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A new update for the venerable FPS game Quake has added some welcome new accessibility features to the user interface, 26 years after the original version launched for MS-DOS. When you fire up the Steam version of Quake after applying today's patch, you'll notice that the main menu is displayed in a bright white, sans serif font - and there are other new options available as well.

The latest Quake patch adds additional accessibility options to Quake's main menu. When you first run the game after applying the patch, that will be the first screen that pops up, giving you the chance to select which of the new features you want enabled. You'll find new options for high contrast menus, the alternate menu typeface, and text-to-speech and speech-to-text options for chat.

For players with auditory or visual processing difficulties, these options could make playing the granddaddy of deathmatch significantly easier. In-game messages can be prominently displayed in crisp white lettering over black background blocks, making it much easier to see text like "you got 5 shells" or "you found a secret area."

RELATED LINKS: Best FPS games, Best old games, Best multiplayer games

"Easy Rider" changed everything. The 1969 classic -- filmed on a $360,000 budget -- tore up the box office and made movie stars of its lead actors and co-writers, Peter Fonda (who also produced) and Dennis Hopper (who also directed). It also gave Jack Nicholson his breakout role: George Hanson, a southern lawyer with a drinking problem who finds his mind blown by the drugs and freewheeling lifestyle of his biker buddies. Nicholson wasn't the original choice.

George was meant for the tough, volatile character actor Rip Torn, whose career would explode in the '90s in "The Larry Sanders Show" and "Men in Black." According to Lee Hill's "A Grand Guy," the role was written for Torn by Terry Southern, the novelist and screenwriter who'd befriended the actor on the set of 1965's "The Cincinnati Kid." Torn had yet to reach stardom, but he had created a varied and strong body of work in theater and film. Much like Nicholson, he was on the cusp of an incredible breakthrough, and the right role could have made it happen. He probably could have crafted a more convincing southern accent too.

One emotionally charged night kept Torn from getting the role, however, and the incident went on to become an infamous Hollywood story. In a New York restaurant at the height of "Easy Rider's" pre-production, Torn and Hopper (and Fonda) were having dinner when an argument broke out, a knife was pulled, and Torn was no longer in the movie. Exactly who pulled the knife, and what the fight was about, would be debated for years -- but one thing was for certain: damage was done. 

Recasting George

In the wake of a fight like that, it made sense for Dennis Hopper to recast the role. He and Peter Fonda chose Jack Nicholson, a great and then-underrated actor who'd also written the screenplay for Roger Corman's 1967 LSD flick "The Trip," in which the two had starred. Hopper's first taste of directing had come from doing second-unit work on that film. Nicholson's performance as George in "Easy Rider" effectively gave the mainstream audience a surrogate to understanding bikers' culture, and it's difficult to imagine the movie without him in it -- or his career without the movie.

Rip Torn, meanwhile, saw his reputation bruised by the incident. No matter who pulled the knife at the dinner, it's a serious accusation to level. When Hopper claimed in a 1994 appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" that Torn had pulled the knife as retaliation for cutting him out of the picture, Torn sued him for defamation of character. Not only that, he claimed that Hopper was the one who pulled the knife, after the two had an argument about "rednecks."

According to a 2006 profile on Torn, "Hopper's version of the tale hurt his career, spreading an unjustified image of him as unstable and violent."

Volatility

In Studs Terkel's 1974 oral history of various professions, "Working," Rip Torn shows up briefly to discuss the nature of professional acting, and the degree to which it makes shills out of artists. As he says in the book, "they want you to be their silly putty," an attitude that speaks to the anger, independence, and lack of kiss-ass he gave to big Hollywood types. Not that Dennis Hopper was, or really ever would be, a big Hollywood type.

One thing that might have led to their tension was their similarities. They were complex men. Both had tempers and various addictions (as evinced by the 1971 Hopper-focused documentary "The American Dreamer" and Rip Torn's late-in-life drunken bank robbery) and both were capable of sabotaging their own careers. After Hopper found massive success directing and starring in "Easy Rider," he was given carte blanche to make whatever movie he wanted. Studios knew only that he had an innate understanding of youth culture, and Universal Pictures couldn't have known that its decision would lead to Hopper making a critically maligned, bizarre, existential film called "The Last Movie" about a stuntman in Peru.

That movie's failure to connect with audiences and critics who'd adored "Easy Rider" led to Hopper's effective ousting from the Hollywood mainstream. Not too different from Torn.

Old Stories

By the 1990s, both Dennis Hopper and Rip Torn were able to settle into a degree of Hollywood respectability, the time since "Easy Rider's" release having been hard on both of them. Torn continued to work steadily, fighting writer-director Norman Mailer on camera and getting acclaim for his roles in 1972's "Payday" and 1983's "Cross Creek" (for which he was nominated for an Oscar). Hopper took work where he could get it, directing 1980's harrowing punk drama "Out of the Blue," and his addictions continued to grow, swallowing him wholesale when he surrounded himself with lit dynamite at a screening of the movie in Houston.

When Torn found major name recognition in 1992 by starring in legendary HBO sitcom "The Larry Sanders Show," Hopper was getting major motion picture roles in movies like "Speed" and "True Romance." Hopper maintained his story of Torn pulling the knife on him during pre-production of "Easy Rider."

Knowing the demons faced by both men, it's possible to imagine either having been responsible. In this case, however, the truth of the matter was backed up by writer Terry Southern, who suffered his own difficulties with Hopper (and Peter Fonda) over credit for "Easy Rider."  Hopper's claims only stopped when Torn sued him for defamation, and the courts ruled in Torn's favor. In the end, Hopper was made to pay the man who was going to star in "Easy Rider" so long ago nearly $1 million.

Read this next: The Best Movies Of 2021

The post Why Rip Torn Sued Dennis Hopper Over Easy Rider appeared first on /Film.

"Moon Knight" is one of the most interesting Marvel projects to date — a deeply weird, complex show that is constantly changing genres, and adding layer upon layer of mystery. The fact that the show shares so little connective tissue with the larger MCU that even placing it within the franchise timeline is hard makes helps make it stand out. Free from having to justify itself within the context of other stories, "Moon Knight" can focus on better things, like adding easter eggs to Egyptian mythology and history, of course.

Arguably the biggest easter egg has been the constant teasing of a third party involved in the conflict between Steven (Oscar Isaac) and Marc (Oscar Isaac), who are constantly fighting over their shared body. This week, that mystery thickened as Steven and Layla (May Calamawy) find the tomb of Ammit. Inside, they find a big sarcophagus hiding a big secret, and a mythic character that some fans may have predicted, but nevertheless got a surprise name-drop.

A Shocking Reveal

The episode brings to mind the best of 1999's "The Mummy," with plenty of puzzle-solving and ghoul-fighting. At the end, we see a sarcophagus in an empty room, one that has Steven absolutely perplexed just from looking at it, and with good reason.

We do get some misdirection about who may be inside, with elaborate decorations including references to Nefertiti and Thutmose II, but when we see a big bronzed stallion (Bucephalus) and Macedonian scripture, the history nerd Steven is convinced. This is none other than the final resting place of a man who, while not born in Egypt, was still proclaimed a pharaoh. Indeed, this week's "Moon Knight" solves one of the biggest mysteries not just in the MCU, but in the real world, by revealing the long-lost tomb of Alexander the Great.

"Moon Knight" spends an extended sequence with Steven shoving his arm down Alexander's throat (apologizing to him and calling him "Mr. Great") because that's where he would hide Ammit's ushabti.

A More Exciting Secret History

In reality, Alexander's tomb is indeed lost, and we don't even know for sure how he died. His body was placed in a gold sarcophagus, but it was stolen on its way to a burial place by one of his generals and buried in Egypt, after which it was transferred once again to the city of Alexandria in Egypt. With time, and multiple natural disasters, parts of the city were lost, including Mr. Great's tomb. Even today, there are over 100 officially-sanctioned digging sites looking for the tomb.

What makes this episode of "Moon Knight" great is that it not only uses this actual lost tomb for its story, but that it makes Alexander an avatar of Ammit. That this brilliant strategist and conqueror also had the powers of a god that judged people's moral worth is not only makes some sort of wicked sense, but it is just the sort of nonsense historical fiction that makes movies like "National Treasure" or games like "Assassin's Creed" so entertaining. It plays with the idea that there is a hidden side to history that we've never heard of, that these historical figures that whole other sides to them that historians never saw, that secret societies and gods walked around us with normal folks not realizing it.

If Alexander was the avatar of Ammit, then who is to say Julius Caesar wasn't also the avatar of some god? The sarcophagus is now open, and it cannot be closed again.

"Moon Knight" streams new episodes on Wednesdays on Disney+.

Read this next: The 10 Best Sci-Fi Movie Villains

The post Let's Talk About Who Was Inside That Sarcophagus in Moon Knight Episode 4 appeared first on /Film.

