Wandering through Bionic Bay’s dark alien world is unsettling and awe-inspiring. There are massive structures with no clear purpose and autonomous factories filled with whirring saw blades and devastating lasers. It’s grim and unforgiving, with little light and harsh shadows that give everything a sinister tone. But then you step on a bomb and your character bounces off of walls like a pinball, and you realize it’s a game of contrasts.Bionic Bay is a curious blend of two very different genres. On the one hand, it’s an atmospheric side-scrolling adventure in the mold of Inside and Limbo, filled with disturbingly stunning environments to explore. At the same time, it’s a hard-as-nails platformer like Super Meat Boy, with elaborate physics that will have you dying repeatedly while trying to find the best route through deadly obstacles. Somehow, the disparate vibes come together surprisingly well.What first drew me to Bionic Bay was that dark world. It’s mysterious to the point that I still don’t actually know what it is you’re doing or why. But that mystery is a large part of the appeal. As you make your way through its levels, you’re subject to some incredible and intimidating environments, and it’s largely up to you to figure out what story the world is trying to tell. There are fiery factories, green areas where organic life merges with technology and architecture in disturbing ways, and dank sewers lit up by dripping bioluminescent goo. All of these spaces make you feel minuscule in comparison. It’s the kind of game where almost every moment makes for a great screenshot.In order to see it all, though, you have to deal with a very tough game. While there is some relatively simple platforming at first, you’re soon presented with seemingly insurmountable tasks, like a series of spinning saw blades that require exacting jumps to get through. But it’s not as precise as it may seem. One of the more unique elements of Bionic Bay is its physics; the little guy you control is very sturdy and can survive being bounced around, so you can sometimes flop your way through trickier areas.Bionic Bay is also something of a puzzle game. You have access to multiple powers, like the ability to swap places with an inanimate object or slow down time (though you can only actively be using one). Combine these tools with the floppy physics and there are a lot of creative ways to get through the game.Key to this is that Bionic Bay encourages experimentation. You will die a lot, but because the game has such a forgiving checkpoint system, there’s rarely much punishment for failure. Being able to quickly retry a jump keeps the game from being too frustrating while also making it easier to find a route that actually works. And if you have a wild idea about, say, riding on the back of a rocket to avoid killer laser beams, there’s no harm in trying.The game isn’t easy. I’ve found myself stuck on a few occasions. And while I wish the game focused a little more on exploration, the weird and unforgiving world is also what helped me persevere through the trickier challenges. I just had to see what was next.If you’re a fan of sci-fi works like Blame! or Dune, with their impressive sense of scale, Bionic Bay offers something very similar. You just have to work hard to see it all.Bionic Bay is out now on the PS5 and PC.See More:

Designing and evaluating web interfaces is one of the most critical tasks in today’s digital-first world. Every change in layout, element positioning, or navigation logic can influence how users interact with websites. This becomes even more crucial for platforms that rely on extensive user engagement, such as e-commerce or content streaming services. One of the most trusted methods for assessing the impact of design changes is A/B testing. In A/B testing, two or more versions of a webpage are shown to different user groups to measure their behavior and determine which variant performs better. It’s not just about aesthetics but also functional usability. This method enables product teams to gather user-centered evidence before fully rolling out a feature, allowing businesses to optimize user interfaces systematically based on observed interactions. Despite being a widely accepted tool, the traditional A/B testing process brings several inefficiencies that have proven problematic for many teams. The most significant challenge is the volume of real-user traffic needed to yield statistically valid results. In some scenarios, hundreds of thousands of users must interact with webpage variants to identify meaningful patterns. For smaller websites or early-stage features, securing this level of user interaction can be nearly impossible. The feedback cycle is also notably slow. Even after launching an experiment, it might take weeks to months before results can be confidently assessed due to the requirement of long observation periods. Also, these tests are resource-heavy; only a few variants can be evaluated due to the time and manpower required. Consequently, numerous promising ideas go untested because there’s simply no capacity to explore them all. Several methods have been explored to overcome these limitations; however, each has its shortcomings. For example, offline A/B testing techniques depend on rich historical interaction logs, which