Tomorrow, NPRs CEO Katherine Maher goes before a DOGE congressional subcommittee to defend the public media outlets case for federal funding. Maher gives a preview to her testimony, sharing how funding cuts would impact Americans broad access to crucial news and information, particularly in rural and local areas. Maher also reveals NPRs strategy for reengaging with their audience, how the organization can better frame its identity as an outlet for all Americans, and more.This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by the former editor-in-chief of Fast Company Bob Safian. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features candid conversations with todays top business leaders navigating real-time challenges. Subscribe to Rapid Response wherever you get your podcasts to ensure you never miss an episode.When you joined NPR last year, the organization faced plenty of business challenges: audience engagement, business model. Since then, the environment just got a whole lot more fraught.There was a high profile criticism about newsroom bias last spring from an editor on the staff. That sounds almost quaint right now though. Youve been called to testify on Capitol Hill tomorrow to speak before the DOGE subcommittee in a hearing titled Anti-American Airwaves, alongside the head of PBS. What do you expect from that? What should we all expect? How do you prepare for that?Honestly, I view it as an opportunity. I view it as an opportunity to go and talk about all the great work that NPR does, but also the great work that our stations do. I think that thats something that often gets lost in the conversation about public radio is the overall percentage of funds that go directly to local stations.The importance of the local station network, and the fact that when people are listening to public radio, they are not listening to us broadcasting from D.C., theyre listening to their local station, which is probably, chances are, attached to a local university.Or its a community nonprofit, and its making the choices about what folks hear on the air. It probably has some call-in public affairs show where you can talk about whats going on that matters to you as a resident of your town, your city, et cetera.So, just really getting back to that, that feels like such an important part of what Im there to do.And, how do you prepare? I mean, you prepare by making sure you know what youre there to say, and you prepare by making sure you know what it is that you want to be able to communicate about the value of the work, and you prepare by a lot of practice. Its like trying to go to Carnegie Hall. Its a lot of practice.I was talking to a friend about doing this interview. He was telling me a story about talking to a colleague whos a MAGA republican, and he mentioned an episode, he said, Oh, Ill send you this episode of This American Life. And they were like, Oh, its on NPR. Oh, no. It almost sounds like there are people who are listening to NPR stations that maybe dont realize theyre NPR stations, or dont connect it to this conversation about, I dont know, it being anti-American.I really want to rebuff this idea that in any way that public radio is anti-American. For starters, we are a uniquely American model. We are a public-private partnership. For every single federal dollar we get, local stations raise an additional seven. They rely on their communities, they rely on local businesses. NPR is 25% of what you hear on public radio airwaves on average.In fact, 75% of stations programming is either other shows that they purchase or local shows that they produce. And, This American Life is a great example. We love This American Life. I heard Glass used to work at NPR. But its not an NPR program. It is a public radio program. Its part of the diverse texture of what is actually available.Theres 1,300 public radio stations across the country. They represent their local communities in ways that are hyper unique, whether were talking about high school basketball, the price of sorghum wheat.Its easy to forget about if youre just listening to the radio in perhaps New York or a D.C., is that all of this is very much in tune with whatevers going on in American lives at any particular point in time in this enormous nation of ours.NPR isnt a federal agency, as you have said. You get money from lots of different places. But, the subtext of this DOGE hearing is the prospect of losing federal funding or some important part of it. What would the practical impact of losing that funding be? I can imagine youve been preparing for this possibility even well before this hearing came up.We have to be prepared for all scenarios all the time. The thing that I would want everyone to know about federal funding is the impact that loss of federal funding would have on local stations.121.5 million goes to public radio on an annual basis, its a lot of money, I want to acknowledge that. And its also not a ton of money relative to the total size of the American public budget, right, the federal budget, a 100 million of that goes