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Move over, Elphaba. A new villainess is coming to reclaim her narrative, and it's not pretty — but it is pretty awesome. With The Ugly Stepsister, writer/director Emilie Blichfeldt offers a gnarly new spin on a classic fairy tale, daring to pose the question: What if Cinderella was a bit of a bitch?
By centering on the eldest of Cinderella's much-maligned stepsisters, this twisted fable explores how a patriarchal society pits women against each other amid the crushing pressure to be pretty. If you gagged over Coralie Fargeat's sickening satire The Substance, you'll relish Blichfeldt's spin on "pain is beauty" treatments. And if you love Wicked’s retconning of a baddie's origins, your heart will definitely go out to The Ugly Stepsister.
SEE ALSO: 10 Sundance movies you should know about now The Ugly Stepsister is a fairy tale of mean girls and fuckboys. Elvira gets a nose job in "The Ugly Stepsister." Credit: ShudderIt turns out some modern archetypes are truly timeless. Though set in medieval Germany, a time of corseted gowns and royal balls, The Ugly Stepsister feels ferociously modern in its depiction of cruel popular kids.
New to the kingdom, Elvira (Lea Myren) has a massive crush on Prince Julian (Isac Calmroth), thanks to his swoon-worthy book of love poetry, which includes illustrations of his dreamy visage. In vivid daydreams, she imagines how he will choose her as his one true love, sweep her off her feet, and carry her away to a happily-ever-after. In these visions, she looks very much like her new stepsister, Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Næss), with long blond hair, perfect skin, and an elegant, pale blue gown that flows to the floor.
Real life is less glossy all around for Elvira. The prince is a sulking rich boy with skeevy friends who make horrid sex jokes at the expense of any young lady they come across. But even meeting this prick of a prince outside of her dreams can't shatter Elvira's hopeful ambitions of love, luxury, and comfort. However, even in her new home, this poor girl finds only scorn. The ever-sneering Agnes is sensitive about sharing her things and outright scolds Elvira for her interest. Both are treated atrociously by Elvira's manipulative mother, who looks at the girls as her best means to restoring the family's wealth through lucrative matchmaking. However, this Cinderella would rather plot her own escape than aid her would-be sister. When they are invited to the prince's ball, Agnes won't even share her last name with the court's messenger. Thus, Elvira's invitation will read: Elvira Von Stepsister.
Like a doe-eyed freshman (or a virgin who can't drive), Elvira earnestly seeks guidance and attention from anyone who might offer it. And as in the case in many a teen movie, the results of seeking validation through these external sources make for a costly life lesson.
The Ugly Stepsister is a brutal and enthralling story of self-discovery. Elvira wears a nose brace in "The Ugly Stepsister." Credit: ShudderDespite the marketable mean-teen angle, Blichfeldt's take on the fairy tale isn't the stuff of Hollywood glamor. The title sequence makes this clear as rotting food is slowly, excruciatingly revealed alongside the bloated corpse of Agnes' father. Things are bleak in this cash-strapped household, as Elvira's mother (a deliciously ruthless Ane Dahl Torp) is forced to pay the dead man's debts; with no cash left over for a proper funeral, he's left to decay in the dining room. This is a festering source of resentment between Agnes and the stepmother who nicknames her "Cinderella." But while Agnes is berated and made to clean up ghastly messes around the manor, Elvira is pressured into horrid transformations to make her — in the eyes of her mother and the merciless finishing school madams — worthy of a man's attention.
As teased in the first images of The Ugly Stepsister, this includes a violent nose job, complete with a ghastly metal brace that makes Elvira a constant source of mockery. But there's far worse to come, as she is mutilated by various snake oil salesmen like the prancing Dr. Esthétique (Adam Lundgren), a groping dress designer who calls himself a "fairy godmother," and a smiling mentor who offers her a special gift that leads to what I'll call "Pavlov's tapeworm." These scenes of physical abuse, sexual impropriety, and self-mutilation are all hard to stomach, contrasting intensely with the whimsical daydreams of Elvira's imagination. But as the world around her demands Elvira's blood, pain, screams, and tears, she clings more tightly to her fantasies, believing the only way to them is through obedience and submission.
While her example is outrageous, it's also achingly touching. With big, earnest eyes, and a childish smile, Myren is heart-wrenchingly lovable as Elvira, offering a heroine whose naivete would have fared far better in a Jane Austen novel. Here, she will be ridiculed, maimed, and tortured. Be warned: Blichfeldt will not stray far from the Cinderella story you know well. And when she does, it's down a path of broken bones and ghastly conclusions. And yet, like The Substance, the climax — violent and gory — is strangely celebratory, finding freedom from giving up those suffocating beauty expectations of a society that just flat-out hates women.
In the end, The Ugly Stepsister is a deranged and dizzying achievement, folding in a classic story with a bitingly modern satire and bold body horror. Blichfeldt weaves these elements together to make a film that feels both of this moment but aesthetically nostalgic. With everything from gowns to banquet tables to castles and would-be kings caked in rot, blood, and bile, this horror gem feels like a lost B-movie from the '80s, so willfully repugnant you can practically smell the stench. The gnarly aesthetic masterfully mucks up our dreamy vision of fairy tale castles, princes, and romantic heroines, warning us — and Elvira — that the emperor has no clothes! The tragedy is we're quick to this realization while we must watch her struggle with it. And yet, her journey, as gross and grim as it is, is threaded with a ribbon of exhilaration, rebellion, and even defiant joy. Simply put, The Ugly Stepsister is savagely brutal and yet strangely beautiful.
The Ugly Sister was reviewed out of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.
TL;DR: Through 2 February, you can save 93% on an Internxt 10TB cloud storage lifetime subscription at the Mashable Shop.
Opens in a new window Credit: Internxt Internxt Cloud Storage: 10TB Lifetime Subscription £198.28 at the Mashable ShopIn a world packed full of subscription-based apps, any excuse to ditch monthly and annual fees is a welcome break from the norm. Sure, your monthly subscription payments for cloud storage might seem small. But when you think about how much cloud storage you're going to need over a lifetime for all your photos, videos, and documents, those fees really add up.
Instead of paying for digital storage monthly for the rest of your days, pay once to get 10TB of secure, encrypted cloud storage for life. For a limited time, Mashable readers can spend just £198.28 to get a lifetime subscription to the Internxt Cloud Storage 10TB plan, a 93% discount from the usual £2,427.16 price.
Just be sure to use the discount code STORAGE30 when you check out at the Mashable Shop through 2 February.
A cloud plan that covers your needs for lifeHow much does 10TB actually store? Probably more than you need. Depending on exact file sizes, that’s enough space for around 1 million photos, 2,000 hours of video, or 10 million documents. Plus, you’re getting all of that space for life at the same cost as paying for Google Drive or Dropbox for a year. That means this cloud storage deal pays for itself after as little as one year.
With desktop and mobile apps for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS, plus a browser-based app, you’ll be able to upload and access files from anywhere.
A new realm of privacyInternxt cloud platform offers multiple unique layers of security. Each photo, video, or document is end-to-end encrypted, meaning only those with explicit permission (like yourself or anyone you share with) can access your files.
Additionally, Internxt’s code is completely open source, which means anyone can review, audit, and verify there are no hidden functions or vulnerabilities in place. They really show that they have nothing to hide. Well, except for your privacy.
Grab this cloud storage plan without fees for a limited time at the Mashable Shop. Use the code STORAGE30 to get an Internxt 10TB lifetime subscription for only £198.28 (reg. £2,427.16). Remember, this deal ends on 2 February at 11:59 p.m. PT.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
TL;DR: Live stream Sinner vs. Shelton in the 2025 Australian Open for free on 9Now. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
The story of the 2025 Australian Open has been whether or not Novak Djokovic can secure a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title. But it's not all about Djokovic, because the defending champion has been storming through the rounds with impressive ease.
Sinner is looking to win the Australian Open once again, but Shelton stands in his way at the semi-final stage.
If you want to watch Sinner vs. Shelton in the 2025 Australian Open for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.
How to watch Sinner vs. Shelton for freeThe 2025 Australian Open is available to live stream for free on 9Now, including Sinner vs. Shelton.
9Now is geo-restricted to Australia, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These handy tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Australia, meaning you can unblock 9Now from anywhere in the world.
Access free live streams of the 2025 Australian Open by following these simple steps:
Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)
Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
Open up the app and connect to a server in Australia
Visit 9Now
Watch the 2025 Australian Open for free from anywhere in the world
The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading services do tend to offer incentive deals such as free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these deals, you can live stream Sinner vs. Shelton without actually spending anything. This isn't a long-term solution, but it gives you enough time to watch the Australian Open before recovering your investment.
What is the best VPN for 9Now?ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live tennis on 9Now, for a number of reasons:
Servers in 105 countries including Australia
Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure
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A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.
Live stream Sinner vs. Shelton in the 2025 Australian Open for free with ExpressVPN.
We all make excuses when it comes time to get our fitness levels back on track. But it's never too late. And excuses aside, there's never a bad time to focus on your health. New year, new you and all that. As far as we're concerned, it just takes the right bit of smart tech to get you started. That's where Garmin comes in.
Indeed, hiring a personal trainer is excellent, of course, but the technology exists now to put a mini PT in your pocket. Or even better, on your wrist. And Garmin is one of the very best brands in health and fitness-based wearable tech. It doesn’t matter if you’re a fitness newbie or hardened triathlete, there’s a Garmin smartwatch for you.
But how do you choose the right Garmin device? There are lots of Garmin watches available, all geared towards different types of sport or fitness goals. But fear not: We can help you choose the right Garmin watch for your sporty needs. Here's a need-to-know guide on all things Garmin and a selection of the brand's very best devices.
What is Garmin?Anyone who knows anything about wearable smart tech knows the name Garmin. The brand makes wearables for an impressive range of activities and even makes smartwatches for kids, which are all decorated with popular comic characters that encourage and reward activities. Whatever it takes to get 'em moving.
What sports do Garmin watches track?When we say the words “fitness tracker” you almost certainly think of watches for running, which is the go-to option for exercise and tracking. But Garmin watches track running, cycling, and swimming. Some high performing models combine the three and have specialist features for triathlon training. It doesn’t stop there. Garmin smartwatches also include features for rowing, diving, indoor activities, weight training, open sea swimming, climbing, golf, and HIIT. Phew. Have we missed anything? Almost certainly. Because the range of options is huge. And top models will cover lots of activities at once, making them perfect for multi-sport enthusiasts.
What features do Garmin smartwatches offer?First and foremost, Garmin prides itself on excellent GPS, which is of course crucial for mapping and tracking running, cycling, and swimming activities. Garmin watches also monitor your heart rate (even underwater on some watches, which puts them several strokes ahead of other brands). Depending on the model, you’ll also find features than track recovery, sleep, energy, hydration, respiration, and other health-based stats.
Also impressive are the coaching features, which guide you through training programmes and suggest workouts based on recent activities. Garmin smartwatches can guide you to specific achievements and fitness goals. In some Garmin smartwatches you’ll also find plenty of sports apps and storage space for music.
What is the best Garmin watch?Like a fitness plan, it’s not a one-size-fits-all situation. It depends on the specifics of your preferred activities and fitness goals. If you’re a runner, Garmin has a watch for you. If you’re a golfer, Garmin has a watch for you. If you’re a diver… well, you get the idea. And we’ve done the work of researching the very best Garmin for you.
These are the best Garmin watches in 2025.
Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. 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 today's 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?The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
Tweet may have been deletedEach 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.
Tweet may have been deletedPlayers 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: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for January 24 Here's a hint for today's Connections categoriesWant a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Yellow: Deep thought or consideration
Green: Impolite actions
Blue: Professions
Purple: "Patch" as a descriptor
Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:
Yellow: Contemplate
Green: Rude Things to Do
Blue: Vocation
Purple: ___Patch
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 #593 is...
What is the answer to Connections todayContemplate: BROOD, MUSE, PONDER, REFLECT
Rude Things to Do: INTERRUPT, LITTER, POINT, STARE
Vocation: CRAFT, LINE, TRADE, WORK
___Patch: CABBAGE, NICOTINE, ROUGH, SOUL
Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for January 24Are 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.
Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer.
If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. 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 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: Hints and answers for January 24 Where did Wordle come from?Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once.
Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.
What's the best Wordle starting word?The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.
What happened to the Wordle archive?The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.
Is Wordle getting harder?It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.
SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for January 24, 2025 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:Thin pancake.
Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?The letter E appears twice.
Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...Today's Wordle starts with the letter C.
SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. The Wordle answer today is...Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.
Drumroll please!
The solution to today's Wordle is...
CREPE.
Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle 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.
SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for January 24Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.
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 Wordle.
Connections: Sports Edition is a new 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.
Tweet may have been deletedEach 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.
Tweet may have been deletedPlayers 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.
Here's a hint for today's Connections Sports Edition categoriesWant a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Yellow: Might buy at a sporting event
Green: Putting on a show
Blue: Legendary defensive players (NFL)
Purple: Motions on the pitch
Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:
Yellow: Concession stand snacks
Green: Show off
Blue: Hall of Fame pass rushers
Purple: Soccer skill moves
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 #123 is...
What is the answer to Connections Sports Edition todayConcession stand snacks - CRACKER JACK, PEANUTS, POPCORN, PRETZEL
Show off - FLAUNT, GRANDSTAND, HOTDOG, SHOWBOAT
Hall of Fame pass rushers - PEPPERS, STRAHAN, WARE, WHITE
Soccer skill moves - NUTMEG, OLIMPICO, RABONA, STEPOVER
Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new 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.
If you're reading this, you're looking for a little help playing Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game.
Strands requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.
SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on MashableBy providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for January 24 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for January 24 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Get smartThese words are descriptions for the brainy.
Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explainedWords are synonyms for smart.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?Today's NYT Strands spangram is vertical.
NYT Strands spangram answer todayToday's spangram is ThatsGenius.
Featured Video For You Strands 101: How to win NYT’s latest word game NYT Strands word list for January 24Quick
Bright
Clever
Intelligent
Brilliant
ThatsGenius
Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and 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 Strands.
Timothy Olyphant, who played Danny Corday on The Office, doesn't seem to remember much about the experience.
He was the latest guest on the Office Ladies podcast, hosted by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, who played Pam Beesly and Angela Martin on the show, respectively. Olyphant appeared in just two Season 7 Office episodes, portraying the handsome, super-effective salesman Corday. It adds up, then, that Olyphant might not remember everything about the experience.
But one thing he did remember was just how funny Steve Carell was in his portrayal of Michael Scott. Olyphant recalled repeatedly breaking character during a deleted scene in which Carell has blocked him from leaving in an effort to steal Corday for the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch.
"I do remember laughing. I'm sure I screwed up what would have been a really good scene with Carell where I just couldn't stop laughing because it was so intense and funny," Olyphant said on the podcast. "And there's a little bit of disappointment still there that I could not keep a straight face."
SEE ALSO: All 185 episodes of 'The Office,' rankedOlyphant had lots of praise for Carell, even if the performance caused him to break character.
"He's incredible," Olyphant said. "He's fully committed. And I'm quite certain, I haven't seen it, you know, that I'm the one busting up more than he is."
Video evidence of the deleted scene would seem to agree. Olyphant does, indeed, bust up when Carell delivers a line straight-faced.
It's hard to blame Olyphant, however — Michael Scott had a way of making everyone laugh.
Operator, OpenAI's agent that can perform multi-step tasks autonomously, has arrived.
The ChatGPT maker introduced a preview mode of Operator on Thursday, detailing how it works and what it's capable of. Operator can browse the web, performing tasks like calculating refunds from a canceled order and finding customers with specific criteria in an internal sales database. It can also buy groceries and send emails.
On a computer, Operator can perform various tasks, like downloading files, combining PDFs, analyzing spreadsheets, and exporting images.
OpenAI is delivering on its promise of making 2025 the year of agentic AI. Last week, the company launched Tasks for ChatGPT, which lets users automate future prompts like sending a daily brief of tech news or scheduling reminders. While many of these tasks are already possible through basic tools like Google Alerts and calendars, it's an early example of AI bots doing the legwork for the user. Combined with the release of Operator and its ability to autonomously take on more complex tasks, you can start to see OpenAI's vision for making ChatGPT an indispensable tool leveraging its core product.
The model underpinning Operator is a Computer-Using Agent (CUA) that combines GPT-4o's vision mode to "see" what's on the user's screen through screenshots with graphical user interfaces (GUIs) that enable Operator to interact with the screen (clicking buttons, typing, scrolling, etc.).
Operator in action, browsing for a campsite in Yosemite with picnic tables. Credit: OpenAI OpenAI's safety approach with OperatorObviously, safety is a big concern for a semi-autonomous AI agent like Operator. OpenAI says it has taken risks into account in a few different ways. Operator mitigates misuse by blocking harmful or illegal tasks, and can't access blacklisted sites like gambling and adult entertainment sites and drug or gun retailers.
And OpenAI is looking over your shoulder as you use Operator. The announcement says that "user interactions are reviewed in real-time by automated safety checkers that are designed to ensure compliance with Usage Policies and have the ability to issue warnings or blocks for prohibited activities," and that the company has developed "automated detection and human review pipelines to identify prohibited usage in priority policy areas, including child safety and deceptive activities."
Since Operator can make costly mistakes without human supervision, the model will ask for confirmation "before submitting an order, sending an email, etc., so that the user can double-check the model’s work before it becomes permanent." Operator is also currently limited from "higher-risk tasks like banking transactions."
Operator availabilityNow is where we start to see OpenAI's new premium tier subscription, ChatGPT Pro. Operator in preview mode is only available in the U.S. to those who pay $200 a month as Pro users. But over time, OpenAI expects to expand availability to Plus, Team, and Enterprise users.
Women's telehealth company Wisp has seen a 233 percent increase in emergency contraception (EC, also called the "morning after pill") sales in the days leading up to Trump's inauguration.
The spike occurred the week of Jan.13 to Jan. 20, and on Inauguration Day itself (1/20) there was a 57 percent increase in orders of EC six-packs on Wisp.
SEE ALSO: Did Trump's executive order just make everyone in the U.S. female?This news comes after reproductiverights.gov shut down following the inauguration, as CBS News and others reported. It is part of a trend that includes government pages on LGBTQ rights and the Office of Gun Violence Protection going dark as well.
The government reproductive rights site included information on ECs, according to an archived screenshot, as well as birth control and abortion pills. The site was launched in 2022 following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, according to The Verge. Since then, conservatives have threatened birth control and abortion pills, fueling fears about access.
Plan B, a brand of emergency contraceptive, hasn't seen an increase in traffic, the maker's comms team told Mashable. Pills aren't available for purchase there, though. If you'd like more information about ECs, visit Planned Parenthood's website.
I don't know if you've ever had the good fortune of seeing a dog discover snow, but it is pure joy. I remember my then-puppy's first snow like it was yesterday.
A rare snowstorm, however, has struck the southern U.S. — states like Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida — meaning many dogs are discovering snow. After all, how often does a pup in New Orleans get to see snow? In a time where you might need some cute videos — well, that time is pretty much any time — the snow in the South is certainly delivering.
Look at this pup sprinting around.
Or this adorable, if scared, big boy.
Or this little guy who has no idea what's going on.
This husky was in heaven.
This pup made literal snow angels.
Or these doggies that had very different reactions to their first snow day.
So, there you have it, some free smiles from some chilly but excited pups.
Keen-eyed individuals spotted another blow to LGBTQ protections under the U.S.'s new presidential administration.
First flagged by Media Matters for America journalist Ari Drennen, the official page for changing sexual (or gender) identification on government documents — overseen by the Social Security Administration — has been removed from public view. The page currently displays an access denied notice that reads "You are not authorized to access this page."
SEE ALSO: Resources for people worried about Trump's anti-LGBTQ executive orders Tweet may have been deletedDrennen and others online later confirmed the page was inaccessible to all users, including those with personal Social Security accounts logged into the website. The Social Security Administration's page on Gender Identity has also been hidden, prompting users with a 404 error. Some existing FAQs on the process — which allows citizens to change their gender identification to a binary or nonbinary ("X") status — are still accessible to the public at the time of reporting. The office's resources for LGBTQI communities are also still visible.
Under a Biden administration change from 2022, American citizens did not need to show medical or legal evidence to obtain a change in sexual identification, lauded as a major victory for LGBTQ communities nationwide. Before Trump's inauguration, advocates had warned that the new leadership would move quickly to repeal such provisions, and recommended individuals update their official documents, including social security cards, prior to Trump taking office.
Credit: Screenshot / U.S. Social Security AdministrationLess than 24 hours after Trump was sworn in, the new president removed all LGBTQ-related pages from the White House website, including information published by the Biden administration. Searches for "sexual identification" and "gender" on the official White House page only return a link to Trump's recent executive order on what he has called "gender ideology extremism."
Queries for pages with the terms "lesbian," "gay," "bisexual," and "transgender" populate similarly sparse results that only reference new Trump edicts. In the aforementioned executive order, President Trump declared that the United States would only recognize two biological genders, based on an ironically confusing definition of "gender at time of conception." That executive order effectively erases trans and gender nonconforming individuals who had legally changed their sexual identification on official documents. The executive order had no guidance in regards to intersex individuals or other biologically nonbinary identities, which apply to millions of Americans.
If enough hasn't already happened this week – John McAfee is apparently back from the dead.
Well, his account on Elon Musk's X has been revived at the very least.
On Wednesday night, John McAfee's @officialmcafee X account started posting again even though McAfee himself was found dead from suicide in June 2021 in a prison in Spain while awaiting extradition to the U.S.
To be fair, the X account belonging to the eccentric founder of McAfee antivirus hadn't been completely dormant since his death. His wife, Janice McAfee, had been using his account with more than 1 million followers to mostly post and retweet other users' posts about John.
However, in the @officialmcafee's first post since November of last year, McAfee's account claimed that he was actually back.
In AI form.
And he came back as AI in order to drop a memecoin.
Tweet may have been deleted"I'm back with AIntivirus. An AI version of myself," @officialmcafee's post reads. "You didn't think I would miss this cycle did you?"
McAfee's X count is referencing the current crypto cycle which has seen an explosion in the popularity of memecoins, buoyed by President Trump's recent launch of his own $TRUMP token.
Speculation quickly ran rampant on X about McAfee's account possibly being hacked. However, @officialmcafee followed up with another post in an attempt to calm those fears.
Tweet may have been deleted"John's account has not been hacked," the account posted. "This is the real deal."
McAfee's widow, Janice, then posted a video on her own X account on Thursday morning explaining that the @officialmcafee's post was legit.
Well, to be clear, not the part where John McAfee has been resurrected in the form of AI. Janice shared that the memecoin is a legitimate crypto token that she created to "honor John's legacy."
McAfee was no stranger to cryptocurrency before he died. In fact, McAfee had been indicted on crypto-related fraud and money laundering charges in addition to the tax evasion charges that landed him in prison in the first place.
McAfee reportedly lost much of his $100 million fortune before he died. According to his widow in 2023, McAfee died without a will or estate so he did not leave her any money behind.
As of the publication of this piece, McAfee's AIntivirus memecoin is sitting at a market cap of $37 million.
Sellers on eBay have capitalized on TikTok's uncertain fate in the U.S. by selling secondhand phones for thousands of dollars with the app pre-installed.
According to Wired, listings for phones with TikTok installed have proliferated on the online marketplace amidst the TikTok ban saga. On Jan. 18, U.S. users were denied access to the app with a pop-up saying, "A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now." But the very next day, TikTok was back because President Trump had pledged to postpone the ban for 75 days so his administration could "determine the appropriate course forward."
SEE ALSO: As TikTok faces a ban, creators brace for an uncertain futureWith its status in limbo, TikTok is not available to download on the Apple and Google app stores. This has prompted eBay sellers to take advantage of the situation and try to profit from its uncertain future.
At the time of publication, a search for "TikTok phone" produces over 24,000 results, with the lowest "Buy it Now" listing selling for $400 and the highest asking for (checks notes) $4,970,400 million with CapCut, a video editing app also owned by ByteDance pre-installed in addition to TikTok.
Others are being auctioned for $1,000,000 in the auction category. Unsurprisingly, these listings currently have zero bids. However, the mid- to low-tier auction listings in the $50 to $500 range have dozens of bids. Mashable found an iPhone 13 with TikTok installed, which currently has 5 bids and is auctioning for $10,000. So, at least some people are willing to pay a premium for access to TikTok.
SEE ALSO: Meta is reportedly paying influencers big bucks to post on Reels before TikTokTikTok and other ByteDance apps are unavailable to download in the U.S. because the TikTok ban law, Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA), has not been officially repealed. According to a support page on the Apple App Store, "Apple is obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdiction where it operates."
More details about the app's functionality follow, saying, "If you already have these apps installed on your device, they will remain on your device. But they can't be redownloaded if deleted or restored if you move to a new device." In-app purchases and new subscriptions are no longer allowed on TikTok, and U.S. users won't receive updates, meaning functionality and performance might degrade over time.
So, if you bought a new phone after Jan. 19 or recently deleted TikTok, you would've been out of luck. But thanks to eBay, there's still hope, but it comes with a price.
It turns out the way to get me interested in a new Assassin's Creed (well, more interested than I already was) is to include features from the AC games I played 10 to 15 years ago.
To be a little more specific, Ubisoft's latest open-world stabbing simulator Assassin's Creed Shadows builds on the recent RPG-ish entries like Valhalla by incorporating mechanics and design philosophies from older entries like Brotherhood and Syndicate. From Valhalla, it borrows the idea of training and deploying subordinate assassins on helpless, unsuspecting doofus guards in your time of need. From the older games, it takes and (from what I can tell) heavily improves on the two-protagonist setup, with one representing stealth and the other combat.
Crucially, it's also got the goods from the newer games, like a very pretty and naturalistic feudal Japan setting, and consequential dialogue choices. After playing Shadows for about three hours at a preview event, I came away fairly impressed not only at how Shadows assimilates abandoned ideas from older AC games, but also by how fun it is on its own merits thanks to greater depth in its stealth mechanics and a slightly harsher and less forgiving level of challenge than its predecessors.
SEE ALSO: PS5 vs. PS5 Slim: What are the differences? Yasuke just seems really cool Yasuke is a big dude with big appeal. Credit: UbisoftI'm not really at liberty to discuss the the overall narrative of Shadows because I haven't seen that much of it, but I'm very into one of the two protagonists.
That would be Yasuke, who is a bit of an oddity among AC protagonists in that he was a real person. Usually in these games, you play as a fictional assassin who has the good fortune to Forrest Gump their way through whatever historical period they live in, but Yasuke was an actual Black man from Africa who went from slave to bonafide samurai under the tutelage of Odu Nobunaga in the 16th century. He's a self-evidently fascinating figure and a fantastic choice for a protagonist.
I'm a little less sold on Naoe, the fictional female protagonist who will be the character of choice for players who want to be sneaky. However, that probably has more to with the nature of the demo I played than anything; I didn't get a great sense for her personality or motives, aside from a generic desire for revenge. I'm sure that will change as I play through the final game (after all, I prefer to play stealthily), but for now, I just don't know how to feel about her. It doesn't help that she's working alongside an exceedingly cool dude in Yasuke.
A squad of assassins await your commandThe portion of the demo I'm allowed to talk about had all the trappings one would expect from a modern Assassin's Creed game: A big open zone full of main story quests, side activities, and gorgeous vistas to discover. I'll get into the finer details of how the moment-to-moment action feels a little later, but generally speaking, this is totally an Assassin's Creed game. They didn't set out to reinvent the wheel here, even though it's been more than four years since Valhalla came out.
However, where Shadows did surprise me a bit was in its deployment of awesome mechanics from older games in the series that have since been abandoned for one reason or another. Namely, Shadows brings back the thing from Brotherhood (and a few other games after that) where you have a cadre of NPC assassins at your disposal who you can recruit, train, upgrade, and then deploy how you see fit. This mostly manifests as aiming at an enemy guard and pressing a button to have your underling take them out, but I should note the demo also provided me with a summonable NPC who was built more for fighting than stealth kills, so there is seemingly some versatility to this system.
This is not only an inherently fun thing to do, but it also gives the player more solutions to the game's fairly challenging stealth sequences. Speaking of which...
Quiet is more fun, but going loud is more viable than ever You know you want to do it. Credit: Ubisoft/SteamThe dual-protagonist idea is borrowed from 2015's Assassin's Creed Syndicate, which similarly had a male assassin who was built for fights and a female assassin who was built for sneaking. The problem with that (other than the mild gender essentialism of it all) was that approximately 75 percent of Syndicate's main story forced you into playing as the dude, who wore a stupid top hat all the time and just wasn't as fun to play as the other character.
Shadows makes it a point to not repeat that mistake. All missions seem to be playable as both characters. In fact, the big finale to the main story thread I followed in the demo gave me three different opportunities to choose a character during the mission. It's nice that you don't have to commit to one character for an entire mission if you don't want to.
Let's talk about Naoe. I actually spent most of the demo playing as her because I'm a stealthy guy, and I came away pretty satisfied with the additions to sneaky gameplay Ubisoft has made this time around. For starters, enemies seem to have better eyesight than before, as they regularly spotted me from pretty far away when I wasn't careful. Beyond that, you have to use light to your advantage; lanterns can (and should) be destroyed with throwing knives, and shadows provide enough cover for nearby guards to not notice you right away.
Expect to see this a lot. Credit: Ubisoft/SteamThe biggest change, though, is the ability to go prone and crawl around on the ground. It's the only way to get through certain grassy areas unnoticed, and genuinely saved my ass about half a dozen times during the demo. If an enemy spots you, you can quickly go prone and hope to God whatever is around you provides enough cover to get them off your trail. Anyone who has ever played a Metal Gear game will agree that crawling around on your stomach is a fun way to sneak around, not only because you feel super stealthy, but also because you're incredibly vulnerable in that state. When you do it right, you feel awesome. When you do it wrong, you die. That tension should add a lot to Shadows.
Naoe also has a grappling hook that she can use pretty freely to scale vertical structures, and the areas I snuck through were definitely built with that in mind. Trying to quickly climb a rope up to a roof before a nearby guard turns around and sees you is the exact kind of juice I want from a stealth game.
While both characters are clearly geared for a specific style of play, you can technically fight dudes one-on-one with Naoe, or sneak around as Yasuke. Both seem fairly inadvisable, though. Naoe is lithe and nimble, but she can die in just a couple of hits. Yasuke, meanwhile, is a burly, lumbering samurai who climbs slower and doesn't have all of Naoe's stealth tools (like the grappling hook) at his disposal.
Most of your time spent with Yasuke will probably look like this. Credit: Ubisoft/SteamWhat he does have, however, are a katana and the willingness to use it. With Yasuke, I played the final mission like an action game, totally unconcerned with being stealthy. This was admittedly less compelling to me than the Naoe approach. Even basic enemies feel a bit like damage sponges who take a few too many hits to kill. I'll give Shadows the benefit of the doubt here and assume Yasuke will feel more powerful after dozens of hours of gameplay, but the demo didn't really give me the satisfaction of cutting through guys in one precise blow, like you see in so much other samurai fiction. Still, it wasn't bad by any means, and I did have some fun after figuring out how Yasuke's various abilities work.
Even with my gripe about enemy health, it's probably for the best that Shadows is a more challenging game than the ones that came before it. More broadly, it's great that people who don't like stealth (but find other aspects of these games appealing) can seemingly play the entire game as a big old tank.
I was always going to check out Assassin's Creed Shadows just because I've played almost all of these games since 2007 and it would be ridiculous to stop now. But I came away from this demo pretty pleased with what Ubisoft has put together. Between bringing back NPC assassins from Brotherhood and doing the whole two-character thing in a substantially more freeform way than Syndicate, Shadows has something to like for almost any AC fan.
We'll see if that's enough to make it fun for 50+ hours, though.
Assassin's Creed Shadows launches on March 20 for PS5, Xbox Series consoles, and PC.
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