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Mick Tobin, 23, vividly remembers beating himself up as a teen for losing hours of time to social media in one sitting.

He blamed himself for scrolling endlessly. He compared himself to others, felt anxious, and could sense his attention span growing shorter. He blamed himself some more for not knowing how to use social media wisely.

Looking back, Tobin now understands the outsize influence social media companies had in shaping his habits and behavior with what he describes as addictive design features.

SEE ALSO: Meta will pay a whopping $17 billion to states in social media addiction trial

"It's a trillion-dollar company on one side of the screen and a 15-year-old on the other side of the screen," Tobin said. "It's not a fair fight."

That's why Tobin, co-founder and advocacy director at Young People's Alliance, welcomes Meta's new $17 billion settlement with U.S. attorneys general. As part of the agreement, Meta is required to make several significant design changes that should meaningfully affect how teens use Instagram and Facebook.

Notably, Meta will limit daily time spent on Instagram and Facebook to two hours; block access to both platforms overnight and during school hours; give teens the option to create a default non-algorithmic feed; and allow teens to turn off autoplay.

Tobin, who wishes that Meta had admitted guilt in the settlement, believes his teenage years would've looked much different if these measures had been in place several years ago: "I probably would have had much more control over my life."

How will Instagram and Facebook change?

The settlement ends a major lawsuit against Meta filed by dozens of U.S. attorneys general. Meta confirmed to Mashable that the new teen protections will roll out over the next six months.

Meta issued a "call to action" to YouTube and TikTok to adopt what the company describes as a new "industry standard."

"These protections will only be truly effective if we work with our peers — TikTok and YouTube — to put the same measures in place," Meta said in the statement.

Meta, which introduced Teen Accounts in 2024, already has certain safety measures to address some safety and well-being concerns but will expand on those.

Here's what to expect:

• Time Limit: While Teen Account users on Facebook and Instagram already receive a reminder to leave the app after 60 minutes, Meta will introduce a two-hour cumulative limit across Facebook and Instagram. Once teens reach two hours, they will be locked out of both apps. Only a parent enrolled in parental controls can bypass the limit. If a teen doesn't have parental supervision, there will be no way to request more time.

• Night Mode: Previously, supervising parents could set daily time limits or breaks, including overnight. Night Mode, however, blocks Instagram and Facebook overnight between midnight and 6 a.m. for all teens.

• School Mode: Similar to Night Mode, parents can schedule breaks that silence Meta app notifications during set hours. School Mode will do this by default between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.

• Algorithmic Feed Control: Teen users can currently tap the Instagram logo at the top of their feed and switch to a "following" feed, which is non-algorithmic. Still, the algorithmic feed remains the default each time a teen user opens the app. As a result of the settlement, teens will have the choice to select a chronological feed as their default. Meta will periodically remind them of the option, and guardians using parental controls can opt their child into a default non-algorithmic feed.

• Autoplay Control: Teens will be able to turn off autoplay, a setting that wasn't available prior to the settlement. Once autoplay is off, teen users will need to deliberately tap or swipe to view content. Parents will also be able to set this as the default for their teen.

Other measures include banning extreme makeup filters and regular screen time reminders during continuous use.

While Tobin doesn't support time limits for teens because he believes they should decide how long to stay engaged, he does believe the other design changes will help teens avoid becoming glued to their screens in the first place.

Still, Tobin said there's an important caveat: "This, of course, all hinges on Meta actually implementing these design practices effectively."

Ensuring the new measures actually work

Past research on some of Meta's teen safety and well-being features suggests they may not work as well as advertised.

A 2025 report conducted by a Meta whistleblower, for example, found that screen time features and tools to prevent unwanted contact didn't consistently work as expected. Meta said at the time that the report misstated how its safety tools work and misrepresented its efforts "to empower parents and protect teens."

Meta's settlement requires an independent auditor to test and report on Meta's compliance with the agreement annually for five years. No further details were available about how the auditor will conduct their research.

Kris Perry, executive director of Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development, told Mashable in a statement that independent, ongoing evaluations of the settlement changes are essential.

"Success shouldn't be measured simply by the presence of a tool but by its impact, such as sustained decreases in teens' use of platforms overnight or teens reporting less difficulty controlling their own time online, and this requires ongoing, objective research," Perry said.

Tobin said the settlement is a major turning point for teen well-being. Still, he argues that policymakers must finally put youth online safety measures into law and hold social media companies liable for violating them. After all, he noted, the majority of the settlement terms are only required to remain in effect for 10 years.

"I think the permanency is extremely concerning," Tobin said, "because this needs to be something that changes forever, right?"

