To many, the Islamic State seemed to appear in the public eye out of nowhere in the recent past, leaving questions as to just how the terrorist organization amassed so much destructive power in only a handful of years. Those answers will be found in HBO’s upcoming miniseries Black Flags, to be produced by Bradley Cooper and Todd Phillips, Deadline reports.
The miniseries will be an adaptation of Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS, a nonfiction book by Joby Warrick. The 2016 Pulitzer Prize winner explores the group’s beginnings, starting in a prison in Jordan, and its evolution into a global threat. Warrick also delves into counterterrorist efforts, including the American and international operatives at the forefront of the battle against Islamic State.
The origins of the miniseries, on the other hand, trace back to Cooper. The actor read Warrick’s book and reportedly knew right away that he wanted to bring it to the small screen as a limited series. Cooper and Phillips, both of whom are executive producing, went so far as to fly to the author’s hometown to convince him in person to collaborate on the project.
Warrick wasn’t the only one intrigued by their ideas. Gregg Hurwitz, who has written comic books, crime novels, and penned numerous screenplay adaptations, also signed on for the miniseries; he is set to write the screenplay as well as executive produce. Meanwhile, director Tim Van Patten, who has worked on HBO hits like Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire, will also executive produce, on top of helming the project.
It is unclear how soon the miniseries could arrive on the premium network, but given the havoc Islamic State has wreaked just in the past several months, it seems safe to assume that the focus of Black Flags will still be very much in the public consciousness.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.