Its been almost two years since the Place, Memory, and Culture Incubator (PMCI) started at the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture at the City College of New York (CCNY). The new multidisciplinary program is supported by a three-year, $1.5 million grant from Mellon Foundation. Its helmed by Spitzers dean Marta Gutman and CCNY assistant architecture professor Jerome Haferd. A new exhibition on view at Spitzer today speaks to the tremendous work underway at the PMCI by students and faculty. Generative Histories Harlem was designed by Haferd, and built in Spitzers first floor by architecture students. For Haferd, the show was about centering the pedagogical work by PMCI educators like Curry Hackett, Najha Zigbi-Johnson (author of Mapping Malcolm), Pedro Cruz Cruz, and others at the emerging fronts of community practice, preservation, and diasporic memory, he said.Often called the Harlem Incubator in short, PMCI is a test bed for new architecture, preservation, history, and theory pedagogies hyper-specific to the Harlem community that challenge the way we consider memory, context, aesthetics, and so forth. Artist Nia Love, Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI), Uptown Grand Central (UGC), While We Are Still Here (WWASH), and other groups are PMCI partners.PMCI works with myriad artists, small businesses, and nonprofits spread throughout Harlem. (Anna Dave)The way I describe it is, instead of asking our partners to walk up the hill [at St. Nicholas Park] and talk to us, we walk down the hill and listen to what our partners have to say, and use that feedback as a springboard for action, Gutman told AN. Students and faculty are not trying to tell people what they think they should do, but rather learn from our community partners, what they want, and think about how we can work together to advance their needs.Generative Histories Harlem The new exhibition on view at Spitzer showcases work made by students who partook in PMCI studios, but also projects that have unfolded thanks to micro grants awarded by Mellon Foundation through Spitzer to small businesses. The micro grants have since helped local institutions carry out important archival work to help keep Harlems story alive amid wanton gentrification, namely the stories of the people who make it the place it is today. Students worked with Pedro Cruz Cruz for instance in collaboration with the Street Vendor Project, a 2,900-member organization that advocates on behalf of New York Citys many street vendors.The design propositions have come in many different shapes and sizes: PMCI students created beautiful collages; others prototypes, urban interventions, and scale models of 125th Street; while some pushed the boundaries of historical preservation by archiving the work of Franco Gaskin, a.k.a Franco the Great and the Picasso of Harlem. Gaskin has spent decades painting murals upon Harlems storefront grates, among other integral pieces of the lauded neighborhoods urban fabric. PMCI students dedicated time and resources to documenting Gaskins expansive output which transformed Harlem.One of the advocacy groups PMCI students worked with was the Street Vendors Project, a group which advocates on behalf of New York Citys many street vendors. (Anna Dave)In that light, Haferd said another part of PMCIs long-term goal is creating productive challenges to traditional modes of preservation, a mission which Gutman echoes. This idea from traditional preservation of tangible and intangible heritage is a false binary, Gutman said. I never understood that false distinction. The Harlem African Burial Ground for instance, the site is there. To say that this is an intangible heritage site is just nonsense.Toward New PedagogiesMouhamadou Dieng, a fifth year undergraduate student at Spitzer, took an advanced studio with Haferd about the Harlem African Burial Ground before working on the exhibition. The pedagogy Haferd employed that semester ultimately informed the exhibition on view at Spitzer today, and will surely have a lasting impact on those who graduate from the program. What struck me about that studio was the cultural sensitivity, but also how it challenged me to think about the place I live, Harlem. It became about imagining history in a way thats more experimental, and more in conversation with the place, Dieng said. It was a fascinating process. So many of the things we did were unconventional, Dieng added. Typically in site analysis, you go on Google, and read some peer reviewed essays. Instead, we were talking to people in the community. We went to the site and started foraging for objects in the ground. We read Saidiya Hartmans text, Wayward Lives, where she talks about the concept of critical fabulation, which is . This studio allowed me to use critical fabulation as an architectural tool. It made me think about architecture not as this physical imposition or manifestation, but how it really affects the forces around us, on a much deeper level.Spitzer students built the installation walls, which consisted mainly of sawtooth panels made of wood which jut out, affording more space for presenting models and drawings. This photo shows a large scale model students built of 125th Street. (Anna Dave)For Haferd, this approach Dieng speaks of fits into his overall pedagogical mission, that of combining aesthetics, ethics, and community visioning into one single