Technology

TL;DR: Upgrade your PC for just A$23 with a Microsoft Windows 11 Pro license, on sale for a limited time.

Opens in a new window Credit: Microsoft Microsoft Windows 11 Pro AU$23
AU$307 Save AU$284 Get Deal

Do you have an old computer that could use a refresh? Upgrade its operating system and give it new life with Windows 11 Pro, now just A$23 (reg. A$307) for a limited time.

If you’ve got an older device lying around, you don’t need to shell out hundreds of dollars for a brand-new laptop. Just give it a new lease on life with this Windows 11 Pro upgrade. This new operating system is filled with features that can help you tackle both work and play.

What’s new in Windows 11 Pro?

Microsoft Windows 11 Pro was created with modern professionals in mind, but you don’t have to be tackling work to appreciate the new features. It offers a seamless interface that’s easy to navigate, snap layouts, improved voice typing, and a more powerful search experience everyone can benefit from.

We should all be taking our cybersecurity more seriously, and Windows 11 Pro offers advanced security measures like a biometric login, encrypted authentication, and advanced antivirus defenses to beef up your protection.

Need to get work done? Windows 11 Pro includes Microsoft Teams, and it also offers some unique professional features. Azure AD lets you manage logins and permissions for employees, while Hyper-V makes it possible to create and run virtual machines to test things. You’ll also get Windows Sandbox, a way to test files safely without risking your computer.

If you’d like to ditch the mouse and keyboard, Microsoft Windows 11 Pro gives you the option to go touchscreen. And it also puts Copilot, Microsoft’s AI-powered assistant, right on your desktop.

Once you tackle all your responsibilities, it’s time to start gaming. Windows 11 Pro includes DirectX 12 Ultimate, with graphics that make you feel like you’re right there in the game.

Note: You’ll need 4GB RAM and 40GB of hard drive space to run Windows 11 Pro, and if you’re running Windows 11 but can’t install upgrades via Windows Update, you won’t be able to install this version either.

Elevate your PC experience with this lifetime license to Microsoft Windows 11 Pro, now just A$23 (reg. A$307). Limited time only.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

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 leaflet.

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

FLIER

Hurdle Word 2 hint

To moan.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for July 24, 2025 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

GROAN

Hurdle Word 3 hint

Excited.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 24 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for July 24, 2025 Hurdle Word 3 answer

GIDDY

Hurdle Word 4 hint

Filthy.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for July 24 Hurdle Word 4 answer

DIRTY

Final Hurdle hint

Central.

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

FOCAL

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 hidden from sight tonight as we enter a new phase of the lunar cycle.

The lunar cycle is a series of eight unique phases of the moon's visibility. The whole cycle takes about 29.5 days, according to NASA, and these different phases happen as the Sun lights up different parts of the moon whilst it orbits Earth. 

So, what's happening tonight, July 24, and where are we in the lunar cycle? Keep reading to find out.

What is today’s moon phase?

As of Thursday, July 24, the moon phase is New Moon. This means the moon is not visible at all to us tonight, 0% to be exact (according to NASA's Daily Moon Observation).

It's day 29 of the lunar cycle, and with 0% visibility, there are no mares or craters on the moon's surface within sight.

When is the next full moon?

The next full moon will be on August 9. The last full moon was on July 10.

What are moon phases?

According to NASA, moon phases are caused by the 29.5-day cycle of the moon’s orbit, which changes the angles between the Sun, Moon, and Earth. Moon phases are how the moon looks from Earth as it goes around us. We always see the same side of the moon, but how much of it is lit up by the Sun changes depending on where it is in its orbit. This is how we get full moons, half moons, and moons that appear completely invisible. There are eight main moon phases, and they follow a repeating cycle:

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.

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.

If you haven’t heard of AdultFriendFinder, honestly, consider yourself lucky. This online platform has seriously earned its reputation for being one of the raunchiest and spammiest "dating" sites cluttering the internet.

Sure, the name sounds wholesome and innocent enough, right? But peel back those endless paywalls, and what you find is a digital den packed with X-rated content, questionable profiles, problematic language, and aggressive marketing tactics that seem way more interested in your wallet than your actual experience. They constantly push you to spend more money for basic functions. (Oh, and did I mention it’s also visually offensive? Seriously ugly, aesthetically speaking.)

The best way to describe the AdultFriendFinder website (no app) is through its overall layout, which feels like a relic from the early 2000s. It's a mess of flashing banners, intrusive ads, and a user interface so poorly designed it feels intentionally built to overwhelm and confuse anyone brave enough to sign up. You know that scene in Because I Said So where Diane Keaton’s character awkwardly stumbles upon AdultFriendFinder while trying to vet dates for her daughter? Yeah, that's the energy.

But is there anything redeemable behind the chaos? In this review, we do a deep dive into the AdultFriendFinder experience to figure out exactly how it works (or doesn't), what features it offers, and whether it actually connects people looking for hookups.

This site is for making adult "friends," not friends who are adults. Credit: Screenshot: AdultFriendFinder What is AdultFriendFinder?

AdultFriendFinder is one of the most well-known sites for finding quick sexual encounters, regular hookups, and literally anything else even remotely related to sex. The rowdy feed of matches, jumble of explicit photos, and stimulating calls-to-action offering all types of sex make it heaven for anyone looking for a good time with no filter — and hell for someone who wouldn't be caught dead clicking on a "There are hot singles in your area" ad.

SEE ALSO: Tired of Pornhub? These raunchy dating sites are worthy alternatives.

On AFF, you can find someone to sext via messaging or video chat (and plan to get it on IRL, if that's what you're looking for), watch live streams, or join niche group chat rooms to connect with other members. You can easily view photos and videos from other members, though interacting is often locked behind a paywall. Is it worth $20-something per month? Depends on how much fishy content you're willing to overlook for a juicy sexting session and the ability to actually send messages.

Opens in a new window Credit: AdultFriendFinder AdultFriendFinder Learn More

So, who's actually on this platform? According to SimilarWeb's data for July 2025, AdultFriendFinder pulls in around 11.3 million visits around the world per month. While they might flash huge, questionable stats like "98,897,765 hot photos" and "3,495,277 connections" on their signup page (seriously, what do those even mean?), the actual traffic numbers paint a picture of a site that's seen better days. AdultFriendFinder's ranking has slipped significantly; as of July 2025, it was ranked around 66th in the Adult category in the U.S., a notable drop from previous years. This suggests people might be finding better alternatives elsewhere.

SEE ALSO: Is Tinder Platinum worth it? I tried it for 3 months to find out.

Specifics on the demographic that most people care about — the gender ratio — can be hard to track down. According to SimilarWeb, the audience is roughly 78 percent male and 22 percent female. This kind of imbalance is pretty common on hookup-focused sites. It means it's likely a paradise if you're a straight man, maybe hit-or-miss if you're a straight woman or LGBTQ man, and probably an actual hellscape if you're an LGBTQ woman trying to navigate it.

On the flip side, AFF does let you identify as and search for a man, woman, a couple, or trans. They've made some attempts to be a "sex-positive" site with blogs, groups, and even a "sex academy." However, their language around the LGBTQ community has historically been anything but inclusive or positive. Previously, the AFF sign-up page listed "TG/TV/TS" as the "trans" gender selection — we'll let you infer what those stand for. After reaching out to AdultFriendFinder about it, this language has improved somewhat with more gender options that are appropriately labeled, though "trans" is still a separate selection from "man" or "woman," which feels more like fetishization than inclusivity.

To their credit, they do offer a handful of sexual orientation options beyond just straight or gay, which is a small positive. But honestly, for a site trying so hard to be sex-positive, having a variety of sexual orientations represented shouldn't exactly be a groundbreaking surprise.

The sexual oreintation selection is a bit more inclusive than the "searching for" section. Credit: Screenshot: AdultFriendFinder Is AdultFriendFinder legit?

As far as legitimacy goes, AdultFriendFinder is a real site with real users. However, the question is whether you can really find what you're looking for there, or if you'll mostly find a bunch of bots and scammers. Many users report that it feels like a scam site due to the number of fake profiles and the pressure to spend more money. Compared to other legit sites, its reputation is definitely questionable.

Because AFF is pretty spammy, it's hard to tell how many active members are actually using the site. The Trustpilot score isn't reassuring either.

SEE ALSO: 10 fastest-growing fetishes of 2025 so far

From the start, AdultFriendFinder makes it clear that it's not really aiming to build long-term relationships. The site emphasizes casual hookups and even allows for explicit content, so users know what they're getting into. But if you're looking for something more than just a one-night stand, you might want to consider other platforms.

One of the biggest turnoffs for potential users is that so many features are locked behind a paywall. While you can technically sign up for free, you can't do much beyond browse profiles or view photos from other members. Free members have very limited interaction options; you typically need to upgrade to send messages or see anything substantial. There’s also a brand-new age verification feature that won’t let you past the home page unless you verify you’re actually of age. You can either take a photo of your face to confirm your age or upload a valid photo ID that confirms your birth date. (Honestly, we’re glad they’re at least trying to protect minors from seeing anything they shouldn’t be seeing or connecting with pervy older people.)

There's brand-new age verification feature that won’t let you past the home page unless you verify you’re actually of age. Credit: Screenshot: AdultFriendFinder How does AdultFriendFinder work?

Signing up takes like 30 seconds. Seriously, just an email, username, password, and a quick intro will do. Of course, you'll have to go through the age verification process too, but it's pretty quick.

Once you're in, brace yourself for the instant notification spam; apparently, a gray silhouette is enough to attract attention here. To even think about connecting with someone real, you absolutely have to add photos and details to your profile — essentially, prove you're not just another bot contributing to the noise.

AdultFriendFinder features a personality questionnaire to personalize your profile and up your chances of finding a compatible match. Credit: Screenshot: AdultFriendFinder

After registering, there are a ton of ways to personalize your account (way more than you'd expect for a hookup site, honestly). The more you fill out, the better your chances of meeting someone (and improving your sex life). There are the basic physical appearance questions about eye and hair color, and since I identified as a woman, cup size was an option. (If you identify as a man, I'm sure you can guess what question they ask.)

SEE ALSO: How to unblock Xnxx porn for free

The site also features a Personality Type test and a "My Kinks" form where you can select whether or not you're "curious about, into, or can't live without" a certain kink (e.g., anal, bondage, role play, etc.). It also lets you choose whether you're a voyeur, the giver, or the receiver.

One weird thing about the Personality Type test is that it asks several questions about whether or not you enjoy shopping at discount stores — not really sure what that's about. It also asks whether or not "a quiet time for prayer should be allowed in school." You can choose "strongly disagree, somewhat disagree, somewhat agree, or strongly agree."

Once you finish the personality test (20 questions), you can opt to have your Personality Type show up on your profile or have it hidden. It will also show you which personality types complement yours.

Credit: Screenshot: AdultFriendFinder Matching on AdultFriendFinder: What to expect

Here’s what you can expect when you're looking for a connection:

• Like a traditional dating site, AFF throws a collage of potential matches at you, showing who's online or nearby. But any resemblance to a "traditional" site stops there.

• You barely have to scroll before noticing that there's no shortage of nudity. Depending on whether you set your preferences to men, women, or both, you'll see all of that stuff up close, personal, swinging around, in action. You name it, it'll pop up.

• You can try to refine your results by gender, age, location, race, sexual orientation, body type, etc., but good luck making a dent in the sheer volume of profiles (real or otherwise).

• The message section looks weirdly like old Gmail. You'll get a mix of messages; some might be genuinely friendly, but expect a fair share of instant, crude ones too. It's the online dating equivalent of creeps on Tinder, but amplified.

SEE ALSO: Tinder releases yet another feature to stop inappropriate messages How much does AdultFriendFinder cost?

You can do a decent amount of looking without paying (this includes browsing profiles, getting limited messages, and hitting up some chat rooms). But hit any of that "juicier hidden content" or try to actually talk to someone, and you'll smack into a paywall or the site's non-monetary currency, "points." You earn points through activity on the free version, which is kind of like playing a mini-game just to unlock basic functionality.

To really get anywhere, especially if you're a guy looking for women (as some on Reddit noted, women prefer paid members for perceived credibility), you'll need a Gold membership. The prices bounce around a bit, but generally, the longer you commit, the cheaper the monthly rate. Expect to pay around $27.95 for one month, about $20.95 per month for three months, or roughly $14.95 per month if you go for a full year.

Credit: Screenshot: AdultFriendFinder

The site shoves other add-ons at you, too, including features like "Voyeur" for enhanced viewing, "Interaction" for better messaging (yes, paying extra to message better), "Chat Plus," and "Advanced Search." These layer on costs, meaning the price you see for Gold might not be the actual price of a usable experience.

AdultFriendFinder also gives members the option to confirm their identity with ConfirmID. If you do this, the site promises to give you two weeks of Gold for free. The ConfirmID works by entering your legal first and last name, home address, gender, and date of birth, and uploading a copy of your driver's license, passport, or other government-issued ID.

If you spend more quality time on the site than expected, springing for a paid membership is definitely something to consider. Once you're paying, you basically become royalty on the site: Your profile will appear way higher in searches, you can use the most advanced searches, unlock profiles with private photo albums, check out video profiles, and message to your heart's content. A general rule is that increased involvement and payment on your end generally equals more success on the website, as your constant activity and heightened searchability make it easier for others to find you.

So, does AdultFriendFinder work?

Once you get past the in-your-face sexplosion of naked profile pictures, horny AIM-era profile names, and explicit videos, the big question is: Does AdultFriendFinder actually work? Like, can you realistically log on and find what you're looking for? The short answer is... maybe, but probably not as well as you'd hope.

Let's put it this way: AFF might work if you are very open-minded, specifically looking to blow off steam with casual sex or explore niche kinks, and you're completely over the slow pace of traditional dating sites. It has a ton of activities, ranging from direct messaging, sending virtual gifts and tips, watching live videos of people in your feed, joining adult chat rooms that can get very niche, or entering photo contests.

Aside from the NSFW content, the website is relatively straightforward (albeit ugly). Every feature is advertised in big letters, notifications are displayed clearly with labels, and you don't really have to click around to find anything. This makes it super accessible for users of all ages, even those who aren't tech-savvy and can't even figure out Facebook. Buttons are all over the place, but you figure it out after messing around for a few minutes.

AdultFriendFinder is like a PornHub that you can interact with.

Think of AdultFriendFinder as the dating site version of New York City — it never sleeps. It's like that booty call who's always awake when you text them. Or at least that used to be the case... 10 years ago. What was once a hot site that a few Reddit users were quick to hype up is now one of the dating sites that Reddit users can't help but diss — in the few instances that AFF is even being discussed at all. It's notable that, on a site where online dating is such a mammoth topic of discussion, AdultFriendFinder has rarely been mentioned in a positive light since the early 2010s. The Reddit community is diverse and open-minded; if a dating site exists, someone on Reddit has used it and has an opinion. When an innocent soul does ask if it's legit, AFF usually gets dragged for sketchy pricing and being riddled with fake profiles.

However, some Reddit members have praised AFF as a site for men meeting men. Even so, the site's still buggy and isn't exactly great for meeting real people who aren't, as one Reddit user so eloquently put it, "busted and unstable."

SEE ALSO: Is Bumble Premium worth it? I tried it for 2 months to find out. Good for: Very open-minded people looking to blow off steam

Stating the obvious, AdultFriendFinder is a space for people who want to bang with no strings attached, people who are in a sexual rut, people who are tired of porn, and people who find sites like eharmony boring. Getting to know someone for weeks before meeting up can be exhausting, and sometimes, you want to skip the small talk and do the dirty with a random. It's gonna get kinky out there, and that's great for those who are dying to blow off steam and want someone who will respond well to a brusque, sexy message.

As with all dating sites, catfishing is a big buzzkill. Your chances of being pursued are way higher if you have a lot of pictures of the same person (AKA you), videos, and a genuine profile that lets people know they're not dealing with something sketchy. Even if you've had bad luck with online dating in the past, AdultFriendFinder is the place to be honest.

SEE ALSO: What is consensual non-monogamy? Bad for: People looking for a real relationship and the entire socially conscious community

If you're a cynic, conservative by any means, get sketched out easily, or aren't a fan of dick pics, you'll probably hate it. Similarly, if you appreciate a well-crafted, aesthetically pleasing website that feels safe, no matter how badly you want to have sex, one glance at the landing page likely signals that it's not for you.

