If you want to make a cinephile cringe, “digital face replacement” is the phrase that pays. “Digital de-aging” and “deepfake” will do the trick, too. While theoretically just the latest addition to the filmmaker’s toolkit, it’s proven to enable some of Hollywood’s ugliest and most cowardly instincts. In an industry already averse to risk and change, digital de-aging and the more dehumanizing practice of outright replacing an unknown actor’s face with a familiar one allows media corporations to lean more than ever on the cheap high of nostalgia. Of course, any illusion — cinematic or otherwise — is only as good as the magicians creating it. If their intent is merely to dazzle you for a hot second, then it’s just a magic trick. With loftier goals and an artistic hand, a visual effect can be profoundly moving. Improbably, this year’s best argument for the value of digital face replacement in cinema came from a big-budget Star Trek fan film. 765874: Unification is a 10-minute short produced by effects studio OTOY and The Roddenberry Archive, an online museum founded by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s son Rod. It follows Captain James T. Kirk after his death in 1994’s Star Trek: Generations , navigating an abstract afterlife and crossing barriers of time and reality to comfort his dying friend, an aged Spock in the image of the late Leonard Nimoy. The role of James T. Kirk is portrayed by William Shatner — but also, it isn’t. It’s actually actor Sam Witwer, wearing a digital prosthetic of Shatner’s face circa 1994. This latest generation of digital mask renders in real time, allowing the actor to rehearse in front of a monitor and perfect his performance as he would with a physical makeup effect. Witwer’s work absolutely pays off. On first viewing, practically any viewer would reasonably assume that the actor on screen is a de-aged William Shatner. Without seeing it for yourself, you could be forgiven for dismissing Unification as easily as the late Harold Ramis’ cheap, ghostly cameo in Ghostbusters: Afterlife . The difference, however, is in the execution of this story as well as in its purpose. The climax of Ghostbusters: Afterlife sees a digitally resurrected Ramis effectively passing the Proton Pack to a new generation, offering a tacit endorsement of a commercial product that the actor never saw. It’s a mechanically engineered tearjerking moment amid a hollow exercise in nostalgia, a sweaty effort to invest a new generation in Ghostbusters — not the raunchy snobs-versus-slobs comedy, mind you, but the toy line it inspired. By contrast, Unification is a noncommercial work about putting the past to rest, and saying goodbye to two beloved figures: not Kirk and Spock, but Shatner and Nimoy. Related: The evolution of Spock, from a scrapped Star Trek pilot to Discovery Kirk and Spock, after all, live on, recast twice already on film and television. But this film wouldn’t work if the roles were played by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto , or Paul Wesley and Ethan Peck , because it’s not really about Kirk visiting Spock on his deathbed. It’s about the 93-year-old Shatner — who also produced the short along with Nimoy’s widow, Susan Bay Nimoy — facing his own death through the lens of his most famous character and finding comfort in the notion that he may be reuniting with the man he once called “brother.” It helps that this is a noncommercial work, but what really makes Unification outstanding is Sam Witwer’s performance. Director Carlos Baena composes something that is somehow both art film and tech demo, hiding the weaknesses of the VFX while trusting Witwer/Shatner’s face and Michael Giacchino’s original score to tell the story. Like most new technologies, digital makeup hit the market well before the kinks were worked out. Mass audiences got their first obvious look at the process in 2006, when the eerily smoothed-out faces of Sirs Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen stepped into frame in the prologue of X-Men: The Last Stand . In order to make the two actors, then in their 60s, appear 20 years younger, the production enlisted the VFX house Lola to apply a process that they’d previously employed to “perfect” the skin of pop stars in music videos. The results on the screen were infamously uncanny, but Lola co-founder Greg Strause nevertheless predicted that this work would cause a “fundamental shift” in cinema. “Writers have stayed away from flashbacks because directors don’t like casting other people,” Strause told Computer Graphics World at the time. “This could break open a fresh wave of ideas that had been off-limits.” On the one hand, Strause was correct in that digital de-aging enabled storytellers — particularly those working in genres with a higher threshold for suspended disbelief like science fiction or comedy — to expand the utility of certain actors in flashback. This became one of Marvel Studios’ favorite moves, letting Baby Boomer actors like Michael Douglas or Kurt Russell play 30 or 40 years younger for a few scenes, or Samuel L. Jackson for an entire film. The practice escaped the confines of genre cinema, adopted by Martin Scorsese for a few shots in 2006’s The Departed before the auteur went all in with 2019’s The Irishman , which used a new effects methodology innovated by Pablo Helman and ILM. No longer the specialty of one effects house, digital de-aging has become an industry in itself, with different studios offering different methods on a variety of scales and budgets. It’s everywhere now, from Avatar to The Righteous Gemstones . In theory, there’s nothing evil about a digital prosthetic. It’s simply another storytelling tool, like practical makeup. Like any visual effect, it works best when you don’t notice it. (If you’d never seen Willem Dafoe before Spider-Man: No Way Home , you’d have no idea he’d been de-aged 19 years ; the same can’t be said for Alfred Molina.) However, digital de-aging and face replacement are used more often as features to be appreciated than as effects to be disguised. At the moment, it’s a gimmick, a generous sprinkle of movie magic that makes something impossible — like 58-year-old Nicolas Cage getting a sloppy kiss from 28-year-old Nicolas Cage — possible. Digital face or head replacement can be used to a unique and interesting effect that preserves the integrity of an actor’s performance, allowing for stories that, as Strause predicted, might not have worked otherwise. The family drama in Tron: Legacy between Jeff Bridges’ aged Kevin Flynn, his estranged biological son Sam (Garrett Hedlund), and his “perfect” digital clone Clu is uniquely compelling in a way that probably would not click if Bridges was not also playing Clu via a process that digitally scanned his performance and rendered a virtual younger Bridges over the on-set performance of John Reardon, who in turn repeated all of Bridges’ takes to complete the illusion. What makes this sticky is this may be the first time you’ve heard of John Reardon, a working actor in Canada who figures heavily in a big-budget Disney feature but whose face never appears and whose voice is never heard and whose name is way down at the bottom of the acting credits. He’s listed as the “performance double” for Clu and Young Kevin Flynn. In this particular case, Reardon’s obscured role in the film is somewhat justified, as his performance mimicked Bridges’ takes as closely as possible and it’s Bridges who’s wearing a rig on his head and driving Clu’s CGI face. Stunt actors and stand-ins don’t share billing with the principals they’re doubling, and it could be argued that Reardon’s job on Tron: Legacy was not so different. But as studios — particularly Disney — double down on making each of their intellectual properties a living, everlasting document with an unbroken continuity, the use of digital masks represents a deeply troubling future where the person who’s performing a role is never the star. This industry villain wears the face of one of Hollywood’s most beloved heroes, Luke Skywalker . In 2020, when a young Luke made a surprise cameo appearance in the second season finale of The Mandalorian , one could easily imagine a media frenzy over Lucasfilm casting a new live-action Luke Skywalker for the first time . Instead, actor Max Lloyd-Jones was buried in the credits as “double for Jedi,” while Mark Hamill, whose face was superimposed onto his but who does not actually appear, received his own title card. When Luke reappeared in The Book of Boba Fett the following year, this time with a full speaking role, a different actor, Graham Hamilton, served as his “double.” In addition to replacing Hamilton’s face — a dead ringer for young Hamill — Luke’s dialogue was created using machine learning to mimic Hamill’s voice circa 1982. Next time Luke appears in a live-action Star Wars work as a digital phantom, he will no doubt be played by another disposable actor whose career will barely benefit, while the Disney-owned intellectual property that is Luke Skywalker remains a household name. Of course, we’ll also never know whether or not Max Lloyd-Jones or Graham Hamilton have the chops to succeed Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker because, in both of Young Luke’s television appearances, he does as little as possible, since the digital mask looks less convincing the more “Luke” speaks or emotes. Neither actor got the chance to do anything with the character to demonstrate either their own spin or even the perfect mimicry that Star Wars obsessives would no doubt prefer. The irony here is that, as is the case with practical makeup effects or full-body performance capture, the only thing that can really sell digital de-aging or full face replacement is great acting. 2024 saw Robert Zemeckis, a filmmaker who is constantly pushing the limits of technology to indulge his bizarre storytelling whims, hinge an entire film on digital de-aging , casting Tom Hanks and Robin Wright to play high school sweethearts all the way through to old age in his new feature Here . Beyond the novelty of the gimmick, avoiding recasting characters at different ages helps to keep Here ’s unconventional narrative legible as it bounces back and forth between decades and centuries. Here is a hokey and heavy-handed affair, but the digital effects never feel as if they’re a hindrance to their performances. Their digital masks, created using deepfakes from the hundreds of hours of footage available from their long careers, are among the best the big screen has seen so far. But the actors are also physically selling their characters’ different ages the way that stage and film actors have been doing for generations. It’s imperfect, but it’s sincere and informed by all the tiny decisions that actors make about their characters and their off-screen lives while preparing for a role. It’s that same element that made Andy Serkis’ performance as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings a watershed moment in cinema, and that continues to make the rebooted Planet of the Apes franchise exciting even after his departure. This year’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes , like its Serkis-led predecessors, shines not for its incredibly rendered sentient ape effects but for the way those effects disappear into the characters they represent. Peter Macon may not get recognized on the street for his voice and mo-cap performance as the endearing orangutan philosopher Raka, but there’s no debating whose performance it is. Contrast this against one of the year’s most widely criticized special effects: the late Ian Holm’s ill-advised cameo as the decapitated android Rook in Alien: Romulus . Director Fede Álvarez made an effort to avoid the digital uncanny valley by commissioning an animatronic Rook made from a cast of Ian Holm’s head (with the permission of Holm’s family), but a layer of VFX was added overtop of it that actually compounded the problem. It’s hard to say which was more distracting — the effect, or the mere presence of the Holmunculus itself. The narrative doesn’t require Rook to resemble an established character; it was simply an Easter egg turned rotten , an expensive effect that failed where an actor would have done just fine. Like so many filmmakers before who’ve whiffed on ambitious special effects, Álvarez and company may simply have succumbed to the temptation to use a cool new filmmaking toy. This impulse, if indulged, ends up hurting not only their respective films but the reputation of the technology as a whole. In an interview with TrekCulture about 765874: Unification , Sam Witwer was quick to push back against the notion that the short’s transformative digital makeup process would spread like wildfire — not despite his involvement in its development, but because of it. “It will grow so long as it’s done well. You’ll recall that when Jurassic Park came out, people were pretty high on CGI, because it was impeccably done. Then it got into the hands of people who didn’t do it as well, and ‘CGI’ was a bad word for a while. It’s all about the artists. In the case of OTOY, they trusted that an actor was an integral part of that team.” There is a great deal of well-justified anxiety in the art world over the general public’s apparent indifference about whether a piece of “content” is created by people or by artificial intelligence. The ability to enter a prompt into a piece of software and have it generate infinite variations on something you already like has widespread appeal, but it’s also incredibly shallow. 765874: Unification is, superficially, the kind of story a Trekkie might try to generate via AI, a “fix-it fic” starring two actors who no longer exist as we remember them. But there’s nothing you can type into a machine that is ever going to result in a film like this. For as much as Unification is a weird, lyrical jumble of deeply obscure Star Trek lore, it’s also a minor cinematic miracle. If something like this can exist and bring a tear to the eye of the most jaded, critical viewer, then the technology behind it doesn’t have to represent a creative doomsday. Employed with purpose and human emotion and performance behind it, it can create something unique and beautiful. Entertainment Movies Opinion Sci-fi Star Trek TVOver the past five years there have been 13 declared . or signup to continue reading The devastation caused to our communities by these terrible floods, storms, cyclones and bushfires strikes is just as hard on our small and family businesses. And already, we have seen and marvelled at communities already dealing with nature's fearsomeness so early in the season ... Businesses can be directly damaged or wiped-out, or they become an indirect victim surviving the disaster only to have no customers or no meaningful local economy to service because of the impact on their town or region. It is happening too often for to ignore. But only one in four small businesses have a current business continuity plan. It is time for small business to be prepared for natural disasters. Or to make this even more immediate, personal and necessary, another lens might be preparing for an awful event such as a critical health episode that might take the business owner or leader out of the business for a period of time. An inquiry I conducted into the impact of natural disasters on small businesses found that taking simple steps to be better prepared, sensible risk mitigation action and bolstering resilience can help reduce the impact of these extreme weather events (or some other critical event) and support small and family businesses to get back on their feet quicker. Just like the businesses they run, are the lifeblood of our communities. They are often community leaders too - the first to volunteer to lead and contribute to local emergency response and business support groups, giving generously of themselves to help make preparations for the community such as laying sandbags, fighting fires and moving stock and people to higher and safer ground. But often our business leaders are not as diligent in getting their own business as prepared as possible, so they can be best placed to navigate a critical event, respond and recover. That's where an up-to-date business continuity plan is important so owners can contemplate the things that might knock them off course, whether it is a natural disaster or something that might happen to them personally such as a health episode or accident, and reduce their capacity to contribute to their business and enable the livelihoods that they and their team rely upon. There are easy steps that can make so much difference if disaster strikes and help aid recovery. This can be as simple as ensuring your record keeping is up to date and that critical information is at hand and, where possible, digitised so you can retrieve it if your premises are destroyed. Small business owners can use the following checklist: The Small Business Natural Disaster Preparedness and Resilience Inquiry recommended the creation of an opt-in My Business Record to allow a small business to digitally store all relevant government-held and other vital information it might need after a disaster. It is clear from our work that preparation is key to small and family businesses building resilience and coming through natural disasters in the best possible shape. It is equally clear the small business community cannot do this on their own and when a natural disaster strikes, certainty of response and certainty of support must be provided. By this we mean small business owners should automatically be engaged in local place-based planning and support services and be elevated and front of mind in disaster response, recovery and funding arrangements. This must include indirectly affected businesses. Immediately after a disaster a business support hub should be established to provide a single point from which to seek help from government and non-government agencies. A tell-us-once triage system should be adopted to save small business owners the trauma and time associated with repeating their story. Ongoing support is needed in the aftermath of a disaster. When a small business receives an Australian government grant, an additional amount should be made available six to nine months later for a and longer-term recovery action. Disasters can have long-lasting effects for communities and small businesses. An integrated response is needed to disaster risk management for identified disaster-prone areas that incorporates priority access to mitigation expenditure, co-ordinated planning across levels of government and infrastructure hardening. Critical road upgrades should require that verges are cleared sufficiently to allow access or evacuation. Similarly, where telecommunications infrastructure upgrades include taxpayer support, funding should be conditional on it being durable in the face of a natural disaster. An ongoing problem is that many small businesses in elevated disaster-risk area are often denied accessible and affordable insurance. Our inquiry found many businesses cannot secure appropriate insurance at an affordable price, some are uninsured or underinsured or have eyewatering excesses that would preclude any claim being made. The insurance sector needs to do better. Frustratingly, insurers seem uninterested in the steps individual small and family businesses take to mitigate disaster risk. Individual businesses do everything they can possibly do but it has zero impact on the availability and the pricing of their premiums. We're told this is because the insurance companies look at risk across a broader pool - it is community-wide or industry-wide or neighbourhood-wide analysis. Yet the narrative, amplified through advertising, is often about what individuals might do. Natural disasters can cause lasting harm to the enterprising people who build businesses, employ local community members, and create vitality in our towns and communities. I urge small and family businesses to have a plan and be ready. There are detailed checklists and resources to help small business prepare for a disaster and, if needed, to recover after one, available at Advertisement Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date. We care about the protection of your data. 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NoneSingapore, Dec. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Webuy Global Ltd. (Nasdaq: WBUY) (the “Company”), a Southeast Asian community-oriented e-commerce retailor with a focus on grocery and travel, today announced the closing of its previously announced registered direct offering with certain institutional investors for the sale and purchase of an aggregate of 21,013,239 of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.000000385 per share (the “Shares”) (or Class A ordinary share equivalents in lieu thereof) in a registered direct offering at a purchase price of $0.1756 per share. The purchase price for the pre-funded warrants is $0.1755 to the purchase price for Shares, less the exercise price of $0.0001 per share. The gross proceeds to the Company from the registered direct offering are estimated to be approximately $3.7 million, before deducting the placement agent’s fees and other estimated offering expenses. D. Boral Capital LLC acted as the exclusive placement agent for the offering. Ortoli Rosenstadt LLP acted as counsel to the Company and Hunter Taubman Fischer & Li LLC acted as counsel to D. Boral Capital LLC. The proposed offering of the securities described above is being offered by the Company pursuant to a “shelf” registration statement on Form F-3 (File No. 333-283356) filed by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and declared effective by the SEC on December 3, 2024, and the accompanying prospectus contained therein. The offering was made only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus. The prospectus supplement describing the terms of the public offering was filed with the SEC. Copies of the prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to this offering may be obtained on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov or by contacting D. Boral Capital LLC Attention: Syndicate Department, 590 Madison Avenue, 39th Floor, New York, NY 10022, by email at syndicate@dboralcapital.com , or by telephone at +1 (212) 970-5150. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. About Webuy Global Ltd Webuy Global Ltd. (Nasdaq: WBUY) is a forward-thinking, technology-driven company aimed at becoming the leading e-commerce and travel platform in Southeast Asia. Leveraging advanced AI technologies, the Company enhances its 'group buy' model by providing personalized recommendations, predictive demand analytics, and seamless community interactions. In addition, Webuy integrates AI-powered travel solutions, such as its proprietary AI Travel Consultant, to deliver personalized itineraries, group travel planning, and real-time support. These innovations streamline the traditional supply chain, foster a community-driven shopping experience, and simplify travel planning for its users. Webuy is committed to improving the lives of millions of families in Southeast Asia with high-quality, affordable products, services, and travel experiences. For more information, visit http://webuy.global Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the Company’s current expectations. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties described more fully in the Company’s filings with the SEC. Forward-looking statements are made as of this date, and the Company undertakes no duty to update them, except as required by law.
Every core element in entrepreneurship is about making the best use of all factors available. In a fast-paced world populated with technology, that is the reason why companies strive to be effective. Today, for a company like Meta the challenge is to utilize infrastructure properly while avoiding exceeding capacity limits. Entering this challenge was Siddhant Benadikar, who worked in distributed systems with Meta during a time when the company was acquiring new capacity and traffic demands were mounting but no new capacity was allocated for the year. It was in such an environment where transformation of the existing strategies became a necessity owing to Siddhant’s concern for the operational targets of the Meta Company. Transforming Platform Productivity: Optimisation Dynamics Siddhant impressively showcased his leadership when he took the lead in a very strategic project intended to re-engineer the performance of Meta’s platforms and at the same time reduce utilization. The problem solution was that Meta had to cope with the same performance of workloads under similar conditions of infrastructure availability, which allowed for the growing trends of system usage, efficiently serving its purpose. This was not an easy task when considering the size of Meta and the overwhelming amount of traffic that its infrastructure supports every day. One of the most impactful aspects in this case was the improvement of the K-nearest neighbor (KNN) search algorithm and its application to Meta’s FAISS library. This algorithm is part of several systems for data retrieval and recommendation employed within the wide ecosystem of Meta. The team of Siddhant made substantial upgrades in memory optimizing techniques and FASS integration and as a result, they managed to increase the KNN searches runtime efficiency by 15 times over its previous performance. This waste amount was not only a fast and efficient way of accessing data but also cut resource use by 40%. Such an accomplishment however meant that the same amount of data processing by meta’s platforms took place with over 60% less computational resources, which meant more capacity available to repurpose for other important system-enhancing programs. Beyond the optimization activities of KNN and FAISS, Siddhant also took active responsibility for the political aspect and integrated the platform into Meta’s quota management system. Such integration was necessary for curtailing resource allocation abuse, ensuring that every user of the system got their due portion of it according to the quota they had purchased. Focusing on efficiency and rational distribution of resources turned out relevant also for the optimization of particular user pipelines, in the processes of which Siddhant was able to implement some changes that made the data processing cycles more effective by eliminating unnecessary steps. The $20 Million Impact: Efficiency and Cost Savings All these development efforts had a compounding effect. In these facts, under Siddhant, the Meta company had approximately $20 million in savings added to the capital expenditure (CapEx). Reducing the required resource footprint to accommodate increasing traffic demands is where Siddhant’s project empowered Meta to stay within its capacity limits, even where the user traffic continued to increase. This project didn’t just solve immediate capacity issues – it laid the foundation for future improvements in efficiency as well as controllable growth in capacity. However, the full integration with the quota management system, specifically, was important in making sure that the system does not cause an overload and that Meta is always able to honor the service level agreements (SLA) with its internal business units. Thanks to introducing such capabilities as automated supervision and rational resource allocation within a specified time, the team led by Siddhant managed to avoid congestion and guaranteed that critical applications were always provided with sufficient computing resources. This project, probably, highlights strong technical knowledge and the out-of-the-box thinking from Siddhant. His capacity to spearhead efficiency strategies in a high-performance distributed system was not only a quick fix to the pressing issues that had been experienced at Meta but was also a step toward the enhancement of resource management concepts at Meta. Siddhant showed that optimization in terms of meeting commercial objectives is possible without delay in performance through the use of a blend of algorithms, memory management skills, and integration styles. Beyond Optimization: Establishing the Cornerstones for Future Runway Expansion As successful as the resource optimization project turned out to be, its effects were not only limited to the quick wins in terms of efficiency and cost reduction. Siddhant’s efforts succeeded in raising the bar of how such projects were undertaken at Meta within resource constraints. By decreasing reliance on additional infrastructure, the project also allowed Meta to reallocate resources towards other most critical projects within the company and hence advance its overall strategic goals. Enhancing the Technology Results: Scalable Integration of a Compute TPL with Heterogeneous Accelerator Clients. Lending entity computing industries recently supported this initiative granting the company’s growth inconsistency within a critical market image. Certainly, incarceration or In such prospect, we prognosticate augmentations of scale currently delineated in the data and to similar bifurcated systems. The optimizations that Sith carried out have been adopted in the other architectures of META enabling different teams to achieve the KNN and FAISS progress in other data-heavy devices at the same time. This interchange of ideas between different units and the application of the best concepts regarding the technology layers has enhanced the connectivity and the effectiveness of the technology stack allowing META to grow in the future. From Aspirations to Achievements: siddhant's Journey in Distributed Systems Siddhant’s rise to assuming the position of a resource optimization expert at Meta shows his furrow of innovation and problem-solving capability. At first, he wanted to join a medical course, but since he loved how technology works and how complex problems are solved, he decided to change to computer science. He obtained several degrees in computer science, emphasizing the areas of distributed systems, machine learning, and large data architecture. His combination of machine learning, graph algorithms, and system optimization gave him an upper hand in solving some of the toughest challenges at Meta. Siddhant has recruited and retained talent while executing complex, high-impact projects perfectly blending deep technical skills alongside high-level strategic thinking. The resource optimization work was not relayed to merely addressing current issues but rather transformed the norm in which Meta views a potentiality in greater efficiency and scalability. The Human Side of Technology: Leadership and Mentorship In addition to contributing research ideas, Siddhant has always spearheaded mentoring and team-building activities. The management of such an intricate project takes more than technical expertise; it consists of motivating and leading a group through complicated and frequently unclear situations. Leading him, as a leader towards a target is collaborative, explicit, and through unceasing advancement. Siddhant created a culture of innovation and resilience by nurturing an atmosphere where all the team members are encouraged to submit their ideas and knowledge. He has been a mentor to junior engineers in this area, helping them grow and become proactive so that they may take on greater challenges and responsibilities and add value to Meta. Looking Forward: The Future of Resource Optimization Siddhant has thoughts beyond the immediate present and believes there is still scope for improvement in resource optimization as well as distributed systems. Data-intensive applications; large-scale infrastructure; and economies of scale have always required efficiency in resource allocation and optimization more than any other. He foresees this phase as the afternoon of day_two where optimization will be an inbuilt design philosophy rather than a reactive strategy. He has expressed a great inclination towards the combination of resource optimization and new persuasive technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). Elaborating on this point, Siddhant considers it feasible to design systems of resource management that incorporate the use of AI and ML, making them more efficient yet inherently more flexible and smarter. These subsystems would forecast capacity requirements, reconfigure existing resources on demand and in real-time, and refine operation strategies and policies considering the actual level of workloads and changing business objectives. About Siddhant Benadikar An experienced professional with a particular focus on distributed systems, resource management, and large data architecture design is Siddhant Benadikar. His contributions while working for Meta helped in implementing various efficiency measures that resulted in substantial reductions in capital expenditures for the corporation while improving the performance and scalability of the platform. Over the past few years, there have been numerous achievements and progress in the work coupled with the thirst for tackling new high-level problems, which has propelled Siddhant to explore many new heights in large-scale distributed computing. There are new standards that have been set by his leadership and vision about how resources can be optimized making him a central figure in the tech world that continually yearns for efficiency and optimization.IS it Beyonce? Or could it be Shakira? Or might it even be a rediscovered picture of Jodie Marsh, circa 2003? No. This blonde bombshell, looking markedly more tanned than usual, is Kim Kardashian. 19 From Botox jabs to laser treatments - Kim Kardashian admits there's nothing she won't do to look younger Credit: SKIMS 19 A fresh-faced Kim K pictured in 2006 at a fashion party Credit: Getty 19 Kim backstage at Jessica Simpson's fashion show in 2007 Credit: Getty 19 Kim, pictured in 2008, has gone from Paris Hilton’s stylist to a billionaire businesswoman Credit: Getty 19 The Kardashian pictured in 2009 at a Christmas charity bash Credit: Rex Features You know, the American-Armenian reality star whose signature look is long, raven hair. In the latest promotional for her Skims underwear brand, the 44-year-old wears a teeny-weeny fur bikini from the Winter Heat collection, which goes on sale today. But it seems the sexy picture is getting less attention for the clothes — or lack of — and more for Kim looking unrecognisable. Fans posted on social media that they “thought it was Beyonce”, “It’s giving Shakira” and “Award for the Best Supporting Actor goes to the wig.” READ MORE ON KIM K KIM-CREDIBLE How Kim K spends ‘more than most people’s salaries’ on tweakments every month SOLE MATE How celebs like Kim Kardashian use pics of their FEET to rake in extra £100k One fan wrote: “Why are you dressed up like Beyonce, lol.” The mum-of-four posted several pictures of herself wearing the knitwear-heavy range including a cream cami with cable-knit trousers and a blue bralette. Whether Kim intentionally dressed up as her old pal and pop star Beyonce , 43, for the photoshoot is uncertain. But the age-defying snaps prove Kim is the ultimate chameleon. Most read in Celebrity HIDE AND SEEK 90s Brit music star looks unrecognisable 26 years after debut album NOT SO SIMPLE Child abuse, heroin battles & cheating - the dark side of The Simple Life KIM-CREDIBLE How Kim K spends ‘more than most people’s salaries’ on tweakments every month DAVINA'S DATE Davina McCall can't keep hands off boyfriend on first night out since surgery Over the past two decades, she has gone from Paris Hilton’s stylist to a billionaire businesswoman, and Kim has reinvented her look more times than we can count. She has experimented with pink and platinum blonde hair and has been accused of cultural appropriation for wearing braids. Kate Hudson, Goldie Hawn and family model for Kim Kardashian’s Skims- but fans spot vital member missing from photoshoot But her risk-taking paid off as she has been given one of the most coveted spots in the industry — the cover of American Vogue — three times. In 2022, Balenciaga creative director Demna Gvasalia said: “I think for many, many years, there hasn’t been anyone who has redefined the standards of beauty as much as Kim has. “She did something that is very similar to what Marilyn Monroe did back in the day. “She redefined our understanding of what beauty is.” Kim has previously discussed the unnerving lengths to which she would go to remain looking youthful. She said: “I was kind of joking, but now that I think about it, I would probably eat s*** if someone told me, ‘If you eat this bowl of poop every single day, you’ll look younger’.” 19 Kim K stuns in a figure-hugging mini dress in 2010 Credit: Getty 19 Kim attends the Charlotte Ronson Fall 2011 fashion show Credit: Getty 19 Kim Kardashian arrives at 2012 amfAR's Cinema Against AIDS during the 65th Annual Cannes Film Festival Credit: Getty 19 Kim K appears on The Jay Leno Show with lighter hair in 2013 Credit: Getty 19 Kim stuns in a sexy pink latex dress while promoting her fragrance in 2014 Credit: Getty 19 Kim at 2016's Met Gala, where the theme was 'Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology' Credit: Getty Images - Getty On the topic of cosmetic surgery, for which her honesty has always been admirable, she said: “I always want to look appropriate. There does come a point when you’ve taken it too far — overfilled, too tight, too much cosmetic work.” She added, without irony: “There’s nothing worse.” In another interview that year, she revealed: “I really genuinely care about looking good. "I probably care more than 90 per cent of the people on this planet. It’s not easy when you’re a mum and you’re exhausted at the end of the day or you’re in school, and I’m all of the above. I do my beauty treatments usually late at night. “After everyone’s in bed, I’m doing laser treatments.” Kim, who has almost had as many careers as she has changing faces, more recently took up acting with a role as a ruthless publicist in the 12th series of American Horror Story. Read more on the Scottish Sun SNOW HOPE Scotland's white Christmas forecast update as major weather twist on the way DRIVE TIME Scotland's lesser-known road trip crowned one of world's best and it's not NC500 On The Kardashians, she said: “I can do a movie a year. I’ve got about ten years where I still look good. That’s all I’ve got in me then I’ll take some time off.” Maybe then we will get to see the real au naturel Kim . . . 19 Kim, pictured in 2017, has always been admirably honest about cosmetic procedures Credit: Getty - Contributor 19 The Kardashian beauty experimented with pink hair in 2018 Credit: Getty - Contributor 19 Kim stuns in a swimsuit for a SKIMS campaign in 2019 Credit: Refer to Caption 19 Kim K was accused of cultural appropriation for wearing braids in 2020 Credit: Getty 19 Kim channels Cher in a pink bodysuit and ruffled jacket in 2021 Credit: Getty Images - Getty 19 Kim debuts platinum hair in 2022 Credit: Getty 19 Kim Kardashian put on a risqué display at the 2023 Met Gala, with pearls covering her bare chest Credit: Getty 19 Fans think Kim looks unrecognisable in her latest Skims campaign Credit: SKIMS