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Microsoft is still hard at work convincing antitrust regulators that its planned Activision Blizzard purchase won’t hurt competition in the gaming industry. Today, the company announced a 10-year agreement with Boosteroid for the cloud gaming provider to stream Activision’s PC titles if the deal goes through.

It’s Microsoft’s latest attempt to demonstrate to EU, UK and US regulators that it won’t use the deal to muscle out competitors and stifle competition. Similarly, it recently struck 10-year deals with Nintendo and Nvidia to bring the Call of Duty franchise to platforms like the Switch and GeForce Now. Microsoft has said it offered Sony a similar agreement for PlayStation licensing (which Sony hasn’t agreed to) and committed to supporting Steam availability at the same time as Xbox. Sony expressed its concerns about the deal earlier this month, including the prospect of Microsoft shipping buggy versions of Call of Duty on PlayStation, diminishing gamers' trust in playing the immensely popular shooter on Sony consoles.

“If the only argument is that Microsoft is going to withhold Call of Duty from other platforms, and we’ve now entered into contracts that are going to bring this to many more devices and many more platforms, that is a pretty hard case to make to a court,” Microsoft President Brad Smith toldThe Wall Street Journal. “The reason we want to buy Activision Blizzard is to round out our titles to have a fuller library, especially to have more mobile titles where we don’t have a strong presence, and build a stronger gaming business.”

Activision Blizzard

Boosteroid is the biggest independent cloud-gaming service in the world. Like GeForce Now, it supports multi-device streaming access but requires purchasing paid games on other platforms (including Steam, Epic Games, Battle.net and Origin). Boosteroid's current library includes Fortnite, Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Activision’s Call of Duty: Warzone (among many others). It can stream games in web browsers and offers native apps for Windows, macOS, Android, Android TV and Linux. (iOS is missing because it doesn’t allow native cloud-gaming apps without clunky workarounds.) Boosteroid has servers in Romania, Ukraine, Italy, Slovakia, France, Spain, the UK, Sweden, Serbia and the US.

The European Commission, in charge of EU competition regulation, was reported earlier this month to be satisfied enough with Microsoft’s commitments to “likely” give the go-ahead. However, the commission hasn’t said so publicly and has until April 25th to decide. UK regulators’ decision is expected the following day. Meanwhile, the US Federal Trade Commission sued Microsoft to block the deal in December out of concerns it could raise prices or cut off access for non-Microsoft hardware, something Microsoft has denied it would do. The company has until July to satisfy the FTC, or it will need to renegotiate the deal or abandon the purchase, putting it on the line for up to a $3 billion breakup fee.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, which favors structural changes over behavioral promises like licensing deals, recently suggested Microsoft could divest itself of Activision’s publishing unit, which Microsoft has indicated it has no interest in doing; deals like the Boosteroid one are part of its fight to avoid that fate.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-will-bring-call-of-duty-and-its-pc-games-to-a-cloud-service-youve-probably-never-heard-of-171502988.html?src=rss

This post contains spoilers for the season finale of "The Last of Us."

The end of "The Last Of Us" has always been ambiguous. Whether you're team "Joel did nothing wrong," think his slaughter of the Firefly scientists was unforgivable, or fall somewhere in between, the story ends on an ethically and emotionally loaded note. But it also ends with a tacit agreement; after clearly taking some time to mull over the possibility that her father figure is full of it, Ellie (Bella Ramsey) chooses to believe him when he swears his story is true.

Does Ellie really buy it, though, or is her thinly-veiled emotion in those last seconds a sign that she knows something went badly wrong? It's a question that audiences can answer for themselves, but series co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, who have been digging into the implications of the show's most subtle moments on its official companion podcast all year, sat down with host Troy Baker and ended up sharing their own interpretations once and for all.

'She Will Simply Choose To Believe It'

In short: Mazin and Druckmann say Ellie definitely didn't buy Joel's (Pedro Pascal) story. The smuggler told his cargo-turned-family that there are other immune people, that the Fireflies stopped looking for a cure, and that her missing clothes were thanks to raider attacks. While Ellie initially seems receptive to this story as she wakes up from anesthesia, she's stricken by guilt about the fact that she survived soon after. According to the show's co-creators, these final scenes point to the most obvious conclusion: on some level, she knows Joel is lying.

"I'm not sure if Ellie is saying you're lying to me and I'll move on, or you're lying and we're now changed forever in a negative way, or you're lying and it's incredibly important to you, and because I love you I won't dwell on it," Mazin tells the podcast. He adds that she also might be "so terrified of the truth that she wants to believe him." It's that emotionally raw open-endedness that made the end of "The Last Of Us" so powerful when it was released, and the implications of that final conversation carry over into the sequel as well.

"It can be any of those things, and that's why I love it," Mazin says of the ending. "There was never an option of her believing it. She will simply choose to believe it, and the why will come later." Ramsey, whose fantastic performance as Ellie has layered in both endearing naivety and unexpected world-weariness throughout the season, nails all of this with her lingering last look.

'She Was Already Doing The Math'

Druckmann also seems to think that look is doing a lot of heavy lifting. "I agree with each interpretation, and she's going through every one in her head, but at no point do we ever feel she believes the lie," he concludes on the podcast. "That is not on the table. She's already doing the math asking why Joel would possibly do all of this and the only reason could be because I was going to die." Druckmann points out that Ellie is smart, and while he thinks she "didn't know beforehand what would happen to her at the hospital," she's able to figure out roughly what might have happened after it becomes clear that Joel is lying.

Pascal, for his part, plays these last scenes with a perfectly uneasy desperation. He's wearing his typical level-headedness like a mask in hopes that Ellie won't see through it, but just as his emotional needs sneak through when he talks about teaching Ellie guitar like Sarah or regaining his will to live after meeting Ellie, it's clear here that he needs Ellie to believe him. The beauty of this story is that it didn't bring us all this way for some lofty, world-saving ending, but for us to understand this moment of connection -- of needs met and fulfilled and demolished all at once -- between the two broken people we've grown to love.

Read this next: The Best TV Shows Of 2022, Ranked

The post The Last of Us Showrunners Confirm Whether Ellie Believed Joel's Big Fat Lie in the Finale appeared first on /Film.

Which way do you prefer your Pedro Pascal? The highly in-demand actor comes in many flavors these days. There's Oberyn Martell on "Game of Thrones," the libidinous, headstrong Dorne royal who rarely hesitates to remind the people of King's Landing that his home land is better than the rest of Westeros in every conceivable sense. There's Joel on "The Last of Us," a gruff, taciturn survivalist making his way with his surrogate daughter Ellie in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by fungus zombies. And then there's Din Djarin on "The Mandalorian," a stoic bounty hunter who spends his days traversing the "Star Wars" universe with his tiny, green, snack-loving adopted son, Grogu.

Out of the actor's best-known roles, it's Din who's the most defined by his voice. Given the character's habit of never removing his helmet (it's a culty, religious thing), it often falls to Pascal to communicate what he's feeling through the tiniest inflection or variation in his vocals. In fact, a lot of times, it's not even Pascal underneath all that Beskar armor on the "Mandalorian" set. That makes it even more important the actor really knocks it out of the park when it comes to his line delivery, which he does without fail pretty much every time out.

Pascal himself has the personality and enthusiasm of a human golden retriever in most of his interviews and seems game to do just about anything he's asked, whether that entails answering the internet's questions about his life and career or eating increasingly spicy-hot chicken wings for our viewing pleasure. He would, however, very much appreciate it if people stopped asked him to do his Mando voice -- though almost definitely not for the reason you would guess off the top of your head.

'It Sounded So Inappropriate'

Speaking on "The Graham Norton Show," Pedro Pascal confirmed that older "Mandalorian" fans frequently want him to talk like Din Djarin for their children whenever they encounter him, be it in the real world or online. "They get so excited, they say, 'My kid loves 'The Mandalorian.' Either it'll be a Facetime thing or they'll be like, 'Hey, you know, Charlie, this is the Mandalorian!'" the actor explained. "And they [the kid will] look at me and they're like, 'Who the hell is that?'"

Indeed, considering how rarely Din removes his helmet on the show, it's understandable kids wouldn't immediately associate Pascal with Baby Yoda's father figure. He's certainly not the first actor to encounter this sort of issue, either. During his own appearance on "The Graham Norton Show" back in 2015, Tom Hanks revealed that children are typically confused when they meet him in real life and their parents insist he's Woody from "Toy Story." In that case, though, Hanks admitted he's usually able to win them over by asking the kids to close their eyes and shouting something in his Woody voice like, "We got to get back to Andy's room right away guys!"

Unfortunately for Pascal, he's had another -- and much more awkward -- problem doing his "Mandalorian" voice for the series' younger fans. "It sounded so inappropriate because it's actually kind of a very breathy, low-register, bedroom voice," he confessed. If anything, asking the kids to close their eyes only makes things worse. "It's just, like, so creepy. 'Close your eyes and listen to my voice.' No, it doesn't work," he added.

