The Roomba J7+ just hit a new all-time low price, plus more of the best deals of the day
2023-03-19 06:20:40author：dointy.com
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The Roomba J7+ just hit a new all-time low price, plus more of the best deals of the day
We've rounded up the best deals of the day from everyone's favorite big box retailers on Nov. 11 — here are our top picks:
BEST HOME DEAL: iRobot Roomba J7+ Robot Vacuum(Opens in a new tab) — $595$799.99 (save $204.99)
BEST TECH DEAL: LG 48-inch A2 Series OLED 4K Smart webOS TV(Opens in a new tab) — $569.99$1,299.99 (save $730)
The biggest shopping season of the year is upon us, with retailers casually dropping Black Friday discounts daily. Take today, Nov. 11, for example. Best Buy just launched another three-day sale within its ongoing Black Friday sale. Sales on sales on sales.
Walmart is gearing up for its second Deals for Days(Opens in a new tab) drop on Monday the 14, and many deals from its first drop are still lingering. And, of course, Amazon is steadily keeping up with any competition thrown its way.
Consider this your sign to start your holiday shopping. Here are the best deals you can shop on Nov. 11, including all the early Black Friday discounts from your favorite big box retailers.
Best home deal
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Credit: iRobot
iRobot Roomba J7+
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$579.99 at Amazon (save $220)
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Why we like it
New all-time low price unlocked: The iRobot Roomba J7+, aka our favorite obstacle-avoiding robot vacuum, just dropped to $579.99 at Amazon. That's about 20 bucks less than its previous low and $220 off its usual price. We've sang our praises for the J7+ many times before, but it bears repeating. This robovac uses Genius Technology and PrecisionVision Navigation to avoid small obstacles in its way — like charging cables and pet waste — so you don't need to waste time pre-cleaning before it does its job. It also gets smarter as it cleans and suggests tweaks to its cleaning schedule based on which rooms are the dirtiest.
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The best Black Friday kitchen deals include air fryers, a bunch of Le Creuset, and Ninja Foodis galore
Black Friday's best TV deals include a 75-inch Samsung model for just $560
The best Roombas and Roborock robot vacs are over $200 off for Black Friday
More home deals
Cuisinart 12 -Piece Multi-Color Knife Set(Opens in a new tab) — $14.99$49.99 (save $35)
Keurig K-Express Essentials Single Serve Coffee Maker(Opens in a new tab) — $35$79.99 (save $44.99)
Gourmia Digital Air Fryer with Guided Cooking (6-Quart)(Opens in a new tab) — $38$99.99 (save $61.99)
Insignia Digital Air Fryer (5-Quart)(Opens in a new tab) — $49.99$119.99 (save $70)
Instant Pot Duo (6-Quart)(Opens in a new tab) — $50$99.99 (save $49.99)
Hoover MAXLife PowerDrive Swivel XL Bagless Upright Vacuum(Opens in a new tab) — $59$119 (save 60)
Shark Wand Vac Cord-Free Handheld Multi Surface Vacuum(Opens in a new tab) — $64$99 (save $35)
Shark Navigator Lift-Away Upright Vacuum(Opens in a new tab) — $98$199 (save $101)
Costway Tilt-Head Stand Mixer (7.5-Quart)(Opens in a new tab) — $99.99$178 (save $78.01)
Shark Pet Cordless Stick Vacuum(Opens in a new tab) — $144$259 (save $115)
iRobot Roomba 676 Robot Vacuum(Opens in a new tab) — $177$269 (save $92)
Shark EZ Robot Vacuum with Self-Empty Base(Opens in a new tab) — $258$449 (save $191)
Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Toaster Oven(Opens in a new tab) — $279.95$349.95 (save $70)
iRobot Roomba i1+ (1552) Wi-Fi Connected Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum(Opens in a new tab) — $288$529.99 (save $241.99)
Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro(Opens in a new tab) — $319.95$499.95 (save $180)
Dyson Ball Animal 3 Extra Upright Vacuum(Opens in a new tab) — $399.99$499.99 (save $100)
Best tech deal
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Credit: LG
LG 48-inch A2 Series OLED 4K Smart webOS TV
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$569.99 at Best Buy (save $730)
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Why we like it
LG TVs are some of our favorites, and the A2 Series is no exception. It offers a better HDR experience than its predecessor and uses a newer version of the LG webOS platform for additional features. Unfortunately, it lacks more advanced gaming features like the HDMI 2.1 ports and 120Hz refresh rates, but it still serves as a decent pick for beginner gamers and viewers of any other content. This Best Buy deal also includes three free months of Apple TV+ — something you can usually only unlock with an Apple purchase — all for 56% off its usual price at $569.99.
More tech deals
HP 11.6-inch Chromebook (AMD A4, 4GB RAM, 32GB eMMC)(Opens in a new tab) — $79$98 (save $19)
Lenovo Tab M8 (3rd Gen) 8-inch Tablet (MediaTek Helio P22T, 3GB RAM, 32GB eMCP)(Opens in a new tab) — $79 $119 (save $40)
Fitbit Versa 2 Smartwatch(Opens in a new tab) — $99$149.95 (save $50.95)
Fitbit Versa 4 Smartwatch(Opens in a new tab) — $149.95$229.95 (save $80)
Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 10.5-inch Tablet (WiFi, 32GB)(Opens in a new tab) — $159$229 (save $70)
LG 27-inch UltraGear FHD 165Hz Gaming Monitor(Opens in a new tab) — $179$229 (save $50)
LG 32-inch UltraGear QHD (2560x1440)165Hz HDR 10 Monitor with FreeSync(Opens in a new tab) — $200$399 (save $199)
HP OMEN 27-inch IPS LED QHD FreeSync and G-Sync Compatible Gaming Monitor(Opens in a new tab) — $249.99$399.99 (save $150)
Amazon Fire TV 75-inch Omni Series 4K UHD Smart TV(Opens in a new tab) — $599.99$1,099.99 (save $500)
2022 Apple 11-inch iPad Pro WiFi (M2, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD)(Opens in a new tab) — $749$799 (save $50)
Microsoft Surface Pro 8 2-in-1 (Intel Evo Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD)(Opens in a new tab) — $899.99$1,349.99 (save $450)
Acer Predator Helios 300 15.6-inch FHD 165Hz Gaming Laptop (Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD)(Opens in a new tab) — $999.99$1,499.99 (save $500)
2021 Apple 12.9-inch iPad Pro WiFi + Cellular (M1, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD)(Opens in a new tab) — $1,099$1,299 (save $200)
Audio deals
Echo Auto (1st Gen)(Opens in a new tab) — $14.99$49.99 (save $35)
Google Nest Mini (2nd Generation)(Opens in a new tab) — $18$49 (save $31)
JBL Flip 4 Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker(Opens in a new tab) — $59$99 (save $40)
Echo Buds (2nd Gen) With Wired Charging Case(Opens in a new tab) — $69.99$119.99 (save $50)
JBL Flip 6 Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker(Opens in a new tab) — $89.95$129.95 (save $40)
Echo Buds (2nd Gen) With Wireless Charging Case(Opens in a new tab) — $89.99$139.99 (save $50)
Samsung 170W 2.1ch Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer(Opens in a new tab) — $99$149 (save $50)
Streaming devices and subscription deals
One month of Paramount+(Opens in a new tab) — free with code BRAVO$4.99 (save $4.99)
One year of Grubhub+(Opens in a new tab) — free for Prime members$119.88 (save $119.88)
First month of Xbox Game Pass(Opens in a new tab) — $1$14.99 (save $13.99)
Four months of Audible Premium Plus(Opens in a new tab) — $5.95/month$14.95/month (save $36)
Paramount+ Essential(Opens in a new tab) — free with Walmart+ membership ($12.95/month or $98/year)
Fire TV Stick Lite(Opens in a new tab) — $14.99$29.99 (save $15)
Chromecast with Google TV (HD) Streaming Device(Opens in a new tab) — $18$29.99 (save $11.99)
Fire TV Stick (3rd Gen)(Opens in a new tab)— $19.99$39.99 (save $20)
Roku Streaming Stick 4K Streaming Device(Opens in a new tab) — $24.98$49 (save $24.02)
One year of Paramount+ with Free Fire TV Stick Lite(Opens in a new tab) — starting at $24.99 (save 50%)
Apple TV HD 32GB (2nd Generation)(Opens in a new tab) — $77 $149.99 (save $72.99)
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TV cops call for other TV cops to step up and donate
You have to either be foolish or actively part of the problem if you fail to recognize at this point that there's a policing problem in the United States.
You know who isn't a fool? Griffin Newman, star of The Tick and co-host of the Blank Check podcast(Opens in a new tab). He also played a cop on TV in a couple episodes of Blue Bloods, and came to the unfortunate revelation that since we can't necessarily rely on IRL cops to do the right thing during this fraught moment, maybe the fictional police can step up to help instead.
So he made a tweet. And he accompanied that tweet with proof of a tangible action taken, a donation to the Community Justice Exchange through ActBlue(Opens in a new tab).
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Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Stephanie Beatriz saw the tweet and passed it along. The actor who plays no-nonsense cop Rosa Diaz on the NBC sitcom followed Newman's lead and did the same thing: an $11,000 donation to the Emergency Release Fund(Opens in a new tab) and another tweet calling on TV cops to step up.
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As of 11:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday morning, Newman and Beatriz were the only two actors who have publicly made the pledge using the template laid out(Opens in a new tab) in the original tweet.
Around 9:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Beatriz' co-star Melissa Fumero tweeted in support of the protests, adding that the cast of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and showrunner Dan Goor had made a $100,000 donation to the National Bail Fund Network and encouraged others to do the same.
