While many CMOs and growth leaders chase traffic and rankings, these lagging indicators tell you little about the real-time impact of your strategy. Instead enterprises must shift toward leading indicators as these metrics predict future SEO success.

Measure these website metrics to understand what’s working and what to improve to stay competitive.

In-app bidding has automated most waterfall optimization, yet developers still manage multiple hybrid waterfalls, each with dozens of manual instances. Naturally, this can be timely and overwhelming to maintain, keeping you from optimizing to perfection and focusing on other opportunities to boost revenue.Rather than analyzing each individual network and checking if instances are available at each price point, breaking down your waterfall into different CPM ranges allows you to visualize the waterfall and easily identify the gaps.Here are some tips on how to use CPM buckets to better optimize your waterfall’s performance.What are CPM buckets?CPM buckets show you exactly how much revenue and how many impressions you’re getting from each CPM price range, giving you a more granular idea of how different networks are competing in the waterfall. CPM buckets are a feature of real time pivot reports, available on ironSource LevelPlay.Identifying and closing the gapsTypically in a waterfall, you can only see each ad network’s average CPM. But this keeps you from seeing ad network distribution across all price points and understanding exactly where ad networks are bidding. Bottom line - you don’t know where in the waterfall you should add a new instance.By separating CPM into buckets, (for example, seeing all the ad networks generating a CPM of $10-$20) you understand exactly which networks are driving impressions and revenue and which CPMs aren’t being filledNow how do you do it? As a LevelPlay client, simply use ironSource’s real time pivot reports - choose the CPM bucket filter option and sort by “average bid price.” From here, you’ll see how your revenue spreads out among CPM ranges and you’ll start to notice gaps in your bar graph. Every gap in revenue - where revenue is much lower than the neighboring CPM group - indicates an opportunity to optimize your monetization strategy. The buckets can range from small increments like $1 to larger increments like $10, so it’s important to compare CPM buckets of the same incremental value.Pro tip: To best set up your waterfall, create one tab with the general waterfall (filter app, OS, Ad unit, geo/geos from a specific group) and make sure to look at Revenue and eCPM in the “measures” dropdown. In the “show” section, choose CPM buckets and sort by average bid price. From here, you can mark down any gaps.But where do these gaps come from? Gaps in revenue are often due to friction in the waterfall, like not enough instances, instances that aren’t working, or a waterfall setup mistake. But gaps can also be adjusted and fixed.Once you’ve found a gap, you can look at the CPM buckets around it to better understand the context. Let’s say you see a strong instance generating significant revenue in the CPM bucket right below it, in the $70-80 group. This instance from this specific ad network has a lot of potential, so it’s worth trying to push it to a higher CPM bucket.In fact, when you look at higher CPM buckets, you don’t see this ad network anywhere else in the waterfall - what a missed opportunity! Try adding another instance of this network higher up in the waterfall. If you’re profiting well with a $70-80 CPM, imagine how much more revenue you could bring at a $150 CPM.Pro tip: Focusing on higher areas in the waterfall makes a larger financial impact, leading to bigger increases in ARPDAU.Let’s say you decide to add 5 instances of that network to higher CPM buckets. You can use LevelPlay’s quick A/B test to understand if this adjustment boosts your revenue - not just for this gap, but for any and all that you find. Simply compare your existing waterfall against the new waterfall with these 5 higher instances - then implement the one that drives the highest instances.Božo Janković, Head of Ad Monetization at GameBiz Consulting, uses CPM buckets "to understand at which CPMs the bidding networks are filling. From there, I can pinpoint exactly where in the waterfall to add more traditional instances - which creates more competition, especially for the bidding networks, and creates an opportunity for revenue growth."Finding new insightsYou can dig even deeper into your data by filtering by ad source. Before CPM buckets, you were limited to seeing an average eCPM for each bidding network. Maybe you knew that one ad source had an average CPM of $50, but the distribution of impression across the waterfall was a black box. Now, we know exactly which CPMs the bidders are filling. “I find ironSource CPM buckets feature very insightful and and use it daily. It’s an easy way to identify opportunities to optimize the waterfall and earn even more revenue." -Božo Janković, Head of Ad Monetization at GameBiz ConsultingUnderstanding your CPM distribution empowers you to not only identify your revenue sources, but also to promote revenue growth. Armed with the knowledge of which buckets some of their stronger bidding networking are performing in, some publishers actively add instances from traditional networks above those ranges. This creates better competition and also helps drive up the bids from the biddersThere’s no need for deep analysis - once you see the gaps, you can quickly understand who’s performing in the lower and higher buckets, and see exactly what’s missing. This way, you won’t miss out on any lost revenue.Learn more about CPM buckets, available exclusively to ironSource LevelPlay here.

Asus ROG Xbox Ally, ROG Xbox Ally X to Start Pre-Orders in August, Launch in October – Rumour A new report indicates that the ROG Xbox Ally will be priced at around €599, while the more powerful ROG Xbox Ally X will cost €899. Posted By Joelle Daniels | On 16th, Jun. 2025 While Microsoft and Asus have unveiled the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X handheld gaming systems, the companies have yet to confirm the prices or release dates for the two systems. While the announcement  mentioned that they will be launched later this year, a new report, courtesy of leaker Extas1s, indicates that pre-orders for both devices will be kicked off in August, with the launch then happening in October. As noted by Extas1s, the lower-powered ROG Xbox Ally is expected to be priced around €599. The leaker claims to have corroborated the pricing details for the handheld with two different Europe-based retailers. The more powerful ROG Xbox Ally X, on the other hand, is expected to be priced at €899. This would put its pricing in line with Asus’s own ROG Ally X. Previously, Asus senior manager of marketing content for gaming, Whitson Gordon, had revealed that pricing and power use were the two biggest reasons why both the ROG Xbox Ally and the ROG Xbox Ally X didn’t feature OLED displays. Rather, both systems will come equipped with 7-inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD displays with variable refresh rate capabilities. “We did some R&D and prototyping with OLED, but it’s still not where we want it to be when you factor VRR into the mix and we aren’t willing to give up VRR,” said Gordon. “I’ll draw that line in the sand right now. I am of the opinion that if a display doesn’t have variable refresh rate, it’s not a gaming display in the year 2025 as far as I’m concerned, right? That’s a must-have feature, and OLED with VRR right now draws significantly more power than the LCD that we’re currently using on the Ally and it costs more.” Explaining further that the decision ultimately also came down to keeping the pricing for both systems at reasonable levels, since buyers often tend to get handheld gaming systems as their secondary machiens, Gordon noted that both handhelds would have much higher price tags if OLED displays were used. “That’s all I’ll say about price,” said Gordon. “You have to align your expectations with the market and what we’re doing here. Adding 32GB, OLED, Z2 Extreme, and all of those extra bells and whistles would cost a lot more than the price bracket you guys are used to on the Ally, and the vast majority of users are not willing to pay that kind of price.” Shortly after its announcement, Microsoft and Asus had released a video where the two companies spoke about the various features of the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X. In the video, we also get to see an early hardware prototype of the handheld gaming system built inside a cardboard box. The ROG Xbox Ally runs on an AMD Ryzen Z2A chip, and has 16 GB of LPDDR5X-6400 RAM and 512 GB of storage. The ROG Xbox Ally X, on the other hand, runs on an AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme chip, and has 24 GB of LPDDR5X-8000 RAM and 1 TB of storage. Both systems run on Windows. Tagged With: Elden Ring: Nightreign Publisher:Bandai Namco Developer:FromSoftware Platforms:PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, Xbox One, PCView More FBC: Firebreak Publisher:Remedy Entertainment Developer:Remedy Entertainment Platforms:PS5, Xbox Series X, PCView More Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Publisher:Sony Developer:Kojima Productions Platforms:PS5View More Amazing Articles You Might Want To Check Out! Summer Game Fest 2025 Saw 89 Percent Growth in Live Concurrent Viewership Since Last Year This year's Summer Game Fest has been the most successful one so far, with around 1.5 million live viewers on ... Asus ROG Xbox Ally, ROG Xbox Ally X to Start Pre-Orders in August, Launch in October – Rumour A new report indicates that the ROG Xbox Ally will be priced at around €599, while the more powerful ROG Xbo... Borderlands 4 Gets New Video Explaining the Process of Creating Vault Hunters According to the development team behind Borderlands 4, the creation of Vault Hunters is a studio-wide collabo... The Witcher 4 Team is Tapping Into the “Good Creative Chaos” From The Witcher 3’s Development Narrative director Philipp Weber says there are "new questions we want to answer because this is supposed to f... The Witcher 4 is Opting for “Console-First Development” to Ensure 60 FPS, Says VP of Tech However, CD Projekt RED's Charles Tremblay says 60 frames per second will be "extremely challenging" on the Xb... Red Dead Redemption Voice Actor Teases “Exciting News” for This Week Actor Rob Wiethoff teases an announcement, potentially the rumored release of Red Dead Redemption 2 on Xbox Se... View More

