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Uncertainty is a part of life—and business. But how can you lead people when inflections, disruptions, dislocations, and other threat conditions feel like they’re constantly compounding? Try these strategies to help you engage your team under the most tumultuous circumstances. Build trust. In a volatile environment, become a stabilizing force. This means being reliable, predictable, […]

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TL;DR: Find a wide range of free online courses from Stanford University on edX.

Becoming a student of Stanford University is probably really difficult, right? Wrong — it's easy.

Anyone can become a student of Stanford University with a little help from edX. This online course provider offers a wide range of free online courses from Stanford University, covering topics like Python, mathematics, computer science, and much more. What are you waiting for?

These are the best Stanford University courses you can take for free this month.

• Algorithms: Design and Analysis

• Communicating with Presence

• Compilers

• Computer Science 101

• Databases: Advanced Topics in SQL

• Databases: Modeling and Theory

• Databases: Relational Databases and SQL

• How to Learn Math: For Students

• How You Say It Matters: A Toolkit for Improving Communications About Academic Standing

• Introduction to Food & Health

• Introduction to the Natural Capital Project Approach

• Language, Proof, and Logic

• Quantum Mechanics for Scientists and Engineers 1

• Quantum Mechanics for Scientists and Engineers 2

• R Programming Fundamentals

• Semantics of First-Order Logic

• Statistical Learning with R

• Your Body Inside and Out: Using Exercise Physiology to Slow Aging

• Your Body in the World: Adapting to Your Next Big Adventure

The catch is that these free courses do not include certificates of completion. But you can still learn at your own pace with unlimited access to all the resources on offer, so the lack of certificate shouldn't hold you back. It's only a certificate.

Find the best free online courses from Stanford University at edX.

Opens in a new window Credit: Stanford University Stanford University Courses Free at edX Get Deal

TL;DR: The 2024 Java Programming Certification Bundle is on sale for £19.70, saving you 94% on list price.

Java may have been released in 1995, but it continues to be one of the most popular programming languages thanks to its flexibility and scalability, not to mention user-friendliness. Those looking to pivot to a career in software development can pick up Java without feeling intimidated, as it does away with sophisticated syntax. Even those without any prior coding background can find it easy to learn — but with the proper guidance, of course.

If you wish to learn the ins and outs of Java programming, this Java Programming Certification Bundle offers seven courses and nearly 90 hours of expert-led instruction. Whether you want to develop a game or build an app for your business, this training is aimed at equipping you with the skills to create whatever you want with Java. For a limited time, it's on sale for £19.70.

All seven courses are taught by Packt Publishing, an e-learning provider for IT professionals. Regardless of your skill level, this training collection will help you gain proficiency in Java and teach you how to utilise it to engineer various digital projects. Aside from theoretical lessons, you'll enjoy hands-on learning by embarking on practical tests to test your new skills. You can expect to learn how to write both simple and complex programs, create production-ready apps, build APIs, and more. While you'll be gaining technical skills, you'll also get to beef up your logical reasoning, critical thinking, and problem-solving prowess through these courses.

Make 2024 the year to explore a career in tech. You can start by learning Java with this training, which is on sale for only £19.70.

Opens in a new window Credit: Packt Publishing The 2024 Java Programming Certification Bundle £19.70 at the Mashable Shop Get Deal

The official trailer for upcoming horror Arcadian is here, and it looks like A Quiet Place — if it was loud and featured Nicolas Cage as a single dad.

Paul (Cage) and his sons Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins) and Joseph (Jaeden Martell) live together in a post-apocalyptic world where mysterious monsters attack at night. Living a relatively isolated existence, the family keep themselves safe by staying inside and fortifying the entrances once the sun goes down.

However, when Thomas fails to return to their farm before dark, Paul decides to go and search for him, facing the creatures that the family had been hiding from.

Arcadian arrives in theatres Apr. 12.

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 March 8'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:

Arriving before the expected time.

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 E.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. What's the answer to Wordle today?

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 #993 is...

EARLY.

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 March 8'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: Sewing

• Green: Ways to keep food from spoiling

• Blue: Razor-sharp

• Purple: Birds but slightly misspelled

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: Things to Sew

• Green: Ways to Preserve Food

• Blue: Sharp Quality

• Purple: Birds Minus Last Letter

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 #271 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Things to Sew: DART, HEM, PLEAT, SEAM

• Ways to Preserve Food: CAN, CURE, DRY, FREEZE

• Sharp Quality: BITE, EDGE, PUNCH, SPICE

• Birds Minus Last Letter: CONDO, HAW, HERO, LOO

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.

There can be a very thin line between cute and creepy. Just look at Chucky, M3GAN, or the Cabbage Patch Kids. Not all of these are killer toys, but all of them could be believably beloved by children while giving grown-ups the heebie-jeebies. Coming to join their perturbing plaything ranks is Chauncey Bear in Imaginary. 

Plus, like Blumhouse's other recent killer toy offerings, M3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy's, Imaginary is PG-13, allowing budding horror fans to get in on the freaky fun. 

What's Imaginary about?  DeWanda Wise stars as a struggling stepmom in "Imaginary." Credit: Lionsgate

Written by a quartet of scribes — Greg Erb, Bryce McGuire, Jason Oremland, and director Jeff Wadlow — the plot line to Imaginary is a bit convoluted. Sure, at its creepy core, it's the tale of a girl and the teddy bear who might just kill her. But the framing has flourishes, maybe too many. 