Pascal In The Streets, Mando In The Sheets

Given the context, one can follow Pedro Pascal's meaning. On "The Mandalorian," Din's voice sounds perfectly appropriate for someone who not only tends to speak behind a helmet that completely covers his face (one that's incredibly hard to see out of, as the actor has mentioned in the past), but also one whose chosen line of work generally requires him to deal with rather dangerous individuals. Coupled with the design of his body armor, the actor's growly, Man With No Name-styled voice only serves to make Din that much more intimidating to his enemies and anyone else who's even considering attacking him. Strip all that away, though, and you're left with a man speaking in a somewhat sexy, guttural tone for no apparent reason.

Mind you, Pascal seems to be taking this issue in stride and doesn't appear genuinely upset about the whole thing so much as politely (and quite understandably) flustered. Still, the next time they encounter him in person, fans would do better to check their privilege and refrain from making this particular request. Thanks to his recent success on the small screen, it's surely harder than ever for the actor to go anywhere in public without people immediately recognizing him and asking him to do something for them. The last thing any fan wants to do is knowingly force the world's favorite TV dad to do something he's admitted to being uncomfortable with on some level.

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

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

The post Pedro Pascal Would Like Mandalorian Fans to Stop Asking Him to Do His Mando Voice, Thank You Very Much appeared first on /Film.

Over the years, the "John Wick" franchise has become a playground for the most venerated action stars — and stunt performers — to showcase their skills and duke it out with other legends. But they're not the only ones looking to get in on the fun: the films have also attracted plenty of actors eager to demonstrate their own passion for stunt work. In "John Wick: Chapter 4," Bill Skarsgård, Shamier Anderson, and singer-songwriter Rina Sawayama will fight alongside (and against) action icons like Donnie Yen and Scott Adkins. They also join the ranks of performers like Common, Willem Dafoe, and Halle Berry, all of whom trained hard to sell their roles as battle-hardened assassins in prior installments.

Berry's own work in "John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum" has since become the stuff of legend. The Oscar winner famously gave her all to her role as Sofia Al-Azwar, and though she only appears in about a third of the film, she became a fan favorite all the same. Berry's performance in "Parabellum" — and her tireless dedication to perfecting every part of it — was a near-flawless demonstration of her skills as an actress. It had a lot of fans asking why she'd never been offered a meaty role like that before. The answer isn't so much a mystery as it is a painful truth: Black actresses are rarely considered for said roles, let alone offered them. It's probably the reason why Berry had to take matters into her own hands, essentially casting herself in "Parabellum" before the script was even finished. 

'She's Awesome. She's Halle Berry'

"John Wick" director Chad Stahelski recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the franchise, and in the process shared a story about Halle Berry's casting in "John Wick 3." Berry apparently got wind of the new "John Wick" project when it was still in the early stages. "I got a call from WME when we were still writing 'John Wick 3,' like, 'What do you think of Halle Berry?' Well, she's awesome. She's Halle Berry," Stahelski recalled. "And then they said, 'She's coming to see you. Today.'" Stahelski continued:

"I swear to you, that afternoon I get a knock on the door, and it's Halle Berry. She didn't miss a beat and said, 'I'm just coming to see you because I'm going to be in your next movie.' I'm like, 'Are you?' Straight face she says, 'Yes, and I'm going to train my ass off.'"

And train she did. "I don't think I've ever worked harder or longer to prepare for a part in a movie," Berry told People in 2019. The actor trained in jiu-jitsu and firearms, and even became a dog trainer to prep for "Parabellum." She sustained a few injuries too — the most notable being three broken ribs — but Berry doesn't regret a thing. Her performance was very much a thesis for the kind of work she could be doing; hopefully Hollywood doesn't need to be reminded again.

Read this next: The 14 Greatest Action Movies Of The 21st Century

The post Chad Stahelski Reveals How Halle Berry Cast Herself In John Wick 3 appeared first on /Film.

The "John Wick" films feature some of the most gun-heavy action sequences in recent cinema history. In fact, the entire franchise is partly a resurrection of the popular "gun fu" style of martial arts action that came out of Hong Kong in the late nineties. However, director and stunt expert Chad Stahelski doesn't use the same type of blanks that can result in real-life deaths like the tragedies on the sets of "Rust" and "The Crow." According to Stahelski, filmmakers don't have to risk the deadly capabilities of blanks, either, since there exists technology that allows for much safer firearms practices during shoots. The director theorizes that it may be because of the backlog of guns in prop houses that productions continue to use more dangerous blanks to this day, despite not needing to.

Blank firearms have been a staple of filmmaking for decades, despite their potential for disaster. Incidents are relatively rare, which is why when deaths do happen they often cause a huge stir within the industry. The prop department used to handle firearms safety alongside other responsibilities, but in 1984, after actor Jon-Erik Hexum fatally shot himself during a game of Russian roulette on the set of the television series "Cover Up," the maintenance of prop guns became the exclusive domain of firearms experts. Blanks are deadlier than the name suggests, too, since the mere explosive force of the bullet-less blast alone is enough to cause concussive trauma, as was the case in the Hexum incident. As John Welsh, a sales worker from the largest supplier of Hollywood's prop guns ISS Props, puts it, "There is no such thing as 'just blanks.'"

Are Guns Gonna Go?

Firearms experts like Dave Brown argue that intense safety protocols make firearms "as safe as any other prop on set" and that "blanks help contribute to the authenticity of a scene in ways that cannot be achieved in any other manner." Filmmakers like Stahelski, however, argue that a mix of electronic plug guns and CG effects have been able to replace the use of blanks on film sets and "that there's no reason to have a live firearm on set." In a THR interview, he goes on to argue that the reason why blanks are still in existence is to save costs:

"...for prop houses, armorers or supply houses to switch over, it would make their entire stock of real firearms useless. It comes down to the fact that it would cost certain people a great deal of money to switch over. No one wants to say that, but that's the real reason. You don't need firearms. The alternative is just going to cost you more money."

Producer Anna Halberg likewise stated that "It's oftentimes easier and more economical to actually discharge your weapon on set using a blank than it is to add a gun in CGI in post-production." Like other accidental on-set shootings in Hollywood history, the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of "Rust" caused a reassessment of the way the film industry handles firearms safety. Craig Zobel, director of the HBO series "Mare of Easttown," tweeted that blanks "should be fully outlawed," and showrunners like Alexi Hawley of ABC's "The Rookie" and Eric Kripke of Amazon's "The Boys" have pledged to switch to CG muzzle flashes. The debate rages on, but considering how many guns are in the "John Wick" movies, Stahelski presents a strong argument for firearms abstinence.

Read this next: The Best Action Movies Of 2022, Ranked

The post John Wick Director Chad Stahelski Gets Candid About Why Live Firearms Are Still Used On Film Sets (But Not His) appeared first on /Film.

The Destructoid Institute of Critiquing Kusoge

Here at the Destructoid Institute of Critiquing Kusoge (DICK), we attempt to be thorough when categorizing games. Hyperbole is avoided when possible, so we don’t make it a habit of using phrases like “worst game of all time.”

With that said, “Mega Man 3” is the worst Mega Man 3 of all time.

You might have heard that some people claim that Mega Man 3 is the best Mega Man game in the series. Not only are those people wrong, but they are also wrong. I’ve never personally been big on Mega Man 3 on the NES. Mega Man III on the Game Boy is okay, I guess. Mega Man 3 as a standalone Tiger Electronic handheld is fine if you’re trapped in a collapsed tunnel and are waiting to starve to death. And then Mega Man 3: The Robots Are Revolting on DOS is only slightly worse than self-immolation.

Guess what the DICK is looking at today?

[caption id="attachment_368531" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

They sure are

Mega Man 3: The Robots Are Revolting is the follow-up to Mega Man on DOS. Note that there was no Mega Man 2 on DOS. I have no idea why. The first DOS game was released in 1990, the same year that Mega Man 3 was released. Robots Are Revolting was released in 1992; the same year as Mega Man 5 on NES. It seems really arbitrary to claim it’s the third game, when it bears no resemblance to the NES equivalent.

The DOS version of Mega Man 3 is its own thing. You have six robot masters, which is two fewer than the series standard of eight, but three more than were featured in the first DOS title. None of these robot masters are featured in a mainline game, but some of them are visual rip-offs of bosses from the series. You have Bit Man, Oil Man, Shark Man, Wave Man, Blade Man, and Torch Man.

The levels aren’t based on anything from the NES games, either. They’re not even linear, instead being sort of a maze. The level design isn’t very good, but it’s not egregious either. Enemy placement is sometimes unfair, and it has a habit of concealing deadly hazards where you can’t see them. On the other hand, I found that I was able to read them easily and could find the best path to the boss without difficulty. This was nice because exploration was almost always an annoying bust. I found it better to just make a mad rush to the end like I was trying to find the washroom at the mall. Plumbing for E-tanks and lives would usually just result in taking more damage than I actually gained.