AdultFriendFinder is not the place to be if you're trying to make friends unless "with benefits" is tacked onto the end. Every inch of the site screams: "This website is used to have sex," and you should really listen to that.

As illustrated by the flood of artsy activism guides on Instagram in recent years, it's clear what content appeals to young people on the internet: Something aesthetically pleasing, shareable, and digestible. The "shareable" part doesn't totally apply to online dating, but apps like Hinge and OkCupid closely follow this design trend by limiting the number of words (and ads) in each tab, steering clear of endless scrolling, and ensuring that important info isn't cluttered with flashing clickbait.

AFF could do so much more to make people take it seriously

We're not knocking a quick hookup or no-strings-attached relations. This isn't about morals. Genitals are quite literally in your face from the moment you make an account, and that's just not cute. There are chiller ways to go about insinuating that this is a hookup website without feeling like you're trapped in a sex dungeon with strangers.

I could not get past the fact that the entire site looks like it's about to invite five viruses to your computer. We're talking terrible graphics that look like they were made on Microsoft Paint and pictures of women who look like they're from Pornhub in 2007. (That's when AdultFriendFinder was officially sold and rebranded from its original parent company.) Reddit user Snoo53279 summed it up in a comment from July 2020: "The people on AFF are definitely real, but there is a huge smattering of bots that also get in the way, so it can be a bit of a PITA to use." If they're not bots, they could be men posing as a couple to seem less threatening.

The parade of women on the landing page is questionable for two reasons. This shouldn't even need to be clarified, but not everyone is looking for a woman. At the least, the advertising isn't inclusive — but this crosses into fetishization territory. The cherry on top is that the women in the photos (unsurprisingly) probably aren't even members of the site, according to a disclaimer at the bottom of the landing page.

SEE ALSO: What is cockfishing? Why some men lie about their size on dating apps.

AdultFriendFinder's overall outdated vibe goes past an aesthetic annoyance — it's downright problematic at times. The lack of inclusivity for the LGBTQ+ community is nearly unforgivable, and we'd be scared to see some of the related rhetoric that AFF users feel comfortable spewing. Without even a dash of social awareness, it's hard to see how anyone who's not an out-of-touch straight cis man would feel comfortable on this site.

Attempting to navigate the shoddy design might be enough to smother your horniness. Three main issues can make the site borderline unusable: It looks shady as hell, an alarming portion of the user base is made up of bots and spam accounts, and the user interface itself is outdated and rife with bugs.

Adding to the sketchiness, a network hack in 2016 exposed around 412 million accounts, including "deleted" accounts that weren't actually deleted from the database. If this is enough reason for you to fall back on Tinder for finding a friend with benefits, we don't blame you. Signing up with a burner email and avoiding using your real name as a username are wise moves (pick a naughty word and add 69 to the end, IDK), though keeping your personal information private is hard when credit cards are involved.

In 2007, AFF was involved in a lawsuit with the FTC over allegations that the site used malware to send explicit pop-up ads to computers owned by people who hadn't signed up for the service. Though we haven't seen reports like this recently, so we're hoping those ridiculous ads you see are at least confined to people who actually use the site.

AdultFriendFinder alternatives

Given AdultFriendFinder's... challenges... you're probably wondering where else you can look for casual connections or kink exploration online. While AFF might feel slightly more "legit" than sites with names that scream spam (you know the ones), there are definitely much better places to spend your time and money.

Here are a few alternatives that offer a significantly better experience:

• Pure: Think of Pure as a more modern, less eyeball-assaulting option for no-strings-attached hookups. It has a sleek, "hella-millennial" design (way better than AFF's retro mess) and features like self-destructing messages and profiles that disappear after an hour, giving it a casual, in-the-moment feel. It's basically a sexier, more private Snapchat for hookups.

• Feeld: If you're a single or couple looking for group sex, polyamory, or exploring LGBTQ+ friendly dynamics, Feeld is a much better bet than navigating AFF's often problematic space. It's designed for open-minded individuals and couples and is generally praised for being more inclusive (though it had some bugs after a recent update, which seem to be getting addressed). It skips the unicorn hunting and rampant fetishization found elsewhere.

• Mainstream Apps (like Hinge or OkCupid): While not strictly hookup-focused, even mainstream apps offer a more palatable and less spammy user experience. Their design is cleaner, there's less ad overload, and they prioritize clear information over flashing explicit content, which some users might find a relief compared to AFF's chaos.

Ultimately, you have options that are more modern, more inclusive, and simply less likely to make you feel like you need a virus scan after logging on.

SEE ALSO: Best hookup apps and dating sites to find casual sex with no strings attached The final verdict: Is AdultFriendFinder worth it?

AdultFriendFinder is a low-pressure way to find a friends-with-benefits situation without insulting anyone. Everyone is pretty much there for the same reason, and though it'll feel pretty unorthodox if you've only ever used Tinder to scope this type of thing out, AFF's blunt advertising at least means you won't have to explain that you're not looking for a relationship. It's niche-friendly and has a ton of interactive outlets to indulge your primal urges.

But that freedom comes with a price — the price is feeling like one of those people who fall for the ads that pop up before a free Pornhub video. It's not that a site dedicated to sex and sexting is inherently scammy — it's that AdultFriendFinder drowns you with explicit photos on profiles that might not even be real people while asking you to pay for a subscription with every click.

Unfortunately, no matter how in the mood you are, some people aren't cut out for the nothing-left-to-the-imagination approach with grammar mistakes all over the place. It wants to be sex-positive so badly, but the language the site has used in reference to the trans community is the furthest thing from that.

