Samsung's newest SSD - the Samsung 990 Evo Plus PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe solid state drive - is on sale today. Pick up the 2TB model for $129.99 or, if you can swing it, the 4TB model is also discounted to $259.99. It's currently $40-$70 cheaper than the Samsung 990 Pro and most (if not all) gamers won't notice the difference in performance.Samsung 990 Evo Plus 2TB PS5 SSD for $129.994TB for $259.99Samsung 990 Evo Plus 2TB PCIe Gen 4x4 M.2 SSDSamsung 990 Evo Plus 4TB PCIe Gen 4x4 M.2 SSDThe Samsung 990 Evo Plus is an excellent drive for both your gaming PC and your PlayStation 5 console. It exceeds Sony's minimim speed recommendation for the PS5, boasting sequential speeds of up to 7,250 read and 6,300MB/s write. This is a much faster drive than the 990 Evo non-Pro but not quite as fast as the 990 Pro. The main difference between this drive and the more expensive 990 Pro is that this is a DRAM-less drive. For PS5 performance, it makes no difference. For gaming PCs, the 990 Evo Plus supports HMB (host memory buffer), which makes up for the lack of DRAM by using an inconsequential amount of RAM from your system memory. Gamers will not notice any difference between the two.The Samsung 990 Evo Plus does not have a preinstalled heatsink. However, the 990 Evo Plus SSD is a newer single-sided SSD design that is power efficient and doesn't generate as much heat as SSDs from before. That means you probably don't need to use a heatsink and it should still work perfectly fine in a PS5 console without any thermal throttling. That said, you certainly could for peace of mind and I wouldn't see any disadvantage to that aside from spending an extra $7.More SSDs for PS5Looking for more options? Check out our favorite PS5 SSDs for the PS5 console.Corsair MP600 PRO LPXSee it at AmazonCrucial T500 See it at AmazonWD_Black P40See it at AmazonLexar NM790See it at AmazonWhy Should You Trust IGN's Deals Team?IGN's deals team has a combined 30+ years of experience finding the best discounts in gaming, tech, and just about every other category. We don't try to trick our readers into buying things they don't need at prices that aren't worth buying something at. Our ultimate goal is to surface the best possible deals from brands we trust and our editorial team has personal experience with. You can check out our deals standards here for more information on our process, or keep up with the latest deals we find on IGN's Deals account on Twitter.Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

This article contains spoilers for the Black Mirror episode “Hotel Reverie.” Black Mirror is about technology but it isn’t about technology, you know what I mean? *puts bong down* Sorry about that, maybe an example from “Hotel Reverie” can better explain. In this season 7 installment, Issa Rae stars as Brandy Friday, a modern day movie star who takes a job as the male lead in a remake of her favorite black-and-white classic film Hotel Reverie. Like many other Black Mirror characters, Brandy is guilty of Not Reading The Instructions and doesn’t realize that “remaking the film” means digitally stepping in to the existing version of it where she must play her part convincingly enough to get to the end. Hotel Reverie isn’t exclusively about technology. The Redream program is merely what sets events into motion where the episode, written by Charlie Brooker and directed by Haolu Wang, can delve into complex questions surrounding digital personhood, copyright law, and love itself. Still, without that tech as a starting point, the story wouldn’t get to explore those questions in the first place. That interplay between sci-fi commentary and the human condition is what drew Issa Rae to the role. “I remember being super excited to get a Black Mirror script and to even be considered for it, and then just immediately being immersed in all the different levels of it. I was gonna say yes anyway, but I was definitely in then,” Rae tells Den of Geek and other outlets at a roundtable junket. A longtime fan of Black Mirror, Rae knew that that the technology Brandy uses to enter into Hotel Reverie looked mighty familiar. A small disk that is placed on one’s temple to engage a virtual reality interface has recurred several times throughout the show’s canon. It first popped up in season 3’s “San Junipero,” then made appearances in season 4’s “USS Callister,” and season 5’s “Striking Vipers” (where it was referred to as an “Experiencer Disk”). A variant of it also turns up in season 7’s “Eulogy.” Manufactured by TCKR Systems, the device has never had an official name until now…sort of. “Charlie [Brooker] calls it a ‘Nubbin,’ but Awkwafina’s character calls it a ‘Mesmerizer.’ I don’t know if that’s the slang version of it,” Rae says. “I didn’t have the ‘real’ version on screen. I don’t know if I’m supposed to reveal this but I had like a fake, smaller version with double-sided tape. So I was very excited to hold a real one more recently.” The “real” Nubbin that Rae got to hold recently was undoubtedly the one used to film this meta advertisement for season 7. @blackmirror issa rae taking a quick trip to another reality #nubbin #blackmirror ♬ original sound – BlackMirror That same ad campaign was accompanied by a Netflix-hosted activation where visitors could experience the device that is definitely called a Nubbin with a brand trademark and everything. Looks like Charlie Brooker got his way on this one. Sorry, Awkwafina’s character! Given that the doohickey we now know as a Nubbin first premiered in San Junipero, its use here has an added bit of resonance. Like that all-time classic episode of the show, Hotel Reverie ends up being a touching love story where two women make a connection outside the bonds of time and space. The story even concludes with a San Junipero easter egg as Brandy Friday’s address is revealed to be “3049 Junipero Drive.” “Charlie said that this is the first episode he wrote for this season. [San Junpiero] is big shoes to fill, so I just hope that people can look at them both separately, but also appreciate them as complements to one another,” Rae says. Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! All six episodes of Black Mirror season 7 are available to stream on Netflix now.

SummarySatirical sci-fi puzzle game with over 100 handcrafted levels and a satirical A.I. named S.A.R.A.We Interviewed developer Gwen Frey about designing puzzles, building personality through systems, and voicing nearly the entire cast herself.Lab Rat is out Now on Xbox. Gwen Frey is no stranger to big ideas—or big games. After working on titles like BioShock Infinite and The Flame in the Flood, she’s back with a new game! Lab Rat, a satirical Sci-Fi puzzle game launching on Xbox that pits players against an overly confident AI named S.A.R.A. With over 100 handcrafted puzzles, sharp writing, and a surprising amount of heart, Lab Rat is as much about logic as it is about being observed. I sat down with Gwen to talk puzzle design, working solo (and not-so-solo), and what it’s like to voice nearly every character in your own game. Corey: S.A.R.A. plays a central role in Lab Rat—a hyper-intelligent, metrics-obsessed AI who observes and reacts to everything the player does. Inspired in part by your experience working alone during lockdown, she brings humor, tension, and a sense of being constantly evaluated. Did the concept for S.A.R.A. shape the gameplay, or did the puzzles come first? Gwen: The idea for S.A.R.A. developed naturally alongside the game’s core mechanics. Early on, my puzzle designer and I were exploring a new system, but thematically we both felt like rats in a cage—trapped inside, isolated. We built that feeling into everything: puzzles that evoke confinement, jittery character animations, and even blocks that electrocute you when misused, like a science experiment gone wrong. Visually, I was inspired by my own dual-monitor setup during lockdown, when most of my interaction was through screens. That evolved into the concept of S.A.R.A.—an overbearing algorithm watching your every move, built to reflect the eerie, disconnected mood we were living through. Once I saw the game world through that lens, everything started to click. Corey: You’ve described Lab Rat as a game that “makes people think and laugh.” Which of those two was harder to design for? Gwen: Definitely making people laugh! When a person sits down to complete a puzzle game they are prepared to think deeply and solve problems – they are in the correct mindset for that. Thought-provoking commentary is generally a welcome addition to that experience. However, comedy is unexpected, very difficult to do well, and different kinds of humor appeal to different people. Seriously – comedy is hard. Corey: There’s a really clever rhythm to how puzzles unfold in Lab Rat. What