Figuring out how to watch the entire NFL season in 2026 is complicated. But it gets really frustrating when you live in a different region than your favorite team. Watching out-of-market games for any sport is no walk in the park, but for the NFL, it's an excruciating battle — particularly for your wallet.

Before you pull the trigger on any pay TV provider or streaming service, you may want to check to see what games are considered in-market and out-of-market for your region. You don't want to drop $90 on an annual Paramount+ plan or splurge on the $199 Fox One annual subscription only to find out the games you want to watch are blacked out.

What are in-market vs. out-of-market NFL games?

In-market games are basically your home team broadcasts, or the games geographically closest to you. These are the games you'll regularly find on CBS and Fox on Sunday afternoons. Out-of-market games are those only available outside of the designated broadcast region you are in. These games are blacked out (unless they are national broadcasts) in favor of in-market games. For instance, I am a Baltimore Ravens fan living in Nashville, Tenn. The Tennessee Titans are my local team, which means their games are in-market for me on Sundays. If both the Titans and Ravens are playing in the 1:00 p.m. time slot on Sunday, I will only be able to watch the Titans. The Ravens will be blacked out, as they are considered out-of-market.

To find out which games are in your local market each week, check out 506sports.com.

How to watch out-of-market NFL games

So, you live in a different region than the team(s) you want to watch. That means the usual streaming services that broadcast NFL games — ESPN, Paramount+, YouTube TV, etc. — aren't going to work for you. With those subscriptions, you'll only be able to watch in-market teams and national broadcasts. Womp womp.

In this case, the only legal way you can watch out-of-market games is via NFL Sunday Ticket. Sure, there are plenty of bootleg broadcasts floating around the internet, but we can't in good conscience recommend those. Plus, spending your Sundays chasing bootleg broadcasts that actually work is a full-time job. NFL Sunday Ticket is the league's own premium sports package that broadcasts NFL regular season games that are unavailable on your local channels. It carries regional Sunday afternoon games on Fox and CBS, specifically. You can get NFL Sunday Ticket as an individual channel on YouTube or as an add-on to YouTube TV.

How much does NFL Sunday Ticket cost?

I won't sugarcoat it for you: NFL Sunday Ticket is outrageously expensive unless you're brand new to the service. Through Oct. 29, newbies can score NFL Sunday Ticket as an individual channel on YouTube or as a YouTube TV add-on for $240 total for the regular season (eight payments of $30). For what it's worth, that's $36 more than last year's new subscriber offer. For returning customers, it'll cost — gulp — $480 total as an individual channel (8 payments of $60) or $378 total as a YouTube TV add-on (8 payments of $47.25). Students, military personnel, first responders, medical professionals, and teachers can all get discounted rates (see below).

A season pass gives you access to NFL Sunday Ticket from the first Sunday regular season game on Sept. 13 until the final Sunday regular season game in January. Starting in September, there will also be month-to-month plans available. While no pricing is listed just yet, it'll likely cost the same as last season. For new users, it was $85 per month on the monthly plan, while returning customers paid $115 per month for the YouTube TV add-on and $145 per month for the individual channel.

Here's a breakdown for you:

Season pass (8 monthly installments)

• $240 for new users ($30/month)

• $378 for returning users bundled with YouTube TV

• $480 for returning users without YouTube TV

• $119 for students who can verify their eligibility

• $198 for Military & Veterans, First Responders, Medical Community, and Teachers 

Month-to-month

• $85 per month for new users

• $115 per month for returning users bundled with YouTube TV

• $145 per month for returning users without YouTube TV

How to sign up for NFL Sunday Ticket

To get NFL Sunday Ticket, head over to YouTube.com/NFL and a prompt will pop up with the details to sign up. If you don't see the prompt, just click on "get NFL Sunday Ticket" to the right of the NFL logo. You'll see options to sign up for both YouTube TV and NFL Sunday Ticket, NFL Sunday Ticket only, or the Student Plan. If you want to sign up for the military, first responder, medical professional, or teacher rate, you'll have to go through ID.me.

Is NFL Sunday Ticket worth it?

If you're sick of not being able to watch your favorite NFL team because games are blacked out in your region, then yes, NFL Sunday Ticket is absolutely worth it. Is it affordable? Not at all, unless you're brand new to the service. But if you're a dedicated fan, it's one of your only real options for watching live out-of-market games.

I can't stress this enough: Be sure to read the fine print before you drop hundreds on an NFL Sunday Ticket plan. NFL Sunday Ticket only includes out-of-market regular season Sunday afternoon games. It does not include in-market games, preseason, postseason, digital exclusive, locally televised, or national games. If you're looking for the best ways to watch the NFL season as a whole, I did a deep dive into which streaming services you'll need and the cheapest ways to sign up. We've also rounded up ways to use a VPN and bypass geo-restrictions in order to watch live NFL games. The good news is you have a ton of options, but the bad news is, it'll cost you no matter what you choose.

