The main village in Cornwall, Connecticut, looks like a postcard. Mature trees and beautiful, historic homes line the bucolic streets with sweeping views of the Litchfield Hills in the distance; it is what many envision when they think of New England charm. This stately Federal style mansion is sited deep on its lot beyond a field and dates to the first decades of the 19th century, it is the villages grandest early home. The house was built for Amos Barnes, but supposedly remained unfinished when he died suddenly. Barnes widow sold the property to the local Foreign Mission School as a dormitory for students. The schools (in my opinion, problematic) mission was to educate students of non-Christian cultures, including Native Americans, East Asian, and Hawaiian pupils, for them to become missionaries, preachers, translators, teachers, andhealth workersin their native communities in the Christian faith. These types of programs furthered the erasure of other cultures and promoted Christianity in all corners of the world, but I digress. In 1826, this home was acquired by Frederick Kellogg, the long-time town clerk and Judge of Probate, who owned the propertyuntil his death in 1891.

In the wake of a significant action against its infrastructure, the Kremlin-backed advanced persistent threat (APT) actor Star Blizzard has pivoted to exploiting social messaging application WhatsApp in its spear-phishing campaigns against targets of interest to Russias intelligence agencies, Microsoft has warned.Microsoft has been hot on the tail of Star Blizzard for some time, and late last year its Digital Crimes Unit (DCU) received permission from a United States court to conduct a significant takedown operation against almost 70 of the groups domains. Since October 2024, Microsoft and the US Department of Justice (DoJ) have seized or taken offline over 180 websites used by Star Blizzard, which has had a significant short-term effect on the APTs ability to go about its nefarious business.This action has already yielded a treasure trove of information for defenders to pick over, but according to the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) the group has demonstrated remarkable resilience and has swiftly transitioned to new domains and methodology, including the exploitation of WhatsApp.In mid-November 2024, Microsoft Threat Intelligence observed Star Blizzard sending their typical targets spear-phishing messages, this time offering the supposed opportunity to join a WhatsApp group, said the MSTIC team.This is the first time we have identified a shift in Star Blizzards longstanding tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to leverage a new access vector.We assess the threat actors shift to compromising WhatsApp accounts is likely in response to the exposure of their TTPs by Microsoft Threat Intelligence and other organisations, including national cybersecurity agencies. While this campaign appears to have wound down at the end of November, we are highlighting the new shift as a sign that the threat actor could be seeking to change its TTPs in order to evade detection, they said.In the WhatsApp campaign, Star Blizzard operatives first made contact with their targets via email to engage them, in the guise of a senior US government official. This email contained a quick response (QR) code that purported to direct the recipient to join a WhatsApp group to discuss non-governmental organisation (NGO) work in Ukraine. However, in an attempt to coax their victims into responding, the QR code was intentionally non-functional.If the unlucky target did respond, Star Blizzard then wrote back with a wrapped, shortened link apparently directing them to the WhatsApp group. This sent the targets to a web page containing another QR code for them to scan to join the group.In a final bit of subterfuge, this second QR code was not a link to the group but instead used by WhatsApp to connect an account to the WhatsApp Web portal, which is used legitimately to enable people to access their accounts on a desktop PC instead of their smartphone, should they wish.In scanning this second QR the victims in fact gave Star Blizzard full access to their WhatsApp accounts, from where the cyber spooks were able to read messages and exfiltrate data using browser plugins.MSTIC said that the campaign was limited in its scope and appears to have ended at the end of November 2024. However, said the research team, it marks a clear break in Star Blizzards tradecraft, and highlights its tenacity.MSTIC is advising anybody working in sectors that Star Blizzard typically targets to be extra vigilant when dealing with unexpected or unsolicited email from trusted or new contacts.However, ordinary users should have little to be concerned about from the APT for, as ever, Star Blizzards campaign targets are most commonly individuals holding high-level positions in government or the diplomatic community, defence and international relations experts, and sources of assistance to Ukraine.As exposed by Computer Weekly in 2022, Star Blizzard previously hacked, compromised, and leaked emails and documents belonging to a former head of MI6, alongside other members of a secretive right-wing network devoted to campaigning for an extreme hard Brexit.This data dump also exposed the groups attempts to spread conspiracies about the origins of SARS-CoV2 and influence UK government policy on science and technology during the Covid-19 pandemic.Read more about cyber risk and espionageWorld Economic Forum urges digital business leaders to build the resilience of supply chains, improve cyber defences and develop contingency plans.Threat actors are once again lining up to exploit vulnerabilities in the widely used Ivanti product suite, with an apparent link to Chinese espionage activity.The US Treasury Department said Chinese government hackers gained access to a key for BeyondTrust's Remote Support service and used it to breach the federal agency.

