• Ring founder Jamie Siminoff is back at Amazon to run its video doorbell unit
    www.engadget.com
    Jamie Siminoff, who founded Ring and started the company in his garage, is back at Amazon after leaving the company as its CEO in 2023. Siminoff joined Amazon when the e-commerce website acquired Ring in 2018, but he left in 2023 and founded another startup that he sold to lock maker Latch Inc. When he left Amazon two years ago, he said that invention was his true passion. Now, he's taking on the role as the vice president in charge of not just Ring, but also Amazon's smart home camera unit Blink, the company's in-garage delivery operations called Key and the Amazon Sidewalk low-bandwith, long-range shared network.Siminoff is replacing Elizabeth Hamren, who took over his role two years ago. Hamren used to be the COO of Discord and was also an executive at Microsoft and at Meta. According to Bloomberg, she's still looking for new opportunities from inside and outside the company.In a post welcoming him back posted on the Amazon website, Siminoff briefly and broadly talked about his plans for the divisions he's heading. He plans to focus on security, on making people feel their "homes are safe, even when theyre thousands of miles away." Siminoff also wants to make sure Amazon's experiences related to home security "work seamlessly across different types of devices." In addition, he talked about how he's going to explore the use of artificial intelligence in Amazon's products and services in the future. "The AI transformation happening right now is a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and I think were super well positioned with helpful and practical AI features like Smart Video Search," he said. "It's just the start here we're just scratching the surface of what we can do with AI and I look forward to digging into this with the team even more."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/ring-founder-jamie-siminoff-is-back-at-amazon-to-run-its-video-doorbell-unit-130009731.html?src=rss
    0 Commentaires ·0 Parts ·10 Vue
  • This dual screen laptop has something I've never seen in any notebook: a retractable hidden touchpad
    www.techradar.com
    Chinese manufacturer Toptons dual-screen laptop has a fold out touchpad and a cover that transforms into a stand.
    0 Commentaires ·0 Parts ·20 Vue
  • Silicon Valley's early return on Trump investment: Plunging valuations, delayed IPOs
    www.cnbc.com
    With the Nasdaq closing its worst week since the Covid pandemic and several tech companies delaying IPOs, Silicon Valley's Trump bet is looking shaky.
    0 Commentaires ·0 Parts ·20 Vue
  • How to watch March Madness mens Final Four
    www.fastcompany.com
    March might be over but the madness continues into April. The NCAAs 68 Division I mens college basketball teams have battled it out on the courts in single-elimination play, leaving four teams standing. This year the Final Four have something in common: They all were granted No. 1 seeds on Selection Sunday. Duke, Florida, Auburn, and Houston were all safe bets when filling out a bracket, and they delivered on that promise. Heres what you need to know heading into the remaining competition, and how to tune in.Do the No. 1 seed teams always make it to the end?The short answer is no. This is only the second time in history this has happened. The last time was 2008. Oftentimes there are surprise victories in the tournament or an underdog who comes from behind. That was not the case this year.When and where is the Final Four?Saturday, April 5, is the big day. First Auburn will face Florida at 6:09 p.m. ET at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Then Duke and Houston will battle it out at 8:49 p.m ET in the same location. This is the first time a Texas team has made the Final Four when the games were being hosted in the Lone Star State. One can speculate that the hometown crowd will be cheering extra hard for the University of Houston.Players to watchThe Auburn Tigers are counting on forward Johni Broome to help them win their first NCAA mens basketball title. The forward scared fans after exiting the qualifying game versus Michigan State with an arm injury. He returned to appreciative applause from the crowd and paid them back by making an impressive 3-pointer.Floridas Walter Clayton Jr. also knows a thing or two about 3-pointers. He made two of them to secure the Gators victory over Texas Tech. His team has not seen a Final Four in 11 years, so they have something to prove.In contrast, 2025 will mark Dukes 18th appearance in Final Four play. Freshman Cooper Flagg wants to continue the Blue Devils legacy before potentially heading to the NBA. Houston forward Joseph Tugler knows the best offense is a good defense. He may average just 5.5 points a game but thats because he is too busy making sure the other team doesnt score.How to tune inCBS is broadcasting the Final Four. The network did so from 1982 to 2015. Beginning in 2016, it shared the responsibility with TBS, switching off every other year. 2025 belongs to CBS.This means traditional cable subscribers and those with an over-the-air antenna are covered. Those who cut the cord can look to live TV subscriptions such as Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, DirecTV Stream, and Fubo. Additionally, Paramount+ subscribers with the Showtime add-on can livestream the local CBS station.
