For the past few years, Ive had the same New Years resolution, which, on paper, may seem to be the antithesis of what a New Years resolution should be. But I swear its one that is slowly but surely making me a bit more successful: Each year, I vow to be a little less productive.While I like to think of myself as a sort of laid-back, laissez-faire type, the reality is, Im pretty much a type A. My list-making alone is proof of this. I start most days making long to-do lists that one could argue set me up for failure. Typically, I have one work to-do list and one life to-do list. Admittedly, I rarely check off everything but man, do I feel good the few times a year it happens.Im definitely a victim of our very American obsession with productivity (an obsession thats actually quite counterproductive). We want to do it all to have it all, be multihyphenates; and social media is full of folks who can turn anything, from skincare to simply getting up, into a multistep routine. Rise and grind! Hustle! Optimize!This mindset doesnt necessarily translate into happinesssomething that, the older I get, Im increasingly a glutton for. A big part of that is prioritizing my work-life balance, ensuring that Im not using every waking moment working or being productive, being deliberate about drawing more boundaries and intentional about spending some time where nothing productive is accomplished.Work-life balance has been in the headlines lately, as it often is this hectic time of year. New research shows that the United States has the longest average work day, with eight hours and 29 minutes, equating to American employees working more than 18% longer than their counterparts. (The same study finds that Finland has the best work-life balance and is, coincidentally, the happiest country according to the World Happiness Report.) Meanwhile, tech founder Daksh Gupta recently went viral by admitting that his own company has no work-life balance.In 2019, at the ripe old age of 35, I realized that being productive for productivitys sake isnt necessarily in my best interest, personally or professionally. Id left a pretty toxic job, and when I sat down to figure out what I learned from said experiencesomething I try to do after significant life transitionsI realized that being the first in and last out didnt necessarily make my work better. And it didnt ingratiate me with upper management. Nothing guarantees that.The next job I took was for a company that prioritized work-life balance from the top down: There was unlimited PTO you were actually encouraged to take, I never felt pressure to answer work communication after hours, and we were allowed to work a flexible schedule as long as we were communicative about it. It was a good reminder that slowing down and measuring things in quality versus quantitywhich we all intrinsically know, but is easy to forget in the dog-eat-dog world that is U.S. corporate cultureoften produces higher quality work. At least for me, it also made work that much more enjoyable.Thats when I started my quest to make each year just a little less productive.It started small. Id limit the number of things on my to-do lists, the yearly goals Id set for myself, and give myself hard workplace boundaries. (The first year, that included a hard stop at 5 p.m. when the workday concluded.)I quickly found that measuring productivity more by the outcomes of the projects versus how much I got done meant that my work got more precise and insightful. For example, writing one blog post that resonated with readers and got them to sign up for a consultation was much more valuable than five blogs published in one week that everyone skimmed. Work also became more enjoyable.Thats because enjoyable work enhances work performance.The following year, I subtracted more from those daily lists and yearly goals. I also decided to take a few breaks during the workday to do nothing. This isnt anything crazy10 to 15 minutes here and there when I have no meetingsand its easy since I work remotely.I dont go on walks. I dont read a book. Ill often just sit on my patio, listen to music, think for a few minutes, or let my mind wander.I dont know if Ill ever look back on 2024 fondly, per seit was a challenging year for various reasonsbut I will look back at it as one of the most professionally successful years of my life. I started a new job with many new opportunities, and my freelance writing career is thriving.Should I cut back a bit more in 2025? Id like to, but I also think focusing too much on prioritizing my free timeon optimizing nonproductiveness, if you willcould become a slippery slope; the kind that leads me to, say, write an article about being a little less productive, which launches into TikTok and Instagram channels dedicated to the same subject, which would support the Master Class on nonproductiveness I plan on launching in 2026 . . . Just kidding. I think what it will actually look like is limiting the daily, or sometimes twice-daily, lists I make to a set number of obtainable items.