Today's NYT Strands hints and answersCredit: New York TimesLooking for Thursdays Strands hints, spangram and answers? You can find them here:Well its my last day writing these Strands guides for the next couple of weeks, so I must bid you all adieu for the nonce. Its been a fun week of puzzle-solving, though a lot of these have been far, far too easy. I like Strands a lot, but I prefer the tough grids to the easy ones. Todays is actually a bit trickier than many, though yesterdays was pretty good also. In any case, its Friday so lets solve this puzzle and get on with the fun!Strands is the newest game in the New York Times stable of puzzle games. Its a fun twist on classic word search games. Every day were given a new theme and then tasked with uncovering all the words on the grid that fit that theme, including a spangram that spans two sides of the board. One of these words is the spangram which crosses from one side of the grid to another and reveals even more about the days theme.Spoilers ahead.Todays Strands HintsTodays Theme: The time of our livesHint #1: Think about different agesMORE FOR YOUHint #2: Your parents belong to a different one, and so do your kidsTo help you uncover all the words, here are the first two letters of every word, including the spangram.MIALBOGRZOGERemember, spoilers ahead!What Are Todays Strands Answers?Todays spangram is: GENERATIONGAPHeres the full list of words:MILLENIALALPHABOOMERGREATESTZOOMERHeres the completed Strands grid:Today's StrandsScreenshot: Erik KainTodays Strands BreakdownI had a couple thoughts when I saw todays theme: The soap opera Days Of Our Lives and the Green Day song where he sings I hope you have the time of your life. Neither of these ended up being relevant. This was all about GENERATIONGAP, or at least generations. This became obvious not after ALPHA but definitely after BOOMER. The rest fell into place accordingly, especially since I found the spangram pretty quickly. Have a great weekend!How did you do on your Strands today? Let me know on Twitter and Facebook.Be sure to check out my blog for my daily Wordle guides as well as all my other writing about TV shows, streaming guides, movie reviews, video game coverage and much more. Thanks for stopping by!

A hot potato: Upscaling has become a topic of contention since Nvidia and AMD introduced DLSS and FSR, with some users viewing the functionality as a crutch for unoptimized games. After unveiling new GPUs that rely heavily on image reconstruction and frame generation for their claimed performance gains, Nvidia revealed a data point suggesting that almost all RTX GPU users activate DLSS, meaning to indicate that upscaling has become the norm. Nvidia held a lengthy presentation at CES 2025 outlining the past and future of its DLSS neural rendering technology. One slide included a data point claiming that over 80 percent of users with RTX 20, 30, and 40 series graphics cards use DLSS on games, vindicating the company's extensive use of AI in video game rendering.While the slide does not specify how Nvidia collected the data, if accurate, it suggests that gamers have overwhelmingly embraced machine learning-based upscaling. The presentation also highlighted that over 500 games and 15 of 2024's top 20 titles support DLSS. However, it did not clarify whether most RTX 40 series owners specifically use frame generation, which is part of the DLSS suite but is a separate step than upscaling.Upscaling technologies like DLSS, FSR, and XeSS render games below a display's native resolution and use advanced techniques to reconstruct the missing pixels, significantly boosting performance. Analyses from TechSpot and other outlets demonstrate that the increased frame rates often far outweigh the minor reductions in image quality. Nvidia's newly revealed DLSS 4 aims to minimize these visual flaws even further by using GenAI transformer models.However, as games like Remnant II, Alan Wake II, and Monster Hunter Wilds now list upscaling as part of their system requirements, debate persists over whether the visual trade-offs are justified.Additionally, Nvidia is promoting frame generation, which interpolates