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TL;DR: Watch Udinese vs. Como in Serie A for free on SportyNet. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Serie A kicks off this weekend with a number of really interesting fixtures, including Udinese vs. Como.

All eyes will be on Cesc Fabregas's team as they look to build on an impressive fourth place last season. Udinese finished 10th last campaign, so they'll be hoping to start well and establish themselves in the top half of the standings.

If you're interested in watching Udinese vs. Como in Serie A from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

When is Udinese vs. Como?

Udinese vs. Como in Serie A kicks off at 12:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 22. This fixture takes place at the Bluenergy Stadium.

How to watch Udinese vs. Como for free

Udinese vs. Como in Serie A is available to live stream for free on SportyNet.

SportyNet is geo-restricted to Brazil, but anyone can secure access with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Brazil, meaning you can live stream Udinese vs. Como for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Udinese vs. Como for free by following these simple steps:

1. Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN (we recommend ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice

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

4. Visit SportyNet

5. Watch Udinese vs. Como for free from anywhere in the world

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The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer generous money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Udinese vs. Como without committing your cash. This is obviously not a long-term strategy, but it gives you enough time to stream this fixture (plus additional Premier League action) before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for Serie A?

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

• Servers in 105 countries, including Brazil

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices, including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and usually offers a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99.

Live stream Udinese vs. Como for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The Moon is more than half illuminated tonight, so it's a perfect opportunity to do some Moon-gazing (cloud cover dependent, of course). If you don't know exactly what you're looking at, NASA's Daily Moon Guide is a great resource to find out the names and locations of certain lunar features. With the assistance of this tool, keep reading to see what you should be able to see tonight.

What is today’s Moon phase?

As of Saturday, Aug. 22, NASA's Daily Moon Guide tracker tells us the Moon is in its Waxing Gibbous phase, with 70% of its surface visible.

Without any visual aids, tonight you can see the Mares Crisium, Serenitatis and Fecunditatis. With binoculars you'll also be able to see the Clavius Crater, the Alps Mountains, and the Archimedes Crater. If you have a telescope, you'll also be able to see the Apollo 11, 16 and 17 landing spots.

When is the next Full Moon?

The next Full Moon will take place on August 28.

What are Moon phases?

The Moon goes through a series of phases that cause its appearance to change as seen from Earth. As the Moon orbits Earth, it goes through a lunar cycle that takes about 29.5 days to complete, according to NASA. The positions of the Sun, Earth, and Moon determine how much of the Moon’s illuminated side is visible from Earth, creating its different phases. Throughout the cycle, the Moon changes from a thin crescent to a half Moon, then a Full Moon, before repeating the cycle once more.

The eight phases are:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Third Quarter (or Last 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.

Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue.

Released in August 2025, Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.

Currently, if you're stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move on to the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level.

How to play Pips

If you've ever played dominoes, you'll have a passing familiarity with how Pips is played. As we've shared in our previous hints stories for Pips, the tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between a traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you have to address. The touching tiles don't necessarily have to match.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for August 22, 2026

The conditions you have to meet are specific to the color-coded spaces. For example, if it provides a single number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the number provided. It is possible — and common — for only half a tile to be within a color-coded space.

Here are common examples you'll run into across the difficulty levels:

• Number: All the pips in this space must add up to the number.

• Equal: Every domino half in this space must be the same number of pips.

• Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a completely different number of pips.

• Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.

• Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.

If an area does not have any color coding, it means there are no conditions on the portions of dominoes within those spaces.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for August 22, 2026 Easy difficulty hints, answers for August 22 Pips

Less Than (3): Everything in this space must be less than 3. The answer is 2-6, placed horizontally.

Equal (6): Everything in this space must be equal to 6. The answer is 2-6, placed horizontally; 6-0, placed vertically.

Equal (0): Everything in this space must be equal to 0. The answer is 6-0, placed vertically; 0-5, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (6): Everything in this space must be greater than 6. The answer is 0-5, placed horizontally; 3-1, placed vertically.

Equal (2): Everything in this space must be equal to 2. The answer is 2-2, placed horizontally.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for August 22 Pips

Less Than (4): Everything in this space must be less than 4. The answer is 2-1, placed vertically.

Equal (4): Everything in this space must be equal to 4. The answer is 4-4, placed horizontally; 4-0, placed vertically.

Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 6-0, placed vertically.

Equal (1): Everything in this space must be equal to 1. The answer is 4-1, placed vertically; 2-1, placed vertically; 1-0, placed horizontally.

Less Than (2): Everything in this space must be less than 2. The answer is 1-0, placed horizontally; 4-0, placed vertically; 6-0, placed vertically.

Less Than (4): Everything in this space must be less than 4. The answer is 3-4, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 3-4, placed horizontally.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for August 22 Pips

Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 5-4, placed horizontally; 1-6, placed horizontally.

Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 5-4, placed horizontally; 5-0, placed vertically.

Number (16): Everything in this space must add up to 16. The answer is 1-6, placed horizontally; 6-4, placed vertically.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 5-0, placed vertically; 2-4, placed vertically.

Equal (4): Everything in this space must be equal to 4. The answer is 2-4, placed vertically; 4-4, placed horizontally.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 1-1, placed vertically; 3-0, placed horizontally.

Equal (2): Everything in this space must be equal to 2. The answer is 2-2, placed vertically.

Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 3-4, placed vertically; 2-6, placed horizontally.

Number (12): Everything in this space must add up to 12. The answer is 2-6, placed horizontally; 6-3, placed vertically.

Number (10): Everything in this space must add up to 10. The answer is 3-4, placed vertically; 6-0, placed vertically.

Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 6-0, placed vertically; 1-5, placed horizontally.

Number (8): Everything in this space must add up to 8. The answer is 6-3, placed vertically; 1-5, placed horizontally.

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 0-4, placed vertically.

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

Today's Connections: Sports Edition will be easier if you've watched NFL football.

As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight, and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

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

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

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. The sports Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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

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

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

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. Here's a hint for today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: Significantly worthy

• Green: Referee tools

• Blue: West Coast sports

• Purple: Sounds like a bowl game

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: Important

• Green: Accessories for a Football Referee

• Blue: California Soccer Teams

• Purple: College Football Bowl Games, with the First Letter Changed

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

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

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections: Sports Edition #698 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Important: INDISPENSABLE, KEY, PIVOTAL, VITAL

• Accessories for a Football Referee: BEAN BAG, COIN, FLAG, WHISTLE

• California Soccer Teams: BAY, EARTHQUAKES, GALAXY, WAVE

• College Football Bowl Games, with the First Letter Changed: BEACH, GRANGE, HOSE, SIESTA

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections 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.