direct to local stations.And, disproportionately, the percentage of those funds goes to support stations that serve rural communities, that serve less affluent communities, that serve communities with really large areas of service, where the infrastructure investment in making sure that broadcast airwaves reach the country is significant.I think about my colleagues in Eastern Kentucky who have to put repeaters and hollers in order for Eastern Kentuckians to be able to hear those radio broadcasts. The loss of federal funding would directly impact the ability for stations to provide coverage, which currently 99.7% of the nation has access to airwaves.It would directly affect our ability to be part of the emergency broadcast system, and it would directly affect the ability of local stations to be able to continue to support commission and purchase programming about their communities.Thats where the harm would be. The harm would be for the local stations, and thats what were trying to avoid, because its very easy, again, in D.C. to forget that weve lost a third of newspapers across the country in the last 20 years.One fifth of Americans live in a news desert. Public radio, public broadcasting, your local newsroom is often the only news that folks have that actually cares about their community and covers the issues that listeners care about.Youre for all Americans, but you had an editor at NPR say, No, the news has been biased. The way you talk about COVID, or the Mueller report, or whatever. There is this impression from certain people in America that NPR is not for all Americans, and obviously, thats what the hearings about tomorrow.Yeah. And thats one of the reasons that Im here: I believe very deeply that that is our objective and our responsibility. I had someone come up to me and they said, Im a conservative. I grew up on NPR. I love NPR. And Im just not sure its a home for me right now.And that struck me. That cut me to the core. I want it to be a home for everyone. I want people to feel as though its their home for curiosity, its their home for understanding the world. Certainly, thats the role it played in my life as a young person.So, for starters, we have really reoriented the organization around audience needs. Broadcast radio is not the greatest way to understand audience needs because we just dont have that much information about how people are listening.But as we have more digital data around people who are coming to our websites, or listening to our podcasts, or even just streaming from our app, those linear radio experiences, it starts to be able to help us understand how to better serve audiences.In the past, the only audience research that we did was with people with college degrees, but only 35% of Americans have a college degree, which meant that we were not listening to the needs of all Americans. How do you run a media organization and say, 65% of my potential audience, Im not going to ask them what they want. So were doing that, which I think makes a really big difference.The thing that weve identified in terms of our audiences is that curiosity is the most common characteristic. And the great news is that curiosity is not a partisan trait. Curiosity exists in every demographic, every age group, every political persuasion. And so, thats a great place for us to hone in on our curiosity.Whats going on in the world? How do we explain it? How do we give people the information to go a little bit deeper, give them that context that helps them situate themselves? And I think its time for us to reintroduce ourselves as if this is what were here to do, and yes, were here to do it for everyone.Hows the mood and morale on your team these days?Theyre here to go to work. I just walked through the newsroom to get here to the studio, and everyones heads down, theyre working, theyre reporting, theyre producing, theyre getting ready to file their story for All Things Considered, or theyre getting ready for whatever band is coming in for Tiny Desk next.I think that the overall environment right now is that people really want to do the work. Theres a lot of news in the world today, whether were thinking about the transformative administration, whether were thinking about questions of space exploration.I think people feel as though, of course, this is a different moment in time, and it is really important that we show up and are responsive to peoples questions about the value of our work.I come back to the fact that when we talk about efficiency, public radio is remarkably efficient. The cost per public media per American is $1.60. Its basically when you go to check out at CVS and youre asked to round up to a good cause, thats us.Thats what we cost. Public radio costs less than $1.60, the public media as a whole is $1.60 per American per year. As I said, for every dollar of federal funding, $7 of private funding.Weve got a good story to tell, and 75% of Americans want to see public media maintain or increase its current funding levels. So, again, I think thats the story were here to tell.

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The Apple Savings APY falls again after a December drop, reaching a new all-time low of 3.75% APY.Apple Savings APY drops againApple launched a high-yield savings account attached to the Apple Card in April 2023 at 4.15% APY. It climbed up to 4.5% by January 2024 and saw its first rate cut in April to 4.4%, then a second cut to 4.25% in September, another to 4.10% in October, and then a drop to 3.90% in December.Apple has begun notifying Apple Savings users of another APY dip late Tuesday night. The 3.90% rate was an all-time low for the high-yield savings account, but it has reached a new low of 3.75%. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

If a sketchy leaker is correct, the iPhone 17 Air will be practically half the thickness of the iPhone 17 Pro Max.Renders of what the iPhone 17 Air could look like - Image Credit: AppleInsiderWe are firmly in the phase of the iPhone leak cycle where models and CAD drawings offer glimpses of what the upcoming releases will look like. In the latest image leak, the discussion is all about thickness.Apple is expected to be introducing the iPhone 17 Air as one of its fall updates for 2025. As the name implies, it is expected to be a very thin version of the iPhone, much thinner than other models on the roster. Rumor Score: Possible Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

The Witcher 4was formally unveiled as recently as December, having entered full production after a couple years of pre-production only a month prior. Its not surprising, then, that the game isnt anywhere close to releasing just yet.Spotted by PC Gamer, speaking during CD Projekts quarterly fiscal briefing, the companys chief financial officer Piotr Nielubowicz revealed in response to an investors question that the open world action RPG isnt going to launch until 2027 at the earliest.We are not going to announce the precise launch date for the game yet, Nielubowicz said. All we could share now to give more visibility to investors is that the game will not be launched within the time frame of the first target for the incentive program, which ends December 31, 2026.Given the fact that it hasnt even been half a year sinceThe Witcher 4entered full production, and given the scope of the project, it comes as no surprise that it will be at least a couple of years before its ready to release. The optimistically hopeful will doubtless have harboured the tiniest of hopes that the game would be ready sooner than expected, but this pretty much serves as confirmation that thats not going to be the case.

Paradox Interactives Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 has suffered another delay and will now launch in October. In a new video, World of Darkness executive VP Marco Behrmann revealed that significant strides have been made in development. Check it out below.Players can look forward to more content, narrative depth and character development while protagonist Fabiens role has evolved. Behrmann confirmed that the game is complete, but Paradox and developer The Chinese Room will take additional time to fix bugs, optimize performance, and more.While it asks fans to stay tuned for the release date, the team will place its developer diaries on hold as it continues polishing and refinement. Those keen on asking questions can visit the games official Discord.Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 was first announced in 2019. Previously developed by Hardsuit Labs, it would face multiple delays and an eventual reboot with The Chinese Room at the helm. Its coming to Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn MoreMicrosoft has built the largest enterprise AI agent ecosystem, and is now extending its lead with powerful new capabilities that position the company ahead in one of enterprise techs most exciting segments.The company announced Tuesday evening two significant additions to its Copilot Studio platform: deep reasoning capabilities that enable agents to tackle complex problems through careful, methodical thinking, and agent flows that combine AI flexibility with deterministic business process automation. Microsoft also unveiled two specialized deep reasoning agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot: Researcher and Analyst.We have customers with thousands of agents already, Microsofts Corporate Vice President for Business and Industry Copilot Charles Lamanna, told VentureBeat in an exclusive interview on Monday. You start to have this kind of agentic workforce where no matter what the job is, you probably have an agent that can help you get it done faster.Microsofts distinctive Analyst agentWhile the Researcher agent mirrors capabilities from competitors like OpenAIs Deep Research and Googles Deep Research, Microsofts Analyst agent represents a more differentiated offering. Designed to function like a personal data scientist, the Analyst agent can process diverse data sources, including Excel files, CSVs, and embedded tables in documents, generating insights through code execution and visualization.This is not a base model off the shelf, Lamanna emphasized. This is quite a bit of extensions and tuning and training on top of the core models. Microsoft has leveraged its deep understanding of Excel workflows and data analysis patterns to create an agent that aligns with how enterprise users actually work with data.The Analyst can automatically generate Python code to process uploaded data files, produce visualizations, and deliver business insights without requiring technical expertise from users. This makes it particularly valuable for financial analysis, budget forecasting and operational reporting use cases that typically require extensive data preparation.Deep reasoning: Bringing critical thinking to enterprise agentsMicrosofts deep reasoning capability extends agents abilities beyond simple task completion to complex judgment and analytical work. By integrating advanced reasoning models like OpenAIs o1 and connecting them to enterprise data, these agents can tackle ambiguous business problems more methodically.The system dynamically determines when to invoke deeper reasoning, either implicitly based on task complexity or explicitly when users