Shane Snider, Senior Writer, InformationWeekNovember 26, 20247 Min ReadPhoto courtesy of SolarWindsSudhakar Ramakrishna was just days into his new role as SolarWinds chief executive officer when news broke of a historic nation-state hack targeting his company.During SUNBURST, a cyberattack spanning nearly two years targeted SolarWinds flagship software platform, Orion. The attack struck several US government networks, including the Departments of Commerce, Energy, Homeland Security, State, and Treasury. The 2019 attacks were revealed in December 2020. The US suspected Russian state actors were behind the breach.In the ensuing fallout, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil suit in October 2023 alleging the company and its CISO, Timothy Brown, had committed fraud by failing to disclose the breach sooner. In July, a federal judge dismissed most of the charges in the lawsuit.When Ramakrishna first walked into the SolarWinds offices in January 2021, he faced some tough decisions. The company in 2021 shed a large portion of its workforce in a spin-out of the N-able business, going from a headcount of 3,340 to 2,147. An observability and IT management software firm falling victim to one of the biggest cyberattacks in history took a toll on reputation and customer trust as well.Rebuilding Trust After CatastropheRelated:Fast forward three years to the present date, and things are looking brighter for SolarWinds. The companys most recent financials showed a strong third quarter 2024, with revenue of $200 million, a 6% year-over-year jump. Total annual recurring revenue for subscriptions leaped 36%. The company added to its headcount this year as well, bringing the total to 2,305.The trust of our customers and partners is something I would never take for granted, Ramakrishna tells InformationWeek in a live interview. I think the reason we won back trust is that today we are known for the company we have become, versus what happened to us in 2020. The reason I think we got to this point is based on transparency when the incident happened. While it could have happened to anyone, we took responsibility. We did not deflect blame on anyone.Despite best efforts to move forward, the Sunburst incident keeps drawing headlines. Just last month, the SEC fined four SolarWinds customers with penalties ranging from $990,000 to $4 million. The fresh actions dig up old wounds for SolarWinds as it continues to try to move forward.Ramakrishna says its hard seeing SolarWinds grabbing headlines for SUNBURST again because there is so much more positive stuff thats going on with us -- on the business side, the product side, innovation, customers and results.Related:As for maintaining trust, he says, We earn the trust of our customers every day. SUNBURST almost never really comes up when I discuss things with customers. When it does, its in the context of how we can apply the lessons you learned in our environment.Ramakrishna says that the most recent quarter showed customer retention of 97%. That is an indication of trust."Standing Up for CISOsThe indictment and prosecution of former Uber CSO Joe Sullivan sent shockwaves through the security community. In 2022, a federal judge sentenced Sullivan to 3 months probation and a fine for his response to a 2016 cyberattack that exposed millions of Uber customers data. For the first time, the government was coming directly after IT executives.When SolarWinds Brown was named in the SECs lawsuit, many CISOs saw it as a continued trend of scapegoating security executives. Instead of placating calls to fire Brown, SolarWinds shot back at the SEC publicly, denying the allegations and accusing the agency of victimizing victims.One of the very first decisions I had to make was, What do we do with Tim, Ramakrishna says of Brown. The way I thought about it was it was not an incident caused by one person. Thats an incident that many attribute to a nation-state attack so, it takes a village, as they say, to keep the companys assets secure. I dont think we should be in a world of scapegoating. We should be in the world of learning, iterating, and improving.Related:Ramakrishna says his decision to back Brown went beyond SolarWinds.As much as I care about SolarWinds, I also care about the tone we set in the industry as a community are we going to be in a world of scapegoating, or a world of progress? It was a little bit of a go against the grain decision, because I could have taken the simple route. But I would still make the same decision today.He says he felt vindicated for his stance after the federal judge dropped most of the charges in the case. I felt very strongly that we were trying to do the right things.Sullivan, who is now an independent consultant and speaker, applauded SolarWinds and Ramakrishna for standing by Brown."I think he is a role model for all CEOs," Sullivan says in an email interview. "CISOs do not operate in a vacuum -- they are part of an executive leadership team that should stand together on risk decisions that are shared decisions. It is all the more impressive that Mr. Ramakrishna was not the CEO when the incident happened but has operated with such integrity."SolarWinds Effort to De-Silo ITComing out of the SUNBURST incident, the company needed to focus its attention back on its business. Ramakrishna believes emerging technologies and strained budgets are causing IT departments to become siloed, hindering C-suite communication.No matter the size of the enterprise, there are far fewer people today in terms of being able to manage their IT environments, which are exploding into the cloud. The number of applications that a common enterprise is managing is increasing, and complexity is increasing. And nobody is saying their IT budgets are increasing -- at best case, they are flat.SolarWinds IT tools aim to help bridge the gap and de-silo the IT department for more efficiency, Ramakrishna says. We have discovered that its not sufficient to say that there is a problem. It is more useful if we can say not only that there is a problem, but theres a way to solve it or even better, to predict it. That is the journey and continuum that we have put ourselves in and when you do that, youre actually naturally de-siloing an organization.GenAI and the FutureThe ChatGPT-fueled generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) boom of the last two years has greatly impacted all aspects of the technology sector. Ramakrishna offered insights on how companies can home in on a return on investment that has been elusive for many.With any new, exciting technology with a lot of prospects, you have to go through the hype cycle, he says. We have taken a pragmatic approach to AI at large and also GenAI -- weve been investing in GenAI since about 2021 Our focus has been on the observability space related to AIOps [artificial intelligence for IT operations] and how we help customers detect issues faster. How do we help them classify issues faster and how do we help them solve issues faster?He says the company is trying to boost ROI for clients by offering enhanced productivity and more efficient problem solving through observability. You can classify it as a more deliberate approach to AI in general. I believe in 2025, there will be a lot more focus on tangible ROI from AI projects. It gets back to the fundamentals of running a business and our role is to help customers with this notion of AI observability. We manage and observe infrastructure which can be traditional data center infrastructure, cloud infrastructure, and increasingly, data centers with AI-enabled infrastructure.Those solutions, he says, have increasing needs for observability to optimize and provide ROI.Ramakrishna offers a sunny outlook for the tech industry.Im very optimistic, not just about the industrys future, because I think the industry continuously evolves but Im also very optimistic about the SolarWinds platform that we have built Some of the things that have happened to us in the past have been used as a foundation to leapfrog into the future.Read more about:RegulationAbout the AuthorShane SniderSenior Writer, InformationWeekShane Snider is a veteran journalist with more than 20 years of industry experience. He started his career as a general assignment reporter and has covered government, business, education, technology and much more. He was a reporter for the Triangle Business Journal, Raleigh News and Observer and most recently a tech reporter for CRN. He was also a top wedding photographer for many years, traveling across the country and around the world. He lives in Raleigh with his wife and two children.See more from Shane SniderNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also LikeReportsMore Reports

In March,customer service solutions provider Tidio published a survey on self-service in which 88% of respondents said they expected self-service portals from companies they do business with.Plus, 73% said they wanted to resolve their own issues independently.Swamped with trouble tickets, emails, and phone calls, IT help desk staffs want to see more user self-help, too! But can they?A myriad of software vendors provide solutions for user self-help.These systems feature searchable knowledge bases, user forums, chat services, and even the ability for users to request IT services from a menu of tasks that can easily be auto scheduled and then performed, such as the set-up of a new workstation.In some cases, self-service software is bundled with traditional help desk software. In other cases, the self-service software is standalone but can easily be integrated with commonly used help desk software. That sounds good, but the challenge for IT and other company departments, such as HR, that want to provide self-help to employees is being able to develop information that is actionable for users.SearchUnify, a customer service and self-help solutions provider, cites three major challenges in self-help systems: users not being able to find the information they are searching for; users not finding information thats relevant to their issues; and ITs failure to regularly monitor self-help systems to see how well they are working.Related:Lets examine the issues and see how IT and others can address them.Users not finding the information they want. Users can only find the information they want if the information is there.Some vendors offer self-help libraries for their systems, but most of the time it will be up to IT and user department subject matter experts to populate the knowledge base with the information users want to know.The first step in knowledgebase building is performing research to determine who the self-service target audience is. The next step is meeting with these users to understand the topics they need to learn about and identify the questions on any given topic that they are most likely to ask. Additional insights can be gleaned by reviewing notes and old question logs to see which questions were most commonly asked.Once the team determines as to the types of information that the knowledge base needs, the system can be populated with that information. The content can come from documents, blogs, videos, process steps, outside