The recent spate of unidentified drone sightings in the U.S., including some near sensitive locations such as airports and military installations, has caused significant public concern.Some of this recent increase in activity may be related to a September 2023 change in U.S. Federal Aviation Administration regulations that now allow drone operators to fly at night. But most of the sightings are likely airplanes or helicopters rather than drones.The inability of the U.S. government to definitively identify the aircraft in the recent incidents, however, has some people wondering, why cant they?I am an engineer who studies defense systems. I see radio frequency sensors as a promising approach to detecting, tracking and identifying drones, not least because drone detectors based on the technology are already available. But I also see challenges to using the detectors to comprehensively spot drones flying over American communities.How drones are controlledOperators communicate with drones from a distance using radio frequency signals. Radio frequency signals are widely used in everyday life such as in garage door openers, car key fobs and, of course, radios. Because the radio spectrum is used for so many different purposes, it is carefully regulated by the Federal Communications Commission.Drone communications are only allowed in narrow bands around specific frequencies such as at 5 gigahertz. Each make and model of a drone uses unique communication protocols coded within the radio frequency signals to interpret instructions from an operator and to send data back to them. In this way, a drone pilot can instruct the drone to execute a flight maneuver, and the drone can inform the pilot where it is and how fast it is flying.Identifying drones by radio signalsRadio frequency sensors can listen in to the well-known drone frequencies to detect communication protocols that are specific to each particular drone model. In a sense, these radio frequency signals represent a unique fingerprint of each type of drone.In the best-case scenario, authorities can use the radio frequency signals to determine the drones location, range, speed and flight direction. These radio frequency devices are called passive sensors because they simply listen out for and receive signals without taking any active steps. The typical range limit for detecting signals is about 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) from the source.These sensors do not represent advanced technology, and they are readily available. So, why havent authorities made wider use of them? Challenges to using radio frequency sensorsWhile the monitoring of radio frequency signals is a promising approach to detecting and identifying drones, there are several challenges to doing so.First, its only possible for a sensor to obtain detailed information on drones that the sensor knows the communication protocols for. Getting sensors that can detect a wide range of drones will require coordination between all drone manufacturers and some central registration entity.In the absence of information that makes it possible to decode the radio frequency signals, all that can be inferred about a drone is a rough idea of its location and direction. This situation can be improved by deploying multiple sensors and coordinating their information.Second, the detection approach works best in quiet radio frequency environments where there are no buildings, machinery or people. Its not easy to confidently attribute the unique source of a radio frequency signal in urban settings and other cluttered environments. Radio frequency signals bounce off all solid surfaces, making it difficult to be sure where the original signal came from. Again, the use of multiple sensors around a particular location, and careful placement of those sensors, can help to alleviate this issue.Third, a major part of the concern over the inability to detect and identify drones is that they may be operated by criminals or terrorists. If drone operators with malicious intent know that an area targeted for a drone operation is being monitored by radio frequency sensors, they may develop effective countermeasures. For example, they may use signal frequencies that lie outside the FCC-regulated parameters, and communication protocols that have not been registered. An even more effective countermeasure is to preprogram the flight path of a drone to completely avoid the use of any radio frequency communications between the operator and the drone.Finally, widespread deployment of radio frequency sensors for tracking drones would be logistically complicated and financially expensive. There are likely thousands of locations in the U.S. alone that might require protection from hostile drone attacks. The cost of deploying a fully effective drone detection system would be significant.There are other means of detecting drones, including radar systems and networks of acoustic sensors, which listen for the unique sounds drones generate. But radar systems are relatively expensive, and acoustic drone detection is a new technology.The way forwardIt was almost guaranteed that at some point the problem of unidentified drones would arise. People are operating drones more and more in regions of the airspace that have previously been very sparsely populated.Perhaps the recent concerns over drone sightings are a wake-up call. The airspace is only going to become much more congested in the coming years as more consumers buy drones, drones are used for more commercial purposes, and air-taxis come into use. Theres only so much that drone detection technologies can do, and it might become necessary for the FAA to tighten regulation of the nations airspace by, for example, requiring drone operators to submit detailed flight plans.In the meantime, dont be too quick to assume those blinking lights you see in the night sky are drones.Iain Boyd is the director of the Center for National Security Initiatives and a professor of aerospace engineering sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

