Mashable

Remember meme stocks?

In early 2021, the stock price of video game retailer GameStop pumped immensely after a Reddit community of traders, led by a trader known as Roaring Kitty (or DeepFuckingValue on Reddit), started buying en masse. This in turn caused the demise of hedge fund Melvin Capital that was shorting GameStop stock (shorting, in the simplest of terms, is betting on the stock price declining). It also marked the beginning of a trend in which communities of smaller traders were able to substantially move the prices of certain stocks, often opposing the directional bets of larger entities such as hedge funds. That was the dawn of the meme stock era.

While the trend was short lived, largely dying down in late 2021, it now appears to be back. On Monday, after nearly three years of dormancy, Roaring Kitty's account on X started posting a series of memes and crypto video excerpts. While it's hard to discern what, exactly, each of them means, the consensus is that Roaring Kitty is back in business, and stock traders have taken notice.

Tweet may have been deleted

After lingering in the $10 to $18 region for nearly the entirety of 2024 so far, the price of GameStop (whose stock ticker is $GME) soared to $80 in the past two days, before settling down at the current (premarket) price of $51.31. The price of another meme stock, AMC Entertainment, more than doubled at one point, following Roaring Kitty's return.

For those who were shorting $GME and $AMC, the news was not good. According to Predictive Analytics' Ihor Dusaniwsky, shorters are down well over $2 billion this week.

Tweet may have been deleted

How can one man's tweets move stock prices so violently? Keith Gill, Roaring Kitty's real name, achieved fame by holding a long position (essentially, betting on the price rising) in GameStop for years, turning a relatively meager $53,000 position into tens of millions of dollars and gaining a cult following in the process.

The question on every trader's mind, however, is whether the trend of meme stocks pumping is sustainable, or if it's a one-off event spurred by Roaring Kitty's return (some have pointed out that Roaring Kitty hasn't been active on other social channels such as YouTube, indicating someone else may have been tweeting from his account).

SEE ALSO: That iconic Trump meme may save eyes this solar eclipse

Right now, there's no definitive answer. Roaring Kitty's Twitter account is still posting riddles, with some Reddit traders capitalizing on the stock price moves. The ranking of Robinhood on Apple's App Store has gone sharply up in the past couple of days, which is another indicator that retail investors are back (in early 2021, Robinhood soared to the top of Apple's app store as numerous investors joined in to trade meme stocks). The trend could fizzle out or it could once again wreak havoc in investing circles. One thing is certain: This time around, the professionals are taking notice.

Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short), and Mabel (Selena Gomez) head for Hollywood in Season 4 of "Only Murders in the Building" Season 4. Watch the teaser.

Eight TikTok creators are suing the U.S. government in order to prevent a law that would ban the app unless its parent company divests.

First reported by the Washington Post, the 33-page complaint was filed Tuesday, arguing that the law violates First Amendment rights by "[promising] to shutter a discrete medium of communication that has become part of American life", calling the law an "extraordinary restraint on speech."

"In supporting the Act, lawmakers claimed that TikTok 'manipulate[s]' American minds and disseminates 'propaganda' that would 'use our country’s free marketplace to undermine our love for liberty.' But it is the Act that undermines the nation’s founding principles and free marketplace of ideas," reads the complaint.

SEE ALSO: Is the White House being hypocritical about TikTok?

The case, filed in the the federal Court of Appeals in DC, is asking for the court to declare the law unconstitutional and ultimately prevent it from being enforced.

The creators, who also expressed in the complaint how TikTok has changed their lives and livelihoods, range across home states, age, and occupations. The list is as follows: cattle rancher Brian Firebaugh (@cattleguy), baker Chloe Joy Sexton (@chloebluffcakes), activist and creator Kiera Spann (@famousblonde), rapper Topher Townsend (@tophertownmusic), lifestyle creator Talia Cadet (@taliacadet), footballer Timothy Marin (@timbosliceoflife12), Love & Pebble co-founder Paul Tran (@loveandpebble), and beauty and comedy influencer Steven King (@btypep).

Some of the petitioners, including Townsend, Spann, and Firebaugh, have posted on TikTok about their decision to take up the suit. Townsend explained, "No platform is perfect and TikTok is the closest I've found to this day," adding in the video that he is "forever grateful" to the app. According to the Washington Post, each of the creators explained that TikTok is an invaluable instrument for self-expression, speech, and connection.

The suit also stated that TikTok has a "profound effect on American life", and expressed how the app changed the lives of the petitioners: "They have found their voices, amassed significant audiences, made new friends, and encountered new and different ways of thinking—all because of TikTok’s novel way of hosting, curating, and disseminating."

King, one of the petitioners, told the Post, "On TikTok, we’re able to consume and receive information that is not filtered, that hasn’t had a narrative driven by politicians. We have direct access to find out what is happening around the world at our fingertips."

The creators are represented by Seattle-based firm Davis Wright Tremaine, which specializes in cases involving the First Amendment and previously represented five TikTok creators in Montana when they fought last year's proposed state ban (which was also passed into law).

TikTok itself is covering the creators' attorney fees for this suit. The app is currently suing the government, too, having filed a lawsuit on May 7, shortly after President Biden signed the bill into law. TikTok's suit called the ban "unconstitutional".

The teaser for "You're Cordially Invited", a wedding mix-up comedy starring Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon, has dropped.

"The Daily Show" host Desi Lydic poked fun at GPT-4o.

Ilya Sutskever is leaving OpenAI, and we have questions. One in particular.

Announcing the move on X on Tuesday night, the company's chief scientist said he made the decision to leave himself.

"The company's trajectory has been nothing short of miraculous, and I’m confident that OpenAI will build AGI that is both safe and beneficial under the leadership of @sama, @gdb, @miramurati and now, under the excellent research leadership of @merettm. It was an honor and a privilege to have worked together, and I will miss everyone dearly," Sutskever wrote, adding that his next endeavour is a project "that is very personally meaningful" to him, with details coming "in due time."

Tweet may have been deleted

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted about the move as well, calling Sutskever "easily one of the greatest minds of our generation."

"OpenAI would not be what it is without him. Although he has something personally meaningful he is going to go work on, I am forever grateful for what he did here and committed to finishing the mission we started together. I am happy that for so long I got to be close to such genuinely remarkable genius, and someone so focused on getting to the best future for humanity," he wrote.

Altman also noted that Jakub Pachocki, OpenAI's director of research, is going to be OpenAI's next chief scientist.

While both Altman and Sutskever indicated that Sutskever's departure has to do with his ambition to do a personally meaningful project (both using this exact same phrase), it's hard not to relate the move to OpenAI's recent leadership crisis, in which Altman was temporarily ousted from the company, with Sutskever leading the move (before backpedaling and saying he deeply regretted Altman's firing).

Tweet may have been deleted

That something was amiss was so obvious that the internet turned the situation into a meme. "What did Ilya see," once referenced by OpenAI once-investor, now-critic Elon Musk, refers to the (conspiracy?) theory that Sutskever saw something alarming in Altman's leadership, prompting him to initially support Altman's ousting. The question was, jokingly or not, immediately asked as a reply to both Sutskever and Altman's posts on X.

It's not just Sutskever that's left; Jan Leike, the researcher that was co-leading OpenAI's Superalignment team which worked on the problems of "steering and controlling" AI that's much smarter than humans, also left the company. Early on Wednesday, he simply tweeted "I resigned."

Tweet may have been deleted

Musk elaborated on his concerns about OpenAI in a lawsuit against the company in which he had once invested. In the filing, he demands OpenAI to become a nonprofit again, arguing that the company's latest AI model is too powerful to be (essentially) owned by Microsoft, which has a large stake in OpenAI. It's unclear where, exactly, Sutskever stands on the matter.

Given the tone of Sutskever and Altman's post, it's unlikely we'll (soon) find out the intricacies of Sutskever's departure from OpenAI. It'll nevertheless be interesting to see what Sutskever's "personally meaningful" new project will be.

SEE ALSO: OpenAI reveals its ChatGPT AI voice assistant

With all the turmoil that's been going on inside OpenAI, the company appears to be on an upward trajectory, having recently launched its most powerful publicly available AI model so far, GPT-4o.

Not content to just let us sit with the news of AI Overviews coming to search, Google has launched a new "Web" filter in search that will show you only text-based links in results. Looks like there's still room for a little old school internet within the AI of it all.

Launched on Tuesday to coincide with the tech giant's I/O event, the additional filter will let you switch between Google's refined results tabs as you would with Images, News, Videos etc. The "Web" tab was launched in the U.S. yesterday and will roll out globally Wednesday.

SEE ALSO: Everything announced at Google I/O, including AI Agents, Ask Photos, and more

Google's Public Liaison for Search, Danny Sullivan, posted a thread about the new filter on X, formerly Twitter.

"We've added this after hearing from some that there are times when they’d prefer to just see links to web pages in their search results, such as if they’re looking for longer-form text documents, using a device with limited internet access, or those who just prefer text-based," a post read.

Tweet may have been deleted

It's one of a flurry of announcements made at Google's I/O developer-focused event, particularly around Search, The company also announced the rollout of AI Overviews in the U.S. (worldwide soon) that will show AI-generated summaries atop results, as well as Search by Video, Planning with Search, and Contextual Search — Mashable's Chance Townsend has more detail on these.

