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REYKJAVIK, ICELAND - MAY 24: In this aerial view, the Mammoth carbon removal plant, considered the ... [+] largest direct-air capture plant in the world is seen on May 24, 2024 in Reykjavik, Iceland. The Swiss start-up Climeworks and Icelandic partner Carbfix collaborated on the Mammoth project, utilizing Climeworks' Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology to extract CO2 directly from the air using fans and special filters. Powered by clean geothermal energy, the CO2 is then pumped deep into Iceland's bedrock, locking it away permanently. Mammoth's annual capture of 36,000 tons of CO2 is seen as a significant step in fighting climate change. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)Getty ImagesAs the world grapples with the accelerating impacts of climate change, 2024 emerged as another landmark year for the carbon dioxide removal (CDR) industry. Advances in technology, increased financial backing, and regulatory momentum have pushed the sector closer to becoming an essential cornerstone of global climate strategy.But despite mounting enthusiasm, valid questions about scalability, cost, and regulatory frameworks remain. Pre-purchases are essential, but the industry must start delivering carbon removal credits in order to grow. For example, CDR.fyi reports that despite 12 million tons of CO2 being sold, only 4% of purchases have been delivered.Below are the top five developments that defined the space this year.1. Expansion of Direct Air Capture Plants WorldwideDirect air capture (DAC) technology took a major leap forward in 2024 with the opening of new facilities and the expansion of existing ones. Climeworks inaugurated its Mammoth facility in Iceland, capable of capturing 36,000 tons of CO annually. Powered by geothermal energy, it represents a significant upgrade from Climeworks' earlier Orca plant. Meanwhile, Canada saw the establishment of the Deep Sky Alpha facility, a 3,000 ton per year DAC pilot testing and innovation center funded by a $40 million grant from Breakthrough Energy. These developments underscore the increasing feasibility of scaling DAC solutions, with global capacity for planned and announced projects surpassing 1 million tons annually for the first time.2. Governments Increase Policy SupportGovernment support for carbon removal technologies reached new heights in 2024. In the United States, the Department of Energy announced $1.8 billion in new funding for DAC testing platforms, pilots, and commercial projects providing a significant boost to scalable CDR solutions. At COP29, governments agreed to rules on how countries can create, trade and register carbon removal credits, creating more certainty in the market. Canada made waves with its carbon removal procurement commitment, pledging to directly purchase at least $10 million in carbon removal credits to offset government emissions to reach net-zero goals.MORE FOR YOU3. Record-Breaking Capital RaisesThe CDR industry saw continued and increasing levels of private investment in 2024. Heirloom raised $150 million in Series B funding to scale its innovative DAC technology that uses robotics and rocks to capture CO2 from the air. CarbonCapture Inc. secured $80 million in Series A financing, with backing from Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund and Aramco Ventures. Vaulted Deep closed a $32.3 million Series A round to expand its biomass carbon removal and storage operations. These investments highlight the growing confidence in the industry's potential to achieve meaningful climate impact.4. Landmark Purchase Agreements From Private BuyersCorporate commitments to carbon removal ramped up significantly in 2024, with long-term purchase agreements marking a key trend. Morgan Stanley signed a deal with Climeworks to purchase 40,000 tons of CO removals by 2037, supporting the expansion of DAC facilities like Climeworks Project Cypress in Louisiana. Google announced a landmark deal with startup Holocene to forward purchase 100,000 tons of CO2 removal at a record low price of $100 per ton by the early 2030s. Similarly, Microsoft and Royal Bank of Canada partnered with Deep Sky to pre-purchase 10,000 tons of carbon removal credits over 10 years, with an option for an additional 1 million tons. According to CDR.fyi, carbon removal credits passed 2.1 million tons sold for the first time. These agreements not only provide critical funding for new projects but also reflect increasing corporate accountability for carbon emissions.5. Challenges in Delivery RemainDespite these successes, the CDR industry continues to grapple with a significant delivery gap. According to CDR.fyi, only 4% of the 12 million tons of CO removal credits sold worldwide have been delivered. This shortfall highlights the challenges of scaling operations, ensuring permanence, and meeting the growing demand for verified carbon removal. For example, CarbonCapture Inc. paused the development of its Project Bison in Wyoming because of increasing competition for renewable power driven by AI data centers. Bridging this gap will require innovations in project deployment and stricter quality assurance measures.Looking AheadThe developments of 2024 represent both progress and potential for the CDR industry. While challenges remain, the rapid expansion of direct air capture plants, robust policy support, record-breaking investments, and high-profile purchase agreements signal that carbon removal is on the cusp of transformative growth. As stakeholders work to address delivery gaps and improve scalability, CDR is poised to become a cornerstone of global climate strategy in the years to come.Disclaimer: Phil De Luna is the Chief Carbon Scientist and Head of Engineering at Deep Sky