As part of ourreview of 2024, Dezeen digital editor Rupert Bickersteth rounds up the year's most hotly debated stories, from Jaguar's rebrand to the latest from Thomas Heatherwick's Humanise campaign.Millions of you read Dezeen each year and tens of thousands of comments are left under stories debating and discussing the finer details of a project, an opinion or interview, or the news itself.Two ongoing stories dominated the debate this year: plans for America's tallest tower in Oklahoma and the Neom news coming out of Saudi Arabia.Away from the news, Dezeen's original opinion pieces sparked lively debate amongst readers, including an article by Catherine Slessor about starchitects retiring gracefully or refusing to, as the case may be.Check out our weekly Comments Update rounding up the best of the debate and subscribe to our Dezeen Debate newsletter, which highlights the hottest discussions happening each week.Read on for the 10 most hotly debated Dezeen stories of the year:Image courtesy of AO"Completely delusional" plans for the USA's tallest tower in OklahomaWe first reported on plans for a supertall skyscraper in Oklahoma in January. The project went on to secure full funding and receive approval for "unlimited height", making it set to be the tallest building in the US when complete.Readers left nearly 400 comments under the news as it developed across the year, including concerns in early December about the tower's impact on the safety of flights, which were submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).Dezeen readers decried the project, named Legends Tower, as a "white elephant" and "completely delusional especially for Oklahoma" but the architects, in an interview with Dezeen, said that they "didn't want it to be crazy or gaudy".Read all Dezeen's stories on Legends Tower Photo by Hufton + Crow"Puzzling" Studio Libeskind's social housing for seniorsAlso igniting the comments section was architecture firm Studio Libeskind's The Atrium at Sumner Houses project, an afforable housing blockwith 190 apartments for seniors inBrooklyn, New York.The full-height central atrium, which gives the building its name, was what most enflamed commenters, with one capturing the majority of reactions, good or bad, by posting "this project induced a visceral reaction in me".Both sides of the debate called it alternatively a "gorgeous prison" but also "a remarkable and surprisingly friendly" piece of residential architecture.Many found it plain "puzzling" and responded with questions, asking "apart from some quirky angles, where's the liveability, the joy, planting, human scale?"What do you think? Join the debate in the comments section Photo by Stefan Tuchila"Screw eco-friendly" climate action and the Paris Olympic Village air-conditioning debacleDezeen's regular opinionwriter Smith Mordak drew focus onto climate issues arising from the Paris 2024 Olympics and the temperature of the athletes' accommodation.The athletes' village was built to be cooled via a geothermal cooling system, so long as occupants followed simple rules such as keeping window-blinds shut during the day.Faith in this technology wavered, and many teams, including those from Britain, Japan and the US, elected to buy portable air-conditioning units, demonstrating Mordak argued the scale of the challenge we face in gaining acceptance forsustainable building technologies.Their hypothesis was arguably proved right in the comments section, with one reader posting "screw eco-friendly, I would rather not roast", while others argued that "air-conditioning is very sustainable when nuclear- or solar-powered, and modern units don't emit harmful chemicals".In a more measured comment, which other readers upvoted, it was suggested that "the question we need to ask is not just how do we live with compromise, but how do we find solutions that are truly acceptable?"Read Smith Mordak's opinion piece Photo courtesy of Heatherwick Studio"Heatherwick is the Gaudi of today" Heatherwick Studio designs first building in South AmericaIf there is one name on Dezeen that sends readers running to the comment section, it is Thomas Heatherwick. Whether he is designing gin bottles, South Korean shopping centres or putting tress on things, it provokes hot debate.We covered 11 Heatherwick stories in 2024 that garnered more than 600 comments between them. The two most explosively debated were the latest from his Humanise campaign and the unveiling of his designs for auniversityinBogot, featuring undulating columns informed by indigenous weaving practices.The colourful renders of the latter prompted one commenter to call the designer "the Gaudi of today", while others found them "embarrassing and gimmicky".When not piling in on his designs, commenters were elsewhere keen to discuss Heatherwick's Humanise campaign, which this year published "boring" versions of historic UK landmarks including Buckingham Palace and Edinburgh Castle.It triggered one of Dezeen readers' favourite debates in the comments: modernism versus classicism."A more compelling exercise would be to generate classical versions of brutalistbuildings," argued a commenter, with another agreeing that "replacing historic buildings with carefully selected modernist tropes with no reference to culture, history or society is just plain silly".Others were less polite!Check out the Heatherwick debate in the comments section Image courtesy of Jaguar"Nothing about this screams luxury British car" Jaguar unveils rebrandThe most talked-about rebrand of the year generated hundreds of comments across our coverage, with our design readers mostly concerned about the "awful mixture of upper and lower case letters".When Jaguar then revealed its electric concept car at Miami art week, there was an equal provocation among Dezeen readers, one of whom thought "Jaguar should be applauded for trying something different".Elsewhere, readers also enjoyed commenting on another car company's rebranding exercise as Audi ditched its signature logo of four interlocking rings for a new range of electric vehicles in China. Did you know the number four is considered bad luck in China?Read Dezeen's coverage of the Jaguar rebrand and concept car reveal Photo by Giles Pendleton"Just another line in the sand" Neom scales back plans for The Line in Saudi ArabiaOne of the biggest stories of the last few years continued to make headlines in 2024. In February aerial photos revealed work progressing on The Line megacity, being developed by Neom in Saudi Arabia.Commenters dismissed the progress, commenting "it's longer, but still no concrete poured". One person even said they were "just here to view the delightfully entertaining comments".Then, in April, it was revealed the original number of residents planned for the project by 2030 would be reduced. The scaling-back was because Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund hadn't approved Neom's budget.Readers rushed to the comments section to express their lack of surprise at the news. "Just another line in the sand," quipped one, while another joked "not the line then, just a dash".A more serious commenter posted: "Neom will stand as a monumental and uncompleted folly to Saudi hubris".Read all the latest news about The Line Photo by J l Cereijido/EPA courtesy of Shutterstock"Why would one stop if they are enjoying what they are doing?" the phenomenon of ageing starchitectsAnother opinion piece that sparked the ire of the majority of commenters came from Dezeen contributor Catherine Slessor, who wrote a signature tirade about architecture's famous figures working well into their old age and not knowing when to stop.Commenters broadly contested Slessor's argument, asking "why would one stop if they are enjoying what they are doing?" and "if the guy wants to keep working and clients want to keep hiring him then who are you to dictate what he can and can't do?"While many readers thought the gist of the article was ageist, one balanced commenter contributed to the debate: "it isn't ageist to say these people should retire, it's logistics. If they haven't cultivated their own replacements by now, they've failed their organisations, and failed as mentors to the next generations."What do you think? Join the discussion in the comments section Image courtesy of Oxman"Beyond gorgeous... can it be realised?" Neri Oxman unveils skyscraper plans that are AI-optimised for plantingMore than 50 readers took the to comment section to debate plans from design studio Oxmanfor a system called "ecological programming" to optimise green architecture, demonstrated with conceptual plans for a skyscraperwith multiple planted platforms.Many readers thought it showed a fundamental lack of understanding of root systems, commenting "it takes 10 seconds to check the depth of earth needed for a tree to thrive" and wondering "why don't we just make it a park?"Others thought it proved a good example of why the profession might resist the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), calling the project "some dystopian AI monument".Read about Neri Oxman's conceptual skyscraper AI-optimised for planting Photo by Julius Shulman via Paul Getty Trust"What is considered beautiful to one may be ugly to another" Chris Pratt demolishes 1950s Craig Ellwood house in LAReaders were largely unimpressed by news that the actor Chris Pratt had torn down a home by mid-century architect Craig Ellwood in LA. Commenters punned on the actor's last name and decried the behaviour of "uncultured vandals".Prompted by the news, conservation group Docomomo, speaking to Dezeen, said unprotected modernist houses are at risk of demolition as land often holds greater value than architectural heritage.Not everyone agreed in the comment section ,with one commenter counter-arguing: "I don't see many century modern-style homes being built today. The fad was very niche in its day, and not what most people want now. What is considered beautiful to one may be ugly to another. They wanted the property, but not the house. It's their right to demolish it if they wish."Where do you stand on architectural preservation? Join the debate Photo by Backgrid"Not one of Ando's best works" Ye strips Tadao Ando beach house in MalibuIn a somewhat similar story, news broke in June that the musician Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, had removed the windows and gutted the interior of a concrete home in Malibuby Japanese architect Tadao Ando. Commenters were unimpressed, calling it "an act of disgraceful waste".Others joked that "the house has vastly improved" and that it "is not one of Ando's best works".Other Ando projects Dezeen reported on in 2024 includedplans for Armani Beach Residences atPalm Jumeirah inDubai, and he joined the growing trend of architects designing luxury watches with a snake-like design forBulgari's Serpenti range.Dezeen DebateTo get the week's most hotly debated stories straight to your inbox, subscribeto Dezeen Debate. Read the latest edition today.The post The 10 most hotly debated design and architecture stories of 2024 appeared first on Dezeen.