The I/O event also saw the company drop plenty of AI announcements centred around Gemini 1.5 Pro and Gemini 1.5 Flash, including DJ mode for Google's Music FX, an Ask Photos feature, AI personal assistants known as AI Agents, a video generator like OpenAI's Sora called Veo, and plenty more.

Mashable's Tim Marcin has a guide to I/O for you, check out everything Google announced.

Whether the 16-inch Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 laptop appeals to you depends on your budget.

Starting at $900, Lenovo’s large hybrid laptop can do a lot for the price. Its convertible display can exist in four different configurations of varying usefulness. Plus, its storage options are good enough for the majority of people who don’t work in high-intensity fields. And finally, its fully adorned keyboard gives it a leg up over something like a MacBook.

But thanks to a decidedly not-so-slender profile and awkward trackpad placement, you may be better off spending a little more money (or less) to get something more convenient for everyday use. (Maybe take a look at our best laptops page for some inspiration.)

SEE ALSO: Lenovo Yoga Book 9i review: A sick dual-screen laptop with life-changing productivity Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 16-inch price and specs

The review unit I tested costs $899 on Best Buy and has the following specs:

• Intel Core Ultra 5 125U processor

• 512GB storage

• 16GB RAM

• Intel Iris Xe graphics

• 16-inch display with 1920 x 1200-pixel resolution and 60Hz refresh rate

There aren't a ton of variations on those specs for consumers to choose from. You can optionally get an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor with 1TB of storage, but that brings the price up to $1,049.

While the display, processor, and GPU specs aren’t necessarily anything to write home about, the storage and RAM figures are worth highlighting here. A minimum of 512GB internal storage (with a more expensive 1TB option) and 16GB RAM will help ensure that people can keep their data around and work with several programs or tabs open at once. 

Considering that this is priced as a somewhat low-level school or work laptop, those memory and storage specs aren’t bad. You might want more storage if you do longform video editing, though.

Opens in a new window Credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 16-inch
Get Deal What I like about Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch

While there's very little about the Yoga 7i that I would call "remarkable," there's still plenty to like. Between its audiovisual presentation and convenient privacy features, Lenovo packed a decent number of bells and whistles into this laptop.

Huge, convertible display Tent mode. Credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable

As a daily MacBook Air user, the thing about the Yoga 7i that hit me the hardest was just how big and versatile the display is, if you want it to be.

Sixteen inches and a slightly-higher-than 1080p resolution are both pretty solid figures for the price, even if it’s just a lowly LCD display rather than the fancier OLED ones found in Lenovo’s more expensive products. In my testing, I found the Yoga 7i was best used for streaming. I used it extensively as a second monitor during an incredibly busy weekend of watching both the NBA playoffs and NFL draft at the same time.

I know — I’m really cool, but that’s not the point here.

Of course, this isn’t just a normal laptop, hence the “2-in-1” part of the product name. The Yoga 7i’s display can be bent backwards into a few different configurations: one that uses the keyboard as a base, one that props the device up like a tent, and one that just turns it into a giant tablet.

None of these are new in the world of hybrid laptops, but they are all presented and accounted for here. It’s hard to say how the hinge would hold up after years of bending the screen back, but in my limited testing, it felt sturdy enough to withstand everyday use.

Privacy features

While I appreciate Lenovo including both a fingerprint reader and a physical webcam cover, these features are becoming increasingly standard on laptops, even some of the best cheap laptops. Therefore, I'm hesitant to give them too much credit for the inclusion.

That said, the substantially more expensive MacBook Air that I work on every day doesn’t have a webcam cover, so clearly, the rest of the industry still has some catching up to do. Good on Lenovo for including both of these features, even if they aren’t novel.

Loud speakers

I feel pretty strongly that if you’re going to watch something on a laptop, you should most definitely use headphones. Laptop speakers, by and large, exist for utility; they’re on the device because they have to be, but it’s never an ideal way to experience audio.

Still, Lenovo’s Yoga 7i speakers are pretty thunderous by laptop standards. I was able to hear what I was watching from across the room at less than half volume, while pumping it up all the way produced a sound that was loud enough to put me in danger of pissing off my neighbors. That didn’t happen, thankfully, but it’s good to know that a $900 laptop can do that.

Full-featured keyboard It's a good keyboard. Credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable

All that really needs to be said is that the Lenovo Yoga 7i’s keyboard has both a full function row and a full number pad. There you go! What more do you need?

