records Archives

AppWizard

April 8, 2025

Jared Hess’ ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Proves Again that Failing Upwards Is a Hollywood Superpower

The film A Minecraft Movie has received a 48 percent rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences have given it an 88 percent score. It has achieved significant box-office success, earning 2 million domestically and over 0 million globally, making it the largest opening for any video-game adaptation, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Director Jared Hess, despite a history of underwhelming projects, was given a budget of 0 million for this film, which benefited from established intellectual property and the star power of Jack Black and Jason Momoa.

Tech Optimizer

April 8, 2025

Pools across the sea: how Hyperdrive speeds up access to databases and why we’re making it free

Cloudflare has made Hyperdrive available on the free plan of Cloudflare Workers, allowing developers to create high-performance global applications that connect to SQL databases. Hyperdrive simplifies database connectivity by using existing drivers and connection strings, reducing the need for extensive refactoring. It has been adopted by Cloudflare's engineering teams for various functions, demonstrating its effectiveness in addressing common challenges in application development. Hyperdrive significantly improves performance, with a benchmark showing latency reduction from 1200 ms to 500 ms when using Hyperdrive instead of a direct connection, and further to 320 ms with caching enabled. It employs transaction-mode connection pooling to efficiently manage database connections, minimizing overhead and ensuring optimal performance for serverless applications. Hyperdrive's architecture includes a split connection approach that reduces latency by conducting necessary round trips over shorter distances. It also features a regional pool strategy for selecting data centers based on the inferred location of the Worker, optimizing connection latency. The system includes a dual-layer caching strategy to enhance query performance and reduce load on the origin database. Developers can easily start using Hyperdrive by executing a simple command or using a dashboard to set up a sample Worker application with their existing Postgres database.

AppWizard

April 7, 2025

‘A Minecraft Movie’ exceeds box-office expectations, breaks records

Warner Bros.' "A Minecraft Movie," featuring Jack Black and Jason Momoa, earned million in the U.S. and Canada during its opening weekend, nearly doubling initial projections. The film is expected to add another million from international markets. It has set a new record for video game adaptations, surpassing "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," which earned million earlier this year. Directed by Jared Hess, the film has a 47% positive rating from critics on RottenTomatoes.com and an 86% audience score. The story follows four heroes who are transported into the Minecraft world and must navigate challenges to return home.

AppWizard

April 6, 2025

Pentagon inspector general investigating Hegseth’s use of Signal messaging app

DoD's acting Inspector General, Steven Stebbins, is reviewing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's use of the Signal app for operational airstrike discussions in Yemen to evaluate compliance with policies on commercial messaging for official communications and classification mandates. Concurrently, House Oversight Committee Democrats are investigating the Department of Government Efficiency's data usage, while OPM is directing agencies to revise performance review processes to prioritize adherence to presidential policies. The Defense Department has mandated public reporting of canceled contracts linked to Trump's efficiency initiatives. The SSA is tightening identity-proofing requirements for benefit applications, discontinuing phone verification options. During a nomination hearing, Trump’s nominees for OPM and OMB faced questions regarding federal workforce reductions. The Army has abandoned plans for a billion-dollar software development contract after feedback on draft RFPs. Employees at the IMLS have been placed on administrative leave amid concerns over the agency's future and grant disbursement obligations following Trump's executive order aimed at eliminating smaller entities.

TrendTechie

April 2, 2025

Создателя торрент-сайта и участника группы The Scene приговорили к тюрьме в Дании

A Danish court sentenced a 46-year-old man to nine months in prison for uploading about 74 terabytes of pirated films and shows to torrent trackers SuperBits and DanishBytes. A 48-year-old man received a twelve-month sentence for hosting servers that distributed pirated content linked to The Scene. Over five years, Danish law enforcement has intensified efforts against local torrent sites, convicting over twenty individuals, including uploaders and administrators. The 48-year-old illegally copied content from three streaming services specializing in Danish children's series and possessed 134 terabytes of copyrighted material. He was active in The Scene from November 2021 until his arrest in November 2023. Following the arrests, several factions of The Scene in Denmark stopped producing new content, including DKiDS, which last uploaded on November 21, 2023. Neither convicted individual profited from the distribution, and both had no prior criminal records. The volume of illegally shared content influenced the court's decisions. In summer 2020, a significant operation led to the shutdown of multiple pirate sites, with American authorities arresting key figures from The Scene.

AppWizard

April 1, 2025

Monster Train 2 Confirmed For PC & Console Release This May

Developer Shiny Shoe and publisher Big Fan Games announced that Monster Train 2 will be released on May 21, available on PC via Steam and all three major consoles. The sequel features an alliance between former angels and demons, with players commanding clans aboard trains through Hell, Heaven, and the Abyss. It introduces five new clans, three vertical levels, and various gameplay elements including Pyre Hearts, Dimensional Challenges, Train Customization, an improved Logbook, Daily Challenges, Celestial Alcoves, and an Endless Mode.

Tech Optimizer

March 31, 2025

Traditional EDR can’t keep up with modern cyber threats

By 2025, the global cost of cybercrime is projected to reach .5 trillion annually. Many organizations continue to use outdated Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions, which are increasingly ineffective against sophisticated cyber threats. EDR was introduced in 2013 but has struggled to keep pace with evolving attack techniques. Traditional EDR is reactive, responding to incidents after they occur, and relies on known Indicators of Compromise (IoCs), which limits its effectiveness. Real-world examples of traditional EDR failures include a misconfigured update to CrowdStrike’s Falcon EDR causing an IT outage, the Akira ransomware exploiting an unsecured webcam, the Medibank breach despite multiple alerts from EDR, and the BlackCat ransomware attack on Henry Schein. These incidents highlight the inadequacy of traditional EDR in preventing modern threats. The next phase of endpoint security is Preemptive Endpoint Protection (PEP), which actively prevents attacks rather than just detecting and responding to them. PEP utilizes proactive strategies like Automated Moving Target Defense (AMTD) and Adaptive Exposure Management (AEM), and research indicates that organizations using proactive security save 30% more on breach costs compared to those relying solely on reactive measures.

AppWizard

March 29, 2025

Co-op hit Split Fiction now holds three Guinness World Records that seem destined to be won specifically by co-op hit Split Fiction

Hazelight Studios released the co-op game Split Fiction, which has received critical acclaim, including praise from PC Gamer editor Fraser Brown. The game set three Guinness World Records within a week of its release: most played local co-op videogame on Steam, most sold local co-op videogame within 48 hours, and most sold local co-op videogame within one week. It peaked at 197,434 concurrent players on Steam within the first 24 hours. The studio plans to adapt the game for film and employs a "friend's pass" model, allowing one player to share the game with a partner who doesn't own it. Split Fiction is available for purchase on Steam.