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TL;DR: Voibe AI voice dictation is $49.99 (reg. $149) offering a faster way to turn speech into text on Mac.

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Typing isn’t always the fastest way to get ideas out of your head. If you’ve ever lost your train of thought mid-sentence — or spent more time formatting than actually writing — a voice-first tool could be the upgrade your day-to-day work needs. Voibe, a Mac-native dictation app, is designed to close that gap, and for a limited time, a lifetime subscription is available now for only $49.99 (reg. $149).

Built exclusively for Mac, Voibe works anywhere a cursor can go — email drafts, notes apps, coding environments, you name it. What sets it apart from many dictation tools is its on-device processing: rather than routing audio through the cloud, it transcribes speech locally. That means your voice data stays private, and your words hit the screen with minimal delay.

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The workflow couldn’t be simpler! Just hold a key, speak naturally, and release. Your words convert to text in near real time, and because Voibe runs quietly in the background, it slots into your existing setup without disrupting it.

This kind of tool makes sense for anyone dealing with text-heavy tasks throughout the day — whether that’s writing emails, drafting content, or adding context to AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude. It may also be useful if you prefer speaking your thoughts out loud instead of typing them line by line.

Voibe is built for Mac, so it won’t work on Windows devices. Like most dictation tools, accuracy can depend on the clarity of your speech and the environment. Still, the offline processing and privacy-focused setup may appeal to users who prefer keeping data on their own device.

Unlike the subscription fatigue that comes with most software, Voibe’s lifetime plan means one payment, ongoing updates, and no recurring fees.

You can get a Voibe lifetime subscription now for only $49.99 (reg. $149).

Want to see more deals? Visit the shop and use code MARCH15 to save an extra 15% sitewide through March 29. Exclusions apply.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

In one of the company’s first major losses, New Mexico jurors found that it had misled consumers about the safety of its platforms, enabling sexual exploitation of young users.

Pour one out for Sora, the groundbreaking — but quickly overtaken — video generation app from OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT.

Born Dec. 2024, and baptized by a billion-dollar Disney deal a year later, Sora was axed by OpenAI on Tuesday — and the Disney deal was trashed alongside it.

"We're saying goodbye to the Sora app," the Sora team announced Tuesday via the OpenAI X feed. "To everyone who created with Sora, shared it, and built community around it: thank you. What you made with Sora mattered, and we know this news is disappointing."

OpenAI did not confirm reports that Sora would soon be available within ChatGPT itself, but did promise to "share more soon, including timelines for the app and API and details on preserving your work."

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Sora launched to great fanfare. Some of us even wondered if the launch could herald a new cinematic medium. But it was soon eclipsed by other more fully-featured AI video generation apps such as Google's Veo and Luma Ray.

In Dec. 2025, the cinematic might of Disney was added to the Sora app via a $1 billion deal — one that would allow users to create videos with some of Disney's vast roster of copyrighted characters. Though as we also noted at the time, the deal was a much better one for Disney than for OpenAI, which continues to burn through cash at the rate of roughly $1 billion a month.

SEE ALSO: Everything is fine: Disney CEO Bob Iger says OpenAI deal isn't a threat to creatives.

Still, Disney CEO Bob Iger was touting the OpenAI deal, which was to last for three years, as recently as Feb. 2026. But a month is a long time in AI world.

"As the nascent AI field advances rapidly, we respect OpenAI’s decision to exit the video generation business and to shift its priorities elsewhere," a Disney spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter, confirming multiple Hollywood insider reports that the deal was DOA.

"We appreciate the constructive collaboration between our teams and what we learned from it," the Disney spokesperson continued, "and we will continue to engage with AI platforms to find new ways to meet fans where they are while responsibly embracing new technologies that respect IP and the rights of creators."

The sudden and confused nature of the announcement — which irked many Sora creators on social media — suggests all is not well behind the scenes at Sam Altman's company. OpenAI has also been scrambling recently to introduce new mental health safeguards for teen users in the wake of multiple wrongful death lawsuits. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

The Federal Communications Commission on Monday added all foreign-manufactured consumer routers to its Covered List — the federal government's running blacklist of communications equipment deemed a national security threat. The move effectively bans the sale of new WiFi routers made outside the country.

The ban is sweeping, as virtually every consumer router on the market today is made overseas. However, the FCC also said that previously approved WiFi routers can still be operated and sold.

An FCC communication states that the "action does not impact a consumer’s continued use of routers they previously acquired." Likewise, it doesn't "prevent retailers from continuing to sell, import, or market router models approved previously through the FCC’s equipment authorization process."

It's the same playbook we saw with the drone ban in December 2025, when the FCC blacklisted most consumer drones, even as they remained easy to find.

SEE ALSO: The FCC bans all routers made outside the U.S.

As before, the national security justification, per the FCC, is that foreign-produced routers introduce supply chain vulnerabilities that can disrupt critical infrastructure. In addition, the FCC says that foreign routers have already been exploited in real cyberattacks. The Volt, Flax, and Salt Typhoon attacks — all of which targeted vital U.S. infrastructure — involved foreign-made routers, according to the FCC.

