Were in that exciting period leading up to the release of some of next years best graphics cards, and that means leaks and predictions are coming out every single day. The last few weeks have really brought into focus AMDs next-gen flagship, which is now said to be called the RX 9070 XT. But now, more than ever, were seeing a lot of conflicting information about the kind of performance we can expect from the top RDNA 4 card. The latest leaks see it falling within a stones throw of Nvidias RTX 4080.According to zhangzhonghao on the Chiphell forums (who is a frequent leaker in the CPU and GPU space), the difference between the RX 9070 XT and the RTX 4080 is just 5%. They didnt specify which card was the winner, though, and we dont know which games they were tested in.Recommended VideosThis falls in line with many previous predictions about the new AMD flagship. Many previous leakers compared it to the RTX 4080, but others placed it at around the level of the RX 7900 XT which is not at all comparable. The only leaked benchmark weve seen for the GPU is a Time Spy test that shows it performing slower than the RX 7900 XT, although a second test reveals that it can compete against the RTX 4070 Ti.Safe to say, its all a bit all over the place.Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming 9070XT Rumorbase2.8 boost3.0-3.1PowerReference 26xWcustom variant up to 330WGaming performanceReference ~4080-5%https://t.co/JOT3IqnWgo HXL (@9550pro) December 26, 2024RelatedAside from that vague performance prediction, though, zhangzhonghao also revealed some key specs for the card. The leaker believes that the AMD version of the RX 9070 XT will feature a total board power (TBP) of around 260 watts, but models made by AMDs partners may bump that up to as high as 330 watts. This kind of TBP is comparable to what we expect to see in the RTX 5070 Ti, but of course, that doesnt have to mean similar performance.The Chiphell tipster also expects the card to feature a base clock of 2.8GHz that can be boosted to anywhere between 3.0 and 3.1GHz. Those numbers are attainable with overclocking in the current generation, but are still on the higher end of the scale.Were just 10 days away from AMD announcing the RX 9070 XT presumably alongside other cards from the lineup so its important to take all of this with some skepticism. It wont be long until we know the exact specs, and thatll give us a good hint about possible performance figures.Editors Recommendations

The New York Times has plenty of word games on its roster today with Wordle, Connections, Strands, and the Mini Crossword, theres something for everyone but the newspapers standard crossword puzzle still reigns supreme. The daily crossword is full of interesting trivia, helps improve mental flexibility and, of course, gives you some bragging rights if you manage to finish it every day.While the NYT puzzle might feel like an impossible task some days, solving a crossword is a skill and it takes practice dont get discouraged if you cant get every single word in a puzzle.Recommended VideosIf youre having trouble completing todays NYT Crossword, were here to help. Weve got all the answers for todays clues down below.Please enable Javascript to view this contentNew York TimesAcross1 Targets of crunches, informally : ABS4 Smart guy : ALEC8 Vibes : AURAS13 Hawaiian dish with cubed fish : POKEBOWL15 Perceptive : ASTUTE16 End-of-year hope : PAYRAISE17 Lawyers, collectively : THEBAR18 Astronauts outpost, for short : ISS19 Like the last name of swimming legend Diana Nyad : APT21 Original N.Y.C. subway line : IRT22 Vampire hunters weapon : STAKE25 Well, thats just perfect : GREAT27 Telluride maker (thats 6,000+ miles away from Telluride) : KIA28 Faith Hill hit with the lyric Its perpetual bliss : THISKISS29 Slim-fitting bottom : PENCILSKIRT31 Humorist Bombeck : ERMA32 Spoiled : BAD33 Forgo a ring, maybe : KNOCK35 Fills in the gaps of, in a way : PUTTIES37 Futuristic zappers : RAYGUNS39 Samira Wileys role on The Handmaids Tale : MOIRA40 Pops : DAD41 A thing of the passed? : OBIT42 Wetland fuel source : PEATBOG44 Breaking the fourth wall, say : META45 Cartoon frame : CEL47 Snarkily disparaging : SNIDE48 Like a baby in need of burping : GASSY49 Dismiss abruptly : AXE50 Dutch banking giant : ING51 Get to 21 first in cornhole, e.g. : WIN52 Oscar nominee for Carrie : SPACEK55 Peak picker-uppers, as depicted three times in this puzzles grid : SKILIFTS60 Money talks : CASHISKING61 Unapproved, pharmaceutically : OFFLABEL62 Remained home for supper : ATEIN63 CBS drama with five spinoffs : NCIS64 In need of salt, say : ICYRelatedDown1 Home screen selection : APP2 Stole onstage : BOA3 Difficult area of a jigsaw puzzle, maybe : SKY4 Humble : ABASE5 Lane in DC? : LOIS6 Grossed-out cries : EWS7 Given the go-ahead : CLEARED8 Pizza oven residue : ASH9 Beehive State native : UTE10 Toys once marketed as having Over three billion combinations, but only one solution : RUBIKSCUBES11 Chess : check :: go : ___ : ATARI12 Tempur-Pedic competitor : SERTA14 Early 20th-century composer who introduced the typewriter as a percussion instrument : ERIKSATIE15 Negative campaign tactic : ATTACKAD20 Signature item : PEN22 Prefix with any family member : STEP23 Steady engine sound : THRUM24 Focus on making others happy : AIMTOPLEASE25 They might accompany SAT scores : GPAS26 Minute : TINY30 Slangy term for an obsession with branded fashion items : LOGOMANIA32 Coffeehouse poets : BEATNIKS34 Sweaters and such : KNITS36 401(k) alternatives : IRAS37 Short-lived fashion : RAGE38 Court-ordered delay : STAY40 Lewis Carrolls real last name, hence Lewiss last name in Jurassic Park : DODGSON43 Hamper, e.g. : BIN45 Caesars first stabber : CASCA46 One living abroad : EXPAT48 Bass organs : GILLS51 Something thats often free in airports but expensive on airplanes : WIFI53 Life force : CHI54 Kln one : EIN56 Fast-food chain with 30,000+ locations : KFC57 Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity org. : FBI58 Gumshoe : TEC59 Roguish : SLYEditors Recommendations

