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Flock Safety offered employees voluntary buyouts on Friday, WIRED reported. According to an internal email seen by WIRED, the surveillance company has announced a "generous" severance package for workers who want to leave, and will grant it to the majority of those who apply.

SEE ALSO: Hackers dismantle Flock camera to see what makes it tick

This comes amid backlash against Flock cameras, with civilians damaging them and state officials blocking funding for Flock and ordering their removal.

Flock reportedly stated in its email that the program "treats employees with transparency, respect, and choice," WIRED reported, and gives employees "greater agency." Without the buyouts, those familiar with the situation suspect the company would have to lay off some of its 1,500 employees.

Some packages include months of healthcare coverage, tens of thousands of dollars, and the ability to exercise stock options within two years of leaving the company, according to WIRED. Workers have until Oct. 2 to apply for the buyout, and they're expected to learn whether they're accepted by Oct. 9. Those who have accepted the buyout are expected to depart the company by Oct. 29.

Flock didn't immediately respond to WIRED's requests for comment.

While watching the endless episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and The X-Files that I consumed on the old CRT of my youth, at the time I don’t recall ever thinking that it looked terrible. Compared to the pristine digital that the vast majority of today’s television is produced on, though, the difference is stark—it was softer, grainier, and there was way less detail. But that was never what the cameras actually saw.

By default, many self-hosted apps are only accessible over your home network. There are plenty of ways to provide remote access, and Tailscale is a popular option. It creates a secure private connection between your devices, even when they're on different networks, and plenty of self-hosted apps can benefit from remote access using Tailscale.

An "entirely false" report generated by AI "almost started a war" with China, sources told CNN.

In an exclusive, several sources familiar with the incident told CNN that the fake report stated that a Chinese ship in the Middle East was transporting components of a nuclear weapon. Members of the U.S. military planned to board the ship, and military planes were in the air — but before any action was taken, officials realized the report was false.

SEE ALSO: Microsoft AI boss calls out Anthropic for chasing AI consciousness, reigniting old debate

A special operations command analyst assembled the report using AI, CNN reported, though it's unclear whether they used a commercially available LLM or an internal government one. A former senior official familiar with AI systems used by the military told CNN that internal tools are "mostly just copies of the commercial stuff wearing lipstick."

The report seemed to originate from the Hawaii-based U.S. Special Operations Command Pacific. Neither that department nor the Pentagon responded to CNN's request for comment.

This reporting comes amid cresting concerns about AI that went into overdrive after an Anthropic researcher quit and said the technology "could kill us all by the end of the decade."

But the Trump administration has been bullish on AI, with top military officials among its advocates. In Jan. 2026, the Department of War launched an "Artificial Intelligence Acceleration Strategy," with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth commenting, "We will become an 'AI-first' warfighting force across all domains."

This month, President Trump has called fears around AI a "hoax."

If you rarely feel the need to venture beyond PLA or PETG for your 3D printing needs, you’re not alone. These materials are cheap and easy to print, plus they avoid the downsides that come with many other 3D printing filaments.

TL;DR: Watch VfB Stuttgart vs. Dortmund in the Bundesliga for free on CazéTV. Access this free livestream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Dortmund might have lost the German Super Cup to Bayern Munich, but they've had a strong start to the new Bundesliga season.

Next up, they visit VfB Stuttgart, a team that has won one and lost two. It's safe to say that Dortmund will feel confident about securing a fourth straight win to challenge Freiburg for the top spot in the standings.

If you're interested in watching VfB Stuttgart vs. Dortmund in the Bundesliga from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

When is VfB Stuttgart vs. Dortmund?

VfB Stuttgart vs. Dortmund in the Bundesliga kicks off at 12.30 p.m. ET on Sept. 19. This fixture takes place at the MHPArena.

How to watch VfB Stuttgart vs. Dortmund for free

VfB Stuttgart vs. Dortmund in the Bundesliga is available to live stream for free on CazéTV.

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

Live stream VfB Stuttgart vs. Dortmund for free by following these simple steps:

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

2. Download the app to your device of choice

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

4. Visit CazéTV

5. Watch VfB Stuttgart vs. Dortmund for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.99 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

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

What is the best VPN for the Bundesliga?

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

• Servers in 105 countries, including Brazil

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

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

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

Live stream VfB Stuttgart vs. Dortmund for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

When it comes to backups, it’s easy to think bigger is better—but I’ve started going smaller. I’m done with bulky spinning disks and rarely even reach for an external SSD. I’m now all about flash drives.

The Harrigan crime family returns for another explosive season in MobLand. The MobLand season 2 premiere is now streaming on Paramount+.

If you have an old Android phone or tablet lying unused in a drawer, you're wasting its potential. Old devices can work really well as dashboards. There are plenty of ways to use your Android device to display information in your home.

TL;DR: Watch Brighton vs. Arsenal in the Premier League for free on CazéTV. Access this free livestream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

We're just five weeks into the new Premier League season and already things are tense at the top of the table. Last year's champions Arsenal are sitting in the top spot, but are level on points with Manchester City. The rivals are separated by a single goal. All it's going to take is one loss from either team to give the other a clear advantage.

Are Brighton the team to beat Arsenal when they host the Gunners this weekend? Common sense suggests that Arsenal should edge the game in terms of quality, but Brighton have had a good start to the 2026/27 season, with just one loss in four games. This is a Premier League clash not to miss.

If you're interested in watching Brighton vs. Arsenal in the Premier League from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

When is Brighton vs. Arsenal?

Brighton vs. Arsenal in the Premier League kicks off at 10 a.m. ET on Sept. 19. This fixture takes place at the Amex Stadium.

How to watch Brighton vs. Arsenal for free

Brighton vs. Arsenal in the Premier League is available to live stream for free on CazéTV.

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

Live stream Brighton vs. Arsenal for free by following these simple steps:

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

2. Download the app to your device of choice

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

4. Visit CazéTV

5. Watch Brighton vs. Arsenal for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.99 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

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

What is the best VPN for the Premier League?

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

• Servers in 105 countries, including Brazil

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

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

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

Live stream Brighton vs. Arsenal for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

If you just bought a new impact driver or impact wrench you're going to love it, but the next thing you purchase is even more important. The most common mistake I see my friends and family make is grabbing a standard drill bit or a chrome socket they already own, simply because it fits the tool. But that convenience is dangerous and comes with serious risk.

TL;DR: To celebrate Batman Day 2026, Lego is hosting make-and-take events for limited-edition Batman Busts. This free event is for Lego Insiders only, but it's free to sign up.

Genuinely free Lego sets are almost non-existent. Usually, scoring an exclusive model or mini-build requires dropping some serious cash. That's usually the case, but not this weekend.

To celebrate Batman Day 2026, Lego is letting fans build and take home a limited-edition Batman Bust completely free of charge. The event is strictly limited to a two-hour window (Sept. 19 from 12-2 p.m.) and operates on a first-come, first-served basis. Because this build cannot be bought off the shelf or ordered online, collectors and scalpers will likely line up before doors open.

Only a limited quantity of Batman Busts will be available, the event is intended for participants aged 6+ years, and you're limited to one build per customer.

How to claim the limited-edition Batman Bust

1. Sign up for Lego Insiders: This event is strictly exclusive to Lego Insiders, but it's free to sign up

2. Check store participation: Double-check your local store page here to verify their exact event window before making the drive

3. Arrive early: Quantities are strictly capped, and events like this often run dry before the end of the two-hour window

You have all the information you need. Now it's up to you to make sure you come home with this iconic Batman Bust.

Xerox PARC effectively created the paradigm of the GUI (Graphical User Interface) in the 1970s, with overlapping windows, icons, menus, and everything else a computer user today would easily recognize.

Mesh Wi-Fi gets pitched as the default fix for dead zones, but for many homes it's an expensive answer to a simple problem. Wired access points and a well-placed extender can often deliver faster, more stable coverage for less—though I will concede that mesh still earns its keep in some specific cases.

I'll admit: sometimes I get bogged down in Excel's power-user features, from Power Query and the Data Model to Python. But when I stop and think about the things that actually help me every day, it's often the little discoveries I picked up accidentally along the way. These are six Excel tricks I wish I'd stumbled upon earlier—and the best part is, each one takes seconds to learn.

If you spend any time cooking at home, you already know the frustration that comes with modern online recipe blogs. I battled with these sites for years, but paying for one app immediately made my life better. Downloading Paprika was the best decision I made for my daily kitchen routine.

The Ryobi brand was founded in Japan in 1943 and made its first power tool in 1968. Eventually, popularity grew thanks to die-cast products in the 80s, but everything changed in 1996 with the introduction of its first 18V cordless drill. It had a nickel-cadmium (NiCad) battery with a simple connector rail on a plastic housing. Three decades later, that design remains the same.

A galaxy 55 million light-years away in space spins in two directions at once, and astronomers suspect it ended up that way after swallowing a smaller neighbor.

The Hubble Space Telescope, NASA's optical light telescope in orbit around Earth, has now photographed the galaxy, called NGC 4698, in sharp detail. It sits in the constellation Virgo, one of more than 1,000 galaxies that gravity holds together in the Virgo Cluster, the closest big group of galaxies.

Although galaxies can grow on their own, they can also evolve by consuming gas and smaller galaxies it bumps up against. The two scenarios leave different clues, and NGC 4698 leans toward a galaxy that ate something. Because only a few known spiral galaxies spin against themselves like this, astronomers want to study NGC 4698 to figure out how it happened. 

SEE ALSO: A giant new moon crater is nothing next to its 4-mile bruise

Picture a doughnut spinning around your finger. That is the body of this distant galaxy. Its bright arms wrap around the outside in a ring and leave the middle open. The ring turns flat — the way nearly every spiral galaxy revolves — including our own Milky Way. 

Now picture another mini doughnut sitting in its hole, standing on its edge and spinning perpendicular to the big one. That is what's going on in the middle of NGC 4698, except the little doughnut is really more of a dough ball, stretched into an oval and missing its own hole. The stars packed inside it ride up over the top of the galaxy and down under the bottom. Hubble's image shows those bulges as a faint glow above and below the dusty plane.

The new image comes from a Hubble project aimed at the Virgo Cluster. It captures small features inside these nearby galaxies, down to single clusters of stars and glowing clouds of gas. The bigger goal is to learn what happens to a galaxy as it travels through a crowded cluster, and whether the trip helps it build new stars or shuts that down.

Want more science and tech news delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for Mashable's Light Speed newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

Nothing in a galaxy is glued down, which is how one galaxy can manage two spins. Each star follows its own loop around the center. One crowd can loop flat while another loops crosswise, and neither forces the other to turn around.

Scientists believe some type of collision caused these two spins. Gas from somewhere else could have fallen into the galaxy's gap, gathered at the center, and started spinning its own way. Some observations back that up, NASA says, suggesting the galaxy swallowed another smaller galaxy long ago. A short tail of hydrogen trailing off one side might have formed in the crash.

The NGC 4698 image comes from a Hubble project capturing features inside Virgo Cluster galaxies. Credit: NASA / ESA

A recent study on the Milky Way's center also traces a family of stars back to an extremely ancient galactic merger. The research, which appeared in Nature Astronomy last month, looked at the ages and chemicals in several of the galaxy's globular clusters — tightly packed balls of thousands to millions of stars.

That information, combined with the direction of the stars' orbits, helped a team of scientists parse three distinct groups: native Milky Way stars, stars from the Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus merger, and a third unknown population. Using advanced tools, scientists estimated the collision that brought them into the galaxy happened 11.8 billion years ago. 

Everything else about NGC 4698 looks rather ordinary. Dark brown clumps of dust run through the outer arms, dotted with bunches of bright blue stars — the huge, hot kind that burn fast and mark spots where stars recently formed. The middle glows soft white because those stars are older, smaller, and cooler. 

A black hole as heavy as millions of suns sits at the center, dragging gas into itself. Scientists see signs it's actually still growing.

TL;DR: KitchenAid just released its 2026 Design Series Luminaire Stand Mixer ($699.99), featuring a brand-new illuminated fluted glass bowl, a textured blue peppercorn finish, and stainless steel attachments.

Opens in a new window Credit: KitchenAid KitchenAid Design Series Luminaire Stand Mixer $699.99 at KitchenAid
  Shop Now

If your holiday wish list isn't fully locked in yet, I suggest you leave a spot at the top. KitchenAid just unveiled its Design Series Luminaire Stand Mixer — and it is built to be the star of this year's Christmas baking spree.

Every year, KitchenAid releases a special "Design Series" model that turns its classic mixer into a piece of kitchen art. Priced at $699.99, the Luminaire is available to buy now.

The headline feature here is something KitchenAid has never done before: an integrated bowl light. The mixer comes paired with a thick, fluted glass bowl that looks like high-end glassware. When you turn it on, a built-in light shines from inside the mixer frame down into the bowl.

It lights up your dough, casts cool geometric shadows across your counter, and helps you see if those last bits of flour are mixed in properly. The bowl is made from hardened glass, so it can handle kitchen tasks like softening cold butter or tempering warm chocolate without cracking.

Credit: KitchenAid

Instead of standard glossy paint, the Luminaire comes coated in a brand-new shade called blue peppercorn — a soft French blue with a textured "crinkle" finish. To keep things looking sleek, KitchenAid gave it color-matched trim and polished metallic accents that pop against the matte blue body.

And, you won't have to deal with chipped paint on your accessories either. The Luminaire comes standard with heavy-duty, dishwasher-safe stainless steel attachments, including a double-flex-edge beater, dough hook, wire whip, and flat beater.

For the ultimate big-budget gift flex, KitchenAid is also releasing an ultra-limited run of just five matching 36-inch Commercial-Style Ranges, alongside a Blue Peppercorn capsule cookware collection dropping later this fall.

If you want to be the envy of every holiday party host this year, you know what to do. Grab the KitchenAid Design Series Luminaire Stand Mixer today.

Carol. Deep Water. Strangers on a Train. The Talented Mr. Ripley. American author Patricia Highsmith has inspired filmmakers for decades with her lurid tales of sex, deception, and murder. Now, she herself is a character in such a thriller, thanks to A Talent For Murder.

Adapted for the screen by Australian playwright Joanna Murray-Smith from her own play, Switzerland, this film imagines what might have happened if Highsmith's biggest fan got the chance to meet his hero. Enter Edward Ridgeway (Tony winner Alden Ehrenreich), a handsome young man with carefully coiffed dark hair, a strong jaw, a pressed shirt, and polished glasses, but little poise. On a train through Switzerland, he seems like he stumbled out of the first chapter of a Tom Ripley novel, sure to be felled or corrupted by the iconic con man.

Now, the girl. Clementine Harriet Balfour (Olivia Cooke) is pretty, with a bouncy brunette bob, and a fashion sense that hints at an old-money family and independent ambitions. They meet as strangers on a train, but are sure to cross paths again in the small Swiss village where she's visiting a miserly dowager aunt (Juliet Stevenson), and he's tasked with getting Highsmith to sign a contract to write a sixth Ripley novel.

Director Anton Corbijn expertly lays out a spring-loaded trap that's sure to capture the interest of Highsmith fans. A handsome couple flirts, while wealth and opportunity glitter on the horizon. What might they do to get there?

Enter a surly Highsmith, played with gnarly certainty by the one and only Helen Mirren.

Helen Mirren is a deranged delight in A Talent for Murder.

