Pokémon Go update bringing ‘mon from the Sinnoh region is live

If you’ve been laying off the Pokémon Go for a while due to a lack of new monsters, prepare to be glued to your phone again. Niantic is now adding pokémon from the rugged Sinnoh region that first appeared in 2007’s Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum games.

Of course, it’s not so simple as a dump of a hundred new ‘mon into your area. The new guys are arriving in waves, likely meaning the most common sorts will start appearing today, while cooler ones and sets of themed critters will arrive over the coming weeks.

These are part of the Generation 4 set, but it’s not clear yet which will be appearing first or indeed at all. It’s entirely up to Niantic and you can be sure they’re going to mete these little guys out over several months, interspersed with other events — anything to keep you catching.

Everyone will probably have a Chimchar on their shoulder soon, because that sucker is cute, but ultimately everyone is going to want a Dialga. I get the feeling they’re going to be a regular feature at gyms soon. I for one will be working to evolve a Glaceon.

There are also some new evolutions, so don’t trash your mid-tier pokémon just yet. Magmortar, Electivire, Tangrowth, and Rhyperior mean you’ll have a use for all that extra candy.

Update your app and start draining that battery, Trainer! And don’t forget that we’ve got Niantic’s Ross Finman at our AR/VR Session in LA this Thursday. Drop by if you’re in the area.

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Facebook rolls out checks for UK political ads

Facebook has announced it rolled out a system of checks on political ads run on its platform in the UK which requires advertisers to verify their identity and location to try to make it harder for foreign actors to meddle in domestic elections and referenda.

This follows similar rollouts of political ad transparency tools in the U.S. and Brazil.

From today, Facebook said it will record and display information about who paid for political ads to run on its platform in the UK within an Ad library — including retaining the ad itself — for “up to seven years”.

It will also badge these ads with a “Paid for by” disclaimer.

So had the company had this system up and running during the UK’s 2016 Brexit referendum, the Canadian data firm AIQ would, presumably, have had to pass its political advertiser verification process, and display “Paid for by” Vote Leave/BeLeave/Veterans for Britain badges on scores of pro-Brexit ads… If it didn’t just get barred for not being based in the UK in the first place.

(How extensively Facebook will be checking up on political advertisers’ ‘paid for by’ claims is one pertinent question to ask, and we have asked; otherwise this looks mostly like a badging exercise — which requires other doing the work to check/police claims… ).

Ditto during Ireland’s referendum earlier this year, on overturning a constitutional ban on abortion. In that instance Facebook decided to suspend all foreign-funded ads a few weeks before the vote because it did not yet have a political ad check system in place.

In the UK, the new requirement on political advertisers applies to “all advertisers wanting to run ads in the UK that reference political figures, political parties, elections, legislation before Parliament and past referenda that are the subject of national debate”, Facebook said.

“We see this as an important part of ensuring electoral integrity and helping people understand who they are engaging with,” said Richard Allan, VP of global public policy, and Rob Leathern, director of product management in a blog post announcing the launch. “We recognise that this is going to be a significant change for people who use our service to publish this type of ad. While the vast majority of ads on Facebook are run by legitimate organisations, we know that there are bad actors that try to misuse our platform. By having people verify who they are, we believe it will help prevent abuse.”

UK lawmakers have been highly critical of Facebook’s response to their attempts to investigate how social media ads were used and mis-used during the UK’s 2016 EU referendum.

This summer the parliamentary committee that has been investigating online disinformation called for a levy on social media to ‘defend democracy’. And earlier this year Facebook told the same committee it would roll out an authentication process for political advertisers in time for the UK’s local elections, in May 2019 — with CTO Mike Schroepfer telling MPs the company believes “radical transparency” can fix concern about the societal and democratic impacts of divisive social media ads.

In response, MPs quizzed Schroepfer on whether Facebook’s political ad transparency tool would be so radical as to include “targeting data” in the disclosures — i.e. “will I understand not just who the advertiser was and what other adverts they’d run but why they’d chose to advertise to me”.

The Facebook CTO’s response in April suggested the company did not plan to go that far. And, indeed, Facebook says now that the details it will disclose in the Ad library are only: “A range of the ad’s budget and number of people reached, and the other ads that Page is running.”

So not, seemingly, any actual targeting data: Aka the specific reasons a particular user is seeing a particular political ad. Which could help Facebook users contextualize political ads and be wiser to attempts to manipulate their opinion, as well as generally better understand how their personal information is being used (and potentially misused).

It’s true that Facebook does already provide some data about broad-brush targeting, with a per-ad option users can click to get a response on ‘why am I seeing this?’. But the targeting categories the company serves via this feature are so broad and lacking in comprehensiveness as to be selectively uninformative and thus pretty useless at very best.

Indeed, the results have even been accused of being misleading.

If Facebook was required by law to rip away its adtech modesty curtain entirely there’s a risk, for its business model, that users would get horribly creeped out by the full bore view of the lidless eye in the digital wall spying on them to target ads.

So while Schroepfer teased UK MPs with “radical transparency” the reality, six months on, is something a whole lot more dilute and incremental.

Facebook itself appears to be conceding as much, and trying to manage expectations, when it writes: “We believe that increased transparency will lead to increased accountability and responsibility over time — not just for Facebook but for advertisers as well.”

So it remains to be seen whether UK lawmakers will be satisfied with this tidbit. Or call for blood, as they set themselves to the task of regulating social media.

The other issue is how comprehensively (or otherwise) Facebook will police its own political ad checks.

Its operational historical is replete with content identification and moderation failures. Which doesn’t exactly bode well for the company to robustly control malicious attempts to skew public opinion — especially when the advertisers in question are simultaneously trying to pour money into its coffers.