Software is eating the world and I have snacks for it I keep turning my Google Sheets into phone-friendly webapps, and I cant stop How I tackled takeout, spices, and meal ideas with spreadsheets and Glide. Kevin Purdy Dec 26, 2024 7:40 am | 13 Credit: Aurich Lawson Credit: Aurich Lawson Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreIt started, like so many overwrought home optimization projects, during the pandemic.My wife and I, like many people stuck inside, were ordering takeout more frequently. We wanted to support local restaurants, reduce the dish load, and live a little. It became clear early on that app-based delivery services like DoorDash and Uber Eats were not the best way to support local businesses. If a restaurant had its own ordering site or a preferred service, we wanted to use thator even, heaven forfend, call the place.The secondary issue was that we kept ordering from the same places, and we wanted to mix it up. Sometimes we'd want to pick something up nearby. Sometimes we wanted to avoid an entire category ("Too many carbs this week, no pasta") or try the newest places we knew about, or maybe a forgotten classic. Or just give me three places randomly, creative constraints, pleaseit's Friday.At its core, this is a shared list, i.e. spreadsheet. But my spreadsheet maintenance enthusiasm greatly outweighs that of my spouse. More than that, have you ever pulled up a Google Sheet or online Excel file on your normal-sized phone to make changes? I do so only in moments of true desperation.For things that are bigger than a note or dry-erase board but smaller than paying for some single-use, subscription-based app, I build little private webapps with Glide. You might use something else, but Glide is a really nice entry into the spreadsheet-to-app milieu. The apps it creates are the kind that can easily be shared and installed (i.e., "Add to Home Screen") on phones, tablets, or desktops, from a browser. Here's how it worked for me.Why you might want to make a little personal webappGlide is technically a no-code tool aimed at businesses, but you get one user-based published app for free, and you can have more "private" apps if you're truly keeping it to your household or friend group. Each full-fledged app can have 10 users and up to 25,000 rows, which should probably be enough for most uses.I do wish there was a "prosumer" kind of account that billed for less than $828 per year. If you want more than one (relatively) small-scale apps, there are alternatives, like Google's AppSheet (included in most paid Google Workspace accounts). But most are just as business-oriented, and none have struck me as elegant a tool as Glide.As mentioned, my primary use for a sheet-based app is to make searching, filtering, reading, and editing that sheet far easier. In the case of my takeout app, that meant being able to search anythinga specific restaurant, "tacos," a quadrant of the District of Columbia. And a sorting option for when I added a restaurant, so I can find the place I added while a friend was recommending it.Lets whip up a webapp The spreadsheet behind my "DC Takeout" app. Credit: Kevin Purdy The spreadsheet behind my "DC Takeout" app. Credit: Kevin Purdy Throwing that sheet fresh into Glide, it's not off to a bad start. The main view of Glide is a usable version of your app, and I can see that I can already type whatever I want into the search bar, and it will search across fields.I could honestly stop here if I wasn't picky about some of the quirks I'm seeing. The app is showing screens, "Public" and "Users," and I want to hide them. In the upper-left corner, in Navigation, I'll click an eye icon to hide the "Users" section. With "Public" selected, I'll change the Label in the upper-right to "DC Takeout," and, if I was going to have more than one screen, give it an icon.The app already provided a "+" button for adding restaurants, just a simple vertical stack of entry boxes, along with a date picker for Date Added. If you prefer something static, toggle off the options in the "Actions" field in the bottom-right.Searching is pretty robust, but what if you want to browse a broad category or just see stuff that's nearby? In the "Options" section to the right, you can add in In-App Filter, which creates a familiar arrow-shaped three-bar button to the right of the search bar. I've added Quadrant and Category filters. If I want to go further here, it's on me and my spreadsheet. Open on Mondays? Offers pick-up? Has a bar? The possibilities are endless, even if my weekend spreadsheet time is not. Simple filter for my takeout app. I need to get the category to be comma-separate values, not a single pile of descriptors. Credit: Kevin Purdy Simple filter for my takeout app. I need to get the category to be comma-separate values, not a single pile of descriptors. Credit: Kevin Purdy What happens when you click on a restaurant? Right now, you see, essentially, a vertical readout of everything in that spreadsheet row. What could you see? Well, you've got an address there, so how about a map?Click on a restaurant in the fake phone, and on the left you can see "Components," one of which is our map. Set the address to equal the address column in your sheet, and, in "Options," set Visibility so that it only shows up when the address field is not empty. In "Actions," you can set it so that clicking the map opens the phone's default mapping app, set to the proper address. (If you're struggling to get the right place to show up, you might want to check out a sample address in Mapbox's API; it can be a little finicky about how it parses them.) Take me to the slightly different pizza! Credit: Kevin Purdy Take me to the slightly different pizza! Credit: Kevin Purdy Glide offers dozens more ways to customize every little thing about your app.That's about all I need from a "mix up your takeout and use the right apps" app, one made mostly for me, my spouse, and nearby friends and visitors. Pretty much anything you'd find useful while sitting down at a spreadsheet, you can also make useful through a little phone webapp.Joyful overkillI went a good deal further with my "DIYRoot" app. After using a couple meal delivery services, I sussed out the kinds of recipe formulas they were mixing up each week, plus the items or equivalents I had found at nearby stores. Knowing that I could figure out the basic cooking, I made an app that listed as many recipes as I could find, broke them into components, let me add them to an erasable menu plan and shopping list, and even had some pictures. The best version of an entry has an image, ingredients, and recipe. There's a button to add it to the menu and all the items to a list. Credit: Kevin Purdy The best version of an entry has an image, ingredients, and recipe. There's a button to add it to the menu and all the items to a list. Credit: Kevin Purdy I didn't quite master this app (the shopping list is plagued by blank items/rows), and it's now technically an outdated "Classic" Glide app; maybe I'll give it another shot. More successful is my most recent effort, "Pantry Items," which is just a searchable list of spices and sauces, a note about how much I have left of each, and, through a webhook, add anything I see missing to a shopping list on Bring.I can feel some people reading this article demanding that I just learn Swift or some mobile-friendly JavaScript package and make some real apps, but I steadfastly refuse. I enjoy the messy middle of programming, where I have just enough app, API, and logic knowledge to make something small for my friends and family that's always accessible on this little computer I carry everywhere, but I have no ambitions to make it "real." Anyone can add to it through the relatively simple spreadsheet. Heck, I'll even take feature requests if I'm feeling gracious.I use Glide, but you might have something else even simpler (and should recommend it as such in the comments). Just be warned that once you start thinking (or overthinking) along these lines, it can be hard to stop, even without the worldwide pandemic.Kevin PurdySenior Technology ReporterKevin PurdySenior Technology Reporter Kevin is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, covering open-source software, PC gaming, home automation, repairability, e-bikes, and tech history. He has previously worked at Lifehacker, Wirecutter, iFixit, and Carbon Switch. 13 Comments

Feedback was not all that surprised to learn that we tend to only see major rituals as positive experiences once they have finished 23 December 2024 Josie FordHappy now?Assuming you are reading this issue promptly, its the post-Christmas lull: the weird interregnum between Christmas and the New Year when nobody is quite sure what to do with themselves (unless they are keen shoppers, in which case the January sales have you covered).Anyway, Feedback recently learned something new about Christmas. This snippet came courtesy of freelance writer Michael Marshall, who wrote a story about a study of whether children behave better in the run-up to Christmas. If you didnt read it, the short answer is no, they dont. Parents, feel free to take a moment to grieve that one of your best levers to get the little blighters to behave apparently does literally nothing. We will add that the data did suggest that some types of behaviour improved if children were exposed to a lot of Christmas rituals, like putting up a tree and going carolling, and that these rituals might act as a kind of social glue encouraging kids to be kind and cooperative. Maybe try doing more of that? But we wouldnt count on a miraculous transformation.That wasnt the new thing, though. Michael, we understand, had to leave something out of the story for lack of space. So, since were in the post-Christmas period, lets have some leftovers.AdvertisementThe study found that parents became more stressed as Christmas approached. In the run-up, they were often worried that it would be a disaster, that key presents wouldnt turn up or that Great-uncle Ted would get drunk and say some slurs at the dinner table. This got worse in the week of Christmas, perhaps because they were working so hard preparing that they couldnt relax and enjoy themselves.Apparently, its common for people to only see major rituals as positive experiences once theyre over. Its certainly true of weddings, which people describe as the happiest day of their lives when they look back, but if you ask them on the day, they will say they are so nervous they feel like throwing up. Feedback and Mrs Feedback can both attest that, yes, thats what their wedding day was like (Feedback was fortified by a bacon-and-egg sandwich eaten in the bath and a stiff whisky).Its a curiously human thing to do something that you absolutely hate in the run-up and while its happening, and subsequently declare it the best thing you ever did. Feedback is not sure what to make of this, but this morning we noticed Feedbacks Felines sleeping peacefully in warm spots around the house, and we thought they might possibly be smarter than us.Fake fake syndromeSpeaking of not being very smart, Feedback is launching a new recurring segment. Were calling it generative AIs say the stupidest things. We suspect it will be a bottomless well of material, on a par with nominative determinism, and we hereby invite reader submissions to the usual address.To kick things off, the anonymous neuroscience blogger Neuroskeptic recently saw something odd in the AI Overview that now appears at the top of Google Search. For readers unfamiliar with Neuroskeptic, they have written about the limits of functional brain imaging especially when its wildly overinterpreted as revealing peoples thoughts and about bad scientific publishing practices.Neuroskeptic was surprised to see an AI Overview describing kyloren syndrome: a disease caused by mutations in mitochondrial DNA that is often passed down from a force-sensitive woman to her children. This is immediately and obviously nonsense: Kylo Ren is the baddie in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, and force-sensitive people only exist in the fictional Star Wars universe.But its actually worse than that. Neuroskeptic invented kyloren syndrome in 2017, as part of a sting to expose predatory scientific journals that dont properly review studies. They wrote an entire fake paper filled with Star Wars references, attributed to Lucas McGeorge and Annette Kin, and submitted it to nine journals. Three of them published it and another accepted it but didnt publish because Neuroskeptic refused to pay a $360 fee.Apparently Googles generative AI has not fully grasped the concept of context.SwiftquakesFeedback is sad to see the end of Taylor Swifts world-spanning Eras tour. This is partly because we didnt get to go, because we failed to use our understanding of probability and only registered interest in one concert severely limiting our chances of getting to the top of the ballot. Maybe Feedback isnt as clever as a generative AI.But also, the concerts have been so huge that they have produced detectable seismic events. In June, geophysicists at University College London installed nine seismometers near Wembley Stadium in London and recorded the ensuing tremors. Love Story produced the biggest earthquake, although, to be clear, it was a magnitude 0.8, so really quite small, followed, appropriately enough, by Shake It Off.Now that Taylor has gone home to (presumably) work on another surprise album, Feedback looks forward to earth movements triggered by other tours. We cant help but suspect that the upcoming Oasis reunion tour might be worth a seismometer or two if only to detect the precise moment when Liam Gallagher loses his temper and stomps offstage never to return.Got a story for Feedback?You can send stories to Feedback by email at feedback@newscientist.com. Please include your home address. This weeks and past Feedbacks can be seen on our website.

Longtime Elon Musk loyalist Steve Davis is ready to help out at DOGE.Davis has worked at Musk' companies for over 20 years, having first joined SpaceX in 2003.Since then, he has become a close advisor of the world's richest man.From SpaceX to Twitter, Steve Davis has been a vital point person for Elon Musk. His next act is to help the billionaire sort out the government.Longtime Musk loyalist Davis has been enlisted to recruit staff for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Donald Trump has tasked Musk with overseeing the new department, the authority and jurisdiction of which is still unclear, alongside Vivek Ramaswamy, according to a new Bloomberg report.Davis's appearance in operational planning at DOGE, a project proposed to drive $2 trillion in cuts to federal spending, is not surprising. Davis and Musk's working relationship stretches back more than two decades.Davis first entered the Musk sphere in 2003, when he joined his rocket company, SpaceX, just one year after its founding. While working for the company in Washington, D.C., he decided to launch a dessert shop called Mr Yogato, a 2019 Bloomberg report said.Davis' ties with Musk have only deepened since then. The Stanford University-educated aerospace engineer helped Musk launch the Boring Company, a tunneling and construction business, in 2016. He was later appointed president and CEO. He was also reported to have advised the billionaire in the early days of his Twitter takeover, where Musk initiated a sweeping layoff plan that reduced head count by almost 90% in first six months. Steve Davis helped Elon Musk in the early days of the billionaire's Twitter takeover. LEON NEAL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images Bloomberg reported that Davis was so willing to help Musk during the takeover in October 2022, he slept at Twitter's offices with his partner and newborn baby.It is not yet clear how Davis will help steer Musk's cost-cutting ambitions when Trump's second term in the White House begins, though Bloomberg's report offers some clues based on Davis' activities at other Musk companies.According to the report, Davis' leadership responsibilities at The Boring Company involves "signing off on costs as low as a few hundred dollars." The report also said he "drives hard bargains with suppliers."Meanwhile, during his stint at SpaceX, Davis was reported to have helped Musk find a $3,900 alternative to a part that cost $120,000.

My husband and I lived in Canada in our 20s, and we brought our young kids there a decade later.Our children were 4 years old and 8 months old, so they don't remember any of the overseas trip.With two young kids, we had to skip or adjust a lot of the activities we'd planned or hoped to do. My husband and I lived in Canada in our 20s, and couldn't wait to return a decade later. Some of our happiest memories were of living in Banff in the Rockies, meeting other young people, going on epic outdoors adventures, and exploring Canada's national parks.This time around, though, we had our 4-year-old and 8-month-old kids to take with us. On our overseas adventure, we planned to visit my brother in Vancouver for his 50th birthday and road trip across British Columbia and Alberta.After our grueling 17-hour flight from Melbourne, Australia, to Vancouver, we hit the ground running. In total, we spent 10 days exploring Banff National Park in an RV and went on a road trip throughout Hope and other parts of Canada. We had great moments along the way but we learned some tough lessons, too.We couldn't do the same things we used to We didn't end up bringing our kids on the hikes we'd usually do in Banff National Park. Santiago Urquijo/Getty Images On our first trip to Banff, we had zero responsibility. This time, we had two little people to care for and they came first.I realized pretty quickly that having young children hindered us from doing some of the things we used to love in the area.Before we arrived, I had nave visions of being able to go on epic hikes with the kids strapped to our backs. In reality, they didn't want to traipse up a mountain (on my back or otherwise). Instead, we took short walks with a stroller and made lots of stops along the way to look at butterflies, pick flowers, and eat snacks.One night, our housemates kindly offered to look after the kids, so my husband and I snuck away for a cocktail at the restaurant I'd worked at a decade earlier. Two sips in, they called to say our baby girl wouldn't stop crying, so we rushed back to their place as fast as we could. All in all, having young kids meant we had a very different kind of travel experience.Next time, we'll wait until our kids are older to travel overseas Banff wasn't quite the same the second time around, largely because we were in a new stage in life with different priorities: our young kids.Looking back, it would've been better to wait until our children were both older to take them overseas. I'd hoped that our 4-year-old son would at least remember this trip, but he's now 9 and a lot of those memories have faded. Sometimes I'll ask him about Vancouver or a particular lake we visited in Canada, and he'll just give me a blank stare. He was just a little too young to appreciate the privilege (and expense) of traveling to another country. I'm confident if we took him overseas today, he'd remember it far better, as I still recall trips I took abroad with my family when I was around his age. We now have three children and our youngest is a toddler. So, at this time, we're just focusing on exploring our backyard and taking domestic vacations in Australia.In a few years, though, we'd like to take the kids on another overseas expedition ideally one they'll remember.

An Azerbaijan Airlines flight crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people.Analysts said Russian air defenses, not a bird strike, may have caused the plane to go down.An aviation safety firm plans to raise its risk rating for the nearby airspace after the incident.An Azerbaijan Airlines flight crash-landed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, with Russia's civil aviation authority quickly pointing to a bird strike as a possible cause.However, analysts said that Russian air defenses may have been behind the incident, which killed 38 of the 67 people on board, including both pilots.Ukraine was quick to put the blame on Russia.On Wednesday, Andriy Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation, said in an X post that the plane was "shot down by a Russian air defense system."But others have also suggested that Russian air defenses may have played a role.Osprey Flight Solutions, an aviation security firm, said in a critical alert sent to its clients and shared with Business Insider that the flight was "likely shot down by a Russian military air-defense system of unspecified type/variant over the North Caucasus Federal District."The firm cited video of the wreckage, Ukraine's official statement, and the "circumstances around the airspace security environment in southwest Russia."It also said that "incidents of civilian airliners being misidentified and shot down by air-defence systems are not unprecedented in the region."It pointed to examples such as Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, which crashed in eastern Ukraine in 2014 after reportedly being hit by a Russian-made missile.Matthew Borie, Osprey's chief intelligence officer, told BI that the firm was in the process of raising its risk ratings for that portion of Russian airspace to its highest level."We have a portion of Russian airspace within 300 kilometers of the Ukrainian border, we have at extreme, we'll be expanding that out to about 600 kilometers from the Russian border now," he said, equivalent to 373 miles.The Azerbaijan Airlines flight was en route to Grozny, which Ukrainian drones have targeted in recent attacks.The governor of the Russian region of North Ossetia said in a Telegram post that there were Ukrainian drone attacks carried out on Wednesday in a number of regions of the North Caucasus Federal District, which includes Grozny and the surrounding area.The governor's post specifically mentioned a drone being taken down in Vladikavkas, which is about 70 miles away from Grozny.Oliver Alexander, an independent OSINT analyst, told BI that "all the evidence I have seen points to the aircraft being hit by shrapnel from an air defense missile, which severely damaged the elevator and rudder controls."In a thread on X, which cited post-crash footage, he wrote that "every single piece of debris that hit the aircraft had enough kinetic to punch through the skin and not just dent it."Alexander also dismissed the preliminary information from Russia's civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, which suggested that the plane diverted after a bird strike, causing an onboard emergency.He told BI that a bird strike would produce "a lot of blood" and "a lot of denting," neither of which seemed apparent in footage and images from the crash site."The location of the damage is all focused around the tail section," he added, "which would be very unlikely for a bird strike."Russia has cautioned against drawing conclusions.On Thursday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it "would be wrong to put forward any hypotheses" until the investigation into the crash is concluded."We, of course, will not do this, and no-one should do this," he added, per a translation by the BBC.Azerbaijan Airline's president, Samir Rzayev, told reporters Wednesday that the plane's black box had been recovered and its analysis was being "conducted in line with international aviation standards."The country's president, Ilham Aliyev, said in a statement that while there are videos of the crash online, the cause was still unknown.However, on Thursday, unnamed Azerbaijani government sources told Euronews that a preliminary investigation had found that a Russian surface-to-air missile caused the crash.According to Euronews, the sources said that shrapnel from the missile hit the plane after it exploded during drone activity above Grozny.Azerbaijan's Foreign Affairs department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

When I was about 7, Los Angeles public schools shifted to a year-round schedule. The effect, for my elementary school, was a shorter summer break (boo), and an extra-long winter break (also, it turned out, boo). That year, my parents enrolled me in winter camp, which was like summer camp but less fun. It was an El Nio year, and the constant rain turned the swimming pools into an unwholesome shade of green. I honestly dont remember what we did with most of our days; probably we made a lot of lanyards and argued with one another. In an effort to mix things up, the camp arranged a whale-watching trip for us (January is gray whale season in Southern California). But as soon as we got out to sea, an enormous storm kicked up, buffeting our boat to such a degree that every camper except for me threw up. Lest you think I was spared: My clothes became so waterlogged in the rain that my pants fell down in front of everyone. We did not see any whales.All of this is to say that winter break can be weird for kids: There are often family visits and holiday celebrations, but its also a time when school is out, the weather is bad, and theres not always much to do. In a lot of places, theres no longer enough snow for the winter activities of yore you really cannot build a snowman out of wintry mix. One year, I took my older kid on a desperate trudge to the dollar store in subfreezing temperatures just to get out of the house. Things can get rough.I have no advice for the short, strange days at the end of the year other than to honor them in whatever way you can. We celebrate Christmas in my family, so my kids will be opening presents this week, and then probably strewing pieces of them liberally about the house. My 2-year-old keeps exclaiming, Its Halloween! and then, when corrected, quietly lamenting, Halloween all done. I get it I like Christmas fine, but I kind of prefer Halloween, too.Whether youre celebrating anything or not, remember that these are the darkest days of the calendar, and whatever happens with the weather or everything else, the days are already getting longer. Maybe get some sleep, if you can. Take your kids out to look at the night sky Venus is really good this month and is not a drone. If they are reasonably quiet, take them birdwatching. Ill be skipping Thursday, January 2, but Ill be back with you on January 9. A big thank you to everyone whos been reading (and sending in questions, podcast recommendations, and stories about kids hibernating in nests of toys) these last few months, and Ill see you in the new year!What Im readingSchool districts are preparing for potential immigration crackdowns from the Trump administration, by hosting seminars for families on their legal rights and training staff on how to respond if ICE agents show up at school.The 74 has a roundup of charts that defined education in 2024, including data on pandemic learning loss and kids smartphone use.Ulta Beauty has started selling mystery balls with toy versions of beauty products inside, possibly as a way of courting the coveted Sephora tween demographic.We are contractually allowed to continue reading our Christmas books until December 31, at which point my husband will sequester them for the next 11 months. My little kid especially enjoys Pick a Pine Tree, a sweet rhyming story about tree decorating, and How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney?, which (spoiler) fails to answer that age-old question.From my inboxIve gotten a lot of questions about Australias move to ban kids from social media, and in the new year, Ill be looking into the pros and cons of such bans. As I report on that, Id love to hear from you: Have the kids in your life experienced any positive effects from social media? We hear so much about the negatives that Im very curious about the flip side. Get in touch at anna.north@vox.com.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More: Life

The media does not give you an accurate picture of the world. This isnt to say that were not reporting the truth or that were making facts up. Rather, our profession has a natural tendency to accentuate the negative because the negative is usually what we mean when we think of the news. Reports of a strange new disease X in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is news; the fact that about 2.2 billion cases and 12.7 million deaths from malaria have been averted since 2000 isnt. Estimates that 2024 will be the warmest year on record get a lot of attention; the chart-busting increase in renewable energy, less so. One-off violent crimes make the news; longer-term trends showing declines in violent crime overall, not so much. 2024 was far from perfect. There was continued war in Gaza and Sudan, new war in Lebanon, just more war, period. Donald Trumps return to the Oval Office brings with it uncertainty and real danger, not least to public health through his nominated health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his vaccine-questioning beliefs just in time for a possible bird flu pandemic. And it may just be possible that humanity is knocking on the door of artificial general intelligence which could be very good or very, very bad. But there was genuine progress throughout the year, often beneath the headlines, in everything from animal welfare to technology to climate policy to geopolitics. Here are nine optimistic stories from 2024 that we hope will lay the groundwork for a better 2025.1) The first new schizophrenia drug in decades was approvedOur World in Datas Saloni Dattani is one of my favorite writers which is why we put her on the Future Perfect 50 list in 2022. Few experts are better able to use data to help readers understand when progress in medicine and public health is actually being made, over both the long term and the short. For an end-of-year post on her Substack, Dattani picked five notable medical breakthroughs in 2024. The one that stood out to me was the approval of Xanomeline-trospium, or Cobenfy, the first new schizophrenia drug to hit the market in decades.Schizophrenia is a horrifying mental disease that afflicts more than 3.5 million Americans. While drugs do exist and the condition can be managed with treatment and support, disproportionate rates of people with schizophrenia experience homelessness and fall victim to suicide. They die 15 to 20 years earlier on average than the rest of the population. And despite decades of research, weve largely failed to find better, more effective treatments. Cobenfy offers hope, however. It targets different receptors in the brain than existing treatments, and it seems to effectively attack symptoms while reducing debilitating side effects. That can make the difference between life and death.2) New York City is finally going to get congestion pricing (probably)Its been nearly two decades since then-New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg suggested that drivers going into Manhattan home to some of the most congested streets in all of America should pay a charge. That plan was finally set to go into action this summer, when New York Gov. Kathy Hochul pulled a sudden about-face. The stated reason was that the $15 charge for most cars would hurt Manhattans economic recovery and put an undue burden on suburban and outer-borough drivers. The real reason was that Democrats feared that suburban voters would punish them in November.Well that still did kind of happen. But a little more than a week after the election, Hochul announced that she would bring back congestion pricing, albeit with a 40 percent cut in the toll, charging most passenger cars $9 to cross into the most crowded parts of Manhattan. New York, USA - Traffic on busy streets of Manhattan Getty ImagesThat was disappointing to many transit and environmental advocates, and the money wont be enough to fix the New York subways massive fiscal deficit. So why am I counting this as a good thing for 2024? Because despite all the political shenanigans, congestion charging, a crucial policy for the climate, is (almost certainly) finally here, for the first time in the US. That was not an easy political lift, and my hope is that when we all realize the benefits of congestion pricing, maybe it will open the door to do it elsewhere. 3) US dietary guidelines might finally recognize the value of the humble beanAmericans eat a lot of protein, considerably more than they need (for most people) and often more than dietary guidelines recommend. Thats largely because we eat a lot of animal meat. All that chicken and beef and turkey and pork has real health consequences, but it also contributes to Americas environmentally destructive and inhumane factory farming system. Of course, protein is very important, especially for those actively building strength and for the elderly. If only there were a way to get protein without consuming animals. Hmm Oh right, there is. Its called beans and legumes. As former Future Perfect fellow Julieta Cardenas wrote last year, [B]eans are high in protein, efficient to grow, and can even improve soil health. Theyre cheap and theyre tasty if you know how to cook them, and if youre the kind of person worried about processed foods, theyre largely unprocessed. How can we get protein without breaking the bank or hurting the environment or animals? Beans is how.So Im counting the news that beans and legumes got a starring role in the report of the 2025 US Dietary Advisory Committee, which advises the creation of the federal dietary guidelines, as a major piece of good news. Eat more beans. Please.4) A Nobel Prize for actually good AIAs my colleague Kelsey Piper wrote recently, its been a wild year for AI. From corporate shenanigans to models that can reason to ongoing copyright disputes, 2024 felt like the year when AI got real. Which, given how transformative and disruptive AI is proving to be, is enough to make me more than a little worried. Will AI steal our jobs? Our votes? Our lives? Its all potentially on the table.Amid the existential fear, we shouldnt lose sight of the tremendous good that AI, properly harnessed, can bring about. This year, the Nobel Prize for Chemistry went in part to Google DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis and his colleague John Jumper for their work in creating AlphaFold 2, a machine-learning protein-structure predictor. Proteins are the literal building blocks of nature, and being able to predict their three-dimensional structure is incredibly important to using them to design drugs or other materials. Before AlphaFold came around, it could take months or even years of lab experiments to identify the structure of a protein from its string of amino acids. AlphaFold 2 cut that time considerably, which promises to speed up the process of developing new medicines.As I once wrote, AlphaFold might be the best example of AI for good. We can only hope well see more such examples in the future.5) The AI election deepfakes that werentThe first piece I wrote this year was about how 2024 would be a record-breaking year of global elections. More than 60 countries representing roughly half the worlds population were set to go to the polls in 2024, more than any year in the past. India, Indonesia, the UK, Taiwan, and, of course, the US all held major elections. As many people put it, democracy was on the ballot in 2024. Beyond concerns about how the elections themselves would play out and whether the forces of far-right populism would continue to seize power, there were more existential questions about the elections themselves. Above all else: At a moment when AI increasingly had the ability to turbocharge deepfakes and other forms of trust-eroding propaganda, could these elections actually be fought fairly? For the most part, the answer was yes. While there were examples of mis- and disinformation, some of it aided by AI, on the whole elections avoided the worst fears of AI deepfakes. As one piece put it, it was the apocalypse that wasnt.How you feel about 2024s elections will largely depend on how you feel about the results. But for the most part, even with the growth of AI tools, those results could be trusted. Which might be the best we can hope for now.6) Vaccines roll out against one of humanitys oldest killersMalaria has been killing human beings for thousands of years, if not far longer. Its most famous victims are believed to include figures like Alexander the Great, Oliver Cromwell, and the poet Dante Alighieri. Today, though, we know the names of very few malaria victims. Thats not because the disease has been eradicated nearly 600,000 people died of the disease in 2023 alone but because its victims are now almost entirely very poor people living in some of the very poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria vaccine vials Brian Ongoro/AFP via Getty ImagesBut 2024 brought us several steps closer to doing in those poor countries what the rich world has already managed: ending malarias death toll. In January, Cameroon became the first country to start routine vaccinations against malaria, the first fruits of a multi-decade effort to create effective vaccines against the mass killer. In May, the Central African Republic became the first country to receive doses of an even more effective vaccine called R21. Altogether, vaccines reached children in 17 countries where the disease is endemic in 2024, with more to come.This might be the single best piece of news all year. And if youd like to play a part, you can even volunteer in a challenge trial for new malaria vaccines and treatments. If Future Perfects Dylan Matthews can do it, you can too. 7) The deaf can hearIt sounds like an honest-to-goodness miracle: children born with hereditary deafness, given the ability to hear. But thats what happened to five children this year. Part of a study at Mass Eye and Ear, a specialty hospital in Boston, the children were born deaf because of mutations in the OTOF gene, which fails to produce a protein necessary for the transmission of sound signals from the ear to the brain. Fix the mutation, and perhaps hearing could be restored.Thats precisely what researchers at the hospital did. In a study, a restored version of the OTOF gene was introduced to the children via an inactive virus, a process known as gene therapy. For five out of the six children in the study, hearing was restored to the point where they were able to engage in oral conversation. It was the first such example of using gene therapy to treat this form of deafness, but it almost certainly wont be the last.8) Poverty in Indonesia hit a record lowIndonesia often gets overlooked, but it shouldnt. With 277 million people, its the fourth most populous country, and its islands, forests, and coral reefs make it one of the most important biodiversity hot spots in the world. It is also, quietly, one of the brightest stories in global development. Thirty years ago, it was in the grip of the dictator Suharto, and 25 years ago, it was struggling under the toll of the Asian financial crisis. Twenty years ago, 170,000 Indonesians died in the 2004 tsunami. Yet today it is vibrant and democratic for the most part.This summer marked another step forward for what is also the worlds largest Muslim country. Poverty fell to a record low of 9.5 percent. Its the kind of fact that goes largely unreported in the global news I had to search to find it. But for the people in Indonesia who experienced this change, very little could be more important. 9) The experience of watching Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley Now, Ill admit, this might only appear to be a good thing for a very specific part of the country that happens to root for a very specific team, so I suppose this qualifies more as an actually good thing for me. What can I say? Editorial prerogative and all that. But unless youre a New York Giants fan, there can only be joy found in watching Barkley do things like this while aiming to set the single-season rushing record:When your running back appears to operate according to the physics of the Matrix movies, you know its a good year. Heres to a happy 2025.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

Happy Christmas, Pushing Buttons readers! My sincere and heartfelt thanks to everyone whos read the newsletter this year, and to all our new subscribers. Writing this newsletter and reading your correspondence remains my favourite part of my job. It means a lot that so many of you have written in to say that you look forward to Pushing Buttons landing in your inbox every week.Thank you also to the Guardians brilliant newsletter team, who have worked hard all year to get these missives to you on time even when Ive submitted them horribly late. (Im sorry, team. Relatedly: if games publishers could stop dropping huge news right around my deadline in 2025, that would be amazing.)To cap the year off, weve got a bumper issue of readers favourite games of 2024. You can read my list here, and our critics list of games you may have missed here. I am once again impressed by your broad and interesting tastes. And so, its over to you.Your favourite games of 2024Like injecting happiness intravenously Astro Bot. Photograph: Sony/ Team AsobiSorry to be predictable, but my favourite game of this year was Astro Bot, no question. I took a break from it during an intense period of work, and coming back to it was like injecting happiness intravenously. Kenny Park. As a parent of a near two-year-old, my time for gaming seems to have evaporated. Fortunately, around the release time of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 I got a rare weekend off, locked myself away with two close friends and completed the co-op campaign and most of the co-op extra missions. While the game may not be particularly groundbreaking, the spectacle of the swarms of enemies, the big set piece monsters (or allies) and the sheer excitement of seeing a treasured universe brought to the screen made for a very memorable weekend. Dan ChalayeMy favourite games are games that my partner and I can play through together not as a co-op but by making the decisions together, weighing up options, talking through clues or puzzles together So my game of the year was Pentiment, which came out on the Switch this year (though I realise its been out on other platforms for a while). One of the things I love most in life is when someones passion for their interests really shines through, and Pentiment is the embodiment of that. The love for what might be considered a niche nerd obsession (medieval manuscripts, anyone?) is front and centre in this, and it is impossible not to be inspired by that. Marie WinklerI dont think Ive ever played anything like Thank Goodness Youre Here!. Its like playing a comic strip from the 90s; its utterly, unashamedly weird, very Yorkshire, and most importantly its actually funny. Its amazing how much can be achieved when your only means of interacting with the world is slapping it. Andrew RobesonMetaphor: ReFantazio is for my money the peak of the Persona-like genre. Its been removed from the usual contemporary high-school setting, which seems risky at first, but gives the story tremendous scope to tackle subject matter that would feel trite if it wasnt surrounded by the fantasy trappings and high-stakes plot. But Studio Zero also managed to keep the low-key, personal arcs of the party members intact (and relevant!), which is a tremendous balancing act. Paul CosgroveA feast of indie games UFO 50. Photograph: APWeve been spoiled with original indie games this year, so its fitting that UFO 50, a game about spoiling you with original indie games, was my 2024 favourite. Its not quite in the spirit of the question to pick a compilation of 50 games, so Ill single out Pilot Quest as the best of the set. Its compelling use of idle mechanics excuses me to check out other UFO 50 games as I wait for my resources to tick up in the background, while still being a fun game in its own right. Jak MarshallHands down, Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom was my favourite game of the year. I hadnt played a game to the end since Tomb Raider, I guess? So much fun, easy to dip in and out, lots of different ways to accomplish your goals, but not overwhelming. Maybe a bit easy in the first half, but I loved the second part of it. The puzzles and storylines were very satisfying. Steffanie YeakleTactical Breach Wizards is easily the standout game of the year. It was so funny, so deep and I cared so much about the characters as well. And I love a game that makes me want to finish all the bonus objectives (which I did for every level) and makes that feel achievable rather than a whole different endeavour. The work they put into it clearly paid off and I couldnt recommend this enough! David EdwardsAs an avid pinball and video pinball player, I seek out every game project that tackles the silver ball in one way or another. Not every year sees a game that stands out in that area, but 2024 saw the release of Pinball Spire, an amazing little pinball action-puzzler where you flip your way up the eponymous spire. There are also powers, like slo-mo or casting yourself as a fireball. Robert GlashttnerFor me it has to be Lorelei and the Laser Eyes. It changed my idea of what games can be. It just kept surprising me and never got into a rut of repeated tasks of a similar nature. The storyline was innovative, visually always engaging, sometimes quite frightening and intellectually stimulating. That it ended so ambiguously was an additional delight. Bob WilliamsOutstanding Hades II. Photograph: Supergiant GamesI wasnt sure if the team behind Hades II could pull off another game as good as the original. They couldnt this is better! Greater balanced gameplay, more variety and the soundtrack went up another level. Outstanding. Matt FroggattOne of my top games of 2024 is Pokmon Scarlet and Violet. It still has its annoyances and visual glitches, but you learn to laugh them off when youre properly immersed. Kennedie Hodkinson-GibbsI think Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is one of those DLCs that qualifies as nearly its own game. The verticality of the map makes it fascinating to explore. Two of the bosses have left me laughing with delight as they pummelled me into the ground. Im still wrapping that one up because Ive been playing it with my sibling as a co-op experience, but it certainly has been a highlight of my year. Rayna B.My favourite game of the year was Animal Well. Not because the game design itself was all that special, but because its the first Ive played in a long time with genuinely unique, interesting graphics, and they really make the creepy, lonely vibe work. Pixelated art is a limited medium but theyve really shown how much you can do with colour, shading and animation while remaining legible. I hope art directors and indie devs are paying attention. Ian WilkesMy standout favourite is Satisfactory. I love the sarcastic AI reminiscent of GLaDOS (still different enough that it doesnt feel like a rip-off to me) the way the machines and belts all snap together is a dream, and the mix of setting up production and exploring while your machines do their thing is balanced really well, in my opinion. Max PogonowskiGreat characters, good jokes Another Crabs Treasure. Photograph: Aggro CrabAnother Crabs Treasure is definitely my favourite game of 2024. Youre a cute little hermit crab who has his shell stolen. Its full of interesting locations, great characters and good jokes. What are you waiting for? Josh HowardHelldivers II. I have always be reluctant to either play online games and/or play games that include shooting people. Of course HD2 has a very military style, but fighting bugs or machines makes a difference to me. I remember, when I was new to the game, someone shared his jump pack with me. A small but still gentle gesture, which I now (as a more experienced veteran) like to pass on to the next newbies. Falk von Hollenskip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionPlanet Crafter is a perfectly paced game: you collect resources which allow you to build ever-more advanced structures to terraform the planet. Gradually, your work has an effect and before you know it you have reached the first milestone and theres blue sky. I cheered aloud when it started to rain! I am eagerly anticipating my first insects. I have a way to go before my planet is fully green. Kirsten WheelerI love Factorio dearly and have spent far too much time on it. The premise is simple: your spaceship has crashed and you need to build a replacement to escape. There are resources aplenty, endless space oh, and the native population would like a word with you. Try it, but not if you have any deadlines looming or anything to do tomorrow. Glenn McDougallThe Rise of the Golden Idol. Very much like its predecessor The Case of the Golden Idol and Return of the Obra Dinn, there is something so immensely satisfying about poring over a series of tableaux and trying to glean what was happening in each instance in order to progress. A simple scene being able to hold my attention whilst keeping the dreaded mobile phone doomscrolling at bay has a lot going for it. Curtis EbanksBeavering away Timberborn. Photograph: PR IMAGETimberborn on PC. Fantastic city builder (with beavers!) that has great simulation of water dynamics and has devoured hours of my time this year. Still in early access but has no right to be as its so fully featured. AndyI picked up Nine Sols on the Nintendo Switch after seeing comparisons with Hollow Knight and Ive absolutely loved it. Its definitely brutal at times, but it has a great story and the boss fights are all really fun (and give you great satisfaction once youve beaten them after dying 30 times). I love the hand-drawn design, too. A game thats definitely scratched the itch I have while waiting for Silksong! Bhavna PatelMy favourite release this year has got to be Caves of Qud (though admittedly Im not sure if this strictly counts as a 2024 game as its been in early access for 15 years!). Its a science-fantasy roguelike seemingly inspired by all sorts of post-apocalyptic sci-fi, from Nausica of the Valley of the Wind to The Book of the New Sun. It is fantastically bonkers and endlessly fascinating. It does have a steep and fairly punishing learning curve, but recent updates have introduced a tutorial, an updated user interface and non-permadeath modes, so its much more beginner-friendly than it ever has been before. Wil EvansCan I cheat slightly and choose two? Crow Country and Fear the Spotlight are fantastic throwbacks to 90s survival horror and pull off the balancing act of giving players a serious fix of PS1-era nostalgia with modern playability. Fear the Spotlight is a particular delight, a playful horror ride laced with loving detail and real heart and emotional intelligence. Cannot recommend it enough and would urge folk to play the alternative timeline as well for the full experience and impact! Patrick LoweMy vote goes to Pepper Grinder: wonderfully tactile gameplay and graphics synergy; scratches the where is Drill Dozer on Switch Online itch; and has an option to slow the gameplay down meaning that I can still enjoy it. GassiSome much-needed cosiness Fields of Mistria. Photograph: NPC StudioFields of Mistria, for providing some much-needed cosiness and relaxation. Although its been a rough year for the industry, the games that have been released are a testament to the hard work of the people who made them. It saddens me that many of those who made some of my favourite experiences of 2024 will now be out of work or facing an uncertain future. Heres hoping that changes in 2025. Amy ColcloughDead Drop: A Carol Reed Mystery. Carol is an English private detective (who nevertheless speaks with a slight Swedish accent) who lives in a small town in Sweden and solves murders, missing person cases and other mysteries. A new game is released every 1 January: you click through photographs to move around the scenes, and use your mouse pointer to search for clues and objects in the photos. The atmosphere created by the beautiful photography and music, along with the rather dry humour, is quite special, a bit like an odd European film. Piero SerraMy favourite game of 2024 has to be Faaast Penguin. Its a daft Japanese multiplayer kart-racer featuring adorable penguins who you can dress up in silly outfits. Whats not to love? Chris MartinI have to nominate Little Kitty, Big City for my favourite game of 24. This year we lost our lovely black cat, Neko, so being able to see him wander around on an adventure was a lovely experience for my sons and I. It is an almost perfect little game, with enough to keep you engaged but not too much to find youre doing pointless infinite fetch quests. Plus, each front paw had a dedicated swipe button. Whats not to love? Tom FogdenSlice & Dice, a kind of dice-builder roguelike where you take a party of different classes to battle weird monsters in different campaigns and modes. Its like a retro Final Fantasy game except with a far more sophisticated battle system the scale and complexity of the fights becomes apparent very quickly, while still remaining really accessible and, importantly, fun! Steven Harvie---Thats it for 2024; hopefully youve found a plethora of appealing suggestions here for what to play in the dead zone between Christmas and New Year. Until 2025!If youve got a question for Question Block or anything else to say about the newsletter hit reply or email us on pushingbuttons@theguardian.com.