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

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 August 29, 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 August 29, 2026 Easy difficulty hints, answers for August 29 Pips

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

Number (7): Everything in this space must add up to 7. The answer is 6-5, placed horizontally; 2-4, placed horizontally.

Less Than (5): Everything in this space must be less than 5. The answer is 2-4, placed horizontally.

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

Number (7): Everything in this space must add up to 7. The answer is 3-1, placed horizontally; 5-4, placed horizontally.

Number (7): Everything in this space must add up to 7. The answer is 3-1, placed horizontally; 6-6, placed horizontally.

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

Medium difficulty hints, answers for August 29 Pips

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

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

Number (8): Everything in this space must add up to 8. The answer is 1-5, placed horizontally; 3-6, placed horizontally.

Equal (0): Everything in this space must be equal to 0. The answer is 1-0, placed vertically; 0-6, placed horizontally.

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

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

Hard difficulty hints, answers for August 29 Pips

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

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

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

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 3-2, placed horizontally; 0-2, placed horizontally; 2-1, placed horizontally.

Equal (1): Everything in this space must be equal to 1. The answer is 3-1, placed horizontally; 1-0, placed horizontally; 1-1, placed vertically; 2-1, placed horizontally.

Number (12): Everything in this space must add up to 12. The answer is 0-6, placed vertically; 6-3, placed vertically.

Number (12): Everything in this space must add up to 12. The answer is 6-6, placed vertically.

Number (10): Everything in this space must add up to 10. The answer is 5-1, placed vertically; 5-2, placed vertically.

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

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

Greater Than (1): Everything in this space must be greater than 1. The answer is 5-2, placed vertically.

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 a mechanic.

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.

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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: NYT Pips hints, answers for August 29, 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: Auto parts

• Green: Leafy meals

• Blue: Type it up

• Purple: Ancient stories

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Here are today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Under the hood of a car

• Green: Kinds of salad

• Blue: Keyboard keys

• Purple: Starting with figures from Greek myth

Play our Big Guessing Game: Make your predictions now for a chance to win a new Apple Watch. Time's running out!

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 #1174 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Under the hood of a car: ALTERNATOR, BATTERY, ENGINE, RADIATOR

• Kinds of salad: CHOPPED, GREEK, HOUSE, WEDGE

• Keyboard keys: CONTROL, ESCAPE, SHIFT, SPACE

• Starting with figures from Greek myth: AT LAST, HERALD, HYDRANT, TRITONE

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

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

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

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 the latest Connections.

Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you're a good cook.

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 August 29, 2026 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Now we're cooking!

The words are adjectives related to food.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe food noises.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is vertical.

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NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Sounds Tasty.

NYT Strands word list for August 29

• Splatter

• Crackle

• Sounds Tasty

• HIss

• Gurgle

• Bubble

• Sizzle

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

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 the latest Strands.

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you're a healthcare worker.

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 August 29, 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 August 29, 2026 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

A bodily fluid.

Play our Big Guessing Game: Make your predictions now for a chance to win a new Apple Watch. Time's running out!

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

The letter O appears twice.

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

Today's Wordle starts with the letter B.

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...

BLOOD

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.

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

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 the latest Wordle.

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Hurdle: Everything you need to know to find the answers Hurdle Word 1 hint

A natural clay pigment.

Hurdle Word 1 answer

OCHRE

Hurdle Word 2 hint

A group.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for August 29, 2026 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

BUNCH

Hurdle Word 3 hint

A courtesy.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for August 29, 2026 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Meanings for each word for Aug. 29, 2026 Hurdle Word 3 answer

FAVOR

Hurdle Word 4 hint

A spicy alcoholic drink.

Hurdle Word 4 answer

TODDY

Final Hurdle hint

Unhealthy.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Games available on Mashable Hurdle Word 5 answer

FATTY

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

Anyone who has ever used Android Auto has likely experienced this issue at some point: you get a call on your phone, pick it up, and then... nothing. You can't hear the person talking, or perhaps you can hear them, but they can't hear you.

Nevada can ban the prediction market platform Kalshi from operating in the state, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday.

In March 2025, the Nevada Gaming Control Board sent a cease-and-desist letter to Kalshi, arguing that the company operated a sports betting platform in the state, in violation of Nevada gaming regulations.

Kalshi disagreed, characterizing itself as a "designated contract market" (DCM) that offers legal sports event contracts, or "swaps." Nonetheless, its own marketing copy advertised Kalshi as "the first app for legal sports betting in all 50 states," according to the ruling.

SEE ALSO: New York sues Kalshi, claiming it's 'unlicensed gambling'

"The substance of the sports event contracts offered on Kalshi’s DCM is sports gambling, regardless of whether Kalshi calls them swaps," Judge Ryan D. Nelson wrote in the opinion.

The judges' unanimous 3-0 decision spells trouble for Kalshi and other prediction market companies that allow people to effectively gamble on sports.

"This completely vindicates what we have been saying all along," Mike Dreitzer, Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman, said in a statement. "This is sports betting and needs to be properly regulated by the state."

Kalshi spokeswoman Dani Lever said the company will seek further review, according to the Nevada Independent.

At the heart of the matter is whether, as Kalshi argued, the Commodity Exchange Act, a federal law that regulates the trading of commodity futures, preempts state gaming regulations as they apply to swaps.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded the CEA didn't preempt state regulation. Still, a separate earlier decision from Philadelphia's Third Circuit backed Kalshi's position.

Zach Fulton, a spokesman for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal regulatory agency for the industry, told the New York Times that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals "erred" in its decision.

"The Ninth Circuit has now teed up a circuit split that calls out for resolution by the Supreme Court," he said.

If the weather plays nice, NASA plans to launch its next flagship space observatory this Sunday, and viewers can watch the coverage live online from home. 

NASA and SpaceX are targeting the launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope no earlier than 7:26 a.m. ET on Aug. 30 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The infrared telescope's ride, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, will lift off from the historic Launch Complex 39A pad, the same that sent Apollo 11 and the maiden voyage of the Space Shuttle into orbit. 

• Play our Big Guessing Game: Make your predictions now for a chance to win a new Apple Watch. Time's running out! 

Roman, with a lifecycle cost of about $4.3 billion, combines Hubble-like sharpness with a field of view at least 100 times larger, allowing scientists to map billions of galaxies, probe dark energy and dark matter, and discover exoplanets at an unprecedented scale. 

The telescope sees the universe in infrared light, which human eyes cannot see. Its wide surveys let astronomers track how structures, such as stars, galaxies, and galaxy clusters, grow over time, as well as measure how the universe expands. 

Mission planners expect Roman images from a major survey to include more than 2 billion galaxies and, over time, reveal tens of thousands of supernova explosions and many new planets. 

SEE ALSO: NASA's Roman telescope is built to find what Hubble and Webb miss

On launch day, NASA plans a full suite of coverage. The U.S. space agency will stream commentary and views of the rocket on NASA TV and its Youtube channel, beginning at 6:20 a.m. ET on Sunday, Aug. 30. Simultaneously, viewers can monitor live updates on the Roman launch blog. 

Or, you can bookmark this story, and watch the event unfold live at the broadcast below: 

Members of the public can also sign up to be "virtual guests" of the launch. The program sends launch information, notices about schedule changes, and a digital stamp for the NASA virtual guest passport afterward. 

As the launch provider, SpaceX also plans to provide live launch coverage from its website and on X, the social platform also owned by SpaceX founder Elon Musk. 

• Want more science and tech news delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for Mashable's Light Speed newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

After separation from the rocket, Roman heads for the second sun–Earth Lagrange point, or L2, about 1 million miles away from Earth. This is also the James Webb Space Telescope's home. From there, the mission teams plan a five-year primary science phase, with a goal of operating for 10 years. 

Each launch window for the mission is instantaneous, meaning the rocket must lift off at an exact second. Even a minor delay on the launch pad requires a complete cancellation for the day. That strict time constraint is based on orbital geometry and physics. 

If for any reason NASA must postpone or scrub the launch, there is a backup opportunity at 7:22 a.m. ET on Monday, Aug. 31.

You've probably opened ports on your router on more than one occasion, maybe for remote access, maybe for a game. And although opening ports isn't necessarily the safest thing to do, many people treat it as something super harmless, because hey, how's anyone going to find that one port?

Even as we squeeze every last drop out of the summer, HBO Max still doesn't do things in moderation when it comes to documentaries and docuseries, even if they do start blurring the line into reality-TV territory.

Saying that Pixel phones are filled to the brim with exclusive features would be, well, quite an appropriate way to describe the amount of stuff Google has packed into its phones. The catch is that many of them are hidden in plain sight, which is why a number of handy Pixel apps and features fly under many people's radar.

The Hamptons’ most talked-about dinner party of the summer will have to wait a little bit longer.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s closely watched dinner honoring OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has been postponed, according to The New York Times. The private gathering was originally scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 29, at Paltrow’s home in Amagansett, New York.

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No reason for the postponement was given, so it is unclear whether the online backlash surrounding the event had anything to do with the change. Sources told the Times that the dinner is still expected to happen within the next few weeks, although a new date has not been set.

Still, the delay adds another twist to a dinner that became an internet spectacle before anyone had even taken a seat.

Guess what Apple will release in September in our Big Guessing Game: Apple edition. Enter now for a chance to win an Apple Watch!

As Mashable reported Aug. 21, Journalist Matthew Belloni first shared the invitation in his Puck newsletter, revealing that Paltrow planned to host a private, off-the-record conversation” with Altman, followed by dinner.

SEE ALSO: Welcome to the Hamptons, where every day is another sponsored brand activation

"I guess summers in the Hamptons just aren’t complete these days without sucking up to our new A.I. overlords," Belloni wrote. "Luckily, Gwyneth Paltrow has you covered."

From there, the backlash arrived quickly. The combination of a wellness mogul, one of the world’s most prominent AI executives, and an off-the-record Hamptons soirée struck some people as "tone-deaf." Other users criticized Paltrow for honoring the head of a company they say threatens the livelihoods of writers, actors, and other creative workers.

Paltrow, however, did not ignore the pile-on. Instead, she responded with an (apparently) AI-generated parody. In a cheeky Instagram carousel, she shared a series of fake invitations to dinners honoring M3GAN, Shrek, Jessica Rabbit, Sex and the City character Samantha Jones, and viral meme character Chanty Beluga. "We’re serving swordfish burritos, Cheddar foam lattes on request," Paltrow wrote in the caption.

View this post on Instagram

As strange as the original invitation may have seemed, the pairing did not come entirely out of nowhere. Paltrow already has ties to both OpenAI and the broader tech world. She reportedly backed OpenAI through Kindred Ventures in 2023 and is friends with Charles Porch, the company’s vice president of global creative partnerships, who helped arrange the dinner.

Paltrow has also recently shown that she knows how to turn a corporate controversy into internet content. After the viral Coldplay kiss-cam scandal involving Astronomer’s former CEO and chief people officer, the company temporarily hired Paltrow as a spokesperson for a tongue-in-cheek ad.

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So, no, the internet did not permanently scare AI away from the Hamptons. It just has to wait a few more weeks to find out whether Paltrow was serious about those cheddar foam lattes.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

Some AI industry leaders, such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, are obsessed with artificial general intelligence, or AGI. While the term has no universally agreed-upon definition, it generally refers to AI that can match or even surpass human cognitive abilities across a large range of tasks.

In a recent interview, Altman shared that OpenAI believes it will achieve AGI by the end of the year.

However, according to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, AI has, in some respects, already achieved AGI — and it's really no big deal.

Nvidia has become the darling of the tech industry in recent years. The company is an invaluable part of the AI industry because it produces many of the high-performance chips that power the technology.

During an earnings call on Aug. 26, Huang was asked about AGI in light of OpenAI's recent claims.

"For many tasks, we could say that we’ve already achieved AGI," Huang said. "I think of all of those milestones…they’re kind of senseless at this point."

Huang said the focus should be on whether AI is "doing productive and useful work." From a company perspective, Huang added that the concern should be about "generating profitable tokens."

It's unclear exactly what Huang meant when saying Nvidia has already achieved AGI. He pointed to AI’s evolution beyond simply responding to prompts, arguing that agents can now reflect on their performance, learn new skills, and improve their future output.

This is not the first time the Nvidia CEO has claimed the company has achieved AGI.

In a March 2026 interview, podcaster Lex Fridman asked whether an AI that could start, build, and run a billion-dollar company would be achievable within the next 20 years.

"I think it’s now. I think we’ve achieved AGI," Huang replied. 

SEE ALSO: NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang says AGI is here — sort of

However, Huang then qualified that claim, saying AI might be able to create a billion-dollar viral app but could not build a company like Nvidia. "The odds of 100,000 of those agents building Nvidia," he added, "is zero percent."

August is limping towards the finish line, but apparently Netflix didn’t get the memo about winding down, because in addition to the final season of Outer Banks, three new additions landed on the streamer within the last week, and two of them are already parked in the Top 10.

Summer is never particularly kind to technology, and my home server is no exception. Like most homelabbers, I run mine 24/7, and while Ubuntu Server was perfectly happy to keep chugging along, the hardware was starting to give up in the extreme heat. Thankfully, I found a solution, and it was way simpler than you'd think.

When it comes to Wi-Fi, most of the time our concerns are related to the signal not going far enough, but the opposite problem also exists. What if you don't want a Wi-Fi signal leaving a room? Or, alternatively, what if you don't want people within a room to receive any radio signals?

Most people shortlisting distros completely skip over MX Linux. There’s no glossy marketing campaign behind it, most YouTube channels don’t cover it, and you probably won’t see it trending on social media. However, at the time of writing, MX Linux ranks number three on DistroWatch, beating popular names like Ubuntu, Fedora, and even Zorin OS—which recently got a million downloads. Here are three reasons that justify its dominant position.

On a Friday afternoon in July, Kendall Jenner’s tequila brand 818 transformed The Surf Lodge’s waterfront beach club into a tequila lover’s paradise.

Guests sipped on one-too-many frozen 818 margaritas (made in Ninja SLUSHi machines) and cans of creator Alix Earle-backed cocktail brand SIPMARGS, cooled off with Shark’s new ChillPill handheld fans, and snacked on Popeyes chicken tenders — part of the fast-food chain’s summer-long partnership with The Surf Lodge. Creators including Halley Kate McGookin, Lilly Sisto, and Carly Weinstein mingled with media, customers, and friends of the brand as DJ duo Two Friends performed against the Montauk sunset.

Credit: Sansho Scott/BFA Credit: Sansho Scott/BFA

The party marked National Tequila Day, but it was only one piece of 818’s "Best Summer Ever" campaign. Throughout the season, the brand served tequila and frozen slushies at bars out East and wrapped a jitney in 818 branding. The Hampton Jitney is the coach service that shuttles passengers between New York City and eastern Long Island. The brand also brought influencers and members of its online community to Montauk for a getaway that included two nights of accommodations — designed to look every bit as enviable online as it felt in person.

Credit: Sansho Scott/BFA Credit: Sansho Scott/BFA

Elaborate as that may sound, 818 was hardly an outlier. Spend a summer weekend in the Hamptons, and there’s a decent chance you’ll encounter a brand activation before you find a parking spot.

SET Active took over Amagansett’s iconic Clam Bar for one night, promising lobster rolls, games, custom keychains, and early access to its Coastline collection. (More than 200 people marked themselves as attending.) Cowboy Colostrum brought several newly famous Love Island USA contestants to both Sag Harbor and Montauk for one of their first brand trips after leaving the villa. Armani Beauty gathered celebrities and creators at The Surf Lodge to introduce its new Dolci Blush. WashWise invited female founders, executives, and creators to a morning of yoga, cold plunges, saunas, and mini therapy sessions in Montauk.

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The list of activations goes on.

Of course, branded events in the affluent zipcode(s) are nothing new. This summer, however, the Hamptons calendar felt more saturated than ever. So how — and why — did this small stretch of Long Island become such a powerful stage for creator marketing?

"Consumers, creators, tastemakers, and media in one place"

The creator marketing industry is expanding quickly. U.S. spending on creator advertising is expected to reach $44 billion in 2026, up from $29.5 billion in 2024. Nearly half of the advertisers surveyed by IAB described creators as a "must buy," placing them behind only social media and paid search.

Sarah Janetti had a front-row seat to that packed calendar. The creator behind @sjeaats and author of the Substack Dish and Tell estimated that she attended at least 15 Hamptons brand events this summer, sometimes squeezing three into a single weekend.

Views from the Reunited Beauty yacht event Credit: Sarah Janetti

Janetti rattled off events from Kith and Vivrelle, Fleur du Mal, Creed, ORA Method, and Evolv, but the invitations varied almost as much as the brands. Some leaned into the Hamptons’ built-in glamour: Clean cosmetics label Reunited Beauty celebrated its launch aboard a yacht in Sag Harbor.

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Others were more family-friendly. Frozen-treat brand JonnyPops staged a pop-up at Amber Waves Farm, handing out complimentary pops and take-home boxes to visitors. "So many invitations centered on fitness," Janetti told Mashable, with brands using workout classes as a natural setting for creators to try activewear, wellness products, drinks, and beauty items.

Merchandise from Gurney's Montauk Credit: Sarah Janetti

Taken together, her schedule resembled a circuit: A creator could spend the morning at a branded workout, the afternoon at a pop-up, and the evening aboard a sponsored yacht, producing several distinct pieces of summer content before the weekend was over.

There’s clear intention behind this strategy. "The Hamptons is uniquely powerful because it brings together consumers, creators, tastemakers, and media in one place," Jenny Brown, executive creative director at 818, told Mashable. "It’s one of the few destinations where people aren’t just experiencing culture—they’re actively documenting it."

Other factors explain why it has become such a hot spot. The most obvious is the audience already there: wealthy residents and vacationers, celebrities, creators, media figures, etc. I mean, the median Hamptons home sold for $2.5 million in the second quarter of 2026, up nearly 32 percent from a year earlier. Brands also get an instantly recognizable backdrop, from beaches and farm stands to sprawling houses and waterfront restaurants. Venues like The Surf Lodge and Gurney’s bring their own cultural cachet and experienced event teams, while the East End sits close enough to New York City for brands to shuttle guests out for an afternoon, a weekend, or the entire summer.

Evolv and OneSkin dinner at Shou Sugi Ban House Credit: Sarah Janetti

"You’re meeting people when they’re relaxed and making memories, rather than trying to capture their attention in the middle of a busy weekday," Brown added.

Brown also pointed to a renewed interest in East Coast summer traditions after years of "Euro Summer" dominating social media. "This summer, we’ve seen a real shift toward celebrating iconic American summer destinations," she said.

Has the Hamptons reached activation overload?

The obvious drawback is that seemingly every brand has arrived at the same conclusion. In 2025, an executive at event-production company LDJ Productions told Vogue Business that approximately 90 percent of the luxury events the company worked on that summer were held in the Hamptons.

Executing those events is expensive. Companies must account for venue fees, transportation, shipping, production, seasonal staffing, and accommodations in an area with limited housing and punishing weekend traffic. Rain can derail an outdoor activation, while an invitation may be competing with several other events scheduled on the same afternoon that can blur together.

The crowding has already pushed some fashion companies to look elsewhere. A July Business of Fashion report found brands opening stores and hosting events in Nantucket, Newport, and other affluent coastal destinations where there may be less competition. One handbag founder told the publication that cutting through the Hamptons’ noise had become nearly impossible.

But moving the activation circuit somewhere else can bring the new tensions to a new place. Back in July, a Nantucket craft store sparked controversy by displaying a sign that read "No influencers," reviving a broader debate over the rise of creator culture and how disruptive it can be to independent businesses and communities.

SEE ALSO: Nantucket's 'No influencers' sign reignites debate over social media tourism

Still, all that backlash is unlikely to bring the influencer era to an end. With creator ad spending on track to reach $44 billion in 2026, these events offer companies more than a single sponsored post. One weekend can generate days of content, introduce products to several audiences, and build an entire aspirational world around a brand.

At their best, these events do more than give creators something to post; they give everyone there something to remember. And it seems the Hamptons is hard to beat — at least this summer.

Another week, another Ninja product gone viral.

This time, however, the viral videos are spurring awe rather than abject horror (please clean your Creami correctly, folks). Following the release earlier this month of the Ninja HydraSense — the brand's first ever water filter — the internet has done what it does best and stress tested the product with liquids that are definitively not water. In goes pickle juice and Sunny D, out goes clear water that users swear tastes like the real deal.

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Our sister site CNET (also owned by Ziff Davis) posted their own HydraSense transformation on TikTok after a rep from Ninja poured red Kool-Aid mix into the HydraSense. Clear water came out of the dispenser, and CNET Managing Editor David Watsky confirmed the result tasted like clean water.

TikTok user Michael DiCostanzo used the HydraSense to create a spin on the blind soda guessing game. In his version, he guessed which non-water drink (a word used generously here) yielded which water, featuring everything from fruit punch to hot dog water. Spoiler: He was able to correctly identify four out of six of the beverages, but he did maintain that the taste got awfully close to water, especially considering the source material.

I reached out to SharkNinja for their official guidance on pouring anything that's not water into the filter, and will update this article once I hear back. That said, they aren't exactly discouraging it in their own promo materials. A TikTok on the official SharkNinja page shows a product developer pouring green soda into the filter and dispensing clear water out of it.

So what makes this filter so effective? According to Ninja, the HydraSense uses its Precision Pressure Technology, which removes up to 80 contaminants (compared to eight by other brands), while preserving minerals like calcium, magnesium, and potassium. And yes, Shark does have the certification from the National Sanitation Foundation to prove these claims.

The countertop filter can hold up to 96 ounces of water, filters water quickly, and lets you know when to change your filters thanks to a built-in monitor. It's not the basic Brita you used in your college dorm. It's also priced to match, at $199.99, with replacement filters going for $39.99. But hey — can your standard reverse osmosis filter turn shelf-stable orange juice into water?

Ninja HydraSense $249.99 at Amazon
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Grand Theft Auto VI will present players with no shortage of unfamiliar challenges, from elaborate robberies to its revamped police system. But for a generation increasingly reaching adulthood without much dating experience, the game’s most novel mechanic may be answering a partner’s goodnight text.

Following Netflix’s GTA 6 Extended Look, IGN published details from an additional gameplay demonstration at Rockstar’s studio. The preview revealed that GTA 6 includes an optional relationship system that allows players to shape the bond between its protagonists, Jason and Lucia. Maintaining their relationship requires more than completing missions together, though: Players can explore Leonida as a couple, plan activities, communicate over text, and make small choices that affect how close they become.

Many online have realized the implications.

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"This may just be some gamers’ first experience of putting effort into a relationship," one Instagram commenter wrote. Another predicted that Lucia would become some players’ first-ever girlfriend at all. Many X users imagined taking Lucia on dates "while my IRL relationship falls apart."

The joke isn’t coming out of nowhere. For many Gen Z adults, dating simply wasn’t a standard part of adolescence. Only 56 percent said they had a boyfriend or girlfriend as teenagers, compared with roughly seven in 10 millennials and more than three-quarters of Gen Xers and baby boomers.

For some, that delayed start has continued into adulthood. A 2025 survey found that three in 10 Gen Z adults had never gone on a romantic date, including one-third of Gen Z men.

SEE ALSO: Why Gen Z is ditching mainstream dating apps for 'hyper-niche' spaces

That doesn’t mean young people have given up on love. In fact, the disconnect between wanting a relationship and feeling prepared for one may help explain why GTA 6’s system has struck such a chord. A nationally representative survey found that 86 percent of single Gen Z respondents wanted a committed relationship, but only 55 percent felt ready to pursue one.

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Rockstar’s new system turns the basic work of maintaining a relationship into something players can practice — or avoid — inside one of the most anticipated games ever made. According to IGN’s preview, Jason and Lucia can spend time together by shopping, playing pool, kayaking, working out, visiting the zoo, or buying each other food. They can hold hands and help one another choose outfits. Robbing a gas station together also builds their bond, because every couple needs shared interests.

When the protagonists are apart, players can also call or text the other character. Rockstar North co-studio head Rob Nelson said one might message to say they are going to bed and ask whether everything is OK. Sending a quick response will apparently suffice. Ignoring the message, however, "may impact your relationship a bit."

SEE ALSO: 'GTA 6' Netflix extended look: Everything we learned about the plot in the 26-minute reveal

For some players, the idea of managing both sides of a virtual relationship raised an obvious question: Isn’t that just texting yourself? Some Instagram commenters wondered the same, comparing the mechanic to playing chess against yourself.

Still, the relationship appears to be less about choosing the correct dialogue response and more about doing the ordinary things that keep a relationship going: answering texts, running errands, trying new activities, and choosing to spend time together (even when no mission requires it).

That approach also aligns with what young audiences increasingly want to see onscreen. A 2025 survey of 1,500 people ages 14 to 24 found that nearly 61 percent wanted romantic relationships in entertainment to emphasize the friendship between a couple over sex. So far, that sounds a lot like Jason and Lucia’s story, which seems built as much around everyday companionship as romance in this "Bonnie and Clyde" type tale.

Don’t worry, though: Players can opt out of the romance if they aren’t interested. Jason and Lucia will remain partners in crime regardless of how close they become and will continue working together and having each other’s backs, but Nelson said that completing story missions together may not be enough to keep them romantically involved. He told IGN that Rockstar did not want to "foist" a relationship on players.

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Players have spent years preparing to survive Leonida. They may not have expected to practice being a good partner there, too.

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