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MacworldAt a glanceExpert's RatingProsSix HDD bays plus four-slot NVMe adapter for high capacityFast Intel Core 5 1235U CPUGood storage and web performanceRuns Docker apps and virtual machines over HTMLConsSparse documentationProblematic NVMe RAIDThunderbolt connection uses an ethernet bridgeOur Verdict We cant think of a more versatile, large-capacity NAS box than the 10Gbe ZimaCube Pro. And it supports Thunderbolt ethernet for even faster performance. But its a tad pricey and we ran into some bugs with the NVMe in RAID.Price When ReviewedThis value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefinedBest Pricing TodayIf youre looking for a dainty wallflower of a storage box, skip this review. If youre looking for a large-capacity network-attached storage (NAS) box to provide ton of storage space as well as run web apps, read on.The ZimaCube is a cube-shaped (duh!), 6-bay server/storage enclosure that can function both over 10Gbe and Thunderbolt 4 port via an ethernet bridge. The handsome box measures approximately 8.75-inches deep, by 8.75 inches tall, by 9.5-inches wideno, its not a perfect cube. Cubular? Cubist? All six SATA drive bays are 3.5-inch, housing six non-locking, easily-removal trays.The ZimaCube Pros drive bays and 4-slot M.2 adapter are revealed.Note that the 3.5-inch trays dont use quick-change, pop-out rails, you must use the provided screws to install drives. Smaller, finer-threaded screws are also provided for SATA SSDs.There is what appears to be a seventh bay to the right. Technically it is and is referred to in the ZimaCube documentations as the seventh bay. However, it uses a different connector that mates with the provided single 4-slot PCIe M.2/NVMe adapter card. Said adapter is held in place by a captive thumb screw for easy removal.The ZimaCube Pros 4-slot M.2 NVMe adapter tray populated with four different 2TB NVMe SSDs.The bays are covered by a magnetically attached face plate. Directly above it are two Type-A 3.0 USB ports (5Gbps), a 5Gbps Type-C port, 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack, and a quick copy button that immediately copies data from attached thumb drives and the like.The back of the box is home to a single 10Gbps ethernet port, twin 2.5Gbps ethernet ports, two Type-A 2.0 USB ports, two Type-C Thunderbolt 4 ports (without the identifying logo), as well as both DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.0 ports for attaching displays. To the left of the Thunderbolt 4 ports are the power jack and a pinhole reset button.The back of the ZimaCube Pro with its port array and power jack.As you might guess, a server running a 10-core I5, with up to six HDDs and four NVMe SSDs like the ZimaCube ships with beefy power support: 19-volts and 11.58 amps to be specific. That should handle any drives you throw in the ZimaCube easily.IceWhale didnt provide any instructions on how to visit the interior of the unit. The lack of granular documentation was my least favorite thing about the ZimaCube Pro. Consequently, I simply started removing bolts. Fortunately, my first four choices (IceWhale thoughtfully uses hexagonal types) at the top of the unit allowed me up to pop the top to see the two half-height PCIe slots. You can add just about anything Linux has a driver for.The interior of the ZimaCube Pro. We love the beefy CPU fan. Its difficult to see the M.2 slot, but its just below and to the left of said fan.I was also able to view the populated M.2 slot. Theres another underneath, but its quite difficult to insert an SSD into. So difficult to both see and access that I asked the company if that was indeed what it was before proceeding.ZimaCube Pro: PriceThe ZimaCube Pro is $1,099 with the 16GB of DRAM that we tested, and $1,249 with 64GB of memory. Thats a pretty reasonable upgrade price (unlike a certain famous company that charges far more than upgraded components are worth). If youre going to run virtual machines or Docker apps, go for the 64GB.On the other hand, if youre simply going for lots of storage via NAS, you might be able to get away with the $699 non-Pro version of the ZimaCube with a slower Intel N100 CPU, only 8GB of memory, and no Thunderbolt ethernet. Its also 2.5Gbe only, so expect performance to top out at around 250MBps.ZimaCube Pro: Ease of set upIceWhale provides a utility that makes finding and accessing the ZimaCube a piece of cake, though it involves some guess work. Again, the lack of granular documentation meant no reference to a default username and password. I recommend installing the utility and have it open the web interface, then follow the prompts to create a new username and password with which to log on.After youre fully logged on via the web interface, you can define any RAID arrays or single volumes you want using the storage utility. It worked well in my hands-on but sometimes required a reboot before array deletions would register. Most users wont make as many changes as I did during testing.Beyond that, accessing the ZimaCube locally is just