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

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 27, 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 27, 2026 Easy difficulty hints, answers for August 27 Pips

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

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

Greater Than (5): Everything in this space must be greater than 5. The answer is 2-6, placed horizontally.

Not Equal: Everything in this space must be different. The answer is 1-4, placed horizontally; 3-6, placed horizontally; 2-6, placed horizontally; 5-3, placed horizontally.

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

Medium difficulty hints, answers for August 27 Pips

Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 6-2, placed vertically.

Less Than (4): Everything in this space must be less than 4. The answer is 3-1, placed horizontally; 1-5, placed vertically.

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

Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 3-5, placed horizontally; 1-5, placed vertically.

Equal (2): Everything in this space must be equal to 2. The answer is 6-2, placed vertically; 4-2, placed horizontally.

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

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

Hard difficulty hints, answers for August 27 Pips

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

Number (7): Everything in this space must add up to 7. The answer is 3-6, placed horizontally; 1-5, placed vertically.

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

Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 5-3, placed horizontally.

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 3-6, placed horizontally; 5-3, placed horizontally; 1-3, placed horizontally; 3-3, placed vertically.

Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 1-5, placed vertically; 5-6, placed vertically.

Equal (1): Everything in this space must be equal to 1. The answer is 1-3, placed horizontally; 1-6, placed horizontally.

Equal (6): Everything in this space must be equal to 6. The answer is 1-6, placed horizontally; 6-6, placed vertically; 5-6, placed vertically.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 5-4, placed vertically; 2-0, placed vertically.

Number (8): Everything in this space must add up to 8. The answer is 6-6, placed vertically; 2-4, placed vertically.

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

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 0-3, placed horizontally; 1-2, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 1-2, placed horizontally; 2-4, 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.

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you are into shades of gray.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for August 26, 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: Shocking

• Green: Tearing up

• Blue: Gray

• Purple: Looks like a music genre

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Here are today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Electric Things

• Green: Moved to Tears

• Blue: Shades of Gray

• Purple: Music Genre Plus Starting Letter

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 #1173 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Electric Things: ELECTRIC EEL, LIGHTNING, LIVE WIRE, PIKACHU

• Moved to Tears: CHOKED UP, EMOTIONAL, MISTY, OVERCOME

• Shades of Gray: ASH, DOVE, PEWTER, SLATE

• Music Genre Plus Starting Letter: BROCK, NEMO, SPUNK, WRAP

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 yesterday's Connections.

Today's NYT Strands hints are easy in an abstract way.

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 26, 2026 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Spiraling definitions

The words are adjectives related to twisting.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe that twist or can be twisted.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is vertical.

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NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is What a Twist.

NYT Strands word list for August 26

• Hairstyle

• Dance

• Sprain

• Surprise

• Distortion

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 yesterday's Strands.

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you work in production.

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 27, 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 27, 2026 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

Unedited.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

The letter U appears twice.

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

Today's Wordle starts with the letter U.

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...

UNCUT

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 yesterday's Wordle.

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.

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.

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 popular car rental company.

Hurdle Word 1 answer

HERTZ

Hurdle Word 2 hint

An organ in the head.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for August 27, 2026 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

BRAIN

Hurdle Word 3 hint

To lodge in.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for August 27, 2026 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Meanings for each word for Aug. 27, 2026 Hurdle Word 3 answer

EMBED

Hurdle Word 4 hint

An old song or movie.

Hurdle Word 4 answer

OLDIE

Final Hurdle hint

It started.

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

BEGUN

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

Some advertisements make you want to buy the product. Others make the entire internet ask, "Who on Earth approved this?"

A promotional video from golf equipment giant Callaway and popular YouTube brand Good Good Golf has landed firmly in the latter category. The since-deleted ad showed the brand's co-founder Garrett Clark charging toward female golfer Alexis Miestowski, shoving her to the ground, and standing over her before warning, "Do not touch my new driver."

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The clip was apparently intended to be part of a horror-inspired story about Clark becoming dangerously obsessed with the new Good Good-branded Callaway Quantum driver. Instead, viewers saw a man knock a woman down over a golf club — and reacted accordingly.

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"This is a generationally stupid ad," one X user wrote. "Absolutely incredible that no one in the room said 'guys hold on,'" Golf Digest reporter Christopher Powers added.

Powers' disbelief reflected a defining response to the commercial. People were not only upset by what appeared onscreen, but baffled by how many people must have encountered the idea before it reached them.

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Good Good and Callaway removed the video from their social media accounts on Aug. 21, but, as brands repeatedly learn, deleting something does not make it disappear from the internet. Copies continued circulating, bringing the ad to an even larger and increasingly incredulous audience.

"This is so much worse than I thought it was going to be," one X user wrote. Another asked whether any women had been involved in pitching, approving, or producing it.

Over in the r/golf subreddit, where a discussion of the controversy attracted more than 1,000 upvotes and hundreds of comments, golf fans were equally unimpressed. "The ad had a school project production value and lacked any real humor," one commenter wrote. "How this passed by anyone at Callaway with the slightest bit of media proficiency or common sense is mind boggling."

"The way to normally do these things as 'jokes' is to make it so over the top that it’s clearly not intended to be serious," one user explained. "What you don’t do is have them realistically tackle a woman and then stand over them aggressively and deliver the line."