But seriously, it’s a solid enough laptop keyboard that wins on features, if not especially on feel. Having all of those buttons is great and enables all the different keyboard shortcuts one could hope to use in a work environment. 

It’s a double-edged sword, though. Including a number pad on the right side means that everything else is just a little squished together. While the Yoga 7i’s device footprint is a bit wider than my MacBook Air, the non-number-pad part of the keyboard is actually a bit narrower. It’s certainly something you’d get used to after using the laptop every day, but the process of getting used to it wasn’t great. Still, the keys are pretty substantial regardless and the amount of key travel is satisfying enough.

What’s ‘meh’ about Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch

Of course, nothing is perfect, but also not every imperfection is worth raking a device over the coals about. When it came to the ports and one aspect of the Yoga 7i's display, I wasn't head-over-heels for the laptop.

Port placement Ports! Credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable

When it comes to port selection, the Yoga 7i is competitive with others in its class. Between a single HDMI port and two USB-C Thunderbolt connectors, you’ve got a plethora of options for external displays, even if one of those USB-C ports should be left open for charging purposes. There are also two USB type-A ports and a headphone jack.

That’s all well and good, but I don’t love the port placement here. The left side contains the HDMI port and both Thunderbolt connectors, as well as the headphone jack. The right side, meanwhile, contains two USB type-A ports and an SD card slot.

Personally, I would’ve preferred more symmetry. Relegating both USB-C ports to one side means you can only charge the Yoga 7i from one side. Similarly, if you use a standard USB mouse, you better be right-handed.

Refresh rate

As I’ve mentioned a few times, the Yoga 7i isn’t exactly priced as a premium product, so some concessions are expected. One of those is that the display, for all its size and resolution, only comes with a 60Hz refresh rate.

To be fair, the Yoga 7i isn’t necessarily meant as a high-end gaming laptop, so frame rates higher than 60 fps don’t really have a place here. But for basic web browsing and scrolling, even a 90Hz refresh rate would’ve made the laptop feel a bit more premium and responsive. 

It’s not a big deal, but something worth noting.

What I dislike about Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch

Unfortunately, the physical design of the Yoga 7i leaves a bit to be desired. Put simply, it's heavy and the trackpad isn't real fun to use.

A little unwieldy It's not small or light. Credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable

Laptops are supposed to be portable, right? The whole point is that you can carry it with you from place-to-place without really noticing it. This is one area where the Yoga 7i falls a little short.

Its 4.63 pound weight is quite noticeable. Picking up the Yoga 7i with just one hand to move it around feels slightly treacherous, especially since the center of gravity resides where the keyboard and display meet. It always feels a little like it’s about to fall out of your hand when you first lift it up. I don’t love that.

Yoga 7i’s weight, combined with the necessary width of a 16-inch display, means this might be a difficult device to use on an airplane, unless you pay for first class. That’s far from the only thing that matters about a laptop, but we can’t pretend like it’s not important.

Trackpad placement

The Yoga 7i keyboard is mostly pretty good, as discussed previously. The trackpad is another story.

Lenovo annoyingly decided to go with a left-of-center alignment for the trackpad. This means that while I’m resting my hands on the keyboard, my wrist is almost always touching the trackpad, leading to a lot of unintended mouse clicks that got in the way of my daily routine. 

Another rather bothersome result of the trackpad’s placement is that finger taps that feel like they should be left clicks instead register as right clicks too often. At least, that happened way too often for me, a person who primarily navigates the trackpad with his right hand.

Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch Geekbench score

Lenovo’s Yoga 7i, packed with an Intel Core Ultra 5 processor, delivered a 9,121 multi-core score in our CPU testing, courtesy of the benchmarking software Geekbench (which tests for CPU performance).

Going beyond the numerical score, I never had any serious performance quibbles with the Yoga 7i. As long as you use it for what it was designed for (everyday web browsing and work), it operates smoothly. 

Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch battery life

This is one area where Lenovo can chalk up a big ol’ W for itself.

I tested the Yoga 7i’s battery life by looping a 1080p video in full screen from a 100 percent charge until the device died. That process took a whopping 10 hours and 33 minutes. 

By comparison, the dual-screen Yoga Book 9i only achieved seven hours under the same circumstances, at more than twice the price. And since everyday work tasks generally don’t require that you loop an HD video for nearly 11 hours straight, you can certainly expect to get through a full work day on one charge.

Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch webcam and microphone

The Yoga 7i isn’t necessarily a budget laptop, but the parts of it that you use for video calls aren’t really anything to write home about.

A lil' fuzzy! Credit: Alex Perry

As you can see from the image, the 1080p webcam produces results that are a little fuzzy and washed out — and that’s before video call compression enters the picture. It’s fine for a weekly check-in with your boss, but you wouldn’t want to film a movie with it.

As for the built-in microphone, it, well, sounds like a laptop microphone. Testing produced audio that was a little tinny, but fully intelligible. Again, these features are meant for work calls and not professional recordings. If you want better results, get a real webcam and a real microphone.

Is the Lenovo Yoga 7i 16-inch worth it?

This is a tough question to answer because it really depends on what you want and need from a laptop.

Gamers can and should look elsewhere, given the specs. People who need to do intense video editing or 3D modeling can probably do better, as well. The Yoga 7i is specced and priced for people who work on the computer but don’t work like that on the computer, if you catch my drift.

If you need a bulky, sturdy machine for streaming things and answering emails, you can certainly do worse. The versatility and size of the display helps matters, as the Yoga 7i can (in a pinch) be an entertainment machine, too. But it’s not especially portable or remarkable in any other way.

Still, it’s not as expensive as a MacBook and has a way more functional keyboard, if nothing else. 

Opens in a new window Credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 $899.00
Get Deal

This is not just another sublime image of the largest storm in the solar system, Jupiter's Great Red Spot. 

Look closer… a little closer…

Come on, you're going to have to try harder than that. Get in there.

Do you see it now? That's not a speck of dust on NASA's Juno spacecraft camera. That's a moon, orbiting its enormous mother planet in space. 

The teeny tiny moon is Amalthea, and though it was caught zipping in front of the very ruddy eye of Jupiter's long-lived high pressure zone, astronomers say this moon is in fact the reddest object in the solar system. Scientists think its hue is caused by sulfur from the nearby Jovian moon Io, a world with active volcanoes.

SEE ALSO: Saturn apparently has 145 moons. So eat it, Jupiter. Tweet may have been deleted

The images released this week were taken as the spacecraft swooped about 165,000 miles above Jupiter’s clouds in March during its 59th close flyby. Citizen scientist Gerald Eichstädt processed the probe's raw camera data to enhance the clarity of the pictures.

Juno has an instrument, dubbed JunoCam, that was designed not just to take great closeup photos of Jupiter but to engage the public. The science team allows citizens to process the camera's images and polls the crowd for what to focus on next. 

Juno has been orbiting Jupiter for over seven years. The spacecraft is studying the origin and evolution of Jupiter, looking for its core, mapping its magnetic field, measuring water and ammonia in the atmosphere, watching for its auroras, and homing in on Jupiter’s moons and dust rings. 

Two images of Jupiter taken by the spacecraft Juno in March reveal tiny Jovian moon Amalthea as it passes by. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt

During its primary mission, the spacecraft collected data on the gas giant's atmosphere and interior. Among its discoveries was finding that the planet's atmospheric weather layer extends way beyond its water clouds. 

After completing 35 orbits, the spacecraft transitioned to studying the entire system around Jupiter, including its rings and moons. The extended mission will continue for another year or until the spacecraft dies. Juno will eventually burn up in Jupiter's atmosphere as its trajectory erodes. The spacecraft is not at risk of crashing into and possibly contaminating Jupiter's moons, some of which may be habitable worlds. 

NASA's Galileo spacecraft took images of Amalthea, center, in January 2000, revealing a world of craters, hills, and valleys.  Credit: NASA / JPL / Cornell University

Amalthea, just one of Jupiter's 95 official moons, was first discovered by Edward Emerson Barnard in 1892. It is about 100 miles wide and clumsily shaped like a potato because it lacks the mass to form into a more symmetrical sphere. Almost 25 years ago, scientists got to see this little moon up close with the help of NASA's Galileo spacecraft, which revealed a pell-mell world of craters, hills, and valleys. 

Amalthea is within the orbit of Io, the closest of Jupiter's four large moons, along with three other oddly shaped mini moons: Metis, Adrastea, and Thebe. It's so close to Jupiter, in fact, it only takes Amalthea half of a day on Earth to circle its planet. 

This moon is a mysterious little place in the solar system. Scientists have discovered that it gives off more heat than it gets from the sun — perhaps a result of Jupiter's magnetic field stimulating electric currents within its core or the planet's gravity causing tidal stresses. 

Featured Video For You NASA video shows stunning scene from extremely volcanic world Io

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"If there's a failmarriage in there, nine times out of 10 that's what's gonna draw me in more than anything," Azhar, a 24-year-old student in London, told Mashable.

Online, there's a habit of assiduously categorizing everything you watch and read into types and tropes. And this tendency is particularly pronounced in romance spaces. There's slow burns, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, and most recently, Azhar's favorite: the failmarriage. 

SEE ALSO: This is how those sexy 'Challengers' fan edits got made so quickly

"It's a marriage where the couple, whether they love each other or not, has problems and knows they're having those problems, but won't separate or divorce," Isabella Montoya, a 20-year-old student in Texas, told Mashable. Usually there's cheating, high stakes, and someone deploying puppy dog eyes. So far its use is limited to describing fictional relationships — and for many young people, the dynamic is a major draw for a movie or TV show.

Failmarriages on big and small screens

"It's really boring when you're watching something and the couple is together and love each other. No one wants to watch that," Noa Bourne, a 24-year-old student and writer in Maryland, told Mashable.

The term rose to prominence to describe Tom (Matthew Macfayden) and Shiv (Sarah Snook)'s relationship in Succession due to their marriage of convenience rife with resentment. But failmarriage aficionados retroactively apply it to couples ranging from The Sopranos' Tony (James Gandolfini) and Carmela (Edie Falco) to Mad Men's Don (Jon Hamm) and Betty (January Jones) to Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) and Kim (Rhea Seehorn) from Better Call Saul.

The latest fictional relationship given the moniker is Challengers' Tashi (Zendaya) and Art (Mike Faist). The tennis film moves through time, jolting from different moments in Tashi and Art's careers and relationship. It portrays when they first meet as teenagers and their time playing tennis at Stanford before Tashi sustains a career-ending injury. In the present day, Tashi is Art's coach and they're in the throes of a failmarriage.

Tashi and Art's relationship — and their individual relationships with a third tennis player, Patrick (Josh O'Connor) — is teased out as the film progresses. It's full of complexities, giving fans lots to sink their teeth into. But there's one scene that epitomizes what viewers love about their failmarriage. The night before Art's showdown with his former doubles partner and Tashi's ex-boyfriend, Patrick, he implores Tashi to tell him that she'll still love him even if he loses. She replies, "What am I, Jesus?" He says, "Yes." Later in the conversation, Tashi tells Art that she'll leave him if he loses. 

"When she says that if he doesn't win the match that she's going to leave them, that indicates to me that her marriage is only about tennis. And if there's no tennis, there's no marriage," explained Bourne. A marriage based on something external is a textbook failmarriage, but it's not just that drawing fans in. There's a romantic tragedy to it.

"Even though that marriage isn't supposed to work, there's still that gravitational pull," said Azhar, who requested to go by her first name only for privacy reasons. "He knows Tashi isn't in love with him or even warm towards him, yet he will still do anything for her because of this intangible connection he has to her that hasn't wavered in the 12 years they've known each other."

Psychology of the failmarriage

Failmarriage is one of many terms that's proliferated online in recent years. It's an example of compounding — when you put two words together to create a new word with an intuitive meaning — Nicole Holliday, an associate professor in the Department of Linguistics and Cognitive Science at Pomona College, told Mashable.

"It's a lot of words to say, 'Well, Tashi and Art are using each other and nobody's happy,' so we've created a shorthand for this thing that we see," said Holliday. 

It's similar to other compounds and portmanteaus that gain traction online like tradwife, thanks to creators chasing their viral moment. "With these words, especially when they're compounds that are very accessible concepts, somebody with a lot of reach generates it and other people will start using it, spreading it across the internet," said Holliday. "On TikTok people compete to coin new terms, because it will get them more engagement."

She attributes the term's popularity to its utility and that it taps into a preexisting dissatisfaction with the institution of marriage.

From 2006 to 2020, the proportion of high school seniors that expected to marry in the future fell from 81 to 71 percent, according to Bowling Green State University's National Center for Family and Marriage Research. While the divorce rate in the U.S. declined between 2008 to 2022 according to the same center, so did the marriage rate. A fixation on doomed marriages is on par with these changing attitudes.

Beyond the lack of love and insistence on staying together, there's another throughline in failmarriages: wealth. A prerequisite of a failmarriage is that there's an advantage to staying together. "Tashi and Art can give each other tennis and Shiv can give Tom Waystar Royco, but you don't see that in middle class marriages because what is there to stay married for?" said Bourne. Montoya agreed, "A failmarriage only works when there's a lot of money or power at stake." 

Despite failmarriages' lack of love, those attracted to this dynamic find it deeply romantic and stirring. "These people stay together because it's convenient for them, and isn't there something kind of romantic about that?" explained Bourne. "Art loves Tashi, but he knows that she loves tennis more and he stays with her."

Montoya wondered if finding failmarriages romantic is delusional and a symptom of seeing romance everywhere. "I've never been in a romantic relationship. But I'm a big hopeless romantic. I love romcoms. So if there's any dynamic with chemistry, I just like it."

