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Opens in a new window Credit: KeySmart KeySmart SmartCard - Thinnest Card Tracker & Works with Apple Find My $34.95 at the Mashable Shop
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Who hasn't misplaced or lost their bag or wallet? While some of us may lose these important items more frequently than others, it doesn't have to be a crisis anymore. 

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For only $34.95 (with free shipping), the SmartCard offers seamless Apple Find My network compatibility, making it easy to track your belongings right from your iPhone. 

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Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple MacBook Air 13-inch, Refurbished (2020, Intel Core i3, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Gold)) $449.99 at the Mashable Shop
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TL;DR: Live stream New Zealand vs. Australia in the 2024 Rugby Championship for free on NZR+. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Everyone wants to end the Rugby Championship with a win, but wins are hard to come by in this tough competition. Australia have really struggled this year, but they will still believe that they can overcome the All Blacks in New Zealand.

If you want to watch New Zealand vs. Australia in the 2024 Rugby Championship for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is New Zealand vs. Australia?

New Zealand vs. Australia in the 2024 Rugby Championship kicks off at 3:05 a.m. ET on Sept. 28. This fixture takes place at the Wellington Regional Stadium.

How to watch New Zealand vs. Australia for free

You can live stream the 2024 Rugby Championship for free on NZR+, including New Zealand vs. Australia.

The catch is that this free live stream is only available to fans in Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Turkey, and Ukraine.

If you do not live in one of these countries, you can use a VPN to change your digital location and stream for free. VPNs can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to secure servers in other countries, meaning you can unblock free live streams of the Rugby Championship on NZR+ from anywhere in the world.

Access free live streams of the 2024 Rugby Championship by following these simple steps:

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

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

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in one of the countries listed above

4. Visit NZR+

5. Live stream New Zealand vs. Australia for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Year Subscription + 3 Months Free) $99.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can gain access to a free live stream of New Zealand vs. Australia without actually spending anything. This clearly isn't a long-term solution, but it gives you enough time to watch the 2024 Rugby Championship before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for the Rugby Championship?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live rugby on NZR+ for free, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries

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

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

• Fast connection speeds

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Live stream New Zealand vs. Australia in the 2024 Rugby Championship for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Oddity begins with an impossible choice. A woman alone in a remote country house hears a knock at the door. There, a strange man with panic in his stare declares she must let him in. He claims to have seen someone sneak into her home, and tells her she is not safe. She doesn't have her phone with her. And was the creak upstairs an intruder? Or just an old house settling? Dare she stay inside with an unknown threat? Or go outside with a disheveled stranger whose presence is as alarming as his appearance? 

Writer/director Damian McCarthy hooks viewers from the start with this scary scenario. But then he takes a radical turn. Instead of following this poor woman named Dani (Carolyn Bracken) through a night of terror and threat, he leaps to a full year later, where her sister Darcy (also played by Bracken), a blind medium who owns an oddity shop, is seeking to understand exactly what did go down that terrible night. (Spoiler: It was nothing good.) 

SEE ALSO: 'Oddity's Damian McCarthy reveals the origins of his Wooden Man

This nonchalant temporal leap pitches viewers off-balance, like when a roller coaster abruptly tilts to the side, precise and perturbing. As he did with his stellar feature directorial debut, 2021's Caveat, McCarthy doesn't play by the cliched rules of horror. So, a slasher setup spins into a tale of ghosts, witchcraft, a murder investigation, and grim vengeance. Atmospheric and unpredictable, Oddity is a rare treasure. 

What's Oddity about?  Credit: Courtesy of Colm Hogan / IFC and Shudder

The main thrust of the plot follows Darcy as she intrudes on the renovated home of her sister and the renovated life of Dani's uptight widower, Ted (Gwilym Lee), and his new girlfriend, Yana (Caroline Menton). On the one-year anniversary of Dani's death, Darcy pays an unexpected visit and brings an unusual family heirloom. As in Caveat, a creepy handmade figure plays a central role in McCarthy's haunted house tale. There, it was a festering rabbit toy that banged cymbals. (Eagle-eyed viewers might spot it on display in Darcy's shop!) In Oddity, the creepy craft is a full-sized man, carved out of wood, his mouth agape in a silent scream.

Understandably, Ted isn't keen to keep this eerie thing around. But he's got work at the asylum to get back to, so he awkwardly excuses himself, leaving his flustered girlfriend home alone with Darcy and her demented bauble. It's not long before unnerving things begin to happen around the house. Is Dani's ghost haunting the place? Is Darcy toying with this surviving couple out of a twisted sense of retribution for so swiftly moving on? Is the wooden man really moving on his own? As magic and mental illness play a part of the story, anything is possible, which is precisely what makes Oddity so thrilling. 

Damian McCarthy builds an expanding horror universe with Oddity.  Credit: Courtesy of Colm Hogan / IFC and Shudder

Nods to Caveat aside, the stranger at the door is named Olin Boole (Tadhg Murphy), a fellow with a prosthetic eye and a tragic backstory that was unfurled in McCarthy's short film "How Olin Lost His Eye." Beyond a crossover of props and characters that may not be explicitly bound, McCarthy is brewing a brand of horror that's mind-bending, menacing, and so putrid with decay you can practically smell the rot. Like poor Dani, the hero of Caveat (played by Jonathan French, who also pops up in Oddity) was also put in a curious position at the film's start: a job offer that might seem bizarre, but is desperately needed. So what's a set of shackles between paychecks? 

In Oddity, rather than a house in ruins, Dani's home is a historic old home being carefully renovated. A collision of coarse stone walls and modern paintings pinned upon them shows not only the contrast of old and new, but also the past of Dani colliding with the present of Yana, her youthful, smirking replacement. McCarthy smartly accentuates this dynamic in his use of color. Cool tones like the blue-grey stone or Yana's shiny navy blouse present a world of seeming civility, entitlement, and order. But splashes of stark red blood or the bright yellow of the pup tent in which Dani once slept stand out, driving home the dissonance of random acts of violence in this supposedly reasonable world. There's an elegance amid this eeriness, even in the design of the wooden golem, plugged up with bobs of blood, hair, and family photos. He is at once gorgeous and horrific; clearly static, yet so lifelike that when Yana irreverently pokes her hand into his open mouth, your body may well rattle with the anticipatory fear of a gnarly bite!

Every twisted turn is smoothly made, thanks not only to McCarthy's skill in honing tone, but also courtesy of an ensemble cast that delivers performances grounded yet edged with intensity. Pulling double duty, Bracken gracefully switches from the easy-breezy Dani to the dubious Darcy, her physicality growing tighter as her broad smile tightens to sharp grin. Lee brings surly irritation as the widower, playing Ted like a pretentious schoolmaster tired of lecturing children that there are no monsters under their beds. Murphy and French fold in layers of fear and panic in small but pivotal roles, while Menton delivers a sophisticated snottiness that makes her a sharp foil to the scheming Darcy. All in all, it's a cast of characters at each others' throats, and utterly mesmerizing. 

Oddity is a savage original. Credit: Courtesy of Colm Hogan / IFC and Shudder

Incredibly, McCarthy weaves in elements of many horror genres. The remote setting and ghostly possibilities lean into haunted house territory. But Darcy's wooden man was made by a witch (so she says), skewing the plot into dark magic. Dani's sequence, with its isolation, intrusion, and bloody result, plays out like a slasher. Then, the central conflict between the could-be newlyweds and Darcy strums at the core of folk horror, in which educated city folk come to a rural village and sneer at believers (Darcy) and superstition to their detriment. Yet Oddity does not feel like a pastiche. Instead, McCarthy takes each of these elements and uses them as a hue in his distinctive palette of horror. He blends them beautifully and harrowingly, pulling us in with their mystique and making us howl with their darkest revelations. 

Watching Oddity, I briefly worried there's no way the movie could maintain this ferocious momentum. It's not that the film is frantically paced, more that it strides. When McCarthy sets up a familiar beat, he knows you know what will come next. A woman alone in a big, spooky house will be attacked. A sister-in-law discouraged from dropping by absolutely will at a most inopportune time. And by moving to these beats so quickly, McCarthy leaves us no room to breathe or anticipate where the story will swerve next.

Other filmmakers might have us slog through a trilogy for all the story he weaves into one 98-minute film. Soon, the focus is not so much about who killed Dani, but how Darcy's quest for understanding will play out for anyone remotely involved. And the ending — I'm elated to report — is as sick as it is satisfying. Not just because of how this plot unravels, but also because of how McCarthy, after racing us around timelines and subgenres, takes his time to deliver a final beat that brings a major blow. 

In a word, Oddity is awesome. 

Oddity is now streaming on Shudder.

UPDATE: Jul. 18, 2024, 2:05 p.m. EDT This review was first published on March 9, 2024, as part of Mashable's SXSW 2024 coverage. It has since been updated to reflect its debut on streaming.

Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for September 27'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: Hurdle hints and answers for September 27 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 used to be available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it. Unfortunately, it has since been taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times.

