I have always wanted to live a life filled with art, declares Susan Aqeel, who took a couple of painting classes in college and, unable to keep up with the classs requirements, resolved to appreciate it in other ways. In 1968, Susan landed in New York's Soho neighborhood, where she brushed shoulders with the likes of artists like Louise Nevelson and Jamie Wyeth (Andrew Wyeth's son). At night, the Italian restaurants were brimming with just two kinds of people: artists and the Mafia, she recalls. Artists had the whole floor of each building to themselves, and it felt like the great American art renaissance.In the years to follow, Susan moved to California where she raised her son, Omar, filling their home with her favorite paintings. Omar moved to New York in 2011, studying interiors at Pratt, interning for Steven Volpe, and then starting his interior design firm, Methods of Assembly, this year. Thats when Susan, now retired, started dividing her time between the west and east coasts, finally purchasing a small pied--terre in the city to be closer to her son. She knew exactly who would design it and how. Susan wanted a city pied--terre that felt cool and relaxing, clean and uncluttered, somewhere to host a party after a gallery opening, a place to work, and a home in the cityone that would certainly be filled with art, says Omar, who was thrilled to step up to the task. I really wanted this project to be a love letter to how I see her: bold, elegant, independent, and defiant of expectation."David MitchellThe apartment sits on the second floor of an 1854 townhouse in the West Chelsea historic district. Its Anglo-Italianate architectural style features ornately carved stone fireplaces and double French door windows that open to look out over the High Line hotel. Fittingly, its just around the corner from galleries like Jack Shainman, Ateliers Courbet, and Gagosian. Before Omar could begin bringing Susans artwork in, however, there were some square footage issues to address. Fortunately, the apartments bones were good, save the core of the apartment, which contains the kitchen, bathroom, and hallways. The front room had these 11-foot ceilings, but when you walked into the kitchen, you were in a two-foot-by-two-foot space that felt like a shoebox, Omar explains. We cut into the ceiling and realized there was another few feet of possible ceiling space there, which is architectural gold in a historic New York apartment. Omars team raised the ceilings and doorways, adding molding to further create that sense of height. The floors, too, were bleached and refinished with a lighter hue. David MitchellBeyond those additions, Omar sought to maintain as much of the original character of the building as possible, seeking to highlight the houses original details, including the moldings, the ornate fireplaces, and a pair of 18th-century French panels, which became a jumping off point for Omar and Susan. I was envisioning a place where she would get off the Jitney, open the door, and exhale, Omar explains. We landed on this idea of the informal gallery with inspiration from the concept of a Parisian salon.The living room, which they dubbed the salon, is a lesson in balance: a creamy white backdrop (Farrow & Ball's All White) is accentuated by a loud pair of cherry red 1978 Don Chadwick club chairs and a larger-than-life painting by Evan Paul English; traditional architectural details sit alongside a contemporary Astep VV Cinquanta Suspension lamp and a Brutalist-style library table in nero black marble with lacquered conical bases. In considering how to bring together Susans tastes and artworks, Omar looked to a lot of Italian design references (Osvaldo Borsani's legendary villa outside Milan, for example) and Jean Dunand, to speak to Susans love of Art Deco. We don't need to over-dramatize the rooms great architectural features with excessive design, Omar explains. It was really focusing on creating this quiet backdrop and letting the furniture become sculptural art pieces. David MitchellEvery project needs one element that pushes one's boundaries. For Susan, that was the kitchen. I spent a lot of time in the San Francisco design center area, and I have seen all the kitchens and have done my homework for years. I knew my kitchen style was Ralph Lauren with a touch of Restoration Hardware, Susan explains. Omar suggested a stainless steel kitchen and at first blush, it seemed way too out there for me. With