Blogroll

Google Photos still isn't officially available on any smart TVs, including Google's own Android TV and Google TV platforms. That's finally changing, starting with Samsung TVs.

I recently wrote about how amazingly resilient all my SSDs have been and that I'm still using some that are a decade old. Well, it seems that the gods of fate don't like that kind of hubris, because I have officially destroyed an SSD that was barely three years old—and it was all me.

Best outdoor deals at Amazon Best overall deal Garmin inReach Messenger $165.50 (save $134.49) Get Deal Best portable power station deal Anker Solix C300 $169.99 (save $130) Get Deal Best fitness tracker deal Whoop 5.0 Peak $199 (save $40) Get Deal Best backyard deal Govee Smart Outdoor String Lights 2 (144 feet) $109.98 (save $70.01) Get Deal Best camping deal Stanley Perfect Brew Pour Over Set $32.93 (save $12.07) Get Deal

Not everyone thinks of winter as the ideal time for outdoor activities, but it might actually be the best time of the year if you don't love crowds. It's also a great time to restock your outdoor gear during the off-season, like snagging a portable power station. And since we're heading into a new year, it's also a nice opportunity to grab items that'll help you with fitness goals like the Whoop 5.0.

Amazon hasn't forgotten about us outdoor-lovers with this week's deals and there's an especially noteworthy one if you'll be heading out on adventures this winter. Check out the details for keeping in touch while staying safe.

Best Amazon outdoor deal Opens in a new window Credit: Garmin Garmin inReach Messenger $165.50 at Amazon
$299.99 Save $134.49   Get Deal Why we like it

Communication has come a long way from the days of not getting cell service while sitting in your own home. But while out in the backcountry, you might still run into connectivity issues. That's not the best for staying safe and keeping family up to date with your whereabouts. The Garmin inReach Messenger solves the issue of having no cell service. Thanks to its satellite network, you can keep in touch with two-way messages no matter where you are. Once you download the Garmin app and sign up for a satellite subscription, you'll have access to global two-way messaging, even when you're without cell service.

SEE ALSO: The 4 best power stations for camping keep you both online and off-grid

The Garmin inReach Messenger is lightweight and compact, clocking in at about four ounces. Open the Garmin app on your phone, and you can text contacts directly from the app. Garmin even lets you send group messages, so you won't have to individually text each friend who's waiting for an update. Of course, it comes with an SOS function, too.

Before you take off on winter adventures this year, be sure you have a way to stay in touch thanks to the Garmin inReach Messenger. It's on sale at Amazon for an enormous 45% off which is a new record-low price.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue.

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

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

How to play Pips

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

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for December 29, 2025

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 December 28, 2025 Easy difficulty hints, answers for Dec. 29 Pips

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

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

Number (8): Everything in this space must add up to 8. The answer is 4-4, placed horizontally.

Less Than (3): Everything in this space must be less than 3. The answer is 2-4, placed horizontally.

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

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

Medium difficulty hints, answers for Dec. 29 Pips

Greater Than (0): Everything in this space must be greater than 0. The answer is 1-5, placed horizontally.

Number (10): Everything in this dark blue space must add up to 10. The answer is 1-5, placed horizontally; 5-0, placed vertically.

Number (10): Everything in this purple space must add up to 10. The answer is 6-4, placed horizontally; 4-0, placed vertically.

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

Number (10): Everything in this green space must add up to 10. The answer is 6-6, placed vertically; 4-3, placed horizontally.

Number (10): Everything in this light blue space must add up to 10. The answer is 5-2, placed vertically; 4-3, placed horizontally.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for Dec. 29 Pips

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

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

Number (12): Everything in this green space must add up to 12. The answer is 6-2, placed horizontally; 6-3, placed vertically.

Less Than (3): Everything in this space must be less than 3. The answer is 6-2, placed horizontally.

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

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

Equal (3): Everything in this green space must be equal to 3. The answer is 6-3, placed vertically; 3-1, placed horizontally; 3-4, placed horizontally; 3-3, placed horizontally.

Not Equal: Everything in this space must be different. The answer is 2-5, placed horizontally; 0-5, placed vertically; 1-6, placed vertically.

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

Number (20): Everything in this space must add up to 20. The answer is 0-5, placed vertically; 5-5, placed horizontally; 5-6, placed vertically.

Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 4-6, placed vertically.

Number (12): Everything in this space must add up to 12. The answer is 4-6, placed vertically; 5-6, placed vertically.

Not Equal: Everything in this space must be different. The answer is 4-2, placed horizontally; 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.

SAVE 28%: As of Dec. 29, you can get the 27-inch HP All-in-One Touch (AMD Ryzen 7 7730U, 16GB RAM, 1 TB SSD) for $809.99, down from $1,129.99, at Best Buy. That's a 28% discount or $320 in savings.

Opens in a new window Credit: HP 27-inch HP All-in-One Touch (AMD Ryzen 7 7730U, 16GB RAM, 1 TB SSD) $809.99 at Best Buy
$1,129.99 Save $320   Get Deal

If you're officially tired of staring at a cluttered desk filled with wires and tower units, you may want to look into an all-in-one desktop.

Right now, you can get the 27-inch HP All-in-One Touch (AMD Ryzen 7 7730U, 16GB RAM, 1 TB SSD) for $809.99, down from $1,129.99, at Best Buy. That's a 28% discount or a $320 price cut.

It’s powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 7730U processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, so it’s fast enough to handle multitasking or creative projects and shouldn't freeze up if you try to do more than two things at once. The 27-inch Full HD touchscreen is ideal for anyone who usually keeps multiple tabs open, and it even includes a pop-up privacy camera for video calls. Plus, it comes with a wireless keyboard and mouse in the box, so you can literally plug it in and start working immediately.

If you use a Linux desktop, you might be confused about Wayland and how it's taking over from the traditional X11 display server that's been a part of Linux for so long. Here's why Wayland is taking over, how to prepare, and why you might be using Wayland already without knowing it.

Windows 10 has been technically "dead" for a couple of months as of the time of publishing, as the operating system reached its end-of-life date. Yet, it's still widely used in millions of computers around the world at this very moment.

I'm obsessed with workflow efficiency, yet I overlooked Excel's best UI tools for years. These six features are the game-changers I wish I'd discovered much earlier to stop the constant clicking and tab-hopping.

Apple's desktop operating system is the best reason to buy a Mac, especially if you're trying to escape Windows 11's increasingly user-hostile desktop experience. Still, macOS isn't perfect. But there are plenty of single-use apps to fix, tweak, and add the things that Apple forgot.

Every year, someone jokes that this may just be the "year of the Linux desktop." It's a meme. But under the radar, enough pieces are falling into place that someday we might look back on 2026 as the year, not of the Linux desktop, but of Android-based ones.

BMW’s midsize luxury SUV has long been the benchmark for buyers who want performance, prestige, and everyday usability in one package. But a newer challenger from Korea is forcing shoppers to rethink that default choice. With a lower price, a longer list of standard features, and a growing reputation for long-term dependability, this luxury SUV is proving that you don’t need a German badge to get a truly premium experience.

If you're trying to squeeze a few more movies into the weird in-between stretch of the month/year we find ourselves in right now, you've come to the right place. I regularly dig through the huge library of movies on Paramount+, and as we wait for the new swath of titles for January 2026 to arrive, below are three excellent movies to watch this week.

RSS is older than most of the stuff we use on the Internet on a daily basis. It's older than Facebook, it's older than this very website, and it's just as old as Google. And it remains very widely used because it's tremendously useful.

As we celebrate the passing of one year and welcome the arrival of a new one, we’re doing so in style with Amazon Prime Video.

Among the most difficult parenting tasks, there are few as dreaded as asking a child to put down the device that's just absorbed their attention for hours.

As a parent, you feel guilty that it got this far. You're also gearing up for a potential fight, should that child throw a toddler, tween, or teen tantrum. As they say, nobody wants this.

While setting new boundaries on screen time might feel daunting, experts want you to know that a reset is possible. The new year, with its fresh beginnings and renewed optimism, is a great time to make such a move.

Think of it not as a battle, says Catherine Price, co-author of the new book The Amazing Generation: Your Guide to Fun and Freedom in a Screen-Filled World. Instead, remember that you're working toward a shared goal frequently thwarted by social media and excessive screen time.

"In reality, we really should be on the same side, because what do we want for ourselves and our kids?" says Price. "We want to have meaningful and fun lives, with strong relationships."

With that in mind, follow these four strategies to help your child reclaim their time from digital screens:

1. Don't lecture about screen time rules

Parents keen on curbing screen use often make the mistake of lecturing their child on the topic. Price says it's more effective to start a family conversation about how screen time makes each person feel, whether it's their own or yours.

This part is important, and an oft-missing ingredient in efforts to recalibrate device use, because parents must reckon with their own habits.

It's worse than you might expect. Take, for example, a recent nationally representative Girl Scouts survey of 1,000 5-to-13-year-olds which found that 52 percent struggled to get their parents' attention because they were on their own phones.

"What are you modeling currently for your kids?" says Price, who was not involved in the survey. "Because you can't expect your kids to follow your instructions if you're not following those habits yourself."

"What are you modeling currently for your kids?" - Catherine Price, co-author of "The Amazing Generation"

You might rely on your own memory, but that's unlikely to offer a full picture of what your kids experience. Instead, look at any screen time reports created by your personal devices.

Price recommends drilling down to time spent using specific apps. A road trip might give the impression that you spent eight hours glued to your phone when it was just using a maps app. But several hours of regular daily use on an app like TikTok or WhatsApp should be a wakeup call for parents about their own habits, and one they might not recognize without objective data.

Price also suggests treating the conversation about household screen time rules as a mini science experiment wherein both kids and parents get to track what they observe, then talk about it together. The point is to identify what aspects of parent or child screen time lead to unpleasant experiences like negative or hurt feelings and limited socializing.

Parents might also be surprised by their child's interest or curiosity in spending less time online. The Amazing Generation, co-written with Dr. Jonathan Haidt, is a middle school-aged companion book to his best-seller The Anxious Generation. Presented with graphic novel elements, it also includes regretful anecdotes from young adults who wished their childhood and adolescence hadn't been dominated by social media and screen time.

Relatedly, the Girl Scouts survey similarly found that 46 percent of girls felt pressure to be online, even if they weren't enjoying it.

2. Set and stick to rules for screen time

Dr. Jean Twenge, a psychologist and author of 10 Rules for Raising Kids in a High-Tech World: How Parents Can Stop Smartphones, Social Media, and Gaming from Taking Over Their Children's Lives, says parents should create new household screen time guidelines based on conversations with their kids, or return to enforcing existing rules. For help with this task, parents can consult the American Academy of Pediatrics' customizable resource for creating a family media plan.

Twenge, a mother of three teens who's conducted extensive academic research on screen time, recommends setting the same standards for every child in the household. This might include no smartphones and social media until age 16, time limits on specific devices, and prohibiting certain apps or websites. Parents should follow household expectations as well, like device-free mealtimes.

Even if the plan goes well at first, there will be moments you feel like relenting, because of inconvenience, crisis, or peer pressure. Twenge suggests having a plan for these times.

Airplane rides, for example, might be the exception to your thoughtful rules, when the 10-year-old gets unlimited time on their favorite gaming platform. It's important to be transparent about these exceptions to avoid confusion and backtracking.

Twenge also encourages parents to substitute TV time for device use at home if they really need to occupy a child. You'll know what they're watching, compared to how they might spend time on a tablet or phone, and the content is probably higher quality than watching short videos on social media.

Along with the rules you set, Twenge urges parents to use parental controls or even a third-party monitoring system. Even if your child has limited screen time, you still want to prevent them from discovering or engaging with harmful content.

Twenge says she's come to the "reluctant conclusion" that device and app-specific parental controls are so difficult to use that third-party software, like Bark or Aura, may be necessary to ensure they're staying safe and following the rules you've set.

3. Coach kids through the downsides of less screen time

Even if a child likes the idea of spending less time online, the very real tradeoffs to them can include boredom and social exclusion.

Sarah Keating, vice president of Girl Scout Experience for the Girl Scouts, says parents play an important role in coaching kids through these concerns. First, she says adults need to be comfortable with the idea of their children being bored.

To make this less painful for everyone, Keating recommends offering screen-free alternatives that help satisfy the tactile sensory experience of picking up a phone or tablet. For younger children, these could be blocks or markers. Older children might enjoy an activity book like Mad Libs or doing something with their hands, such as crocheting.

Twenge suggests asking a tween or teen to make a list of activities they can do instead of scrolling or posting. You might also discuss how screen time can worsen their boredom, a phenomenon that research suggests is real.

It's also helpful to remind teens of what they still have, Twenge says, particularly if you've given them a "dumb" phone or voice over internet protocol (VoIP) phone to communicate with friends.

Keating acknowledges that kids use technology and internet culture to create cliques that exclude others. She says it's critical to talk with your child about this dynamic and help them create a script they can use in such situation. Instead of feeling rejected, for example, the child might ask their friend with curiosity about a meme they've referenced.

4. Encourage real-world freedom over screen time

Price likes to flip the concern about missing out on its head by pointing out what offline opportunities kids will lose if they spend so much time online.

In this regard, she hopes that parents trying to set new screen time norms for their kids also offer real-world freedom that helps build confidence and independence.

"It's not just about restriction," Price says. "It's about actually making life more fun and enjoyable."

Tweens and teens might get opportunities to walk to the store or a friend's house by themselves. While younger children might need a different approach, parents can focus on ensuring they're playing with friends or at the park instead of sitting at home on a screen.

To generate more ideas, parents can ask their children what they're interested in trying or learning and then figure out ways for them to do that independently.

The way Price thinks about it, recalibrating screen time isn't just about getting kids offline, it's about bringing "kids back to life."

You've probably been using ps, df, and curl for years, but there's always room for improvement. I know I'm always on the lookout for new tools, and perhaps you are too? If that's the case, I have three modern replacements for these tools that you may appreciate.

As we leave 2025 behind and enter the new year, there is one thing we know for sure: Netflix has plenty of great movies to watch. That said, there is ample trash too, and you shouldn't waste your time watching a turkey.

Nineties boyband fans rejoice: a new Take That documentary series will be landing in the new year, launching globally on Netflix on 27 Jan. 2026.

This three-part limited series, directed by David Soutar, will tell the story of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Mark Owen, Jason Orange, and Robbie Williams and their experiences in one of the UK's most successful bands.

Expect archive, previously unseen footage, along with interviews with Gary, Howard, and Mark as the series explores the highs and lows of the iconic band which sold over 45 million records worldwide.

All episodes of TAKE THAT will be available on Netflix from 27 Jan. 2026.

Do you like the freedom Linux offers but hate how it looks by default? Or do you love macOS’s polished, modern design but dislike its restrictive nature? Either way, here are five macOS-like Linux desktop environments that let you pair freedom with aesthetic polish.

Working remotely, I often switch between a desktop computer at home and a laptop when I’m out and about. That’s as simple as it gets; in theory, I could work anywhere, on any computer, with just a few basic requirements.