HBO Max: The Absolute Best Sci-Fi Movies to Watch - CNET

Looking for a sci-fi flick this evening? HBO Max is sci-fi movie central.

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Windows 11 Preview Build 25276 is currently available for download from the Windows Insider Program. The big draw is a new diagnostic tool that will help with troubleshooting. Also in Microsoft's latest package are some design tweaks and several bug fixes.

The new tool will allow users to create a live kernel memory dump (LKD) of their system to help diagnose problems. A memory dump, also known as a core dump, is a record of your computer’s memory at a certain time, usually when the OS or an app is having some performance problems. Microsoft states you’ll be able to get a record of those problems as they happen in real-time without interrupting Windows 11 from operating as normal. The goal is to speed up troubleshooting for “high-impact failures and hangs.”

The LKD tool will have its home in the Task Manager under the Details section. Right-click the System process and there will be an entry that reads “Create live kernel memory dump file” in the context menu. You can also configure the tool to capture Hypervisor pages or abort the process if there is insufficient memory. 

It’s important to point out that not everyone will get this feature. Microsoft says it’ll see a limited release to Insider Program members so it can monitor feedback. And from that feedback, the company will decide then whether or not the LKD tool will go out to everyone.

Additional features

Regarding the design tweaks, they’re nothing major. The Settings app will now feature “Outlook attachment data” as part of the new visuals introduced back in November for Microsoft 365 subscription. And the Network Troubleshooter is getting replaced with the more “modern” Get Help app to help you get “specific recommendations” for fixes.

The fixes cover a wide variety of native Windows 11 features. Just to name a few, users can expect a search layout fix for text in right-to-left languages like Arabic, Voice Access to work properly with the Calculator app, and the File Explorer should no longer crash when loading recent files. Microsoft is currently investigating other known issues, including the reports of Insider Program members experiencing system freezes after downloading new builds.

But one of the more interesting aspects of Build 25276 is what’s not being shown officially. Users across the internet have discovered Microsoft's plans for retiring the Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool (MSDT) within the next two years. This is probably for the best as MSDT has had several zero-day vulnerabilities crop up in recent years with Microsoft dragging its feet to fix them. The last fix happened back in August 2022 when the company patched the DogWalk security flaw on MSDT, over two years after it was first discovered. 

At face value, it looks like the company is no longer interested in supporting MSDT and is preparing to move on. Currently, it’s unknown what the future replacement will be  –  assuming there will be one.

Also in the build are preview versions for both Apple Music and Apple TV on Windows 11, although they’re missing some major features. Be sure to check out TechRadar’s coverage of these beta apps.

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Play Storytelling Puzzle Game Illustrated Now on Apple Arcade - CNET

Puzzle out Van Gogh paintings in this Apple Arcade game, out today.

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Meta is reportedly in the process of shutting down its Facebook Creator Studio in a move that will see its offerings become more streamlined.

The change was noted by social media consultant and industry analyst Matt Navarra on Twitter, who posted a screenshot reading: “Creator Studio is going away soon and will be replaced by Meta Business Suite.”

While Meta Business Suite has long been the go-to option for Page admins, Creator Studio has promised a dedicated space for content creators to streamline publishing, track performance, and manage monetization. 

Facebook Creator Studio

"We’re actively working to bring Meta’s creator tools together in one place”, the company said in response, and has since posted a help page covering the creator tools that are set to reside within the Meta Business Suite. 

Read more

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Like Creator Studio, Business Suite allows users to manage any eligible Facebook and Instagram pages, with tools for creating and scheduling posts, stories, and ads, as well as interacting with clients and audiences through private messaging. Insights and analytics are also available, and the company said: “You can access all of your content and data when you switch.”

Meta Business Suite can be accessed online or with dedicated smartphone and tablets apps for on-the-go convenience. 

We’re yet to tell whether the change will have an effect on how creators use the Meta-owned platforms for publishing, while TikTok continues to be a successful content-first tool for many start-ups and influencers looking to break into their industry and gain traction and Twitter continues to be embroiled in controversy around its new ownership and paid verification stamps. 

• Want to take control of your brand? Here are the best SEO tools

Via 9to5Mac

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NFL Wild Card Weekend: How to Watch, Stream Dolphins vs. Bills on Sunday Without Cable - CNET

The AFC East rivals meet in Buffalo for a Wild Card matchup.

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Astronomers have detected in the stellar halo that represents the Milky Way's outer limits a group of stars more distant from Earth than any known within our own galaxy — almost halfway to a neighboring galaxy. The researchers said these 208 stars inhabit the most remote reaches of the Milky Way's halo, a spherical stellar cloud dominated by the mysterious invisibl...

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Samsung's Newest Projector Is an 8K Model Capable of Creating 150-Inch Images - CNET

Samsung's latest ultra-short throw projector offers an increased screen size and resolution, but it may not be practical for your needs.

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HBOMax prices in the US just rose $12 a year. It's not good news, but also par for the course. There's a sea change underway in content-based services. A shame really, because it all started off so promising.

There was, for instance, a brief moment when modern digital conveniences were synonymous with cost savings. We took Ubers, for example, because they were cheaper than taxis - until they weren’t. We booked Airbnbs because they were cheaper than hotels - until all the ads-on and fees made them comparable.

And we signed up for all those streaming services because they were cheaper than cable. Now, in aggregate, they’re really not.

The news of the price hike from $14.99 a month to $15.99 a month should not come as a surprise. Ever since the massive WarnerMedia-Discovery merger to form the new Warner Bros. Discovery media conglomerate, changes have been afoot both in front of and behind the scenes. There have been layoffs (CNN got hit hard) and content cuts, including the shelving of a nearly complete Batgirl movie.

But why?

When asked for comment on the price hike (which we saw coming), HBOMax representatives didn't offer much color but forwarded a statement that reiterated the effective-immediately price change for new customers. Existing ones will pay more next month. I just got my HBOMax bill and can confirm that for January 2023, it's still just $14.99 a month. HBO wouldn't comment on price changes outside the US.

As for why it's raising prices, the statement adds this:

"This price increase of one dollar will allow us to continue to invest in providing even more culture-defining programming and improving our customer experience for all users."

It goes on to note that this is the first price increase since the platform launched back in 2020.

Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal in The Last of Us on HBOMax (Image credit: HBO)

I guess HBOMax held out as long as it could before joining virtually every other streaming platform, including Netflix, Disney+, and Hulu in raising subscription prices. The costs of creating new movies and shows (to be fair, the cost of everything) is going up and now it's getting passed along to subscribers.

The reality for us, though, is that this once shiny proposition of an affordable à la carte menu of streaming content is becoming a rather larger financial burden basically equal to the cost of the cable we started cutting more than a few years ago.

A recent study found that one in four households are paying more than $75 a month for streaming services, which is not surprising when you consider that, according to the study, 24% subscribe to at least three services. Interestingly, more than half base their streaming services choices on price, while just a third consider the content library.

But the truth is, once you've subscribed and are hooked on a favorite show like Stranger Things or House of Dragon, it's unlikely you'll give it up, even with these incremental increases.

HBOMax, Netflix, and Parmount+ know this. It's why they launch so many shows, in the hope of hooking you. At least HBOMax can hold onto you for longer by stretching out a show's release over the course of weeks, if not months. But to make all that must-see content, they need millions (if not billions) of dollars. Which is why they're all turning to us for more and more money.

An ad-tier won't save us

There are and will be more options. You can save money by signing up for ad-supported streaming services like Netflix with Ads. It's cheaper but all your favorite shows are interrupted by commercials, just like the cable and broadcast shows you tried to leave behind.

One school of thought says that the very existence of these ad-supported tiers is why premium streaming subscriptions are more expensive. Companies like Netflix can say, sure, we ask more for our top-tier services, but we now make it affordable enough for everyone - as long as you don't mind a few commercials.

HBOMax does not yet have an ad-supported tier. So, if you want to see the already-praised Last of Us series, you'll pay that extra dollar.

In fact, that's the only thing that is certain about the future of streaming services. If you want high-quality ad-free content, you will pay more. Bundles that sweep up three or four streaming services for a minor discount may be the answer, but then aren't we right back to cable bundles where we end up with a lot of content we never wanted in the first place.

Probably.

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Researchers May Have Uncovered the Long Lost Ancient Temple of Poseidon - CNET

A buried shrine matches an ancient description of a place dedicated to the mythological god of the sea.

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A high-severity vulnerability has been discovered in a number of Cisco routers which allows threat actors to bypass authentication, gain root access to the endpoint, and even launch arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system in the second stage of the attack.

The news comes courtesy of Cisco itself, which said it wouldn’t be addressing the flaw given that it was discovered in endpoints that have reached end of life. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2023-20025, affects Cisco Small business RV016, RV042, RV042G, and RV082 routers. By sending a custom-built HTTP request to the web-based management interface of the vulnerable routers, the attackers could bypass the device’s authentication and remotely exploit it. 

The attackers would then be able to leverage a second vulnerability, also newly disclosed CVE-2023-2002, to execute arbitrary commands on the device’s operating system. 

Blocking important ports

The bugs are rated as “critical”, but Cisco will not be addressing it, mostly because the devices in question are no longer supported by the company. However, BleepingComputer found that RV042 and RV042G routers were available for sale until January 30, 2020, and will be enjoying the company’s support until January 31, 2025. 

There are no workarounds for the flaw, but admins can disable the routers’ web-based management interface, or block access to ports 443 and 60443, which would help block potential attacks.

This is not the first time Cisco decided not to fix critical authentication bypass vulnerabilities. In September, BleepingComputer reminds, a similar flaw was discovered plaguing RV110W, RV130, RV130W, and RV2015W EoL. At the time, Cisco suggested customers move to RV132W, RV160, and RV160W.

Read more

> More Cisco SMB router ranges have serious security flaws

> Cisco routers suffer from multiple maximum severity security bugs

> Check out the best business routers today

In June, a critical remote code execution (RCE) flaw (tracked as CVE-2022-20825) was found and left unchecked. 

Routers are a crucial component in data transit, and as such, are a major target for cybercriminals. Therefore, it’s not uncommon for cybersecurity researchers and OEMs to regularly find, and patch, high-severity flaws. However, unpatched flaws can wreak havoc on a network, as threat actors don’t have to discover new vulnerabilities themselves - they can just leverage what’s already common knowledge.

• Here's our list of the best endpoint protection software today

Via: BleepingComputer

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A major impersonation campaign is aiming to distribute the Vidar infostealer to as many endpoints as possible. 

Cybersecurity researcher from SEKOIA, going under the name crep1x, discovered the campaign and rang the alarm on Twitter. In a short Twitter threat, the researcher said he discovered more than 1,300 domains, all of which impersonate major software brands to push the malware. 

The brands impersonated in this campaign include AnyDesk, MSI Afterburner, 7-ZIP, Blender, Dashlane, Slack, VLC, OBS, and cryptocurrency trading apps, to name a few. All of these impersonated brands lead to the same website, a clone of AnyDesk.

Stealing passwords and cryptocurrency

For the uninitiated, AnyDesk is a remote desktop application that gives users remote access to personal computers and allows them to transfer files and be used as a VPN. 

Victims that navigate to these sites and try to download the application would be redirected to a Dropbox folder hosting the Vidar infostealer. A variant of the Arkei infostealer, Vidar is capable of stealing credit cards, login credentials, files, and grab screenshots. It is also capable of stealing cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin or ether, from the victim’s hot wallets (software wallets). 

Read more

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According to BleepingComputer, which reported on crep1x’s findings earlier this week, the campaign is still active and many of the typosquatted domains are still active. Some have been shut down in the meantime. Dropbox was also notified of its services being abused to distribute malware and has killed the link in the meantime. 

However, given that all of the malicious sites point to the same place, the threat actors can persist easily by simply updating the download URL.

The best way to protect against such attacks is to be extra careful when downloading software and making sure the apps are only obtained from verified sources. That being said, navigating to the AnyDesk website (as opposed to clicking a supposed AnyDesk link in an email or a social media post) is a good place to start.

• Check out the best firewalls at the moment

Via: BleepingComputer

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Google on Wednesday was refused to be given an interim stay on the competition regulator imposing a Rs. 936-crore penalty on the US tech giant for abusing its dominant position in the market. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal directed Google to deposit 10 percent of the fine that was slapped by the Competition Commission of India in a case related to its Pla...

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The Biggest CES 2023 Innovations We Saw at the Las Vegas Show - CNET

CNET's visit to the world's biggest consumer tech show included a staggering amount of gadgets and electronics. Here are the standouts.

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The NPCI has permitted non-residents from 10 countries, including the US, Canada and UAE, to digitally transfer funds using the UPI platform from NRE/NRO accounts. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in a circular said it has been receiving requests for allowing non-residents to use international mobile numbers for transacting in Unified Payments Interf...

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5 Reasons to You Should Eat More Carbs - CNET

Carbs have many benefits. Here's what to know.

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