html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" A recording of JangaFX’s spring 2025 livestream, discussing the next updates to its software. The section on IlluGen, its new app for creating VFX assets for games, starts at 00:23:25. Real-time simulation tools developer JangaFX has shown its first proper demo of IlluGen, its upcoming application for creating visual effects for games.The software, which will be capable of creating both 2D and 3D effects, is due for release this summer, for a price similar to EmberGen, JangaFX’s real-time smoke and fire simulator. What is IlluGen? JangaFX publicly unveiled IlluGen earlier this year, adding the software to its online roadmap.The description was brief, and enigmatic, simply stating that it was an application for creating “the majority of assets” used to assemble the “illusions” for visual effects in games. What toolsets does IlluGen have? Yesterday’s demo, shown during a livestream on the state of development of all of JangaFX’s products – EmberGen, liquid simulator LiquiGen and terrain generator GeoGen – goes into considerably more detail.LiquiGen is specifically designed for creating animated VFX for games – magic and energy effects, smoke, fire, explosions, and the like – and will feature both 2D and 3D toolsets. The 2D capabilities include both procedural texture generation and hand painting: users will be able to create their own brushes procedurally inside the software and paint with them. IlluGen will also generate 3D meshes, although it’s geared to creating 3D forms required for in-game VFX, like energy beams and impact craters, rather than general procedural modeling. What is workflow like in IlluGen? Workflow is node-based, with users creating effects by wiring together nodes in a graph in a way similar to JangaFX’s other apps, or Adobe’s Substance 3D tools.Most nodes display animated previews of their output, making the graph easy to troubleshoot. According to JangaFX, IlluGen is intended to enable users to “create procedural animations beyond what the typical tool would allow with very little to no code”. In what formats can you get assets in and out of IlluGen? IlluGen will support flipbook encoding and decoding, making it possible to import simulations created in applications like EmberGen or Houdini as flipbooks, modify them in IlluGen, then export the new flipbooks to game engines like Unreal Engine or Unity.It will also be possible to export data in a range of other forms, including positions, baked textures and Alembic caches. What kinds of effects can IlluGen create? JangaFX showed several demos of IlluGen during the livestream, the first being the creation of the ‘mana orb’ above, which CEO Nick Seavert had shared on X earlier this month. The base fluid was simulated in EmberGen and imported into IlluGen as a flipbook (labeled 2 in the screenshot above), then distorted using a UV co-ordinate plane (5) to match a 3D glass vessel generated inside the software (3).To create the final effect, the fluid is combined with a noise texture 91) and an element representing the fluid surface (2). However, IlluGen seems to be capable of a range of other types and styles of effects: another demo showed the software spawning particles travelling around a circular spline. A third demo showed the creation of these Diablo III-style wings. Who is IlluGen for? The livestream showed a list of software currently used to create VFX for games, including 2D tools like Photoshop, Krita and Adobe Animate, and 3D tools like Houdini, 3ds Max and Maya.IlluGen is aimed at artists using those apps, although unlike them, is “built for games specifically”. It is designed to work in existing pipelines, although Seavert did say that he hoped that IlluGen could ultimately replace Houdini as a tool for creating VFX for games. When will IlluGen be released? IlluGen is currently scheduled for release this summer: JangaFX hopes to release updates to its software during an ‘elemental week’ at the end of July.How much will IlluGen cost? The price hasn’t been formally confirmed, but IlluGen will “probably cost as much as EmberGen”, which currently costs $299.99 for a permanent license.It will also be included in JangaFX’s Elemental Suite, which currently costs $449.99. What features are due after the release of IlluGen 1.0? Features scheduled for after the 1.0 release include a built-in destruction toolset.Further off, JangaFX aims to introduce a direct export workflow to common game engines like Unreal Engine, Unity and Godot, rather than having to bake assets and import them manually. Follow development of IlluGen on JangaFX’s online roadmap Have your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we don’t post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.

