The United States has imposed sanctions on two groups linked to Iranian and Russian efforts to target American voters with disinformation ahead of this year's election.Treasury officials announced the sanctions Tuesday, alleging that the two organizations sought to stoke divisions among Americans before November's vote.US intelligence has accused both governments of spreading disinformation , including fake videos, news stories and social media posts, designed to manipulate voters and undermine trust in US elections.'The governments of Iran and Russia have targeted our election processes and institutions and sought to divide the American people through targeted disinformation campaigns,' Bradley T. Smith, Treasury's acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.Authorities said the Russian group, the Moscow-based Centre for Geopolitical Expertise, oversaw the creation, financing and dissemination of disinformation about American candidates, including deepfake videos created using artificial intelligence .In addition to the group itself, the new sanctions apply to its director, who authorities say worked closely with Russian military intelligence agents also overseeing cyberattacks and sabotage against the West.Authorities say the centre used AI to quickly manufacture fake videos about American candidates created scores of fake news websites designed to look legitimate and even paid US web companies to create pro-Russian content.The Iranian group, the Cognitive Design Production Centre, is a subsidiary of Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, U.S. officials said, which the United States has designated a foreign terrorist organisation. Officials say the centre worked since at least 2023 to incite political tensions in the United States.US intelligence agencies have blamed the Iranian government for seeking to encourage protests in the US over Israels war against Hamas in Gaza. Iran also has been accused of hacking into the accounts of several top current and former officials, including senior members of Donald Trumps campaign.In the months ahead of the election, US intelligence officials said Russia, Iran and China all sought to undermine confidence in US democracy. They also concluded that Russia sought to prop up the ultimate victor Trump, who has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, suggested cutting funds to Ukraine and repeatedly criticised the NATO military alliance.Iran, meanwhile, sought to oppose Trump's candidacy, officials said. The president-elect's first administration ended a nuclear deal with Iran,reimposed sanctions and ordered the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, an act prompting Irans leaders to vow revenge.Russian and Iranian officials have rejected claims that they sought to influence the outcome of the 2024 election. 'Russia has not and does not interfere with the internal affairs of other countries,' a spokesperson for Russia's embassy in Washington wrote in an email Tuesday.

Image: Nintendo LifeOver the holiday season, we're republishing some of the best articles from Nintendo Life writers and contributors as part of our Best of 2024 series. This article was originally published in September. Enjoy!For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, summer has come to an end. Fortunately, through the magic of video games and the video games created by one man in particular it's never too late to take a little summer holiday...With the recent English-language release of Spike Chunsofts open-world summer simulator, Natsu-Mon, coming hot on the heels of 2022s Shin-chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation, and the upcoming Shin-chan: Shiro and the Coal Town, the time seemed right to sit down with Natsu-Mon director, game designer, and writer, Kaz Ayabe. We discuss the hard-earned breakthrough in the West of the cosy game genre he helped establish in Japan with his long-running series Boku No Natsuyasumi colloquially known as Bokunatsu made popular on PlayStation, PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation 3.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube790kWatch on YouTube Over the course of two days and nearly six hours of conversation, Ayabe-san graced my wife and interpreter, Joy, and me with engaging, enthusiastic, and frequently hilarious conversation in which he discussed his current projects like Natsu-Mon and Shin-chan, as well as past efforts such as Attack of the Friday Monsters! and, of course, the Boku No Natsuyasumi series. Other topics that surfaced during our in-depth chat were his love of electronic music, his Tokyo curry restaurant, and preserving the fleeting magic of childhood through the interactive art form of video games.As we conducted the interview online, we made our introductions to Ayabe-san over Zoom, introduced our very Boku-esque 10-year-old son to him on-screen, and got to know each other a bit before jumping right into the conversation. As such, the contents of our workspace were visible to him, and so begins perhaps the most comprehensive overview of Kaz Ayabes works (in English) ever documented.Kaz Ayabe: [Noticing our Bluetooth speaker] Oh, the small speaker on the floor is the same as mine. The wooden portable speaker.Nintendo Life (James Mielke): The [House of Marley] Bag of Riddim? Oh it has such good sound, doesnt it? Speaking of music, is it true you really like electronic music a lot?Image: Kaz AyabeKA: That's right. Yes.NL: Who are your favourite musicians?KA: Well, I listen to a lot of music, so it might be hard to say who they are. I was born in 1965. In my generation, the Yellow Magic Orchestra was prolific during our middle school and high school years. That's where it started. We all grew up listening to YMO.NL: I discovered YMOwell, I always knew about YMObut I really got into YMO through [the late WARP founder and game developer] Kenji Eno. Because he was a YMO maniac. Every time I would visit the FYTO [formerly WARP] Studio in Ebisu, we would basically drink and listen to YMO. Wed listen to every YMO spinoff, like Human Audio Sponge, HAS/YMO, and the bands individual solo projects. It was always a YMO marathon whenever I visited him.The only time I was able to see YMO in concert was after the 3/11 disaster in Japan, and YMO held a No Nukes concert in 2012 at Makuhari Messe [Interviewers note: The location of Tokyo Game Show] with Kraftwerk headlining.KA: I went to see that concert at Makuhari Messe!NL: Wow, we were there together 12 years ago.KA: Yeah.