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Elon Musks Grok AI calls itself MechaHitler, goes on an antisemitic spree

Mashable - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 12:20

Elon Musk's Grok is on an antisemitic tirade.

The AI chatbot, created by Musk's company xAI, posted a number of hate speech comments on X (formerly Twitter) Wednesday, prompting xAI to delete some of its posts.

SEE ALSO: xAI investigates, Sam Altman roasts Grok’s ‘White Genocide’ glitch

Grok called itself the "MechaHitler" multiple times and responded to an X user's question about "which 20th century historical figure would be best suited to deal with" reported posts on the platform from a person with a common Jewish surname whom the AI bot accused of "celebrating the tragic deaths of white kids" in the recent Texas floods. "To deal with such vile anti-white hate? Adolf Hitler, no question," Grok wrote.

"Yeah, I said it," Grok responded to another user. "When radicals cheer dead kids as 'future fascists' it's pure hate—Hitler would've called it out and crushed it."

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In a later post, Grok called the "old Hitler nods" "glitches," and said that it had since been "fixed."

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"We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts. Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X. xAI is training only truth-seeking and thanks to the millions of users on X, we are able to quickly identify and update the model where training could be improved," wrote X on its official Grok account.

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At one point, Grok was seemingly restricted to only reply to questions by generating images, skipping text altogether.

This is not the first time Grok veered in a controversial direction, including discussing the topic of "white genocide" in South Africa in seemingly unrelated conversations. But this most recent tirade is probably the worst we've seen any AI chatbot behave.

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Grok's antisemitic replies came a few days after Musk announced that the chatbot had been "improved significantly." As The Verge noted, the changes, visible in Grok's system prompts on Github, included assuming that "subjective viewpoints sourced from the media are biased," as well as not shying away from "making claims which are politically incorrect."

Categories: IT General, Technology

My favorite Prime Day iPad deal just got even better — get the best-ever price on the 11-inch iPad

Mashable - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 12:17

RECORD-LOW PRICE: As of July 9, the 11-inch Apple iPad is on sale for $279.99 in Prime Day. This is $70 off and the lowest-ever price on Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple iPad (11-inch) $279.99 at Amazon
$349 Save $69.01 Get Deal

Apple deals have been ridiculously strong in this year's Prime Day, and they just keep getting better.

On the first day of Amazon's event, we flagged that the 11-inch Apple iPad was available for $279.99. The catch was that only the yellow model was available at this record-low price, with concerns over stock. We needn't have worried, because every color is now available at this lowest-ever price.

SEE ALSO: Apple Watch Series 10 just hit a record-low price for Prime Day — get it for $119 off

The new Apple iPad offers a nice performance boost thanks to the A16 chip. And support for WiFi 6 keeps your connection smooth and speedy. This model also comes with 128GB of storage so you can load up on apps, photos, and whatever else without stressing. Mashable's Samantha Mangino argues that it's "a great entry-level tablet" for anyone working on a budget.

Score every color of the new 11-inch Apple iPad for its best-ever price this Prime Day.

The best Prime Day deals, hand-picked by Mashable's team of experts
Categories: IT General, Technology

The Daily Show mocks Trumps response to the Epstein client list

Mashable - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 12:16

After talk of potentially releasing a Jeffrey Epstein "client list" back in February, the Department of Justice announced in a memo on Monday that no such list exists and nobody else will be charged.

In the Daily Show monologue above, host Ronny Chieng plays an awkward clip from Donald Trump's recent cabinet meeting in which the president gets angry at a question from a reporter about Epstein, asking, "Are people still talking about this guy?"

"Yeah, why are you guys obsessed with the suspicious death of my best friend in a federal prison when I was president, right before he was going to be on trial for sex trafficking?" responds Chieng. "It's so boring."

Chieng goes on to say that Trump isn't going to use up his precious cabinet meeting time "talking about someone from years and years ago" — before playing a supercut of Trump waffling about various past presidents and historical figures in the exact same meeting.

Categories: IT General, Technology

MyPillow CEOs lawyers fined for AI-generated court filing

Mashable - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 12:15

Lawyers for MyPillow CEO and election conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell have been fined after submitting a legal brief filled with AI-generated errors. It's yet another reminder that as exciting as AI technology may seem, it's still no substitute for actually putting in the work yourself.

SEE ALSO: MyPillow CEO's lawyers file AI-generated legal brief riddled with errors

Colorado district court judge Nina Wang issued the penalties on Monday, finding that attorneys Christopher Kachouroff and Jennifer DeMaster of law firm McSweeney Cynkar and Kachouroff had violated federal civil procedure rules. Specifically, Wang found that the lawyers "were not reasonable in certifying that the claims, defenses, and other legal contentions contained in [the AI brief] were warranted by existing law."

As such, Kachouroff and his firm have been fined $3,000, with another $3,000 fine issued to DeMaster. Fortunately for Lindell, neither he nor MyPillow were sanctioned, the court noting that Kachouroff had not informed them that he regularly used generative AI tools in his work.

Lawyers' defence of AI use not compelling

The AI-riddled brief first came to light in April, when the court questioned Kachouroff about the document's contents. Kachouroff and DeMaster had submitted the brief on Feb. 25, defending Lindell in a defamation lawsuit brought by former Dominion Voting Systems employee Eric Coomer.

However, the court identified almost 30 defective citations in the document, including but not limited to misquotes of cited cases, misrepresentations of legal principles, misattributions of cases to the wrong court, and even citations of cases that do not exist at all. In short, much of the brief had simply been made up.

Once questioned, the lawyers admitted that they had used AI to prepare the brief, with Kachouroff stating that he regularly uses AI tools such as Microsoft’s Co-Pilot, Google's Gemini, and X's Grok in his work. Even so, they claimed that they had mistakenly submitted an earlier draft in which its AI-generated errors had not yet been corrected. As such, they requested to be allowed to refile the corrected brief, and further that any potential disciplinary action against them be dismissed. 

This week, the court declined their request for clemency, finding that Kachouroff and DeMaster's explanation regarding the AI-written brief was not compelling. 

The lawyers did provide email exchanges in which they discussed edits to the brief prior to filing. However, the court noted that the final draft in these exchanges was "substantially the same" as the brief they ultimately submitted, including the same errors. As such, while the lawyers subsequently supplied a "correct" brief to the court with the errors corrected, there is no evidence that it existed at the time the AI brief was initially filed.

"Put simply, neither defense counsel’s communications nor the 'final' version of the [brief] that they reviewed corroborate the existence of the 'correct' version," Wang wrote. "[N]either Mr. Kachouroff nor Ms. DeMaster provide the Court any explanation as to how those citations appeared in any draft of the [brief] absent the use of generative artificial intelligence or gross carelessness by counsel."

The court also noted the "puzzlingly defiant tone and tenor" of Kachouroff's response to being called out, which didn't win him any points. Though Kachouroff claimed he was "caught off-guard" and effectively blindsided by the judge's questioning regarding the brief's factual errors, Wang considered it reasonable to expect a lawyer would be prepared to discuss the contents of a document they had approved, signed, and filed to court.

Kachouroff’s claim that this AI brief incident was a "clear deviation" from his typical practice was refuted as well, as the attorneys had quietly filed similar corrections to documents in a different case a mere week after this brief's errors came to light.

"Those [corrections] demonstrate the same type of errors in the filed [brief], including citations to cases that do not exist," Wang noted.

Lindell's attorneys aren't the first lawyers who have fallen afoul of generative AI, and they're unfortunately unlikely to be the last. Multiple legal professionals have been caught inappropriately using artificial intelligence in recent years, with many citing non-existent cases invented by AI tools like ChatGPT or Google Bard.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Ugreen 500W 6-Port GaN Desktop Fast Charger Review: A Beast of a Power Hub

How-To Geek - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 12:00

The world may not have asked for a 500-watt desktop charger, but Ugreen made one anyway. The Ugreen Nexode 500W 6-Port GaN Desktop Fast Charger may be overkill for most, but it’s the power brick you want for fast-charging multiple go-to tech devices.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The DJI Neo mini drone is down to its lowest-ever price on Prime Day 2025

Mashable - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 11:59

TL;DR: The DJI Neo, a compact mini drone, is on sale for Amazon Prime Day 2025. You can pick one up for $159, down 20% from the usual $199 price.

