Nintendo has finally revealed its new console, debuting the Switch 2 with a short video that went heavy on visuals but light on information. The video was paired with a brief follow-up press release from Nintendo that also didnt go into much detail, with the company ostensibly saving all the juicy stuff for the Switch 2 Direct set to take place on April 2nd. While we wait for official word, here are the burning questions we still have about the Nintendo Switch 2.What are the Switch 2s specs?Perhaps the most glaring omission in the Switch 2 reveal was the fact that Nintendo didnt say anything about how powerful the new console is. We can see that the console is bigger, but whats the screen size? Is it OLED or LCD? Is the screen resolution still 720p? Is 4K resolution supported? Though visible for a few brief moments, the reveal video showed off the Switch 2s new dock. Whats the docked resolution? Is it just a charging shell, or is it still required for TV play? Can you dock the Switch 2 in the original Switch dock, or will it support all the super-portable third-party docks? The Switch 2 also features a second USB-C port at the top. Its likely there to offer a way to connect USB-C headphones without sacrificing a charging port. But perhaps it might have some other mysterious function. Has native Bluetooth support been improved? Itd be nice to connect more than two wireless controllers if a Bluetooth headset is being used. What about the UI? Can we expect to see a homescreen similar to the original Switch? What about the UI for the eShop? Can you still post screenshots and clips directly to Facebook? Will Nintendo add the ability to post to other social media or streaming platforms? Image: NintendoHow exactly do the Switch 2 Joy-Con controllers work?A lot of the reveal trailer focused on the new Joy-Cons, and while theres some info we can infer, theres still more we dont know. Do they attach via magnets? Do they still have 3D rumble? Will the Switch 2 support the original Switch Pro controller or the original Switch Joy-Cons in wireless mode? Prior to the reveal, there were rumors that the Joy-Cons would have magnetic Hall effect joysticks that would supposedly combat Joy-Con drift. So, what improvements has Nintendo made to protect against drift? Will Nintendo still offer repairs for the new Joy-Cons if they do drift? Will it sell new Joy-Cons separately at launch, and do they come in any new colors? What does that new button do?Theres a new button on the Switch 2 directly below the home button on the right Joy-Con. Does it have something to do with a new chat functionality like rumors have suggested? Sure seems like thats some mouse action. GIF: Nintendo / The VergeDoes the new Joy-Con work like a mouse?The reveal video featured a Joy-Con attaching to a cover and zooming around on a surface like a mouse. Is mouse functionality one of the Switch 2s new gimmicks? Speaking of gimmicks, is there still an IR camera for games like 1-2-Switch? I also hope that the Switch 2 will still support original Switch peripherals like the Ring Fit Adventure Ring-Con. Image: The Verge, NintendoWhat games will be playable on the Switch 2?The Switch 2 reveal only showed off one game: a new Mario Kart. Beyond that, we have no idea what kind of launch titles to expect or if the new Mario Kart will even be among them. So, what kind of games can we expect for the Switch 2? Will there be Switch 2 exclusives at launch, or will we get cross-gen launch games like Breath of the Wild? One of the bigger original Switch complaints was that newer, larger games often didnt run or look all that good. Can the console run more technically intensive games? If so, will they run natively on the console, or will they be playable via cloud streaming like Kingdom Hearts and Control? Speaking of Mario Kart, the short glimpse we saw of it in the trailer featured what looked to be 15 simultaneous racers with 24 spots behind the starting line. Does this mean the Switch 2 will feature enhanced multiplayer capabilities like larger player lobbies, and will the console natively support communication with them? What of Amiibos? Will the Switch 2 still support those, or are there plans to make more?What Switch 2 games will be backward-compatible?In todays video, Nintendo reaffirmed that the Switch 2 would be backward-compatible, playing both physical and digital original Switch games but with the important caveat that not all games would be supported. What original Switch games wont be compatible? Will the original Switch games that do work on the console receive some kind of graphical or performance boost like certain games on PlayStation and Xbox?How much does the Switch 2 cost?Theres also the question of how much the Switch 2 will cost. The original Switch retailed at $299.99 in 2017. Since then, the cost of everything has gone up, especially computer chips. The Switch OLED, the only significant console refresh Nintendo offered, was only $50 more than the base model. But without knowing its internal specs, its hard to guess what the Switch 2 might cost.When will the Switch 2 launch?The most important unanswered question we have about the Switch 2 is the simplest: when can we buy it? Nintendo didnt share much beyond saying that it will launch in 2025. Much like with the original Switch, it will take the Switch 2 on a world tour starting in April. Its likely that the consoles release date will follow the tours conclusion, which looks to be in June. Heres hoping Nintendo shares that critical information, along with answers to at least some of these questions during its Switch 2 Direct on April 2nd.How do the cartridges taste?Oh, wait, there is one more burning question... what flavors can we expect for the Switch 2 cartridges? Im hoping for something better than insecticide.

Large Language Models (LLMs) based on Transformer architectures have revolutionized sequence modeling through their remarkable in-context learning capabilities and ability to scale effectively. These models depend on attention modules that function as associative memory blocks, storing and retrieving key-value associations. However, this mechanism has a significant limitation: the computational requirements grow quadratically with the input length. This quadratic complexity in both time and memory poses substantial challenges when dealing with real-world applications such as language modeling, video understanding, and long-term time series forecasting, where the context windows can become extremely large, limiting the practical applicability of Transformers in these crucial domains.Researchers have explored multiple approaches to address the computational challenges of Transformers, with three main categories emerging. First, Linear Recurrent Models have gained attention for efficient training and inference, evolving from first-generation models like RetNet and RWKV with data-independent transition matrices to second-generation architectures incorporating gating mechanisms like Griffin and RWKV6. Next, Transformer-based architectures have attempted to optimize the attention mechanism through I/O-aware implementations, sparse attention matrices, and kernel-based approaches. Lastly, Memory-augmented models focus on persistent and contextual memory designs. However, these solutions often face limitations such as memory overflow, fixed-size constraints, etc.Google Researchers has proposed a novel neural long-term memory module designed to enhance attention mechanisms by enabling access to historical context while maintaining efficient training and inference. The innovation lies in creating a complementary system where attention serves as short-term memory for precise dependency modeling within limited contexts even though the neural memory component functions as long-term storage for persistent information. This dual-memory approach forms the foundation of a new architectural family called Titans, which comes in three variants, each offering different strategies for memory integration. The system shows particular promise in handling extremely long contexts, successfully processing sequences beyond 2 million tokens.The Titans architecture introduces a complex three-part design to integrate memory capabilities effectively. The system consists of three distinct hyper-heads: a Core module utilizing attention with limited window size for short-term memory and primary data processing, a Long-term Memory branch implementing the neural memory module for storing historical information, and a Persistent Memory component containing learnable, data-independent parameters. The architecture is implemented with several technical optimizations, including residual connections, SiLU activation functions, and 2-norm normalization for queries and keys. Moreover, it uses 1D depthwise-separable convolution layers after query, key, and value projections, along with normalization and gating mechanisms.The experimental results demonstrate Titans superior performance across multiple configurations. All three variants MAC, MAG, and MAL outperform hybrid models like Samba and Gated DeltaNet-H2, with the neural memory module proving to be the key differentiator. Among the variants, MAC and MAG show strong performance, especially in handling longer dependencies, surpassing the MAL-style combinations commonly used in existing hybrid models. In needle-in-a-haystack (NIAH) tasks, Titans outperforms baselines across sequences ranging from 2K to 16K tokens. This superior performance stems from three key advantages: efficient memory management, deep non-linear memory capabilities, and effective memory erasure functionality.In conclusion, researchers from Google Research introduced a groundbreaking neural long-term memory system that functions as a meta-in-context learner, capable of adaptive memorization during test time. This recurrent model is more effective in identifying and storing surprising patterns in the data stream, offering more complex memory management than traditional methods. The system has proven its superiority in handling extensive contexts through the implementation of three distinct variants in the Titans architecture family. The ability to effectively process sequences exceeding 2 million tokens while maintaining superior accuracy marks a significant advancement in the sequence modeling field and opens new possibilities for handling increasingly complex tasks.Check out the Paper. All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also,dont forget to follow us onTwitter and join ourTelegram Channel andLinkedIn Group. Dont Forget to join our65k+ ML SubReddit. Recommend Open-Source Platform: Parlant is a framework that transforms how AI agents make decisions in customer-facing scenarios. (Promoted)The post Google AI Research Introduces Titans: A New Machine Learning Architecture with Attention and a Meta in-Context Memory that Learns How to Memorize at Test Time appeared first on MarkTechPost.

Its finally here. After months of speculation and rumour, Nintendos new console has been announced and its called the Nintendo Switch 2. Its an understated name to match an understated console - on first inspection it barely looks any different to a regular Switch. But take a closer look and theres plenty of fascinating details that suggest how Nintendo has evolved its beloved hybrid console. 30 of them, in fact, and were here to show you them all. From a brand new face button to whole new ways of using the Joy-Con, heres everything revealed in the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal trailer. Nintendo Switch 2 - First Look01 - The Switch 2s form factor is much the same as its predecessor, just a little bigger. The main unit of the console has grown in size and the now Joy-Con are taller. We estimate the entire console is around 15% bigger than the original Switch. 02 - Gone are the brightly coloured Joy-Con of the last generation. Nintendo has opted for a uniform dark grey across the entire console, which gives the entire device something of a sleeker, Steam Deck-like appearance. 03 - Thats not to say the console is devoid of colour entirely. It pays homage back to the original Switchs bright red and blue controllers with a ring of colour around each analogue stick. This extends to the inner-edges of both the console unit and each Joy-Con, which not only looks slick but acts as a colour coding system - red slots into red, and blue slots into blue. 04 - Talking of slots, the Joy-Con no longer slide into place on rails. Instead they now directly slot into the device, with a protruding connector on the main unit plugging into a port on the inner-edge of the Joy-Con. While unconfirmed by this trailer, rumours have suggested that each Joy-Con is held in place using magnets, similar to Apples Magsafe laptop charging cables.05 - The rear of each Joy-Con features a newly-designed trigger system that releases the controller from the main unit. As you can briefly see in the demonstration video published on Nintendo.com, squeezing the trigger causes a piston-like component inside the Joy-Con to push the controller away from the console.06 - On the front of the Joy-Cons we can see that the classic control layout has been preserved. The analogue sticks remain off-set, with the left stick sat above the four direction buttons, and the right stick below the A, B, X, and Y face buttons. Towards the tops of the controllers are the Plus and Minus buttons, and at the bottom is the square capture button on the left and circle Home button on the right.07 - Below the Home button is a new, unlabelled button. What it does is currently a mystery to anyone but Nintendo. 08 - The L and R shoulder buttons are exactly where youd expect them to be, and sitting beneath them are the ZL and ZR triggers. These appear to be deeper and more rounded than those on the Switch, and so will hopefully be more comfortable to use and easier to operate. 09 - The analogue sticks still use a low-profile design, but their faces have a notably smaller inside ring radius and thicker, taller rims. This likely is to provide better thumb grip and support. 10 - Theres no sign of the NFC Amiibo interface on the right-hand Joy-Con, but thats not to say it wont be there. After all, the feature was invisible on the original Switch. What does seem to be missing, though, is the IR sensor that was on the bottom edge of the original right Joy-Con. Considering barely any Switch games used it, its perhaps unsurprising to see it cut from the Switch 2.11 - Once again the internal edges of each Joy-Con controller have SL and SR buttons, indicating that the Switch 2 will still allow players to use each individual Joy-Con as its own controller. The big improvement here, though, is that the SL and SR buttons are significantly larger - potentially up to four times the length of those on the original Switch. They will almost certainly be easier to use.12 - The strip of four green LEDs that indicate which player each Joy-Con is assigned to has returned, although this time its on the forward-facing edge of the connector strip rather than the inward-facing one.13 - Between the SL and SR buttons is the connector port that links each Joy-Con to the main console unit, but also another couple of interesting components. Mirroring the original Switch, we can see the Sync button below the connector, which will pair a Joy-Con with the console. 14 - Its the component above the connector that proves most intriguing, though. This small, clear lens could well be a laser sensor similar to whats in a computer mouse. If so, it would mean the Joy-Con can be used like a mouse. The trailer even suggests this when the Joy-Con skate around with their wrist-strap accessories attached they literally look like scurrying mice with tails. 15 - Talking of the wrist-straps, theyre back in a newly-designed form, with red and blue colours to match the internal colour splash on each Joy-Con. 16 - Moving onto the main console unit itself, the key improvement is a bigger screen. Its not quite the near edge-to-edge panel that the Switch OLED boasted, but it takes up significantly more of the unit than the original Switchs display. What display technology it uses is currently unclear while wed love to see a bright OLED screen, this base model could well use a more traditional LED panel. 17 - The top edge of the device is largely unchanged. It features a slightly redesigned power and volume buttons, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a ventilation grill that appears to be of a roughly similar size to that on the original Switch, just split into three vents rather than five. 18 - The Game Card slot also remains on the top edge of the console. Its also the only visible slot on the device. Considering the machine is backwards compatible, that means the Switch 2s game cartridges will almost certainly be the same form factor as those used in the original Switch.19 - There is one new curious addition to the top edge to speculate about, though. Next to the headphone jack we can see a USB C port. What this is for were uncertain, as the Switch 2 also has the same bottom-mounted USB C port as its predecessor for docking and charging. Perhaps there are a range of USB-based peripherals in the works that make more sense mounted to the top of the console? Or perhaps the next Pokemon will go fully old-school and use a link cable to trade monsters? Were perhaps too excited than we should be to find out what a mystery USB slot does.20 - Alongside the bottom-facing USB C port are new, downward-firing speakers that replace the original Switchs rear-facing speakers. This new position will hopefully ensure better sound quality. 