There are many tech irritants that are a scourge of modern life, yet we have lacked the vocabulary to describe them ... until now T he "dickover" is the scourge of the modern age. Coined in May by John Gruber, a tech writer, it is defined as "a modal panel, popover, or curtain presented by a website or app, deliberately obscuring its own content to frustrate the user". Essentially, it is the thing (or more often, things) you have to click away in order to read the thing you wanted to read. It is the "accept cookies" box, the "allow notifications?" box, the "sign in with Google" box, the pop-up video box, etc. We shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking that dickovers are the only terrible thing about technology in 2026.

Z.ai's latest AI model release could help companies secure their systems--or find its way into the hands of hackers. Last Friday, the Chinese AI company Z.ai announced a powerful open-weight model that it says is capable of automating cutting-edge coding and cybersecurity tasks almost as well as the best publicly available models from Anthropic and OpenAI . The new model, GLM 5.3, could be a gift for companies looking to secure their systems against attacks, providing a cheaper way to scan for hidden bugs and other weaknesses. Open-weight--or free-to-download--models can be run on one's own hardware and are often significantly less costly than closed models like Claude and GPT. Alongside the new model, Z.ai released OpenVuln, a service for scanning code repositories for vulnerabilities using GLM 5.3.

"You're a fake reporter," Donald Trump told a CNN reporter who asked whether North Korea's president had requested the US president scale back military drills with South Korea. Chinese company unveils new'Superman' humanoid robot Can Trump limit birthright citizenship?

Chinese company unveils new'Superman' humanoid robot Chinese company unveils new'Superman' humanoid robot Chinese start-up Unitree has unveiled its new humanoid robot called'Superman', which it says can jump up to 2 metres and run 100m faster than any human has. Can Trump limit birthright citizenship? Trump says talking to North Korea's Kim makes the south safer

Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Say More Safety Net Creator Hub Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Mashable Selects Switch Off Trending Now In My Bag VidCon with Mashable All Series Joseph Green is the Global Shopping Editor for Mashable. He covers VPNs, headphones, fitness gear, dating sites, streaming, and shopping events like Black Friday and Prime Day. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.

Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Say More Safety Net Creator Hub Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Mashable Selects Switch Off Trending Now In My Bag VidCon with Mashable All Series Can you see any lunar features tonight? Lois Mackenzie is a freelance reporter at Mashable. Over the years she has written for many publications, covering everything from the local news to the best pair of running shoes. You can find bylines in publications including Fit&Well, Metro, and Coach magazine, usually covering deals on everything from earbuds to TVs, or guides on how to beat your half marathon time. After nights of almost complete darkness, the Moon is well and truly back in the sky.

A women uses the new IBM 650 Magnetic Drum Data Processing Machine in a New York office in 1954. A women uses the new IBM 650 Magnetic Drum Data Processing Machine in a New York office in 1954. Many hoped that the march of technology would usher in an egalitarian utopia - but some foresaw the threat it would pose to liberal society. One of the stranger things about this dizzying, headlong moment in time is that it doesn't have much of a past. Everything is about the future of this, the future of that: the future of work, the future of humanity, the future of the planet. It's as if everyone is screaming (some ecstatically, most terror-stricken): robots are taking over the world! Meanwhile, you can't put down your phone, unplug, delete your AI apps, tell Zoom to piss off; it feels as if you are racing toward something, and can't stop, or look back, or think straight. But of course this weird moment in history does have a past. Things could have turned out differently.

Donald Trump Jr. (left) and Eric Trump gesture outside the Nasdaq building after ringing the opening bell to celebrate the closing of ALT5's $1.5 billion offering and adoption of its $WLFI Treasury Strategy at the Nasdaq Market, in New York on Aug. 13, 2025. BOSTON - U.S. President Donald Trump-backed World Liberty Financial is collaborating with a Hong Kong-based venture offering artificial intelligence models developed by Chinese companies the U.S. administration has flagged for national security concerns. WorldClaw, founded earlier this year, offers customers access to a suite of AI models and accepts World Liberty's crypto tokens as payment. The Trump family, through its ownership stake, earns revenue from the use of World Liberty's tokens. A review found that 43 of the 90 models available through WorldClaw's website -- nearly half -- were developed by Alibaba, Baidu, Z.ai and other Chinese technology companies the Trump administration says pose risks to national security and intellectual property. WorldClaw also offers access to dozens of models from U.S. firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Say More Safety Net Creator Hub Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Mashable Selects Switch Off Trending Now In My Bag VidCon with Mashable All Series I used to hate 2-in-1 robot vacuums, but Dreame's self-cleaning station changed my mind. Tabitha Britt is an award-winning freelance journalist, editor, and SEO/AEO strategist. Aside from reviewing dating apps and sex toys for Mashable, Tabitha is also the founding editor-in-chief of DO YOU ENDO -- a digital magazine by individuals with endometriosis, for individuals with endometriosis. She has a Master's degree in Creative Publishing and Critical Journalism from The New School for Social Research and is a grad of Sextech School. You can find more of her work in various online publications, including,, and .

Pentagon orders 30 U.S. universities to audit foreign ties to China, Russia, and Iran or risk losing federal funding over national security concerns.