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 Connections.

Today's NYT Strands hints are easy for the mountain enthusiasts.

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

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

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

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

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for August 22, 2026 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Peak Americana....

The words are adjectives related to mountains.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe mountain peaks in America.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

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NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Mountain Range.

NYT Strands word list for August 22

• Green

• White

• Smoky

• Sawtooth

• Cascade

• Rocky

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

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

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

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

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you're familiar with woodworking.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for August 17, 2026 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Needed for woodwork

• Green: Melons

• Blue: Using the hose

• Purple: Famous girl groups in pop/tv

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

Here are today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Carpentry Tools

• Green: Kinds of Melon

• Blue: Garden Hose Settings

• Purple: Girls of Pop Culture

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

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

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #1168 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Carpentry Tools: CHISEL, HAMMER, PLANE, SAW

• Kinds of Melon: BITTER, MUSK, WATER, WINTER

• Garden Hose Settings: CONE, JET, MIST, SHOWER

• Girls of Pop Culture: GILMORE, GOLDEN, MEAN, SPICE

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for August 13, 2026

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

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

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 Connections.

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you like shrimp.

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 August 22, 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 August 22, 2026 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

A big shrimp.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no recurring letters.

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

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

Today's Wordle starts with the letter P.

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...

PRAWN

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

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

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

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

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.

The Walmart checkout lane is about to get a long-awaited upgrade.

The big-box store and its subsidiary, Sam’s Club, will soon accept mainstream contactless payment options like Apple Pay and Google Pay, the company announced in a press release on Friday. Walmart shoppers will be able to use Tap to Pay at select Walmart and Sam's Club stores starting Monday, Aug. 24, it said. The company plans on offering Tap to Pay at all of its U.S. locations by the year's end, then at its fuel stations by mid-2027.

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"Tap to Pay gives customers and members another familiar and convenient way to pay at checkout using contactless payment methods," Walmart said.

Previously, U.S. Walmart and Sam's Club shoppers' in-store payment options were limited to traditional methods like cash, check, gift cards, credit cards, and EBT cards, or an app-based "Scan & Go" feature.

Since 2016, Walmart customers have also had the option of making purchases with Walmart Pay, a contactless payment option exclusive to the Walmart mobile app. Unlike conventional Tap to Pay options, which utilize near field communication (NFC) chips in phones and cards, Walmart Pay relies on scannable QR codes. However, Walmart Pay never really caught on the way Apple Pay has.

Walmart's Canadian stores have accepted Tap to Pay since 2020. Adding support for them in the U.S. "is part of a broader effort to make managing and using their money easier," Walmart said in the press release.

It also seems to be a response to overwhelming consumer demand. Walmart's TikTok and Instagram posts announcing its upcoming Tap to Pay support featured screenshots of impassioned comments requesting the feature.

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r/walmart has been questioning and lamenting the retailer's lack of Apple Pay support for nearly a decade. "It will never happen," one Redditor wrote in a 2023 thread on the topic. "Walmart pay or it's target for you fool."

Never say never, folks!

The bizarre-looking Chinese animated film Niu Lai appeared destined to vanish from theaters and take its place among the countless bad movies no one remembers. That was until the internet noticed just how badly it was failing.

On Aug. 14, it went viral that Niu Lai had only made 7,352 yuan ($1,000) at the box office — and no, there isn’t a "ten thousand" after that. It's a number so unusually low for a nationwide theatrical release that people assumed it had been written incorrectly.

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Once clips of its stiff characters, glitchy animation, and surreal plot followed, mockery quickly gave way to... curiosity. People began buying tickets to see whether an actual theatrical release could really look that bad. And, apparently, it was. Within days, Niu Lai had gone from nearly disappearing to playing before packed crowds — and its unmistakably human flaws had turned it into an unlikely anti-AI digital sensation.

Niu Lai, also translated as The Bull Comes or The Cow Is Coming, follows a newborn calf who struggles to stand and enters an extended dream. Accompanied by a lark, he encounters other animals, faces a wolf attack, loses his mother, and learns about courage, friendship, and sacrifice.

People walk past ticket machines advertising films including "Niu Lai" in Shanghai. Credit: Hector Retamal/Getty Images

The story is earnest. Its execution, according to many viewers, is something else entirely.

Clips posted online showed low-detail 3D models, stiff movements, and characters clipping through one another. Chinese commenters compared its stop-start animation to a PowerPoint presentation, while another viewer likened it to AI-generated homework completed at the last minute. In one especially surreal shot, the Chinese word for "grass" reportedly appears written across an otherwise sparse field. One reviewer on Weibo declared that calling it bad would be "an insult to bad movies."

Normally, uploading a film’s most memorable scenes might discourage people from paying to see the rest. But in this case, the clips had the opposite effect. One review summed up the appeal: "You’ll regret watching it for 86 minutes, but you’ll regret not watching it for a lifetime."

As for the film’s marketing campaign, there wasn’t much of one. Before its release, Niu Lai had no trailer or publicity tour, only a poster that gave audiences little indication of the rudimentary 3D animation awaiting them inside the theater. Once cinemas began adding screenings, the production allegedly didn't even have enough promotional posters to display. Theater employees responded by drawing their own.

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Within 48 hours of it entering the Chinese zeitgeist, Niu Lai had earned more than 3 million yuan. Its daily screenings, which had fallen close to zero, climbed to more than 10,000, according to Chinese media reports.

By Aug. 20, the film had grossed more than $4 million and appeared in China’s daily rankings alongside Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey. Its staggering return also generated claims it had overtaken the low-budget horror hit Obsession as the most profitable film ever made. (That record relies on a claim that Niu Lai cost only $200 to produce.)

The path from obscurity to box-office success inverted the usual movie-marketing process in a way interesting for me, as a digital culture editor. Rather than a distributor creating awareness before theaters committed screens, users generated attention first. Viewers then began calling cinemas to ask why they were not showing Niu Lai, prompting theater managers to add screenings. When those tickets sold, they added more. And more. A Chinese report described the movie as having effectively been "distributed" by the internet.

