Ronald.phillips

What do Atomic Heart and Boundary have in common? Well, both of them had exclusive Ray Tracing effects (and even benchmarks) that were cut from their retail versions. Yes yes, even though Surgical Scalpels showcased some really GPU-heavy RT effects for this online FPS, the game will not feature any of them at launch. In … Continue reading Boundary will no longer feature Ray Tracing, ditches DLSS over FSR & XeSS →

The post Boundary will no longer feature Ray Tracing, ditches DLSS over FSR & XeSS appeared first on DSOGaming.

The new tool aims to deliver the network insights and coordination that “AI” security systems have long promised.

An MS-DOS-based Portable PC from 1984 is shown to be running the modern-day ChatGPT client without any issues.

A developer creates a ChatGPT client to run on MS-DOS and uses it on a 1984 IBM portable computer

Yeo Kheng Meng (yeokm1 on GitHub) is a "retrocomputing enthusiast." Three and a half years ago, the developer created a Slack client that ran on the Windows 3.1 operating system. With ChatGPT being the new buzzword and OpenAI releasing several APIs for programmers and developers, he wanted to challenge himself and have ChatGPT running on a vintage operating system/platform. He decided to get the AI chatbot to work on MS-DOS in his recent project.

The video below shows the MS-DOS-based ChatGPT clone in action. Yeo Kheng Meng has to launch MTCP DHCP to access an IP address from his router before using the application.

Yeo chose DOS because of the challenge of using an older platform, like Windows 3.1, that he had used for the custom Slack client that he developed. The system he chose to utilize is an IBM 5155 Portable PC that was created in 1984. He provides a list of specifications for this project:

• Intel 8088 4.77Mhz CPU
• 640KB conventional memory (using upgrade kit)
• CGA ISA graphics
• NE2000-compatible ISA Ethernet adapter
• XT-IDE ISA drive controller
• MS-DOS 6.22

He has documented with pictures the components utilized in the IBM 5155 portable PC for users interested in the computer's internals.

To begin with, developing the ChatGPT client in MS-DOS, he first needed to find a compiler that would work in the 16-bit DOS environment. After searching the internet for ideas, he found the Open Watcom C/C++ compiler the best option. The chosen compiler is a 32-bit application compatible with Windows 11 64-bit versions. The first hurdle needed to overcome was working with Windows 11 since 16-bit DOS applications do not run by default. There are third-party applications he could have used, such as winevdm, but they would not work for his particular needs in this project.

Yeo used a VirtualBox on his virtual machine for his DOS 6.22 environment. Using a bridged network to the host computer so that his virtual machine could access his internet connection, he began work on the ChatGPT DOS clone. The host machine used a simple Python-based web server, while the virtual machine used the MTCP library created by Michael B. Brutman.

Yeo found that with the lacking of network functions within DOS, he needed to utilize Visual Studio Code text editor and then parse JSON output from OpenAI's Chat Completion API. Once completed, the system, albeit slightly slow by today's standards, ran similarly to ChatGPT, including answering his first requests incorrectly. Within time the system would learn just like the widely used version of the generative AI application. Still, it is the oldest system currently running an AI-based generative pre-trained transformer.

The post Portable IBM PC With MS-DOS From 1984 Is Shown Running The ChatGPT Client by Jason R. Wilson appeared first on Wccftech.

This post contains spoilers for "Yellowjackets" season 2 episode 1.

The first season of "Yellowjackets" produced enough speculation and wild theories to rival any television series since HBO's "Westworld." Fans devoured the first episode of the hotly anticipated second season (reviewed in incredible detail by /Film's BJ Colangelo) making it the most-watched premiere in Showtime's history. As the timeline continues to jump back and forth between the survivors of the plane crash in the nineties and their present-day selves, more dark secrets are starting to come out into the light. 

So far, the adult versions of Shauna (Melanie Lynskey), Misty (Christina Ricci), and Natalie (Juliette Lewis) have been the main focal point of the show, but if the season premiere is any indication, that attention is shifting to Taissa (Tawny Cypress) and her increasingly disturbing behavior. It's already been established that Taissa falls into some type of sleepwalking trance where she eats dirt, bites herself, and climbs trees in the middle of the night in her quiet suburban neighborhood. Worst of all, she appears to have sacrificed the family dog, Biscuit, in some sort of bizarre ritual in a hidden basement. 

Out of all the characters, Taissa is probably the one most tied to the horror genre, as she hides the monster within her and commits ungodly acts, connecting her to Lottie's cult that comes out into the open in the season 2 premiere. When the shrine is revealed showing Biscuit's poor shaggy head surrounded by candles, the reference to the dysfunctional Voorhees family from the "Friday the 13th" franchise is undeniable and shows that "Yellowjackets" is firmly planting its horror roots in the ground. Taissa's terrible act comes back to haunt her in this season's new episode and threatens to upend her life which appears so perfect on the surface.  

Did Taissa Make A Shrine Or An Altar?

Towards the end of "Friday the 13th Part 2," Ginny (Amy Steel) — the main protagonist and ultimate final girl — discovers a shack where Jason has built a hideous altar to his mother Pamela Voorhees, the killer from the original who still rules over her son. His mother was decapitated in the final minutes of "Friday the 13th," leaving Ginny to discover her head and sweater that she quickly wears to try and trick Jason into letting her live. The art direction in this scene also homages Tobe Hooper's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" but, in the first season of "Yellowjackets," Taissa's shrine is an obvious nod to this "Friday the 13th Part 2" scene that horror fans were quick to point out.

While Jason is obviously building a shrine to his mother, it's a little unclear what Taissa was intending. Biscuit was her son Sammy's dog and a doll belonging to him is also seen, along with a marking of the same cult symbol that Lottie created drawn in blood. What appears to be a heart is clearly visible and the theory put forth by ScreenRant that the organ probably belongs to Adam (Peter Gadiot) is one I happen to agree with. With all that in mind, was Taissa making a sacrifice to Lottie who is assumed to be the eventual Antler Queen? 

Most likely, the reference to "Friday the 13th Part 2" isn't too telling, but it is interesting how Taissa's hidden sacrifice is a total inversion of the shrine that Jason conjured up. Here, instead of the son creating a shrine for his mother, it's a mother making an altar for her son.

How Much Power Does The Cult Have Over Taissa?

It might be too macabre (even for this show) to have Taissa sacrifice Sammy to the Antler Queen, but Taissa's wife Simone (Rukiya Bernard) may be in some serious trouble after discovering the altar and confronting Taissa in the season 2 premiere. In a very public scene, Simone refuses to allow Taissa to pick her own son up from school. Taissa planned to surprise Sammy with a new dog named Steve she picked up from a shelter. After Simone reveals to Taissa that she discovered Biscuit's head and the secret altar, she demands that Taissa gets some kind of help and, more importantly, that she resigns from the state senate seat she won back in the first season.

Simone grows even angrier when Taissa tells her she has no idea what she's talking about. Clearly, Taissa has no recollection of decapitating Biscuit which leads her to face the truth and discover the altar for herself. She's justifiably horrified, and assures the new puppy Steve, saying, "It'll be different with you." (Famous last words if I've ever heard them.) Steve better make it until the end of this season! However, Simone may be too much of a threat to Taissa's new political power. Although Taissa isn't in control of her actions, it may turn out that Lottie's cult is able to activate her in some way that could lead to more killing or at least some more incredibly weird behavior.

Taissa's old flame Vanessa is also returning in adult form, played by the magnificent Lauren Ambrose. Grown-up Van should have a crucial role to play in either helping Taissa control her monstrous tendencies or, perhaps, she will wind up having a connection to the cult that could turn Taissa into even more of a dangerous foe. 

"Yellowjackets" episodes air Sundays on Showtime.

Read this next: Horror Roles That Changed Actors Forever

The post Yellowjackets Season 2 Brings Back A Plot Point With Major Friday The 13th Vibes appeared first on /Film.

This post contains spoilers for "The White Lotus" seasons 1 and 2.

It's official, Lotus-heads: the highly anticipated third season of "The White Lotus" will be set in Thailand, Variety reports. Each season promises a new location and cast centering around a unique theme, so it's impossible to say for sure where this next season will go. Even still, there's been lots of hints dropped in the press and in the series itself about what season 3 might have in store. Luckily for you, I did a little digging and came up with some educated guesses so you don't have to.

Most Thai people practice Buddhism, a beautiful and ancient religion that has long been co-opted by wealthy Westerners. At its core, the HBO series is a satire of the uber-rich, and the imperialism of Buddhist practices is rife with potential for humor as well as deeply profound introspection.

"The first season [of 'The White Lotus'] kind of highlighted money, and then, the second season is sex," series creator Mike White explained in a season 2 behind-the-scenes video. "And I think the third season would be maybe a kind of satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality. And it feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at White Lotus."

Spirituality is the perfect entry point for both scathing satire and sympathetic psychoanalysis. What better way to pick apart the ultra-wealthy than to watch them explore their own minds? But, let's be honest, theme and location are far from the only questions on fans' minds.

Who Will Solve Tanya's Murder?

Okay, now for the fun part. It goes without saying that Jennifer Coolidge left a huge void when her character's death killed any hope of her coming back for a third season, especially since Tanya was the only character featured in seasons 1 and 2 in their entirety. Coolidge might not be returning, but the events leading up to Tanya's drowning remain unsolved. Could Greg be so bold as to spend his newly acquired capital at one of Tanya's favorite resorts? If so, would another returning cast member be on his tail?

Tanya's assistant Portia sparks up a romance with Albie at the close of season 2, which leaves room for their storyline to be expanded upon. Maybe they will go to Thailand together and solve the mystery of Tanya's death as a newly minted couple. "I think as far as [...] the conspiracy of Tanya's death, it's possible that I think Portia is scared enough to just leave it alone," Mike White suggested, "but the fact that all of those guys die on the boat, it feels like there's gotta be somebody who's gonna track it back down to Greg."

This theory starts to hold some more weight when you consider Michael Imperioli's character, Dominic. His marriage has lots of unresolved issues, and his wife and daughter were a looming off-screen presence all season. More importantly, the wife Abby was voiced by Laura Dern, a close friend, and collaborator of White's — the pair co-created the HBO series "Enlightened" together. It's unlikely that White would introduce Dern onto the show without giving her character a proper day in the sun. The series creator even teased the idea to Esquire back in December.

"Who knows," White suggested, "maybe there'll be another 'White Lotus' season where Dominic comes with his wife and they patch it all up!"

Who Is Most Likely To Return For Season 3?

The third season is still in the early stages of pre-production, with Mike White scouting locations in Thailand, per Variety. Still, a few more former cast members have suggested that they might return to the show in one form or another. For those that might have found my Di Grasso family fan theory far-fetched, note that Michael Imperioli is totally on board with the idea of returning to the "White Lotus" cast, although he's reluctant to get his hopes up prematurely.

"I don't want to think about it too much," the actor told Esquire. "Because the idea of that makes me so happy. I don't want to be disappointed... I would want nothing more than that. I just loved working with Mike [White] so much."

