Microsoft Copilot Vision launches for Pro.

Looking for NYT Strands answers and hints? Here's all you need to know to solve today's game, including the spangram.

Looking for NYT Connections answers and hints? Here's all you need to know to solve today's game, plus my commentary on the puzzles.

How Legacy Effects crafted the practical creature effects for the Offspring in Alien: Romulus. An excerpt from befores & afters magazine.The climactic encounter of the film occurs between the remaining characters and the fast-growing humanxenomorph hybrid: the Offspring. Romanian former basketball player Robert Bobroczkyi was brought on to play the tall and skinny creature, owing to his distinctive body features. Fede called us and said theyd seen Robert in some YouTube clips, and said, Do you think we could use this guy? Hes not an actor, he is an athlete. Do you think itd be a good idea? And we were like, Hell, yeah.When we were first talking about the Offspring and looked at storyboards, adds Mahan, it just looked like it was supposed to grow very fast and be like a teenage underdeveloped brain but a big, gawky thing with a lurking presence that doesnt really understand itself. The sub-base of what Robert is just naturally was going to be phenomenal. We could do the same makeup on a six-foot tall guy and it would just be okay. But Robert made it special and really made the ending tremendous. Hes 90% of the success of that creature.The Offspring make-up effects from Legacy consisted of 13 pieces of translucent silicone appliances, with portions of Bobroczkyis skin showing through. Mahan and MacGowan were particularly impressed with Bobroczkyis on-set acting, for someone who had not ever done this kind of work before. Says Mahan: Robert was phenomenal because he really took it to heart and really put the effort in to make a character. I think it was his idea to be smiling during some of it. He worked with the acting coach at his school. He worked very hard on creating the movement and character, and he just showed up ready to rock and roll.When Chris Swift and I, with the team, did his make-up test for the first time, we took him to second unit to shoot a test, recounts Mahan. We knew it was very, very special and we both said it was like when Karloff as Frankenstein walks through the door backwards. It was that magical. Fede and everybody had video monitors over on first unit and they could see us setting it up, and then everyone ran over to come to see it. They just couldnt believe it. Read the full issue of the magazine.The post A new challenge: the Offspring appeared first on befores & afters.

There are certain social media rules we can all agree on: Ghosting a conversation is impolite, and replying k to a text is the equivalent of a backhand slap (violent, wrong, and rude). But what about the rest of the rules? When can we really remind someone of our old Venmo request? What happens when someone tries to flirt with you on LinkedIn?Fortunately, terminally online writers Delia Cai and Steffi Cao are here to answer all your digital quandaries, big or small. Welcome to Fast Companys advice column, Posting Playbook. This week, Delia and Steffi will both tackle the question of internet shadethrowing and receiving.What are the rules of throwing internet shade? Were all doing it, but whats the difference between being snarky and being mean? I see my co-worker tweeting shadily about our other colleagues and even our manager all the time, and Im wondering if Im the prude for feeling like thats not cool.Steffi: Subtweeting your colleagues on your main feed when you know they follow you is wild work, and I dont think its out-of-bounds to think its not cool. You cant spend eight peaceful hours on Slack together and then switch tabs to see them writing nonsense like, ugh I hate these ugly losers I spend eight hours a day on Slack with. Its awkward! Everyone has problems with their coworkers at some point or anotherbut at least for me, its the insincerity that becomes the grating part of it all.To me, the delineation of being snarky and being mean is the depth of the cut. A catty swipe at someones work is one thing, but taking it to the level of someones personal values and identity is mean. No ones a saint, either! Weve all been snarky, and weve all been mean. But the difference comes when youre not willing to own up to either.I tend to live by the idea that anything you tweet publicly, you should be able to say in person to someones face. Not that the world should be one giant episode of Bad Girls Club, but weve entered the era of social media where I think we can all agree that our statements online can come back to haunt us. So you better be ready to stand on it.Delia: Im all for the basic rules of comedy: Punching up is good, but punching down is bad. Leaving specific names out of it offers good plausible deniability. But your coworkers tweets are crossing the line in my opinion because, as Steffi and I have addressed in the past, people should be very careful about how they mix their online and professional lives. Tweeting about your evil boss is probably punching up, technically, but Id save that kind of shade for your group chats and IRL vent sessions.Steffi: Agreedif I can leave you with one last thing, I will reiterate that you need to stop letting your coworkers follow you on socials. Use your Close Friends tools. If you dont want the smoke, dont light a gigantic fire on your feeds.An article I wrote came out recently, and I saw peoplenot friends of mine, but like, we definitely know each otherdisparaging my writing on X and even in their newsletters. It definitely hurt my feelings, but I also get that criticism is a fact of life. Should I say anything? It just sucks because were not strangers, and I wish theyd given me a heads up. But is that even fair to expect?Delia: Receiving criticism is definitely the name of the game if youre a writer, of course, but youre also allowed to defend yourself! Its up to you. I would probably not say anything but make a nice little mental note (meaning, I would memorize every dastardly word they said), and then simply wait for the opportunity to