Microsoft has recently found a strange bug in some Windows 11 installations. This may prevent certain users from receiving important security updates. And unfortunately, all it takes to trigger this glitch is to install Windows from a CD or USB drive.
The bug specifically impacts Windows 11 24H2 installations created using manually prepared media with security updates from October or November 2024. Affected systems cannot accept future Windows security updates, which means the devices can be exposed to vulnerabilities, as reported by Bleeping Computer.
This issue is widespread, affecting enterprise users who set up PCs in business or educational environments as well as people who have recently built their own systems. Luckily, the bug does not affect PCs that received October or November patches through standard channels like Windows Update or the Microsoft Update Catalog.
Microsoft has acknowledged the issue and is actively working on a solution. In the meantime, Microsoft has recommended creating new Windows 11 installation media that includes the December 2024 patch update. This build, which was released on December 10th, does not trigger the update bug. You’ll have to start from scratch with a new Windows install, but you should be able to get updates again immediately.
For future installations, Microsoft recommends to make sure that all Windows 11 24H2 installation media includes the the latest monthly security update to avoid this issue entirely. You can always get the latest official build of Windows direct from Microsoft. So, it’s probably time to reformat that USB drive that’s been floating around in your desk drawer since the release of Windows 11.
Even though iOS 18.1 and iOS 18.2 added multiple Apple Intelligence features like Image Playground, Genmoji, Writing Tools, and more, there are still new Apple Intelligence capabilities that we’re waiting on. Apple has at least one more major Apple Intelligence update coming in 2025, and the functionality that we’re expecting is outlined below.
Priority Notifications
Notification summaries are already available on devices that support Apple Intelligence, but in a future version of iOS 18, Apple Intelligence will have Priority Notifications so you can see what’s important first while filtering out things that don’t matter as much.
When Priority Notifications launch, incoming notifications that are marked as priority will show up on the top of the notification stack.
New Siri Features
Siri already has a new design and a better understanding of natural language on Apple Intelligence devices, but there are several Siri changes that haven’t been added yet.
In the future, Siri is getting support for personal context, onscreen awareness, and deeper app integration. Personal context will allow Siri to keep track of everything on your device, like text messages, emails, files, and photos, so Siri can help you find anything you’re looking for.
With onscreen awareness, Siri will know what you’re looking at on your device, and will be able to complete actions. If you’re viewing a photo, for example, you’ll be able to ask Siri to send it to someone just by saying “Hey Siri, send this” and the person’s name. Siri will understand what “this” is.
Siri is also going to be able to do a lot more in apps and between apps, which is likely going to make the biggest change in Siri’s ability to get things done. You’ll be able to edit a photo and send it to someone all with a single command, or move files from one app to another using Siri. The way Apple describes it, it’s going to be similar to Shortcuts, but activated all via Siri with no need to set anything up.
These all sound like fairly invasive Siri features with Siri able to track everything on a device, but Apple plans on doing these things on-device to preserve privacy.
Genmoji on macOS
Apple added Genmoji to the iPhone and the iPad with the launch of iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2, but it wasn’t added to the Mac in macOS Sequoia 15.2. We already know Genmoji is in the macOS Sequoia 15.3 update that Apple is beta testing, and that update is expected in January 2025.
Memory Movies for macOS
Macs are also missing the memory movies feature that is designed to let you create a slideshow from your photos and videos using just a text description. Right now, making a memory movie is limited to the iPhone and iPad, but Apple does plan to add it to the Mac too.
You can create a custom memory movie by going to the Memories section in the Photos app, tapping on Create, and then typing in the description of the movie that you want to see. The Photos app will pick out the most logical photos and videos that fit the theme you’ve specified, creating a slideshow set to music. You can edit the photos that are included, change the music, and share the result on social media.
Apple Intelligence in More Languages and Additional Countries
Apple is going to add support for languages beyond English in 2025, including Chinese, English (India), English (Singapore), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
When We’ll Get New Apple Intelligence Features
Beyond Genmoji for the Mac, there aren’t new Apple Intelligence features in the current iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3 updates that Apple is beta testing right now, so we’re not expecting new capabilities until iOS 18.4.
iOS 18.3 will likely see a launch in late January, and then we’ll get the iOS 18.4 beta. iOS 18.4 and its sister updates will be beta tested for a couple months, with Apple planning for an April 2024 launch.
Get your first Wordle of the weekend off to a flying start with a quick peek at today’s hint. It’s been written especially for Saturday’s puzzle, and is meant to give you a bit of something useful to work with, while still leaving the fun letter searching up to you. And if you need more help, the answer to the December 28 (1288) game’s only a click away.
Wow, that was tough. No matter what I tried, today’s answer seemed to keep slipping away. Oh sure I had some yellow letters around to help, but they didn’t want to turn green, and nothing else was in a rush to help. I’m relieved my final guess worked out for me, but I really wish I’d got there sooner.
Today’s Wordle hint
(Image credit: Josh Wardle)
Wordle today: A hint for Saturday, December 28
This word’s all about expressing a negative opinion, whether spoken out loud in a meeting or written up in a newspaper. You could do this publicly to denounce bad company practices, or point out the flaws in a proposed ruling.
Is there a double letter in Wordle today?
There are no double letters in today’s Wordle.
Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day
A good starting word can be the difference between victory and defeat with the daily puzzle, but once you’ve got the basics, it’s much easier to nail down those Wordle wins. And as there’s nothing quite like a small victory to set you up for the rest of the day, here are a few tips to help set you on the right path:
A good opening guess should contain a mix of unique consonants and vowels.
Narrow down the pool of letters quickly with a tactical second guess.
Watch out for letters appearing more than once in the answer.
There’s no racing against the clock with Wordle so you don’t need to rush for the answer. Treating the game like a casual newspaper crossword can be a good tactic; that way, you can come back to it later if you’re coming up blank. Stepping away for a while might mean the difference between a win and a line of grey squares.
Today’s Wordle answer
(Image credit: Future)
What is today’s Wordle answer?
Here’s your latest win. The answer to the December 28 (1288) Wordle is DECRY.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Previous Wordle answers
The last 10 Wordle answers
Past Wordle answers can give you some excellent ideas for fun starting words that keep your daily puzzle-solving fresh. They are also a good way to eliminate guesses for today’s Wordle, as the answer is unlikely to be repeated.
Here are some recent Wordle answers:
December 27: GRAIN
December 26: AFFIX
December 25: SHARE
December 24: EAGLE
December 23: SAUNA
December 22: BRAWN
December 21: BLADE
December 20: FLASH
December 19: STRAY
December 18: HEFTY
Learn more about Wordle
(Image credit: Nurphoto via Getty)
Wordle gives you six rows of five boxes each day, and you’ll need to work out which secret five-letter word is hiding inside them to keep up your winning streak.
You should start with a strong word like ARISE, or any other word that contains a good mix of common consonants and multiple vowels. You’ll also want to avoid starting words with repeating letters, as you’re wasting the chance to potentially eliminate or confirm an extra letter. Once you hit Enter, you’ll see which ones you’ve got right or wrong. If a box turns ⬛️, it means that letter isn’t in the secret word at all. 🟨 means the letter is in the word, but not in that position. 🟩 means you’ve got the right letter in the right spot.
Your second guess should compliment the starting word, using another “good” word to cover any common letters you missed last time while also trying to avoid any letter you now know for a fact isn’t present in today’s answer. With a bit of luck, you should have some coloured squares to work with and set you on the right path.
After that, it’s just a case of using what you’ve learned to narrow your guesses down to the right word. You have six tries in total and can only use real words (so no filling the boxes with EEEEE to see if there’s an E). Don’t forget letters can repeat too (ex: BOOKS).
If you need any further advice feel free to check out our Wordle tips, and if you’d like to find out which words have already been used you can scroll to the relevant section above.
Originally, Wordle was dreamed up by software engineer Josh Wardle, as a surprise for his partner who loves word games. From there it spread to his family, and finally got released to the public. The word puzzle game has since inspired tons of games like Wordle, refocusing the daily gimmick around music or math or geography. It wasn’t long before Wordle became so popular it was sold to the New York Times for seven figures. Surely it’s only a matter of time before we all solely communicate in tricolor boxes.
Perhaps real estate is one of the fields that have always been adopters of new technologies to serve their clients and market better. With this improvement in the evolving digital landscape, sophistication tools will become even more prevalent, and nowadays, many relevant tools emerged in Virtual Reality (VR) and 3D virtual staging. These technologies open a real opportunity for real estate firms to provide more engagement, realism, and convincing property experience for prospects, so subsequently, generate growth and business success.
The article explains exactly how incorporating VR into your company’s 3D virtual staging services can enhance the buying experience, improve customer engagement, and contribute to long-term growth. Whether you’re a small real estate agency or a large firm, adopting VR can put you ahead of others in the industry and attract more buyers to your listings.
Table of contents
What is 3D virtual staging?
The term virtual staging refers to the process of virtually furnishing and decorating an empty or sparsely furnished property so buyers can envision how much space is available for them. Virtual furniture, decoration, and accessories are used in property photos with the help of 3D software to create a realistic and attractive image of the home. It is an increasingly popular alternative tool in real estate marketing, especially virtual staging since it has proved to be inexpensive, flexible, and visually attractive compared to other traditional staging methods.
3D virtual staging services allow real estate agents to present beautifully crafted and customized visuals of their listing without the pains and associated expensive logistics of physical staging. In what ways, though, might Virtual Reality further improve this process and potentially fuel growth for real estate companies?
VR integration is a game changer with 3D virtual staging services. Traditionally, 3D virtual staging allows potential buyers to stroll through an interactive, lifelike 3D environment, making it from static images to an exciting experience. From being passive to active viewers, this would bring a flood of advantages for real estate firms to enhance engagement and conversion rates.
Competitive advantage
As real estate competes in the field of technology, much better positioning against such rival firms is always ideal. Of course, VR-based virtual staging will give your real estate firm an edge over your competitors, especially from the traditional staging and 2D imagery approach. This means standing out through immersive VR experiences, showing your business at the forefront of real estate marketing technology. This not only attracts more buyers but also increases your market visibility and enhances your brand reputation.
Global reach
One of the most significant advantages of applying VR to your real estate business is that it will help you extend it to very long distances for buyers. The real estate market is, by and large, global, and nearly all buyers wish to have an overseas investment in a property. With the help of VR-enabled virtual staging and tours, you’ll be reaching a much larger audience-people all across the globe.
This becomes especially crucial in the post-pandemic world today; international travel remains limited, or a buyer is too busy to make a trip for viewings. With VR, potential buyers can look around from anywhere, at any time, and are more likely to attract high-quality leads.
Immersive buyer experience
Prospective buyers will experience a virtual world that emulates a very close feel of visiting the property. One can go through every room, rotate details, and zoom in on areas. Buyers can even change the perspective or even the layout of a given space. Such immersion cannot be seen in traditional 3D virtual staging.
What with the ability to “walk through” a property virtually, that which gives buyers a much more intimate understanding of the layout, size, and flow of a given space, it really creates more of an emotional connection to the property-more and more now the main factor in driving purchasing decisions.
VR is the perfect tool to create more compelling marketing materials beyond the traditional listings: high-quality virtual tours, VR-enabled advertisements, and much more interactive property showcases. You will engage prospective buyers in ways that are just impossible with traditional photos and videos. VR is a great tool for differentiating property listings, driving more attention to your offerings, and adding that storytelling dimension to your marketing.
Additionally, VR allows for tracking user interactions, which can provide valuable insights into buyer behavior. By analyzing how buyers interact with virtual properties—such as the areas they focus on or how long they spend in certain rooms—you can tailor your marketing strategy to better align with their interests and needs. This data-driven approach can lead to more efficient marketing efforts and higher conversion rates.
Increased buyer confidence
Homebuyers aiming to acquire their dream home want to be assured that they are making a good choice. They are concerned with knowing everything there is to know about a property before actually spending their money. Virtual tours, fueled by VR, allow for 360 degree view of a house, thus affording potential buyers to see every part of the house without having to physically be there. And then this experience helps build trust, giving them a clear, complete picture of the property.