like mounting any other network resource, whether via 10Gbe or Thunderbolt ethernet bridge. Create shared folders via the web interface using the Files app, locate the ZimaCube in network locations, log on, and open said shared folders.ZimaCube Pro: Network-attached storage interfaceNAS boxes, at least those with display ports, can be used as the computer they actually are, if you attach a keyboard and monitor. However, as mentioned, they are typically configured and employed remotely via an HTML interface and accessed using a web browser. Its much like using Teamviewer, RustDesk, etc. to control another computer remotely. The image of the Zima interface below is from my browser.The main page of the ZimaCube Pros HTML interface.Modern NAS is capable of much more than their original purpose of simply serving up files. IceWhale implements a rather large array of browser-based apps that cover a wide spectrum of utility. Theyre all available from an app store, though I missed a search function to browse them by function.Media servers include Plex, Emby, Swingmusic, and Jellyfin. Theres the Handbrake video encoder and Calibre-Web for reading ebooks. Bittorrent/download clients include Transmission, qBittorrent, and Gospeed. Backup is represented by Duplicati, and Resilio Sync. Ive only mentioned the better-known applications; there are others. I was most enticed by the ZVM app which allows you to run virtual machines and comes with a demo of Windows 10 you can run.The ZimaCube Pros VM app starts up with Windows 10 installing itself. This comes pre-loaded.Docker is nicely integrated into the system with an option in the app store to add containerized applications, though theres not a lot of hand-holding in the process. As with much of the ZimaCube, a fairly high geek IQ or a zeal for learning Linux and Linux apps is helpful. Linux? Yup. Nearly every NAS box out there these days is running a version of Linux, which as you may or may not know, is nearly as app-rich these days as the pay competition and in some areas such as Docker, superior.ZimaCube Pro: PerformanceGiven its 10Gbe and Thunderbolt 4 support, and the ability to combine drives in RAID the ZimaCube Pro is fast, though not as fast as you might think when you first hear Thunderbolt. Thats because, as mentioned, the ZimaCube Pro connects via a Thunderbolt connection using an ethernet bridge and network transport protocols (SMB in this case). The fastest we saw over Thunderbolt ethernet was about 2GBps reading.For media, I tested the ZimaCube Pro with two fast (290MBps sequential transfers) 24TB hard drives in a striped RAID 0, four SATA SSDs striped in RAID 0, as well as four 2TB NVMe SSDs striped in RAID 0 using the adapter card. Both over the 10Gbe port, as well as the Thunderbolt port on a Mac Studio M1 Max. The results, while all relatively fast, were occasionally puzzling, and I ran into an issue.The puzzler was the two HDDs logging well over 800MBps over both Thunderbolt and 10Gbe, significantly faster than the roughly 600MBps theyre natively capable of. Obviously theres some caching going. Overall, it made it somewhat difficult to directly compare the ZimaCubes results with other DAS or NAS boxes.This issue was that at various times, under stress of the AmorphousDiskMark (64GiB) testing, the NVMe RAID 0 array would go belly up with one of the drives disappearing from the array.ZimaCube Pro pointed to one NVMe SSD as damaged, but rebooting cleared the error and the array would again be available for use. I even changed the drive that disappeared and the error repeated itself. In normal copy operations, I didnt see any errors. Only under the benchmark stress.Tested individually, there was also no problem with any of the four SSDs. The issue is still under investigation by IceWhale at the time of this writing. Note also, that theres no real reason to run all four NVMe SSDs in RAID 0 as theres no way to utilize the speed over ethernet.Below youll see the best results I got from each array on each bus. As AmorphousDiskMark overly stressed the ZimaCubes NVMe, I switched to Atto for this article.Atto shows faster speeds than Disk Speed Test and AmorphousDiskMark, but for the most part, I ran it using the far smaller 256MiB (Mebibyte) data set on a couple of tests. Note that when I tried the 32GiB (Gibibyte) data set (the second image below) on the NVMe RAID 0 array, it did not cause the same error as AmorphousDiskMark, However, both read and write speeds started bouncing all over the map. Again, caching.All the Atto tests are over Thunderbolt 4 ethernet. First up are the SATA RAID 0 results which turned out much as expected.Again, you can below that upping the data set to 32GiB delivered extremely mixed results.With the NVMe RAID 0 array, results were wildly inconsistent even using the much smaller 256MiB data set. Theres no way writes should be this much faster (from 512Kib to 24MiB)than reads without caching involved.The HDD RAID 0 array results were very consistent, but far faster than they have any right to be. As stated, even combined the total throughput shouldnt exceed 600MBps. Again, though not confirmed by IceWhale this is likely caching.Next is Disk Speed Test for the NVMe RAID 0 array over 10Gbe (left) and Thunderbolt 4 ethernet (right). Pretty darn close and these results make sense.ZimaCube Pro with four NVMe SSDs in RAID 0. 10Gbe to the left and T4 Ethernet to the right.Next up are SATA SSDs which perform on par with the NVMe according to BlackMagicDesigns Disk Speed Text. This is four of them in RAID 0. Note that ethernet is a major limiting factor in long transfers.ZimaCube Pro with four SATA SSDs in RAID 0. 10Gbe to the left and T4 Ethernet to the right.Below are the RAID 0 HDD results which again, make zero sense unless the ZimaCube Pro is using some sort of caching. Normally, a twin HDD array such as this is capable of 580MBps maximum. The ZimaCube Pro is obviously caching as a two-HDD RAID 0 array should top out at 600MBps.I sound like a broken record, but its likely some sort of caching or software wizardry skewed the results. That said, its difficult to complain about anything thats faster than you expect. So I wont.The basic story is this: Youll get between 600MBps and 1000MBps using its 10Gbe port, depending on media, and anywhere from 800MBps to 1.9GBps (read) using the Thunderbolt 4 port as an ethernet bridge will be the norm.Should you buy the ZimaCube Pro?If youre looking for fast, capacious NAS with the possibility of a faster direct Thunderbolt connection, then the ZimaCube is an attractive solution. Especially for virtual computing and media streaming. Overall, despite the issues (again, theres really no need for NVMe RAID 0 over ethernet), I enjoyed both looking at the ZimaCubes handsome countenance and using it. Note that IceWhale also makes one of our favorite modular build-it-yourself NAS solutions which you can find reviewed on sister publication TechHive.

Ubisoft has divulged many new details about Naoe and Yasuke, the protagonists of the upcoming Assassins Creed Shadows. Each feels unique, from differences in mobility and survivability to their dodges. However, for those who favor speed and the rush of the older games, Naoe is touted as the fastest Assassin yet.Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, creative director Jonathan Dumont said, Naoes the fastest Assassin we ever made. She runs super fast. She has a lot of gadgets to keep her stealthy so that she doesnt have to fight often. We wanted to satisfy that for players that come in for that ninja-Assassin game.Interestingly, Naoe also has a sprint that pays homage to the Naruto run, which characters in the manga/anime assumed when traveling at high speeds. We do have a run on top of buildings that has a little bit of a wink-wink to it, said Dumont.Naoes sneaky playstyle is a boon for night-time infiltration, but youre not beholden to playing as her throughout. If a more action-heavy experience is what youre after, you can focus on Yasuke about as much. Best of all, you acquire gear for both characters throughout the story, which means minimal grinding when switching back and forth.Assassins Creed Shadows launches on February 14th, 2025, for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Dumont recently said its main journey is comparable to Origins/Odyssey and Valhalla, which could mean anywhere between 30 to 60 hours.

CD Projekt RED has expressed on multiple occasions that it intends to ensureThe Witcher 4is at least as big of a game asThe Witcher 3was, if not even more so, but in the aftermath of the action RPGs official announcement, the developer has also spoken about wanting to improve on the seminal 2015 titles in other ways.More specifically, speaking in a recent interview with VGC, narrative director Phillipp Weber talk about how CD Projekt RED is prioritizing crafting a deeper and more immersive open world rather than one that is bigger thanThe Witcher 3smap.The open world doesnt necessarily need to be bigger and bigger and bigger, but the open world can be deeper and more immersive, more systematic, he said. I think thats something thats really exciting to look at.Executive producer Magorzata Mitrga added that thoughThe Witcher 4will of course be a sizable experience, the focus for the studio is more on ambition and immersion.I would say making a feature for the game is not about making the best feature ever, its about making the best feature in the time you have, she said. Its more about the ambition of having really complex and immersive things going on and not necessarily the actual size. Of course, its a single-player, open-world action RPG; its going to be big.Weber concluded by saying that ensuring the game delivers consistently meaningful and interesting content without feeling repetitive will be how it ensures that it doesnt feel too big.We always say that whatever we do we want to have it be meaningful and it means it can be only so much that is actually meaningful and interesting, he said. Once we would have to start repeating stuff I think thats when its too big.For more details onThe Witcher 4, head on over here.