We use the term science fiction and fantasy as an umbrella for fantastical stories all the time, but in truth, these genres each contain multitudes. An SFF movie might be an alien invasion blockbuster; a bloody sword-and-sorcery epic; or a quiet, reflective fable. What these movies all have in common is the imagination to think outside of the world we can see from the window. Here are 30 of the best you can stream on Netflix right now.Damsel (2024) Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things, Enola Holmes) is practically the face of Netflix these days, and she's back again in this dark fantasy from director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later). She plays Elodie, the titular damsel, who's been offered into an arranged marriage by her family, which doesn't sound too terrible, until she learns that it's all been part of an elaborate ritual sacrifice intended to keep a dragon from destroying the kingdom. Lucky for her, she's far more resourceful than her in-laws give her credit for. First goal: get out. Second goal? Get even.Paradise (2023) Time is a literal commodity on this German sci-fi dystopia. Max (Kostja Ullmann) works for the appropriately named Aeon, a tech company that buys time (as in years) from the poor to extend the lives of its wealthy and powerful clients. He's great at his job, but it doesn't matter much when his condo burns down and he's liable for the loan backed by 40 years of his wife Elana's life. Suddenly married to a senior citizen, he's determined to get his wife's time back, whatever the cost.Nimona (2023) Based on the graphic novel from ND Stevenson, Nimona traveled a rocky road to the screen, surviving delays, company shut-downs, the pandemic, and pressure from Disney to tone down its queer themes. Luckily, none of that drama made it into the finished product (eventually brought to streaming by Netflix). It's a heartfelt, joyful, and funny fantasy set in a futuristic world full of medieval trappings. Ballister Boldheart, alongside his boyfriend Ambrosius Goldenloin, is about to be knighted by the queen, the first commoner ever to receive the honor. It's all good, until hes framed for the queens murder and forced to flee, becoming the criminal that the snobs already took him for. Luckily (or not) hes joined by Nimona, a teenager outcast shunned for her shapeshifting powers. The two work together to clear Ballisters name, even as Nimona has things to teach Ballister about living authentically.The Old Guard (2020) The comic-inspired Netflix film stars Charlize Theron as Andromache, the sometimes-leader of a group of immortal-ish individuals who are already centuries old as the film starts. They generally work as mercenaries when the cause is right, but find their group starting to splinter in the face of a new threat: Modern technology has made it harder to hide their secret, and a pharmaceutical exec has plans to capture them, figure out why theyre immortal, and then make a sellable product. The movies a solid blend of comic-book heroics and mercenary-movie action, with a sequel on the way. Shortly after this, director Gina Prince-Bythewood made the historical action-drama The Woman King, also on Netflix.Circle (2015) Its alien abduction for the Squid Game generation, this one picks up in the aftermath of a mass snatching. Circle opens on 50 people waking up in a dark room. Theyre on platforms from which they cant move on pain of laser-inflicted death, and they quickly realize theyre trapped in a game with simple, specific rules: Via hand gestures, theyre meant to vote on the next person to die (if not, someone is chose at random every two minutes). Its a sick scheme enacted by would-be invaders, but its also a study of our species, and reaches some not-entirely-flattering conclusions about how quickly well throw each other under the bus (er, laser beam).Godzilla Minus One (2023) Eschewing the more-is-more approach of the American Godzilla series, writer/director Takashi Yamazaki offers up this reminder that Japanese filmmakers really know their monster king. A prequel of sorts to the original 1954 film, this one finds kamikaze pilot Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) encountering Godzilla multiple times over the years following World War II. That wartime trauma, which harkens back to the original film, lends this one a kaiju-sized emotional weight. Nearly as important: the masterful, Oscar-winning visual effects make Godzilla scary again, and the action sequences have real weight and stakes. Ultraman: Rising (2024) This Japanese-American co-production reboots the beloved half-century-plus franchise with help of director Shannon Tindle and co-writer Marc Haimes (both of the brilliant Kubo and the Two Strings). Professional baseball player Ken Sato returns home to Japan when he inherits the mantle of (you guessed it!) Ultraman from his retired father. The stylish animation is lovely and there plenty of family-friendly action, but it wouldn't work half as well without the emotional arc: egotistical sports star Sato needs to reconnect with his distant father, even as he becomes the unwilling parental figure to an orphaned kaiju child.Conan the Barbarian (1982) It might not be exactly what prolific writer and Conan-creator Robert E. Howard had in mind but its a lot of fun in a shirtless, sweaty, sword-and-sorcery kind of way. Its the movie that kicked off a pretty cool cycle of 80s fantasy films, and also gave Arnold Schwarzenegger his big cinematic break. A long-haired James Earl Jones also offers up his second-most-memorable villainous performance as evil sorcerer Tulsa Doom. See You Yesterday (2019) See You Yesterday tricks you into thinking youre signing on for a sci-fi rompan early cameo from Michael J. Fox seems to underline it. As it begins, young prodigies CJ Walker (Eden Duncan Smith) and Sebastian Thomas (Dante Crichlow) develop a time machine and plan to test it by traveling back one day and scrupulously avoiding making any changes. Shortly after, the Spike Lee-produced film takes a dark turn: CJs older brother is shot and killed by an NYPD officer who mistakes a phone for a gun. CJ tries again and again to save him, but is frustrated as each attempt goes wrong in a new way. Its not an entirely