information and resources, and anything else that IT and user department subject matter experts contribute.Related:In the case of HR, for example, a common question that the knowledge base might address is when a new employees 401K contribution from the company will begin to vest. An IT question that the knowledge base might answer could be what a user should do if their workstation suddenly doesnt connect to the network.Users being able to schedule their own IT service events. Most self-help systems come with a self-service catalog feature that allows IT to list an assortment of IT services for which users can schedule requests.Examples include a user who needs a new workstation or printer configured and connected to the network; or a user who requires a company mobile device; or a security user ID-password setup. Service requests like these are easy to automate and schedule because they are straightforward tasks that IT can execute and fulfill in a timely manner.In contrast, a user request for IT to troubleshoot a mysterious system bug thats crashing a system requires investigation, and the timeframe for resolution is unknown. The complexities of these requests require that they be routed through the normal help desk function.Users finding information thats relevant. Initial information planning meetings with users help define the content of the self-help knowledgebase, but they must also take into account usability. In other words, for the topics and questions that users want to know about, can the knowledgebase quickly arrive at the bottom lines of these requests, so users can deftly help themselves and be on their way?Related:Commercial vendors build in tests for information relevancy by asking users questions after knowledge searches like, Did you find this information helpful?In this way, feedback is gathered. It enables vendors --and IT and subject matter experts -- to continually improve the quality of the knowledgebase and the self-help system functions that users experience and use.ITs need to regularly monitor self-help systems to see how well they are working. Some years ago, a software VP at what was then a 4GL (fourth generation) no/low code software company told me that his company regularly filmed users when they were test driving the generation of reports from data to see how well they were navigating screens and understanding how to use the software.We film them, observing where there is hesitance or confusion because theyre not quite sure what to do next, he said. We also check navigation. Can they easily go to the function they want to use? In some cases, the tool works exceptionally well, but weve also seen cases where weve had to revise the product to make it more user friendly, based upon the usability issues we observed from film.Software testing techniques have advanced since then, but usability is still an important goal. In the self-help environment, you want to ensure that users can easily navigate the system and swiftly get to the answers and services they need. If they cant, they cant help themselves. The only way you can do this is to monitor site abandonment levels, observe how often users are using the system, and continually solicit user feedback.A need for system maintenance.Self-help systems will never find themselves on the same mission critical system list as an ERP system, but they still need to be taken seriously by IT.To take a self-help system seriously means that it must be maintained by ensuring its working well for users and continuously delivering point-on, relevant information. All too often, there is a tendency to place the maintenance of self-help systems at the bottom of the IT to-do list, because these systems are only for internal users, and they are never classified as mission critical.A self-help system is relevant for employees ability to do work on their own with optimized self-help tools and knowledge bases at their fingertips. To keep these systems running at optimum performance levels, their knowledge bases and functions must be regulatory updated. Those who own these functions and content (e.g., IT, HR, finance, and others) should build a regular system maintenance routine for self-help systems into their operational cycles.

Produce has been the source of many foodborne illness outbreaks in the US this yearThe Image Party/ShutterstockApple sauce containing lead. Onions carrying E. coli. Deli meat spreading listeria. The past year has seen alert after alert from US public health officials warning of contamination in the food supply, both in packaged and prepared foods. Going to the grocery store or even out to eat has seemingly become a real gamble.But lately, much of the public worry over food safety has been hijacked by Robert

TechnologyToday's huge AI models are composed of several billion numbers known as weights and changing just one of them can destroy their ability to function, leading to gibberish output 26 November 2024 The output of AIs is controlled by the interactions of huge networks of nodes or weightsshulz/Getty ImagesAn artificial intelligence model can be made to spout gibberish if a single one of the many billions of numbers that compose it is altered.Large language models (LLMs) like the one behind OpenAIs ChatGPT contain billions of parameters or weights, which are the numerical values used to represent each neuron of their neural network. These are what get tuned and tweaked during training so the AI can learn abilities such as generating text. Input is passed through these weights, which determine the most statistically likely output.

In this exclusive webcast, we delve into the transformative potential of portable microservices for the deployment of generative AI models. We explore how startups and large organizations are leveraging this technology to streamline generative AI deployment, enhance customer service, and drive innovation across domains, including chatbots, document analysis, and video generation. WATCH NOW Our discussion focuses on overcoming key challenges such as deployment complexity, security, and cost management. We also discuss how microservices can help executives realize business value with generative AI while maintaining control over data and intellectual property. WATCH NOW

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. The way we measure progress in AI is terrible Every time a new AI model is released, its typically touted as acing its performance against a series of benchmarks. OpenAIs GPT-4o, for example, was launched in May with a compilation of results that showed its performance topping every other AI companys latest model in several tests. The problem is that these benchmarks are poorly designed, the results hard to replicate, and the metrics they use are frequently arbitrary, according to new research. That matters because AI models scores against these benchmarks determine the level of scrutiny they receive. AI companies frequently cite benchmarks as testament to a new models success, and those benchmarks already form part of some governments plans for regulating AI. But right now, they might not be good enough to use that wayand researchers have some ideas for how they should be improved. Scott J Mulligan We need to start wrestling with the ethics of AI agents Generative AI models have become remarkably good at conversing with us, and creating images, videos, and music for us, but theyre not all that good at doing things for us. AI agents promise to change that. Last week researchers published a new paper explaining how they trained simulation agents to replicate 1,000 peoples personalities with stunning accuracy.AI models that mimic you could go out and act on your behalf in the near future. If such tools become cheap and easy to build, it will raise lots of new ethical concerns, but two in particular stand out. Read the full story.James ODonnell This story is from The Algorithm, our weekly AI newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Monday. The must-reads Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Donald Trump has pledged special tariffs for China, Canada and Mexico He says its to prevent drug trafficking and illegal migration into the US. (WP $)+ The tariffs are bad news for Chinese EV firm BYDs planned factory in Mexico. (WSJ $)+ How Trumps tariffs could drive up the cost of batteries, EVs, and more. (MIT Technology Review)2 Maternal doctors are leaving TexasAbortion restrictions make it much harder to administer miscarriage care. (New Yorker $) + Porsha Ngumezi is the third woman known to have died under the states ban. (ProPublica)3 Bluesky has been accused of breaching EU data rules Its failed to declare how many EU users it has and where its legally based. (FT $)+ Bluesky says its working to comply with the disclosure rules. (The Information $)4 How Amazon plans to take on Nvidia Its engineers are racing to get its AI chips running reliably in data centers by the end of the year. (Bloomberg $)+ Whats next in chips. (MIT Technology Review) 5 Neuralink will test whether its brain implant can control a robotic arm If it can, itll be the first wireless brain-computer interface to do so. (Wired $)+ Meet the other companies developing brain-computer interfaces. (MIT Technology Review)6 Your Pokmon Go data could be bought by militaries and governmentsParent company Niantic hasnt ruled it out. (404 Media) 7 Inside Googles little-known nuclear energy research groupIts quietly been seeking to further our understanding of nuclear energy for years. (IEEE Spectrum) + Why the lifetime of nuclear plants is getting longer. (MIT Technology Review)8 US farms desperately need fresh waterNew desalination projects could help make abundant saltwater more plant-friendly. (Knowable Magazine) + How we drained California dry. (MIT Technology Review)9 Nvidias new AI model creates entirely new sounds Including a screaming saxophone and an angry cello. (Ars Technica)+ These impossible instruments could change the future of music. (MIT Technology Review)10 We may finally know what causes mysterious radio flashes from space Asteroids and comets bashing into neutron stars could be behind them. (New Scientist $)Quote of the day Did we change Big Tech? My answer is no. Tommaso Valletti, an economist who worked under the European Unions antitrust regulator Margrethe Vestager, reflects on her legacy as she prepares to step down to the New York Times. The big story How to fix the internet October 2023 Were in a very strange moment for the internet. We all know its broken. But theres a sense that things are about to change. The stranglehold that the big social platforms have had on us for the last decade is weakening. Theres a sort of common wisdom that the internet is irredeemably bad. That social platforms, hungry to profit off your data, opened a Pandoras box that cannot be closed. But the internet has also provided a haven for marginalized groups and a place for support. It offers information at times of crisis. It can connect you with long-lost friends. It can make you laugh. The internet is worth fighting for because despite all the misery, theres still so much good to be found there. And yet, fixing online discourse is the definition of a hard problem. But dont worry. I have an idea. Read the full story. Katie Notopoulos We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.) + America is super into republishing classic literature these days. + Im convinced theres nothing more innovative and daring than a hungry cat (thanks Dorothy!)+ Gen Z famously loves to mock the way millennials dress, but needless to say: weve had the last laugh.+ How music influences math, believe it or not.

A new Netflix docuseries explores the JonBent Ramsey murder case.Some surviving members of JonBent's family participated, but her brother Burke didn't.Burke Ramsey has had a difficult relationship with the media and was previously cleared as a suspect.Burke Ramsey was 9 years old when his family was thrust into the spotlight after his younger sister, JonBent Ramsey, was found dead in their Boulder, Colorado, home on December 26, 1996.The shocking and brutal nature of the killing (the 6-year-old was found with a strangulation device called a garrote embedded in her neck; an autopsy later revealed that her skull had been fractured) incited a media frenzy. The strange details of the still-unsolved murder like the ransom note left behind that claimed JonBent had been kidnapped and demanded $118,000 for her return, when her body had been in the home all along have led true-crime fans to spend the ensuing decades poring over the case and forming their own theories about what really happened.Many came to believe that someone in the Ramsey family was responsible for JonBent's death; they weren't formally cleared as suspects until 2008. A new Netflix docuseries, "Cold Case: Who Killed JonBent Ramsey?" explores how the initial investigation was faulty and accuses the original Boulder investigators, along with the media, of unfairly pointing suspicion toward the family."I can't think of another family that's been so brutalized so unfairly by the media," director Joe Berlinger told Business Insider in an interview ahead of the docuseries' premiere.Burke Ramsey became (and remains) a particular target of suspicion among JonBent theorists, but he didn't participate in the new Netflix docuseries. Here's what we know about Burke's life since his sister's murder and where he is today.Theories that Burke Ramsey killed his sister JonBent led to legal action Patsy, JonBenet, Burke, and John Ramsey in a family photo. Courtesy of Netflix Burke, along with his parents, moved back to Atlanta, where the family had lived before Boulder, in the aftermath of JonBent's death. While Patsy and John Ramsey continued to do interviews in an attempt to combat the suspicion against them and encouraged authorities to keep investigating the case, Burke, then still a child, kept out of the spotlight.In 2008, the Boulder District Attorney's Office officially cleared the Ramsey family (including Burke and Patsy, who'd died two years earlier) of JonBent's murder after confirming with new testing that male DNA found on the child's underwear didn't match anyone in the family. Then-DA Mary Lacy also apologized in a letter to John Ramsey for the possibility that her office had contributed to "public perception that you might have been involved in this crime."The decision to clear the Ramsey family publicly has been controversial, and in the event of new DNA testing, as the Ramsey family and the Netflix docuseries are pushing for, all previously cleared suspects should be reconsidered.According to the Daily Camera, a Boulder newspaper, Burke had been interviewed by investigators at least three times and reportedly appeared before the grand jury that investigated the case in 1999. At the time, the Boulder District Attorney's office said Burke had never been under suspicion. (As the Netflix doc recounts, court documents unsealed in 2013 later revealed that the grand jury had voted to indict John and Patsy Ramsey on two counts each of child abuse resulting in JonBent's death, though then-DA Alex Hunter chose not to move forward with the indictment because he said the evidence wasn't sufficient to prosecute them.)In September 2016, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the crime, CBS aired the docuseries "The Case of: JonBent Ramsey." In it, a group that included former FBI agents, a forensic scientist, and a forensic pathologist reevaluated the evidence and theorized that Burke had killed JonBent, likely accidentally, by striking her over the head after she took a piece of pineapple from his bowl and that their parents had written the ransom note to cover up how JonBent died.Burke's attorneys filed defamation lawsuits against the network, producers, and the series' hosts for $750 million later that year; he'd separately filed another lawsuit against one of the individual investigators from the special in October. Both parties confirmed in January 2019 that the CBS lawsuit had been settled for an undisclosed amount.Burke, then 29, also gave his first and only public interview to date to Phil McGraw on the "Dr. Phil" show in 2016, days before the CBS special aired. He acknowledged knowing that his family had been suspected of killing JonBent and once again denied that any of them were involved. He offered his own theory on the murder: that his sister had been killed by an intruder, likely someone who attended JonBent's beauty pageants.When asked why he'd finally chosen to speak out, Burke said he wanted to honor his sister's memory."I don't want anyone to forget," he told McGraw.Where is Burke Ramsey now? Burke Ramsey at his mother Patsy's funeral in 2006. Ric Feld/AP Since the 2016 "Dr. Phil" interview, Burke, now 37, has resumed living a private life. Public records show he currently appears to live in Michigan, where the Ramseys moved after leaving Atlanta.John Ramsey told People in a 2012 interview that Burke was working as a software engineer. Speaking to ET after his interview with Burke, McGraw said Burke had graduated from Purdue University in 2010 and was working in the computer industry. At that time, Burke had a girlfriend, according to McGraw, though it's unclear whether he's currently in a relationship, married, or has kids."He's a very private individual, but he has a great career and has a good relationship with his father," McGraw told ET in 2016.During the portion of the docuseries that recounts theories that Burke killed JonBent, an on-screen text card explains that Burke declined to participate, "citing his treatments by the media and online websleuths."Berlinger, the director of the new Netflix docuseries on the case, told TODAY that Burke is "doing fine."He said that the docuseries team tried to reach Burke through John Ramsey and John Andrew Ramsey, who is John's son and Burke's half-brother. But according to Berlinger, Burke said he didn't want to speak to them and they didn't want to pressure him.Both John and John Andrew participated extensively in the docuseries. In one interview in it, John Andrew called allegations that his brother had killed their sister "absolutely absurd."When speaking to BI, Berlinger named Burke as the one person whose perspective he'd have loved to have."I think he also has been so brutalized," he said. "The theories against him are so incredulous."

A 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is set to take effect in Lebanon at 4 am local time Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced today.The temporary pause in hostilities, negotiated by the US and France, could lead to a permanent ceasefire in Lebanon. Israel invaded its northern neighbor in late September to fight Hezbollah, the Shia militant group based in Lebanons south. Hezbollah is an ally of Hamas, Israels foe in Gaza, and launched attacks against Israel in retaliation for Israels war in Gaza (which itself began in retaliation for the October 7, 2023, incursion into Israel by Hamas, in which the group killed roughly 1,200 Israelis and captured more than 200 others).The announcement comes amid intensive bombing in the Lebanese capital Beirut, including in heavily populated areas. And it comes more than a year into Israels war in Gaza, which has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians and rendered much of the territory uninhabitable. Netanyahus cabinet accepted the deal on Tuesday; Lebanese lawmakers are set to discuss the agreement on Wednesday morning. Hezbollah leadership, which was not party to the negotiations, indicated last week that the group would accept a ceasefire agreement if Israel stopped striking Lebanon and respected the countrys sovereignty (Lebanons speaker of Parliament served as the go-between for the Lebanese caretaker government and the militant group.)Here is what you need to know:Where does the conflict stand now?Tuesdays ceasefire comes after at least one false start, when the US and France attempted to mediate a short ceasefire at the end of September. Since then, Hezbollah has been severely diminished. A September attack using explosives hidden in pagers and other electronic devices killed large numbers of Hezbollah fighters as well as Lebanese civilians; though Israel has not claimed responsibility for that attack, it is widely believed to be responsible. Israel also killed senior Hezbollah leadership, including longtime head Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, in bombings near Beirut. Tuesday represented a crescendo in Israels Lebanese offensive; heavy bombing rocked densely populated parts of Beirut and 24 people were killed across the country, according to Lebanese authorities. Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has killed more than 3,500 Lebanese so far and around 75 Israeli civilians. (Lebanese death tolls, taken from the countrys Health Ministry, combine civilian and military deaths.) About 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the Israel/Lebanon border region since October 8, 2023. Thats when Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel in support of Hamas, after the militant group attacked Israel.Whats in the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal?The deal is for a 60-day cessation of hostilities, though Biden suggested that the agreement lays the groundwork for a permanent ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.The negotiation, brokered by the US and France, stipulates that Israel and Hezbollah are not to attack each other and that Israeli troops are to gradually withdraw across the Blue Line the internationally recognized border between Israel and Lebanon over the two-month period. Hezbollah is to move its forces above Lebanons Litani river. Despite the promising development, any peace appears delicate. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned in a televised speech Tuesday, If Hezbollah violates the agreement and attempts to rearm, we will strike. If they attempt to rebuild infrastructure along the border, dig a tunnel, launch rockets, or bring in trucks loaded with missiles, we will strike.A spokesperson for Hezbollah reportedly said that the group will wait to see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials before committing to the ceasefire. The group also suggested it would respond to any attack by Israel. Thousands of Lebanese forces and UN peacekeeping troops will surge to southern Lebanon as part of the agreement. A monitoring body headed by the US will be responsible for ensuring all parties adherence to the agreement.Biden assured reporters in his Tuesday briefing that no US troops will be committed to Lebanon, though a senior administration official later clarified in a press briefing that, If we need folks on the ground, they will be based, I assume, in the embassy. The president was clear that no troops would be deployed to the south, and we are not going to be engaging in, dont expect anybody to engage in, any kind of combat operations of any kind. This is all in security assistance.Whats next for the deal?Ideally, a framework for a lasting peace will be the next step for Israel and Lebanon. However, an additional hurdle remains before the ceasefire is implemented. As the agreement now stands, Israel has the right to strike back should Hezbollah violate its end of the bargain. As Netanyahu explained in his speech, there seems to be a broad range of actions that would constitute a violation. He also said Israeli drones would monitor Lebanese territory, which Lebanese officials maintain they did not agree to. Lebanese officials will meet to discuss the ceasefire deal Wednesday morning.In his remarks, Biden mentioned that a renewed push for a Gaza ceasefire was on the table in the waning days of his presidency. Hezbollah had previously tied its ceasefire agreement to a ceasefire in Gaza (Hezbollah and Hamas are both aligned with Iran and its affiliate groups.) Advancing those stalled peace talks would be a logical next step.Joshua Keating contributed reporting for this story.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

Welcome to Know-It-All. In the age of intellectual property grabs, docudramas, and so very many sequels, it can be difficult to find a way into the complicated worlds we see on screen. In this series, Vox experts explain what you need to know to get into the latest hot release.Human existence is full of an unfathomably infinite number of things real and fake, abstract ideas and actual physical objects, past and present and future to consider, fixate on, learn about. Still, for many men, theres one thing they specifically think about constantly: the Roman Empire. Director Ridley Scott, a man, very clearly thinks about it a lot. But maybe not in exactly the same way others do.Scotts new movie Gladiator II officially hit theaters this past weekend, and made $55.5 million domestically and $220 million worldwide. The sequel stars Paul Mescal, a man with the most adored side profile in Hollywood, and is set within the same world with many of the same characters as Gladiator, Scotts Oscar-winning film from 2000. Many things happen in the movie. Mescals character, Lucius, bites a CGI baboon and chokes it with handcuffs; Denzel Washingtons Macrinus flounces around in caftans, terrorizing Roman senators about loyalty. Theres also a lot that doesnt seem quite based in history: a naval battle in the Colosseum where sharks eat human competitors, at least one domesticated battle rhino, and what seems to be a newspaper despite Ancient Rome predating the printing press. While your mileage may vary on the movie, theres something entertaining about how Scott imagines Ancient Rome to be more exciting than it was. Maybe one day our descendants will imagine our mundane lives with as much anachronistic gusto as Scott. To get a better understanding of what Scott was aiming for in this movie and what he was inspired by, I chatted with Vox senior politics writer Christian Paz, another man who thinks about Ancient Rome often. Since middle school, Paz tells me, he was obsessed with the Roman Empire and that fixation has only grown stronger in adulthood. Paz is also slightly fascinated by Paul Mescal and, now, Ridley Scotts off-kilter version of Ancient Rome. We talked about Roman naval battles, the egos of emperors, and what is, really, so endlessly fascinating about this period in history. How often do you think about the Roman Empire?I think about it quite a lot. Its influence and legacy are everywhere. I see reminders of it when I walk around DC, when I scroll TikTok and get videos about the Galactic Senate, the Galactic Republic, and the Empire, and when I watch videos about what ancient and historical peoples used to cook and eat.Also I took Latin in high school.How often do you think Ridley Scott thinks about the Roman Empire?Insofar as he thinks about big battles, big historical events, and believes in the Great Man theory of history, probably often enough to want to recreate the magic of the original Gladiator. And he probably wants an Oscar, no?If his movies reflect his personal desires and needs, I believe that man wants a lot of things. And sometimes I think this world simply does not have enough to offer Ridley Scott, so he sensationalizes. It feels like he is constantly tarting up the world he lives in or learned about.For example, in Gladiator II, Paul Mescal bites a baboon in one of the arenas. Were there actual baboons in Roman gladiator fights? Lol, most definitely not. I was trying to track down where he got this idea for baboons, and apparently it came to him from a trip he took to South Africa where he saw some tourist approach a baboon in a parking lot. The baboon, naturally, freaked out when the man tried to pet it, and attacked and that seems to be Scotts inspiration for wanting this group of captives and future gladiators to fight something formidable.But how would [the Romans] capture and release these, like, 12 baboons? Well, obviously one would need to train and house the baboons too! Also, if these are based on the baboons Scott saw in South Africa the Roman legions never got that far!Theres also a moment where they fill the Colosseum with water and stage a naval battle with sharks. Right, and to prep for that battle, Pauls character is forced to practice rowing a boat until his hands bleed and blister. God, this Colosseum scene was actually ridiculous because, where are they finding these sharks? How would they catch them and transport them back to Rome? Modern-day aquariums have a tough time keeping sharks alive. But Ridley Scott believes Ancient Rome could. Sharks cant really survive in freshwater, so where are they holding these massive amounts of salt water and tanks and sharks? Flooding the Colosseum with water was actually a thing that was done a few times earlier in the Roman imperial period but that was fresh water transported through aqueducts and diverted from the Tiber River. On every level, thats actually an insane decision to make.The simulated naval battle in Gladiator II. You cant see them but there are sharks in the water. Paramount PicturesBut mock naval battles were once actually fought in the Colosseum, or in bigger locations around Rome, as early as Julius Caesars reign toward the end of the Republic. They were a hugely extravagant and expensive thing to do, so they didnt happen too frequently. Even gladiatorial games were an irregular occurrence happening like three to four times a year at most because they were just so expensive to hold. And thats the bottom line of why they went out of commission. It was just too expensive to run an empire, and to keep these circuses going contributed to the empires resource drain and the gradual spread of Christianity finished the games off.How do they get the sharks in and out? Movie magic.Theres also one gladiator who rides a trained rhino. Im guessing thats a bit of embellishment too. Yup, another wild decision made for great cinema action, but its not likely that Romans would train and ride a rhino into battle. There are records of rhinoceroses being brought into the Colosseum like during the celebrations for when it was inaugurated and when the emperor Commodus, the inspiration for Joaquin Phoenixs villain from the first Gladiator, killed a rhinoceros with spears and arrows from an elevated platform in 192 AD. When used, rhinos would fight other animals instead of gladiators.Could you imagine all that effort to bring a rhino into the Colosseum, telling all your friends about it, getting the gladiators set, and then have it just run around killing a lion a lion that may have been hanging around in the bowels of the Colosseum for ages because everyone was out trying to find a rhino? So then the rhino waits for another crew to find a hippo or something and the cycle repeats itself! God, Id hate to be a rhino and just be killed because of ego. But the whole point of having rhinos and other exotic animals in the Colosseum was to represent and demonstrate the power, wealth, and reach of the empire, and more specifically, of the emperor. Another surprising thing: the Roman newspaper that one of the senators is reading. This was one of the more ridiculous things in the film; it has been ridiculed extensively. It was actually in two scenes, if I recall in the pseudo-cafe in which a senator is having a beverage (which I will assume is wine, or a spiced wine, because the Romans didnt really have tea or coffee yet) and then at the senators home when Macrinus shows up.For those who need clarification: Paper, of the mass-produced variety, has not been invented yet, never mind the printing press. Sadly, the Ancient Romans never knew the font that is Times New Roman. Romans did have a version of, like, important announcements and news that were inscribed into a stone tablet and which was primarily placed in public places the Acta Diurna, or Acts of the Day. But it wasnt very widely circulated to people it might have been sent to some senators but was primarily shared with governors and administrative government officials.Was the gladiator system that wins could make you a celebrity and eventually a free man real?Yes and no. It was absolutely a system with schools and cells, and sponsors and teachers, and funding and people who fed you and tended to you; you were specially trained, and became a master essentially of a particular kind of weapon and armor and dress usually based on your ethnic or national origin like Gauls, Thracians, Britons. Gladiators lost personhood and became a form of property prisoners of war, enslaved people, people with significant debts who sought to repay those debts, and poor, lower-class people who volunteered. So the whole operation that Denzel Washingtons character is running was very real.And yes, you could essentially become a celebrity, and aristocratic women, of high society, would take them as lovers but even if you got discharged or won your freedom after winning or surviving matches, there wasnt much you could do in society so they would return to teach other gladiators or fight again as free men.The real gladiator system feels more like an MLM than whatevers happening in Scotts movie. Why do you think Scott is so obsessed with it?Honestly, I was thinking that too. When youre in, youre kind of stuck. You get nice perks on occasion but it was a nasty, brutish, short life. And I think that is probably part of his fascination to trade up freedom for something greater, or to make the most of the hellish lot life has cast you.I feel like you and Ridley Scott think about different things when thinking about the Roman Empire. What is it about the Roman Empire that fascinates you? I think we think very differently about the Roman Empire. Scott loves the battles and the concept of great men and dont get me wrong, me too! My favorite games are Rome Total War and Empire Total War. In middle school I recreated a Roman camp in Gaul in my schools cafeteria for a class project and made a set of armor like what Julius Caesars legionaries probably wore.Denzel Washington in Gladiator II. Washington is a gladiator owner, which seems like a very predatory MLM by todays standards. Paramount PicturesDid this make you popular? Like, did you have a lot of friends?Um. First of all, thats rude. And second of all, I didnt go there to make friends. I came to win and put on a spectacle.But also, I was fascinated by the politics of the Roman Republic, specifically the concept of the senate, the idea of the Senate and the People of Rome being the source of power and legitimacy, of consuls and of aediles and of quaestors, of a civil service. And I was fascinated by its fall, the rise of a rag-tag system of tyrannical government in the form of the empire which, for most people, didnt really mean anything different in their lives but changed the world.And so I think specifically of the tenuousness of democracy, the appeal of strongmen, and the fact that what binds so many nations today representative democracy and imagined community has its roots in Romes centuries of existence. I think what fascinates me the most is the fall of Rome something that Gladiator II delves into with its talk about the dream of Rome, the threat of tyranny, and the idea of civitas or Roman citizenship. They were all such amorphous, delicate concepts.What do you think men who think about the Roman Empire a lot will think about Gladiator II? Will the historical inaccuracies and sensationalizing turn them off?True Roman history nerds will probably be annoyed and laugh at the inaccuracies and sensationalizing. But lets be honest. Were going to see this movie either because of the nostalgia, because we want to see battles and fights on the big screen, because of Denzel Washingtons stunning performance (which will be noted in my Letterboxd review because hes basically the main character), or because we want to admire Paul Mescals everything.In the next life, may you be reborn as a baboon in Paul Mescals Ancient Rome. I am ready to be bitten, Paul.Update, November 26, 2 pm ET: This story, originally published November 21, has been updated with box office numbers for Gladiator II.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

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