Image: Nintendo LifeBalatro was one of our games of 2024 and the vast majority of us at Nintendo Life Towers have poured more hours into its poker roguelike gameplay loop than we care to admit. But what were the games that caught the attention of its developer, LocalThunk? With 2025 finally here, the dev took to Twitter to share some of his indie highlights from the last 12 months and crown his 'Golden Thunk' award winner for 2024.We'll start off with the biggie. The dev named Animal Well his personal game of the year, describing Billy Basso's mystery-filled metroidbrania as "an engrossing experience" and "a true masterpiece" honestly, we'd have to agree on those points.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube790kWatch on YouTube Basso himself replied to the LocalThunk nod, describing the award win as "the greatest honor of them all".But that's not all! 2024 was a bumper year for indies and the Balatro dev was also keen to highlight some of the other titles that had been vying for his attention. Dungeons and Degenerate Gamblers was first up, another card-based deckbuilder which, the dev noted, "People mistakenly wrote this off as a Balatro clone but this was announced before my game ever was".The dev also flagged the "incredible" Arco, Nova Drift ("a perfect game for the Steam Deck"), physics-based roguelike Ballionaire and the Steam horror game Mouthwashing. Only Arco is available on Switch for the time being, but hey, our fingers are crossed some of these make the jump to 'Switch 2'.Balatro capped off 2024 with an impressive run at The Game Awards, where it picked up wins in three categories including Best Independent Game. Here's the full list of winnersWe fold"No matter what you put in a game, it will get found"What was your favourite indie of 2024? Do you agree with LocalThunk? Let us know in the comments.[source x.com]Related GamesSee AlsoShare:01 Jim came to Nintendo Life in 2022 and, despite his insistence that The Minish Cap is the best Zelda game and his unwavering love for the Star Wars prequels (yes, really), he has continued to write news and features on the site ever since. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related ArticlesNintendo Highlights Multiple Switch Games Launching In 2025It's going to be an action-packed year126 Games You Should Pick Up In The Nintendo Switch eShop Holiday Sale (Europe)Every game we scored 9/10 or higher161 Games You Should Pick Up In Nintendo's 'Hits For The Holidays' eShop Sale (North America)Reminder: It wraps up on SundayHamster Releases Its First Arcade Archives Switch Game Of 2025, Teases A Year Full Of "Surprises""We will be taking on many new challenges"

Bird Buddys smart bird feeders are a perfect confluence of different consumer technologies. Breakthroughs in security cameras, AI, and solar charging have converged into a terrific little product that has captured public imagination.At CES 2025, the startups creators announced an expansion into another wing of the animal kingdom. Wonder is a new sub-brand bringing some of that magic to the world of insects specifically pollinators like butterflies and bees.The brand is launching this year with a pair of products: Petal and Wonder Blocks. The former is in line with existing Bird Buddy products. Its something akin to a trail camera for insects.Bird Buddy/WonderImage Credits:Bird Buddy/WonderPetal seamlessly merges cutting-edge engineering and technology to snap and live stream wildlife direct to your smartphone or smart device of choice, Wonder notes. Using Nature Intelligence, an advanced AI layer, the new camera device interprets the sights and sounds of nature, from birds hatching to the flapping of butterflys wings, a flower blooming and bees pollinating it, bringing a vibrant world to your fingertips.The Petal name derives from the products resemblance to a flower, with a solar panel serving as a leaf on its stem. The stem, meanwhile, is flexible, serving as a stake in the ground or coiling around a tree branch.Wonder describes Blocks as a modular set for building vibrant, biodiverse natural worlds. In essence, its a cylindrical system that contains various elements including a plant pot, seed tray, butterfly feeder, and bee and bug hotels. The Petal can be mounted on top.Given the number the local squirrels have done on my smart bird feeder, I can only imagine the field day theyre going to have with this thing.

For the past several years, the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center have been lousy with AR/VR/XR smart glasses. While the some of the biggest names in tech, like Apple and Google, have struggled to gain traction in the category, accessible tech remains relatively unexplored.Theres a lot of work to be done in terms of making the space more welcoming for more people. Soliddd is one of a growing number of startups exploring the link between smart glasses and accessibility.This week at CES 2025, the company is showcasing a prototype version of its forthcoming SolidddVision glasses. The Brooklyn-based startup is specifically targeting people with macular degeneration. The degenerative eye disease affects roughly 13% of U.S. residents aged 40 and up, according to figures from the CDC.Image Credits:SolidddThe startup explains the technology like so:The smartglasses use Soliddds unique and proprietary lens arrays, which resemble a flys eye, to project multiple separate images to the areas of the retina that are not damaged. This allows the brain to naturally construct stereopsis (the making of a 3D image in the brain) and a single full-field image with good acuity that feels like normal, in-focus sight.The product is currently in beta and therefore looks a good deal different than the renders Soliddd has provided here. In their final form, they should look and feel more like a standard set of eyeglasses.Theres still a lot of work and testing to be done, but the company optimistically believes that the glasses will ship at some point in 2025. While Soliddd is conducting clinical glasses, it notes that they ultimately wont require FDA approval before hitting the market.

Amazon announced a partnership with Kidde at CES 2025 on Monday that brings its Ring technology to the home safety stalwarts smoke alarms. There will be multiple versions of the hybrid smoke and CO2 detectors, ranging in price from $55 to $75.As a longtime owner of a Nest Protect, I can confidently say that a smoke detector is the most important smart home device I currently own. Theres nothing quite like the peace of mind that comes with knowing that your house isnt burning down while youre traveling.Image Credits:Kidde/RingThis partnership ingrates Kiddes century or so of smoke alarm experience with Rings popular app. Users receive push notifications for smoke or carbon monoxide alerts. The detectors connect directly to home Wi-Fi and dont require an existing Ring alarm or hub. Theyll also let the user know seven days in advance when the battery is low in a bid to eliminate that horrible chirping sound.Along with new smoke detectors, Ring is launching a Smoke and CO2 Monitoring service. A monthly price of $5 will get round the clock monitoring by agents who can directly alert emergency services if an issue arise. The service is optional and doesnt require a Ring Home subscription.Both the new detectors and the premium service are set to launch April 2.

Behind every frame of Animale lies the artistry of MPC. From vibrant crowd extensions to the dynamic animation of bulls, the VFX team delivered visuals as bold as the story itself! Vincent Frei The Art of VFX 2025The post Animale: VFX Breakdown by MPC appeared first on The Art of VFX.

This charming mansard-roofed cottage can be found at 54 Prospect Hill Street in Newport, Rhode Island. While presently a residence, the cottage was originally built around 1870 as a stable or carriage house for the former Bowen-Newton-Tobin House at 204 Spring Street. After the Bowen heirs sold the property, this structure was owned by Mr. John S. Langley, an furniture dealer (who also made coffins and caskets) with the firm Langley & Bennett. The building may have been used for the storage of horses or as a workshop until it was purchased by Mary B. and Dudley Newton, a prominent local architect. They appear to have converted the former stable into a cottage, and rented the property out for additional income. In the renovation, Dudley Newton preserved much of the original detailing above the cornice, and altered openings to provide windows and doors convert the formerly utilitarian structure into a cottage.