Jun 16, 2025Ravie LakshmananMalware / DevOps Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a malicious package on the Python Package Index (PyPI) repository that's capable of harvesting sensitive developer-related information, such as credentials, configuration data, and environment variables, among others. The package, named chimera-sandbox-extensions, attracted 143 downloads and likely targets users of a service called Chimera Sandbox, which was released by Singaporean tech company Grab last August to facilitate "experimentation and development of [machine learning] solutions." The package masquerades as a helper module for Chimera Sandbox, but "aims to steal credentials and other sensitive information such as Jamf configuration, CI/CD environment variables, AWS tokens, and more," JFrog security researcher Guy Korolevski said in a report published last week. Once installed, it attempts to connect to an external domain whose domain name is generated using a domain generation algorithm (DGA) in order to download and execute a next-stage payload. Specifically, the malware acquires from the domain an authentication token, which is then used to send a request to the same domain and retrieve the Python-based information stealer. The stealer malware is equipped to siphon a wide range of data from infected machines. This includes - JAMF receipts, which are records of software packages installed by Jamf Pro on managed computers Pod sandbox environment authentication tokens and git information CI/CD information from environment variables Zscaler host configuration Amazon Web Services account information and tokens Public IP address General platform, user, and host information The kind of data gathered by the malware shows that it's mainly geared towards corporate and cloud infrastructure. In addition, the extraction of JAMF receipts indicates that it's also capable of targeting Apple macOS systems. The collected information is sent via a POST request back to the same domain, after which the server assesses if the machine is a worthy target for further exploitation. However, JFrog said it was unable to obtain the payload at the time of analysis. "The targeted approach employed by this malware, along with the complexity of its multi-stage targeted payload, distinguishes it from the more generic open-source malware threats we have encountered thus far, highlighting the advancements that malicious packages have made recently," Jonathan Sar Shalom, director of threat research at JFrog Security Research team, said. "This new sophistication of malware underscores why development teams remain vigilant with updates—alongside proactive security research – to defend against emerging threats and maintain software integrity." The disclosure comes as SafeDep and Veracode detailed a number of malware-laced npm packages that are designed to execute remote code and download additional payloads. The packages in question are listed below - eslint-config-airbnb-compat (676 Downloads) ts-runtime-compat-check (1,588 Downloads) solders (983 Downloads) @mediawave/lib (386 Downloads) All the identified npm packages have since been taken down from npm, but not before they were downloaded hundreds of times from the package registry. SafeDep's analysis of eslint-config-airbnb-compat found that the JavaScript library has ts-runtime-compat-check listed as a dependency, which, in turn, contacts an external server defined in the former package ("proxy.eslint-proxy[.]site") to retrieve and execute a Base64-encoded string. The exact nature of the payload is unknown. "It implements a multi-stage remote code execution attack using a transitive dependency to hide the malicious code," SafeDep researcher Kunal Singh said. Solders, on the other hand, has been found to incorporate a post-install script in its package.json, causing the malicious code to be automatically executed as soon as the package is installed. "At first glance, it's hard to believe that this is actually valid JavaScript," the Veracode Threat Research team said. "It looks like a seemingly random collection of Japanese symbols. It turns out that this particular obfuscation scheme uses the Unicode characters as variable names and a sophisticated chain of dynamic code generation to work." Decoding the script reveals an extra layer of obfuscation, unpacking which reveals its main function: Check if the compromised machine is Windows, and if so, run a PowerShell command to retrieve a next-stage payload from a remote server ("firewall[.]tel"). This second-stage PowerShell script, also obscured, is designed to fetch a Windows batch script from another domain ("cdn.audiowave[.]org") and configures a Windows Defender Antivirus exclusion list to avoid detection. The batch script then paves the way for the execution of a .NET DLL that reaches out to a PNG image hosted on ImgBB ("i.ibb[.]co"). "[The DLL] is grabbing the last two pixels from this image and then looping through some data contained elsewhere in it," Veracode said. "It ultimately builds up in memory YET ANOTHER .NET DLL." Furthermore, the DLL is equipped to create task scheduler entries and features the ability to bypass user account control (UAC) using a combination of FodHelper.exe and programmatic identifiers (ProgIDs) to evade defenses and avoid triggering any security alerts to the user. The newly-downloaded DLL is Pulsar RAT, a "free, open-source Remote Administration Tool for Windows" and a variant of the Quasar RAT. "From a wall of Japanese characters to a RAT hidden within the pixels of a PNG file, the attacker went to extraordinary lengths to conceal their payload, nesting it a dozen layers deep to evade detection," Veracode said. "While the attacker's ultimate objective for deploying the Pulsar RAT remains unclear, the sheer complexity of this delivery mechanism is a powerful indicator of malicious intent." Crypto Malware in the Open-Source Supply Chain The findings also coincide with a report from Socket that identified credential stealers, cryptocurrency drainers, cryptojackers, and clippers as the main types of threats targeting the cryptocurrency and blockchain development ecosystem. Some of the examples of these packages include - express-dompurify and pumptoolforvolumeandcomment, which are capable of harvesting browser credentials and cryptocurrency wallet keys bs58js, which drains a victim's wallet and uses multi-hop transfers to obscure theft and frustrate forensic tracing. lsjglsjdv, asyncaiosignal, and raydium-sdk-liquidity-init, which functions as a clipper to monitor the system clipboard for cryptocurrency wallet strings and replace them with threat actor‑controlled addresses to reroute transactions to the attackers "As Web3 development converges with mainstream software engineering, the attack surface for blockchain-focused projects is expanding in both scale and complexity," Socket security researcher Kirill Boychenko said. "Financially motivated threat actors and state-sponsored groups are rapidly evolving their tactics to exploit systemic weaknesses in the software supply chain. These campaigns are iterative, persistent, and increasingly tailored to high-value targets." AI and Slopsquatting The rise of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted coding, also called vibe coding, has unleashed another novel threat in the form of slopsquatting, where large language models (LLMs) can hallucinate non-existent but plausible package names that bad actors can weaponize to conduct supply chain attacks. Trend Micro, in a report last week, said it observed an unnamed advanced agent "confidently" cooking up a phantom Python package named starlette-reverse-proxy, only for the build process to crash with the error "module not found." However, should an adversary upload a package with the same name on the repository, it can have serious security consequences. Furthermore, the cybersecurity company noted that advanced coding agents and workflows such as Claude Code CLI, OpenAI Codex CLI, and Cursor AI with Model Context Protocol (MCP)-backed validation can help reduce, but not completely eliminate, the risk of slopsquatting. "When agents hallucinate dependencies or install unverified packages, they create an opportunity for slopsquatting attacks, in which malicious actors pre-register those same hallucinated names on public registries," security researcher Sean Park said. "While reasoning-enhanced agents can reduce the rate of phantom suggestions by approximately half, they do not eliminate them entirely. Even the vibe-coding workflow augmented with live MCP validations achieves the lowest rates of slip-through, but still misses edge cases." Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter  and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post. SHARE    

The recent Summer Game Fest 2025 has been quite successful. According to Variety, the live stream saw a massive growth year-over-year in terms of live viewership, coming in at an increase of 89 percent since the 2024 edition. The event saw a number of new games announced, as well as trailers for previously-announced games that will be coming soon. Among the headliners for the event were titles like Capcom’s Resident Evil Requiem, as well as gameplay for IO Interactive’s 007: First Light. “In total, the peak concurrent audience for SGF reached more than 3 million live simultaneous viewers across Twitch and YouTube, with significant year over year growth on both platforms in terms of average viewership, watch time and co-streams,” announced Summer Game Fest in a press release over the weekend. At the time of publishing Summer Game Fest 2025 had managed to get 8.5 million views on just one of the places where it was hosted – the official The Game Awards channel. While it is worth noting that this number takes both the live stream audience as well as those who watched the event afterwards into account, the number would quite likely be higher when taking other hosts, and even platforms like Twitch into account. Reports, have indicated that of the 8.5 million viewers, 1.5 million could be attributed to those watching during the live stream globally. Twitch, on the other hand, saw a growth of 38 percent in terms of live viewership among the over 8,900 channels that were co-streaming the event. This came in to around 1.4 million concurrent live viewers worldwide. Summer Games Fest 2025 was accompanied by a host of other events happening over the same weekend. This included events focused on PC Gaming, as well as Microsoft’s own Xbox Games Showcase, and even the indie game-focused Future Games Show 2025. Coinciding with the events was Valve kicking of its latest edition of Steam Next Fest, which featured a host of different game demos that players could try out. A lot of these games were unveiled or otherwise got new trailers during the live events last weekend. However, it is worth noting that today is the final day of this iteration of Steam Next Fest, which means that a lot of the demos will be going away.

