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The 16 Best Xbox Games Right Now

Over the past two decades, Microsoft has turned the Xbox brand into a veritable juggernaut in the console gaming world. The Xbox Series X and Series S, the combined fourth generation of the Xbox, have sold over 21 million units -- and the Xbox One, which was still supported until 2023, sold over 58 million units worldwide. As Microsoft shifts its focus toward supporting console and PC gamers alike with the Game Pass subscription service, there's never been a larger ecosystem of Xbox consoles to

After $380M hack, Clorox sues its “service desk” vendor for simply giving out passwords

Hacking is hard. Well, sometimes. Other times, you just call up a company's IT service desk and pretend to be an employee who needs a password reset, an Okta multifactor authentication reset, and a Microsoft multifactor authentication reset... and it's done. Without even verifying your identity. So you use that information to log in to the target network and discover a more trusted user who works in IT security. You call the IT service desk back, acting like you are now this second person, and

Hackers fooled Cognizant help desk, says Clorox in $380M cyberattack lawsuit

Clorox is suing IT giant Cognizant for gross negligence, alleging it enabled a massive August 2023 cyberattack by resetting an employee's password for a hacker without first verifying their identity. The incident was first made public in September 2023, reportedly carried out by hackers associated with Scattered Spider, who utilized a social engineering attack to breach the company. The lawsuit says Cognizant provided IT services to Clorox, including service desk support and identity managemen

The best Xbox controller to buy right now

We live in a golden age of controllers. The gamepads on the market now are of higher quality, more versatile, and more customizable than anything from even one console generation ago. If you play games on an Xbox Series X or Series S (or a Windows PC), you have the unenviable task of choosing between several high-quality controllers from Microsoft as well as a plethora of great options from the likes of 8BitDo, PowerA, Razer, Scuf, Nacon, and Turtle Beach. Some of them have drift-proof Hall effe

Proxmox Donates €10k to the Perl and Raku Foundation

Proxmox Donates €10,000 to The Perl and Raku Foundation The Perl and Raku Foundation (TPRF) is delighted to announce a generous €10,000 donation from Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH, supporting the critical Perl 5 Core Maintenance Fund. Corporate partnerships play a critical role in enabling TPRF to fulfill its mission. A Partner in Open Source Proxmox Virtual Environment is a complete, open-source server management platform for enterprise virtualization. It tightly integrates the KVM hyperviso

The Outer Worlds 2 will no longer be Microsoft’s first $80 Xbox game

is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Microsoft-owned developer Obsidian Entertainment is announcing a price drop for the The Outer Worlds 2 today. The game was originally supposed to debut at $79.99 in October, but it’s now going back to the regular $69.99 Xbox game price. Microsoft announced earlier this year that it would be raising the price of new Xbox first-party games from $69.99 to $79.99, alongside increa

Reverse engineering GitHub Actions cache to make it fast

Before this work began, we already had a faster alternative to Github Actions cache. Our approach was different: we forked each of the popular first-party actions that depended on Actions cache to point to our faster, colocated cache. But my coworkers weren’t satisfied with that solution, since it required users to change a single line of code. Apart from the user experience, maintaining these forks steadily turned into a nightmare for us. We kept at it for a while, but eventually reached an in

Firefox Money: Investigating the Finances of Mozilla

Firefox Money: Investigating the bizarre finances of Mozilla Payments to nonexistent companies? Funding politics? Reliance on a single customer? And that's just for starters. This article was originally published in December of 2022, exclusively for subscribers to The Lunduke Journal. It is being re-published now -- free for all -- as the importance of this topic (and the bizarre questions surrounding Mozilla) continues to grow. Mozilla, the Foundation behind the Firefox web browser, is absol

Nano-Hydroxyapatite Toothpaste: The Benefits and Risks of the Fluoride-Free Alternative

As health concerns around fluoride in public drinking water continue to swirl, nano-hydroxyapatite toothpastes are becoming increasingly popular substitutes for fluoride toothpaste. Popular brands include Boka Davids and NOBS (No Bad Stuff), which are touted as fluoride-free alternatives that whiten teeth, repair enamel and prevent cavities. "As ingredient labels shift toward cleaner, fluoride-free formulas, one compound is taking center stage in modern oral care: nano-hydroxyapatite," Dr. Pia

The viral Toniebox is exactly what both kids and parents want from a smart device

Maria Diaz/ZDNET My kid had been asking for a Toniebox for two years, but I always talked her out of it. I'm no Grinch, but each set basic starter kit is $100. Then we finally got one during a Prime Day sales event. Testing a Toniebox has not only convinced me that it's perfect for my kids and worth every penny, but it's such a great device that I'd recommend it to any parent of young children. Here's why. Also: I ditched my Bluetooth speakers for this slick turntable - and it's more practical

Reverse Proxy Deep Dive: Why HTTP Parsing at the Edge Is Harder Than It Looks

In Part 1 of this series, we explored a high-level overview of reverse proxies and dived deep into connection management. This post shifts our focus to the intricate world of HTTP handling within a reverse proxy. Deep Dive into HTTP Handling At a high level, the HTTP workflow from a proxy’s perspective might seem straightforward: Receive the request from the client Parse and sanitize the request Uses different requst metadata (path, headers, cookies) to select an upstream host Manipulates the

Leaked Lenovo Legion Go 2 Will Make You Mad at Xbox and Nintendo

If you’re on the fence about whether to snatch up a $450 Nintendo Switch 2, or if you’re still hemming and hawing about that upcoming Xbox handheld made by Asus, there’s one more device that looks set to make your wallet scream bloody murder. We haven’t seen hide nor hair of Lenovo’s Legion Go 2 for about six months now, but leaks suggest it could be the sequel handheld you were actually looking for, thanks to a major screen upgrade that neither Nintendo nor Xbox is offering for its current-gen

How to Firefox

Chrome finally pulled the trigger on the web’s best ad-blocker, uBlock Origin. Now that Chrome has hobbled uBO, Firefox—my beloved— is surging again. I want to do my part to convince you to switch to Firefox and show you how I use it. Why Firefox Let’s get through the important talking points, in case you need a quick copy paste to convince a friend. 100% open-source Un-enshittify the web Android users rejoice Customize to your heart’s content 100% open-source This section can be quick. H

Show HN: Intercepting proxy for semantic search over visited pages

A proxy that embeds every web page you visit and lets you run similarity searches. Each successful HTTP GET 200 response (except for localhost) is re-fetched from pure.md to obtain clean Markdown. The cleaned text is embedded through llm. A minimal Flask UI provides search and cached-page views. Installation This is not a stand-alone program. It is a plugin for llm. If you are not using llm yet, install it with pipx first. pipx install llm Now you can install this plugin: llm install git+h

Xbox cloud games will soon follow you just about everywhere

Microsoft just launched a service for Xbox Insiders that brings all cloud-playable games, along with play histories, to the official Xbox PC app. This includes console exclusives spanning multiple generations and hundreds of other releases. The service extends to games owned by the player and Game Pass titles. The big hook here is that recently-played games will follow people across devices, including Xbox consoles, PCs and Windows handhelds. This will make it easier for folks to jump back into

Xbox cloud games will soon follow you across Xbox, PC, and Windows handhelds

is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Microsoft is starting to test updates to the Xbox PC app and Xbox consoles that will allow cloud games to follow you across devices. A new play history section of the Xbox PC app and Xbox console home UI will display cloud games as part of the recently played titles list and this will roam across Xbox consoles, PCs, and handhelds. Cloud-playable games are now starting to show

The frenzied, gamified chase for Labubus

On Thursday night, I toggled endlessly between a TikTok Live stream and a shopping app in anticipation of 9:30PM. For 30 minutes, I hunted for an available listing; many expletives were uttered. I exhibited bot behavior and got iced out of the app multiple times. I tapped so many times my thumbs got sore. This is Labubu drop night. Something that’s lost in the Labubu mania is that actually buying one from the source is, in one word, maddening. There are, of course, countless fake options (“Lafu

Hacking a Toniebox

Hack all the things - Toniebox 17. Jun 2025 Continuing my Hack all the things series, I’m doing something slightly different today. So far I’ve hacked my PS Vita and Nintendo 3DS, but this time I want to talk about my Toniebox. Or rather…my kids’ Toniebox. If you’re unfamiliar with the thing, it’s a little music box with a built-in speaker, two little “ears” to raise or lower the volume and an NFC reader at the top. Instead of putting in cassettes or CDs (yes, I’m old!), you instead put litt

NOBS Toothpaste Tablets: What Dentists Say About Its Main Ingredient

The NOBS (No Bad Stuff) toothpaste tablets are going viral thanks to their main ingredient of nano-hydroxyapatite, a fluoride-free alternative. As health concerns around fluoride and its presence in public drinking water continue to swirl, nano-hydroxyapatite toothpastes are becoming increasingly popular. You've likely seen them on store shelves or in ads from companies like Boka and Davids, marketed as fluoride-free alternatives for your toothbrush that claim to whiten teeth, repair enamel and

Microsoft Quietly Pulls the Plug on Its Movies and TV Store

Microsoft abruptly shut down its online movie and TV store. On Friday, the tech giant quietly updated both its general and Xbox support pages to reflect the changes. Users will no longer be able to buy new content from Microsoft.com and the Microsoft Store on Windows and Xbox. Thankfully, Microsoft says if you already own movies or shows through the store you can still watch them via the Movies & TV app on Xbox and Windows devices. Microsoft says technical support will also continue for issues

Microsoft unceremoniously kills off the Xbox Movies & TV store

You can longer rent or buy TV shows or movies, but you won’t lose any of your purchases. Microsoft has rather abruptly closed down its Movies & TV app, which is accessible on Xbox and Windows PCs via the Microsoft Store. This allowed people to rent or buy movies or TV shows natively through their console or computer’s storefront, but in a newly updated support page Microsoft said the service has ended. "Microsoft no longer offers new entertainment content for purchase, including movies and TV

Microsoft’s constant layoffs risk creating a culture of fear

is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. I can’t open LinkedIn without seeing a new post from a Microsoft employee who lost their job in the company’s latest round of layoffs. Around 15,000 jobs have been eliminated at Microsoft over the past couple months — the biggest cuts at the company in more than a decade. I’ve spoken to more than a dozen Microsoft employees in recent weeks, and everyone is concerned about the

Microsoft suddenly kills its movies and TV store on Xbox and Windows

is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Microsoft has suddenly shut its movies and TV store on Xbox consoles and Windows PCs. As of today you can no longer purchase new movies or TV shows from the Microsoft Store on Xbox or Windows, but you will still be able to access previously purchased content on devices. “Downloads will continue to be available on Windows and in HD max resolution,” says Microsoft, but you’ll ha

Poor Passwords Tattle on AI Hiring Bot Maker Paradox.ai

Security researchers recently revealed that the personal information of millions of people who applied for jobs at McDonald’s was exposed after they guessed the password (“123456”) for the fast food chain’s account at Paradox.ai, a company that makes artificial intelligence based hiring chatbots used by many Fortune 500 firms. Paradox.ai said the security oversight was an isolated incident that did not affect its other customers, but recent security breaches involving its employees in Vietnam te

Google is suing the BadBox 2.0 botnet group

Google has filed a lawsuit against the operators of a what is believed to be the largest smart TV botnet in the world — BadBox 2.0. The company said in its complaint that this China-based botnet had compromised more than 10 million uncertified devices — including TV streaming boxes, tablets and projectors. Google said that cybercriminals pre-installed malware or used malicious apps to download malware on hardware that was running open-source Android software. These compromised devices were then

Google sues to disrupt BadBox 2.0 botnet infecting 10 million devices

Google has filed a lawsuit against the anonymous operators of the Android BadBox 2.0 malware botnet, accusing them of running a global ad fraud scheme against the company's advertising platforms. The BadBox 2.0 malware botnet is a cybercrime operation that utilizes infected Android Open Source Project (AOSP) devices, including smart TVs, streaming boxes, and other connected devices that lack security protections, such as Google Play Protect. These devices become infected either by threat actor

Roblox Adds Age Verification for Teens Who Want to Chat: What You Need to Know

Roblox, the popular gaming platform, has revamped the way it will handle player communications, particularly for those under 18. As detailed in a blog post, the company says it's changing "Friends" to "Connections" across the platform and is launching new tools to estimate a player's age via a video selfie. That age verification, for those 13 to 17, will unlock a feature called "Trusted Connections" that allows for less filtered text or voice chat. Those who aren't able to verify their age with

Xbox Hacks: The A20 (2021)

In November of this year (2021) we will hit 20 years since the release of the original Xbox. This console was full of vulnerabilities (or misconfiguration) from the software to the hardware and with such a low price point two decades ago for a computer - it was highly popular. For this post we are going to go into a lot of details regarding one mistake Microsoft made which was the A20. All the discoveries and research belongs to The Xbox Linux Project and Michael Steil. Research was obtained be

Roblox launches new age verification system to unlock unfiltered chats

Users over 13 years old will be prompted to use the facial-analysis software to estimate their age and determine whether they can access the new "trusted connections" feature that allows them to engage in private, unfiltered chats with other age-screened users, Ebanks said. Roblox's use of age-estimation tech will help the company "confirm the age of our users and give them more tailored and age-appropriate features," said Ryan Ebanks, a Roblox principal product manager for social products. So

Roblox is adding an 'age estimation' feature for teens

Roblox is joining the growing ranks of online platforms that are trying to better understand the ages of their teen users. The company is rolling out a new " age estimation " feature for teens 13 and older. With the update, teens will be prompted for an age check that requires a video selfie in order to access its new less restrictive chat feature called "trusted connections." Roblox is relying on third-party identity company Persona for the actual "estimation," and users who fail the check wil