Victoria Fox's Blog, page 179
November 27, 2023
‘Past Lives’ Takes Best Feature at Gotham Awards: Full Winners List
The Gotham Awards are underway at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. The 33rd edition of the ceremony — which traditionally serves as the earliest awards show of the season — begins at 7 p.m. ET and is being livestreamed on Variety‘s official YouTube.
Director Andrew Haigh’s metaphysical gay romance “All of Us Strangers” is the leader of the fieled heading into the ceremony, scoring four nominations across all categories. Celine Song’s “Past Lives” and A.V. Rockwell’s “A Thousand and One” follow with three nominations each. Both dramas are nominated for best feature, along with “Showing Up,” “Passages” and “Reality.” Joining “All of Us Strangers,” the nominees for best international feature are “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Poor Things,” “Tótem” and “The Zone of Interest.”
Although the Gothams are historically known to recognize independent films, the Gotham Film and Media Institute removed its $35 million budget cap requirement this year for potential nominees. Most contenders are still indie or arthouse films, though some bigger productions like “Barbie” have snuck into the race. The Gothams also altered their categories for acting awards to no longer be defined by gender in 2021.
See the full list of winners, updating live through the evening.
Best Feature
“Passages”
“Past Lives” – WINNER
“Reality”
“Showing Up”
“A Thousand and One”
Outstanding Lead Performance
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, “Origin”
Lily Gladstone, “The Unknown Country” – WINNER
Greta Lee, “Past Lives”
Franz Rogowski, “Passages”
Babetida Sadjo, “Our Father, The Devil”
Andrew Scott, “All of Us Strangers”
Cailee Spaeny, “Priscilla”
Teyana Taylor, “A Thousand and One”
Michelle Williams, “Showing Up”
Jeffrey Wright, “American Fiction”
Outstanding Supporting Performance
Juliette Binoche, “The Taste of Things”
Penélope Cruz, “Ferrari”
Jamie Foxx, “They Cloned Tyrone”
Claire Foy, “All of Us Strangers”
Ryan Gosling, “Barbie”
Glenn Howerton, “BlackBerry”
Sandra Hüller, “The Zone of Interest”
Rachel McAdams, “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret”
Charles Melton, “May December” – WINNER
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers”
Best Screenplay
“All of Us Strangers,” Andrew Haigh
“Anatomy of a Fall,” Justine Triet, Arthur Harari – WINNER
“May December,” Samy Burch
“R.M.N.,” Cristian Mungiu
“The Zone of Interest,” Jonathan Glazer
Best International Feature
“All of Us Strangers”
“Anatomy of a Fall” – WINNER
“Poor Things”
“Tótem”
“The Zone of Interest”
Best Documentary Feature
“20 Days in Mariupol”
“Against the Tide”
“Apolonia, Apolonia”
“Four Daughters” – WINNER
“Our Body”
Breakthrough Director
Raven Jackson, “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt”
Georgia Oakley, “Blue Jean”
Michelle Garza Cervera, “Huesera”
Celine Song, “Past Lives”
A.V. Rockwell, “A Thousand and One” – WINNER
Outstanding Performance in a New Series
Jacob Anderson, “Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire”
Dominique Fishback, “Swarm”
Jharrel Jerome, “I’m a Virgo”
Natasha Lyonne, “Poker Face”
Bel Powley, “A Small Light”
Bella Ramsey, “The Last of Us”
Chaske Spencer, “The English”
Rachel Weisz, “Dead Ringers”
Ali Wong, “Beef” – WINNER
Steven Yeun, “Beef”
Breakthrough Television Over 40 Minutes
“Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire”
“Dead Ringers”
“The English”
“The Last of Us”
“A Small Light” – WINNER
“Telemarketers”
Breakthrough Television Under 40 Minutes
“Beef” – WINNER
“High School”
“I’m A Virgo”
“Rain Dogs”
“Swarm”
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Robert De Niro Says His Gothams Speech Was Censored, Anti-Trump Comments Removed Without Notice
A confused Robert De Niro claimed that his Gotham Awards speech was censored during the live ceremony on Monday night. The actor claimed anti-Trump comments were removed without notice.
