Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 79, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, RIP your free time, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I’ve been reading about dire wolves and Neuralink and the history of the Xbox, watching The Last of Us and Your Friends and Neighbors, underlining a lot of things in Graydon Carter’s book about magazines, setting up a Brick to see if it’ll help me manage screen time, refining macrodata in Rift, and writing down a million tips from this Reddit thread about internet life hacks.I also have for you the game that will both improve and take over your life, a new season of a favorite show, an AirTag competitor worth checking out, a fun new organizer for your desk, and much more. We were off last week, and I missed you all terribly. Let’s get back into it.(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you into right now? What should everyone else be playing / watching / baking / eating / listening to / downloading this week? Tell me everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer, forward it to them and tell them to subscribe here.)The DropBlue Prince. Technically this came out last week, when we were off, but so many of you told me how much you love it that I feel obligated to include it here. It’s a deep, complicated puzzle game that you have to play carefully, and I love that. Any game that has this many of my friends taking copious notes as they play — and loving every second of it — has to be something special.The Polaroid Flip. True instant camera purists might hate this thing, but I think it’s so clever — it’ll warn you before you take the picture if something is out of focus or incorrectly exposed. Yeah, whatever, bad pictures are part of the fun, but instant film is so expensive! Just make all my pictures good!constantly) wonder what’s real and what’s a bit. Oh, and it’s also very, very funny.. This is the last major Baldur’s Gate 3 patch, and it’s a doozy: crossplay, photo mode, new subclasses, modding upgrades, and lots more. I don’t think you’ll run out of stuff to do in this game… ever.“The Art Of Poison-Pilling Music Files.” Benn Jordan made an algorithm that could check whether music was made by AI. Now he’s figured out how to prevent AI music-making tools from scraping and training on his songs. The whole process is fascinating. Sinners. Ryan Coogler, plus Michael B. Jordan, usually equals kickass movie. And lo and behold! A horror movie about vampires that is also a meditation on life for Black Americans in the South. And Michael B. Jordan plays two roles! What else do you need to know!The Chipolo Pop. Every time I turn around, someone is doing clever stuff with AirTags — but AirTags are so expensive! These are colorful, cheaper, and also work on both Google’s and Apple’s device-finding network. These are going in my luggage, on my keys, and maybe in my toddler’s shoes. He runs fast.“I Tested Every YouTuber Tech Product.” This Mrwhosetheboss video is such a good idea it makes me furious with jealousy. He tested and reviewed everything from JerryRigEverything’s utility knife to MKBHD’s Panels app to Hank Green’s 2D glasses, and he is pretty unsparing. And pretty correct.Nanoleaf Pegboard Desk Dock. I am such a sucker for a cool desk toy, and this one is all the way up my alley: a combination gadget holder, charging dock, and light that can be synced to your computer. The last thing I need is more stuff on my desk! I already bought a two-pack.I want to do something slightly different here in this space this week: I want to talk about wallpapers. For years, I’ve cared a lot about my wallpaper. Sometimes it’s a photo of a place I love, sometimes it’s a shot of my family, sometimes that all just looks kind of aesthetically busy and I go for something minimalist. I find a lot of wallpapers just by Googling words, but in case you’re curious, here are a few sources of stuff I’ve liked over the years:Aestheticsguyy. I don’t know anything about this person, their account, or where these wallpapers come from, but they post a ton and I find myself scrolling their page at least every couple of weeks. I’ve been really enjoying their Formula series.The Papers app. The mobile app, like most wallpaper apps, is pretty ad-riddled, but there’s a lot of good stuff in there. But honestly, I’ve found most of the stuff I like by following Paper’s X feed, which is just a giant stream of wallpaper options.Basic Apple Guy. As you’d expect, there’s a lot of Apple-related stuff, but some of his more abstract stuff really works for me. I really love the Liminal set.The Backdrops app. This is one of the nicest selection of wallpapers – and one of the most usable wallpaper apps — I’ve found anywhere. (In the email version of this newsletter I said this was Android only, but I was wrong! It’s just harder to find on iOS.)On Lock Screen. I don’t tend to find all that much truly unique stuff here, but it’s a fun website to poke around every now and again. (A lot of good stuff on the X feed here, too.)The Verge Shop. This is not just a plug! I mean, it is, but I mean it sincerely: I got our Cellular Wallpaper pack for free because I work here and it’s still my favorite wallpaper. And if you don’t want to pay, we have a whole archive of free ones to poke through.I should say two things about all this. One, the wallpaper world has long been a mess when it comes to ownership and copyright — people just share these things willy-nilly. And two, there is a lot of generative AI at work in the wallpaper game right now. I always try to track down wallpapers I find (a reverse image search on Google often does the trick), but it’s messy.Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because I had a conversation with Casey Johnston from She’s a Beast the other day (coming soon to The Vergecast!), and she made a surprisingly compelling case that actually, wallpapers are bad. She argued that you don’t want your lockscreen and homescreen to be peaceful or exciting or enticing — they should be ignored as much as possible, because you should either get to what you’re doing or get off your phone. This strikes me as a very good argument! I’ve had an all-black wallpaper going ever since we chatted, and, well, I don’t know how I feel about it. I certainly don’t like looking at it as much as I used to.So here’s what I’m wondering: what’s your wallpaper strategy? Have you had the same one forever? Do you rotate daily? Hourly? Where do you find stuff? I want to hear all about it — and also, I want to start sharing more of your homescreens in this space, too. So if you have a good one, send it my way. And we’ll be back to our regular programming next week.CrowdsourcedHere’s what the Installer community is into this week. I want to know what you’re into right now as well! Email installer@theverge.com or message me on Signal — @davidpierce.11 — with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we’ll feature some of our favorites here every week. For more great recommendations, check out the replies to this post on Threads and this post on Bluesky.