BEACON TRANSCRIPT – It’s that time of the year, folks. As we’ve grown accustomed to, at the end of each year the popular passwords list comes around to show us just how imaginative users are when it comes to online security. This time, the undeniably amusing list was supplied by Virginia Tech and Dashlane, a security company.

A Sneak Peek Into 2017’s Funniest Passwords by Virginia Tech

Sorry to break it you, but 2017’s funniest password is not “12345” or “qwerty.”

According to Dr. Gang Wang of Virginia Tech and the project’s bigwig, last year, users were more inclined to create movie and brands-inspired passwords than football teams or things related to pop culture.

To compile this top, Wang and his cohort employed the help of Dashlane, the security firm which supplied a database of 61 million leaked passwords.

Dr. Wang noted that even though users received their fair share of warnings about password strength or using different passwords for their accounts, it appears that some habits are just too hard to ditch.

As a result, most users either use the same password for all account or slight variations. Wang explained that people often have trouble memorizing passphrases. And given the fact that an average user has around 150 accounts, most are just too lazy to think about this.

And now, for the list. According to Virginia Tech’s research, 2017’s most popular passwords are related to love life, the first three positions being occupied by “iloveyou,” “f***you,” and “a**hole.”

Moving on, we have the ever-popular brand-inspired passcodes such as “myspace,” “snickers,” “playboy” or “skittles.”

Under pop culture, we have “metallica,” “rockstar,” “nirvana,” “pokemon” and others. Last but not least, we have football-inspired passwords, the most popular being “livepool” and “chelsea.”

You can read the full list of amusing passwords on Dashlane’s blog.

Image source: Pixabay

BEACON TRANSCRIPT – Fed up with playing the same dungeons over and over again in Diablo III? Well, hold on to your hats folks, because we have quite a treat for you. David Brevik, the creator of the popular Diablo series, has just announced an Indie 2D RPG. Poised to come out in a couple of months or so, Brevik says that it will be as entertaining as the Diablo series.

Brevik’s Indie 2D RPG Set to Be a Dungeon Crawler

Ever since leaving Blizzard, David Brevik seems to be doing just fine working along with the great guys and girls from Graybeard Games. The studio’s latest creation is a rogue-like, dungeon-crawling, 2D, Indie RPG named It Lurks Below.

With this Indie 2D game from Diable Dev, which definitely bears Lovecraft’s moniker, Brevik wants to prove to his fans that Diablo isn’t the only RPG game capable of rewriting the history books. Apparently, according to Brevik’s statement, the new Diable Dev 2D game is still in the beta stage, with devs burning the midnight oil to publish it on time.

So, what’s the deal with It Lurks Below, besides the flashy name? Brevik said that the game would feature randomly-generated levels, tons of booty, and weapons ranging from swords, war hammers, to plasma guns.

As the name suggests, the purpose of the game is to navigate all dungeons successfully and to reach the core, where your arch-nemesis awaits. Of course, apart from shooting and plundering, players will also be able to improve their skills, discover new powers and ways to slay their foes.

Story-wise, Brevik decided to keep a closed lid, but we can be sure that the plot will fit the rest of the game. And for everyone who keeps asking about Diablo, Brevik told his fans that the new Indie 2D RPG games feature some elements from the popular franchise.

Image source: Flickr

BEACON TRANSCRIPT – Getting tired of having to use wired controllers in order to play your favorite virtual reality games? Then hold on to your chair because we have a piece of great news for you. Recently, several VR controller patents have popped up all over the grand wide-web, and it would seem to come straight from Sony.

What’s Up with Sony’s VR Controller?

Well, it might not be something new under the sun to find out that Sony is working on some hush-hush VR-related project, but it would seem that we will have something worthy to look for the next time we fire up a VR-friendly game.

Albeit unofficial, the new VR controller appears to rely more on tracking individual finger movement than on the headset’s camera. The future of VR controller looks something like this: the VR controller will allegedly assume the form of a vertical controller with a black directional pad on top of it, flanked on both sides by customizable buttons.

Moreover, the new design also features a trigger in the front part of the VR controller and several other customizable buttons.

Now, to give the user even a larger degree of movement, Sony has decided to equip this little toy with finger rests that can actually tell the headset what each finger is doing. It might not sound like much, but considering the way VR headsets track movement,  it would appear that we will have to change our VR set in order to play the new generation of games.

 

Unfortunately, these are all wild speculations, as the company has decided to keep a close lid on the project for the time being. Meanwhile, we will have to make due with PlayStation’s powerful VR headset and enjoy all those great titles out there on the market.

Image source: Wikipedia

BEACON TRANSCRIPT – Reddit use deepfakes, the mastermind behind the emerging fake celebrity porn thread, recently announced via a thread that he’s currently working on a portable version of his application. If successful, the app could be used to swap the face of any celebrity in a porn movie.

Machine Learning and Fake Celebrity Porn Go Hand in Hand

If you’re still wondering about fake celebrity porn, here’s what you’ll need to know. The trend emerged somewhere in 2017, December more than likely, and it basically involves swapping the face and expressions of a porn actor or actress with the one of a movie start.

The result of this outstanding feat of computer science is no doubt the infamous Gal Gadot movie. However, this is not the end of it. Deepfakes, the Reddit user who claims to be behind this trend, recently announced that he’s about to take his underground operation to a whole new level.

What’s even more baffling is that the user has an army of 15,000 Reddit account owners ready to help him. In his Reddit post, deepfakes declared that he took a lot of courses in computer programming in order to piece together the face-swapping algorithm capable of making these jewels.

Moreover, it would seem that this algorithm is powered by a very powerful AI which means that the whole fake celebrity porn trend is more sophisticated than previously thought.

And now, deepfakes said that his or her project would be taken to a whole new level. Seeing that people took a lot of interest in the project, the user decided that it would be a great asset to develop a portable and lighter version of this app, one that could be run from any smartphone or computer hooked up to the Internet.

Image source: Flickr

Perhaps 2018 does not offer that much regarding triple-A games with Cyberpunk 2077 being the exception to confirm the rule, but it would seem that there’s a piece of good news coming directly from FoxNext, Fox Studio’s game-making machine.  A new Alien game has been announced and, rumor is that it will be packed with action.

New Alien Game Poised to Be a Shooter

According to FoxNext, the new Alien game will be developed by studio Cold Iron, and it will be more action-packed than all the previous releases put together. Craig Zinkievich, the company’s founder, and CEO declared during a press interview that the Alien-inspired game which is yet to receive an official name would mostly revolve around shooting, blasting, and basically having a great time with your marine/alien buddies.

Yes, you might have guessed, the new game will be an online experience based on the gut-wrenching, award-winning franchise. Unfortunately, that’s all we know about the upcoming Alien game, but giving the company’s outstanding record – most of its member have worked on outstanding projects such as Metroid Prime, DOOM, Borderlands, Bioshock Infinite, and Titanfall, we can expect a great deal from the upcoming game.

If you would recall, the last game to feature a fast-paced Xeno skeet shoot was Colonial Marine. Since the producers have done their best to keep a lid on this project, all we can do now is sit tight, relax, and beg for an in-game trailer to come out as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, if you’re to it, you can always try your luck in the virtual reality version of Alien Isolation, the last game to feature the fearsome xenomorph and the lone survivor who would do just about anything to escape from the xeno-infested spaceship.

Image source: Flickr

Electronic Arts recently announced the launch of the fourth Battlefield 1 DLC. Entitled Apocalypse, the latest DLC, which will be available to Premium Pass owners starting in February will feature new infantry weaponry, maps, vehicles, classes, and achievements.

What’s New in Battlefield 1 Apocalypse?

Ever since EA launched Battlefield 1 on the 21^st of October 2016, the game has had its share of high-quality content and updates. With three available DLC, the player has everything at his or her disposal in order to recreate the daunting atmosphere of World War 1.

Apocalypse, which will officially become DLC number four in February, will feature five new maps and tons of other goodies. As far as battle scenarios are concerned, players will be able to battle their way out of the mud-riddled and artillery-damaged scenery of Passchendaele, join the Austro-Hungarian or the Italian army in the Isonzo River battle or recreate the last minutes of the Somme River offensive.

For those of you who prefer a good dogfight over anything else, two new maps stand at your disposal: Razor’s Edge, where you’ll have a chance to best some of Germany’s best pilots or London Calling, where as a member of the RAF, you will be called to defend the city from German Bombers.

Weapons-wise, the newest additions are the meat cleaver, the prybar, the RSC submachinegun, the AA Rocket Gun, and the devastating Livens Projector.

The game’s DLC won’t be short of vehicles, as the player will be able to take to the skies in the all new Hansa Brandenburg GI or the Airco DH10.

Other goodies you could expect from the game are dog tags, an all new assault mode, specialization types, and military assignments which will really put those fighting skills to the test. Battlefield 1 Apocalypse will be available in February.

Image source: Max Pixel