HBO’s The Sympathizer saved its best dual identity trick for last - Polygon

The Sympathizer is full of twists and turns — and why wouldn’t it be? It’s a show (based on a book of the same name by Viet Thanh Nguyen) that follows a Viet Cong double agent from the end of the Vietnam War to life as a refugee in America as he works to secure the Viet Cong’s victory. All the while, the show wrestles with themes of self and identity, as filtered through The Captain (Hoa Xuande), said double agent; his Vietnamese community in 1970s Los Angeles; and the variety of white men he works for (all played by Robert Downey Jr.).

In the final episode, we finally catch up with The Captain’s present-day story in a reeducation camp in Vietnam, led by the shadowy Commissar, who’s been demanding the Captain’s story be written out in exacting detail. It’s no surprise that the true name of the Commissar — another figure defined by his title more than himself — would be another surprise in the plot. But, like any unveiling of true identity in The Sympathizer, it’s more a twist of the knife than anything else.

[Ed. note: The rest of this post contains spoilers for the end of The Sympathizer. This post also has some mentions of sexual assault.]

Photo: Hopper Stone/HBO

In the final episode, the Captain finds out the Commissar is in fact his friend Mẫn, now scarred from napalm strikes during the fall of Saigon. Worse yet, this old friend/prison camp supervisor is still going to torture him for information.

It’s a tough way for the Captain to find out that his visions of Mẫn — alone in an office and highly decorated, leading the bright future for Vietnam — weren’t accurate. Throughout the show, the Captain’s reflections were a neat framing device and something he saw as mostly a formality, the one thing standing between him and the bright future of Communist Vietnam he had fought so hard for. Now, staring him in the face, is the cold reality of what his struggle has culminated in. It’s all in keeping with the way The Sympathizer has been using the Captain’s imaginative visions as specters of his subjective (and warped) point of view.

“The ghosts really pertain to his consciousness, his conscience about his actions,” Xuande told Polygon. “The Captain’s journey is really about trying to survive, trying to weave his way out, and trying to never be found out, and, obviously, toeing the line between his allegiances.”

In that light, his vision with Mẫn isn’t all that different from his visions of Sonny or the Major; they’re all, as Xuande puts it, an expression of “the trauma that he’s been hiding from.” They’re a startling way for the Captain to realize that his actions have been more about finding any means to survive than about following his communist ideals, or fighting for a better Vietnam.

“When they come back to haunt and remind him about the very things he’s been neglecting in his memory, it’s a reminder for him that everything that he believes and thought he was doing for the cause might not actually be right.”

This is an idea that The Sympathizer underlines again and again with the Captain’s character: Nothing about his life is straightforward or neat, and none of it went the way he planned. Even as he seems to confess to Sonny or carry out the general’s orders to kill him, the Captain is acting for his own reasons, rather than purely “the cause.”

Photo: Hopper Stone/HBO

Such corruption of idealistic impulses is something Mẫn also knows all too well, seemingly disillusioned with the state of the country at the same time he does his job. He is, as his dual character names speak to, a different person now, much harder than he was as a spy under American imperialism. But (much like Downey Jr.’s parade of white authority figures) Duy Nguyễn wanted to make sure you could see the connective tissue between every version of Mẫn.

“To develop this character, I had to really dig deep: What is Mẫn? How does he talk? How does he move? How does he act around his friend, or does he act alone with just the Captain?” Nguyễn says. “He’s the dentist, so he’s very still; he has to be precise. And he’s intellectual, so he has to stay upright. The way he talks is clear — so those are the parts I keep.

“[In episode 7], he is so damaged, but he still wants to keep the presence in front of his friends. He just wants to try to be the same person his friend saw the last time.”

Which is crucial; all of episode 7 — and the crux of The Sympathizer’s final turn — comes down to how Mẫn’s turn plays. He is the single person, the crucial vector point, around which the Captain’s story gets suddenly jerked back, calling his bluffs and calling out all his perspective gaps. Like the Captain, he is a study of dualities: a person and a rank; loyal to the cause, yet wary; a ghost from the past and a vision of the brave new fractured and corrupted world. After filtering so much of the narrative — and, with it, the war, its aftershocks, and all the complexities contained within those — through the Captain’s identity, Mẫn is the only one who can match and cut through the noise of the story the Captain has been telling himself.

And the truth is at once infinitely more complex and far simpler than he was prepared to believe. Through his torture, the Captain finally reconciles with some of the worst things he did for the war, going all the way back to one of the earliest scenes of the show (that we now know was actually the rape of a fellow Communist agent). He has to accept who he is and where he comes from. And he has to accept that nothing about his trauma and suffering has necessarily fixed his nation. All that hardship might’ve just borne more pain — or, worse, indifference to pain. As the sexually assaulted Communist agent tells him, after all her years in the war and the camp, “nothing can disappoint” her now.

In the end, it’s Mẫn who gets the Captain (and Bon) free of the camp, back on a boat headed for the ol’ U.S. of A. It once again makes him a study in conflict; after so many years of loving (and trying to hate) that place, it might be his salvation after all. As the Captain looks back on Vietnam, he now sees a nation of ghosts — more clearly than ever.

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Golf betting tips: Final-round preview and best bets for the Charles Schwab Challenge - Sportinglife.com

Golf betting tips: Charles Schwab Challenge Final Round

2pts treble Scheffler, Horschel and Tway to win their two-balls at 13/2 (Betfair, Paddy Power)

Davis Riley has a PGA Tour victory to his name after winning the Zurich Classic of New Orleans alongside Nick Hardy last year. But trying to achieve his first solo success with World No.1 SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER alongside him in the final group on Sunday will be a very different matter.

The good news for the 27-year-old Riley is that he’s built himself a four-shot lead, a 66 in Saturday’s third round adding to opening laps of 66-64 to take him to 14-under. Scheffler at 10-under is the only other player in double digits under par.

But if he can beat Scheffler, the three fellow Americans that round out the top five shouldn’t strike fear into him. Pierceson Coody and Hayden Buckley share third place on 9-under, five shots adrift, while it’s another stroke back to Robby Shelton in fifth. Coody (three), Buckley (one) and Shelton (four) share eight Korn Ferry titles between them but none have won on the PGA Tour.

That plays a slight part in the betting but basically the odds suggest a fairly straightforward script: can the unlikely leader hold off the game’s current top dog? The market suggests it’s nearly a coin toss with Riley a best of 11/10 and Scheffler available at no better than 5/4.

Riley backers know that their man has got to this position without smoke and mirrors. He ranks 1st for Strokes Gained: Approach, 1st Tee To Green and 4th for Putting. That’s a wild contrast to his season-long rankings in those categories: 159th Approach, 172nd Tee To Green and 100th Putting.

One other big plus for Riley is that he’s done good things before in Texas. He won the Korn Ferry’s TPC San Antonio Championship there in 2020, was fourth here at Colonial in 2022 and added a recent top 15 in the Houston Open.

If you’re on Riley at fancy prices of 200/1 pre-tournament, very well done. But I wouldn’t be taking him now at around even money with Scheffler breathing down his neck and perhaps someone else from the pack throwing in a low one on Sunday. Riley’s driving looked a little wonky in round three and that could be exaggerated under the gun on pay day.

Scheffler has a great chance to delight his home Texas crowds after stringing together rounds of 65 (Friday) and 63 (Saturday) to surge to second place. He ranked 3rd for SG: Putting in his 7-under lap of Colonial on Moving Day and that’s probably more important than trying to deduce what’s going on in his head with footage of his arrest all over social media. Perhaps the best thing is to just presume he hasn’t read any of it and therefore give far more precedence to his numbers.

I’m a tad reluctant to take him at such a short price so perhaps the best idea is just to back Scheffler to outscore Riley in a round four two-ball. It’s long odds-on at 2/7 but worth a place in an acca. It’s no surprise to see Scheffler 1st for R4 Scoring Average this season although, intriguingly, Riley is 5th. Note that he’s acquired that over only five measured rounds.

As for head-to-head form, quite handily the only time they’ve been paired together in strokeplay on the PGA Tour was in this tournament last year. Scheffler shot a pair of pre-cut 67s to Riley’s 71 and 72. Scheffler also won their WGC Match Play meeting in Austin last year (1up) while in Saturday’s press conference Riley also makes mention of Scheffler getting the better of him in the finals of a Junior Am. Overall, it’s been one-way traffic and Scheffler can win this final two-ball which starts at 6.50pm UK time.

BILLY HORSCHEL is ranked 3rd for R4 Scoring this season and can get the better of his match-up with CT Pan, who is one of the poorer Sunday performers at 162nd. Horschel is in great spirits after a win at the Corales Puntacana followed by a top 10 at the US PGA last time out. He closed with rounds of 63 and 64 respectively in those two events while another final-round 64 secured a seventh in the Houston Open.

The duo have only been paired once in the current decade but Horschel came out on top in both laps when they were sent out together in the 2021 Waste Management Phoenix Open. Horschel, who fired a 67 to Pan’s 68 in round three yesterday, looks a solid bet at 3/4. They tee off at 4.35pm.

For some value and to give this treble a serious boost, I’ll take KEVIN TWAY at 11/4 to outgun Collin Morikawa in the third-last two-ball of the day. Morikawa was as flat as a pancake on day four of the US PGA, plodding home in even par having starting the day in a tie for the lead. He ended up losing by six.

Having been in the thick of contention at Valhalla, I wonder if it all may catch up with him a little here. Even if you don’t buy into that, there’s the stark reality that Morikawa is a lowly 158th in R4 scoring this season. Amazingly, his average closing lap has been almost five shots higher than Scheffler’s.

Tway has a fifth and two other top 20s on his Colonial CV while last time out in Texas he wrapped his week with a 67 to finish ninth in the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Four of Tway’s last five Sunday rounds have been in the 60s. Remarkably, Morikawa hasn’t broken 70 in a closing lap in any of his last seven attempts.

The 11/4 for Tway to beat Morikawa is real value and the treble of Scheffler, Horschel and Tway pays just over 13/2 with Betfair.

Posted at 0932 BST on 26/05/24

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HBO’s The Sympathizer saved its best dual identity trick for last - Polygon

The Sympathizer is full of twists and turns — and why wouldn’t it be? It’s a show (based on a book of the same name by Viet Thanh Nguyen) that follows a Viet Cong double agent from the end of the Vietnam War to life as a refugee in America as he works to secure the Viet Cong’s victory. All the while, the show wrestles with themes of self and identity, as filtered through The Captain (Hoa Xuande), said double agent; his Vietnamese community in 1970s Los Angeles; and the variety of white men he works for (all played by Robert Downey Jr.).

In the final episode, we finally catch up with The Captain’s present-day story in a reeducation camp in Vietnam, led by the shadowy Commissar, who’s been demanding the Captain’s story be written out in exacting detail. It’s no surprise that the true name of the Commissar — another figure defined by his title more than himself — would be another surprise in the plot. But, like any unveiling of true identity in The Sympathizer, it’s more a twist of the knife than anything else.

[Ed. note: The rest of this post contains spoilers for the end of The Sympathizer. This post also has some mentions of sexual assault.]

Photo: Hopper Stone/HBO

In the final episode, the Captain finds out the Commissar is in fact his friend Mẫn, now scarred from napalm strikes during the fall of Saigon. Worse yet, this old friend/prison camp supervisor is still going to torture him for information.

It’s a tough way for the Captain to find out that his visions of Mẫn — alone in an office and highly decorated, leading the bright future for Vietnam — weren’t accurate. Throughout the show, the Captain’s reflections were a neat framing device and something he saw as mostly a formality, the one thing standing between him and the bright future of Communist Vietnam he had fought so hard for. Now, staring him in the face, is the cold reality of what his struggle has culminated in. It’s all in keeping with the way The Sympathizer has been using the Captain’s imaginative visions as specters of his subjective (and warped) point of view.

“The ghosts really pertain to his consciousness, his conscience about his actions,” Xuande told Polygon. “The Captain’s journey is really about trying to survive, trying to weave his way out, and trying to never be found out, and, obviously, toeing the line between his allegiances.”

In that light, his vision with Mẫn isn’t all that different from his visions of Sonny or the Major; they’re all, as Xuande puts it, an expression of “the trauma that he’s been hiding from.” They’re a startling way for the Captain to realize that his actions have been more about finding any means to survive than about following his communist ideals, or fighting for a better Vietnam.

“When they come back to haunt and remind him about the very things he’s been neglecting in his memory, it’s a reminder for him that everything that he believes and thought he was doing for the cause might not actually be right.”

This is an idea that The Sympathizer underlines again and again with the Captain’s character: Nothing about his life is straightforward or neat, and none of it went the way he planned. Even as he seems to confess to Sonny or carry out the general’s orders to kill him, the Captain is acting for his own reasons, rather than purely “the cause.”

Photo: Hopper Stone/HBO

Such corruption of idealistic impulses is something Mẫn also knows all too well, seemingly disillusioned with the state of the country at the same time he does his job. He is, as his dual character names speak to, a different person now, much harder than he was as a spy under American imperialism. But (much like Downey Jr.’s parade of white authority figures) Duy Nguyễn wanted to make sure you could see the connective tissue between every version of Mẫn.

“To develop this character, I had to really dig deep: What is Mẫn? How does he talk? How does he move? How does he act around his friend, or does he act alone with just the Captain?” Nguyễn says. “He’s the dentist, so he’s very still; he has to be precise. And he’s intellectual, so he has to stay upright. The way he talks is clear — so those are the parts I keep.

“[In episode 7], he is so damaged, but he still wants to keep the presence in front of his friends. He just wants to try to be the same person his friend saw the last time.”

Which is crucial; all of episode 7 — and the crux of The Sympathizer’s final turn — comes down to how Mẫn’s turn plays. He is the single person, the crucial vector point, around which the Captain’s story gets suddenly jerked back, calling his bluffs and calling out all his perspective gaps. Like the Captain, he is a study of dualities: a person and a rank; loyal to the cause, yet wary; a ghost from the past and a vision of the brave new fractured and corrupted world. After filtering so much of the narrative — and, with it, the war, its aftershocks, and all the complexities contained within those — through the Captain’s identity, Mẫn is the only one who can match and cut through the noise of the story the Captain has been telling himself.

And the truth is at once infinitely more complex and far simpler than he was prepared to believe. Through his torture, the Captain finally reconciles with some of the worst things he did for the war, going all the way back to one of the earliest scenes of the show (that we now know was actually the rape of a fellow Communist agent). He has to accept who he is and where he comes from. And he has to accept that nothing about his trauma and suffering has necessarily fixed his nation. All that hardship might’ve just borne more pain — or, worse, indifference to pain. As the sexually assaulted Communist agent tells him, after all her years in the war and the camp, “nothing can disappoint” her now.

In the end, it’s Mẫn who gets the Captain (and Bon) free of the camp, back on a boat headed for the ol’ U.S. of A. It once again makes him a study in conflict; after so many years of loving (and trying to hate) that place, it might be his salvation after all. As the Captain looks back on Vietnam, he now sees a nation of ghosts — more clearly than ever.

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Golf betting tips: Final-round preview and best bets for the Charles Schwab Challenge - Sportinglife.com

Golf betting tips: Charles Schwab Challenge Final Round

2pts treble Scheffler, Horschel and Tway to win their two-balls at 13/2 (Betfair, Paddy Power)

Davis Riley has a PGA Tour victory to his name after winning the Zurich Classic of New Orleans alongside Nick Hardy last year. But trying to achieve his first solo success with World No.1 SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER alongside him in the final group on Sunday will be a very different matter.

The good news for the 27-year-old Riley is that he’s built himself a four-shot lead, a 66 in Saturday’s third round adding to opening laps of 66-64 to take him to 14-under. Scheffler at 10-under is the only other player in double digits under par.

But if he can beat Scheffler, the three fellow Americans that round out the top five shouldn’t strike fear into him. Pierceson Coody and Hayden Buckley share third place on 9-under, five shots adrift, while it’s another stroke back to Robby Shelton in fifth. Coody (three), Buckley (one) and Shelton (four) share eight Korn Ferry titles between them but none have won on the PGA Tour.

That plays a slight part in the betting but basically the odds suggest a fairly straightforward script: can the unlikely leader hold off the game’s current top dog? The market suggests it’s nearly a coin toss with Riley a best of 11/10 and Scheffler available at no better than 5/4.

Riley backers know that their man has got to this position without smoke and mirrors. He ranks 1st for Strokes Gained: Approach, 1st Tee To Green and 4th for Putting. That’s a wild contrast to his season-long rankings in those categories: 159th Approach, 172nd Tee To Green and 100th Putting.

One other big plus for Riley is that he’s done good things before in Texas. He won the Korn Ferry’s TPC San Antonio Championship there in 2020, was fourth here at Colonial in 2022 and added a recent top 15 in the Houston Open.

If you’re on Riley at fancy prices of 200/1 pre-tournament, very well done. But I wouldn’t be taking him now at around even money with Scheffler breathing down his neck and perhaps someone else from the pack throwing in a low one on Sunday. Riley’s driving looked a little wonky in round three and that could be exaggerated under the gun on pay day.

Scheffler has a great chance to delight his home Texas crowds after stringing together rounds of 65 (Friday) and 63 (Saturday) to surge to second place. He ranked 3rd for SG: Putting in his 7-under lap of Colonial on Moving Day and that’s probably more important than trying to deduce what’s going on in his head with footage of his arrest all over social media. Perhaps the best thing is to just presume he hasn’t read any of it and therefore give far more precedence to his numbers.

I’m a tad reluctant to take him at such a short price so perhaps the best idea is just to back Scheffler to outscore Riley in a round four two-ball. It’s long odds-on at 2/7 but worth a place in an acca. It’s no surprise to see Scheffler 1st for R4 Scoring Average this season although, intriguingly, Riley is 5th. Note that he’s acquired that over only five measured rounds.

As for head-to-head form, quite handily the only time they’ve been paired together in strokeplay on the PGA Tour was in this tournament last year. Scheffler shot a pair of pre-cut 67s to Riley’s 71 and 72. Scheffler also won their WGC Match Play meeting in Austin last year (1up) while in Saturday’s press conference Riley also makes mention of Scheffler getting the better of him in the finals of a Junior Am. Overall, it’s been one-way traffic and Scheffler can win this final two-ball which starts at 6.50pm UK time.

BILLY HORSCHEL is ranked 3rd for R4 Scoring this season and can get the better of his match-up with CT Pan, who is one of the poorer Sunday performers at 162nd. Horschel is in great spirits after a win at the Corales Puntacana followed by a top 10 at the US PGA last time out. He closed with rounds of 63 and 64 respectively in those two events while another final-round 64 secured a seventh in the Houston Open.

The duo have only been paired once in the current decade but Horschel came out on top in both laps when they were sent out together in the 2021 Waste Management Phoenix Open. Horschel, who fired a 67 to Pan’s 68 in round three yesterday, looks a solid bet at 3/4. They tee off at 4.35pm.

For some value and to give this treble a serious boost, I’ll take KEVIN TWAY at 11/4 to outgun Collin Morikawa in the third-last two-ball of the day. Morikawa was as flat as a pancake on day four of the US PGA, plodding home in even par having starting the day in a tie for the lead. He ended up losing by six.

Having been in the thick of contention at Valhalla, I wonder if it all may catch up with him a little here. Even if you don’t buy into that, there’s the stark reality that Morikawa is a lowly 158th in R4 scoring this season. Amazingly, his average closing lap has been almost five shots higher than Scheffler’s.

Tway has a fifth and two other top 20s on his Colonial CV while last time out in Texas he wrapped his week with a 67 to finish ninth in the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Four of Tway’s last five Sunday rounds have been in the 60s. Remarkably, Morikawa hasn’t broken 70 in a closing lap in any of his last seven attempts.

The 11/4 for Tway to beat Morikawa is real value and the treble of Scheffler, Horschel and Tway pays just over 13/2 with Betfair.

Posted at 0932 BST on 26/05/24

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NYT 'Connections' hints and answers for May 25: Tips to solve 'Connections' #349. - Mashable

Connections is the latest New York Times word game that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for May 23's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

What is Connections?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

Tweet may have been deleted

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer. If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

Tweet may have been deleted

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hit about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

Mashable Top Stories

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• Yellow: Mad Men fodder

• Green: Breakthrough

• Blue: Stick up, you might say

• Purple: A specific letter added to a part of speech

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Featured Video For You

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Connections: How to play and how to win

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Here are today's Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: ADVERTISING FORMAT

• Green: INAUGRUAL

• Blue: ADVOCATE FOR

• Purple: PRONOUN PLUS "E"

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to Connections #349 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Yellow: ADVERTISING FORMAT - BANNER, BILLBOARD, POSTER, SIGN

• Green: INAUGURAL - FIRST, INITIAL, MAIDEN, PREMIER

• Blue: ADVOCATE FOR - BACK, CHAMPION, ENDORSE, SUPPORT

• Purple: PRONOUN PLUS "E" - HERE, THEME, USE, WEE

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Is this not the Connections game you were looking for? Here are the hints and answers to yesterday's Connections.

Topics Connections

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Google: Stop Trying to Trick Employees With Fake Phishing Emails - PCMag

Did your company recently send you a phishing email? Employers will sometimes simulate phishing messages to train workers on how to spot the hacking threat. But one Google security manager argues the IT industry needs to drop the practice, calling it counterproductive. 

"PSA for Cybersecurity folk: Our co-workers are tired of being 'tricked' by phishing exercises y'all, and it is making them hate us for no benefit,” tweeted Matt Linton, a security incident manager at Google.

Linton also published a post on the Google Security blog about the pitfalls of today’s simulated phishing tests. The company is required to send fake phishing emails to its employees to meet the US government's security compliance requirements.

In these tests, Google sends an employee a phishing email. If the worker clicks a link in the email, they’ll be told they failed the test and will usually be required to take some sort of training course. However, Linton argues that simulated phishing tests can lead to harmful side effects, which can undermine a company’s security. 

"There is no evidence that the tests result in fewer incidences of successful phishing campaigns,” Linton said, noting that phishing attacks continue to help hackers gain a foothold inside networks, despite such training. He also pointed to a 2021 study that ran for 15 months and concluded that these phishing tests don't "make employees more resilient to phishing.”

Example of phishing email (Credit: Michael Kan/PCMag)

In Google’s case, Linton noted its own simulated phishing tests don't always accurately reflect how an attack will appear in an employee's inbox. That’s because these emails need to bypass the company’s existing anti-phishing defenses to work. "This creates an inaccurate perception of actual risks, [and] allows penetration testing teams to avoid having to mimic actual modern attacker tactics," he said. 

The other problem is that simulated phishing tests can annoy employees, and lead to resentment. "Employees are upset by them and feel security is 'tricking them,' which degrades the trust with our users that is necessary for security teams to make meaningful systemic improvements and when we need employees to take timely actions related to actual security events," he added. 

In Linton’s view, simulated phishing tests are like forcing workers to quickly evacuate a building during a fire drill — except that real smoke and fire are being blown through the premises. "Once outside, if you took too long you're scolded for responding inappropriately and told you need to train better for next time. Is this an effective way to instill confidence and practice fire evacuation?” he added on LinkedIn.  

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Linton’s larger point is that it’s impossible to “fix” people and prevent them from clicking on phishing messages. It’s why companies need to invest in anti-phishing technologies, such as hardware security keys and passkeys, to stamp out the threat in the first place.

But that doesn’t mean companies should abandon phishing tests either. Instead, he’s advocating companies adopt more transparent and instructive phishing training that drops such shaming. This could involve sending out an email that flat-out tells the users “I am a Phishing Email. This is a drill — this is only a drill.”

(Credit: Google)

The email would then remind the user how to recognize and spot potential phishing emails, and that it’s necessary to report them to the company’s IT security team by instructing them how to do so. “There’s no need to make this adversarial, and we don’t gain anything by ‘catching’ people ‘failing’ at the task. Let's stop engaging in the same old failed protections,” he added.

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Animal Experts Share 14 Must-Know Tips For a Safe, Pet-Friendly Summer - PEOPLE

Animal experts are preparing for summer and want to make sure you and your pet are ready for the season, too.

PEOPLE spoke with 14 pet professionals, including veterinarians, trainers, and behaviorists, to get their must-know tips for summer. These included insights on pet pool safety and road trips with your furry friend.

The experts were clear that they wanted pet parents to have fun with their animals this summer while staying safe, so there are also tips on handling heat exhaustion, hydration, and seasonal pests.

Read on to get all of the experts' advice.

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Act like a lifeguard

If swimming is on your activity list, pick one responsible person to be the official pet watcher— and switch that role every 15 minutes. This way, water safety won’t slip through the cracks. Get a well-fitted life jacket for pets who love to be in the water! —Dr. Kate Maher a veterinarian with the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association

Keep a stash of chilled snacks

Use frozen baby carrots or celery soaked in chicken broth for dental treats that will cool your dog off during the hot months. —Drs. Erin & Ben Schroeder, stars of Heartland Docs, DVM

Keep pets out of parked cars

Do not leave your dog in the car on a hot or warm day. It's unreal how deathly hot a closed car can get in the sun and the shade, even with the window cracked. On a modestly warm day, around 75 degrees, it takes minutes for a closed car to reach 140 degrees, and even in the shade, that car will reach 100 degrees and over quickly. That can easily kill your dog in a very short period. -Dr. Michelle Oakley, star of Dr. Oakley Yukon Vet

Watch for ticks

Prioritize tick preventatives before hitting the trails or camping with your pet. And remember to give your dog a once-over for ticks at the end of each day. — Dr. Jan Pol, star of The Incredible Dr. Pol

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Help cats shed heat

Brushing your cat often in the summer helps remove excess fur, which reduces the heat trapped in a feline’s coat. —Julie Castle, CEO of Best Friends Animal Society

Go the extra mile

Use the long sunny days to increase the number and length of walks. This is a great way for you and your dog to get more exercise and bonding time together. Early morning or late evening are cooler, more comfortable times. Pack plenty of water — for your pet and yourself. —Dr. Rena Carlson, president of the American Veterinary Medical Association

Create a cooldown

Fill a children’s pool with ice cubes and water so your dog can have fun in the heat too! You can also let him play on a splash pad made for children. Add in stimulus toys to make it even more entertaining. —Dr. Terrence Ferguson, star of Critter Fixers: Country Vets

Avoid travel anxiety

Before taking your pet on a road trip, associate positive behaviors with the car by grooming them and giving them affection in the car ahead of vacation. —Cesar Millan, dog behaviorist and cofounder of the Halo Collar

Look out for reptiles

Beware of rattlesnakes in certain parts of the country. I live in San Diego, and they are very much a thing! I’ve treated a number of rattlesnake bite cases, and they can be heartbreaking. Look into fencing, snake deterrents, and the rattlesnake vaccine for your dog. -Dr. Kwane Stewart, the chief veterinary officer of Kismet

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Master boarding etiquette

Discuss any diet, medication, or behavioral concerns with the staff prior to drop-off. Some weight loss is normal if pets are boarded for more than five days, so don’t be concerned if they look thinner when you pick them up. Just give them extra love and attention (and maybe an extra treat or two!) when you return. —Dr. Vernard Hodges, star of Critter Fixers: Country Vets

Blend a healthy treat

Whip up a dog-safe smoothie by blending ice, cold water, a little plain yogurt, strawberries, blueberries, and bananas. Serve your pup a small portion in a bowl. —VICTORIA SCHADE, Animal Planet’s lead Puppy Bowl trainer and author of Dog Friendly

Beware of hot asphalt

It’s important to protect your pet’s paw pads by avoiding long midday walks. Asphalt and concrete temperatures can rise to dangerously high levels and leave burns on their extremely sensitive paws. Dog shoes and paw moisturizers offer extra protection. —Dr. Lori Bierbrier, senior medical director at ASPCA Community Medicine

Treat heat exhaustion

If you think your dog is overheating, submerge a towel in cold (not iced) water, wrap her in the wet towel, and head straight to your vet. —Dr. Treyton Diggs, the Westminster Kennel Club’s 2024 Veterinarian of the Year

Make hydration a priority

It’s important to always have fresh, cold water available. Unfortunately many cats don’t like drinking water, so make sure you’re refreshing their water dishes daily, or try a cat water fountain. —Dr. Callie Harris, a Georgia-based small-animal veterinarian

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