These attacks are realheres what you do.NurPhoto via Getty ImagesThe raft of recent FBI warnings hitting smartphone and computer users should not be a surprise. The threat landscape is rapidly worsening, whether from Chinese hackers penetrating U.S. networks or unpaid toll scams spiraling out of control. And much more dangerous AI-fueled attacks will soon turn all this up to eleven.As I reported last week, the bureau is now warning website users to beware a scam involving free online document converter tools, with criminals using converter tools to load malware onto victims computers, leading to incidents such as ransomware.Now the bureau has confirmed this threat is ongoing, with users continuing to fall victim. FBI warnings are true, says Bleeping Computer, fake file converters do push malware. An FBI spokesperson told the site that the scammers try to mimic URLs that are legit, so changing just one letter, or 'INC instead of CO. Users who in the past would type free online file converter into a search engine are vulnerable, as the algorithms used for results now often include paid results, which might be scams.The best way to thwart these fraudsters, the FBI says, is to educate people so they dont fall victim to these fraudsters in the first place. Every day, we are working to hold these scammers accountable and provide victims with the resources they need. Yes, you should check URLs and avoid free ads topping search. But in reality you should not use online document converters at all stick to established apps and platforms.The FBI did not point out any specifics websites to avoid. Cue threat hunter Will Thomas, who has posted some example URLs on X, and Malwarebytes, which has published some recent examples of domains involved in this type of scam:Imageconvertors[.]com (phishing)convertitoremp3[.]it (Riskware)convertisseurs-pdf[.]com (Riskware)convertscloud[.]com (Phishing)convertix-api[.]xyz (Trojan)convertallfiles[.]com (Adware)freejpgtopdfconverter[.]com (Riskware)primeconvertapp[.]com (Riskware)9convert[.]com (Riskware)Convertpro[.]org (Riskware).This threat, per the FBIs warning, bleeds into the ransomware attacks hitting organizations across the U.S., public and private, large and small. As CBS News reports, federal investigators suggest the file converter method of attack may be behind the February ransomware attack of a Davenport, Iowa-based media company.Thankfully, this is now getting more press coverage which will increase awareness. As to what you do, per Bleeping Computer, while not all file converters are malware, its essential to research them before using and check reviews before downloading any programs. If a site is relatively unknown, it is better to avoid it altogether.

Google is currently moving full steam ahead with the development of Android 16. Following the release of a third beta update just over a week ago, Android 16 has reached the platform stability milestone. Though the latest test build is light on feature updates, it brings a cool new trick. On Pixel smartphones, users can now unlock their phone even if the screen is completely dark. First spotted by the folks over at Android Authority, the new Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock feature has been integrated within the phones Security & Privacy dashboard. Recommended VideosSo far, Pixel smartphone users had to wake up the screen and put their thumb atop the fingerprint sensor icon on the Lock Screen. This had to be done either by waking up the screen with a tap gesture, or by pressing the power button. Please enable Javascript to view this contentThanks to the new screen-off unlock convenience, users can simply place their thumb atop the in-display fingerprint sensor and get past the Lock Screen. There is no longer an intermittent hassle of lighting up the screen.Nadeem Sarwar / Digital TrendsI was able to enable this feature after installing the Android 16 Beta 3.1 build, which runs atop the March 2025 security update, on aPixel 8 smartphone. The new feature is a thoughtful convenience and works flawlessly. It does, however, take a bit of muscle memory to land the thumb right above the fingerprint sensor on an otherwise dark screen. Also worth noting here is the fact that Google wont be the first smartphone maker to offer this convenience. I tried unlocking my OnePlus 13 and Samsung Galaxy S25 without waking up the screen, and it works just fine. Both devices are currently running Android 15, and notably, offer a faster fingerprint unlock experience compared to the Pixel 8, irrespective of whether the screen is on or off. Id like to point out that the screen-off fingerprint unlock system has arrived with a beta build, and Google might remove or delay it when the stable Android 16 update starts rolling out widely in the coming months.For now, your only option to experience it is by enrolling in the Android 16 beta-testing program on a compatible Google Pixel smartphone. I would, however, recommend waiting out a few more weeks for the stable update to land on your Pixel smartphone, and save yourself the buggy mess of test builds.Editors Recommendations

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsWhat to expect from Samsungs smart glasses?Lifting from Metas success formula?Samsungs Project Moohan XR headset has grabbed all the spotlights in the past few months, and rightfully so. It serves as the flagship launch vehicle for a reinvigorated Android XR platform, with plenty of hype from Googles own quarters. But it seems Samsung has even more ambitious plans in place and is reportedly experimenting with different form factors that go beyond the headset format. According to Korea-based ET News, the company is working on a pair of smart glasses and aims to launch them by the end of the ongoing year. Recommended VideosCurrently in development under the codename HAEAN (machine-translated name), the smart glasses are reportedly in the final stages of locking the internal hardware and functional capabilities. The wearable device will reportedly come equipped with camera sensors, as well. The Even G1 smart glasses have optional clip-on gradient shades. Photo by Tracey Truly / Digital TrendsThe latest leak doesnt dig into specifics about the internal hardware, but another report from Samsungs home market sheds some light on the possibilities. As per Maeil Business Newspaper, the Samsung smart glasses will feature a 12-megapixel camera built atop a Sony IMX681 CMOS image sensor. It is said to offer a dual-silicon architecture, similar to Apples Vision Pro headset. The main processor on Samsungs smart glasses is touted to be Qualcomms Snapdragon AR1 platform, while the secondary processing hub is a chip supplied by NXP. The onboard camera will open the doors for vision-based capabilities, such as scanning QR codes, gesture recognition, and facial identification. The smart glasses will reportedly tip the scales at 150 grams, while the battery size is claimed to be 155 mAh.MetaAn onboard AI will reportedly be their key selling point. In this case, Samsung will rely on Googles Gemini assistant. The approach is not too different from Meta, which has already integrated its Meta AI atop the Stories smart glasses created in partnership with Ray-Ban. The report also mentions that Samsungs smart glasses will be similar to the Ray-Ban Meta AI Glasses, which is not a bad approach. Meta has tasted quite some unexpected success with its camera-equipped smart glasses and it is now pushing ahead with far more ambitious ideas such as the Orion holographic glasses. Samsung is reportedly planning an initial batch of half a million units for its smart glasses, and it is quite likely that we will get a glimpse at the companys next Unpacked event somewhere around July. Google, on the other hand, continues to tease its own smart glasses with Gemini and the futuristic Project Astra capabilities, but hasnt made any product launch commitments so far. It would be interesting to see how Samsung steers the direction of the Android XR platform atop the smart glasses vehicle.Editors Recommendations

On a sunny Wednesday afternoon in late February, Ernesto Tey walked from a meeting on the west side of Manhattan to the heliport at 30th Street on the Hudson River. He was early for his 3 p.m. Blade helicopter flight to Kennedy International Airport, so he ordered a drink at the lounge bar.A self-described "plane geek" who works for a software company and flies single-engine aircraft in his spare time, the Californian says he's taken about 30 Blades to and from Manhattan over the last few years. The nine-minute ride starts at $95 for those with a pass, and when an Uber in rush-hour traffic can take more than an hour and set you back more than $100, it doesn't sound so unreasonable.Plus, it's fun and the views are wild. "Where else can you fly in a helicopter for between $100 and $200?" he told me.A few minutes later, Tey and I and two other passengers climbed aboard a six-seat helicopter just feet from Hudson River Park's busy waterfront walking and bike path and soared 1,400 feet above the Hudson, around the southern tip of Manhattan, and across Brooklyn.Helicopter commuter and private charter services are steadily transforming the whirlybird from a plaything of the ultrawealthy to an on-demand rideshare for anyone with access to a company card or willing to blow a few hundred dollars on an Instagrammable experience. "Blading" has become a verb for the Hamptons set, as the industry has expanded its footprint in recent years, particularly in the New York City area.Less pleased with the rise of whirlybirds are those literally below them.Over the past few years, New Yorkers have taken to the city's nonemergency 311 complaint line to register their displeasure like never before. Helicopter noise complaints exploded by 678% in two years, from 3,332 in 2019 to 25,916 in 2021, based on 311 data compiled by Business Insider. Complaints more than doubled to 59,127 in 2023. Last year, they dropped to 28,686 still far above the pre-COVID normal.The surge in complaints aligns with the rise of private charter and commuter services, on top of a loosely regulated sightseeing helicopter industry and a spike in law enforcement chopper flights. An analysis by the New York City Council of flights and complaints in May 2023 found that trips like the one I took from Manhattan to the airport and tour choppers from New Jersey generated the most complaints. But local, state, and federal leaders have done little to stop the chop in recent years.For all the hubbub about helicopters, they're only the harbinger of a future of much more crowded skies. The industry is on the verge of transformation by long-awaited electric choppers that the federal government, local policymakers, and helicopter services are already embracing as a way to vastly expand the air-taxi industry and make vertical urban travel mainstream.Helicopter commuting is nothing new in the Big Apple. Modern helicopters were invented at the start of World War II. In the 1950s, the aviation company New York Airways began offering relatively cheap chopper rides from the roof of a midtown Manhattan skyscraper to the city's airports. A deadly crash in 1977 tarnished the industry's glamorous image, but in the decades since, the city's skies have filled back up with choppers, including so-called "nonessential" charter flights and sightseeing services, as well as "essential" law enforcement, media, and medical flights."It's like a bus to me. It's just transportation." Blade is on a mission to vastly expand rideshare in the skies. Its CEO, Rob Wiesenthal, told me the company's passenger business has grown from about $2 million in revenue in 2014 to more than $100 million last year. Earlier this year, it opened up its $95 airport shuttle service for Long Island and New Jersey commuters marketing it as a way to skip New York City's new $9 congestion pricing toll on drivers below 60th Street. "If you think about $75 for parking and $9 for congestion pricing and $13 to $26 for whichever tunnel or bridge you take, you actually save money with the pass," Wiesenthal said. (He doesn't mention New York City's vast network of commuter trains. The A train from the airport will set you back a grand total of $2.90).What struck me about my fellow Blade passengers was how casually they treated the experience. Stephanie Fuhrman, who works for a software company based out of Utah, was in New York for business and opted for a Blade to save time getting back to JFK. "It's like a bus to me," she said. "It's just transportation." Plus, her Uber from the airport to Manhattan in morning traffic had taken about an hour and a half and cost her nearly $200, she said. "I couldn't take the risk going to the airport."The fourth passenger on our flight, Donal Collins, falls into the other category of Blade customer: leisure travelers seeking a joyride. The 27-year-old, who works at a Brooklyn-based AI startup, loves to fly, but this was his first whirlybird ride. On his way from New York to California, he decided to use the Blade gift card his brother had given him for Christmas. Blade's clientele ranges from C-suite executives to executive assistants. They're Hamptons-goers, commuters, and thrill seekers and they've gotten younger over the years as prices have come down. Blade's busiest days are Thursdays, Fridays, and Mondays when long-weekend travelers mix with the business crowd.While the cost of a chopper ride might be low for a well-compensated white-collar worker, the quality-of-life negatives for those they fly over are remarkably high.Looking down at the tiny skyscrapers from my seat next to the pilot, I was reminded of the similarly beautiful day in late September I'd spent picnicking on Governors Island off Lower Manhattan. What struck me then and helped inspire my obsession with the helicopter industry was how difficult it was to enjoy the idyllic car-free oasis with the near-constant chop-chop of helicopters overhead. Like many of the city's waterfront parks, the island has become what one anti-helicopter advocate told me is "ground zero" for chopper traffic.> Critics of the helicopter industry point to the safety hazards of congested skies and the environmental impact of the fuel-spewing machines. But the window-rattling racket they make tops the list of concerns. Loud, disruptive noise can have a range of physical and mental effects "from raising the biomarkers for stress to changing how people's hearts and metabolisms work, and reducing people's lifespan," Nick Shapiro, a professor of biology and society at UCLA who studies the health impacts of helicopter policing, told me. One 2017 study linked aviation noise to disrupted sleep, an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and lower academic performance among kids. Aircraft noise is especially annoying because it's both loud and intermittent, Shapiro told me. Helicopters fly lower than planes and have the least regulated traffic patterns.Chopper noise doesn't affect everyone the same way. People who've lived in war-torn or hyper-policed areas might have a more acute mental or physical reaction. "Different populations might feel stalked or harassed by that noise in a way that is culturally and historically informed," Shapiro said.In the case of policing, the noise is often the point. Beginning during the 1965 Watts riots, the Los Angeles Police Department pioneered the use of helicopters to patrol neighborhoods. Flying low, sometimes using spotlights, most of the flights were used to deter crime rather than respond to emergencies. "The sonic impacts are intended and part of its hypothesized efficacy," Shapiro said. "It's about seeing the helicopter, rather than the helicopter seeing what's happening on the ground." A 2023 audit found the LAPD's helicopter program costs about $47 million a year more than the budgets of 14 city agencies and found "little evidence" that it reduced crime.New Yorkers have long made a stink about helicopters over their streets. Mayor Rudy Giuliani closed one of the city's heliports in 1997 under pressure from incensed residents. In 2016, the New York City Council came close to shutting down two of the city's heliports, but Mayor Bill de Blasio settled on a compromise that halved the number of tourist flights that originate in the city from 60,000 flights a year to 30,000. Since then, New Jersey has seen a surge in helicopter tour operators, which fly an unknown number of choppers over the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, and everywhere in between, unrestricted by the city's regulations. The New York City Council analysis of 2023 helicopter traffic found that the number of tourist choppers in city airspace that originated in New Jersey and Westchester County was about the same as the number launching from the city.Melissa Elstein began noticing an uptick in helicopters flying over her Upper West Side apartment and over Central Park in summer 2019. When she found out many were doors-off, shoe-selfie tourist choppers, she was incensed. "It's really insane that this is even allowed, especially given that we're also the most densely populated city and with some of the busiest skies," she told me. So Elstein decided to help revive Stop the Chop NY/NJ, a group pushing for much stricter regulation of nonessential choppers. The group has some high-profile supporters, including members of Congress and local elected officials.While the city controls what happens at its heliports, only the federal government, specifically the Federal Aviation Administration, controls New York City's airspace. New York Reps. Jerry Nadler, Carolyn Maloney, and Nydia Velzquez have introduced federal legislation to ban nonessential choppers over the city. Some local lawmakers support the federal ban and want to see the city government end tourist and commuter flights from city-owned and operated heliports."There's just no reason that we should have city-owned helipads to fly the Uber elite out to JFK or the Hamptons at the expense of the quality of life and well-being of our communities," Lincoln Restler, a Brooklyn City council member, told me.There's precedent for regulating or banning helicopter traffic. There are no-fly zones above some of the country's most prized monuments the White House and the US Capitol and, naturally, Disney World and Disney Land. Some major cities around the world, including Paris, have also basically banned nonessential chopper flights. And several European countries have ended short-haul plane flights to help curb carbon emissions.It's clear we're hurtling toward a future of highways in the sky. But it's not clear this future appeals to the average city dweller. New York City's Economic Development Corporation, which runs two of the three public heliports, has resisted efforts to further crack down on tourist flights in the city, citing the tourism dollars it brings in. Restler told me he doubts EDC's defense of helicopter tourism, calling it "kind of farcical" and instead motivated by a desire to keep the wealthiest New Yorkers happy. For all the headache, the city-owned heliports only bring in about $3 million a year in revenue, Anton Fredriksson, EDC's director of aviation, told me."Essential flights" are also a growing part of the noise problem. Under Mayor Eric Adams, the New York police department's use of law enforcement choppers has risen dramatically. A 2024 Bloomberg investigation found that the force's helicopters spent 60% more time in the air in 2023 than in the previous four years. The NYPD's spending on the helicopter program more than doubled between fiscal year 2021 and 2023 to $12.3 million.The helicopter industry is on the verge of a major transformation. In 2023, the FAA published a report outlining its path to approving the first so-called electric vertical takeoff and landing, or eVTOL, aircraft for commercial flight by 2025 and widespread use by 2028. These machines are basically electric versions of helicopters and have been hyped by the Silicon Valley set for years. Some chopper services, including Blade, want them to replace their use of combustion-engine helicopters."This is the first phase of a really exciting new age where instead of moving around on the ground, we're able to move around in the air," Eric Allison, the chief product officer of one California-based eVTOL company, Joby Aviation, told me. Joby has partnered with Uber, Delta, Toyota, and the US government, and aims to launch its air taxi services at Uber Black prices and eventually hopes to bring them closer to UberX prices. It's not clear when they'll get final certification from the FAA to start ferrying people around the US, but they're undergoing approval in Dubai.After resisting the regulation of traditional helicopters for decades, New York leaders are embracing the electric rotor industry with open arms as the solution to noise and air pollution. Some support lifting caps on flights if they're electric. The mayor and EDC invited Joby and a German company to show off their machines in a test flight in downtown Manhattan in late 2023. Adams predicted at the event that "within our lifetime, many of you are going to own your own personal electric helicopter." There are some clear upsides to the technology eVTOLs are much quieter than combustion-engine helicopters, and they don't spew jet fuel.Even some city lawmakers who've led the charge against the helicopter industry are welcoming their electric counterparts. "The future of electric air taxi travel represents innovation, sustainability, and expanded transportation options for our city," Amanda Faras, the New York City Council majority leader, said in a statement.Restler is more cautious. "Until we actually experience how they work in practice and what impacts they have, we don't know kind of what regulatory structure we need to protect the health, well-being, and safety of our communities," he said.Earlier this month, Blade announced it's expanding its JFK flight offerings to the downtown Manhattan heliport in an effort to help the heliport's new operator "gather data on consumer demand, flier experience, and logistics" and transition to eVTOLs.It's clear we're hurtling toward a future of highways in the sky and we're already there in NYC. But it's not clear it's one that appeals to the average city dweller. It might warrant asking the question: Do we want the 1% taking over the skies?Eliza Relman is a policy correspondent focused on housing, transportation, and infrastructure on Insider's economy team.

Can you smell the testosterone? Suddenly, America's top CEOs seem to be taking their cues from Logan Roy, Rambo, and, most conspicuously, Donald Trump.Jiujitsu-fighting, MAGA-fied Mark Zuckerberg went on Joe Rogan's podcast to bemoan corporate culture for becoming "neutered" and called instead for "aggression," saying "masculine energy" is "good" and criticism of it had gone too far. Jamie Dimon has gone on f-bomb-filled screeds about how coddled employees need to get back to the office. A buff Jeff Bezos has laid down the hammer at The Washington Post, demanding editors give him a "hell yes" to affirm they're all in on "personal liberties and free markets." Elon Musk, emboldened by Trump to be more "aggressive," is shouting "chainsaw!" as he makes brutal cuts to the federal bureaucracy. And even if that Zuck-Musk cage match got canceled, the ready-to-rumble spirit persists: Musk posted to X earlier this month that he "literally challenged Putin to one-on-one physical combat over Ukraine."Not in the least surprised by all this chest-thumping: women in business.I spoke to several female founders, along with psychologists and sociologists, who see the resurgent machoism in corporate America and the related dismantling of DEI programs, RTO mandates, layoffs, and calls for "intensity" as the onset of a new era of backlash. On the one hand, some women fear that aggressive company culture in the Trump 2.0 era may push them out of corporate positions and continue trends like underrepresentation in the tech sector. On the other, some see it as galvanizing. "The backlash is a sign that we're making serious progress," says Maureen Clough, the host of "It Gets Late Early," a podcast about ageism in the workplace, sharing the sentiment of several women I spoke to. "Now we know who these people are," she adds. "The masks and the gloves are off."While some see these displays of strongmanhood as a means of placating and fending off regulatory action from the Trump administration, others see it as seizing the political moment to opportunistically return to masculine norms in the workplace. It's "not about money, it's more about them wanting to have the playground they've always had," says Sapna Cheryan, a professor of psychology at the University of Washington. Jennifer Berdahl, a professor of sociology at the University of British Columbia, uses a similar analogy. "It's like boys in a sandbox but scaling it to billionaires. It's the concept of precarious manhood: Almost no matter how much you succeed, it's just never enough." She adds, "What they're really calling for is for dominance contests to go free, almost like a gladiator arena."The gladiator games don't just play out among the top alphas those down the chain watch and learn. After Musk called a researcher a "retard" on X, for example, the use of the slur soon tripled on the platform, a study from Montclair State University found. In a January article titled "Is corporate America going MAGA?" an (ironically) anonymous banker told the Financial Times, "I feel liberated. We can say 'retard' and pussy' without the fear of getting canceled." Gen Z men are less likely than millennial men to say the term "feminist" describes them, according to a 2023 survey from the Survey Center on American Life. Almost half of them said they feel men face discrimination in the US. Meanwhile, only 49% of women feel women in the US are treated with respect and dignity, down from 66% in 2015, a Gallup survey found.Many women are fed up. And, tired of waiting on corporate America, they're increasingly building their own arenas.Over the past decade, women have made significant, if uneven, gains in the corporate workforce. Women now make up 10.4% of CEOs at Fortune 500 companies, up from just 4.6% in 2015. The overwhelming majority of this small group is white. Women are now outpacing men in becoming entrepreneurs; today they own nearly 39% of American businesses, increasing the number of women-led companies by 13.6% between 2019 and 2023, a 2024 Wells Fargo report said. Firms owned by men grew by just 7% in the same time period. In Silicon Valley, however, Zuckerberg's "masculine energy" quip doesn't track with reality. As of 2022, women made up just 22% of tech workers. That's the same proportion of jobs they held in 2005, the year after Facebook was founded. Women accounted for 16% of first-time VC-backed entrepreneurs and only 9% of entrepreneurs who get VC-backing for two startups, according to a 2024 paper that looked at aggregate data from Pitchbook.The promises of the girlboss era, meanwhile, have come up short. In the 2010s, Sheryl Sandberg called on ambitious women to "lean in." Work hard enough, assert yourself, and you can have it all. But the girlboss was an empty caricature, idolizing women who'd squeezed their way into the C-suite while trying old leadership tactics and wearing high heels. They were feminine and white, often thin and privileged. And, as Michelle Obama famously said of "leaning in" in 2018, "That shit doesn't work all the time."A sprinkling of female founders and executives in a world run by men hasn't transformed it: Toxic workplaces still emerged at several women-led companies. Steph Korey of Away was outed as a Slack bully (she apologized). Glossier workers reported discrimination and mistreatment under founder and former CEO Emily Weiss's tenure (Weiss apologized, too). Elizabeth Holmes lied to investors and risked lives (she apologized, and is serving an 11-year prison sentence). Sandberg herself is facing new allegations of toxic behavior: A new memoir by Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former policy director at Facebook (now Meta), claims that Sandberg had a young assistant sleep in her lap and demanded the author join her in bed on a private jet. The book, "Careless People," also highlights the ways women at Facebook felt leadership had failed them. Meta has slammed the book as inaccurate, calling it a "mix of out-of-date and previously reported claims about the company and false accusations about our executives." A spokesperson for Sandberg's Lean In organization declined to comment on the memoir, but directed me to its website for information about ways Lean In sees itself as evolving to help women of all backgrounds navigate barriers and biases they may face at work.Even if you have more women, they'll still assimilate to the workplace culture you have. Erika Lucas, founder of StitchCrew Women have proved they can behave just as badly as men but even when they're on their best behavior or make minor missteps, they're hit with harsh criticism men are more likely to evade. A 2020 study from the Stanford Graduate School of Business found that men are more valued than women when they "take charge." The "founder mode," hands-on, direct style of management can backfire for women as Airbnb CEO and founder mode proselytizer Brian Chesky posted on X last fall: "Women founders have been reaching out to me over the past 24 hours about how they don't have permission to run their companies in Founder Mode the same way men can. This needs to change.""Even if you have more women, they'll still assimilate to the workplace culture you have," says Erika Lucas, the founder of StitchCrew, a nonprofit focused on fostering equitable entrepreneurship, and VEST, a women's peer network and investment fund. "Women are being conditioned to fit into this meritocracy, or fit within these toxic systems because that's all we have." As Cheryan puts it, "masculine defaults" are diffuse in the workplace "because men made companies in their image. The return of those defaults are pushing more women to ditch corporate America and go out on their own, says Lucas. "The reason why we're seeing more women-led companies starting is because corporate America is not working for women."When companies won't offer work-from-home policies or flexibility that working parents need, it can embolden people to become more entrepreneurial and build under their own terms. "Oftentimes the easiest way to find that is to build it yourself," says Jaclyn Pascocello, the founder of Fabrik, a networking space for people to grow their communities, noting that it's still not easy to launch a company. But in this climate of ascendant machoism, she says, she is seeing a collective of women coming together at Fabrik and starting to build companies to address issues sometimes ignored by men. Those can include solutions for women's health and caregiving. "It really feels like there's a ton of women trying to lift each other up," she said.But oversimplifying "masculine" or "feminine" traits to fit narrow boxes "is doing everyone a disservice," says Ashley Rose, the cofounder and CEO of the cybersecurity firm Living Security. "You need to find people that possess the traits that work well in your culture." Similarly, the concept of DEI has been misrepresented and turned into a dirty acronym by the political right, says Virginia Cumberbatch, a global DEI strategist and consultant. While DEI implementation has been lacking and its results disappointing at some firms, there are ways for new and old companies to create initiatives to foster diversity, even in the current political climate. "We've allowed DEI to be a catchall that's kind of lost its meaning," Cumberbatch says. DEI, she says, shouldn't be thought of as a blanket fix. Equity looks different in the work of a university or an architecture firm. And companies that are serious about building diverse, equitable, and inclusive environments need to give authority to the people who work in it at a senior level. "It has to be pervasive in every dimension of your organization or your brand, or it is just rhetoric," she says.There's no business case for stifling diversity. Many studies have found that having a diverse staff is good for companies financially, and benefits like extended parental leave, caregiving resources, and flexibility help with employee retention and burnout. And Big Tech businesses have ballooned in value while they publicly called for diversity, but they ride the tides of public opinion. Personalities that are power-obsessed often swing politically to hold onto their prestige. With that reality exposed, some women are changing their responses. Vanessa Jupe, the founder of Leva, a platform to support new parents, says she became more politically active in the 2024 election and supported Kamala Harris' campaign by canvassing her neighborhood and donating money. Some Facebook groups dedicated to campaigning for Harris have morphed into places of action, with members organizing to write letters and calling lawmakers to express frustration with the Trump administration. Escalating tactics could include strikes, sit-ins, picketing, and actions like the late February economic blackout targeted at large retailers. "There's a full-frontal assault on women and people of color," Jupe says. "The time to play nice is not now. You cannot have kid gloves on when you're fighting against really silly bullies."The era of the girlboss is long dead. No singular trope or central figure has taken its place in 2025 which may be a good thing. "Nobody should be made into a hero," Lucas says. "My hope for women is that we start building power collectively." That also means pushing for change by showing that companies can be "successful because you actually operate it in a different way," Cheryan says. Women have stopped thinking they can "have it all" by leaning in, and instead are calling on men to do more at home and work toward more equitable workplaces and opting out of marriage and traditional corporate America if they don't.Leaders who are willing to disrupt corporate culture norms have an enormous opportunity to lure top talent away from workplaces that aren't. We're not likely to see a few women rising through the ranks and joining the boys on stage in a cage match and that's for the best, but there's a culture shift unfolding that could allow them to make something new.Amanda Hoover is a senior correspondent at Business Insider covering the tech industry. She writes about the biggest tech companies and trends.

Passive House Lli de Vall / Arquitectura LocalSave this picture! Marta VidalHousesLli de Vall, SpainArchitects: Arquitectura LocalAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:138 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2021 PhotographsPhotographs:Marta Vidal Lead Architects: Oscar Lpez More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. On a gently undulating plot, slightly elevated above street level and with a dominant topographical position, lay the site under study. It was framed by remnants of forest fragments that had withstood the impact of intense anthropogenic urbanization. During the initial meetings with the clients, the rarity of finding such preserved spaces was highlighted. While such corners existed, identifying them required a careful search, as plots with these characteristics did not arrive at our studio every day.Save this picture!From the outset, the premises were clearly defined: nature would establish the fundamental conditions. The relationship between the interior and exterior became the guiding principle for the design.Save this picture!Save this picture!The conservation of the trees was considered an option, but was it truly the most optimal choice? Probably not. The unconditional preservation of the pines could affect the essential solar gain necessary for the efficient functioning of the house. A careful balance had to be struck regarding the existing vegetation.Save this picture!The house was designed based on basic premises, centered on the creation of two horizontal planes that would offer a sheltered living space. The expansive roof extends beyond the enclosures to dematerialize the facade planes.Save this picture!Save this picture!Beneath the roof, four ceramic boxes define the more private areas. In this way, an open space is created between the boxes, spacious enough to accommodate the daytime program, ensuring a functional and fluid layout.With a tight budget, the goal was to simplify all systems as much as possible, stripping away unnecessary elements. This approach represented a significant challenge for the studio, demonstrating the feasibility of building with limited resources by adapting needs and maximizing the potential of the materials used.Save this picture!The thermal inertia of the enclosures, combined with the high performance of the envelope, allowed us to dispense with heating systems. Only a central fireplace provides the necessary comfort. The high temperatures in summer are mitigated by porches that protect from direct radiation, while cross-ventilation ensures airflow to maintain optimal comfort.Save this picture!Save this picture!This project is paradigmatic of the studio's work, demonstrating that it is possible to achieve a high level of comfort without resorting to complex and costly systems. The combination of good design and investment in a high-performance envelope minimizes energy demand, eliminating the need for systems such as heating linked to aerothermal energy, which in this case is exclusively limited to domestic hot water (DHW) production. The central layout of the dining area, surrounded by cubicles, ensures the compactness of the design, allowing comfort to be maintained throughout the year with just a single fireplace and ceiling fans. This approach demonstrates that efficient design guarantees comfort and sustainability without incurring unnecessary additional costs.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessAbout this officeArquitectura LocalOfficePublished on March 24, 2025Cite: "Passive House Lli de Vall / Arquitectura Local" 24 Mar 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1028240/passive-house-llica-de-vall-arquitectura-local&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

Project Files: https://www.patreon.com/posts/122390418 .Here is a demonstration of Zombie horde simulation we implemented using unreal engine Niagara simulations system. Here the zombies are rendered as static meshes, but still they have detailed dynamic animations based on their behavior. Animations are implemented as material based vertex animations. You can watch the full tutorial series in following link.Unreal Zombie Horde Full tutorial series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNTm9yU0zou4yH4FzsiAOO0ittAIJ68e2&amp ;amp;si=6vbg2Xq6tsLgD4L- // ! https://www.patreon.com/codelikeme Patrons will have access to project files of all the stuff I do in the channel and other extra benefitsJoin this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClb6Jh9EBV7a_Nm52Ipll_Q/join Like my facebook page for more content : https://www.facebook.com/gamedevelopersclub/ Follow me on twitter : https://twitter.com/CodeLikeMe2 Follow me on reddit : https://www.reddit.com/user/codelikeme #CodeLikeMe #unrealengine #ue4 #indiegamedev

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Assassin's Creed Shadows has reached 2 million players, Ubisoft announces, providing no actual sales numbers yet.Investors seem to be just as unsure about Ubisoft's latest title as the gaming community:https://80.lv/articles/assassin-s-creed-shadows-reaches-2-million-players-no-sales-numbers-provided-yet/

ARK: Survival Evolved's AI-Animated Trailer Was Created By The Marketing Department, Said DevSnail Games' controversy and baffling official revealtrailer for ARK: Aquatica, an upcoming DLC for ARK: Survival Evolved, was like an entry-level test to see if people are blinded to spot the AI-generated imagery.With a 97% dislike rate and almost 6,000 comments of backlash, here are the studio's explanations about how this was created and released.Apparently, the marketing team is the scapegoat this time, as Lead Game Designer Matt Kohl told Pocket Tactics at GDC, "The marketing department used still images of some of our assets to create an AI-animated trailer. That was not part of the development team; we did not know that they were doing it."Kohl also said that no AI tools have been involved in the DLC's development at Snail Games, and the trailer doesn't represent the finished DLC.Admit it or not, this event has made Snail Games, a video game company that was founded 25 years ago and headquartered in Suzhou, China, more famous, in a way, regardless of whether they favor it or not. The studio was a big name in China around the 2010s, but has become relatively unknown in recent years. After a few failed attempts, it becamelisted on the Nasdaq in 2022.Coincidentally, the company also released announcement trailers around the same time as the DLC trailer for ARK: Survival Evolved for two other new projects made with Unreal Engine, Age of Wushu: WuXia and Age of Wushu: XiuXian. Both new titles are based on the company's video game intellectual property, Age of Wushu. Not surprisingly, Chinese gamers ridiculed both trailers due to the large amount of AI-generated content.