21 - The rear of the console sports a brand new kickstand system, which runs the entire length of the device. It does admittedly look a little flimsy, but the rubber feet on the edges of the console unit itself may be there to help support the kickstand and keep the entire device steady. The kickstand also seems to be able to lock into multiple angles at the very least it will have an upright position and one that lies it at a much shallower angle thats almost lying flat. 22 - As youd expect, the Switch can be plugged into a dock and connected to a TV. The dock appears nearly identical to the original Switchs, but the corners have been rounded off to match the radius of the Joy-Cons. Oh, and theres a massive Switch 2 logo on the front of it, too. 23 - Also mirroring the original Switch is the inclusion of a controller peripheral that the Joy-Cons slot into. It looks just as uncomfortable as the original version, but hopefully hands-on time will reveal that some improvements have been made. 24 - You cant have a console reveal trailer without a game, and this Switch 2 reveal gives us a sneak peak at what looks like a brand new Mario Kart game. It appears this will be a bigger, more chaotic version of Nintendos beloved racer as the starting line has space for 24 racers. Mario Kart 8 was limited to just 12 racers. 25 - Arching over that starting line is a sign that reads Mario Kart - Mario Bros. Circuit. It appears to be a whole new, seemingly American-flavoured track for Mario Kart one that appears to make use of more open space and off-road sections. 26 - The clip confirms ten characters for the roster: Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Peach, Yoshi, Toad, Donkey Kong, Daisy, Rosalina, and finally Wario, who can be spotted for just a split second as the screen flips.27 - While brand new games such as new Mario Kart were obviously on the cards, its good to see that old Switch games will be supported through backwards compatibility. However, the reveal trailer does warn that certain games may not be supported. We suspect that this may refer to games that used peripherals that directly connected to the Switch 1s Joy-Cons. Ring Fit Adventure, for instance, required the Joy-Con to be slotted into the ring, and the new Joy-Con design will presumably be incompatible with the old rail system. 28 - But when can we get finally own this brand new Nintendo console? 2025 is the only date were given, so sometime within the next 12 months (but likely not before June).29 - Well learn much more, including hopefully a release date, in just a few short months. A Nintendo Direct is scheduled for April 2nd.30 - Following the direct, youll be able to get hands-on with the console yourself as part of the Nintendo Switch 2 Experience, a worldwide tour taking place between April and June. Starting on April 4th in New York and Paris, and then going on to visit cities such as London, Berlin, Melbourne, Tokyo, and Seoul, it is open to all Nintendo Account holders provided you win a ticket via the free-to-enter ballot. Registration for the ticket raffle opens on January 17th. And those are the 30 key details revealed by the Switch 2 announcement trailer. Be sure to check out everything that's been confirmed so far, and stick with IGN over the next few months for even more Nintendo Switch 2 news. Matt Purslow is IGN's Senior Features Editor. Additional editorial support for this article was provoided by Alex Simmons, Dale Driver, Jesse Gomez, and Simon Cardy.

Over the span of its 50-year run, Saturday Night Live has played host some of the most talented comedic performers in American TV history. Equally as impressive as SNLs roster of cast members, however, is the list of folks who tried out for the show and failed to make the cut. Why is it that so many successful comedic figures couldnt crack the rotation on SNL? It turns out that not even the people in charge of the auditions fully know why.Theres a lot of people I brought in and thought I cant believe were not hiring that person,' Marci Klein, SNL Head of Talent from 1995-2012, says in the new Peacock docuseries SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night.Produced by Morgan Neville and released a month in advance of the official observance of SNLs 50th anniversary, SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night is a fascinating watch. Three of the docuseries four episodes dive into SNL specifics (including a behind-the-scenes peek at the writing process of a 2024 episode, an oral-history of More Cowbell, and an autopsy of what went wrong with season 11). But episode 1 Five Minutes takes a broader look at the most important five minutes of every SNL cast members journey: their audition.Footage of SNLs audition process is frequently hard to come by. Aside from an SNL 40th anniversary compilation and Will Ferrells iconic tryout, viewers dont often get to see video of successful SNL auditions, let alone the ones that ended in disappointment. SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night provides viewers with a privileged look at both. In addition to the auditions of SNL heavy-hitters like Amy Poehler, Fred Armisen, Kristen Wiig, and more,NOTE: While each of these entries is accompanied by a YouTube video embed to break up the textual monotony, only the Jim Carrey, Kevin Hart, and Stephen Colbert sections contain footage from their respective auditions as those have been previously released. Footage from the remaining auditions can be found around the 18:30-mark of SNL50: Beyond Saturday Nights first episode.Jim CarreyOf all the people who stopped by the Studio 8H audition stage, Jim Carrey looms large as the one that got away. Not only did the elastic performer become one of the biggest comedy stars at the box office, but he proved his sketch chops by becoming part of the cast of In Living Color. His audition, while raw, contains plenty of hints of the excitement to come like his rendition of a baby-armed post-nuclear Elvis. Jennifer CoolidgeJennifer Coolidge was so funny. But I couldnt get anybody to get it, Klein says in SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night. Jennifer Coolidge is indeed very funny but it probably takes longer than a five-minute audition to fully connect with her laidback comedic style. Thankfully, SNLs loss on this one was the worlds gain. Coolidge had a successful career in Christopher Guest mockumentaries before joining HBOs The White Lotus and winning an Emmy award. Shes also a popular impression for current SNL cast members and hosts.Kevin HartBefore he became one of the most successful stand-up comedians and movie stars of his era, Kevin Hart was just a young background actor in Judd Apatow projects trying to make his way in the world. His path led him to an SNL audition, which he kind of killed! Unfortunately his rendition of a man who had a spinal fusion didnt connect with the panel. Mindy KalingMindy Kaling has made a name for herself as both a comedic performer and writer in TV series like The Office and The Mindy Kaling Project. Based on that dual experience, one would imagine that she would be a perfect fit for SNL. Still, the audition panel didnt vibe with her audition for whatever reason. In the one bit we see in SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night, the Massachusetts-native is wearing a Boston Red Sox hoodie and playing a character from New England. Perhaps the show felt it had already hit its Masshole quota in the wake of Jimmy Fallon and Rachel Dratch Boston Teens sketches. Donald GloverNow the ultimate multi-hyphenate as writer/producer/actor/stand-up/director/Grammy-winning musical artist, Donald Glover a.k.a. Childish Gambino got his start in television comedy. Hell, he got his start in television comedy on SNLs own home turf of NBC! While a writer on 30 Rock (and just before he got his breakout role as Troy Barnes on Community), Glover attended a rare mid-season audition for SNL, which was looking for a regular Barack Obama impersonator. While his Obama impression apparently didnt pan out (the show chose Fred Armisen a white performer already in the cast ), he did uncork a killer Chris Rock impression in which he complained about an influx of vampires in New York City. Jordan PeeleAlso brought in to audition for the role of SNLs Barack Obama impersonator was then-Mad TV star Jordan Peele. Thanks to its subsequent deployment on Peele and Keegan-Michael Keys own sketch show Key & Peele, we know that said Obama impression was a good one. And SNL agreed! They reportedly were prepared to give Peele the job but Fox refused to let him out of his Mad TV contract. Oh well, Peele decided to settle for becoming a generational horror filmmaker instead by creating Get Out, Us, and Nope. In SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night, we get a look at the non-Obama portion of Peeles audition. It contains a hilarious impression of a Starbucks barista from the hood who is adamant that a customer requested a caramel mint mocha latte.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!Stephen ColbertThe Late Show host Stephen Colbert is the only non-SNL cast member that SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night invites on to watch footage of his own failed audition. I was hoping Id never see this, Colbert says right before the clip plays. His concern is unwarranted as the young Stephen Colberts audition is very good! He plays a waiter who is nauseated by the mere thought of food and has to hold back vomit while reading the days specials. Henry ZebrowskiHenry Zebrowski never got a chance to be a star on Saturday Night Live but he is very much the start of the first episode of SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night. There was a guy named Henry Zebrowski who did his audition, Lindsay Shookus says. Three minutes in he came out from behind the wall and he was completely naked. It was such a shock. Im not even sure what he did at that point. He was the naked guy and he didnt get hired. Not because he was naked. We then get to see Henry in all naked glory. Zebrowski did just fine without SNL, enjoying a long career as a sketch comedian and getting a supporting role in Martin Scorseses The Wolf of Wall Street. Currently he is one of the hosts of paranormal/true crime podcast Last Podcast on the Left and a co-owner of the Last Podcast Network. All four episodes of SNL: Beyond Saturday Night are available to stream on Peacock now.

As we swiftly approach a public release later this month, Apple has released iOS 18.3 beta 3 for developers. iOS 18.3 beta 3 features the build number 22D5055b. Apple hasnt yet released a new public beta, but were expecting that to change as soon as later today.Compared to the monster iOS 18.1 and iOS 18.2 updates, iOS 18.3 is a relatively minor release for iPhone users. There are changes to the Calculator app, Settings app, various bug fixes and improvements, and more. Check out my colleague Jeff Benjamins full recap below: iOS 18.3 will be released to everyone later this month. After that, iOS 18.4 will enter beta testing. That update is expected to include major new Apple Intelligence features, like upgrades to Siri, priority notifications, and more. If you spot anything new in iOS 18.3 beta 2, let us know in the comments below, onTwitter @9to5MacandThreads @9to5Mac. Stay tuned for our full hands-on coverage with the new releases right here at9to5Mactoday and throughout the rest of the week.My favorite iPhone accessories: Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

"We cannot find any incident that matches this description."Truth CrimeTough-on-crime crusader Elon Musk claims that there was an axe murderer on the loose in the city of San Francisco who tried to kill several of his employees, with the authorities doing nothing to catch the assailant. The key word in all of this being "claims.""About a year ago, a guy tried to kill three X employees with an axe outside the former Twitter HQ in SF. They reported it to the police, but nothing was done," Musk tweeted, responding to the account End Wokeness (a favorite of his). "He later killed someone with that axe."If this is true, the city has become so utterly lawless that the cops never got wind of the grisly murder. On Monday, local police said they could find no records supporting Musk's story, the evidence that, once again, Musk may be simply be fibbing or falling victim to preposterous rumors."Based on the information provided, we cannot find any incident that matches this description in that location in 2023 or 2024," Evan Sernoffsky, a San Francisco police spokesperson, told the Chronicle.Tall FailsYes, it would be remiss to take the authorities at their word. But Musk can't even get his own story straight here. As we'll show, he's made these claims before, changing key details literally every time he's done so.When Musk shared a similar account last April, he stated that "several" employees were threatened "by a guy with a machete" outside a Walgreens not with an axe, and not outside Twitter headquarters."They didn't report it," Musk claimed, "because that doesn't constitute an arrestable crime in California. That guy later killed 3 people." His most recent version of events, however, purports that the employees did report the crime and that the assailant only killed one person.In an interview with Tucker Carlson last October, Musk threw in another variation in body count: the hatchet man, back to menacing employees outside Twitter HQ rather than a drugstore, killed two people, according to the Chronicle.Facts vs FeelingsMusk has frequently lied and spread conspiracy theories in his railing against crime, foreigners, and anything else that can be pinned on the "woke" agenda.Last year, for example, he chimed in the conservative moral-panic-of-the-moment by accusing Haitian immigrants of being "cannibals," while spreading other unfounded claims. He's even suggested that most homeless people don't exist, andthat the word "homeless" is "usually a propaganda word for violent drug addicts."Given his conflicting reports and his history of fabulism whether as part of the culture war or to prop up his enterprises it's hard to take this axe-slash-machete murderer tale of his seriously.The real axeman of San Francisco may in fact be Musk himself: after taking over Twitter, he annihilated 80 percent of its workforce, or more than 6,000 employees.Share This Article

Jan 16, 2025Ravie LakshmananVulnerability / CybersecurityDetails have emerged about a now-patched security vulnerability that could allow a bypass of the Secure Boot mechanism in Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) systems.The vulnerability, assigned the CVE identifier CVE-2024-7344 (CVSS score: 6.7), resides in a UEFI application signed by Microsoft's "Microsoft Corporation UEFI CA 2011" third-party UEFI certificate, according to a new report from ESET shared with The Hacker News.Successful exploitation of the flaw can lead to the execution of untrusted code during system boot, thereby enabling attackers to deploy malicious UEFI bootkits on machines that have Secure Boot on, irrespective of the operating system installed.Secure Boot is a firmware security standard that prevents malware from loading when a computer starts up by ensuring that the device boots using only software that is trusted by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). The feature leverages digital signatures to validate the authenticity, source, and integrity of the code that is loaded.The affected UEFI application is part of several real-time system recovery software suites developed by Howyar Technologies Inc., Greenware Technologies, Radix Technologies Ltd., SANFONG Inc., Wasay Software Technology Inc., Computer Education System Inc., and Signal Computer GmbH -Howyar SysReturn before version 10.2.023_20240919Greenware GreenGuard before version 10.2.023-20240927Radix SmartRecovery before version 11.2.023-20240927Sanfong EZ-back System before version 10.3.024-20241127WASAY eRecoveryRX before version 8.4.022-20241127CES NeoImpact before version 10.1.024-20241127SignalComputer HDD King before version 10.3.021-20241127"The vulnerability is caused by the use of a custom PE loader instead of using the standard and secure UEFI functions LoadImage and StartImage," ESET researcher Martin Smolr said. "As a result, the application allows the loading of any UEFI binary even an unsigned one from a specially crafted file named cloak.dat, during system start, regardless of the UEFI Secure Boot state."An attacker who weaponizes CVE-2024-7344 could, therefore, sidestep UEFI Secure Boot protections and execute unsigned code during the boot process in the UEFI context even before the operating system loads, granting them covert, persistent access to the host."Code executed in this early boot phase can persist on the system, potentially loading malicious kernel extensions that survive both reboots and OS reinstallation," the CERT Coordination Center (CERT/CC) said. "Additionally, it may evade detection by OS-based and endpoint detection and response (EDR) security measures."Malicious actors could further expand the scope of exploitation by bringing their own copy of the vulnerable "reloader.efi" binary to any UEFI system with the Microsoft third-party UEFI certificate enrolled. However, elevated privileges are required to deploy the vulnerable and malicious files to the EFI system partition: local administrator on Windows and root on Linux.The Slovakian cybersecurity firm said it responsibly disclosed the findings to the CERT/CC in June 2024, following which Howyar Technologies and their partners addressed the issue in the concerned products. On January 14, 2025, Microsoft revoked the old, vulnerable binaries as part of its Patch Tuesday update.Outside of applying UEFI revocations, managing access to files located on the EFI system partition, Secure Boot customization, and remote attestation with a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) are some of the other ways of protecting against exploitation of unknown vulnerable signed UEFI bootloaders and deployment of UEFI bootkits."The number of UEFI vulnerabilities discovered in recent years and the failures in patching them or revoking vulnerable binaries within a reasonable time window shows that even such an essential feature as UEFI Secure Boot should not be considered an impenetrable barrier," Smolr said."However, what concerns us the most with respect to the vulnerability is not the time it took to fix and revoke the binary, which was quite good compared to similar cases, but the fact that this isn't the first time that such an obviously unsafe signed UEFI binary has been discovered. This raises questions of how common the use of such unsafe techniques is among third-party UEFI software vendors, and how many other similar obscure, but signed, bootloaders there might be out there."Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE

One of the most beloved voices in baseball and pop culture history has died. Bob Uecker was best known as radio play-by-play announceron Milwaukee Brewers baseball games since 1971, although that role eventually brought him to wider prominence inthe worlds of film and television.Sadly, the Brewers announced today that Uecker had passed away. He was 90 years old. A statement released by the Brewers said Uecker had been battling small cell lung cancer for the last few years.Uecker was still the radio broadcaster for the Brewersduring the 2024 season, in whichthe team wonthe National League Central division. Uecker was front and center during the celebration of the division-clinching victory.Prior to his broadcasting career, Uecker was a major leaguer himself.Mostly serving as a backup catcher, he was called up to the Brewers in 1962 and also played for the Cardinals (where he helped win the World Series in 1964), Phillies, and Braves in a six-season career.After his playingdays were over,Uecker rejoined the Brewers organization, this time as their radio broadcaster. He held that job from 1971 until his death. In the 1980s and 90s he also worked many nationally broadcast baseball games, includingseveral World Series. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.In addition to Ueckers work behind the mic for the Brewers, he became a national celebrity and a fixture on television in the 1970s and 80s. He initially garnered wider fame through dozens of appearances on talk shows likeThe Tonight Show Johnny Carson was the one whopopularized Ueckers slightlysarcastic nickname Mr. Baseball and then in a series of popular Miller Lite ads.Ueckers most famous role these daysmight be his work aswisecracking Cleveland play-by-play man Harry Doyle in the trilogy ofMajor League films. Ueckers exasperated calls of the hapless teamsblunders became famous baseball quotes like Juuuusta bit outside, duringa particularly poor pitch from Charlie Sheens Ricky Vaughn.Uecker also spent six seasons as the good-natured patriarch on the ABC sitcomMr. Belvedere. He played George, the head of a Pittsburgh family that has an English butler (played by Christopher Hewett).Ueckers affable, self-deprecating persona made him a great talk show guest and beer pitchman, but he was also a legitimately great broadcaster and storyteller. In recent years, you could listen to his calls of Brewers games on the MLB app,and they were so entertaining even if you didntcare about whether the Brewers won or lost. He will be missed, but some of his legendary calls (both in real gamesandin fictional ones) will live on forever.Get our free mobile app80s Movies That Could Never Be Made TodayFiled Under: Major League, RIPCategories: R.I.P., TV News

BotGuard is a European company established in 2019 and headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia. We operate globally, with clients and partners in more than 30 countries around the world. Our mission is to develop easy-to-implement, state-of-the-art tools to protect companies from modern-day web threats. If you are passionate about cybersecurity, fascinated by solving complex problems, and thrive in an environment where innovation and collaboration drive everything, we want to hear from you.About the RoleWe are looking for a Lead Developer to join our team, focused on building cutting-edge Networking and Web Security services. This is an opportunity for someone who is not only a highly skilled developer but also deeply interested in cybersecurity and excited about protecting websites from modern threats.Our engineers have wide responsibilities across the entire development lifecycle. You will need to be comfortable developing production-level services in C++, patching and extending open-source software like Nginx or Apache, and working with various programming languages and tools. We highly value curiosity, a collaborative mindset, and the ability to tackle big challenges such as scalability and availability.This role reports directly to the CTO.TasksWhat You Will Be DoingImplementing new functions in our detection engine written in C++.Developing integration modules for web servers like Nginx and Apache, and patching open-source libraries and tools.Designing and developing new networking and web security products.Occasionally contributing to web development projects, as our website engine is partially powered by C++.What You Wont Be DoingWasting time on fixing extensive technical debt. Were focused on building new features and minimizing technical overhead.Requirements10+ years of professional C/C++ software development experience with a proven track record of delivering long-term projects across multiple companies.Expertise in low-level and systems/network programming.Solid experience with web security and protecting websites from threats.Proficiency with SQL and knowledge of Golang.Familiarity with PHP/XML/HTML/CSS.Knowledge of diverse programming languages to handle various challenges in website protection.Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to collaborate effectively with developers at different levels.Passion for cybersecurity and a genuine interest in solving complex problems to protect websites.Time management and asynchronous communication skills suitable for a remote-first organization.What We Expect From YouA strong sense of curiosity and enthusiasm for learning and improving.High motivation to work on web security problems beyond monetary incentives.The ability to showcase your work through an active GitHub profile or other demonstrable code examples. This is a must-have requirement as we will evaluate your code instead of conducting a technical assessment.Our Tech StackC++GolangPHPRabbitMQPostgreSQLClickhouseKubernetesGitLab CI/CDBenefitsWhy Join Us?At BotGuard, youll have the opportunity to work on interesting systems and contribute to the rapidly evolving field of cybersecurity. If you love problem-solving, are motivated by the impact of your work, and enjoy collaborating with a dynamic team, this is the role for you. Youll be joining a global team of professionals passionate about protecting companies from online threats.If this sounds like the right role for you, please apply with your CV and links to your GitHub profile or other relevant examples of your work. We cant wait to see what youve built!We are striving to create a diverse and inclusive environment. We encourage all applicants to apply for our roles. We value and actively seek diverse talent!

Submitted by WA ContentsThe former steelworks of a power plant are integrated with organically-shaped greenhouse pavilionsChina Architecture News - Jan 16, 2025 - 14:11 html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"The former steelworks of a power plant were integrated with organically-shaped greenhouse pavilions to establish the twin dualities of industry, nature, tradition, and the future.Named Expo Cultural Park Greenhouse, the 41,000-square-metre building was designed by Vienna-based architecture firm Delugan Meissl Associated Architects (DMAA).Entrance pathReaching at 35 meters in height, the greenhouse complex is located in the center of Pudong, a sparsely populated industrial enclave that has developed into one of Asia's most breathtaking high-rise skylines.As Delugan Meissl Associated Architects explained, the inner-city leisure area was once home to a steel mill and a coal-fired power station before being transformed into the Expo Cultural Park. After that, it was renovated to serve as Expo 2010's site.FacadeThe steel framework of a former industrial hall served as a geometric superstructure for the new Greenhouse Garden project, which was further complemented with naturally curved pavements."The zeitgeist has shifted towards recognizing nature as the essential basis of our living environment," said DMAA."And nature has also moved to the heart of architecture. In recent years, as it has repeatedly addressed the specific task of greenhouse design, we have developed extensive technical and cultural knowhow."Exterior evening"With a population of 23 million, the megacity of Shanghai is the focal point of Chinas urban and internati- onal development.""But the Shanghai Region is also directly threatened by the consequences of unlimited growth and climate change. Given biting smogs, water shortages, and rising temperatures, the countrys leaders are looking for solutions that take the form of radical largescale steps steps that should not only preserve natural habitats but also steer Chinas technological and economic efforts in a sustainable direction," said the firm.Exterior parkfrontThe decision by the municipal administration to transform such a large, centrally located plot of land into a first-rate recreational area is unmistakable proof of the general trend toward more intensive planting of Shanghai's core urban zones. Shanghai is one of the world's largest cities with a subtropical climate.The creation of a zero-energy building was one of the project's specific goals because greenhouses typically use a lot of energy. This was accomplished by using single glazing, which was chosen since simulative studies indicated that double glazing would be less energy efficient because the impact of the artificial lighting needed by the plants would more than offset the reduction in heat loss.Exterior parkviewThe studio modified the opening windows in the perforated roof to allow for the passive cooling and natural ventilation that produce the ideal climate for the particular plants. In addition to providing cooling, a pool next to the pavilions uses photovoltaic panels situated just below its surface to power the greenhouse.With its sandy and rocky terrain, the first pavilion replicates the extreme aridity of the desert and represents the home of drought-tolerant yet endangered plants on every continent. The final pavilion's vertical flower beds provide room for traveling exhibitions, while the second pavilion showcases the rainforest's tropical vegetation.Entrance pavilionAn overview of the entire park and the structures that make up the periphery of the surrounding urban fabric may be seen from the terrace above the pavilions. A sizable circular area beneath the listed steel structure and between the three pavilions and the entrance building unifies the proposal with the natural surroundings.The greenhouses' internal and external passageways provide new attributes. Visitors actively navigate this network, moving through each spatial sequence and interacting with the constructed material in a certain way.Interior desertThese visitors are revealed by glazed parapets, and their movement is accelerated or decelerated by mild gradients. The difference in water levels between desert and tropical flora is a natural phenomenon, but it also provides a global political viewpoint because of the concerns about future water supplies brought up by climate change.In this sense, the facade's naturally flowing shape serves as a leitmotif for both the internal structure and the new, flexible human-nature relationship.Interior tropical forest pathwayInterior tropical forestBirdviewBirdview top nightSketchSite planFirst level floor planSecond level floor planThird level floor planRoof floor planDelugan Meissl Associated Architects (DMAA) was established in 1993 by Delugan and Elke Delugan-Meissl. The office tackles today's social and environmental concerns with a passionate and relentless focus on the novel and the unusual, defying conventional answers.By working on several extremely successful greenhouse projects over the years, DMAA has gained technical and cultural know-how that is currently being used on Shanghai's Greenhouse Garden.Project factsProject name: Expo Cultural Park GreenhouseArchitects:Delugan Meissl Associated ArchitectsLocation:Shanghai Expo Cultural Park - Guo Zhan Lu Pudong Xinqu, ShanghaiCompetition: 2018 (1st Price)Start of construction:01/2020Completion year:09/2024Gross surface area: 41,000 m2Site area: 47,000 m2 (within the whole Park)Height: 35mProject manager:Diogo TeixeiraProject team:Yue Chen, Jurgis Gecys, Thomas Peter-Hindelang, Toms Kampars, Prima Mathawabhan, Sebastian Michalski, Ernesto Mulch, Maximilian Tronnier, Toni Nachev, Marillies Wedl.ConsultantsCoordination:Yiju DingExecutive Planning: SIADR Co.LtdStructural Engineering:Bollinger + Grohmann ZT GmbHEnergy Design:Transsolar Energie-technik GmbHLandscape Design:Yiju DingAll images CreatAR.All drawings Delugan Meissl Associated Architects.> via Delugan Meissl Associated Architects