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A quick glance at Amazon and Best Buy shows that popular routers are still widely available, but the situation is confusing. Let's break down what we know about the new rules.

So which routers are banned?

Any equipment on the FCC's Covered List is blocked from receiving new authorization, which is required before a device can be imported, marketed, or sold in the United States. And the FCC's decision adds "all consumer-grade routers produced in foreign countries" to that list.

Effectively, all home router brands will be impacted by the ban. (The only domestically-produced consumer routers Mashable is aware of are made by Starlink for satellite internet.)

The FCC's update applies to any router produced outside the U.S. — and the FCC's definition of "produced" is deliberately broad. It covers not just where a device is physically assembled, but where it was designed, developed, or had any major stage of its manufacturing process completed. So, a router designed in the United States by an American company but assembled in Taiwan would still be banned, for instance.

TP-Link, the Chinese manufacturer that has faced its own separate congressional scrutiny and government inquiries, is an obvious target. But the ban extends well beyond Chinese companies. It also includes Asus, which is Taiwanese; Netgear, which is headquartered in San Jose and manufactures abroad; Eero, which is owned by Amazon and produced in Vietnam; and Ubiquiti, another American company whose hardware is produced overseas. If the router exists in the physical world in 2026, there is a very good chance it was made somewhere other than the United States, and is therefore now covered.

TP-Link, for its part, was characteristically direct. In a statement to PCMag, the company acknowledged the obvious — that router manufacturing is a globally distributed industry, with its own products made in Vietnam — and framed the ruling as an industry-wide reckoning rather than a targeted action. The company said it was confident in the security of its supply chain and welcomed what it described as an evaluation of the entire sector.

Likewise, before DJI drones were banned in December, the company told Mashable the ban was a naked attempt to shore up U.S. manufacturing, rather than a legitimate national security issue.

"This is about forcing the biggest manufacturer of drones out of the market so that American drone manufacturers don’t have to compete with them," said Adam Welsh, DJI’s Head of Global Policy, in an interview with Mashable in December.

What routers can you still buy?

More than you might expect — for now. The critical distinction in the FCC's rules is between new device models and previously authorized ones. Any router that already has an FCC equipment authorization can still be imported, sold, and used. Retailers can continue moving existing inventory. Consumers can continue buying those models. The ban applies to new models seeking authorization going forward, not to the current stock sitting on Best Buy shelves.

If you already own a router, nothing changes. The Covered List does not require consumers to replace or stop using hardware they already purchased.

However, if you need an upgrade, now's the time to do it. The FCC granted a limited waiver on Monday, allowing all previously authorized routers to continue receiving software and firmware updates — security patches, bug fixes, and compatibility updates — at least until March 1, 2027, at which point the agency says it will reassess.

The waiver exists because, without it, the Covered List rules would have immediately stripped those routers of update eligibility the moment they were added to the list, even for devices already sitting in people's homes. The irony here is that the FCC's ban is premised entirely on the security risks of foreign-made routers, which, by its own mechanics, will eventually cut off the security updates that keep those same routers from becoming liabilities.

SEE ALSO: Amazon's Big Spring Sale is back: The best deals already live on Apple, robot vacuums, headphones, and more Is there any way back for manufacturers?

There is, but it's a narrow door. The FCC's rules include a "Conditional Approval" pathway, administered by the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security, through which a router producer can apply for an individual exemption if it can demonstrate its product does not pose unacceptable risks.

The application process is extensive: manufacturers must disclose their full corporate structure, ownership, any foreign government ties, a complete bill of materials, country of origin for every component, and all software, and — most significantly — a detailed, time-bound plan to move manufacturing to the United States. Conditional Approvals last no longer than 18 months and come with quarterly reporting requirements. There is no guarantee of approval, and all decisions are final.

The cut represents about 20 percent of the video game company’s work force, a spokeswoman said.

OpenAI has announced new open-source safety prompts for developers, aimed at launching a mass deployment of policies to protect teens.

The prompt-based safety pack includes model guidance on common teenage risks, developmental content recommendations, and age-appropriate guidelines on topics such as self-harm, sexual content and romantic role play, dangerous trends or viral challenges, and harmful body ideals.

OpenAI said its a more robust alternative to the high-level guidelines previously offered, formatted as prompts that plug right into AI systems.

SEE ALSO: Why friction-maxxing could be good for your tech usage

OpenAI added new Under-18 principles to its Model Spec in December. A few months prior, the company released gpt-oss-safeguard, an open-weight reasoning model designed to assist developers in implementing safety conditions and classifying safe and unsafe content. Unlike traditional safety classification processes, gpt-oss-safeguard can be fed platform safety policies directly, and infers the policy's intent as it distinguishes appropriate outputs.

But "even experienced teams often struggle to translate high-level safety goals into precise, operational rules, especially since it requires both subject matter expertise and deep AI knowledge," said OpenAI in its latest press release. "This can lead to gaps in protection, inconsistent enforcement, or overly broad filtering. Clear, well-scoped policies are a critical foundation for effective safety systems."

The additional developer pack was designed in collaboration with nonprofit Common Sense Media and everyone.ai.

