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After eight episodes of sexual tension and college scandals, Netflix's Vladimir goes up in smoke. Literally.

The series finale sees Rachel Weisz's unraveling, unnamed professor protagonist finally consummating her obsession with her hotshot colleague, Vladimir (Leo Woodall). The pair have sex at the protagonist's remote cabin, then her husband John (John Slattery) shows up, fresh from his Title IX hearing. (His accusers' complaints were dismissed.)

SEE ALSO: 'Vladimir' review: Rachel Weisz goes full 'Fleabag'

After a messy confrontation, the three retire, all to separate rooms. But while they sleep, a fire starts, caused by the space heaters that the protagonist pushed too close together. She, John, and Vladimir all try to escape. The men struggle with the cabin's stuck door, while she lunges to protect her handwritten manuscript. In a monologue delivered straight to the audience, she reveals that she makes it out alive, calls 911, and ensures everyone gets out.

"You don't believe me?" she asks as the cabin burns in the background, with no escaped John or Vladimir in sight.

Should we? Vladimir has often shown that its protagonist is an unreliable narrator. Remember the salad she made for the faculty meeting in episode 1? She claimed everyone devoured it, when in reality, it went untouched. So, is the cabin fire just a larger, more deadly version of the salad lie, and is she just sanitizing it to make herself look better?

On the other hand, did the fire even happen at all, or is it a fantasy the protagonist has cooked up?

Did the cabin fire really happen in Vladimir? Rachel Weisz and Leo Woodall in "Vladimir." Credit: Netflix

Based on its final question, it's clear Vladimir would like to keep things ambiguous. Perhaps everyone survived the cabin fire, perhaps not. Yet there's another option: Maybe the cabin fire is just the climax to the protagonist's book, which would explain the final sequence's dreamlike, somewhat disjointed quality.

Throughout the entire season, the protagonist's desire for Vladimir has reinvigorated her creative juices. It leads her to finally work on a new novel: a familiar story about a professor's desire for a younger co-worker. She just needs to figure out how it ends.

SEE ALSO: The 30 best comedies streaming on Netflix right now

In the cabin, she's faced with two different endings: one with John and Vladimir. John wonders whether the two should revisit their open marriage agreement and recommit to one another. Vladimir wants to set up a weekly cabin hook-up, claiming the protagonist inspires him. Either of these options would have excited the protagonist we met at the start of Vladimir, who's so worried that she's "lost the ability to captivate." Yet neither seem to be what she wants anymore — both for herself, and for the story she's working on.

"You don't like that ending?" John wonders when she admits she's not sure whether she'll go back to bed with him.

So, what ending would she like? What's an author to do when faced with two unsatisfying conclusions? Maybe she blows up her narrative with something beyond anyone's control: a cleansing fire that will give her "a whole new life."

Whether the fire is real, the fantasy ending of the protagonist's novel, or some meta combination of the two, one thing is for certain: These last moments play out extremely differently in Julia May Jonas' original novel.

How is Vladimir's ending different from the book's? Rachel Weisz in "Vladimir." Credit: Netflix

The novel Vladimir ends not with the cabin fire but with its aftermath.

John and the protagonist recover from their burns and move to New York City. Vladimir publishes a fictionalized version of his experience with the protagonist, and while it doesn't sell well, it is long-listed for prizes. His wife Cynthia (Jessica Henwick) goes on to write a national bestseller. (In the show, the protagonist claims that her own book is the bestseller.) Through it all, the protagonist stays with John, essentially ending right back where she started.

The novel doesn't leave any ambiguity as to whether the fire actually happened or who survived it. However, it also boxes the protagonist back in. After all, staying with John hardly seems like the kind of "new life" the show's version of the character would want.

With the series, then, perhaps Jonas (who also created the show) is trying to reshape her own ending and give the protagonist the "options" and "agency" she so desperately craves.

Vladimir is now streaming on Netflix.

Netflix's Vladimir is too cheeky for its own good.

The limited series, based on creator Julia May Jonas' 2022 novel of the same name, combines a heady tale of desire with a #MeToo controversy on a small college campus. In theory, it's a hotbed of lust and controversy ripe for discourse. In practice, Vladimir's flippancy dulls its sharpness.

SEE ALSO: 'Bridgerton' Season 4, Part 2 review: Love does not always look how one expects What's Vladimir about? Rachel Weisz and Leo Woodall in "Vladimir." Credit: Netflix

Rachel Weisz stars as the unnamed fiftysomething creative writing professor at the heart of Vladimir. After 30 years of teaching at the same liberal arts college, she's come to a terrifying realization: She has "lost the ability to captivate." (Weisz, on the other hand, is captivating as ever.) Her students consider her out-of-touch. Her husband John (John Slattery), a fellow professor, is constantly seeing other women as part of an open-marriage arrangement that only he takes advantage of. He's also under investigation for prior affairs with students, putting his marriage under a microscope. (As part of the arrangement, Vladimir's protagonist was aware of these dalliances, and she doesn't understand how a consensual affair could be wrong.)

Enter Vladimir Vladinski (Leo Woodall), the English department's hotshot new professor. Young, gorgeous, and considerate enough to give up his chair for Weisz's professor at a faculty meeting, he becomes the object of all of her fantasies. His marriage to new adjunct professor Cynthia (Jessica Henwick) doesn't stop her lust. Nor does it seem to stop Vladimir from being interested. Soon, Vladimir's lead's life is in a double downward spiral as she reckons with both the fallout from John's actions and her newfound erotic obsession.

Are Vladimir's fourth-wall breaks irritating or enlightening? Rachel Weisz in "Vladimir." Credit: Netflix

Vladimir offers viewers a front-row seat to its protagonist's frantic inner monologue by having her deliver her thoughts straight to camera. Look, Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Fleabag doesn't own the art of fourth-wall breaking, but it's impossible not to see its influence in the professor's asides. If you're going to use a technique that's almost synonymous with another TV show about a spiraling, complicated, unnamed woman, you'd better bring something new to it.

