Technology

As we first reported in early August, Anthropic has bowed to demands from EU legislators that AI-generated text carry a hidden watermark, to help eventually distinguish between human- and AI-generated content. 

The initial watermark rollout only applied to the latest and greatest versions of Claude, but on Friday Anthropic alerted its users that an expansion of the watermark would soon roll out to Claude Mythos 5, Claude Opus 4.7, Claude Opus 4.6 and Claude Sonnet 4.6, starting on November 3. 

According to the AI giant, it will be the same watermarking technology already in use in Opus 5.5, based on "an imperceptible pattern in word choice" that won't change the accuracy or readability of its output, or contain any identifying information about the user or organization working with Claude. 

But it's one thing to worry about the function of artificial intelligence and another to worry about the human element. Lawyers have been caught using AI-generated citations, novelists have been caught relying on AI to write entire books, and scientific researchers have been caught using AI in the peer review process. 

For all the problems solved by AI use, and the mundane busywork it so ably processes in seconds rather than hours, it also creates a powerful incentive for humans to cut corners and lie about it, so it will be interesting to see if widespread watermarking helps keep the human element honest.

Nvidia's RTX Spark and DGX Spark share—more or less—a chip, but that is where the similarities end. The DGX Spark is positioned as a personal AI supercomputer, while the RTX Spark is a Windows laptop or desktop optimized for AI and everyday use.

Serial numbers are unique identifiers that manufacturers use to track warranty coverage, register hardware, and prevent fraud. Because they function as personally identifiable information, you should never post them publicly or share them with unverified support channels.

It's the last stretch of the year, and Hulu is readying to release some of its final new shows and movies of the year. First, several shows that premiered last month are still airing, including Reasonable Doubt season 4 and FX's The Lowdown season 2. Stream all of the episodes you might have missed on Hulu.

Georgia Tech aerospace engineering student Tomas Salvo rocked the internet by sharing video footage of his custom-made Reaper RC drone launching to an astonishing 491 mph (790 kmh) while carrying a payload of 2.6 pounds (1.2 kilograms). According to reporting from Tom's Hardware, it held that incredible speed for a full four minutes, climbing to a maximum height of 6,500 feet, with a total range of 31 miles at full speed.

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His original tweet has now been viewed more than two million times, making it one of Friday's most viral internet posts, but you have to go through his post history to understand the genesis of this project and his greater ambitions. 

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All of that engineering and space-grade technology doesn't come cheap, though. Salvo is estimating his total costs for the project will be roughly $70,000, including $40,000 just on the engines and testing expenses; $6,000 for fuel and fuel systems; and a further $20,000 in contingency expenses to replace damaged parts or redesign and remake underperforming parts. 

His GoFundMe page is seeking to raise $50,000, with more than $16,000 already pledged. If you contribute $500 or more, you can get yourself added to a private email list for future updates, while if you pledge $5,000 or more, you can attend a test flight in person. 

In the immediate future, Salvo wants to compete for the inaugural Boom Prize, announced by Boom Supersonic CEO Blake Scholl, for "the first amateur-built radio controlled airplane to break the sound barrier." The total payout of that prize currently sits at $800,000 ($750,000 in cash and $50,000 in Boom stock), but even at 491 mph, Reaper will need to gain an additional 276 mph in speed to reach Mach 1 and break the sound barrier.

The next test flight of the prototype Reaper M1 is targeted for a late-November, early-December window, but if you want to keep up with Salvo's progress you should follow him on X.

I don't know about you, but over the years, I've accumulated hundreds, if not thousands, of images on my PC. Some of them are photos I took with my Canon Rebel, and others came from photo dumps when my wife or I replaced our phones. As you can imagine, this got pretty messy. I had many different folders filled with images. My biggest frustration is that the filenames are generic, like IMG_1543.jpg. This tells me virtually nothing about what’s in the image, which leaves me scrolling through folders with thumbnails when I'm trying to find a particular image.

You don’t need the internet or cellular reception in order to send and receive messages. With LoRa and a protocol like Meshtastic, you can send messages directly between devices even when none of the conventional networks are working properly.

The first time I gave money to a Linux project felt weird. I'd been playing with one distro or another for a while, never quite figuring it out. Then Ubuntu Linux launched just as I started college, and because we all had bad internet, they sent me an installation disc for free.