Experts have warned parents about excessive chatbot exposure of vulnerable teens and even young children, as AI companies attempt to get a handle on the ramifications of their models on user mental health. Last year, OpenAI was sued by the parents of teen Adam Raine in the industry's first wrongful death case, with the Raine family claiming that a combination of ChatGPT sycophancy and lax safety policies was responsible for their son's death by suicide. The company has denied allegations of wrongdoing and in response have beefed up its mental health and teen safety features, including age assurance. Even so, third-party developers licensing OpenAI's models have struggled to maintain the same level of safety precautions, including in AI-powered children's toys.

The case against OpenAI followed multiple lawsuits against controversial platform Character.AI and set the stage for a recent wrongful death suit filed against OpenAI competitor Google and its Gemini AI assistant.

Industry-wide, tech and social media companies are facing an onslaught of legal challenges regarding the long-term impact of their products on users. Last month, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri and Meta head Mark Zuckerberg testified before a jury in a watershed case putting social media platforms on trial for their allegedly addictive design principles. A verdict has yet to be reached.

OpenAI said its new safety prompt pack is not a "comprehensive or final definition or guarantee of teen safety." Robbie Torney, head of AI and digital assessments for Common Sense Media said that the new policies can build a "meaningful safety floor across the ecosystem," filling an AI safety gap that has been exacerbated by a lack of operational policies for developers.

Developers can download OpenAI's safety model on Hugging Face and access its new prompt pack on GitHub.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

For years, the company sold chip designs to other companies. Now it plans to sell its own chips for A.I. data centers.

DarkSword, the web-based hacker tool that can be used to steal data from millions of iPhones, has just been published on GitHub for public use. Cybersecurity experts say Russian hacking groups are actively using DarkSword "to fully compromise devices."

Now that the exploit is public, any would-be cybercriminal can just quickly copy and paste the DarkSword code, take a few minutes to set it up on their web host, and deploy the spyware.

Last week, reports about the new hacker tool called DarkSword sparked so much concern in the security world that Apple was forced to issue a quick response explaining how the company is addressing the threat. The reports came from Google’s Threat Intelligence Group and two cybersecurity firms, iVerify and Lookout.

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What is DarkSword?

DarkSword is an exploit that lets hackers steal data from vulnerable iPhones running outdated versions of iOS.

DarkSword has concerned cybersecurity professionals because it doesn't require that the hacker's target download any malware or corrupted files. Hackers can simply download the DarkSword HTML and Javascript and upload it to a compromised website. If a user with an old version of iOS visits the compromised site, their device becomes vulnerable. The hacker can then steal data such as passcodes, emails, private messages, and more from the victim's iPhone.

As Lookout reported last week:

In a tangible example of how attacks are evolving, Lookout Threat Labs has discovered DarkSword, a full iOS exploit chain and payload for iPhones running iOS versions between iOS 18.4 and 18.6.2...DarkSword aims to extract an extensive set of personal information including credentials from the device and specifically targets a plethora of crypto wallet apps, hinting at a financially motivated threat actor. Notably, DarkSword appears to take a ‘hit-and-run’ approach by collecting and exfiltrating the targeted data from the device within seconds or at most minutes followed by cleanup.

Google cybersecurity researchers reported that the notorious hacker group UNC6353, which is suspected to have ties with the Russian government, previously deployed DarkSword on compromised Ukrainian government agency sites to target iPhone users within Ukraine.

iVerify told TechCrunch that the DarkSword exploit that's now in the wild is slightly different but "shared the same infrastructure." According to iVerify, no iOS experience is needed to run the exploit and it will work "out of the box."

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As TechCrunch also reported, another X user shared that they were able to hack their iPad mini 6th gen running iOS 18.6.2 with the DarkSword exploit that was just released in the wild.

Apple previously reported on its developer website that nearly 25 percent of all iPhones are still running iOS 18, meaning hundreds of millions of iOS devices are susceptible to this exploit. The current version of iOS is iOS 26.3.1.

How to protect your Apple devices from DarkSword

Google's Threat Intelligence Group urged iOS users to update their devices to the newest version of iOS, and if that's not possible, to activate the iPhone's Lockdown Mode.

Apple also said that it pushed out a critical security update on March 11 for older iOS devices that can't install the more up-to-date iOS in order to protect these devices from DarkSword. Users with devices running iOS 13 or iOS 14 need to update to iOS 15 to receive these critical protections.

Apple Maps might get a fairly big change soon, and it's one that few people will be excited about.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported this week that Apple will put advertisements in the Maps app on iPhone this summer, with an initial announcement as early as this month. Rather than bombarding users with annoying pop-up ads, it sounds like it'll be more of a "sponsored search results" sort of thing, so you might see an ad for a specific restaurant or Uber Eats as part of a search query, even when that's not exactly what you were looking for.

This idea also came up in a report last year, but it sounds like it's actually happening soon. According to Gurman, the Apple Maps ads would operate similar to ads on Google Maps, with advertisers bidding on search terms like "coffee" or "thai food."

SEE ALSO: Apple WWDC 2026 is official, with iOS 27 and 'AI advancements' on the menu

Nobody likes it when a previously ad-free app gets ads, but in complete fairness to all involved, Google Maps has had sponsored search results for years, and that hasn't stopped it from becoming the go-to navigation app. Users will put up with fairly non-intrusive ads as long as the app does its job, which has sometimes been a problem for Apple Maps over the years.

Despite all of that, though, the reception to the idea on social media has been pretty cold. Frosty, in fact.

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Perhaps people are just tired of constantly being advertised to in every part of their lives.

One reason iOS users might be angry? Apple is already reporting record sales in 2026, with Tim Cook calling the demand for iPhones "simply staggering."

Move over, Sherlock Holmes. Quit twirling your mustache, Poirot. Hang up your hat, Miss Marple. There's a new flock of great fictional detectives in town, and they're not even human. They're... The Sheep Detectives.

Screenwriter Craig Mazin (The Last of Us) and director Kyle Balda (Minions) adapt Leonie Swann's novel Three Bags Full in this wooly criminal caper. Hugh Jackman stars as shepherd George, who loves nothing more than reading mystery novels to his sheep. What he doesn't know is that his sheep fully understand the tales he spins them, hanging onto every word of each whodunnit.

However, the flock soon finds themselves in a mystery of their own when their beloved shepherd is murdered. According to his lawyer (Emma Thompson), he left behind $30 million, a fortune that gives several people in his circle the motive to take him out.

Who will get justice for George? Surely not the bumbling local policeman (Nicholas Braun). Instead, George's flock takes it upon themselves to use their mystery novel know-how to pin down his killer. How tough can solving a real crime be?

The Sheep Detectives' latest trailer teases the chaos that awaits our ovine case-crackers, including a serious tendency to want to bash some cars in. Plus, it gives us a better look at the film's stacked cast, be they sheep or human. In addition to Jackman, Thompson, and Braun, The Sheep Detectives stars Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Hong Chau, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O’Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, and Rhys Darby.

The Sheep Detectives hits theaters May 8.

The dream of someone else working instead of you while you enjoy the finer things in life has just become a bit more real.

Anthropic announced a new feature for Claude Cowork and Claude Code, enabling the smart assistant to use your computer on its own while you're away.

So, if Claude needs a certain tool to finish a task, it can point, click, and navigate on your screen to get what it needs, including opening files, using a browser, and running dev tools.

The feature, which requires no setup, is available in research preview for Claude Pro and Max subscribers, and only on Mac computers.

Anthropic pointed out that the tool works particularly well with Dispatch, a tool that lets you assign Claude (its desktop version, to be precise) tasks from your phone.

This sounds awfully close to the type of automation that's recently been on the rise with tools like OpenClaw becoming immensely popular, but it's far more restrictive than that. While OpenClaw is typically given full reign over a computer, Claude's version will prioritize using connectors to service such as Slack and Google Calendar, and when it decides it has to open an app directly, it will ask for permission before accessing a new app.

SEE ALSO: Claude AI discovered 22 Firefox flaws. Here's how many it figured out how to exploit.

Despite these safety measures, users should be very careful before handing Claude (or any smart assistant) full access to their computers. As Anthropic itself puts it, "Claude can make mistakes, and while we continue to improve our safeguards, threats are constantly evolving." For more detail on what Claude can and cannot do using this tool, go here.

From YouTubers and TikTok stars to streamers and podcasters, Mashable talks to creators about how they built their platforms, the gear they swear by, and the trends they see coming next. Read more of our creator coverage and meet the Mashable 101 to discover the internet’s most exciting voices.

Here’s the thing about farmers: They love to talk about farming.

As a flower farmer and vegetable gardener myself, it’s something I’ve experienced a lot. We love to swap stories about growing practices, compare notes about dahlia or potato storage, and wax poetic about our favorite varieties of heirloom tomatoes. But when I can’t connect with another grower face-to-face, I find myself turning to podcasts, Instagram, and YouTube channels to scratch that itch, especially as another season starts to come into focus. 

Enter: Jesse Frost of No-Till Growers. 

The 43-year-old Frost is author of The Living Soil Handbook and the man behind the No-Till Growers network, which includes a popular YouTube channel with more than 400K subscribers, a corresponding Instagram account, and the Growers Daily podcast. 

A no-till farm (or garden) is one where the soil is never plowed or turned over and is heavily mulched, like with wood chips or cover crops — a practice that can help with soil health and erosion control. It’s a big topic in the farming community as many growers strive to improve the quality of their soil and produce better yields, not to mention reduce the need for pesticides or other inorganic inputs.

Credit: Zooey Liao / Jesse Frost / Mashable

Based in Kentucky, Frost and his wife Hannah Crabtree run Rough Draft Farm, a small-scale vegetable farm that serves their local community. It’s also where Frost creates much of the content that appears across his channels, and where he applies the no-till farming practices he speaks of so often. 

Frost says that his biggest mission is to help others learn alongside him.

“We try to create and aggregate as much information about growing food ecologically as we can, and then disseminate that for free,” Frost says. “The entire idea is we believe organic, no-till farming is important work and the technical details about how to do it should not be behind a payway.”

We recently caught up with Frost about some of the essential tools he relies on every day, why content creation is so important, and the power of authenticity online.

Talk to me about how everything got started.

I originally launched the [Market Garden] podcast back in 2018 because I just felt like that was the information I needed and wanted the most and it just was not out there. I knew there were all these growers who were doing creative, low-till things, but the information on how was just not there. So I decided to call them and record it and share it. Seemed like a reasonable idea at the time, and now it's a huge part of my life.

I later stepped away to concentrate on farming, on video making (which is easier than podcasting because it can be done on your own and then edited in the morning, unlike podcast interviews, which are typically done during the day when I need to be farming). I also wanted to give my wife, who is a painter, a chance to do some of the stuff she wanted to do and had sacrificed so that I could make the podcast. 

Within the last couple of years you launched the Growers Daily podcast – talk to me about the shift into daily content. 

I started Growers Daily in September of 2024, the idea just being that I thought farmers and growers might enjoy a daily podcast to listen to. I love daily podcasts. I use them to motivate myself in the morning and then afternoons when I'm tired. Moreover, the daily was also something I could do early in the morning so it didn't require much, if anything, from the family or anyone else. I love daily podcasts, but most of them are sports or news-oriented. My idea was simple: why not farming? 

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What are the products you can’t live without for content creation? 

On the podcast side, I use the Shure SM7B microphone and although I have not tried every microphone out there, the bang for the buck is huge and I like how well it fits my voice. Microphones are really high on my list of "can't live withouts" because I remember a time before I did live without good microphones and I don't really want to go back there. 

On the video side, I'm often using either the RØDE VideoMic Pro+ shotgun mic with the Deadcat windscreen (for in-the-field shots) or the Rode Wireless Go II for talking or doing interviews. I like to have the Omnidirectional lavaliers for those as well, but not a requisite. I just think sound really elevates video. 

Camera-wise, I'm a big fan of Sony. Originally, I just liked how long they would record (versus the 29:59 limit that Canons had). That comes in incredibly handy when filming farm presentations. I find that Sonys are user-friendly and relatively intuitive (this is an aspect I appreciate because I am not a big tech guy and have no time or space in my brain to learn all-new equipment). I also just like the video color and saturation better on Sony than other cameras I've tried. Specifically, right now I have a Sony A7IV for shooting outdoors (with a Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM Lens). For the podcast, which I film at my desk, I use an older Sony A7C (with a Sony Sonnar T* FE 35mm f/2.8 ZA Lens). 

I have a teleprompter that I can't live without for the podcast, but not because it's a great teleprompter, just because I use it a lot. It's an old Glide Gear, and it's fine but it's a little awkward to get in and out of every day (the podcast is daily). It's 7 years old and it does the job and if I have to take it to the field, I don't sweat it too much. 

Because I'm on a farm (and a budget), I try not to overdo it on the quality (read: price) of my equipment. I could buy better mics and cameras, but they will get dirty. For me it's about finding that balance of quality and price so I won't feel bad handling it with muddy fingers as I move it around the farm. 

Also shouts to my editor Mike, who now handles all of the backend stuff on the videos and podcasts — he's pretty hard to live without. 

How about when it comes to farming? 

I always say I could run my farm on a shovel, a wheelbarrow, a 7-inch stirrup hoe, and a rake if need be. No special brands or preferences there, but those would get me pretty dang far. The tech for shooting videos and recording podcasts is ever-evolving. In farming, there is new tech, too, obviously, but a lot of food can still be grown with very little in the way of tools, as it has been for thousands of years. 

You do a great job of showcasing your humor and personality within your content — is this something you actively think about and plan for? 

I wouldn't say I think about being funny very much or work on material really at all. Oftentimes, like I would imagine it is for many people, my humor comes up when I need to fill empty space, or when I feel awkward, or when I felt like something I said was boring and I'd like to bring the listener back in.

Humor is a great tool in that way. For instance, the subjects of my podcasts can often involve intricate details on, say, the planting distances of broccoli. If I don't make a joke or ten somewhere in there, people are gonna check out. Myself included, frankly. You ever fall asleep recording a video? It's not a great look. 

Where do you see your best engagement? 

I think I see my best engagement not based on platform or content-type but on sincerity. I think people respond most to honesty and vulnerability. I don't exploit that, I just notice it. People really love to see my mistakes. People really love to see me be human. And I love to show those things because I want people to walk away from my work still feeling good about their own work. 

Content creation has a unique power to make people feel less-than or unaccomplished, but as creators, we can make the choice to show them we screw up, too. I do it all the time. I am as good at screwing up as succeeding. I think it's helpful for people to see that. 

What makes a good farming account? 

I wish I knew! The somewhat embarrassing truth is that I don't watch a lot of farming content. Basically none. The reason for that is to keep generating new ideas and not keep feeding the old ones. I don't want what I'm sharing to be what everyone else is sharing, which is what tends to happen in the content creation. So I don't watch YouTube videos, I don't listen to farmer podcasts really, unless my friends are on it or some farm I'm interested in. I read research papers and talk to researchers and growers (on top of also farming full-time and gaining my own perspectives). 

The goal is just to always try to bring something new to the space. And I've also had to grow okay with just not knowing all the time what the new thing or tool or trick people are talking about is all the time. So No FOMO here — I know I'll find it eventually. And really, like I said, farming doesn't change that much. I've been doing this for almost 17 years. I've seen a lot of tools come and go in that time. The next big thing is still the shovel, wheelbarrow, hoe, and rake. 

Any noteworthy achievements you’d like us to mention? 

We've made 350+ episodes of the daily. We've done hundreds of videos. We have 400,000 subscribers on YouTube, millions of podcast downloads, but when I think about that question, I just think about the time I helped my kid through a hard thing, and didn't say anything stupid in the process to make it worse. Or how I had a difficult conversation with someone that actually made the situation great — better than I could have imagined. I don't know that numbers or classic achievements (awards, etc.) will ever satisfy me quite like a relationship achievement. Those are the best. 

What do you love about creating content? 

It's a fun, creative challenge every day. I've always said I have two parts of my brain that need a ton of attention — the physicality side (picking stuff up and moving it around) and the creative side. Farming fulfills the physical side, whereas content creation fulfills the creative. They work well together in that way. I also love how accessible it is. If you have a genuine desire to change something in the world (in my case, how the soil and earth are treated), content creation is a way you can start embarking on that mission today. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

I've never really been able to get into The Sims, for a few reasons. For starters, I don't have the patience to meticulously recreate my friends or favorite celebrities in its highly detailed character creator. Beyond that, much of its gameplay by default revolves around managing meters to make sure your Sims stay happy and don't die. It's compelling to many and one of the most popular games of all time for a reason, but it doesn't really work for me.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, on the other hand, might be the kind of life-sim I can get into. I've played a few hours of Nintendo's quirky new island management simulator for Switch (as in the first one, though it'll also work on a Switch 2), and I really dig it so far. It's become a part of my daily routine, as every morning I boot it up, see what the goofy little Mii recreations of my friends and favorite fictional characters are getting up to, and then move on with the rest of my day.

It's hard to say yet whether Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream will have real staying power like The Sims, Animal Crossing, and Pokémon Pokopia, but anyone looking for a low-key delivery mechanism for laughs on Switch or Switch 2 should give it some consideration.

Opens in a new window Credit: Nintendo Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream $59.99 at Amazon
  Pre-order Here SEE ALSO: Pokémon Pokopia: How to power up Rock Smash Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream gives a lot without asking for much from you I agree! Credit: Nintendo

For those who don't know, Living the Dream is the long-awaited follow-up to Tomodachi Life for Nintendo 3DS. The basic premise here is the same as it was more than a decade ago: You create a bunch of Mii characters (you know, like the guys you played as in Wii Sports) based on whoever you want to base them on, and they live together on an island. You can give them gifts, feed them food, nudge their personalities in different directions, and try to make them become friends or even lovers together. But for the most part, what they do and how they act is up to them, not you.

That means that, beyond the initial setup phase of making a Mii and crafting your island's appearance to your heart's content, Tomodachi Life isn't a game you play so much as it's a funny little virtual ant farm that you check in on every now and then. The biggest key to its success, in my eyes, is that the characters all speak out loud using extremely mechanical-sounding text-to-speech technology. You can modulate and pitch their voices to your liking, but at no point will their speech ever come close to sounding truly human, and that's part of the charm.

A typical Tomodachi Life session, at least for me, lasts about 45 minutes at most. I start by turning the game on and talking to any Miis who have issues that need resolving, which can range from "I want a new friend" to "I need a new outfit." The happier you make them, the more they level up, unlocking various bonuses that are better left unspoiled.

Again, they just kinda do this stuff on their own. Credit: Nintendo

The real charm of all of this is that it's naturally, effortlessly funny at almost every turn.

The voice synthesis is a big part of the humor, as just listening to your Miis talk is hilarious on its own, but Nintendo has also crafted a bunch of funny little comedy skits that play out naturally without much intervention from the player. Sometimes a Mii will ask you to go bowling with them, which means all of the island's residents will pose as bowling pins, and you have to knock them over. Other times, they'll ask you what you think about current trends, or if you want to help them foster friendships with other Miis.

This is also what my friends and I do on the weekends. Credit: Nintendo

There are a ton of different little vignettes to see, and there's no telling how much of Living the Dream one would have to play before seeing all of them. Admittedly, it's up to the player to make their own fun, to an extent. My main method of enjoying Living the Dream has been to create Miis who only sort of resemble fictional characters like Sonic the Hedgehog, Marge Simpson, and Eric Cartman, and watch them interact with each other. Your mileage may vary with this, as for other people, creating Miis of their real-life friends or family members will be the key to enjoyment.

To its credit, Mii creation is also deeper here than it's ever been before. Aside from new cosmetic options like hairstyles, Miis can now be non-binary and can use any pronouns, no matter what their gender is set to. They can also date and marry anyone of any gender, should you choose to set it that way. The last Tomodachi Life only supported heterosexual romances, so this is a huge improvement.

Character creation has gotten key upgrades. Credit: Nintendo

My only major concern for Living the Dream is that Nintendo has severely limited the ability to share screenshots and videos using the Switch's share button. You can still capture them, but getting them off your console and onto a computer or phone is much more difficult than it normally would be, presumably for content safety reasons. I get that in the abstract, but easily being able to share silly little moments on social would go a long way towards making Living the Dream part of my daily routine for months to come.

I'll have more to say when the time comes for a full review, but at least after the first several hours, I'm excited to play more Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream launches on Nintendo Switch on April 16. You can pre-order the game now for $59.99 at Amazon and the My Nintendo Store.

TL;DR: Amazon has the Magic: The Gathering Avatar The Last Airbender Beginner Box on sale for $21.81, which is not only 38% off its $34.99 list price, but also about $3 below the current $24.84 market value.

Opens in a new window Credit: Magic: The Gathering Magic: The Gathering Avatar The Last Airbender Beginner Box $21.81 at Amazon
$34.99 Save $13.18 Get Deal

If you have been waiting for the Magic: The Gathering’s Avatar The Last Airbender expansion to get to the right price before jumping in, the latest deal on the Beginner Box is one of the best chances you’ll ever get.

As of March 24, Amazon has the Magic: The Gathering Avatar The Last Airbender Beginner Box listed for $21.81. Compared with its $34.99 list price, that is a savings of $13.18, and it also lands below the $24.84 TCGplayer market value. For a licensed starter set that is aimed at two players and packed with actual play pieces instead of just a small sampling of cards, that is a pretty easy deal to like.

Not only is $21.81 a rare low price for this beginner box, but it is also only 24 cents shy of its lowest-ever price — as confirmed with price tracker camelcamelcamel.

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As well as a great crossover trading card game product, this starter bundle doubles as a way to deliberately walk beginners into the MTG trading card game. Along with guided battles between Aang and Zuko using two 20-card tutorial decks, you can use step-by-step learn-to-play guides included to help you through your first match. 

After that, the box opens up with eight additional 20-card Avatar-themed half-decks that you can combine into full 40-card decks, letting you mix and match different themes and strategies rather than getting stuck with just one static setup. Along with the included cards, you’ll get two playboards to help keep turns organized, two Spindown life counters for tracking totals, five double-sided tokens, and a rules reference booklet for quick check-ins as you play.

For more MTG deals, the Magic: The Gathering Duskmourn House of Horrors Play Booster Box is still $22 off at Walmart. Meanwhile, MTG’s Lorwyn Eclipsed Play Booster Box has been cut to under $120 at Amazon. 

The Moon is starting to appear bigger each night. This is because of where we are in the lunar cycle. The lunar cycle is a 29.5 day cycle of the Moon's orbit around Earth and includes eight unique phases. Keep reading to find out where the Moon is in that cycle today.

What is today’s Moon phase?

As of Tuesday, March 24, the Moon phase is Waxing Crescent. According to NASA's Daily Moon Guide, 33% of the Moon will be lit up tonight.

The Moon is slowly coming back into view, so each night there will be more to see. For example, tonight, without any visual aids, you can see the Mare Fecunditatis and the Mare Crisum. There may be other features visible too, however these will be the most distinct.

With binoculars, you'll also be able to catch a glimpse of the Endymion Crater, the Posidonius Crater, and the Mare Nectaris. And, finally, with a telescope, you'll be able to spot even more, including the Apollo 11 and 17 landing spots.

When is the next Full Moon?

In North America, the next Full Moon is predicted to take place on April 1.

What are Moon phases?

According to NASA, the Moon completes one orbit around Earth in roughly 29.5 days, cycling through eight distinct phases. While the same side of the Moon always faces us, sunlight illuminates varying portions as it travels, making it appear full, half, or a narrow crescent. These shifting appearances are known as the lunar phases, and there are eight in total:

New Moon - The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it's invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent - A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter - Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.

Waxing Gibbous - More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon - The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous - The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)

Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) - Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent - A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

Airports in the US are in disarray at the moment, with TSA agents going without pay since mid February due to a partial government shutdown. Speaking about the situation on Monday night, Jimmy Kimmel didn't have to go out of his way to mock the president's handling of the situation — a 10-year-old tweet did most of the heavy lifting for him.

"All the tumult did not stop the president from playing golf this weekend," says Kimmel, "which made me nostalgic for this classic tweet from 2016, which reads: 'While our wonderful president was out playing golf all day, the TSA is falling apart, just like our government! Airports a total disaster!'" Oh, who said that? Donald Trump said that."

The host's conclusion? "Man oh man, if Donald Trump ever met president Trump, he would hate him."

TL;DR: Amazon has the Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Perfect Order 3-Pack Blister (Chikorita) listed for $32.44, which puts it $4.32 below the current $36.76 market price. That gets you three Perfect Order booster packs plus a special foil Chikorita promo card in one sealed preorder.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon TCG Mega Evolutions Perfect Order 3 Pack Blister (Chikorita) $32.44 at Amazon
  Pre-order Here

In the Pokémon TCG market, Perfect Order preorder prices have been bouncing around all month, but the Chikorita 3-Pack Blister is one of the simpler buys if you just want sealed packs without paying above market value. Although Elite Trainer Boxes and booster bundles have been getting most of the attention, this smaller blister is still a great buy for collectors and casual rippers alike.

