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Not even the in-game currencies for your favorite battle royale shooter games are immune from the current global economic conditions.

Fortnite, the massively popular online free-to-play game, announced on Tuesday that it was increasing the prices for its in-game currency V-Bucks.

"The cost of running Fortnite has gone up a lot and we’re raising prices to help pay the bills," developer Epic Games shared in a statement posted on Fortnite's website.

Currently, $8.99 buys gamers 1,000 V-Bucks. Starting on March 19, $8.99 will only buy gamers 800 V-Bucks. 

Those price changes will also go into effect across the board on that date. Here's how prices will change:

• The $22.99 V-Bucks pack will come with 2,400 V-Bucks instead of the current amount of 2,800

• The $36.99 pack will come with 4,500 V-Bucks instead of 5,000

• The $89.99 pack will come with 12,500 V-Bucks instead of 13,500

While technically, the V-Bucks packs are staying at the usual price, the packs will come with fewer V-Bucks. If Fortnite fans are looking to buy exact amount packs, then they will see a more accurate depiction of the price increases, as the $0.50 for 50 V-bucks is going up to $0.99 per 50 V-bucks. Players will end up spending more.

However, that's not the only price change coming to Fortnite.

Fortnite Crew, the game's monthly subscription membership, will remain priced at $11.99 per month. However, instead of receiving 1,000 V-Bucks per month with the reward, members will only receive 800 V-Bucks per month going forward.

There's also some price drops coming to all four of Fortnite's season passes. 

Fortnite's OG Pass will drop in price from 1,000 V-Bucks to 800 V-Bucks. The game's Music Pass and LEGO Pass will also be reduced from 1,400 V-Bucks to 1,200 V-Bucks.

As for the most popular season pass, Fortnite's Battle Pass, it too will drop in price from 1,000 V-Bucks per season to 800 V-Bucks. 

However, there is a negative change here as well. Epic is also altering the amount of V-Bucks you can earn with the Battle Pass. By playing the game, completing quests, gaining XP, and leveling up, gamers could've earned 1,000 V-Bucks plus 500 more V-Bucks with Bonus Rewards. Going forward, only 800 V-Bucks could be earned by completing the Battle Pass. That's in total. Fortnite is also doing away with the Bonus Rewards V-Bucks.

So, while Fortnite gamers could still purchase a single Battle Pass and use their V-Bucks earnings to redeem the next season's Battle Pass in perpetuity, there won't be any leftover V-Bucks to use on skins or other items in the Fortnite shop under these changes.

The game's Battle Bundle, which includes the Battle Pass and a 25-level upgrade, will be changing in price too, going from 2,800 V-Bucks to 2,600 V-Bucks.

It's important to note that in-game items in the Fortnite shop do not change gameplay whatsoever. Skins, emotes, back bling, wraps, and other items are all solely cosmetic in nature and do not play a factor in the actual gameplay.

What happens if you have a Fortnite gift card? Epic Games says that users with existing gift cards can continue to redeem them at the rate printed on the card.

TL;DR: Live stream Real Madrid vs. Manchester City in the Champions League for free on RTÉ Player. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The Champions League is showcasing a number of huge games this week, but Real Madrid vs. Manchester City is probably the biggest matchup. Neither side has hit top form this season, but if you're looking for star players, this is the clash to watch.

Real Madrid trail Barcelona in La Liga and they're out of the Copa del Rey, so fans will be desperate for success in the competition. Standing in their way is Pep Guardiola, a manager who knows all about beating Real Madrid. He'll be hoping the likes of Haaland and Semenyo deliver big performances in this first leg.

If you want to watch Real Madrid vs. Manchester City in the Champions League from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is Real Madrid vs. Manchester City?

Real Madrid vs. Manchester City in the Champions League kicks off at 8 p.m. GMT on March 11. This fixture takes place at the Estadio Bernabeu.

How to watch Real Madrid vs. Manchester City for free

Real Madrid vs. Manchester City is available to live stream for free on RTÉ Player.

RTÉ Player is geo-restricted to Ireland, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Ireland, meaning you can unblock RTÉ Player to stream the Champions League for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Real Madrid vs. Manchester City for free by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

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 Ireland

4. Visit RTÉ Player

5. Watch Real Madrid vs. Manchester City for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can access free live streams of the Champions League without actually spending anything. This obviously isn't a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream Real Madrid vs. Manchester City (plus more Champions League fixtures) before recovering your investment.

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

What is the best VPN for RTÉ Player?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on RTÉ Player, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including Ireland

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

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• 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).

Live stream Real Madrid vs. Manchester City in the Champions League for free with ExpressVPN.

With historic heatwaves, the product of summer 2025 was the personal fan. These pocket-sized devices were everywhere, with people using them to stay cool on their commute home or while in the throes of VidCon. Portable fans are an easy, cheap way to stay cool with dozens of options available on Amazon, yet we're not surprised to see a luxe option appear in 2026. Enter, the Shark ChillPill.

Opens in a new window Credit: Shark Shark ChillPill $149.99 at Amazon
  Shop Now

Shark's ChillPill is a handheld fan with digital controls. It twists to contort into a comfortable handhold or to create a little perch, like it's a miniature tabletop fan. It has 10 speeds, which the brand claims push air up to 25 feet. When kicked up to max speed, it's a noisy device akin more to a hair dryer than a fan.

The Shark ChillPill comes with three interchangable attachments: The InstaChill Cooling Plate (installed), fan head, and misting head. Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable

It's a bladeless fan that comes with two interchangeable heads. One is the InstaChill Cooling Plate, which has a metal plate that acts as a sort of on-the-go ice pack, cooling skin by up to 16 degrees Fahrenheit upon contact. The other head is a mister, which has a tiny water tank that provides up to 10 minutes of cool mist, perfect for those in hot, dry climates. The ChillPill is USB-C chargeable and has 11 hours of battery life. Plus, it comes in dazzling colors, including pink, teal, blue, green, and rose gold. Perhaps an opportunity to color coordinate at all your upcoming summer weddings?

The one catch with the Shark ChillPill? Its $149.99 price tag. While you can score most personal fans for $25 or less online, the ChillPill is a much pricier fan. While we've yet to thoroughly vet the latest portable fan, its long battery life and extra attachments may make it a worthy invest.

The Shark ChillPill is now available to purchase on Amazon.

TL;DR: Live stream PSG vs. Chelsea in the Champions League for free on Virgin Media Player. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The Champions League is back this week with a number of interesting matchups, but PSG vs. Chelsea might be the best of the bunch. It's the defending champions against the two-time winners — it's shaping up to be something special.

PSG lead Ligue 1, but they've not been that dominant this season. They are only one point ahead of Lens in the standings and some might argue that they got lucky in the playoff round against Monaco. The defending champions have a lot of quality, but they need to get it together in this contest. Chelsea haven't exactly been great this season, but they'll believe that they can progress into the quarter finals.

If you want to watch PSG vs. Chelsea in the Champions League for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is PSG vs. Chelsea?

PSG vs. Chelsea in the Champions League kicks off at 8 p.m. GMT on March 11. This fixture takes place at the Parc des Princes.

How to watch PSG vs. Chelsea for free

PSG vs. Chelsea is available to live stream for free on Virgin Media Player.

Virgin Media Player is geo-restricted to Ireland, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Ireland, meaning you can unblock Virgin Media Player to stream the Champions League for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream PSG vs. Chelsea for free by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

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 Ireland

4. Visit Virgin Media Player

5. Watch PSG vs. Chelsea for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch PSG vs. Chelsea without committing with your cash. This isn't a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream select Champions League fixtures before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for Virgin Media Player?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on Virgin Media Player, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including Ireland

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

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• 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).

Watch PSG vs. Chelsea in the Champions League for free with ExpressVPN.

Matt Schlicht, the site’s creator, helped kick off Silicon Valley’s obsession with artificial intelligence agents. Two months later, he is joining the Meta Superintelligence Lab.

TL;DR: Live stream Leverkusen vs. Arsenal in the Champions League for free on Virgin Media Player. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The next round of Champions League fixtures includes some really interesting matchups, including Leverkusen vs. Arsenal.

The Premier League leaders have looked incredibly impressive in this competition, but now things get serious. Leverkusen haven't had a particularly successful season, but they'll go into this game believing they can win. The passionate support in the BayArena may prove decisive in this fascinating clash.

If you want to watch Leverkusen vs. Arsenal in the Champions League for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is Leverkusen vs. Arsenal?

Leverkusen vs. Arsenal in the Champions League kicks off at 5:45 p.m. GMT on March 11. This fixture takes place at the BayArena.

How to watch Leverkusen vs. Arsenal for free

Leverkusen vs. Arsenal is available to live stream for free on Virgin Media Player.

Virgin Media Player is geo-restricted to Ireland, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Ireland, meaning you can unblock Virgin Media Player to stream the Champions League for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Leverkusen vs. Arsenal for free by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

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 Ireland

4. Visit Virgin Media Player

5. Watch Leverkusen vs. Arsenal for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Leverkusen vs. Arsenal without committing with your cash. This isn't a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream select Champions League fixtures before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for Virgin Media Player?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on Virgin Media Player, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including Ireland

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

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• 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).

Watch Leverkusen vs. Arsenal in the Champions League for free with ExpressVPN.

If the internet has taught us anything, it's that every few months, a new front opens in the quiet cultural skirmish between millennials and Gen Z. First, it was side parts versus middle parts. Then skinny jeans versus baggy denim. Then came the millennial pause and the Gen Z stare. Now the latest battlefield is… the top of your head.

Specifically, how much space you leave above it in a video.

SEE ALSO: Is Gen Z driving a return to the cinema?

The debate began with Gen Z creator @taylormknott joking that you can instantly tell how old someone is by how they film a TikTok, because millennials leave "a ton of space between the top of their head and the top of the screen."

The observation resonated with younger viewers accustomed to TikTok's tight, face-forward framing. But it also triggered an immediate response from millennials. One such creator, screenwriter Andrew Briedis, posted a stitched rebuttal on Instagram Reels.

"Gen Z, you know I love you," he began, before launching into a lightly exasperated defense of millennial filmmaking instincts. His argument was simple: millennials aren't leaving that space by accident. They're doing it on purpose.

View this post on Instagram

"It's called the Rule of Thirds," he said, referring to the classic photography and cinematography principle that divides a frame into three sections and positions subjects along those lines for visual balance. Leaving space above the head, he argued, draws the viewer's eye intentionally rather than cramming a face into the center of the frame.

In other words, what Gen Z sees as awkward framing, millennials see as composition.

But beneath the technical explanation lay one rooted in generational experience with technology. "Any of us millennials, we didn't have phones to record on," he said. "You know what I had in high school? A digital camera that recorded like 20 seconds, and then I had to plug it into a computer and download it."

For millennials, visual storytelling was something learned deliberately: photography classes, film studies, and early YouTube tutorials about composition and lighting. The grammar of images, like the rule of thirds, was taught as a skill.

Gen Z, by contrast, grew up with front-facing cameras in their pockets. Video wasn't just something you learned in a class. It was something you did constantly, from a very young age. The result is a different visual language: closer framing, direct eye contact with the camera, and compositions optimized for a vertical phone screen rather than cinematic balance.

As a millennial myself, I don't think either approach is necessarily wrong. They’re just products of different media ecosystems.

Millennials were raised on cameras and camcorders that adhered to traditional photography rules. Video felt closer to filmmaking. Gen Z was raised on smartphones and social media platforms where immediacy and intimacy matter more than textbook composition. The goal isn't to frame a shot like a director — it's to feel like you're FaceTiming a friend.

Even the creator who started the "millennial space" debate eventually responded with another video that zoomed out from the joke (but, notably, kept the camera angle tight).

"All these things that we tease each other for," @taylormknott said in a follow-up TikTok, "are indicators of a larger truth that exposes how we interact with technology differently based on when we were given access to it during our childhood development."

In other words, the debate about how much space you leave above your head in a video isn't really about framing at all. It's about how two generations learned to see themselves on camera and how the tools they grew up with shaped what "normal" looks like on screen.

So when Gen Z jokes about the "millennial space," they’re not just roasting millennial camera angles. They're pointing at a visual style shaped by an earlier internet. And when millennials defend it, they're defending something else entirely — the idea that framing a shot is a craft.

Like most generational internet debates, the argument is less about who's right and more about how quickly media habits evolve. What looks correct to one generation can look completely off to another.

Even when it's just the space above your head.

FREE WITH PURCHASE: Through March 16, spending $150 at Lego.com unlocks a free Lego Botanicals Floral Picture Frame.

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Botanicals Floral Picture Frame 40916 $0 at Lego
$24.99 Save $24.99 Free with $150+ purchase Shop Now

New month, new seasonally-appropriate free Lego. Through March 16, you'll get a free Lego Floral Picture Frame from the Botanicals series when you spend $150 at Lego.com.