Google ramps up the competition in the enterprise data space claiming its AI innovation help it to leapfrog rivals.Read More

As artificial intelligence continues to integrate into enterprise systems, the demand for models that combine flexibility, efficiency, and transparency has increased. Existing solutions often struggle to meet all these requirements. Open-source models may lack domain-specific capabilities, while proprietary systems sometimes limit access or adaptability. This shortfall is especially pronounced in tasks involving speech recognition, logical reasoning, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), where technical fragmentation and toolchain incompatibility create operational bottlenecks. IBM Releases Granite 3.3 with Updates in Speech, Reasoning, and Retrieval IBM has introduced Granite 3.3, a set of openly available foundation models engineered for enterprise applications. This release delivers upgrades across three domains: speech processing, reasoning capabilities, and retrieval mechanisms. Granite Speech 3.3 8B is IBM’s first open speech-to-text (STT) and automatic speech translation (AST) model. It achieves higher transcription accuracy and improved translation quality compared to Whisper-based systems. The model is designed to handle long audio sequences with reduced artifact introduction, enhancing usability in real-world scenarios. Granite 3.3 8B Instruct extends the capabilities of the core model with support for fill-in-the-middle (FIM) text generation and improvements in symbolic and mathematical reasoning. These enhancements are reflected in benchmark performance, including outperforming Llama 3.1 8B and Claude 3.5 Haiku on the MATH500 dataset. Technical Foundations and Architecture Granite Speech 3.3 8B uses a modular architecture consisting of a speech encoder and LoRA-based audio adapters. This design allows for efficient domain-specific fine-tuning while retaining the generalization capacity of the base model. The model supports both transcription and translation tasks, enabling cross-lingual content processing. The Granite 3.3 Instruct models incorporate fill-in-the-middle generation, supporting tasks such as document editing and code completion. Alongside, IBM introduces five LoRA adapters tailored for RAG workflows. These adapters support better integration of external knowledge, improving factual accuracy and contextual relevance during generation. A notable addition is adaptive LoRA (aLoRA), which reuses the key-value (KV) cache across inference sessions. This leads to a reduction in memory consumption and latency, particularly in streaming or multi-hop retrieval environments. aLoRA is designed to offer better trade-offs between computational overhead and performance in retrieval-heavy workloads. Benchmark Results and Platform Support Granite Speech 3.3 8B demonstrates superior performance over Whisper-style baselines in transcription and translation across multiple languages. The model performs reliably on extended audio inputs, maintaining coherence and accuracy without significant drift. In symbolic reasoning, Granite 3.3 Instruct shows improved accuracy on the MATH500 benchmark, outperforming comparable models at the 8B parameter scale. The RAG-specific LoRA and aLoRA adapters demonstrate enhanced retrieval integration and grounding, which are critical for enterprise applications involving dynamic content and long-context queries. IBM has made all models, LoRA variants, and associated tools open-source and accessible via Hugging Face. Additionally, deployment options are available through IBM’s watsonx.ai, as well as third-party platforms including Ollama, LMStudio, and Replicate. Conclusion Granite 3.3 marks a step forward in IBM’s effort to develop robust, modular, and transparent AI systems. The release targets critical needs in speech processing, logical inference, and retrieval-augmented generation by offering technical upgrades grounded in measurable improvements. The inclusion of aLoRA for memory-efficient retrieval, support for fill-in-the-middle tasks, and advancements in multilingual speech modeling make Granite 3.3 a technically sound choice for enterprise environments. Its open-source release further encourages adoption, experimentation, and continued development across the broader AI community. Check out the Twitter and join our Telegram Channel and LinkedIn Group. Don’t Forget to join our 90k+ ML SubReddit. Asif RazzaqWebsite |  + postsBioAsif Razzaq is the CEO of Marktechpost Media Inc.. As a visionary entrepreneur and engineer, Asif is committed to harnessing the potential of Artificial Intelligence for social good. His most recent endeavor is the launch of an Artificial Intelligence Media Platform, Marktechpost, which stands out for its in-depth coverage of machine learning and deep learning news that is both technically sound and easily understandable by a wide audience. The platform boasts of over 2 million monthly views, illustrating its popularity among audiences.Asif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/A Hands-On Tutorial: Build a Modular LLM Evaluation Pipeline with Google Generative AI and LangChainAsif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/Researchers from AWS and Intuit Propose a Zero Trust Security Framework to Protect the Model Context Protocol (MCP) from Tool Poisoning and Unauthorized AccessAsif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/Model Performance Begins with Data: Researchers from Ai2 Release DataDecide—A Benchmark Suite to Understand Pretraining Data Impact Across 30K LLM CheckpointsAsif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/OpenAI Releases Codex CLI: An Open-Source Local Coding Agent that Turns Natural Language into Working Code

