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The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is urging organizations and individuals to increase their cyber vigilance, as Russia's military invasion of Ukraine officially enters one year. "CISA assesses that the United States and European nations may experience disruptive and defacement attacks against websites in an attempt to sow chaos and societal discord on February 24,

Somehow, Dead Space is one of the freshest games of 2023. The original hit literal store shelves in 2008 and the remake, which landed in January, doesn't change the game's fundamental mechanics. The remake is a downright treat to play; it's terrifying, fast-paced and expertly balanced. Dead Space's core loop is focused, and this only highlights how chaotic many AAA games are today.

Built-in limitations of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 era were critical in helping developers narrow their focus and innovate, and this generation spawned a litany of iconic franchises, including Dead Space, Dark Souls, Dishonored, Red Dead Redemption, Portal, Alan Wake and Arkham. Meanwhile, developers in the ninth console generation are grappling with an abundance of technological possibility, founded on the power and fidelity provided by modern gaming hardware. This has resulted in a litany of chaotic blandness from many AAA studios in recent years. In a creative industry unlimited by its tools, the most powerful mechanic is restraint. 

Dive deeper into this conversation in the below video.

It is no mystery that a good night's sleep and a lie-in can improve your day. But researchers are suggesting that, far from just being enjoyable, quality sleep may even add years to people's lives. From a report: Men who regularly sleep well could live almost five years longer than those who do not, while women could benefit by two years, research suggests. And they could also enjoy better health during their lives. Researchers found that young people who had better sleep habits were less likely to die early. But the researchers said their findings indicated quantity of sleep was not in itself enough to achieve the possible health benefits -- quality of sleep is also important. Good sleep was based on five different factors: ideal sleep duration of seven to eight hours a night; difficulty falling asleep no more than two times a week; trouble staying asleep no more than two times a week; not using any sleep medication; and feeling well rested after waking up at least five days a week. The findings suggested that about 8% of deaths from any cause could be attributed to poor sleep patterns. The researchers included data from 172,321 people with an average age of 50, 54% of whom were women, who participated in the National Health Interview Survey between 2013 and 2018. The survey looked at the health of the US population and included questions about sleep and sleep habits.

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On the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, cybersecurity companies summarize the cyber operations they have seen and their impact.

The post A Year of Conflict: Cybersecurity Industry Assesses Impact of Russia-Ukraine War appeared first on SecurityWeek.

Researchers are still discovering more about the Earth's center. A team at Australian National University (ANU) has found evidence of a new layer to the planet sitting within the inner core. This "innermost inner core" is an iron-nickel alloy ball that, as professor Hrvoje Tkalčić explains, is a "fossilized record" of Earth's ancient history. Until now, science had only recognized four layers (crust, mantle, outer core and inner core).

The scientists found the 'hidden' core by studying seismic waves that traveled back and forth across the Earth's entire diameter up to five times — previous studies only looked at single bounces. The earthquake waves probed places near the center at angles that suggested a different crystalline structure inside the innermost layer. Effectively, the alloy is skewing the travel times for the waves as they pass through.

The findings open up new ways to investigate the inner core, according to lead author Thanh-Son Phạm. ANU also believes the innermost inner core hints at a major event in Earth's past that had a "significant" impact on the planet's heart. As researchers explain to The Washington Post, it could also help explain the formation of the Earth's magnetic field. The field plays a major role in supporting life as it shields the Earth from harmful radiation and keeps water from drifting into space.

Those insights may help with studies of other worlds. Mars is believed to be a barren planet because it lost its magnetic field roughly four billion years ago, leaving no protection against solar winds and dust storms that carried away the atmosphere and oceans. Exoplanet hunters, meanwhile, could use the knowledge to search for habitable worlds. The presence of an Earth-like core structure isn't guaranteed to indicate survivability, but may play a role in narrowing down candidate planets.

Google "systematically destroyed" instant message chats every 24 hours, violating federal rules to preserve potentially relevant communications for litigation, the Department of Justice alleged in a filing that became public on Thursday. From a report: As a result of Google's default to preserve chats for only 24 hours unless an employee opts to turn on history for the conversation, "for nearly four years, Google systematically destroyed an entire category of written communications every 24 hours," the department wrote in the filing. According to the DOJ, Google should have adjusted its defaults in mid-2019 "when the company reasonably anticipated this litigation." Instead, it relied on individual employees to decide when chats were potentially relevant to future litigation, the department said. "Few, if any," did, according to DOJ. Meanwhile, investigators alleged, Google "falsely" told the government it had "'put a legal hold in place' that 'suspends auto-deletion.'" The government added that "at every turn, Google reaffirmed that it was preserving and searching all potentially relevant written communications." The data deletion continued up until as recently as this month when the government indicated it would file a motion for sanctions and an evidentiary hearing, investigators allege. At that point, the DOJ said, Google committed to "permanently set to history on."

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15 years after Eli Roth's fake trailer "Thanksgiving" debuted as a part of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's "Grindhouse," the slasher is finally coming to feature film fruition. The film is in talks to have Patrick "McDreamy" Dempsey to star in an undisclosed role, but thanks to a recent report from Deadline, the "Disenchanted" star won't be alone for long. TikTok star and the leading lady of "He's All That," Addison Rae, has been tapped to join the cast in a leading role.

The original "Thanksgiving" trailer was shot like a throwback slasher about a killer who made his own carving board out of victims in a small New England town that celebrates the holiday with a little bit too much enthusiasm. There's no telling where Dempsey or Rae will fit into the fold, but considering she snagged a multi-million dollar deal with Netflix, it's doubtful Rae's presence will be small. Will she be a final girl? A screaming victim? What hell hath Eli Roth wrought?

Look, it's really easy to dunk on influencer types like Addison Rae, but after watching "He's All That," a film that we lovingly described as "an algorithm trying to disguise itself as a high school rom-com," it's clear she knows how to bring the big performances usually seen in an Eli Roth movie. I don't think anyone on the planet has ever described a Roth film like "Hostel" or "The Green Inferno" as "restrained," which makes Rae a perfect candidate. Honestly, if Roth brings the same kind of energy he had for "Knock Knock," this casting is downright inspired.

Welcome, New Horror Fans!

The horror sphere has been dominated by trauma vehicles as of late, but after the successes of films like "Malignant," "M3GAN," and now "Cocaine Bear," there's been a well-welcomed swing into "fun horror" films again. Roth's slasher films, while certainly not for everyone, have always had plenty of goofy popcorn moments. Take "Cabin Fever" for example, a film that made shaving your legs a terrifying experience. Honestly, having a TikTok star like Addison Rae in a slasher film is pretty perfect.

There's also then the thought that her participation might help birth a new legion of horror fans. Not to pass judgment on anyone, but I don't perceive there to be a lot of overlap on the Venn diagram of "horror fans" and "Addison Rae's followers." Perhaps her casting will inspire folks who would otherwise never step foot in the theater for a slasher film to step a bit outside of their comfort zone.

"Thanksgiving" is expected to begin shooting in March 2023 in Toronto.

Read this next: The 15 Best Final Girls In Horror Movies Ranked

The post Eli Roth's Thanksgiving Gives Addison Rae a Lead Role appeared first on /Film.

With "Creed," Ryan Coogler took the "Rocky" mythos and created something that felt both comfortably familiar and refreshingly new. I'm from Philadelphia, and I can distinctly remember seeing "Creed" opening weekend with a Philly crowd. Near the end of the film, there's a moment where a knocked-down Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) gets back on his feet as Bill Conti's familiar "Rocky" theme music kicks in. At that moment, the audience — myself included — lost their damn minds, cheering, clapping, slamming their fists down on the armrests of the seats. It felt electric, and it only made the entire film more endearing. 

Now here we are with "Creed III," the third entry in what has become a new franchise. One look at the "Rocky" series can tell you this is potentially dangerous ground. While the first "Rocky" is a gritty, down-to-earth drama about a palooka about to take his big shot, the sequels grew sillier and more prone to endless, MTV-style montages. Would "Creed" suffer the same fate? It might have, because the somewhat underwhelming "Creed II" went down a distinctly "Rocky" path, having Adonis fight the son of Ivan Drago, the man who murdered his father Apollo Creed in the ring. 

"Creed III," however, attempts to go down a different path. Sort of. When you get right down to it, this film is following the familiar "Rocky" formula. However, it's also trying to distance itself from the Italian Stallion. Unlike the previous two films, Sylvester Stallone has no involvement with this sequel (save for a producer's credit), and Rocky himself never appears and is only mentioned briefly. This may rub some viewers the wrong way, but it makes sense: Rocky was given a happy ending that reunited him with his estranged son in the last movie. What more is there for him to do? Instead, "Creed III" puts Adonis in the Rocky-like role. He's no longer an underdog or a scrappy up-and-comer. He's the champ, and as the film begins, he fights his seemingly last fight and hangs up his gloves, retiring at the top of his game. 

A Face From The Past

Now that he's retired, Adonis is ready to train the next generation of fighters. This could've backfired since it's basically the same premise as the dreaded "Rocky V." But "Creed III" is surprisingly grounded, and frequently quiet and reflective. There are long stretches of silence, something the "Rocky" sequels would never stand for — they'd fill that silence with hit pop songs, damn it! Jordan, who is back as Creed, also steps behind the camera to direct here, and his direction is sturdy and solid. Jordan seems to relish the fight scenes most of all, as they enable him to get creative — using slow-motion to highlight body blows, and, in one of the most stunning moments in the movie, having a huge stadium full of people vanish so that only Creed and his opponent are standing, alone, in the ring.

That opponent is Damian "Dame" Anderson, played by Jonathan Majors. Majors is having a moment right now, and deservedly so. He's become one of those "oh, he's great in everything!" actors, and the same is true here. With his killer physique (seriously: how do you get so ripped?) and his raw intensity, Majors strikes an imposing figure, and every moment he's on-screen here is electrifying. It helps that Dame is such a complicated antagonist (it would be wrong to call him a "villain"). 

Adonis is living the retired life, promoting fighters and spending time with his wife Bianca (Tessa Thompson, given more to do here than in the previous movie) and daughter Amara (Mila Davis-Kent). And then Dame shows up. Dame and Adonis were best friends when they were kids, but a series of events lead to Dame being sent to jail for 18 years. Now, he's out, and he wants to connect with his old friend. But he wants more than that: Dame used to box before he was sent to prison, and now he wants a title shot. 

Stepping Back Into The Ring

Adonis and Dame seem friendly at first, but you can guess where this is going, even if all the marketing for "Creed III" didn't give it away — the friendship will sour and Adonis will be forced to step back into the ring and duke it out with his old friend. 

The predictability keeps "Creed III" from fully taking flight — we know exactly where this is going from the first frame. And yet, Jordan and company are able to rise above that predictability, mostly. It helps that we're invested in how this is all going to shake out, even if we can kind of figure it out ourselves. Jordan and Majors are both dynamite here, commanding the screen and creating palpable tension whenever they share a scene. 

Curiously enough, Adonis feels slightly sidelined here. Perhaps it's because Jordan was also behind the camera, or perhaps there's just not much more to say about Adonis Creed. While the character gets some big, emotional moments, you also get the impression that his story is coming to a close. Indeed, I sure hope "Creed" doesn't take the "Rocky" route and pump out sequel after sequel. Whether or not that happens will surely be up to studio execs and box office returns, but if this is the final round for the "Creed" series, it's a fitting, if predictable, end. 

/Film Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Read this next: Butkus To Punchy: Ranking All 8 'Rocky' Movies From Worst To Best

The post Creed III Review: Michael B. Jordan Directs a Predictable But Solid Sequel appeared first on /Film.

"Invincible," the animated series based on the hit comic book series by "The Walking Dead" co-creator Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley, was a major success for Prime Video. But what to read between seasons if you can't get enough of bombastic teenaged superheroics? Well, there are at least 14 different comic books that should scratch that itch, including both series that influenced "Invincible" as well as stories that have something to say about the world of superheroes — and the one we live in.

Of course, it goes without saying that one of the titles that should be on your reading list is "Invincible" itself. The series wrapped up in 2018, so it's a complete saga — just be aware that you'll be spoiling the rest of the animated series for yourself! That's hardly a problem, though; this is a story that's worth experiencing twice.

Miracleman

Long before Alan Moore became world-famous on the heels of "Watchmen," he and artist Garry Leach published a darker, more realistic take on an old British hero named Marvelman. The series launched in 1982 in the short-lived UK magazine "Warrior," which also hosted another of Moore's works, "V For Vendetta." However, due to complaints from Marvel, the title of the book was changed to "Miracleman" when Eclipse Comics brought the series to the USA in the mid-'80s. 

After 16 issues, Moore passed the series on to then-relative newcomer Neil Gaiman. However, after issue #24 came out in 1993, Eclipse ceased operations, and the story was left hanging. Now, Gaiman and artist Mark Buckingham are finally getting the chance to continue their story — ironically, at Marvel, which has reprinted the entire series to date, albeit with Moore's name taken off at his behest. As a massively influential look at superheroes as god figures and what happens to society because of them, "Miracleman" clearly inspired much of the destruction and carnage of the battle between Invincible and ... well, you know who ... in the "Invincible" season 1 finale.

The Ultimates

In the early years of the 21st century, Marvel debuted its Ultimate line, featuring fresh and streamlined takes on its characters and their decades-long continuity. It was a way for the publisher, which was having a renaissance after filing for bankruptcy in the 1990s, to recreate their top characters in a modern context without rebooting their entire line. We'll discuss the first, and most acclaimed, of the Ultimate comics later. However, for sheer "Invincible"-esque bombast — and discomfort — you can't get much bigger than Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's "The Ultimates," which follows this universe's version of the Avengers. 

This explosive, widescreen comic was popular enough to influence the early Marvel Cinematic Universe movies; it even features the alien villains of the first "Avengers," the Chitauri, although they take on a slightly different form here than they did on screen. The characterizations of Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow, the Hulk, and the rest are much edgier than they were in the mainstream Marvel books that preceded "The Ultimates," and not always for the better. That said, this series is definitely of its time, with a plot focused on a superpowered version of the war on terror, which cast a shadow over all pop culture in the 2000s.

Super Sons

The team-up between Superman and Batman's sons is not new; the first published iteration of the Super Sons dates back to 1973. Peter J. Tomasi, a writer who has written extensively for DC, including stints on both Superman and Batman, revived the concept for DC's Rebirth phase in 2016. This time, "Super Sons" pairs the Rebirth-era iteration of Superboy, Jonathan Kent, with the Damian Wayne Robin for a 17-issue run chronicling their adventures.

Tomasi's series, which features art from Jorge Jimenez, Paul Pelletier, Alisson Borges, and others, has now been collected into an omnibus by DC. If the son of Superman (who eventually became Superman in the current DC comics, although not without controversy) doesn't sound familiar after watching "Invincible," I'm not entirely sure what to tell you. And hey, you'll get Batman's kid as part of the package, too. An animated movie based on "Super Sons" was released in October 2022, featuring Jack Dylan Grazer and Jack Griffo as Jonathan and Damian, respectively.