was your approach to pacing the difficulty curve? Gwen: There are two ways I like to keep puzzle players engaged: discovery and mastery. Discovery is when you encounter something new and figure out how it works; mastery is using that understanding to solve a tougher challenge. I try to introduce something new every few puzzles to keep things fresh, and I aim for solutions that feel earned—clear enough to grasp with some thought, but never obvious. Block-pushing games come with a unique problem: it’s easy to end up in an unwinnable state without realizing it. That kind of thing kills motivation. So in Lab Rat, we let you undo moves, pull blocks off walls—basically give you room to experiment without fear of getting stuck. It makes the game more accessible, especially for players new to the genre, without making it any less satisfying. Corey: Working on a game in a small team means wearing a lot of hats—designer, writer, programmer. Which part of that process felt most natural to you, and which one surprised you the most? Gwen: Programming, art, and animation all came very naturally to me. These are things I’ve done for years, and I’m working in the Unreal engine, which I’ve used my entire career, so there was nothing new to learn. By far the most surprising thing I had to learn for this project was voice acting. I am not a performer and I have never done voice work before Lab Rat. It was quite challenging. Corey:  We’ve been fortunate enough to have played through the game, so we’ve seen the end credits.  Exactly how many characters did you personally voice in the game? Have you counted? Gwen: This question made me laugh. My programmer put my name in the credits about 100 times as a sort of joke. I might change that before launch… but it is true that I voiced every character in Lab Rat. There was one line where we absolutely needed a male voice and my husband stepped up to the mic for it, but other than that all the characters were voiced by me personally. I spent a lot of time recording arguments with myself, and then made extensive use of sound effects in the engine to make each character sound unique. Corey: If you could sit next to someone playing Lab Rat on Xbox for the first time— without spoiling it, is there a particular moment you would be waiting for them to reach? Gwen: There are many, many moments I hope they reach! I wanted every 30 minutes of Lab Rat to feel more interesting and unexpected than the previous 30 minutes. I’m excited to see if we achieved this. Corey: Huge thanks to you, Gwen, for taking the time to chat about Lab Rat, indie game development, and what it’s like to argue with yourself in a recording booth! Lab Rat is available now on Xbox One optimized for Xbox Series X|S. Lab Rat Klei Publishing ☆☆☆☆☆ ★★★★★ $19.99 Get it now Congratulations! You have been chosen to participate in a special test that will help refine a brand new kind of game! Lab Rat was generated by the world's most advanced machine learning algorithm – me. I have been meticulously trained on the best interactive entertainment available today and my data indicates you will be completely satisfied with the result. However, your valuable human feedback is required to help me further adjust and develop this experience. Key Features: Maneuver objects, divert lasers, and manipulate electricity to overcome over a hundred surprising genre-bending puzzles. Outwit a metrics-obsessed machine intent on heckling you for your humanity. Participate in satirical in-game analytics that are updated in real time with real player data. The Game: Lab Rat is a hand-crafted narrative puzzler masquerading as a machine-generated video game. This satirical adventure stars a metrics-obsessed AI who will monitor, profile, and guide you as you solve over a hundred unique spatial problems. Over time this AI will develop a hilariously-misguided understanding of humanity based on your performance and survey response data. The Team: While Lab Rat pokes fun at the absurdity of algorithmically-generated interactions, this game is lovingly hand-crafted by a team of expert human developers. Lab Rat is directed by Gwen Frey (creator of Kine & co-creator of The Flame in the Flood). It features environment art by Mike Snight (Lead World Builder, Bioshock Infinite), writing and programming by Ian Bond (Programmer/Developer, Bioshock 1), and puzzles by Lucas Le Slo (beloved experimental puzzle designer).

Today Apple updated its list of vintage and obsolete products, and the latest additions include the end of an era for the Intel Mac mini. iPhone 6s and the last Mac mini with Intel are now ‘vintage’ Apple periodically adds devices to its ever-growing list of vintage and obsolete products. That happened today, as spotted by MacRumors, with two noteworthy “vintage” additions: iPhone 6s Mac mini (2018) The latter product is especially significant, because the 2018 Mac mini was the last remaining Intel model that was not yet labeled either vintage or obsolete. Apple applies these designations based on the amount of time that’s passed since a product was last available for sale. So what are those timelines exactly? Per Apple’s definitions: Vintage: “Apple stopped distributing them for sale more than 5 and less than 7 years ago.” Obsolete: “Apple stopped distributing them for sale more than 7 years ago.” Availability of service and parts is tied to vintage and obsolete status Even though the iPhone 6s launched back in 2015, it’s joining the list at the same time as the 2018 Mac mini because Apple continued selling that iPhone much longer than its final Intel Mac mini. Since these products are now considered vintage, Apple no longer guarantees that parts for repairs will be readily available. For the first 5 years from a product’s last distribution, Apple does promise to make service and parts available. But now that these devices are considered vintage, you may or may not be able to get support. After the 7 year “obsolete” threshold kicks in, Apple will officially no longer offer service or parts. Currently out of Intel Mac minis, the 2018 and 2014 models are vintage, while all older models are obsolete. Are you still hanging on to an Intel Mac mini? Let us know in the comments. Best Mac accessories Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed.  FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.You’re 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. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

As times change, so do mission statements, especially in the fast-and-loose world of tech. In recent months, we've seen Google walk back its pledge to "do no evil," and OpenAI quietly delete a policy prohibiting its software's use for "military technology."Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook is no exception. Its 2008 motto, "Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life," is now a distant memory — according to Zuckerberg himself, who testified this week that Facebook's main purpose "wasn't really to connect with friends anymore.""The friend part has gone down quite a bit," Zuckerberg said, according to Business Insider.Instead, he says that the platform has evolved away from that model — its original claim to fame, as old heads will recall — in its over 20 years of life, becoming "more of a broad discovery and entertainment space," which is apparently exec-speak for "endless feed of AI slop."The tech bigwig was speaking as a witness at a federal antitrust case launched by the Federal Trade Commission against Meta, the now-parent company to WhatsApp, Instagram, Threads, and Oculus.The FTC's case hinges on a series of messages sent by Zuckerberg and his executives regarding a strategy of buying other social media platforms outright, rather than compete with them in the free and open market — a scheme that's more the rule than the exception for Silicon Valley whales like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft.The FTC alleges that Meta began its monopolistic streak as early as 2008, when Zuckerberg buzzed that "it's better to buy than compete" in a series of emails about then-rival platform Instagram. He finally got its hands on Instagram in 2012, after sending a memo that Facebook — which changed its name to Meta in 2021 — "had" to buy the photo-sharing app for $1 billion, fearing competition and a bidding war with fast-growing platforms like Twitter."The businesses are nascent but the networks are established," Zuckerberg wrote in a leaked email about startup platforms Instagram and Path. "The brands are already meaningful and if they grow to a large scale they could be very disruptive to us.""It’s an email written by someone who recognized Instagram as a threat and was forced to sacrifice a billion dollars because Meta could not meet that threat through competition,” said the FTC’s lead counselor, Daniel Matheson.Those internal memos are now smoking guns in what could be the biggest antitrust case since the infamous AT&T breakup of 1982, which had many similarities to the FTC's suit against Meta. Back then, AT&T held unrivaled market influence that it used to box out smaller fish and shape laws to its whims — to chase profit above all, in other words.Meta, in parallel, has spent millions lobbying lawmakers, is the dominant player in online advertising, and currently wields a market cap of $1.34 trillion — higher than the value of all publicly traded companies in South Korea, for perspective.The FTC's challenge will depend on whether federal prosecutors can convince US District Judge James Boasberg that Meta's acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp were illegal by notoriously weak US antitrust standards. They'll have no help from Boasberg, an Obama appointee, who has voiced skepticism with cases against Meta in the past."The [FTC] faces hard questions about whether its claims can hold up in the crucible of trial," Boasberg said in late 2024, adding that "its positions at times strain this country’s creaking antitrust precedents to their limits."Whatever happens, it's clear that Zuckerberg has moved on from the idealism of the early internet — to the sloppified money-grubbing of whatever it is we have now.Share This Article

Everybody knows browser extensions are embedded into nearly every user's daily workflow, from spell checkers to GenAI tools. What most IT and security people don't know is that browser extensions' excessive permissions are a growing risk to organizations. LayerX today announced the release of the Enterprise Browser Extension Security Report 2025, This report is the first and only report to merge public extension marketplace statistics with real-world enterprise usage telemetry. By doing so, it sheds light on one of the most underestimated threat surfaces in modern cybersecurity: browser extensions. The report reveals several findings that IT and security leaders will find interesting, as they build their plans for H2 2025. This includes information and analysis on how many extensions have risky permissions, which kinds of permissions are given, if extension developers are to be trusted, and more. Below, we bring key statistics from the report. Highlights from the Enterprise Browser Extension Security Report 2025 1. Browser extensions are ubiquitous in enterprise environments. 99%, nearly all, of employees, have browser extensions installed. 52% have more than 10 extensions installed. Security analysis: Nearly all employees are exposed to browser extension risk. 2. Most extensions can access critical data. 53% of enterprise users' extensions can access sensitive data like cookies, passwords, web page contents, browsing information, and more. Security analysis: An employee-level compromise could jeopardize the entire organization. 3. Who publishes these extensions? Who knows? More than half (54%) of extension publishers are unknown and only identified via Gmail. 79% of publishers only published one extension. Security analysis: Tracking the reputability of extensions is difficult, if possible at all with IT resources. 4. GenAI extensions are a growing threat. Over 20% of users have at least one GenAI extension, and 58% of these have high-risk permission scopes. Security analysis: Enterprises should define clear policies for GenAI extension use and data sharing. 5. Unmaintained and unknown browser extensions are a growing concern. 51% of extensions haven't been updated in over a year, and 26% of enterprise extensions are sideloaded, bypassing even basic store vetting. Security analysis: Extensions can be vulnerable even if they're not purposefully malicious. 5 Recommendations for Security and IT The report not only brings data, it also provides actionable guidance for security and IT teams, recommending how to deal with the browser extension threat. Here's what LayerX advises organizations: Audit all extensions - A full picture of extensions is the foundation for understanding the threat surface. Therefore, the first step in securing against malicious browser extensions is to audit all extensions in use by employees. Categorize extensions - Certain types of extensions that make them appealing to attack. This can be due to their broad user base (such as GenAI extensions) or because of the permissions granted to such extensions. Categorizing extensions can help assess the browser extension security posture. Enumerate extension permissions - The next step is to list the information extensions can access. This helps further map the attack surface and configure policies later on. Assess extension risk - Now it's time for risk management. This means assessing the risk for each extension based on their permissions and the information they can access. In addition, a holistic risk assessment includes external parameters such as reputation, popularity, publisher, and installation method. Together, these parameters should be combined into a unified risk score. Apply adaptive, risk-based enforcement - Finally, organizations can use their analysis to apply adaptive, risk-based enforcement policies tailored to their uses, needs, and risk profile. Access the Report Browser extensions are not just a productivity tool, they're an attack vector most organizations do not know exists. LayerX's 2025 report provides comprehensive findings and data-driven analysis to help CISOs and security teams rein in this risk and build defensible browser environments. Download the full report. 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.

A man was arrested at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. after he removed all his clothes, ran around totally nude and dangerously climbed atop one of the theme park's restaurants.Guests were temporarily evacuated from the park's New Orleans Square area on Saturday night (April 12) after the unidentified man took off his clothes and began scaling the top of the Mint Julep Bar section of Tiana’s Palace restaurant.The restaurant, which opened in 2023 and is inspired by the 2009 animated film The Princess and the Frog, was temporarily closed after the incident.READ MORE: 15 Once-Beloved Disney Rides That Closed ForeverAccording to SFGate, Disneyland cast members “direct[ed] stunned onlookers away” as the nude man stood on top of the restaurant and made gestures toward the crowd.You can see NSFW footage of the shocking event posted to Instagram here. In the video, a cast member waves park guests out of the area with an apologetic “Sorry, friends,” as a woman off screen can be heard gasping, “Oh my God!”The incident took place around 10 PM local time.“...Anaheim Police officers were called to assist Disneyland security who had a nude male detained inside the park near New Orleans Square,” Anaheim Police Department spokesperson Matthew Sutter told SFGate in a statement.The man was arrested for trespassing, public nudity, and being under the influence.According to ABC 7 Eyewitness News, the Disneyland guest who stripped naked was visiting from Canada.See a censored clip of the incident via TikTok, below.This isn't the first time a nude streaker has terrorized unsuspecting guests at “The Happiest Place on Earth.”In 2023, a Disneyland guest was arrested after he inexplicably stripped down to his underwear while on the It’s a Small World ride.The man then proceeded to wade through the water the ride boats travel through before climbing a display and sitting in the middle of a group of Animatronic dolls.Get our free mobile appAmazing Theme Park Rides Based on Movies That Were Never BuiltFiled Under: Disney, Disneyland, The Princess and the Frog, TianaCategories: Movie News

Remote Sales Rep (Full-Time)We’re looking for a hungry, seasoned sales rep who knows how to close high-ticket offers and wants to be part of a fast-growing company that’s making a real impact.You’ll be handling 4–6 warm inbound sales calls per day — people who have already watched our entire breakdown video, understand our pricing, and are ready to get started.No fluff. No chasing. No nonsense.This isn’t about pushing products down someone’s throat. It’s about screening whether we’re the right fit to help them — and closing the deal if we are.🎯 What You’ll Be DoingRunning 4–6 pre-qualified discovery calls per day (M–F)Following our proven closing processFollowing up with leads Re-engaging old prospectsProactively driving your own success and filling your calendar with new opportunities 🔑 You’re a Fit If You Have:US or Canadian citizenship (you can work remotely, but you must be originally from the U.S. or Canada)2+ years of remote high-ticket sales experienceBackground in selling coaching programs, marketing services, or SaaSDeep understanding of Google Ads, Meta Ads, SEO — or at least the digital marketing landscapeFamiliarity with trades industries (plumbing, HVAC, roofing, etc.) a huge plusStrong English skills (written and spoken)Reliable remote setup (quiet environment, webcam, headset, solid internet)The hunger to follow up, stay organized, and chase the close💸 Compensation & Benefits$500 commission per sale (10% of our $5,000 program)5% monthly residuals for every active client you closed→ Clients pay $299/month starting their second month→ You earn $14.95/month per client→ With average retention of 4–6 months, that’s an additional $60–$90+ per clientTotal expected earnings per client: $560–$590+Consistent closers can expect to earn $8K–$10K/month (or more)100% remote – work from anywhereAll sales systems and automations are in place — you just closeLong-term role with potential to build compounding passive income📅 Availability RequirementsMust be available between 9AM–8PM Eastern TimeWeekend flexibility preferredWilling to take ownership of your pipeline and results📝 How to Apply📍 All the details are here:👉 localservicemastery.com/sales-rep-vsl🎥 Watch the full video, check the testimonials, and if it feels right — apply with a quick video telling us who you are and why you’re a fit.We only want serious, aligned candidates.If that’s you, let’s go.

Bowling Green, Kentucky, is home to 75,000 residents who recently wrapped up an experiment in using AI for democracy: Can an online polling platform, powered by machine learning, capture what residents want to see happen in their city? When Doug Gorman, elected leader of the county that includes Bowling Green, took office in 2023, it was the fastest-growing city in the state and projected to double in size by 2050, but it lacked a plan for how that growth would unfold. Gorman had a meeting with Sam Ford, a local consultant who had worked with the surveying platform Pol.is, which uses machine learning to gather opinions from large groups of people.  They “needed a vision” for the anticipated growth, Ford says. The two convened a group of volunteers with experience in eight areas: economic development, talent, housing, public health, quality of life, tourism, storytelling, and infrastructure. They built a plan to use Pol.is to help write a 25-year plan for the city. The platform is just one of several new technologies used in Europe and increasingly in the US to help make sure that local governance is informed by public opinion. After a month of advertising, the Pol.is portal launched in February. Residents could go to the website and anonymously submit an idea (in less than 140 characters) for what the 25-year plan should include. They could also vote on whether they agreed or disagreed with other ideas. The tool could be translated into a participant’s preferred language, and human moderators worked to make sure the traffic was coming from the Bowling Green area.  Over the month that it was live, 7,890 residents participated, and 2,000 people submitted their own ideas. An AI-powered tool from Google Jigsaw then analyzed the data to find what people agreed and disagreed on.  Experts on democracy technologies who were not involved in the project say this level of participation—about 10% of the city’s residents—was impressive. “That is a lot,” says Archon Fung, director of the Ash Center for Innovation and Democratic Governance at the Harvard Kennedy School. A local election might see a 25% turnout, he says, and that requires nothing more than filling out a ballot.  “Here, it’s a more demanding kind of participation, right? You’re actually voting on or considering some substantive things, and 2,000 people are contributing ideas,” he says. “So I think that’s a lot of people who are engaged.” The plans that received the most attention in the Bowling Green experiment were hyperlocal. The ideas with the broadest support were increasing the number of local health-care specialists so residents wouldn’t have to travel to nearby Nashville for medical care, enticing more restaurants and grocery stores to open on the city’s north side, and preserving historic buildings.  More contentious ideas included approving recreational marijuana, adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the city’s nondiscrimination clause, and providing more options for private education. Out of 3,940 unique ideas, 2,370 received more than 80% agreement, including initiatives like investing in stormwater infrastructure and expanding local opportunities for children and adults with autism.   The volunteers running the experiment were not completely hands-off. Submitted ideas were screened according to a moderation policy, and redundant ideas were not posted. Ford says that 51% of ideas were published, and 31% were deemed redundant. About 6% of ideas were not posted because they were either completely off-topic or contained a personal attack. But some researchers who study the technologies that can make democracy more effective question whether soliciting input in this manner is a reliable way to understand what a community wants. One problem is self-selection—for example, certain kinds of people tend to show up to in-person forums like town halls. Research shows that seniors, homeowners, and people with high levels of education are the most likely to attend, Fung says. It’s possible that similar dynamics are at play among the residents of Bowling Green who decided to participate in the project. “Self-selection is not an adequate way to represent the opinions of a public,” says James Fishkin, a political scientist at Stanford who’s known for developing a process he calls deliberative polling, in which a representative sample of a population’s residents are brought together for a weekend, paid about $300 each for their participation, and asked to deliberate in small groups. Other methods, used in some European governments, use jury-style groups of residents to make public policy decisions.  What’s clear to everyone who studies the effectiveness of these tools is that they promise to move a city in a more democratic direction, but we won’t know if Bowling Green’s experiment worked until residents see what the city does with the ideas that they raised. “You can’t make policy based on a tweet,” says Beth Simone Noveck, who directs a lab that studies democracy and technology at Northeastern University. As she points out, residents were voting on 140-character ideas, and those now need to be formed into real policies.  “What comes next,” she says, “is the conversation between the city and residents to develop a short proposal into something that can actually be implemented.” For residents to trust that their voice actually matters, the city must be clear on why it’s implementing some ideas and not others.  For now, the organizers have made the results public, and they will make recommendations to the Warren County leadership later this year. 

Designed in a traditional style by Ben Pentreath Architects, Tornagrain is an emerging new town located to the east of Inverness. As well as delivering 5,000 new homes in response to increased housing demand in The Highlands, the development will provide extensive community infrastructure including schools, shops, health, leisure and employment facilities, with an expected completion date of 2070. Developer Moray Estates aims to create a model town for the 21st century that fosters a vibrant and successful community. So far, several hundred homes have been completed, with further phases under way. Source:Ben Pentreath Architect's voice Achieving a high-quality bar is complicated on any new housing development, but is especially so when the scheme is as ambitious as the new town of Tornagrain. The brief to succeed is fundamentally set by our client, Moray Estates, which takes a long and patient view on its development goals. We have been given time and space to consider local precedents of plans and building types and have an ongoing engagement. The project has had significant financial challenges. Housing values are relatively low, so the margin to create something special and still generate some land value is tight. It has led to some value-engineering. I feel this has improved the scheme, as it is simpler, and that is creating a restrained beauty of its own. Ben Pentreath, founder, Ben Pentreath Architects   Project data Location Tornagrain, Inverness Type New build Context Rural Planning permission date October 2013 Completion 2070 (anticipated) Construction cost £1 billion Construction cost per m² £2,260 (excluding infrastructure) Construction cost per home £255,544 Number of homes 4,960 Housing type Houses and flats Mix of homes Percentage of 1B2P: 6%, Percentage of 2B4P: 36%, Percentage of 3B5P: 40%, Percentage of 4B6P: 18%, Percentage of 5B8P: 0.01% Site area 250ha Density 26 homes per hectare Development area 507,000m² (residential only) Height 1-4 storeys Tenure mix 40% shared equity, 40% mid-market rent and 20% social rented Percentage of affordable housing 25% (whole site) Aspect <100% dual-aspect homes Client Tornagrain Client type Private Architectural appointment Invited competition Procurement Design and build Design or Quality Review Panel review Yes Design team novation No Design guardian role retained Yes Main contractor Places for People Main structural system Timber frameAdvertisement Environmental data Annual carbon emissions Unknown Operational energy use Unknown Onsite energy generation 45% (via local biogas and PVs) Average energy bill per home £727/yr (for 4B6P house) All-electric No Post-occupancy evaluation undertaken Yes U-values Walls: 0.17 W/m²K, Roofs: 0.10 W/m²K, Floors: 0.14 W/m²K Airtightness at 50Pa 3.4 m³/h.m² (Plot 64) Source:Matti Kremer Resident's voice When I first drove through Tornagrain, I was really surprised at how charming it was. It was the cutest place you could imagine. The houses are so beautiful. I bought my first home here in 2022 – a two-bedroom semi. It has been a wonderful home. I’ve recently purchased a four-bedroom detached house in the village and will be moving in very soon. The village is a real community. There are green open spaces, community gardens and orchards, and lovely paths that wind though the village. We also have our own community association, website and newsletter. Best of all, we have our own village shop, pharmacy and a fabulous café. Soon we will be getting a primary school, doctor’s surgery and more shops. I would not live anywhere else now. Suzi Source:Matti Kremer Client's voice Moray Estate’s vision is the creation of a traditional market town, very like the market towns so enduring and popular all over Scotland. We intend Tornagrain to be a thriving, complex, resilient community, where residents can live, work and find the services that they need in their daily lives. We have come to understand that these things don’t happen by chance, rather that they are the consequence of how a community is planned, what amenities are provided and how that is stitched together in the town plan. We appreciate the benefits of compact, walkable streets designed for people and not, primarily, the car. We would like to see a place develop where the social and health benefits of a community, in the widest sense, are allowed to flourish. John Douglas Stuart, Earl of Moray and landowner