come when we end up seeing each other in person. Then Id casually bring up something like, So I saw/heard that you didnt like my work! in a kind of cheery voice, and see how they react. A real critic at heart would be willing to engage with you about the work; someone whos just shading for clout will probably start spluttering and backpedal.If they were being more personally shady, i.e., calling into question your character or spreading a rumor about you, then you are well within your right to reach outvia a public reply, DM, or what have youand tell them that theyre being a jerk. Ive personally gone in with a quote tweet around the offending shade and gotten snippy right back, but that is a matter of personal preference!Steffi: Ive been on both sides of this coin, getting heat from people for disagreeing with their hot take, as well as having hordes of people piling on my work and subtweeting my skill. Heres the truth that Ive learned over the years: If you are going to stir the pot, you have to be prepared for a splash zone. Not everyone is going to like your work, just as you arent going to like everyone elses. The same goes for anyone trying to put their work out online, whether its music or paintings or vlogs. Obviously, prejudice and attacks on character are never okay. But to be honest, I think everything else is fair game.Your feelings are entirely valid! No one has ever been raised to handle this kind of digital feedback loop. But I think you have to maintain some level of perspective. At the end of the day, do you still stand by what you wrote? Did it resonate with the people you wanted it to? If yes, then who cares! To be a writer analyzing the world means accepting that your perspective will in turn be analyzed. It is childish to demand sympathetic immunity as a one-way street, and it makes you a poorer writer for it. Actually, Delia imparted some incredibly important advice when I was in the throes of getting a lot of shade about my writing: there is a kind of criticism that sees what you are trying to do and can acknowledge where you fell short, and there is the kind of criticism that is grading you against an entirely different scale. Only you get to decide what you intake and improve on.Ultimately, this is the kind of problem that only really exists online, because most of these mutuals do not have the gall to fight you IRL. And more realistically, I would guess that theyre also trying to curry for some likes online. Who among us? Let yourself feel hurt by it, but know that this will likely be the end of such negativity. Sticks and stones may break your bones. . . .

After spending much of 2024 closing stores and recent months trying to solidify a sale of the company to keep its doors open, discount retail chain Big Lots has announced that it now plans to close all stores and go out of business. Heres what you need to know about Big Lotss closure.Whats happened?On Thursday, Big Lots released a statement saying that it now plans to go out of business and close all of its remaining stores (in the absence of a Hail Mary playmore on that below). Big Lots says it came to the decision to prepare to commence going-out-of-business sales after a deal with Nexus Capital Management fell through.Big Lots had been working with the investment firm on a deal that would have seen it sell itself to Nexus Capital Management. Big Lots had been facing severe financial difficulties in 2024 as inflationary pressures bit into profits and caused customers to cut back on discretionary spending, which is Big Lotss bread and butter.Things got so bad for the company that it began closing stores over the summer. In September, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as a way to get its finances under control.In recent months, Big Lots had been working on an asset purchase agreement with Nexus Capital Management, but that possible deal has now collapsed. In its statement announcing going-out-of-business sales, Big Lots did not give a reason why it would be unable to complete a sale to Nexus Capital Management, but Bloomberg reports that a valuation appraisal of Big Lotss inventory came in below expectations, which made it economically unviable for Nexus Capital Management to proceed with the sale.Is there any hope for Big Lots?Yes, but its a slim one. Announcing that it would commence going-out-of-business (GOB) sales, Big Lots CEO Bruce Thorn said, While we remain hopeful that we can close an alternative going concern transaction, in order to protect the value of the Big Lots estate, we have made the difficult decision to begin the GOB process.An alternative going concern transaction means a sale to another party. Some Big Lots stores may be saved if a sale can still be completed. As for who Big Lots would sell itself to, the companys statement said it could be with Nexus or another party. Big Lots said it hopes any such deal could be closed by early January.But Big Lots isnt waiting until then to begin closing stores.When will the going-out-of-business sales be held? Likely soon. According to Big Lots, every remaining location will commence sales in the coming days to protect the value of its estate. The company has about 870 locations left. What about Big Lots employees?Big Lots did not address the impact that closing stores would have on its employees. Bloomberg pegs the companys employee headcount at around 27,000. Unfortunately, most of these workers will likely lose their jobs once the going-out-of-business sales are complete.Big Lots stock price collapsed in 2024Unsurprisingly, with all of Big Lotss financial troubles, the stock crashed this year. Shares had previously traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BIG, but with its collapse in price, it now trades on the over-the-counter exchange OTCPK under the ticker BIGGQ.As of yesterdays market close, BIGGQ shares were trading at 8 cents per share, representing a year-to-date decline of nearly 99%.Big Lots was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1967 as Consolidated International, Inc. and, in 2001, changed its name to the one it has today. The company celebrated its 57th anniversary this year.

