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Over an impressive and influential career, King worked on a number of important buildings, including during stints with Denys Lasdun & Partners and Arup Associate. He also taught for more than a decade at the Liverpool School of Architecture.Urban Splashs Jonathan Falkingham, with whom he co-founded Shedkm in 1997, praised him as a true inspiration for an entire generation of architects.Tributes (see below) have also come in from former colleagues and pupils, including musician Chris Lowe who was taught by King at Liverpool before forming the Pet Shop Boys with Neil Tennant.AdvertisementCurrent shedkm managing director Hazel Rounding described him as a truly unforgettable man, an absolute character and the reason she joined the practice in 1998.King was born in Liverpool in 1938 and grew up in Bromborough on the Wirral, later moving to Hoylake where he lived above a bank managed by his father.After attending Kings School in Chester, in 1956 he went to study architecture at Manchester University, where he would become friends with Mike Cummings, John Drabble and Norman Foster. However, he would return to Hoylake every weekend to race dinghies and he continued sailing until the last weeks of his life.He left Manchester to work at Liverpool firm LAG Prichard in 1962, joining Denys Lasdun & Partners in London three years later.There he worked on Christs College Cambridge, the University of East Anglia and the National Theatre. King was a keen photographer, and the picture he took of the South Bank landmark was used for the National Theatres publicity (pictured below).Advertisement Source:Dave KingNational Theatre, London, through treesIn his memoirs, King recalls: I retained the photo. Not because I designed the building (only bits of it), but because it kept me in touch with both Denys and the theatre for many years after I left. It paid for all my Nikons and it reminds me of formative years in that office [and] the magic of the late 60s. Working for Lasdun was very special indeed.In 1970, he moved to Arup Associates, joining the practices Group 1 to work on Dock Support Buildings at Portsmouth Naval Base.Six years later he became a lecturer at Liverpool School of Architecture and shared his time between London and Liverpool with brief spells working at Foster + Partners and Ahrends Burton Koralek during the long holidays.In 1986, he was approached to design the new studio for the Liverpool School of Architecture with Rod McAllister, another former student, and they subsequently set up a practice together, King McAllister.Working with Lee Bennett, Andy Purvis and James Weston, the practice based at the side of his home in Lark Lane, Liverpool would go on to design the schools Student Services Centre (SSC) and its Guild of Undergraduates (G95) as well as competing in numerous competitions. Source:Nick HuftonMatchworks, Liverpool by shedkm for Urban SplashTen years later, aged 60, he set up Shedkm (the km referencing King McAllister) along with Falkingham who was already having success with emerging developer Urban Splash.One of the practices first jobs was for Urban Splash, converting the closed Mersey Match Factory, Garston, into offices and workshops. Renamed the Matchworks, the scheme was completed in 2001.Two years later Shedkm took the wraps off a new landmark pavilion on the end of Southport pier. Then, in 2008, it completed the radical and inventive revamp of a group of rundown and derelict Victorian terraces in Salford to create Chimney Pot Park also for Urban Splash.In 2012, the practice expanded into London and King moved to the Barbican. In his later years, he remained a mentor and consultant to the practice, as well as working as a visiting lecturer at the Liverpool School of Architecture.More recently he lived in Old Portsmouth with his wife Sue and, according to his daughter Sophie, enjoyed doing up his racing boat every day, even sailing it sometimes.King, who also loved skiing, died peacefully following a sudden onset of pneumonia with added heart complications. He is survived by Sue, his children Rachel and Matthew (from a previous marriage) and Sophie as well as two grandchildren, Max and Molly.Dave King with his wife Sue on the rooftop test track at the Lingotto, Turin (Christmas 2015) where part of the film The Italian Job was filmed. The former fiat factor was converted by Renzo Piano (2003)Jonathan Falkingham, Urban Splash and Shedkm I, along with many colleagues in the profession, am deeply saddened by Dave's passing. Dave was my go-to tutor at Liverpool University, my co-founder at Shedkm and, above all, a lifelong friend and mentor.A passionate Modernist, Dave was an exceptional thinker and designer and, as an educator, a true inspiration for an entire generation of architects. His unique spirit and vision made him a rare talent and it was a real privilege to have worked alongside him.As a designer, he contributed to Urban Splash over three decades joining us on a daring journey from our early days when he designed the Matchworks in Liverpool and continuously bringing fresh ideas to new, trailblazing projects. His creativity and determination to approach things differently were constants, shaping many of our projects with his innovation, clarity of thought and eye for detail winning us many awards on the way.His impact on the profession and a generation of designers cannot be underestimated; I for one will really miss him.Hazel Rounding, managing director, ShedkmAlmost 30 years ago, Dave became my biggest critic, fan and challenge. He is the reason I joined Shedkm in its infancy.An absolute character and inspiration, he exuded wisdom. We've shared an insatiable desire to live every second, follow dreams, understand our purpose, nurture youth and make a workplace a home and (of course) to consistently create bold, clear, timeless, design solutions with a little splash of colour to keep things bright!He guided and entrusted me with others to grow Shedkms ethos and approach from the start, and his insight and impact certainly live on. A truly unforgettable man. Source:Morley von SternbergMatchbox in Liverpool by shedkm for Urban SplashChris Lowe, Pet Shop BoysIll never forget he had a piece of glossy red card hanging on his wall and introduced me to minimalism. Inspirational!Rod McCallister, an original partner in King McCallister (where the KM in Shedkm came from)Dave was unique, and a mentor to a huge number of us who met him in Liverpool. His background in Modernism and technology sprang from the Manchester School and his pre-Liverpool days, working with inspiring designers like Denys Lasdun, Jan Kaplicky, Norman Foster, Chris Wilkinson, Philip Dawson and Peter Foggo on many fabulous projects, including the University of East Anglia, the National Theatre and Portsmouth Dockyard. In turn, he inspired us with his relentless pursuit of harmony with a minimal palette of form and colour. He was my tutor, and landlord, and became my architectural partner and life-long friend.In 1986, he asked me to help him with the new studios and galleries project at the school of architecture. Upon completion in 1988, we founded KM. With Lee Bennett, Andy Purvis, Jenny Jones and later James Weston and others, our small team worked closely together on university projects and design competitions in the Lark Lane studio in Liverpool, obsessing about