“I found a couple of tools that may or may not have been called out already that help with managing tabs. One is a free Chrome extension called Session Buddy. This one is great because it also lets you export tabs in Markdown. Perfect for moving things to Obsidian or other Markdown editors. The other is Collections in Microsoft Edge. It’s like Bookmarks but better. I can add notes to each collection and really just dump links in there as I move along, gathering literature and other stuff for research. I just hope they keep this feature around and keep updating it.” — John“The BBC show Ludwig. It’s a great murder of the week show with an intriguing overarching mystery, and I believe its series one finale is being released in the US on Britbox today.” — Jack“I recently rediscovered this site called OC Remix. It’s a site dedicated entirely to fan-made remixes of video game music, including individual songs and entire community created albums.” — Nick“I’ve been rooting my Kindles and putting KOReader on all of them. Also trying out Wallabag as a read-later solution since it can be self hosted and also works on my rooted Kindle.” — Christoph“Andor season two is coming next week and I have been rewatching season one, it’s so well made. Easily one of the best shows of the last couple of years. I recommend it to everyone, even if they are not Star Wars fans.” — Tirth“SuprOrdinary. Just came across this small new YouTube channel from an ex-Apple, Google, Nike graphics designer. His ‘first’ video, about doing free graphics design work for a local sandwich shop, really hits the spot with its unique combination of editing, camera work and the life lesson theme about change that’s present throughout the video.” — Teo“Came across yet another note taking app, Antinote. But this one is different: it’s Mac only, which means no syncing, but it’s a great place to jot down quick notes from meetings. It has simple swipe gestures to go from note to note, built in math, a timer — a bunch of things for ideas and text that is just temporary. Love it.” — Eddy“Watching MobLand on Paramount Plus, and for an Irish man Pierce Brosnan’s Irish accent is every bit as bad as Tom Cruise’s Irish accent in Far and Away (I’m an Irish man).” — Kenny“I’ve been playing Ouros, a relaxing and colorful puzzle game about Bézier curves. Well worth the purchase price.” — DanielSigning offRunna is one of those apps that just keeps appearing in my inbox. I know a lot of folks like using it over other running apps, because its training plans and interface are so good. Runna was acquired by Strava this week, and while I know there are also a lot of Strava fans out there in the Installerverse, I’ve been wondering: is this good news? Sometimes these acquisitions are like, oh cool, new features and better reliability! Other times they’re like, oh no, my app is dead, RIP my app. So I’m curious, Runna users: how’re you feeling about this? And if you’re jumping ship, where are you headed? Personally, I’m still over here staring at Fantasy Hike all day. My progress is slow, but gosh the app is nice.See you next week!See More:

Star Wars Celebration revealed some exciting new details for The Mandalorian and Grogu-themed update headed to Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run alongside the new movie, including that Engineers will be able to take care of Grogu and that Coruscant will be another planet you'll be able to visit during this choose-your-own-adventure-style storyline alongside Tatooine, Bespin, and Endor.This new update to Smuggler's Run will arrive on May 22, 2026, and will follow "a different path" from The Mandalorian & Grogu movie, but it will still feature both Din Djarin and Grogu in exciting new ways. In this new story, Hondo Ohnaka "catches wind of a deal on Tatooine between ex-Imperial officers and pirates, setting the stage for a high-stakes chase across the galaxy. Guests will team up with Mando and Grogu to track them down and claim a bounty in a dynamic, galaxy-spanning adventure."The Mandalorian and Grogu Mission Concept Art for Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's RunWhile we don't have all the details yet, we do know that the Engineer will have a much bigger role to play this time around as Grogu will be under their care, and what could be better than that?!To learn more, we had the chance to speak to Walt Disney Imagineering's Asa Kalama, and he shared a bit more about what we can expect."Throughout the mission, we're going to be giving the engineers the opportunity to actually get to communicate with Grogu," Kalama said. "So, we think it's going to be a ton of fun. There may be times when Mando has to deboard the Razor Crest and Grogu, left to his own devices, might get a little happy on the control panel. So, we love the idea of there being these fun little vignettes and moments where you're sort of on the comm with Grogu."As for the choose-your-own-adventure side of it, Kalama tells us there will be "sort of a critical moment in your adventure where you are strapped for time and have to make a lightning quick decision about which of our particular bounties we want to pursue. And that's going to be the sort of inciting incident that allows us to decide which are the different destinations we go to."For more from Star Wars Celebration, check out how The Mandalorian & Grogu's Sigourney Weaver had Grogu steal her heart, our chat with Hayden Christensen about returning to Anakin, how and all the biggest news from The Mandalorian & Grogu, Ahsoka, Andor panels.Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.

Image by Getty / FuturismCancerComputer tomography scans, or CT scans, are an invaluable tool for diagnosing cancer and other conditions. But in a cruel twist, the medical imaging technique may be more harmful than once thought, causing alarming rates of the destructive disease as it's overused, a team of researchers from the US and the UK have found.Their findings, published as a provocative study in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, indicate that CT scans could cause five percent of all cancers in the US, where 93 million CT scans were performed on 62 million patients in 2023.In sum, they estimate that about 103,000 future cases of cancer will develop as a result of all the CT scans performed that year — a grim toll that's especially urgent to consider as the number of these examinations performed in the US has risen by 30 percent since 2009, the researchers note."The goal is not to scare patients, but to help them understand going forward they need to think about every time a CT is suggested," joint senior author Amy Berrington, leader of the Clinical Cancer Epidemiology Group at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, .  "Do they need it? Do they understand why it's done and work with their physician?"CT scans use beams of x-rays that are rotated around your body to provide images with much higher detail than a conventional x-ray. Rather than a flat image, the computer stitches the scans together to form cross-sectional slices, enabling a radiologist to clearly see internal organs and medical issues like tumors.Naturally, exposing a patient to x-ray radiation comes with some risk. The radiation dose is low, though, and in many cases the upsides of catching the early onset of cancer or some hidden internal bleeding, for example, outweigh the dangers.But perhaps we ought to be reconsidering that calculus — or at least, not be so CT-trigger-happy. These latest findings indicate a cancer risk three to four times more than previous research, the authors said.The team analyzed the nearly one hundred million CT scans performed in 2023, throwing them into a risk model that accounted for the type of scan performed, what organs and body parts it targeted, the doses of radiation used in each instance, and the patient's age and sex.Children were the most vulnerable group. From the 2.5 million scans performed on youths, about 9,700 cancers will develop, the team found. But adults are in plenty of danger, too, since they're more likely to have the scans done — multiple times, even. Patients between the ages of 60 and 69 were the age group with the most scans, accounting for nearly ten million in all. The most common projected cancers were lung cancer, colon cancer, leukemia, and bladder cancer. As for the most problematic type of CT scan, the largest number of cancers — 37,500 — were projected to arise from abdomen and pelvis imaging, which represented about a third of all CT examinations performed in 2023.While it's not clear why the use of the imaging technique has risen so dramatically over the past decade or so, the authors caution moderation for both doctors and patients."These future cancer risks can be reduced either by reducing the number of CT scans (particularly low value scans which are used in situations where they are unlikely to help the patient) or by reducing the doses per exam," said study lead author Rebecca Smith-Bindman, a radiologist at the University of California San Francisco, said in a statement. Share This Article

Today's match could see the Reds seal the title, while the Foxes could have their relegation confirmed.