time, however, Susan says she kept going back to that. I finally told Omar, Do it your way, Im not going to resist anymore.The whole room is a piece of art. Omar, given a carte blanche, threw out the cooking spaces standard cabinets, in place of brushed stainless steel cabinets by Reform. On one side, the cabinets reach from floor-to-ceiling; on the other, similar cabinetry goes up to the standard kitchen counter height. I was trying to un-kitchen it as much as possible, Omar jokes. Its steel minimalism juxtaposed with a warm Akari light sculpture, and there's no backsplashit's all lime wash with a stain-resistant wax finish. I think this really speaks to the tension we were investigating in the project. For Omar, inspiration for the kitchen was sparked by his studies of the late American artist Donald Judd: I like to go back to the simple forms, planes, cubes. Susan says the rooms simplicity speaks for itself, The whole room is a piece of art. See Inside This Artful City HavenThe apartment is filled with treasures that Susan has collected over the years. I know all the artists, Susan fondly recalls. Theyre friends: one is an old boyfriend; another, Michael Snodgrass, is a friend of ours in Carmel; and another is Omars ex-husbandall wonderful artists that are still living. Somehow this apartment feels more alive, because Im surrounded by the work of living, breathing friends. Rachel SilvaAssistant Digital EditorRachel Silva is the associate digital editor at ELLE DECOR, where she covers all things design, architecture, and lifestyle. She also oversees the publications feature article coverage, and is, at any moment, knee-deep in an investigation on everything from the best spa gifts to the best faux florals on the internet right now. She has more than 12 years of experience in editorial, working as a photo assignment editor at Time and acting as the president of Women in Media in NYC. She went to Columbia Journalism School, and her work has been nominated for awards from ASME, the Society of Publication Designers, and World Press Photo.

In the days leading up to January 1, there's a delirious energy, revving its engines to start afresh. Motivation and aspiration peak around the New Year, and we're all busy making promises to ourselves. In 2025, you will look at your phone less. You will work out at least two times a week. And, you will finally clean out the office/pantry/hall closet. That yen to declutter is almost universal; so much of our happiness is tied to our environment, its no wonder then that home projects often make an appearance on our New Year's resolutions. The urge to revamp your home isn't unique to design newbies. Even interior designers, the experts who spend all year decorating other peoples homes, often have their own projects piling up. (See, they're just like us!) And their plans for home improvement can serve as a blueprint for our own. To help jumpstart our design to-do list and facilitate creating a more streamlined and calm home, we checked in with six interior designers to see what they are planning to tackle in 2025. Spoiler alert: Decluttering and rethinking the post-pandemic home office are top tasks.Related StoriesExcise the ExcessDaniel Cortez//Getty ImagesFor the New Year, San Francisco-based designer Jon de la Cruz of DLCID is making an effort to get rid of the extra stuff cluttering his cabinets. Instead, he wants to focus on the items he really loves and needs. "It's a reset from the past few years of padding my nest during (and after) the pandemic," explains de la Cruz. His first task: editing his kitchen and pantry. "Between the amount of china glass and serve ware that I've collected over the yearsand even the abandoned spices and cans from the ambitious recipes I never madethese spaces definitely need thinning out."Designer Nicole Arruda of Nicole Alexandra Design recently purchased her first home, an old Spanish revival in Larchmont, N.Y. Her resolution is to streamline her collection before moving into the new space. "I'm letting go of excess dishware, towels, bedding, and more clothes than I'd care to admit, along with dcor pieces that no longer resonate with me," she says. "What I'm keeping are the vintage treasures, artwork, and everything else that continues to inspire me."Transition a Kid's Room to a Tween RoomElliott FuernissA bedroom by Atelier DavisWhen kids hit milestone agesin interior designer Jessica Davis' case that would be 10 (double digits!) and 