The 310 piece set is decorated with Lego roses, daisies, cineraria, delphinium, pussy willow, and camellia, matching the recently-released Lego Botanicals Flower Wall perfectly. The frame can then be hung vertically or horizontally.

Several popular premium Legos would meet the $150 minimum easily, like Claude Monet's Bridge over a Pond of Water set for $249.99 or the Milky Way Galaxy set for $199.99. You could also combine multiple lower-priced sets to hit $150 — and in that case, you have options. More than 40 new Lego sets were released on March 1, including Botanicals Magnolia Branches ($49.99), Floating Sea Otters ($119.99), and eight Lego Star Wars Smart Play sets ($39.99 to $159.99).

If you're stumped by an abstract math problem or a complicated physics concept, ChatGPT can help.

Announced today, OpenAI's chatbot can now generate interactive visuals in response to prompts on math and science questions, including dynamic, customizable graphs, diagrams, and geometric renderings. Once generated, users can adjust variables and manipulate formulas directly in the chat and watch the visuals change in real-time.

SEE ALSO: Trump's latest AI announcements: Tech Corps, data center costs, modern warfare

For now, visual explanations are available for 70 "core concepts" in science and math, including specific physics and geometric formulas like the Pythagorean theorem, Charles’ and Ohm's laws, kinetic and potential energy, and more. The subjects are curated for high school and college-age learners, OpenAI says, and the company plans to expand the feature with additional subjects in the future.

Credit: OpenAI

ChatGPT fields math and science questions from 140 million users each week, according to parent company OpenAI. Last year, the company launched Study Mode, a toggle-on ChatGPT experience designed to act more like an AI tutor rather than an all-around helper. With Study Mode on, ChatGPT is instructed not to give direct solutions but to encourage a more socratic style of learning. In Mashable's tests, however, the chatbot still provided answers, even when unprompted.

Dynamic visuals aren't a Study Mode-only feature, however, and the company told Mashable that the experience was designed and tested using the standard ChatGPT mode. Math and science visuals will appear across all ChatGPT experiences and plans, and are available now.

Blaming chatbots, they are joining an earlier push for better protections by parents who say social media contributed to their children’s deaths.

The aerospace company said the delay would not prevent it from meeting its 2026 sales goal of about 500 Max jets.

Apple's latest iOS beta — 26.4 beta 4 — rolled out this week and came with a serious upgrade in emoji.

Your mileage may vary on what's technically new, but iOS 26.4 beta 4 brings a total of 163 new emoji designs. There are 13 truly new emoji concepts (which we've seen before), and then 150 new skin tone variations for the existing wrestling and people with bunny ears emoji.

The emoji-focused resource, Emojipedia, helpfully published a first look at all the new emoji. They appear to be variations on the new emojis introduced by Unicode — the nonprofit that standardizes digital characters — last year.

Credit: Unicode

The new concepts, as shown above, include a distorted face, a so-called fight cloud, a bigfoot-esque creature (technically, it's known as the "hairy creature"), an orca, a landslide, a treasure chest, and a ballerina in various skin tones. These are long-expected updates to emoji, as we covered back in 2025, but now they're starting to roll out.

Hairy creature, aka Bigfoot, appears to be the most anticipated of the new emoji. Personally, I think the fight cloud emoji has a bright future, especially for anyone who loved Saturday morning cartoons back in the day.

To see all the new emoji introduced in iOS 26.4, head to Emojipedia.

Best Mar10 Day Lego deals at a glance Best overall Lego deal Lego Super Mario Piranha Plant $41.99 at Amazon (save $18) Get Deal Best Lego deal for the Super Mario World fan Lego Super Mario World: Mario & Yoshi $103.99 at Amazon (save $26) Get Deal Best Lego deal for the Mario Kart fan Lego Super Mario: Mario Kart $46.74 at Amazon (save $8.25) Get Deal Best Princess Peach Lego deal Super Mario Adventures with Interactive Lego Peach $39.99 (save $10) Get Deal Best budget Lego Mario deal Lego Super Mario Captain Toad’s Camp $8.99 at Amazon (save $6) Get Deal

It's-a Mar10 Day! If you're looking for a slightly less conventional way to celebrate (compared to playing a Mario game on the Nintendo Switch 2) you might consider a Lego build. Amazon is celebrating Mar10 Day by offering tons of discounts on Mario-themed Lego sets, and we're in love with all of them. Here are some fun Mario Lego deals to shop today in honor of the famous plumber himself.

