Blogroll

Linux is famously customizable, and when you hear its perks discussed, you'll usually see mentions of "flexibility" and "personalization" in the conversation. Despite those strengths, I've gotten tired of customizing my Linux PCs.

Arch Linux has a reputation for being brutally hard to install and maintain. That reputation isn’t wrong—but don’t let it fool you into thinking it’s the final boss of Linux distributions. Here are three distros that are a lot harder than Arch—reserved for truly advanced users who deeply understand how Linux works.

There are plenty of problems with using smart bulbs in your home. One of the most frustrating things is that if the light switch is off, your smart bulb won't work at all. Smart switches solve this problem, but there are some things smart bulbs can give you that smart switches can't.

Sci-fi and fantasy are my favorite genres (big surprise), but for most of my life the movies in these genres always felt like they had less substance than the SF&F books I devoured over the years.

Indonesia just announced a ban on social media for anyone under 16, following a similar ban in Australia.

On Friday, Indonesia's minister of communication and digital affairs, Meutya Hafid, said in a speech shared online that the ban will begin on March 28. The rationale, according to a translation by the New York Times, is due to perceived threats of pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud, and social media addiction.

SEE ALSO: Mark Zuckerberg in courtroom hot seat over social media dangers

On March 28, children's accounts on "high-risk" platforms — including X, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Roblox, and livestreaming app Bigo Live — will begin to be deactivated. There aren't many details about how this will take place.

The announcement comes after Indonesia lifted a ban on Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok at the start of February. The country initially blocked Grok due to safety concerns and said it will continue to monitor its guardrails.

This is also happening after Australia banned social media for children under 16 last year. Elsewhere, such as in the U.S. and UK, age-verification laws have been enacted in an attempt to restrict minors' access to content "harmful to minors," namely pornography. A landmark trial about social media addiction is also underway in the U.S.

These days, it takes a special trick to silence a noisy hard drive (HDD). And if not for this unfortunate patent war and lawsuit, we may have had a proper solution that could have kept our HDDs quiet, or at least quieter.

Memory card slots on flagship phones are a thing of the past and are unlikely to return. So if you want extra storage on your phone, your main option is to choose a higher capacity when you first buy it. But I go a different way. I still buy the base model, and then expand the storage by plugging in an external SSD. It might sound strange, but it actually works pretty well.

The best way to learn stats and data science is to actually do it. And to do it, you need datasets. One good place to find them is Kaggle. Here's how I find, download, and explore Kaggle datasets.

In my role as a content creator, I’ve tested more apps, platforms, and tools in the name of productivity than I care to count. For my daily work, I rely on open-source tools that help me move faster and get more done. They’re fast, flexible, and have no subscriptions or fees.

Do you own a powerful GPU but barely use it anymore? Are you feeling guilty of watching expensive hardware sit idle? Well, you don't need to play video games to get your money's worth from your GPU. Here are five ways I've repurposed my RTX GPU after quitting PC gaming—and they've genuinely improved how I work and live.

Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che again didn't hold back this week with jokes about the Trump administration and current affairs.

When talking about fired DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and her new position as "special envoy to the Shield of the Americas," for instance, Che said it's a brand new department located "at a farm upstate."

SEE ALSO: 'SNL' Cold Open has Colin Jost's Hegseth dodging Iran questions

Then, in a joke about the lawsuit concerning the betting platform Kalshi not paying out millions over the bet that Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would "leave office" before March 1, Jost said he technically didn't "leave the office," to shocked reactions from the audience.

"Oh, a lot of Ayatollah fans here tonight," Jost replied.

The gasps didn't stop when Jost referenced the new investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's ranch, saying they should've known something was up when Epstein's ranch was "all ponies."

"Really bumming them out there, Jost," Che said. When Jost discussed Women's History Month, saying, "Good job, girlies!" Che once again commented on the awkward reaction, saying, "This is our Emmy's show."

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

Released in August 2025, the 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 onto 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 for 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 March 8, 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 March 8, 2026 Easy difficulty hints, answers for March 8 Pips

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

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

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 3-0, placed vertically.

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

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

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

Medium difficulty hints, answers for March 8 Pips

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

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

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

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

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

Greater Than (5): Everything in this space must be greater than 5. The answer is 6-0, placed horizontally.

Less Than (2): Everything in this space must be greater than 2. The answer is 0-5, placed horizontally; 6-0, placed horizontally.

Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 0-5, placed horizontally; 5-4, placed horizontally; 5-5, placed horizontally.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for March 8 Pips

Less Than (2): Everything in this space must be greater than 2. The answer is 1-6, placed vertically.

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

Equal (6): Everything in this space must be equal to 6. The answer is 1-6, placed vertically; 6-5, placed horizontally; 6-4, placed vertically.

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

Equal (4): Everything in this space must be equal to 4. The answer is 6-4, placed vertically; 4-4, placed vertically; 4-3, placed vertically; 4-2, placed horizontally.

Number (10): Everything in this space must add up to 10. The answer is 5-5, placed vertically.

Equal (2): Everything in this space must be equal to 2. The answer is 2-2, placed vertically; 2-0, placed horizontally.

Equal (0): Everything in this space must be equal to 0. The answer is 2-0, placed horizontally; 1-0, placed vertically.

Equal (1): Everything in this space must be equal to 1. The answer is 1-1, placed vertically; 5-1, placed vertically; 1-0, placed vertically; 3-1, placed vertically.

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 3-1, placed vertically; 4-3, placed vertically; 0-3, placed vertically; 3-3, placed vertically.

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

Microsoft Word may seem like it is still a basic writing app, but it has gathered plenty of easy-to-use shortcuts over the years. Tasks that you find tedious likely to have a tool designed to make your work easier. While some are simple, there are many that can save you a significant amount of time.

Today's Connections: Sports Edition is easy for people who watch women's sports.

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. 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: 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: Tennis greats

• Green: US Soccer teams

• Blue: Top picks

• Purple: Women's baseball

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: Women's Tennis Greats

• Green: NWSL Teams

• Blue: WNBA Draft No. 1 Picks

• Purple: Teams in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

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 #530 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Women's Tennis Greats - GRAF, KING, NAVRATILOVA, WILLIAMS

• NWSL Teams - COURAGE, DASH, LEGACY, THORNS

• WNBA Draft No. 1 Picks - AUGUSTUS, BOSTON, PLUM, YOUNG

• Teams in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League - BELLES, BLUE SOX, COMETS, PEACHES

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 today's Connections.

As confusion and fear rage over the U.S.-Iran war, Saturday Night Live takes the opportunity to inject some levity into it. This week, Weekend Update host Colin Jost returned as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to give a press conference about the ongoing conflict.

SEE ALSO: 'Punch the monkey' makes an appearance on 'SNL' Weekend Update

The fratty Hegseth first appeared doing a "hegstand" with "Sprite" (wink wink) before combatively engaging with the media. "We're treating Iran like the breathalyzer in my car and blowing it the hell up," said Jost's Hegseth. He denies that what's happening is a war, instead calling it a "situationship," and makes a "your mom" joke rather than answering whether they'll actually have boots on the ground.

Fired Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also made an appearance, played by Ashley Padilla, to give a sendoff.

"I just want to make it clear that I didn't get fired," Noem said. "I self-deported."

Microsoft Excel usually thinks in directions: "look one cell to the left." That's fine until you move the formula and the reference gets lost. By knowing how to use the dollar ($) sign, you can tell Excel when to look at a permanent address and when to look at a moving target, meaning you're building sturdier formulas.

Electric vehicles used to be limited to a small handful of choices, but that’s changed quickly over the past few years. Today, you’ll find everything from compact city EVs to electric pickups and high-performance supercars hitting the market.

Electric vehicles used to be limited to a small handful of choices, but that’s changed quickly over the past few years. Today, you’ll find everything from compact city EVs to electric pickups and high-performance supercars hitting the market.

PCIe adapters are the ultimate solution for adding anything from extra M.2 SSDs and SATA drives to 10-Gigabit networking adapters and Wi-Fi cards. While they are the fastest form of expansion on your motherboard, they are not as foolproof as they might look. If you don't match the right adapter to the right slot, you could be severely limiting your hardware's performance.

PCIe adapters are the ultimate solution for adding anything from extra M.2 SSDs and SATA drives to 10-Gigabit networking adapters and Wi-Fi cards. While they are the fastest form of expansion on your motherboard, they are not as foolproof as they might look. If you don't match the right adapter to the right slot, you could be severely limiting your hardware's performance.