It seems unlikely that F. Murray Abraham, who plays Dominic's father, would return for another season along with his family. Since his storylines were all wrapped up and largely centered around his impending mortality, it seems more likely that his death would prompt a search for spiritual healing in Dominic.

But let's not limit our imagination to season 2 characters. Connie Britton, who played the powerhouse CFO Nicole Mossbacher in season 1, claimed that she is likely to return in season 3. "[White] wanted me to be in the second season, and there was an idea that I loved for the character," the actress revealed to Deadline. "Our intention is to do it in the third season. A piece of casting didn't work in the second season and we're hoping to [do] that in the third season." Add to that a rumor claiming Abby and Nicole are sisters, and we might see the two in Thailand together.

Who Will Join The Cast In Thailand?

On top of returning cast members, there is always the promise of fresh faces at the White Lotus resort — perhaps played by familiar Hollywood icons. Aside from Laura Dern, a few other names have popped up in fans' speculation.

Most recently, Mike White was spotted at dinner with Danny Devito, per Parade, sparking theories that he might be joining the season 3 cast. The HBO series has a slightly more dramatic tone than we typically see from the "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" actor, but he definitely has the chops to take it on. His dark sense of humor will fit right in, and he has played more dramatic roles in the past — for reference, see the 2016 film "Weiner-Dog."

"Jackass" alum Johnny Knoxville has also expressed an interest in joining "The White Lotus" season 3 cast. When asked if he would consider joining the potentially deadly luxury vacation, he responded in the affirmative. "Mike White is a very close friend of mine," he told Vulture. "He and I had been in Tokyo together [...] I might call him again as soon as this [interview] is over."

So, perhaps Portia's efforts to solve the Great Greg Conspiracy will be aided — or thwarted — by Johnny Knoxville and Danny Devito, or perhaps I'm totally off the map with every single theory here. But, let's be honest, even if I'm totally wrong, it'll still make for an exciting watch. No matter who's on first or what's on second, "The White Lotus" Thailand is sure to be a thrilling third entry into the anthology series, and it can't come soon enough.

Read this next: The 15 Best Anthology TV Series Ranked

The post The White Lotus is Heading to Thailand for Season 3, Let's Speculate Wildly! appeared first on /Film.

Prices might be going up, but you can still build yourself a capable PC for around $550.

this should be addressed with consumer data privacy legislation, not a Great Firewall of America #

As was announced last week, eight classic SSI Silver Box games are now available again for the first time in decades. Four of these, Heroes of the Lance, Dragons of Flame, War of the Lance, and...

If you've seen "John Wick: Chapter 4," odds are good that you might be hankering for more in the "John Wick" universe sooner rather than later. Erica Lee, who produced all four of the "Wick" films, couldn't agree with you more.

"We're definitely developing more spin-offs," she told me after we talked about the two spin-offs we already know about — the upcoming feature "Ballerina," starring Ana de Armas, and the TV series, "The Continental," which focuses on younger versions of Winston and Charon, who are played by Ian McShane and Lance Reddick in the existing films. The possibilities for additional spin-offs are extensive, though Lee did say that the driving question in decided what to pursue comes down to the question: "What are the characters that stand out in the films, that pop, that have an interesting story to tell, who are still alive?"

Lee shared some of the characters she thinks meet those criteria, and in addition to discussing "Ballerina" and "The Continental," we also touched on the genesis of "John Wick: Chapter 4," including what parts of director Chad Stahelski's original vision did not make it into the film.

Read on for our spoiler-free discussion, which also includes updates on two projects that involve Dev Patel, Bryan Fuller, and Mads Mikkelsen.

Note: This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

'I Know This Kind Of Franchise Is One In A Million, So I Don't Take It For Granted'

I know you've been involved with the "Wick" franchise from the beginning, and it's definitely evolved from the first film to "Chapter 4," and obviously, there are spin-offs now. I would love to start by hearing your experience and your history with the franchise. From your perspective, how did it progressively expand to what it is now?

It's been amazing. I mean, the first movie was a spec script we read, called "Scorn." And even just getting the first one made was a total labor of love and really hard -- insane. We did it independently and was really complicated and hard, and no one really knew what we had in the beginning. So when we made the first one, there was certainly no idea — I always say, when we make them, we're burning the house down by the end. We leave it all on the field. So we've been really lucky that people have embraced the movies.

I mean, it is crazy knowing that the first "John Wick" was really this scrappy independent movie, first time directors, and now here we are with "John Wick 4" coming out, and obviously, a much bigger budget, bigger scale, a lot more riding on it. But it's crazy to think how far we've come. Also what I think is really specific to "John Wick" is, I think when we wrapped, before we did additional photography, 11 people had worked on all four movies. And the brand continuity of the core team is really special. The fact that Chad [Stahelski] has directed all four movies, I mean, how rare is that in a franchise?

So there's a lot of love there for that. I would say "John Wick" is my first baby and I've had two actual children. It's crazy where we've come and that the world has embraced them and that we just, the awareness is so high now. And I hear people all time saying things like, "Oh, I missed 'John Wick 2,' but I'm coming in now and going back and watching them." So it's really special. I know this kind of franchise is one in a million, so I don't take it for granted.

I talked with Chad and he spoke about how he always had some space between each film. It sounded like from him, anything's possible, but he was not thinking about doing a fifth film. So I just wondered if you had any take on that? Do you think there'll be a fifth film in the future?

I'm hopeful. I think that on all of the movies at this point in the process, we were like, "We're never doing it again!" They're super hard and exhausting to shoot. "John Wick 4" was 97 days of night shoots, and Keanu [Reeves] gets the s*** kicked out of him. Everyone by this point is like, "We had seven premieres, oh my God, we're done!" But the joke is always, on the Japan trip for the last two movies — there's been a Japan release for both of them that was a couple months later — everyone has had some time to rest and think about what we would do, what we could do. I think we all remember how much we love each other and love these movies. So yeah, I'm hopeful. Is the character of John Wick dead? Are there other versions? Are there different stories to tell? I think so.

Speaking of that, how did "Chapter 4" come to be? Did Chad have a specific idea?

No. I think after the third film we were like, "Oh my God, we can never do this again." And then I'll never forget, Chad and I had lunch one day and he was like, "I'm thinking Japan. I'm thinking nunchucks and snow. Have you seen what they can do with snowmobiles these days?" And I was like, "Okay, we have a movie." It was such small pieces but I could just see the wheels in his brain spinning, and we were off to the races at that point. Then there was Covid, but the good or the bad of it was that it gave us also some more time to develop the script and work on it. And Keanu did "The Matrix [Resurrections]," so that changed. We had a little bit more time in between than we normally do.

'Wick ... Is Always Trying To Get Out, And The Character That Ana Plays In 'Ballerina' Is Trying To Get In'

Snowmobiles, we didn't see that in "Wick 4." We saw everything else.

We didn't. But we have snowmobiles in "Ballerina."

That's good to know. Speaking of "Ballerina," obviously, there's "The Continental" show and "Ballerina" that we know about. Can you tease anything about "Ballerina?" I know there's some returning characters involved with that, but obviously, it focuses on a new star, Ana de Armas. What do you think "Wick" fans coming to see that movie will get really excited about?

What's cool about "Ballerina" is it's a different setting. So it's, aesthetically, slightly different than the "Wick" movies. Ana de Armas is an incredible actress and she's amazing. I think what's different about her in "Ballerina" is that Wick in "John Wick" is always trying to get out, and the character that Ana plays in "Ballerina" is trying to get in. So what does that mean for the character? What does that mean for the High Table, the world, the Continentals, all of that? And I think that, obviously, there's going to be killer action and use of interesting weapons and amazing cinematography and cool sets. It's a European location, so we're always trying to push the envelope. Then of course, we have cameos and appearances from some of our friends from "Wick" world, so some continuity.

Yeah, I've heard from other folks that the script is impressive and that there are some twists.

We had some time to work on it. It was not something we rushed. I actually read it five years ago for the first time, and then we spent a lot of time developing it and finessing it once "John Wick 3" had shot, and then "John Wick 4," and how does that world inform the timeline and how does it all work? So we're trying to be really thoughtful about it.

What about "The Continental," the TV show? What can fans expect from that?

"The Continental" is really cool. It's an alternate timeline. It's a prequel, right? So it's the birth of the Continental, it's in the '70s. So what we do a good job of in the "Wick" movies is just giving little tastes of backstory and little glimpses of what goes on in The Continental. So it's a young Ian McShane and his rise into taking over The Continental. Winston is a character we give very little backstory on in our movies, so I think that audiences will be excited to see how that evolved.

'Where Do These Dogs Come From?'

I would love to hear from your perspective, if you're deciding to do other potential spin-offs, what do you look for? What things would you want to see in any other future spin-offs, just to make sure it's a good addition to the "Wick" universe?

We're definitely developing more spin-offs. And I think it's asking, "What are the characters that stand out in the films, that pop, that have an interesting story to tell, who are still alive?" We kill a lot of people.

Well, you could do another prequel!

Yeah, and also, what are the aspects of the world? The Continental was something we always were really interested in. The Bowery King and the Underground, what is that world like? I think that Rina Sawayama's character of Akira is really fascinating. These are just things I personally would love to explore. Now that "John Wick 4" will be out in the world, I think even more ideas will start flowing.

Yeah, for sure. There are a lot of characters from "Wick 4" that I'd be happy to see in their own film or show.

Yeah, I mean, the dogs. Where do the dogs come from? Where do the Tracker -- and Sofia, Halle Berry's character, has dogs in "John Wick 3", so that's always fascinating to me. Where do these dogs come from? How do you get them? What is a tracker? Where is he trained? I don't know. These are just things we think about and talk about.

I interviewed Lance Reddick less than 24 hours before the news broke [of his passing]. It's just so awful. And I'm so sorry to you, as I'm sure you knew him. But I would love to hear if you had any favorite Lance stories from working with him in the franchise.

Lance was just the greatest guy ever, and so it's so heartbreaking and so shocking.

So shocking. So shocking.

And the timing, all of it is so strange. He wasn't on the movies for long stretches. He would come in and just brighten up everyone and the scene. Not only the scenes, but him as a human and his wife Stephanie, and he was just such a great guy. I didn't spend an enormous amount of time with him socially, also because, I was again pregnant on "John Wick 4" and had a baby, a six-week-old, on "John Wick 3." So I would shoot the movie and then deal with life. But yeah, it's really heartbreaking and a huge loss for us and me personally and it's crazy. I was so blindsided by it. I mean, like you said, you were interviewing him.

I know. But he mentioned to me he shot "Ballerina," so he'll be in "Ballerina"?

He's in "Ballerina." He came and shot a day as the concierge. And there is a young Charon in "The Continental." So yes, he still lives on in the franchise, but yeah, so heartbreaking.

'People Will Say It's Akin To An Indian John Wick'

So I have a little bit more time with you. Can I ask you a couple quick questions about some of your other projects?

Sure.

Cool. So I noticed you were involved with Dev Patel's "Monkey Man." I know it's coming to Netflix, but is there anything you can tease about it or just the status of where that is?