From an art gallery in a converted grain silo to a brick workshop in Vietnam, Dezeen's editorial team have each picked their favourite building of 2024, out of more than 1,000 we have published throughout the year.Photo by Maris Mezulis (also top)University Children's Hospital, Switzerland, by Herzog & de Meuronchosen by Lizzie Crook, architecture editor"At a glance, you might mistake this wood-lined courtyard for part of a luxury Scandinavian home, but it actually belongs to Kinderspital, a hospital for kids in Zurich."The project embodies the need to bring nature into the built environment that we so often hear about but is so rarely put into practice in healthcare at least here in the UK, where medical infrastructure is plagued by sterile white-walled spaces."You can be sure the building not only aids the healing process for children but also comforts worried parents and fatigued staff. It's an unexpected triumph for a studio best known for its cultural landmarks."Find out more about University Children's Hospital Photo by Alan WilliamsKunstsilo, Norway, by Mestres Wge Arquitectes, BAX and Mendoza Partidachosen by Jane Englefield, design and interiors reporter"No two galleries are the same within this converted 1930s grain silo in southern Norway, renovated to house the world's largest private collection of modern art from the Nordic region."Mestres Wge Arquitectes, BAX and Mendoza Partida preserved the building's bright white functionalist facade, which gives away nothing from the outside, making the 'basilica-like' central atrium a striking revelation."Imagining myself standing in the interior as a tiny person gawping at this 21-metre-high circulation core, I'm transported to the inside of an otherworldly spaceship or maybe a jumbo cheese grater. My references aren't strictly architectural, but the project sparks a distinctive feeling and that's what I like to get from a building."Find out more about Kunstsilo Photo by Daniel CavazosCross Cabin, USA, by Moontower Design Buildchosen by Ben Dreith, US editor"With mass timber's rising popularity, Texas-based studio Moon Tower Design Build gestured even further, constructing what it calls a 'plant-based' house in Austin."Relatively simple in form, the structure has a cork exterior and mass-timber structural elements, with many different types of wood used for the interiors, mostly left unfinished to highlight the processes and nature of the materials as well as the almost-ubiquitous use of wood."Find out more about Cross Cabin Photo by Stijn BollaertBrighton College performing arts centre, UK, by Krftchosen by Amy Peacock, architecture reporter"'Form follows function' is a phrase often thrown around in architecture, and it's perfectly embodied in Dutch studio Krft's design for the Brighton College performing arts centre, where the facade bulges out to accommodate stepped theatre seating."The studio made bold moves with the massive brutalist form, but the scale is somehow softened by the grey brick and flint cladding, which creates a subtle stepped pattern under the swooping curves and ties to the adjacent neogothic flint building."Find out more about Brighton College performing arts centre Photo by Jose HeviaLiving in Lime, Spain, by Peris+Toral Arquitecteschosen by Nat Barker, features editor"Mallorca has emerged as an unlikely hotspot for quality social housing in recent years, and this development of 42 apartments by Barcelona studio Peris+Toral Arquitectes is among the best examples I've seen to date."It is respectful of its surroundings, gentle in its density and sparing in its use of concrete, as well as generous in layout and use of material finishes inside the flats. I expect it will be a place where people enjoy living for a very long time."Find out more about Living in Lime Photo by Laurent KronentalGrand Palais restoration, France, by Chatillon Architectschosen by Tom Ravenscroft, editor"More than any other venue, the Grand Palais came to represent this year's Paris Olympics with is vast green-steel-and-glass structure forming a dramatic backdrop for the fencing and taekwondo events."The 19th-century landmark structure between the Champs-lyses and the Seine was restored by French studio Chatillon Architectes ahead of the games."It's not only the restoration of a significant landmark, but also demonstrates the Olympics' increased focus on reuse with just one new permanent venue built for this games."Find out more about the Grand Palais Photo by Arch-existZaishui Art Museum, China, by Junya Ishigamichosen by Jennifer Hahn, design and environment editor"Like Jesus, Junya Ishigami's Zaishui Art Museum allows visitors to walk on water in this case, an artificial lake in China's Shandong Province."Small gaps in the facade allow water to wash over the museum's floor, setting a dramatic new example for how buildings in China and the rest of the world can actually bring people closer to nature rather than keeping them sequestered."Find out more about Zaishui Art Museum Photo by Jason Keen courtesy of the Library Street CollectiveThe Shepherd arts centre, USA, by Peterson Rich Officechosen by Ellen Eberhardt, US reporter"Following a recent increase in development in Detroit, The Shepherd arts centre is part of the wider Little Village project, which encompasses a host of creative spaces."While impact on the city from these recent projects remains to be seen, Peterson Rich Office thoughtfully restored and converted this early-1900s church into a gallery space. I imagine it lends itself well to a host of events, or a peaceful Sunday at its library."Find out more about The Shepherd Photo by Jakub CertowiczPlato Contemporary Art Gallery, Czech Republic, by KWK Promeschosen by Cajsa Carlson, deputy editor"The Czech Republic has been the site of a significant number of interesting architecture projects in recent years, many of them adaptive reuse ones that transform existing buildings."The best one this year was architecture studio KWK Promes' metamorphosis of a former slaughterhouse in Ostrava. The studio turned the heritage-protected 19th-century brick building into an art gallery, adding rotating white concrete walls that let it open up to its surroundings."Find out more about Plato Contemporary Art Gallery Photo by Jonathan LeijonhufvudSun Tower, China, by Open Architecturechosen by Christina Yao, China editor"After a museum inside a sand dune and a rock-like concert hall, Open Architecture managed another landmark cultural building that interacts with nature. This time, the building is able to mark the changing path of the sun throughout the year."The visually striking form is topped with a glass-lined library and a semi-open viewing deck. I can imagine myself just sitting there all day staring space into the sea. It's exactly what the public in China need to slow down and relax."Find out more about Sun Tower Photo by Trieu ChienTerra Cotta Workshop, Vietnam, by Tropical Spacechosen by Starr Charles, editorial assistant"Encompassing a visitor centre and brick kiln, the Terra Cotta Workshop in Vietnam by Tropical Space was designed to accompany the site's existing Terra Cotta Studio, which was designed by the studio for artist Le Huc Da in 2016."Drawing me to the project's simple yet charming design is the use of perforated brick walls, which provide shade and ventilation on the interior, as well as its open shelving, which encloses the workshops and doubles as a display space for the pottery."Find out more about the Terra Cotta Workshop The post The Dezeen team's favourite buildings of 2024 appeared first on Dezeen.

Tech mogul Elon Musk has claimed that The Boring Company could create a transatlantic tunnel between New York and London for 1,000 times less money than previously estimated.Musk made the claim in response to a post on the social media platform X, which he owns, by news platform Daily Loud that contained a rendering of a the tunnel with the headline: "Proposed $20 Trillion tunnel would get you from New York to London in 54 minutes."In response Musk said: "The @boringcompany could do it for 1000X less money."The @boringcompany could do it for 1000X less money https://t.co/IXJY63xUCo Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 10, 2024Elon Musk claimed he could create the transatlantic tunnel for around $20 billionThis estimation would put the price of the transatlantic tunnelat around $20 billion (15.7 billion).Daily Loud was referencing a figure that has recently appeared in multiple news outlets including Newsweek and CNN, although no scientific or engineering source was cited.Tunnel would be world's longest by over 3,000 milesAccording to Forbes, in the early 2000s American researchers at MIT Ernst Frankel and Frank Davidson proposed a maglev vacuum train line that would cross the 3,500-mile distance between the metropolises and allow for speeds of up to 1,200 miles per hour.If built, the 3,500-mile transatlantic tunnel would be the longest in the world by a huge distance. The current tunnel with the longest underwater section is the 31-mile-long Channel Tunnel, which connects the UK and France.Opened in 1994, the Channel Tunnel cost 9 billion ($11.4 billion) to build, which would be around 18.5 billion ($23.4 billion) today.Read: Elon Musk gives first look at Boring Company tunnelMusk first announced his intention to develop "supersonic" lines, called hyperloops, in 2013, proposing a line between the California cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco that would carry small carriages at 700 miles per hour.Since then, a number of other firms have tried to execute the plan to carry people in vacuum-sealed tubes.In 2020, transportation company Virgin Hyperloop, owned by billionaire Richard Branson, travelled 500 meters in a BIG-designed pod and reached speeds of 100 miles per hour.Numerous nations developing hyperloopsSo far, the longest hyperloop journey carried out was earlier this year in Switzerland, where a team of scientists were able to run a pod for 11.8 kilometres with a top speed of 25 miles per hour.A number of nations have also speculated on installing the technology both India and Mexico have put forward proposals to connect major metropolitan centres with the technology.Musk founded The Boring Company in 2016 to carry out some of these infrastructure projects, and in 2022 announced a proposal to build a tunnel for Teslas to drive underground and bypass traffic in Miami. This, and other similar projects proposed for Los Angeles and New York, have not moved forward.Read: Elon Musk's The Boring Company opens first station in expanded Las Vegas transit tunnel systemA Wall Street Journal report claimed that Musk and The Boring Company had "backed out" on multiple cities to whom Musk's company sent proposals.In 2022, the New York Times cast doubt on the viability of these projects going forward. The main problems continue to be funding and questions of integration into the existing infrastructure systems."Some industry observers believe that regulatory, financial and political hurdles may doom hyperloop as a viable high-speed alternative to air travel," said the New York Times.The photography is courtesy of Shutterstock.The post Elon Musk claims Boring Company could build transatlantic tunnel for around $20 billion appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen has partnered with Kia Design Team to launch a videoseries highlighting contemporary South Korean architecture, beginning with the Sayuwon arboretum and architecture park.In the first video reel in the series, Dezeen showcases the Sayuwon Arboretum alongside Kia's EV9 car model.Dezeen video profiles vast South Korean arboretumSayuwon is a 700,000 square-kilometre park located in a mountainous region outside the city of Daegu, South Korea.Originally conceived as a preservation project for quince trees in 2004, Sayuwon has since grown into a sprawling complex of landscaped gardens, hiking routes, buildings and artworks.The park includes structures designed by international architectsThe park includes various buildings, including a monolithic concrete art pavilion created by Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning architect lvaro Siza in collaboration with Carlos Castanheira Architects. The park also includes works by South Korean architects Seung H-Sang and Choi Wook.The pavilion comprises two large forked volumes, built partly underground from rough board-formed concrete. As visitors walk through the space, they encounter square openings in the walls and ceilings which provide glimpses of the sky and surrounding landscape.The structure was built to be used as an exhibition space for sculptures designed by Siza, who also created an intimate chapel and a looming concrete observation tower for the park.The EV9 is a high performance electric vehicleDezeen's collaborative video series with Kia situates the Kia Design Team's electric car models alongside examples of contemporary South Korean architecture.For the first reel in the series, Dezeen filmed Kia's EV9 alongside the buildings at Sayuwon.The Kia EV9 is a fully electric SUV with a polygonal form and partially faceted edges. The vehicle comes in six or seven-seat configurations.The EV9 is a fully electric SUV with a polygonal formKia aimed to create a sleek, sculptural exterior for the car, with fold-away door handles and flat vertical headlights, as well as Kia's "digital tiger face" design for the front of the vehicle.According to Kia, the car is designed to be compatible with a variety of environments, from dense urban areas to long-distance travel.Partnership contentThis video series was produced by Dezeen in partnership with Kia. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.The post Dezeen teams up with Kia to profile vast South Korean arboretum containing lvaro Siza buildings appeared first on Dezeen.

From layoffs to the return of Gamergate, video gamesand the people who make and play themhad a rough year.