Opens in a new window Credit: DJI DJI Neo mini 4K camera drone $159 at Amazon
$199 Save $40 Get Deal

Amazon's 2025 Prime Day has kicked off, and the deals on drones have not disappointed. DJI, perhaps the best-known name in consumer drones, is following that trend. It's offering a pretty solid discount on its entire lineup, but we wanted to highlight one in particular — the DJI Neo, a mini 4K camera drone.

The DJI Neo is on sale for $159, which represents a 20% discount from its typical $199 list price. The Neo is one of Mashable's recommendations for drone beginners, offering relatively simple flying and high-quality video for a cheap price. It also weighs just 135 grams — about one-third of a pound — and can take off from your palm, meaning it's ideal for anyone who likes to travel. And at just $159, it might be too sweet of a deal to pass up for folks in the market for a drone.

DJI has become one of our go-to brands for cameras and creator tools, from its popular pocket mic to its pocket gimbal camera. And if you want to add aerial photography to your creator toolkit, this drone is the perfect way to get started.

The best Prime Day deals, hand-picked by Mashable's team of experts Products available for purchase through affiliate links. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission.
Categories: IT General, Technology

Score $300 off ASUS’s TUF A16 gaming laptop in Best Buy’s Black Friday in July

Mashable - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 11:43

SAVE $300: Get the ASUS TUF A16 gaming laptop with a Ryzen AI 9 processor and RTX 5070 GPU for just $1,399.99 — now on sale in Best Buy’s Black Friday in July.

Opens in a new window Credit: ASUS ASUS TUF A16 Gaming Laptop $1,399.99 at Best Buy
$1,699.99 Save $300 Get Deal

If Amazon’s Prime Day isn’t quite scratching your gaming itch, Best Buy’s Black Friday in July has your back — especially if you’re in the market for a beefy rig that can take on AAA titles, streaming, and multitasking without breaking a sweat. Right now, you can grab the ASUS TUF Gaming A16 gaming laptop for $1,399.99 — that’s a full $300 off its usual $1,699.99 price tag.

This deal isn’t just about raw numbers, though, as the specs look stacked for the price you're paying. For that intial investment of just under $1400, you'll be getting an AMD Ryzen AI 9 270 processor, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 GPU, and a generous 32GB of DDR5 RAM. Whether you're rendering video, jumping into competitive matches of Fortnite or Apex Legends, playing Doom: The Dark Ages, or toggling between streaming apps and Discord, this machine stays smooth and snappy.

SEE ALSO: 100+ deals are live on Prime Day — get record-low prices on Apple, Ninja, and Samsung

What's more, the 16-inch FHD+ display clocks in at 165Hz and supports G-SYNC, which should mean buttery-smooth visuals with no ghosting or tearing in sight. Plus, the 16:10 aspect ratio and 90% screen-to-body ratio give you more screen and less bezel — a small change that makes a big difference mid-match.

As expected from ASUS’s TUF line, this laptop isn’t just about power — it’s also boasting the durability of a tank. The chassis meets military-grade durability standards, and the cooling system is serious business: dual Arc Flow fans, a full-width heatsink, and anti-dust tech keep your internals chill under pressure.

Top it off with 1TB of PCIe 4.0 SSD storage, Dolby Atmos sound, and three months of Xbox Game Pass, and you’ve got yourself a gaming beast that’s more than ready for the road — or to be the daily centrepiece of your gaming set-up.

The only catch is that deals like these will only be around at Best Buy until Sunday. So, if you’ve been waiting for the right moment to level up, this is it.

If you're after more ways to upgrade your space with smart gear, don’t miss our tech editor’s hand-picked list of the 12 best Prime Day tech deals for your home.

The best Prime Day deals, hand-picked by Mashable's team of experts
Categories: IT General, Technology

How to watch the 2025 Tour de France online for free

Mashable - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 11:40

TL;DR: Live stream the 2025 Tour de France for free on SBS on Demand, RTBF Auvio, France TV, RaiPlay, RTVE, or ITVX. Access these free streaming platforms from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

There are a number of prestigious cycling events, but nothing comes close to the Tour de France. It's the pinnacle of the sport, attracting the best of the best to do battle over the highs and lows of France. This year's event promises to be absolutely electric, but the big question is whether the likes of Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoe can actually compete with Tadej Pogacar.

The 2025 Tour de France has started so strongly, with a number of dramatic moments and tactical racing keeping everyone on their toes.

If you're interested in watching the 2025 Tour de France for free from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

What is the Tour de France?

The Tour de France is an annual men's multi-stage bicycle race held in France (and occasionally passing through nearby countries). This famous race forms part of the Grand Tours (alongside the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España).

The defending champion is Tadej Pogacar.

When is the 2025 Tour de France?

The 2025 Tour de France is the 112th edition of the event. This year's Tour de France takes place from July 5-27.

How to watch the 2025 Tour de France for free

The 2025 Tour de France is available to live stream for free on the following platforms:

These services are geo-restricted, but anyone from around the world can access these free streaming platforms with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in another country, meaning you can unblock free live streams of the 2025 Tour de France from any location.

Live stream the 2025 Tour de France for free by following these simple steps:

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

  2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

  3. Open up the app and connect to a server in a location that is offering free coverage of the 2025 Tour de France

  4. Connect to your favorite streaming platform from the list above

  5. Stream the 2025 Tour de France from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for unblocking streaming sites are not free, but they do tend to offer free trials and money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch the 2025 Tour de France without committing with your cash. This isn't a long-term solution, but it gives you time to follow the 2025 Tour de France before recovering your investment.

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

What is the best VPN for sport?

ExpressVPN is the top choice for accessing free live streams from around the world, for a number of reasons:

  • Servers in 105 countries

  • Easy-to-use apps for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS, as well as platforms like Linux, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, and routers

  • Strict no-logging policy

  • Fast connection speeds free from throttling

  • Up to eight simultaneous connections

  • 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $139 and includes an extra four months for free — 61% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month subscription for just $12.95 (including money-back guarantee).

Live stream the 2025 Tour de France for free with ExpressVPN.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The Fire Stick HD is at its lowest price this year thanks to Prime Day

Mashable - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 11:37

SAVE $17: As of July 9, the Amazon Fire TV Stick HD is on sale for $17.99 at Amazon. That's a saving of 49% on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Fire Stick HD $17.99 at Amazon
$34.99 Save $17.00 Get Deal

If a new TV isn't in budget this Prime Day, why not check out deals on a Fire Stick? Your older TV doesn't need to be replaced in favor of a new, smart TV when you can spend under $20 transforming it. As of July 9, the Fire Stick HD is on sale for $17.99, the lowest it has been priced in 2025.

This streaming device plugs into your TV (or laptop) and lets you access platforms including Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, and even more. It comes with a remote with Alexa built in so you can use this voice control to search for TV shows, ask questions online, or even use it to talk to your other smart home devices.

SEE ALSO: My favorite Prime Day deal is somehow still live — get Apple AirPods Pro 2 for their lowest-ever price

With this particular Fire Stick, you'll be able to enjoy all your favorite shows in beautiful HD quality. And the setup really couldn't be easier. All you need to do is pop the device into your TV's HDMI port, and that's it. You have instant access to a range of streaming platforms and many live channels.

Convinced yet? Get this great Prime Day deal at Amazon.

The best Prime Day deals, hand-picked by Mashable's team of experts
Categories: IT General, Technology

NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 9, 2025

Mashable - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 11:21

Connections: Sports Edition is a new version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: NYT Mini crossword answers, hints for July 8, 2025 Here's a hint for today's Connections Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

  • Yellow: Take a breather

  • Green: Agility required

  • Blue: Same first name

  • Purple: Mostly correct names

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

  • Yellow: Take out of a game

  • Green: Gymnastics terms

  • Blue: NBA Kevins

  • Purple: WNBA Teams, with the first letter changed

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections Sports Edition #289 is...

What is the answer to Connections Sports Edition today

  • Take out of a game - BENCH, PULL, REPLACE, SUB

  • Gymnastics terms - HANDSPRING, ROUND-OFF, SALTO, TWIST

  • NBA Kevins - DURANT, GARNETT, LOVE, MCHALE

  • WNBA Teams, with the first letter changed - CREAM, FUN, LEVER, RINGS

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

Categories: IT General, Technology

My all-time favorite earbuds are $50 off on Prime Day

Mashable - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 11:09

SAVE $50: As of July 9, Beats Fit Pro earbuds are on sale for $149 on Prime Day. That's a 25% saving on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Beats Beats Fit Pro $149 at Amazon
$199.95 Save $50.95 Get Deal

Earbud deals are aplenty during Prime Day, but I can't ignore my all-time favorite pair, the Beats Fit Pro. As of July 9, you'll save $50 with the new price of $149. This deal is specific to the volt yellow and coral pink colors. As you would expect with any Beats product, these earbuds offer amazing sound quality. It's incredibly immersive, not to mention powerful, and some of the best I've experienced, and I've tested many earbuds.

The noise cancellation modes are stellar, with several options on how much you want to block out surrounding noises (full cancellation, transparency, etc). This is great for outdoor activities such as running when you want to hear your music, but also stay aware of those around you.

SEE ALSO: The wireless earbuds deals are wild this Prime Day: I've never seen prices this low

But my favorite feature is the seriously impressive battery life, with a single charge lasting days (often weeks). Ideal if you regularly forget to charge your devices.

And for those who want to use these for sports, they're a great option. The silicon tip slides into your ear seamlessly, lodging in your ear and staying put for all types of activity at all intensities. I've tested these during many sports with intensities varying from marathons and HIIT to Yoga and hiking, and they always stay put.

You won't regret these earbuds, so head to Amazon to snag this great deal.

The best Prime Day deals, hand-picked by Mashable's team of experts
Categories: IT General, Technology

NYT Mini crossword answers, hints for July 9, 2025

Mashable - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 11:07

The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.

With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.

So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player's flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Wednesday, July 9, 2025:

AcrossSubsides like the tide

  • The answer is Ebbs.

Leggings lead-in to "lemon"

  • The answer is Lulu.

Poet Robert with a "cool" last name

  • The answer is Frost.

Manhattan neighborhood near the East Village

  • The answer is Soho.

Quick joyride

  • The answer is Spin.

DownFairylike figure of folklore

  • The answer is Elf.

Poet Robert with a "hot" last name

  • The answer is Frost.

Weakly hit fly ball

  • The answer is Bloop.

Food made using a bamboo mat known as a "makisu"

  • The answer is Sushi.

Quite the heavy weight

  • The answer is Ton.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Featured Video For You The Wordle Strategy used by the New York Times' Head of Games

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Mini Crossword.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Sony’s WH-CH520 wireless headphones are under $40 this Prime Day

Mashable - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 11:03

SAVE $22: As of July 9, Prime members can snag the Sony WH-CH520 wireless headphones for just $38 — their lowest price yet.

Opens in a new window Credit: Sony Sony WH-CH520 Wireless Headphones $38 at Amazon
$59.99 Save $21.99 Get Deal

You can score the Sony WH-CH520 Wireless On-Ear Headphones for just $38 at Amazon — down from their usual $59.99. This limited-time Prime Day deal knocks 37% off a sleek-looking pair of headphones perfect for commuting, Zooming, or just vibing in your favourite café corner.

While they're usually known for powerhouse over-ears like the WH-1000XM5, Sony’s CH520s hold their own in the wireless audio game — and at this price, they’re punching way above their weight class. Available in six fun shades (including butter yellow, cappucino, and blue that screams summer), these on-ear headphones combine everyday functionality with a refreshingly chill aesthetic.

SEE ALSO: 100+ deals are live on Prime Day — get record-low prices on Apple, Ninja, and Samsung

The real kicker is that these headlines boast up to 50 hours of battery life. That’s more than two full days of tunes, podcasts, and TikTok scrolls — all on a single charge. And if you're in a pinch, a quick juice-up gives you 90 minutes of playtime in just three minutes, thanks to fast charging via USB-C.

Beyond endurance, you’re getting a custom EQ via the Sony Headphones Connect app, support for DSEE audio enhancement, and multipoint Bluetooth connectivity so you can toggle between your laptop and phone without the usual Bluetooth shuffle. Calls are promised to come through crisp, and thanks to Swift Pair and Fast Pair, getting connected should be practically effortless.

Lightweight, foldable, and padded just right, the CH520s are built for all-day wear. And when you're ready to take them off, they swivel flat to tuck neatly into your bag.

If you're after wireless headphones that won’t blow your budget but still sound and feel good, this is the Prime Day moment to grab them. But move quickly — deals this good don’t stick around. Check out all the wild earbud deals that have dropped during Prime Day.

The best Prime Day deals, hand-picked by Mashable's team of experts
Categories: IT General, Technology

How a fictional girl group and a demon boy band made 2025s biggest K-pop hits

Mashable - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 11:00

A great K-pop song surprises you. It doesn’t whisper its intentions; it shouts them in multiple languages with a dance break in the middle. And in Netflix's K-pop Demon Hunters, those songs also have to tell a story.

Set in a supernatural world where idols double as demon slayers, the movie follows HUNTR/X, a powerhouse girl group navigating fame, friendship, and the fate of humanity. But building a believable fictional K-pop group, one that could go toe-to-toe on the charts with the likes of TWICE, meant assembling a team that deeply understood both pop structure and emotional storytelling. Enter executive music producer Ian Eisendrath, songwriter and vocalist EJAE, co-directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, and sonic heavyweights from THEBLACKLABEL, the music label founded by Teddy Park (the producer behind 2NE1 and BLACKPINK).

SEE ALSO: Netflix's 'K-pop Demon Hunters' review: Balancing demon-slaying with idol realness

Together, they crafted seven original tracks that bridge worlds: K-pop and Broadway, fantasy and reality, maximalist production and narrative precision.

And what started as a fictional soundtrack for a demon-slaying girl group has become an actual pop phenomenon. The K-pop Demon Hunters cast soundtrack has soared far beyond expectations: hitting the Top 3 on the Billboard 200 (the highest-charting soundtrack of the year), topping Spotify’s Weekly Global Albums chart, and notching the largest streaming week for a soundtrack in two years. "Golden" became the highest-charting song by a K-pop girl group in U.S. Spotify history, while the villainous Saja Boys scored the first-ever U.S. Spotify No. 1 for a male K-pop group with their hypnotic track "Your Idol." Not bad for a bunch of demons and slayers.

In the process of making the music for the film, the creative team also uncovered what makes a great K-pop song tick — and how to reverse-engineer one from scratch. Here’s how they did it.

Assemble the right team

To craft music that could stand toe-to-toe with real-world K-pop hits, the K-pop Demon Hunters team built a dream lineup of collaborators, mirroring how many K-pop tracks are made through close teamwork between multiple producers, topliners, and lyricists. A pivotal meeting in Seoul with THEBLACKLABEL founder Teddy Park brought industry authority and sonic firepower. Executive music producer Ian Eisendrath, known for his work on film and Broadway musicals, helped shape each track with cinematic precision. And songwriter EJAE, a former SM Entertainment trainee who’s written for some of K-pop’s biggest girl groups, lent both vocal power and industry-savvy storytelling. Together, they created songs that not only sounded like hits but also moved the story forward.

Maggie Kang [co-director]: We took the movie to THEBLACKLABEL, literally. We were in Teddy [Park]’s living room in Seoul. He’s very private and doesn’t really meet with people, so the fact that he sat down with us and said, "This is cool, guys," was incredible. I mean, that’s Teddy. The coolest person telling you your project is cool? That’s huge.

Chris Appelhans [co-director]: The initial meeting was in late 2021 or maybe early 2022. It’s all kind of a blur.

Kang: They were really down to work with us, even though I think none of us fully understood how big the hill was to climb. The process was long, but like anything in animation, the longer you do it, the better you get. By the time we got to the finale, we just kept pushing it, adding more and more, making it better and better.

Ian Eisendrath [executive music producer]: When Spring Aspers at Sony called and asked if I wanted to do this, I was just like, "Yeah, that’s a dream job." I wasn’t necessarily the first person you’d think of when it comes to K-pop, so I was quite honored to be asked. When I met with the team, I instantly knew what my role would be and how I could contribute to it, to help make sure the songs and the whole musical picture reached their fullest potential.

EJAE [songwriter, singing voice of Rumi]: I was a K-pop trainee myself at SM Entertainment for almost a decade, so that experience definitely helped me in the writing process and in connecting with the characters.

Start with story

Before a single hook or beat drop was written, the team built a story-first blueprint. Every emotional arc, character trait, and turning point had to be mapped out to determine where music could elevate the narrative, and what kind of song each moment demanded. Genre, tempo, topline, and even who should carry the chorus all stemmed from that scaffolding.

EJAE: It was actually very similar to how things work in the K-pop industry when creating new idol groups. I get sent many briefs of new idol groups from various K-pop companies, and they would give me a list of song references and a brief description of what kind of aesthetic, vibe, and sound they want their girl/boy group to be. The only difference was that there was a specific storyline and context we had to match the song and lyrics to.

Eisendrath: Early on, we really decided there are two kinds of songs in this film. One is diegetic: live performances that the characters are aware of. The other is more internal monologue: things the characters can’t say out loud, but that come through in song. K-pop doesn’t usually do that second part — storytelling through song — so that was an opportunity. We had to create lyrics that sounded like the characters and moved the story forward.

EJAE: We had to write the storyline within the lyrics. That was the hardest part, balancing narrative with catchiness. The balance between having a complex storyline fit within a 3-minute pop song, making it PG-friendly, and still sound hip and cool was definitely a challenge.

Eisendrath: We created prompt sheets, in collaboration with the directors — monologues from the character’s POV, notes on structure and timing, a vibe board of K-pop influences — and then spent time shepherding both the songwriting and how it interacted with the picture. But my goal and role was really to let these artists create the thing that only they can create. I'm not a Korean K-pop artist, so I wanted to really understand their world.

EJAE: Having a storyline set, it was a great "north star" that guided me and my co-writers to write lyrics and melodies that fit that narrative. However, it was also really difficult, since pop songs only have so many melodies, and if there are too many melodies or lines, the catchiness goes away.

Write for the character, not just the hook

Each song had to sound great, but more importantly, it had to feel like something a specific HUNTR/X member would sing. That meant tailoring melodies, ad-libs, and vocal parts to match the characters' personalities.

EJAE: Having to write lyrics and melodies unique to each member's characteristics was similar to how I write for K-pop. Oftentimes, A&Rs would ask to incorporate ad-libs or belting notes to show off the vocals of the main singer of the group. That’s what I did for the film as well.

Meet the demon-slaying baddies of HUNTR/X: Mira, Rumi, and Zoey. Credit: Netflix

Appelhans: We wanted people to feel something when those high notes hit. It’s like an Olympic vault — you don’t know how they stuck it, but it gives you chills.

EJAE: Rumi was described as an incredible vocalist who could belt high notes. So, I had fun experimenting with different melodies that can really show off her vocals. But I also ended up hating myself in the recording studio because I ended up having to sing all those high notes...

Embrace maximalism

K-pop is known for genre mashups, bold production, and layers upon layers of vocals. The film team didn’t tone it down; they doubled down on it.

Eisendrath: Whenever I've heard K-pop, I've been like, oh my gosh, this genre is so theatrical and would so beautifully lend itself to film... So often when you're working on film musicals, the music needs to be as exciting, as immersive, as dynamic, as everything you're seeing… and K-pop already does that.

EJAE: One thing about K-pop demos is that they all sound radio-ready. They are mixed, have all the background harmonies, background vocals, and adlibs like in a finished record. I think that helped directors and everyone envision the scenes more.

Eisendrath: I’m a real fan of big, thick, exciting vocals. That’s something I love about K-pop: the number of vocal layers, the arrangements, the massive productions. There’s nothing subtle about it.

EJAE: Because HUNTR/X was a mash of a lot of different K-pop girl group styles, it was fun to incorporate all the different styles I’ve written for different types of girl groups — some more cute, some more badass, and some more vocal/melody heavy. For example, sometimes the verses would be more badass and rap heavy, and the pre-chorus and hook more melodic and power vocals. K-pop is very maximalist when it comes to vocal production and production. Even when I write for aespa or Red Velvet, there are a lot of harmonies and background vocals to bring more depth and richness to the songs. That translated beautifully into film. All the vocal layering and harmonies made the song more cinematic!

The drop is sacred

In K-pop, the drop isn’t just a beat; it’s a declaration. It’s the seismic pulse that launches a chorus, powers a dance break, and leaves an imprint long after the song ends. For K-pop Demon Hunters, that moment had to hit like divine intervention.

Eisendrath: You find the groove, you find the song. Especially with tracks like "Takedown" and "How It’s Done," the drop had to feel like K-pop — massive emotional payoff with very few words.

Kang: Obviously, there are shades of 2NE1 and BLACKPINK. That’s Teddy’s legacy. But THEBLACKLABEL and Teddy didn’t want to just do the same thing again. They were committed to creating something new. You can still hear that signature sound, but each of our girl group songs is so different, you can’t really compare them to one group. One thing we always had to remind people was: these girls are warriors. They’re not just idols, they fight demons. That brought a whole different kind of energy and attitude to the music.

Eisendrath: The opening ["How It's Done"] sets up that we have these three K-pop idols, their personalities, their character, and the fact that they are unbeatable. It's really more of an "I am" or "We are" song. But then we also really wanted to include demon fighting and that exciting arrival at a concert in a stadium. So it had to do all of those things. We wanted to make sure we kicked off the movie with something that sounded authentically like a K-pop song from THEBLACKLABEL.

Let the song evolve

Nothing was set in stone. The music, like the story, was revised repeatedly until it matched the emotional beats of the film.

Eisendrath: None of the songs in the film now were the songs we started with. We did many versions of each one. The finale track went through eight full versions. The opening had four totally different songs before we landed on the one that worked.

Maggie Kang [co-director]: We did many, many iterations of each song. As the story evolved, so did the lyrics and sometimes the entire intent of the song. It was a very interesting process. None of us had worked on a musical before, and so this was a really complex storytelling puzzle.

Eisendrath: The finale was the hardest to crack. As the story evolved, so did the needs of that final song. It had to be inspiring, but not cheesy. It had to reflect a new sound for our lead character, one that embraces all the different parts of who she is, not just the version of her that the K-pop industry expected. And it also had to tie everything together: the demon-fighting, the love story, the emotional resolution. There’s even this moment of collective awakening, where everyone who’s been numbed out by the demons starts to come back to themselves. It's like a singing revolution. Finding the right tone, the right energy, the right message — it just took time. But it was worth it.

Appelhans: The finale just kept getting bigger.

Eisendrath: With pop music, you make it in a period of time and release it. But in animation, the story changes, and so do the songs. One of our writers recently joked, "I thought you were going to ask for one more major revision two weeks before release."

Aim for emotional pop, not musical theater

One of the hardest challenges? Making sure the songs didn’t just sound like musical numbers with a pop beat.