An anonymous reader shares an excerpt from an opinion piece written by Elizabeth Spiers, former editor in chief of The New York Observer and the founding editor of Gawker: Among the many brilliant touches in the dystopian workplace thriller "Severance," on Apple TV+, are the perks offered by Lumon Industries, the cultlike, fluorescent-lit corporation where the series takes place: company-branded Chinese finger trap gag toys; cheery if mediocre caricature portraits; a baffling "waffle party"; the much-discussed "music dance experience"; and, more than once, a melon-ball buffet served on a rolling bar. It's hard not to see real-world analogues -- in the table tennis and kombucha taps of Silicon Valley, and especially in the post-pandemic flurry of office happy hours and gift card giveaways, as companies try to lure white-collar workers back to offices. At the high end, a real estate data company offered employees who returned to the office a daily chance to win $10,000, a trip to Barbados or a new Tesla; more common incentives are company swag, pop-up snack stands, Covid personal protection gift bags and stress balls. Companies aren't wrong to perceive a reluctance to return to offices among some workers. Even if bosses see the return as simply a resumption of the terms employees had agreed to, workers are increasingly aware of the ways that those terms have shortchanged them. After two years, those who were able to work from home have seen real benefits -- reclaiming time from commutes, flexibility for family responsibilities, freedom from perpetual distractions and restrictive dress codes -- and now they can't unsee them. Surveys taken last year indicated that two-thirds of workers would prefer to have continued remote work options and would sacrifice $30,000 in raises to keep them. Somewhat higher percentages of women and Black knowledge workers say they are reluctant to return to offices. But among executives and managers, there's still a strong perception that in-person work is the only real work. So as younger workers in particular resist company mandates to return to their desks in the overly air-conditioned offices where many had never felt comfortable, companies are trying to sweeten the deal. [...] I've come to think of these corporate toys and rewards as the work equivalent of the cheap prizes you win at a carnival after emptying your wallet to play the games. The difference is that the point of the carnival is to have fun, and the prizes are incidental. In the workplace, this is just a laughably terrible trade-off. Who wants to give up the two hours a day they gain by not commuting for a coffee mug? "Putting in long hours at the office is often conflated with a strong work ethic and more productivity, though it may not be indicative of either," adds Spiers. "To make employees feel this approach is reasonable, many employers blur the line between work and the rest of life, while offering little diversions here and there to approximate fun."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Sony is building a program to let advertisers buy ads in PlayStation games. From a report: It's doing testing with adtech partners to place in-game ads, similar to an initiative by rival Microsoft. The program is expected to launch before the end of the year. Sony is working on a plan to put ads inside PlayStation games, sources said, similar to a move by Microsoft to run ads in Xbox. Three people who are involved in the plans said Sony is doing testing with adtech partners to help game developers create in-game ads through a software developer program. The idea is to encourage developers to keep building free-to-play games, which have soared in the pandemic, by giving them a way to monetize them, they said. PlayStation's current ad inventory is limited to in-menu ads like game publishers promoting their own titles in the console's store, the sources said. PlayStation also serves ads on streaming video to people who stream via their consoles through apps like Hulu .

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The Wild Eternal has Mostly Positive reviews on Steam. While The Wild Eternal cost a few bucks before, starting from today the game is free to download with no promo end date specified.

The post The Wild Eternal is now FREE on Steam appeared first on Indie Game Bundles.

AMD is undoubtedly the king of the integrated graphics segment, with its Ryzen APUs delivering the best performance in a power-efficient package. The AMD Ryzen APUs have continued to excel their predecessors & the recent switch to the RDNA 2 architecture has brought even higher performance but it looks like the coming generations will make a big win for the budget gaming industry and will also land in heated competition from the blue team.

AMD Ryzen APUs, Codenamed Phoenix, Could Mark The End of Low-End Desktop Graphics Cards & Start A Revolution In The Budget PC Gaming Segment

Despite being the leader in the integrated graphics segment, AMD has continued to innovate. Even with their Pre-Rembrandt APUs, the company kept on improving the performance of their Radeon Vega graphics architecture. A huge improvement was made by shifting the Vega architecture to the brand new 7nm process node which added power optimizations and improved the clocks by a mile to hit higher performance.

With their most recent lineup, the Ryzen 6000 'Rembrandt', AMD made an entire architectural shift to RDNA 2. The APUs were the first to utilize a 6nm Radeon graphics architecture, bringing in huge improvements to clocks & efficiency. Offering up to 12 RDNA 2 Compute Units for a total of 768 SPs and the same architectural features as the desktop lineup, the little Radeon 680M iGPU has so far shown impressive performance, nearing the desktop-grade GeForce GTX 1060 and even landing in better efficiency than the desktop RX 6400 graphics card. Our friend, TechEphipany, has a full video channel on YouTube dedicated to gaming benchmarks and the performance of AMD's APU that you can check out here.

But we have yet to see the full potential of the Ryzen APU's iGPU. The AMD Rembrandt APU release on the desktop platform is still imminent and a higher TDP rating would allow users to overclock & extract further performance out of the RDNA 2 chips featured on the monolithic die. Considering just how well the Radeon 680M performs on the laptop segment, it will allow budget PC gamers to enjoy gaming at 1080p low easily without investing in a $150 US+ graphics card. But Rembrandt on desktops is just a teaser of what's to come. Enter Phoenix!

AMD Phoenix Ryzen APU - A Gamer Changer For The Budget PC Gaming Segment

AMD's next-generation Phoenix APUs are what would be the real game-changer for the budget PC gaming segment. Although still a year away from launch, these APUs are reportedly going to adopt the 5nm Zen 4 cores and a 6nm RDNA iGPU. Now how will this be a game-changer if it still uses the same RDNA graphics core? First of all, we don't know if this 6nm iGPU will be based on the RDNA 2 or RDNA 3 variation. Previous reports have stated its RDNA 2 but there is a likelihood that AMD might go with RDNA 3 considering the APUs will launch a few months after the next Radeon lineup. And we know that RDNA 3 IP exists on both 5nm and 6nm nodes.

AMD could go two routes with that, either launch RDNA 2 on 6nm with enhancements in the power department or go RDNA 3 on 6nm with architectural improvement. I would still incline towards the RDNA 2 IP since it makes more sense based on the next rumor that is being stated.

So far, we have not heard anything about the CU count on the Phoenix APUs but there are new rumors suggesting anywhere from 16 and up to 24 Compute Units. That's up to double the CUs as the current iGPU, the Radeon 680M and even at the lowest-end, that's the same CU count as the Radeon RX 6500 XT, a desktop graphics card. Just how much performance is that? We have a chart to show you the FP32 (Theoretical) horsepower:

You can see from the chart above that the Radeon 680M already offers compute prowess close to the Xbox Series S console and is faster than the desktop-grade RX 6400. The next-gen Phoenix Ryzen APUs can deliver even higher performance and exceed even more entry-level graphics solutions.

The company could fine-tune the RDNA 2 further for its Phoenix APU and we could end up getting performance faster than a desktop Radeon RX 6400 or even the RX 6500 XT within a year of their launch. This would be a game-changer for budget PC gamers as they can buy a CPU, without the need to spend $150-$199 US on a graphics card and get similar or better performance.

The Tech of The Future (For Ryzen APUs?)

Furthermore, AMD has been working on technologies that might be integrated into next-gen Ryzen APUs such as Phoenix. First and the most obvious one is 3D V-Cache and a gaming APU can benefit big time considering the Monolithic designs don't have access to higher cache as compared to their MCM siblings. 3D V-Cache has already proven its worth on the 5800X3D and it might pave way for even higher performance on Ryzen APUs which are both cache and bandwidth starved. The other technology is Infinity Cache.

Infinity Cache is definitely a huge help for the GPU, providing it with a near-to-GPU cache solution with lots of high-speed bandwidth. AMD is working to add it to its new RDNA 3 MCM GPUs in the form of MCD through vertical stacking but whether this tech ends up on Phoenix is something only time would tell. Of course, these technologies would be cool but there's a lot of work and R&D that needs to be invested to make them work so if not Phoenix, maybe the generation after that would utilize them. But at the end of the day, even without them, a CU count bump, increased clocks, and power optimizations can deliver current low-end graphics card performance on Ryzen APUs by 2023.

Intel Arc vs AMD Radeon - The Next Battleground of Entry-Level Graphics

And It's not just AMD that is investing in more powerful iGPUs. Intel has also unveiled in its own roadmap how they will be leveraging their Arc GPU IPs for integration within their future CPUs. AMD could be looking at heated competition coming from Intel which wants to implement their Battlemage graphics IP within Meteor Lake CPUs as early as 2023. Contrary to AMD's monolithic implementation, Intel will be using a multi-tiled approach for their iGPU and calls it a tGPU (Tiled GPU).

The GPUs will retain all the features of the IP such as DeepLink, XeSS, raytracing, and more. So it will all come down to who offers the best user experience and AMD might have an edge here with its more robust Radeon Software suite. Intel has a long way to go given all the troubles they have encountered on their first Arc launch so we will see how they stack up in 2023.

While this all will mean the end of low-end discrete graphics cards, it will be all for a good cause because we have seen that entry-level graphics cards aren't that good when compared to iGPUs anyways. This is particularly true in the laptop segment where the Navi 24 has proven to be far less impressive than the Radeon 680M. Even the desktop release has so far been disappointing and with the same performance coming to next-gen APUs, there won't be a huge benefit of spending $150 US+ on a discrete graphics card.

The post AMD’s Revolutionary Ryzen Phoenix APUs Could Mark The End of Low-End Graphics Cards, A Big Win For Budget PC Gamers by Hassan Mujtaba appeared first on Wccftech.

Either someone at Netflix broke a mirror, stepped under a ladder, or offended an ancient witch sometime this week because the news today has just been one huge corporate shift after another. After years of lovingly participating with jokes about how plenty of people share Netflix passwords with their friends and family, they recently announced that they're finally cracking down on unauthorized use of their streaming service. Now, following a long history of claiming to be focused on subscription-only-based plans, Netflix is allegedly considering the potential of lower-cost, ad-supported subscription opportunities. As was stated by co-CEO Reed Hastings during the Netflix Q1 earnings interview, the streaming goliath is anticipating finalizing its ad-supported streaming strategy sometime within the next two years. "Think of us as quite open to us offering even lower prices with advertising as a consumer choice," said Hastings.

Likely in the works for a while, it's hard not to see this move as a response to the stagnated subscription growth in the wake of competing services like Disney+, as well as the reported loss of 200,000 subscribers in Q1, with an anticipated loss of 2 million subscribers in Q2 following Netflix's suspension of service in Russia after the country's invasion of Ukraine. If the company is able to successfully monetize the hundreds of millions of estimated users utilizing their services for free by sharing passwords, they have the potential of bringing in fat stacks of cash. However, if they are unable to achieve this goal, Netflix might need to rethink their entire business model.

It's Starting To Feel Like The Return Of Cable

"Those that have followed Netflix know that I've been against the complexity of advertising and a big fan of the simplicity of subscription, but as much as I'm a fan of that, I'm a bigger fan of consumer choice," Hastings said. "Allowing consumers who would like to have a lower price and are advertising-tolerant [to] get what they want, makes a lot of sense." 

While Hastings didn't offer any insight as to how much Netflix might charge for an ad-supported tier, their Basic plan currently goes for $9.99 a month, their Standard plan is $15.49, and their Premium option is $19.99. "It's not like we have a religion against advertising, to be clear," Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann said at a Morgan Stanley investment conference. He clarified that the tier was "not something that's in our plans right now," but continued with, "never say never." This statement was made just one month ago.

This is the first time in Netflix history that the company has reported a loss of subscribers, and lost a whopping $50 billion in value after it was publicly reported that it had fallen short of its subscriber goals. During the Q1 call, Hastings even acknowledged that their competitor, Hulu, has shown success with their ad-supported programming, and was interested in seeing how the ad-supported tier at HBO Max would play out over time. "We don't have a lot of doubt that it works," he said. 

For those who are happily enjoying their ad-free programming, never fear, as this option will always be available. Ad-support may become an option, but will hopefully never replace the standard or else it's cable all over again.

Read this next: How These Child Stars Feel About The Horror Movies That Put Them On The Map

The post Netflix May Launch Ad-Supported Streaming Tiers For Lower Monthly Fees appeared first on /Film.

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Lord of the Rings Online is technically already free-to-play, but the MMO splits much of its content into additional paid purchases. The devs announced a month ago that a bunch of additional content would be going free soon, and that update goes live this week as part of update 33.

Update 33 is live as of April 20, and it makes every notable bit of content released for LOTRO up through the 2013 Helm's Deep update free for everyone. That opens you up to explore freely through level 95, and play with the High-elf race and Rune-Keeper, Warden, and Beorning classes on top of the existing free content.

This change comes alongside LOTRO's 15th anniversary, and you'll find an in-game anniversary event taking place starting on The Hill in The Shire (29.9S, 71.5W). If you want to dig into some current paid content, you'll also be able to check out the Yondershire. You can get more details on what to expect from update 33 on the official site.

RELATED LINKS: Free MMO list

In Matt Reeves' 2022 film "The Batman," now currently available to stream on HBO Max, Irish actor Colin Farrell plays Oz Cobblepot, a drug-dealing, gnashing criminal nicknamed The Penguin after his taste in suits and his thick-necked visage. The character is the lieutenant of Gotham City's biggest crime lord, and provides an otherwise deeply dour movie with a few moments of much-needed levity. In an interview with Far Out Magazine, Reeves compared The Penguin to Fredo, the character played by John Cazale in "The Godfather." 

The Penguin, a casual observer will immediately notice, looks nothing like Farrell, and it took prosthetic makeup designer Mike Marino and prosthetic artist Mike Fontaine hours and hours to get Farrell camera ready as the scarred, balding, rough-skinned Cobblepot. 

In James Field's "The Art of the Batman," a new sourcebook that collects the inspirations, designs, and painstakingly created visuals of the film, Marino and Fontaine talk about the process of creating The Penguin, and how Farrell -- expertly plying his craft -- came up with a backstory for each one of his character's scars. Says Marino:

"Matt [Reeves] had some ideas on what he wanted The Penguin to be. He wanted something that was a little pathetic and a little sympathetic. He was referencing Fredo from 'The Godfather,' and the look of Bob Hoskins. I kind of sculpted Fredo's brow onto Colin as close as I could, and then I started tweaking it from there. It just developed into this strange mob kind of character and a scarred-up, grizzled, heavy guy with maybe an insecurity."

The Story Of The Scars

Depending on the rehearsal process on each individual film, sometimes actors are asked to write essays and books on their characters. Giving your character a full life and backstory will, presumably, make them appear more nuanced and authentic on screen or stage. An actor may hate their character as a viewer, but no actor can hate their character when they're playing them; no one wakes up in the morning thinking "I'm the villain." 

In "The Art of the Batman," Farrell talks about how seeing himself in makeup was an informative experience when it came to playing Oz: 

"You look at his face and you see some scars. It was fun creating a backstory for every single mark and every single issue that he has, because there's a wealth of a kind of information, of personal history that one can design. You would hope that from thinking about it -- even subtextually or unconsciously -- this information finds its way into the character and onto the screen. But certainly lends itself to much more [authenticity]."

Indeed, the makeup was so heavy on Farrell that it weighed on the musculature of his face and changed the way he spoke. Farrell, while reading lines in the Penguin makeup, found more elements of the character emerging: 

"Marino recorded a little piece of me in the makeup. I didn't feel like I was ready, but he asked me a few questions and I answered then. And then when I saw it back, I thought 'That sounds good!' Because my voice actually sounds different. The timbre of it sounds different. It sounds like it's in a different place. It sounds heavier. It sounds like it's struggling a bit more."

The Makeup Process

According to "The Art of the Batman," the Penguin makeup took anywhere from three-and-a-half to four hours to apply, and was made of several facial prosthetics, including cheek pieces, a false nose, a brow, and even ears. Says Marino:

"Once the pieces are glued on, then we start painting it, airbrushing different tones and colors and ambers and reds and all these things to match his skin tone as close as possible. Some of the things that I wanted to get rid of were some of the signature things on Colin Farrell, like his eyebrows. I created this shape of his eyebrow like a penguin. And if you look on the side of his profile, I threw in a little subliminal bird beak, the way his nose is shaped, 'cause it looks like a chipped-up scar. So, it looks like a penguin beak from the side."

The makeup was so good, Farrell fooled his co-stars on set. Says Zoë Kravitz, who plays the catburglar Selina Kyle: 

"He walked right up to me, and I was looking for Colin in there and I couldn't see him. Still to this day, actually, 'cause l've only met Colin a few times outside of this film, I feel like I don't know Colin Farrell. I know The Penguin." 

It seems like everyone is pretty happy with how things turned out because this version of The Prenguin will soon be featured in his very own TV series. Farrell and the makeup artists sought to create an original character, and it seems they have succeeded. 

Read this next: The 15 Best Batman Comics You Need To Read

The post Colin Farrell Created a Backstory for Each of The Penguin's Scars appeared first on /Film.

Microsoft has announced that it’s no longer shipping the SMB1 (Server Message Block version 1) protocol by default with Windows 11 Home starting with the next major release for Windows 11. This is the next major step in getting rid of the long-deprecated protocol, which some users have still been holding onto. Additionally, in the future, the SMB1 binaries will be removed altogether.

SMB1 was an old network protocol that allowed PCs to connect to certain network devices, such as hard drives and other equipment. The protocol has been superseded by SMB 2 as of 2007, and it was publicly deprecated in 2014, so it’s only natural that Microsoft wants to get rid of it.

This process started back in 2017, when Microsoft started shipping Windows 10 and Windows Server without SMB1 server service installed out of the box. Additionally, most editions of Windows also no longer came with the SMB1 client service installed by default. The exceptions were the Home and Pro editions of Windows 10, until one year later, when Windows 10 Pro also had the client service disabled by default.

Through it all, Windows 10 Home – and Windows 11 Home after it – still came with the SMB1 client service enabled. Microsoft says it had to wait a while before it could disable it because it knows it’s going to be a problem for some consumers who won’t understand why their old network equipment doesn’t work anymore.

However, it’s finally happening, and the next major update for Windows 11, coming in the second half of 2022, will no longer have the SMB1 client service enabled by default in Home editions. This only applies to clean installs, though – the settings won’t change for machines upgrading from the current version of Windows, so you don’t have to worry about things breaking. Additionally, you can still enable SMB1 support manually through the Control Panel.

That won’t be the case forever, though. Microsoft also announced today that it’s removing the binaries for SMB1 from all Windows 11 and Windows Server editions in a future release. That means you’ll no longer be able to simply enable the SMB1 protocol on your machine. To accommodate users who can’t keep up with the change, Microsoft says it will publish an out-of-band unsupported package to enable SMB1 for users that really need it.

We don’t know exactly when that will happen, and even the update coming later this year doesn’t have a set date yet. The first release of Windows 11 happened on October 5th, so we’d expect the next major update to arrive about one year later, but that remains to be seen.

---

Source: Microsoft

The post Microsoft is disabling SMB1 in Windows 11 Home, and it will be removed in the future appeared first on xda-developers.

The worldwide shift to a hybrid workplace has pushed us all to embrace ubiquitous connectivity. Those new connections have helped us become more collaborative; routinely editing and sharing documents in real-time from wherever we happen to be working. Instant messaging went from being a tool of convenience to a cornerstone of communication. People in business, operations, and technical roles became adept at stitching together disparate solutions to meet changing needs.

But constant connectivity brings evolving, inherent risks. Over the past two years, organizations have seen a massive increase in their digital footprint, leading to data fragmentation and growth across a multitude of applications, devices, and locations. The Great Reshuffle left blind spots within ever-enlarging data estates.¹ Dark data, which organizations pay to store, but goes underutilized in decision making, is now growing at a rate of 62 percent per year.²  Even the virtual office has created the risk of new collaboration mediums opening doors to harassment, sensitive data leaks, and other workplace policy infractions. It’s a big digital world for any organization to try to manage. 

The lines between risk roles are blurring 

Just as today’s big-data, multiplatform, hyper-connected workplace brings new vulnerabilities, the responsibility for protecting it is also in flux. For example, an organization with a Chief Data Officer (CDO), Chief Risk Officer (CRO)/Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), and Chief Information Officer (CIO) has to choose whether they will duplicate, compete, or collaborate. Conditions that are driving the need for integrated risk management include:

• The pandemic: Ongoing decentralized work has reinforced the need for strategic, operational, and business continuity management. All of this requires cross-functional data sharing and coordination. 
• Nation-state attacks: Increasing sophistication and frequency of nation-state attacks is driving collaboration between compliance, data, and security functions. 
• Remote work: Virtual communication spaces require coordination between compliance, IT, and HR. 
• Evolving regulations: New requirements, like those from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Department of Justice (DOJ), and the European Union Whistleblower Directive require collaboration among all risk-management leaders.
• Data sharing: Requirements for continuous access to operational data across functions (read the DOJ’s requirements for compliance programs).  
• Growing CDO responsibilities: The CDO’s role may go beyond data management and protection to include business intelligence, AI, and machine learning. Because this role can overlap with a Chief Analytics Officer (CAO) and CISO, a unified solution for risk management is vital to eliminating redundancies.
• Governance and compliance: Overlap between information governance, records management, and data collection is driving the need for a comprehensive solution for managing data risk.

”In a tracking survey of over 500 US decision-makers, nearly all (95 percent) are concerned about challenges they face regarding data protection in 2021.” ³

The market has responded with dozens of products that force security, data governance, compliance, and legal teams to stitch together a patchwork of solutions. This approach not only strains resources, but it’s also ineffective. Security outcomes are worse—audits are failed and brand reputations are damaged.

”A survey of US decision-makers showed that to meet their compliance and data-protection needs, almost 80 percent had purchased multiple products, and a majority had purchased three or more.” ⁴

Introducing Microsoft Purview 

To meet the challenges of today’s decentralized, data-rich workplace, we’re introducing Microsoft Purview—a comprehensive set of solutions that help you govern, protect, and manage your entire data estate. This new brand family combines the capabilities of the former Azure Purview and the Microsoft 365 Compliance portfolio that customers already rely on, providing unified data governance and risk management for your organization.

The new Microsoft Purview:

• Helps you gain visibility into assets across your entire data estate.
• Enables easy access to all your data, security, and risk solutions. 
• Helps safeguard and manage sensitive data across clouds, apps, and endpoints.
• Manages end-to-end data risks and regulatory compliance.
• Empowers your organization to govern, protect, and manage data in new, comprehensive ways. 

Microsoft Purview brings together data governance from Microsoft Data and AI, along with compliance and risk management from Microsoft Security. Microsoft Purview is also complemented by identity and access management, threat protection, cloud security, endpoint management, and privacy management capabilities—creating a truly comprehensive approach to security.

Microsoft Purview at a glance

Current Name	New Name
Microsoft 365 Basic Audit	Microsoft Purview Audit (Standard)
Microsoft 365 Advanced Audit	Microsoft Purview Audit (Premium)
Microsoft 365 Communication Compliance	Microsoft Purview Communication Compliance
Microsoft Compliance Manager	Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager
Office 365 Customer Lockbox	Microsoft Purview Customer Lockbox
Azure Purview Data Catalog	Microsoft Purview Data Catalog
Microsoft 365 Data Connectors	Microsoft Purview Data Connectors
Microsoft Information Governance	Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management
Office 365 Data Loss Prevention	Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention
Azure Purview Data Map	Microsoft Purview Data Map
Double Key Encryption for Microsoft 365	Microsoft Purview Double Key Encryption
Records Management in Microsoft 365	Microsoft Purview Records Management
Office 365 Core eDiscovery	Microsoft Purview eDiscovery (Standard)
Office 365 Advanced eDiscovery	Microsoft Purview eDiscovery (Premium)
Microsoft 365 Information Barriers	Microsoft Purview Information Barriers
Microsoft Information Protection	Microsoft Purview Information Protection
Microsoft 365 Insider Risk Management	Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management
Azure Purview portal	Microsoft Purview governance portal
Microsoft 365 compliance center	Microsoft Purview compliance portal
Azure Purview Data Insights	Microsoft Purview Data Estate Insights
Microsoft 365 Customer Key	Microsoft Purview Customer Key

Securing multicloud and multiplatform environments

Because organizations now operate across multiple clouds and on-premises platforms, we’ve expanded Microsoft Purview’s capabilities to include data protection for macOS users, as well as offering new data classifiers, protection for mobile devices, and data lifecycle management.

• To extend Microsoft Purview’s capabilities for macOS users, we’re excited to announce the general availability (GA) of Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention (DLP) for macOS endpoints. Now organizations can extend their endpoint DLP insights and controls to devices running macOS (Catalina or higher). In addition, the preview of restricted app groups for Windows endpoints allows organizations to scope different access restrictions to sensitive files between a set of sanctioned or unsanctioned applications. Learn about Microsoft Purview DLP for macOS endpoint.
• Before sensitive data can be safely shared, it first needs to be identified. To that end, we’re extending our sensitive information type catalog with more than 50 new classifiers. The new classifiers are available for DLP, Information Protection (auto-labeling), Data Lifecycle Management, Insider Risk Management, Records Management, eDiscovery, and Microsoft Priva. Explore the new data classifiers in Microsoft Purview.
• With remote users now regularly accessing files from multiple locations, devices, and apps, organizations shouldn’t have to compromise on security for productivity. To help address this, the preview of co-authoring of encrypted documents for mobile devices (iOS and Android) enables multiple users to work simultaneously on Microsoft 365 apps and documents with autosave, allowing for enhanced real-time collaboration and productivity. Learn about co-authoring of encrypted documents.
• Within any document file’s lifecycle, organizations need to be able to configure retention and deletion settings. To help simplify that process, we’re announcing the preview of multi-stage retention in Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management (formerly Microsoft Information Governance), which automatically applies a new label when an item reaches the end of its retention period. Learn more about multi-stage retention from Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management.

Protecting your business and employees in a hybrid work environment

Employees don’t gather around the water cooler anymore. They’re communicating across digital channels and personal and corporate devices. Microsoft Purview helps protect your organization’s data with Insider Risk Management, eDiscovery, Communication Compliance, and more.

• Many organizations have had to adapt to a changing workforce during the Great Reshuffle. Recent enhancements to the detection and investigation capabilities of Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management help provide security teams with additional context and actionable insights to keep data secure, including expanded coverage with Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps. Learn about Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management.
• Sensitive data isn’t confined to business transactions. According to the 2022 Work Trend Index annual report from Microsoft, employees are communicating over a greater variety of digital channels. With so much internal chatter, robust data and document discovery are essential for organizations responding to both internal investigations and external inquiries. To help meet that need, we’re excited to announce additional capabilities for Microsoft Purview eDiscovery (Premium), which improve the identification of relevant data in Microsoft Teams and help manage legal holds with new reporting functionality. Learn about Microsoft Purview eDiscovery.
• To help organizations maintain a positive work culture and a strong commitment to user privacy, Microsoft Purview Communication Compliance helps detect code of conduct violations (including harassing or threatening language, adult content, and sharing sensitive information). We’re excited to announce new features, including expanded optical character recognition, machine learning model highlighting, reduced detection-to-investigation time, and step-by-step onboarding guidance. Protect your employees and business with Microsoft Purview Communications Compliance.
• To help organizations save time and manual efforts, we’re excited to announce the general availability of continuous compliance assessments in Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager. This feature allows customers to understand and act on over 150 recommendations across our suite of solutions—increasing customers’ ability to measure and manage their data handling from a single location. Learn more about continuous assessments in Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager.

Enhancing data governance across compliance and privacy imperatives

Microsoft Priva complements Microsoft Purview’s data governance and compliance portfolio. Acting as a separately available privacy management solution that proactively identifies and helps protect against privacy risks, Priva provides visibility into organizations’ privacy postures. This includes associated privacy risks arising from personal data transfers, overexposure, and hoarding. Priva’s policy-driven templates also help customers adhere to common privacy regulations and requirements.

At the same time, Priva provides the flexibility to customize policies for user groups, data locations, conditions, and notifications. As the foundation of enterprise privacy management, Priva automatically recommends risk-remediation actions and subject rights requests at scale—offering built-in review and redact capabilities and integration with business processes and APIs.

We protect data to protect people 

Regulations regarding data governance don’t exist in a vacuum. Their purpose is to help create a more ethical digital world. A strong solution is built around strong principles. It’s designed to protect customers’ data, keep employees’ workplaces safe, and protect the business. At Microsoft, we don’t do these things just because they’re required, we do them because they’re right.   

There’s no going back to the days of perimeter-based security. Enabling an effective Zero Trust approach requires the ability to govern, protect, and understand data coming from an ever-widening array of endpoints. Similarly, the number of tools we use for work will also grow. And with it, the challenge of having to protect data and manage risk across a multicloud and multiplatform environment. 

The unification of Microsoft’s data governance and compliance capabilities to Microsoft Purview reflects our belief that the world needs a simpler and more unified approach to data. We want to help you get the most out of your data while simultaneously managing risk and compliance. If you’re already a Microsoft 365 E5 or Microsoft 365 E5 Compliance customer, head over to the revamped Microsoft Purview compliance portal to check out some of these changes. If you’re an existing Azure Purview customer, visit the new Microsoft Purview governance portal. To learn more and get started, visit the Microsoft Purview website or start a free trial today.

Join other cybersecurity professionals at the Microsoft Security Summit digital event on May 12, 2022. Hear exciting product announcements and discover solutions you can use to lay the foundation for a safer and more innovative future. Register now.

To learn more about Microsoft Security solutions, visit our website. Bookmark the Security blog to keep up with our expert coverage on security matters. Also, follow us at @MSFTSecurity for the latest news and updates on cybersecurity.

---

¹How Microsoft can help reduce insider risk during the Great Reshuffle, Alym Rayani, Microsoft Security. February 28, 2022.

²Shed light on your dark data before GDPR comes into force, CIO, April 2018.

³September 2021 survey of 512 US compliance decision-makers commissioned by Microsoft from Vital Findings.

⁴February 2022 survey of 200 US compliance decision-makers (n=100 599-999 employees, n=100 1000+ employees) commissioned by Microsoft with MDC Research.