13 (teenager!)it's time to revamp their rooms. "I want to make their rooms less juvenile and better places for them to hang out with their friends and do homework," says the Atlanta-based designer and founder of Atelier Davis. An instantly impactful first step is to remove the childlike wallpaper in each room and replace it with fun paint color. In her daughter's room, her plan is to bring in a sage green dresser, and add a built-in desk/vanity in an existing niche with a fun lamp and mirror. To finish the space, Davis will update the bed with a half-round wall-mounted headboard and new nightstands. In her son's room, which the designer says is pretty small, she plans on adding built-ins that include a closet ("right now he uses a locker as a closet"), a long desk surface, and shelving. Sort Out The Home OfficeNicole PapierPapiers Craft RoomThe pandemic created huge shifts in the way we live and work at home. While some of us are returning to in-person office life and are reclaiming that home workspace for other purposes, others now know they are permanently working remotely. And for them, it's time to double down on a home office. During Covid, Charlotte-based designer Natalie Papier's kids' craft room became her spouse's office. "Now that my husband works there so much, the mood doesn't fit the decorespecially when he's on a Zoom call," says Papier. The art-loving designer, who just released a book called Start with the Art, says the quickest way to change up a vibe is with paint color. "The ceiling currently is this very vibrant blue with a grid wallpaper on the walls," says Papier. "So I'm going to take off the wallpaper and repaint the room in a moody cognac brown color." Shes then going to layer in new lighting so there's different levels throughout the day. And finally, she'll find another home for the taxidermy marlin hanging in the back of the desk.Refresh the BedroomPhoto : DOUGLAS FRIEDMANOver the past few years, de la Cruz has focused his home projects on his living spacespecifically, integrating a work-from-home area that's both functional and attractive. Now that the designer is going into the office regularly, he's ready to makeover his bedroom. On his wish list: a new mattress set, a custom bed assembly with integrated nightstands, and, of course, new crisp luxury sheets. "The perfect nightstand has a drawer (for storage) and open shelf below for charging a device and slipping a book into, and a pullout tray for a water bottle and a pair of glasses," says de la Cruz. For his narrow bedroom, he's integrating wood nightstands with a fully upholstered headboard panel. "I'm cleating it to the wall to take advantage of every inch," he says. As for bedding, he's coveting Linen Society's cool and crisp Vintage Percale. Upgrade Tech In-House and In the GarageFuse//Getty ImagesOne New Year's to-do on designer Sondra Ganz's list is to streamline the bluetooth sound capabilities in her San Francisco home. "Right now we have miscellaneous bluetooth speakers that need to be charged all the time in addition to these really cool-looking old-school speakers," explains the founder of Studio Ganz. "I want to find the right balance between invisible technology and purposeful sound decor so we can enjoy music in various rooms of our home more easily." Another tech project on her list is to upgrade the electrical and wall storage in the garage to accommodate the familys hybrid vehicle and bicycles.Find Your Home Decor Holy GrailDaniel Drobik / 500px//Getty Images"We've been looking for the perfect dining chairs for 10 years," Ganz says. "This is the year Im committed to making that happen." Since dining chairs are a big investment, Ganz and her husband are on "the second round of 'test' consignment chairs" to see what style and fit they like best. "Investing in some temporary furniture that you can resell easily is a great way to test proof a concept," she says.Art is another room-changing item that takes a time to find the perfect pieces. Finding the right piece requires combing through sites, galleries, flea markets and more. "We were never really able to finish finding art for our house," says San Francisco-based designer Regan Baker of Regan Baker Design. This is the year she is ready to invest in pieces for several walls throughout their home and especially to their stairwell. Once that mission is accomplished, 2025 will be shaping up beautifully.Follow House Beautiful on Instagram and TikTok.

Ive been arguing that passwords are horrible for the best part of a decade now, and was an enthusiastic early adopter of the far better approach of passkeys.Passkeys were supposed to achieve the holy grail of an approach which is both more secure than passwords and so easy to use that everyone would adopt them. But a new piece outlines four problems with the technology Passkeys are more secure than passwordsPasswords have a number of security issues:Websites may know them, even if they are supposedly encryptedNon-techies tend to re-use passwords, so data breaches are hugely problematicPasswords are vulnerable to phishing attacksPasskeys solve all of this. Instead of being challenged for our username and password when we login, we are invited to use a passkey. With this system, the website or app asks our device to authenticate us, using Face ID or Touch ID. The device tells the website who we are, and that it has confirmed our identity.The web server trusts your device to authenticate you in exactly the same way that payment terminals trust your iPhone or Apple Watch for Apple Pay transactions because it knows your have been authenticated locally using biometrics.In theory, passkeys are way simplerWhen we create an account, we should be offered the option of using a passkey, and all we have to do is agree. Our device authenticates us, and the service creates our account. To login next time, we just use Face ID or Touch ID and were in.But there are four big problemsIf you use only Apple devices, and use Safari as your web browser on all of them, then passkeys get close to being that simple. iCloud synchronization means that an account created on one Apple device will be accessible on all your others.But as Arstechnica points out, there are a lot of situations where the reality is rather different from the promise, starting with inconsistent user experiences.The experience of logging into PayPal with a passkey on Windows will be different from logging into the same site on iOS or even logging into it with Edge on Android. And forget about trying to use a passkey to log into PayPal on Firefox. The payment site doesnt support that browser on any OS.Worse, passkeys are tied to specific browsers.Another example is when I create a passkey for my LinkedIn account on Firefox. Because I use a wide assortment of browsers on platforms, I have chosen to sync the passkey using my 1Password password manager. In theory, that choice allows me to automatically use this passkey anywhere I have access to my 1Password account, something that isnt possible otherwise. But its not as simple as all that. When I look at the passkey in LinkedIn settings, it shows as being created for Firefox on Mac OS X 10, even though it works on all the browsers and OSes Im using.A third issue is that companies like Google and Apple may come close to forcing you to use their own passkey management systems, even when you have a different preference, and sometimes when you already have a passkey set up.I just want to open LinkedIn using the passkey thats being synced by 1Password to all my devices. Somehow, the mysterious entity responsible for this message (its Google in this case) has hijacked the process in an attempt to convince me to use its platform.Also, consider the experience on WebAuthn.io, a site that demonstrates how the standard works under different scenarios. When a user wants to enroll a physical security key to log in on macOS, they receive a dialog that steers them toward using a passkey instead and to sync it through iCloud.Finally, theres the fact that while the whole point of passkeys is to ditch the security holes created by passwords, almost every service forces you to create a password login too.Of the hundreds of sites supporting passkeys, there isnt one I know of that allows users to ditch their password completely. The password is still mandatory [] Threat actors will devise hacks and social engineering attacks that exploit this shortcoming. Then were right back where we were before.The full piece is well worth reading.Photo byTheRegistionUnsplashAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

A US Army soldier has been arrested on suspicion of extorting money from AT&T and Verizon, following data breaches which saw a massive amount of customer data obtained.The 20-year-old was arrested near the Army base in Fort Hood, Texas, on suspicion of being the cybercriminal known as Kiberphant0m and statements by his mother arent likely to help The indictment doesnt reference specific cases, but Krebs on Security ties the arrest to AT&T and Verizon hacks, in large part thanks to statements by the accuseds mother.Federal authorities have arrested and indicted a 20-year-old U.S. Army soldier on suspicion of being Kiberphant0m, a cybercriminal who has been selling and leaking sensitive customer call records stolen earlier this year from AT&T and Verizon []Cameron John Wagenius, 20, was arrested [] on Dec. 20, after being indicted on two criminal counts of unlawful transfer of confidential phone records.The sparse, two-page indictment (PDF) doesnt reference specific victims or hacking activity, nor does it include any personal details about the accused. But a conversation with Wagenius mother Minnesota native Alicia Roen filled in the gaps.Roen said that prior to her sons