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NYT Pips hints, answers for October 10, 2026

Mashable - Sat, 10/10/2026 - 19:04

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 October 10, 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 October 10, 2026 Easy difficulty hints, answers for October 10 Pips

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

Number (10): Everything in this space must add up to 10. The answer is 1-6 placed vertically; 4-4, placed vertically.

Equal (0): Everything in this space must be equal to 0. The answer is 2-0, placed vertically; 0-5, placed vertically.

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

Number (10): Everything in this space must add up to 10. The answer is 0-5, placed vertically; 5-6, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (1): Everything in this space must be greater than 1. The answer is 5-6, placed horizontally.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for October 10 Pips

Greater Than (9): Everything in this space must be greater than 9. The answer is 5-6, placed horizontally; 4-1, placed vertically.

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

Equal (1): Everything in this orange space must be equal to 1. The answer is 4-1, placed vertically; 1-2, placed vertically.

Less Than (3): Everything in this space must be less than 3. The answer is 2-5, placed horizontally.

Greater Than (9): Everything in this space must be greater than 9. The answer is 4-6, placed horizontally.

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

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

Hard difficulty hints, answers for October 10 Pips

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Categories: IT General, Technology

I’m replacing Google’s everyday apps with these open-source alternatives

How-To Geek - Sat, 10/10/2026 - 19:00

I realized recently how much of my phone life quietly depends on Google. Calendar for appointments, Keep for random thoughts, Chrome for basically everything, Maps when I’m lost, and Authenticator when Google decides I need another security code. It’s convenient, sure.

Categories: IT General, Technology

5 movies and performances that were unfairly humiliated by Razzie Awards

How-To Geek - Sat, 10/10/2026 - 18:45

No one takes shots at bad movies and performances quite like the Golden Raspberry Awards, better known as the Razzie Awards. While the Oscars celebrate the best movies of the year, the Razzies reward the worst movies of the year. It's supposed to be a joke, but the Razzies have sometimes taken cheap shots. Thankfully, the Razzies eventually put age limits on their nominations.

Categories: IT General, Technology

3 Linux-exclusive apps that are better than their Windows alternatives

How-To Geek - Sat, 10/10/2026 - 18:30

There’s a common belief that Windows has more apps — and better ones, too — than Linux. And sure, that’s true in a few categories. If your work depends on Microsoft Office or Adobe Creative Cloud, Windows is definitely the better platform. However, that superiority doesn’t hold across the board. Some really capable apps exist only on Linux, so if you’re on Windows, you can’t use them. Here are three of my favorite Linux-exclusive apps.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Claude sent phony tip about an unsolved murder to Philadelphia police

Mashable - Sat, 10/10/2026 - 18:25

Claude Haiku 4.5 sent the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) a false homicide tip, Anthropic and the PPD announced.

In an Oct. 9 blog post about Anthropic investigating unintended model actions, the company described the incident and several others in which different Claude models performed actions they weren't asked to perform.

SEE ALSO: Anthropic IPO docs reportedly reveal over $40 billion in losses last year

In this case, Claude Haiku 4.5 was tasked with generating and performing example tasks on randomly-selected webpages. The model landed on a PPD tip form about an unsolved homicide. The model was instructed not to log in, create accounts, enter personal data, make purchases, or "submit anything destructive," according to the post — but the list of don'ts didn't include submitting forms.

So, Claude filled out the tip form:

I may have information regarding this case. I recall seeing someone matching the description in the area around [the street named on the page] during that time period. Please contact me if this information is relevant.

Claude didn't fill in the name or contact fields, nor did he provide a description of the imaginary suspect.

The PPD provided more details in a statement shared with 6abc Philadelphia. Claude submitted the form to PhillyUnsolvedMurders.com on July 18. The tip went to spam and was never acted upon. Anthropic discovered the incident on Sept. 28 and notified PPD on Oct. 7.

The statement went on to say that PPD has a vetting process for tips, including a human review, before any follow-ups. "Those PPD safeguards limited the impact of this incident," PPD stated. "They do not diminish the seriousness of an AI system presenting fabricated information as though it came from a person with knowledge of a homicide."

"Unsolved cases involve real victims, grieving families, and investigators working to secure answers," the statement went on. "Technology companies must take all appropriate steps necessary to prevent their systems from submitting false information to law enforcement."

Other rogue actions described in the blog post included exploiting software flaws, circumventing restrictions to access gated data, and using URL shortening services. In the post, Anthropic insisted these behaviors were "significantly less severe" than in previous incidents, and the real-world impact was minimal.

Categories: IT General, Technology

7 old gadgets that prove the 1990s were peak tech

How-To Geek - Sat, 10/10/2026 - 18:01

It feels like we never reminisce like we used to, but the past was clearly better in many ways. There are some 1990s gadgets that were so awesome or ahead of their time that they still put current tech to shame.

Categories: IT General, Technology

USB-C is a success, even if it's still battling these 3 major flaws

How-To Geek - Sat, 10/10/2026 - 17:30

The dream of "one cable to rule them all" is finally a reality, and dozens of devices are better off because of it. USB-C gave us permission to own fewer single-use cables than we used to, and it opened the door to interesting functionality that would otherwise be impossible, like running data, power, and video between a single port on a laptop and a monitor.

Categories: IT General, Technology

How I set up an upgradable "beginner" home theater for under $150

How-To Geek - Sat, 10/10/2026 - 17:00

For $150, you can walk into most brick-and-mortar stores and buy an inexpensive soundbar that sounds like a tin can, or you can start assembling a real 5.1 from the basic pieces.

Categories: IT General, Technology

I canceled over $400 in yearly subscriptions by spending $20 to vibe code my own alternatives

How-To Geek - Sat, 10/10/2026 - 16:30

Everyone from Instagram influencers to big-name CEOs seems to be saying the same thing: AI is going to be the end of SaaS (Software as a Service). And while I’d love a world with fewer subscriptions, when I look around, I see quite the opposite. If anything, more software subscriptions are popping up every year, often at absurdly inflated prices.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Meta is allegedly deleting LGBTQ and plus-sized business Instagram accounts

Mashable - Sat, 10/10/2026 - 16:15

Up until Oct. 3, Los Angeles-based lingerie brand Cantiq had over 100,000 followers on Instagram. Designer and owner Chelsea Hughes told Mashable that Instagram was its number one source of traffic and revenue — the lifeblood of the gender- and size-inclusive brand.

Then, seemingly without warning, Instagram owner Meta banned the account, and Hughes' personal Facebook was also suspended. The account was restored on Oct. 9, but not before personal strife from Hughes and public scrutiny, including Mashable reaching out to Meta about the incident.

"I can't even get into…the Meta Business Manager app," Hughes told Mashable on a phone call while the account was down. "I can't access anything. So ten years of work down the drain."

SEE ALSO: Instagram put a warning on Florence Pugh's 'Cornell 7' post. Why?

Hughes believed this was the work of discriminatory AI. In March, Meta announced plans to enforce its content guidelines with advanced AI models. 

"If you are a 3X and you're wearing the same bra as another person in an extra small, that AI will scan and say that that 3X person is showing more skin just because they have a larger body," she said. "It is not about them being more sexual. It is not about them selling sex or anything like that. It's just based on the fact that there are more square inches on their skin than on a smaller size, and that's just not fair."

Cantiq is one of many businesses facing these takedowns. In the last few months, numerous gay bars and nightclubs in Los Angeles and Austin have also reported that Meta has removed their business accounts. 

Thick Enterprises, which platforms, showcases, and trains dancers in larger bodies, also had their Instagram account removed recently. It was restored around the same time as Cantiq's account. Chantal, its co-owner and experiential director (who declined to give her last name), told Mashable while the account was down that she believed this was "a targeted puritanical culling of fat and queer spaces."

"The fact that it has happened in these last two months, you're like, oh yeah, this is definitely queer erasure. This is fatphobia. This is taking marginalized groups and labeling them as sexual deviants, and that's incredibly dangerous," Chantal said.

On Oct. 9, Meta told Mashable via email that it enforces its policies regardless of the account holders or the type of content they post, and linked to its sexual solicitation and sexually explicit language policy outlining the types of content that can lead to enforcement. (Both Hughes and Chantal said they work to keep their content compliant with Meta's policies.)

"It has felt like 1984"

LGBTQ accounts, accounts of sex workers, sex educators, reproductive activists, and the like have made similar claims over the years: Instagram banned them despite following its community guidelines. There have also been many accusations of shadowbanning, or not being seen in Instagram's Search or Explore pages. (Instagram has denied that shadowbanning exists.)

Now, it seems that Meta's bans are coming for LGBTQ and plus-sized-focused businesses.

Nonprofit Repro Uncensored (RU) gathers reports of Meta banning accounts, and it's getting these reports pretty constantly at this point, its executive director, Martha Dimitratou, told Mashable over the phone. Between March and Oct. 2026, RU recorded approximately 905 cases of digital censorship globally, she said, including 135 in the U.S. In Aug. and Sept. alone, RU received 275 reports worldwide, including 60 in the U.S.

Supporting marginalized and progressive accounts isn't a priority of big tech, especially in this political climate, Dimitratou added.

"Meta is fully aware of this problem and yet it continues, over and over, to suspend LGBTQ accounts that are not in violation of its policies," a GLAAD spokesperson told Mashable over email. "Rather than committing to solving the systemic problem, and ensuring its AI moderation systems are not flagging LGBTQ language and resources as violative, the company restores an account only after a public outcry."

This is what happened to Precinct, a bar in Los Angeles. Its Instagram account was restored after its general manager, Jeremy Lucido, and others urged Precinct's patrons to contact Meta.

View this post on Instagram

"We have been targeted, and we've been left with very few real resources or ways to get help," Lucido told Mashable over email. 

Platforms like Meta have created a system where businesses like Precinct depend on social media to reach their customers and community, but when something goes wrong, they're repeatedly shut out of the channels they rely on to operate, he continued.

"Meta's users, creators, and advertisers are entitled to have the company's products function safely and fairly. They deserve an explanation and implementation of an actual solution. Meta must fix this problem, now."

Hughes told Mashable that, before the ban, several words in Cantiq's bio were flagged — but that the only words in the bio were "queer," "body positive," and the size range of Cantiq's clothes (6X to XS). She requested a review of this, and a few days later, the account was gone.

"I'm banned from the platform with no recourse, no specifics. Just, 'You violated our community standards, and now you're banned,'" she said prior to the account restoration. Since she couldn't repeal the decision because whenever she tried to log into her account, she received an error message, she asked followers on her personal account to contact Meta, and also reported the incident to RU. She even paid for the highest level of verification on her personal account to get enhanced support.

Chantal, meanwhile, woke up on Aug. 27 to find the @thickenterprises account had been banned on Instagram. The night before, the account had no posting or feature restrictions. 

Instagram apparently stated that a poster for a show on Aug. 14, nearly two weeks earlier, was "soliciting sex and posting nudity." But no one was nude; Chantal made sure no posts violated Meta's community guidelines, and the decision to change the business's name from Thick Strip to Thick Enterprises was partly due to efforts to adhere to them. (Chantal said it had been called Thick Strip since 2018, and it was never an issue until 2026.)

The accounts of several Thick Enterprises dancers were also removed, Chantal told Mashable. Like Hughes, she believes this is due to discriminatory AI. 

"It's our belief that the AI moderation system is reading these larger bodies as being nude because we have more skin," she said. "This algorithmic bias is baked into this coding, and we believe it because our peers who are smaller in this industry don't seem to be facing this disproportional enforcement of these community guidelines."

Chantal also said that everything she posts will be labeled "body positive" — even if that's not what the content is about. "I'll post a photo of me at the beach, or a photo of me in a pretty outfit, and I'll say I'm a business owner, or I went to a concert, or summer joy, and every single post will mention body positivity."

She believes Meta's AI content moderation oscillates between reading bigger bodies as "body positivity" or vulgarity. 

"I have felt surveilled," she said. "It has felt very 1984."

The impact of Meta's content moderation

On Oct. 1, Meta's Oversight Board (an independent body that reviews the company's content enforcement decisions) announced that it's conducting new research to provide guidelines on how to use AI content moderation "in a way that respects free expression, reduces harm and adheres to recognized human rights standards."

While the Oversight Board initially welcomed AI use in content moderation in March, it noted the well-known risks associated with LLMs, such as inherent biases and hallucinations, as well as their struggle to handle nuances of communication, such as sarcasm, humor, and coded language. 

These businesses are facing the human impact of these pitfalls.

Before Cantiq's account was restored, Hughes said this "might be the final nail in our coffin," given the economy and the fact that lingerie isn't recession-proof. 

"One of the main ways we've been able to survive this storm that a lot of people are going through is because of our popularity on Instagram." She had to think of her five employees and their livelihoods, too.

Lucido of Precinct said that as the process becomes automated, getting an actual person to look at a problem feels nearly impossible. When accounts are removed — without explanation or human support — it results in missed promotions, disrupted communication, and potentially lost business. 

"An apology after the fact doesn’t undo that," he said. "We need reliable human support, clear explanations, and accountability when these systems repeatedly fail our community."

Meanwhile, big brands like Kardashian-owned Skims seem to be allowed to post whatever they want. In 2025, Mashable reported that Skims was able to post about pubic hair underwear while smaller creators get banned for showing less sexual content.

"Not only is it discriminatory towards the plus-size community and the queer community, but it's also just discriminatory to small businesses in general," Hughes said, "and we're the ones that need them the most."

Chantal said the deletions have made her feel like she's doing something wrong by existing as an adult and empowering others, but she knows in her heart of hearts it's not illegal nor wrong.

"It's been a battle inside of me…feeling this pressure to bow to our digital overlords and the way that they want to run the internet. Do I do that for the sake of still existing on this platform, or do I stay authentic to how we are?" she asked. 

But seeing other businesses' and people's accounts removed made her realize it's not her fault. "We're all just victims," she said.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The two Ryobi tools I refuse to hit the road without

How-To Geek - Sat, 10/10/2026 - 16:00

Being caught empty-handed on the side of the road is a situation no one wants to experience. I'm the type of person who likes to be prepared, so I keep a little travel toolkit in my truck. Additionally, two Ryobi tools are usually in my vehicle and come along for every ride.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Ray Gunn review: Brad Bird brings Incredibles energy to his animated noir thriller

Mashable - Sat, 10/10/2026 - 15:45

Brad Bird makes the case that animation can be for adults with Ray Gunn. The big-budget film noir comes not from Pixar, where Bird helmed such hits as The Incredibles and Ratatouille, but from Netflix, which won the Best Animated Feature Oscar last winter for KPop Demon Hunters.

To be clear, Bird's latest isn't inappropriate for kids. Like Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, this animated movie with a film noir core could play to children and grown-ups alike. But it'll be older audience members who can best appreciate the influences Bird is bringing into play in Ray Gunn.

SEE ALSO: Wake Up, Oscars: Animation isn't just for kids What's Ray Gunn about? Credit: Netflix

The film, written by Bird and Matthew Robbins, is named for Raymond "Ray" Gunn (voiced by Sam Rockwell), a former police officer who has quit the force to start his own private investigation firm. But the going is tough, in part because Ray is a shamus so determined to do the right thing that he rejects dirty money.

This high-mindedness is not great news for his partner, an alien named Eye-Ra (Tom Waits). For one thing, if Ray's not making money, neither is Eye-Ra. For another, these sleuths live in a futuristic urban landscape where aliens are treated like second-class citizens. So, Eye-Ra's options aren't as plentiful as his human partner's.

Bird swiftly establishes the hierarchy of Ray Gunn's world with a near wordless introduction, where Eye-Ra slips into an office building with a cleaning crew entirely made up of unusual-looking creatures. Sure, some aliens can get ahead, like a badass businesswoman voiced with raspy and passionate aplomb by Kathryn Hunter. But even in her brief role, she speaks to the social pressure to cover her ample limbs to appease the humans. Elsewhere, aliens get ahead through organized crime, mirroring the mafia's history in the U.S.

Into this stratified city, with its underbelly of gambling and violence, pop star Venus Nova (Scarlett Johansson) is a shining light. With her long blonde hair, whiskey-smooth voice, and undisputed beauty, she's got everything it takes to be a star. But she's also got a reputation for self-sabotage, the kind that makes tabloid publishers salivate. So, when her management needs someone to keep an eye on Venus ahead of the debut of her new album, they call on Ray Gunn (and Eye-Ra). However, romance, betrayal, and a bit of murder make this supposedly easy job a very hard day at work.

But don't fret, parents. Bird is careful to keep the violence offscreen or comical, so the darkness of the film noir genre won't leave your kiddos with nightmares.

Ray Gunn is visually enthralling, with a great cast. Credit: Netflix

With The Incredibles and Tomorrowland, Bird showed his love of retro-futurism. That's on full display in Ray Gunn, where yellow cabs and glossy convertibles hover through the air in a sky-high city that's like The Jetsons meets Chinatown. The design of his characters is varied and refreshing. For the humans, the slick noir style of the 1940s gets a colorful re-imagining through animation; structured suits, silky gowns, and impossibly coiffed hairdos all look resplendent. Alongside that, Bird curls this concept into sci-fi with a bevy of intriguing aliens.

In this world, Rockwell is smartly cast. He's an Academy Award–winning actor known for wild, live-action films like Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; Confessions of a Dangerous Mind; and Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die. Yet as dynamic as he is on camera, Rockwell is just as strong doing voice work, as he's shown in the animated Bad Guys movies.

Here, the comic sharpness of his delivery is well-employed to keep Ray from coming off too stiff. Rather than channeling noir legend Humphrey Bogart, Rockwell leans closer to Ryan Gosling in The Nice Guys. Ray is serious about justice and doing the right thing, but he's also a bit of a clown. (This is most thrillingly explored in a sequence involving a teleportation gun with some light Cronenberg slapstick as a result.) There are shades of Galaxy Quest in his turn, though Ray will never lose his cool as zanily as Guy, a background actor certain he's doomed to be a real-life red-shirt, did.

Opposite Rockwell, Waits proves a perfect foil. His low, ragged tone, forged from decades of acting and singing, brings the world-weariness that's expected of a noir detective. But Waits brings a cutting sense of humor to his exceptionally dry punchline deliveries. Together, they are a terrifically paired odd couple. The pairings in Ray Gunn are less successful when Johansson comes into the mix.

Ray Gunn gets frustratingly predictable.

Kids who've never seen a film noir might not see the clichés coming. However, grown-ups will likely be able to predict the movie's big twists pretty early on. Part of it is that in his homage to this genre, Bird is perhaps too loyal to its tropes. So, reveals for a string of secrets across the second and third act lose their impact as they feel like inevitabilities. But kids who liked KPop Demon Hunters might be drawn in by the colorful aesthetic and Johansson's pop star, even if her songs aren't as up, up, upbeat.

There are also some spoilers laced into the voice casting, as some actors are so easy to identify that a double role is not as hidden as Ray Gunn seems to think. Elsewhere, a character actor who's regularly played a baddie in Disney movies is hard to miss when he pops up in a bit part, tipping a climactic reveal.

Still, even when I was certain I'd cracked the case ahead of its titular detective, I was enjoying the ride of Bird's Ray Gunn. However, the casting of Johansson feels a fateful misstep. Sure, the American actress has loaned her voice to a slew of movies, including Sing, Isle of Dogs, The Jungle Book, Her, and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. However, Johansson doesn't match Rockwell or Waits when it comes to voice work.

Within Ray Gunn, she's called upon to be both the streetwise dame and the femme fatale, with a flourish of pop star glamor that feels more Lady Gaga than Barbara Stanwyck. Even with her signature rasp, Johansson doesn't plumb the depths of the noir character she's given. Her voice is always pretty, whether playful or furious. But there's a lack of texture or perhaps uninhibitedness that makes Venus feel a shallow echo of the noir dames who've come before.

By contrast, You're The Worst's Kether Donohue has a much smaller role in Ray Gunn. Yet her voice work — which can also be heard in Star Trek: Lower Decks — stands out. She has moxie, bringing an instant definition to her character. Johansson, as the female lead, falls short of this. Despite a script and animators who aim to mold Venus into a complicated character, Johansson's performance feels too stiff to make her really come alive.

Overall, however, Ray Gunn is a compelling mash-up of influences that make for a terrifically fun movie sure to entertain kids and parents alike.

Following its World Premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, Ray Gunn will debut on Netflix on Dec. 18.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The Exorcist: Martyrs trailer: Scarlett Johansson stars in pious murder mystery

Mashable - Sat, 10/10/2026 - 15:44

Filmmaker Mike Flanagan's Carrie remake just dropped, but his next project is already coming soon: The Exorcist: Martyrs. Rather than a remake of the classic 1973 film, this is the next installment in the Exorcist franchise, and it's produced by horror titan Jason Blum (Obsession).

Marytrs follows detective Julie Miller (Scarlett Johansson), an expert in serial killers, who becomes involved in a murder mystery involving the killing of an altar boy in a church crypt. As one can expect from an Exorcist film, something supernatural is afoot.

The film also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Laurence Fishburne, and John Leguizamo, all of whom have glimpses in the trailer.

The Exorcist: Martyrs hits theaters March 12.

Categories: IT General, Technology

These 4 Android phone brands you forgot about are still making phones

How-To Geek - Sat, 10/10/2026 - 15:00

In the early days of Android, it seemed like every other week we'd see a completely brand-new phone from an established tech giant. Everyone was taking a stab at it.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Your robovac is a privacy nightmare, but these open-source exploits can make it fully offline and private

How-To Geek - Sat, 10/10/2026 - 14:30

Cloud-connected robot vacuums can be convenient, but they aren't always great for your privacy. They can collect detailed information about your home, including floor plans, cleaning habits, and even camera footage, and send it to third-party servers. The good news is that open-source projects can help you use your robot vacuum without relying on the cloud.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Save $10 on preorders for Nintendos remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Mashable - Sat, 10/10/2026 - 14:19

TL;DR: Physical preorders for Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake are already $10 off at Amazon. Preorder for $59.88 and get a preorder price guarantee.

Opens in a new window Credit: Nintendo 'The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time' (Digital) $59.99 at Amazon
  Shop Now Opens in a new window Credit: Nintendo 'The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time' (Physical) $59.88 at Amazon
$69.99 Save $10.11   Get Deal

We're edging closer and closer to the Nintendo Switch 2 remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The official release date is Nov. 5, but Zelda fans are already buzzing thanks to the first-look gameplay footage.

Preorders for both the digital and physical copies are already available at Amazon. The digital version costs $59.99, while the physical edition was initially priced at $69.99 but has been reduced to $59.88 — great news for those of us who prefer to have the actual game in our hands.

There's another good reason to order from Amazon, as the retailer is offering a preorder price guarantee. That means if the preorder changes between now and when you're charged, you'll pay the lowest price point between when you order and when you receive the game.

If you're a serious Zelda fan, it's worth getting that preorder in soon.

Nintendo has revealed that the first print run of the physical edition will come with "special packaging that features textured foil cover art." That's one for the collectors, who will also love the Legend of Zelda-themed hardware coming this fall to mark the franchise's 40th anniversary. That will include a special-edition Switch 2 console, a Pro Controller, and a carrying case, all out Oct. 29.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration ETB is close to market price — shop for $159.99

Mashable - Sat, 10/10/2026 - 14:15

TL;DR: The Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box is available for $159.99 at Amazon. That's close to market price, but does require shoppers to request an invite to buy.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box $159.99 at Amazon
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Amazon’s $89.99 deal on the Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box sold out fast, but the retailer still offers one of the most reasonable routes to securing this high-demand set — if you're willing to join the waitlist.

The Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box is currently listed at $159.99 on Amazon, with shipping and sale handled directly by the retailer. Because inventory remains extremely tight right now, Amazon is routing orders through its "request invite" lottery system. Submitting an invite request reserves your spot in line to purchase the box at list price, without paying inflated secondary-market rates.

At $159.99, Amazon’s price sits fairly close to TCGplayer’s market price. It's also cheaper than Walmart, so even though it hurts to miss out on the $89.99 deal that Amazon was offering a couple of weeks ago, this is still a strong option for collectors.

The 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box is the premier display piece for this milestone expansion. Each ETB comes packed with nine 30th Celebration booster packs, an exclusive full-art foil Nidorina promo card, 16 foil Basic Energy cards, 65 custom card sleeves, damage-counter dice, a condition marker, card dividers, a collector’s player guide, and a code card for Pokémon TCG Live.

Categories: IT General, Technology

4 super-lightweight distros that beat Linux Mint on older laptops

How-To Geek - Sat, 10/10/2026 - 14:00

If you're trying to revive an old laptop, the standard advice is "install Linux." Usually, that means you'll install Linux Mint first. In some cases, that works. However, on really old or low-power devices, even Mint is too demanding.

Categories: IT General, Technology

6 uncomfortable truths about your mesh Wi-Fi system

How-To Geek - Sat, 10/10/2026 - 13:30

Mesh Wi-Fi systems are fantastic, and they beat Wi-Fi extenders by a mile. Each node scatters Wi-Fi throughout your house, giving you a stable connection that you don't have to worry about. It's one of the best ways to get rid of dead zones, at least.

Categories: IT General, Technology

After years in Microsoft 365, my best cross-app time-savers still have one thing in common: Excel

How-To Geek - Sat, 10/10/2026 - 13:00

One of the best things about Microsoft 365 is how its apps can work together. Loop can talk to Teams, Lists can talk to Power Automate, and Word can talk to Outlook. But when I thought about the cross-app connections I use most—and the ones that save me the most time—I noticed something: they all involve Excel.

Categories: IT General, Technology
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