DeWanda Wise, who is the best part of bad movies Poolman and Jurassic World Dominion, stars as Jessica, a celebrated childrens' book author tackling a new challenge: stepmom. Moving into her childhood home with her husband, Max (Tom Payne), his surly teen daughter, Taylor (Taegen Burns), and his sugary youngest, Alice (Pyper Braun), Wise has the chance to be the mother she never had. But she must also face the dark secrets of a past she's long forgotten. (Also, she'll deal with her musician husband going on tour, her elderly father suffering from some form of dementia, a nosy neighbor, and finding inspiration for her next book.)

SEE ALSO: 'Jurassic World: Dominion' review: A big, dumb animal that deserves extinction

All of those threads will tie back to Alice's new imaginary friend, Chauncey Bear, who loves scavenger hunts, is always hungry, and demands obedience. As Jessica begins to realize something is definitely wrong in her home not-so-sweet home, she must bond with her daughters to conquer a ravenous evil. 

Imaginary delivers satisfying scares. 

Wadlow, who's helmed such twisted slashers as Cry Wolf, Truth or Dare, and Fantasy Island, isn't breaking new ground with Imaginary. Scare setups rely on the old classics, like an out-of-focus figure lurking in the background of a dark basement. A creepy toy appears out of nowhere and moves inexplicably. But these oldies are still goodies, executed with terrific timing. So, a bump in the night leads to our horror heroine peeking under the bed for a jolting jump scare. 

Plot-wise, there are similarities with Mama, the Andy Muschietti horror treat, where a reluctant foster mom must protect two young girls from a mysterious, vicious force. But Imaginary is less haunting and more playful in its approach, inviting in younger audiences exploring their personal fear factors.

Creepy kid stuff makes its way in as Alice is influenced by Chauncey, leading to tense scenes of therapy and slight bloodshed. But much of the violence is offscreen or implied — a scream there, a pool of blood there. The PG-13 rating keeps gore at bay. Still, the creatures make this feature frightful fun. 

The design of the bear is smart; it's cuddly but ratty-looking, and it's features sometimes contort slightly to suggest something sinister at play. But in nightmares and a labyrinthian climax, bigger badder beasties come out. And while a grown-up's eye might see a man in a terrific costume (perhaps with some CGI enhancements), it's still delightfully devilish. Unnatural silhouettes, gaping maws, protruding claws, and hissing warnings paired with kids' fare like a music box and a twisted scavenger hunt offer a spooky twist on playtime. 

DeWanda Wise and Pyper Braun make Imaginary work.  Pyper Braun and Chauncey the Bear face off in "Imaginary." Credit: Lionsgate

The plotline gets cluttered with characters who feel more like plot points than people. A cocky teen boy shows up to be awful, then terrified. The requisite husband is sidelined comically early, so he'll be no help to the girls or hindrance to the plot moving along. Even a creepy neighbor, played by Carrie's Betty Buckley, feels awkwardly wedged in, dampening the surprise of her third-act involvement. 

Despite the clunky story, Wise and Braun ground their characters, making the movie undeniably compelling. (To her credit, Burns as the older daughter is earnest. But, saddled with lots of clichéd dialogue dripping in teen angst, her character is wincingly one-note.) Wise weaves her way through exposition dumps to create heartfelt emotion, whether Jessica is hit by a shock from her past or a crisis in her present. In scenes where she fears her own failure, the very real terror of being a parent brings chills. But Braun is the show stealer. 

As Alice, Braun is chipper and cheerful, with rosy cheeks and a smile that won't be denied whatever it requests (a paintbrush? A toy? Some payback?). But — as seen in the trailers — when Chauncey talks, he talks with her voice. There, Braun spits out the kind of scary voice you might expect from a kid, low and grumbly. Enhanced with audio effects, it becomes an ungodly echo that bellows horrid things, making for a tantrum that is terrifyingly next-level.

Overall, Imaginary is overstuffed with plot points, constructing not only a story of a fractured family but also a growing lore clearly intended to spark a new franchise that can appeal to a broad demographic. And yes, the PG-13 rating means Imaginary is fairly soft for horror. Its scares are more spooky than harrowing. However, Wadlow has a solid sense of timing his tension. Wise grounds the emotional stakes, while Braun gives us a child to worry over and a monster to shiver over. So, while a bit unwieldy, Imaginary is a playfully deranged movie that's sure to be a hit at slumber parties. But grown-ups can enjoy its spirited scares, too. 

Imaginary opens in theaters March 8. 

TikTok, the massively popular mobile viral video platform, has gone on the offensive to stop Congress from implementing a "total ban on TikTok." 

Users in the U.S., which account for more than 170 million monthly active TikTok users, were served a pop-up message on Thursday urging them to call their representatives in Congress to voice their opposition to a bill that would ban the app in the U.S.

SEE ALSO: Democrats score a major political win…over Disney and Hulu

And it appears these pop-ups worked. Congress has been bombarded with phone calls from TikTok users of all ages standing up for their favorite social media platform.

"Kids literally told our office they were calling from recess earlier today," one Congressional staffer told Mashable. The staffer asked to remain anonymous because they were communicating to the press without permission through unofficial channels.

While the callers' demographics may skew younger than usual, TikTok users of all ages responded to TikTok's call-to-action.

