Technology

Fans of the 1930s character Betty Boop can rejoice as a precursor of the iconic cartoon is now in the public domain, as of Jan. 1, 2026.

That means anyone can adapt that specific version of Betty Boop, which appeared in the Dizzy Dishes cartoon, into their own creative work without being subject to copyright laws.

This version of Betty Boop featured her characteristic large eyes and pout but also had elongated dog ears. Her romantic interest at the time was a dog chef, hence her surreal canine appearance.

SEE ALSO: Yes, Popeye can eat spinach: Everything you need to know about Public Domain Day 2025

In 2026, Betty Boop is joined in the public domain by other popular characters, books, films, and songs, including new Mickey Mouse cartoons and comics; the Blondie comic strip characters Blondie and Dagwood; William Faulkner's novel As I Lay Dying, the illustrated version of Watty Piper's children's book The Little Engine That Could; the film All Quiet on the Western Front; and the standards "Dream a Little Dream of Me" and "Georgia on My Mind," previously recorded by famous acts like The Mamas & the Papas and Ray Charles, respectively.

These and other creative works now in the public domain can be used without permission or payment. However, people should pay close attention to what version of the work is eligible for use.

Fleischer Studios, which appears to own the copyright to the fully developed Betty Boop character, pointed out that the expiration of that copyright does not apply to other Betty Boop copyrights and trademarks still in effect.

While nine early Mickey Mouse cartoons are now in the public domain, the Mickey Mouse character is still subject to enduring rights. (For more on these legal complexities, check out Mashable's story on the arrival of Popeye to the public domain in 2025.)

Here's some of the notable and beloved works entering the public domain in 2026, according to Duke University's Center for the Study of the Public Domain:

Comics, character, and cartoons

• Dizzy Dishes-era Betty Boop

• Rover (aka Pluto) from Disney's animated 1930 film The Chain Gang

• Original Blondie comic strip characters Blondie and Dagwood

• Nine Mickey Mouse cartoons from 1930, plus the first Mickey Mouse comic strips published in 1930

Films

• All Quiet on the Western Front, directed by Lewis Milestone

• Hell's Angels, directed by Howard Hughes

• The Big Trail, directed by Raoul Walsh

• Anna Christie, directed by Clarence Brown

Literature

• William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying

• Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon

• T.S. Eliot's Ash Wednesday

• Bertrand Russell's The Conquest of Happiness

Musical Compositions

• "Georgia on My Mind," written by Stuart Gorrell and Hoagy Carmichael

• "Dream a Little Dream of Me," written by Fabian Andre, Wilbur Schwandt, and Gus Kahn

• "On the Sunny Side of the Street," by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh

• "I Got Rhythm," "I've Got a Crush on You," "But Not for Me," and "Embraceable You," written by Ira Gershwin and George Gershwin

Weekends are perfect for documentaries. There are no spoilers to dodge, no huge commitments, and you're pretty much guaranteed to learn something fascinating or enlightening you can share with your workmates on Monday. It's a good thing, then, that Netflix has a ton of documentaries.

I know what you’re thinking—yeah, the Shield TV is old, but it’s still getting updates! While that’s true for some models, it’s not true for all of them. So, if you’ve upgraded to something new, we’ve got some ideas for that trusty NVIDIA Shield TV sitting in your media cabinet.

When Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri looks into the rapidly approaching future of AI-generated content, he sees a massive problem: how to tell authentic media apart from the kind made with AI technology.

In a recent Threads post on the topic, Mosseri said that social media platforms like Instagram will be under mounting pressure to help users tell the difference. Mosseri argued that major platforms will initially succeed at spotting and labeling AI content, but that they'll begin to falter as AI imitates reality with more precision.

"There is already a growing number of people who believe, as I do, that it will be more practical to fingerprint real media than fake media," Mosseri wrote.

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That "fingerprint" could be created from within cameras themselves, if their manufacturers "cryptographically sign images at capture, creating a chain of custody."

"We need to label AI-generated content clearly, and work with manufacturers to verify authenticity at capture — fingerprinting real media, not just chasing fake," Mosseri added.

Such labeling could help people navigate the AI slop that's flooding the internet. (Mashable's Tim Marcin has explained how we got to this moment.)

Mosseri also wrote that identifying the authenticity of creator content will shape the way people relate to that media: "We need to surface credibility signals about who's posting so people can decide who to trust."

Many people think the Enter key in Excel is just for moving down a row, and Ctrl is for shortcuts like copy or paste. But when used together, Ctrl+Enter unlocks hidden behaviors that change how data hits the grid and how you commit formulas, saving you from the repetitive workflow that slows you down.

These days, we're all yearning for an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090—but two decades ago, it was a whole different story. Some Nvidia GPUs impressed with their immense capabilities, while others turned into a laughing stock and crashed and burned.

Helpers can be very useful in Home Assistant. A Toggle helper is an easy way to turn on Guest Mode, mute notifications, track states, and more. There are plenty of other helpers beyond the Toggle helper, and they can be even more powerful.

With the holiday season comes well-deserved vacations and sometimes, highly anticipated—yet very long—flights. Jet lag is often a side effect of these trips, but with only your phone, you can help your body adjust quickly with a few simple tricks.

When you get a NAS (Network-Attached Storage), there are usually a ton of features at your disposal. In fact, I personally found it intimidating when I first opened the dashboard and started opening dialogs. Now, these are the ones that I make the most use of.

Some people assume that Linux is totally cold and utilitarian. But as a long-time user, I know that Linux can be a real looker. If you'd like to spice up your Linux machine or find a gorgeous replacement for Windows, here are the best-looking distros you can install today.

These days I have a couple Roku Sticks and a pair of Roku TVs, and they handle almost all of my daily streaming. But even after dialing in my setup, including tweaking Roku’s privacy settings to cut down on tracking, one thing still drives me up the wall: buffering. Nothing is more frustrating than sitting down to watch something and seeing that little circle spin again and again.

You've probably seen developers and power users running secondary displays vertically. To me, it always looked weird and unnecessary—we’re used to seeing monitors in landscape orientation. However, once I actually gave portrait mode a real try on my secondary monitor, it was surprisingly hard to look back.

Smartphones are an essential aspect of our lives, and that includes a slew of important apps we all use daily. But there's one app in particular we all probably use the most, and Google's slowly but surely ruining it. Of course, I'm talking about Google Messages, which I have a love-hate relationship with, and here's why.

In a world dominated by wireless accessories, it’s easy to get swept up in the trend—especially when listening to music.

Can't get enough Critical Role after finishing Season 1 of The Mighty Nein or getting all caught up on Campaign 4? Don't worry, we've got you covered.

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In the latest episode of Mashable's Say More interview series, Mashable Entertainment Reporter Belen Edwards tasks Critical Role cast members Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe, Ashley Johnson, Matthew Mercer, Liam O'Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, and Travis Willingham with a daunting mission. They must draft teams of player characters from their first three Dungeons & Dragons campaigns to square off in the ultimate Critical Role battle royale. That means usual allies and even romantic pairings like Keyleth (Ray) and Vax (O'Brien) could be going up against each other in a no-holds-barred fight to the finish.

For this edition of Choose Your Squad, the rules are simple: Once you choose a character, they're off the board for good. Try not to choose your own characters unless you absolutely have to, and most importantly, try to have a good time. Just kidding — crush your opponents in any way you see fit!

Which PC will be the first pick in the Critical Role draft, and are they the same PC O'Brien believes to be the obvious choice? Most importantly, is there any world in which Bertrand Bell (Willingham) doesn't get picked last? (Sorry, Bertrand.)

Watch the video above to find out, and let us know which Critical Role squad you think would take the win.

The Mighty Nein Season 1 is now streaming on Prime Video.

Don’t miss out on our latest stories: Add Mashable as a trusted news source in Google.

Are you tired of monthly software subscriptions eating into your budget? Wondering whether free alternatives can actually match paid tools? Here are three underrated open-source apps that helped me cancel my subscriptions to TickTick, Trello, Google Drive, and Mailchimp.

If you don't have a lot of experience working with the terminal, it might seem like an obtuse or intimidating black box. What you might not know is that the terminal can be fun to use. So much so, that you're inclined to use the command-line over a GUI whenever possible. There is definitely a learning curve and the more you work with the terminal, the more fluent you become. However, there are some commands that everyone should know.

Many people write Excel formulas for the computer, but experts write them for people. If your logic looks like a wall of text, it's a liability. These five simple habit shifts will help you tidy your syntax, simplify your logic, and make your spreadsheets easier to audit.

You don't need to reinstall your whole operating system just because you forgot your Linux login. It's actually pretty easy to reset your Linux password. All you need to know is the username (which is usually visible on the login screen). I'll show you two ways you can reset the password.

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you love a quick read.

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 January 1, 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 January 1, 2026 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

A short story.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no recurring letters.

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

Today's Wordle starts with the letter F.

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...

FABLE

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.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for January 1, 2026

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 today's Wordle.