We learned earlier this week of a Bluesky extortion issue, emerging after the social network said that it would use domain name ownership as a way to verify the identity of public figures.Bluesky hasnt fully addressed the issue, but has taken one step toward reducing the problem of scammers impersonating well-known people on the platform Bluesky extortion problemCybersquatting where someone buys the domain names of well-known people in order to impersonate them, or to try to sell the domain at a vastly inflated price has long been a problem.But social network Bluesky made things worse when it announced that it would use domain name ownership as a means of verifying the rightful owner of a username on the platform. For example, if you own the domain johnnyappleseed.com, then Bluesky would allow you to use that same name and domain on its network.That led to scammers trying to extort some well-known people by registering their domain name and then pointing out that they wouldnt be able to use their own name on Bluesky without acquiring it. Bloomberg columnist Conor Sen posted an example of one of these extortion attempts:Hi Conor. I own conorsen.com As you may know Bluesky is using .com domains to verify Bluesky accounts. bsky.social/about/blog/4. Right now we are configuring an email sign up sheet with your favicon at the domain.If you choose to try and report and suspend bsky.app/. profile/cono then you will not be able to verify the domain yourself. It will look like the verified domain got suspended. You can make an offer for the domain or do nothing.TechCrunch notes that this led to a thread in which real and fake versions of Hustle founder Sam Parr were arguing.Partial protection addedTechCrunch reports that Bluesky has addressed one aspect of the problem, by protecting your original username when you switch to a custom domain.Bluesky is also adding protection against username squatting by reserving your original Bluesky username with (.bsky.social suffix) when you change your username to a custom domain.For example, if Johnny originally registered as johnnyappleseed.bsky.social and then later updated this to johnnyappleseed.com, then someone else would have been able to grab the original username. Bluesky has now blocked this.Your Mentions now have their own tabSeparately, the app has added a separate tab for Mentions, rather than having these buried within the Notifications tab.You also get new ways to sort replies.Users can choose between linear and threaded views. They can also sort replies using different filters like hot, oldest, newest, most-liked, and random.Bluesky recently passed 25M users, but so far Threads appears to have the best shot at replacing the social network formerly known as Twitter.Photo byYohan MariononUnsplashAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre 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. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Update: Right now, you can save 28% on the Eve Outdoor Cam at Amazon.Eve Outdoor Cam is a sleek outdoor video camera for HomeKit, with integrated LED floodlight ideally designed to light up your driveway at night. Ive been a fan of the Eve Indoor camera for a while, and my experience with the Outdoor Cam is similarly positive. HomeKit cameras are better than ever, thanks to significant user interface upgrades to the Apple Home app in iOS 16.And HomeKit Secure Video support means clips are saved to your iCloud account in an end-to-end encrypted manner. To make things even more compelling, this set up requires no additional monthly subscription to use, assuming you pay for some iCloud storage. So how does Eve Outdoor Cam and the state of HomeKit Secure Video fare? Very well, for the most part Hardware design of Eve Outdoor CamThe Eve Outdoor Cam feels solid and well built. I had someone help me install it, and even they remarked on the premium manufacturing of all the parts as they were putting it together. Build quality of the unit is high. The simple black and white plastic appearance will fit in well with the decor of most home exteriors. It is not discreet but it is not meant to be, as it of course serves double duty as an outside light. Most of the front fascia is taken up by the white light window, although the actual physical LEDs stop just above the black camera bezel cutout. Situated above the camera is a small status light. By default, it illuminates blue when the camera is on, and red when it is recording. I found the feeble blue/red glow detracted from the otherwise minimal design of the housing; thankfully, the status light can be turned off in the accessory settings.Hardwired installation and simple software setupEve Outdoor Camera uses Wi-Fi for connectivity and is hardwired for power. This is nice because it means the camera can have a permanent network connection, with no need for battery saver sleep states and you dont have to worry about swapping batteries every few months.Installation difficulty will vary based on your individual circumstances. I fortunately had an outside dumb motion-activated light near the front door already; it was a matter of removing that and rewiring the camera in its place. If you arent comfortable with wiring it yourself, it will be a quick job for an electrician, assuming you have an existing light fitting available to use. If you dont have the wiring already in the wall, the endeavor will be much more complicated and possibly not worth the effort.Once physically installed, set up could not be easier. Open the Home app, scan the HomeKit QR code on the sticker and the phone will find the camera, bring it on the network, add it to your home, and youre basically done. Remember, a HomeKit hub (Apple TV or HomePod) is a prerequisite to be able to access the camera when away from your home network, and to use the HomeKit Secure Video recording features.Eve Outdoor Cam placed next to my front doorThe cameras mount allows for a wide degree of adjustment, with leeway for swivel and tilt. Aesthetically, it looks best if positioned straight on but I think most people will find they need to adjust it a bit. The range of angle adjustment combined with the camera lenss own wide field of view means you should have confidence you will be able to find a good vantage point. Essentially, you just need a placement that puts the camera at or above door height.If you want to trial this before you take the plunge and buy, hold up an iPhone where you intend to place the camera and snap a picture. The iPhones 0.5x lens produces a similar image to what you can expect from the Eve Outdoor Cam, in terms of field of view. (At the same time, check you have a stable 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi signal at the location.)Floodlight is a convenient 2-in-1 bonusThe 2-for-1 nature of the unit is a big factor in its appeal. If you are going through the effort to hardwire a camera, it might as well do something else at the same time. As I said before, I replaced a nighttime outdoor light with the Eve Outdoor Cam. I havent lost any light functionality. In fact, the camera is a better light than what I had before. The LED floodlight is much brighter, fills a wider area, and more customizable thanks to it being network connected. Through the Eve app, choose whether the motion-activated light is active during the day, at night, or never.Floodlight is more than enough to light up my front porch and drivewayYou can also tweak the lights on duration and degree of motion sensitivity. I changed the sensitivity from medium to high to avoid it triggering when cars on the road drove passed the house. These kind of controls are not typically found in dumb traditional outdoor lighting fixtures. One slight quirk is that Eve exposes a 0-100 brightness slider and boost mode for the light. I didnt find much visible difference when the light was set at the minimum or maximum level it was on or it was off.Because the Eve Camera light is exposed as its own accessory to HomeKit, you can also turn it on and off manually in the Home app, or with Siri voice commands, and use it as part of scenes and automations like any HomeKit smart light. Eve Outdoor Camera qualityThe camera resolution is rated at 1080p, like all HomeKit Secure Video cameras. The actual detail of the image doesnt look that sharp the stream is clearly compressed and quickly gets blurry when you zoom in but it is more than fit for purpose. The wide angle lens means the image covers a large area, easily enough to watch over my front porch and driveway. The automatic camera exposure adjusts well to all lighting conditions, dawn through dusk. The frame rate is a little lacking, and I found recordings would occasionally miss out a couple of seconds. Nevertheless, it results in perfectly usable footage.Day and night vision (no floodlight active) snapshots downsampled slightly compared to original qualityThe night vision works superbly, enabling the camera to remain useful even in complete darkness. The range of the night vision is long; people or animals can be seen anywhere in the frame. You wont want to hold protracted conversations over the integrated speaker and mic, but the audio quality is decent enough for short two-way talk session with someone waiting on the doorstep. The mic is sensitive and will pick up footsteps or engine noise long before they come into the cameras view; this can be a blessing or a curse depending on the circumstances.Cameras in the Home appThe display of cameras in the Home app is greatly improved in iOS 16. You can see your favourite cameras at a glance in the main root view, neatly laid out in a single large panel. The thumbnails show static image snapshots from each camera, refreshing approximately every fifteen seconds. View all cameras with larger thumbnails or tap on an individual camera thumbnail to maximize. The full-screen layout activates the current live camera feed, and includes a timeline so you can scroll back through past recordings.Recordings with HomeKit Secure VideoHomeKit Secure Video means the Eve Outdoor Camera output is continuously streamed to a HomeKit hub in the home like an Apple TV or HomePod for processing. Recordings can be enabled or disabled separately depending on your geolocation. If you dont want a camera recording or even activated at all while you are at home, you have that option.The HomeKit system is in charge of saving clips when motion occurs, and sending notifications. If you are super serious about security, you may want to keep a 24/7 rolling camera stream. HomeKit Secure Video does not support that, so youll have to look elsewhere.For most home uses, though, only recording clips of activity is really what you want hours and hours of footage of nothing happening is useless. HomeKit camera recordings are stored in iCloud for up to ten days. The Home app lets you export clips to a file if you need to keep them longer term, or send them to others. You need a paid iCloud account for the cloud recordings feature to be available, but they dont count towards your storage quota.Camera notifications are rich and usefulThe Home app can notify when any motion occurs or when specific subjects of motion are recognized; the system can separably detect people, animals, vehicles and packages. If you want to be alerted when a person is at the door, but dont care about the neighbourhood cat walking across the frame, you can do that. Futhermore, face recognition means HomeKit will try and recognize exactly who is in the video (based off the People categories in your Photos library); mute notifications entirely from selected persons. I use the face recognition feature to ignore notifications of myself arriving home.All of these smarts make for some really rich notifications. Heres some examples: The Entrance Cam camera has detected a person. The Entrance Cam camera has detected an animal. The Entrance Cam camera has detected a person and a package. The Entrance Cam camera has detected a person who may be [name]. The notification content includes a short video clip of the activity, a button to view the current live feed inline, and shortcuts to accessories in the same zone as the camera (like the cameras own flood light).The cross-platform nature of the Home app means these alerts arrive on all your devices. Whats really cool is on Apple TV, notifications come in as a PIP window in the corner of the frame, on top of whatever youre watching. These are the kind of integrations where Apple shines, and where non-HomeKit solutions will fall short. It shouldnt be understated how useful it is that the Home app is available on every Apple device I can check in on my cameras on the Mac, or even my watch, whenever I please. How many third party security systems even have an app for anything but the iPhone?Notification controls are not fine-grained enoughHowever, for all of the notification customization options I just described, the Home app needs even more. This is something outside of Eves purview, as all of the HomeKit handling is managed by Apple software. We have to hope future OS updates include improvements in this department.A big frustration for me is that the people detection system cannot discern between a person facing towards the camera, or facing away. With my Eve Outdoor Cam in situ looking out onto the driveway, it sees people approach but it also sees people leaving. Therefore, I get a notification going off almost any time that I, or anyone else, leave the house. HomeKit detects a person in frame so the notification triggers, but face recognition cannot kick in as my head is facing the opposite way. This may sound