So it also remains to be seen how many divisive political ads will simply slip under its radar — i.e. via the non-political, non-verified standard route, and get distributed anyway. Not least because there is also the trickiness of identifying a political ad (vs a non-political ad).

Malicious political ads paid for by Kremlin-backed entities didn’t always look like malicious political ads. Some of the propaganda Russia was spreading via Facebook in the US targeted at voters included seemingly entirely apolitical and benign messages aimed at boosting support among certain identity-based groups, for example. And those sorts of ads would not appear to fit Facebook’s definition of a ‘political ad’ here.

In general, the company also looks to be relying on everyone else to do the grunt-work policing for it — as per its usual playbook.

“If you see an ad which you believe has political content and isn’t labeled, please report it by tapping the three dots at the top right-hand corner of the ad,” it writes. “We will review the ad, and if it falls under our political advertising policy, we’ll take it down and add it to the Ad Library. The advertiser will then be prevented from running ads related to politics until they complete our authorisation process and we’ll follow up to let you know what happened to the ad you reported.”

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Facebook is building a camera TV set-top box codenamed Ripley

A mysterious product called “Ripley” appeared hidden besides Facebook’s new Portal smart displays in Facebook for Android’s code. Dug up by frequent TechCrunch tipster Jane Manchun Wong a week ago, Ripley’s name squared with Facebook’s VP of Portal Rafa Camargo telling us that “we’re already investing in expanding the product line with more products we want to launch next year.”

That Facebook device will be a camera-equipped device that connects to televisions to allow video chat and media content viewing, according to Cheddar’s Alex Heath.

Facebook’s Portal’s devices sit on a desk or countertop and cost $199 for a smaller screen and $349 for a bigger one. But with Ripley, Facebook could sell a much cheaper screen-less add-on for the televisions people already have. Facebook could build hardware network effect by releasing its Portal technology in many form factors.

The Ripley name could change before the eventual launch next year that Cheddar says is coming in Spring 2019. It might become something more evocative of the device’s purpose. But regardless of the name, it’s sure to encounter heavy skepticism due to Facebook’s history of privacy and security troubles. Many users don’t trust Facebook enough to put one of its cameras and microphones in its house.

Ripley is said to run on the same Portal operating system that builds off the same Android open source framework. That means it might carry a similar slate of features. Those include Portal’s auto-zooming camera that can follow users to keep them in frame, video chat through Messenger, a smart photo frame for while it’s not in use, Facebook Watch videos, Alexa voice control, and a third-party app platform including video content from outside developers.

While users might occasionally watch recipe or news videos on Portal, entertainment could be core to Ripley. The device would allow Facebook to compete with Roku, Amazon, Apple, and other set-top boxes. The device could also eventually be a natural home for Facebook’s video ads, even though it’s not putting them on Portal right now.

Along with smart speakers, whoever creates what plugs into our TVs will control a fundamental wing of future home computing. Facebook won’t surrender this market, despite its disadvantage due to its many scandals.

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Facebook is building a camera TV set-top box codenamed Ripley

A mysterious product called “Ripley” appeared hidden besides Facebook’s new Portal smart displays in Facebook for Android’s code. Dug up by frequent TechCrunch tipster Jane Manchun Wong a week ago, Ripley’s name squared with Facebook’s VP of Portal Rafa Camargo telling us that “we’re already investing in expanding the product line with more products we want to launch next year.”

That Facebook device will be a camera-equipped device that connects to televisions to allow video chat and media content viewing, according to Cheddar’s Alex Heath.

Facebook’s Portal’s devices sit on a desk or countertop and cost $199 for a smaller screen and $349 for a bigger one. But with Ripley, Facebook could sell a much cheaper screen-less add-on for the televisions people already have. Facebook could build hardware network effect by releasing its Portal technology in many form factors.

The Ripley name could change before the eventual launch next year that Cheddar says is coming in Spring 2019. It might become something more evocative of the device’s purpose. But regardless of the name, it’s sure to encounter heavy skepticism due to Facebook’s history of privacy and security troubles. Many users don’t trust Facebook enough to put one of its cameras and microphones in its house.

Ripley is said to run on the same Portal operating system that builds off the same Android open source framework. That means it might carry a similar slate of features. Those include Portal’s auto-zooming camera that can follow users to keep them in frame, video chat through Messenger, a smart photo frame for while it’s not in use, Facebook Watch videos, Alexa voice control, and a third-party app platform including video content from outside developers.

While users might occasionally watch recipe or news videos on Portal, entertainment could be core to Ripley. The device would allow Facebook to compete with Roku, Amazon, Apple, and other set-top boxes. The device could also eventually be a natural home for Facebook’s video ads, even though it’s not putting them on Portal right now.

Along with smart speakers, whoever creates what plugs into our TVs will control a fundamental wing of future home computing. Facebook won’t surrender this market, despite its disadvantage due to its many scandals.

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Need a Legal & Cheap Windows License? Here Are Your Options

The 7 Best Ways to Open a PSD File Without Photoshop

Photoshop definitely got it right with the PSD file format. It saves the complete state of a still-being-edited image so that you can close down and resume work later. When working with images, you should always keep a PSD copy around in case you need to make tweaks to the image later on.

The problem is that PSD isn’t an open format. While PNGs, JPGs, and BMPs can be opened in nearly every image editor, PSDs can only be opened by certain apps that know the file format. Your best bet? Pay for an Adobe Photoshop CC subscription plan.