The post The future of compliance and data governance is here: Introducing Microsoft Purview appeared first on Microsoft Security Blog.

Every Batman movie actor gets a cape and cowl all their own, each of which is specially tailored to fit not only their needs but the needs of the franchise at that time. It's why Val Kilmer and George Clooney ended up wearing Batsuits with built-in abs, pecs, and even nipples in Joel Schumacher's campier, more flamboyant take on the Caped Crusader and Gotham City, much like Michael Keaton's Bat-duds reflect the gothic, expressionist flavor of Tim Burton's Batman films.

After Ben Affleck donned a Bat-costume loosely inspired by Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" for Zack Snyder's grim, brutal vision of the Batman universe, "The Batman" director Matt Reeves went with a more practical design for Robert Pattinson's iteration of the masked vigilante. In /Film's interview with costume designers David Crossman and Glyn Dillon, the latter recalled that Reeves "wanted to play towards [the Batsuit] feeling very real, and I remember him saying how he wanted Batman to have freedom to move, and he wanted him to be able to fight like an MMA fighter." This can also seen in the myriad of real-world tactical inspirations behind Pattinson's crime-fighting gear in the movie.

The Batsuit Is 'Like A Russian Pressure Suit'

As Dillon emphasized in our interview with him, mobility was a major concern when it came to designing Pattinson's Batsuit. Where Keaton's original Bat-costume was notoriously heavy and constrictive (often forcing him to turn his entire body just to look in a different direction), Reeves wanted to maximize the utility of Pattinson's outfit in keeping with his realism-driven vision for "The Batman."

Dillon talks about this in James Field's book "The Art of The Batman," comparing the movie's Batsuit to a Russian pressure suit:

"Matt (Reeves) wants everything to feel like it has a purpose, so with the suit we came up with this idea of it being a bit like a Russian pressure suit. The lacing detail up the side and back is based on what pilots would wear. And we've got elastic in the back so they can fight and stretch and punch freely. It's not a real protective suit, but when we met with Robert Alonso, the head stunt coordinator, he was saying that it reminded him of an equestrian vest, which he said is one of the best protective vests a stuntman can wear because it's got similar kind of breaks in it, so that you've got a lot of mobility. And it's got pauldrons in the chest plate so, in theory, Batman will be protected from bullets and what have you."

"A lot of the paneling you see [in the Batsuit] is very much taken from the ideas of ballistic shielding, etcetera, that is sewn into that," explained "The Batman" supervising costume effects modeler Pierre Bohanna. He added, "After the cowl, it looks like it's made from leather and stitched together, so the mechanical elements are very much built on top."

Dillon took a similar approach to crafting Pattinson's utility belt, reasoning that "it would be nice if [Bruce Wayne would] use stuff that you could get like from ex-military or police force." As such, "The Batman" foregoes the more colorful, ornamental look of Keaton's yellow utility belt in favor of a "very practical-looking, black leather, very realistic belt because it's from the real world," Dillon added. He also alluded to Keaton being infamously unable to move his neck in Burton's Batman films, which is why he used "pieces that are almost like vertebrae" in the neck of Pattinson's Bat-cowl, allowing him "that full motion."

Batman's Wingsuit Got A Similar Makeover

Keep in mind, Dillon isn't trashing Keaton's Batsuit so much as noting that his costume was crafted with the heightened universe of Burton's comic book films in mind, and it simply wouldn't make sense in a movie like "The Batman." That also extends to his wingsuit, which Keaton's Batman would form using his cape whenever he needed to make a quick getaway, with no real indication as to how he did so. But where Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" came up with a sci-fi explanation for the way Christian Bale's Batman operates his wingsuit (his cape is composed of "memory cloth," allowing it to be reshaped into a glider with the aid of an electrical current), "The Batman" required something a little more down-to-Earth.

As Dillon put it:

"Whereas in the previous Batman films you have [Batman's cape] kind of miraculously turning into a glider, it doesn't quite feel that realistic. Matt really wanted it to feel like Bruce Wayne has worked out a way of making this thing that he wears on his back all the time have some practical use."

Calling the film's wingsuit "incredible," producer Dylan Clark noted that it was important for this element of the Batsuit to make logistical sense the first time Pattinson's Caped Crusader puts it to use:

"You've not really seen it in a city, and you've certainly not seen it with an iconic character running away from the cops in the night, crashing to the streets below. It always has to come out of character, why is he actually putting this into his arsenal? And if you can't answer that then you're in trouble."

"The Batman" is now streaming on HBO Max and will premiere on HBO on April 23, 2022. It arrives on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD a month after that on May 24, 2022. "The Art of The Batman" is available for purchase now.

Read this next: Batman Movies Ranked From Worst To Best

The post The Real-Life Tactical Inspirations Behind The Batman's Batsuit appeared first on /Film.

We've had a lot of fun over the last few months dissecting Robert Pattinson's brooding, emo, shaggy-haired version of Bruce Wayne in Matt Reeves' "The Batman," but thanks to the release of "The Art of the Batman" by James Field (available today), we now have some definitive information to help enhance our speculations.

Since his cinematic debut, Bruce Wayne has typically been portrayed as the billionaire playboy philanthropist we know and love, but Reeves wanted to do something completely different. "I wanted him to feel almost like a fallen American prince," he said in the book. "I wanted him to be someone whose parents had been larger than life; philanthropic figures who everyone revered as Gotham royalty and in the wake of their tragic deaths, instead of fostering the image of the storied Waynes, he completely withdrew, and became what I saw as an almost rockstar-like recluse." Reeves' biggest inspiration? Kurt Cobain.

Reeves said he was listening to Nirvana's song "Something in the Way" (which is prominently featured in an early scene of the film) when it all clicked. "There was just something very resonant in it for me ...I could see Bruce like a pale, somewhat vampiric rockstar in this old, grungy manor," he said. 

A brooding, tortured Bruce Wayne is a fresh take on the character, and one that allows us to see an entirely new way for the famed orphan heir to process the murder of his parents. Reeves drew inspiration from the Gus Van Sant flick "Last Days," which features Michael Pitt in a role deeply inspired by Kurt Cobain. "He's in this decaying old wreck of a home, and in the living room, he's got his amps and his electric guitars, and I thought 'Well, this is our version of Bruce Wayne," said Reeves.

Dressing Down A Billionaire

Despite all of his internal pain and anguish, Bruce Wayne is still one of the wealthiest people on the planet, but his wealth was intentionally reflected in minimalistic ways. His wardrobe is expensive, but not lavish, and while his split-window 1963 Chevrolet Sting Ray Corvette drips of affluence, it's a sleek classic rather than an over-the-top display of grandiose technological advancements. As Field puts it, "every single stylistic choice was made to reflect a significant internal struggle."

This was confirmed by Academy Award-winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran who worked closely with Robert Pattinson to make sure they were on the same page regarding the character's look. "He had loads of thoughts, Robert," she said. "It was all about honing it down and making it less." The main challenge was trying to find the balance between showcasing the depths of his pockets while never sacrificing the psychological turmoil plaguing his existence. "He doesn't look like a playboy," said Durran. "He's more like a tortured soul."

Kurt Cobain was never comfortable with the wealth he had accumulated. When "Nevermind" the album from which "Something in the Way" hails, had reached the #1 spot on the U.S. Charts, Cobain was still living in his car. He died leaving behind a multi-million dollar estate, an accumulation of wealth that was in direct opposition to how he was feeling. What they say is true, money genuinely cannot buy happiness. (It can help and provide access to better assistance, though, let's not be ignorant.)

Pattinson Embraced The Cobain-Like Character

Robert Pattinson knew what was at stake if he didn't fully commit to the new interpretation of the character. After all, the man who skyrocketed to fame by playing one of the most openly mocked characters in pop culture history is more than familiar with what can happen if the public dislikes your performance. Jeffrey Wright, who played Reeves' version of Gotham City Police Department lieutenant Jim Gordon, noted that Pattisonson's physical transformation was a sight to behold. "It's as though he had grown like five inches," he said. "He just had a presence about him that's not at all the way he carries himself when the camera is off." 

Knowing that Pattison thinks method acting is a crock of bologna, Wright's words regarding Pattinson's transformation are even more powerful. "It's just beautifully distinct in a way that's going to be really compelling and exciting and new," Wright said.

In order to really hammer home the Cobain inspiration, makeup designer Naomi Donne channeled the smudged black eyeliner frequently donned by Kurt, and incorporated it into the aesthetic look of Batman. "The whole Kurt Cobain black eye makeup really struck me, and I liked the idea that he had the remains of his Batman makeup on," said Donne. "Slightly moody and rock and roll-y." The combination of Pattinson's dedication to the physicality and the visual storytelling developed by Reeves and the rest of the production crew, "The Batman" successfully ushered in a Bruce Wayne by way of Kurt Cobain.

Read this next: Batman Movies Ranked From Worst To Best

The post Nirvana Inspired The Batman Even More Than You Think appeared first on /Film.

The impact of the war in Ukraine is evolving in real time, particularly when it comes to the ransomware landscape. Needless to say, it dominated the ransomware conversation throughout Q1 2022. This quarter, we’re digging into some of the consequences from the invasion and what it means for you in addition to a few broader domestic developments.

Why? Staying up to date on ransomware trends can help you prepare your security infrastructure in the short and long term to protect your valuable data. In this series, we share five key takeaways based on what we saw over the previous quarter. Here’s what we observed in Q1 2022.

1. Sanctions and International Attention May Have Depressed Some Ransomware Activity

Following the ground invasion, ransomware attacks seemed to go eerily quiet especially when government officials predicted cyberattacks could be a key tactic. That’s not to say attacks weren’t being carried out without being reported, but the radio silence was notable enough that a few media outlets wondered why.

