ZDNET's key takeaways The Privacy Hero 2, a $199 router available on FlashRouters, supports NordVPN and Surfshark alongside various VPN protocols. It comes with one year of access to Privacy Hero Wireguard VPN and, with a current promotion, one year of NordVPN. The company should improve the build quality and be more generous with the Ethernet cable's length. View now at Flashrouters Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are excellent tools for improving online privacy and security. Most people sign up with a VPN provider and then install their accompanying native applications on their PCs, tablets, and smartphones.However, there's another option: installing a VPN on your router. This method provides blanket coverage for any device connected to the router's Wi-Fi, allowing you to circumvent connection number restrictions and saving you the legwork of installing a VPN app on every device you want to protect.Also: The best VPN services of 2025: Expert tested and reviewedIt's not always a quick task, though. Many routers on the market support third-party VPNs, but you may need reasonable technical knowledge and be willing to tamper with internal settings to make everything work.Alternatively, some VPN providers offer VPN-ready hardware; one such model is the subject of this review. The Privacy Hero 2, a $199 router available on FlashRouters, supports NordVPN and Surfshark (both owned by Nord Security) alongside a range of VPN protocols. It comes with one year of access to Privacy Hero Wireguard VPN and, with a current promotion, one year of NordVPN.Let's dive into this VPN-ready router's build, installation, benefits, and disadvantages.How's the build quality?Once you unbox the Privacy Hero 2, you're met with a lightweight, compact router. It's lighter than most routers I've tried or reviewed (except for travel routers) and has a plastic feel. The build quality is acceptable for a $199 router, although I felt I had to handle it carefully. Charlie Osborne/ZDNETThe Privacy Hero 2 comes with an A/C power supply, Ethernet cable, and installation guide. The size of the four external antennae seemed odd, probably because they were somewhat bulky compared to the router's tiny body. Overall, the build is reasonable, and my only real complaint is the short length of the Ethernet cable.Installation processI've tested a variety of Wi-Fi routers -- traditional, mesh, and VPN-supporting -- over the years and found that installation complexity varies. The Privacy Hero 2 was very easy to set up. The router comes with a booklet and online installation guides, including a short video that helps users with the hardware side of the installation. After I plugged the router in, it took about 10 minutes to update.Once the router is ready, you must sign up for a free Privacy Hero account, which gives you web access to the router's dashboard. You will see this message once the installation is complete. Screenshot by Charlie Osborne/ZDNETThe next step is creating your Wi-Fi network. There are two options:You can set the network name to the same name and password as your existing network, so you won't have to reconnect your devices individually to the new one. This option requires you to turn off your ISP's router Wi-Fi signal.Alternatively, you can create a new network name. As I intend to retire my aging TP-Link model that has served as an IoT device hub until now, this was the option I chose -- with the name Privacy Hero.You can explore the Privacy Hero dashboard now that you're set up. I like the layout; it's clean, simple, and fuss-free. You can see the status of your new router on the Home screen as well as change its name or timezone. Screenshot by Charlie Osborne/ZDNET Under the Wi-Fi tab, you can check that your new networks are operating properly, or disable them if you wish. Screenshot by Charlie Osborne/ZDNETI'll focus on the VPN tab, as these are the main settings you'd most likely want to change. You will see various options: VPN, VPN Kill Switch, Malware & Phishing, and Ad Blocking.Also:Using a VPN is no longer enough. Protect your entire network with WireGuard - here's howIf you click the first tab, you can choose between different VPN services. In this review, we'll useNordVPN. Screenshot by Charlie Osborne/ZDNETThis part was the most awkward part of the installation process. The router comes with a free year of NordVPN service, so you must go to the account tab, find your voucher, validate it on NordVPN, create your account, and then generate an access token.Once you have the access token, you must submit it in the Privacy Hero dashboard. Due to timeout failures, my token was not accepted until after three attempts.NordVPN then launched on the router with a UK server as default. If you want to change your country, click on the connection and change the server yourself. Visit NordVPN's OpenVPN configuration file list and copy and paste the server name you want to connect to. Screenshot by Charlie Osborne/ZDNETEnsure you have also enabled the Kill Switch, Malware & Phishing, and Ad Blocking options. The kill switch will protect your privacy if your internet connection suddenly drops by stopping the router from leveraging your standard, unencrypted ISP connection. The other settings will reduce your exposure to tracking and cyber threats.Let's start streamingMy favorite feature is under the Streaming tab. Dubbed "Relocation," it enables you to select the country connection through which your VPN will attempt to route your traffic without constantly changing your setup.Also: NordVPN vs. Surfshark: Which VPN is right for you?If a streaming service is available in only one country -- for example, BBC iPlayer in the UK -- it won't be shown, as the organization will automatically direct your traffic via a UK relocation connection. If, however, a service is available in multiple countries, you have options. Netflix, for example, can be set to the UK, Canada, or the US.You will still need an active subscription; some streaming services require a subscription from your target country.Testing streaming servicesI spent over an hour testing various connections and configuring the router to my liking. That's not to say you need to spend the same amount of time doing so, as the router is about as "out of the box" as possible.NordVPN worked from the start, and I experienced no connection issues with my Samsung smartphone, Samsung TV, or Apple MacBook Pro. However, setting up streaming services was more challenging. Screenshot by Charlie Osborne/ZDNETI spent several hours testing which geo-blocked streaming libraries I could access through my new Wi-Fi connection. I tested the Privacy Hero 2 with Disney+, Netflix, and the anime streaming service Crunchyroll.Also: TunnelBear VPN review: An affordable, easy-to-use VPN with a few notable pitfallsMy first test was accessing my home UK libraries, which I could do without a problem. I then enabled Privacy Hero 2's relocation feature for the aforementioned streaming platforms while keeping the initial connection on a UK server, where I faced several challenges. At first, I had no success -- only my UK library was available. I powered down the TV, Sky satellite TV box, ISP-issued router, and Privacy Hero 2 and waited for everything to reboot.I then tried to access US streaming service libraries on Disney+, Netflix, and Crunchyroll. Despite the relocation options, this didn't work directly through the Samsung TV's Tizen hub when the UK was set as the central server. However, it worked for Netflix and Disney+ when I tested three US-based servers instead with relocation enabled.Accessing these libraries through a third-party app, in this case, Sky, worked best on my TV for Netflix and Disney+. When I chose this route, it didn't matter what country my initial connection was set to.Also: The best live TV streaming services of 2025: Expert testedWhen I tested Netflix and Disney+ on my laptop, I could access US libraries without issues. (I received a login email from Netflix confirming that an account was being used in the US; the relocation function was working correctly.) Unfortunately, Crunchyroll did not work on my smart TV, but I could access its US library on my laptop. Screenshot by Charlie Osborne/ZDNETI also attempted to access Canadian libraries and had similar levels of success. Accessing different geo-blocked libraries for testing purposes was more successful than I expected, although you may have to try different configurations.Lastly, I performed a speed test while connected to Privacy Hero 2 compared to my typical ISP router connection. I experienced a download speed loss of around 16% and an upload speed loss of 6.6%. For a VPN, I can't complain. About those ads...While a VPN's streaming capabilities are pretty popular, another feature many VPN providers offer is ad blocking.Ad blocking can be as much of a cat-and-mouse game as streaming services blocking VPN IP addresses. YouTube, for example, has declared war on third-party ad blockers and is attempting to stop viewers from being able to bypass or skip ad breaks.I didn't expect much, considering that most of the time, when I use a VPN and watch a YouTube video, there's very little difference in how many ads are displayed vs. when I use a standard Wi-Fi connection. However, I was pleasantly surprised at my final router and server setup results.I tested my setup using a cooking channel I'm subscribed to; while I love its content, the frequency of commercial interruptions makes it almost unwatchable.Also:Is your live TV streaming service still worth it? I reassessed the options for us bothOn a standard laptop connection, while connected to the default UK VPN server, the first ad on videos and a handful of ads were displayed, but fewer than usual. I compared watching the same YouTube video on my smart TV with Privacy Hero 2, with the same results. I then decided to try changing the router's initial server to a country where YouTube doesn't monetize ads. Lo and behold, all of the ad breaks within the video were disabled.I use an ancient MacBook Air to watch YouTube or to listen to audiobooks at night, and there's nothing worse than an ad break startling you awake. To ensure this wasn't a fluke, I changed this laptop's Wi-Fi connection to Privacy Hero 2, and the result was the same: no ads.There is a caveat: Speeds were impacted, so depending on what server you select and the speed of your initial broadband connection, you might be trading buffering for an ad-free experience.ZDNET's buying adviceRegarding the physical design of the Privacy Hero 2, the company should improve the build quality and be more generous with the Ethernet cable's length. However, installation is easy and user-friendly. This VPN router is the best I've tried to date, and it will be a long-term fixture in my household.I have previously installed VPNs on third-party, supporting routers, but the Privacy Hero 2 is far less complicated to set up and requires very little technical knowledge. The dashboard is easy to navigate and keeps technical jargon to a minimum.Also: Best TVs of CES 2025: Samsung, LG, and other new models that made our jaws dropIf you want to change the initial server connection, you'll need to work out the OpenVPN configuration file names. I would like to see NordVPN provide a streamlined list of servers that identifies which server belongs to which country. A dropdown list right in the dashboard would be useful. My favorite feature is the streaming location option. While many streaming channels are currently limited to the UK, US, and Canada (something I would like to see expanded where possible), toggling between them without finding servers yourself is highly convenient.If you want to try out the Privacy Hero 2, you can buy it from Flashrouters for $199. You'll receive a free one-year NordVPN subscription with your purchase.SpecificationsVPN protocols: WireguardWi-Fi standard: Wi-Fi 6 - Wireless AXWireless speed: 3000MbpsWi-Fi bands: Dual BandEthernet port: Type 4 GigabitAntenna type: 4 ExternalProcessor: MediaTekProcessor speed: 1.3GHzRAM: 512 MB / 128 MBPower supply: 100-240VAlong with Wireguard, this router also supportsNordLynx, which combines Wireguard with NordVPN security features. Why use a VPN to stream? VPNs can be used to watch your favorite content on platforms, including Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, and Netflix.Setting a VPN to your home region while you're traveling, for example, may allow you to access your favorite shows in your standard library. However, some users also use VPNs to try and access films and TV shows only available in other countries. You do this by setting your VPN to a server in the target country.I tried to access streaming libraries locked to the US and Canada via Privacy Hero 2 routing below for testing purposes only. You should keep in mind that accessing libraries outside of your home region is a legally gray area and may break your streaming service provider's terms and conditions. Furthermore, stopping these activities is a constant cat-and-mouse game between VPN providers and content platforms, and so a method that worked last week may not work tomorrow. Show more Featured reviews

Left to right: Jensen Huang of Nvidia, Julie Sweet of Accenture and Rob Smith of KION discuss their ... [+] partnership in physical AI for warehouse automation.NvidiaThough the details can obviously be complex, the concept of using AI with digital information to solve problems is straightforward. But what about physical information? More specifically from a business standpoint, what about using AI to solve challenges in complex physical environments that are constantly in flux, like warehouses? Thats the challenge that Nvidia, Accenture and the big supply chain automation company KION have partnered to address.Last week at CES I had a chance to sit with Accenture CEO Julie Sweet, KION CEO Rob Smith and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to talk about their partnership during a special session for four press outlets. (I was the only analyst in attendance.) I believe that in the long run technology like this will fundamentally change the way supply chains work. There have been many fits and starts with industrial IoT and Industry 4.0, however, and we dont know yet how long that will take.Using Physical AI To Bring More Order To The Complexity Of WarehousesWarehouse logistics within big supply chains can be insanely complex. Workers and managers have to factor in an endless array of constantly shifting variables, from consumer demand to inventory on hand to weather conditions. This trillion-dollar market touches every sector that handles physical goods healthcare, electronics, food, CPG, you name it each with its own special considerations that must be factored in. Its all so complex that accurately predicting operational performance for warehouses and distribution centers can be next to impossible. As Smith, who has decades of experience in this space, put it, Everythings changing all the time in a warehouse, and systems arent smart enough to not only figure out whats the next move, but figure out what could be potential other next moves and whats the best next move.Now, Accenture, KION and Nvidia are promising a way out of this maze. Physical information from a warehouse can be digitalized by KION software into a highly accurate digital twin that lives on Nvidias Omniverse platform. Nvidias AI technology then enables rapid simulation of scenarios under different conditions to optimize warehouse operations. Accenture applies its expertise to help define and manage KPIs.While digital twins have been used for years, theyve never had this much horsepower across multiple layers of cutting-edge technology and especially not this much advanced AI. The business rationale is clear. As Huang said, Every industry that becomes digitalized moves faster, [and] everything you can software-define becomes more capable. . . . When youre digitalized, you can build consistently with greater capability, but when you become software-defined on top of that, you get to revolutionize your business.MORE FOR YOUHuang pointed out that these advantages have been commonplace in the IT industry for decades, but have never been enjoyed broadly in the industrial sector. This makes sense because its easy to take digital data or a digital product like a computer or a microchip and then use digital tools to manage it. But, Huang said, The worlds physical plants, the physical world, has never been digitalized, truly not until now.A digital twin of a warehouse as rendered in Nvidia OmniverseNvidiaThe Physical AI Model And Software Under The HoodTo dig into the specifics, KION is adopting Mega, an Nvidia Omniverse blueprint for large-scale industrial digital twins. Underlying this is Nvidias Cosmos physical AI model. The fundamental idea of Cosmos, Huang said, is a model that understands the physical world like ChatGPT understands information and language. Huang compared Cosmos to Metas Llama and OpenAIs GPT-4, noting that Cosmos was trained on 9 trillion parameters a process that required six months and tens of millions of dollars of investment. He said that Nvidia is making it an open model like Meta opened Llama.As with ChatGPT, Cosmos allows a user to generate a bunch of alternative outputs. But whereas ChaptGPT could write you many different versions of a fairy tale, Cosmos can generate many different 3-D video simulations of a specific warehouse under alternative scenarios. These can account for different layouts, numbers of employees, numbers of robots, and so on to allow facility operators to understand which scenario is best for throughput, labor cost, safety measures, error rates, or whatever other KPI is desired. To make sure the simulated versions dont contain any hallucinations, the system is grounded in the real-world context of the facility, supplied via Omniverse. This data comes from still and video images, CAD models, lidar scans, sensors on robots and other sources to anchor the scenario in the exact physical details. Huang compares this to using RAG to prevent hallucinations in ChatGPT or the other non-physical AI environments were more familiar with. It took me a lot of time and research to distinguish between Cosmos and Omniverse, and I like to think that Omniverse makes Cosmos results more accurate, like RAG does for many other non-physical enterprise AI applications.Because facility operators cannot afford downtime, all of this happens on the fly. KIONs warehouse management software assigns a task say, moving a load from one location to another and the industrial AI brains within the digital twin work out the implications, planning and (virtually) carrying out next steps while Mega tracks what happens through continuous feedback loops. All of this can be simulated as much or as little as needed within the digital twin to optimize for specific outcomes, then implemented in the real world. During the small group session, Smith pointed out the importance of this for handling different real-time conditions inside a distribution center, using the contrasting examples of Black Friday and a slow summer day.Real-World Impacts And The Labor MarketAs for the impacts of this technology, Sweet believes that it could ultimately cut the time it takes to plan a new warehouse in half. For ongoing operations, she projects similar 50% reductions in manual labor and operating costs. She (echoed by the other two CEOs) expressed that this could take pressure off the retail industry, consumer goods makers and other sectors that have been battered by inflation in recent years. She added that this initiative is very much about resilience and agility for the companies that will use it.The CEOs all agreed that it can also help address ongoing labor shortages. The fact of the matter is, Huang said, were tens [of millions] or 100 million workers short around the world. We are deprived of revenues because of worker shortage, not the other way around. Theres several trillion dollars worth of lost revenues because there arent enough workers, and so we need to augment the workers that we have.Smith gave more color on this for warehousing in particular. He said, It's very difficult for all of our customers worldwide, any region, every segment, every vertical [they] can't find manual labor to come in and work in a distribution center. In that context, We're automating to make every job better, and that gives people opportunity. Rather than trying to attract workers, especially young people, to manual entry-level jobs, automation takes a lot of those jobs out of the picture while introducing higher-skilled jobs to make sure the systems are running right jobs that Smith says are much more exciting and interesting.Are Companies Ready To Adopt This Much Automation?Last weeks CES was my 20th one to attend, and I can recall bullish announcements from ten years ago about reinventing warehousing, smart transportation and related tech. And I do believe that the technology available to us today not just the AI but also other aspects such as edge computing is much better than it was then. But during the session I asked the three CEOs what makes this moment different in terms of uptake for their customer companies. In other words, what other gears besides the existence of better technology need to click into place?Smith answered by pointing out the great advances in recent years for autonomous mobile robotics. Simply put, there are many more autonomous robots handling tasks in todays warehouses and factories, which takes us beyond the classic fixed robots that have, for example, been used in automotive assembly for decades. He emphasized how autonomous mobile robots give operators much more flexibility to scale over time now augmented with real-world scenario planning and advanced orchestration that simply werent possible before.Thats the practical side as it applies on the shop floor. Sweet added to it by speaking to organizational readiness. She said that in the years leading up to 2022, she and her colleagues were telling every client company that it needed to reinvent itself with AI, but that only 20% of client CEOs were aligned with that view. Fast-forward to today, after years of generative AI being so widely touted and used, and Its exactly flipped . . . at least 80% of CEOs have embraced AI. She described it as a fundamentally different condition than we've seen for the last decade, adding, We are not out there convincing people.Huang also pointed out that the technology itself can help companies get past a chicken-and-egg problem: In order to automate, you have to make investments, and making that investment is hard to activate unless you can see the returns but you can't see the returns until you make the investment. But a digital twin allows us to lower the bar for potential customers to understand those returns. And so instead of having to build out their factories, automate their factories, before they see the benefits of it, they can simulate their factory and see the benefits of it.The Future Is Bright, But The Timeline Is UncertainAs with any potentially revolutionary technology, Ill believe the most optimistic projections only after I see some real-world results. Were not sure when that will be, because so far the three partners havent committed to a specific timetable for rollout. But when Smith talks about this kind of automation becoming so prevalent and so advanced that all the robotic nodes in the supply chain talk to each other, Im prone to believe him. Ditto when he says, Ultimately, I think everything that has a physical instance is going to have a digital instance as well. Its just a question of how soon ultimately will get here.The opportunity is definitely enormous. Smith believes that less than 20% of the worlds warehouses have significant amounts of automation in them today. And if anyone would know, he would, because KION has helped a slew of companies across many different industries from Amazon on down with warehouse automation.What I heard from all three CEOs fits with what weve learned about (digital) AI in recent years, and it fits with the robotics advancements that Huang discussed in depth during his CES keynote. So I do believe this kind of automation can help supply chain operators make better decisions informed by real-world conditions, which could raise performance standards and improve efficiency and productivity across highly autonomous and potentially safer supply chains. We just dont know how soon that future will arrive. I am a tech optimist, though, and do believe that the time is now.

Rumor mill: As Ubisoft executive Philippe Tremblay recently stated, we should accept that we no longer own the games we pay for. Microsoft tried and is still trying to build a thriving business around this concept with Game Pass. Guess how things are going now? Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella could have shut down the Xbox division in 2021, but instead, he chose to double down by acquiring two of the most successful game developers in the industry. According to a recent report from The Information, Nadella faced a critical business decision related to the Game Pass cloud gaming service.In 2021, Nadella decided to acquire ZeniMax Media, the owner of Bethesda, for $7 billion, followed by the $75.4 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard in 2023. With these acquisitions, Microsoft aimed to significantly boost Game Pass subscription numbers over the coming years. Although the company no longer shares specific figures on cloud subscriptions, The Information reports that the Game Pass business is still falling short of internal expectations.Microsoft had originally projected over 100 million Game Pass subscribers by 2030, with an ambitious 40 percent year-over-year growth rate. Nadella approved the Activision Blizzard acquisition in an effort to meet these lofty goals, which were tied to his pay package. However, the provision was eventually removed in 2023 after the company failed to meet its aggressive Game Pass targets for two consecutive years.Investors are now viewing Game Pass as a disappointing opportunity one that's highly volatile and too dependent on major releases like Call of Duty. Microsoft has also failed to convince game publishers to adopt its Azure cloud services. Even Activision, now part of the Redmond tech giant, continues to rent cloud servers for development tasks from Google and Amazon.When asked about Game Pass's performance, Microsoft pointed to Nadella's recent remarks to shareholders, highlighting the new revenue record set by the business. Executives are increasingly trying to transform the entire gaming industry into a subscription-only model, but end customers remain skeptical about the idea of not owning anything of value after each digital purchase. // Related StoriesMicrosoft is now primarily focused on AI as a key driver for its future business prospects. This shift in priorities has meant that Activision's underperformance has had little impact on the company's stock evaluation. According to Janus Henderson investor Denny Fish, investments in data center infrastructure and AI accelerators have become far more important to shareholders than the Activision deal.

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsBest Student GameExcellence in AudioExcellence in DesignExcellence in NarrativeExcellence in Visual ArtsNuovo AwardSeamus McNally Grand PrizeThe nominees for the 27th Annual Independent Games Festival have been revealed. UFO 50, Thank Goodness Youre Here, and more will compete for this years top honors, the Seamus McNally Grade Prize, but theres one shocker that didnt make the final cut: Balatro.The Independent Games Festival awards ceremony takes place every year at Game Developers Conference, with this years set to take place March 17-21. The show celebrates independent games, often nominating unexpected deep cuts and upcoming games that go on to become critical darlings. Last years ceremony, for instance, featured multiple nominations for 1000xResist ahead of its official release. That would go on to become one of 2024s best-reviewed games.Recommended VideosThis year, six games will compete for the Seamus McNally awards: Caves of Qud, Consume Me, Despelote, Indika, Thank Goodness Youre Here, and UFO 50. The most eye-catching game on that list is Despelote, a narrative coming-of-age story set in Ecuador thats scheduled to launch this year. Its not only up for the Seamus McNally award but also Excellence in Audio, Narrative, and the shows Nuovo Award, which honors more experimental games.Please enable Javascript to view this contentAs for other unreleased games nominated this year, Consume Me leads the pack with five total nominations. Raw Furys upcoming Blue Princealso made a splash this year, racking up an Excellence in Design nomination and an honorable mention for the Seamus McNally Award.The big surprise here is that the Game Awards-winning Balatro didnt make the cut for the Seamus McNally, despite making the honorable mentions list. It wasnt entirely shut out, though, as itll compete in this years Design field.Plenty of other 2024 releases made a major splash. Standouts like Nine Sols, Judero, Tactical Breach Wizards, Children of the Sun, and more all snagged nominations. Heres the full list.Best Student GameA Dual Ascent (Mountain Toad Entertainment / Rubika Supinfogame)DisplaceMen (Eversea Club / leafaleaves)Growth Spurt: A Meandering Intermission into the Afterhours of a Miscalculation (Games for my Computer)Slot Waste (Vinny Roca / pickpanpuck productions)The WereCleaner (Howlin Hugs / USC Games)Year Unknown (Julian Heuser)Honorable MentionsCards of Heart (GoodMind Games), Duck Paradox (Magic Games / Midwest Games), Lost Garden (Ori Shany, Yoni Pushett, Ramon Zerem), Perfect World (Michael Overton Brown), Timeworks (Starworks Studios)Anger Foot (Free Lives / Devolver Digital)Despelote (Julin Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)INDIKA (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)ODDADA (Sven Ahlgrimm, Mathilde Hoffmann, Bastian Clausdorff)Thank Goodness Youre Here! (Coal Supper / Panic)Utopia Must Fall (Pixeljam)Honorable MentionsAnimal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX), Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios / Kepler Interactive), Rise of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games / Playstack), UFO 50 (Mossmouth)Excellence in DesignBalatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury)Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games)Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken coda Snyder)Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios / Kepler Interactive)Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments)Honorable MentionsAnimal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), No Case Should Remain Unsolved (Somi), UFO 50 (Mossmouth), LOK Digital (Letibus Design, Icedrop Games / Draknek and Friends), Eigengrau (Martin Mauersics), The Rise of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games / Playstack)Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games)Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios / Skybound Games)Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken coda Snyder)Despelote (Julin Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)INDIKA (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)No Case Should Remain Unsolved (Somi)Honorable MentionsBlue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury), Miniatures (Other Tales Interactive), Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX), Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments), Thank Goodness Youre Here! (Coal Supper / Panic), The Thaumaturge (Fools Theory / 11 bit studios)Children of the Sun (Ren Rother / Devolver Digital)Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken coda Snyder)Hauntii (Moonloop Games / Firestoke)Judero (Talha and Jack Co, J. King-Spooner, Talha Kaya)Nine Sols (RedCandleGames)Thank Goodness Youre Here! (Coal Supper / Panic)Honorable MentionsCrow Country (SFB Games), Death of the Reprobate (Joe Richardson), Miniatures (Other Tales Interactive), Tiny Glade (Pounce Light), Ultros (Hadoque / Kepler Interactive)Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken coda Snyder)Despelote (Julin Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)Extreme Evolution: Drive to Divinity (Sam Atlas)Ginger (Kevin Du / lizu ktap)individualism in the dead-internet age: an anti-big tech asset flip shovelware rant manifesto (alienmelon)Starship Home (Creature)tapearia (tapestry) (mut/moochi (with help from plunderludics working group))The Exit 8 (KOTAKE CREATE / Active Gaming Media Inc)Honorable MentionsArctic Eggs (The Water Museum, cockydoody, abmarnie, Cameron Ginex / CRITICAL REFLEX), Judero (Talha and Jack Co, J. King-Spooner, Talha Kaya), Onto Maizilind Unto Infinity(Kas Ghobadi, Julin Palacios Gechtman / Kasrah Ghobadi), Price of Flight (WATERBOX), Project Y (Project_Y Production Committee), Refind Self: The Personality Test Game (Lizardry / PLAYISM)Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games)Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken coda Snyder)Despelote (Julin Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)INDIKA (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)Thank Goodness Youre Here! (Coal Supper / Panic)UFO 50 (Mossmouth)Honorable Mentions:Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack), Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury), Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX), Nine Sols (RedCandleGames), Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments)Editors Recommendations

The moves are part of the Biden administrations last-gasp efforts to clamp down on Chinas harnessing of AI for its military and tech sector.

Governments reach into the domestic politics of rival countries to subvert them and alter their policies with propaganda and disinformation.

Remember startups? They're backin OAuth form Startup necromancy: Dead Google Apps domains can be compromised by new owners Improperly winding down a Google Apps domain can leave logins accessible. Kevin Purdy Jan 15, 2025 2:51 pm | 0 Credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images Credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreLots of startups use Google's productivity suite, known as Workspace, to handle email, documents, and other back-office matters. Relatedly, lots of business-minded webapps use Google's OAuth, i.e. "Sign in with Google." It's a low-friction feedback loopup until the startup fails, the domain goes up for sale, and somebody forgot to close down all the Google stuff.Dylan Ayrey, of Truffle Security Co., suggests in a report that this problem is more serious than anyone, especially Google, is acknowledging. Many startups make the critical mistake of not properly closing their accountson both Google and other web-based appsbefore letting their domains expire.Given the number of people working for tech startups (6 million), the failure rate of said startups (90 percent), their usage of Google Workspaces (50 percent, all by Ayrey's numbers), and the speed at which startups tend to fall apart, there are a lot of Google-auth-connected domains up for sale at any time. That would not be an inherent problem, except that, as Ayrey shows, buying a domain allows you to re-activate the Google accounts for former employees if the site's Google account still exists.With admin access to those accounts, you can get into many of the services they used Google's OAuth to log into, like Slack, ChatGPT, Zoom, and HR systems. Ayrey writes that he bought a defunct startup domain and got access to each of those through Google account sign-ins. He ended up with tax documents, job interview details, and direct messages, among other sensitive materials.You have to close up shop, not just abandon itReached for comment, a Google spokesperson provided a statement:We appreciate Dylan Ayreys help identifying the risks stemming from customers forgetting to delete third-party SaaS services as part of turning down their operation. As a best practice, we recommend customers properly close out domains following these instructions to make this type of issue impossible. Additionally, we encourage third-party apps to follow best-practices by using the unique account identifiers (sub) to mitigate this risk.Google's instructions note that canceling a Google Workspace "doesn't remove user accounts," which remain until an organization's Google account is deleted.Notably, Ayrey's methods were not able to access data stored inside each re-activated Google account, but on third-party platforms. While Ayrey's test cases and data largely concern startups, any domain that used Google Workspace accounts to authenticate with third-party services and failed to delete their Google account to remove its domain link before selling the domain could be vulnerable.Wont fix (intended behavior) Dylan Ayrey's simplified explanation of how Google (or most any) OAuth works when signing in to a third-party service like Slack. Credit: Dylan Ayrey Dylan Ayrey's simplified explanation of how Google (or most any) OAuth works when signing in to a third-party service like Slack. Credit: Dylan Ayrey Ayrey writes that he disclosed his findings to Google on September 30, 2024. Google responded on October 2 that it had "made the decision not to track it as an abuse bug" and set its status to "Won't Fix (Intended Behavior)," according to Ayrey's screenshots. Ten days after Ayrey had a talk on this topic accepted at the Shmoocon hacker conference, Google re-opened the issue, paid him a $1,337 reward, and stated at the time that "exploitation likelihood is low" but that it was an "abuse-related methodology with high impact." Dylan Ayrey's talk at ShmooCon 2025: "Taking Over Millions of Accounts." In Google's domain close-out instructions and API documentation, Google points to a unique user identifier, "sub," as a value that is "never changed" and which should be used as a key for user identification. Ayrey's post quotes an unnamed staff engineer at a major tech company who disagrees, suggesting that the sub value varies in "about 0.04% of logins" using Google OAuth. At certain audience sizes, that could be hundreds of logins any given week. Faced with such an issue, larger services likely do not use "sub" for unique user verification, Ayrey suggests.In a chat conversation with Ars, Ayrey noted that, had "sub" been enforced by any of the major services he tested with his purchased domains and re-activated accounts, he should not have been able to get in. But his account reuse ruse worked on "100 percent of the ones I tested," Ayrey told Ars. This would suggest that the use of "sub" was either not implemented or did not work to prevent such domain-takeover access.Ayrey's proposed fix, which he suggested to Google, is to include two new immutable identifiers inside its OpenID Connect claims: one tied to the user that never changes and one tied to the domain. As of Tuesday, January 14, Ayrey had not heard from Google as to potential fixes or progress.Kevin PurdySenior Technology ReporterKevin PurdySenior Technology Reporter Kevin is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, covering open-source software, PC gaming, home automation, repairability, e-bikes, and tech history. He has previously worked at Lifehacker, Wirecutter, iFixit, and Carbon Switch. 0 Comments

A late Iron Age Durotrigan burial at Winterborne Kingston in Dorset, UKBournemouth UniversityGenetic analysis of people buried in a 2000-year-old cemetery in southern England has bolstered the idea that Celtic communities in Britain placed women centre-stage, showing that women remained in their ancestral homes while men moved in from other communities a practice that lasted centuries.The work supports growing archaeological evidence that women had high status within Celtic societies across Europe, including Britain, and gives credence to Roman written accounts that were often thought to be exaggerated for Mediterranean audiences when they described Celtic women as empowered. AdvertisementSince 2009, human remains of the Durotriges tribe have been unearthed during excavations of an Iron Age burial site at Winterborne Kingston in Dorset, UK. The Durotriges occupied the central southern English coast from around 100 BC to AD 100 and probably spoke a Celtic language.Human remains from Iron Age Britain are rare because prevailing funerary customs, including cremation or depositing bodies in wetlands, destroyed them. However, the Durotriges buried their dead in formal cemeteries in the chalk landscape, which aided their preservation. Archaeologists have found that Durotrigan women were more often buried with valuable items, suggesting high status and possibly a society focused on women.Lara Cassidy at Trinity College Dublin and her colleagues have now analysed the genomes of 55 Durotrigan individuals from Winterborne Kingston to untangle how they were related to one another and other Iron Age populations from Britain and Europe. Keep up with advances in archaeology and evolution with our subscriber-only, monthly newsletter.Sign up to newsletterCassidy says there were two big aha moments. Both were related to mitochondrial DNA small loops of DNA that we inherit only through the maternal line, since they are passed down via the egg cell and dont integrate with other DNA.As the mitochondrial DNA results for each individual came in, the team noticed the same genetic sequence appearing again and again. It became apparent that more than two-thirds of the individuals were descended from a single maternal lineage, originating from a common female ancestor a few centuries earlier.My jaw dropped at that moment, says Cassidy. This was a clear signature of matrilocality, or husbands moving to live with their wives families a pattern wed never seen before in prehistoric Europe. Patrilocality, in which a woman moves to her male partners community, is usually the norm.To find out if the matrilocal pattern was a distinct phenomenon of the Durotriges or if it could have been more widespread across Britain, Cassidy began trawling through data from an earlier large genetic survey of Iron Age Britain and Europe. Her jaw dropped again. She noticed cemeteries across Britain where most individuals were maternal descendants of a small set of female ancestors.It adds to the growing pile of evidence that Iron Age women were relatively empowered, says Cassidy. Matrilocality typically co-occurs with cultural practices that benefit women and keeps them embedded in their family support networks, she explains.In modern societies, matrilocality has been associated with higher female involvement in food production, higher paternity uncertainty and protracted male absence. In such societies, it is the man who migrates into a new community as a relative stranger and depends on his partners family for his livelihood.Read more: The origins of sexism: How men came to rule 12,000 years agoMen typically still dominate formal positions of authority, but women can wield huge influence through their strong networks of matrilineal relatives and their central role in the local economy, says Cassidy.Cassidys team went on to compare the British DNA dataset with data from other European sites, revealing repeated waves of migration from the continent, aligning with archaeological evidence. This showed that southern Britain was a hotspot for cultural and genetic exchange between 2500 BC and 1200 BC during the Bronze Age, as well as during a previously unknown Late Iron Age influx at the time of the Durotriges.Previous studies have suggested that Celtic languages probably arrived in Britain between 1000 BC and 875 BC, but the new findings widen that window. Celtic languages were possibly introduced on more than one occasion, says Cassidy.This is very exciting new research and is revolutionising how we understand prehistoric society, says Rachel Pope at the University of Liverpool, UK, who has previously found evidence of female-focused kinship in Iron Age Europe. What we are learning is that the nature of society in Europe before the Romans was really very different.Journal reference:Nature DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08409-6Topics:archaeology

More than 400 Washington Post staffers are urging Jeff Bezos to meet with the paper's leaders.The letter says integrity and transparency issues have caused staff departures.The Post has faced subscriber losses and leadership scrutiny under CEO Will Lewis.More than 400 Washington Post staffers sent a letter to the paper's owner, Jeff Bezos, asking him to intervene after a year of crises.The letter asked Bezos, who has owned the paper since 2013, to come to the Post and meet with its leaders."We are deeply alarmed by recent leadership decisions that have led readers to question the integrity of this institution, broken with a tradition of transparency, and prompted some of our most distinguished colleagues to leave, with more departures imminent," the letter says. "This goes far beyond the issue of the presidential endorsement, which we recognize as the owner's prerogative. This is about retaining our competitive edge, restoring trust that has been lost, and reestablishing a relationship with leadership based on open communication."One newsroom insider called it notable for its representation of non-union as well as union signatories."It ratchets up the pressure," said this person, who, like some others, spoke on condition of anonymity to speak freely about internal matters. Their identity is known to Business Insider.Since Bezos bought the paper, the Amazon executive chairman has had regular meetings with the business side but largely stayed out of the news coverage."From the very beginning, he told us he wouldn't be involved in any way in the newsroom, or be a hands-on owner," the Post insider said. "Our Amazon coverage has been aggressive, and he's never pushed back. I think the plea now is to get him involved now to establish some leadership in the newsroom."The Post has been battered by a string of recent crises under Will Lewis, its publisher and CEO. NPR reported that the outlet lost a significant number of subscribers after announcing just days before the US presidential election in November that it wouldn't endorse a candidate. That decision broke with 40 years of tradition and happened after a Kamala Harris endorsement had been planned.Bezos later explained the decision in an opinion column, saying many people believe the media is biased and presidential endorsements don't help.A second Post insider, who is familiar with the subscription numbers, said the paper had won back at least 20% of the subscriptions it lost after the endorsement situation. They said nearly three-fourths of those people who canceled are still using the site while their subscriptions remain active.Since the endorsement controversy, a number of high-profile newsroom figures have defected. They include a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist, who quit after the paper declined to publish her cartoon that portrayed Bezos and other media and tech CEOs sucking up to a statue of President-elect Donald Trump. A third Post insider described a nihilistic feeling at the company amid the talent exodus. They said they felt it would be hard for the paper to move forward under Bezos' ownership in a second Trump administration, given credibility issues with some left-leaning readers."A lot of really good institutions are going to have a really hard time in the Trump administration, from higher education to journalism," this person said. "And I think the Post, in part because of our own doing, is one of the first to have its walls shook really, really hard."Lewis earlier faced scrutiny when he replaced the top editor, Sally Buzbee, in 2024, and then his choice of replacement backed out. He also faced questions over his actions during the aftermath of a UK phone-hacking scandal.Not all Post staffers are in agreement with the petition. Another staffer, sports columnist Sally Jenkins, said the Post's biggest problem is the underlying business challenges facing it and other legacy media."I think the Post is in the middle of trying to find solutions, and it takes a lot of time," she said. "Would I love it if Jeff Bezos came to the newsroom? Sure. I just think things are much more complicated than, 'Oh, things will be fine if Jeff Bezos comes in and talks to some editors.'"Like many other news outlets, the paper has struggled on the revenue side. Last week, it began laying off 4% of staff on the business side, Reuters reported.Here's the full text of the letter:To Jeff Bezos:You recently wrote that ensuring the long-term success and editorial independence of this newspaper is essential. We agree, and we believe you take as much pride in The Washington Post as we do.We are deeply alarmed by recent leadership decisions that have led readers to question the integrity of this institution, broken with a tradition of transparency, and prompted some of our most distinguished colleagues to leave, with more departures imminent. This goes far beyond the issue of the presidential endorsement, which we recognize as the owner's prerogative. This is about retaining our competitive edge, restoring trust that has been lost, and reestablishing a relationship with leadership based on open communication.We urge you to come to our office and meet with Post leaders, as you have in the past, about what has been happening at The Post. We understand the need for change, and we are eager to deliver the news in innovative ways. But we need a clear vision we can believe in.We are committed to pursuing independent journalism that holds power to account and to reporting the news without fear or favor. That will never change. Nothing will shake our determination to follow the reporting wherever it leads.As you wrote when you first became The Post's owner in 2013, "The values of The Post do not need changing." We urge you to stand with us in reaffirming those values.Signed,Staffers of The Washington Post

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard the first major First Amendment case involving pornography or, for that matter, sexual speech of any kind in more than two decades. Its also the first such case since Republicans gained a 6-3 supermajority on the Supreme Court. And its a case that potentially allows the justices to both limit adults access to pornography and walk back longstanding free speech protections for sexual content.Wednesdays oral argument went disastrously for the porn industry. Current protections for online sexual content dont seem like they will be completely destroyed, but all six of the Courts Republicans plus Democratic Justice Elena Kagan appear likely to weaken those First Amendment protections (although it remains to be seen just how far they will go in doing so).The case, known as Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, involves a Texas law that requires many websites that publish a significant amount of sexual material harmful to minors to verify the age of its users before those users can access that material. The law is extraordinarily similar to a federal age-gating requirement that the Supreme Court struck down in Ashcroft v. ACLU (2004).Ashcroft applied the most skeptical test the Supreme Court applies in constitutional cases, known as strict scrutiny to the federal law. Under strict scrutiny, a law must be narrowly tailored to advance a compelling goal in order to survive. The overwhelming majority of laws subject to this test fail.Specifically, Ashcroft ruled that the federal age-gating law did not survive this test because, instead of requiring every pornographic website to check the age of every user, the government could have promoted blocking and filtering software that allows parents and teachers to prevent a particular computer from loading these websites.Most of todays justices, however, appeared to believe that Ashcroft is obsolete. As Justice Amy Coney Barrett noted, Ashcroft was decided before the invention of the iPhone, and before the proliferation of any number of internet-connected devices that children could use to access pornography. At one point, she spoke about the trouble shes personally experienced as a parent trying to block certain content on all of these various devices.Or, as Justice Samuel Alito put it, there is a huge volume of evidence that filtering doesnt work, in part because children are often far more tech-savvy than their parents.But, while Ashcroft had few fans at Wednesdays argument, its unclear how, exactly, the Court will roll back protections for sexual speech. Nor is it clear whether the new legal standard will prevent adults from viewing sexual content that the Court has consistently said they have a First Amendment right to see.Another question is, if the Court permits age-gating, what sort of content will the Court allow the government to place a gate around? Could the state of Florida forbid children from reading a transgender authors memoir of their transition? Or could it similarly prevent gay teenagers from accessing online forums where queer people discuss their sexuality? What if a 16-year-old boy, who is thinking of having sex for the first time, wants to watch an instructional video showing someone correctly putting on a condom?These questions, however, will probably have to wait for future litigation. For the moment, the only thing that appears reasonably clear is that the Court is likely to reduce the level of First Amendment protection afforded to online pornography but it is completely unclear just how much they will reduce it.Most of the justices started from the assumption that the government must have the power to restrict childrens access to pornSeveral justices were quite explicit that they believed that, whatever rule is governing online pornography, it must be flexible enough to allow some laws which seek to bar children from watching porn. As Kagan put it, its got to be the case that states can do some regulation in this area.Similarly, Chief Justice John Roberts seemed concerned that the more speech-protective regime that has been in place for decades is not compatible with the modern internet. Technology access to pornography has exploded, Roberts told Derek Shaffer, a lawyer who represents much of the porn industry. Roberts also expressed concerns that the nature of this content has changed since the era of relatively tasteful nude photographs in Playboy magazine.And so the oral argument in Free Speech Coalition bore more resemblance to a meeting of lawmakers trying to decide what should be in an anti-porn bill, rather than a meeting of judges trying to decide how to apply the Supreme Courts First Amendment precedents to a particular case. Alito, a Republican, offered the most extreme idea, proposing that the lowest level of constitutional scrutiny (known as rational basis) should apply to laws like Texas. If Alitos view prevails, that would be a catastrophe for free speech, as virtually all laws survive this very permissive test. Most of the justices, however, seemed to recognize that Alitos proposal goes too far, and that it would do too much to prevent adults from accessing sexual content that they have a constitutional right to see. As Democratic Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson noted at one point, under Alitos proposed test, the government could require any adult who wants to look at online pornography to first submit a copy of their passport, their drivers license, and a signed affidavit from their parents.Likewise, Barrett said at one point that she wants to take rational basis off the table. She did, however, suggest that the Court could apply a test known as intermediate scrutiny to laws targeting minors access to sexual speech online.This test, which asks whether a law serves important government objectives and whether it is substantially related to achievement of those objectives, is weaker than strict scrutiny, but it is still quite robust. Laws that discriminate on the basis of gender, for example, are typically subject to intermediate scrutiny. So, while Barretts approach would weaken First Amendment protections for sexual speech, it would still call for robust judicial review of any law targeting that speech. It is unlikely, for example, that intermediate scrutiny would allow a state to bar queer teens from chatting on LGBTQ forums that dont feature pornography.A third approach, floated by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, would ask whether laws imposing age-gating requirements on websites are overly burdensome or too burdensome of adults rights to see sexual content. This would be an entirely new legal standard, so its difficult to predict how it would apply to other contexts. Though there seemed to be little agreement on exact approach, it was fairly clear by the end of the argument that it is likely that at least five and possibly as many as seven justices will agree that strict scrutiny should no longer apply to laws requiring age-gating on pornographic websites. But it also appeared that most justices wanted to avoid the free-for-all that would result under Alitos proposed rule.The Court seems unsure what should happen after they rule on this caseAnother sign that the justices appear likely to land somewhere in between the very speech-protective rule that is currently the law, and the extremely permissive rule floated by Alito, is that multiple justices asked whether the Texas law should be temporarily blocked if they send this case back down to the lower courts to apply a new legal standard.The trial court in this case blocked the Texas law, applying the rule established by Ashcroft, but an appeals court stayed that decision blocking the law. Ordinarily, if the Supreme Court rules that an appeals court erred, it vacates that courts orders which would mean that the trial courts decision blocking the law would come back into effect at least until the appeals court has a chance to apply the new legal rule.In any event, this matters because the only reason the justices need to worry about what happens to Texass law after they rule is if they still plan to leave in place some protections for online pornography. Another question, which received some but not much attention during Wednesdays argument, is whether modern age-gating technology actually works as well as Texas claims that it does. It is far from clear that an app currently exists that can verify whether someone is an adult without creating serious privacy concerns such as a risk that hackers could uncover everyone who looked at a particular pornographic website.If the Supreme Court does announce new, weaker but still robust protections for sexual content online, then many of these questions will have to be resolved by the lower courts and they may make their way up to the Supreme Court again. For the moment, the one thing that does appear certain is that the First Amendment is about to become weaker, at least with respect to online pornography.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More: