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The Moon is even closer to full tonight, as the Waxing Gibbous phase continues and more of its surface is lit by the Sun.

What is today’s Moon phase?

As of Friday, July 24, NASA's Daily Moon Guide tracker tells us the Moon phase is in Waxing Gibbous phase, with 68% of its surface visible.

You won't need any visual aids to be able to spot the Mares Fecunditatis and Tranquillitatis, as well as the Tycho Crater. Binoculars will also help you to see the Mare Nectaris, Alphonsus Crater, and the Alps Mountains. A telescope helps you see much more, including the Apollo 11, 16, and 17 landing spots.

When is the next Full Moon?

The next Full Moon will take place on July 29.

What are Moon phases?

The Moon takes roughly 29.5 days to complete its journey around Earth, passing through eight distinct phases during each lunar cycle, according to NASA. While the Moon’s same side is always visible from our planet, the portion of its surface lit by the Sun changes as it moves along its orbit. These shifting levels of illumination are what create the different appearances we see throughout the month, from a slender crescent shape to a half-lit Moon and finally a bright Full Moon, before the cycle begins once again.

The eight phases are:

New Moon - The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it's invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent - A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter - Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.

Waxing Gibbous - More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon - The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous - The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)

Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) - Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent - A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

Today's Connections: Sports Edition will be easier if you ever went to school in North Carolina.

As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a 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. The sports Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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Each puzzle features 16 words, and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise 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 before the game ends.

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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: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. 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: How high

• Green: Old North State sports

• Blue: New teams

• Purple: Pro softball

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: Jump

• Green: Schools in North Carolina

• Blue: 1990s Expansion Teams

• Purple: Athletes Unlimited Softball League Teams

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 #669 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Jump: BOUND, HOP, LEAP, SPRING

• Schools in North Carolina: APPALACHIAN STATE, DUKE, HIGH POINT, WAKE FOREST

• 1990s Expansion Teams: GRIZZLIES, JAGUARS, ROCKIES, SHARKS

• Athletes Unlimited Softball League Teams: BANDITS, BLAZE, CASCADE, TALONS

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports 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.

Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue.

Released in August 2025, Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.

Currently, if you're stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move on to the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level.

How to play Pips

If you've ever played dominoes, you'll have a passing familiarity with how Pips is played. As we've shared in our previous hints stories for Pips, the tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between a traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you have to address. The touching tiles don't necessarily have to match.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for July 24, 2026

The conditions you have to meet are specific to the color-coded spaces. For example, if it provides a single number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the number provided. It is possible — and common — for only half a tile to be within a color-coded space.

Here are common examples you'll run into across the difficulty levels:

• Number: All the pips in this space must add up to the number.

• Equal: Every domino half in this space must be the same number of pips.

• Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a completely different number of pips.

• Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.

• Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.

If an area does not have any color coding, it means there are no conditions on the portions of dominoes within those spaces.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for July 24, 2026 Easy difficulty hints, answers for July 24 Pips

Equal (0): Everything in this space must be equal to 0. The answer is 0-0, placed horizontally; 0-5, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (5): Everything in this space must be greater than 5. The answer is 2-6, placed horizontally.

Number (9): Everything in this space must add up to 9. The answer is 0-5, placed horizontally; 4-2, placed horizontally.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 2-3, placed horizontally.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for July 24 Pips

Greater Than (0): Everything in this space must be greater than 0. The answer is 0-1, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (1): Everything in this space must be greater than 1. The answer is 3-1, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 4-1, placed horizontally.

Equal (1): Everything in this space must be equal to 1. The answer is 3-1, placed horizontally; 4-1, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (7): Everything in this space must be greater than 7. The answer is 6-6, placed vertically.

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 3-2, placed vertically; 1-6, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 1-6, placed horizontally.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for July 24 Pips

Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 0-6, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (2): Everything in this space must be greater than 2. The answer is 4-0, placed vertically.

Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 5-0, laced horizontally.

Equal (0): Everything in this space must be equal to 0. The answer is 0-6, placed horizontally; 0-3, placed horizontally; 5-0, placed horizontally.

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 0-3, placed horizontally; 3-1, placed horizontally.

Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 3-1, placed horizontally.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 2-3, placed vertically.

Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 4-3, placed vertically.

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 4-5, placed vertically.

Equal (0): Everything in this space must be equal to 0. The answer is 0-0, placed horizontally; 4-0, placed vertically.

Greater Than (2): Everything in this space must be greater than 2. The answer is 2-3, placed vertically.

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 4-3, placed vertically.

Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 4-5, placed vertically.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 0-2, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 1-4, placed vertically; 0-2, placed horizontally.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 2-1, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 3-5, placed vertically; 2-1, placed horizontally.

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

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you're talkative.

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. 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 today's 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?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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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 Pips hints, answers for July 24, 2026 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Blabbermouth

• Green: Baseball

• Blue: To remember

• Purple: Holy titles

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

Here are today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Talk at length

• Green: Outcomes for a batter

• Blue: Bring to mind, as a memory

• Purple: Homophones of religious roles

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 #1139 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Talk at length: BABBLE, DRONE, RAMBLE, YAK

• Outcomes for a batter: HOME RUN, SINGLE, STRIKEOUT, WALK

• Bring to mind, as a memory: JOG, PROMPT, REFRESH, SPARK

• Homophones of religious roles: CANTER, FRYER, LLAMA, NONE

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for July 24, 2026

Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today's puzzle.

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.

Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you're never lacking.

Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

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

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for July 24, 2026 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: There's more where that came from

The words are related to quantities.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe having more than needed.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is diagonal.

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is And Then Some.

NYT Strands word list for July 24

• Leftover

• Surplus

• And Then Some

• Spare

• Extra

• Unused

• Excess

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and 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 Strands.

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you're always put together.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. 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 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for July 24, 2026 Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for July 24, 2026 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

Sticky gum.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

The letter T appears twice.

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter P.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is...

PUTTY

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle 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.

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

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 Wordle.

For decades, buying a luxury SUV usually meant choosing between BMW, Mercedes-Benz, or Audi. But rising prices and higher ownership costs are giving buyers a reason to look elsewhere.

TL;DR: Get Curiosity Stream Standard lifetime access for a one-time $127.50 through July 26 with code STREAM15 and enjoy unlimited access to thousands of documentaries with no recurring subscription.

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Not every streaming night has to end with another sitcom rewatch or the same movie you’ve already seen three times. Sometimes it’s nice to come away having learned something new.

That’s the appeal of Curiosity Stream, a streaming service dedicated entirely to documentaries. Through July 26, new users can get a Curiosity Stream Standard Lifetime Subscription for $127.50 with code STREAM15, making it a one-time purchase instead of another recurring entertainment bill.

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Founded by John Hendricks, the founder of Discovery Communications, Curiosity Stream focuses on documentaries covering science, history, technology, nature, engineering, art, and more. The library includes thousands of films and series, with new content added weekly, so there’s always something new to explore.

Popular titles include Engineering the Future, Planet of Treasures, Deep Time History, Into the Jungle, Autonomy, The History of Home, and many more.

The Standard Plan also makes it easy to watch wherever you are. You can stream in HD across multiple devices, download documentaries for offline viewing, bookmark programs to watch later, and quickly search by topic or subject.

Whether you’re fascinated by space exploration, wildlife, ancient civilizations, or breakthrough technology, Curiosity Stream is built around thoughtful, in-depth storytelling rather than endless scrolling.

If documentaries are the kind of content you find yourself returning to, Curiosity Stream Standard Lifetime offers a simple way to keep that library available whenever you’re ready to learn something new.

Use code STREAM15 to get Curiosity Stream Standard lifetime access for just $127.50 (reg. $399.99) through July 26.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Meta’s smart glasses allow creators to record strangers without holding up an obvious camera. Unsurprisingly, it's enabled a lot of bad behavior. Now, Instagram is placing new limits on what happens to that footage once it reaches the platform.

In an Instagram Story (first reported by Business Insider), Instagram head Adam Mosseri said the platform would remove smart-glasses videos that show people being harassed or taken advantage of.

"If you’re posting content that is taking advantage of people and harassing them, like a lot of these pickup line kind of videos that we’ve heard of and seen, then we’re going to take the content down," Mosseri reportedly said. "We don’t want people to be surreptitiously taking videos of other people and harassing them and then posting them on our platform," he added.

The belated crackdown covers formats including pickup videos — in which creators approach people who may not realize they are being recorded — and prank videos targeting cashiers, fast-food employees, and other workers.

The report also noted Instagram had deactivated two pickup-artist accounts that used smart glasses to film women in public, both with more than 1 million followers. Meta confirmed the accounts were removed for violating its policy against harassing content, but did not say when the removals occurred.

Meta also didn't explain how Instagram will determine when an interaction becomes harassment, or how many posts and accounts have been removed. But recent incidents show why the platform is under pressure to draw a clearer line — and how much damage can be done before a video is taken down.

Why Meta’s smart glasses have raised privacy concerns

Meta first introduced its Ray-Ban smart glasses in 2021 and has since expanded its wearable lineup through partnerships with Oakley and Kylie Jenner. Depending on the model, the glasses can record photos and videos, play audio, make calls, and respond to requests through Meta AI. Meta has also made it easy for users to upload their smart glasses footage to Instagram, and this content is often labeled "Made with Meta Ray-Ban."

A small white LED on the front flashes when the camera is operating. In a July 7 explainer, Meta said its second-generation glasses automatically disable the camera if they detect the light has been covered — a response to reports of users tampering with the recording indicator. People in at least 30 states are even offering this tampering as a service, according to journalist Joanna Stern. Meta also said it actively removes advertisements, posts, and Marketplace listings that offer Meta Ray-Ban-tampering services.

That discretion has helped fuel an ecosystem of pickup, prank, and “troll” accounts built around filming strangers without their knowledge. Creators have secretly recorded attempts to get women’s phone numbers in gyms, airports, bars, stores, and public streets. The women are then exposed to audiences that may scrutinize their appearance, sexualize them, or criticize how they responded to an interaction they did not know was content.

Back in April, one woman discovered online footage of a man asking for her number after he recorded their conversation through smart glasses. She said the video was posted despite her refusing permission.

Other videos use unsuspecting retail and restaurant employees as participants in pranks, confrontations, or deliberately uncomfortable exchanges. In one recurring Meta glasses prank, creators spray a foul-smelling substance on a candle, then approach Walmart shoppers or employees and ask them to smell the scent. In another video, a creator placed fake feces in a fast-food restaurant bathroom, then asked an unsuspecting cashier to leave the counter and inspect it.

There's more: one creator recorded visits to massage parlors and used sexually suggestive captions to tease explicit pay-per-view versions of the footage. Another built an Instagram page around non-consensually filming women’s bodies. After Mashable provided Meta with those examples back in January 2026, the company disabled both accounts for violating its policy on adult sexual exploitation.

Former prank creator Brad Podray, previously known online as Scumbag Dad, told Mashable in January that creators frequently target women and service employees because they are likely to provide usable reactions while being less able or willing to confront the person recording them.

“They want people who are good on camera, so they’re going to hit fast food employees, and they’re going to hit pretty girls,” Podray said. “A lot of random women walking around aren’t going to want to participate in a skit if you ask them to, so they remove the agency entirely by just running the glasses.”

Meta warned in an October 2025 statement that “people shouldn’t use them for engaging in harmful activities like harassment, infringing on privacy rights, or capturing sensitive information.” The company issued this warning after the University of San Francisco sent out a campus safety advisory. Multiple women reported that a man wearing Ray-Ban Meta glasses had approached them with unwanted comments and inappropriate dating questions. The university said he may have been recording these interactions for a pickup artist account on Instagram and TikTok.

Meta’s glasses are, of course, used for plenty of legitimate purposes beyond this inappropriate and often immoral content. Many wearers use them to capture travel, sports, concerts, and everyday moments from a first-person perspective without holding a phone. The glasses can also play music, make calls, send messages, translate conversations, answer questions about what’s around you, and provide directions or reminders through Meta AI. Athletes and creators also use them to record hands-free footage, while blind and visually impaired users can ask the glasses to read labels, identify objects, select clothing, and describe their surroundings.

Nevertheless, as the glasses become more common and harder to distinguish from ordinary eyewear, Instagram’s challenge will be keeping creators from finding new ways to turn that discretion into content at someone else’s expense.

Compact SUVs may be practical, but a lot of them are honestly quite boring. Despite their dull driving dynamics, they remain some of the most popular vehicles on the road. This boils down to the simple fact that people value practicality above most other things in their lives. Whether you're starting a family or hauling lots of equipment all the time, compact SUVs offer space that more entertaining cars simply don't.

Most people who use AI assistants spend more time switching windows than they think. You copy something, alt+tab to a browser, open a chat window, paste it in, wait, copy the response, and tab back to wherever you were. If you do that twenty times a day, you're losing more time to that routine than to the actual problem you're trying to solve. Wiring your Windows clipboard directly to Claude's API will help you out.

The iPhone 18 is about to launch, along with the final version of its operating system, iOS 27, most likely in September. But a new report says it may arrive with a feature that lets Apple, and third-party lenders, remotely deactivate phones if customers fall behind on payments.

With the iOS 27 beta now widely available, 9to5Mac found code that would let Apple place delinquent iPhones in "Restricted Mode." This would limit users to a short list of widgets and apps, including the App Store, Clock, Settings, Wallet, and Passwords, according to the report.

In theory, 9to5Mac says the system could work like this: Authorized financing partners who lease iPhones to customers get to perform regular status checks to see if the contract is still valid. If a customer falls behind, Restricted Mode would be activated.

The feature is "unequivocally present" in the iOS 27 beta, according to 9to5Mac — and a future update to iOS 26 could bring this feature to older iPhones as well.

SEE ALSO: iPhone 18 news, leaks, and rumors: Release date, iPhone 18 Pro details, more info

The era of internet-connected "smart" devices has had plenty of benefits for consumers, but as consumer advocates have long warned, it also allows brands to remotely turn off devices.

Why might Apple be testing a tool like this right now? Let's dive in.

Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable

If you've bought any new tech products recently, you've probably noticed: New devices are getting really expensive. Just this month Apple raised prices on a variety of its products. iPhone prices haven't risen just yet, but Tim Cook has prepared the ground for an "unavoidable" iPhone price hike.

Thanks to the ongoing global memory chip crisis known as RAMageddon, new phones now require a serious investment. The new foldable phones released by Samsung this week were preceded by a new Galaxy credit card program.

Apple is believed to be readying a new leasing program of its own. Bloomberg's Apple oracle, Mark Gurman, says Apple will launch the "Apple Upgrade" leasing program later this month.

Gurman calls it "one of the biggest-ever changes to how the company sells" new devices — and says Apple Upgrade will be part of a partnership with the online lender Klarna, giving buyers a lease-to-buy option. iPhone customers who qualify could make monthly payments over two years.

The code discovered by 9to5Mac also reportedly includes another type of locking mechanism called "Partner Finance Lock," which would stop users from trying to resell a financed device.

Clearly, Apple and Klarna can't let customers who miss payments continue to use leased iPhones indefinitely. But it's also an uncomfortable reminder of how much control Big Tech has over our devices.

Mashable reached out to Apple for comment about Restricted Mode; we'll update this story if this famously taciturn tech giant provides new information.

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is dominating online conversation as fans figure out where to slot the movie in their rankings for his best movies. However, don't sleep on television—streamers are continuing to release original projects and new seasons of returning shows.

The all-new 2026 Mazda CX-5 may be grabbing the headlines, but the SUV it replaced has one major advantage: a proven track record. More than a decade after it launched, the 2015 model continues to stand out as one of the most dependable compact SUVs you can buy used.

Yes, I know that Samsung Galaxy devices are basically the iPhones of the Android world, and there are other, less polished, but more interesting options out there. But Samsung has this market domination for a reason, and part of it comes from its genuinely useful bespoke features.

In yet another interesting direction of resources, federal transportation leaders are systematically removing bike safety information from official websites.

Transportation employees, including those working for the Federal Highway Administration, have been ordered to find and even remove mentions of bikes, bike lanes, and bike safety from online pages, an investigation by NPR found. In the last week, dozens of safety pages have been taken down or edited to remove public access to resources, the publication reported, such as the Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Analysis Tool.

SEE ALSO: LA Metro tells the public to ‘Ride the D’ and the internet loves it

An anonymous Department of Transportation staffer told NPR that the decision was "asinine" and was not "making the sites better, faster or quicker."

When asked about the changes, a department spokesperson wrote:"Since nearly 80% of the population uses cars to get to work and their important medical appointments, we are taking a closer look at federal guidance to ensure American families have the infrastructure they need. This is a common sense approach despite the Left's belief that everyone should ride a bike to their shoebox-sized apartment to eat crickets to achieve a phony climate agenda."

The website edits come shortly after remarks by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who referred to Biden-era transportation initiatives as DEI expenditures.

"I just redirected $1.73 billion in USDOT grants away from Biden-era DEI pet projects," he wrote in a post on X. "Now this funding is officially locked in to fix America’s actual backbone: ROADS, BRIDGES, AND SHIPPING PORTS." Two days later, staffers were ordered to remove related language and update content "in alignment with administration direction."

The Trump administration has revoked funding for alternative transportation infrastructure and eradicated many environmental resources, including the former climate.gov domain.

The emphasis away from bikes and public transit comes as oil prices just jumped to $100 a barrel following the return of hostilities between the Trump administration and the Iranian government.

Self-hosting is really a hobby in itself. Once you get the bug, it's hard to stop adding more and more self-hosted services or spending even more money on your home lab setup. Self-hosting also makes several hobbies possible that wouldn't really work without it.

The second public beta for macOS 27 Golden Gate has just been released by Apple. The first beta brought some brand-new features to Mac, including a relaunch of Siri as a true AI assistant.

Siri AI can answer questions based on a user's inbox, documents, and camera roll, and can also carry out tasks in a user's email, messages, and other apps. And, as Mashable previously covered, users can also access a hidden Siri AI interface, which is very much in its test phase, within the public beta.

macOS 27 public beta 2 brings even more updates. First, there are some fixes and tweaks to Liquid Glass, as well as the glitchy system search feature, a common complaint with macOS 26.

Apple Intelligence also gets some updates in the new beta, with design changes, a new set of writing tools, and improved Visual Intelligence. The public beta also introduces a tool for users to create custom Safari extensions and new Shortcuts using natural language with AI.

As 9to5Mac points out, there's also a new aspect ratio support in Phone Mirroring, which seems to hint at a feature for Apple's foldable iPhone.

If you want to experience some of the long-awaited Siri AI features, improved system search, and the latest changes to Liquid Glass, here's how you can check out the mac OS 27 Golden Gate beta 2 now.

Download and install the macOS 27 beta 2

First, you'll need to enroll your Mac into Apple's public beta program if you haven't already. You can do so at https://beta.apple.com. 

Next, go to System Settings, then General Software, followed by Update. 

Select the "i" icon beside Beta Updates and select the latest macOS 27 Golden Gate Public Beta from the dropdown menu.

For the first time ever, Percy Jackson and the Olympians book fans will get to the see the events of The Titan's Curse, the third book in Rick Riordan's series, play out in live action.

While the first two seasons of Percy Jackson and the Olympians covered books that had already been adapted into films, The Titan's Curse has yet to come to life onscreen. That changes with Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 3, and, based on the teaser released at San Diego Comic Con, the show will be pulling no punches.

The teaser cuts right to the chase with a pivotal moment from late in The Titan's Curse, when Percy (Walker Scobell) shoulders the Titan Atlas' burden of holding up the entire sky. (It is, quite literally, the Titan's Curse.)

"It was my choice to hold the weight. The Titan's Curse," Percy thinks in the teaser. "I knew the risk, but if I needed to sacrifice myself to save the world, to save my friends... Was it really a choice?"

Between the talk of self-sacrifice and Percy's anguished screams, it looks like we're in for a dark season. But don't worry: In an interview with Mashable, Scobell confirmed that we would be getting the fan-favorite dam jokes from the book.

He also confirmed that Season 3 is "even better than I imagined," so the hype is real. Bring on the dam jokes, the Titan's Curse, and the arrival of beloved demigods Bianca and Nico di Angelo (Olive Abercrombie and Levi Chrisopulos) in their live-action debut.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 3 premieres Nov. 20 on Disney+.

Awards are certainly not the most important aspect for judging a movie's quality. Other elements, including box office and cultural impact, can help influence how an audience reacts to a movie. However, awards can influence your decision when choosing a movie, especially on Netflix, a streaming service with thousands of movies to watch.