Tech Boys

The British government has announced plans to move forward with a law that would bar public organizations from paying off ransomware attackers. The proposed legislation would add schools, town councils, National Health Service (NHS) hospitals and critical infrastructure managers to a ban which already applies to the national government. The logic behind banning payments is simple. If cybercriminals know a ransomware attack against a UK school or hospital won't get them paid, they'll look somewhere else for a more lucrative target. Security Minister Dan Jarvis said that the government is "determined to smash the cyber criminal business model," and added that laws in the proposed package will require even private businesses to seek guidance from the government before paying a ransom. Since the WannaCry attack on the NHS in 2017 launched the modern era of ransomware attacks, the UK has suffered a number of serious incidents. In the last two years alone , attacks have...

Is Google Gemini free? Yes and no. While there are paid plans for Google AI, aka Gemini, you can access many of its most popular features for free. As one of the world’s largest tech companies, Google has an advantage over its AI rivals: the company has the money to float the tech while it figures out how to monetize it. On top of that, Google has unparalleled access to a critical AI resource — data. "The data is their biggest immediate powerhouse," AI researcher and consultant Jack Teitel told Mashable by email. "Competitors like Anthropic and OpenAI have good talent, and can raise lots of capital, and they have the advantage of being earlier to market, making it easier to capture a 'piece of the pie.' However, between YouTube and Google, Google has access to an unmatched repository of data that they are most definitely using to train models." The end result of these advantages? Google Gemini offers a ton of advanced AI features that are completely f...

Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle . As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer. If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you. SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: Hints and answers for July 21 Where did Wordle come from? Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble , music identification game Heardle , and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once .  Word...

The iPad Pro with the M5 chip is expected to be just as easy to use for selfies in a landscape or portrait orientation. According to Bloomberg 's Mark Gurman , Apple will add a second front-facing camera on the portrait edge of the upcoming iPad Pro that's expected to launch later this year. It may seem like a small quality-of-life upgrade, but it means the iPad Pro can use either camera to center the subject for selfies or FaceTime calls. Compared to the previous iPad models, the upcoming iPad Pro with Apple's latest silicon removes the guessing game of where the front-facing camera is. In the past, iPad models only had one front-facing camera alongside the portrait edge, but Apple decided to shift this to the landscape side in 2024 with the iPad Pro M4 . iPad Pro owners who mostly use their devices in landscape mode welcomed this change, but those who preferred holding it vertically found it was trickier to unlock through Face ID. Beyond the new front-facing camera, ...

Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle . As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer. If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you. SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: Hints and answers for July 20 Where did Wordle come from? Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble , music identification game Heardle , and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once .  Word...

Ring , the Amazon-owned home surveillance company, is partnering with taser-maker Axon to once again help law enforcement request footage from users’ doorbell cameras. The move reverses Ring’s 2024 decision to kill its "Request for Assistance" feature , which let police ask users for video via the Neighbors app. At the time, Ring framed the change as a shift toward becoming a more community-focused brand, one less reliant on law enforcement integrations. That ethos now appears to be on pause. SEE ALSO: 14 reasons not to get a Ring camera The about-face coincides with the return of Ring founder Jamie Siminoff , who rejoined Amazon in April. Under his renewed leadership, Ring is doubling down on AI and rekindling its relationship with law enforcement. As first reported by Business Insider , the new partnership with Axon will allow police to request video from Ring users via Axon’s evidence management system. Ring is also reportedly exploring an option that would let use...

Anyone who calls IKEA "adult Legos" hasn't checked out the Lego catalog lately. While many of us may have had our Lego introductions as kids, sets these days range from architectural marvels to genuine works of art that anyone, kid or adult, can enjoy. In other words, "adult Legos "are just Lego. As someone who enjoys a good Lego build, and is surrounded by friends, family, and Mashable coworkers who do too, I decided to poll the people around me about the best sets they've built, as well as those they're still coveting. Altogether, I rounded up 10 sets, with picks from under $100 all the way up to $850. (Shoutout to my brother for suggesting the two most expensive sets on this list. His expertise is well earned — he owns so many sets my mom texted me ahead of his last birthday, "[He] does not need any more Legos until he has his own garage to store them in.") Check out our 10 favorite Lego sets below: Lego Botanicals Petite Sunny Bouque...