely the poster child, Mega Dragonite. You’ll get nine Ascended Heroes booster packs of trading cards, one full-art foil promo card featuring N’s Zekrom, 65 card sleeves, 40 Pokémon TCG Energy cards, a player’s guide, six damage-counter dice, one competition-legal coin-flip die, a collector’s box with six dividers, and a code card for Pokémon TCG Live.

For more Asended Heroes boosters, you can buy the Pokémon TCG Ascended Heroes Tech Sticker Collections now for only $32 at Walmart. As for an ETB from the next expansion, the best place to pre-order Pokémon TCG Perfect Order is Walmart right now.

One of the most basic things you do on a computer is copying and pasting. Yet somehow, it’s still more annoying than it should be. That’s exactly why I started looking for a better clipboard manager and found ClipShelf.

Michael B. Jordan picked up the Oscar for Best Actor during a much anticipated Academy Awards on Sunday, with the Sinners star taking to the stage to make a passionate acceptance speech.

"I stand here because of the people that came before me: Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Fox, Forest Whittaker, Will Smith," says Jordan in the clip above. "And to be amongst those giants, amongst those greats, amongst my ancestors, amongst my guys, thank you everybody in this room, and everybody at home for supporting me over my career. I feel it. I know you guys want me to do well and I want to do that because you guys bet on me. So thank you for keeping betting on me. And I'mma keep stepping up, and I'mma keep being the best version of myself I can be."

For the full list of Oscars winners, Mashable's got you covered. We've also rounded up the wildest moments from the awards, and the best red carpet looks.

SAVE $300: As of March 16, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 has hit a new low price of $499 at Amazon. This is $300 off its original list price of $799.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Watch Ultra 2 (GPS + Cellular 49mm) $499 at Amazon
$799 Save $300   Get Deal

Amazon's 2026 spring sale is right around the corner. Thankfully, we don't have to wait for great deals to drop, as a few exciting offers are already live. If you're an Apple user, one of those discounts is on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 (GPS + Cellular, 49mm). As of March 16, it has hit a new low price of $499.

The original list price is $799, so this deal saves you a whopping $300 on the Apple Watch Ultra 2. There are multiple colors to choose from at this price, including the rugged titanium case with a blue/black trail loop, blue alpine loop, green/grey trail loop, indigo alpine loop, and orange/beige trail loop.

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If you want to invest in a smartwatch that can keep up with your outdoor adventures, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 can definitely help. Whether you're a runner, cyclist, swimmer, or hiker, its full of features to assist with your workouts, including a precision dual-frequency GPS, speed tracking, heart rate monitoring, and elevation recording. It even has automatic stroke detection, lap count, splits, and more for swimmers.

It also offers solid health features, including irregular heart rhythm notifications, sleep tracking, and safety features. We consider it "the dark horse pick" in our roundup of the best smartwatches.

Be quick to grab this excellent offer on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 at Amazon.

SAVE $170.01: As of March 16, the Insignia 55-inch Class F50 TV is on sale for $179.98 at Amazon. That's a 49% discount on the list price.

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$349.99 Save $170.01   Get Deal

The Insignia 55-inch Class F50 TV has gone on sale again at Amazon, and this time it's down to its lowest-ever price. As of March 16, you can take home this smart TV for under $180 ($179.99), a saving of $170 on list price.

With this TV you'll get 4K Ultra HD TV with a 2160p resolution and HDR10 support. It also benefits from an upscaling feature that improves the quality of lower-resolution content, bringing it closer to Ultra HD quality. The sound is impressive too, with DTS Virtual-X creating a more immersive audio experience through the TV’s speakers.

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It also boasts Fire TV on the inside, giving you access to a wide range of streaming apps, including Prime Video and Netflix, along with free options such as Fire TV Channels, Tubi, and Pluto TV. Not to mention, the interface is nice and easy to use, with all your favorite apps on one home screen.

If you have other smart home devices, this TV can act as a hub, allowing you to pair compatible devices to view camera feeds, control lighting, and adjust thermostats.

Find this Insignia TV deal at Amazon now. This is a limited-time discount, so don't miss out.