I am a fan of both the Anker SOLIX F3800 and its refined follow-up, the F3800 Plus. There’s a row of them in the pantry of my home. So I’m happy to say Anker has released a spiritual successor: the Anker SOLIX S5000. While it’s not better in every way, it improves in the ways that matter most. I'm not a fan of some changes Anker has made to its newer portable power stations, but it has knocked this one out of the park.

If your default browser homepage and search engine keep mysteriously changing to Yahoo!, your computer is probably infected with a browser hijacker. While resetting the browser might seem to fix the problem, here's how to do the job properly.

Ryobi has long been the go-to for weekend DIYers or hardcore hobbyists, but they're hardly the only option in town. I love my Ryobi tools, but you can get similar performance at a wallet-friendly price from several other brands these days. Here are the affordable tools giving Ryobi a run for its money.

Linux Mint was my daily driver for years. It’s stable, friendly, and refreshingly free of drama. But the longer I used it, the more its cautious pace felt like a ceiling. Fedora Workstation is what finally convinced me to leave.

Get an inside look at the world's most powerful X-ray laser at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Stanford, which scientists use to film movies of molecules.

Read more about experimental science and energy technology: They're building floating nuclear power plants
World's largest gun for shooting satellites into space

Timecode chapters
0:00 Introduction to SLAC and LCLS
0:48 Upgrading the particle accelerator
1:45 How cryomodules work
2:23 Cooling below outer space temperatures
3:11 Generating hard X-rays
4:15 Filming “molecular movies” of atoms
5:03 Real-world applications and future experiments

Video credits
Host: Andy Altman
Scripted by: Andy Altman
Producer: Andy Altman
Camera: Celso Bulgatti
Video editor: Jon Gomez
Thumbnail designer: Zooey Liao

The preservation of information has always been a problem throughout history. The burning of the Library of Alexandria caused the permanent loss of so much history and knowledge, that the event itself will, ironically, never be forgotten.

I've been a gamer for as long as I can remember. Over the years, I’ve owned several arcade cabinets, and even built my own. While I do like today's modern games, I really enjoy the nostalgia and simplicity of older arcade and console games. My job always has me trying new software and applications, so when I came across RetroBat, it seemed right up my alley.

Google started the trend of guaranteeing nearly decade-long updates to its flagship Pixel phones a few years ago. After Google Pixel devices, Samsung jumped on the bandwagon too. Now, it's considered standard to see the latest Google and Samsung phones to boast seven-year update promises. I wouldn't be surprised if Android phone makers increased this guarantee to 10 years or more, going head-to-head with Apple's update policy for iPhones.

Your ESP32 project needs firmware to make it do what you want it to. The good news is that you don't need to know how to write complex code; with ESPHome, there are some ESP32 projects that you can set up with just a few clicks in a browser. There's no programming required at all.

When we write about e-readers, Kindle is usually the first name that comes to mind. But in the color e-reader market, Kindle has been late to the party. That delay opened the door for other brands to step in with stronger devices. We’ve rounded up the best color e-readers, and here are the ones that stood out.

Color e-reader price increases

This year has not been good for tech prices. Due to the global memory crisis, prices are increasing on tablets, phones, laptops, and even e-readers. Three out of the four color e-readers on this list increased in price this year. The only e-reader to avoid a price hike was the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft.

Temper your color expectations An e-reader's color won't be quite as vibrant as a tablet's or physical book's. Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mangino

Having tested my way through a lot of e-readers — and now color e-readers — I’ve found a universal truth: While the colors are accurate, they often look a bit washed out. No matter which brand you use, that’s going to be the case. The muted tones don’t outweigh the convenience and portability of color e-readers, but it’s worth tempering your expectations.

Don’t expect the vivid, punchy colors of an iPad screen. An iPad has a max of 500 nits (a measure of brightness), while Kobo and Kindle e-readers max out at 100.

New to this guide:

• As of October 2026, we added the new Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition to this list. While the display and resolution haven't improved, its new aluminum casing makes it a sturdier e-reader.

• In February 2026, we added the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft to this guide. After testing Amazon's latest e-reader, we were thoroughly impressed by both its speed and display.

What about ReMarkable tablets?

