Author Archives: Carol Edwards

I knew that Disney’s Turning Red is about teen angst in 2002, but I did not expect to relate to it as deeply as I did.

Turning Red follows 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian, Meilin Lee (Rosalie Chiang) as she grapples with her changing body — not in the usual ways, but in the form of the giant red panda, which she turns into if she feels any strong emotion. It turns out that the panda problem runs in the family, and that all the women in her family, including Mei’s mother (Sandra Oh), have faced it.

I grew up in an almost overwhelmingly female family (not overwhelming for me, but maybe for the odd boy cousin). My mother has a sister; my grandmother had six. Many of them had daughters, usually in pairs, who went on to have more daughters. When my cousin gave birth to a boy in 2018, the first in 14 years, another cousin told me nervously: “We don’t have boys!”

Even as an only child living far away from my extended family, I always felt close to them — just like Mei. When the awkwardness of my teen years set in, any cousin or aunt was a phone call away, and my mother became a trusted confidante — when most people I knew were running fully in the opposite direction from their parents. I have seen countless shows and movies about teenagers who act out and rebel, but barely any where the kid unironically spends time with her parents or doesn’t do anything more scandalous than lie about going to a concert (Mei and I kept things pretty PG, but I think I speak for us both when I say: No regrets).

My mom picking me up early to get on a plane to India, probably
Credit: DIsney

When Meilin’s red panda arrives, her mother tells the other women in the family. They share stories of their own pandas and gather to help her expel hers in a ceremony. Mei might want to get out of the house to see her friends and raise money for concert tickets, but she isn’t generally averse to her family. The support isn’t lost on her, nor is her unique circumstance and having people to share it with. As Mei grows reluctant to part with her panda, she never questions the other women’s decision to stifle it, nor questions her place in the family.

Watching Mei gather with her mother and aunts took me instantly back to every big family gathering over the years — birthdays, weddings, and Bengali ceremonies where babies eat solid food for the first time. Wherever we meet suddenly echoes with the voices of sisters and cousins talking, laughing, fighting, and ordering each other around. We fall naturally into the roles we held as children or the last time we were in that home, we share stories that span decades and continents. When Mei’s family squeeze in around the dining table at her Toronto home, I felt a physical pang for the counterparts in my life, all oceans away until we meet next.

How incredible that I grew up thousands of miles away from some of the people I love and trust most in the world.

Turning Red masterfully weaves together many threads; early 2000s nostalgia, boy band fever, the unique horror of being a teenage girl, and female familial relationships. I did not expect it to leave me warmly thinking about distant family members and wanting to call my mom (who would call me within hours asking about our Netflix password). The aunties and grandmother aren’t central to the film, but they struck a chord that will stay with me for a long time.

My mom and her cousins grew up in the same city, no one more than an hour away from each other. I sometimes wonder what they were all thinking when they grew up, dreamt big, and scattered across the world. They can’t have been thinking about the challenges of raising Indian children in unfamiliar countries, of being custodians of an entire culture, or of a generation of cousins that would sometimes not see each other for years. I say this with admiration, not resentment; for how remarkable is it that Ma’s family managed to stay this close despite time and distance? How incredible, that I grew up thousands of miles away from some of the people I love and trust most in the world, and that she made that possible. 

In Turning Red, Mei grapples with growing up and growing away from her family, but she realizes that it’s ultimately her own choice. She may spend less time with her mother or share life’s daily gossip with her friends, but there are bonds that can’t be broken. At the end of the day, she shares her roots — including that fluffy red bear — with a core of mighty women who will spring to her aid at any moment, and nothing can take that away from her.

Turning Red is now streaming on Disney+.

We’re just gonna say it: Creating strong, complex passwords — and then actually remembering what those passwords are — has become a huge pain in the behind. The well-known advice is that you shouldn’t use the same password for everything because it’s not safe, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying as you’re mentally shifting through every password and password variation you’ve ever created as you try to log into a bank account or online shop.