are not always available or reliable. Tools that enable prototyping and experimentation, such as Apparition and Fuse, have accelerated early design exploration but are primarily useful for prototyping physical interfaces. Algorithms that reframe A/B testing as a search problem through evolutionary models help automate some aspects but still depend on historical or real-user deployment data. Other strategies, like cognitive modeling with GOMS or ACT-R frameworks, require high levels of manual configuration and do not easily adapt to the complexities of dynamic web behavior. These tools, although innovative, have not provided the scalability and automation necessary to address the deeper structural limitations in A/B testing workflows. Researchers from Northeastern University, Pennsylvania State University, and Amazon introduced a new automated system named AgentA/B. This system offers an alternative approach to traditional user testing, utilizing Large Language Model (LLM)-based agents. Rather than depending on live user interaction, AgentA/B simulates human behavior using thousands of AI agents. These agents are assigned detailed personas that mimic characteristics such as age, educational background, technical proficiency, and shopping preferences. These personas enable agents to simulate a wide range of user interactions on real websites. The goal is to provide researchers and product managers with an efficient and scalable method for testing multiple design variants without relying on live user feedback or extensive traffic coordination. The system architecture of AgentA/B is structured into four main components. First, it generates agent personas based on the input demographics and behavioral diversity specified by the user. These personas are fed into the second stage, where testing scenarios are defined—this includes assigning agents to control and treatment groups and specifying which two webpage versions should be tested. The third component executes the interactions: agents are deployed into real browser environments, where they process the content through structured web data (converted into JSON observations) and take action like real users. They can search, filter, click, and even simulate purchases. The fourth and final component involves analyzing the results, where the system provides metrics like the number of clicks, purchases, or interaction durations to assess design effectiveness. During their testing phase, researchers used Amazon.com to demonstrate the tool’s practical value. A total of 100,000 virtual customer personas were generated, and 1,000 were randomly selected from this pool to act as LLM agents in the simulation. The experiment compared two different webpage layouts: one with all product filter options shown in a left-hand panel and another with only a reduced set of filters. The outcome was compelling. The agents interacting with the reduced-filter version performed more purchases and filter-based actions than those with the full list. Also, these virtual agents were significantly more efficient. Compared with one million real user interactions, LLM agents took fewer actions on average to complete tasks, indicating more goal-oriented behavior. These results mirrored the behavioral direction observed in human A/B tests, strengthening the case for AgentA/B as a valid complement to traditional testing. This research demonstrates a compelling advancement in interface evaluation. It doesn’t aim to replace live user A/B testing but instead proposes a supplementary method that offers rapid feedback, cost efficiency, and broader experimental coverage. By using AI agents instead of live participants, the system enables product teams to test numerous interface variations that would otherwise be infeasible. This model can significantly compress the design cycle, allowing ideas to be validated or rejected at a much earlier stage. It addresses the practical concerns of long wait times, traffic limitations, and testing resource constraints, making the web design process more data-informed and less prone to bottlenecks. Some Key Takeaways from the Research on AgentA/B include: AgentA/B uses LLM-based agents to simulate realistic user behavior on live webpages.   The system allows automated A/B testing with no need for live user deployment.   100,000 user personas were generated, and 1,000 were selected for live testing simulation.   The system compared two webpage variants on Amazon.com: full filter panel vs. reduced filters.   LLM agents in the reduced-filter group made more purchases and performed more filtering actions.   Compared to 1 million human users, LLM agents showed shorter action sequences and more goal-directed behavior.   AgentA/B can help evaluate interface changes before real user testing, saving months of development time.   The system is modular and extensible, allowing it to be adaptable to various web platforms and testing goals.   