Ive got todays top deals lined up and honestly, its a bit of a vibe. Theres a handcrafted MainGear rig that looks like it belongs in a design museum and crushes modern games, a Pokmon TCG tin that leaves your pulls up to fate, and a Humble Bundle full of giant alien bugs and unapologetic chaos.MainGear Custom RTX 5070 PC, Pokmon TCG, and a Skyrim Dragonborn HelmetMainGear North RTX 5070$2,095.00 at MainGearPokemon TCG: Azure Legends Tin - 5 Packs$29.99 at AmazonHumble Bundle: Earth Defense Force CollectionSanDisk 256GB microSD Express microSD CardPokmon TCG: Shining Fates Collection Pikachu V Box$58.99 at AmazonThe Elder Scrolls Skyrim - Dragonborn Helmet - Replica$119.99 at IGN Store Pokmon TCG: Scarlet and Violet Shrouded Fable Elite Trainer Box$57.98 at AmazonWaiting on Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders? I've found a great deal on a Sandisk 256gb Micro SD Express card too . Oh, and if youve ever wanted to cosplay as a Dovahkiin desk ornament, the IGN Store has something special. I think its a solid haul; useful stuff, actual value, no sketchy third-party sellers in sight (Although Amazon is getting a bit cheeky with their Pokmon TCG mark-ups). Lets break it down.MainGear North RTX 5070MainGear North RTX 5070$2,095.00 at MainGearI think this is one of the smartest ways to get your hands on an RTX 5070 without building from scratch or skimping on quality. MAINGEARs setup skips all the common bottlenecks no mismatched parts, no airflow nightmares, no good enough corners cut. For $2,095, youre getting a clean combo of a Ryzen 5 7600X CPU, 16GB of DDR5 RGB RAM, and a 1TB NVMe SSD, all assembled by people who care about things like cable management. Its future-ready, quiet, and fast enough to leave your current rig feeling like a potato in comparison.Pokemon TCG: Azure Legends Tin - 5 PacksPokemon TCG: Azure Legends Tin - 5 Packs$29.99 at AmazonThis tin is pure Pokmon chaos in the best way. You get one random promo cardKyogre ex, Xerneas ex, or Dialga exand five booster packs; 2 x Surging Sparks, 1 x Stellar Crown, 1 x Temporal Forces and 1 x Obsidian Flames. Its a fun, low-stakes gamble for collectors or casual players who want a shot at good pulls without needing to take out a second mortgage.Humble Bundle: Earth Defense Force CollectionHumble Bundle: Earth Defense Force CollectionPay less to get fewer items, or pay extra to give more to publishers, Humble, and charity Oceana.EDF is the kind of game where logic goes out the window and fun takes over, and this $25 Humble Bundle gives you the best of it EDF 5, EDF 4, World Brothers 2, plus a ton of downloadable content. I think this is worth it just for the laugh-out-loud co-op mayhem alone, and it doesnt hurt that part of the proceeds go to charity while you blast oversized bugs into space.SanDisk 256GB microSD Express microSD CardSanDisk 256GB microSD Express microSD CardIf your current microSD card loads like it's on a coffee break, or if you need to expand your Nintendo Switch 2 storage on launch day, this ones a serious upgrade. I want this SanDisk Express card purely for the ridiculous transfer speeds up to 880MB/s read and 650MB/s write. Its built for 4K video, gaming, and surviving every possible disaster short of lava, and itll likely outlive every other accessory in your bag.Pokmon TCG: Shining Fates Collection Pikachu V BoxPokmon TCG: Shining Fates Collection Pikachu V Box$58.99 at AmazonThe Shining Fates Pikachu V Box is a great grab if youre chasing shiny cards or just really into oversized electric rodents. You get a Pikachu V promo, a jumbo card version for display, and four Shining Fates booster packs. It's pricey, but Shining Fates is out of print.The Elder Scrolls Skyrim - Dragonborn Helmet - ReplicaThe Elder Scrolls Skyrim - Dragonborn Helmet - ReplicaPre-order for September release$119.99 at IGN StoreThis Skyrim Dragonborn helmet replica isnt going to protect you in battle, but it will absolutely level up your desk setup. At just under six inches tall, its small enough to display but detailed enough to show off. I think its a solid collectible if youre still emotionally tethered to Skyrim and have no shame in displaying that fact proudly. Pokmon TCG: Scarlet and Violet Shrouded Fable Elite Trainer Box Pokmon TCG: Scarlet and Violet Shrouded Fable Elite Trainer Box$57.98 at AmazonThis Shrouded Fable ETB is the kind of set that makes you feel like youve got your TCG life together. It comes with nine booster packs, a Pecharunt promo, energy cards, dice, and a nice little collectors box to keep your chaos organized. Shrouded Fable is a slept on set, perfect for trainers who are sick of chasing Journey Together and Prismatic Evolutions stock.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.Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of "Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior". Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.

Late in The Hunt for Red October, a sweaty Jack Ryan squeezes through a tube. Ryan, some things here dont react well to bullets, he says sardonically, mimicking Soviet sub commander Marko Ramius, played by Sean Connery. Yeah, like me. I dont react well to bullets. Its easy to understand Ryans frustration. He began the film a nervous CIA analyst who couldnt sleep through the turbulence on the overnight flight that brought him from London to Washington. He only intended to relay information from British Intelligence, who learned about a top secret silent propulsion system in the Soviet nuclear submarine called the Red October. Now hes got to stop a KGB agent from blowing up the nuclear sub.In short, Jack Ryan is exactly the wrong man to be the lead in a John McTiernan movie. Which is why hes perfect, especially when played by Alec Baldwin.The Many Faces of Jack RyanHe was physically unremarkable, an inch over six feet, and his average build suffered a little at the waist from a lack of exercise enforced by the miserable English weather. His blue eyes had a deceptively vacant look; he was often lost in thought, his face on autopilot as his mind puzzled through data or research material for his current book. The only people Ryan needed to impress were those who knew him; he cared little for the rest. He had no ambition to celebrity.This is not the first time Tom Clancy described Jack Ryan in his 1984 debut novel, The Hunt for Red October. In two earlier passages, we see Ryan put aside concerns that his latest article sounds too academic, so that he can play with his kids. In the preceding passage, the narrator describes Ryan feeling awkward in the suit purchased by his wife.Nowhere in the book is Ryan described as the type of guy wed come to know in later movies and especially a streaming TV series: the Hollywood handsome field agent. Which is, of course, the appeal of Clancys character. The Ryan of the books is a nerd, a guy who seems in over his head, even when its his eighth recorded adventure.Granted, Clancys literary Ryan did join the Marines after graduation, but he was discharged soon thereafter, having badly injured himself during a helicopter crash. Using his CPA license he earned while waiting for deployment, Ryan soon became incredibly wealthy at a young age. He used that wealth to earn six doctoral degrees at Georgetown University, eventually working as a consultant for the CIA. Fantastic as his background certainly is, its clearly a different type of power fantasy than those peddled by Commando.And yet, outside of Baldwin, Ryan tends to be played by square-jawed actors with action credibility. Harrison Ford, McTiernans first choice to play Ryan, stepped in for Baldwin in the sequels Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994). Ben Affleck played the younger Ryan for the 2002 franchise reboot, The Sum of All Fears, while Chris Pine starred in an even more action-heavy 2014 reboot, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. Most recently, John Krasinski starred in four seasons of the Jack Ryan television series, also (you guessed it!) a reboot, and will return for upcoming films.With each of these iterations, Ryans action hero cred gets pushed further and further to the fore. Ford plays Ryan with more gentleness and creakiness than he did the Jack Ryan-ish POTUS in Air Force One, a movie he would make after his Clancy films had run their course. And yet, he carries with him the same star persona that he brought to defining big screen icons like Han Solo and Indiana Jones. Pine, fresh off of playing a butt-kicking Captain Kirk in two Star Trek movies, appears in a tight black shirt and toting a gun on the Shadow Recruit poster. Krasinski continues that look, which is useful as his Ryan straight up performs black-ops missions overseas.Of the post-Baldwin bunch, only Affleck downplays the heroic elements, as his Ryan also spends most of his time talking in rooms. Yet when his Ryan gets called into action in the movies third act, Afflecks tall frame and cleft chin reminds you more of Daredevil and Batman than a sweaty nerd scared of being shot.Hence Baldwins Ryan isnt special just because he best embodies the spirit of the Tom Clancy novels. Hes also special because he stands out against most movie action heroes.Mind Over MusclesJack Ryans first action scene comes 90 minutes into The Hunt for Red October. Desperate to convince the USS Dallas, the only American ship to have potentially encountered Red October, that Captain Ramius intends to defect and not attack the U.S., Ryan dangles from a barebones chopper, above the choppy waters of the Atlantic where Dallas is surfaced.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!McTiernan drops the slick, assured camera movements that mark the rest of the movie for an almost vrit style. The sound of wind and the chopper blades fill the sound track, making most of the dialoguedelivered via radio chatter and military slangalmost incomprehensible. The camera feels out of control as it whips around the chopper and the sub, cutting back to the sailors and the pilots. In the middle of it all is Ryan, hanging from a cord.Make no mistake, Ryan isnt helpless. Hes the one who demanded to be flown out in awful weather; hes the one who made the chopper use its emergency fuel to wait on Dallas arrival; and when the pilot deems the entire thing too risky and tries to pull him back in, Ryan is the one who decides to drop into the ocean, forcing Dallas to use its rescue diver to pull him in.Its a heroic moment to be sure, but one very unlike the those of the fictional heroes of Red Octobers day. Throughout the 1980s, chiseled men like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, and Jean-Claude Van Damme ruled the screen, making even Clint Eastwoodhose Dirty Harry movies pushed the envelope in the 1970sseem creaky and old. Before helming Red October, McTiernan made Predator in 1987, a movie that builds tension by letting musclebound soldiers played by Schwarzenegger and Carl Weathers get torn to shreds by an alien. Bruce Willis may have been a comedy star, and his character John McClane an everyman, when McTiernan made Die Hard in 1988, but he still has a muscle shirt and a machine gun, making him more beefy than the average moviegoer.In 1990, Baldwins most notable feature were his incredible blue eyes, effective when Ryans staring down the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs but not in a firefight with a KGB agent. Yet he uses these eyes, along with his slightly embarrassed grin and his constantly rumpled hair, to indicate intelligence, thoughtfulness. Which are exactly the qualities that make Ryan the hero of Red October. Hes in the Atlantic because hes studied enough Russian naval history to know that Ramius means to defect and that the Soviets are lying when they say hes going rogue. Hes the only one wary enough to fight to realize that their choices could lead to another world war.In other words, Baldwins Jack Ryan is more of an inaction hero: a man whose strength comes from waiting to consider all other possibilities and trusting on his intellect. Hell move when he has to but hes wise enough to realize when that need arises and no sooner.The Hero for Our TimesBy the time The Hunt for Red October hit theaters on March 3, 1990, the Cold War was ending, with the Berlin Wall falling just four months earlier. The movie came out just in time to enshrine Ryan as a hero of the pseudo conflict, at least from the American side, as a U.S. agent smart enough to avoid escalation while embarrassing the Soviets and securing an incredible piece of matriel. Which makes sense, given that the novel went from a piece of fiction published by the small-scale Naval Institute Press to a bestseller thanks to Cold War Warrior Ronald Reagans recommendation.And yet, Ryans importance as a heroic book nerd and analyst has only grown, especially outside of its original context and within our current day of particularly dumb and angry hawks. While those in power offer spectacles of terror to justify their unsustainable promises of security, the need for thoughtful heroes grows.Those heroes will look less and less like the ripped men of the 1980s, as demonstrated by photoshop jobs that put the current presidents face on peak Stallones body. Rather it will look like someone who reads books instead of watches streaming influencers, who determines truth through the rigor of the academy not through ideological tests designed to boost engagement.Those heroes will look a lot like Jack Ryan as played by Alec Baldwin.

There has been a lot of speculation about how high Apple might raise iPhone prices in response to Trumps tariffs. A new report from The Wall Street Journal, however, offers the most realistic look yet at what it currently costs Apple to make the iPhone 16 Pro and how that could change thanks to Trumps tariffs.How Trumps tariffs will impact iPhone pricesThe report cites data from TechInsights and iFixit to craft a breakdown of Apples costs, commonly referred to as the bill of materials, for an iPhone 16 Pro with 256GB of storage:A18 Pro chip: $90.85Display: $37.97Battery: $4.105G cellular modem: $26.62Memory: $21.80Storage: $20.59Rear camera array: $126.95Main enclosure: $20.79All other components: $200.06Pre-tariff total: $549.73Pre-tariff total with testing and assembly: $580Notably, this doesnt account for things like research and development, marketing, and other non-hardware costs for Apple. Even when you factor those in, the WSJ says theres still a healthy profit margin for Apple.Right now, Apple charges $1,099 for a 256GB version of the iPhone 16 Pro. While those components come from around the world, all final assembly occurs in China before the phones are imported into the United States. Trump has announced a 54% tariff on goods from China. Apple will pay that on the total cost of the components, not the $1,099 retail price of the iPhone 16 Pro.Accounting for the 54% tariff, Apples cost to make an iPhone 16 Pro with 256GB of storage increases to roughly $847. Thats a major hit to its profit margin, particularly when you factor in the other costs like marketing, research and development, packaging, shipping, and more.This report (Apple News+ link) from Joanna Stern at The Wall Street Journal is the most pragmatic look yet at how Trumps tariffs will impact Apples costs for the iPhone 16 Pro. Apple, meanwhile, still hasnt commented on how it plans to respond. The company is highly unlikely to eat the entire 54% tariff. The company may stomach part of the burden, but price increases for consumers seem inevitable.My advice from last week stands: if you need an iPhone now or think you might need one soon, now is the time to buy.My favorite iPhone accessories:Follow Chance:Threads,Bluesky,Instagram, andMastodon.Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

After more than 25 years of mitigating risks, ensuring compliance, and building robust security programs for Fortune 500 companies, I've learned that looking busy isn't the same as being secure. It's an easy trap for busy cybersecurity leaders to fall into. We rely on metrics that tell a story of the tremendous efforts we're expending - how many vulnerabilities we patched, how fast we responded - but often vulnerability management metrics get associated with operational metrics because traditional approaches to measuring and implementing vulnerability management does not actually reduce risk. So, we resort to various ways of reporting on how many patches were applied under the traditional 30/60/90-day patching method.I call these vanity metrics: numbers that look impressive in reports but lack real-world impact. They offer reassurance, but not insights. Meanwhile, threats continue to grow more sophisticated, and attackers exploit the blind spots we're not measuring. I've seen firsthand how this disconnect between measurement and meaning can leave organizations exposed. In this article, I'll explain why vanity metrics are not enough to protect today's complex environments and why it's time to stop measuring activity and start measuring effectiveness.Drill Down: What Are Vanity Metrics? Vanity metrics are numbers that look good in a report but offer little strategic value. They're easy to track, simple to present, and are often used to demonstrate activity - but they don't usually reflect actual risk reduction. They typically fall into three main types:Volume metrics These count things: patches applied, vulnerabilities discovered, scans completed. They create a sense of productivity but don't speak to business impact or risk relevance.Time-based metrics without risk context Metrics like Mean Time to Detect (MTTD) or Mean Time to Remediate (MTTR) can sound impressive. But without prioritization based on criticality, speed is just the "how," not the "what."Coverage metrics Percentages like "95% of assets scanned" or "90% of vulnerabilities patched" give an illusion of control. But they ignore the question of which 5% were missed - and whether they're the ones that matter most.Vanity metrics aren't inherently wrong - but they're dangerously incomplete. They track motion, not meaning. And if they're not tied to threat relevance or business-critical assets, they can quietly undermine your entire security strategy.Vanity Metrics: More Harm than GoodWhen vanity metrics dominate security reporting, they may do more harm than good. I've seen organizations burn through time and budget chasing numbers that looked great in executive briefings - while critical exposures were left untouched. What goes wrong when you rely on vanity metrics?Misallocated effort Teams focus on what's easy to fix or what moves a metric, not what truly reduces risk. This creates a dangerous gap between what's done and what needs to be done. False confidence Upward-trending charts can mislead leadership into believing the organization is secure. Without context - exploitability, attack paths - that belief is fragile and can be costly. Broken prioritization Massive vulnerability lists without context cause fatigue. High-risk issues can easily get lost in the noise, and remediation can get delayed where it matters most. Strategic stagnation When reporting rewards activity over impact, innovation slows. The program becomes reactive - always busy, but not always safer.I've seen breaches occur in environments full of glowing KPIs. The reason? Those KPIs weren't tied to reality. A metric that doesn't reflect actual business risk isn't just meaningless - it's dangerous.Moving to Meaningful MetricsIf vanity metrics tell us what's been done, meaningful metrics tell us what matters. They shift the focus from activity to impact - giving security teams and business leaders a shared understanding of actual risk.A meaningful metric starts with a clear formula: risk = likelihood impact. It doesn't just ask "What vulnerabilities exist?" - it asks "Which of these can be exploited to reach our most critical assets, and what would the consequences be?" To make the shift to meaningful metrics, consider anchoring your reporting around five key metrics:Risk score (tied to business impact) - A meaningful risk score weighs exploitability, asset criticality, and potential impact. It should evolve dynamically as exposures change or as threat intelligence shifts. This score helps leadership understand security in business terms - not how many vulnerabilities exist, but how close we are to a meaningful breach.Critical asset exposure (tracked over time) - Not all assets are equal. You need to know which of your business-critical systems are currently exposed - and how that exposure is trending. Are you reducing risk to your most important infrastructure, or just spinning cycles on low-impact fixes? Tracking this over time shows whether your security program is actually closing the right gaps.Attack path mapping - Vulnerabilities don't exist in isolation. Attackers chain together exposures - misconfigurations, overprivileged identities, unpatched CVEs - to reach high-value targets. Mapping these paths shows you how an attacker could actually move through your environment. It helps prioritize not just individual issues, but how they work together to form a threat.Exposure class breakdown - You need to understand what types of exposures are most prevalent - and most dangerous. Whether it's credential misuse, missing patches, open ports, or cloud misconfigurations, this breakdown informs both tactical response and strategic planning. If 60% of your risk stems from identity-based exposures, for example, that should shape your investment decisions.Mean Time to Remediate (MTTR) for critical exposures - Average MTTR is a flawed metric. It gets dragged down by easy fixes and ignores the tough problems. What matters is how fast you're closing the exposures that actually put you at risk. MTTR for critical exposures - those tied to exploitable attack paths or crown-jewel assets - is what really defines operational effectiveness.Taken together and continuously updated, meaningful metrics give you more than a snapshot - they provide a living, contextual view of your threat exposure. They elevate security reporting from task tracking to strategic insight. And most importantly, they give both security teams and business leaders a common language for making risk-informed decisions.The Bottom LineVanity metrics offer comfort. They fill dashboards, impress in boardrooms, and suggest progress. But in the real world - where threat actors don't care how many patches you applied last month - they offer little protection. Real security demands a shift from tracking what's easy to measure to focusing on what actually matters. That means embracing metrics grounded in business risk. And this is where frameworks like Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) come into play. CTEM gives organizations the structure to move from static vulnerability lists to dynamic, prioritized action. And the results are compelling - Gartner projects that by 2026, organizations implementing CTEM could reduce breaches by two-thirds.The metrics you choose shape the conversations you have - and the ones you miss. Vanity metrics keep everyone comfortable. Meaningful metrics force harder questions, but they get you closer to the truth. Because you can't reduce risk if you're not measuring it properly.Note: This article is expertly written by Jason Fruge, CISO in Residence at XM Cyber.Found this article interesting? This article is a contributed piece from one of our valued partners. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.

John Edwards, Technology Journalist & AuthorApril 7, 20255 Min Readphotoschmidt via Alamy Stock PhotoArtificial intelligence, for all its cognitive power, can sometimes arrive at some really stupid, even dangerous, conclusions. When this happens, it's up to humans to correct the mistakes. But how, when, and by whom should an AI decision be overruled?Humans should almost always possess the ability to overrule AI decisions, says Nimrod Partush, vice president of data science at cybersecurity technology firm CYE. "AI systems can make errors or produce flawed conclusions, sometimes referred to as hallucinations," he notes. "Allowing human oversight fosters trust," he explains in an email interview.Overruling AI only becomes completely unwarranted in certain extreme environments in which human performance is known to be less reliable -- such as when controlling an airplane traveling at Mach 5. "In those rare edge cases, we may defer to AI in real-time and then thoroughly review decisions after the fact," Partush says.Heather Bassett, chief medical officer with Xsolis, an AI-driven healthcare technology company, advocates for human-in-the-loop systems, particularly when working with Generative AI. "While humans must retain the ability to overrule AI decisions, they should follow structured workflows that capture the rationale behind the override," she says in an online interview. Ad hoc decisions risk undermining the consistency and efficiency AI is meant to provide. "With clear processes, organizations can leverage AI's strengths while preserving human judgment for nuanced or high-stakes scenarios."Related:Decision DetectionDetecting a bad AI decision requires a strong monitoring system to ensure that the model aligns with expected performance metrics. "This includes implementing performance evaluation pipelines to detect anomalies, such as model drift or degradation in key metrics, such as accuracy, precision, or recall," Bassett says. "For example, a defined change in performance thresholds should trigger alerts and mitigation protocols." Proactive monitoring can ensure that any deviations are identified and addressed before they are able to degrade output quality or impact end users. "This approach safeguards system reliability and maintains alignment with operational goals."Experts and AI designers are typically well-equipped to spot technical errors, but everyday users can help, too. "If many users express concern or confusion -- even in cases where the AI is technically correct -- it flags a disconnect between the systems output and its presentation," Partush says. "This feedback is critical for improving not just the model, but also how AI results are communicated."Related:Decision MakersIt's always appropriate for humans to overrule AI decisions, observes Melissa Ruzzi, director of artificial intelligence at SaaS security company AppOmni, via email. "The key is that the human should have enough knowledge of the topic to be able to know why the decision has to be overruled."Partush concurs. The end user is best positioned to make the final judgment call, he states. "In most circumstances, you don't want to remove human authority -- doing so can undermine trust in the system." Better yet, Partush says, is combining user insights with feedback from experts and AI designers, which can be extremely valuable, particularly in high-stakes scenarios.The decision to override an AI output depends on the type of output, the model's performance metrics, and the risk associated with the decision. "For highly accurate models -- say, over 98% -- you might require supervisor approval before an override," Bassett says. Additionally, in high-stakes areas like healthcare, where a wrong decision could result in harm or death, it's essential to create an environment that allows users to raise concerns or override the AI without fear of repercussions, she advises. "Prioritizing safety fosters a culture of trust and accountability."Related:Once a decision has been overruled, it's important to document the incident, investigate it, and then feed the findings back to the AI during retraining, Partush says. "If the AI repeatedly demonstrates poor judgment, it may be necessary to suspend its use and initiate a deep redesign or reengineering process."Depending on a topic's complexity, it may be necessary to run the answer through other AIs, so-called "AI judges," Ruzzi says. When data is involved, there are also other approaches, such as a data check in the prompt. Ultimately, experts can be called upon to review the answer and then use techniques, such as prompt engineering or reinforcement learning, to adjust the model.Building TrustBuilding AI trust requires transparency and continuous feedback loops. "An AI that's regularly challenged and improved upon in collaboration with humans will ultimately be more reliable, trustworthy, and effective," Partush says. "Keeping humans in control -- and informed -- creates the best path forward for both innovation and safety."About the AuthorJohn EdwardsTechnology Journalist & AuthorJohn Edwards is a veteran business technology journalist. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and numerous business and technology publications, including Computerworld, CFO Magazine, IBM Data Management Magazine, RFID Journal, and Electronic Design. He has also written columns for The Economist's Business Intelligence Unit and PricewaterhouseCoopers' Communications Direct. John has authored several books on business technology topics. His work began appearing online as early as 1983. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, he wrote daily news and feature articles for both the CompuServe and Prodigy online services. His "Behind the Screens" commentaries made him the world's first known professional blogger.See more from John EdwardsWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore ReportsNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also Like

We're looking for a talented, experienced, and enthusiastic Front End Developer to join our growing team. You'll be working with our development team to build WordPress websites for a wide range of clients, primarily within the competition industry. You'll be utilising our established toolbox of WordPress plugins to build websites that wow.RequirementsYou'll be a confident creative with plenty of ideas and the gumption to speak them out. Our nimble team is perfect for someone who enjoys creating their niche and taking initiative.We're looking for experience, but the capacity to learn quickly and keep on learning is even more valuable. If you're the type of person who wants to hit the ground running, then you'll fit in just fine.You'll also be working closely, not just with the Dev team but with creatives across all of our teams. A collaborative mentality is a must, whether producing great work or just wading into the conversation on our team channels.Work composition50% Front End Development30% Testing / Quality Assurance20% Dealing directly with ClientsWhat you'll be up to:Using a variety of markup languages to develop websites that are responsive, comprehensive and really good-lookingMaking sure that all web development is optimised for mobile devicesEnsuring your code is reusable and future-proofOptimising web pages for speed, scalability and trafficCreating documentation outlining efficient processesAssisting and training junior team members in the creation and maintenance of websitesTaking the lead on front end aspects of development where necessaryDeveloping more technically-challenging functionality, such as AJAX-loaded contentSnagging and testing websites to ensure a high standardWhat we're looking for:You'll have a first-rate knowledge of HTML, SCSS, JavaScript and jQuery. You'll also know MySQL and Rest APIs inside-outYou've have a minimum of 2 years experience in using PHP to render WordPress websitesA very strong understanding of WooCommerce, with experience of building sites on the platform.Equally as important, you'll have a keen desire to develop your skills across the boardYou'll have experience with custom post types.You'll know all about creating responsive and adaptive websitesYou'll have a strong understanding of the web development cycle, as well as programming techniques and toolsYou'll be well versed in GIT-based workflows, and how to implement them into a systemYou'll have a focus on efficiency, user experience, and process improvementYou'll be a fast and efficient worker with great time management skillsYou'll be a team player, able to work and communicate effectively with other team membersYou'll be a strong solo artist too, being able to take ownership of a project and finish it in a timely mannerBenefitsBetween 40,000 - 45,000, but is negotiable and dependent on experience.Company Bonus 10% of salary once company goals are met or at the company's discretion, which has been the past 5 years in a row.Service Bonus of 1,000 per annum paid into your monthly salary up to 5 years / 5,000.We operate on a flexible hours system. That means that while your usual hours will be during normal business hours, you have plenty of flexibility within that. Want to take a long lunch break? No worries. Do your best work at 6 am? Go for it.We're a fully remote team, so no 8 am commutes into work.Work hard, play hard - we offer a minimum of 34 holidays a year (2 weeks of which can be taken over Christmas).You'll also get an extra day off for your birthday, so no awkward work birthday parties.We have a monthly all-team meeting, which ends in a monthly all-team social.We are Best Place to Work Certified companyWe supply any remote working tools and equipment you need.You'll also get full private BUPA Healthcare coverage.We're a pension-providing employer.What's next?We know what it's like not to know what's going on with a job application. Here's how our hiring process usually works:We'll review your application and portfolio.If we love what we see, we'll set up a call with our Head of Web and Head of Backend Development so we can get to know you; you can get to know us and see if we're a good fit for each other.We'll set you a short WordPress-related task - so you can show you know your stuff.Then, we'll get another interview to discuss the task and answer any of your questions. Our Digital Director and Founder will join that call.As long as everything goes well, we'll send you an offer!NO RECRUITMENT AGENCIES, PLEASEApply NowLet's start your dream job Apply now

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. How the Pentagon is adapting to Chinas technological rise Its been just over two months since Kathleen Hicks stepped down as US deputy secretary of defense. As the highest-ranking woman in Pentagon history, Hicks shaped US military posture through an era defined by renewed competition between powerful countries and a scramble to modernize defense technology. Over the past three decades, Hicks has watched the Pentagon transformpolitically, strategically, and technologically. In this conversation with MIT Technology Review, Hicks reflects on how the Pentagon is adaptingor failing to adaptto a new era of geopolitical competition. She discusses Chinas technological rise, the future of AI in warfare, and her signature initiative, Replicator, a Pentagon initiative to rapidly field thousands of low-cost autonomous systems such as drones. Read the full story. Caiwen Chen The must-reads Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Donald Trumps trade war could trigger a global recessionInvestors are sounding the alarm as markets struggle to react to his tariffs. (Economist $) + Unsurprisingly, the President has doubled down on his tariffs. (BBC)+ Its all part of his plan to reset global trade. (Politico)+ Trumps tariffs will deliver a big blow to climate tech. (MIT Technology Review)2 The White House was just hours from announcing a TikTok deal Until the Chinese government insisted on tariff negotiations first. (WP $)+ The two countries now seem likely to descend into tit-for-tat restrictions. (WSJ $)+ The President has extended the sale deadline by another 75 days. (NBC News) 3 DeepSeek is working on self-improving AI modelsIts working with Tsinghua University to reduce its models training needs. (Bloomberg $) + China is narrowing the AI dominance gap between it and the US. (Wired $)+ How DeepSeek ripped up the AI playbookand why everyones going to follow its lead. (MIT Technology Review)4 X is flourishing under the Trump administration Elon Musk appears to be positioning the platform as a new media outlet. (NYT $)+ X is cracking down on parody accounts. (BBC)5 A shingles vaccine could help lower the risk of developing dementiaWe might have to overhaul the way we treat neurodegenerative diseases. (Vox) + It may help to treat them like viruses. (NYT $)+ Dementia content gets billions of views on TikTok. Whose story does it tell? (MIT Technology Review)6 San Franciscos mayor is trying to convince tech leaders to come back He may be willing to offer tax breaks as an incentive. (TechCrunch)+ Some of his supporters arent in favor of his new upzoning plan. (SF Standard)7 TikToks algorithm promotes live streams of begging children While taking fees and commission of up to 70%. (The Guardian)8 Chinas EV makers are locked in intense competitionAnd consumers are spoilt for choice. (FT $) + Argentina has lifted tariffs on EVs. (Rest of World)+ Chinas EV giants are betting big on humanoid robots. (MIT Technology Review)9 This version of video game Quake was created using AI Microsoft has opened a demo up to Copilot users. (The Verge)+ How generative AI could reinvent what it means to play. (MIT Technology Review)10 Tracking celebrity heights is an internet obsession Is anyone actually 511? (The Guardian) Quote of the day Wed like to put this chapter behind us. Sean Murphy, executive vice president of policy at trade group the Information Technology Industry Council, tells the Washington Post how the tech industry is desperate to see the tariffs that affect it reversed as quickly as possible. The big story The messy quest to replace drugs with electricity In the early 2010s, electricity seemed poised for a hostile takeover of your doctors office. Research into how the nervous systemthe highway that carries electrical messages between the brain and the body controls the immune response was gaining traction. And that had opened the door to the possibility of hacking into the bodys circuitry and thereby controlling a host of chronic diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and diabetes, as if the immune system were as reprogrammable as a computer. To do that youd need a new class of implant: an electroceutical. These devices would replace drugs. No more messy side effects. And no more guessing whether a drug would work differently for you and someone else. In the 10 years or so since, around a billion dollars has accreted around the effort. But electroceuticals have still not taken off as hoped. Now, however, a growing number of researchers are starting to look beyond the nervous system, and experimenting with clever ways to electrically manipulate cells elsewhere in the body, such as the skin. Their work suggests that this approach could match the early promise of electroceuticals, yielding fast-healing bioelectric bandages, novel approaches to treating autoimmune disorders, new ways of repairing nerve damage, and even better treatments for cancer. Read the full story. Sally Adee We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet 'em at me.) + The internet is hating on the Beatles biopics before theyre even outbut why?+ Do you know the last time all of humanity was on Earth?+ The new Naked Gun film looks suitably unhinged.+ Heres some simple bits of advice to help make each day that little bit happier.

Plan to keep stricken grade II*-listed structure as a monument also scrapped in taskforce meetingPlans to either demolish Hammersmith bridge and replace it with a new crossing or keep it as a monument have been rejected by a government committee.The proposals were among six put forward by the Department of Transport as future options for the 138-year-old structure, which has been closed to vehicle traffic since 2019, when cracks appeared in its pedestals.Source: Patrick Wang/shutterstock.comHammersmith Bridge has been closed since 2019It is currently only open for cyclists and pedestrians, which could continue on a permanent basis under another plan proposed at the meeting of the Department for Transport (DfT) taskforce in January. Details of the meeting were revealed by the BBC through a freedom of information request.The taskforce assembled to consider options for the bridge includes DfT officials, council representatives, MPs from either side of the bridge, Transport for London and Sadiq Khans deputy mayor for transport, Seb Dance.Other plans suggested include repairing the bridge for pedestrians, cyclists and single-decker buses or building a new adjacent bridge while retaining the existing structure.The taskforce ruled out both demolishing the bridge and building a new bridge, but have kept options to either repair the bridge for pedestrian and cycle use only or to fully repair it for vehicle traffic.The latter proposal, which has been designed by a partnership between Foster & Partners and engineering firm Cowi, would see a temporary double-decker steel structure fitted within the bridge to allow damaged elements to be removed for repair.The so-called Foster-Cowi proposal was costed at around 100m when it was first put forward in 2020.The grade II*-listed suspension bridge was designed by London sewer engineer Joseph Bazalgette and built in 1887.

The winning team selected for the estimated 150,000 contract will carry out RIBA Stages 3-to-4 of the project to upgrade facilities at the two sites which are now considered no longer fit for purpose.The project will deliver expanded facilities for storing deer carcasses following annual culls which take place in the East England Forest District. A feasibility study for the project has already been completed by Concertus.According to the brief: The current Deer Larders are no longer fit for purpose. Existing facilities are up to 30 years old, have failing infrastructure and equipment, and struggle to meet statutory regulations required for food hygiene and manual handling.AdvertisementExisting facilities are not big enough to safely store carcasses (numbers will increase further), are not operationally efficient, and do not maximise commercial opportunities.The increasing deer population across the district, in a landscape of fragmented woodland ownership necessitates a different approach to culling and consequently requires a new approach to storing carcasses.The Forestry Commission known as Forestry England in England since 1996 was created in 1919 to expand Britains woodlands following their depletion after the First World War. The organisation today employs 3,400 people and has an annual budget of 50 million.Around 70 per cent of the total Forestry Commission estate is in Scotland with large areas earmarked for timber harvesting and sustainable forest management.The organisation is a major provider of recreational and tourism facilities, operating many walking, cycling and horse riding routes and several visitor centres across the country.AdvertisementPerth-based Bell Ingram Design was picked for a Forestry Commission framework covering small projects across Scotland four years ago.The latest procurement comes two years after Forestry England launched a search for a consultant team to re-masterplan the 130ha Bedgebury National Pinetum in Kent.Bids for the latest commission will be evaluated 75 per cent on quality and 25 per cent on price. Applicants must hold employers liability insurance of 5 million, public liability insurance of 5 million and professional indemnity insurance of 1 million.Competition detailsProject title East England Deer Larder Design RIBA Stages 3&4ClientContract value TbcFirst round deadline 1pm, 2 May 2025Restrictions TbcMore information https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/012907-2025

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