• The Absolutely Iconic Mr. Bean Driving A Car Moment Gets Recreated Using LEGO Bricks
    www.yankodesign.com
    Dont come at me, but Mr. Bean is easily one of the top comedies of all time. One man, zero dialogues, endless possibilities Rowan Atkinson gave us a gem of a TV series that transcended age, race, nationality, or language. Everyone understood, laughed at, and loved Mr. Bean, which makes this particular LEGO set an absolute blast of incredible nostalgia.If you grew up with a TV in the 90s, you knew this Mr. Bean skit. The tight-lipped quirky character just bought an armchair, only to realize that he had to carry the armchair back with him in his tiny Mini Cooper car. Rather than collapsing the rear seats and shoving the armchair into the cars boot, Bean came up with one of TVs most ingenious MacGyvered hacks he would drive the car while seated in his armchair Google Waymo had nothing on Mr. Beans sheer genius.Designer: TOMOELLThe entire skit, which lasted a few minutes, involved Bean setting his car up by tying the armchair on top, and then figuring out how he would drive the car from up top. A rope tied to the steering wheel, a brick on the accelerator, and a mop pressing the brake whenever necessary nothing was remotely practical, but Bean pulled it off. Stuff fell apart, his car nearly had an accident multiple times, but the episode ended with Bean reaching home in one piece, along with his car and his new armchair. The LEGO set captures Beans journey with impeccable detail.The LEGO Ideas build comes from the mind of TOMOELL, a LEGO enthusiast and 90s TV connoisseur who wanted to pay tribute to one of his favorite TV characters of all time. The show ran for only 5 years, but had a massive impact on our culture, and on TOMOELL himself, who built the set as a part of LEGOs 90s Throwback challenge.It isnt clear how many bricks make up this Mr. Bean set, but look closely and its just a treasure-trove of detail. The cars built out immaculately, with everything from the perfect lime green color palette (including the black hood) to even the latch on the door, which was how Bean locked his car. Up top is the armchair with the Sold tag, Mr. Bean himself in his iconic attire, and a face that perfectly captures Beans inimitable hilarious expression eyes, eyebrows, and all. The Bean figure can be articulated, and the set even comes with the broom, rope, and roller that form a part of the props in the episode. Bean is even accompanied by Teddy, his stuffed toy best friend.TOMOELLs submission can be found on the LEGO Ideas website along with a bunch of other submissions in LEGOs Build Your Nostalgia 90s Throwback! challenge like scenes from X-Files, Beavis & Butthead, Captain Planet, and Jumanji among others. Voting for the challenge begins 6th January, once the submission phase ends, so if youre reading this then, consider dropping a vote for your favorite LEGO Ideas build! I know which one Im definitely voting forThe post The Absolutely Iconic Mr. Bean Driving A Car Moment Gets Recreated Using LEGO Bricks first appeared on Yanko Design.
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  • Apple ceases iPhone 14, third-gen iPhone SE sales in the EU
    appleinsider.com
    Apple has pulled the iPhone 14 and the third-gen iPhone SE from its online Apple Store in a number of EU countries, all to abide by inbound charger regulations.iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 PlusEarlier in December, it was rumored that Apple would discontinue sales of the iPhone 14 generation of devices, as well as the current iPhone SE, in the European Union by the end of 2024. Two weeks later, it has become a reality.The online version of the Apple Store covering many EU territories now do not list the iPhone 14 nor the iPhone SE. The top menu for the iPhone section of the regional Apple website now has nothing between the iPhone 15 and the Compare options in affected countries, skipping over where the iPhone 14 and SE used to exist. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
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  • The Batman 2 is delayed to 2027, but Mickey 17s release date is moving up
    www.theverge.com
    If youve been waiting patiently to see how Matt Reeves story for The Batman continues once the reboots sequel arrives, youll have to wait a little longer. It was once set to open October 2nd, 2026, after an initial delay caused by the Hollywood writers strike derailed Warner Bros. plans to release it in 2025, but the studio has now announced that its pushing The Batman Part II even further back to October 1st, 2027, according to Variety. It appears the most recent shift could be strategic. Variety adds that Warner Bros. has rushed to fill that October 2nd, 2026, slot with an unnamed film featuring Tom Cruise and directed by Alejandro G. Irritu.While that sucks for fans of the bat, one nice consolation is news that Bong Joon-Hos Mickey 17 is coming even sooner than expected; it is now scheduled for March 7th, 2025, after delays of its own caused the original 2024 release to slip. Mickey 17 stars Robert Pattinson (who also plays Bruce Wayne in The Batman Part II) and is directly inspired by the Edward Ashton novel Mickey7, which follows a willingly and literally disposable employee through his many doors of death. Also starring in the film are Steven Yeun, Naomi Ackie, Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo, and Thomas Turgoose. Warner Bros. reportedly swapped its release date with Ryan Cooglers Sinners, which now opens April 18th, to give Mickey 17 more time on Imax screens.
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  • Do Kwon will be extradited to the US to face charges over Terras $40 billion crypto crash
    www.theverge.com
    It was concluded that most of the criteria provided for by law support the extradition request of the competent authorities of the United States of America, a machine-translated version of Montenegros Ministry of Justices statement said. It doesnt say when Montenegro plans on releasing Kwon to the US. As noted by Bloomberg, its also unclear whether this decision is final, since Montenegro ruled to extradite Kwon to South Korea in August.
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  • Elon Musk riles up Trumps far-right base by praising immigrants
    www.theverge.com
    Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, and other members of President-elect Donald Trumps Silicon Valley coalition are clashing with the MAGA movements hardline anti-immigrant faction, and its allegedly resulted in Musk stripping far-right critics verification badges on X.The conflict centers on Musk and Ramaswamys recent praise for foreign tech workers, beginning soon after Indian immigrant Sriram Krishnan joined the team of Trumps AI and crypto czar David Sacks. Its pitted Trumps tech mogul donor class against his older network of far-right influencers like activist and Trump companion Laura Loomer while escalating into racist rhetoric against Indian Americans in particular. The ugly, extremely online fight between the American far-right influence network parallels the immigration debate currently being hashed out more quietly in Washington.Anti-immigrant rhetoric was a cornerstone of Trumps pitch to voters; on top of promoting false, racist rumors about immigrants and promising mass deportations that could destabilize the American economy, hes expected to revive an H-1B visa crackdown that he imposed during his first term. At the same time, Trump is leaning heavily on support from parts of Silicon Valley, which relies on the H-1B program for engineers and other skilled workers. Both these positions are represented in Trumps inner circle: Trumps homeland security advisor will be immigration crackdown proponent Stephen Miller, for instance, while Sacks will shape tech policy and Musk and Ramaswamy will lead the unofficial Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.These attacks have become crude, and not in the holiday spirit.The inherent tension became obvious when Sacks announced Krishnans appointment on X, then began fielding attacks from popular pro-Trump voices. Loomer, who joined Trump on the campaign trail, said the pick was deeply disturbing, pointing to a Krishnan post asking DOGE to unlock skilled immigration. Another users response, highlighted by Sacks, asked did any of yall vote for this Indian to run America? Sacks responded that Sriram has been a U.S. citizen for a decade. Hes not running America. ... These attacks have become crude, and not in the holiday spirit.Musk and Ramaswamy then fueled the conflict by jumping in with praise of immigrant workers. (Musk himself, of course, immigrated to the US from South Africa under allegedly illegal circumstances.) If you want your TEAM to win the championship, you need to recruit top talent wherever they may be, Musk posted on X, implicitly supporting channels like the H-1B program. Musk said he would of course prefer to hire Americans than go through the painful and slow work visa process, but there is a dire shortage of extremely talented and motivated engineers in America.Ramaswamy chimed in with a theory that American pop culture like the 90s sitcom Family Matters venerated mediocrity over excellence. An X engineer escalated the situation by claiming that america wouldnt exist if it wasnt for Indian excellence in a series of posts Musk called a little over the top.Conversely, figures like Loomer began tearing into Musk questioning his claims about needing foreign workers, criticizing Teslas H-1B salaries, and calling him a total fucking drag on the Trump transition who over stayed his welcome at Mar a Lago in an effort to become Trumps side piece.Trouble in Musks free speech paradiseOver the past day the debate has shifted toward a new question: whether Musk has been banning his critics from Xs paid verification system, contradicting his frequent claims to have liberated X from the censorship of moderation. Loomer and others have reported losing their verified status on the platform and being locked out of monetization options. (Its unclear whether Loomer will once again handcuff herself to the companys headquarters in protest.) And Musk has posted a reminder on X that if far more credible, verified subscriber accounts (not bots) mute/block your account compared to those who like your posts, your reach will decline significantly. Its a not-so-subtle reminder that X is, Musks promises of freedom notwithstanding, a private platform controlled by a fairly thin-skinned man.None of the issues here are new, including the anti-Indian sentiments Usha Vance, the Indian American wife of Trumps running mate JD Vance, faced racist attacks on the campaign trail. Theyre newly relevant, though, as Trump prepares to take office and decide which factions concerns hell prioritize.Figures like Musk and Loomer once found common cause in attacking non-conservative Big Tech figures, and you can find artifacts of that alliance in this debate. Indian-born ex-Twitter executives Parag Agrawal and Vijaya Gadde, who were targeted by Musk during his takeover, were dubbed examples of bad Indians by Indian American conservative commentator and Trump pardon recipient Dinesh DSouza. (Im obviously one of the good ones, DSouza clarified.) Fundamentally, both sides are still hostile to immigration outside a select group of exceptions Musk has even promoted the spurious and antisemitic great replacement theory.But in 2024, Big Tech CEOs have overwhelmingly signaled theyll avoid antagonizing Trump, who could not only crack down on immigration but eviscerate parts of the tech industry with tariffs. X, where the MAGA right tends to hang out online, has lost non-conservative users to platforms like Threads and Bluesky. Trumps big-name supporters have successfully purged or silenced much of their opposition now, theyre settling scores with each other.
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  • Is Wicked Rushing Its Home Release?
    www.ign.com
    Streaming Wars is a weekly opinion column by IGNs Streaming Editor, Amelia Emberwing. Check out the last entry: If the Superman Trailer Moved You, It's Time to Check Out the Arrowverse.On December 26, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment announced that Wicked would be available for purchase or rent at home as of December 31, with the physical release hitting February 4 of 2025. The digital and physical versions are packed with goodies, including deleted scenes (one of which I discussed with director Jon M. Chu in the video below), a singalong, two commentary tracks one with Chu and one with stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande and a ton more. Theres no question of the value here (even if you dont actually own anything you purchase digitally), but what has come up is whether or not its too soon for the theatrical wonder to offer an at-home option with how well its doing at the box office, with the digital release falling barely a month after the film opened in theaters. I am of two minds here. PlayThe first is that I really like movie theaters, so of course I want them to continue to get what they can out of any blockbuster hit available. I know this in and of itself is a complicated conversation, given how expensive corporations and studios have made seeing things theatrically over the years is coupled with incessantly abhorrent behavior from theater-goers (put the damn phone away). But, to that I mostly just say visit your mom-and-pop theaters whenever and wherever you can. Big releases like Wicked help them tremendously too. The flip side of this conversation is way more complicated. Yes, I want movie theaters particularly smaller ones to survive, and they need every single win that they can get in this day and age, but I also want the people who cannot attend movie theaters to be able to experience art. One day, probably decades from now at this rate, sociologists will look back at how we as a culture didnt just decide COVID was no longer a problem, we left everyone incapable of living in that delusion behind. We, as a whole, have even largely abandoned masking, despite knowing that masks help mitigate the spread of COVID and other viruses as scientific fact. In conjunction with that, vaccination rates keep getting lower. Wicked GalleryIm not here to preach, and Im not here to have a debate. The fact of the matter is that COVID remains a tremendous risk for anyone who is immunocompromised, and long-COVID can impact anyone. Because of this, there are significant swaths of communities across the planet that simply cannot afford to risk their health over stepping foot into a movie theater with abysmal ventilation and a bunch of unmasked occupants. Additionally, attending the movies simply isnt an expense that many American families can afford with prices being what they are. Even matinees are enormous expenditures in major metros across the country. In L.A., a trip to AMC for a family of four (two parents, two children) will run you an astronomical $110.72. I can't drop that every time I want to go see a movie, and I cant expect others to do so when theyve got mouths to feed. Screenshot from AMC's website.Of course, there's always the understanding that this is a business decision on Universal's part, and that decision is ultimately beholden to the almighty dollar. Because of that, it may seem obtuse to consider the people who cannot afford to attend. But, in this instance, I believe that impact matters more than intent. Whether or not the decision is financial or otherwise, it is still easier for a family to afford a single rental or digital purchase than it is for them to pay for a trip to the movies. I want movie theaters to survive, but I also want people to be able to see movies. I wish we lived in a world where it was easy to say that Wicked should keep taking up screens for as long as its financially viable for theaters but theres way more to the conversation than that. Its because of the human element that I just cant say that its too soon for Wicked to be rushing to digital release. Everyone deserves their one short day in Oz. (Even if the wizard is a tyrant.)
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  • iPhone 16 Pro three months later: The final verdict is mixed
    9to5mac.com
    Apples iPhone 16 Pro launched just over three months ago. Ive used the device daily ever since, and theres a lot to love about itbut its not all good news. Heres how the latest flagship iPhone has fared for me three months in.Setting the iPhone upgrade contextBefore diving into all the good things about Apples latest iPhone, and its drawbacks, you should know two things:I buy the new iPhone every year, so my impressions are shaped by comparing the 16 Pro to last years 15 Pro.If you arent upgrading from an iPhone 15 Pro, youll have way more new features to love about the 16 Pro than I did.Taken as a standalone device, theres much more that could be written about the iPhone 16 Pro. But for me, I cant help but compare it to last years iPhone.All the good thingsiPhone 16 Pro has pleasantly surprised me in a variety of ways. Some of its best features were things I expected to love, but others flew under the radar and have made a bigger impact than I ever thought.Here are all the positive features that stand out most about my iPhone 16 Pro:Better battery life: Apple really undersold the battery life upgrades with the 16 Pro. This is the first time I havent had to worry about battery at all, even on travel days. Thats a game changer.5x telephoto lens: I kind of hate to write this, because next years iPhone 17 Air will drop the telephoto lens. But getting 5x on my iPhone 16 Pro (Im not a Pro Max guy) has been really great. Ive captured lots of moments with the 5x lens that I never could before.1 nit minimum brightness: My sleeper hit of the year is the iPhones new 1 nit minimum brightness. Any time I use my iPhone in bed with my wife or baby son nearby, Im thankful for this feature. In those moments, the darker my iPhone screen can go, the better.Camera Control after iOS 18.2: I quickly learned that the flagship Camera Control feature was not ideal for portrait photos, only landscape ones. So I turned off most of its functionality. But iOS 18.2 brought key changes that have made me really appreciate the new button as a fast Camera launcher and AI tool.Improved thermals: iPhone 15 Pro famously got overheated far too easily, and Im happy to report that my 16 Pro has been so much better on that front. Only once have I been unable to capture a photo due to the phone running too hotsomething that happened often on my 15 Pro.Taking the list above into consideration, this was a pretty solid year for iPhone improvements. But unfortunately, the whole experience hasnt been positive.Drawbacks and disappointmentsApple made some changes to the iPhone 16 Pro that have, for me at least, felt like regressions. Or in some cases, new features that should have made a bigger difference just havent. Here are my 16 Pro drawbacks and disappointments:Bigger with no benefit: iPhone 16 Pro is both taller and wider than the 15 Pro, sporting a 6.3-inch display compared to last years 6.1-inch model. For some users, this has been a great change. For me, I havent had a single moment when I found the larger size worthwhile. I can still use the 16 Pro comfortably with one hand, but its bulkier than before, and with no apparent benefit. I wish I had my 15 Pros size back.Weighs more: On that note, the 16 Pro weighs more too. Its unfortunate because last years 15 Pro brought a big weight reduction that felt great, and Apple gave up some of that ground just a year later.Macro mode disappoints: This years Ultrawide lens got a big 48MP upgrade that I thought would solve my macro mode problem. While Ive noticed some minor improvements, more often than not Ive still been deactivating macro mode. The main camera consistently produces better photos, even if it cant get quite as close.A18 Pro vs. A17 Pro: Finally, I expected that the A18 Pro chip might feel noticeably more powerful than last years A17 Pro, especially with Apple Intelligence tasks. While I havent done a side-by-side comparison, I havent seen much difference in my testing. Maybe future AI features will change that.iPhone 16 Pro three month wrap-upOverall, Im still very happy with my iPhone 16 Pro. Its brought meaningful improvements that make the iPhone better than ever.That said, it would have been really great to gain these improvements without sacrificing the weight and size I loved with last years iPhone 15 Pro.How does my iPhone 16 Pro experience line up with your own? Let us know in the comments.Best iPhone accessoriesAdd 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
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  • Deals: M2 iPad Air $149 off, MacBooks up to $400 off, Nomad Apple accessory sale, Magic Mouse, more
    9to5mac.com
    Alongside a sweet ongoing Amazon all-time low on the 16GB/512GB M4 Mac mini as well as up to $300 off M4 Pro MacBook Pro models, we have a fresh batch of deals today. Best Buy has now launched a giant New Year sale with up to $400 off M3 MacBooks, iPad offers, and more, but Amazon also landed today with the return of all-time low prices on select M2 iPad Air configurations at up to $149 off alongside a SanDisk storage sale and all five colors of the 2024 Beats Pill at Black Friday pricing. But perhaps most notable of all, Nomad is giving folks one last chance to save on some of the best accessories for all of the Apple gear you might have just scored for the holidays all of the details you need are right here and everything else is down below. more
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  • MAGA Figures Turn on Elon Musk for Not Hating Immigrants Enough
    futurism.com
    We may be seeing some of the first major fissures forming in the dalliance between Donald Trump and his billionaire backer Elon Musk.Over the holiday week, Musk entered into a heated online conflict with notable pro-Trump figure and culture warrior Laura Loomer over the president-elect's immigration policy, the Washington Post reports.The debacle saw Musk receive rare pushback from his far-right supporters for advocating laxer immigration policy to court skilled foreign workers, and culminated with Loomer, who has over 1.4 million followers on X, claiming that her account was being silenced by the platform's billionaire owner for espousing her nationalist views. The infighting could augur a growing rift between the tech figures who have come to support Trump and the extreme right wing of his base."It's a sign of future conflicts," Samuel Hammond, a senior economist at the Foundation for American Innovation, told WaPo. "This is like the pregame."At issue is Trump's decision to name Sriram Krishan, an Indian-born tech entrepreneur, as his senior policy advisor on AI. Loomer is not a fan of Krishan's history of supporting policies that would more easily allow skilled workers to come to the US and stay for longer periods. And though she and her contingent denies it, she's also an unrepentant racist, viciously denigrating Indians as "third world invaders" in a flurry of other descriptors that are too foul and too numerous to repeat here.At any rate, such visas, which provide what's known as H-1B nonimmigrant status, are essential to the tech industry and others that depend on a steady supply of eager-to-work, highly educated professionals from abroad to perform very technical jobs. As nationalists like Loomer took to criticize Krishan's nomination, tech figures, some originally immigrants themselves, came to his defense, including Trump advisers David Sacks and Vivek Ramaswamy, championing high-skilled immigration as the lifeblood of America.But most notably among them was Musk, himself an H-1B worker at one point, and who continues to recruit foreign workers to his companies like Tesla and SpaceX. He has claimed that a "permanent shortage" of top engineering talent is the "fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.""The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low," Musk wrote on X on Christmas day. "Think of this like a pro sports team: if you want your TEAM to win the championship, you need to recruit top talent wherever they may be."It's not everyday that Musk sounds like the adult in the room but this logic wasn't enough to bridle the current of vociferous hatred coming from the rightmost corners of the Trump camp.For one, Musk's post received major pushback from followers questioning his dedication to supporting "real" Americans.Meanwhile, Loomer kept railing against Musk and immigrants. "We have to put our foot down and let them know MAGA is anti-Big Tech," she wrote.By Friday, she was claiming that Musk had retaliated by revoking her verified status and removing her paid subscribers. "So much for free speech," she posted.Amidst the height of the infighting, right-wing commentator and frequent Musk reply guy Ian Miles Cheong summed it up with a sagacious observation: "It's wild to see MAGA turning against Elon, Vivek, David Sacks."More on Elon Musk: Touchy Trump Insists That He's Not Taking Orders From Elon MuskShare This Article
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  • NASA's Parker Solar Probe Flies Closer to the Sun Than Any Object Ever Has
    www.cnet.com
    NASA's Parker Solar Probe made history on Tuesday with a record-breaking flight around the sun, the space agency has confirmed. The spacecraft set a new benchmark early on the morning of Dec. 24, coming within 3.8 million miles of the sun's outer corona atmosphere.A signal received by NASA's operations teams late on Dec. 26 acknowledged that the probe had survived the close encounter and was operating normally."Flying this close to the Sun is a historic moment in humanity's first mission to a star," Nicky Fox, head of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement Friday. When the spacecraft reaches a new position in January 2025, it will transmit data from this flyby back to Earth.Read more: See NASA's Stunning Image of the Sun Spitting Out Its Biggest Solar Flare Since 2017According to NASA, the Parker Solar Probe reached speeds of up to 430,000 miles per hour, enduring temperatures as high as 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit (982 Celsius). Although the probe is scheduled to orbit the sun two more times, this mission marks the closest it will ever get.The next planned close solar passes are expected to take place March 22 and June 19, 2025.'Data from uncharted territory' Upgrade your inbox Get cnet insider From talking fridges to iPhones, our experts are here to help make the world a little less complicated. The mission is part of a broader effort by scientists to "conduct unrivaled scientific research with the potential to change our understanding of our closest star," the agency said on its website.The spacecraft, launched in 2018, performed multiple flybys of Venus to gradually move closer to the sun. These flybys also provided scientists with insights into Venus, thanks to onboard instruments capable of capturing visible and near-infrared light from the planet, the agency said on its website. This allowed researchers to peer through Venus' dense cloud cover.When the probe first entered the sun's atmosphere in 2021, it provided groundbreaking information about the corona."No human-made object has ever passed this close to a star, so Parker will truly be returning data from uncharted territory," said Nick Pinkine, Parker Solar Probe mission operations manager, in a press releasein December. "We're excited to hear back from the spacecraft when it swings back around the Sun."The Parker Solar Probe is part of NASA's Living With a Star program, which aims to explore aspects of the solar system that affect life on Earth.
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