[caption id="attachment_368532" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Homemade Robot Oil

The levels are a special kind of boring, though. They’re mostly oil platforms, a tanker ship, and sewers. The sewers have this part where you can see the houses on the street above, and all I could think during that moment was how much I’d rather be up there.

It’s so bad, that at about the time I hit the sixth stage, my fight or flight kicked in. It was like I was trapped in Mega Man 3 with no escape. At that point, I had maybe only been playing for 45 minutes, but in that moment, I just couldn’t fathom tolerating one moment more. I pushed through because I’m dedicated to the DICK and felt the need to fulfill my role as chairwoman, but I haven’t been this close to a panic attack while playing kusoge for quite a while.

Anxiety-inducing boredom aside, Mega Man 3 makes some improvements over its predecessor. I just can’t think of any, because I’ve already mentioned there are now six robot masters.

[caption id="attachment_368533" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Panic-inducing

If anything, this is worse than the previous DOS game, if only because it’s longer and more painful to play. This might partly be because the programmer, Steven Rozner, first conceived the game as an unrelated title called Eco-man. The publisher, Hi-Tech Expressions, had the license for Mega Man, so their stipulation for publishing the title was that it be converted to a Mega Man title.

This is where the themes of oil rigs and acid pools come from. It also explains why Mega Man spends so much time swimming. The change-over is rather convincing, as the bosses still have weaknesses to weapons acquired from previous battles. If I wasn’t aware of its concept, I probably would have just guessed it was a misguided facsimile rather than having an unrelated progenitor.

I mentioned that Mega Man on DOS showed signs of talent on the programmer’s part, and the same is true for Mega Man 3. The mostly smooth four-way scrolling is still rather impressive, given the platform and time period. There is an issue where it’s locked to the system’s CPU speed, however. It will slow down in some parts, then speed up in others, which makes the game difficult to play in parts. It’s still possible to conquer it, it just can be annoying.

[caption id="attachment_368534" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Categorization

You also have to look at games that were released for DOS and microcomputers at the time. While Mega Man 3 is pretty bad, so were a lot of games. We like to remember Commander Keen and Duke Nukem, but those games were outliers amongst bad arcade ports and games that coyly skirted copyright. My old IBM PC-Compatible from when I was a kid was loaded up with games that were barely games, and I probably would have been happy to have Mega Man 3. It’s the ultimate “we already have Mega Man at home” title.

That said, I stand by my statement that it’s the worst Mega Man 3. I managed to get through it without cursing at my screen too often. I’d file it under the category of “not the most excruciating pain I’ve had to endure.” That’s just the sort of quality analysis you can expect from the DICK.

For previous Weekly Kusoge, check this link!

The post Mega Man 3 for DOS is easily the worst Mega Man 3 appeared first on Destructoid.

Dropbox was among the first large cloud service providers (CSPs) providers to deploy hard drives that use shingled magnetic recording (SMR) to increase storage density of its datacenters. As the company is looking forward to future technology and plans to be one of the first adopters of HDDs featuring heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR), it is already planning for how HAMR drives will affect its datacenters and how it should prepare for their deployment.

In a surprising candid blog post, Dropbox shared some thoughts and experiences ahead of the deployment of HDDs of based on HAMR technology, which will offer capacities starting from 30TB and spanning all the way to 100TB and higher in the future. In a bid to ensure predictable performance of these hard drives as well as to maintain its quality of service (QoS) requirements for its datacenters, the company will have to alter the designs of its servers and introduce some changes to its infrastructure.

Perhaps the most interesting takeaway is on the subject of vibration control and tolences. HAMR is meant to radically increase areal density of hard drives platters, so it is inevitable that their track density will also get higher. While higher areal density will increase sequential read/write performance of HDDs, it will also make drives more prone to head positioning errors due to high frequency vibrations common in datacenter racks, which will degrade their performance. Vibrations are caused by fans, nearby hard drives when they perform seek actions, and rotational forces of HDDs, so for CSPs like Dropbox the challenge is to minimize impact of vibrations on each drive. The company plans to address vibrations in its 7^th generation servers by leveraging HDD Dynamics specifications developed by the Open Compute Project. 

"Our focus in the future will be to minimize HDD performance degradation from system vibrations by suppressing structural vibration of the system chassis and reducing fan noise," wrote Eric Shobe, a hardware engineering manager at Dropbox, in a blog post. "Putting more focus into this area will be critical as we onboard next generation HDDs, and it is great to see some efforts already underway in the Open Compute Project (OCP) community. We are planning to leverage the OCP’s HDD Acoustical Surrogate — a new industry-standard specification for vibrational testing — in our 7^th generation designs."

Another peculiarity of high-capacity hard drives in general is their decreasing IOPS-per-TB performance amid increasing capacity. Once random performance per terabyte of an HDD drops below certain level (some say below 5 IOPS per TB, but the actual number depends on specific performance requirements), this drive no longer meets service level agreement and therefore QoS requirements. To address these issues, CSPs have to either reduce the amount of capacity they use per drive (i.e., buy smaller drives, or pay for capacity they do not use), implement command queuing and latency-bounded I/O (LBIO) in firmware (i.e., lower performance), use SSD caching (and therefore reduce usage of HDDs), or use hard drives that offer a higher I/O performance. HDD makers, in turn, are addressing reduced IOPS-per-TB performance by producing drives with two independent actuators that essentially double IOPS-per-TB.

"We also anticipate dual-actuator drives may eventually be necessary in order to meet our IOPs/TB requirements," Shobe wrote. "Density increases can only go so far if there is still just one channel for I/O, but two channels will effectively double the IOPs our drives can sustain."

While decreasing IOPS-per-TB performance can be mitigated, I/O performance per server enclosure is another concern that CSPs like Dropbox have.

"Higher density HDDs have challenged us to rethink where other bottlenecks lay in our infrastructure," hardware engineering manager at Dropbox wrote. "For example, in order for our seventh generation server to theoretically support more than 6 PB in a single enclosure, we had to re-architect our network so we can drain and repair data at an acceptable rate."

In general, Dropbox is looking forward adopting higher-capacity HAMR HDDs in its datacenters, but to use them efficiently, it plans to deploy its 7^th Generation servers that address vibration and I/O per box concerns.

[link] [217 comments]

IMDB Rating: 5.2/10
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Size: 1.51 GB
Runtime: 12hr 0 min

On a rescue mission to the North Pole to retrieve an old friend and his lost expedition crew, Captain Mortimer gets more than he bargained for when his ship is frozen into the ice sheet and set upon by bloodthirsty fish-creatures. Mortimer and his surviving crew flee the ship, beginning a treacherous journey to find safety in a frozen desolate wilderness. Suffering from starvation, frostbite and a slow madness, they find shelter inside a snowy mountain, but are they as safe as they think, or have they entered the heart of the creatures lair.—Dark Temple Motion Pictures

Comedians are having to reinvent themselves in the modern era of social awareness. Comedy has long been a device to promote social discourse, used as a space for comedians to bring awareness to social issues and get people talking about them. Think Norman Lear sitcoms like "All in the Family" or George Carlin's controversial takes on religion and media.

But with social media and a changing barometer of what's socially appropriate, the business of comedy is changing. For some, the threat of being canceled means taking past punch lines off the setlist. But not everyone is listening.

For example, in a time when transgender rights are being stripped, Ricky Gervais and Dave Chapelle still recently released Netflix specials that included transphobic jokes. It caused a fair amount of backlash, though neither has suffered any real consequence, short of one Chapelle show cancellation in Minneapolis.

Before we went all-in on cancel culture, "Tropic Thunder" pushed the boundary of what was acceptable in comedy. The film starring Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., and Jack Black is a bold Hollywood satire that understandably didn't sit well with many audiences, and the film faced immediate backlash. Even after "Tropic Thunder," Jamie Foxx was able to convince Robert Downey Jr. to play a controversial character in his directorial debut in 2016. But our changing social climate led to the comedy canceling itself before it ever saw the light of day.

The Complex Nature Of 'Tropic Thunder'

"Tropic Thunder" was made in 2008, and it would likely not get past a script treatment today. One of the issues with the film is that Robert Downey Jr. dons blackface to play Australian method actor Kirk Lazarus. In the film, the white Lazarus undergoes pigment augmentation surgery for the role of an African American soldier.

The Simple Jack character is also deeply problematic. He is a mentally challenged fictional character from the movie played by Ben Stiller's character, Tug Speedman. Stiller co-wrote and directed the film, which satirizes the acting profession and Hollywood in general. Speedman is an actor portraying a mentally challenged person hoping for a cheap Oscar nomination. The dig was at actors like Dustin Hoffmann winning the Best Actor Oscar for "Rain Man."

Still, the movie has merit. In 2019, Variety pointed out that one-third of Academy Award lead actor winners were portraying a character with a disability. Yet until last year's groundbreaking sweep by "CODA" at the Oscars, only two actors with disabilities had won any hardware: Marlee Matlin in 1986 and Harold Russell in 1946. Still, the sight of Stiller playing a mentally challenged person and Downey Jr. in blackface likely make even the most callous comedy fan wince.

Today's more delicate social climate isn't going to stop comedians from pushing the envelope, even if it means shelving the entire project.

'I'm Nervous To Play The Mexican'

Jamie Foxx (who won an Oscar playing a blind Ray Charles in "Ray"), believes the shift in social awareness has been somewhat damaging to comedy. He co-wrote and directed "All-Star Weekend" in 2016, but it has yet to be released due to its sensitive content. If you listen to Foxx, it makes sense why "All-Star Weekend" hasn't been released. And to some degree, it's surprising he ever got it produced at all. IMDB innocuously describes the plot of the movie as, "Two buddies form a rivalry over their favorite American basketball player."

"All-Sar Weekend," now shelved for seven years, stars Gerard Butler, Robert Downey Jr., Benicio Del Toro, Jessica Szohr, and Foxx. For Downey Jr., it took some convincing from Foxx to play another character that might be construed as socially unaware.

When Foxx divulged more of the film's plot on The Joe Rogan Experience, we learned that Foxx plays a racist white cop and Robert Downey Jr. plays a Mexican man. After the "Tropic Thunder" backlash years earlier, it took some convincing to bring Downey Jr. on board. In 2017 Foxx said:

"I called Robert [Downey Jr.] and I said, 'Listen, I need you to play a Mexican.' He said, 'Dude, here's the deal. Sure. F**k it. Sure. Why not? F**k it. Sure. Of course. Mexican. Whatever.' But then he texted back and said, 'I'm nervous to play the Mexican.' I said, 'S**t, you played the Black dude [in 'Tropic Thunder'] and you killed that s**t.'"

So will we ever see "All-Star Weekend?" Not likely in this social climate. Foxx recently told Cinemablend, "It's been tough with the lay of the land when it comes to comedy. We're trying to break open those sensitive corners where people go back to laughing again."

Read this next: Up-And-Coming Black Directors That Will Help Shape The Future Of Entertainment

The post Jamie Foxx Coaxed Robert Downey Jr. Into Another Controversial But Unseen Role After Tropic Thunder appeared first on /Film.

The first episode of "Saturday Night Live" to feature its now-famous "Celebrity Jeopardy!" sketch aired on December 7, 1996. The episode's guest host, Martin Short, played Jerry Lewis. Norm McDonald played Burt Reynolds. Most notoriously, Darren Hammond played Sean Connery. The central gag of "Celebrity Jeopardy!" is that the celebrities are all kind of dumb, to the point that they don't seem to perceive that they are on a game show. Alex Trebek (Will Farrell) can barely mask his annoyance with their outward idiocy.  "Celebrity Jeopardy!" also gained a lot of traction in allowing SNL's guest hosts to do their worst celebrity impersonations. Tobey Maguire, for instance, doesn't look or sound very much like Keanu Reeves, nor does Jimmy Fallon resemble Hilary Swank, but they ere impersonated anyway. In one notable twist, Tom Hanks played himself, only he was a version of himself that was too dumb to get his hand out of a pickle jar. 

There were 14 "Celebrity Jeopardy!" segments between 1996 and 2009, with a 15th staged for SNL's 40th anniversary in 2015. Hammond appeared as Sean Connery in 13 of them. As the sketch recurred, a strange rivalry began to form between Connery and Trebek, with the former taking every possible opportunity to berate and insult the latter. In the world of "Celebrity Jeopardy!," the men hated each other. This, one might admit, is a strange premise, but it was one that produced comedy gold. The sketches are among the show's most popular. 

In a 2020 interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Hammond said that his Sean Connery impersonation was, unexpectedly, the most successful thing he had ever done. It was also conceived in a moment of early-morning desperation in an attempt to get a sketch to work. It certainly wasn't the result of careful planning. 

An Album Cover

"Saturday Night Live" is indeed a live program, and the in-studio segments are just as loosely performed as they might look. While there are many animated and pre-filmed segments, all the in-studio sketches need to be written and performed on a tight schedule. Hammond recalls having the Sean Connery "Celebrity Jeopardy!" idea, but felt that it was perhaps too arch to pitch to the show's writers. Hammond abided by a code of comedy writing of simplicity, and felt that establishing a rivalry with Alex Trebek wasn't going to be immediately understood by the audience. Hammond said: 

"It was like a last-ditch effort on a Tuesday night around four o'clock in the morning because I had nothing to turn in or sell to any of the writers. I was always taught that an audience needs to understand your premise and kind of agree with it in order to laugh. In other words, you can't educate or show them something new and get them to laugh at the same moment. So I thought, nobody's going to believe Sean Connery doesn't know things, or nobody's going to believe that he hates Alex Trebek. The premise doesn't make any sense."

But it worked. Hammond admitted: "And yet it's one of these instances where the stars were in alignment." Perhaps the surreality of the premise allowed audiences to accept the sketch's bizarre humor. Juxtaposing an adolescent, curse-strewn rivalry into the otherwise staid environ of "Jeopardy!," typically accepted as one of the classier game shows, produced the necessary laughs. Farrell was the perfect straight man, and Hammond, McDonald, and all the others, were perfect comedic idiots.

Catch These Men

Hammond performed on SNL from 1995 through 2009, where he was the show's go-to Bill Clinton impersonator. In 2014, Hammond would replace the show's original announcer, Don Pardo. He is the second-longest starring cast member in the show's history, beat only by Kenan Thompson, now a 20-year veteran of the show. Hammond still announces SNL to this day. It has also been rumored, but not confirmed, that Hammond provided the most celebrity impersonations in the show's history, hovering somewhere around 107. He was initially tapped to return and perform as Donald Trump on the show in 2016, but was eventually replaced by Alec Baldwin in that regard. 

Fans of novelty music will recall Hammond and Christopher Snell's comedy track "Wappin'," which was a hardcore rap song as performed by Elmer Fudd. The comedian has been present on radio and in the standup scene for decades, and the enormity of his career should not be undervalued. 

His "Celebrity Jeopardy!" segments, however, remain some of the most re-watched clips of 2000s SNL, and his bizarre Sean Connery impersonation is hilarious each time. Hammond and Ferrell were a wonderful comedy duo, an Abbott and Costello of their time. That the two never paired for feature films is a grievous injustice. Ferrell, however, is only 55, and Hammond is only 67, so there will still be ample time to rectify the situation.

Read this next: The 95 Best Comedy Movies Ever

The post Darrell Hammond's Sean Connery Impression For Saturday Night Live Was A Last-Ditch Effort appeared first on /Film.

Update: As of 9/20/22, privacy controls and web protection configuration for Android MAM are now generally available.

 

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint for Android and iOS helps protect organizations and enterprise users by safeguarding their mobile devices from cyber threats. As the threat landscape evolves, our journey in providing the most complete and robust Mobile Threat Defense solution for our customers continues.

 

Taking our next step on this journey, we are excited to announce a handful of new features that are generally available: Privacy Controls, Optional Permissions and Disable Web protection.

 

Privacy Controls

Admins can setup privacy policies in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Android and iOS aligned to their organization’s needs while instilling confidence with end users that Microsoft respects their privacy and does not look at personal data. Additional granular controls are offered to further configure privacy settings so both admins and end users are in more control of the data being sent in threat reports.

• iOS - Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on iOS enables Privacy Controls for both the admins and end users. This includes controls for enrolled Mobile Device Management (MDM) as well as unenrolled Mobile Application Management (MAM) devices. Admins can configure privacy settings for the phish and network reports while end users can configure the information shared with their organization through the Defender app settings. Privacy Controls in iOS.
• Android - Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Android also enables Privacy Controls for both admins and end users. Admins can now enable privacy controls for the phish report, malware report and network report while end users can enable controls through the Defender app settings See Privacy Controls in Android for Enrolled Devices for more details. Similar privacy controls for Android unenrolled MAM devices are also available. To learn more please review Privacy Controls for MAM.

 

Optional Permissions

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint now enables admins to skip some permissions in the onboarding flow. Before, addressing all the permissions used to be required by Defender for Endpoint.

• iOS - With this feature, admins can deploy Defender for Endpoint on BYOD devices without enforcing the mandatory VPN permission during onboarding. End user can also onboard the app without these mandatory permissions and review those permissions later. Even if the user has skipped the VPN, the device will be able to onboard. This feature is only available for enrolled devices (MDM) currently. Please see Optional Permissions on iOS for MDM for more details.
• Android - Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Android enables Optional Permissions in the onboarding flow. Currently the permissions required by Defender for Endpoint are mandatory in the onboarding flow. With this feature, admin can deploy Defender for Endpoint on Android devices with MAM policies without enforcing the mandatory VPN and accessibility permissions during onboarding. End users can onboard the app without the mandatory permissions and can review these permissions later. This feature is only available for unenrolled devices (MAM) currently. Please see Optional Permissions on Android for MAM for more details.

 

Disable Web Protection

Customers who do not want to setup a VPN, can configure to disable Web Protection and deploy Defender for Endpoint without that feature. Other Defender for Endpoint features will continue to work. On iOS, this configuration is available for both the enrolled (MDM) devices as well as unenrolled (MAM) devices. Please see Disable Web Protection on iOS for more details. For Android, this feature is already available for MDM devices, however MAM can expect this feature to be coming soon.

 

We want to hear from you! Let us know what you think about this new wave of features.

This post contains spoilers for "The Last of Us" episode 9.

The first season of "The Last of Us" goes out not with a whimper, but with millions of tears, as viewers everywhere endure the emotionally devastating finale. After nine weeks of misreading maps, fearing clickers, and fending off hostile humans, the story of Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) has come to a temporary close, with the duo safe in the Jackson Commune. But before they manage that bittersweet conclusion, there's plenty of emotional turmoil to go around.

The episode begins by giving us some much-anticipated background on Ellie's life before Joel: further back than her tragic mall date and her days as a FEDRA cadet, we meet the very first person who fought against impossible odds to keep her safe. We meet Anna, Ellie's mother, as she stumbles through the woods in a desperate attempt to escape the wrath of a rabid runner. Pregnant and already in labor, with the infected hot on her heels, the odds are stacked against her. Still, she manages to kill the runner with the baby unscathed. But by then, her fate has already been sealed with a bite.

It's an emotional wallop of a scene, just to see a mother fighting for her child under impossible circumstances. It's amplified by our knowledge that the child in her arms is Ellie, who will one day become the fierce, snarky, and formidable teen we know and love. But for fans of the Naughty Dog game that started it all, there's yet another reason to tear up: the actress playing Anna is Ashley Johnson, the original voice of Ellie.

The Original Ellie Returns

Before Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey graced our screens, Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson originated the roles of Ellie and Joel. They delivered heart-wrenching lines of dialogue, donned mo-cap suits to embody the action and angst, and brought their profound father-daughter bond to life. These characters are who they are in the HBO series, because of the groundwork that they laid — which is why it's touching to know that the series made room for them to be involved, outside of their original roles.

Ahead of the finale, /Film's Ben Pearson attended a virtual press event with series co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, where they commented on Johnson's brief yet seismic role in the episode. "[Ashley Johnson's scene] is one of the most fulfilling moments of the production and the show," Mazin said. "Because I'm a fan of the game and I'm a fan of Ashley's."

Baker made his appearance in the penultimate episode, as a character who couldn't possibly be further from Joel. For one, he's a cannibal, and the right-hand man of the show's vile antagonist, David. Also, the closest he comes to forging a connection with Ellie is when she plunges a meat cleaver into his neck. It's a killer role and Baker absolutely shines as a villain, but it's wonderful that they didn't take the same approach to Johnson's cameo. Instead, Mazin and Druckman found a way to continue her legacy as Ellie, by having her literally give birth to the character she originated.

Ashley Johnson Plays A Brief But Vital Role

For nearly a decade, Johnson's distinct voice was synonymous with Ellie's character. So honestly, it's a bit weird to watch that voice come out of her mouth as she holds Baby Ellie in her arms. But it's also uniquely poetic and beautiful. On a metatextual level, it's a little mind-blowing. As for the performance itself? Johnson is powerful and evocative as Ellie's very first protector. Mazin added:

"As I often say, Troy Baker disappears into a thousand roles. I can't believe he is all the different characters he plays. But Ashley sounds like Ellie, and Ellie sounds like Ashley. So she's already this quasi-mythological creature to me, and to see her giving birth to herself, in a sense, and to create that genetic connection between her performance as Ellie and the origin story of Bella as Ellie was profound."

Profound is the only way to describe it: now, the connection between the actress and the character will forever transcend the game.

Read this next: 12 Things We'd Like To See In HBO's The Last Of Us

The post The Last of Us Showrunners Know That Video Game Cameo is Weirdly Beautiful appeared first on /Film.

 Last 2 releases can be labeled as 1.08.1 and 1.08.2.

and now this is 1.08.3 release.

Repo: https://github.com/roytam1/rtoss/tree/master/GreenPad
Changes since last released build:

- [GreenPad] don't ever try create status bar if it is disabled (886f6d8)
- [GreenPad] overhual windows version getters. (07ba2f5)
- [GreenPad] setting window class hbrBackground correctly, fix transparent background in ROS (6d231ab)
- [GreenPad] use classic style common file dialog on win95 (build 116, but it doesn't return build number from GVEx) as template is not working on explorer style dialogs there (277d5da)
- [GreenPad] FileDlg: reorder error checking codes, really re-try with error handling, not just call API again. (99f4391)
- [GreenPad] squashed commit for overhauling classic style common file dialog template, also hides line ending label and dropdown list in open dialog template (0f764ca)
- [GreenPad] main-window: use COLOR_BTNFACE as background brush to match status bar color (2aae953)
- [GreenPad] don't use ASM Thunk on win32s builds (db30ba7)
- [GreenPad] try to find out of Common File Dialog is ever opened, should be able to fix old style Common File Dialog opening after user canceled explorer style Common File Dialog in NT 3.51 New Shell. (b312f2f)
- [GreenPad] refine User Cancel condition from Common File Dialogs, and returning TRUE in ofnHook WM_INITDIALOG (c445c8f)
- [GreenPad] partly revert rev c445c8f3 and put `pThis->dlgEverOpened_ = true` into WM_PAINT, fix crash in NT 3.51. (7e4fe8e)
- [GreenPad] we may not need to use CS_OWNDC in edit view control (ef4b0c3)
- [GreenPad] refine GetOpenFileName/GetSaveFileName error handling (again) (03a0821)
- [GreenPad] add LOGGERV(var) to print TCHAR* variable to debug log (3f6f993)
- [GreenPad] follow-up rev ef4b0c32 and port "Get rid of CS_OWNDC" (4772e91)
- [GreenPad] reland "turn MySetScrollInfo and MyGetScrollInfo into function pointers to avoid running condition checking everytime" (8b457e3)
- [GreenPad] port "Add simple WC2MB and MB2WC for Old Win32s/chicago" (c27c57b)
- [GreenPad] port "Use ReadFile for Win32s beta" (518a130)
- [GreenPad] revert rev 2fab9ff1 and 2a0570fd since we have MB2WC and WC2MB wrappers now (f856ad7)
- [GreenPad] Common File Dialog may set LastError to ERROR_INVALID_HANDLE when user cancels. (41d783e)
- [GreenPad] prevent negative positions when centering window (87ca17f)
- [GreenPad] always append log to prevent log being flushed when multi-opening (bbaa4cd)
- squashed merge of https://github.com/RamonUnch/GreenPad/pull/71 with custom add/removes, WIP. (9ec13f3)
- [GreenPad] remove OLE DnD handling inside main edit control (as I don't need this for now) (17fd3bd)
- [GreenPad] multiple changes: (0a10ce6)
- [GreenPad] free COM object itself properly when reference count turns to zero (b1d34b8)
- [GreenPad] partly sync with https://github.com/RamonUnch/GreenPad/pull/71/commits/03c40a87ff9b5b0d7d7134571f95e52e1cbe4ae1 and properly fill remaining bytes with zero. (6006a7c)
- [GreenPad] remove WM_RBUTTONDOWN handling in editwing, since I don't use OLE Drag here (375816e)
- [GreenPad] more preporcessor guards and sync with RamonUnch/GreenPad#71 (38d6ad8)
- [GreenPad] call `CoLockObjectExternal` in OleDnDTarget for win32s (5b4ba2b)
- [GreenPad] follow-up rev 9f006c63 (8e31f12)
- [GreenPad] fix non-OLE file drop (9eb80f8)
- [GreenPad] bring myself to foreground if same file is dropped to window (for OLE DnD enabled builds only) (0ad8510)
- [GreenPad] update VC71 project files (5a883ed)
- [GreenPad] OleDnDTarget: delete itself when refcnt goes to zero, add more loggings (888e5a1)
- [GreenPad] OleDnDTarget: fix logic in constructor, add more loggings (796fe39)
- [GreenPad] import "IDropTarget minor adjustmants" (a3a0b5a)
- [GreenPad] OLE drop target: add CF_HDROP to WM_DROPFILES redirection code (4e3878e)
- [GreenPad] OLE drop target: guard CF_HDROP handling with win32s detection as non-win32s windows converts OLE CF_HDROP to WM_DROPFILES for us. (d62706e)
- [GreenPad] vc71 project: update win32s OLE object and map paths (25b31ec)
- [GreenPad] add extra fields for identify myself after file list of DROPFILES, and revert changes in rev cbfc779bb and part of rev 312e238b (6a8420b)
- [GreenPad] don't need hwnd from view control, use hwnd from itself instead. (cb0e5fc)
- [GreenPad] log: win32s doesn't supprot FILE_APPEND_DATA, go back to use GENERIC_WRITE instead. (bf16f57)
- [GreenPad] change return type of DlgImpl::MainProc() to fix win64 build (2addd0e)
- [GreenPad] fix type when passing to on_drop() (3a296e4)
- [GreenPad] import "Make thunk read+exe only for security" (ee95477)
- [GreenPad] add casts to fix warnings (4d6c8aa)
- [GreenPad] follow-up rev 2addd0e3 (0a25c9f)
- [GreenPad] change cast type to match SetWindowPos() defination (1df6b23)
- [GreenPad] follow-up rev 1df6b239: more parentheses works (5c5d8d9)
- [GreenPad] wcc: supply ActiveIME IIDs by ourselves (dd3a059)
- [GreenPad] wcc: move around includes for manifest (79e6351)
- [GreenPad] add wcc makefile (use WCC's nmake or wmake) (587b804)
- [GreenPad] rename `kilib\string.h` to `kilib\kstring.h` to avoid conflicting with system's <string.h> (69ae77c)
- [GreenPad] wcc: put PCH into object directory, and add kilib directory to include paths (8cf8b81)
- [GreenPad] wcc: build with bilingual resources. requires wrc running in Japanese locale. (887ae3e)
- [GreenPad] guard IDC_STATIC defination in FILEOPEN.DLG (156476b)
- [GreenPad] memory: prevent off-by-one out-of-bound access when deallocating (2cc367d)
- [GreenPad] add About dialog (9e81da1)
- [GreenPad] refine about dialog, and add running windows version to top textbox. (8549bce)
- [GreenPad] import "SPI_GETKEYBOARDDELAY does not gives miliseconds" (2131a2c)
- [GreenPad] OLE drop target: add win32s guard in CF_HDROP DragEnter() as well (069142b)
- [GreenPad] show-up main window early, and add "Loading file" string resource (a647ea8)
- [GreenPad] kilib/string: shave buffer to 12 bytes since `int` is 32bit even in win64. (e3063bb)
- [GreenPad] ConfigManager: handle multiline buffer (7100356)
- [GreenPad] kilib/textfile: read file in a whole, not line by line (036e657)
- [GreenPad] kilib/textfile: rename `ReadLine` to `ReadBuf` to reflect implementation changes (e756f43)
- [GreenPad] update projects (d577a72)
- [GreenPad] Reduce keyRepTime (df77a8c)

and libchardet.
Repo: https://github.com/roytam1/rtoss/tree/master/libchardet
Changes since last released build:

- [libchardet] Add VC6 project file and SUPERTINY flag (#2) (64e9a93)
- [libchardet] import from uchardet:  Bug 101032 - assignments to nsSMState in nsCodingStateMachine result in unspecified behavior. (53f7ad0e) (e1712aa)
- [libchardet] update UTF8_cls[] to fix GreenPad crashes when opening PRCST16.FNT (bbe5dd9)
- [libchardet] update project files (6d4b16c)
- [libchardet] trying to fix OS/2 READMEJ misdetected as UTF-8. also imported from uchardet: (c83f96d)
- [libchardet] revert rev bbe5dd96 and treat 0x00 as invalid UTF-8 (d5057b4)
- [libchardet] prevent out of bound access (71d2a9e)
- [libchardet] Ensure malloc is fred with free (PR_Malloc/PR_Free) (#3) (d8d7abf)

Executables:

GreenPad_x64.exe

GreenPad for XP and newer version of windows (AMD64/x64 Version).

GreenPad.exe

GreenPad for NT 3.51 and newer version of windows.

GreenPad-nt350.exe

GreenPad for NT 3.5 and newer version of windows. You may need a dummy IMM32.DLL when running in NT 3.5.

GPadnt31.exe

GreenPad for NT 3.1.

GnPad32s.exe

GreenPad for Win32s [ANSI version] (startable in 1.00.61, in limited working state with 1.10.88 and later), this build also works in Windows Chicago Beta Build 58s and later.

GnPad32o.exe

GreenPad for Win32s [ANSI version] with OLE2 functions compiled, requires Win32s 1.25 OLE or later.

GreenPad_ansi.exe

GreenPad for NT 3.51 and newer version of windows [ANSI version].

GreenPad-nt350_ansi.exe

GreenPad for NT 3.5 and newer version of windows [ANSI version]. You may need a dummy IMM32.DLL when running in NT 3.5.

GPadnt3a.exe

GreenPad for NT 3.1 [ANSI version].

GPadmips.exe

GreenPad for NT 3.1 MIPS Edition, tested on NT4 MIPS version, not tested on older versions of NT MIPS.

libchardet libraries:

CHARDET.DLL

libchardet for i386 32bit windows and win32s (compiled with VC1).

chardet_x64.dll

libchardet for x86-64 64bit windows (compiled with VC2005 SP1).

cdetmips.dll

libchardet for MIPS windows (compiled with VC4 MIPS RISC Edition).

 

Download (includes libchardet): GreenPad-1.08.3.7z

"If You Were The Last" is a fairy tale about friends with benefits, chemical attachments, and complicated relationships — in space. Kristian Mercado's feature debut shoots courtship drama into orbit, defying societal norms here on Earth. Angela Bourassa's screenplay sparkles like stars in the night sky, relying on conversations to hold the audience's attention in this dialogue-heavy interstellar chamber piece. Mercado's style is charmingly lo-fi, thanks to nifty arts and crafts effects (whether real or animated). He trusts actors to carry scenes with nothing but their charisma and flaunts impressive command for a debut filmmaker. It's like "No Strings Attached" but with zero gravity or "Friends With Benefits" caught in Jupiter's orbit.

Anthony Mackie co-stars as NASA astronaut Adam, a scientist stuck adrift in the cosmos with technician team member Jane (Zoe Chao). They're somewhere in Year 3, around day 1,000, with no signs of ever returning home thanks to navigation and communication malfunctions. They kill time by fiddling with wires, watching favorite movies, and staying active in their exercise facility. Then, Adam poses the million-dollar question — should they have sex? It's a basic human impulse, and they might aimlessly float until they die. Thus begins their daily debate about what sex means, how it can change everything, and if a shared orgasm is worth risking their friendship.

Romantic Chemistry

Mercado's production design team creates this wonderland homeliness about the spacecraft, like how there's a den area that's furnished like any Americana living room with showroom furniture, a rug, and a television. The large wall-sized window reveals pinkish, orangey, purplish solar system backdrops that are colorful like a kindergartener's painting, morphing space's suffocating darkness into a whimsical landscape. Outdoor views of the NASA vessel are cardboard models, rainbow streamers, and other craft supplies that soften the otherwise dire scenario of hurdling through nothingness without any indication of rescue. "If You Were The Last" could be dismally dark — or worse, "Passengers" — but Mercado's do-it-yourself special effects soothe like a warm blanket that keeps us cozy (while doubling as a visual storytelling device to be later revealed).

Mackie and Chao ooze romantic chemistry as they banter back and forth about the meaninglessness and importance of sexual intercourse. Mackie's man of research weighs decisions based on not wanting to masturbate in the greenhouse anymore, while Chao's more romantic soul pokes holes in more robotic arguments. Mackie and Chao's will they/won't they is dripping with sexual tension as they tangle limbs during dance interludes or cuddle after watching "Alien," all the while breaking down basic human urges and our desires for happiness. There's an overarching theme of finding pleasure even in the most drastic situations and complications once details from their Earth existences are introduced as more debate topics — which cannot thwart the charisma behind either Mackie or Chao's horned-up inquisitions.

Sensually Aware, Wholesomely Funny, And Emotionally Fulfilling

Bourassa pens a romantic comedy in a hopeless place, finding humor where it should not exist. Kookiness becomes a calling card, from the not-at-all-morbid skeleton in a space suit — Benson, their deceased third crewmate — to conversation topics that instigate forward back and forths. Multiple years in isolation break all barriers between Adam and Jane (sex is the final frontier), which grants a no-filter attitude that speaks freely about romantic follies or dangers that we on Earth often never voice. These truths can hit with forceful impact, but Mercado rarely lets deeper introspection erase the hilarity of typical rom-com tropes that must abide by science fiction rules.

"If You Were The Last" succeeds in being sensually aware, wholesomely funny, and emotionally fulfilling. Anthony Mackie and Zoe Chao share brutally intimate moments, whether bluntly conversing about risks involved with physical connections or lighting up the screen with their bodily chemistry that speaks volumes via unspoken attraction. Some jokes fall a bit flatter — comedy is always a matter of preference, so that might not be an issue for everyone — and the settings can be restrictive at times (by design), but overall, Kristian Mercado oversees an out-of-this-world romantic comedy that's allowed to be messy. Love is, after all, an imperfect science driven by passion. Mercado and Angela Bourassa explore what it means to rationalize the irrational, choosing to remain hopeful and filter everything through adorableness because, at the end of the day, life is about finding the person who you'd be happily floating with through space like you're the last people ... well, anywhere.

/Film Rating: 8 out of 10

Read this next: The Funniest Movie Scenes Of 2022

The post If You Were The Last Review: A Heartfelt And Complicated Love Story ... In Space [SXSW 2023] appeared first on /Film.

It’s been a long time coming, with delays and dev changes interfering with the long-awaited return of the Dead Island games, but our first taste of the gruesome, anatomically correct FLESH system was eight-ish hours of blood-soaked, skull-cracking, skin-shredding fun, and now we're counting down the days to the Dead Island 2 release date.

I lead with the gore because, as you may have seen from the trailers, this is the biggest selling point of the zombie game. Dambuster’s FLESH system - Fully Locational Evisceration Simulator for Humanoids, obviously - offers procedural destruction of the undead, with each layer of skin, muscle, and bone able to be ripped apart in colourful, animated realism. Depending on your weapon and attack of choice, you’ll see limbs sliced off, skin melted with acid, bones cracked, and almost any gruesome death you can think up. As gross as it might sound, it is incredibly satisfying whittling down zombies layer by layer.

MORE FROM PCGAMESN: The best co-op games, Everything we know about Dead Island 2, The best zombie games

A widespread malicious cyber operation has hijacked thousands of websites aimed at East Asian audiences to redirect visitors to adult-themed content since early September 2022. The ongoing campaign entails injecting malicious JavaScript code to the hacked websites, often connecting to the target web server using legitimate FTP credentials the threat actor previously obtained via an unknown

CISA has added vulnerabilities in Plex Media Server and VMware NSX-V to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

The post CISA Warns of Plex Vulnerability Linked to LastPass Hack appeared first on SecurityWeek.

The FBI received more than 800,000 cybercrime-related complaints in 2022, with losses totaling over $10 billion.

The post Cybercrime Losses Exceeded $10 Billion in 2022: FBI appeared first on SecurityWeek.

Intel recently commented on the 16-pin cable design currently used by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 series graphics cards, which opted for a 12VHPWR connector comprising a 12+4-pin design to produce a large amount of wattage to power the company's GPUs.

Intel's new ATX 3.0 specifications reveal recommendations for NVIDIA's 12VHPWR connector with an alternative design

When NVIDIA introduced the new design, reports flooded in on users having melted plugs and connections which turned out to be a user error since the connectors weren't being plugged in fully. Intel has developed a way of eliminating the issues by creating a new connection design.

The 16-Pin 12VHPWR connector is part of the new ATX 3.0 specifications that were defined by Intel and incorporates the latest Gen 5.0 platform.

NVIDIA researched the situation thoroughly and found that if the cable is not fully inserted into the connection to the graphics card, there would be a fault in the link, causing a high temperature and melting of the cable and connection. Also, space to connect the graphics card to the cable was an increased issue with insufficient clearance in some users' personal computers. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 design made the card one of the largest graphics cards developed to date and caused several difficulties for users. Since then, several cable alternatives have come out to allow better connection and enhanced clearance for the GPU.

A recent "recommendation" coming from Intel has recommended a design change of the 12VHPWR power connector from the current 3-dimple design to a 4-spring approach, as shown in the image below:

This is not to say that Intel is developing a graphics card offering the same connection as NVIDIA. This came to light because Intel further defined the ATX 3.0 specifications, and the cable design is part of its new generation.

The method also was derivative of discoveries made by Igor Wallosek of the website Igor's Lab. It turns out that the company had two different suppliers for the adapter, one was the three-dimple design, and the other was the four-spring design. NVIDIA chose to utilize the four-spring option as it was more accessible and capable of wearing above the other.

2 of 9

A spokesperson for Intel explained what the company's engineers revealed in its in-house research, stating, "Crimp Contacts inside of the cable plug are recommended to use the 4 Spring design instead of 3 dimple design (as shown in below figure) which will increase the contact area for electrical current flow inside the 12VHWPR connector and reduce the temperature rise of each contact."

The post New Intel ATX 3.0 Specs Reveal Redesign of 12VHPWR Connector To Eliminate Faulty Connections by Jason R. Wilson appeared first on Wccftech.

They don’t make them like Prey anymore. From the same era of classic PC FPS games like Doom 3, Half-Life 2, and FEAR, we’ve long lamented the cancellation of Prey 2, and been hoping for a return of Tommy Tawodi and the nefarious Keepers. The 2017 spiritual successor from Bethesda and Arkane helped soothe the pain, but with Wolfenstein, Doom, and Quake still going strong thanks to sequels and re-releases, it feels like Prey has been left by the wayside of shooter history. So, be thankful for Prey Hi-Def, a newly updated mod project which gives a full HD overhaul to the Human Head shooter, and is available to download right now.

MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Prey system requiements, The making of Prey, Upcoming PC games

Looking for a better way to display data in your PowerPoint presentation and take your slides to the next level? Now you can with these new Power BI integrations.

President Joe Biden sought to assure customers of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank on Monday that their money was safe -- insured by the Deposit Insurance Fund -- but said investors in the failed banks' securities aren't going to get the same guarantee. From a report: "Investors in the banks will not be protected," Biden said in a White House speech. "They knowingly took a risk and when the risk didn't pay off, the investors lose their money. That's how capitalism works." The nation's top bank regulators on Sunday announced the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp and Federal Reserve would fully cover deposits at both failed banks and rely on Wall Street and large financial institutions -- not taxpayers -- to foot the bill. Signature Bank in New York, which was shuttered Sunday over similar systemic contagion fears as SVB, had been a popular funding source for cryptocurrency companies. "The FDIC on Friday took control of SVB's assets and over the weekend Signature's," Biden said. "All customers who had deposits in these banks can rest assured they will be protected and they'll have access to the money as of today." The Treasury Department designated both SVB and Signature as systemic risks, giving it authority to unwind both institutions. The FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund, not taxpayer money, will be used to cover depositors, many of whom had significantly more than the $250,000 deposited at the banks that is normally covered by the FDIC. "No losses will be borne by the taxpayers," Biden stressed Monday. "I'm going to repeat that -- no losses will be borne by the taxpayers. Instead the money will come from the fees that banks pay into the Deposit Insurance Fund."/i?