AI-generated frames between traditionally rendered ones without reducing latency, as a key feature of its RTX 50 series cards.Nvidia's CES presentation also outlined future plans for neural rendering, which will integrate AI-assisted techniques into internal rendering pipelines instead of just resampling the final rendered frame. In the coming years, DLSS could enable games to process more detailed materials, hair, facial expressions, and other assets with minimal performance costs.Nvidia has previously argued that as performance gains from conventional rendering and semiconductor die shrinks slow down, enhancing visual detail and frame rates will increasingly depend on technologies like neural rendering and frame generation. These currently address the substantial computational demands of 4K resolution and ray tracing. // Related StoriesMoreover, AMD's and Intel's efforts to play catch-up with Nvidia instead of providing alternative solutions further validate the growing importance of AI rendering. Team Red unveiled FSR 4 upscaling at CES, too, which mimics Nvidia's machine learning approach and achieves noticeably better results than FSR 3.Similarly, late last year, Intel introduced new GPUs that support frame generation using XeSS 2. The shift toward AI-assisted graphics will potentially require new approaches to technical analysis and benchmarking.

SpaceX nailed the landing of its first-stage Super Heavy booster during the seventh test of its mighty Starship rocket on Thursday, but the upper-stage Starship spacecraft suffered what SpaceX likes to call a rapid unscheduled disassembly (in regular-speak, it blew up) soon after stage-separation.A short while later, clips started appearing on social media apparently showing bits of the uncrewed Starship falling back to Earth near the Turks and Caicos Islands about 1,600 miles (2,600 km) east of the rockets launch site near Boca Chica, Texas. SpaceX chief Elon Musk reposted one of them, saying: Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed! However, it was later reported that the FAA had to divert a number of flights in the area to ensure aircraft were kept away from the descending debris. Its also currently unknown if any of the debris reached land or if all of it landed in the sea.Recommended VideosSuccess is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed! pic.twitter.com/nn3PiP8XwG Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2025Please enable Javascript to view this contentAnother video showed events from a different angle:Starship Flight 7 breaking up and re-entering over Turks and Caicos pic.twitter.com/iuQ0YAy17O Alex D. (@adavenport354) January 16, 2025Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly during its ascent burn, the spaceflight company said in a post on X. Teams will continue to review data from todays flight test to better understand root cause.It added: With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and todays flight will help us improve Starships reliability.During the live-stream commentary on SpaceXs X account, Dan Huot said that the Starship spacecraft successfully separated, adding: We did see that hot staging maneuver and we did see all six of Ships engines on the way uphill during its ascent, but as we were getting to the end of that ascent and burn we saw engines dropping out on telemetry, and we have since lost contact with the Ship. At this point, we are assuming that the ship has been lost.Meanwhile, SpaceX managed to bring home the first-stage for a second time, achieving a spectacular landing back at the launch tower using giant mechanical arms to secure the booster above the ground. The breathtaking maneuverallows SpaceX to reuse the rocket multiple times, thereby reducing launch costs. Once fully tested, NASA and SpaceX will use the Starship for crew and cargo flights to the moon, Mars, and beyond.Editors Recommendations

Elon Musks space company was conducting the seventh flight of its Starship rocket. The explosion temporarily disrupted air travel.

The death of a young woman in 1830s New England resulted in the trial of her minister. Was it murder or suicide?

The Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii has been recording atmospheric carbon dioxide levels since 1958FRED ESPENAK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARYThe level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere measured by a weather station at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii increased by 3.58 parts per million in 2024 the biggest jump since records began there in 1958.Were still going in the wrong direction, says climate scientist Richard Betts at the Met Office, the UKs weather service. AdvertisementThe record increase is partly due to CO2 emissions from fossil fuel burning and other human actions, such as cutting down forests, hitting a record high in 2024. Adding to this were a large number of wildfires, fuelled by record-smashing global temperatures boosted by the El Nio weather pattern on top of the long-term warming.Betts is forecasting that atmospheric CO2 levels as measured at Mauna Loa will this year rise by 2.26 parts per million (ppm), with a margin of error of 0.56 ppm either way. Thats a lot less than the 2024 record, but it will take us above the last possible pathway for limiting the increase in global surface temperatures to 1.5C above preindustrial levels.You could regard it as another nail in the coffin of 1.5C, says Betts. Thats now vanishingly unlikely. Unmissable news about our planet delivered straight to your inbox every month.Sign up to newsletterThe level of CO2 in the atmosphere is the most important measure when it comes to climate change, because rising atmospheric CO2 is the main factor driving both short and long-term warming. The first ongoing measurements of CO2 levels were made at Mauna Loa.Because this station has the longest time record and is also located far away from the main anthropogenic and natural emissions and sinks of CO2, it is often used to represent global change in CO2 concentrations, says Richard Engelen at the EUs Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service.With observations from satellites, however, it is now possible to directly measure the average global level of atmospheric CO2. According to CAMS, it rose by 2.9 ppm in 2024. That isnt a record, but it is one of the biggest increases since satellite observations began.The reason for this larger increase needs further investigation, but it will be a combination of rebounding of emissions in large parts of the world after the covid pandemic in combination with interannual variations in the natural carbon sink, says Engelen. The carbon sink refers to the oceans and ecosystems on land, which have been soaking up around half of the CO2 emissions caused by humans.It has long been predicted that, as the planet warms, less of this excess CO2 will be soaked up. Whether this is the start of that is the concerning thing, says Betts. We dont know.At Mauna Loa, the increase in CO2 is higher than the average global level due to the large number of wildfires in the northern hemisphere in 2024, says Betts. It takes time for plumes of CO2 from sources such as wildfires to mix evenly into the atmosphere around the world. The fire emissions in the northern hemisphere were particularly large last year, he says.Although it now looks certain that global warming will pass the 1.5C limit, Betts thinks it was still right to set that as a target. The Paris Agreement was carefully phrased to pursue effects to limit warming to 1.5. It was recognised at the outset that it would be challenging, he says. The idea was to have this stretch target to motivate action, and actually I think that was successful. It did galvanise action.Topics:climate change

SpaceX's Starship rocket exploded during a test Thursday.The Federal Aviation Administration issued a warning after the explosion, calling the area "dangerous."After the explosion, some flights near Turks and Caicos were diverted, per Flightradar24.Flights near the Turks and Caicos islands were spotted diverting to avoid debris after SpaceX's Starship exploded on Thursday.SpaceX was conducting its seventh test flight of its unmanned Starship mega-rocket from its Starbase launch site near Brownsville, Texas. The launch occurred around 5:30 p.m. ET.The Starship's Super Heavy Booster, which boosts the Starship spacecraft, successfully touched down back to the launchpad, marking another milestone in SpaceX's goal to create reusable boosters.However, the upper stage of the system, Starship, was lost in what the company called a "rapid unscheduled disassembly."Videos on social media appeared to show debris light up the sky near Turks and Caicos as it fell back to Earth.Dean Olson, who captured footage of the Starship debris while in the area, told Business Insider that he heard the sound of constant "thunder" for about a minute after witnessing the explosion.SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in an X post on Thursday night that the rocket "had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall."Musk wrote that the leak "was large enough to build pressure in excess of the vent capacity.""Apart from obviously double-checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase vent area. Nothing so far suggests pushing next launch past next month," he added.The Federal Aviation Administration issued a warning after the explosion, calling the area "dangerous" and warning of "falling debris of rocket Starship.""The FAA briefly slowed and diverted aircraft around the area where space vehicle debris was falling," an FAA spokesperson said. "Normal operations have resumed."Flight data from Flightradar24 showed several aircraft near the Turks and Caicos Islands diverting from destination routes.One flight was an Airbus A320-232, operated by JetBlue, headed to San Juan, Puerto Rico, from Fort Lauderdale, according to the website. The flight was diverted back to Fort Lauderdale International.JetBlue and SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.SpaceX's Starship mega-rocket has exploded in two of its previous tests.In November 2023, the Super Heavy booster exploded as it returned to Earth while the Starship continued to climb toward space.

The Switch 2s Joy-Cons were definitely new (YouTube)The Friday letters page asks who is to blame for the PlayStation obsession with live service games, as readers discuss the new look for Donkey Kong.To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.ukShort but goodSo I think the Switch 2 reveal was good. I know some people were disappointed it was too short, and only showed one game, but there was never any chance it was going to show many games. We knew that going in and I think as an introduction to Switch 2 it worked fine. Everyone in my office watched it and they all seemed to be impressed and intrigued.None of them had any idea it was on the way but a few then realised how long it had been since the first one had come out and agreed it was about time for a new console.Im not sure that was the best Mario Kart 9 footage they couldve shown but it does seem to be open world to me, so thats interesting and definitely something I want to know more about. Especially as the games success is all built around being simple and accessible for casual players.Maybe the trailer couldve had a bit more pizzazz a voiceover wouldnt have hurt or some kind of memorable music but I think it did its job fine. Its not Nintendos fault there were leaks and if there hadnt have been I think it wouldve been unanimously accepted as a good thing.OnibeeScreen grabberBeen watching with fascination at the unfolding events for the Switch 2 reveal and the hype train surrounding it. Nintendo hasnt had this much hype since, err the original Switch!Seriously though, all this speculation has been free advertising and a masterclass in carrot-dangling and drip feeding. After all, what else has anyone been talking about for the last few months?Now weve seen the hardware, fingers crossed it can live up to that build-up. A question that still remains to me is, will it be an OLED screen?Thats a bit of a deal maker for me, as the quality of the one on the OLED Switch is incredible compared to the normal model.Going forward, Im really looking forward to the games reveals now and sincerely hoping for good support from the likes of Capcom, EA, and even Microsoft! If the machine can have the power of a portable PlayStation 4 then it should, with careful programming, be capable of great results and it would be great to see more impossible ports.ZiPPiGC: Every rumour seems to agree its an 8 inch LCD screen and that making it OLED wouldve made it too expensive (which you could infer means an OLED version will be along in two or three years).Minimum effortThat was a very bare bones Switch 2 reveal from Nintendo. It does make me wonder if it wasnt the original plan to say anything now but because of all the leaks they cut and pasted the opening two minutes from the proper April reveal.I like the look of the hardware though. A bigger, more powerful Switch with some extra functionality is good for me. As others have pointed out its not really the hardware where Nintendo needs to innovate most this gen but the software, with many of their IP needing a fresh take like with Zelda and Breath Of The Wild.Looking forward to the April Direct though, so much still to find out. But will be tuning out of the Switch 2 news until then.SimundoEmail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.ukIts never too late to changeI like the new Donkey Kong design. Im with those that never liked Rares take on him and the new Rare characters were even worse. 40 years is a long time to go without ever really having a proper Nintendo sequel but Im perfectly fine with the new 3D Super Mario being focused on him.I also like his look in the new Mario Kart, seems much more expressive than the current version which is basically always pulling the same face. I dont see how you add Diddy Kong and the others to the mix though, since they dont seem to have been redesigned. They werent in the movie either, but I dont think they were on screen much with him, so you dont really get the contrast.Higson Do you like his new look? (Nintendo)Taking sidesI always liked Shuihei Yoshida and cant help thinking that he mustve been pushed out of Sony, no matter what he says. He couldve been at Sony till he retired, and I bet they did see his job in charge of indies as a demotion, even if he still enjoyed it.It does make me wonder what happened with Jim Ryan though, did he jump or was he pushed? More importantly, was he for live service games or against them? If Shu was pushed, or even just encouraged to leave, and he was against live service games then maybe Ryan was as well? Maybe he was warning them against it and it was this new Hermen Hulst guy that was all for them.Its really impossible to tell because neither of them has really spoken about it properly in public, which is weird for something thats meant to be the whole future of the company.ArnieCommitment issuesI just wanted to thank to both yourselves and Ali K who responded to my queries regarding gaming on Netflix. Pretty sure you both covered my main questions regarding performance and using touchscreen controls (I can only shudder to guess how these must work on GTA: San Andreas!).I guess with the majority of games being fairly low budget indies, that they run well on a modest tablet, which is what I will be using. Thank you again for your heads-up about including Netflix games in the mobile round-up, this is one of the few sections I usually skip on your site, as I long since gave up playing games on my mobile.Do Netflix ever release in advance a list of games coming up for release? I had a brief search and couldnt really find anything conclusive, more just rumoured games. I am surprised they havent made more of a song and dance about their selection seeing as you mentioned there are some top titles available and even on the app the gaming section really isnt given huge prominence.DuckOfDeath82PS: Thanks for the tip of Into The Breach. Luckily, I picked this up a few years ago on the Switch (thanks to your review) and lost many, many an hour of my life!GC: They occasionally run news stories on their blog but we dont think theres a release schedule or anything like that. Its hard to gauge their commitment though as we noticed quite a bit of Netflix Gaming advertising over Christmas and yet only a few months before that they shut down one of their in-house developers.Superstar castingThinking of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, which had both Sean Bean and Patrick Stewart in it, I wonder what famous voices will be in The Elder Scrolls 6? Im guessing a lot of ex-Game Of Thrones people. Charles Dance was already in The Witcher 3, so I bet most of them would be up for it.Its kind of fun to have such famous people in games but I have to wonder how cost effective it is. Theyre rarely advertised as being in them, so does the enormous cost of paying them really get justified by more people buying the game because theyre in it?TaclePortable upgradeHow powerful does an Xbox handheld need to be? Can it just be as powerful as the Switch 2? Because if Nintendo can get away with pushing out PlayStation 4 tech, why cant Microsoft? Also, If you do enough digging you will see the plethora of options of handhelds and retro devices on the market, there are tons available to consumers. And I have owned every Xbox console.I have no interest in the Switch 2 or what Sony does. So even as an Xbox Series X owner, an Xbox handheld is still of interest to me, as I have bought into their ecosystem. But, like I said, its going to be competing against a lot of options. So, Im wondering how Microsoft will approach the handheld market because they are going to need something really special and unique to stand out. And right now, given their track record, that seems up for debate.I know of two families that own Xboxes but havent upgraded to Xbox Series X, as they dont see the point, as its enough for them to just be in the Xbox ecosystem and still playing Xbox 360 games on the Xbox one. Apply that on a larger scale and you can see how Microsoft struggled to sell Xbox Series X/S. So I think thats what the handheld needs to be.It needs to be that special bridge between generations that makes people upgrade or act as a stepping stone to the next gen. Its also got to compete with the Switch 2 and treat it as a competitor. And its also got to have unique titles for the Xbox handheld that only it can do. Oh, and Xbox Prime sounds fine if only that was the real name. But sadly, I fear Microsoft will pick something silly like Xbox Series X2+ or some other nonsense.stephenGC: Its the same for Sony. Half of all active PlayStation gamers are still using a PlayStation 4.Inbox also-ransFinally, the Nintendo Switch 2 is announced but now we have to wait till April for any more news? I thought it said February when I first saw the American trailer!RenfieldI am definitely all for an open world 24-player Mario Kart game. But could they have chosen a more boring track for the teaser? It looked like Kalimari Desert in Mario Kart 64 (great track, mind!).DoomsayerMore TrendingEmail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.ukThe small printNew Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Readers Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.You can also leave your comments below and dont forget to follow us on Twitter.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy