Theres no longer any question that Threads and Bluesky have created the most viable alternatives to the platform once known as Twitter. But while the two services may share some of the same goals, theyve shown very different visions for how text-based social networks should operate.Threads, of course, is controlled by Meta, which is controlled by Mark Zuckerberg. And though the company has claimed to embrace public conversation, it has also consistently put its thumb on the scale to encourage certain types of speech over others. The company throttled political content in an election year, forcing users to tweak their settings to enable posts about elections or social topics to appear in their for you feed.This desire to limit any of what Meta described as "potentially sensitive" content has also led to some questionable moderation decisions. For months, the app prevented users from searching for some topics, including those related to COVID-19 and vaccines. Those limits have since been lifted, but there have been numerous and inexplicable instances of other moderation failures on Threads.In October, Instagram head Adam Mosseri admitted the company had found mistakes and made changes after users reported their accounts had been penalized for using mundane words like saltines and cracker. Earlier this month,, Metas communications director Andy Stone apologized after users noted that searches for posts about Austin Tice, the American journalist who disappeared in Syria in 2012, were blocked on the app because the content may be associated with the sale of drugs. Stone didnt offer an explanation but said the issue has been addressed.Bluesky, on the other hand, has taken less of a top-down approach to moderation. While the company employs some of its own moderators to enforce baseline moderation, users have a lot of control over how much questionable or harmful content they want to see. Blueksy also allows people to create their own moderation services for an even more custom experience.Moderation is in many ways, like governance, Bluesky CEO Jay Graber told me earlier this year. And setting the norms of a social space, we don't think one person or one company should be unilaterally deciding that for an entire ecosystem where people are having public conversations important to the state of the world.That philosophy plays out in other important ways. Twitter was never a major source of traffic for most publishers, even before Elon Musks takeover. But the platform once played a vital role in the news ecosystem. At a time when Elon Musk has acknowledged that X penalizes posts with links and Threads top exec has said that Meta doesnt want to encourage hard news, Blueskys leaders have actually tried to foster link sharing, and several publishers have reported seeing significantly more traffic from Bluesky, compared with Threads and X.But perhaps the most obvious difference between Meta and Blueskys approach is in what order posts even appear. Bluesky defaults to a reverse chronological feed that shows posts from accounts you follow. Users can also choose to add custom feeds based on hundreds of different topics. For example, I follow a cat pics feed that surfaces posts with photos of cats and a trending news feed that surfaces links to news stories that are being shared widely on the platform.And while Meta has recently come out with its own version of custom feeds, the app still defaults to an algorithmic for you feed that surfaces a mix of content users actually want and unasked-for drivel thats so random and bizarre its been compared to a gas leak. (Meta said it would test allowing users to make their following feed the default, but hasnt provided an update.) Its also telling that even the content creators getting paid hundreds or thousands of dollars to post on Threads dont really understand the platform.There are even more significant changes coming in 2025. While both Threads and Bluesky have so far been blissfully ad-free, both services will need to eventually make money.Bluesky has so far experimented with other ways of making money, including selling custom domains and an upcoming subscription service that will offer extra features to paying users. Though Graber hasnt entirely ruled out advertising, shes also been clear that she doesn't want to enshittify the service for the sake of advertising.Threads, on the other hand, is already attached to Metas multi-billion dollar ad machine, an entity so intrusive many people believe the companys apps literally listen to their conversations (a theory thats been repeatedly debunked.) Though Zuckerberg has indicated the company isnt in a rush to turn Threads into a very large business, it could see its first ads in January, according to reports, and theres little reason to believe Meta wont eventually employ the same playbook it has with all its other services.All this makes Bluesky even more of an underdog. Threads is already more than 10 times its size and Meta has made it clear it has no problem using its copy-or-kill tactics against the upstart.But thats also exactly why so many Bluesky users fervently believe that the platform is the one that has the juice. While Threads and X put public conversations in the hands of autocratic billionaires, Bluesky is an independent entity and has structured its platform much more democratically. The platform has had its share of moderation controversies, but it puts far more control in the hands of its users. Its welcomed developers, who have created dozens of third-party apps for the service.All that may not ultimately be enough to fend off Meta, which can afford to throw billions of dollars at Threads. But Blueskys vision for an open-source decentralized platform is about much more than becoming the next big social media site. We set out to change the way social media works from the bottom up, Graber said during a recent press event. I want us to have choice over what we see.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/bluesky-and-threads-showed-us-very-different-visions-for-a-post-x-future-171046336.html?src=rss

When it comes to new horror games, there are times of feast and famine, and this past year we gorged until our bellies bulged and our mouths dripped with gruesome grease. In 2024, we received a rich spread of dark experiences from solo creators, indie teams, AA developers and AAA studios in a vast array of genres and visual styles. There was a fantastic Silent Hill 2 remake and beefy updates to contemporary classics like Phasmophobia, Alan Wake 2 and The Outlast Trials, and there was also a steady cadence of brand-new horror franchises expanding the genre in unexpected ways.First, lets take a moment to celebrate a sampling of the years fresh horror universes. In 2024, we got the following new titles:Crow Country from brothers Adam Vian and Tom Vian at SFB GamesFear the Spotlight from husband-and-wife team Cozy Game PalsHollowbodyby solo dev Nathan Hamley at Headware GamesHome Safety Hotline by Utah studio Night Signal EntertainmentINDIKAfrom Spain- and Kazakhstan-based studio Odd MeterKunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess from CapcomLorelei and the Laser Eyes by the high-strangeness experts at SimogoMouthwashing from Swedish indie team Wrong OrganSlitterheadby Silent Hill and Gravity Rush creator Keiichir Toyama at Bokeh Game StudiosStill Wakes the Deep from horror veterans The Chinese RoomThis is not a comprehensive list of new horror franchises in 2024, but its a suitable demonstration of how vast and varied the offerings were this year. Indie studios are leading the charge when it comes to fresh ideas and original mechanics, of course, but there are also plenty of references to early-2000s graphics and PS1- or PS2-era survival horror on this list. The combination of innovation and nostalgia is particularly potent in titles like Fear the Spotlight, Crow Country, Mouthwashing and Hollowbody. These games infuse blocky 3D worlds with modern sensibilities and smooth animations, resulting in experiences that illuminate the staticky memories of Resident Evil and Silent Hill that lurk in our heads. This is how we wanted those games to feel, fixed camera angles be damned or, in the case of Hollowbody, lovingly embraced.Fear the SpotlightCozy Game PalsIt should also be noted that Fear the Spotlight marks the debut of acclaimed horror-movie maker Blumhouse as a video game publisher. Fear the Spotlight is the first release in Blumhouses lineup which includes future titles from EYES OUT, Half Mermaid, Perfect Garbage, Playmestudio and Vermila Studios and its an excellent exploration of low-fi teenage drama and dread. The horror-game revolution is upon us and Blumhouse is absolutely going to snag a piece.The least horror-like game on the above list may be Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, and it also happens to be the only title from a AAA studio. Ive included it because, as a dedicated fan of horror games, I think Kunitsu-Gami checks plenty of boxes: It features huge, disgusting demons and a lethal blight that envelops whole towns in skeletal yet strangely juicy organic material. Its monster designs feature colorful displays of lechery and body horror, and theres comfort to be found in its tense strategy-action gameplay loop. Kunitsu-Gami wasnt marketed as a horror experience, and it certainly contains just as many scenes of stunning beauty as it does grotesquerie, but I heartily recommend it to any horror fan. I think youll be pleasantly surprised.Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the GoddessCapcomINDIKA is another entry that straddles the genres of horror, camp and religious satire, but it definitely features a few scenes of soul-piercing terror. Plus, the literal devil is your friendly companion throughout the game, and that has to count for something. Among scenes of grief, inhumanity and devastation, INDIKA is a laugh riot, and its a preeminent example of mature themes handled well in video game form. An additional genre-bending standout from 2024 is Simogos Lorelei and the Laser Eyes. It contains incredibly satisfying logic puzzles in a hotel made out of mysteries but phantoms haunt the hallways, theres a corpse in the back garden and every scene drips with palpable unease. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is one of the best and most unsettling games of the year, period.Still Wakes the Deep, meanwhile, offers a familiar and beautiful brand of monster-stalking horror on an oil rig in the middle of the angry North Sea. Its a must-play game for any horror fan, acting as a vessel for The Chinese Room to show off its skills in building authentic worlds and cultivating ceaseless tension with a paranormal edge. Plus, it's one of the best-looking games I played on PS5 all year. Slitterhead is another one for the action-horror players out there, presenting a supernatural mystery in a version of Hong Kong thats been infested by body-snatching demons, featuring buckets of blood and frantic close-range combat.Still Wakes the DeepThe Chinese RoomThe year began with the release of Home Safety Hotline, a simulation of a 1990s call center where players help diagnose and treat household pests, which include otherworldly threats like Bed Teeth, Fae Flu, The Horde, Laundry Gnome, Mirror Nymph, Toilet Hobb, Unicorn Fungi and others. Home Safety Hotline really was the amuse bouche of 2024s horror game lineup and Mouthwashing is the dessert.All the horror kids nowadays are playing Mouthwashing, a polygonal first-person romp through a stranded space ship filled with doomed crew members steadily losing their minds, overseen by a maimed captain with a maniacal, bandaged smile. Mouthwashing is strange and claustrophobic, and its a fabulous way to end the year in horror gaming.Silent Hill 2Bloober TeamBut we havent even talked about the existing franchises yet. The Silent Hill 2 remake from Bloober Team, the Polish studio behind Layers of Fear and Blair Witch, was a brilliant success, even in the face of exacting standards from longtime series fans. The remake looks and feels like the game that players remember, only spit-shined and smoothed over, and Silent Hill 2 remains just as terrifying in 2024 as it originally was in 2001. Maybe even more so. Bloober Team had a lot to prove with this one, and they made us elder-Millennial horror players proud.Alan Wake 2 was one of the best games of 2023, horror or otherwise, and it received two significant batches of DLC this year: Night Springs landed in June and The Lake House went live in October. Each bit of content not only keeps Alan Wakes hellish world alive, but it adds depth to the cross-franchise universe that Remedy is building between Control and Alan Wake. Personally I always want more Alan Wake, and in that regard, 2024 didnt disappoint.The Outlast TrialsRed BarrelsTwo live-service indie games, The Outlast Trials and Phasmophobia, also saw major updates in the past 12 months. After entering early access in May 2023, The Outlast Trials studio Red Barrels has been working to establish a solid cadence of new content drops, and this year they really got into the groove. The Outlast Trials launched in full in March 2024 and its received multiple updates since then, introducing new enemies, maps, game modes and limited-time events for the players trapped in the Murkoff Corporations secret Sinyala Facility. The amount of work that Red Barrels puts into The Outlast Trials is endlessly impressive, especially considering there are only about 65 developers at the studio.Phasmophobia has an even smaller team than Red Barrels, but theyre making big moves. The crew at UK studio Kinetic Games have kept Phasmophobia alive since its Steam launch in September 2020, and this year, they finally brought the ghost-hunting game to consoles. Phasmophobia hit PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on October 29, and it also came to PS VR2. Kinetic Games has grand plans to keep supporting and expanding Phasmophobia in 2025 and beyond, so even though the console release happened four years after launch, this is really just the beginning.Lorelei and the Laser EyesSimogoThere it is our humble ode to horror gaming in 2024. Its been a dozen months of indie innovation and gorgeous gore, with a side dish of fabulous remakes and sizable updates. Some new horror games push against the boundaries of the genre, expanding our ideas of whats scary and why, while others find fresh ways to dissect classic tropes. Its a case of modern cuisine vs. comfort food, and on my plate, theres plenty of room for both.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/dang-2024-was-a-great-year-for-horror-game-fans-160009640.html?src=rss

How AI can help plan game night.

TechRadar speaks to the writer and director of Pixars Inside Out 2, Kelsey Mann, about the potential for a third movie.

It's been quite the year for tech! Here's our round up of the biggest trends in phones, computing, TVs, gaming, cameras, streaming and more in 2024.