Star Wars Celebration 2025 is now in full swing, and that means companies like Hasbro are making announcements regarding upcoming collectibles. Fans of The Mandalorian will be happy to know Hasbro continues to focus on that live-action series in a big way. At their Celebration panel today, Hasbro revealed the next two figures joining the Star Wars: The Vintage Collection lineup - Moff Gideon and Cobb Vanth.IGN can exclusively debut the first images of these two Star Wars figures. Get a closer look in the slideshow gallery below:Star Wars: The Vintage Collection Moff Gideon & Cobb Vanth Figures - Preview GalleryLike all Vintage Collection figures, these two are designed at a 3.75-inch scale and come with packaging inspired by the classic Kenner Star Wars figures. Moff Gideon is inspired by the character's appearance in the Season 3 finale of The Mandalorian, where he wore his indestructible Dark Trooper armor. The figure includes an electro-staff and a blaster accessory.Cobb Vanth, meanwhile, is technically based on the character's appearance in The Book of Boba Fett rather than The Mandalorian. This figure depicts the good sheriff after he's given up his beskar armor and prepares to duel Cad Bane. The figure includes both long and short blaster accessories.These Vintage Collection figures are priced at $16.99 each and will be available for preorder on Hasbro Pulse, Amazon, and other retailers starting on Friday, April 18 at 12pm PT.PlayFor more Star Wars fun, see all the amazing toys revealed at Star Wars Celebration 2023. And while you're at it, why not check out the many Star Wars collectibles available on the IGN Store?Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket byfollowing @jschedeen on BlueSky.

Surprises in wrestling can be hard to pull off. Sometimes things are so telegraphed that any fan could figure out every story beat weeks, or even months, in advance. A betrayal, a big return, or a major title change could be treated as surprising despite the narrative making it obvious to the viewer. At the same time, being truly unpredictable could backfire and ruin a storyline, making fans question the decision-making of the people in charge. With WrestleMania as WWE’s biggest annual show, there’s always an emphasis on making the moments feel larger than life and memorable. They occasionally need to throw in something out of left field to get people talking. Something unexpected to show how volatile this fictional battleground truly is. Here are some incidents in the decades of WrestleMania that genuinely felt surprising when they happened. Strike Force Explodes at WrestleMania V There had been several face turns at WrestleMania before this, like Brutus Beefcake at WrestleMania III, Bret Hart at WrestleMania IV, and even the main event of the first WrestleMania was the first step towards a Paul Orndorff turn. The first heel turn at WrestleMania came in the fifth installment with one-half of one of the biggest white meat babyface teams of the era. Strike Force was a fixture in the tag division, but Rick Martel was written off TV thanks to a beatdown from Demolition. That led to Tito Santana going solo for a while until his buddy could get healthy enough to return. At this show, they faced off against the Brainbusters. The two were doing great until a miscommunication led to Santana nailing Martel with a flying forearm. Santana valiantly fought for his life while Martel stood on the apron, fuming. When the time came for a tag, Martel decided he was going to do a solo run himself and left Santana high and dry. Then he got really into modeling, because that’s what you do in wrestling. Randy Savage and Elizabeth Reunited at WrestleMania VII The initial dynamic between Randy Savage and Elizabeth was that she was the heel wrestler’s face manager who gradually made him a better person, but then his paranoia and jealousy got the better of him and destroyed their relationship. The two of them had broken up in the lead-up to WrestleMania V and in that time, Savage had become increasingly unhinged as the Macho King. This culminated in a Career-Ending Match against The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VII. Prior to the match, an emotional Elizabeth was pointed out as being in the audience. Once Savage lost the match, his manager Queen Sherri put the boots to him