The beauty of live television is that absolutely anything can happen, and nowhere is that more reliably, terrifyingly true than at the Oscars. The Academy Awards like to present themselves as the pinnacle of Hollywood elegance, and yet the ceremony has an almost proud history of producing moments that range from the benignly chaotic like the the La La Land / Moonlight Best Picture debacle to the genuinely unhinged, like Will Smith walking up on stage and slapping the hell out of Chris Rock in front of every famous person on earth.

The point is: Something is always going to happen. This year, however, was a relatively quiet night, the biggest event being the seventh-ever tie in Oscars history for Live-Action Short Film.

Featured Video For You 2026 Oscar winners Kevin O'Leary is placing bets on Kalshi

To kick things off, Kevin O'Leary, the Shark Tank businessman and supporting star of Josh Safdie's Marty Supreme, arrived on the red carpet and let everyone know he put a $1,000 bet on Timothée Chalamet winning Best Actor through the infamous prediction market site Kalshi. Unsurprisingly, this has now led to a snowball effect of people betting against Chalamet.

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In what can only be described as a bit that had absolutely no business working as well as it did, Oscars host Conan O'Brien took the stage dressed as Aunt Gladys from Weapons — the scene-stealing villain that earned Amy Madigan her Best Supporting Actress win — and somehow made it funnier than it had any right to be.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. The Live-Action Short Film Oscar is a tie??

In a moment that sent genuine shockwaves through a ceremony that has been running for nearly a century, the Live Action Short Film category produced just the seventh tie in Academy Awards history, with Two People Exchanging Saliva and The Singers.

SEE ALSO: 2026 Oscar winners: See full list

The chaos that followed was, frankly, perfect — when the crew from Two People took the stage for their turn at the microphone, the Academy apparently decided they had heard enough and physically retracted the mic while they were still mid-speech, which is either a massive technical blunder or the most passive-aggressive move in Oscars history.

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The Academy's increasingly aggressive relationship with the clock claimed another victim when KPop Demon Hunters' "Golden" took home Best Original Song and the accepting team, mid-speech, got unceremoniously cut off and sent immediately to commercial without so much as a courtesy pause — a noticeably harsher fate than the Live Action Short situation earlier in the night, where at least the affected parties were eventually allowed to finish their thoughts.

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TL;DR: Unblock Pornhub from Texas with a VPN. The best service for unblocking porn sites is ExpressVPN.

More than a third of U.S. states have introduced age verification laws for online adult content, including Texas. In response, Pornhub banned users in those locations from accessing their site. That means millions of users in Texas are now unable to access Pornhub.

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How to unblock Pornhub for free in Texas

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The best VPNs for unblocking porn sites are not free, but most do offer free-trial peiods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can unblock porn sites like Pornhub without actually spending anything. This is obviously not a long-term solution, but it does give you the opportunity to temporarily retain access to Pornhub before recovering your investment.

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Ugreen started out as a charger company, but quickly took the NAS world by storm a few years ago when it started releasing NAS units. Now, its moving from entry-level and mid-range storage servers to professional units. The Ugreen iDX6011 Pro is the first truly pro-grade NAS from Ugreen, and I was quite surprised with just how great it worked for me.

TL;DR: Enjoy professional-level styling at home with this Dyson Airwrap Multi-Styler Complete Long, now only $349.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Dyson Dyson Airwrap Multi-Styler Complete Long - Nickel/Copper (Refurbished) $349.99
$649.99 Save $300   Get Deal

If you have long hair, you know how tough it can be to style it like the pros. You need the right tools — and the Dyson Airwrap Multi-Styler Complete Long was literally made for you. It works with chest-length hair or longer, and is compatible with multiple hair types. Right now, you can get this expensive tool refurbished for just $349.99.

There’s a reason people pay the big bucks for Dyson hair products — they allow you to replicate salon-quality style at home. The Dyson Airwrap Multi-Styler Complete Long comes with re-engineered attachments to make it even quicker and easier to style your tresses, and this refurbished model lets you do it for a fraction of the usual price.

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Curl, shape, smooth, and hide your flyaways with this Dyson Airwrap Multi-Styler. It doesn’t use extreme heat, while still managing to help you dry and style simultaneously. The Enhanced Coanda airflow — which helps you style with air, not heat — enables greater control by attracting the hair to the surface of the Dyson’s brushes.

Go from wet to damp in pre-styling mode, or finish up your styling with the smoothing mode, which leaves you with up to 58% less frizz and flyaways. You can craft clockwise and counterclockwise curls with just one barrel, while the Enhanced Conada airflow attracts and self-wraps hair in both directions around these re-engineered barrels that create gorgeous curls or waves.

This Dyson Airwrap is powered by the Dyson digital motor V9, and intelligent heat control measures the airflow temperature more than 40 times a second, so you won’t be left with any heat damage. It also uses negative ions to help reduce static in your hair, so you’re left with a silky, smooth look.

Get this refurbished Dyson Airwrap Multi-Styler Complete Long for $349.99 while supplies last.

Want to see more deals? Visit the shop and use code MARCH15 to save an extra 15% sitewide through March 29. Exclusions apply.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

FREE GOOGLE PIXEL 10A: As of March 16, T-Mobile is offering shoppers the chance to get a Google Pixel 10A for free with a new line on its Essentials Plan.

Opens in a new window Credit: Google Google Pixel 10A For Free With T-Mobile   Get Deal

Phones are always pricey investments, so it's always good to see something for "free." As of March 16, T-Mobile is offering shoppers the opportunity to score a Google Pixel 10a smartphone for free when they start a new line on its Essentials Plan.

The Pixel 10a's full price is $499.99, so this is a truly great deal. The Essentials Plan is sets you up with the, well, essentials for your smartphone. According to T-Mobile's announcement of this plan back when it was initially revealed, "T-Mobile Essentials is designed for those who say they just want the basics: unlimited talk, text and smartphone data in the U.S." What more do you really need?

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As for the Pixel 10a, it's a smartphone we think is "still the best budget Android phone on the market" according to our review. Mashable's Alex Perry continued to say, "Though it's not a particularly exciting smartphone, it does have a very attractive price and one notable design change: The camera array is now completely flat, so there's no wobble when it lays flat."

Perry also adds that, "The Pixel 10a may not be a conversation starter, but not every phone needs to be one, and it's a good smartphone nonetheless." So if you don't mind having a phone that's a little less flashy than it's more expensive counterparts, this is a great opportunity to grab it for free from T-Mobile.

Fabula Rasa: Dead Man Talking, in an interactive VR game that made its global debut at the XR Exhibition at SXSW 2026 this weekend. At the exhibition, I got the chance to try a bunch of virtual and augmented reality experiences — art installations, VR experiences, and satirical projects that defied definition. But after playing Fabula Rasa, I can’t stop thinking about what it means for the future of gaming.

The gameplay of Fabula Rasa is built around fully improvised, AI-generated conversations. You create your own character on the spot, and the game characters and your interactions are all powered by LLMs.

This is what the game forces us to ask: What if there were no more NPCs in video games? What if every character in an RPG had a fully-realized backstory and infinite conversational trees?

Imagine it: you’re playing a game like Red Dead Redemption or Skyrim, except every character you meet — the random henchmen, tavern wenches, pickpockets — can have in-depth conversations with you in real-time. 

You’re no longer choosing from three or four pre-written dialogue options and having circular, process-of-elimination conversations. You’re talking into your headset and making up wholly original stories and side quests as you go. It would bring true role-playing to RPGs.

It’s a reality that’s closer than I realized.

What is Fabula Rasa: Dead Man Talking? 'Fabula Rasa' is a medieval fantasy game driven by AI characters. Credit: Arvore

Fabula Rasa is an experiment. The game was made by the award-winning Brazilian XR studio Arvore. I played the game on a Meta Quest VR headset, but it’s not commercially available yet.

The game has a simple premise: You play a prisoner condemned to death in a medieval kingdom. The entire game takes place in a cage, suspended over a monster pit, as you await the king’s arrival and your eventual execution. You talk to a variety of characters, and depending on your interactions with them, you’ll either be spared or killed. (I went home with a pin that says “I survived the monster pit,” which is apparently the less likely outcome, the game's directors told me.)

