When you're out adventuring in Runescape Dragonwilds, having a fully-charged Lifeward bar cover your actual health bar can be an absolute lifesaver. It's fairly cheap and easy to recharge, and while you can't keep popping Wardstones like you can with potions, they're still very handy to have.

Weekend box office reporting is a seminal part of entertainment media. In recent years alone, it has served as everything from a checkup on the general health of movie theaters to a litmus test for each new Marvel film. But recently, box office reporting has gotten a little weird: All the earnings are being reported in terms of budgets and profitability. This used to be language reserved for obvious box office flops — movies that cost $100 million or more barely putting up $10 million in their opening weekend, for example. But this past weekend, specifically with respect to Ryan Coogler’s fantastic new vampire horror film, Sinners, it became clear that we don’t really know how to talk about the box office anymore.  Let’s get a few things out of the way first: The latest box office report was pretty great for movie lovers and movie studios — particularly Warner Bros., which had the weekend’s top two movies. Sinners was an unambiguous hit, pulling in more than $48 million domestically to earn the top spot, with a worldwide total of $63.5 million. It’s the biggest opening for an original movie so far this decade, and it’s also among the biggest openings in recent memory for an R-rated horror film. Meanwhile, both A Minecraft Movie and The King of Kings proved they have genuine staying power, earning $41.3 million and $17.3 million, respectively. Even The Amateur, Warfare, and Drop performed pretty well in their second weeks.  At first glance, just looking at all those numbers, it’s easy to see why entertainment reporters so often center their news reporting on movie budgets and box office weekend reports. They can take each movie’s total gross so far and cross-check it against the film’s budget, and it feels like they’ve instantly proven whether a movie is successful. Except that there’s a whole bunch of problems with that approach.  The biggest and most nebulous one is that it’s not a particularly healthy way for film fans to engage with the medium they love. Movie fandom isn’t numbers driven, and shouldn’t ever be. A movie’s quality is in no way dependent on how much money it makes; some of the best movies of all time were notorious flops upon release. It can still be exciting and newsworthy when a movie does well, or even when it does badly. It’s just that its profitability isn’t any kind of measure of quality. Speaking of which, profitability itself is a notoriously murky concept in Hollywood. Creative accounting by movie studios can keep a movie unprofitable on paper for years if that means not having to divvy up the profits with anyone whose contracts entitle them to a percentage of a movie’s proceeds. And while movies’ production budgets are often well reported, their marketing budgets aren’t — and those can often equal or even exceed a blockbuster’s production costs. In other words, any reporting that’s simply balancing a movie’s gross against its budget should be taken with a grain of salt, let alone reporting that’s talking only about a movie’s opening-weekend haul.  Since the early days of the superhero boom, opening weekends have come to be seen as a movie’s make-or-break moment. If a movie opens well relative to its genre category and MPAA rating, it’s treated like a massive success, regardless of how it performs for the rest of its time in theaters. If a movie opens poorly, it’s treated as a surefire sign that it’s going to flop. But the opening weekend isn’t quite the bellwether it used to be. It’s still important as a sign of how much cultural pop a movie has, or whether it’s a surprise in one direction or another — particularly in an era when reporting on advance ticket sales leads to movies being characterized as hits or flops before they’ve even opened. But as cinema owners fight to regain the exclusive theatrical window, popular films will continue to make more and more of their money in the trailing weeks after their release. In fact, movies like Elemental and Wicked opened below expectations, but outperformed projections on every subsequent week, going on to become massive hits.   Similarly, as The Ringer’s Sean Fennessey pointed out on X over the weekend, movies are also making more money on premium VOD platforms than ever before. While studios have largely been quiet on the subject of VOD profits, Universal Pictures did loudly proclaim a victory around Wicked, announcing that the film made $26 million in its first day of PVOD release and $70 million in the first week. Most movies aren’t going to do Wicked numbers, but the film’s impressive total gives us a clear picture that premium streaming rentals are much more than minimal dividends atop the theatrical total. And none of this includes potential studio profit drivers such as a movie’s streaming release boosting subscriptions for a streaming service, or licensing deals to bring a film to cable TV or other streaming platforms.  Box office reporting is complicated business. If you say too little, you run the risk of leaving uninformed readers lost in a sea of meaningless numbers. But say too much, and you risk overwhelming the audience with details that don’t matter. Still, there’s a fine line between giving context and concern trolling. Reporting production budgets alongside opening-weekend grosses doesn’t always cross that line, but speculating that one of the most impressive box office openings since the start of the pandemic — for a movie with a modest budget by blockbuster standards, no less — is anything other than good news? That’s certainly a step too far.  The truth is, very few people outside of film studios themselves will ever know for sure whether a movie can be considered objectively profitable, or by what margin. And the studios aren’t making that information public. It’s important to take weekend box office reports for exactly what they are: a measure of how many people went to the theater during a given weekend and which movies they saw. Box office reports might be a good sign for a movie or a bad one, but either way, they represent the beginning of a movie’s release story, not the end. That’s how we should treat them. And right now, the signs say that people really like Sinners, and that they’re going to movie theaters to see it. 

True crime podcasts have been in the zeitgeist for quite some time, but those focusing on scams seem to get less mainstream attention than their bloody, murder-heavy counterparts.I’ve gathered recommendations for the best, most fascinating scam podcasts on the digital airwaves right now. Catch up, follow along, then pick your jaw off the floor as you learn the shocking ways some truly manipulative people were able to take advantage of the most vulnerable, robbing them of their money, friendship, and trust. From mysterious boys emerging from the wild to con a whole town, to an entrepreneur bilking investors out of millions of dollars for bunk science, each of these true life tales is dripping with lies and deceit.The Con: Kaitlyn's Baby Credit: 'The Con: Kaitlyn's Baby' The Con: Kaitlyn's Baby is a six-part true crime series looking into the case of Kaitlyn Braun, a calculating Canadian woman who pretended to have a series of traumatic events (like pregnancy loss and sexual assault) in order to trick doulas to care for her. Host Sarah Treleaven tells us the story, focusing on the emotional impact it had on Kaitlyn’s victims to be taken advantage of for supporting others, something that requires such physical and emotional connection and vulnerability. Your eyes will widen, your heart rate will quicken—I even got a little terrified. The story of Kaitlyn's schemes can start to feel like a horror movie.  Sea of Lies Credit: 'Sea of Lies' From the same host of Wild Boys (one of my favorite shows on this list!) comes Sea of Lies, a show about the prolific swindler Albert Walker, whose list of swindles includes stealing identities, defrauding people of millions of dollars, and murder. It starts with a huge splash (more specifically, a dead body in an ocean) and ends with Walker getting caught thanks to a Rolex watch, taking you on this zig-zagging path that will keep you guessing the whole time. The storytelling is excellent; you won’t be able to get to the next episode fast enough. Believable: The Coco Berthmann Story Credit: 'Believable: The Coco Berthmann Story' Believable: The Coco Berthmann Story introduces us to the life and crimes of Coco Berthmann, who gained internet fame by sharing her harrowing account of surviving child sex trafficking in Germany. When she was arrested for fraudulently raising funds under the guise of a false cancer diagnosis (someone got carried away!) people started wondering if they could believe her at all. This is a complex story well told with meticulous original reporting from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sara Ganim and award-winning showrunner Karen Given, who map out exactly which of Coco’s stories to believe and which to distrust—and why, at the root of everything, Coco lied in the first place.Believe In Magic Credit: 'Believe in Magic' For Believe in Magic, Jamie Bartlett (who also hosts The Missing Cryptoqueen) tells the story of Megan Bhari, a 16-year-old who founded a charity in 2012 to grant wishes to seriously ill children. Things really blew up for Megan when the band One Direction hosted a charity ball and Louis Tomlinson donated money from his own pockets. Eventually people started to notice contradictions in her illness story and the lack of transparency in how donation money was being used. In the end it’s an emotional, fascinating, and well-balanced story about Munchausen syndrome by proxy and what drives people to scams with fake altruism. Scamanda Credit: 'Scamanda' Amanda Riley, aka Scamanda, is a California woman who faked a long battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and used her blog and social media to solicit more than $100,000 in donations over almost 10 years. Amanda claimed to undergo chemotherapy, radiation, and even a bone marrow transplant, which brought in sympathy and financial support from her church and community, who saw Amanda as a source of inspiration. It all came to a head when investigative producer Nancy Moscatiello got an anonymous tip about Amanda's blog, prompting an eight-year investigation that ultimately led to Amanda’s five-year prison sentence. Amanda’s blog posts, read by actor Kendall Horn in the podcast, give us an idea of what she was really thinking.  