Breakdown & ShowreelsBetter Man: Animating Robbie Williams as an Ape by Weta FXBy Vincent Frei - 12/02/2025 Experience the artistry of Weta FX in this latest making-of for Better Man. See how their meticulous animation process brought Robbie Williams transformation into a monkey to life. Stay tunedmy exclusive Weta FX interview drops tomorrow!WANT TO KNOW MORE?Weta FX: Dedicated page about Better Man on Weta FX website. Vincent Frei The Art of VFX 2025

Hello, I am currently looking for VFX work. I have 4+ year experience.My showreel is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqLJmcmgBwoContact me: xxater@gmail.com 1 post - 1 participant Read full topic

Brooklyns historic Hendrick I. Lott House stands out from other abodes in Marine Park, a Kings County neighborhood known for its skinny, single-family shingle houses and brick row houses that stack up next to each other like soldiers, like the one Peter Clemenza lived in. Today, the Lott House is one of the oldest Dutch colonial homes in all of New York City. The farmhouse was built in 1720, before slavery was abolished in New York in 1827enslaved, immigrant, and Indigenous workers once toiled there. The farmhouse is named after the Lott family. It was situated on a property that once spanned over 200 acres. According to Historic House Trust New York City, the Lotts freed their slaves in 1805 and the house may have been a stop on the Underground Railroad.Soon, the Lott House will be open to the public as a fully operational cultural venue. Chrysalis Archeology is helping restore the building.Exterior renovations to the ground were carried out in 2013. This latest round will make the interiors equipped for modern museum needs. (Courtesy Friends of theLottHouse)The new museum will center is exhibitions and programming on the history of the surrounding neighborhood, as well as the Lott family, marking Marine Parks first premier cultural destination. The Lott House was built in more than 300-years ago, a time when Brooklyn wasnt Brooklyn per se, but rather a disparate set of villages founded by Dutch and English settlers. Brooklyns original villages were: Breuckelen, New Amersfoort, Midwout, Boswick, and Gravesend. Lott House was in the Gravesend section.Lott House circa 1915 (Courtesy Friends of theLottHouse)Descendants of the Lott family occupied the farmhouse from 1720 until 1989, when they sold it, throwing the building into uncertainty. Friends of the Lott House, a group of architects and community members, formed in the 1990s to save the place. New York City bought Lott House in 2002, and carried out exterior and renovations there in 2013.The next renovations will take place inside and outside the building. Infrastructure improvements will preserve Lott Houses historic details while also modernizing and stabilizing its foundational elements, Friends of the Lott House shared. The Lott Houses electricity, plumbing, air conditioning, and accessibility will all be upgraded.The interiors need significant improvements. (Courtesy Friends of theLottHouse)Alyssa Loorya, Friends of the LottHouse president and principal of Chrysalis Archeology, said the Lott Houses transformation into a full throttle museum is a long time coming. Its finally time, it has been over 10 years since the exterior work was completed and we cannot wait for this next phase to start, Loorya said in a statement.We are eager to open the doors and invite the community in to share in the rich history, Loorya added, not only the history of the Lott family, but of the community and south Brooklyn; its a New York City story.

Cross FunctionDOMM creates sleek public school studio space for AGBU using a cruciform organizationByKelly Pau February 12, 2025Interiors, West (Tag Christof)SHAREAGBU Innovation Studios is a multidisciplinary, project-based learning space for middle and high school students in Los Angeles. Located on the second floor of a midcentury building, AGBUs programming requires four equally sized and shaped studios that can function independently to serve students, as well as have the option to create one large space for community events or exhibitions.DOMM, a local and young architecture practice founded by Paul Matevosyan and Raffy Mardirossian, met the brief by transforming the space from two classrooms divided by single hallway into four discrete spaces that can cohere into one large, neon-hued and elevated interior for public school students. The new spatial logic stems from the previously existing hallway, a 6-foot-wide pathway that contributed substantially to the structural integrity of the building. Working with the conditions of the site, the architects preserved the hallway while creating 3-foot-wide openings that alternate with walls to maintain structural integrity. They then repeated and rotated this configuration 90 degrees, creating a crucifix in plan that craftily designates four studio spaces.Read more about the education space on aninteriormag.com. Los AngelesSchools

All images Ramiro Vargas Chump Washikiat and Taliesin Black-BrownDeep in the Amazon Rainforest, I Am the Nature Celebrates Indigenous Cultural PhilosophyFebruary 12, 2025Kate MothesDirected by Taliesin Black-Brown and narrated by Ramiro Vargas Chump Washikiat, I Am the Nature poetically plumbs the human interconnection with nature through the eyes of the Indigenous Achuar people. The short documentary honors the philosophy of a culture whose ancestral lands extend across the modern borders of Ecuador and Peru, deep in the Amazon rainforest. Today, Achuar still living in the rainforest continue to practice and preserve ancestral ways of life.In the early 20th century, the government granted oil concessions that allowed industry to systematically move closer to the Achuar homeland. Further expansion and development in the region increased dramatically in the 1960s, initiating contact between the Achuar and the Western world.Washikiat chronicles a vision he had as a boy, which foretold he would travel to the U.S. to learn English. In his journey, he observed incredible cultural and societal contrasts, such as individualism in place of collectivity, and yet his experiences away from the jungle instilled an ever deeper understanding that we are all children of the earth.I Am the Nature introduces us to a way of life inextricably entwined with the surrounding environment, simultaneously reliant on and in harmony with nature. We peacefully live in a simple way, Washikiat says. Thats what we would like to share to the world.The short film was an official selection in the 2024 DOC NYC documentary film festival and the 2024 Banff Center Mountain Film Festival, among others. See it on Vimeo.Next article

Published February 12, 2025 10:00am EST close 'CyberGuy' warns of cyberscams costing Americans billions a year Tech expert Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson joins "Fox & Friends" to warn of new cyberscams and offer tips on how to avoid them. "Love is blind" takes on a more sinister meaning when so-called artificial intelligence (AI) becomes a tool for exploiting our deepest human emotions.Convincing AI technologies are increasingly targeting mature online daters, turning fantasies into lucrative and dangerous criminal enterprises. Illustration of a romance scam (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)AI is helping criminals create convincing personasRomance scams have become the most common type of fraud in 2025 and have swindled would-be lovers out of over $1.3 billion in the United States alone. Just last year, the world heard the cautionary tale of a 53-year-old French woman who lost $850,000 to a convincing AI deepfake of Brad Pitt.The scammers had wooed her for over 8 months with realistic (yet fake) images, voice calls, videos and even multiple social media accounts. Similarly, a 67-year-old from San Diego was tricked out of her life savings when an AI impostor gang posed as Keanu Reeves, also raising awareness about romance scams impacting the elderly. The worst side of both stories is that the fraudsters havent been caught, and the victims financial institutions did little to help them recover their funds. Illustration of a romance scam (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Can you really blame the victims for 'falling for it'?AI-powered romance scams have become far more sophisticated than "traditional" scams. Criminals use a variety of AI tools together with advanced tactics to create deeply personalized and remarkably realistic digital identities. Unlike traditional scams relying on generic scripts, these AI-powered approaches can generate nuanced, contextually appropriate conversations that adapt in real time to victims' emotional state and personal background. In short, romance scams have become so dangerous because they use multiple advanced methods.They use your personal datato identify psychological vulnerabilities through conversational analysis. They might know your friends names, your job, interests or personal details.They deploy targeted emotional manipulation techniques that are unique to each person they target.They create dynamic, seemingly personal storylines that incrementally build trust and "remember" details about conversations.AI-driven romance conversations are increasingly challenging for both victims and traditional anti-fraud mechanisms to detect. Spotting and preventing these scams can be tricky, but privacy experts recommend some tried-and-true ways. Illustration of a romance scam (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Here's how you can spot the red flags of a romance scamSpotting and preventing these sophisticated AI-driven scams can be tricky, but staying informed can help you avoid becoming a victim. By being vigilant, verifying identities and recognizing red flags, you can navigate online dating safely while protecting your finances and personal information. Here are some things to look out for:Too much love. They "love-bomb" too early in conversationsTheyre too perfect or too tailored to you in their background, job history or personal details. Fraudsters often present the perfect picture of what you want and avoid disagreeing with youThey avoid in-person meetings and/or have convincing excuses for why they cant meet or have a video callThey lack real reactions. While AI-powered deepfakes are convincing, they still struggle to react naturally to more human interactions: jokes, surprises, exclamations, throat-clearing, coughing, etc.Demanding money early, especially for family emergencies, medical events or business ideas. Never send money transfers, gift cards or financial information to someone you have not met in person Illustration of a romance scam (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)What to do if you think it might be a scamAsk a friend or family member:Getting an outside perspective can help you see warning signs you might have overlookedReport the profile or scammer:Online dating apps and social media have built-in reporting features to warn against fraud. If the account disappears soon after your report, its likely that the account was fake. If you think you're a victim of scamming, go to the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) websitehere and report the scammer. The steps for reporting a scam are pretty straightforward, and the FTC will immediately send out alerts to law enforcement to help with investigating the scammers. You can also contact theBetter Business Bureau and file a report with them 24/7Contact your bank: If you sent money to the scammer and want to get it back, you should immediately contact your bank or credit/debit card company and report it as fraud. The representatives will then walk you through the steps to get your money reimbursedWHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)?Contact the gift card company: If you sent a gift card to the scammer, make sure you keep the receipt and report the scam to the gift card company. The representatives there may be able to help you, and it will also help them be aware of scammers using their gift cards for fraudVisit IdentityTheft.gov: If you gave out personal information like a Social Security number, follow the steps atIdentityTheft.gov. You'll be able to make a report there, and the website will help you create a recovery plan and walk you through each step of gaining your identity backUse Identity theft protection: If you want a service that will walk you through every step of the reporting and recovery process, one of the best things you can do to protect yourself from this type of fraud is to subscribe to an identity theft service. Identity theft companies can monitor personal information like your Social Security number, phone number and email address and alert you if it is being sold on the dark web or being used to open an account.They can also assist you in freezing your bank and credit card accounts to prevent further unauthorized use by criminals. One of the best parts of identity theft protection services, is that they have identity theft insurance ofup to $1 million to cover losses and legal feesand a white-glove fraud resolution team where a U.S.-based case manager helps you recover any losses.See my tips and best picks on how to protect yourself from identity theftHave strongantivirus software on all your devices: This story is also another reminder to always have good antivirus software running on your devices, as romance scams can also entail email and text communications asking the victim to click a link. The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have antivirus software installed on all your devices. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe.Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson offers his advice to avoid romance scams. (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Make it difficult for a romance scammer to target youYour personal information is a scammers best tool. This includes your phone number, email and other contact details that allow them to reach you, as well as information like the celebrities you follow, your family members and even the type of content you engage with online to tailor the perfect attack. As scams become more sophisticated and reliant on loads of data, its more important than ever to take proactive measures to safeguard your personal information.1. Vigilance in online dating: In the digital world, not everyone is who they claim to be. Be wary of potential romantic interests who ask for money or gifts or those who want to move the relationship along too quickly. Keep your personal and financial information private and never share it with someone you haven't met in person.GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE2. Verify the identity: Request additional information or proof to verify their identity, such as video chatting or meeting in person if possible. Exercise caution before getting emotionally invested in someone you haven't met in real life.3. Research and verify: Conduct an online search using the person's name, email address or phone number to see if any suspicious or fraudulent activities are associated with them.Reverse image search their profile pictures to check if they are stolen from elsewhere on the internet. You can also reverse-search their phone number for free by following the instructions foundhere.4. Privacy settings: Keep your social media profiles private so only those you trust can see whats going on in your life.5. Limit sharing: Adjust the privacy settings on all of your online accounts and apps to limit data collection and sharing.6. Use reputable dating platforms: Stick to well-known and reputable dating websites or apps with security measures to help protect their users from scams. These platforms often have guidelines for safe online dating and report suspicious users.7. Invest in personal information removal services:I highly recommend you remove your personal information that can be found on various people search sites across the web. If you give someone your email address or phone number, they could potentially reverse-search your information and get your home address.Check out my top picks for data removal services here.Kurt's key takeawaysAI-powered romance scams have become a serious threat, exploiting our deepest emotions for financial gain. As you navigate the digital dating landscape, it's crucial to stay vigilant and protect yourself from these sophisticated schemes. Remember, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Trust your instincts, take things slow and always prioritize your safety and financial well-being.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPHow has the rise of AI-powered romance scams changed your approach to online dating or your views on digital relationships?Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.Follow Kurt on his social channels:Answers to the most asked CyberGuy questions:New from Kurt:Copyright 2025 CyberGuy.com.All rights reserved. Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on "FOX & Friends." Got a tech question? Get Kurts free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

Reddogs - stock.adobe.comNewsForrester: AI and cyber security drive up IT spendingDespite artificial intelligence and cyber security increasing investment, technical debt remains a significant drain on IT budgetsByCliff Saran,Managing EditorPublished: 12 Feb 2025 16:00 Market analysis from Forrester has forecast that organisations in Europe are set to increase IT spending by 5% during 2025.According to the analysts Global tech forecast 2024-2029, spending will reach $4.9tn in 2025, with accelerated investment in artificial intelligence (AI), cyber security and cloud infrastructure. Generative AI (GenAI), cyber security and cloud services are poised to drive growth by 5.6% in 2025, up from 4.6% in 2024.Europe is set to spend less than the US and Asia Pacific as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP). The research from Forrester shows that the US accounted for 41% of global tech spend and 46% of AI software spend in 2024. Almost 70% of the top 24 companies by market capitalisation that saw the fastest growth from 2015 to 2023 come from the US, and more than half of those are media and information companies.Forresters forecast shows that Asia Pacific tech spend will grow 5.6% in 2025. The analyst predicts that the Asia Pacific region will witness a surge in real GDP growth that far exceeds the global average, led by countries including India, the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia. Government initiatives in China and India, and increased investment in GenAI and semiconductors in Japan and South Korea, will help drive tech spend. India will see the fastest growth, with tech spend expected to increase by 9.6% in 2025.According to Forrester, software and IT services combined will account for 66% of global technology spend in 2025, fuelled by increased investment in cyber security services and the modernisation of legacy systems. Software alone will grow at a rate of 10.5%, and is expected to capture 60% of global tech spend growth by 2029, making it the fastest-growing tech sector.Over the next five years, technology investments will reshape industries at an unprecedented pace, said Michael OGrady, principal forecast analyst at Forrester.In a blog post, OGrady said that the analysts forecast suggests software spending by enterprises and governments will reach 1.7% of global GDP by 2029, nearly doubling its worth since 2016. GenAI will revolutionise sectors such as financial services, media and retail, enhancing customer experiences with more personalised and human-like virtual assistants and customer service solutions, he said.Read more IT strategy storiesForrester: IT budget growth pushed towards cross-functional teams: Analyst firm Forrester has forecast a slight increase in IT budgets for 2025, but technical debt is one of the areas likely to feel the squeeze.How to optimise SAM budget in todays heterogeneous environments: Hidden software costs and ecosystem complexity make managing a mixed software estate harder than ever. Heres how to optimise your spending.Among the big growth areas, according to Forresters analysts, will be in IT consulting and system integration services, which account for 19% of global IT spending. OGrady said that tech outsourcing and hardware maintenance make up 15% of global IT spending in its latest forecast. Driven by infrastructure as a service, outsourcing services growth outpaces that of consulting service, he said.According to OGrady, companies that focus their investments on cyber security and AI will not only strengthen their competitive edge, but also achieve sustainable growth.However, he warned that they need to balance their rapid tech investments with ongoing efforts to manage legacy systems and reduce technical debt. Legacy systems still capture two-thirds of global tech spending, said OGrady. With the half-life of tech skills at less than five years, skills renewal of the tech workforce is vital.In The Current Issue:Digging into the CMAs provisional take on AWS and Microsofts hold on UK cloud marketInterview: Digital tech fuels AutoTraders drive into the futureDownload Current IssueA road-warrior kit: Dell Pro keyboard, mouse, briefcase & backpack Inspect-a-GadgetSLM series: NTT DATA - Cost-effective solutions for real-time industrial AI CW Developer NetworkView All Blogs

MR - stock.adobe.comNewsMicrosofts February 2025 Patch Tuesday corrects 57 bugs, three critical Microsoft is correcting 57 vulnerabilities in its February Patch Tuesday, two of which are being actively exploited in the wild, and three of which are criticalByBrian McKenna,Enterprise Applications EditorPublished: 12 Feb 2025 16:00 Microsoft followed up its massive January Patch Tuesdayupdate containing fixes for 159 vulnerabilities with a more modest crop this month. This time, it released fixes for 57 new Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) in its update, three of which are critical.Dustin Childs of theZero Day Initiative described one of the vulnerabilities as unprecedented in the wild. This is a Windows storage elevation of privilege (EOP) vulnerability, CVE-2025-21391.In a blog post, Childs said: This is a type of bug we havent seen exploited publicly. The vulnerability allows an attacker to delete targeted files. How does this lead to privilege escalation? My colleague Simon Zuckerbraun details the technique here. While weve seen similar issues in the past, this does appear to be the first time the technique has been exploited in the wild. Its also likely paired with a code execution bug to completely take over a system. Test and deploy this quickly.In Computer Weeklys sister title SearchWindowsServer, Tom Walat picked out two new zero-day vulnerabilities that Microsoft has fixed in this Patch Tuesday, including the EOP that Childs highlighted.The first new zero-day is a Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock elevation-of-privilege vulnerability (CVE-2025-21418) rated important with a CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) score of 7.8. This bug affects all currently supported Windows desktop and server systems, he wrote.The second new zero-day is the storage EOP vulnerability (CVE-2025-21391) that Childs commented on, to which Walat added: To exploit the vulnerability, the attacker only needs local access to the network with low privileges. If successful, the attacker can delete files on a system to cause service disruptionsand possibly perform other actions, such as elevating their privileges.Childs also picked out CVE-2025-21376, a Windows Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability. This vulnerability allows a remote, unauthenticated attacker to run their code on an affected system simply by sending a maliciously crafted request to the target, he wrote. Since theres no user interaction involved, that makes this bug wormable between affected LDAP servers. Microsoft lists this as exploitation likely, so even though this may be unlikely, I would treat this as an impending exploitation. Test and deploy the patch quickly.In the CVE notes to this critical vulnerability, which has a CVSS rating of 8.1, Microsoft stated: An unauthenticated attacker could send a specially crafted request to a vulnerable LDAP server. Successful exploitation could result in a buffer overflow which could be leveraged to achieve remote code execution.There are also several Microsoft Excel bug fixes in this update, including CVE-2025-21387, an RCE vulnerability. This is one of several Excel fixes where the Preview Pane is an attack vector, which is confusing as Microsoft also notes that user interaction is required, said Childs. They also note that multiple patches are required to address this vulnerability fully. This likely can be exploited either by opening a malicious Excel file or previewing a malicious attachment in Outlook. Either way, make sure you get all the needed patches tested and deployed.This vulnerability is one of six Excel flaws that Microsoft corrected this month, in what proved to be a relatively light Patch Tuesday.Read more about Patch TuesdayFebruary 2025: Microsoft plugs two zero-days for February Patch Tuesday.January 2025: The largest Patch Tuesday of the 2020s so far brings fixes for more than 150 CVEs ranging widely in their scope and severity including eight zero-day flaws.December 2024: Microsoft has fixed over 70 CVEs in its final Patch Tuesday update of the year, and defenders should prioritise a zero-day in the Common Log File System Driver, and another impactful flawin the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol.November 2024: High-profile vulns in NTLM, Windows Task Scheduler, Active Directory Certificate Services and Microsoft Exchange Servershould be prioritised from Novembers Patch Tuesday update.October 2024: Stand-out vulnerabilities in Microsofts latest Patch Tuesday drop include problems in Microsoft Management Consoleand the Windows MSHTML Platform.September 2024: Four critical remote code execution bugs in Windows and three critical elevated privileges vulnerabilitieswill keep admins busy.August 2024: Microsoft patches six actively exploited zero-days among over 100 issuesduring its regular monthly update.July 2024: Microsoft has fixed almost 140 vulnerabilities in its latest monthly update, with a Hyper-V zero-daysingled out for urgent attention.June 2024: An RCE vulnerability in a Microsoft messaging feature and a third-party flaw in a DNS authentication protocol are the most pressing issues to address inMicrosofts latest Patch Tuesday update.May 2024: A critical SharePoint vulnerability warrants attention this month, but it is another flaw that seems to be linked to the infamous Qakbot malwarethat is drawing attention.April 2024: Support for the Windows Server 2008 OS ended in 2020, but four years on and there's a live exploit of a security flawthat impacts all Windows users.March 2024: Two critical vulnerabilities in Windows Hyper-V stand out onan otherwise unremarkable Patch Tuesday.February 2024: Two security feature bypasses impacting Microsoft SmartScreen are on the February Patch Tuesday docket,among more than 70 issues.In The Current Issue:Digging into the CMAs provisional take on AWS and Microsofts hold on UK cloud marketInterview: Digital tech fuels AutoTraders drive into the futureDownload Current IssueA road-warrior kit: Dell Pro keyboard, mouse, briefcase & backpack Inspect-a-GadgetSLM series: NTT DATA - Cost-effective solutions for real-time industrial AI CW Developer NetworkView All Blogs

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