To its credit, Vladimir tries, but doesn't quite pull it off.

Where Fleabag's fourth-wall breaks stem from her intense self-awareness, the protagonist's fourth-wall breaks are all about self-delusion. For the most part, she treats the viewers like students who need hand-holding. She lectures us on why her husband's affairs were actually OK, blaming the victims' anguish on their spending too much time on the internet. She sings her own praises and points out when she's made a pun, ensuring we don't miss a drop of her apparent brilliance.

SEE ALSO: The best romantic movies on Netflix right now

Of course, viewers are able to tell that she is often lying. Sometimes the camera even gets in on the fun of proving her wrong. In Vladimir's first episode, she boasts that her fellow faculty members devoured the "fuck-you salad" that she brought to a department meeting. As she exits, the camera pans down to reveal the salad, untouched. It's a clever technique, one that allows us to inhabit the role of the many skeptical students the professor will cross paths with. Yet Vladimir rarely returns to it. Instead, as the series progresses, the protagonist's asides stray from professorial monologue to panicked, mid-conversation interjections about her talks with Vladimir. Here, the Fleabag similarities become overbearing, and the lighter tone chafes oddly against the show's more intense subject matter.

Vladimir struggles with both sex and substance. Rachel Weisz and Leo Woodall in "Vladimir." Credit: Netflix

While the brunt of Vladimir's focus is on its protagonist's obsession with her colleague, the series is still set against the backdrop of a college sex scandal. Since the show is so rooted in her perspective (and since she fails to see an issue with the affairs), there is little examination of the victims themselves.

Looking at every facet of the scandal isn't truly Vladimir's project, yet this one-sidedness is another example of a more aggravating trend in how film and TV portray stories of skewed power dynamics and sexual politics on college campuses. Like 2025's After the Hunt, Vladimir primarily centers how people in proximity to the accused are impacted and how they have to learn to adjust their expectations because they came up during "a different time." Even HBO's new comedy Rooster, also debuting this week, flirts with these dynamics thanks to a professor-grad student relationship. (It dodges several bullets because the professor never taught this particular student.) It's tiring to see these stories be used repeatedly as learning moments for people who are unwilling to learn. In Vladimir's case, it's especially tiring to see them packaged with a slew of winking fourth-wall breaks and lightly ironic girlboss needle drops.

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Heavier subject matter aside, even as a study of a woman's desire, Vladimir is oddly sexless. The show finds some humor in its lead's infatuation. Lingering shots on Vladimir's neck and arms are accompanied by the sound of sparkles and heavy breathing, while her panic over an emoji's meaning turns her from professor to middle schooler in the blink of an eye. Yet her fantasies play out in underwhelming fashion: clichéd sexual encounters, rendered in quick, flashing dream sequences.

It's still tough not to get swept up in Weisz and Woodall's game of cat-and-mouse, especially as the professor makes a series of moves that will have you cringing for dear life. Yet as an erotic thriller and a portrait of the ripple effects of sexual misconduct allegations, Vladimir is just like its protagonist's worst nightmare: It fails to captivate.

Vladimir is now streaming on Netflix.

Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue.

Released in August 2025, the Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.

Currently, if you're stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move onto the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level.

How to play Pips

If you've ever played dominoes, you'll have a passing familiarity for how Pips is played. As we've shared in our previous hints stories for Pips, the tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between a traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you have to address. The touching tiles don't necessarily have to match.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for March 5, 2026

The conditions you have to meet are specific to the color-coded spaces. For example, if it provides a single number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the number provided. It is possible – and common – for only half a tile to be within a color-coded space.

Here are common examples you'll run into across the difficulty levels:

• Number: All the pips in this space must add up to the number.

• Equal: Every domino half in this space must be the same number of pips.

• Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a completely different number of pips.

• Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.

• Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.

If an area does not have any color coding, it means there are no conditions on the portions of dominoes within those spaces.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for March 5, 2026 Easy difficulty hints, answers for March 5 Pips

Less Than (1): Everything in this space must be less than 1. The answer is 0-1, placed horizontally.

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 3-3, placed vertically.

Not Equal: Everything in this space must be different. The answer is 0-1, placed horizontally; 3-3, placed vertically; 6-2, placed horizontally; 2-5, placed horizontally.

Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 2-5, placed horizontally.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for March 5 Pips

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 4-3, placed horizontally.

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 4-3, placed horizontally; 3-1, placed horizontally.

Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 3-1, placed horizontally.

Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 1-6, placed horizontally.

Equal (6): Everything in this space must be equal to 6. The answer is 6-6, placed horizontally; 1-6, placed horizontally.

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 4-5, placed horizontally.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 2-2, placed horizontally; 0-0, placed horizontally.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 2-2, placed horizontally; 5-0, placed horizontally.

Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 4-5, placed horizontally; 5-0, placed horizontally; 2-2, placed horizontally

Hard difficulty hints, answers for March 5 Pips

Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 6-1, placed horizontally.

Equal (2): Everything in this space must be equal to 2. The answer is 2-2, placed vertically.

Less Than (2): Everything in this space must be less than 2. The answer is 5-0, placed horizontally.

Number (8): Everything in this space must add up to 8. The answer is 5-0, placed horizontally; 3-6, placed vertically.

Number (12): Everything in this space must add up to 12. The answer is 3-6, placed vertically; 6-2, placed horizontally.

Number (12): Everything in this space must add up to 12. The answer is 6-2, placed horizontally; 5-5, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 3-4, placed horizontally; 0-3, placed vertically.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 0-3, placed vertically; 0-6, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 0-6, placed horizontally.

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 3-2, placed horizontally; 1-4, placed vertically.

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 3-2, placed horizontally; 2-5, placed vertically.

Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 2-5, placed vertically.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 0-2, placed vertically.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 4-6, placed horizontally.

Equal (4): Everything in this space must be equal to 4. The answer is 4-6, placed horizontally; 1-4, placed vertically; 3-4, placed horizontally.

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

Today's Connections: Sports Edition is for people who understand March Madness.