My Hero Academia

An extremely popular manga and anime, Kohei Horikoshi's "My Hero Academia" ticks many of the same boxes as "Invincible." Teenage superheroes and villains? Check. World-shattering battles? Check. Drama between super-fathers and their super-sons? Check.

In a world where almost everyone has a "quirk" that gives them a super ability, Izuku Midoriya was born powerless. However, after Midoriya shows off his selflessness in a dangerous situation, the world's greatest hero, All Might, makes Midoriya the inheritor of his quirk, One For All. This sets off a chain of events that leads Midoriya to a confrontation with the villainous Tomura Shigaraki, who now possesses the inverse of All Might's quirk, All For One.

"My Hero Academia" is a love letter to American superhero comics, and is one of the most sincere entries in the genre in the last 20 or so years. Creator Horikoshi even draws All Might like an American superhero from the '90s. Of particular note for "Invincible" fans is the ongoing drama involving the number-two-ranked hero, Endeavor, and his sons, especially Todoroki. Also, there's a girl whose powers mimic the abilities of a frog. How can you not dig that?

One-Punch Man

What do you do for excitement when you're so powerful that you can win every battle with a single punch? This is the dilemma faced by Saitama, the titular One-Punch Man, who has a costume and everything but can't seem to find a foe worthy of his powers. This comedic send-up of superheroes began in 2009 as a poorly drawn webcomic by ONE, before finding wider popularity when the chapters were redrawn by "Eyeshield 21" artist Yusuke Murata and released digitally by Shueisha, the publishers of "Weekly Shonen Jump" in Japan.

An anime adaptation was released in 2015. This was also a runaway hit, as smashing as its gigantic battles, which "Invincible" viewers certainly won't say no to. However, the spoof is the series' main focus, and things don't get nearly as gory as they do on "Invincible." That said, the satire hits many superhero story tropes, including father-son dynamics and sibling rivalries, that will be very familiar to "Invincible" watchers.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

If you enjoy the generational saga of "Invincible," Hirohiko Araki's "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" should scratch the same itch. Beginning in 1987, the long-running series has detailed the conflicts between the Joestar and Brando families over eight different story arcs. Each one focuses on a new iteration of one of those two families, with some plotlines unfolding in another universe entirely. 

The story moves away from its focus on mystical martial arts during the third arc, "Stardust Crusaders," which introduces superpowered avatars called Stands. The series has only grown in popularity worldwide over the years. It keeps evolving with each arc; so does Araki's art. In fact, Araki's work has even been featured in official Gucci advertisements and the Louvre!

Six arcs of "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" have been published in the USA. Those same six have also been adapted into an anime, and the fourth arc, "Diamond Is Unbreakable," was made into a live-action movie by director Takashi Miike. Meanwhile, the ninth arc, "JOJOLANDS," is on its way in Japan. It's an epic series, and fans of "Invincible" will appreciate the wide scope of the adventures, battles, and strange abilities on display.

Ultimate Spider-Man

As detailed above, "Ultimate Spider-Man" was the first entry in Marvel's Ultimate line, and went on to become one of the most popular comics of the 2000s. Writer Brian Michael Bendis, then a relative newcomer to Marvel, and artist Mark Bagley, already considered one of the greatest Spider-Man artists ever, modernized the origins of Peter Parker, Aunt May, Mary-Jane Watson, and the rest. Like "Invincible," Spider-Man has always been closely tied to his family, particularly his guilt over Uncle Ben's murder. Making Spidey a teenage hero again, just as he was during his original appearances, really drives the point home.

"Ultimate Spider-Man" was a smash success that set the stage for Ultimate versions of the Avengers, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four, among others. It also established the tone for this edgier version of the Marvel Universe. But that's not all "Ultimate Spider-Man" is known for. Bendis and artist Sara Pichelli relaunched the title in 2011 while introducing a new Spider-Man for the modern age: Miles Morales. Miles proved so popular that he was brought into the main Marvel continuity, and was the star of the animated blockbuster "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse."

Young Avengers

What happens when a team of teenage superheroes are forced to finally grow up? That's the question posed by 2013's "Young Avengers," written by Kieron Gillen and drawn by Jamie McKelvie, the team behind the cult indie comic "Phonogram." Super kids take on their super parents in this run, which echoes "Invincible," but that only scratches the surface of the book. Maturity, honesty with oneself, LGBTQ+ relationships, and more mundane-yet-pertinent ideas sit are at the heart of this acclaimed series. There's also a teenager who can kick open portals to other dimensions, just in case you're looking for that sense of super-powered wonder.

While the Young Avengers have had a devoted following since Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung introduced the team in 2005, Gillen and McKelvie's 15-issue run received rave reviews, and was a best-seller as well. The team was able to parlay the success of "Young Avengers" into what many consider their magnum opus, "The Wicked + The Divine," which was published by Image Comics. Gillen and McKelvie's "Young Avengers" also won the 2014 GLAAD Media Award for outstanding comic book, topping the likes of DC's "Batwoman" and Archie Comics' "Life with Archie," which features the company's LGBTQ icon, Kevin Keller. It was the second time the series had done so; Heinberg and Cheung's run also won the award in 2006.

The Boys

What if America's greatest heroes were actually amoral jerks? And, in that case, who could possibly put a stop to their destructive antics? That's a formula that has birthed many comics since the late 1980s, and it worked out particularly well for Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's "The Boys." Initially deemed too hot to handle by DC's Wildstorm imprint, the comic moved to Dynamite and ended up being a huge hit for the creators and the publisher. 

Much like "Invincible," "The Boys" centers violence, wanton destruction, and an informed dissection of superhero tropes in a big way. Also like "Invincible," "The Boys" was a major success for Prime Video, with three seasons available at the time of this writing. Much like the TV series it spawned, "The Boys" is very edgy, its humor can be extremely crass, and its sex and violence go way over the top. Underneath it all, however, is a potent commentary on American domestic and foreign policy post-9/11. Not everyone will agree with its politics, but you'll find yourself unable to look away regardless.

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

The "Judas Contract" storyline from "New Teen Titans," which was written by Marv Wolfman and illustrated by George Perez in 1984, is considered one of the highest peaks of the teenage superhero genre. This one has everything. The Titans are infiltrated and nearly destroyed by one of their greatest adversaries. Dick Grayson finally abandons the Robin costume on his way to becoming Nightwing. Another hero leaves the Titans altogether. It was a seismic storyline, and a very influential one. "Invincible" viewers know the pain of being betrayed by a trusted comrade very well; in that regard, this story was groundbreaking.

As in "Young Avengers," the members of the Titans must grow up in a major way. The story won the "favorite comic book story" award from the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards in 1984, and the characters proved so popular they received a second monthly comic from Wolfman and Perez later in the year. The storyline has been adapted twice into other media: once as a storyline on the 2003 "Teen Titans" animated series, and again in 2017 as one of DC's animated feature films.

Marshal Law

If you thought "The Boys" despised superheroes, check out "Marshal Law." In 1987, British creators Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill brought a seething hatred of the superhero genre to comics long before it was fashionable to do so. 

The series follows a former supersoldier who gleefully accepts a job as a leather-and-barbed-wire-clad super-cop in order to police his fellow super-veterans. His biggest case comes when he takes on Sleepman, a "hero" who's raping and murdering women dressed like a certain superheroine. The good Marshal suspects the villain is really America's greatest hero, the Public Spirit. Scathing in its commentary and ultra-political, "Marshal Law" may not be to everyone's tastes. Still, it shares a lot in common with "Invincible" in its grit, bombast, and violence. It even takes the whole teenage superhero trope to task. 

"Marshal Law" went through many publishers in its time. It began at Marvel's Epic imprint, then bounced around several other companies, including Dark Horse and Image. Along the way, it crossed over with other comics properties, including "Hellraiser," "Savage Dragon," and "The Mask." The last new adventures for the character were published at a now-defunct early internet comics website, Cool Beans World, in 2000. DC Comics published an omnibus edition of the series in 2013 — leaving out the crossovers with other companies' characters, of course.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Brat Pack

The deconstruction of superheroes in popular media began in earnest with the publication of Frank Miller's "Batman: The Dark Knight" and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' "Watchmen." "Brat Pack" is a companion to these seminal titles, self-published by writer-artist Rick Veitch following his controversial departure from DC's "Swamp Thing." Veitch's comic casts a critical eye on the entire notion of the teen superhero, specifically the disposable teen sidekick. It was published following a telephone poll conducted by DC to determine whether Robin lived or died in a then-current "Batman" storyline. The series' tagline was even "Live fast, love hard, die with your mask on." You can read that ethos into "Invincible," too, although that's not necessarily a good thing. 

Like "Marshal Law," "Brat Back" can be a tough read, as it doesn't shy away from transgressive content — the edginess of "Invincible," coupled with the subject matter, makes it one of this book's direct descendants. Ultimately, however, this is a rewarding read that makes you think about how healthy teen superheroes really are, as well as the genre itself. It also resulted in one most recognizable images in comics in the 1990s: the vertical "@#*!" symbol worn by the series' ostensible villain, Dr. Blasphemy.

Wanted

The comics we've covered so far have mostly focused on teenage superheroes or older heroes' offspring, which together form the root of "Invincible." Let's take a look at the flip side of that coin with a story that focuses on the son of a villain instead (although it's a comic that shares an affinity for over-the-top content with "Invincible").

What would you do if you found out you're the kid of the deadliest assassin in history, and that your father was one of the supervillains who successfully conquered the entire planet? That's the story told in Mark Millar and J.G. Jones' "Wanted." Wesley Gibson, stuck in a menial job and a bad relationship, discovers he is actually the son of The Killer. Further, he's inherited his dad's killing abilities. He's brought into the ruling Fraternity, but all hell breaks loose when one of the secret society's main villains decides he wants a bigger piece of the action. 

A movie based on the comic came out in 2008, starring James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, and Morgan Freeman, but it removed all mentions of supervillains and superheroes, which were the blood of the comic. In hindsight, that seems like an odd creative choice, considering that the film came out just before the Marvel Cinematic Universe became the dominant pop culture force for the next decade.

House Of X And Powers Of X

After spending a few years producing creator-owned work, Jonathan Hickman returned to Marvel in 2019 with his biggest idea yet: What would happen if all of Marvel's mutants, from the X-Men to their most hated adversaries, banded together on the living island of Krakoa and formed their own country, one with a language and culture all its own? And how would the rest of the Marvel Universe react to a new sovereign mutant nation? Those were the questions that Hickman initially raised in two concurrently published miniseries, "House of X," which was illustrated by Pepe Larraz, and "Powers of X," a collaboration with artist RB Silva. 

Plenty of intrigue results, of course, both within Krakoa and without as forces gather to deal with this situation. Are Charles Xavier and Magneto, having buried the hatchet, being forthcoming about all that happens on Krakoa? Or are there secrets about this new island nation that will shake the world to its core? Will a stunning betrayal destroy Krakoa, as Invincible himself was so shockingly betrayed in his series' first season finale?

With story threads that unfold 10, 100, and 1,000 years into the future as well as the present day, Hickman's X-Men run is a sprawling epic, one that "Invincible" fans will easily find themselves drawn into. While it stands up on its own as a complete work, "House of X" and "Powers of X" formed the foundation for Marvel's big X-book relaunch. The story they kicked off continues to this day, even though Hickman has left to tackle other projects.

Read this next: 9 Filmmakers Who Should Be Given Free Rein In The MCU

The post Comics To Read If You Love Invincible appeared first on /Film.

Kaare Eriksen writes via Variety: As the Digital Entertainment Group, the trade association for home entertainment, tells it, business is better than ever: The U.S. consumer spend on home entertainment grew 11.4% year over year in 2022, totaling nearly $37 billion. Of course, success depends on how you define "home entertainment": Essentially none of that growth came courtesy of anything other than streaming, let alone DVD sales of any kind. When you remove SVOD from the equation, the truth is tough but unsurprising -- outside of theaters, people are increasingly losing the urge to pay for individual films or TV series, with all rentals and physical sales continuing to decline on an annual basis. One apparent exception to this is digital sales made across platforms like Amazon, Apple TV and Vudu. Digital sell-through commands the largest share of home entertainment spend after streaming and increased ever so slightly in 2022. That said, it's important to remember that the scaling back of COVID restrictions throughout 2021 meant 2022 was the first (relatively) normal year at the box office since the pandemic started. As a result, more films from major studios were released in theaters and subsequently hit their digital windows sooner, per a bevy of deals Hollywood has worked out with exhibitors. But the key word there is films. TV is a different situation. Between February of last year and May 2023, just over 100 TV releases from the major studios alongside AMC Networks and Lionsgate will have received Blu-ray or 4K Ultra HD releases in the U.S. market. From a studio-by-studio standpoint, there is little to no consistency as to the strategy behind these physical releases. The most staggering factor is how Paramount alone accounts for well over a third of these releases. [...] What's strange is Paramount's sheer commitment to physical releases for its more obscure series spread across the TV landscape. Just about everything originating from Paramount Pictures has at least a Blu-ray release. "Other than those Paramount releases, the only TV series that got 4K physical editions over the last 12 months are 'House of the Dragon' and the final season of 'Westworld,'" adds Variety. "By contrast, Disney has practically parted ways with physical TV releases altogether. To date, the only Disney+ series that has received a Blu-ray release is Peter Jackson's 'The Beatles: Get Back' docuseries." The same is true for Hulu.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

In Rian Johnson's Peacock murder mystery series "Poker Face," cocktail waitress Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) has an unusual ability: she can tell whether or not someone is lying. It's a seemingly supernatural sense, as she feels a little twinge whenever someone isn't telling the truth. The feeling is never wrong, but it doesn't give her any clues on how exactly a person is lying or why they're lying, and that's where her real talents come in. There are some fictional detectives praised for their detached, logical investigation styles, but that's not Charlie. She's the anti-Sherlock Holmes, investigating the lies she's told and the murders she keeps stumbling into because of a sense of duty to her fellow human beings. She has a profound sense of empathy that allows her to relate to survivors, witnesses, and even the murderers themselves. She's non-judgmental and easy-going, with Lyonne's effortlessly cool and genuine warmth, so people open up to her and give her clues no hard-boiled game of good cop, bad cop could ever elicit. 

Johnson has said that he wanted "Poker Face" to feel like a "hangout show," where audiences just want to spend time with Charlie Cale, and it absolutely succeeds in that goal. Not only does the audience want to hang out with the delightful Charlie, but it's understandable why people in the show trust her and open up to her so regularly. Johnson's other detective hero, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), has plenty of warmth and empathy but is much more reserved and aloof. Charlie, by contrast, is rough-and-tumble, ready to rock, and ridiculously lovable. She's the rare TV detective who solves crimes using her nose, gut, brains, and most importantly, her heart. 

A Friendly Free Spirit

Charlie Cale is easily one of the coolest characters to exist in the history of television. She's funny, wise, relatable, and she really gives a damn. Frequently throughout the series, she has the opportunity to cut and run when she stumbles across a crime, but she always ends up doing the right thing, even if it puts her at serious risk. She's a real one who is just as comfortable shooting the breeze with a foul-mouthed trucker (the always incredible Hong Chau) as she is talking to a growling, embittered rock star (a fierce Chloë Sevigny). She is as non-judgmental as possible, only occasionally muttering "bulls***" when she hears a lie, and even then she usually reassures the person that most lies are benign and that people lie all the time.

There's nothing fake about Charlie, either, which makes her the kind of open book that people are more willing to trust. She's not some Machiavellian mastermind or a deeply tortured genius, she's just someone with some street smarts, a good heart, and the ability to actually listen to people instead of just pretending to pay attention. The only people that immediately distrust or dislike Charlie tend to be those with something nefarious to hide, and that's even before they find out about her ability to sniff out lies. Her realness makes their falsehoods more apparent and she terrifies them because there's nothing more powerful than the truth. 

An Accidental Detectve

Being able to tell when someone is lying might seem like the ultimate detective superpower, but it also doesn't work as easily as Charlie just being able to grill people and then tell the police "I have a superpower." Charlie is on the run from a dangerous and powerful mobster who could easily convince local cops to turn her in, which means law enforcement workers aren't exactly her friends, so any crimes she solves have to be done with creativity and wit. Lyonne explained the character in an interview with Empire Magazine:

"I really love the accidental detective. You know, the person who stumbles into a life of solving things just because their brain works that way."

There are plenty of detectives, both accidental and intentional, who are compelled to solve mysteries because of the mystery itself, but what makes Charlie feel different is her motivation. In the second episode, she's perfectly willing to leave a potential mystery in her rearview mirror until she hears that an innocent person was arrested. In episode 5, one of the villains calls Charlie a cop and she's (rightfully) offended. Charlie isn't working in service of law and order or an egotistical need to prove herself and her detective skills — she's solving these mysteries because it's simply the right thing to do. 

A Different Kind Of Detective

Charlie follows in the footsteps of other cozy detectives like Angela Lansbury in "Murder, She Wrote," though she's a pretty different kind of character than any other TV detective. She's effortlessly cool and easy to relate to, with an appreciation for the finer things in life (like a good sandwich) and a willingness to let her hair down. She enjoys her vices but it's beholden to them, like many TV detectives who drink too much or chain smoke. She's incredibly wholesome despite swearing like a sailor on occasion, the kind of character who can wander into any situation and make themselves at home. A big part of the fun of watching "Poker Face" each week is seeing how Charlie is going to interact with the episode's guest stars. Will they hit it off and play shuffleboard while smoking closet weed, butt heads, or maybe even have a fun flirtation? 

"Poker Face" is getting a second season, which means we'll get to see more of Charlie Cale and her incredible capacity for empathy. She doesn't have the preternatural empathy of someone like Will Graham from "Hannibal," of course, but that's by design. After all, her lie-sniffing ability is its own kind of magical empathy and combined with her ability to get people to let their guards down, she's positioned to give even Columbo a run for his money. 

New episodes of "Poker Face" premiere on Peacock every Thursday.

Read this next: The 18 Best Crime Dramas In TV History

The post In Poker Face, Natasha Lyonne's Real Superpower is Her Empathy appeared first on /Film.

When it comes to cleaning your oven, you have a lot of options, but they all involve major elbow grease, whether you’re using Bar Keepers Friend, a Scrub Daddy, or another product or tip. There is one way, however, to give your oven an excellent clean that won’t drain your energy. In fact, you can relax or do…

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Ray-sonance cascade

If you’ve been holding off on replaying Half-Life until it gussies itself up a bit and Black Mesa doesn’t feel quite the same, you can now apply some simulated photons to it. Programmer Sultim Tsyrendashiev, the creator of similar mods for Doom, Quake, and Serious Sam, has released a literal glow-up with their Half-Life 1 Ray Traced mod. The mod does exactly what it say on the box by adding path traced illumination and reflections.

Hey, you know what? I started up Half-Life a few weeks ago for a tandem playthrough of it and Black Mesa, so this is the perfect time for me to give it a try. I had left off on the early chapter Office Complex. Installation of the mod is extremely simple, and it launches from a separate executable. Once inside, it was a few quick tweaks to the options, and I was off to the fancily lit races.

[embed]https://youtu.be/LQCZTxzW6A0[/embed]

The mod gives the option to toggle the lighting effects with a single button (you’re stuck with the reflections, however.) Doing so demonstrates that the lighting engine hasn’t simply been overhauled, but some of the fixtures have been changed and light sources added. While some changes are more dramatic than others, I enjoy the effect and find that it didn’t take too much from the feel of the game.

I generally think that ray tracing is a colossal, over-hyped bit of tech designed to speed the planned obsolescence of graphics hardware. Developers have been so good at artistically emulating light and reflection that there are games with ray tracing where the most significant impact of turning it on seems to just be that the framerate drops. Visual differences are negligible, but the performance impact is severe.

But!

I also find that applying modern lighting effects to games where graphical techniques were too primitive to have convincing lighting does give new life to the game. A lot of our brain’s ability to recognize depth and space comes from light and shadow. So while the textures and models remain unchanged, the improved lighting makes for a more convincing image.

Regardless, playing around with old game engines and experiencing familiar games with altered visuals is a lot of fun. And that’s whether you think the added effects are a needed improvement or not.

The Half-Life 1 Ray Traced mod is available for free from the creator’s Github. However, you will need a copy of the original Half-Life (not Half-Life: Source) to stick it into.

The post This mod lets you slather fancy ray tracing all over your Half-Life appeared first on Destructoid.

Trojanized versions of legitimate applications are being used to deploy evasive cryptocurrency mining malware on macOS systems. Jamf Threat Labs, which made the discovery, said the XMRig coin miner was executed by means of an unauthorized modification in Final Cut Pro, a video editing software from Apple. "This malware makes use of the Invisible Internet Project (i2p) [...] to download malicious

There’s a touch of poetry to the way Wild Hearts carves so liberally from Monster Hunter. After all, Monster Hunter is a series about an unknown newcomer toppling ancient beasts, chopping up their best bits to create weapons and armour. Forget sleeves, Wild Hearts wears its inspirations as a complete set of clothing crafted from the bones, fur, and teeth of Capcom’s increasingly popular series. Inevitably these materials may feel lesser than the whole from which they were harvested, but they are worn proudly and with confidence nevertheless.

Besides, as a rare challenger to Monster Hunter, Wild Hearts is clearly aware of the difficulties involved in trying to pull off something new. Perhaps this is why Omega Force’s monster battler is so welcoming to newcomers. Finally, here is a game that is willing to teach a player why this long-running genre is held in such high regard. Wild Hearts is the perfect entry point for anyone who has ever dreamed of being a Monster Hunter Liker. A bombastic, brilliant good time that’s held back by frequent, frustrating performance issues on PC.

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Lawmakers are increasingly hellbent on punishing the popular social network while efforts to pass a broader privacy law have dwindled.

A new backdoor associated with a malware downloader named Wslink has been discovered, with the tool likely used by the notorious North Korea-aligned Lazarus Group, new findings reveal. The payload, dubbed WinorDLL64 by ESET, is a fully-featured implant that can exfiltrate, overwrite, and delete files; execute PowerShell commands; and obtain comprehensive information about the underlying machine.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Vast Space, a company that emerged from stealth last September with the aim of building artificial gravity space stations in low Earth orbit, has acquired space tug startup Launcher, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. The acquisition, a first for Vast, will give the company access to Launcher's Orbiter space tug and payload platform and its liquid rocket engine, E-2. Under the terms of the deal, Vast will also absorb all of Launcher's talent, including Launcher founder Max Haot, who will join as president. The two companies told TechCrunch that the deal has been in the works for months, with both signing a Letter of Intent to acquire back in November. The deal could be a big accelerator for Vast; the company's founder, billionaire crypto pioneer Jed McCaleb, said Vast will use the Orbiter tug to test space station subsystems and components in orbit as soon as June of this year, and then again around October. Those two missions, which will be Orbiter's second and third flights, will also carry customer payloads. Vast will continue to operate Orbiter as a commercial product; Haot said they had more than five customer contracts and are signing more. Haot added that the space tug's abilities, like approaching and moving away from spacecraft and hosting payloads, as well as its technologies like flight software, avionics and guidance, navigation and control systems will complement development of the space station. "The two companies declined to provide much more detail about the upcoming missions using Orbiter, nor did they offer any detail about future timelines for development, partnerships or form factor of the station," notes TechCrunch. "But they did say that the first station the company sends to space will be zero G, with artificial gravity stations following." More generally, McCaleb said that acquisitions are not part of Vast's larger strategy. "Acquisitions typically go pretty wrong," he said. "For the most part, the combined team now plus a few more folks, we'll be able to do quite a bit."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The (Other) Risk in Finance A few years ago, a Washington-based real estate developer received a document link from First American – a financial services company in the real estate industry – relating to a deal he was working on. Everything about the document was perfectly fine and normal. The odd part, he told a reporter, was that if he changed a single digit in the URL, suddenly, he could see

Netflix has reduced the cost of its service in more than three dozen countries in recent weeks, as it tries to appeal to customers around the world who have an ever-growing list of streaming options. From a report: The streaming company's recent price cuts span Middle Eastern countries including Yemen, Jordan, Libya and Iran; sub-Saharan African markets including Kenya; and European countries such as Croatia, Slovenia and Bulgaria. In Latin America, nations including Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Venezuela have seen reductions in subscription costs, as have parts of Asia including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. The cuts apply to certain tiers of Netflix in those markets -- in some cases halving the cost of a subscription. As recently as last month, Netflix executives talked about raising -- not lowering -- prices. In a January earnings call, co-Chief Executive Greg Peters said the company is looking for places where they can afford to raise prices, which feeds continued content investments. "We think of ourselves as a non-substitutable good," Mr. Peters said. Netflix also has an opportunity to add new subscribers in markets where it doesn't currently have a large share, he said.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Picard, Season Three, Episode Two: “Disengage.”

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is a 1982 movie that arguably saved Star Trek as a going concern. It was a cheap movie, but writer-director Nicholas Meyer made thriftiness a virtue, building a paranoid submarine thriller out of steely glances and jousting phone calls. Despite having no love of Trek, Meyer painted a broad sweep of an older Jim Kirk, his life, death and rebirth with the help of a son he never knew he had. It’s a sumptuous movie, full of smart dialogue and characterisation, with a drum-tight plot and great acting, not just a great Star Trek film, but a great film, period. And sometimes, I feel that its critical and commercial success was so big that it’s been to Star Trek’s overall detriment.

Whenever the creative well runs dry, Trek runs back to old comforts, and the Next Generation movies were perpetually looking for its own Khan. First Contact flipped the Moby Dick narrative, making Picard the Ahab against the Borg’s white whale. Insurrection borrowed the setting of Khan’s climatic finale, while Nemesis borrowed its plot beats; a wounded ship only saved by the heroic sacrifice of each series’ Tin Man character. Into Darkness then winkingly inverted those same plot beats, with Kirk nobly “dying” in place of his best friend.

Picard’s been telegraphing its intentions from the get-go, dropping every nod to fans about where we’d wind up. The Bennett-era movie callbacks remain en vogue here, and to my memory this is the first use of the Blaster Beam, or a soundalike, in a streaming era soundtrack. Much like all of the other nods, we’re watching a cargo cult being assembled in real time, boldly serving us up something we’ve only seen, oooh, four or five times at this point. So: Wounded hero ship facing off against a more powerful enemy? Check. Inside a nebula that’s disrupting normal starship functions? Check. With our lead suddenly presented with the news he has a son he never knew about? Check check check.

This week, Picard and Riker make it to the Helios to find Beverley in her stasis pod, guarded by her son, Jack. He’s a rakish Englishman who has already spoken two whole words in French while negotiating with a corrupt Fenris Ranger. After being rescued by the Titan, Riker starts hinting about the younger Crusher’s parentage, as if being the world’s most English Frenchman is a genetic trait. It isn’t long before Crusher is outed as an intergalactic con man and fugitive, and Shaw has him sent to the brig. He also, after several hours of allowing her to remain on the bridge giving orders to people, dismisses Seven for indulging two people we keep being told are “legends” and “heroes.”

There’s plenty of furrowed brows as Picard initially refuses to consider that he might have a son, and at no point does anyone suggest running a paternity test. You might expect it would be easy enough to whip out a tricorder or hypospray, or even the transporter records, and find the truth. But, you know, that would be too efficient, so we’re left with Picard and Jack facing off in the brig. Now, credit where due, Patrick Stewart and Ed Speelers sell the hell out of this scene, the first that feels in any way real so far.

All the while, the Titan is menaced by Amanda Plummer’s villain, who we know is evil because she’s smoking on the bridge of her ship, the Shrike, indoors! I wonder if this, too, is another nod to those older films given Plummer’s father faced off against Kirk in The Undiscovered Country. Maybe this is why I’m so out of step with so much of the (positive) critical consensus around this run. I find this raiding of Star Trek’s own text and paratext to be insular and repetitive, with it more interested in placating disaffected fanboys than telling a story with a point of view. If you want strange new worlds, new life forms and new civilizations, you’ll need to watch the show set 142 years earlier.

Then there’s Raffi. Last week, she uncovered that some nefarious type had stolen some deep tech from Aperture Science Starfleet. At the end of that episode, a Starfleet recruitment building big enough to fill the donut hole in Apple Park gets Portal-ed into dust, killing (just) 117 people. Now, looking to make amends for her, uh, failure? She’s looking into local crims in order to find out who exactly was responsible for the seemingly-unwarranted attack.

Now, this is the plot beat I alluded to in my preview, when Raffi, who is in recovery, is forced to do drugs in order to prove she’s not an undercover agent. The portentous music and Michelle Hurd’s acting sells the notion this isn’t a great idea, but Raffi’s committed to the cause. But while she’s incapacitated, her handler comes in to rescue everyone with some good, old-fashioned Mek’leth carnage. I couldn't help but feel a punch in the air when Worf popped up in all his glory, but the tonal jump doesn't sit well with me. 

You could be wondering why the Federation Ambassador to the Klingon Empire is doing covert intelligence work. But, by the end of the Next Generation movies, it was clear that Worf would just show up for a visit whenever the plot required. And even I’m not going to harp on about this too much, because it is never a chore to watch Michael Dorn do his work. As EW’s Darren Franich said in his definitive Star Trek essay series, “Michael Dorn knew Worf only got cooler when the show made him look goofy.” As goofy as he is here, he’s still Worf, and you just wish that Paramount had greenlit a Worf show three years ago instead.

I had hoped this episode, for its laggy table-laying, may be looking for a way to attack a well worn but fundamentally strong Star Trek trope. That being if it’s right and proper to hand over a potentially-innocent man to frontier justice, and if not, why not? There’s plenty of angles for the argument given the many shades of gray that most people can now comprehend. After all, the Titan is outside Federation space, and so you can’t, or shouldn’t, impose your values on those beyond your worldview. That can be countered by someone saying that natural justice is, or should be a universal virtue. And that these debates must sit side-by-side with the notion that the needs of the many (the 500-plus souls on the USS Titan) outweigh the needs of the few, or the (Jack Crusher) one. You could even have the supposedly “right” argument, the one aping Spock’s famous aphorism, espoused by the character most seen as an asshole, too. But no.