arrest hed acknowledged being associated with Connor Riley Moucka, a.k.a. Judische, a prolific cybercriminal from Canada who was arrested in late October for stealing data from and extorting dozens of companies that stored data at the cloud service Snowflake.The sites Brian Krebs had previously identified evidence from chat logs that Kiberphant0m was a US soldier stationed in South Korea.Moucka was arrested back in November, and has been indicted of 20 counts. The report suggests that Moucka was the primary hacker, while the main role of Wagenius was to obtain money from the data.Massive AT&T data breachOne of the ransom demands appears to relate to a massive data breach at AT&T, in which personal details were obtained for almost every customer the carrier had at the time.In an incredible security fail, the stolen data includes not only customer phone numbers, but also records of who contacted whom a potential privacy minefield []To make matters worse, hackers were also able to obtain cell site identification numbers for some of the calls and texts which can provide locations of customers to an accuracy of around 300 feet in some areas.It was later reported that AT&T paid a ransom of $373k in Bitcoin in return for the deletion of the data.The carrier said the data was obtained from a third-party cloud platform, and this is now believed to be Snowflake where data from other companies was also obtained. This includes obtaining thepersonal data of 560M TicketMaster customers.Wiredprovides evidence that AT&T paid a ransom to the hacker in return for them deleting the data. The hacker originally demanded $1M in Bitcoin, and the amount finally paid was the equivalent of $373k.Verizon call logsThe other demand appears to relate to Verizon call logs.On Nov. 5, Kiberphant0m offered call logs stolen from Verizons push-to-talk (PTT) customers mainly U.S. government agencies and emergency first responders. On Nov. 9, Kiberphant0m posted a sales thread on BreachForums offering a SIM-swapping service targeting Verizon PTT customers. In a SIM-swap, fraudsters use credentials that are phished or stolen from mobile phone company employees to divert a targets phone calls and text messages to a device they control.The indictment against Wagenius has been transferred to the Western District of Washington in Seattle.Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

CarPlay 2, aka next-generation CarPlay, was announced way back in the summer of 2022. At the time, Apple said that a list of supporting cars would be available in 2023, and two brands were later said to be launching in 2024.Today is the last chance to hit that deadline, and Apples CarPlay webpage still carries that promise. Unless theres a surprise announcement later today, the question is: Will the date be quietly changed to 2025, or is this project now dead in the water ?CarPlayFirst announced as iOS in the Car in 2013, and quickly rebranded to CarPlay, the first version launched as part of iOS 7. It got a new look in 2019.CarPlay Dashboard is the biggest rethinking of the CarPlay Home screen since it launched. While weve seen the ability to rearrange apps and hide select apps added over the years, CarPlay in iOS 13 adds an additional Home screen to the left of the existing icon grid that presents a dynamic cluster of information on a grid.The left half of the Dashboard shows your location on a map, current navigation, or an overview of your route. The right half of Dashboard is even more dynamic, surfacing quick access to upcoming calendar events which can include addresses, suggestions for routes including home, playback controls for audio apps, and Siri Suggestions including HomeKit actions like opening your garage when you arrive home.CarPlay 2 promisesApple announced a huge overhaul of CarPlay at WWDC 2022, in which the feature would take over the entire dashboard.This next generation of CarPlay is the ultimate iPhone experience for the car. It provides content for all the drivers screens including the instrument cluster, ensuring a cohesive design experience that is the very best of your car and your iPhone. Vehicle functions like radio and temperature controls are handled right from CarPlay. And personalization options ranging from widgets to selecting curated gauge cluster designs make it unique to the driver.The webpage read vehicle announcements coming in late 2023, with an impressive list of automakers said to be on board:Land RoverMercedes BenzLincolnAudiVolvoHondaPorscheNissanFordJaguarAcuraPolestarInfinitiRenaultAt the end of the year, Porsche and Aston Martin which had not been on the original list each said they would be launching new models with CarPlay 2 in 2024. As of the time of writing on December 31, Apples website still lists it as coming this year.Will it launch in 2025, or is the project dead?Barring a surprise car launch or two on the final day of the year, that promised date will need to be changed to 2025. But the bigger question is whether it will now happen at all?One of the companies on the original list changed its mind earlier this year. When The Verges Nilay Patel asked CEO Ola Kllenius whether Mercedes-Benz would ever support next-generation CarPlay and let Apple take over all of the infotainment in a car, he replied that the short answer is no.We noted at the time that other car brands were keeping quiet about it, which didnt seem a good sign. That was still the case in September, when Porsche said it had no updates on its plans, and Aston Martin declined to comment at all.Given the continued sound of chirping crickets, it seems more than possible that other car brands have reached the same conclusion as Mercedes. Given the technological sophistication of todays cars, it really doesnt make sense to hand over your screens to a third-party company, and it will make even less sense as we inch ever closer to true self-driving vehicles.Well have to see whether Apple changes the date, or quietly removes all reference to next-gen CarPlay. Either way, if I were a betting man, my money would be on it never launching at all or only in such a watered-down fashion that it will really be more like CarPlay 1.2.What are your views? Please take our poll, and share your thoughts in the comments.Image: AppleAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

John Edwards, Technology Journalist & AuthorDecember 31, 20245 Min ReadBrain light via Alamy Stock PhotoBudget planning tools help IT leaders build an accurate estimate of future income and expenses in a detailed enough way to make sound operational decisions. That sounds simple enough, yet in actual practice creating a realistic budget is a time-consuming task that many IT leaders dread.AI has the ability to analyze historical finance data, usage patterns, project expenditures, and related inputs to better forecast the future, says Tyler Higgins, managing director of management and technology consulting firm AArete, via email.When teamed with automated data collection, AI has the potential to enhance many budget modeling processes, says Anurag Sahay, managing director and global lead of AI and data sciences at digital engineering firm Nagarro. In an online interview, he notes that AI can also improve extrapolation and forecasting to assess resource needs, extract key insights from unstructured feedback, and optimize decision-making models for the best planning outcome and what-if scenarios.Multiple BenefitsAI-supported budget planning offers both direct and indirect benefits. "The direct benefits are streamlining and shortening the budgeting process," Higgins says. "The ideal outcome is a predictive budgeting process that contains powerful scenario planning tools and improved accuracy."Related:The most exciting part about using AI in IT budget planning is how it can shift the entire mindset from cost-cutting to value-building, says Jeff Mains, founder of Champion Leadership Group, a business training and coaching provider. Traditionally, budgets were seen as waysto manage resources and avoid overspending, but with AI were talking about a tool that identifies opportunities for innovation, he explains via email. "It doesnt just keep you within budget -- it shows you where strategic investments in IT can drive growth." Mains says he uses AI to not only forecast expenses, but to create dynamic budget models that adjust in real-time based on shifting business needs and external factors. "Its about creating a budget that grows with you, rather than just containing costs."AI-driven predictive analytics and benchmarking tools are already available for parts of the overall IT budget process, says Steven Hall, chief AI officer at technology research and advisory firm ISG. In an email interview, he notes that several technology business management tools, such as Apptio, provide deep insights and scenario planning to analyze current spending patterns and run savings and growth scenarios. "These platforms are integrating GenAI capabilities to provide even deeper insights and look for savings by integrating usage, external benchmark, and demand data to plan better IT spending."Related:First StepsHiggins says the best way to begin using AI budget planning is to pick a specific use case and explore its potential. "We're still in the infancy of AI, yet use cases keep growing," he notes. "Instead of biting off everything at once, pick a few use cases and ensure that your baseline operational, financial, and usage data is sufficient, clean, and well structured." Higgins suggests establishing an objective for each use case, then deploying a pilot AI project to determine if it's delivering the anticipated output.When embedded into IT financial platforms, AI budgeting will provide deeper insight into opportunities as well as create the ability to model various scenarios for growth, Hall says. "These evolving capabilities will also provide leaders with actionable insights and identify specific actions to address budget challenges."The best approach is to take the long view, Mains says. "AI can deliver immediate insights, but its real power comes when its integrated into long-term strategic planning." He suggests selecting a single area of volatile IT spending, such as cloud services or software licenses, and allowing AI to analyze usage patterns in order to offer smarter budget recommendations. "From there, you can gradually scale AIs role, aligning its outputs with broader business goals."Related:Risks and BenefitsAI's biggest benefit is predictive accuracy. It's not just about saving time -- it's about knowing where your IT investments will have the highest impact six months from now, or even a year down the road, Mains says. The biggest risk is treating AI as a silver bullet. "The human element is still critical," he warns. "Without context and strategic insight, even the most advanced AI models can miss the mark."Hall notes that AI models are only as good as the data they're fed, and poor-quality or incomplete data can easily result in inaccurate budget forecasts. "Implementing AI tools also requires an upfront investment in technology and talent, which can be a barrier for smaller organizations."Looking ForwardThe hardest part of most AI-driven projects, including budgeting, is getting started, Higgins observes. "These tools are never going to be perfect at first, but they will get better, and the results will be tangible for every organization."About the AuthorJohn EdwardsTechnology Journalist & AuthorJohn Edwards is a veteran business technology journalist. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and numerous business and technology publications, including Computerworld, CFO Magazine, IBM Data Management Magazine, RFID Journal, and Electronic Design. He has also written columns for The Economist's Business Intelligence Unit and PricewaterhouseCoopers' Communications Direct. John has authored several books on business technology topics. His work began appearing online as early as 1983. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, he wrote daily news and feature articles for both the CompuServe and Prodigy online services. His "Behind the Screens" commentaries made him the world's first known professional blogger.See more from John EdwardsNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also LikeWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore Reports

Separating AI reality from hyped-up fiction isnt always easy. Thats why weve created the AI Hype Indexa simple, at-a-glance summary of everything you need to know about the state of the industry. More than 70 countries went to the polls in 2024. The good news is that this year of global elections turned out to be largely free from any major deepfake campaigns or AI manipulation. Instead we saw lots of AI slop: buff Trump, Elon as ultra-Chad, California as catastrophic wasteland. While some worry that development of large language models is slowing down, you wouldnt know it from the steady drumbeat of new products, features, and services rolling out from itty-bitty startups and massive incumbents alike. So whats for real and whats just a lot of hallucinatory nonsense?

Everyone loves an air fryer. It's become the go-to kitchen gadget in recent years, thanks to its ease of use, energy-saving capabilities as well as quick turnaround when it comes to cooking food. If you've been curious about one but don't want to spend that much then this Bella Pro model for only $45 is a great excuse to do so. Available at this low price for today only -- as part of a limited-time deal at Best Buy -- the model is down by a sizable $65 from its usual $110 price point.See at Best BuyAvailable in a modern matte black finish with stainless steel handles, the Bella Pro air fryer comes with 8-quartz, a digital touch screen and a divided basket for cooking two foods simultaneously. Its "extra-large capacity" is suited for feeding up to 8 people while its removable ceramic nonstick basket and crisping tray can be slotted into a dishwasher without worry, meaning you spend more time with friends and family instead of cleaning.Read more: 39 Unique Gifts for People Who Have EverythingThe 1700-watt heating system provides insanely fast heat-up and cool-down times with an adjustable cooking temperature of up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, much quicker than using a cooker or oven. On top of this, it sports 8 8 built-in cooking functions: Air Fry, Roast, Broil, Bake, Reheat, Keep Warm, Pizza and Dehydrate.Why this deal mattersBest Buy operates flash deals that only last for 24 hours with only a handful of products being severely reduced. The Bella Pro air fryer is one of those products today with a massive 59% discount attached. It's one of the cheapest prices we've ever seen for this particular model and likely won't return to this price point for quite some time. It's also worth considering stock issues as when they're gone -- they're gone.Looking to upgrade your whole kitchen? Make sure to read up on the best microwaves you can find on the market today with Toshiba, Panasonic and more big-name brands appearing. CNET is always covering a wide array of deals on tech products and much more. Start with the hottest sales and discounts on theCNET Deals page, and sign up for theCNET Deals Textto get daily deals sent straight to your phone. Add the freeCNET Shopping extensionto your browser for real-time price comparisons and cash-back offers. And peruse ourgift guide, which includes a full range of ideas for birthdays, anniversaries and more. See at CNET

Refinance rates were mixed, but one key rate fell. Keep an eye out for lower rates.

Money Mortgages Article updated on Dec 31, 2024 Mortgage Rates Inch Up Since Last Week: Mortgage Interest Rates Today, Dec. 31, 2024 A handful of notable mortgage rates are moving up. But where they go next will depend on the incoming economic data and the Fed's plans for future interest rate cuts. Our Experts Written by Edited by