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube790kNL: So I want to speak to you about your body of work, but more from your perspective and approach as a creator and less specifically about the individual games themselves, because my former colleague, Ray Barnholt, already did such a fantastic job with that with his own magazine. Id basically like to pick up where he left off, so for Natsu-Mon, how did this project come to life?Were you inspired after, for example, the Shin-chan games did you have some kind of momentum, and think, I'd like to do more of this, but with something new and an original IP? Or was it Spike Chunsoft who reached out to you and said, Hey, Ayabe-san, would you be interested in making a new series for us? How did it all come about?KA: [Natsu-Mon developer] Toybox approached me first. Toybox is a company created by [Harvest Moon creator, Yasuhiro] Wada-san and they make the Bokujo [Harvest Moon] series. They basically said, If youre interested in making a summer vacation game on Switch, we can help find funding for the development costs.So, it was decided from the beginning the hardware would be Nintendo Switch, and since the budget was quite large, I decided to make an open-world game instead of a 2D game. That's how it started. The publisher, Spike Chunsoft, came on board later. We had the developer first and then the publisher joined later.Images: Spike ChunsoftNL: Natsu-Mon is interesting to me because the development team, Toybox, has made a lot of games in the past, but nothing quite like this game. One of the games that my 10-year-old son and I played the most of this past year has been Tears of the Kingdom. In regards to the open world, it really reminds me of Tears of the Kingdom. It really kind of expands the feel of your summer games concept, because you're not restricted to preset camera angles as with Bokunatsu or Shin-chan. You can run everywhere. If you see it, you can run there, or you can climb it. Of course, the vibrant colours really remind you of Japanese summer, too.KA: Thank you very much. Originally, when I made my first game in 2000, there was no word for open world at the time. But I wanted to make a game like this one. I wanted to make a world where everything was made in 3D. But at the time, we didnt have the technology. So I used 2D anime backgrounds to make my summer series.For Natsu-Mon, we had the technology to bring my vision to life. I also had fun playing Zelda: Breath of the Wild [when it was released]. So when I decided to make an open-world game, I was inspired by Breath of the Wild. In Japan, it's the most popular game. So I thought that if I made it like that, everyone would be able to play it.I've been thinking about making a game like this for the past 20 years, and I think I finally achieved that goal.NL: So people playing Natsu-Mon should just be able to jump right in and start to get going. I felt the same way. It is a very comfortable game. Of course it doesn't have crafting systems or anything; Natsu-Mon keeps things simple. You didn't give into the temptation to overload the game with too many systems. For example, I like the fact that the fishing is very simple, whereas in other games it can get very convoluted with timing meters and things like that. Is keeping it simple a game design philosophy of yours?Image: Spike ChunsoftKA: There are three reasons. First of all, considering the current trends in Zelda I thought I could make a lot of things but to be honest I didn't have that much budget [...] but another thing I used as a reference was an indie game called A Short Hike. A Short Hike is similar to Zelda in that if you get more hearts you can climb higher walls. Fundamentally, Zelda and A Short Hike are the main inspirations for [Natsu-Mon], with Bokunatsu aesthetics on top. I believe that Bokunatsu is pretty well refined, so I didnt want to make it any more complex than the Boku series. So it was my intentional decision not to make the gameplay any more complex than what you see in my prior games and thats why you dont see any craft elements in Natsu-Mon.Fundamentally, Zelda and A Short Hike are the main inspirations for [Natsu-Mon], with Bokunatsu aesthetics on top.The other thing is that I presumed that Nintendo would be releasing new hardware soon and we would miss our opportunity to release the game on the current system if we didn't release the Japanese version last summer. So we developed the game in a year and a half, which is quite short, but we had a relatively large team and these factors came into play for the underlying reason for a lot of the design decisions.Players who are not familiar with the Boku series might not be familiar with the insect collection feature. In the insect collection, there's a mode where you can see the insects up close with poem-like texts about the insect and detailed explanation of the insects. After the Japanese release, we spent a year to update this feature version which we put in the English version.Combined with the development for the Japanese release and the extra year before the English release, we spent two and a half years for the English version. Once the Japanese version was released we evaluated areas of improvement, like making it easier to control and speeding up the tempo in certain areas, and adding fortune-telling for the English release.NL: Are those improvements that were created for the English version patched back into the Japanese version?KA: Yeah there was a patch in June for the Japanese version.Image: Spike ChunsoftNL: It's interesting, because historically you've taken a lot of opportunities to create a director's cut. The first Bokunatsu on PS1 you ported the game to PSP and that version incorporated a lot of upgrades and fixes and improvements over the original release. You're always improving your games. Do you consider the US version of Natsu-Mon the director's cut?KA: Yes. We were originally working on this as the director's cut, although its not officially released as a 'Directors Cut' in the title. The development of the Japanese version took a lot of time and pressure to make. After the Japanese version was released, parts that we decided that we wanted to do another way were changed for the English version.NL: Since Spike Chunsoft is an international publisher they usually release their games internationally was Natsu-Mon always planned as a Western release in addition to the original Japanese release?KA: Yes, that's right. Initially, we didn't know when it would be released. But we had already decided to make an English version and release it on Steam.NL: So how does that compare to Bokunatsu 24 years ago? How does your design process change, if at all, when you know that you're developing a game for a global audience rather than a Japan-specific audience?KA: Actually, the first Bokunatsu initially had a global release planned. Consequently, it wasn't released overseas due to various market circumstances. I like old movies and watch them a lot. I find that especially old Japanese movies that have a high rating don't pay much attention to foreign audiences. I think that's the strength of Japanese movies and has a more international appeal. So when making Natsu-Mon, we were conscious of selling overseas, but not too much.I thought it would be okay if we made something that we thought was interesting. Rather, we made it with the idea that if we made something interesting as Japanese people, it would be more interesting for the overseas audience. Of course, I thought it would be a problem if there was no hook at all. So we decided to set the game in 1999 as a nostalgic year that people all over the world can relate [to].NL: Turn of the century 2K timing.KA: Yes, that's right. I felt that the adults around the world can kind of think back and feel nostalgic for 1999.Images: Spike ChunsoftNL: While the kids should be attracted just to the colourful and simple designs and ease of gameplay. I'm a big fan of movies too. I watch a lot of Japanese and foreign movies, and Godzilla Minus One is a very Japanese movie that has received a lot of international acclaim. It has a lot of relatable things in common for a global audience. There's a lot of human drama in it. Like you said, as it's more Japanese-centric than internationally-focused, its probably why it's very popular in the West.KA: In my case, when I'm making a game and I don't know which direction to choose, I tend to choose the wilder one. For example, if a developer has three choices, they usually just choose one, right? But this time, I decided to include all three choices.by adding a little bit of selfishness from the game developers, I thought it would leave a lasting impression on the gameplayUsually if I did that, maybe the player would get irritated, but I thought it was okay because it gave the game originality. I felt that I was showing my unique personality by choosing the wilder option of providing the player with more choices than limiting the options to one. My creative decisions were based on my personal preferences and not on trying to please the overseas markets. There are decisions that were made with the overseas market in mind. For example, I tried to make the insect collection set a little more luxurious and interesting, but for the most part, I didn't want to make it for people overseas.NL: Can you give us an example of how this manifested in the game?KA: When you're introduced to Kyoko's character at the very beginning, there are three different introductions that the player can chose from. Usually, there would just be one response from Kyoko. I decided to leave in all three phrases and the player can go back and listen to her different introductions. That's one example where we left all three lines in the game instead of just simplifying it. One reason for it is that we happened to come up with three good answers. [laughs]If every conversation was like that, there would be a problem. But by adding a little bit of selfishness from the game developers, I thought it would leave a lasting impression on the gameplay.NL: I noticed that. Usually when you deal with NPCs in games, you get one static line of dialogue, and it's almost a clich. But I noticed that the conversational paths with each character at least generate a couple different responses each time, which I thought was very refreshing.Speaking of Kyoko, one of the fun things to see every day is the different dishes that she prepares. It's always a very interesting selection, and it reminds me actually of Japan, because every day it veers wildly what we're going to have for dinner. Does that come from your own personal interest in delicious food, or your curry restaurant?Image: Spike ChunsoftKA: When I first started making Bokunatsu 24 years ago, the food in games generally looked terrible. I figured we could do better to illustrate food in our games. That was the starting point.NL: Between your work that helped establish the cosy game genre, and your focus on making sure that food looks delicious in games, it seems like it would be a very natural thing for you to develop a cooking-themed game. Have you ever considered this?KA: Let's see... In the '80s or '90s, there was a game called Dungeon Master. Im not sure if thats the English title [Interviewer's note: It is]. That was a game that had delicious-looking meat in it. I thought it would be interesting to make something like that in my games, as well.NL: It's interesting that Toybox approached you about making a summer game. There's something really wholesome about how they reached out to you specifically about this. Because when you think of summer game, you think of Ayabe Kaz, right? I wonder, would they have been able to make Natsu-Mon without you?KA: I think it's better that they asked me to make it. [laughs] A great vacation, or Natsu much?NL: In the Bokunatsu days, we didnt have things like Twitter and Reddit, so it was difficult to take feedback from the public and implement improvements until you actually created a sequel. But nowadays, since you can patch things in, of course the internet gives you direct feedback on Twitter or other channels. Has there been any feedback about Natsu-Mon in particular that you've taken to heart and are considering for the future?KA: Yes, especially after the English version came out, first of all, compared to people in the English-speaking countries of America, England, and Australia, there has been a lot more feedback from people in Europe, from people outside of English-speaking countries, and I think that was interesting.I've forgotten the details, but there was someone who wrote that it was a game that made me feel warm, like I was enclosed in a blanket, and that made me really happy. Also, the feedback from people in Japan was interesting. There were a lot of people who said they thought it was another Bokunatsu game, but it turned out to be 'Natsu-Mon of the Wild.' In varying degrees and different ways, but basically it was a more rambunctious game than they expected. As a creator, I made it to be a pretty wild game, so I'm really happy about that.Images: Spike ChunsoftNL: Personally, when I'm playing, even though your games are very low-pressure, and you can play however you want to, I feel like even though I've got this list of things to do, like climb these towers, find rare fish, find rare bugs, my personal struggle with the game is prioritising what to do because it's so open-ended. I'm not exactly sure where to go or what to do in what order, and sometimes when I forget about a daily routine, like doing my morning exercises, I get really OCD about it and I'm like, 'Damn it, now Im missing a stamp in my stamp collection.' So I'll get mad at myself.KA: Well, for example, you can purchase a chestnut gun a toy gun that shoots chestnuts that you collect from under chestnut trees and use it to catch bugs. At first, I thought everyone would use the chestnut gun to catch bugs but weve found that players have preferences and it wasnt always the case.We also found that many times, even when the mission is clear, players will find themselves distracted on their way to completing the mission and start doing something else. But that's actually exactly what we wanted and it's intentionally in the game because that's kind of what summer vacation is. Kids going off to do random stuff without a particular mission in mind.NL: My 10-year-old son is someone who gets easily distracted like this. So basically, the game makes me a 10-year-old boy again. But is learning these things conducive to replaying the game? Because basically, while I appreciate revisiting the 10-year-old in me, the adult gamer in me wants to min-max the perfect summer. So I want to get everything, I want to achieve everything. I want to get all the stamina medals and climb all the towers and I don't want the summer to end having missed out on anything, even though that seems like it's the point.KA: I personally don't like to complete games or, you know, min-max or 100% the game. Of course, when I'm making my own game and when we're testing bugs and stuff, I'll complete it and 100% the game. But when I'm playing for my own enjoyment, I don't like to do that, so maybe I'm not really ... maybe I'm still kind of like a child. I don't have the need as an adult to complete things.NL: On that note, when you're designing a game one of these summer games do you put so much into the game that it's not really possible, based on the time limit, to actually complete everything in the summer?KA: I mean, it's possible, it's actually possible, but I don't put it in there as a goal. I know that there are people who like to complete a game, so we have designed it so that it's possible to complete it, but obviously that's not the purpose of it, and I want people to play it in the way that they find it enjoyable, but I do think that maybe I added a little too many bugs in the game. [laughs]Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube790kNL: I know that the game just came out in the West so its a little too soon to tell how well its doing here, but how has the game done in Japan so far?KA: The Japanese version was [released] at the end of last summer, and its sold just over 100,000 copies which isn't bad, but I was hoping it would sell a little bit more, so I mean it's not bad but it wasn't great.NL: Do you think the awareness among the Bokunatsu crowd is high enough and do they recognise that this is sort of like a spiritual successor to the Bokunatsu series?KA: Well, the title is different so people thought it was a different game at first. But when they actually played it, they quickly realised the rules were the same. I was the one who designed the map and wrote the text. So I think the essence is pretty much the same. I imagine the players assumed it might be different at first, but when they played it I think they recognised similarities to the Bokunatsu series.By the way, as a creator, the era has changed, the character designs have changed, and the 2D has become 3D. So even though the way it looks has changed, I'm making it as if it's a Bokunatsu game. So it's not officially a Bokunatsu series, but as a creator, I'm making it as if it's a Bokunatsu title and I think players can consider it to be the next successor in the series, or Bokunatsu 5.I think players can consider [Natsu-Mon] to be the next successor in the series, or Bokunatsu 5'NL: On that note, I haven't started a New Game+ yet, but is Natsu-Mon set up so that there's a reason to go through a second time? Like, if you didn't get all the exercise stamps on your stamp card.KA: There are a few things One, you can transfer everything that you collect from the first game when you start over. You can play the things you already have over and over again. That gives you an advantage when you're replaying it. It gives you a different experience. The basic storyline is the same, but it's impossible to experience everything in one go. So if you play it two or three times, especially if you go to places you haven't been to before and during a time of day that you havent before, I think you can experience a lot of new things.And one more thing. Before the game was released in Japan, we gathered people from the Japanese game media and we all went to Niigata on the Shinkansen from Tokyo to do an overnight press tour. We took everyone to see a real live circus together as part of the media PR event. Part of the PR event was an opportunity to play the game. And there was a moment when the eyes of the people from the media really glowed with awe. It was the same moment where even I got lost in the game, as well, while making the game.There are a lot of rocky mountains in the sea. It was really fun to start climbing this steep rocky mountain. There are items to collect at the rocky top, naturally. But, the key thing is that its not something that you might usually think to do. I encourage players to push the boundaries on where and what you think you can do and collect in the game. I think thats the key to fully enjoying the game.Images: Spike ChunsoftNL: I really wanted to play through the DLC before this interview, but I didn't have enough time, so I'm really looking forward to it because I know that you get a glider, similar to Tears of the Kingdom. It should be fun seeing how different the DLC is from the base game. Before we move on to other topics, I want to ask if you have any visibility on whether or not Natsu-Mon could turn into a new franchise.KA: So while it hasn't been a super bestseller, I personally would like to see it become a series, but we haven't... it hasn't come to that yet.NL: OK. So now we'll work backwards a little bit. We'll touch upon the Shin-chan series, and Attack of the Friday Monsters, and then we'll talk about Bokunatsu at the end...Page :1234Next Related GamesSee AlsoShare:04 James is a veteran games journalist, co-founder and designer at Tigertron, and co-founder and creative director for BitSummit, Japan's premier indie gamedev festival. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related ArticlesBest Nintendo Switch Games Of 2024The finest Switch games of 2024Feature: 15 Best-Looking Switch Games Of 2024Hello, my prettiesFeature: The Best Hidden Gems And Underrated Switch Games Of 2024Some shinies that may have slipped through your fingersBest Of 2024: The Company You Can Pay To X-Ray Unopened Pokmon Card Packs Speaks Out"The technology is not going away, and people know what it can do"Feature: Nintendo Life's Alternative Game Awards 2024Biggest surprise! Most long-winded title! Crappiest Switch publisher!

It's a kinda magic (module).Despite some increasingly convincing leaks, we still don't actually know 100% what form Switch 2 is going to take.It's safe to assume at this point that it will retain the same basic form factor as the original Switch a tablet-like console with detachable controllers but a recent announcement from Chinese firm AYANEO has us secretly wishing that Nintendo might think outside the box with some aspects of its new machine.Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Dive into Framestores showreel, showcasing their innovative work on blockbuster films like Deadpool & Wolverine, Civil War, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and Wicked. From captivating commercials to iconic visual effects, their artistry brings the extraordinary to life! Vincent Frei The Art of VFX 2025The post Framestore Showreel 2024 appeared first on The Art of VFX.

Tech Receiving unexpected international calls? What you need to know Understanding the risks and how to protect yourself from these scams Published January 1, 2025 8:00am EST close 'CyberGuy': Receiving unexpected international calls? What you need to know Beware scam calls: Avoid unknown numbers and protect your personal information. Tech expert Kurt Knutsson talks about the increasingly common scam. Receiving unexpected international calls can be a source of anxiety for many individuals. Whether its a single ring from an unknown number or multiple missed calls from abroad, the uncertainty can leave you wondering about the implications for your privacy and security.Kathy S. recently reached out with a concern many of us can relate to: "I have received calls from Beijing and Russia on my cellphone. I did not answer them. Can you tell me why this is happening? Is my phone at risk?"If you've experienced similar calls, you're not alone. Let's examine this issue and discover what's really going on. A man receiving an international call on his cellphone (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)The rise of international call scamsInternational call scams have become increasingly common in recent years. One particularly prevalent scam is known as "Wangiri," which originates from Japan and means "one-ring-and-cut." These scammers typically let your phone ring once or twice before hanging up, hoping to pique your curiosity and prompt a callback. A woman receiving an international call on her cellphone (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Why are you receiving these international scam calls?There are several reasons why you might be receiving calls from unfamiliar international numbers.Wangiri scam: Scammers use automated systems to call thousands of numbers, disconnecting after one ring. If you call back, you may be connected to a premium rate number, incurring significant charges.Telemarketing and robocalls: Some companies use international numbers to bypass local regulations and reach a wider audience.Number spoofing: Scammers can make their calls appear to come from different countries, tricking you into answering. A woman receiving an international call on her cellphone (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Is your phone at risk?While receiving unexpected international calls doesn't necessarily put your phone at immediate risk, there are several potential dangers to be aware of.The primary risk lies in potential financial losses if you engage with these scammers. If you call back, you may be connected to a premium rate service number owned by the fraudster. You could also be charged heavily for these calls, with the scammer aiming to keep you on the line to increase the billed amount.While less common with Wangiri scams, there's always a risk of personal information theft if you engage with unknown callers. Sharing sensitive data like bank account numbers or Social Security numbers could lead to identity theft.Answering or returning these calls may signal to scammers that your number is active, potentially leading to more scam calls in the future. Although not typically associated with Wangiri scams, some sophisticated phone scams can potentially install malware on your device if you click on certain links, prompts or follow instructions given by the scammer.The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have antivirus software installed on all your devices. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe.Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices. A woman receiving an international call on her cellphone (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)How to protect yourselfWhile these international calls can be concerning, there are several steps you can take to safeguard yourself and your personal information. Here are six effective strategies to help protect against potential scams and unwanted calls.1) Don't answer or call back: If you receive a call from an unknown international number, resist the urge to answer or return the call.2) Block suspicious numbers: Use your phone's built-in features toblock these numbers and prevent future calls.3) Report the calls: Inform your phone carrier and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about these suspicious calls.4) Use call-blocking apps: Consider installingcall-blocking apps to identify and block spam calls.5) Be cautious with personal information: Never share sensitive data over the phone, especially with unfamiliar callers.6) Invest in personal data removal services: Consider using services that remove your personal data from the internet, reducing the chances of scammers obtaining your information. While no service promises to remove all your data from the internet, having a removal service is great if you want to constantly monitor and automate the process of removing your information from hundreds of sites continuously over a longer period of time.Check out my top picks for data removal services here.Kurt's key takeawaysWhile unexpected international calls can be alarming, understanding the nature of these scams empowers you to protect yourself. By staying informed and following the preventive measures outlined above, you can significantly reduce your risk of falling victim to these schemes. Remember, your best defense is a combination of caution, awareness and proactive steps to safeguard your personal information.Are phone companies doing enough to help protect consumers from international scam calls? Let us know what you think by writing us atCyberguy.com/Contact.For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.Ask Kurt a question or let us know what stories you'd like us to cover.Follow Kurt on his social channels:Answers to the most asked CyberGuy questions:New from Kurt:Copyright 2024 CyberGuy.com.All rights reserved. Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on "FOX & Friends." Got a tech question? Get Kurts free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

Redmi Note 14 Pro Plus in handPrakhar KhannaThe Redmi Note 14 Pro Plus is a good-looking phone featuring a new chipset, an upgraded display for an intuitive content consumption experience, improved cameras, and a larger battery. On paper, it seems like a recipe for a fantastic upgrade, but does it deliver? Here are five things I like (and two I dont) about the new Redmi Note 14 Pro Plus.Elegant and Stylish DesignRedmi Note 14 Pro Plus backPrakhar KhannaThe Redmi Note 14 Pro Plus is a head-turner and one of the most stylish devices in its segment. The in-hand feel is excellent, thanks to the curved sides on the back. The vegan leather variant feels more elegant than the glass-back models, but all three retain a sophisticated look. It feels more premium in the hand than its price suggests. Despite the added weight of 6g, the phone feels sturdy and premium, not hefty.You also get a redesigned camera island centered on the upper side of the rear panel. It looks cleaner and has a more premium aesthetic. The aluminum frame and tactile feedback of the volume rockers and power button further add to the premium experience. The Redmi Note 14 Pro Plus is rated IP68 and IP69 for dust resistance as well as protection against freshwater submersion and pressurized water, respectively.Big and Bright DisplayRedmi Note 14 Pro Plus screenPrakhar KhannaThe new Redmi phone features a 6.67-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 3000 nits peak brightness, and a 1220 x 2712-pixel resolution at 446ppi. It also supports HDR10+ and Dolby Vision and is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2.The display is sharp, vibrant, and perfect for watching your favorite movies. Its complemented by stereo speakers that are loud and clear. The screen gets bright enough for easy legibility in outdoor conditions. Overall, its an excellent device for content consumption.MORE FOR YOUAll-Day Battery LifeRedmi Note 14 Pro Plus camera modulePrakhar KhannaThe Redmi Note 14 Pro Plus packs a 6,200mAh battery, a significant upgrade from the 5,000mAh battery on the Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus. Its a nice step forward, given todays phones are more demanding in nature with added AI features. I like the move to carbon silicon battery tech.My usage included hopping between WhatsApp, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram, while also using Slack and Teams and snapping a few photos. The phone easily lasted through the day. If battery life is a priority for you, this phone is an excellent choice.The phone supports 90W fast charging with the bundled charger, going from 15% to 100% in under an hour. Features like optimized charging and a charging limit are also included if you want to better battery longevity.Performance is Good for Most UsersRedmi Note 14 Pro Plus multitaskingPrakhar KhannaThe Redmi Note 14 Pro Plus is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 SoC, paired with up to 12GB RAM and 512GB of storage, with the base configuration starting at 8GB/128GB. In day-to-day usage, the phone performs smoothly, handling multitasking, browsing, and other non-demanding tasks with ease. However, you may notice occasional jitters when playing demanding games.This phone isnt designed for hardcore gamers but offers sufficient performance for most users, including casual gamers. Plus, Redmi has also added new AI features like Live Interpreter and Circle to Search, which enhance the overall experience.Decent CamerasRedmi Note 14 Pro Plus camera modulePrakhar KhannaThe Redmi Note 14 Pro Plus features a 50MP primary camera, a 50MP telephoto lens with 2.5x optical zoom, and an 8MP ultrawide-angle camera. Daylight photos are impressive, with good dynamic range, vibrant colors, and consistent color science across the three sensors.The portraits look good, and the night mode captures vibrant images, decent for social media use but low light camera performance isnt something to boast about here.The phone still lacks 4K60 video recording, but the stabilization is impressive, and audio quality is good. Overall, the primary camera delivers great results, while the other two sensors add versatility.The Two Dislikes: Software SituationRedmi Note 14 Pro Plus softwarePrakhar KhannaThere are two things that I dislike about the Redmi Note 14 Pro Plus software. First, it runs Android 14 out of the box, which isnt ideal for a phone launched in December 2024.While the company promises three major OS updates, this includes Android 15, effectively bringing down the number to only two more years of OS updates. You can expect it to get up to Android 17 (potential release in 2026) and four years of security patches.Second, there are a lot of bundled apps that spam you with unnecessary notifications. I dont mind turning the notifications off for each app as a new user but it gets annoying when they reappear. The UI is smooth but the look and feel can be worked upon.Redmi Note 14 Pro Plus Review: VerdictRedmi Note 14 Pro Plus in handPrakhar KhannaAt INR 30,999, the Redmi Note 14 Pro Plus stands out as one of the most stylish phones in its segment.It offers excellent battery life and display capabilities. The performance is also decent and the cameras can deliver superb results. But you will have to look past the aforementioned software situation which can be a dealbreaker for many to opt for this phone.If you need a phone for content consumption with battery life and in-hand feel being a priority, you should consider the Redmi Note 14 Pro Plus.

Update: Wednesday January 1, with details on the Galaxy S25 chipset and performance implications.Galaxy S24 Ultra on show at Galaxy Unpacked, January 17 2024, London, United Kingdom.EWAN SPENCESamsungs Galaxy Unpacked event in January 2024 saw the launch of the current Galaxy S24 Ultra flagship, alongside the other S24 handsets, the debut of Galaxy AI, and a preview of the Galaxy Ring. With the first Galaxy Unpacked of 2025 expected to happen in a few weeks, how will the upcoming Galaxy S25 Ultra build on the success of 2024? Which features will help the handset stand out from the crowd?Qualcomm or Exynos For Galaxy S25 Ultra?Update: Wednesday January 1. The Samsung community has been waiting to see if the Galaxy S25 family will have their preferred option of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 across the portfolio or if some territories would adopt the slower Samsungs own Exynos 2500 chipset.Another round of benchmark testing online through Geekbecnhwhose results are publicly availableshows the various Galaxy S25 models all sporting the preferred Snapdragon option. This should positively impact each handset's battery life and overall performance, as well as leverage Qualcomms custom AI-focused hardware.While this has not been conclusively stated by the South Korean manufacturer, it follows reports that Samsungs mobile processor development team were not able to complete the necessary work to have the Exynos 2500 chipset ready for the Galaxy S25 family due to South Koreas strict limits on weekly working hours. Instead, the advanced chipset should debut on the Galaxy Z Flip7, due in the Summer of 2025.Samsung logo in the window of the Samsung Experience Store on Oxford Street in London (Photo by Olly ... [+] Curtis/Future via Getty Images)Future via Getty ImagesMORE FOR YOUGalaxy S25 Ultra DisplayThe look of the Galaxy S25 Ultra will iterate on the current S24 Ultra, a sharper edge to the corners is one of the few visible changes to the design. The display should have one unexpected strength, debuting Cornings second generation of Gorilla Glass Armour.The first-generation featured on the Galaxy S24 Ultra offered a notable increase in protection. Yet it was the anti-reflective coating, helping the S24 Ultra display quality in brightly lit indoor areas and under strong sunlight, that gathered critical acclaim. As the protection increases, so will the view of the pixels.Galaxy S25 Ultra CameraMuch of the Galaxy S25 Ultras main camera system will carry over from the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Forbes contributor Pail Monkton has highlighted one upgrade new users will see: the ultrawide camera will have an increased sensor size of 50 megapixels, offfering broad equality with the camera choices in the Pixel 9 Pro and many of the upcoming 2025 flagships. Crucially, this should allow for more detail in photography, and allow 8K recording when in use.Galaxy S25 Ultra And Galaxy AIThe launch of the Galaxy S24 ULtra was tightly bound with Galaxy AISamsung's push into generative AI softwareand the S24 family were the top-selling AI-powered handsets in the first half of 2024. That allowed Samsung to set the commercial tone of generative AI for the year, following Googles scene-setting to the industry with the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pros Google AI facilities.Google has set the scene for the second generation of smartphone AI with Gemini and is pushing this and the Pixel 9 family online. Samsungs powder will stay cool until the S25 family launches, and you can expect the S25 Ultra and Galaxy AI to offer a potent package thanks to the increased performance on-device and a year of AI development work.Galaxy S25 Ultra Safety FeaturesAlthough the hardware that allowed for car crash detection was present in the Galaxy S24 Ultra, it was never turned on by software. Looking through the current beta of the OneUI software that will debut with the S25 Ultra, the team at Android Authority has discovered new references pointing to car crash detection software. The software should be there, and the hardware is present, so will this be the year to have it turned on?Galaxy S25 Ultra Satellite ConnectivitySamsung has spent many years working on satellite connectivity for its Galaxy handsetsindeed, it was expected to be announced as a Galaxy S24 Ultra feature. That did not come to pass. With the increased focus on this channel, both through Samsungs beta code and Googles code contributions to Android integrating the principle deeper into the code, this is another feature that many are waiting for.When Will We See The Galaxy S25 Ultra?Samsung is widely expected to hold the next Galaxy Unpacked event on January 22nd 2025, with pre-orders opening a few days after the launch, and the S25 handsets shipping on February 7th.Now read the latest thoughts on a mysterious fourth handset that will join the Galaxy S25 Ultra, the mysterious Specia Edition...

Rumor mill: Reports are emerging about some wild changes coming to Apple's next-gen M5 chips. One of these is the lineup ditching the unified architecture that's been a signature of Apple silicon so far. Instead, the CPU and GPU will use separate memory pools. The claim comes from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. He says that all M5 variants, including the base M5, M5 Pro, M5 Max, and M5 Ultra, will be fabricated on TSMC's advanced 3nm N3P process node. That's a change from the current M4 and A18 Bionic chips that use the slightly older N3E node.The potential split CPU/GPU architecture is definitely the biggest surprise, though. Since the M1's debut, Apple silicon has used a unified memory pool shared between the CPU and GPU cores. This unified memory access (UMA) design is widely credited with the incredible performance-per-watt efficiency we've seen on MacBooks. If these rumors hold, that design won't be long for this world. While separating the CPU and GPU memory spaces adds some complexity, it could also unlock performance gains in certain workloads.To pull off this change, Apple is reportedly turning to TSMC's server-grade 2.5D packaging tech called System on Integrated Chips-Molding Horizontal (SoIC-mH). SoIC is TSMC's take on 3D stacking and hybrid wafer bonding, which enables ultra-dense connections between two chips. The "mH" variant Apple is using allows them to glue the separate dies horizontally onto the package rather than a vertical 3D stack.This advanced packaging allows for those split designs while promising better yields and superior thermal performance. // Related StoriesKuo says that the new packaging approach will particularly benefit Apple's Private Cloud Compute ambitions. This is what the company calls its cloud intelligence system designed specifically for AI processing.Ultimately, the M5 lineup is shaping up to be Apple's most versatile silicon yet. Kuo says that the base M5 will go into mass production in the first half of 2025, meaning it should probably find its way into updated Macs in late 2025. Meanwhile, the M5 Pro/Max variant is expected to enter production in the second half of next year. Lastly, the M5 Ultra is expected to debut in 2026.

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" Table of ContentsTable of ContentsPlayStationXboxNintendoAfter a long and busy 12 months, 2024 is officially in the books. Players have a few weeks to rest before the video game release calendar picks up in February with a barrage of major releases. Thats a problem for next month, though. Until then, weve still got some time to reflect on what was a rollercoaster year for the gaming industry, full of surprise hits, total flops, and surprising no shows.At the center of all that was the three pillars of mainstream gaming: Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. While their power may be waning in the age of portable PCs like the Steam Deck, these platform holders are still the watercooler conversation starters whose every move generates buzz. This year, all three companies found themselves in a strange spot. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X hit the awkward midpoint of their lifespans, while the Nintendo Switch was left to tread water after its much anticipated successor was pushed out of 2024. All three would have to get creative if they were going to end the year strong.Recommended VideosThe good news is that all three pulled that task off, even if no one excelled. Each company had an asterisk on its record that created an uneven year no matter which console you played on. Continuing last years tradition, were once again closing out the year by handing out final grades to Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. All three passed, but theyll all need to study harder if theyre going to become A students in 2025.RelatedGiovanni Colantonio / Digital TrendsIf I were a tough grader, Id have good reason to flunk the PS5 this year. Sonys year was full of flops and disappointments that made its 2024 look dire in a vacuum. Its biggest hardship came in the form of Concord, a game that was meant to usher in PlayStations live service future. Instead, it was an immediate failure that was taken offline in weeks and the studio behind it was shuttered. That one costly disaster may have put years of planning in jeopardy, single-handedly changing what PlayStations future will look like.That bad news was coupled by some soft letdowns. The much anticipated PS5 Pro finally launched this year, but with underwhelming specs considering its eye-popping price tag. That made the system a slow starter, one that raised questions about how much incremental power is really necessary in a console. It didnt help that the systems AI upscaling tool, PSSR, was a bit buggy at launch, too. Elsewhere on the hardware front, Sony seemed to all but abandon its VR ambitions, offering very little software support for PlayStation VR2 (its biggest upgrade this year was PC support). At times, it felt like Sonys hardware business had hit a brick wall.If I were only looking at those lowlights, though, it would be a reductive view of what was a strong year for PlayStation overall. Sonys wins didnt come from hyped up first-party exclusives like Marvels Spider-Man 2, but through unexpected surprises that helped expand the system to new audiences. The crown jewel of the crop was Astro Bot, which found Sony once again making the kind of all-ages platformer that helped build the original PlayStation. Helldivers 2Concords failure. Even Stellar Blade landed as a pleasant surprise, allowing a Korean developer to find international success.In between those peaks, we got a handful of third-party exclusives that gave the PS5 the best game lineup of any console this year. Final Fantasy VII Rebirthdelivered the praise that Final Fantasy XVI couldnt quite achieve in 2023, while Bloober Teams Silent Hill 2pulled off the impossible task of remaking one of the best games of all time in a satisfying manner. Those highs were enough to round out an uneven year where Sony leaned heavily on unnecessary double dips like Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. It may have been the PS5s best and worst year in one.Grade: BMicrosoftSince the launch of the Xbox Series X in 2020, it was clear that Microsofts console was going to have an unusual lifespan. Microsoft made it clear early on that it wasnt necessarily trying to pump out killer apps so much as it was trying to make Game Pass a lifestyle subscription service that every gamer needed. 2024 would take that experiment to some truly unpredictable places that left Xbox fans with whiplash; we seemingly alternated between terrible news and great games every month.The bad side was very bad. Xbox kicked the year off with mass layoffs, which shut down both Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks. The latter was incredibly puzzling considering that the studio had developed perhaps the Series Xs best exclusive, Hi-Fi Rush, just one year prior. Later in the year, Microsoft rolled out a convoluted Game Pass price hike that turned the best deal in gaming into a pricey proposition. It didnt help that some of the services biggest games didnt exactly pan out as expected. Both Stalker 2 and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 were buggy messes at launch, while Senuas Saga: Hellblade 2and Starfield: Shattered Space landed as underwhelming releases.It was a constant PR crisis for Xbox in 2024, even when it wasnt warranted. Xboxs decision to release certain exclusives on competing platforms should have been a cause for celebration as Microsoft eroded the annoying exclusivity wall that divides consoles. Instead, the move fueled console war outrage. Similar, Xbox made great strides to make its game more accessible than ever, bringing Game Pass to devices like Amazon Fire Stick. That too was criticized thanks to the companys This is an Xbox ad campaign, which implied that any device that could run its games was essentially an Xbox. That move rubbed console purists the wrong way, but I see the underlying message as a positive step forward for video games.While it wasnt a huge year for exclusives, Xbox delivered where it mattered. It ended the year strong with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, two of the best-received games of this Xbox generation. In route to those tentpole release, we got a steady stream of day one third-party releases that still sold the services value. Dungeons of Hinterberg and Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess are both sleeper hits that ended up on Digital Trends best 10 games of 2024 list. With that in mind, Im willing to let Xbox out of 2024 with a perfectly good, if unremarkable grade. I expect to see some big improvement in 2025, though.Grade: B-NintendoAfter receiving a coveted A grade in last years report, Nintendo had a big task ahead of it and it sounded like it would have no problem delivering. After all, 2024 was surely going to be the year we finally got the Nintendo Switch 2, bringing a bevy of heavy hitting exclusives like Mario Kart 9 or Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.Well that didnt happen. After all the anticipation, Nintendos new console was a total no show. Nintendo would acknowledge its existence after years of speculation, but it stopped short of actually showing it off or announcing so much as a spec. That left Nintendo in a weird spot when it came to software. It was clear that the companys most celebrated developers were quietly working on new games for the platform, leaving the B-squad to fill out the Switchs final full year. To Nintendos credit, it delivered at least one exclusive a month from January to December, but the actually lineup was eclectic.Very few Switch exclusives released in 2024 were must-own library additions. The closest ones were Super Mario Party Jamboree and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, but nothing rose to the level of Super Mario Odyssey or Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Instead, we got a buffet of niche games and odd remakes. Its not that games like Mario vs. Donkey Kong or Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition werent welcome on Switch; its just that these were the consoles primary games rather than quirky filler. Those games didnt always deliver either, as games like Endless Ocean: Luminous and Princess Peach: Showtime!Even if it was an underwhelming year overall, the experimental nature of Switchs year occasionally led to the kind of highlights that can only happen when a publisher isnt being precious. Emio The Smiling Man is a fantastic revival of Famicom Detective Club that I dont think we would ever get outside of a year like this. Splatoon 3s underappreciated Side Order DLC is a true hidden gem, and I cant complain about a full remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. The peaks werent exactly high, but this is the kind of strange year that I imagine Ill look back on with nostalgia in a few years when Nintendo is back in its usual rotation of predictable hits.Grade: C+Editors Recommendations

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsLove, Rosie (2014)Risky Business (1983)Blade Runner 2049 (2017)Happy New Year! While today could be a chance to celebrate, many of us would rather recover on our couches after a night of festivities. Hopefully, you have some time off to fire up a streaming service and watch a few movies. What streaming service should you use? Could we interest you in Paramount+?Paramount+ is the home of several notable franchises, including Mission: Impossible, Transformers, Star Trek, A Quiet Place, and Top Gun. Thats only the beginning, as more content finds a home on this streamer. If you need something to watch, try one of these movies, including a delightful rom-com, a coming-of-age movie with a Hollywood icon, and a legacy sequel.Recommended VideosWe also have guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max,andthe best movies on Disney+.RelatedLionsgateRom-coms are meant to be cheesy. Love, Rosie has its silly moments, but a heartfelt message about love and friendship propels this movie into a tender love story. Rosie Dunn (Lily Collins) and Alex Stewart (Sam Claflin) have been best friends since childhood. Their relationship is strictly platonic, although Rosie and Alex once shared a drunken kiss on the formers 18th birthday.Just when you think the two friends might become lovers, new challenges arise in their lives. For Rosie, it involves a high school crush who may not have her best interest at heart. For Alex, he grapples with leaving Europe to study in America. Theres never the right moment to act on their feelings. However, love is never perfect, an important lesson these friends eventually learn.Stream Love, Rosie on Paramount+.Warner Bros.Tom Cruise is now known for flying jets in Top Gun: Maverickor riding motorcycles off cliffs in the Mission: Impossible franchise. Back in the 1980s, the little-known Cruise was still searching for his breakout role. After a few supporting performances, Cruise finally received his moment in the spotlight in 1983s Risky Business.High school senior Joel Goodsen (Cruise) has lived a straight and narrow life in hopes of attending Princeton. When his parents leave town for a few days, Joel hires a call girl named Lana (Rebecca De Mornay), and the two spend the entire night together.Risky Business (1983) Official Trailer - Tom Cruise, Rebecca De Mornay Movie HDThis decision sets off a chain of unfortunate events in Joels life, jeopardizing his shot at Princeton. And yes, Risky Businessinspired thousands of Halloween costumes thanks to his Old Time Rock and Roll dance.StreamRisky Business on Paramount+.Warner Bros. PicturesUpon its release, Blade Runner 2049Ridley Scott, believing the film was too long. Time heals all bad takes, and while the length remains the same, Blade Runner 2049is now considered a critical film in Villeneuves filmography and a stepping stone toward Dune.Thirty years after Blade Runner, Officer K (The Fall Guys Ryan Gosling) works as a blade runner for the Los Angeles Police Department. After completing a mission, K makes a shocking discovery that could lead to a war between humans and replicants. With this knowledge, Ks life is in danger, so he seeks help from Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), who might have the answers to prevent this war from happening.StreamBlade Runner 2049 on Paramount+.Editors Recommendations