Google announced Project Stream today, which allows Google Chrome users to stream video games.

Project Stream is a new video game streaming service that Google is testing, and you can test yourself if you’re lucky. To be clear: this is not a service where people can stream footage of themselves playing video games like Twitch, it’s a service that lets people play games without downloading them by streaming them over the internet.

SEE ALSO: Here’s the scary movies you should watch this month

This kind of streaming technology for games has been an up-and-coming focus for some video game hardware companies like Microsoft and Sony. It saves users from taking up hardware space with large video games (which can sometimes be larger than 100 GBs) and opens up the possibility of services that allow players to play games for a limited time on a subscription basis.

Take a look at Google’s test of Project Stream with the upcoming game Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. 

All of this is being streamed across the internet, not played off of a hard drive or disc. The quality is impressive, to say the least.

As Google notes in its Project Stream announcement, buffering and latency on games can be extremely detrimental to a gaming experience.

“When streaming TV or movies, consumers are comfortable with a few seconds of buffering at the start, but streaming high-quality games requires latency measured in milliseconds, with no graphic degradation,” project manager Catherine Hsiao wrote in the announcement.

New, big-production games also often require some expensive hardware to play them, but if players can stream the games, those requirements can be offloaded on the stream host, so Google’s setup would be handling all the processing.

There are existing services similar to this like graphics card company Nvidia’s GeForce Now, but it’s still in beta.

If Project Stream and other services like it get off the ground, it’ll be huge for gamers who can’t afford to drop $1,000 or more on a gaming computer. 

Warning: major spoilers for Hell Fest lie ahead.

Hell Fest. It’s a cheap Halloween knockoff set in a Six Flags commercial, but with a surprisingly clever ending.

This past weekend, Hell Fest kicked off the October slasher box office with more of a whimper than a scream. Receiving mostly negative reviews, the tale of a traveling horror carnival turned terrifying torture chamber left theaters less than packed. 

Consequently, the hugely forgettable villain of this “been there, done that” flop won’t be joining the varsity league of cinematic masked killers anytime soon. 

But his creepy part in a memorable ending could snag the film a footnote in horror history… if only because people can’t stop fighting about it.

SEE ALSO: Here’s the scary movies you should watch this month

Some viewers loved it.

Others really hated it.

And, plenty just didn’t get it.

So, what divisive conclusion made Hell Fest and its villain—”The Other”—worth talking about? Here’s a recap.

Following a gruesome fight to the finish against two badass final girls (Amy Forsyth and Reign Edwards), our hooded killer slips away from the park and into the night, narrowly avoiding capture. 

“Daddy! Did you bring me something?”

The Other then enters a cozy suburban home, still donning his off-brand Freddy Krueger look. Once inside, he opens up a large wardrobe, revealing half a dozen other Halloween masks and knick-knacks—presumably keep sakes from past killings. Without showing his face to camera, The Other removes his current mask and places a photo strip of two of his Hell Fest victims into the wardrobe. 

Moments later, he walks into a quiet living room where a little blonde girl is asleep on the couch. The Other’s outline ominously hovers in the door frame, seemingly threatening the sleeping child. His face still does not show.

As you watch, you brace yourself for a last horrifying murder when, suddenly, the girl pops up off the couch and runs towards her presumed attacker. “Daddy! Did you bring me something?” she gleefully screams.

The anonymous man hands his daughter a toy from the carnival (one he took from a guy he beat to death with a mallet, by the way), gives her a big hug, and the credits roll. 

Confused? Understandable. This bizarre exchange ties back to a specific bit of dialogue early in the film’s setup that is pretty easy to miss. When the main characters first enter the park, they discuss the undetectable monsters who “walk among us” in a joking context. (It’s adequately creepy, but hardly screams major thematic point.)

The ending is a startling depiction of such a monster, a seemingly normal man with an ordinary life… who just so happens to hire a babysitter one night of the year so he can murder local teenagers.

Hell Fest forces its viewers to consider the monsters they may encounter off screen. 

Overall, the father and daughter reunion ending is a considerable departure from the rest of the film—and that’s good or bad depending on your horror preferences.

If you’re seeing Hell Fest for the slasher vibes, this won’t do much for you. But if you are a lover of true crime accounts and crippling paranoia, this ending might get you to appreciate the film’s story more than you expected. 

By grounding 90 minutes of cartoony murder in a contrasting moment of realism and humanity, Hell Fest forces its viewers to consider the monsters they may actually encounter off screen. 

IRL terrorizers aren’t accompanied by ominous music and they don’t wear Party City masks. Instead, they regularly glide through life, quietly waiting to strike, appearing like anyone else. They may have lovely homes, affordable cars, adorable kids, even subscriptions to Audible. You simply can’t know their hidden danger until it’s too late.

All in all, Hell Fest likely won’t give you a newfound phobia of theme parks and masked strangers. But it does have a pretty decent shot at scaring you off of public spaces and strangers in general… because what you might not find frightening at first could turn out to be a total hell fest.

Hell Fest is in theaters now.

Christine Blasey Ford‘s testimony against Brett Kavanaugh seems to have triggered visceral emotions and memories in countless sexual assault survivors. 

RAINN, a nonprofit anti-sexual assault organization that operates a hotline for victims, reported Monday that it received record hotline traffic in the day after Ford’s emotional Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week. Sept. 28 marked the busiest day in the hotline’s 24-year history, with more than 3,000 people calling in and receiving help. 

To put that number in perspective, RAINN helped an average of 950 people a day during the month of September.

SEE ALSO: People across the country stage walk outs in solidarity with sexual assault survivors

“History shows us that when high-profile allegations such as these are in the news it often causes others to reach out too. This story has clearly resonated with survivors, and has led thousands to reach out for help for the first time,” RAINN president Scott Berkowitz said in a statement. “Over this past year, following the cases of Weinstein and Cosby and the explosion of #MeToo, our numbers have been growing pretty rapidly, but we’ve never seen anything like this before.”

“We’ve never seen anything like this before”

On Thursday, the day of Ford’s testimony, calls made to the National Sexual Assault Hotline were up 147 percent. Between Thursday and Sunday, RAINN experienced a 338 percent increase in hotline traffic. Given that sexual assaults are routinely under-reported, this surge was significant. 

Meanwhile, supporters came out in great numbers, online and at nationwide demonstrations. In solidarity with Ford and other survivors, people used the hashtags #WeBelieveSurvivors, #CancelKavanaugh, and #BelieveChristine on Twitter. At nationwide demonstrations, they wrote “I BELIEVE” on their hands and wore black.

In addition to providing support for survivors through its hotline, RAINN demanded the Senate delay the vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination and reopen his FBI investigation. 

Sen. Jeff Flake, a Republican who was set to confirm Kavanaugh, announced Friday that he would not proceed with his vote unless the FBI conducted an investigation into the allegations. While that investigation has begun, some news reports indicate the Trump administration has restricted the FBI’s ability to interview certain witnesses.

Just prior to his last minute decision, the Arizona senator was confronted by Ana Maria Archila and Maria Gallagher in an elevator. The two sexual assault survivors revealed their stories of abuse and seemingly helped change the senator’s course of action. 

If you have experienced sexual assault, you can call the free, confidential National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), or access 24-7 help online by visiting hotline.rainn.org.

President Trump can truly throw any event off the rails — even a seemingly benign event celebrating a new trade deal with Mexico and Canada.

Speaking in the Rose Garden on Monday, Trump managed to make a quite a few missteps, some of which were straight up offensive. 

SEE ALSO: Trump and CNN’s Jim Acosta have heated exchange over women reporters asking questions

He started off by being snappish with reporters. As he answered reporters’ questions about the trade deal, Trump called on ABC News’ Cecilia Vega and the two had an awkward exchange that included Trump saying to her, “I know you’re not thinking, you never do.” She replied with a stunned. “I’m sorry?” But the president barged ahead without clarifying what he meant.

Trump then dismissed Vega for asking a question about the FBI investigation into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh instead of focusing on the trade deal.

Trump had yet another moment of tension with another reporter who also tried to ask a question about Kavanaugh a few moments later.

Despite the his impatience, Trump did later circle back to the reporters, including Vega, to field Kavanaugh questions. 

In all, it was the type of performance we’ve come to expect from Trump: volatile, wide-ranging, unexpected, and filled with the most random asides that leave viewers asking, “Wait, did he really just say that?”

Like when he used to word “loco” to describe the media and then, seemingly aware that that wasn’t a good thing to say, explained that he used it because of the new deal with Mexico. Hmm.

Trump again lashed out at the media over their coverage of Kavanaugh and also referenced a Democratic senator in bizarre threat: “I’ve seen that person in very, very bad situations, somewhat compromising.”

When asked, Trump wouldn’t reveal who he was talking about. That’s probably for the best because Monday’s whirlwind was about all we can really take to kick the week off. 

This is You Won’t Regret It, a new weekly column featuring recommendations, tips, and unsolicited advice from the Mashable culture team.

Come December, malls and stores will be packed full of people looking to find the perfect gifts just in time for the holidays.

The whole experience of shopping for gifts so close to the holidays can be overwhelming and is often fairly unpleasant and pretty costly. But it’s totally possible to avoid most of these pains if you decide to purchase your presents far in advance. 

Like, now, for example.

SEE ALSO: 9 gifts you can totally borrow from your friends later

For the past few years I’ve done my Christmas shopping way in advance, and I can not recommend doing this more.

I picked this habit up from my aunt who’s always purchased her gifts throughout the year leading up to the holidays. For a long time I thought this was just an eccentric and somewhat silly practice, but then I realized there’s a method to her madness. 

When you purchase gifts extremely far in advance, you avoid spending an outrageous amount of money all at once, and you avoid the claustrophobic, shopper-filled stores. In turn, the holidays become much more enjoyable. 

