Learn how to download and install any font on your Mac to add a personal touch to all your creative projects.

Light up a desk with this space-saving lamp that hangs over your computer monitornow with motion sensing.

Global plastic pollution talks have stalledbut a treaty is possible if countries can agree on finances, the proper regulation of dangerous ingredients, and set limits on production.

Victims of abuse are seeking more than $1.2 billion in damages, arguing that the company abandoned a 2021 system it developed to find abusive material.

Mr. Patel was directly involved in building a case that two co-founders of Trump Media & Technology mismanaged the debut of Truth Social in 2022. He was paid about $130,000 as a consultant.

MacworldWhen iOS 18.2 rolls out to all iPhones on Monday, its going to bring a ton of great new features. Most of the focus is on the new Apple Intelligence capabilities, and for good reason: AI is Apples big marketing hook but the features are rolling out gradually over several months. The iOS 18.2 (and macOS 15.2) adds long-awaited image tools and ChatGPT integration that make Apple Intelligence a lot more useful.But if you dont have an iPhone 16 or iPhone 15 Pro (or just dont care about AI), none of that matters to you. Fortunately, iOS 18.2 isnt just an Apple Intelligence drop, it adds a host of other quality-of-life features and changes, too. Here are all the new things in iOS 18.2 coming to your iPhone that have nothing to do with Apple Intelligence.Camera Control improvementsAfter months of criticism, Apple is making several tweaks to the Camera Control button in iOS 18.2, for those with an iPhone 16. First, pressing and holding the button will launch the new Visual Intelligence feature.But there are some other quality-of-life improvements, too. In Settings > Accessibility > Camera Control youll be able to adjust the double-click speed. You can also enable an autofocus/exposure lock in Settings > Camera > Camera Control, so a light press on the button locks exposure and focus much as it usually does on the shutter button of a DLSR.Finally, theres a new toggle that requires the screen to be on for the Camera Control button to launch a camera app. Youll find that in Settings > Display & Brightness, which is sort of a confusing place for it.FoundryNew Mail app with smart categoriesThe Mail app will analyze the content of your emails and automatically categorize them into four categories:Primary: Your personal mail or mail that needs to be acted on right away.Transactions: Receipts, order confirmations, shipping notices, etc.Updates: News and newsletters, social media notifications, and the like.Promotions: Coupons, marketing offers, and so on.The four categories will exist as buttons at the top of the Mail app, and you can swipe left on them to show All Mail.And no, Apple isnt reading your emails. All of this happens on the device.Volume limit and lock screen sliderIn the Settings > Sound & Haptics menu, theres a new Volume Limit feature for your iPhones built-in speaker (volume limits for headphones have been around for a long time). It only affects media playback, not calls/FaceTime, alerts, or system sounds.Theres also a new option in Settings > Accessibility > Audio & Visual called Always Show Volume Control. This will put the volume control slider back on the bottom of the media playback controls on your Lock screen. That volume slider was removed back in iOS 16 (unless you were using AirPlay), and if you miss it, you can have it back now.Default messaging and calling appsIn iOS 18.2s Settings > Apps youll find a new selection at the top, before your list of installed apps, called Default Apps.In this menu, youll choose default applications for things like email, browser, passwords & codes, and more. Most are options you had before (albeit scattered throughout Settings), but Messaging and Calling are new.There are no applications that qualify to populate those areas right now, but thats probably just a matter of existing apps needing new versions that use new frameworks.FoundrySudoku puzzles in News+If youre a News+ subscriber, you have access to several puzzles in the News app. Apple publishes daily crosswords, crosswords mini, and a word game called Quartiles. Now, daily Sudoku puzzles join the list. There is an easy, moderate, and challenging puzzle available each day.FoundryAirTag item location sharingYouve been able to share an AirTag with another iPhone user, but thats only really helpful for family members or trusted friends.With iOS 18.2, Apple is going to let you create a secure link you can share with someone else to let them see the location of an AirTag. Theyll be able to open it on any device, even just a web browser on any computer, and see the location of that AirTag. The link automatically expires after 7 days or when the AirTag is reunited with its owner, and of course the owner can turn off the sharing at any time.Whats more, Apple is working with a bunch of major airlines to make this sharing process a part of their customer service flow for lost luggage.AppleCharge time estimates?This isnt yet available in the IOS 18.2 beta, but 9to5Mac discovered code that suggests Apple will soon show you how much longer your iPhone has until it reaches a full charge. Its a feature thats been present on Android phones for a while and would be a welcome overdue addition to the iPhone.However, while the feature first popped up in one of the early iOS 18.2 beta codes, its not live yet. Theres a chance it will be switched on when iOS 18.2 is available for all on Monday. If not expect it in iOS 18.3 sometime in February.

