ʜᴏᴛ ʜᴏᴛ ʀᴏᴅɪᴍᴜs

"What'd be heavier?"

"The crown we bear?”

They weren’t my soldiers. Never mine. I didn’t own them. But I will carry each and every one with me. 

—

They have a Global Device Identifier (GDID) Tracker that functions as a fingerprint for your PC that can surpass VPNs, proxy servers and countries. Although it can't survive a clean reinstall of Windows (it can survive updates), because Microsoft forces you to go to the internet and log in into a Microsoft account, they will be able to get to you.

Microsoft kept it secret and it was only found out when the FBI tracked a hacker thanks to the information Microsoft gave them.

You should be paying attention to this, and possibly consider moving away from Windows. If a government, especially the US government, doesn't like you for some reason, this could be seriously concerning.

This article specifically notes:

For journalism, activism, or domestic abuse situations, skip Windows and use Linux routed through Tor instead of a commercial VPN. A GDID doesn’t care which VPN you use, only that it’s still the same Windows installation.

Other important quotes:

What has researchers uneasy is everything else the case reveals. Costin Raiu, a well-known malware researcher, asked on the Three Buddy Problem podcast how much of this exists on other platforms, and whether it is linked more permanently to hardware. Matthew Hickey, another security researcher, called Windows “surveillance software”.

Two things back that up:

There’s no consent screen. A GDID gets assigned when you sign into a Microsoft Account. Apple’s advertising identifier needs an App Tracking Transparency prompt and a visible reset; Android’s works the same way. GDID has neither, and a Windows reinstall only gets you a new number Microsoft can still get back to the same account.

Molly Brown, the Creature Concept Artist, has revealed her final designs of the Iron Lung creature, which she calls an eel and said in a comment that her name is Elli.

"First look of the eel and the very first concept I got to work on for Iron Lung! This was the final design, after a few iterations and crazy jaw ideas. She's a thing of beauty and I was absolutely stoked to have the opportunity of bringing her to life! Thank you so much to Mark and Amy for trusting me with this amazing creature.

More will come of other concepts I had the chance to work on, including rejected designs, unused ones, and other subjects."

Here is the fanart where she commented about her name for the creature Elli.

EDIT TO ADD NEW IMAGES: Molly Brown shared some unused designs for the monster eel. "Here's some unused designs for the blood eel! The first ever rough is the first image, already featuring the skulls merged with her face and the vein gills. The second idea was a combination of two human faces, which, when blurred or blasted with light, was supposed to better mimic the face of an actual creature. The two eye sockets at the center were made to be a big nasal cavity. The second idea also had the start of the eel's tail being made up of fragmenting human bodies. These are rougher concepts and obviously less rendered than the final, but I hope you enjoy!"