downbeat movie, but, in the best sci-fi tradition, the high concept at its core has more down-to-earth relevance.The Midnight Sky (2020) Theres quite a bit derivative in this George Clooney-directed film, but its also quietly poignant in ways that modern science fiction rarely is. Thats a very specific mode, but refreshing in its way. Clooney plays Augustine, a scientist with a terminal condition in 2049 whos become one of the very few remaining humans alive on Earth after some unknown event left the surface contaminated with radiation. He discovers that a mission from a moon of Jupiter is on its way back to Earth, and makes it his mission to warn them that the planet is no longer hospitablea mission complicated by the discovery of a young girl he feels the need to protect.The Platform (2019) OK, the metaphor is a little heavy-handed: In a large tower, euphemistically referred to as the Vertical Self-Management Center, food is delivered in a shaft that stops on each floor from the top down: those near the top get to eat their fill; those at the bottom get scraps. The Spanish-language thriller is wildly violent, but inventive, and its not as if real-life capitalism is particularly subtle in its deprivations.What Happened to Monday (2017) Tommy Wirkola, director of the recent David Harbour Christmas-themed action movie Violent Night and the upcoming Spermageddon, helmed this high-concept science fiction story about the perils of overpopulation. In the near-ish future, a one-child policy sees spare kids frozen cryogenically until such time as they can be either become colonists on another planet, or until Earth finds more resourceswhichever comes first. Think Children of Men, but a bit goofier. Glenn Close is in charge of enforcing the policy, while Willem Dafoe plays the grandfather of identical septuplets. He comes up with a plan to keep all the kids out of the freezer: theyll take turns playing at being the same person (Noomi Rapace, in multiple roles). Ridiculous, but fun.Rebel Moon (2023) Zack Snyder, late of the entire DC cinematic universe, inspires passionate opinions all aroundbut his science fiction Army of the Dead followup can't be faulted for lack of ambition. It's a multi-part (currently unclear how many parts that will be) space opera that blends Snyder's distinctive visual style with Star Wars-style action. Sofia Boutella stars as a former soldier who rallies warriors from across the galaxy to join in a revolt against the imperial Motherworld on the title's out-of-the-way farming moon. You can currently catch part one (A Child of Fire) and part two (The Scargiver); the longer, R-rated director's cut debuts August 2..Back to the Future (1985) You know that Broadway musical that everybody likes? Turns out it was a movie way back in the 1980s. Who knew? It's a tightly constructed and impressively weird time-travel comedy about a kid who goes back in time and has to dodge his mother's romantic advances while trying to make sure that his still parents get together and get it on. Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd are a cinematic pairing for the ages in a movie that's funny and surprisingly thoughtful about its use of sci-fi tropes.The Curse of Bridge Hollow (2022) Halloween movies are valid at any time of year, so there's no reason to hold off on this family-friendly seasonal fantasy. The Howard family has moved to the town of Bridge Hollow just in time for the holiday, and daughter Sydney (Priah Ferguson of Stranger Things) couldn't be more exited about the town's holiday spirit. Dad (Marlon Wayans), on the other hand, is all about the science and hates the spooky nonsensemom Kelly Rowland often left to referee. The family has to try to come together, though, when Sydney accidentally frees a ghost who makes an army out of the town's decorations. Whoops!65 (2023) The Adam Driver-lead 65 came and went from the theaters pretty quickly in 2023, and not entirely unfairlyit doesn't really live up to the promise of its premise. But the high concept is so good it just about works anyway: 65 million years ago, a pilot from an alien planet (Driver) takes on a two-year long haul expedition in order to earn the money needed to treat his wife's illness (shitty capitalist medical care being, apparently, universal). His ship goes off course and winds up on an even more alien planet: Earth, circa dinosaur times. With the young girl who also survived the crash, he's got to try to get through the various terrifying Earth creatures and get back home before the asteroid that brought his ship down makes its way to Earth.The Matrix (1999) Perhaps you've heard of this indie classic from the Wachowskis? This is the action spectacular that revolutionized action in American movies while simultaneously sparking a million conversations about philosophy (many of them dumb, but that's hardly the movie's fault). Netflix is also the streaming home to the 2021 sequel, Matrix Resurrectionsthe best of the franchise since this 1999 original.The Adjustment Bureau (2011) Less well known than other Philip K. Dick adaptations (Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report), this is still a brisk and effective sci-fi yarn. Matt Damon plays a congressional candidate who meets Emily Blunt (in a men's room, of all places); their chemistry is instantaneous, and this would be a perfectly reasonable movie meet-cute if it weren't for the fact that it was never meant to happenat least according to the adjustors, well-dressed men responsible for fixing small mistakes in the timeline. Our two leads are determined that their own free will is more important than some idea of destiny, so they set about trying to escape and outwit their supposed fates.Life (2017) A creepily effective spin on Alien, Life finds a team of astronauts (Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds) encountering and investigating soil samples from Mars that appear to contain the first evidence of extraterrestrial organisms. It all pretty much goes downhill from there.Bubble (2022) From Attack on Titan and Death Note director Tetsur Araki and an all-star creative team, Bubble finds Tokyo cut off from the rest of the world when reality-bending bubbles rain down on the city (shades of Stephen Kings Under the