Tech Hacked Chrome extensions put 2.6 million users at risk of data leak These extensions can steal your browsing data and account credentials Published January 6, 2025 9:00am EST Your web browser is an ecosystem of its own. It stores your passwords, search history, financial details like credit card numbers, addresses and more. Just like how malicious apps and services can compromise data on your phone or PC, malicious extensions can expose the data stored in your browser.There are a ton of extensions out there that do more harm than good. In fact, security researchers have just found a dangerous new campaign that is going after browser extensions. So far, around 36 extensions have been compromised, putting over 2.6 million Chrome users at risk of having their browsing data and account credentials exposed.Enter the giveaway by signing up for myfree newsletter. A person using a Chrome browser extension (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)How hackers are targeting browser extensionsHackers are exploiting browser extensions as a gateway to steal sensitive user data through a variety of methods. These compromised extensions are exposing over 2.6 million users to data exposure and credential theft, as reported byThe Hacker News.One common attack involves phishing campaigns targeting the publishers of legitimate extensions on platforms like the Chrome Web Store. In these campaigns, attackers trick developers into granting permissions to malicious applications, which then insert harmful code into popular extensions. This code can steal cookies, access tokens and other user data.The first company to shed light on the campaign was cybersecurity firm Cyberhaven, one of whose employees were targeted by a phishing attack on December 24, allowing the threat actors to publish a malicious version of the extension.Once these malicious extensions are published and pass the Chrome Web Store's security review, they are made available to millions of users, putting them at risk of data theft. Attackers can use these extensions to exfiltrate browsing data, monitor user activity and even bypass security measures such as two-factor authentication.In some cases, developers themselves may unknowingly include data-gathering code as part of a monetization software development kit, which stealthily exfiltrates detailed browsing data. This makes it difficult to determine whether a compromise is the result of a hacking campaign or an intentional inclusion by the developer. Image of a Chrome browser on a cellphone (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Remove these extensions from your web browserThe browser extension security platformSecure Annex has launched its own investigation into this hacking campaign. So far, it has uncovered over twenty additional compromised extensions, which are listed below. If you have any of the compromised extensions listed in Secure Annex's investigation installed on your browser, its essential to remove them immediately to protect your data.AI Assistant - ChatGPT and Gemini for ChromeBard AI Chat ExtensionGPT 4 Summary with OpenAISearch Copilot AI Assistant for ChromeTinaMInd AI AssistantWayin AIVPNCityInternxt VPNVindoz Flex Video RecorderVidHelper Video DownloaderBookmark Favicon ChangerCastorusUvoiceReader ModeParrot TalksPrimusTackker - online keylogger toolAI Shop BuddySort by OldestRewards Search AutomatorChatGPT Assistant - Smart SearchKeyboard History RecorderEmail HunterVisual Effects for Google MeetEarny - Up to 20% Cash BackCyberhaven security extension V3GraphQL Network InspectorVidnoz Flex - Video recorder & Video shareYesCaptcha assistantProxy SwitchyOmega (V3)ChatGPT AppWeb MirrorHi AIKeeping these extensions installed is a serious risk since hackers can still access your data even if the malicious version has been taken down from the Chrome Web Store. Secure Annex is still investigating and has shared apublic Google Sheet with details about the malicious extensions it has found so far, like whether theyve been updated or removed. Theyre also adding new extensions to the list as they discover them.How to remove an extension from Google ChromeIf you have installed one of the above-mentioned extensions on your browser, remove it as soon as possible. To remove an extension from Google Chrome, follow these steps:Open Chrome and click the icon that looks like a piece of a puzzle. You'll find it in the top-right corner of the browser.You can see all the active extensions now. Click thethree dots icon next to the extension you want to remove and selectRemove from Chrome.ClickRemove to confirm Steps to remove an extension from Google Chrome (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)7 ways to stay safe from malicious software1) Verify emails and links before clicking:Many attacks begin withphishing emails that impersonate trusted entities like Google Chrome Web Store Developer Support. These emails often create a false sense of urgency, urging you to click on malicious links. Always verify the senders email address and avoid clicking on links without double-checking their authenticity. When in doubt, go directly to the official website rather than using a provided link.2) Use strong antivirus software:Having strong antivirus software is an essential line of defense against malicious software. These tools can detect and block malicious code, even if it has been embedded in browser extensions.Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.3) Limit extension permissions:Be cautious about the permissions you grant to browser extensions. Many require access to sensitive data like browsing history, cookies or account information, but not all requests are necessary. Review what each extension asks for and deny permissions that seem excessive. If possible, opt for extensions with limited access to ensure your data remains protected.4) Limit the number of extensions: Only install extensions that are genuinely needed and regularly review and uninstall those no longer in use.5) Keep your browser updated: Always update your browser to the latest version. Updates often include critical security patches that protect against vulnerabilities exploited by malicious software. Using an outdated browser increases the risk of being targeted by attacks that could have been prevented with a simple update. Enable automatic updates to ensure youre always protected. If you are unsure how to update your browser, check out mydetailed guide for Google Chrome.6) Regularly audit your extensions: Conduct periodic reviews of installed extensions and remove any that are unnecessary or pose potential security risks.7) Report suspicious extensions: If you encounter a suspicious extension, report it to the official browser extension marketplace.Kurts key takeawayHackers are getting smarter, and browser extensions have become a new favorite target for stealing sensitive data. The discovery of over 35 compromised Chrome extensions, putting 2.6 million users at risk, is a wake-up call for everyone. Removing suspicious extensions is an essential step to protect your data. This also puts Googles Chrome Web Store review process under scrutiny, proving that even trusted platforms can be exploited.How often do you review and remove unused or suspicious browser extensions? Let us know 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. Related Topics

The Intel Core Ultra Series 2 processors are rolling out later in the year, introducing improved performance and better protection against malware.

Ring is teaming up with a leading fire safety product maker to launch a new line of smart smoke and combination alarms.

Control your Hubspace devices with a new remote switch, and cool your home with a Vissani smart air conditioner. Home Depot announces the tech at CES 2025.