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's The Mini crossword answers for September 27 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for September 27 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

Complete trust in one's beliefs.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no reoccurring letters.

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

Today's Wordle starts with the letter F.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is...

FAITH.

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.

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 the latest Wordle.

Connections is the latest New York Times word game 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 September 27'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 SEE ALSO: Hurdle hints and answers for September 27 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.

Tweet may have been deleted

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.

Tweet may have been deleted

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's The Mini crossword answers for September 27 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Plateaus

• Green: Very important

• Blue: Managing a football team

• Purple: Famous sci-fi flicks

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Area of High Ground

• Green: Significance

• Blue: Actions in Fantasy Sports

• Purple: Sci-Fi Movies, With "The"

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 #474 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Area of High Ground: BANK, DUNE, HILL, MOUND

• Significance: GRAVITY, IMPORT, SUBSTANCE, WEIGHT

• Actions in Fantasy Sports: BENCH, DRAFT, START, TRADE

• Sci-Fi Movies, With "The": ABYSS, FLY, MATRIX, THING

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

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Hurdle: Everything you need to know to find the answers Hurdle Word 1 hint

Another description of hot chocolate.

SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for September 27 Hurdle Word 1 answer

COCOA

Hurdle Word 2 hint

The clinical term for snot.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Here's the answer hints for September 27 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

MUCUS

Hurdle Word 3 hint

The worth of something.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for September 27 Hurdle Word 3 answer

VALUE

Hurdle Word 4 hint

It's at the back of your throat.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for September 27 Hurdle Word 4 answer

UVULA

Final Hurdle hint

To complain a lot.

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

WHINY

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 Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.

With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.

So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player's flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: Hurdle hints and answers for September 27

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Friday, September 27, 2024:

AcrossAptly named brand of road and mountain bikes

• The answer is Trek.

"CD"

• The answer is Seedy.

"XL"

• The answer is Excel.

Make amends

• The answer is Atone.

Alternative to Yahoo! or AOL

• The answer is MSN.

DownMuch political campaign outreach these days

• The answer is Texts

Mission for a scout, for short

• The answer is Recon.

Garden with forbidden fruit

• The answer is Eden.

Friend of Kenny, Stan and Cartman on "South Park"

• The answer is Kyle.

Feature that some undergarments claim not to have (but it's often just less noticeable)

• The answer is Seam.

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

Featured Video For You The Wordle Strategy used by the New York Times' Head of Games

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

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to the latest Mini Crossword.

If you're reading this, you're looking for a little help playing Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game.

Strands 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: Here's the answer hints for September 27 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for September 27 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Medieval marvel

These words are noble homes.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

The answers are all related to castles and their features.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Castle.

Featured Video For You Strands 101: How to win NYT’s latest word game NYT Strands word list for September 27

• Keep

• Castle

• Moat

• Drawbridge

• Wall

• Turret

• Tower

• Courtyard

SEE ALSO: Hurdle hints and answers for September 27

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 the latest Strands.

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Hurricane Helene is strengthening as expected, and landfall will occur on the Big Bend coast of Florida Thursday night. Traffic, however, will not wait for landfall to occur.

Tweet may have been deleted

During a major hurricane, road conditions can be affected not just by flooding and crashes, but by road damage, precautionary closures, or just too many people on the road.

SEE ALSO: Hurricane Helene: Watch Florida webcams live, including Panama City, Port St. Joe SEE ALSO: Hurricane Helene update: Track the Florida landfall path

Fortunately you can check out live video feeds along your itinerary before you depart, and leave less to chance if you need to be out on the roads.

How to stay aware of road conditions during Hurricane Helene Credit: Florida Department of Transportation

As you're probably aware, the Florida Department of Transportation operates a site called FL511, and it aggregates live video feeds along Florida's roads and highways (some of which tend to be inoperable at any given time).

Credit: Florida Department of Transportation

The FL511 map overlays information on top of the Google Maps display of Florida.

Enter your starting point and destination in the info box on the left side, or right click on a location to draw up an itinerary.

To see live video along your specific route, find the box for "Traffic Cameras" and click it (assuming it's not already clicked).

Credit: Florida Department of Transportation

To bring up an actual live video, click one of the camera icons.

Credit: Florida Department of Transportation

The FDOT also advises motorists to check FL511 for potential alternative routes in the event that conditions mandate road closures, which they almost certainly will on Thursday night and Friday morning.

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In other words, check in with FDOT's map early and often to make sure your route is actually your route during Hurricane Helene.

OpenAI doesn't want to be so open anymore.

According to a new report, OpenAI — the organization that burst onto the scene with the release of its popular AI chatbot, ChatGPT, in 2022 — is looking to restructure into a for-profit company.

Much to the chagrin of its biggest critics, like former investor Elon Musk, OpenAI has been slowly moving away from the non-profit ethos it was initially founded on. OpenAI was originally founded in 2015 as a non-profit organization. In 2019, a for-profit subsidiary of the non-profit was set up, and the organization has been headed in that direction ever since. 

SEE ALSO: OpenAI is reportedly going all-in as a for-profit company

OpenAI is now looking to make its evolution into a for-profit company complete by shedding the non-profit board that controls it.

OpenAI looks to shed non-profit's power

In its current state, a non-profit organization sits atop OpenAI's business operations and controls the for-profit business' operations. This was set up in an attempt to keep true to part of OpenAI's original mission of ensuring a "safe AGI that is broadly beneficial." Potential dangers with AI, namely AI that surpasses its human creators, had once been a concern at the forefront of the organization. 

Late last year, the board's role and those concerns were thrust into the headlines after the non-profit board fired OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, setting off a chain of events that eventually landed Altman back at the head of the company. Altman was accused by some of his peers of putting AI safety issues aside in order to focus on growth at the for-profit company.

SEE ALSO: OpenAI Strawberry might release sooner than expected. Everything we know so far.

Investors, such as companies like Microsoft, have put billions of dollars into OpenAI. Even with these big investments, as OpenAI critic Ed Zitron recently pointed out, OpenAI is on track to lose billions this year. As these Big Tech companies seek returns on their investments, it seems inevitable that OpenAI will continue to focus on its profit motives. But, to fully do that, the non-profit board has to go – and it appears Altman is in the midst of doing that.

On Wednesday, the same day this report was published, OpenAI's CTO Mira Murati announced she was leaving the company. Shortly after Murati's announcement, OpenAI’s chief research officer Bob McGrew and VP of research Barret Zoph both announced their intention to leave the organization as well.

OpenAI appears to be undergoing big change as the organization restructures everything from how the company operates to its executive offices. While OpenAI says its non-profit will continue to exist, it will only own a minority stake in the for-profit company. OpenAI will seemingly take more risks in order to turn a profit, operating more so as a standard tech startup than before. But, it's unclear whether those risks will solve the for-profit company's financial issues or leave a net positive impact on society as a whole.

Finances can be a confusing space to navigate, and often, social media feels like a place that might make it make sense. People talk honestly about their financial woes online, and it can make you feel more open to following their advice — mainly because you don't have to pay for it,

Influencers on TikTok will tell you to get a high-yield savings account, or maybe they'll tell you not to. They tell you how to invest or get an unstressful job you like that pays well. They tell you what you're doing wrong — which, it turns out, is probably everything. They break down their paychecks and tell you why the advice you're following — on the very site you're following them — is messed up.

If that seems confusing, it's because it is. A new report by Edelman Financial Engines found that "more than a quarter of social media users (and 42% in their 30s) said they believed financial advice or information on social media that turned out to be false or misleading."

According to the report, since the vast majority of the population uses social media, and so many of us spend over three hours on it every day, we're exposed to "curated lifestyles and consumerism can come at a cost." The report shows that a quarter of users say they feel dissatisfied with their own personal wealth after using social media and comparing themselves to those online — and it's worse for younger generations.

SEE ALSO: What's so special about a Stanley? A guide to conspicuous consumption on TikTok.

"Americans, who tend to spend the most time on these platforms, are particularly vulnerable: 42% of those in their 30s have fallen prey to bad advice, and 2 in 10 (19%) have been duped multiple times," the report states. "Men are also more likely to believe misinformation online."

This comes at a time in which young people — those between the ages of 22-24 — are "more likely to be delinquent on credit cards and car loans than the generation before them," according to the Washington Post, and Gen Z debt loans have increased faster than their incomes. Of course, it's not particularly surprising that users are willing to do just about anything to get out of it; half of all Americans with debt even said they'd disclose private and personal information online if it meant their debt would be erased, the Edlemen report showed.

"Don’t let scrolling impact your financial decisions," the report reads. "As a society, we’re spending more time online and on social media than ever before, and there’s probably no changing that. But that shouldn’t mean we let our guard down against the bad advice and misinformation that’s out there. Younger generations are most susceptible to this content, so make sure to also encourage your kids to seek out guidance from qualified professionals instead of viral trends."

Helene is, as of this writing on Thursday afternoon, a "dangerous major hurricane," and conditions are expected to rapidly worsen in the next several hours as landfall approaches.

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The west coast of the Florida peninsula saw storm surge and rain all day, but what was visible Thursday may be deceptive, as this intensifying storm will be significantly more violent and dangerous for the Big Bend — along with areas to its north — than it was for the rest of the state.

SEE ALSO: Hurricane Helene update: Track the Florida landfall path

The following webcams are in or near NOAA's forecast cone for Helene, meaning they're likely to be directly in the path of the center of the hurricane. As these spots take what may be a direct hit, the full power of Hurricane Helene can be better understood by watching it in action.

Landfall view of the webcam at Turtley Rad Cut on St. George Island

At the approximate western limit of NOAA's forecast cone is the inhabited section of St. George Island, a barrier island across the Apalachicola Bay from the mainland. This webcam usually shows a placid swimming beach called Bob Sike's Cut. It may soon not show any land at all.

SEE ALSO: Hurricane Helene: Watch Florida webcams live, including Panama City, Port St. Joe Webcam in Steinhatchee, Florida during Hurricane Helene

Around the eastern limit of the forecast cone is Steinhatchee, a community in Taylor County. This webcam view — situated at a dock behind a seafood restaurant — faces inland from the mouth of the Steinhatchee River, where it empties into Deadman Bay. The visible effects of storm surge on the river tonight will be dramatic, and the webcam will shift into its night vision mode to broadcast them .

"John Wick" spin-off "Ballerina" hits theaters June 6.

California has taken a huge step in protecting children placed in the online spotlight, passing two new pieces of legislation providing financial safety nets for minors starring in digital content.

Gov. Gavin Newsom was joined at the bill signing by singer and former child star Demi Lovato, who recently made headlines for her appearance in Child Star, a new Hulu documentary about youth working in Hollywood. Lovato championed California's new legislation and spoke about its importance at the event.

SEE ALSO: No more TikTok FYP? California social media bill could totally reshape kids' online world

The first of the new laws establishes financial and legal protections for minors featured in monetized online content, mandating a percentage of earnings gathered from online "performers" be placed in a trust by their parent or guardian. The law also requires those overseeing the kid-related content to create a written statement related to the trust and to keep records on revenue generated and how much money is placed in the trust. The second law expands existing legislation protecting child performers to cover minors "employed as content creators on online platforms."

Both laws, known as SB 764 and AB 1880, are intended to bolster the California Child Actor's Bill, also known as the Coogan Law. Passed in 1939, the law requires employers of child performers to place 15 percent of the young talent's earnings into a Coogan Account (formerly called blocked trust accounts or trust accounts) in order to ensure the minor is afforded a portion of their profit once they turn 18.

"A lot has changed since Hollywood’s early days, but here in California, our laser focus on protecting kids from exploitation remains the same," said Newsom. "In old Hollywood, child actors were exploited. In 2024, it’s now child influencers."

Coogan Law isn't infallible, however, and many industry actors have found legal loopholes to the law's provisions. Most recently, advocates have noted the grey area occupied by online child performers or influencers, including children who feature predominately in family "vlog" content created by their parents. Until recently, online "stars" were not protected under current entertainment law, although some states have moved to pass their own protective legislation.

Children "starring" in online content aren't just at risk for financial exploitation. Other advocates are ringing alarm bells on the social and mental repercussions of invasive sharing of children online, also referred to as "sharenting." In addition to financial protections at the state level, other legislators have proposed privacy laws to provide legal pathways for children who are exploited by their guardians without consent.

"In order to build a better future for the next generation of child stars, we need to put protections in place for minors working in the digital space," said Lovato.

"The Last of Us" Season 2, starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, hits HBO and Max in 2025.

Businesses are trying to game Google Maps with fake reviews and Google has had enough.

Google has started restricting profiles of businesses that are found to have hosted fake reviews. On its support website, Google laid out what exactly can happen to such businesses. Some of the possible punishments include, but are apparently not limited to, the following:

• Businesses won't be able to receive new reviews for a set period of time

• Existing reviews will be unpublished for a period of time

• Business profiles will display a warning that they have hosted fake reviews in the past

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Google started rolling this out initially in the UK earlier this year, but the policy is supposedly global now, per The Verge. That said, I haven't personally seen any warnings like this, so I can't guarantee if they're appearing in the U.S. yet.

SEE ALSO: Google launches new gaming world for kids on Roblox

It's no surprise that businesses would try to exploit the reviews system on Google Maps, given that the app is incredibly popular and one of the most common use cases is to find businesses in a user's area. However, fake reviews could erode trust in the system, so it's probably smart for Google to take increased steps against them.

SZA answers questions and eats wings on 'Hot Ones' all while in facial bug prosthetics.