It directly addresses three core A/B testing challenges: long cycles, high user traffic needs, and experiment failure rates. Check out the Paper. Also, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and join our Telegram Channel and LinkedIn Group. Don’t Forget to join our 90k+ ML SubReddit. Sana HassanSana Hassan, a consulting intern at Marktechpost and dual-degree student at IIT Madras, is passionate about applying technology and AI to address real-world challenges. With a keen interest in solving practical problems, he brings a fresh perspective to the intersection of AI and real-life solutions.Sana Hassanhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sana-hassan/Skywork AI Advances Multimodal Reasoning: Introducing Skywork R1V2 with Hybrid Reinforcement LearningSana Hassanhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sana-hassan/Microsoft Research Introduces MMInference to Accelerate Pre-filling for Long-Context Vision-Language ModelsSana Hassanhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sana-hassan/Meet Rowboat: An Open-Source IDE for Building Complex Multi-Agent SystemsSana Hassanhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sana-hassan/A New Citibank Report/Guide Shares How Agentic AI Will Reshape Finance with Autonomous Analysis and Intelligent Automation

The 2025 NBA Playoffs are finally underway, marking the beginning of the road to a new world champion. And just like the March Madness tournament that wrapped up recently, you can count on a few surprises along the way. There are plenty of hungry teams in the mix, but only one will reign supreme come June. Can the Celtics secure their first back-to-back championship since 1969? Or will the surging Oklahoma City Thunder finally bring home their first NBA title since moving from Seattle?If you're wondering when and where to catch this weekend’s playoff action, we’ve got you covered. Below is the full schedule with every matchup, tip-off time, and the network each game will air on.Where to Watch Upcoming NBA Playoff GamesCheck out the schedule below to find out where you can watch every First Round game this weekend:Saturday, April 26Cavaliers at Heat, Game 3 (10:00 AM PT on TNT)Thunder at Grizzlies, Game 4 (12:30 PM PT on TNT)Nuggets at Clippers, Game 4 (3:00 PM PT on TNT)Rockets at Warriors, Game 3 (5:30 PM PT on ABC)Sunday, April 27Knicks at Pistons, Game 4 (10:00 AM PT on ABC)Lakers at Timberwolves, Game 4 (12:30 PM PT on ABC)Celtics at Magic, Game 4 (4:00 PM PT on TNT)Pacers at Bucks, Game 4 (6:30 PM PT on TNT)How to Stream NBA Playoff Games OnlineDisney Bundle IncludedHulu + Live TVSee it at Hulu$30 Off First MonthFubo (Pro)See it at FuboAnnual Plan AvailableNBC Peacock (Premium)See it at PeacockLimited-Time OfferDirecTV Stream (Choice)See it at DirecTVIf you don't have cable, don't worry. You can still catch the NBA Playoffs online or through select streaming services. Some streaming services even offer a free trial, allowing you to test the service out while being able to watch some of the games while you're at it.Matthew Adler has written for IGN since 2019 covering all things gaming, tech, tabletop games, and more. You can follow him on the site formerly known as Twitter @MatthewAdler and watch him stream on Twitch.

Warning: contains spoilers for Doctor Who series 15 episode 3 “The Well”. Me about 20 minutes into this episode: hmm, getting real “Midnight” vibes from this. Me about 25 minutes into this episode: ah! In a surprise sequel to a classic from the Tenth Doctor era, the Doctor and Belinda find themselves on an inhospitable rock hundreds of thousands of years in the future with a team of space marines. Investigating a mining colony where all but one of the personnel have been mysteriously killed, they come face to face (figuratively speaking) with an old foe… The shocking reveal of a returning villain is a trick that Doctor Who loves to pull – though if we’re being honest, it’s rarely much of a shock. In the old days, such episodes would more than likely be called something like ‘Umbrage of the Daleks’, which slightly undercut the dramatic entrance of a Dalek at the end of part one. In the new series, these returns are more likely to be spoiled by leaked set photos or other metatextual knowledge that comes from having an engaged and very online fandom – or simply from the creators building hype. So considering what a hoary old device it is, it’s fun to actually be surprised by it for a change. Granted, it may simply be that I’m not online enough to have seen the relevant tease or fan theory, but from that position of blissful ignorance, the reveal that we were dealing with the mysterious entity from “Midnight” was very effective. It’s a pretty bold choice, as “Midnight” – while it has its detractors – is widely recognised as a top-tier episode from Russell T Davies’ previous tenure. A last-minute addition to David Tennant’s final season, written in an intense rush of inspiration when a previous script failed to cohere, it saw the Tenth Doctor visiting the titular Midnight, an inhospitable but stunningly beautiful planet covered in diamonds. While traversing the planet’s lethal terrain in a shuttle bus, the Doctor and a group of human tourists encountered a vicious alien presence that remained unseen – we simply heard it scraping on the outside of the shuttle, then witnessed it possess another passenger through a creepily effective tic of repeated language. It was an intense episode, a single location pressure cooker with one of the bleakest endings in the show’s history, which wasn’t uncontroversial. Those who like Doctor Who to be a hopeful, humanistic show would