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For some viewers, especially women, the ad represented more than one spectacularly misguided creative decision, but embodied the exclusionary "golf bro" culture that the sport has spent years attempting to move beyond.

"As a female golfer, I already feel excluded from the golf world in some ways. They crossed the line,” one Reddit user commented. Another TikTok commenter said they were tired of the "bro culture" and "frat boy mentality" surrounding golf both online and on the course.

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Women working within golf pushed back, too. "They didn’t just create an ad that makes golf non-inclusive to women, but it endorses violence against women in the scariest and most threatening way," Skratch social media director Nicole Rae said, calling the video "wildly disappointing."

CNN Living Golf host Jasmine Sanders, known online as The Jazzy Golfer, pointed to the contradiction between the industry’s stated goals and what two of its prominent brands had approved: "Golf keeps talking about making the game more welcoming to women," Sanders said in a LinkedIn video. "You can’t say that matters and then make violence towards a woman the punchline."

Golfer and former Real Housewives of Orange County cast member Katie Ginella said she was "in shock" after watching the ad. Ginella, who has spoken publicly about her own experience with domestic violence, said she would no longer support Good Good or Callaway.

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None of these women aren't wrong — there is a large contradiction in the sport of golf. Women and girls have accounted for 60 percent of the growth in on-course golf participation since 2019, yet much of golf’s most prominent internet content remains built around groups of men, competitive challenges, and rowdy banter. Good Good itself was founded by male creators and only launched a separate women’s channel in late 2025.

Ironically, by partnering with Good Good to make golf feel younger and more internet-native, Callaway — one of golf's biggest institutions — ended up legitimizing the very "golf bro" culture that makes women feel unwelcome in the sport in the first place.

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Founded as a YouTube channel in 2020, Good Good has grown into a major golf media and merchandise business with more than 2 million YouTube subscribers. Callaway partnered with the group back in 2023, and the brand is now the title sponsor of a PGA Tour tournament scheduled for November.

In an apology posted to X, Good Good said the video "ultimately depicted actions that are not aligned with our values as a brand." Good Good CEO Matt Kendrick also issued a longer statement on LinkedIn, saying the commercial was intended to parody a scene from the horror movie Obsession but that its execution "missed the mark." "Regardless of what we intended, we are responsible for what we put into the world and how it is received," Kendrick wrote. "We got this one wrong."

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Callaway CEO Chip Brewer, on the other hand, said it was "disappointed by the content that was posted" and thanked Good Good for addressing it (language that appeared to place the responsibility primarily on its partner.)

He also admitted that although Good Good produced the video, Callaway had approved it before publication: "That approval should never have happened," Brewer wrote. "Mistakes were made, and we are taking the matter very seriously." Brewer added that Callaway was conducting internal and external investigations, and announced changes to the company’s approval processes.

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Yet, many viewers — and brand partners — were not satisfied with that explanation. Even the Golf Channel postponed the Aug. 25 premiere of Big Break x Good Good until Sept. 1, saying it needed time to make "necessary production updates" after a sponsor requested that its branding be removed from the series (rumored to be retailer "Golf Galaxy").

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Dick’s Sporting Goods also removed Good Good merchandise from their websites and store floors, along with Target and several PGA Tour Superstore locations. Callaway, meanwhile, removed the Good Good Quantum driver from its own website, although the club remained available directly through Good Good.

Even competitors saw an opening: Golf club brand PXG posted a video of professional golfers Olivia Cowan, Gina Kim, and Auston Kim with the caption, "Our drivers play nice with everyone."

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The uproar surrounding this ad did not happen in a vacuum. In 2021 alone, an estimated 34 percent of murdered women were killed by an intimate partner. The CDC also reports that nearly one in four women has experienced physical violence from an intimate partner, and that more than half of female homicide victims are killed by a current or former male partner.

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In that light, pushing a woman to the ground and standing over her is far too familiar an image to land as a harmless punchline.

If the ad was supposed to show that Callaway’s new driver was worth fighting over, it failed. Instead, it showed how easily violence against women could survive pitching, filming, editing, and corporate approval — all to sell a driver.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), text “START” to 88788, or visit TheHotline.org to chat with an advocate. Support is free, confidential, and available 24/7.

Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri is investigating Flock Safety, the maker of the now-ubiquitous AI-powered Flock cameras, demanding answers from the company about how it captures and retains data on millions of Americans.

With over 120,000 cameras in 49 states, Flock has been under scrutiny from the American public for weeks, with some vigilantes destroying the automated license plate readers (ALPR). Now, the Atlanta-based company has to contend with a Senate investigation demanding troves of documentation on its policies, as well as details on how some of the data it captured has been misused. 

In his letter to Flock, Hawley pointed out that its cameras conduct more than 20 billion vehicle scans monthly, while "the overwhelming majority of the Americans captured in those records did nothing wrong" and all that information is searchable in a national database for Flock’s customers.

Hawley also laid out numerous cases of misuse of Flock’s data, including police officers using the database for stalking rather than crime investigation.

SEE ALSO: Have you been Flocked? This website lets you find out

The letter also highlighted cases of Flock cameras providing incorrect information on cars its surveilled; mistakes that have led to people being wrongfully imprisoned.

"A Florida woman spent 13 days in jail and faced eight felony counts, including three counts of vehicular homicide, after investigators arrested an owner based on their search of Flock’s network for a vehicle description,” Hawley wrote. "Prosecutors dismissed the charges seven months later when law enforcement discovered the error and arrested a different person. One California police department found that a staggering 71% of its alerts were wrong, and the Los Angeles Police Department dropped its Flock contract after an audit showed officers had stopped 161 vehicles incorrectly flagged as stolen in the space of two months."

Hawley also wants clarity on how Flock handles the data it captures.

"Flock’s $8.3 billion valuation comes with enormous pressure to find new commercial applications," Hawley wrote. "Americans demand a full accounting for how their driver data is stored or sold."

Hawley wants Flock to provide answers on:

• Which customers are allowed to conduct statewide or nationwide searches of vehicle or driver data

• The retention period of its data

• All the times Flock cameras have been misused, and whether Flock caught the misuse itself

• What a Flock user has to do to justify a search on another person’s vehicle

• What restrictions exist on vehicle searches, and whether those restrictions can be circumvented

• What are Flock’s own measures of accuracy when it comes to capturing vehicle information

• Specifics on how Flock captures data, e.g., photos, videos, audio, wireless signals

• Details on whether Flock ever linked captured data to an external source, like a data broker

• Whether vehicle searches require multi-factor authentication and, if Flock is not currently requiring it, when it will

• "Describe in detail whether Flock has the capability to biometrically track individuals"

Hawley wants Flock to answer all its questions by Sept. 8.

SAVE $160: As of Aug. 26, the Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 5 (8.8-inch, Snapdragon) is down to $689.99. That's an 18% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: Lenovo Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 5 $689.99 at Lenovo
$849.99 Save $160   Get Deal

The Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 5 just dropped to $689.99 at Lenovo, down from $849.99 — an 18% discount that knocks $160 off Lenovo's gaming-focused tablet. The Legion Tab Gen 5 packs a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, 12GB of memory, and 256GB of storage, wrapped in a 3K display that hits 800 nits of brightness.

It runs Android 16 and lasts over 12 hours on a charge, which is a lot for a tablet built to handle gaming. Mashable recently tested this one, giving it a 4.5 out of 5 and a Mashable Choice Award. Reviewer Samantha Mangino was impressed by its processing power, noting its Geekbench 6 scores put it "into the leagues of a MacBook."

At 8.8 inches, it's smaller and more portable than the standard 11-inch iPad, which makes a difference for handheld gaming sessions. Mangino also called out its two USB-C ports as a standout feature, letting gamers plug in a controller or headphones while the tablet charges, something most tablets don't offer.

Battery life held up too, lasting over 12 hours in testing, and it handled livestreaming without any stuttering or slowdown, even during a WNBA game. Overall, Mangino called the tablet worth it for anyone who wants a gaming-specific tablet.

Snag the Legion Tab Gen 5 before the memory crisis pushes the price right back up.

When Dolly Parton died Tuesday, her family asked for something other than flowers in her memory. Instead, they requested donations to Parton's Imagination Library.

Though Parton was known around the world as an icon of music and movies, her beloved literacy program cemented her legacy as a humanitarian.

SEE ALSO: The internet mourns Dolly Parton, country music’s brightest light How Imagination Library started

Parton founded Imagination Library in 1995 to encourage a love for reading and learning among the children of Sevier County, Tennessee, where she was raised. She famously dedicated Imagination Library to her father, who grew up in rural poverty and never attended school.

"Daddy was a really smart man ... but he was ashamed that he couldn't read and write," Parton told Oprah in 2020, "That always bothered me that he felt like he couldn't learn after he was grown. I remember thinking, 'I need to do something about that. I can. I'm in a position now where I can do something.'"

What Imagination Library does

Parton asked her father to help with the initiative, which delivers free, age-appropriate books to children every month from birth to age 5.

By the time a child finishes the program, they've received 60 books, according to Imagination Library.

The Dollywood Foundation covers some costs and negotiates book pricing. Its local partners help pay for mailing costs and the books themselves. Families that participate in Imagination Library pay nothing.

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The Imagination Library says it has registered 3.2 million to participate in the program and given away 332 million books since its founding. Imagination Library now operates throughout the U.S, as well as in Canada, Australia, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

In 2018, Parton donated her 100 millionth book to the U.S. Library of Congress.

Upon Parton's passing, the Dollywood Foundation said in a statement that her legacy will continue "when a child opens a book addressed especially to them; when a parent and child read a favorite story together; and when a young person begins to imagine a future bigger than the circumstances into which they were born."

How you can support Imagination Library

The Imagination Library accepts online donations via its website.

The program posted on Instagram that it would steadfastly continue its work.

"For decades, Dolly and the team at The Dollywood Foundation — home of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library — worked to build something that would last for generations. So it will," the post said.

In her 2020 conversation with Oprah, Parton said that her father got to see the Imagination Library's success before he died in 2000.

"My daddy got to live long enough to see that doing really well," she said. "So I just always know he's up there somewhere thinking, 'You go, girl. You done good.'"

With just one more day to go before Grand Theft Auto VI makes its big official debut (of sorts) on Netflix, the leaker known as Cyberleek is still on a tear. Shortly after Rockstar Games issued a statement about the GTA 6 leaks on Wednesday, Cyberleek released story spoilers for the first time by uploading an extended clip of a prologue introducing the Lucia Caminos character.

Over the past week, someone (or perhaps a group of people) called Cyberleek has been busy sharing short gameplay clips of GTA 6 left and right. On Aug. 20, Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of GTA-maker Rockstar Games, filed subpoenas against Microsoft and Discord to try to unmask the leaker, followed soon after by subpoenas against Google and X Corp. Those filings specifically cited "stolen content," seemingly confirming that at least some of the Cyberleek videos are legitimate.

The GTA 6 leaks represent the first glimpse of gameplay from the hotly anticipated title. In addition, countless AI-generated videos posing as "leaks" are also circulating widely on social media. So, we've put together a quick list of everything Cyberleek has released so far. We're not going to embed or link to any of these clips; however, 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 6 leak from Cyberleek so far

At the time of publication, 16 gameplay clips and three map screenshots have been posted by Cyberleek that show different aspects of GTA 6, including glimpses of cutscenes. The leaker has so far avoided posting major plot spoilers started posting story spoilers in the most recent release, so be careful if you want to avoid them.

Here are the GTA 6 leaks Cyberleek has shared so far:

• 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 in a mini-game.

• Full map: An alleged view 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 at night, 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.

• Hypercar part 2: A clip of Jason driving the sports car some more, before committing armed robbery.

• Strip club: Jason wanders around a strip club, then a short clip of an in-game cutscene is shown.

• Gas station: Jason causes trouble at a gas station, steals a truck with a bed full of gasoline, and crashes and dies; more of the previous cutscene is shown.

• Plane video 2: Jason flies a plane over Vice City at night.

• Nudist colony: Jason explores a nudist hangout spot (where the NPCs are, obviously, nude) and attacks NPCs.

• Nightclub: A pretty uneventful video of Jason walking around the interior of a nightclub.

• Beach cycling: Jason riding a bicycle on a beach full of NPCs.

• Video game store: Jason walking around a video game store with shelves full of fake video game boxes.

• How does Cyberleek drive?: Jason steals a hotrod and evades the police; the clip ends with a cutscene showing Lucia Caminos, the game's second playable character, for the first time. Caminos talks about someone who "drives like a bitch."

• Lucia prologue: A four-and-a-half-minute video of a prologue introducing Caminos; the clip includes minor story spoilers.

We can't authenticate any of the Cyberleek videos, and we live in a world where it's easy to generate convincing AI videos. That said, as someone who has played nearly every GTA game, they all seem 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.

On top of that, Rockstar Games finally acknowledged the leak in a statement, calling it "heartbreaking." The statement all but confirms the leaked gameplay clips are the real deal.

What could Cyberleek release next?

Cyberleek has been running polls on its website that allow people to pay in cryptocurrency to vote on what should be leaked next. In recent days, Cyberleek teased footage featuring the Lucia Caminos character, in particular. On Wednesday, Cyberleek made good on those promises and released a short cutscene with Caminos, followed by an extended look at the character's prologue.

Cyberleek doesn't have any active polls online as of this writing. Their most recent comments suggest more videos featuring Caminos are coming, and soon.

Of course, you can also wait for real, official gameplay footage, which is set to debut on Netflix on Aug. 27.

Mashable has contacted Rockstar and Take-Two repeatedly with questions about the leaks, and we'll update this story if we receive a response.

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Updated on Wednesday, Aug. 26 at 3:20 p.m. ET — We've updated this story with details on Rockstar's statement and additional GTA 6 leaks.

Updated on Tuesday, Aug. 25 at 11:40 a.m. ET — We've updated this story to reflect the latest Cyberleek videos.

Updated on Monday, Aug. 24 at 1:30 p.m. ET — We've updated this story to reflect the latest Cyberleek leaks.

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.

For the past week, a mystery leaker calling themselves Cyberleek has been busy posting gameplay clips from the unreleased video game Grand Theft Auto VI, one of the most highly anticipated video games of all time.

So far, the leaker has shared only brief, spoiler-free glimpses of cutscenes or gameplay footage showing the game's world and mechanics, but on Wednesday, that changed. Shortly after Rockstar Games issued a statement about the leaks, Cyberleek made good on a threat to release clips of the game's prologue featuring the playable character Lucia Caminos. Cyberleek posted four and a half minutes of the Lucia prologue in a Telegram channel and promised to release more footage featuring Lucia soon.

The video shows a flashback featuring Caminos in prison, which isn't itself a spoiler. The original GTA 6 trailer, released two years ago, showed Caminos in an orange jumpsuit, as did an official image released by Rockstar Games. However, Cyberleek's latest video goes further by revealing plot details about the character's experiences in and out of prison.

This official still shows the character Lucia in an orange prison jumpsuit. Credit: Rockstar Games

That's all we're going to say about that particular clip, as we don't want to spoil the game for anyone. However, official details about the game were also revealed today by Dazed magazine, providing even more information about how Lucia fits into GTA 6.

The exclusive preview feature in Dazed reveals that players will be able to switch seamlessly between the protagonists Jason Duval and Caminos, who is described as "a fighter fresh out of prison." Dazed reported that players can have the characters act independently or as a couple.

For gamers trying to avoid GTA 6 spoilers, consider this your warning: Cyberleek has stepped up their campaign and is actively sharing spoilers.

For an official, Rockstar-approved preview of the upcoming game, tune into the extended look that premieres on Netflix tomorrow.

Apple has finally sent out invitations for its next hardware event, titled "Surprise and shine," set for Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. PT at the Steve Jobs Theater in Apple Park.

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This year's keynote carries extra weight beyond the usual hardware reveal as it will be John Ternus' first Apple product event as CEO, following Tim Cook's planned exit from the top job. Ternus is set to take over on Sept. 1, and given his background in running hardware engineering, some reports suggest Apple's industrial design group is being pulled closer to the center of decision-making under his leadership.

SEE ALSO: Meet incoming Apple CEO John Ternus: Everything to know

For the hardware itself, all signs point to a narrower lineup than usual, with the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max all expected to headline, alongside Apple's first foldable phone, widely rumored to be called the iPhone Ultra. Missing the event, however, will likely be the standard iPhone 18, 18e, and next-gen iPhone Air, which are reportedly being pushed to a spring 2027 event instead. New Apple Watches are also expected to make an appearance.

Here's everything we know heading into the keynote.

iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max

Per Mashable's ongoing iPhone 18 coverage, Apple is expected to keep this launch focused on its Pro model iPhones.

In terms of design, the Pro models aren't expected to stray far from last year's look. In Mashable's rumors thread, leaks suggest a couple of tweaks rather than a full overhaul, including a smaller Dynamic Island cutout and a more unified, single-tone back glass in place of last year's two-tone finish.

Color-wise, Apple will mix up this year's finishes to include a silver, dark gray, light blue, and a new shade called "dark cherry."

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Under the hood, the Pro models are expected to move to Apple's A20 and A20 Pro chips, paired with a new C2 modem that could bring 5G satellite support and an N2 chip aimed at improving WiFi and AirDrop reliability. Korean outlet The Bell has also reported that Apple plans to standardize RAM across the Pro lineup at 12GB, doing away with the base-versus-Pro memory split that's defined recent generations. Battery life should get a boost too, with capacity expected to land around 5,000mAh, which will appear the norm for the lineup.

The "biggest" change is within the camera. Several rumors have called the changes among the most significant camera hardware upgrades in the iPhone's history, due in part to a larger telephoto aperture and the introduction of variable aperture. That said, leaker Ice Universe has suggested the variable-aperture system might be exclusive to the Pro Max, leaving the standard Pro without it.

The Pro Max is also rumored to be very slightly larger and heavier than its predecessor, a tradeoff tied to fitting in a bigger battery.

iPhone Ultra A hypothetical rendering of the iPhone Ultra. Credit: Mashable / Zain bin Awais

The event's biggest wildcard is Apple's first foldable phone, widely expected to be called the iPhone Ultra (previously referred to in our reporting as the iPhone Fold). In our rumors guide on the Ultra, we noted that while Apple hasn't confirmed the device, code references in the iOS 27 beta, including strings tied to fold angles and screen states, plus macOS 27 features for resizing iPhone-mirroring windows, have made its existence something of an open secret.

Early testers cited by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reportedly liked the device's hinge quality and more iPad-like interface, though they were less impressed by the missing telephoto camera.

Expected specs, based on analyst and supply-chain reporting:

• A book-style design with a roughly 7.8-inch inner OLED display and a 5.5-inch outer display

• Touch ID rather than Face ID

• Four cameras total — two rear, one inner, one front-facing — though without a telephoto lens

• A liquid-metal hinge intended to improve durability

• A price above $2,000, with some estimates around $2,399

• A battery of at least 5,088mAh

Analysts, leakers, and even Gurman have been going back and forth for weeks about when the Ultra will actually release. Some reports say that the Ultra will be announced but won't hit shelves later, similar to the iPhone X. Others, like Gurman, have pushed back on this.

Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4

Rounding out the hardware slate are reports that the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 are also expected in September, likely with new health and fitness features and fresh color and band options rather than a major redesign this cycle.

It'll be a more substantial overhaul that may include a return to ceramic cases. Apple is also exploring a screen-free model for the minimalist wearable market, targeting late 2026 or 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

How to watch the iPhone 18 event

Apple's event kicks off Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park, with a livestream on Apple's website and YouTube channel for those not attending in person.

Mashable will be there on the ground, so look out for our coverage and hands-on impressions once the keynote wraps.

Leaked gameplay clips of Grand Theft Auto VI keep appearing on the internet.

After a few clips came out over the weekend and into Monday, there are now even more circulating online, courtesy of the now-notorious leaker known as Cyberleek. As Rockstar and Take-Two step up their efforts to find and stop Cyberleek, clips keep coming at an even more rapid pace.

On Wednesday morning, Rockstar broke its silence on the situation, calling the leaks "heartbreaking" for its team. Around the same time, Cyberleek posted yet another gameplay clip, then soon followed it up with a four-and-a-half-minute video of a prologue featuring Lucia Caminos, the second playable character in the game. In recent days, Cyberleek has been threatening to release clips featuring Caminos, and the leaker teased further GTA 6 leaks featuring the character.

SEE ALSO: GTA 6 makers subpoena X, Google in hunt for Cyberleek

We're not going to embed or link directly to any of these clips, but they are easy to find on social media. The most recent Cyberleek videos include:

• A clip of the player exploring a nightclub with scantily clad women

• A clip of protagonist Jason riding a bicycle on a beach packed with civilian NPCs

• A clip of Jason looking around a fictional video game retailer, complete with a bunch of fake video game boxes

• A clip of Jason stealing a hotrod and being chased by the police, as well as a short cutscene featuring Lucia

• Four and a half minutes of Lucia's prologue, featuring Lucia in prison and minor story spoilers

That brings the total number of leaked GTA 6 clips to 16, at the time of publication. To be clear, their authenticity has not been totally verified, but Rockstar's recent statement and parent company Take-Two's legal efforts to identify Cyberleek go a long way in confirming the clips are legit. In subpoenas, Take-Two has referred to the Cyberleek videos as "stolen content" and "leaked gameplay videos."

As a reminder, Rockstar is set to officially show an extended look at GTA VI gameplay on Netflix on Thursday.

UPDATE: Aug. 26, 2026, 3:30 p.m. EDT This story was originally published on Sept. 25 at 11 a.m. ET; we have updated this article with information on the latest Cyberleek videos and a statement issued by Rockstar Games.

Apple has finally announced the date, time, and tagline for its annual iPhone launch event. The company said today that a "Surprise and shine" Apple event will take place on Sept. 9 at 10 a.m. PT, and viewers will be able to watch the keynote live on YouTube, the Apple website, and Apple TV. At the event, Apple is widely expected to release the new iPhone 18 lineup, as well as a foldable smartphone, rumored to be called the iPhone Ultra.

As with past events, Apple released artwork to promote the occasion, which shows the tagline and the Apple logo with a glowing neon effect. The image evokes the white neon glow of the Siri AI beta announced earlier this year at WWDC 2026.

Guess what Apple will release in September in our Big Guessing Game: Apple edition. Enter now for a chance to win!

A Mashable reporter also received an invitation to the Apple event, and we'll be reporting live from Apple Park. The invitation reads, "Surprise and shine. Please join us in person for a special Apple event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Apple Park."

Credit: Apple / Stan Schroeder

The company declined to provide any additional information on the "special event," and we didn't expect them to. But we do have some idea of what Apple's working on.

Apple traditionally hosts an event in early September to announce the new iPhone lineup and other products. At last year's September keynote, Apple announced the iPhone 17, the Apple Watch Series 12, and the AirPods Pro 3. However, we expect this year's event to be unique in several ways, as the tagline seemingly suggests.

First, long-time Apple CEO Tim Cook is scheduled to step aside on Sept. 1 to make way for incoming CEO John Ternus, who currently works as Apple's Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering. This will be Ternus's first keynote, and the world will be watching to see how he sets the tone for a new era at Apple Park.

Second, Apple could release the first-ever foldable iPhone, the biggest change to the iPhone in years. Apple's smartphone competitors have been making foldable phones for years, but Apple has so far left the market to Google and Samsung. However, that's not unusual for Apple. The company didn't release the first smartphone or MP3 player, but when it finally entered the market, the company crushed the competition.

SEE ALSO: Apple is reportedly preparing iPhone price hikes (because of course they are)

Finally, the Siri AI beta will take one step closer to a public release, bringing Apple into the AI era at last.

We will be very interested to see if history repeats itself with the folding iPhone, or if the device goes the way of the Vision Pro.

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SAVE $90: Normally $199, the black Nothing Headphone (a) are on sale for just $119 at Amazon and Best Buy today (Aug. 26) — an unprecedented 45% savings.

Opens in a new window Credit: Nothing Nothing Headphone (a) $109 at Amazon
$199 Save $90   Get Deal Opens in a new window Credit: Nothing Nothing Headphone (a) $109 at Best Buy
$199 Save $90   Get Deal

Looking for a pair of noise-cancelling headphones that just won't quit? Earlier this month, Mashable's audio experts crowned the Nothing Headphone (a) their top pick for long battery life. They last up to 75 hours with their ANC on and 135 hours (!) without; most headphones we tested previously maxed out around 60 hours.

Your timing is excellent, by the way: There's never been a better time to buy the Headphone (a). Today, Aug. 26, Amazon and Best Buy are both running 24-hour deals that bring the black pair down to just $109 — nearly half off their usual price of $199. They've never been cheaper since launching in March.

The Headphone (a) have "that quintessentially Nothing retro-look," our reviewer said. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable

Battery life aside, Mashable's Bethany Allard loved the Headphone (a)'s "perfect" physical control buttons, unique retro design, and good sound quality. (You might just need to adjust their equalizer in the Nothing X mobile app. Allard said they can be a bit bass-heavy right out of the box.) Allard actually recommends them over the flagship Nothing Headphone (1), which sound a little more balanced but fit uncomfortably and cost more, she said.

"The Nothing Headphone (a) is the best pair of headphones from Nothing, and one of the best pairs of mid-range headphones available to get, thanks to their solid all-around performance and standout battery life," Allard wrote.

If you don't like the black colorway, you can pick up the Headphone (a) in white, yellow, or pink for $119 at Amazon and Best Buy today. That's still a solid 40% savings.

As anti-AI sentiment continues to spread, one tech industry leader is now floating an idea for how to deal with it.

In a 6,000-word essay posted on his Gates Notes website, billionaire and former Microsoft head Bill Gates explains his fears about artificial intelligence and offers a few proposals for addressing them. Gates also discussed his concerns in a wide-ranging interview with the New York Times.

One of the most notable ideas Gates proposes is a new tax on AI, which he calls the "token tax." 

As Gates explains, businesses pay payroll taxes on human employees. However, if AI replaces a worker's job, that same company gets to write the purchase off as a business expense.

"The tax system nudges you toward replacing people with machines," Gates says, explaining how his previously proposed robot tax would also play a role alongside the AI-specific tax.

SEE ALSO: Bernie Sanders proposes bill to give the public a 50% stake in AI companies

Gates says the tax would help slow the impact of AI's growth on labor and that the money it raises could be used for job retraining and building a stronger social safety net. He also says that the tax could be set up to avoid affecting "purely beneficial uses of AI," which he describes as "making medicine and education cheaper."

In addition to the tax, Gates also proposed "Human Reserved" jobs, which would be set aside specifically for human beings. Gates classified jobs that workers would have difficulty transitioning from as potential Human Reserved employment. He also proposed that jobs requiring a human touch, such as caregiving, should be Human Reserved.

We might set something aside as Human Reserved for economic reasons. For example, we may do it because allowing machines to take over a certain role will displace a large number of people who can’t easily change jobs. You can’t tell a 55-year-old who has worked in construction their whole career that they need to go work at an elder care facility and expect them to find it fulfilling.

Sometimes the decision to make something Human Reserved will be driven by other factors. In health, for example, imagine a robot giving you the awful news that you have an incurable disease. There’s no technical reason why it couldn’t. Yet it shouldn’t.

For years, executives within the AI industry have talked about how the technology will dramatically change the job market and put people out of work.

“Entire classes of jobs will go away and not come back,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman previously stated.

"You should be worried about where the technology we're building is going," warned Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who has said AI could "wipe out" half of all white-collar jobs.

A study found that tens of thousands of jobs were lost due to AI last year, and economists are warning that more AI job losses are on the way.

Now, many people are revolting against AI. Companies are facing backlash from consumers over "AI slop." Data centers are deeply unpopular on both sides of the aisle. Even some politicians are now taking stances against data center construction due to anti-AI sentiment among their constituents.

Some within the AI industry, such as Altman, are suddenly backtracking on their previous dire warnings about AI and jobs. It will be interesting to see how AI leaders like Altman and Amodei react to Gates's essay, and if proposals like this can make a dent in rising anti-AI sentiment.

SAVE $100.01: The TCL Note A1 Nxtpaper Tablet is on sale at Amazon for $499.98, down from the normal price of $599.99. That's a 17% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: TCL TCL Note A1 Nxtpaper Tablet + cover and stylus $499.98 at Amazon
$599.99 Save $100.01   Get Deal

In bad news for the week, Kindles saw price hikes to the tune of at least 25% pricier. That's not ideal if you had your eye on one of Amazon's e-readers. But in better news, we have a handful of worthy alternatives, and a particularly versatile model is on sale.

As of Aug. 26, the TCL Note A1 Nxtpaper Tablet is on sale at Amazon for $499.98, down from the normal price of $599.99. That's a 17% discount.

If you've been going back and forth between getting a new tablet or an e-reader, you don't have to decide. The TCL Note A1 Nxtpaper does both. It comes with TCL's Nxtpaper Pure display which is designed to mimic reading a physical book thanks to the reduces glare and enhanced clarity.

The TCL Note A1 has an 11.5-inch screen that's capable of displaying 16.7 million colors. TCL mentions that's a significant upgrade from the 60,000 colors on a standard color e-ink reader. But it does much more than serve as an e-reader.

SEE ALSO: Kindles just got more expensive, but the Kobo Clara Colour is on sale for under $160

The TCL has eight microphones for a 360-degree voice capture function that can give you AI meeting or lecture summaries. You can then easily share recordings or notes to Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive. This model of the Nxtpaper comes with 256GB of storage and a 120Hz refresh rate.

On top of the tablet, this deal includes some great extras like a flip case, stylus, extra stylus tips, and a polishing cloth. Snag the TCL Note A1 Nextpaper Tablet bundle for under $500 at Amazon and get a tablet, e-reader, and AI notetaker all in one.

SAVE 23%: As of Aug. 26, you can get the Apple AirPods 4 for $99, down from $129, at Amazon. That's a 23% discount, or $30 in savings.

Apple AirPods 4 $99 at Amazon
$129 Save $30   Get Deal at Amazon Get Deal at Walmart Get Deal at Best Buy

I recently lost my AirPods, and I miss them so much. None of my backup headphones read my texts to me, which is a feature I desperately need back. If you're also in the market for a replacement, the Apple AirPods 4 are $99 at Amazon right now.

SEE ALSO: The 12 best headphones of 2026: We tested the top contenders from Sony, Apple, Bose, and Beats

That's right. As of Aug. 26, you can get the Apple AirPods 4 for $99, down from $129, at Amazon. That's a 23% discount, or $30 in savings. While this isn't the lowest price we've seen (they're usually $69 during Prime Day and Black Friday), it's still a really good deal.

The AirPods 4 have a shorter stem for a better fit, improved audio for phone calls, and a smaller USB-C charging case that gives you up to 30 hours of battery life. They're not noise-cancelling, but they do support Siri interactions, letting you respond by nodding "yes" or shaking "no."

SAVE 64%: Lovehoney's 2026 sex toy advent calendar lineup just went live. You get five countdown options (7, 12, or 24 days) starting at $129, with savings up to 64% on big-name toys like the Womanizer Starlet 3 and We-Vibe Moxie+.

OK, I'm usually pretty strict about not celebrating holidays early (looking at you, Starbucks — premature pumpkin-spicing is a crime). I won't put my tree up or even start shopping until after Thanksgiving, while my sister is out here buying presents in July. But when I saw that Lovehoney already dropped its 2026 advent calendars, I knew it was worth the early mention. You can't use a countdown calendar unless you buy it ahead of time, after all.

SEE ALSO: I've tested 100+ sex toys. Here are the 15 most mind-blowing toys I've ever owned.

This year, Lovehoney brought back five different boxes, ranging from seven-day teasers to full 24-day countdowns. Whether you're looking for a couples kit or a solo treat (honestly, buy the 24-day box for yourself — I def. support that!), these deals are way too good to pass up.

Each calendar saves you 56% to 64% off the retail price of the toys inside, so you'll get top-notch stuff from Womanizer, We-Vibe, and Arcwave for a fraction of the cost.

Here's a quick breakdown of what's in this year's lineup:

Lovehoney Romance Advent Calendar (7-Day) Opens in a new window Credit: Lovehoney Lovehoney Romance Advent Calendar (7 Day) $129 at Lovehoney
$291.91 Save $162.91   Get Deal

The Lovehoney Romance Advent Calendar (7-Day) has up to seven days' worth of goodies, including full-sized toys (like the We-Vibe Moxie+, which is worth $149 on its own!), games, and accessories. There's also a remote-controlled bullet with two interchangeable sleeves for couples' play.

This little box is ideal for couples who want to add a little ~spice~ to their bedroom routine without spending a fortune. If you don't like surprises, you can read the full product list on the Lovehoney site, but if you do, I'll keep the content list brief!

Lovehoney Indulge Advent Calendar (12-Day) Opens in a new window Credit: Lovehoney Lovehoney Indulge Advent Calendar (12-Day) $129 at Lovehoney
$191.87 Save $62.87   Get Deal

The Lovehoney Indulge Advent Calendar (12-Day) offers a bit more for the same price. But unlike the box above, this gift set is designed specifically for female pleasure.

You'll get 12 days' worth of fun, including a rechargeable mini wand vibrator, the Lovehoney Indulge (worth $89.99), and other cute add-ons like water-based lube and a crystal butt plug.

Lovehoney Enjoy Advent Calendar (24-Day) Opens in a new window Credit: Lovehoney Lovehoney Enjoy Advent Calendar (24-Day) $129 at Lovehoney
$216.77 Save $87.77   Get Deal

If you don't want to spend over $129, but you want a wider variety of toys, the Lovehoney Enjoy Advent Calendar (24-Day) is your best bet. Somehow, Lovehoney is letting this 24-day advent calendar go for $129.

It's filled with full-sized toys, like the Womanizer Starlet 3 (worth $85), and has a ton of kinky items, including nipple clamps, a feather tickler, a paddle, and bondage rope.

Lovehoney Couple's Advent Calendar (24-Day) Opens in a new window Credit: Lovehoney Lovehoney Couple's Advent Calendar (24-Day) $219 at Lovehoney
$389.77 Save $170.77   Get Deal

For those of you who don't mind spending $200+, the Lovehoney Couple's Advent Calendar (24-Day) will get you two premium toys — the Womanizer Liberty 2 (worth $109) and the We-Vibe Sync Lite (worth $99) — along with a bunch of other goodies like an aluminum crystal butt plug (can't recommend a crystal butt plug enough, honestly), massage oil, a cock ring lasso, ankle and wrist cuffs, and more.

Lovehoney Luxury Advent Calendar (24- Day) Opens in a new window Credit: Lovehoney Lovehoney Luxury Advent Calendar (24- Day) $369 at Lovehoney
$539.75 Save $170.75   Get Deal

OK, last but certainly not least, we have the Lovehoney Luxury Advent Calendar (24-Day). This box is the most expensive of the bunch ($369), but it also includes top-dollar toys, like the Womanizer Enhance (worth $169) and Arcwave Zing (worth $149). One of my faves? The candy cane glass dildo — nothing says "festive" like a candy cane shoved up your ass.

You'll also get anal beads, a cock ring, tons of vibrators (like, more than four), and fun kinky items like a sex position card game and bed restraints.

Ever since launching its app in April, cruising platform Squirt (aka SQ Dating in the App Store) has been adding new features to entice Grindr and Sniffies users to hop on and get off.

Its latest update includes a brand-new feature called "Places." The feature lets you broadcast your current location or flag where you'll be within the next hour. You can tag yourself at public spots like the gym, a local bar, or the beach so guys know you're out and ready to hang. (It's kind of like if Grindr's "Right Now" and Sniffies "Share a Spot" feature had a baby.)

SEE ALSO: Gay dating app Sniffies just got $100 million from Match Group

Squirt also revamped its Cruiser Listings — a cornerstone feature that's been on the site for over two decades — with real-time check-ins. You can signal when you've arrived at a location, or flag that you're heading there later in the day. Every listing now pulls user-submitted data to display active check-ins within a 45-mile radius.

"Squirt has always been about making Real-Life meetups happen," Rob Fisher, Director of Product Development and Customer Success, said in a press release. "With our new check-in features, members can let guys know where they are or where they're headed, see who's nearby, and turn a little curiosity into something more. It's a faster, more spontaneous way to find where the action is and be part of it."

To kick things off, Squirt is being generous and giving all members unlimited access to view active check-ins across every Cruising Listing for a limited time.