in anger, only for Elizabeth to jump the railing and save her former client. Despite his major loss and (temporary) retirement, Savage ended up standing tall at the end of the night, reunited with the manager he loved as he held Elizabeth over his shoulder. The Ultimate Warrior Returns at WrestleMania VIII The Ultimate Warrior made his final appearance for a time at SummerSlam 1991 thanks to some backstage disagreements about how much he was getting paid. Quietly phased out, Warrior sat at home while the main event scene in WWF became increasingly chaotic. What was initially set to be Hulk Hogan challenging against WWF Champion Ric Flair turned into a main event grudge match between Hogan and Sid Justice. Then the night of the show, voodoo practitioner Papa Shango randomly got involved in the storyline. The match ended in a disqualification and followed with Sid and Papa Shango working over Hogan. Suddenly, without warning, Warrior’s iconic music started playing and the facepainted psychopath came to his frenemy’s rescue. Hogan was about to leave the company for a bit, so Warrior was there to distract from that. As Warrior looked so physically different since his last appearance in terms of hair, paint, and musculature, this led to the widespread school recess rumors that the “original” Ultimate Warrior died in a car crash and was being replaced with a new guy. Hulk Hogan’s Impromptu Title Win at WrestleMania IX So… just because it was surprising doesn’t mean it was good. With Hogan gone for nearly a year, WWF jumpstarted the New Generation Era by having Bret Hart become WWF Champion. His run as a fighting champion was about to hit a wall as he took on rising monster heel Yokozuna at WrestleMania IX. Meanwhile, the undercard had Hogan return to team up with his sidekick Brutus Beefcake against Money Inc., where they failed to win the tag titles, but still celebrated for like ten minutes anyway. Elsewhere on the show, Hogan made a challenge to whoever won the main event. Yokozuna defeated Bret thanks to Mr. Fuji’s interference and cheating. Hogan ran out to raise a big stink about it, though he had no storyline connection to Bret. Speaking for Yokozuna, Fuji inexplicably laid down the challenge right then and there, putting the title on the line against Hogan. With Bret’s blessing, Hogan went in there, sidestepped some more cheating, and won the belt immediately. Any hope of this leading to Hogan vs. Bret at SummerSlam was dashed when Hogan dropped the belt back to Yokozuna and crept out the back door towards WCW. Owen Hart Gets the Better of His Brother at WrestleMania X Bret Hart and Lex Luger were co-winners at the 1994 Royal Rumble, having fallen out of the ring at the same time. As the company had yet to think of the simple concept of a triple threat match yet, they instead turned WrestleMania X into a mini tournament. Lex Luger would challenge Yokozuna for the title and the winner would face Bret Hart in the main event. To make things even, Bret would face his pissed off little brother Owen in the opening match. Win or lose, Bret would advance. Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! Bret and Owen proceeded to tear the place down with an awesome opener. About twenty minutes into it, Owen was able to land a major upset with a victory roll reversed into a pin. Bret made history as the man who lost WrestleMania’s opening match and won the title in the same show’s main event. This curveball created a perfect follow-up direction to the show where Owen, bitter over Bret’s win, was the rightful #1 contender. The Double-Turn at WrestleMania 13 The feud between Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin spent months heating up. Bret returned from a lengthy hiatus, annoyed with Austin’s lack of honor. Over time, Bret was increasingly agitated by Austin’s behavior, the loud contingent of people cheering this jerk, and the fact that he was constantly getting screwed over. Bret was able to get the better of Austin by outwrestling him at Survivor Series, but it wasn’t enough. They were going to have a match that could only be won by submission. The two had possibly the greatest match in WrestleMania history, complete with the perfect ending. Bret locked the Sharpshooter on a bleeding Austin and couldn’t get him to submit. The defiant Austin tried to power out of it, but he finally collapsed, and lost by decision. This victory just wasn’t enough for Bret and he refused to break the hold as the crowd completely turned against him. He was completely fed up and it had driven him over the edge. Seeing a double-turn in wrestling is rare, but between Bret’s descent into bitter madness and Austin going out like a total badass, we got a result better than what anyone could have expected. Pete Rose is a Chicken, I Tell Ya, at WrestleMania XIV WrestleMania XIV had a bizarre segment where baseball non-Hall-of-Famer Pete Rose antagonized the crowd until newcomer Kane arrived for his own match and practically murdered him. A year later, the San Diego Chicken was doing schtick during WrestleMania, even though the show was in Philadelphia. Previous WrestleManias have featured the likes of Burt Reynolds and the “Where’s the beef?!” lady, so it’s not like having a guy in a famous sports mascot costume was too out of the ordinary. Then when Kane made his entrance, the San Diego Chicken jumped him. Kane easily overpowered him and tore the mask off to reveal a vengeful and sweaty Pete Ross. Nobody had that on their bingo card. Kane blew up the chicken man in Philly that night with a Tombstone, in what was only the second part of their WrestleMania trilogy. The following year would involve Pete Rose getting Rikishi’s ass shoved into his face, so I hope he got a good paycheck out of it all. Triple H Ends WrestleMania 2000 on a Sour Note Heels win all the time in wrestling, but at least WrestleMania always insisted on a happy ending. The final match for the first fifteen WrestleManias always had the face standing tall in celebration. Going into WrestleMania 2000, it seemed like we were getting another win for the good guys. Triple H was defending the WWF Championship in a four-way against The Rock, Mick Foley, and Big Show. While Foley and Big Show were superfluous additions to make it seem like a bigger deal, Rock was the real star of the storyline. Hell, he even hyped up the event by hosting Saturday Night Live, which was responsible for springboarding his acting career. Then, thanks to cornerman Vince McMahon betraying Rock, Triple H retained the title. They finally pulled the trigger on having a heel win the final match of the show. Yes, Rock did get a bit of revenge afterwards by beating up Stephanie McMahon, but it was still a downer ending. They instead saved Rock’s big victory for Backlash, which absolutely stuck the landing. Steve Austin Sells his Soul at WrestleMania X-Seven WrestleMania X-Seven was the ultimate victory lap for WWF. World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling just bit the dust, the Attitude Era was hitting its apex, and they celebrated by putting on one of the best shows in the promotion’s history. Fittingly, the main event was centered around the two biggest stars of the era, as The Rock defended the WWF Championship against Stone Cold Steve Austin. With both as mega-faces, this felt like possibly the biggest main event yet. At the very least, it gave us a legendary hype package with Limp Bizkit’s “My Way.” Curiously, right before the entrances, the match was announced as “no disqualification.” That laid the seeds for the finale, where Vince McMahon came to the ring to aid Austin. Austin, who then brutally destroyed The Rock with a chair until his body finally gave in. Austin, who, in the build to the match, claimed that he had to win and would do anything to make it happen. He and Vince shook hands, which probably would have gotten a bigger reaction if it was anywhere but Texas. Brock Lesnar Ends the Streak at WrestleMania XXX With a borderline monopoly on the wrestling industry, WWE didn’t really need to try as much in the decade-plus that followed. They played it pretty safe for those years, giving us Cena win after Cena win. This was also the time when The Undertaker’s Streak became more pronounced as something mythical instead of one big coincidence that came out of regularly booking him strong. After a while, people started to wonder if they would ever end the Streak. If you were going to do it, it would have to be with someone who could really launch their career with it, but putting that kind of responsibility on a younger wrestler would be such a gamble. When Brock Lesnar was Undertaker’s 22nd WrestleMania opponent, nobody really thought much of it. Brock came back hot from a lengthy sabbatical from wrestling, only to immediately lose to John Cena. Then he traded wins with Triple H and beat CM Punk one time, but otherwise he was a part-timer who had no real direction. Then the match happened and while it wasn’t anything to write home about (Undertaker got concussed early on and could barely perform), the shock of Brock hitting the third F5 and getting the pin was huge. Brock then ascended into being the ultimate threat in WWE, like a special video game boss you can only go up against if you don’t use any continues or something. Seth Rollins Cashes in at WrestleMania 31 After The Shield broke up, it was frustrating how much WWE wanted Roman Reigns to happen. At first, the fans seemed to be okay with it, but after he had to sit out several months due to health problems, they made it even more blatantly obvious that he was going to be the top star whether we liked it or not. It gave us a mess of a Royal Rumble, a Fastlane based around Daniel Bryan losing to him and holding his hand up in victory, and a build to WrestleMania that left a lot to be desired. Still, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar seemed to be on the way out, so everyone just accepted that Roman was going to get his big coronation at the event. The match did a good job making him likeable as an underdog who was eventually going to win the big one. Then, as Roman and Brock were both knocked out, they threw in a wrench as Seth Rollins’ theme kicked in and he was able to take advantage of the situation. There had been many Money in the Bank cash-ins before, but none at WrestleMania. Even with a heel winning, this scenario seemed to be the solution to everyone’s problems, as it at least allowed them to go back to the drawing board for Roman for another few months. Just WrestleMania 32 in General This was initially going to be an entry on Zack Ryder winning a multi-man ladder match to become Intercontinental Champion when he had zero going on beforehand and lost the belt on the next night of Raw, but really, all of WrestleMania 32 was one big fever dream. The fact that this was the first endlessly long WrestleMania didn’t help matters. So many strange choices from start to finish, giving us such a head-scratcher of a show. This is the show where The Rock randomly appeared, set his name on fire with a flamethrower, then defeated Erick Rowan in an impromptu match in six seconds. The New Day appeared out of a giant box of cereal while dressed as Dragonball Z characters. Then there’s the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, where not only did Shaq and Tatanka show up out of nowhere, but the whole thing was won by NXT’s Baron Corbin, who was making his main roster debut. Undertaker Squashes John Cena at WrestleMania 34 Undertaker seemingly retired at the end of WrestleMania 33, which wasn’t the worst idea, as he looked incredibly rough during his match with Roman Reigns. Going into WrestleMania 34, they started setting up a massive match by having John Cena “go against orders” and constantly call Undertaker out. The match wasn’t made official, but they were making a huge deal about Cena going to the show and wanting Undertaker to meet him there for an epic battle between icons. Obviously, Undertaker was going to show. Obviously, the two of them were going to have a match. Hell, that could have been the main event. Cena and Undertaker had matches early in the former’s career, but so much had changed since then. Now it was more of a dream match. And so, the bout did happen. All two minutes and forty-five seconds of it. Undertaker just completely destroyed Cena and that was it. No follow-up or anything. Everyone just moved on like it was nothing. John Cena Enters the Firefly Funhouse at WrestleMania 36 Plans changed a lot going into WrestleMania 36. First it was going to be Roman Reigns challenging The Fiend for the WWE Universal Championship, building The Fiend up as some kind of invincible demon with an Achilles’ heel yet to be discovered. Then Vince McMahon decided, screw it, and had Bill Goldberg easily defeat The Fiend and win the belt, changing WrestleMania to Roman vs. Goldberg in a Battle of the Spears. Then COVID happened and the immunocompromised Roman ducked out, turning the title match into Goldberg vs. Braun Strowman. Intent on giving Bray Wyatt’s murder clown alter ego something to do, they threw together The Fiend vs. John Cena. Sure, why not? We’ve seen these two face off at WrestleMania six years earlier. Without a live audience, they decided to get weird with it. Very, very weird. This cinematic bout was less a wrestling match and more a short film where Cena was pulled into what can best be described as Wrestling Hell. After being sucked into Wyatt’s Firefly Funhouse TV show, Cena went on a journey through time and space, living out an artistic satire and criticism of his career. At the end of this nightmarish episode, The Fiend pinned Cena, teleported him into the void, and we were left wondering what the hell we just watched. Love it or hate it, it was definitely unexpected. Cody Rhodes’ Story Gets Derailed at WrestleMania 39 Roman Reigns’ Undisputed WWE Universal Championship reign just went on forever for the sake of having it go on forever. Eventually, he was starting to run out of viable contenders, especially ones who would believably get that big win and dethrone him. Sami Zayn, the lynchpin in Roman’s Bloodline storyline, was a popular choice for Elimination Chamber 2023, but he fell short. No, it seemed that Roman would finally be losing at WrestleMania 39 against Royal Rumble winner Cody Rhodes. The title run had run its course, and it was time to bring it home. Except… that wasn’t the case. Presumably, feeling that a potential Roman Reigns vs. Rock match was in the cards, it was decided that Cody would choke. Even through documentary footage, you could tell that this was a last-minute decision, as Cody and wife Brandi had the bummed looks of people just informed that no, Cody would not be “ending the story” after all. Then somebody threw a rubber chicken at him as he laid defeated in the ring, and we all had a laugh. They padded things out with another year of Roman occasionally defending his title, and we almost did get that Rock match, only for the fans to revolt so loudly that they used WrestleMania 40 as a mulligan to have Cody finally pin Roman and get that gold.

