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05 Sep 18:20

AMD Ryzen 5000 CPUs See Major Price Cuts As Ryzen 7000 Retail Launch Approaches: 5800X3D Down To $379, 5950X at $499, 5900X at $349, 5800X at $239, 5600X at $179

by Hassan Mujtaba

AMD Ryzen 5000 Desktop CPUs On Discount Across Major US Retailers - 5900X For $499, 5800X For $393, 5600X For $272

With the retail launch of the Ryzen 7000 approaching, the existing AMD Ryzen 5000 CPUs have started to receive some pretty major price cuts.

AMD Ryzen 5000 CPU Prices See Huge Retailer Cuts With Only Weeks Left in Ryzen 7000 Launch, 5800X3D Down To $379 US

With less than a month left in AMD's Ryzen 7000 launch, the existing product stack is finally down to less than $500 US. AMD's Ryzen 5000 CPUs launched almost two years ago, offering the most competitive multi-threaded and gaming performance against Intel's lineup seen in years. Now two years later, AMD is going to repeat the same, offering much higher single-threaded performance & in a highly efficient package to gamers, content creators, and high-performance users.

While AMD's Ryzen 7000 CPUs are without a doubt going to blaze past their predecessors, the current Ryzen 5000 CPU stack at their current prices is just too good to ignore for the majority of gamers and builders who don't see a need to upgrade to the AM5 platform, just yet. While AM5 is the way to go for future longevity, AMD already confirmed that they will stay committed to AM4 users for the foreseeable future.

Another reason why AM4 might seem like a more value-oriented choice is that it still supports DDR4 memory which is much cheaper to get compared to DDR5 and that still hasn't reached price parity with the older standard. Also, AM4 motherboards give users the choice to pick up anywhere from a $50 to a $500 motherboard whereas AM5 will begin at a slightly higher $125 US bracket. So while those who want something new and fresh with faster performance should aim for AM5, the rest of the audience who are building budget PCs should aim for AM4 while it still has some juice in it and wait till AM5 gets more mature.

With that said, let's take a look at the latest pricing of AMD Ryzen 5000 CPUs. Starting with the top-dog, the Ryzen 9 5950X, the chip is down from its MSRP of $799.99 US to just $499.99 US. That's an impeccable deal for a 16-core processor but if you want to save even more money yet still get lots of high-performance cores, then the Ryzen 9 5900X with 12-cores at $349.99 US is an amazing deal. That's in fact even cheaper than the Ryzen 7 5800X3D which is currently down to $379.99 US but it is definitely an interesting choice. If you want to go the content creation and multi-threading route, then the 5900X is going to be your best choice and if you are looking to game, then the 5800X3D is going to be your best bet.

At $379.99 US, the 5800X3D is positioned right in between the Ryzen 5 7600X & Ryzen 7 7700X which will have fairly the same amount of performance in games. AMD's own benchmarks show that the 7600X would be 5.6% faster than the Core i9-12900K for just $299 US. The 5800X3D is anywhere from 5-10% faster than the 12900K but compared to the 7600X, the 5800X3D has more cores and threads. You can also get 8 cores and 16 threads with Zen 4's Ryzen 7 7700X but it will cost slightly higher at $449 US.

Moving down the stack, we have the Ryzen 7 5800X which can be bought for just $239.99 US while the 6-core Ryzen 5 5600X can be bought for just $179.99 US. Following are the links from various US-based retailers where you could buy the chips. You can also find several AMD Ryzen 5000 CPUs still retaining their top seller positions at Newegg & Amazon.

AMD Ryzen 5000 CPUs (Microcenter)

AMD Ryzen 5000 CPUs (Amazon US)

AMD's Ryzen 7000 and AM5 motherboards are going to hit retail shelves on the 27th of September so we can expect even further price cuts on the Ryzen 5000 CPU family in the coming weeks.

The post AMD Ryzen 5000 CPUs See Major Price Cuts As Ryzen 7000 Retail Launch Approaches: 5800X3D Down To $379, 5950X at $499, 5900X at $349, 5800X at $239, 5600X at $179 by Hassan Mujtaba appeared first on Wccftech.

05 Sep 18:20

Steam users ditch Oculus Quest 2 for mystery VR headsets

by Samuel Willetts
Steam users ditch Oculus Quest 2 for mystery VR headsets

The Meta Quest 2 (formally Oculus Quest 2) has been the VR headset of choice for Steam users for quite some time now. The device has sat at the top of the platform's hardware and software survey for some time, but in a surprise turn of events, it appears that many are ditching the all-in-one virtual reality gaming solution for mystery alternatives.

RELATED LINKS: Best VR games, Oculus Quest 3 release date, Project Cambria release date
05 Sep 18:19

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X benchmark may spell trouble for Intel

by Samuel Willetts
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X benchmark may spell trouble for Intel

The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is shaping up to be the most powerful processor on the planet when it finally arrives later this month, promising new levels of performance in both single-core and multi-core workloads. Just how powerful the flagship Zen 4 CPU is remains to be seen, but new benchmarks allegedly place it well ahead of its Intel Core competition.

RELATED LINKS: Ryzen 7000 CPUs - everything we know, RDNA 3 GPUs - everything we know, Best gaming CPU
05 Sep 18:19

Fallout: New Vegas mod restores content cut for RPG’s console release

by Ed Smith
Fallout: New Vegas mod restores content cut for RPG’s console release

A Fallout: New Vegas mod restores a variety of visual and environmental content that was originally cut by Obsidian when the Bethesda-published RPG was released for consoles, bringing new life and dozens of neat little details back to the Mojave Wasteland.

RELATED LINKS: Fallout: New Vegas mods, Fallout 5 release date, The best RPG games on PC 2022
05 Sep 12:15

All The Improv In Endings, Beginnings Was A Scary Prospect For Sebastian Stan

by Fatemeh Mirjalili

Whether it's embracing his dark side or giving improvisation a shot, Sebastian Stan is drawn to roles that scare him. In 2019, the actor starred in "Endings, Beginnings," filmmaker Drake Doremus' relationship drama that also features Shailene Woodley and Jamie Dornan. The film required Stan to think from his character's perspective in more ways than expected, which was a daunting process for him. The film follows Daphne (Woodley) as a woman undergoing a bad break-up before she gets involved with friends Frank (Stan) and Jack (Dornan) and begins a relationship with each of them. 

Like several of Doremus' films, "Endings, Beginnings" is mainly improvised, with the actors filling in the script's blanks. Sebastian Stan jumped at the opportunity to challenge himself as a performer, but it wasn't easy for him. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the Marvel Cinematic Universe star described the learnings from his improv experience and illustrated how it was challenging to stay in-character. 

'We're Improvising As Honestly As Possible'

Sebastian Stan shared how having direction and an outline was helpful and made him stay true to his character. Sometimes, the lines between performer and character get blurry, but luckily for the actor, the film's director knew exactly what moments to capture during the ad-libs, and only the chosen ones made it to the movie. The actor was full of praise for the director, and appreciated his talent for filtering performances and sequences that felt right for each character and what they were intended to do:

" ... In the editing room, which is what makes Drake brilliant at this, he finds the moments; the way he cuts is just fascinating to me. I remember saying to him, 'Drake, no take is the same. I don't know how you're going to cut this. It's impossible.' And yet, he made it work."

The actor continued, revealing that many scenes he filmed with co-star Shailene Woodley didn't make it to film:

"He found the conversation, and he found the moments. He's got a very specific way of cutting that I love which is the reactions and so on. He really filtered those performances in the editing room as well. There was a lot of back-and-forth dialogue between me and Shailene that never made it, but again, it's about him picking what he feels is right for who each character is."

Sebastian Stan Didn't Have Any Practice With Improv Before

"Endings, Beginnings" was Stan's first attempt at improv, and he wasn't shy to admit how it intimidated him. The "Fresh" star didn't have any prior practice or training, and decided to use the opportunity as a stepping stone for future projects. Stan has always felt "protected" by the right script, and "Endings, Beginnings" was a chance to see how far he could go as an actor. It's something he took seriously:

"I definitely was [intmidated]. Absolutely, I was. I didn't have an audition for the movie, but I had that three-hour session with Drake where we talked about different things and topics. I think he was just curious to see how honest our conversation could go, and I just wasn't afraid of that. It was very scary at the beginning. It's that question you asked, where you go, 'Well, this isn't really who I am. I don't do these things that this character does.'"

He Did It Once, And He'd Do It Again

Stan learned a lot from his experience improvising for a character and is committed to doing it again if the opportunity presents itself. The actor is excited about employing his learning experiences in the future.

"I've always felt protected by scripts, lines and scenes. I feel like I'm one of those people who's opened up much more by scripts. I'm not as witty on my own. This was one of those different experiences, and I would certainly do it again. I'd be curious to see if I could ever use parts of it in a bigger movie. Believe it or not, on those bigger projects, you do use improv. You do the scenes a couple times. You get it as it's written on paper, and then you say, 'Let's just do this one more time and try it out this way. Let's just see what happens and then we have it.' Sometimes, that ends up in the movie because it's weirdly a sort of wildcard. So, maybe this was a really training experience for that."

Sebastian Stan has spoken about how he enjoys venturing out of his comfort zone and wants to continue taking on different roles from his past projects. With "Pam & Tommy," "Fresh," and his next, "Sharper," an upcoming comedy thriller film from A24, the star has proved he's an actor of his word.

Read this next: Ranking Morgan Freeman's 20 Best Roles

The post All The Improv In Endings, Beginnings Was A Scary Prospect For Sebastian Stan appeared first on /Film.

04 Sep 22:34

New Skyrim mods are a revolution for the ageing RPG’s UI

by Ken Allsop
New Skyrim mods are a revolution for the ageing RPG’s UI

Two new Skyrim mods launched at the start of September are looking like they could be a revolution for those hoping to mod the UI of the ageing RPG game. While The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has long been one of the best open-world games thanks, in part, to its rather extensive mod support, these new offerings promise to further improve functionality for players hoping to implement multiple mods and upgrade the game’s navigation tools.

The Skyrim Compass Navigation Overhaul mod, created by alexsylex, takes inspiration from the likes of The Witcher 3, Horizon Zero Dawn, and God of War to revamp the Skyrim compass displayed at the top of the screen. It adds the name of the landmark you’re currently looking at, the distance it is from your current location, and arrows indicating height difference in cases where the target is above or below you. Distances can even be changed to be displayed in either feet or metres depending upon your regional preference.

In addition, when you face an active quest marker, the current objectives for that quest will pop up on the side of your screen in a handy quest list widget, so you don’t have to dive back into menus. Furthermore, there are toggles that allow you to choose if you want to display undiscovered locations, nearby enemy locations, and markers located behind doors while you are outside. It’s a very helpful overhaul to one of the most useful elements of the Skyrim UI, and we’ll definitely be using it in our future playthroughs.

RELATED LINKS: Skyrim mods, Play Skyrim, Games like Skyrim
04 Sep 22:31

Tolkien Fans React to Amazon's $465M Series 'The Rings of Power'

by EditorDavid
Amazon's new $465 million series — a prequel to the Lord of the Rings — drew more than 25 million viewers on just its first day, according to Reuters, "a record debut for a Prime Video series." The Independent shared reactions from J. R. R. Tolkein fans, including one who said "it looks like they put absolutely all that Amazon money to use for scenes." First up, the praise. Many are agreeing that the show's costly budget, which positions it as one of the most expensive shows of all time, has paid off, with the series boasting impressive visuals.... @marklee3d added: Rings of Power has done a great job of capturing the feel of Tolkien's world. The challenge is creating a compelling story where one didn't exist before. The show's success lies in pulling that off." Agreeing that the "spirit" of Tokkien has been captured, @suzannahtweets wrote: "I'm far less concerned about little lore details than I am about the spirit. And while I thought that Peter Jackson fundamentally misunderstood the spirit of Tolkien in ALL his movies, so far the spirit of THE RINGS OF POWER feels remarkably authentic to Tolkien...." However, others argued the show felt "goofy" and featured "terrible" dialogue, with some suggesting that "Tolkien himself" would be "ashamed" of the series. But "by releasing the first two episodes instead of just the more predictable first, Amazon gave The Rings of Power a strong start," argues Cinemablend. Collider's senior TV editor praises the show's "stunning visuals, compelling characters, and magnetic lead," while one podcaster even called the show "a cinematic masterpiece... masterfully orchestrating a mythology that fans have been waiting for." Deadline reports that "Critics reviews, save a scathing piece in the UK Daily Mail, have generally been positive for The Rings of Power, as measured by aggregators like Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic.... As of Friday evening, the IMDb rating stood at a respectable 7.1 out of 10." And Variety adds that Amazon had already taken steps to thwart review bombers three weeks ago: Starting around the time of the launch of the distaff baseball dramedy "A League of Their Own," which premiered its full first season on Aug. 12, Amazon Prime Video quietly introduced a new 72-hour delay for all user reviews posted to Prime Video, a representative for the streamer confirmed to Variety. Each critique is then evaluated to determine whether it's genuine or a forgery created by a bot, troll or other breed of digital goblin. The practice caught notice after the premiere of the first two episodes of "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power"... The series appears to have been review bombed — when trolls flood intentionally negative reviews for a show or film — on other sites like Rotten Tomatoes, where it has an 84% rating from professional critics, but a 37% from user-submitted reviews. "The Rings of Power" has been fending off trolls for months, especially ones who take issue with the decision to cast actors of color as elves, dwarves, harfoots and other folk of Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth. Amazon's new initiative to review its reviews, however, is designed to weed out ones that are posted in bad faith, deadening their impact.... Whether Amazon successfully beat back the tide of internet trolls for "The Rings of Power" will likely be revealed on Sunday. Reuters reports that future episodes of the series will be released weekly until the October 14 season finale. "Amazon plans to let the full story unfold in 50 hours over five seasons."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

04 Sep 19:04

Violence-as-a-Service: Brickings, Firebombings & Shootings for Hire

by BrianKrebs

A 21-year-old New Jersey man has been arrested and charged with stalking in connection with a federal investigation into groups of cybercriminals who are settling scores by hiring people to carry out physical attacks on their rivals. Prosecutors say the defendant recently participated in several of these schemes — including firing a handgun into a Pennsylvania home and torching a residence in another part of the state with a Molotov Cocktail.

Patrick McGovern-Allen of Egg Harbor Township, N.J. was arrested on Aug. 12 on a warrant from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. An FBI complaint alleges McGovern-Allen was part of a group of co-conspirators who are at the forefront of a dangerous escalation in coercion and intimidation tactics increasingly used by competing cybercriminal groups.

Prosecutors say that around 2 a.m. on Jan 2, 2022, McGovern-Allen and an unidentified co-conspirator fired multiple handgun rounds into a residence in West Chester, Pa. Fortunately, none of the residents inside the home at the time were injured. But prosecutors say the assailants actually recorded video of the attack as “proof” that the shooting had been carried out.

A copy of that video was obtained by KrebsOnSecurity. According to investigators, McGovern-Allen was one of the shooters, who yelled “Justin Active was here” as they haphazardly fired at least eight rounds into the lower story of the West Chester residence.

On Dec. 18, 2021, police in Abington Township, Pa., responded to reports of a house fire from homeowners who said it sounded like something was thrown at their residence just prior to the fire.

Weeks later, on the day of the shooting in West Chester, a detective with the Westtown East Goshen Police Department contacted the Abington police and shared another video that was circulating on several online message boards that appeared to show two individuals setting fire to the Abington Township residence. The criminal complaint said the two police officers agreed the same suspect was present in both videos.

A copy of that video also was obtained by KrebsOnSecurity, and it shows at least two individuals smashing a window, then lighting a rag-soaked Mad Dog 20/20 grape wine bottle and hurling it at the side of the home [Update: My apologies for the file download link, but YouTube just deleted both of the videos included in this story — for allegedly violating their community standards].

“The Molotov cocktail caused the immediate surrounding area to ignite, including the siding of the house, grass, and the wooden chair,” the government’s complaint against McGovern-Allen states. “The two suspects then fled on foot toward the street and begin yelling something when the video stops.”

The government mentions the victims only by their initials — “K.M.” in the shooting and “A.R.” in the firebombing — but said both had been the target of previous harassment by rival cybercriminal groups that included swatting attacks, wherein the perpetrators spoof a distress call to the police about a hostage situation, suicide or bomb threat with the goal of sending a heavily-armed police response to a targeted address.

A number of previous swatting incidents have turned deadly. But these more “hands-on” and first person attacks are becoming increasingly common within certain cybercriminal communities, particularly those engaged in SIM swapping, a crime in which identity thieves hijack a target’s mobile phone number and use that to wrest control over the victim’s various online accounts and identities.

The complaint mentions a handle and user ID allegedly used by McGovern-Allen’s online persona “Tongue” on the Discord chat service, (user: “Tongue#0001”).

“In the chats, [Tongue] tells other Discord users that he was the person who shot K.M.’s house and that he was willing to commit firebombings using Molotov Cocktails,” the complaint alleges. “For example, in one Discord chat from March 2022, [the defendant] states ‘if you need anything done for $ lmk [“let me know”]/I did a shooting/Molotov/but I can also do things for ur entertainment.”

