The EquipHotel is home to an exhibition by Radici, proud to present the Newstalgia carpet collection by Tekla Evelina Severin, otherwise known as Teklan. This collection features new innovations such as the Bloom Back surface and AlleRAD technology, allowing the carpets to be completely commercially recyclable at the end of their lifetimes. This is essential to the ethos of the collection, utilizing advanced yarn technology and backing material to achieve this impressive feat.Photo: Maria Teresa FurnariNewstalgia pulls upon shapes we know and love from the 1970s and 1980s, available in a multitude of colors for a super customizable product. All showstoppers, the collection consists of eight unique prints, Monogram, Elliptic, Weave, Brick, Net, Snake, Folding, and Backgammon. With custom design options available, you can craft your dream scheme exactly to your specifications.Photo: Maria Teresa FurnariMonogram is a distinctive pattern, combining twin graphic Ls to form a block, repeated over a regular rectangle. Reminiscent of iconic logos from historic fashion houses, this print will add a linear element sure to heighten any interior.Elliptic is a nod to the Op Art movement of the 1960s, where bold shapes coalesce to trick the eye. Pairing like tones together further enhances the illusion, making the shapes become shadows and the curves have a sense of life.Photo: Maria Teresa FurnariPhoto: Maria Teresa FurnariPhoto: Beppe BrancatoWeave is inspired by the traditions of hand weaving, involving regular blocks of intersecting color. Blending heritage and modernity, these colorful motifs add a sense of whimsy to the space, expressing a sense of fun within a restrained color palette.Brick is defined by bold color choices and a sense of solidity. The contrasting palette features turquoise and burgundy on one side, and orange and midnight blue on the other, amplifying the unique personality of the design. These blocks fit neatly into one another, the strongest bonds of mortise and tenon adding to the strength of the motifs.Photo: Beppe BrancatoPhoto: Beppe BrancatoNet employs more optical tricks to inscribe depth. The pleasing regularity of the horizontal and vertical forms inspire quiet within the mind. Net is available in two variants that mix four colors: peach, beige, green, and burgundy and brown, light blue, beige, and black.Snake is a bold pattern, bands of stylized color slithering across the plane. With colors highly reminiscent of the natural world, yet taken up a notch, these brilliant hues will bring a sense of the wilderness inside.Photo: Beppe BrancatoPhoto: Beppe BrancatoPhoto: Beppe BrancatoPhoto: Beppe BrancatoPhoto: Beppe BrancatoPhoto: Beppe BrancatoInspired by Escher, Folding explores the gap between possible and impossible shapes. Crossing the boundaries of two dimensions, this pattern adds a sense of structure and order within the chaos of life.Backgammon is the final pattern, inspired by the game beloved for eons. A 1970s dreamscape, the rich mustard yellow and deep brown adds to a sense of yesteryear, yet with modern interpretations that ground us within the present.Photo: Beppe BrancatoTekla Everina Severin is a designer that extends the boundaries of space design with this exhibit. Focused on the expansive use of color, her work spans interior design, furniture, clothing, accessories, set design, art direction, and photography. She is constantly inspired by its use: Color is never absolute, it is always relative, it is what you put next to it that defines it. Photo: Beppe BrancatoRadici is famous for their rugs, always pushing the envelope in the sustainability category. This collection features AlleRAD, an innovative technology that reduces dust and allergens within the home. This, on top of being completely biodegradable and eco-friendly, is new within the carpet industry, paving the way for our new, lower-waste future.Photo: Beppe BrancatoPhoto: Beppe BrancatoTo learn more about the Newstalgia rug collection, visit radicicarpet.it.

Wireframes miss the plot on nearly every perceived benefit. Heres how to stop wasting your time and produce better designsfaster.Wireframing definitely doesnt double the amount of work for little perceived benefit and this caption certainly isnt being sarcastic.Wireframing has existed since the beginning of UX, and on the surface, designers assume it is a critical part of the process. Everyone in UX does it and insists its critical, so it must beright?But as time has passed, Ive seen more and more justification piled on top of wireframes, to the point where UX folk insist its an abdication of your responsibility if you skip the step. If you dont do wireframes, then you must be a bad designer, and you should feel bad! Or at least thats what people on Linkedin tellme.While specific benefits can come from wireframing, we must ask ourselves if the amount of effort invested is worth those benefits and if those benefits can be gained from othermethods.I used to be a huge proponent of wireframing. Still, as someone who converted to product design from UX and has never looked back, the justifications for wireframes are mostly smoke and mirrors, with nobody looking behind the curtain and asking why were doing something performative and wasteful.I swear to heaven, if I ever have a PM or BA tell me to update wireframes to match a visual design again, I will throw them out a metaphorical window.What wireframes originally were goodforThe world where wireframes came about is critical in understanding why they exist. At the time, design disciplines were still nascent, and the tooling for our craft needed to be improved. Even when I started in the mid-2000s, you were lucky to get access to Visiohell, I literally started in Microsoft Paint!This meant that the only place to really design an interface was in tools *not* intended for the taskphoto editing tools like Photoshop or publishing tools like InDesign, but change management was a total nightmare. Need to update a navigation across 100 views? Buckle up and get some coffee, its going to be a longnight.Because of this, an intermediate step where an interface could have the basics all figured out was needed. The layout would be approximate, typography abstract, and content FPO, and it needed to be cheaper and easier to make changes. Wed worry less about the specifics and focus more on the information architecture and interactions.And thus wireframes willed themselves into existence.What people claim Wireframes are goodforOver time, the UX discipline has added more and more justifications for why wireframes are an essential step in the process. This happened primarily because stakeholders and purse-holders didnt understand why so much time needed to be invested in some shitty greyscale impression of an interface, and in their defense its perfectly understandable. Wireframes *were* important because we still didnt have better tools to handle the things that we needed to solve iteratively:Hierarchy of content and features.Information architecture, verbiage, and copy definition.Process and interaction flow/sequences.Rapidly test new ideas and validate them withusers.Keeps stakeholders from focusing on visuals at the expense of other UX considerations.Photo by Jason Goodman onUnsplashWeve made wireframes synonymous with low-fidelity, but all they are is a low-fidelity option.But then more toxic reasons started to bubble upthat visual design was merely aesthetics, and making anything that looks like a final design would do nothing more than confuse stakeholders and users, and would take away from the vital work of defining interactions, content, and IA. A myth around back-end engineers being incapable of understanding a final design and can only comprehend wireframes emerged. I have even heard UX designers claim that users and stakeholders dont understand visual design and should only see wireframes.For what its worth, I have only seen users need clarification on wireframes, never by visual design. As for stakeholders, UXers could learn how to speak to them without saying, Ignore the layout/colors and just focus on the content.We dont do pretty! UX designers would proclaim! I do the real interface work, not the foo-fooUI.Why wireframes dont savetimeFast forward to the modern daythe times of using Photoshop for visual design have long since gone, and UX & product design has exploded in terms of growth. We have products and services up the wazoo and more interface design tools that I can count on. Figma, the behemoth nobody likes anymore, is worth a few billionbucks.This means that the tools we use to wireframe are *the exact tools we visually design with.* It is no different in terms of speed to select Arial as the typeface as it is to select the branded one. Selecting a brand color for interactive patterns is no faster or slower as it is the default blue. You are just as fast at laying out a greyscale option as you are a detailedone.And we have yet to mention design systemsthe advantage that wireframes had of deferring visual design choices is obliterated if your company has already invested millions into a design system that has already thought of all that for you. There is zero difference in using a wireframe UI kit and just using your existing design system. None. Stop wastingtime.Serhii Khyzniak, Wireframes vs Visual Design, is a great example of how the two deliverables have crept closer and closer to oneanother.Dirty Secret: UX is never final, even if youve moved into visualdesignTheres this myth that wireframes will get signoff by stakeholders, and only then well focus on visual design and aesthetic choices. But ask yourself thiswhen was the last time an interaction, content block, or feature set wasnt changed or modified during the visual design phase? Every project that I have done UX on with a distinct visual design phase ALWAYS had modifications to the work I had already done. I swear to heaven, if I ever have a PM or BA tell me to update wireframes to match a visual design again, I will throw them out a metaphorical window.Do you like low fidelity because it makes things easier for people to understand and give input on? Or is the truth that it makes things _harder_ for others to understand and that we _like_ that because it allows us to lord our expertise over others and avoid criticism? If a stakeholder isnt interested in commenting on the IA and cares more about other things closer to their expertise, then why are you trying to fight that?Sean Dexter, Wireframes are becoming less relevant, and thats a goodthingSo, we dont save time by wireframing anymore. However, we still need to focus on lower-level decisions before worrying about the presentation layer of an application (i.e., visual design, what I call the interactive design for your eyes). Weve made wireframes synonymous with low-fidelity, but all they are is a low-fidelity option.Fidelity is a spectrum, not a deliverableWe need to get it out of our heads that there is this binary in fidelity, and instead, we should think about fidelity as something that increases until the design goes into the backlog. Fidelity isnt a distinct step or an artifact you produce, but a constantly updated prioritization of what you need to work onnext.Dont have an image for a masthead? Sure, greyblock it. But maybe you should instead go and find an image until you can find a better one. Designing with placeholder content is never a good idea, even if that content is going to be iteratedon.So why do wireframes stillpersist?For many designers, its simply how to do design a UX interface. In the book, Wireframing is For Everyone, theres something telling:Wireframing is a language for communicating user interface ideas which helps developers, designers, product managers, and stakeholders think about and understand the big picture structure of a website or app without being distracted by the detailsAngeles, Barnard, & Carlson, Wireframing is For EveryoneWhy do wireframes endure? Partially in part because they retain the appearance of something technical and precise. They have the air of a blueprint or technical specification, ruthless in their disdain for anything but the most critical of elements.But given how much a design can change from a wireframe to a final design ready for production, that precision is imaginary.Photo by Jason Goodman onUnsplashWireframes are just shitty visual design because visual design is intrinsic, not optional.Heres the problemwireframes, whether UX designers want to pretend otherwise or not, are still a visual design. You are still designing an interface with visual language, and youre just punting on decisions still critical to the experience.You are still choosing typographical styling, just a wireframe one.You are still designing the layout, just not with realistic consideration.You are still blocking out elements in a concrete fashion, despite insisting a wireframe canchange.You are still choosing colors, even if 80% of them are grey and 20% of them are the wireframe blue.Many UX designers still light up like a Christmas tree if a visual designer moves an element. If wireframes were just about interactions and content, why are we getting in a tizzy if they move a textlink?Visual design is not avoidable or optionalit is as critical to usability, learnability, and cognitive load as any interaction or IA choice you make. And how do I knowthis?Fidelity isnt a distinct step or an artifact you produce, but a constantly updated prioritization of what you need to work onnext.Because wireframes are still a visual design, just a lazy one. And that means double thework.(I have an article on why visual design should be distinguished from aesthetic design, but thatscoming.)Do these Lofi activities instead of wireframingBy abstracting low fidelity away from wireframing, I have become 10x more productive as a designer. I have fed a backlog developed by 12+ engineers with months of roadmap by making low fidelity lower effort, but faster in defining my interface needs.With these options, you are focusing *exclusively* on the things we find essential about wireframes without using visuals to represent them. The speed savings are significant, and the work quality ishigher.Here are some things to consider doing instead of wireframing:UX State OutlinesThis is one of the most rudimentary, and I still use it regularly when I need to move fast. What are the needs of the interface state I am designing, and what is their priority?I then put all of that into a basic outline. I move things around. I delete things. I can also quickly use them to link a flow together without worrying about designing a dropdown or abutton.These are crazy fast to generate and iterate on, and Im not worried about what interface particulars.Grey BlockingSometimes, I need to get a WAG (wild-ass guess) on how much space I can / should allocate to patterns. But instead of wireframing, I greyblock.Grey blocking is nothing more than roughly out a layout with grey blocks. Think of everything you put into it as FPOits just there to give you a feel for how much space might beneeded.I often use these with a state outline if I really need to figure out if I can single-state a feature or if it needs to be designed across multiplestates.Think of grey blocking as a designers WAG (Wild AssGuess)Design systemI mentioned this before, but why cant you wireframe with a design system if your team is already usingone?Designs can be final once theyre ready for the backlog, and that doesnt change if the primary interactive color is already defined or if layout standards are established.If youre worried about pixel perfection, dont be concerned about pixel perfection! You can tighten a design and mature it as you work on it. Again, fidelity is a spectrum, not a step. The process is sped up significantly because youre not wireframing and ONLY THEN transitioning it to your established system, which just doubles up thework.If your team has an established design system, then grey-scale wireframing is even more of a time waster. The visual language is already established foryou.Whiteboarding / Napkin sketchingThis is a practice that many of you already do, but the problem is that youre doing it *before* wireframing rather than in lieu of it. Get your design to vomit onto a board or piece of paper quickly; dont be precious about it, and then get to designing.Note: Do *not* confuse these for the only other design practice I find more useless than wireframingpaper prototyping. Avoid that design theatre at all costs. Its a seductive distraction that burnseffort.Its hard finding images of whiteboarding that Im legally allowed toshare.UX Grammar / Conceptual GrammarsThe following two are effectively an evolution of page state outlines. While more formal than PSOs, they produce fantastic work in spaces where the problems or workflows are detailed or complex. Daniel Rosenberg speaks at length about UX grammar in his book UX Magic (https://www.amazon.com/UX-Magic-Daniel-Rosenberg/dp/1708061614)," which I strongly recommend.Javier Aragones also has a fantastic article on this new tool and why its so valuable:https://uxdesign.cc/have-conceptual-grammars-finally-arrived-to-ux-design-26c088edc5d9Object-Oriented UXOOUXI wont lie, this is my new favorite, and Ive strongly advocated it over the past few years. Sophia Prater is onto something extraordinary here, and I thoroughly recommend her training courses on the subject. OOUX is related to conceptual grammars, but far more codified and cross-beneficial.OOX does a fantastic job of breaking down all the needs for individual patterns in an interface and, more importantly, the relationships between them. Its a distinct visual thats very easy to grasp for non-designers. If your stakeholders need help staying on task with wireframes or visual designs, OOUX is surprisingly effective as it strips out anything confusing about an interface. They can focus exclusively on priority, hierarchy, and relationships between objects..ORCA mapping also helps you simplify the number of patterns you develop for the same information/content, making your project more scalable and sustainable for engineers (who, in my experience, love a good ORCAmap).Object Oriented UX | OOUXTimothe Goguely has a great ORCA Map for figjam thats a fantastic starter artifact: https://www.figma.com/community/file/1120705007006600427/oouxIn conclusionWireframing had its place and time, and I dont mean to say that the process doesnt have some value. But as designers living in a world where weve failed to justify our value to stakeholders, we MUST be mindful of how we spend our time and how we can be more effective and productive.This isnt 2004 where we needed final_final_really-final_designs.psd. We arent stuck using Omnigraffle or other tools that are not purpose-built. Question the orthodoxy around wireframes, and you might be a better designer. I certainly am.Stop wireframing (but still start low-fidelity) was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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Would you pay $200 a month for unlimited ChatGPT? What if its able to reason? OpenAI thinks you just might.As part of its 12 days of Shipmas, where the company is announcing new features for 12 days straight, OpenAI is finally bringing its first reasoning model out of preview, as well as adding unlimited access to it and all OpenAI models to a $200 monthly subscription plan.Called OpenAI o1, the reasoning model has been available in preview since September, with paying ChatGPT members able to send 30 messages a week to o1-preview and 50 messages a week to the more lightweight o1-mini. Now that its in full release, as CEO Sam Altman explained during a livestream today, Plus and Team members will still be limited in how much they can use it (Enterprise and Edu members will also have to wait a week to access it), but itll supposedly be much more powerful when they do.What is a reasoning AI model?One of the biggest issues surrounding AI is hallucination, or when it simply gets something wrong. Because an AI chatbot can only rely on its training, it cant normally tell whats real and not, and will present falsehoods with the same confidence as facts.Reasoning AI is an attempt to fix that. With a reasoning model, an AI will break a prompt down into multiple parts, addressing each one at a time and doing its best to check its prior conclusions for accuracy before moving on, all while showing you its thought process. It might also take more time to respond than your typical model, to help prevent errors.This is called chain of thought, and while testing o1-preview and 01-mini, Lifehacker editor Jake Peterson had luck with both simple prompts (is a hot dog a sandwich?) and more complex ones (generate a 6x6 nonogram puzzle that looks like the letter Q when solved). The early version of the bot took over a minute to generate responses when necessary, and provided him with a drop-down menu allowing him to scroll through its thought process.This ensured both he and the bot could easily debug and understand where mistakes came from, and with the final o1 model, OpenAI is promising that it has reduced major errors on difficult real-world questions by 34% and that the model is generally now about 50% faster. Credit: OpenAI In particular, OpenAI released charts promising the new model is over 50% more reliable than the non-reasoning GPT-4o model in coding and over 40% more reliable in competition math. These are all internal numbers, and OpenAI wasnt exactly clear about how its testing or measuring these models, but those are pretty big boasts.Itll likely take some time for experts to do their own, independent testing, so its possible youll see a little cold water thrown on these claims soon. A recent study from Apple, for instance, found that o1s reasoning abilities are still more akin to sophisticated pattern matching.Would you pay $200 for ChatGPT?Thats where the catch comes in. OpenAI actually says it has a better version of o1 ready, but it comes with a hefty price tag. Announced alongside OpenAI o1 was ChatGPT Pro, a new membership plan that gives unlimited access to all OpenAI models, as well as unlocks o1s pro mode.In evaluations from external expert testers, o1 pro mode produces more reliably accurate and comprehensive responses, especially in areas like data science, programming, and case law analysis, OpenAI wrote in a blog post. Credit: OpenAI Essentially, Pro Mode allows the model to use more compute and take more time, resulting in a little over 10% more reliability depending on the task. Is that little bit of extra performance worth it? Well, it might be if youre a medical researcher or other power user, which is probably why OpenAI is awarding 10 grants to leading institutions in the U.S., which will give them free access to ChatGPT Pro.Everyone else will have to decide how far they want to stretch their wallet, although OpenAI isnt strictly targeting enterprise customers here, with the announcement livestream saying that o1 pro mode is also targeting power users who are already pushing the models to the limits of their capabilities on tasks like math, programming, and writing.What does the future of ChatGPT look like?While OpenAI o1 will probably be a bit cost prohibitive for most people for now, even if theyre not looking at its pro mode (ChatGPT Plus is still $20 a month), the company did say that its looking to improve the models usability for everyday use cases beyond really hard math and programming problems. As part of todays release, the model is now supposed to answer simple questions really quickly, while taking longer for harder questions, as opposed to dawdling on all queries.With that, OpenAI is paving the way for o1 to potentially replace its non-reasoning models down the line. That could be a big boon for free users, although its not likely to happen anytime soon.In the meantime, sources have told The Verge to expect Sora, OpenAIs text-to-video model, to be released during the 12 days of Shipmas event.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.When I first got the Fender x Teufel Rockster Air 2, I didn't really understand where it fit with other party speakers in the market. It's not the loudest, it doesn't have any special features, it's not water- or dust-proof, there's no app, and it lacks full EQ customization. And most puzzling of all, it costs $600. But the more I spent time with it, the more I understood who this speaker is meant for. Musicians who like to have a portable speaker that gives them the flexibility to play along with their Bluetooth media, add a microphone, or daisy chain it to a bigger amp will get the most out of this speaker. Essentially, this is a busker's dream. But for anyone else looking for a party speaker, the JBL PartyBox Stage 320 is indisputably the best choiceand for the best portable outdoor speaker, look no further than the Soundboks Go.Fender sent me the Rockster Air 2 speakera collaboration with Teufel, a German company that makes audio productsto review. This collaboration is mostly Fender slapping its brand name on the Rockster Air 2, which was released a couple of months before the collaboration. Fender x Teufel ROCKSTER AIR 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker Powerful Sound & Bass, 58 Hours Battery, Parties & Events, Mic & Guitar $499.99 at Amazon $599.99 Save $100.00 Get Deal Get Deal $499.99 at Amazon $599.99 Save $100.00 Pros and cons of the Fender x Teufel Rockster Air 2ProsCan play Bluetooth, AUX, microphone, and guitar all at once while daisy chaining to other speakers/amps, all with individual physical volume controlImpressive 58-hour battery at medium volumePhysical bass and treble EQ controls on speakerReplaceable battery and option for additional external batteryCan play music and charge the battery at the same time with no volume restrictions (can also play with just the power cord and no battery)ConsExpensiveOnly mono audio channel (can get stereo audio if you connect more than one Rockster Air 2 speaker)No app or remote controlNo full EQ customization or presetsNo protection from elements (water or dust)SpecsBattery Life: Up to 58 hours at mid-volume; takes 3 hours to fully charge. A removable 7.8Ah rechargeable battery and a 12V external battery connection available.Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX HD and AAC codecs. Party Link Stereo Mode connects to another Rockster Air 2 speaker for stereo sound. App: None.Inputs: Has a 3.5mm aux input, XLR output for daisy chaining, 6.3mm stereo jack/guitar input, XLR microphone input, and a USB-C port for charging external devices.Drivers: One 10-inch woofer, one 1-inch tweeter with 47Hz - 22kHz frequency range.Power Output: One Class D amplifier, reaching up to 115 dB. Total power output of 80 Watts RMS.Water Resistance: None.Size: 12.723.213.5 inches (H W D).Weight: 31.2 lbs.First impressions of the Fender x Teufel Rockster Air 2 Credit: Daniel Oropeza As I do with all of the portable party speakers I review, I took it out to my local soccer rink while hosting a Street FC soccer game. I blasted the speaker at full volume, and it did not reach the thumping levels of the Soundboks Go, which was disappointing, but perhaps I'm spoiled with the 121dB level it reaches. The 115 dB from the Rockster is fine, and it will work for most people. It's capable of filling a 1,200-square-foot indoor home with loud enough sound to have a party. The sound kept its quality even at its maximum volume. Credit: Daniel Oropeza The speaker is very capable of taking a tumble. While on the court, one of the players ran into the speaker at full speed, both getting knocked down hard. Neither the speaker nor the player seemed phased though, both carrying on with their duties as if nothing had happened. But if it would've rained while we were out, the speaker would've been no more, since it has no resistance to water (or dust, so be careful taking it out to dusty fields). Credit: Daniel Oropeza A standout feature that I haven't seen in other models is the bass and treble rotary knobs on top of the speaker. It makes adjusting the EQ of the Rockster Air 2 a breeze and makes me wonder why other speakers don't do this as well. Since this is a speaker tailored for musicians who want to hook up mics or instruments, having physical treble and bass adjustors makes sense. However, the biggest downside of this speaker is that it has no app, and therefore no way to fully customize the EQ. The treble and bass adjustors are not a replacement for full EQ controls and a speaker of this price point should definitely have one (especially one tailored for musicians). Credit: Daniel Oropeza The back of the Rockster Air 2 Speaker is where it shines. It has a 3.5mm aux input with its own volume rotary knob, XLR output for connecting to another amp, a 6.3mm stereo jack/guitar input and a XLR microphone input, each with their own volume rotary knobs, and a USB-C port for charging external devices like your phone. Features of the Fender x Teufel Rockster Air 2 Credit: Daniel Oropeza Since there is no app, there aren't that many special features. All you get is what is directly on the speaker. But the back panel has a lot to offer if you're looking for flexibility in what you want to hook up to the speaker. I took the Rockster Air 2 to my friend's home and I hooked up his electric guitar, a microphone, and connected the speaker to an amp. I was able to connect Spotify to the Rockster Air 2 and play music while my friend played over it with his guitar and I used the microphone. Being able to do all of this and connect it to an exterior amp is impressive. If I had a second Rockster Air 2, I would've also been able to use the Party-link feature and have them play stereo sound. Credit: Daniel Oropeza The flexibility this speaker offers to connect instruments while being able to control each input's volume individually makes this a musician or busker's dream. Someone with a guitar or microphone and perhaps a friend with an electric keyboard can easily take this 31.2-lbs speaker to Main Street and put on a performance. Another nice surprise was being able to play music from the AUX and Bluetooth at the same time (I never imagined I would hear Doja Cat and The Strokes collaborate). Credit: Daniel Oropeza The battery life is impressive, with up to 58 hours of juice at medium volume, the best stat from any party speaker I've tested. With the Eco mode at maximum volume (which reduces the bass) it gives up to 31 hours of music. I really like that I am able to play the speaker without the battery and just the power cord directly plugged into the speaker. Since there is a USB-C input, a busker would be able to charge their phone while performing. A nice touch.Bottom line Credit: Daniel Oropeza The Fender x Teufel Rockster Air 2 is a niche party speaker, great for a musician or busker looking for a reliable portable speaker to hook up multiple inputs like a microphone, guitar, and an AUX while playing Bluetooth media over it or connecting it to another speaker (all at the same time if you wish). Flexibility with inputs and outputs is the Rockster Air 2's strength, as is the long 58-hour battery life. But if you're not a musician or someone who would make use of all of those features, you might as well look elsewhere. At $600, this speaker should have an app with full EQ customization and some sort of protection from water or dust. The physical treble and bass knobs on the speaker are a nice touch, but it doesn't replace not having full control of the EQ. There are cheaper and better options for a party speaker like the JBL PartyBox Stage 320 with more party features, or more rugged outdoor speakers like the Soundboks Go with a more powerful sound and protection from the elements. But if you're a musician or looking for flexibility with inputs and outputs, the Rockster Air 2 is a solid choice.

If youve been on the fence about buying the urban landscape sim Cities: Skyline II (and given the response following its launch, who could blame you?), heres your chance to take it for a free test run. Paradox Interactive announced on Bluesky that players can play the city building game for free for a limited time.Cities: Skylines II is available to play from now until December 9. The free version is available to download and play for free on Steam and GeForce NOW.Colossal Order and Paradoxs sequel to its hit city construction experience got off to a very rocky start more than a year ago. Despite having a dedicated base of fans who provided a lot of insight into the development of Cities: Skylines II, the response to its release was far from positive.Fans were upset that Cities: Skyline II only launched on PC instead of a simultaneous PC and console release. There was also criticism over the increased spec requirements a month before the games launch. Players with powerful PCs experienced problems with the game even months after the initial release. Colossal Order CEO Mariina Hallikainen wrote a blog post the following January describing a growing tendency of toxicity in our community, something we have not experienced to this extent before.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/cities-skylines-ii-is-free-to-play-until-december-9-002023815.html?src=rss

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has no business being as entertaining as it is. Outside of the superhero genre, there arent many high-quality licensed games out there, and this one comes with decades of film lore to live up to. And, frankly, its a little bit of a mess on Xbox Series S. Some of its scenes are stunning, but its also infested with resolution issues, mechanical glitches and silly animation bugs. In most other games, the combination of these problems would make me throw down the controller and uninstall. And yet, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is endlessly endearing. The games tone is pitch-perfect, it offers moments of earnest beauty and Troy Bakers Harrison Ford impersonation is a treat to witness, let alone embody. In fact, every actor in the game is fabulous, and its writing, audio and direction feel like classic Spielberg and Lucas fare but this time its all in first-person, interactive form, courtesy of Wolfenstein studio MachineGames. I cant speak highly enough of the writing in The Great Circle. Indy feels like an authentic extension of the film character, and his sassy remarks and dad-like frustration spill out in hilarious bursts throughout the game. His companion, Gina, is just as witty, mysterious and independent as Dr. Jones himself, expertly portrayed by actor Alessandra Mastronardi. The main bad boy, a Nazi archaeologist named Emmerich Voss (played by Marios Gavrilis), is supremely unsettling as he manipulates his troops and monologues at his captors, every word dripping with a dark sense of entitlement. The story is set in 1937 between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, and it takes players to Rome, Giza, The Himalayas, Shanghai and the ancient kingdom of Sukhothai in north-central Thailand, on a quest to save the world from an old and powerful magic. Of course, it also involves punching lots of Nazis right in their stupid faces. Bethesda Softworks There are moments in The Great Circle where the music, environment, lighting and writing converge to create a memorable vignette, such as Indys first real conversation with Gina on a balcony in the Vatican. They banter back and forth as a Nazi airship docks on a domed turret behind them, afternoon sun glinting off gold roofs, and the music reacts to their strategizing and flirting with small trills. For a second, the game feels indistinguishable from a classic Indiana Jones movie, and its a real joy. There are a few cutscenes and gameplay bits that feel like this in The Great Circle, though there are just as many that look less polished on Series S, with stilted animations and too-harsh lighting. The writing and tone, however, is consistently top-notch. It almost feels like two studios made this game, and one of them was much better at taking advantage of the Xbox Series S hardware. The visual disparity is odd, with animation and resolution quality shifting from scene to scene. In between gorgeous set pieces, there are sequences that look like a remake of a game from the Xbox 360 era. Its strange. However, I imagine playing on Xbox Series X or a capable PC would boost the resolution and stability nicely. Mechanically, the game is also hit-or-miss. Combat relies mainly on hand-to-hand fights, and while there are guns, theyre generally not the strongest weapon at Indys disposal. His whip is useful for stunning, creating distance and pulling enemies closer for a punch, and hes able to pick up items like shovels, candlesticks, bottles and batons to use as projectiles or melee weapons. Random one-on-one fights against Nazis and fascists play out fine, with solid-sounding punches and sharp whip cracks, but the scripted melee battles tend to feel stagnant. Enemies dont have a health bar and theres little indication of how much damage Indy is inflicting at any given time. Dodging is a key element in these fights and its not the most responsive or forgiving system; inputs feel laggy or ineffective at times, and enemies are allowed to power up big hits even while theyre being punched. Bethesda Softworks Combat might be sluggish, but I had a great time playing The Great Circle as a stealth experience, crouching to sneak past Nazis and fascist guards like a fedora-wearing ghost. Stealth is a valid option in basically every scenario and its a simple, effective mechanic. Stay out of enemies sight lines, dont shine lights in their direction and stay crouched, and youre good to go. Theres usually enough time to adjust your position if youre spotted, and guards are quick to move on once youre properly hidden again. I truly enjoyed mapping out sneaky attack routes and then weaving between guards, throwing bottles every now and then as distractions. Its kind of absurd when Gina tags along in these missions because shes so, so awful at being stealthy, but the game never punishes you for the NPCs missteps. Just enjoy the ridiculousness of your extremely obvious companion and keep slinking along. Puzzles are a major component of the game and theyre perfectly adequate. None of them stand out as being particularly challenging or innovative, but theyre built on clever ideas and executed well. There are light-reflecting puzzles, matching games, spatial-awareness tests and simple logic riddles, and theyre always finished with a cool item or a dramatic reveal. I may have missed some more advanced puzzles in the sidequests, and now that Ive finished the main line Im tempted to go back in and see what I missed, which is surely a sign of a successful game. Bethesda Softworks Exploration is The Great Circles most critical mechanic and thankfully, it feels great. Indy can climb and swing across gaps using his whip, and there are plenty of ledges, boulders, ladders and scaffolding to scale. Secrets, side missions and rewards are secreted around the maps, and curiosity is richly rewarded at every turn. Missions take Indy and Gina to snowy mountain peaks and down to murky, monster-filled waters, and there are moments of real terror and true beauty to be found. The games world feels alive, and it makes great use of vertical space. If you ever feel stuck in an area, just look up that is, if you can. I encountered one game-breaking bug in The Great Circle. I was about 80 percent through the story, and I boarded a boat in the gunner seat as enemies raced us down the river and shot at us from the shores. I was unable to move the camera up and down, but I figured this was a weird restriction of the gunner mechanic. However, it persisted even after I stepped off the boat and entered the following scenes. I was unable to see climbing opportunities, never mind the problems with combat, sneaking and interacting. I tried restarting the game and the console to no avail, and I finally had to restore an old save and replay about 30 minutes of content. This worked, but the experience made me feel slightly crazy and a little sad (so, not too different from my baseline). Bethesda Softworks The feelings of unease didnt last long, because I soon found myself trading punches and insults with a Nazi karate master in the middle of a raucous thunderstorm you know, Indiana Jones shit. This was the cadence of my playthrough: Moments of satisfying climbing, puzzle and stealth gameplay interrupted by supremely silly glitches. What makes these bugs funny, rather than frustrating, is the games tone, writing and acting. With The Great Circle, MachineGames leans into the easy charm of Indiana Jones, highlighting his snark and the wild, unbelievable scenarios expected in popcorn action flicks. This game would make a great movie. And maybe thats the thing about The Great Circle. MachineGames made a fabulous, classic-feeling Indiana Jones film, but they couldve polished the game aspects a little more. So, set your expectations accordingly. Roll with the bugs, soak up the narrative, find all the secrets, and take a moment to laugh at Ginas ludicrous running animation when shes dressed as a nun. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/indiana-jones-and-the-great-circle-review-great-movie-good-game-000029449.html?src=rss

Don't miss World VFX Day(s) this weekend. The two-day event features over 20 hours of free livestreamed talks, including making-ofs and careers advice.Day 1 takes place from Tokyo's Megalis VFX studio from 4pm JST on 6 December. Day 2 takes place from Hollywood's Gnomon school from 10am PST on 8 December.More info: https://worldvfxday.com/

Check out Dupe VFX's breakdown of its fluid (and fish) simulation work from ocean-going Amazon Prime drama NautilusWatch the full video on Dupe VFX's website: https://dupevfx.com/work/nautilus-and-nemo-fight-the-bad-guys-with-dupes-vfx-assistance/

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