The site's functionality and safety aren't where they need to be in 2025. If security measures were tightened, graphics and photos were cleaned up to feel more relevant, and decision-makers behind the scenes were given a lesson in inclusivity and pronouns/identities, AdultFriendFinder could be a handy tool to find attachment-free hookups and connect with a community that's down for anything.

This isn't a dating or hookup site we would personally use, but if you're feeling brave, you can register for AdultFriendFinder here. Just don't try this at work.

Opens in a new window Credit: AdultFriendFinder AdultFriendFinder Learn More

A number of Reddit users say that Google’s smart home ecosystem is falling apart — another casualty of what’s been dubbed "enshittification." A July 21 Reddit thread has drawn hundreds of comments from users venting about how unreliable Google Home smart speakers and hubs have become in recent years.

"We had a good run with Google Home, but it’s been on its way out for almost two years," one user wrote. "I only try to do the very basics with mine now, and I’m happy to have lighting, outlets, and inaccurate weather."

Other Redditors echoed these frustrations: voice commands being misheard, delayed responses, multi-room speaker setups breaking, and basic functionality deteriorating. Features that once "just worked" now frequently don’t.

So what’s going wrong?

SEE ALSO: Google is reportedly pursuing AI licensing deals with news publishers

Aging hardware could be to blame for some user complaints. In April, Google officially dropped update support for its first- and second-generation Nest thermostats to focus on newer models. Around the same time, it also cut off support for third-party smart displays. Another theory points to Google’s increasing reliance on AI in the smart home experience — particularly how large language models like Gemini are less adept at understanding context.

In response to Mashable's questions, a Google representative pointed us to an X post by Anish Kattukaran, Chief Product Officer of Google Home and Nest, who responded directly to the complaints:

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

Kattukaran added, "We hear you loud and clear and are committed to getting this right -- and making sure we have a long term solution that provides better reliability and capability. We have been actively working on major improvements for sometime and will have more to share in the fall."

For users watching their devices quietly degrade over time, their concern is clear: what was once a reliable smart home platform now feels like a slow, silent phase-out.

"The best example of this, for me, is asking ‘what’s this song?’ while I have music playing," one user explained. "Originally, the assistant understood I was listening to music and would tell me what was playing. After some backend change years ago, it just started telling me that ‘This Song’ is a track by George Harrison."

That shift reflects a known weakness in modern large language models like Gemini: limited context windows, which restrict their ability to handle ongoing, situational interactions.

"I guarantee they’ll shove Gemini into all the existing Google Home things," another user complained. "And then instead of 25% of the time getting an error, you’ll get ‘I’m sorry but I’m just a large language model and cannot support that feature yet’ 60% of the time."

Researchers at Meta have developed a wristwatch-style tool that can interact with devices using hand gestures — or even a thought.

As the company detailed in a blog post, the Bluetooth device lets users control a computer with their "hand resting comfortably at [their] side." It allows the user to do obvious things like move a cursor around, but users can also type out messages by writing out the letters in the air.

The device operates using "surface electromyography," a non-invasive way to track the electrical activity of muscles.

"Based on our findings, we believe that surface electromyography (sEMG) at the wrist is the key to unlocking the next paradigm shift in human-computer interaction (HCI)," the company said in the blog post.

Meta researchers also published a research paper about the device in the Nature science journal, which explained the new technology in slightly more complex terms — "Here, we describe the development of a generic non-invasive neuromotor interface that enables computer input decoded from surface electromyography (sEMG)."

View this post on Instagram SEE ALSO: The EU just issued guidelines for AI safety, and Meta is already opting out

According to Meta researchers, this breakthrough is possible in large part because of machine learning and AI.

"Our neural networks are trained on data from thousands of consenting research participants, which makes them highly accurate at decoding subtle gestures across a wide range of people," the Meta blog post stated.

In fact, Meta said this process was so effective that the device can even recognize your intent to perform a gesture, which could let you control a device simply by thinking. As Thomas Reardon, one of the authors of the Meta research paper, told the New York Times, “You don’t have to actually move...You just have to intend the move.”

The wrist device could make computers more accessible to people with mobility challenges. That's because the device seems much less invasive than something like Neuralink, given that Meta's device doesn't require something to be implanted directly in your brain.

Of course, Meta's blog post didn't give the device a name, price, or release date. It seems much more experimental in nature than something that's intended for mass market adoption in the near future. We'll keep you posted if that changes.

Depending on how you count them, there have been 15 major versions of Windows, with Microsoft's inconsistent naming scheme resulting in the current version of Windows being Windows 11—go figure.

TL;DR: Watch MLS All-Stars vs. Liga MX All-Stars in the 2025 MLS All-Star Game for free on Apple TV. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Football fans really don't get any time to rest and recover. We've only just made it through the Club World Cup and Concacaf Gold Cup, and Women's Euro 2025 is still ongoing. Can we squeeze in another top-quality game involving some of the best players in the world? Of course we can.

The 2025 MLS All-Star Game brings together North America's top leagues for an epic showdown. The biggest stars from MLS and Liga MX will battle it out in Austin. The MLS All-Star team is expected to include the likes of Diego Rossi, Hirving Lozano, and Evander. James Rodríguez, Alexis Vega, Sergio Ramos, and other big names could line up for the Liga MX All-Stars.

If you want to watch MLS All-Stars vs. Liga MX All-Stars in the 2025 MLS All-Star Game for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is MLS All-Stars vs. Liga MX All-Stars?

MLS All-Stars vs. Liga MX All-Stars in the 2025 MLS All-Star Game kicks off at 9 p.m. ET on July 23. This fixture takes place at the Q2 Stadium.

How to watch MLS All-Stars vs. Liga MX All-Stars for free

MLS All-Stars vs. Liga MX All-Stars is available to live stream for free on Apple TV.

Apple TV is providing free access to the 2025 MLS All-Star Game and All-Star Skills Challenge. If you cannot access this free live stream on your network, you can use a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in another country, meaning you can unblock free live streams on platforms like Apple TV from anywhere in the world.

Access a free live stream of the 2025 MLS All-Star Game by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in the U.S.

4. Visit Apple TV

5. Stream MLS All-Stars vs. Liga MX All-Stars from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can gain access to free live streams without committing with your cash. This is obviously not a long-term solution, but it does give you time to watch MLS All-Stars vs. Liga MX All-Stars before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for Apple TV?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries

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• Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure

• Fast connection speeds

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• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.95 (including money-back guarantee).

Watch MLS All-Stars vs. Liga MX All-Stars for free with ExpressVPN.

Nothing is going all-in on AI with its new CMF 3 Pro smartwatch.

Available for purchase now for $79.99, the CMF Watch 3 Pro brings a lot of fitness tracker features to the table, including a dual-band five-system GPS setup for more precise tracking, a four-channel heart rate sensor for more accurate readings, blood oxygen monitoring, stress tracking, 130 activity modes, and more. But perhaps the biggest feature of the smartwatch is its AI integration, specifically when it comes to ChatGPT.

The new Nothing smartwatch. Credit: Nothing SEE ALSO: Using ChatGPT to write? MIT study says there's a cognitive cost.

The device has fully integrated ChatGPT into its design, allowing you to ask the chatbot questions, set reminders, record voice notes, and perform other tasks with simple voice prompts. The voice recorder can also auto-transcribe conversations or notes. On its face, this may not seem like big news, but it's actually worth noting that many big-name smartwatches only offer ChatGPT through awkward workarounds. The Apple Watch can only access ChatGPT via third-party apps, or by asking Siri to access ChatGPT.

The CMF Watch 3 Pro cuts out the middleman, giving users direct access to the AI chatbot. The wearable even lets you use AI-generated watch faces to customize its look.

This isn't the first Nothing product to tout ChatGPT integration — the Nothing Ear (a) buds also have this feature, as do the newly released Nothing headphones.

Whether this is a positive and genuinely helpful feature remains to be seen, but what we can say is that every AI wearable we've seen up to this point — like the Rabbit R1 and Humane AI Pin — has been an utter failure. Will Nothing's CMF Watch 3 Pro join that list? Maybe, but one thing is certain: AI wearables are becoming more mainstream, for better or worse.

Opens in a new window Credit: Nothing Nothing CMF Watch 3 Pro $79 at Amazon
$99 Save $20 Get Deal

Amazon may have just found its own version of Fitbit.

Well, sort of, anyway, in the sense that it just bought a company that makes wearables for your wrist. That company is Bee, a startup that makes a $50 AI wearable. Bee co-founder and CEO Maria de Lourdes Zollo announced the acquisition in a post on LinkedIn this week, and Amazon confirmed the deal in a statement to TechCrunch, which noted that the deal is still being finalized. The terms of the deal are not yet public at the time of writing.

As of Wednesday, the Bee website included a statement that read, "Bee is joining Amazon! We’re incredibly grateful to our customers and community and we’re excited to continue our journey with you."

So, what the heck is Bee?

The startup makes a $50, screen-free, always-on, AI-powered wearable microphone that you can wear on your wrist or clip to your clothing. It looks a little like a Fitbit fitness tracker, except this wearable is always listening (unless you manually mute it) and collecting data on your tasks, habits, and relationships. Using this data, Bee can create to-do lists and daily summaries for you in a mobile app.

Credit: Bee SEE ALSO: AI-generated songs are showing up under deceased artists on Spotify

There are some interesting implications here. One is that Amazon might be looking into wearables and portable AI assistants, which until now have largely lived in Alexa-powered devices that are rooted at home. Another perhaps more important concern is that of privacy; these devices are always listening by design, making them potential privacy nightmares.

According to Bee's policies, the company doesn't store any audio data on servers and users can delete their personal data. Amazon's plans for Bee are unknown, but Echo devices recently stopped allowing for local storage, and Ring has a controversial history with privacy.

While big companies like Amazon and OpenAI are investing in AI devices, this product category has struggled to attract actual customers. Just think of high-profile failures like the Rabbit R1 and the Humane AI pin. Those devices both cost hundreds of dollars, while Bee's device is just $50, so maybe Bee can make headway where Rabbit and Humane could not. At any rate, Silicon Valley isn't done trying.

In a post on Linkedin, Zollo wrote, "Bee is joining Amazon and we couldn’t be more excited! When we started Bee, we imagined a world where AI is truly personal, where your life is understood and enhanced by technology that learns with you. What began as a dream with an incredible team and community now finds a new home at Amazon."

The desktop Linux ecosystem has been slowly migrating from X11 to Wayland, which is leaving behind some desktop environments. The Wayback project aims to fix that, and it has just reached its first preview release.

Video games have improved in countless ways over the decades, but I still miss many of the retro genres and franchises that have seemingly died off. Thankfully, plenty of newer releases have been keeping the spirit of retro gaming alive and thriving, and some are responsible for the recent revivals of gaming's long-lost genres.

Your Galaxy phone’s lock screen is about to get even more useful. Samsung's “Now Bar,” one of our favorite new One UI features, will soon be expanding its reach dramatically. And if you own a Galaxy Z Flip, you're in for an extra treat.

Meta introduced new safety tools for teen accounts on Wednesday, along with stats that show the impact of their latest safety features.

In a blog post, Meta said that it removed approximately 635,000 Instagram accounts earlier this year, part of a larger effort to make Instagram safer for teens.

The new features include the option for teens to view Safety Tips, to block and report accounts with just one button, and to view the date a person joined Instagram, which is all "designed to give teens age-appropriate experiences and prevent unwanted contact."

Credit: Meta

"At Meta, we work to protect young people from both direct and indirect harm. Our efforts range from Teen Accounts, which are designed to give teens age-appropriate experiences and prevent unwanted contact, to our sophisticated technology that finds and removes exploitative content," the platform said in a press release. "Today, we’re announcing a range of updates to bolster these efforts, and we’re sharing new data on the impact of our latest safety tools."

However, Common Sense Media Founder and CEO James P. Steyer told Mashable that to protect kids online, Meta's measures are "too little, too late."

"For years, the company has prioritized the relentless pursuit of profits over our kids’ safety, ignoring repeated warnings from parents, experts, and even its own employees. These new features are a small, reactive concession that wouldn’t be necessary if Meta had been proactive about taking responsibility in the first place," Steyer said.

Meta makes moves to protect teens and kids on Instagram Credit: Meta

Teens on Instagram blocked accounts one million times in June and reported another one million after seeing a Safety Notice on Instagram, Meta reported. Last year, the company implemented a new nudity protection feature that blurs suspicious images. Now, the company says the vast majority — 99 percent — keep the tool activated. In June, over 40 percent of those blurred images stayed blurred, "significantly reducing exposure to unwanted nudity," the blog post read. Meta recently started giving users a warning when they attempted to forward a blurred image, asking them to "think twice before forwarding suspected nude images." And in May, 45 percent of people who saw the warning didn't forward the blurred message.

The platform is also implementing protections for adult-managed Instagram accounts that feature — or represent — children. Among those protections are the new Teen Account protections and additional notifications about privacy settings. The company says it will also stop these accounts from showing up as recommendations for adult accounts with suspicious behavior. Finally, the company will bring its Hidden Words feature to these kid-focused accounts, which should help prevent sexualized comments from appearing on these accounts' posts.

As part of these teen safety efforts, Meta has removed "nearly 135k violating Instagram accounts that were sexualizing these accounts," and 500,000 accounts "that were linked to the original accounts," according to the blog post.

This move from Meta is part of its continued efforts to make Facebook and Instagram safer for kids and teens — but it also comes as the company successfully lobbied to stall the Kids Online Safety Act in 2024. The Kids Online Safety Act was reintroduced this year, despite, according to Politico, a "concerted Meta lobbying campaign" to keep the bill out of Congress. Meta opposes the bill because it says it violates the First Amendment, although critics argue that its opposition is financially motivated.

SEE ALSO: Facebook to crack down on unoriginal, copycat content

This announcement comes after Meta announced it removed 10 million fake profiles impersonating creators as part of a broader push to clean up users' Facebook Feeds.

UPDATE: Jul. 23, 2025, 8:55 p.m. EDT This article has been updated with a quote from Common Sense Media Founder and CEO James P. Steyer.

The issue of states regulating — or not regulating — AI is back in a big way.

On Wednesday, the White House unveiled the AI Action Plan, its highly-anticipated report identifying key areas for federal AI policies. The plan largely focuses on pulling back restrictions for tech companies in order to foster AI innovation and secure the U.S. as a global industry powerhouse. Part of these recommendations laid out in the sweeping report bring back policies that look an awful lot like the AI moratorium that Republicans tried to pass in the Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The Senate voted 99-1 to remove the proposed 10-year ban on state regulation of AI from the budget bill. But the AI Action Place looks to bring it back, citing "states with burdensome AI regulations that waste [federal] funds" as bureaucratic barriers to AI prosperity.

In the section titled "Remove Red Tape and Onerous Regulation," the plan advises the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to "work with Federal agencies that have AI-related discretionary funding programs to ensure... that they consider a state’s AI regulatory climate when making funding decisions and limit funding if the state’s AI regulatory regimes may hinder the effectiveness of that funding or award."

Essentially, the plan seeks to give agencies the power to withhold federal funding based on whether states align with the Trump Administration's AI regulatory strategy.

The AI moratorium is back

"This is the AI moratorium, redux," Cody Venzke, Senior Policy Counsel, Surveillance, Privacy, and Technology for the ACLU told Mashable in an email. Despite the Senate's almost unanimous rejection of the proposal, "the Administration is nonetheless looking to give AI companies a blank check," said Venzke. "Although the legal mechanisms might differ, the effect is the same: it opens the door to AI harms that are already occurring, and negating states are already stepping up." 

Critics of the AI moratorium said it would erase states' abilities to protect their residents from AI harms. Those condemning this section of the AI Action Plan echoed those same concerns. "In the absence of Congressional action, states must be permitted to move forward with rules that protect consumers," said Grace Gedye, policy analyst for AI issues at Consumer Reports. "Today’s action leaves states in a lurch; it’s unclear which state laws will be considered 'burdensome' and which federal funds are on the line."

Some industry experts, like Gabriel Weil, a professor at Touro Law Center, are raising questions about the AI Action Plan's lack of specifics.

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Tying state AI regulation to federal funding was the final iteration of Republicans' AI moratorium. The proposal that was rejected by the Senate offered $500 million in federal broadband funding if states voluntarily opted for the moratorium. Before being voted down, it was ultimately softened to offer financial incentives instead of enforcing an outright ban on states' legislative abilities. The AI Action Plan has taken a similar approach of offering a carrot instead of a stick, but with the stick looming nearby.

