Mr. Robot season 2, episode 4, init1.asec, has come with a fun surprise: After a scene included a fictional horror movie, USA today released its roughly 8-minute beginning. Called The Careful Massacre of the Bourgeoisie, the short was written and directed by writer and producer Adam Penn, EW reports.
Reminiscent of the campy slasher flicks of the ’80s, the clip features two more-or-less clueless siblings who are eager to impress their friends with a New Year’s party. As they sit together outside their mansion worrying about things like cocaine and champagne, the brother dons an “un-chic” mask. Any Mr. Robot fan, of course, would recognize it as fscoiety’s mask.
By the time the murderer does finally make his appearance, he has creepily picked up and put on the mask. His first kill is pretty quick, but by the time he goes after his second victim, the video gets pretty brutal. There are only so many attacks you can fit in such a short video, of course, but the film still manages to squeeze in one more — complete with a flash of gratuitous nudity. It is an ’80s throwback, indeed.
A snippet from the film was used in the episode 4 scene — mild spoiler ahead — in which Elliot (played by Rami Malek) and Darlene (Carly Chaikin) watched the fictional movie together. Apparently, it was a favorite from their childhood, which of course is made interesting by the fact that the killer’s mask looks the same as fsociety’s. The video seems to draw a parallel between the hacker group and the film’s villain, who is identified as the siblings’ uncle Conrad, a man who had killed himself after losing the family business. A case could also be made comparing Elliot and Darlene to the siblings, which is ominous considering that they both fall victim to their uncle.
It is hard to say just how closely we should read into this — perhaps the clip is just meant to entertain, or perhaps it contains hints of fsociety’s past and/or future. You can decide for yourself: The clip is available online. Be warned, however, that it is gory and includes brief nudity.
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.