Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill saga finally released on 4K Blu-ray in January. Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2 launched the same day as the 4K edition of another one of Tarantino's acclaimed films, Jackie Brown. All three 4K releases include documentaries about the creation of these modern classics. As part of Amazon's Big Spring B2G1 Free Sale, you can snag all three of these recent 4K releases. Each movie costs $27-$28 each, so you'll save $27 at checkout if you get all three. B2G1 Free New Tarantino 4K Blu-rays A few other 4K Blu-ray editions of Tarantino movies are featured in Amazon's B2G1 Free Blu-ray Sale, including Reservoir Dogs and Inglourious Basterds. Tarantino's first prose novel, a novelization of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is nearly 50% off in hardcover and eligible for Amazon's promotion. You can also get Pulp Fiction and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood on 4K Blu-ray for cheap, but neither is B2G1 free at the moment.Continue Reading at GameSpot

Paradox Interactive and The Chinese Room have announced that Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 will now launch in October.In a new video update, executive producer Marco Behrmann said, "Since our last update, we've added more content to the game, narrative depth, character development, and we have also evolved Fabien's role in the storyline."Behrmann also clarified that the game is done, but now the development team is focusing on fixing bugs, improving stability, and increasing performance, so that players have the most enjoyable and optimal experience.Continue Reading at GameSpot

A few weeks ago, the seasoned Spanish developer MercurySteam announced its next project: a new PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC game called Blades of Fire. Set in a medieval dark fantasy universe, Blades of Fire is a third-person action-adventure game that follows a warrior named Aran de Lira who, after being gifted with a sacred hammer, goes on a quest to assassinate the tyrannical Queen Narea with the help of a trusty companion. In the game, players are given the ability to assemble a wide variety of different weapons, each with their own special abilities, and they can attack specific parts of an enemy's body to deal maximum damage.

The second season of Solo Leveling takes everything good from the first season and turns it up to eleven. This means more exciting action sequences, a wide variety of unique monsters and dungeons, and, of course, some interesting new faces as well.

There are a lot of mods for multiplayer horror game REPO, some adding quality-of-life changes or enhancements to multiplayer and some completely changing how you may play the game.Pretty much all of the REPO mods are hosted on Thunderstore, and you can use either the Thunderstore app or the r2modman mod manager to easily handle and install the mods. (You can use whichever one you want.) Many apps also have other required mods needed to run, so make sure you read the mod page description to get these up and running.Below we list some of our favorite REPO mods available, along with what they do.MorePlayers by zelofiDo you have more than five friends? Then youll need the MorePlayers mod to play with more people in a lobby! Easy as that.LateJoin by RebatemanDo you have a buddy who is always late to game night? Well with the LateJoin mod, you can allow them to join late. This mod lets you add more people to your game during the post-buy period in the truck.REPO HD by BlueAmuletThe REPO HD mod gets rid of that grainy pixel effect, giving you a more clear image, if thats your thing.TeamUpgrades by EvilCheetahThe TeamUpgrades mod makes it so that if you buy an upgrade, itll apply to the whole team rather than one person. This is great if you got a greedy friend who insists on hoarding those stamina upgrades, but this will make the game quite a bit easier. (This can be a good or bad thing, depending on what youre looking for from REPO).FreecamSpectate by nickklmaoOnce you die, youre usually forced to just watch your surviving friends, but with the FreecamSpectate mod, you can zoom around the map and check things out for yourself.DeadTTS by flipf17If you ever wanted to haunt your friends a bit while youre dead, you can use the DeadTTS mod to talk to them via chat. Of course, this can fundamentally change how the game is played, allowing players to find your corpse sooner (and thus revive you sooner), so use this if youre OK with that. (Paired with the above mod, it might make dead players a bit too OP.)XH DamageShow EnemyHealthBar by XiaohaiModIf you love taking down monsters, youll need the XH DamageShow EnemyHealthBar mod, which will show you both how much damage youre doing to the monsters, in addition to how much HP they have left.LargePupils by BobisModsThe LargePupils mod has no gameplay effect, it just makes everyones pupils huge, which is funny.StableFlashlight by linkoidIf you get motion sickness easily, the StableFlashlight mod should help you soothe your aching brain.Any of the many cosmetic packs availableThere are literally so many cosmetic packs if you want to dress up your little robot. Heres a few:MoreHead by YMC_MHZMoreHeadPlus by RESETBensCosmetics by BengimiEvenMoreHead by DEMMERSDownload whichever suits your fancy (or maybe all of them) to deck out your buddy in some custom gear. As you can see in the image above, the mod is a little crowded, text-wise, but its usable.

The Stray Dogs is the final quest youll need to complete to recruit Yaya the monk as an ally in Assassins Creed Shadows. In it, you need to find a Kanzashi that was stolen by a guy named Tetsuo.In this Assassins Creed Shadows guide, well give you a full Stray Dogs quest walkthrough, including where to find the Kanzashi and if you should side with Yaya or Tetsuo.Where to find Yaya in The Stray DogsThe first thing you need to do in The Stray Dogs is find Yaya after Heads Will Roll the pre-requisite quest, which youll complete during the assassination of The Wounded. Youll find her north of Sakai, in the western part of Osaka, in the Fishermans District. The objective is a straight shot north from the Sakai Kakurega.Once you reach the city area, youll find Yaya doing what she does best: smashing heads. Help her kill the remaining enemies and then talk to her. Should you punish or forgive the shrine raider in The Stray Dogs?While youre talking with Yaya, youll be asked to pass some judgement on a shrine raider who has as the name suggests stolen from a shrine.Just like in Heads Will Roll, youll be given a bit of a false choice here.If you say we forgive him, you and Yaya will agree and send the raider away.If you say we punish him, Yaya will push back and suggest that you spare him so he can learn a lesson. Regardless of what you pick, the thief is spared.Despite a notification saying this will impact Yaya, we were able to recruit her as an ally at the end of the mission both when we voted to punish the thief and when we replayed the mission and voted to save him. But if youre trying to make Yaya as happy as possible, we suggest you go for forgiveness especially if you angered Yaya during Heads Will Roll by voting to execute the guards.Kanzashi location in The Stray DogsAfter talking to Yaya and following her, shell send you to find a Kanzashi, which is being held in the Church of Takatsuki.Travel to the Takatsuki Kakurega and head directly west. Youll find a little fort area that has guards posted outside. Climb the walls and hang out on the rooftops. On the eastern side of the fort (to the right from the front gate), youll find a tall building that has a large stone Christian cross stuck into its front yard.Enter the building via the front door or a window on the top floor. On the main floor of the church, youll find Tetsuo. Confront him and hell run from you.At this point youll be told to chase Tetsuo. But this isnt like other Assassins Creed games where the goal is to catch up and assassinate the poor guy. Instead, just follow close behind until he reaches the edge of town, where Yaya will come out of nowhere to lay his ass out.Should you side with Yaya or Tetsuo in The Stray Dogs?Youll be given another dialogue choice here where you can say you need to forgive each other to Yaya and Tetsuo, or you can tell Yaya you need to take responsibility. Your choice changes Yayas dialogue slightly, but wont impact the actual quest at all, despite the this will impact Yaya warning.After you resolve things with Tetsuo, youll be given another dialogue wheel, and this choice actually matters.If you say lets work together, Yaya will join you at the Hideout (and in-combat, on a cooldown) as an ally.If you say I wish you well, she wont become an ally.Yaya is very good at knocking enemies over, which can be a huge boon if you get into combat as Naoe, so we highly recommend you pick her up as an ally. Once you tell her to join you, youll finish the quest and Yaya will join your crew.For moreAssassins Creed Shadowsguides, see our running lists ofLost Pages,Kuji-kiri, andarmorlocations. Or see our fullAssassins Creed Shadowswalkthrough, and our guides on how to get allcompanionsandromance options.

We didnt just lose our influence. We gave it away. UX professionals need to stop accepting silence, reclaim our seat at the table, and design with strategic clarity, not just surfacepolish.Maybe youve read the think pieces: UX is dead. Or dying. Or evolving. Or in a state of strategic irrelevance. Thought leaders like Pavel Samsonov, Patrick Neeman, Ed Orozco, and Cyd Harrell have all taken swings at the conversation, talking about how weve lost influence, lost trust, and in many cases, lost ourway.Lets not waste time sugarcoating it: UX didnt get sidelined by accident. We let it happen. We let ourselves be turned into ticket-takers, stylists, and decorators of decks no one reads. We watched user-centered become a checkbox. We accepted applause for work that never shipped and feedback that boiled down to, Can you make itpop?And today were still arguing about job titles while AI eats our credibility, while design systems distract from actual design, while the trust we once built is slipping away. The worst part? Were not even in the room to fight forit.This isnt a nostalgia play for some golden age of UX. That version had its flaws too. But weve reached a point where too many talented people are being treated like overhead, and too many teams are building products no one understands, no one trusts, and no oneuses.For those of us who still believe UX isnt just about whats on the screen, that its about how we show up, how we speak up, and how we make the case that what we do matters, its time to stop whispering from the corner. Time to speak like we matter. Time to reclaim the voice we let slipaway.How UX lost its influenceUX didnt just get pushed out of strategic conversations. We let it happen. We focused on tools, not outcomes; process, not purpose. And now, were trying to design better systems from the kiddietable.For years, weve been telling ourselves that were advocating for the user, but in practice, weve often been advocating for our own process: our sitemaps, our card sorts, our post-it note frameworks. Weve become so obsessed with how we do the work that weve lost sight of what the work is supposed toachieve.As one UX Planet article bluntly puts it, Stop preaching UX process! Reminding us that methodology without outcomes istheater.Ed Orozco put it more diplomatically in his piece for UX Collective: The highest-impact part of the design process is identifying and framing valuable problems tosolve.Pavel Samsonov echoes the shift when he writes that instead of using research to understand who we are building for, our orgs have been setting course based on the ideal user theyd like to sellto.And nowhere is this more obvious than in UX conferences, which have become increasingly insular and repetitive. Instead of pushing the industry forward, many of these events feel like echo chambers of recycled slide decks; a carousel of talks about mapping, heuristics, and job titles, as if those are the levers that truly change products, teams, or trust. You can almost hear the collective rustling of Moleskines and tote bags every time someone mentions a doublediamond.Weve become problem solvers with our heads up our asses about process, as one Redditor quipped in a UX design thread about unpopular opinions.The worst part? Theyre notwrong.This kind of echo chamber has long frustrated thoughtful practitioners. Jared Spool once criticized the UX community for treating process like religion, turning useful tools into unquestioned rituals. In a 2017 article, he warned that process shouldnt come before vision: When a team focuses on process first, before the vision, they can lose track of what they are trying to accomplish.UX became cool. That was part of theproblemLike cargo pants in the early 2000s, UX got cool fast and out of nowhere. Suddenly every startup, bank, and SaaS platform needed a UX person, even if they didnt know what that meant. The title became the equivalent of hot sauce: just sprinkle it on, and your product instantly hadflavor.We need UX, theyd say, but they couldnt explain why. The demand exploded, and with that came a wave of people who wanted jobs. Unfortunately, that didnt include people who had the responsibility or the experience. UX bootcamps sprung up everywhere, promising a fast-track to a new career. The industry, eager to fill the growing demand, welcomed the influx. But while some programs were thoughtful, many prioritized speed over depth, offering just enough vocabulary to sound competent but not enough understanding to be effective.As one UX leader told me bluntly, Great, now you can draw boxes and make up a persona.This created a dangerous cycle: companies hired underprepared designers, those designers couldnt explain their