Capcom is once again warning that players cheating on Monster Hunter Wilds will find some sections "unplayable" if they persist in using unsanctioned mods. Taking to social media, the publisher/developer revealed it had confirmed the "unauthorised modification of game data in Monster Hunter Wilds for High Rank environment Investigations, Field Surveys, and more" and warned players to "stop playing immediately" if they suspect a quest has been modified after applying patch 1.010. Monster Hunter Wilds Review.Watch on YouTube "Modified data can interfere with normal gameplay and even render the game unplayable. If you suspect a quest has been modified, please do not play it, or stop playing it immediately," the statement said. Capcom then posted an image to help players identified modded data, such as missing monsters, too many item limits per slot, or "bonus rewards with six or more slots in quests for one target monster". You can see it below: To see this content please enable targeting cookies. A website update admits that Capcom "cannot individually determine whether a specific quest has been modified", but added in a subsequent post: "We plan to implement additional countermeasures in future updates to detect users who have engaged in unauthorised modification of game data to prevent other players from being implicated in such actions". If you do suspect that a quest you are participating in has been modified, Capcom recommends you leave "immediately" and "quit the game without saving". The free Title Update 1 for Monster Hunter Wilds was released at the beginning of this month, April, bringing with it new quests where players compete for the fastest hunt time. However, even then Capcom warned of potential cheaters, which will lead to account suspension and invalid completion times. In a statement shared on social media, Capcom warned against cheaters and the use of external tools. "To ensure a fun and fair experience for our players, we will take action against accounts participating in fraudulent ranking activity, such as the use of cheating or external tools," it said.

In order to stay within their budget, the owners opted for an ingenious and economical solution using IKEA dressers and cabinet bodies for storage and in the kitchen. This allowed them to create a bespoke space while staying within their budget. By using items from IKEA, the couple was able to benefit from the brand’s modular and functional options. This flexibility allowed them to explore different configurations and at the same time make the most efficient use possible of the space they had to work with. Once fitted with custom fronts from the Spanish brand Cubro, the cabinets blended harmoniously into the decor, combining the elegance of a noble, refined material with the simplicity and efficiency that is typical of IKEA. In the process standard storage elements have been transformed into unique pieces that are perfectly suited to the apartment’s aesthetic.In the kitchen, a stainless-steel pendant light by Studio Kuhlmann illuminates a custom orange table designed by Atelier 1060. The half-moon handles in the kitchen, hallway, and bedroom are by Bonnemazou-Cambus and finished in a custom RAL color. The end result is an apartment that combines classic elegance with bold modernity; it’s a unique home in the heart of Paris. This project is a true source of inspiration for anyone who wishes to transform an awkward and challenging space into a warm and personalized one. It’s evidence that innovation and a respect for a home’s history and heritage can coexist harmoniously.A granite semi-circle placed above the worktop echoes the curves of the apartment. The black-and-white photograph is by Tomás Amorim. Atelier 1060 has developed a reputation for being committed to innovation while respecting the context and history of the projects that they design. They strive to create spaces that interact harmoniously with their surroundings, integrating the aspirations of clients with the specific and unique characteristics of each environment through every phase of the design process. By offering its clients truly flexible options, Atelier 1060 excels in bespoke designs, expanding the range of stylistic possibilities as they adapt solutions to different situations. In this project, this has resulted in a reimagined floor plan and a playful and expressive look. Fanny Boquien and Victoire Sebaux’s design is a veritable laboratory of ideas where the practical and the poetic come together in a project that is truly suited to this moment.The IKEA decor hacks that helped transformed this home were originally published in AD France.

This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Four days before Donald Trump’s inauguration, financial technology startup Ramp published a pitch for how to tackle wasteful government spending. In a 4,000-word blog post titled “The Efficiency Formula,” Ramp’s CEO and one of its investors echoed ideas similar to those promoted by Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk: Federal programs were overrun by fraud, and commonsense business techniques could provide a quick fix. Ramp sells corporate credit cards and artificial intelligence software for businesses to analyze spending. And while the firm appears to have no existing federal contracts, the post implied the government should consider hiring it. Just as Ramp helped businesses manage their budgets, the company “could do the same for a variety of government agencies,” according to the blog and company social media posts. It didn’t take long for Ramp to find a willing audience. Within Trump’s first three months in office, its executives scored at least four private meetings with the president’s appointees at the General Services Administration, which oversees major federal contracting. Some of the meetings were organized by the nation’s top procurement officer, Josh Gruenbaum, commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service. GSA is eying Ramp to get a piece of the government’s $700 billion internal expense card program, known as SmartPay. In recent weeks, Trump appointees at GSA have been moving quickly to tap Ramp for a charge card pilot program worth up to $25 million, sources told ProPublica, even as Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency highlights the multitudes of contracts it has canceled across federal agencies. Founded six years ago, Ramp is backed by some of the most powerful figures in Silicon Valley. One is Peter Thiel, the billionaire venture capitalist who was one of Trump’s earliest supporters in the tech world and who spent millions aiding Vice President JD Vance’s Ohio Senate run. Thiel’s firm, Founders Fund, has invested in seven separate rounds of funding for Ramp, according to data from PitchBook. Last year, Thiel said there was “no one better positioned” to build products at the intersection of AI and finance. To date, the company has raised about $2 billion in venture capital, according to startup tracking website Crunchbase, much of it from firms with ties to Trump and Musk. Ramp’s other major financial backers include Keith Rabois of Khosla Ventures; Thrive Capital, founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner; and 8VC, a firm run by Musk allies. The special attention Gruenbaum paid to Ramp raised flags inside and outside the agency. “This goes against all the normal contracting safeguards that are set up to prevent contracts from being awarded based on who you know,” said Scott Amey, the general counsel with the bipartisan Project on Government Oversight. He said career civil servants should lead the process to pick the best choice for taxpayers. A senior GSA official, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution, said the high level attention Ramp received was unusual, especially before a bid had been made public. “You don’t want to give this impression that leadership has already decided the winner somehow.” GSA told ProPublica it “refutes any suggestion of unfair or preferential contracting practices,” with a spokesperson adding that the “credit card reform initiative has been well known to the public in an effort to address waste, fraud, and abuse.” Ramp did not respond to requests for comment. Rabois, one of Ramp’s earliest investors, is part of an influential group of tech titans known as the “PayPal Mafia.” Leaders of the early payments company include several influential players surrounding the Trump administration, including Musk and Thiel. Rabois and his husband, Jacob Helberg, hosted a fundraiser that pulled in upwards of $1 million for Trump’s 2024 campaign, according to media reports. Trump has nominated Helberg for a senior role at the State Department. Rabois sits on Ramp’s board of directors. He has said he had no plans to join the Trump administration, instead telling CNBC: “I have ideas, I can spoon-feed them to the right people.” He told ProPublica his comments to CNBC were about big-picture policy ideas and that he had “no involvement in any government-related initiatives for the company.” Ramp “could be a great choice for any government that wants to improve its efficiencies,” Rabois added. Helberg said he has no involvement “in anything related to Ramp whatsoever.” Thrive Capital, Kushner’s firm, did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Thiel did not provide a comment. 8VC did not respond to a request for comment, nor did the White House or Musk; previously, Musk has said “I’ll recuse myself” if conflict-of-interest issues arise. Ramp’s meetings with Gruenbaum — who comes from private equity firm KKR and has no prior government experience — came at an opportune moment. GSA will decide by year’s end whether to extend the SmartPay contract, and preparations are afoot for the next generation of the program. SmartPay has been worth hundreds of millions of dollars in fees for the financial institutions that currently operate it, U.S. Bank and Citibank. Gruenbaum and acting GSA administrator Stephen Ehikian entered the agency with a strong belief that SmartPay and other government payment programs were rife with fraud or waste, causing huge losses, sources within GSA say — an idea echoed in Ramp’s January memo. Yet both GOP and Democratic budget experts, as well as former GSA officials, describe that view as ill-informed. SmartPay, which provides Visa and Mastercard charge cards to government employees, enables the federal workforce to purchase office supplies and equipment, book travel and pay for gas. The cards typically are used to fund travel and purchases up to $10,000. “SmartPay is the lifeblood of the government,” said former GSA commissioner Sonny Hashmi, who oversaw the program. “It’s a well-run program that solves real world problems … with exceptional levels of oversight and fraud prevention already baked in.” Jessica Riedl, a GOP budget expert at the conservative Manhattan Institute think tank, said the notion that there was significant fraud in the charge card technology was far-fetched. She had criticized waste in government credit card programs before the latest SmartPay system was implemented in 2018. “This was a huge problem about 20-25 years ago,” she said. “In the past 15 years, there have been new controls put into government credit card purchases.” A 2017 audit of the program by the Government Accountability Office concluded there was “little evidence of potential fraud” in SmartPay small purchases, though it found documentation errors. More recent government audits found some instances where officials did not always use anti-fraud tools. GSA’s new leaders are convinced SmartPay is entirely broken, a view they shared in private meetings, sources said. In February, they put a temporary $1 limit on government cards and severely restricted the number of cardholders, choking off funds to workers in the field. Chaos ensued across the government, news organizations reported: Staff at the National Institutes of Health were reportedly unable to purchase materials for experiments, Federal Aviation Administration workers worried they would be unable to pay for travel to test systems in the field, and National Park Service employees could not travel to oversee road maintenance projects. At the time, GSA released a statement saying the limitations were “risk mitigation best practice” and internally began moving to revamp SmartPay. $25 Million Opportunity Ramp’s first bite of the SmartPay business could come through a pilot program worth up to $25 million that GSA announced several weeks after agency leadership began meeting with the company. At the tail end of the Biden administration, GSA had sent out a request for information, or RFI, seeking industry input about how to improve the next iteration of SmartPay. But some industry players who submitted responses said they did not hear back from the government. Instead, GSA started meeting with Ramp. GSA put out a new RFI for the pilot program on March 20, 2025, leaving it open for less than seven business days. John Weiler, co-founder of the nonprofit research group the IT Acquisition Advisory Council, said such a short window appeared unusual. “A week is nothing, it gives the impression they had already picked the winner,” said Weiler, who has worked with Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley to investigate IT contracting issues. Ramp is the clear-cut “favorite,” to secure this work, one source inside GSA and another former official told ProPublica. The winner has not yet been announced. Procurement experts told ProPublica that consulting with industry leaders before a major overhaul is good practice — but that the fact-finding process must be evenhanded and led by professional contracting officers. The GSA spokesperson said that “any and all communications with potential vendors, of which there were multiple, has been a part of market research in order to provide the best solution for American taxpayers.” The agency declined to answer questions about whether Ramp had already been chosen internally for SmartPay work. The pilot program is unique because it uses a special GSA purchasing authority known as commercial solutions opening. This process has been used by the Pentagon to help speed up the acquisition of products for fighters in armed conflict zones. The designation means the chosen contractor can be selected faster and without the same level of controls. It’s not clear how Ramp originally secured private meetings with GSA leaders. Nor is it clear if Ramp will ultimately take over the entire SmartPay contract from Citibank and U.S. Bank. Spokespeople for U.S. Bank and Citibank declined to comment. It is clear that Ramp has never had a client like the federal government. The only public-sector partner listed on its webpage is a charter school network in Nashville, Tennessee. Still, even before the RFI was publicly announced, Ramp had begun reaching out to contacts in the payment industry asking about the special bank identification numbers required to process government payments, said an industry source. Such steps, two former GSA officials said, were another sign that Ramp was preparing to work on the program. Ramp’s meetings with GSA come as the agency is poised to take on a more significant role in spending decisions across government. The same day the SmartPay pilot was announced, Trump issued an executive order that seeks to centralize much of government procurement inside of GSA. The DOGE initiative has been effectively headquartered out of the agency — staffers have installed beds and dressers for overnight stays in the building, and Musk’s right-hand man Steve Davis is a key adviser to the agency’s leadership. The SmartPay contract negotiation has so far flown under the radar. But changes to the credit card program could further transform daily life for federal employees and fundamentally change how agencies operate. It also represents a giant business opportunity. “There’s a lot of money to be made by a new company coming in here,” said Hashmi, the former GSA official. “But you have to ask: What is the problem that’s being solved?” Doris Burke contributed research.

Image: Zion Grassl / Nintendo LifeHere we are, everyone. We're living in a post-Switch 2 release-date reveal world! And it's...oof, it's a lot! Welcome back to the Nintendo Life Mailbox, our monthly delve into correspondences of you lovely lot. Got something you want to get off your chest? We're ready and waiting to read about your game-related ponderings. Each month we’ll highlight a Star Letter, the writer of which will receive a month’s subscription to our ad-free Supporter scheme. Check out the submission guidelines at the bottom of this page. Let's kick back with the Nintendo Switch 2 April Edition of our letters page. That'll be $10, please... Nintendo Life Mailbox - April 2025 Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life "For what it's worth" (***STAR LETTER***) I've noticed an alarming tone with some people and their Switch 2 discussions around pricing. It doesn't seem enough to say you think it's not worth the value and not to purchase, it goes a step further into suggesting those that see the value are lesser than you for doing so. If someone wants to pay the $80 for MKW, they aren't some useless corporate simpleton, they just have a different value judgement than you. No one needs to be put down for their purchasing choices in gaming. For what it's worth, I'm not convinced yet to preorder or purchase a Switch 2 myself, but that's my value judgement and doesn't somehow put me above the "plebs" and "simps" who are eager to do so. Just be more kind, Nintendo Life users. Let people make their decisions and be confident enough in your own to not belittle others for theirs. J. Slo. There's no getting around the fact that $80 is a massive sum for a video game and, understandably, it rubs people the wrong way. Everybody is on edge with global happenings and general uncertainty, and Nintendo's confusing messaging hasn't helped, either. Hopefully, news that US launch prices for games and hardware are unchanged will calm things down and give more room for rational takes after the sticker shock, but the #discourse feels particularly caustic right now, even for a bunch as reactionary as us video game fans. Disagreement is fine, but be cool, everyone. - Ed. "wouldn't you say?" I've been thinking about game remakes and how they might "replace" the originals. And whether that's something to be mindful of. When a game remake comes out, it can retroactively drastically change the appeal of the original game, wouldn't you say? Super Mario RPG from 1996 is an amazing game, but compare it to the 2023 version and there's no contest there as to which version looks the most appealing to play. Mario RPG is an example where I would say the remake surpasses the original in most regards, and all of its changes and additions benefit the game. It was masterfully done, and thus, I don't mind if it becomes the de facto version of the game going forward. However, I don't feel the same way about some other remakes. Link's Awakening is a hugely important game for me, as my first ever Legend of Zelda game as a child. And I had some serious misgivings with the way the 2019 remake was handled. Dampé's inclusion was a sticking point for me, both for how his dungeon drastically ruins the pacing of the adventure, and for how an established Hyrule character appearing on Koholint significantly alters the otherworldly vibe of the setting. And I am not a fan of how the (admittedly beautiful) hand-drawn intro and ending art style has nothing in common with the plastic toy style used in-game. The game just has a vastly different vibe to me compared to the subtle and esoteric quality of the original pixel work, it doesn't replace the original GB game in my heart at all. But yet I have to wonder. A new fan getting into Zelda for the first time on Switch, they wouldn't see any of these issues with the game at all. The game is still masterfully constructed and a fun, joyous adventure... and the subtle melancholy is still present, even if it does come across differently due to the new art direction. So I have to wonder. ...Is this the version of Zelda that new fans are going to play going forwards? mostly ignoring the original game? Has Link's Awakening been "replaced"? Or are both versions still relevant to Zelda fans on Switch? ...And does it even matter that new fans aren't experiencing it the same way I did when I first played it? The original Link's Awakening isn't in danger of being forgotten (It's on the NSO after all), but I feel like it may be in danger of being overshadowed by a "flawed" replacement, which to me is tremendously disappointing to think about. And there are plenty of other remakes that are "replacing" originals these days. Is it okay that the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters decided to take six vastly different games and homogenise them all into having the same "cleaner" art style? With a terrible font slapped on top for good measure?? ...is this how the majority of new fans will experience the all-time classic FF6? ...And do I have to be concerned about this, or is it not really a problem? It's not really an ideal situation in my view. Whenever I play a remake without having played the original, I am always left wondering how the original handled things. I recently played Romancing SaGa 2 Revenge of the Seven, which feels like a fully modern-style RPG. The game felt great to play, and I'm sure they added tons of quality-of-life features to this version, but I also had some major issues with the way the story presented itself. (mostly the timeskip system doesn't make ANY sense with how it interacts with sidequests, especially half-completed sidequests).... and I was left wondering if the parts that bothered me were easier to overlook on the SNES, either due to the game being different, or just from the way it presents itself. Is it easier to "pretend" that every NPC just so happens to have an endless supply of identical descendants for future generations if the game is presented in pixel form rather than in highly detailed 3D graphics? Who can say! I haven't played the original, and it makes me feel like I'm missing a major part of the picture here. EarthboundBenjy Not to get philosophical, but time ultimately trundles on and the past is left behind. Remakes or reimaginings of any media, faithful or otherwise, keep enthusiasm alive and point interested people back to the originals. But a kid today playing Game Boy Link's Awakening naturally has a totally different context, outlook, and expectation than we did three decades ago. That's not to say it can't affect them similarly or 'you had to be there,' there's just a lot of peripheral, historical knowledge needed to understand and get the most out of it. As long as the originals remain accessible and we do our utmost to present the context that made them extraordinary, we can't get too hung up on how future generations perceive them or if they're superseded by imperfect remakes. - Ed. Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life "exposure" Hello, First off I’d like to thank whoever wrote the review for Pronty a while back (you might’ve forgotten about that, I know), because really that game is massively underrated and anyone who loves Metroidvanias should play it. Really, though, you all review so many games that you can barely find any info about online otherwise and I’m grateful for the exposure. With that in mind, are there any underrated games of this sort that you all would like to shout out? Maybe I can sing the praises of another game no one’s ever heard of! wanderwonder Good ol' Mitch reviewed Pronty for us. Interestingly, we've been discussing underrated, overlooked games recently after seeing a baffling lineup posted elsewhere on the web. My personal drum-banger for years has been Just Shapes & Beats. I adore that game, and not enough people have played it. Team? - Ed. Time to give CrossCode its flowers. A beautiful action RPG with hints of Ys, Zelda, and Secret of Mana. The combat and customisation is fun. The setting is fantastic. The puzzles are genuinely engrossing and head-scratching. It's probably one of my favourite indies on Switch. And the developer's follow-up is looking even better. - Alana It's a recent one, but Fear the Spotlight just kinda came and went. Its environmental storytelling is awesome, and genuinely effective scares make it an instant recommendation from me. - Ollie I’ll give a minute to, uhh, Minit. If you love Zelda, time loops and games that you can move to your ‘Completed’ list in one sitting, you can’t go wrong. Such a tight bite-sized experience that I still think about all the time. Oh, and the music slaps. - Jim "incorporate critters" I work in an industry (medical devices) where it's common for bigger companies to acquire smaller ones for specific intellectual property. If Game Freak ever feels like their own creative team is running out of ideas, would it be sensible for them to buy developers of less-established Pokémon-like games (e.g., Coromon, Temtem, Nexomon) to incorporate critters from those games into the Poké-verse, as a shortcut to expanding the Pokédex in future games? Or would it be easier for Game Freak to just hire those developers' creature designers to create new Pokémon, due to the money involved and/or possible fan backlash? ZZalapski The legal paperwork that would surely be involved in acquiring existing not-'mon and incorporating them into Game Freak's 'dexes makes my head hurt. Far easier to hire people and create new ones. If Pokémon were on the rocks and battling serious competition, maybe you could imagine some crossover. 'If you can't beat, 'em, join 'em.' But The Pokémon Company can definitely beat 'em right now. - Ed. Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life "the ambassador" Hey Nintendolife, With each day closer to the Switch 2 release, I can’t help but feel I’m seeing more and more similarities between the Switch 2 and the 3DS. - Both systems released at price points that a lot of the public complained was too high - Both systems are very similar in design to the previous system (DS and Switch) - Both are backwards compatible with the previous system - Both systems add a new gimmick that’s used as a selling point but many games don’t even use it (3D and Mouse Mode, though these are still a bit different I’ll admit. Mouse Mode actually changes how the player controls a game whereas 3D doesn’t) - Both have their own versions of games from the previous system despite being backwards compatible (Switch 2 Edition games for Switch 2, Bowser’s Inside Story remake, Devil Survivor Overclocked and more for 3DS)I don’t think any of the comparisons here are necessarily a good or bad thing overall but I do think there is one factor here that is worth considering with all this: The 3DS was a failure for Nintendo until they dropped the price and launched the ambassador program and then it became a success for them. Considering that, do you think we could see something similar here? I personally am already looking to get a Switch 2 on Day 1 but do you think we could see the system experience similar woes to the early days of the 3DS? I will admit the launch lineup for the Switch 2 is definitely looking MUCH better than the launch lineup of the 3DS but I still can’t help but be unsure. KoiTenchi Your last point hits the nail on the head: you don't launch a console with Pilotwings Resort as your first-party headliner. There were some decent games in the 3DS launch lineup, but nothing to hold your attention for weeks and distract from the hole in your wallet. Mario Kart 7 and Ocarina of Time 3D at launch? The story might have been different. I highly doubt we'll see a Switch 2 price drop. Nintendo must be stockpiling some serious ammunition for later in the year, in addition to Metroid and Pokémon (which are great but both playable on Switch 1). Super Mario Bros. turns 40 in September, and Odyssey launched eight years ago this October. NCL isn't going to bend backwards to hit an arbitrary anniversary on the calendar, but the stars align in this case. Unless the console is totally DOA (and all evidence indicates that people are extremely passionate about it), Nintendo will trust in the software. - Ed. Bonus Letters "I would just like to say that the Switch 2 will probably be released around May 15, the date the SF store opens. By the way, I'm writing this on March 17; so before the big April trailer." - OswaldTheLuckyGamer Ah, yes. Zero speculation, there. Pure logic. Patterns. Solid research. Very goo— Oh. - Ed. "Peach’s Final Smash, 'Peach Blossom,' must be completely removed!" - MagicEmperor Her Royal Highness' blossom shall remain precisely where it is. - Ed. "By the time this is seen the storm will be raging as the words "Sold out", "Out of stock", "Queue", "Pre order", "Reserve", "Scalpers", [Names of new games here] and [Release date here] fly all over." - Aidan This came in before 'PRICE', 'THE', and 'DROP' became the three most-used words on the internet. - Ed. Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life That's all for this month! Thanks to everyone who wrote in, whether you were featured above or not. Got something you'd like to get off your chest? A burning question you need answered? A correction you can't contain? Follow the instructions below, then, and we look forward to rifling through your missives. Nintendo Life Mailbox submission advice and guidelines Letters, not essays, please - Bear in mind that your letter may appear on the site, and 1000 words ruminating on the Legend of Heroes series and asking Alana for her personal ranking isn't likely to make the cut. Short and sweet is the order of the day. (If you're after a general guide, 100-200 words would be ample for most topics.) Don't go crazy with multiple correspondences - Ideally, just the one letter a month, please! Don't be disheartened if your letter doesn't appear in the monthly article - We anticipate a substantial inbox, and we'll only be able to highlight a handful every month. So if your particular letter isn't chosen for the article, please don't get disheartened! How to send a Letter to the Nintendo Life Mailbox Head to Nintendo Life's Contact page and select the subject "Reader Letters" from the drop-down menu (it's already done for you in the link above). Type your name, email, and beautifully crafted letter into the appropriate box, hit send, and boom — you're done! Advert Free Share:0 0 Gavin first wrote for Nintendo Life in 2018 before joining the site full-time the following year, rising through the ranks to become Editor. He can currently be found squashed beneath a Switch backlog the size of Normandy. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...