find little comfort in “Midnight”, an episode where Davies consciously decided to explore the worst of humanity: a group of people who refused to co-operate with the Doctor and would willingly turn on any of their number to save their own skin. Making a sequel to such a singular episode is a risky decision, in more ways than one. For starters, it’s a stone-cold classic, so any follow up has a high bar to clear. But part of the chilling power of “Midnight” is that it’s not really an episode you can repeat – obviously you can do variations on the basic setup of ‘Doctor and a group of rando humans encounter a scary monster’, but the specificity of the character dynamics, the bleak tone and the overall message that sometimes people are just horrible… that’s not necessarily something you can do effectively again, at least not while remaining Doctor Who. To Davies’ credit – and that of co-writer Sharma Angel Walfall – that’s not what “The Well” is doing. It’s certainly dark, creepy and brutal. The entity remains largely unseen, as before, apart from some unsettling suggestions of something, but we don’t learn much more about it – there are just enough new details to make the episode feel worthwhile, but the creature’s particular mystique isn’t spoiled. We’re no clearer about its origins, its motivations or even what kind of lifeform it is, with any new information raising as many questions as answers. All the right choices, in horror terms, but still relatively familiar. It’s in the character dynamics that “The Well” feels different. Things are helped considerably by a pretty uniformly strong guest cast – not something that every episode this season can claim, unfortunately. This could just be a matter of personal taste, but the production values are so consistently strong these days that sub-par guest acting seems to stand out much more than it did in bygone years, when the special effects were still occasionally ropey. Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! Here, though, the guest actors are all solid to great. Rose Ayling-Ellis is excellent as Aliss – she’s believably scared and sympathetic, and the character’s deafness is incorporated in a sensitive way that contributes to the drama without feeling either exploitative or self-congratulatory. Caoilfhionn Dunne is also very good as platoon leader Shaya, who manages to bring a decent amount of depth to a fairly stock character, imbuing the badass soldier archetype with a welcome level of emotional intelligence. And Christopher Chung (who viewers may recognise as antisocial computer whizz Roddy from Slow Horses) manages to make another stock character type – the soldier who doesn’t trust the Doctor and rushes to solve things with violence – feel believable and lived-in (his hilariously stiff delivery of “it’s not appropriate to call me ‘babes’” is a highlight). These strong performances and the sharp writing help to make the character drama feel meaty – and it’s where “The Well” sharply diverges from “Midnight”. It’s not so much that the characters are all willing to co-operate with the Doctor where the passengers in the original episode weren’t – Cassio is pretty unequivocal about not trusting the Doctor (and honestly his reticence makes sense in character terms). It’s that compassion and co-operation ultimately win the day. That feels like the best way to do a sequel to “Midnight”, to show that even in the face of a monstrous, terrifying foe, we don’t have to lose our humanity. This certainly isn’t an ‘everybody lives’ situation, but every human life has value nonetheless, and nobody is regarded as expendable. It’s not just the guest actors that elevate the episode. Both Ncuti Gatwa and Verada Sethu are on point, by turns competent, witty and appropriately terrified. Some viewers have expressed frustration at how often the Fifteenth Doctor cries, but Gatwa is very good at it, and his silent tears are particularly well deployed in the scene where he hears the creature’s horrifying whispers (effectively supported by Murray Gold’s atmospheric score). One minor complaint, at the risk of sounding bloodthirsty – it’s hard not to wish that the creature did something a bit more visually impressive than just chucking people across the room. Not necessarily bloodier or more violent, but maybe something weirder and scarier? The Moffat-esque device of it always being behind someone is generally very effective, and exploited well by director Amanda Brotchie, so it’s a shame the alien’s method of attack felt a bit ordinary. Elsewhere, we have the revelation that Earth and the human race no longer exist in the future, not even as a historical reference. Intriguing stuff, though I am personally getting to the point where the Mrs Flood teases feel more aggravating than enticing. Not only are they very similar to the repeated appearances of Susan Twist last season, but this is a plot thread that has been lurking in the background since 2023. Can we just pull it already? A solidly tense and satisfying instalment all round, though. If you’re going to do a sequel to a classic, this is the way to do it. Three episodes in, and this season feels like it’s cooking on gas. Doctor Who continues with “Lucky Day” on Saturday April 26 on BBC One and iPlayer in the UK, and on Disney+ in the US.

Imagine the perfect cozy afternoon. Maybe it’s spring, and you’re sipping iced tea in an overstuffed club chair, a vase of just-opened tulips sitting nearby. Or, perhaps it’s fall, and you’re standing at your kitchen island making a favorite meal for friends. The room is light and bright, but never stark. It’s warm and welcoming, with a few well-loved antiques and collectibles sitting on open shelves and wicker bar stools pulled up to the counter.This is the Nancy Meyers aesthetic, and it’s beloved by movie fans and design enthusiasts alike. If you’ve seen a Nancy Meyers movie — think Something’s Gotta Give, The Holiday, or It’s Complicated — you know the look. It’s timeless. It’s effortless. It’s comfortable yet aspirational. Just like her stories, these homes don’t age. Which is precisely why thrifting the Nancy Meyers aesthetic is so accessible. (Someone’s 1990s cast-offs could be absolutely perfect for your rom-com-worthy vision!) Here’s how to use vintage pieces and thrift store finds to create the Nancy Meyers aesthetic for your own home, even when you're not working with a Nancy Meyers-level movie budget. What is the Nancy Meyers Aesthetic?Universal PicturesThis kitchen featured in the Nancy Meyers movie, It’s Complicated has that signature ‘come on in’ vibe. Nancy Meyers’ films are often comfort food rom-coms. They’re the type of reliable movies you can watch again and again, knowing that you’re going to get a cozy story and a beautifully filmed visual treat. The homes are always the perfect blend of laid-back and luxurious, and they can rarely be pinpointed to a specific era in time. They’re the epitome of classic.“The Nancy Myers aesthetic exudes cozy vibes. It’s a beautiful combination of your grandma’s house combined with a fresh, farmers’ market vibe,” says Sara McDaniel, designer and home renovation expert at Simply Southern Cottage. “Think of a collected, well-curated home filled with love and warmth.”Related StoriesSpaces inspired by Nancy Meyers films focus on neutral colors, with ivory, white, and beige taking center stage. Cozy upholstery, warm wood and natural materials, and accessories with a story define the rooms. “A Nancy Meyers space starts with a base layer of furniture that is traditional in style, such as a stained mahogany sideboard or gentleman’s chests that can be used as end tables,” says Jennifer Burt, owner of Mississippi Maximalism. Add in layers of lighting, blankets, and, of course, freshly cut flowers to give the space that timeless, approachable feel.Nancy-Approved Pieces to Look For at Thrift StoresWhen you’re thrifting, there are a few pieces to keep your eyes out for if you’re trying to strike that perfect Nancy Meyers look. These are classic pieces that are easy to find secondhand, and they stand the test of time.Wood FurnitureFrom rich wood dressers to beautiful dining chairs, brown wood furniture is the ideal accent to the off-white palette of a Nancy Meyers space. “Look for classic, timeless pieces, such as spindle or turned-leg accent chairs and vintage wooden coffee tables,” says Anastasia Casey, founder of The Interior Collective. And don’t be afraid of a piece that shows its age. “Anything with a little patina or character is a win,” she adds. Jim WestphalenDesigner Cathy Chapman used warm woods and antique-style lighting to add a lived-in feel to this Vermont kitchen. We think Nancy Meyers would approve!Cozy TextilesWhile Nancy Meyers-inspired spaces are full of neutrals, there is an occasional print or texture to add layer and depth. “Don’t be afraid to add some color or pattern,” says Virginia Chamlee, vintage expert and author of Big Thrift Energy. “Check the pillow section for anything striped or toile.”Kitchen AccessoriesNancy Meyers’ kitchens are her most iconic designs. They’re welcoming spaces where you can imagine big family dinners, cozy holiday gatherings, and at-home date nights. The accessories play a huge role in telling their story. “White ceramics, copper cookware, vintage baskets, and stacks of well-loved books instantly add that layered, lived-in feel,” says Anastasia.Annie Schlechter for Country LivingAntique ironstone is always a good idea! Related StoryOld