like a small thing, but a pointless notification every time someone leaves the house quickly becomes a source of daily annoyance.Another complaint I have is that you cannot tell the system to silence repeated alerts of the same person. Lets say it is trash night, and you are walking in and out the house several times. HomeKit will trigger an alert each time it sees you. Id love a setting that allows for a short grace period when the same person is seen again.You cant manage the enabled state of activity detection with automations at all. For instance, I can imagine one theoretical mitigation of the person leaving problem. Set up a motion sensor in the hall; if motion detected, disable camera notifications for the next minute. This would eliminate all the false positives caused by people leaving the house. Unfortunately, this isnt possible. A switch for camera control is not exposed to as an automation target (so the light of the Eve Outdoor Camera can be automated, but not the camera part).Eve Outdoor Cam only works with HomeKitA persistent question with HomeKit and smart home stuff in general is reliability. If you hunt out online, you can find plenty of people with HomeKit issues. I know geofencing rules are particularly nebulous, and iOS 16 time-based automations just refuse to activate for some folks. At least in my experience, as one person, it all works well enough for me to be happy.I have one occasional glitch in which the Home app will not let me view the Eve cameras live stream because it says someone else is currently doing that (you can only view from one device at a time), but I know no device is active. I have seemingly narrowed this down to a bug with the Home app on Mac, as I have found that opening Activity Monitor and quitting the homed processes releases the hanging resources and returns the camera to normal function.Eves dependence on HomeKit means no additional accounts to manage, no extra cloud service to pay for, and seemingly better performance than some competitors that treat HomeKit as an afterthought. But be aware that if you ever fall out of favor with HomeKit, the camera doesnt work with anything else. If you have Android-using members of your household, tough luck.Wrap-upWith the Apple ecosystem exclusivity in mind, I can wholeheartedly recommend the Eve Outdoor Cam. Smart home cameras are somewhat of a luxury item, and the Eve camera is certainly not cheap but they sure are nice once you have them. The ability to check in on my driveway from anywhere and get alerted if someone is approaching the house provides peace of mind that is hard to quantify. Being able to talk to someone at the door in a pinch is a bonus, like a pseudo smart doorbell. Combining a hassle-free camera with a motion-activated floodlight makes for a very compelling all-in offering. You can buy Eve Outdoor Cam here for $249. I tested the black version for this review. A white edition model is also available. Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre 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. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Lisa Morgan, Freelance WriterDecember 20, 20249 Min ReadRancz Andrei via Alamy StockData governance isnt where it needs to be in many organizations, despite the widespread use of AI and analytics. This is risky on several levels such as cybersecurity and compliance, not to mention the potential impacts to various stakeholders. In short, data governance is becoming more necessary as organizations rely more heavily on data, not less.Steve Willis, principal research director, data, analytics, enterprise architecture and AI at Info-Tech Research Group offers a sobering statistic: Some 50% to 75% of data governance initiatives fail.Even in highly regulated industries where the acceptance and understanding of the concept and value of governance more broadly are ingrained into the corporate culture, most data governance programs have progressed very little past an expensive [check] boxing exercise, one that has kept regulatory queries to a minimum but returned very little additional business value on the investment, says Willis in an email interview.Most data professionals cite things like lack of business understanding and/or executive engagement, limited funding, the complexity of the data landscape or general organizational change resistance as the root-cause or causes as barriers to data governance implementation and the reason(s) why most data governance initiatives fail, though Willis disagrees.Related:A lack of a deep connection between the tangible outcomes business stakeholders care about and the activities and initiatives undertaken in the name of data governance is the primary cause of failure, says Willis. The few who have successfully implemented data governance can easily point to the value that data governance initiatives have delivered. [They are] able to provide a direct line of sight not only to tactical wins but to deep contributions to an organization achieving its strategic goals and objectives.Where the Problems LieMany data teams, particularly data governance teams, lack the proper relationships with business stakeholders, so the business has no visibility into how data governance works.Data governance teams should be rigorously focused on understanding how improvements in [data use] will tangibly make life easier for those managing and using data, be it removing critical pain points or creating new opportunities to add value, says Info-Techs Willis. By not focusing on their customers needs, many data governance professionals are over-focused on adding workload to those they are purporting to help in return for providing little measurable value.Related:Steve Willis, Info-Tech Research GroupWhy the disconnect? Data teams dont feel they can spend time understanding stakeholders or even challenging business stakeholder needs. Though executive support is critical, data governance professionals are not making the most out of that support. One often unacknowledged problem is culture.Unfortunately, in many organizations, the predominant attitude towards governance and risk management is that [they are] a burden of bureaucracy that slows innovation, says Willis. Data governance teams too frequently perpetuate that mindset, over-rotating on data controls and processes where the effort to execute is misaligned to the value they release.One way to begin improving the effectiveness of data governance is to reassess the organizations objectives and approach.Embed data governance activities, small step by small step into your current business operations, make managing data part of a business process owners day to day responsibilities rather than making the governance and management of data a separate thing, saysWillis. This abstraction of data governance and management away from business operations is a key reason why nominated data stewards, who are typically business process owners, dont understand what they are being asked to do. As a data governance team, you need to contextualize data management activities into the language the business understands and make it a part of what they do.Related:Common Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemBusinesses are struggling to make data accessible for users and protect it from misuse or breaches. This often results in either too much bureaucracy or insufficient control, leaving organizations vulnerable to inefficiencies and regulatory fines.The solution is to start small, focus on delivering results, and build from there. Begin with high-priority areas, like fixing compliance gaps or cleaning up critical datasets, to show quick wins, says Arunkumar Thirunagalingam, senior manager, data and technical operations at healthcare company McKesson, in an email interview. These early successes help build momentum and demonstrate the value of governance across the organization.He says the biggest mistakes companies make include trying to fix everything at once, relying too much on technology without setting up proper processes and ignoring the needs of end users.Overly restrictive governance often leads to workarounds that create even more problems, while waiting until a crisis forces action leaves companies in a reactive and vulnerable position, says Thirunagalingam. [W]hen done right, data governance is much more than a defense mechanism -- its an enabler of innovation and efficiency.Stephen Christiansen, principal security consultant at cybersecurity consulting firm Stratascale,says the shortage of data professionals, exploding data growth, and ever-increasing requirements for AI and data security are causing organizations to take a more conservative approach.Companies need to be continually investing in data technologies that help them manage, secure, and integrate data across their enterprise systems, says Christiansen in an email interview. Internally, companies need to [build] a data-driven culture, so employees better understand the importance of data governance and how it benefits them.David Curtis, chief technology officer at global fintech RobobAI, says the average amount of data is growing 63% monthly. The speed and velocity of this growth is overwhelming, and companies are struggling to manage the storage, protection, quality, and consistency of this data.Data is often collected in multiple different ERPs across an organization. This often means that data is disparate in format and incomplete. Eighty percent of companies estimate that 50% to 90% of their data is unstructured, says Curtis in an email interview. Unstructured data creates challenges for large organizations due to its lack of standardization, making it difficult to store, analyze, and extract actionable insights, while increasing costs, compliance risks and inefficiencies.Companies need to start with a data governance strategy. As part of that, they need to review relevant business goals, define data ownership, identify reference data sources, and align the data governance strategy KPIs. For ongoing success, they need to establish an iterative process of continuous improvement by developing data processes and committing to a master data governance framework.For every dollar you invest in AI you should invest five dollars in data quality. In my experience, the most common data challenges are due to a lack of clear objectives and measurable success metrics around master data management initiatives, says Curtis. Often insufficient or poor-quality data, often at scale, and limited integration with existing systems and workflows, prevents scalability and real-world application. Evolving regulations are also adding fuel to the fire.Organizations are continually challenged with complying with the constant stream of regulations from various jurisdictions, such as GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA. These regulations keep evolving, and just when IT leaders think theyve addressed one set of compliance requirements, a new one emerges with slight nuances, necessitating continuous adjustments to data governance programs, says Kurt Manske, information assurance andcybersecurity leader at professional services firm Cherry Bekaert. The reality is that companies cant simply pause their operations to align with these ever-changing regulations. Consequently, developing, deploying and managing a data governance program and system is a lot like changing tires on the car as it goes down the highway. [Its] an undeniably daunting task.This underscores the need to establish a resilient culture versus a reactive one.Leading companies see regulatory compliance as a differentiator for their brand and products, says Manske in an email interview. [One] key reason data governance programs and system deployment projects fail is that organizations try to take on too much at once. Big bang deployment strategies sound impressive but they often encounter numerous technical and cultural problems when put into practice. Instead, a metered or scaled deployment approach across the enterprise allows the team, vendor and governance leadership to continuously evaluate, correct and improve.The Sobering TruthOrganizations that lack strong governance are drowning in data, unable to harness its value, and leaving themselves vulnerable to growing cyber threats. According to Klaus Jck, partner at management consulting firm Horvth USA, incidents like the recent CrowdStrike breach are stark reminders of whats at stake. Data quality issues, silos, unclear ownership and a lack of standardization are just the tip of the iceberg.Klaus Jck, Horvth USAThe root cause of these struggles is simple: Data is everywhere. Thanks to new sensor technologies, process mining and advanced supervisory systems, data is produced at every step of every business process, says Jck in an email interview. The drive to monetize this data has only accelerated its growth. Unfortunately, many organizations are simply not equipped to manage this deluge.A truly effective strategy must go beyond policies and frameworks; it must include clear metrics to measure how data is used and how much value it creates. Assigning ownership is also key -- data stewards can help create a control environment sensitive to the nuances of modern data sources, including unstructured data.Failing to connect governance to business goals or neglecting executive sponsorship are major mistakes, says Jck. Poor communication and training also derail efforts. If employees dont understand governance policies or dont see their value, progress will stall. Similarly, treating governance as a one-time project rather than an ongoing process ensures failure.Dimitri Sirota, CEO and co-founder at security, privacy, compliance, and AI data management company BigID, says the root cause of data governance challenges often stem from poor data quality and insufficient governance frameworks.Inconsistent data collection practices, lack of standardized formats for key data elements such as dates and numeric values, and failure to monitor data quality over time exacerbate the problem, says Sirota in an email interview. Additionally, organizational silos and outdated systems can perpetuate inconsistencies, as different teams may define or manage data differently. Without a rigorous framework to identify, fix and monitor data issues, organizations face an uphill battle in maintaining reliable, high-quality data.Ultimately, the absence of a centralized governance strategy makes it difficult to enforce standards, creating noise and clutter in data environments.Marc Rubbinaccio, head of compliance at security compliance provider Secureframe, points to a related issue, which is understanding where sensitive data resides and how it flows within organizations.[T]he rush to adopt and implement AI within organizations and software products has introduced new risks, says Rubbinaccio in an email interview. While the efficiency gains from AI are widely recognized, the vulnerabilities it may introduce often go unaddressed due to a lack of thorough risk evaluation. Many organizations are bypassing detailed AI risk assessments in their eagerness to stay ahead, potentially exposing themselves to long-term consequences.About the AuthorLisa MorganFreelance WriterLisa Morgan is a freelance writer who covers business and IT strategy and emergingtechnology for InformationWeek. She has contributed articles, reports, and other types of content to many technology, business, and mainstream publications and sites including tech pubs, The Washington Post and The Economist Intelligence Unit. Frequent areas of coverage include AI, analytics, cloud, cybersecurity, mobility, software development, and emerging cultural issues affecting the C-suite.See more from Lisa MorganNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also LikeWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore Reports

Ganesh Seetharaman, Managing Director, Deloitte ConsultingDecember 20, 20244 Min ReadValentin Valkov via Alamy StockDuring peak times like holiday periods, retailers, consumer goods companies, insurance firms, and others involved in seasonal crunch-time sectors face a delicate balance between opportunity and risk. Seasonal spikes can be a stringent test for executives, revealing the strength of their business and operational resilience. To understand why, just think back to recent incidents with organizations that may have experienced mass website outages due to holiday spikes or that suffered prolonged log-in issues.Indeed, downtime during peak periods can result in financial impacts measured in millions of dollars per hour, so its clear that the user experience is paramount. Even minor issues can lead to significant consequences, including customer churn, wasted ad spending, and long-term brand damage. The takeaway? Failure when the world is watching can have cascading effects, and a track-record of 99.99% uptime is insufficient if the 0.01% downtime occurs at critical moments. With that in mind, lets explore a strategic approach to building game-ready resilience.Game-ready resilience means that your systems can manage adversity -- from ecosystem impacts, including third-party services -- to unprecedented traffic peaks. Most importantly, it also means creating a culture of reliability with constant learning and cross-functional teams that understand the business impacts of downtime and can respond effectively to outages.Related:To enhance business and operational resilience during the holidays, tech leaders should focus on four key areas.1. Forecast and define measurable requirements.Start enhancing resilience by developing a reliable forecast of expected transaction volumes and user behavior. Seek to understand normal traffic patterns as well as how spikes in traffic might affect your systems during peak periods. Prioritize critical services; for example, with an e-commerce platform, the checkout process should take precedence over less-essential features like recommendation engines.Use service level objectives (SLOs) to define availability expectations and measure them. For instance, aim for 99.99% shopping-cart availability -- which you can foster by forecasting transaction volumes across all channels. Then, translate those forecasts into performance requirements like the ability to accommodate a specific number of concurrent users while meeting reliability expectations. It's also crucial to identify potential architectural bottlenecks and failure points.2. Map dependencies and mitigate risks.Related:Modern retail ecosystems are complex webs of internal systems and third-party services. To identify vulnerabilities and mitigate risk, create a comprehensive map of all dependencies. Then, assess the services scalability and reliability, and develop failure contingency plans that include circuit breakers and fallback options.In addition to infrastructure, focus on key business and foundational services, especially in hybrid and multi-cloud environments. Next, to build agility and minimize recovery time, develop a clear view of all dependency layers and build fault tolerance. An example of dependency management could look like an e-commerce organization simplifying its shipping infrastructure to achieve more efficient package delivery.3. Implement robust reliability checks.Establish clear, measurable reliability objectives aligned with business outcomes. For example, you might set granular targets, such as sub-2-millisecond log-in times. Such metrics create a common language across development, operations, and business teams, fostering a unified approach to reliability. Also, to ensure build stability, avoid last minute changes, and implement rigorous process controls for continuous validation.Related:Integrate SLOs and synthetic monitoring into your operational framework. Develop real-time observability solutions that provide actionable insights and rapid response capabilities. Implement observability to balance innovation and stability during peak loads and align technical metrics with indicators like net promoter scores. Also, adopt site reliability engineering to translate technical metrics directly into customer experience.4. Develop and refine incident-response procedures.Swift and effective responses to system challenges can prevent minor issues from becoming major crises. So, its essential to develop incident response procedures that include comprehensive system dependency maps that create communication channels, action plans, and escalation pathways that help minimize confusion. Automatic failure notifications are a must as well, as are self-healing approaches to incidents and solutions driven by error budgets and burn rates.Next, ensure organizational readiness through training, communication protocols, and regular response drills. Implement proactive monitoring systems to detect and address issues early. Also, learning from high-profile incidents underscores the importance of transparent, timely communication during disruptions.The Path ForwardBuilding resilience requires both a cultural and technical shift to align critical services with customer journeys, refine resilience policies, and adapt to changing demands. Practices like game day drills enhance readiness, reinforcing that resilience is an ongoing effort that requires continuous refinement, not a one-time project. True resilience requires a holistic approach that ensures people, processes, and technology work in sync to handle both surges and scale-downs effectively. By adopting the strategies weve discussed here, you can prepare your systems for peak times while building stronger, more resilient year-round operations.About the AuthorGanesh SeetharamanManaging Director, Deloitte ConsultingGanesh Seetharaman is a managing director at Deloitte Consulting LLP. He leads Deloittes Technology Resiliency market offering and is recognized for delivering innovative solutions for his clients, as well as for helping organizations navigate technology challenges and capitalize on market opportunities.See more from Ganesh SeetharamanNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also LikeWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore Reports

Who beat up Superman?Most of the first official trailer for James GunnsSuperman features a Man of Steel who is not looking to great. Hes bleeding. He doesnt look like he can even move. And he has to rely on his dog Krypto to rescue him.How Superman got in that condition is not made clear. The rest of the trailer shows DCs new Superman (David Corenswet) doing Superman things: Flying, saving people, romancing Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), encountering other DC super heroes like Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), Green Lantern Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), and Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi). And, of course, evil and bald Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) is watching all this happen from his evil villain skyscraper. (All good villains need a skyscraper.)Watch the first full trailer forSuperman below.READ MORE: Every DC Comics Movie, Ranked From Worst to BestIts pretty clear that no matter what else happens with this movie, Krypto is going to be a scene-stealing star. I am not shocked the guy who made Baby Groot thought it was a smart play to stick an adorable sidekick in his new superhero movie. Just look at this guy.Warner Bros.Warner Bros.loading...That dog is going to sell some tickets.Here is the newSupermans official synopsis:Superman, DC Studios first feature film to hit the big screen, is set to soar into theaters worldwide this summer from Warner Bros. Pictures. In his signature style, James Gunn takes on the original superhero in the newly imagined DC universe with a singular blend of epic action, humor and heart, delivering a Superman whos driven by compassion and an inherent belief in the goodness of humankind.James GunnsSuperman is scheduled to open in theaters on July 11.Get our free mobile app20 Comic Book Movies You Forgot ExistedThere have been so many movies based on comics in recent years, you might not even remember all of them (or most of them).Filed Under: James Gunn, Superman, Superman: LegacyCategories: Movie News, Trailers

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 next generation of neural networks could live in hardware Networks programmed directly into computer chip hardware can identify images faster, and use much less energy, than the traditional neural networks that underpin most modern AI systems. Thats according to work presented at a leading machine learning conference in Vancouver last week. Neural networks, from GPT-4 to Stable Diffusion, are built by wiring together perceptrons, which are highly simplified simulations of the neurons in our brains. In very large numbers, perceptrons are powerful, but they also consume enormous volumes of energy. Part of the trouble is that perceptrons are just software abstractionsrunning a perceptron network on a GPU requires translating that network into the language of hardware, which takes time and energy. Building a network directly from hardware components does away with a lot of those costs. And one day, they could even be built directly into chips used in smartphones and other devices. Read the full story. Grace Huckins Drugs like Ozempic now make up 5% of prescriptions in the US Whats new? US doctors write billions of prescriptions each year. During 2024, though, one type of drug stood outwonder drugs known as GLP-1 agonists. As of September, one of every 20 prescriptions written for adults was for one of these drugs, according to the health data company Truveta. The big picture: According to the data, people who get prescriptions for these drugs are younger, whiter, and more likely to be female. In fact, women are twice as likely as men to get a prescription. Yet not everyone whos prescribed the drugs ends up taking them. In fact, half the new prescriptions for obesity are going unfilled. Read the full story. Antonio Regalado Why childhood vaccines are a public health success story Childhood vaccination is a success story. In the 50 years since the World Health Organization launched its ambitious global childhood vaccination program, vaccines are estimated to have averted 154 million deaths. That number includes 146 million children under the age of five. But concerns around vaccines endure. Especially, it seems, among the individuals Donald Trump has picked as his choices to lead US health agencies from January. So lets take a look at their claims, and where the evidence really stands on childhood vaccines. Read the full story. Jessica Hamzelou This story is from The Checkup, our weekly health and biotech newsletter. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Thursday. The must-reads Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Elon Musk is the shadow president of the United States The billionaire pressured Republicans into impeding a spending bill, despite lacking an official government role. (WP $)+ He posted about the bill more than 100 times on Wednesday alone (NBC News)+ but those posts were generally misleading or outright false. (Rolling Stone $)+ Lawmakers arent thrilled about Musks interference. (NYT $)2 Amazon workers are striking during the Christmas rush The walkouts could delay the delivery of parcels across the US. (WSJ $)+ Amazon is refusing to recognize the workers labor union. (WP $)3 The US is growing increasingly wary of Nvidias overseas sales spree Officials worry the chipmakers deals could end up empowering its adversaries. (NYT $)+ US-based venture firms have pledged to avoid taking funding from China. (WP $)+ Custom chipmaker Broadcoms stock is surging right now. (Insider $)4 Dozens of families are suing Snap over teen overdoses They allege Snapchat helped dealers to sell deadly counterfeit drugs to their children. (Bloomberg $)5 Ukraines drone footage will be used to train AI models The country has collected 228 years worth of data during its conflict with Russia. (Reuters)+ An overnight drone attack set fire to a refinery in south Russia. (Bloomberg $)+ Meet the radio-obsessed civilian shaping Ukraines drone defense. (MIT Technology Review)6 Jailbreaking AI models can be as simple as TyPiNg LiKe ThIsAnd the methods are simple to automate, too. (404 Media) + Text-to-image AI models can be tricked into generating disturbing images. (MIT Technology Review) 7 Indias answer to Silicon Valley is under immense pressureBengalurus rapid expansion is pushing the citys infrastructure to the absolute limit. (Insider $) + Indias gig economy is focusing on 10-minute deliveries. (Bloomberg $)+ How Indian health-care workers use WhatsApp to save pregnant women. (MIT Technology Review)8 Whats next for AI gadgets?Consumers werent overly enamored with them in 2024. (Fast Company $) 9 The man who claimed to have created bitcoin has been sentenced Craig Wright has been given a one-year suspended sentence after refusing to stop suing developers. (The Guardian)+ Hell face jail if he continues claiming he really is the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto. (BBC)10 Online returns arent what they used to be Retailers are fed up, and so are customers. (The Atlantic $)Quote of the day You guys scared the life out of a lot of people. Geno, an Arizona resident, tells Amazon workers that their delivery drones are making his neighbors uneasy amid the drone panic gripping the US, the New York Times reports. The big story Bright LEDs could spell the end of dark skies August 2022 Scientists have known for years that light pollution is growing and can harm both humans and wildlife. In people, increased exposure to light at night disrupts sleep cycles and has been linked to cancer and cardiovascular disease, while wildlife suffers from interruption to their reproductive patterns, and increased danger. Astronomers, policymakers, and lighting professionals are all working to find ways to reduce light pollution. Many of them advocate installing light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, in outdoor fixtures such as city streetlights, mainly for their ability to direct light to a targeted area. But the high initial investment and durability of modern LEDs mean cities need to get the transition right the first time or potentially face decades of consequences. Read the full story. Shel Evergreen 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 skeet 'em at me.) + How the Black diaspora celebrates Christmas across the world, featuring Motown tunes and a tasty saltfish salad.+ We love you Pamela Anderson!+ Test your science knowledge with this fiendish quiz of the year.+ Lets look ahead to just some of the exciting films coming out next year, from Bridget Jones to the bonkers-sounding Mickey 17.

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Source: Studio WeaveInitial concept design, the pavilion resets the visitors relationship with the forecourt and landscapeThe British Museum has announced that Studio Weave, leading a multidisciplinary team including Wright & Wright Architects, Webb Yates Engineers, Tom Massey Studio, and Daisy Froud, has been selected to design new visitor welcome pavilions as part of its wider masterplan.The visitor welcome pavilions are intended to improve the experience of visitors arriving via the museums forecourt on Great Russell Street and from Montague Place. The pavilions, which will incorporate soft landscaping, are expected to be complete by spring 2026, subject to planning approvals.Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the British Museum, commented: As the most visited building in the UK, and one of the top three most visited museums in the world, first impressions count. With the visitor welcome pavilions were striving to create the most inspiring greeting possible for the 6.2 million people (and counting) from across the nation and around the world who come through our doors each year whether its their first visit or fifteenth, aged 5 or 95.Je Ahn, Founding Director of Studio Weave, stated: Our proposal aims to resolve complex issues on the site. The project will preserve the appearance of the historic Grade I listed buildings, address the changing climate, and look forward to the future of the institution. It will also introduce new soft landscaping and plants, dotted with engaging installations encouraging curiosity and becoming a memorable highlight of every visit.> Also read:British Museum names finalists in competition to create new entrance experiencesThe visitor welcome pavilions form part of the British Museums broader masterplan, a long-term programme intended to address the museums infrastructure and visitor experience challenges while modernising its facilities. This includes a major overhaul of the Western Range, which holds one-third of the Museums gallery space, along with significant back-of-house areas. The complex, comprising buildings from the 1850s alongside later additions, requires upgrades to meet modern performance standards, with consideration for its significant heritage fabric.The competition to select the lead architect for the Western Range project is ongoing, with submissions from five shortlisted teams 6a architects, David Chipperfield Architects, Eric Parry Architects and Jamie Fobert Architects, Lina Ghotmeh Architecture, and OMA currently on public display in the museums reading room.Alex Surguladze, Head of Design Management at the British Museum, explained: The British Museum has embarked upon the largest redevelopment in its near 300-year history, and the success of such an ambitious project is dependent upon the support of our neighbours and the wider public.As part of its masterplan, the museum is also progressing other key projects, including the recently completed British Museum Archaeological Research Collection facility in Reading and the construction of a new Energy Centre at its Camden site. The Energy Centre is intended to phase out fossil fuel use and align with the museums decarbonisation targets.

A fully funded one-year pilot programme aims to address systemic inequities in the built environment sector by supporting under-represented SMEs through mentorship, business development, and practical learning opportunitiesSource: Patrick DempseyNeil Shasore and Dian Small, London School of ArchitectureThe London School of Architecture (LSA), in partnership with the Greater London Authority (GLA) and The Crown Estate, has announced the launch of Good Growth in Practice, a fully funded one-year pilot programme designed to support under-represented small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) practice owners in the built environment sector.The programme seeks to address systemic inequities within the industry, focusing on practice owners from groups that have historically faced barriers to accessing public and private sector work. Eight London-based practices will be selected for the initiative, which aims to equip participants with tailored upskilling and mentorship opportunities.Good Growth in Practice is intended to enhance diversity among SMEs involved in public procurement and other opportunities within the built environment. The programme will focus on practicesthat have been operating for five to ten years and seek to provide them with tools to navigate the challenges associated with this critical phase of development.The programme is led by Dian Small, former director of RIBA London and a long-standing advocate for inclusivity and sustainability within the built environment.Our aim is to cultivate an ecosystem where under-represented practices can flourish, said Small. We will provide tailored knowledge, support and targeted opportunities to empower these firms. By the end of the programme, they wont just have learned about good growth theyll have practised it, embodied it, and be poised to drive it forward in the industry.Applications for the programme are open until 31 January 2025, with the 12-month programme set to commence in spring 2025.The initiative builds on the Mayor of Londons Good Growth by Design programme, which aims to ensure growth across the city is inclusive, environmentally sustainable, and beneficial to all communities. According to the LSA, Good Growth in Practice seeks to deliver on commitments outlined in the Mayors Good Growth by Design Forward Plan (2022) by providing targeted support to under-represented practices.Good growth is defined as development that is inclusive, sustainable, and sensitive to local communities. Jules Pipe CBE, deputy mayor for planning, regeneration, and skills, highlighted the need for greater representation across the built environment sector.A built environment sector that is representative of Londons diversity is needed to support Good Growth growth that is socially and economically inclusive, accessible, environmentally sustainable and contextual to local places and communities, said Pipe.> Also read:Beyond the Box: delivering real social value in the built environment> Also read:Why building inclusion should be seen as a professional obligationParticipants will engage with three main components of the programme: masterclasses focused on developing practical business and project management skills; a mentorship scheme connecting them with industry experts, clients, and service providers; and a self-directed project that applies these learnings in real-world scenarios with structured support.Recent data from the ARB shows that only 12% of architects in London identify as Black, Asian, or minority ethnic (BAME), compared to 38% of the citys working-age population. Disability representation is similarly low, with only 1% of architects identifying as disabled, compared to 18% of the wider population.The LSA describes Good Growth in Practice as a programme that aims to bridge these gaps by providing established under-represented practices with the tools to succeed in public and private sector procurement frameworks.Clare Harrison, development director at The Crown Estate, emphasised the importance of fostering diversity across the sector.Good Growth in Practice will provide an environment for progress across the sector fostering more diversity to overcome the challenges we collectively face, said Harrison.PostscriptFor further details on the programme and application requirements, visit the London School of Architecture website.

The practice, which has worked on several projects for The Crown Estate since participating In the AJs Office for the Future competition In 2016, aimed to transform its existing commercial property through the creation of flexible and healthy office spaces to support greater collaboration between occupants.This thinking was applied to 12 Little Portland Street, a Grade II-listed office building dating from the 1920s, close to Oxford Circus and Broadcasting House.Threefold based its overall approach to the project on four principles: minimising waste through auditing, preserving and re-use; restoring heritage; future-proofing fabric; and creating workspaces that promote wellbeing.AdvertisementGiven the desire to move away from the model of large, single occupiers in the post-pandemic working environment, the remodelled building now provides smaller, more flexible and fully accessible spaces to attract a diverse occupancy mix and support hybrid working.The buildings fabric and services have been significantly upgraded to improve energy performance and address the circular economy, according to the practice, with extensive use of natural and reclaimed materials. Threefolds interventions aimed to celebrate the grandeur of the existing building, including restoring the faade. Internally, the generous proportions of each space have been maximised, window reveals have been enhanced and period features refurbished and echoed by new design elements, while planting and colour add visual interest.A new BMS provides fully upgraded mechanical and electrical services throughout the building, while heating and cooling are served via a high-efficiency recovery condenser.Existing raised access floors were removed and reused in other projects while existing primary and secondary glazing was fully reused on site.The roof now features a new terrace for outdoor events plus extensive all year-round foliage in line with the Wild West End greening strategy to encourage biodiversity and improve air quality. Bee blocks and bird and bat boxes have also been incorporated into the external walls to support urban wildlife.AdvertisementArchitects viewThe 12 Little Portland Street project presented a fantastic opportunity to work with The Crown Estate to revitalise a heritage building and, in doing so; create a series of modern workspaces that promote health, happiness and wellbeing.This project celebrates heritage, promotes decarbonisation, enhances biodiversity and demonstrates how through sensitive and innovative design, existing buildings can be adapted to have bright and flexible futures.Jack Hosea, founding director, Threefold ArchitectsProject dataStart on site November 2022CompletionNovember 2024Gross internal floor area 2,484m2Form of contractDesign and BuildConstruction cost 6.1 millionConstruction cost per m2 2,451Architect Threefold ArchitectsExecutive architect Gravity DesignClient The Crown EstateStructural engineer Heyne Tillet SteelM&E consultant Watkins PayneQS QuantemAcoustic consultant Hann Tucker AssociatesProject manager Dendy ByrneCDM co-ordinator TFT consultantsApproved building inspector Assent BCMain contractor Artemis interior ServicesCAD software used VectorworksEnvironmental performance dataPercentage of floor area with daylight factor >2% Not availablePercentage of floor area with daylight factor >5% Not availableOn-site energy generation NilAnnual mains water consumption 5.28 m3/occupantAirtightness at 50Pa Not availableHeating and hot water load 28.86 kWh/m2/yrOverall area-weighted U-value Not availableDesign life 15 years (services only)Embodied carbon 199.35 kgCO2eq/m2Whole-life carbon 585.06 kgCO2eq/m2Annual CO2 emissions 23.9 kgCO2eq/m2