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Bad days at work are inevitable, and frustration is bound to be a part of almost any job. But if your dissatisfaction is pushing you to consider quitting, how can you assess whether your job is salvageable—or a sunk cost? Start by asking yourself these questions. Is the workplace toxic? If you feel as though your […]

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Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for May 1's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Wordle.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles used to be available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it. Unfortunately, it has since been taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

A secret journal.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no letters that appear twice.

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

Today's Wordle starts with the letter D.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to Wordle #1047 is...

DIARY.

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Reporting by Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

Connections is the latest New York Times word game that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for May 1's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

What is Connections?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer. If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hit about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Breaking down a pair of pants

• Green: Geometry terms

• Blue: Navigating a web browser

• Purple: '60s band group names

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections categories

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

• Yellow: Features of a Pair of Jeans

• Green: Objects in 0-, 1-, 2-, and 3-Dimensional Space

• Blue: Web Browser Menus

• Purple: Member of a '60s Band

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

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to Connections #325 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Features of a Pair of Jeans: BUTTON, FLY, POCKET, RIVET

• Objects in 0-, 1-, 2-, and 3-Dimensional Space: LINE, PLANE, POINT, SOLID

• Web Browser Menus: FILE, HISTORY, VIEW, WINDOW

• Member of '60s Band: ANIMAL, DOOR, KINK, SUPREME

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Is this not the Connections game you were looking for? Here are the hints and answers to yesterday's Connections.

What does AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile all have in common?

Aside from being the four major mobile carriers in the U.S., these companies have also just been slapped with millions in fines from the FCC.

Why?

AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile allegedly provided location data to third parties without their users' consent, which is illegal.

“Our communications providers have access to some of the most sensitive information about us," said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a statement. "These carriers failed to protect the information entrusted to them. Here, we are talking about some of the most sensitive data in their possession: customers’ real-time location information, revealing where they go and who they are.” 

FCC fines the biggest U.S. mobile carriers

According to the FCC, T-Mobile has been fined the largest amount: $80 million. Sprint, which has merged with T-Mobile since the FCC's investigation began, also received a $12 million fine.

AT&T will have to pay more than $57 million and Verizon will dole out close to $47 million.

In total, the four major mobile carriers in the U.S. will be paying out more than $200 million in fines for sharing sensitive customer data without their knowledge or permission.

What happened?

AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile all allegedly sold access to its own customers' location data to "aggregators." These aggregators then resold the access to other third-party, location-based service providers. 

"Each carrier attempted to offload its obligations to obtain customer consent onto downstream recipients of location information, which in many instances meant that no valid customer consent was obtained," the FCC said.

The FCC says these four carriers broke the law set in the Communications Act that requires these companies to protect confidential data, including location information.

The specific case that led the FCC to carry out its initial investigation is also laid out in the FCC's announcement and it's certainly alarming.

A Mississippi sheriff was tracking the location of people through their cell phones via a prison communication service company called Securus. Securus was getting this location data through the four major wireless carriers.

This case perfectly shows the important role mobile carriers play in protecting our data – and the consequences when they fail to do so. Now, these companies will pay millions in fines, thanks to the FCC.

Art is integral to the success and longevity of social movements. It's woven into the very fabric of progress. The fight for Palestinian liberation is no different.

Dozens of protests over the Israel-Hamas war have erupted across college campuses over the past few weeks. They began at Columbia University and spread to more than a dozen other schools across the country, led by students calling for their universities to divest from companies that are aiding Israel's military efforts in Gaza. 

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The protests have led to a significant police presence on campuses. In response, some 1,000 people have been arrested. During one altercation between protesters and police at Cal Poly Humboldt, a protester hit a police officer in the head with a large, empty water jug, which is now being referred to online as the "Jug of Justice." It quickly went viral on social media and led to many people calling to "bonk the police" and making the water jug recognizable anti-police imagery. 

No$hu, a 29-year-old artist, saw the video and turned it into a now-viral trap song. The song starts with "I hate the police," and ends with "If you're resourceful, anything can be the right weapon." But the tune is so upbeat and auto-tuned that it makes the lyrics' radical politics palatable.

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The song has ignited a conversation about whether it's appropriate to make light of the ongoing conflict on campuses and the war in Gaza. For No$hu, it's not only pertinent — it's necessary. In conversation with Mashable, he pointed to a quote by anarchist printer Jack Frager paraphrased from anarcho-feminist icon Emma Goldman’s autobiography Living My Life. "If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution."

"You can normalize radical thought through something playful," No$hu said. "I'm saying super radical things if you listen to the song. If I said those in an angry way, you could terrify some people. But doing it with some autotune in a playful way makes it more accessible."

Mashable spoke with No$hu about writing the viral song, finding joy in revolution, and using his strengths to aid the protest movement.

View this post on Instagram SEE ALSO: Israel reportedly using facial recognition and Google Photos to conduct mass surveillance in Gaza Mashable: What inspires you when you're making music?

No$hu: A lot of it has humor. There's some more serious stuff, but what comes most naturally to me is stuff that has to do with protest, justice, or resistance and revolution, mixed with humor.

There have been a lot of powerful videos coming out of these pro-Palestine protests. What about that video caught your attention?

Just how hilarious it was. When I see cool clips like that, [and] I have a lot of them like that, I hop on and try to amplify it with something creative. So I saw that, and it was just instant. I started thinking right away, "How can I  approach this creatively?"

Tell me more about that — the process of making this.

I pick out three or four obvious points that I want to talk about — like jug, bonk, you know. And then I'll just play with those words until I come up with something that I'm satisfied with. So, like "jug or not, juggernaut," stuff like that.

And then did you send it to a producer?

No. [I used] a free instrumental off YouTube that I had on my laptop. I was searching through the beats that I had already downloaded and trying to find the right vibe. And as soon as I heard that — there's an instrument playing in that, that immediately I was just like, "bonk, bonk," you know? It just came into my head to swing it along with that melody. So it just worked out perfectly.

How long did it take you?

I saw [the video] two days after it initially came out. And so that night I started coming up with ideas based on [words like] jug and bonk. And then the next morning I recorded it. I was in a hostel at the time, so I recorded it in between the other travelers coming in and out of the room. Just so they wouldn't hear me yelling [and] making weird sounds, I had to squeeze the recording in on my bed in the hostel. But it took me like 20 minutes to get the recording done. Then maybe another 40 [minutes] to mix it and edit it.

What do you record and mix with?

The software I use is called Mixcraft, but all the recordings are super simple, done with a laptop, an interface, and a microphone.

Then you just uploaded it to social media?

I uploaded it to Twitter and Instagram, and I had no expectations. I just threw it up. Because I do those pretty often. Some of them get a lot of views, and some of them don't, but I just put them up if it sounds good to me. I release it and then see what people think about it. I remember I came back to it after an hour and it already had like 300 likes and a bunch of retweets. I was like, "Oh, OK. I think this one might take off."

What has the reaction been like?

It's been crazy. I've been on my phone way too much because I'm trying to respond to all the messages. It's cool to see what people say. Someone in the comments was like, "I'm going to play this on the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza." 

Do you know any of the people who are doing these protests on campuses? Did you talk to the person who did the bonking?

No, I haven't talked to him. I'd like to talk to him though. That person is a legend.

Have your other songs spread that quickly?

I've had a couple last year that have a similar amount of views. Some of them pop off, some of them don't, but I have like a good five or six that have gotten views like this one.

SEE ALSO: Apple workers urge leadership to 'end their silence' on Palestine What makes you so interested in Palestinian liberation?

To me, it's so obvious how disturbing and disgusting what's going on is. It's not something that I feel like I need to put eloquently. There's a genocide going on. 

A lot of people feel powerless if they're not in California or New York City or on a college campus where these protests are happening. You're traveling right now — have you felt that powerlessness, and what do you do to help the cause when you can't physically be at a protest?

I know how I like to contribute, or how I naturally contribute, is through music. That comes naturally. I don't feel powerless because I've been doing this for a while, and I know how much laughter and joy help with things like this. When things are stressful, it's super important to have some humor. I know that's what I can contribute to this. So I never feel powerless. I feel empowered when I see stuff going on like this, and I feel inspired. I can contribute in my own way to this. And I feel like people should do that, too. Take what their talent is or their skill or their passion is and contribute it somehow to help things snowball.

How do you feel having participated in the creation of a fun meme during a time like this?

There's a huge percentage of [young people who] love memes and take [information] in that way. So we should use that to our advantage. 

Do you think it also adds some longevity to a movement?

You have to be able to laugh. It's so easy to get discouraged and demoralized. You need to be laughing as much as you can, at every chance.

Yelp is packing its platform with more AI features, including an AI assistant and "AI-stitched videos."

On Tuesday, the OG crowd-sourced review site announced Yelp Assistant and TikTok-style videos that provide a breakdown of what people are saying about certain businesses like restaurants.

These tools add to Yelp's growing collection of generative AI features, such as AI-powered summaries for restaurants and attractions, which launched in January. Large language models (LLMs) are known for their ability to analyze and summarize large quantities of data, making them ideal for parsing the plethora of reviews on Yelp business pages.

"AI enables us to transform the way people discover and connect with local businesses," said Craig Saldanha, Yelp’s chief product officer.

Yelp's AI assistant takes discovering and connecting with local businesses a step further by offering a conversational chat experience to help users find the right professionals in categories like "home, local, auto, beauty, pet, real estate, professional, event planning, financial services, and more," according to the announcement.

Yelp Assistant will with your about your problem and even connect you with relevant professionals. Credit: Yelp How does the Yelp Assistant work?

When you start a chat with Yelp Assistant, it will ask follow-up questions to understand your project or problem, provide relevant businesses, and even draft and submit a detailed request to those businesses on your behalf, including inquiries about pricing and availability.

Based on the demo, Yelp Assistant says it searches for "sponsored local pros," which initially makes it seem like search results only surface businesses paying for the exposure. But Yelp clarified this in a statement to Mashable saying, "project submissions are sent to both advertisers and non-advertisers, based on business relevance and eligibility for the project submitted through Yelp Assistant."

Yelp Assistant may only surface sponsored businesses. Credit: Yelp

Yelp Assistant can be found in the "Projects" tab. It's now available in iOS and rolling out to Android later this summer.

Yelp also teased a tool that provides video summaries of businesses in the style that TikTok and Reels users are familiar with. Yelp will soon start testing videos that use AI to stitch together videos, photos, and AI voiceover sharing information and insights from user reviews.

Based on the demo, the result with its friendly muzak and fade transitions, is giving local ad with a limited budget vibes. But for such a text-heavy site, it might be a welcome change for the visually inclined.

UPDATE: Apr. 30, 2024, 3:35 p.m. EDT This story has been updated to address confusion over whether Yelp Assistant only surfaces sponsored businesses for project submissions.

Gaming gear can be expensive. Save on everything you need to level up your setup during Amazon Gaming Week.

Best Amazon Gaming Week Deals Best Amazon Gaming Week deal ASUS Tuf Gaming A15 Gaming Laptop (AMD Ryzen 7, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) $1,299.99 at Amazon (Save $400) Get Deal Best Amazon Gaming Week game deal Star Wars Jedi: Survivor $29.99 at Amazon (Save $40) Get Deal Best Amazon Gaming Week controller deal ASUS ROG Raikiri Pro OLED Display Controller $109.99 at Amazon (Save $40) Get Deal Best Amazon Gaming Week headset deal Razer Opus X Wireless Low Latency Headset $58.65 at Amazon (Save $41.34) Get Deal

If you love video games, whether on console or PC, no doubt you're used to spending a pretty penny to get the perfect setup. Whether that means finding a reliable controller or headset or other piece of equipment, there's no denying that things can get pretty pricey.

Luckily, during Amazon Gaming Week, there are dozens of discounts to be had on a wide variety of goodies that every gamer can use. From now through May 5, you can shop this annual collection of gaming deals to find some of the best deals yet on everything from popular games to must-have accessories.

There are tons of deals on offer to kit out your gaming battle station, from first-party accessories from Xbox and PlayStation to third-party options like SteelSeries and HyperX. We've curated some of our favorite gaming deals you can jump on right now.

Best Amazon Gaming Week deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon ASUS Tuf Gaming A15 Gaming Laptop (AMD Ryzen 7, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) $1,299.99 at Amazon
$1,699.99 Save $400.00 Get Deal Why we like it

The ASUS Tuf Gaming A15 Gaming Laptop is no slouch, with a powerful GeForce RTX 4070 onboard to handle the latest gameplay. It boasts an AMD Ryzen 7 processor with 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a gorgeous display with a 144Hz refresh rate to help you stay in the game without worrying about lag, stuttering, or visual tearing. All this in a lightweight frame with a pair of 84-blade fans to help improve cooling without making your laptop sound like a freight train. If you've been looking for a good laptop to go ahead and add to your collection, this is a fantastic deal at $400 off.

More laptop deals:

• Razer Blade 14 (AMD Ryzen 9, GeForce RTX 4060, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,899.99 $1,999.99 at Amazon (save $100)

Best Amazon Gaming Week game deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon "Star Wars Jedi: Survivor" $29.99 at Amazon
$69.99 Save $40.00 Get Deal Why we like it

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is the sequel to 2019's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and continues the adventure of fledgling Jedi Knight Cal Kestis. On his journey to restore the Jedi back to their former glory, Cal explores a variety of worlds while fighting the Empire alongside allies like tiny droid BD-1 and Jedi Master Cere Junda (Debra Wilson). According to Mashable reviewer Alex Perry, it's a "major improvement on "one of the best Star Wars games ever."

More game deals:

• LEGO 2K Drive — $19.99 $39.99 at Amazon (save $20)

• Marvel's Midnight Suns Enhanced Edition — $19.99 $39.99 at Amazon (save $20)

• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth — $51.90 $69.99 at Amazon (save $18.09)

• Persona 5 Tactica — $31 $59.99 at Amazon (save $28.99)

Best Amazon Gaming Week controller deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon ASUS ROG Raikiri Pro OLED Display Controller $109.99 at Amazon
$149.99 Save $40.00 Get Deal Why we like it

The ASUS ROG Raikiri Pro OLED Display Controller can be used for both Xbox and PC, and it's a nice little upgrade to core Xbox controllers, with a built-in OLED display. It can be customized to show animations, show status indicators, and can be used to swap between profiles as you play games. You can remap buttons on it, change its joystick sensitivity, and make other changes via the ASUS ROG Armoury Crate, so this is a great controller option for anyone who loves to (or needs to) tinker.

More controller deals:

• Razer Kishi V2 Mobile Gaming Controller for Android — $76.99 $99.99 at Amazon (save $23)

• Xbox Elite Series 2 Wireless Gaming Controller — $150.99 $179.99 at Amazon (save $29)

Best Amazon Gaming Week headset deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Razer Opus X Wireless Low Latency Headset $58.65 at Amazon
$99.99 Save $41.34 Get Deal Why we like it

The Razer Opus X Wireless Low Latency Headset is a bright neon green accessory that'll definitely turn some heads. It's much more affordable now that it's on sale, and it comes with some great features, including active noise cancellation, Bluetooth 5.0 support for better range, higher bandwidth, and low latency. Plus, it has custom-tuned 40mm drivers so no matter if you're listening to your favorite game or the voices of your teammates, you're getting high-quality audio. The built-in mics also ensure everyone else can hear you clearly, too.

More headset deals:

• Sony INZONE H3 Wired Gaming Headset — $58 $99.99 at Amazon (save $41.99)

• Razer Kaira Pro HyperSpeed Wireless Gaming Headset — $149.99 $199.99 at Amazon (save $50)

• Turtle Beach Recon Spark Gaming Headset — $39.95 $49.99 at Amazon (save $10.04)

More Amazon Gaming Week deals:

• Meta Quest 2 with Active Pack — $196.11 $309.98 at Amazon (save $113.87)

• Razer BlackWidow V4X Mechanical Gaming Keyboard — $119.99 $129.99 at Amazon (save $10)

SAVE 50%: The Amazon Echo Pop smart speaker is just $19.99 at Amazon, down from the regular price of $39.99. That's a savings of $20.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Echo Pop $19.99 at Amazon
$39.99 Save $20.00 Get Deal

While some people love the "sound of silence", others do not. If you fall into the latter and prefer to always have music, a podcast, or an audiobook going in the background, listen up because Amazon has just the deal today.

As of April 30, the Amazon Echo Pop is just $19.99, discounted from the normal price of $39.99. That's a savings of $20.

The Amazon Echo Pop excels in providing sound for small spaces like your office, bedroom, or bathroom. Its compact size means it's less likely to stick out like a massive speaker and more likely to blend in to your room's decor.

Through a Bluetooth connection, the Echo Pop can play from Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music, and Audible. Wake up to your favorite playlist or tune into the morning's headlines. While working on weekend chores around the house, turn on your latest audiobook or have the Pop play some white noise to help you fall asleep at night.

The Echo Pop also has Alexa's assistance so you can ask her to set alarms, add items to your shopping list, explain what the weather will be like today, or ask her to look into how fast bees can fly.

If there's a room in your home that could use a smart speaker, the Echo Pop is under $20 at Amazon which puts this at a budget-friendly price for non-stop tunes.

UPDATE: Apr. 30, 2024, 12:30 p.m. EDT We've updated this story with the latest info on Prime Day 2024.

Amazon has made the announcement: we're officially on the verge of Prime Day season once more.

If it feels like it hasn't been all that long since Amazon last hosted a sitewide, that's because it hasn't been: just over a month ago, the retailer ran its five-day Big Spring Sale offering deals on select tech, home and cleaning products, and other "seasonally relevant items."

The real knockout sale for Amazon, however, is Prime Day. The retailer has just released new details on the sale, so we've gathered everything you need to know so far about Prime Day 2024.

What is Prime Day?

Prime Day is a 48-hour sitewide savings event exclusive to paid and trial members of Amazon's Prime subscription service. It began in 2015 as a one-day sale to celebrate Amazon's 20th anniversary, and in recent years has become a two-day event prefaced by plenty of early deals. This year marks the 10th time Amazon has held this sale.

Prime Day often brings the lowest prices of the year at the time of the sale on a whole host of products including robot vacuums, Amazon devices, headphones, Apple products, TVs, and more.

For the past year, Amazon has held another sitewide sale for Prime members in the fall — last year's was dubbed Prime Big Deal Days — which closely resembles the summer event. It happened in October before Black Friday deals kicked off in earnest. Like Prime Day, it's a 48-hour sale for Prime members.

When is Prime Day 2024?

In a press release on April 26, Amazon confirmed that Prime Day will be in July, keeping in line with years past. Though they didn't say exactly which dates just yet, we predict the sale will fall sometime from early- to mid-July. In 2023, it ran from July 11 to July 12, while in 2022, it ran from July 12 to July 13.

We're also keeping an eye out for any news about early access deals: last year, Amazon kicked off early deals on June 21.

Can you shop on Prime Day without being a Prime member?

Not all Prime Day deals are officially tied to the sale, but to have access to the most possible savings, you will want to be a Prime member.

You can participate in Prime Day without committing to a paid Prime membership by scheduling a 30-day free trial around the event. Just remember to cancel it as soon as the sale is over to avoid getting charged.

SEE ALSO: Walmart+ is offering some new limited-time perks — here's how to sign up Who's competing with Prime Day?

At this point, it's traditional for other major retailers to conveniently hold sales right before, during, and right after Prime Day.

Last year, that included Best Buy's Black Friday in July sale which took place from July 10 to 12, Walmart+ Week from July 10 to 13, and Target Circle Week from July 9 to July 15. (As a reminder, last year's Prime Day ran from July 11 to 12.)

Beyond expanded sale times, these retailers can offer better deals on certain categories like QLED TVs, high-end laptops, and home essentials.

While we haven't received any confirmation of any competing sales yet, we'll be keeping a lookout and updating this page accordingly once we do.

There are so many viral AI chatbots that you can't even trust that one of them is real anymore.

In December, a group of Danish researchers unveiled life2vec, an AI chatbot that could theoretically predict when a person will die. The group's findings were published in a paper and the models have been thoroughly explained in a FAQ on the life2vec website.

Crucially, the life2vec chatbot is not available to the public, leading to a surge of fake entities claiming to use it.

SEE ALSO: This AI tool will help you erase your ex from photos

"We are aware of social media accounts and at least one fraudulent website claiming to be associated with the life2vec model," the life2vec website states. "We are not affiliated with these or any other entities that claim to use our technology."

This is such a good encapsulation of what's wrong with the internet today. Scientists made a thing that seems to at least have some real know-how behind it. Smartly, they kept it out of public hands. But then people made fake versions of it — and one of those deceptive copies is currently above the real life2vec website in Google search results, prompting life2vec to issue warnings about it.

And that's before you even get to how weird it is to ask an AI chatbot when you'll die. Good grief.

SAVE 30%: A Samsung Galaxy SmartTag2 Bluetooth tracker is just $20.99 at Amazon, marked down from the normal price of $29.99. That's a savings of $9.

Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung Samsung Galaxy SmartTag2 $20.99 at Amazon
$29.99 Save $9.00 Get Deal

There's a specific heart-sinking feel that comes when you can't find an important item like your wallet, backpack, or keys. This is always followed by our brains chaotically retracing our day trying to figure out where the item got left behind. If you're not interested in that kind of stress anymore, today's deal could be a savior.

As of April 30, a Samsung Galaxy SmartTag2 Bluetooth tracker is on sale at Amazon for $20.99, down from the usual price of $29.99. That's a 30% discount that'll save you $9.

Mashable's review of the best Bluetooth trackers lists the Samsung Galaxy SmartTag2 as the best option for Samsung Galaxy users. The review explains that while the Samsung tracker is pretty similar to the popular Apple AirTag, this option is better streamlined for those with a Galaxy phone.

Unlike the AirTag, the SmartTag2 is designed with a built-in hole that makes it easier to attach to a set of keys or strap onto a backpack or tote bag. Samsung mentions the Bluetooth tracker stays powered for 500 days or even more when in power-saving mode.

If daily life has you searching for important things that you misplaced or someone moved, grabbing a Samsung Galaxy SmartTag2 could save you tons of time and lower your stress levels. Thanks to today's sale price, you'll also be getting a great deal.

Amazon deals of the day at a glance: OUR TOP PICK MacBook Air (M2, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) $849.99 at Amazon (save $149.01 with on-page coupon) Get Deal BEST SPEAKER DEAL Echo Pop $19.99 at Amazon (save $20) Get Deal BEST SAMSUNG DEAL Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro $159.99 at Amazon (save $70) Get Deal BEST PHOTO PRINTER DEAL Kodak Dock Plus 4PASS instant photo printer (4 x 6) + 90 sheets bundle $125.98 at Amazon (save $74.01) Get Deal ANOTHER GREAT APPLE DEAL Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation) $179 at Amazon (save $70) Get Deal

Amazon is closing out April with a bang. And by that, I mean a ton of deals on some of our favorite brands — Apple, Samsung, Echo, and Kodak. If you're looking for a Mother's Day gift or just want to treat yourself to a little something, we've sorted through the lengthy list of deals to handpick the best ones for you to shop on April 30.

Here are our top picks for the best Amazon deals of the day. And be sure to check out our picks from April 29, as many of those are still live.

Our top pick Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Amazon deal of the day: MacBook Air (M2, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) $849.99 at Amazon
$999.00 Save $149.01 with on-page coupon Get Deal

If you're in the market for a MacBook upgrade, you can do it on a budget with this deal on the M2 MacBook Air. Originally released in 2022 for $1,099, the 13.6-inch MacBook Air (M2, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) now retails for $999 (since the release of the 15-inch M2 Air). However, now that the M3 line is out, we're starting to see even more impressive deals. Case in point: as of April 30, you can snag the base model M2 Air for only $849.99 with the on-page coupon at Amazon. That's just 99 cents away from its record-low price. It may no longer be the latest and greatest MacBook on the market, but the M2 processor is beyond capable of handling everyday tasks and then some. Upon testing, Mashable Tech Reporter Alex Perry concluded that it has "rock-solid battery life, a larger 13.6-inch display than previous models, a keyboard that’s to die for, and enough horsepower to handle everyday tasks with ease."

Read our full review of the M2 MacBook Air.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Echo Pop $19.99 at Amazon
$39.99 Save $20.00 Get Deal

The Echo Pop has made our roundup of the best Amazon deals of the day quite a few times this month. And as of April 30, it just got $3 cheaper. The cute Echo Pop speaker is a fun way to add Alexa — and some color — to your home. "For people who like to keep music playing, and who also use Alexa as a home assistant, the Echo Pop is a perfect addition to any room in the house," Mashable's reviewer wrote. It's currently just $19.99 at Amazon — a savings of 50%. That's still $2 shy of its all-time low, but 7% cheaper than it was just last week.

Read our full review of the Echo Pop.

Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro $159.99 at Amazon
$229.99 Save $70.00 Get Deal

Mashable's Alex Perry called the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro a "no-brainer" for Samsung fans upon their release in 2022, highlighting their powerful audio quality and ANC, comfortable build, and array of customization features for Samsung devices. We featured them last week at $169.99, but as of April 30, they've dropped another $10 at Amazon. Snag a pair for only $159.99 in time for your summer travels — that's a savings of 30%.

Read our full review of the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro.

Opens in a new window Credit: Kodak Kodak Dock Plus 4PASS instant photo printer (4 x 6) + 90 sheets bundle $125.98 at Amazon
$199.99 Save $74.01 Get Deal

If you're looking for a unique Mother's Day gift, check out this deal on the Kodak Dock Plus 4PASS — an instant photo printer that transforms a smartphone into a digital printing studio. It's compatible with both Android and iOS devices and prints high-quality 4 x 6 inch photos in seconds. With the compatible Kodak Photo Printer app, you can even add decorative features like filters and frames to your photos before printing. The printer comes with 90 sheets of photo paper to get you started and is currently on sale for just $125.98 at Amazon — that's 37% in savings and just $6 shy of its all-time low price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation) $179.00 at Amazon
$249.00 Save $70.00 Get Deal

AirPods deals are here one day and gone the next, so if you're in the market for the new AirPods Pro, we suggest snagging this deal while you can. As of April 30, the second-generation Apple earbuds are on sale for just $179 rather than $249. That's a savings of 28% and a full $20 cheaper than they were just a couple of days ago. It's also the first time they've dropped to a price this low. Mashable Senior Editor Stan Schroeder summed up the second-generation AirPods Pro perfectly: "Apple has improved the AirPods Pro (2nd generation) in many small ways. They sound great and the noise cancellation is stellar, but if you already have the original AirPods Pro, the new ones are not an essential upgrade."

Read our full review of the AirPods Pro (2nd generation).

None of these deals catching your eye? Check out Amazon's daily deals for even more savings.

TL;DR: JioCinema is offering free live streams of every IPL cricket match this season. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Cricket is such a divisive sport. Some dedicated followers of almost every kind of sport simply can't understand the appeal of the game. And then there are the cricket fanatics, who follow every form of cricket with a passion that's unmatched.

The IPL might represent a sweet spot for both camps. It's got all the top players in one place, competing in a fast-paced form of the game surrounded by some of the most passionate fans in the world. The IPL is simply electric.

If you're interested in watching the IPL 2024 for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

What is the IPL?

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a men’s T20 cricket tournament first held in 2008. Since it's inception, it has quickly become one of the most popular sporting events in the calendar, with a host of stars taking part every year.

Chennai Super Kings are the current champions, beating Gujarat Titans in the 2023 final.

When is the IPL 2024?

The 2024 Indian Premier League is the 17th edition of the competition. The tournament features 10 teams and runs from March 22 to May 26.

How to watch the IPL for free

JioCinema is offering free live streams of every IPL cricket match this season in 4K resolution on its app. Users can select multiple camera angles, check live scores, stats, and even heat maps of IPL games. Games can even be streamed in 12 languages (including English, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, and Bhojpuri).

JioCinema is geo-restricted to India, meaning you'll be blocked if you attempt to access this platform from outside the country. Fortunately, you can bypass this online blockade with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in India, meaning you can stream with JioCinema from anywhere in the world.

Unblock JioCinema to stream the IPL 2024 by following these simple steps:

1. Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in India

4. Visit JioCinema (you will need an Indian phone number to sign up)

5. Watch the IPL for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Year Subscription + 3 Months Free) £82.82 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer free trials or money-back guarantees. By taking advantage of these offers, you can watch IPL live streams without committing with your cash. This is clearly not a long-term solution, but it does mean you can watch select IPL fixtures for free.

If you want permanent access to free streaming platforms from around the world, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for streaming sport is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for streaming the IPL?

ExpressVPN is the best service for streaming the IPL, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including India

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure

• Fast connection speeds

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for £82.82 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. You can use that guarantee to recover your cash after watching the IPL. This is sneaky, but it works because ExpressVPN returns your cash without hassle.

Watch the IPL 2024 for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

TL;DR: Stream Rafael Nadal vs. Jiri Lehecka in the 2024 Madrid Open for free on RTVE. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Nadal is one of the best tennis players to ever play the game, so when there are whispers of a comeback, the eyes of the world will be watching. It's probably too early to say that Nadal is officially back, but the legitimate legend has looked good on his way to a matchup with Jiri Lehecka. The Madrid Open has been a fairytale for the Spaniard, and fans will be desperate to see the magic continue.

If you want to watch Rafael Nadal vs. Jiri Lehecka in the 2024 Madrid Open for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is Nadal vs. Lehecka?

Rafael Nadal and Jiri Lehecka will meet in the 2024 Madrid Open at around 3:15 p.m. ET / 8:15 p.m. BST on April 30.

How to watch Nadal vs. Lehecka in the 2024 Madrid Open for free

The 2024 Madrid Open is available to stream for free on RTVE.

RTVE is geo-restricted to Spain, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Spain. This process makes it look like you're connecting from Spain, so you can access RTVE from anywhere in the world.

Unblock RTVE by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Spain

4. Visit RTVE

5. Stream Rafael Nadal vs. Jiri Lehecka for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Year Subscription + 3 Months Free) Learn More

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By taking advantage of these offers, you can gain access to RTVE without actually spending anything. This is not a long-term solution, but it gives you plenty of time to stream the remaining action from the 2024 Madrid Open before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for RTVE?

ExpressVPN is the best service for streaming live sport on RTVE, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including Spain

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Stream Rafael Nadal vs. Jiri Lehecka for free with ExpressVPN.

At the near center mark of Luca Guadagnino’s scintillating tennis film Challengers, leading college athlete phenom Tashi (Zendaya) and recent Junior U.S. Open champion Patrick (Josh O’Connor) are doing what cinema-goers have been begging for: making the f*ck out.

It’s hard to take your eyes away from them. They’re young. They’re on fire. O’Connor is literally ripping Zendaya’s billowy “I Told Ya” t-shirt off with his teeth.

But if the astute millennial cinema lover can rip their eyes away from the prime athletes on the bed, they may spot another character in the room, too (Spoiler: this is a movie about throuples, by the by). Sweep your eyes up from their bodies, tune your ears away from the volley-filled conversation about the unofficial third person in their relationship, and there, floating above the lovers’ heads as a silent observer to the passion happening on Tashi’s pink sheets, it rests.

“Are we still talking about tennis?” Patrick asks Tashi between the licks and pets and teen angst. No, my beloveds, we’re talking Stephanie Meyers’ Twilight. 

SEE ALSO: Why Zendaya says you gotta see 'Challengers' twice

The only recognizable cover among Tashi’s collection of novels, photos, and other accoutrement like her iPod Nano, the book could easily just be an apropos prop for the early aughts setting. (Devoted Twihards may rightfully point out that the novel had already been on shelves for two years at the time of the 2007 make-out sesh, and the blockbuster movie adaptation was still one year away from its release.)

However, in a movie where every exchange feels rife with subtext, where each frame is in service of an ever-so-sweet callback, where something as little as a stool being scooted closer elicits gasps and screams, it’s hard to believe that the book shouldn’t warrant closer inspection. It feels painfully obvious, too. Why wouldn't one of the most iconic love triangles of all time (yes, I said it) get its due in a film about the very same subject? Is Tashi dreaming of werewolves and vampires off the court?

Tweet may have been deleted

"Sensual longing radiates in every scene of Challengers, even though the love scenes are most shocking in how little sex they actually show," Mashable's Kristy Puchko wrote in her review of the film. "And yet, you will be scorched by the heat, as Guadagnino has put together one of the hottest love triangles cinema has ever seen... if not the very hottest."

Sexual edging in service of romantic yearning? Let me tell you about a certain Young Adult series… The internet's made the connection too, even if a bit indirectly. "Team Art" and "Team Patrick" posts flooded timelines almost immediately after its premiere — some of us still haven't removed Team Edward from our bios. Viewers are revved up about who Tashi (or, really, who they) should choose. They're trying to find villains where there are only confused teens and jaded adults. 

We're so back in 2008. And that means we have to figure out who, in this tortured love triangle, is who.  

Tweet may have been deleted Edward and Jacob and Patrick and Art 

No line in the Challengers film reeks more of Twilight lore than when rising teen doubles partners Patrick and Art (Mike Faist) are given the nickname "Fire and Ice," basically identical to the “two sides” Bella is forced to choose between in the series. Vampires, walking marble statues, represent ice, while werewolves are problematically “warm-blooded” and "fiery." What do heat and water make? Oh yeah, steam.

Meyers loves the metaphor so much that she opens the third installment of the book series, Eclipse, with a quote from an aptly titled Robert Frost poem, “Fire and Ice”: 

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

In the world of Challengers, Tashi — about to make a similar apocalyptic decision — questions the distinction, "Which is which?" Patrick, always pushing the limits of his partners, leaves it up to her. "What do you think?"

Good question. Art, the hairless boy wonder, might, at first, read as Challengers’ Edward insert — a glistening, chiseled white boy who will do anything for the woman he loves. In the movie’s reticent fire and ice metaphor, Art’s quiet court demeanor and playing style are chillier than Patrick’s showboating nature and loud personality. He's the devout Edward to Patrick's combative Jacob. 

But this film isn’t about what's on the surface. And, if Twilight teaches us one thing, it's that the only thoughts that matter are Bella's.

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For Tashi (the least like her Twilight counterpart, admittedly), Patrick is the bigger gamble. He personifies passion, hunger, and desire — just as Edward does for Bella. She's drawn to him because they do everything to push each other away. He is drawn to her because he's obsessed with figuring her out, and loves letting her know when he's done so (Edward canonically notices Bella for the first time because she's the only human he literally cannot mind-read). 

Art, on the other hand, represents stability. In adulthood, he's Tashi's connection to domestic life, as normal as one can be achieved given their circumstances, and, at every turn, he's fighting for it. She loves that she can live vicariously through him. Most importantly, Art loves Tashi in defiance of Patrick, doing everything in his power to convince her that he’s better for her than his former friend. 

For those who are only familiar with the Kristen Stewart-led films, there's just as much for you. The scene where Patrick saunters smugly onto the Stanford tennis courts in a pair of white Ray-Bans? Succeeds in inducing the same giddy squeals as when Edward (portrayed by Robert Pattinson) steps out of his sleek Volvo donning a pair of black sunglasses. As a down-on-his-luck adult, Patrick uses his charm and attractiveness to try to finesse a free room out of an older hotel manager. Edward uses his on a (slightly predatory?) school secretary, and again with a restaurant hostess. In the aforementioned make-out scene, Patrick's leap onto Tashi's bed mimics almost beat for beat the scene where Edward and Bella kiss for the first time, iconic purple sheets replacing Tashi's pink ones. A climactic scene sees Patrick driving erratically with Tashi in the passenger seat — a move right out of Edward's playbook.

Meanwhile, a tense cafeteria exchange between Art and Tashi mirrors Jacob's recurring conversation with Bella that Edward is fundamentally unsafe, that he doesn't love her (he just wants to consume her), and that she deserves truer love. Tashi fights back. Has anyone asked what she wants? Does she want to be loved? She wants to be a vampire — I mean, a tennis player!

Following her life-changing injury, Art and Tashi practice pushing her limits on a rehabbed knee. Art doesn't want to hurt her, so Tashi begs him to push her as far as he can. Bella notoriously uses Jacob to funnel her into dangerous situations (all in the service of getting Edward back, to be noted).

The term "lapdog" is used interchangeably in both universes as an insult — Challengers misses the opportunity to have a nod to "bloodsucking," but the film's disdain at Patrick's rich upbringing might be enough to nail the leech metaphor. O'Connor and Pattinson have mastered the smirk.

Patrick moves through the film with an intense desire to be loved, masked only by an air of arrogance and self-hatred that he and Tashi lob back and forth at each other. The given excuse is that Patrick’s never had to grow up. (Forever stuck at 17? Sounds familiar.) Meanwhile, Edward is notoriously, and life-threateningly, self-deprecating.

Art's sweet nature hides a deeper talent for manipulation and an inherent cleverness. He jabs his fingers into his best friend's wounds ahead of their big match and covers up his jealousy with a deep respect for Tashi. Jacob, starting as the fun-loving childhood best friend, turns into a fighter, sewing seeds of doubt in Edward and snarling at the other men weaving into Bella's life. 

Immortality, though not as overt a theme in Challengers as in Twilight, plays an additional part. Patrick, begging Tashi to pay attention to him again, threatens her with the threat of a career mortem. Art, tired from a life of professional sports, is "ready to die," and doesn't Tashi want to live? Maybe, still stuck in that hotel room at the Junior U.S. Open, she can live forever with Patrick. 

Other parallels: An inherited engagement ring from one beau's grandmother leads to a strained revelation. The name of a child ("You nicknamed my daughter after the Loch Ness Monster?!") is uttered with disdain.

Tweet may have been deleted

Obviously, the comparisons aren't really 1:1. Twilight is about repressed desire, while Challengers does anything but hold back. Tashi, unlike Bella, is an unwavering, passion-filled character who makes her choices fast and with determination. Patrick's quick decisions bear little resemblance to Edward's careful planning. Art is not a motorcycle-riding stereotype of boyishness. It's hard to imagine Guadagnino leafing through Meyers' prose for inspiration.

And, at the end of the day, Tashi's true love isn't either of these men. Everything she does is in service of seeing some "good fucking tennis." 

If Tashi is Bella, then the true Edward in this star-crossed romance is tennis. 

Tweet may have been deleted

Challengers' Twilight references are a fun thought experiment for those who came of age with the supernatural throuple. It’s a universe where Edward x Jacob fanfic is actually canon — a true love triangle that Twilight's prudish tendencies failed to accomplish. A rendition of the tale that has Bella acting on her urges — one in which she doesn’t shy away from being labeled the villain if that means she might get what she wants. A version of the story where everyone gets their hands dirty, the boys kiss, and the winner doesn't matter at all. 

Challengers is in theaters now.

SAVE $70: As of April 30, you can grab the USB-C AirPods Pro from Amazon and Best Buy for $179.99, but if you want the absolute best price, you can find them at Walmart for $179. This marks the lowest price we've ever seen them hit and saves you 28% on these $249 earbuds.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple USB-C AirPods Pro $179.00 at Walmart
$249.00 Save $70.00 Get Deal

In most cases we might suggest holding out on buying new AirPods until this year's rumored new models drop — but for a deal this good, we have to make an exception.

Without any fanfare of a larger sale, Walmart dropped the price of the USB-C AirPods Pro to just $179 — a new record low (by 99 cents, but still). Amazon and Best Buy also have the noise-canceling earbuds available for their former low of $179.99.

SEE ALSO: iPad Pro 2024 plot twist: This new rumored feature shakes things up

Typically, the $249 earbuds can be found on sale for $199, or on a good day $189. We first saw the USB-C Pros get down to $179.99 during Amazon's Big Spring Sale in March. Though this price still makes these earbuds an investment, it puts them much more at par with models that offer less and don't perform quite as well, like the $169.95 Beats Studio Buds+.

The USB-C AirPods Pro also offer some of the best noise cancellation you'll be able to find on earbuds, making them one of our favorite headphones. In his review, Mashable Senior Editor Stan Schroeder wrote that, in some cases, the earbuds bested the noise cancellation of his over-ear B&W Px7 headphones, and "are the first pair of earbuds I'd actually consider taking on an airplane (instead of my much larger and clunkier over-ear headphones)."

If you're an Apple user, we love them even more for how well these earbuds connect and integrate into your existing tech ecosystem. We also appreciate that Apple finally ditched the Lightning port for the much more universal USB-C port on the case. Compared to their non-USB-C counterpart, these AirPods are pretty much the same, but offer increased water and dust resistance and lossless audio with the Apple Vision Pro (though we've yet to test that claim for ourselves).

SEE ALSO: Apple AirPods Pro with USB-C review: About time

They also support smart features like Conversational Audio and Adaptive Awareness, which automatically adjust your volume levels, which Schroeder found to be, "a pretty impressive combo, which uses Apple’s machine-learning magic to juggle all of these possibilities into something that, at times, feels genuinely smart."

SAVE $215: A bundle package of NFL Sunday Ticket with YouTube TV will save viewers a total of $215. The year-long NFL Sunday Ticket price is coming in at a discounted $179 per year in combination with YouTube TV on sale for $57.99 per month for the first three months.

Opens in a new window Credit: YouTube TV NFL Sunday Ticket (annual subscription) + YouTube TV $352.97 at YouTube TV
$576.97 Save $224.00 Get Deal

We're a few quick months away from kickoff of the 2024-2025 NFL season. If you struggled last year with watching out-of-network games and have promised yourself that this year will be different, today's deal at YouTube TV is about to make your life much easier.

Until May 16, a bundled package of NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV saves you a total of $215. The annual membership to NFL Sunday Ticket package is just $179, marked down form the usual price of $349, while the first three months of YouTube TV is $57.99, marked down from the normal price of $72.99 per month. In total, you'll be saving $215 on the bundled package compared to buying the two separately.

Instead of inviting yourself over to a friend's house to watch this season's games, NFL Sunday Ticket gives you access to over 160 out-of-market Sunday games per season. Fair warning that your friends might now all be piling into your living room once you have access!

On top of NFL Sunday Ticket, this deal discounts the monthly fee of YouTube TV for the first three months. Not only does YouTube TV include over 100 live channels like NBC, ABC, and CBS, it gives you access to NFL pre-season content you'll want to tune into. YouTube TV also includes 36 Sunday and Monday night football games per season as well as playoffs and the Super Bowl.

Instead of fumbling to figure out how to watch this season's games, sign up for the bundle of NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV to catch hundreds of games, the playoffs, and the Super Bowl — all from the comfort of your own home.

The Women's Super League continues to grow in popularity, and it's easy to see why. There are so many intense rivalries, star players, and intriguing storylines playing out every week. And you can watch some of the biggest fixtures without spending anything.

If you're interested in watching the Women's Super League for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

What is the Women's Super League?

The Women's Super League (WSL) is the highest level of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features 12 professional teams. Chelsea are the current WSL champions after winning their sixth title last year.

How to watch the Women's Super League for free

Sky Sports has the rights to show two games a week, but it's not free. That's frustrating news for fans without a subscription, but the good news is that there are free alternatives on offer.

The BBC will broadcast one game from each round of fixtures, with free streaming available on BBC iPlayer.

And it gets better, because any games that are not shown on BBC or Sky Sports will be available to watch for free on the FA Player. All you have to do is sign up at www.faplayer.tv or via the app to gain full access to live matches.

The FA Player is available internationally, so anyone can watch the WSL with this free streaming platform. The same can't be said for BBC iPlayer. This popular service will block your access if you attempt to connect from outside the UK, so if you want to watch the WSL on BBC iPlayer from abroad, you'll need to use a VPN.

VPNs can hide your digital location and connect you to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can access BBC iPlayer from anywhere in the world. The process is actually really simple:

1. Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in the UK

4. Visit BBC iPlayer

5. Watch the Women's Super League on BBC iPlayer

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Year Subscription + 3 Months Free) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer free trials or money-back guarantees. By making the most of these offers, you can unblock BBC iPlayer without committing with your cash. This isn't a long-term solution, but it does give you time to watch multiple WSL fixtures on BBC iPlayer before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for BBC iPlayer?

ExpressVPN is the best service for unblocking BBC iPlayer. There are decent alternatives like NordVPN and Surfshark, but ExpressVPN leads the way. This high-speed service is the top choice for streaming, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 94 countries including the UK

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to five simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for £82.82 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This heavily discounted plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Watch the Women's Super League from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

With break ups come a lot of complications. And one major part of this is the digital life you once shared: Instagram posts, couples content, and presumably hundreds of selfies and vacation photos that probably aren't an easy reminder.

Enter the Ex-Terminator, a tongue-in-cheek AI tool born out of a collaboration between dating app OkCupid and Photoroom.

SEE ALSO: The best dating apps and sites in April 2024

The tool, available online and free to use, lets users literally erase exes from their best pictures. Using photo editing software Photoroom's "magic brush", anyone can remove a person from a photograph and let the background fill in the gap.

The tool could also be used for other reasons, including privacy: if you want to blur a friend's face to include a picture on a dating profile, for example, this may be the way to do it.

Credit: OkCupid / Photoroom.

OkCupid found that 50 percent of millennials and 54 percent of Gen Z have photos they'd like to erase their ex from. The study, which surveyed over 185,000 OkCupid users, also discovered that 62 percent of single females wouldn't want to see their ex in a photo.

SEE ALSO: What happens when your favourite TikTok couple breaks up

OkCupid and Photoroom say that their tool is "a bid to salvage cherished photos and memories from the clutches of relationships past."

So whether you want to begin the healing process after a breakup, or simply save the pictures where you shine on your own, removing an ex from your best photos is about to get a whole lot easier.

On April 24, President Joe Biden signed a bill that started the clock on TikTok's future in the America: unless TikTok's parent company ByteDance divests from the app within the next year, it will face a ban in the country.

In the days following this decision, the official Biden-Harris TikTok account has posted 10 videos on the app. That's because the president plans to continue using TikTok until the new law is invoked. His campaign joined TikTok in February.

SEE ALSO: Which countries have banned TikTok?

Biden, vying for reelection this year, is harnessing the power of TikTok to reach young voters. The app has a whopping 170 million users in America, and over 60 percent of American teens say they use TikTok. The reach of TikTok appears too valuable for the campaign to forgo, despite the Biden administration touting concerns over national security, propaganda, and the app's China-based owner having access to U.S. user data.

Mixed messages

While it may not be so simple, the current administration seems to be sending mixed messages about TikTok. Not only is Biden continuing to use the platform, the campaign has been courting TikTok influencers to post pro-Biden content for months. Since September, prominent TikTokkers with millions of followers have been invited to visit the White House, according to an investigation by The Intercept.

Not only is Biden continuing to use TikTok, the campaign has been courting TikTok influencers to post pro-Biden content for months.

Back in March, a Democratic congressman was similarly called out for his use of TikTok, despite his voting in favor of banning the app. Rep. Jeff Jackson, a congressman from North Carolina who has over 2.2 million followers on TikTok, frequently posts videos to speak about subjects like the war in Ukraine, artificial intelligence, and his own campaigning efforts. Jackson has lauded the educational value of TikTok, but also explained his viewpoint on the app and its potential ban, saying in a video posted to X that the Chinese government's influence over the algorithm is his biggest area of concern.

"The best-case scenario for TikTok is that it continues to operate but is no longer owned — and potentially controlled — by an adversarial country," he wrote.

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Democratic party members, including Jackson, have repeatedly stated that their qualms are not with TikTok itself, but who owns it.

"We’ve been clear: we do not want to ban apps like TikTok," White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson said in a statement last week. "What we want — and what the legislation we support would do — is ensure that TikTok becomes owned by an American company so that our and our children’s sensitive personal data stays here instead of going to China and so that Americans’ understandings and views can’t be manipulated by algorithms potentially controlled by the [People’s Republic of China]."

Rob Flaherty, deputy manager of Biden's reelection campaign, defended the administration's continued use of TikTok. "We would be silly to write off any place where people are getting information about the president."

And yet, the campaign's continued use of TikTok and admittance of the app's role in the lives of young people presents a conundrum.

Dr. Jessica Maddox, a professor of digital media technology at the University of Alabama, tells Mashable that the Biden administration's presence on TikTok sends a confounding message.

"It is one hundred percent hypocritical for President Biden and his re-election campaign to still hold TikTok accounts," she says. "This makes me skeptical – if this app was really such a national security threat, why would entities so close to the president being using it? It doesn't make sense, and it makes President Biden lose the optics game of this legislation."

SEE ALSO: Here's how the TikTok ban will likely play out in the courts

Donald Trump, the likely Republican presidential nominee, has also sent mixed messages when it comes to his stance on TikTok. The former president attempted to ban in the app in 2020, also citing concerns over ties to China and censorship of content deemed "politically sensitive" by the Chinese Communist Party. More recently, however, Trump condemned the looming ban on Truth Social, blaming Biden for trying to "help his friends over at Facebook become richer", and accusing the current president of "election interference" (a favoured and false claim Trump has repeatedly made in different variations since the 2020 election).

"Just so everyone knows," Trump wrote in a post his social media platform, "especially the young people, Crooked Joe Biden is responsible for banning TikTok."

Meanwhile, Republicans have been largely in favor of banning TikTok, too, including party members like Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and Vivek Ramaswamy. The TikTok bill passed, after all, in a rare bipartisan vote, and other prominent prominent Republicans, including Ramaswamy and former vice president Mike Pence, have branded TikTok as "digital fentanyl".

The fear of TikTok

The conceivable irony of the situation is not lost on TikTok users. Comments on recent videos on the president's account are pointing out the hypocrisy of the situation. "I'm confused," wrote one user in a comment. "Why does Biden have a TikTok but wants it banned". Another asked, "If this app is so bad, why are you using it to campaign?"

Those in the pro-TikTok camp have additionally raised concerns that TikTok's algorithms and data gathering are not much different than the likes of other reigning social media sites. Meta-owned platform Facebook, in particular, has presented similar issues to that of TikTok, namely election misinformation.

"The reason they're not willing to look the other way with TikTok actually has very little to do with TikTok itself..." - Dr. Jessica Maddox

Maddox tells Mashable that she believes the the moral panic around TikTok is far more targeted than the criticism directed at similar social platforms.

"As we saw with Facebook's Cambridge Analytica data scandal in 2016, U.S. politicians are more than willing to look the other way when data is misused for political purposes," Maddox says. "The reason they're not willing to look the other way with TikTok actually has very little to do with TikTok itself — this is about bigger geopolitical relations and tensions with China, as well as the U.S. and China battling it out as to who can claim ownership of privatized social media."

Ari Lightman, a professor of digital media and marketing at Carnegie Mellon University, says while he doesn't necessarily believe the U.S. government using TikTok ahead of a ban is hypocritical, the app is an easy target for politicians, calling it a "wildly successful and rapidly growing social platform with ties to a Chinese company."

"Rather than work on comprehensive privacy rights, regulation of social platforms associated with misinformation, it’s easier to point a finger at a suspect and force a condition — sell to us interests or get banned," Lightman tells Mashable. "If any nation state would like to get data on U.S. citizens it could relatively easily and if they want to develop AI bots to disseminate false information based on that data collection, they could do that fairly easily, as well."

Credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images.

Lawmakers have sounded the alarms themselves. "TikTok poses a serious risk to the privacy and mental health of our young people," Democratic Senator Edward Markey said on the Senate floor last week. "But that problem isn't unique to TikTok and certainly doesn't justify a TikTok ban. American companies are doing the same thing, too."

In tandem with Democratic officials having a presence on TikTok, other questions have arisen. Arguments against the platform have been labelled "vague" with a "lack of context". Congress has also been accused of silencing criticism of Israel on TikTok, amid the war on Gaza. This comes as lawmakers, celebrities, and creators accused TikTok of pushing "pro-Palestine" content.

What's at stake?

As America gears up for elections coming this November, young people appear to be disappointed at the new law. While public opinion is largely divided — almost half of American adults say they would support a ban, but a third of Americans disagree that the app poses a security threat, according to YouGov data — many voters have taken to social media to delineate the hypocrisy of the law.

TikTokkers have pointed out that progressive politics have found space on TikTok in a different way to other social media platforms, and the Biden administration now risks alienating young voters. Young voters see the ban as a political concern, but also a personal one. Those voting this year have expressed their disillusionment and condemned the timing of the whole thing.

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It makes sense that government officials and campaigns turn to a place like TikTok to practice their political prowess and get young people listening. TikTok has grown to become a major source for news, especially functioning as a search engine and alternative to traditional media for Gen Z users. It's also a place for movements to gain momentum.

"A fragmented media environment requires us to show up and meet voters where they are – and that includes online. TikTok is one of many places we're making sure our content is being seen by voters," an unnamed Biden official told Reuters following the ban.

But ultimately, regardless of the outcome, the optics are dicey for users, creators, and young Americans who use TikTok in their everyday lives.

But by posting on TikTok to garner votes, while also purporting the dangers of TikTok, the government's approach has been arguably frustrating to witness: the overall messaging has become blurred, which is where the problem lies.

"To date, we've only been presented with hypothetical scenarios as to why TikTok could potentially be a threat to national security," says Maddox. "With only a hypothetical explanation, young voters don't understand. This is emblematic of U.S. politicians not understanding social media, which we see every time tech CEOs testify on the Hill."

"The United States is absolutely risking alienating young voters with this law," she says.

The truth is, TikTok is a fruitful landscape for conversation and culture, and young people in particular have taken advantage of this since it launched in 2016. Although the app, like its peers, has its fair share of problems, it is also an ecosystem for education, community, and connection. It can't be proven that the government fears TikTok as a tool of communication for these movements, but it is clear that many aren't on board with why the platform's future is now hanging in the balance. And the gap between lawmakers and the public is abundantly clear, too.

TikTok may not be going anywhere — and if an approved U.S. buyer is found, or TikTok wins its fight, the app will remain in user's hands. But ultimately, regardless of the outcome, the optics are dicey for users, creators, and young Americans who use TikTok in their everyday lives.