Terrence O'Brien

The next installment of the Sonic movie franchise just wrapped filming. It won’t land in theaters until March 2027. But to celebrate the milestone, director Jeff Fowler posted our first full look at Metal Sonic, glowing eyes and all.

A new investigation by the New York Times has discovered that social media influencers are collecting tens, or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, to back candidates, endorse policies, and attack political enemies. But where that money is coming from isn’t clear, and campaigns are embracing the secrecy.

Back in 2000, people were legitimately wondering if anyone would want to use the internet on their phone. At a time when i-mode phones connected to primitive mobile-specific pages were cutting-edge, and the concept of a smartphone wasn’t really in the public consciousness, the skepticism is understandable.

Bears are a serious problem in Japan, and Ohta has been fending them off for a decade with Monster Wolves — solar-powered animatronics with glowing eyes that make loud noises. But the company can’t keep up with demand. Farmers and rural workers are waiting up to three months for delivery.

That means Spotify-hosted shows will be able to be distributed and monetized on Apple Podcasts. In addition, the company is flipping the switch on integration with Libsyn, Podigee, Audioboom, Audiomeans, and Podspace, so users of those services can distribute and monetize their video podcasts on Spotify.

Managed accounts, which offer a music-only experience with parental controls for the under-13 set, were previously reserved for Premium Family subscribers. Now, free users can also create kids accounts, with their own playlists, suggestions, and wrapped experiences. It’s coming to Argentina, Colombia, Denmark, Italy, New Zealand, and Sweden first.