The screenings themselves then generated another wave of content. Moviegoers arrived in groups, sometimes wearing cow masks, and treated the film as a comedy event. At one packed Beijing screening observed by Reuters, laughter reportedly began before the opening credits. When one person shouted that they could not believe the theater was full, the audience cheered.

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Chinese director Remo Zhu told Reuters that Niu Lai had tapped into a rebellious "don’t tell me what to do" mood among younger moviegoers. Watching it in a crowded theater, he said, became an "interactive, immersive communal experience."

The earliest attention surrounding Niu Lai was largely derisive. Some viewers questioned how something so technically unpolished had reached theaters, while others speculated that it must be connected to subsidies or even money laundering. A Beijing News commentary described the mockery as an outlet for people’s frustration with poorly made films.

Niu Lai was indeed made by an amateur — it's the first film from Xin Yumeng, a 34-year-old landscape designer with no formal training in animation or directing. He started developing it in 2021 and spent roughly five years learning the filmmaking process while making the movie.

In an interview recorded shortly before the film’s release, Xin said, "Basically, I was doing it all by myself." The technical obstacles made him consider abandoning the project "many times." Unable to afford professional hardware, he bought used computer parts through the resale platform Xianyu — and "some of the used computer motherboards burned out," he said.

Those limitations shaped what eventually appeared on screen. When his computer could not efficiently render an ambitious sunrise over a large mountain range, for example, he reworked the sequence using techniques from his landscape-design background.

When asked about the lack of detail in his characters, Xin acknowledged that more intricate models required better equipment and more money. But he also argued that visual polish should not become the entire point of a film. "Audiences don’t go to the cinema to look at strands of hair, right?" he said.

Xin’s mother, Sun Lifang, provided him with more than emotional support. Sun, who is in her 60s and worked at a state-owned company, actually helped develop and write the screenplay, voiced characters, handled administrative work, and taught herself to compose music.

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Despite having no previous musical training, she wrote the film’s score and performed its closing song, which became one of its more warmly received elements. Fans later noticed that two lines of the lyrics appeared to conceal the characters in her son’s name, turning the song into a message about her hopes for his future.

Once audiences learned that a mother and son had spent years trying to finish the project on limited equipment, Niu Lai stopped looking like just another careless commercial product. Instead, it became something more sentimental — something worth rooting for.

Niu Lai became an anti-AI hit

Notably for moviegoers, Xin said he did not use generative AI anywhere in the production. He began working on the film in 2021, before tools such as ChatGPT were publicly available, and described making the animation manually. As that detail spread, fans began calling Niu Lai "purely handmade."

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Its low quality did not suddenly become good, but it acquired a different meaning. The stiff movements and pixelated characters were no longer just mistakes to audiences, but rather traces of a five-year human process. Every awkward frame pointed back to someone manually trying to make a calf move, while the homemade closing song carried the voice of the director’s mother.

That contrast resonates at a moment when the internet is filling with "AI slop." One Chinese blogger described Niu Lai's quality as a form of "clumsy sincerity," according to The New York Times: However unrefined the movie looked, at least it was made by a person.

SEE ALSO: The internet is drowning in AI slop. Here's how we got here.

Not everyone found the story inspiring. A Beijing News commentary argued that Niu Lai had pushed audiences’ expectations for shoddy filmmaking to a new low. An unnamed film industry source told The Guardian that the movie was "bad in every aspect imaginable" and that its success felt like "an embarrassment to the Chinese film industry." Other commentators worried that cinemas were rewarding viral curiosity at the expense of better-made releases.

Nevertheless, its success is substantial, and nearly impossible to reproduce. Shanghai animation producer Liang Xia told Reuters that phenomena like Niu Lai are "hard to predict and impossible to replicate deliberately" because they are driven less by the content itself than by a sudden swell of public emotion.

As Niu Lai spread beyond movie circles, Chinese investors found a stock-market pun in its title. Niu lai literally means "the cow" or "the bull is coming," while the Chinese term for a rising market, niu shi, translates to "bull market." Some moviegoers therefore treated their tickets as good luck charms for future gains. Fans also focused on a leopard named Bao La, whose name sounds like a Chinese phrase for a sudden market surge.

The joke soon became attached to actual stocks. Shares of several companies with the Chinese character for "cow" or "bull" in their names rose as the film went viral, Bloomberg reported, though there was no evidence that the movie had affected their businesses. The speculation became prominent enough for a journal operated by the People’s Bank of China to warn investors against treating the film as a market signal.

Before its release, Xin acknowledged that a traditional promotional campaign made little sense for a project like his. "There was no need for things like a roadshow," he said. "Just release it. Whether audiences accept it can only be judged in practice."

But the public did accept Niu Lai, although not in any way its creator could have anticipated.

SAVE $100: The ASUS ROG OLED 4K 32-inch gaming monitor is on sale at Amazon for $699, down from the list price of $799. That's a 13% discount on a 4K monitor, and according to price tracker CamelCamelCamel, the best-ever discount on this product.

Opens in a new window Credit: ASUS ASUS ROG OLED 4K 32-inch gaming monitor $699 at Amazon
$799 Save $100   Get Deal

Sure, gaming's fun. More than that, it's a way of life when you take it seriously. But no one ever said that gaming was cheap. In fact, when you do get serious with your gaming, it's a very pricey way of life indeed — and tech prices are on the rise. Top quality hardware means upgraded visuals and an upgraded overall experience — plus a boost in performance that can be the difference between victory and defeat.

That's why it always feels like a win when we find some high-quality hardware at a discounted price, such as this ASUS ROG OLED 4K 32-inch gaming monitor, a fantastic option from one of the most reliable brands in gaming tech.

As of Aug. 20, the ASUS ROG OLED 4K 32-inch gaming monitor is on sale at Amazon for $699, down from the list price of $799. That's a 13% discount, saving you $100.

This monitor is stacked with next-level specs. An OLED display delivers eye-popping 4K, with a 165Hz refresh rate and a 0.03ms response time. That means a lightning-quick, butter-smooth gaming experience with zero lag or glitching. TrueBlack technology helps make the image even sharper.

At 32 inches, this monitor is ideal for a mid-size gaming area. It's far from the biggest monitor available, but absolutely big and advanced enough to draw you into an immersive experience.

Don't miss the ASUS ROG OLED 4K 32-inch gaming monitor while it's discounted on Amazon — now just $699 for a limited time. Again, per the price tracker CamelCamelCamel, this monitor has never been priced this low before.

Apple appears to be working on a new pair of noise-cancelling Beats headphones, its first in three years, and they won't stop leaking.

MacRumors reports that a forthcoming pair of Beats headphones popped up in Brazil's National Telecommunications Agency database on Thursday, Aug. 20, according to a filing viewed by the site. The name of the headphones isn't listed, but they have a model number of A3577. The same model number surfaced in a U.S. Federal Communications Commission filing in May for "Bluetooth over-ear headphones" made by Apple Inc., as MacRumors previously reported.

SEE ALSO: Guess what Apple will do this fall to win in Mashable's Big Guessing Game

These headphones could be called the Beats 360: Users in the r/beatsbydre subreddit found since-deleted Amazon UK product listings for cans of that name earlier this week. According to one Redditor's screenshot, a listing described them as over-ear headphones with a foldable design, interchangeable cushions, spatial audio, an IPX4 rating for sweat and water resistance, and "up to 1.75x more noise cancellation than the Beats Studio Pro."

Screenshots of the alleged Amazon listings show Beats headphones with a cushioned headband and earcups, both covered in a knitted material that evokes the Apple AirPods Max headphones. Other screenshots show photos of them in pink, white, and "sky" blue colorways, and a possible sticker price of $299.

The so-called Beats 360 may not be the only new Beats headphones that Apple has in the works. Codenames for two pairs were mentioned in the latest macOS beta, as Mashable previously reported.

Reddit

For its own part, Apple doesn't exactly seem to be keeping these behind lock and key. Soccer stars Antonee Robinson, Lamine Yamal, and Lee Kang-in were spotted wearing unannounced Beats headphones at the FIFA World Cup this summer; they look identical to the ones spotted in those Amazon UK listings.

Reddit

Apple hasn't released a pair of Beats headphones since 2024's Beats Solo 4, which retailed for $200. The $350 Studio Pro from 2023 mark its most recent pair with ANC. (They're the best Beats headphones in the current lineup, according to Mashable testing.)

It's unlikely that Apple will debut these mysterious Beats headphones during its iPhone event in September. The company typically announces its Beats products via press release, not during a keynote.

It's been a big week for Apple leaks. We've also reported on evidence of upcoming smart home devices, a new Apple TV remote, two iPad minis, a new Vision Pro headset, the AirPods Pro 4, and some AirPods with cameras. It should be noted that Apple has yet to confirm any of the rumors.

Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.

Apple's first foray into computerized headsets has not gone particularly well.

The latest evidence of that comes courtesy of AppleInsider, which reported this week that Apple has cut at least 60 workers from its Apple Vision Group, which worked on the Vision Pro headset. This move came just a couple of weeks before longtime CEO Tim Cook is set to hand the reins over to John Ternus, though it's not clear at the time of publication who exactly ordered these cuts.

SEE ALSO: A ton of Apple memorabilia is up for auction, including Steve Jobs' 8th grade science project

The "why" is not that hard to figure out, though. Apple hasn't given us official sales numbers for the Vision Pro headset, but recent reports suggest the device has not done especially well for itself. It's pretty easy to surmise any number of reasons for that, especially the $3,500 price tag at launch, which recently went up to $3,700 as part of widespread Apple price increases caused by RAMageddon.

As AppleInsider pointed out, the work the Vision team has done isn't for nothing, as Apple reportedly plans to launch some kind of smart glasses in 2027. In addition, iOS 27 features such as spatial reframing have been credited to Apple's spatial computing and visual intelligence technology, which was developed for the Vision Pro.

But that will likely be cold comfort for any of the 60-plus people who just lost their sources of income.

Sam Altman is apparently headed to the Hamptons, and Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow is setting the table.

Earlier this week, Puck journalist Matthew Belloni shared what appeared to be an invitation to a "private, off-the-record al fresco dinner" at Paltrow’s Amagansett, New York home "in honor of Sam Altman," the CEO of OpenAI.

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According to the invitation, the gathering is scheduled for Aug. 29, with cocktails at 6 p.m. and a seated dinner 45 minutes later. Beyond that, the details remain a mystery — the guest list, planned conversation, party favors, and even the reason Altman is being honored in the first place are all unknown.

Belloni suggested the gathering may have been orchestrated by Charles Porch, Instagram’s former vice president of global partnerships, who recently joined OpenAI. Porch has long worked at the intersection of social media, celebrities, and creators; Vanity Fair previously called him a "celebrity whisperer."

That possibility makes the dinner look less like a random meeting between two rich and famous people and more like a strategic move. OpenAI has increasingly courted relationships with creators, celebrities, and cultural figures who can help the company break out of tech circles and into mainstream culture. A dinner hosted by Paltrow — an actor, investor, and founder of one of the world's most recognizable lifestyle brands — fits pretty neatly into that strategy.

Representatives for Paltrow and OpenAI have not publicly confirmed the event. Paltrow has, however, acknowledged the viral invitation in her own, very Gwyneth indirect way.

After the invite sparked criticism online, she posted five altered versions to Instagram. Each replicated its design but replaced Altman with another guest of honor: M3GAN, Samantha Jones, Shrek, Jessica Rabbit, and even Chanty Beluga, comedian Courtney O’Donnell’s currently unavoidable TikTok character.

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"We’re serving swordfish burritos, cheddar foam lattes on request," Paltrow wrote, referencing one of Beluga’s videos.

The joke did not clarify whether the original dinner is happening or why Paltrow is reportedly rolling out the al fresco red carpet for Altman. Fortunately, her years of investing in, talking about, and generally Goop-ifying AI offer a few clues.

Gwyneth Paltrow is in her AI era

Paltrow’s involvement in AI predates this dinner invitation by several years.

In 2021, she co-founded the venture capital firm Kinship Ventures with entrepreneur Moj Mahdara. Puck reported that Paltrow is a minor investor in OpenAI through the fund, and a 2023 SEC filing lists an entity called Kinship Open AI LLC.

Her other AI-related investments have included customer-service automation company Forethought AI, text-to-speech platform Speechify, beauty-tech startup Potion AI, and AI-powered meditation app Moments of Space, according to Business Insider. Goop Kitchen has even reportedly signed a lease for space on the ground floor of Anthropic’s San Francisco headquarters.

