Blogroll

Netflix has released the trailer for Ray Gunn, the upcoming film from The Incredibles and The Iron Giant director Brad Bird.

SEE ALSO: Brad Bird takes us behind the scenes of 'Ray Gunn's massive sci-fi city

For Bird, the moment is decades in the making, as he's been working to bring Ray Gunn to the big screen since the '90s. The long-gestating passion project is a blend of sci-fi and film noir that transports viewers to the massive city of Metropia, a world of mile-high skyscrapers, flying cars, and aliens and humans alike. It's a world full of intrigue and corruption, and trying to get to the bottom of all that is the city's lone private eye, the down-on-his-luck Ray Gunn (voiced by Sam Rockwell).

(Not to be confused with Australian breakdancer Raygun, who's also found a home on Netflix in the form of a documentary.)

Ray and his alien associate Eyera (voiced by Tom Waits) need a job, fast. Otherwise, their business will go under. Luckily for them, a high-profile case lands in their laps, involving volatile media superstar Venus Nova (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) and a grisly murder. But is Venus truly the dangerous femme fatale everyone suspects her to be?

Check out the full trailer above to watch sparks fly between Venus and Ray, as well as some serious flying car chases and blaster action.

Ray Gunn also stars Alan Tudyk, Matt Berry, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Chernus, Kether Donohue, Michelle Rodriguez, Aasif Mandvi, Matt Jones, Kathryn Hunter, John Ratzenberger, Justin Peck, and Patton Oswalt.

Ray Gunn opens in select theaters Dec. 4, and premieres Dec. 18 on Netflix.

The moment your Linux PC powers on, it begins a silent conversation on your local network under your nose. Background system processes are checking in with servers, applications are on the hunt for new updates, and other devices on the network are signaling that they are up.

TL;DR: As of Sept. 23, the DJI Power 1000 V2 portable power station is available for $419.99 at Amazon. That's a saving of $30 off the regular list price of $449.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: DJI DJI Power 1000 V2 $419 at Amazon
$449 Save $30   Get Deal

OK, so there's nothing sexy about a power station. They can be bulky, ugly, and expensive. But they're also one of life's essentials in this increasingly-connected, device-driven world — particularly if you like to take road trips and get into the great outdoors.

The fact that they're expensive is one reason many people put off buying one. It's a whole lot of cash to drop on something this un-sexy — an item that's an essential rather than a luxury — which is why you should always check out the power station deals around a sale like October Prime Day.

Yes, we know it's early — October Prime Day officially runs Oct. 6-7 — but Amazon is already supercharged with early deals, including a discount on the DJI Power 1000 V2 portable power station. As of Sept. 23, the DJI Power 1000 V2 portable power station is available on Amazon for $419.99, a $30 savings from the list price of $449.99.

The DJI Power 1000 V2 is a multi-purpose power station that will power pretty much any device you can throw at it, whether it's a phone or laptop, power tools, a microwave, or even a mini-fridge.

It's quiet, fast-charging (via the grid or solar power), and offers 11 ports, including AC and various USB ports. In addition to that, it's super portable, allowing you to throw it in the trunk and take it anywhere you need power.

Pick up the DJI Power 1000 V2 portable power station while it's discounted at Amazon — now just $419.99.

While ads everywhere on your phone can feel annoying, they may start to feel embarrassing as well at a certain point. To implement advertising-related tracking at the OS level and serve targeted ads, every Android phone with Google Play Services carries a Google Advertising ID (GAID). It acts somewhat like a cookie by providing an identifier that can be used to serve targeted and personalized ads.

The first character you meet in Brad Bird's Ray Gunn isn't the titular private eye (voiced by Sam Rockwell). Nor is it his alien colleague, Eyera (voiced by Tom Waits), nor even pop superstar Venus Nova (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). Instead, it's the film's setting: the massive, retro-futuristic city of Metropia.

Ray Gunn's opening sequence zips viewers through the canyons between Metropia's mile-high buildings. Flying cars and elevated trains transport hordes of humans and aliens alike, but commuters could just as easily rent a jetpack for quick travel. For them, it's business as usual, but for viewers, it's a rollicking introduction to an astounding city.

SEE ALSO: How 'Ray Gunn's Venus Nova, pop star of the (retro) future, evolved

Bird has been working to make Ray Gunn since the '90s, and he's stressed Metropia's importance from the very beginning. In an introductory note on a script draft from 1996, he wrote that the one character he couldn't adequately capture on the page was Metropia. In this world, he wrote, "Cities are gargantuan jewels that stretch into the heavens."

As Ray Gunn moved from page to screen, how did Bird and his team manage to bring the jewel of Metropia to life? At a press day at Netflix's animation studios, Bird and his collaborators broke down the influences and techniques behind the finished version of Metropia, as well as the importance of getting it right.

"The movie took place almost entirely in that city, and if the city wasn't a character, it would be an empty experience," Bird told Mashable.

According to Ray Gun art director Wendell Luebbe, Bird wanted to combine two different styles for the look of Metropia. One was the work of early 20th century architect Hugh Ferriss, who dreamed up tall, stepped buildings. (Fittingly for Ray Gunn, he also wrote the 1929 book The Metropolis of Tomorrow.) The other was Streamline Moderne, a sleeker take on Art Deco that took off during the 1930s. While Ferriss' work is defined by height and blocky geometry, Streamline Moderne is all about curves and aerodynamics.

Concept art for the city of Metropia. Credit: Netflix / Skydance Animation

"[Bird] wanted to meld those two together into something we've never seen," Luebbe told press. "So we took a lot of the ideas of Streamline Moderne and then grafted them onto the monumental Hugh Ferriss buildings."

As Ray Gunn's team developed Metropia's broader visual style, they also made sure to give its many neighborhoods their own distinct feel. The city's entertainment district is "like Times Square on steroids," Luebbe said. But you can find quieter, Greenwich Village-type areas with smaller clubs as well. Elsewhere, the city's aliens live in the Maze, a labyrinthine space whose organic structures drew inspiration from Dale Chihuly's glass sculptures.

When it came to putting all these ideas on screen, Ray Gunn's VFX team faced a challenge in building Metropia.

"To my team, that was very scary, because it's gigantic," VFX supervisor Adel Abada told Mashable. Rather than building a full digital model and moving the camera around it, they built out parts of the city to match certain sequences. This better allowed the team to follow the needs of the storyboards until they got the right shot composition.

"When you look at it as a whole movie, you would believe it's a city that exists, because that's the goal," Abada told press. "How can you create the illusion of a city that exists without going through the entire process of building it piece by piece?"

Concept art for the city of Metropia. Credit: Netflix / Skydance Animation

Abada and his team knew that the camera movement in Ray Gunn was going to be dynamic, especially in a particularly challenging sequence he described as "a vertical chase." That meant they couldn't rely on digital matte painting to create backgrounds. They needed to actually build out the geometry and depth of the buildings so the animators could know where everything was.

Part of designing Metropia also involved figuring out how it functioned as a city. How does Metropia's sheer height impact how people move around? For example, people using elevators have to strap themselves to the walls, as they move at top speed to ferry people up mile-high buildings.

Inspiration for the latter idea struck Bird as he directed Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, which features a tense climb up the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. (For reference, it's just over half a mile tall, making the buildings in Ray Gunn twice its size.)

"You press the elevator to go up to the top floors [of the Burj Khalifa], and your ears pop. It takes a few minutes to get up there," Bird recalled. "If you lived in a world where there were a lot of mile-high buildings that were taller than the ones in Dubai, people would not want to spend that much time in an elevator, so the elevators would be made really fast."

The elevators are just one of Ray Gunn's many world-building choices dictated by Metropia's astounding height, but they're far from the only ones. Scenes set in Metropia's airborne traffic lanes burst with rich detail about how inhabitants interact with this streamlined beast of a city.

As Bird told Mashable, "You want to give the audience a visual trip."

Ray Gunn premieres Dec. 18 on Netflix.

Travel costs for the production of this content were paid for by Netflix. The judgments and opinions of Mashable are our own.

In 2025, fictional girl group HUNTR/X took over the world thanks to Netflix's KPop Demon Hunters. Now, the streamer is bringing a new fictional pop star to our screens in director Brad Bird's Ray Gunn. Her name? Venus Nova.

SEE ALSO: Fall movie preview: All the 2026 films you need to know about

Voiced by Scarlett Johansson, Venus is the biggest star in Ray Gunn's sprawling, retro-futuristic city of Metropia, reaching the kind of media ubiquity we'd associate with Beyoncé or Taylor Swift. Even if you wanted to escape her reach, you couldn't: Holographic ads for her next album, Welcome to the Future, top skyscrapers and stand several stories tall.

However, Venus' superstar status comes with a high price. Her public outbursts and tumultuous relationships are catnip to Metropia's frenzied press, and they're enough to land her at the center of private investigator Ray Gunn's (voiced by Sam Rockwell) murder investigation.

Venus Nova welcomes us to the future (and her new album). Credit: Skydance Animation / Netflix

For Venus to be a larger-than-life icon as well as Ray Gunn's second lead, Bird and his team had to construct both her pop persona and her troubled personal life. At a press day at Netflix's animation studios, Bird was joined by art director Wendell Luebbe and VFX supervisor Adel Abada to discuss crafting the latest entry in a long, illustrious line of movie pop stars.

Instead of being inspired by pop stars of today, Venus' look draws on screen legends of the 20th century, emphasizing the "retro" in Ray Gunn's retro-futuristic setting.

"She went through all kinds of permutations, but ended up [with] a Lauren Bacall meets Veronica Lake look," Luebbe told press.

According to Luebbe and Abada, costume designer Neysa Bove designed 23 looks for Venus, including the gown she wears in her introductory performance. As Venus rehearses a tongue-in-cheek number, one of several songs written for the film by singer-songrwriter Kimbra, her gown shifts from angelic white to devilish red, complete with a light-up headpiece that mimics a halo and horns.

Concept art of Venus Nova's looks from "Ray Gunn." Credit: Skydance Animation / Netflix

One of the most challenging elements of the sequence was getting Venus' sequined dress to a blinding, pop star-level of shine. Abada recalled Bird's biggest note being, "Get me the sparkle."

"If it's sparkly enough, it reminds you of Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," Bird said, noting that the sequins on the dress for Venus' stand-in are much less sparkly, to emphasize she's not getting the quality fabrics.

But while Venus' onstage image is undoubtedly glamorous, Ray Gunn emphasizes that life in the spotlight isn't all glitter and rainbows. Metropia's media loves to paint Venus as an uncontrollable diva, but as Ray gets to know her better, he learns that Venus' fame is almost like a cage, and that she's hiding painful secrets of her own.

"What was more interesting to me — that was an idea early on — is the idea of someone who's really talented who is also a train wreck," Bird said of Venus' character.

Bird has been working on Ray Gunn since the '90s, and in the time since then, he and the rest of the world have watched young stars like Britney Spears and Amy Winehouse get devoured by invasive media scrutiny and public ridicule.

"You'd see a picture of [Winehouse] with a bloody nose in front of a pub at 4 a.m. and you'd go, 'Why is this woman looking for trouble?'" Bird said. "Then after she died, I saw the documentary, and I was sitting there feeling terrible, because she was so talented, and it was impossible for her to function with the people who were not looking out for her. So, that became an empathetic point when I was writing the later drafts of this."

These stories of pop stars battling the negative side of fame reverberate today, exacerbated by social media discourse. Look no further than the internet picking apart Ariana Grande's body. Or the fervor over Lola Young's collapse at the All Things Go music festival and her subsequent break from performing. Or relentless speculation about the hiatuses of KATSEYE members Manon Bannerman and Sophia Laforteza. People would just as soon tear a star down as they would build them up, and even though Ray Gunn's Venus doesn't draw direct inspiration from these modern stars, her story still speaks to our warped relationship to celebrity.

"I felt empathy for that character and people put in that position where they're just thrust into the spotlight, whether they're ready or not," Bird said.

Ray Gunn premieres Dec. 18 on Netflix.

Travel costs for the production of this content were paid for by Netflix. The judgments and opinions of Mashable are our own.

The best early Prime Day trading card deals: Best Pokémon TCG deal Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box $89.99 (save vs. market price) Get Deal Best MTG deal Magic: The Gathering The Hobbit Bundle $59.99 (save $10) Get Deal Best one piece deal One Piece Card Game Starter Deck ST-35 Red Black Sabo $22.44 (save $2.01) Get Deal Best Disney Lorcana deal Ravensburger Disney Lorcana TCG Illumineer’s QuestPalace Heist Cooperative Adventure Against Jafar $23.99 (save $36) Get Deal Best Kpop Demon Hunters deal Kpop Demon Hunters Collectible Trading Cards Energy Edition $49.95 (save $4.04) Get Deal

Prime Day might not have started yet, but trading card discounts are already piling up at Amazon — with plenty of offers in the Pokémon TCG, Magic: The Gathering, One Piece Card Game, Disney Lorcana, and even KPop Demon Hunters card markets.

We’ve also found plenty of dedicated Pokémon deals, but if you’re a card collector who’s out to save money on Oct. 6-7, keep this page bookmarked as Mashable will be updating the latest deals in the build-up to the main event.

Here are the best early Prime Day trading card deals we’ve found so far. 

Best trading card deal Opens in a new window Credit: Magic: The Gathering Magic: The Gathering The Hobbit Bundle $59.99 at Amazon
$69.99 Save $10.00 Get Deal Why we like it 

Magic: The Gathering's The Hobbit Bundle is a great way to explore the newer Middle-earth set, and this all-time low price (which we uncovered last week) represents incredible value ahead of Prime Day.

Now $59.99 instead of its $69.99 list price, saving you $10 at Amazon (its lowest-ever price, confirmed at price tracker camelcamelcamel). This box is below market price — with dedicated trading card marketplace TCGplayer still estimating it at exactly $61. What’s more, actual listings on the site only go as low as $63.58 plus shipping.

For that price, you're getting nine 14-card The Hobbit Play Boosters alongside an alternate-art Traditional Foil promo, 34 Land cards, an oversized Spindown life counter, two reference cards, and a storage box. That works out to about $6.67 per booster before even counting all of those extras, making this a strong all-in-one option if you've been waiting for a cheaper way to jump into The Hobbit expansion. 

More early Prime Day trading card deals

Pokémon TCG

• Pokémon TCG: Mega Lucario ex League Battle Deck — $18.51 $21.45 (save $2.94)

• Pokémon TCG: Mega Evolution Chaos Rising Triple Pack — $24.58 $29.99 (save $5.41)

• Pokémon TCG: Mega Evolutions Perfect Order 3-Pack Blister — $26.99 $29.99 (save $3)

• Pokémon TCG: Mega Moonlit Tin (random) — $37.98 $39.99 (save $2.01)

• Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet Journey Together Booster Bundle — $53.95 $59.99 (save $6.04)

• Pokémon TCG: 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box — $89.99 at Amazon, available by invitation

Magic: The Gathering

• Magic: The Gathering Avatar: The Last Airbender Beginner Box — $31.80 $34.99 (save $3.19)

• Magic: The Gathering Marvel Super Heroes Gift Bundle — $79.95 $89.99 (save $10.04)

• Magic: The Gathering Marvel Super Heroes Jumpstart Booster Box (24 Packs) — $119.98 $139.48 (save $19.50)

• Magic: The Gathering Marvel Super Heroes Play Booster Box (30 Packs) — $124.98 $209.70 (save $84.72)

• Magic: The Gathering The Hobbit Play Booster Box (30 Packs) — $189.99 $213.99 (save $14)

One Piece Card Game

• One Piece Card Game OP-07 500 Years in the Future Booster Pack (Japanese) — $9.80 $14.99 (save $5.19)

• One Piece Card Game ST-35 Red Black Sabo Starter Deck — $22.44 $24.45 (save $2.01)

• One Piece Card Game The Adventure of The Island of God OP-15 Booster Box (24 packs, Japanese) — $109 $119 (save $10)

• One Piece Card Game Final Battle OP-16 Booster Box (Japanese) — $122.60 $136.98 (save $14.38)

KPop Demon Hunters Collectible Trading Cards

• KPop Demon Hunters Collectible Trading Cards Energy Edition — $49.95 $53.99 (save $4.04)

• KPop Demon Hunters card-Energy Edition-001-NA-Series 1-A — $49.99 $53.88 (save $3.89)

Disney Lorcana TCG

• Disney Lorcana TCG Archazia’s Island Ruby & Sapphire Starter Deck — $9.95 $16.99 (save $7.04)

• Disney Lorcana TCG Azurite Sea Emerald & Sapphire Starter Deck — $9.95 $16.99 (save $7.04)

• Disney Lorcana TCG Illumineer’s Quest: Palace Heist — $23.99 $59.99 (save $36)

• Disney Lorcana TCG 2-Player Starter Deck — $29.95 $34.75 (save $4.80)

• Disney Lorcana TCG Azurite Sea Stitch Collector’s Gift Set — $39.90 $49.99 (save $10.09)

It's Meta announcement season, and you can follow along for yourself at home by watching Mark Zuckerberg's kenote live.

Meta Connect, the annual conference where Meta shows off its latest wares and services, starts on Wednesday evening with a big keynote address. Zuckerberg will take the stage at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday to show off Meta's latest hardware and services. If it's anything like last year, you'll be able to follow along live on Meta's official pages on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

SEE ALSO: Meta’s Muse reportedly has zero-day vulnerability that lets attackers take over your Mac

We don't know exactly what to expect from Meta Connect this year, but the company's recent smart glasses-heavy strategy suggests we'll see a pair of specs or two at the show. A recent report suggested the company is working on a camera-free pair of glasses, so maybe we'll see those on stage.

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

There's also the possibility that we could see Project Phoenix, a rumored new product that looks like a cross between smart glasses and a VR headset. A leaker recently shared a render found in Meta code that sure looks like Project Phoenix, so maybe it'll get fully unveiled on Wednesday. We'd also expect to see some updates on Muse, the popular new AI agent Meta just launched.

TL;DR: As of Sept. 23, Apple AirPods Pro 3 are available for $199 at Amazon. That's a 20% discount from the regular list price of $249.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple AirPods Pro 3 $199 at Amazon
$249 Save $50   Get Deal

For Apple-loving bargain hunters, things don't get much better than a major sale event such as Amazon's Prime Day. This is the time when you can find significant discounts on the very best Apple devices.

October Prime Day is very nearly here, with the two-day event set for Oct. 6-7, and we're already seeing some deals worth knowing about.

That includes a generous 20% markdown on the Apple AirPods Pro 3. As of Sept. 23, the Apple AirPods Pro 3 are priced at $199, representing a $50 saving on the list price of $249.

This is a deal not to miss. But what makes them Apple's earbuds? It's not just the sound quality, access to Siri, and synchronicity across Apple devices — it's also the active noise cancellation, some of the very best ANC technology around, and spatial audio. They also have built-in heart rate sensing, which works with Apple Health to track your heart rate and calories burned with up to 50 types of workouts.

With $50 off, they're an absolute must-have for dedicated Apple users. Pick up the Apple AirPods Pro 3 for just £199 as part of the early October Prime Day deals.

If you've ever used an X-shaped tire iron to remove lug nuts on your vehicle, you know how strenuous it can be. Most mechanics and DIYers use a breaker bar or an impact wrench instead, but a common question online is whether a Ryobi impact wrench can remove wheel lug nuts. After testing two of them, the answer is clear.

I've spent years working in Windows, and one of the little things that always annoyed me was having to resize and reposition windows whenever I wanted to fit several on screen at once. Windows' built-in Snap feature helps with this, but I often want a layout that's more specific to my workflow. That's where PowerToys FancyZones comes in.

Qualcomm announces its most powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chip built for aganetic AI computing on mobile phones. See all the highlights and announcements from the annual Snapdragon Summit 2026. 

Read more about Qualcomm chips and Snapdragon laptops: Microsoft unveils new Surface Laptop 8 and Surface Pro 12 with Snapdragon X2 chips
This is the first Snapdragon C laptop ever shown

Timecode chapters
0:00 Introduction and the age of agentic AI
2:34 Introducing Snapdragon 8 Elite and extreme Gen 6
3:33 Xiaomi 18 Pro series announcement
5:08 Qualcomm Oryon CPU and flex cache architecture
6:13 Sensing hub and personal scribe context
7:38 Hexagon NPU and agentic AI acceleration
9:26 AI ISP architecture and intelligent Pixel control
10:53 Adreno neural fusion and mobile gaming tech
12:05 Sanctuary Unreal Engine 5 real-time demo
13:08 Motorola Signature 27 first look

Video credits
Video editor: Stephen Beacham
Thumbnail designer: Stephen Beacham

SAVE $200: As of Sept. 23, the TCL 85-inch QM6K Mini LED QLED 4K TV is down to its lowest-ever price of $897.99 at Amazon. That's $200 off its full price of $1,097.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: TCL TCL 85-Inch Class QM6K Series Mini LED QLED 4K HDR TV $897.99 at Amazon
$1,097.99 Save $200   Get Deal

Ahead of its Prime Big Deal Days sale, Amazon has been dropping some fantastic early TV deals.

If you've been shopping around for an upgrade, this discount on the TCL 85-inch QM6K Mini LED QLED 4K TV is worth checking out. It's currently down to its lowest-ever price. As of Sept. 23, this TCL TV has received a $200 price cut, bringing it down to $897.99.

SEE ALSO: How to sign up for Amazon Prime in time for the next Prime Day

With the colder fall and winter months ahead, this is prime time to grab a new TV for binge-watching shows and movies in the warmth and comfort of your home, and this TCL model looks like an excellent upgrade. In addition to its huge 85-inch screen size, which turns your home into a mini movie theater, the display's 4K resolution and QD-Mini LED technology deliver stunning picture quality with sharp details, vivid colors, and deep contrast.

Pair that with a native 144Hz refresh rate, and the action on screen will look clear and smooth. This is especially nice if you're someone who loves watching live sports or playing games, as it means you won't have to deal with motion blur on screen. Plus, it's a Google TV, so getting back into your favorite shows and movies on streaming services is quick and easy.

Don't wait for Prime Big Deal Days. Score $200 off the TCL 85-inch QM6K Mini LED QLED 4K TV right now at Amazon.

The best deals this week, hand-picked by our shopping experts

• Apple iPhone 18 Pro — free at T-Mobile 

• Paramount+ — $0.99 for 2 months with code p2mcs26prem

• Apple AirPods Pro 3 — $199 $249 (save $50)

• Apple iPad Pro — $1,899 $2,099 (save $200)

• TCL 85-Inch Class QM8L Series TV — $2,497.99 $3,999.99 (save $1,502)

TL;DR: As of Sept. 23, the Apple iPad Pro (M4) 13-inch is available for $1,299 at Amazon. That's a $200 saving on the regular list price of $1,499.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple iPad Pro (M4) 13-inch $1,299 at Amazon
$1,499 Save $200   Get Deal

The future of Apple is the M6 chip, which was recently announced and will now power the latest Apple devices. As part of that exciting news, we're now seeing competitive discounts on previous-gen models, such as M4-powered iPads. And don't forget, just over a year ago, the M4 was the latest and greatest processor Apple had to offer.

It still stands up as the brains behind some very impressive iPads, including the Apple iPad Pro (M4) 13-inch, currently marked down as part of the early October Prime Day deals. As of Sept. 23, the Apple iPad Pro (M4) 13-inch is marked down to $1,299 at Amazon. That’s a $200 saving on the regular list price of $1,499.

Our expert picked out this deal in a roundup of the best Apple deals to drop ahead of October Prime Day.

October Prime Day officially runs Oct. 6-7, with early deals — such as this one — expected to drop between now and then. That doesn't mean you should wait until Prime Day itself to pick this up. We anticipate high demand for these iPads while they're listed at this price.

This iPad has Apple Intelligence and Face ID and offers all the slick fluidity you expect from the Apple user experience — particularly when you pair it with other Apple devices. Its Ultra Retina XDR display looks stunning, and it boasts 512GB of storage, WiFi 6E support, and an all-day battery.

Don't miss the chance to grab the Apple iPad Pro (M4) 13-inch with $200 off — before they all get snapped up.

If you can afford a little more, it's also worth checking out a deal on the Apple iPad Pro (M4) 11-inch, which takes things to the next level with Nano Texture Glass and almost quadruples the storage space. It's also discounted by $200.

When people complain about their home network, they usually blame slow Wi-Fi or dead zones. But the real problem isn't speed; it's the noise. Every device you own—your phone, your smart TV, your thermostat, even your printer—spends its idle time serving ads and reporting data back to companies you never actually agreed to talk to.

TL;DR: As of Sept. 23, the Pokémon 30th Celebration Greninja ex Box is available for $89.49 at Amazon. That's $10.50 off the list price of $99.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon 30th Celebration Greninja ex Box $89.49 at Amazon
$99.99 Save $10.50   Shop Now

Gotta catch 'em all, as the Pokémon saying goes. That doesn't just mean the Pokémon themselves, but all the Pokémon deals as and when they drop on Amazon. And with Amazon now releasing super-early deals ahead of October Prime Day, there are some trading card deals worth checking out.

As of Sept. 23, the Pokémon 30th Celebration Greninja ex Box is available on Amazon for just $89.49. That's a $10.50 discount from the regular list price of $99.99.

SEE ALSO: The Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Sylveon ex Tin is under market price at Walmart — buy for under $60 while stocks last

This box includes four Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration booster packs, along with a foil Greninja ex promo trading card and an oversize foil version for display.

Each booster contains five foil cards, including one of 30 Pikachu illustrations, and a foil Basic Energy card. You might even find some of the 30th Celebration’s most valuable Pokémon chase cards — including the $170+ SIR Mew ex, $130+ Gengar ex, and $100+ Futuristic Rare Mew ex.

Don't miss the chance to pick up the Pokémon 30th Celebration Greninja ex Box at $89.99 and save $10.50.

TL;DR: The Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Booster Bundle is available to preorder for $99.99 at Walmart, more than $23 below its current market price.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Booster Bundle $99.99 at Walmart
  Pre-order Here

The Pokémon TCG’s 30th Celebration rollout isn’t finished yet, with the Booster Bundle due to join the anniversary range on Oct. 2. Amazon and TCGplayer sellers already have stock lined up, but it’s actually Walmart that’s the place to buy right now.

As of Sept. 23, the Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Booster Bundle is $99.99 at Walmart. The preorder is sold and shipped by marketplace seller Cataclysm Games, with free shipping and an estimated Oct. 10 arrival at the time of writing. Walmart also offers its preorder price guarantee, meaning you’ll pay the lower price if the price drops again before release. 

That is a much better deal than the $135.97 Amazon listings. What’s more, this is $23.04 lower than the estimated market price estimated by trading card selling platform TCGplayer. 

SEE ALSO: Shop the best early Prime Day deals on Pokémon, including 30th Celebration trading cards for under market price

Inside are six Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration booster packs, with six cards in each pack. Every booster contains six holographic cards, including one of 30 different Pikachu rare variations, with other cards in the expansion featuring Pokémon such as Mewtwo ex, Mew ex, Umbreon ex, Salamence ex, and Greninja ex. 

At $99.99, that works out to around $16.67 per pack — saving you $1.26 per pack compared to the lowest legit price currently available on TCGplayer.

In an unsettlingly Orwellian move, the White House has launched what it's calling "Trump TV" amid the president's press ban.

On Monday night, the White House's official YouTube channel added a rebranded livestream with the tagline "The Essentials Station." The government-run stream runs a 24/7 reel of "the Trump Administration's biggest moments all in one place," including Donald Trump's speeches and public addresses during his presidency.

The stream is also embedded in the official White House website and app.

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

In an X post, Kaelen Dorr, Trump's deputy assistant and head of digital strategy at the White House, called Trump TV "a 24/7 livestream of the Administration’s greatest hits, unfiltered." It reportedly opened with Trump's speech at Mt. Rushmore on July 3, and at the time of writing, the channel is streaming Trump's May 2025 address to graduating cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.

The timing here is crucial. The move comes days after Trump revoked White House access for journalists from CNN, Politico, and MS NOW. On Friday, the president posted on his own Truth Social the ban was a "a result of their constant 'reporting' FAKE NEWS!"

SEE ALSO: Jon Stewart responds to Trump banning CNN from the White House

Press, commentators, and the White House Correspondents' Association have declared the ban a violation of the First Amendment, specifically the freedom of the press. All three outlets have filed a lawsuit against Trump and his administration, demanding White House press access be restored.

Several networks, including FOX News Media, ABC News, CBS News, CNN and NBC News, have boycotted coverage of White House events usually covered by the press pool, on grounds of a free press. "The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting," a joint statement reads.

Gavin Newsom, Governor of California and potential Democratic 2028 presidential election contender described Trump TV in an X post as "quite literally state-run TV" and "truly autocratic behavior" from Trump.

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

Stephanie Grisham, Trump's first term White House press secretary after Sarah Huckabee Sanders, also dubbed the White House's livestream "state-run media."

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

While Trump TV seems like just another YouTube livestream, the launch certainly speaks to something more alarming within the context of the president's latest attack on the media. A 24/7 online showreel of Trump's "greatest hits" curated by the executive arm of the federal government added days after journalists are banned from the White House for reporting on the president? The writing's on the wall.

Featured Video For You How prediction markets got people betting on nuclear war

TL;DR: Signify has launched the Philips Skylight ceiling panel on Amazon. Designed to mimic natural daylight indoors, it features auto-adjusting circadian tones and an IP44 rating for damp spaces.

Opens in a new window Credit: Signify Philips Skylight $399.99 at Amazon
  Shop Now

Windowless bedrooms, dingy basements, and gloomy home offices finally have a fix. Signify just dropped the Philips Skylight, a flat ceiling panel that mimics the exact look, depth, and color shifts of actual daylight so you can trick your brain into thinking you have a real skylight installed.

It’s officially available on Amazon now, with a wider rollout coming later this fall.

Instead of throwing harsh, artificial glare like an LED panel, the Philips Skylight uses NatureConnect tech to copy how real sunlight behaves from dawn to dusk. The 17.7 x 25.6-inch panel runs an "Auto Day Rhythm" mode that shifts its tone automatically throughout the day. You get bright, energy-boosting blue light in the morning to wake you up, which slowly fades into cozy, warm amber tones by the time you're ready to wind down at night.

Prefer to take control yourself? You can bypass the automatic schedule using the included remote. It lets you cycle through five preset lighting scenes to instantly match whatever you're up to. Signify is rolling out the panel in two different versions:

• Philips Skylight Medium — The standard model

• Philips Skylight VitaUp Medium (available on Home Depot from November) — The upgraded option that adds a built-in UV-B module to help support your body's natural vitamin D production indoors.

Both versions mount flush against your ceiling just like a standard light fixture — so no special tools, complex wiring, or structural drywall cutting is required. They’re also IP44 rated to handle humidity and splashes, so you can safely mount one in a dark kitchen or a windowless bathroom.

You can grab the Philips Skylight Medium on Amazon today. If you want the extra boost from the VitaUp Medium model, it will hit select Home Depot shelves starting in early November.

Pi-hole is one of the most popular tools out there for securing your home network against online threats — and it’s great at its job. The only problem is that it can be a bit too complicated to set up for the average user. Plus, the sheer number of features you get from Pi-hole can be overkill for what you actually need.