Meta's CTO, Palantir's CTO, and OpenAI's chief product officer are being appointed as lieutenant colonels in America's Army Reserve, reports The Register. (Along with OpenAI's former chief revenue officer). They've all signed up for Detachment 201: Executive Innovation Corps, "an effort to recruit senior tech executives to serve part-time in the Army Reserve as senior advisors," according to the official statement. "In this role they will work on targeted projects to help guide rapid and scalable tech solutions to complex problems..." "Our primary role will be to serve as technical experts advising the Army's modernization efforts," [Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth] said on X... As for Open AI's involvement, the company has been building its ties with the military-technology complex for some years now. Like Meta, OpenAI is working with Anduril on military ideas and last year scandalized some by watering down its past commitment to developing non-military products only. The Army wasn't answering questions on Friday but an article referenced by [OpenAI Chief Product Officer Kevin] Weil indicated that the four will have to serve a minimum of 120 hours a year, can work remotely, and won't have to pass basic training... "America wins when we unite the dynamism of American innovation with the military's vital missions," [Palantir CTO Shyam] Sankar said on X. "This was the key to our triumphs in the 20th century. It can help us win again. I'm humbled by this new opportunity to serve my country, my home, America." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

IBM Plans Large-Scale Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computer by 2029 By John P. Mello Jr. June 11, 2025 5:00 AM PT IBM unveiled its plan to build IBM Quantum Starling, shown in this rendering. Starling is expected to be the first large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum system. (Image Credit: IBM) ADVERTISEMENT Enterprise IT Lead Generation Services Fuel Your Pipeline. Close More Deals. Our full-service marketing programs deliver sales-ready leads. 100% Satisfaction Guarantee! Learn more. IBM revealed Tuesday its roadmap for bringing a large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer, IBM Quantum Starling, online by 2029, which is significantly earlier than many technologists thought possible. The company predicts that when its new Starling computer is up and running, it will be capable of performing 20,000 times more operations than today’s quantum computers — a computational state so vast it would require the memory of more than a quindecillion (10⁴⁸) of the world’s most powerful supercomputers to represent. “IBM is charting the next frontier in quantum computing,” Big Blue CEO Arvind Krishna said in a statement. “Our expertise across mathematics, physics, and engineering is paving the way for a large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer — one that will solve real-world challenges and unlock immense possibilities for business.” IBM’s plan to deliver a fault-tolerant quantum system by 2029 is ambitious but not implausible, especially given the rapid pace of its quantum roadmap and past milestones, observed Ensar Seker, CISO at SOCRadar, a threat intelligence company in Newark, Del. “They’ve consistently met or exceeded their qubit scaling goals, and their emphasis on modularity and error correction indicates they’re tackling the right challenges,” he told TechNewsWorld. “However, moving from thousands to millions of physical qubits with sufficient fidelity remains a steep climb.” A qubit is the fundamental unit of information in quantum computing, capable of representing a zero, a one, or both simultaneously due to quantum superposition. In practice, fault-tolerant quantum computers use clusters of physical qubits working together to form a logical qubit — a more stable unit designed to store quantum information and correct errors in real time. Realistic Roadmap Luke Yang, an equity analyst with Morningstar Research Services in Chicago, believes IBM’s roadmap is realistic. “The exact scale and error correction performance might still change between now and 2029, but overall, the goal is reasonable,” he told TechNewsWorld. “Given its reliability and professionalism, IBM’s bold claim should be taken seriously,” said Enrique Solano, co-CEO and co-founder of Kipu Quantum, a quantum algorithm company with offices in Berlin and Karlsruhe, Germany. “Of course, it may also fail, especially when considering the unpredictability of hardware complexities involved,” he told TechNewsWorld, “but companies like IBM exist for such challenges, and we should all be positively impressed by its current achievements and promised technological roadmap.” Tim Hollebeek, vice president of industry standards at DigiCert, a global digital security company, added: “IBM is a leader in this area, and not normally a company that hypes their news. This is a fast-moving