You might notice that ReMarkable e-ink tablets are not on this list. We've tested both the ReMarkable Paper Pro and ReMarkable Paper Move, and while they're dynamic digital notebooks, they're limited in their e-reader capabilities. Getting e-books on these devices was a bit of a struggle, and we missed the Libby integrations available on Kindles and Kobos. So while we think they're great e-ink tablets, they're inferior e-readers.

If you don't like the look of the Beats 360 headphones, you might as well click out of this review now.

That's not to say these headphones are only as good as their appearance — they do have their strengths — but if the many colorways Beats started teasing back in June via World Cup players wasn't enough of a hint, a big part of the allure of these Beats are how they look.

After spending a couple of weeks with these headphones, and switching out many an ear cushion and head band, I found myself more impressed with some aspects of these headphones, and surprisingly let down in others. While a solid first attempt at this concept, I have some notes — so let's get into it.

Beats 360 at a glance The pink/blue combo demanded a cute background. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

The new flagship headphones from Beats run for $349.99 (the same intro price as the Beats Studio Pro) and come with the following features:

• Battery life: 32 hours per charge

• Active noise cancellation: Yes

• Microphones: Nine, with eight dedicated to ANC

• IP rating: IPX4

• Connection: Bluetooth 5.3, one-touch pairing for Apple and Google Fast Pair for Android users

• Colors: Black, cloud, sky, pink

The design of the Beats 360 can't be beat (so far) The replaceable components meant allowed me to rock an all pink look. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

The Beats 360 aren't the first over-ear headphones to do swappable components: Dyson's OnTrac headphones launched with replaceable ear plates and cushions back in 2024. They did, however, also cost $499.99 and are less suited to using during exercise than the Beats.

The Beats cushion sets are the main draw of their design. The headphones themselves come in four different colors: black, cloud (cream), pink, and sky (light blue). Each headphone will come with its corresponding color in the Performance Knit cushion set, which closely resembles that found on the AirPods Max 2.

SEE ALSO: The 5 most comfortable headphones we've ever tested

You'll also have the option of purchasing an additional Performance Knit set in one of six different colors: black, cloud, pink, sky, navy, and volt (a neon green-yellow). Then there are two shades of the UltraPlush cushion set, which comes in black and cloud. The UltraPlush is the same faux leather material used on the Beats Studio Pro (and found on most over-ear headphones). That is to say, they're plenty comfortable for longer periods of wear and a nice alternative if you want to reserve the Performance Knit cushions for more high-activity use. All additional kits are priced at $49.99, but launch pricing has these marked down 80% for just $9.99.

The de-cushioned Beats surrounded by three cushioning options. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

It's plenty simple to swap out the cushions, which is why I was surprised by the case. These headphones encourage you to swap them out for different uses throughout the day, yet the magnetic closure case didn't consistently shut properly with an additional cushion set — sometimes it closed just fine, and sometimes I found myself needing to place the headphones and the components in the case just so if I didn't want it to hang open.

With the right positioning of the extra cushions, the case closed without issue. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable But sometimes, despite my best efforts, the case refused to close. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

Another oversight in the design I didn't love was the lack of a headphone jack and lack of USB-C listening functionality. It's not the end of the world, but it can limit listening options, especially while traveling or for anyone interested in lossless audio — a feature supported by the Beats Studio Pro.

Where the Beats 360 could definitely do better

The out-of-box sound on a pair of headphones could literally sound like thousands of angels singing in my ears, but if I'm paying $349.99, I would like the option to adjust my own sound signature. Maybe I want one less angel singing!

It's a concept Apple seems to understand with the recent iOS 27 update, which finally gave the AirPods Pro 3 a custom equalizer, but these Beats were left out of the software update.

Adjustable audio would've gone a long way for these customizable headphones. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

It's unfortunate, especially because the sound on these headphones not only didn't have the whole angel thing going on — it sounded kind of flat and bland, which feels decidedly un-Beats-like. The brand is known for its pumping bass, but here, the mids and vocals take center stage. Case in point: I was not bopping my head along to Lorde's "Supercut," which is a feat I frankly didn't know was possible. On a different point in the genre spectrum, Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" sounded predictably beautiful because it's a Joni Mitchell song — the balance of sound, however, leaned too heavily on her vocals and shrank the guitar into the background. I found myself itching to adjust the equalizer settings while listening to the track.