Dome, perhaps). Anime fans were almost certainly on the lookout for the gorgeous, parkour-infused love story, but anyone who loves animation (or great sci-fi films in general) should check it out.The Sea Beast (2022) Chris Williams, an animator whos either directed or had a hand in some of the best of the last decade (Bolt, Big Hero 6, Moana, etc.) about a young woman who stows away on the ship of a legendary monster hunter (Karl Urban). The movie was nominated for an Academy Award, so its perhaps not that obscure, but still seems to have gotten lost amid last years major animated releases.My Fathers Dragon (2022) Based on Ruth Stiles Gannetts 1948 childrens novel of the same name, and geared toward even younger audiences than the other all-ages animated movies on this list, My Fathers Dragon still has plenty to recommend it to just about anyonealong with more emotional intelligence than many movies made for adults. In the film, a boy named Elmer (Jacob Tremblay) and his shopkeeper mother, Dela (Golshifteh Farahani) leave their tight-knit town in favor of a bigger citythough the promise of better circumstances doesnt quickly materialize. Elmers patience is rewarded, though, when a talking cat invites him to take a beautiful, candy-colored adventure. The movie is from the director of the The Breadwinner, set in modern-day Afghanistan, and Cartoon Saloon, production company behind animated movies like the beautiful Irish folk tale, Wolfwalkers.The Wandering Earth (2019) The title isnt a metaphor: this Chinese blockbuster is literally about what happens when the Earth goes off-course, and the people who come together to keep it from smashing into Jupiter. The whole thing begins when a rogue red giant threatens to engulf the Earth within a century, leading the nations of the world to come together around building giant engines to shove us out of the way. Its bonkers in the best possible way, with special effects that easily outpace those of many American blockbusters. The human element here is also a plus, as the movie makes room for a broad ensemble of interesting characters, suggesting that great things (like not hitting Jupiter) happen when people work together. Space Sweepers (2021) It doesnt entirely reinvent the wheel, but theres a refreshing focus on the underclasses of the future, without edging too far into the dystopian. Im not the first to make a comparison between Space Sweepers and Cowboy Bebop, but, given the recent and speedy failure of Netflixs live-action version of that cartoon, its not going too far to say that youll find a better encapsulation of Bebops spirit of rag-tag found family and its outer space western milieu here then in the live-action show that bore its name. What this one lacks in originality, it makes up for in engaging characters and extravagant special effects. Its also nice to see a less American-centric perspective on the future.The Block Island Sound (2020) Strange doings are afoot on Block Island, the most obvious of which are the vast numbers of dead fish that keep washing up on shore. More alarming though is the behavior of one of the local fishermen, Tom, who keeps waking up in strange places and generally losing time. His daughter Audry (Michaela McManus) works for the Environmental Protection Agency and is sent to investigate the mass fish deaths; she brings along her daughter and reunites with brother Tom (Chris Sheffield) along the way. Together, they discover no ordinary environmental catastrophe is to blame for all the dead fish, as the film blends the family drama and the eerie local events as it builds to a fairly chilling climax.Starship Troopers (1997) Starship Troopers is a wildly fascinating adaptation in the ways in which it takes straightforward source materialin this case, Robert A. Heinleins 1959 noveland largely satirizes it, by taking it at face value and doing a straight adaptation. Its a rather shocking bit of literary criticism disguised as a b-movie, turning the novels themes on their heads. At the risk of oversimplifying Heinlein, the novel (with a nearly identical plot) suggests that war is inevitable and that military service might be the best possible cure for a general moral decline. What we get in the movie is an ever-more-relevant picture of a militaristic slide into fascism thats also a pretty impressive action spectacle, and very funny. Okja (2017) A Korean-language sci-fi fantasy about a girl and her genetically modified pig might not sound like an easy sell, but the movie certainly attracted more much-deserved attention when its director, Bong Joon-Ho, won one of the best-justified Best Picture Oscars in recent memory for Parasite. The darkly whimsical film that challenges the norms of the American and South Korean meat industries is very much its own thing, but fans of Parasite will recognize Bongs mix of dark comedy, action, and hard-to-ignore social commentary.Guillermo del Toros Pinocchio (2022) The directors passion project, Pinnochio had a long road to the screen, but its hard to argue that it wasnt all worth it. Set in fascist Italy between the wars, and told through stunning stop-motion animation, the beautifully moving film won a well-deserved Best Animated Feature Oscar.Jumanji (1995) All three Jumanji movies are a lot of fun, but theres a lot to be said for the OG Robin Williams version, which just happens to be the only one streaming on Netflix. A group of friends become trapped in the title boardgame, one that unleashes jungle-related havoc on its players. Williams, having become trapped in the game previously, is at his most manic here, and the early CGI can be a bit wonky, but its still a charmingly goofy, family-friendly good time.Blame (2017) In the future, The City grows like a virus, endlessly in all directions, humans long since having lost control of the automated systems designed to run things. Those same systems now see views humans as illegals to be purged, so flesh-and-blood survivors are caught between the citys murderous defense systems and the need to find food. One group of humans, though, is on the hunt for the existence of someone with a genetic marker that they believe will allow for access to the citys control systemsa hunt lead by Killy, a synthetic human who might have the key.

