Its 2025, and Sony Interactive Entertainment is back with its first State of Play presentation for the year. Sony broadcasted 40 minutes worth of PlayStation 5 news, focused on what it described as a creative and unique selection of exciting games from studios around the world. And Sony really packed those 40 minutes with near back-to-back announcements almost 30 trailers or reveals.Among the barrage of gameplay, Sony showed Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, Dave the Diver DLC, Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater, and Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds.The event began at 5 p.m. EDT and was streamed on both YouTube and Twitch, but if you missed the broadcast, weve got the full rundown of what was announced.Monster Hunter WildsCapcom debuted a new trailer for Monster Hunter Wilds, showing off a returning legacy monster called Mizutsune. Monster Hunter Wilds will be released on Feb. 28.Shinobi: Art of VengeanceShinobi: Art of Vengeance will be released on Aug. 28, bringing back the Shinobi franchise.Sonic Racing: CrossWorldsSega debuted a trailer for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds during the State of Play, and announced that a closed network test is set for Feb. 21.Digimon Story Time StrangerA new Digimon game is coming: Digimon Story Time Stranger, taking players across worlds and time itself. Its expected out in 2025.Lost Soul AsidePre-orders for Lost Soul Aside open on Feb. 19.Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in HawaiiOn Friday, a new demo of Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii will go live.Dave the DiverDave the Diver gets Ichibans Holiday DLC, bringing Yakuza to the game, in April.WWE 2K25WWE 2K5 is coming to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on March 14.Borderlands 4Borderlands 4 will be released Sept. 22, Gearbox announced during the State of Play.Split FictionHazelight Studios upcoming co-op game Split Fiction got a new story trailer during the State of Play, showing more about the adventures players will enter.Directive 8020Directive 8020 is the story of the brave astronauts of the Cassiopeia who embark on a deadly mission to save humanity, but their ship is infected by an alien lifeform that perfectly imitates its prey, per the YouTube description. Itll be released on Oct. 2.Five Nights at Freddys: Secret of the MimicFive Nights at Freddys: Secret of the Mimic will be released on June 13.The Midnight WalkThe Midnight Walk, described as a handcrafted dark fantasy adventure will be released on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation VR2 on May 8.Darwins Paradox!Help Darwin the octopus escape a food factory and get back to the ocean in Darwins Paradox!, which was debuted during the event.Warriors: AbyssWarriors: Abyss dropped today on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.Onimusha 2: Samurais DestinyOnimusha 2: Samurais Destiny will be released on May 23. Onimusha 2: Samurais Destiny returns with higher resolution graphics and modernized controls to perform Issen critical counter attacks and intense swordplay, per Sonys YouTube description.Onimusha: Way of the SwordOnimusha: Way of the Sword got its first trailer trailer and a release window: 2026. The new trailer debuts the new protagonist, Miyamoto Musashi.Metal Gear Solid: Snake EaterMetal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, a remake of the 2004 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, will be released on Aug. 28.Hell Is UsHell Is Us will be released on Sept. 4, tackling a bleak topic: The demons known as humankind. Timely!Lies of P: OvertureLies of P: Overture is a prequel to Lies of P, announced for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.Dreams of AnotherPixelJunk announced Dreams of Another, a game that turns the third-person shooter on its head to build rather than destroy.Days Gone RemasteredDays Gone Remastered is coming to PlayStation 5 on April 25.Stellar Blade and Goddess of Victory: Nikke DLCDLC is coming to Stellar Blade on PlayStation 5 and Windows PC in June.Blue PrinceBlue Prince, a genre-bending, atmospheric, architectural adventure where you explore an ever-changing manor of 45 shifting rooms, was announced with a debut trailer.Abiotic FactorAbiotic Factor, in early access on Windows PC, will be released on console this summer.Tides of Annihilation When the streets of London are engulfed by an Outworld invasion, the only survivor, Gwendolyn, discovers a mysterious power to command the legendary Knights of the Round Table, reads the YouTube description for Tides of Annihilation. Driven by vengeance and the desperate need to save her sister, she embarks on a high-stakes journey across two worlds: a shattered modern London and the mythical Avalon.Metal EdenMetal Eden was revealed, and it looks like a fast-paced science-fiction first-person shooter.MindseyeAI and human greed collide in Mindseye, according to its developer.SarosHousemarque announced Saros with a cinematic trailer, and noted that the gameplay trailer will come later this year.