include prompts like reason over this or think really hard about this. Behind the scenes, the platform analyzes instructions, evaluates context, and selects appropriate tools based on the task requirements.This enables scenarios that were previously difficult to automate. For example, one large telecommunications company uses deep reasoning agents to generate complex RFP responses by assembling information from across multiple internal documents and knowledge sources, Lamanna told VentureBeat. Similarly, Thomson Reuters employs these capabilities for due diligence in mergers and acquisition reviews, processing unstructured documents to identify insights, he said. See an example of the agent reasoning at work in the video below:Agent flows: Reimagining process automationMicrosoft has also introduced agent flows, which effectively evolve robotic process automation (RPA) by combining rule-based workflows with AI reasoning. This addresses customer demands for integrating deterministic business logic with flexible AI capabilities.Sometimes they dont want the model to freestyle. They dont want the AI to make its own decisions. They want to have hard-coded business rules, Lamanna explained. Other times they do want the agent to freestyle and make judgment calls.This hybrid approach enables scenarios like intelligent fraud prevention, where an agent flow might use conditional logic to route higher-value refund requests to an AI agent for deep analysis against policy documents.Pets at Home, a U.K.-based pet supplies retailer, has already deployed this technology for fraud prevention. Lamanna revealed the company has saved over a million pounds through the implementation. Similarly, Dow Chemical has realized millions of dollars saved for transportation and freight management through agent-based optimization.Below is a video showing the Agent Flows at work:The Microsoft Graph advantageCentral to Microsofts agent strategy is its enterprise data integration through the Microsoft Graph, which is a comprehensive mapping of workplace relationships between people, documents, emails, calendar events, and business data. This provides agents with contextual awareness that generic models lack.The lesser known secret capability of the Microsoft graph is that were able to improve relevance on the graph based on engagement and how tightly connected some files are, Lamanna revealed. The system identifies which documents are most referenced, shared, or commented on, ensuring agents reference authoritative sources rather than outdated copies.This approach gives Microsoft a significant competitive advantage over standalone AI providers. While competitors may offer advanced models, Microsoft combines these with workplace context and fine-tuning optimized explicitly for enterprise use cases and Microsoft tools.Microsoft can leverage the same web data and model technology that competitors can,Lamanna noted, but we then also have all the content inside the enterprise. This creates a flywheel effect where each new agent interaction further enriches the graphs understanding of workplace patterns.Enterprise adoption and accessibilityMicrosoft has prioritized making these powerful capabilities accessible to organizations with varying technical resources, Lamanna said. The agents are exposed directly within Copilot, allowing users to interact through natural language without prompt engineering expertise.Meanwhile, Copilot Studio provides a low-code environment for custom agent development. Its in our DNA to have a tool for everybody, not just people who can boot up a Python SDK and make calls, but anybody can start to build these agents, Lamanna emphasized.This accessibility approach has fueled rapid adoption. Microsoft previously revealed that over 100,000 organizations have used Copilot Studioand thatmore than 400,000 agents were created in the last quarter.The competitive landscapeWhile Microsoft appears to lead enterprise agent deployment today, competition is intensifying. Google has expanded its Gemini capabilities for agents and agentic coding, while OpenAIs o1 model and Agents SDK provide powerful reasoning and agentic tools for developers. Big enterprise application companies like Salesforce, Oracle, ServiceNow, SAP and others have all launched agentic platforms for their customers over the last year. And also on Tuesday, Amazons AWS released an AI agent, called Amazon Q in Quicksight, to let employees to engage via natural language to perform data analysis without specialized skills.Employees can use natural language to perform expert-level data analysis, ask what-if questions, and get actionable recommendations, helping them unlock new insights and make decisions fasterHowever, Microsofts advantage lies in its more comprehensive approacha strong coupling with the leading reasoning model company, OpenAI, while also offering model choice, enterprise-grade infrastructure, extensive data integration across workplace tools, and a focus on business outcomes rather than raw AI capabilities. Microsoft has created an ecosystem that looks like best practice by combining personal copilots that understand individual work patterns with specialized agents for specific business processes.For enterprise decision-makers, the message is clear: agent technology has matured beyond experimentation to practical business applications with measurable ROI. The choice of platform increasingly depends on integration with existing tools and data. In this area, Microsoft holds an advantage in many application areas because of the number of users it has, for example, in Excel and Power Automate.Watch my full interview with Charles Lamanna embedded below to hear firsthand how Microsoft is driving its agent strategy, what these new capabilities mean for enterprise users, and how organizations are leveraging agents to deliver measurable business results:Daily insights on business use cases with VB DailyIf you want to impress your boss, VB Daily has you covered. We give you the inside scoop on what companies are doing with generative AI, from regulatory shifts to practical deployments, so you can share insights for maximum ROI.Read our Privacy PolicyThanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here.An error occured.

Despite the growing interest in Multi-Agent Systems (MAS), where multiple LLM-based agents collaborate on complex tasks, their performance gains remain limited compared to single-agent frameworks. While MASs are explored in software engineering, drug discovery, and scientific simulations, they often struggle with coordination inefficiencies, leading to high failure rates. These failures reveal key challenges, including task misalignment, reasoning-action mismatches, and ineffective verification mechanisms. Empirical evaluations show that even state-of-the-art open-source MASs, such as ChatDev, can exhibit low success rates, raising questions about their reliability. Unlike single-agent frameworks, MASs must address inter-agent misalignment, conversation resets, and incomplete task verification, significantly impacting their effectiveness. Additionally, current best practices, such as best-of-N sampling, often outperform MASs, emphasizing the need for a deeper understanding of their limitations.Existing research has tackled specific challenges in agentic systems, such as improving workflow memory, enhancing state control, and refining communication flows. However, these approaches do not offer a holistic strategy for improving MAS reliability across domains. While various benchmarks assess agentic systems based on performance, security, and trustworthiness, there is no consensus on how to build robust MASs. Prior studies highlight the risks of overcomplicating agentic frameworks and stress the importance of modular design, yet systematic investigations into MAS failure modes remain scarce. This work contributes by providing a structured taxonomy of MAS failures and suggesting design principles to enhance their reliability, paving the way for more effective multi-agent LLM systems.Researchers from UC Berkeley and Intesa Sanpaolo present the first comprehensive study of MAS challenges, analyzing five frameworks across 150 tasks with expert annotators. They identify 14 failure modes, categorized into system design flaws, inter-agent misalignment, and task verification issues, forming the Multi-Agent System Failure Taxonomy (MASFT). They develop an LLM-as-a-judge pipeline to facilitate evaluation, achieving high agreement with human annotators. Despite interventions like improved agent specification and orchestration, MAS failures persist, underscoring the need for structural redesigns. Their work, including datasets and annotations, is open-sourced to guide future MAS research and development.The study explores failure patterns in MAS and categorizes them into a structured taxonomy. Using the Grounded Theory (GT) approach, researchers analyze MAS execution traces iteratively, refining failure categories through inter-annotator agreement studies. They developed an LLM-based annotator for automated failure detection, achieving 94% accuracy. Failures are classified into system design flaws, inter-agent misalignment, and inadequate task verification. The taxonomy is validated through iterative refinement, ensuring reliability. Results highlight diverse failure modes across MAS architectures, emphasizing the need for improved coordination, clearer role definitions, and robust verification mechanisms to enhance MAS performance.Strategies are categorized into tactical and structural approaches to enhance MASs and reduce failures. Tactical methods involve refining prompts, agent organization, interaction management, and improving clarity and verification steps. However, their effectiveness varies. Structural strategies focus on system-wide improvements, such as verification mechanisms, standardized communication, reinforcement learning, and memory management. Two case studiesMathChat and ChatDevdemonstrate these approaches. MathChat refines prompts and agent roles, improving results inconsistently. ChatDev enhances role adherence and modifies framework topology for iterative verification. While these interventions help, significant improvements require deeper structural modifications, emphasizing the need for further research in MAS reliability.In conclusion, the study comprehensively analyzes failure modes in MASs using LLMs. By examining over 150 traces, the research identifies 14 distinct failure modes: specification and system design, inter-agent misalignment, and task verification and termination. An automated LLM Annotator is introduced to analyze MAS traces, demonstrating reliability. Case studies reveal that simple fixes often fall short, necessitating structural strategies for consistent improvements. Despite growing interest in MASs, their performance remains limited compared to single-agent systems, underscoring the need for deeper research into agent coordination, verification, and communication strategies.Check outthe Paper.All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also,feel free to follow us onTwitterand