We're in post on it. Dev is incredible in it. He wrote it, he acts in it, he directs it. It's a real labor of love. It's been very challenging. One of the hardest movies I've ever had to make. We started it in the height of Covid in Mumbai and had to shut it down and bring everyone home. And Dev was like, "Either I make this movie now or I don't. I'm trained. We have everything." So in this crazy experience, we're like, "Okay, we got to figure out how to make the movie." We couldn't leave. So we started figuring out where we could shoot it, and we started doing Zoom meetings with Indonesia and all these other places and ended up shooting it on an island called Batam off the coast of Jakarta.

He shot for 70 days. It's a story based on the Hanuman mythology, which is Indian folklore, a story that his grandfather told him. It's a simple story. It's a revenge story. People will say it's akin to an Indian John Wick. Dev is awesome. The action's insane. It has the look and the feel of India, and the grittiness is palpable. So I think people are going to love it.

Cool. And I saw the other news about "Dust Bunny" with Bryan Fuller and Mads Mikkelsen, which "Hannibal" fans are going to be very excited about, I'm sure. Anything you can tease about that?

We are going to start production later this summer. It's an incredible script. It's unlike anything I've worked on before. I mean, Bryan Fuller's brain is somewhere that I just want to sit inside of. It's visual and interesting. It's like if David Fincher had directed "Amelie." It is insane. And Mads is a singular talent. I worked with him a couple times on the "Clash of the Titans" movies. And they have an amazing relationship. And Mads is playing an assassin, and it's just really f***ing cool.

"John Wick: Chapter 4" is now playing in theaters.

Read this next: 23 Movies Like John Wick That Will Get Your Adrenaline Pumping

The post John Wick Producer Erica Lee On More Spin-Offs And What Didn't Make It Into Chapter 4 [Exclusive Interview] appeared first on /Film.

Slashdot reader votsalo shares a report from the Guardian: Tiny glass beads strewn across the moon's surface contain potentially billions of tons of water that could be extracted and used by astronauts on future lunar missions, researchers say. The discovery is thought to be one of the most important breakthroughs yet for space agencies that have set their sights on building bases on the moon, as it means there could be a highly accessible source of not only water but also hydrogen and oxygen. "This is one of the most exciting discoveries we've made," said Mahesh Anand, a professor of planetary science and exploration at the Open University. "With this finding, the potential for exploring the moon in a sustainable manner is higher than it's ever been." Anand and a team of Chinese scientists analyzed fine glass beads from lunar soil samples returned to Earth in December 2020 by the Chinese Chang'e-5 mission. The beads, which measure less than a millimeter across, form when meteoroids slam into the moon and send up showers of molten droplets. These then solidify and become mixed into the moon dust. Tests on the glass particles revealed that together they contain substantial quantities of water, amounting to between 300m and 270 billion tons across the entire moon's surface. "This is going to open up new avenues which many of us have been thinking about," said Anand. "If you can extract the water and concentrate it in significant quantities, it's up to you how you utilize it." The latest research, published in Nature Geoscience, points to fine glass beads as the source of that surface water. Unlike frozen water lurking in permanently shaded craters, this should be far easier to extract by humans or robots working on the moon. "It's not that you can shake the material and water starts dripping out, but there's evidence that when the temperature of this material goes above 100C, it will start to come out and can be harvested," Anand said. The water appears to form when high-energy particles streaming from the sun -- the so-called solar wind -- strike the molten droplets. The solar wind contains hydrogen nuclei, which combine with oxygen in the droplets to produce water or hydroxyl ions. The water then becomes locked in the beads, but it can be released by heating the material. Further tests on the material showed the water diffuses in and out of the beads on the timeframe of a few years, confirming an active water cycle on the moon. According to Prof Sen Hu, a senior co-author of the study at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, such impact glasses could store and release water on other airless rocks in the solar system.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Fans of Dave Filoni's animated "Star Wars" series have gotten their due reward for keeping up with what many may have initially dismissed as kiddie cartoons. Characters and major plot points in both "The Clone Wars" and "Star Wars Rebels" have appeared in live-action projects, turning Filoni's ideas into vital pieces of the grander "Star Wars" universe. Katee Sackhoff's Mandalorian Death Watch leader Bo-Katan Kryze, in particular, is currently playing a central role in season 3 of "The Mandalorian," paying off all the hard work Sackhoff has put into the role ever since she began voicing the character back on "The Clone Wars."

It's almost a miracle how prevalent Bo-Katan has become in the "Star Wars" mythos considering how rocky her character's behind-the-scenes start was. Filoni made Bo-Katan a major antagonist-turned-antihero in "The Clone Wars" right before Disney acquired Lucasfilm and subsequently cancelled the show. Luckily, Filoni gave her a chance to return in "Rebels" (in which she plays a more heroic role as an enemy of the Empire), prior to bringing the character back for a seventh and final season of "The Clone Wars" on Disney+. All the while, Sackhoff provided Bo-Katan's voice and made a smooth transition to live-action upon her debut in "The Mandalorian."

'It Just Warmed My Heart'

Those who have watched the "Battlestar Galactica" remake series have long known how great Katee Sackhoff is at bringing a senes of pathos into a hard-edged military mentality, when it comes to her live-action characters. Her role as Kara "Starbuck" Thrace was always more than an archetypical badass space marine woman, and she brings the same type of multi-layered performance while handling the moral complexities of Bo-Katan (in both animation and live-action). 

Bo-Katan's rise to and fall from the throne of Mandalore has its own tragedies that have deeply shaped both the character and Sackhoff's approach to portraying her over the years. The consistency and growth of the actor's work is also the reason why fans have greeted her reappearance(s) with such open arms. She discussed the fan reception in an interview with the official "Star Wars" website, explaining:

"I watched the fan reaction compilation that was put together of Bo showing up, and it just warmed my heart. I was so happy that she was so well received. I mean, listen: love her, hate her. You can hate her. She's done some pretty appalling things in her existence. But the reaction and overall excitement — and to see people instantaneously know who she was, the moment she landed... was really cool. I loved it."

Sackhoff has stated that transitioning from voice work to live-action has included its own challenges, but the positive response has proven that she has become synonymous with the character at this point. She now shares lead acting credits alongside Pedro Pascal, making the "The Mandalorian" deservedly Sackhoff's show, too.

New episodes of "The Mandalorian" premiere Wednesdays on Disney+.

Read this next: The Biggest Questions The Mandalorian Season 3 Needs To Answer

The post The Mandalorian's Katee Sackhoff Can't Get Enough Of Fan Reactions To Bo-Katan appeared first on /Film.

Microsoft says it has evidence that Russian APT actors were exploiting a nasty Outlook zero-day as far back as April 2022, upping the stakes on organizations to start hunting for signs of compromise.

The post Microsoft: No-Interaction Outlook Zero Day Exploited Since Last April appeared first on SecurityWeek.

Microsoft has released an out-of-band update to address a privacy-defeating flaw in its screenshot editing tool for Windows 10 and Windows 11. The issue, dubbed aCropalypse, could enable malicious actors to recover edited portions of screenshots, potentially revealing sensitive information that may have been cropped out. Tracked as CVE-2023-28303, the vulnerability is rated 3.3 on the CVSS

Startups say Microsoft and its Bing chatbot—not just Google—are stifling competition when it comes to creating better search engines.

Criminals are set to take advantage of artificial intelligence like ChatGPT to commit fraud and other cybercrimes,
Europe's policing agency warned.

The post ‘Grim’ Criminal Abuse of ChatGPT is Coming, Europol Warns     appeared first on SecurityWeek.

Newegg, one of the leading global online electronics retailers, reveals that the company is utilizing the popular AI ChatGPT on its website to increase consumers' overall online shopping experience. ChatGPT will be used for the company's PC Builder tool, text content, customer service, creating subject email lines for consumers, and search engine optimization (SEO).

Newegg's ChatGPT implementation makes PC building fun and broken at the same time

ChatGPT has introduced four months ago and has been an essential topic of conversation regarding generative pre-trained transformer artificial intelligence. The program, which has grown in popularity and overall intelligence in the last several months, has seen use in several situations, whether it be customer service, writing articles or reports, and even writing code for programmers.

Now, Newegg feels that the company can use the powers of ChatGPT to assist consumers with choosing the right parts and information and direct customers to the information they request by using the AI source.

We’re always evaluating our e-commerce technology to ensure we’re providing the best customer experience. Through testing, we’ve proven that ChatGPT has a practical use for Newegg based on the added quality and efficiency it creates. We deployed ChatGPT to improve content both on-site and off-site to help customers find what they want and elevate their experience. AI doesn’t replace employees, but it adds resources so employees are available to handle more complex projects. We’re still in the early phases of AI but the benefits for e-commerce may be substantial.

Our customers are among the population’s most knowledgeable regarding the latest technology because they assemble often complex tech products. Customers should expect Newegg to deploy the most advanced technology for their shopping experience and ChatGPT currently enables this.

— Lucy Huo, Vice President of Application Development, Newegg

Newegg's new integration with ChatGPT will be used in the following:

• PC Builder shopping tool, which helps customers select components to build a desktop PC
• Optimizing text content throughout the Newegg website
• Customer service chat
• Customer email subject lines
• Search Engine Optimization

Newegg Commerce Inc. will now incorporate ChatGPT in the Newegg PC Builder shopping tool launched in June 2020. The online toolset was out to assist consumers in locating parts to build their PC system but added the functionality to show what parts were compatible with each other as well as helping with user specifications and price range. The new ChatGPT integration is in its beta stages, but the company hopes that customers can speak to the AI chatbot and receive calculated answers to help build their system. In addition, Newegg will offer specific set selections, such as intended PC use, CPU, GPU, and price range.

Editor's Note: So I was messing around with the tool and noticed that once you put in a specific query for an Intel or AMD build, it won't show the other brand at all. For example, if you were to select AMD PC builds at the start and then follow up with a sentence like "Best Gaming PC", all of those builds will be AMD-only. The same is the case if you use Intel first.

ChatGPT will also work to alter text throughout the website to assist consumers. At the same time, the chatbot will assist customers browsing Newegg and help discover new tech products, such as suggesting certain products based on what the consumer is searching for with more efficiency and providing better page titles, along with more suggestive descriptions and summaries.

For customer service, Newegg will use ChatGPT as a medium between consumers and Newegg's human staff workers to answer known questions and only notify the human side of the business when consumers require resolutions to any arising concerns during discussion. Newegg feels that ChatGPT's benefits for customer service are that the chatbots can replicate human understanding and interactions, replicate the customer service experience, and offer informative and satisfying sessions to resolve questions and concerns. ChatGPT increased artificial intelligence can process more topics than previous AI-based chatbots of the past, helping customer service representatives focus on complicated customer issues.

Integrating ChatGPT for customer email subject lines are expected to increase the open rate for the company by utilizing analytical data that would be catered more to the consumer.

ChatGPT will also assist with Newegg's SEO by creating text and descriptions on the website to increase and improve the shopping experience for consumers. For off-site matters, the AI-generative chatbot will offer friendlier and more welcoming content to Bing and Google to increase traffic for Newegg's online store.