“I’m going to go back. I’m sorry. Okay, there was a mistake in this. I’ll keep going. Just keep scrolling,” De Niro said early on in his speech.
“I just want to say one thing,” he said, doubling back. “The beginning of my speech was edited, cut out, and I didn’t know about it. And I want to read it. History isn’t history anymore. Truth is not truth. Even facts are being replaced by alternative facts, and driven by conspiracy theories and ugliness.
“In Florida, young students are taught that slaves developed skills that could be applied for their personal benefit,” De Niro continued. “The entertainment industry isn’t immune to this festering disease. The Duke, John Wayne, famously said of Native Americans, ‘I don’t feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them. There were great numbers of people who needed new land and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.’”
“Lying has become just another tool in the charlatan’s arsenal. The former President lied to us more than 30,000 times during his four years in office. And he’s keeping up the pace in his current campaign of retribution. But with all his lies, he can’t hide his soul. He attacks the weak, destroys the gifts of nature and shows disrespect, for example, by using ‘Pocahontas’ as a slur. Filmmakers, on the other hand, strive — this is where I came in and I saw that they edited all that,” he said.
“So I’m going to say these things but to Apple and thank them all that,” De Niro said as he wrapped the speech. “Gotham, blah blah blah, but I don’t feel like thanking them at all for what they did. How dare they do that, actually. But now I will go to: Accepting the award for ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’…”
De Niro was on hand to introduce the Gotham Historical Icon and Creator Tribute award on behalf of “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Apple did not respond Variety‘s request for comment.
Watch the speech below.
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Jack Harlow Leads Hot 100 as Tyla’s ‘Water’ Hits Top 10 and Dolly Parton’s ‘Rockstar’ Takes Off on Albums Chart
A slate of hot new releases, surprise hits and holiday favorites featuring everyone from Dolly Parton to Drake have shaken things up on the latest Billboard charts.
On the Hot 100, Jack Harlow scores his third No. 1 single with “Lovin on Me,” which samples the 1995 R&B track “Whatever.” “Lovin on Me” takes the spot from last week’s chart-topper, Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer,” just one week after the viral smash debut at No. 2 (where “Cruel Summer” now sits). With nearly 24 million streams and 21 million radio impressions, per data by Luminate, “Lovin on Me” follows Harlow’s second No. 1 single in 2022, the inescapable “First Class,” which similarly interpolated Fergie’s “Glamorous.” “Lovin on Me” has been rapidly scaling in listens, largely as a result of the song’s immediate impact on TikTok, where Harlow teased the song before its Nov. 10 release.
Harlow most recently appeared on the charts as a solo act for his recent album, “Jackman,” which debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 in May and seemingly teased incoming music on Instagram with a celebratory post on Monday writing, “Warming up. More coming.”
The rest of the chart indicates December is just days away as holiday singles return to the top 10 for the first time this year. It’s no surprise that Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” has launched to No. 4 with the song garnering 22 million streams and 16 million airplay impressions in the last tracking week. Meanwhile, Carey is trotting through her “Merry Christmas One and All!” North American tour, a 13-date trek that will conclude at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Dec. 17. Also making its return to the top 10 this year is Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” at No. 8.
On the tail end of the Hot 100’s top 10, a pair of fresh faces establish their star power: Tate McRae’s “Greedy” at No. 7, and Tyla’s Grammy-nominated “Water” is No. 10. After earning the first Top 10 single of her career in the last week, McRae’s “Greedy” ascends one spot up just a week before the anticipated arrival of her second LP, “Think Later,” due Dec. 8. Tyla’s sleeper hit “Water” becomes the South African pop singer’s first Hot 100 Top 10 just one month after the single became her first to hit the Hot 100.
