The lowdown on 2D vs 3D, parametric vs direct and the different types of CAD modelling.

President Trump’s tariffs don’t hit streamers like Netflix directly. But they could impact what streaming services release—and how much people are willing to pay for it.

The Trump administration is dialing back its enforcement of cryptocurrency, and criticizing Biden-era prosecutions.

Macworld It’s time to check in on the investments made by Apple CEO Tim Cook in a segment the Macalope likes to call… Tim’s Investments. (Yeah, he just made this up, but would it kill you to play along?) As long-time readers of this segment will remember (shh), the Macalope community provides this as a free service to Apple CEO Tim Cook to help him better analyze the performance of his many investments. Sometimes it’s as large as a chip fabricating plant in Southeast Asia, sometimes as small as an electric toothbrush he bought at Walgreens. (That toothbrush was terrible, by the way.) This time we are going to take a little look at an investment that Tim made earlier this year to a certain incoming president’s inaugural fund. For a million dollars. Not to spoil the ending, but we will find that a million dollars doesn’t go as far as it used to. A million dollars isn’t a lot of money for nations or for Apple or even for Tim Cook, who donated the amount from his personal coffers (not a lot of people know this but Tim keeps all his funds in actual strong boxes). But it’s a good-sized amount for an individual inaugural donation. The Macalope, for example, gave far less. He gave zero dollars (only because negative amounts were apparently not allowable, so much for money representing legal free speech). Irrespective of the optics (“morality” is such a charged word) of trying to curry favor (“bribe” is such a dirty word) with the highest politician in the land, it doesn’t seem like Tim got much of a return on his investment. Let us review the events of this week through the magic of headlines. “Tariff News, April 2, 2025: Trump Unveils Sweeping Levies in Stark Shift in Trade Policy” You might think Apple would have gotten some special carve-out for Tim Cook’s $1 million–but that was January! That’s forever ago in palm-greasing time! What have you donated lately? What do these tariffs mean for Apple, you know, the company that Cook is CEO of? “A $2,300 Apple iPhone? Trump tariffs could make that happen” And that’s not foldable phones. That’s regular ol’ flat phones. Although at prices like that, you might snap one in half out of anger. How is the company responding? “How Apple ‘flew’ 5 flights full of iPhones from India and China in 3 days to beat Trump Tariffs” That’s how the market is supposed to work, right? The invisible hand puts the iPhones on the plane… then it flies the plane? Sorry, the Macalope must have been out sick that week of business school. IDG But, wait! That’s not all the bad news for Apple! What else did Tim get for a million bucks? “Apple Plunges 9%, Leading a Tech Sell-Off” And that headline was from last Thursday. As of this writing, Apple stock is down more than 18 percent since the tariffs were announced, much like the rest of the market. Just… don’t look at your 401(k). Keep looking at those Pokémon cards you never opened and are still in mint condition. That’s your real nest egg now. And whatever internal organs you have to sell. Members of your family who are not necessarily your favorites. Your soul. That kind of thing. You’ll be fine. It’ll be fine. We’ll be fine. You know who else will be fine? Surprise twist. See, the Macalope left out one headline that goes before those other ones. “Apple CEO Tim Cook Sells Stock Worth $24 Million” Must be nice. The problem in these situations is that once you turn the spigot full of favors on, all you can do is keep the flow running. Good luck keeping up, Tim. If you’d like to receive regular news and updates to your inbox, sign up for our newsletters, including The Macalope and Apple Breakfast, as well as David Price’s weekly, bite-sized roundup of all the latest Apple news and rumors.

common stock, dampening IT department hopes that it might invest in innovation or make its products more affordable. Looking at the announcement of Broadcomm’s buyback plan, Scott Bickley, advisory fellow at Info-Tech Research Group, said this is consistent with Broadcom’s historic strategy and holds no good news for enterprise IT leaders. “They shouldn’t expect any relief coming their way soon commercially,” Bickley said. “If they are planning a large capital spend on the server side, they shouldn’t be planning to exploit any cracks in the Broadcom armor.”

President Donald Trump appearing to be more open to negotiations was initially enough to see Apple's shares rise fractionally overnight, only to see the fourth trading day since the tariff announcement deliver another big hit to the stock.Apple's shares continue to fallWhile Apple's shares went from $223.89 before the announcement, to $181.46 at the close of business on Monday, April 7, it then began to recover, hitting $183.67 in overnight trading. It then rose to $189.71 by 10:40 A.M. Eastern, only to fall back sharply to $184.11 under an hour later.As of the close of trading on Tuesday, Apple's shares were at $172.87, down more than 5% on the day. The four-day run of consecutive losses is Apple stock's worst hit since 2001. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

An inspiring trio of architects has been recognized as part of the AIA California chapter’s 2025 California Awards. The annual Awards honor the overall "elevation of design excellence, the actualization of core values, and rigorous commitment to the expansion of the capabilities of the field" of individuals and practices. This year, Studio Gang, Lorcan O’Herlihy, and Steven Ehrlich were the ones selected. Their powerful respective bodies of work will heavily "influence design, practice, community, for generations."