The post Newegg Incorporates ChatGPT Into Its PC Builder & Online Shopping Experience For Customer Peace Of Mind by Jason R. Wilson appeared first on Wccftech.

“I have a dream,” said Martin Luther King. Well, so does Elon Musk, and it centers on Twitter grabbing a $250 billion valuation.

As someone who’s known to be quite shrewd, Elon Musk is well-versed in the art of selling a dream. And when it comes to consoling disgruntled Twitter employees who know that they’ve been, umm, shafted, dreams can act as a critical release valve by shoving away growing disillusionment.

So if $44B went to $20B, the equity went from ~$31B to ~$7B, or a decline of close to 80% (assuming $20B is the EV). So @jack rolled his billion in and now has lost $800 million? And the prince has lost $1.5B? $TWTR

— Rob Schmied (@rschmied) March 27, 2023

As per an internal memo that leaked over the weekend, the stock awards of Twitter employees will now be based on a $20 billion valuation for the company, constituting a 54 percent discount to the $44 billion price tag that Elon Musk has had to pay for the social media platform.

However, in what was clearly meant as an attempt at consolation, Musk noted in the memo:

"I see a clear, but difficult, path to a >$250B valuation."

Should Twitter achieve this milestone, it will correspond to a 5.68x return on Musk’s total investment in Twitter.

Meanwhile, things appear to be improving at the global town square. A few days back, while participating in Morgan Stanley’s investor conference, Elon Musk said that Twitter’s non-debt expenditure for FY 2023 will compute at around $1.5 billion, constituting a marked reduction from an earlier estimate of $4.5 billion. The company was able to save substantial costs by aggressively laying off employees, curtailing the cloud services bill by 40 percent, and shutting down one data center. Twitter’s total expenses for the year are now expected to compute at around $3 billion, based on the $1.5 billion annual interest expense.

Nonetheless, such aggressive cost-cutting measures are likely unsustainable. Coupled with a marked slowdown in advertisement revenue, Twitter continues to face significant challenges. Even so, Elon Musk thinks that Twitter has “a shot” at becoming cash flow positive in the next quarter.

Meanwhile, as per a document filed with the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, “various excerpts” of Twitter’s source code have been leaked by a GitHub user who goes by the id FreeSpeechEnthusiast. The leak includes proprietary code that is used in Twitter’s internal tools.

Exactly

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 18, 2023

Bear in mind that the social media platform is slated to open public access to its content recommendation algorithm on the 31^st of March.

The post Elon Musk Tries To Console Disgruntled Employees by Offering a Pipe Dream Of Twitter’s $250 Billion Valuation by Rohail Saleem appeared first on Wccftech.

The Biden administration on Monday announced a new executive order that would broadly ban U.S. federal agencies from using commercially developed spyware that poses threats to human rights and national security. From a report: The move to ban federal agencies -- including law enforcement, defense and intelligence -- from using commercial spyware comes as officials confirmed that dozens of U.S. government personnel had their phones targeted. Human rights defenders and security researchers have for years warned of the risks posed by commercial spyware, created in the private sector and sold almost exclusively to governments and nation states. [...] In a call with reporters ahead of the order's signing, Biden administration officials said that the United States was trying to get ahead of the problem and set standards for other governments and its allies, which buy and deploy commercial spyware. The order is the latest action taken by the government in recent years, including banning some spyware makers from doing business in the U.S. and passing laws aimed at limiting the use and procurement of spyware by federal agencies.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Showtime's hit series "Yellowjackets" boasts some ridiculously scary characters, but few can hold a candle to Misty Quigley. Played as an adult by Christina Ricci and as a teen by Samantha Hanratty, the eager-to-please outcast is unstable at best, and there's a reason why the first thing Natalie (Juliette Lewis) says to her upon reuniting as adults is, "Hello, Misty. You crazy f***ing b****." During season 1, teen Misty tried to drug her coach with mushrooms — the same one she also amputated a limb off of — in order to sleep with him. The girl is banana pants unwell, and yet we can't help but love her.

During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, some of the "Yellowjackets" cast members were asked which castmate has the weakest stomach, and everyone unanimously pointed toward Samantha Hanratty. She joked, "Does everything upset my tummy? Yes. But not the gore!" Hanratty has been very vocal about living with gastrointestinal issues, eventually learning that she was allergic to, well, just about everything. She's also a proud vegan, so anytime she's seen gnawing on animals or (gulp) humans on the show, she's chowing down on Beyond Meat.

Fortunately, no bugs are harmed in the making of the series, either. All of the insects the cast eats are made from gnocchi or fondant, but as anyone who has watched "Yellowjackets" can attest to, very real worms, maggots, and other types of tiny, many-legged critters are shown in wide shots. Alas, Hanratty's bleeding heart for animals extends even to the creepy crawlies, and her desire to "save them" almost destroyed a forest's ecosystem in the process.

Save The Maggots!

"When there's dead animals around, it's not upset stomach, it's upset eyes," Hanratty joked. "That's when I'll like, really get emo, because even if it's a fake dead animal, I'm like, [fake cries] 'That animal had a family!'"

Steven Krueger, who plays Coach Ben, added to Hanratty's story and talked about an incident during the production, where she tried to take a handful of maggots and reintroduce them into the wild. It wasn't until the wrangler informed her that she couldn't do that, because the sudden inclusion of all of the maggots (that would eventually turn into adult flies) runs the risk of screwing up the location's natural ecosystem. Realizing the error of her ways, Hanratty then took it upon herself to fix the issue."I went back and I got every single maggot and I put them back where they were and I literally talked to each one," she said. "I'm a little psycho. I'm a little crazy. I guess I'm Misty 2.0!" Hanratty eventually admitted she has thrown up on set, but it was due to the fake snow ending up in her mouth and getting stuck because it doesn't melt.

"Yellowjackets" returns on the Showtime app beginning March 24 and will broadcast on Showtime beginning March 26 with new episodes to follow weekly.

Read this next: The 20 Best Female Friendships In TV History, Ranked

The post Yellowjackets Star Samantha Hanratty Tried to Rescue the On-Set Maggots appeared first on /Film.

Long-time Slashdot reader theodp notes Microsoft's friendly relationship with North Dakota, pointing out that in 2017 Microsoft's president Brad Smith said the company would provide the state "cash grants, technology, curriculum and resources to nonprofits" and also "partner with schools to strengthen their ability to offer digital skills and computer science education to the youth they serve." "We just have such a good relationship with the community. We were also excited about Doug Burgum's election as governor. We had confidence that Doug, as governor, would bring a real focus on innovation that would focus on both changes in government and changes in technology." Before being elected Governor in 2016 (with the endorsement of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and financial backing from Bill Gates), former Microsoft exec Burgum sold his Fargo-based Great Plains Software business to Microsoft in 2002 for $1.1 billion and joined the software giant, where he reported directly to Steve Ballmer (a college friend) and managed Nadella (who became chief of Microsoft Business Solutions after Burgum's 2007 departure). "We need a national movement for coding and computer science in our public schools [...] We need to influence, we need to support, we need to reform public policy as we're seeing here in North Dakota," Microsoft's Smith exhorted to TEDxFargo attendees in his return to North Dakota. "We need to make sure that computer science counts towards high school graduation." Mission accomplished. On Friday, North Dakota's governor Doug Burgum and School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler celebrated the governor's signing of HB1398, the Microsoft-supported bill which requires the teaching of computer science and cybersecurity and the integration of these content standards into school coursework from kindergarten through 12th grade. (Two of the ten members of North Dakota's K-12 CS and Cybersecurity Standards Review Committee were from Microsoft). The superintendent said North Dakota is the first state in the nation to approve legislation requiring cybersecurity education. "Today is the culmination of years of work by stakeholders from all sectors to recognize and promote the importance of cybersecurity and computer science education in our elementary, middle and high schools," superintendent Baesler said at Friday's bill signing ceremony. Baesler said EduTech, a division of bill supporter North Dakota Information Technology that provides IT support and professional development for K-12 educators, will be developing examples of cybersecurity and computer science education integration plans that may be used to assist local schools develop their own plans. EduTech is a Regional Partner of tech-backed nonprofit Code.org, which also voiced its support for HB1398. Code.org's Board of Directors include Microsoft President Brad Smith and CTO Kevin Scott. Burgum, who joined Code.org's Governors Partnership for K-12 Computer Science in 2017, was also among 45 of the nation's State Governors who last July signed a Compact To Expand K-12 Computer Science Education in their states in response to a public letter from the CEOs for CS (including Microsoft's Nadella and Smith), part of a campaign organized by Code.org that called for state governments and education leaders to bring more CS to K-12 students to meet the future demands of the American workforce. Code.org has set a goal to make CS a high school graduation requirement for every student in all 50 states by the end of the decade.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

"A shrinking number of kids are reading widely and voraciously for fun," writes a New York-based children's book author in the Atlantic. But why? The ubiquity and allure of screens surely play a large part in this — most American children have smartphones by the age of 11 — as does learning loss during the pandemic. But this isn't the whole story. A survey just before the pandemic by the National Assessment of Educational Progress showed that the percentages of 9- and 13-year-olds who said they read daily for fun had dropped by double digits since 1984. I recently spoke with educators and librarians about this trend, and they gave many explanations, but one of the most compelling — and depressing — is rooted in how our education system teaches kids to relate to books.... In New York, where I was in public elementary school in the early '80s, we did have state assessments that tested reading level and comprehension, but the focus was on reading as many books as possible and engaging emotionally with them as a way to develop the requisite skills. Now the focus on reading analytically seems to be squashing that organic enjoyment. Critical reading is an important skill, especially for a generation bombarded with information, much of it unreliable or deceptive. But this hyperfocus on analysis comes at a steep price: The love of books and storytelling is being lost. This disregard for story starts as early as elementary school. Take this requirement from the third-grade English-language-arts Common Core standard, used widely across the U.S.: "Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language...." [A]s several educators explained to me, the advent of accountability laws and policies, starting with No Child Left Behind in 2001, and accompanying high-stakes assessments based on standards, be they Common Core or similar state alternatives, has put enormous pressure on instructors to teach to these tests at the expense of best practices.... [W]e need to get to the root of the problem, which is not about book lengths but the larger educational system. We can't let tests control how teachers teach: Close reading may be easy to measure, but it's not the way to get kids to fall in love with storytelling. Teachers need to be given the freedom to teach in developmentally appropriate ways, using books they know will excite and challenge kids. "There's a whole generation of kids who associate reading with assessment now," librarian/public school teacher Jennifer LaGarde tells the Atlantic. And their article notes the problem doesn't end after grade school. "By middle school, not only is there even less time for activities such as class read-alouds, but instruction also continues to center heavily on passage analysis, said LaGarde, who taught that age group."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

If you were around in the 1990s and of the age to watch comedy films, you've probably come across the films "Tommy Boy" and "Black Sheep" starring comedians David Space and the late Chris Farley. The two were a dynamic duo on "Saturday Night Live," with Spade often playing the straight man to Farley's wild and goofy antics. Farley died of a combination of a drug overdose and heart disease in December 1997, but while they were together, they were fabulously funny. 

/Film's own Joe Garza did a list of Farley's top sketches from SNL, including Lunch Lady Land, the Chippendale's sketch with Patrick Swayze, and of course, Matt Foley, motivational speaker. That final one is one of the most ridiculously weird things I've seen on TV, and watching Spade try not to break as Farley's Foley talks about living in a van down by the river and throwing himself onto a table is pure joy. 

Farley's untimely passing was devastating for comedy fans, and he and Spade were close. On top of mourning his friend, he had to deal with the talk that said his career was going to suffer without his comedy partner. Spade appeared on Howard Stern in 2013, where he recalled how it made him feel to hear that, and what it was like working with one of the best of all time.  

'I Do Think That It Was A Big Waste'

In the interview, Spade spoke about how SNL creator Lorne Michaels hooked them up with their first film by telling writers to "write a movie about these guys, the way they act around the office." I highly recommend watching the clip for some of the stories he tells about them, but they're definitely NSFW.

Stern mentioned the talking point about Spade's career. He said, "I remember early in your career after Chris Farley died, the rap always was, 'Well, Spade's not gonna be able to do anything without Chris Farley; he needs Farley.'" Spade responded that he still hears that on Twitter. When Stern asked if he still thinks about what a great team they were, Spade said: 

"Overall, I do think that it was a big waste, of course. I mean, I could've — we could've done ... At least I had a career doing horrible movies with him when we were both done, you know? I mean, we just keep coming back like, 'Hey, we gotta get together again.'"

Excuse me a moment while I go wipe my eyes. 

In the end, Spade's career didn't suffer. He went on to do projects like the sitcoms "Just Shoot Me!" and "8 Simple Rules" and films like "The Emperor's New Groove" and "Joe Dirt." He also did a few talk shows like "The Showbiz Show with David Spade" and "Lights Out with David Spade. Of course, it's best not to linger on what could have been, but ah, it would likely have been a whole lot of fun. 

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Read this next: All 10 Chris Farley Movies, Ranked Worst To Best

The post David Spade Was Told He Wouldn't Make It Without Chris Farley appeared first on /Film.

If you're a fan of "Community," you might often find yourself disheartened by how there are only 110 episodes of the show. That might sound like a lot, but 13 of those episodes were part of the Gas Leak Season (otherwise known as season 4), and the final 20 episodes or so don't include Troy. On the same note, the final 13 episodes don't include Shirley, and Pierce is gone for most of the final 30. Add on the fact that the show didn't truly find its footing until about 10 episodes in, and the number of golden era "Community" episodes is depressingly slim.

Luckily, there are some bonus episodes you might not have known about it. They're not as long as a typical 22-minute sitcom episode, but they're still fun little additions to the show that you'd never get to see if you only binged "Community" on Netflix. They vary a ton in terms of tone, content, and structure, but the one thing they have in common is that they all serve as callbacks to a time where NBC truly seemed to care about the show. Most of these bonus clips are back in the first two seasons, when "Community" had its best ratings, and the network seemed to have the time and budget to do more than just the bare minimum with the show.

The 5 As Of Greendale

Before the pilot of "Community" even aired, showrunner Dan Harmon starred in his own fake ad for Greendale Community College. He plays Dr. Pat Isakson, an awkward man trying his best to make the deeply mediocre school sound appealing. The video is intentionally low-budget and weirdly paced, making fun of college ads in a way that should be deeply familiar to anyone who's watched "Documentary Filmmaking: Redux," the season 3 episode where we get to see the Greendale ad from the '90s. 

Although there are no familiar characters in this video, it's still a fun first glimpse at the sensibilities that would make up the show. The video is a sarcastic (yet sincere?) celebration of the mundane and mediocre. Dan Harmon himself went to community college when he was young, and you can certainly tell from this video. Also, Randall Park is one of the Greendale students for some reason.

Season 1's In-Universe Episodes

Do you remember all those mini-films Abed used to make back in season 1? It turns out that the show actually went and made an actual video of each of them. Above is the first episode of "The Community College Chronicles," where we get to see Abed's interpretation of the other study group members in action. You can watch the second episode, where the alternate-universe study group has to study for a Spanish quiz, here. One noticeable detail is the way Abed himself is the only character in these videos without a distinct personality, something that would also be a factor in Abed's later pitch for season 7 of "Community" in the series finale.

You can also find the mini-movie Abed made to convince his father to let him take film studies here, although there's not a whole lot of new content in there. Where you can find a ton of new content, however, is with the clip of Abed and Starburn's special presentation for their Spanish class, which is wild in the best way possible. What's better is the unexpected sequel to Abed and Starburn's video, in which Chang (Ken Jeong) forces his way into their presentation, for better and for worse. It's the perfect example of a show going the extra mile: Nobody expected them to make an entire bonus video about Abed's Spanish presentation, but they went ahead and did it anyway.

The Study Break Mini-Episodes

If you're looking for clips that truly capture the feel of the regular show, these study break mini-episodes are the best. The first one's shown above, and you can find the second study break episode here, and the third one here.

The best moments of regular "Community," regardless of the quality of the episode as a whole, are those scenes where all seven members of the study group are in the room with each other. None of them have a plot, exactly; they're just 2 minutes or so in the lives of the study group, where all the characters simply get to exist and bounce off each other. These are fun, low-stakes videos that focus on perhaps the show's biggest strengths: the chemistry of the cast, and the sheer sharpness of the dialogue.

The mini-episodes are also just a fun callback to the season 1 dynamics: There's still all that sexual tension between Jeff and Britta, Troy still has some of those jockish qualities and he's still being paired up as a comedic foil to Pierce, as the writers originally intended him to be. They provide a nice nostalgic glimpse of a simpler time within the show.

Road To The Emmys

Okay, so admittedly these are just commercials, but they still provide a fun look at the study group's dynamics back in season 2. The first commercial (shown above) features Britta in full season 2 mode, as she delivers a self-important rant against the Emmys as the rest of the group drowns her out with the car's radio. (A commercial made halfway through season 1 probably wouldn't have done this.)

The second commercial (seen here) features Chang scaring everyone by waking up in the back seat of the car, a joke that also wouldn't have made much sense back when Chang was a Spanish teacher who didn't care much about joining the study group. The third and final one (seen here) concludes the saga with the reveal that Abed lied about the Emmy party so he could spend more time with the group, which has become a typical move of his by this point of the show — think his behavior in the "Dinner With Andre" episode.

If you're looking for another car-related commercial from "Community," there's also the season 6-era Honda ad, starring Abed and the Dean. These two characters rarely get to interact one-on-one together — and when they do, we get to see the Dean in his rarely-seen straight man role — so this is a delight to watch.

Dean Pelton's Office Hours

As the show went on, Dean Pelton slowly became an honorary member of the study group. He wasn't constantly trying to force his way in like Chang did, but it became clear he had a soft spot for the group (Jeffrey in particular), and that the writers really wanted to keep him around as much as possible. That's why it felt particular fitting when, starting in November of 2010, the show released a trilogy of mini-episodes focused entirely on the Dean as he talked to people in his office.

The first episode focuses on him interacting with extremely-minor side character Angela. The second one (seen here) features a rare extended interaction between Dean and long-time recurring character Leonard, and the third (seen here) ends up revealing the identity of Greendale's mascot, the Human Being. The mysterious identity of the unsettling school mascot is a long-running gag in the series, so there's something kind of charming about the idea that the show decided to reveal it in a mini-episode that 95% of viewers would probably never know about.

Abed's Master Key

A spiritual sequel of sorts to "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas," this mini-episode features the study group existing as cartoon characters. All the characters are aware they're in cartoon form, but this time around, nobody thinks Abed's mentally unstable for it. The story focuses on the Dean giving Abed access to a master key to the school, which results in everyone he knows asking him for favors. The story's got twists and turns, resulting in a nice 5-minute story that could've easily functioned as a B-plot in a normal season 3 episode. The episode was released in March 2012, and feels like a test-run of sorts for the animated video game-themed episode that would air just two months later.

These are the last of the "Community" web episodes that we're aware of, likely as a result of all the behind-the-scenes drama that hampered the show past this point. Not long after "Abed's Master Key," showrunner Dan Harmon would be fired and the season 4 length would be cut down to just 13 episodes, which would be come the norm from that point forward. Still, this bonus content serves as a nice reminder of what we could've had if "Community" had managed to develop a massive audience in its time, not just six years after it ended. Who knows what it would've looked like if we'd gotten more study break minisodes in seasons 2 or 3, or some Jeff Office Hours minisodes in season 5. Most of the little we got is gold though, so as we patiently wait for more details on the "Community" movie, all this bonus content is definitely worth checking out.

Read this next: 12 Underrated Sitcoms That You Should Check Out

The post Community Created Web-Only Episodes That Even Fans Might Have Missed appeared first on /Film.

Having transformed his body to play superhero Kingo in Marvel's "Eternals," then reinventing himself for Hulu's "Welcome To Chippendales" series, Kumail Nanjiani has truly ascended to star status. Since his 2017 autobiographical rom-com "The Big Sick" became a hit, Nanjiani has proven himself a versatile actor, capable of much more than the stereotypical roles he was previously offered. As he told GQ, "With brown people, there are very specific roles that we used to get. Either we're terrified or we're causing terror." Now, having become Marvel's first South Asian superhero and having consistently subverted Hollywood stereotypes, Nanjiani has come a long way.

But before he ascended in such spectacular fashion, Nanjiani spent many years as a standup comedian trying to break into the industry upon which he'd eventually have such an impact. Having moved to the states from his native Pakistan in the late '90s, the aspiring comedian eventually found himself in New York City, where he would perform gigs and take on the odd acting job.

One such job saw him visit the hallowed Studio 8H, home of NBC's long-running comedy institution, "Saturday Night Live." Back in 2008, he was invited by a writer to play a small part in a sketch during the show's 34th season. He accepted, and some nine years before the comedian himself would host the legendary sketch show, he wound up playing a small, two-line role alongside then-host, James Franco. And thanks to Jason Sudeikis, who also appeared in his sketch, that part was even smaller than it would have been otherwise.

Jason Sudeikis Threw Kumail Nanjiani Off His Lines

On September 20, 2008, James Franco hosted the second episode of "Saturday Night Live" season 34. In a sketch in which Franco plays a New York Times editor preparing his staff for a six-week investigative trip to Alaska, Kumail Nanjiani appears as one of the journalists gathered in the meeting room. In the skit, Jason Sudeikis basically plays Jason Sudeikis but ostensibly he's Ted Boucher, a Times staffer who in 1988, "spent the summer as a reporter with the Anchorage Daily News," thereby establishing himself as the person who knows, "more about Alaska than anyone the Times has ever heard of." The sketch consists of journalists asking ridiculously uninformed questions about Alaska, while Sudeikis tries to field them.

Nanjiani spoke about his experience with "SNL" alums Dana Carvey and David Spade for their "Fly on the Wall" podcast, where he revealed that his two-line part actually started as a three-line part:

"I have three lines, and at dress [rehearsal] [...] Sudeikis messed up his line, and it threw me so much in dress that I messed up my line. I just literally stumbled my words. So then suddenly when I get the script for air, now I have two lines instead of three lines."

Clearly having taken note of his own mistake, the "Ted Lasso" star actually apologized to Nanjiani prior to performing the sketch live. As Nanjiani explained:

"I remember it was really cool, we're starting the sketch, I don't know Sudeikis at all, he's there while we're about to do the live [show], and he looks at me and he says, 'I'm sorry.' He apologized to me. It meant a lot to me."

'I Want To Be Great At The Stuff That I Love'

Appearing on "Saturday Night Live" had to be nerve-wracking even before Jason Sudeikis' mistake. The show is notorious for making even established cast members perpetually nervous, with former repertory player Melissa Villaseñor revealing how she left the show after experiencing panic attacks. "Barry" star Bill Hader also told The Hollywood Reporter how he, too experienced panic attacks during his time at 30 Rock.

And although Nanjiani didn't have the pressure of being a cast member, it must have been an intimidating experience all the same. Thankfully, he told David Spade and Dana Carvey that he also had pleasant experiences with Will Forte, Darrell Hammond, and Kristen Wiig during his brief stint as an "SNL" extra. "I was just touched that they went out of their way to make me feel confident, comfortable, and welcome," said the "Big Sick" star.

Interestingly enough, he actually turned down an "SNL" writing job some years later, telling comedian Bert Kreischer that he was hired for a week trial before being offered the chance to stay for the rest of the season. Ultimately, he turned the job down, telling Kreischer, "I'm not good at sketch [comedy]. It's also not something that I want to break my back being good at. I want to be great at the stuff that I love." That's a philosophy that's served him well ever since, as it seems neither Jason Sudeikis' botched line reading nor turning down an "SNL" writing gig hurt Nanjiani in the long run. The comedian eventually hosted "SNL" in 2017, fronting an episode that tackled racism, sexual assault, and "It." Since then, things have only improved for Nanjiani, as his evolution from "SNL" extra to movie star continues.

Read this next: Why These Actors Left Hit TV Shows

The post Kumail Nanjiani's First Saturday Night Live Appearance Earned Him An Apology From Jason Sudeikis appeared first on /Film.

This post contains spoilers for "John Wick: Chapter 4."

The label "direct-to-video" used to be a death knell for filmmakers and movie fans alike. In the early days of home video, the term typically referred to features that weren't good enough to get theatrical distribution, causing studios to subsequently dump them onto the shelves of Blockbusters and Hollywood Videos, where — via gaudy box art, ridiculous taglines and/or highlighting the name of a slumming movie star or a legit celebrity (who would likely only have a cameo role) — they would try to entice naïve renters to check it out.

It can be exceedingly difficult for a subgenre to change a poor reputation, but everything started to change once theatrical distribution was no longer the only game in Hollywood as video, cable, and streaming services became more ubiquitous. One of the people who has been dragging the name of direct-to-video B-movies out of the gutter is the pride of England's Sutton Coldfield, Scott Adkins. Adkins' bonafides as an action star are second to none — handsomeness, charisma, rippling muscles, grace, prowess, and power are all qualities he possesses, and then some.

While Adkins' name has been well known to action fans for over 20 years, he's not been granted the opportunity to really break out in a big way for general audiences. Until now, that is: His turn as the German gangster Killa in "John Wick: Chapter 4" is such a consummate demonstration of his particular talents that the Age of Adkins may finally be upon us all.

A Hollywood Second Banana Becomes A DTV Leading Man

Scott Adkins' screen career began in the early 2000s when he turned up in a number of Hong Kong martial arts films. Much like Jackie Chan did for Bruce Lee in "Enter the Dragon" back in the '70s, Adkins found himself completing the stunt ensembles for the likes of Chan and Jet Li in films like "The Medallion" and "Unleashed."

When Hollywood came calling, Adkins' status as a background player was unfortunately left intact, leading to appearances in "The Pink Panther" and "The Bourne Ultimatum" that didn't allow him to take center stage. The most insulting of these Hollywood efforts came with "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," in which Adkins portrayed Weapon XI. However, Adkins only played the character in the long shots and stunt moments, with Ryan Reynolds getting the close-ups instead.

Fortunately, the more robust world of DTV action cinema came calling, and finally gave Adkins the opportunities he deserves. After appearing with his idol Jean-Claude Van Damme in several films, Adkins was given the opportunity to star in 2012's "Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning." The film is still a high point for its franchise as well as for action cinema in general, combining elements of David Lynch, Gaspar Noe, and Michael Haneke with bone-crunching punches and lots of gunfire. Adkins, who's in every scene, carries the entire movie with panache.

Since then, Adkins has bounced between starring roles in DTV flicks and franchises (including the "Ninja" and "Undisputed" series) and smaller roles in Hollywood blockbusters (like "Doctor Strange"). When Adkins appeared in 2019's "Ip Man 4: The Finale," he claimed that star Donnie Yen requested him for the film by name, and it's a testament to both men's reputations within action cinema that Yen and Adkins appear in "John Wick: Chapter 4."

Taking A Gamble

The "John Wick" features have only increased in size, budget, and reputation over the course of four films, and their popularity has fully permeated pop culture. As such, it seems Scott Adkins did not take his opportunity to be in the movie lightly; rather than appearing as yet another suave assassin in a franchise chock-full of them, Adkins (along with director Chad Stahelski) makes his character, Killa, arguably the most distinct villain Wick has ever faced.

Naysayers will probably compare Adkins' look as Killa — a large bodysuit with particularly jowly makeup and a thick accent not his own — to Colin Farrell's similar transformation in last year's "The Batman." There's ample room, however, for both performances. While Farrell's Penguin is a Noo Yawk style gangster in the style of Robert De Niro or Edward G. Robinson, Adkins and Stahelski were after a character with the vibe of Sydney Greenstreet in "Casablanca." As Adkins explains in the film's official production notes, "Killa was once a feared and revered assassin, but obviously he's let himself go."

Adkins' initial appearance in the film, grotesquely lording over his nightclub headquarters and challenging John Wick (Keanu Reeves), Caine (Donnie Yen), and Mr. Nobody (Shamier Anderson) to an incredibly tense game of cards, recalls not just "Casablanca" but similar moments in a number of James Bond and Sergio Leone films. Adkins' imposing presence and sickly gleeful demeanor make him a memorable threat before he even lifts a finger. The choice to portray Killa this way is certainly a gamble, but Adkins' skills make it work.

Killa Thrilla

At first, there appears to be an extra layer of perversity to Scott Adkins' performance in "John Wick: Chapter 4" — as Killa happily perches behind his card table, it seems that perhaps the action star will not be actually performing any action in the film. Sure enough, though, all hell breaks loose and Adkins is unleashed along with it.

What makes the Killa fight especially thrilling for Adkins fans and newbies alike is the fact that Killa's unique physicality led to the martial artist developing a new fighting style for himself. As Adkins explains in the film's press kit, "We landed upon a style that's a bit of the MMA version of Mike Tyson," referring to Killa's moves being grounded in both mixed martial arts as well as boxer-like brutality.

One of the most joyously over-the-top aspects of Adkins' already out-there performance is in the way Killa seemingly refuses to die. It's no mean feat, especially given the way most characters in the "John Wick" universe seem to have nine lives and be able to function after being hit with 70 bullets. Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves have always made sure to showcase their fellow action performers in the series, a technique that allows Wick himself to feel vulnerable where he otherwise might come off as too invincible. Adkins' performance as Killa is the epitome of this approach: In every way, from his extreme personality to his resilience and skill as a fighter, the fight credibly feels like Wick may not survive this time.

Unlike Killa (RIP), Adkins himself will hopefully emerge from "John Wick: Chapter 4" victorious. Showing off his range as an actor and a fighter, he's really going for it, and it's about damn time the film industry and cinephiles at large reward him for that.

Read this next: John Wick Moments That Went Too Far

The post B-Movie Superstar Scott Adkins is Really Going For It in John Wick: Chapter 4 appeared first on /Film.

It's inevitable -- our vision naturally changes throughout our lives. Here's how to know it's time to get glasses.

Microsoft has released a pair of emergency updates to address the “aCropalypse” security flaw found within its native Windows 10 and 11 screenshot editing apps. As Bleeping Computer reports, the company began testing a fix for the vulnerability earlier this week shortly after it was discovered by retired software engineer Chris Blume.

On Friday evening, Microsoft began rolling out public updates for Windows 11’s Snipping Tool as well as Windows 10’s Snip & Sketch app. You can manually prompt Windows to patch the app you use by opening the Microsoft Store and clicking on “Library,” followed by “Get Updates.” Microsoft recommends all users install the updates.

The aCropalypse flaw was first discovered on Pixel devices, and subsequently addressed by Google in Android’s recent March security update. In the case of Windows 11’s Snipping Tool, it turned out the utility wasn’t properly overwriting cropped PNG data. The issue did not affect all PNG files, but the concern was that bad actors could exploit the vulnerability to partially recover edited images, particularly those that had been cropped to omit sensitive information. As with Google's March Android update, Microsoft's patches won't protect images that were previously created with its screenshot tools. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-releases-fix-for-windows-11-screenshot-privacy-bug-195412172.html?src=rss

Sexual assault claims against Chris Avellone, a writer and developer whose credits include RPG games such Fallout New Vegas and Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order, as well as the Bethesda-published Prey, and upcoming shooter System Shock, was accused in 2020 of sexual assault by two women. Avellone’s accusers have now published a joint statement, publicly withdrawing the claims originally made against the game developer.

MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Fallout: New Vegas mods, Fallout 5 release date, The best RPG games on PC 2022

Church bells are ringing, the choir's singing, and your true love is walking down the aisle. One of the happiest — but most stressful — days of every couple's lives has been great fodder for filmmakers for decades. Whether they're watching Audrey Hepburn's charm and beauty threaten William Holden's nuptials, Andi MacDowell and Hugh Grant attend multiple weddings (and one funeral), or Andy Samberg relive the same ceremony over and over again, viewers young and old alike love to laugh and cry at wedding movies.

These movies' success comes down to flexibility; there are countless narrative possibilities associated with a momentous occasion like a wedding. While we watch a couple commit to until-death-do-us-part, the screen can radiate immense love and joy, or immediate dread and regret. Laughter can fill a banquet hall just as easily as the sound of a jilted lover's tears. So, dust off that tuxedo and puff up that bridesmaid dress, because here are our picks for the 20 best wedding movies.

27 Dresses

I'll be honest: Objectively speaking, Anne Fletcher's "27 Dresses" isn't a great film. However, it perfectly represents a significant era of rom-coms, for both better and for worse. The film stars Katherine Heigl as 27-time bridesmaid (hence the title) Jane Nichols, who meets Kevin Doyle (the forever underrated and under-used James Marsden), a journalist who comes across Jane's day planner and endeavors to return it to her. As Kevin begins using Jane to write an article (unbeknownst to her) about her forever-a-bridesmaid status, the two slowly fall in love.

