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The accounts of several Russian, Chinese and Iranian state media outlets saw a 70 percent increase in engagement on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, after it removed labels identifying them as “state-affiliated,” according to a new report released Tuesday.

The recent analysis from NewsGuard, which analyzes media trends and disinformation, found that 12 state media accounts from the three countries saw the number of likes and reposts on their content jump from 2.93 million in the 90 days before X removed the “state-affiliated” labels to 4.98 million in the 90-day period afterward.

Russia’s RT, which was already receiving substantially more engagement than the other state media outlets before the label’s removal, saw interactions with its posts nearly double in the three months after the change, jumping from 1.3 million to 2.5 million.

Iran’s PressTV similarly saw its engagement increase by about 97 percent, rising from 215,000 to 425,000 interactions after X’s removal of the “state-affiliated” label, according to NewsGuard.

Russia’s TASS also saw a 63 percent increase in engagement, receiving 493,000 interactions in the three months after the change, while engagement with posts from China’s Global Times rose by 26 percent to 314,000 interactions.

The accounts of several Russian, Chinese and Iranian state media outlets saw a 70 percent increase in engagement on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, after it removed labels identifying them as “state-affiliated,” according to a new report released Tuesday.

The recent analysis from NewsGuard, which analyzes media trends and disinformation, found that 12 state media accounts from the three countries saw the number of likes and reposts on their content jump from 2.93 million in the 90 days before X removed the “state-affiliated” labels to 4.98 million in the 90-day period afterward.

Russia’s RT, which was already receiving substantially more engagement than the other state media outlets before the label’s removal, saw interactions with its posts nearly double in the three months after the change, jumping from 1.3 million to 2.5 million.

Iran’s PressTV similarly saw its engagement increase by about 97 percent, rising from 215,000 to 425,000 interactions after X’s removal of the “state-affiliated” label, according to NewsGuard.

Russia’s TASS also saw a 63 percent increase in engagement, receiving 493,000 interactions in the three months after the change, while engagement with posts from China’s Global Times rose by 26 percent to 314,000 interactions.

GPUs from all six of the major suppliers are vulnerable to a newly discovered attack that allows malicious websites to read the usernames, passwords, and other sensitive visual data displayed by other websites, researchers have demonstrated in a paper published Tuesday.

The cross-origin attack allows a malicious website from one domain—say, example.com—to effectively read the pixels displayed by a website from example.org, or another different domain. Attackers can then reconstruct them in a way that allows them to view the words or images displayed by the latter site. This leakage violates a critical security principle that forms one of the most fundamental security boundaries safeguarding the Internet. Known as the same origin policy, it mandates that content hosted on one website domain be isolated from all other website domains.

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The security threats that can result when HTML is embedded in iframes on malicious websites have been well-known for more than a decade. Most websites restrict the cross-origin embedding of pages displaying user names, passwords, or other sensitive content through X-Frame-Options or Content-Security-Policy headers. Not all, however, do. One example is Wikipedia, which shows the usernames of people who log in to their accounts. A person who wants to remain anonymous while visiting a site they don’t trust could be outed if it contained an iframe containing a link to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page.

Pixel stealing PoC for deanonymizing a user, run with other tabs open playing video. “Ground Truth” is the victim iframe (Wikipedia logged in as “Yingchenw”). “AMD” is the attack result on a Ryzen 7 4800U after 30 minutes, with 97 percent accuracy. “Intel” is the attack result for an i7-8700 after 215 minutes with 98 percent accuracy.

The researchers showed how GPU.zip allows a malicious website they created for their PoC to steal pixels one by one for a user’s Wikipedia username. The attack works on GPUs provided by Apple, Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, Arm, and Nvidia. On AMD’s Ryzen 7 4800U, GPU.zip took about 30 minutes to render the targeted pixels with 97 percent accuracy. The attack required 215 minutes to reconstruct the pixels when displayed on a system running an Intel i7-8700.

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A judge dismissed all charges Tuesday against a Philadelphia police officer who fatally shot a driver last month.

Mark Dial shot 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry through the rolled-up driver’s side window of Irizarry’s sedan during a traffic stop on Aug. 14.

Dial and his partner, Officer Michael Morris, say they had been pursuing Irizarry for driving erratically and turning the wrong way down a one-way street. Morris testified that Irizarry had a knife in his hand and had started to raise it as the officers approached.

During a hearing, Dial’s lawyers argued he acted in self-defense because he believed the knife Irizarry had was a gun. Brian McMonagle, one of his lawyers, said his client was justified in shooting as he was trying to take cover and had feared for his life during the incident.

“Every tragedy is not a crime,” McMonagle said.

Initial statements from the police department said Dial shot the driver outside the vehicle after he “lunged at” police with a knife, but the department later walked back these statements.

Still, McMonagle said the charges, which included manslaughter, official oppression and four other counts, never should have been filed given the evidence.

“I agree with you 100 percent,” Judge Wendy Pew responded before tossing all charges Tuesday, per the Associated Press.

macOS Sonoma will bring significant improvements to Safari where you can create separate profiles and a personal account that will track your preferences and activities with all of your saved passwords for websites, and much more. Widgets are also part of the final release, allowing you to gain access to information at a glance. Using Continuity, your iPhone's widgets can also be displayed on your Mac. Since Apple has released macOS Sonoma on all compatible devices, you can download and install right now,

The latest macOS Sonoma beta can be installed on your Mac through the Software Update mechanism in System Settings. macOS Sonoma also brings Apple TV-like screen savers to the mix. There is also a new Game Mode for users as Apple plans to introduce new titles to its library. If you are unfamiliar, check out if your Mac is compatible with Apple's latest macOS Sonoma update.

In a recent interview, Todd Howard explains how planet exploration in Starfield would have been a lot more punishing before the team decided to nerf "the hell out of it".

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"So the way the environmental damage works in the game, on planets, and your suit, you have resistances to certain types of atmosphere effects, whether that's radiation or thermal, etc., and that was a pretty complex system - actually, it was very punitive," Howard said on the podcast. "... And what we did at the end of the day, and it was a complicated system for players to understand, is we just nerfed the hell out of it. It matters only a little bit. It matters more in flavor. The affliction you get is more annoying knowing you have it."

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Howard's comment that Bethesda may address it "going forward" implies Starfield may receive a Hardcore or Survival mode-type difficulty level in the game. It would not be the first time Bethesda added a difficulty mode to one of its games post-release, as Fallout 4 received a Survival Mode a few months after launch. This added a set of features not found in the other difficulty levels, such as eliminating the option to autosave or save manually from the pause menu or stronger enemies spawning more frequently. Should such a mode be added to Starfield, the team could bring back the more punitive system for planet exploration.

The Talo Principle II has a new trailer that includes a release date of November 2. The follow-up to the acclaimed 2014 puzzle game was first announced during the PlayStation Showcase in May.

Set in the distant future after the events of the first game, The Talos Principle II unfolds in a world ruled by robots after humanity has gone extinct. These machines preserve human culture in their day-to-day lives, and the story centers on a unraveling the truth behind a megastructure hiding a great mystery and immense power. The story-driven game takes players across several futuristic locations and includes multiple endings. Gameplay features familiar mechanics and new twists, including challenges centering on mind transference and gravity manipulation.

Release Date Trailer

Don't Nod Entertainment, the studio behind Life is Strange, revealed its action RPG, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, during The Game Awards last year. Earlier this year, in June, Don't Nod announced Banishers will be released in November but today, the studio delayed its release to next year. More specifically, Banishers will now hit PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on February 13, 2024.

As for why, Don't Nod CEO Oskar Guilbert says the team is aiming for a "less saturated period" of video game releases, alluding to the swath of games releasing in the coming weeks, including next month's Assassin's Creed Mirage, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Alan Wake 2, and more (and that's just some of what's releasing in October, which then leads right into November).

Gameplay preview trailer

Growing Light was first teased during the Letter from the Producer Live event at Fan Fest Las Vegas in July, confirming that Growing Light will be split across two major updates. The first will land in FF14’s patch 6.5 on October 3rd, ahead of the second part in patch 6.55 next January.

As detailed during producer Naoki ‘Yoshi-P’ Yoshida’s latest stream, patch 6.5 will add a host of new content to XIV, the headline additions being the next set of Main Scenario quests - referred to as Part 1 - that will lead up to Dawntrail and continue to advance the MMO in its post-Hydaelyn-Zodiark story arc following the finale of 2021 expansion Endwalker.

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Trailer

CD Projekt have formally commented on the presence of references to the Russia-Ukraine war in Cyberpunk 2077's recently added Ukrainian localisation, apologising for dialogue lines "that can be considered offensive by Russian gamers", while reiterating their support for Ukraine.

In case you missed it, the Ukrainian script and menu localisation currently includes a number of antagonistic references to Russians and to the on-going Russian invasion of Ukraine. One dialogue line refers to a particular bandit group as "rusnia", and there's photo mode menu text for a squatting character that translates as "like a Russian". There's also lore text that apparently riffs on Ukrainian government rhetoric during the war, and a piece of in-game wallart that alludes to the dispute between Ukraine and Russia over Crimea.

Those buying an Xbox Series X can get a free Starfield copy at select retailers, including Verizon and Target.

Starfield is a popular game, with the title reaching over 10 million players since its global launch this month. Of course, aside from being available digitally and at retailers, Bethesda's sci-fi RPG is also available on Game Pass. Those who haven't bought the game just yet or aren't subscribed to Microsoft's game subscription service can now get a free copy of the game when purchasing an Xbox Series X. Both Target and Verizon are bundling the game for free with Microsoft's Series X console for 'only' $499.99. Interestingly enough, Target's offer isn't limited to Starfield, but it also works with various Xbox Series X titles, including Madden NFL 24, the new Mortal Kombat 1, Hogwarts Legacy, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Star Wars: Jedi Survivor, and more.

As said, Verizon is currently offering a special limited-time Xbox Series X bundle with a free copy of Starfield for $499.99 (normally $569.98). This item is only available online, and those purchasing the bundle need to be at least 17 years old.

The PlayStation Network store leaves a lot to be desired in terms of features available on other digital storefronts, but from today, a highly requested feature started rolling out to provide users with more information regarding games available for purchase on PlayStation 5.

As reported by multiple users, a user rating system started rolling out today, allowing users to rate games they purchased and added to their personal library. While the system still isn't perfect, as it lets users rate games even without playing them, it is still a nice addition that goes a long way to improve the PlayStation Network user experience, which hasn't seen much improvement for years.