value, and stakeholders came away with the idea that UX was a soft, fragile discipline that slowed things down and overcomplicated the obvious. Its no surprise that many orgs left those engagements with a bad taste in their mouth, thinking we tried UX and it didntwork.But it wasnt UX that failed. It was the version of UX that we sold them: oversimplified, overpromised, and underpowered.Patrick Neeman summed this up well: Companies hire for UX because someone told them to, not because they understand what itis.The feedback loopbrokeThe foundation of UX is supposed to be a feedback loop: research, insight, iteration, refinement. Its a discipline rooted in learning. But over time, that loop fractured. Usability testing became checkbox validation. Metrics replaced user stories. What was once Discovery turned into justification. A loop became a cul-de-sac.As Pavel Samsonov observed, many teams today run p-hacked usability tests, structured not to learn, but to prove what someone already wanted todo.In other words, they ran usability tests not to uncover problems or generate insight, but to justify decisions that have already beenmade.In that kind of environment, outcomes take a back seat to optics. We stopped asking the hard questions. Even when we wanted to, we didnt have the time, the budget, or the air cover. Better to push pixels andpray.Another reason UX keeps getting sidelined: false confidence. Teams look at half-baked flows and recycled design patterns and think, Thats close enough. They posit, It worked in our last product, or, Thats how [insert over-glorified industry leader] does it. Instead of questioning the fit, they assume familiarity will substitute for usability. Nathan Curtis points out that when teams rely too heavily on pattern libraries and past solutions, they often mistake speed for efficacy and reduce the space for real problem-solving in theprocess.What feels efficient to a product team often feels like friction to a user. Skipping UX to save time rarely does. It just guarantees youll waste more of it cleaning uplater.The Nielsen Norman Group has been calling this out for years. They say that without stakeholder buy-in or an ability to tie UX work to business outcomes, teams get stuck in surface-level deliverables that lack strategic weight.We taught ourselves the wronglessonsMany designers came into this work because they cared. They cared about people, about systems, about making things better. Instead, they found themselves performing process for process sake. The post-its went up. The journey map was made. The Figma file was perfect. And nothingchanged.Others just quietly walkedaway.Those who stayed learned to keep their heads down, or learned to speak the language of delivery. They learned to get excited about design tokens, or design systems, or dark mode settings. Really, anything that didnt require facing the void of real influence.And we started to believe the myth: that this was as good as it gets. That UX was just a phase in the software development lifecycle. That design speaks for itself. That our value should beobvious.It isnt.As Cyd Harrell has said about civic design in her podcast, if were not working with intention, empathy, and a sense of responsibility, then were just performing. And if were just performing, we might as well do it on TikTok. At least then someones paying attention.Until we learn how to speak up again. Clearly. Credibly. And in context. Well keep getting the version of UX that the business is willing to tolerate, not the one we know the user actuallyneeds.The trustcrisisWhat AI (and everything else) is tellingusWere watching history repeat itself and this time at machine speed. AI is the latest shiny object in tech, being shipped fast, scaled faster, and handed to users with the same shrug weve seen before: users will figure it out. But they wont. Or worse: theyll stop trusting the systems we build altogether.This isnt just an AI problem. Its a design problem. And more specifically, a UX credibility problem.Weve accidentally trained stakeholders (executives, product leads, and entire orgs) to believe UX is a nice-to-have. That was a mistake. UX isnt some bonus level you unlock when the roadmap clears up, or a last-minute sprinkle to impress the execs. Its not the parsley garnish on your AI steak. Its the plate, the table, and half the damnkitchen.As I wrote in We Trust AI Until We Dont, trust in AI has almost nothing to do with logic. It has everything to do with comfort zones. We trust autocomplete, but not AI-powered diagnosis. Well use facial recognition to unlock our phones, but not to approve aloan.Comfort zones are a UX concern. But if weve been reduced to make it pretty or clean up the flows, we lose the ability to shape the experience people actually have with AI, not just what it looks like, but whether they trust it atall.Cyd Harrell has long talked about the ethical implications of design in the public sector. She reminds us that government interfaces arent just digital interactions, theyre moral contracts. The same applies to AI. These systems dont just serve people. They make decisions aboutpeople.Cyd says, Government technology should work at least as well as the private sector, because it carries the weight of moral obligation.If people dont understand how a system works, or worse, believe its lying to them, weve failed. Not because of bad tech, but because of brokentrust.This erosion of trust is well-documented. A 2023 KPMG study found that 61% of global respondents were wary of trusting AI systems, with only 39% expressing confidence in their accuracy.Similarly, A 2022 study published in the International Journal of HumanComputer Interaction highlighted that trust in AI is shaped not only by performance, but also by transparency, ethical safeguards, and how well the system supports human understanding.Meanwhile, research from the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School found that users build trust in AI incrementally, if it helps them succeed. Trust isnt immediate. Its earned, interaction by interaction, experience by experience.Despite that, many AI tools are being rolled out like candy from a marketing piatawith little evidence that UX research is guiding their design. As Nielsen Norman Group puts it, AI initiatives often prioritize the tech first and only loop in UX once its too late to influence direction. Microsoft, in its own UX guidance for responsible AI, urges teams to involve design and research from the start, not after the model is built, because trust and understanding cant be bolted onlater.Wheres the usability testing for large language models? The participatory design sessions with real users? The accessibility work?Spoiler: its happening too late, if atall.Were also seeing the quiet normalization of dark patterns. UI decisions designed not to help users, but to trap them. Confirmshaming. Forced continuity. Roach motel flows. These arent edge cases. Theyre often built in on purpose and are often known as Dark UX. We build features that lock people into ecosystems, bury cancel buttons, manipulate behavior, or push frictionless engagement over informed decision-making.As Deceptive Design documents, these patterns are increasingly used to boost short-term metrics at the expense of long-term trust. Its anti-user behavior masked as clever conversion strategy, and the kind of thing a strong UX presence used to stop before itstarted.In 2022, the FTC issued a policy statement calling out the rise of manipulative interfaces, citing how they trick or trap consumers into subscriptions or disclosing personal data. Thats what happens when UX becomes reactive, silent, or excluded from decision-making entirely.We reward metrics that go up, even if trust goesdown.So once again, we forget the most important part of user experience: theuser.Weve seen this movie before. In fintech. In healthcare. In hiring platforms. In government services. We ship complexity, slap on a dashboard, and expect trust. Then we act surprised when users either disengage or rage-quit the experience, like their private Slack group was just exposed to the wholecompany.Heres the part that doesnt get said out loud enough: this isnt just a UX failure. Its a business failure. Because when you ignore the human, you lose the customer. Trust isnt a soft metric. Its a hard outcome. Its revenue. Retention. Reputation. UX is where user needs and business goals are supposed to shake hands, not silently walk past each other like exes at a conference.And all the while, were updating decks. Rebuilding flows. Writing another Jira ticket with a low effort, high impact tag we know isnt fooling anyone. And still, we wait our turn to be listenedto.Spoiler: that turn rarelycomes.As Jeffrey Veen, founding partner at Adaptive Path and former VP of Design at Adobe, said, Design without strategy is just decoration. And if that sounds a little too business school chic, lets bring it down to earth with Sarah Doody, who put it more plainly: When you involve people in the process, theyre more likely to believe the results.Strategy comes from talking to people. Trust comes from including them. If youre not grounding your work in outcomes, context, and conversation, youre not designing, youre redecorating.UX without trust is theater. UX without outcomes isnoise.If users dont trust the systems we design, thats not a PM problem. Its a design failure. And if we dont fix it, someone else will, probably with worse instincts, fewer ethics, and a much louder bullhorn.UX is supposed to be the human layer of technology. Its also supposed to be the place where strategy and empathy actually talk to each other. If we cant reclaim that space, cant build products people understand, trust, and want to return to, then what exactly are we doinghere?Reclaiming thevoiceThe case for speaking up(again)Lets not pretend this is some Pixar redemption arc. Were not Andys toys waiting to be rescued from the donation bin. Were Woody, realizing we still matter, even if weve been boxed up for a few years. The jobs not over. The kid still needs us. The work still needsdoing.But heres the thing: influence is recoverable. It didnt die, it drifted. We let it. We traded our voices for seatbelts in the product roadmap van and forgot that we used todrive.Getting that voice back doesnt mean pounding the table or redesigning your portfolio for the fifth time this year. It means remembering that UX at its best doesnt just make products better, it makes decisions smarter. It makes businesses better. It puts humanity back into systems, and it brings business objectives into focus by connecting them to actual human behavior. All in language people can understand.Reclaiming our voice means not waiting until a stakeholder asks for a redesign. It means being in the room when the problem is being defined in the first place. It means asking better questions, earlier, and not just the what are we solving? kind, but why is this even a thing weredoing?Jon Yablonski phrased it well: The best way to get people to care about UX is to show them what happens when youdont.Because if were not involved in shaping the direction, were just reacting to it. Thats not strategy. Thats survival.It also means being honest about value. If what youre shipping doesnt work for users, it doesnt matter how elegant the typography is. As Cameron Moll puts it, What separates design from art is that design is meant to be functional. And if we dont bring that clarity, we cant be surprised when were asked to make it pop one moretime.And lets stop pretending the work ends when the prototype hits the handoff doc. Your job doesnt stop at the screen. It just startsthere.And, as Dieter Rams says, Good design is thorough down to the last detail. Nothing must be arbitrary or left tochance.We dont need louder voices. We need clearer ones. We need to talk like we know what were solving, and who its for. UX isnt valuable because it adds polish. Its valuable because it prevents dumb, expensive mistakes before they ever leave thesprint.Your UX voice isnt your style or your deliverables. Its your ability to connect what people need to what the business can deliver and to make sure no one forgets that alignment is what success actually lookslike.We dont need more templates. We need more conviction. We need to speak plainly, challenge politely, and stay laser-focused on building things that earn trust and actuallywork.Lets build a UX practice that people dont just invite in at the last minute, but count on from thestart.Lets get back tothat.A few ways tostartAsk better questions earlier. Dont wait until usability testing to challenge assumptions. Start during planning. Be the one who says, What are we actually trying to solvehere?Make your work visible. Stop hiding behind Figma files. Build bridges with product, engineering, and marketing. Show how your thinking impacts real business outcomes.Use data and narrative. Pair your metrics with stories. Dont just say a design improved conversion. Tell them why itdid.Include more voices. Great UX doesnt come from isolation. Invite stakeholders into your process so they own the insights, not just theoutput.Stay curious, not precious. Fight the instinct to defend your solution. Defend the problem youre solving. Everything else is justform.Lets stop waiting for permission and start showing what UX was always meant tobe.We built UX. We broke UX. And now we have to fix it! was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.Whether youre after long-term support, phenomenal cameras, or just an all-around great phone, the Google Pixel 9 lineup has a lot to offer. And with the Amazon Spring Sale on, you can snag any of the three phones in that lineup at a considerable discount. Whether its the top-of-the-line Pixel 9 Pro XL or the more modest Pixel 9, youll get well over $100 off.Here are the three devices you can choose from: Google Pixel 9: $640 (was $799) at AmazonGoogle Pixel 9 Pro: $799 (was $999) at AmazonGoogle Pixel 9 Pro XL: $899 (was $1099) at AmazonThe Pixel 9 sets a strong baseline for the Pixel lineup. It has a simple but elegant design thats compact and budget-friendly. The display is excellent, offering a sharp resolution, incredible brightness, and smooth visuals. Around back it features a pair of high-resolution cameras offering wide and ultra-wide focal lengths. And Google tops it off with a modest chipset that powers some impressive AI features and that will get long-term software support for even more value.The Pixel 9 Pro takes everything the Pixel 9 sets up and raises it a notch. It gets an even sharper and brighter display. And its camera system steps it up with an upgraded selfie shooter and a 5x telephoto sensor on that back that makes a huge difference when you want to zoom in on a subject or get some nice bokeh blur. And for those of you who dont love the industrys shift toward increasingly large phones, youll love to hear that the Pixel 9 Pro is the same size as the Pixel 9.For those who love extra screen space, the Pixel 9 Pro XL brings it. You get all the upgrades of the Pixel 9 Pro but tucked into a bigger phone. This model sports a 6.8-inch display and bumps up to a 5,060mAh battery to help out with longevity.All three models come with some future-ready tech including Wi-Fi 7, eSIM support, and satellite communication. Theyre also built nice and sturdy with aluminum frames, tough Gorilla Glass Victus 2, and IP68-rated protection against dust and dunk in water.Shopping for tech? Lifehacker can help you make the right decision. Browse our tech reviews and head-to-head comparisons for everything from laptops and smartwatches to e-bikes and home gyms. Subscribe to our deals newsletter,Add to Cart, for the best sales sent to your inbox, or browse our best-of lists directly on Amazon, including:The Best Over-Ear HeadphonesThe Best Wireless EarbudsThe Best Adjustable Dumbbell SetsThe Best Projectors

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.Amazons Big Spring Sale is on now, a mini version of Prime Day that has inspired competing sales at Target and Walmart. Plenty of fitness trackers and smartwatches are among the discounted items. Here are my picks for the best deals, including watches from Apple, Garmin, Fitbit, and Samsung.Apple WatchesThe Apple Watch SE, the most budget version of this smartwatch, is available starting at $169 today. (As with all Apple Watches, the price goes up if you want a larger size or if you buy the version with cellular connectivity.) Thats 32% off the original price of $249.The Apple Watch Series 10, the one we crowned the best Apple Watch for most people, is available for $299 and up today, down from $399 regular price. Again, thats the smaller, non-cellular version, with upgrades adding a bitbut all sizes and types are on sale. Apple Watch Series 10 [GPS 42mm] with Jet Black Aluminium Case with Ink Sport Loop. Fitness Tracker, ECG App, Always-On Retina Display, Carbon Neutral $299.00 at Amazon $399.00 Save $100.00 Get Deal Get Deal $299.00 at Amazon $399.00 Save $100.00 Garmin fitness watchesGarmins Forerunner 55 is still on that sale from a few days ago, when our Lifehacker's deals writer Daniel Oropeza flagged it as his favorite deal of the day. Its $149, a great price for a running watch that does all the basics. It will track your pace, location, heart rate, sleep, and more. It has a retro feel, with its MIP screen and button navigation instead of a touchscreen. But you really cant beat the price.Two other older-generation Forerunner watches are also on sale today, and since they both end in -55, you know they have that same MIP screen, which is reflective in sunlight and needs a backlight in the dark to light them up. (Many runners prefer MIP to the more smartwatch-style AMOLED screens, so who am I to judge?)Aside from the screen, the Forerunner 255, a steal at $229 today, and it is almost identical to my favorite running watch, the Forerunner 265. (The only other major feature its missing? Music storage, but you can get a Forerunner 255 Music for just $20 more.) That said, the Forerunner 265 is also on sale today, for $399, which is $50 off its usual price. Garmin Forerunner 255 GPS Running Smartwatch (Gray) $227.97 at Walmart $349.99 Save $122.02 Get Deal Get Deal $227.97 at Walmart $349.99 Save $122.02 Garmins Forerunner 955 is the big brother to the 255, with onboard maps that make it great for hiking and trail running. Its just $349, down from an original price of $499 when it was released in 2022. And if youd like to go for the solar version, to top up your battery when youre out in the sun, the Forerunner 955 Solar is $399 today.If you want something a little less sport-specific, Garmins Vivoactive 5 is $217 today, down from a regular price of $299. This is the lifestyle smartwatch that beat out the Pixel Watch 3 in my head-to-head comparison. If youre looking for a fresh alternative to Fitbit smartwatches, the Vivoactive 5 would be my pick. If you want an actual Fitbit, though, those are on sale as well.Fitbit trackers and smartwatchesAll of Fitbits major models are on sale today, including the iconic bracelet-styled Charge 6 for $119, originally $159. Opinions vary, but if you want mine: The Charge 6 is the best Fitbit. (If you want a smartwatch, go for a Garmin.)If youre more of a minimalist, though, the Inspire 3 is worth a look. Normally retailing for $99, its just $69 today. The Inspire 3 doesnt have its own GPS chipset, instead relying on your phone for location. Its also just a more pared-down experience in other ways, with fewer exercise types and fewer apps. Fitbit Inspire 3 Health & Fitness Tracker (Midnight Zen/Black) $69.95 at Walmart $89.95 Save $20.00 Get Deal Get Deal $69.95 at Walmart $89.95 Save $20.00 Samsung watchesSamsungs Galaxy Watch Ultra is on sale today for just $409, down from $649. It comes in a 47mm size with LTE cellular connectivity, and is basically Samsungs answer to the Apple Watch Ultra 2. We have more details on its features here. The Best Amazon Spring Sale Deals You Can Get Now Apple AirPods Pro 2 Wireless Earbuds $169.99 (List Price $249.00) Apple iPad 11" A16 Chip 128GB Wi-Fi Retina Tablet (Silver, 2025 Release) $328.86 (List Price $349.00) Sonos Move 2 $359.00 (List Price $449.00) Blink Mini 2 (White, 2-Pack) $37.99 (List Price $69.99) Apple Watch Series 10 (GPS, 42mm, Black, S/M 130-180mm, Sports Band) $299.00 (List Price $399.00) Fire TV Stick 4K Max Streaming Player With Remote (2023 Model) $39.99 (List Price $59.99) Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) $94.99 (List Price $139.99) Fitbit Inspire 3 Health & Fitness Tracker (Midnight Zen/Black) $69.95 (List Price $99.95) Sony WH-1000XM5 $249.99 (List Price $399.99) Fitbit Sense 2 $199.95 (List Price $249.95) Deals are selected by our commerce team

As it turns out, including a reporter in your national security leader group chat about military strikes isn't the only way to compromise sensitive information on Signal. NPR reported on Tuesday that, days after the Trump administration's preposterous and dangerous national security fumble, the Pentagon issued a warning against using the messaging app due to a phishing vulnerability."A vulnerability has been identified in the Signal messenger application," a department-wide email obtained by NPR reads. "Russian professional hacking groups are employing [Signal's] 'linked devices' features to spy on encrypted conversations." The publication says the memo states that Russian hacking groups are "targeting Signal Messenger to spy on persons of interest."A Signal spokesperson told NPR that the memo wasn't about Signal's security but about phishing attacks on the platform. So, if you're using the app, be especially mindful of attempts to trick you into linking devices to your account. Or simply communicate through different channels.The Pentagon directive follows a scandal that, at least in previous eras, would have ended the careers of a long list of high-profile officials. (In this one who knows?) The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported on Monday that a group of Trump administration national security officials inadvertently included him in a Signal group chat discussing military strikes in Yemen.Andrew Harnik via Getty ImagesThe conversation included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, among others. They with Goldberg essentially CC'd discussed the timing, targets and weapons involved in bombing Houthi sites in Yemen.A 2023 Department of Defense memo prohibited using mobile apps for even "controlled unclassified information." NPR notes that military planning is many degrees more sensitive than that. And that doesn't even cover accidentally including a journalist in the conversation.The entire Atlantic article is worth a read, but a few gems from the chat include Hegseth's writing, "I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It's PATHETIC." And, "Nobody knows who the Houthis are which is why we would need to stay focused on: 1) Biden failed & 2) Iran funded."Adding to the "It would be hilarious if it weren't so dangerous" nature of the fiasco, Hegseth went on camera to deny the chat's authenticity after the White House confirmed it.Although the fallout is still taking shape, here's an early taste. Watch below as retired US Navy captain and current US Senator Mark Kelly grills Gabbard and Ratcliffe on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/the-pentagon-warns-government-officials-that-signal-is-being-targeted-by-russian-hackers-203436757.html?src=rss