On the Billboard 200, Drake’s “For All The Dogs” returns to the peak of the list after the release of its deluxe edition with the equivalent of 145,000 albums sold in the United States. “Scary Hours 3” features music from “For All the Dogs” along with six new songs. Swift’s “1989” follows with 138,000 albums sold at No. 2 and marking the highest Billboard 200 entry of her career, Dolly Parton’s “Rockstar” (not to be confused with last week’s chart leader and this week’s No. 7, Stray Kids’ “Rock-Star“) — is at No. 3.
The vast majority of the 30 tracks on “Rockstar” include at least one feature from a big-name artist and in some cases two. Brandi Carlile, Pink, Lizzo, Steven Tyler, Paul McCartney, Ringo, Elton John and more, appear on the tracklist. Released on Nov. 17, “Rockstar” accumulated 128,000 units with album sales comprising 118,500 of that sum.
The only other new release in the top 10 of the albums chart is Enhypen’s “Orange Blood” which debuts at No. 4 with 90,000 units earned with album sales — a majority of which were collectible CD sales –and almost 5 million streams. The seven-member K-pop group debuted only in 2020 after forming on the reality show “I-LAND” but has now three mostly Korean-language records in the top 10 of the Billboard 200.
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Rita Hollingsworth, Longtime Entertainment Publicist, Dies at 61
Rita Hollingsworth, a longtime publicist for entertainment clients and non-profit organizations, died Nov. 16 in Los Angeles. She was 61.
Her husband Jeff Hollingsworth said she had suffered a intracerebral brain hemorrhage.
When working at the Lee Solters Company, she represented clients including Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson, Liza Minnelli and Neil Diamond, as well as the Carousel of Hope and Race to Erase MS with Barbara and Nancy Davis.
After founding publicity firm RMH Media, she worked with directors including Robert Altman, Mike Figgis, Alan Rudolph, Michael Radford, Tim Hutton and Chen Kaige, bringing their films to Cannes, Toronto, Sundance and other festivals.
RMH also represented clients including bestselling author Reyna Grande, the Angelus Student Film Festival, the Anthony & Jeannie Pritzker Family Foundation, Foster Care Counts, artworxLA and St. Vincent Meals on Wheels, where she was a key strategist for the large senior nutrition program.
RMH Media is working with filmmaker Matthew Solomon on his documentary “Reimagining Safety” and with producer Catherine Gray and actress Sharon Gless, whose documentary “Show Her the Money” won several festival awards and will be embarking on a 50-city tour.
Born in East Los Angeles, Hollingsworth received a BA from Whittier College and a double MA in Japanese Language and Diplomacy from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. She lived in Tokyo, where she conducted research focusing on cultural exchange, and then had leadership roles in several civil rights organizations including MANAA, organizing with Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition against companies including McDonald’s, NBC and Paramount protesting anti-Asian hate and media bias.
She is survived by her husband and business partner Jeffrey.
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Behind Miley Cyrus’ Smash Hit ‘Flowers’: ‘She’s Not Afraid to Go After What She Wants’
Turning points are nothing new for Miley Cyrus, who reinvents herself with nearly every album cycle. But 2023 truly represented a new chapter. She was with a new label — Columbia — and had moved over to Crush Management, where co-founder Jonathan Daniel took the reins on overseeing her career.
During album sessions at Los Angeles’ Sunset Sound, co-writers Michael Pollack and Gregory “Aldae” Hein recorded a demo with Cyrus for “Flowers” as a melancholy piano ballad. “She wanted to strip down to the essence of a song rather than writing to a track,” explains Daniel, who says Cyrus had amassed about 20 songs for the album by the time he began working with her in August 2021. “More than anyone else involved, she was really headstrong about it feeling right to her.”
The demo was sent around to various producers before Cyrus touched base with Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson, Hitmakers 2022 Producers of the Year, who helmed the entirety of Harry Styles’ Grammy-winning 2022 album “Harry’s House.” Cyrus had worked with the team on another song from the resulting “Endless Summer Vacation” album, and she reached back out to the pair after hearing what they did on a track from rapper Kevin Abstract. At Harpoon’s Laurel Canyon studio, the three were finishing up a day’s work when they decided to jam on “Flowers,” with Harpoon on bass, Johnson on keys and Cyrus on vocals.
“What I love about Miley is she’s so creative and all her references, it’s not like she comes in and picks, I want to sound like this band or this record,” says Harpoon. “A lot of the times she’ll be like, ‘I want to sound like this Gucci dress, or this Dolce & Gabbana thing from 1982 that I found’ or ‘I love this piece of art’ and bring in a painting. She’s so inspiring creatively, which is just a dream because someone walking in is just full of pure inspiration.”
“In my experience,” adds Johnson, “with the success that I’ve had and people I’ve had with it, the best of them are always that involved. When they say Miley’s in charge, it means that she’s not afraid to go after what she wants. But she’s also very collaborative and intentional, too… She was actually really enjoyable to trial and error with. [You think], if you go a wrong turn, she’s just going to leave, but she was there to get the record right.”
Thirty minutes later, they had the bare bones of “Flowers.” The following week, Harpoon recalls fleshing out what would become the self-empowerment anthem, incorporating strings and developing the “cocktail lounge-y” sound that many have likened to Gloria Gaynor’s disco classic “I Will Survive.” When it came down to mixing and mastering, Ron Perry, chairman and CEO of Columbia, went back and forth with Daniel over sound levels, with Cyrus weighing in along the way.
“The record perfectly captures Miley’s journey and resilience,” Perry says. “But it’s not just about her; it beautifully reflects the theme of self-love, a sentiment that resonates with everyone.”
All parties involved had a feeling that “Flowers” would make a splash, but not to the extent that it did. Just 12 days after hosting her “Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party” special, Cyrus released “Flowers” to instant success. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks and broke Spotify’s record for most streams in a single week with more than 100 million listens. By May, it had become the fastest song to reach a billion spins.
“Flowers” not only became Cyrus’ biggest hit in years, but it also cemented her as an artist in full control of her narrative. “We all felt we had a really special record,” Daniel says, “but anyone who expected that level of success was lying.”
SONGWRITERS: Miley Cyrus, Gregory Aldae Hein and Michael Ross Pollack
PRODUCERS: Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson
HITMAKERS:
Ron Perry, chairman and CEO, Columbia
Jonathan Daniel, manager/founder, Crush Music
Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson, producers
Michael Ross Pollack, songwriter
Gregory “Aldae” Hein, songwriter
LABEL: Smiley Miley/Columbia
PUBLISHERS: MCEO Publishing, admin. by Sony/ATV Songs LLC (BMI) / Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. o/b/o itself, What Key Do You Want It In Music, and Songs With A Pure Tone (BMI) / Songs by Gregory Hein, Wide Eyed Global, and These Are Pulse Songs, admin. worldwide by Concord Music Publishing (BMI)
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Rob Reiner to Film ‘This Is Spinal Tap’ Sequel in February, Says Paul McCartney and Elton John Will Appear
Forty years after making his directorial debut with the 1984 cult classic “This Is Spinal Tap,” Rob Reiner will begin filming the follow-up to the music mockumentary in February. Plus, the fictional heavy metal band will apparently be joined by real-life music legends Paul McCartney, Elton John and Garth Brooks, Reiner revealed on the “RHLSTP With Richard Herring” podcast.
Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer are set to return as the members of Spinal Tap, alongside Reiner as the documentarian Martin “Marty” Di Bergi. The sequel is said to mimic the style of Martin Scorsese’s “The Last Waltz,” the legendary concert film that documented the farewell tour of the Canadian American rock group The Band.
“This Is Spinal Tap,” which was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry and deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress, was primarily improvised. The key to making a movie with only a loose script? “The only thing that matters is that you get people who are good at improvising,” Reiner said. “You have to get people who feel comfortable doing that … then you’re off to the races.”
The director, who also helmed 1980s classics “Stand by Me,” “When Harry Met Sally” and “The Princess Bride,” also shared a piece of advice for comedy filmmaking.
