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Birdbuddy has launched two new smart bird feeders ahead of the holiday season, including the compact, budget-friendly Birdbuddy Nook (starting at only $99). The other is a next-generation flagship model, the Birdbuddy Home, which retails for $219 and replaces the Birdbuddy Pro.

Both feeders initially debuted at CES 2026 as the Birdbuddy 2 mini and Birdbuddy 2, respectively. As of Oct. 22, they're now widely available for purchase at various retailers.

Opens in a new window Credit: Birdbuddy Birdbuddy Nook $99 at mybirdbuddy.com
  Shop Now at mybirdbuddy.com Opens in a new window Credit: Birdbuddy Birdbuddy Home $219 at mybirdbuddy.com
  Shop Now at mybirdbuddy.com

Birdbuddy sent me both models to try ahead of their release. Since it can take a while for wild birds to find new feeders, I enlisted the help of my pet parrot, Melon, to evaluate their upgraded cameras. (He also helped me test out Birdbuddy's AI-powered species identification feature, which you can read about here.) Here's what stood out to me as I unboxed them and set them up in the front yard of my Chicago apartment.

Birdbuddy Nook: A basic smart feeder for under $100

The Nook is a small, minimalist hopper feeder that's ideal for tight spaces like balconies and patios. Its modular design comes in a cute sage green finish.

The Birdbuddy Nook doesn't come with a solar roof by default. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The Nook is much more affordable than the Birdbuddy Home, but it requires more maintenance. It can only fit about three and a half cups of birdseed, so it needs more frequent top-ups. And its $99 base model doesn't have solar charging capabilities; you'll have to monitor its battery life and bring it inside to sit on an outlet occasionally.

You'll get a solar roof attachment if you opt for the Birdbuddy Nook Solar ($159) or the Birdbuddy Nook Extended Edition ($199.99), which also includes a larger perch and a Birdbuddy Family Premium membership. You can buy the bigger perch à la carte for $34, but full disclosure: I could not for the life of me figure out how to install it without possibly stripping its screw holes.

Here's what comes in the Birdbuddy Nook Extended Edition. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

Based on my initial testing, the Nook Solar is an essential upgrade for three reasons. First, I like not having to worry about charging my feeder. Second, I think the Nook looks a little cheap and unfinished without its roof — there are little gaps on the sides where it's meant to snap on. Thirdly, the USB-C port where its roof plugs into its battery is located right in the middle of its reservoir, and it's a pain to clean tiny seeds and dust out of it.

Birdbuddy Home: A bigger smart feeder with all the fixings

The Home is an all-in-one hopper feeder with two built-in solar panels, dual-band WiFi for a more reliable connection, and a taller reservoir that can fit around five and a half cups of seeds. A bright red-orange perch accents its slate blue finish.

There's a solar panel on either side of the Birdbuddy Home's roof. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The Home has the same mic and camera as the Nook, but adds a built-in speaker. It chirps the first time you install the camera and verbally guides you through the app and WiFi pairing process.

Between the Nook Solar and the Home, I prefer the latter. It has a hatch in the back that makes seed refills easier, whereas you have to remove the entire top of the Nook to access its reservoir. Additionally, the Home has two solar panels on either side of its roof, so it's more likely to get ample sun exposure. The Nook's roof attachment only has a solar panel on one side.

Here's what the Birdbuddy Home looks like before it's assembled. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The Home also comes in an Extended Edition ($249.99) with a bigger perch and a Family Premium membership.

Birdbuddy camera quality Those two lines on either side of the lens tell you whether your new Birdbuddy's camera is positioned in landscape or portrait mode. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

Both new Birdbuddies have an updated 2K HDR camera with a scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass casing. Here's how it compares to the shooters on older Birdbuddy feeders, which had an oblong design instead of a round one:

• It's faster at pairing with the Birdbuddy app (I can attest to this — it only takes a few seconds)

• It has a wider field of view (135 degrees versus 122 degrees)

• It works in landscape or portrait mode

• It "wakes up" faster once the feeders' motion detectors sense a bird

• There's no longer a delay on its livestream

Before I mounted the Home outside, I bribed my parrot Melon into stepping in front of its camera by putting a few peanuts in its tray — his favorite treat. A couple minutes later, the Birdbuddy app sent me a "postcard" with a 30-second video clip and six photos it took automatically during his visit.

Smile, you're on "Candid Camera." Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The clip Birdbuddy recorded had very clear audio and colorful, detailed picture quality, but its photos weren't all that great; one was a blurry close-up of Melon, and the five others were of his back. I took some more shots manually using the photo capture feature on the Home's live feed and they turned out much better.

Left: Photos taken by the Birdbuddy Home automatically. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable Right: Photos taken with the photo capture feature on the Birdbuddy Home's livestream. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The Birdbuddy app tells me that Cooper's hawks, red-breasted nuthatches, and white-throated sparrows have been spotted near me this week. Let's hope they're ready for their close-up.

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Birdbuddy claims the AI model powering its species identification feature can recognize about 11,000 different types of birds, or "nearly every bird species in the world." As I was setting up its two new smart feeders for testing, I wondered: Does that include Melon, my Alexandrine parakeet?

Does Birdbuddy know ball?

Melon, as seen on the camera of the new Birdbuddy Home in my office (his room). Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

Not to sound like a total bird hipster, but you've probably never heard of Alexandrines, an older and lesser-known species of chatty green parrots native to southern and southeastern Asia. They're not available at chain pet stores and are very often confused with Indian ringneck parakeets, their much more popular relatives with smaller beaks, shorter tails, and no crimson wing patches. (There are a lot of ringnecks on TikTok — see Hamlet of "what doing???" fame.)

Needless to say, I figured Melon would give Birdbuddy's AI a real challenge.

The verdict That red wing patch should be a dead giveaway to true parrot heads. Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

Disappointingly, but not fully unexpectedly, Birdbuddy guessed wrong. Right after I got Melon in view of the next-gen Birdbuddy Home, the Birdbuddy app sent me a notification saying that I was just visited by a "rose-ringed parakeet" — another name for an Indian ringneck. I submitted feedback within the app to let Birdbuddy know that its guess was close but ultimately incorrect.

The good news is that most people won't have exotic parrots visiting their house on a regular basis. I'm hoping Birdbuddy will have an easier time recognizing my native wild birds; the Home is currently mounted in the front yard of my Chicago apartment, if someone could kindly alert the area pigeons.

Left: Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable Right: Credit: Haley Henschel / Mashable

The new Birdbuddy Home ($219) and Birdbuddy Nook ($99) are now available for purchase.

Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories and Deals newsletters or get Mashable push alerts today. 

Opens in a new window Credit: Birdbuddy Birdbuddy Nook $99 at mybirdbuddy.com
  Shop Now at mybirdbuddy.com Opens in a new window Credit: Birdbuddy Birdbuddy Home $219 at mybirdbuddy.com
  Shop Now at mybirdbuddy.com

Rising gas prices. The Iran War. AI's effects on the economy.

Across the United States, Americans are worried about a multitude of major challenges.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump said he called Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, one of the biggest tech companies on the planet, to discuss a pressing issue that's been on his mind: Changing the name of the Atlantic Ocean.

At a rally in South Carolina, Trump shared that after successfully getting Google Maps to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and Lake Ontario to Lake America, he tried to pressure the tech giant to do the same for the Atlantic Ocean.

“We have a lake and we have a gulf, now we need a river and we need an ocean," Trump said at the rally, as reported by the Washington Post.

Trump said that he “called Google Maps," which he described as "really great with the lake" regarding his prior requests. 

"They're still rattled from the Gulf," Trump said, adding that he called Pichai because he wanted to see if Google would be up to changing the name of the Atlantic Ocean too.

"Sundar, I'm thinking of the Atlantic Ocean," Trump claimed he said in the call.

However, it seems that renaming the Atlantic Ocean as the American Ocean was one step too far for Google, which has previously kowtowed to Trump's geographical demands. (Google's previous Google Maps changes only appear for U.S. visitors to the platform)

"No, no, no. This time, I’m not doing it," Pichai said, according to Trump's version of events. "Please don’t ask us to do that."

According to Trump, Pichai's reasoning was that "oceans are different" because they "cover a lot of countries."

After the call, Trump said he'd "probably pass" on renaming the Atlantic Ocean after his call with Google. The tech giant has yet to confirm the call with the president occurred. 

"I think let's keep it the Atlantic Ocean, right?" Trump told rallygoers, before turning his attention to the West Coast.

"Pacific Ocean," Trump added. "We're going to call it the American Ocean."

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I've spent decades using Excel, so I'm wary of add-ins that promise to revolutionize my spreadsheets but demand my email address or charge for features Microsoft already provides through tools like Power Query. But a handful of free add-ins genuinely earn their spot on the ribbon. I'll start with a couple of handy Office add-ins I use regularly, then move on to the heavier hitters that do real work in my spreadsheets.

The iPhone Duo doesn't officially come out until tomorrow, but on the Bloomberg "Power On" podcast, Apple oracle Mark Gurman is already reporting on the iPhone Duo 2 and the iPhone Duo 3.

Early reviews for the iPhone Duo are out now (Mashable Senior Editor Stan Schroeder said in his Duo review that it's the "most interesting iPhone since the first one"), and some reviewers have complained about its reliance on Touch ID. Many iOS users have gotten used to Face ID in recent years, but the Duo uses a Touch ID fingerprint sensor instead.

But according to Gurman, Bloomberg's consumer technology managing editor, prototypes of the iPhone Duo 2 with an under-display FaceID sensor are already circulating inside Apple.

"I’m told there are iPhone Duo 2 prototypes at Apple already that have an under-display Face ID sensor and camera on the outside screen, so that is something we could see," Gurman said on his "Power On" podcast. "So, I would anticipate this Touch ID to Face ID thing is fixed by the first update or the second update, so in the next two to three years or so."

Gurman reports that Apple is experimenting with an under-display Face ID sensor and camera for the Duo, which would be placed on the outer display. He said this is one of "a few different features that Apple is already looking at for the iPhone Duo 2 and the iPhone Duo 3."

Gurman has an impeccable track record when it comes to Apple scoops, and it sounds like Apple is already working on fixes for some of the issues early reviewers experienced with the new foldable.

"Perhaps the biggest issue for me was the lack of Face ID, which was replaced by Touch ID on the side button," Schroeder wrote in Mashable's iPhone Duo review. "The Touch ID works well, but you do need to navigate your finger to it often, and having the phone simply recognize your face as it does on other iPhones would be easier."

The iPhone Duo is available for preorder now and is set to be released on Friday, Oct. 23.

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Android trackers and AirTags are great for keeping track of your luggage or your keys. You can use your phone to see the location of your tracker and even get precise directions to locate some trackers once you're in their general location. There are some clever ways to use Android trackers and AirTags that go beyond just keeping tabs on your bags.

Your next Heated Rivalry rewatch could use a bigger screen. And an audience of people who are equally normal about Shane and Ilya.

Regal is bringing all six episodes of the hockey romance to theaters this November, with screenings running Nov. 6–30. The event will play at more than 650 theaters nationwide, including over 275 Regal locations, plus participating AMC, Cinemark, and other theaters, according to a press release.

That doesn't mean committing to the entire season in one sitting. Episodes will screen in pairs, with tickets priced at $9.99 per screening at Regal. Here's how the season breaks down:

• Episodes 1 and 2: "Rookies" and "Olympians"

• Episodes 3 and 4: "Hunter" and "Rose"

• Episodes 5 and 6: "I’ll Believe in Anything" and "The Cottage"

Yes, that means you can experience the cottage with a room full of fellow fans. Plan your emotional recovery accordingly.

The cottage on the big screen? Say less! Credit: Screenshot: Regal

Created by Jacob Tierney and based on Rachel Reid's series of books, Heated Rivalry follows rival hockey players Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), whose relationship gets considerably more complicated than their competition on the ice. The theatrical run arrives nearly a year after the show's premiere, with Season 2 expected in 2027.

Fans didn’t just fall for Shane and Ilya — they showed up in the millions. Since premiering on Nov. 28, 2025, Heated Rivalry has turned its hockey romance into a streaming hit. By February, the series was averaging 13 million global viewers per episode, making it HBO Max's biggest first-run acquired scripted series, according to Warner Bros. Discovery. Its breakout stars have had a busy year, too: Storrie earned his first Emmy nomination for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series for hosting Saturday Night Live. The theatrical run arrives nearly a year after the show's debut, with Season 2 expected in 2027.

SEE ALSO: Connor Storrie's Emmy nod delights 'Heated Rivalry' fans

"When a series connects with audiences the way Heated Rivalry has, we look for ways to bring it to the big screen and give fans a reason to experience it together," Brooks LeBoeuf, Regal's senior vice president of U.S. content, said in the release.

The event joins a growing push to turn TV viewing into a night at the movies. Netflix brought the Stranger Things series finale to theaters on New Year's Eve, while Bravo held an advance screening of the Summer House Season 10 reunion at a New York AMC in May. And HBO Max also partnered with Alamo Drafthouse for early screenings of The Pitt’s Season 2 finale in April.

For Heated Rivalry fans who've already memorized the episodes, there's a little extra incentive to leave the couch. Regal screenings will include welcome content from the cast and directors, while participating locations will serve two themed cocktails: Summer in Montreal and Russians Don't Blush.

Advance tickets are available through Regal's website, its mobile app, and theater box offices and kiosks. Check your local listings for screening dates and episode pairs before booking.

The invitation to the cottage now comes with reserved seating.

You can stream Heated Rivalry on HBO Max.

You're not alone if you can't even reach the home screen on your brand-new Galaxy S26 Ultra. Samsung has confirmed that a bug is preventing some owners from getting past the setup process, rendering the Android flagship phone effectively useless.

Walmart's early Black Friday deals: ENJOY THE PERKS Walmart+ 30-Day Trial Membership $1 (Save $11.95) Get Deal Best earbuds deal Apple AirPods Pro 3 $199 (save $50) Get Deal Best TV deal LG 65-inch C6 Series 4K UHD OLED AI Smart TV $1,399.99 (save $1,300) Get Deal Best Stick Vacuum Deal Dyson V15 Detect Cordless Vacuum $649.99 (save $200) Get Deal Best gaming deal Samsung 27-inch Odyssey G55C gaming monitor $179 (save $70) Get Deal BEST KITCHEN DEAL Ninja Professional Plus DUO 72-ounce Blender (BN750) $99 (save $30) Get Deal Best robot vacuum deal Dreame C30 Plus Robot Vacuum and Mop Cleaner $239.98 (save $90.01) Get Deal Best laptop deal Apple 14-inch MacBook Pro (M5 Pro chip, 24GB RAM, 1TB SSD) $2,069.10 (save $129.90) Get Deal Best Carpet Cleaner Bissell Little Green Carpet Cleaner $74.62 (save $27.35) Get Deal Best Smart Watch Deal Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 46mm) $379 (save $50) Get Deal

Walmart isn't waiting around for late November, and its early Black Friday sale is already live with actual price cuts on tech, home gear, and big-ticket appliances.

To help you skip the fluff, we've sifted through the noise, checked price histories, and compared offer details against competitors like Amazon and Target. We've rounded up the early Walmart Black Friday deals that are actually worth your money, including big markdowns on Apple gear, Dyson vacuums, and OLED TVs.

SEE ALSO: It's Black Friday again — here's how to use a Visa gift card to shop

Below are the best offers you can grab right now. Take a look below and score them before the stock runs out or prices creep back up.

Best Walmart Black Friday TV deal Opens in a new window Credit: LG LG 65" C6 Series 4K UHD OLED AI Smart TV $1,399.99 at Walmart
$2,699.99 Save $1,300.00   Get Deal at Walmart Why we like it

LG's C-Series is our top OLED pick for a reason, and the 65-inch C6 delivers near-zero blooming, vivid colors, and incredible dark-room contrast that turns movie nights into a theater experience. It's equally built for modern gaming, boasting a 165Hz refresh rate and a lightning-fast 0.1ms response time across four HDMI 2.1 ports. Scoring one of the best 65-inch displays on the market at a steep $1,300 discount makes this a standout early Black Friday grab.

More early Black Friday TV deals at Walmart43 inches

• Samsung 43-Inch U8000H Series Crystal UHD 4K Smart TV — $198 $228 (save $30)

• LG 43-Inch UA7500ZUA 4K UHD Smart TV — $228 $258 (save $30)

50 to 55 inches

• TCL 55-Inch Q6LR Series QLED 4K Smart Roku TV — $298 $399.99 (save $101)

65 inches

• Samsung 65-Inch M70HB Series Mini LED 4K Smart TV — $428 $477.99 (save $49.99)

• TCL 65-Inch QM6K Series QD-Mini LED 4K Smart TV — $648 $799.99 (save $151.99)

75 inches

• TCL 75-Inch QM51L Series QD-Mini LED 4K Smart TV — $698 $899.99 (save $201.99)

• TCL 75-Inch QM7L Series SQD-Mini LED 4K Smart TV — $1,198 $1,298 (save $100)

85 inches and up

• TCL 85-Inch QM7L Series SQD-Mini LED 4K Smart TV — $1,498 $1,698 (save $200)

Best gaming deal Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung Samsung 27-inch Odyssey G55C gaming monitor $179 at Walmart
$249 Save $70   Get Deal at Walmart Why we like it

A crisp QHD resolution (1440p) looks razor-sharp on a 27-inch display, giving you almost double the pixel density of standard 1080p without crushing your GPU's frame rates. Samsung’s Odyssey G55C pairs that visual clarity with a tight 1000R curve that comfortably wraps around your vision for deep immersion. Add in a fluid 165Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time, and AMD FreeSync to eliminate screen tearing, and it’s a high-performance gaming monitor built for smooth, competitive desktop setups.

More early Black Friday gaming deals at Walmart

• Microsoft Xbox Wireless Controller, Carbon Black — $49.99 $64 (save $14.51)

• Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World Bundle — $511.88 $564.80 (save $52.92)

Best laptop deal Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple 14-inch MacBook Pro (M5 Pro chip, 24GB RAM, 1TB SSD) $2,069.10 at Walmart
$2,199 Save $129.90   Get Deal at Walmart Why we like it

The MacBook Pro with M5 Pro chip is the Apple laptop we recommend for creatives. It has excellent battery life, a keyboard we love to use, ports-a-plenty, and a premium haptic keypad. Senior Shopping Reporter Haley Henschel explained, "It's worth the splurge for artists, content creators, developers, AI enthusiasts, and other professionals with consistently demanding workloads. (It's also the best MacBook for gaming, relatively speaking.)"

Keep in mind this Walmart deal is from a third-party seller with good reviews. If you're only after 16GB memory, head to Amazon to get the MacBook Pro on sale for $1,837.

More Black Friday laptop deals at Walmart

• Acer Nitro V (Intel Core 5, 16GB RAM, 512 SSD) — $1,249 $1,399 (save $150)

• MSI Crosshair 16 HX (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512 SSD) — $1,249 $1,999 (save $750)

• Asus ROG Strix G16 (AMD Ryzen 9, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,399 $1,999 (save $400)

Best kitchen deal Opens in a new window Credit: Ninja Ninja Professional Plus DUO 72-ounce Blender (BN750) $99 at Walmart
$129 Save $30   Get Deal at Walmart Why we like it

Ninja makes some of Mashable's favorite kitchen appliances. If you could use a new blender before the holidays start, the Ninja Professional Plus Duo is on sale for just $99. The pitcher holds a generous 72 ounces for whipping up a smooth soup, smoothies, or a batch of frozen margaritas. The Ninja blender bundle also includes a single-serving cup for taking drinks on the go.

More Black Friday kitchen deals

• Keurig K-Express Essentials Plus — $67.95 $79 (save $11.05)

• Ninja Creami — $149 $169 (save $20)

• Ninja Slushi Frozen Drink Machine (72 oz) — $199 $299 (save $100)

Best robot vacuum deal Opens in a new window Credit: Dreame Dreame C30 Plus Robot Vacuum and Mop Cleaner $239.98 at Walmart
$329.99 Save $90.01   Get Deal at Walmart Why we like it

Without spending big dollars, equip your home with the convenience of a robot vacuum and mop before holiday guests arrive. The Dreame C30 Plus Robot Vacuum and Mop has 19,000 Pa suction power, and it self-empties debris into the charging dock. Plus, you can control the vacuum via the app and send the robot off on a cleaning mission while you run holiday prep errands.

More Black Friday vacuum deals at Walmart

• Bissell Little Green Portable Carpet Cleaner — $74.62 $101.97 (save $27.35)

• ONSON 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum — $87.39 $178.88 (save $91.49)

• iRobot Roomba 1010 — $158 $198 (save $40)

• Tineco iFloor 5 — $184.99 $499.99 (save $315)

• Dyson Big Ball Turbinehead Canister Vacuum — $199.99 $379.99 (save $180)

• Roborock Q10 X5+ — $249.99 $499.99 (save $250)

• Roborock QV 35S 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum — $459.99 $749.99 (save $290)

• Tineco FloorWasher Switch Pet 7 — $499.99 $899.99 (save $400)

Best deal on toys and games Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Disney Princesses Advent Calendar 2026 $30 at Walmart
$44.99 Save $14.99   Get Deal at Walmart Why we like it

This is the time of year to snag Advent calendars while they're 1) on sale and 2) still in stock. This Lego Disney Princess Advent Calendar set comes with tons of mini figures and toys Disney princess fans will love. All the favorites are included, like Cinderella, Mulan, Ariel, and even Moana.

Best smartwatch deal Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 46mm) $379 at Walmart
$429 Save $50   Get Deal at Walmart Why we like it

The Apple Watch Series 11 is Mashable's top pick for an Apple fitness tracker. Its improved battery life, exceptional comfort, and scratch-resistant face all make it a worthwhile buy if you're in the Apple ecosystem.

The ending of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 might be even more ambiguous than its predecessor. And according to writer and showrunner Bartosz Sztybor, that's exactly what the creative team intended.

"We had a lot of conversation. There were a lot of endings," Sztybor told Mashable about the nearly two years spent developing the season. Ultimately, they arrived at a conclusion he described as "very ambiguous, even more ambiguous than the ending in the first season. But also somehow hopeful."

SEE ALSO: 'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2' review: A beautiful reminder of what makes us human

That ambiguity is especially apparent in D's final moments. After spending years pursuing revenge for the destruction of his clan, the Nomad rides off with Capri, a chip containing digitized human consciousnesses, toward an orbital space station, seemingly sacrificing himself to keep her out of Arasaka's hands.

But does he actually die? And why does his ending feel so hopeful?

Major spoilers for the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 finale follow.

What really happens to D and Capri at the end of Edgerunners 2?

D has spent years hunting the people responsible for killing his clan, only to discover that they're already dead. Worse, he learns that his clan was targeted because of him. His unusual tolerance for cyberware made him a potential host for Capri, part of an Arasaka experiment that also identified David Martinez and Talia as possible candidates.

Suddenly, the revenge that has defined D's entire existence is impossible. "I think we started with this idea that what would happen [if] your whole personality is based on that revenge thing," Sztybor explained. "And suddenly you see that, oh shit, I didn't fulfill my journey. So, what now?"

Omi, the only surviving member of D's clan, puts it more simply: "You should have followed your own path. You should have lived your own life, David."

D has spent so long living for revenge that he's forgotten how to live for himself. But his relationship with Capri changes something. Despite existing as digitized human consciousnesses stored on a chip, Capri is curious, playful, and eager to experience the world. She also has little patience for D's obsession.

"Why is everyone so obsessed with getting revenge anyway? Is getting revenge, like, fun?" she asks while controlling Talia's body.

The surprisingly simple question cuts to the heart of D's story. Revenge has given him a reason to keep going, but it hasn't made him happy.

After years spent seeking revenge for his fallen clan, D finds an unexpected sense of freedom in his relationship with Capri. Credit: Netflix

Capri, on the other hand, does. For the first time in years, D seems to be having fun. His time with her offers a reprieve from the nightmares that have haunted him since his clan's destruction, and there's something almost intoxicating about that relief. Their relationship can even be read through the lens of addiction, with its initial rush of euphoria and the danger of becoming consumed by the thing that makes you feel good. In Capri, D seems to rediscover a part of himself that existed before his life became defined by trauma.

It's not hard to understand why he'd become so attached to her. His revenge has reached a dead end, and his actions have left him with few options in Night City. But with Capri, he gets to experience something he thought he'd lost. And in keeping her out of Arasaka's hands, he offers Capri a chance at freedom, too.

Their final rampage is violent, reckless, and, in its own twisted way, almost joyful. D isn't suddenly a hero, and his decision to take Capri toward the orbital space station may ultimately cost him his life. The series leaves their fate uncertain — and it's incredibly possible that D and Capri are somewhere in the Net — but there's something liberating about those final moments. For once, he's no longer acting out of anger toward the people who destroyed his past. He's doing something because he wants to.

And in his final recording for Roman, D smiles. It's the very expression Roman has spent the season trying to capture on camera. After everything D has endured, that small moment of happiness feels like its own kind of resolution.

Talia's fate raises questions about what it means to truly live.

Talia's story explores a different side of that same idea. Born with a terminal illness, the teenager has spent much of her life having her failing body parts replaced with cyberware, all in an effort to prolong her life. But those decisions were made by her parents, not Talia herself. And throughout the season, she tries to escape their control, adding even more chrome to her body in an attempt to reclaim the autonomy she's never really had.

It's what makes cyberpunk fiction feel so relevant. Beneath all the futuristic technology is a very real conversation about medical intervention, bodily autonomy, and the difference between keeping someone alive and allowing them to actually live.

When her mother seeks a treatment that would remove the cyberware from her body to extend the time she has left, Talia protests, "I wanted to die beautiful."

With her time running out, Talia fights to reclaim control over her own body and decide how she wants to live. Credit: Netflix

And that's what makes her friendship with Roman so meaningful. With him, Talia gets to experience something resembling an ordinary teenage life. She makes a friend closer to her own age. They go to the movies. It's such a mundane thing to do, especially in Night City, where so much of life is defined by violence and survival. But for Talia, those moments are precious because they're hers.

In the finale, Talia tells Roman that seeing herself through his camera made her feel beautiful. "You are beautiful," he replies.

It's a small exchange, but it brings her story full circle. After spending so much of her life having other people decide what her body should look like and how long she should live, Talia finally gets to see herself through the eyes of someone who appreciates her exactly as she is.

Her condition is irreversible. But when she leaves with Weak, she's finally making a choice about how she wants to spend whatever time she has left.

Weak finds a new purpose in protecting Talia.

Weak has spent much of the season trying to protect Talia after her mother tells him that he's her biological father. But Talia's father later claims that story was a manipulation, leaving the truth uncertain.

By the finale, however, their biological relationship matters less than the one they've formed.

Once a legendary edgerunner known as King, Weak finds a new purpose in protecting Talia, regardless of whether they're biologically related. Credit: Netflix

Once a legendary edgerunner known as King, Weak has spent years living in the shadow of his former glory. His relationship with Talia gives him something meaningful to care about beyond his own reputation.

And despite knowing that he can't save her, he chooses to stay. "Come on, let's live!" he tells Talia as they drive away. Weak can't promise her a cure or a long future. But he can give her the freedom to spend the rest of her life on her own terms. And in choosing to be there for her, he finds something worth living for, too.

Roman's final moments reveal why the ending is so hopeful.

Before leaving with Weak, Talia shares a tearful goodbye with Roman, the young aspiring filmmaker whose analog camera has documented much of the season's events. Along the way, he's captured something more personal, too: the lives of a group of misfits whose stories might otherwise have been lost to Night City.

"Roman, we'll see each other again. I know it," she tells him. "For now, you just keep that camera rolling, and you can come show me what you've made. Scroll something so great, it will make all this stuff feel small."

Her words echo D's own farewell to Roman: "This is the high point of my story, not yours. You still have a lot ahead of you."

Both characters, whose futures have become so uncertain, encourage Roman to imagine something bigger for himself.

Armed with an analog camera, aspiring filmmaker Roman captures the lives of Night City's misfits and gives them something to be remembered by. Credit: Netflix

Sztybor described Roman as "the only perfectly innocent character" in the violent world of Night City. While the first Edgerunners was, in his words, "a story about the end of innocence," Roman's presence helped the creative team arrive at a more hopeful conclusion for the second season. Roman's love of filmmaking became central to that decision. Roman has witnessed terrible things, but those experiences haven't extinguished his desire to create.

After Talia and Weak drive away, he looks at his camera, smiles, and takes off running with an exuberant yell.

The series then closes on a flickering space station in the sky, an image evoking D and Capri's final journey without confirming their fate.

That's the beauty of Edgerunners 2's ambiguous ending. We don't know whether D and Capri survive, how much time Talia has left, or what Roman will eventually create. But the finale isn't really about promising these characters a happy ending. It's about giving them the freedom to decide what to do with their lives. Because even in Night City, where so much of your life is decided for you, there's still something powerful about getting to choose how your story unfolds.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is streaming on Netflix now.

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Today I want to take a closer look at a set of tweaks and adjustments that can help you preserve battery life during emergency scenarios. Most battery-saving advice focuses on reasonable tasks that do have an impact, but this time we'll push it further.

Updated on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 12:25 p.m. ET — The PHP security issues known as PHP2Shell sent the cybersecurity world into a frenzy yesterday, and now we have some data on the fallout.

VirusTotal, a cybersecurity tool owned by Google, reported that there are about 5.1 million IP addresses running PHP, showing just how widespread the vulnerability is.

Cogent Security, an agentic AI cybersecurity company, released data on how the issue affected big companies. Cogent reported that the average Fortune 500 company had 2,266 affected assets, with an average of 16 assets demanding immediate action. As of 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Cogent reported that less than 1 percent of affected assets had been patched.

Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince reported a surge in attempts to exploit PHP2Shell across the company’s network: thousands in the 10 hours before the public announcement, tens of thousands within 45 minutes afterward, and hundreds of thousands within two hours. By the time of his post, the count had reached millions.

PHP2Shell caused outages across the web, including at Wikipedia, and many government, gaming, and business websites required emergency maintenance. By Thursday morning, most services had been restored.

The PHP Foundation, the non-profit team behind the PHP coding language, released emergency security updates on Wednesday to fix two critical vulnerabilities, a day after details about the flaws leaked online.

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the Prime Minister of Japan, and the U.S. National Security Agency all urged organizations to install the fixes immediately.

The newly exposed PHP vulnerability led to a number of outages on Wednesday, as webmasters around the world scrambled to update their websites.

What is PHP?

PHP is a programming language that runs on web servers. When you load a webpage, PHP often runs behind the scenes, retrieving data from databases and building the page before it reaches your browser. BleepingComputer notes that it powers many websites, including content management systems, online stores, and custom web services. According to the NCSC, PHP is also built into a range of other products.

The NCSC says the two flaws, tracked as CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619, could allow an attacker to run their own commands on a PHP-based server without logging in. This is called remote code execution, and it’s one of the most serious kinds of security bugs.

According to the NCSC, an attacker could overload PHP’s memory to corrupt it, then, under certain conditions, use that corruption to take control of the server. One of the flaws involves how PHP processes form submissions and file uploads.

PHP rated each flaw 9.2 out of 10 on CVSS, the industry’s standard severity scale. Security firm watchTowr described them as a perfect 10, BleepingComputer reported, and so did an anonymous Hacker News post that has since been deleted. Researchers have started calling the bugs "PHP2SHELL."

The fixes were originally planned for a coordinated release later this week, so companies would have time to prepare. Then, information about the flaws leaked early. Speaking to BleepingComputer, watchTowr CEO Benjamin Harris said the vulnerabilities are "indeed real" and affect PHP versions 5 through 8. The firm said it had reproduced one of them.

PHP moved its release up to 10 a.m. ET Wednesday. As of Tuesday, watchTowr said it hadn’t seen anyone exploiting the flaws. By Wednesday, Cloudflare CTO Dane Knecht said on X that the company was seeing early attacks, according to BleepingComputer.

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The NCSC says organizations running PHP 5 or later are affected and should update to the latest fixed version. Anyone still using an older, unsupported version should move to a supported one.

Wikipedia and government websites impacted by PHP vulnerability

Wikipedia went down for a time on Wednesday, and the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that runs the site, confirmed to Mashable that the outage was tied to the PHP vulnerabilities.

In a statement to Mashable through email, the foundation said it is working to address the flaws in PHP, which it described as the programming language behind most wikis, including its own projects. "This issue affects all known versions of PHP, and is not specific to the Wikimedia Foundation," the statement said.

The foundation added that all of its PHP-based systems are affected, along with volunteer-run systems that use PHP. It has also taken several other systems offline as a precaution until they can be safely patched. Wikipedia was back up as of this writing.

SEE ALSO: PHP vulnerability: Which websites and services are affected? Who else is affected, and what should you do?

If you only browse the web, there’s nothing for you to install. The fix is up to the people who run websites.

If you run a website, blog, or online store, check whether it uses PHP and make sure it’s up to date. If a hosting company manages your site, contact them to confirm they’ve applied the patch.

For organizations, the NCSC recommends:

• Finding every system that runs PHP, starting with the ones reachable from the internet.

• Watching for updates from vendors whose products include PHP.

• Taking systems offline if they can’t be fixed quickly.

• Checking any system that couldn’t be updated right away for signs of a break-in.

Cloudflare has added emergency firewall rules designed to block suspicious requests linked to the flaws. The rules are available to all its customers, including those on free plans.

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Do you play video games like Street Fighter, Resident Evil, or Monster Hunter online? If so, you probably have a Capcom ID — and you should know that there has been a major data breach that has affected millions of accounts.

Capcom, the developer of the aforementioned titles, posted a notice on Thursday informing users of a major data breach affecting more than 11 million accounts.

"Capcom Co., Ltd. has determined that certain customer information associated with CAPCOM ID, an online membership account service operated by the company, was subject to unauthorized access by a third party," the company said in a statement. "Capcom sincerely apologizes for the complications and concern this has caused its customers and other stakeholders."

SEE ALSO: The Capcom Home Arcade revives classic games for a steep price

Data breaches are seemingly becoming a regular occurrence, which may result in some becoming desensitized to this news. However, the specific information Capcom has shared should be concerning to those with a Capcom ID, as the company has confirmed that some accounts have experienced unauthorized changes due to the breach.

According to Capcom, the company first noticed suspicious activity on Capcom IDs on Oct. 19, then began blocking access and opened an investigation. Capcom's investigation found that approximately 11,774,247 accounts were impacted in a data breach. The account information exposed to the unauthorized party includes email address records, the date and time an account was created, the total number of logins, the date and time of the last login, and the IP address used for that last login.

Of those more than 11.7 million accounts, 43 had their date of birth, gender, country/region, and nickname affected, and 196 had unauthorized changes to their Capcom ID login password.

Capcom says it has already reset the passwords associated with those 196 accounts. 

One positive piece of news is that Capcom says it has yet to find any evidence that the passwords originally set by its users were leaked in the data breach. In addition, Capcom shared that it does not appear that its games were affected in the data breach.

While Capcom continues its investigation, it is warning its users to be wary of phishing emails that weaponize data leaked in the breach.

"If you receive any suspicious email or message, please exercise caution and refrain from accessing any URLs contained therein or opening any attached files," Capcom said in its breach notice.

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NFC tags are really useful for triggering smart home automations. They're cheap to buy, they don't need batteries or to be connected to power, and you can stick them almost anywhere. I wondered if it would be possible to use my expired credit cards as NFC tags, and it turned out that they can be even more useful than the standard stickers.

At a glance

• Brings rich interactivity to AI-generated charts: Flint-interactive enables agents to create data visualizations that users can explore directly through clicking, filtering, zooming, highlighting, and cross-chart interactions.
• Makes complex interactions easier to build: Instead of requiring low-level visualization code, Flint-interactive lets users and agents define behaviors using high-level semantic events and update operators.
• Improves reliability and reduces development effort: By using Flint’s compiler to handle interaction logic and visual dependencies, the system helps avoid many of the layout, rendering, and debugging challenges common in custom interactive visualizations.
• Connects charts, text, tables, and applications: Flint-interactive supports interactive data stories, dashboards, and connected experiences where actions in one view can update charts, documents, widgets, or application state in another.

AI agents make it easy to analyze data and generate reports with data visualizations. They help users examine patterns more efficiently than by reading verbose text. However, when we’re feeling exploratory, we want to go beyond static visualizations.: We want to interact with charts to zoom in on details, compare data across charts, or even highlight related text in the document from a chart selection, and vice versa. This requires agents to be able to create interactive data visualizations that communicate information while letting readers explore beyond the author’s chosen view, ideally with the quality of interactive stories in sophisticated data journalism. This leaves us wondering: 

• (As a user) Can I interact with charts directly in chat to explore the data and ask follow-up questions based on what I select?
• (As a developer) Can I enable the AI agents I build for my customers to generate interactive visualizations that help them explore and understand their data?

Yes, it’s possible, but there is a significant practical gap. Even with capable frontier models, we still face:

• High generation cost. Agents rarely produce a fully satisfactory interactive visualization in one turn. Repeated rounds of reasoning, coding, and debugging consume tokens and time.
• Reliability. Interactive visualizations are challenging enough that expressive interactive charts introduce poor layouts or broken interactions easily, and we risk introducing new problems when trying to fix them.

These challenges help explain why consistently generating high-quality interactive visualizations remain difficult in real-world use. Meanwhile, built-in interactions in some visualization libraries are not expressive enough on their own to create bespoke interactive charts. And these challenges are results of the lack of an expressive yet high-level language to specify visual interactions.

PODCAST SERIES

The Shape of Things to Come

Join Microsoft’s Doug Burger and guests as they dig into the fundamental truths about AI and how it will reshape the future.

Listen now Opens in a new tab Flint-interactive

Flint-interactive (opens in new tab) is a language for creating interactive data visualizations on top of Flint. It allows users to create dashboards, data stories, and interactive artifacts more easily. The power of Flint-interactive comes from Flint’s compiler, which translates user interactions into semantic events that capture the meaning behind what users select. It then uses high-level operators to update visualizations in response to those events, making sophisticated interactions far easier to create and maintain. This shifts the heavy burden of resolving complex dependencies between interaction and visual logic to the compiler, so the user (or the agent) can easily describe expressive interactions with high-level specifications.

Example 1: We can enable the user to brush one visual view, and the chart highlights all groups of country selected by the user with a simple preset interaction linked-brush. How to use

1. Use Flint in your chat

Use Flint Interactive directly in your chat or canvas environment through Flint-MCP and MCP Apps, following the MCP setup guide. With the latest release, tell your agent what to chart and which interactions you want; it can generate an interaction_spec alongside the Flint chart spec and render the interactive chart in your conversation.

Example 2: Using Flint-interactive in the chat environment, allowing the agent to produce interactive charts more reliably with simple Flint specifications. It also enables the user to select and pass context to the follow-up turns.

2. Build an interactive app with Flint

Build interactive charts in a dashboard, data story, or other application with Flint Interactive Canvas. Your app can use event handlers to process semantic events emitted by Flint Canvas, for example to filter a table, update another chart, or change application state. To let your app’s widgets control how the chart updates, send update operators to Flint Canvas.

Example 2: Flint-interactive allows developers to define interactions between charts and external elements (e.g., table, paragraph). Here, the user can click the table to highlight points in the chart and verse versa.

3. Create bespoke interactions

To create bespoke interactions beyond Flint’s presets, define a trigger and a custom handle function with the programming API that maps semantic events to custom chart update sequences. For example, a handler can highlight a clicked country and label it by name. It combines set-style and set-annotation without manipulating renderer-specific marks.

Example 4: The agent can create bespoke interactive visualizations with Flint’s programming API. In this DimpVis example, the user can drag the point along the time path to visualize how all cities’ temperature and precipitation changes. How it works

Flint Canvas is a state machine that tracks user interactions on the canvas and manages visual rendering state. Flint makes interaction specification easy by separating visual logic, managed by the compiler, from interaction logic, specified by the user at the semantic level:

• Visual logic: The compiler automatically resolves raw triggers, such as clicks, drags, and key presses, into semantic events that identify chart elements and data. It also translates update operators into rendered canvas changes, handling hit testing, and low-level visual updates.
• Interaction logic: The user specifies interactions by mapping semantic interaction events to chart update operators, such as set style to highlight data, set annotation to label a point, or set viewport to pan or zoom. The user can also use those semantic events to update external tables, widgets, or application states. 

Figure 1: Flint interactive allows the agent to describe interaction logic by mapping “what semantic event is the user interacting with” to “what updates they want for the canvas surface”. The compiler takes the heavy lifting of resolving visual updates and manages the runtime, which makes interaction authoring more reliable cand cost effective.

This separation means users do not need to reverse-engineer rendering logic or manipulate renderer-specific marks, making interactions easier to specify and maintain. Furthermore, because event generation and visual updates are compositional, the same model also connects Flint with tables, text, other charts, and widgets to build interactive stories and dashboards.

Try it now!

Chart users: Set up Flint in your chat (opens in new tab) and ask your agent to create an interactive chart. Find inspiration in the interaction gallery.

App builders: Build interactive dashboards, data stories, and connected views with the programming API (opens in new tab). Share the interaction-author skill with your coding agent to add presets to your app.

Interaction designers: Explore the bespoke examples (opens in new tab), design a new interaction, and turn it into a reusable preset. Propose a preset on GitHub and share your prototype or implementation to help expand Flint’s interaction vocabulary.

Opens in a new tab

The post Flint-interactive: A language for creating interactive data visualizations appeared first on Microsoft Research.

You probably know where the coffee shops and gas stations are in your neighborhood. But the cameras logging your license plate as you drive past? Those can be a little harder to keep track of.

Proton, the Swiss privacy company behind Proton Mail and Proton VPN, is helping make them easier to find by hosting a free map of Flock surveillance devices on its servers (you can explore the map on Proton's website). Flock tried to get the researcher behind the original project to take it down, according to The Intercept.

If you need a refresher on Flock, the company makes automated license plate readers used by police departments, businesses, schools, and homeowners associations. The cameras photograph passing vehicles whether or not their drivers are suspected of anything. Flock devices can record license plates, times, and locations, plus identifying details such as a vehicle’s make, model, color, and bumper stickers. According to Flock, its cameras log more than 20 billion vehicle sightings each month across 49 states.

SEE ALSO: What are Flock cameras and why are they so controversial?

Those records then go into Flock's cloud, where police can search them and share them with other agencies across city and state lines. You don’t have to be pulled over for your car to become part of a searchable record of where you’ve been — and that access has been abused. A Washington Post investigation found at least 50 officers accused or charged with misusing license plate readers, often to track people in their personal lives. (Flock's system was involved in 46 of those cases.)

On Proton's map, you can enter your ZIP code to see devices in your area, or zoom and pan around the country. Note that the data is a snapshot from December 2025, though. Cameras installed or removed since then won’t be reflected.

"You have a right to know who's recording you when you leave home"

This isn't the first effort to put surveillance cameras on the map (literally). As Mashable previously reported, DeFlock Maps lets people look up license plate readers in their neighborhoods, including devices from Flock, Motorola Solutions, and other manufacturers. Volunteers report cameras they spot and add their locations to OpenStreetMap, the open-source mapping project.

MapQuest also added a "Surveillance Layer" to its app this month, letting users see known license plate reader locations, including Flock cameras. Turn it on under Map Options, and camera markers appear alongside the roads you’re traveling.

The difference here from other crowdsourced projects is that the locations come from Flock's own systems, according to the map's creator.

Security researcher Joshua Michael discovered in November 2025 that Flock's servers were exposing an access token anyone could obtain without logging in. He used it to retrieve an inventory of device locations, reported the issue to Flock, and published his findings and a map in December. That inventory included more than 170,000 cameras and over 130,000 other Flock devices.

Proton has questioned Flock's leadership directly about how its technology is used. In an interview published in August, CEO Garrett Langley said, "Any level of abuse greater than zero is unacceptable and makes me sick," pointing to audit logs and an optional tool designed to detect potentially abusive activity. But he declined to say how many police department contracts Flock had suspended or terminated over abuse. "I don’t think you should hold the entire city accountable for just the bad decisions of a few," he said.

SEE ALSO: The 3 best VPNs we've tested in 2026

When it came to Michael's research, Flock's response included legal threats, The Intercept reported. The company fixed the exposed-token flaw, while also publicly maintaining that it had never been hacked and that no Flock information had leaked. On his website, Michael says Flock also sent him a cease-and-desist letter (which he published) threatening litigation and told customers it had notified law enforcement, describing him as a "malicious actor."

Michael says that customer email acknowledged Flock had found no indication of unauthorized access when it closed the issue in December. He argues that this illustrates the very concern behind his research: that information could be taken without the company detecting it.

"I’m not backing down," he recently wrote on Instagram.

In September, brand-protection company Doppel also filed a trademark complaint on Flock's behalf. It argued that Michael's website could confuse customers or harm the company, even citing the disclaimer saying it wasn't affiliated with or endorsed by Flock — though Flock had not disputed the map's accuracy, as CyberNews reported.

Proton rejected the trademark argument and published a copy of the map on its Swiss servers in order to keep it available.

"This is an attempt to suppress information, not to prevent consumer confusion," Proton head of legal Marc Løebekken said.

For residents, that means another way to find out what's watching their streets — and a starting point for questions to local officials. As Proton puts it on the map's website: "You have a right to know who's recording you when you leave home."

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Wi-Fi is one of the best inventions in history, but also one of the worst. I have spent so many hours of my life troubleshooting Wi-Fi dead zones or spotty performance that the only devices in my home that use Wi-Fi are those that absolutely need to.

Electronic music purists and brick builders, this one is for you: Daft Punk is officially entering the Lego game.

Following a cryptic teaser that interrupted the duo's WDPK 83.7 stream on Oct. 21, Lego has now confirmed a multi-year partnership with the legendary artists. The shining star of the announcement? Lego has officially greenlit a retail set based on Daft Punk’s 2007 Alive pyramid stage, complete with custom minifigures of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo behind a mixing console made out of bricks.

The approved concept recreates the glowing pyramid from the 2007 world tour — arguably the most influential live stage production in EDM history. Alongside this exciting stage build, the official launch film features the helmeted robots and a giant holographic red brick, confirming that official Daft Punk minifigures are finally hitting shelves.

Here's the catch: the pyramid stage build from Daft Punk’s 2007 Alive tour will not be available to buy for some time. Lego confirmed that while the partnership is official today, final product launches and retail availability are slated for 2027.

The original fan submission relied on intricate translucent bricks and custom lighting rigs. Whether Lego retains the full LED light-brick integration remains to be seen. If Lego does somehow pull off the illuminated stage lighting and chrome-finished helmets, this will easily be one of the fastest sellouts in Lego Ideas history.

This fan idea will now advance into the next stage to officially become a Lego set. Credit: Lego

Julia Goldin, Chief Product and Marketing Officer at the Lego Group said, "What makes this partnership so special is the enduring appeal both brands share. Like the LEGO brand, Daft Punk inspires generations through creativity, innovation, and a deep connection with fans. We’re excited to build on these foundations to reimagine the Daft Punk legacy in a fresh and unexpected way, creating something unique that resonates with fans across all ages. This is just the beginning of a bigger journey — a creative collab made for fans ready to lose themselves to play.”

Your flashy-yet-affordable headphones might just sound better. Bose has acquired Skullcandy, and there's a potentially huge impact on the audio world.

Earlier this month, some Apple Music fans had a negative response to their first look at the app's new logo. After an explanation from Apple, it seems like people are becoming more OK with it.

Apple put out a short YouTube video (via MacRumors) detailing the upcoming Apple Music redesign, which is coming with iOS 27.2. The new app logo is black and white with a hint of Liquid Glass, eschewing the red color scheme Apple Music had before. In the video, Apple detailed how the app's new visuals were "made by sound," or in other words, Apple played sound through a container in which liquid vibrated at the frequency of the music, thus inspiring the new app logo.

SEE ALSO: iPhone Duo reviewers dislike this one thing about Apple's foldable

Apple worked with music producer Fred Again and NEST Acoustics on the redesign.

When reports of the new logo started coming out earlier in October, some fans on social media were unhappy. If you search "Apple Music" on X now, though, it seems like some folks are warming up to it a bit, especially after Apple's explanation.

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We'll see if this warm reception holds once the update is out for everyone later this month.