What's the Difference Between the 'Surface Web' and the 'Deep Web'?

In 2024, the world wide web was made up of 149 zettabytes of data. That's 149 trillion gigabytes, or 149 billion terabytes—whichever helps you wrap your head around that gigantic number. Suffice it to say, the internet is a big place. It's so big, in fact, that you can't access all of it the same way. There are actually different tiers to the web, and depending on with tier a piece of content you're looking for is on, you may or may not be able to view it—even if you know where to find it.

That's the crux of the difference between the "surface" web, and the "deep" web. These are two separate parts of the internet that are also part of the larger world wide web. While these two tiers are quite different, you've visited content on both of them before. In fact, you likely visited both surface web pages and deep web pages today, multiple times, without ever realizing it.

What is the surface web?

The surface web, also known as the visible web, is really true to its name: This is the part of the web you can easily access through search engines, as they are indexed by platforms like Google. As a rule of thumb, if you can google it, it's on the surface web. The article you're reading right now is on the surface web, for example. Maybe you found it by searching "difference between surface web and deep web" on Google. The same applies to Lifehacker as a whole, as well as articles on websites like Mashable, CNET, and PCMag.

You likely spend a good amount of your internet time on the surface web, on websites both old and new. Forums like Reddit are largely fully represented on the surface web, as are some Instagram pages. Listings for products you can buy on websites like Amazon and Best Buy are surface web pages. Video platforms like YouTube are very much the surface web, including TikTok—though the experience for the latter is not optimized for web browsers. Legacy websites like AddictingGames (which is still playable in 2026), as well as the site for the 1996 movie Space Jam are the surface web. A lot of the surface web is made of up individual articles, which makes sense, since articles still make up a large amount of search engine results.

Like the surface of the ocean, the surface web is just a fraction of the internet as a whole. Back in 2017, some estimates claimed the surface web made up just 10% of the entire internet. That's still a huge number of websites, which tells you how big the overall web really is.

What is the deep web?

If the surface web is everything you can find via Google, the deep web is everything you can't. The deep web is much larger than the surface web, and is compromised of websites that are not readily accessible from search engines or direct URLs. They're often locked away behind authentication. That means you need at least a username and password to access them, and in many cases, they require an additional form of authentication as well. The article you're reading is on the surface web, but the software (content management system, or CMS) we use to write and publish the article is not—our CMS is still a website, but it's not something you can find in a Google search, and even if you knew the direct URL, you wouldn't have access.

It's the same with the many sites you access that only you have permission to view. Think about something like Gmail: The service's homepage is accessible to everyone, and it's something that pops up when searching "Gmail," but to access your Gmail inbox, you need to log in. Once you do, your inbox is accessible via the website, but it's not like anyone can see it with a URL, and they certainly can't find your inbox from a Google search. It's the same story with your Facebook feed, YouTube account, or your banking information. These are all accessible in your web browser as websites, but you need to log in to view them.

That's also the case for services and subscriptions. Think about stuff like Netflix, Hulu, or HBO: These are all accessible in your web browser, which means you're streaming the content on individual web pages. But the players on those web pages cannot be accessed from Google, even if the landing pages for a particular show or movie can be. In order to actually watch or listen to the content, you need to sign into your account. That's not the case with all streaming services, of course: Happy Gilmore on Tubi is a surface web page, since it's indexed on Google. Some of the deep web is also made up of pages you'll never see, such as protocols for identifying user accounts and running payments behind the scenes. It's not all paywalled content.

What about the dark web?

Maybe you've also heard about the dark web, but don't quite know what it is. As such, you might conflate the deep web and the dark web, but the two are not identical. In fact, the dark web is a part of the deep web; it's just the part you can't access with a traditional web browser. In order to access the dark web, you need a specialized browser, like Tor, and knowledge of the unique dark web URLs, which typically end in .onion instead of .com or .org. For more information on the differences between the dark web and the deep web, check out my explainer here.

This Roku Streaming Stick Is a Simple Upgrade, and It’s on Sale for $16 Right Now

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For a lot of people, the appeal of a streaming stick is simple: You have an older TV that still works, but the software is dated or missing entirely. The Roku Streaming Stick HD (2025) fits that exact situation, and right now it’s selling for $15.99 on Amazon. Marked down from $29.99, it’s just a buck over its all-time low (according to price-trackers), and that makes it a tempting plug-and-play upgrade if you're tired of fiddling with HDMI cables or watching Netflix on a laptop screen. PCMag gave this streaming hub an “excellent” rating, largely because it sticks to the basics and executes them well.

Roku Streaming Stick (2025)

$15.99 at Amazon

$29.99 Save $14.00

$15.99 at Amazon

$29.99 Save $14.00

It runs Roku OS, a refreshingly simple interface compared to the ad-packed chaos of some other platforms. It’s compatible with most major streaming services and even supports Apple AirPlay, meaning you can cast content straight from your iPhone or Mac without any workarounds. That said, there’s no HDR or 4K support here, but that won't matter much on most 1080p TVs anyway. Power draw is only about 2.2 watts, which means it can likely run off your TV’s USB port with no separate power adapter. That makes cable clutter easier to manage, especially behind smaller sets.

You get the standard Roku Voice Remote with shortcut buttons, volume control, and a built-in mic for voice search. That voice search is fine for pulling up shows, but it won’t let you dim your lights or ask the weather—it’s not Alexa or Google Assistant. This deal makes sense for a second TV, a bedroom setup, or for someone who just wants to stream The Bear without upgrading their entire setup.

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I Tried Nintendo's New Virtual Boy Accessory for the Switch, and It Turned Me Into a Believer

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When Nintendo's Virtual Boy launched in 1995, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. 3D games with a giant, personal screen? Portable 32-bit power in the same year that the original PlayStation came out in the U.S.? "Who cares if you need to prop the thing up on a stand and stare through an obnoxious red filter to use it," I thought, "that's awesome."

Fast forward to 2026, and I was pretty glad I never got one. The console has become famous over the years as one of Nintendo's most notorious flops, with poor sales, an extremely limited library, and reports of severe discomfort from players who did actually get one.

Nintendo's bringing it back anyway. Last September, the company announced that it was creating a Virtual Boy accessory for the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, which you can use to play Virtual Boy games in full 3D through a wonky headset-on-a-stand, just like Virtual Boy creator Gunpei Yokoi intended. And now that I've actually been able to go hands-on with it at a preview event, I'm starting to think that maybe my elementary-school self was right, actually.

Turns out the Virtual Boy was actually ahead of its time

Before I tried the Virtual Boy Switch accessory, I had never actually played a real Virtual Boy. I had seen footage of games, which looked like a nightmare to play in YouTube videos, but actual hardware was too rare to get my hands on. Now, though, the Switch accessory has allowed me to actually play Virtual Boy games for myself, instead of just watching other people playing them. And they're a lot harder to scoff at when you go hands-on.

The first thing I noticed is that the 3D effect on this thing is incredible. It's the most convincing 3D I've ever experienced on a Nintendo system, and that includes the 3DS. Characters pop from the background, and stages in games are laid out to use the depth to actually help with gameplay.

Take Red Alarm, for example. The wireframe graphics look like a mess to navigate in flat videos, with your ship constantly blending into the background. But seeing the game in actual stereoscopic 3D suddenly makes everything click. It's still not the most complicated game, but for 1995, having a portable-ish (the Virtual Boy is massive) space shooter with a fully explorable 3D environment seemed like witchcraft. Now that I've tried it, I can say that it works, and I can really appreciate how the developers used stereoscopic 3D to make the simple graphics the console was capable of rendering actually work for a playable 3D space. It all felt so ambitious, and I feel so vindicated in my childhood hype to know the effect wasn't just marketing.

Granted, the 32-bit power here is still a bit misleading. The original Virtual Boy put out a resolution of 384 x 224 per eye and a max frame rate of 50 fps, so it was less like a portable PS1 and more like a souped-up Game Boy. Don't expect to play anything on the level of Final Fantasy VII or Tony Hawk's Pro Skater here. Still, Red Alarm is a type of game that, in 1995, I would have been shocked to find on anything other than Sony's machine.

Does that mean any of these games are going to make your game of the year list for 2026? Well, probably not. But they're decidedly not bad, and they're a novel piece of gaming history that are definitely worth trying, especially if you've been mocking them all these years like I used to. Despite the low resolution, they look crisp on the Nintendo Switch's screen, and they play way better than I thought they would. They also clearly innovated on design tropes that Nintendo would later use in games like Super Mario 3D Land, where the 3DS' (worse, to be honest) 3D effect was also used for gameplay. I can still see why the system flopped, but I feel confident now saying that it was indeed ahead of its time, and I probably would have been happy with it in the '90s if I listened to my gut and got this thing all those years ago. Granted, I wouldn't have been spending my own money back then.

The new Virtual Boy accessory is authentic to a fault

Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

"But Michelle," I can sense you typing. "You didn't actually play a Virtual Boy! You played a Nintendo Switch 2 emulating a Virtual Boy!" That's true, but I feel confident saying that the experience I got is probably pretty identical to the one I would have had 31 years ago on the real thing. And that's because Nintendo has really gone all-in on accuracy with its Virtual Boy accessory. That's probably the correct choice—again, the games are mostly interesting for their place in gaming history rather than in their own right—but there are some caveats to be aware of.

The big one: You might have to rearrange your table or desk to actually use the Virtual Boy Switch accessory. The plastic version of the accessory looks just like the real thing, but that means its stand also isn't adjustable. So if your table isn't already at the right height for you to fit your eyes into the viewfinder when you plonk your Virtual Boy replica down on it, you'll need to either take it somewhere else, or stack it on some books or something. Nintendo had adjustable height tables at the event where I tried it, which means the company is aware of the problem.

Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

The other issue is that you supposedly need the accessory to play these games. Technically, there's no reason these games shouldn't be able to be played in 2D in TV mode, but Nintendo told me at the event that isn't possible. According to the company, to boot up Virtual Boy on your Switch or Switch 2, you'll have to take your system out of its dock and place it into the Virtual Boy accessory. I do wonder if some clever fans might be able to get around this and play in handheld mode without the system resting in the Virtual Boy accessory, with each per-eye image just showing in 2D side-by-side. But that's just speculation, and even if it weren't, some of these games need the 3D effect to really work, which is probably why Nintendo's being so strict about how you can use the accessory.

Personally, I don't mind this. I'm playing these games to get an idea of what Virtual Boy was like without having to get a real Virtual Boy, so making the experience as one-to-one as possible is perfect for me. But I understand how it can introduce accessibility issues for others, which might be why Nintendo has allowed just a few new options to make playing Virtual Boy in 2026 a little easier.

Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

Because the plastic version of the Virtual Boy accessory is $100, Nintendo is also selling a cardboard version for $25. It's not a fully accurate recreation like the more expensive model, but it is still decorated enough to be cute in its own right. More importantly, aside from being cheaper, you can also use it without a stand—it actually doesn't even come with one. That means that you can just physically hold it up to your face and control it with Joy-Con controllers connected to either side of the device. I can imagine that might get uncomfortable after a while, but it is how Nintendo's LABO VR worked, and it should be a decent workaround if you can't rearrange your space for the plastic model. It is also a bit more portable.

The second is aimed at helping reduce the strain of those red graphics. While the games impressed me more than I thought they would, I'll admit that the Virtual Boy's red filter still got to me after even just a few minutes of play. That's why players will eventually be able to choose from alternate color options for their games, including a yellow filter, a green filter, and probably the best one, a black-and-white filter. The feature's set to come out "Later this year," and I assume it'll be a godsend for anyone who actually wants to finish a Virtual Boy game rather than just play it for novelty. If you have the plastic model of the Virtual Boy accessory, you'll need to remove the physical red filter for the screen, but that'll only take a few seconds.

New Virtual Boy games are coming in 2026

Probably the coolest part of this release is that, alongside letting you play Virtual Boy games originally released in North America, the new Virtual Boy accessory will also be able to play formerly Japanese-only Virtual Boy releases. In addition to Red Alarm and Virtual Boy Wario Land, for instance, I also got to play Lovecraft-inspired first person horror game Innsmouth no Yakata at the preview event I attended. That adds some serious novelty, and is a pretty smart choice overall, since the Virtual Boy originally only had 14 games in North America.

But cooler than that, Nintendo is also adding unreleased games to the Virtual Boy catalogue for Switch and Switch 2. These include a cancelled F-Zero game called Zero Racers, which makes the accessory pretty much a mandatory buy for Captain Falcon fans.

How to get the Virtual Boy accessory for the Switch and Switch 2

Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

I went into trying the Switch's Virtual Boy accessory expecting to make fun of it, and walked away impressed and with a greater appreciation of gaming history. After decades of making fun of the Virtual Boy, I now have to admit I kind of like it. That's easily worth the price of entry to me, and I'd say it's well worth buying if you can swing it—at the very least, it'll make a nice desk toy.

Unfortunately, there's one last caveat here. Both the plastic and cardboard Virtual Boy accessories for Switch and Switch 2 are limited to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. That's not a huge deal, since you'll also need a Switch Online subscription to play these games. But for now, even if you are a subscriber, both models of the accessory seem to be sold out. Hopefully, Nintendo will add more stock over time, so I can convert more people to my new "the Virtual Boy is good, actually" movement.

My Favorite Beats Headphones Are More Than Half Off

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Beats headphones are well-known for their style and seamless compatibility with Apple devices. Right now, the brand's flagship headphones, the Beats Studio Pro, are on sale for $169.95 (originally $349.99), the second-lowest price they have been, according to price-tracking tools.

Beats Studio Pro

$169.95 at Amazon

$349.99 Save $180.04

$169.95 at Amazon

$349.99 Save $180.04

The Beats Studio Pro came out in 2023 with a "good" review from PCMag, praising their sculpted sound, comfort, premium accessories, and spatial audio with head tracking for an immersive experience—but the review warned that hardcore audiophiles might not be as impressed. PCMag also said you can get much better headphones for less than their $349.99 price (which is very true) that have adjustable EQ and better active noise cancelling (ANC). However, at $169.95, these headphones are a great deal, especially if you're an Apple user.

These headphones have hands-free Siri access, one-touch pairing on iOS and Android devices (through Google Fast Pair), which gives simultaneous connections with up to two devices, and a transparency mode that lets you hear your surroundings. Apple users will be able to take advantage of the AAC codecs, which work seamlessly with Apple tech to give much better audio quality. You get a quick-access menu to control the ANC and Transparency modes, and you can also use the Find My app if you misplace your headphones.

The biggest miss with the Beats Studio Pro that you would expect any premium headphones to have is adjustable EQ. However, they have plenty of EQ presets for you to choose from. The ANC is slightly above average, which is good for its current price. You can get about 40 hours of playtime at full charge with ANC and Transparency modes off, and a 10-minute charge gives you about four hours of juice.

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The Out-of-Touch Adults' Guide to Kid Culture: Humans Are in a Dance Battle With AI Babies

Your social media feed is probably showing you something totally different, but this week, young people are fleeing TikTok (or at least posting about fleeing TikTok), AI and humanity are locked in a high-stakes dance battle, AI food is yelling at everyone, and we're learning a lot about "young hos."

TikTok refugees head to Upscrolled

Since it was released in 2017, social media platform TikTok has been the way young people communicate, but that could be changing. Alarm over recent changes in the app's privacy policy and accusations that its new, American owners are messing up the algorithm have some users deleting their accounts and leaving. Or at least saying they're leaving. But where will they go?

The last time this kind of thing happened, TikTokers headed to another Chinese social media app called RedNote, but this time, a lot of people say they're migrating to Upscrolled. The app, which briefly hit number one on the app store charts, was created by Palestinian-Jordanian-Australian entrepreneur Issam Hijazi. Upscrolled promises an antidote to the "Double standards, algorithmic bias, selective censorship, and profit over principle" of other social media platforms. The app doesn't allow "hate speech" but promises less censorship of ideas, no shadow-banning, no data-sharing, and "No black-box AI" for curation, all delivered in a form-factor that's familiar to users.

So, what's the downside? Well, it's a small team and it seems to be having some issues with the number of downloads. More troubling are reports of a flood of antisemitic material appearing on the site. In a statement to The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Upscrolled spokeperson Gabriella Bord wrote, “Our content moderation hasn’t been able to keep up with the massive rise of users this week,” and “We’re working with digital rights experts to grow our Trust & Safety team and are beefing up our content moderation to prevent this," so maybe the moderation team is just having some growing pains.

Viral video of the week: human vs. AI baby dancing

This week's viral video is more of a viral video trend, and it involves a battle of dancing babies.

It starts with the post below, from @mindalchemy0236, which I apologize for in advance.

An ad for the "Baby Dance" app, this video has been viewed over 100 million times. It became so overplayed on TiKTok that users fought back in the only way they could: Through dance. In a modern re-enactment of the American myth of John Henry vs. the Steam Engine, users on TikTok are locked in dance battle with AI. People responded to the annoying ad with videos of their human children doing the same dance for real, joking that it was to save $1.98, the app's price.

Kids got into it, throwing shade at AI at the same time.

Then grown-ups got in on it,

Grannies started doing it,

and celebrities like Lisa Rinna got into the act.

So it turned into a whole thing, and according to some users, human users ended up winning because TikTok's algorithm is showing more human remakes than the original ad that annoyed everyone. What does it all mean? Is this how the robot-human war will be decided? How does it relate to the original dancing baby, one of our first internet memes? Is history turning back on itself and should we invest in Ally McBeal reruns? I just don't know, but for what it's worth, John Henry won the battle with the steam shovel, but the effort exhausted him and he died.

AI food yelling videos: brain rot that's good for you

I'm always trying to find good things about artificial intelligence. So far I got:

• Helping to cure cancer

• Finding Waldo

But I'm adding videos of food yelling at people.

For real though. This growing meme format involves asking AI to make videos of food angrily telling you how to properly and safely prepare and store it. They're entertaining, educational, and if one person remembers to throw away rice that's left out, it could save a life and be worth all that cooling water. Kids need to know all this junk and for some reason they like brain rot. Check out these meaty boys:

And these angry fellas:

I can't vouch for the accuracy of every food tip on the hashtag, but I watched a bunch of these videos and so far, they're solid.

What does "young ho" mean?

I'm sure you know what both "ho" and "young" mean, but put them together and it becomes something else, both a reclamation of the word "ho" and an expression of youth-based solidarity.

The trend started with mildly insulting, older-people-bag-on-youngins posts on X like this one:

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

But over on TikTok, @kensdremgurl went viral by laying down a mini-manifesto for young hos:

Summing up the list with, "all a young ho is is someone who's freed themself from being inconvenienced."

Other TikTokers started listing which young ho traits they share

and making their own observations, adding these traits to the list:

• Getting up at 7:50 to be at work at 8.

• Throwing away the containers from Chinese food, even if their mom wants to save them.

• Airfrying chicken nuggets.

• Eschewing fitted sheets.

• Removing snow from car windows with a fork.

This Eufy Outdoor Camera Bundle Is $250 Off Right Now

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Adding outdoor security cameras to your home setup can get expensive fast, especially once you factor in subscriptions and extra hardware. This deal on a Eufy SoloCam E30 four-pack makes that math a little more palatable. It’s currently $299.99 on Amazon, down from its usual $549.99 price, which is the lowest price it's ever been, according to price-tracking tools. That brings each camera to about $75, which still isn’t cheap, of course—but unlike many other camera brands, these don't require a monthly subscription, which is a great perk.

eufy Security SoloCam E30, 4-Cam Pack Kit

$299.99 at Amazon

$549.99 Save $250.00

$299.99 at Amazon

$549.99 Save $250.00

Each of these IP65-rated cameras runs on internal batteries that last about three months between charges, depending on how often motion is detected. Solar support helps extend that. Eufy says around two hours of direct sunlight per day is enough to keep them topped up. You can also hardwire the cameras if you want continuous recording, including short pre-roll clips, though the power cables are sold separately. You also get 360-degree pan and 70-degree tilt coverage per unit, which helps cut down on blind spots around driveways or yards. Video is captured in enhanced 2K resolution with an f/1.6 aperture, making nighttime footage via infrared night vision fairly crisp. There’s no built-in spotlight, so there's no color night vision here, but for general monitoring, black-and-white is often enough.

Footage can be stored locally on the included HomeBase S280, which has 16GB built in, or on a microSD card up to 128GB (sold separately) if you want more space. Smart home support includes Alexa and Google Assistant, but Apple HomeKit is not supported. Two-way audio is included, and the HomeBase can support up to 16 cameras, so expanding later is an option. This setup is not for people who want cloud storage or advanced smart home integrations. It makes more sense for those who want local control, predictable costs, and broad coverage without wiring the entire house.