Read my full review of the Narwal Flow 2.

The Narwal Flow 2 is the robot vacuum to splurge on if you take the cleanliness of your hard floors seriously — it takes a certain confidence in cleanliness to walk around in bare feet at home. Between the sturdy XL roller and hot water mopping, the Flow 2 has the elbow grease to soak up large liquid spills and melt away sticky or greasy droplets without smearing.

If your household is prone to spills, perhaps from kids, pets, or frequent guests, the Flow 2’s accurate obstacle and mess detection technology will come to the rescue for those big in-the-moment messes.

If you’ve sworn off mopping robot vacuums after a cheap one streaked your floor with dirty water, a roller mop robot vacuum should be your next move. The Narwal Flow 2 is my top recommendation halfway through 2026, mostly because it never really missed a spot in the several months that I was testing it.

Roller mop robot vacuums mitigate smearing in a few ways. The bath towel-like material is already thick and absorbent, and constantly rinses itself to keep the spill from being dragged across a clean floor. If the roller gets too soiled during a bigger cleanup, the Flow 2 automatically returns to the dock mid-cleaning to wash the mop with hot water. The Flow 2’s roller actually has flat sides like a conveyor belt, which Narwal says gets more direct surface coverage than the sliver of a cylindrical roller mop hitting the floor at any given point.

In my testing, the Flow 2 consistently mopped up spills of various consistencies, from true liquids like red wine and milk to sludgier splatters like pancake batter, chunky pasta sauce, and most impressively, globs of dried syrup. The Flow 2 is one of just a few robot vacuums that mop with hot water, making it able to dissolve the syrup without leaving the floor sticky. Hot water loosens the bonds that make grease slimy and hard to lift off hard surfaces with force alone, so the Flow 2 handles oily or greasy liquids better than robots mopping with room temperature water. During dry vacuuming, the Flow 2 did a commendable job with cat hair and small debris on rugs and kibble, cat litter, dirt, and crushed dried flowers on hard floors. I appreciate that the app allows up to three cleaning passes in the same session.

The Flow 2 is also such a thorough cleaner simply because it knows what kind of mess it’s dealing with — its AI spill detection is the most intuitive I’ve seen in 2026. The Flow 2 snaps a “before” photo when it approaches a mess that’s bigger than a few crumbs or a single droplet. After cleaning the rest of the area, the Flow 2 comes back to the dirty area for intensive zone cleaning. My Narwal app was also full of photos of extension cords, phone chargers, shoes, and random cat toys that the Flow 2 saw in my apartment while cleaning, even if the object wasn’t directly in the way. No one has time to tidy up before sending their robot vacuum out every single day, so it’s comforting to see such direct proof that the Flow 2 is, in fact, reacting to obstacles in real time.

Happy 4th of July, America. This year’s Independence Day celebrations are a little extra special as we celebrate the United States of America’s 250th birthday.

Across the country, many people will spend the day at the beach or at a barbecue, capping the night off with a fireworks display. But, if you’re spending the night indoors, there are still plenty of ways to celebrate with an array of July 4th fireworks livestreams.

Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks 

Perhaps the most well-known of the Independence Day celebrations is the Macy’s 4th of July fireworks. If you live in NYC, you can catch them live. Otherwise, you can tune into NBC or Peacock at 8 p.m. on July 4th to watch the show.

While the U.S. is celebrating its 250th, Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks is also celebrating a milestone with its 50th anniversary this year.

PBS’s America Made in Virginia: 250 Years Together

While many of the livestream options on this list will require a paid subscription to a particular streaming platform, PBS is airing its 4th of July special on YouTube for absolutely free.

America Made in Virginia: 250 Years Together will start at 8 p.m. on July 4th and culminate in a fireworks and pyrotechnics display from Colonial Williamsburg.

Disney Celebrates America

Disney is also getting in on the 250th anniversary of the United States celebrations with its own event.

Disney+, Hulu, and the ESPN app will stream a 24-hour broadcast called “Disney Celebrates America” that checks in on 4th of July celebrations around the country, which will ostensibly include at least a few fireworks displays. The grand finale, Star-Spangled Bash in Nashville, will also be hosted by ABC and deliver one of the country’s largest fireworks and drone shows.

The broadcast kicks off at 10 p.m. on Friday, July 3rd, with the main event out of Nashville starting at 8 p.m. on July 4th.

Freedom 250 fireworks display

There’s been a lot of controversy surrounding President Donald Trump’s own Freedom 250 group, set up to lead Trump’s 250th anniversary celebrations. You’ve probably seen the memes about the lackluster attendance for Trump’s Great American State Fair all week.

With that said, Freedom 250 is claiming they’re about to have a record-breaking 40 minute long firework display on the 4th of July with more than 850,000 fireworks. And, according to the group, the MonumentCam atop the Washington Monument will be the premier free-to-watch livestream to watch it all.

The Great American Block Party 250

Paramount+ and CBS are hosting their own 3-hour Independence Day special at 8 p.m. on July 4th. 

Like Disney’s, the show will check in on 4th of July celebrations and firework displays from around the country. The broadcast will also culminate in their own feed of Freedom 250’s Washington, DC, fireworks display.

By Jason Collins
| Published 1 hour ago

The removal of content from streaming, or the absence of definitive versions, underscores the importance of media preservation. That now applies to Dark City, the 1998 neo-noir sci-fi thriller about an amnesiac man trying to recover his identity while hunted for a series of murders. The theatrical cut is available to stream for free, but if you want to watch the superior Director’s Cut, you’ll have to rent or purchase the title on-demand.

A Dystopian City Ruled By The Strangers

Dark City’s narrative is set in a dystopian city that is perpetually shrouded in darkness and controlled by a mysterious group known as the Strangers, beings that possess the ability to alter reality and reshape the city and its inhabitants’ memories at will.

The protagonist, John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell), wakes up with no memories and finds himself accused of murder, which sets him on a quest to uncover his past and the city’s darkest secrets and horrifying truths about his reality and Strangers’ manipulations.

Dark City Was Doomed At The Box Office

Dark City’s theatrical release was marred by studio interference from New Line Cinema, which diluted its thematic complexity and sense of mystery. Most notably, the studio insisted on an opening narration that prematurely explained many of the film’s biggest reveals, undercutting its suspense and intrigue.

Coupled with a marketing campaign that failed to convey the film’s unique blend of noir and sci-fi accurately, these interventions contributed to its initial lack of success among critics and audiences.

How The Director’s Cut Saved The Film

Something similar happened with Highlander II: The Quickening, which was also nearly completely ruined by its production studio, investors, and completion bond company. However, similar to Highlander II, Dark City was also saved by its Director’s Cut edition by removing the opening narration and restoring the film’s intended sense of mystery. The added scenes also deepened character development and clarified the narrative further, which significantly improved the audiences’ perception of the movie.

The added changes to the film transformed Dark City from a misunderstood gem into a cult classic that’s now appreciated for its bold narrative and visuals. Not to mention that some of its themes, such as the loss of individuality and the manipulation of reality, have become more relevant with time, particularly now, with the rising concerns about technology and privacy.

Without The Director’s Cut, It Might As Well Be Radio

The improvement introduced with the Director’s Cut propelled Dark City into a Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. As of this writing, the film has a 78 percent critical score against an 85 percent approval rating on the Popcornmeter.

Yet, despite its acclaim, the definitive version remains relatively inaccessible. While the theatrical cut is available to stream for free on Tubi, the superior Director’s Cut is still locked behind on-demand purchases, making the film’s best version harder for casual viewers to discover.

Despite its immense quality, Dark City continues to elude many viewers because the version most deserving of its cult reputation isn’t the one most people are likely to stumble across.