industry, and success is certainly possible.” “IBM is attempting to do something that no one has ever done before and will almost certainly run into challenges,” he told TechNewsWorld, “but at this point, it is largely an engineering scaling exercise, not a research project.” “IBM has demonstrated consistent progress, has committed $30 billion over five years to quantum computing, and the timeline is within the realm of technical feasibility,” noted John Young, COO of Quantum eMotion, a developer of quantum random number generator technology, in Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada. “That said,” he told TechNewsWorld, “fault-tolerant in a practical, industrial sense is a very high bar.” Solving the Quantum Error Correction Puzzle To make a quantum computer fault-tolerant, errors need to be corrected so large workloads can be run without faults. In a quantum computer, errors are reduced by clustering physical qubits to form logical qubits, which have lower error rates than the underlying physical qubits. “Error correction is a challenge,” Young said. “Logical qubits require thousands of physical qubits to function reliably. That’s a massive scaling issue.” IBM explained in its announcement that creating increasing numbers of logical qubits capable of executing quantum circuits with as few physical qubits as possible is critical to quantum computing at scale. Until today, a clear path to building such a fault-tolerant system without unrealistic engineering overhead has not been published. Alternative and previous gold-standard, error-correcting codes present fundamental engineering challenges, IBM continued. To scale, they would require an unfeasible number of physical qubits to create enough logical qubits to perform complex operations — necessitating impractical amounts of infrastructure and control electronics. This renders them unlikely to be implemented beyond small-scale experiments and devices. In two research papers released with its roadmap, IBM detailed how it will overcome the challenges of building the large-scale, fault-tolerant architecture needed for a quantum computer. One paper outlines the use of quantum low-density parity check (qLDPC) codes to reduce physical qubit overhead. The other describes methods for decoding errors in real time using conventional computing. According to IBM, a practical fault-tolerant quantum architecture must: Suppress enough errors for useful algorithms to succeed Prepare and measure logical qubits during computation Apply universal instructions to logical qubits Decode measurements from logical qubits in real time and guide subsequent operations Scale modularly across hundreds or thousands of logical qubits Be efficient enough to run meaningful algorithms using realistic energy and infrastructure resources Aside from the technological challenges that quantum computer makers are facing, there may also be some market challenges. “Locating suitable use cases for quantum computers could be the biggest challenge,” Morningstar’s Yang maintained. “Only certain computing workloads, such as random circuit sampling [RCS], can fully unleash the computing power of quantum computers and show their advantage over the traditional supercomputers we have now,” he said. “However, workloads like RCS are not very commercially useful, and we believe commercial relevance is one of the key factors that determine the total market size for quantum computers.” Q-Day Approaching Faster Than Expected For years now, organizations have been told they need to prepare for “Q-Day” — the day a quantum computer will be able to crack all the encryption they use to keep their data secure. This IBM announcement suggests the window for action to protect data may be closing faster than many anticipated. “This absolutely adds urgency and credibility to the security expert guidance on post-quantum encryption being factored into their planning now,” said Dave Krauthamer, field CTO of QuSecure, maker of quantum-safe security solutions, in San Mateo, Calif. “IBM’s move to create a large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2029 is indicative of the timeline collapsing,” he told TechNewsWorld. “A fault-tolerant quantum computer of this magnitude could be well on the path to crack asymmetric ciphers sooner than anyone thinks.” “Security leaders need to take everything connected to post-quantum encryption as a serious measure and work it into their security plans now — not later,” he said. Roger Grimes, a defense evangelist with KnowBe4, a security awareness training provider in Clearwater, Fla., pointed out that IBM is just the latest in a surge of quantum companies announcing quickly forthcoming computational breakthroughs within a few years. “It leads to the question of whether the U.S. government’s original PQC [post-quantum cryptography] preparation date of 2030 is still a safe date,” he told TechNewsWorld. “It’s starting to feel a lot more risky for any company to wait until 2030 to be prepared against quantum attacks. It also flies in the face of the latest cybersecurity EO [Executive Order] that relaxed PQC preparation rules as compared to Biden’s last EO PQC standard order, which told U.S. agencies to transition to PQC ASAP.” “Most US companies are doing zero to prepare for Q-Day attacks,” he declared. “The latest executive order seems to tell U.S. agencies — and indirectly, all U.S. businesses — that they have more time to prepare. It’s going to cause even more agencies and businesses to be less prepared during a time when it seems multiple quantum computing companies are making significant progress.” “It definitely feels that something is going to give soon,” he said, “and if I were a betting man, and I am, I would bet that most U.S. companies are going to be unprepared for Q-Day on the day Q-Day becomes a reality.” John P. Mello Jr. has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, IT issues, privacy, e-commerce, social media, artificial intelligence, big data and consumer electronics. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Phoenix, Megapixel.Net and Government Security News. Email John. Leave a Comment Click here to cancel reply. Please sign in to post or reply to a comment. New users create a free account. Related Stories More by John P. Mello Jr. view all More in Emerging Tech

Growing up steeped in the aggressive gender stereotypes of the 1990s was a real trip for most queer millennials, but I think gamers had it especially hard. Almost all video game characters were hypermasculine military men, unrealistically curvaceous fantasy women wearing barely enough armour to cover their nipples, or cartoon animals. Most of these characters catered exclusively to straight teenage boys (or, I guess, furries); overt queer representation in games was pretty much nonexistent until the mid 2010s. Before that, we had to take what we could get. And what I had was Link, from The Legend of Zelda.Link. Composite: Guardian Design; Zuma Press/AlamyLink is a boy, but he didn’t really look like one. He wore a green tunic and a serious expression under a mop of blond hair. He is the adventurous, mostly silent hero of the Zelda games, unassuming and often vulnerable, but also resourceful, daring and handy with a sword. In most of the early Zelda games, he is a kid of about 10, but even when he grew into a teenager in 1998’s Ocarina of Time on the Nintendo 64, he didn’t become a furious lump of muscle. He stayed androgynous, in his tunic and tights. As a kid, I would dress up like him for Halloween, carefully centre-parting my blond fringe. Link may officially be a boy, but for me he has always been a non-binary icon.As time has gone on and game graphics have evolved, Link has stayed somewhat gender-ambiguous. Gay guys and gender-fluid types alike appreciate his ageless twink energy. And given the total lack of thought that most game developers gave to players who weren’t straight and male, I felt vindicated when I found out that this was intentional. In 2016, the Zelda series’ producer Eiji Aonuma told Time magazine that the development team had experimented a little with Link’s gender presentation over the years, but that he felt that the character’s androgyny was part of who he was.“[Even] back during the Ocarina of Time days, I wanted Link to be gender neutral,” he said. “I wanted the player to think: ‘Maybe Link is a boy or a girl.’ If you saw Link as a guy, he’d have more of a feminine touch. Or vice versa … I’ve always thought that for either female or male players, I wanted them to be able to relate to Link.”As it turns out, Link appeals perhaps most of all to those of us somewhere in between. In 2023, the tech blog io9 spoke to many transgender and non-binary people who saw something of themselves in Link: he has acquired a reputation as an egg-cracker, a fictional character who prompts a realisation about your own gender identity.Despite their outdated reputation as a pursuit for adolescent boys, video games have always been playgrounds for gender experimentation and expression. There are legions of trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming people who first started exploring their identity with customisable game characters in World of Warcraft, or gender-swapping themselves in The Sims – the digital equivalent of dressing up. Video games are the closest you can come to stepping into a new body for a bit and seeing how it feels.It is no surprise to me that a lot of queer people are drawn to video games. A 2024 survey by GLAAD found that 17% of gamers identify as LGBTQ+, a huge number compared with the general population. It may be because people who play games skew younger – 40 and below – but I also think it’s because gender is all about play. What fun it is to mess with the rules, subvert people’s expectations and create your own character. It is as empowering as any world-saving quest.