Allow me to fully break down the benefits of buying your presents early:

No lines, baby! 

The first and most obvious benefit of buying gifts right now is that you’ll be able to avoid the outrageous lines and chaos that ensues in shops come December. I really can’t emphasize this enough. It’s amazing.

Just imagine it: a low-stress, breezy shopping experience where you don’t have to fight anyone over a sweater or a discounted knife set. 

Still need convincing? Look at these shudder-inducing photos from Black Friday.

You can give gifts more consideration

When you don’t feel the crushing pressure to buy the perfect gift within a month or a week’s time, there’s more time to think of a thoughtful present.

You have time to a give a decent amount of consideration as to what your loved ones actually want and need. And because you’re picking these items out early, it’s less likely that you have to worry about other people purchasing them the same gift. 

Money won’t be as tight during the holiday season

One of the biggest reasons why I decided to start holiday shopping early was a need to budget my finances. As a writer, I don’t always have an ample cashflow, so purchasing gifts all at once can have a pretty dismal effect on my bank account. 

I usually draw up a list of all the people I need to shop for and what I’d ideally like to buy for them, so that I can budget for my shopping and buy gifts for people slowly over time. And then I can actually afford to do the fun, seasonal things I like. I can go ice skating, purchase stocking stuffers I may not have been able to afford otherwise, and I can drink as many hot chocolates as I damn well please.

Those holiday deals aren’t as great as you think they are

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the capitalist holidays we wait for year round to provide us with the best deals on things we think we probably, definitely need. But is it worth holding off on buying your Christmas presents to see what’s on sale? My take: no, definitely not.

Usually, the best deals you’ll find on Black Friday and Cyber Monday are not nearly as good as you think they are, and because of the massive price cuts, we end up buying things just because they’re cheap and not because they’re good. 

Director of Content Marketing for Dealnews Lindsay Sakraida told CNBC that you’re actually more likely to find good deals on Thanksgiving rather than Black Friday — and there are even great deals to be found the Monday prior to Thanksgiving. Sakraida also says that typically shoppers end up buying things they don’t need or actually want because they’re surprised to find such good deals and this can result in overspending, unsurprisingly. 

And according to last year’s WalletHub calculations, unless an item is discounted at or above 37 percent on Black Friday, it’s not really worth buying — though, this number is likely to change this holiday season. 

Come November, you can also expect numerous websites to start reporting breakdowns of the discounts being offered by retailers later that month, meaning you can decide early on whether or not it’s actually worth it to trek to the mall. Techradar is already predicting the big discounts to come on Black Friday and Cyber Monday from Amazon and Apple, so wait if you must for these potential steals.

And if you’re dying for discounts now, you can always check out sites like Retail Me Not, or Groupon to reduce the cost of many big ticket items.

The one drawback to early gift giving

Despite all of the wonderful aspects of purchasing gifts in advance, there is one glaring drawback: there’s a chance none of the gifts are returnable.

Not everyone is a gift returner, but when it comes to things like clothing, if it doesn’t fit or look right your “giftee” will probably want to return or exchange their gift. 

As a general rule of thumb, I’d say that unless you’re convinced that someone will absolutely love their gift, don’t buy it for them. 

But hopefully with all the extra time to plan, no one will want to return your lovely gifts.

Kanye West‘s continued, persistent support for President Trump remains one of his most troubling aspects. No matter how many oversized, boxy costumes he dons with Lil Pump, seemingly because he doesn’t take himself too seriously, he’s still the guy who vehemently defends his choice to rock a Make America Great Again hat.

“This represents good and America becoming whole again,” he wrote in the caption of a selfie posted on Sunday (September 30). The post came a day after Kanye — or perhaps just YE now — performed on Saturday Night Live and reportedly made further pro-Trump statements in the studio after the broadcast had ended (once again earning the praise of the president).

While Kanye’s public support for the president continues, a fellow artist has sent him a message explaining how harmful it actually might be. In an Instagram comment on his MAGA hat selfie, Lana Del Rey expressed a view that widens the scope of Kanye’s actions by viewing it through the lens of pop culture. “Trump becoming our president was a loss for the country,” she wrote, “but your support of him is a loss for the culture.”

Lana then likened Kanye to the president, implying that they have similar personalities plagued by “delusions of grandeur” and “extreme issues with narcissism.”

“If you think it’s alright to support someone who believes it’s OK to grab a woman by the pussy just because he’s famous — then you need an intervention just as much as he does,” Lana continued. “Something so many narcissists will never get because there just isn’t enough help for the issue.”

Lana concluded her comment on a defeatist note: “Message sent with concern that will never be addressed.” And so far, Kanye hasn’t addressed it directly. His IG page most recently shows him devoting time to the Crenshaw Rams youth football team, which is nice. But there’s also no word on his apparently forthcoming album YANDHI, which was due to drop over the weekend to coincide with his spot on SNL.

You can relive YE’s dizzyingly mad SNL performances of “I Love It” and “We Got Love” below.