“It’s so so bad. Our phones have not stopped ringing," said one GOP staffer in a report from Politico. "They’re teenagers and old people saying they spend their whole day on the app and we can't take it away."

One staffer told the outlet that their office surpassed 1,000 calls specifically concerning the TikTok bill.

However, while Politico's report focused on Republicans, Mashable's source emphasized that Democratic members of Congress were hearing from TikTok users too. "It's everyone," the Congressional staffer told Mashable, and added, "The calls are OVERWHELMINGLY from children."

The bill to ban TikTok

TikTok is using its very powerful reach to rally its users against a proposed bill to ban Chinese apps in the U.S.

The bipartisan bill isn't being voted on yet, but it did just make its way through the House Energy and Commerce Committee where a unanimous vote advanced the legislation.

TikTok won't be outright banned by the bill, its supporters argue. It gives the company a choice to be sold off by Chinese-based owner ByteDance – Republican Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, a cosponsor of the bill, is framing it as a "divestiture" – or be banned from app stores in the U.S.

The White House has recently voiced its support for the bill to potentially ban TikTok – but did not endorse it. Still, it's an interesting move from President Joe Biden, who just joined the platform last month specifically to reach out to young voters.

There were attempts to ban TikTok under the Trump administration, but those plans appeared to fizzle out after a short time. In response to the data and privacy concerns, however, TikTok did go through with a partnership with the U.S.-based company Oracle.

Now, there's a renewed push to legislate against the company, and TikTok is proactively taking action with the help of its users. Will representatives consider its constituents who called in support of their favorite app? That remains to be seen more broadly, but the House Energy and Commerce Committee today was certainly not swayed.

While TikTok may be successful in rallying its troops, a source tells Politico that the calls may be "backfiring." The lines are so busy that some Republican Congresspeople are getting "incensed" and are now leaning towards supporting the bill.

Right from its opening moments, Damsel wants you to know it's not like other fairy tales.

SEE ALSO: 'You'll Never Find Me' review: A tense cat-and-mouse horror that keeps you guessing

As Millie Bobby Brown's Elodie tells us in voiceover, this film is not a story of a chivalrous prince saving a damsel in distress. Instead, we'll learn that it's a story of a brave young woman caught up in the schemes of a rotten royal family — and the hell she'll go through to escape them. Boasting some inventive twists and a heartfelt lead performance from Brown, Damsel may not be groundbreaking fantasy, but it is a thrilling ride.

Damsel starts like a fairy tale — but quickly becomes a nightmare. Millie Bobby Brown and Nick Robinson in "Damsel." Credit: John Wilson / Netflix

Damsel's first act plays out like a romantic fairy tale. Noblewoman Elodie accepts a marriage match that will bring prosperity to her starving people, putting duty over her own happiness. However, when she arrives in the island kingdom of Aurea, she finds that Prince Henry (Nick Robinson) is kind, handsome, and receptive to her worries. The two stroll through lush palace gardens, take a spontaneous horseback ride to the countryside, and discuss their joint hopes to travel the world. Perhaps this marriage won't be as miserable as Elodie initially feared.

Yet even as Elodie and Henry bond, Damsel leaves a trail of breadcrumbs that something is terribly, terribly amiss. Ominous dragon statues line the harbor. Henry's picture-perfect castle lies at the base of a towering mountain; its shadows engulf the castle at night in a fun case of visual foreshadowing. Perhaps worst of all is Henry's mother Queen Isabelle's (Robin Wright) cold treatment of Elodie's kind stepmother, Lady Bayford (Angela Bassett). While Lady Bayford wants to get to know Henry's family better, Isabelle claims this is just a marriage of necessity, and that the families won't be connected further. Let's just say the flags are redder than the robes of the mysterious red priestesses who prepare Elodie for marriage.

SEE ALSO: 'The Gentlemen' review: A messy rollercoaster that's too much filler, not enough killer

If the alarm bells were ringing softly before, they begin blaring when Henry takes Elodie to the top of the nearby mountain on a post-wedding trip. Why are the two greeted by nobles in gold masks? Why is Isabelle telling a story about a former king of Aurea sacrificing daughters to a local dragon? And — wait, why did Henry just throw his newlywed wife down a pit?

In a sickening turn of events, Damsel reveals that Elodie is the latest in a long line of young women ritually sacrificed to Aurea's dragon (voiced by Shohreh Aghdashloo). But like the many women before her, Elodie is not about to die without a fight. She'll have to muster every ounce of strength and wit if she is to make it out of the dragon's lair. This is where the real fun of Damsel begins, delivering what feels like Ready or Not's deadly game of hide-and-seek mixed with Bilbo Baggins's efforts to evade Smaug in The Hobbit.

Damsel is part clever survival thriller, part showcase for Millie Bobby Brown. Millie Bobby Brown in "Damsel." Credit: John Wilson / Netflix

As Elodie gets her bearings in the dragon's massive lair, Damsel guides us from cave to cave, building new rules for its heroine to follow. Previously sacrificed women have left clues as to how one can escape, along with writing their names on walls so the world can bear witness to their unjust deaths. Elsewhere, cavern features like crystals or glowworms prove to be useful tools. (The glowworms are useful to viewers as well, as they provide a break from stretches of murkily lit action.)

The film's most inventive tools come courtesy of Elodie's wedding outfit. Like Samara Weaving's wedding gown in Ready or Not, Elodie's dress is gradually torn to shreds over the course of the film — proof not just of her distress, but of her transformation into a hardened survivor. It's also a handy asset. Fabric can bandage wounds, or serve as hand and foot wrappings for climbing. Ornamental jewelry also proves helpful in some unexpected ways. Watching each element of the outfit come into play is deeply satisfying, as are Elodie's discoveries about the true history of Aurea and its dragon.

Of course, none of Damsel would work as well without Brown's steadfast lead performance. Tasked with carrying much of the film alone, Brown throws herself into action heroine mode with gusto. Between wielding a sword, falling down chasms, and scrambling up walls, she delivers a physically committed performance that speaks volumes. She's even able to sell most of the film's clunkier dialogue, including irritating sequences where everyone feels the need to call their scene partners by name or title.

Since Brown is so much fun to watch by herself, it's almost a shame when Damsel brings human intruders into the dragon's lair. The film works best when it's a two-hander between Brown and the often-unseen dragon, whose voice Aghdashloo imbues with menacing, seductive flair. Tension crackles between the hunter and her prey, especially when it seems like the dragon is simply playing with her food. By the time the damsel and the dragon have their final confrontation, it isn't one of brute force; it's between two characters who have carefully studied each other, and who have both learned that her adversary isn't quite what she seemed.

Yes, Damsel isn't like most other fairy tales. But with its blend of dark fantasy and themes of self-empowerment, it makes for a gripping story that's great fun to experience.

Damsel premieres March 8 on Netflix.

Here's how to easily deactivate your Instagram account if you're in need of a break, but not ready to say goodbye for good.

On Thursday, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) officially goes into effect in the EU. The new antitrust law aims to take on Big Tech's stranglehold of certain markets and industries, forcing companies to open their core platforms to competition.

However, on the DMA's very first day, Apple is in the hot seat. According to a new report by Reuters, EU regulators are looking into the latest battle between Apple and Fortnite developer Epic Games. 

Why are EU regulators targeting Apple?

On Wednesday, Epic Games went public with the news that Apple terminated the video game company's iOS developer account. Epic Games planned to open its own alternative marketplace, an App Store alternative that Apple has been forced to allow in the EU under the DMA. 

Epic Games already announced its intent to bring Fortnite back to iOS as part of this plan. The popular battle-royale game had been missing on the iPhone since Apple removed it from the App Store in 2020. Apple booted the Fortnite app from the App Store after Epic Games attempted to cut the iPhone-maker out of the in-app purchase system, avoiding Apple's revenue share fees.

However, all of Epic Games' iOS plans in the EU are now on hold after Apple terminated their developer account, citing Epic Games' past history circumventing Apple's rules and criticism of Apple from the company that allegedly breaks its terms of service.

"We have requested further explanations on this from Apple under the DMA (Digital Markets Act)," a European Commission spokesperson said to Reuters.

Apple isn't faring well under the EU's new regulations

While companies like Meta, Google, and Microsoft will all be affected by the DMA, no Big Tech company has made more headlines for its controversial response to the new regulations than Apple.

In preparation for the DMA, Apple announced updated policies in order to comply with the new rules. The company was criticized by its peers almost immediately for "malicious compliance," as Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney puts it.

Perhaps the most controversial decision Apple made was with its new App Store structure. Under the DMA, Apple has been forced to allow "alternative marketplaces" on iOS devices that compete with the App Store. Developers who don't want to follow Apple's App Store policies can release their apps on iPhone and iPad via third-party App Store competitors.

Earlier this year, Apple shared its rules for alternative marketplaces and developers who distribute apps through them. Among Apple's decisions was a fee scheme that saw app developers utilizing alternative marketplaces hit with a per-download fee that would even be applicable for free apps.

Under Apple's new policy, developers who accept these terms could find themselves paying Apple more than they would have under the company's old App Store terms. Meta, Microsoft, Spotify, and Epic Games all called Apple out for these policies, arguing that Apple was deploying DMA-inspired policies that acted against the DMA's actual intent.

In addition to the App Store rules changes, Apple also announced that it was killing off home screen web apps as a result of the DMA. However, Apple quickly walked that decision back after significant backlash.

Now, on the day the DMA officially goes into effect, EU regulators have already announced a preliminary investigation into Apple's termination of Epic Games' developer account. Happy Digital Markets Act (DMA) day, everyone!

When you open TikTok today, you might be faced with a pop-up message during your scroll.

"Congress is planning a total ban of TikTok," the pop-up reads. "Speak up now — before your government strips 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression. This will damage millions of businesses, destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country, and deny artists an audience. Let Congress know what TikTok means to you and tell them to vote NO."

The only button on the screen is "Call Now," so if a user doesn't want to do that, they have to quit the application and reopen it to keep scrolling. When users click "Call Now," a prompt asks users to enter their zip code to find local representatives in their area. Once you do that, the app gives the user their local representative's phone number and encourages them to call and "tell them to stop a TikTok shutdown."

TikTok didn't give a script or say exactly which legislation the company is referring to, but it's likely the new bill introduced to the House of Representatives on Tuesday that would potentially ban all Chinese apps based in China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran from U.S. app stores, which includes TikTok.

SEE ALSO: ACLU warns against proposed TikTok ban for violating the First Amendment

"This is my message to TikTok: break up with the Chinese Communist Party or lose access to your American users," Rep. Mike Gallagher, a republican, said in a press release earlier this week. "America’s foremost adversary has no business controlling a dominant media platform in the United States. TikTok’s time in the United States is over unless it ends its relationship with CCP-controlled ByteDance."

Gallagher introduced the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act alongside Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who said that "TikTok poses critical threats to our national security."

"Our bipartisan legislation would protect American social media users by driving the divestment of foreign adversary-controlled apps to ensure that Americans are protected from the digital surveillance and influence operations of regimes that could weaponize their personal data against them," Krishnamoorthi said in a press release. "Whether it’s Russia or the CCP, this bill ensures the President has the tools he needs to press dangerous apps to divest and defend Americans’ security and privacy against our adversaries."

If the proposed ban is passed, U.S. app stores could face fines of up to $5,000 per user on apps that are "controlled by a foreign adversary." In response, the ACLU warned that this bill could be a violation of the First Amendment.

"We’re deeply disappointed that our leaders are once again attempting to trade our First Amendment rights for cheap political points during an election year. Just because the bill sponsors claim that banning TikTok isn’t about suppressing speech, there’s no denying that it would do just that. We strongly urge legislators to vote no on this unconstitutional bill," ACLU senior policy counsel Jenna Leventoff wrote.

From potential statewide bans to executive orders intended to ban the apps, this kind of legislation — and generally confrontational vibes from lawmakers — isn't new to TikTok. 

Pixar digs into the nitty gritty emotions of puberty in Inside Out 2, which introduces a whole new slate of emotions to Riley's (voiced by Kensington Tallman) mind.

The film still reunites us with the emotions from the first film: Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler), Sadness (voiced by Phyllis Smith), Anger (voiced by Lewis Black), Fear (voiced by Tony Hale), and Disgust (voiced by Liza Lapira) are excited to continue helping Riley grow up. But wait, what's that on the horizon? Body changes, teenage hormones, existential crises about the tiniest social interactions... Oh no — it's puberty!

As Riley enters this new life stage, she's going to experience far more emotions. Enter Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke), Envy (voiced by Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (voiced by Adèle Exarchopoulos), and Embarrassment (voiced by Paul Walter Hauser). These four newcomers clash with Riley's original emotions, even stuffing them in a jar. ("We're repressed emotions!" Fear screams in the film's new trailer.) Will our core five be able to escape? And will they ever be able to join forces with Riley's new, more complicated feelings?

Inside Out 2 hits theaters June 14.

Stigmergy is a mechanism of indirect coordination, in which individuals can influence their peers by changing their environment. For example, some ant species lay pheromone trails to navigate between food sources and nests. Researchers used these robots to conduct a study to see if stigmergy-based behavior can be produced via automatic design. The results show collective behaviors designed automatically can be just as good, if not better than those produced manually.

Here's a very 2024 sentence: Jake Paul, the controversial and popular YouTuber, is going to fight former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson on Netflix. The violent publicity stunt will take place in AT&T stadium — aka Jerry World, the home of the Dallas Cowboys — in Arlington, Texas on July 20.

The fight will certainly be a huge spectacle. Paul is wildly popular, especially with the younger generation. Tyson, despite being 57 years old, remains a household name and, during his prime decades ago, was the most electric and dominant fighter of a generation. Before "YouTuber" was a well-known profession, the site was littered with grainy compilation videos of his terrifying knockouts.

The announcement of the fight on Thursday quickly drew lots of attention. In fact, "he's 57" started trending on X, with lots of folks pointing out that Tyson isn't your typical 57-year-old.

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Paul, 27, pivoted hard to boxing and, to his credit, has done a solid job becoming a fighter. As ESPN noted last week, Paul — who has a record of 9-1 — has even moved to fighting actual boxers with low name-recognition rather than celebrities. In other words, he really seems to be working toward becoming a better fighter.

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"He's grown significantly as a boxer over the years, so it will be a lot of fun to see what the will and ambition of a 'kid' can do with the experience and aptitude of a GOAT," Tyson said in a statement. "It's a full circle moment that will be beyond thrilling to watch; as I started him off on his boxing journey on the undercard of my fight with Roy Jones and now I plan to finish him."

Paul was the undercard to a Tyson exhibition in 2020, during which the YouTuber knocked out former NBA player Nate Robinson. A few years later and he can credibly say he's the most popular name in boxing, even if he isn't a serious competitor for the real pros.

The clocks on our smartphones do something bizarre twice a year: One day in the spring, they jump ahead an hour, and our alarms go off an hour sooner. We wake up bleary-eyed and confused until we remember what just happened.

Afterward, "Daylight Saving Time" becomes the norm for about eight months (And yes, it's called "Daylight Saving" not "Daylight Savings." I don't make the rules). Then, in the fall, the opposite happens. Our clocks set themselves back an hour, and we wake up refreshed, if a little uneasy. 

Mild chaos ensues at both annual clock changes. What feels like an abrupt and drastic lengthening or shortening of the day causes time itself to seem fictional. Babies and dogs demand that their old sleep and feeding habits remain unchanged. And more consequential effects — for better or worse — may be involved as well (more on which in a minute).

Changing our clocks is an all-out attack on our perception of time as an immutable law of nature. It interrupts our lives in ways that are somewhat obscure precisely because those disruptions, and the accompanying confusion and malaise, are the norm. It’s reasonable to have questions though: Why is something so weird considered normal? How does it work? Do we really have to do it? Will it ever stop?

And here are the answers.

Why do we do Daylight Saving Time? What does it mean?

The popular idea that Benjamin Franklin invented Daylight Saving Time is half-true. He wrote a humorous letter to the editor of The Journal of Paris in 1784 about accidentally waking up at 6 a.m. and discovering that — Surprise! — the sun had been shining early in the morning all along, and he’d been missing it by snoozing until noon. In the letter, Franklin crunches some numbers, and concludes that governments should use tax incentives to try and induce their people to be awake whenever the sun is shining, largely in order to save money on candles. In spirit, this is similar to the goals of Daylight Saving Time, but Franklin did not propose that everyone should change their clocks twice a year.

SEE ALSO: Daylight saving time could become permanent in the U.S. Here's what that means.

If you need a single name, British residential real estate developer William Willett who wrote the 1907 pamphlet "The Waste of Daylight," was probably the inventor of DST — or as he called it "British Summer Time."

A New Zealand entomologist named George Hudson had quietly proposed a similar idea a few years earlier in 1895, but Willett was a wealthy businessman who was eventually able to have his idea transformed into a formal parliamentary proposal in the UK, so I’ll grant him the credit over Hudson because his plan got results, but feel free to disagree with me.

Willett was an early riser and avid golfer, and so he had a fixation on what time the sun rose and set. With that in mind, he proposed two yearly time changing phases — one in April, and one in September. Willett’s more elaborate time change phase idea would have meant a series of four time changes in increments of 20 minutes each, stretched out over a four-week period. It was mind-bendingly complicated, but it would have lessened the abrupt impact. 

All that complexity probably makes Willett’s plan sound a little deranged, but keep in mind, this was meant to fix a problem that modern, clock-changing humans are only vaguely aware of: dusk comes annoyingly early in the warmer months in standard time. It's warm, and there’s plenty of daylight in the day for extra golfing if you’re Willett, or extra bug-catching if you’re Hudson. And yet, all that bonus daylight is front-loaded into the morning when everyone is barely even awake yet. What a waste!

Willett never saw his proposal adopted in his lifetime. The year after Willett died, however, amid the resource constraints of World War I the United Kingdom put the one-hour-at-a-time clock-changing plan, not Willett's more gradual, monthlong plan, into effect, calling it the Summer Time Act of 1916. But Britain only adopted DST after its wartime enemy, the German Empire, adopted it first. Initially, the purpose was to conserve coal for the war effort, but slowly, in fits and starts over the rest of the 20th century, most of Europe, much of the English-speaking world, some of Latin America, and a few other places formally implemented time changes. 

That brings us pretty much to the present. It’s estimated that about a billion people, or roughly an eighth of the global population, now have to deal with two annual time changes: One as the warmer months are coming on, to make the daylight hours in the longer days more usable, and once when winter is coming, because there’s no extra light to be juiced out of those hellish winter nights. 

Where does Daylight Saving Time happen, and when?

Without getting too detailed, here are most of the places where clocks get changed:

• The United States, minus most of Arizona and Hawaii

• Most of Canada

• Most of Mexico

• Cuba

• Most of Europe

• Parts of Australia

• New Zealand

• Israel/Palestine

• Syria

• Lebanon

• Jordan

• Iran

• And more!

When the clocks change for the start of Daylight Saving Time 2024

For most of us, the time change just kinda happens at night. If you want to witness it, here's how:

If you’re in the U.S., and your clocks aren't self-changing, in the wee hours of March 10, wait until 2:00 a.m. and turn your clock ahead to 3:00 a.m. That missing hour simply disappears into a wormhole.  

This fall, you’ll need to set your clocks back an hour on the morning of November 3 if they aren’t self-changing. If you want to see the time change in action, you can stay up the night of November 2, and wait until 2 a.m. November 3. At that time, turn your clock back an hour and, yep, repeat the hour that just happened.

Is Daylight Saving Time good?

There simply is no objectively correct opinion on Daylight Saving Time.

The economic benefits of the wartime clock adjustment were real and immediate, according to the book Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time by David S. Perau. The adoption of DST led to "increased overtime work," along with, "reductions in power for electric lighting [that] averaged about 20 percent." That 20 percent power use reduction corresponded to "a cutback of about 1 percent of the total coal used for all purposes in a year." A one percent savings is huge.

Arguments against daylight saving, which robs light from the morning to give it to the evening, often revolve around concerns over school kids, who are forced to wait for their morning buses in the dark, potentially exposing them to crime and an increase in car accidents. Contrast that concern with a 2015 study by Brookings showing that DST reduces crime by pushing the cover of nighttime darkness back an hour, resulting in $59 million in savings per year in reduced robberies.

SEE ALSO: Pets have no idea it's daylight savings time, and it's going to be a rough week

But the clock changes and their accompanying chaos appear to bring about real, and sometimes fatal, problems. A study on the autumn time change from DST back to standard time strongly suggests that the event triggers an 11 percent rise in acute depression among susceptible people. That same time change was also once associated with a sudden 24 percent rise in reports of heart attacks. Another study linked the other time change — the one in spring — to a 6 percent increase in fatal car crashes.

Which brings us to the rising movement aimed at locking in Daylight Saving Time, and ceasing the clock changes altogether.

Is Daylight Saving Time permanent yet?

No.

59 percent of Americans favor a permanent change to DST, and 62 percent favor the elimination of the time change by some means. Permanent DST would nudge time over an hour forever. The sun would be overhead not at 12:00 p.m. but at 1:00 p.m. This would result in more evening sun year-round, but also more morning darkness, which is why some experts who want to abolish the time change would prefer permanent standard time.

But here in the U.S., permanent Daylight Saving Time really might happen.

On March 15 of 2022, the U.S. Senate unexpectedly passed a bill called "The Sunshine Protection Act," which may make it seem like Daylight Saving Time is on the verge of being permanent. Not so fast.

The bill was an interesting case study in American democracy. It was introduced on March 9, 2022, and abruptly passed six days later via something called unanimous consent. This means when it was brought up for a cursory initial vote, no one voiced any objections, so it passed without further deliberation. In the normally glacial United States Senate, this sort of thing almost never happens, according to Paul McLeod of Buzzfeed News. McLeod’s report on the passage of the bill notes that Senators Tom Cotton and Roger Wicker were among those whose stated beliefs were in opposition to ending the time change. Either of their votes should have rendered unanimous consent impossible, but they simply weren’t there to object. 

That bill died in the House, though, and the process had to start again. Senator Marco Rubio reintroduced the Sunshine Protection Act in 2023, but it doesn't look like a repeat of the 2022 Senate miracle is coming.

Will Daylight Saving Time ever be permanent?

If you're desperate to see the time change abolished in your lifetime, it might be wise to limit your activism to your state government. Nearly all states have either passed or entertained laws that would abolish the time change. But of course those are complicated by the federal law requiring all use of Daylight Saving Time be uniform across the whole country.

Perhaps the best thing for us all, then, is to stop trying to control this vast, Kafkaesque machine, and surrender to the twice-yearly reminder of our collective political impotence, and of time's fakeness.

Note: This article originally ran ahead of the switch to standard time in late 2022. It has been edited and republished for the spring of 2024.

SAVE $119.88: Amazon Prime members are eligible for a year of free Grubhub+ membership, which typically costs $9.99 per month, for a total savings of $119.88 over the 12 months.

Opens in a new window Credit: Grubhub Grubhub+ yearly membership
free for Amazon Prime members Get Deal

An Amazon Prime membership comes with plenty of perks. From having some items delivered to your doorstep in just hours to streaming the hits on Prime Video, it's packed with attractive features that make it well worth the membership fee. But there's one perk some might not know about.

All Amazon Prime members are eligible for one free year of Grubhub+, which typically costs $9.99 per month. Over the course of the year, you'll be saving $119.88 in total. An Amazon Prime membership costs $14.99 per month or $139 for a year.

Grubhub+ is packed with perks for those who like the convenience of having some of life's essentials delivered to your doorstep. For starters, you'll pay exactly $0 for delivery fees when ordering food. You'll also see lower service fees added to your order's total. If you prefer to pickup an order instead of getting it delivered, you'll see a 5% credit applied to future eligible pickup orders. The membership also comes with exclusive offers.

If you often find yourself ordering pizza, Mexican, or any other type of delivery meal, a membership to Grubhub+ could save you tons of dough on delivery fees. If you're an Amazon Prime member, you can sign up for a year of Grubhub+ for free, saving you the typical $9.99 monthly fee. Pair your delivery dinner with the latest show on Prime Video, and you'll be having the perfect Amazon night in.

Wake up and smell the roses – and a clean home! It's time to dive into your yearly spring cleaning session. Tidy up your home with deals on must-have vacuums, cleaning supplies, and more with the top deals on spring cleaning goodies, all on sale today.

Spring Cleaning Deals Best upright vacuum deal Dyson Ball Animal 3 Extra $399.99 (save $100) Get Deal Best robot vacuum deal iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ $998.98 at Amazon (save $400.02) Get Deal Best cleaning supplies deal Buy $60 of household items, get $15 credit Get a $15 Amazon credit when you spend $60 with promo code STOCKUPSAVE Get Deal

Shake out those rugs and empty those dustbins because it's officially time to start this year's spring cleaning run. That means you've got to be well-equipped with everything you need to make your home look (and smell) brand new again. Whether you need a vacuum with better suction power or some new cleaning products to tackle what might be a massive cleaning session, you'll need to do some shopping to prepare.

Luckily, you can save some serious coin on spring cleaning essentials on your list as of March 7. Our top spring cleaning deals today include a great upright vacuum, our favorite robot vacuum, deals on cleaning supplies, and more miscellaneous discounts to help you get everything as clean as possible.

Below, find our favorite spring cleaning deals that you can shop right now.

Best upright vacuum deal Opens in a new window Credit: Best Buy Dyson Ball Animal 3 Extra $399.99 at Best Buy
$499.99 Save $100.00 Get Deal Why we like it

The Dyson Ball Animal 3 Extra is a tireless cleaner that you absolutely need in your arsenal of spring cleaning tools. Whether you have a pet or not, this upright vacuum can help deep clean your carpet by removing everything from ground-in pet hair to dead skin cells and more gross debris like it's nothing. It even uses special detangling technology to make sure any errant hairs are removed from its rolling brush. It also comes with five accessories to help you deep clean those hard-to-reach areas. If you're going to vacuum manually, this is the one to do it with.