Drugmakers plan to raise U.S. prices on at least 250 branded medications including Pfizer COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid, Bristol Myers Squibbs cancer cell therapies, and vaccines from Frances Sanofi at the start of 2025, according to data analyzed by healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors.Nearly all of the drug price increases are below 10%most well below. The median price increase of the drugs being hiked Jan. 1 is 4.5%, which is in line with the median for all price increases last year.The increases are to list prices, which do not include rebates to pharmacy benefit managers and other discounts.Larger drug price increases were once far more common in the U.S., but in recent years drugmakers have scaled them back after price hikes drew sharp criticism in the middle of the last decade.Drugmakers dont have much real estate any longer to increase prices over time, which means taking greater liberties on launch prices is really the only option they have in the face of expanded penalties for year-over-year price increases, 3 Axis President Antonio Ciaccia said.A Reuters analysis of prices for new drugs found that pharmaceutical companies launched new U.S. drugs in 2023 at prices 35% higher than in 2022.The over 250 drug hikes represent an increase from Dec. 29 last year when drugmakers unveiled plans to raise prices on more than 140 brands of drugs.Drug companies are also reducing some prices on Jan. 1. Merck & Co plans to cut the list price of its heavily discounted diabetes drugs Januvia and Janumet to align the list price more closely to the net price.U.S. PAYS MOSTThe U.S. pays more for prescription medicines than any other country, and incoming President Donald Trump has vowed to lower drug costs by focusing on middlemen in the U.S. healthcare system.More drug price increases are likely to be announced by other drugmakers over the course of Januaryhistorically the biggest month for drugmakers to raise prices.Pfizer raised prices of the most drugs on the latest listmore than 60 drugs. As well as a 3% hike on Paxlovid, the company raised prices on medicines including migraine treatment Nurtec and cancer drugs Adcetris, Ibrance, and Xeljanz between 3% and 5%.Pfizer has adjusted the average list prices of our medicines and vaccines for 2025 below the overall rate of inflationapproximately 2.4%across many products in our diverse product portfolio, Pfizer spokesperson Amy Rose said in an email. She said the increases help support investments in drug development and offset costs.Bristol Myers raised the price of its expensive cancer cell therapies Abecma and Breyanzi by 6% and 9%, respectively. The personalized blood cancer treatments can already cost close to half a million dollars.A BMS spokesperson said in an email that the company is committed to achieving unfettered patient access to its medicines. She said the price of Breyanzi in particular is reflective of the potentially transformative, individualized treatment in a one-time infusion.Sanofi raised prices on around a dozen of its vaccines between 2.9% and 9%.The largest brand price increases according to the 3 Axis analysis were from Leadiant Pharmaceuticals, a unit of Italys Essetifin. The company raised prices around 15% on its Hodgkins disease treatment Matulane and about 20% on Cystaran, eye drops to help patients with symptoms from a rare condition called cystinosis.Spokespeople from Leadiant and Sanofi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by David Gregorio

A geomagnetic storm is expected to bring the northern lights, oraurora borealis, to the northern United States during New Years Eve and Day, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).The auroras could be visible as early as the morning of December 31, 2024, and again after nightfall on January 1, 2025, depending on solar activity. NOAA experts caution that the exact timing and intensity of the light show wont be clear until the solar material responsible for the storm gets within about a million miles of Earth, roughly 30 to 60 minutes before it reaches the planet.Shawn Dahl, a senior space weather forecaster for NOAA, explained that the solar storm could create visible auroras in regions where they are not typically seen, particularly during the peak of the suns 11-year solar cycle. This cycle, known as the solar maximum, causes more frequent and stronger coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the sun, which disturb Earths magnetic field and create the auroras.What causes the northern lights?The northern lights are the result of charged particles from the sun, called coronal mass ejections, colliding with Earths magnetic field. These interactions create colorful light displays, which are most commonly seen in high-latitude regions near the magnetic poles. The aurora is typically visible in regions such as Alaska, Canada, and northern Europe. However, during periods of increased solar activity, these displays can be seen much farther south.Earlier this year, a powerful solar storm in May allowed auroras to be seen as far south as the U.S. Midwest, and another storm in October brought auroras as far south as New York City. While the upcoming storm is expected to be less intense, it still has the potential to offer a striking light show for skywatchers in the northern U.S.Where to see the northern lightsThe northern lights will likely be visible in parts of the northern U.S., including Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Areas in northern Oregon, parts of the Midwest, and central New England could also catch a glimpse.For the best viewing experience, experts recommend traveling to locations with little light pollution, away from city lights. While the aurora may be faint and hard to see with the naked eye, it can often be captured in vivid detail with a smartphone camera. The new moon phase during this time will also provide darker skies, improving visibility.Track the Aurora in real-timeThose interested in tracking the northern lights can visit NOAAs Space Weather Prediction Center website for real-time updates on solar activity and aurora forecasts.The peak of the solar cycle means there may be more chances to see the northern lights in 2025, with even more frequent and widespread displays expected over the coming months.

LVMH-owned Diors production arm in Italy, Manufactures Dior, relied on formal inspections to assess working and safety standards inside its supply chain last year. In some cases, such certifications missed glaring problems, a Reuters review of unpublished court documents has found.AZ Operations, a subcontractor of Manufactures Dior tasked with the production of leather items and based near Italys fashion capital Milan, was accused by Italian prosecutors in June of being a front for an operation that exploited workers.However, AZ Operations passed two environmental and social inspections in 2023, in January and July, according to unpublished audit documents reviewed by Reuters.Widespread Milan investigations have uncovered malpractice inside the Italian luxury goods supply chain of Dior, Giorgio Armani, and Alviero Martini this year, Reuters has previously reported.The audit papers, along with court documents, Reuters interviews with more than two dozen luxury sector workers, auditors, supply chain managers, suppliers, lawyers, industry experts, executives, and trade union representatives reveal the pervasiveness of ineffective checks of social and environmental standards inside Italys sprawling luxury supply chain.In the case of AZ Operations, a three-page assessment on letterhead from compliance management company Fair Factories Clearinghouse (FFC), carried out by monitor Adamo Adriano on Jan. 18, 2023, stated that AZ Operations did not have subcontractors. The audit listed no irregularities.In July 2023, a further audit by Davide Albertario Milano srl, a large direct supplier of Manufactures Dior that worked with AZ Operations, also found no non-conformities and certified the work was carried out to a high standard and in accordance with contractual terms.Despite passing the audits, a police investigation into its 2023 activities found AZ Operations was de facto non-existent, according to Milan court documents. Furthermore, police inspections in April 2024 alleged the company was a front for a separate business, New Leather Italy, that exploited undocumented workers in sweatshop-like conditions, the same documents showed.That discovery was one of the factors that prompted Milans prosecutors to put Manufactures Dior under court administration in June.Dior and LVMH did not respond to multiple requests for comment about Reuters findings, including the audits, and on the process to inspect external manufacturers in Italy.In a July statement following revelations from the Milan prosecutors inquiries, Dior said it firmly condemned illegal practices discovered at two of its contractors, saying such unworthy acts contradicted its values and the code of conduct signed by these suppliers.Aware of the gravity of the violations committed by these suppliers and the improvements to be made to its checks and procedures, the house of Dior is collaborating with the designated Italian administrator and the Italian authorities, the French brand also said at the time.Dior added in the statement that its teams were working intensely to reinforce the existing procedures: Despite regular audits, these two suppliers had evidently succeeded in hiding these practices.FFC and Adamo Adriano did not respond to Reuters attempts to reach them. Davide Albertario did not respond to queries by Reuters on inspections at AZ Operations. New Leather Italy did not reply to a Reuters request for comment.COST-REDUCTIONGlobal luxury groups including LVMH usually outsource most of their production to a myriad of external contractors, industry experts say.Many are based in Italy, famed for its artisanal skills and accounting for between 50% and 55% of the global production of luxury clothing and leather goods, consultancy Bain calculates.No matter how many controls we do, there is always something we miss, Renzo Rosso, founder of Italian fashion group OTB, which makes Diesel clothing, told a business event in September, in reference to the complexity of overseeing Italys supply chain.Despite the risks, insiders and experts told Reuters relying on suppliers is a deliberate strategy to keep costs down and manage demand.The fashion business model is driven by cost-reduction tactics, leading fashion brands to switch suppliers, said Hakan Karaosman, Associate Professor at Cardiff University, whose research focuses on supply chain sustainability.Even though Dior did not directly abuse workers, the mechanism of labour exploitation was culpably fuelled by Manufactures Dior srl which . . . did not carry out effective inspections or audits over the years to ascertain the actual working conditions and environment, Milan prosecutors said in the June court documents.Currently, there is no firm legal requirement in Italy for luxury groups to audit their suppliers. But poor oversight