KrebsOnsecurity reviewed hundreds of chat records tied to this Tongue alias, and it appears both attacks were motivated by a desire to get back at a rival cybercriminal by attacking the female friends of that rival.

Recall that the shooters in the West Chester, Pa. incident shouted “Justin Active was here.” Justin Active is the nickname of an individual who is just as active in the same cybercriminal channels, but who has vehemently denied knowledge of or participation in the shooting. Justin Active said on Telegram that the person targeted in the shooting was his ex-girlfriend, and that the firebombing targeted another friend of his.

Justin Active has claimed for months that McGovern-Allen was responsible for both attacks, saying they were intended as an intimidation tactic against him. “DO THE PATRICK MCGOVERN ALLEN RAID DANCE!,” Justin Active’s alias “Nutcase68” shouted on Telegram on Aug. 12, the same day McGovern-Allen was arrested by authorities.

Justin Active’s version of events seems to be supported by a reference in the criminal complaint to an April 2, 2022 chat in which Tongue explained the reason for the shooting.

“The video/is [K]’s house/getting shit/shot/justin active/ was her current bf/ the reason it happened,” Tongue explained. “So that’s why Justin active was there.”

The Telegram chat channels that Justin Active and Tongue both frequented have hundreds to thousands of members each, and some of the more interesting solicitations on these communities are job offers for in-person assignments and tasks that can be found if one searches for posts titled, “If you live near,” or “IRL job” — short for “in real life” job.

A number of these classified ads are in service of performing “brickings,” where someone is hired to visit a specific address and toss a brick through the target’s window.

“If you live near Edmonton Canada dm me need someone bricked,” reads on Telegram message on May 31, 2022.

“If you live near [address redacted] Lakewood, CA, dm [redacted] Paying 3k to slash the tires,” reads another help wanted ad in the same channel on Feb. 24, 2022. “If you live near here and can brick them, dm [address omitted] Richland, WA,” reads another from that same day.

McGovern-Allen was in the news not long ago. According to a Sept. 2020 story from The Press of Atlantic City, a then 19-year-old Patrick McGovern Allen was injured after driving into a building and forcing residents from their home.

“Police found a 2007 Lexus, driven by Patrick McGovern-Allen, 19, that had lost control and left the road, crashing into the eastern end of the 1600 building,” the story recounted. “The car was driven through the steps that provide access to the second-floor apartments, destroying them, and also caused damage to the outer wall.”

A search on the Inmate Locator of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons website shows that McGovern-Allen remains in federal custody at a detention facility in Philadelphia. He’s currently represented by a public defender who has not responded to requests for comment.

A copy of the criminal complaint against McGovern-Allen is available here (PDF).

ANALYSIS

Many of the individuals involved in paying others to commit these physical attacks are also frequent participants in several Telegram channels focused singularly on SIM swapping activity. As a result, the vast majority of the people being targeted for brickings and other real-life physical assaults tend to be other cybercriminals involved in SIM swapping crimes (or individuals on the periphery of that scene).

There are dozens of SIM swappers who are now teenage or 20-something millionaires, by virtue of having stolen vast sums of cryptocurrencies from SIM swapping victims. And now many of these same individuals are finding that communities like Telegram can be leveraged to hire physical harassment and intimidation of their rivals and competitors.

The primary barrier to hiring someone to brick a home or slash some tires seems to be the costs involved: A number of solicitations for these services advertised payment of $3,000 or more upon proof of successful completion, which usually involves recording the attack and hiring a getaway driver in the town where the crime is to take place (calling a cab or hailing an Uber from the scene of a bricking isn’t the brightest idea).

My fear is these violence-as-a-service offerings will at some point migrate outside of the SIM swapping communities. This is precisely what happened with swatting, which for years was a crime perpetrated almost exclusively against online gamers and people streaming their games online. These days, swatting attacks are commonly used by SIM swapping groups as a way to harass and extort regular Internet users into giving up prized social media account names that can be resold for thousands of dollars.

04 Sep 17:25

Use This September Garden Checklist to Get Ready for Fall

by Elizabeth Yuko

In a recent New York Times article, longtime flower gardener Jenny Rose Carey proclaimed that when it comes to flowers, “September is the new May.” Each year, she visits fall gardens around the country to see what’s still in bloom in September, then applies what she learned in her home garden.

Read more...

04 Sep 16:45

An Apple Watch for Your 5-Year-Old? More Parents Say Yes.

by EditorDavid
"Across the United States, parents are increasingly buying Apple Watches and strapping them onto the wrists of children as young as 5," reports the New York Times: The goal: to use the devices as a stopgap cellphone for the kids. With the watch's cellular abilities, parents can use it to reach and track their children, while the miniature screens mitigate issues like internet addiction. Children and teenagers appear to have become a disproportionately large market for smartwatches as a whole. In a 2020 survey of American teenagers by the investment bank Piper Sandler, 31% said they owned a smartwatch. That same year, 21% of adults in the United States said they owned one, according to the Pew Research Center. The use of smartwatches as a children's gadget shows how the audience for a consumer technology product can morph in unexpected ways. It has also given new life to the Apple Watch, which was unveiled in 2015 and has been variously positioned as a fitness tracker, a style statement or a way to free yourself from an iPhone. Apple has deliberately turned the watch into a device that can be attractive for children and their parents. In 2020, the company released the Apple Watch SE, which had fewer features than a premium model and was priced $120 cheaper. Apple also introduced Family Setup, software that let parents track their children's locations, manage their contacts list and limit their notifications.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

04 Sep 11:44

Fishing at Sea Created at Least 75% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

by EditorDavid
The Ocean Cleanup project has an announcement.... 75% to 86% of plastic debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch "originates from fishing activities at sea." Plastic emissions from rivers remain the main source of plastic pollution from a global ocean perspective. Plastic lost at sea has a higher chance of accumulating offshore than plastic emitted from rivers, leading to high concentrations of fishing-related debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch [or GPGP]. New findings confirm the oceanic garbage patches cannot be cleaned solely through river interception and highlight the potentially vital role of fishing and aquaculture in ridding the world's oceans of plastic.... Our previous research has shown that almost half of the plastic mass in the GPGP is comprised of fishing nets and ropes (fibrous plastics used, for example, to make our The Ocean Cleanup sunglasses), with the remainder largely composed of hard plastic objects and small fragments. While the provenance of fishing nets is obvious, the origins of the other plastics in the GPGP have — until now — remained unclear.... In 2019, System 001/B, an early iteration of our cleanup technology, retrieved over 6,000 hard plastic debris items (larger than 5 cm) from the GPGP, providing our scientists with a unique opportunity to study larger objects not studied by previous research efforts. Each item was sorted into predefined item categories and inspected individually for evidence of country of origin (evidence may include language or text on the object, company name, brand, logo, or other identifying text such as an address or telephone number, etc.) and date of production. This comprehensive analysis revealed that roughly a third of the items were unidentifiable fragments. The other two-thirds was dominated by objects typically used in fishing, such as floats, buoys, crates, buckets, baskets, containers, drums, jerry cans, fish boxes, and eel traps. Nearly half (49%) of plastic objects which could be dated were produced in the 20th century, with the oldest identified item being a buoy dating from 1966. This distribution is in line with our previous research showing significant occurrence of decades-old objects in the GPGP and re-emphasizes that the plastic in these garbage patches persists and can cause harm for lengthy periods, continually degrading into microplastics and becoming increasingly difficult to remove. In short, these results underline the urgent need to clean the GPGP; no matter what actions are taken to prevent riverine plastic emissions, the GPGP will persist and its content will continue to beach on remote islands, such as the Hawaiian Archipelago, and fragment into microplastics that will eventually sink to the seabed. Surprisingly, countries near the edge of the northern Pacific (like the Philippines) weren't major contributors to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and instead their research blamed Japan (34%), China (32%), the Korean peninsula (10%), and the USA (7%). While they're not major sources of plastic from rivers, "they do carry out the majority of industrialized fishing activities in the GPGP region.... "[T]rawlers, fixed gear, and drifting longlines accounted for more than 95% of identified fishing activities that may account for emissions of floating plastic debris into the GPGP. "

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

04 Sep 11:36

Rebel FM Episode 552 - 09/02/2022

This week we have played some actual new things, including Tinykins, The Last of Us Part 1, and Midnight Fight Express! But also some older stuff including a lot of Splinters Cell.  This week's music:  Architects - Deepfake
04 Sep 11:36

Being A Leading Man Was Never A Priority For Tom Hardy

by Marcos Melendez

Tom Hardy may be regarded as one of Hollywood's few bonafide movie stars, but the actor has never made it a priority to be a leading man in his films. Sure, he has headlined his own superhero franchise in "Venom," but he has rarely gone out of his way to be the sole acting powerhouse in any given film. In fact, some of his best performances are in a supporting role, across the so-called "leading man." For example, in the three Christopher Nolan projects he's been in — "Inception," "The Dark Knight Rises," and "Dunkirk" — Hardy is relegated to being second (or third) fiddle to the lead performances. However, that doesn't mean he isn't as crucial as the protagonist. According to Hardy himself, he takes after the best talents in the business who have made their imprint on cinema as co-stars.

Let's be clear: Hardy is absolutely more than capable of carrying a project on his shoulders. But that's not something he seems to be interested in doing, even in his most prominent roles. He may be the titular character in "Mad Max: Fury Road," but he is on an equal playing ground with Charlize Theron's Furiosa. As a character actor, Hardy excels in bringing the best out of the individual across him.

Being A Role Player

Hardy revealed to AV Club his penchant for supporting roles, referencing other actors in the process. He also aptly compared his acting philosophy to a popular sport:

"I mean, you look at Dustin Hoffman, Gary Oldman, Philip Seymour Hoffman—these are great character actors. Not necessarily the lead, but what's so bad about playing a co-star? What makes you think that that's so different from playing the lead? The difference in some aspects is like playing soccer...There is no difference between passing the ball to someone's feet accurately than there is to the striker being accurate on the goal. Being a co-star or actor is as significant position on the field as it is to be a striker."

Aside from the shockingly accurate football analogy, Gary Oldman is a fascinating mention when it comes to being a co-star. Oldman has three Academy Award nominations for Best Actor under his belt, yet there is truth to what Hardy is saying. Like Hardy, Oldman has acted in supporting roles, including in the same film, Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises." But if you look even closer at the trajectory of Oldman's career, it includes a bevy of memorable characters like Sirius Black in the "Harry Potter" saga, and some of his earliest work as the villain in "Léon: The Professional." If we were to compare one actor to another, I'd argue Oldman's resume is the closest to what Hardy brings to the table.

Lead actor or not, a key aspect of Hardy's thought process when it comes to acting is his commitment to supporting the person across from him.

Giving Is To Receive

Out of his many acting roles, the one performance that garnered Hardy an Academy Award nomination was playing the villain in the Leonardo DiCaprio-led "The Revenant." While DiCaprio is undeniably the protagonist in the film, Hardy more than holds his own and contributes to an engrossing back-and-forth dynamic with his co-star. If that film is a prime example of feeding off each other's energy, then count it as just one of Hardy's many attempts at prioritizing his fellow actor on-screen. Hardy stated the following to AV Club:

"These actors and the characters they play are imbued with the ability to actually lift the lead and one another up in a film, and apart from serving the script and the director's vision, but an actor's sole purpose, my sole purpose as an actor, is to feed my opposite actor as much as humanly possible in order for him or her to do their job. That's it. If I'm doing that for them, and they're in return doing that for me, then we have a lot of options, and you hopefully have the potential to capture some great drama. Then we've done our job."

Coincidentally enough, the one and only Academy Award DiCaprio has won is for his work in "The Revenant." Both of their success is surely a result of their own individual efforts; however, it is no mistake that DiCaprio and Hardy raised their A-game simultaneously. The character work previously described by Hardy is not only instrumental to prop up the lead actor but it allowed him to elevate his own work.

Read this next: The Best Movies Of 2022 So Far

The post Being A Leading Man Was Never A Priority For Tom Hardy appeared first on /Film.

04 Sep 11:35

Microsoft .Net framework 4.0 for Windows 2000 日本語パック改修

by blackwingcat
【BM】 .Net framework 4.0 for Windows 2000公開
以前公開した .Net Framework 4.0 for Windows 2000 の日本語パッケージをリメイクしました
そのままの実行でインストール・アンインストール両方に転用できるのが特徴です・ω・

04 Sep 03:17

Why Tim Curry Got Thrown Out Of An After Dark Showing Of The Rocky Horror Picture Show

by Christian Gainey

After beginning his career in stage plays around London's West End and earning short-lived roles on random television shows, Tim Curry sashayed into stardom when he portrayed Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the 1975 cult classic film "Rocky Horror Picture Show." Originally debuting as a stage play in London, "The Rocky Horror Picture show" is a unique blend of old-school horror, campy sci-fi, and dramatic musical that no one expected to remain popular for nearly 50 years.

Since 1976, theaters across America and England regularly host midnight showings of the film, where the audience tosses rice, confetti, and insults at the screen. While this is more than enough to get viewers tossed out of any other showing, this behavior is encouraged during "Rocky Horror" screenings, and has become part of the viewing experience.

Along with catchy songs and fun dances, a majority of the film's long-lasting success rests on the glittered high heels of Tim Curry. While a slew of actors have taken on the role over the years, Curry's portrayal of the pansexual, extraterrestrial, mad scientist is undoubtedly the most popular and successful. As a result of Curry's excellent characterization, Frank-N-Furter might have become more recognizable than the actor. In the late '70s, Curry was accused of being a fraud and was thrown out of a midnight showing of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

Typecasting Fears

After Dr. Frank-N-Furter became the breakout star of the movie, Curry shied away from discussing the role. While other actors flock to morning and late-night talk shows to discuss their popular characters, Curry chose to keep a low profile.

One of the rare interviews he participated in after the release of the movie was with The Student Television of Imperial College (STOIC), where he was asked if he had any hesitation about playing such an unforgettable character. In his answer, Curry may have revealed one possible reason he stepped away from a very bright spotlight when he said, "I was hesitant in that, if it worked, it might be a difficult image to shake off."

It's a fair point. Typecasting is a frequent concern of actors, and a "sweet transvestite from Transylvania" is a tough act to follow, but Curry was willing to take the risk. Although the risk was a successful one, it seems that Curry tried to avoid over-saturating himself with the achievement of "Rocky Horror" by avoiding countless interviews and television appearances at the time of the film's release. As he explained to NPR:

"That first performance that introduced me to everybody was so out there and so outrageous that I was a very quiet boy for a while, just to make sure that people got it that that wasn't necessarily who I was."

After Frank-N-Furter, Curry had a moderately successful career in Hollywood, most famously as Pennywise in the 1990 miniseries "It," but his decision to separate himself from his most iconic role may have backfired. Curry has a strong and devoted fanbase, but the transexual mad doctor has hordes of fanatical loyalists all his own, who kicked Curry out of a midnight showing of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" for being a fraud.

An Imposter

As reported by the Hollywood Reporter, when Leta Powell interviewed Curry for Oliver Twist in 1982, she spent much of the interview talking about the Rocky Horror Picture Show. As a result, the actor might have wondered if he could ever separate himself from Dr. Frank-N-Furter, but an incident at Waverly Theater may have given him some comfort.

As he explained to Powell, when he attended a midnight showing of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," fans of the mad scientist weren't impressed by Tim Curry:

"I went rather early on at The Waverley [Theater] in New York, where it started, and they thought that I was an imposter, and they threw me out."

Odds are, if the actor had come with the attitude and fishnets of Frank-N-Furter, he would have received a hero's welcome, but the interview-ducking English actor got the boot. He must not have been too torn up about it though because, throughout his career, Curry has avoided interviews about "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," as well as the midnight showings and fan conventions. It appears that Curry doesn't mind if the character has taken on a life of his own, even if it includes die-hard fans who toss him out of a theater.

After many decades of avoidance, Curry finally returned to the cult classic in the 2016 TV movie, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again." This time around, he played The Narrator, also known as The Criminologist. The Fox remake bombed with fans and critics, but it's great to see Curry feeling confident and secure enough in himself to return. Hopefully, Curry has made peace with the fact that his legacy is forever tied up in the corset of a beloved, extraterrestrial, pansexual, mad scientist. 

The Real Legacy

Curry distanced himself from "Rocky Horror" because he didn't want Hollywood to disregard his ability to play terrifying characters like Pennywise in "It," the suspicious butler in "Clue," and the devilish Darkness in "Legend." While he loved the wackiness of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, he didn't want to be typecast into the weird roles for the rest of his life, but the legacy of "Rocky Horror" goes a lot deeper than a tight corset, funny dances, and campy characters.

Perhaps, Tim Curry's powerful and confident portrayal of Dr. Frank-N-Furter is so memorable and beloved because it inspires people to accept themselves for who they are and to celebrate all the things that make them a little unusual. That's an important and powerful lesson for the world, and one Curry should be proud of. 

Read this next: 20 Movies About Time Travel Ranked Worst To Best

The post Why Tim Curry Got Thrown Out of an After Dark Showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show appeared first on /Film.

03 Sep 11:26

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Rebirth 6.0 is available for download

by John Papadopoulos

It’s been a while since our last look at the Morrowind Rebirth project. Today, we are happy to report though that modder ‘trancemaster_1988’ has released a brand new version of it that you can download right now. Morrowind Rebirth is a complete overhaul for Morrowind. This mod adds countless new details, weapons, armors and much … Continue reading The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Rebirth 6.0 is available for download →

The post The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Rebirth 6.0 is available for download appeared first on DSOGaming.

03 Sep 03:07

California Passes Law Requiring Companies to Post Salary Ranges on Job Listings

by BeauHD
Earlier this week, California passed a law requiring all employers based or hiring in the state to post salary ranges on all job listings. The law will also require California-based companies with more than 100 employees to show their median gender and racial pay gaps -- a first for a US state. Bloomberg reports: The bill will head to Governor Gavin Newsom, who has until Sept. 30 to sign or veto. He hasn't yet expressed a position and didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. If he signs it, the law would affect some of the biggest US companies, including Meta, Alphabet and Disney [...] California joins Colorado, New York City, and Washington state in adopting the job-posting tactic. Only Colorado's law is currently in effect; New York City-based employers will have to start listing pay ranges starting on Nov. 1. The New York state legislature also passed a similar bill that's awaiting Governor Kathy Hochul's signature. If the California and New York governors, who are both Democrats, sign the pending laws, almost a quarter of the US population will live in states with such salary disclosure requirements. The California Chamber of Commerce opposes the bill, even after lawmakers stripped a requirement that would make all pay data public. New York City's rule also faced business pushback, which delayed enforcement by six months. "I think this becomes a tipping point, frankly," said Christine Hendrickson, the vice president of strategic initiatives at Syndio, which provides software that helps employers identify pay disparities. "It's at this point that employers are going to stop going jurisdiction by jurisdiction and start looking for a nationwide strategy."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

03 Sep 01:31

Justin Roiland And Dan Harmon Had No Idea Rick And Morty's Pickle Rick Would Be Such A Hit

by BJ Colangelo

Even if you've never seen a single second of the hit Adult Swim show "Rick and Morty," chances are you are at least aware of "Pickle Rick" -- if only because of pop-cultural osmosis. First introduced in the show's third season, Pickle Rick is the alter-ego of main character Rick Sanchez, used when he wants to avoid having to talk about his problems in therapy. Since the character's appearance, Pickle Rick has become ridiculously merchandised, including a line of pickle-flavored seltzers and a special Super Bowl collaboration with Pringles. For better or worse, Pickle Rick has become an inescapable presence in the world of "Rick and Morty," something show co-creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon never saw coming.

During an interview with Screen Rant ahead of the series' sixth season, Roiland confessed that the Pickle Rick mania caught him completely by surprise. "Every season's got its own different, crazy, behind-the-scenes story, right?" he said. "Like I mean, every single season has something insane." For season 3, that insanity was all about Pickle Rick. "Dan [Harmon] and I and the writers, we never know which ones are gonna be the big popular episode," Roiland said. "Like we never thought Pickle Rick was gonna be some huge, jump-out thing." The Pickle Rick episode skyrocketed in popularity and ended up winning the show its first Emmy for Best Animated Series.

I'M PICKLE RICK!!!

Written by Jessica Gao and directed by Anthony Chun, "Pickle Rick" was a parody episode of action films and loosely inspired by the season 2 "Breaking Bad" episode "4 Days Out." "I swear to god, we had other episodes that we thought would be more popular," Roiland shared. "I mean, we loved the episode, don't get me wrong, but we didn't know, we had no clue, so when that thing blew up, we were like, 'Holy s***, okay.'"

Oddly enough, the obsessive fandom that surrounds the Pickle Rick character completely misses the point of the entire episode. The episode shows Rick going through extreme lengths like turning himself into a pickle and enduring the dangers of a high-octane action movie, so long as it means he won't have to come to terms with his own mental health or the way his decisions have directly harmed his loved ones. The episode is a complete takedown of those who fail to recognize that their hubris will be their downfall, and yet the message has been diluted by fans screaming "I'M PICKLE RICK!!!" at the top of their lungs.

That's not to say that the meaning has been lost on all, as plenty of people recognize the staying power of Pickle Rick lies in the episode's message, but it becoming a cultural phenomenon certainly wasn't on anyone's bingo card that year. "There was another one that we thought was gonna be the big deal and that one nobody gave a s*** about, so," Roiland joked. Considering how ridiculously bananas people went over the McDonald's Szechuan Sauce mentioned in "Rick and Morty's" season 3 opener, we can only imagine which moment didn't become a massive hit that Roiland and crew were betting on.

Read this next: The 13 Best Comedy Shows On Amazon Prime Right Now

The post Justin Roiland And Dan Harmon Had No Idea Rick And Morty's Pickle Rick Would Be Such A Hit appeared first on /Film.

02 Sep 22:51

Marvel Consulted With She-Hulk's Tim Roth Before Hiring The Director Of Captain America: New World Order

by Sandy Schaefer

Odds are, most people know Julius Onah for directing "The Cloverfield Paradox," the third entry in the "Cloverfield" franchise and a film that was infamously surprise-dropped on Netflix right after Super Bowl LII ended in 2018. I seem to be among the rare people who actually kind of liked the movie, though I also won't deny it's clearly an original sci-fi thriller that got messily re-tooled as a "Cloverfield" flick during its development.

If all you know Onah for is his "Cloverfield film, then you might have been a tad confused when Marvel Studios hired him to direct the fourth "Captain America" movie, "Captain America: New World Order." The sequel will pick up with Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) at some point after the events of "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," as the former Falcon continues to settle into his role as the new Star-Spangled Avenger. However, the idea of Marvel entrusting Onah to tell a story about a Black man dealing with the pressure of having to uphold a high standard while navigating prejudice and politics in modern America makes a lot more sense if you're familiar with his most recent directorial effort, "Luce."

Adapted from the play of the same name by J.C. Lee, 2019's "Luce" centers on a well-to-do white couple (played by Naomi Watts and Tim Roth) whose lives are flipped upside down when their teenaged son Luce (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) — who was a child soldier in Eritrea before they adopted him — comes under scrutiny from his teacher (Octavia Spencer) for an essay he wrote. Not only was Onah's mesmeric, nuanced examination of race, tokenism, and identity widely praised by critics, it also led to Marvel consulting Roth directly before hiring Onah to helm "New World Order."

'Julius Is Incredible'

Roth only recently made his return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Emil Blonsky, a role he first played in "The Incredible Hulk" all the way back in 2008. After making a cameo as Blonsky's Hulked-out counterpart, Abomination, in the 2021 MCU film "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," Roth reprised his role as the character in human form for the "She-Hulk" series.

In an interview with ComicBook.com, Roth took a moment to applaud Onah for his efforts behind the camera on "Luce." He also admitted he hadn't heard Onah was directing the next "Captain America" movie until the outlet told him:

"Oh wow, I love ['Luce']. Okay, let me tell you this. Julius is incredible. He's an extraordinary human being and the story that we told... Again, it was my second time working with Naomi Watts, too. I love her. She's one of the funniest humans you'll ever meet, but Julius is extraordinary and I didn't know that he was doing ['New World Order']."

Roth added that Marvel had reached out to him about Onah before, without specifying what it was about. (CIA-level secrecy in their hiring process? Couldn't be my Marvel.) "They came to me to ask me about him. And I wrote letters and stuff," he explained, adding:

"You know what? They're in safe hands. I'm so pleased, I didn't know. You just told me, I didn't know."

While I don't think anyone expects the next "Captain America" film to have anywhere near the thematic complexity as "Luce," the hope is that with Onah at the helm, the film will prove to be a little more daring and less muddled in its messaging than "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" ultimately was. "New World Order" opens in theaters on May 3, 2024.

Read this next: MCU Superpowers That Don't Quite Make Sense

The post Marvel Consulted with She-Hulk's Tim Roth Before Hiring the Director of Captain America: New World Order appeared first on /Film.

02 Sep 22:00

Christian Bale's Mom Gave Him Some Extreme Advice Going Into Velvet Goldmine

by Jamie Gerber

Christian Bale is known for disappearing into his roles and "Velvet Goldmine" was no exception. Written and directed by Todd Haynes, the 1998 movie was named for David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" era B-side. Haynes is no stranger to music movies, having begun his career with the 1987 controversial short film, "Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story." He also helmed the incredible "I'm Not There" in 2007, which explored the various phases of Bob Dylan's career through a host of different actors. Haynes also made the excellent recent documentary about my all-time favorite band, "The Velvet Underground."

"Velvet Goldmine" chronicles the life of pop star Brian Slade (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a Bowie-esque figure, as well as his love affair with the Iggy Pop-inspired Curt Wild (Ewan McGregor). Their performances are swoon-worthy — Meyers and McGregor both did their own singing in the movie. Plus, the film's fictional bands included members of Radiohead, Suede, Sonic Youth, and more. Then there's that amazing soundtrack: There are artists of the era, such as Roxy Music, T. Rex, Lou Reed, and Brian Eno, but also '90s musicians, like Pulp, Placebo, and Teenage Fanclub. Haynes did attempt to gain the rights to Bowie's music for "Velvet Goldmine," but the musician politely refused because he had plans of his own for such a story at the time.

Bale's role in the film is a pivotal one as well. As a reporter named Arthur Stuart, he tries to unravel the mystery of what happened to Slade by interviewing his friends and colleagues, piecing together the artist's life in flashbacks à la "Citizen Kane". All three actors are top-notch in the film, but when preparing for the part, Bale got some unconventional advice from his mother. 

A Steady Diet Of Sex, Drugs, And Rock'n'roll

One of the most famous examples of Christian Bale transforming himself for a role is the 2004 movie, "The Machinist," for which he lost a whopping 63 pounds. His diet for that film consisted of a single apple and a can of tuna a day, plus whisky and cigarettes. When speaking to GQ, Bale was asked about what he did for "Velvet Goldmine," since he'd lost quite a bit of weight for that movie as well. He explained:

"Yes, although I didn't do the rakish rock-star thing all that successfully, I have to admit. For 'Velvet Goldmine' I started running very early in the morning before any breakfast, but it didn't seem to be having much impact on my waistline. My mum came down to stay with me in London during filming and said, 'Listen, why don't you just try to do what rock stars did back then. They weren't up running on an orange at 6am! Their diet was sex, drugs and rock'n'roll!' What a diet for a mother to prescribe, right?"

When asked if he had taken his mom's advice for "Velvet Goldmine," Bale didn't directly answer, simply saying, "Let's just say it was certainly a fun movie to be involved in!" That fun is infectious. "Velvet Goldmine" is a wild ride that successfully emulates the glam rock it so lovingly pays tribute to. It's beautiful, chaotic, and also delightfully over-the-top. Much like the movie's disclaimer states, this film should absolutely be played at maximum volume.

Read this next: The 14 Greatest Biopics Of The 21st Century

The post Christian Bale's Mom Gave Him Some Extreme Advice Going Into Velvet Goldmine appeared first on /Film.

02 Sep 19:44

Mississippi Crisis Highlights Climate Threat To Drinking Water Nationwide

by msmash
Flash floods, wildfires and hurricanes are easy to recognize as ravages of a fast-changing climate. But now, climate change has also emerged as a growing threat to clean, safe drinking water across the country. The New York Times: The deluge that knocked out a fraying water plant in Jackson, Miss., this week, depriving more than 150,000 people of drinking water, offered the latest example of how quickly America's aging treatment plants and decades-old pipes can crumple under the shocks of a warming world. "There's a crisis at hand," said Mikhail V. Chester, a professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering at Arizona State University. "The climate is simply changing too fast, relative to how quickly we could change our infrastructure." Earlier this summer, more than 25,000 people lost their water, some for weeks, after deadly floods ripped through eastern Kentucky, breaking water lines as they obliterated entire neighborhoods. Utility companies across Texas spent the summer coping with hundreds of water-main breaks as record heat baked and shifted the drought-stricken soil surrounding pipes. This came after a bitter winter storm that plunged Texas into freezing darkness in February 2021 and caused thousands of pipes to burst. And from the Gulf Coast to the East Coast, supercharged hurricanes like Harvey and Ida now regularly debilitate water suppliers, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to boil their water or scramble for bottles days or weeks after the storms pass. This is on top of the slower-moving threats such as rising sea levels that can contaminate water supplies with saltwater, or a Western "mega-drought" that is withering reservoirs and parching the Colorado River that supplies water to some 40 million people.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

02 Sep 19:37

sdl12-compat 1.2.54 Pre-Release Gets More Games Running On This SDL2 Compatibility Layer

The sdl12-compat is a SDL 1.2 compatibility layer implementation atop SDL 2.0. This sdl12-compat project allows for old, out-of-date games and other applications relying on the old SDL 1.2 interface to in turn run via the modern SDL2 library for better compatibility with input devices, Wayland support (assuming no direct X11 hard dependencies), support for PipeWire audio, improved input controls, and various other enhancements only found in SDL 2.0 and not the unmaintained SDL 1.2...
02 Sep 18:12

The Callisto Protocol Dev Is Thinking About Xbox Game Pass, but the Financial Model Doesn’t Work Well for Single-Player Games From Independent Studios

by Francesco De Meo

The Callisto Protocol

The Callisto Protocol may be coming to Xbox Game Pass at some point, but the service may not be ideal for a linear single-player game from an independent studio.

Speaking with TrueAchievements during Gamescom 2022, Striking Distance Studios' CTO Mark James commented on the possible addition of the game to Xbox Game Pass, saying that the team is thinking about it. On the other hand, the developer feels the service is built towards open-world style and multiplayer games more than towards linear single-player games:

"You play through once [in The Callisto Protocol]. I think those services are built towards some of the open-world style and repetitive multiplayer games. I think games [like that] survive well on that service."

Elaborating further, The Callisto Protocol dev said that the Xbox Game Pass business model is a difficult one to make work as an independent studio. Single-player games will continue being available from similar services, Mark James added, but mostly from platform holders:

"Microsoft has their own single-player games within the service, and I still think you're going to see the platform holder studios provide single-player games in them; I'm just saying [that] as a financial model, it's a difficult one to make work as an independent studio. I think you're going to see single-player games, but it will probably come from the hardware companies.

As an independent, third-party, it's really hard to make a linear third-person game work within those services. I'm not saying never; it's hard financially to make that work."

The Callisto Protocol launches on December 2nd for PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox One worldwide.

The post The Callisto Protocol Dev Is Thinking About Xbox Game Pass, but the Financial Model Doesn’t Work Well for Single-Player Games From Independent Studios by Francesco De Meo appeared first on Wccftech.

02 Sep 18:11

US police agencies have been using a low-cost surveillance tool to track people’s phones

by Mariella Moon

Police and law enforcement agencies, even in small areas with fewer than 100,000 residents, have been using a low-cost phone tracking tool called Fog Reveal, according to AP and the EFF. AP has published a report detailing authorities' use of the tool since at least 2018 for various investigations, including to track murder suspects and potential participants in the January 6th Capitol riot. The tool, sold by Virginia company Fog Data Science LLC, doesn't need a warrant and can be accessed instantly. To get geofence data, authorities usually have to issue a warrant to companies like Google and Apple, and it could take weeks for them to get the information they need. 

Fog Reveal, AP explains, uses advertising identification numbers, which are unique IDs assigned to each mobile device, to track people. It gets its information from aggregators that collect data from apps that serve targeted ads based on a user's location and interest, such as as Waze and Starbucks. Both the coffeehouse chain and the Google subsidiary denied explicitly giving their partners permission to share data with Fog Reveal. 

The Electronic Frontier Foundation obtained access to documents about Fog through Freedom of Information Act requests, which it then shared with AP. EFF special adviser, Bennett Cyphers, describes the tool as "sort of a mass surveillance program on a budget." Its prices reportedly start at only $7,500 a year, and some agencies even share access with other nearby departments to bring costs down further. Looking at data from GovSpend, which monitors government spending, AP found that Fog managed to sell around 40 contracts to nearly two dozen agencies. Authorities have already used it to search hundreds of records from 250 million devices. 

While Fog Reveal only tracks people using their advertising IDs that aren't connected with their names, authorities are able to use its data to establish "patterns-of-life" analyses. They can, for instance, establish that a specific ad ID belongs to a person who typically passes by a Starbucks from home on the way to work. Further, Fog gives authorities access to the movements of an ad ID going back to at least 180 days. Fog managing partner Matthew Broderick even recently admitted that the tool "has a three year reach back."

Authorities used the tool to varying degrees of success over the past years. Washington County prosecutor Kevin Metcalf said he has previously used Fog without a warrant for circumstances that required immediate action, such as to find missing children and to solve homicide cases. He said about privacy concerns surrounding Fog's use: "I think people are going to have to make a decision on whether we want all this free technology, we want all this free stuff, we want all the selfies. But we can't have that and at the same time say, 'I'm a private person, so you can't look at any of that."

The EFF, of course, doesn't share his sentiment. It called Fog "a powerfully invasive tool" and is encouraging people to disable ad ID tracking on their phones. 

02 Sep 18:04

Mesa3D Project’s LLVMpipe Driver Introduces AVX-512 In AMD’s Zen 4 CPUs

by Jason R. Wilson

Mesa3D Project's LLVMpipe Driver Introduces AVX-512 In AMD's Zen 4 CPUs `

Yonggang Luo, an independent contributor to the Mesa3D graphics project, has begun work to enable AVX-512 support for the LLVMpipe implementation. The reason the Mesa contributor took it upon themselves to add support to the Mesa3D graphics pipeline is to allow AVX-512 to be utilized within the new AMD Ryzen 7950X processors and the remainder of the 7000 series.

LLVMpipe driver for Mesa3D Project adds AVX-512 optimizations for the upcoming AMD Zen 4 architecture

Yonggang felt the implementation was necessary because AMD's newest Ryzen 7000 Zen 4 processors could benefit from the latest performance.

"As AVX512 can be a thing with Ryzen 7950x, so I'd like to enable it in llvmpipe[...]"

— Yonggang Luo in the newest merge request for the LLVMpipe driver in Mesa3D

LLVMpipe is a unique Mesa OpenGL software execution that is utilized when the graphics card or GPU driver is not found by the computer system or is not on the system. Readers will remember that the LLVM is a collection of "compiler and toolchain technologies used to create a front end for any programming language and a back end for any instruction set architecture." The LLVMpipe will allow the LLVM to utilize a particular set of extensions and produce more performance than other software executables, such as Softpipe and OpenGL.

AVX-512 has seen the most use with Intel processors for several years. However, it is interesting to see LLVMpipe support the unreleased Ryzen 7000 series CPUs since it features an integrated RDNA 2 graphics integration and performs better than LLVMpipe. With AMD Zen 4 CPUs not released yet, it is unknown if AVX-512 will offer increased performance on the newer architecture. AVX-512 is utilized by a 256-bit pathway and not a 512-bit path.

Mesa3D Project's LLVMpipe Driver Introduces AVX-512 In AMD's Zen 4 CPUs 2

The newest merge request will alter the essential sections to enable AVX-512 in Gallium, where AVX-512 was not activated. This request will also include an environment variable called "GALLIUM_OVERRIDE_CPU_CAPS" to allow the CPU abilities to be overridden inside Softpipe and LLVMpipe. AVX, SSE, and several other features can be disabled or enabled after overriding the processor. Lastly, "LP_NATIVE_VECTOR_WIDTH" will allow for altering vector bits width to utilize AVX/AVX2/AVX-512 in LLVMpipe.

The post Mesa3D Project’s LLVMpipe Driver Introduces AVX-512 In AMD’s Zen 4 CPUs by Jason R. Wilson appeared first on Wccftech.

02 Sep 17:33

FromSoftware homage Lies of P isn’t just Bloodborne, it’s Sekiro too

by Jordan Forward
FromSoftware homage Lies of P isn’t just Bloodborne, it’s Sekiro too

You've seen the comparisons before, but it's impossible to deny there's more than a likeness between Lies of P and FromSoftware bangers like Bloodborne and Sekiro. There's the obvious stuff like the perspective, UI, lock-on effect, weighty melee combat, 'you died' style death screen, parrying, and dingy urban world, but that barely scratches the surface.

The pace of exploration is classic FromSoftware. Turn down a dimly lit street and you'll spot an apparently dead soldier at the end. As you approach a dog appears from behind a carriage, snarling with its first few paces towards you. Just as you begin trading blows with the hound you hear another soldier coming from where you entered the alleyway, and as you turn you notice the soldier that was prone at the end of the alley is now on its feet and shambling your way. Figuring out the best order, attack patterns, and counters for this trio takes a few attempts, and it takes a few more runs before I can squeeze past with enough health to make subsequent fights worth attempting.

RELATED LINKS: Upcoming PC Games, Best PC RPGs
02 Sep 17:33

Best no-logs VPN services 2023

by Adam Randall
Best no-logs VPN services 2023

The best no-logs VPN service allows you to connect to the internet via a remote server without recording or noting down what you do while connected through it. This is ideal if you want to be sure that you don’t have an evil corporation/villainous government/creepy hacker leering over your shoulder while you explore the internet realms.

MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best graphics card, Best gaming PC, Best SSD for gaming
02 Sep 17:30

Joe Dante Says Gremlins: Secrets Of The Mogwai Might As Well Be Gremlins 3 [Exclusive]

by Rafael Motamayor

Hollywood has '80s fever, and virtually every remotely popular '80s movie is being turned into a franchise. But there's one big 1980s movie that, surprisingly, never really became the huge franchise it could have easily become: "Gremlins."

Sure, we did get a bonkers sequel and a crap-ton of merchandize, but despite talks of a third "Gremlins" film, director Joe Dante has never returned to the world of Mogwai. Until now.

Everyone's favorite illegal pet-that-turns-into-a-monster, Gizmo, is coming back in the animated prequel series "Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai." Tze Chun ("Gotham," "Once Upon a Time") serves as the showrunner for the series, which focuses on the origin of the Mogwai and how Gizmo came to America — after wreaking havoc in and around Shanghai. 

/Film's Ryan Scott recently talked to the director of the first two "Gremlins" movies, Joe Dante, who curated an upcoming programming block for Shout! Factory TV. During their conversation, Dante spoke about making "Gremlins 2" and why "Secrets of the Mogwai" is the closest we can get to a proper "Gremlins 3."

'I Think It's Pretty Likely That We're Going To See It'

"There was really no reason to do 'Gremlins 2,' except that it was an offer I couldn't refuse, and I got to make it into something that was much more personal to me than the first picture," Dante explained: 

"But there is a 'Gremlins 3,' and it's the animated series prequel, 'The Secrets of the Mogwai,' which I'm associated with and is coming to HBO Max this coming year. It was supposed to be this year, but they've had a lot of turmoil over there, and nobody quite knows what's going on. But they've already done one whole season and they've ordered the second season, which they're working on."

Of course, by turmoil, Dante refers to the cancellation of "Batgirl" and "Scoob! Holiday Haunt" as well as the canning of several shows and movies from HBO Max, particularly animated projects. This has cast a shadow of uncertainty over all Warner Bros. Discovery projects, no matter where they are in production.

"I think it's pretty likely that we're going to see it. It's very clever," Dante continued. "It's a really smart way to get into that world by not having to do another version of the same story, but to go back to where it started, first meeting the Mogwai, and I think we've done a remarkable job on it."

He's not wrong to call "Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai" the third movie in the "Gremlins" franchise. Not only does the series capture what made the original film so special, at least when it came to the titular Mogwai, but the first episode (which I have seen) also teases a conflict bigger than any we've seen involving Gremlins before.

Gremlin World Tour

Indeed, one of the biggest disadvantages the "Gremlins" cartoon has is that we're already familiar with the formula. We know the rules of taking care of a Mogwai, we know what happens when you disobey them, and we know how to get rid of those little green monsters once they appear. This means that recreating the stakes of the first movie is almost impossible. "Gremlins 2" changed the tone and delivered a wackier and more comedic movie with every conceivable cameo.

But "Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai" manages to stand out and avoid prequel pitfalls by playing right into our prior knowledge of the franchise. We know what's at stake when a Mogwai becomes a Gremlin, so the first episode plays up the danger by teasing the mayhem and the destruction that the little creatures have caused in the past, and why it cannot be allowed to happen again.

It's better than a third "Gremlins" movie could have hoped to be, but that doesn't mean there won't be a "Gremlins 3" in the future.

"I think it's inevitable," Dante said. "The title is too well known to not do something with. So eventually somebody's going to do something with it, which is fine as long as there isn't too much CGI."

As the director explained, practical effects serve several purposes, like helping the actors have something they can act opposite off:

"But I think that if there was another one of those pictures, I think it would be a combination of puppetry and CGI, because now with CGI you could put the puppeteers right next to the puppet, and then you could do another pass and wipe them out. Whereas we had furniture and hid them under the walls, and hid them under the floor, and all that kind of stuff that you wouldn't have to do now."

"Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai" doesn't have a release date, but is expected to arrive in 2023.

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The post Joe Dante Says Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai Might As Well Be Gremlins 3 [Exclusive] appeared first on /Film.

02 Sep 17:30

One Of The Scariest Scenes In What Josiah Saw Waits Until The Last Second

by Matt Donato

(Welcome to Scariest Scene Ever, a column dedicated to the most pulse-pounding moments in horror with your tour guides, horror experts Chris Evangelista and Matt Donato. In this edition, Matt tells a story about how "What Josiah Saw" attacks at the most unexpected moment).

Marvel's usage of mid-credits and end-credits sequences has become a cultural phenomenon. We sit attentively in our seats, reading 2nd Unit Director and Digital Effects Artist names, anticipating which superhero cameo awaits. We expect to be shocked and startled by MCU reveals — but that's a specific studio franchise strategy. Indie horror flicks don't usually embrace the tactic because what's the point? Right? 

Au contraire. Let's sit down for Scariest Scene Ever storytime.

Vincent Grashaw's "What Josiah Saw" is one of Shudder's latest new additions, a homestyle Americana thriller that travels multiple genres. The kind of film without sequel intentions nor requires further explanations once the finale wraps. That's why — in a fit of couch-sunken laziness — I let the credits roll on my television with the volume pumped while scrolling social media for non-essential reasons. Words scrolled, music played, and that's when Grashaw smacked me upside the head with an absurdly delayed scare.

The Setup

Patriarch Josiah Graham (Robert Patrick) drinks his "tea" (whiskey) and bosses son Thomas (Scott Haze) around with stern words. The death of Josiah's wife weighs heavy on the alcoholic country bully, yet Thomas will never abandon his cruel father. We watch Josiah shame Thomas for previous actions presumed to be deviant, which paints the Graham clan as hiding skeletons in their homestead's closet. Possibly child bones, to add even more uneasiness atop the film's already bleak tone.

One day, Josiah asks Thomas what he's looking at every night out the window. Thomas claims he sees his mother's ghost, which Josiah belittles — until a new man wakes up the next morning after supposedly seeing unspeakable things while in bed. Josiah stops drinking and starts preaching orders from a higher power. Josiah understands how to manipulate his son, playing into his so-called visions. Thomas believes Josiah's promises in their mother and wife's name, to come true only after Thomas completes every household chore imaginable.

The Story So Far

Since my "scene" happens after the entire damn movie plays, I won't spoil Grashaw's third act in totality. In two subsequent chapters, we meet Thomas' siblings ("What Josiah Saw" structures like a devious folk tale). First is Thomas' brother Eli (Nick Stahl), the ex-convict who bedded an underage partner. His story involves an underworld leader who sends him with goons to rob a carnival troupe of their trauma-tied gold. Maybe things go well; perhaps they don't. You can probably predict.

Then we meet Thomas' sister Mary (Kelli Garner) amid adoption struggles with her frustrated husband, Ross Milner (Tony Hale). After immense domestic strife and suffering, Eli walks back into Mary's life with an oil company's land purchase offer for their childhood residence. They can't accept without Thomas and Josiah's blessing, which means they have to return to the farmland where they grew up — and escaped — to sway their hunkered-in bloodline. But why are Eli and Mary so terrified to return home? That's where the third-act kicks into overdrive.

The Scene

Now, remember. My scare selection occurs after the actual flick — something akin to A24's slow-burn mentality, without much attention paid to jump scares. "What Josiah Saw" is repugnant and morally destructive, rooted more in situational horrors of child abuse, sexual assault, and other unspeakable sins. Ghosts are memories of a father's despicable behaviors, not spooky translucent apparitions. You fall into a groove where your guard isn't necessarily hardened; your stomach is just a twist of knots at the thought of Josiah's evils.

So, the credits began. I didn't feel like moving quite yet. My body was exhausted, and I had to log "What Josiah Saw" on Letterboxd (duh). I laid on my couch with the sound of a southern death ballad playing in the background, and I'd glance at the screen every so often just to think about pressing stop — but I didn't. My sloth instincts had taken over. So the song twanged forward, and I could tell the credits were reaching their end. First, the soundtrack titles showed, then the special thank yous, and finally, the title card flashed to let us know we're safe to shut down — but that's just a fakeout.

Just as I was about to power my system down, a jump scare smashes into the credits as Robert Patrick's Josiah stomps towards the screen, cackling mad with his arms outstretched like he's trying to pull you inside your television or device. The camera rattles and string instruments hiss, which caused me an immense fright at the least expected moment.

Now, I'll be the first to complain about horror films that end their movies on a cheap scare pop — few have done it well ("Friday the 13th," "Sinister," "Krampus" stand out). But that's the beauty of "What Josiah Saw." The film takes a stinger moment — what looks to be an outtake of Robert Patrick being a loon — and cues it as an anxiety spiker for film fanatics who watch through the credits. You'd think it's an attack on watchers, but it's a treat. No part of my body was prepared for the scare, nor should my wits assume as much. It's such a rare trick and one I wouldn't usually experience in today's era where streaming services are onto the next title seconds into end credits — kudos to Vincent Grashaw for getting me darn good with the unlikeliest of thrills.

The Impact (Chris' Take)

I had yet to watch this film, so Matt just had to pick it and make me do extra work. Thanks a lot, Matt! Don't you know I'm lazy? Anyway, I'm always up for some Southern Gothic horror, and there's plenty of moody, rustic atmosphere to spare here. As for the scene in question Matt is highlighting, it really does get you. The credits roll for an awfully long time, and if you're not in the mood to hear the twangy down south goth ballad that plays, you're bound to turn it off and never even get to the stinger. But if you do stay patient, you will be greeted by the sight of Robert Patrick in full ghoul mode. 

I've always liked Patrick as an actor, and while it seems like his T-1000 role will forever be what he's known for, he always delivers the character-actor goods. He also seems very skilled at playing harsh jerks, and now he can add jump-scare master to his list, too.

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02 Sep 15:59

Have We Already Seen Gandalf In The Rings Of Power? Here's What We Think

by Marcos Melendez

Spoilers follow for "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power"

The first two episodes of "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" have debuted on Prime Video and we're already seeing close ties to the source material and Peter Jackson's original trilogy. Not only has the visual language been carried over to the big-budget streaming series, but beloved characters from J. R. R. Tolkien's work have been recontextualized for a new generation. "The Rings of Power" features the return of staple figures like Galadriel and Elrond, but it may also include an iconic wizard in the form of The Stranger (Daniel Weyman), who makes his presence known at the end of the first episode. If our theory serves correctly, Gandalf could already be a major part of "The Rings of Power."

As far as we can tell, "The Rings of Power" is not afraid to deviate from the strict rule set of the books (or films). Taking place during the Second Age, the show intends to tell a vast saga that encapsulates the rise of Dark Lord Sauron and the subsequent last alliance between Elves and Men. If Gandalf has indeed found himself in the middle of that conflict, his inclusion could uproot the canon in a big way.

A Stranger Falls From The Sky...

The first episode of "The Rings of Power" takes its time developing the ins and outs of the dense realm of Middle-earth. A part of that is setting up the impending return of evil in the form of Sauron, with several major indicators pointing towards the entity born to stop him. One of which is the arrival of a man who lands like a meteor in the home of the Harfoots (a distant relative to the Hobbits we know and love). Officially dubbed the Stranger, he is found by Elanor 'Nori' Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh), whose immense stature leads the Harfoot to believe he is a giant. However, he boasts an ambiguous but dangerous power to transform the environment around him, which he seems to not be able to control. Nevertheless, Brandyfoot helps the mostly-silent man recover from his great fall when the second episode rolls around.

Despite his fiery arrival, the Stranger does not seem to pose a direct threat to Middle-earth. In fact, I'd argue his true identity implies that he is here to help fight the impending war against the evil darkness that awaits the protagonists. 

Why He Is Likely Gandalf

In order to properly judge the Stranger's true identity, we have to take a look back at the context of Gandalf's role in the "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit." Canonically, the great wizard first made his way to Middle-earth in the Third Age and arrived to aid those who battled evil (a weakened, but still deadly Sauron) for the fate of the realm. Gandalf was a very powerful, heavenly being and one of five Maiar spirits sent to earth to be an Istar (an old man wizard). Although he does not have anything to do with the Second Age, "The Rings of Power" may be trying to push up the timeline of his arrival and involve him in the first major battles against a fully-intact Sauron.

In the second episode, the Stranger begins an unlikely friendship with Brandyfoot. During one of their interactions, he attempts to show her his home by gathering fireflies to map out the stars. Not only is it clear he is not originally from this world, but his distinctive bearded look and height certainly point towards Gandalf. Weyman has the physical appearance down, and I don't think it is a mistake that his first interaction with any being is a distant ancestor of the Hobbits. If it is him, he is clearly not in tune with his abilities or purpose, but I assume "The Rings of Power" will map out that origin unlike we've ever seen before.

Gandalf's introduction would mark a major deviation from the source material that clouds over this pretty justifiable speculation. However, I think it's exciting that Prime Video trying to push the boundaries of the source material, even if it leads them away from it.

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