Fabula Rasa is an improv experience. The game can be as fun as you are. When I realized a knight in a suit of armor was secretly three cats stacked on top of each other, I told him/them that one of my best friends was actually three dogs in a trenchcoat, which prompted him to argue for a stay of execution on my behalf. It’s silly, cheesy fun.

“In essence, we created sort of an improv theater experience, right?” Arvore’s founder and CEO Ricardo Justus told me. “We did workshops with improv comedians at our studio to learn more about this, and it started working once we started implementing a lot of these improv techniques. So, characters riffing off you. You riffing off the characters. And if you are into it, like into the story, it's really funny and fun.”

Justus told me Fabula Rasa was meant to be replayable, with the ending and characters changing depending on your actions. 

A game where choices matter Credit: Arvore

The game definitely felt like a proof of concept more than a fully realized game, but it’s the concept that’s really interesting.

Games will, of course, still need writers and storylines, but Fabula Rasa shows how AI can open up even more immersion in the game's world.

If that idea could be applied to AAA games, it could rewrite the rules of gaming as we know it.

Justus told me that Arvore uses a patchwork of models to power Fabula Rasa, particularly Claude for dialogue and ElevenLabs for audio. While not perfect, the conversations were surprisingly rich, and you could engage in back-and-forth worldplay.

I decided to play as a humble shoemaker wrongly imprisoned for murder. Twenty minutes later, pleading for my life, I realized the king in the game is literally a very short king. So, I offered to design a pair of high heels that would make him so tall that people would no longer call him “Your highness” ironically. LLMs make this kind of spur-of-the-moment banter possible. And don't forget: this technology is still in its infancy and rapidly improving.

Credit: Arvore AI in gaming isn't going away

Now, to be sure, many gamers hate any hint of AI in gaming. However, Justus told me that Arvore didn’t use AI to replace human developers, writers, or artists. (The game does use AI voice models instead of actors, due to the improvisational nature of the dialogue.) Rather, AI powers the game mechanics and the story itself.

"All the art in the game is handcrafted. Like, we didn't want to use it as a way to shorten production time, right? What we challenged ourselves was, can we use AI as a storytelling medium? And how would that work? And I do think eventually it's gonna be very interesting to apply that to an RPG, like, for example, a big open world game. Almost, like Westworld, you can talk to the characters. We're not there yet, I don't think."

Still, Justus acknowledged that AI in gaming can be controversial.

Any time a studio is caught using AI in game development, they face a strong backlash from a very vocal group of gamers. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was stripped of its Indie Game Awards for using AI background textures. Yet it’s still the most award-winning title of all time. Arc Raiders was the subject of a boycott over AI, and went on to become a global best-seller.

“I think there's a big vocal [group] of people that are very incensed by this, and maybe [more] so than the people who are actually buying games and don't care necessarily. If it's a good game, the process to create it doesn't matter as much from a consumer standpoint. Are there ethical issues of people losing their jobs and stuff like that? Of course there are, right? It’s challenging. But I feel like there isn’t a way back from using AI for development.

"Again, for this, we handcrafted all the art. We wanted to use AI to tell the story, right?"

SEE ALSO: ARC Raiders opts to replace AI-generated dialogue with professional voice actors AI-powered immersion still has limitations

Unfortunately, it may be awhile before you can play Fabula Rasa.

Arvore’s CEO told me they’re working toward a commercial release, but several hurdles need to be cleared first. Every time the game improvises a scene, it uses costly tokens with the LLM models. Second, the game is powered by frontier models that can’t be run on-device, which means some latency in conversations. 

So, there’s a cost problem and a latency problem.

Still, surely these are solvable problems.

You can find Fabula Rasa at the SXSW XR Exhibition for a little while longer, and you can look for it at future conferences and gaming events.

I played the game for about 30 minutes, but I’ve been thinking about its implications for a lot longer.

You can learn more about Fabula Rasa: Dead Man Talking at the Arvore website.