Mashable

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: NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for September 3 SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Here's the answer hints for September 3 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Striking sounds

These words are attention-grabbing.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

The answers all relate to bell sounds.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is vertical.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Belltones.

NYT Strands word list for September 3

• Tinkle

• Clang

• Toll

• Belltones

• Ring

• Chime

• Peal

• Knell

• Jingle

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.

TL;DR: Score these open-box Sony noise-canceling headphones on sale for $199.99 (reg. $349) and enjoy premium sound in peace.

Opens in a new window Credit: Sony Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Premium Noise-Cancelling Headphones $199.99
$349.99 Save $150.00 Open-box Get Deal

Ever find yourself longing for a moment of peace in the middle of your noisy day?

If you’re tired of your music competing with chatty coworkers, noisy streets, or just the general chaos of life, the Sony WH-1000XM4 wireless noise-cancelling headphones are about to be your new best friend. Get an open-box pair for just $199.99 — a 42% discount. (That just means this pair was leftover inventory or was returned and repackaged, but don't worry — it's a new product).

With Sony’s industry-leading technology, these headphones don’t just reduce background noise — they wipe it out completely. Whether you’re on a packed train, working in a bustling café, or just trying to catch some peace at home, these headphones let you slip into your own world of sound.

The audio quality is designed to provide crystal-clear highs, rich bass, and a balanced midrange that makes every note feel alive. The dual noise sensor technology and the HD Noise-Canceling Processor QN1 work together to block out more ambient noise than ever before, making them perfect for any environment.

Comfort is key when you’re wearing headphones for hours on end. The lightweight design and soft, pressure-relieving earpads mean you can wear them all day without feeling the pinch. And with features like touch controls, voice assistant compatibility, and adaptive sound control, these headphones are as smart as they are comfy. The adaptive sound control automatically adjusts to what you’re doing — walking, sitting, or traveling — so you always get the best listening experience.

Battery life is another highlight, offering up to 30 hours of playtime on a single charge. And if you’re in a hurry, a quick 10-minute charge gives you up to five hours of playback, ensuring your music never stops.

It’s time to turn down the world and turn up your favorite tracks with this open-box pair of Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Premium Noise-Cancelling Headphones for $199.99 (reg. $349) for a limited time.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Get lifetime access to Instaread for $79.99 (reg. $300) and dive into over 3,000 book summaries in just 15 minutes each.

Opens in a new window Credit: Instaread Instaread Book Summaries: Lifetime Subscription $79.99
$300.00 Save $220.01 Get Deal

Finding time to dive into a good book isn’t easy when life keeps you on the go. But just because your schedule is packed doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the latest bestsellers or classic must-reads. That’s where Instaread Book Summaries comes in, offering you a smarter way to absorb the wisdom of over 3,000 books in just 15 minutes.

Get a lifetime subscription to Instaread on sale for just $79.99 (reg. $300).

Why waste time trying to get through an entire book when you can get the key takeaways in a fraction of the time? Whether you’re commuting, working out, or just taking a quick break, Instaread fits perfectly into your day. Plus, with access to both fiction and nonfiction summaries, you can explore a wide range of topics, from business and self-improvement to novels and memoirs.

What sets Instaread apart is its superior content and unique features. You get more summaries than similar services, and the quality is top-notch. Instaread even includes "Cards" for quick knowledge, and "Playlists" to make your listening experience seamless on the go. And unlike some competitors, you can access all this through the web, giving you the flexibility to read or listen wherever you are.

On sale for $79.99, you can get a lifetime subscription to Instaread Book Summaries for a limited time.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Grab the Hover-1 Ultra Electric Hoverboard for $119.99 (reg. $192.55) and enjoy smooth, worry-free rides wherever you go.

Opens in a new window Credit: Hover-1 Hover-1 Ultra Electric Hoverboard $119.99
$192.55 Save $72.56 Get Deal

Walking is so last century. If you’re looking to give your daily commute a really cool boost or just want to have some fun, the Hover-1 Ultra electric hoverboard is your ticket to a smooth, safe, and seriously cool ride.

For a limited time, get the Hover-1 Ultra Electric Hoverboard on sale for just $119.99 (reg. $192.55). That's 37% off.

With 6.5-inch wheels and a 500W motor, this hoverboard handles inclines and uneven surfaces with ease, making it perfect for both casual riders and those looking to push their limits. Whether you’re cruising down the street or navigating a hilly path, you’ll get up to 7 miles per hour of pure hover bliss, and a range of 12 miles to explore. Just step on, lean in, and let the board do the rest.

The UL-2272 certification, along with a safety shield battery enclosure, ensures that your ride is as safe as it is enjoyable. The board even warns you when you’re pushing it too hard, so you can ride with confidence knowing you’re in control. LED lights add a touch of style while keeping you visible, even when the sun goes down.

Step up your game and start hovering today by saving over $70 on the Hover-1 Ultra Electric Hoverboard, just $119.99 for a limited time.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Grab a lifetime Formly Online Form Builder Gold Plan on sale for $99 and simplify your form creation process.

Opens in a new window Credit: Formly Formly Online Form Builder Gold Plan: Lifetime Subscription $99.00
$1,044.00 Save $945.00 Get Deal

One thing most of us can agree on is that paperwork is a major pain. But whether you’re running a small business, managing events, or just trying to keep your projects organized, creating forms is a necessary evil. That’s where Formly comes in, turning what could be a tedious task into something you can do with ease.

The Formly Online Form Builder Gold Plan offers you a lifetime subscription to stress-free form creation for $99, giving you the tools you need to design, share, and collect data without the headaches.

Formly makes creating custom forms a breeze. You don’t need to be a tech wizard to use it — just drag and drop your way to the perfect form. Whether it’s for customer feedback, event RSVPs, or surveys, you can whip up something that looks polished and professional in minutes. And because you’re getting lifetime access, you never have to worry about recurring fees or losing access to your forms.

But it’s not just about making forms. With Formly, you can easily share them with your audience and collect data seamlessly. The platform allows you to embed forms on your website, share them via email, or distribute them through social media. Plus, all responses are neatly organized, so you can analyze your data without sifting through piles of paperwork.

Formly’s Gold Plan even includes advanced features like conditional logic, custom branding, and secure data encryption, so your forms are not only easy to use, but also powerful and secure. And with lifetime access, you’re set for all your future projects.

Get lifetime access to the Formly Gold Plan on sale for $99 for a limited time.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Watch Atlanta Dream vs. Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA with WNBA League Pass. Avoid blackouts and watch the WNBA from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

With the WNBA playoffs looming, every team is hoping for some big moments. Atlanta Dream have been sat in the bottom half of the league but have enjoyed a recent undefeated streak, which could make them hopeful of nabbing that valuable 7th or 9th postseason spot.

Phoenix, on hosting duties against Atlanta, have performed better overall this season. Recent results have been back-and-forth, but they scored the win over Atlanta in their most recent game. Can they win again on their home court? Either way, it's sure to be a hotly-contested fixture.

The good news is that you can stream Atlanta Dream vs. Phoenix Mercury in the WBNA from anywhere around the world. Read below for all the information you need.

When is Atlanta Dream vs. Phoenix Mercury?

Atlanta Dream vs. Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA starts at 10 p.m. ET on Sept. 3. This fixture takes place at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

How to watch Atlanta Dream vs. Phoenix Mercury

Basketball fans can watch Atlanta Dream vs. Phoenix Mercury plus the remainder of the WNBA 2024 season from anywhere in the world with a WNBA League Pass.

The WNBA League Pass doesn't show locally televised games live in the participating teams' local areas. But there are ways to get around these blackout rules. Simply sign up with a VPN. VPNs are super useful tools that can obscure your real IP address (digital location) and connect you with secure servers in other locations, allowing you to watch every WNBA League Pass game live, excluding games streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

To access every WNBA League Pass game, follow these easy 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 a location with no broadcast deals for the WNBA

4. Log in to WNBA League Pass

5. Stream every WNBA game live (except games hosted by Amazon Prime Video)

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 What is the best VPN for the WNBA?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for hiding your real IP address and streaming more sport, 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 secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for a limited time at $99.95. This deal gives you 49% off, with a bonus three months of usage at no additional cost. As part of this deal you also get a whole year of unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Stream Atlanta Dream vs. Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

TL;DR: Watch Chicago Sky vs. Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA with WNBA League Pass. Avoid blackouts and watch the WNBA from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

At this point in the season, it's all about the WNBA playoffs. Next up, Las Vegas Aces host Chicago Sky, who are both battling for one of the eight places in the postseason. Las Vegas — two-time defending WBNA Champions — edged a win over Chicago in their last meeting with a buzzer beater from A'ja Wilson.

The good news is that you can stream Chicago Sky vs. Las Vegas Aces in the WBNA from anywhere in the world. Here's all the information you need.

When is Chicago Sky vs. Las Vegas Aces?

Chicago Sky vs. Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA starts at 10 p.m. ET on Sept. 3. This fixture takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

How to watch Chicago Sky vs. Las Vegas Aces

Basketball fans can watch Chicago Sky vs. Las Vegas Aces plus the remainder of the WNBA 2024 season from anywhere in the world with a WNBA League Pass.

The WNBA League Pass doesn't show locally televised games live in the participating teams' local areas. But there are ways to bypass blackout rules. All you need to do is sign up with a VPN. These are super useful tools that can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you with secure servers in other locations, helping you watch every WNBA League Pass game live, excluding games streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

To access every WNBA League Pass game, follow these easy 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 a location with no broadcast deals for the WNBA

4. Log in to WNBA League Pass

5. Stream every WNBA game live (except games hosted by Amazon Prime Video)

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 What is the best VPN for the WNBA?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for hiding your real IP address and streaming more sport, 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 secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is currently on sale for $99.95 but for a limited time only. This deal gives you 49% off, with a bonus three months of usage at no extra cost. As part of the deal you also get a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Stream Chicago Sky vs. Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

TL;DR: Watch Washington Mystics vs. Dallas Wings in the WNBA with WNBA League Pass. Avoid blackouts and watch the WNBA from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN..

The excitement is picking up as we get close to the WNBA playoffs. Take the Washington Mystics: They had a poor win-loss record this season but a recent run of wins have given the team some momentum. They're ready to play Dallas Wings, whose win-loss record is also at the bottom end of the league this season, though they pulled off a recent fourth quarter victory against WNBA champions, Las Vegas Aces.

If you want to watch the Washington Mystics vs. Dallas Wings in the WNBA from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is Washington Mystics vs. Dallas Wings?

Washington Mystics vs. Dallas Wings in the WNBA starts at 8 p.m. ET on Sep. 3. This fixture takes place at the College Par Center in Arlington, Texas.

How to watch Washington Mystics vs. Dallas Wings

Basketball fans can watch Washington Mystics vs. Dallas Wings plus the remainder of the WNBA 2024 season from anywhere in the world with a WNBA League Pass.

The WNBA League Pass doesn't show locally televised games live in the participating teams' local areas. But there are ways around this. All you need to do it sign up for a VPN, which will help hide your real IP address (digital location). It then connects you with a secure server in another location, enabling you to watch every WNBA League Pass game live, excluding games hosted by Amazon Prime Video.

To access every WNBA League Pass game, follow these easy 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 a location with no broadcast deals for the WNBA

4. Log in to WNBA League Pass

5. Stream every WNBA game live (except games hosted by Amazon Prime Video)

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 What is the best VPN for the WBNA?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport, 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 secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95, which includes an extra three months of usage for free. That's 49% off for a limited time. The plan also gives you a year of unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Stream Washington Mystics vs. Dallas Wings in the WNBA with ExpressVPN.

TL;DR: Watch Seattle Storm vs. Connecticut Sun in the WNBA with WNBA League Pass. Avoid blackouts and watch the WNBA from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Just days after their last meeting, Connecticut Sun and Seattle Storm are back in action again, with Connecticut playing host.

Connecticut have already secured their WNBA playoff spot while Seattle are edging closer. And with both of these teams sitting near the top of their respective conferences, you can bet the action will be first-rate.

We're pleased to tell you that you can stream Seattle Storm vs. Connecticut Sun in the WBNA from anywhere in the world. Here's all the information you need.

When is Seattle Storm vs. Connecticut Sun?

Connecticut Sun vs. Seattle Storm in the WNBA starts at 7 p.m. ET on Sept. 3. This fixture takes place at the Mohegan Sun Arena Uncasville, Connecticut.

How to watch Seattle Storm vs. Connecticut Sun

Basketball fans can watch Seattle Storm vs. Connecticut Sun plus the remainder of the WNBA 2024 season from anywhere in the world with a WNBA League Pass.

The WNBA League Pass doesn't show locally televised games live in the participating teams' local areas. But there are ways around this. All you need to do it sign up for a VPN. VPNs are useful tools that can help you hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you with secure servers in other locations, which enables you to watch every WNBA League Pass game live, excluding games on Amazon Prime Video.