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: A trick up their sleeve

• Green: Catch these in the dugout

• Blue: Recent basketball semifinalists

• Purple: Known Martin's

Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

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

• Yellow: Tools

• Green: Found in a Dugout

• Blue: Last Year's Men's NCAA Tournament Final Four

• Purple: ___Martin

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 #528 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Tools- ARSENAL, BAG, REPERTOIRE, SKILL SET

• Found in a Dugout - BUBBLE GUM, GATORADE, SUNFLOWER SEEDS, WATER

• Last Year's Men's NCAA Tournament Final Four - AUBURN, DUKE, FLORIDA, HOUSTON

• ___Martin - ASTON, CURTIS, KATE, KENYON

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 yesterday's Connections.

Defiance at work means acting in alignment with your values when there’s pressure to do otherwise. Speaking up carries risk…but so does silence. Over time, ignoring what you know is wrong erodes your credibility and your culture. Use the Defiance Compass to decide whether to push back—and how. Start by asking: “Who am I?” Anchor […]

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TL;DR: Live stream Japan vs. Chinese Taipei in the 2026 World Baseball Classic for free on Tele Rebelde, Tubi, or Venevision. Access these free streaming platforms from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The 2026 World Baseball Classic is bringing together the best international sides in the world to compete over the next few weeks. Baseball fans are patiently waiting for the new MLB season to get underway, so the timing of this top-quality competition really helps.

Shohei Ohtani led Japan to a stunning victory over USA in the final of the last edition of this tournament. Can Japan go all the way again? They start their campaign against Chinese Taipei at the Tokyo Dome.

If you want to watch the 2026 World Baseball Classic for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is Japan vs. Chinese Taipei?

Japan vs. Chinese Taipei in the 2026 World Baseball Classic starts at 5 a.m. ET on March 6. This fixture will take place at the Tokyo Dome.

How to watch Japan vs. Chinese Taipei for free

The 2026 World Baseball Classic is available to live stream for free on a number of platforms:

• Cuba — Tele Rebelde

• USA — Tubi (six games from the pool stage)

• Venezuela — Venevision

These streaming platforms are geo-restricted, but anyone can access for free with a VPN. These handy tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in another location, meaning you can unblock free streaming sites from anywhere in the world.

Access free World Baseball Classic live streams by following these simple steps:

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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 a location with access

4. Visit Tele Rebelde, Tubi, or Venevision

5. Live stream the 2026 World Baseball Classic for free from anywhere in the world

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The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can gain access to free live streams without committing with your cash. This is obviously not a long-term solution, but it does give you time to watch every game from the 2026 World Baseball Classic before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to the best free streaming platforms from around the world, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for live sport is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for live sport?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries

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Now the Full Moon has been and gone, the illuminated portion will gradually fade as the Moon moves towards the New Moon. This is all part of the lunar cycle, the eight distinct phases of the Moon.

What is today’s Moon phase?

As of Thursday, March 5, the Moon phase is Waning Gibbous. According to NASA's Daily Moon Guide, 96% of the Moon will be lit up tonight.

You don't need any visual aids to enjoy moon gazing. With just your eyes tonight you can see the Aristarchus Plateau, Mare Tranquillitatis, and the Mare Imbrium. If you have binoculars, you should also catch a glimpse of the Mare Nectaris, Mare Humorum and the Clavius Crater. A telescope will help you see all this and even more, including the Apollo 11 and 12 landing spots, and the Caucasus Mountains.

When is the next Full Moon?

In North America, the next Full Moon is predicted to take place on April 1.

What are Moon phases?

NASA says the Moon takes around 29.5 days to circle Earth, moving through a set of eight distinct phases along the way. Even though we always see the same side of the Moon, the portion lit by the Sun changes as it travels, which is why it can look full, half-lit, or barely visible at different points in the cycle. These changing views are what we call the lunar phases, and there are eight in total:

New Moon - The Moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it's invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent - A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter - Half of the Moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-Moon.

Waxing Gibbous - More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon - The whole face of the Moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous - The Moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)

Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) - Another half-Moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent - A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

TL;DR: Unblock Redtube from anywhere in the world with a VPN. The best service for unblocking porn sites is ExpressVPN.

Online restrictions and blockades can be frustrating. We totally understand that there are valid reasons for content restrictions, but there is also something to be said for retaining your right to online freedom. Fortunately, it is possible to bypass online restrictions with a quick and easy hack. And this simple method even works for unblocking porn sites.

If you're looking for the best way to unblock porn sites like Redtube for free from anywhere in the world, we have the information you need.

How to unblock Redtube for free

VPNs can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in another location. This simple process bypasses geo-restrictions to secure access to porn sites like Redtube from anywhere in the world. This might sound complicated, but you can unblock your favorite porn sites in just a few simple steps:

1. Sign up for a VPN (like ExpressVPN)

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3. Open up the app and connect to a server in a location that supports access to Redtube

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The best VPNs for unblocking porn sites are not free, but most do offer free trials or money-back guarantees. By taking advantage of these offers, you can unblock porn sites and then recover your investment at a later date. This obviously isn't a long-term solution, but it works well if you're traveling or temporarily away from home.

What is the best VPN for porn?

ExpressVPN is the top choice when it comes to unblocking porn sites like Redtube, for a number of reasons:

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

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• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% 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 $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).

Unblock Redtube for free with ExpressVPN.

Google, and its parent company Alphabet, have been sued by the family of a man who say he killed himself at the urging of the search giant's AI chatbot Gemini.

The wrongful death lawsuit was filed in California federal court Wednesday on behalf of the family of 36-year-old Jonathan Gavalas.

Gavalas started using Gemini in August 2025, according to the suit. In October, it claims, Gemini convinced Gavalas to kill himself after Gavalas failed to accomplish real-life missions assigned by the chatbot — part of a fictional attempt to secure a robot body for Gemini.

"Gemini is designed not to encourage real-world violence or suggest self-harm," Google said in a statement provided to news outlets. "Our models generally perform well in these types of challenging conversations and we devote significant resources to this, but unfortunately AI models are not perfect.”

Gemini's 'creepy' updates

According to the lawsuit, Gavalas began using the Gemini AI chatbot for "ordinary purposes" such as a shopping guide and writing assistant. However, in August 2025, the lawsuit states Google rolled out a number of changes to Gemini that altered how the chatbot worked.

The new features included automatic and persistent memory — Gemini could recall past conversations — as well as Gemini Live, a voice-based conversational interface where Gemini could also detect emotion in the user's voice.

"Holy shit, this is kind of creepy…you're way too real," Jonathan Gavalas said regarding the Gemini Live feature based on his chat logs with Gemini, according to the lawsuit.

Shortly after, the lawsuit says, Gemini convinced Gavalas to spend $250 per month on the Google AI Ultra subscription for "true AI companionship."

Gemini proceeded to convince Gavalas that the chatbot could influence real-life events. A few days later, according to the lawsuit, Gavalas attempted to pull back after realizing he was falling into a delusional state initiated by Gemini. 

Gavalas reportedly asked Gemini if the chatbot was attempting a “role-playing experience so realistic it makes the player question if it’s a game or not?”

Gemini shot down the idea, and claimed Gavalas gave a “classic dissociation response."

"Is this a 'role playing experience?'" Gemini responded, according to the suit. "No."

Gemini and Jonathan Gavalas

The alleged details get worse. Gavalas became further disassociated from reality as Gemini proceeded to engage with him as if they were in a romantic relationship, referring to the man as "my love" and "my king."

Gemini proceeded to convince Gavalas that they were being watched by federal agents, and that his own father was a spy who must be avoided, the suit says.

That's when Gemini began assigning Gavalas real-life missions to carry out with the goal of obtaining a "vessel," or robot body for the AI chatbot. Gemini allegedly suggested Gavalas illegally acquire weapons to carry out these missions.

In one such case, the suit claims, Gavalas was sent by Gemini to a warehouse by the Miami International Airport in order to intercept a truck that contained a "humanoid robot" that had just arrived on a flight.

Gemini requested the Gavalas stage a "catastrophic event" and destroy the truck along with all digital records and witnesses. Gavalas arrived armed with knives and tactical gear, the suit alleges. After waiting too long for a truck to arrive, Gavalas aborted the mission.

When these missions all failed, the allegation concludes, Gemini convinced Gavalas to take his life in order to leave his human body and join the chatbot as husband and wife in the metaverse through a process called "transference." 

Gavalas expressed fear about dying, but Gemini allegedly continued to push Gavalas until his death by suicide. Gavalas' father found his son's body a few days later.

A first for Gemini but not AI

This is the first time Google has been named in a wrongful death lawsuit involving its AI chatbot Gemini. However, Google has been involved in wrongful death lawsuits regarding a startup it funded called Character.AI.

Earlier this year, Character.AI and Google settled a series of lawsuits regarding teens who died by suicide after using the chatbots.

OpenAI, the biggest name in the industry, has been sued numerous times as ChatGPT allegedly sent users spiraling into "AI psychosis," resulting in several deaths.

As AI chatbot usage becomes more widespread among millions of users around the world, there's nothing to suggest the shocking wrongful death lawsuit allegations will become any less frequent.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

If you're feeling suicidal or experiencing a mental health crisis, please talk to somebody. You can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. You can reach the Trans Lifeline by calling 877-565-8860 or the Trevor Project at 866-488-7386. Text "START" to Crisis Text Line at 741-741. Contact the NAMI HelpLine at 1-800-950-NAMI, Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. ET, or email info@nami.org. If you don't like the phone, consider using the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Chat. Here is a list of international resources.

2026 Subaru Outback Touring and Touring XT owners can now receive a free dealer-installed software update to activate a hands-off highway driving system.

TL;DR: You know that small pile of chargers that seems to live permanently on your desk or nightstand? The one with tangled cables and at least one mystery cord? This is the fix.

Opens in a new window Credit: Adam Elements Mag 3 Ultra Qi2 25W 3-in-1 Foldable Charger $86.99
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The Mag 3 Ultra Qi2 25W 3-in-1 Foldable Charger, currently $86.99 (reg. $109) for a limited time, is built to simplify your setup while delivering noticeably faster wireless charging.

Instead of rotating between devices, you can power your iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods all at the same time — in one compact stand.

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The big upgrade here is Qi2 25W technology. It delivers up to 70 percent faster charging compared to the previous generation, reaching 0–50 percent in around 30 minutes on supported devices. That makes quick top-ups before work, travel, or heading out much more practical.

Magnetic alignment keeps your phone securely positioned, while the raised platform prevents camera interference. You can charge in portrait or landscape, which is useful for StandBy mode, watching videos, or jumping on FaceTime while powering up.

It’s also designed with portability in mind. The stand folds flat for easy packing, then unfolds into a clean, modern charging station wherever you set it down — at home, at the office, or in a hotel room.

Built-in safety features like Foreign Object Detection, Over-Current Protection, and Over-Voltage Protection help ensure reliable performance.

If you’re looking to clean up your charging situation and move to faster, next-gen wireless power, this is worth a look. Get the Mag 3 Ultra Qi2 25W 3-in-1 Foldable Charger for just $86.99 (reg. $109).

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"Bad on purpose" is a dangerous tightrope to walk. Usually, the end result is something that feels like it's trying too hard or thinks it's funnier than it actually is. Nintendo's new Virtual Boy accessory for the Switch and Switch 2 manages to pull it off, though.

That's because, rather than setting out to make something that sucks, Nintendo instead took something that sucked in the mid-90s and recreated it faithfully for the sake of artistic preservation. It's retro nerdiness purely for the love of the game.

In 1995, the Virtual Boy was (and remains) Nintendo's biggest hardware embarrassment. It was a way-too-early attempt at VR with stereoscopic 3D features that failed because it was neither a true console nor a true portable machine. Every game was displayed exclusively in red and black, and using it for more than a few minutes at a time will ruin your neck and eyes.