As of March 24, the Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Perfect Order 3-Pack Blister (Chikorita) is listed for $32.44 at Amazon. Against the current TCGplayer market price of $36.76, that works out to a $4.32 difference. It is not the biggest discount we have seen on a Perfect Order product, but getting anything below market value is a solid result this close to the expansion’s release date of March 27.

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As the name implies, this blister comes with three sealed booster packs from the Perfect Order expansion, with each pack containing 10 additional game cards — alongside the included Chikorita foil promo card.

At the time of writing, individual Perfect Order booster packs cost $11.79 each on Amazon — totalling $35.37 if you wanted to buy three. With this blister pack, you’re not only saving $3.13 compared to buying three boosters on their own, but you’re essentially getting a free Chikorita promo card as well.  

Perfect Order leans heavily into Mega Zygarde ex, while also featuring trading cards with other Pocket Monsters that appear in the Pokémon Legends: Z-A game, like Mega Clefable ex, Mega Starmie ex, and Meowth ex. The Perfect Order expansion includes more than 120 cards, more new Mega Evolution Pokémon ex, more than 25 Trainer cards, and more than 30 Pokémon and Trainer cards with special illustrations.

To save even more on the Pokémon TCG’s new expansion, you can preorder the Perfect Order Booster Bundle for under $59 at Amazon. What’s more, the Pokémon TCG First Partner Illustration Collection Series 1 is still available to grab for under $65. 

Jon Stewart has been gleefully hating on Punch, the Ichikawa City Zoo monkey who found comfort in a stuffed toy after being abandoned, ever since the poor little guy first went viral.

In the Daily Show clip above, the host reacts to the news that Punch may have found himself a girlfriend, playing footage of the little monkey frolicking with a new companion before sharing his thoughts.

"Fantastic. It's really nice. Although, um...hey listen girl, straight talk. I know what you're thinking, but girl...you can't fix him," says Stewart, before addressing Punch with a whispered aside. "Punch, seriously, if you're watching, I am happy for you, but a little advice: Pre-nup."

TL;DR: Amazon has the Pokémon TCG: Mega Evolution Perfect Order Booster Bundle available for preorder at $58.95, undercutting Walmart’s current $59.88 price. That gets you six booster packs from the new Perfect Order expansion for just under $10 per pack.

Pokémon TCG: Perfect Order Booster Bundle preorders Best Amazon Deal Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Perfect Order Booster Bundle $58.95 at Amazon Pre-Order Here Best Walmart Deal Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Perfect Order Booster Bundle $59.88 at Walmart Pre-Order Here

Perfect Order preorders have been especially rocky in the Pokémon TCG space, with prices on ETBs constantly fluctuating. So it's great to see Perfect Order Booster Bundles back in stock at a low price with Amazon.

As of March 24, Amazon has the Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Perfect Order Booster Bundle listed for $58.95, while Walmart has the same preorder at $59.88. At Amazon’s current asking price, the six-pack bundle comes out to about $9.83 per booster pack, which is a much better deal compared to the $11.79 price for individual booster packs. Each Perfect Order booster pack contains 10 cards, one Basic Energy, and one Pokémon TCG Live code card. 

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An expansion with over 120 new cards, Perfect Order is another Pokémon trading card collection honing in on the Mega Evolutions that appear in the Pokémon Legends: Z-A video game — such as Mega Zygarde ex, Mega Clefable ex, and Mega Starmie ex. 

We predict prices will shoot up and consistently stay above $60 once Perfect Order is released on March 27, so we recommend pre-ordering at this low price before the release date.

For other in-demand Pokémon TCG releases, you can also get the Pokémon TCG: First Partner Illustration Collection (Series 1) for under $65. For more Pokémon TCG Perfect Order preorders, you can still preorder the Build and Battle Box for under $50.

Apple has officially announced the dates for its Worldwide Developers Conference: June 8 to 12, starting with a special event at Apple Park on Monday, June 8.

As is customary, Apple will talk about its software platforms, which most likely includes the next version of Apple's mobile platform, iOS 27, as well as new versions of macOS, iPadOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS.

In a news post accompanying the announcement, Apple said it will spotlight "incredible updates for Apple platforms, including AI advancements."

While artificial intelligence is a ubiquitous topic for tech companies these days, it's a particularly important one for Apple, which has been very slow to launch an improved version of Siri.

In particular, Apple's revamped Siri (Siri 2.0, if you will) should come with onscreen awareness, personal context, and be more deeply integrated with apps. We might also see a version of Siri that has chatbot capabilities similar to the ones in OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, and Anthropic's Claude.

As for the rest of WWDC, Apple says the conference will have more than 100 video sessions and interactive group labs and appointments. Developers who would like to attend the event in person can apply here until March 30. Not everyone gets to go; instead, Apple will randomly select the winning tickets and notify the winners on April 2.

For a more comprehensive list of what we expect to see at this year's WWDC, go here.

SEE ALSO: Apple WWDC 2026: Everything we know so far

For those following from home, the conference will be streamed on Apple's Developer app, the company's website, and YouTube channel.