"27 Dresses" is as predictable as it is schmaltzy. The film follows all of the clichéd rom-com tropes, even if they're executed with a slight eye roll. The reason that "27 Dresses" makes this list, then? Because of its undying commitment to the formula, the film perfectly embodies an early '00s wedding movie: corny dialog, the most convenient of circumstances, Katherine Heigl, and New York City. It may not be the most memorable film on this list, but it sure is a perfect snapshot in time of an era defined by Big Rom-Com.

Bride Wars

Another film that could only be made during the '00s! "Bride Wars" stars Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway, who show us the lowest lows of female friendships and a woman's seemingly singular obsession over having the "perfect" wedding. As Olivia Lerner and Emma Allan, Hudson and Hathaway play two life-long best friends who become engaged a day apart and, because of an error, schedule their weddings for the same day at New York City's famed Plaza Hotel. Before long, Liv and Emma declare nuptial war on one another.

"Bride Wars" wasn't received well when it was released in 200, and it hasn't aged any better in the last decade-plus. Personally, though, while I wouldn't put "Bride Wars" on my all-time best-of list, I respect it for unashamedly depicting the nonsensical chaos that arises from such an auspicious event. While the film naturally plays everything to an extreme, "Bride Wars" has a (however misguided) pulse on how weddings have evolved from loving celebrations to days of superficial one-upmanship.

The Wedding Planner

I could insert an obvious joke about Jennifer Lopez and weddings here, but her dominance in the early 2000s was so impressive that I'd hate to diminish her success. Rather, let's celebrate one of Lopez's great achievements, a feat that very few entertainers have accomplished. The same week that "The Wedding Planner" opened at number one at the domestic box office, her sophomore album, "J.Lo," debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. And while "The Wedding Planner" may not have a place in the pantheon of great cinema, it's an enjoyable film, thanks in large part to Lopez's chemistry with Matthew McConaughey.

As far as meet-cutes go, "The Wedding Planner" has one of the more dramatic ones, with Steve (McConaughey) saving the titular wedding planner, Mary (Lopez), from a runaway dumpster when her high heel becomes caught in a manhole cover. However, the budding romance between the two is cut short when Mary learns that Steve is one-half of her newest client couple. At its heart, "The Wedding Planner" is a simple story about star-crossed lovers whose timing is just a bit off. It has some wonderful wedding scenes, too, including the fantastical opening sequence that sees Mary use a utility belt like a wedding day first-aid kit.

The Proposal

"The Proposal" puts a spin on the traditional "green card bride" trope. Sandra Bullock's Margaret Tate, a high-powered Canadian working at a New York publishing company, faces deportation and forces her assistant Andrew Paxton (the ever-quippy Ryan Reynolds) to marry her. Sensing that their marriage is a fraud, the immigration agent assigned to Margaret tells them that they will be interviewed separately, and will need to provide matching answers to prove their marriage is the real deal. (I can only assume that all U.S. immigration issues are resolved via "The Newlywed Game.")

As Margaret and Andrew get to know each other better in order to evade permanent deportation and imprisonment, they inevitably fall in love. "The Proposal" doesn't stretch the formula much, if at all, but the chemistry between Bullock and Reynolds is palpable. While that's not surprising given both actors' inherent charm, their pairing is as goofy and lovable as you'd expect. Admittedly, the script doesn't give them much to work with, but it's a testament to Reynolds and Bullock's comedic chops that they're able to create entertaining moments and anchor the film even when it's a bit rudderless.

I Love You, Man

From a rudderless movie to a Rudd-full one. "I Love You, Man" is a bromantic comedy about how Paul Rudd and Jason Segel find friendship amidst the emotional roller coaster that is wedding planning. After proposing to his girlfriend, Zooey Rice (Rashida Jones), Peter Klaven (Rudd) realizes that he lacks male friends, leaving him without a clear candidate for best man. After a chance meeting with Sydney Fife (Segel) at an open house, where they bond over the Canadian band Rush, the two become fast friends, although Zooey is suspicious of Sydney's intentions.

Building off their previous collaborations in "Knocked Up" and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," Rudd and Segel make for a hilarious odd couple, flipping their straight guy-goofball dynamic from the latter movie. The camaraderie between the two actors is magnetic; Rudd in particular delivers a heartfelt performance that balances his natural comedic sensibilities with the charming leading man qualities we've loved since "Clueless." The wedding aspect of "I Love You, Man" takes a backseat for much of the film to make way for Rudd and Segel's musings, but Jones' steady performance as the bride-to-be rounds out the movie well and, thankfully, never veers into wet blanket territory.

Crazy Rich Asians

In addition to being a cultural moment for Asian-American cinema and a big reason why Academy Award winner Ke Huy Quan returned to acting, "Crazy Rich Asians" includes one of the most breathtaking wedding scenes in recent memory. When Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) travels to Singapore for her boyfriend Nick's (Henry Golding) best friend's wedding, she faces both culture shock and an intimidating family, led by the matriarch Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh). However, perhaps the most surprising discovery of her trip is that Nick comes from an extremely wealthy family.

As such, Nick's social circle runs on the affluent side, resulting in one of the most over-the-top, yet somehow elegant, wedding ceremonies ever put to film. As Kina Grannis sings Elvis Presley's timeless "Can't Help Falling In Love," three adorable children begin the procession, serving as the flower girls and page boy. As the lyrics "Like a river flows..." sound out, a stream of water slowly fills the aisle, lined with lush foliage. The bride makes her way towards her betrothed, and the guests gently wave ornamental fireflies, enveloping her in a twilight-like glow. Considering that the happy couple aren't even the film's main characters, the amount of detail put into this scene is extraordinary.

Sabrina (1954)

Although the 1995 remake of "Sabrina" starring Harrison Ford is a solid adaptation, I'm going with the 1954 classic led by all-stars Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, and William Holden. Even today, the love triangle between Sabrina and the Larrabee brothers is one of Golden Age Hollywood's finest. 

The daughter of the Larrabee's chauffeur, Sabrina (Hepburn), is a young girl who's infatuated with the family's resident playboy, David (Holden). Although she's initially dismissed as a child, after Sabrina returns from a two-year stay in Paris, she catches both David's eye and that of his brother, Linus (Bogart), who immediately recognizes how Sabrina's presence may complicate David's impending nuptials (and the associated business deal). As Linus attempts to keep the two apart, he and Sabrina fall for each other in spite of their best efforts to hide their feelings.

It's notable that Bogie appears in "Sabrina" as a romantic lead. While he was best known for gruff and hardened characters, Bogart plays against type here as a suave and charming businessman. And while "Sabrina" proved to be an enduring film, Bogart notoriously disliked making the movie — and he ensured that Hepburn and Holden shared in his misery.

The Wedding Singer

Count me as one of those '90s kids who wasn't that into Adam Sandler. His humor wasn't my cup of tea, and preteen me just didn't see the appeal. Leave it to Drew Barrymore to bring out a side of Sandler we hadn't seen yet, one that I found far less grating. "The Wedding Singer" did away with Sandler's usual daft screen persona and replaced it with the more mature, softer, and romantic Robbie Hart, a New Jersey-based wedding singer.

After being jilted at the altar, Robbie combats his growing depression — and his feelings for his engaged friend Julia (Barrymore) — by only pursuing superficial relationships with women. After realizing that discontentment comes along with these hookups, Robbie throws caution to the wind and declares his love to Julia. "The Wedding Singer" set Sander on a new path, one that would ultimately result in the sort of critical acclaim and awards season consideration that seemed out of reach at the beginning of his career. As Robbie, Sandler revealed a range and vulnerability that he continued to finesse in Paul Thomas Anderson's "Punch-Drunk Love" and later projects.

Royal Wedding

Taking inspiration from Queen (then Princess) Elizabeth's wedding to Philip Mountbatten, "Royal Wedding" sees a brother and sister performing team fall in love in 1947 London, England — he with a fellow dancer, and she with an impoverished nobleman. Set during the lead up to the royal wedding, the two blossoming romances encounter unique challenges, but the characters remain emboldened by their unmistakable love for one another.

With Fred Astaire and Jane Powell as the brother and sister, "Royal Wedding" soars with a sense of whimsy and a light-hearted humor that befits the film's resounding song and dance numbers. Notably, "Royal Wedding" features one of Astaire's greatest dance solos. It comes during "You're All the World to Me," when he famously displays his newfound love by dancing on the walls and ceiling. A combination of director Stanley Donen's prowess behind the camera and Astaire's effortless skills, the sequence is an astonishing showcase for the famed dancer's abilities and creativity.

Wedding Crashers

No list of wedding movies is complete without a visit from John (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy (Vince Vaughn). A film that has only grown in popularity since its 2005 release, "Wedding Crashers" is an R-rated comedy led by the two aforementioned funny men, with a terrific supporting cast that includes Rachel McAdams, Isla Fisher, Bradley Cooper, Jane Seymour, and the always remarkable Christopher Walken.

John and Jeremy are divorce mediators who moonlight as professional wedding crashers in order to hook up with women. McAdams and Fisher play the sisters-of-the-bride who John and Jeremy set their sights on, only to end up with more than they bargained for as the two develop genuine feelings. The film is filled with the type of debauchery you normally associate with a raunchy comedy, but it's balanced with some truly heartfelt moments. Vaughn delivers a great performance, bringing heart and soul to an otherwise bawdy film. As is typical of comedies from this time, some of the jokes haven't aged well, but the bromantic sentiments continue to entertain.

Bridesmaids

One of the best comedies of the '10s, "Bridesmaids" put to bed the dated notion that ladies can't be as hilariously lewd and perverse as their male counterparts. Directed by Paul Feig and written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, "Bridesmaids" tells the story of best friends Annie (Wiig) and bride-to-be Lillian (Maya Rudolph). As Lillian's special day approaches, she enlists Annie as her maid of honor. However, Annie's financial situation makes it difficult for her to keep up with her expensive duties.

To frustrate matters more, Annie becomes jealous of one of Lillian's bridesmaids, Helen (Rose Byrne), who has a close bond with Lillian and both the means and ability to plan the wedding and bridal shower to Lillian's satisfaction. The events leading up to the wedding, not to mention the event itself, fill "Bridesmaids" with eye-watering laughter, as do the supporting performances by Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and Ellie Kemper. Who could possibly forget Rudolph relieving herself in the middle of the street in a big poofy wedding gown?

Palm Springs

Just when you thought time loops couldn't get any better, director Max Barbakow and writer Andy Siara give us a fresh take. Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti play Nyles and Sarah, respectively, two guests who get caught in a time loop while attending a wedding. "Palm Springs" follows the duo's attempts to make the best of a bad situation and their eventual efforts to escape the cycle.