can clash with sustainability claims made to investors and consumers over craftsmanship and corporate and social responsibility standards, leading to reputational risks and in some cases civil liability if workers exploitation is found within the supply chain.LVMH, for example, said in its 2023 Social and Environmental Responsibility Report it endeavors to ensure its suppliers and their service providers uphold human rights and to support them with applying the best possible employment, health and safety conditions.The investigations into Italys luxury supply chain have prompted some LVMH shareholders to ask the $330-billion behemoth, owned by French billionaire Bernard Arnault, to better monitor how its contractors treat workers.LVMH told a group of investors in November it was auditing all of its direct suppliers and immediate contractors. In a subsequent statement to Reuters in November, LVMH said it had conducted more than 2,600 on-site audits globally this year.Italys antitrust authority said in July it was investigating whether Dior and Armani have misled consumers.In July, Armani expressed confidence in a positive result following the (antitrust) investigation, saying in a statement that its companies were fully committed to cooperating with the authorities and that it believed the allegations had no merit.SKIN-DEEP OVERSIGHTBrands dictate the depth of the checks and the auditors scope of action and inspections are often limited to direct suppliers and not to sub-contractors, where the biggest problems usually lie, four auditors and luxury goods supply chain managers Reuters spoke to said.Audits tend to be planned in advance, allowing suppliers to paint a better picture by, for instance, clearing premises of workers without proper contracts, these people said.On May 9, 2023, for example, external auditor Adamo Adriano sent Pelletterie Elisabetta Yang, another supplier of Manufactures Dior based near Milan, a written notice flagging that he would hold an inspection on 26 May, 2023, the audit documents reviewed by Reuters show.In the notice, Adriano asked to analyse employment contracts, organizational charts, pay slips and a dozen more documents.The check-up did take place, but it was more formal than substantial, investigators wrote of the audit. The assessment listed no irregularities.In March 2024, police entered Elisabetta Yangs workshop, which housed also a refectory and several bedrooms. They found 23 workers, five of which were irregular. The workers lived and worked in hygiene and health conditions that are below the minimum required, the court documents read.Adriano did not reply to Reuters requests to comment with regards to the audit of Elisabetta Yang. Reuters was not able to contact Elisabetta Yang at the official email addresses cited by the local chamber of commerce.As private actors, auditors cannot freely access factories or workshops outside agreed hours and may not collect documents that are not spontaneously submitted by suppliers, two Italy-based luxury supply chain auditors told Reuters.The time allocated for on-site inspections is often too short to examine documents and interview employees, these people said.Five Tuscany-based luxury chain workers employed at separate workshops serving major brands confirmed to Reuters workshop owners knew in advance of the audits and would clear their premises and prep staff on what answers to give monitoring teams on the day of an inspection.All declined to be named for fear of losing their job.We used to say we only worked four hours a day, as per our (formal) part-time contract, said Pakistani-born Abbas, who works in the leathermaking hub of Prato.But how could they think we were making 1,300 bags a day with 50 workers employed only four hours a day?, Abbas, who said he worked 14 hours a day, six days a week, added.On the day of the audit, employees with part-time contracts were asked to leave as soon as they finished their formal shift, but had to come back and continue work after the auditors left, he added.Another worker, also from Pakistan and employed at a separate leather workshop in the Florence area, said factory owners warned workers when the inspection would take place and asked them to lie about their working hours.Fabio Roia, President of the Court of Milan, told Reuters that companies dont invest enough in their control systems and dont normally question the extremely cheap prices contractors offer to provide goods or services.Small fashion brand Alviero Martini, famed for leather bags decorated with geographical map patterns, was also targeted by the Italian inquiries for allegedly sub-contracting work to Chinese-owned firms in Italy that mistreated workers.The Alviero Martini group was careful in selecting direct suppliers . . . but the use of sub-suppliers was not actually checked properly, Ilaria Ramoni, who served as court administrator overseeing its operations until October, said in an interview.The group, which is no longer under court administration, did not respond to a request for comment. It stated in September it was unaware of the illegal behaviour occurring within its supply chain.Dior and Armani are still under special judicial oversight as part of the Milans investigation into labour exploitation.By Elisa Anzolin, Emilio Parodi and Silvia OgnibeneReporting by Elisa Anzolin and Emilio Parodi in Milan, Silvia Ognibene in Florence, additional reporting by Mimosa Spencer in Paris and Isabel Demetz in Gdansk; Editing by Lisa Jucca)

San Francisco studio Ryan Leidner Architecture has based the design of a wood-and-stucco desert house and art studio in southern California on mid-century Eichler homes and southwestern art. Located in the High Desert region near Joshua Tree National Park, the house was designed for painter Heather Day and her partner Chase McBride.Ryan Leidner Architecture constructed a wood and stucco house in CaliforniaRyan Leidner Architecture designed the home on an undeveloped desert site."[We sought to] respect the landscape with the design of the house, maintaining a compact footprint while still enjoying the sense of expansiveness one feels in the desert," said studio founder Ryan Leidner."In order to get to the property you drive several miles down an unpaved, sandy road through the desert, seeing the occasional home or trailer along the way."It was created for a painter and creative director"And then you take a final turn, and the house begins to emerge from behind a rock outcropping, and what you see is this white line in the landscape, and it feels just so surprising, and I think beautiful."The studio was informed by the straightforward logic of mid-century Eichler homes after the studio renovated one and decided to start with an exposed post-and-beam structure with regular spacing that informed the layout of the rooms.The design was informed by the straightforward logic of mid-century Eichler homesThe team also looked at case studies from painter Georgia O'Keeffe's and Willem and Elaine de Kooning's studios, as well as Mexican architect Luis Barragan's personal residence when considering the space.The rectangular wood frame, which steps down to accommodate a rocky slope, was coated in a white plaster stucco exterior to withstand the extreme fluctuations of the site's weather.A post and beam structure drove the design of the home"We initially explored using a neutral tone plaster with the thought that it would blend in with the desert landscape," the team said."But as we studied that option further, we realized that it actually took away from the architecture and the landscape and that having more of a contrast in tone helped to highlight the beauty of the surroundings."On one side, a solid white wall runs the length of the house, extending slightly past the transverse end walls to create small sheltered flanges. The wall is split in half by a set of double doors and sidelights that align with the doors on the other side of the house.Read: Ryan Leidner adds bridge to geometric San Francisco houseOn the other side, the nearly symmetrical house features a wide central porch with an elevated deck that is accessed through floor-to-ceiling sliding glass walls.Large windows that bring light into the bedroom and artist studio flank either end of the house and the wooden roof trusses extend a short way past the perimeter of the wall to shade the glazing.On one end, the home drops into a studio spaceThe short ends feature clerestory windows underscored by thin vertical wooden bands.In the central space between the breezeway created by the open doors, the kitchen, dining and living room form the heart of the house with exposed wood ceilings, white walls, and concrete flooring.Large windows let in natural light to the studioA short hallway off the kitchen leads to the bedroom and bathroom, while the other side of the main room drops a couple steps into the large open studio space."Living here has helped both of us slow down and savor each day," resident Heather Day said. "The way the windows frame the rugged landscape that seems to change throughout the day or with each season makes us feel closer to land. It's like an ever-evolving painting outside."Recently, Ryan Leidner Architecture renovated a 1940s home in Bernal Heights, San Francisco with a bridge over the front garden and a 1960s Eichler house in Silicon Valley, from which he drew inspiration for this house.The photography is by Joe Fletcher.The post Ryan Leidner Architecture creates home and studio in High Desert appeared first on Dezeen.

The last-gen iPad Air is a steal at $399.