This warning to use a different password for each site is definitely true though: According to Verizon’s Data Breach Investigations Report, 81% of hacking related breaches involved the misuse of stolen or weak credentials — AKA crappy, overused passwords. And we probably don’t have to tell you this, but having your money or identity stolen isn’t exactly a good time either.

But even if you do manage to come up with Olympic-level strength passwords, remembering your complex, unique passwords for dozens of different sites is nearly impossible, especially when password requirements sound more like the recipe for a potion. Uppercase letter, number, symbol, eye of newt, etc.

So before you know it, you’ve used up your three guesses and you’re locked out because you can’t remember your genius combination of letters, numbers, and symbols. And now you need to create a new amazing password again. So you try something you think you’ll remember and  just like that, you get the alert that “new password cannot be the same as old password.”

Enter: password managers. AKA your new best friend to help keep your online accounts safe and keep you from tossing your device across the room every time you need to remember or create a new password. 

What does a password manager really do?

The best password managers are essentially a way to safely store all your logins and passwords in a safe place. 

All you have to do is remember one master password and then your password manager will autofill the rest for you, plus more security stuff you probably didn’t even think about.

In other words, a password manager is like a secure list of passwords in your phone’s notes (or a notebook, if you’re old-school), except losing your phone or notebook won’t mean that your entire life is about to be hacked.

Password managers can be apps on your mobile phone, plugins in your browser, or desktop software you install. 

Some will also help you create, not just store, some super secure passwords that a hacker wouldn’t be able to guess so you don’t have to keep thinking of variations based on your pets’ or kids’ names. 

The best password managers will also allow you to secure your devices — like your Kindle or Apple Watch — and even your photos and other private documents that you won’t want easily accessible on your computer or smartphone. Think of it as a form of personal encryption to add even more security to your digital life.

Things to consider when choosing a password manager:

• Do you want passwords to be remembered on your phone and laptop? If so, you’ll need to make sure the password manager allows syncing on multiple devices. (As you’ll see, most free versions other than LastPass do not allow more than one device.)

• Are you storing passwords just for personal use or do you need to share with a group? Some password managers will allow you to share logins with colleagues or family without actually telling them what the password is. That will allow you to give them access to a site or platform you all use — and remove their access if you need to — without having to worry that they can share the password with people you don’t approve. Others will allow you to set up a family account so that you and your spouse or children can share passwords easily.

• Two-factor authentication: Using the Google Authenticator app, an external device, text message, or something similar, does the password manager require a second form of insurance to make sure that it’s actually you trying to log in? Without this, if someone gets ahold of your master password, they have access to all of your stuff.

• Emergency contacts: If you forget your master password, you need to make sure you’re not completely screwed. Many password managers are equipped with emergency contacts, which are basically the password version of writing someone into your will. This is where you give a trusted friend, family member, or boss access to your master password in the event that you can’t provide it.

What are some of the best password managers on the market?

Interested in employing a password manager to help make your online life a little easier? We’ve sifted through a whole bunch of password manager programs out there so you don’t have to. Below, we’re listing six of the best password managers and exactly what each plan offers, so you can easily find the one that best fits your individual needs. All prices listed are for the year.

If you’ve spent any time on the internet lately, you know that Wordle has taken over.

Our obsession has been endlessly analyzed and dissected. We’ve shared strategies and tips. It has been meme-ed and shared all over Twitter. It was even bought by the New York Times. And of course our insatiable appetite for the simple puzzle game has been the catalyst for multiple Wordle clones. Here’s a roundup of our favorites.

1. Absurdle

If Wordle isn’t enough of a challenge, this one will have you stumped. It’s even hard to understand how it works, but a previous Mashable article breaks it down: “Instead of starting with a secret word that players work their way towards, Absurdle doesn’t have a single word up its sleeve,” Sam Haysom explains. “The game starts with 2,315 possibilities and responds to each of your guesses by keeping the maximum number of potential secret words in its back pocket, forcing you to narrow its options down until you essentially trap the AI into only having one word left.” Truly diabolical.

For those who just want to watch the world burn.
Credit: Screenshot: qntm / Absurdle

2. Dordle, Quordle, Octordle, and Sedecordle

First there was Dordle which is playing two words at the same time. But the one-upmanship didn’t stop there. Instead the clones multiplied at a feverish pace. Next came Quordle, which is four words, then Octordle, which is eight, and now we actually have Sedecordle which is playing 16 words at the same time. Utter chaos.

For the ambidextrous mind.
Credit: Screenshot: Dordle / Zaratustra Productions

3. Lewdle

It was only a matter of time before someone came up with a NSFW version of Wordle. For those of us who instinctively jump to an inappropriate five-letter word, welcome to Lewdle, you need not get your mind out of the gutter.

A safe space to act out your ‘Wordle’ fantasies.
Credit: Screenshot: Lewdle

4. Primel

This is technically a game, but for the mathematically-challenged, it’s an instrument of torture. With Primel, the goal is to guess a five-digit prime number instead of a five-letter word. The mere thought of a five-digit prime number is panic-inducing, but to each their own.

I already hate this.
Credit: Screenshot: Primel / Onverged.Yt

5. Sweardle

Similar to Lewdle, Sweardle zeroes in on the human tendency to be inappropriate. The major difference is that it uses four-letter words instead of five. It may sound easy, but you’ll soon realize that the the lexicon of colorful language is quite extensive.

Nailed it.
Credit: Screenshot: Sweardle

6. Queerdle

Self-described as the “yassification of wordle,” Queerdle challenges your knowledge of LGBTQ+ vocabulary. Everything is basically the same as the original Wordle, except the words vary between four and eight letters and is sometimes two words. Why? “Because queerness can’t be contained,” according to the instructions by creator Jordan Bouvier.

Queerdle also takes suggestions for new LGBTQ+ words to include.
Credit: Screenshot: Queerdle / Jordan Bouvier

7.Taylordle

Making a Wordle clone is now becoming requisite for any stan community. And Swifties are nothing if not the ultimate stans. Using the same rules as the original, Taylordle is played with album titles, song lyrics, or really any Taylor Swift trivia, i.e. “scarf.” IYKYK.

If there’s a “Blank Space,” you know what to do.
Credit: Screenshot: Taylordle

8. Wordle-BTS

Not to be outdone by the Taylor Swift fandom, there’s also a version for K-pop band BTS, and the Army is already hooked. The rules of the game are the same, except with BTS-themed vocab. The tiles turn purple instead of green, which is of course a reference to the phrase “I Purple You.”

Put your BTS knowledge to the test.
Credit: Screenshot: hannahcode / WORDLE-BTS

9. Wordle Unlimited

If you’ve tackled the original Wordle, and all the Wordle clones, there’s Wordle Unlimited. It’s just like the game we know and love, except with unlimited words, so you don’t have to wait an entire day to play again. Plus, this version has a feature where you can enter a custom word and play with friends. Wordle purists might scoff, but we won’t “JUDGE.”

Play to your heart’s content.
Credit: Screenshot: Wordle Unlimited

10. Searchdle

Gleefully mocking the futility of SEO strategy, the rules of Searchdle are as follows: “Word length varies wildly (like SEO advice.) Words are random (like SEO data) but you can share your particular word with a friend (like SEO spam.)” It’s fun in a laughing-through-the-tears kind of way.

Play and learn about SEO at the same time.
Credit: Screenshot: Searchdle / @RyanJones, WTFSEO

11. Jewdle

For a word game based on vocabulary knowledge, it’s only fitting that there’s now a version celebrating Jewish culture’s contribution. Even if you’re not Jewish, Hebrew and Yiddish words are so ubiquitous that you’ll probably be able to make a few guesses. Mazel tov.

‘Jewdle’ also explains the meaning of the word if you get it right.
Credit: Screenshot: Jewdle / dabbles

12. Star Wordle

The Star Wars franchise has one of the most legendary followings of all time, so it’s no surprise that this fandom would jump on the Wordle bandwagon. Using vocabulary from Wookieepedia this version will test your knowledge of the galaxy far far away.

May the force be with you.
Credit: Screenshot: Star Wordle

13. Heardle

For the musically-inclined, this one is for you. Listen to just a second of music’s intro and guess the song. Each time you guess incorrectly, Heardle adds more of the song which brings down your score. You can also choose to add a second to the music for additional help. Plus, you get to listen to the whole song once when you guess right.

Test your musical knowledge.
Credit: Screenshot: ‘Heardle’ / Omaske

14. Worldle and Globle

These two Wordle spinoffs put your geographic skills to the test. Kind of like the game GeoGuessr, as Mashable’s Belen Edwards points out, the goal of Worldle is to guess the country based on its outlined border. You get six guesses and with each incorrect guess, the game gives you hints with the geographic distance and direction from the answer.

Without a sense of scale, this game can be tricky.
Credit: Screenshot: ‘Worldle’ / @teuteuf

With Globle, the goal is also to guess the correct country, but instead of beginning with the outline of a country, you start the game by guessing any country at random. The closer you are the correct country, the redder or “hotter” the guesses become.

Just start guessing.
Credit: Screenshot: ‘Globle’ / The Abe Train

This article was published in February 2022 and was updated in March 2022.

If Americans have learned anything about Ukrainian president Vlodomyr Zelensky in the weeks since Russia invaded his country, it’s that he’s a masterful media strategist. In trolling Russian president Vladimir Putin (“I don’t bite,” Zelensky said when suggesting negotiations, referencing Putin’s habit of sitting at the other end of long tables), as in mobilizing world opinion behind Ukraine, his prior experience as an actor and comedian has served him well.

Which is why this is a perfect time for western audiences to familiarize themselves with Zelensky’s Servant of the People — one of the most intriguing and historically important shows you could possibly watch right now. And you should watch, as much and as fast as you can — despite a bizarre number of obstacles in accessing the whole thing.

This is the TV show that ran in Ukraine for three seasons (plus a movie) from 2015 to 2018. Zelensky’s character is a history teacher who is unexpectedly elected president in a landslide after his students post a viral video of him complaining about corruption and crowdfund his campaign online. Life imitated art when Zelensky started a Servant of the People Party, ran for president in a campaign run almost entirely on social media, and won in a landslide.

It may not explain why Russia started this war as well as, say, The Death of Stalin (in which we see a megalomaniacal Russian leader and his cowed underlings who can’t even trust each other, let alone deliver bad news). Still, for outsiders, Servant of the People is something of a lesson in Ukrainian politics and culture, and yet the 24-minute episodes are easy to binge. The humor, a handful of references aside, is universal.

This is satire of the fast-moving, widely-accessible kind. The show consistently tells the terrible truth about real-life villains — the billionaire oligarchs who stop any government working for the people — in a way only the court jester of a hopeful democracy can.

Zelensky emerges from the show less a buffoon, more a heartfelt true believer in democracy. The nearest American analogue might be Jimmy Stewart in the classic Frank Capra movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, another great advertisement for democratic principles in dark times. In both stories a somewhat naive history-lover is elevated to high office, refuses to bow to corruption, suffers outrageous smears from the corrupt, and holds the line of morality with from-the-hip speeches.

Via Giphy

Servant of the People gives Mr. Smith a humor upgrade by way of Veep, with a little Walter Mitty-style daydreaming (Zelensky’s character, Vasily Petrovich Goloborodko, often finds himself talking to historical figures in his head). I also saw scenes and setups that reminded me of The Office, Parks and Rec, The Great, The Thick of It, Yes Prime Minister, Arrested Development, and if you’re chomping at the bit to watch it all after that name-checking, you’re my kind of people.

How to watch: with difficulty

But therein lies the trouble: Watching it all. After tracking down the world’s most wondered-about show, the best I can suggest is that you time-travel back a couple of years and convince yourself to watch it on Netflix in its entirety before it vanishes from the streaming service for still-unexplained reasons. Search for it on Netflix now and you’ll get redirected to Winter on Fire, the documentary on the 2014 protests that forced Ukraine’s pro-Putin, police-state-loving president Viktor Yanukovych to flee the country (which is well worth your time, but not exactly the same thing.)

If you’re in the UK, Servant of the People is now screening on Channel 4 — but at a painfully slow rate. Currently, just three episodes out of the 24 in season 1 are available on the UK-only All 4 streaming app. (Which is also pretty much what’s available on torrenting services; not that you’d ever check such things, of course.) The company that owns TV rights has been doing brisk sales, according to multiple reports, but will not reveal if there’s a U.S. taker yet. Given the amount of disinformation about Zelensky rife in certain dark corners of American politics — Rep. Madison Cawthorn was just caught on video calling Ukraine’s leader a “thug” — the show that proves the Putin apologists wrong can’t come to U.S. screens soon enough.

For now, would-be Servant of the People viewers are left with YouTube, where there is good and bad news. Good news: Zelensky’s own production company has uploaded every episode, so we’re talking high-quality transfers, not bad user rips. Bad news for English speakers: Most of the episodes offer only Russian subtitles. (Conversely, this is good news for anti-Putin forces in Russia, where the show was already popular, YouTube still isn’t banned, and Zelensky’s heroism needs to be kept top of mind.) Some of the episodes with English subtitles are more comprehensible than others. If YouTube wanted to do some good in the world, and thank Zelensky for the millions of ad impressions he’s brought to the online video giant, it could sink some money into a full-on worldwide Servant of the People translation project.

In the meantime, here’s a quick guide to the best Servant of the People viewing experience currently possible.

Episodes 1 and 2

The double-length premiere is a great place to start. Servant of the People wisely skips over the whole election part, dropping us into the story the morning that history teacher Vasily Petrovich Goloborodko (who lives with his family) learns his campaign for the president was successful. He’s then ushered through a dizzying round of interviews and makeovers by the prime minister, Yuri Ivanovich Chuiko, whose silky smoothness you would be right to distrust. The story of the viral video and the crowdfunding that kickstarted his campaign is told in flashback. And the shadowy oligarchs we’ll come to know later in the show are anonymous, their faces always covered by items of furniture as they plot nefarious schemes.

And here, in all its glory, is the joke that was cut when the show aired in Russia. Vasily is offered a range of expensive watches, and is told which one Putin favors. “Putin Hublot?” he says innocently — a phrase that sounds a lot like “Putin khuilo,” a Ukrainian football chant that translates roughly to “Putin is a dickhead.”

Episode 3

Episode 3 focuses on Vasily’s family; in an early sign of the corruption that will surround him everywhere he goes, his mother, father, niece and sister are seen promising government positions to their friends and receiving “100 percent discounts” at their favorite stores. (A shopping trip is in order after the family fears it won’t be able to dress as elegantly as Michelle Obama, who is said to be attending the inauguration.) The fourth wall shatters when a couple of policemen ask the family if they can “do something about” comedians who criticize the government.

Episode 4

Episode 4 opens with what is hands-down my favorite scene of the show: Vasily being shown around his swanky new presidential residence. He finds a chandelier so expensive that it caused the country to default on its debt during the 2008 financial crisis, and a parrot that squawks “no, you’re the idiot!” when it hears the name of ousted pro-Putin president Viktor Yanukovych; the show was actually filmed on the massive estate Yanukovych had vacated in a hurry less than two years earlier. Unfortunately the episode is the first to lose its English subtitles before the end, so if you want to see Zelensky’s character chatting about his inauguration address with Abraham Lincoln, you’ll need to watch this version.

Episode 5

Episode 5 may be my favorite episode overall — and certainly the show’s best example of physical comedy. In the first half, Vasily spends much of his time running away from his ridiculously large security detail. In the second, we’re introduced to his presidential predecessor, who has barricaded himself into his office with a shotgun and a bar full of booze. Much of the show hits differently now Russia has invaded Ukraine, but this is the first scene that hits differently in the wake of Donald Trump’s disastrous bid to cling on to power.

The quality of the English translation starts to go downhill with episode 6, in which Vasily falls out with his family, yells “Putin has been overthrown” to get the attention of squabbling deputies, and has a chat with Che Guevara. Subtitles then disappear early in episode 7. In episode 8, the show takes a turn towards screwball office comedy, as Vasily brings in a cabinet of outsiders like himself — only they all happen to be his old school pals. The show presents them as a cadre of trusted allies who are less likely to take bribes, but it’s hard for a viewer not to notice that such nepotism is a form of corruption in itself. In episodes 9 and 10, the oligarchs take a number of steps to bribe or bring down the new cabinet, including dosing one member with psychedelics.

As promising a plotline as that may be, we’re lost without English subtitles for the next 13 episodes. (You can try auto-translating the Russian captions, but good luck with that.) Which brings us to the last and most epic English language experience in the current canon:

Servant of the People 2: The Movie

After Season 1 was a huge hit, Zelensky and company repackaged a planned plotline from Season 2 as a (mercifully well-subtitled) 90-minute movie, Servant of the People 2. Here you’ll encounter mild spoilers; Yuri Ivanovich, the prime minister, is in jail, having been unmasked as a stooge of the oligarchs, and Vasily is dating an assistant who is also revealed to be one of their people.

To break up an alliance of the three most powerful oligarchs, Vasily and Yuri take a train to the east of the country (including, chillingly, several cities that are currently under heavy Russian bombardment). Classic road movie farce ensues. Meanwhile Ukraine has applied for a loan from the International Monetary Fund, which keeps piling on the onerous conditions even as Vasily’s hapless foreign minister tries to keep the IMF leadership drunk.

Vasily’s speech at the end of the movie responding to the IMF loan offer is a thing of beauty, and in retrospect can be applied to any situation where Ukraine has been pushed too far. “We’re not a border region between orcs and elves,” Vasily says. “We are a nation of open, clever and talented people. When we understand this, when we understand that stealing is bad, that we need to roll up our sleeves and work hard … Then the whole world will say ‘glory to Ukraine!'” Slava Ukraini indeed.

President Biden signed an executive order on digital assets, marking the first major attempt at governmental crypto regulation.

Have you seen that viral clip of Donald Trump talking to a few podcasters about the future of Ukraine and somehow going off on a tangent about windmills?

If you wanted to check out the whole video interview on YouTube, you can’t.

Tweet may have been deleted

The Full Send Podcast’s full video interview of former president Trump has been removed from YouTube for violating the platform’s community guidelines on misinformation. While the interview touched upon a wide range of topics, it seems that Trump’s continued lies about the 2020 presidential election resulted in the takedown of the video.

Tweet may have been deleted

“We removed this video for violating our election integrity policy, which prohibits content containing false claims that widespread fraud changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. presidential election,” said a YouTube spokesperson in a statement provided to Mashable. “We allow content with sufficient educational, documentary, scientific or artistic context, which the video we removed did not provide.”

Shortly after the video was taken down, Trump put out a statement comparing the YouTube video takedown to Russia’s censorship of its war in Ukraine.

“Whatever happened to free speech in our Country?,” reads Trump’s statement, later acknowledging the issue YouTube had was with his discussion of what he called the “Rigged 2020 Presidential Election.” (Note: The election was not rigged. President Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election.)

“Incredibly, but not surprisingly, the Big Tech lunatics have taken down my interview with the very popular NELK Boys so that nobody can watch it or in any way listen to it,” Trump continued. “In Russia, the people are not allowed to know that they’re fighting a war with Ukraine, that’s where our media is going, and that’s where our Country is going because it quickly follows—just study history.”

The Trump interview was hosted by the popular YouTubers known as the NELK Boys. The group is known for their viral prank videos and have over 7.2 million subscribers on their main YouTube channel. The NELK Boys also have a video podcast channel called the Full Send Podcast. 

Tweet may have been deleted

While the channel is usually known for its interviews with celebrities, online influencers, and UFC stars, the Full Send Podcast found itself getting extra political with its Trump interview.

According to host Kyle Forgeard, the Trump interview had received more than 5 million views within 24 hours before YouTube pulled the video.

Following the removal of the video, Trump supporters encouraged the NELK Boys to upload the full interview to the conservative alternative platform, Rumble. However, it seems those requests have been denied. The YouTubers are now hosting the full interview on its Full Send website, hosted by the video service Vimeo.

Need your solar panels cleaned? Fear not. HELIOS, an automated drone and robot duo, is here to help.

There’s nothing quite like hanging out in a hammock at the campsite. Imagine sitting in the woods in a hammock, cold drink in hand, surrounded by a bunch of friends. Immaculate vibes.

While most camping folks opt for hammocks to lounge in during the day and then move to their tent when it’s time to sleep, hammocks can actually be a space-efficient way to snooze in the outdoors — if you know what you’re looking for. Most regular hammocks aren’t comfortable enough to sleep in all night, and hammocks designed specifically for camping will have a lot of extra bells and whistles that will keep you cozy all night long.

Whether you’re backpacking, car camping, or just hanging outside for a few hours, we have all the best recommendations. Skip to the bottom to read about the hammocks we’ve tested and researched, or read on to learn about all the features you should look for in a camping hammock before you buy.

What to keep in mind when shopping for a camping hammock

• What are you going to use your hammock for? This is the main thing to address before you add a hammock to your online shopping cart. If you’re planning on using a hammock to hang out at base camp, read a book, or maybe take a nap, you won’t need to worry as much about an included rainfly, bug net, and other comfort-focused features. If you want to ditch your camping tent in favor of a hammock though, these features will become a lot more important. While some dedicated backpackers will opt to sleep in a hammock with no rain or bug coverage, most casual campers will appreciate the extra bug net and rainfly.

• Weight: Whether you’re hiking or driving to your campsite, it’s important to look for a hammock that won’t weigh you down. If you’re used to lugging a 20-pound air mattress on car camping trips, an average two-pound hammock shouldn’t matter, but if you’re backpacking, every ounce counts.

• How small can it pack down: Likewise, if you’re planning on bringing your hammock on a hike, you’ll want to look for one that can pack down pretty small. Most hammocks have the capacity to pack down into about the size of a football or smaller, and many have integrated stuff sacks.

• Weight capacity: Consider what kind of camping you plan on doing. If you’re going with your kids or a significant other, you may want to look for a hammock that can support more weight so you can comfortably hang out in one hammock.

• Suspension system: If you want a fast, easy setup and takedown, hammocks with no-knot suspension systems are a must. These often have to be purchased separately from the actual hammock, but they have the ability to cut your setup time down to just a few minutes and can allow you to set your hammock up on trees that would normally be too far apart. These no-knot systems can also protect trees, whereas rope suspension systems may damage bark on trees. Using rope as suspension is cheaper (and sometimes rope is included with hammocks) but you need to know how to tie knots really well if you want to string your hammock up that way.

• Comfort: While comfort is subjective, we recommend always investing in a high quality hammock that includes suspension straps and carabiners to keep you secure. If you’re planning on sleeping in your hammock overnight, a structural ridge line and the ability to lie flat are important, too.

• Bug net: If you’re particularly sensitive to insect bites or you know you’ll be frequently camping in an area dense with mosquitos, you may want to consider looking into a built-in bug net. External netting is also available but can be more of a hassle to set up.

• Rainfly: When forgoing the tent in favor of a hammock, it’s best to be safe and keep a rainfly handy. A rainfly isn’t just good for when it’s raining — it”ll also keep condensation, bugs, and foliage off of you while you sleep. Even if you don’t end up using it, you’ll be glad you have it.

With that in mind, we’ve pulled together some of the absolute best camping hammocks you can buy. Whether you’re looking for something that’ll take you through all four seasons, or you really just want something that’s quick and easy to assemble and take down, these are the hammocks you’ll actually want to hang out in.

The new Apple iPad Air (WiFi) is on sale at Walmart as of March 11:

• 64GB model — $559 $599 (save $40)

• 256GB model — $679 $749 (save $70)

Walmart is usually pretty quick to offer deals on new Apple products, but this might be a new personal best.

The big box store had the 2022 iPad Air on sale as of March 11 — as in, the tablet’s very first day on the market. (It’s technically still in its preorder phase but will start shipping out next Friday, March 18.) Grab the 64GB base model for only $559 or upgrade to the 256GB configuration for $679 to score a savings of $40 or $70, respectively.

FWIW, these are the tablet’s first and only discounts to date: Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and even the Apple website itself all had it listed at full price when we last checked.

Introduced at Apple’s “Peek Performance” event earlier this week, the fifth-generation iPad Air stars the M1 chip that was previously exclusive to last year’s powerful-but-pricey iPad Pro. This affords it “faster graphics performance, all-day battery life, better AR features, Smart HDR photos, and more,” says Mashable tech reporter Jennimai Nguyen.

Other highlights include 5G support and an Ultra Wide front camera with Apple’s Center Stage feature — two more firsts for the iPad Air lineup.

Explore related content:

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• iPhone SE (2022) vs iPhone SE (2020): What’s new and different?

• Apple’s new Mac Studio costs $8,000 completely maxed out — monitor not included

I’ll be upfront: I am not a sweet breakfast person. Most days my breakfast is a fried egg on a corn tortilla. Or a runny egg over leftovers. Or just eggs with hot sauce. You get the picture.

But I could see myself, every now and again, enjoying a breakfast of this cookie recipe from nourishedbynic or
Nicole Addison on TikTok. And lots of other people must enjoy it, too: It’s racked up nearly 10 million views.

It’s simple to make, pretty healthy, and not overly sweet like, you know, a real cookie cookie. Here’s what you need to know about making it.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup oats

• 1/2 banana, mashed

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 scoop protein powder

• 1 tbsp coconut oil

• 1 tbsp of milk of choice

• Cinnamon, to taste

• Chocolate chips, to taste

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients, except the chocolate chips, in a large mixing bowl.

2. In the basket of your air fryer, lay down a piece of parchment paper, just larger than the desired size of your cookie.

3. Form the dough into a large ball, then smash down on the parchment paper. It should be roughly half an inch thick.

4. Top the cookie with chocolate chips.

5. Air fry at 360 degrees for 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Here’s how the process from Addison looked in the TikTok.

Credit: Screenshots: TikTok / @nourishedbynic

The details

Not to steal from a living culinary legend…but to steal from a living culinary legend…how easy is that? The process for making breakfast cookies was super simple. If I didn’t slow down for filming and photos, I think I could have made this breakfast in like 13 minutes, just a few of which would have involved actually doing anything. Just mash a bunch of stuff together, shape it into a puck, and air fry. Simple.

The only real tip I have about the beginning of the cooking process is concerning the mashed banana. In the TikTok from Addison, she mashes the banana in the big bowl with everything else. I did this step separately and I think it helped ensure the banana spread throughout the cookie instead of clumping to oats while being mashed. Here’s how all my ingredients looked in the bowl.

Mmmmmm oat mash.
Credit: Mashable

From there, I cut some parchment to size, then placed it in my air fryer. I then carefully rolled and smooshed — technical cooking term — my dough into a cookie shape on the parchment. Then I topped with chocolate chips and it looked like this. Neither brain science nor rocket surgery.

Looks kind of cookie-ish, no?
Credit: Mashable

Now Addison, in the TikTok comments, suggested air frying for 10 minutes at 360 degrees. My cookie turned out fine with those instructions, but the exterior was definitely a bit more charred than I would’ve liked. Keep an eye on your cookie because I suspect, with some air fryer models, you might want to cook for about eight minutes instead of 10. Here was my final product.

Little burnt? Sure. Tastes good? Yes.
Credit: Mashable

The verdict? It’s good. Not mind-blowing, but a good, quick breakfast. It tasted like baked oats in a cookie shape. And you know why? Because it was basically baked oats in a cookie shape.

But that’s not a bad thing. The interior of the cookie was soft, fluffy, and tasty. There was enough sweetness from the banana and protein powder that there was no need for any added sugars. I split the cookie with (Borat voice) my wife and it was a nice midday snack.

I remain an egg-based breakfast person. You cannot change from savory to sweet overnight. There is nothing like a fried egg on a corn tortilla. Never gets old. But should I get the urge to mix things up, I could absolutely see this cookie in my future.

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