After previously offering a 50% discount, Google is now giving US college students free Gemini Advanced and Google One AI Premium for 15 months. Officially, Google is framing this as helping students ahead of finals. It’s also competing against similar offers from OpenAI and Perplexity: Students have until June 30, 2025 to sign-up, with free access for 15 months upon activation. They must have an .edu address, but the plan will be activated on their personal Gmail/Google Account. Those that previously signed up for the 50% offer or are already paying for Google One have to first cancel and wait until the billing cycle ends to start using this offer. Google One AI Premium normally costs $19.99 per month. It includes 2 TB of storage for Gmail, Google Drive, and Photos, as well as Google Calendar appointment scheduling and longer Google Meet calls. There’s also unlimited Magic Editor saves in Google Photos and 10% back from Google Store purchases. On the AI front, you get the Gemini side panel in Gmail, Help me write in Google Docs, Slides image generation, and data analysis in Sheets, and  more. The NotebookLM Plus tier provides: Generate 5x more Audio Overviews: 20 per day vs. 3 on free Have up to 500 notebooks vs. 100  Add 300 sources per notebook vs. 50 Start 500 chat queries per day vs. 50 Then there’s Gemini Advanced with expanded access to 2.5 Pro (experimental) and Deep Research powered by that latest model. Google also touts Canvas and Gemini Live for students.  Eligible students find out more here. Add 9to5Google to your Google News feed.  FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.You’re reading 9to5Google — experts who break news about Google and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Google on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Apr 18, 2025Ravie LakshmananIoT Security / Malware Cybersecurity researchers are warning of continued risks posed by a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) malware known as XorDDoS, with 71.3 percent of the attacks between November 2023 and February 2025 targeting the United States. "From 2020 to 2023, the XorDDoS trojan has increased significantly in prevalence," Cisco Talos researcher Joey Chen said in a Thursday analysis. "This trend is not only due to the widespread global distribution of the XorDDoS trojan but also an uptick in malicious DNS requests linked to its command-and-control (C2) infrastructure. In addition to targeting commonly exposed Linux machines, the trojan has expanded its reach to Docker servers, converting infected hosts into bots." Nearly 42 percent of the compromised devices are located in the United States, followed by Japan, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Morocco, and China. XorDDoS is a well-known malware that has a track record of striking Linux systems for over a decade. In May 2022, Microsoft reported a significant surge in XorDDoS activity, with the infections paving the way for cryptocurrency mining malware such as Tsunami. The primary initial access pathway entails conducting Secure Shell (SSH) brute-force attacks to obtain valid SSH credentials and then download and install the malware on vulnerable IoT and other internet-connected devices. Upon successfully establishing a foothold, the malware sets up persistence using an embedded initialization script and a cron job so that it launches automatically at system startup. It also makes use of the XOR key "BB2FA36AAA9541F0" to decrypt a configuration present within itself to extract the IP addresses necessary for C2 communication. Talos said it observed in 2024 a new version of the XorDDoS sub-controller, called the VIP version, and its corresponding central controller, along with a builder, indicating that the product is likely being advertised for sale. The central controller is responsible for managing multiple XorDDoS sub-controllers and sending DDoS commands simultaneously. Each of these sub-controllers, in turn, commandeer a botnet of infected devices. "The language settings of the multi-layer controller, XorDDoS builder, and controller binding tool strongly suggest that the operators are Chinese-speaking individuals," Chen said. Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter  and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post. SHARE    

The Nike Hyperboot shoes will be available next month and are intended to help you warm up before and recover after workouts.

Jamie writes: Adding an image to a model should be pretty simple, right? And yet... 5 clicks later, you're in a node spaghetti nightmare. This quick tutorial shows you step by step exactly how to add textures in Blender. And you get this monster model for free! Super chill, beginner-friendly - nothing complicated 🙃 Source

Diablo 4 has officially revealed the first of two cross-over events coming to the game over the course of this year. We’ve known for a while that Blizzard has been working on collaborations with outside IPs, and there’s been plenty of guesses. Read more