Tapestry, a new app designed to organize the open social web, is adding a valuable feature to help people who are keeping up with multiple social networks: It will now remove duplicate posts from your feed. That means if you follow the same person across social networking services like Bluesky and Mastodon, you won’t have to see their post appear twice in your feed if they’ve shared it in multiple places. The new feature, called Crosstalk, is rolling out with the Tapestry 1.1 iOS update on Tuesday — a sizable update that follows its February 2025 release. Tapestry was built by the same team that developed the award-winning third-party Twitter client Twitterific in years past and even helped create the word “tweet” to describe Twitter posts. With Tapestry, the team turned its sights to the emerging open social web where decentralized, open source platforms and technology are attempting to loosen Big Tech’s control over the web. Instead of billionaire owners like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg or X’s Elon Musk, open social networks put the control back into the hands of the web’s users. Image Credits:Iconfactory's Tapestry In one place, users can track any posts shared using open technology. That includes social posts on apps like Bluesky and Mastodon, but also other sources powered by RSS, like blogs, Tumblr, and Reddit updates, YouTube videos, podcasts, and more. Tapestry users can also combine these sources to create their own custom feeds. However, one of the larger challenges of multi-feed aggregation apps like Tapestry is that you’re often confronted with duplicates as other users cross-post their updates to multiple services like Mastodon, Bluesky, and Micro.blog. The latest Tapestry update is now able to automatically filter out these duplicates, even when the posts are not written exactly the same. For instance, if a longer Mastodon post were edited down to meet Bluesky’s 300-character limit, Tapestry would still able to detect the differences and hide the duplicate post. Users can choose whether they want to hide the duplicate post, or “muffle” it, or if they’d rather remove it from their feed entirely by muting it. This works because Tapestry is looking for repeated text from the same author across multiple feeds, not necessarily a word-for-word match. ScreenshotImage Credits:Iconfactory's Tapestry The updated version of the app also includes a feature called Quicklinks, which are shortcuts to favorite timelines or custom feeds. Users can switch between up to four different timelines by long-pressing on the feed icon on the app’s toolbar. (These customizations are also device-specific, meaning people can choose to have a different set of favorites on iPhone and iPad). Another smaller tweak rolling out now includes an easier-to-access button to refresh feeds and jump between feed locations. This is found in the far-left button menu button. Users can also customize feeds from an item’s Action menu and swap out the app’s icon, among other things. Tapestry’s app is a free download on the App Store with in-app purchases. A monthly or yearly subscription is available at $1.99 or $19.99, respectively, or people can buy a lifetime pass for $79.99.

No law, only disorder. Netflix has dropped the trailer and key art for the upcoming film Havoc, which debuts April 25. Tom Hardy stars as Walker, a detective fighting his way through the criminal underworld with a number of factions on his tail. When attempting to rescue a politician’s estranged son, he is forced to confront the demons of his past. Hardy is joined by Jessie Mei Li, Justin Cornwell, Quelin Sepulveda, Luis Guzmán, Michelle Waterson, Sunny Pang, Jim Caesar, Xelia Mendes-Jones, Yeo Yann Yann, Timothy Olyphant, and Forest Whitaker. Gareth Evans (The Raid, Gangs of London) serves as writer and director. Ed Talfan, Evans, Aram Tertzakian, and Hardy produce. The film’s visual effects were created by Axis Studios, which sadly shut down last year, as well as Dupe VFX, One of Us, ReDefine, and Troll VFX. Check out the trailer now: Source: Netflix Journalist, antique shop owner, aspiring gemologist—L'Wren brings a diverse perspective to animation, where every frame reflects her varied passions.

Interviews Black Doves: Peter Eszenyi (On Set VFX Supervisor) & Jonathan Harris (VFX Supervisor & Founder – dupe) By Vincent Frei - 08/04/2025 In 2019, Peter Eszenyi spoke to us about his work on The Dark Crystal: The Age of Resistance. Since then, he has contributed to a variety of projects including Hawkeye, Dance Monsters, Renegade Nell, and Rivals. Back in 2020, Jonathan Harris broke down the visual effects work behind Gangs of London. Since then, he has contributed to several other productions, including Liaison. How did you get involved on this series? Peter Eszenyi (PE): I had worked with Jono (Jonathan Harris) and dupe on Renegade Nell, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a challenging show, but the way the dupe team handled it was proof that there is capability there to handle anything VFX wise on any show. Jono asked me to get involved with the show and introduced me to Harry (Munday – producer) and Alex (Gabassi – director). Jonathan Harris (JH): We had worked with Harry Munday on Sister and HBO’s Landscapers and so he phoned us up to get quotes and it evolved from there. How was the collaboration with the Creator Joe Barton and the directors? PE: I have not worked with Joe directly, although I am a great admirer of his work. Loved Giri/Haji! I loved working with both directors, Alex (Alex Gabassi) and Lisa (Lisa Gunning) have different directing styles, but both of them were laser focused on telling the story of Black Doves as well as possible, and put a great effort into developing the characters. I believe the human element, the undercurrent of the personal backstories of Helen and Sam (and the supporting cast) is the element that sets this show apart from similar ones. JH: dupe doesn’t have a direct relationship with Joe Barton but we had previously worked with Alex Gabassi. It was one of the first jobs for dupe back in 2017 I believe and it was one of Alex’s first gigs in the UK so it was really nice to work together again and catchup on how the journey had been for each other. How did you organize the work with your VFX Producer? PE: I would say that the show for me is divided into two distinctive segments, the on-set part and the post bit. I was mostly involved with the on-set part, which meant dealing with script changes, budget changes, schedule changes and sometimes with the changing scope, and doing this in a way that protected the post segment as much as possible. With the second part mostly dealt with by the dupe team, my job in that period was limited to dealing with specific aspects of the show and helping the team as much as possible. In this process I had great help from Rachel Webb and Viola Asztalos who handled the production at dupe and were instrumental in making sure all is looking as good as possible whilst staying the course budget wise. On set I had a great relationship with Harry Munday, Emma Downes and Georgette Mason and the production managing team, and we talked a lot about what can be done to make the show look as good as possible without breaking the bank. Lots of chat about snow for sure! JH: dupe’s production team led by Rachel Webb worked with Harry and Tara Bhoola (Post Supervisor) to gauge the volume of work and key stages and how it held up against the post schedule. There were some delays here and there on both sides but the communication was candid and easy with the client so we easily found the way through any bottlenecks or tricky creative moments. Could you start by giving us an overview of your role as VFX Supervisor on Black Doves and how you approached the visual effects for this espionage series? PE: The post part of the show was handled at dupe by Luke Butler and Jack Hennigan. I have worked with Luke on Renegade Nell, and with him and Jack on board I was a hundred percent sure the show is going to look as good as it can, so my job was to make sure they have everything at their disposal to do their parts well. Black Doves was always meant to be a show where visual effects are purely in the service of the story, and stay in the background, almost always invisible whilst being precisely what they need to be. We used VFX where doing something practically was not possible, too dangerous or too expensive. My job was to reassure the directors and producers on set that everything they want to tell will be told, and that the post team will always have a couple of tricks up their sleeve to do the invisible work regardless of potential last minute changes on set or in the edit. We shot a huge amount of the show on locations, quite often outside and mostly during winter,- not always the most favourable experience. I needed to make sure none of this is hindering what we planned to do in post. There were a few key moments, the so called big VFX moments where I needed to plan way ahead of what will happen months after the show was shot, so I consulted the dupe team, making sure they are on board with my plans. This meant creating models and using AR to plan camera angles and suggesting focal lengths to Mark Patten and Giulio Bicarri, understanding what kind of reflections would be captured if we did the shot on a real location (we shot a lot of the driving scenes in a Volume), and creating previz for some of the more action based scenes and tweaking them to fit the actual shooting locations and camera positions. As for the usual bread and butter tasks I made sure the dupe team has all the relevant information available from the set, HDRIs, lighting plans and scans where needed was provided by me. JH: Jack Supervised most of block 1, which was Alex’s episodes and Luke took over for Lisa’s episodes. Both supervisors built good relationships with the Directors as well as Harry who helped keep the continuity and budget in check across the season. Early on a key part of the creative conversation was around gore levels and what we were aiming for. With heads exploding and such like an fairly untamed element of gore was going to be necessary. These were fast moments though and not gratuituous. Additionally the screen inserts were a large point of debate and the teams spent time getting the balance of keeping things realistic to what we all know and expect but creatively different and interesting for the show and time period. What are the challenges of creating invisible visual effects, and how do you ensure they seamlessly blend into the real-world environments? PE: I think the key is to base as much as possible on real elements, That you either capture or have some references for. I think a lot of visual effects when it comes to invisible effects are things we saw already, either in person or through some sort of medium. We all know how fire and snow looks like. What we need to do is make sure the familiar element is believable in their new context in the specific show. With these covered I think it is a somewhat easier task, from time to time you have to step back and ask yourself whether this passes as realistic or not. Then you have to factor in the aesthetics of the show, the directors’ and DOPs’ personal taste that needs to shape your output and with all these combined you should have something that works for that specific shot or sequence whilst maintaining the idea of what we think of it. For the flat explosion, on top of the recces I went to the location before and after the shoot several times to make sure everything we planned is achievable, created detailed scans of the entire marina, measured every aspect of it, so I could confidently answer any questions that might come up. I believe you have to have deep knowledge of the locations you want to put the “invisible effects” in so you can prepare in advance. In practical terms it means, lidar, photogrammetry, panoramas, HDRIs, sometimes consulting building plans sourced from to the local council. Besides all that, communicating with the other departments is a must, on this show we had a few large sets in the studio where I have had a lot of help from the art department, and reciprocally I tried to help them as much as I could with their planning – we had lots of fun conversations around viewing angles and translights! Another huge challenge was the snow, narratively an important part of the last episode, practically a beast that needs a lot for coordination between SFX, art department, production, locations, basically all departments to work around the constraints. It is really difficult to have as much snow on set in London as you want, so we had to be economical with where we put the effort, I think everybody understood that is is sometimes more beneficial to move the camera closer or turn it away a bit to be able to afford putting snow into shots where it mattered the most. How did you approach the creation and enhancement of the environments in Black Doves, and what were some of the most complex scenes to tackle? PE: I think you could say that London played a huge part in the series, so we wanted to make sure it is celebrated when it comes to extending environments. I believe the biggest challenges were the huge snowy vista at the end of the last episode and making sure some distant shooting locations feel as one cohesive element in the show. The snowy vista stemmed from a drone recce I did at Helen’s house, I had done some rough passes trying to find some great looking angles for the last shot, and Lisa and Giuilo liked one where the camera pulled back as it flew up and backwards revealing the wider environment with Helen and Sam having a Christmas drink on the balcony. The move in the show executed by the drone team was great, but it meant that the team had to prepare a huge, super detailed DMP as we reveal a snowy London whilst trying to not give away the real location of the house we shot in – I believe as this was the end of the show it was all worth the effort! The flat explosion scene was also a great challenge, as we we shot it in a real location, but production built the flat and filmed in it on a soundstage. This needed a lot of planning and precision in order to make sure all lines up – the stunts, the time it takes for Helen and Sam to fall into the water below, the angles we need to see this from – it took us a while to get it all worked out. In terms of action and stunt scenes, what were some of the key contributions of your VFX team? Can you share an example where visual effects made a significant difference? PE: I believe a fair few of the fight scenes had some VFX augmentation, or cleanup. Jo McLaren and her stunt team did a fantastic job, and their stuntvis was extremely valuable as a tool to help all involved to understand the scene and the relationship between the action and the locations. They did the heavy lifting with the sfx team and the weapons team. For those scenes we contributed with secondary elements like muzzle flashes, bullet hits and similar, as well as cleaning some of the issues that are inevitable when it comes to film high energy stunt scenes. JH: As Peter says a lot of great work was caught in camera and made our job easier to do. The shotgun head explosion in the flat with the two assassins was a fun one to enhance. The series features bullet impacts and explosions. What techniques or tools did you use to achieve a realistic look while maintaining the safety of the cast and crew? PE: We had a great weapons team on the show – the guys from Bapty and Co were a pleasure to work with. We had a day where we had the luxury of filming all the guns and weapons used in the show with a high speed camera from various angles in a little tent and we used these elements to augment the shots. As always, using muzzle flashes was a creative decision, In reality quite often you won’t able to see any muzzle flashes captured by cameras, so when the decision was made to do that for the show we were able to do our work with the filmed elements. How closely did you work with the stunt team and cinematographers to ensure the VFX complemented the physical action on set? PE: I always had a ton of respect for Jo Mclaren and her stunt team – they are a pleasure to work with and they were able to share their stuntviz work with the team, I believe that was instrumental for us to understand what sort of ways we need to contribute to the shots. I loved Mark and Giulio’s previous work so for me it was really exciting to work with them and their camera operators, James and Kat and the rest of the camera team, and I think we all had a lot of very important conversations around how we can help each other’s work. We had a fair few interesting challenges whether that is underwater shots or a mirror that needs to break but seen from a specific angle – I’d like to think we have managed to figure things out well! I am always very grateful for the camera team’s help on sets, it is reassuring to know that we can rely on one another on set. Were there any technical challenges you faced during the production, and how did you overcome them? PE: It was cold! Is that a technical challenge? I think as usual time is the biggest challenge and anything that helps with speeding up the way we do things is extremely helpful. I used an iPad with AR overlays for some sets to make sure everybody is on the same page, and all departments have the relevant info about what needs to be done and how we envisaged it. I did a lot of that on Renegade Nell, to show everybody where the cameras are located and that makes a lot of difference for turning around and setting up. There were some locations that were not easy to access, and sometimes the interiors and the exteriors were in places far away from one another – making sure they mesh seamlessly was an big task – for example their geographical differences meant the sun moved differently and similar seemingly little things can build up to be a much bigger problem later on if you let your guard down. Espionage series often require a balance between realism and heightened drama. How did you strike that balance in your visual effects work? PE: We absolutely wanted to make sure whatever we do ends up being realistic, therefore the audience does not lose their immersion into the world of Black Doves. In this case we tried to do the exact opposite of the bigger the better – tried to stay as grounded as possible. Even with elements like blood splatters and such, if not treated with a bit of restraint, can end up being too much. Invisible effects often need to stay within strict budgetary limits. How did you manage resources while maintaining high-quality visuals? PE: Trying to underpromise and over deliver. I had to be realistic with the directors and producers on what it means if we do things in a certain way, and if there is any other, sometimes cheaper but not necessarily worse solution we can offer. A lot of issues that seem like big things in the heat of shooting can become less of a problem, especially if you are confident that there is an alternative way of dealing with them. In the recent years keeping costs manageable has become the main driving factor with regards to VFX and I firmly believe that there is a way where we can do high quality work with limited budgets, and the key element for that is planning. And when things start to stray away from the plans you need to have the confidence that the new situation can be dealt with whilst respecting the original creative intent and budget. This needs open and honest communication between the stakeholders – we all want to make a great show! JH: This follows through into the editorial decisions too. Shot counts have an obvious impact on budgets so working with Harry and Tara on shot counts and creative approaches to certain scenes to make sure we were successful in realising the directors vision in a way that didn’t get carried away with the process was something we all kept an eye on. The handover from Peter to Jack and Luke was also key in understanding the intent on set and what first versions of shots and scenes would be so as to get to the solution fast and reduce iterations. Could you highlight the contributions of specific departments or artists on your team who were instrumental in achieving the final look? PE: Love to give a big shoutout to Yordan Ivanov who was instrumental in keeping the high quality and creative consistency of all the fight scenes. His understanding of our elements library and finding quick solutions to give shots high impact was second to none. Thank you Yordan! Invisible effects are most successful when audiences don’t notice them. How do you measure the success of your work in such cases? JH: We’ve delivered a lot of work across ‘invisible vfx’ type shows over the years and the best compliment is always when someone says they didn’t think there were any VFX. Internally though the success is the balance of having fun with the work and pleasing the Directors and the producers together. We enjoyed this show and we are excited to see where Season 2 goes. Looking back on the project, what aspects of the visual effects are you most proud of? PE: That we achieved a lot with the resources we had, and contributed to telling a fantastic story whilst not drawing too much attention to the fact that visual effects were required. Which sequence or shot was the most challenging? PE: Funnily enough not necessarily the ones we originally flagged up as problematic. Some seemingly small and innocent things, like art directing vape smoke was an interesting challenge because it needed to behave in a specific way and stay believable, whilst matching exactly the intent of the directors. But as always, there are things when you know it will be challenging, but if you are prepared and do your due diligence they usually stay on this side of problematic. The fight scene in the club was a fun challenge with all the mirrors! Is there something specific that gives you some really short nights? PE: Not really, knowing that the dupe team had my back, and I am doing what I can to give them what they need helped to alleviate some, if not all of the anxiety. JH: Thanks Peter! – dito. There is always a crunch towards the end that keeps you on your toes but again fair play to Harry and Tara who were a joy to work with and made communication a brease when solving problems. What is your favorite shot or sequence? PE: I have to say I love the shootout inside the Newmans hideout in Ep4 and the big explosion in EP2. Great to see all the individual elements aligning and supporting the moment. What is your best memory on this show? PE: I was in awe of how beautiful the sets built by the art department were – Elmore’s flat and the Jewellery shop looked amazing. And having fantastic and creative conversations with everybody on set, sorting problems out whilst enjoying glimpses into someone else’s creative process. How long have you worked on this show? PE: From November 2023 to March 2024, and a few weeks during the summer. What’s the VFX shots count? PE: 396 shots. What is your next project? PE: Not confirmed yet – but looking forward to it! We are working on season 2 of Buccaneers for Apple and Forge Entertainment. A big thanks for your time. Click on the picture to watch the reel. // TRAILERS WANT TO KNOW MORE?dupe: Dedicated page about Black Doves on dupe website. © Vincent Frei – The Art of VFX – 2025

William Rawn Associates (WRA) shared last week a conceptual design for the Sarasota Orchestra Music Center, located at 5701 Fruitville Road. WRA was named project architect last November. The music center will deliver a 1,800-seat main performance hall, a 700-seat flexible space for chamber music and special events, multiple rehearsal rooms, a reception area, and administrative offices. OJB is landscape architect for the 32-acre, $14 million site Sarasota Orchestra recently purchased. The single visual from WRA shows an off-white horizontal building defined by an expansive, cantilevered roof plane with a circle aperture toward the middle. This plane is punctured by a large volume which rises up from the ground plane. In a statement the firm, said the building’s design is still very much in the works, however. “A sculptor working in bronze does not simply pour metal into a mold. They begin with clay. In much the same way, we are currently in the ‘clay stage’ of this process, where the forms are starting to take shape, the scale is becoming clearer and more layers of detail are emerging,” Douglas Johnston, WRA principal, shared in a statement. “While the Music Center design is not yet complete, a distinct sense of personality is beginning to take form,” added Cliff Gayley, WRA principal for design. Ample natural light is paramount to the Sarasota Orchestra Music Center’s design, WRA added. Educational spaces are placed to the east to ensure they have strong morning light, while the performance spaces will illuminate at night thanks to a glass facade. The design has an open-air courtyard with strategically placed shading to create a seamless connection between indoor and outdoor spaces. At the heart of the building will be the Florida Gulf Coast’s first concert hall purpose-built for acoustic music, the Sarasota Orchestra stated. This latest conceptual design will be modified in the coming months, as the architects engage the Sarasota Orchestra’s board of directors, musicians, staff and donors, as well as arts community partners and neighbors adjacent to the site. HKS is listed as the executive architect and Stages Consultants is the acoustician and theater planner. The WRA project will be built near the forthcoming Sarasota Performing Arts Center by Renzo Piano Building Workshop, another cultural building with numerous stage venues and an indoor-outdoor connection.

The Edward Waldo House in Scotland, Connecticut, is a vernacular Georgian house with saltbox roof and wings which from its erection about 1715 until 1971 was owned by members of the Waldo family. Edward Waldo (1684-1767) purchased land here along the Shetucket River in 1702 and by 1715, erected this house. The saltbox house which Edward Waldo built was one of the first houses in the town of Scotland and would remain in successive generations of the family for centuries. The house was the birthplace of Samuel Lovett Waldo (1783-1861), a portraitist who was a founder of the National Academy of Design as well as Daniel Waldo, chaplain of Congress, 1856-1858, and was one of seven Revolutionary War veterans who, having survived into the age of photography, were featured in the 1864 book The Last Men of the Revolution. The last Waldo owner, Miss Ruth Waldo died in1975. She insured the preservation of her family homestead by bequeathing the house, its contents, and about 15 acres of land to the Antiquarian & Landmarks Society of Connecticut Inc. and the surrounding acreage to the Connecticut Forest and Park Association, creating an enduring legacy for centuries to come. The house, set amongst a quiet country road, is evocative of early days in Scotland, Connecticut, and is one of the finest-preserved Colonial homes in this part of the state. 

Facebook parent Meta has warned of a significant vulnerability in the Microsoft Windows version of its popular WhatsApp messaging platform that could leave users at risk or falling victim to a variety of cyber attacks, up to and including ransomware incidents. In an online advisory, Meta said that the spoofing issue – which exists in versions prior to 2.2450.6 and is being tracked as CVE-2025-30401 – causes WhatsApp to display attachments sent via the messaging platform according to their Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME) type but to select the file opening handler based on the true filename extension of said attachment. In this instance, should a malicious actor deliberately alter the MIME type, they could cause the recipient to inadvertently execute arbitrary code rather than view the attachment when they manually open it inside WhatsApp. In practice, this means that a victim might see an attachment appearing to be an innocent .jpeg file and be convinced to open it, only to have it turn out to be a .exe file – that is to say, malware. The disclosure of CVE-2025-30401 comes hot on the heels of new data, released by online bank Revolut, revealing that during 2024, WhatsApp was the main vector for one in five scams in the UK, and their volume grew by 67% between June and December. More widely, Meta platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, are highly favoured by cyber criminals thanks to their large consumer user bases who often lack a clear understanding of basic personal security measures. “Most people will be part of a WhatsApp group where it is common for images to be shared and this is where this vulnerability becomes dangerous,” said Adam Pilton, senior cyber security consultant at CyberSmart. “If a cyber criminal was able to share this image either in your group or with someone you trust who then goes on to share it in your group, anybody in that group could unknowingly execute the malicious code associated with the shared image.” Martin Kraemer, a security awareness advocate at KnowBe4, said that the near-universal use of WhatsApp made such vulnerabilities potentially extremely impactful, not just to consumers but to organisations as well. “WhatsApp has become such an integral part of life from organising hairdresser appointments to sharing CVs with recruiters. As the preferred platform of communication, the Windows client has become an essential little helper for many running in the background while we go about our professional and private duties,” he said. Because WhatsApp is so entrenched with our communication and working habits, we have developed automatisms, a high level of trust, and a dependency that attackers love to exploit as is happening with this vulnerability in the windows client. The vulnerability must not be taken lightly and users should update their software to the newest version now.” Kraemer warned that in the interim, WhatsApp users should always exercise extreme caution when opening attachments or files sent to them via the service. Ideally, he said, best practice is to treat it as one would treat one’s email account, and never open unexpected files, particularly not one from new contacts. “It is good to see however that the solution is at hand and simple to achieve and that is to apply an update to WhatsApp,” added Pilton. “Cyber criminals will continue to exploit vulnerabilities within the software we use and the software providers will continue to provide updates or patches that protect us against the attacks that cyber criminals use. This is why vulnerability management, also known as applying the updates that software providers issue, is so important.” Read more about WhatsApp The Russian cyber spy operation known as Star Blizzard changed tactics after a takedown operation by Microsoft and the US authorities, turning to widely used messaging platform WhatsApp to try to ensnare its targets. The Home Office decision to target Apple with an order requiring access to users’ encrypted data is widely seen as a ‘stalking horse’ for attacks against encrypted messaging services WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal.

ZDNET gathered insights about the impact of the US tariff crisis on tech buyers - to help you make sense of the rapidly evolving landscape.

All change for Chrome—what you need to know.

Editor's take: The internet is vast, sprawling across server farms, fiber-optic cables, and satellites. But beyond its physical infrastructure, does the internet – the data, the information, the very essence of cyberspace – have any measurable weight? The question might sound absurd, yet it's one that physicists and thinkers have pondered for years. After all, Einstein's famous equation, E = mc², tells us that energy has mass. And since storing and transmitting data consumes energy, it follows that the internet must, in theory, possess some infinitesimal amount of weight. The first serious attempt to quantify the internet's weight came in 2006, when Harvard physicist Russell Seitz made headlines with his calculation. By estimating the mass of the energy powering servers at the time, Seitz concluded that the internet weighed about 50 grams, or roughly the same as a couple of strawberries. The comparison stuck, becoming a quirky piece of trivia from an era when the web was still in its adolescence. But much has changed since then. Social media platforms like Instagram have emerged, smartphones are now ubiquitous, and artificial intelligence is reshaping the digital landscape. By Seitz's logic, today's internet might weigh closer to a potato. Around the same time as Seitz's estimate, Discover magazine proposed an alternative approach. Instead of focusing on server energy, they looked at the electrons used to encode information on the internet. Using 2006 figures for global internet traffic – about 40 petabytes – they calculated a weight of just five-millionths of a gram. That's less than a drop of strawberry juice. While clever, the method relied heavily on assumptions about electron usage and focused more on data transmission than storage. Nearly two decades later, Wired revisited these calculations with fresh eyes and modern data. First, they scrutinized Seitz's server-energy method. Christopher White, president of NEC Laboratories America and a veteran researcher from Bell Labs, dismissed the 50-gram figure outright, telling the publication that it was "just wrong." Daniel Whiteson, a particle physicist at UC Irvine, echoed the skepticism, likening it to calculating the price of a doughnut by dividing global GDP by the total number of doughnuts – a method that might yield numbers, but not accuracy. // Related Stories The Discover approach didn't fare much better under scrutiny. It relied on overly simplistic assumptions about how electrons encode information and ignored variations in hardware efficiency. The reality is far messier: different chips and circuits require vastly different amounts of energy to process data. White offered a more nuanced method for tackling the question. He proposed imagining all the data stored across hundreds of millions of servers worldwide consolidated into one place. By calculating how much energy would be needed to encode that data and then converting that energy into mass using E = mc², we could estimate the internet's weight more rigorously. In 2018, the International Data Corporation predicted that by 2025, the global datasphere would reach 175 zettabytes. Using this figure and factoring in temperature-dependent variables (data storage is easier in cooler environments), White arrived at a startlingly small number: 53 quadrillionths of a gram. In other words, if you weigh all the data on the internet as energy at room temperature, it would amount to almost nothing. While this calculation is mathematically sound, it feels unsatisfying given how heavy the internet seems metaphorically – billions of people spend hours each day navigating its vastness. White admitted that any attempt to weigh something as complex as the internet is "essentially unknowable." Still, he suggested exploring alternative frameworks for understanding its mass. One intriguing possibility involves DNA-based storage systems. Scientists have recently explored encoding data within DNA molecules due to their incredible density and durability. Current estimates suggest that one gram of DNA can store 215 petabytes of information. If we were to store all 175 zettabytes of internet data in DNA form, it would weigh approximately 960 kilograms – or about 2,100 pounds. That's equivalent to 10 average American men or roughly one-third of Tesla's Cybertruck. While we may never fully grasp what it means for something as abstract as the internet to have mass, these thought experiments offer fascinating insights into its scale – and limits. Whether you think of it as weighing less than a strawberry seed or as much as thousands of human beings encoded into DNA strands, one thing is clear: our digital world is both intangible and immense in ways that defy easy measurement.

The already-extraordinary Apple Arcade is about to get even better with the addition of five new games, including a platform exclusive from the team behind the acclaimed What the Golf? and What the Car? games. What the Clash? is a fast-paced multiplayer title that’s part table tennis, part archery, and part tag. It will be available on May 1, 2025, and it’s an ideal game for when you want to blow off steam in truly ridiculous 1v1 games. You play as The Hand (a Stretch Armstrong-like figure that’s a hand with legs, and yes, it’s as unsettling as it sounds) and take on opponents in a series of wacky minigames. Recommended Videos For those of you that miss Nintendogs, with my Buddy is a great alternative that lets you take care of a virtual pet. You can dress them up, play with them, and a lot more, because who doesn’t need an adorable animal in their life? Nadeem Sarwar / DigitalTrends Lego Friends Heartlake Rush+ puts players behind the plastic block wheel of a Lego vehicle. Customize your car with its own appearance and then take on races and missions to unlock even more items. And don’t think it’s limited to just cars, either; the preview image for the game shows someone in what looks like a jet, so there’s a lot of potential to build whatever vehicle you can think of. Related Words of Wonders: Search+ is what it sounds like: a hidden word search game, but it has a twist. You explore different landmarks across the globe while playing, and the game gradually introduces new words to keep things fresh (and help players expand their vocabulary a bit, too.) The final new addition to Apple Arcade is Sumi Sumi: Matching Puzzle+. This cute puzzler has players match different characters like Rilakkuma and Sumikko Gurashi — names you might recognize from San-X, a Japanese company known for its adorable little characters. Apple Arcade is constantly getting new games, and each new addition makes it even more appealing. You can try it out for $7 per month, or get it as part of the Apple One plan starting at $20 per month. Currently, there are more than 200 different games to choose from and play, all ad-free. Editors’ Recommendations