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And hey, you don't need to be a current or former TV cop to donate. There are real people out in the world right now who need help that extend beyond concern-tweeting and other forms of performative allyship(Opens in a new tab) on social media. If you're financially able, write the check. Want some ideas? Start here.
UPDATE: June 3, 2020, 11:45 a.m. AEST This story has been updated to include the Brooklyn Nine-Nine cast's donation.
Snapchat stops promoting Donald Trumps account in Discover
UPDATE: June 3, 2020, 2:37 p.m. EDT
President Trump's team has apparently not taken kindly to Snapchat's actions. According to the New York Times(Opens in a new tab), Trump's 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale, said(Opens in a new tab) "Snapchat is trying to rig the 2020 election." OK, Brad.
The social media dominoes are falling for President Donald Trump.
As protests over the killing of George Floyd and police brutality continue across the country, Trump is doing things likes having protesters teargassed for a photo op and raging against Twitter. Now tech companies are taking action.
Snapchat says that it won't promote the president's account in the Discover section anymore. Axios(Opens in a new tab) first reported the decision, and Snap confirmed the news to Mashable via email. Snapchat made the decision over the weekend.
“We are not currently promoting the President’s content on Snapchat’s Discover platform," a Snap spokesperson said. "We will not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice by giving them free promotion on Discover. Racial violence and injustice have no place in our society and we stand together with all who seek peace, love, equality, and justice in America.”
The decision comes after controversy around Trump's tweets that many view as inciting violence against protesters. Twitter affixed labels to two of Trump's recent tweets: one that spread false news about voting by mail, and another that glorified violence, which Twitter blurred out. Meanwhile at Facebook, despite internal protests from employees, Mark Zuckerberg has stuck by the company's decision to allow the content on its platform.
Snapchat's stand is a bit different. Trump's account will remain on Snap, searchable and available to subscribers, and there's no specific content that it is fact checking, removing, or censoring. The change comes in its Discover tab, a section in the app that Snap employees curate. The company's thinking is that people can say what they want on Snapchat as long as it doesn't violate community guidelines. But users are not entitled to the "free promotion" of Discover, which has always been curated. Snap does not want Discover to be a place that amplifies messages of hate.
SEE ALSO:
How tech leaders can do more for racial justice than just tweet
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel alluded to the decision in a memo(Opens in a new tab) sent to employees, which was made public by the company.
As for Snapchat, we simply cannot promote accounts in America that are linked to people who incite racial violence, whether they do so on or off our platform. Our Discover content platform is a curated platform, where we decide what we promote. We have spoken time and again about working hard to make a positive impact, and we will walk the talk with the content we promote on Snapchat. We may continue to allow divisive people to maintain an account on Snapchat, as long as the content that is published on Snapchat is consistent with our community guidelines, but we will not promote that account or content in any way.... we will make it clear with our actions that there is no grey area when it comes to racism, violence, and injustice – and we will not promote it, nor those who support it, on our platform.
Trump lashed out at Twitter's actions by signing an executive order meant to make it easier to sue social media companies for the content posted by their users.
There's no word from the president yet on Snap's actions. But if the situation plays out like the Alex Jones bans, more social media companies could be taking away Trump's megaphones for hate.
Mayor of D.C. has city workers painting Black Lives Matter on street to White House
Washington, D.C. has taken some very visible action to support the Black Lives Matter protests around the country.
On Friday morning, a group of people were seen painting the words "Black Lives Matter" in large yellow letters down two blocks of 16th Street, a two-lane road which leads to the White House.
The painters were commissioned by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser(Opens in a new tab), per CNN, and when New York Times writer Emily Badger happened upon the city workers on Friday morning, they casually said they were "just paintin' the streets."
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Badger noted that the 16 eye-catching letters, which span the full width of the street, will "be a real middle finger to any federal forces flying overhead."
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If you're curious as to what the statement looks like from above, check out this video that Mayor Bowser shared on Twitter alongside the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. The video was taken from a roof and music can be heard playing in the background.
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Badger also added that the yellow paint is not temporary by any means — it appears to be the same paint city officials use to stripe road lanes.
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"Black Lives Matter" paint on 16th street near the White House.Credit: DANIEL SLIM / AFP via Getty Images
The lettering comes as protests continue to spread throughout the city and hundreds of people gather each day outside the White House gates to condemn racism, police brutality, and the death of George Floyd — a black man who died on May 25, after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly 9 minutes.
After protests outside the White House escalated last Friday night, the Secret Service reportedly ushered Trump — along with Melania and their son Barron — to the underground presidential bunker, where they were said to have remained for nearly an hour(Opens in a new tab).
On Friday morning, Mayor Bowser shared additional tweets that related to the Black Lives Matter paint. The first was a letter she wrote requesting that President Trump "withdraw all extraordinary federal law enforcement and military presence" from the city.
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And the second was a video that showed a "Black Lives Matter" street sign being added to a lamp post in the city. "The section of 16th street in front of the White House is now officially 'Black Lives Matter Plaza,'" Bowser wrote in her tweet.
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Mashable has reached out to the D.C. Mayor's office for comment and will update this article if we receive a reply.
UPDATE: June 5, 2020, 10:55 a.m. EDT Updated to include a tweet from D.C. mayor, Muriel Bowser.
UPDATE: June 5, 2020, 12:13 p.m. EDT Updated to include two additional tweets from Mayor Bowser.
Related Video: How to donate to support the Black Lives Matter movement
In TikTok protest, witches cast spells to hex cops
Under the light of this week's full moon, a group of witches of TikTok — or WitchTok, if you will — are casting protection spells for protestors and hexes for cops.
With the U.S. a week into protests against police brutality after the killing of George Floyd, a surprising array of subcultures have stepped up to help. K-pop stans flooded police reporting platforms with fancams so informants couldn't snitch on protestors. Even Mennonites showed up(Opens in a new tab) to protest in Minneapolis. And now covens are redirecting their power to protestors.
Organizing under the #witchesforblm hashtag, practicing witches are teaching each other how to cast simple spells, draw sigils, and manifest intentions.
The movement seems to have started with a comment from TikTok user beckydoeslife. This was in response to a TikTok by venxm.exe, in which the practicing witch filmed herself casting a protection spell for protestors rallying against police brutality.
In just five days, the tag #witchesforblm garnered a collective 10 million views on the app.
The tag started when a TikTok user suggested using #witchesforblm to organize.Credit: tiktok / venxm.exe
The tag started when a TikTok user suggested using #witchesforblm to organize.Credit: tiktok / venxm.exe
WitchTok users aim to protect protestors and hex law enforcement, who have been escalating violence against peaceful protestors nationwide all week.
In some videos, like this one from rue.the.day, users act out what they predict will happen to cops after WitchTok casts its spells.
TikTok users are acting out what'll happen to cops after they cast their spells.Credit: tiktok / rue.the.day
In a video for beginners, jes.tkidding suggests a simple hex: write down the names of police officers and use a black candle to burn that paper, and then let the candle burn all the way through. In a video for more experienced practitioners, sorciereverte demonstrates how to write protection sigils that spell out "PROTESTORS ARE PROTECTED FROM POLICE BRUTALITY" and "BLACK LIVES MATTER TODAY AND ALWAYS."
A TikTok user demonstrates simple spells beginner witches can cast.Credit: tiktok / jes.tkidding
A TikTok user demonstrates writing a sigil that says, "PROTESTORS ARE PROTECTED AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY."Credit: tiktok / sorciereverte
Of course, casting spells probably isn't enough to really make change to a historically racist and unjust system. So in addition to recommending meditating, burning candles, and making "moon water," TikTok user earthytiana suggests(Opens in a new tab) using the power of the full moon to sign petitions, donate to the Black Lives Matter movement, and attend protests.
Enjoy watching as Brits tear down a slavers statue and dump it in the river
If you happen to be looking for the Edward Colston statue in Bristol, England, try finding it at its new location: in the harbor, at the bottom of the river.
If you’re not sure exactly where, you can try checking Google Maps. It’s been updated with the statue’s new underwater location. (It may be changed back when you go to look, though; keep reading.)
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An estimated 10,000 people showed up in Bristol, England on Sunday for a Black Lives Matter protest in solidarity with the hundreds of cities across the United States which have been protesting the police killing of George Floyd.
During the protest, some attendees tied a rope around the memorial of Edward Colston in Bristol, where the bronze statue has stood since 1895. Colston was a 17th century English slave trader and former member of Parliament. He was responsible for transporting more than 100,000 slaves from West Africa.
Some were quick to point out how Colston was a well-known philanthropist, supporting schools, hospitals and various other charities. A number of city landmarks and establishments bear his name. However, what needs to be mentioned along with these charitable efforts is how he funded all this with money he made from the slave trade.
The demonstrators proceeded to topple the statue. One protester kneeled down on its neck after it fell, in a nod to Floyd, who was killed when former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for almost nine minutes while three other officers both looked on and, in two cases, helped.
Protesters then dragged the statue to the harbor and pushed it over a guardrail, where it fell into the Avon River, eliciting cheers from the crowd.
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Shortly after, as word spread, many users on social media platforms like Twitter had noticed that a Google Maps search was now showing the statue’s new location: at the bottom of the river. The statue was later updated with additional info, obviously crowdsourced by users, like how the memorial was “permanently closed.”
I checked Google Maps to confirm. However, at the time that I looked, the updated location of the statue had reverted back to its original spot... where the statue is no longer located.
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Local law enforcement have condemned the toppling of the statue. An investigation has been opened to find out who was responsible for taking it down.