MacworldChristmas season is here, and there are lots of ways to get into the spirit of the season. One way is to watch a Christmas special on TV, and one of the best is A Charlie Brown Christmas. For decades, it aired on broadcast TV, but thats no longer the caseits now an Apple TV+ exclusive.Now, the fact that this institution is on a streaming service may cause you to exclaim, Bah! Humbug! and send Apple a stocking full of coal, but stop, sip some egg nog, and relaxyes, Im talking about you, Uncle Fred. Apple is making A Charlie Brown Christmas available to anyone to watch for free, for a limited time. If you are an Apple TV+ subscriber, however, you can watch it anytime.How to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas for free on Apple TV+On December 14 and 15, anyone with an Apple ID can watch A Charlie Brown Christmas. Anyone who owns an Apple device has an Apple ID, but if you dont, Apple IDs are free and you dont need a credit card to sign up. Once you have signed up, you can watch in several ways:Through the TV app on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac.On smart TVs with the Apple TV app.On the web at tv.apple.com.On an Apple TV device.Apple has all the classic Peanuts specials for the holiday season that used to air over broadcast TV. There is one more holiday special left for the season, Happy New Year, Charlie Brown, but it doesnt seem likely that it will be made available for free.In case you missed them and your holiday season isnt complete without watching them, you can watch Its the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on Apple TV+but they arent free anymore. You need to have an Apple TV+ subscription.Years ago,Apple acquired the rights to the Peanuts cartoon seriesthat stars Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy, and other memorable characters. Since then, Apple has aired new Peanuts shows such asThe Snoopy ShowandSnoopy in Space, and new movies, includingPeanuts in Space: Secrets of Apollo 10,Lucys School, andIts the Small Things, Charlie Brown.The Apple TV+ subscription television streaming service is $9.99/9.99 per month. Apple TV+ is also included in theApple One subscription bundles, which include other Apple services, such as Apple Music, Apple News+, and up to 2TB of iCloudstorage. Apple One bundles are priced between $19.95/19.95 and $37.95/37.95 per month. There are ways to get Apple TV+ for free thoughsee:All the ways you can get Apple TV+ for free.For more information about Apple TV+, read ourApple TV+ FAQ. We also have a detailed list ofcurrent Apple TV+ showsandupcoming shows.

