There's a lot of advice out there for proper password management: Each of your passwords should be strong and unique; use a secure manager to store your passwords; use two-factor authentication (2FA) to add an extra layer of security to your accounts. But there's another piece of advice that is held in the same regard as the others: Change your passwords oftenperhaps once every three months. This habit is so emphasized, many companies and organizations will make you change your passwords multiple times a year in the name of security. The thing is, in all likelihood, this isn't actually doing anything to help your security.This idea that changing your passwords multiple times a year is a cornerstone of your security, might be engrained in some of you. After all, it's not new advice. As PCMag examined, the practice goes back a long time: When security experts write about passwords, they often write about changing passwords, too. It's just the way the advice has been presented. But that's likely because it's anticipating and responding to bad security habits.Good passwords don't (usually) need to be changed Changing your passwords really only makes sense when your passwords are compromised. After all, if no one knows your password, why change it? Still, passwords are cracked all the time. As such, it might seem logical to frequently switch yours up: You never know which of your passwords could be guessed, right? So might as well keep those bad actors on their toes.But let's take a step back: There's no reason any of your passwords should be guessable. If a hacker is able to guess your password, it's a bad password, and you shouldn't have been using it in the first place. I'll take it a step further, and say none of your passwords should be crackable by a computer, eitherat least, not on a timeline where it matters. A good password, meaning one that is both strong and unique, is inherently uncrackable. It should be long, varied, and not in use on any other account. It shouldn't matter if the companies that control one of your accounts is breached, because this password is different than that one. You can use a tool like Bitwarden's password tester to see how long different passwords take a computer to crack. "Lifehacker" takes eight seconds to crack. "Lifehackerdaughtcalm" takes centuries.If your password is strong and unique, and takes longer than a human lifetime to theoretically crack, there's no need to change that password in three months time. There's no need to change that password in a year. There's no need to change that password periodunless you're presented with an actual threat. When to change your passwordI'm not saying you should never change your password. You should definitely change it if other people know about it. Most often, that happens when the company that holds your account has a data breach. Let's say AT&T has a mega breach, and authentication data from users is leaked onto the dark web. In that case, you should change your password ASAP. In an event like this, the company in question will probably tell you to do as much, and may even offer you extra perks to make up for the inconvenience of having your data leaked. Of course, data breaches aren't the only times good passwords are discovered. Malware is another threat to look out for. If you fall for a phishing scam, for example, and download malware to your computer, it may monitor and steal your passwords to your sensitive accounts. Or, you may be tricked into opening a fake version of a website you have an account for, typing your username and password into that site, and presto: password compromised.In these cases, your strong and unique password has fallen, so yes, it's time to change it. But barring an actual reason to do so, you don't need to bother with switching it up. To be clear, you're not hurting your security by changing your passwords. In fact, you might not even have a choice, if your company or organization requires you to change your password every so often. But so long as all of your passwords are strong and unique, and none of them are compromised, you're just giving yourself more work without any real gains.Security tips that won't waste your timeWant some real security gains? Store all those strong and unique passwords in a secure password manager. That way, you only need to remember one strong and unique passwordthe master key to your password manager. In addition, use two-factor authentication (2FA) whenever possible. 2FA requires a trusted device for secondary authentication after providing the correct password. That way, even if a bad actor knows your password, they won't be able to break in without access to your trusted device. (Just prioritize an authenticator app or security key over SMS authentication.) If it's an option for your accounts, you may want to explore passkeys over passwords, too. Passkeys effectively combine the convenience of passwords with the security of 2FA: They generate a key on your trusted device, which is required when signing into a site. That way, there's no password to steal. As long as you authenticate yourself on the devicesay, through Face ID or a PINyou're in. As long as you make sure each of your accounts is secure using these steps, and you're aware of any data breaches, there's no reason to worry about changing your passwords every three months. Stay secure out there.

Hasbro Entertainment and Legendary Entertainment have joined forces to bring Magic: The Gathering to the big and small screens. The pair have signed a licensing deal to create "a live-action feature film and television universe" inspired by the card game. First up will be a movie, with other media to follow, but that's all that's been revealed so far.Longtime MTG fans might feel skeptical about this announcement, because this isn't the first time the intellectual property has been promised some kind of film or television adaptation. The card game's Fandom wiki page lists many of the proposed movie projects over the years. First up was a plan for multiple movies with Universal all the way back in 2008, which never yielded anything. Then Hasbro made an attempt at a movie with Twentieth Century Fox in 2014, but that was also never heard from again. Netflix has also been attached to two different rumored Magic projects, but it seems like the streamer's animated TV series might really come to pass, with a post on Tudum from September 2024 promising that it's really happening and in production.Legendary Entertainment has had several projects drawing on geek culture, usually bringing a big budget and a dark edge to their work. Most recently the studio worked on Dune and Dune: Part Two, and it also was involved in Christopher Nolan's take on Batman in The Dark Knight movies as well as the Warcraft movie. MTG has a lot of lore to draw on, so there's plenty of fodder for a cinematic universe. Here's hoping the producers and talent have the understanding to turn all that potential into a good movie.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/magic-the-gathering-lands-deal-for-film-and-tv-adaptions-with-legendary-entertainment-000159168.html?src=rss

Fighting games fans thought it would never happen. But then the first Capcom Fighting Game Collection came out last fall with remasters for some of the most important titles from the mid to late 90s (plus one from the 2000s) all in the same package. Were talking about absolute classics like X-Men: Children of the Atom, Marvel Super Heroes and most importantly, Marvel vs. Capcom 2. But the goodness doesnt stop there because in a few months, another anthology is due out the Capcom Fighting Collection 2 which features an arguably even stronger lineup of brawlers from the early 2000s. And after getting the chance to preview the game prior to its official release on May 16, this assemblage is both a tribute to fighting game history and a great way to waste time smashing buttons.Before we get in too deep, I should mention that only three out of the eight total titles were playable during my demo (Capcom vs SNK 2: Mark of the Millenium 2001, Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper and Project Justice). Regardless, here is the complete lineup of games in Capcom Fighting Collection 2:Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 PROCapcom vs SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001Capcom Fighting EvolutionStreet Fighter Alpha 3 UpperPower StonePower Stone 2Project JusticePlasma Sword: Nightmare of BilsteinThe original marquee cards are just one of the many extras included for each game in the Capcom Fighting Collection 2. Capcom/SNKNow Ill be the first to admit that I dont have a ton of experience with SFA3U or Project Justice compared to some of the other titles in this collection, but even with the latter featuring what looks like crude graphics by modern standards, its clear theres an interesting fighting game beneath those big blocky polygons. Plus, thanks to a huge catalog of extras like classic instruction cards and move lists, it was easy to pick up the basics while getting additional context into the games development. I cant wait to play more.Meanwhile, Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper represents a version of the game that was hard to get outside of Japan and features a complete roster, including the six characters that were only available in certain home console releases. Notably, theres also a fix for the glitch that allowed easy infinites when using the V-ISM mechanic, which is an oft-cited reason why the game didnt catch on (especially in the West) as it upset balance and allowed people to abuse custom combos.Capcom/SNKBut without a doubt, the crown jewel of the entire collection is Capcom vs SNK 2, which, in my opinion, is one of the top 10 fighting games of all time. From its funky character select screen with those iconic diamond tiles to an incredible soundtrack filled with bangers like the songs for the New York, Barentsburg and London stages, its got more style and personality than it knows what to do with. Seriously, put those tracks on and if you arent instantly bobbing your head to the beat, you might be dead inside.CvS2 also offers more polished takes on the ratio system from its predecessor and the ISMs from SFA3 with the Groove system that gives you a wealth of playstyles for every character. So even though I only had 30 minutes to play, I couldnt help but grin every time I got to unleash a custom combo using A-Groove Ken or troll the CPU with ratio four Haohmaru. The controls are tight, the graphics are super crisp and the game plays just as well as I remember. Better, even, considering todays controllers and arcade sticks are more precise than anything we had 20+ years ago.Capcom/SNKWhile I didnt have a chance to test it, its also important to note that the collection is adding online multiplayer with rollback netcode to every game. This should be a huge upgrade when compared to alternative solutions such as apps like Fightcade, which often arent as stutter-free as proper in-game matchmaking (as evidenced by some of the hiccups in the clip above). My one small complaint is that while I appreciate little details like having a bunch of visual treatments that make the game look better when played on modern LCDs compared to old-school CRTs, I wish they came with more descriptive labels instead of simply being listed as Filter A, B, C, etc.Capcom/SNKBut perhaps most importantly, by putting all these games in one place, its so much easier for people to access titles like CvS2, which have been hard to find since its original release back in 2001. Honestly, Id pay $40 just to have a modern version of CvS2 and Power Stone 2 that I can play without dusting off a PS2 or Dreamcast (the latter of which I dont even own). So to get both of those alongside six other titles with tons of original art, improved training modes, a couple of bonus songs and a limited edition comic book (only for physical copies, though) feels like a truly excellent value. Sure, these games might just be rereleases, but for those with fond memories of early 2000s fighting games, it feels like this is true love were makin all over again.The Capcom Fighting Collection 2 is available for pre-order now with official sales starting on May 16 for $40.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/capcom-fighting-collection-2-is-a-celebration-of-early-2000s-brawlers-150055451.html?src=rss

Google Gemini AI is getting native ads.

A new research paper from Apple Machine Learning just revealed it has built a robot lamp prototype that is super-cute and reminiscent of Pixar's Luxo Jr. lamp.

Alphabet's Verily is selling its subsidiary, Granular Insurance Company, to Elevance Health.

In its earnings report on Thursday, Amazon said the strong dollar is weighing on revenue, signaling the company is particularly exposed to currency swings.

President Donald Trump has placed holds on tens of billions of dollars in congressionally approved spending for projects across the U.S. that range from Iowa soybean farmers adopting greener practices to a Virginia railway expansion, a Reuters analysis found.Project managers and advocates warn that continued delays could take a toll on local economies. Democratic lawmakers say the halts are the building blocks to impoundment, presidential refusal to release money authorized and appropriated by Congress, which they say is illegal.The man Trump has nominated as his budget chief, Russell Vought, has disagreed, saying presidents have the right to withhold spending. The Republican-majority Senate is expected to confirm Vought on Thursday evening after Democrats staged an all-night session in opposition.A federal court on January 31 temporarily blocked the Trump administrations government-wide pause on federal grant funding. But soon after, the administration argued the presidents directives were still in effect.Trumps orders have restrained at least tens of billions of dollars of funding for clean energy projects, conservation initiatives and transportation projects across the country. Dozens of interviews with grantees in more than 20 states, along with industry managers and experts that track how the federal government distributes its money, captured just a snapshot of federal spending that Trumps orders continued to freeze.The Trump administration has not provided an overall estimate of the frozen funding, but thousands of new jobs in communities are at risk, people working on the halted projects said.Its a major concern if this doesnt get done, Mike Foley, a Cuyahoga County, Ohio, official who oversees energy projects with more than $100 million in paused funding, said. I need to hire engineers and I cant do that.The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power over federal spending and a decades-old law requires the president to give Congress advance notice of impoundments before taking action.We will speak out, we will press this administration, we will open investigations, and we will demand accountability, Senator Patty Murray, the senior Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.Republican lawmakers argue the pauses are necessary to give the new administration time to assess what money is being spent on and look for ways to lower the U.S. deficit.The executive branch of government in our system has the right to evaluate how executive branch agencies are operating and to ensure that not only the intent of Congress in funding mechanisms, but also the stewardship of precious American taxpayer dollars, is being handled well, House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Wednesday.The initial January 20 White House orders were broad and told federal agencies to immediately pause the disbursement of funds from two large bills that were marquee accomplishments of then-President Joe Biden, including a 2021 bipartisan effort.Disrupted fundingThe town of Painesville, Ohio, about 30 miles (50 km) northeast of Cleveland, received part of a $129 million climate pollution reduction grant last year to replace its 137-year-old coal-fired power plant. It would be replaced with solar panels and a battery backup system, but the project and its estimated 200 jobs remains on hiatus because of the funding pause.To have the grants paused or frozen is really disrupting and disheartening, Foley, the project lead, added.Hundreds of millions of dollars also remain paused throughout Ohio and seven other states ranging from Pennsylvania to Kansas for projects to help around 17,000 lower-income households save on energy costs.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday indicated to some grantees, in a list viewed by Reuters, that only one educational program out of dozens of varying projects funded by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act that Republicans opposed would likely move forward.Tom Taylor, senior policy analyst at Atlas Public Policy, a climate think-tank, estimated that thousands of grant recipients could be defunded as a result.In Virginia, a $2.3 billion Long Bridge improvement that would significantly increase passenger and freight railroad service is also in limbo, Democratic Senator Tim Kaine said.They seem to be if it happened during the Biden administration we want to pause this, even if its doing good in red and blue states, he told reporters.Republican statesOf the approximately $21 billion of funding that could be clawed back by the Department of Transportation, almost $7 billion is directed for projects in states that voted for Trump in 2024, said Corrigan Solerno, the policy manager for the research group Transportation for America.Trump rescinded the previous administrations goal of 40% funding to disadvantaged communities, which includes the climate smart commodities grants for thousands farmers to implement conservation practices like cover crops.This suspension puts the program and its participating farmers at risk, Brent Swart, the president of the Iowa Soybean Association wrote in a Monday letter to all Republican members of Congress from Iowa, saying farmers involved in this regional project are contractually owed $11 million for practices implemented in 2024.Meanwhile, businesses and local officials find themselves hoping for the best as budget battles rage.I try not to get too anxious about things until I know its real, Danville City Manager Ken Larking said of any potential cuts to a $1.3 billion industrial development park just outside of his Virginia town.Bo Erickson and Richard Cowan, Reuters

The Harvard Law School Library says it is releasing an archive of more than 300,000 government data sets, aiming to protect vital public information at a time when President Donald Trumps administration is wiping it from the web.The initiative, announced Thursday by the Law School Librarys Innovation Lab, is one of several efforts to rescue official figures and government datasets as Trump and his billionaire allies take a wrecking ball to the federal government, yanking thousands of websites offline and in some cases deleting entire agencies off the internet.Academics and researchers from fields including public health, climate studies and sociology have been left scrambling as the Trump administration scrubs official data. On Sunday, the New York Times reported it found that more than 8,000 government web pages had been removed in the aftermath of the presidential transition.The Innovation Lab said in a statement it had so far managed to preserve 311,000 datasets copied between 2024 and 2025, amounting to 16 terabytes of data. Amanda Watson, the Harvard Law Schools assistant dean for library and information services, said her institutions rescue effort was about upholding our fundamental belief that government information belongs to the public.The Innovation Lab isnt doing the work alone.Others that have scrambled to preserve government data include the San Francisco-based Internet Archive, which has been taking systematic end-of-presidential-term snapshots of government websites since 2008, as well as groups such as the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative, which rescued an interactive government widget for checking how polluted a given area was one of many tools knocked offline by the Trump administration.Jack Cushman, who directs the Innovation Lab, said the government collected an untold amount of data.Thats everything from What is the weather or climate going to be? to How are the crops growing? to How much water is in aquifers to What are people dying of? to What jobs are growing or shrinking,' he said.The government tracks so many things that help us understand and plan and make sense of whats happening in the world. We wanted to make sure our patrons can get access to all that information.Raphael Satter, Reuters

Glasses arent just a visual aid; theyre an extension of personality. Whether its bold acetate frames, sleek titanium rounds, or vintage aviators, they deserve better than being tossed onto a nightstand or buried in a drawer. Craighills Eyewear Stand offers a sculptural resting place, crafted from cast metal with a weight that feels substantial in hand.Theres an industrial elegance to itminimal yet expressive, like a Brutalist sculpture scaled down to a desktop object. The way glasses lean into the stand almost gives it a relaxed, reclining posture, a small but deliberate detail that makes the piece feel like it belongs in a design museum. Its a gorgeously minimal extension of those nose-shaped eyewear stands except this mimics the job of a nose without being so awfully on-the-nose. Its visually indirect and functionally brilliant in a way that Craighill does best.Designer: CraighillFunctionally, its a dream for anyone who wears glasses daily. No more fumbling around in the morning, trying to remember where you last left them. The stand keeps them front and center, always within reach. And because the design accommodates any style of frame, whether chunky acetate or delicate wire rims, you dont have to worry about fit. The only real consideration is the nose padssome users have noted that depending on their shape, stability can vary slightly. But for most glasses, the stand holds them securely without issue.Unlike most wire or wooden stands, this one is heavier than youd expect, giving it a premium, almost heirloom feel. Its precision-cast metal, and is built to last, like most of Craighills products. The brass version, in particular, will develop a patina over time, adding to its character. If you prefer a cleaner look, the stainless steel option keeps things sleek and modern. And for those who want a more personal touch, theres the option to add custom engravingthough some reviewers have noted that the engraving is subtle and could be deeper for better visibility.At $68, its not an impulse buy, but thats the point. This is for people who appreciate craftsmanship, people who choose a fountain pen over a BIC, or a Swiss-made mechanical watch over common Quartz. Its the kind of piece that earns its place over timesomething youll use daily without thinking about, until one day you realize how much you rely on it. And for anyone who sees eyewear as more than just a functional tool, thats exactly the kind of detail that matters.The post Minimalist Metal Eyewear-Stand is the Perfect Tabletop EDC for Distinguished Gentlemen first appeared on Yanko Design.