    0 Commentaires ·0 Parts ·17 Vue
  • What are Vertical Gardens? The Eco-Friendly Design Thats Taking Over
    www.yankodesign.com
    Vertical gardening is the method of growing plants within compact spaces, which makes it an ideal solution for smaller living environments. As our homes get smaller, particularly in urban areas with limited outdoor space like apartments with only a balcony, we still crave greenery. One solution to this problem is growing vertical gardens that can thrive in smaller gardens, patios, or even small outdoor spaces, offering a way to grow vegetables, herbs, and other plants in tight spaces. Studies indicate the global vertical garden construction market is valued at USD 1.30 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 3.04 billion by 2034, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.90%.Unlike traditional horizontal gardening, vertical gardens utilize vertical space. Two main types of vertical gardens include green faades, where plants climb specially designed structures from the ground or elevated containers, and living walls, which feature pre-planted panels attached to a vertical surface. By mitigating the urban heat island effect, reducing smog, and fostering healthy habitats for birds and insects, vertical gardens are becoming a popular choice for sustainable urban development. Vertical gardens not only create an intriguing design pattern but also offer numerous additional benefits:Improves Air QualityVertical gardening enhances air quality and provides natural insulation for your home. It also encourages you to grow your own produce. With better exposure to sunlight, plants thrive, and the overall environment benefits. Vertical gardens can lower both indoor and outdoor temperatures, reduce CO2 levels, and increase oxygen levels. They also remove harmful VOCs and pollutants from the air, contributing to a cleaner, healthier environment.Growing plants above the ground helps reduce the risk of pest infestations and diseases, promoting the growth of healthier plants. Additionally, vertical gardens improve air circulation around plants, reducing the likelihood of fungal diseases and prevent moisture buildup.Elpo is a smart biofilter that functions as both an indoor garden and an air purifier and is designed to enhance indoor air quality and maintain healthy moisture levels. Created by designers Krlis Vtols, Lolita Epnere, and Buka Brzia, Elpo was inspired by the growing need for better air filtration in collaborative spaces, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic shifted focus to indoor environments. It combines nature and technology to improve the air we breathe.The biofilter uses plants that absorb airborne toxins and gases and purify the air through their roots. Equipped with smart technology, Elpo features automated lighting, fans, and irrigation to care for the plants. In addition to improving air quality, Elpo serves as a stylish room divider, enhancing office or home spaces. Its modular design allows users to create a custom biofilter system, spanning any rooms width while offering both functionality and a sleek, modern aesthetic.Maximizes SpaceVertical gardening maximizes limited space as you can grow more plants in a smaller area and by implementing efficient watering systems. Since plants grow upward in a vertical direction, this method fully utilizes the available space and can be successfully incorporated into balconies, blank indoor walls, or other compact areas.Its also an effective solution for creating screens that block unsightly views. Another advantage is that it eliminates the need for bending or kneeling, making it easier to access plants and reducing strain, which makes it ideal for those with limited accessibility.Heatherwick Studio designed the Xian Tree, which is a striking vertical park and viewing point in Xian, China. Resembling a tree, it features stepped terraces that offer visitors spectacular views. Located in the Xian Centre Culture Business District (CCBD), south of the historic city center, the park is nestled between ancient temple ruins and a tower. The 56 terraces host various plant species, reflecting the biodiversity of the Silk Road, with microclimates supporting different ecosystems.The design of the Xian Tree and the district draws inspiration from Xians Terracotta Army, with over 100,000 ceramic tiles created in collaboration with local craftsmen. The districts aesthetic incorporates elements of traditional Chinese temple roofs, blending modern architecture with cultural heritage.Reduces NoisePlants can absorb sound waves and act as a barrier between the source and the listener, which helps create a quieter and more peaceful environment. This makes them especially useful in noisy neighborhoods. Vertical gardens are also ideal for spaces like home offices or libraries, where lower decibel levels are crucial for maintaining focus and concentration. The best plants for this purpose are