Developer Bellring Games has announced that its extraction action RPG Mistfall Hunter will be kicking off its second beta test on April 22. In its announcement, the studio has also detailed the new content that players will have access to throughout the beta. Headlining the slate of new content for beta 2 of Mistfall Hunter is the new Reverent Seer build. The class makes use of Catalysts to power its attacks and spells, and will also essentially be the first playable class in the game to offer support abilities for allies. The Reverent Seer will use Rune Pillars as its signature mechanic, which can be used to summon runes for healing, shielding, and damage buffs for allies. The title will also include new scenes and areas for players to explore. Dubbed the Ember Iris, the new region will feature Lake Iris as one of its signature points of interests. Throughout the map, players will also get to discover mysterious ancient arrays and seal gates. The area is also home to the Forge, which is currently home to Corroded artisans and laborers. With the addition of these new areas, the map of Brandrgarde will be too large to be a single map. The fortress is being split into two, with players spawning into one of the halves at random. Through the beta, Bellring Games is also planning on testing out the new solo mode. While it features the same map as trio mode, solo mode features redesigned monster placement that is better balanced for individual players rather than entire groups. The studio is also looking for feedback from players when it comes to the difficulty of its solo mode, especially in terms of class balance. The beta will also bring with it a host of new monsters, such as the Prison Guard, the Warden, the Penitent, and the Nightwatcher. Otto, the Flesheater is also a now a more fleshed-out fight, with players getting to fight its second phase. The boss also has a challenge mode that can be unlocked by players that have found the Dried Flower Knot. The challenge mode, dubbed Einherjar mode, has been described by the studio as being quite challenging, while also offering better rewards. Mistfall Hunter‘s beta 2 will also be getting a host of balance changes. Melee classes, for example, are getting a boost in damage bonus and damage reduction attributes. This is being done because melee classes tend to be at a disadvantage in fights due to their proximity to enemy attacks. More details about class balance, and how it will affect PvP, will be revealed some time next week. Other changes in the second beta include adjustments to the game’s progression, such as the addition of legendary accessories , as well as the removal of fixed affixes. The game is also getting improvements to the core technology running it, offering players smoother gameplay experiences. Thanks to this, the minimum required GPUs have been lowered to an AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT or an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660. Mistfall Hunter is in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S. The game is slated for release later this year.

New Research Clay Artifacts Found in King Tut’s Tomb May Have Been Part of a Ritual Honoring the Egyptian God Osiris The four clay troughs were initially thought to have served as stands for gold-plated staffs. Now, a researcher has presented a new theory about their purpose Tutankhamun's burial mask is made of gold and precious stones. Mark Fischer via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 2.0 The ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun was buried in a tomb filled with treasure. When Egyptologist Howard Carter discovered the chamber in 1922, he logged its contents: chariots, furniture, alabaster vessels, priceless coffins—and a few small trays made of clay. The four rectangular objects, each measuring about three inches long, sat atop reeds in a corner of the tomb. Carter concluded that they were stands which once propped up four gold-plated staffs. But more than a century later, a researcher has presented a new theory about the clay artifacts: They were part of a funerary ritual dedicated to Osiris, the ancient Egyptian god of the afterlife. According to a recent study by Nicholas Brown, an Egyptologist at Yale University, published in the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, the “mud trays” in Tutankhamun’s tomb are actually too small to have served as bases for the large staffs. The researcher compared the trays to objects from other tombs in the Valley of the Kings—a site in central Egypt that holds the burials of many Egyptian pharaohs, including Tutankhamun, who ruled between roughly 1333 and 1323 B.C.E. “The whole burial chamber seems to be set up to recreate a funerary rite known from later times called ‘the Awakening of Osiris,’” Brown tells Live Science’s Owen Jarus. A depiction of Tutankhamun driving a chariot into battle Public domain via Wikimedia Commons According to ancient Egyptian religion, Osiris was killed by his brother Seth, but Osiris’ son Horus resurrected his father with a wave of his staff. Osiris became ruler of the afterlife. Egyptians believed that when someone died, they journeyed through the underworld to eventually be judged by Osiris. The four troughs and four staffs encircled Tutankhamun’s mummy, maybe meant to represent cardinal directions and “symbolically surround the deceased for protection,” Brown tells Live Science. The four golden staffs in the tomb may represent the staff of Horus, while the four clay trays may have actually held libations of water that were poured around Tutankhamun’s coffin in a “funerary rite likely associated with Osiris,” as Brown writes in the study. Some ancient Egyptian texts written on pyramid walls illustrate the importance of libations, which “are said to be fluid derived from the corpse of the deceased, or from the corpse of Osiris,” Brown writes. “These fluids are necessary in order to rejuvenate the decaying corpse and restore its life-giving fluid to the body.” “Iterations of this Awakening of Osiris ritual existed in early periods of Egyptian history,” as the researcher tells Artnet’s Richard Whiddington. “The whole burial chamber seems to be set up to recreate a funerary rite that combines these previous rituals and some new ones.” Paula Veiga, an Egyptologist at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich who wasn’t involved in the research but has studied Osiris, says she supports Brown’s findings. As she tells Live Science, the clay trays may have also held substances like ointments. The Egyptian gods were a significant part of Tutankhamun’s story. His father had rejected polytheism in favor of worshiping the sun, but when Tutankhamun took power at age 9, he reinstated polytheism as Egypt’s official religion. It makes sense, then, that his tomb would invoke the gods. Per Artnet,  Tutankhamun’s coffins are meant to resemble Osiris, and Brown interprets the four staffs as the tools used by Horus to revive Osiris. As Brown tells Artnet, “Tutankhamun and the officials acting on his behalf had the opportunity to adapt, alter and change royal funerary practice and bring back Osiris into the picture.” Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Wells Fargo’s generative AI assistant, Fargo, surpassed 245 million interactions in 2024 using a model-agnostic architecture powered by Google’s Flash 2.0. The bank’s privacy-forward orchestration approach offers a blueprint for regulated industries looking to scale AI safely and efficiently.Read More