ensemble. This program really came out of this process, where we asked: How can we continue to get better at what we do in relation to places like Harlem? This notion predates the use of buzz words like DEI and will post-date those buzz words. Weve always been expansive about who we work with, and whos doing the work. Like what Marta says, this approach is part of the schools DNA.The exhibition takes up much of the architecture schools first floor. (Anna Dave)One of the things the student work speaks to is this false, or problematic dichotomy many have between notions of community and aesthetics. I think here at PMCI were precisely interested in the opposite. How can we think about culture as an aesthetic? Haferd said, with emphasis. Theres a high aesthetic concern and stake in the built environment when it comes to places like Harlem, and around the country. Aesthetics has become this kind of taboo word. Theres this division between socially-engaged practices and high-design practices that I think students like [Dieng] are really challenging. Haferd added: Insisting that we, as Black people, and people of color more broadly must come out of this sensitive engagement with history; for me this is the most fertile ground to generate design work. Questioning these dichotomies is now more relevant than ever when students like [Dieng] are practicing, in particular in communities that need our design thinking the most.Its About Doing the WorkIts no secret that values like the ones PMCI holds true today are under threat by the new U.S. presidential administration. DEI has come under attack, as has academic integrity. Still, educators like Gutman and Haferd stand their ground, and maintain a long-term, fortified position against the status quo in Washington, D.C. Today, grants from the Mellon Foundation are absolutely essential in enabling this work to happen.Jerome Haferd and Marta Gutman speaking the night of the February 18 opening. (Anna Dave)We are an under-resourced public university, Gutman said. Were the premier public school of architecture in the New York metropolitan area. Our students are principally students of color, principally women, principally supported by public money one way or another. We couldnt do this without Mellon support, because when we go to work, we make sure every person we work with is compensated, which means nobody is giving us anything for free. The Mellon Foundation has allowed City College to funnel resources to community groups, which is really, really important. This is how we compensate people for their time, and how we support and fund interns who work at these organizations.With regard to DEI, or whatever we call it, Gutman continued, this is written into CUNYs DNA. This is ingrained in CUNYs charter document. And so, were not going to stop. Were just not.Its about doing the work, Haferd added.Generative Histories Harlem is on view through April 10.

Visitors Commune with the Forest Canopy in a Four-Story Treehouse in ArkansasMarch 5, 2025DesignNatureKate MothesWithin southwest Arkansass Garvan Woodland Gardens, a four-story communal treehouse welcomes visitors to the Evans Childrens Adventure Garden. Designed by modus studio and constructed in 2018, the whimsical yet contemporary structure is embraced by pine and oak trees, connecting visitors to the surrounding woods via elevated walkways and lookouts.This unique structure is a defining small project for modus, the team says, sharing that the work draws on their own childhood experiences in the region. They add that it is easy to take for granted our strong connection to the creeks, forests, insects, and animals of Arkansas. However, many children in the modern world are unfortunately disconnected from this type of play.The studio took dendrology, the study of trees and wooded plants, as a starting point for the overall form and the way people interact with the space as they move along its passageways and stairwells.The curving screen encasing the structure is composed of 113 fins made from locally sourced Southern yellow pine. Airy slats and metal screens redolent of branches let the light and breeze filter through, maintaining visitors connection to the surrounding Ouachita Forest from numerous vantage points.Designers conceived of a space that would refocus peoples attention on the natural wonders of the canopy and allow visitors to climb higher and see farther. The tree house uses a rich visual and tactile environment to stimulate the mind and body and strengthen connections back to the natural world while accommodating the needs of all users, the firm says.modus studio was recently selected to exhibit in the U.S. Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. If youre in Arkansas, you can also see Coler Mountain Bike Preserve, where the team designed a series of pavilions and dynamic bridges. Find more on the studios website. (via Plain Magazine)Next article

Tech 1 click cost a father $4 million in bitcoin to vishing scammers Steps to recognize and protect yourself from these sophisticated phone scams Published March 5, 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 his tips on how to avoid them. Many of us have families to look after. We save money not only for our own future but also perhaps even more so for our kids and grandkids. We want to secure a good education, help them buy a home or simply set aside something for when they need it.So did Tony. Hed saved a substantial amount for his sons' future, more than $4 million in bitcoin. And with just one click,he lost it all to vishing, a type of scam that uses phone calls to trick people into giving up sensitive information.Scammers posed as Google Support agents and, after an elaborate scheme, first caught his attention, then gained his trust and ultimately left him with nothing."Please, man. Is there anything you can do to give me something back?" was Tonys final, desperate plea to the scammers, hoping to appeal to their humanity.GET EXPERT SECURITY ALERTS, MUST-KNOW TECH TIPS AND THE LATEST DIGITAL TRENDS STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX.SIGN UP FOR KURTS THE CYBERGUY REPORT NOW A man typing on his computer keyboard (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)What is vishing?Vishing, short for "voice phishing," is a type of cybercrime that uses phone calls to deceive individuals into revealing personal or financial information. Unliketraditional phishing, which relies on emails or text messages, vishing leverages the power of human voice and social engineering to manipulate victims. Scammers often impersonate legitimate organizations, such as banks, tech companies, or government agencies, to gain trust and create a sense of urgency. They may ask for passwords, credit card numbers, or other sensitive details, which they then use for fraudulent purposes.Because vishing relies heavily on social engineering tactics, it can be difficult to detect, making it a particularly dangerous form of cybercrime. Illustration of a hacker at work (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)The scam is a well-orchestrated playLet's break down these vishing schemes to understand why they are so effective. Once you see them as a staged play consisting of different acts, it becomes easier to recognize the individual tactics.Act 1: The setup and targetingScammers start by identifying potential victims through social media, public transaction records, leaked databases, and more. Once they select a target, they gather personal details (email, phone number, financial holdings) to build credibility. And you could easily be a target. Thats becausedata brokers companies that buy and sell your personal information are goldmines for scammers. Your entire profile is likely out there,containing everything they need to run a successful scam: your name, address, contact details, family members, owned properties and more.How to protect yourself at this stage:Limit what youshare online, especially financial detailsSign up fordata removal services that erase your personal information from company databasesAct 2: The first contactScammers always initiate contact first. Lets walk through a vishing scam using a Google account as an example.Triggering a real security alert: Scammers may attempt to recover your Google Account to prompt real security alerts, like verification codes sent to your phone. Their goal isnt to reset your password but to make you believe theres a real security issue. Google verification codetext (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Sending a fake security message: They create a fake Google Form using your email address, designed to mimic an official security alert. The message often claims theres been a security breach and that a named support agent will contact you soon. Fake Google form (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Placing a call: Shortly after you receive the email, scammers call using a spoofed Google number, guiding you through fake security steps.How to protect yourself at this stage:Pause and verify Real companies dont call or email you for sensitive security actionsContact the company directly Use official contact details (dont trust the callers number or email)Be skeptical of urgent security warnings Scammers create fake emergencies to make you act without thinkingAct 3: Building trustScammers no longer ask for passwords outright. That trick doesnt work anymore. Here's what they do instead.Introducing themselves as support agents: They remain calm and friendly, claiming theyre here to help investigate the issue. They reference details from the fake Google Form to seem legitimate.Walking through a real password recovery process: While on the phone, scammers instruct you to change your password as a security measure. They dont send any suspicious links but instead guide you through the real recovery process. At this point, they still dont have access to your account. But thats about to change.WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)? Illustration of username and password credential page (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Act 4: The scamAfter you successfully reset your password, scammers ask for one final step: log in. This is where the real scam happens.Sending a phishing link: Now that you trust them, they send a message using a spoofed Google number with a link to log in. However, the link leads to a phishing site designed to look like Googles login page.Logging into the real site: As soon as you enter your credentials into the fake page, scammers input them into the real Google site. Seconds later, you receive a genuine Google security prompt asking, "Is this you?"Clicking "Yes, its me" completes the scam: While you were on their fake platform, they were simultaneously logging into your real account using your credentials. The Google security prompt? It wasnt for your device. It was for theirs. As a result, you've just given scammers access to your account.How to protect yourself at this stage:Never log in to your accountsusing links that were sent to youAlwayscheck the URL before entering credentials and look for "https://" and correct spellingsUse apassword manager that autofills only on legitimate sites. A high-quality password manager ensures security with zero-knowledge encryption, military-grade protection and support for multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS and major browsers. Look for features like unlimited password storage, secure sharing, password health reports, data breach monitoring, autofill and emergency access.Check out my expert-reviewed best password managers of 2025 hereAct 5: The heistAt this stage, the scammers end the call, leaving you feeling at ease. You wont realize what happened until its too late. And its not just Google accounts at risk. The same method can be used to access Apple accounts, banking services and cryptocurrency wallets. For some, losing access to Google alone is devastating; after all, Google Drive, Google Photos and other cloud services store vast amounts of personal and financial data. But by the time you realize whats happened, its already too late.How to protect yourself at this stage:Secure your accounts immediately Reset your passwords, enable two-factor authentication with an authenticator app and log out of all active sessions to remove unauthorized access.Report and monitor for fraud Alert your bank, credit card provider or crypto exchange to freeze transactions if needed. Report the scam to the FTC (reportfraud.ftc.gov), IC3 (ic3.gov) and the affected platform. Monitor your accounts for suspicious activity and consider a credit freeze to prevent identity theft.While securing your accounts and reporting fraud are crucial after a scam has already occurred, the best defense is preventing these attacks in the first place. Taking these steps can help ensure you dont fall victim to a vishing scam in the first place.How to protect yourself from vishing scams1. Invest in personal data removal services: These scams all have one thing in common: they need some of your personal info to work. Without your name, phone number or email, these scams can't happen. Scammers might even try to gain your trust by sharing more of your personal info, like your Social Security number, to seem more believable. I strongly suggest you remove your personal info from people search sites online. If you give someone your email or phone number, they might be able to find your home address through a reverse search.While no service promises to remove all your data from the internet, having a removal service is great if you want to constantly monitor and automate the process of removing your information from hundreds of sites continuously over a longer period of time.Check out my top picks for data removal services here.2. Set up recovery contacts: Establish backup contacts for your accounts (Google, Apple and bank) to ensure you have a way to regain access if locked out.3. Monitor financial accounts: Regularly check your financial accounts for any suspicious activity or unauthorized transactions.GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE4. Enable two-factor authentication (2FA):Enable2FA on all accounts, especially Google, Apple and financial services. This adds an extra layer of security, making it harder for scammers to access your accounts even if they obtain your login credentials.5. Secure devices:Ensure your devices are secured withscreen locks or biometric authentication and keepsoftware up to date to prevent malware attacks.6. Report scams promptly:If you've been scammed, report the fraud immediately to the FTC atreportfraud.ftc.gov and notify the affected platforms.7. Use strong antivirus software:Install and regularly update strong antivirus software to protect your devices from malware, viruses and other cyber threats. Antivirus software provides real-time protection, scans for malicious files and helps prevent infections by blocking access to harmful websites and downloads. The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have strong 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's key takeawaysTony's story is a chilling reminder that even the most diligent savers can fall victim to sophisticated scams. These vishing schemes, carefully orchestrated like a theatrical play, exploit our trust and leverage real security alerts to gain access to our accounts. Protecting ourselves requires constant awareness, skepticism towards unsolicited communications, and proactive measures to safeguard our personal information. While the tactics may evolve, the underlying principle remains the same: scammers rely on deception to exploit our vulnerabilities. By understanding their methods and taking preventative steps, we can make it harder for them to succeed.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPWhat more do you think companies and the government should do to combat this growing threat? Let us know by writing us atCyberguy.com/Contact.For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading toCyberguy.com/Newsletter.Ask Kurt a question or let us know what stories you'd like us to cover.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.