International attention may be one reason—cybercriminals tend to be wary of the spotlight. Having the world’s eyes on a region where much cybercrime originates seems to have pushed cybercriminals into the shadows. The sanctions imposed on Russia have made it more difficult for cybercrime syndicates based in the country to receive, convert, and disperse payment from victims. The war also may have caused some chaos within ransomware syndicates and fomented fears that cyberinsurers would not pay for claims. As a result, we’ve seen a slowing of ransomware incidents in the first quarter, but that may not last.

Key Takeaway: While ransomware attacks may be down short-term, no one should be lulled into thinking the threat is gone, especially with government agencies on high alert and warnings from the highest levels that businesses should still be on guard.

2. Long-term Socioeconomic Impacts Could Trigger a New Wave of Cybercrime

As part of their ongoing analysis, cyber security consultants Coveware, illustrated how the socioeconomic precarity caused by sanctions could lead to a larger number of people turning to cybercrime as a way to support themselves. In their reporting, they analyzed the number of trained cyber security professionals who they’d expect to be out of work given Russia’s rising unemployment rate in order to estimate a pool of potential new ransomware operators. To double the number of individuals currently acting as ransomware operators, they found that only 7% of the newly unemployed workforce would have to convert to cybercrime.

They note, however, that it remains to be seen what impact a larger labor pool would have since new entrants looking for fast cash may not be as willing to put in the time and effort to carry out big game tactics that typified the first half of 2021. As such, Coveware would expect to see an increase in attacks on small to medium-sized enterprises (which already make up the largest portion of ransomware victims today) and a decline in ransom demands with new operators hoping to make paying up more attractive for victims.

Key Takeaway: If the threat materializes, new entrants to the ransomware game are likely to try to fly under the radar, which means we would expect to see a larger number of small to medium-sized businesses targeted with ransoms that won’t make headlines, but that nonetheless hurt the businesses affected.

3. One Ransomware Operator Paid the Price for Russian Allegiance; Others Declared Neutrality

In February, ransomware group Conti declared their support for Russian actions and threatened to retaliate against Western entities targeting Russian infrastructure. But Conti appears to have miscalculated the loyalty of its affiliates, many of whom are likely pro-Ukraine. The declaration backfired when one of their affiliates leaked chat logs following the announcement. Shortly after, LockBit, another prolific ransomware group, took a cue from Conti’s blunder, declaring neutrality and swearing off any attacks against Russia’s many enemies. Their reasoning? Surprisingly inclusive for an organized crime syndicate:

“Our community consists of many nationalities of the world, most of our pentesters are from the CIS including Russians and Ukrainians, but we also have Americans, Englishmen, Chinese, French, Arabs, Jews, and many others in our team… We are all simple and peaceful people, we are all Earthlings.”

As we know, the ransomware economy is a wide, interconnected network of actors with varying political allegiances. The actions of LockBit may assuage some fears that Russia would be able to weaponize the cybercrime groups that have been allowed to operate with impunity within its borders, but that’s no reason to rest easy.

Key Takeaway: LockBit’s actions and words reinforce the one thing we know for sure about cybercriminals: Despite varying political allegiances, they’re unified by money and they will come after it if it’s easy for the taking.

4. CISA Reports the Globalized Threat of Ransomware Increased in 2021

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released a statement in March summarizing the trends they saw throughout 2021. They outlined a number of tactics that we saw throughout the year as well, including:

• Targeting attacks on holidays and weekends.
• Targeting managed service providers.
• Targeting backups stored in on-premises devices and in the cloud.

Among others, these tactics pose a threat to critical infrastructure, healthcare, financial institutions, education, businesses, and nonprofits globally.

Key Takeaway: The advisory outlines 18 mitigation strategies businesses and organizations can take to protect themselves from ransomware, including some of the top strategies as we see it: protecting cloud storage by backing up to multiple locations, requiring MFA for access, and encrypting data in the cloud.

5. Russia Could Use Ransomware to Offset Sanctions

Despite our first observation that ransomware attacks slowed somewhat early in the quarter, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an alert in March that Russia may employ state-sponsored actors to evade sanctions and bring in cryptocurrency by ramping up attacks. They warned financial institutions, specifically, to be vigilant against these threats to help thwart attempts by state-sponsored Russian actors to extort ransomware payments.

The warnings follow an increase in phishing and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that have persisted throughout the year and increased toward the end of February into March as reported by Google’s Threat Analysis Group. In reports from ThreatPost covering the alert as well as Google’s observations, cybersecurity experts seemed doubtful that ransomware payouts would make much of a dent in alleviating the sanctions, and noted that opportunities to use ransomware were more likely on an individual level.

Key Takeaway: The warnings serve as a reminder that both individual actors and state-sponsored entities have ransomware tools at their disposal to use as a means to retaliate against sanctions or simply support themselves, and that the best course of action is to shore up defenses before the anticipated threats materialize.

What This All Means for You

The changing political landscape will continue to shape the ransomware economy in new and unexpected ways. Being better prepared to avoid or mitigate the effects of ransomware makes more and more sense when you can’t be sure what to expect. Ransomware protection doesn’t have to be costly or confusing. Check out our ransomware protection solutions to get started.

The post Ransomware Takeaways From Q1 2022 appeared first on Backblaze Blog | Cloud Storage & Cloud Backup.

If you felt yourself mourning the end of "Jackass" following the completion of "Jackass Forever," don't waste your tears because this ain't the end of the line for our favorite group of doofuses. Just as "Jackass 2" and "Jackass 3D" ended up with enough footage and ridiculous stunts to constitute another feature-length film each, there was plenty of goodness left out of "Jackass Forever" that Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Wee Man, Preston Lacy, Dave England, Danger Ehren, and the rest of the team couldn't in good faith leave on the cutting room floor. All hail co-creator and director Jeff Tremaine, because "Jackass 4.5" is on its way to Netflix.

Get ready for more stunts and stupidity with Jackass 4.5, an all-new feature film featuring the whole crew! Here’s a small taste of what you can expect when it premieres May 20 on Netflix... This is the Swingset Gauntlet! pic.twitter.com/IdJDl10mnk

— Netflix (@netflix) April 19, 2022

"Jackass Forever" debuted over two decades after the show first popped on the MTV airwaves and changed a generation, showcasing our beloved heroes in acts of ridiculous jackassery, unbelievable stunts, impressive feats of pain tolerance, and enough cock and ball torture to make a dominatrix blush. Thanks to the pandemic, "Jackass Forever" was the first time many of us remembered what pure, unadulterated joy felt like in years. "Jackass" represents hope. "Jackass" represents unconditional love. "Jackass" is a reminder that the world is as ridiculous, stupid, and wonderful as we can make it. Most importantly, "Jackass" is cinema.

What To Expect From Jackass 4.5

As is tradition, the footage relegated to the ".5" entries frequently shows some of the best failed attempts at stunts shown in the theatrical release, and brand new stunts that for whatever reason didn't make the final cut. Danger Ehren (real name Ehren McGhehey) said in an interview that "Jackass 4.5" will feature a stunt that "did the most long-term damage" to his physicality. Considering Danger Ehren was the recipient of the new and improved "Cup Test," in which he took an uppercut punch from UFC champion Francis Ngannou, a fastball from softball pro Danielle O'Toole, a slap shot from New Jersey Devils defenseman P.K. Subban, and a direct landing from a pogo stick ... what the hell did you do, Ehren?!

Dave England didn't have time to mince words, admitting that he almost had his d**k ripped off. "It could happen to anyone," he said. Sure, Dave. Yes. Of course. Apparently the scene didn't make the movie because "Jackass Forever" already had so much full-frontal male nudity. "I was like, 'How is that not in there?' and they're like, 'Well there's too many.'" With this information and based on the footage we've been privy to watch on the Netflix Twitter account, "Jackass 4.5" sounds like it's bringing the goods in more ways than one.

"Jackass 4.5" will debut on Netflix on May 20, 2022.

Read this next: The 20 Most Underrated Disney Movies You Need To See

The post Jackass 4.5 Crashes Onto Netflix Next Month, Watch the First Clip Here appeared first on /Film.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: In most cases, the release of yet another classic console emulator for the Switch wouldn't be all that noteworthy. But experts tell Ars that a pair of Game Boy and Game Boy Advance emulators for the Switch that leaked online Monday show signs of being official products of Nintendo's European Research & Development division (NERD). That has some industry watchers hopeful that Nintendo may be planning official support for some emulated classic portable games through the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service in the future. The two leaked emulators -- codenamed Hiroko for Game Boy and Sloop for Game Boy Advance -- first hit the Internet as fully compiled NSP files and encrypted NCA files linked from a 4chan thread posted to the Pokemon board Monday afternoon. Later in that thread, the original poster suggested that these emulators "are official in-house development versions of Game Boy Color/Advance emulators for Nintendo Switch Online, which have not been announced or released." In short order, dataminers examining the package found a .git folder in the ROM. That folder includes commit logs that reference supposed development work circa August 2020 from a NERD employee and, strangely enough, a developer at Panasonic Vietnam. NERD's history includes work on the software for the NES Classic and SNES Classic, as well as the GameCube emulation technology in last year's Super Mario All-Stars, so the division's supposed involvement wouldn't be out of the ordinary. Footage from the leaked Game Boy Advance emulator also includes a "(c) Nintendo" and "(c) 2019 -- 2020 Nintendo" at various points. While suggestive, none of this is exactly hard evidence of Nintendo's involvement in making these emulators. Some skepticism might be warranted, too, because there is some historical precedent for an emulator developer trying to get more attention by pretending their homebrew product is a "leaked" official Nintendo release. Some observers also pointed to other reasons to doubt that these leaks were an "official" Nintendo work product. ModernVintageGamer and others noted that the leaked GBA emulator includes an "export state to Flashcart" option designed "to confirm original behavior" on "original hardware," according to the GUI. That option is illustrated with a picture of an EZFlash third-party flash cartridge in the emulator interface, an odd choice given Nintendo's previous litigious attacks on such flashcart makers. A "savedata memory" option in the emulator also references the ability to "inter-operate with flashcarts, other emulators, [and] fan websites..." That's a list that would serve as a decent Johnny Carson "Carnac the Magnificent" setup for "things Nintendo wouldn't want to reference in an official product." A prominent video game historian that Ars consulted with said they were "99.9% sure [the emulators are] real" and that "personally I'm absolutely convinced of its legitimacy."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Post by jejump, 19.04.2022, 22:41:

Hi everyone,


Over the years of generating code for various platforms (8051 asm, Microchip asm, lots of other micro-controllers), I've grown quite at home generating my source code using just plain 'ole Windows Notepad.exe. I've tried using other text editors for Windows and just end up getting frustrated because things don't flow the way my brain is trained to do things--namely shortcut keys, and as with the case of Notepad++, text formatting doesn't space tabs in the same way as Notepad, but that's a whole other issue.