Best overall deal Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Super Mario Piranha Plant $41.99 at Amazon
$59.99 Save $18   Get Deal Why we like it

Love escaping their fireballs or dread their brutality, the Mario Piranha Plant is an icon. Lego designed this build with 540 pieces and recommends it to builders ages 18 and up. Posable parts include the leaves, head, mouth, and stalk. Plus, it could potentially blend in with your other Lego Botanical builds, but who knows what damage it could do come nightfall.

The Lego Mario Piranha Plant usually sells for $59.99, but it's on sale at Amazon today for only $41.99 in honor of Mar10 Day.

Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta has never led her own TV series or movie in 35 years, not since Postmortem hit shelves in 1990. Finally, the famed forensic crime writer's iconic protagonist has made her screen debut, with Nicole Kidman and Rosy McEwen taking on the chief medical examiner in Scarpetta.

Written by Liz Sarnoff (Lost, Deadwood, Barry) and directed by David Gordon Green (the modern Halloween trilogy) and Charlotte Brändström (The Rings of Power), the Prime Video series leans on its '90s and '00s roots to show off Cornwell's legacy in the forensic thriller genre.

SEE ALSO: 'The Walsh Sisters' review: Marian Keyes' iconic sisters finally have the TV series they deserve

Like Mare of Easttown and to an extent True Detective, Scarpetta is a crime procedural that blends murder investigation with complicated family drama, with this impeccable cast — Kidman, McEwen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bobby Cannavale, Ariana DeBose, Simon Baker — bringing out the best in the latter. If you're a fan of forensic thrillers with familial feuds, dive into the Scarpetta files.

Scarpetta takes the forensic thriller back to '90s and '00s basics Jake Cannavale as Peter Marino, Rosy McEwen as Dr. Kay Scarpetta. Credit: Connie Chornuk / Prime

If Scarpetta feels like it hits the notes of many a modern forensic crime thriller, just remember Patricia Cornwell changed the game for the genre in the '90s and '00s, making her mark amid contemporaries like Kathy Reichs and Jeffery Deaver. Without Cornwell's early '90s books like Postmortem or Body of Evidence, there's no CSI, no Bones, no Cold Case, no Dexter. And Sarnoff knows it; her script has a young Scarpetta directly quoting from Postmortem in an early scene — "Out there, somewhere, is a man..." — and Cornwell herself makes a cameo in the first episode.

Revolving around Dr. Kay Scarpetta (Kidman/McEwen), the series bounces between three time periods — the '70s, '90s, and the present — charting moments from Scarpetta's tragedy-marked childhood, through her first case as Virginia's first female chief medical examiner, and her return to the job in the present. When murder victims turn up bearing the same hallmarks as Scarpetta's big career-defining case from 28 years ago, the possibility that she might have pinned the wrong suspect becomes very real.

Nicole Kidman as Scarpetta. Credit: Connie Chornuk / Prime

In both Kidman and McEwen's talented hands, Scarpetta is a methodical, smart, and sangfroid chainsmoker, highly skilled as chief medical examiner, scrutinising causes of death and throwing the book at chauvinist colleagues. She's not a hard boiled detective who flies off the handle and cuts corners — that's her charming but combustible partner Pete Marino (Cannavale Sr. in the present, Cannavale Jr. in the past). Instead, she's a by-the-book forensic pathologist urging her colleagues to wear sanitary equipment and refrain from using slurs. The comparisons between her and another scrupulous '90s investigator, The X-Files' Dana Scully, are not subtle, from the suits and tees Kay dons to a literal collation of the two's similarities in episode 6.

When Scarpetta and Marino walk through crime scenes, the series leans on the 2000s blue-toned flashback technique favoured by shows like CSI and Cold Case, which can feel a little dated. The same goes for the series' lack of real background for half of the serial killers' victims — we only get to know small details about women recently murdered, the rest relegated to mere Post-Its and photos on a red yarn wall, while the search for the killer's identity is foregrounded. At one point Scarpetta even insists "we don't know them" when a lab technician indicates humanising the victims, however she often corrects sexist victim-blaming language from her colleagues.