dont forget to join our85k+ ML SubReddit. Sana HassanSana Hassan, a consulting intern at Marktechpost and dual-degree student at IIT Madras, is passionate about applying technology and AI to address real-world challenges. With a keen interest in solving practical problems, he brings a fresh perspective to the intersection of AI and real-life solutions.Sana Hassanhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sana-hassan/RWKV-7: Advancing Recurrent Neural Networks for Efficient Sequence ModelingSana Hassanhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sana-hassan/Lyra: A Computationally Efficient Subquadratic Architecture for Biological Sequence ModelingSana Hassanhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sana-hassan/Fin-R1: A Specialized Large Language Model for Financial Reasoning and Decision-MakingSana Hassanhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sana-hassan/Microsoft AI Releases RD-Agent: An AI-Driven Tool for Performing R&D with LLM-based Agents

Flexispot is running its Spring Sale with up to 60% off their most popular standing desks and ergonomic chairs. We like Flexispot because they offer quality electric standing desks with all the features you'd want at a fraction of the price compared to other more well-known models. We rated Flexispot's highest end model - the E7 Pro - the best overall standing desk of 2025. I've been using a Flexispot desk for years now and wouldn't pay more for a "better" desk.New Flexispot Coupon Code AvailableFeatured in this articleFlexispot C7 Ergonomic ChairFor Base Only, Tops Starting at $80Flexispot E5 Electric Standing DeskFor Base Only, Tops Starting at $80Flexispot E7 Electric Standing DeskFor Base Only, Tops Starting at $80Flexispot E7 Pro Electric Standing DeskFlexispot C7 Max Ergonomic ChairYou can quickly browse through all of the listed products on sale above. For more information on each product and why they are worth your consideration, read through below.Flexispot C7 Ergonomic Chair for $229Flexispot C7 Ergonomic ChairThe Flexispot C7 offers a ton of features that are typically reserved for much more expensive chairs. This includes an automatically adjusting lumbar system, adjustable seat depth, adjustable armrests, adjustable seat tilt, adjustable headrest, 128 degrees of recline, and more.Flexispot C7 Review (without footrest) by Bill LoguidiceThe FlexiSpot C7 is a solid chair. For the price, however, I would have preferred a more premium-feeling leather or leather-like material instead of fabric, as well as more attention to some other aspects like cushioning. I also found the fact that you can't lock the wrist rests in place an occasional annoyance. If you don't mind some of its quirks and prize adjustment in a chair, then the C7 makes a good choice. Compared to straight-up gaming chairs, its sedate styling means it won't be out of place in even the most conservative of office environments. If you'd like a flashier or more luxurious offering, however, look elsewhere.Flexispot E5 Desk starting at $199.99For Base Only, Tops Starting at $80Flexispot E5 Electric Standing DeskThe Flexispot E5 desk is, in my opinion, the best value electric standing desk while still offering all the premium features you'd want. Right now it costs $199.99 (normally $379.99) for the base only and desktop surfaces start at $80. The Flexispot E5 is the least expensive model featuring dual motors. Dual motor lifts are preferred over single motor because they can support more weight (in this case 287 pounds max) and they last longer because the stress is distributed evenly across both motors. The desktop is supported by a double crossbeam structure so that your surface is evenly supported to prevent any sagging. The legs are made of steel and feature a 3-stage column. Most standing desks in this price range only have a 2-stage column. A 3-stage column is better because it supports a greater vertical range (in this case 23.6" to 49.2"). An anti-collision feature, a must-have in all desks, will stop the desk when it detects obstruction of the motor. Finally, the keypad controls offer three memory presets and a timer to remind you when to swap sit/stand positions. The E5 comes with a 10 year warranty on all metal, mechanical and electrical parts and components, including the motor.Flexispot E7 Desk starting at $299.99For Base Only, Tops Starting at $80Flexispot E7 Electric Standing DeskThe E7 currently costs $299.99 (normally $499.99) for the base only and desktop surfaces start at $80. For an extra $140, the Flexispot E7 offers better build quality, a higher weight threshold, more included accessories, and a longer warranty. The lifting capacity has been upgraded from 287 pounds to 355 pounds. Aesthetically, the legs look more professional aesthetically, with laser-welded seams, powder-coated finish, with no visible holes. The advanced keyboard has been upgraded with an LCD display, more memory presets, a built-in USB charger, and a child-lock function that's a necessity for those of us with inquisitive toddlers. The E7 also comes with a built-in cable tray under the desk to stow away all of your messy wiring. Finally, the Flexispot E7 boasts an increased 15 year warranty on all metal, mechanical and electrical parts and components, including the motor.Flexispot E7 Pro Desk starting at $419.99For Base Only, Tops Starting at $80Flexispot E7 Pro Electric Standing DeskThe E7 Pro is Flexispot's creme de la creme standing desk. It's recent released so it isn't nearly as heavily discounted as the other models. Currently it costs $419.99 (normally $599.99) for the base only and desktop surfaces start at $80. The E7 Pro features the best build quality of the three listed here, and it certainly shows with a weight capacity of a whopping 440 pounds. Flexispot claims the motor for the E7 Pro is superior to the standard dual motor setup you'll find in the E5 and E7 and other brands, offering smoother and faster movement. You also get more cable management options included than even the E7. The Flexispot E7 Pro comes with the same 15 year warranty as the E7 on all metal, mechanical and electrical parts and components, including the motor. This is arguably the best standing desk deal you'll find anywhere right now.Flexispot E7 Pro Review by Billy Givens"A simple but effective keypad, quiet dual motors, near-perfect cable management, and excellent stability make the FlexiSpot E7 Pro a top-tier standing desk for work or gaming. Whether it's your first desk purchase or a replacement for an older model, it's hard to find many better options in this price range."Consider getting a desk frame here and the desktop surface elsewhereI have three standing desks. One of the standing desks included a desktop, however for the other two desks I sourced my own. For one of them I purchased a massive 74"x26" maple veneered countertop from Ikea for $199. For the other one I purchased a 48"x25" solid wood countertop from Home Depot and finished it myself. Personally I don't think you can go wrong with any of those choices, and there are more options available. The point is, these standing desk bases don't need the desktops sold by the manufacturer. If you want to install your own desktop, by all means do so as long as they are within the weight limitations.How does Flexispot compare to other brands?I can only speak from personal experience. I own a Jarvis Fully, a Vari Ergo, and a Flexispot E5. All three are excellent desks that have caused me no problems whatsoever in the 3+ years of owning them, and that's the point. The Flexispot E5 is considerably less expensive than the other two options, and yet I don't really see where much of that cost is going. For a similar price of a barebones Jarvis Fully, you could get the top end Flexispot E7 Pro and still come out with more money in your pocket.Why Should You Trust IGN's Deals Team?IGN's deals team has a combined 30+ years of experience finding the best discounts in gaming, tech, and just about every other category. We don't try to trick our readers into buying things they don't need at prices that aren't worth buying something at. Our ultimate goal is to surface the best possible deals from brands we trust and our editorial team has personal experience with. You can check out our deals standards here for more information on our process, or keep up with the latest deals we find on IGN's Deals account on Twitter.Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

Warning: this article contains spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again Episode 6. Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 may feature some familiar MCU villains in Vincent DOnofrios Wilson Fisk and Wilson Bethels Bullseye, but it also introduces a brand new threat in the form of the artistically inclined serial killer Muse. Muses murals have been appearing all over the city, and now we know the full, gruesome story behind their creation. Visually and in terms of his modus operandi, Muse is pulled directly from the pages of Marvels Daredevil comics. But in other ways, the character has been streamlined and altered for his live-action debut. Frankly, we think hes all the better for it. Heres why Born Again has been smart in its adaptation of this more recent addition to Daredevils rogues gallery.Daredevil: Born AgainHow Daredevil: Born Again Changes MuseAgain, the new series sticks pretty close to the source material where Muses artistic sensibilities lie. Hes a street artist with a particular fascination with New Yorks vigilantes. He paints tributes to these figures using human blood as a key ingredient. Though the comic book version of Muse goes a step further with his grisly brand of artistic expression, eventually arranging dead bodies to form sculptures. Hes a villain who wouldnt be out of place in the Hannibal TV series. In other ways, however, The MCUs Muse is quite a bit different from the comic. Theres his apparent lack of powers, for one thing. In the comics, Muse is more than a match for Daredevil and his heightened senses. His body acts as a sort of sensory void that confounds Matts senses. He also has superhuman strength and agility for good measure. In the show, it doesnt appear that Muse has any powers to speak of. Hes just a guy who really enjoys treating innocent passersby as blood bags and has some passable martial arts skills. But thats a good thing. Muse really doesnt need powers to serve as a proper foil to Matt Murdock. Like its predecessor, Born Again exists in a more grounded corner of the MCU. Daredevil, for all his enhanced senses and ninja training, is a guy who emerges from many battles bruised, battered, and thoroughly winded. As long as Muse is presented as a guy who can put up a decent fight, he really doesnt need superhuman strength to make the stakes feel clear and real.Art by Dan Panosian. (Image Credit: Marvel)Plus, the idea that Muses body is a sensory vortex was always a bit silly. Its too on the nose, even for the Marvel Universe. He becomes a character who exists solely to vex Daredevil rather than on his own terms.The other big difference with Born Agains Muse is that theres no sidekick stuck in the middle of the Daredevil/Muse rivalry. At the time Muse was introduced in 2016, Matt was mentoring a hero named Blindspot. Its Blindspot who wound up suffering the most at Muses hands, losing his eyes to the sadistic villain and having to learn how to operate without the benefit of sight. Here again, the show succeeds in streamlining and simplifying that dynamic so that the focus remains squarely on Daredevil, Fisk, and Muse. By now its become apparent that Muse isnt really the endgame villain of the series, but rather a secondary antagonist meant to test the former two characters. Muses blood-soaked artistic campaign puts Fisks newfound political career at risk, pushing him closer to outright authoritarianism. In Episode 6, Muse becomes the catalyst that finally compels Matt to throw caution to the wind and become Daredevil again. Having a character like Blindspot in this mix would only serve to needlessly complicate matters.Muse may not be the central villain of Born Again, but he is an important player who further illustrates the struggle Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk both face in trying to reinvent themselves. The series wisely ignores the comic book elements that dont really matter to the story being told. But there is one more potential change to Muse that Born Again looks poised to explore in the episodes to come. Who exactly is under that mask? PlayMuses Secret IdentityThe Daredevil comics never really get into the question of who Muse is when hes not dressed in costume and draining human blood to make art. Hes depicted as an Inhuman (the same species as Anson Mounts Black Bolt and the other characters from the much-reviled Marvels Inhumans series). That eliminates the need for the character to have any sort of civilian identity or private life. But in the show, theres no reason to assume Muse is an Inhuman or anything other than a truly messed-up artistic savant. But that does raise an interesting question. If Muse is an ordinary man, who is he? Making matters more interesting is the fact that we still dont know which actor is playing Muse. Marvel has kept mum on that detail, which all but confirms that Muse is secretly someone else weve already met in the show.Who could it be under that mask? There are all sorts of intriguing theories. Maybe Bethels Bullseye has somehow escaped from prison and taken on a new costumed identity. Maybe Arty Froushans Buck Cashman is up to some unsavory business when not serving as Fisks right hand. Maybe Michael Gandolfinis Daniel Blake is more demented than we gave him credit for (though Blake doesnt seem to have the right build). There are even more outlandish possibilities. With all the rampant speculation that Elden Hensons Foggy Nelson faked his death, maybe well find out its Foggy under the mask. Hey, there has to be some reason that Henson is coming back for Season 2.Whatever the truth here, it seems safe to assume that theres a big reveal coming as far as Muses true identity. And whomever ultimately emerges as the culprit behind Muses horrific work, that reveal may serve as the biggest deviation from the comics. As much as the series has succeeded in simplifying and streamlining Muse, its also managing to add something new and exciting to the character.For more on Daredevil: Born Again, find out why the series has found the perfect Punisher villain and see the cast break down Episode 1s big twist.Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket byfollowing @jschedeen on BlueSky.