House of the Dragon is bringing audiences back to the wild world of Game of Thrones as Season 2 readies for its premiere on HBO and Max. Season1 laid out the twisted family tree of the Targaryen clan, wherein a battle over succession to the Iron Throne was a recurring source of anguish and violence. But after much death, squalid war room debates, and dragon play, Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) ready for war, as teased in the trailer.

But what else might we expect from this fantasy epic's second season?

More ghoulish deaths seem a certainty. As House of the Dragon tackles the next section of George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, fans will expect more sex and violence. But our wishlist craves more from some characters, less from others, and overall, more chaos!

Here's everything we're hoping to see in Season 2 of House of the Dragon.

SEE ALSO: Everything we know about 'House of the Dragon' Season 2 Daemon needs to die.  Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen. Credit: Ollie Upton / HBO

Matt Smith is devilish fun as the Second Son from hell. In Season 1, he not only metaphorically fucked over his brother the king over and over, but he nonmetaphorically fucked his niece/wife Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy), resulting in several sons/cousins. And yeah, when it comes to catty reaction shots, Daemon delivers so hard you can practically hear the RuPaul's Drag Race shade rattle. But if Game of Thrones taught us anything, it's that troublemakers this trouble-making are doomed. We're ready for it. Blaze of glory — here he comes? — Kristy Puchko, Entertainment Editor

Vengeance for Luke!  Elliot Grihault as Prince Lucerys "Luke" Velaryon. Credit: Gary Moyes / HBO

Poor Lucerys Velaryon (Elliot Grihault). He was just a boy, trying to help his mother, Rhaenyra. But he was bested by his cousin/uncle Aemond (Ewan Mitchell), first in the race to gather allies, then in a sky battle that pitted their dragons against each other. Sure, Luke's Arrax was nimble, but Aemond's Vhagar is the biggest beast in the skies. One good chomp, and Luke went from could-be monarch to in-flight meal. 

Season 1 ended with Luke's mother learning of the wretched news. Season 2 is sure to kick off with a fiery response from Rhaenyra or her hot-headed hubby/uncle Daemon. And we can't wait. — K.P.

More dragons.  Bring 'em on! Credit: HBO

This note is evergreen: Always more dragons. Dragons flying, fighting, serving as the most stress-inducing taxi service in Westeros. Just more. Please and thank you. — K.P.

We want more chaos characters. 

When it comes to twisted Targaryens, royal intrigue, and deeply warped romances, House of the Dragons has been delivering as a solid prequel to Game of Thrones. But we would welcome more chaos characters.

Look, there's a good base with the ever-smirking Aemond, the mercurial Daemon, and whatever the Crabfeeder's deal was. But there's no one on the series who is giving us the ruthless wit mixed with the devil-may-care glee of early seasons' Tyrion Lannister. There's no dame as cutting as Lady Olenna "Tell Cersei it was me" Tyrell. And frankly, House of the Dragon would be better with a bit more cutting comedy in its castles. — K.P.

A cheeky "Negroni Sbagliato... with prosecco in it" cameo. Credit: Ollie Upton / HBO

Remember that dastardly anachronistic Starbucks coffee cup that accidentally made its way into Game of Thrones? If a glass of Emma D'Arcy's "Negroni Sbagliato... with prosecco in it" could just happen to appear in House of the Dragon — surely Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen or Queen Alicent Hightower could use one — we'd likely join whichever team's home base it appears in. — Shannon Connellan, UK Editor

A Rhaenyra and Alicent reconciliation. Credit: Ollie Upton / HBO

Before Rhaenyra and Alicent (Olivia Cooke) were mortal enemies, they were the best of friends — and wouldn't it be lovely to see them rekindle that friendship once more?

We got glimmers of hope in Season 1 just before the death of Viserys (Paddy Considine), but it was all downhill from there. Between Alicent's play to put Aegon on the throne and Luke's death, there's simply no hope of a friendly Rhaenicent reunion. That's not the kind of conflict you can just hug out.

Still, a girl can dream! — Belen Edwards, Entertainment Reporter

Less incest. Credit: Ollie Upton / HBO

Having a Targaryen-centric show without incest is like having The Winds of Winter come out this year — it's not going to happen. But this is our wish list, and I'm shooting for the moon here! And on that moon, I don't have to keep track of the most tangled family tree this side of the Hapsburgs. — B.E.

SEE ALSO: Who's who in 'House of the Dragon': The Targaryen family tree More of Aemond being dramatic.