Paltrow has also brought AI inside Goop itself. At the Meltwater Summit in May, she said the company was using the technology to create media assets and manage workflows. She described her own collection of AI tools, connected to her Slack and email, as a kind of "chief of staff."

"Especially as women, we are being left behind," she said. "We do need to educate ourselves."

AI has increasingly crept into Goop’s public-facing content, too. In June, Paltrow interviewed Trae Stephens, co-founder of Anduril, a defense technology company that develops AI-powered battlefield software and autonomous military systems, including attack aircraft and counter-drone interceptors, for an episode of The Goop Podcast about America’s defense system and the future of warfare. Creator Tyler Oakley weighed in on this in his latest X post.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. OpenAI is expanding its social circle

Paltrow’s growing role in AI also fits within a much broader industry push. As I reported earlier this summer, tech companies and their celebrity partners have increasingly packaged AI through fashion, beauty, shopping, podcasts, and promises of personal productivity — a trend described as the "girlbossification of AI" entering its influencer era.

SEE ALSO: The 'girlbossification of AI' enters its influencer era

Women currently use AI tools at lower rates than men. A 2026 Pew Research Center survey found that 27 percent of men used chatbots daily, compared with 20 percent of women, while another report found that 33 percent of men used AI daily or constantly at work, compared with 27 percent of women. That gender gap makes women an especially attractive potential market, and celebrities can help make the technology feel less like a complicated product coming out of Silicon Valley and more like something that belongs in a person’s closet, beauty routine, career, or social life.

Want to see that strategy in action? You barely have to leave Instagram. Kylie Jenner fronted Meta’s "Kylie Edition" campaign, positioning its AI glasses as a fashion accessory. Reese Witherspoon has urged women to get involved with AI, arguing that it will shape the future of filmmaking whether people like it or not. And Mel Robbins promoted Microsoft Copilot as a tool for organizing personal finances, alongside a podcast episode promising to explain how AI can help people "make money, save time, and be more productive."

Different celebrities, different use cases, but essentially the same pitch: AI is inevitable, and women need to start using it or risk falling behind.

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Paltrow is just another example. Goop has spent years turning niche ideas into lifestyle imperatives, and AI can now join the lineup somewhere between the supplements and productivity advice.

That makes this bigger than your average Hamptons dinner. It arrives amid a much broader cultural reckoning over what AI means for jobs, creative work, energy use, and the future of the internet. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 52 percent of Americans are now more concerned than excited about AI in daily life, up from 37 percent in 2021, while just 9 percent are more excited. Among adults under 30, concern climbed from 47 percent in 2025 to 55 percent this year.

In that climate, the reported dinner is hard to dismiss as just another private gathering of the elite. It brings one of AI’s most powerful executives into the home of a celebrity with enormous influence across entertainment, wellness, and lifestyle culture — a sign that the industry’s reach now extends all the way to Paltrow’s table, where cocktails begin at 6 and dinner is served promptly at 6:45.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

Could a solution to the ever-growing surveillance network across the U.S. be as simple as some garish attire? Start-up noRecognition believes so, and they're taking on Flock cameras next.

Started by cybersecurity researcher Bill Swearingen, noRecognition has devised computer-generated patterns that purport to render objects (and people) nearly invisible to AI-powered detection. The anti-AI designs can be applied to T-shirts, hoodies, and head buffs for anonymous wearers; the merch is sold in limited quantities with unrepeatable designs that trip up surveillance tech, according to the company.

As communities around the U.S. cry out against Flock's surveillance apparatus, noRecognition has proposed adding their special designs to the world of car customization. It's a bid to fool Flock's AI-powered automatic license plate readers (ALPRs), which have generated a vast trove of personal information, profiles, and other data that can be used by state authorities.

SEE ALSO: ICE bans agents from using Meta smart glasses, but wants to build its own

Swearingen debuted a proof-of-concept car — a 2009 Toyota Yaris decked out in an abstract blue and yellow wrap — at the Aug. 6 Def Con cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas. noRecognition's patterns have been stress-tested against 11 open source detection algorithms, Swearingen explained in an interview with TechCrunch, including the software that powers Flock and law enforcement body cameras built by Axon.

He told the publication he was inspired to design and test the car wrap after noticing a wave of surveillance cameras in his hometown. "Privacy is a fundamental right," he said.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. How do adversarial patterns work?

noRecognition is harnessing a growing anti-AI strategy known as adversarial media or or "adversarial noise." Commonly, this takes the form of malicious data injected into an image or video, which then exploits an AI's algorithmic vulnerabilities and forces it to misclassify the object depicted. But these attacks can also work in live time, proponents say, in the form of patterns that similarly confuse machine learning as the image is being taken.

Adversarial patterns or designs still allow wearers to be recorded by AI surveillance systems, but the patterns — made up of specific arrangements of shapes and colors often designed by machine learning itself — similarly confuse computer vision detection systems.

This strategy has also been employed by protesters, who have over the last few years resorted to painting their faces with surreal designs to obscure facial recognition software in public spaces. Commonly referred to as "computer vision dazzle" or "cv dazzle," the makeup was created by researcher Adam Harvey and popularized by activist groups amid global protests in 2020.

While progress is being made in popularizing adversarial patterns against AI's encroachment in public life, their efficacy is not surefire. Each pattern has to be tested against specific scenarios and detection algorithms, which means a pattern that works in one instance may not work in another.

Many anti-AI clothing designers have failed to provide wide scale testing. And AI is getting better by the minute.

The best TV deals to shop this weekend, at a glance: Best TCL deal TCL 65-inch QM8L SQD-Mini-LED QLED 4K TV $1,397.99 (save $1,102) Get Deal Budget pick Amazon 50-inch Omni QLED 4K Fire TV $269.99 (save $200) Get Deal Best Hisense deal Hisense 65-inch U6 Pro mini-LED ULED 4K TV $597.99 (save $502) Get Deal Best LG deal LG 65-inch C6 OLED 4K TV $1,699.99 (save $1,000 + get a $150 Amazon credit) Get Deal Best Samsung deal Samsung 27-inch The Movingstyle Portable TV (UN27LSM7) $797.99 (save $402) Get Deal

Beyond the sheer volume of TVs on the market, the confusing specs make buying a new TV a daunting task. Arguably, the most essential factor for many people, however, is how much it costs, followed closely by its picture quality. To make your TV buying journey a bit easier, we've rounded up some of our favorite options that happen to be on sale for their lowest prices ever.