The work of the UK’s first female chartered building surveyor prioritised the wellbeing of some of the poorest people in the country ‘Everyone wants to build, nobody wants to do maintenance,’ wrote the author Kurt Vonnegut. Irene Barclay (1894–1989), Britain’s first female chartered building surveyor and secretary of the St Pancras Housing Association, however, wanted to do – and did – both. During a career spanning more than 50 years, Barclay penned reports on housing conditions across the country, spearheaded slum clearance and construction of modern blocks of flats, ran a surveying practice, started a nursery school for children under five, took landlords to court, and managed the day‑to‑day running of housing in Somers Town, near St Pancras, in London. She was a socialist who put her beliefs to material use, pursuing practical work for better housing and improved health for the so‑called slum dweller in London and across the country. The daughter of pacifist Christian minister Basil Martin and Alice Turberville, Barclay was born Irene Turberville Martin in Hereford in 1894. Her parents were adamant that Barclay and her siblings receive the best possible education, but Barclay’s unorthodox home background, which encouraged independence and free‑thinking, did not always make her formal schooling easy; in People Need Roots, a book she wrote in 1976 on her work at the St Pancras Housing Association, Barclay mentions being ‘utterly miserable’ and an outcast at Monmouth High, the boarding school she attended. Regardless, following the family’s move to London in 1913, Barclay studied history and social science at Bedford College.  Irene Barclay was a prominent advocate of improved conditions for impoverished people, commissioning social housing projects in her role at St Pancras Housing Association. Here, Barclay (left of image) studies the drawings of the third phase of St Richard’s House, built in 1967 and part of the Eversholt Estate, with a colleague at St Pancras Housing Association Margaret White Credit: Camden Local Studies and Archives Centre Barclay then worked with Maud Jeffery at the Crown Estate (the organisation that manages property held by the British monarch), where she became a rent collector and social worker – a unique type of role championed specifically for women by social reformer Octavia Hill. It was here that Barclay was mentored and encouraged, following the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act of 1919, to pursue a qualification in surveying. She enrolled and was qualified in 1922. Evelyn Perry, who was the second woman pursuing the degree, graduated the year after. The two women founded a joint surveying practice in 1924 and enjoyed a long‑lasting professional partnership. One of the first pieces of work Barclay and Perry undertook was a survey of housing conditions in London’s Chelsea. The document, revealing dangerous levels of overcrowding and poor‑quality dwellings, later served as proof in litigation against the landlords. The practice produced a number of similar surveys, which were sometimes illustrated with plans and other drawings, and went into the detail of architectural deficiencies and public health hazards. Statements from residents and witnesses were also included: for example, a teacher’s testimony to the bad effects of living in damp homes on children’s health. In the survey of housing in Kensington, they wrote of the mews dwellings in Bolton Road that they were ‘badly ventilated and unhealthy’.  ‘Barclay saw housing as inseparable from public health’ Barclay and Perry did not stop at condemning these issues, they also offered solutions: alternative arrangements of modern blocks of flats and financial calculations of their construction are outlined. The surveyors visited vast numbers of families when preparing these surveys, and the resulting documents were an important way of bearing witness to the struggles of city dwellers living in poverty – but also served to empower them, influence public opinion, and most importantly to pave the way for reform.  Barclay and Perry’s view of the built environment was holistic: they paid attention to ceiling heights, ventilation, furniture, greenery and the general state of repair. They saw housing as inseparable from public health; they lamented ‘houses that are dangerous and injurious to health’. In the introduction to the Survey of Housing in the Royal Borough of Kensington, they thanked the medical officer of health and members of his department, suggesting a close relationship between their surveying practice and public health officials. Irene Barclay was the UK’s first female chartered surveyor. A key part of her practice involved documenting the state of existing housing conditions, such as this report of housing in St Pancras, made in 1933 Barclay was involved in the construction of several estates in Somers Town, including the Drummond Estate – she is pictured (centre of image) at the new St Joseph’s Flats on the estate with the Duchess of Gloucester (left of image) in 1936 Credit: Camden Local Studies and Archives Centre The new flats advocated by Barclay replaced housing with inadequate sanitation provision in a dire state of repair. In contrast, the new flats included running water and hot-water boilers In her broader writings, Barclay appears to be a jack of all trades: well versed in financial arguments, interested in sanitation, public health, policy, design and, most of all, people. Although not an architect, she had big ideas about the design of the built environment. Informed by her upbringing in the countryside and her early work for Louis de Soissons, architect of Welwyn Garden City, spaces ‘about buildings’ – encompassing courtyards, gardens, playgrounds and laundry drying yards – were for her of the utmost importance. In the Kensington survey, Barclay and Perry described the drab greyness of an area, bemoaning the absence of flowers and trees, the monotony of discoloured brick and smoking chimneys. Writing about Somers Town in People Need Roots, Barclay clarified her understanding of the term ‘environment’, noting that it must cater for social living and include the way a place looks, sounds and smells – ‘all that impinges on an individual as he or she leaves a dwelling’.  Among a rich variety of engagements – including speaking, broadcasting and sitting on the boards of a number of housing associations – Barclay’s work as honorary secretary and estates manager of the St Pancras Housing Association, a dual position she held for 48 years, is best documented. In Somers Town, she oversaw slum clearance and the construction of new blocks of flats, as well as the founding of a nursery, a subsidised furniture shop and a country house where local children could spend holidays, among other initiatives. In Barclay’s correspondence with Ian Hamilton, the architect of the Drummond Estate (1936) and Sidney Street Estate (1938) in Somers Town, she relayed various defects and issues reported by the estates’ residents, revealing her involvement in the day‑to‑day maintenance of the flats and her intimate knowledge of the buildings and their particularities. Hamilton’s letters, on the other hand, give a glimpse of the relationship in which Barclay clearly figures as a client, as he repeatedly asked for her sign‑off and approval on various design details. Unlike council housing, the projects built by St Pancras Housing Association were funded by donations to the Christian charity. In 1934, the Archbishop of Canterbury blessed the newly completed St Nicholas Flats, part of the Sidney Street Estate (below) Credit:  Smith Archive / Alamy Credit: RIBA Collections Communal washing lines, provided to avoid the damp caused by drying clothes indoors, were adorned with decorative finials designed by Gilbert Bayes (below), since largely destroyed or stolen Credit: Hulton Archive / Corbis / Getty Credit: Bonhams In Somers Town, the drive towards better health was manifested in sanitation improvements. The existing back‑to‑back brick terraces with small yards and narrow lanes were poorly laid out and overbuilt, the damp interiors infested with bedbugs. Pest control measures, which included emptying the homes and fumigating furniture in Bangor Wharf in Camden Town, only went so far in alleviating the issue. In its early days, the St Pancras Housing Association, founded as the St Pancras House Improvement Society by priest and housing reformer Father Basil Jellicoe in 1924, undertook refurbishment of such homes but it was quickly decided that only construction of new buildings would provide a truly improved environment. The same bedbug eradication regime was applied before people moved into their new flats and the pests became part of the mythology of the publicity‑conscious association, who photographed opening ceremonies where effigies of bedbugs and other vermin were burnt in bonfires.  Flats in the four and five‑storey neo‑Georgian brick blocks of the Sidney Street Estate were accessed from external decks that faced bright, airy courtyards. State‑of‑the‑art services were installed in the homes: running water, tubs for washing and hot‑water boilers. The courtyards featured plant beds, trees, a playground and purpose‑built laundry drying yards, the spaces contrasting starkly with the small backyards of the demolished terraces, where laundry flapped against the dirty brick walls, or was dried indoors, causing unhealthy levels of moisture in the overcrowded homes. The concrete washing‑line posts were topped with ceramic sculptures, or as Barclay described them ‘decorative devices’, inspired by Christian and folk tales and made by sculptor Gilbert Bayes, providing not only utility, but also delight, bringing art to the doorsteps in Somers Town. The first estates built in Somers Town, and later dubbed ‘garden estates’ by the association for their privileging of gardens and courtyards, provided a model not only for the association’s similar projects in Kentish Town and Tufnell Park, such as the Athlone Estate (1937) and York Rise Estate (1938), but also for the 1930 Housing Act. This policy was more radical than previous legislation passed in 1909 and 1919, as it empowered local councils to buy unfit homes from private landlords and provided subsidies based on the number of people rehoused, encouraging large‑scale demolition of some of the country’s unhealthiest housing stock. In addition to housing, Barclay supported the provision of nurseries for children, such as St Christopher’s Nursery School, installed on the top floor of a block on the Sidney Street Estate in 1934 Credit: Hulton Archive / Topical Press Agency / Getty Barclay moved her office into St Martin’s House on the Eversholt Estate, built by St Pancras Housing Association in 1940, and worked there until her retirement in 1972. A blue plaque was installed on the building in May 2024 Credit: Spudgun67 / Wikimedia One of the most important aspects of the huge resettlement project in Somers Town was that communities were to be kept intact. This of course provided a logistical challenge and the new buildings had to be built quickly and efficiently. Barclay, during her long tenure at the housing association, became embedded in the community. As more new homes were built, other initiatives began. St Christopher’s Nursery School for children under five was perched on the rooftop of a block built in 1934 on the Sidney Street Estate, a location born out of lack of space but a decision that turned out to have many advantages: it was private and quiet, the air cleaner than at street level. Although there was initial opposition from the London County Council to a nursery on a rooftop, Barclay’s campaigning and perseverance eventually won them over. It was a safe and modern facility with an outdoor terrace protected by tall glass barriers above flower beds; the features were enviable even by contemporary standards (though it closed in 1994) and included a climbing frame, a mattress to jump on, bicycles, toy cars, a paddling pool and a sand pit.  Unlike an architect, who may follow clients and projects around the country, or even around the world, Barclay was invested in a particular place and community for an extended period of time. She commissioned the buildings but also stayed to oversee maintenance, gaining the trust of the residents in the process. In 1964, Barclay’s office, originally located in Finsbury and later in Euston, moved to St Martin’s House, built by the association in 1940 as part of the Eversholt Estate; she located herself where she could be seen, approached and held to account by the community she was serving. While the association’s model of operation was paternalistic by design, Barclay’s style of management was empathetic and direct.  In 1966, Barclay received an OBE for her work with housing associations, and in 1972 she retired and moved to Toronto, where she died in 1989. Throughout her career Barclay never confined herself to either social work, public health, estate management or housing. Instead, she saw all these disciplines as integral parts of her work towards improving the health and wellbeing of the people she worked with. In the pursuit of this holistic vision she left no stone unturned, enthusiastically advocating improved housing for some of the poorest in society.  Lead illustration: Yeyei Gómez for The Architectural Review 2025-04-20 Kristina Rapacki Share AR April 2025Buy Now

This lovely Colonial Revival style house on Powell Street in Brookline was built in 1904 for Charles H. Owens, Jr., an interior designer who just two years later, built another home next door that he would reside in with his own family. This house was rented to John R. Perry, who was also listed as a “decorator” in city directories and president of Perry, Lewis & Whitney, a design firm. The house (like its neighbor built two years later), was designed by the architectural firm of Loring and Phipps and was oriented southward to face the side yard. The Perry House features small projecting oriel windows, a broad gambrel roof, and an entrance portico supported by Tuscan columns.