Find the links between the words to win today's game of Connections.gettyLooking for Fridays Connections hints and answers instead? You can find them here:Hey, folks! Welcome to the penultimate weekend of the year. Its a time for holiday parties, catching up on sleep, seeing friends and loved ones and preparing for more over the same over the next couple of weeks. Ill still be with you every day, of course, but I hope you have a wonderful, enjoyable, restful holiday period.Before we get started, Ive started a discussion group for Connections and this column on Discord. You can chat about each game (and other topics) with me and other folks. Im always interested to find out how other people approach the game, so join us! Its fun.Its also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare(!) occasions that I mess something up.Todays NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, December 21, are coming right up.MORE FOR YOUHow To Play ConnectionsConnections is a free, popular New York Times daily word game. You get a new puzzle at midnight every day. You can play on the NYT website or Games app.Youre presented with a grid of 16 words. Your task is to arrange them into four groups of four by figuring out the links between them. The groups could be things like items you can click, names for research study participants or words preceded by a body part.Theres only one solution for each puzzle, and youll need to be careful when it comes to words that might fit into more than one category. You can shuffle the words to perhaps help you see links between them.Each group is color coded. The yellow group is usually the easiest to figure out, blue and green fall in the middle, and the purple group is usually the most difficult one. The purple group often involves wordplay.Select four words you think go together and press Submit. If you make a guess and youre incorrect, youll lose a life. If youre close to having a correct group, you might see a message telling you that youre one word away from getting it right, but youll still need to figure out which one to swap.If you make four mistakes, its game over. Lets make sure that doesnt happen with the help of some hints, and, if youre really struggling, todays Connections answers. As with Wordle and other similar games, its easy to share results with your friends on social media and group chats.If you have an NYT All Access or Games subscription, you can access the publications Connections archive. This includes every previous game of Connections, so you can go back and play any of those that you have missed.Aside from the first 60 games or so, you should be able to find my hints for each grid via Google if you need them! Just click here and add the date of the game for which you need clues or the answers to the search query.What Are Todays Connections Hints?Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of todays Connections groups, Ill reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them.Todays 16 words are...BANDSLEIGHBALONEYPANBUNKGROUCHCIRCLECANOPYCROCKOSTATUETTEPOTRINGMURPHYCASSEROLEHOOPAnd the hints for todays Connections groups are:Yellow group like a tire or the upside-down part of a rollercoasterGreen group kitchen toolsBlue group lay your weary head, perhapsPurple group linked by a forenameWhat Are Todays Connections Groups?Need some extra help?Be warned: were starting to get into spoiler territory.Todays Connections groups are...Yellow group loopGreen group cooking vesselsBlue group kinds of bedsPurple group things called OscarWhat Are Todays Connections Answers?Spoiler alert! Dont scroll any further down the page until youre ready to find out todays Connections answers.This is your final warning!Todays Connections answers are...Yellow group loop (BAND, CIRCLE, HOOP, RING)Green group cooking vessels (CASSEROLE, CROCK, PAN, POT)Blue group kinds of beds (BUNK, CANOPY, MURPHY, SLEIGH)Purple group things called Oscar (BALONEY, GROUCH, O, STATUETTE)No perfect game today, but thats back-to-back wins for me. Here's how I fared:The red herring of CROCK, BALONEY and BUNK almost got me. But I found the greens first.I made a mistake with CIRCLE, O, RING and HOOP, which left me one away from a group. BAND must fit into there instead, I thought.I opted to change strategy since I figured that I had the blues. I wasnt extremely sure about including SLEIGH, but I took a risk and it worked out.That didnt really help with the group of round things, but including BAND instead of O meant that I had the yellows.I didnt figure out the purple connection, but I probably should have between GROUCH and STATUETTE. After all, the first thing that came to mind when I saw the former on the grid was Oscar the Grouch.In the NATO alphabet, OSCAR means O. Meanwhile, Oscar Mayer produces BALONEY. As for STATUETTE, that refers to an Academy Award, aka an Oscar.Thats all there is to it for todays Connections clues and answers. Be sure to check my blog tomorrow for hints and the solution for Sundays game if you need them.P.S. Im not a huge Muse fan, but I really like some of their songs. One I particularly enjoy is Knights of Cydonia. I think its the bands magnum opus. Its a rollicking, operatic rock song that factors in thematic elements of the Wild West. As it happens, I was there for the first-ever live performance of the song, and it blew me away at the time:Have a great day! Call someone you love!If youre so inclined, please do follow my blog for more coverage of Connections and other word games and even some video game news, insights and analysis. It helps me out a lot! Also, follow me on Bluesky! Its fun there.

Cool stuff: A British startup has developed a watch geared at NASA super geeks (you know who you are). The timepiece takes the concept of the calculator watch, which was highly popular in the 1980s, and raises it to the next level. It looks like an Apollo Guidance Computer shrunk to the size of a smartwatch. Apollo Instruments has introduced the DSKY Moonwatch. Standing for display and keyboard, the DSKY Moonwatch resembles the guidance computers used in the Apollo missions, including the world-famous Apollo 11 moon landing that put Neil Armstong and Buzz Aldrin on the lunar surface.However, it's not just a static replica. The Moonwatch has a fully functional keyboard and can operate as a calculator. While this feature is cool and nostalgic, the Moonwatch is far more innovative than that. It may be even smarter than your current smartwatch.While it only has a calculator app for now, if you have experience with Arduino or Python, you can program the watch via a micro-USB port. Apollo Instruments says it will also push out in-house and community-developed program modules in future updates. For now, users can simply enjoy the multifunctional watch for its aesthetic.The Moonwatch can also attach to other devices, including breadboard interfaces, development enclosures, and robotic systems through a proprietary eight-channel I/O port. These devices are currently under development. The company noted that one of its upcoming projects replicates the form and function of the original Apollo guidance computer's main chassis.Original DSKY AGC. (Image credit: Henristosch)The Moonwatch is about the size of a typical smartwatch and comes with the choice of a brown or black leather band. It has a classic green-on-black monochrome display, giving it a nostalgic feel while making it clear and easy to read. The keys are small but appear larger than the old (and new) classic calculator watches.The light-up panel and the OLED digital dispaly are close to, but not the same as, the original computer. Overall, it's a nice-looking watch with a ceramic-coated stainless steel chassis that contrasts nicely with the band. It is a bit geeky, but no more so than your typical calculator watches, which are making a comeback.The watch's only real drawback is its price. Apollo Instruments wants 649 (about $812 US) for the DSKY Moonwatch. That's more than an Apple Watch Ultra 2. At that price point, it might only attract the hardcore Apollo fan. Pre-orders have started for customers willing to pay a 240 ($300) deposit. The remainder is due at shipping. The company expects to begin delivering units in the first quarter of 2025. // Related StoriesThere are some slight incentives for US customers, but they come with a few caveats. For $300 down, you can pre-order the watch, and Apollo Instruments will discount the sales tax cost in your state. This discount is limited to 200 orders per state on average. That would amount to about 10,000 units sold in the US. However, those living in Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon can't get the discount since they have no sales tax.

SonyTable of ContentsTable of ContentsSingle White Female (1992)Mona Lisa Smile (2003)Sweet Dreams (1985)Its almost Christmastime, and now is typically the time for most people to panic. Have all the presents been bought? Has all the work been completed before your break? And if youre part of the McCallister family, did you remember to bring all your children with you when you left for Christmas vacation? (Probably not.)Im here to tell you to chill out. Breathe, relax, and treat yourself to a good movie or two. But why go to the movie theater when you can stay at home and take advantage of your Max subscription? The streamer has hundreds of movies, and the following three are criminally underrated and worth your time.Recommended VideosWe also have guides to the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max,andthe best movies on Disney+.RelatedSingle White Female (1992) - Clip: Surprise Twins (HD)The early 90s were dominated by erotic thrillers, and one of the best was Single White Female. After catching her boyfriend having an affair with his ex-wife, chic yet vulnerable software designer Allie Jones (Bridget Fonda) kicks him to the curb and places an ad for a single white female roommate to co-habit her ridiculously great New York City apartment. She eventually chooses Hedra Carlson (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a shy, mumbly woman who likes wearing hats and at first helps Allie get over her breakup.Things slowly turn sinister as Hedra becomes possessive, manipulative, and deadly. Soon, Hedra is copying Allie, from her clothes to her crimson bob to even her ex. Who is Hedra, really? Why does she like going to sex clubs at night? And how can Allie detach herself from someone who doesnt want to let go?ColumbiaThe premise has fueled dozens of cheap Lifetime thrillers, but what makes Single White Female special is the stylish direction by Barbet Schroeder (the man loves his blues and grays), the icy, creepy score by Howard Shore, and the terrific performances by Fonda and Leigh. The film ends like a slasher, and while thats disappointing, it doesnt discredit all that came before it. Watch it, and if you have a roommate, keep him or her away from your cute puppy.Single White Female is streaming on Max.MONA LISA SMILE (2003) - Official Movie TrailerIgnore the horrible title Mona Lisa Smile is a peppy middlebrow drama thats practically extinct nowadays, and its more entertaining and surprising than you might think. The story is pure Dead Poets Society hokum, with less poetry and more talk about art. Thats because a new Art History professor, Katherine Ann Watson (Julia Roberts), has arrived to shake things up at the all-female Wellesley College.She finds resistance at first, particularly with Betty Warren (Kirsten Dunst), a snobby senior student who is hellbent on becoming the perfect wife and mother. But through Katherines lectures about art, especially modern artists like Rothko and Pollock, and what it means to her young students, Betty and several others re-think what they want in life.SonyMona Lisa Smile zigs when you expect it to zag, and yes, even though this is a traditional maverick teacher who inspires her students tale, its told with efficiency and intelligence. Roberts is solid as the vaguely bohemian professor, and Dunst is deliciously nasty as Betty. Look for a fresh-faced and bespectacled Ebon Moss-Bachrach as a geeky suitor and cherish Marcia Gay Hardens specific performance as a helpful spinster who is set in her ways.Mona Lisa Smile is streaming on Max.1985 Sweet Dreams Official Trailer 1 TriStar PicturesMusic biopics are back in style again. Earlier this year, Bob Marley: One Love was a winter hit, and soon, well get the Bob Dylan movie A Complete Unknown with Timothe Chalamet, Elle Fanning, and Edward Norton. But the genre has always been popular with audiences and critics alike, and one of the better ones is Karl Reiszs Sweet Dreams, which chronicles the short life of country singer Patsy Cline.Jessica Lange plays Cline, and you can see why she was nominated for an Academy Award in 1986. She breathes vital life into the singer, and doesnt make her an untouchable icon like others do in the genre. (Im not naming names.) Her Patsy is moody, disagreeable, and tempestuous; thats especially true whenever shes in the same room with Charlie Dick (Ed Harris), who would eventually become her husband. Harris is just as good as Lange, and the two share a dynamite chemistry that sells you on their bond.TriStarThe ending is, of course, inevitable, but no less shattering. Sweet Dreams makes you feel the full weight of what Charlie, and by extension us, all lost when Cline passed away, but it also makes you appreciate the music she left behind. Thats the mark and measure of not only a great artist but a great musical biopic as well. (Do yourself a favor and listen to Clines great Sweet Dreams song. It still casts a woozy spell.)Sweet Dreams is streaming on Max.Editors Recommendations

And thats a wrap for production on Stranger Thingsseason 5. Netflix announced that filming for the fifth and final season ofStranger Thingshas been completed.Thats a wrap onStranger Things,the caption reads on the shows X account. See you in 2025. Along with the announcement, numerous behind-the-scenes photos of the cast and crew from season 5 were posted, which you can view below.Recommended VideosThats a wrap on Stranger Things. See you in 2025 pic.twitter.com/29htbnDf7E Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) December 20, 2024Please enable Javascript to view this contentpic.twitter.com/mWwgnuB633 Stranger Things (@Stranger_Things) December 20, 2024RelatedStranger Things season 5 will take place in 1987, about a year after the events of the season 4 finale, when the Upside Down invaded Hawkins. On the 2024 edition of Stranger Things Day, Netflix released the titles for the eight episodes in season 5. The titles areThe Crawl, The Vanishing of___,The Turnbow Trap,Sorcerer, Shock Jock,Escape from Camazotz,The Bridge,andThe Rightside Up.The Vanishing of___is the only incomplete title, as the show has not revealed the name of the person who will be disappearing.Stranger Thingsseason 5 ensemble includes Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers, David Harbour as Jim Hopper, Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven, Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair, Noah Schnapp as Will Byers, Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson, Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield, Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers, Joe Keery as Steve Harrington, Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley, Priah Ferguson as Erica Sinclair, Brett Gelman as Murray Bauman, Cara Buono as Karen Wheeler, and Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna.New cast members include Nell Fisher, Alex Breaux, Jake Connelly, and The Terminators Linda Hamilton.Stranger Things premiered in 2016 and instantly became one of Netflixs most popular TV shows. The sci-fi series spawned a stage play and an animated series.Stranger Thingsseason 5 arrives on Netflix in 2025.Editors Recommendations

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsTiers and pricingFeaturesSupportPrivacy and securityWhich is the best long-term VPN?Surfshark and VPN Unlimited each offer good long-term value on virtual private networks (VPNs). Whether you want a VPN to stream global videos, browse overseas websites like a local, or strengthen your cybersecurity, those needs dont go away at the end of the month.Whileall the best VPNs reward customers who keep using their services, Surfshark and VPN Unlimited have particularly compelling offers when you sign on for a year or more.Recommended VideosSurfsharks annual plan is good but the two-year subscription is the best deal. SurfsharkSince were discussing long-term value, affordable pricing is essential. Surfsharks shortest subscription is expensive. At $15.45 monthly, youd pay more than $185 each year.RelatedFortunately, Surfshark offers much more affordable prices when you pay for one or two years in advance. The annual plan costs $48, and the price drops to $56 if you commit to two-years of service.Surfshark adds four extra months for new subscribers, reducing the average monthly cost to $3 with an annual subscription and just $2 with a two-year plan.Those prices make Surfshark one of the best VPN deals available. However, the four-month bonus is only for new subscribers.VPN Unlimiteds annual subscription rates are reasonable but the lifetime plan offers long-term savings. VPN UnlimitedVPN Unlimited has a surprise in its price structure. You can subscribe monthly for $10, annually for $60, or pay a one-time fee of $200 to get a lifetime subscription and keep using the VPN forever.The equivalent monthly cost for an annual subscription is $5, which is OK but not great. The average cost of VPN Unlimiteds lifetime plan drops every day you use the service.In the first year, your average monthly cost is $16.67 but falls to $5 a third of the way into year four. Since you only pay once, your savings increases over time.If you dont want to pay at all, there are some very good free VPN services with only a few restrictions.Surfshark showed impressive speed when connected to a nearby server. Digital TrendsThe best price in the world means nothing if you get poor speeds and limited features services. Ive reviewed Surfshark and VPN Unlimited so I can share my experience with both to help you decide which has enough performance and options for your needs.I found Surfshark to be the fastest, reaching 728Mbps download speed, which is quite fast for a VPN. My native speed without a VPN is 900Mbps, and most VPNs reduce that by more than half.VPN performance is best when connecting to nearby servers, but Surfshark barely slowed when I chose servers in the U.K., France, and Germany. Download speeds averaged 620Mbps for those locations.My VPN Unlimited connection to a nearby U.S. server was quite fast. Digital TrendsVPN Unlimiteds best speed was a fast 595Mbps for a U.S. server. Overseas connections were significantly slower. I measured 278Mbps for U.K., 205Mbps for France, but only 79Mbps for Germany.While Surfshark was faster worldwide in my testing, download speeds can vary, and VPN Unlimiteds performance was good enough for streaming.Latency was good for both VPNs, around 20 to 40 for local servers, 100+ for European countries, and 200+ for distant locations like Australia. I noticed VPN Unlimited took longer to connect, up to 30 seconds, while Surfshark was ready within five seconds.Both VPNs offer advanced features like kill switches to stop unprotected internet use, split-tunneling to exclude select apps from the VPN for optimal speed, and more.Surfsharks around-the-clock customer service was fast and helpful. Digital TrendsSurfshark offers quick, friendly live chat thats available all day, every day. You start off with a well-informed AI chatbot, but can ask for a human at any time. In my testing, I was immediately connected to a live agent who provided personal assistance.VPN Unlimited offers 24/7 email support. That usually means waiting 24 hours for a reply. However, I got an answer in just six minutes. Thats fast for email, but if theres any back-and-forth required, the minutes add up and take much longer than a live chat.Both VPNs have privacy policies that state none of you personal data is shared or sold to third-party advertisers. Surfsharks no-log policy has been verified by an independent auditor, but VPN Unlimited has not.That could simply be a cost-savings measure, but it leaves some doubt about VPN Unlimiteds claim that your activity isnt logged. With Surfshark, theres a greater assurance of robust privacy.Neither VPN service has suffered security breaches. With the ongoing threat of hackers, a clean record is impressive, and both have done a good job of maintaining good cybersecurity.Surfshark provides quicker connections, faster downloads, unlimited connections, and 24/7 live chat. Its one of thebest VPNs for streaming videosand unblocking global content.VPN Unlimited has the potential to be the most affordable VPN ever. You can use it on five devices simultaneously so you dont need to disconnect before switching between your phone and computer. If you buy the lifetime plan and use it for 17 years, the average monthly cost drops to less than a dollar.However, you have to keep using it for many years to recover your initial investment. VPN Unlimiteds owner, KeepSolid, started in 2013. Theres no reason to expect an established company to disappear, but crowded servers and slowdowns could become an issue if too many people choose the lifetime plan.Youd need to use VPN Unlimiteds $200 lifetime plan for over four years to beat the price of Surfsharks $48 annual subscription and for more than seven years to beat its $56 two-year subscription.Overall, Surfshark is my top pick for the best long-term VPN, but if neither sounds like the right solution, there are plenty more to choose from. Its worth doing some research to find the best VPN for your particular needs.Editors Recommendations

DASH AWAY ALL 12 days of OpenAI: The Ars Technica recap Did OpenAI's big holiday event live up to the billing? Benj Edwards Dec 20, 2024 5:01 pm | 0 Credit: J Studios via Getty Images Credit: J Studios via Getty Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreOver the past 12 business days, OpenAI has announced a new product or demoed an AI feature every weekday, calling the PR event "12 days of OpenAI." We've covered some of the major announcements, but we thought a look at each announcement might be useful for people seeking a comprehensive look at each day's developments.The timing and rapid pace of these announcementsparticularly in light of Google's competing releasesillustrates the intensifying competition in AI development. What might normally have been spread across months was compressed into just 12 business days, giving users and developers a lot to process as they head into 2025.Humorously, we asked ChatGPT what it thought about the whole series of announcements, and it was skeptical that the event even took place. "The rapid-fire announcements over 12 days seem plausible," wrote ChatGPT-4o, "But might strain credibility without a clearer explanation of how OpenAI managed such an intense release schedule, especially given the complexity of the features."But it did happen, and here's a chronicle of what went down on each day.Day 1: Thursday, December 5On the first day of OpenAI, the company released its full o1 model, making it available to ChatGPT Plus and Team subscribers worldwide. The company reported that the model operates faster than its preview version and reduces major errors by 34 percent on complex real-world questions.The o1 model brings new capabilities for image analysis, allowing users to upload and receive detailed explanations of visual content. OpenAI said it plans to expand o1's features to include web browsing and file uploads in ChatGPT, with API access coming soon. The API version will support vision tasks, function calling, and structured outputs for system integration.OpenAI also launched ChatGPT Pro, a $200 subscription tier that provides "unlimited" access to o1, GPT-4o, and Advanced Voice features. Pro subscribers receive an exclusive version of o1 that uses additional computing power for complex problem-solving. Alongside this release, OpenAI announced a grant program that will provide ChatGPT Pro access to 10 medical researchers at established institutions, with plans to extend grants to other fields.Day 2: Friday, December 6Day 2 wasn't as exciting. OpenAI unveiled Reinforcement Fine-Tuning (RFT), a model customization method that will let developers modify "o-series" models for specific tasks. The technique reportedly goes beyond traditional supervised fine-tuning by using reinforcement learning to help models improve their reasoning abilities through repeated iterations. In other words, OpenAI created a new way to train AI models that lets them learn from practice and feedback.OpenAI says that Berkeley Lab computational researcher Justin Reese tested RFT for researching rare genetic diseases, while Thomson Reuters has created a specialized o1-mini model for its CoCounsel AI legal assistant. The technique requires developers to provide a dataset and evaluation criteria, with OpenAI's platform managing the reinforcement learning process.OpenAI plans to release RFT to the public in early 2024 but currently offers limited access through their Reinforcement Fine-Tuning Research Program for researchers, universities, and companies.Day 3: Monday, December 9On day 3, OpenAI released Sora, its text-to-video model, as a standalone product now accessible through sora.com for ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers. The company says the new version operates faster than the research preview shown in February 2024, when OpenAI first demonstrated the model's ability to create videos from text descriptions.The release moved Sora from research preview to a production service, marking OpenAI's official entry into the video synthesis market. The company published a blog post detailing the subscription tiers and deployment strategy for the service.Day 4: Tuesday, December 10On day 4, OpenAI moved its Canvas feature out of beta testing, making it available to all ChatGPT users, including those on free tiers. Canvas provides a dedicated interface for extended writing and coding projects beyond the standard chat format, now with direct integration into the GPT-4o model.The updated canvas allows users to run Python code within the interface and includes a text-pasting feature for importing existing content. OpenAI added compatibility with custom GPTs and a "show changes" function that tracks modifications to writing and code. The company said Canvas is now on chatgpt.com for web users and also available through a Windows desktop application, with more features planned for future updates.Day 5: Wednesday, December 11On day 5, OpenAI announced that ChatGPT would integrate with Apple Intelligence across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS devices. The integration works on iPhone 16 series phones, iPhone 15 Pro models, iPads with A17 Pro or M1 chips and later, and Macs with M1 processors or newer, running their respective latest operating systems.The integration lets users access ChatGPT's features (such as they are), including image and document analysis, directly through Apple's system-level intelligence features. The feature works with all ChatGPT subscription tiers and operates within Apple's privacy framework. Iffy message summaries remain unaffected by the additions.Enterprise and Team account users need administrator approval to access the integration.Day 6: Thursday, December 12On the sixth day, OpenAI added two features to ChatGPT's voice capabilities: "video calling" with screen sharing support for ChatGPT Plus and Pro subscribers and a seasonal Santa Claus voice preset.The new visual Advanced Voice Mode features work through the mobile app, letting users show their surroundings or share their screen with the AI model during voice conversations. While the rollout covers most countries, users in several European nations, including EU member states, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein, will get access at a later date. Enterprise and education users can expect these features in January.The Santa voice option appears as a snowflake icon in the ChatGPT interface across mobile devices, web browsers, and desktop apps, with conversations in this mode not affecting chat history or memory. Don't expect Santa to remember what you want for Christmas between sessions.Day 7: Friday, December 13OpenAI introduced Projects, a new organizational feature in ChatGPT that lets users group related conversations and files, on day 7. The feature works with the company's GPT-4o model and provides a central location for managing resources related to specific tasks or topicskinda like Anthropic's "Projects" feature.ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Team subscribers can currently access Projects through chatgpt.com and the Windows desktop app, with view-only support on mobile devices and macOS. Users can create projects by clicking a plus icon in the sidebar, where they can add files and custom instructions that provide context for future conversations.OpenAI said it plans to expand Projects in 2024 with support for additional file types, cloud storage integration through Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive, and compatibility with other models like o1. Enterprise and education users will receive access to Projects in January.Day 8: Monday, December 16On day 8, OpenAI expanded its search features in ChatGPT, extending access to all users with free accounts while reportedly adding speed improvements and mobile optimizations. Basically, you can use ChatGPT like a web search engine, although in practice it doesn't seem to be as comprehensive as Google Search at the moment.The update includes a new maps interface and integration with Advanced Voice, allowing users to perform searches during voice conversations. The search capability, which previously required a paid subscription, now works across all platforms where ChatGPT operates.Day 9: Tuesday, December 17On day 9, OpenAI released its o1 model through its API platform, adding support for function calling, developer messages, and vision processing capabilities. The company also reduced GPT-4o audio pricing by 60 percent and introduced a GPT-4o mini option that costs one-tenth of previous audio rates.OpenAI also simplified its WebRTC integration for real-time applications and unveiled Preference Fine-Tuning, which provides developers new ways to customize models. The company also launched beta versions of software development kits for the Go and Java programming languages, expanding its toolkit for developers.Day 10: Wednesday, December 18On Wednesday, OpenAI did something a little fun and launched voice and messaging access to ChatGPT through a toll-free number (1-800-CHATGPT), as well as WhatsApp. US residents can make phone calls with a 15-minute monthly limit, while global users can message ChatGPT through WhatsApp at the same number.OpenAI said the release is a way to reach users who lack consistent high-speed internet access or want to try AI through familiar communication channels, but it's also just a clever hack. As evidence, OpenAI notes that these new interfaces serve as experimental access points, with more "limited functionality" than the full ChatGPT service, and still recommends existing users continue using their regular ChatGPT accounts for complete features.Day 11: Thursday, December 19On Thursday, OpenAI expanded ChatGPT's desktop app integration to include additional coding environments and productivity software. The update added support for Jetbrains IDEs like PyCharm and IntelliJ IDEA, VS Code variants including Cursor and VSCodium, and text editors such as BBEdit and TextMate.OpenAI also included integration with Apple Notes, Notion, and Quip, while adding Advanced Voice Mode compatibility when working with desktop applications. These features require manual activation for each app and remain available to paid subscribers, including Plus, Pro, Team, Enterprise, and Education users, with Enterprise and Education customers needing administrator approval to enable the functionality.Day 12: Friday, December 20On Friday, OpenAI concluded its twelve days of announcements by previewing two new simulated reasoning models, o3 and o3-mini, while opening applications for safety and security researchers to test them before public release. Early evaluations show o3 achieving a 2727 rating on Codeforces programming contests and scoring 96.7 perecent on AIME 2024 mathematics problems.The company reports o3 set performance records on advanced benchmarks, solving 25.2 percent of problems on EpochAI's Frontier Math evaluations and scoring above 85 percent on the ARC-AGI test, which is comparable to human results. OpenAI also published research about "deliberative alignment," a technique used in developing o1. The company has not announced firm release dates for either new o3 model, but CEO Sam Altman said o3-mini might ship in late January.So what did we learn?OpenAI's December campaign revealed that OpenAI had a lot of things sitting around that it needed to ship, and it picked a fun theme to unite the announcements. Google responded in kind, as we have covered.Several trends from the releases stand out. OpenAI is heavily investing in multimodal capabilities. The o1 model's release, Sora's evolution from research preview to product, and the expansion of voice features with video calling all point toward systems that can seamlessly handle text, images, voice, and video.The company is also focusing heavily on developer tools and customization, so it can continue to have a cloud service business and have its products integrated into other applications. Between the API releases, Reinforcement Fine-Tuning, and expanded IDE integrations, OpenAI is building out its ecosystem for developers and enterprises. And the introduction of o3 shows that OpenAI is still attempting to push technological boundaries, even in the face of diminishing returns in training LLM base models.OpenAI seems to be positioning itself for a 2025 where generative AI moves beyond text chatbots and simple image generators and finds its way into novel applications that we probably can't even predict yet. We'll have to wait and see what the company and developers come up with in the year ahead.Benj EdwardsSenior AI ReporterBenj EdwardsSenior AI Reporter Benj Edwards is Ars Technica's Senior AI Reporter and founder of the site's dedicated AI beat in 2022. He's also a tech historian with almost two decades of experience. In his free time, he writes and records music, collects vintage computers, and enjoys nature. He lives in Raleigh, NC. 0 Comments

Justice for Rost Horizon: Zero Dawn gets the graphical remaster a modern classic deserves This is how to do a remaster. Nate Anderson Dec 20, 2024 3:10 pm | 47 Just look at that fog! Credit: Sony Just look at that fog! Credit: Sony Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreAt their best, "remastered" video games keep terrific older titles viable on new generations of hardware and for new generations of fans. At their worst, they can feel like a cash-in.So it was with some trepidation that I recently fired up the "remastered" Horizon: Zero Dawn, a game which won me over years ago with its PS4 version due to the simple fact that it was ONE OF THE BEST VIDEO GAMES OF ALL TIME and featured ONE OF THE BEST PROTAGONISTS OF ALL TIME in one of the BEST STORIES OF ALL TIME. (Yes, I like superlatives, which are some of the BEST WORDS OF ALL TIME. But the game world really was terrific.) Even my kids were won over, playing through the game and its sequel multiple times.The game tells the story of a future Earth long after catastrophein the form of an autonomous robotic swarmhas ruined the planet. But it's not mere dystopia, though one does come across many wrecked and overgrown spaces from that earlier age. Horizon instead focuses on how humans, having lost most of their past knowledge, rebuilt a world in tribal fashion, a world populated by animal-inspired machines. The game's story operates ambitiously in two timelines and features massive killer robots, cults, and mad Sun Kings, all set against the gorgeous background of the American West.If the original Horizon had a flaw, it was long load times. As one redditor succinctly put it, "These load times are butt, huh?" Indeed they were. Extremely butt, in fact.The payoff was a gorgeous open world with such distinctive art direction that the developer put out a hardcover book showcasing the design work that went into the game. (Yes, I bought it, because it was about ONE OF THE BEST GAMES OF ALLwell, you get it.)But that amazing graphic design, as good as it looked when it appeared on the PS4, was a tiny bit dated as the years passed, especially when its just-as-gorgeous sequel came out on the PS5. The story and gameplay in the first title were still amazing, but it was disappointing not to be able to play both parts of ONE OF THE BEST GAMES..., etc, in identical visual glory.So when Sony put out the recent "remaster" of Zero Dawn, I was cautiously optimistic. Any sort of non-half-assed PS5 reworking ought to reduce load times, right? Machines make it hard to enjoy the view. Machines make it hard to enjoy the view. So many more people in the towns. It's starting to feel a bit crowded! So many more people in the towns. It's starting to feel a bit crowded! Everything about the game looks good. Everything about the game looks good.So many more people in the towns. It's starting to feel a bit crowded!Everything about the game looks good.I meant to dip into the world of Zero Dawn only for a few hours, but I ended up playing through the whole game and its expansion, The Frozen Wilds, over the last few weeks. The arrow-based gameplay, complex story, and voice acting were still terrific, and the remastered elements were far more than a simple cash-in. Even little things, like the way the adaptive triggers on the PS5 controllers mimic the tension of a bowstring, felt perfect.I didn't expect to get sucked back into the game's world for so many hours, but I had a great time doing it and wanted to spread the good word for those who might be looking for an engaging single-player experience over the holidays.Big changesWhen it comes to major changes, the remaster has three.First, the game loads fast. It feels like a ground-up PS5 title. Deathand its attendant reloadsno longer makes me want to throw my controller across the room during difficult battles. It's great.Second, the game looks unbelievable. This is not a case of just upping the resolution to 4K and calling it a day. Sony claims that the game features "over 10 hours of re-recorded conversation, mocap and countless graphical improvements that bring the game to the same visual fidelity as its critically acclaimed sequel." Also, the game's characters have "been upgraded, bringing them in line with current generation advances in character models and rendering."This is not just marketing fluff. The faces look incredible, even in close-up cinematic interludes, but what really caught my eye was the lighting. From the moment a young Aloy spelunks into a cave and finds an electronic gadget attached to a skeleton lying peacefully in a sunbeam, the revamped lighting engine makes its presence clear. No, it's not "realistic"everything looks like a postcard shot. But I found myself pausing the game just to look at the sunlight scattered by a snowstorm or dawn breaking over a mountain range. The lighting interacts with a volumetric set of effects that bring fog and dust devils to life like few other games I've seen. When Aloy tramps through a winter squall, leaving footsteps in the mountain snow as she walks, the effect is magical. (Until a Glinthawk swoops in, screaming, and attacks.)The populated areas, especially the major town of Meridian, also feel vastly improved. The game engine appears to have far more power available to it now, and that power has been devoted to populating towns and villages with double or triple the number of non-player characters. This goes some way toward making the world feel more alive, and I found the effect immediately noticeable.In other words, this is not just some "upscaled" PS4 title; this thing looks like a modern PS5 game, and a good one at that. The incredible art design of the world and its inhabitants are more immersive than ever before. (And you really need to see the game in motion; screenshots look good, but it's the way facial expressions move or how light plays through trees or hit a dust bowl that are truly stunning.)Third, the game improved its audio. According to Sony, audio "has been significantly enhanced. Weve completely revamped the sound mix, now supporting PS5 Tempest 3D Audio Tech2 for higher-order ambisonics and Atmos rendering for an immersive soundscape. Our sound design has also seen major improvements, with hundreds of improvements both in-game and in the cinematics." I take their word for it, but I didn't personally notice a major difference. I don't have an Atmos system, but the audio (still) sounded great.If you love the Horizon series, this is the best way to experience the first title on console. (I haven't tried the PC versions. Also, the less said about the new LEGO version of the game, called LEGO Horizon Adventures, the better.)And if you previously bought the game, you can upgrade for ten bucks (though note that if you bought a PS4 disc version, you'll need to have the game disc inserted both to upgrade and to run the game; and if you have a disc-less PS5, you're out of luck on that front.)Nate AndersonDeputy EditorNate AndersonDeputy Editor Nate is the deputy editor at Ars Technica. His most recent book is In Emergency, Break Glass: What Nietzsche Can Teach Us About Joyful Living in a Tech-Saturated World, which is much funnier than it sounds. 47 Comments