Gardenful / TAOASave this picture!© Tao LeiLandscape Architecture•Beijing, China Architects: TAOA Area Area of this architecture project Area:  227 m² Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2024 Photographs Photographs:Tao LeiMore SpecsLess Specs Save this picture! Text description provided by the architects. This is an urban garden built for private use. As a corner of the city, I hope to fill the whole garden with abundant nature in this small space. The site is an open space in a villa compound, surrounded by a cluster of European-style single-family villas typical of Chinese real estate. Modern buildings greatly meet the requirements of indoor temperature and humidity comfort because of their complete facilities, but the building also has a clear climate boundary, cutting off the connection between indoor and outdoor, but also cut off the continuity of nature and life.Save this picture!Save this picture!There is no simple definition of the project as a garden or a building, too simple definition will only fall into the narrow imagination, the purpose is only to establish a place that can accommodate a piece of real nature, can give people shelter, can also walk in it. It is the original intention of this design to build a quiet place where you can be alone, a semi-indoor and semi-outdoor space, and re-lead the enclosed life to the outdoors and into the nature.Save this picture!Save this picture!The square site in the middle of the garden, which is a relatively independent space, the top shelter provides a comfortable life and cozy, the middle of the garden exposed a sky, sunshine and rain and snow will be staged here. With the corresponding land below, the trees and vegetation of the mountains are introduced into it, maintaining the most primitive wildness. To remain wild in this exquisite urban space, in this abstract geometric order, will naturally get rid of the wild gas of the original nature. A spatial transformation is made on both sides to the north, through the stairway and the upward pull of the roof space, extending the narrow auxiliary garden, which has no roof and is therefore bright, maintaining a different light and shade relationship from the central garden, which is filled with rocks and plants transplanted from the mountains.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The structure of the garden is thin and dense synthetic bamboo, and the cross combination of dense structures forms a partition of the space, like a bamboo fence, forming a soft boundary. The interior of the space is lined with wooden panels, and the exterior is covered with thin and crisp aluminum panels. The "bridge" made of stone panels passes through different Spaces, sometimes standing between the bamboo structures, sometimes crossing the rocks, walking between them. Moving between order and wildness.Save this picture!Nature is difficult to measure, and because of its rich and ever-changing qualities, nature provides richness to Spaces. This is from the mountains to large trees, rocks, small flowers and plants, as far as possible to avoid artificial nursery plants. The structure of the garden will geometrically order the nature, eliminating the wild sense of nature. The details of nature can be discovered, and the life force released can be unconsciously perceived. The nature of fragments is real, is wild, and does not want to lose vitality and richness because of artificial transplantation. The superposition of wild abundance and modern geometric space makes it alive with elegance and decency.Save this picture!Save this picture!The nature is independent of the high-density urban space, becoming an independent world, shielding the noise of the city. These are integrated into a continuous and integral "pavilion" and "corridor" constitute the carrier of outdoor life of the family, while sheltering from the wind and rain, under the four eaves also create the relationship between light and dark space, the middle highlights the nature, especially bright, and becomes the center of life. From any Angle one can see a picture of hierarchy and order, a real fragment of nature, built into a new context by geometric order. The richness of nature is therefore more easily perceived, and the changes of nature are constantly played out in daily life and can be seen throughout the year.Save this picture! Project gallerySee allShow less Project locationAddress:Beijing, ChinaLocation to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.About this officeTAOAOffice••• Published on June 15, 2025Cite: "Gardenful / TAOA" 15 Jun 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1028408/gardenful-taoa&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save想阅读文章的中文版本吗?满园 / TAOA 陶磊建筑是否 You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream