Perplexity has introduced an API service named Sonar that would allow developers and enterprises to embed the companys generative AI search technology into their applications.The company has rolled out two initial tiers a more affordable and faster option called Sonar, and a higher-priced tier, Sonar Pro, tailored for handling more complex queries.In a blog post, Perplexity described Sonar API as lightweight, affordable, fast, and simple to use, noting that it includes features such as citations and the ability to customize sources. The company said the API is ideal for businesses requiring streamlined question-and-answer functionalities optimized for speed.For enterprises with more complex requirements, Perplexity will offer the Sonar Pro API, which supports multi-step queries, a larger context window for handling longer and more detailed searches, and higher extensibility.It will also provide approximately twice the number of citations per search compared to the standard Sonar API, the company said.Competing with bigger playersThe launch positions Perplexity as a stronger, more direct competitor to larger players such as OpenAI and Google, offering its real-time, web-connected search capabilities to users.Perplexitys real-time data retrieval and citation-backed responses cater to enterprise demands for reliable, transparent, and actionable information, said Prabhu Ram, VP of the industry research group at Cybermedia Research. By prioritizing verifiability and up-to-date insights, it offers a specialized approach that sets it apart from broader conversational models like GPT-4 and Claude, which serve a wider range of use cases but may lack the tailored features enterprises need for effective decision-making and compliance management.However, significant challenges remain in areas such as data privacy, depth, scale, and audit trails before any company can establish itself as a leader in the field.Although real-time information capabilities offer clear advantages, they also introduce additional complexities to an already intricate landscape.Enterprises tend to take cautious steps when exploring new technologies like enterprise research, especially when handling sensitive company data, said Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst and CEO at Greyhound Research. Beyond concerns around data privacy, security, and compliance, any large company would first evaluate accuracy and performance. Whether Perplexity can outpace Google and OpenAI in this space will depend on the aggressiveness of Googles and other competitors strategies.Real-time information and search is an area where Google excels. To stay competitive, Perplexity will need to explore other differentiators, such as compliance, Gogia said.Use cases for enterprisesAnalysts note that Perplexitys latest offerings have diverse applications, ranging from basic tasks such as identifying service management issues in IT functions to broader use by leaders in supply chain, finance, sales, marketing, and operations.Sonar Pro, [especially] caters to the needs of compliance-driven industries such as healthcare, BFSI, and energy by offering robust tools for security reporting, portfolio management, and seamless DevOps integration, Ram said. These capabilities not only enhance operational efficiency but also ensure adherence to regulatory standards, positioning it as an indispensable solution for improving software development practices.But for the tool to succeed, significant customization may be necessary, tailored to specific industries and individual companies.Initially, and in the near term, use cases are expected to remain highly customized before gradually evolving into industry-standard templates, all while adhering to local compliance requirements, according to Gogia. Early adopters may come from industries like banking and manufacturing with a mature data posture, which is an essential foundation for any such deployment, Gogia said. Architectural maturity is another key requirement for success, as it enables the embedding and native use of such a tool within the architecture.

Why it took 37 years for the U.S. to ban Red 3Published inThe Medium BlogSent as aNewsletter3 min readJust now-- Welcome backIssue #252: letting go of assumptions + self-imposed urgencyBy Harris SockelCandy corn. Pez. Maraschino cherries. Gummy wormsAll delicious and all typically contain Red Dye 3, aka erythrosine (via ancient Greek eruthrs, or red). The dye was banned by the FDA last week, though its been off shelves in California since last fall. Anything made with the dye before last week, though, can still be sold and manufacturers have two years to find alternative sources of red (or cut the color entirely).The FDA based its decision on a study from 37 years ago which found that rats who consume the dye are more likely to develop thyroid tumors than those who dont. Obvious question: Why the gigantic delay? Because the FDA wasnt petitioned to review this research until 2022, when the Center for Science in the Public Interest an advocacy group best-known for putting ingredient and calorie labels on food filed a petition. Three years later, after the petition wound its way through the FDAs public comment and review process, the ban is here.Dr. Jess Steier, a public health scientist whos unpacked raw milks health effects and research around child vaccination, breaks down what we do and dont know about the safety of food dyes. Essentially, rats developed tumors due to a hormone mechanism specific to male rats that doesnt exist in humans and no other animal studies have discovered any cancerous effects of these dyes. Yet, a one-line clause in a 1958 amendment to FDA law requires the agency to ban any ingredient shown to cause cancer in humans or animals. Its an abundance of caution situation. As Steier explains, the ban is based on a legal requirement from a time in history when analytical chemistry was way less sophisticated, its not based on new or particularly consequential safety concerns. TL;DR: You dont need to worry (that much) about all the red dye you or your kids may have been consuming pre-last week.My side quest, while researching all this: What about Red Dye 1 and 2? Who are they and where did they go? Well, Red 2 was banned in 1976 after the FDA could not rule out its link to cancer. And Red 1 was banned in 1960 for the same reason. My open tabs this morningA prompt to spark new perspectives: What if you removed your biggest assumption instead of your biggest constraint? (David Loewen)In 1981, Ronald Reagan chose to move his inauguration from the White Houses East portico to its West portico so he could face the National Mall and welcome a larger crowd every inauguration since 1981 has followed suit. Reagans second inauguration in 1985 was also the last to be held indoors for cold and wet weather, before Mondays. (Betsy Denson)Educator Torshie Torto, in Ghana, uses the Socratic method to dispel long-held homophobia and bigoted beliefs among her students: My goal wasnt to make them accept anything. I wanted them to question the hatred of gay people, not their existence. Some practical wisdomDo things fast. Things dont actually take much time (as measured by a stopwatch); resistance/procrastination does. Slow is fake. If no urgency exists, impose some. Nabeel Qureshi

On This Day in HistoryMore Than 100 Died When the S.S. Valencia Wrecked in the Graveyard of the PacificLearn Why This Stretch of Coastline Has Claimed Thousands of ShipsThe ships demise on this day in 1906 demonstrated the terrifying dangers of the treacherous waters in the Pacific Northwest The Valencia wrecked in the northern reaches of the area referred to as the Graveyard of the Pacific, the stretch of treacherous coastline between Oregons Tillamook Bay and Canadas Vancouver Island. Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsCaptain Oscar Marcus Johnson didnt know where his ship was.It was January 22, 1906, and the S.S. Valencia had set out on its voyage from San Francisco to Seattle two days earlier. Since then, conditions had worsened, and visibility was poor. To attempt to find a landmark, the captain ordered the ship to take a course that would bring it nearer to shore. It was a fatal mistake.Not long before midnight, the Valencia struck a rocky reef off the west coast of Vancouver Island. Johnson ordered the ship run aground, but it caught on rocks less than 400 feet from shore.What followed was a slow-motion tragedy as the Valencia sank over the course of almost 40 hours. The ship proved yet another casualty of the treacherous Graveyard of the Pacific.SS Valencia: The Ghost Ship that Haunts the Graveyard of the PacificWatch on After the ship wedged in the rocks, those aboard attempted to launch lifeboats, but they capsized, tossed by the rough waves. In the panic, some boats didnt launch successfully. In one case, a passenger accidentally cut the ropes on one side of the boat.Like a shot the stern of the boat fell to the waters edge, leaving the bow hanging in the air, Valencia freight clerk Frank Lehm recalled. The occupants were spilled out like pebbles from a glass and fell with shrieks and groans into the boiling surf.The other passengers and crew fared little better. A handful of survivors from the lifeboats reached shore and eventually managed to alert others to the ships plightafter navigating a 100-foot cliff and trekking through unpopulated brushland, among other challenges. However, rescue boats couldnt get near the Valencia in the tempestuous sea, and the steep cliffs along shore made an approach from land equally impossible. A few people survived after fleeing the ship on life rafts, but dozens remained on the ship.Over the next 36 hours, terrified people huddled on the hurricane deck or clung to the rigging as huge waves slowly broke the ship apart, writes HistoryLinks Daryl C. McClary. Finally, as rescuers watched, horrified and powerless, a huge wave swept the remaining passengers and crew into the sea.Only 37 survived. Though the number of deaths is still contested, historians believe up to 136 people died, including all the women and children who had been aboard.The Valencia wrecked in the northern reaches of the area referred to as the Graveyard of the Pacific, the stretch of treacherous coastline between Oregons Tillamook Bay and Canadas Vancouver Island. Unpredictable weather and currents propelled the ships toward the foggy, rocky coastline, and there were few places to shelter from storms. Approximately 2,000 vessels have sunk in the area since 1792, the Oregonians Jamie Hale and Mark Graves report.Most of the graveyards shipwrecks concentrated where the powerful Columbia River feeds into the Pacific, further south than the Valencia's resting place. In fact, on one May day in 1880, a sudden gale rose up in nearby Cape Disappointment, and within one hour, 200 fishermen drowned, according to maritime historian James A. Gibbs in Pacific Graveyard.This great battleground, where the mighty Columbia meets the surging Pacific head-on, is a constant turmoil of sand, silt and waterpower, Gibbs wrote.Weather, waves, swift currents and a shifting sandbar made the area particularly hazardous, even for experienced captains. Government projects have helped make the channel deeper and more predictable, and sailors now have better navigational technology, but traversing the Columbia Bar remains tricky.The Valencias fate convinced the Canadian government to invest in better rescue infrastructure. After the wreck, it commissioned the Dominion Lifesaving Trail, now known as the West Coast Trail, and the Pachena Point Lighthouse, and committed to grow its Coast Guard stations.The true legacy of the Valencia is not only 126 lives lost, but the countless saved by the lessons learned, writes the Seattle Times Nicole Brodeur.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Death, On This Day in History, Pacific Ocean, Ships, Shipwrecks

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 to release in March 2027Pre-production of the fourth instalment of the Sonic film franchise began in December 2024Image credit: Paramount Pictures News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on Jan. 22, 2025 Paramount Pictures has revealed that Sonic the Hedgehog 4 will release in cinemas on March 19, 2027.Pre-production on the fourth installment of the series was announced the day before Sonic the Hedgehog 3 hit theatres on December 20, 2024.The third film reached $211.5 million during its first week in cinemas. As of writing, it has grossed $422.4 million globally according to Box Office Mojo.Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has grossed more than the first two installments of the film series. 2020's Sonic the Hedgehog made $319.7 million, while 2022's Sonic the Hedgehog 2 made $405.4 million.By early January 2025, the Sonic franchise had earned over $1 billion at the global box office.

Astro Bot wins Game of the Year at New York Game Awards 2025Team Asobi's platformer won three awards, including best Kids Game and Best Music in a GameImage credit: Team Asobi, Sony Interactive Entertainment News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on Jan. 22, 2025 The 14th annual New York Game Awards took place last night, with Astro Bot taking home Game of the Year.Team Asobi's platformer was nominated for four awards, winning three including Best Kids Game and Best Music in a Game.FromSoftware's Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree was also a big winner, picking up accolades for Best World and Best DLC.Mossmouth's UFO 50 won Best Indie Game, with MiHoYo's Zenless Zone Zero took home the award for Best Mobile Game and Camouflaj's Batman: Arkham Shadow for Best AR/VR Game.Troy Baker received the award for Best Acting in a Game for his portrayal of Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. The accolade was presented by Alan Wake and Control actor Matthew Porretta.Elsewhere, Studio Zero's Metaphor: ReFantazio won Best Writing in a Game, while Bloober Team's Silent Hill 2 picked up the accolade for Best Remake. Indie hit Mouthwashing also won the award for Best Hidden Gem.Remedy's creative director Sam Lake received the Andrew Yoon Legend Award having worked at the Finnish developer since 1995.Here are the full list of winners:Best Game of the Year: Astro BotBest Indie Game: UFO 50Best Mobile Game: Zenless Zone ZeroBest AR/VR Game: Batman: Arkham ShadowBest Kids Game: Astro BotBest Writing in a Game: Metaphor: ReFantazioBest World: Elden Ring: Shadow of the ErdtreeBest Music in a Game: Astro BotBest Acting in a Game: Troy Baker as Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Great CircleBest Remake: Silent Hill 2Best Hidden Gem: MouthwashingBest DLC: Elden Ring: Shadow of the ErdtreeBest Games Journalism: Simone De Rochefort and Clayton AshleyBest Esports Player of the Year:Andrew Yoon Legend Award Recipient: Sam Lake

He calls himself our lucky underpants. I wouldnt quite go that far, but its can we find a role for Richard where you wont think oh, its the guy from The Stranger, it has to be something that he disappears into. Big, small, he doesnt care.Armitages second novel The Cut, following on from his thriller debut Geneva, will be published by Faber in August 2025, so perhaps hes been keeping busy at the keyboard instead of in front of the cameras. His name was also not among those announced for the second series of ITV action-thriller Red Eye.Run Away, which is adapted from the 2019 novel of the same name, will mark James Nesbitts third role in a Quay Streets Netflix Harlan Coben series. He first appeared in 2021s Stay Close as a detective sergeant investigating the disappearance of multiple men over several years, and later popped up as an art-loving crime lord in 2025s Missing You.Nesbitt will be joined in Run Away by Gavin & Staceys Ruth Jones, Good Will Huntings Minnie Driver, Gangs of Londons Lucian Msamati, Big Boyss Jon Pointing, Wolf Halls Ellie de Lange, Friday Night Dinners Tracy-Ann Oberman, Ted Lassos Annette Badland, Doctor Whos Ingrid Oliver, The Couple Next Doors Alfred Enoch, and more.The new series is filming now in and around Manchester and the North West. In excellent news for fans of these twist-filled, ludicrous yet addictive thrillers, the episode count for Run Away has gone back up to the usual eight, instead of the mere five they had for Missing You, which resulted in a rushed series with underdeveloped supporting roles.As usual, the action will be translated from the US to the UK, and though no official release date has been announced, we can expect this one to land on Netflix on January 1, 2026 in its traditional New Years Day binge slot.

Jan 22, 2025Ravie LakshmananSupply Chain Attack / MalwareA previously undocumented China-aligned advanced persistent threat (APT) group named PlushDaemon has been linked to a supply chain attack targeting a South Korean virtual private network (VPN) provider in 2023, according to new findings from ESET."The attackers replaced the legitimate installer with one that also deployed the group's signature implant that we have named SlowStepper a feature-rich backdoor with a toolkit of more than 30 components," ESET researcher Facundo Muoz said in a technical report shared with The Hacker News.PlushDaemon is assessed to be a China-nexus group that has been operational since at least 2019, targeting individuals and entities in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, the United States, and New Zealand.Central to its operations is a bespoke backdoor called SlowStepper, which is described as a large toolkit consisting of around 30 modules, programmed in C++, Python, and Go.Another crucial aspect of its attacks is the hijacking of legitimate software update channels and exploitation of vulnerabilities in web servers to gain initial access to the target network. The Slovakian cybersecurity company said it noticed in May 2024 malicious code embedded within the NSIS installer for Windows downloaded from the website of a VPN software provider named IPany ("ipany[.]kr/download/IPanyVPNsetup.zip").The rogue version of the installer, which has since been removed from the website, is designed to drop the legitimate software as well as the SlowStepper backdoor. It's currently not clear who the exact targets of the supply chain attack are, although any individual or entity downloading the booby-trapped ZIP archive could have been at risk.Telemetry data gathered by ESET shows that several users attempted to install the trojanized software in the networks associated with a semiconductor company and an unidentified software development company in South Korea. The oldest victims were recorded from Japan and Chia in November and December 2023, respectively.The attack chain starts with the execution of the installer ("IPanyVPNsetup.exe"), which proceeds to establish persistence on the host between reboots and launches a loader ("AutoMsg.dll") that, in turn, is responsible for running shellcode that loads another DLL ("EncMgr.pkg").The DLL subsequently extracts two more files ("NetNative.pkg" and "FeatureFlag.pkg") that are utilized to sideload a malicious DLL file ("lregdll.dll") using "PerfWatson.exe," which is a renamed version of a legitimate command-line utility named regcap.exe that's part of Microsoft Visual Studio.The end goal of the DLL is to load the SlowStepper implant from the winlogin.gif file present within FeatureFlag.pkg. SlowStepper is believed to be in the works since January 2019 (version 0.1.7), with the latest iteration (0.2.12) compiled in June 2024."Although the code contains hundreds of functions, the particular variant used in the supply-chain compromise of the IPany VPN software appears to be version 0.2.10 Lite, according to the backdoor's code," Muoz said. "The so-called "Lite" version indeed contains fewer features than other previous and newer versions."Both the full and Lite versions make use of an extensive suite of tools written in Python and Go that allows for the gathering of data and clandestine surveillance through the recording of audio and videos. The tools are said to have been hosted in the Chinese code repository platform GitCode.As for command-and-control (C&C), SlowStepper constructs a DNS query to obtain a TXT record for the domain 7051.gsm.360safe[.]company to one of the three public DNS servers (114DNS, Google, and Alibaba Public DNS) in order to fetch an array of 10 IP addresses, from which one is chosen for use as a C&C server to process operator-issued commands."If, after a number of attempts, it fails to establish a connection to the server, it uses the gethostbyname API on the domain st.360safe[.]company to obtain the IP address mapped to that domain and uses the obtained IP as its fallback C&C server," Muoz explained.The commands run a wide gamut, permitting it to capture exhaustive system information; execute a Python module; delete specific files; run commands via cmd.exe; enumerate the file system; download and execute files; and even uninstall itself. A rather unusual feature of the backdoor is the activation of a custom shell on receipt of the "0x3A" command.This grants the attacker the ability to execute arbitrary payloads hosted remotely (gcall), update components of the backdoor (update), and run a Python module on the compromised machine (pycall), the last of which downloads a ZIP archive from the GitCode account that contains the Python interpreter and the library to be run in order to collect information of interest -Browser, which harvests data from web browsers such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Brave, Vivaldi, Cc Cc browser, UC Browser, 360 Browser, and Mozilla FirefoxCamera, which takes photos if a camera is connected to the compromised machineCollectInfo, which harvests files matching extensions .txt, .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, and .pptx, as well as information from apps like LetsVPN, Tencent QQ, WeChat, Kingsoft WPS, e2eSoft VCam, KuGou, Oray Sunlogin, and ToDeskDecode, which downloads a module from the remote repository and decrypts itDingTalk, which harvests chat messages from DingTalkDownload, which downloads non-malicious Python packagesFileScanner and FileScannerAllDisk, which scans the system for filesgetOperaCookie, which obtains cookies from the Opera browserLocation, which obtains the IP address of the computer and the GPS coordinatesqpass, which harvests data from Tencent QQ Browser (likely replaced by the qqpass module)qqpass and Webpass, which harvests passwords from Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Tencent QQ Browser, 360 Chrome, and UC BrowserScreenRecord, which records the screenTelegram, which harvests data from TelegramWeChat, which harvests data from WeChatWirelessKey, which harvests wireless network information and passwordsESET said it also identified in the remote code repository several software programs written in Golang that offer reverse proxy and download functionalities."This backdoor is notable for its multistage C&C protocol using DNS, and its ability to download and execute dozens of additional Python modules with espionage capabilities," Muoz said."The numerous components in the PlushDaemon toolset, and its rich version history, show that, while previously unknown, this China-aligned APT group has been operating diligently to develop a wide array of tools, making it a significant threat to watch for."Found this article interesting? 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Nintendo toyed with magnetic Joy-Con for original Switch, but they quite literally didn't stickOpinion pole.Image credit: Nintendo/Clip Art/Eurogamer News by Victoria Kennedy News Reporter Published on Jan. 22, 2025 We got our first look at Nintendo Switch 2 last week, after an avalanche of leaks and reports about the console's final design and functionality. And, as we expected, it was confirmed the Switch 2 will boast magnetic Joy-Cons, a change from its predecessor's mechanical rail locking system.However, while this feature will be new to us as a Switch 2 consumer, Nintendo actually toyed with using magnets for its original console as well.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Our Zoe seeks to answer the question, what does the new Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con button actually do? Watch on YouTubeA video shared by former employee Krysta Yang shows Nintendo exec Yoshiaki Koizumi - who she dubs "the person behind Nintendo Switch" - chatting with Yang and fellow Nintendo alum Kit Ellis about Joy-Con all the way back in 2017."One of the ideas the [Switch] team was really interested in and what he was interested in was using magnets" to attach the Joy-Con to the system itself, Yang shares, before cutting to footage from all those years ago.In this resurfaced footage, the Nintendo exec revealed the company tried multiple different methods to get the Joy-Con to attach but when it came to the magnets, the idea was sound enough in theory but didn't have enough actual sticking power when put into practice."As you would play, sometimes [the Switch] would just fall into your lap," Mister Koizumi said with a laugh.In the end, and as we all know, Nintendo went with the rail locking system, which provided a sturdy foundation for the Joy-Con while also giving users that "satisfying snap that the magnets did".Reflecting back on this video, Yang said: "It just goes to show that Nintendo is a company that never lets a good idea die. They store it away and when the technology catches up, they use it in something else."You can check out the video below. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.The Nintendo Switch 2 is set to launch later this year, with a dedicated Direct scheduled for 2nd April. In addition, the company has announced a public hands on tour for the console, with registrations open now.

The launch of Doom: The Dark Ages is just a few months away, according to a release date which has popped up online ahead of tomorrow's Xbox Developer Direct. Read more