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The Colston statue has been a point of contention in the Bristol community since well before the current police brutality protests. In 2018, the Lord Mayor of Bristol removed(Opens in a new tab) a portrait of the slave trader that hung in city hall. A petition to remove(Opens in a new tab) the statue already existed, garnering 11,000 signatures.
Protests in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd continue to spread across the United States and around the world.
14 Harry Potter things to love that have nothing to do with J.K. Rowling
On Saturday, J.K. Rowling posted her latest string of transphobic tweets, in which she suggested that only women can menstruate and that gender inclusivity erases the female experience. As an ardent Harry Potter fan myself, with a network of friends in the community, I saw my Twitter timeline fill up with exactly one sentiment in response to these tweets:
Fuck that.
This isn't the first time Rowling has been transphobic; previous likes and tweets have followed the line of thought demonstrated on Saturday. I personally expressed my disappointment in her December 2019 tweets, but wrote them off. I assumed she was oblivious and disconnected from the right resources due to shoddy PR, her own ignorance, and that bubble away from reality that most of the ultra-rich and famous seem to occupy.
But again, fuck that.
Saturday's tweets are further evidence of Rowling's ignorance, but there can be no doubt now that it is willful. Even Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, couldn't remain silent and issued a statement in solidarity with the queer and trans community(Opens in a new tab).
For a generation that grew up on the Harry Potter values of standing up to power and bigotry, the irony is not lost and the heartbreak is real. It's been a long time coming for some but totally new for others who might not be able to stop loving Potter as easily as they turned on its creator.
Harry Potter has been around long enough that its influence spreads far beyond a certain writer. Songs have been written, merch designed, organizations launched, and discussions furthered far beyonds the limits of what Rowling could ever have imagined. Those of us who read Harry Potter as children are writers, artists, and activists now, equipped to enjoy the wizarding world without her.
So now that you've accepted the Death of the Author(Opens in a new tab), here are 14 places to direct your Harry Potter love that have nothing to do with You-Know-Who.
Note: The author (I mean myself now) knows individuals involved with several items on this list.
1. The Harry Potter Alliance(Opens in a new tab)
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Launched in 2005, the HPA is a social justice organization that works toward gender equity, LGTBQIA+ equality, racial justice, climate change activism, education, and more. It has partnered with groups like the American Library Association, ACLU, and Hank and John Green's DFTBA. In 2010, the HPA raised enough money through fan campaigns to send five airplanes of medical supplies to earthquake relief efforts in Haiti(Opens in a new tab). They have a handy guide on how to advocate for trans people right here(Opens in a new tab).
2. Black Girls Create(Opens in a new tab)
This multifandom resource for black creators encourages fans to recognize that you can love something while still being highly critical of it. They raised $16,000 in a week for organizations helping Black Lives Matter through a Hogwarts house-themed points competition. Through podcasts(Opens in a new tab) like #WizardTeam(Opens in a new tab) and the Doctor Who-themed TARBIS(Opens in a new tab) (Who Watch: Time and Relative Blackness in Space), the BGC community promotes intersectional representation, especially for black women.
3. Hermione Granger and the Quarter Life Crisis(Opens in a new tab)
This breezy web series what would have happened if 25-year-old Hermione Granger didn't marry Ron and become a cop, but questioned it all and hightailed to California to hang out with former classmate Parvati Patil. Created by Eliyannah Amirah Yisrael and starring Ashley Romans, the series imagines how wizardry looks for millennial adults and how the magical and muggle worlds collide. It's even brave enough to suggest Hermione go to therapy, something that would certainly have helped all the adults in Cursed Child. And speaking of that nonsense...
4. StarKid(Opens in a new tab)
Filmed in a 100-seat basement theater at the University of Michigan, A Very Potter Musical became an early viral sensation in 2009. It expertly pokes fun at its source material and expands upon the canon, as with Harry's obvious desire to be the center of attention or Draco's inability to stand still. The cast and characters are more diverse in race and sexuality than any Harry Potter content ever distributed by Warner Bros. or Universal, a statistic that will probably hold up for a very long time.
AVPM spawned a sequel ("There is literally no way forward from this point") and a threequel, but its creators have created over a dozen non-Potter productions since then, including Holy Musical, [email protected]!, Ani: A Parody, and originals like Firebringer and Black Friday.
5. The Gayly Prophet(Opens in a new tab)
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Two Harry Potter fans (Jessie Blount and Lark Malakai Grey) host this weekly podcast that examines the books through a queer feminist lens. They were quick to note after Rowling's comments that this person was being openly transphobic during an uprising in a pandemic and that there is truly no weirder or worse flex.
6. Sorted(Opens in a new tab)
Credit: simon & schuster
Jackson Bird(Opens in a new tab)'s 2019 memoir about coming out as trans is inextricably linked to his experiences in the Harry Potter fandom. Bird's writing is thorough and informative yet never overwhelming. He takes you on his journey through childhood and adolescence, weaving in the boy wizard's influence and the community that ultimately helped him accept who he was and offered support when he declared it. The title refers to the Sorting Hat, but especially to Dumbledore's musing in Deathly Hallows that "I sometimes think we sort too soon." Once again, the fans understand Rowling's message more than it seems she ever could.
7. Man Up Apparel(Opens in a new tab)
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This clothing brand started as a part-time source of cheer apparel and now provides some of the swaggiest HP clothing Warner Bros. could only dream of. The house face hoodies give mascots as much a chance to shine as colors, and the varsity jackets will be the envy of every former high school athlete you meet. Best of all for this Ravenclaw: The Ravenclaw colors of blue and bronze and the house eagle are resplendent, putting that hideous blue-gray raven gear from the movies to shame.
8. Mark Reads Harry Potter(Opens in a new tab)
Writer Mark Oshiro(Opens in a new tab) has made a career of watching and reading things(Opens in a new tab) (and is now an author(Opens in a new tab) too) because their voice is so utterly entertaining. They started Harry Potter for the first time in 2010(Opens in a new tab) with little to no prior exposure (the podcast Potterless(Opens in a new tab) started a similar journey in recent years) and there is nothing quite like experiencing the joy of a grown adult becoming obsessed with Rubeus Hagrid for the first time.
9. Carry On(Opens in a new tab)
Credit: St. Martin's Griffin
Rainbow Rowell's YA fantasy novel is a spinoff of her own Fangirl, but the characters are undeniably influenced by Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy as they occupy a slightly different magical realm. Simon Snow is his world's Chosen One, guided by "the Mage" and anointed by a prophecy — and as if that's not enough, he finds it harder and harder each day to deny the attraction he feels to his so-called enemy Basilton (a.k.a. Baz). Carry On and sequel Wayward Son (yup) are the Drarry fic you crave on ink and paper, and a beautiful example of how joyous and easy it is to write a queer magical story.
10. Puffs(Opens in a new tab)
The now-closed off-Broadway play about "a certain school of magic and magic" tells the story we all know through the eyes of Hufflepuff students — sometimes confused, often endangered, and always nice even in the face of certain danger brought upon them by the Boy Who Lived. It may not be running anymore, but the show lives on digitally(Opens in a new tab).
11. Vegard(Opens in a new tab)
This European YouTuber happily declares "Harry Potter (minus JKR)" in their Twitter bio(Opens in a new tab), and has a wonderful time exploring the books, movies, spells, and more in video form regardless. Vegard proves there is no end to answers to the question of how one can manifest one's Harry Potter love, whether it's explaining the story drunk, editing oneself into scenes, talking about it to Siri, and so much more.
12. Wizard rock
The musical genre launched in the early 2000s now boasts hundreds of musicians and bands who sing about the series, including to challenge its heteronormativity or ridiculousness wherever they can. The wizard rock community has long been a haven for queer fans, and the growing roster of artists(Opens in a new tab) means more diverse talent joining its ranks every day.
13. The Wizard Tailor(Opens in a new tab)
@thewizardtailor(Opens in a new tab)
Get in the car, looser, we’re going to Beauxbatons 🦋 ##tiktokprom(Opens in a new tab)##harrypotter(Opens in a new tab)##passthebrushchallenge(Opens in a new tab)##passthebrush(Opens in a new tab)##beauxbatons(Opens in a new tab)##french(Opens in a new tab)##hp(Opens in a new tab)##hpcosplay(Opens in a new tab)##hpcos(Opens in a new tab)
♬ Theme from "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (Potter Waltz) - Movie Sounds Unlimited(Opens in a new tab)
This TikTok creator and cosplayer known as Michael is doing the ridiculous and yet very important work of recreating popular TikToks with a Harry Potter spin(Opens in a new tab). Apologies in advance to all your friends for the slew of links you're about to send them.
14. Binge Mode: Harry Potter(Opens in a new tab)
Though it does occasionally praise the author, The Ringer's Binge Mode podcast hosted by Mallory Rubin and Jason Concepcion provides exceptional analysis and raucous commentary as they reread the Harry Potter books. No amount of Fantastic Beasts movies (and we hope there are no more) could conceive of anything as brilliant as "McGalleon," a headcanon about McGonagall's aggressive sports betting and how it clouds her objectivity as a teacher. You'll learn to turn down the volume when Jason yells, and you'll love it.
Its OK to post on social media even though you havent replied to texts
I don't know who needs to hear this, but it's perfectly OK for someone to post on social media even though they haven't replied to your text messages yet.
Sure, it's polite and respectful to respond to messages and answer questions as soon as possible, but taking a few hours — or even days — to do so doesn't always mean someone is actively trying to be rude or disrespectful toward you.
It's easy to get annoyed with people who take a while to respond to messages — especially if you see them tweeting, sharing articles to Facebook, or posting Instagram stories in the meantime. Trust me, I get it.
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I used to make every effort to reply to texts within seconds of receiving them, so I often got frustrated when others took a while to respond to me. When people would leave my texts unanswered and I'd see them post on social media, I'd admittedly wonder, "What the hell?" But then, something changed.
I grew increasingly overwhelmed with work, life, and all the chaos going on in the world, and my anxiety made it impossible to text anyone back. I started having to wait until it subsided to reply to people, and that's when I realized delayed responses aren't always what they seem.
SEE ALSO:
13 mental health resources for black people trying to cope right now
Sending a text seems like one of the simplest tasks in the world. You tap your phone screen to form words and smash the send button, right? Most of the time I do consider texting to be an extremely low-energy task, but much like in-person conversations, communicating digitally sometimes requires real effort, vulnerability, and thoughtfulness. That's not always easy to give.
Texting and using social media require different levels of effort
At some point over the past few years, I began staring at light gray iMessage bubbles that read things like, "How are you?" or "How was your week?" in absolute terror. My thumbs became paralyzed at the sight of daunting questions that required deep levels of introspection or explanation on my part, so I'd put off responding until I felt up to the challenge.
I occasionally let my text messages pile up unanswered, but I kept living my life and posting to social media. It seemed like a good system, until one of my friends called me out.
"Hi, remember me???" a friend replied to my Instagram story one Saturday. She had texted me the day before, and I hadn't forgotten to respond. I'd had a truly horrible week and wanted to take the weekend to recover. I had every intention of replying to her non-urgent text on Monday, but because she saw me using Instagram, she felt I should have texted her back already.
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Unless the person you message has read receipts turned on, you likely won't be able to tell when, or if, they've had a chance to read your texts. If you picture someone being too busy to stop and look at their phones — as I'm sure my friend was doing with me — it's easy to rationalize delayed responses. But if a person you've messaged posts to social media before replying to you, their silence in DMs is often taken as a slap in the face.
The common thought process here is that if someone has the time to casually be online, then they must have time to reply to your text. If they're on social media, they're clearly using technology, so why can't they take a few extra minutes to answer you?
On the surface, this logic makes sense. But it's not always as simple as someone failing to carve out time. People might be posting to social media during a quick break from work, they could be using social media to distract themselves from daily dread, or they might quickly post something in the presence of other people and not have the time to devote to texting. There's also the chance that they just might have forgotten to reply.
When my friend called me out for not answering her, I replied honestly. I explained that for me, posting on social media requires much less effort than engaging in a personal conversation. I told her I was taking the weekend to recharge my social batteries, and she was super understanding. We ended up having a really productive conversation about how texting isn't always as easy as it sounds.
Sometimes self-care means not texting back right away
Depending on the conversation topic and where you're at in life mentally/emotionally, chatting with people can be challenging.
Reminding myself that texts like, "How are you?" can demand significantly more detailed responses than than texts like, "Have you watched Better Call Saul yet?" helps me understand and justify delayed responses. And acknowledging that mindlessly scrolling through Twitter or posting photos of food can be easier than talking about your life helped me accept that it's perfectly fine to use social media in between receiving and answering texts.
How have I been? What a stacked question.Credit: screenshot / nicole gallucci
Sometimes self-care means not texting back right away, and that became extraordinarily clear to me this year amid the coronavirus pandemic and George Floyd protests.
When my mind was racing to grapple with all the new coronavirus social distancing guidelines, medical research, and death tolls, I had trouble replying to texts in a timely manner. I did, however, find some semblance of calm on Instagram, and I continued sharing informative updates on Twitter.
And after George Floyd died on May 25 after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly 9 minutes, I barely texted anyone for days. I took time to watch protests spread around the world; to read books and articles, and to watch films to further educate myself on the history of racism and police brutality. I made an effort to donate to organizations, sign petitions, and support black-owned businesses.
Though I didn't feel ready to reply to non-urgent texts for a full week, I felt it was imperative that I continue to use my social media platforms to help raise awareness on the issues at hand and share invaluable resources.
Exceptions to the rule
If you're not in the right mindset to reply to text messages immediately, you shouldn't. Prioritizing your mental health is important. But you should also choose which texts to leave hanging on a case-by-case basis.
Always keep a message's content and urgency in mind. If someone's asking a question that requires an immediate response, do your best to respond in a timely fashion. And if someone needs help, you obviously shouldn't ignore them.
Wait a bit, but don't ghost people forever.Credit: vicky leta / mashable
If you wait to text back, be sure to acknowledge and apologize for the delay when you do get around to it. You can even be upfront with people and let them know upon receiving their message that you need a day or two to get back to them — that way you can relax without the unanswered text lingering in the back of your mind. Be honest with people if you're too overwhelmed to chat, but please avoid using that viral text reply template.
And remember, there's definitely a difference between waiting until you feel emotionally ready to text someone back and straight-up ghosting them. Don't ghost people, that's rude as hell.
Be kind to yourself and others
Ultimately, it's crucial to keep in mind that you never know exactly what someone is going through when they receive your text messages.
Cut yourself, and others, some slack, and try not to read too much into text delays — even if you see people posting on social media before they've replied. (If the wait really bothers you, you can always confront them about it. And you might end up having an eye-opening talk like I did with my friend.)
As someone who's avoided replying to family members and friends I absolutely adore because of sheer emotional exhaustion, I can tell you that delays aren't always ill-intentioned. Sometimes people are just overwhelmed.
Now you can identify plants and pooches right in Snapchat
Have you ever seen a dog so adorable or a plant so lush out in the wild that you had to know what it was right then and there?
Snap announced new partnerships on Thursday with the apps Dog Scanner(Opens in a new tab) and PlantSnap(Opens in a new tab) that will allow Snapchat users to do just that. Snapchatters can identify dogs or plants they encounter in the real world by scanning them right in Snapchat.
When you press and hold on the camera screen in Snapchat, lenses that are relevant to what the camera is pointing at are unlocked. For example, if I point and hold the camera on my dog right now, lenses that put sunglasses or heart eyes specifically formatted for the shape face of a dog appear.
Now, if you point the camera at a particularly Good Boy you see, you can access a lens that tells you what breed the dog is, using the data and A.I. of Dog Scanner, which recognizes nearly 400 dog breeds (my dog would get 100 percent purebred mutt). And if you focus your lens on a tree, bush or bud that catches your eye, you'll be able to identify 90 percent of known plants and trees with the PlantSnap integration.
Gotta snap that plant!!!Credit: snap
Snap announced the new features at the Snap Partner Summit, which it held virtually Thursday.
The ability to identify two of earth's best things — dogs and plants — through your smartphone, of course already exists; Dog Scanner and PlantSnap are standalone apps. But it's helpful that the capability comes within Snapchat itself if you're either someone who uses the app frequently already, or doesn't want to have to download a new app for each object you want your smartphone to help identify.
Plus, more categories are coming soon. An upcoming integration with the food and cosmetics scanning app Yuka(Opens in a new tab) will let Snapchatters unlock nutrition facts when they point and hold the camera at a food item. Snap already lets you point and hold to identify a song through Shazam, solve math problems with Photomath, and identify (and shop for) products sold on Amazon.
The dog and plant integrations are the sort of typically playful and fun feature that Snapchat is known for. However, the lens product also holds opportunity for further monetization for the company, as Snap CEO Evan Spiegel pointed out during a Q&A with reporters. For example, Snap unveiled a partnership with Louis Vuitton that allows users to point and hold on the monogram logo, which then takes users to content about their new collection. It's easy to see how — similar to the Amazon integration — this could lead to not just brand content and awareness, but shopping.
Snap made some other announcements around lenses for both developers and users Thursday. It's making more lens development templates available, such as ways to interact with — wait for it — feet (this could enable experiences like virtually trying on shoes).
On the user side, pointing and holding in a neighborhood will now unlock "local lenses," which lets users actually decorate buildings and other landmarks in AR. It's kind of like a shared street art experience, in which users build on each other's creations, that anyone in the physical space can access.
Snapchat's innovation in AR has helped the company keep its creative edge, even as companies like Facebook continually try to copy it. The biggest trouble with Snapchat's AR products is keeping track of all the things the app can do in a sometimes difficult to navigate lens ecosystem. But with a new voice search feature and a souped up Activity Bar, also announced Thursday, Snap's working on that, too.
Fox News used doctored images to, uh, report on Seattle protests
A protest against the police killing of George Floyd and police brutality in Seattle has been mostly characterized by drum circles, speakers(Opens in a new tab) and movie screenings. But if you only tuned into Fox News for coverage of these demonstrations, you might think it was full of burning buildings and armed guards.
On Friday, Fox News published several digitally altered images of the demonstrations on its website, which the Seattle Times caught(Opens in a new tab). It's not clear who is responsible for tweaking the images.
One photo, shown on Fox's homepage on Friday, placed a man with a rifle standing in front of a sign that reads "You are now entering Free Cap Hill." The street scene and the man who appears in it come from two different photos, taken more than a week apart.
The sign in that photo refers to the newly-dubbed Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, a stretch of six blocks set up by protesters in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood to create "a police-free" independent zone, The Guardian reported(Opens in a new tab). It was established after the Seattle police abandoned a precinct in the neighborhood(Opens in a new tab) and converted the area into a festival-like space.
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The conservative outlet also published a photo of a person running past a fiery building and car to accompany stories on the Seattle protest. The headline read "CRAZY TOWN." The photo is actually from St. Paul, Minn. and was taken on May 30, according to the Seattle Times.
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After the Times reached out to Fox News about the photos, they were removed. But a Fox News spokeswoman also said the following, "We have replaced our photo illustration with the clearly delineated images of a gunman and a shattered storefront, both of which were taken this week in Seattle’s autonomous zone.”
The Times pushed back on this statement writing in its article that "the gunman photo was taken June 10, while storefront images it was melded with were datelined May 30 by Getty Images."
Though, as the Times reports, the demonstration has seen armed protesters it is nothing like the scene Fox attempted to purport with its misleading use of images.
As a photojournalism ethics educator told the Times, "I think it’s disgraceful propaganda and terribly misrepresentative of documentary journalism in times like this, when truth-telling and accountability is so important,” said Kenny Irby. “There is no attribution. There is no acknowledgment of the montage, and it’s terribly misleading.”
On Saturday, Fox News appended an editor's note to the stories featuring altered images expressing regret for "these errors."
A FoxNews.com home page photo collage which originally accompanied this story included multiple scenes from Seattle’s “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” and of wreckage following recent riots. The collage did not clearly delineate between these images, and has since been replaced. In addition, a recent slideshow depicting scenes from Seattle mistakenly included a picture from St. Paul, Minnesota. Fox News regrets these errors.
UPDATE: June 13, 2020, 4:06 p.m. EDT Added the editor's note that's been appended to stories on the Fox News website featuring the misleading images.
In honor of Trumps birthday, people tweet praise for Obama
Donald Trump turned 74 on Sunday. So, naturally, people celebrated the occasion by tweeting about the person who perhaps gets under his skin the most: Barack Obama. (Sunday was also Flag Day, but we feel like that wasn't the impetus here.)
The former president trended on the platform(Opens in a new tab) for much of the day, frequently under hashtags like #BarackObamaDay, #ObamaDayUSA, and #ObamaDayJune14th. Users tweeted corny praise for the former president alongside statements about Trump's incompetence. Some were oblique: "Smart intelligence leadership. I miss that every day," one person wrote. Others were more pointed: "Best president in my lifetime. Right @realdonaldtrump? You're the worst," wrote another(Opens in a new tab).
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Still others made references to Saturday's ramp fiasco, when Trump stepped gingerly down a ramp after his West Point graduation speech, got made fun of, then lied about it being slippery in a later tweet. One user, for example, tweeted a photo(Opens in a new tab) of Obama walking down a "slippery wet sidewalk."
SEE ALSO:
Michelle Obama to 2020 graduates: 'Finish the work the generations before you have started'
While not explicitly related to Obama, #AllBirthdaysMatter — a troll-y reference to the dismissive slogan "All lives matter,"(Opens in a new tab) which is often employed in attempts to discredit the Black Lives Matter movement — also trended briefly above Trump's birthday. Of course, the K-pop fans participated.
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Like most Resistance Twitter(Opens in a new tab) trends, the tweets skewed largely corny, were very reductive, and suffered from an overuse of hashtags. But Trump also takes the bait on this kind of thing all the time, so perhaps it genuinely bothered him. In any event, we're sure the Krassenstein brothers(Opens in a new tab) would be proud.
9 websites that will bring you back to the old internet
If there's anything our culture loves, it's nostalgia.
Pretty much every movie and television show these days is just a reboot of some thing of another era. I mean, my goodness, they rebooted(Opens in a new tab)Suicide Squad like five years after the initial version of Suicide Squad.
The internet has been around for long enough — and shifted so drastically in that time — that it's really easy to get nostalgic for past versions of online life. I mean, remember things like Xanga or the old-school AOL homepage? Those sites are pretty much gone — at least how you knew them. But there remain a few sports for old school online life.
That in mind, if you're ever in the mood for some internet-based nostalgia, we've got you covered. We rounded up 9 websites that'll bring you back to the old internet.
1. The original (Opens in a new tab)Space Jam (Opens in a new tab)website(Opens in a new tab)
No, we're not talking the LeBron James reboot version of the movie. The original site for the Michael Jordan-led picture still exists and it's delightfully GeoCities-esque. For the time — 1996 — it was groundbreaking and a novelty(Opens in a new tab) of sorts. Nobody was making websites for a movie back then. Now, the Space Jam site, is just kind of neat and fun to poke around on. And its design is certainly a reminder of a time when the principle concern of many sites was to be fun.
Look at that homepage design.Credit: spacejam.com
2. MySpace(Opens in a new tab)
Yes, MySpace still exists! Just perhaps not how you're imagining it. If you go to the homepage, it looks vaguely like a mashup of the old AOL homepage and an amateurish music blog.
Like, what is going on here?
Hello, random floating avatar.Credit: myspace
But! Did you know you can recover some semblance of your old MySpace page, providing you had one back in the day? I should know, I did it. I wrote all about recovering and parsing through your old Myspace — and the strange nostalgia you'll likely feel doing it. Give it a whirl and see what your life was like back then.
3. Internet Archive's Wayback Machine(Opens in a new tab)
You can waste hours upon hours on the Internet Archive. It is what it sounds like: It saves different versions of sites throughout the history of the internet.
For instance, here's what Mashable looked like in April 2009.
The site looks way better now.Credit: Screenshot: Internet archive
So you can pull up any of your favorite old websites and see what they looked like back in the day. Pretty neat.
4. PongGame.org(Opens in a new tab)
I mean, it is what you expect. It's an entire website dedicated to the low-tech game of pong. You can do one player or two player and three different difficulty levels. Fun, simple, and old school.
Yes, I let up five points while taking this screenshotCredit: screenshot: Ponggame.org
5. Ebay(Opens in a new tab)
OK, Ebay is still very much a thing these days. But it's been around forever — well since 1995, which is forever in internet years — and there's something comforting about the way its listing style hasn't changed much.
6. Craigslist(Opens in a new tab)
This is pretty much the same idea as Ebay. Also founded in 1995, Craigslist was (and still kind of is) the internet's wild, wild west. I mean look at this site.
This screenshot could be from any year.Credit: SCREENSHOT: CRAIGSLIST
Nobody in their right mind would design a site that looks like this today. It still has the peace sign as its logo. It's just blue link after blue link. There's no organization and it's a real crapshoot to find anything useful. But you also might find an awesome deal randomly around the corner. It's a very old internet site that somehow remains useful.
7. Oregon Trail(Opens in a new tab)
Remember the days of clicking through a frontier adventure in class? Well, there's a site that'll let you play the 1990 version of Oregon Trail, the video game we all begged our teachers to play.
8. The 1996 presidential campaign sites(Opens in a new tab)
Yes, there are archived versions of the Clinton/Gore and Dole/Kemp websites. Yes, they look old as hell.
It wasn't much of a victory marathon now, was it?Credit: Screenshot: dolekemp96.org
9. FogCam(Opens in a new tab)
FogCam is, apparently, the oldest continuously operating webcam in the world. Created in 1994 by students San Francisco State University, its charge is simple: show the campus in real time.
Look at the students go.Credit: Screenshot: Fogcam
It's kind of boring because it only updates every 20 seconds. But that must've been some feat in 1994. So fire it up and enjoy the low-tech simplicity.
Related Video: Revisiting the website that shaped the internet
Allow Regé-Jean Page to lull you to sleep with a Calm bedtime story
Having a bit of trouble getting to sleep? Fear not, allow Bridgerton'sDuke of Hastings to tell you a bedtime story.
Regé-Jean Page adds his name to a star-studded list of celebrities who want to use their mellifluous voices for something good: helping us nod off in the wee small hours. The sleep story will be available on meditation app Calm(Opens in a new tab) from today.
Titled The Prince and the Naturalist, Page will take listeners on a journey through Olde England as a "naturalist and his royal pupil discover the wisdom of nature," according to a Calm statement.
Credit: calm
Fellow insomniacs will be aware that Harry Styles lent his honeyed voice to a Calm sleep story in 2020, and Matthew McConaughey has also dabbled in the sleep story realm, alongside Idris Elba and Priyanka Chopra Jonas to name a few.
SEE ALSO:
How sleepcasts helped me tackle insomnia
"I know how valuable relaxation is for us all, especially in trying times, so I couldn’t be more glad to lend my voice to a Sleep Story," Regé-Jean said in a statement.
Well, I think we can all agree: bedtime has never sounded so appealing.
Arnold Schwarzeneggers powerful childhood tale ties Trump fervor to Nazism
It feels like we've all aged many years since Wednesday's failed coup on the U.S. Capitol by Donald Trump supporters. But actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has some perspective to buoy us along.
On Sunday morning, Schwarzenegger released a video comparing the attack on the U.S. Capitol to Kristallnacht(Opens in a new tab), or the Night of Broken Glass, in which German Nazis destroyed hundreds of synagogues, thousands of Jewish-owned businesses, homes, and schools and murdered 91 Jews over 48 hours(Opens in a new tab) in 1938. Around 30,000 Jewish men were also arrested and sent to concentration camps.
Police officers stood by and did nothing to prevent the destruction and violence (sound vaguely familiar?). Also like Wednesday's breach, those Nazis left behind broken glass after their infamous, pre-war pogrom.
Schwarzenegger grew up in Austria and was born two years after the end of World War II.
"It [Kristallnacht] was a night of rampage against the Jews in 1938 by the Nazi equivalent of the Proud Boys," says Schwarzenegger referring to the far-right extremist group(Opens in a new tab) that sprung up during the 2016 presidential election. "Wednesday was the day of broken glass right here in the United States."
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Schwarzenegger then shares a painful memory from his childhood, which he says he hasn't shared very publicly. His father would come home drunk and hit Arnold and his mother. But it wasn't only Schwarzenegger's father who did this; neighbors also beat their families.
"They were in physical pain from the shrapnel in their bodies and in emotional pain from what they saw or did [during the war]," said Schwarzenegger.
The slippery slope that led to the Nazis taking over, he added, started with "lies and intolerance."
"He [President Trump] sought a coup by misleading people with lies," Schwarzenegger said. "My father and our neighbors were misled also with lies, and I know where such lies lead."
While Schwarzenegger doesn't think America will turn into a country resembling Nazi Germany, he believes we "must be aware of the dire consequences of selfishness and cynicism." That blame, he said, lies squarely on the elected officials who "enabled his [Trump's] lies and treachery."
Instagram copies another TikTok feature with Remix
Instagram's new Remix feature looks a lot like the one that made TikTok so popular.
The platform launched the Remix feature on Wednesday, which allows Instagram users to create their "own Reel next to one that already exists." It's very similar to TikTok's Duet function, which allows users to, well, duet an already existing video on the app. The wildly popular feature facilitated trends like the viral sea shanty(Opens in a new tab) harmonies that took over the internet earlier this year.
With Instagram's Remix function, which users can access by tapping on the three dot menu of the Reel they want to remix, creators can record a new video stitched to the original one. Once recorded, users can control the original video's volume, their own video's volume, and record a voiceover.
Only newly Reels will be automatically available for Remix, per a statement from Instagram, but users can choose to enable the Remix function on their old Reels.
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Instagram has competed with TikTok since TikTok's rise in popularity over the two years. From launching Reels in the first place to no longer promoting TikTok reposts(Opens in a new tab), cloning the Duet function with Remix is Instagram continuing to market itself as an alternative to TikTok.
UPDATE: March 31, 2021, 12:37 p.m. PDT A previous version of this article stated that only new Reels will be available for Remix. Instagram clarified that creators will be able to turn on the function for their old Reels.
Related Video: How to permanently delete your social media
14 Harry Potter things to love that have nothing to do with J.K. Rowling
On Saturday, J.K. Rowling posted her latest string of transphobic tweets, in which she suggested that only women can menstruate and that gender inclusivity erases the female experience. As an ardent Harry Potter fan myself, with a network of friends in the community, I saw my Twitter timeline fill up with exactly one sentiment in response to these tweets:
Fuck that.
This isn't the first time Rowling has been transphobic; previous likes and tweets have followed the line of thought demonstrated on Saturday. I personally expressed my disappointment in her December 2019 tweets, but wrote them off. I assumed she was oblivious and disconnected from the right resources due to shoddy PR, her own ignorance, and that bubble away from reality that most of the ultra-rich and famous seem to occupy.
But again, fuck that.
Saturday's tweets are further evidence of Rowling's ignorance, but there can be no doubt now that it is willful. Even Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, couldn't remain silent and issued a statement in solidarity with the queer and trans community(Opens in a new tab).
For a generation that grew up on the Harry Potter values of standing up to power and bigotry, the irony is not lost and the heartbreak is real. It's been a long time coming for some but totally new for others who might not be able to stop loving Potter as easily as they turned on its creator.
Harry Potter has been around long enough that its influence spreads far beyond a certain writer. Songs have been written, merch designed, organizations launched, and discussions furthered far beyonds the limits of what Rowling could ever have imagined. Those of us who read Harry Potter as children are writers, artists, and activists now, equipped to enjoy the wizarding world without her.
So now that you've accepted the Death of the Author(Opens in a new tab), here are 14 places to direct your Harry Potter love that have nothing to do with You-Know-Who.
Note: The author (I mean myself now) knows individuals involved with several items on this list.
1. The Harry Potter Alliance(Opens in a new tab)
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Launched in 2005, the HPA is a social justice organization that works toward gender equity, LGTBQIA+ equality, racial justice, climate change activism, education, and more. It has partnered with groups like the American Library Association, ACLU, and Hank and John Green's DFTBA. In 2010, the HPA raised enough money through fan campaigns to send five airplanes of medical supplies to earthquake relief efforts in Haiti(Opens in a new tab). They have a handy guide on how to advocate for trans people right here(Opens in a new tab).
2. Black Girls Create(Opens in a new tab)
This multifandom resource for black creators encourages fans to recognize that you can love something while still being highly critical of it. They raised $16,000 in a week for organizations helping Black Lives Matter through a Hogwarts house-themed points competition. Through podcasts(Opens in a new tab) like #WizardTeam(Opens in a new tab) and the Doctor Who-themed TARBIS(Opens in a new tab) (Who Watch: Time and Relative Blackness in Space), the BGC community promotes intersectional representation, especially for black women.
3. Hermione Granger and the Quarter Life Crisis(Opens in a new tab)
This breezy web series what would have happened if 25-year-old Hermione Granger didn't marry Ron and become a cop, but questioned it all and hightailed to California to hang out with former classmate Parvati Patil. Created by Eliyannah Amirah Yisrael and starring Ashley Romans, the series imagines how wizardry looks for millennial adults and how the magical and muggle worlds collide. It's even brave enough to suggest Hermione go to therapy, something that would certainly have helped all the adults in Cursed Child. And speaking of that nonsense...
4. StarKid(Opens in a new tab)
Filmed in a 100-seat basement theater at the University of Michigan, A Very Potter Musical became an early viral sensation in 2009. It expertly pokes fun at its source material and expands upon the canon, as with Harry's obvious desire to be the center of attention or Draco's inability to stand still. The cast and characters are more diverse in race and sexuality than any Harry Potter content ever distributed by Warner Bros. or Universal, a statistic that will probably hold up for a very long time.
AVPM spawned a sequel ("There is literally no way forward from this point") and a threequel, but its creators have created over a dozen non-Potter productions since then, including Holy Musical, [email protected]!, Ani: A Parody, and originals like Firebringer and Black Friday.
5. The Gayly Prophet(Opens in a new tab)
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Two Harry Potter fans (Jessie Blount and Lark Malakai Grey) host this weekly podcast that examines the books through a queer feminist lens. They were quick to note after Rowling's comments that this person was being openly transphobic during an uprising in a pandemic and that there is truly no weirder or worse flex.
6. Sorted(Opens in a new tab)
Credit: simon & schuster
Jackson Bird(Opens in a new tab)'s 2019 memoir about coming out as trans is inextricably linked to his experiences in the Harry Potter fandom. Bird's writing is thorough and informative yet never overwhelming. He takes you on his journey through childhood and adolescence, weaving in the boy wizard's influence and the community that ultimately helped him accept who he was and offered support when he declared it. The title refers to the Sorting Hat, but especially to Dumbledore's musing in Deathly Hallows that "I sometimes think we sort too soon." Once again, the fans understand Rowling's message more than it seems she ever could.
7. Man Up Apparel(Opens in a new tab)
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This clothing brand started as a part-time source of cheer apparel and now provides some of the swaggiest HP clothing Warner Bros. could only dream of. The house face hoodies give mascots as much a chance to shine as colors, and the varsity jackets will be the envy of every former high school athlete you meet. Best of all for this Ravenclaw: The Ravenclaw colors of blue and bronze and the house eagle are resplendent, putting that hideous blue-gray raven gear from the movies to shame.
8. Mark Reads Harry Potter(Opens in a new tab)
Writer Mark Oshiro(Opens in a new tab) has made a career of watching and reading things(Opens in a new tab) (and is now an author(Opens in a new tab) too) because their voice is so utterly entertaining. They started Harry Potter for the first time in 2010(Opens in a new tab) with little to no prior exposure (the podcast Potterless(Opens in a new tab) started a similar journey in recent years) and there is nothing quite like experiencing the joy of a grown adult becoming obsessed with Rubeus Hagrid for the first time.
9. Carry On(Opens in a new tab)
Credit: St. Martin's Griffin
Rainbow Rowell's YA fantasy novel is a spinoff of her own Fangirl, but the characters are undeniably influenced by Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy as they occupy a slightly different magical realm. Simon Snow is his world's Chosen One, guided by "the Mage" and anointed by a prophecy — and as if that's not enough, he finds it harder and harder each day to deny the attraction he feels to his so-called enemy Basilton (a.k.a. Baz). Carry On and sequel Wayward Son (yup) are the Drarry fic you crave on ink and paper, and a beautiful example of how joyous and easy it is to write a queer magical story.
10. Puffs(Opens in a new tab)
The now-closed off-Broadway play about "a certain school of magic and magic" tells the story we all know through the eyes of Hufflepuff students — sometimes confused, often endangered, and always nice even in the face of certain danger brought upon them by the Boy Who Lived. It may not be running anymore, but the show lives on digitally(Opens in a new tab).
11. Vegard(Opens in a new tab)
This European YouTuber happily declares "Harry Potter (minus JKR)" in their Twitter bio(Opens in a new tab), and has a wonderful time exploring the books, movies, spells, and more in video form regardless. Vegard proves there is no end to answers to the question of how one can manifest one's Harry Potter love, whether it's explaining the story drunk, editing oneself into scenes, talking about it to Siri, and so much more.
12. Wizard rock
The musical genre launched in the early 2000s now boasts hundreds of musicians and bands who sing about the series, including to challenge its heteronormativity or ridiculousness wherever they can. The wizard rock community has long been a haven for queer fans, and the growing roster of artists(Opens in a new tab) means more diverse talent joining its ranks every day.
13. The Wizard Tailor(Opens in a new tab)
@thewizardtailor(Opens in a new tab)
Get in the car, looser, we’re going to Beauxbatons 🦋 ##tiktokprom(Opens in a new tab)##harrypotter(Opens in a new tab)##passthebrushchallenge(Opens in a new tab)##passthebrush(Opens in a new tab)##beauxbatons(Opens in a new tab)##french(Opens in a new tab)##hp(Opens in a new tab)##hpcosplay(Opens in a new tab)##hpcos(Opens in a new tab)
♬ Theme from "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (Potter Waltz) - Movie Sounds Unlimited(Opens in a new tab)
This TikTok creator and cosplayer known as Michael is doing the ridiculous and yet very important work of recreating popular TikToks with a Harry Potter spin(Opens in a new tab). Apologies in advance to all your friends for the slew of links you're about to send them.
14. Binge Mode: Harry Potter(Opens in a new tab)
Though it does occasionally praise the author, The Ringer's Binge Mode podcast hosted by Mallory Rubin and Jason Concepcion provides exceptional analysis and raucous commentary as they reread the Harry Potter books. No amount of Fantastic Beasts movies (and we hope there are no more) could conceive of anything as brilliant as "McGalleon," a headcanon about McGonagall's aggressive sports betting and how it clouds her objectivity as a teacher. You'll learn to turn down the volume when Jason yells, and you'll love it.
The cost of living crisis is wreaking havoc in friendships
"One of my friends is turning 25 in December and has booked a very fancy venue for a birthday party costing each guest £70 ($83.26)," Serena* tells Mashable, adding that this cost is completely unaffordable for her.
"I messaged her privately and explained that I'm embarrassed to say in the group that I’m unable to attend as I cannot afford it, so she offered to cover my expenses to have me there. I simply could not allow her to do this again, I politely declined and told her I would see her another time."
SEE ALSO:
Why affairs are on the rise in the cost of living crisis
Serena’s honesty was met with a passive aggressive message from her friend, who got upset and told her she wanted to cancel the entire thing. "I saw the same group of friends recently for coffee, and listening to them talk about their lives made me feel completely alienated as I could not relate to a single thing because of my own financial struggles."
Saying no to plans
26-year-old India Chambers, an assistant editor in book publishing agrees with Serena, that birthday celebrations can put our bank accounts under real pressure. "I’ve started saying no to going to the birthdays of people I’m not super close with," she says.
India recently went to a dinner for a new friend’s birthday. She was down to her last £120 ($142.76) and it was the week before payday. "We all knew what we were going to pay as it was a set menu, but someone suggested that we all chip in to pay for the birthday girl’s portion."
"I wanted to say no but I didn’t, which pushed me over what I budgeted for the meal." India explains she’d normally be happy to pay, but being short for money that week means it wasn’t ideal. "I’m definitely being more selective with my friends and which work events I go to," she adds. When we speak, India is working from home and tells me she has an author’s work event she has decided to miss out on to save money on travel. "I feel like it’s those little costs like transport and buying a snack on the journey that all add up," she says.
India also tells me that her job often revolves around "wining and dining" authors and agents, to create connections and build relationships. It has raised important conversations at work about the need for a company card. "I can’t afford to use my personal card for work related costs anymore, because it takes too long to get those expenses back."
SEE ALSO:
How the cost of living crisis is impacting the way we date
She adds: "The cost of living crisis is changing the way we do things, and making people with privilege question the structures in place and how they affect employees on a budget."
Prices are going up and wages are standing still, with food, rent, gas and electricity bills at a record high. 93 percent of adults in the UK(Opens in a new tab) say they saw an increase in their outgoings between August and September 2022, and it means young people are having to change the way they socialise. Businesses are charging more for their goods and services because of the higher costs they face, that includes spaces we would typically socialise in. Think: cinemas, restaurants, bars, hotels.
It’s understandable that we feel obligated to celebrate our friend’s birthdays, and the result is either attending and experiencing anxiety if you’ve spent money on the celebration that you’d put aside for something else, or guilt if you turn the invite down because you can’t afford it and feeling like you're a bad friend.
The odd one out in a group of rich friends
A study by the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) revealed that 55 percent of people don’t feel comfortable opening up(Opens in a new tab) when they have worries about their financial situation. Like Serena, who is reluctant to tell some of her friends about her money struggles. "I have a group of friends that have grown up wealthy and privileged," she says. "I've always felt like the odd one out because that has never been the case for me with having to support my family." Serena comes from a single parent background and is also the eldest child.
"Relationships are critical to good mental health and having financial differences in friendships can most definitely affect mental health and well-being," Michael Throckmorton, a financial expert at Merchant Cash Advance(Opens in a new tab) which provides business loans that don't need to be repaid within a fixed term or at a fixed rate explains.
SEE ALSO:
People can't afford their findom kink in the cost of living crisis
"You might feel lonely or isolated, or like you can’t afford to do the things you want to do which can have a negative impact as it’ll result in missing out on social events or even losing friends," he continues. "But it’s important to try and put this aside and be honest and upfront with your friends if you cannot afford to pay for the activity that they are interested in. A true friend will listen and find activities that you can both enjoy without breaking the bank, and will help you stop worrying about anything money related with friends."
The high cost of living can also mean that we’re seeing our friends less frequently, leading to loneliness. Sure, you can socialise in a cost effective way, but seeing friends normally requires us to spend at least a "small amount" of money, and when people are living paycheque to paycheque, finding a "small amount" of money to spare (relative to you) can be really difficult. Plus, there are only so many free walks you can go on with friends before things start to get boring.
Owning your loneliness
The Campaign To End Loneliness reported that 45 percent of adults feel occasionally, sometimes or often lonely(Opens in a new tab) in England. That equates to twenty five million people.
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Charlotte Fox Weber is a psychotherapist and author of What We Want, which explores the power of articulating our desires as a path toward greater mental health and self-actualization(Opens in a new tab). She says that loneliness can be debilitating. "It’s within all of us, and is a deceptive state of mind. It has a way of being utterly convincing that this is how life will always feel," she tells Mashable.
Fox Weber believes in owning our loneliness: "Saying ‘I’m lonely’ aloud is powerful. There are so many people in the world who do care and who will connect." She suggests telling someone when you’re experiencing the feeling of loneliness. "Try to say it when it’s happening, to someone, and if not to another person, even to yourself. Being there for yourself and being compassionate internally does help. Fox Weber also suggests reading books, writing letters, journalling, and even texting to get your feelings out, as well as picking up the phone and connecting with someone.
Cole*, 28, doesn’t see his friends as often as he’d like. "I used to see my friends everyday [when the costs were more affordable], so that might be dinner or a night out. But now it’s a bit more like once a week."
"I’ve always been selective with the people I spend time with. Now, I’m not going partying unless you’re my family or part of my core circle," he adds.
He tells Mashable it’s something he has been open with his friends about. "If your bills double, you can’t ignore that. I definitely have had to say no to certain things."
It's only natural that we are changing the way we socialise as everything gets more expensive. To save money, India has found herself doing more home cooked dinners with friends and hasn’t booked any social events too far in advance, which allows her to be sure she’ll have the money to spend when the time comes around. "A friend suggested going to see a pantomime before Christmas and I thought, 'that’s gonna be expensive.'"
"Whilst I want to do that, it’s not a priority. It’s more of a nice-to-have or nice-to-do." Our social lives are being affected in a big way. But with the cost of living set to slow down in the second half of 2023, it might be helpful to know that there could soon be a light at the end of the tunnel.
*Some names have been changed at the request of sources.
Quordle today: Here are the answers and hints for October 19
Today's Quordle is not the hardest of all time, but it's not the easiest either. Though your mileage may vary!
If it's a little too challenging today, you've come to the right place for hints. There aren't just hints here, but the whole Quordle solution. Scroll to the bottom of this page, and there it is. But are you sure you need all four answers? Maybe you just need a strategy guide. Either way, scroll down, and you'll get what you need.
What is Quordle?
Quordle is a five-letter word guessing game similar to Wordle, except each guess applies letters to four words at the same time. You get nine guesses instead of six to correctly guess all four words. It looks like playing four Wordle games at the same time, and that is essentially what it is. But it's not nearly as intimidating as it sounds.
Is Quordle harder than Wordle?
Yes, though not diabolically so.
Where did Quordle come from?
Amid the Wordle boom of late 2021 and early 2022, when everyone was learning to love free, in-browser, once-a-day word guessing games, creator Freddie Meyer says he took inspiration from one of the first big Wordle variations, Dordle — the one where you essentially play two Wordles at once. He took things up a notch, and released Quordle on January 30(Opens in a new tab). Meyer's creation was covered in The Guardian(Opens in a new tab) six days later, and now, according to Meyer, it attracts millions of daily users. Today, Meyer earns modest revenue(Opens in a new tab) from Patreon, where dedicated Quordle fans can donate to keep their favorite puzzle game running.
How is Quordle pronounced?
“Kwordle.” It should rhyme with “Wordle,” and definitely should not be pronounced exactly like "curdle.”
Is Quordle strategy different from Wordle?
Yes and no.
Your starting strategy should be the same as with Wordle. In fact, if you have a favorite Wordle opening word, there’s no reason to change that here. We suggest something rich in vowels, featuring common letters like C, R, and N. But you do you.
After your first guess, however, you’ll notice things getting out of control if you play Quordle exactly like Wordle.
What should I do in Quordle that I don’t do in Wordle?
Solving a Wordle puzzle can famously come down to a series of single letter-change variations. If you’ve narrowed it down to “-IGHT,” you could guess “MIGHT” “NIGHT” “LIGHT” and “SIGHT” and one of those will probably be the solution — though this is also a famous way to end up losing in Wordle, particularly if you play on “hard mode.” In Quordle, however, this sort of single-letter winnowing is a deadly trap, and it hints at the important strategic difference between Wordle and Quordle: In Quordle, you can't afford to waste guesses unless you're eliminating as many letters as possible at all times.
Guessing a completely random word that you already know isn't the solution, just to eliminate three or four possible letters you haven’t tried yet, is thought of as a desperate, latch-ditch move in Wordle. In Quordle, however, it's a normal part of the player's strategic toolset.
Is there a way to get the answer faster?
In my experience Quordle can be a slow game, sometimes dragging out longer than it would take to play Wordle four times. But a sort of blunt-force guessing approach can speed things up. The following strategy also works with Wordle if you only want the solution, and don’t care about having the fewest possible guesses:
Try starting with a series of words that puts all the vowels (including Y) on the board, along with some other common letters. We've had good luck with the three words: “NOTES,” “ACRID,” and “LUMPY.” YouTuber DougMansLand(Opens in a new tab) suggests four words: “CANOE,” “SKIRT,” “PLUMB,” and “FUDGY.”
Most of the alphabet is now eliminated, and you’ll only have the ability to make one or two wrong guesses if you use this strategy. But in most cases you’ll have all the information you need to guess the remaining words without any wrong guesses.
If strategy isn't helping, and you're still stumped, here are some hints:
Are there any double or triple letters in today’s Quordle words?
Two of four words contain a letter that occurs twice.
Are any rare letters being used in today’s Quordle like Q or Z?
Donald Trump takes to Truth Social for all-caps rant ahead of potential indictment
Before we get too far down the rabbit-hole, here's the TL;DR: Former President Donald Trump believes he's soon going to be arrested, and he's freaking out about it online.
Now, not too long ago, there was a time when former President Donald Trump's latest Twitter freakout was pretty much the news of the day. Of course, the Big Man of the Republican Party has since ditched Twitter — even after Elon Musk unbanned him and practically begged him to come back — so the latest diatribe was published on Truth Social, Trump's own site.
Just for clarity's sake: It's not totally clear if, or when, Trump will be indicted and, in turn, arrested. The former president has claimed, time and again, that he's going to be arrested on Tuesday, without providing evidence as to why he believes that. After first making the claim on Saturday, the former president basically called for mass protest in a manner shockingly similar to the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
"IT'S TIME!!!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. "WE JUST CAN'T ALLOW THIS ANYMORE. THEY'RE KILLING OUR NATION AS WE SIT BACK & WATCH. WE MUST SAVE AMERICA!PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST!!!"
Since then, it's basically been one extended rant.
Now, you'd be excused if you lost track of why, exactly, Trump might be arrested. After all, there have been countless investigations, cases, and scandals. The issue at hand is a New York grand jury's investigation into alleged hush money payments from Trump to cover up sexual encounters. This is the whole Stormy Daniels scandal coming home to roost.
So, believing he's going to be indicted and arrested, Trump is returning to his usual playbook. You can see the whole thing over at his Truth Social page(Opens in a new tab), but the beats are relatively predictable. The country lived it for, oh, I don't know, five or six years?
He's attacking his perceived enemies. He's claiming(Opens in a new tab) Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is being paid by "Radical Left Enemy of 'TRUMP,' George Soros."
Trump is both claiming(Opens in a new tab) he did nothing wrong and, anyway, even if he did, they can't do anything about it. "They are MANY years beyond the Statute of Limitations which, in this instance, is TWO YEARS. More importantly, THERE WAS NO CRIME!!!" he wrote on Monday.
He's ditching(Opens in a new tab) his previous pal and lawyer Michael Cohen, calling him a "A CONVICTED LIAR, FELON AND JAILBIRD." Cohen went to prison(Opens in a new tab) for paying off Daniels and model Karen McDougal.
He's pleading(Opens in a new tab) with NYPD to not arrest him, saying (in all caps, of course), "CAN YOU IMAGINE THE GREAT NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT ... HAVING TO DEFEND & PROTECT THE “DEFUNDERS” & “COP HATERS” OF THE RADICAL LEFT THAT WANT TO PUT THEIR GREATEST CHAMPION & FRIEND IN PRISON FOR A CRIME THAT DOESN’T EXIST[?]"
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. But you catch the drift. The past few days Trump has been treating Truth Social like he treated Twitter for years. He's throwing attacks and ideas and justifications at the wall like so many strands of spaghetti, hoping one or two stick. Of course, Truth Social is nothing more than an echo chamber of sycophants so his diehard supporters eat it all up. Slightly different than Twitter, when people built their whole online personas(Opens in a new tab) around indignantly responding to Trump's posts.
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It's nearly impossible to summarize all of Trump's complaining and ranting over the past few days. But it all pretty much touches on those beats listed above. He's repeatedly attacking Bragg; he's bringing up Soros; and he's saying he did nothing wrong. Hilariously, he's posting(Opens in a new tab) screenshots of tweets on his own competing site.
While seeing Trump actually get indicted over this is would be strange — the man has wriggled(Opens in a new tab) out of worse — the rest feels very familiar. Trump is trouble and he's posting relentlessly. Only this time he's screaming into a void of his own creation.
Quordle today: Here are the answers and hints for October 17
Sorry about the difficulty level of today's Quordle. I wouldn't say it's a hard one, so much as it's simply one that takes longer than usual. But your mileage may vary from mine!
If it's a little too challenging today, you've come to the right place for hints. There aren't just hints here, but the whole Quordle solution. Scroll to the bottom of this page, and there it is. But are you sure you need all four answers? Maybe you just need a strategy guide. Either way, scroll down, and you'll get what you need.
What is Quordle?
Quordle is a five-letter word guessing game similar to Wordle, except each guess applies letters to four words at the same time. You get nine guesses instead of six to correctly guess all four words. It looks like playing four Wordle games at the same time, and that is essentially what it is. But it's not nearly as intimidating as it sounds.
Is Quordle harder than Wordle?
Yes, though not diabolically so.
Where did Quordle come from?
Amid the Wordle boom of late 2021 and early 2022, when everyone was learning to love free, in-browser, once-a-day word guessing games, creator Freddie Meyer says he took inspiration from one of the first big Wordle variations, Dordle — the one where you essentially play two Wordles at once. He took things up a notch, and released Quordle on January 30(Opens in a new tab). Meyer's creation was covered in The Guardian(Opens in a new tab) six days later, and now, according to Meyer, it attracts millions of daily users. Today, Meyer earns modest revenue(Opens in a new tab) from Patreon, where dedicated Quordle fans can donate to keep their favorite puzzle game running.
How is Quordle pronounced?
“Kwordle.” It should rhyme with “Wordle,” and definitely should not be pronounced exactly like "curdle.”
Is Quordle strategy different from Wordle?
Yes and no.
Your starting strategy should be the same as with Wordle. In fact, if you have a favorite Wordle opening word, there’s no reason to change that here. We suggest something rich in vowels, featuring common letters like C, R, and N. But you do you.
After your first guess, however, you’ll notice things getting out of control if you play Quordle exactly like Wordle.
What should I do in Quordle that I don’t do in Wordle?
Solving a Wordle puzzle can famously come down to a series of single letter-change variations. If you’ve narrowed it down to “-IGHT,” you could guess “MIGHT” “NIGHT” “LIGHT” and “SIGHT” and one of those will probably be the solution — though this is also a famous way to end up losing in Wordle, particularly if you play on “hard mode.” In Quordle, however, this sort of single-letter winnowing is a deadly trap, and it hints at the important strategic difference between Wordle and Quordle: In Quordle, you can't afford to waste guesses unless you're eliminating as many letters as possible at all times.
Guessing a completely random word that you already know isn't the solution, just to eliminate three or four possible letters you haven’t tried yet, is thought of as a desperate, latch-ditch move in Wordle. In Quordle, however, it's a normal part of the player's strategic toolset.
Is there a way to get the answer faster?
In my experience Quordle can be a slow game, sometimes dragging out longer than it would take to play Wordle four times. But a sort of blunt-force guessing approach can speed things up. The following strategy also works with Wordle if you only want the solution, and don’t care about having the fewest possible guesses:
Try starting with a series of words that puts all the vowels (including Y) on the board, along with some other common letters. We've had good luck with the three words: “NOTES,” “ACRID,” and “LUMPY.” YouTuber DougMansLand(Opens in a new tab) suggests four words: “CANOE,” “SKIRT,” “PLUMB,” and “FUDGY.”
Most of the alphabet is now eliminated, and you’ll only have the ability to make one or two wrong guesses if you use this strategy. But in most cases you’ll have all the information you need to guess the remaining words without any wrong guesses.
If strategy isn't helping, and you're still stumped, here are some hints:
Are there any double or triple letters in today’s Quordle words?
Two words have recurring letters. One of them has a letter that occurs three times.
Are any rare letters being used in today’s Quordle like Q or Z?
John Lewis was a fixture on Twitter, both for his tweets and his viral presence
Congressman John Lewis, who died on Friday, proved again and again that politician Twitter can rise above angry, hateful thuggery.
His own timeline was a regular source of wisdom and inspiration, especially around racial issues. Lewis was a hell of a speaker, and the thundering power of his words translated easily into the short, soundbite-friendly format imposed by Twitter's character constraints.
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Lewis also understood that Twitter is a place to get personal, and to share in life's simpler pleasures. His status as a beloved public figure afforded him extra attention even when he wasn't using his digital platform to try to heal the world.
That's how a tweet about hanging out with some cats scored almost 12,000 likes and more than 45,000 replies
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Then there are the times that Lewis himself, an utterly magnetic figure, went viral for one reason or another. Who doesn't remember his tearful 2016 acceptance speech after the graphic novel March: Book Three, part of an autobiographical trilogy about the late Congressman's Civil Rights work, won a National Book Award?
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Or how about the time he cosplayed as himself at Comic-Con, like the legend that he is?
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A couple years later, in 2018, cameras captured Lewis dancing to the song "Happy" at a campaign event for Stacey Abrams. And the internet immediately rejoiced.
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In one of the last interviews he sat down for prior to his death, which followed a false rumor that he'd died, Lewis chatted with Oprah Winfrey. She shared a clip from that interview on Saturday morning.
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