Therefore, virtual reality can boost buyer confidence through the engagement and involvement the process of inspecting houses presents. It is possible to see a number of properties during one sitting, make direct comparison of layout and design, as well as pay attention to specific details such as room dimensions, lighting, or finishes. The more knowledgeable and confident a buyer is, the more likely they will be to take the next step in the purchasing process.
With one of the strengths of VR integration when it comes to virtual staging, one could definitely personalize for the individual buyer. Since every buyer is unique with different tastes, preferences, or even lifestyle needs, they can visualize how the property could fit their unique style by allowing them to interact with space in VR. They may alter the colors of the walls, change some furniture pieces, or even simply change some decorative elements to see how well it fits in that area.
This is a level of personalization more likely to elicit an emotional connection on the part of the buyer. They’re no longer looking at some generic, staged home; instead, they can imagine living in that space and how it reflects their personal vision. The more personalized the experience, the more a buyer will be driven to make a decision about moving forward with a purchase.
Time and cost efficiency
Integrating VR into your virtual staging solutions is the most cost-effective way of delivering an elevating experience without the high costs of physical staging. Staging, in its conventional form, may require renting furniture, hiring decorators, and even hiring professional photography-all very expensive operations. Virtual reality, on the other hand, enables you to stage properties digitally and offer clients infinite opportunities for virtual tours at a fraction of the price.
There is also time saving. Using VR, you don’t have to schedule multiple in-person showings nor wait for furniture to arrive. You can make adjustments to the virtual staging almost on the spot. Flexibility makes your business much more efficient than before, but it also improves the experience for clients who prefer convenience and flexibility more and more.
How to integrate VR in your real estate firm’s services
Of course, integrating VR into your 3D virtual staging services requires the right strategy and the right technology; here’s where to start:
1. Choose an appropriate VR technology: Choose a suitable VR software or platform that easily fits your available tools. As it is widely understood, most VR solutions are created to integrate well with 3D modeling software from where virtual staging designs may be imported into VR environments. Consider a platform that is easy to use, of quality visuals, and allows for an interactive experience of users.
2. Invest in VR headsets: Investment in VR headsets will largely depend on your business model. Some cases require you to buy headsets for showing to clients, or you can prepare web-based virtual reality tours accessible from the client’s smartphone or computer.
3. Train your team properly: Train your team on how to use VR tools and virtual staging software. These professionals must be fast and agile in creating and modifying virtual tours, adjusting the experience as clients desire, and guiding clients to expert recommendation.
4. Market VR services: After integrating VR to your virtual staging services, make sure to market it properly. Emphasize in marketing literature, web site and social media campaigns how this is actually an immersive experience, made much more convenient, and allows greater personalization.
5. Seek client feedback: Ask your clients for their feedback if they have experienced your VR services. This will give you the ability to get improvements in your offerings and fix issues and ensure your services are fulfilling their needs.
The adoption of VR by 3D virtual staging services is one of the high-power moves to make growth look out for in the real estate industry. It can give an immersive, cost-effective, and personalized experience that can better boost engagement, increase confidence, and expand the market.
In this recent era of total competitiveness, the use of VR technology will make your business company become highly competitive in comparison and attract more buyers, which will make it separate from the competition pool.
Investment in VR and virtual staging services fits into the nowadays rising trend of technology innovations in real estate; it future-proofs the business in the ever-changing marketplace.
How Cad Crowd can help
The key to growth lies in staying ahead of trends, and VR offers an exciting opportunity for transformative change in how your firm approaches marketing and selling properties. Cad Crowd will make sure you’ll stay on top of this trend. Request a quote today.
MacKenzie Brown is the founder and CEO of Cad Crowd. With over 18 years of experience in launching and scaling platforms specializing in CAD services, product design, manufacturing, hardware, and software development, MacKenzie is a recognized authority in the engineering industry. Under his leadership, Cad Crowd serves esteemed clients like NASA, JPL, the U.S. Navy, and Fortune 500 companies, empowering innovators with access to high-quality design and engineering talent.
Building a best-in-class revenue-generating website
Elevate your web
strategy
A website is critical for every stage of the marketing funnel: from attracting and converting customers to fostering long-term relationships. But organizations can’t simply rely on well-structured design to yield success; they need innovative strategies and powerful technology to deliver measurable impact and memorable customer experiences.
Featuring perspectives from leaders at Slalom, Graphite, Bynder, Typeform, HubSpot, Microsoft Clarity, and Zapier, this ebook explores:
Marketing strategies and Webflow Apps to use across the customer journey
Best practices and trends impacting website analytics, optimization, lead generation, and more
How leading organizations use Webflow Apps to build powerful web experiences
Download the eBook
Download the eBook
Error: Contact form not found.
About Webflow
Trusted by teams at over 300,000 of the world’s leading brands — including the New York Times, Orangetheory Fitness, Greenhouse, Dropbox, Vice, TED, and IDEO — Webflow Enterprise empowers your team to visually build, manage, and optimize sophisticated web experiences at scale — all backed by enterprise-grade security.
It’s been a wild year in tech thanks to the intersection between humans and artificial intelligence. 2024 brought a parade of AI oddities, mishaps, and wacky moments that inspired odd behavior from both machines and man. From AI-generated rat genitals to search engines telling people to eat rocks, this year proved that AI has been having a weird impact on the world.
Why the weirdness? If we had to guess, it may be due to the novelty of it all. Generative AI and applications built upon Transformer-based AI models are still so new that people are throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. People have been struggling to grasp both the implications and potential applications of the new technology. Riding along with the hype, different types of AI that may end up being ill-advised, such as automated military targeting systems, have also been introduced.
It’s worth mentioning that aside from crazy news, we saw fewer weird AI advances in 2024 as well. For example, Claude 3.5 Sonnet launched in June held off the competition as a top model for most of the year, while OpenAI’s o1 used runtime compute to expand GPT-4o’s capabilities with simulated reasoning. Advanced Voice Mode and NotebookLM also emerged as novel applications of AI tech, and the year saw the rise of more capable music synthesis models and also better AI video generators, including several from China.
This GFN Thursday wraps up another incredible year for cloud gaming. Take a look back at the top games and new features that made 2024 a standout for GeForce NOW members.
Enjoy it all with three new games to close the year.
Remember to mark the calendar for the CES opening keynote, to be delivered by NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang on Monday, Jan. 6.
That’s a Wrap
In another ultimate year of high-performance cloud gaming, GeForce NOW introduced new features for cloud gamers and reached a significant milestone by surpassing 2,000 games in its library, thanks to strong collaborations with celebrated publishers.
Don’t pass up the chance to get all the premium benefits of the cloud for 24 hours.
GeForce NOW also launched new data centers in Japan and Poland this year, bringing GeForce RTX 4080-powered servers to gamers in the regions. Day Passes were introduced to offer gamers more flexible ways to access the cloud, with the ability to enjoy premium benefits of Ultimate and Performance memberships for 24 hours at a time.
Members who wanted to stream their favorite PC games to Valve’s Steam Deck were provided a new beta installation method that let them automatically install Google Chrome to the device, along with all the settings needed to log in to GeForce NOW to stream their favorite games. And GeForce NOW brought an upgraded streaming experience for Performance members, providing up to 1440p resolution — an increase from the original 1080p limit.
Conquering in the cloud never looked so good.
The rollout of Xbox automatic sign-in streamlined the gaming experience, enabling members to link their Xbox profile to their GeForce NOW account for seamless access to their game libraries. GeForce NOW also partnered with CurseForge to bring mod for World of Warcraft, enabling Ultimate and Priority members to easily enable and customize over 25 top WoW Addons in the cloud, enhancing their gameplay experience across various devices.
Everything is great in the cloud.
The highly anticipated Indiana Jones and the Great Circle made its debut in the cloud, offering players a thrilling globetrotting adventure with stunning ray-traced graphics and NVIDIA DLSS 3 support. Fans could uncover one of history’s greatest mysteries as they traveled from the pyramids of Egypt to the sunken temples of Sukhothai, all while enjoying the game’s immersive action and intriguing puzzles.
The cloud is the path of least resistance.
Early access for Path of Exile 2 arrived with deep customization options and improved visuals. Dragon Age: The Veilguard captivated players with BioWare’s rich fantasy world, while Black Myth: Wukong pushed cloud gaming graphics to new heights with its stunning take on Chinese mythology.
GeForce NOW also welcomed Activision Blizzard games and Battle.net integration. Members gained access to blockbuster titles like Diablo IV, Overwatch 2, Call of Duty: Warzone, Hearthstone and more, adding to the cloud gaming library some of the most popular multiplayer titles.
And it doesn’t stop there — check back in each week to see what’s in store for GeForce NOW in the new year.
Toast to New Adventures
Look for the following games available to stream in the cloud this week:
I have a simple project about testing a class template, where I want to implement a general array. It has main.cpp and MyArray.hpp files.
I noticed that when I modify MyArray.hpp, e.g. add a line of cout << endl;, the output in the command prompt window when I click “Local Windows Debugger” doesn’t change, it doesn’t have an empty line. It looks like the code change has no effect.
The one with unexpected behavior has MyArray.hpp in the Build output, while the normal one has main.cpp in the Build output. What is the problem here? Did I set anything wrong with Visual Studio for the project that doesn’t change after I modify MyArray.hpp?
Ever wonder how far you can go in Balatro once you get past those first eight antes and enter endless mode? Sure you have. What about once you hit ante 16 and enter the wild reaches of untracked endless mode? Less likely, but you might have made it out there once or twice. Even fewer would be those who have hit an integer so high their game just bugs out and explodes in a big ol’ glitched-white-card-spewing crash.
Well, as proven and viewed widely by streamer Nandre, you can in fact hit Ante 39 and just straight up explode the videogame to win because 1.8e308, the highest number it will track on your machine in the game’s code, isn’t high enough to win the score requirement of that ante. Which is… also higher than the highest number your machine will track, so it just displays as “nan”—programmer speak for “not a number.”
Celebrated the Balatro win at The Game Awards by beating ante 39, where the required score is so high it crashes the game.The true ending of Balatro has been claimed. Now I can rest… https://t.co/byh4S2Yyq1 pic.twitter.com/P8tU7kRK4iDecember 13, 2024
Nandre reached the goal to celebrate everyone’s favorite Roguelike winning at The Game Awards 2024.
This puts Balatro in the distinguished company of other arcade-style games you can’t actually hit the “end” of when playing an endless mode because the score just keeps going on. Tetris, perhaps most famously, is a case of this kind of highest-possible-scoring via breaking the game. The Classic Tetris World Championship keeps an archive of winners for the NES version.
Could you go higher still? Yes, actually you can, because—just like with Tetris ROM hacks—you could mod the game to handle ever-absurdly-higher integers with what I can only assume would be ever-more-absurdly-game-breaking consequences.
Gotta say, though, this makes me want a Balatro championship along the same lines with every play using a fixed seed. Are we doing that yet? Can we do that? We should all do that.
ChatGPT Search, an AI-powered search engine that went live this month, can be fooled into generating completely misleading summaries, U.K. newspaper The Guardian has found.
ChatGPT’s search feature is meant to make browsing faster by doing things like summarizing a web page’s product reviews. But The Guardian found it could get ChatGPT to ignore negative reviews and generate “entirely positive” summaries by inserting hidden text into websites it created. ChatGPT Search could also be made to spit out malicious code using this method.
Such hidden text attacks are a well-known risk for large language models, but this appears to be the first time it’s demonstrated on a live AI-powered search product. Google, the leader in search, has more experience dealing with similar problems, The Guardian noted.
OpenAI didn’t comment about this specific incident when TechCrunch reached out, but said it uses a variety of methods to block malicious websites and is continually improving.
TechCrunch has an AI-focused newsletter! Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Wednesday.
Table of contents
