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While a sentient AI is a thoroughly freaky concept, it’s not (yet) a reality. But a racist and sexist AI? Unfortunately, very much a reality.

In a recent interview with Wired, engineer and mystic Christian priest Blake Lemoine discussed why he believes that Google’s large language model named LaMDA has become sentient, complete with a soul. While that claim has been refuted by many in the artificial intelligence community and has resulted in Lemoine being placed on paid administrative leave by Google, Lemoine also explained how he began working on LaMDA.

His journey with the AI started with a much more real-world problem: examining the model for harmful biases in relation to sexual orientation, gender, identity, ethnicity, and religion.

“I do not believe there exists such a thing as an unbiased system,” said Lemoine to Wired. “The question was whether or not [LaMDA] had any of the harmful biases that we wanted to eliminate. The short answer is yes, I found plenty.”

Lemoine also explained that the Google team has done a good job repairing these biased “bugs,” as far as he could tell. When asked whether LaMDA showed racist or sexist tendencies, Lemoine answered carefully, stating that he “wouldn’t use that term.” Instead, he claims “the real question is whether or not the stereotypes it uses would be endorsed by the people that [LaMDA is] talking about.”

Lemoine’s hesitancy to label LaMDA’s “bugs” as outright racist or sexist highlights an ongoing battle within the AI community, where many have spoken out about the harmful stereotypes that AI systems often perpetuate. But when those who do speak out about these issues are largely Black women — and those women are subsequently fired from companies like Google — many feel that it falls on men in tech like Lemoine to continue to call attention to AI’s current bias problems, rather than confound researchers’ and the public’s attention span with claims of AI sentience.

“I don’t want to talk about sentient robots, because at all ends of the spectrum there are humans harming other humans, and that’s where I’d like the conversation to be focused,” said former Google Ethical AI team co-lead Timnit Gebru to Wired.

Artificial intelligence faces long history of harmful stereotypes, and Google is not new to or unaware of these issues.

In 2015, Jacky Alciné tweeted about Google Photos tagging 80 photos of a Black man to an album titled “gorillas.” Google Photos learned how to do so using a neural network, which analyzed enormous sets of data in order to categorize subjects like people and gorillas — clearly, incorrectly.

It was the responsibility of Google engineers to ensure that the data used to train its AI photosystem was correct and diverse. And when it failed, it was their responsibility to rectify the issue. According to the New York Times, Google’s response was to eliminate “gorilla” as a photo category, rather than retrain its neural network.

Companies like Microsoft, IBM, and Amazon also face the same biased AI issues. At each of these companies, the AI used to power facial recognition technology encounter significantly higher error rates when identifying the sex of women with darker skin tones than when compared to sex identification of lighter skin, as reported by the Times.

In 2020, Gebru published a paper with six other researchers, four of whom also worked at Google, criticizing large language models like LaMDA and their propensity to parrot words based on the datasets that they learn from. If those datasets contain biased language and/or racist or sexist stereotypes, then AIs like LaMDA would repeat those biases when generating language. Gebru also criticized training language models with increasingly larger datasets, allowing the AI to learn to mimic language even better and convincing audiences of progress and sentience, as Lemoine fell into.

After a dispute over this paper, Gebru says Google fired her in December 2020 (the company maintains she resigned). A few months later, Google also fired Dr. Margaret Mitchell, founder of the ethical AI team, a co-author of the paper, and defender of Gebru.

Despite a supposed commitment to “responsible AI,” Google still faces ethical AI problems, leaving no time for sentient AI claims

After the drama and admitted hit to its reputation, Google promised to double its responsible AI research staff to 200 people. And according to Recode, CEO Sundar Pichai pledged his support to fund more ethical AI projects. And yet, the small group of people still on Google’s ethical AI team feel that the company might no longer listen to the group’s ideas.

After Gebru and Mitchell’s departure in 2021, two more prominent ethical AI team members left a year later. Alex Hanna and Dylan Baker quit Google to work for Gebru’s research institute, DAIR, or Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research. The already small team grew even smaller and perhaps points to why Lemoine, who is not on the ethical AI team, was asked to step in and research LaMDA’s biases in the first place.

As more and more societal functions turn to AI systems in their advancement, it’s more important than ever to continue to examine how AI’s underpinnings affect its functions. In an already often racist and sexist society, we cannot afford to have our police systems, transportation methods, translation services, and more rely on technology that has racism and sexism built into its foundations. And, as Gebru points out, when (predominantly) white men in technology choose to focus on issues like AI sentience rather than these existing biases — especially when that was their original purpose, like Lemoine’s involvement with LaMDA — the biases will continue to proliferate, hidden away under the hullabaloo of robot sentience.

“Quite a large gap exists between the current narrative of AI and what it can actually do,” said Giada Pistilli, an ethicist at Hugging Face, to Wired. “This narrative provokes fear, amazement, and excitement simultaneously, but it is mainly based on lies to sell products and take advantage of the hype.”

Hasbro, famous owners of Nerf and Death Row Records have introduced a new mascot to market their popular foam dart-maker.

Made up of many, many Nerf darts and rocking an orange basketball jersey with matching orange shoes, Murph (who uses they/them pronouns), will be the toy brand’s first-ever mascot. The marketing campaign titled ‘Unleash the play in you’ will have Murph appearing in everything from ads, stores, and across Nerf’s social media channels — so you can’t avoid Murph even if you really wanted to.

According to AdWeek, the faceless anthropomorphic character is described as “a playful spirit and gifted athlete.” In a press release from Adam Kleinman, global VP of Nerf’s parent company Hasbro, he said that Murph “represents this ageless, unbridled fun that lives in all of us and creates a physical embodiment of that feeling you get when you play with Nerf.”

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Reactions to Murph have been strong, with people across the internet describing them as “nightmarish,” “terrifying,” and downright creepy. There hasn’t been a mascot that has captured the attention of Twitter so well since Gritty. If the Philadelphia Flyers mascot was able to win the hearts and minds of the internet, then so can Murph. You can read more reactions below.

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Feel like breaking out in song? Or at least, watching other people do it?

Of course, music fans regularly turn to Netflix for concert documentaries, like Taylor Swift’s Miss Americana, and series with killer soundtracks, like Bridgerton. But if you spend some time browsing the musical genre category on Netflix, you’ll find the streaming service also has a treasure trove of Broadway-caliber musicals (“musical” defined in this case as any story in which the music directly influences the plot and/or a major character consistently performs music as part of their arc) waiting for you.

If that sounds good, start up the orchestra and draw back the curtain. Here are 15 of the catchiest, most dazzling, all-around best musicals Netflix streaming right now.

15. The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience

At a short 30 minutes, The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience is a snack-sized Netflix musical. It is also by far the strangest. Described in our review as a “Lemonade-style visual album complete with spoken word poetry and rap tracks about Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco’s baseball careers in the late ’80s,” almost nothing about The Lonely Island’s surprise-dropped pet project makes sense, in the best way possible. There are cardboard cutouts of Kathy Ireland, cameos galore, tons of bizarre costumes, and a soundtrack that frankly slaps. It only takes one listen of “IHOP Parking Lot” to get the insanely catchy “shake that nasty butt” line stuck in one’s head forever, and the rest of the songs are infinitely memorable. — Alexis Nedd, Senior Entertainment Reporter

Best song: “IHOP Parking Lot”
How to watch: The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience is now streaming on Netflix.

14. Shrek the Musical

“Shrek the musical” may not be synonymous with big-time Broadway success, but the 2008 production from Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire is a perfectly reasonable good time. Brian D’Arcy James’ take on Shrek and Daniel Breaker’s on the Donkey are loads of fun, but the best number in the show belongs to Sutton Foster’s Fiona and two younger versions of the character.

As a child, Fiona is imprisoned in the highest room of the tallest tower, guarded by a vicious dragon. She passes time by singing and reading stories of other fabled princesses…only to realize that what they all have in common is the endless waiting. Years go by as Fiona grows into a teenager and finally an adult, trying to stay optimistic while waiting for her prince to arrive any day. Foster’s version finally snaps, destroying her story books and belting out a plea to God. Fiona always did know how to strip the glamor away from princess life. — Proma Khosla, Entertainment Reporter

Best song: “I Know It’s Today”
How to watch: Shrek the Musical is now streaming on Netflix.

13. tick, tick…BOOM!

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s feature directorial debut packs a potent musical theater punch from every angle. He brings to life the selective reality and theatrical phantasmagoria of Rent writer Jonathan Larson’s life and career, based on an autobiographical show from 1992.

Miranda, whose In the Heights was spectacularly adapted for film by Jon M. Chu, proves as adept at moving from stage to screen as he does sucking the marrow of his medium. Andrew Garfield fully inhabits Larson, from voice to body to towering, buzzing hair and a frenetic urgency to create — to write, to sing, to matter, as Larson so clearly did to legions of dreamers who followed. — P.K.*

Best song: “Come to Your Senses.”
How to watch: tick, tick…BOOM! is now streaming on Netflix.

12. Les Misérables

Whatever influence the mesmeric dumpster fire that is Cats had on your opinion of director Tom Hooper, his 2012 film adaptation of Les Misérables set a new standard for stage productions cranking up to their utmost epic-ness for the big screen. Anne Hathaway, who received the Best Supporting Actress Oscar she deserved for her take on Fantine, absolutely brings the house down with her rendition of “I Dreamed A Dream” — and just shy of a decade later, that makes it worth watching the entire two hour and 38 minute film over again. Even the rambling bits with Hugh Jackman, which we promise do in fact come to an end. Eventually. — Alison Foreman, Entertainment Reporter

Best song: “I Dreamed A Dream”
How to watch: Les Misérables is now streaming on Netflix.

11. Over the Moon

Young Fei Fei is enchanted by the story of the moon goddess Chang’e and the legend of her lover. Still mourning the death of her mother, Fei Fei takes unkindly to her father finding new love and decides to build a rocket to the moon to find Chang’e. She finds a magical world beyond her imagining and must reconcile the fantasy of the moon with the life that awaits her on Earth. Cathy Ang, Phillipa Soo, Ken Jeong, John Cho, Ruthie Ann Miles, Margaret Cho, and Sandra Oh star, so yes, Over the Moon is a powerhouse lineup of Asian American acting talent. — P.K. *

Best song: “Ultraluminary”
How to watch: Over the Moon is now streaming on Netflix.

10. The Prom

Get ready to dance through The Prom, a bubbly celebration of inclusion and being yourself. The Prom features an all-star cast including Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, James Corden, and Andrew Rannells, who play washed-up Broadway actors in need of an image boost. When Emma, a lesbian student in Indiana, wants to bring her girlfriend to prom, the bigoted PTA threatens to cancel the event all together. The Broadway performers see this as a chance to nab some positive publicity and go to Indiana to help Emma out. The Prom has trouble keeping its balance at times, often focusing too much on the Broadway stars and not enough on Emma’s journey. However, its musical numbers, ranging from emotional ballads like “Unruly Heart” to high energy set pieces like “Love Thy Neighbor,” are fun and full of heart. — Belen Edwards, Entertainment Reporter

Best song: “Unruly Heart”

How to watch: The Prom is now streaming on Netflix.

9. Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

What do you get when you combine Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams, and the iconic Eurovision Song Contest? A fun movie filled with absolute bangers. Ferrell and McAdams play a musical duo representing Iceland at Eurovision, where they face fierce competition and even fiercer songs. Prepare to have “Lion of Love” and “Jaja Ding Dong” stuck in your head for all eternity, keep your eyes peeled for past Eurovision contestants during the “Song-a-long,” and make sure you have some tissues ready for the show stopping “Husavik.” It will make you proud to be from Iceland, even if you aren’t Icelandic. — B.E.

Best song: “Husavik (My Hometown)”
How to watch: Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is now streaming on Netflix.

8. Been So Long

Adapted from the musical of the same name, Been So Long offers a dreamy look at a chance encounter between two people in desperate need of a break from reality. With electric interactions between stars Michaela Coel and Arinzé Kene, this poppy romance will have you from the moment the first words are sung — and won’t let go until the very last verse.

Bee So Long blends deeply effective yet understated performances and an over-the-top escapist atmosphere to instantly transport viewers outside their living rooms. Fans of Coele’s parts in in Chewing Gum and I May Destroy You will certainly be struck by the actor’s unwavering ability to embody power and vulnerability, which she does so again in this true hidden gem. — A.F. *

Best song: “Primus Humanus”
How to watch: Been So Long is now streaming on Netfix.

7. My Fair Lady

Audrey Hepburn played no shortage of iconic roles, but one of her best known is as cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. When arrogant linguist Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) laments the “degradation” of the English language with accents like Eliza’s, he makes a bet that he can teach her to speak like a proper English lady and pass her off as such as an upcoming ball.

As the teacher and pupil come to know each other, their lessons become more than educational, leading to a sweeping musical romance. My Fair Lady features iconic songs like “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” “On The Street Where You Live,” and “The Rain in Spain.” —A.N.*

Best song: “On the Street Where You Live”
How to watch: My Fair Lady is now streaming on Netflix.

6. The Get Down

Baz Lurhmann’s luxurious mind gave the world Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge, that weird Great Gatsby adaptation, and Netflix’s The Get Down. Taking place in the south Bronx in the late ’70s, right at the cusp of disco and the rise of hip hop, The Get Down follows a group of young men who discover the incomparable sound of a mysterious DJ and become The Get Down Brothers, a fictional rap group that nonetheless interacts with real-life legends like Grandmaster Flash. Its fast-paced editing and artistic imaginings of the Bronx are reminiscent of Lurhmann’s other work but remain unique, and its music is some of the best in any Netflix original offering. — A.N.

Best song: “Get Down Brothers vs. Notorious 3”
How to watch: The Get Down is now streaming on Netflix.

5. Jingle Jangle

Shut up and embrace the magic of Christmas with Jingle Jangle, a delightful original musical about family, toys, and inheritable mechanical ingenuity.

Forrest Whittaker stars as Jeronicus Jangle, a formerly genius toymaker who thinks he’s lost everything. But his daughter Jessica (literal Disney princess Anika Noni Rose) and granddaughter Journey (newcomer Madalen Mills) come back into his life to reignite the spark that makes their family special. Ricky Martin, Phylicia Rashad, and Keegan Michael Key also star in unforgettable roles that play together to make Jingle Jangle an instant holiday classic. — A.N. *

Best Song: “Miles and Miles”
How to watch: Jingle Jangle is now streaming on Netflix.

4. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham is a classic and beloved Bollywood movie soundtrack, but “Yeh Ladka Hai Allah” rarely gets its due. This is the rare Bollywood number that has it all and puts it on full display while Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan) attends Anjali’s (Kajol) best friend’s wedding. Like “Bole Chudiyan” in the same movie, it’s a boisterous group number rooted in cultural celebration, and like “Suraj Hua Maddham” a mere 10 minutes earlier, it basks in the legendary chemistry of Khan and Kajol, who move seamlessly from sweet flirtation to playful rivalry to full on eye-fucking (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai gazebo scene, here is your obligatory shout out).

The song is diegetic as part of the wedding festivities, but with just enough of a fantasy element for our characters to explore unspoken emotions and break into choreographed dances they definitely never rehearsed. — P.K.

Best song: “Yeh Ladki Hai Allah”

How to watch: Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham is now streaming on Netflix.

3. Vivo

Vivo makes such sweet, beautiful music on Netflix.

The animated feature from writers Quiara Alegría Hudes and Kirk DeMicco, who also directs, tells the story of the eponymous kinkajou. The furry little singing-and-dancing cutie pie named Vivo sets out on a journey from Havana to Miami, hoping to fulfill the dying wish of his best friend and musical partner, Andrés. Along the way he finds help from an unlikely source: Gabi, the music-loving (but rhythmically dense) niece to Andrés who also happens to be a sweet-natured agent of chaos.

Their emotional journey is propelled most of all by song. That’s where Vivo‘s true superpower lies. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote them all, and he infuses each with crackling energy as the voice of Vivo. Alongside Gabi actor Ynairaly Simo, the two embark on a deeply moving adventure that’s all but guaranteed to leave you in joyous, heartfelt tears. — Adam Rosenberg, Senior Entertainment Reporter

Best Song: “My Own Drum.”
How to watch: Vivo is now streaming on Netflix.

2. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

If Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom can’t quite escape the rhythms of the stage (it’s based on a play by August Wilson), it’s more than dynamic enough to hold its own as a movie. Set during an eventful recording session in 1927 Chicago, the film is at once a full-throated tribute to the “Mother of the Blues,” a lively celebration of Black culture and its place in history, and a sharp exploration of racial dynamics then and now — not to mention a stunning showcase for its cast, including Viola Davis as the towering legend of the title and Chadwick Boseman in his thrilling, heartbreaking final performance. — Angie Han, Deputy Entertainment Editor *

Best song: “Deep Moaning Blues”
How to watch: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is now streaming on Netflix.

1. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

All four seasons of Rachel Bloom’s magical, emotional musical extravaganza are on Netflix, so if you didn’t originally catch the CW charmer during its 2015-2019 run, you’re in for a real treat. The show follows a woman after she moves across the country to get her high school boyfriend back — but of course, it’s actually a lot more nuanced than that. Smartly tackling mental illness, love, the patriarchy, and the lies we tell ourselves, the dark comedy will consistently make you laugh (sometimes joyfully, sometimes more so out of recognizable secondhand cringe). Fair warning: The original songs (over 150!) about modern dating horrors will get stuck in your head, and you will sing along. — Erin Strecker, Entertainment Editor

Best song: “You Stupid Bitch” (But there are oh-so-many contenders!)
How to watch: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is now streaming on Netflix.

Asterisks (*) indicate the entry comes from a previous Mashable list.

To gently land a rocket ship on the surface of Mars one must overcome the most ornery physics.

When a spacecraft returns to Earth, the relatively thick atmosphere helps slow down that speeding bullet. But on Mars, the aerodynamics are not so friendly. The atmosphere is much thinner, with the densest Martian air only about as thick as what you’ll find on Earth at 100,000 feet above sea level, more than three times the altitude of Mount Everest’s peak.

Of over 40 missions sent to Mars, fewer than half have been successful, according to NASA.

And they want to send people there?

“I call it the anti-Goldilocks atmosphere,” said Jim Reuter, NASA associate administrator for the space technology mission directorate. “It’s thick enough that it causes you problems and not thin enough to help you.”

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But space scientists think they’ve figured out how to pull more drag out of literal thin air.

Engineers have developed new hardware — an inflatable heat shield — that might be the key. Called a Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator, or HIAD, the technology could help NASA land astronauts and massive cargo loads on the Red Planet in the late 2030s.

Now a team at the space agency’s Langley Research Center in Virginia is ready to test its mettle in space. Earlier this week, scientists and engineers gathered to see the heat shield inflated for the final time on Earth before it shoots into orbit on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket in November.

The mission, known as the Bernard Kutter Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator — LOFTID for short — will take the experiment up with a weather satellite on a trip around Earth that passes over the North and South poles. The heat shield will stay put until after the satellite’s delivery, then will inflate as the spacecraft returns to Earth.

At a small demo on Wednesday, the gunmetal-gray-shrouded heat shield, looking like a giant mushroom cap, ballooned out in a cavernous laboratory. The contraption was 20-feet-wide, about the size of a small carousel, with a catwalk stretched overtop for scientists and engineers to cross it.

Since NASA began in 1958, the agency has relied on rocket engines and rigid aeroshell heat shields to land spacecraft. The aeroshell is a protective cover, shielding the lander from the scorching heat of reentry.

From the first crewless Viking mission in the 1970s to NASA’s most recent Curiosity rover launched in 2011, engineers have used the same heat shield technology to get to Mars.

But the classic technology is limiting. A hard aeroshell can only be as big as the diameter of a rocket’s nose cone, which holds the lander. The larger the aeroshell, though, the heavier the loads can be. For sending astronauts to Mars, scientists say they’ll need to land about 20 to 45 tons. So far, they’ve only landed less than two tons on the Martian ground.

Reliance on the old method has also constrained spacecraft landings to Mars’ northern lowlands, below the base elevation level on the Red Planet, said Joe Del Corso, the project manager at Langley.

“I call it the anti-Goldilocks atmosphere.”

That’s how an inflatable heat shield could come in handy.

The system is composed of a stack of inner-tube-like rings strapped together. Its synthetic material is 15 times stronger than steel and able to withstand temperatures over 2,900 degrees Fahrenheit. The idea is to deploy it higher up in Mars’ atmosphere, expanding NASA’s touchdown options throughout the Martian southern highlands.

It’s a more realistic solution than bundles of parachutes the size of football fields or tens of extra tons of rocket fuel, the experts said.

“With classic technology, you can land about 1.5 metric tons. That’s the equivalent of a well-instrumented golf cart,” Del Corso told Mashable. “With 20 to 40 metric tons, we’re talking about a ranch house, fully furnished with a car in the carport. That’s what you have to have.”

The $93 million mission is a partnership with United Launch Alliance, which will provide the ride and the recovery of the NASA equipment after the launch. The rocket will take off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. If all goes according to plan, the heat shield will slow down the LOFTID vehicle from over 25 times the speed of sound to under 610 mph.

The inflated system will then separate and splash down into the Pacific Ocean with a parachute near Hawaii. During the descent, it will eject a data recorder storing information about the flight that a boat will retrieve from the water.

There’s something in the mission for ULA, too. The new heat shield technology could help them recover spent boosters for reuse, said Barb Egan, the company’s civil space program director, referring to a notoriously expensive aspect of space travel. The business hopes to one day use it for its Vulcan heavy-lift rocket, whose thrusters make up about 60 percent of each launch cost.

“This is a giant leap in aeroshell technology,” Egan said, “to be able to bring our engines back quickly, easily, safely, and reuse that technology rather than throw it away.”

It’s summertime and you know what that means: time to sit inside, hide from the sun, and read tweets online.

Alright, maybe you shouldn’t do that. For real, after you read this post you should go outside. Feel the sun. Go for a walk. Touch grass, as the kids say.

But first, read this post. Because hey, balance is the key to life or something like that. A little bit of being online never hurt anyone. Anyway, here they are, the 11 funniest and best tweets of the week.

1. It’s one trip to the dry cleaners, how much could it possibly cost, $800?

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2. Whatever Cher is up to in this tweet, I want some more of it, please.

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3. We used to build things in this country. We used to make things beautiful for beauty’s sake. Somewhere along the way we lost that.

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4. I don’t have to come out of anywhere, copper. I can do whatever I damn well please.

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5. An obligatory dril post for you to enjoy.

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6. This is a fantastic Stranger Things-related joke.

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7. We need to give this poor artist a rest. But the art is pretty good…

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8. OK, this is a very real thing. And I didn’t believe the eels would ever show up. It had been such a journey. But guess what? My guy actually got his eels. And it was beautiful.

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9. This isn’t weird. This is perfectly normal.

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10. One of many good memes about Ryan Gosling as Ken.

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11. And finally, this. If you don’t get it, I am sorry. But if you get it, it has been a long time coming.

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If you’re burning through your 2022 movie watchlist, you’re not alone. We’ve watched some killer sci-fi. We’re making our way through TV from the ’90s. We signed up for Peacock and Paramount+. Yet still we crave more content!

Luckily for truly everyone involved, streaming libraries are constantly in flux. That can be sad when your favorite show or movie leaves a known platform, but feels like a personal victory every time you see something new you were dying to watch. We looked at one of streaming’s overlooked movie libraries on Amazon Prime Video to find the best movies added in the last six months. It’s an exciting mix of new releases, old favorites, and Amazon originals, and we can’t wait to devour it.

Here are our favorite top-reviewed new movies that were recently added to Prime Video streaming:

1. Tombstone

In the realm of modern Westerns, Tombstone has few rivals. The “based on true events” story of Wyatt Earp and his brothers taking down the last of the notorious Cowboy gang is a wild ride at every turn. And we haven’t even mentioned the cast yet.

Kurt Russell stars as history’s most famous Earp, with Bill Paxton and known “B-I-T-C-H” Sam Elliott playing brothers Morgan and Virgil. Riding at their side is another historic Wild West figure, John Henry “Doc” Holliday, who is played by Val Kilmer in one of his most beloved and memorable roles. They face off against a gang of Cowboys led by William “Curly Bill” Brocious, an infamous real-life outlaw played here by Deadwood fave Powers Boothe.

How to watch: Tombstone is now streaming on Prime Video.

2. Good Morning, Vietnam

Robin Williams had a tremendous talent for comedy, but his best work as an actor was often more complex and nuanced. Good Morning, Vietnam is when the wider world of moviegoers first started to see that. Director Barry Levinson’s war film is a little bit comedy, a little bit drama, and a whole lot of tremendous acting from the late star and co-star Forest Whitaker.

Williams stars as Adrian Cronauer, a radio DJ who heads to Saigon in 1965 for a job with the Armed Forces Radio Service during the Vietnam War. Cronauer’s big personality and irreverent sense of humor are a hit on air, but censorship struggles at work and a growing connection with the local population reveal to him some darker truths about the war and the U.S. role in it.

How to watch: Good Morning, Vietnam is now streaming on Prime Video.

3. A League of Their Own

For sports comedies, it doesn’t get much better than A League of Their Own. This classic tells a fictionalized account of the beginning of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which ran in the ‘40s and ‘50s as women were replacing men in many occupations during and after World War II. A League of Their Own follows the beginnings of the league and the newly forming team, the Rockford Peaches, on their journey to the league’s first World Series.

The movie is both heartwarming and hilarious with great performances by legendary actors including Geena Davis, Madonna, and Tom Hanks. — Kellen Beck, Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: A League of Their Own is now streaming on Prime Video.

4. Black Swan

Thirsty for a sensational and sexy psychological thriller? Then you’ll want to leap into the thrall and frenzy of Darren Aronofsky’s universally heralded Black Swan. In an Academy Award-winning role, Natalie Portman stars as a ballerina poised to snatch the coveted lead in Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. However, the New York Ballet scene is one of brutality and ferocious competition.

A bitter has-been (Winona Ryder), a relentless artistic director (Vincent Cassel), a sensual rival (Mila Kunis), and a harping stage mom (Barbara Hershey) push her body and mind to their breaking points. Bones crack, synapses snap, and…are those feathers sprouting out from her back? Swirled with surreal sequences, this fascinating film ushers audiences into its heroine’s splintering psyche, which bleeds with lust, ambition, and nightmares. The result is beguiling, haunting, and uniquely exciting. Dare you join the dance? — Kristy Puchko, Deputy Entertainment Editor

How to watch: Black Swan is now streaming on Prime Video.

5. White Men Can’t Jump

In 1992, Hollywood served audiences a sports team-up for the ages: Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. In White Men Can’t Jump, the two star as street ballers who are friends and frenemies in equal measures. Harrelson is Billy Hoyle, a former college phenom with big dreams who survives day to day by hustling his way through games where people assume they’ll get an easy win from the tall and lanky white guy. But Sydney Deane (Snipes), one of the best players around, sees Billy for who he is.

A contentious friendship forms between the two naturally competitive men as they agree to join forces and stage a bigger con than Hoyle could manage solo. But Billy’s proclivity for self-sabotage is an albatross he carries everywhere, from owing money to the mob to constantly letting down his brilliant trivia whiz of a wife, Gloria (Rosie Perez), who just wants to live the dream of being a Jeopardy! contestant.

How to watch: White Men Can’t Jump is now streaming on Prime Video.

6. O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Pick any movie from sibling filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, and you’re bound to have a good time. But O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a clear all-timer. The Coens’ wry retelling of Homer’s Odyssey plays out against the banjo-picking backdrop of backwoods Mississippi during the Great Depression. It’s a beautifully composed and shot production that’s crammed wall-to-wall with toe-tapping folk music.

George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson star as Ulysses Everett McGill, Pete, and Delmar O’Donnell, a trio of chain gang escapees who hit the road together and have a series of adventures as they try to evade the long arm of the law. They’re ostensibly on a hunt for Everett’s long-lost buried treasure, but O Brother is less about the treasure than it is the journey it takes to get there.

How to watch: O Brother, Where Art Thou? is now streaming on Prime Video.

7. Enemy of the State

What an upsettingly prescient story Enemy of the State turned out to be.

Director Tony Scott’s 1998 political thriller about a man who sees something he shouldn’t have is a terrifying consideration of the U.S. surveillance state. The unlucky citizen is labor lawyer Robert Dean (Will Smith) and the thing he shouldn’t have seen is an NSA official (Jon Voight) overseeing the politically motivated murder of a sitting Congressman. When those nefarious powers-that-be learn that Dean was unexpectedly (and unknowingly) handed a video of the incident, he’s quickly marked for public ruination and death.

This is vintage ’90s-era Smith, with Enemy of the State capping off a four-year run of hit blockbusters, following Bad Boys, Independence Day, and Men in Black. (The less we speak of 1999’s Wild Wild West, the better.) He’s a more subdued version of himself than he was in the three preceding releases, but this underrated classic — which also features Regina King, Lisa Bonet, and an early career appearance from Jack Black — is still a gripping must-see.

Where to watch: Enemy of the State is now streaming on Prime Video.

8. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure

The epic time-twisting journeys of Bill S. Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter) and Ted “Theodore” Logan (Keanu Reeves) should need no introduction. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and its two sequels — Bogus Journey and Face the Music are both also available on Prime Video — are forever burned into our pop culture consciousness.

When the two music-loving, airhead high schoolers find themselves under the gun on an end-of-year history project, all seems lost — until a mysterious visitor arrives. Rufus (George Carlin) was sent back from the future in a phone booth-shaped time machine to get Bill and Ted back on track with their lives. Turns out, these two bozos are going to one day use their music to bring out world peace. But that’s not going to happen if they don’t finish high school, and putting together a killer project with contributions from historic figures like Billy the Kid (Dan Shor), Beethoven (Clifford David), and Socrates (Tony Steedman) is the only way to pull it off.

How to watch: Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is now streaming on Prime Video.

9. The Sixth Sense

The Sixth Sense is where we learned that filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan knows how to mess with an audience.

The movie’s central twist is a well-executed shock if you can somehow manage to go in unspoiled more than two decades after its 1999 release. But The Sixth Sense is a capable and creepy thriller beyond that.

Bruce Willis stars as Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist whose latest patient, Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment), claims to possess a unique ability: he can talk to the dead. Or, to quote Cole himself in the movie’s most iconic line, “I see dead people.” Crowe’s efforts to help the child take him to some spooky places as a growing number of questions pile up about what the hell is actually going on here.

There is an answer. If you don’t know it, you really should set aside the time to watch The Sixth Sense and find out.

How to watch: The Sixth Sense is now streaming on Prime Video.

10. Road to Perdition

Road to Perdition is director Sam Mendes’ follow-up to his Oscar-winning breakout, American Beauty. It tends to get overlooked as a result, but you shouldn’t miss this noir-vibed crime drama starring Tom Hanks and featuring a powerhouse ensemble that includes Tyler Hoechlin, Paul Newman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jude Law, Stanley Tucci, and Daniel Craig.

Hanks plays Michael Sullivan, a Great Depression-era mobster who is forced to go on the lam with his son Michael Jr. (Hoechlin) after a partially successful attempt on his family’s life leaves his wife (Leigh) and younger son dead. But it’s a complicated situation. Michael was very close with his boss, John Rooney (Newman), but that closeness became a sore subject for John’s adult son Connor (Craig) — so much so that he organized the hit himself. Michael, meanwhile, is left to grieve and seek vengeance while he also tries to figure out for the first time how to really be a parent.

Based on a graphic novel and shot with all the beautiful intensity that source material would suggest, Road to Perdition is a dark, stylish, and thoroughly engrossing examination of loss, father-son relationships, and cycles of violence.

How to watch: Road to Perdition is now streaming on Prime Video.

11. Top Gun

It feels like 35 years since Tom Cruise announced the plan for a Top Gun sequel — but that’s actually how long it’s been since we got the original! Now, Top Gun: Maverick is here (it’s extremely Top Gun) and the classic blockbuster from which it springs is streaming on Prime Video.

Tony Scott’s 1986 classic introduced us to Maverick (Cruise), Iceman (Val Kilmer), and the whole crew, delivering unforgettable movie moments like “I feel the need…the need for speed” and the coolest low-budget Halloween costume you’ll never stop seeing at parties. — Proma Khosla, Senior Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: Top Gun is now streaming on Prime Video.

Earlier this week, a Twitter user shared pictures of what she thought looked like cameras disguised as fire sprinklers scattered throughout her Airbnb in Philadelphia. This prompted other users to begin sharing their Airbnb horror stories on Twitter. While an investigation conducted by the Philadelphia police concluded that there were no hidden cameras in the Airbnb, the social media damage had already been done.

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Airbnb has strict guidelines on cameras and recording devices, requiring hosts to disclose which devices are on the premises. These devices are also only allowed in common spaces, such as front doors or driveways. 

“Our policies strictly prohibit hidden cameras and we take forceful action in the exceptionally rare circumstances where this has been reported, including assisting law enforcement to help them hold criminals accountable,” an Airbnb spokesperson tells Mashable. “Our Safety Team is available 24/7 to support guests with safety concerns.”

From the stream of tweets and posts this week, it seems like most of the negative experiences at Airbnbs seem to be attributed to the hosts, rather than the accommodations. Many cite high cleaning fees, in addition to rules that  require paying guests to clean the units anyway, some even enforcing chore lists before checkout and strict accommodation rules. 

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The Airbnb versus hotels debate has been ongoing, and with the increasing demands of hosts and ever-rising prices of rentals, people are contemplating ditching Airbnb altogether. This goes for both guests and former Airbnb hosts.

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UPDATE: Jun. 17, 2022, 3:00 p.m. EDT This list has been updated to reflect pricing and availability as of June 17.

• BEST SAMSUNG DEAL: Samsung Galaxy Book Pro, a nice alternative to the similarly priced MacBook Pro — $909.99 $1,099.99 (save $190)

• BEST GAMING DEAL: Razer Blade 15, a powerful gaming laptop that’ll keep you playing on the go — $1,598.05 $2,599.99 (save $1,001.94)

• BEST 2-IN-1 DEAL: Asus Chromebook Flip C434, an affordable 2-in-1 for those who want the basics of a laptop and a tablet at once — $411 $569.99 (save $158.99)

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What’s better than a great laptop? A great laptop that’s cheap. Nowadays, even budget machines can pack the punch to carry you through whatever’s on your to-do list, whether it’s work, watching Netflix, or endlessly browsing social media. If you’re looking to pick up a new laptop but don’t necessarily want to drop your life savings in one go, we’ll be compiling a list of the best deals on cheap laptops right here, each and every week.

Best Samsung deal

Why we like it

We love Apple, but MacBooks aren’t the only laptops out there. The Samsung Galaxy Book Pro is a nice alternative to the similarly priced MacBook Pro, with a stunning display, a speedy 11th-gen Intel Core processor, a 20-hour battery life, WiFi 6E support, and a sleek, ultra-thin design.

Best gaming deal

Why we like it

The Razer Blade 15 Advanced model is packed with solid internals that’ll work well for PC gaming newbies and seasoned players alike. Under the hood, you’ll get a 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10875H processor with up to 5.0 GHz max turbo and 8 cores, as well as an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 graphics card that has the power to run some pretty visually intense games. The 300Hz screen provides buttery-smooth frame rate performance and offers full HD visuals within a bezel-less display. It’s all housed within a thin, compact body that you can take anywhere.

Best 2-in-1 deal

Why we like it

Having your laptop and your tablet in one place is a convenience you need in your life. The Asus Chromebook Flip C434 is a fantastic budget 2-in-1 device, with speedy performance, a full HD touchscreen, and components that should be able to handle all of your daily tasks.

More great laptop deals

• Dell Inspiron 3510 — $479 $525 (save $46)

• Lenovo Flex 5 — $591.03 $849.99 (save $258.96)

• Lenovo IdeaPad 3 — $127.50 $219.99 (save $92.49)

• Lenovo IdeaPad S340 — $659 $799.99 (save $140.99)

• Acer Swift 3 — $562.70 $849.99 (save $287.29)

• HP 14 Laptop — $219 $299.99 (save $79.99)

• HP Pavilion 15-inch gaming laptop — $819.99 $899.99 (save $80)

• HP 15-inch Laptop — $506 $659.99 (save $153.99)

• HP Chromebook 11 — $138.80 $259.99 (save $121.19)

How to shop for a new laptop:

Choosing a laptop is entirely dependent on what you’ll be using it for. Beginner laptop owners need something user-friendly and straightforward, frequent travelers need something light with a long battery life, designers and gamers need top-notch 4K graphics and quick central processors, and everyone needs something that will last. 

The first thing you should do is ask yourself a simple question: PC or Mac? This is an important question, as it’s going to make a world of difference in what you can and can’t do with your computer. Are you a gamer? A video editor? A business professional? An Apple device owner? The answer to any of these will probably point you towards your final answer. If you’re constantly buying the new iPhone every year, editing YouTube videos, recording a podcast, or other creative endeavors of the sort, your best bet may be a Mac laptop. Apple obsessives will be happy with their Mac’s compatibility with their other Apple products, and everyone can benefit from Macs’ propensity to have better virus protection than that of a PC. 

That brings us to the perks of picking up a PC. You can still complete a number of creative projects on a personal computer, but where PCs really shine are their options for customization. PCs are much easier to upgrade part-by-part, as they aren’t constrained to Apple-manufactured products (like Macs). And because there is a seemingly endless supply of PC manufacturers, there are a lot more options from what brand you chose, to the software you buy, to the type of graphics card you pick out for your gaming rig. Yes, gamers should always go the PC route — they are far more powerful than what a Mac laptop can handle, and also give you the option to connect VR headsets, if you’re into that sort of thing.  

What size laptop should you get?

This really comes down to two things: Personal preference and lifestyle. Personal preference is self-explanatory, really — do you like having a huge display, or do you prefer something more compact? Lifestyle is where practicality comes into play. If you’re traveling often and usually have your computer on your back in some way, you’re going to want to go with something more light and compact (thin, 11-inch models will most likely be the best). But if you’re a huge movie buff who doesn’t normally take their laptop on the road with them, spring for a 15-inch (and higher) screen with a bulky construction so you can have epic Netflix sessions. If you’re getting a gaming laptop, you should probably “go big or go home,” as well.  

How much should you spend on a new laptop?

This is much more subjective, and at the end of the day, it’s really going to come down to your budget. But, if money isn’t the number one concern for you, you should really think hard about what you’re going to use your laptop for. Need a device with lots of power under the hood and bountiful storage space? Aim for something in the $800 and beyond range. Only using your laptop to edit the occasional Google Doc? Then you can probably get away with spending way below the $500 mark. In other words, don’t blow your savings if you don’t need to. And if you’re looking to go all out, meaning buying a laptop with every bell and whistle imaginable, you can get a monster of a machine for somewhere closer to $2,000.

Are cheap laptops worth it?

You know the old saying: You get what you pay for. But thanks to the technology boom of the last few decades, a cheap laptop can actually take you pretty far and won’t break down immediately. It’s all about knowing which one to select. Depending on what you use your laptop for the most, staying stingy might be your best option. Check out our roundups for the ones that we think are worth it — here are our favorite cheap laptop models under $500, and the best under $300.  

What does it mean when a laptop is certified refurbished?

Don’t let the words “refurbished” or “renewed” scare you away — these types of devices are usually perfectly viable options and can end up saving you a lot of money without sacrificing much of anything.

A refurbished device, in its simplest terms, is a product that has been bought, but then returned for some reason. Notice that we didn’t necessarily say that it was returned due to some sort of fault on the device’s part. While that can certainly be true in some cases, it isn’t always. Oftentimes, a certified refurbished laptop never even left its original packaging.

While yes, saving money is a huge benefit of buying a “refurb,” it’s far from the only reason to consider getting one. What’s great about refurbished devices is that they undergo rigorous performance tests to ensure that they are still in good condition (sometimes more strictly than the stuff coming right off the production line). There’s also a chance that any refurbished laptop you buy may have been so lightly used, that it could almost be considered brand-new (just way cheaper).

We’re big fans of buying refurbished gear for kids, especially when it comes to electronics. If you’re shopping for a laptop for a kid who is under the age of 15, then refurbished is really the way to go. For kids of high school age and beyond who are a bit more careful with their digital gear, then a new laptop isn’t as risky. Of course, it depends on the kid.

Explore related content:

• Our picks for the best 2-in-1 laptops of 2020

• The best blue light glasses for combatting digital eye strain

• 13 cheap laptops you can get for under $500

PREORDER: The new 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro is set for release on June 24. In the meantime, you can reserve one at Amazon, Best Buy, or the Apple Store starting at $1,299 for the 256GB base model.

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It took Apple a few weeks, but the newly updated 13-inch MacBook Pro is finally available for preorder.

As of June 17, you can reserve one at Amazon, Best Buy, or directly from the Apple Store ahead of its formal launch on Friday, June 24. Prices start at $1,299 for the 256GB base model with 8GB of RAM and go all the way up to $2,499 if you splurge on 2TB of storage with 24GB of RAM.

Announced at WWDC 2022, this laptop expands upon the 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro from early 2021 with a 40 percent faster CPU and GPU, an active cooling system, and support for Apple’s ProRes video engine, but otherwise retains the same design, ports, 720p FaceTime HD camera, and 20-hour battery life. (We’re sorry to report that the Touch Bar is still there, too.) Current M1 users probably won’t notice a massive difference, but it would make a nice upgrade from the early-2020 MacBook Pro that lacks Apple silicon.

The most powerful MacBook Pros in existence are still last year’s 14- and 16-inch models, which have the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, so don’t bother buying this new M2 machine if you need the nicest possible portable workstation. That being said, those things are total overkill for the average user (and way out of most people’s price range); the 13-inch one may not be able to zip through video and graphics production as swiftly, but it’s still a highly competent, well-rounded laptop for browsing, word processing, streaming, and light photo editing.

A quick PSA that there’s still no sign of the newly redesigned M2 MacBook Air, which also announced at WDDC, but that was largely expected given reports of Apple’s current supply chain snafu. We’ll keep you posted when preorders for that guy go live.

Despite the repeated assurances that TikTok’s parent company, the China-based ByteDance, isn’t checking out data collected about users in the U.S., it looks like the company did.

According to recordings reviewed by BuzzFeed News, over a dozen separate statements from nine different TikTok employees showed that engineers in China had access to U.S. data from at least September 2021 through January 2022. One member of TikTok’s Trust and Safety department said, in September 2021, that “everything is seen in China,” according to BuzzFeed News. Apparently, there’s even one Beijing-based engineer who “has access to everything” — they call them a “Master Admin.”

That means some signs are now pointing to former President Donald Trump potentially being correct in his assessment of the app when he said in an August 2020 executive order that TikTok’s “data collection threatens to allow” China to “access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information.” TikTok repeatedly said it has never and would never share U.S. user data with the Chinese government.

In response to BuzzFeed News’ investigation, a TikTok spokesperson said the app is “among the most scrutinized platforms from a security standpoint” and that it plans to “remove any doubt about the security of U.S. user data.”

TikTok has already come under fire for its data collection, and this is just another step in yet another app collecting information on its users and doing whatever it pleases with it. It seems being online in 2022 is becoming more and more difficult to do while maintaining some semblance of privacy and data autonomy.