Scam Factory Credit: 'Scam Factory' Scam Factory tells the story of a network of people tangled up in a compound in Myanmar that lures people inside with promises of high salaries and then enslaves them making it nearly impossible to get out. When a guy, they call him “Max,” gets suckered in, his sister Charlie needs to do some dangerous and unethical things to try to get him out—Charlie must play the game and become part of the scam factory herself, luring strangers into the factory for the sake of her family. If you’ve ever heard a story about toxic, cult-y situations and wondered, “no really, how does this happen to someone?” this show explains it perfectly. The Binge Cases: Baby Broker Credit: 'The Binge Cases' If you’re among one of the many people swept away by the viral story of Kaitlyn’s Baby, you might like the Baby Broker series of The Binge Cases, which tells the story of Tara Lee, a woman who told more than 100 couples across the country that she could help them adopt a baby but was lying the whole time. Peter McDonnell spoke with some of the couples who were impacted, which are all fascinating and often cross paths.Wild Boys Credit: 'Wild Boys' It’s the summer of 2003 in the small Canadian town of Vernon, and two teen boys emerge from the wilderness. They claimed to have been raised in the British Columbia wilderness and grown up without exposure to society—no TV, no school, no registered IDs. Journalist Sam Mullins grew up in Vernon and can remember the impact the boys made and how the Vernon community embraced them with open arms, housing them, feeding them, and checking in on them.But things weren’t adding up—one of the boys was extremely thin and would only eat fruit, and they both had huge gaps in their conflicting stories. Despite all the red flags, everyone was surprised to learn that nothing the wild boys said was true. Sam tells the story of the con that stunned Vernonites in Wild Boys and explores why two young kids would go to such great lengths to run away to establish an incredible identity in another country.Maintenance Phase Credit: 'Maintenance Phase' Maintenance Phase doesn’t appear, at first glance, to be a show about scams. In each episode, Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes (formerly of You’re Wrong About) examine fads in the wellness and weight loss industry with a fine-toothed comb, and help us splice fact from fiction. The things they cover—fat camps, the BMI, Olestra, and the Keto Diet—do usually end up, upon closer inspection, to be riddled with scams, from the unethical way products are marketed to the bunk science used to support their claims.Aubry and Michael deliver disturbing insight into the ways we’re all being tricked, but their spark and sense of humor makes the show a total blast to listen to. They are experts at getting angry—and it feels good to get angry along with them.The Missing Cryptoqueen Credit: 'The Missing Cryptoqueen' Crypto is mysterious, so it seems only natural that people have fallen prey to one crypto scam after another. The Missing Cryptoqueen tells a whopper of a crypto scam story, perhaps the biggest in the industry’s short history. In 2014, Bulgarian entrepreneur Dr. Ruja Ignatova launched a cryptocurrency that she hoped would out-do BitCoin, called OneCoin. She lured investors from 175 countries into cashing in on the order of a collective $4 billion—and vanished.Peeling back the curtain, Jamie Bartlett and Georgia Catt of BBC Sounds discovered that OneCoin was a Ponzi scheme—there was no blockchain and no trading exchange, just a bunch of servers in Bulgaria. Ignatova disappeared in October 2017 with all of the loot, and hasn’t been seen since. On The Missing Cryptoqueen, Bartlett and Catt detail how she pulled off her con, and track the ongoing hunt to find her.The Dream Credit: 'The Dream' Season one of The Dream was about multilevel marketing schemes, but season two zooms into the world of wellness and the lofty promises made by some of the industry’s shadiest purveyors. This American Life alum Jane Marie, along with producer Dann Gallucci, challenge the ethics of crystals, vitamins, supplements, and more, separating fact from fiction in each episode. Jane Marie adds a personal touch to her research by including personal stories: of how her own childhood brain injury impacted her view on the wellness industry, of an aunt who has been hypnotized by a popular essential oil company, and of a friend who is still trying to sell her Thirty-One bags.Pretend Credit: 'Pretend' Have you heard the one about the woman who became entangled in a con with people who she thought were her cousins, but who all ended up being the same person—her catfishing friend? Or the one about the real-life Truman Show, which left one unsuspecting guy living a lie with a bunch of actors? What about the one about the prank caller who pretended to be a police officer and used his power to get fast food managers to strip-search female employees, forcing them to jog naked, do jumping jacks, and perform other humiliating acts?These are the stories told on Pretend, as Javier Leiva interviews swindlers, snake oil salesmen, and cult leaders, and tells some of the most unbelievable stories that the other con podcasts aren’t talking about—often in great depth, with investigations spanning several episodes or a whole miniseries.Sympathy Pains Credit: 'Sympathy Pains' Sympathy Pains is a six-part medical con story hosted by Laura Beil (Dr. Death, Bad Batch) about a woman who faked multiple illnesses—from cancer, to muscular dystrophy, to Ebola—and created a tragic backstory about being the mom to a child who had died. But none of it was true. She didn’t just want her victims’ money, she wanted their friendship and sympathy, and became a master in targeting people who she knew would drop everything for her, even when her stories started to crack. This is one of the most unusual con stories you’ll ever hear, and the best twist comes in the final episode.The Dropout Credit: 'The Dropout' By now, you’ve almost certainly heard of the scheme perpetrated by Elizabeth Holmes (or watched the Hulu docudrama about it). She’s the modern day poster child of scam artists, pulling millions of dollars from investors for her health technology company that promised to have revolutionized blood testing, but was built on faulty science with zero valuation.You could read the book or watch the show to understand Holmes’ life and her complicated con, but The Dropout, a podcast from ABC News’ Rebecca Jarvis, fleshes out the reporter’s multi-year investigation with never-before-aired deposition testimony from Holmes and those at the center of the story, and includes exclusive interviews with former employees, investors, and patients. The story of how one alluring woman went from being called “The Next Steve Jobs” to finding herself facing criminal charges demands the kind of scrutiny this long form podcasts offers.California City Credit: 'California City' California City is located deep in the Mojave Desert, 100 miles north of L.A., a place that once held the promise of the American dream—thousands were told that if they bought land there, they would certainly get rich one day. At least 73,000 hopeful people poured hundreds of millions of dollars into California City, only to find out too late that the land was worthless. They would spend years trying to get their money back.In this series, Emily Guerin travels to California City with a mic and a mission to find the people responsible for the con, and winds up enmeshed in conversations with real estate developers trying to sweep the truth under the rug, as well as the people who share heartbreaking stories of giving everything they had, chasing a dream that would never be realized.

We know Cassian Andor is doomed. 2016's Rogue One makes clear he will meet an untimely death in a massive explosion. That sense of inevitable destruction lingered in the background of the first season of Andor, the prequel series that follows his journey from a low-rent criminal to a rebel spy. But his fate is even more crushing in Andor's second (and final) season, where the cost of fighting against the seemingly all-powerful Empire chips away at his soul. "Rebellions are built on hope," was an iconic line from Rogue One, first uttered by Andor and then repeated triumphantly by that film's lead, Jyn Erso. In the streaming series' second season, we see how that idea is formed and inspires many people. Rebellions aren't just about massive space battles, and Death Star trench runs. They don't rely on an untrained kid hopping into a spaceship and scoring a major victory thanks to the Force and destiny. Rebellions start with small decisions by normal people, and through collective action they evolve into something powerful enough to take down empires. Read into that what you will. Lucasfilm Ltd™ Andor always seemed like an odd series for Disney, which spent the last decade milking the Star Wars franchise for all it's worth. Created by Tony Gilroy, the Bourne Identity screenwriter who reportedly swooped in to save Rogue One at the last minute, Andor has no lightsabers and minimal references to the Force. While it's filling in the gaps for a storyline that leads to A New Hope, the series also feels refreshingly free of the stifling mythology that has plagued shows like The Mandalorian and Ahsoka (and Boba Fett, and Obi-Wan Kenobi). Andor takes its time, building up its characters and laying out complex ideas, instead of rushing between action set pieces. It's Star Wars for grownups, something I never thought we'd see for a franchise so devoted to kids. In season one, we're introduced to Andor as he's searching for his sister, who disappeared years ago. After being targeted by two local police officers, he ends up killing them both and is forced to hide out in his home planet of Ferrix. There he meets up with his friend Bix (Adria Arjona), who is working for Luthen Rael, a mysterious man who has devoted his life to taking down the Empire. It doesn't take long before Luthen sees potential in Andor, and begins to court him for his rebel cause. Lucasfilm Ltd™ Minor spoilers ahead for Andor season two. Taking place over the course of a few years (and counting down to the Battle of Yavin, where the Death Star was destroyed in A New Hope), season two follows Andor and Bix as they delve further into the rebellion. Bix is still recovering from the events of the first season, where she was imprisoned and tortured. And Andor splits his time caring for Bix and going on spy missions to help rebels on other planets. I won't say too much about what happens in the season specifically, but in general it builds on everything that made Gilroy's first stab such a refreshing Star Wars entry. We see how the heartless machinations of the Empire affect real people, and how it can push entire populations to fight against tyranny. Small moments, like a hotel bellhop revealing his true thoughts about the Empire to Andor, can lead to more profound acts of rebellion. Lucasfilm Ltd™ Star Wars has always been about the battle between good and evil. But Andor breaks down what that means for ordinary people, not hyper-powerful space wizards with laser swords. An average citizen could be killed on the spot if they decide to speak up against the Empire. Or, with self-preservation in mind, they could keep their heads down or even volunteer to be a cog in the fascist machine. Not everyone can be Han Solo (though Andor himself is a bit close). But when living under an authoritarian regime, there comes a time for everyone to draw a line. Resist, or lose your soul. Andor also spends plenty of time on Senator Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) before she eventually becomes the leader of the Rebel Alliance. We see her dealing with the difficulty of funding Luthen's rebel activities, especially as they lead to explosive outcomes. But after the Empire massacres thousands of civilians on the planet Ghorman, an event that’s been referenced in recent Star Wars books, Mothma and other rebel leaders conclude that violent rebellion is the only way to fight back against the fascist Empire. Lucasfilm Ltd™ "The Empire has been choking us so slowly, we're starting not to notice. The time has come to force their hand," Luthen tells Senator Mothma in Andor's first season. When she notes that people will suffer, he replies "That's the plan. You're not angry at me. I'm just saying out loud what you already know. There will be no rules going forward. If you're not willing to risk your conscience, then surrender and be done with it." Even though this is Andor's final season, I have a feeling this series will live on in viewer's minds far longer than whatever the hell happened in The Book of Boba Fett. It forces you to think about how the Empire directly affects everyone, from civilians on remote planets to the bureaucratic stooges devoting their lives to fascism. In many ways, it's practically a blueprint for rebellion. And not to put too much on a Disney TV show, but that feels like something we could use right now.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/andor-season-2-review-a-star-wars-miracle-an-ode-to-rebellion-190057159.html?src=rss

No, that Jaime Quin on Telegram is not the real IC3 chief - it's a scammer looking for a way into your bank account.

China's CATL has announced a set of new incoming products, including a battery it claims has set a "new global record for superfast charging technology."

IXOR’s VFX breakdown for the Schweppes Mint Mojito commercial reveals the playful creation of its charming 3D sheep. The team designed the photorealistic sheep from scratch, focusing on fur simulation, natural movement, and expressive animation to ensure the character blended seamlessly with the live-action world.The breakdown showcases the use of advanced compositing, liquid simulations, and detailed lighting setups that helped place the sheep inside Schweppes’ vibrant, minty setting. Every frame was carefully polished to balance the surreal nature of a 3D sheep with the crisp freshness the drink represents.Behind the scenes, the team tackled technical challenges like integrating fur into dynamic lighting and perfecting the sheep’s interaction with the environment. The result is a lighthearted, eye-catching commercial where VFX and creativity combine to deliver a refreshing visual treat, perfectly capturing the spirit of Schweppes Mint Mojito. The post Whimsical 3D Sheep for Schweppes Mint Mojito – IXOR VFX Breakdown appeared first on Vfxexpress.

While Zoom is unquestionably the biggest name in videoconferencing, its free tier has some limitations—particularly the 40-minute time cap on group meetings. The good news is that several excellent platforms offer generous free plans capable of handling everything from brief check-ins to extended sessions. Ready to explore other options? Check out these free Zoom alternatives. Google Meet If you’re already embedded in the Google ecosystem, Google Meet is about as convenient as it gets. Joining meetings is straightforward, accessible via a web browser without needing software downloads, or through dedicated mobile apps. Its free tier supports up to 100 participants in a meeting and group sessions up to an hour in length. For one-on-one meetings, the time limit is 24 hours—though, if you’re holding 24-hour meetings . . . seek help. Microsoft Teams Microsoft Teams is more than just a meeting tool, and while its full suite of features might seem overwhelming if you only require video calls, the free tier offers a nice set of meeting capabilities. Access is provided through web, desktop, and mobile applications, and you can host meetings with up to 100 participants for an hour. Beyond meetings, the free plan includes unlimited chat and file sharing integrated within the Teams environment, making it a good option for groups looking for a legit collaborative platform. Features like screen sharing, customizable backgrounds, and the unique Together Mode, which places participants in a shared virtual setting, are available. And for some reason, Teams lets you hold 30-hour one-on-one meetings—outdoing Google by an extra six hours. Again: Don’t be crazy. Jitsi Meet As a truly free option, Jitsi Meet is a compelling alternative to providers with both free and paid tiers. This platform offers encrypted communication and notably does not require user accounts for hosting or joining meetings. While there’s no set user limit, Jitsi matches the 100 participants that the other freebies offer. There are no arbitrary time limits on meeting duration. Standard features like screen sharing, chat, virtual backgrounds, and polling are included, while an option for end-to-end encryption adds another layer of security. And if you’re looking for even more control, Jitsi Meet can also be self-hosted. Zoho Meeting Finally, consider Zoho Meeting, which allows meetings with up to 100 participants for up to an hour, putting it on par with Google Meet and Microsoft Teams in terms of basic capacity. The service includes essential meeting features like screen sharing, chat functionalities, virtual backgrounds, and whiteboarding. While Zoho Meeting is particularly attractive if you’re already using other Zoho products, it also stands alone as a capable option for anyone seeking a reliable free meeting platform outside of the Google or Microsoft spheres.

Forget sync apps and smart displays. This 3D-printed perpetual calendar clock keeps perfect time until March 2100—with no help, no updates, and no nonsense. A quartz-powered mechanical marvel, it wears its gear-driven logic on its face, literally. The skeleton design reveals the intricate dance of gears and mechanisms that most clocks keep hidden behind closed doors. There’s something captivating about watching the perpetual calendar mechanism in action, a complex system that accurately handles all month lengths, including February in leap years. Yet despite this complexity, it runs on nothing more than a standard quartz clock movement with limited torque. Designer: shiura Engineering Marvel Behind Glass The creator has poured considerable thought into both form and function. Every component serves a purpose while contributing to the clock’s visual appeal. The drive gear train connecting the hour hand to the main cam sits concealed behind the front panel, minimizing the gap between clock hands and index markings. This creates a cleaner reading experience from any angle. A perpetual calendar automatically adjusts for varying month lengths and leap years. The system accommodates the quirks of our calendar, including 30-day and 31-day months, as well as February’s variable length during leap years. This mechanical intelligence operates on minimal torque from a standard quartz movement. The calendar sub-dial hands for day, month, weekday, and 24-hour time all align perfectly with the front panel, preventing visual offset when viewed from different positions. Even the main clock hands sit close to the front panel, maintaining visual harmony. The skeleton design serves multiple purposes – it reveals the mechanical workings while making assembly more straightforward. You can watch time progress through the movement of gears and levers, adding a visual dimension to timekeeping that is typically hidden in traditional clocks. Designed for Longevity The calendar advances automatically until March 2100. Powered by a commercially available battery-operated quartz movement, it runs for extended periods without external power. The design also addresses practical concerns – a flat rear surface allows it to hang flush against a wall, creating a clean silhouette from any angle. No visible screw heads on the front contribute to its professional appearance. The calendar functions can be adjusted by manually rotating the clock hands, making setup and occasional corrections straightforward. The mechanism handles the calendar’s complexities automatically, eliminating the monthly ritual of advancing calendar displays. This balance of complex function with minimal maintenance demonstrates thoughtful design. Maker-Friendly Construction All parts are optimized for 3D printing without support structures, eliminating one of the most frustrating aspects of 3D printing projects. The design works within the limitations of home 3D printing technology rather than fighting against them. Assembly follows a logical progression that respects the delicate nature of the mechanism. The instructions emphasize careful removal of blobs and debris on gears, crucial since the entire system operates on minimal torque. The quartz movement requires modification: shortening the mounting thread with a hacksaw and shaving the hour hand shaft to create flat sides for secure gear engagement. These precise adjustments ensure reliable operation. Multi-material printing options enable the creation of stunning, multi-colored faceplates. Using systems like Prusa MMU or Bambu Lab AMS creates a visual distinction between the face, dial, and index markings, enhancing both aesthetics and readability. For those with single-material printers, the design accommodates filament changes during printing to achieve similar visual effects, maintaining accessibility without sacrificing appearance. Global Design Considerations The creator offers faceplates in Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Danish, Portuguese, German, and Ukrainian, with more languages available upon request. This global approach transforms a niche project into something with worldwide appeal. Month abbreviations, day names, and text elements are carefully positioned and scaled to maintain visual harmony regardless of language. This attention to detail demonstrates how thoughtful design can transcend linguistic boundaries. The multilingual support isn’t merely cosmetic – it’s fully integrated into the functional design, allowing the clock to serve as both a practical timepiece and cultural object in homes around the world. Technical Ingenuity The gear system requires precise assembly to ensure smooth operation. The perpetual calendar mechanism relies on specific interactions between components – a notch on the week-driven gear must align with the week hand, while a protrusion on the date rotor must position correctly relative to the date hand. Springs provide just enough tension to advance the calendar displays at the appropriate times. Too much tension and the quartz movement lacks sufficient torque; too little and the calendar won’t advance reliably. This balance represents a core engineering challenge. The design accommodates the limited torque available from a standard quartz movement through clever gearing and weight distribution. The main arm incorporates a steel M8 nut as a weight, utilizing gravity to assist with calendar advancement—a solution that works within physical constraints rather than requiring more powerful components. Visual Communication Through Mechanics The exposed mechanism does more than satisfy curiosity; it provides visual feedback on how time is tracked and measured. The interaction between gears, the positioning of the calendar indicators, and the movement of the hands all communicate function through form. In an age of digital displays and smartwatches, this mechanical timepiece reveals the physical process of timekeeping. The skeleton design shows how simple components, arranged with precision, can track complex calendar patterns. The visual logic extends to the interface; calendar adjustments occur through direct manipulation of the hands, rather than hidden buttons or digital menus. This transparency of function represents a design philosophy where understanding and usability merge. A New Take on Traditional Timekeeping This clock demonstrates how modern manufacturing techniques can breathe new life into traditional objects. The 3D-printed components achieve precision that would be difficult with conventional manufacturing at small scales, while the quartz movement provides reliability without sacrificing the mechanical calendar display. The design strikes a balance between visibility and organization, revealing the mechanism without creating visual chaos. The careful arrangement of gears, hands, and indicators maintains readability while showcasing the engineering underneath. For horological enthusiasts, 3D printing hobbyists, and design appreciators alike, this perpetual calendar clock offers both technical achievement and visual interest. It transforms timekeeping from a background utility to a focal point of mechanical design. The clock exemplifies how digital fabrication can preserve and enhance traditional mechanical crafts rather than replacing them. By combining accessible manufacturing with clever mechanical design, it brings a once-exclusive complication into the realm of personal creation. Practical Elegance Beyond its technical achievements, the clock functions as a practical household object. The ease of wall mounting, clear readability, and automatic calendar advancement make it as functional as it is fascinating. The design decisions prioritize both visual appeal and everyday use, from the alignment of hands to prevent parallax errors to the clean front face without visible fasteners. This attention to practical details elevates it from a mere demonstration piece to a fully realized product. For makers looking to challenge themselves with a project that integrates mechanical engineering, aesthetics, and practical functionality, this clock provides both the process and the final result. The final product serves as both a timekeeper and a demonstration of creativity. It provides a daily reminder of how thoughtful design addresses complex problems with elegant mechanical solutions.The post Time Eternal: The 3D Printed Perpetual Calendar Clock That Defies Expectations first appeared on Yanko Design.

After 34 years, the actor now gets a speaking role.