Tina Ifremer sounds like the latest R&B singer youve never heard of. But, actually, its the name given to the Atempo backup software thats been in use for 23 years by the French national institute for ocean science and technology.Thats quite a lengthy period for a piece of software to be deployed, given that customers are much more likely to change things every few years.And for good reason. The institute Ifremer, for short; its an abbreviation needs to be able to access records that date back over that period of near two-and-a-half decades. Ifremer specialises in oceanographic studies, aims at sustainable use of the seas resources and the marine environment, and shares information with a wide range of organisations to those ends.It employs 1,500 in a workforce that includes scientists, engineers, technicians and admin staff across five centres in France and its overseas territories. Meanwhile, it has around 20 operational sites across the worlds oceans.Its a public sector organisation an EPIC, in the terminology established so that while most of its funding comes from government ministries, Ifremer has the capacity to respond to service requirements from elsewhere to help with funding.A third-party support provider, RIC, based in northern France, looks after operational maintenance, infrastructure, networks, backup, storage and the security of research data. It also looks after high-performance computing (HPC) on the Datarmor supercomputer, which carries out oceanic modelling that includes temperatures, salinity, and so on. Ifremer selected Atempo as a data protection provider back in 2002. That included protection of bare metal servers, databases and the organisations network-attached storage (using NDMP). A total of 400TB (terabytes) is protected, with Tina deployed at each site and backups centralised at a site in Brest, France.That configuration allows for rapid and reliable restores from the central site while also protecting local sites. Ifremer works to a 3-2-1 backup schema and also stores backups off-site on tape. That occurs via a Quantum DXI disk-based backup appliance that stages data off to tape, which optimises performance during backup windows and builds in data reduction.The key challenges and, as a result, the key criteria in product choice were:The need to be multisite, with an IT environment shared across the worlds oceans, which complicated centralisation of backups.Large volumes of data, with hundreds of terabytes of data resulting from research that needs to be stored.Large numbers of small files, which presented issues of performance, especially in indexing millions of small files.Self-service restores, carried out by the researchers without needing to depend on the IT team.We want to protect the intellectual heritage of Ifremer, said Batrice le Berre, who works on the team that runs Tina at Ifremer. Ifremer has the challenge of data sovereignty. We are partisans of the principle of open data in science, but at the same time, we have to be aware of espionage and attempts to take critical data.Jrme Le Letty, who also works on the Tina team, added: Being able to navigate temporally was another key factor in the adoption of the solution. That allows us to visualise the state of a disk in the Tina UI [user interface] and view its deleted files, maybe in error, and recover them, and thats essential.At each of the remote sites, backups take place daily and locally, going to tape or disk depending on the size of the site. Once a week, local backups are sent to the central datacentre at Brest.The solution does its work and does it well, said Le Berre. Tina works on the different platforms that we use, even the Linux servers.Next, the plan is to back up virtual servers to Tina. Also, Ifremer wants to create a digital replica of the oceans on the Datarmor supercomputer, which itself is undergoing a huge update.Ifremer pays for Tina via a three-year renewing licence with no restriction on data volumes stored. The software is updated twice a year.Read more about backupBackup technology explained the fundamentals of enterprise backup: We look at backup and its role in enterprise data protection, including what to backup and how often, RPO and RTO, full and incremental, and if backups can be replaced by snapshots.Backup types explained full, incremental, differential, synthetic: We look at backup on-premise and cloud and the key variants available, from full backup to synthetic full, via incremental, differential, incremental forever and reverse incremental.