The English Dame has done Shakespeare and Prime Suspect; she's played Queen Elizabeth II and a Fast and Furious baddie with equal aplomb. Plus, just last year, she played a sultry spy in the cozy crime treat The Thursday Murder Club. But there's no lightness in Mirren's Highsmith.

In 1995, atop a Swiss mountain, the heralded author has become an eccentric recluse, rumored to have poisoned a neighbor's dog for barking too much, and to have driven an American man so mad he fled her home while only wearing his pajamas. Dressed in men's slacks, a crisp men's dress shirt, a cravat and vest, paired with a fuck-off bob, Mirren's Highsmith is imposing, even introduced ironing a shirt.

When Edward appears, eager with compliments, gifts, and talk of opportunity, she regards him with such scorching disdain the audience at the Toronto International Film Festival gasped and guffawed. The ruthless wit of the Ripley novels is sharply replicated in Murray-Smith's screenplay, and Mirren makes the most of every line, savoring the sharp barbs. To his credit, Ehrenreich doesn't balk in the face of this storied actress. And thank the gods, because failing to match her onscreen would make A Talent for Murder a miss. Instead, it's a twisted thrill: sexy, salty, and wickedly fun.

Alden Ehrenreich is hot and bothered in A Talent for Murder.

Earlier this year, Ehrenreich earned praise and a Tony award for his phenomenal performance in the Broadway revival of Becky Shaw. Watching A Talent for Murder, I thought often of this stage performance, as his characters have a lot in common. Young men who've come from a family with no means and no reputation worth a damn, who both cozy up to a wealthy family, determined not just to enter their world but to rule it.

At first glance, Edward looks like Matt Damon's version of Ripley, from the juicy 1999 adaptation The Talented Mr. Ripley. His hair floppy but fashionable. His smile earnest but awkward. The eyeglasses, a perfect twin. This feels intentional, as if Corbijn wants Highsmith fans to immediately wonder if this eager social climber might have the root of evil in him, which could make Highsmith's criminal mastermind real.

Smartly, the screenplay doesn't pitch Edward as some rube. He's come ready to impress Highsmith, even if that means tantalizing her with twisted tales from his past, and the possibility of criminally corrupting him. Enticed by his game, the two begin to collaborate on a murder mystery about a blue-collar boy who meets an old-money girl, and is determined to make her family fortune his own. Their thought experiment gets joltingly real as Highsmith haunts him in the night and inspires him to treat the reckless heiress Clementine as source material.

From there, A Talent for Murder begins to blur what's real and imagined in pursuit of bringing fresh blood to Highsmith's typewriter. And it just wouldn't work if Ehrenreich weren't on fire. Where Mirren is delicious in her snarling cruelty (think Tilda Swinton in Problemista), Ehrenreich is intriguing in his slipperiness. Edward and Highsmith's imagined novel plays out as we watch, recasting the former as her anti-hero, with Clementine playing the role they write for her. In these sections, Ehrenreich has the smoothness of Ripley, his confidence edged with a misanthropic disgust at all who aren't as clever and calculating as he. But as Edward, Ehrenreich trembles with insecurity, particularly in a scene where he's delicately called out by an Irish lady (Brid Brennan), who spots him as an outsider from his shoes alone.

To her credit, Cooke is not outshone in the slim role of Clementine. Whether the imagined version where she is a yearning virgin or the real one, where she is a spoiled rich girl looking for a cheap thrill, she brings a full-blooded verve to this girl. Together, this trio weaves a tale of sex, death, and desire that touches on the best of Highsmith's works, without feeling like a shallow retread of them. Instead, A Talent for Murder plays like a superb fan fiction, imagining the inner world and grisly desires of the seminal author, without idolizing her or whitewashing her well-documented defects.

A Talent For Murder is darkly funny, freshly thrilling, and unrepentantly seductive. It's not a Ripley sequel, but it's damn close.

A Talent For Murder was reviewed out of the Toronto International Film Festival. The movie will open in theaters on Oct. 23.