The ANC isn't bad

Faring better than the sound is the ANC. Though it won't create the cocoon of silence some of Mashable's favorite noise-cancelling headphones are capable of, they'll definitely dim the sounds of a student-packed cafe playing loud punk music (trust me). That said, mid-range priced headphones are facing some serious competition from budget headphones these days, which are getting better and better at providing ANC that punches above its weight class.

The combo of the UltraPlush cushions and ANC made these headphones great for work. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

There's also the presence of some hissing that's somewhat noticeable without music playing — it's not nearly as loud as some cheaper pairs of headphones, but if you're sensitive to ANC that hisses, it's worth noting.

Are the Beats 360 worth it?

At this point, the Beats 360 don't quite have the 360 appeal that they could with a few small changes. The component customization makes it easy to envision a world where these are the headphones people take to the gym instead of AirPods Max, while still being a great pair of headphones to use for work, school, commuting — true all-arounders.

But middling ANC, OK sound, and zero equalizer for $350 makes it hard to recommend these wholeheartedly to the majority of folks, especially when cheaper headphones can manage all of the above, even if they don't feature the same customization. I anticipate that gym rats will love them — I look forward to the next iteration when the rest of us can, too.

Beats 360 $349 at Amazon
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After a year of doomscrolling, endless whiplash-inducing headlines, and too many deepfakes to count, the midterm elections have arrived. 

And whether you're preparing to lock in — staying glued to your phone and prepping your own digital war room — or resisting the urge to tune it all out, you can catch live election coverage on just about any device, anywhere. 

How to watch live broadcast election coverage

Major broadcast news channels ABC and CBS announced they will begin primetime election coverage at 7 p.m. ET on Nov. 3. 

Americans can also tune into NewsNation for live coverage starting at 7 p.m. ET, in partnership with Decision Desk HQ. 

MSNow and Fox News coverage will begin at 6 p.m. ET. 

NBC News' 13-hour live broadcast will begin at 5 p.m. ET.  

CNN, led by anchors Jake Tapper and Anderson Cooper, will begin broadcasting at 4 p.m. ET. 

How to stream live election coverage

From Nov. 2-4, DIRECTV customers can watch live results via its Election HQ, which will provide a 4-channel live news stream and data from The Associated Press. Election HQ is available only on DIRECTV Gemini, Gemini Air, and Genie devices — both broadcast and streaming — not via the app.

Fox One streaming subscribers can log onto the app's new interactive midterm elections hub to follow along with the network's coverage on any compatible device.   

NBC News NOW, ABC News Live, and CBS News 24/7 offer free news streams on desktop and mobile, as well as for app users. 

Peacock 

Peacock subscribers can tune into NBC News Now's coverage right in the app. 

Hulu 

Hulu subscribers, at any tier, can watch ABC News Live. Hulu + Live subscribers can also tune into a range of live news channels, including CNN, CBS News, Fox News, and more.  

YouTube TV

YouTube TV subscribers can watch coverage from local ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox channels, as well as national coverage from outlets like CNN, NewsNation, MSNow, and C-SPAN. 

How to find election coverage online  Twitch and Discord

Election data service Decision Desk HQ will be providing live election results to members of its Discord channel, starting at 5:30 p.m. ET. 

Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who has recently been seen alongside Democratic officials on the campaign trail, will be doing a special Nov. 3 livestream. 

YouTube

C-SPAN will be live-streaming its 20-hour continuous election coverage online and to its YouTube followers, including a joint simulcast of two other popular YouTube shows: The Young Turks and The PBD Podcast. 

Or catch live YouTube streams from CBS News, PBS NewsHour, NBC News Now (with much-loved election watcher Steve Kornacki), and FOX News, among others. 

The All In Podcast will be streaming live midterm election commentary at 7 p.m. ET via the Polymarket app. It will feature guests Taylor Lorenz and former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. 

Podcast options

For night owls: The Atlantic podcast Radio Atlantic announced a live, election night episode with hosts Hanna Rosin and Adam Harris, as well as bipartisan commentators. The broadcast will begin at 9 p.m. ET, and stream on The Atlantic's YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X accounts. 

Tune into your local NPR station to catch the station's live special election coverage, starting at 8 p.m. ET. 

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