If youre thinking of selling, but dont have the budget for bigger changes like a whole new kitchen or bath, you might think that staging is your only option to up your sale price. Luckily, there are quite a few smaller upgrades that dont involve demolition and reconstruction that you can do yourself to increase the resale value of your home. Get gardeningMaking sure that your landscaping is well cared for and has a clean look can increase the selling price of your home by 10 to 20%. To give your landscaping a boost, you can add some large planters with flowers for a pop of color, freshen up the mulch in your garden beds, or add some window boxes. Any upgrade you make to your garden will boost your curb appeal and can help you increase your sale price. Furinno 2-FG16450 Tioman Hardwood Flower Box, Two-Pack, Natural $49.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $49.99 at Amazon Upgrade walkwaysAnother good way to increase curb appeal is to upgrade your walkways. You can make a walking path using pre-poured pavers, or you can choose to mix your own concrete and mold your own pavers. If you prefer a gravel path, refresh your gravel and level your walkway with a rake to keep it looking neat and tidy.Install a picket fenceIt seems like a clich, but a picket fence can add the kind of classic charm you need to get a higher sale price on your home. In addition to adding safety for kids and pets, a picket fence can increase your selling price, so its a good project to tackle if youre an enthusiastic DIYer. Just make sure to call 811 before you dig so you dont hit any utility lines while youre digging your post holes. Put in a fire pitA fire pit can pull in a buyer with the promise of outdoor entertaining space, and you can add one with a DIY fire pit kit for between $500 and $700. The kit comes with most of what you need to build it, although youll need to level the area you want to put it in as well as clearing any vegetation from the area to avoid causing a fire hazard.Add some vintage detailsWhile it might not seem like a big thing, vintage hardware and fixtures can really make a difference to the overall look of your home. Vintage touches are in demand, and they can give your home a timeless quality that is attractive to buyers. Adding some vintage-inspired drawer pulls, cabinet handles, and knobs to your existing cabinets can give you an instant upgrade you only need a screwdriver to install. You can also opt for a vintage-inspired light fixture to add some nostalgia to your home. Alzassbg 10 Pack Antique Brass Cabinet Cup Pulls, 3 Inch(76mm) Hole Centers Cabinet Handles Hardware Shell Bin Cup Drawer Pulls Handles AL3033AE $37.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $37.99 at Amazon Install smart lightingSmart lighting like the Philips Hue system can improve your chances of getting a better sale price on your home as well as saving some money on your electric bill. The trick to successfully adding smart lighting to your home is to choose one integrated system that will communicate with other smart features. You can usually add smart lighting for between $300 and $400, and youll need some simple tools and basic knowledge of electrical systems to do the installation yourself. Make sure to turn off the power to the switch youre working on at the breaker to avoid electric shock.

Hello, fellow Olympians! The Paris games are in full swing, with thousands of athletes from all over the world competing in 32 sports (29 of which you won't hear about until the next Olympics). I'm glued to the competition, with an equal appreciation for athletic excellence and random heroes like Bob the Cap Catcher who gained international acclaim for jumping into a pool to retrieve a swim cap. Here are some highlights, lowlights, ongoing drama, and random observations from the Paris Games. The Seine is full of shitProbably the biggest story of the 33rd Olympics is whether the Seine is too polluted for human safety. "Mon Dieu! The river, she is full of merde!" a French official (who I made up) said of the matter. It's a big deal, because you can't hold swimming races in a literal sewer. Just hours before the scheduled start of the swimming portion of the Men's triathlon on Tuesday, officials were mulling whether the race would go ahead as scheduled, be postponed until later in the week, or be canceled altogether. Everything hinges on the results of water purity tests. The hope is that the levels of E. Coli in Paris's waterway will drop to "safe for humans," but since E. Coli rises when it rains, the race's future may depend on whether the storms scheduled for later this week materialize. An official of the World Triathlon, the governing body for the sport, told CBS that the swimming portion of the triathlon could be dropped altogether. "Then it would be a biathlon," he added.While canceling swimming might work for the triathlon (although triathletes who excel in swimming will be pissed), the marathon swim events scheduled for later in the games have no fallback position.Why Olympic street skateboarding is terribleDay three of the Olympics featured the finals of the street skateboarding competition. Japan's Yuto Horigome took home the gold medal, and Americans Jagger Eaton and Nyjah Huston won silver and bronze. But it was very stupid and bad because, as a concept, a "street skateboarding competition" is fatally flawed.First, because of Olympic drug testing. Skateboarders who like to smoke cannabis are ineligible for Olympic competition, which narrows the field of athletes considerably. Step one to improving Olympic skateboarding is ending testing for weed.But more importantly, street boarding, as it is practiced in reality, is nothing like the way it's "played" in the Olympics. Skaters don't compete by taking 45-second runs and scoring their best two tricks on scale of 0-100 points. Skaters compete by playing S.K.A.T.E. In S.K.A.T.E, a skater does a trick, then his opponent has five tries to replicate it or lose a point. Then they switch places. This is practiced in schoolyards and random stairways all over the world, and would be a much more interesting way to decide who the best street skateboarder is. S.K.A.T.E. involves direct competition, and has an objective outcome that doesn't depend on judges' interpretation. And it comes from the sport itself, not from whatever Olympic governing body made up the fake-ass rules for Olympic street skating. This is a great time to be into women's rugby Why did no one ever tell me that rugby is so amazing? All these years I thought it was like cricketsome foreign game for people who can't handle real sportsbut I've been glued to every game of Team USA's women's sevens rugby squad this Olympics, and it is badass. Plus, we are tearing shit up. We beat Brazil a couple days ago, and on day three, Team USA waged war against our eternal rivals, and the villains of the world, Great Britain. People in Great Britain actually care about rugbythey invented the game, after allbut team USA crushed 'em, 17 to 7, and barely broke a sweat. Highlights included a clutch score from team captain Naya Tapper at the game's halfway point, Sammy Sullivan mean-mugging the camera after putting the game out of reach in the second half, and literally everything Ilona Maher does, both on the field and on TikTok. This victory puts an American Rugby team into the Olympic semifinals for the first time ever. We're playing New Zealand on day four. They're very good, but I have faith in the mighty USA sevens. USA Women's Basketball: the anti-underdogsWhile the USA women's sevens rugby team are scrappy underdogs, our Olympic women's basketball team are not. We simply crush every competitor to the point that it's not even fun. Our victory against Japan adds a 56th game to USA's winning streak. The team hasn't lost a game since 1992. We play Belgium on Thursday. I don't think they have much of a shot.

You can get this Eufy BoostIQ Wi-Fi robot vacuum on sale for $99.99 right now (reg. $139.99) until August 4. You can control it through the EufyHome app or connect Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant to set schedules, create boundaries for the vacuum not to cross, or manually control it in the case of a spill. The robot is narrow enough to fit under furniture, as quiet as your microwave, runs up to 100 minutes on a single charge, and cleans effectively on tile, carpet, and hardwood floors with three different brushes. This is an open-box modela customer return or extra store inventoryso it's 28% off, even though its verified to be in new condition and comes with a 90-day warranty.You can get this Eufy BoostIQ Wi-Fi robot vacuum on sale for $99.99 right now (reg. $139.99) through August 4 at 11:59 p.m. PT, though prices can change at any time.

If youre looking for the Wordle answer for July 30, 2024 read on. Well share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Todays puzzle is harder; I got it in five. Beware, there are spoilers below for July 30, Wordle #1,137! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to todays Wordle game.How to play WordleWordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if theyre correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isnt in the days secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)Ready for the hints? Lets go!Does todays Wordle have any unusual letters?Well define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it Edwin Shirdloo, like a name, and pretend hes a friend of yours.)Four of today's letters are from our mnemonic. The fifth is fairly common. Can you give me a hint for todays Wordle?Wild, like an animal. Does todays Wordle have any double or repeated letters?There are no repeated letters today.How many vowels are in todays Wordle?There are two vowels. What letter does todays Wordle start with?Todays word starts with F.What letter does todays Wordle end with?Todays word ends with L.What is the solution to todays Wordle?Ready? Todays word is FERAL.How I solved todays WordleI started with RAISE and CHANT, then went with MOPED and BREAK to eliminate possible consonants and get known letters in the right place. There were a lot of words left with R, E, and A, but only FERAL fit with the letter placements remaining. Wordle 1,137 5/6Yesterdays Wordle answerYesterdays Wordle was medium difficult. The hint was great, excellent, very and the answer contained four common letters and one pretty common letter. The answer to yesterdays Wordle was SUPER. A primer on Wordle basicsThe idea of Wordle is to guess the days secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, youll see an empty grid of letters. Its up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word.Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word:Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and its in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then its game over.The best starter words for WordleWhat should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, thats still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isnt a single best starting word, but the New York Timess Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:CRANETRACESLANTCRATECARTEMeanwhile, an MIT analysis found that youll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:SALETREASTTRACECRATESLATEOther good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that its better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.How to win at WordleWe have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if youre a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, dont waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldnt have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.Wordle alternativesIf you cant get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:Wheeldle, which lets you play one puzzle after anotherDordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the days solution. Youre required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

Over the weekend, we learned Apple Intelligence, Apple's brand-name for its generative AI features, would not be shipping with iOS 18 after all, and would instead arrive with iOS 18.1. While Apple won't officially roll out Apple Intelligence until sometime later this fall, that doesn't mean these AI features will be totally absent until then. In fact, you can try them out right nowwith some big caveats. On Monday, Apple dropped the first developer beta for iOS 18.1. This version of the beta is meant for registered developers, so they can test out the new software with their apps and services and make sure there are no critical issues with it. While that used to cost $99 per year, in recent years, Apple has opened up the developer beta to anyone interested, meaning you can install the iOS 18.1 developer beta on your iPhone, even if you're not an iOS developer. Apple Intelligence is not here for everyoneSome caveats: Apple Intelligence is only available on iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, or iPads with an M1 chip or newer. If you have an iPhone 15 or older, or an iPad without the M-series chip, you're out of luck. In addition, installing the iOS 18.1 beta isn't enough to access Apple Intelligence. The company requires you to sign up for a waitlist for the service first before you can experiment with these AI features. There's no set time for how long Apple keeps you on the waitlist, and Redditors on r/iosbeta had varying experiences: Some were approved instantly, while others had to wait 30 minutes.As you might expect, this version of Apple Intelligence is in its initial stages of testing, which means it won't come with all the features Apple advertised earlier this year. While features like Genmoji, Image Playground, and ChatGPT integration aren't live yet, some key features are. If you install the update, you'll be able to try Apple's AI writing tools, new AI features in apps like Mail and Photos, and some AI upgrades to Siri.It's also important to note that because iOS 18.1 is in beta, it's risky to install on your device right now. Beta software is in testing, and unfinished, which means there could be bugs and other issues that would interfere with your normal device use. If you don't have a spare Apple device to install betas on, make sure to back up your iPhone or iPad if you choose to install iOS 18.1. Installing Apple Intelligence on your iPhoneAssuming you have a compatible iPhone or iPad, open Settings, then head toGeneral > Software Update. Allow the page to load a moment, then choose Beta Updates. Here, choose iOS 18 Developer Beta, then hit Back. Once this page loads again, you should see Upgrade to iOS 18 under "ALSO AVAILABLE." Tap this, which should take you to the iOS 18.1 update screen. From here, hit Update Now, then follow the on-screen instructions to install the update.Once you're running iOS 18.1, head back to Settings. You should now have an Apple Intelligence option. Tap this, choose Join the Apple Intelligence Waitlist, then hit Join Waitlist on the pop-up. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

If youre not fortunate enough to be in Paris for the Olympics this month, the second best way to watch the games is through a Meta Quest 3 headset, where you can watch Peacocks coverage of Olympic events in either a virtual theater or on a augmented reality screen. You can stream everything Peacock is offering from its app on the Quest 3, and that means a ton of live events, archived competitions, re-caps, highlight collections, and more. How to watch the Paris Olympics on Meta Quest 3Heres how to watch the Olympics in virtual reality with a Meta Quest 3:Navigate to the Meta Horizon Store.Search for PeacockDownload and install the Peacock appSign in or sign up: Peacock's premium plan is $7.99 a month and includes ads. Ad-free Premium Plus is $13.99 a month.Once the Peacock app is open, Olympics coverage should be front and center. Click the "Olympics" tab and go to town. Meta Quest 3 128GB + Link Cable $566.09 at Amazon $578.99 Save $12.90 Get Deal Get Deal $566.09 at Amazon $578.99 Save $12.90 How good is Olympics coverage on the Meta Quest 3?I gave Peacock's Olympics coverage a spin this morning, and I enjoyed having a floating window streaming coverage of the preliminary rounds of a sport I know nothing about while doing real life thingsthe Olympics are great background entertainment for household chores. Here's what it looks like when you watch women's rugby while doing your laundry, for instance: Credit: Stephen Johnson - Peacock The full-screening room experience is great for my favorite use of VR video: lying in bed and projecting video onto the virtual ceiling. This more-lazy-than-sitting-on-the-couch style of watching things may turn out to be the killer app of virtual and augmented reality, and the Olympics are your opportunity to give it a try. Another use for the VR Olympics is being able to watch a different sport than everyone else in the house. You can slip on some headphones and project equestrian events right on top of the TV that's showing gymnastics, and still be (kind of) hanging out with your wife and watching the Olympics "together." Sadly, Peacock's VR coverage of the Olympics is limited to 2D streams of the content that's available on their app, so it doesn't take full advantage of the possibilities of VR with immersive, 3D, sideline coverage of Olympic events or anything like that. Here's hoping for something like that for 2028.

Onion dip is a dangerous thing. It distracts you with its creamy, cool, umami-forward wiles, and before you know it, you wake up covered in chip salt with your partner accusing you of selfishly eating eight ounces of dip. Well I have good and bad news. If youre a lover of onion dip, theres a contender for the most umami-packed dip, and it's made with mushroom duxelles. The bad news is it wont solve your sharing issues.The reason this dip is so dang flavorful is because it combines the umami powers of onions and builds upon it with a heavy dose of mushrooms. Mushrooms arent a typical ingredient for dips but it makes a lot more sense once theyve been transformed into duxelles. Usually the only time duxelles make an appearance in my kitchen is when Im making mini beef Wellington dumplings (or when I Wellington anything, really).What is duxelles?Making duxelles is an easy way to get a robust and savory meal component. Duxelles is composed of finely minced mushrooms, shallot, herbs, and garlic that are sauted in a bit of butter until all of the moisture has evaporated and youre left with a deeply fragrant, concentrated, mushroom mixture. Its not something youd really eat all on its own (but you could, and Id support you), but more of a component; it makes other things better. Where beef Wellington is concerned, you spread the duxelles out in a layer before adding the tenderloin, and in the end it adds an extra savory boost in every slice. But duxelles is such a versatile mixture, it shouldnt be imprisoned forever in relation to beef Wellington. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann How to make mushroom duxelles dipTo kick off your duxelles discovery, why not turn it into dip? I make the duxelle in a relatively traditional manner for this recipe. The only thing I modify is the shallot. Normally youd use a small shallot for a pound of mushrooms, but I swap it out for half of a large sweet onion. I was looking to combine the powers of onion dip with duxelles, so I figured, why not caramelize some onions straight into the mixture? Onion dip is better when it has more onions in it anyway.This recipe is straightforward, and thats because building complex flavors doesnt mean that the method has to be difficult. Once the mushrooms and onions have cooked out all of their water (this can take up to 20 minutes), cool the mixture and then mix it into an equal parts mixture of cream cheese and plain yogurt. Add a packet of onion dip (theres no shame in a salty seasonings shortcut), and stir until thoroughly combined.Although you could skip the onion dip seasoning packet and still have an exquisite duxelle dip, I like what onions and mushrooms accomplish when they join forces. As with any dry dip mix, wait at least a few hours for the dry ingredients to hydrate in the dip before eating. Use this dream dip for crackers, chips, and pita bread, tuck it into an omelette, or stir it into hot pasta.Mushroom Duxelles Dip RecipeIngredients:1 tablespoon olive oil3 tablespoons butter8 ounces cremini mushrooms, minced large sweet onion, minced1 clove garlic, minced teaspoon salt1 sprig thyme4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature cup plain yogurtA ounce packet dry onion dip1. In a large skillet, add the oil and butter and melt it over medium-low heat. Add the minced mushrooms, onion, and garlic, along with the salt. Stir and cook the mushrooms down until the water has released. Add the thyme. Continue cooking until the mixture has reduced in size and the water has evaporated. Set it aside to cool. Discard the thyme sprig.2. Mix the cream cheese and yogurt together in a large bowl. Add the mushroom duxelles and the dry onion dip seasoning packet. Stir it all together. This dip is rather thick, so if you like the dip to be looser, add more yogurt. Cover the dip and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours, or overnight, to fully hydrate and settle in. Serve with chips.

Windows 11's File Explorer isn't everyone's cup of tea, but that doesn't mean it's devoid of useful features. As it happens, File Explorer isn't only for exploring files on your PC, but your Android device as wellif you know how to set it up.Microsoft announced on Thursday that it is now rolling out the ability to see your Android device in File Explorer on your PC. When enabled, you'll be able to browse all your Android folders and files, which includes actions like:Opening filesCopying Android files to your PCCopying PC files to your Android deviceRename filesMove filesDelete filesThis is made possible through the Link to Windows app, which lets you pair your Android device with your PC, so you can reply to texts, take calls, and view Android notifications from your computer.Accessing Android files from your PCIn order to try this feature out on your device, your phone needs to be running Android 11 or newer. You also need to be running the beta version of the Link to Windows app (version 1.24071 or higher), as the current public version of the app won't work. You can download the beta version from the APKMirror link here. On the Windows side of things, you need to enroll your PC in the Windows Insider Program (any of the four Insider Channels will work here), and you need to berunning Windows 11.Make sure Link to Windows is set up and connected on your phone. (You can follow the instructions in our article here for setup help.) Once all these are in place, go to your PC and head to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mobile devices, then choose Manage devices. Make sure your phone is enabled, then enable the toggle next to Access in File Explorer. Microsoft says if you don't see this toggle, the feature hasn't rolled out to you yet. Credit: Microsoft As this feature is still in testing, there are some bugs and issues to watch out for. Microsoft says when you delete phone files on your computer, they are sent to a new Recycle Bin folder on the phone, where they'll be deleted after five days. (The system will tell you it lasts for 30 days, so be aware you don't have that long before these files are deleted.) In addition, Microsoft says deleted files in this new Recycle Bin may not appear on your PC.Finally, you may notice some actions you take on your PC might not sync back to your phone. If so, log out of your Windows account on your PC, then log back in.

Running and cycling app Strava has a ton of features that help you find new running routes, including segments, the route builder, and the global heatmap. Earlier this summer, Strava began offering a weekly heatmap. Its great for finding trails and routes that are popular at a given timebut it may reveal information that is more private than what you thought Strava users could see.Using the weekly heatmap, I was able to browse the map, select a neighborhood that looked like it had one active runner, and find that persons name and where they lived. To be clear, this person is a stranger to me, and I chose the neighborhood randomly; it took a matter of minutes to find this information. If you live in a big city, you may not have to worry about this, but if youre in a rural or suburban area, you might want to check your privacy settings. More about those settings below, but first I want to explain whats going on with the new map.What is Stravas weekly heatmap?Strava offers a number of mapping tools that help you to find places to run or ride. Only paid subscribers can zoom down to street-level views.As Strava explains here, the weekly heatmap is updated each week, combining data from activities (like runs and bike rides) whose visibility is set to Everyone.There has long been a global heatmap as well, but that only tells you what routes are popular in general. The weekly heatmap gives you a real-time view of where people are going now. For example, I could see using this in icy or muddy seasons to see which trails in the county park are still navigable despite the weather.The problem is that if you browse to less-populated areas, like many rural and suburban areas, theres a pretty serious privacy issue: if youre the only person who has been running in your neighborhood lately, your tracks will be the only ones that show up on the weekly map. (On the global map, by contrast, they would blend in with everyone who runs those roads throughout the year.)How the weekly heatmap can make your lonely running routes stand outHeres what I mean. Lately Ive been running almost daily, and most of my runs occur in the neighborhood around my house. When I saw the weekly heatmap feature, I immediately zoomed in on a nearby park to check out popular trails. But when I panned back to the area where my house is, my own personal running routes stood out in cloudy blue lines.This is very different from what the global heatmap shows. My running slightly darkens the lines on the global heatmap, but another person wouldnt be able to pick out my personal running habit just from looking at them.The weekly heatmap is another story, though. It looks like I and probably one other person share a favorite couple of roads in my neighborhood. Sometimes I run laps up and down a certain road; that road glows brighter than the rest.Zooming out, I can see other neighborhoods where theres pretty clearly one person with a favorite route. I can even toggle between the global heatmap and the weekly one, and make observations like the person who runs [route A] has been running it a lot lately, but their neighbor who seems to start and end at [place B] hasnt been active. Do I know these people? Not at all. But I think I know at least one of their names.Heatmaps + Local Legends may reveal more than you intendedThe weekly heatmap gets particularly invasive when combined with another of Stravas main social features: Segments. A segment is a bit of a route that has a title and a leaderboard. Say theres a challenging hill in your area; maybe someone decided it deserved a leaderboard, so they create a segment named Neighborhood Hill that goes up that hill.With Stravas map tool, you can click on a segment and see who has the fastest time, and also who is the Local Legendthe person who has run it the most often in the past 90 days.So, as an experiment, I panned around the map and picked a neighborhood far from mine with what looked like a route run frequently by one or at most a few people: a thin, cloudy blue line over just a few roads, without any activity on other nearby roads.I then asked the map to show me segments in that same area, and sure enough the route included a named segment. I clicked the segment, and it turns out only three people have run that segment in the past 90 days. Two of them ran it once; the other has run it repeatedly.That last personthe Local Legendis likely to be the one who ran that blue cloudy route (or collection of routes) over the past week. I looked at the endpoints of that cloudy line, and figured there was a good chance that the LL (as Ill call them) lives in one of the houses nearest one of those endpoints. To satisfy my curiosity, I looked at the countys real estate records for houses on that street. And whaddaya know, one of the houses at the end of that cloudy blue line is owned by a person with the same first and last name as our Local Legend.I wouldnt have been able to get that kind of precision with just the global heatmap, or just the segments. I may have been able to guess that the LL lived nearby, but I wouldnt have had any clue which road, much less which house, to look up. But the weekly heatmap led me right to their house.How to remove your data from the weekly heatmap Credit: Strava/Beth Skwarecki If your account is completely locked down, with everything set to private, your data isnt being used here. But if you have portions of your runs or rides visible to everyonewhich is necessary if you want to compete on segmentsyour data is part of the weekly heatmap. Here are some ways to change that:Strava says that activities set to only you or followers are excluded from the map. However, these activities are not eligible for segment leaderboards. (You can read Stravas explanation of the privacy settings here.)Strava also allows you to automatically hide the start and end points of your activities. This would let you run from your house to a nearby park, and the portion of the run in the park would be public while the portion near your house would not. Read here about how to set that up. Again, the private portion does not appear on the weekly heatmap and will not be eligible for segment leaderboards. Hiding start and end points will help to avoid the scenario above, where I was able to track down a person to a specific house. But it doesnt change the fact that a stranger could figure out that you run a certain route often.Another partial solution is to change your name and profile picture so that they dont contain any identifying information. This will also make it harder for your friends to recognize you on Strava, so not everybody will want to do that (the social activities are part of the point of Strava).Finally, theres a setting that will remove your data from the global and weekly heatmaps. (Its too bad they dont have those as two separate settings.) Go to Settings, and then Privacy Controls, and scroll to Map Visibility. There is a checkbox labeled Contribute your activity data to de-identified, aggregate data sets. Uncheck that.And, yes, Strava considers this information to be de-identified even though it is, in at least some cases, trivial to link it back to your name. Such is the nature of big data sets: they contain small, identifiable pieces, far more often than the people who collect the data may realize. The Census Bureau, for example, deliberately adds noise (variation) to data sets it releases publicly, as a form of disclosure avoidance. This is a known problem in large data sets, but so far Stravas main method of avoiding disclosure is to ask users to change their privacy settings if they dont want to be included. Thats not good enough, in my opinion, but at least now you know where to find those settings.