Working with note-taking apps and Markdown has worked out well for me over the years. I've been doing it for a while now, and I can't say I miss using GUI word processors. Obsidian is the app I use the most, so I created a general knowledge vault in the app. And I did it without typing a single word in the Obsidian editor.

Hugging Face is best known as a community for open AI collaboration, but now it's venturing further into hardware. The company has released the Microduck, an open-source duck robot that you can buy and train yourself.

The next time Apple Maps suggests a nearby restaurant, take a closer look, because that recommendation may have paid to be there.

Yes, Apple Maps officially has ads now, and they are beginning to appear alongside the ordinary listings people use to decide where to eat, shop, and go. If your immediate response is to dig through Settings for an off switch, however, don’t bother: There isn’t one.

Users currently have no way to turn off ads in Apple Maps. Paying for iCloud+, Apple One, or another Apple subscription does not remove them either, so customers who already send Apple money every month will see the same sponsored listings as everyone else.

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As Mashable reported on Aug. 26, Apple began rolling out the ads this week after announcing the move in March. They are currently available to users in the U.S. and Canada, with rollout expected to reach everyone in those markets over the coming weeks.

Ads can appear in two places in Apple Maps. Before you search, one may appear at the top of the Suggested Places list. After you search, one may appear at the top of the results if it is relevant to what you entered, according to Apple's guide for advertisers.

Ads can include three images, one image, or only text. Each carries an "Ad" label and a different place icon, though it otherwise resembles the surrounding recommendations.

You also may not see an ad in every search. CNET, for example, did not consistently encounter them while testing Maps in cities such as New York and San Francisco, and the app does not currently show sponsored pins like Google Maps does.

For now, then, the change is relatively subtle. (Though subtle is not the same as optional.)

SEE ALSO: Apple Maps ads are live. Here's what they look like No, turning off personalized ads will not help

Apple allows users to disable personalized advertising by going to Settings > Privacy & Security > Apple Advertising. Unfortunately, flipping that switch will not remove Maps ads or even change the way Maps chooses them.

That is because Apple says Maps does not support personalized ads in the first place. Instead, it serves contextual ads based on what is happening during your current session. That can include your search terms, the section of the map you are viewing, your device’s approximate location, its language and operating-system version, and the time of day.

In other words, searching for "bagels" can surface a nearby bagel shop without Apple building a broader advertising profile around your lifelong relationship with carbohydrates.

Apple also says your location and ad interactions are not connected to your identity or Apple Account. Ad activity is instead associated with a random identifier that changes several times per hour, and personal data is not shared with advertisers or third parties. Apple Pay transactions and information from the Health and Home apps are also excluded from the system.

If you want to know why a particular ad found you, tapping its blue "Ad" label will show the information used to select it. You can also turn off precise location access for Maps, but that only limits location-based targeting. It does not make the ads disappear and could interfere with useful features such as turn-by-turn navigation.

The arrival of Maps ads is not happening in isolation. Apple already sells advertising across the App Store, Apple News, and Stocks, as well as sponsorships tied to its sports programming.

Maps is an especially valuable — and logical — addition because people typically open it when they are ready to do something: find dinner, locate a store, or choose where to spend the afternoon. That gives advertisers a chance to reach potential customers just as they are deciding where to go.

The rollout is tied to Apple Business, the company’s new platform for businesses to manage devices and promote themselves across Apple services. Businesses can claim their locations, upload images and promotional text, set a monthly budget, and pay for a better chance of appearing in search results for nearby users.

That may be appealing to restaurant and shop owners. For Maps users, however, it means paid placement is now mixed into the recommendations they rely on to make real-world decisions.

The reaction has been predictably chilly. As Mashable previously noted, hundreds of commenters in an r/Apple thread argued that the move eliminates one of Apple Maps’ clearest advantages over Google Maps. Others questioned why people paying premium prices for Apple hardware and subscriptions should still be shown ads. As one X user put it, "Apple has officially killed the last clean interface on your iPhone."

The ads may be limited, privacy-conscious, and clearly labeled. But there are still ads — and even Apple’s paying customers cannot take a different route.

The ongoing AI revolution has finally given us something everyone can get behind: a tiny robot duck on roller skates. Yes, really.

On Aug. 27, AI platform Hugging Face unveiled Microduck, a 9.8-inch-tall bipedal robot that waddles, sits, kicks a ball, picks up objects with its beak, and gets back on its feet after falling over. Add the optional wheels, and it can even roller-skate.

Microduck is available to preorder now for an introductory price of $399 before taxes and shipping, with the first deliveries expected before Christmas 2026. It is currently launching in North America, Europe, and the UK. The product was developed by Pollen Robotics, the French robotics company that Hugging Face acquired in 2025.

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The duck comes with seven trained moves and a game controller, so owners can start bossing it around without writing a line of code. It can also follow a laser pointer, react to its surroundings, and trigger movements using NFC tags. Four color options are available at launch: Cream, Graphite, Lavender, and Sky.

But Microduck is more than a very, very elaborate desk toy. Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue described it as an "open-source robot you can teach new tricks with reinforcement learning," a process in which an AI system learns behaviors through trial and error.

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"The behaviors shipping with Microduck are not meant to define what the robot can do forever," Pollen Robotics explained in a blog post. "They are a starting point."

Developers can train those behaviors inside a physics simulation before transferring them to the physical robot. From there, they can adjust the simulation, retrain the behavior, and deploy it again without repeatedly sending their very real $399 duck tumbling across the room.

Credit: Hugging Face

Its duck-like appearance was not simply an effort to make a robot as cute as possible. According to Pollen Robotics, the character grew naturally out of Microduck’s proportions, articulated beak, and waddling gait. The company kept it because the design made the robot feel approachable without disguising the machinery underneath.

Microduck even has its own voice, although it will not chat with you like an AI assistant. Instead, it communicates through creature-like noises. Each robot receives its own permanent audio identity when it is turned on for the first time, meaning your duck will keep the same voice for its entire life.

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Microduck’s software development kit, simulation environment, and reinforcement-learning tools are available on GitHub under an open-source license, allowing developers to inspect, modify, and share what they build. However, Pollen Robotics clarifies in its press materials that only the software stack is open source; the robot’s mechanical and electronic design files are not.

The company hopes developers will eventually share new physical behaviors much like people already share AI models. That could include everything from new walking styles and recovery techniques to classroom experiments and routines involving multiple Microducks.

Inside its very small body, Microduck has 15 motors, a front-facing camera, a microphone and speaker, LiDAR, and two motion sensors. It also has 1GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, WiFi, Bluetooth, and two NFC antennas. A light modeled after a classic recording indicator lets people know when the camera is in use.

Its removable battery lasts around one hour, depending on what the duck is doing, so it will probably need a rest before you do.

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The robot arrives with a battery, USB-C cable, and game controller. The accessories that make some of its more charming tricks possible cost extra: A $39 pack includes two rollers, a ball, a laser pointer, and NFC tags. Pollen is also selling additional batteries and development supplies separately.

Credit: Hugging Face / Pollen Robotics

Microduck is the latest step in Hugging Face’s broader push to bring open-source AI into the physical world. The company launched LeRobot, a collection of AI models, datasets, and development tools for robotics, in 2024. It later released the programmable SO-101 robotic arm and, in May 2025, introduced two humanoid robots: HopeJR and Reachy Mini.

HopeJR is a full-size humanoid with 66 independent movements, including the ability to walk and move its arms. Reachy Mini, meanwhile, is an expressive desktop robot built for coding, conversational AI, and human-robot interaction. It can see, listen, speak, and run AI applications.

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Pollen Robotics says more than 10,000 Reachy Mini robots have made their way to people around the world. But while Reachy Mini is designed for AI that interacts, Pollen Robotics says Microduck is built for AI that acts, moving through physical spaces, carrying objects, and recovering from falls. The company also said its admittedly "very unscientific" testing found that Microduck is about 10 times more fun in a group, opening the door to robot races, soccer matches, and other multi-robot experiments.

Credit: Hugging Face

Delangue added that the launch the beginning of an "era of affordable open-source robots." Whether Microduck ultimately becomes an accessible platform for physical AI or simply the most technically advanced way to kick a tiny ball across your living room will depend on what its owners teach it.

Either way, the robot uprising apparently waddles now.

You can preorder the Microduck at the Pollen Robotics website.

The Kia Telluride has always sat in an interesting spot. It’s a mainstream three-row SUV, but the newer model pushes much harder into the kind of design, comfort, and technology you'd normally expect from something wearing a more expensive badge.

The Grand Theft Auto VI leaker known as Cyberleek has been dropping near-daily footage showcasing gameplay from the upcoming game. 

On Wednesday, Cyberleek ventured into new territory, which crossed the line for some gamers: The leaker posted four and a half minutes of footage spoiling part of the GTA 6 storyline for the first time. The clip covers the game's prologue and features one of the two playable characters, Lucia Caminos.

However, lots of gamers are talking about what Cyberleek hasn't leaked yet, as well as speculation as to why. It seems that the leaker isn't just leaking stolen footage but is actively clipping the material themself, which leads fans to believe that Cyberleek has a playable build of the game. But, the footage that's been posted by Cyberleek so far suggests that they may have a restricted build of the game.

Looking over what's missing from Cyberleek's leaks, you'll find that there's also quite a few trademark elements of a GTA game that they haven't been seen yet. Here's what we found — or should we say, here's what we haven't found — in the leaked footage so far:

No Lucia gameplay

GTA 6 will feature a playable Bonnie and Clyde-esque duo named Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos, as Dazed magazine revealed this week. Yet, all the leaks that Cyberleek has posted so far feature Jason as the playable character.

Cyberleek just posted the prologue that features Lucia, but still hasn't posted any Lucia gameplay, despite teasing more Lucia-focused content.

No first-person view footage

Over on Reddit, gamers have been sharing concerns over the lack of any first-person POV footage in the leaks. GTA 6 is primarily played in third-person view, and all of the footage is from that viewpoint.

However, GTA 6 is an extremely complex game, and many elements may be best experienced in the first-person view. For example, customization options of vehicles are extremely detailed, and a first-person view is often required to truly appreciate the little details.

First-person view is very likely in GTA 6; we just haven't seen Cyberleek leak footage of it yet.

Limited exploration of the map

Cyberleek started by leaking the map of the world of GTA 6, which is set in a Florida and Miami-inspired fictional state called Leonida. In fact, GTA fans who are part of a community mapping project confirmed that it's very likely legitimate, as it lines up with their own findings.

However, knowing what exists on the map in GTA has also shed light on how little the leaker has shown us. In the leaked gameplay footage, there is very little exploration of the massive interactive world.

No clothing or car customization

Speaking of customization, there are two major customizable features we haven't seen yet in the leaked footage: Clothing and car customization.

The leakers have yet to post anything showcasing what will likely be a massive array of detailed customization options for your character's style and rides.

No heists

Cyberleek has leaked plenty of footage of GTA 6 robberies and carjackings, featuring free-roaming stick-ups and holding up gas stations for cash.

But GTA is known for more than basic robbery. There are also complex, multi-part heists and criminal missions. Yet, we haven't seen any missions like that from Cyberleeks yet. The lack of this footage is odd, as one would think this would be among the most visually appealing for viewers.

No use of items aside from weapons

GTA is more than just guns. Yet, when it comes to the game's other items, Cyberleek hasn't shown them yet. We haven't even seen the use of the in-game mobile phone, which has been a major element of previous GTA games. An early Cyberleek clip showed Jason shooting a basketball, but that's it.

In fact, we haven't seen the leaker utilize the Items tab in the menu at all during gameplay footage.

Will Cyberleek drop more footage that includes any of these missing GTA elements? Or maybe Netflix's upcoming exclusive look at the game will show us what we've been missing so far.

Elon Musk's SpacexAI (formerly xAI) is facing another lawsuit over Grok's nonconsensual deepfake features.

The proposed nationwide class action lawsuit, filed today, alleges that the AI company trained its chatbot on data sets containing child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) featuring real children. SpacexAI did not adequately "block explicit content, prevent nonconsensual sexualized deepfakes of real people, and filter abusive material out of their training datasets," the lawsuit claims.

The lead plaintiff, a victim of childhood sexual violence and CSAM referred to as Jane Doe, claims images depicting her assault were used to train Grok and that the chatbot generated new sexually explicit images of her based on the material. It also claims her likeness inspired other digitally-generated images of minors.

SEE ALSO: Meta will pay a whopping $17 billion to states in social media addiction trial

"Our client has lived for nearly two decades knowing that images of the worst thing that ever happened to her are circulating among predators online, and that they can resurface at any moment," Sarah London, counsel for Doe, said in a statement. "xAI must be held responsible for knowingly training its models on images of the horrific abuse she suffered, and on the abuse images of every other survivor in this class."  

CSAM is verified and stored by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) as part of ongoing cases and to prevent further dissemination. Images are converted into unique digital signatures, or fingerprints, and stored on what is known as a Hash List. Hash lists are used by internet service providers to automatically detect CSAM without needing to reference original materials.

This is one of several class action lawsuits brought against the company for the chatbot's controversial "nudify" features and alleged role in generating CSAM, following an international child exploitation scandal that led several countries to temporarily suspend access to the AI tool.

In January, a woman filed a proposed class action lawsuit citing emotional distress caused by X users who used Grok to digitally alter photos of her into sexually revealing outfits. The lawsuit alleges SpacexAI created "a generative artificial intelligence chatbot that humiliates and sexually exploits women and girls by undressing them and posing them in sexual positions in deepfake images publicly posted on X."

In March, three teenagers sued the company for Grok's role in generating thousands of sexually explicit images of them as minors, after being notified of the images by law enforcement. That lawsuit was expanded earlier this month, adding two additional plaintiffs in an updated claim that SpacexAI did not effectively report instances of CSAM to NCMEC, which is mandated by law. The lawsuit also mentions Stability AI, the makers of the popular text-to-image model Stable Diffusion, as an additional defendant.

Have you ever wanted to point your finger at a screen and have the cursor follow your hand? If you own a Galaxy Watch—or any Wear OS watch, for that matter—you can actually do that right now. I just turned my Galaxy Watch 8 Classic into a gesture-controlled mouse for my Windows PC, and it took about two minutes to set up.

While Linux teams can fail to handle drivers for some devices effectively (or wisely), it's not always their fault. Whether the discussion involves distributions like Ubuntu with GNOME on Wayland, openSUSE with KDE Plasma on X11, or even Manjaro with Xfce on X11, each OS can experience potential device or driver problems. Over time, Linux driver incompatibilities have improved, but they still carry some hiccups.

It's that time of the week again. Now that we're a few weeks into the new school year, it's time to rethink how your family is organizing their tasks and calendars, as well as how everyone games at the same time with your homelab taking a central role in your routines.

I've been a VLC user for years, and I still like it. It plays just about anything, works across platforms, and includes far more features than I usually need. The thing is, most of the time I'm not streaming over a network or digging into advanced playback settings. I'm just double-clicking a video file and watching it.

The world of portable power stations expanded today with Jackery's announcement of the new HomePower 1000 Plus V2. The new model is designed for home use when we need it most, like during power outages, home improvement projects, or keeping everything running smoothy in the home office. But just because it falls under the Jackery HomePower lineup doesn't mean it won't be an excellent camping companion or great for content creators.

The Jackery HomePower 1000 Plus V2 comes in both black and white and is already available for purchase at Amazon and Jackery. Both colorways are on sale from launch until Sept. 3. Keep in mind the white version is $20 more than the black, but that could be well worth the extra if you prefer the cleaner look.

(If your main concern is keeping the refrigerator cooling during a power outage, I still recommend checking out the Jackery FridgeGuard.)

Opens in a new window Credit: Jackery Jackery HomePower 1000 Plus V2 (Black) $619 at Amazon
$749 Save $130   Get Deal Opens in a new window Credit: Jackery Jackery HomePower 1000 Plus V2 (White) $639 at Amazon
$759 Save $120   Get Deal Highlights of the new Jackery HomePower 1000 Plus V2

The Jackery HomePower 1000 Plus V2 is a 1,024Wh power station that's rated for a 1,800W output and a peak surge of 3,600W, making it capable of operating high-power items like the chainsaw, hammer drill, or other demanding tools. But while it packs in the power, it doesn't weigh much, coming in at just under 24 pounds. Given its weight and relatively small dimensions, it's easy to carry around the house or take from the trunk to the campsite.

Combine the Jackery HP 1000 Plus V2 with up to five expansion batteries. Credit: Jackery

Another huge benefit of the new HP 1000 Plus V2 is its massive expansion ability. You can connect the new model to up to five 2,000Wh expansion batteries for a total capacity of 11,000Wh. That'll be excellent if you're using the setup for home backup during an outage or when creating content in the studio.

If you do use this model when creating content, the quiet 30-decibel noise level will make it possible to record video or audio with the power station nearby. Using it at home during an outage, with its 10-millisecond uninterrupted power supply, means your electronics won't have time to power down should grid power fail before the Jackery takes over.

Expect a recharging time of under an hour when using standard AC wall power. Credit: Jackery

Recharge the Jackery with standard AC wall power, and you're looking at about 50 minutes. You can also connect up to 400W of solar to achieve a recharge time of about three hours. Using a gas generator to recharge is also an option, which should take about 50 minutes.

How to buy the Jackery HomePower 1000 Plus V2

The Jackery HomePower 1000 Plus V2 is already available to purchase online at Amazon and Jackery. The brand is rewarding early orders by taking $130 off the black and $140 off the white until Sept. 3.

TL;DR: Owala is rolling out seven new fall colors and patterns — desert smoke, plaid and simple, blue steel, woodland boho, joshua tree, toile be home, and bold move — across its full range of bottles and tumblers starting Aug. 27.

Fall is (almost) here, and Owala's getting ready for it with a fresh drop of colors and patterns.

Owala built its following starting with the FreeSip, the bottle known for a lid that lets you sip through a built-in straw and chug through a spout. The insulation holds up too — Mashable's review noted ice was still intact a full 24 hours after filling it up. The locking top doubles as a carry handle, and the lid components are dishwasher-safe, though the body is better hand-washed.

Credit: Owala

The FreeSip comes in three sizes — 24, 32, and 40 ounces — but the two bigger options don't fit in a cup holder, so anyone who wants something more travel-friendly usually reaches for the 24-ounce size.

Since then, the brand has expanded well beyond the original FreeSip to include tumblers and slimmer styles like the FreeSip Twist. Fall's getting the same treatment: seven new colors and patterns drop across Owala's full range of bottles and tumblers:

• Desert Smoke — a metallic mauve-rose finish

• Plaid and Simple — a brown-and-cream plaid check

• Blue Steel — a solid navy blue

• Woodland Boho — a rust-and-cream floral print

• Joshua Tree — a sage green tumbler

• Toile Be Home — a cream toile print with a blue floral pattern

• Bold Move — a metallic gold-olive finish

Credit: Owala

Set a reminder now, because these won't stay in stock for long once they go live on Owala.

In its first season, Adults established a strong foundation as a delightful hangout sitcom. In its second season, it builds something truly great.

SEE ALSO: What's new to streaming this week? (Aug. 28, 2026)

The bones of the show are still very much the same. Created by Ben Kronengold and Rebecca Shaw, Adults continues to follow the misadventures of housemates Samir (Malik Elassal), Billie (Lucy Freyer), Paul Baker (Jack Innanen), Issa (Amita Rao), and Anton (Owen Thiele) as they navigate what it truly means to be grown-up. While they often struggle with adulthood, Adults has faced no such growing pains. Season 2 is sharper and more self-assured than the last, with its already strong ensemble operating at the top of their game.

Adults Season 2 levels up without growing up. Owen Thiele, Lucy Freyer, Jack Innanen, and Amita Rao in "Adults." Credit: Michael Gibson / FX

Adults swings for the fences this season, going big on everything from cringe comedy to screwball farces. Examples of the former include Billie's quest to scrub a compromising photo from social media, or Anton's attempts to save his job after an intergenerational misunderstanding at work. Both storylines exemplify Adults' leads' tendency to trip over their own feet in ways that are somehow as endearing as they are tough to watch.

The show's more screwball tendencies shine in the season's strongest outing, an installment centered on an acid trip that goes awry when a raccoon wanders through the house. Suddenly, what you think will be a predictable episode involving psychedelic shenanigans becomes something much greater: a ticking time bomb in which the raccoon must be dealt with before the acid kicks in. Playing out in real time, the episode is a madcap countdown that manages to distill the friend group's complicated web of relationships to their purest forms, then upend the dynamic entirely. It's a series game changer that still somehow finds time to fit in some ridiculous practical animal effects, not to mention the kind of relatable observational humor that creates an instant connection between the viewer and the friend group. Internet paywall jokes served that role in Season 1, but Season 2's winner has to be this episode's gag of mixing up a microwave's normal timer and its cook timer. It's simple, but it's hard, dang it!

SEE ALSO: 'Adults' creators Rebecca Shaw and Ben Kronengold react to fan fiction about the show

Adults' raccoon episode is also one of the few times its core five actors get to spend a whole episode in isolation, which further proves their airtight chemistry. But as great as they are in a group, they also get to shine individually. In Elassal's hands, Samir's tendency to overthink leads to some of the season's most stressful comedic dilemmas. Freyer deftly carries the bulk of the season's most awkward storylines, walking the line of cringe comedy with grace (and some inspired pratfalls). Innanen briefly breaks from Paul Baker's soft boy sweetness to play a fratty bro type, and that contrast starts the season off on a high note. Rao and Thiele are both high-energy charisma bombs who light up the screen, but at several points this season, they get to pull back and reveal some vulnerabilities. A late-season installment that pits them against each other at the office is an instant highlight, and proof that I could watch them (and the rest of the cast) bounce off one another forever.

Adults deserves longer seasons. Amita Rao, Jack Innanen, Owen Thiele, Lucy Freyer, and Malik Elassal in "Adults." Credit: Michael Gibson / FX

Unfortunately, I can't watch them bounce off one another forever because Season 2 only clocks in at eight episodes. Nine, if you count the prequel episode that released earlier this year. That's simply not enough time to hang out with Adults' characters — especially when the whole point of the show is that it's a hangout sitcom.

That Adults only has eight episodes means that the ones we do get are polished, without a true weak link among them. Yet you can feel more story crowding in at the edges. The finale, which sees Paul Baker running to be president of the local Homeowners Association, could easily have been a three-episode arc in any other sitcom, complete with a full campaign. The same goes for the fan-favorite slow-burn romance between Anton and Paul Baker. I will never say no to more episodes of yearning!

When it first aired, Adults drew comparisons to Friends due to its similar "friends in New York" conceit. But the starkest difference between the two isn't their comedy style or the fact that they were written for and by different generations. It's the fact that people can spend more time with Friends. They could watch it week to week for some 20 weeks each season and really feel like they were part of the group. Sure, not every episode can be a winner, but sitcoms deserve a little shagginess and room to grow, just like their characters.