Sporting that stylish eye patch, a rich curtain of blond hair, and a frankly inspiring number of "Strong"-themed jokes, Prince Aemond Targaryen was Season 1's drama king. We need far more of this in the second season. I want to see him smirking coldly, showing disdain for anything frivolous, and — most important of all — striking fear in the hearts of Rhaenyra's remaining children. A showdown with Daemon would also be nice. — Sam Haysom, Deputy UK Editor

More scheming from Larys Strong.

Is Larys Strong (Matthew Needham) a terrible person?

Well, given that he arranged the murder of both his brother and dad in Season 1, that seems undeniable. But irredeemable villains are the lifeblood of Westeros, and we absolutely need more of them. Remember how much we all loved to hate Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson) in Game of Thrones? Even though most of the characters in George R.R. Martin's world are gray, there need to be a few out-and-out monsters just so we have people to root against. — S.H.

More battles.

There were some truly epic battle sequences in Game of Thrones, but so far House of the Dragon has only really had that episode 3 skirmish between Daemon and the Crabfeeder. I'm not saying we need a massive, Battle of Winterfell-scale war, necessarily — these things need to be built up to — but it would be fun to watch another small clash or two this season, just to get that sweet, sword-wielding fix. — S.H.

House of the Dragon Season 1 is now streaming on Max; Season 2 premieres on HBO and Max June 16.

The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.

With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.

So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player's flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for May 15 SEE ALSO: 'Wordle' today: Here's the answer hints for May 15

Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Wednesday, May 15, 2024:

AcrossJazz concert highlight

• The answer is solo.

Something a hitchhiker sticks out

• The answer is thumb.

Really itching to get started

• The answer is eager.

Big concert venue

• The answer is arena.

Clutter

• The answer is mess.

DownWhat fogs up a bathroom mirror during a shower

• The answer is steam.

Chicago airport

• The answer is ohare.

Racing vehicles in the Winter Olympics

• The answer is luges.

Eerie signs of things to come

• The answer is omens.

Built-in feature of some tank tops

• The answer is bra.

The trailer for coming-of-age film 'Dìdi' follows a Taiwanese American tween navigating family, crushes, and the internet in 2008.

TL;DR: Through May 15, you can get 20TB of cloud storage for life with Prism Drive on sale for £71.46. That’s less than paying for nine months of Dropbox.

Opens in a new window Credit: Prism Drive Prism Drive Secure Cloud Storage: Lifetime Subscription (20TB) £71.46 at the Mashable Shop
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If you’ve ever had the gut-sinking feeling of losing your phone — or dropping it in the loo — and feared that you’d just lost all of your precious photos and videos forever, you already know the importance of backing up your devices. It’s better to be safe than sorry, and right now it’s more affordable than ever with Prism Drive’s 20TB lifetime cloud storage plan on sale for £71.46 (reg. £1,186.68) through May 15. That’s an exclusive price.

User-friendly storage at a wallet-friendly price

Prism Drive is a web-based app that takes any type of file from any of your devices. Easily transfer those sacred pet pics and selfies from your smartphone with easy mobile upload, back up school or work projects from your laptop with support for large files, and move anything else over with a simple drag-and-drop.

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Back up your files affordably with Prism Drive’s 20TB lifetime cloud storage plan at £71.46 (reg. £1,186.68) until May 15 at 11:59 p.m. PT. No coupon is needed for this best-on-web price.

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TL;DR: Watch Rajasthan Royals vs. Punjab Kings in the IPL for free on JioCinema. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

There isn't long left of the IPL, and it's going to be an interesting last few games. As it stands, the Rajasthan Royals are looking strong, but can they hold out and take home the cup? In the next fixture, the Rajasthan Royals will face the Punjab Kings in the 65th match of the season.

Want to tune in? You can watch Rajasthan Royals vs. Punjab Kings for free from anywhere in the world. Keep reading to find out how...

When is Rajasthan Royals vs. Punjab Kings?

Rajasthan Royals vs. Punjab Kings starts at 3 p.m. BST on May 15. This fixture will be played at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati, India.

How to watch Rajasthan Royals vs. Punjab Kings for free

To catch the latest IPL cricket match, head over to JioCinema where you can find live streams in 4K resolution on its app.

To avoid geo-restrictions, use a VPN to hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect to a secure server in India. This simple process provides access to JioCinema from anywhere in the world.

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

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

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

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

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

5. Watch Rajasthan Royals vs. Punjab Kings for free from anywhere in the world

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

What is the best VPN for JioCinema?

ExpressVPN is the best service for unblocking JioCinema, for a number of reasons:

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

Stream the IPL for free with ExpressVPN.

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

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for May 15'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:

Punishment for not wearing green.

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 P.

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

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

Drumroll please!

The solution to Wordle #1061 is...

PINCH.

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.