Bobby Cannavale as Pete Marino and Nicole Kidman as Scarpetta. Credit: Connie Chornuk / Prime

The series also leans slightly into the psychological cat-and-mouse game that defined '90s forensic fiction and the flurry of '00s crime adaptations that came with it: The Bone Collector, Kiss the Girls, Red Dragon. Fittingly, Scarpetta's 1998 storyline feels the most aligned to this specific trend, with the medical examiner finding herself in increasingly dangerous waters.

Scarpetta also hits every note in the genre Alexis Nedd described for Mashable as "curmudgeonly detective solves a dead girl case while their personal/romantic life falls apart". We're talking the near-constant presence of enormous glasses of wine, requisite pondering-in-the-shower scenes, and open disdain for the press (especially Sosie Bacon's Abby). The fact that Scarpetta doesn't go for early morning runs is one of the few hallmarks of the subgenre missing from her characterisation.

Being a Blumhouse production, the detail in Scarpetta's autopsy scenes can be gruesome, so squeamish viewers may want to look away. However, it's this level of detail that makes it the Patricia Cornwell adaptation it is, with the author's inclusion of forensic detail her signature stamp on the genre.

Featured Video For You 'Crime 101's Chris Hemsworth and Halle Berry play our new mash-up game Scarpetta's cast is criminally talented Bobby Cannavale as Marino and Ariana DeBose as Lucy Scarpetta. Credit: Connie Chornuk / Prime

Brimming with top tier talent, the Scarpetta cast is the show's sharpest weapon, led by Kidman in full, glorious, intellectual-internalised-rage mode. The physicality shared between Kidman and her '90s era counterpart, played by McEwen, is wildly convincing; the same goes for the always compelling Cannavale as Pete Marino and his '90s self, played by the actor's son, Jake Cannavale. And though this casting might be a little on the nepo baby nose, you can't argue it's not effective, especially when the Cannavales take full advantage of their lion's share of one-liners like, "Looks like our very own Ted Bundy just bought himself a polygraph."

While Bobby Cannavale almost steals the spotlight himself as the wise-cracking, deeply loyal Marino, he's battling with two fellow castmates for it: Jamie Lee Curtis and Ariana DeBose.

If there's a scene with Curtis in it, pray for her scene partners. As Kay's polar opposite, her rambunctious, flamboyant, and unfiltered sister Dorothy, Curtis is incredibly fun to watch, clad in sequins, leopard print, and dropping red hot home truths. Though they both crave control, Kay's disdainful composure clashes with Dorothy's provocative combativeness. Honestly, break out the popcorn for Kidman and Curtis (who somehow have never starred together in anything?) arguing like only sisters can, with Curtis' Dorothy demanding attention like a town crier and earnestly dropping dialogue like, "My own stallion-like spirit feels diminished by her."

Jamie Lee Curtis as Dorothy Scarpetta. Credit: Connie Chornuk / Prime

DeBose, meanwhile, is superb as Lucy, Dorothy's tech savvy daughter who basically grew up parented by Kay. She's mourning her late wife (Janet Montgomery) by turning her into an AI companion. This light eyeroll of a plot device would feel like product placement for artificial intelligence's "good side" if DeBose wasn't such a talent, with her performance (as well as Curtis and Kidman's) actually making me believe this Black Mirror-style connection.

Like its protagonist, Scarpetta isn't perfect, but it's steeped in nostalgia and respect for the author who drove forensic fiction through the hallmarks we now take for granted as commonplace. With a cast this brilliant and a cliffhanger ending, Scarpetta's first season feels like the beginning of a series, Cornwell-style.

Scarpetta is streaming on Prime Video March 11.

Silver, Blush, Citrus, and Indigo — those are the four colors that Apple's brand new affordable laptop, the MacBook Neo, now comes in.

And according to a report from Bloomberg's Apple insider Mark Gurman, Apple may also be looking into bringing a new color palette to the iMac. Gurman says that Apple plans on launching a new iMac later this year.

Apple first upgraded the iMac to its Silicon chipset in 2021 with the M1 iMacs. The company then skipped the M2 chips altogether in the iMac, and the desktop went without an upgrade in 2022. Apple then released the M3 iMac in 2024. 

Apple last upgraded its popular desktop line of computers in 2024 with the release of the iMacs with the M4 chip.

The current M4 iMac lineup is currently available in seven different colors: Green, Yellow, Orange, Pink, Purple, Blue, and Silver. 

According to Gurman, Apple is looking at a "refreshed color palette" for the iMac, which was historically known for its signature aquamarine blue.

As you can see, the current iMacs offerings come in the classic base colors, whereas Apple has opted to offer specific color shades with the MacBook Neo line. It's unclear, though, if Apple is looking to offer the exact same Neo color options for iMac as well. 

Not much is known about the iMac refresh quite yet. It is more than likely that the new iMac will come with Apple's new M5 chipset. 

Color options aside, it will be interesting to see where Apple goes in regards to pricing for the new iMacs. The all-in-one display and computer has traditionally targeted a more affordable price point. Apple raised its M5 MacBook Pro prices across the board when it launched the devices last week. The current base iMac retails for $1,299. 

SAVE $30: As of March 10, get the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro + $30 Amazon Gift Card bundle for $249.99 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $279.99. That's a discount of 11%.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro + $30 Amazon Gift Card   Get Deal

If you've been waiting to pick up a pair of new earbuds, now's the time to shop. There are tons of great picks out there, but if you want excellent sound to pair with your favorite Samsung device (or any other device for that matter), you'll want to head to Amazon for your last chance to save big on your preorder for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro.

As of March 10, get the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro + $30 Amazon Gift Card bundle for $249.99 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $279.99. That's $30 off and a discount of 11%.

SEE ALSO: Beats Studio Buds+ are under $100 at Amazon — act fast to save on top earbuds

This bundle deal nets you a pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro earbuds as well as a $30 Amazon Gift Card that will be mailed separately to you in a mini envelope. You'll need to add the bundle deal to your cart, where the discount will be applied, but hurry -- today is the final day this deal is available.

The upcoming Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro are releasing on March 11, and come with a slew of great features, including high-resolution audio, a 2-way speaker, active noise cancellation, and live translation. They come in both black and white colorways, which are eligible for the bundle deal.

If you don't want to be left in the cold with this discount, be sure to lock yours in now before the end of the day. That's $30 additional bucks you can spend at Amazon for your trouble, and all you have to do is wait for the gift card to arrive.

SAVE $22.50: Through March 21, Prime Video subscribers can add Mubi to their streaming lineup for only $7.49 per month for three months. Usually $14.99 per month, that's a total of $22.50 in savings.

Opens in a new window Credit: Mubi / Prime Video Mubi add-on for Prime Video $7.49/month for 3 months (save $7.50/month) Get Deal

It's no secret that streamflation has priced out tons of subscribers. Streaming services really went overboard with their price hikes over the past few years, but every once in awhile you can still score a sweet discount. I'm always on the hunt for good streaming deals and as of March 10, this Mubi Prime Video add-on is 50% off.

Through March 21, Prime Video subscribers can add Mubi to their streaming lineup for just $7.49 per month for three months. It typically costs $14.99 per month, so over three months you'll save about $22.50.

Rather than subscribing to yet another streaming service separately, getting Mubi as a Prime Video add-on means you'll be charged for it in the same monthly streaming bill as your Prime Video or Amazon Prime membership. Plus, Mubi's content will appear within your Prime Video account. No need to download or open the Mubi app. Prime Video add-ons basically just expand your existing library.

If you've never heard of Mubi, it's a streaming service designed for cinephiles. It prides itself as the place to "discover ambitious films and series by visionary filmmakers — from iconic directors to emerging auteurs." You'll find some classics and mainstream movies, but also plenty of independent and obscure films. Mubi even has its own originals, including two of our favorites from 2025, Die My Love and The Mastermind, as well as one of our favorites from 2024, The Substance. It's also the place where you can watch Twin Peaks in its entirety, and Lili Reinhart's series Hal & Harper.

Streaming deals don't come around often. If you want to diversify your streaming lineup for less, be sure to secure this half-priced Mubi deal by March 21. And remember to cancel before your three-month promo period ends if you want to avoid paying full price.

A viral app to help men stop masturbating exposed thousands of users' data, 404 Media reports.

The app, Quittr, claims to be the "#1 Porn Addiction App to Quit Porn Forever" on its website. It apparently blocks porn websites on one's device, as well as tracks one's "abstinence" from porn. Quittr also has community features like groups, a "panic button" for "emergency nofap help" and even an AI therapist. ("Nofap" began as a Reddit community to stop masturbating, and experts warn against using AI for therapy.)

SEE ALSO: How to unblock Pornhub for free

"Porn addiction," like "sex addiction," isn't recognized by the DSM-5, which classifies mental disorders. While porn-viewing can be compulsive, like other behaviors, research suggests that perceived porn addiction predicted distress over actual porn use itself. Yet, the idea of "porn addiction" persists in the U.S., which lacks comprehensive sex education requirements in many states; only 37 percent of states require sex education to be medically accurate, according to Boston University.

"Porn addiction," like "sex addiction," isn't recognized by the DSM-5, which classifies mental disorders.

Meanwhile, for years, the "nofap" community on Reddit and elsewhere has purported the benefits of not ejaculating, from physical to mental boons, but there is limited research on the veracity of this.

In this environment, Quittr has thrived, with a 4.7 out of 5 rating based on around 29,000 ratings on Apple App Store, and a 4.8 out of 5 rating based on 8,400 ratings on Google Play. Its founders, Alex Slater and Connor McLaren, recently told New York Magazine that the app has been downloaded 1.5 million times and brings in $500,000 per month. (It costs users $30 per year.)

Now, 404 Media reports that Quittr leaked data about hundreds of thousands of users' masturbation habits as well as lied about its security issues.

A researcher told 404 Media that they scanned apps for a misconfiguration in apps that use the development platform Google Firebase, as that same issue was seen in the Tea app. The researcher found that Quittr had the same problem and contacted the founders about the issue, and while they said it would be fixed in an hour, it wasn't fixed for months.

Apparently, the researcher could access data for more than 600,000 users on Quittr, including 100,000 who identified as minors.

When 404 Media's Emanuel Maiberg called them, they denied there was an issue. But the misconfiguration has since been fixed, according to the report.

SAVE $151.99: The Sony ULT Tower 9 Bluetooth Karaoke Party Speaker is on sale at Amazon for $748, down from the list price of $899.99. That's a 17% discount and the lowest price we've seen this year at Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: Sony Sony ULT Tower 9 Bluetooth Karaoke Party Speaker $748 at Amazon
$899.99 Save $151.99   Get Deal

Give us a few days and we'll soon be out of the daylight savings time haze. And once that happens, it's time to recognize that we're well on our way to long summer nights in the yard. Dust off the portable projector, whip out the slushy machine, and you've got a springtime party in the works. If your parties could use a major upgrade, check out this deal at Amazon.

As of March 10, the Sony ULT Tower 9 Bluetooth Karaoke Party Speaker is on sale at Amazon for $748, marked down from the list price of $899.99. That works out to a 17% discount that shaves $151.99 off the price. So far, this is lowest price we've seen this year at Amazon.

If you love house parties, you could probably make great use of a party speaker. These steroid-ridden portable speakers will roll around your home, yard, or down the road to become the life of the party. The Sony ULT Tower 9 Bluetooth Karaoke Party Speaker comes with plenty of features that make it perfect for parties all year long. With 360-degree lighting, this speaker really can bring life to any event.

In Mashable's roundup of the best party speakers, the Sony ULT Tower 9 earns a honorable mention. Today's sale of $748 applies to the battery-powered model of this massive speaker which gets up to 25 hours of battery life before it'll need to recharge. Plus, a 10-minute charge gives you 180 minutes of party time.

One of the downsides the Mashable lists about the speaker is its high price. But thanks to today's deal, the battery-powered model is down to the same price as the plug-in version.

SEE ALSO: Sleep Week 2026: The best deals on new mattress, fresh pillows, sleep earbuds, and more

"It has two built-in slots for holding wireless microphones and a karaoke feature in the Sony Sound Connect app," according to the Mashable review. "On top of that, it was top-to-bottom lights, which can be controlled with touch controls or via the app. Typically, we find that bass-boost features throw off the overall sound balance, but that's less of a problem with this behemoth than with other speakers in the ULT line."

Before the perfect spring days begin and you break out the barbecue and invite the neighbors over, upgrade your parties with the Sony ULT Tower 9 Bluetooth Karaoke Party Speaker. It's currently sitting at the lowest price we've seen in 2026 and snagging it now means you can get some practice karaoke rounds in before the first party.

We want to hear how artificial intelligence helps you with tasks like meal prep, translation and planning a trip.