To access every WNBA League Pass game, follow these easy 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 a location with no broadcast deals for the WNBA

4. Log in to WNBA League Pass

5. Stream every WNBA game live (except games hosted by Amazon Prime Video)

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 What is the best VPN for the WNBA?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for hiding your real IP address and streaming more sport, 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 secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is currently on sale for $99.95 but for a limited time only. This deal gives you 49% off and includes a bonus three months of usage at no extra cost. You also get a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Stream Seattle Storm vs. Connecticut Sun in the WNBA from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Imagine you're buying a new laptop. You come across a model that can do some pretty nifty stuff, but uses many times more electricity than your current laptop. (Ten times? Thirty times? No salesman can give you the exact number, because it's a company secret.)

Oh yeah, and this laptop comes with a funnel on top; every time you ask it for a joke, or a fun image you just thought up, the PC needs a water refill (again, it won't tell you how much). What do you think, worth the upgrade? For those of us who care about an ever-warmer, ever-thirstier Earth, probably not.

Yet that laptop, or something like it, is the net result of our current AI gold rush. Wait, something like it? Yes, because vague estimates are all we have. The true cost in carbon dioxide emissions for every AI prompt — not to mention the groundwater used to cool down thousands of servers crunching those prompts — is still hidden. Researchers can paint a rough picture; Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and others could provide a more precise portrait any time they wanted.

SEE ALSO: A Google AI model is improving climate forecasting

But ever since ChatGPT launched in 2022, "there's been a general crackdown on information," says Sasha Luccioni, a 10-year veteran of AI energy usage research, a TED talk star, and currently climate lead at Hugging Face, a platform for open-source AI.

"Not a single company that offers AI tools, that I know of, provides energy usage and carbon footprint information," Luccioni says in tones of rising frustration. "We don't even know how big models like GPT are. Nothing is divulged, everything is a company secret."

In short: climate-conscious, AI-hungry companies like Google and Microsoft have become a little compartmentalized. They can tell you exactly how many kilograms of carbon your next plane flight is going to emit, but won't offer the same when it comes to your next AI-written term paper or AI-painted Pope in a puffy jacket.

Perhaps with good reason: if we knew the environmental cost of AI products, we'd start shaming each other for our flagrant usage of it.

AI makes us all dirtier

Since tech firms also still care about being seen as good environmental citizens, we do have a sense of the scale of the problem. In its 86-page 2024 sustainability report, Google revealed that its total greenhouse gas emissions shot up by 48 percent between 2019 and 2023, with the bulk of that rise coming since 2022.

Given that Google still aims to get to net zero emissions by 2030, that's not great news. Nor is Microsoft's 2024 sustainability report, which shows a 29.1 percent rise in emissions since 2020.

Both companies point the finger at third parties, specifically the ones building data centers for them. They also point out that these data centers do a lot more than just answer AI prompts, which is true and a big part of why the energy cost of AI is so nebulous.

But neither can the AI-proud companies fully deny what's driving this sudden burst of construction: data centers that are "designed and optimized to support AI workloads," in Microsoft's words.

"We have a long way to go to meet our 2030 target," the Google report admits. Given that data center energy demand is expected to grow 160 percent by 2030, that's an understatement. As a May 2024 Goldman Sachs report estimates: "the carbon dioxide emissions of data centers may more than double between 2022 and 2030."

Where should we point the finger for this rise? As Google's report puts it in this doozy of a passive-voice sentence: "Reducing emissions may be challenging due to increasing energy demands from the greater intensity of AI compute."

SEE ALSO: People are using AI to date you

To be fair to the owners of power-hungry AI models, their energy usage is probably still dwarfed by other power-hog data center technologies such as cryptocurrency, streaming apps, and online games.

But don't make that comparison to Luccioni. "That always pisses me off," she says, "because AI is not a vertical. It's a horizontal — a tool that gets used across many different verticals. Google Maps uses AI, and so do all the ads we see online, and so does precision agriculture, and so do military drones. How do you calculate what part AI plays?"

Or to put it another way: Google doesn't force you to use cryptocurrency when you do a Google search. But it has put AI search results front and center — and you can't opt out. Which means that even if you think you've never used an AI tool in your life, if you've Googled recently, you're part of the problem. (For the climate-concerned, Luccioni recommends switching to a non-AI search engine like Ecosia.)

If Google, Microsoft, and the other big generative AI players were to reveal all, how bad could it be? Good question. Guesses from experts range from pretty bad to climate disaster.

The International Energy Agency estimates, conservatively, that a single ChatGPT prompt uses nearly 3 watt-hours. Compare that to 0.3 watt-hours for a single Google search (before the company integrated AI results with Gemini, that is).

The power required to reply to hundreds of millions of ChatGPT queries each day could power 33,000 households in the U.S. alone, according to University of Washington researcher Saijad Moazeni. And that doesn't include energy consumed in the process of training every company's AI model in the first place, which is anyone's guess.

AI is incredibly thirsty

Another way to see the scale of the problem: tell-tale spikes in water usage. When OpenAI was in the final month of training its latest model, GPT-4, at a group of Microsoft data centers in West Des Moines Iowa, the company had to pump in 11.5 million gallons — or 6 percent of all the water in the whole district. West Des Moines told Microsoft not to add more data centers unless it could reduce its water usage, echoing a similar problem in Arizona and a 2021 water fight in Oregon over Google data centers.

There is good news, of course. Data center water is increasingly drawn from non-potable sources, and companies are figuring out how to use less of it in the first place. Some data centers are using special HVAC systems, which decrease water usage even as they add to the electricity bill.

But hey, how about the exponential growth in wind and solar power? Surely that can drive our AI revolution, right?

Not so fast, say researchers, who point out that it's impossible to tell whether your AI query is going to a data center in green energy-friendly Europe, coal-friendly India or oil-friendly Saudi Arabia. Even Europe isn't greening its grid fast enough to keep pace with Silicon Valley's AI obsession.

"Renewable energy is definitely growing," Sasha Luccioni says. "The problem is it's not growing fast enough to keep up with AI's growth."

Tech companies are trying to plug that gap with carbon credits, which as a recent Bloomberg investigation points out, isn't the same as taking emissions out of the atmosphere. Microsoft and Amazon rely on credits for more than 50 percent of its so-called renewable energy, the report said.

Meta is a little better, with just 18 percent of its allegedly green energy coming from carbon credits. (Luccioni also credits Meta with being a little better on the AI data disclosure front too, in part because the company currently has less skin in the AI game.)

Can AI help us be more green?

Even if AI-focused data centers were 100 percent powered by wind, solar, hydro and nuclear, that still means they're calling dibs on green power that belongs to all of us.

This isn't a theoretical debate; a conflict over Amazon dropping new data centers next to a 2.5 Gw nuclear power station in Pennsylvania, then fighting locals for the output, appears to be the first in a wave of similar legal battles now ramping up around other nuclear stations.

Are there ways in which using AI is worth such a power suck? Might AI-powered climate research actually help us model extreme weather better, maybe even help us design carbon capture solutions that could scale up fast enough to tackle global warming?

That's a possibility for sure, and one for a future story. But one thing's for sure: few of us, from Gen Z students handing in ChatGPT-written papers to boomers posting AI cat pictures on Facebook, are using AI to save our warming planet. Perhaps we'd be better off leaving this tool to the people who are.

A viral TikTok trend has rebranded bank fraud as an exploitable "Chase Bank glitch" offering unlimited money for free. Unfortunately, it seems some people couldn't smell the rot on this highly suspect scheme, seemingly prompting them to commit a crime and rack up a shocking amount of debt.

The Chase Bank "glitch" has gained widespread attention on TikTok over the past few days, though thankfully most creators are talking about how ill-advised it is rather than trying to take advantage of it. Nevertheless, several photos and videos circulating on social media show people boastfully showing off stacks of cash after apparently using this ostensible real-life money "glitch" — or panicking over bank balances now deep in the red after the error is rectified.

SEE ALSO: How to protect yourself from bank fraud

The Chase Bank money "glitch" is simple. Chase customers would write a bad cheque to themselves for an obscene amount of money, deposit it, then quickly withdraw the cash from an ATM before the bank clued into the fact that the funds didn't exist. 

This is similar to cheque kiting, a form of bank fraud that has been around for over a century. However, if there's anything we've learnt from living in a capitalist hellscape, it's that branding is everything. Simply calling bank fraud a "glitch" was apparently enough to prevent people from seeing the crime for what it was, tempting them to try it out for themselves.

Of course, because people are using their own bank accounts to do this "glitch," it should be ridiculously easy for Chase Bank to track them down.

"We are aware of this incident, and it has been addressed," Chase said in a statement shared with Mashable and multiple publications. "Regardless of what you see online, depositing a fraudulent check and withdrawing the funds from your account is fraud, plain and simple."

Tweet may have been deleted

It's unclear exactly how the Chase Bank "glitch" trend began, or how many people actually tried it. Chase Bank declined to comment on such details when asked.

It's entirely possible that people are creating fake screenshots or skits to take advantage of the viral moment, which seems more plausible than them believing they could scam the largest bank in the U.S. out of thousands and get away unscathed. We can only hope that the majority of people are just joking around, and that they didn't actually commit bank fraud based on a TikTok.

With the cost of living soaring, many people are looking for ways to earn a bit of extra cash. As such, easy money hacks such as this Chase Bank "glitch" can seem very enticing. However, it's prudent to remember that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. 

UPDATE: Sep. 4, 2024, 3:27 p.m. AEST This article has been updated with comment from Chase Bank.

TL;DR: Live stream Fritz vs. Zverev in the 2024 US Open for free on 9Now or TVNZ+. Access these free streaming platforms from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The US Open quarter finals are here, promising exciting matchups between some of the best players in the world. With the likes of Djokovic and Alcaraz already out of the tournament, a lot of players will see this year's US Open as there for the taking. Fritz and Zverev will both believe they can win their first Grand Slam.

If you want to watch Fritz vs. Zverev in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

How to watch Fritz vs. Zverev in the 2024 US Open for free

Fans can live stream the 2024 US Open for free on these platforms:

• Australia — 9Now

• New Zealand — TVNZ+

These streaming services are geo-blocked, but anyone from around the world can access these sites with a VPN. These handy tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to secure servers in other countries, meaning you can unblock 9Now and TVNZ+ from anywhere in the world.

Access free live streams of the 2024 US Open 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 Australia or New Zealand

4. Visit 9Now or TVNZ+

5. Watch Fritz vs. Zverev in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world

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The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer deals such as free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can access free live streams of Fritz vs. Zverev without actually spending anything. This clearly isn't a long-term solution, but it gives you enough time to watch every US Open match before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for the US Open?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream the US Open for free, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including Australia and New Zealand

• 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 Fritz vs. Zverev in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

TL;DR: Prepare for your next job with beginner to advanced courses on Excel, Word, Access, Outlook, and PowerPoint with the Ultimate Microsoft Office 2021/365 Training Bundle, available now for just £30.38 (reg. £341.08). 

Opens in a new window Credit: StreamSkill The Ultimate Microsoft Office 2021/365 Training Bundle £30.38 at the Mashable Shop
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Don't let that "proficient in Microsoft Office" on your resume be a lie. Knowing how to format a spreadsheet or compose a document in Word is just the beginning. The more advanced functions take a little more effort to learn, but you might be able to save time on tasks like data organisation, formatting, and more when you enroll in the Ultimate Microsoft Office 2021/365 Training Bundle. This pack of seven courses goes from beginner to intermediate and advanced lessons for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access, and it's on sale for just £30.38 (down from £341.08). 

Excel beginners welcome

If you don't know how to construct functional lookup formulas in Excel or use Excel tables to structure data in a way that's easy to update, have a seat. That's not even the advanced Excel course. Beginners can start with lessons on Excel keyboard shortcuts, basic formulas, and simple functions. Once you're ready for the intermediate course, that's where you can find tips to help you design better spreadsheets. 

The advanced Excel course is your chance to learn how to use new dynamic array functions, create flexible lookup formulas, and practice using statistical functions. In essence, it's where you learn the real data analysis tools, and it could save you a ton of time in any role that involves large data sets. 

Excel isn't the only star of the show. Word may feel like the simplest software in the set, but there are a ton of advanced features you might not know about yet. The Word 2021 course shows you how to access document templates, customize your work interface, and polish your work to a professional shine. 

Don't know if a video course is the right fit for you? Preview some of the videos to get an idea of what's in store. Each course is video-led and packed with practice exercises to help you retain what you learn. You'll even get a certificate of completion when you finish the course. These certificates are different from an official certification, but they could still be useful if you want to show an employer you mean business.

Become an Office expert

Go beyond the basics and use Microsoft apps like a true professional. 

Get the Ultimate Microsoft Office 2021/365 Training Bundle on sale for £30.38. 

StackSocial prices subject to change. 

I was all about the wedding bells after getting engaged in June, but after seeing some of these wedding venue quotes, it’s more like alarm bells.

"Ding-dong" has been remixed to "cha-ching" – and I need help.

I don’t even know how to begin wedding planning. What are the first steps? What do I need to prioritize first? Which tasks are pressing – and which can wait a year or two?

I decided to enlist the help of an AI assistant. Taking it one step further, I thought it’d be interesting to see which chatbot – Gemini Advanced or ChatGPT Plus (i.e., ChatGPT 4o) – is the better wedding planner.

Gemini vs ChatGPT: Create a to-do list

I’m planning on have my wedding in the summer of 2026 – sometime between August and September. Besides that, I don’t have anything else nailed down, so I asked both Gemini and ChatGPT to give me a to-do list based on the following prompt:

“My wedding is between August 2026 and September 2026. Give me a to-do list of things to do for the remainder of 2024, 2025, and 2026 for a 100-guest wedding.”

ChatGPT's response: ChatGPT's response Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable Gemini's response: Gemini's response Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Both kicked off their lists accurately: setting a budget is a crucial first step. However, the problem with Gemini's response is that it recommends venue hunting before drafting a guest list. You can't search for wedding places without having a rough idea of your guest count. One of the first things venue coordinators ask is, "How many people are coming to your wedding?"

Interestingly, ChatGPT wants me to take the early-bird approach. It recommended booking my venue in 2024 and finalizing other vendors (e.g., florist, entertainment, and photographers) in 2025. Gemini, on the other hand, is OK with both being booked in 2025. ChatGPT wants me set up a registry in 2025 and obtain a marriage license in 2025; Gemini, on the other hand, is fine with me procrastinating on the former until 2026 — and mentions nothing about a marriage license.

To be fair, though, ChatGPT didn't mention anything about honeymoon planning.

Both agree that 2025 is the year I should go wedding dress shopping and send save-the dates. In 2026, both advise to send out invitations and confirm bookings with vendors.

ChatGPT offered helpful tips that I hadn't considered before, including using a folder or binder to organize quotes, contracts, and ideas in one place and creating a wedding-day timeline.

Winner: ChatGPT

Gemini vs ChatGPT: Find a cheap venue

I was curious to see if Gemini Advanced and ChatGPT Plus could help me find a bang-for-your-buck venue within my budget (i.e., $20,000).

After searching the far corners of the internet, I found some venues, at less than $20,000, that offer all-inclusive packages, including the DJ and master of ceremonies, limousine service, florist, cake, and photographer.

As such, I tested Gemini Advanced and ChatGPT Plus to see if they could find these locations with the following prompt:

"Find a venue that falls within my budget of $20,000 that offers a complete wedding package. The venue should be located in Queens, Long Island, or within the Hudson River Valley area at most. My guest count is 100. My wedding is in 2026, with a preference for months between August and September. Sunday weddings are OK, as well as Saturday weddings. It doesn't matter whether it's daytime or nighttime."

ChatGPT's response ChatGPT's response Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

These are wedding venues that I've seen during my research that offer gorgeous, visually stunning weddings without demanding exorbitant expenses.

Pavilion at Sunken Meadow State Park does, indeed, have a complete wedding package, with a starting price of $18,000. I'm not sure if Bourne Mansion and Larkfield have complete wedding packages, but the latter quoted me $110 per-person for a 100-guest afternoon wedding, which comes with food and a wedding cake. Including the $1,500 ceremony fee, that comes out to a subtotal of $12,500.

Did it miss other budget-friendly venues I've discovered during my research? Yes, but it's on the right track.

Gemini, on the other hand, shocked me — and not in a good way. Gemini is a Google-owned service, so I thought it'd be able to tap into its vast treasure trove of information to beat ChatGPT. Instead, Gemini delivered a rather disappointing, lazy answer.

Gemini's response Gemini Advanced's response Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Leonard's Palazzo is a wedding venue I've received a personalized quote for while venue hunting. They do not offer a complete wedding package, but while throwing in the food and the cake, they quoted me about $16,000 for a 100-guest ceremony and reception. Not bad!

The Manhattan-based recommendations are a head scratcher because they're not in my desired region. (At least Andaz 5th Ave is within the ballpark of my budget.)

And then, Gemini had the audacity to say, "I hope this helps!" Is it trolling me?

Winner: ChatGPT

Gemini vs ChatGPT: Calculate pricing

Both Gemini Advanced and ChatGPT Plus can "read" PDFs and screenshots, making them ideal AI assistants for making sense of confusing pricing charts (as well as the small-text taxes and gratuities within them that need to be tacked on to the base cost).

Here's an example of one of the many charts I ran into while venue shopping:

2025 pricing list for Whitby Castle Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

I decided to test Gemini and ChatGPT's ability to make calculations based on the above PDF.

"Check out this 2025 wedding price list. Based on a date between August 2025 and September 2025 on Sunday at noontime, and a guest list of 100 adults, calculate the full total. We will have the ceremony on site. Include the administrative fee, NY sales tax, suggested gratuities, and bridal attendant fee."

Gemini Advanced offered a total of $21,017 while ChatGPT Plus posted $20,568.69. Why are the totals different? The former added the bridal attendant fee of $400 in the subtotal before tacking on the 22% administration fee.

ChatGPT, on the other hand, applied the 22% administration fee only to the base cost (i.e., $130 x 100 guests) and ceremony fee — and then it added the $400 bridal attendant fee. Based on how other venues have quoted me, it seems like ChatGPT's calculation is more accurate.

Winner: ChatGPT

Gemini vs ChatGPT: Image generation of wedding concept

I asked Gemini and ChatGPT to generate an image of a wedding reception concept based on the following prompt:

"My fiancé and I are tech journalists who are, of course, obsessed with tech, including laptops, phones, VR headsets, gaming, XR glasses, etc. We also love space, and we’re leaning toward some sort of celestial vibe for our wedding. Generate an image of a wedding reception beautifully conveys this wedding theme and design."

ChatGPT's image ChatGPT's interpretation of a tech-focused, galaxy-themed wedding Credit: ChatGPT / Open AI Gemini's images Gemini's interpretation of a tech-focused, galaxy-themed wedding Credit: Gemini / Google

Gemini's interpretation of a tech-focused, galaxy-themed wedding Credit: Gemini / Google

Gemini's interpretation of a tech-focused, galaxy-themed wedding Credit: Gemini / Google

ChatGPT delivered one image and nailed what I'm looking for. Gemini churned out three, and only one of them, just the first one, caught my eye.

ChatGPT, however, generated the most eye-catching image.

Winner: ChatGPT

Gemini vs ChatGPT: Creativity based on wedding favor ideas

Finally, we asked Gemini Advanced and ChatGPT Plus for wedding favor ideas.

"My fiancé and I want to get cheap tech-product wedding favors. Give us 10 techy wedding favor ideas that will delight our guests."

ChatGPT's list

1. Customized USB Drives:

2. Portable Phone Chargers:

3. LED keychains

4. Earbuds

5. Smartphone PopSockets

6. Mini Bluetooth Speakers

7. Touchscreen Gloves

8. Digital Photo Frames

9. VR Cardboard Headsets

10. Fitness Tracker Bracelets

Gemini's list

1. Personalized USB drivers

2. Mini Bluetooth speakers

3. Phone Ring Holders

4. Custom Phone PopSockets

5. Portable Power Banks

6. LED Flashing Badges

7. Selfie Ring Lights

8. Miniature LED projectors

9. Card-Sized Multitools

10. Wireless Charging Pads

Portable phone chargers, earbuds, mini bluetooth speakers, and fitness tracker bracelets caught my eye on ChatGPT's list. Similarly, on Gemini's list, mini bluetooth speakers, portable power banks, and wireless charging pads grabbed my attention.

Unfortunately for Gemini, ChatGPT won this round, too.

Winner: ChatGPT

Gemini vs ChatGPT: Winner

ChatGPT Plus mopped the floor with Gemini Advanced in this face-off. To my surprise, ChatGPT had more thoughtful, research-based responses compared to Gemini.

ChatGPT Plus costs $20 month; Gemini Advanced is also $20 a month.

ChatGPT $0.00 at ChatGPT
Get Deal Google Gemini $0.00 at Google Gemini
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It turns out Windows 11 users won't be able to uninstall Microsoft's controversial "Recall" feature after all.

Recall is a Copilot+ feature announced in May that essentially takes constant screenshots of your behavior while using operating system, ostensibly for users to easily find previous work.

A report by Deskmodder seemed to reveal recent Windows 11 update 24H2 allows users to completely uninstall the feature. But now, in a statement to The Verge, Microsoft clarified that that the uninstall option was just a bug.

"We are aware of an issue where Recall is incorrectly listed as an option under the 'Turn Windows features on or off' dialog in Control Panel," said Windows senior product manager Brandon LeBlanc to the outlet. "This will be fixed in an upcoming update."

When Microsoft announced Recall, it was intended to be baked into Windows 11's functions. The feature tracks everything you do on compatible Windows PCs and uses an on-device generative AI model to retrieve particular information a user is looking for, by filing through a library of screenshots saved on the device. Critics of the feature immediately pointed out that it is highly susceptible to cybersecurity flaws since it indiscriminately saves sensitive information like passwords, confidential work, and personal information.

Former Microsoft security expert Kevin Beaumont described it as a cybersecurity "disaster."

"Stealing everything you’ve ever typed or viewed on your own Windows PC is now possible with two lines of code," said Beaumont.

SEE ALSO: Microsoft's new AI 'Recall' feature is like hitting 'CTRL + H' on your entire digital life

The public backlash to the new feature led to Microsoft just days after its May announcement following up with a new statement that the Recall feature would be opt-in and therefore switched off by default.

It is also being investigated by the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for violations of user privacy. But after all the outcry and potential legal ramifications,

Recall was initially slated for release in June, but was delayed as Microsoft scrambled to address security concerns. Now, it will launch in October to Windows Insiders testers.

After Aggro Dr1ft last year, Harmony Korine has once again made the most galaxy-brained movie of the Venice International Film Festival, Baby Invasion. A work that takes the form of a messed up livestream, the filmmaker's new video game-inspired nightmare is wildly, oppressively hypnotic, even though it eventually runs out of places to go.

The edgelords at Korine's vowel-less EDGLRD production house feel less like traditional filmmakers, more like a collective of media enthusiasts running wackadoodle experiments. Observe them from afar and you might find pretentious faux-intellectualism on the future of cinema; Korine claims that this is what movies will soon be like. It's a hard notion to take seriously.

SEE ALSO: 42 movies you'll want to see this fall

But should you choose to submit to the work regardless, you'll be treated to a stunning example of what movies can be right now, with a strong dose of eerie premonition about where the world at large might be headed — if it isn't already there.

What is Baby Invasion about?

Baby Invasion opens with a brief interview clip with a fictitious Filipina game developer — who, for some strange reason, doesn't remove her VR headset. She explains the concept for a game she created that was unfortunately leaked on the internet: a first-person-shooter (FPS) in which assailants disguise their faces with those of babies. Furthermore, its popularity on some corners of the web inspired people to go out and re-create its core concept in real life, and broadcast their crimes via livestream.

This deeply fucked-up idea is, in its entirety, the movie's premise. It takes the form of screenlife cinema, from the point of view of someone watching and interacting with one such online stream, though given that the eponymous baby invaders wear helmet-mounted cameras, the film itself may as well be a first-person shooter movie, like Hardcore Henry. Using AI facial filters (à la TikTok and Snapchat), a cult-like group dressed in horned black hoodies obscure their appearance with the trend-requisite images of baby faces, as they collect ammunition and travel between various Florida mansions in a covert van.

The screen is filled with a Twitch-like scrolling community chat on the left-hand side (in various languages, and with its own memes and internal lingo), alongside graphics and other statistical displays. However, at very few points is the actual audio of this stream ever heard. Instead, it's overlaid with an extremely lengthy, constantly morphing rave track by producer Burial, accompanied by whispers about a rabbit-like creature. As the film's parameters become clear, so too does that of the streamers, who point their guns at wealthy hostages for fun and — it would seem — commit grisly murders just off-screen.

"Crimson towel!" numerous viewers type into the chat, referring to the blood-soaked face coverings over filmed bodies strewn about, as though this were some familiar trope or community reaction. The assailants' baby disguises may be strange, but they're hardly the most perverse part of the whole affair: that would be the casual cruelty and dehumanization on display in the stream, towards women in particular, which becomes part of the movie's self-reflexive point.

Baby Invasion taps into distinctly modern forms of violence

As with the video game influences in Aggro Dr1ft, Korine appears fixated with the collision of gaming and real-world violence. Of course, the idea that video games are some root cause of violent outbursts has long been exaggerated, but the movie, like video games themselves, exists in a violent world that adopts the language of mass media. More tame real-world examples include video creators impersonating Grand Theft Auto, and streamers pretending to be video game characters (specifically NPCs or "non-playable characters") and accepting input via emojis.

Unfortunately, this adoption of gaming language has a darker side. For instance, NPC has become an epithet meant to imply someone is devoid of personality or humanity, which is the next logical step in an online culture intent on dehumanizing its targets. In Baby Invasion, distressed hostages immediately have their reactions screencapped and turned into memes, reducing their plight to content meant for easy consumption. The closer they are to being killed, the more filters are applied to their person, obscuring their humanity.

The more the movie lingers in this first-person perspective, the more it disturbingly places viewers in the mindset of such terrorists, and in doing so, Baby Invasion calls to mind real mass shootings and violent crimes which have been livestreamed — the Christchurch mosque shooting that was streamed live on YouTube and Facebook, and a Michigan murder that was broadcast on Facebook are just two examples.

If there's something missing from Baby Invasion, it's the actual, sickening outcomes of the crimes themselves. The victims are living, breathing people in one moment, gone the next, with the actual act of execution having been obscured. Perhaps it's a violation of the guidelines of the fictional streaming platforms of the film themselves, but this missing piece is thematically vital too. Should we, as viewers, want to see the complete picture? Without realizing it, we might be complicit in Korine's portrait of a world gone mad as soon as we realize there's more to the story, and something we're prevented from seeing.  

Baby Invasion is an arresting experience — up to a point

The film is also self-reflexive about who its audience is, and who the participants in the stream might be. A small window pops up on occasion, with teens in colorful skull masks watching the stream, as though it were from their vantage (or on their screens) that the film was playing out. Not only does the movie dictate who its audience is — in terms of their macabre desires, and how they mold themselves — but it speculates on who the shooters might be in the strangest fashion. The stream boots up with an EDGLRD logo. The shooters wear EDGLRD insignia, and the horns they wear resemble the masks worn in Aggro Dr1ft. Are they fans who might've misinterpreted that movie as a call to violence, or simply adopted its aesthetics?

Korine is just as culpable as the rest of the culture, it would seem. But this is, in a way, freeing for him as a filmmaker. It verges on offering Korine carte blanche to do, essentially, whatever he wants in the realm of cinematic debauchery. As much as the screen may be cluttered by graphics and text, there's a distinct realism to the online world we see, and how the people within it interact and operate. We don't see much of the bloodshed in the moment, though the movie does feature disturbing flashes of what appears to be separate stabbing attacks shot with a more rudimentary camera — as though this were some flashback or memory, or ghost in the machine.

However, there are times when the very reality of the film is called into question, rendering the aforementioned stabbing a potential peek into the real world from, perhaps, an unreal one. The game designer in the prologue talks about her intent to blur the virtual and real worlds, and the entrancing effect of Baby Invasion often does just that, lulling its more willing viewers into a state of arrest, to the point that even its most realistic images become mere stimuli. But then the stream takes odd turns, and the shooters find themselves in a metaverse of sorts, peeking out at the real events they perpetrate. Perhaps this is some quirk of the stream or real life "game" — we are, at the end of the day, witnessing what other viewers might see on a screen — but there are also moments where digital recreations of real environments so closely resemble the real thing that it's genuinely hard to tell the difference.

Figuring out the distinction (or even wanting to) is sort of irrelevant. Baby Invasion doesn't exactly have a plot beyond the shooters' violent depravity, and so there's only so long one can be swept up in its techno madness, despite its mere 80-minute runtime. However, that it takes these detours at all is terrifying enough, and provides just enough room for speculation. In a movie where desensitization lies at the root of everything, the notion of whether something feels real (regardless of whether it is) becomes the most pressing question. If fiction can be made to feel like reality, then so too can reality become fiction, giving way to everything from conspiracy theories to bullets and bloodshed.

Baby Invasion was reviewed out of its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival.

The US Open broadcast suddenly cut out for DirecTV customers on Sunday evening due to contract dispute with Disney.

Disney blocked access to ESPN, ABC, and other Disney-owned channels for the roughly 11 million DirecTV subscribers after ongoing distribution negotiations went sour. The blackout occurred right before the college football season opener with LSU versus USC. That the hardball tactic occurred during primetime at the US Open and right before the start of the NFL season is no coincidence since it motivates both parties to reach a deal. However, that also means when negotiations fall through, millions of customers suffer the consequences.

According to a statement from DirecTV, "Disney is forcing consumers to pay for channels they don't watch," while DirecTV wants to offer customers more flexibility in terms of the channels they wish to pay for. "Disney's only magic is forcing prices to go up while simultaneously making its content disappear," said said Rob Thun, chief content officer in the press release.

SEE ALSO: How to watch the NFL online for free

According to a statement from Disney, they're willing to offer flexibility of channels, but "will not enter into an agreement that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and programs." Exactly, a year ago Disney pulled the same move with cable company Spectrum, which resulted in a 10-day blackout. So one thing is certain: during one of the biggest sports broadcasting moments of the year, customers are losing out.

Customers took to X to express their anger and willingness to cancel their account if it's not resolved.

Tweet may have been deleted

While DirecTV is the one shouldering the blame, and by extension losing customers, users called out Disney as the "root cause" and the "villains" since it's the party that owns the channels and is holding out for more money.

Tweet may have been deleted Tweet may have been deleted

Meanwhile, amidst the ongoing battle between DirecTV and Disney, streaming platforms that don't require cable subscriptions like YouTube TV and Fubo are sitting back with popcorn.

Tweet may have been deleted

I never imagined a dating app could make me feel guilty.

But there I was, sitting on my sofa, worrying if I was, to quote indie pop band London Grammar, wasting my young years.

It had been a difficult week, to say the least. I was sleep-deprived and my anxiety was running riot. What I needed most right then and there was a quiet, restorative night of doing nothing. I was hiding under a blanket on my sofa when my phone started flashing like a lighthouse on the horizon.

Four Hinge notifications appeared on my home screen in close succession. I had a new match named Jake. My eye scrolled downwards to see that Jake wasn't wasting any time: He wanted to meet up. Right now.

I really didn't want to do that. It was 9 p.m. and I was in my pyjamas watching Bridgerton. The last thing I wanted to do was leave the house for what felt like a booty call. My instinct was to put myself first on this night. But that came with a small kick of guilt that I was somehow failing at dating.

SEE ALSO: Why some people on dating apps just want to be 'pen pals'

I couldn't seem to shake the feeling that I was boring and a tiny bit selfish for wanting to stay home. You'll be alone forever at this rate, whispered a small voice in my head. How had a message from a stranger had this effect on me? Truth is, Jake is one of many guys in my phone asking to meet up straight after matching.

Dating app interactions are becoming increasingly fast-paced. That palpable culture shift is a reaction against the "swiping fatigue" that began to plague the dating industry in 2018. This swiping ennui resulted in daters collecting countless matches, but having low-quality interactions that didn't lead to an actual in-person date. "Breadcrumbing" — a term for daters who have interminable chats with their matches with zero intention of meeting up — became a scourge for people genuinely looking for love, not a penpal. Daters became more and more frustrated with accumulating matches who didn't seem serious about testing the waters offline.

Now the pendulum has swung so far in the opposite direction, we may have overcorrected. But we can fix this. We can bring balance back to the online dating world by being honest about preferring to chat online before meeting up IRL. If you're in need of self-care and don't feel like explaining why, then don't. If your schedule is packed, suggest alternatives like voice-noting or FaceTime. It is 100 percent OK to say no when a match wants to meet up straight away. Spare yourself the guilt, if you can.

As for me, I had nothing against Jake. But I'd had zero conversation with him, so I had absolutely no idea whether we were even a good match personality-wise. I weighed whether I wanted to expend the mental energy of explaining the reasons why I couldn't meet up right now. But, to be frank, I just didn't feel like it. I didn't have to explain anything. I ignored the request, stowed away my phone and hit play on my TV remote.

A few days later — and feeling well-rested after several nights on the sofa — I spotted a tweet that really spoke to me. Poorna Bell, an author and journalist who writes about mental health, tweeted that if a match asks to meet up with very little notice, "don't feel guilty or like you'll miss out on 'the one' if you don't. Work to your own timeline."

Tweet may have been deleted

"I know it’s not as simple as this but the right person will wait," Bell added. "The right person will understand you have a life and aren’t egotistical to assume you’d drop everything to meet with a random. And time with yourself even if that’s on the sofa with Netflix is as important."

I knew from talking to friends that I was far from alone in feeling this way. But Bell's tweet made me feel validated in the decision I'd made that night.

On-demand dating has been on the rise for some time. Couple that with the growing frustration with breadcrumbing and swiping fatigue and it makes sense that some people are trying to seal the deal and land a date straight away. This change in dating culture might explain why more and more daters are sliding into your inbox asking to meet up straight away.

Dating apps have also played a part in this gear-shift. Some popular apps are actively encouraging users to meet up sooner. Naomi Walkland, associate director for Europe and Middle East marketing at Bumble, told Mashable that "getting asked out on a date shortly after you have matched with someone online can sometimes be overwhelming."

SEE ALSO: People are using AI to date you

"At Bumble, we encourage people to meet as soon as you can," Walkland added. "This is one of the reasons why we have a 24-hour window for replies so that it keeps the momentum going with you and your match." After this finite period ends, the match expires and it's no longer possible to get in touch. There is the option of extending that window, particularly if you don't have "first move privileges" (a Bumble feature which allows only one person to break the ice first).

Hinge's CMO Nathan Roth echoed these sentiments. "In today’s digital world, singles are so busy matching that they’re not actually connecting, in person, where it counts," Roth told Mashable. "As the dating app that’s 'designed to be deleted,' we’re always encouraging our users to move things offline and go on a great date," Roth continued.

While dating culture has shifted to combat swiping fatigue, not all online daters are on board with the newfound immediacy.

Adele, a home healthcare assistant who prefers to use only her first name as her surname is very recognisable, told me she feels "absolutely terrified, with a side of suspicion" when a match wants to meet up straight away.

She does not, however, feel pressured to meet up. "Especially with some of the horror stories you see, as well as my own experiences with online dating, my safety and comfort is the first thing I think of," Adele said. "If they immediately push to meet and don't even have like, a brief chat online first then I absolutely won’t go meet them."

She does a "full vetting first" and prefers to see their Facebook and Instagram profiles before meeting up. "I've been out with quite a few guys via online dating and the nice, reasonable ones have completely understood that when you’re a lone woman going to meet a stranger for a date, you want to be as safe as possible," she added. "My advice would be: If they have an issue with you saying no to meeting immediately then just steer well clear. Anyone worth seeing would understand."

Sam Espensen, a spirits producer, used to feel pressured by matches, particularly when the other person is persistently pushing to meet up. She did say yes once, but then cancelled a few hours before the date. "My Spidey Sense was tingling and it turned out to be correct — the person in question turned out to be majorly flawed," she said, clarifying that they were "aggressive and stalkery and wouldn’t take no for an answer and refused to understand why women would be nervous about meeting someone straight away."

She offered some great advice for anyone who might also be feeling pressured.

"Step back and think about why they're pressuring you," she said. "If they really like the sound of you, they'll put some leg work in and communicate online/on the phone for a while before meeting up." She said that anyone putting pressure on you at such an early stage is likely to do so in the future. "If they're being really pushy, they probably don't think you'll agree to meeting with them after speaking online for a while first. And they may have bad intentions," she added.

If you do want to meet up with this person, you could consider telling them you're bringing a friend, Sam suggested. "Their reaction will tell you everything you need to know!"

There are other ways of "meeting" without having to take the step of meeting up in person. Some daters use WhatsApp voice notes to "pre-screen" their dates before meeting up IRL. Chatting over voice notes, if you're comfortable with it, can provide the opportunity to get a sense of your match's personality ahead of arranging a date. If your schedule is jam-packed, you could also try a quick video chat on FaceTime. Bumble also has a video calling feature so you can chat face-to-face over the app without disclosing your mobile number. If you notice a spark while voicenoting or video-chatting, try moving things into an in-person date.

Dating culture is in high-gear, but you don't need to drop everything just to keep pace. There will be times in everyone's life where meeting up immediately doesn't work. Sometimes your busy work schedule won't sync up with a match's. Other times, your calendar might be free as a bird, but you're in desperate need of downtime. The right person will understand. Don't feel bad about putting yourself first.

This article was first published in 2020 and republished in 2024.

Channin Tatum and Naomi Ackie appeared on BBC Radio 1 to play "Unpopular Opinion" with callers.

TL;DR: Unblock X from anywhere in the world with a VPN. The best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to unblock sites/apps is ExpressVPN.

There has been a lot of talk about X, formerly known as Twitter, potentially being banned in Brazil. That would be mildly annoying for all the X users in that country. We say "mildly," because there is an easy fix if this actually becomes an issue.

If you're looking for the best way to unblock X from anywhere in the world, we have the information you need.

How to unblock X for free

VPNs hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to secure servers in other locations. This simple process bypasses geo-restrictions to secure access to sites/apps like X from anywhere in the world. This might sound complicated, but you can unblock your favorite sites/apps in just a few simple steps:

1. Sign up for a 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 a location that supports access to X

4. Visit X 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 unblocking sites are not free, but most do offer free trials or money-back guarantees. By taking advantage of these offers, you can unblock sites/apps and then recover your investment at a later date. This obviously isn't a long-term solution. If you want to retain permanent access to sites like X from anywhere in the world, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for bypassing online restrictions is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for porn?

ExpressVPN is the top choice when it comes to unblocking X, 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

• Fast streaming speeds free from throttling

• 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.

Unblock X for free with ExpressVPN.