Samberg has continued to impress since his "Saturday Night Live" days. He's a comedic actor with a good dramatic range, lending his boyish and earnest looks to touching performances. "Palm Springs" explores the existential dread that comes with perpetually living the same day, as Nyles and Sarah have very different responses to their shared predicament. The film has plenty of humor, too, especially with the introduction of J.K. Simmons' character, who Nyles accidentally brought into the loop and who takes every opportunity to murder him by way of thanks. But even with Roy's psychopathic bent, a heartfelt moment grounds the film, making it a well-rounded comedy with a heart of gold.

Father Of The Bride (1991)

Unlike "Sabrina," where I chose the 1954 original, for "Father of the Bride" I'm going with the 1991 remake. While Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, and Elizabeth Taylor dazzle in the 1950 film, it's Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, and Kimberly Williams who won my heart as a kid (not to mention Martin Short's hilarious turn as the wedding coordinator, Franck). The film follows George Banks (Martin) as he navigates the turmoil of his daughter Annie's (Williams) upcoming wedding to Bryan (George Newbern), a man she has only known for a few months. While he's ultimately happy for his daughter, George begins to act in an increasingly erratic manner as the expenses and the sadness of "losing" his baby daughter start to pile up.

"Father of the Bride" is a feel-good movie that delivers laughs and plenty of nostalgia. Fathers of daughters should relate to George's conflicting emotions, wives everywhere can identify with Nina's (Keaton) steady nature, and Annie's choice to wear wedding sneakers in lieu of heels is a fashion statement for all the sporty girls in the audience. Fun for the whole family, "Father of the Bride" inspires others to this day.

The Best Man

As far as dramatic wedding films go, "The Best Man" is right up there with the best of them. When Harper's (Taye Diggs) friends read his debut novel — which is based on them — his best friend Lance (Morris Chestnut) discovers that Harper and Lance's soon-to-be wife had a one-night stand in college. That's already enough drama to go around, but it's compounded by the fact that the discovery is made at Lance's bachelor party, the night before his wedding. Throw in a tense confrontation during which Lance almost throws Harper off a balcony, and we've got a show.

Where "The Best Man" excels, though, isn't in its drama, but rather its humor and heartfelt displays of love. Chestnut and Diggs both offer solid turns along with breakout performances from Regina Hall and Terrence Howard. Really, the film's entire ensemble delivers a tightly-knit and layered story that delves into fidelity and friendship and their complexities. The movie also happens to have an incredible soundtrack that includes the vastly underrated song "The Best Man I Can Be" by Ginuwine, RL, Tyrese, and Case.

The Philadelphia Story

Directed by George Cukor and with a cast composed of heavyweights like Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and Jimmy Stewart, "The Philadelphia Story" is a classic romantic comedy, not just of its era but of the entire genre. Hepburn plays Tracy, a woman torn between her fiancé (John Howard), her ex-husband (Grant), and the reporter (Stewart, with the performance for which he won his only Academy Award) assigned to cover her upcoming wedding.

While the film is well acted, written, directed, and produced, the real story is the one behind "The Philadelphia Story." In 1940, Hepburn had developed a reputation as "box office poison," with her last few pictures failing to sell tickets. After Hepburn performed "The Philadelphia Story" on Broadway, her then-partner, Howard Hughes, purchased the film rights; in turn, she sold those to MGM on condition she be cast in the lead role. Hepburn took an active role in the film's development, which paid dividends. "The Philadelphia Story" was a critical and box office hit and the turning point in Hepburn's career, helping cement her legacy in Hollywood history.

The Graduate

"The Graduate" was Dustin Hoffman's breakout film, earned him his first Academy Award nomination, and kicked off his legendary career. Hoffman stars in the film as Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate who begins a tryst Mrs. Robinson (the undeniable Anne Bancroft), he wife of his father's law partner. A love triangle soon develops as Mrs. Robinson's daughter, Elaine (Katharine Ross), becomes involved with Benjamin, unaware of his affair with her mother. The complicated and torrid love affairs come to a head at Elaine's wedding, and the film concludes with one of cinema's most memorable final shots.

Part of the enduring appeal of "The Graduate" is how the film has aged. Initially a movie that spotlighted youthful indiscretion and the wide-eyed possibilities of life post-college, Mrs. Robinson has been examined through a feminist lens in the years since the movie's release, lending more sympathy to her plight. "The Graduate" continues to be a solid piece of filmmaking with excellent performances that defies generations — a true American classic.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

What began as a one-woman show became its own franchise, bringing in over $360 million at the worldwide box office against a $5 million budget and spawning multiple sequels and a TV show. "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" is both a remarkable story about Nia Vardalos' perseverance and her dedication to remaining authentic to her and her family's story, as well as a feel-good film that stole the hearts of viewers around the globe.

Vardalos' script strikes the perfect balance between specificity and universality in how it tells the story of Toula (Vardalos) and Ian (John Corbett). It's a tale of two (seemingly) opposing forces — Ian is from a conservative Anglo family that's small in size and low in decibels, while Toula's Greek family isn't shy about offering up unsolicited advice, potential suitors, and, of course, Windex. "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" gave every little Greek girl who was forced to give up her Saturday morning for Greek school their due in one of the most heartwarming films of the 2000s. Yia mas!

Four Weddings And A Funeral

A classic of British cinema and the first collaboration between Richard Curtis and Hugh Grant, "Four Weddings and a Funeral" is an ensemble film following a group of friends over the course of just over a year as they attend wedding after wedding and, unfortunately, one funeral. Hearts are broken, friendships are challenged, and love is found throughout the film, which has all the hallmarks of Curtis' magic on full display.

There's a lot to love about "Four Weddings and a Funeral." It's irresistibly charming and humorous in the most British way possible. What has endured for almost 30 years, though, is Grant's floppy, awkward, and entirely endearing performance, which would carry his success through the decades. His chemistry with Andi MacDowell is a casting director's dream, and their banter flows like balletic choreography — in fact, the entire cast comes together like lightning in a bottle. Considered one of the very best rom-coms, British films, and '90s movies, "Four Weddings and a Funeral" earns its reputation on every re-watch.

The Princess Bride

Few movies have captured imaginations across multiple generations like "The Princess Bride." Written by William Goldman and directed by Rob Reiner, the film's mix of camp and the fantastical creates a fresh and intelligent take on the typical fairy tale. While saving Buttercup (Robin Wright) from a forced marriage to Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon), farmhand-turned-swashbuckling-savior Westley (Cary Elwes) encounters a variety of comical obstacles and whimsical characters. A classic comedy, romance, and fantasy film all rolled up in one, "The Princess Bride" has developed a devoted following and remains one of the most quotable movies in cinematic history.

A few years ago, there were rumors that a remake of "The Princess Bride" was being considered by Hollywood. Amidst a flurry of dissent across social media, Elwes responded simply on Twitter: "There's a shortage of perfect movies in this world. It would be a pity to damage this one." As you wish, Mr. Elwes. (Hopefully, anyways.)

My Best Friend's Wedding

Often imitated, never duplicated, "My Best Friend's Wedding" didn't originate the idea of an envious ex trying to ruin a wedding, but it certainly refined it. As Julianne, Julia Roberts uses her irrepressible charm to win back her former lover Michael (Dermot Mulroney) as he prepares to marry Kimmy (an infectiously delightful Cameron Diaz). It's a relatively simple concept, but the chemistry among the ensemble (which also includes the ever-so-suave Rupert Everett) elevates what could have been another pedestrian rom-com.

"My Best Friend's Wedding" gives us the best a wedding-oriented rom-com has to offer – ironically, without showing an actual wedding. From the opening musical number to the joyous singalong of "Say a Little Prayer," P.J. Hogan's '90s classic isn't short on memorable moments. The film also beautifully shows off Chicago, taking us on a trip to Comiskey Park (as it was then known) and through the city's romantic canals. It would've been easy for the film to turn into a superficial catfight between Julianne and Kimmy. Instead, thanks to Ronald Bass' solid script, "My Best Friend's Wedding" is a joyous, funny, and sentimental movie that celebrates why we love love.

Read this next: The 14 Greatest '80s Romantic Comedies Ranked

The post The 20 Best Wedding Movies, Ranked appeared first on /Film.

Very often we'll see mention in open reporting of a threat actor's tactics, be they "new" or just what's being observed, and while we may consider how our technology stack might be used to detect these tactics, or maybe how we'd respond to an incident where we saw these tactics used, how often to do we consider why the tactic was used?

To see the "why", we have to take a peek behind the curtain of detection and response, if you will.

If you so much as dip your toe into "news" within the cyber security arena, you've likely seen mention that Emotet has returned after a brief hiatus [here, here]. New tactics observed associated with the deployment of this malware include the fact that the lure document is an old-style MS Word .doc file, which presents a warning message to the user to copy the file to a 'safe' location and reopen it. The lure document itself is in excess of 500MB in size (padded with zeros), and when the macros are executed, a DLL that is similarly zero-padded to over 500MB is downloaded.

Okay, why was this approach taken? Why pad out two files to such a size, albeit with zeros? 

Well, consider this...SOC analysts are usually front-line when responding to incident alerts, and they may have a lot of ground to cover while meeting SLAs during their shift, so they aren't going to have a lot of time to invest in investigations. Their approach to dealing with the .doc or even the DLL file will be to first download them from the endpoint...if they can. That's right...does the technology they're using have limits on file sizes for download, and if so, what does it take to change that limit? Can the change be made in a timely manner such that the analyst can simply reissue the request to download the file, or does the change take some additional action. If additional action is required, it likely won't be followed up on.

Once they have the file, what are they going to do? Parse it? Not likely. Do they have the tools available, and skills for parsing and analyzing old-style/OLE format .doc files? Maybe. But it's easier to just upload the file to an automated analysis framework...if that framework doesn't have a file size limit of it's own.

Oh, and remember, all of that space full of zeros means the threat actor can change the padding contents (flip a single "0" to a "1") and change the hash without impacting the functionality of the file. So...yeah.

So, what's happening here is that whether or not it's specifically intended, these tactics are targeting analysts, relying on their lacking in experience, and targeting response processes within the security stack. Okay, "targeting" implies intent...let's say, "impacting" instead. You have to admit that when looking at these tactics and comparing them to your security stack, in some cases, these are the effects we're seeing, this is what we see happening when we peek behind the curtain.

Consider this report from Sentinel Labs, which mentions the use of the "C:\MS_DATA\" folder by threat actors. Now, consider the approach taken by a SOC analyst who sees this for the first time; given that some SOC analysts are remote, they'll likely turn to Google to learn about this folder, and find that the folder is used by the Microsoft Troubleshooting tool (TSSv2), and at that point, perhaps deem it "safe" or "benign". After all, how many SOCs maintain a central, searchable repository of curated, documented intrusion intel? For those that do, how many analysts on those teams turn to that repository first, every time? 

How about DFIR consulting teams? How many DFIR consulting teams have an automated process for parsing acquired data, and automatically tagging and decorating it based on intrusion intel developed from previous engagements?

In this case, an automated process could parse the MFT and automatically tag the folder with a note for analysts, with tips regarding how to validate the use of TSSv2, and maybe even tag any files found within the folder.

When seeing tactics listed in open reporting, it's not just a good idea to consider, "does my security stack detect this?", but to also think about, "what happens if we do?"