Best robot vacuum deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ $998.98
$1,399.00 Save $400.02 Get Deal Why we like it

The iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ is our favorite robot vacuum and mop combo, and it's the most powerful one you can get. It's more than capable of handling all the vacuuming tasks you assign it, whether that means cutting through pet hair and dirt in thick carpet or mopping up sticky, gross messes on hard floors. It can even handle dried stains with tough scrubbing motions. This is the robot vacuum for users with households that need deep cleaning on the regular, and it can handle it all with ease. It even has a massive water tank that can power the mop for up to 30 days at a time. True, you'll be paying a premium to bring it home, but it's well worth the money, especially at this price.

Best cleaning supplies deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Buy $60 of household items, get $15 credit Get a $15 Amazon credit when you spend $60 with promo code STOCKUPSAVE Get Deal Why we like it

If you need to stock up on cleaning supplies before tackling the big job, you might plan on going to Walmart or another big box store. But if you shop at Amazon, you'll be rewarded by getting some money back. Spend $60 on qualifying household items like trash bags, Windex, Clorox wipes, laundry detergent and more and get $15 back in Amazon credit. Add qualifying items to your cart and use promo code STOCKUPSAVE. Then turn around and use the same credit to buy all the other stuff you need! Easy-peasy.

More spring cleaning deals

• Dyson V8 Origin+ Cordless Vacuum – $299.99 $419.99 at Walmart (save $120)

• Bissell Little Green Multi-Purpose Portable Carpet Cleaner – $98 $419.99 at Amazon (save $25.59)

• Hoover PowerDash Pet Compact Carpet Cleaner – $99.99 $109.99 at Amazon (save $10.99)

• Shark Steam & Scrub All-in-One Steam Mop – $139 $179.99 at Walmart (save $40.99)

• Bissell SpinWave Cordless Hard Floor Spin Mop – $154.59 $175.09 at Amazon (save $20.60)

• Shark IZ163H Pet Plus Cordless Stick Vacuum – $229.99 $299.99 at Amazon (save $70)

• Shark S5003D Genius Pocket Steam Mop – $109.99 $129.99 at Amazon (save $20)

• Roborock Q5+ – $399.99 $699.99 at Amazon (save $300)

• iRobot Roomba 692 – $244.48 $269.99 at Amazon (save $25.51)

• Eureka E10s Robot Vacuum with Bagless Self-Emptying Station – $399.99 $599.99 at Amazon (save $200 with coupon)

• iRobot Braava Jet M6 – $299.99 $449.99 at Amazon (save $150)

• Simple Green AllPurpose Cleaner (Pack of 3) – $13.86 $19.99 at Amazon (save $6.13)

If you're looking to trade in an older Apple device, there's a good chance you'll get more for it today than you would've yesterday. The first week of March has seen the trade-in values for Apple's Mac lineup, as well as its iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch lineups rise and fall. The MacBook Pro, Mac Studio, iPhone 14 Pro Max, and Apple Watch SE 1 trade-in values climbed, for example, while trade-in values slightly dropped for the entry-level iPad, Apple Watch Ultra, Mac Mini, and Mac Pro.

What are the new trade-in values?

These trade-in value adjustments aren't massive — more like $10 here or there — but they'll still help bring down the price of your brand-new gadget. Here are the new price changes:

• iPhone 14 Pro Max — Up to $630 (increased from $620)

• iPhone SE 2 — Up to $90 (increased from $70)

• iPad — Up to $250 (decreased from $260)

• Apple Watch Ultra — Up to $365 (decreased from $390)

• Apple Watch Series 7 — Up to $145 (decreased from $155)

• Apple Watch Series 4 — Up to $70 (increased from $60)

• Apple Watch SE 2 — Up to $120 (decreased from $125)

• Apple Watch SE 1 — Up to $95 (increased from $90)

• MacBook Pro - Up to $1000 (increased from $990)

• MacBook Air - Up to $550 (No change)

• MacBook - Up to $160 (increased from $150)

• iMac - Up to $440 (No change)

• iMac Pro - Up to $500 (No change)

• Mac mini - Up to $400 (decreased from $410)

• Mac Studio - Up to $1315 (increased from $1070)

• Mac Pro - Up to $800 (decreased from $900)

Why did trade-in values change?

The trade-in value changes are likely due to the recent release of the M3 MacBook Air (and subsequent price drop on the M2 MacBook Air), as well as the upcoming rumored releases of new iPad Pro and iPad Air devices. As far as iPhones go, we're still about six months away from the new iPhone 16 drop. However, the new iOS 17.4 update could render older iPhones obsolete. With slightly higher trade-in values on certain devices, Apple could potentially be tempting those with older devices to make the switch to something new and improved. Though Apple didn't explicitly explain the reasoning, there's a pretty good chance it's related to boosting sales. Though, it's not uncommon for these values to fluctuate at the Apple Store.

How does Apple Trade In work?

Apple's trade-in program is one of the best ways to save money on a new device. Not to mention, it's environmentally responsible. With Apple Trade In, you recycle your old device and put it towards credit for a brand-new one. If you're not in the market for a new device quite yet, you can also put the credit on an Apple gift card for later use. Values vary depending on a number of factors – how old your device is, what condition it's in, carrier information, and more. Apple's trade-in page offers more information on device eligibility, trade-in values, and other FAQs.

In her 1993 speech at the Oscars, just before she presented the Academy Award for Best Director, Barbara Streisand envisioned a future in which women are so often in the leading filmmaking roles, that no special focus on their gender is necessary. Three decades later, we look at the history of the Best Director category to see how close, if at all, we have gotten to living in the future Streisand spoke about.