Unfortunately, Picard remains bad for all of the same reasons that pretty much every other Khan copy is bad: It has almost nothing to say. In fact, this episode seems to hinge on every person in the narrative suddenly becoming incapable of doing even the basic parts of their jobs. Since when would a security officer not search a prisoner for hidden technology before putting them in the brig? Since when would a ship at Red Alert be taken by surprise when a hostile vessel in front of them starts attacking? And why did nobody have the presence of mind to run a paternity test, which surely at this point in history could be done with the ship’s internal sensors? Not to mention, why didn’t Jack just tell the security guard he’d like to hand himself over rather than knocking him out? Maybe so we could have a few more moments of tension before the Titan chooses to make a break for the nebula and we roll the credits.

You may think I’m banging on unnecessarily about The Wrath of Khan but I think it’s justified here. If the production team weren’t looking to invite comparisons to a vastly superior project then they were unwise to take so many of its plot beats as its own. I mean, in Wrath of Khan, Kirk has sixty seconds to find a way to even things up between the wounded Enterprise and the Reliant. And he does so with a little bit of theatrics, some ingenuity, and by showing that he was a little cleverer than anybody gave him credit for being. When this version of Picard is placed in the same situation but given a whole hour to come up with something, what does he do? He marks time on the bridge while the younger actors with plausible-looking stunt performers can do the now obligatory punch fight so that the audience at home doesn’t start getting bored.

According to research published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, zebra fur is thinly striped and sharply outlined to thwart horsefly attacks. "These characteristics specifically eliminate the outline of large monochrome dark patches that are attractive to horseflies at close distances," adds Phys.Org. "The team theorizes that the thin back stripes serve to minimize the size of local features on a zebra that are appealing to the biting flies." From the report: The team found that tabanid horseflies are attracted to large dark objects in their environment but less to dark broken patterns. All-gray coats were associated with by far the most landings, followed by coats with large black triangles placed in different positions, then small checkerboard patterns in no particular order. In another experiment, they found contrasting stripes attracted few flies whereas more homogeneous stripes were more attractive. [...] The team found little evidence for other issues that they tested, namely polarization or optical illusions confusing accurate landings such as the so-called "wagon-wheel effect" or "the barber-pole effect." Now the team want to determine why natural selection has driven striping in equids -- the horse family -- but not other hoofed animals.

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This article is a follow-up to a previous one discussing conflicting proxy configurations and how Microsoft Defender for Endpoint behaves in these situations. The first article can be found in here.

 

As outlined in the documentation, Defender for Endpoint supports three different types of proxy configurations:

1. A static proxy configuration pushed through GPO or registry changes,
2. WinINET proxy through user sessions,
3. WinHTTP proxy through the SYSTEM account.

However, when these configurations are mixed, it can cause confusion as to which proxy configuration is being used. To understand the path that Defender for Endpoint is taking, it is recommended to use the Client Analyzer script found here.

 

The setup

In order to test the different configurations, I’ve set up three different proxy servers and a Windows 11 workstation in a lab environment.

1. WORKSTATION (172.16.11.92/32) – Workstation for tests
2. PROX01 (172.16.12.10/32) – Receives WinHTTP configured traffic (SYSTEM)
3. PROX02 (172.16.12.11/32) – Receives WinINET configured traffic (User session, unauthenticated)
4. PROX03 (172.16.12.12/32) – Receives Static Proxy configured traffic (TelemetryProxyServer)
5. As it’s unsupported to decrypt Defender for Endpoint traffic we’ll just be looking at which proxy server the endpoint is communicating with to determine the proxy server being chosen.
6. All traffic for the workstation is blocked at the gateway except for that which uses the proxy servers above.
7. The Client Analyzer will be executed between each of the tests.
8. A live response session will be initiated from security.microsoft.com.

 

Test – Only the WinHTTP Proxy is configured

Enabled outbound traffic via WinHTTP (PROX01) server on WORKSTATION. Test connectivity via a Live Response session and monitored traffic from PROX01 through gateway.

Live Response Session successful:

 

Validate incoming traffic over PROX01 in gateway:

 

MDE Client Analyzer Results:

 

When you’re initially deploying Defender for Endpoint in a disconnected environment, the client analyzer script is the best tool to help diagnose networking issues. As you can see from the screenshot above, the test results are positive. Let’s break them down:

Result	Breakdown
Proxy config: Method=NamedWinHttp, address=172.16.12.10:3128	A WinHTTP proxy has been detected on the endpoint and configured with the address listed.
1 - Default proxy: Succeeded (200)	If at least one of the connectivity options returns status (200), then Defender for Endpoint sensor can properly communicate with the tested URL using this connectivity method.
2 - Proxy auto discovery (WPAD): Succeeded (200)	Same result as above
3 - Proxy disabled: Failed (12002: WinHttpSendRequest: 12002: The operation timed out)	The proxy is not disabled.
4 - Named proxy: Doesn't exist	The static proxy is not configured
5 - Command line proxy: Doesn't exist	Not configured

 

Test – Which one wins? WinINET or WinHTTP?

Now that we’ve confirmed we have an internet connection via WinHTTP proxy settings let’s add a separate WinINET configuration into the mix for our user account and see which proxy Defender for Endpoint will prefer for communication. We’ll leave our user logged in for this test.

 

We can see that Defender for Endpoint still prefers the WinHTTP proxy over the WinINET:

 

Our Live Response session initializes correctly and goes through the WinHTTP proxy connection. When we have both a WinHTTP and WinINET configuration it appears that the WinHTTP proxy takes precedence for Defender for Endpoint connections. This makes sense as the service is running as the SYSTEM account.

 

Test – WinINET proxy configuration only

As outlined in the article here, a WinINET proxy configuration without a logged an active user session will not allow Defender for Endpoint to connect. It will instead cache and upload signals once a when a user logs in and establishes a proxy connection via WinINET.

 

The following is a test of a live response session on the workstation while no user is logged in and monitoring traffic. The result is that no traffic from Defender for Endpoint is detected and the Live Response session times out as expected:

 

We can also confirm there is no communication by checking the timeline. The user was logged out at 11:50am as demonstrated below.

 

 

Once a user has logged in, we can validate the timeline and see that events start to get uploaded through the proxy as the cache is emptied.

 

Often in disconnected environments we’ll see a WinINET proxy for user session activities and a static proxy for specific services.

 

In this situation the only proxy currently configured on the computer is WinINET. Most of the Defender for Endpoint functionalities will be available. Live Response is the only one that will not work with the standalone WinINET configuration.

 

You’ll see a session timeout. However, when combined with a Static Proxy configuration (via GPO or Registry) all the services will work appropriately even when a user is not logged in. The specific proxy can be used for Defender for Endpoint services and no change is required on the user experience.

 

Live Response session timeout over WinINET:

 

You can see from the client analyzer results below that only some of the URL endpoints are reachable over a “WinINET only” proxy configuration:

 

In this case, we won’t get the complete experience out of Defender for Endpoint as only the SampleUpload and MdeConfigMgr service URLs are reachable.

 

Test – Static proxy configuration only

As you can imagine, this scenario will work fine for the workstation and Defender for Endpoint configuration/communications. As this is a static proxy assigned to both the Telemetry service (for Endpoint Detection & Response) and the Defender for Endpoint anti-virus, no other internet access will be available for the workstation. This is a great setup scenario for disconnected environments or servers as the users connecting to these endpoints should not have or do not require internet access.

After applying the static proxy settings and rebooting the workstation we can already start seeing inbound traffic on PROX03:

 

Live Response is functional as well:

 

 

The Defender for Endpoint configuration works as expected. Again this is a good use case in a scenario where nothing else on the machine has internet access, that includes Windows Update.

 

Test – WinINET, WinHTTP and Static Proxy configuration. Which one wins?

Let’s have some fun. Now we’ll configure the static proxy, the WinHTTP proxy, and the WinINET proxy and observe the traffic flow through the gateway to understand which proxy configuration will be preferred.

 

We can see that the Live Response session that’s initialized still uses the Static Proxy (to be expected):

 

User based services primarily using the WinINET proxy configuration:

 

And all other SYSTEM level services utilize the WinHTTP configuration:

 

Let’s look at the Client Analyzer results:

 

Summary

Ultimately, if you are looking for good user experience on a workstation in a disconnected environment and to provide full feature availability to your Security Operations Center (SOC) team, using a combination of WinINET and Static Proxy will offer the most feature-rich experience without impacting existing configurations in your environment. Hopefully, the tests above will help you gain a better understanding of what to expect from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, given your configuration.

 

Resources

Disconnected environments, proxies and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Incident response at your fingertips with Microsoft Defender ATP live response - Microsoft Community Hub

Download the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint client analyzer | Microsoft Learn

MSI has now officially rolled out its latest AGESA 1.0.0.5c BIOS for X670 & B650 motherboards to enable support for AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D & 7900X3D CPUs.

MSI Enables AGESA 1.0.0.5c BIOS Across Entire AM5 Motherboard Lineup, Adding Support For AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D & 7900X3D CPUs

With only a week left in the launch of the new AMD Ryzen 7000 X3D CPUs, MSI like other board vendors has started to roll out the latest AGESA 1.0.0.5c BIOS firmware. The new BIOS is tuned specifically for X3D class chips with 3D V-Cache technology and enables three new features for them which include an Enhanced Boost Mode and a High-Efficiency Mode.

2 of 9

Following is the full description of the MSI AGESA 1.0.0.5c BIOS firmware:

• Update to SMU 218 which has optimized performance for Ryzen 7950X3D and 7900X3D
• New feature: Enhanced Mode Boost – MSI PBO profiles for better 7950X3D/7900X3D performance
• New feature: High-Efficiency Mode for tight RAM timings and better RAM performance

The Enhanced Mode Boost feature will be available within the PBO (Precision Boost Overdrive) selection list while the High-Efficiency Mode is available in the OC menu. MSI will be detailing its new features in the coming days.

MSI is rolling out AGESA 1.0.0.5c BIOS for X670/B650 boards. SMU version updated to 84.79.218.
Also a new feature "Enhanced Mode Boost" is introduced. 3 profiles offered to boost 7950X3D/7900X3D performance.https://t.co/TbynQ2Q1ux pic.twitter.com/D968IUTXVM

— chi11eddog (@g01d3nm4ng0) February 22, 2023

X670E/X670 series

Model	BIOS version	Website online	Previous version
MEG X670E GODLIKE	v.135	https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MEG-X670E-GODLIKE/support	v.110
MEG X670E ACE	v.164	https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MEG-X670E-ACE/support	v.150
MPG X670E CARBON WIFI	v.158	https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MPG-X670E-CARBON-WIFI/support	N/A
MAG X670E TOMAHAWK WIFI	v.10C	To be updated	v.108
PRO X670-P WIFI	v.174	To be updated	v.160

B650 series

Model	BIOS version		Previous version
MPG B650 CARBON WIFI	v.133	https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MPG-B650-CARBON-WIFI/support	v.131
MPG B650 EDGE WIFI	v.134	https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MPG-B650-EDGE-WIFI/support	v.132
MPG B650I EDGE WIFI	To be updated	To be updated	v.10E
MAG B650 TOMAHAWK WIFI	v.134	https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MAG-B650-TOMAHAWK-WIFI/support	v.131
MAG B650M MORTAR WIFI	To be updated	To be updated	V.A31
PRO B650-P WIFI	To be updated	To be updated	V.132
PRO B650M-A WIFI	v.165	https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/PRO-B650M-A-WIFI/support	V.133

Meanwhile, the following is the SMU of the AGESA 1.0.0.5c BIOS firmware.

It should be pointed out that the AMD Ryzen 7000 X3D CPUs will be introduced with the Ryzen 9 lineup first on the 28th of February. The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D will be available on the 6th of April and that CPU is the one that most gamers are interested in. The Ryzen 9 7950X3D will cost $699 US, the Ryzen 9 7900X3D will cost $599 US while the Ryzen 7 7800X3D will cost $449 US. Reviews are expected to be available a day earlier before the launch.

The post MSI Rolls Out AGESA 1.0.0.5c BIOS For Its X670 & B650 Motherboards, Enables Support For AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D & 7900X3D CPUs by Hassan Mujtaba appeared first on Wccftech.

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The Ukraine government says it will write an official letter to Valve, Microsoft, and Sony requesting that Atomic Heart, the new FPS game from Russian developer Mundfish, be removed from digital stores in Ukraine itself, and that platform holders should consider “limiting distribution” in other countries.

MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best Atomic Heart weapons, Atomic Heart bosses, Atomic Heart review

The current state between Ukraine and Russia is quite dire at the current moment. The latter has seen a massive number of bans from various companies that severely impacted its infrastructure. Now, Ukraine is asking for a particular piece of media. That being the recently released game by Mundfish, Atomic Heart.

In this game, the main player, as a KGB officer, is tasked with eliminating the consequences of a large-scale accident that causes machinery to rebel against the people. Failure to do so could lead to the destruction of the entire world. The game takes place in an utopian society described as "The Future USSR" according to the game's key features.

Of course, that's not the only reason why the game has been recently targeted for a ban in Ukraine. The game's developer and publisher Mundfish has allegedly received funding from state-owned and pro-Russian companies. The current point of contention lies with the recent funding that they got from the Russian state-owned energy Corporation Gazprom.

This lead the Ukraine Minister of Digital Affairs to formerly ask the Sony, Microsoft, and Valve to ban the game's sale in Ukraine. According to dev.ua (translated by Gagadget), the Minister Alexander Bornyakov asked for the ban of digital distribution in Ukraine while also encouraging limiting the distribution of the game in other countries:

We call for limiting the distribution of this game in other countries due to its toxicity, potential collection of user data and the possibility of transferring it to third parties in Russia, as well as the potential use of money raised from game purchases to wage war against Ukraine.

Atomic Heart developer publisher Mundfish was founded in Moscow, but much of the team has relocated following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. You can get the details on the team's current makeup via Wccftech’s interview with Mundfish. While the company is currently confirmed to be based in the Republic of Cyprus, it's alleged that it has been either ambivalent or supports the Russian efforts against Ukraine.

Atomic Heart has had very heated discussion ever since it was announced in 2018, from accusations of the game being vaporware to the current state of affairs regarding the accusations thrown by the Ukraine Minister. The game's controversies have remained ever so present even now after the game has been released as players have noticed that one of the game's characters bears a striking resemblance to the former Ukraine Primer Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Still, Atomic Heart has become one of the most popular games in the market, beating even Hogwarts Legacy's sales on Steam not too long ago. So, it'll be interesting to see Microsoft, Sony, and Valve's response to the request by the Ukraine official. Atomic Heart is currently available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

The post Atomic Heart Ban Requested by Ukraine Deputy Minister of Digital Affairs by Ule Lopez appeared first on Wccftech.

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A case before the court is challenging social media platforms’ legal protections. The outcome could be huge for the future of the web.