The list includes our favorite QLED TV of 2026, our top OLED pick for most people, and our favorite budget TV for 2026, giving you an option in just about every price range.

If you've been contemplating a TV upgrade, this weekend's looking like prime time to take the leap. Shop our top picks below.

Best TCL TV deal Opens in a new window Credit: TCL TCL 65-inch QM8L SQD-Mini-LED QLED 4K TV $1,397.99 at Amazon
$2,499.99 Save $1,102.00   Get Deal Why we like it

Released in April of this year, the TCL QM8L quickly became our top pick for a QLED TV for most people. The "SQD" in the description stands for "super quantum dot mini LEDS," which are even brighter than regular quantum dots. Mashable's TV expert cheers on the QM8L's "superb peak brightness, detailed picture quality, and fantastic glare handling," dubbing it one of the brightest TVs you can buy, period. The 65-inch model clocks in at $2,499.99 on a normal day, but this weekend, it's down to a best-ever $1,397.99 at Amazon. That's 44% off.

Best Hisense TV deal Opens in a new window Credit: Hisense Hisense 65-inch U6 Pro Mini-LED ULED 4K TV $597.99 at Amazon
$1,099.99 Save $502   Get Deal Why we like it

The U6 Pro is our favorite TV for budget shoppers in 2026. It offers an impressive full-array local dimming setup, plus vibrant quantum-dot color, deep black levels, an anti-glare coating for minimal reflections, and a peak brightness of 1,200 nits. It also packs a native 144Hz refresh rate, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, and two HDMI 2.1 ports for gamers. The 65-incher is typically $1,099.99, but it's currently down to a record-low $597.99 at Amazon (and just $1 more at Best Buy), making it an undeniably great value.

Best LG TV deal Opens in a new window Credit: LG LG 65-inch C6 OLED 4K TV $1,699.99 at Amazon
$2,699.99 Save $1,000.00   Get Deal Why we like it

OLED TVs are notoriously expensive, but the LG C6 is what we'd call the "best affordable OLED TV," compared to competitors' prices, and the best OLED TV for most people. It features inky black levels, stark contrast, incredible picture quality, and improved audio, peak brightness, and refresh rate from its predecessor. At only $1,699.99 at Amazon, it's $1,000 off its list price and down to its best price ever. But in case that's not enough of a reason for you to snag it, you'll also get a free $150 Amazon credit with your purchase.

Best Samsung TV deal Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung Samsung 27-inch The Movingstyle Portable TV (UN27LSM7) $797.99 at Amazon
$1,199.99 Save $402   Get Deal Why we like it

A bit of an outcast on this list, the Samsung Movingstyle isn't your typical stationary TV. It's essentially a 27-inch touchscreen mounted on a wheeled floor stand that can roll from room to room. You could wheel it into the living room for your workout, then roll it into the kitchen to follow along with a recipe. It can rotate between portrait and landscape mode, run for three hours per charge, stream all of your favorite apps, and even come off its movable base and be propped up on a built-in kickstand.

It's truly a unique lifestyle option for the right person, and this weekend, it has dropped down to a best-ever $797.99 at Amazon. That's $402 in savings.

Best Amazon Fire TV deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon 50-inch Omni QLED 4K Fire TV $269.99 at Amazon
$469.99 Save $200   Get Deal Why we like it

While Amazon's Omni QLED Fire TV is far from new, it still might be the perfect fit for someone looking for a cheap QLED TV with decent specs. If you're already a Fire TV user, you'll love that the Omni QLED will pull up all your favorite apps, organized how you like them. It's also the first of Amazon's TVs to offer "ambient experience," which lets you set the screen to show different images, from curated artwork to your own photos. Its QLED 4K display features local dimming, adaptive brightness, and support for Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ Adaptive.

If you grab it this weekend, you'll only pay $269.99 for the 50-inch model, which is the cheapest it's ever been.

More TV deals

• Hisense 58-inch QD50 Hi-QLED 4K TV — $189.99 $399.99 (save $210)

• Insignia 85-inch Class F50 Series 4K Fire TV — $599.99 $899.99 (save $300)

• Amazon 55-inch Ember Artline QLED 4K Art TV — $699.98 $899.99 (save $200.01)

• Hisense 65-inch U7 Mini-LED ULED 4K TV — $899.99 $1,499.99 (save $600)

• Hisense 55-inch UR8 RGB Mini LED 4K TV — $999.99 $1,499.99 (save $500)

• Hisense 75-inch U8 Mini-LED ULED 4K TV — $1,249.99 $2,499.99 (save $1,250)

• Samsung 85-inch M80H Mini-LED 4K TV — $1,299.99 $1,799.99 (save $500)

• LG 77-inch B5 OLED 4K TV — $1,399.99 $2,999.99 (save $1,600)

• Samsung 65-inch S85H OLED 4K TV — $1,697.99 $1,999.99 (save $302)

FREE ACCESSORIES: As of Aug. 21, you can get the DJI Mini 5 Pro Drone with an exclusive accessories kit for $899 at Amazon.

Mini 5 Pro (DJI RC-N3) + Kit $899 at Amazon
  Shop Now at Amazon

DJI drones don't usually get huge discounts unless it's a major shopping holiday like Black Friday or Prime Day. With demand so high, it's unlikely we'll see a straight cash discount on the Mini 5 Pro anytime soon.

SEE ALSO: Amazon’s delivery drones are flying to 500 more cities

That said, if you were already planning on buying one, you don't have to settle for a bare-bones package. Right now, there's an Amazon listing that includes the drone, the remote, and a handful of accessories for $899.

Here's what you'll get:

• 26-month CPS extended protection plan: If you're a first-time pilot, having extra coverage is going to come in handy.

• Hardshell backpack: You'll need this to safely haul your drone, remote, and batteries from place to place without scratching them up.

• High-speed 128GB microSD card: With this much storage, you'll have plenty of space to capture 4K footage for days.

• An 80cm oversized landing pad: This will help protect the sensors and propellers whenever you're taking off in rough terrain like dirt, grass, or sand.

If you bought these extras separately, you'd be spending another $100+ out of pocket.

Accessories aside, the drone itself is pretty impressive for its size. It features a flagship 1-inch 50MP CMOS sensor that shoots crisp 4K/60fps HDR video and ultra-smooth 4K/120fps slow-motion. If you make content for social media, the 225-degree rotating gimbal flips for uncropped, full-frame 90-degree true vertical shooting — designed specifically for TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.

You'll also get full nightscape omnidirectional LiDAR obstacle sensing to help prevent crashes in low light, upgraded ActiveTrack 360-degree tracking for smooth follow-shots, and up to 36 minutes of flight time per battery.

The makers of Grand Theft Auto VI have filed two Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) subpoenas targeting Microsoft and Discord in the quest to unmask the leaker known as Cyberleek, who has been posting gameplay footage of the unreleased video game.

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., the parent company of Rockstar Games, filed two subpoenas on Aug. 20 in the Southern District Court of New York, as first reported by Kotaku. The subpoenas specifically cite "stolen content," which confirms what many gamers have suspected all along — at least some of the gameplay videos and maps posted by Cyberleek are legitimate.

The supbeaonas request specific information "to identify the user or users responsible for posting Take-Two’s copyrighted content online," and the filings name specific Discord users, Discord servers, and GitHub repositories.

Credit: U.S. District Court Southern District of New York Credit: U.S. District Court Southern District of New York

One of the subpoenas includes a copy of a take-down request sent to Discord, which states: "The reported post contains unauthorized, leaked gameplay footage from the unreleased game Grand Theft Auto VI. This material reproduces our Client's copyrighted, unreleased game assets and was published and distributed without any authorization from the copyright holder. The content is presented as genuine leaked Grand Theft Auto VI gameplay from Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., and its distribution constitutes unauthorized reproduction and public disclosure of our Client's copyrighted work."

Cyberleek has been posting a steady drip of leaked gameplay videos, which have spread widely on X, Reddit, and file-sharing platforms. (Mashable is not posting any of the leaked content.) The leaks came about a week before Netflix was due to stream an exclusive "extended look" at GTA 6, and Rockstar's promotional plans have been completely overshadowed by the anonymous leakers.

The filing goes on to name specific Discord users and account IDs associated with the leaker, including "CYBERLEEK" and "CINEMATICROCKSTAR," as well as Discord servers hosting the leaked material.

A screenshot released by Rockstar Games shows a plane flying over the fictional state of Leonida. Credit: Rockstar Games SEE ALSO: 'GTA VI' pre-orders hit eye-watering levels for Take-Two Interactive

The subpoena requests "All identifying information associated with all user accounts that are/were members of the Discord community servers and channels listed below during the time period from June 1, 2026, to present. For each returned account, provide the following: backend server metadata or telemetry records, original message logs, IP access logs, email addresses, phone numbers, connected accounts, registration timestamps, linked connections (Google/Xbox/etc.), and any associated device identifiers (MachineGuid/MSA)."

Take-Two also subpoenaed Microsoft, the parent company of GitHub. In that filing, Take-Two also demands that GitHub remove "leaked content" on a specific GitHub repository.

"The entire repository must be completely disabled, there are no remedies to rectify this clear case of infringement," one of the exhibits in the filing states.

As of this writing, the GitHub repository named in the takedown request is still online; it's unclear if that repository is directly associated with the leaker, who has been primarily communicating through a website and Telegram.

The first Cyberleek videos appeared online on Aug. 18, and since then, the leaker has released six gameplay videos and three previews that appear to show the game's map. Grand Theft Auto VI is one of the most highly anticipated video games in history, and after numerous delays and a decade-long development process, gamers are desperate for any information about the upcoming title, which is scheduled for release on Nov. 19.

For now, the identity of Cyberleek is unknown, but the individual (or group) has been promoting a memecoin along with the leaked videos, encouraging people to purchase the coin to vote on what material should be released next. One of the most recent leaks shows the character shooting the word "LEEK" onto a wall, suggesting that the leaker may have a playable version of the game, which would be a nightmare scenario for Rockstar.

Cyberleek has threatened to continue posting leaked footage, and the leaker's website includes a manifesto and list of grievances against video game companies.

Mashable has contacted Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. repeatedly with questions about the leaks, and we'll update this story if either company responds.

The Pitt is back, and so is Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch (Noah Wyle).

After his July 4th shift in Season 2, Dr. Robby set out on his motorcycle-riding sabbatical, a journey that had many of his colleagues concerned about possible self-harm and suicidal ideation. In Season 3, though, he's returned from his voyage, and ready to scrub back in alongside the rest of his team. Based on the teaser above, his arrival in the Emergency Department is unexpected.

"Robby's name's on the schedule," the night shift's Dr. John Shen (Ken Kirby) tells Dr. Jack Abbot (Shawn Hatosy). "Is he finally back?"

"I'll believe it when I see it," Abbott replies. Well, better start believing, Abbott.

In an interview with Deadline, Wyle confirmed that Season 3 would be taking place on Nov. 12, 2026, meaning it's been four months since Dr. Robby last set foot in the ED. During this time, quite a bit has changed. Dr. Samira Mohan (Supriya Ganesh) has left, while Dr. Frank Langdon (Patrick Ball) is now firmly back in the mix. What else has Dr. Robby missed, and will he be able to fit back into the swing of things? Plus, what exactly happened on his sabbatical?

On top of the juicy interpersonal dynamics at play given Dr. Robby's return, the November setting for The Pitt Season 3 also opens the door for more emergencies tied to cold weather, meaning we're in for a set of intriguing new medical cases.

The Pitt Season 3 premieres January, 2027 on HBO Max.

If you're feeling suicidal or experiencing a mental health crisis, please talk to somebody. You can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. You can reach the Trans Lifeline by calling 877-565-8860 or the Trevor Project at 866-488-7386. Text "START" to Crisis Text Line at 741-741. Contact the NAMI HelpLine at 1-800-950-NAMI, Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. ET, or email info@nami.org. If you don't like the phone, consider using the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Chat. Here is a list of international resources.

Best SSD deals at a glance: Best internal SSD deal Samsung 990 PRO 2TB NVMe Internal SSD $389.99 (save $250) Get Deal Best External SSD Deal SanDisk Extreme Portable 2TB External SSD $319.99 (save $104 at Best Buy) Get Deal Budget pick Verbatim Pocket 1TB External SSD $149.99 (save $150) Get Deal Biggest savings SanDisk 4TB Extreme Portable SSD V2 $499.99 (save $400 at B&H) Get Deal

Running out of storage space on your computer or gaming console is annoying, to say the least. And with the whole RAMageddon price surge going on, finding a decent SSD deal that won't break the bank — or turn out to be fake — feels almost impossible.

That's right: people are counterfeiting SSDs now. Online marketplaces are overrun with fake drives, and the worst part is how authentic they look. Scammers have gotten so good that some of these fakes can even pass a quick benchmark test. But the second you try to save large files to them, they'll fail, overwrite your old data, or corrupt your system.

SEE ALSO: Uh-oh, Qualcomm is hiking prices for its clients amidst RAMageddon, report says

Here's how to protect yourself and spot the fakes:

• Check the seller: Stick to drives that are shipped and sold by Amazon or sold through the manufacturer's official storefront (like the ones listed below). Avoid random third-party sellers with alphabet-soup names.

• Use verification software: If you buy a Samsung drive, use the Samsung Magician app to verify its authenticity as soon as you take it out of the box. Scammers can't spoof the manufacturer's own diagnostic tools.

• Use common sense: If you see a 4TB drive on sale for 30 bucks, it's a scam.

To save you the hassle of sorting through the sketchy listings, I combed through Amazon's current SSD sale and pulled out the legit deals worth your money.

Best overall deal Opens in a new window Credit: SanDisk SanDisk Extreme Portable 2TB External SSD $319.99 at Best Buy
$423.99 Save $104   Get Deal Why we like it

If you need to re-up on memory, the best deal we found is from the Best Buy anniversary sale, which is ending soon. Not only is this popular SanDisk portable SSD drive discounted by $104, but it's significantly cheaper than it is at Amazon. Our tech editor owns several of these hard drives. Plus, this external hard drive is sold directly by Best Buy, not through a marketplace or reseller, so you don't have to worry about getting ripped off.

SEE ALSO: Best Buy's celebrating its 60th birthday by selling $100 gift cards for $60 — how to claim yours Internal SSD deals

If you're building a PC or upgrading your PS5, these NVMe and SATA drives are solid picks.

• Lexar 128GB NS100 Internal SSD (2.5-inch SATA) — $49.99 $59.99 (save $10)

• PNY CS900 500GB Internal SSD (2.5-inch SATA) — $89.80 $109.99 (save $20.19)

• Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB NVMe Internal SSD (PCIe 5.0 M.2) — $249.99 $339.99 (save $90)

• Lexar 2TB NM790 Internal NVMe SSD — $299.99 $449.99 (save $150)

• Lexar 2TB NM1090 PRO Internal NVMe SSD — $349.99 $599.99 (save $250)

• Samsung 990 PRO 2TB NVMe Internal SSD (PCIe 4.0 M.2) — $389.99 $639.99 (save $250)

External SSD deals

Whether you need to back up your laptop or carry a large media library on the go, these portable drives are reliable options.

• Verbatim Pocket 1TB External SSD — $149.99 $299.99 (save $150)

• Lexar 2TB SL500 External SSD — $329.99 $399.99 (save $70)

• Samsung T9 2TB Portable External SSD — $405.97 $574.99 (save $169.02)

• Samsung T7 Shield 2TB Portable External SSD — $474.99 $574.99 (save $100)

• SanDisk 4TB Extreme Portable SSD V2 — $499.99 $899.99 (save $400)

• SanDisk Professional 2TB PRO-G40 External SSD — $559.99 $619.99 (save $60)

• SanDisk 8TB Extreme Portable External SSD — $839.99 $1,624.99 (save $785)

Updated on Friday, Aug. 21 at 3:00 p.m. ET — Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., the parent company of Grand Theft Auto-maker Rockstar Games, has filed two subpoenas naming Microsoft and Discord as it hunts the leaker known as Cyberleek. The legal filings specifically cite "stolen content," seemingly confirming that the leaks are legitimate. Take-Two is also requesting the removal of leaked material that violates its copyrights, as well as information that could unmask the leakers.

Read more about the Microsoft and Discord subpoenas.

With less than a week to go before Grand Theft Auto VI makes its big official debut (of sorts) on Netflix, it sure seems like a lot of footage is already out there.

Someone (or perhaps a group of people) called CyberLeek has allegedly been leaking short clips of GTA VI left and right this week. If the clips are real, they represent the first genuine glimpse of gameplay anyone outside of developer Rockstar Games has seen of the hotly anticipated title. If they're not, well, then this whole thing has been a waste of time and energy.

Still, for posterity's sake, it's worth putting together a quick list of everything that's been leaked so far. We're not going to embed or link to any of these clips, as we can't verify their authenticity, but they're easy enough to find on X or Reddit, if you look hard enough.

SEE ALSO: What is CyberLeek? Everything we know about the alleged GTA 6 leakers. Every GTA VI leak so far

At the time of publication, a total of nine clips and screenshots had surfaced that purportedly show different aspects of GTA VI. Here's what each one appears to contain:

• Map sneak peek 1: A small, cropped portion of the in-game world map, showing a location called Dalton Island.

• Map sneak peek 2: Another cropped portion of the map showing locations called Tequesta Retreat, Gloriana Key, and Catalan Key.

• Basketball video: A clip of protagonist Jason Duval throwing a basketball into a hoop repeatedly.

• Full map: An alleged screenshot of the entire in-game map.

• Random video 1: A clip of Jason driving around for a little bit, before beating up a truck driver.

• Taser video: A clip of Jason driving before stealing a security guard's taser and using it on him. Jason then repeatedly kicks the guard while he is on the ground.

• Junkies video: A clip that appears to show a healing drug called Zombix. A tooltip indicates that Zombix's effects will weaken over time if the player uses it too much.

• Plane video: A clip of Jason flying a plane over Vice City, with much of the game world visible below. At the end, whoever is playing the game in the clip shoots the word "LEEK" into a wall with bullets, suggesting the leaker has a playable build of the game.

• Hypercar part 1: A clip of Jason driving a high-end sports car around Vice City.

It's worth reiterating that all of these could be fake. We live in a world of AI generation, after all. That said, as someone who has played nearly every GTA game, I found them fairly convincing. GTA games all move in a certain way, and that movement appears to be recreated remarkably well in these videos. Everything from character movement to NPC interactions looks relatively on-brand for a modern Rockstar game.

As for what's next, we can't say. But CyberLeek is notably running polls on its website that allow people to pay in cryptocurrency to vote on what should be leaked next. That's certainly one way to spend your time and money, especially with real, official gameplay footage set to debut in less than a week.