Adults viewers appear to agree: Check any comment section on a video about the show, and you're guaranteed to find demands for 22 episode seasons (complete with holiday specials, naturally). If even a quarter of them are as good as what Season 2 has to offer, I'd be more than satisfied. After all, when the worst thing about a show is that there isn't enough of it, you know it's doing something right.

Adults Season 2 premieres Aug. 27 at 9 p.m. ET on Hulu and FXX.

Handheld gaming has exploded in mainstream popularity since the rise of the Nintendo Switch, and the advent of powerful PC handhelds has led to a lot of innovation in the category. I keep the ASUS ROG Ally X on my desk, and it is a fantastic device. More often than not, though, I still find myself choosing my XBOX Series X over my ROG Ally X for my gaming needs, even if it means being confined to my living room.

SAVE $1,100: The 65-inch Samsung Class S90H OLED TV is on sale for $1,597.99 at Amazon, down from the list price of $2,697.99. That's a 41% discount and the lowest we've ever seen at Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung 65-inch Samsung Class S90H OLED TV $1,597.99 at Amazon
$2,697.99 Save $1,100.00   Get Deal

We're in the last week of NFL preseason, which means sports weekends are about to get more exciting. MLB games are heating up, too. If you're not a sports fan, we have tons of fall TV to look forward to, like a fresh season of The Great British Bake Off to serve as our emotional support show, and Slow Horses returns to Apple TV with a new season. If you're pumped for fall viewing but your TV is lagging, check out this excellent TV that's on a major discount.

As of Aug. 27, the 65-inch Samsung Class S90H OLED TV is on sale for $1,597.99 at Amazon, down from the list price of $2,697.99. That works out to a 41% discount that takes $1,100 off the price. It's the lowest we've ever seen at Amazon by about $400.

For most of us, the TV is a big source of entertainment. From putting on a jazzy playlist in the morning to watching our favorite Netflix shows in the evening, the TV is on pretty often. For those looking for top-tier quality in a 65-inch TV, it's hard to deny the specs on the Samsung Class S90H OLED TV.

SEE ALSO: TCL TV deal alert: Get this stunning 65-inch Mini-LED TV for $602 off at Amazon

The 65-inch size of the OLED display will work great in most rooms, and Samsung added glare-free technology and 4K upscaling for clarity. When it comes to watching sports, Samsung has us covered with AI motion enhancer pro, smoothing out even the quickest movement for non-blurred viewing.

If you like gaming on your TV, the Samsung is ready to deliver thanks to VRR gaming speeds that can reach 165Hz.

Since we've never seen a price this low at Amazon for the 65-inch Samsung Class S90H OLED TV, consider this your sign to make the move. You'll be in great viewing shape for fall TV, movies, and sports.

In 2022, I upgraded to a new M2 iPad Pro, finally saying goodbye to my trusty 2018 model. Instead of trying to sell my old iPad out of hand, I traded it in at Apple's store for a tidy sum. Looking around the place, the only thing that stood out to me was the Apple TV 4K 3rd Generation. I usually would not want to spend that much on a streaming box, but as far as I was concerned, this was free money with no specific purpose, and I could only spend it as store credit anyway.

SAVE $250: As of Aug. 27, get the Segway Navimow X430 robot lawn mower for $2,099 at Amazon. That's a discount of 10% on list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Segway Navimow X430 Robot Lawn Mower $2,249 at Amazon
$2,499 Save $250   Get Deal

Tired of mowing the lawn? It's a thankless task, especially since the grass will keep growing no matter what you do. Save some time by outsourcing the job to a robot. You may not have realized that, in addition to robot vacuums, robot lawn mowers exist now.

As of Aug. 27, get the Segway Navimow X430 robot lawn mower for $2,099 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $2,499. That's $250 off and a 10% discount.

SEE ALSO: The Segway Navimow i110N robot lawn mower is down to its best-ever price at Amazon — save $300+

This is a powerful robot lawn mower that can push through even the most difficult terrain. It's equipped with all-wheel drive and a dual suspension system to keep it prime and ready. That means it can even tackle slopes of up to 84% and deal with obstacles up to 2.8 inches. It's backed by dual 180W motors, 12 blades, dual cutting discs, a 17-inch cutting width, and adaptive blade control, so it can tackle thick foliage.

You don't need to worry about extensive setup, either. Use its one-tap mapping method to get it running without a boundary wire or antenna. Edit its maps with GeoSketch, track its location via GPS, and use GeoFence alerts on your mobile device to ensure it's working in the areas you've assigned.

This is a great splurge if you're ready to hand off lawn mowing to a robot, so if you're interested, now's the time to pick it up.