small, compact, and low-growing.In addition to sound absorption, plants also provide natural insulation. They are particularly effective at blocking low-frequency sounds, and the layers between the plants and walls add extra insulation, further enhancing noise reduction.Loop Design Studios Playground Restaurant in Chandigarh, India, blends the citys brutalist heritage with playful biophilic design elements. Located in the commercial hub, the space features a cinder block wall with an irregular pattern, merging concrete with vibrant greenery. Overhead, a translucent glass ceiling allows soft light to filter through, creating an airy atmosphere.Concrete planters are used to create a vertical garden, and vines are used to soften the industrial aesthetic, while vintage Edison bulbs provide a warm, golden glow throughout the restaurant. The interior mixes rustic charm with modern design, featuring mismatched wooden tables and walls lined with audio cassette tapes. Cinder block shelves are filled with plants and lighting fixtures, enhancing the cozy, inviting ambiance. By embracing Chandigarhs concrete roots and natural elements, Playground Restaurant provides a refreshing and unique dining experience.Aesthetically PleasingIntroducing greenery into your home, whether through plants or herbs, adds a vibrant and refreshing touch to any space. Vertical gardens, with their living walls, are both functional and visually striking, offering a beautiful display of color, texture, and patterns created by different plant varieties. These green features serve as eye-catching focal points that enhance the ambiance of any room, bringing life and energy into the environment.The best part about vertical gardens is that plants can flourish in soilless vertical setups, allowing you to enjoy the satisfaction of growing and harvesting your food. Also, a thoughtful arrangement of plants can create intriguing patterns, transforming spaces like living rooms, hallways, or entry foyers into stunning focal points.Living In the Noom is designed by Sanzpont Arquitectura, and is a remarkable fusion of nature and luxury. This eco-conscious community features four-story houses with a unique triangular shape, surrounded by vertical forests on the buildings facade. The design emphasizes wellness, sustainability, and flexibility, with solar panels on the rooftop and an urban garden for residents to grow food. The communitys green spaces cover 70% of the area, offering a sanctuary-like environment for its residents.The Noom project incorporates several sustainable strategies, including rainwater harvesting, wastewater treatment, biodigesters, and natural ventilation to reduce energy consumption. The vertical forests not only provide greenery but also purify the air and help regulate indoor temperatures, reducing the Heat Island Effect. Apartments are designed to maximize natural light and ventilation, ensuring comfort while cutting energy use by up to 85%.Reduced Water ConsumptionOne of the key benefits of vertical gardening is its ability to maximize water efficiency by directing water straight to the roots, minimizing evaporation, and ensuring even distribution. The vertical structure also improves drainage and aeration and prevents overwatering alongside waterlogging. Additionally, it enables rainwater harvesting and also provides the perfect set up that supports the growth of drought-tolerant plants.Drip irrigation, for example, delivers water precisely where it is needed, reducing waste. Furthermore, incorporating recycled or greywater, which is treated wastewater from sinks or showers, makes irrigation more sustainable.The innovative use of materials and the design of vertical gardens also help retain moisture, ensuring plants have consistent access to water when needed.When people seek to enhance their living spaces, modular vertical gardens have become a popular choice. These systems not only introduce greenery and improve air quality but also provide fresh herbs while maximizing space efficiency. With the increasing demand for fresh produce in compact areas, modular vertical gardens provide an affordable and low-maintenance solution.Many modular vertical gardens feature pre-planted seed pods and self-watering systems that operate without electricity. Transparent sections allow roots to receive adequate light, while integrated grow lights support plant health in dim settings. Some models even repurpose wastewater from air conditioning units and include mesh covers to prevent debris buildup.With expandable configurations and larger water tanks available, vertical gardens present a practical and sustainable approach to urban gardening, making them ideal for homes and shared spaces. When selecting a location, it is important to choose a wall that receives plenty of sunlight and consider using local plants for the best results.The post What are Vertical Gardens? The Eco-Friendly Design Thats Taking Over first appeared on Yanko Design.
    0 Commentaires ·0 Parts ·10 Vue
  • Simplicity meets sunshine in this refreshing gin rebrand
    www.creativebloq.com
    The Elephant Room crafts a vivid new identity for The Botanist Gin.
    0 Commentaires ·0 Parts ·8 Vue
  • DOGE Is Planning a Hackathon at the IRS. It Wants Easier Access to Taxpayer Data
    www.wired.com
    DOGE operatives have repeatedly referred to the software company Palantir as a possible partner in creating a mega API at the IRS, sources tell WIRED.
    0 Commentaires ·0 Parts ·13 Vue
  • Palworld review for Mac: 'Pokemon with guns' is a massive understatement
    appleinsider.com
    Newly available on Mac, "Palworld" goes beyond the typical monster battle game by incorporating tried and true survival crafting mechanics, but its crossplay implementation leaves something to be desired.Palworld is an open-world survival crafting game with collectible monsters. Image Credit: Pocketpair, Inc.With a unique mix of cartoon-like aesthetics and dark humor, Palworld offers an exciting, action-packed experience that'll bring you hours' worth of fun. The game is also somewhat of a meme, often being described as "Pokemon with guns."There's much more to it. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
    0 Commentaires ·0 Parts ·10 Vue
  • Game layoffs slow down faster than expected in 2025
    venturebeat.com
    Layoffs in the game industry have slowed down somewhat in the first few months of 2025, according to game job champion Amir Satvat.Read More
    0 Commentaires ·0 Parts ·9 Vue
  • The 7 writing apps I used to start and finish my book
    www.theverge.com
    Theres a famous two-decade-old Paris Review interview with Haruki Murakami in which he, one of the worlds most celebrated novelists, details his daily routine. He wakes up at 4AM, works for five hours, goes for a run, reads, goes to bed, and then repeats it all over again. The rigor and repetition are the point.I am not Haruki Murakami.In addition to my work at The Verge, I write novels my second one is out today and while I admire Murakamis commitment to an immovable schedule, Ive found that I produce my best work when Im constantly rethinking routines, processes, and, mostly, how Im writing. In the modern age, that means what software Im using.What I am about to describe will be a nightmare to anyone who likes all of their tools to work harmoniously. All of these apps are disconnected and do not interoperate with each other in any way. Many of the things they do are redundant and overlap. I suppose this process is quite the opposite of frictionless but thats precisely the point. Im not sure I believe that ambitious creative work is borne from a perfectly efficient workflow.This is, instead, a journey of moving the work through different pieces of software, depending on what it needed or how I needed to interface with it. Just as being in different locations can inspire or challenge new ideas, moving work through different writing environments can be that shift for your text. What Im about to detail is less about the specific pieces of software, and more how one might change their approach depending on what the work needs.At least, thats how it is for me. Maybe it might be for you, too.Idea collectionWhen I start writing a book, I need to quite literally collect my thoughts. Its the fun part when the project is all potential, before the realities of how painful it will be to actually make it have set in. Ill find inspiration in things Im reading, watching, and listening to; ideas will come to me while Im riding the subway, when I cant sleep at night, and even sometimes in the middle of meetings.Everyone has specific uses for their notes apps, and there are so many available. The slightly counterintuitive / deranged thing is that I use two different ones. Each serves a different purpose.I use Bear for structured ideas like character sketches or thematic concepts, and I make use of the apps lightweight tagging system to stay organized. For entirely loose thoughts, I usually paste things into Notes and dont worry about formatting, context, whatever I just know it is saved somewhere. (Actually, I have a very adverse reaction to how Notes looks, but its the one where my partner prefers to share grocery lists and streaming passwords, so Im stuck with it.)The important thing here isnt that these apps are especially good or tailored to any purpose. I just have a different environment to open on my phone, depending on the type of idea I need to save. One I use when Im being thoughtful, and another when I need to get something down quickly. And in the moments when I need to save something super fast, I wont even use a notes app at all Ill just text myself. Nothing about Bear or Notes interact with each other, and, eventually, I will have to move any useful text out of them. Both of them sync quite nicely to desktop apps, so copying and pasting stuff to a new place is a fairly painless, if not tedious, process. This is, for me, the value of notes apps: combining scraps of ideas, so that you can turn them into something useful later.DraftingI dont stop taking notes when Im writing in fact, that only increases as the book starts to take shape and really live in my brain. But the place I spent the most time focused on deliberate, actual writing was in iA Writer, my minimal, zero-frills word processor of choice. This was the software I opened when I sat down to do the exhausting work of novel writing.Ive tried a handful of other apps, but this is the one I keep returning to, even though it costs $50 for mobile and another $50 if you want the desktop version. Looking back, this is a pretty ludicrous amount of money to spend just because I like the apps default typeface. (Though, when youre going to spend over 100 hours looking at something, $100 seems less egregious.) Theres a sea of free apps that accomplish the very basic task of letting you type, so find the one that makes you feel the most comfortable. The first draft is the hardest part, so anything you can do to ease that process is worth it.I drafted almost entirely on an iPad not any of the high-end models, but Apples entry-level one with the crummy keyboard attachment. I just wanted a device dedicated to being a writing tool. (I wrote my first book on a Chromebook that was too slow to meaningfully browse the internet; eventually, I had to send it to the e-waste pickup when it was too sluggish to open Google Docs.) On the iPad, I removed most of the default apps, and the only other things I installed were the Kindle app and some PDF readers. No games, no streaming services. I know some writers that work from start to finish. Im a little more chaotic in that I write in absolutely no order. This becomes a problem later, since the most important part of a narrative is structure. So at a certain point, when I had enough words written (usually around 60,000 words), I moved things into several different Google Docs so I could start to separate out scenes and chapters. If iA Writer is for getting words on the page, Docs is where I finish and begin to revise a book. This is where it becomes a legible story.I dont have too much to say about Google Docs that you dont already know. Its the word processor that Ive used the most throughout my life, so its also the most familiar and most convenient. We use Google Docs all day long at The Verge, so writing a book in it also makes it feel like work, which is an admission in a way: that now, we have to do work.The use of AI, especially when it comes to writing, is controversial for a myriad of good reasons. I know a lot of authors that wholesale reject the use of them. I dont personally feel that they are immoral; I mostly find them quite unhelpful. For my work at The Verge, I find myself testing them somewhat regularly just to know whats out there. (I do think AI is quite useful for rough language translation.) Just as Microsoft Word was designed for business memos, the incentive of AI-generated writing is to produce copious amounts of banal web copy or cheery emails. Im not interested in using AI to generate any of my work because, frankly, I like doing the work. Making art, as Ted Chiang has argued, is a series of decisions. The convenience of AI is that it makes decisions for you. But then, really, what is the point of writing if you let something else do it for you?RevisingThis was when things got a little weird. Google Docs has a hard time with writing that goes over a certain length that threshold, Ive found, is around 15,000 words. So my book was separated into large sections, and I created an index linked to all the chapters, also as a Google Doc. By this point, Im off the iPad and back on a laptop; my browser has tabs open to each of the seven separate Docs that comprise my draft.For me, revising isnt as hard as finishing a first draft, but it is an organizational challenge. On one hand, you have to keep balancing things on a sentence, paragraph, and chapter level; on the other, you cant lose sight of the books entire structure. Having the manuscript spread across so many different documents was proving cumbersome.So I installed Scrivener, one of the few apps I know that is actually built with book writing in mind. (What does it say that the majority of the creative writing we do is done in software designed for the workplace?) If the ideal of software in the past decade has been ease, Scrivener leans the other direction by designing something for power users. Its software that you get more out of the more effort you put into setting it up, making it your own, and wrangling its eccentricities until the quirks feel like second nature. Even the way Scrivener looks the use of multiple panes, rigid organization structures, and high information density feels like Windows software from the late 90s / early aughts. I confess, I only did light customization (the first thing I did was switch all the UI elements to a better typeface). Even then, it was quite worthwhile to use the app to organize and reorganize chapters. With the customizable metadata fields, I was able to create labels to easily sort chapters by characters points of view and track which sections needed revisions. Scrivener also lets you visualize your projects, and seeing everything laid out visually like index cards on a corkboard is extremely helpful when youre trying to weave together five plot lines. It really helped me nail down the books sequence and structure.The thing is: I actually hate writing in Scrivener, so then I moved everything back to Google Docs to finish (again, scattered across several different Docs). I did another round of revisions with my agent, and then sent it off to my editor, exported as a Word document.As much as I find Microsoft Word quite clumsy, especially on a Mac, it became necessary to eventually move a full manuscript there. Word is the industry standard for the publishing industry, and I wasnt about to ask my editor to accommodate my desire for a less ugly word processor. (It also seems like no matter how long Google tries to solve its interoperability with Words track changes, crucial things always end up getting lost in translation.)After a couple rounds with my editor, we finally felt like the manuscript was good to go to production. First, it went to the copy editor. This started in Word, but then the books interior was laid out and I had to look at proofs in Adobe Acrobat, which has its own gangly commenting system that I endured because all authors are brave.Pre-publicationA lot of time passes while a book is in production, and then you start to have meetings about actually selling the book. This is my least favorite part of the publishing process, since Im forced to think about publicity and marketing, and Im not sure anyone chooses writing fiction because their desire is to please a market.Anyway, one last app that Ive been using at David Pierces recommendation is Craft 3. The previous versions of Craft, which Id never used, were full-featured productivity apps. This third iteration pivots it to a writing environment first, with lots of productivity bells and whistles second. This has been the ideal to manage all of my pre-publication commitments, which involve writing marketing copy, planning events, and scheduling interviews. With Craft, Ive had a pretty easy time staying on top of deadlines, and Ive found it less fidgety than similar tools like Notion.So, if youve been keeping track, the journey looks like this:Bear / Apple Notes iA Writer Google Docs Scrivener Google Docs Microsoft Word Adobe AcrobatThere are a few things all these apps have in common. First, they all have reliable phone and desktop versions. I dont use each one equally, but its nice to have access to the text no matter where Im working. Second, each piece of software is built around a core strength, rather than trying to be good at everything. Scrivener is the only outlier here, since it suffers from feature bloat, but you can also really make it work for you if you put in the elbow grease. (Theres a whole subculture of Scrivener users and tinkerers multiple friends have recommended Jaime Greenes online courses.)I have a third book under contract, which means Im committed to doing this whole process all over again. Well, not this process, exactly if Ive learned anything, its that Ill have to reinvent the whole thing for myself as I write, and that means trying a lot of new software. Even if it was possible to create the perfect app, one that could capture the journey of writing a book from conception to publication, Im still not sure I would use it. The limitations of each tool forced me to be thoughtful. The friction made me ask, at every turn: what does the book need now?A workflow is for getting things done efficiently. Embracing mess is how you write a book.See More:
    0 Commentaires ·0 Parts ·10 Vue