IT General

If you're traveling somewhere with patchy mobile network coverage or want to cut your data costs, Google Maps can still guide you. You just need to plan ahead. Here's how to download maps for offline use, what cached maps can do in a pinch, and what it's like to use Google Maps without an internet connection.

TL;DR: Live stream Ireland vs. New Zealand in the Autumn Internationals for free on Virgin Media Player. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The Autumn Internationals are gaining a reputation for producing some of the best matchups outside of the World Cup. When else would you get to see huge contests like Ireland vs. New Zealand?

And this hotly-anticipated game is extra special as it takes place in Chicago. The last time these sides met at Soldier Field was back in 2016, with Ireland producing a stunning display to beat the All Blacks 40-29. That was the first time Ireland had ever beaten the All Blacks. They've fared much better since then, but any matchup with the All Blacks is always incredibly tough.

If you want to watch Ireland vs. New Zealand in the Autumn Internationals from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is Ireland vs. New Zealand?

Ireland vs. New Zealand in the 2025 Autumn Internationals kicks off at 8:10 p.m. GMT on Nov. 1. This fixture takes place at Soldier Field.

How to watch Ireland vs. New Zealand for free

Ireland vs. New Zealand in the 2025 Autumn Internationals is available to live stream for free on Virgin Media Player.

Virgin Media Player is geo-restricted to Ireland, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Ireland, meaning you can unblock Virgin Media Player to stream the Autumn Internationals for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Ireland vs. New Zealand for free by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Ireland

4. Visit Virgin Media Player

5. Watch Ireland vs. New Zealand for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can access free live streams of the Autumn Internationals without actually spending anything. This obviously isn't a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream all of Ireland's Autumn Internationals before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for Virgin Media Player?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on Virgin Media Player, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including Ireland

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.95 (with money-back guarantee).

Live stream Ireland vs. New Zealand in the Autumn Internationals for free with ExpressVPN.

Today's Connections: Sports Edition is simple if you've played video games.

As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. 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 What is Connections: Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. Here's a hint for today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Amateur global sports

• Green: Games played with friends

• Blue: I like Lamar, but there's something about this guy

• Purple: Not spelled like you think it is

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Summer Olympic Sports

• Green: Football Video Games

• Blue: Associated with Joe Flacco

• Purple: Contains A Double I

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections: Sports Edition #404 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Summer Olympic Sports - SAILING, SOCCER, SPORT CLIMBING, SWIMMING

• Football Video Games - BACKYARD FOOTBALL, MADDEN, NFL BLITZ, TECMO BOWL

• Associated with Joe Flacco - DELAWARE, ELITE, RAVENS, SUPER BOWL MVP

• Contains A Double I - EMBIID, HAWAII, SKIING, WII SPORTS

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Connections.

If you're working with a large amount of data in your Bash scripts, arrays will make your life a lot easier. Some people get intimidated by the syntax. But once learned, it will make your scripts more powerful, with fewer variables to think about.

A beloved San Francisco neighborhood cat has died after being hit by a self-driving Waymo vehicle, and mourners across social media are posting about it.

KitKat, also known as the "mayor of 16th Street," was struck by the Waymo around 11:30 p.m. Monday night, his owner, Mike Zeidan, told The San Francisco Standard. Zeidan also owns Randa's Market, the convenience store where KitKat roamed. There, he became known and loved by the community, often frequenting the market's Instagram page.

SEE ALSO: Waymo under investigation for school bus incident

On Monday night, the driverless robotaxi made a stop near the market, and apparently, it didn't slow down or attempt to avoid the cat, according to an anonymous complaint made to 311, as reported by The Standard.

Zeidan told the Standard that KitKat was found underneath the Waymo. A store employee brought him to an animal hospital, and he was pronounced dead.

Now, the pinned post on the shop's Instagram is a tribute to KitKat.

View this post on Instagram

"We're heartbroken to share that our beloved store cat, KitKat, has passed away," the post states. "He brought warmth, smiles, and comfort to everyone who walked through our doors. Thank you to all who loved him as much as we did. The store won't be the same without his little paws padding around."

More memorial posts have appeared on the platform and on TikTok, featuring photos and videos of a shrine to KitKat near the store.

"If you're not a 16th street regular this can seem silly but this cat meant so much to this community. if you knew kitkat you’d understand [sic]," one TikTok by user @frijolefiddler posted with a video of the memorial full of flowers, photos of the cat, and KitKat bars. The video has over 500,000 likes at the time of this publication. Mourners have also posted saved videos of KitKat as tributes.

On Thursday, Waymo responded to SFGATE's request for comment about the death, acknowledging it but not claiming responsibility. Waymo also stated it will donate to an animal rights group in KitKat's honor:

"The trust and the safety of the communities we serve is our highest priority," Waymo told SFGATE. "We reviewed this, and while our vehicle was stopped to pick up passengers, a nearby cat darted under our vehicle as it was pulling away. We send our deepest sympathies to the cat's owner and the community who knew and loved him, and we will be making a donation to a local animal rights organization in his honor."

It’s common knowledge that background apps can hurt your FPS in games. But since they usually only use a bit of RAM and CPU power, they shouldn’t affect performance too much, right? While that’s true for most apps, RGB software might be the exception.

When the time comes to start your 3D printing journey, you’ll quickly realize you’ve got a lot of options in front of you. In addition to being guided by your budget and how much space you can dedicate to the hobby, at some point, you’ll have to ask yourself whether you should go with filament or resin.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk claims that a demo of the long-anticipated new Roadster is coming — and in the next couple of months.

Yesterday, host Joe Rogan asked Musk on his podcast (around 38 minutes into the over three-hour-long episode) whether the company is still doing the Roadster, which was first announced in 2017.

SEE ALSO: Tesla Robotaxis are crashing more than Waymo, even with human safety monitors

Musk said yes. "We're getting close to demonstrating the prototype," he said. "I think this will be...one thing I can guarantee is that this product demo will be unforgettable," Musk said. He repeated: "Unforgettable."

Musk said this a day after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted on X that he tried to cancel his 2018 Roadster reservation, only to be met with a bounce-back email.

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"I really was excited for the car!" Altman said in a follow-up post. "And I understand delays. But 7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait." (Musk and Altman started OpenAI together, but their relationship has since strained.)

After the 2017 announcement of the revamped Roadster, production was scheduled to begin in 2020 and launch in 2021. However, it was then delayed again, first to 2022 and then to 2023.

In February 2024, Musk posted to X that he aimed to ship the Roadster in 2025. One feature he teased was that the Roadster would be able to go from zero to 60mph in less than a second. He also stated that, "I think it has a shot at being the most mind-blowing product demo of all time."

Musk said much of the same about the demo during his appearance yesterday on The Joe Rogan Experience — but with new, cryptic boasts about what the Roadster will be able to do.

"Whether it's good or bad, it'll be unforgettable," he joked about the demo when Rogan asked what he meant.

Rogan asked whether Musk could say more, and Musk replied with a quote from his "friend" billionaire Peter Thiel, that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don't have flying cars. He wouldn't respond to Rogan's direct question about whether the Roadster will be able to fly, just that Thiel should be able to purchase a flying car, and that we will have to see the demo.

"I can't do the unveil before the unveil," Musk said. "I think it has a shot at being the most memorable product unveil ever."

When Rogan asked when he plans on doing this, Musk said, "Hopefully before the end of the year."

"We need to make sure that it works. This is some crazy, crazy technology." He affirmed that this is different than what was previously announced.

"Is it even a car?" Musk asked himself. "I'm not sure. It looks like a car." He then said, "If you took all the James Bond cars and combined them, it's crazier than that," but didn't elaborate.

The vague statements also came over a week after Tesla released its latest quarterly earnings, during which the EV company's profits fell 37 percent.

This week, Nova Launcher received what is likely its final update, the Fairphone 6 launched in the US, and the OnePlus 15 got official. Meanwhile, apps are evolving: Gboard now features "flick keys" for faster number and symbol entry, Google Messages is testing a 30-day trash folder to recover deleted texts, and the Samsung Galaxy camera app may soon get user-friendly Pro Mode presets. And more!

Recently, while looking for a good action movie to watch on Hulu, I came across the explosive action movie Sisu. It turned out to be the most exciting 90 minutes I’ve spent sitting down all year long. The gritty Finnish flick's visceral gut-punch is the epitome of what determination and perseverance fueled by adversity look like, with some Nazi vengeance and an all-female gun gang tucked in there for fun. The near-perfect film (Rotten Tomatoes currently ranks it at 94%) saw popularity so extreme, it demanded a sequel.

Python is popular for statistical analysis because of the large number of libraries. One of the most common statistical calculations is linear regression. statsmodels offers some powerful tools for regression and analysis of variance. Here's how to get started with linear models.

This was another busy week in tech news, with a big change on the way for Google Chrome, the arrival of Fedora Linux 43 and the new Affinity Photo app, more carriage disputes with YouTube TV, and much more. Here are the biggest stories you might have missed.

Buying a used car usually means juggling a long checklist, but speed and style can make it worth the hassle. The Ford Mustang has long been the dream for anyone chasing excitement on four wheels—an icon that has thrilled generations.

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.'s Rockstar Games, which develops Grand Theft Auto, has terminated staff members involved in a British trade union. While the union accuses the studio of union-busting, the company claims that the workers were let go for misconduct.

Rockstar Games apparently fired over 30 employees on Thursday, according to a statement by the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB). The workers, who are members of IWGB, were involved in an IWGB Game Workers Union Discord channel; the union says the firings were illegal and retaliatory.

SEE ALSO: Rockstar explains how 'GTA 6' trailer was made and posts dozens of screenshots

"Rockstar has just carried out the most blatant and ruthless act of union busting in the history of the games industry," IWGB president Alex Marshall said in the union's press release. "This flagrant contempt for the law and for the lives of the workers who bring in their billions is an insult to their fans and the global industry."

Staffers were in offices across the UK and Canada, Bloomberg reported. According to IWGB organizers, some of the fired workers were visa holders sponsored by Rockstar, and others had medical conditions.

IWGB stated that it will "be mounting a full and robust defense of its members."

Meanwhile, Take-Two spokesman Alan Lewis told Bloomberg the firings were due to "gross misconduct, and for no other reason" and that "we fully support Rockstar's ambitions and approach."

Rockstar Games is most well-known for the Grand Theft Auto franchise. The latest iteration, Grand Theft Auto VI, has been delayed multiple times, with its long-awaited release now slated for May 2026 — but rumors are floating that it may be even later.

HBO Max has a righteous library of some of the best and most popular dramas just waiting for your attention, so we thought we’d highlight several selections while they’re still available on the streaming platform.

Prime Video is one of the world's biggest streaming services. Next to Netflix and HBO Max, it's one that I use almost every day for its huge library of content, but its interface is far from perfect. With so much on offer, one of the best ways to organize it all is through its Watchlist feature, but over time, mine has gotten so bloated it's almost as frustrating flipping through it as it is finding something to watch in the library—until I learned of this simple way of keeping the Watchlist neat and tidy.

Do you keep seeing web pages pop up with a chibi-style drawing of a girl with dog ears and a magnifying glass under the text "Making sure you're not a bot"? After a few seconds, it probably disappears, and you arrive at the web page you were visiting. What's going on?

Are you tired of memorizing dozens of keyboard shortcuts just to be productive? Do you wish there was a faster way to launch apps and execute commands without digging through menus? Let me introduce you to Kando—a gesture-based menu system that might change your entire workflow!

Amazon's Fire TV Stick range has been around for more than a decade and has become a cheap and easy way to add streaming support to your TV. The lineup has become confusing, though, with several models available in various bundles, and not many obvious differences between any of them. Here's how to choose your next Fire TV Stick.

Why are we so obsessed with serial killers?

Maybe it’s because we can’t quite imagine what it takes for an ordinary human brain to cross that line. Or maybe it’s just the morbid curiosity that so many of us find hard to shake. Ed Gein didn’t kill hundreds of people, but his story, one man on a farm, and one deranged devotion to his mother, quietly changed horror forever. Because from that frozen little town in Wisconsin emerged the DNA for three of the most iconic killers in film history: Norman Bates, Leatherface, and Buffalo Bill.

Join us as we delve into the story of Ed Gein. A story that inspired iconic movie villains like Norman Bates, Leatherface, and Buffalo Bill. Discover how Gein's twisted life rewrote the rules of horror, transforming the genre from monstrous fantasies to terrifying realities. Explore the psychology behind why we can't look away from these dark stories and what they reveal about the human condition.

Monster: The Ed Gein Story is now streaming on Netflix.