Google DeepMind and startup World Labs this week both revealed previews of AI tools that can be used to create immersive 3D environments from simple prompts.World Labs, the startup founded by AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li and backed by $230 million in funding, announced its 3D world generation model on Tuesday. It turns a static image into a computer game-like 3D scene that can be navigated using keyboard and mouse controls.Most GenAI tools make 2D content like images or videos, World Labs said in ablog post. Generating in 3D instead improves control and consistency. This will change how we make movies, games, simulators, and other digital manifestations of our physical world.Oneexample istheVincent van Gogh painting Caf Terrace at Night,whichthe AI modelused togenerateadditional content to create a small area to view and move around in.Others are more like first-person computer games.World Labs 3D world generation model turns a static image into a computer game-like 3D scene that can be navigated with keyboard and mouse controls.World LabsWorldLabs also demonstrated the ability to add effects to 3D scenes, and control virtual camera zoom, for instance. (You can try out the various sceneshere.)Creators that have tested the technology said it could helpcutthe timeneeded to build3D environments, according to a video posted in the blog post,and help usersbrainstorm ideas much faster.The 3D scene builder isafirst early preview andisnot available as a productyet.Separately, GooglesDeepMindAI researchdivisionannounced in ablog post Wednesday its Genie 2, a foundational world model that enables an endless variety of action-controllable, playable 3D environments.Its the successor to the first Genie model, unveiled earlier this year, which can generate 2D platformer-style computer games from text and image prompts. Genie 2 does the same for 3D games that can be navigated in first-person view or via an in-game avatar that can perform actions such as running and jumping.Its possible to generate consistent worlds for up to a minute, DeepMind said, with most of the examples showcased in the blog post lasting between 10 and 20 seconds. Genie 2 can also remember parts of the virtual world that are no longer in view, reproducing them accurately when theyre observable again.DeepMind said its work on Genie is still at an early stage; its not clear when the technology might be more widely available.Genie 2is described as a research tool that canrapidly prototype diverse interactive experiencesand trainAI agents.Google also announced that its generative AI (genAI) video model, Veo, is now available in a private preview to business customers using its Vertex AI platform. The image-to-video model will open up new possibilities for creative expression and streamline video production workflows, Google said in ablog post Tuesday.Amazon Web Services also announced its range of Nova AI models this week, including AI video generation capabilities; OpenAI isthought to be launching Sora, its text-to-video software, later this month.

With Windows 10 end of support on the horizon, Microsoft said its Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 requirement for PCs is a non-negotiable standard for upgrading to Windows 11.TPM 2.0 was introduced as a requirement with the launch of Windows 11 three years ago and is aimed at securing data on a device at thehardware level. It refers to a specially designed chip integrated into a PCs motherboard or added to the CPU and firmware that enables storage of encryption keys, security certificates, and passwords.TPM 2.0isa non-negotiable standard for the future of Windows, said Steven Hosking, Microsoft senior product manager,in aWednesday blog post. He called ita necessity for maintaining a secure and future-proof IT environment with Windows 11.New Windows PCs typically support TPM 2.0, but older devices running Windows 10 might not. This means businesses will have to replace Windows 10 PCs ahead of end of support for the operating system; that deadline is set for Oct. 14, 2025.Windows 10 remains widely used more so than its successor. According to Statcounter, the proportion of Windows 10 desktop PCs actually increased last month in the US and now accounts for 61% of desktops, compared to 37% for Windows 11.Hosking noted that the implementation [of TPM 2.0] might require a change for your organization. Yet it represents an important step toward more effectively countering todays intricate security challenges.For devices that dont have TPM 2.0, Hosking recommends that IT admins: evaluate current hardware for compatibility with tools such as Microsoft Intune; plan and budget for upgrades of non-compliant devices; and review security policies and procedures to incorporate the use of TPM 2.0.

This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Reviews weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here.Last week, we celebrated Thanksgiving here in the US, and I had hearty helpings of ham and turkey alongside my mashed potatoes and green bean casserole.Meat is often the star on our plates, but our love of animal-based foods is a problem for the climate. Depending on how you count it up, livestock accounts for somewhere between 10% and 20% of all greenhouse gas emissions.A growing number of alternative foods seek to mimic or replace options that require raising and slaughtering animals. These include plant-based products and newly approved cultivated (or lab-grown) meats. An increasing number of companies are even raising microbes in the lab in the hopes that well add them to the menu, as I covered in a story this week.But as one of my colleagues always puts it when I tell him about some alternative food product, the key question is, will anyone eat it?Food might just be one of the trickiest climate problems to solve. Technically, none of us has to be eating any of the highest-emissions foodslike beefthat are worst for the climate. But what we eat is deeply personal, and its often tied up with our culture and our social lives. Many people want hamburgers at a barbecue and nice steak dinners.The challenge of our food systems climate impact is only getting more tricky: richer countries tend to eat more meat, and so as populations grow and the standard of living rises around the world, were going to see emissions from livestock production rise, too.In an effort to combat that trend, alternative food products aim to deliver foods similar to the ones we know and love with less harmful effects on the climate. Plant-based options like those from Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have exploded in recent years, finding their way into supermarkets and even onto the menus of major fast-food brands like Burger King.The problem is, a lot of alternative products have been struggling lately. Unit sales of meat alternatives in the US were down by 26% between 2021 and 2023, and fewer households are buying plant-based alternative meat options, according to a report from the Good Food Institute. Consumers say that alternatives still arent up to par on taste and price, two key factors that determine what people decide to eat.So companies are racing to invent better products. Ive spent a lot of time covering cultivated (or lab-grown) meats. To make these products, animal cells are grown in the lab and processed into things like chicken nuggets. Two companies got approval to sell cultivated chicken in the US in 2023, and weve seen both offer their products in limited runs at high-end restaurants.But these products are still not quite the same thing as the meat were used to. When I tried a burger that contained cells grown in a lab, it was similar to plant-based ones that have a softer texture than Im used to. Chicken from Upside Foods, served at a Michelin-starred restaurant, had similar textural differences. And these products are still only available at very small scales, if at all, and theyre expensive.LANZATECHOne key issue that comes up again and again as I report on these new products is what to call them. The industry strongly prefers cultivated, not lab-grown. Probably better to not remind people that theyre eating something grown in vats in a laboratory. As the companies that make these products often point out, we dont typically use this sort of language for the animal-based products were used to. Youd never find the phrase slaughtered baby cow on a menu, just veal.I was thinking about this issue of language and marketing again recently as I reported a story about a company looking to grow bacteria, dry it, and sell it to feed animals or people. I found myself a little weirded out by the prospect of dried microbe powder finding its way into my diet. But I dont have a problem drinking wine or eating cheese, two products that rely on microbes and a fermentation process to exist.Maybe LanzaTech will come up with a marketing plan that makes their microbe powder an easy addition to my Thanksgiving table. Ultimately though, no matter how well theyre marketed, Im not sure how much we can rely on alternative products to solve the climate challenge that is our food system.As is often the case when it comes to addressing climate change, were going to need not only some behavioral changes, but also technical solutions like cattle burp pills and new fertilizer options, as well as policy to help nudge our food system in the right direction.Now read the rest of The SparkRelated readingA new crop of biotech startups is looking to grow food out of thin air. Read more about a few of the leading businesses in this story from earlier this fall.Cultivated meat products are made with animal cells grown in the lab. Last year, I covered what we know about what those products mean for climate change.Were expecting too much from our fake meat products. Heres how my colleague James Temple stopped worrying and learned to love alternatives.Rumin8 and Pivot Bio, two of our Climate Tech Companies to Watch this year, are both working to address emissions from agriculture.Keeping up with climateChina announced it would ban the export to the US of several rare minerals that are crucial in technology like semiconductors. The move follows efforts by the US to shift supply chains away from China. (New York Times)Donald Trump has pledged to ramp up tariffs on Chinese goods, while other nations around the world have already put such policies in place. (Rest of World)Australia is on track to meet its 2030 emissions target. The countrys climate pollution is projected to fall more than 42% below 2005 levels by the end of the decade. (Bloomberg)Talks to form an international plastic treaty fell apart this week. Some countries favored cutting down plastic production, while others, including oil-rich nations, pushed back. (Washington Post)The US Department of Energy announced a nearly $7 billion loan to Stellantis and Samsung for two battery factories that will supply batteries for EVs. (New York Times) That follows a $6.6 billion loan to Rivian to help the company build a stalled factory in Georgia. (Associated Press) The Biden administration is racing to lock in loans and safeguard them against rollbacks before Donald Trump takes office in January. (E&E News)California could increase use of ethanol, a move the state says could lower gas prices. But experts warn that expanded use of ethanol made from corn can have negative consequences for climate progress and the environment. (Inside Climate News)Norways government is blocking plans to mine the sea bed. There were plans to begin offering permits in the first half of 2025, and preparations will continue during the suspension. (Reuters) These deep-sea potatoes could be the future of mining for battery materials. (MIT Technology Review)A decade ago, sea surface temperatures in the Pacific shot up in a dramatic marine heat wave. Now, scientists are looking for clues in that event to understand what rising temperatures will mean for the ocean. (New York Times)