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

When Tim Cook unveils Apple's new "mixed-reality" headset later this year, he won't just be showing off the tech giant's latest shiny gadget. From a report: The Apple chief will also be guaranteeing his legacy includes the launch of a next-generation hardware product that some inside the company believe might one day rival the iPhone. After seven years in development -- twice as long as the iPhone -- the tech giant is widely expected to unveil a headset featuring both virtual and augmented reality as soon as June. The stakes are high for Cook. The headset will be Apple's first new computing platform to have been developed entirely under his leadership. The iPhone, iPad and even Watch were all originally conceived under Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs, who died in 2011. Apple's growth during Cook's tenure has been spectacular, growing its market capitalisation from around $350bn in 2011 to around $2.4tn today. But despite the twin hit launches of Apple Watch in 2015 and AirPods a year later, which have helped turn its accessories division into a $41bn business, the company has been accused of iterating on past ideas rather than breaking new ground. "They have huge pressure to ship" the headset, said a former Apple engineer who worked on the product's development. "They have been postponing the launch each year for the past [few] years." The timing of the launch has been a source of tension since the project began in early 2016, according to multiple people familiar with Apple's internal discussions. Apple's operations team wanted to ship a "version one" product, a ski goggle-like headset that will allow users to watch immersive 3D video, perform interactive workouts or chat with realistic avatars through a revamped FaceTime. But Apple's famed industrial design team had cautioned patience, wanting to delay until a more lightweight version of AR glasses became technically feasible. Most in the tech industry expect that to take several more years. In deciding to press ahead with a debut this year, Cook has sided with operations chief Jeff Williams, according to two people familiar with Apple's decision-making, and overruled the early objections from Apple's designers to wait for the tech to catch up with their vision.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Last month, a declassified FBI report revealed that the bureau had used Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to conduct multiple unlawful searches of a sitting Congress member's personal communications. From a report by Ars Technica: Wired was the first to report the abuse, but for weeks, no one knew exactly which lawmaker was targeted by the FBI. That changed this week when Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) revealed during an annual House Intelligence Committee hearing on world threats that the FBI's abuse of 702 was "in fact" aimed at him. "This careless abuse by the FBI is unfortunate," LaHood said at the hearing, suggesting that the searches of his name not only "degrades trust in FISA" but was a "threat to separation of powers" in the United States. Calling the FBI's past abuses of Section 702 "egregious," the congressman -- who is leading the House Intelligence Committee's working group pushing to reauthorize Section 702 amid a steeply divided Congress -- said that "ironically," being targeted by the FBI gives him a "unique perspective" on "what's wrong with the FBI." LaHood has said that having his own Fourth Amendment rights violated in ways others consider "frightening" positions him well to oversee the working group charged with implementing bipartisan reforms and safeguards that would prevent any such abuses in the future. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said that LaHood "personifies the fears and mistrust many in America have about the FBI's leadership," noting that "too many Americans are worried it could be them" next. FBI director Christopher Wray said that he "completely" understood LaHood's concerns, while emphasizing that the FBI has already implemented reforms and safeguards to prevent similar abuses in the future. An FBI spokesperson told Ars that "extensive changes" to address 702 compliance issues include "a whole new Office of Internal Audit currently focused on FISA compliance" and new policies requiring "enhanced pre-approval requirements before certain 'sensitive' US person queries can be run." The spokesperson provided an example, saying that for any sensitive queries involving elected officials, the FBI's deputy director must sign off. Wray said at the hearing that queries of the Section 702 database on US persons have dropped by 93 percent since last year. He also confirmed that the FBI launched "all sorts of mandatory enhanced training" initiatives on 702 compliance. UPDATE: "At the same time, [LaHood] made clear that he still believes that Congress must reauthorize Section 702," reports the New York Times, "which he praised as a vital tool for combating a broad range of foreign threats."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Breaking news from CNN: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday instructed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to guarantee Silicon Valley Bank customers will have access to all of their money starting Monday. By guaranteeing all deposits — even the uninsured money customers kept with the failed SVB bank — the government can ensure public confidence in America's banking system, said Yellen, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and FDIC Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg in a joint statement.... The FDIC opened an auction Sunday for bids to acquire the bank, the Treasury Department said in a briefing with lawmakers in the California delegation, two sources familiar with the briefing told CNN.... Under Secretary for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang and Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs Jonathan Davidson led the briefing, during which they told members that the FDIC is prepared "to operate the institution" to ensure depositors can maintain payroll for their employees and that more operations will emerge in coming days, one of the sources said. The treasury secretary's statement clarified that "No losses associated with the resolution of Silicon Valley Bank will be borne by the taxpayer." We are also announcing a similar systemic risk exception for Signature Bank, New York, New York, which was closed today by its state chartering authority. All depositors of this institution will be made whole. As with the resolution of Silicon Valley Bank, no losses will be borne by the taxpayer. Shareholders and certain unsecured debtholders will not be protected. Senior management has also been removed. Any losses to the Deposit Insurance Fund to support uninsured depositors will be recovered by a special assessment on banks, as required by law. Finally, the Federal Reserve Board on Sunday announced it will make available additional funding to eligible depository institutions to help assure banks have the ability to meet the needs of all their depositors. Meanwhile, congresswoman Nancy Pelosi said there are multiple potential buyers for SVB, and "What we would hope to see by tomorrow morning is for some other bank to buy the bank." The UK arm of the bank has already received a bid from the Bank of London. From the treasury secretary's statement: The U.S. banking system remains resilient and on a solid foundation, in large part due to reforms that were made after the financial crisis that ensured better safeguards for the banking industry. Those reforms combined with today's actions demonstrate our commitment to take the necessary steps to ensure that depositors' savings remain safe.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

When I first released RegRipper in 2008, my intention was that once others saw the value in the tool, it would organically just grow on its own as practitioners found value in the tool, and sought to expand it. My thought was that once analysts started using it, they'd see the value proposition in the tool, and all see that the real power that comes from it is that it can easily be updated; "easily" by either developing new plugins, or seeking assistance in doing so.

Google has had a rough time introducing itself into the gaming industry. One of their most recent attempts with the Stadia cloud service has recently gone defunct, with the company refunding everyone that purchased it. Of course, even that has its own set of caveats, as we've seen before. Despite this, Google is still committed to becoming part of the gaming industry, as stated in a recent report by Axios.

The report states that Google is currently pitching its Cloud program as "proof" that it remains interested in gaming despite its recent shutdown. Google Cloud’s director of game industry solutions, Jack Buser, told Axios that Google is essentially better off "helping other people build this stuff, not necessarily building it ourselves."

So, what's this new approach entail? Essentially become the backbone of upcoming live service games. The strategy is to have Google sell its cloud service as a solution for live service games, with a "three-part Google cloud bundle" which includes servers, cloud storage data management, and even searchable player and game analytics, which can help their partners in terms of tracking player data and help those titles surge in popularity.

The ironic thing is that Google's Cloud service itself isn't included in this bundle. "We are not offering that streaming option, because it was tied to Stadia itself," Buser said to Axios. "So, unfortunately, when we decided to not move forward with Stadia, that sort of [business-to-business] offering could no longer be offered as well." Currently, Google is working with three noteworthy active clients, those being Ubisoft, Niantic, and Unity.

We'll have to wait and see what this new angle will bring to live service games in the future, as that particular method of business in the industry has been met with some backlash as of late, with users being negatively receptive to games that even hint at having such elements. Of course, there are still outliers with games like Fortnite, but the live service model has been having issues keeping many games alive over the last few years.

Google's Cloud technology at least promises to help alleviate risk for games like this, offering solutions that would essentially help them in rough patches and keep up with surges in popularity. Whether or not this technology will be used by other partners or live up to the promises that Google is making is still up in the air, so stay tuned for developments in this story.

The post Google is “Still Committed to Games as an Industry”; will Partner with Publishers of Live-Service Games by Ule Lopez appeared first on Wccftech.

The first two installments of Syberia are now ready for testing in ScummVM!

The acclaimed series from Benoît Sokal follows Kate Walker, a lawyer from New York as she initially tries to complete the sale of the Voralberg toy factory. But quickly Kate is drawn into a search for the owner which takes her on a journey of discovery. Join her as she uncovers the owner’s fascination with mammoths, the secrets of Syberia, and a love for adventure.

You will need data files from the macOS version of the games, and a new daily build of ScummVM. The ScummVM Wiki pages for Syberia and Syberia II include instructions on obtaining those files from Windows or Linux. Please file any issues you discover in the issue tracker.

We already knew that Bruce Campbell prefers the original "Army of Darkness" ending, but /Film writer Danielle Ryan recently spoke with him to learn exactly why. The different final scenes have often been the subject of debate amongst "Evil Dead" fans. For the 30th anniversary of "Army of Darkness," the /Film staff even offered their opinions on each ending.

On the one hand, there's the theatrical ending that Campbell dislikes. In the final scene, Ash returns to the housewares department at S-Mart and brags about his adventures in medieval times. When a raging Deadite unleashes hell in the store, Ash saves the day with his boomstick and plants a big, victorious kiss on his co-worker Jenny. In this triumphant moment, /Film's defense argues, "Ash fully embraces the flawed hero he was always meant to be. The threat hasn't disappeared, yet he's ready for it. It shows his growth over the course of the three films."

The alternate ending is far more ironic and depressing. The Wise Man gives Ash a magical potion to return to the present: he will advance 100 years for every drop he swallows. Unsurprisingly, Ash fumbles and miscounts. When he emerges from his hiding place looking like a wild caveman with a long, knotted beard, he realizes that he slept too long and has awakened in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

/Film writer Debopriyaa Dutta believes the original alternate ending of "Army of Darkness" is so much better because "[t]hroughout the trilogy, Ash's cockiness always backfires, which is a thematic thread that is unceremoniously usurped by the theatrical ending." She describes the theatrical ending as "unfaithful to Ash Williams," because he only kicks ass "when thrust into tight corners," and is a bumbling, arrogant clown the majority of the time. Campbell himself shares a similar perspective.

It Was More Appropriate For Ash's Character

Bruce Campbell told Danielle Ryan that he feels the original "Army of Darkness" ending written by Sam Raimi and Ivan Raimi was more suitable for his buffoonish and pompous character:

"Well, I always respect the filmmaker's choice because while it may not be the most popular, I think it was very appropriate. Ash is a big enough idiot to forget the amount of drops he was supposed to take. [...] It makes perfect sense for the character Ash, and it also sets up a sequel to that, which would be sort of a 'Spartacus,' 'Ash versus the robots' kind of deal. Could be a really, really cool survival, Charlton Heston, end of the world-type movie. [...] But then when we tested it, because studios always have to put forth endings that are happier, so it was deemed sort of a bummer ending, so they wanted an ending that was happier. It's okay. It's serviceable, but it's kind of silly. This ending is much more logical, actually."

Ash's clownery is his Achilles heel, made even worse by his paradoxically cocksure attitude. For Campbell, Ash is more of a court jester than a king. Since "Army of Darkness" elevates his more negative qualities, the darker ending is fitting and serves as poetic justice for his self-absorbed behavior. If the alternate final scene was kept in "Army of Darkness," it may have changed the trajectory of the "Ash vs Evil Dead" series, which features a similar apocalyptic conclusion in the final episode. Worst of all, the scene's ultimate removal robbed us of an off-the-wall, doomsday version of an "Evil Dead" movie, where Ash would have had to confront his biggest disaster yet. Now that would've been groovy.

Read this next: The 15 Best Horror Movie Directors Of All Time

The post Bruce Campbell Explains Why He Prefers the Army of Darkness Original Ending [Exclusive] appeared first on /Film.