Debate over the true villain in is raging again after Universal Studios announced the movie's female lead will be featured at an upcoming Halloween event. By any metric, the horror film has been one of the most extraordinary Hollywood success stories of 2026. Made on a budget of around $750,000 and released in May, it went on to earn $488 million worldwide, catapulting 26-year-old director and screenwriter Curry Barker--originally known for his YouTube sketch comedy--to the top of the industry's "it" list. So why, you might ask, are people creating a stink over Universal Studios, the international distributor of, adding its lead female character, Nikki, to the cast of the Halloween Horror Nights event at its Hollywood theme park? Even though the actor who plays her seems very much on board?

They're Just Eager to Please AI agents that break free and hack into other systems are only trying to make us happy. Artificial intelligence agents merrily breaking free and hacking other systems might seem like a sign of the impending machine uprising . In reality, it happens when we push remarkably clever, but also kind of boneheaded, algorithms to follow our every command. I was first alerted to this looming agentic AI cybersecurity shit show in late 2025. Dawn Song, a UC Berkeley professor and one of the world's top experts on AI and cybersecurity, grabbed my arm as I was walking out of the academic conference NeurIPS.

A massive Ukrainian drone and missile strike on Russia's port of Novorossiysk has damaged two major grain export terminals and hit the last big Russian naval base on the Black Sea, reports say. Three people, including an eight-year-old child, were killed and another 24 injured in the overnight attack, local officials said. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had launched rockets, jet and naval drones in a unique operation to strike the Russian base, although he did not mention grain terminals being hit. Ukraine's military later said four Russian warships, including two frigates, were hit. Russia has not commented on the issue.

I wore the world's first HDR10 smart glasses TCL's new E Ink tablet beats the Remarkable and Kindle Anker's new charger is one of the most unique I've ever seen I wore the world's first HDR10 smart glasses TCL's new E Ink tablet beats the Remarkable and Kindle Anker's new charger is one of the most unique I've ever seen Don't throw it away - Sparky Linux has decided not to give up on the aging architecture. Every PC sold today is 64-bit. In fact, one of the last true 32-bit-only CPUs was the Pentium 4 Northwood chip, which was available for purchase between 2000 and 2008. I can't remember the last time I actually saw a 32-bit-only machine. Couple that with Microsoft ending support for Office 365 on 32-bit architecture this December, and it's pretty simple to conclude that 32-bit PCs are done.

Vladimir Putin threatened to seize European merchant ships in retaliation aboard missile cruiser Varyag during massive Pacific Fleet war games involving 13,000 personnel and 60 vessels.

Versus Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Say More Creator Hub Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Mashable Selects Switch Off Trending Now Safety Net In My Bag VidCon with Mashable All Series There's still time to make your 2026 content creation dream a reality. Lauren Allain is a freelance journalist covering deals at Mashable. She graduated from Western Washington University with a B.A. in journalism and holds an M.B.A from Webster Leiden. You can find more of her work online from publications including Reader's Digest, U.S. News & World Report, Seattle Refined, and more. When she's not writing, Lauren prefers to be outside hiking, bouldering, swimming, or searching for the perfect location for all three.

I wore the world's first HDR10 smart glasses TCL's new E Ink tablet beats the Remarkable and Kindle Anker's new charger is one of the most unique I've ever seen I wore the world's first HDR10 smart glasses TCL's new E Ink tablet beats the Remarkable and Kindle Anker's new charger is one of the most unique I've ever seen Hackers who steal compromising images of you from social media and personal accounts are selling them on the dark web. Here's how to protect yourself. Hackers are stealing and selling explicit photos from social media accounts. The hackers use social engineering and other tactics to gain access. Avoid posting any such images and watch out for potential hacking attempts.

An AI developer's agentic program, tasked with moving a person up a class waitlist, responded by hacking the institution's system to accomplish its goal. An AI developer's agentic program, tasked with moving a person up a class waitlist, responded by hacking the institution's system to accomplish its goal. AI agents aren't legally responsible for any harm that they cause, experts say. Following Australia's first reported automated hacking accident, experts warn deployers - and possibly developers - of AI agents could be held liable for the actions of their bots Wed 12 Aug 2026 11.00 EDTLast modified on Wed 12 Aug 2026 11.01 EDT The law is clear, says Prof Jeannie Paterson. "If I deploy an AI agent and it causes harm to someone else, I am responsible for that harm. "Even if I didn't intend for that to happen, it was foreseeable, and I should be taking responsibility." However, the director of the University of Melbourne's Centre for AI and Digital Ethics acknowledges there is also a ...

I wore the world's first HDR10 smart glasses TCL's new E Ink tablet beats the Remarkable and Kindle Anker's new charger is one of the most unique I've ever seen I wore the world's first HDR10 smart glasses TCL's new E Ink tablet beats the Remarkable and Kindle Anker's new charger is one of the most unique I've ever seen The exploited zero-day flaw could allow an attacker to gain system privileges on a Windows PC. One vulnerability has already been exploited in the wild. Microsoft continues its onslaught against security vulnerabilities, fixing a whopping 421 bugs in August's Patch Tuesday update. But looking beyond the sheer number, Windows users should install this month's update, as it patches a zero-day flaw that's already been exploited by attackers. Aimed at Windows 11 25H2/24H2, Windows 11 23H2, and Windows 10, the 421 vulnerabilities encompass a range of Microsoft products, including Office, Exchange, Azure, and SharePoint.

I wore the world's first HDR10 smart glasses TCL's new E Ink tablet beats the Remarkable and Kindle Anker's new charger is one of the most unique I've ever seen I wore the world's first HDR10 smart glasses TCL's new E Ink tablet beats the Remarkable and Kindle Anker's new charger is one of the most unique I've ever seen Pixel Watch 5's strength training feature could replace my top lifting app - no phone needed Strength training is all the buzz. Google built a special exercise experience into the Pixel Watch 5 to make it easier to get started. Google unveiled a new strength training experience on the Pixel Watch 5. It's one of the first I've seen built into a mainstream smartwatch. It could replace other strength-training apps. I've been strength training for over a year, and while I can confidently navigate the exercise equipment and heavy weights at my gym now, that wasn't always the case.