My real issue is that I need Notepad for DOS and if there is a DOS equal to Notepad in terms of text selection, and all keyboard shortcuts, it's the FreeDOS EDIT.EXE program. It seems to mimic Notepad in every way EXCEPT it has a cap on the size of the file being edited. Right now, I'm trying to edit a PowerBASIC .BAS file that's around 330KB. FD Edit.exe wants no part of it! Can anyone recommend a DOS text editor that:

-Supports large files
-Highlights selected text using SHIFT+Arrow Keys
-Highlighted disappears when arrow key is pressed w/o SHIFT
-CNTRL+C Copies
-CNTRL+V Pastes
-CNTRL+X Cuts
-CNTRL+F Searches

I've downloaded PEDIT and IE and use IE mostly. That's as close as I've come to getting what I'd like to have. I've downloaded and discarded about 8 others. PowerBASIC 3.5 compiler has a pretty disappointing editor too, BTW.

Thanks for all of the help forthcoming!

John

(Superhero Bits is a collection of stories, updates, and videos about anything and everything inspired by the comics of Marvel, DC, and more. For comic book movies, TV shows, merchandise, events, and whatever catches our eye, this is the place to find anything that falls through the cracks.)

In this edition of Superhero Bits:

• The "Ms. Marvel" 50-day countdown begins.

• A lot of people watched the "Thor: Love and Thunder" trailer.

• Gal Gadot updates on the status of "Wonder Woman 3."

• Several Arrowverse shows might get the ax.

• All that and more!

Is The CW Getting Ready To Trim Down The Arrowverse?

Fans of the Arrowverse on The CW may have less to look forward to in the future, if a new report from Deadline is to be believed. In a report on shows that are on the bubble in terms of whether or not they will be renewed, the outlet states, "There are the three remaining DC series — veteran 'Legends of Tomorrow,' 'Batwoman' and freshman 'Naomi' — which will be in consideration alongside DC pilot 'Gotham Knights.'" They further state that "half" of those four projects are expected to make it next season. "Gotham Knights" is currently filming its pilot and has not yet officially been picked up to series. Beyond that, it seems at least one long-running show could go, and "Naomi" could have its run cut very short. We'll see what happens in the coming weeks.

Wonder Woman Star Lynda Carter Has Her Suit At The Ready

Long before Gal Gadot brought Wonder Woman to life on the big screen, Lynda Carter was TV's Wonder Woman for years. Recently, the actress shared on Twitter, "All your Coachella looks are making me reconsider everything at the forgotten end of my closet," with a vintage picture of herself looking particularly stylish. Then the official DC "Wonder Woman" account retweeted her post saying, "Everything??" To which, Carter replied with the above, showcasing her outfit and suggesting that she has it at the ready in case of an emergency. Luckily, we'll get to see more of Carter on the big screen in "Wonder Woman 3," which hopefully comes about sooner rather than later (more on that in a bit).

Jane Foster's Mighty Thor Is Coming To Marvel's Avengers

"Marvel's Avengers" may not have been the hit that video game developer Square Enix (or Marvel) hoped it would be, but DLC is still coming, and update 2.4 is coming soon. However, looking even further ahead, a recent blog post finds the developers revealing a little something about update 2.5, which will bring none other than Jane Foster as The Mighty Thor to the game. The post said:

"We can share that it will introduce a new playable Hero for all platforms: Jane Foster: The Mighty Thor! Our Hero designs are driven first and foremost by their core comic book identities, so, as a fellow wielder of Mjolnir, her suite of abilities will have a lot in common with the Odinson's, however she will also have elements that are distinctly Jane. More details on how Jane will come to life in our game will be coming in the future."

This seems to be tied rather conveniently to the release of "Thor: Love and Thunder," which will see Natalie Portman returning to the MCU as Jane Foster to bring her new version of Thor to life. Around that time, it seems players of the game will have a chance to put the hammer in her hands as well.

Spider-Man: No Way Home Get Electrified

The folks at Sony Pictures have released a new featurette from "Spider-Man: No Way Home" that focuses on the return of Jamie Foxx as Electro. As fans are surely aware, Foxx originally played the part in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" and, to put it nicely, it didn't go over all that well. This time around, Foxx got a bit of a redemption arc alongside Andrew Garfield, who returned as Spider-Man. They're both present in the featurette to discuss coming back to the fold. This is but a tiny fraction of what is available on the Blu-ray, which hit shelves last week for those who haven't picked it up yet.

Wait, Does Liam Neeson Want To Make Another Darkman Movie?

Liam Neeson has been in a couple of big superhero movies in the form of "Batman Begins" and (albeit briefly) "The Dark Knight Rises." Not often discussed is his work in Sam Raimi's dark and bizarre 90s flick "Darkman." While the movie had a couple of sequels, Neeson did not return for them. Well, in a new conversation with ComicBook.com, the actor seems as though he would be interested in reprising the role. Assuming the script is good, that is. Neeson said:

"That's a good question. I would be very interested in reading the script. Very."

There is absolutely no indication that a new "Darkman" movie is on the table. But in the age of "everything old is new again," far stranger things have happened. Your move, Hollywood.

The Thor: Love And Thunder Trailer Was Viewed Many, Many Times

The internet seemed pretty damn happy to finally have the "Thor: Love and Thunder" teaser trailer when it dropped yesterday. To that end, Marvel Studios revealed that the trailer was reportedly viewed a total of 209 million times in the first 24 hours. That indicates, perhaps not surprisingly, a ridiculously high level of interest in Chris Hemsworth's upcoming return as the God of Thunder, which is set to hit theaters this summer. If the movie can deliver the goods much like was done with "Thor: Ragnarok," this could be yet another gigantic hit for the Marvel empire.

Gal Gadot Explains Where They're At With Wonder Woman 3 Currently

You may be wondering, "what's going on with "Wonder Woman 3" right now? Gal Gadot has some answers for you. It may not be wholly satisfying, but they are answers nonetheless. Speaking with Forbes, the actress explained that they are currently in the process of getting the script together:

"We're talking! We're actually in the mix of working on the script and getting the third one made, so it's all wheels are working and turning, and I'm super, super excited for the fans to come and watch 'Wonder Woman 3' once it's made."

Presumably, this means Gadot is working alongside director Patty Jenkins to get all of the ducks in a row. One assumes this is a priority for Warner Bros. even if "Wonder Woman 1984" was a disappointment critically and commercially when compared to the first film. But they have every opportunity to bounce back, so hopefully things are starting to come together behind the scenes.

New Ms. Marvel Poster Begins The 50-Day Countdown

Lastly, today brings a brand new poster for the upcoming "Ms. Marvel" series on Disney+, which will officially bring Kamala Khan to the MCU. The poster was released as we're now 50 days away from the premiere of the series, which stars Iman Vellani as the titular hero. This will be a pretty important show, not only because this character is truly beloved, but because she is poised to become a big part of the universe in the coming years. Outside of the show, she will be starring alongside Brie Larson's "Captain Marvel" sequel in "The Marvels" next year. In the meantime, be on the lookout for "Ms. Marvel" on June 8, 2022.

Read this next: The 15 Most Anticipated Comic Book Movies And Shows Of 2022, Ranked

The post Superhero Bits: New Ms. Marvel Poster, Wonder Woman 3 Update & More appeared first on /Film.

Deer: elegant, beautiful, a sign of nature right outside your door, and the bane of many a gardener’s existence. No tulip is safe from their chomping maws...but there are some flowering plants that are more deer-resistant than others. Let’s take a tour of some of the prettiest flowers on the Rutgers list of plants that are “rarely damaged” by deer, along with their ideal growing conditions.

When Chris Tucker meets Jackie Chan for the first time onscreen in "Rush Hour" he screams at Chan, "Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?" In real life, this scene wasn't too far off base from their actual meeting. The first time the actors met, it played out just like a scene from the movie they were about to shoot.

Despite their inauspicious introduction, the comedy-action duo partnered for a wildly successful trilogy, and the internet is always littered with stories about a potential fourth film. The buddy cop franchise has grossed just under a billion dollars worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. "Rush Hour" also cemented Chan, already a successful Hong Kong action star, as a Hollywood leading man, and made the burgeoning Chris Tucker into a megastar.

Not bad for a series whose stars got off to a rocky start, leaving Tucker to wonder how they would ever make a movie together.

Jackie Chan Thought Rush Hour Was Terrible

The original 1998 "Rush Hour" pairs fast-talking American L.A.P.D. detective James Carter (Tucker) with Hong Kong Inspector Lee (Chan) to find a Chinese diplomat's kidnapped daughter. Much of the comedy is communication-based, making the frenetically-paced Tucker a perfect choice opposite Chan, for whom English is a second language.

But the movie almost didn't happen. According to Yahoo!, Chan had given up on breaking into the American film market after two decades, but his manager urged him to try one more time. Chan said:

"Nobody knew who this little Chinese guy was that spoke no English. I was disappointed and thought, 'No more American market.'"