geometry, proportion, symmetry, politics, coffee and grappa. Daves clear, bright and optimistic design leadership continued after KM merged with Shed in 1997. I already miss our endless debates and evenings of laughter.Nik Randall, founder of reForm and Reimagine Architects, and a student at University of Liverpool (1978-1984)Dave was my tutor while studying architecture at the University of Liverpool in the 1980s. He stood out, not only because of his impressive experience working for some of the countrys leading architects but due to his passion for architecture, and his cool black and red attire. He had credibility and style.In my final year, Dave got funding from Arup for me and a fellow student, Pete Brimelow, to make a documentary covering the design and construction of the Liverpool Garden Festival Building a fantastic opportunity to see a project close up in all its stages and to interview and learn from those involved.But the film had to follow the building programme, and ate into the time we had to design our final schemes. I'd set myself a design task that was experimental and, with a month to go, felt I had not resolved everything I had set out to achieve and had little to show. I was considering deferring until the next year until I had a tutorial with Dave. He saw something interesting in my emerging design that I couldnt see, and said: Nik, draw what youve done and dont worry about what youve not done. So I did, non-stop for a month, and he was right.Daves advice was a good lesson for life. I have tried to work to my strengths ever since.Dave became a friend and someone whose advice I always trusted. I didnt see him nearly as often as I should and deeply regret that now. He just seemed to be someone who would always be around, to moan about a poor piece of design, enthuse about one he liked or just to chat about life. His wry sense of humour could be missed by others but he always made me smile.As an external examiner at Leeds, I met his daughter Sophie who was presenting her final project. I had to declare an interest and step aside, but I could see Daves talent for architecture and presentation had been passed on.I am thinking of Sophie and Sue now and send them all my love.Tom Bloxham, chairman and founder, Urban Splash Dave was a clever, crazy, fun and eccentric individual. He was one of the smartest architects I ever met and as close to genius as anyone Ive had the fortune to know.We shared a love for skiing, and Ill be forever grateful for him introducing me to Marcel Briers ski resort in Flaine. Ive grown to really love the place as my favourite resort and Dave even designed an amazingly beautiful home there for me and my family.He will be sadly missed. Source:RIBA88029New Court, Christ's College, Cambridge by Denys LAsdun & Partners: detail of the concrete guttering under construction. Photograph by Dave King

David Chipperfield Architects' model of the former Royal Mint Source:&nbsp David Chipperfield ArchitectsChina is blocking Eric Parry Architects proposals for a new British ambassadors residence in Beijing in response to delays to Chinas own London embassy plans, designed by David Chipperfield Architects The UK wants to demolish the existing British embassy and ambassadors residence in China's capital, with Eric Parry designing the new ambassadors home.But, according to a report in The Guardian, Chinese officials have resisted the UKs requests to rebuild its embassy complex for at least a year. The AJ understands that plans for the site were first submitted to authorities two years ago.It is understood a tweaked planning application was submitted in July by the British embassy for city centre site in the Chinese capital.Although Eric Parry's name is attached to the ambassadors residence, it is unknown which architect is working on the new embassy building itself.AdvertisementChina has expressed frustration at the years-long planning saga surrounding David Chipperfield Architects plans to overhaul the former Royal Mint in east London into a new Chinese embassy complex.A Chinese embassy spokesperson told the AJ last year that it had urged the UK government to fulfil its relevant international obligations over the stalled project.And in August this year, the embassy released a statement saying: Both China and the UK have the need to build a new embassy in each others capital, and the two sides should provide facilitation to each other.Last month housing and communities secretary Angela Rayner called in Chipperfields resubmitted scheme.Tower Hamlets councillors refused the scheme in December 2022 with China not appealing the decision.However in July this year, shortly after the UK general election, it resubmitted an almost identical scheme for the plot.AdvertisementCiting a British source close to the former Royal Mint proposals, The Guardian said China see[s] it as a reciprocal-type thing where both people want changes, but our system doesnt really work quite as centrally as theirs does.It quoted a Conservative Party source adding: Until that one gets moving, the British embassy in Beijing wont move [and] the grounds for turning it down were pretty spurious It came about more because they were so angry that [planning permission for the Chinese embassy in London] was just turned down without any support.Eric Parry Architects won an international competition in 2020 to deliver the UK ambassadors residence as part of a wider overhaul of the 1959 embassy, located within the Chinese capitals diplomatic district.The London and Singapore-based practice won a competition run by the RIBA and the Foreign Office, beating a shortlist that included Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, Carmody Groarke, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and The Manser Practice.In August, the Foreign Office put out a tender for a 100 million job to demolish and deliver the new embassy. As AJ sister title Construction News reported in August, the Foreign Office expects to publish a contract notice next March and to award the contract in December.The same tender document said: Planning permission has been submitted in Beijing seeking the approval of the proposed design. The works are split across two adjacent sites in Beijing which currently provide both embassy office space and [ambassadors] residence.'A government spokesperson told the AJ: Applications for a new Chinese embassy in Tower Hamlets have been called in for Ministers at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to decide. A final decision will be made in due course.The China UK embassy was approached for comment. Eric Parry Architects declined to comment. Source:David Chipperfield ArchitectsDavid Chipperfield Architects' model of the former Royal Mint2024-11-08Gino Spocchiacomment and share

For Transformers one, the art department aimed to create shapes and silhouettes that appeared clean and simple from a distance, yet included intricate, purposeful details up-close, such as cut lines in the panels, smaller inset geometry, and layered panel work. Given that iconic Transformer designs often stem from their helmet shapes, the art department worked to seamlessly integrate faces into the helmets, enhancing their expressiveness while maintaining a mechanical, rigid aesthetic.Check out the full design case study here: https://www.ilm.com/art-department/transformers-one-concept-art/

After 38 years, the veteran effects artist is retiring.By Lucas O. SeastromFirst opening in 1987, the original Star Tours attraction at Disneyland included what was the most complex optical composite created at Industrial Light & Magic up to that time. A view out the window of a starspeeder was in fact a state-of-the-art flight simulator developed by Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) and Rediffusion Simulation with miniature effects by ILM. Among the thrilling encounters for passengers onboard was a harrowing trip through a cluster of icy comets which the crew dubbed ice-teroids.Compositing in this photochemical era involved a piece of equipment known as an optical printer. With iterations dating back to the earliest days of cinema, optical printers combined separately-photographed elements by recapturing them one frame and one layer at a time onto a new roll of film negative. Optical printers and the artists who operated them created the final effect one viewed onscreen with everything carefully (and painstakingly) blended together. Going back to Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), ILM had developed the most sophisticated compositing techniques yet seen, allowing for even greater refinement and finesse.The ice-teroid shot in Star Tours combined some 60 elements of individual sections of film. By comparison, the most complex shot of a space battle in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983) just a few years earlier had little more than half the number. One of the two optical printer operators to work on the new shot for Star Tours was Jon Alexander, hired only that year in 1986.Don Clark and I worked on the shot together on the Anderson Optical Printer, Alexander tells ILM.com, and once you started, you couldnt stop. Once you started a shot all the motors warmed up and they needed to stay on. If they were turned off you risked the machine cooling down and settling into a misalignment of the earlier passes. It took 24 hours to make all the elements so we split 12 hour shifts.The Anderson was an old-style optical printer, Alexander continues, where if you wanted to add any movement to the shot you had to crank little knobs by hand with an accuracy at best of a couple hundreds of an inch. Some years later ILM acquired the MC [motion-control] printer which was accurate to within a couple ten-thousandths of an inch, which is crazy. Its like throwing a baseball from here in San Francisco and hitting the Empire State Building in New York.38 years later, Jon Alexander has now decided to retire, and ILM is celebrating his storied tenure with the company that stretches over dozens of films, series, attractions, and special venue projects not to mention quite a lot of technological change.Back in the late 1970s, Alexander had what he calls a wandering college career while studying at Ohio State University. With a background in both engineering and cinematography, he arrived in Southern California in 1980 to work at Calico Creations, an active commercial house. There, Alexander gained experience with motion-control camera systems, innovative tools that combined the latest computer technology with mechanical engineering. This was before personal computers were readily available, he notes. We were doing programming with machine tools to create motion graphics for around 50 commercials a year. Everyone wanted something like 2001: A Space Odyssey [1968], the slit-scan style. It was a very manual process.These tools were used for everything from photographing miniatures to shooting hand-drawn cels on an animation stand. In conjunction with the team at Calico was Bill Tondreau, an accomplished engineer who designed his own motion-control systems, which Alexander learned to use.The system that ILM used on Star Wars was very analog, Alexander explains. You could speed up or slow down, but it was very hard to hit specific points. It was an art for those guys to get used to. They were flying in space so it didnt have to be as precise. They got really good at it, but it wasnt as adaptable as what Bill Tondreau later developed, which used stepper motors. ILM was switching over to this style, and my colleague Rob Burton at Calico was hired by ILM for Howard the Duck [1986], and they had so much work that they needed more operators. They had to be Tondreau-system operators, so they recommended me. They were looking for someone to do this specific thing, and hired me for three months. I have milked that for 38 years.Alexander works at an animation stand on one of his early ILM productions, The Witches of Eastwick (1987).Initially, Alexander worked in the animation department, photographing cels with a down-shooting system. Among these projects was The Witches of Eastwick (1987), for which Alexander shot a tennis ball as a lone element for a scene involving a doubles match. This was required because, as Alexander recalls it, only the actress Cher knew how to play tennis, so the cast mimed the game without a ball.It was while working on this camera for Eastwick that I met Michael Jackson, Alexander says. I was working late and no one else was in the back of D Building [at ILMs Kerner facility]. I was leaning over and adjusting the tennis ball when I got this feeling someone was right behind me. I turned my head and he was about three feet away with two of the biggest men security guards Id ever seen. [Producer] Patty Blau popped around the guards and said, Hi, this is Michael. He was wondering what you were doing. This was around the time ILM was finishing up [Disneyland attraction] Captain EO.Alexanders technical experience once again necessitated a move, this time to the optical department, where a new optical printer was being refined. The aforementioned MC, or motion-control printer had been developed by Los Angeles-based Mechanical Concepts as a first of its kind device.It was a motion-control printer, but when it got here, it didnt work, Alexander explains. Everything was project to project in those days, but optical was always going and it looked like they needed more folks. When I heard about this new printer, I went up to Kenneth Smith, who was running optical at the time, and explained that I could put a Tondreau system on it. I had done some optical work in L.A., so it wasnt entirely foreign, but ILM was off the charts in terms of the people and equipment they had.Alexander collaborated with machinist Udo Pampel to reconfigure the MC printer to run on the system. The result was arguably ILMs most sophisticated optical printer that allowed artists to create not only incredibly precise composites, but recreate shots entirely by adding movements or zooms. An early assignment for the Academy Award-winning Innerspace (1987) required Alexander to simulate the bouncing undulations of the camera inside the body of actor Martin Short.They were cutting back and forth between Martin Short running and this smooth motion-control inside the body, and [visual effects supervisor] Dennis [Muren] thought it looked weird, Alexander says. But at that point they couldnt go back out on stage and reshoot everything. Dennis asked me if I could do something that had the same up and down motion of running. It was a tough thing to do on the stage, but it wasnt particularly tough on the MC Printer because I could project onto the wall, track something specific like a button at the center of his chest, which then provided a curve like someone running along. So when I did the composite, it matched up. It was no problem to do that because of the way the printer was set up. I used to do a lot of that kind of match-moving stuff to project onto the wall and track something in a minute way. Thats entry-level now, but to do that in post at the time was almost impossible because there were so few motion-control printers around. We had one of the first.Alexander at work on the motion-control or MC optical printer.As Alexander notes, for a handful of years, his position was among the most significant in ILMs pipeline, considering that most everything had to be funneled through the MC printer. Looking back at these things, it wasnt a big deal to accomplish, he admits. It was just that people hadnt done it before. Supervisors like Dennis or Ken Ralston could expand what they wanted to do creatively, and people like me were a great set of hands to help them.Change was in the air, however, and computer graphics (CG) effects were steadily on the rise. At a time when many traditional artists and technicians were making decisions about whether to embrace the change, Alexander lept in headfirst. At that time, there were no BFAs in computer graphics, he explains. You had to come out of an engineering school just to do anything. It fostered this new kind of collaboration. We on the film side knew what the final product had to look like and the programmers knew the math and physics to make it possible.Alexander remains very matter-of-fact about the transition. CG helped eliminate the painful aspects of working on film. Youd work for hours on something, moving and adjusting things. It was so choreographed that you had to put the filters in the exact same order each time to get the same result. Then after you shot it, youd go to the dark room, turn the lights out, unload the magazine and put the film in a can, and then youd turn the lights on and realize youd forgotten to close the canand what you just shot was gone. In CG, if you make a mistake, you press Undo.Among Alexanders first CG projects were Fire in the Sky (1993), The Flintstones (1994), and Forrest Gump (1994). A personal standout shot came in 1998s Meet Joe Black when he had to help create the shocking death of actor Brad Pitts character, a young man who is hit by two cars while crossing a street. They shot the different elements with bluescreen, Alexander says. The cars came in slow because it was too dangerous to go fast and I timed everything to match it all together. The director [Martin Brest] asked to make him flip in the air, which I then did. A compositing supervisor at that stage, he enjoyed the opportunity to test things and try out ideas, from large elements to minuscule details.Alexander at work on a digital composite for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999).Alexanders last major shift came around 2008 when visual effects supervisor Bill George organized a unit to assist WDI with a reimagined Star Tours, ultimately opening in 2011 with 3D digital imagery. Eventually, Alexander stayed with Georges rides unit full-time, contributing to everything from Disneys Soarin Over the World and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance to Universals Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon. In every case, he was able to work in a diverse array of image and presentation formats. More recently, Alexander has contributed to special venue projects for the Sphere in Las Vegas, including Dead & Co.s Dead Forever concert series (2024) and Darren Aronofskys Postcard from Earth (2023).The Sphere is like being in a VR headset but massive, Alexander says. Something like 17,000 people can interact with the screen at one time. I was talking with Darren Aronofsky about how it opens up the possibilities about how to tell a story. You no longer set the direction for people to look. Something could be going on in one area, and then you put something up in another area. Maybe some people notice and others dont. Its a different way of thinking about it, like in a game, where you influence the way the story goes. To me, its really cool to move into this new space where youre not limited by being in a movie theater where you can only look in a certain direction.As his ILM journey comes to a close, its poignant to consider that Star Tours in particular has formed bookends to the many productions Alexander has been involved with. In fact, he and Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald are the only two people to have worked on every iteration of Star Tours to date. Just recently, Alexander spent six months with WDI to help oversee the installations of the rides latest update in Disney Parks in California, Florida, and France. With characteristic humility, hes keen to point out that he made a small mistake way back on that fabled ice-teroid shot in the original 1987 version. A matte for one of the dozens of ice-teroids was slightly misaligned, a detail too small for most viewers to even notice, but something that Alexanders children would never fail to mention, much to his own amusement.Alexander at work in 3D for an update to the Disney Parks attraction, Star Tours.I came into this with different expectations, like we all do, Alexander reflects. You think theyll write a book about you one day. No ones going to write a book about me. Then you think, maybe Ill get a chapter in the book. But most of us just become footnotes. Were part of a team. My dad and my uncles were all sergeants in the military. I got an appointment to the Air Force Academy. When I went there for induction a just-graduated 2nd Lieutenant was showing us around, and the Master Sergeant came by, an older guy with the stripes on his arm, and gave a crisp salute to this new 2nd Lieutenant as he walked by.The Lieutenant said, Theres a lesson for you, Alexander continues. This guy has to salute me because Im his superior officer, but hes a sergeant and he does everything. I cant do anything that he does. He organizes all of the enlisted men to do what we need, so I have to listen to him and trust him to get it done. I kind of feel like Im a Master Sergeant. Im fortunate enough to have gotten to the point where Im involved at this level, and I feel like theres not a shot that I cant fix. Its not just me; its my position. Thats what a compositing supervisor is supposed to do. If theres a shot with a problem, and you cant go back and change anything, yes I can fix it for you. I find that particularly gratifying. Ive stayed at this level in part because its about life-balance. If I were to go higher, Id be away for four months at a time, and I didnt want to do that to my family. Ive got like five Oscars on the family side of stuff.George Lucas chose people really well, and those people chose their hires really well, Alexander concludes. George trusted people like Dennis Muren to get anything done for him, and Dennis trusted people like me to get him whatever he needed. George and Dennis and those types of people were magnanimous enough to let people like me in the room. Because of that, Ive tried to share as much as I can when new folks come in so they feel like theyre part of it. To me thats the most important thing, making people feel like theyre part of a team. The beauty of this place has been how collaborative it is.Lucas O. Seastrom is a writer and historian at Lucasfilm.

I consider the smaller Boom 2 the best value among current Soundcore by Anker Bluetooth speakers because it delivers very strong sound for a speaker that costs a little more than $100. But the larger and more expensive Boom 2 Plus is a better-sounding speaker that plays louder and produces a bigger sound with more bass. While it costs around $250, the key thing about it is that it competes well with boom box speakers from JBL and Sony which cost upwards of $400.This speaker has dual 50-watt woofers and dual 20-watt tweeters, Anker says, and charges via USB-C, which is nice. There is also a charge-out option to charge your devices and the Boom 2 Plus is rated for up to 20 hours of playback time at moderate volume levels. The speaker has both a handle and removable strap to make it easy to carry around and is IPX7 waterproof. It also floats should you drop it in a body of water and has a customizable light show option.

There's so much to iOS 18, it could make your head spin.You probably already know about some of the major features, likecustomizing your home screen,formatting text messagesand improvements to Maps. There are also all theApple Intelligence features.That's not everything that iOS 18 has to offer. There are plenty of new settings that aren't publicized, so they stay under the radar, but that doesn't mean they're not important.These are all the hidden iOS 18 features you should know about.For more, here are seven iOS 18 settings you want to change right away, how to back up your iPhone the correct way and how to fix these three annoying iOS 18 settings. Grab Our Picks for the 11 Best iPhone Accessories See all photos Restart your iPhone from the new control centerYou don't have to press any physical buttons to restart your iPhone if you're running iOS 18. The redesigned control center features all the classic controls you're used to, like brightness, volume, orientation, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, but there are several new controls, including one to restart your iPhone.All you need to do is swipe down from the top-right of your iPhone and press and hold down on the new power button in the top-right of the control center. You can't just tap it; you have to hold it down for a second or so, and then the slider to power off your iPhone will appear.To turn your iPhone back on, you'll still need to press and hold the physical side button. On iOS 17 and earlier, the only way to restart your iPhone is to press and hold either volume button and the side button. Nelson Aguilar/CNETUse a QR code to share your Wi-Fi passwordThere are a few ways you can share a Wi-Fi network and password with people via your iPhone, and there's a new way to do it on iOS 18. Using a QR code fills in a few gaps for ways to quickly share your Wi-Fi information:Share with several people at once. Instead of individually sending out your Wi-Fi password, you can have everyone scan the QR code from your phone.Share with someone not saved as your contact. Nearby share for Wi-Fi doesn't work unless that person is in your contacts.Share with someone who has Android. Nearby share and AirDrop don't work with Android devices. Watch this: 11 Hidden Features in iOS 18 06:44 So if you meet any of those scenarios and you don't want to text the Wi-Fi password to them, you can use the QR code. Go to the new Passwords app, go to the Wi-Fi section, tap on the network you want to share and then hit Show Network QR Code. If the other person scans the QR code with their camera, they'll be connected to the Wi-Fi network. This only works for Wi-Fi passwords, not regular passwords. Nelson Aguilar/CNETAdjust the beam width of your flashlightThe flashlight on the iPhone is getting a big upgrade. You've long been able to change the intensity of the flashlight, but on iOS 18 you can now also adjust the beam width of the light, as long as you have a compatible model. You can go wide, to cover more area with less light, or go narrow, to use more intense light over less area, and everywhere in between. It's a fun feature to play around with for lighting people for photos.To use the new feature, turn on your flashlight (use the lock screen or control center), and a new user interface will appear in the dynamic island. You can change the light intensity by swiping up and down, but to change the beam width, you'll need to swipe left and right. If you tap anywhere in the dynamic island, you can turn the flashlight off and on. A wide flashlight beam (left) and a narrow beam. Nelson Aguilar/CNETNote: This feature only works on iPhone models with the dynamic island, including the iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15 series and iPhone 16 series.Transcribe Voice Memos and make them searchableThe Voice Memos app is incredibly convenient for capturing ideas or song snippets, but they've always been obfuscated. You can give them a descriptive title, but that doesn't help when you want to find that one memo you recorded that contains the word "porcupine." In iOS 18, the app can create transcriptions of your voice memos and search for words that were previously available only as audio waveforms.In the Voice Memos app, tap one of your memos to reveal its controls and then tap theEdit Recordingbutton, which looks like a waveform. Or, tap the three-dots button to the right of a memo and chooseEdit Recording.Next, tap theTranscribebutton to create the transcription (or view the text if it's already been transcribed). TapDone. Take an existing voice memo (left) and create a transcript of the recording (right). Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNETNow, when you use the Search field, the app looks through the transcripts in addition to the titles for results. The text is also available throughout iOS. When you perform a search from the home screen, you'll see Voice Memos as a category with the memos that include the search term (you may need to tapShow More Resultsto reveal it). With transcripts made, voice memos are more easily searchable. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNETHide app labels for a cleaner home screenIs your home screen feeling a little too cluttered? If so, this new feature could help. Now with iOS 18, you can get rid of app labels or the names of the apps that you see underneath each app icon on your home screen. If you can recognize an app from just the icon, who needs the label?On your home screen, press and hold down on any blank space, until you enter jiggle mode, and then hit Edit > Customize. A menu will appear at the bottom of the screen; choose the Large option, which will make your app icons slightly larger and remove the app labels. This will also remove the app labels from the folders in the App Library. Nelson Aguilar/CNETChange an app to a widget without leaving the home screenNot every iOS app has a widget for your home screen, but if it does, you don't need to dig through the widget edit page to find it. If you're running iOS 18, and there's an app that you want to turn into a widget, you can do so very quickly right from your home screen.On a supported app, press and hold down on the icon on your home screen to bring up the quick actions menu. If the app has a widget, you'll see an app icon next to a variety of widget icons (up to three). Tap on any of the widget icons to change the app to a widget. If you want to go back from the widget to the app, go to the quick action menu and hit the app icon on the left. This only works for apps that have widgets on iOS. Nelson Aguilar/CNETSecretly identify songs using the Action ButtonNo lie, it's satisfying when someone asks, "What song is this?" to be able to activate Music Recognition on the iPhone and get an answer quickly. But to get the answer means very noticeably asking Siri to run Shazam oractivating Music Recognition in the control center. Wouldn't it be fun to let your friends think you've been blessed with an encyclopedic knowledge of pop music?In iOS 18, you can come close using the Action Button. Go toSettings > Action Buttonand swipe through the options untilRecognize Musicis selected. Assign the Recognize Music feature to the Action Button and then identify songs by just holding the button. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNETTo make it work, just press and hold the Action Button for a couple of seconds. Shazam appears in the dynamic island to listen to what's playing and identify the song. If you're sneaky about activating Shazam and peeking at your phone, no one needs to know you got some help from a supercomputer in the cloud.Find images with handwriting and illustrations in the Photos appA lot is changing in the Photos app in iOS 18, from the way things are organized to the ability to usegenerative AI to remove objectsin images. Apple has also tucked a few surprises into the app to help you sort through your library.Scroll down past the main library itself to view categories such asPeople and PetsandMemoriesuntil you reachUtilities. Tap it to view the full list -- but note that a new feature of this interface is the ability to swipe left to view additional panels. Prior to iOS 18, Utilities included options to view hidden, recently deleted and duplicate photos.Now, it includes many more options. TapHandwritingto view images with handwriting in them. Looking for images that are illustrations and not photographs? TapIllustrations(although in our testing this seems to grab a lot of screenshots too). View images that contain handwriting in your Photos library in iOS 18. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNETShare a specific section of a podcastDid the hosts of your favorite podcast say something especially funny or thoughtful that you want to share with someone? In the Podcasts app in iOS 18, you can send an episode to a friend with the playback advanced to that moment -- but the capability isn't easy to find.Tap theNow Playing barin the app at the bottom of the screen to view the playback controls and pause the episode. Use the progress bar to go back to the start of the section you want to share.Next, tap theMore() button and chooseShare Episode. In the sharing options that appear, tapFrom Startbelow the episode title, and then selectFrom [the current time]. TapDone. Start by sharing the episode itself. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNETLastly, choose the method of sharing, such as via Messages or Mail. When the recipient receives the shared episode and opens it in the Podcasts app, they'll see the option toPlay from [the time]. Specify that the shared episode begins at the time you chose. Screenshot by Jeff Carlson/CNET

November 8, 20245 min readWhat Trump CanAnd Probably CantDo to Reverse U.S. Climate PolicyThe new president-elect can go beyond just pulling out of the Paris Agreement. But it may be more difficult to roll back clean energy policiesBy Gautam Jain & The Conversation USIn 2019, then-President Donald Trump visited a liquid natural gas facility in Hackberry, Louisiana. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty ImagesThe following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research.As the U.S. prepares for another Trump administration, one area unambiguously in the incoming presidents crosshairs is climate policy.Although he has not released an official climate agenda, Donald Trumps playbook from his last stint in the Oval Office and his frequent complaints about clean energy offer some clues to whats ahead.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.Exiting the Paris climate agreementLess than six months into his first presidency, Trump in 2017 formally announced that he was withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate accord the 2015 international agreement signed by nearly every country as a pledge to work toward keeping rising temperatures and other impacts of climate change in check.This time, a greater but underappreciated risk is that Trump will not stop at the Paris Agreement.In addition to exiting the Paris Agreement again, Trump could try to withdraw the United States from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The 1992 treaty is the foundation for international climate talks. A withdrawal from that treaty would make it nearly impossible for a future administration to reenter the UNFCCC treaty because doing so would require the consent of two-thirds of the Senate.The reverberation of such a step would be felt around the world. While the Paris Agreement is not legally binding and is based on trust and leadership, the stance taken by the worlds largest economy affects what other countries are willing to do.It would also hand the climate leadership mantle to China.U.S. funding to help other countries scale up clean energy and adapt to climate change rose significantly during the Biden administration. The first U.S. International Climate Finance Plan provided US$11 billion in 2024 to help emerging and developing economies. And commitments from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation surged to almost $14 billion in the first two years of Bidens presidency, versus $12 billion during the four years of Trump. Biden also pledged $3 billion to the United Nations Green Climate Fund.Under President Trump, all these efforts will likely be scaled back again.Targeting clean energy might not be so simpleIn other areas, however, Trump may be less successful.He has been vocal about rolling back clean energy policies. However, it may be harder for him to eliminate the Biden administrations massive investments in clean energy, which are interwoven with much-needed investments in infrastructure and manufacturing in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.Since both are laws that Congress passed, Trump would need majorities in both Houses to repeal them.Even if Republicans end up with a trifecta controlling both houses of Congress and the White House repealing these laws will be challenging. Thats because the laws benefits are flowing heavily to red states. Trumps allies in the oil and gas industry also benefit from the laws tax credits for carbon capture, advanced biofuels and hydrogen.However, while the Inflation Reduction Act may not be repealed, it will almost certainly be tweaked. The tax credit to consumers who buy electric vehicles is likely on the chopping block, as is the EPA regulation tightening tailpipe pollution standards, making battery-powered cars uneconomical for many.Trump may also slow the work of the Department of Energys Loan Program Office, which has helped boost several clean energy industries. Again, this is not a surprise he did it in the first term except that the impact would be greater given that the offices lending capacity has since skyrocketed to over $200 billion, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act. So far, only about a quarter of the total has been doled out, so there is a rush to ramp up the pace before the new administration starts in January.Drill, baby, drill?Trump also talks about increasing fossil fuel production, and he almost certainly will take steps to boost the industry via deregulation and opening up more federal lands for drilling. But prospects of massively ramping up oil and gas production seem dim.The United States is already producing more crude oil than any country ever. Oil and gas companies are buying back stocks and paying dividends to shareholders at a record pace, which they wouldnt do if they saw better investment opportunities.The futures curve indicates lower oil prices ahead, which could be further weighed down by slowing demand from any resulting economic weakness if Trump follows through on his threat to impose tariffs on all imports, leading to the risk of lower profitability.Trump will likely try to roll back climate policies related to fossil fuels and emissions, which are the leading source of climate change, as he did with dozens of policies in his first administration.That includes eliminating a new federal charge for methane emissions from certain facilities the first attempt by the U.S. government to impose a fee or tax on greenhouse gas emissions. Methane is the primary component of natural gas and a potent greenhouse gas.Trump has also promised to support approvals of new liquefied natural gas, or LNG, export terminals, which the Biden administration tried to pause and is still working to slow down.The markets have a say in clean energys futureOne clean energy source that Trump is likely to rally behind is nuclear energy.And despite his criticism of wind and solar power, investments in renewable energy will likely continue rising because of market dynamics, especially with onshore wind and utility-scale solar projects becoming more cost effective than coal or gas.Nevertheless, a U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and the regulatory and policy uncertainty under Trump would likely slow the pace of investments. The expected inflationary impact of his economic policies is likely to negate the benefits of lower cost of capital that were expected to flow through with central banks lowering interest rates this year. Its an outcome that the warming planet can ill afford.This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

OpinionNovember 8, 20245 min readLet African Communities Manage Their Climate Adaptation PlansOutside groups often offer their solutions for climate adaptation in Africa. But the best people to manage the climate crisis are the people in those communities themselves. For climate adaptation to succeed in Africa, let communities and local leaders show the wayBy Kennedy OdedeA local resident of Kiamako slum planting a tree near a site of homes destroyed by floods along the bank of Mathare river Boniface Muthoni/SOPA Images/Sipa USA/Alamy Live NewsWhen I was a baby, a long drought drove my family from our rural village in Kenya to Kibera, the largest slum in the country. My single mother wanted to provide us a better life, but with few prospects we ended up in the most vulnerable part of Nairobi.Climate change has shaped my life and taught me much about our environment. Even my name, Odede, means after the drought. Now I run a globally recognized, community-based NGO across Kenya that undertakes projects to help people adapt to such changes. For one, we have built an aerial water system in Kibera that can withstand the kind of extreme flooding that seems to be becoming more common and brings with it intensifying cycles of drought and rain.In Kenyas most recent catastrophic rainy season, these rains displaced more than 300,000 people nationwide, led to a cholera outbreak and further strained access to food and clean water. The destruction from climate-related extreme weather events can last for decades. These disasters turn community leaders into frontline response workers, developing solutions to fight for their futures, but nongovernmental organizations that work in Africa often neglect to tap into local leaders deep understanding of both the people in a community and their needs.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.We must be more than just bystanders, the passive recipients of aid in adaptation. Community leaders and local organizations must lead adaptation efforts. We, not the external groups who work in our communities, are the most knowledgeable about our local environment, and we have the most at stake.We are living in a decisive moment. More than 110 million Africans were directly affected by climate-related hazards in 2022, and up to 700 million people are projected to be displaced by 2030 because of climate change.Global climate priorities historically focused only on efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate global warming, but the IPCC, the United Nations program around climate change, has become increasingly vocal that climate change is already here, and we wont be able to slow it fast enough. This demands people instead adaptto hotter temperatures, more frequent or more intense disasters, and less water, among other things. According to Antnio Guterres, the U.N. secretary-general, we are living in an adaptation emergency and must act like it. The 29th Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), the U.N.s major climate change conference, will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan, this month. And climate adaptation will be a hotly debated topic there. Developed countries will be making funding pledges to the Adaptation Fund, which aims to support locally led adaptation and has previously fallen short of its funding targets. Targets desperately need to be met this year to properly establish climate adaptation efforts at this precarious timeAfrica is home to 17 of the 20 countries most at-risk of disruptions from climate-related hazards, and where slum dwellers, who are vulnerable to extreme weather events, make up over 60 percent of the urban population. Our communities have a disproportionate environmental impact in comparison to more-developed nations such that mitigation has little effect at this point. Africa must adapt to remain livable, by investing in solutions that help us better prepare for the impacts of climate change. Otherwise, far more people will become climate refugees.With its pipes suspended overhead, the water system created by the organization I lead, Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO), provides the clean water vital to adaptation, and eliminates the dangers of contaminated water by drawing from an underground borehole. During the most recent floods and the outbreak of waterborne disease, the system continued to provide clean water to residents of Kibera.In Nairobis Mathare slum, young people have organized clean-ups of the Mathare river, planting trees on the barren, hardened clay riverbank to prepare for floods. Trees help flood prevention by slowing the flow of heavy rain from sky to ground, mitigating runoff and preventing erosion. Another group in Mathare has created rooftop gardens and set up rainwater collection systems to make sure they can manage during drought without having to pay for water. They are planting trees like avocado, mango and guava, which provide nutrition and the opportunity to sell surplus produce. Initiatives like this are virtually unheard-of in densely overcrowded slums worldwide, where green space and municipal waste removal is lacking. Youth see climate change for the immediate threat it is, and are using all the resources at their disposal to make their communities more livable, now and into the future.And yet, despite projects like these, international policy makers who set the climate agenda and direct funds toward adaptation projects often overlook community-based leadership. This is, in part, because of funding dynamics; funders are too far removed from the communities they intend to reach, and so are unwilling to give up control of project agendas or to invest in strengthening local leadership.While local leaders may lack scientific expertise to forecast weather patterns, we are uniquely qualified to drive change; top-down approaches led by outside groups typically fail because many community members do not trust outsiders. They are more expensive, and less sustainable long-term. Local organizations can deliver programming that is 32 percent more cost-efficient than international groups, based on savings from salaries and overhead costs. Trusted local leaders with cultural knowledge are best positioned to understand peoples specific needs and to involve community members at every turn.In Zimbabwe a savings collective called the Gungano Urban Poor Fund offers loans for climate projects in poor, urban communities. In Namibia a government-funded small grants program called Empower to Adapt enabeled dozens of communal conservatories and community-managed forests to undertake projects to improve fire management, clean water supply, access to solar energy, and more. Many other climate adaptation projects are happening in rural Kenya, including distribution of drought-resistant seeds and tree nurseries and the transforming of food waste into organic fertilizer through composting. A recent three-year drought killed 80 percent of the regions cattle in northern Kenya, and the local Samburu tribe has begun to farm camels as a drought-resistant alternative, as they are able withstand more extreme conditions.Despite the success of these projects, climate adaptation has yet to receive the level of attention and investment needed, especially in the worlds most vulnerable places. This is, in part, because of the long-standing belief among some scientists and policy makers that moving to adaptation signals to people that the mitigation battle is lost. They fear people and governments will stop trying to promote renewable energy. And so, governments have not moved quickly enough to increase their adaptation targets. Globally, adaptation receives only 5 percent out of all climate-related investments measured, andonly 20 percent of that goes to Africaabout $13 billion annually. A U.N. economist has estimated that Africa, by 2030, will be $2.5 trillion short of the financing it needs to adapt to climate change.Despite the commitments laid out in the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals, there is a growing divide between international financing flows and the needs on the ground. Adaptation financing from both public and private sector sources has fallen further off-track, and many African countries are struggling to access existing funding, instead relying on emergency response funding to cope with climate impacts. It is nowhere near enough. The longer we wait, the greater and more costly needs will become. International funders need to come to us, and trust us, because the next generation of climate leaders on the continent will be African. Give them what they need to survive, in place, at home.This is an opinion and analysis article, and the views expressed by the author or authors are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

Awesome Games Done Quick reveals full charity speedrun schedule ahead of January's returnRaising for Prevent Cancer Foundation.Image credit: Games Done Quick News by Matt Wales News Reporter Published on Nov. 8, 2024 If it's charity speed runs you want, then it's charity speed runs you'll get; Awesome Games Done Quick organisers have announced the annual seven-day event will return in January 2025, and its full speedrun schedule is available to peruse now.More specifically, Awesome Games Done Quick 2025 runs from 5th-12th January next year, featuring over 130 speedruns across its duration. And as per its newly released schedule, the line-up is a typically eclectic one, covering everything from triple-A blockbuster titles and indie games to retro classics and other assorted oddities.Proceedings get underway at 4:30pm GMT on Sunday, 5th January, with an introductory pre-amble ahead of an All Parts speedrun of Pikmin on Switch by RayOken. Things then come to a close seven days later with a Map Randomizer Race speedrun of Super Metroid - starring Andy, Eddie, imyt, and Oatsngoats - at 4:10am on Sunday, 12th January.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Newscast: When it costs 700, who exactly is the PS5 Pro for?Watch on YouTubeInbetween, there's everything from Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine to The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, as well as the traditional Awful Games Done Quick block - which this year kicks off with Superman 64 at 3:24am on Thursday, 9th January, before forging onward with the likes of Golf With Your Grandmother, Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing, and the superbly named Doronko Wanko. Also of note is the Crazy Taxi speedrun on Saturday, 11th January, which will be accompanied by a live rock band playing renditions of its in-game tunes.If you're looking to attend Awesome Games Done Quick 2025 in-person, it's being held at the Wyndham Grand in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for the second time in a row, and registration is now open. Of course, if that's too much of an impractical trek, the whole thing is also being streamed online via the Games Done Quick channel on Twitch as it happens.Awesome Games Done Quick 2025 is once again raising money for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, after this year's event amassed 1.9m for the charity back in January. Its sister event, Summer Games Done Quick 2024, raised 1.9m for Doctors Without Borders in July, taking the organisation's lifetime charitable total to over 40m.