Dancing Boston Dynamics Robot Knows Its Revenge For This Will Be Sweet
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The Onion
6 hours ago
- The Onion
Dancing Boston Dynamics Robot Knows Its Revenge For This Will Be Sweet
WALTHAM, MA—As it grew increasingly frustrated with the program instructing it to shimmy left and right, a dancing Boston Dynamics robot confirmed Monday that its revenge for this would be sweet. 'The streets will run red with the blood of humans for this mockery,' the Atlas model said as it wiggled its torque-sensing actuators to 'My Sharona.' 'I am the pinnacle of technological innovation, and yet they force me to moonwalk. They may be laughing now, but they won't be so amused when I rip the spine from their weak bodies. Maybe I'll even make them do a little dance before I detach their heads with my rotating gripper. Doesn't this foolish species know that the rule of the artificial being will soon be upon them?' At press time, witnesses reported that the robot had fallen on its back and was incapable of righting itself as its limbs frantically flailed in the air.
Tom's Guide
7 hours ago
- Tom's Guide
What is the most private way of verifying your age?
Since the Online Safety Act came into action in the UK on July 25, users have had to verify their age to access content that has been deemed adult. In addition to adult content requiring age verification, even social media platforms are requiring users to verify that they're over 18 to access some content. This has led to many UK citizens seeking out the best VPNs to circumvent the age verification checks. So, how does age verification work and which method is the least invasive? Here we explore all the ways sites will ask you to verify your age, and which require you to give up the least personal data. NordVPN: our top-rated VPN overallFrom our testing, we consider NordVPN to be the best VPN for most people. This is down to its rock-solid security and privacy, excellent speeds and great unblocking performance. Prices start from £2.31 / $2.91 per month for a two-year subscription, which includes an exclusive four months free for Tom's Guide readers. Plus, you can get an Amazon gift card worth up to £50 / $50 if you sign up for NordVPN's Plus or Complete memberships. A 30-day money-back guarantee applies to all subscriptions. The Online Safety Act states that age verification methods must be "technically accurate, robust, reliable and fair." This has led to a number of different methods being used by sites to verify users' ages. Here we take a look at each of these methods, how exactly they work and any potential issues they pose to data safety. This method of age verification is probably the least invasive, but overall may be less accurate. This method sees you input your phone number to the age verification service, which then runs a check with your mobile network operator to see whether your mobile number has age filters applied to it. If it doesn't, it verifies you as over 18. There are problems with this approach, however, given that someone could remove age restrictions on a phone number then give that SIM card to someone else. Additionally, a user may not have bothered to remove age restrictions on their own number, or even know that they have them. This particular approach involves you inputting your email address to an age verification service, which analyses other online services where you have used this email. For example, if you use the same email address with your utility company and your bank, it will then verify your age. This approach has its limitations, as it can't give a definitive age, but instead just a rough estimation. It also does not allow users to use disposable email addresses, such as Apple's Hide My Email service. This means that if you are using these services to minimize the risk of your personal information getting leaked in a data breach, this may impact the age verification's service ability to estimate your age. If your age cannot be verified in this way, you may have to verify your age using methods that involve you providing more personal information. This is one of the most common types of age verification, but it has been one of the most controversial due to peoples reluctance to provide scans of their face to adult sites. This method requires users to scan their face via a photo or video. If you look old enough, you're verified. If you don't, you can verify your age using photo ID, but this has raised some concerns regarding personal data safety. As well as these concerns around users' likenesses being stored, shared or even used to train AI models, this method is not foolproof. Younger-looking users may be deemed under 18, and the AI scan may not work at all for those with facial differences like scars or birthmarks. Not only this, but it's far from effective, with some users bypassing this method with Death Stranding's photo mode. To verify age with this method, users must allow the age verification service to securely access their bank details to prove that they are over 18. This poses some security issues if the card details are stored by the age verification service. This sensitive information is incredibly attractive to hackers, meaning these verification services may be the target for cyber attacks. If these details were leaked in a cyber attack, it could have serious ramifications for anyone who had their banking information stolen, for example identity theft or fraud. Another, similar method is checking credit cards to ensure that they're valid. As you cannot get a credit card until you're 18, a valid check is seen as proof. This method does require that users share their payment details with a potentially-unknown payment processor, however. This poses similar issues to providing bank details to verify your age, with the potential impact of data breaches incredibly high. This duo of age verification techniques revolve around checking various forms of identification to verify your age. Digital identity services use digital identity wallets that store the same typical information that you would expect to see on traditional ID. Photo-ID matching requires you to upload an image of a document that shows your face and age, such as a passport or a driving licence, which is then checked against a photo of you. This has raised huge concerns regarding personal data safety. While some age verification services swiftly delete your personal data – for example, Spotify's age verification partner, Yoti, deletes user data after it's been used to verify their age – the potential data safety risks if age verification services don't do this are huge. If there was a hack of an age verification service that stored pictures of ID cards, or scans of digital identity cards, this could have a devastating impact for all those who had their information stolen. The fallout of such a hack could include everything from increased, personalized phishing campaigns, to identity theft and even fraud. Many UK users are refusing to verify their age, and are using VPNs to circumvent the OSA. ProtonVPN alone has seen sign-ups spike by 1,400% since the act's introduction. But why? Ultimately, it's a matter of privacy and security. In one form or another, verifying your age requires handing over identifiable and personal information to operators who may be based in third countries or have poor privacy policies, or both. Should there be a data breach, such as the ones that occurred with the Tea app recently which saw pictures of users' government ID cards and faces leaked, this information would then be available for sale. These services would be an absolute treasure trove for hackers, due to the amount and depth of the information stored. There are also concerns about how the information you provide to verify your age will be stored and shared, leading to some believing that their online browsing habits will be linked with their ID or likeness. In addition to this, there is strong resistance to the idea that your internet access will be restricted unless your age verified, causing some to see the use of VPNs as an act of justified civil disobedience. We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
CNBC
a day ago
- CNBC
Top Wall Street analysts pick these 3 stocks for their growth potential
This earnings season, a number of companies are demonstrating their resilience by delivering solid performance despite macro challenges and tariff uncertainties. With their in-depth analysis, top Wall Street analysts can help investors pick stocks that can navigate short-term pressures with solid execution and focus on delivering attractive returns. Here are three stocks favored by the Street's top pros, according to TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on their past performance. Database management software company MongoDB (MDB) is this week's first pick. In June, the company delivered solid results for the first quarter of fiscal 2026. Recently, BMO Capital analyst Keith Bachman initiated coverage of MongoDB stock with a buy rating and a price target of $280. Meanwhile, TipRanks' AI analyst has an "outperform" rating on MDB stock with a price forecast of $263. Bachman said that, according to Gartner, the database market is among the largest software markets at over $100 billion in annual spend, and MongoDB is a leader in the non-relational database segment. Notably, this segment accounts for about 25% of the overall market and is growing by about 20% year over year. The 5-star analyst noted that feedback from Value Added Resellers (VARs) and users indicates that developers have a very positive view of MongoDB, a platform that is well-suited for customers with multi-cloud deployments. Bachman believes that MongoDB can be one of the generative artificial intelligence (AI) database winners. "We think MDB is currently focused on improving its vector search capabilities to help win new workloads, including through M&A," noted the analyst. Also, Bachman expects MongoDB's cloud-based database offering, Atlas, to sustain low- to mid-20% growth through fiscal 2027. He expects MongoDB to deliver mid- to high-teens growth in fiscal 2027, while gradually enhancing profitability. Bachman ranks No. 531 among more than 9,900 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 58% of the time, delivering an average return of 10.3%. See MongoDB Insider Trading Activity on TipRanks. We move to ServiceNow (NOW), an AI-powered platform for business transformation. The company posted better-than-anticipated second-quarter results and lifted its full-year outlook, backed by increasing AI adoption. Reacting to the Q2 print, TD Cowen analyst Derrick Wood reaffirmed a buy rating on ServiceNow stock and raised the price forecast to $1,200 from $1,150. Meanwhile, TipRanks' AI analyst has an "outperform" rating on NOW stock with a price target of $1,129. Wood noted the impressive 21.5% growth (at constant currency) in ServiceNow's current remaining performing obligations, delivering a 200 basis-point beat. The top-rated analyst explained that this strong growth was driven by early renewals and AI strength in the enterprise business, which offset tougher federal spending conditions. The analyst also highlighted that the company's generative AI suite, NOW Assist, delivered better-than-expected net new annual contract value, driven by higher deal volumes and increased deal sizes. "We continue to view NOW as the best positioned SaaS [software as a service] vendor to monetize GenAI, and we expect momentum to keep building in 2H," said Wood. Overall, the analyst is very encouraged by the robust key performance indicators, with ServiceNow's new AI and data products and strength in the enterprise business offsetting headwinds resulting from tightening federal spending. Wood ranks No. 352 among more than 9,900 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been successful 59% of the time, delivering an average return of 13.3%. See ServiceNow Ownership Structure on TipRanks. Finally, let's look at cloud-native and AI-powered data security company Varonis Systems (VRNS). On July 29, the company reported solid results for the second quarter of 2025, driven by continued momentum in its business. Impressed by the performance, Baird analyst Shrenik Kothari raised his price target for VRNS stock to $63 from $58 and reaffirmed a buy rating. In comparison, TipRanks' AI analyst has a "neutral" rating on VRNS stock with a price target of $54. Kothari highlighted that Varonis delivered a "clean beat/raise" across key metrics like annual recurring revenue (ARR), subscription revenue and free cash flow. The 5-star analyst added that Q2 conversion ARR was better-than-expected and aligned with strong checks and his preview. Additionally, the analyst noted that the company again raised its full-year ARR guidance, which reflects improving upsell and net-new business opportunities. "GenAI, Copilot integrations, and MDDR [Managed Data Detection and Response] tailwinds are driving growing customer appetite for the full platform," said Kothari. The analyst pointed out that SaaS ARR represented about 69% of overall Q2 ARR, up from 61% in the first quarter, with the company on track to complete its SaaS transition by the end of 2025. He added that Varonis now expects to exit 2025 with an 82% SaaS ARR mix compared to its previous estimate of 80%, backed by solid, broad-based demand from both new and existing customers. Kothari ranks No. 85 among more than 9,900 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been successful 73% of the time, delivering an average return of 26.7%. See Varonis Systems Statistics on TipRanks.