Or use one of the many free options below. Are they as good as Adobe Photoshop? No. In fact, most of the following apps can’t actually edit PSDs—they can only view PSDs as flattened images. That’s the cost of proprietary software. But hey, if flattened image viewing is all you need anyway, then these options are well worth trying.

1. GIMP

GIMP should honestly be your first stop when trying to open and edit a PSD file for free. Not only is it the closest counterpart to Photoshop itself, but it’s available across Windows, Mac, and Linux, so you can learn it once and use it on all of your systems.

And if it wasn’t clear, yes, PSD support is built right into the app. No need to fiddle with third-party plugins or anything.

1. Go to File > Open.
2. Find and select the PSD file.
3. Click Open.

The nice thing about GIMP is that it can actually process the individual layers of a PSD file. The downside is that some layers are unreadable to GIMP, or need to be rasterized so that GIMP can work with them. Saving over the PSD could ruin the file if you intend to open it back up in Photoshop later.

GIMP is open source software, which comes with several benefits (like being able to peek at the source code whenever you want).

Download: GIMP (Free)

2. Paint.NET

I’ve always respected Paint.NET because it knows exactly what it wants to be: an image editor that’s better than Microsoft Paint without being as bloated or intimidating to learn as GIMP and Adobe Photoshop. It’s right smack in the middle.

But if you want to make it more powerful, you can—by installing various third-party plugins. And if you’re going to do that, there’s one plugin that you absolutely should use: the PSD plugin.

1. Download the PSD plugin.
2. Extract the ZIP file’s contents.
3. Copy the PhotoShop.dll file.
4. Navigate to the Paint.NET installation folder (mine is located at C:/Program Files/paint.net).
5. Paste the PhotoShop.dll file into the FileTypes subfolder.
6. Launch Paint.NET.

With the plugin installed, you should be able to open PSD files without a hitch. Note that even though Paint.NET can usually handle PSD layers just fine, you’ll run into occasional issues because Paint.NET doesn’t support all of Photoshop’s features.

Download: PSD Plugin for Paint.NET (Free)

3. Photopea Online Editor

If you’ve never heard of Photopea before, you’re in for a treat. This lesser-known web app is basically like an online version of Adobe Photoshop or GIMP. It’s obviously not as good—web apps rarely get close to their desktop counterparts—but it’s still useful.

The layout is similar so you’ll feel right at home. Want to open a PSD file? It’s easy.

1. Go to File > Open.
2. Find and select the PSD file.
3. Click Open.

And the cool thing is that Photopea can read individual layers, which is a level of feature that I’d never expect from a free web app. It’s great though, allowing you to edit your PSDs without charge no matter where you are. Just hop on with any computer.

Website: Photopea Online Editor

4. XnView

XnView is a freeware image organizer that lets you browse and order your image collections in various ways, as well as process them using basic image editing tools like color palettes, filters, effects, rotations, etc.

The great thing about this lesser-known app is that it can read over 500 formats and export to over 70 formats, so not only is it useful for viewing images, but also converting them.

1. Go to File > Open.
2. Find and select the PSD file.
3. Click Open.

When downloading, you can choose between three setup types: Minimal, Standard, and Extended. Minimal requires the least amount of disk space and is all you need to open PSDs. No need for add-ons, plugins, or anything like that.

Download: XnView (Free)

5. IrfanView

IrfanView is similar to XnView in that its main use is as an image viewer and converter. It may not support as many formats as XnView does, but it supports all of the important ones—and that’s all that really matters, right?

While IrfanView can easily render flattened PSDs, it can’t edit or save them unless you first export to a different format.

1. Go to File > Open…
2. Find and select the PSD file.
3. Click Open.

We recommend keeping this app on your system. Use it as your primary image viewer and you’ll never be disappointed by it. The best part, at least for me, is that it’s extremely lightweight and fast. Plus you can further enhance IrfanView with some nifty plugins.

Download: IrfanView (Free)

6. Google Drive

It may seem weird to use Google Drive as a file viewer, but you absolutely can — and it works rather well. Check out our master guide to Google Drive to learn more about it, but the important thing to know is that PSDs are viewable through Google Drive on the web.

1. Visit the Google Drive page.
2. Click My Drive and select Upload files…
3. Find and select the PSD file.
4. Click Open.
5. Double-click the file to view.

There are several other methods you can use to upload image files to Google Drive, but this is the easiest if you just want to view one single file. When would you ever use Google Drive for this? Maybe when you aren’t on your own PC and can’t install any other software.

Website: Google Drive

7. Go2Convert

This last option is not a way to view, open, or edit PSD files. It’s simply a way to convert PSD files into other formats like PNG and JPG. If that’s the entire reason why you wanted to open PSDs in the first place, then you might as well skip the middle steps.

1. Click Select File.
2. Navigate and select your PSD file.
3. Click Open.
4. Click Upload Now.
5. Once the upload is done, you can choose dozens of formats to convert to. Optionally, you can even resize the image and pick what kind of compression to use (for certain formats).

Simple and straightforward. Nothing more to it.

Website: Go2Convert

Why Not Use Adobe Photoshop?

These solutions definitely work, so if you’re happy with them, go on and keep using them. But if you intend to do serious PSD editing in the future, you really ought to consider grabbing an Adobe Photoshop CC subscription plan.

You can certainly get by with GIMP, but again, it has its limitations and quirks. GIMP is okay for casual users, but Photoshop is objectively better. Check out our comparison of GIMP vs. Photoshop for more details.

Read the full article: The 7 Best Ways to Open a PSD File Without Photoshop

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Timex builds its first automatic watch in decades

Leave your smartwatch on the counter because Timex is back with its first automatic watch in decades. Called the Marlin, this 21-jewel timepiece that hearkens back to the days of “Takes a licking, keeps on ticking.”

The Marlins cost $249 and come in multiple styles. This particular model, in a rich burgundy, looks like something that you’d wear to a Madison Avenue cocktail party after work. Timex has also released manual wind watches for $199 featuring a truly retro design and numerals.

Timex has long been a drug store brand – a brand sold in those cases at big drug stores and aimed at impulse shoppers who needed a watch… any kind of watch. While their Indiglo line of bright, light-up quartz watches was a long-time hit, they really didn’t do much beyond making a few very basic pieces for a non-discerning audience.

Now, however, the company clearly looked at its history and liked what it saw. Timex was one of the first American watch brands to expand on a mass scale and they suffered greatly during the 1980 quartz crisis, a moment when the watch industry went from mechanical movements to electronic. Many watchmakers never recovered or are now a husk of their former glory – Hamilton, for example – but Timex kept at it.

Now that they’ve given automatics and manual winds a try I’m excited to see where they go next. Many watchmakers have noticed that men and women are buying more and more retro watches to offset the creeping smartwatch flood. I’m glad to see the team at Timex is ready to take on this fascinating new world.

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Hinge is first dating app to actually measure real world success

Dating app Hinge is today launching a new feature aimed at improving its recommendations, based on whether or not matches had successful real-world dates. The feature may also help to address one of the major problems with today’s dating apps: that no one knows how well they actually work. After all, it’s one thing to get matches and have conversations, but it’s quite another to turn those into dates, much less a long-term relationship.

With a new feature called “We Met,” Hinge will ask users a few days after they shared their phone numbers if they went on a date, and, if so, if they’d want to see that person again. This data will be used as a signal to inform Hinge’s algorithms and improve matches, if the user later returns to the app.

During beta trials, Hinge says that 90% of members said their first dates were great, and 72% said they wanted to go on a second.

“Ultimately, if you went on a date with someone and you thought they were great, that’s the strongest signal that we’ve gotten very close to your type of person. So if there are more people like that person, we can show them to you,” says Hinge CEO Justin McLeod.

By “like that person” it’s not a matter of physical appearance or some sort of profile categorization, to be clear.

“You can’t really aggregate people into their component pieces and try to crack what’s someone’s ideal person,” McLeod explains.

Instead, Hinge uses collaborative filtering – people who like X also like Y – to help inform its matches on that front.

With the launch of We Met, Hinge will now know when dates succeed or fail, and eventually, perhaps, why. It also plans to combine the We Met data with other signals – such as, whether users become inactive in the app or delete their accounts, as well as email survey data – to figure out which dates may have turned into relationships.

This is something of a first for the dating app industry, which is today incentivized to keep users “playing” their matching games, and spending money on in-app subscriptions – not leave them. It’s not in dating apps’ financial interest, at least, to create relationships (i.e., heavy user churn).

This influences the dating apps’ design – they don’t tend to include features designed to connect people in real life.

For example, they don’t make suggestions of events, concerts, and other things to do; they don’t offer maps of nearby restaurants, bars, coffee shops, or other public spaces for first dates; they don’t offer built-in calling (or gamify unlocking a calling feature by continuing to chat in app); they don’t use in-app prompts to suggest users exchange numbers and leave the app. Instead, apps tend to push users to chat more – with things like buttons for adding photos and GIFs, or even tabs for browsing Facebook-style News Feeds.

The problem of wasting time chatting in dating apps has now become so prevalent that many users’ profiles today explicitly state that they’re “not looking for pen pals.”

Of course dating apps – just like any other way of meeting new people – will have their share of success stories. Everyone knows someone who met online.

But claims that, for example, Tinder is somehow responsible for a whole generation of “Tinder babies” are hugely suspect, because the company doesn’t have any way of tracking if matches are actually dating, and certainly not if they end up getting married and having kids. It even said so in a recent documentary.

All Tinder has – or any of these companies, really – are anecdotes and emails from happy couples. (And this, of course, should be expected, with user bases in the tens of millions, like Tinder.)

We Met, meanwhile, is actually focused on quantifying real world dating successes in Hinge, not in-app engagement. Longer term, it could help to establish Hinge as place that’s for people who want relationships, not just serial dates or hookups.

The feature is also another example of how Hinge is leveraging A.I. combined with user insights to improve matches. Recently, it rolled out a machine learning-powered feature, Most Compatible, to help provide users with daily recommendations based on their in-app activity.

Hinge says We Met will launch today, October 16, on iOS first. Android will soon follow.

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Hinge is first dating app to actually measure real world success

Dating app Hinge is today launching a new feature aimed at improving its recommendations, based on whether or not matches had successful real-world dates. The feature may also help to address one of the major problems with today’s dating apps: that no one knows how well they actually work. After all, it’s one thing to get matches and have conversations, but it’s quite another to turn those into dates, much less a long-term relationship.

With a new feature called “We Met,” Hinge will ask users a few days after they shared their phone numbers if they went on a date, and, if so, if they’d want to see that person again. This data will be used as a signal to inform Hinge’s algorithms and improve matches, if the user later returns to the app.

During beta trials, Hinge says that 90% of members said their first dates were great, and 72% said they wanted to go on a second.

“Ultimately, if you went on a date with someone and you thought they were great, that’s the strongest signal that we’ve gotten very close to your type of person. So if there are more people like that person, we can show them to you,” says Hinge CEO Justin McLeod.

By “like that person” it’s not a matter of physical appearance or some sort of profile categorization, to be clear.

“You can’t really aggregate people into their component pieces and try to crack what’s someone’s ideal person,” McLeod explains.

Instead, Hinge uses collaborative filtering – people who like X also like Y – to help inform its matches on that front.

With the launch of We Met, Hinge will now know when dates succeed or fail, and eventually, perhaps, why. It also plans to combine the We Met data with other signals – such as, whether users become inactive in the app or delete their accounts, as well as email survey data – to figure out which dates may have turned into relationships.

This is something of a first for the dating app industry, which is today incentivized to keep users “playing” their matching games, and spending money on in-app subscriptions – not leave them. It’s not in dating apps’ financial interest, at least, to create relationships (i.e., heavy user churn).

This influences the dating apps’ design – they don’t tend to include features designed to connect people in real life.

For example, they don’t make suggestions of events, concerts, and other things to do; they don’t offer maps of nearby restaurants, bars, coffee shops, or other public spaces for first dates; they don’t offer built-in calling (or gamify unlocking a calling feature by continuing to chat in app); they don’t use in-app prompts to suggest users exchange numbers and leave the app. Instead, apps tend to push users to chat more – with things like buttons for adding photos and GIFs, or even tabs for browsing Facebook-style News Feeds.

The problem of wasting time chatting in dating apps has now become so prevalent that many users’ profiles today explicitly state that they’re “not looking for pen pals.”

Of course dating apps – just like any other way of meeting new people – will have their share of success stories. Everyone knows someone who met online.

But claims that, for example, Tinder is somehow responsible for a whole generation of “Tinder babies” are hugely suspect, because the company doesn’t have any way of tracking if matches are actually dating, and certainly not if they end up getting married and having kids. It even said so in a recent documentary.

All Tinder has – or any of these companies, really – are anecdotes and emails from happy couples. (And this, of course, should be expected, with user bases in the tens of millions, like Tinder.)

We Met, meanwhile, is actually focused on quantifying real world dating successes in Hinge, not in-app engagement. Longer term, it could help to establish Hinge as place that’s for people who want relationships, not just serial dates or hookups.

The feature is also another example of how Hinge is leveraging A.I. combined with user insights to improve matches. Recently, it rolled out a machine learning-powered feature, Most Compatible, to help provide users with daily recommendations based on their in-app activity.

Hinge says We Met will launch today, October 16, on iOS first. Android will soon follow.

Read Full Article

The 10 Best Horror Movies to Watch on Netflix

Are you looking to curl up on the couch, switch off the lights, and scare yourself with some of the best horror movies ever made? With our help you won’t even have to think about what to watch. Just open Netflix and pick any of the films on this list.

Note: These movies are available on Netflix US. You can watch them using a VPN with Netflix if you’re not based in the United States.

1. The Shining

• Released in: 1980
• IMDb Rating: 8.4/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 86%

The Shining is one of the best movies based on Stephen King’s books. Legendary director Stanley Kubrick tells the story of the Torrance family (father, mother, and son) heading to an isolated hotel for a winter break. The hotel is, of course, haunted and starts affecting all of them.

Jack Nicholson gives a stand-out performance, while Shelley Duvall is perfect as the one person trying to keep things together. The Shining is a landmark horror film, and its set designs, scenes, plots, and catchphrases have been referenced in umpteen other films and TV series.

2. Dreamcatcher

• Released in: 2003
• IMDb Rating: 5.5/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 30%

Aliens, native American symbolism, and a dull and bleak American winter set the background for Dreamcatcher. Four buddies embark upon their annual winter trip into the woods, but get caught in a fierce storm. And they aren’t alone out there.

While Dreamcatcher is another movie based on a Stephen King book, it’s not as good as The Shining. Director Lawrence Kasdan does an OK job of translating King’s vision into cinema, but the end result is a brilliant B-movie for horror fans.

3. The Conjuring

• Released in: 2013
• IMDb Rating: 6.6/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 86%

The Conjuring is one of the best horror movies released in this decade, as director James Wan hits all the right notes in this classic plot. It’s about a family that buys a remote house disconnected from their neighbors, and strange things start happening in it. The family asks for help from two paranormal detectives (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga).

Together, they must all somehow survive the vengeance of the family who lived there before them, and especially the little girl who still holds a strong grudge. The Conjuring is a perfect execution of mood-building, day-time horror. It’s also one of those movies full of jump scares.

4. Cabin Fever

• Released in: 2002
• IMDb Rating: 5.6/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 86%

Cabin Fever starts with a trip to a cabin in the middle of nowhere. But when these five friends meet a dangerous man with a weird disease, they end up killing him and dumping him in the town’s water reservoir. Anyone who drinks the water is now infected. And things get really bad when one of the five has a glass of tap water.

Director Eli Roth has a unique style in his horror films that make them compelling to watch, even when they are campy and silly. If you can buy into the premise and suspend logic for a couple of hours, you’ll have a frightfully good time.

5. The Ritual

• Released in: 2017
• IMDb Rating: 6.3/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 86%

You don’t expect much with the done-to-death plot of The Ritual. It’s about four estranged friends who reunite for a hiking trip, and are forced to go off the trail for a shortcut when one of them is injured. As you’d expect, there’s something evil in the woods.

But the place makes a difference here. Director David Bruckner sets the movie in Sweden, whose dreary skies and chilling winters add a lot of atmosphere. And it also lets Bruckner explore a new type of evil: Scandinavian mythology.

6. The Sixth Sense

• Released in: 1999
• IMDb Rating: 6.3/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 86%

At this point, you’ve probably watched The Sixth Sense, or at least heard about its big plot twist at the end. So should you still watch it? The answer is a resounding Yes. Director M. Night Shyamalan’s story about a boy who can talk to ghosts, and the therapist trying to help him, is a classic.

The film still has plenty of scenes designed to give you the heebie-jeebies, and there are jump scares and chills in equal measure. Haley Joel Osment gives the performance of a lifetime as the boy who sees dead people, and The Sixth Sense is worth watching over and over.

7. The Witch

• Released in: 2015
• IMDb Rating: 6.8/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 91%

The Witch, stylized on the posters as “The VVitch” to add intrigue, is a slow-builder but definitely worth the wait. The Witch is a period horror film set in 1630s New England. Debutant writer-director Robert Eggers is one to watch out for.

A family is banished by their village to live near the spooky woods, and strange things start happening. One of the daughters goes missing, and the family thinks the teenage daughter Thomasin is a witch who is responsible for everything. Without resorting to too many jump scares, the slow-building horror and creepy atmosphere will make you turn on the lights before the end.

8. The Gift

• Released in: 2015
• IMDb Rating: 7.1/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 92%

You don’t always need something supernatural to make a good horror film. Humans are scary enough, as you will find out with The Gift, a psychological thriller with plenty of truly creepy moments. The strong star-cast of Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, and Joel Edgerton deliver performances that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat.

It’s difficult to describe The Gift without spoiling it. Bateman and Hall are married, and Edgerton is an old acquaintance of Bateman who shows up unannounced. Strange gifts are given, secrets are revealed, and no one’s lives will be the same ever again.

9. Hellraiser

• Released in: 1987
• IMDb Rating: 7.0/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 63%

Clive Barker is a legend in the world of horror films. His greatest creation can be streamed on Netflix right now. With nine films in the franchise, it’s high time you dived into Hellraiser.

The movie introduces monsters called cenobites, that would be used by Barker in several other films and novels. They take on the corpses of mutilated humans, with the most famous of them being their leader, Pinhead. The plot is about the resurrection of a man named Frank and how a girl called Kristy tries to help him. But really, the frights are all about the cenobites and Pinhead.

Once you finish with the original, queue up Hellraiser 2 and any other sequels you can find online. Hellraiser is the perfect series for people keen on binge-watching movie marathons.

10. Children of the Corn

• Released in: 1984
• IMDb Rating: 5.6/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 38%

Based on Stephen King’s short story of the same name, Children of the Corn is one of the creepiest films you’ll ever watch. Let’s be clear, it’s not a particularly good film, nor is it that horrifying. But the “creepiness” is dialed up to 11.

In a small rural town, a boy convinces all of the other children to murder each and every adult. After they finish the massacre, they follow the boy’s every word. And he, in turn, follows the word of a supernatural force, known only as “He Who Walks Behind The Rows”. When a young adult couple ride into town looking for help, they’ll need to do everything in their power to stay alive.

More Scary Stuff to Watch on Netflix

You can use this list any way you want. Pick one based on the IMDb rating or the Rotten Tomatoes rating, watch them in order of release date, or just pick one at random. And if you’ve seen all of these movies already, Netflix has plenty of other fare for horror buffs, like these scary movies that are full of frights.

It’s also a good idea to look beyond horror movies. We’re in the age of binge-watching TV series, so why restrict yourself to films alone? Whether you use Netflix or other streaming services, go frighten yourself with the scariest TV shows to watch over Halloween.

Read the full article: The 10 Best Horror Movies to Watch on Netflix

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See Spot dance: Watch a Boston Dynamics robot get a little funky

In this fun video the Boston Dynamics Spot dances, wiggles, and shimmies right into our hearts. This little four-legged robot – a smaller sibling to the massive Big Dog – is surprisingly agile and the team at Boston Robotics have taught the little robot to dance to Bruno Mars which means that robots could soon replace us on the factory floor and on the dance floor. Good luck, meatbags!

As one YouTube commenter noted: if you think Spot is happy now just imagine how it will dance when we’re all gone!

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Modular Malware: The New Stealthy Attack Stealing Your Data

Malware comes in all shapes and sizes. Furthermore, the sophistication of malware has grown considerably over the years. Attackers realize that trying to fit every aspect of their malicious package into a single payload isn’t always the most efficient way.

Over time, malware has become modular. That is, some malware variants can use different modules to alter how they affect a target system. So, what is modular malware and how does it work?

What Is Modular Malware?

Modular malware is an advanced threat that attacks a system in different stages. Instead of blasting through the front door, modular malware takes a subtler approach.

It does that by only installing the essential components first. Then, instead of causing a fanfare and alerting users to its presence, the first module scouts out the system and network security; who is in charge, what protections are running, where the malware can find vulnerabilities, what exploits have the best chance of success, and so on.

After successfully scoping out the local environment, the first stage malware module can dial home to its command and control (C2) server. The C2 can then send back further instructions along with additional malware modules to take advantage of the specific environment the malware is operating in.

Modular malware has several benefits in comparison with malware that packs all of its functionality into a single payload.

• The malware author can rapidly change the malware signature to evade antivirus and other security programs.
• Modular malware allows extensive functionality for a variety of environments. In that, authors can react to specific targets, or alternatively, earmark specific modules for use in particular environments.
• The initial modules are tiny and somewhat easier to obfuscate.
• Combining multiple malware modules keeps security researchers guessing as to what will come next.

Modular malware isn’t a sudden new threat. Malware developers have made efficient use of modular malware programs for a long time. The difference is that security researchers are encountering more modular malware in a wider range of situations. Researchers have also spotted the enormous Necurs botnet (infamous for distributing the Dridex and Locky ransomware variants) distributing modular malware payloads. (What is a botnet, anyway?)

Modular Malware Examples

There are some very interesting modular malware examples. Here are a few for you to consider.

VPNFilter

VPNFilter is a recent malware variant that attacks routers and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The malware works in three stages.

The first stage malware contacts a command and control server to download the stage two module. The second stage module collects data, executes commands, and can interfere with device management (including the ability to “brick” a router, IoT, or NAS device). The second stage can also download third stage modules, which work like plugins for the second stage. The stage three modules include a packet sniffer for SCADA traffic, a packet injection module, and a module that allows the stage 2 malware to communicate using the Tor network.

You can learn more about VPNFilter, where it came from, and how to spot it right here.

T9000

Palo Alto Networks security researchers uncovered the T9000 malware (no relation to Terminator or Skynet… or is it?!).

T9000 is an intelligence and data gathering tool. Once installed, T9000 lets an attacker “capture encrypted data, take screenshots of specific applications and specifically target Skype users,” as well as Microsoft Office product files. T9000 comes with different modules designed to evade up-to 24 different security products, altering its installation process to remain under the radar.

DanaBot

DanaBot is a multi-stage banking Trojan with different plugins that the author uses to extend its functionality. (How to swiftly and effectively deal with remote access Trojans.) For instance, in May 2018, DanaBot was spotted in a series of attacks against Australian banks. At the time, researchers uncovered a packet sniffing and injection plugin, a VNC remote viewing plugin, a data harvesting plugin, and a Tor plugin that allows for secure communication.

“DanaBot is a banking Trojan, meaning that it is necessarily geo-targeted to a degree,” reads the Proofpoint DanaBot blog entry. “Adoption by high-volume actors, though, as we saw in the US campaign, suggests active development, geographic expansion, and ongoing threat actor interest in the malware. The malware itself contains a number of anti-analysis features, as well as updated stealer and remote-control modules, further increasing its attractiveness and utility to threat actors.”

Marap, AdvisorsBot, and CobInt

I’m combining three modular malware variants into one section as the awesome security researchers at Proofpoint discovered all three. The modular malware variants bear similarities but have different uses. Furthermore, CobInt forms part of a campaign for the Cobalt Group, a criminal organization with ties to a long list of banking and financial cybercrime.

Marap and AdvisorsBot were both spotted scoping out target systems for defense and network mapping, and whether the malware should download the full payload. If the target system is of sufficient interest (e.g., has value), the malware calls for the second stage of the attack.

Like other modular malware variants, Marap, AdvisorsBot, and CobInt follow a three-step flow. The first stage is typically an email with an infected attachment that carries the initial exploit. If the exploit executes, the malware immediately requests the second stage. The second stage carries the reconnaissance module which assesses the security measures and network landscape of the target system. If the malware considers everything is suitable, the third and final module downloads, including the main payload.

Proofpoint anaylsis of:

• Marap
• AdvisorBot (and PoshAdvisor)
• CobIn

Mayhem

Mayhem is a slightly older modular malware variant, first coming to light back in 2014. However, Mayhem remains a great modular malware example. The malware, uncovered by security researchers at Yandex, targets Linux and Unix web servers. It installs via a malicious PHP script.

Once installed, the script can call upon several plugins that define the malware’s ultimate use.

The plugins include a brute force password cracker that targets FTP, WordPress, and Joomla accounts, a web crawler to search for other vulnerable servers, and a tool that exploits the Heartbleed OpenSLL vulnerability.

DiamondFox

Our final modular malware variant is also one of the most complete. It is also one of the most worrying, for a couple of reasons.

Reason one: DiamondFox is a modular botnet for sale on various underground forums. Potential cybercriminals can purchase the DiamondFox modular botnet package to gain access to a wide range of advanced attack capabilities. The tool is regularly updated and, like all good online services, has personalized customer support. (It even has a change-log!)

Reason two: the DiamondFox modular botnet comes with a range of plugins. These are turned on and off through a dashboard that wouldn’t be out of place as a smart home app. Plugins include tailored espionage tools, credential stealing tools, DDoS tools, keyloggers, spam mailers, and even a RAM scraper.

Warning: the following video has music you may or may not enjoy.

How to Stop a Modular Malware Attack

At the current time, no specific tool protects against a specific modular malware variant. Also, some modular malware variants have limited geographic scope. For instance, Marap, AdvisorsBot, and CobInt are primarily found in Russia and CIS nations.

That said, the Proofpoint researchers pointed out that despite current geographical limitations, if other criminals see such an established criminal organization using modular malware, others will certainly follow suit.

Awareness as to how modular malware arrives on your system is important. The majority use infected email attachments, usually containing a Microsoft Office document with a malicious VBA script. Attackers use this method because it is easy to send infected emails to millions of potential targets. Furthermore, the initial exploit is tiny and easily disguised as an Office file.

As ever, make sure you keep your system up to date, and consider investing in Malwarebytes Premium—it’s worth it!

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The 8 Best GIMP Plugins and How to Install Them

Plugins help turn GIMP from a good program into a great one. They add new features, improve your workflow, and help make GIMP one of the best free alternatives to Photoshop.

But it’s complicated. The whole GIMP plugin experience is not very user friendly. They can be hard to find, tricky to install, and there are lots of compatibility issues.

But that’s where we come in. In this guide we’ll walk you through where to get the best GIMP plugins and how to install them. So let’s get started…

Where to Find GIMP Plugins

The GIMP plugin scene is a bit of a mess. Plugins used to be collected together in the GIMP Registry, but that no longer exists. Which means they’re now scattered around the internet.

Some are also very old. In many cases they haven’t been updated in a decade or more. There’s no guarantee that plugins will play nicely with the newest versions of GIMP. Indeed, popular ones like the GIMP DDS plugin or BIMP are now abandoned and no longer work.

How to Install GIMP Plugins

Inevitably, the installation process is also complicated. There are two main ways to install GIMP plugins.

First is the manual way. If your plugin is in a ZIP file then you need to copy the contents to GIMP’s plugins and scripts folders.

1. Unzip the download.
2. In GIMP, go to Preferences > Folders. Locate the Plug-ins and Scripts sections.
3. There are two folders in each section. One is a system folder, the other a user folder. Select the latter then click Show file location in the file manager to open it.
4. If your downloads are in the PY format move them into the Plug-ins folder.
5. If they’re in the SCM format move them into the Scripts folder.
6. Now restart GIMP.

The second way is the automatic method. Some plugins come packaged with their own installer. Just double-click this and install it as you would any other application.

Installers are platform-specific, so you might find plugins that are only available for Windows, but not Linux or Mac. Also, remember that opening random installers off the internet is a risky business, so make sure your antivirus software is up-to-date and running properly.

There is a third option, which is to install a customized version of the entire GIMP application. A popular build found at partha.com comes with several plugins pre-installed, including Resynthesizer and G’MIC.

These are among the best GIMP plugins, as we’ll see next.

1. DarkTable

GIMP 2.10 (how to get started using GIMP) is one of the best free photo editing apps you can get. You can even use it with your RAW photos, but you need to add your own RAW editor first. There are two main options, DarkTable and RawTherapee.

Both are worth testing, but we prefer DarkTable due to its more accessible interface, shallower learning curve, and some advanced features including masking tools.

Once installed you can drag your RAW images into GIMP and it will launch DarkTable, wherein you can begin editing. The effect is the same as what you get with the famous Photoshop and Adobe Camera RAW combination, and just as good.

2. G’MIC

Another plugin for photo editors, G’MIC offers over 500 filters and effects that you can use to jazz up your shots.

The range is astounding. There are basics like film stock emulations and frames, more advanced things like noise reduction and other repair tools, and even some 3D effects. You can use each one with its default settings with a single click. But if you prefer, you can use the series of sliders for each filter to customize the look, and get the exact result you want.

3. Resynthesizer

Resynthesizer is one of GIMP’s oldest plugins, and one of its most essential. It provides a series of tools based around working with textures. You’ll find the key part under the Enhance menu: Heal Selection.

This is GIMP’s equivalent to Photoshop’s Content Aware Fill tool, one of the things Photoshop can do that GIMP can’t. It enables you to remove unwanted objects from a photo completely seamlessly.

Heal Selection magically replaces the intrusion with surrounding content from the background of your image, and it blends perfectly. So, if you remove something from the sky, the space will be filled with more sky. You’d normally have to use the Clone tool for that. It’s a much more laborious process.

4. Hugin

When you need to stitch together a series of images to create a panorama, Hugin is the best tool to use for GIMP. It’s simple to get started. Just load up your images, specify a few common points on each, and the app will merge them together. It’ll also correct for mismatching angles and exposures.

Hugin functions as a standalone app, and is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

5. Wavelet Decompose

Skin retouching is an integral part of portrait photography. Wavelet Decompose is the best plugin for that on GIMP.

The plugin uses an advanced form of frequency separation. It splits the image into multiple layers, each containing different sets of details. This gives you very fine tuned control over which details you want to smooth, and which to keep.

Sound complicated? Well, the concept is, but the practice isn’t. Just load up the plugin and use the blur and smooth tools to make your skin shine.

6. Duplicate to Another Image

This simple script is a real time saver. Its name describes exactly what it does: it duplicates a selection to another image file.

Can’t GIMP already do this? Yes, but not as well. The Duplicate to Another Image plugin has a whole lot more features. You can copy a selection onto a new image the same size as your original one, with the object in the same place, making it easy to change the background of an image.

Or, you can copy to a new image, and crop it to size, when you want to isolate individual objects. And you can copy the object to another image you’ve already got open.

7. Scripts Bundle

GIMP plugins come in lots of sizes and complexities, but often it’s the single-function ones that you end up using most.

This collection of over 100 scripts gives you a host of shortcuts for common image editing and graphic design tasks. You get a GIMP sketch plugin, a few scripts for sharpening photos or adding frames, and some for generating effects or emulating film stock. There’s a lot here to play with. They’re all tested and fully compatible with GIMP 2.10.

8. Nik Collection

Finally, the Nik Collection, the professional-class suite of photo editing programs. It gives you access to pro-level sharpening and noise reduction, color filters, HDR effects, and lots more. It truly takes GIMP to a new level.

So if it’s so good why have we kept it to the end? Two reasons.

First, the free version of the Nik Collection is no longer officially available. You can still download it from The Internet Archive, and you can set it up if you’ve already got it installed on your PC. Second, you have to jump through a few hoops to get it working. Fortunately, we’ve got a guide to using Google’s free Nik plugins with GIMP that shows you what to do. Rest assured that it’s worth the effort.

How to Use GIMP Plugins

Once you’ve installed your GIMP plugin it will show up in one of several locations. It may appear under the Filters menu, or one of the submenus there. It may be under Image or Layers, or you may get a whole new menu called Script-Fu. Sometimes, plugins (like a RAW editor) run as a separate app, triggered to launch whenever they’re needed.

When you find a plugin you like, make sure you keep a copy of the downloaded file. You never know when it might disappear. That, unfortunately, is the reality of working with GIMP plugins.

Plugins aren’t the only way to power up GIMP. If you’re looking for a GIMP watercolor plugin, for instance, you might be better off with a brush instead. And for that you need our guide to the the best GIMP brushes.

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