Then "Rush Hour" came along, where Chan's speaking style would be integrated into the movie as part of the "East meets West" buddy cop humor. Chan agreed to make the film, but he didn't see the appeal in the humor, even calling it a terrible movie. After first seeing "Rush Hour" Chan said, "The English, I'm not good. Chris Tucker's English, I don't understand. Terrible movie!"

And while a lot of the miscommunication was scripted, the pair struggled to get on the same page from the moment they met.

'Who Is This Black Man Talking To Me?'

Though the duo's chemistry is obvious from the moment they meet onscreen, it didn't always feel like a sure thing. According to the New York Post, Tucker had his doubts when he first met Chan. Tucker said:

"I knew who Jackie was, I've always been a big fan, so I was telling him what we could do to make the movie good and stuff, and he was looking at me like, 'Who is this Black man talking to me?' I thought he didn't know English 'cause he didn't say one word. I said, 'This man's not talking, how we gonna do this movie?'"

In a rebuttal that sounds like a line of dialogue from one of the "Rush Hour" films, Chan claimed he's not the only one to blame for the miscommunication between the two actors. Chan said:

"My English is not that good, but he speaks very terrible English, too. He talk to me and I say to my manager, 'What happened? Is my English getting worse?' But my manager [said] he don't understand him, either."

Chan admitted to not liking Tucker at first because he would improvise on the set. But after filming three movies together, the pair have become friends off-screen. Chan even credits their cultural differences for much of the organic humor between them. In retrospect, the story behind the pair's initial meeting adds even more humor to that already hilarious scene where they meet onscreen for the first time.

With those box office returns and the ongoing whispers about a fourth movie still ongoing well over a decade after "Rush Hour 3," it seems audiences everywhere understood what "Rush Hour" was talking about, even if it didn't start out that way for its stars.

Read this next: The 15 Best Jackie Chan Movies Ranked

The post Chris Tucker's First Jackie Chan Encounter Didn't Go As Planned appeared first on /Film.

I've discussed LNK files a number of times in this blog, and to be honest, I really don't think that this is a subject that gets the attention it deserves. In my experience, and I humbly bow to collection bias here, LNK files are not as well understood as they (sh|c)ould be in the DFIR and CTI fields, which puts defenders at a disadvantage. When I suggest that LNK files aren't really well understood by DFIR and CTI teams, I'm basing that on my own experience with multiple such teams over the years, largely the result of direct interaction.

Why is that? Well, the LNK file format is well documented at the MS site, and there have been a number of tools written over the years for parsing these files. I've even gone so far as to create the smallest functioning LNK file, based on the minimum functional requirements, and with all of the metadata zero'd out or altered. However, IMHO, the real issue is that the actual functional, operational use of these files is not discussed often enough, and as such, they fall out of scope, much like other aspects of Windows systems (Ex: NTFS alternate data streams (ADSs)). As such, LNK files are not something that is closely examined during DFIR or proactive threat hunting engagements, and even more rarely do they appear in reporting. Finally, as effective as these files can be, they simply are not the "new shiny hotness"...they aren't 0-days, and they aren't the newest, hottest exploits. As a result, not a lot of focus and attention are given to these files, and it's likely that their use is less evident than might otherwise be the case.

V3ded's Github repo includes an article that does a great job of covering how LNK files can be abused. While the title refers to "initial access", it seems to describe the use of document macros to create an LNK file, rather than "weaponized" LNK files being delivered to a target. The difference is an important one...using macros (or some other method) to create LNK files on a target system means that the LNK file metadata is going to be specific to the target system itself. Alternatively, an LNK file delivered to the target is going to contain metadata specific to the threat actor's dev environment.

V3ded's article refers to a couple of means of persistence that are very interesting. One is the use of shortcut keys, defined within the structure of the LNK file. Per the article, an LNK file can be placed on the desktop and structured to be activated by a specific and common key sequence, such as Control+C (copy), Control+V (paste), or some other commonly used sequence. Another means of persistence involves the use of the "iconfilename" element within the LNK file structure; by pointing to an icon file located on a remote, TA-controlled system, attempts to access the resource (via activation of the LNK file) will involve authentication, allowing the threat actor to collect password hashes. What's interesting about both of these techniques is that neither one requires the threat actor to authenticate to collect information and gain access to your systems. This means that following containment and eradication steps, when you think you've ejected the threat actor and you've changed passwords in your environment, the threat actor is still able to collect information that may allow them to re-enter your environment. 

Again, when LNK files are sent to a target, from a threat actor, those files will contain metadata specific to the threat actor's dev environment. For example, consider MalwareByte's analysis of an "LNK attack" tied to a threat actor group referred to as "Higaisa". This attack apparently involved an LNK file being sent to the target in a zip archive; the LNK file would have to have been developed by the threat actor, and the file metadata would provide insight into the threat actor's development environment. 

A similar example could be seen in Mandiant's analysis CozyBear phishing campaigns. In this example, the Mandiant team did an excellent job leveraging LNK files, and looked specifically at differences between successive campaigns to derive insights into the threat actor's evolution.

Over time, we've also seen LNK files sent or linked to a target while embedded in ISO or IMG file formats, allowing them to bypass MOTW (re: ADS) restrictions. In cases such as this, the metadata within the LNK file structure can provide insights as to the build or production method, proliferation of build methods, etc., similar to the way EOD professionals look to toolmarks and artifacts to identify bombmakers. As such, these resources should not be ignored by DFIR and CTI professionals, but should instead be leveraged for a range of insight. For example, Yara rules can be used to perform retro-hunts via VirusTotal to look for the use and proliferation of specific platforms, as well as view changes in LNK file production techniques between campaigns, or simply over time. Tools can be designed to comb through specific locations within Windows systems (or images), scanning for persistence techniques and other anomalies, automatically providing them for analysis and development into retro-hunts.

Peas are resilient motherfuckers.

Read more...

"Barry" returns with its third season this Sunday and although the reviews are promising, it doesn't seem like good times are in store for any of the show's characters. Bill Hader's Barry in particular will start the season in a particularly dark place, having just gone on a murder rampage that killed 25 people. And that's before he has to deal with the fact that Cousineau (Henry Winkler) knows about the murder of his girlfriend. 

In a recent interview, Collider asked Hader about this, and if we're even supposed to find Barry "lovable." Hader was forthright with his answer:

"I mean, I never found him lovable. It's interesting how people found him lovable. I think he's a highly, highly complicated guy, who's not that bright and pretty violent. He is trying for something. He's trying to understand himself, but maybe people sometimes see themselves in these things. But when we're writing it, it's always, 'What's the interesting, honest, truthful thing about the guy.'"

Hader's right in that it is interesting how much viewers have latched onto Barry, even as we watched him kill an innocent civilian in Afghanistan in season 2's "What?!" and tried to murder a pre-teen girl in the next episode, "ronny/lily." As irredeemable as the man's actions are, his loneliness and his increasingly futile desire to start a new life for himself still manage to make us root for him. At the very least, he's always compelling. Hader compares his experience with the character to his experience watching Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas": 

"'Goodfellas,' I'm along for the ride. 'Wow. What a cool group of guys.' And then Spider gets killed or the scene where he grabs a gun from Lorraine Bracco's and shoves it in her face. And that seems awful. And you go, 'Oh right. These are violent, awful people.' So, I see Barry that way."

'I Don't Know If He Will Hold The Audience's Loyalty This Season'

It seems like "Barry" is planning to take its main character down a similar path that other leads from anti-hero shows have trod before. The first seasons of these kind of shows often play around with the idea that maybe the protagonist's actions aren't as terrible as they seem on the surface. Walt from "Breaking Bad" may be cooking and selling meth, but he claims it's only to provide a good life for his family. Barry may be a killer, but he's only killing bad people who did something to deserve it. 

But just as "Breaking Bad" gradually makes it clear that Walt's motivations aren't quite as honorable as wanting to provide for his family, "Barry" makes it clear it's main character's willingness to kill is not just confined to people who deserve it. Season 1 ends with him killing detective Janice Moss (Paula Newsome) out of self-preservation, even though he considers her to be a good person. Season 2 shows Barry's attempts to find redemption after breaking his own moral code, only to abandon that code entirely in the bloodbath of a finale. 

"I don't know if he will hold the audience's loyalty this season," Hader told The Hollywood Reporter, but he doesn't think that's necessarily a bad thing, explaining, "With movies where they were trying to make sure that you liked the main character, I would always feel a little cheated." 

He's clearly not alone on this, as the ongoing popularity of his show (and the popularity of anti-hero television in general) can attest. Some of the best TV shows of all time are centered around characters who do bad things for bad reasons. "Barry" is joining their ranks because the writers understand what the creators of "The Sopranos" and "Mad Men" understood: when it comes to your main character, likeability is overrated. Compelling is what matters most.

Read this next: The Most Ruthless Jimmy McGill Moments From Better Call Saul

The post Bill Hader Thinks Barry Might Lose Some Fans in Season 3 appeared first on /Film.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Users of privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo have been unable to site search the domains of some well-known pirated media sites recently, as reported by TorrentFreak on Friday. This follows a News Punch article last month calling out DuckDuckGo for "purging" independent media sources from search results, and naming them "Google Lite." DuckDuckGo's CEO Gabriel Weinberg called the News Punch piece "completely made up" in a Twitter thread over the weekend to respond to the public and address both issues. To observers, it seemed as if DuckDuckGo had de-indexed searches for copyright-flouting media download sites like The Pirate Bay and Fmovies, and even a site search for the open-source tool youtube-dl came up empty. TorrentFreak later updated its report citing a company spokesperson blaming the issue on Bing search data, which DuckDuckGo relies upon. Weinberg insisted the company is not purging any results and said that site search results are not appearing due to the site operator error "Anyone can verify this by searching for an outlet and see it come up in results," Weinberg tweeted.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.