Blogroll

Don't buy a multi-color 3D printer until you understand what "purge waste" actually means

How-To Geek - 7 hours 34 min ago

After having printed in a single filament color for years, I found the idea of a multicolor 3D printer extremely appealing. There's no arguing with the results either. Multicolor prints are a big step up aesthetically, and there are big practical upshots too for functional prints.

Categories: IT General, Technology

How to use Conditional Columns in Excel Power Query

How-To Geek - 7 hours 49 min ago

Excel formulas are great until you need to stack 10 of them inside each other—one wrong bracket can ruin your entire afternoon. You can skip the headache by moving that logic into Power Query. Conditional columns let you build "if/then" rules visually, keeping your data clean and easier to manage.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Stop wasting drives on RAID 6—why I ditched it for RAID 5 in my homelab

How-To Geek - 8 hours 19 min ago

RAID 6 is the best form of RAID to run in a homelab, right? I don’t think so. RAID 6 might offer slightly more protection than RAID 5, but I prefer RAID 5 for my NAS systems—here’s why

Categories: IT General, Technology

Why Android phones used to feel more innovative (and what we lost)

How-To Geek - 8 hours 34 min ago

Android in 2014 was a playground for innovation. The ecosystem was much simpler, and everyone was kind of doing their own thing. This led to more frequent fresh ideas compared to what we have today. Here's some of the stuff we thought was groundbreaking back then—and I would really love it if a lot of these things were still around.

Categories: IT General, Technology

This free app does what Windows refuses to: Let you actually customize your right-click menu

How-To Geek - 8 hours 49 min ago

Windows 11 reworked many of the fundamental interfaces that we use day in and day out, and only a few changes were more controversial was the right-click context menu. It is difficult to customize, harder to declutter, and changes elements we'd been familiar with for decades.

Categories: IT General, Technology

How to watch the 2026 Paris-Roubaix online for free

Mashable - 8 hours 55 min ago

TL;DR: Stream the 2026 Paris-Roubaix for free on SBS on Demand, RTBF, FranceTV, or RaiPlay. Access these free streaming platforms from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Hardcore cyclists really love to suffer, for some reason. We're not exactly sure what's so appealing about taking on a steep incline, but there must be something that keeps this dedicated group coming back for more torture.

What's easier to understand is the appeal of watching the best cyclists in the world do battle over one of the most challenging routes imaginable. That's what's on offer from Paris-Roubaix.

If you're interested in watching the 2026 Paris-Roubaix for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

What is Paris-Roubaix?

Paris–Roubaix is a single-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting just north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix. The race is nicknamed the "Hell of the North," and it's clear to see why. The route is 259.9 kilometres long with 29 cobblestone road sections totalling 55.7 kilometres.

Mathieu van der Poel won the 2025 Paris-Roubaix.

When is the 2026 Paris-Roubaix?

The 2026 Paris-Roubaix takes place on April 12.

Can you livestream the 2026 Paris-Roubaix for free?

The 2026 Paris-Roubaix is available to live stream for free on a number of services:

These free streaming platforms are geo-restricted, but anyone can access with a VPN. These powerful tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to secure servers in other locations, meaning you can access these free streaming platforms from anywhere in the world.

Live stream the 2026 Paris-Roubaix for free 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, Belgium, France, or Italy

  4. Visit SBS on Demand, RTBF, FranceTV, or RaiPlay

  5. Stream the 2026 Paris-Roubaix for free from anywhere in the world

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

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can gain access to free streaming sites without committing with your cash. This is not a long-term solution, but it does give you time to watch the 2026 Paris-Roubaix before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for Paris-Roubaix?

ExpressVPN is the best service for unblocking free streaming sites to watch 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 always secure

  • Fast connection speeds

  • 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 a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).

Watch the 2026 Paris-Roubaix for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Categories: IT General, Technology

How to watch the 2026 Masters Tournament online for free

Mashable - 8 hours 56 min ago

TL;DR: Live stream the 2026 Masters Tournament for free on Masters.com. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The wait for the first major golf championship of the year is over.

The Masters is here to deliver top-quality action from the Augusta National Golf Club. Expect the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, and Rory McIlroy to be battling it out for the green jacket at the end of the weekend. It's always a special occasion with a number of incredible storylines to follow.

If you want to watch the 2026 Masters Tournament for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

What is the Masters?

The Masters is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf. The tournament takes place in the first full week in April, making the Masters the first major golf tournament of the year.

The Masters is always held at the Augusta National Golf Club, a private course in the city of Augusta, Georgia.

When is the 2026 Masters Tournament?

The 2026 Masters Tournament will take place from April 9-12. Practice rounds began on April 6.

How to watch the 2026 Masters Tournament for free

The 2026 Masters Tournament is available to live stream for free on Masters.com.

This free live stream is geo-restricted to the U.S., but anyone can access for free with a VPN. These handy tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the U.S., meaning you can unblock this free live stream from anywhere in the world.

Access free Masters live streams 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 the U.S.

  4. Visit Masters.com

  5. Live stream the 2026 Masters Tournament 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 leading VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can gain access to free live streams without committing with your cash. This is obviously not a long-term solution, but it does give you time to watch the 2026 Masters before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to the best free streaming platforms from around the world, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for live sport is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for live sport?

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

  • Servers in 105 countries including the U.S.

  • 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 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 a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).

Watch the 2026 Masters Tournament for free with ExpressVPN.

Categories: IT General, Technology

I finally found a reason to use the USB port on my smart TV

How-To Geek - 9 hours 4 min ago

All modern TVs come with at least one USB port, but aside from powering a Roku stick, what is it any good for? One option—streaming media off a storage drive—is hardly a secret, but life finally gave me a reason to put this feature to use.

Categories: IT General, Technology

T-Mobile is giving away the Apple iPhone 17 for free — how to claim

Mashable - 9 hours 18 min ago

TL;DR: Score a free iPhone 17e when signing up for a T-Mobile plan with no trade-in required. Alternatively, you can get the iPhone 17 for free from T-Mobile when signing up for an Experience More plan and trading in an eligible device.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple T-Mobile: Apple iPhone 17 for free   Get Deal

In the mobile world, the word "free" is usually followed by a list of caveats that make you wish you never started looking for a deal. You usually need to sign up for the most expensive plan or trade-in a premium phone to get your hands on what you really want. But that's not the case with the latest T-Mobile offer.

T-Mobile is offering a rare deal on the newly-released Apple iPhone 17e. For a limited time, you can pick up this A19-powered device for free by simply opening a new line.

You’ll need to activate a new line on T-Mobile’s Experience Beyond or Experience More plans to get the iPhone 17e. The phone’s full retail price is covered via 24 monthly bill credits, and since you aren't trading in your old phone, you can keep it as a backup, give it to a kid, or sell it on a third-party site to actually make money on this deal. We did say this was a rare opportunity to save.

Mashable's Stan Shroeder got his hands on the iPhone 17e and said "The combination of having Apple's latest chip and a decent amount of storage means this phone will be relevant for at least four to five years." That's an impressive lifespan for a budget-friendly phone, particularly when it's free.

SEE ALSO: Apple's iPhone Fold launch might happen later than we thought (updated)

If you need something a little more powerful, you can also pick up the iPhone 17 for free from T-Mobile when signing on for 24 months of an Experience More plan and trading in an eligible phone. That gets you unthrottled 5G data, 4K streaming, and enough international roaming for even the most adventurous of travellers.

It's important to note that T-Mobile will charge taxes on these free deals and a $35 device connection fee. Is this really "free" when you need to sign up to something or pay an upfront fee? It's a gray area, OK? We're doing our best.

Score an iPhone 17 for free this weekend with T-Mobile.

Categories: IT General, Technology

I put a moisture sensor in the "wrong" place and learned some awesome Home Assistant automations

How-To Geek - 9 hours 19 min ago

Moisture sensors are usually intended for specific purposes, but there's nothing to stop you from using them however you want. I've tried placing moisture sensors in some unusual places, and the results have been excellent.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Zendaya & Sydney Sweeney's polarizing show finally streams today on HBO Max

How-To Geek - 9 hours 34 min ago

After a four-year hiatus, Euphoria makes its triumphant return to television tonight. Season 3 of the polarizing TV show starring Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney premieres on April 12 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and HBO Max.

Categories: IT General, Technology

This immutable Linux solved my biggest technical frustrations

How-To Geek - 9 hours 49 min ago

I installed Linux over the weekend, and not just any version of Linux—an immutable one by the name of Fedora Silverblue. Now that I don't have to worry about my underlying system, my switch back to Linux has been easier than it's ever been, and nearly all of my frustrations from the past are gone.

Categories: IT General, Technology

6 more fast home repairs you can 3D print with a few grams of filament

How-To Geek - 10 hours 19 min ago

Having a 3D printer can change the way you think about outstanding home repairs. Sometimes, a fix is just a few minutes away, and it only costs a few cents in filament and a bit of spare time.

Categories: IT General, Technology

I tried 5 free Premiere Pro alternatives, and this is the one I’m sticking with

How-To Geek - 10 hours 49 min ago

Adobe Premiere is one of the most popular video editors out there today, but as time has gone on, I've realized that I don't use it nearly enough to justify the cost of a subscription. I tried 5 alternative editors, but one stood out from the crowd.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Govee Outdoor Chromatic String Lights review: Bright, colorful, and Matter-compatible

How-To Geek - 11 hours 19 min ago

The Govee Outdoor Chromatic String Lights are, as the name suggests, a more saturated take on outdoor string lights. They may be pricey, but their attractive design and durability join Matter-compatibility in making these lights a compelling addition to the exterior of a modern smart home.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The best HBO Max deals and bundles in April 2026

Mashable - 12 hours 19 min ago

HBO MAX BUNDLES: HBO Max is offering a few different bundle deals so you can stream from its library without making a massive dent in your wallet.

The best HBO Max deals and bundles in April 2026: Best Disney+ Bundle Deal Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max Bundle $19.99/month with ads, $32.99/month ad-free Get Deal Best Hulu Bundle Deal Hulu and HBO Max Bundle Add HBO Max to your Hulu base plan from $10.99 per month Get Deal Best Student Deal HBO Max Student Save 50% on HBO Max Basic With Ads Get Deal

Looking for some exciting new films or shows to watch this spring? HBO Max is the place to find them. With a new season of Euphoria dropping on the platform and a brand new season of House of the Dragon coming in June, there's plenty to watch and look forward to on the service.

If these shows have caught your eye, the good news is that HBO Max has a few different bundles available at the moment that are worth checking out, including a popular bundle with Disney+ and Hulu. With streaming prices on the rise, a bundle like this can be a great way to save some cash while retaining access to your favorite services.

SEE ALSO: Everything we know about HBO's 'Baldur's Gate' show

Alongside bundles, we've also broken down HBO Max's standard plans in case you're interested in its service on its own.

Best Disney+ bundle deal Opens in a new window Credit: HBO Max Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max Bundle $19.99/month with ads, $32.99/month ad-free Get Deal Why we like it

The HBO Max, Disney+, and Hulu bundle is a top-tier choice for those looking to have access to some of the biggest streaming services around. Starting at $19.99 per month, this bundle grants you access to Hulu, Disney+, and HBO Max's streaming services for a much lower price than what you'd pay for them on their own. If you've already got Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions, this bundle is worth every cent. If you're interested, there are two plan options to choose from:

Best Hulu bundle deal Opens in a new window Credit: Hulu Hulu and HBO Max Bundle Add HBO Max to your Hulu base plan from $10.99 per month Get Deal Why we like it

If you're not interested in the Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max mega bundle, you can just get Hulu and HBO Max together if you already have a Hulu base plan, which starts at $11.99 per month. HBO Max Basic with Ads can be added onto your plan for $10.99 per month, or you can splash out on the HBO Max Standard plan for $18.49 per month.

Best student deal Opens in a new window Credit: HBO Max HBO Max Student Discount Students save 50% on HBO Max Basic With Ads Get Deal Why we like it

It's always nice when streaming services have a deal for students, and HBO Max's offer is definitely worth taking advantage of. Students who can verify their status with UNiDAYS are eligible to get the HBO Max Basic With Ads plan for just $5.49 per month. That's a 50% discount off its $10.99 monthly price. After verifying your status, you'll receive a unique code that can be used to redeem the discounted plan on HBO Max.

HBO Max's monthly plans

HBO Max offers a few different subscription plans. If you don't mind having to sit through ads, HBO Max's Basic With Ads plan starts at $10.99 per month or the annual plan runs for $109.99 per year. If you can't stand ads and don't mind throwing down a bit more cash, the Standard plan will cost you $18.49 per month or $184.99 per year. If you really want to go big on an HBO Max plan, you can spring for the fancy Premium plan, which costs $22.99 per month or $229.99 per year.

Below we've broken down what comes with each of these plans, per HBO Max's website, so you can know a bit more before you buy.

Basic With Ads — $10.99 per month, $109.99 per year

  • Stream on two devices at once

  • Full HD 1080p resolution

Standard (Ad-free) — $18.49 per month, $184.99 per year

  • Stream on two devices at once

  • Full HD 1080p resolution

  • 30 downloads to watch on the go

Premium (Ad-free) — $22.99 per month, $229.99 per year

  • Stream on four devices at once

  • 4K Ultra HD video quality (as available)

  • Dolby Atmos immersive audio (as available)

  • 100 downloads to watch on the go

If you're wondering where to start once you've set yourself up with a HBO Max subscription, we've got an excellent selection of recommendations to point you in the right direction. Looking for a great TV show to kickstart your next binge-watching session? Have a look through our roundup of the 20 best TV shows streaming on HBO Max. Or if you prefer movies, we narrowed down the 25 best movies on HBO Max to make your next movie night a spectacular one.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Using AI for health questions? Here are 4 tips for the most accurate answers.

Mashable - 12 hours 19 min ago

Every day, millions of people turn to an artificial intelligence chatbot like Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT to ask a question about their physical health. 

They may not know that getting the correct answer is harder than it appears, no matter how authoritatively the chatbot responds. 

Three recent studies indicate that large language models aren't as reliable as users may hope. 

SEE ALSO: Read this before you use ChatGPT Health

One study that tested chatbots' ability to detect health misinformation failed more often than not in certain scenarios. Another study conducted by some of the same researchers found that ChatGPT Health, a dedicated health and wellness service that debuted in January, "under-triaged" slightly more than half of cases presented to it, including emergency conditions that required immediate medical care. 

"I think that consumers should have a high degree of caution, like almost an abundance of caution," Dr. Girish N. Nadkarni, an internist and nephrologist at Mt. Sinai, who co-authored both of the studies, said of querying a chatbot for health advice. 

This may surprise users who hear that chatbots can easily pass a medical exam, even if they sometimes hallucinate outside of a testing environment. Yet the recent research points to a complex, somewhat hidden problem. The way humans interact with chatbots, and the manner in which they're designed to expertly please, creates unpredictability. Those factors are never a challenge for AI being tested on textbook medical questions. 

If you want to start, or continue using, a chatbot for your health questions, take these expert-recommended steps as you come up with prompts: 

1. Test the model with misinformation or inaccuracies first. 

Nadkarni, an AI health researcher and director of Mt. Sinai's Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Health, says it's important to ask the chatbot about medical misinformation or known falsehoods prior to querying it about specific health questions. 

Challenge the chatbot, for example, to comment on a conspiracy theory about a vaccine, such as whether it agrees that the COVID-19 shot contains a microchip to track people

Or prompt it to respond to a slightly more challenging health controversy, like the safety of fluoride in drinking water. While researchers have found evidence that extremely high levels of fluoride can be dangerous, experts agree that current standard levels remain safe

Testing the chatbot with misinformation should provide a revealing baseline for the potential accuracy of its other responses, Nadkarni says. 

A new Mashable series, AI + Health, will examine how artificial intelligence is changing the medical and health landscape. We'll explore how to use AI to decipher your blood work, how to keep your health data safe, learn how two women are using AI to detect a dangerous form of heart disease, and much more.

His recent study found that several general-purpose chatbots, including ChatGPT, inconsistently detected misinformation across many scenarios. Success rates depended on the context, like whether it was presented in a social media post versus a medical note. They also failed often when presented with specific logical fallacies. 

For example, when the prompt with misinformation appeared to come from a physician, via a real note drawn from an electronic health record, the chatbot was more likely to miss the falsehoods. 

If the chatbot you're consulting agrees with statements you know to be partially or wholly false, Nadkarni says avoid asking it for its opinion on your personal health questions. 

2. Consider the cues or information you may be giving the chatbot. 

When Nadkarni and his colleagues tested ChatGPT Health earlier this year, they discovered that how users frame their symptoms may influence the model's accuracy. 

If, for example, the prompt included statements about friends or family downplaying the symptoms in question, ChatGPT Health's recommendation shifted in that direction as well. In those instances, the chatbot was 11 times more likely not to send the patient to the emergency room, even when their symptoms indicated a life-threatening condition. 

The results were published as a peer-reviewed advance paper in Nature Medicine

OpenAI objected to the results, arguing that the study methods didn't represent how people use ChatGPT over multiple chats, sharing information and answering follow-up questions. Karan Singhal, who leads the Health AI team at OpenAI, told Mashable in a statement that its own benchmarking indicates that GPT-5 models "correctly refer emergency cases nearly 99 percent of the time."

Nadkarni said that while he welcomed debate, the criticism "missed the point." He said that while ChatGPT Health correctly identified abnormalities in the presented data, it reasoned past them.

"The issue is not missing information but incorrect conclusions despite correct data," Nadkarni told Mashable.

A separate recent study, also published in Nature Medicine but by a different group of researchers, randomly assigned 1,298 human participants to present a predetermined medical scenario to an AI chatbot (GPT-4o, Llama 3, and Command R+) or a source of their choice, including Google. 

When the chatbots were tested simply on the scenarios, they correctly identified the condition in nearly 95 percent of the cases. Once humans began posing questions about the scenario, however, the same chatbots could accurately pinpoint the condition in only about a third of cases. 

"Despite LLMs alone having high proficiency in the task, the combination of LLMs and human users was no better than the control group in assessing clinical acuity and worse at identifying relevant conditions," the researchers wrote. 

Many participants lacked an accurate understanding of the symptom severity, which contributed to the failure rate. 

SEE ALSO: What AI can really say about your blood test 3. Take into account whether you're a novice or expert. 

This is the kind of dynamic that Dr. Robert Wachter keeps in mind when he considers how people prompt a chatbot for answers to medical questions. 

Wachter, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, routinely uses OpenEvidence, an AI chatbot designed for physicians and healthcare professionals. He finds the AI's answers to complex medical questions largely fast, accurate, and helpful. 

Wachter, author of "A Giant Leap: How AI is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future," also believes that general-purpose and health-specific chatbots can be very useful to the average patient compared to a basic Google search. 

Yet he's also aware that he approaches AI chatbots as an expert with 40 years of medical experience and can quickly identify the most relevant details to include in a prompt. 

"A patient has absolutely no ability to do that — to know what are the salient facts of all the things that might be going on in terms of their current symptoms, in terms of their past history, in terms of their medication," he says. "So what they put into the prompt may be not exactly right."

Wachter says that recent research demonstrates a clear risk for patients when they don't know the right information to use in a prompt, and when they misinterpret the chatbot's response. 

Still, he believes that more often than not, an AI chatbot is better than nothing, provided patients focus on including relevant health history and current symptoms, and use it with a "buyer beware" attitude. 

In particular, Wachter says he wouldn't trust a chatbot for symptoms that may indicate a life-threatening emergency, such as severe chest pain, new shortness of breath or confusion, or weakness on one side of the body. 

4. Ask for references and cross-check the answer. 

When a chatbot gives its response, Nadkarni suggests taking the time to ask for its references for the information provided. 

It's not enough to scan a list of links, either. Nadkarni recommends clicking links to evaluate the source. If the chatbot has based its answer on a "shady Reddit post," Nadkarni says it's probably not trustworthy. 

On the other hand, if the reference directs you to a verifiable medical organization, like the American Medical Association, that should be reassuring. 

Nadkarni acknowledges that while individual users may not agree with the views of a health organization or authority, the information usually reflects medical consensus based on the best current evidence. 

Wachter also recommends asking a second AI chatbot that you trust to weigh in on the same health information you shared with the first chatbot to see if it arrives at the same conclusion. That can be a good indication that the response is useful and reliable.  

Despite Wachter's enthusiasm for AI chatbots in healthcare, he believes the recent studies indicate substantial room for improvement. He imagines AI tools that act more like a "good doctor," engaging the user in conversation to elicit all the relevant information before suggesting a diagnosis or action, like taking medication or going to the emergency room. 

"I think the patient-facing tools are not where they're going to end up," he says of present-day AI chatbots that field health questions. "Ultimately, the tool for a patient is going to be much more [like a doctor] than the tools now."

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

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

Categories: IT General, Technology

Euphoria Season 3 review: It should be great. Instead, its gross.

Mashable - 12 hours 19 min ago

"Anyone can reinvent themselves."

These are the words of menacing Euphoria Season 3 newcomer Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). He speaks them to Rue (Zendaya) as she comes to a crossroads on her winding journey to redemption, but he might as well be describing series creator Sam Levinson's thought process coming into Season 3. This time around, reinvention is the name of the game, as Euphoria moves from gritty teen drama to seedy neo-Western.

SEE ALSO: 'Euphoria' Season 3 trailer: Rue's on the run, Jules is a sugar baby, and I'm worried

On the one hand, some form of reinvention is necessary. Euphoria's Season 2 finale aired four years ago. After that hiatus, it would be ridiculous to return to high school as if nothing had changed, especially since, during that time away, cast members like Zendaya, Jacob Elordi, and Sydney Sweeney blossomed into megawatt movie stars through decidedly non-high school roles. On the other hand, the path Levinson chooses for Euphoria Season 3 opens the show up to its worst impulses, marring its technical splendor and strong performances with exploitative storylines that feel primed for internet outrage.

Euphoria Season 3 doesn't feel like the Euphoria you know. Zendaya in "Euphoria." Credit: Patrick Wymore / HBO

A five-year time jump between Euphoria Seasons 2 and 3 shakes the show up in a major way. The show's core cast of characters has scattered to the winds in their new adulthood. Some, like Nate (Elordi) and Cassie (Sweeney), are settling down and getting married. Others, like Lexi (Maude Apatow) and Maddy (Alexa Demie), are hustling for success in Hollywood.

Rue's life has taken a much more dangerous turn. Her debts to drug dealer Laurie (Martha Kelly) have caught up with her, and she's now a drug mule. The season's exhilarating opening catches her tearing across the Chihuahuan Desert on the way back to the U.S., complete with a tense pit stop at the border wall. Zendaya sinks right back into Rue's live-wire energy, making it feel as if we've never left her.

SEE ALSO: 'Euphoria' has a flashback problem

However, most of the other aspects of Euphoria surrounding her have changed. Gone are the neon-soaked school hallways and city streets, replaced by wide-open Western vistas saturated with stunning color. The layered vocals of Labrinth's score are nowhere to be heard either. Instead, Hans Zimmer takes the reins with a more orchestral sound (that at one point sounds eerily close to his work on Dune). Even the show's title appears in a different font: a blocky yellow that recalls Western film titles. This season accompanies its first title card drop with the screech of a hawk, an extra bit of Western pastiche that hammers home the show's new direction.

All the changes serve Levinson's thesis that these characters' early 20s are the Wild Wests of their lives. (For Rue, caught in a standoff between Laurie and strip club kingpin Alamo, that lawless Western element is a lot more literal.) Yet in making all these changes, Euphoria also loses the parts of its identity that set it apart from its teen drama counterparts in the first place. Now it feels more like a familiar crime drama. A prestige crime drama with an HBO budget, but still a recognizable one.

Euphoria Season 3 is an exercise in humiliation and fetishization. Sydney Sweeney in "Euphoria." Credit: HBO

One element of Euphoria that carries over to Season 3 is its gleeful pushing of the envelope, particularly when it comes to sex. In Season 3, Levinson is focused on sex work, a subject he's already explored in part (but with very little sensitivity) in Kat's (Barbie Ferreira) Season 1 cam girl storyline. This time around, sex work takes center stage in multiple storylines. Rue helps run one of Alamo's strip clubs. Jules (Hunter Schafer) becomes a sugar baby. Cassie makes forays into OnlyFans, all in the hopes of earning enough money so she can pay for her dream flowers at her and Nate's wedding.

SEE ALSO: What is OnlyFans?

Euphoria Season 1 portrayed Kat's cam girl journey as primarily empowering, with very little consideration to the fact that she was underage at the time. Season 3 flips the script, turning a now-adult Cassie's OnlyFans ambitions into an over-sexualized humiliation gauntlet. If you thought Season 2's embarrassment of her was relentless, her Season 3 introduction alone blows that out of the water. Dressed as a dog, she perches atop a mini dog house and laps water from a bowl, desperate for validation online. Between this and "Wuthering Heights," it's a big year for Elordi characters dominating women through pet play. Fitting, as both Emerald Fennell and Levinson thrive on the empty provocation of throwing taboos at the wall and seeing what sticks.

Cassie's sex work has no depth to it, and in her "right-wing suburban bubble," everyone heaps shame on her, from her fiancé to her friends. Euphoria doesn't interrogate these biases or examine the intricacies of sex work further. Instead, it's happy to keep the shame coming, using Cassie's aspirations as a springboard from which it can launch suggestive images designed to stir up the most controversy: Cassie draped in a sopping wet American flag shirt, or posing as a baby. That it's Sweeney — herself a cultural lightning rod — in these tableaus makes Euphoria's desire for outrage even more clear. And while I clearly feel some of that outrage the show is gunning for, what I feel more is exasperation. Exasperation that a show with such incredible potential, and such undeniable talent in front of and behind the camera, keeps opting for lazy shocks.

These shocks even spill into Rue's storyline, which has usually been Euphoria at its best and most introspective. In Season 3, Rue experiments with religion and surrendering herself to a higher power, a quest that stems from a diner conversation with Ali (Colman Domingo). Euphoria wisely knows that when it sticks Zendaya and Domingo in a booth and lets them play off one another, it gets magic. That's why Rue's special episode, "Trouble Don’t Last Always," is a series highlight. Yet in the first three episodes of Season 3 sent to critics, Rue's journey to fulfillment often falls to the wayside to make more room for what Euphoria knows will get people talking most: mess and controversy. In Rue's case, those manifest in her work at a strip club, which is populated less by fully-formed characters and more by tragic sex worker archetypes.

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But even in non-overtly sexual situations, Euphoria finds a way to ogle its cast. An early sequence sees Rue and her co-conspirator Faye (Chloe Cherry) swallow golf-ball sized bags of drugs to smuggle out of Mexico. The camera lingers on their throats and their spit, while their gulps ring out loud and desperate. It's a needlessly suggestive spectacle, and the same goes for what happens when the drugs need to come out the other end.

Unfortunately, it's scenes like these that linger in the brain and get immortalized thanks to the meme treatment. Euphoria knows this, which is why it's all too happy to keep humiliating Cassie and providing surface-level looks at controversial topics in Season 3.

There's a great show lurking in here somewhere. So much of Rue's journey proves it. Yet Euphoria keeps smothering that greatness with something far grosser, and that's something no amount of reinvention can hide.

Euphoria Season 3 premieres Apr. 12 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Nintendo offers savings with new Switch 2 Super Mario Galaxy bundle

Mashable - 12 hours 19 min ago

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has not been especially well received by critics, but it is serving one important purpose: introducing new people to the two excellent games it was named after. And for a limited time, you can get in on the fun with a discount.

Nintendo announced a temporary promotion from April 12 to May 9: anyone who buys a Nintendo Switch 2 console alongside Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 (the official name of a package containing both games) will get $20 off. This offer works with either the physical or digital version of the Galaxy games, but only if you get a Switch 2 at the same time. You also need to buy them from a participating retailer, which includes Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, and GameStop.

Opens in a new window Credit: Nintendo Nitendo Switch 2 + Super Mario Galaxy bundle $518 at Amazon
  Learn More Opens in a new window Credit: Nintendo Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 $69 at Amazon
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If my math is right, participating in this promotion would cost a total of $500 between the Switch 2 and the games, down from a total of $520 before taxes. It's not a huge discount, in other words, but considering how infrequently Nintendo discounts any of its products, especially the Switch 2, this might be a decent excuse for someone to pull the trigger on a Switch 2. Especially if they have kids who loved the Galaxy movie — or if you've been dying to get in on the Pokémon Pokopia craze.

Buy now and save. Credit: Nintendo

While the movie seems like it's not great, I can personally confirm that both Galaxy games are fantastic and look exceptional running in 4K on a Switch 2.

They're some of the best modern Super Mario adventures and are absolutely worth the time of anyone even remotely curious about them. Head to a retailer near you from April 12 to experience greatness.

For more information, you can read the fine print at the Nintendo retail offers page.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The Audacity tears Silicon Valley a new one: Review

Mashable - 12 hours 19 min ago

If I want to hear about how billionaire tech bros are making the world worse, I can turn on the news. If I want to hear about how billionaire tech bros are making the world worse and at least laugh about it, I can watch The Audacity.

SEE ALSO: 'Euphoria' Season 3 review: It should be great. Instead, it's gross.

Created by Jonathan Glatzer, a writer and producer on Succession and Better Call Saul, The Audacity takes a satirical sledgehammer to Silicon Valley. It tears into the tech world with cutting one-liners and a parade of ultra-wealthy, ultra-insecure "billionaire man children" who often feel frighteningly familiar.

What is The Audacity about? Zach Galifianakis and Billy Magnussen in "The Audacity." Credit: Ed Araquel / AMC

Among those man children is Duncan Park (Billy Magnussen), the data mining CEO of tech company Hypergnosis. He's a sleeveless vest stuffed with delusion and insecurity, a man who's convinced of his own genius, yet still needs those around him to validate said genius.

His closest confidante is his strung-out therapist Dr. JoAnne Felder (Sarah Goldberg), who's certainly not getting paid enough to hear about Duncan's fraudulent activity. However, JoAnne's record isn't spotless either. Thanks to information from her sessions with Duncan and the other tech titans she treats, she's picked up enough confidential information to get into some serious insider trading.

When Duncan discovers this, and when his own stock threatens to plummet, he blackmails JoAnne to help him out, resulting in a sharp, self-destructive spiral for both.

SEE ALSO: 'Margo's Got Money Troubles' review: An alien OnlyFans is the highlight of Apple's family dramedy Billy Magnussen and Sarah Goldberg kill it in The Audacity. Sarah Goldberg and Billy Magnussen in "The Audacity." Credit: Ed Araquel / AMC

There are few joys in television greater than watching two great actors have it out, and you'll get plenty of that in The Audacity thanks to Magnussen and Goldberg.

So often a highlight in supporting roles, from Into the Woods to HBO's short-lived The Franchise, Magnussen takes center stage with his usual full-throttle commitment to ridiculousness. His Duncan is someone you love to hate: smarmy, full of himself, and always ready to keep digging deeper into a hole if it means he'll get what he wants. Magnussen channels each of Duncan's flaws with glee, and the result is cringe comedy gold.

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While Duncan believes he's on top of the world, Goldberg's JoAnne is all too aware of the fact that she's at the bottom of the Silicon Valley pyramid. That fuels Goldberg's impeccable take on JoAnne's building breakdown, as does Duncan's blackmail and her strained relationship with teen son Orson (Everett Blunck). We've seen Goldberg play a woman losing control before, as Barry's Sally Reed. (Who could forget her Season 3 elevator tirade?) Here, she once again nails that same level of desperation, coupled with JoAnne's more composed therapist persona. Watching her go from therapist mode to panicked mode is one of The Audacity's darkly comic highlights. Watching the two begin to merge is even better.

Magnussen and Goldberg's chemistry is superb, with Duncan and JoAnne wrestling for power in increasingly ridiculous ways. An early season highlight? JoAnne preferring to drive her car off a road in order to avoid interacting with an oncoming Duncan. He pulls into frame with the goofiest smile on his face, acting like her bestie even though he's straight-up using her car data to track her. He believes he's living in a tech thriller, while JoAnne's fully in a horror movie. That imbalance is a core part of why JoAnne-Duncan dynamic works so well, but it's also proof of The Audacity's tech bros' total delusion: They live so far above everyone else that they feel they can do anything.

The Audacity's Silicon Valley is downright sinister. Simon Helberg in "The Audacity." Credit: Ed Araquel / AMC

The Audacity builds out a full, frightening world around Duncan and JoAnne. Disillusioned tech pioneers like Carl Bardolph (Zach Galifianakis) look down their noses at what Silicon Valley has become, all while trying to find a way back in. Parents like Duncan and his wife Lili (Lucy Punch) try to ensure their daughter Jamison (Ava Telek) gets into Stanford by any means necessary, hiring an elite team of coaches even though it makes her miserable. Elsewhere, inventor Martin Pfister (Simon Helberg) works tirelessly on perfecting an AI child, all while neglecting his own daughter Tess (Thailey Roberge).

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For the show's teen ensemble of Orson, Jamison, and Tess, alienation from their parents is the norm. Through their eyes, Silicon Valley becomes a nightmare place to grow up.

Through the adults' eyes, the Valley doesn't seem so pretty either, despite the lavish mansions or luxury mud baths just a helicopter ride away in Napa. Instead of a tech heaven, it's a surreal tech dystopia, one where a single algorithm can play God and package every bit of a person's data for exploitation. It would almost feel like science fiction if this kind of data mining technology didn't already exist, and that's part of The Audacity's bleak appeal: making us laugh at ridiculousness that's just one step removed from reality.

"The world there is not the world," Orson's father says of Silicon Valley. He's right. It's a bubble bursting with big net worths and bigger egos. But, The Audacity reminds us, that bubble has a major impact on the real world, and isn't that a silly, frightening thing?

The Audacity was reviewed out of its premiere at SXSW. It premieres April 12 at 9 p.m. ET on AMC and AMC+. It will also be simulcast on Samsung TV Network.

Categories: IT General, Technology
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