The NHS is "looking into" claims made by an IT whistleblower that patient data was left vulnerable by security failures within a private healthcare provider.The personal details of NHS patients referred to virtual healthcare provider Medefer were exposed due to an application programming interface (API) security flaw.There is no evidence that data was compromised and the vulnerability has been fixed, but Medefer admitted the API security flaw left data vulnerable to a targeted attack.Medefer offers patients online appointments through the NHSs e-referral system (e-RS). When a patient is referred to Medefer, the firm receives patient data from e-RS or the NHS Spine to make it available to medics, who provide online consultations.The healthcare provider said it has appointed an independent security firm to investigate the flaw and an external counsel to advise on the situation, but did not say when.The security hole in the Medefer API, which was discovered in November 2024, meant data on Medefers internal patient record system, which contains data from the NHS, could have been accessed without requiring authentication, via the API.Medefer CEO and NHS consultant doctor Bahman Nedjat-Shokouhi said the problem was fixed within 48 hours of being discovered, but he admitted to not knowing how long the vulnerability existed.He said the exposed data was not full medical records but admitted it included names, addresses, NHS numbers and some doctors' notes.The whistleblower, a software testing contractor, said he reported the security hole in the private companys systems to its management, while working for the company. He said he believes the problem existed for at least six years.Hackers target vulnerabilities such as this using a suite of automated tools and techniques to retrieve private and sensitive information that could be monetised or used for further malicious activity.Since no authentication was required, attackers could script automated calls to the APIs to exfiltrate large amounts of data, for example all patient records, he added.The NHS and Medefer know the identity of the whistleblower, but he has asked to withhold his name from this story. Computer Weekly has seen evidence of conversations between Medefer employees expressing the seriousness of the security problems.The whistleblower said: I found a number of other vulnerabilities and highlighted many issues with how the systems were built, maintained and deployed, which were repeatedly raised over the next two months. Upon, again, raising this with the CEO and threatening to go public my contract was terminated abruptly."Nedjat-Shokouhi said this was not the reason the whistleblower was let go, but would not comment furtherA statement from Medefer said: We are taking the matter seriously so that we can provide reassurance to patients and other interested parties. In the interests of transparency, we have notified the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) of the allegations and lines of communication remain open. We have also commissioned an independent investigation into the matter to be conducted by a City firm of solicitors with the assistance of external data experts and leading and junior counsel."The company added: To date, we have found no evidence that any patient data has been compromised. We will continue to ensure the highest standards of data security and patient confidentiality are upheld and we will keep the ICO updated, as appropriate. If any weaknesses are found to exist, they will of course be addressed."After his contract was terminated, the whistleblower contacted the NHS last month for support and requested it contact him urgently, but he did not receive any acknowledgement or response, he told Computer Weekly.After Computer Weekly contacted the NHS, a spokesperson said: "We are looking into the concerns raised about Medefer and will take further action if appropriate. Individual NHS organisations must ensure they meet their legal responsibilities and national data security standards to protect patient data when appointing suppliers, and we offer them support and training nationally on how this should be done.The NHS was not aware of the Medefer security concerns when Computer Weekly contacted it on 27 February.Medefer has hired a security firm to produce a report on the API flaw and fix, which is due to report imminently.The ICO confirmed Medefer made it aware of the investigation into the security problem and said there has been no reported breach. Computer Weekly asked the ICO when it was informed by Medefer of the vulnerability, but said it would not provide that detail.The whistleblower, who said it seems Medefer is now doing the right thing, said the Post Office scandal influenced his decision to speak out when he felt not enough was being done by the NHS, ICO and Medefer. "Its a matter of responsibility, integrity and ethics, he said.Neil Gordon, a professor at the University of Hull and chair of the British Computer Society's ethics specialist group, said the Post Office scandal has highlighted the important role that IT staff have in alerting employers and authorities to potential problems.The Post Office Horizon scandal has starkly demonstrated the critical need for IT professionals to speak up when they identify problems. The destructive consequences of silence are evident in the injustice suffered by so many subpostmasters, he told Computer Weekly.As our reliance on IT systems grows - particularly in safety-critical areas like healthcare and autonomous vehicles - specialists must not only feel empowered to raise concerns but also be heard when they do.Gordon said organisations should foster a culture that welcomes internal scrutiny, rather than suppressing it.

Scholars Andrew G. Barto and Richard S. Sutton pioneered reinforcement learning long before it became a key tool in AI.

With the new iOS 18.4 beta, Google Fi customers can now exchange RCS-based texts with Android users.

Outlook.com users are struggling to get emails on their iPhonegettyMicrosoft is struggling to get on top of a bug that has seen Outlook users unable to collect their email using the iPhones Mail app.Problems were first reported early on March 4, with users unable to send or receive Outlook emails using the Mail app thats built into iOS. And, at the time of writing at 11:15 ET, the problem remains unresolved.Users may be unable to access their email using the native mail app on iOS devices, an update on Microsofts service status page reads. We're continuing to investigate the underlying cause of why users attempting to access their email using the native mail app on iOS devices are impacted.It doesnt look like the problem is likely to be resolved imminently, either, with Microsoft promising the next update by 3:30pm ET.Users who cannot get the Mail app on their iPhone to work can still send and receive email by visiting Outlook.com in a web browser. Its not clear whether iPads, which work on a variant of iOS, are also affected by the bug, which doesnt appear to be affecting all Outlook.com users.Outlook.com is the modern version of Hotmail, which was once the most popular webmail service on the planet, before being superseded by Gmail.Microsoft ProblemsThe Outlook problems compound whats been an unhappy week for Microsofts services. Over the weekend, Microsoft365 services, which include Outlook email, were disrupted by a botched update from the company. Services were down for more than an hour before the company confirmed that it had reversed a code change that gradually fixed the issue.The ongoing Outlook issue appears to be unrelated to the weekends flaw.

ParadiseCredit: HuluIf you enjoy action-packed political thrillers, definitely give the new Hulu series Paradise a watch. The series, from This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman, combines traditional political thriller sensibilities with near-future apocalyptic sci-fi to create a twisty-turny story filled with mystery, action and a great cast of characters.The show follows Secret Service agent, Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) and his complicated relationship with president Cal Bradford (James Marsden). It jumps around in time, beginning with Xaviers first days in the White House with his boozy new boss, before leaping ahead to a grisly murder in the present timeline and the first shocking twist, which comes right at the end of the first episode. (More on that below).Its difficult to discuss this show without spoilers, but its the kind of series I recommend you go into blind. Ill get to spoilers in a moment. First, some spoiler-free thoughts for those of you who havent watched yet.Like most political thrillers, Paradise is filled with compelling mysteries, and the first season isnt at all shy about solving those mysteries, which is a breath of fresh air. Too often, shows introduce a bunch of big questions and then drag their feet, ultimately leading to unsatisfying payoffs. Paradise avoids this by telling a self-contained story that works as a standalone season. If it ended after Episode 8, Id be okay with that. But the stage is clearly set for more.The cast is the other big selling point here. Brown is terrific as Xavier Collins, a genuinely good man who finds himself mired in impossible situation after impossible situation, faced with tough choices and overwhelming odds. Marsdens President Bradford is much more than meets the eye, though he seems an affable sort (and Marsden is just such a likeable guy, its hard not to like every character he plays).The third main character is powerful billionaire, Samantha Sinatra Redmond (Julianne Nicholson) the worlds richest self-made woman, whose secrets run dark and deep. She could have easily come across as a mustache-twirling villain, but Nicholson gives her surprising depth.Xaviers Secret Service detail includes Nicole Robinson (Krys Marshall) who has her own illicit ties to the president; Jane Driscoll (Nicole Brydon Bloom) who was perhaps the biggest surprise in the show for me; and Billy Pace (Jon Beavers), Xaviers best friend whose chequered past has given him a unique part to play in Sinatras new world order.The show isnt perfect. It can dally too long in the sentimental. The non-chronological storytelling works well for the most part, but at times it stalls out, spinning its wheels or retreading old ground. What I dislike most of all is the color-grading, however. Why the shows creators felt the need to push everything through a blue filter is beyond me. This, combined with the luminous glow effect makes everything look distractingly cheap in a show that is clearly expensive and largely well-shot. The technique is used to differentiate flashbacks from present day, but this isnt always the case. Some flashbacks look natural, others are still color-graded. Some present-timeline scenes dont seem graded at all! Its confusing!To visualize this, I present you with the same image twice. First, the bad color-grading:ParadiseCredit: HuluNow, the same image with natural color-grading:ParadiseCredit: HuluThe tyranny of beige-and-blue must end! Theres no reason to use different color-grading to signal flashback vs present day. There are other ways to do this, from using a letterbox around some scenes to simply trusting that viewers are able to tell the difference based on context. Weirdly, the show does a terrific job at de-aging characters in some flashbacks. But I found the aesthetic incredibly distracting throughout, and this more than anything else caused me to stop watching after the first episode, waiting several weeks to return.Episode 1 spoilers ahead.Im glad I did. The series, bad color-grading aside, is a lot of fun. In the first episode, Xavier Collins finds the president brutally murdered in his bedroom. He kicks off an investigation that involves not only the murder, but the disappearance of a top-secret tablet containing a bunch of state secrets. But the biggest twist comes at the end of the first episode, when we discover that nothing is as it seems. In the present timeline, this is not the America we know at all, but rather a massive underground bunker made to appear like Anywhere USA, replete with a fake sky that emulates a day and night cycle, weather events and all the rest. As with all utopias, this one is filled with dark secrets that threaten to explode at any minute.The world outside this paradise has plunged into some kind of massive, global catastrophe, and for reasons we dont fully understand yet, Xavier Collins has come to hate the man he has sworn to protect. But even though he despises Bradford, he sets out to find the killer, leading him down a path filled with even deeper, darker mysteries about the true nature of this place and the events that lead them all here. The people Xavier knows and trusts have their own dark secrets, and Xavier soon finds himself in a perilous mission to tear the whole thing down.I wasnt really sure about Paradise until the fourth episode, which makes some bold narrative choices that I wasnt expecting. Episode 7 is the one most people are raving about, and with good reason. Its basically a full-blown disaster movie. The finale isnt quite as good, and some of the storylines wrapped up a little too nicely, but overall I was pretty happy with how things shook out in the end. I can definitely see how theyre planning on a second season, but its unclear how exactly it would work given the fact that most of the big questions were answered. Im also left with one big complaint about Xavier and Cals fraught relationship: Xaviers reason for hating the president simply doesnt make sense to me, though I wont go into specifics.Overall, I give the series a glowing (blue-filtered) recommendation. Its not perfect but its a fun political thriller that keeps you guessing and pays off in the end. Brown, Marsden, Nicholson and the rest of the cast really nail it, and the writing is solid throughout. This isnt the smartest thriller out there. Its not as gritty or unique as something like Apples Silo, though its certainly better-paced. Mostly, its fun and capable and at times even gripping. Its absolutely worth a watch. All eight episodes are now streaming on Hulu.Heres the trailer:Have you watched Paradise? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. Also be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me here on this blog. Sign up for my newsletter for more reviews and commentary on entertainment and culture.

In brief: China is making a major push for RISC-V processor designs as it intensifies efforts to reduce reliance on Western semiconductor technology. New government policies appear to be shifting the focus away from x86 and Arm chips in favor of processors built on the open-source instruction set. The initiative has been drafted by a coalition of eight government agencies, including key players such as the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the China National Intellectual Property Administration.According to Reuters, which cites anonymous sources, the policy guidance could be released as early as this month. Once enacted, it would mark China's first official national policy in support of RISC-V.For China, the primary advantage of RISC-V is its open-source nature, which makes it free from what the government perceives as Western control. Anyone can develop or implement the architecture without paying licensing fees to US or European companies. This aligns with China's broader push for technological self-sufficiency amid escalating tensions with the US.Several major Chinese firms have already made significant investments in RISC-V, including Alibaba's XuanTie division and startup Nuclei System Technology, both of which develop commercial RISC-V processor IP. The long-term goal is to build a fully developed RISC-V ecosystem that could eventually lead to domestically produced RISC-V processors for AI and other high-performance applications.Of course, achieving this is easier said than done. While the RISC-V instruction set architecture itself is open-source, developing a complete software ecosystem including operating systems, developer tools, and libraries is a massive undertaking. In this regard, Arm and x86 have decades of an advantage. // Related StoriesFortunately for China, some US firms are also contributing to RISC-V development. One example is modular laptop maker Framework Computer, which recently launched an affordable RISC-V laptop mainboard aimed at accelerating software development for the architecture.RISC-V's cost-effectiveness is also attracting interest from smaller AI startups. According to Reuters, at a recent event organized by XuanTie, industry experts discussed how lower-cost, less powerful RISC-V chips running AI models like DeepSeek could serve as an alternative to Nvidia silicon for certain AI applications.Naturally, these developments have raised concerns among US officials. There is growing apprehension that China could exploit RISC-V's open nature to rapidly advance its semiconductor capabilities. In 2023, lawmakers urged the Biden administration to impose restrictions on US companies working on RISC-V due to these national security concerns.