This article is a sponsored by DebugBearLoading your website HTML quickly has a big impact on visitor experience. After all, no page content can be displayed until after the first chunk of the HTML has been loaded. Thats why the Time to First Byte (TTFB) metric is important: it measures how soon after navigation the browser starts receiving the HTML response.Generating the HTML document quickly plays a big part in minimizing TTFB delays. But actually, theres a lot more to optimizing this metric. In this article, well take a look at what else can cause poor TTFB and what you can do to fix it.What Components Make Up The Time To First Byte Metric?TTFB stands for Time to First Byte. But where does it measure from?Different tools handle this differently. Some only count the time spent sending the HTTP request and getting a response, ignoring everything else that needs to happen first before the resource can be loaded. However, when looking at Googles Core Web Vitals, TTFB starts from the time when the users start navigating to a new page. That means TTFB includes:Cross-origin redirects,Time spent connecting to the server,Same-origin redirects, andThe actual request for the HTML document.We can see an example of this in this request waterfall visualization.The server response time here is only 183 milliseconds, or about 12% of the overall TTFB metric. Half of the time is instead spent on a cross-origin redirect a separate HTTP request that returns a redirect response before we can even make the request that returns the websites HTML code. And when we make that request, most of the time is spent on establishing the server connection.Connecting to a server on the web typically takes three round trips on the network:DNS: Looking up the server IP address.TCP: Establishing a reliable connection to the server.TLS: Creating a secure encrypted connection.What Network Latency Means For Time To First ByteLets add up all the network round trips in the example above:2 server connections: 6 round trips.2 HTTP requests: 2 round trips.That means that before we even get the first response byte for our page we actually have to send data back and forth between the browser and a server eight times!Thats where network latency comes in, or network round trip time (RTT) if we look at the time it takes to send data to a server and receive a response in the browser. On a high-latency connection with a 150 millisecond RTT, making those eight round trips will take 1.2 seconds. So, even if the server always responds instantly, we cant get a TTFB lower than that number.Network latency depends a lot on the geographic distances between the visitors device and the server the browser is connecting to. You can see the impact of that in practice by running a global TTFB test on a website. Here, Ive tested a website thats hosted in Brazil. We get good TTFB scores when testing from Brazil and the US East Coast. However, visitors from Europe, Asia, or Australia wait a while for the website to load.What Content Delivery Networks Mean for Time to First ByteOne way to speed up your website is by using a Content Delivery Network (CDN). These services provide a network of globally distributed server locations. Instead of each round trip going all the way to where your web application is hosted, browsers instead connect to a nearby CDN server (called an edge node). That greatly reduces the time spent on establishing the server connection, improving your overall TTFB metric.By default, the actual HTML request still has to be sent to your web app. However, if your content isnt dynamic, you can also cache responses at the CDN edge node. That way, the request can be served entirely through the CDN instead of data traveling all across the world.If we run a TTFB test on a website that uses a CDN, we can see that each server response comes from a regional data center close to where the request was made. In many cases, we get a TTFB of under 200 milliseconds, thanks to the response already being cached at the edge node.How To Improve Time To First ByteWhat you need to do to improve your websites TTFB score depends on what its biggest contributing component is.A lot of time is spent establishing the connection: Use a global CDN.The server response is slow: Optimize your application code or cache the responseRedirects delay TTFB: Avoid chaining redirects and optimize the server returning the redirect response.Keep in mind that TTFB depends on how visitors are accessing your website. For example, if they are logged into your application, the page content probably cant be served from the cache. You may also see a spike in TTFB when running an ad campaign, as visitors are redirected through a click-tracking server.Monitor Real User Time To First ByteIf you want to get a breakdown of what TTFB looks like for different visitors on your website, you need real user monitoring. That way, you can break down how visitor location, login status, or the referrer domain impact real user experience.DebugBear can help you collect real user metrics for Time to First Byte, Google Core Web Vitals, and other page speed metrics. You can track individual TTFB components like TCP duration or redirect time and break down website performance by country, ad campaign, and more.ConclusionBy looking at everything thats involved in serving the first byte of a website to a visitor, weve seen that just reducing server response time isnt enough and often wont even be the most impactful change you can make on your website.Just because your website is fast in one location doesnt mean its fast for everyone, as website speed varies based on where the visitor is accessing your site from.Content Delivery Networks are an incredibly powerful way to improve TTFB. Even if you dont use any of their advanced features, just using their global server network saves a lot of time when establishing a server connection.