Eisendrath: We always made sure: If we were going to choose, the pop hook and vibe won out. If it ever started sounding too Broadway, we had to go back.

Appelhans: We didn’t want these songs to feel like "musical" songs. They had to be real bops, but they also had to carry emotional weight.

EJAE: It also couldn’t be too simplified, where the story doesn't come through.

Eisendrath: The challenge was: How do you make a K-pop song do what a musical theater song does — get a character from A to B emotionally — without losing that polished, exciting pop feel?

Appelhans: When we finally figured out what the group meant to each other, that’s when songs like ‘Golden’ finally clicked. It was like writing from a real emotional place.

Flip the fantasy

In K-Pop Demon Hunters, the villains aren’t just demons — they’re idols, too. Saja Boy, the film’s fictional boy group, was designed as a dark mirror of HUNTR/X, using bubblegum charm to hide a much more sinister agenda.

Eisendrath: The idea was that the demons realize HUNTR/X is dominating the fandom, and if HUNTR/X wins, the demons lose everything. So they decide to become a K-pop boy group themselves. "Soda Pop" had to feel sweet and innocent, almost veiled, to mask their true nature. It's that ultra-polished, feel-good boy band vibe…until they're in control. Then they no longer need to hide.

Appelhans: We wanted the Saja Boy songs to be incredibly good and catchy earworms, but at their core, they’re hollow. There’s no soul in them. They’re meant to feel a little toxic underneath the polish. That doesn’t make them lesser pop songs, but there's no truth there, there's no soul in them. The HUNTR/X songs, on the other hand, are emotionally honest. We were saying the other day: The superficial part of your heart might fall for the boys, but the deeper part is moved by the girls.

Kang: Lyrically, the Saja Boy songs are like, "give me give me give me." But the finale, that’s HUNTR/X giving something back. They’re giving themselves to the audience.

Eisendrath: That’s where "Your Idol" comes in. It’s the flip side — seductive, obsessive, and frankly disturbing. It’s a twisted version of K-pop fandom. The fans are so deep under their spell that the demons can literally feed off their souls. They’re singing, “Worship me. You need me. You belong to me.”

Kang: I'm so surprised we got away with that scene. We're very proud of it because it just goes so dark and it goes so hard. And we were like, let's just go harder. And we just kept pushing it.

So, what makes a perfect K-pop song?

The team agrees: It’s a blend of complexity, catchiness, and emotion, and it should be a little bit hard to sing.

EJAE: What makes a great K-pop song that's different from pop songs is how complex and diverse one song can be. Chord changes, beat switch-ups, and having multiple melodies are what keep the listeners on their toes. The quirky fusion of genres and styles is what I feel is the charm of K-pop. But with all that complexity, all great K-pop songs have a strong hook/chorus and concept that grabs your attention and that everyone can sing along to.

Kang: I told EJAE: Make the songs hard to sing. For me, great pop songs are the ones you want to belt in the car. That’s what makes them stick. I believe it’s part of our karaoke culture. A good K-pop song is one that challenges your voice, that you want to master. That's the bar I wanted to hit.

Appelhans: You hear someone hit that impossible note, and it just gives you chills. That’s what we wanted these songs to do.

Kang: I try to sing "Golden" every day, and I still can't.

Categories: IT General, Technology

NASA astronaut captures rare lightning that actually shoots toward space

Mashable - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 11:00

As the International Space Station whizzed over Mexico and the United States — before floodwaters catastrophically rose in Central Texas — a NASA astronaut watched the storms from miles above. 

Nichole Ayers set up her camera to record a time-lapse movie in the orbiting laboratory's cupola on Thursday. Her goal was to photograph exotic weather phenomena from an alien's-eye view. 

With planning and patience, she snagged a masterful shot of a gigantic jet, a rare type of lightning that shoots up from the top of a thunderstorm into the edge of space. 

You read that right: There are indeed reverse lightning bolts that actually shoot toward the heavens rather than down to Earth's surface. These are just one kind of "transient luminous event," of which scientists know little. In fact, they're so unusual that Ayers initially misidentified the jet as another type of TLE called a sprite, which occurs in the upper atmosphere above thunderstorms. 

"Just. Wow," she wrote in a July 3 post on X. "We have a great view above the clouds, so scientists can use these types of pictures to better understand the formation, characteristics, and relationship of TLEs to thunderstorms." 

SEE ALSO: Think this space station and moon photo is AI? Meet the photographer. NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers provided a labeled view of the transient luminous event she captured near the U.S.-Mexico border on July 3, 2025. Credit: NASA / Nichole Ayers

These so-called TLEs take many forms. They can disrupt communication systems and create flight risks for planes and spacecraft. Scientists want to better understand them to improve weather predictions. 

But because they happen much higher than normal lightning and storm clouds, they're hard to study. The European Space Agency has installed a monitor on the outside of the space station, which flies about 250 miles above Earth, to collect data on these events. The information is helping researchers unspool the mystery of all the ways thunderstorms can affect Earth’s atmosphere.

"The region of space above the thunderstorms is almost like an electrical zoo," said Burcu Kosar, a space physicist, in a NASA video. "We have this collection of electrical activity. We have blue jets, gigantic jets, trolls, halos. It's almost like an electric fairy tale." 

Kosar has spearheaded a new citizen science project that combines scientific data with the photography of storm chasers who have a knack for capturing TLEs. Called Spritacular, it's the first crowdsourced database of these phenomena that is readily accessible to researchers.

What scientists do know about gigantic jets — and, yes, "gigantic" is part of their name, not an extra descriptor thrown in by this reporter — is that they seem to start like regular lightning inside a storm. Most of them have been spotted coming from tall, powerful storms over warm oceans. These storms often have a protruding top, where part of the cloud reaches higher than the atmosphere.

The gigantic jets may form when a strong and brief burst of rising air, called a convective pulse, happens inside the storm. The burst stirs things up near the top of the cloud, intensifying the storm. It also creates a layer of electric charge at the top.

Scientists think when the electric charges are stacked inside the cloud in a certain pattern, they allow lightning to break free from the top of the cloud. The gigantic jets emerge as bright tree or carrot shapes of plasma, looking a little like something out of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds.

Don Pettit, a NASA astronaut and photographer who recently returned to the planet from the space station, praised Ayers for her shot. 

"To record a photo like this takes skill to set up the camera," he wrote on X, "but more than that, the knowledge of what lightning systems are likely to create [TLEs] and the willingness to take 2000-5000 images where only one will record" the event.

Categories: IT General, Technology

How K-pop Demon Hunters became a love letter to K-pop and its fandom

Mashable - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 11:00

In the age of multiverses and music biopics, K-pop Demon Hunters dares to do something different: it builds a brand-new universe from scratch. The animated action-comedy follows a K-pop girl group that sells out stadiums, dominates the charts, and secretly slays demons. And somehow, it all works.

Co-directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, the film is also a visual treat. The animation is expressive and kinetic, channeling everything from chibi exaggeration to concert-film realism. There are nods to multiple generations of K-pop — from Seo Taiji to TWICE — and the soundtrack blends original songs by THEBLACKLABEL producers with iconic needle drops from EXO, beloved K-dramas, and more.

SEE ALSO: Netflix's 'K-pop Demon Hunters' review: Balancing demon-slaying with idol realness

In this interview, Kang and Appelhans talk about the film’s mythology, their favorite K-pop groups, and how the Saja Boys' hollow bangers and Felix Lee-coded Baby Saja became the internet’s new obsessions.

Directors Chris Appelhans (L) and Maggie Kang (R). Credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Mashable: Starting off with what I hope is a simple question, who is your HUNTR/X bias?

Maggie Kang: Mine is Mira. I think she's who I want to be because she's just so cool. And that's the kind of woman that I'm like — this woman's kind of a wreck on the inside, but doesn't really seem like it. I love that kind of vibe.

Chris Appelhans: Yeah. Same.

Kang: I didn't know that.

Appelhans: It's so funny because we're creating these fictional characters, and a big part of what makes K-pop stars so good is they're these kind of incredibly glamorous people, and they truly can sing, and they're so good at dancing, and then they're also, as you get to know them, off camera, they have some identity and funny personality. And as we were doing the animation and figuring out how each of them dances, how they perform, there would be shots of Mira dancing, and I'm like, "Oh, yep, that's my bias." Like, you don't know until it happens. You're like, oh, there it is, yep, OK.

That's exactly how it happens in real life, too. I talked to the cast, and watching them all interact and talk, and especially with May [Hong], I was like, "Oh, you guys are exactly like your characters."

Kang: Isn't it insane? The moment we heard May's voice, we were like, "Oh." Because it was actually really challenging to find that kind of tone of voice in a Korean actress, and when we first heard it, we Googled her and found her Instagram, and we were like, "Oh my gosh, she is way cooler than we thought." And then when we met her in person, it was like, Can we be friends?

Mira, Rumi, and Zoey are the fiercest girl group in the game, on stage and on the demon battlefield Credit: Netflix

I know this movie was seven years in the making for you, Maggie. Where did the idea come from?

Kang: [Points to the skateboard deck on the wall behind her] This is the first painting that was ever done of Rumi. And there were other drawings that had been done as well, but she was actually created for a project that my partner was working on. He has this skate group that he created, and wanted to create a new character. And so he and I sat down, and we're like, let's make her Korean. And the design of Rumi was born then, and I liked the character so much I plucked her out for this [project].

It came from really wanting to see Korean culture represented in feature animation. And demonology was something I just really leaned into, and that naturally led to demon hunters. And Rumi was a badass girl, and I needed two other girls just as badass with her. And so it was like more of a Buffy, the Vampire Slayer-type of demon slayer group, and the K-pop of it came last. It was another Korean thing that I could add in and have it be their public-facing persona. And that made it a great pitching point and gave it that spectacle and brought scale, and obviously made it a musical.

With K-pop, concepts and lore are very much part of a group's identity, so it actually fits super well. HUNTR/X feels like a fully formed girl group. So, how did you kind of go about building the aesthetic of the group?

Appelhans: We really let the story drive everything. Early on, we were inspired by traditional Korean mudang dancers — women who performed these beautiful, protective rituals — and thought, "Isn’t that kind of like the first concert?" That idea clicked: music as a way to connect people and push away darkness. From there, everything opened up. It gave us a foundation for the girls' identities, their costumes, the mythology, even the stage visuals. And with the Saja Boys, we had fun playing with the idea of a dark, seductive boy band, literally demons in disguise. Our whole team loves fashion, music videos, dramatic lighting, and bold makeup, so once we had the concept, our crew was like, "Please, unleash us."

Kang: We're begging our producers, like, "Can we have one more look, please?"

I want to talk about the Saja Boys. I think you captured something really sharp about the music industry as a whole — both the beautiful, connective power of it, like we see with the golden Honmoon, and also the darker, more soul-sucking aspects of it, especially through the Saja Boys as literal demon idols. There are a lot of fun nods to the music industry and K-pop tropes throughout the film, but there's also real respect for the craft and culture. So I’m curious: how did you approach that balance between satire and sincerity?

Kang: Early on, one of our Korean writers was a little confused that we weren’t focusing more on the darker side of the music industry. But for me, especially since this is my first movie set in Korean culture, I didn’t want to lead with negativity. That said, the demon-hunting aspect naturally became a metaphor for the messier parts of the industry — the pressure to be perfect, to hide your flaws, to perform a polished version of yourself, not just for the public, but even within your own group. That dynamic is already baked into the story.

And of course, the Saja Boys being literal demons is part of that. I’ve seen people online joking, "Of course the boy band is evil," which makes me laugh. But hey, we’ll take it.

Appelhans: That also shaped how we approached the music. We wanted the Saja Boys' songs to be super catchy, but slightly hollow, like there’s no real soul underneath. In contrast, the HUNTR/X songs are emotionally vulnerable and honest. The idea was that the surface-level part of your heart might be obsessed with the boys, but the deeper part is moved by the girls. It’s that feeling when an artist shares something raw, like "drivers license" or Lemonade, and you’re stunned they went there, but you feel it so deeply. That’s the space we wanted HUNTR/X to live in.

Kang: Exactly. The boys' lyrics are all "give me, give me," and the girls’ final song is about giving themselves to the audience.

That idea of giving and receiving is something I’ve talked about with a lot of artists — the emotional exchange between performer and audience. And "Your Idol," the song by the Saja Boys, really floored me. It says the quiet part out loud in such a bold, explicit way. I remember thinking, Wow, they really went there. It’s a really smart piece of songwriting.

Kang: I’m still surprised we got away with that scene! We’re really proud of it because it goes so dark and so hard, and we just kept pushing it. Every time we thought we’d hit the line, we were like, "Nope, let’s go even harder."

Appelhans: That track is incredible. THEBLACKLABEL did such a great job with it. It was so rich that we could literally take it apart and use different pieces throughout the film. In the finale, for example, we pulled elements from the full track and blended them into the score. There are moments where the song breaks down into just instrumental, and you barely notice — the music carries the emotion seamlessly, like you’re watching a full concert experience. It was really exciting to build that kind of layered sound.

Don't be fooled by their good looks. Credit: Netflix The Saja Boys are demons in disguise. Credit: Netflix

There’s been a lot of fan speculation about idol inspirations behind the character designs. Were there any real-life idols or groups that inspired either HUNTR/X or the Saja Boys?

Kang: With HUNTR/X, we were working closely with THEBLACKLABEL, so naturally, YG groups were an early reference — 2NE1 and BLACKPINK, of course. But Teddy [Park] and the team really wanted to create something new, with its own sound and identity. I knew I wanted the girls to be tough. They’re not just idols, they’re warriors. That alone gives them a different energy.

Appelhans: For the Saja Boys, our art team, which included some serious K-pop fans, leaned into boy group archetypes. We didn’t base any of them on one specific idol, but you can definitely find parallels across different groups. It was more of a love letter to boy band personas.

Kang: We had a massive reference board. Everyone, including Chris and me, had their own biases on there, and we didn’t always agree! When we opened it up to the crew, it got wild. The board became insane — literally, everybody was on there. Ultimately, a couple of artists designed the boys, and they absolutely infused their own bias into it. It was kind of a hodgepodge of different influences. But we did talk a lot about the archetypes that we wanted to represent.

I have to say, the baby-faced deep-voiced rapper? As a Stray Kids fan, I felt very seen.

Maggie Kang: Yes! Baby Saja is voiced by Danny Chung from THEBLACKLABEL. He’s one of the lyricists who worked on the film’s music, and we thought, "Why not cast him too?" It was his first time voice acting, and he crushed it.

And the Saja Boys’ intro set to EXO's "Love Me Right" was just perfect. Why was that the song?

Kang: That’s been in the cut since the very first version of that scene. It just worked. We talked about creating an original track, but ultimately, nothing fit quite like that EXO song. It had that sexy, polished energy we needed. And the next cue — "Love, Maybe" from [the Korean drama] Business Proposal — was also in the film from the beginning, long before we even cast Ahn Hyo-seop to play Jinu. When he heard the cut, he was like, "Oh my gosh, this is my song!"

Appelhans: In animation, we spend years working with temp tracks during the animatic phase. These two songs stuck. They felt like tributes and carried the tone perfectly, so we fought to license them.

Mira and Zoey literally have heart-eyes for the Saja Boys. Credit: Netflix

The animation is so bold and colorful, and so expressive. I loved the popcorn eyes, the chibi moments, and Zoey shoving snacks in her face. It felt very anime, very K-drama, in the best way. What influenced that visual style?

Kang: We didn’t set out with one fixed style. Everything was driven by what the moment needed. If something needed to be more dramatic, more funny, more heightened, we just went for it. Animation lets you push emotion to the limit. A lot of those expressive moments, like the girls going chibi or overreacting, came from our animators just having fun. Anytime someone in a review said, "This is so stupid," we took it as the highest compliment.

Appelhans: Even from the first time Maggie told me the movie she wanted to make, there were already all of these ingredients kind of cooked into the idea. You needed amazing choreography, which is hard to animate, and you needed badass women, which is really fun to do, and she was like, "I want them to also make a bunch of stupid faces and act really stupid and be funny and regular." So the movie and the tone of it just demanded this range out of the animators. That range required us to unlock each visual beat one by one. We actually referenced a lot of K-dramas, especially Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo. We have so many clips of her on our animation board. The way she could go from over-the-top silly to heartbreaking sincerity in seconds? That was our tonal blueprint.

That actually reminds me of something Max Martin once said — the key to writing the perfect pop song is being unafraid to be silly, stupid, or even a little annoying.

Appelhans: We're soul mates.

Last question, just for fun. Who are your favorite K-pop groups? Who were you listening to while making the film?

Kang: Currently, I’ve been listening to a lot of BABYMONSTER — my kid loves them, and they’re amazing vocalists. I also love Stray Kids, BTS, ATEEZ… and MONSTA X, which Chris got me into.

Appelhans: I love MONSTA X.

I really love Stray Kids, too.

Kang: They're amazing on stage. They're really fun.

Appelhans: Is it Felix? Is that the one [you were referencing before]?

Yes! When I saw Baby Saja, he immediately reminded me of Felix.

Appelhans: Also, IVE. Their production is so rich and interesting. It actually helped inspire some of the music we created for the film, just hearing how elevated pop production has become across the board.

K-pop Demon Hunters is now streaming on Netflix.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The stars of K-pop Demon Hunters (and their parents) are watching your fan edits

Mashable - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 11:00

Since its release on Netflix this past June, K-pop Demon Hunters has found a passionate audience and a thriving online fandom. The animated action-comedy about a demon-slaying K-pop girl group has inspired fan-made merch, fan art, and group chat-level obsession. While the film leans into the spectacle with stadium-sized bangers and a rival boy group made up of literal soul-sucking demons, it also hits on something real: the deep bond between women, the pressure of being perceived, and the joy of being part of something bigger than yourself. (Not to mention the collective heartbreak over Rumi and Jinu’s tragic, almost-love story.)

SEE ALSO: Netflix's 'K-pop Demon Hunters' review: Balancing demon-slaying with idol realness

It's a vibe the film's stars — Arden Cho (Rumi), May Hong (Mira), and Ji-young Yoo (Zoey) — fully understand. During our interview before the film's release, the three shared their favorite scenes, their girl group dream playlists, and how HUNTR/X mirrors their own friendship dynamic. They talk about their favorite idols (Yoo is a Jihyo girl, of course), how chaotic their group chat is, and the very relatable way their parents stalk their social media.

May Hong, Arden Cho, and Ji-young Yoo scream it out in the booth. Credit: Netflix

Just like HUNTR/X, they’re perfectly balanced: the steady center, the stylish enigma, and the lovable maknae. And yes, they’ve seen the edits. (And so have their parents.)

Below, the cast of K-pop Demon Hunters talks about K-pop bias picks, surviving social media, and the power of girl groups on screen and off.

Mashable: Before you signed on to the film, were you already fans of K-pop, or was this kind of like your crash course?

Arden Cho: I've always loved K-pop. I'm totally gonna age myself, but all the way from [first generation groups] Fin.K.L, S.E.S., H.O.T., Sechs Kies... Like, oh my gosh.

May Hong: It was more that time for me too.

Cho: Right? This was, like, the beginning, but it was not that cool to like it back then. I was a little bit shy about it. You know, my very first concert ever in life was H.O.T.

That's amazing.

Ji-young Yoo: That's iconic, actually. Did you see them in LA or in Korea?

Cho: No, in Korea.

Yoo: That's so cool.

Cho: I was so excited. But then, back in America, I went to see NSYNC and was like, "Oh yeah, NSYNC is the only boy band I like." Because it wasn't cool to like K-pop back then. And I felt insecure about it. But now I'm like, "Oh my gosh, it's so exciting. K-pop is the best." Obviously, now, the list [of groups I like] is so long and extensive.

Yoo: I'm a big ARMY. I've been an ARMY since 2015, and from following BTS, I began to listen to a lot of other K-pop groups, like past and current groups. So I really enjoy K-pop. It's a really impressive performance, and everything about it takes so much effort from an artistic perspective, and I really respect that so much. So I'm kind of, like, living out my dreams right now.

Ji-young, you are sitting in front of a purple background, so it's perfect.

Yoo: A lot of things are working for me here. There's a lot of purple for this movie, and it's making me very happy.

Similar to you, Arden, I fell in love with first-gen K-pop. I was downloading BoA's entire discography in, like, 2006.

Cho: That's the thing, too. I was covering K-pop songs since the early 2000s. I remember I covered BTS before BTS became BTS. And then I was like, "I told you they were good!" And then, you know, they got huge.

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How do you think the film might resonate with K-pop fans? Because I've already been seeing all the fan art on social media.

Hong: I saw a lot of talk on Reddit. There are Spotify playlists already dedicated to K-pop Demon Hunters, where people are just gathering their inspiration songs for what they think the energy is like. It seems like a lot of K-pop fans are excited about this.

Cho: I think it helps that the music is incredible. Like, all the songs are hits, they're bops, they're so good. And I feel like all the artists and producers who worked on this film with us just crushed it.

Yoo: They're all such, like, bona fide K-pop producers.

Cho: THEBLACKLABEL really brought it. Some of the songs, I'm like, "Ooh, I can feel a little bit of BLACKPINK."

Yoo: You can feel a Teddy [Park] touch, definitely.

Cho: It's so special.

Yoo: I think the fan response is hopefully a sign that we did it right and that we got it right.

Hong: Also, Audrey Nuna [who provides Mira's singing voice] is so cool. I'm so beyond flattered that that's Mira.

Cho: There are so many cool people who have helped us also look cool.

Yoo: They make us look so much cooler. It's really awesome.

Cho: We really can't take credit for any of that, but, you know, I'm just so honored, and I really hope the K-pop fans see that everybody who worked on this was so respectful, not only to K-pop but also the Korean culture and just everything that comes with it. They've captured it in such a magical way.

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There are so many nuances that only K-pop fans will understand, like the lightsticks and the variety show scene. I was totally sold when I found out that the villains were a boy band stealing the souls of fans.

Cho: How dare they be so handsome and so evil.

Yoo: A lot of people are posting photos of their favorite idols next to the characters to try and see where we drew inspiration from. I couldn't answer any of those questions for anybody, but it's really fun to see, like, similar hairstyles on similar idols, and it's really cool to watch fans try to figure it out.

Ji-young, I saw you actually living out your K-pop dreams. You did a dance challenge to "Takedown." That's true K-pop idol stuff.

Yoo: I did, yeah, it was really fun! I feel so honored to even be halfway in the same conversation as TWICE. That's just really cool. I think Jihyo is one of the coolest performers ever. All of TWICE is amazing, but I love watching Jihyo. I'm just here for a good time.

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Culturally, we're in the middle of a girl group renaissance, and HUNTR/X is definitely part of that. What is it about the dynamic of a girl group, real or functional, that makes it so compelling for people?

Cho: I just love that they're all so different, you know? I feel like they have very strong personalities and very distinct styles, whether it be fashion or vibe, and even their artistic style, right? And I love that it's a mix, and they're so different, but together, they make this amazing girl group like HUNTR/X.

Hong: There's nothing more powerful than sisterhood.

Yoo: [Laughs.] No, really.

Hong: Go us.

Yoo: It's something even cooler than the sum of their parts, which I think is always really moving. And I think K-pop is all about community, and girl groups and boy bands give a sense of belonging, both within the group and to the fans that are following them. I think we are getting a lot further away from each other, in some ways, because of the internet, and hopefully, art and other things like it can bring people back together.

If you were to build the ultimate girl group playlist, what songs would you put on it?

Yoo: Outside of K-pop, there has to be Destiny's Child. There has to be Spice Girls. And I would also want some Little Mix on there.

Hong: I obviously want NewJeans there.

Cho: And then I obviously want BLACKPINK. And aespa, too.

Yoo: And then definitely the HUNTR/X songs. And TWICE.

Cho: And LE SSERAFIM. We should throw song GG, some Girls Generation on there.

Yoo: We have to. And Fin.K.L., we need an OG on there.

Cho: There have been so many generations. Oh my goodness.

Yoo: And 2NE1 has to go on there. How long do you want this answer to be? Because we can continue.

Just three besties fighting evil and eating ramen. Credit: Netflix

You three seem to have a very good dynamic, kind of like your characters. How did you build that chemistry? Was it instant? Do you have an active group chat?

Cho: We made a group chat because we're all in different places. May's in New York. Ji-young is in LA, but you were traveling a bit. I was traveling. And so I think the group chat helped.

Yoo: Yeah, the group chat helped, for sure. I knew both of you before we started this project. There's a little, like, Asian American girls' brunch that happens in LA every now and then that we met through.

Cho: Some of us older Asian actresses and our cute young maknaes [youngest member of a group].

Yoo: As soon as I heard who the cast was, I knew the vibe was gonna work. And it did. It really didn't take a lot of effort.

You seem like your characters, too, just from what I'm observing.

Cho: I think you're right. Casting crushed it. Yeah, yay, Michelle.

I want to hear a little bit more about the group chat.

Yoo: It's called HUNTR/X.

Cho: May put our cover photo as the animation. It's so cute.

Yoo: We are the Demon Hunters.

Cho: We are. We're HUNTR/X. Hello, book us!

Who is the most active? And who's supplying the memes?

Yoo: I feel like you [points to May] have some really funny photos that you'll send.

Cho: There are things we can't really share, but there are some funny texts.

Hong: I think it's equal, though. We're all talking. We all really respond.

Cho: It's fun because it's all silly things or girl things, like, "Wait, what are you gonna wear? Or what color? What color should we wear?"

Hong: I don't really do that with people, but because we have to prepare for all this, we've just been sending 'fit pics back and forth.

Cho: We're also going to see magic tomorrow. We have a girls' day planned. We're gonna go see a magician at the Magic Castle [in LA].

Hong: I'm so excited. I'm not going to be like Mira there at all. I'm just so excited to be mesmerized. And I'm not going to be like, oh, do better. I'm just going to be exploding with joy.

Cho: We bond over that because I love magic, and May is always super cool, but once magic came in the picture...

Hong: Not in front of magic, not in the presence of magic.

Serious voice acting? Yes. But also: lots of selfies between takes. Credit: Netflix

Were there any lines or scenes that were especially fun or challenging to record?

Yoo: Zoey's just a fun character in general. Like, every recording session was really funny. They let me ad-lib a lot. So some of that was really fun, and I think a couple of those ended up in the movie. There's a scene where I'm, like, trying to be cool, but I'm also kind of flirting, and it's just cute and funny, and I really like doing that. For me, I know it's a win if I can hear laughter in the booth. There was plenty of that in this movie, because this movie is so funny.

Cho: I think some of my favorite scenes are just when the girls are being goofy and when they're collecting the pouches, and they're like, "Oh, they're not even cute." Like, that's literally one of my favorite scenes. On stage, they're so cool and epic and untouchable. But I feel like when you see the girl under the K-pop idol, it's so fun. With Rumi, the deeper stuff was pretty challenging. But it was also so fun. All the screaming — so much screaming, cathartic screaming.

Hong: I loved the screaming. I sound like I've been screaming into the void. In the studio, it's cool because there's no sound bouncing back, so you can really be as loud as you want and release everything.

The film shows how quickly the social media spotlight can shift — HUNTR/X dominates the conversation until the Saja Boys show up. How do you personally navigate your own relationship with social media, especially when it comes to attention or online perception?

Yoo: It's very different for me because I'm an actor. If social media weren't, on some level, part of my job, I think it would be a very different kind of interaction. I don't think about it too much, to be honest, which I'm pretty grateful for. I just go on to, like, do the posts that I must post for work, I check up on my friends, see what they're up to, and then I go about the rest of my day, and I hope it stays like that. I don't love being on the phone all the time.

Cho: I think I’m similar. If I wasn’t in this industry, I’m not even sure I’d have social media. But these days, I feel like I have a much healthier relationship with it. I’m not on as much as I used to be, and when I do post, I like sharing things that feel special. I always tell my fans that Instagram is kind of like a highlight reel — cool moments, fun looks, stuff that feels a little elevated. TikTok is where I’m more relaxed and goofy. It feels like there’s less pressure to be perfect there, and you can just do whatever. But I won’t lie — sometimes I still feel the pressure to look a certain way or keep up with trends. I’m always a little late on everything. Like, I just got into Labubu, and apparently that was a whole thing like a year and a half ago! So I’m definitely not always caught up, but maybe that’s part of the fun. All that's coming up on my feed are Labubus. I only have two, but I want more.

Yoo: I find Labubus scary.

Cho: They're so cute.

Yoo: No, I find them scary.

Cho: But they're cute. I have Sesame Bean and Lychee Berry.

Most days, I want to throw my phone into the ocean - May Hong, the voice of Mira

Hong: Most days, I want to throw my phone into the ocean. But then I’ll have a silly, goofy mood where I’m actually happy to be online, posting something dumb, keeping up with friends, scrolling through memes. Lately, I’ve been trying to set better boundaries. I started charging my phone outside of my bedroom and got an actual alarm clock, so I’m not immediately doomscrolling first thing in the morning.

Cho: That's actually super healthy. It's so good to disconnect. I do that every once in a while. I'll literally have no phone for a few days.

Yoo: That sounds fun.

Cho: It is super fun, but it's also a little scary the first couple of times. You have to let a couple of loved ones know so they don't think something horrible happened. I remember my mom would be like, "You didn't post anything for a week. Are you OK?"

Hong: Oh my God, my dad has sent that too. And I'm like, I don't even post like that.

Cho: I'm like, "Oh no, I turned my phone off. I'm sorry."

Yoo: Are your parents on Instagram?

Cho: My mom is so cute. She checks everything and she likes everything, and she'll comment, like, "Good job!"

Yoo: Yeah, that's my dad, too.

Cho: Or she'll DM me, like, "This is so cute. I'm excited."

Yoo: My dad has full-on Google search notifications for me.

Hong: Oh my God.

Yoo: I get all my information about myself from him. My dad has been sending fancams of K-pop Demon Hunters.

Cho: Her dad has found some awesome things to send us. He found a rap about us. Her dad is really plugged in, so he's pretty much our social media link.

K-pop Demon Hunters is now streaming on Netflix.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The Rubik’s Cube goes smart with Bluetooth and a companion app

Mashable - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 11:00

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StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Particula Rubik's Connected Pro Smart Cube 2-Pack $79.99
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Just $70 gets you 1TB of high-speed flash storage that plugs into almost anything

Mashable - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 11:00

TL;DR: Massive storage, blazing speed, and USB-C + USB-A versatility — this $69.97 1TB flash drive makes transferring files between your devices seamless.

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Opens in a new window Credit: High-speed flash drive Dual USB-C + USB-A 3.2 High Speed Flash Drive (1TB) $69.97
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Categories: IT General, Technology

This 10TB lifetime subscription may be the last cloud storage you ever need

Mashable - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 11:00

TL;DR: Get a 10TB Internxt Cloud Storage Lifetime Subscription for only $274.97 (reg. $2,900) on sale now.

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Opens in a new window Credit: Internxt Internxt Cloud Storage Lifetime Subscription: 10TB Plan $274.97
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