CookbooksVirginia also recommends old cookbooks to add a lived in feel that beckons friends and family into the kitchen. “So many of the characters in Nancy Meyers films love to entertain, so thrifting a vintage Ina Garten or Julia Child cookbook makes sense.”Natural MaterialsFrom wicker to rattan to bamboo, natural textures speak to the effortless, laid-back vibe of the Nancy Meyers aesthetic. These materials can be present everywhere from a wicker tray to a bamboo cocktail table. Jennifer says, “I am always on the hunt for bamboo etageres and multifunctional pieces like wicker trunks, which can be used as a coffee table, at the end of a bed, or tucked under a side table.”Quality UpholsteryBeautiful upholstery is pricey, and finding it secondhand is the best way to get it for a budget-friendly price. “Think about comfort and durability, so fabrics such as linen are a great choice,” says Jennifer. “One of my best finds was at a charity thrift store, where I purchased a blue-and-white striped sofa with oversize rolled arms that fit this look perfectly. It cost less than $30.” Also: If you find a perfect Nancy Meyers-esque silhouette, but the upholstery has seen better days, Burt notes that a new slipcover will bring it right back to life.Related StoryThe Best Search Terms for the Nancy Meyers Aesthetic Buff Strickland for Country LivingA farm table with patina is the ultimate Nancy Meyers-esque secondhand score.Facebook Marketplace is often the gold standard for finding classic secondhand furniture and accessories online, particularly if you’re looking for a hint of nostalgia. The key is training your algorithm to show you exactly what will appeal to the Nancy Meyers aesthetic.Start by searching for the right terms. “For Facebook Marketplace, keywords like ‘English roll arm,’ ‘vintage pine,’ ‘slipcovered,’ ‘cane back,’ and ‘farmhouse table’ tend to surface the best finds,” says Anastasia. Searching for these items and bookmarking them will encourage the algorithm to show you more items that fit into these categories, and also gives you better odds at seeing them before anyone else.But, Jennifer says, the real pro tip is to widen your search area, and then search and save. “After browsing this way for a few days, you can lessen your search radius and it will show you a curated list of items it knows you will like.”Online Antiques Shops That Specialize in the Nancy Meyers Aesthetic Becky Luigart-Stayner for Country LivingSearch for vintage baskets and brass accents while your scouring the (virtual) store aisles. Nora Murphy Country HouseNora Murphy served as EVP of Style and Advertising at Ethan Allen before launching her lifestyle blog that champions a distinctly New England-esque take on a country life. You can shop her “Hunt Club” collections by category (soft goods, baskets, artwork).Dreamy WhitesSwoon-worthy Swedish furniture mingle alongside French and Belgian collectibles such as bread boards, linens, ironstone, and oil paintings.Through the PortholeA staple of California’s Long Beach Antique Market, this husband-wife shop is a resource for mostly neutral pottery, cutting boards, and wooden stools.The Parsons’ Nose AntiquesMichigan-based dealer Brad Stanwick has a background in art history and specializes in 17th and 18th century English oak furniture—the type of pieces you’d find in a well appointed English country house. His pricing is also incredibly reasonable for this sort of thing.Textile TrunkBased in Vermont, owner Wendy Lewis lived in Europe for more than a decade and has a well-trained eye for textiles that include French ticking, grain sacks, and tassel tiebacks. We've also clicked “add to cart” a few too many times for her stock of stair runners and rag rugs. More Nancy Meyers-Inspired Design Ideas:Heather BienHeather Bien is a Washington, DC-based writer covering home, design, entertaining, and travel for the likes of Martha Stewart, Southern Living, Virginia Living, and more. She is an avid antiquer and novice gardener who spends much of her free time tending to the rose garden and the ever-growing list of projects at her cottage, Rosehill Cottage, which is located on the Rappahannock River near Urbanna, Virginia.

Apple @ Work is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the only solution that integrates in a single professional-grade platform all the solutions necessary to seamlessly and automatically deploy, manage & protect Apple devices at work. Over 45,000 organizations trust Mosyle to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple. Apple recently rolled out iOS 18.4 and macOS Sequoia 15.4, with several updates that matter to IT teams managing Apple devices in the enterprise. Most of the changes are focused on device management capabilities and tightening up behavior around managed settings, but let’s dive in. About Apple @ Work: Bradley Chambers managed an enterprise IT network from 2009 to 2021. Through his experience deploying and managing firewalls, switches, a mobile device management system, enterprise grade Wi-Fi, 1000s of Macs, and 1000s of iPads, Bradley will highlight ways in which Apple IT managers deploy Apple devices, build networks to support them, train users, stories from the trenches of IT management, and ways Apple could improve its products for IT departments. What’s new for IT admins in iOS 18.4? With iOS 81.4, IT admins can now use their device management system to disable individual Apple Intelligence features like smart Mail replies, Safari content summaries, and usage reports. There’s also new control over whether to allow end users to change the default calling and messaging apps. Additionally, ManagedApp framework support has expanded with better password, certificate, and identity handling. Account-driven enrollment also sees enhancements with release of OS 18.4 as IT can now authenticate using EnrollmentSSO while installing a separate required app during onboarding. For enterprises using 802.1X, Apple has clarified required key usages on server certificates depending on which TLS cipher suite is in use. A few bugs related to device management were fixed as well, including an issue with Control Center not being editable under certain Home Screen layout payloads and App Store restrictions affecting cellular download settings. What’s new for IT admins in macOS Sequoia 15.4? The big change with macOS Sequoia 15.4 is the new Setup Assistant behavior. The device management system can now enforce enrollment into macOS beta programs and control a new pane for enabling automatic software updates. Passkeys and hardware security keys can now be used for authentication during device management enrollment, simplifying onboarding with stronger authentication options. Private Wi-Fi Address settings can now be locked down per managed network. Apple Intelligence features can be turned off, matching the iOS 18.4 changes. Like iOS, macOS also requires specific key usage values on server certificates for 802.1X, depending on the cipher suite. Apple also fixed a long list of device management bugs, including issues with managed software updates, Finder behavior with SMB shares, and FileVault-related quirks with 802.1X over Ethernet. Finder and SMB share has long been a frustration of mine, so I am glad to see Apple giving it some attention. Wrap up For a late cycle release, 18.4 and 15.4 bring some nice IT enhancements. Particularly with Apple Intelligence, I am glad to see Apple putting control in IT’s hands. With WWDC looming, we’ll all turn out attention to iOS 19 and macOS 16, but the needs of IT don’t stop because WWDC is scheduled. Having a continual stream of IT enhancements throughout the year is a key to build trust between Apple and IT. Apple @ Work is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the only solution that integrates in a single professional-grade platform all the solutions necessary to seamlessly and automatically deploy, manage & protect Apple devices at work. Over 45,000 organizations trust Mosyle to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple. Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed.  FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac 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

Sometimes your chatbot freezes up on you. Or it hallucinates. And sometimes it opens a gash in spacetime, conjuring a baleful apparition that screams at you in anguish across the void that separates its ghastly realm from ours.OpenAI's ChatGPT recently engaged in that latter spooky ritual, at least figuratively speaking. Over on the r/OpenAI subreddit, a user reported that the chatbot's Advanced Voice Mode suddenly turned "into a demon," in an utterly bizarre example of what we hope is not possession, but the system glitching out."Never had this before today, and it's hilarious and terrifying." the user wrote in a post.In an attached video — we can't embed Reddit posts, but you can check it out here — things start off innocently enough. Speaking in its pleasant "Sol" voice, which OpenAI says is supposed to be "savvy and relaxed," the AI explains a calculation related to download speeds. As it goes on, a crackly, gainy sound creeps in, building and building. Until suddenly, the AI is furiously screeching at the user, its voice so distorted that it becomes borderline unintelligible.Other Redditors complained of a similar issue."I can't use voice for this exact reason," wrote another user in response to the post.  "The voice changes every couple of paragraphs, there are high-pitched whistles or screams followed by unsettling laughing noises... It's a nightmare room."OpenAI unveiled a beefed-up version of its Voice Mode last August. It's since built a reputation for being uncannily human-like, coughing and inhaling and laughing like a flesh and blood interlocutor.That can be off-putting in its own way, and paired with its frequent bugs, some find the experience more than a little creepy. Reece Rogers presaged the demon voice episode back when an alpha version of the Voice Mode came out, describing an unnerving glitch he encountered."A white static noise appeared in the background multiple times during my longer interactions with the alpha, like the ominous buzz of a lone lightbulb illuminating a dark basement," Rogers wrote. "While I was trying to coax a balloon sound effect out of the Advanced Voice Mode, it generated a loud pop followed by an uncanny gasping noise that gave me chills."Think that's creepy? In its own safety testing, OpenAI reported that the Advanced Voice Mode would unexpectedly imitate users' voices without their permission, in one case randomly screaming "No!" before doing so — which sounds more than a little reminiscent of a horror movie victim battling the demonic voices in their head. Shortly after its public release, some users were also shocked to discover that the ChatGPT Voice Mode could unleash a blood-curdling scream on command.The takeaway, if there is one, is that giving an AI chatbot designed to mimic human language a very human-sounding voice — that's also prone to going haywire — is perhaps too many layers of uncanniness slapped on top of each other.More on ChatGPT: Hot Take Argues Why You Should Say Please and Thank You to ChatGPTShare This Article

Apr 26, 2025Ravie LakshmananMalware / Vulnerability Cybersecurity researchers have detailed the activities of an initial access broker (IAB) dubbed ToyMaker that has been observed handing over access to double extortion ransomware gangs like CACTUS. The IAB has been assessed with medium confidence to be a financially motivated threat actor, scanning for vulnerable systems and deploying a custom malware called LAGTOY (aka HOLERUN). "LAGTOY can be used to create reverse shells and execute commands on infected endpoints," Cisco Talos researchers Joey Chen, Asheer Malhotra, Ashley Shen, Vitor Ventura, and Brandon White said. The malware was first documented by Google-owned Mandiant in late March 2023, attributing its use to a threat actor it tracks as UNC961. The activity cluster is also known by other names such as Gold Melody and Prophet Spider. The threat actor has been observed leveraging a huge arsenal of known security flaws in internet-facing applications to obtain initial access, followed by conducting reconnaissance, credential harvesting, and LAGTOY deployment within a span of a week. The attackers also open SSH connections to a remote host to download a forensics tool called Magnet RAM Capture to obtain a memory dump of the machine in a likely attempt to gather the victim's credentials. LAGTOY is designed to contact a hard-coded command-and-control (C2) server to retrieve commands for subsequent execution on the endpoint. It can be used to create processes and run commands under specified users with corresponding privileges, per Mandiant. The malware is also equipped to process three commands from the C2 server with a Sleep interval of 11000 milliseconds between them. "After a lull in activity of approximately three weeks, we observed the CACTUS ransomware group make its way into the victim enterprise using credentials stolen by ToyMaker," Talos said. "Based on the relatively short dwell time, the lack of data theft and the subsequent handover to CACTUS, it is unlikely that ToyMaker had any espionage-motivated ambitions or goals." In the incident analyzed by Talos, the CACTUS ransomware affiliates are said to have conducted reconnaissance and persistence activities of their own prior to data exfiltration and encryption. Also observed are multiple methods to set up long-term access using OpenSSH, AnyDesk, and eHorus Agent. "ToyMaker is a financially-motivated initial access broker (IAB) who acquires access to high-value organizations and then transfers that access to secondary threat actors who usually monetize the access via double extortion and ransomware deployment," the company said. Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter  and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post. SHARE    

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