"This is also incredibly dangerous; this administration has regularly used federal funds as a cudgel to attack state and local policies they disagree with, often doing so without transparency or due process," said Venzke, who added that such policies could impact any number of "AI-related" funds from education to rural communities building broadband access.

Feds overstepping?

The AI Action Plan also advises the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to evaluate whether "state AI regulations interfere with the agency’s ability to carry out its obligations and authorities," invoking the Communications Act of 1934. This law gives the FCC authority to ensure that all Americans have access to telecommunication services. Yet, Venzke is skeptical that the FCC's authority extends to overruling AI state regulation in this area. "The FCC's authority generally does not include the services that ride on those lines or airwaves, like websites, social media, TV programs, or apparently even broadband service," he said.

Venzke also questions whether the president has the authority to conditionally offer federal funding without states' consent. "Likewise, the Executive Branch can only impose conditions on funds if Congress permits it by law — there is no reason to believe that Congress gave that permission for many of the programs that are likely to be impacted," he added.

Another way of framing the state AI legislation issue is as prudent oversight of how states can effectively manage federal funding, as one X user noted. Plus, "at the moment, it’s hard to identify any significant source of 'AI-related federal funding' to states, although this could change in the future," wrote Charlie Bullock, senior research fellow for the Institute for Law and AI. "This being the case, it will likely be difficult for the federal government to offer states any significant inducement towards deregulation unless it first offers them new federal money."

However, Venzke notes that privacy laws, broadband deployment, technology development funds, and deepfake laws are among the state programs that could be affected.

For now, it seems that states with concerns about AI's proliferation — from its impact on education to the job market to environmental degradation — better start making plans to evade the federal government's reach.

IntelliJ is one of the most popular integrated development environments (IDEs) out there, with a focus on Java and Kotlin. And now, it's getting even better with the addition of a few new changes that will make the experience better.

Super Mario Bros. was the first video game I played. It was the winter of 1995, and I was at my kindergarten buddy’s birthday party. I got hooked the moment I took the controller. I’ve replayed it countless times since, as well as many other Nintendo classics, many of which have a special place in my heart.

The Amazon Fire TV 65” Omni QLED Series 4K UHD Smart TV has just hit its lowest price ever, dropping to a shockingly low $450 at Amazon. That's a massive 38% off its regular price of $720, saving you a whopping $270. This kind of deal for this TV hasn't been seen since Prime Day, so it's great for those who missed it.

If you're one of the few who know about and take advantage of AT&T's Photo Storage feature, which is a free cloud backup option similar to Google Photos or iCloud, we have some bad news. This week, AT&T and its partner Asurion announced that the service will stop working in October.

The Food and Drug Administration's new AI tool — touted by Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as a revolutionary solution for shortening drug approvals — is initially causing more hallucinations than solutions.

Known as Elsa, the AI chatbot was introduced to help FDA employees with daily tasks like meeting notes and emails, while simultaneously supporting quicker drug and device approval turnaround times by sorting through important application data. But, according to FDA insiders who spoke to CNN under anonymity, the chatbot is rife with hallucinations, often fabricating medical studies or misinterpreting important data. The tool has been sidelined by staffers, with sources saying it can't be used in reviews and does not have access to crucial internal documents employees were promised.

SEE ALSO: Healthcare data breach impacts over five million Americans

"It hallucinates confidently," one FDA employee told CNN. According to the sources, the tool often provides incorrect answers on the FDA's research areas, drug labels, and can't link to third-party citations from external medical journals.

Despite initial claims that the tool was already integrated into the clinical review protocol, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary told CNN that the tool was only being used for "organizational duties" and was not required of employees. The FDA's head of AI admitted to the publication that the tool was at risk of hallucinating, carrying the same risk as other LLMs. Both said they weren't surprised it made mistakes, and said further testing and training was needed.

But not all LLM's have the job of approving life-saving medicine.

UPDATE: Jul. 23, 2025, 2:40 p.m. In response to CNN's investigation, the HHS issued the following comment, explaining that former AI models, shelved by the department, have since been replaced by a new AI system: "The information provided by FDA to CNN was mischaracterized and taken out of context. FDA was excited to share the success story of the growth and evolution of its AI tool, Elsa. Unfortunately, CNN decided to lead the story with disgruntled former employees and sources who have never even used the current version of Elsa. The only thing 'hallucinating' in this story is CNN’s failed reporting."

The agency announced the new agentic tool in June, with Vinay Prasad, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), and Makary writing that AI innovation was a leading priority for the agency in an accompanying Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) article. The tool, which examines device and drug applications, was pitched as a solution for lengthy and oft-criticized drug approval periods, following the FDA's launch of an AI-assisted scientific review pilot.

The Trump administration has rallied government agencies behind an accelerated, "America-first" AI agenda, including recent federal guidance to establish FDA-backed AI Centers of Excellence for testing and deploying new AI tools, announced in the government's newly unveiled AI Action Plan. Many are worried that the aggressive push and deregulation efforts eschew necessary oversight of the new tech.

"Many of America’s most critical sectors, such as healthcare, are especially slow to adopt due to a variety of factors, including distrust or lack of understanding of the technology, a complex regulatory landscape, and a lack of clear governance and risk mitigation standards," the action plan reads. "A coordinated Federal effort would be beneficial in establishing a dynamic, 'try-first' culture for AI across American industry."

UPDATE: Jul. 23, 2025, 5:36 p.m. This story was updated with official comment from the Department of Health and Human Services, denying CNN's reporting.