“You don’t want to overstay your welcome,” Reiner said. “This is [like] stand-up — you leave them wanting. You go off on a big laugh and go out. The worst thing you could do is just load it up with, even if they’re funny things, they may be tangents and things that take away from the drive of the film.”
The film package launched sales at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and was originally slated for March 19, 2024, prior to the dual Hollywood strikes that shook up film and television schedules. With the movie shooting in February, an updated release date has yet to be announced.
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This Hair Serum Curbed My Shedding in Just One Month
When I moved into my own apartment almost a year ago after a breakup, the first thing I bought was a vacuum. No, I wasn’t expecting to find myself dealing with copious amounts of dust or animal dander (I don’t even own a fish), I was expecting to be constantly battling human hair everywhere. My hair, to be precise. You see, I shed — a lot. Past roommates and boyfriends have complained about it and I get it. At any given point in time, my hair can be found in the shower, on top of the bed sheets, stuck in the bath mats, and even on the kitchen floor.
David Adams, a consulting trichologist for Thicker Fuller Hair, previously told POPSUGAR, “It is normal to lose around 50 to 100 strands per day.” I have to admit, I’ve never counted how many fall from my head each day, but I do know that it’s a lot closer to 100 than 50, and probably even more than that, which at times has concerned me. In an effort to get my shedding under control, I started using a product that has made a world of difference: the Kérastase Genesis Strengthening Serum for Hair and Scalp ($47, originally $58).
Not only has it cut down on my shedding immensely, but it’s also a product that I actually enjoy using and never feels like a chore to apply. Keep reading to see my full review of the serum and find out why it’s going to be a forever repurchase for me.
About the Kérastase Genesis Strengthening Serum
I’ve tested other scalp serums in the past, and my biggest complaint is always that they leave behind a greasy residue. I only wash my hair once or twice a week, so I was in need of a product I could apply that wouldn’t make it look dirty or weighed down. The first time I tested out the Kérastase Genesis serum, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. It smelled amazing, the formula was lightweight, and it didn’t weigh my hair down whatsoever. In fact, I actually noticed more volume at the roots after blow-drying my hair post-application.
I’m now on my second bottle, and I’ve found that my shedding is finally in the normal range, and my hair looks healthier than ever. Although my hair fall isn’t completely gone, I’ve noticed the amount of hair I lose has decreased greatly since using this product, which makes it a winner in my book.
How to Use the Kérastase Genesis Strengthening Serum[image error]
The brand recommends using this product daily on damp, towel-dried hair, after shampooing and conditioning. The instructions say to apply four doses (a full dose is marked by a line on the pipette included with the product) to your scalp section by section. The doses should be applied to areas of your hair where you notice less density or where you experience hair fall. From there, massage the product into your scalp using your fingers, and don’t rinse.
Personally, I use just two pipettes (doses) for my entire head every day. I don’t wash my hair every day, so I apply this to my scalp whether my hair has been freshly washed or not. I use the pipette to evenly distribute the product down my scalp — I focus a lot of it on my center part — and then I massage everything through using either my fingers or if it’s a hair washing day, a scalp massager.
What to Consider Before Trying the Kérastase Genesis Strengthening SerumSomething to consider before purchasing this product is that it takes time to see results. I’m on my second bottle, and I’ve noticed a huge difference in how my hair feels and how much shedding I have on a daily basis, but it took about a full month for me to see those results.
Also, it does have a light floral scent, so if you’re sensitive to fragrance I would recommend trying a sample or smelling it in-store prior to purchasing just to make sure you don’t find it too overpowering.
Where the Kérastase Genesis Strengthening Serum is Available
The Kérastase Genesis Strengthening Serum is available from Kérastase, Sephora, and Amazon.
Rating:
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Renee Rodriguez
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August 10, 2023
Sonos’ $900 Dolby Atmos soundbar has a loud pop issue that’s taking years to fix
I bought a Sonos Arc soundbar and an LG OLED G2 six months ago to use with my Xbox Series X thinking it would be the most convenient way to expand my existing Sonos setup to handle Dolby Atmos audio from apps like Netflix, Apple TV Plus, and Disney Plus. Now, however, my Sonos Arc soundbar sounds like it’s exploding with a startling loud bang and a series of audio pops when I try to use Dolby Atmos content. I’m not alone, either. I was shocked to learn that hundreds of Sonos Arc owners have experienced these extremely loud audio pops for nearly three years without a fix.
Sonos markets its Arc soundbar as being able to “bring all your entertainment to life and experience breathtakingly realistic spatial audio powered by Dolby Atmos.” The reality for many is that it’s a Dolby Atmos soundbar that can’t handle Atmos properly. I’ve been experiencing these loud audio pops over the past few weeks, with no changes to my setup. Others have been suffering with them for years without a fix in sight, with a single thread on Sonos’ forum full of nearly 1,000 responses from disappointed Arc owners.
After contacting Sonos support to add my voice to the growing number of affected users, I was met with two official workarounds: disable CEC on devices or disable Dolby Atmos and use Dolby Digital 5.1 instead. One of these workarounds means I lose the ability for my TV to control other devices over HDMI-CEC, and the other means disabling Dolby Atmos on a soundbar that’s supposed to be designed for it!
The only workaround that has worked for me is disabling Dolby Atmos, and it’s the same for many other owners stuck with a $900 Dolby Atmos soundbar that can’t handle Atmos.
Not every Sonos Arc owner will experience the issue, though. It’s particularly prevalent with people who use an Xbox Series X or Apple TV 4K to push Dolby Atmos content to their TV, and it seems like this combination is causing issues. One detailed post in the ongoing Sonos support thread suggests that the problem could be related to how the Xbox Series X and Apple TV 4K use a Dolby MAT 2.0 encoder to output sound.
But after nearly three years without a fix, Sonos doesn’t seem to be any closer to resolving things as the company is struggling to reproduce the issues customers are experiencing. Here’s what Sonos product manager Scott Fink had to say in a statement to The Verge:
We are aware that a small percentage of customers have experienced an interoperability issue which is causing a popping sound on Arc. What we know now is that this issue occurs on some Dolby Atmos enabled audio products, including Arc, when connected to certain combinations of streaming devices and TVs while playing Dolby Atmos content.
We are committed to finding the root cause and we’re continuing to test for a reliable reproduction of what customers are describing online and in conversations with our support team. We are also engaging our contacts at third party manufacturers to further explore possible solutions. As this is an issue stemming from the way various devices are working together, there are a range of tests our team needs to conduct to understand the scope and develop a targeted solution for each setup. We’ll let you know as soon as we have an update to share.
Sonos says it can’t reliably reproduce the issue, but that’s bizarre since many customers can. I’m also able to make the audio pop simply by navigating around the Xbox dashboard and then moving to content that isn’t Dolby Atmos and back again. The audio pop is incredibly loud and startling, and the first time I experienced it, I thought the soundbar had exploded and died since the light flashed red and it looked like it briefly turned off.
I’ve had to disable Dolby Atmos to avoid this audio pop, as it has been genuinely making my heart skip a few beats. While it’s possible to go on to watch Dolby Atmos content after the big bang, I have to do so with my miniature dachshund hiding in fear for the rest of the evening.
The “solution” to disable Dolby Atmos “doesn’t feel good,” according to KeithFromSonos, a Sonos employee who regularly posts on Reddit answering community concerns. “I hesitate to say a ‘fix’ is in the works. Only because I don’t want anyone to get tied to the idea that something is coming ‘soon’. The team has been and is actively working towards a solution, the biggest issue we have is reproducing the loud pop.”
Regardless of how complicated this issue might be, it’s ridiculous that it has been ongoing for nearly three years without a fix. Perhaps I’ll offer to ship my 65-inch TV, Xbox Series X, and Sonos Arc to Sonos so it can reproduce the issue and figure out a fix.
If you’re even considering a Sonos Arc soundbar to use with an Xbox Series X or Apple TV 4K, avoid this $900 soundbar until Sonos has fixed this problem or can give us a more detailed response. Otherwise, you’ll probably be left like hundreds or thousands of other Sonos customers with a Dolby Atmos soundbar that can’t handle Dolby Atmos properly.
UK cybersecurity giant NCC Group is making more layoffs
U.K. cybersecurity giant NCC Group has confirmed it’s making more layoffs, just months after it slashed its workforce by 7%.
The Manchester, U.K.-based company is undergoing its second round of layoffs in just six months, a person with knowledge of the matter told TechCrunch. NCC Group confirmed that it’s making a “small number” of layoffs in a statement sent to TechCrunch, but declined to say how many employees are affected by the cuts.
“As set out earlier this year, we have a renewed global strategy in response to changing market dynamics and client demands. These macro forces are affecting the industry as a whole, which is why we must establish strong foundations for the future,” said an NCC spokesperson, who repeatedly declined to be named when asked by TechCrunch. “Regrettably, this means that a relatively small number of our talented colleagues are in consultation and some based in North America have already left NCC Group.”
The layoffs come after NCC in February announced plans to cut 125 employees based in the U.K. and North America.
NCC Group is one of many cybersecurity companies to make layoffs in recent months.
Cybersecurity giant Rapid7 this week announced plans to lay off 18% of its workforce, affecting more than 400 global employees, as it posted a $67 million second quarter loss.
Bug bounty platform HackerOne also last announced plans to lay off 12% of its workforce, and pen testing firm Bishop Fox laid off around 50 employees, or 13% of its workforce, in May.
Have you been impacted by the NCC Group layoffs? You can contact Carly Page securely on Signal at +441536 853968, or by email . You can also contact TechCrunch via SecureDrop .
Jeli is bringing generative AI to incident report analysis
When a major system incident occurs, there is a ton of online and offline communication going on — or at least there should be. The online part creates a digital audit trail of what happened when and how people reacted, and ultimately how the problem was solved. Jeli launched a few years ago to help companies understand and track incidents. Today the company announced the next logical step in that approach, a beta that brings ChatGPT-like functionality to incident management.
Company founder and CEO Nora Jones says that adding generative AI to the product seemed like a natural extension of what they were doing already. “We’re always on the lookout for things to improve the product, and make it easier for humans to understand what they’re supposed to do in the middle of an emergency, or even outside of an emergency and where to access expertise. So we started using playing around with generative AI to help during the incident and then after the incident as well,” Jones told TechCrunch.
For starters, it’s going to help human understand what happened with a summarizing feature. As she points out, sometimes an incident can drag on for days or weeks, and just being able get caught up without having to wade through all the messaging can save oodles of time for the people involved. “So during the incident, we have a feature called ‘Catch Me Up’ that takes the conversation that’s happened so far, and summarizes it for whoever is needing to be caught up on the incident,” she said.
In addition, the company is providing a narrative builders for users to get a sense of the breadth of the incident. “We allow you to generate markers that summarize for you where detection happened, who was associated with it, what they said, where diagnosis happened and where repair happen. And the idea is to direct the humans towards understanding anomalous things about how the event unfolded.”
The company is using the OpenAI API for starters to build this functionality, but Jones says they have trained the model specifically on computer incident management. “We’re leveraging generative models from OpenAI. So we were using ChatGPT, and then we were able to improve a lot of the responses through things like chain of thought reasoning. That has allowed us to classify incident transcripts more readily,” she said.
Jones says to limit the hallucination problem where the model makes up part of an answer, which would be especially problematic in an incident management scenario, they show their work, so a human can check the source material to confirm the data they are generating is correct.
“You can see the summary and all the evidence that it pulled from. I never want to call this ‘an automated post mortem’ or ‘an automated incident review’ because it’s not it’s like it’s a kick starter. And we actually encourage humans to edit what it came up with,” she said.
You can’t query the incident report in the current version just yet, but Jones says the purpose of the beta is to refine what they’ve built, and they will decide how to enhance it based on feedback from users.
The company is announcing the new capability today. Interested Jeli customers can sign up for the wait list.
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