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Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you're a remote worker.

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 March 2, 2026 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for March 2, 2026 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Home office alternative

The words are related to office work.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe working out of office.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is vertical.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Coworking Space.

NYT Strands word list for March 2

• Booths

• Pantry

• Wifi

• Coworking Space

• Desks

• Printer

• Lounge

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.

When you think of a terminal app, it might seem like a program stuck in time—just a solid window that interacts with your shell and displays text. However, modern terminal apps have come a long way. And I've found no terminal app better than Kitty. Give me a chance to convince you to switch to it.

The huge increases in RAM costs are forcing some companies to raise their own prices. In December 2025, a new model of the Raspberry Pi 5 was introduced, with just 1GB of RAM to try to keep the price down. Having so little RAM doesn't make this Pi useless; there's still a lot you can do with it.

Seth Rogen accepted the award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series on behalf of Catherine O'Hara at the 32nd annual Actor Awards, after O'Hara passed away on Jan. 30 at the age of 71.

Rogen, who worked with O'Hara on The Studio, told a story of how she'd make the Apple TV show better by sending him and co-creator Evan Goldberg polite emailed notes the day before shoots.

"She really showed that you can be a genius, and be kind, and one of those things does not have to come at the expense of the other in any way, shape or form," says Rogen.

"So I guess I'll leave you with this: If you have people in your lives that don't know her work, if there are kids in your lives or just people who are out of touch or stupid or something, just show them O'Hara dancing to Harry Belafonte in Beetlejuice. Show them O'Hara hurting her knee in Best in Show, and doing that amazing thing where she hobbles around. And tell the people as they are laughing that that's Catherine O'Hara, and we were lucky that we got to live in a world where she so generously shared her talents with us."

Excel gurus love to tell you, "Always format your data as a table." While that's usually solid advice, it's not always the best move. In some scenarios, a simple range outperforms a table entirely. Here's when to skip the table and stick with the regular grid.

SAVE $25: As of March 2, the Fire TV Stick 4K Select is $14.99 at Amazon with the coupon code FTVSELECT.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Select $14.99 at Amazon
$39.99 Save $25 use code FTVSELECT Get Deal

March sees some exciting new shows arriving on streaming services, including season two of Daredevil: Born Again and season two of One Piece. If you feel like you're in need of a new setup for watching everything, now is the time to upgrade. Amazon has dropped the price of its streaming sticks, including the Fire TV Stick 4K Select.

For a limited time, the Fire TV Stick 4K Select has dropped to $14.99 at Amazon with the coupon code FTVSELECT. Only some of the Mashable team have been able to access this code. If you're lucky, you'll see this code, alongside a "redeem" button, on the store page.

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At this point, Amazon has a few different 4K models of streaming stick to choose from, so what makes the Fire TV Stick 4K Select different? Well, it allows you to stream in 4K Ultra HD with High Dynamic Range 10+, but it doesn't support Dolby Vision like its more expensive counterparts. It also supports WiFi 5 — whereas pricier models support WiFi 6 or WiFi 6E — for improved streaming quality. If you don't mind these aspects, this is a great way to score higher picture quality for less.

On top of that, the Fire TV Stick 4K Select comes with 8GB of storage for holding all of your favorite apps. If it sounds like the upgrade you've been searching for, act fast to take advantage of this great deal at Amazon.

Check out these great deals on the Fire Stick 4K Plus and Fire Stick 4K Max to see some alternatives.

Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is fully underway, and it's been a busy one.

Well, perhaps it only feels busier than normal, as both Samsung and Apple decided to squeeze in their major product unveilings just before and just after MWC.

Even without those MWC-adjacent news, though, it's been a fun couple of days here in Barcelona. We saw robots, robotic phones, and phones that can take photos of robots from a mile away. And yes, every other word of every announcement is still AI, but this year the AI features are really starting to make sense. Let's take a look at every major announcement we saw at MWC this year.

Xiaomi 17 Ultra The optional photography kits essentially turn this phone into a camera. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Xiaomi's got a new Ultra phone, and it didn't disappoint. It is, once again, a powerful cameraphone, with massive zoom capabilities, top-notch specs, and a bunch of accessories for photography enthusiasts.

The company also launched a special, Leica-branded variant called the Leica Leitzphone; essentially the same as the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, but with a cool retro design, and a rotating ring around the camera bump that you can use to control zoom.

SEE ALSO: Xiaomi 17 Ultra hands-on: The cameraphone with a monstrous zoom

The Xiaomi 17 Ultra is just one part of the mountain of new gadgets Xiaomi brought to Barcelona, including the Xiaomi Watch 5, Xiaomi Tag, and more.

Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo You should see my other car. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Xiaomi's phones were cool, but the real surprise was the Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo, a concept hypercar made for the Vision Gran Turismo Program, in which car manufacturers create no-holds-bar cars for the legendary Gran Turismo game.

SEE ALSO: Xiaomi's new hyper car concept has the strangest cockpit we've ever seen

The car is precisely what you'd expect: Quick-looking, slightly nutty, and probably not something you'll ever see on the street. We'll see how much of its tech will turn into real products (we're especially interested in those floating wheel covers).

Honor Robot phone and its humanoid friend It can track you, and nod at you when you do something right, but this one was asleep. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Honor announced its Robot Phone back in 2025, but this was the first time the company actually brought it to an exhibition, giving us a chance to see it up close (no touching, though). We're still not quite sure how useful that robotic arm/gimbal carrying the camera will be in real life, but it's very cool to look at.

SEE ALSO: Honor's Robot Phone hand-on: It's wild, and it's weird

Not content with bringing just one robot thing to MWC, Honor also brought a humanoid robot that danced on the stage in Barcelona, before meeting its tiny Robot Phone counterpart, and then marching out.

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Honor's main announcement in Barcelona, however, was the Honor Magic V6, and incredibly thin foldable with an even thinner battery that doesn't mind water.

Lenovo's laptop and gaming concepts Need to swap in a different port? No problem. Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

Lenovo likes to play with ideas all year and then bring them all to MWC in Barcelona, and we love it.

This year's highlights include the Legion Go Fold gaming handheld concept, a glasses-free 3D laptop concept, and a modular AI laptop concept. And that's just a small part of the mountain of stuff Lenovo decided to show this year.

This story will be updated over the course of MWC to ensure you don't miss the best the show has to offer.

Mashable is reporting live from Barcelona at Mobile World Congress 2026. Follow the latest updates as we reveal the latest tech reveals from the show.

SAVE $400: As of March. 2, the EF EcoFlow Delta 3 Max is on sale for $799 at Amazon. That's a 33% discount on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: EcoFlow EF Ecoflow Delta 3 Max $799 at Amazon
$1,199 Save $400   Get Deal

The EcoFlow Delta 3 Max is back on sale at Amazon, so if you've been on the lookout for a reliable power source, now is the time to buy. As of March 2, this portable power station has been reduced from $1,199 to $799, a saving of $400. This price is for the unit only, but you can upgrade to add solar panels.

This model uses X-Stream technology to help make charging faster. With this, it can recharge from 0 to 80% in just over an hour, so you don't need hours of prep to get it ready for use. It can give you up to 3,400W output in X-Boost mode, so it can run most household appliances, including high-demand devices like refrigerators and microwaves.

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If you have devices or medical equipment you can't have turning off, this unit also offers a fast sub-10ms transfer time for backup use. And this device is an investment, thanks to its durable LiFePO4 battery, it’s designed for long-term use, with EcoFlow saying it should last for 10 years of daily use. You can monitor things like power consumption, settings, and find out how to optimize use in the EcoFlow app.

Get this portable power station deal from Amazon.

This content originally appeared on Mashable for a US audience and has been adapted for the UK audience.

Online dating as a gay man is almost rite of passage in this day and age. But it’s never as simple as just installing a dating app and swiping through all those guys. Dating apps come with a unique set of challenges for gay men: Ghosting, catfishing, straight guys in your feed, and overly forward DMs. It's a lot to wrestle with when you’re just trying to find a genuine connection. 

Despite those drawbacks, dating apps are still one of the best ways to meet new people, especially if you're gay or bisexual. Pew Research found that about one in four LGBTQ+ adults met their partner online, which is significantly more than straight people. 

You almost certainly know Grindr. It's still undefeated as the king of gay dating apps, even with reports that the user experience isn’t quite what it used to be — largely thanks to ads clogging up the free version. It’s a top tier hookup app, but not necessarily the best for potential long-term relationship connections. There are plenty of gay guys looking for alternative option. If you’re one of them, we’re here to help with some recommendations. 

Sure, you could follow the straight dating scene and try mainstream apps such Hinge and OkCupid, which to their credit have taken big steps forward in inclusivity. But we’d also point you towards more niche apps like Scruff and Feeld, which cater to specific communities, kinks, and desires. The key is figuring out which one is actually worth your time. And that includes Grindr.

Here's our authoritative guide to the best dating apps for gay men in 2026.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is almost certainly the funniest show in the Game of Thrones universe, so it's really only fitting that the blooper reel would be just as silly.

In the clip above we see Dunk (Peter Claffey) and the gang flubbing lines, struggling to make eye contact after particularly intense moments, and generally having what appears to be a lovely time.

Any Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings) fans out there will be pleased to see he pops up quite a bit, too.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is streaming on HBO Max.

SAVE $501: As of March 2, the EcoVacs Deebot X11 robot vacuum is on sale for $998.99 at Amazon. That's a 33% discount on the list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: EcoVacs EcoVacs Deebot X11 Robot Vacuum $998.99 at Amazon
$1,499.99 Save $501   Get Deal

Are you fed up with manual vacuuming and mopping? Well, it sounds like it's time to invest in a robot vacuum. And as of March 2, you can find a great deal on a great model at Amazon. Right now, the EcoVacs Deebot X11 robot vacuum has a hefty discount, down from $1,499.99 to $998.99. That's a saving of $501.

And it's a great choice if you no longer want to pick up all the chores associated with keeping your floors clean. For picking up dirt and dust, it uses a high-powered motor and airflow-optimised suction that can reach up to 19,500Pa. Not even pet hair stands a chance thanks to the anti-tangle brushes.

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The mop is powerful too, and even benefits from a Triple Lift System so that it automatically raises the mop on carpets and adjusts brushes to handle both wet and dry messes. The OZMO Roller 2.0 system uses a high-density nylon roller to give you seriously strong floor scrubbing, so even the toughest stains won't be a problem.

The docking station handles its own emptying, hot water mop washing, drying, and refilling. And it has a bagless design so if you want to make greener choices, this robot vacuum assists.

Ready to give up vacuuming cold turkey? Find this robot vacuum deal online at Amazon now.

SAVE $30: As of March 2, the Kindle Paperwhite Kids is on sale for $149.99 at Amazon. This deal saves you $30 off its list price of $179.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids (16GB) $149.99 at Amazon
$179.99 Save $30   Get Deal

If your child, or a younger person you know, has expressed an interest in reading, it's worth thinking about picking them up a Kindle. The Kindle Paperwhite Kids is our top pick for kids, and what's even better, it's currently on sale at Amazon. If you've had your eye on it, now is the time to add it to your online shopping cart.

As of March 2, the 16GB Kindle Paperwhite Kids has dropped to $149.99 at Amazon. Usually its price tag is up to $179.99, so this is a great opportunity to scoop up this e-reader for $30 off.

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If you're wondering what it is about the Kindle Paperwhite Kids that makes it our favorite pick for youngsters, Mashable's Samantha Mangino says in our roundup of the best Kindles that "More than anything else, a Kindle for kids has to be waterproof, which is why the Kindle Paperwhite Kids is the best choice." That's certainly not all, though. Mangino also notes that, "what makes it great for kids is that it's a distraction-free device. It doesn't come with ads, notifications, or the temptation of games or video."

This model also comes with 16GB of storage, which is plenty of space for a younger reader to start loading up their favorite digital books. And alongside its waterproof build and distraction-free design, its 7-inch Paperwhite display is also glare-free and comes with an adjustable warm light. So, no matter if they're reading outside or before bed, the screen won't be hard on their eyes.

This offer is currently listed as a "limited time deal" at Amazon. So if the 16GB Kindle Paperwhite Kids has caught your attention, this is your chance to pick it up and save.

Xiaomi made true on its promise: The company brought the freshly announced Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo hypercar concept to its booth at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

SEE ALSO: MWC 2026 live updates: Announcements from Honor, Xiaomi, more I'd recognize that light signature anywhere. Credit: Stan Schroeder / Mashable

Having seen it in person at MWC, let me tell you, this is not your average electric family sedan, as fast as those are these days. The Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo is a futuristic supercar that sits very low to the ground and has apparently been designed with one thing in mind: to defeat the wind.

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We weren't allowed to peek inside, unfortunately, and see that snazzy, "cocoon-shaped" interior.

Those are some huge wind tunnels. Credit: Stan Schroeder / Mashable

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We still don't know much about the Xiaomi Vision GT. We don't know the details on its powertrain or battery, how fast it goes, or even how much it costs. In its presentation on Sunday, Xiaomi focused on the car's low drag coefficient and how connected it is to the other devices in the company's ecosystem.

The tire covers supposedly do not rotate while the car moves, which lowers drag. No, we don't know how it works. Credit: Stan Schroeder / Mashable

The Vision Gran Turismo name is not accidental; it means the concept car is part of the Vision Gran Turismo Program, a project led by Polyphony Digital's Kazunori Yamauchi involving a series of (mostly virtual) vehicles developed by car manufacturers for the Gran Turismo racing game franchise. What's new is that these cars are typically designed by renowned car companies including Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Honda; now, Xiaomi — primarily a consumer electronics company — has joined the program as well.

OK, when can we order one? Hint: Probably never. Credit: Stan Schroeder / Mashable

As such, the Xiaomi Vision GT probably won't be a car you can actually purchase, but it's a cool exercise for Xiaomi. Gamers should soon be able to drive the car in Gran Turismo 7 and Xiaomi can now add "hypercar maker" to the ever-growing list of things it does.

Featured Video For You Motorola is entering the wearable AI game

FREE BOOKS: The latest Stuff Your Kindle Day takes place on March 1-2. Young Adult and Coming-of-Age Picks, hosted by Book Below, is offering young adult fiction for your e-reader.

The Stuff Your Kindle Day schedule has been wild over the last week or so. First we had the Sapphic Shelf Explosion. That was quickly followed by Indulge in the Darkness. And now, without much time to physically or mentally recover, we've got Young Adult and Coming-of-Age Picks. Too many Stuff Your Kindle Days is not a thing. More free books is always a good thing.

Young Adult and Coming-of-Age Picks, hosted by Book Below, is offering participants the chance to download young adult fiction for free. And everything that you download is yours to keep forever, so please don't hold back. Go wild and stock up for the summer. You know you're going to need plenty of material for vacations, warm nights, and weekends spent outside.

SEE ALSO: I tested the best Kindles to help you find the perfect e-reader

Looking to make the most of the latest Stuff Your Kindle Day? We've lined up everything you need to know about this popular event.

When is Stuff Your Kindle Day?

Young Adult and Coming-of-Age Picks takes place onMarch 1-2. This free giveaway runs for two days, but the clock is ticking on this limited-time event.

Which ebooks are free?

Young Adult and Coming-of-Age Picks doesn't have links to sub-genres like a lot of these free giveaways, but there's still a helpful hub page on Book Below. Everything is 100% free, with multiple genres available and books for all Kindle devices. The only catch is that you will need to scroll to find exactly what you want to read, but that's small price to pay for free reads.

Anyone can participate in Stuff Your Kindle Day. Kindle and Kobo readers can download these young adult books for free.

Is Stuff Your Kindle Day the same as Amazon Kindle Unlimited?

Everything you download on Stuff Your Kindle Day is yours to keep, and there's no limit on the number of books you can download. Stuff Your Kindle Day downloads don't count towards the 20 books that Amazon Kindle Unlimited subscribers can borrow at the same time.

The best Stuff Your Kindle Day deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Kindle (16GB) + Kindle Unlimited (3 Months) $109.99 at Amazon
  Get Deal Why we like it

These popular e-readers let you take your entire library on the go. With weeks of battery life and an anti-glare display, you can read anywhere and anytime with the Kindle. Plus, you can get three months of Kindle Unlimited for free with your purchase.

In the years since the COVID-19 pandemic, cinemas have been closing across countries including U.S. and the UK. As streaming giants prioritize online releases, the trend has seemingly continued. However, there may be hope for the future of cinemagoing.

It might surprise you, but last year, U.S. theaters actually saw an eight percent increase in habitual moviegoers, and a 10 percent increase in Gen Z audiences, compared to 2022. That's according to a 2025 report by Cinema United, formerly known as National Association of Theatre Owners.

So, what's behind these numbers? Mashable producer Teodosia Dobriyanova takes a look in the video above.

TL;DR: Lego is running Star Wars make and take events on March 8. A limited quantity of Lego Star Wars Lightsabers will be available for free at participating stores.

Lego regularly runs make and take events in which participants can walk away with an exclusive set without spending anything. These free giveaways always cause a stir, but nothing gets the people going quite like Star Wars.

Visitors to select Lego Stores on March 8 (from 12-2 p.m. GMT) can participate in an awesome Lego Star Wars Lightsaber make and take event. This free giveaway is intended for children aged 10+, and the model is available on a first-come-first-serve basis, at participating locations in the U.S., while supplies last. At one stage it looked like this event wasn't coming to the U.S., but we've been spared that crushing disappointment.

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This Lego Star Wars Lightsaber is not available for purchase. By taking part in this special event, Star Wars fans can take home something that money literally cannot buy. The only catch is that you're limited to one build per participant, but come on — you can't just turn up and stock up on these exclusive Star Wars sets for free. That would be nice, but that's not the Way of the Force.

Score this free Lego Star Wars Lightsaber at your nearest participating store on March 8.

Vibe coding may seem intimidating, but it's actually really easy to get started. There are tons of tools and guides all over the internet that teach you which tools work best and explain the basics of vibe coding for beginners. So, let’s say you've already reviewed all of that, gone through the process, and out popped an app that you’re really proud to have made. What on Earth are you supposed to do with it? 

Most vibe coding projects start the same way. You start making code with AI, test it, fix it, and repeat until the app works. The overwhelming majority of stories on Reddit start this way, and so that seems to be the most popular process. However, doing it this way has its problems, and since vibe coding is quickly becoming so popular, many of the same mistakes keep appearing. 

So, for this guide, we’ll assume you’ve already vibe coded your app and are looking for the next steps. For instance, now that you have an app, how do you actually get it into the app stores?

Make your developer accounts 

Every app platform has a developer account, and you’ll need to learn how to make one, the process involved, and the cost. For example, an Apple Developer account costs $99 per year, and a Google Play Developer account costs $25 one time. If you build a PC game, Steam charges you $100 per game that you want to upload. This isn’t about which one you choose, but more about expectations. 

You should also set yourself up properly to avoid worst-case scenarios. For example, you can create a Steam developer account with your normal account. However, if you get caught in a ban wave, you’ll lose access to your games as well, causing a serious problem. Always use a separate email for your developer accounts to avoid these kinds of problems. 

When you're confident your app is ready, you can submit it for approval. Before you do, check the app stores' terms of service and app policies.

Decide how much effort you want to put in

This one seems silly, but it’s one of the most important. People who give their apps away for free don’t have the same expectations from users as someone who sells their apps for money. Selling your app for money means you’ll be expected to maintain it, fix bugs, add features, and continually improve the app. After all, it is now a product with a revenue stream, and products with revenue streams rarely retain a user base if they make no upward movement. 

Sharing your app for free is much easier. There is virtually no expectation for upgrades or bug fixes, although you may still get requests for updates. You should also prepare for some negative feedback, as developing apps with AI seems to bring out the worst kinds of critics. Before you do anything else, decide how much of your time you want to dedicate to the app going forward.

Know when to clean up and ship

Vibe coding is addictive in the same way that mobile games are. You get that quick dopamine drip by asking the AI to add something, and immediately watching it add the thing. Then, you think of another feature, and it adds that too. What was once a day or two of polish and adding a few extra features turns into weeks of getting stuck in the weeds with various additions to the project (a phenomenon called feature creep). You have to stop coding and start using the app at some point. Remember: You can always add more updates later. 

When you do decide the app is ready, don't forget about documentation. A lot of your ideas probably live in your chat logs and in your head, and when you come back to a project after a couple of weeks of not working on it, you may have forgotten how each element works. So, once your app is complete, go through and document everything. If you do, you’ll be much more ready to find a broken module and fix it that much faster.

Begin market research for your app

If you do decide to monetize your new app, your work is cut out for you. You can easily find in-depth guides and videos with tips on selling your app, but you'll want to do some market research first, including your target demographics, competitor apps, and the price you should charge. One common piece of advice is to go to related subreddits and ask people to test out your app, tell you how much they’d pay for it, and give feedback. Any advantage over existing products is a plus. 

Luckily, the same AI tools that helped you build your app can also help you draft a business plan, write marketing copy, and come up with a logo.

Shape up your design

The app works, and that’s great, but does it look good? That’s a question you should answer. There are tons of vibe coded apps on the Internet that work fine but look like something you’d see in a programming class in 2015. Spend some time refining your UI and making sure all the functions are logically placed where the user expects them to be. If the overall flow doesn’t make sense, your users will quickly get frustrated and head for the exit.

This is especially important if you want your AI vibe coding project to live on a website. Poorly designed websites can chase people away, either because they look bad, don’t work properly, or both. Once you have your UI built, whether it’s on a website or in an app, test it to make sure it works as expected. You’ll be glad you did when you don’t get flooded with criticism over a small, accidentally overlooked mistake. 

Be patient

Everything above takes time to do. Shipping an app, making it better, creating a UX that people actually want to use and pay for, and getting out into the world are all monumental tasks for first-timers. It’s important to go into these tasks with a realistic mindset. While vibe coding tools are getting a lot better, you can’t simply select same-day shipping like you would when buying headphones online. It takes time to create a functioning product that is available on an app store, generates revenue, and has a user base.

You will have setbacks and get stuck on obstacles. It’s all part of the coding process, whether you're writing code by hand or creating an app with vibes. You can do a lot of amazing things as a vibe coder, but AI tools can’t turn your app into a finished consumer product, at least not yet. 

Have fun with it

Creating a mobile app is a process that used to require years of school, practice, and specialized expertise. The fact that your favorite AI chatbot can now help you whip up a custom app in minutes is incredibly cool. While researching this article, I found many examples of full-stack developers with well over a decade of experience who now use Vibe Coding. Often, these professionals use an AI coding agent to create the groundwork, and then they go to clean up the code afterward with their experience and skill. 

Remember to take a moment to appreciate the fact that you talked to a robot — and the robot built an app for you. Modern technology is incredible like that. If all you need is an app for personal use, you don’t even have to do any of the stuff I described if you don't want to. But, if you’re looking to make this a career or side hustle, then your work is just getting started.

I remember watching sci-fi classics like Back to the Future Part II and Total Recall as a child, wondering whether I would ever experience something like a smart home in my lifetime. In the ’80s and ’90s, the closest things we had to interconnected devices were fax machines, PCs with dial-up internet, and a TV remote. If you were really lucky, you had The Clapper, which could turn lights on and off when you clapped.

The early millennium marked home automation’s first real foothold. Cooking appliances began operating with programmable precision, TVs quietly analyzed our viewing habits to sharpen recommendations, and core household systems — climate, lighting, and security — became smart enough to be controlled with a smartphone. We were close to living like The Jetsons, just without Rosey or flying cars. 

Then, smart homes got a new set of skills, thanks to artificial intelligence. As home assistants get new AI features and smart gadgets evolve alongside them, it finally feels like we're living in the sci-fi smart home we were promised.

The modern smart home is growing smarter and stronger with every advancement. Let’s see how generative AI is changing our homes in exciting new ways

Adaptive atmospheres 

AI is analyzing environmental conditions — indoors and outdoors — and using those insights to better automate your home.

For instance, lighting systems are learning the best times to adjust light patterns based on mood cues (e.g., music, voice commands), resident activity, and the time of day. HVAC systems are balancing comfort with sustainability by tweaking temperatures around homeowner behavior and weather forecasts. Likewise, smart home security systems leverage AI to send more effective alerts.

Modern smart home ecosystems use AI in all sorts of creative ways, and you may not even realize it. However, you can also get proactive. As just one example, you can ask your smart home assistant to analyze your patterns and behaviors to suggest a better bedtime routine.

Intelligent home maintenance

We’re at the point where home appliances are operating independently. They’re exhibiting elite intelligence and taking the legwork out of many household chores. These devices save a lot of time and simplify decision-making.

Here are just some of the ways that AI is making smart home appliances smarter. 

• Dishwashers: auto-detergent dispensing, personalized wash cycles, and soil level detection 

• Dryers and washers: energy and water efficiency, fabric detection, personalized wash cycles, and scheduled washes

• Fridges: inventory management, recipe recommendations for refrigerated ingredients, and reorder automation for subscription services

• Mops and vacuums: cleaning machines like robot vacuums use AI to create automated cleaning modes, better home maps, and identify obstacles

CES 2026 showcased numerous tech innovations that leverage AI for optimal home maintenance. Check out some of our favorite robot vacuum announcements from this year’s show. 

Smarter monitoring

Smart cameras are crucial for home security. Newer models are using computer vision — a subset of AI designed to observe, interpret, and understand visual data from the real world. This allows smart cameras to better differentiate between animate and inanimate objects and threats and non-threats. In fact, computer vision is so advanced, it can distinguish between perfect products and ones with defects. It can even identify neighbors and strangers. 

On top of that, security systems use AI at home to learn your movement patterns around the house. If there is peculiar activity in your backyard or living room, it’s quick to alert you, while also being mindful of routine behavior, like pets running around. 

Informed health decisions

Finally, if you're using fitness trackers and other wearables, then AI can monitor your health at home. Fitness and sleep trackers can learn your behavior and identify patterns to offer actionable recommendations for better sleep, diet, and exercise. But if you really want to use AI to improve your health, you're not limited to wearable devices.

New kinds of smart sensors can detect everything from irregular movements to prolonged immobility. Some devices can even alert caregivers or health providers in an emergency. Likewise, smart workout equipment can design better workouts.

These are just a handful of ways that AI is already changing the modern smart home. As we incorporate AI assistants into our everyday lives, and as companies invent smarter appliances, there's no telling how our lives will change for the better in the years ahead.

The web browser has been at the core of the experience of using the internet basically since the internet was first created. But while they’ve always been key to the internet as a whole, until now, they’ve also been passive tools that you have to control. AI browsers are changing that in a pretty fundamental way. Instead of sitting there waiting for your input, these browsers can actually read pages, summarize content, dig through research, and take action on your behalf. 

The benefits of this are more obvious for repetitive, mundane tasks. I, for example, often order my groceries online before picking them up — something that takes a while but could be easily automated. That said, let's be realistic about where things actually are right now. AI browsers are still in their early days, and they typically complement traditional browsers more than replace them. If you're just watching YouTube or scrolling through social media, then a regular browser still handles your everyday needs perfectly fine.

However, in the very near future, AI browsers could totally transform the internet. If you're an early adopter, here's how you can use AI browsers to supercharge your productivity.

Autonomous task management

The biggest selling point of most AI browsers is agentic task management. AI agents can independently hop between websites, fill out forms, run research, and execute tasks. 

Tab management is also getting a lot smarter. Some AI browsers actually learn your browsing habits and pre-load pages you're likely to visit next, or automatically suspend tabs that are hogging memory but haven't been touched in hours. If you're the kind of person who routinely has 30+ tabs open, this alone can make a real difference.

Content processing and synthesis

Summarization in AI browsers goes way beyond just pulling a few key sentences off a page. For example, many of these tools can perform cross-tab comparisons. This lets you synthesize information across multiple open tabs at the same time. Instead of reading five articles one by one and trying to hold all the key points in your head, the browser can compare and contrast them for you in real time.

Real-time context awareness helps too. The AI understands what you're reading without requiring you to highlight text, copy it, and paste it into a chat window. It can proactively surface relevant insights, definitions, or related information based on the page you're looking at, without manual prompting.

Writing and creation assistance

Built-in writing tools for drafting and editing are becoming pretty standard across AI browsers. A big part of what makes this work is an embedded chat interface that lives right alongside webpages. Instead of context-switching over to an AI chatbot app, you can interact with AI without leaving the browser, asking questions, requesting edits, and generating content without ever leaving the page. This alone eliminates a surprising amount of friction in a typical workday.

Let's look at a practical example. Imagine you're working on a research project, and one of your sources links to a lengthy PDF or Excel file. Instead of downloading it and reading it line by line, you can ask your AI assistant to analyze the file, summarize it, and generate a bullet-point list you can include in your project.

Virtually all AI browsers also offer image generation features, though the quality varies quite a bit. For designers, marketers, and content creators, having visual AI tools baked right into the browser can streamline workflows that would otherwise demand dedicated applications.

Visual analysis and translation

If you're on a webpage and you encounter text in a foreign language, data visualizations, or images, AI browsers you can use visual intelligence to examine, interpret, and explain what you're seeing. While auto-translate features aren't exactly new, these translations are becoming more accurate thanks to large language models. You can even ask AI to translate writing that appears in an image, something that wasn't possible until recently.

Limitations of AI browsers

While AI browsers offer a productivity "superpower," they also come with privacy and reliability risks. These tools actively parse your emails, calendars, and browsing habits to provide context (if you let them), so they necessarily handle more sensitive data than traditional browsers. That's why it's important to understand AI security risks if you're using AI browsers in the workplace.

It's also worth considering the costs. Many AI browsers lock their features behind subscription tiers, and while that might be fine if you already have a subscription, it's worth keeping in mind if you don't.

In 2026, most AI browsers are still in their infancy, but they've been enthusiastically embraced by early adopters. Try these tools for yourself to see how they can save you time and make you even more effective at work.

Coming up in March, the full moon will dim, darken, and then glow red as Earth's shadow slides across its face.

The total lunar eclipse will unfold over several hours and reward people willing to wake up early in the morning or in the middle of the night. Unlike a solar eclipse, which requires eye protection and precise timing, a lunar eclipse happens slowly and can be watched safely from just about any place with an unobstructed view of the moon.

Visible across much of North America, this March 3 event will offer a clear demonstration of celestial mechanics in action — a simple way for the public to observe how the sun, Earth, and moon move in relation to one another. The best part: No fancy equipment or technical knowledge is necessary for the experience.

SEE ALSO: These 'avatars' will fly around the moon with NASA's Artemis 2 astronauts How a lunar eclipse works

A total lunar eclipse happens when Earth moves directly between the sun and the moon during a full moon. That causes the planet to block most of the sunlight that would normally illuminate it. 

Earth's shadow has two main regions: the outer shadow, called the penumbra, and the inner shadow, known as the umbra. The penumbra causes faint dimming that can be hard to notice. But the umbra is much darker. As it sweeps over the moon, the eclipse becomes obvious and the darkened portion spreads until the entire moon is covered.

Rather than disappear in this dark shadow, the moon is bathed in a coppery red or orange color.

A composite image shows the moon's stages during a total lunar eclipse, as seen from Texas A&M University on March 14, 2025. Credit: Jon Shapley / Houston Chronicle / Getty Images When and where to see it

The eclipse will be visible across several time zones. In North and Central America, it will occur in the early morning hours before sunrise. Observers in eastern Asia and Australia will see it in the evening, while those across the Pacific Ocean will experience it over night. This eclipse won't be visible from Africa or Europe, but more than 40 percent of the world's population could see some part of the totality phase, if they so desired.

Key stages follow a predictable timeline. The penumbral phase begins at 3:44 a.m. ET / 12:44 a.m. PT on March 3, when the moon first starts to dim. The partial eclipse begins at 4:50 a.m. ET / 1:50 a.m. PT, as the darker shadow becomes clearly visible. Then, totality arrives at 6:04 a.m. ET / 3:04 a.m. PT and lasts until 7:03 a.m. ET / 4:03 a.m. PT. Afterward, the moon gradually brightens as it exits the shadow. The whole show concludes at 9:23 a.m. ET / 6:23 a.m. PT.

For precise local timings, visit TimeandDate.com or the U.S. Naval Observatory's tool.

Why it's called a 'blood moon'

By now, you've probably figured out that the nickname "blood moon" pays homage to its signature reddish-orange hue. The "why" behind the color is perhaps more intriguing. 

Earth's atmosphere bends and filters sunlight as it passes around the edges of the world. The shorter blue wavelengths scatter, while red and orange light continue onward and reach the moon. The result resembles the warm glow of sunrise and sunset. In effect, light filtered through Earth's atmosphere tints the lunar surface.

How to watch the total lunar eclipse

A lunar eclipse is one of the easiest sky events to watch because no telescope, filter, or special glasses are needed. A clear line of sight to the moon is all one needs to catch the show.

Binoculars or a small telescope can sharpen surface details and make the color changes easier to see, but that's optional. A darker location away from bright lights can also improve the view, especially during the totality phase.

The beauty of a lunar eclipse is that if you want to photograph the event, you don't need special gear to protect your camera. Even a smartphone can capture a spectacular shot. But if you're looking for advice on how to get the most out of the photo session, companies like B&H Photo and Nikon offer some pro tips. 

What else to look for in the sky

As Earth's shadow darkens the moon, the sky may dazzle with an even bigger show. Stars may be easier to spot because the full moon's usual glare has faded. During this eclipse, the moon will appear in the direction of the constellation Leo.