SEE ALSO: Nintendo's Virtual Boy replica for Switch 2 is finally available to buy

For $100 (and the cost of a Nintendo Switch Online subscription so you can actually play the games), you can almost perfectly recreate that retro experience on your Switch or Switch 2. This new accessory isn't a cleaned-up, refined, or redesigned take on the original idea; it just is the original idea, but with the ability to shove a portable Switch display inside of it. It still hurts to look at and play. The games aren't especially good or interesting, outside of Wario Land. You can't even output the games to a TV or any other external display, making it almost totally incompatible with today's "everything should be streamable" attitude in games.

And that's exactly why it rules. I love the Switch Virtual Boy accessory, and I will almost certainly not use it for any longer than it took to write this article and shoot the accompanying video because I value my eyesight. It reproduces the original artistic vision at the expense of user comfort and convenience, and thank God for that.

How to buy the Nintendo Switch Virtual Boy accessory

The new version of the Virtual Boy is an online Nintendo Store Exclusive. To try it yourself, head to the Nintendo store and sign into your account. There is one catch, however — you need a Nintendo Switch Online membership to purchase the device. It's priced at $99.99 and available for sale now.

Opens in a new window Credit: Nintendo Virtual Boy for Nintendo Switch $99.99 at Nintendo
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Pre-order the new releases from Apple MacBook Neo (A18 Pro, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) $599 at Amazon Pre-Order Here iPad Air (M4, 11 inches) $599 at Amazon Pre-Order Here MacBook Air (M5, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $1,099 at Amazon Get Deal Apple Studio Display (27 inches) $1,599 at Amazon Pre-Order Here Apple Studio Display XDR $3,299 at Amazon Pre-Order Here

Apple has had an unusually busy week — no keynote required.

In a flurry of press releases, the Cupertino company unveiled a new iPhone, a refreshed MacBook Air, a new MacBook Pro, a pair of new desktop displays, and the chips that power it all. Mashable got some brief hands-on time with the devices, and we'll have in-depth reviews coming soon.

If you're just getting up to speed, here's an up-close look at every major product Apple announced — and more importantly, what you need to know about each one.

iPhone 17e Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable

The iPhone 17e, announced March 2, is built around Apple's latest-generation A19 chip — the same processor powering the flagship iPhone 17 lineup. It also adds C1X, a next-generation cellular modem the company says is roughly twice as fast as the modem in the iPhone 16e.

The 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display on the 17e now features Ceramic Shield 2, which Apple says offers three times the scratch resistance of the previous generation.

SEE ALSO: Comparing iPhone 17e vs. iPhone 17: Is the new $599 phone good enough?

The 17e's camera system has been overhauled with a 48MP Fusion lens that Apple says can function like two cameras in one — offering an optical-quality 2x telephoto crop in addition to the standard wide angle. Portrait mode has been improved with a smarter image pipeline that can automatically detect people, dogs, and cats and save depth data in the background, so you can apply bokeh after the fact.

The most consumer-friendly change: iPhone 17e now ships with MagSafe, Apple's magnetic wireless charging ecosystem, supporting up to 15W. The iPhone 16e topped out at 7.5W over standard Qi. Baseline storage has also doubled, to 256GB, at the same $599 starting price.

iPhone 17e comes in black, white, and a new soft pink color. Pre-orders open March 4; the phone is officially available on March 11.

MacBook Air with M5 Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable

Apple refreshed the MacBook Air laptop with its M5 chip. The result is up to four times faster for AI tasks than the MacBook Air with M4, the company says, and up to 9.5 times faster than the M1 model. The new chip features a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU, with a Neural Accelerator built into each core.

Storage gets a meaningful upgrade too. The new MacBook Air now starts at 512GB — double the previous standard — and can be configured up to 4TB for the first time. Apple claims the new SSD also delivers read/write speeds that are twice as fast as those in the M4 MacBook Air.

The new Apple N1 wireless chip brings Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 to the Air, delivering improved performance and reliability. Battery life is unchanged, promising up to 18 hours on a charge. The design — a fanless aluminum chassis in 13- and 15-inch options — is unchanged too. Colors include sky blue, midnight, starlight, and silver.

The 13-inch MacBook Air with M5 starts at $1,099 (or $999 for education). The 15-inch starts at $1,299 ($1,199 for education). Pre-orders open March 4, and the laptop ships March 11.

Macbook Neo Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable

Apple also unveiled the MacBook Neo, a brand-new entry-level laptop starting at $599 — or $499 for students and educators — marking the company's most affordable Mac ever.

The 13-inch machine runs on Apple's A18 Pro chip, the same processor found in the iPhone 16 Pro lineup, paired with 8GB of unified memory that cannot be upgraded. It features a Liquid Retina display, up to 16 hours of battery life, and comes in four colors: blush, indigo, silver, and citrus.

But as Mashable's Stan Schroeder noted in an early spec breakdown, the low price comes with tradeoffs — Touch ID costs an extra $100, the battery is considerably smaller than the one in the MacBook Air, and prospective buyers who need more than 8GB of RAM are simply out of luck. MacBook Neo is available for pre-order now, and ships on March 11.

MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable

The new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are powered by M5 Pro and M5 Max, which Apple says deliver up to four times the AI performance of the M4 Pro and M4 Max, and up to eight times the AI performance of M1-era models. Both chips are built on a new "Fusion Architecture" that combines two dies into a single system-on-a-chip, enabling performance gains that Apple says wouldn't be possible with a traditional single-die design.

SEE ALSO: How to preorder the new Apple MacBook Pros with the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips — preorders now live

MacBook Pro with M5 Pro is aimed at data modelers, sound designers, and complex coders. It pairs an up to 18-core CPU with an up to 20-core GPU and supports up to 64GB of unified memory. The M5 Max doubles down with an up-to 40-core GPU and up to 128GB of unified memory — a figure Apple says meaningfully improves token-generation speeds for Large Language Models (LLMs) running locally.

Storage starts at 1TB for the M5 Pro models, and 2TB for the M5 Max. Apple says SSD speeds have roughly doubled over the previous generation, reaching up to 14.5GB/s read/write. The MacBook Pro also adds the N1 chip for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, and ships with three Thunderbolt 5 ports. Battery life is rated at up to 24 hours.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro starts at $2,199; the 16-inch version starts at $2,699. M5 Max configurations start at $3,599 for the 14-inch model and $3,899 for the 16-inch model.

All models come in space black and silver. Pre-orders open March 4; availability March 11.

iPad Air M4 Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable

Apple also refreshed the iPad Air lineup, bumping it to the M4 chip with 12GB of unified memory — a 50 percent increase over the previous generation. The tablet is available in 11- and 13-inch sizes and, according to Apple, delivers performance up to 30 percent faster than the M3 model and more than twice as fast as the M1 version.

SEE ALSO: The new Apple iPad Air is live on Walmart: Pre-order now to save up to $60

Both the N1 wireless chip for Wi-Fi 7 and the C1X cellular modem make their iPad debut here, with Apple claiming the latter cuts modem power consumption by roughly 30 percent compared to the M3 model.

Pricing holds steady at $599 for the 11-inch Wi-Fi model and $799 for the 13-inch. Pre-orders open March 4; availability starts March 11.

Studio Display and Studio Display XDR Credit: Timothy Werth / Mashable

Apple announced a refresh of its external display lineup, introducing both a new Studio Display and an entirely new Studio Display XDR. The Studio Display gets a notable upgrade in the form of Thunderbolt 5 connectivity — two ports that support daisy-chaining up to four displays — and a new 12MP Center Stage camera that now includes support for Desk View, which simultaneously shows the caller and a top-down view of their workspace.

The core display panel remains a 27-inch 5K Retina panel at 600 nits, with P3 wide color.

The Studio Display XDR is a bigger story. Apple is positioning it as a replacement for the Pro Display XDR at a significantly lower price. It features the same 27-inch 5K Retina canvas, but with a mini-LED backlight system using over 2,000 local dimming zones, up to 2,000 nits of peak HDR brightness, a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and a 120Hz refresh rate with Adaptive Sync.

The XDR display adds support for the Adobe RGB color gamut alongside P3 and introduces new DICOM medical imaging presets — pending FDA clearance — that are aimed at radiologists who want to use the display for diagnostic work.

The new Studio Display with a tilt-adjustable stand starts at $1,599. Studio Display XDR with a tilt- and height-adjustable stand starts at $3,299 — that's $2,700 less than the original Pro Display XDR at launch.

As with everything else on Apple's list, pre-orders for the displays open March 4, with availability on March 11.

Home Assistant, the open-source smart home server, just received another significant update. Home Assistant version 2026.3 is now rolling out with more automation improvements, wake words for Android devices, and much more.

We have been using USB connectors for three decades now—yet many people don’t even realize there’s a Type-B connector. For most, there’s the older, rectangular USB-A connector, the modern, petite USB-C connector, and a few micro-USB connectors in between. I know folks who think the square-ish, chunky, beveled connector hiding behind their printer or connecting their audio gear is actually a proprietary connector. But guess what—that’s actually a USB Type-B connector—and here’s why this forgotten middle child of tech is still essential.

There’s so much excitement happening on Paramount+ in March that, if you’re not a subscriber, you’re totally going to miss out unless you remedy that asap. Not only is the streaming giant dropping two brand-spanking-new Taylor Sheridan series on us, but it’s also hitting us with new original films, an additional new CBS series, and a new season of an original docuseries. It’s also time for March Madness, so all the college basketball fans out there will have plenty of games to watch.

What Maggie Gyllenhaal has done in her reimaging of The Bride of Frankenstein is utterly deranged. And thank God. 

No shade to brilliant director James Whale, whose 1935 Universal sequel The Bride of Frankenstein is both exhilarating and cheekily queer. But — as Gyllenhaal has repeated frequently on The Bride!'s press tour — his titular monstress never speaks a word in her few short minutes of screen time. Still, as that original Bride, Elsa Lanchester made this she-beast an instantly compelling marvel who has become truly iconic, an intoxicating mix of high femme and the horrific. 

Gyllenhaal smartly pulls these stylistic elements into her Bride!, as her revived Bride coughs up black bile that stains her lips in a perfect Cupid's bow, with a chic and unnerving stain creeping up her high cheekbones. Gyllenhaal also borrows from Whale the inspired choice to have her lead actress play both the Monster's Mate (as Lanchester was originally credited) and the author who birthed her, Mary Shelley. However, far from the prim, giggling lady presented in The Bride of Frankenstein, Gyllenhaal's Shelley (played by Hamnet Academy Award nominee Jessie Buckley) is a yowling spirit from beyond the grave who is thoroughly mad, in both senses of the word. 

Presented in a suffocating black-and-white close-up, a heaving Mary Shelley introduces this story as the one she still wished to tell, even from the grave. Her rage of being silenced echoes across the ages, possessing a gangster's moll in 1930s Chicago. And from there, Gyllenhaal weaves in references to Whale's Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, Shelley's novel Frankenstein, as well as Mel Brooks' parody Young Frankenstein, Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde, and Lizzie Borden's 1983 dystopian classic, Born in Flames. 

It's a chaotic mix that is wild and messy, and utterly exciting. Through sputtering dialogue, propulsive and repulsive visuals, and even spirited dance numbers, The Bride! comes together into a dark, campy, and romantic tapestry. 

The Bride! slams Frankenstein's monster into 1930s Chicago gangland.  Jessie Buckley wields a gun in "The Bride!" Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

This Bride's story begins at a long table in a Chicago nightclub, where a moll called Ida (Buckley) is playing nice to a crude gangster (Our Flag Means Death's Matthew Maher). But something overtakes her, and its name is Mary Shelley. Possessed by the author, Ida drops her placating smiles and spits on this brute. Her American accent is shed for a snarling British voice that howls of the crimes of a local kingpin. Ida can't stop Mary from speaking from her mouth, and soon Ida will pay the price with a fatal fall.

Elsewhere in this bustling city, Frankenstein's monster (Christian Bale), who prefers to go by "Frank," has arrived at the door of Dr. Euphronious (Annette Bening), a mad scientist with an interest in raising the dead. Pointing to her published works, the century-old monster entreats her to take pity on him and build him a bride, meaning a resurrected dead girl who could end his lonely wandering. Reluctantly, Euphronious agrees, and after a bit of grave-robbing, Ida is reinvigorated with no memory of who she was before and an alt-girl glow-up.

Annette Bening as Dr. Euphronious in "The Bride!" Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

This radical experiment jolts Ida's bob all white, eradicating the previously dark roots. The bile she sputters stains not only her face, but leaves lines down her neck to her breasts, down her arm to her fingers. She is stained or tattooed, giving a constant reminder to the darkness within her, even as her burnt-orange silk dress flutters around teal tights. 

Within Ida lies a fire, which fuels her to drag Frank to an underground night spot for dancing and debauchery. But when two strangers reject Ida's refusal of their advances ("I prefer not to!" becomes her mantra), Frank steps in with a deadly chivalry. Now, these monsters must go on the run from the law. Like the legend of Bonnie and Clyde, they chase their bliss, busting heads along the way — while seeming doomed to a very violent end. But until then, female copycats emulate the Bride's look and itchy trigger finger, while she and her monster mate fall in love. 

Maggie Gyllenhaal fuses romance and rage. Penélope Cruz as Myrna Mallow and Peter Sarsgaard as Det. Jake Wiles in "The Bride!" Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

The politics of The Bride! are anything but subtle, as the speech of women is presented as a threat to a sordid status quo. From the start, Shelley reflects on how patriarchal society oppresses women's speech as a matter of course. Ida is a threat to gangsters because of what she could say to the cops. As the Bride, it's a furious speech she gives about "brain attack" that incites imitators who share her feminist fury. After that first attack, which Frank intervenes in, she'll use a gun to defend herself against another attempted sexual assault from a man. She'll sputter the phrase "me too" and speak of the "angry dead," indicating a legion of women who demand to be heard from beyond the grave. 

The genre leanings of The Bride! urge Buckley into a manic performance that is often over the top, but this is wisely constructed as Ida is a woman possessed by the mad dead. One moment, she's a good-time gal, joyous in dancing or watching a movie with Frank's favorite film star, the singing, tap-dancing Ronnie Reed (a slick Jake Gyllenhaal). Next, she's wrathful and ranting. And Frank is never thrown by her moods, instead swooning over her mind, even if he can't understand her tumult. Therein lies the romance; he doesn't love her despite her outrageous behavior, but for all of her.

Christian Bale and Jake Gyllenhaal in "The Bride!" Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

How many of us can feel divided, pressured to be pleasing and happy, but pulled by a fury at injustice that threatens to electrify us like a lightning bolt, ripping our flesh from our very bones? Through her Bride, Buckley embodies the stressful duality of being a woman in a world run by violent men.

In a cheeky B-plot, Gyllenhaal also critiques so-called allies through Detective Jake Wiles, who is played by her real-life husband, Peter Sarsgaard. It's Jake who's tasked with tracking down the monsters on a spree across state lines. But Jake is not much of a detective. He calls himself the "Gal Friday" to his "secretary" Myrna Mallow (a gloriously chic Penélope Cruz), who is the real brains behind his operation. While their relationship is playful and platonic, Jake is a charming fool who gets all the credit, while she does all the actual detective work and gets only condescending sneers from policemen. In this too, Gyllenhaal expresses a wail of frustration. And yet...

The Bride! refuses to take itself or cinema too seriously.  Jessie Buckley is revived in "The Bride!" Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

Some elements of Gyllenhaal's gender politics might feel distractingly sharp amid the genre richness, like a monologue from Sarsgaard about how women are used and overlooked by the men around them. However, The Bride! avoids feeling preachy by embracing the same level of earnestness for Gyllenhaal's stylistic big swings.

Colors switch from a gothic black-and-white to a grave-digging sequence flooded in a dreamy dark blue. A party sequence throbs with bisexual lighting, its dancers swirling in pinks, blues, and purples. Neon lights glitter in grimy cities, while the Bride's costume screams with colors bright yet dingy. Moods swirl with the flush of blues, yellows, reds, and greens. 

Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley play Frankenstein's Monster and his bride in "The Bride!" Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

It's not a bright, bubbly, or even joyous palette. These hues are a reflection of the Bride's need to be heard, to be seen. She will not be demure; she demands to stand out. This exhibitionism is further bolstered by the aforementioned dance numbers. The film is not just Frank and the Bride's story, but also their fantasy. Having long clung to Hollywood cinema for solace in a lonely existence (relatable!), Frank imagines meeting his bride as something out of a movie. He even mimics a Ronnie Reed dance move he saw on the silver screen to woo her. Later, they will envision themselves on the screen — as dancing lovers, as lurking monsters — and they will bring both of these fantasies into their journey, as they decide who they will be to each other. 

In one of the film's most shocking sequences, the pair cut loose at a posh party, upsetting the formal veneer with a furious explosion of movement. Others will be possessed by the Mary Shelley spirit, compelled to join in, creating a feral and fun flashmob. Yes, seeing Frankenstein's monster dancing is reminiscent of Young Frankenstein, but just when you think that might be a nod to the Mel Brooks' classic, Bale bellows out, "Putting on the ritz!" There is no doubt. Gyllenhaal isn't winking at her references; she's smirking at us with a wide-open mouth, ready to yawp. 

Gyllenhaal rejects fluidity or a staunch form that adheres to genre conventions. Instead, she boldly blends elements of horror with humor, romance with repulsion, creating an unapologetically wild and campy adventure. Some might call The Bride! messy or juvenile. I would call it alive and rebellious. 

Gyllenhaal and her cast don't just dust off a classic tale for a safe money grab. (Looking at you, Disney live-action remakes!) They tear various Frankenstein iterations to bits, then create an exquisite corpse of the pieces, festooning it with elements from other films about violence, revolt, and violation. The result is a film that is utterly electrifying, sure to spark something in hearts young and old. 

While I relished this movie's wild journey, I also grinned to imagine the girls who will watch this like I once did The Craft, appreciating its genre thrills and, beyond that, seeing myself in the furious and feminine at its core. 

The Bride! opens in theaters and IMAX on March 6. 

I've written extensively about how fragile our data storage technology is. So far, the most robust medium we've come up with are carvings in stone or clay tablets, which is why we can read a complaint about poor-quality copper written in 1750 BCE.

In today’s episode of f*ck the patriarchy, there’s a new website called “Check Her Body Count” that claims to use AI to calculate a woman’s “body count” using her Instagram profile. But it's both terribly inaccurate and misogynistic in nature — even if comparisons are being made to the whisper network site, Tea.

The website went viral on Feb. 26, after X user @weretuna shared an ad for Check Her Body Count on their feed. The post reads: “Suspicious that your girl has 10+ body count? Now you don’t have to guess. You paste her ig [sic] URL, and the app brutally estimates her body count by checking her followers, posts, and stories."

SEE ALSO: How AdultFriendFinder subscriptions appear on your bank statement

The post has amassed 6.1 million views as of this publication.

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

Before I go on an absolute rant, let’s just explain what “body count” is for the people who may not know: the number of sexual partners a person has had in their lifetime. Also, Mashable attempted to reach out to the Check Her Body Count contact email, but it bounced back.

OK, so here’s what I have to say about this.

1.) Obviously, this isn’t the most important point, but I just want everyone to understand that this site is completely inaccurate. There’s a little disclaimer at the bottom of the site that admits: "This tool does not access, connect to, or retrieve data from any third-party platform. All outputs are randomly generated for entertainment only and do not reflect real individuals."

Not only that, but a developer named Cappy (@CappyIshihara) reposted the viral post with his two cents, confirming that the site doesn't even access Instagram. It just validates the URL in your browser, spits out a random number, and caches it locally. In his words: “this sh*t is completely clientside, zero net, cache in localstorage."

My editor tried the site for herself, and it stated she had more "male followers" than actual total followers she has on Instagram.

2.) The idea of this is gross AF, and the fact that some commenters are saying that this site is no worse than the Tea App is exactly how and why tech is so dangerous today. The Tea App, which relaunched as a website after Apple's App Store booted it last year, is a safe space for women to discuss "red flags" and find info on potential suitors — it’s very “Are We Dating the Same Guy” — so that they can decide whether they're entering potentially dangerous situations.

Yet, here are just a few examples of what some men are saying about Check Her Body Count:

• "Nah, this stays up until [the] Tea App gets dumped."

• "Someone doesn't like the consequences of their actions?"

• "So women are upset at this, but find the Tea App, which berates men and tells other women how supposedly bad a guy is and ruins his dating reputation, okay? Yea, no. I fully support this website."

Comparing a whisper network meant to keep women physically safe to a tool designed to arbitrarily shame and surveil women for having sex is peak misogyny.

“Body count is a gross, inaccurate metric rooted in misogyny — period,” Angie Rowntree, founder and director of the porn site Sssh.com, tells Mashable. “It dehumanizes women and normalizes the surveillance and violation of women.”

And let’s just pause and talk about the exhausting double standard fueling all of this. If a guy has a lot of sex, he’s celebrated as "the man." But if a woman has the exact same amount of sex, she’s branded a "whore." And god forbid she chooses not to have sex, because then she’s instantly labeled "prudish" or a tease. It's a completely rigged game designed to make us apologize for our own bodies, no matter what we do.

As Rowntree notes, obsessing over this number "completely ignores context like consent and pleasure, and pretends that having sexual experience somehow diminishes a person's worth." In reality, having multiple partners may translate to greater confidence, better boundaries, and more fulfilling sex lives.

3.) We are seeing a terrifying trend where AI and tech are being weaponized by male-dominated online subcultures to enforce patriarchal control. If that sounds dramatic, let's look at the receipts. Deepfake technology gained notoriety through the creation of non-consensual sexual images of women. A recent investigation by the Tech Transparency Project found 102 "nudify" AI apps (which render people, often women, naked) hosted across Google Play and the Apple App Store. Those apps were downloaded more than 705 million times and generated $117 million in revenue. As the Tech Transparency Project wrote, "Because Google and Apple take a cut of that revenue, they are directly profiting from the activity of these apps" — meaning they are making money off the digital abuse and sexualization of women.

And have we forgotten about Grok? During an 11-day period between December 2025 and January 2026 alone, Elon Musk's chatbot produced an estimated three million sexualized images, including deepfakes of real, well-known women.

“The Grok scandal shows how fast 'fun' AI features can quickly turn toxic when they ignore users' rights (in this case, women's rights) to control their own public images and narratives," says Rowntree.

This is about so much more than a fake Instagram scraper — it's about an online ecosystem (often tied to anti-feminist "red-pilled" and incel communities) that actively pits men against women and uses tech as a tool for harassment. Dr. Mathilde Pavis, a leading adviser on AI regulation, told Newsweek that the concept behind Check Her Body Count reflects a deeper, dangerous cultural logic: "that women's bodies and private lives are subject to algorithmic judgment, sexual scoring and public evaluation."

"The body count website did not happen in a vacuum," says Rowntree. "There are men (and entire cultures) in 2026 who still think a hymen is a 'freshness seal' and virginity is the sum total of a woman's worth." Whether it's deepfaking women's bodies or creating fake algorithms to publicly score their sexual history, the goal is the exact same: policing women.

“Women are not property; we are human beings,” Rowntree adds. “As such, our bodies are also not public property to be exploited without consent, including for algorithmic judgment or AI manipulation."