Turning the traditionally boring world of language learning upside down.Continue reading on UX Collective

I'll download any app I get an ad forthis fact has been established over and over again. Because the algorithm knows me well, that usually means I am served up advertisements for apps and services that revolve around fashion and beauty. Yet I also have a hidden introspective side, though, again, apparently not hidden from the algorithm: Over the weekend, I was encouraged to download something called Death Clock AI. This app claimed it could guess when I'll die based on my data, correlated to some scientific studies. How could I say no to that?Now, I do not believe I actually will die on Friday, June 30, 2079, as the app predicted, nor do I really think an app is the best answer to charting my healthiest path forward in life. While the app did give me suggestions for improving my overall health, that's no substitute for discussing things with my doctor. Still, the app did make me think a little bit deeper about how I'm living, which I think makes it potentially valuable. And it's also just kinda neat.What is Death Clock AI?When you first open the app (available on iOS or Google Play), you're greeted by a screen that says you can "live longer, better," then asked to tap a button that says, "See my death date." Before you get that, you'll need to more than 30 questions about your habits and health. It will then crunch those numbers and deliver the news.The app claims to be "backed by science, powered by AI," and pulls its information from 1,217 studies that involved a combined population of 53 million participants. While the app does ask you about your age and some background questions, though, your stats may not match up with those of the participants. And the app does nothing to account for your own family and health history, or other important factors like risks you face at work or social factors that may affect your health. Credit: Lindsey Ellefson Still, with each question it askslike "How often do you include fruits and veggies in your meals?"you are given the opportunity to explore the research it is based on. Tapping on the research button for that particular question opens a pop-up that notes, "Research from 16 studies involving over 833,000 participants show that each additional daily serving of fruits and vegetables reduces the risk of death from all causes by 5%, with benefits peaking at five servings per day." Some questions may be harder to answer. While you can pretty reliably indicate how often you do cardio in a week or the number of hours you spend sitting each day, other thingslike how often you "experience significant stress in your daily life"are more subjective. On the other end of the spectrum, there are specific questions you may not know the answer to offhand, like about your typical blood pressure reading or your LDL cholesterol level. I certainly don't know my fasting glucose level off the top of my head, so I had to answer "I don't know" a few times; this will affect your overall results. Once Death Clock AI calculates your "death date" based on your answers, it also provides a "better" (that is, farther in the future) date that you can aim for. You'll also be informed you'll get to use the service for free for three days, at which point you'll be charged the $40 annual fee. If you choose to pay for a year of service, you'll get the opportunity to upload health documents and information like recent bloodwork. You can also sync your phone's health data to the app and it will keep track of how much you sleep at night, as well as how many steps you take in a day. Your "death date" can fluctuate based on these inputs and, with a subscription, you'll maintain access to the longevity plan Death Clock generates for you.I can't vouch for how worthwhile that is, because I didn't use Death Clock AI over an extended period. But even a short-term trial gave me plenty to think about.How Death Clock AI made me rethink my healthAgain, even though the developers were smart to base their app on reputable studies, I don't think you should take Death Clock AI's predictions too seriously. Instead, I thought of it as an excuse to reconsider my own healththe same way I treat the data from my fitness trackers and smart scale. It should be considered a given that this data is never truly accurate, but even stopping to think about how often I eat fresh vegetables or how often I stand up on an average day was a minor wake-up call. The drama of getting my "death date" is more of an amusing bonus. Credit: Lindsey Ellefson Death Clock AI delivered me a "longevity plan" that includes recommended bloodwork and labs, supplements, screenings, and things to talk about with my doctor. If you're someone who wants to dig in deeper on your health but isn't sure where to start, this information could be helpful. For each item on the list, the app provides the steps you need to take to follow up on it, and it even notes whether it's typically covered by insurance. The final screen you see is a reminder that Death Clock AI "does not provide medical advice" and you should talk to a real doctor about any concerns you have about your health. That's definitely true. Privacy considerationsMaybe youre worried about entering all your personal health information into a random app. Death Clock AIs website notes that the developers, "seek to protect your personal data from unauthorized access," but may also "create aggregated, de-identified or anonymized data from the Personal Data" they collect, to be used for analysis or enhancing the service. That's actually the case for most apps, sure, but most apps aren't asking you to reveal your private health data. This isn't a big deal for me, because I always assume theres a risk with sharing any data, and I gave up being worried about it a long time ago. If you are more sensible, you should only input what you feel comfortable with putting out into the world. Using the paid tier, for instance, you can input recent bloodwork, but it isnt required. Stick with the free version, which doesn't require you to create an account, and feel free to skip any questions you find too sensitive. Because again, this app provides useful jumping-off points for thinking deeper about your health, but you also don't really need it at all. If typing your cholesterol level or smoking habits into a gimmicky app makes you feel weird, it's best to just skip it and interrogate your habits some other way. But if you can get past any privacy concerns, and you are looking for a way to think more deeply about your health or need a framework for doing so, it's a solidif slightly sillystarting point.

Microsoft just dropped its Patch Tuesday security update for February 2025. This is a monthly update for Windows that includes all of the security patches and stability fixes Microsoft has been working on since the last release. But just because these updates arrive without any new user-facing features, that doesn't mean they're not equally as importantif not more so. As reported by Bleeping Computer, this latest Patch Tuesday update fixes 55 security flaws throughout Windows. That includes 22 remote code execution flaws, 19 elevation of privilege flaws, nine denial of service flaws, three spoofing flaws, two security feature bypass flaws, and one information disclosure flaw.Here's what Microsoft fixed with its latest Patch Tuesday updateWhile all 55 flaws were worth addressing, four of them were particularly essential to fixand patching two of those was even more vital. That's because four of these flaws were zero-day vulnerabilities, security flaws that are publicly known without an available patch. That's a recipe for disaster: Bad actors will inevitably discover ways to exploit security flaws, but the key is for software developers to discover and fix those flaws before bad actors even have a chance to know what those flaws are. When flaws are discovered before a fix is available, it sharply increases the chances of an exploit being developed before a patch can be created. In this case, there were four such vulnerabilities fixed in this latest Patch Tuesday update. Two of these have not been actively exploitedat least, Microsoft says they haven't. One is CVE-2025-21194, a Microsoft Surface security feature bypass vulnerability that could make it possible to bypass the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) and compromise both the hypervisor and secure kernel of specific machines. Plainly speaking, the flaw could allow bad actors to compromise the program powering virtual machines on Windows, as well as the core of your OS.The other publicly disclosed flaw was CVE-2025-21377, an NTLM hash disclosure spoofing vulnerability, which allows bad actors to access your computer's NTLM hash to obtain your plain-text password. With this particular flaw, a user might only need to select, right-click, or interact with a malicious file in order to trigger the exploit, which could then let a hacker log into the machine as the user. Microsoft is staying pretty silent about this one. However, the other two zero-day flaws patches in this update were, in fact, actively exploited. That includes CVE-2025-21391, a Windows storage elevation of privilege vulnerability that allowed bad actors to delete targeted files on your computer. Microsoft clarified the flaw does not allow bad actors to see your confidential information, but being able to delete files means attackers could break parts of your system. The second actively-exploited zero day flaw was CVE-2025-21418, an elevation of privilege vulnerability that allowed bad actors to gain system privileges in Windows. Microsoft did not share how either of these flawswere exploited by bad actors, and is keeping the identities of those who discovered them anonymous. While we don't know the full scope of these last two zero-days, it's important to update and patch them ASAP. As they are actively being exploited, it's possible someone could use them against your computer unless you install the patch.How to install the latest security updates on WindowsTo protect your PC, install this latest Patch Tuesday update as soon as possible. To do so, head to Start > Settings > Windows Update, then choose Check for Windows updates.

X has reached a settlement with President Donald Trump in a lawsuit over the presidents 2021 suspension from Twitter. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Elon Musk-owned company has agreed to pay about $10 million to settle the long-running case.Trump sued Twitter, along with Meta and YouTube, more than three years ago after the companies booted him off their platforms following the riots on January 6, 2021. His lawyers claimed that the suspensions were a violation of his First Amendment rights. The lawsuit against Twitter was dismissed by a judge in 2022, but Trumps lawyers appealed that decision.Xs settlement comes shortly after Meta also reached an agreement with Trump. The company paid $25 million, much of which will go toward building Trumps presidential library, the company confirmed. The Wall Street Journal reports that the president's lawyers are also expected to pursue a settlement with Google. X didnt respond to a request for comment.The settlement with X is particularly notable given Elon Musks close relationship with Trump. The owner of X reinstated Trumps Twitter account soon after taking over the company in 2022 and spent at least $250 million on Trumps campaign in 2024. The president's lawyers reportedly considered letting the lawsuit fizzle out ahead of the settlement.Since Trump took office less than a month ago, Musk has used his perch at the top of the department of government efficiency to wreak havoc across the federal government, in a series of moves that have prompted multiple lawsuits and growing concerns about a constitutional crisis.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-will-pay-about-10-million-to-settle-lawsuit-over-donald-trumps-twitter-suspension-234757817.html?src=rss

Other than a Days Gone remaster, Sony's first State of Play stream of the year was fairly light on first-party games. At least that was the case until the very end of the showcase.The company announced the long-awaited next game from Returnal developer Housemarque. The third-person action title is called Saros, and it stars the always-delightful Rahul Kohli. The actor plays Arjun Devraj, "a powerful Soltari Enforcer searching for answers on a lost off-world colony," per the trailer's YouTube description.The clip shows Arjun waking up on a beach with a gun by his side. "Every time the sun dies, madness reigns," he says as an ominous eclipse occurs. Moments later, a giant being with eight arms and a broken, pointy headpiece emerges from the depths. The creature summons balls of fire in its hands as Arjun readies himself to battle it.Housemarque/PlayStation StudiosHousemarque says Saros is a new game, but it's one that builds on the roguelite foundations of Returnal and its repeatable runs just in case Arjun saying "After every death, I always come back stronger" in the trailer wasn't clear enough. In this game, your resources and progression persist after each run. You'll have an "evolving set of weapons and suit upgrades" to help upgrade your loadout, though as in Returnal, the world will change after every death.One other major difference between Saros and Housemarque's last game is that Arjun isn't alone on this planet. Details about other characters in the ensemble cast, the story and gameplay will be revealed later.Sony liked Returnal enough to buy Housemarque and add the developer to its stable of PlayStation Studios, so it'll likely have high hopes for this one. Saros is slated to arrive on PS5 in 2026.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/saros-is-the-next-game-from-housemarque-coming-to-ps5-in-2026-232243078.html?src=rss

Google Gemini adds Deep Research feature to iOS.

Reikon Games announces Metal Eden, a new sci-fi shooter.

After a banner year that saw AppLovin's stock jump more than 700%, the company reported better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter.