html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" Nvidia, AMD, and Intel are all set to update their lists of the best graphics cards sometime in January. Now, according to HKEPC, a Hong Kong media outlet, we know that the Nvidia RTX 5080 is reportedly set to launch on January 21. Meanwhile, AMD may take more time to ramp up its GPU availability, giving Nvidia the chance to dominate the GPU market in early 2025.With CES 2025 mere days away, we already know that January is going to be one busy month for PC enthusiasts. Nvidias got the RTX 50-series, AMD is launching the RX 9000 series, and Intel will add one more GPU to its Battlemage lineup. Only the last one has a confirmed release date of January 16, but it seems that Nvidia will be just one week behind if the leak is to be believed.Recommended VideosNow, its worth noting that although HKEPC announced the January 21 release date for the RTX 5080 on X (Twitter), the publication deleted the post shortly after. VideoCardz preserved it, which is why we can speculate about this release date. Many leakers have already claimed that the RTX 5080 would be the first to arrive, and two weeks after the anticipated CES 2025 announcement sounds like a reasonable estimate for the RTX 5080, so this very well might be true.Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming If the RTX 5080 launches on January 21, then we might be looking at January 28 for the RTX 5090, but many observers think itll appear even later, citing dates up until mid-February. That leaves us with the RTX 5070 (and perhaps the Ti version), which may not be launched until late February. In any case, according to current rumors, we might see three to four Nvidia GPUs within two months of the announcement.AMD may not be as quick to follow, says VideoCardz. According to a post from the Board Channels, which cites AMDs internal department, the availability for the RX 9000 series is going to be fairly limited at first similar to what weve seen with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. Although the first GPU, now dubbed the RX 9070 XT, is said to have a late January release date, the cards will only become broadly available in February.RelatedWhat about the rest of AMDs lineup? So far, leakers have only talked about one GPU based on the Navi 48 die thats the RX 9070 XT and one based on Navi 44. The Navi 44 variant will likely be found in the RX 9060 (XT). This GPU, alongside a presumed RX 9070 non-XT version, are now said to be launching in March.If all of the above turns out to be true, Nvidia may have free reign over the GPU market in early 2025. With both the RTX 5090 and the RTX 5080 going uncontested, and limited availability from AMD at first, all eyes may be on Nvidia. Well find out whether this is true in just a few days, so stay tuned for more CES 2025 news.Editors Recommendations

LionsgateTable of ContentsTable of Contents7. Trap6. Argylle5. Hellboy: The Crooked Man4. Drive-Away Dolls3. Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 12. Joker: Folie Deux1. MegalopolisIts a common misconception that the most disappointing movies of the year are also the worst films. There is some overlap between them, but you wont find films like Madame Web or Kraven the Hunter on this list. We never expected those movies to be any good, so it was impossible for them to disappoint us. The real disappointments are the films that had the potential to be something more than they turned out to be. An interesting premise, a great cast, and even highly anticipated sequels can go a long way toward building up expectations.Although there are far worse films this year which well get to in our end-of-the-year round-up the following flicks are our picks for the seven most disappointing movies of 2024.Recommended VideosWarner Bros. PicturesRemember when M. Night Shyamalan looked like he might become one of the best filmmakers of his generation? If it seems like that was a long time ago, thats because it really was about two decades in the past. After starting out so strongly with The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and others, Shyamalan got himself bogged down in trying to have a stunning twist in each and every movie.RelatedTrap kind of gave away its game with the first trailer for the film, which revealed that Josh Hartnetts girl-dad character was actually a serial killer stuck at a concert with his teenage daughter that was specifically meant to trap him for law enforcement agencies. That was an interesting premise, and Hartnetts been due for a comeback since Penny Dreadful came to an end.Trap Movie Clip - Climb Down (2024)To his credit, Hartnett eats up his role with abloom. Hes just stuck in a maddeningly stupid and implausible movie that barely resembles reality by the time that Shyamalan gets through with it. Its almost as if the director has forgotten how to create characters who even vaguely act like normal human beings. And who did Shyamalan cast as the Taylor Swift-like superstar that everyone was there to see? His own daughter, Saleka Night Shyamalan. What a twist!Apple StudiosWhat happened to Matthew Vaughn? His films used to be a lot of fun, and his first superhero flick X-Men: First Class was one of the best movies that 20th Century Fox ever made with Marvel characters. On paper, Argylle looked like it was going to tap into the same action-comedy vein as Vaughns Kingsman the first one, not the lackluster sequel or even worse prequel. Vaughn also put a hell of a cast together for this flick, including Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Samuel L. Jackson, and Henry Cavill. That definitely got our hopes up.Shockingly, Vaughn wasnt able to deliver on any of that promise. It feels like a Matthew Vaughn film to a fault and hits a lot of the same beats that weve seen before. But this script bends itself into a pretzel to accommodate its twists and comes off as contrived and unentertaining. This is the kind of movie that Vaughn should have been able to make in his sleep, although we have to wonder if he actually was asleep when he made this. That would explain a lot.Ketchup EntertainmentThe only way that Hellboy: The Crooked Man managed to avoid disappointing more fans in 2024 was by skipping theaters altogether. If youve ever loved the Guillermo del Toro Hellboy movies or even the one that had Stranger Things David Harbour in the leading role, stay far away from this one. It will let you down on every level.There are no redeeming qualities in this movie, and its shocking how cheap it looks, given that this film supposedly had a $20 million budget. Director Brian Taylors camera selections are as bland as can be, and some scenes are even inexplicably blurry. Hellboy creator Mike Mignola co-wrote the script, which only makes it more amazing that it couldnt recapture the fun and excitement of the previous films. This movie is currently in direct-to-video purgatory, and it should stay there forever.Focus FeaturesIt turns out that a film directed by one Coen brother isnt in the same galaxy as a movie directed by both Coen brothers.Ethan Coen went solo with Drive-Away Dolls, a film he co-wrote with his wife, Tricia Cooke. And a lesbian gal-pal road trip with a severed head and a collection of something unmentionable in the trunk while being pursued by mobsters does sound like something the Coen brothers would do together. But from the poor execution, it seems that Joel Coen was very missed.The Substances Margaret Qualley comes out of it completely unscathed because her performance is the best thing in the movie. We just cant say that an Ethan Coen solo movie is going to get our expectations soaring again.New Line Cinema/Warner Bros.If anyones surprised that an Oscar-winning director like Kevin Costner doesnt always have the best instincts for what makes a good movie, then they clearly havent seen Waterworld or The Postman. Costner only directed the latter of those two, but he was also partially responsible for a lot of the mistakes made in the former.Regardless, Costners affinity for Westerns led him to bet on himself with Horizon: An American Saga, the first of what was meant to be four epic movies. Costners work on Dances with Wolves was great, so it wasnt a stretch to hope that this project could recapture some of that films spirit.Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 Movie Clip | Make It Known | Warner Bros. EntertainmentInstead, Horizon pulled up like a stagecoach with a boring and bloated script that was more perplexing than entertaining. Costner set the stage with so many characters that keeping track of them all is difficult, and most of them arent properly served by the story. Regardless, Costner hasnt given up on his dream, and hes still working on the third Horizon movie. Yet, with Horizon 2 on indefinite hold and without a firm release date, its hard to see how Costner can change the negative first impression that this film left behind. Was it really worth blowing up Yellowstone for this?Warner Bros. PicturesThe first Joker movie may not have had Batman or a comic-book-accurate story, but it was unquestionably a big hit that a large portion of the fan base embraced. Until Deadpool & Wolverine came along, Joker was the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time. The sequel, Joker: Folie Deux, had a lot of goodwill from fans, all of which steadily declined as it became clear that director Todd Phillips was determined to include some musical elements in the script for Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) and Harleen Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga).To make a long story short, the sizable audience of the first Joker film stayed home, and those who saw the sequel were largely put off by its ending. This film is a tour de force for dashing fan hopes and expectations.LionsgateIn the year 2024, could the No. 1 pick on this list be anything by Megalopolis? To be sure, there were plenty of red flags on the way toward this movies release, and the buzz was anything but good. However, Francis Ford Coppola is legitimately one of the greatest directors in cinema history. The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, and Apocalypse Now speak to that, and that allowed him some benefit of the doubt that Megalopolis was going to be more than just an out-of-control vanity project.Think of it this way: Megalopolis is only disappointing if you were expecting something that reflected some of Coppolas past work. As a stand-alone movie, its the most gonzo and insane film of the year with a nonsensical story, an all-star cast overacting in a script they barely seem to understand, a bizarre sci-fi touch, and metaphors for the potential fall of America. Not every screening of Megalopolis got the scene where Adam Drivers Cesar Catilina talks to a live actor in the theater.We cant say that Megalopolis wasnt ambitious or that it wasnt the fulfillment of Coppolas dream. It was just a letdown that it couldnt live up to the 40 years of effort that Coppola put into it along with a sizable portion of his personal fortune.Editors Recommendations

Pay close attention AI-generated phishing emails are getting very good at targeting executives Hyper-personalized emails use "an immense amount" of scraped data. Stephanie Stacey, Financial Times Jan 2, 2025 9:24 am | 1 This is definitely not a Razer mousebut you get the idea. Credit: calvio via Getty Images This is definitely not a Razer mousebut you get the idea. Credit: calvio via Getty Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreCorporate executives are being hit with an influx of hyper-personalized phishing scams generated by artificial intelligence bots, as the fast-developing technology makes advanced cyber crime easier.Leading companies such as British insurer Beazley and ecommerce group eBay have warned of the rise of fraudulent emails containing personal details probably obtained through AI analysis of online profiles.This is getting worse and its getting very personal, and this is why we suspect AI is behind a lot of it, said Beazleys chief information security officer Kirsty Kelly. Were starting to see very targeted attacks that have scraped an immense amount of information about a person.Cyber security experts said the increasing attacks come during a period of rapid advancement for AI technology, as tech companies race to create ever more sophisticated systems and launch popular products for consumers and businesses.AI bots can quickly ingest large quantities of data about the tone and style of a company or individual and replicate these features to craft a convincing scam.They can also scrape a victims online presence and social media activity to determine what topics they may be most likely to respond tohelping hackers generate bespoke phishing scams at scale.The availability of generative AI tools lowers the entry threshold for advanced cyber crime, said eBay cyber crime security researcher Nadezda Demidova. Weve witnessed a growth in the volume of all kinds of cyber attacks, particularly in polished and closely targeted phishing scams, she added.Kip Meintzer, an executive at security company Check Point Software Technologies, told a recent investor conference that AI had given hackers the ability to write a perfect phishing email.More than 90 percent of successful cyber attacks begin with a phishing email, according to the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. As these attacks become more sophisticated, their consequences have become increasingly expensive, with the global average cost of a data breach rising nearly 10 percent to $4.9 million in 2024, according to IBM.Researchers have warned that AI is particularly effective for crafting business email compromise scamsa specific type of malware-free phishing where fraudsters trick recipients into transferring funds or divulging confidential company information. This kind of scam has cost victims worldwide more than $50 billion since 2013, according to the FBI.AI is being used to scan everything to see where theres a vulnerability, whether thats in code or in the human chain, said Sean Joyce, global cyber security lead at PwC.Phishing scams generated using AI may also be more likely to bypass companies email filters and cyber security training.Basic filters, which generally block repeated bulk phishing campaigns, may struggle to track these scams if AI is used to rapidly generate thousands of reworded messages, said eBays Demidova. 2025 The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved. Not to be redistributed, copied, or modified in any way.Stephanie Stacey, Financial TimesStephanie Stacey, Financial Times 1 Comments

In November 2022, retailer Balenciaga launched an ad showing children holding teddy bears that appeared to be wearing what looked like bondage gear. This enraged social media users. As a result, Balenciaga lost 100,000 Instagram followers and saw a decline in sales.Initially, Balenciaga denied responsibility and even levied a lawsuit against its production company, but that didnt quell the backlash. So, the company changed course by issuing an apology and announcing that it would use new content validation techniques to prevent an incident like this from occurring again.Balenciagais one of many companies that have faced a brand crisis in social media. Companies including Kelloggs, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, Dove, and KFC have all faced such crises.When brand-damaging incidents on social media occur, those who deal with them include executive management, marketing, and even the board. But since social media is an online technology, does that mean IT has a role to play as well?The answer is unclear in many companies. Often, IT isnt part of the frontline response group, but that doesnt mean that your IT team shouldnt be involved.How IT Should Get InvolvedMitigating a social media brand attack falls under the category of disaster recovery, which means that there should be a step-by-step sequence of responsive actions that are documented in a DR plan. In addition, there is the question of risk management and avoidance. If a risk policy is defined and documented, preemptive steps can be taken that reduce the chances of a brand attack being levied.Related:IT has a role in both scenarios.Risk ManagementVetting Software and vendor.When marketing launches e-commerce and informational websites, it also enlists outside firms to monitor Internet activity concerning the company's online assets, and to report on any unusual or potentially damaging online activities. The goal is to preempt incidents like brand damage, and the monitoring software does this by listening for potentially damaging posts and then reporting them.HR departments also use third-party software for internet monitoring. They use it to check the social media activities and posts of potential job hires and employees.In both cases, IT can help in vetting the vendors of these services before marketing or HR enters into contractual agreements. This can be a value-add because technology vendor vetting is not a well-developed practice in either marketing or HR, and it is possible that they may contract with vendors that cannot meet their goals, or that fall short of corporate security, privacy and governance requirements.Related:Validate Content. As a best practice, IT can encourage marketing to secure content validation software that can vet internally developed messaging before the company publishes it online.Employee message monitoring. The monitoring and surveillance of employee messaging and internet activities while employees are at work is a common and accepted corporate practice today. This right to monitor employee communication and internet activity extends to remote employees who are not in a corporate office.Should there be IT involvement in this seemingly personnel-focused matter? Yes, because in many cases, it is IT that is called upon to select and administer the communications monitoring software and to issue monthly activity reports to user departments and management. Even if IT doesnt do this, its still in ITs best interest to stay involved. Thatsbecause of ITs significant role in corporate governance, and the necessity of weighing policy against employees personal privacy rights.In more than one case, it was IT that first asked the question of whether employees had been informed upfront that their communications and internet activities would be monitored by the company, and if there was a written policy to that effect that employees were required to acknowledge and sign as a condition of employment.Related:Attack Response and MitigationSecurity breaches. Its possible for a bad actor to pass malware into an e-commerce website through a message to the site. Or they could post a fake website of the company that fraudulently resembles the real one.In both cases, IT should be involved with the security and monitoring of corporate online assets to ensure that the assets are free from cyberattacks and fakes. If unusual activities are detected from IT monitoring and management software, they should be promptly reported to management, marketing and other important stakeholders.If a security breach occurs, the DR response should be swift. Threat mitigation and elimination procedures should be written into the corporate DR plan.Failover. When corporate e-commerce sites are taken over, or they are being pummeled by cyberattacks that are disabling the sites functions, a failover plan to an alternate e-commerce site should be executed. It should work in the same way that a physical retail store fails over to a generator when local power service fails.In this way, a smooth failover allows the e-commerce site to keep working, and it reduces the number of social media posts that complain about the company, the site or the brand. Failover is an IT operation, and IT should take the lead by crafting the technical processes of the failover, testing them, and making sure that they work.SummarySocial media crisis management is everybodys business, but all too often, IT gets overlooked. Yet, because social media is an online activity that involves technology, it is almost guaranteed that IT will be called upon to get involved when a brand attack occurs. Consequently, its in CIOs best interests to stay ahead of the issue by assuming an active role in brand protection and defense.Brand protection is more than protection and acts as a source of sustainable competitive advantage, according to De La Rue, a banknote printing firm.It is a multifaceted approach that requires ongoing diligence and adaptability in the face of evolving threats.

Dont call your favourite AI doctor just yetJust_Super/Getty ImagesAdvanced artificial intelligence models score well on professional medical exams but still flunk one of the most crucial physician tasks: talking with patients to gather relevant medical information and deliver an accurate diagnosis.While large language models show impressive results on multiple-choice tests, their accuracy drops significantly in dynamic conversations, says Pranav Rajpurkar at Harvard University. The models particularly struggle with open-ended diagnostic reasoning. AdvertisementThat became evident when researchers developed a method for evaluating a clinical AI models reasoning capabilities based on simulated doctor-patient conversations. The patients were based on 2000 medical cases primarily drawn from professional US medical board exams.Simulating patient interactions enables the evaluation of medical history-taking skills, a critical component of clinical practice that cannot be assessed using case vignettes, says Shreya Johri, also at Harvard University. The new evaluation benchmark, called CRAFT-MD, also mirrors real-life scenarios, where patients may not know which details are crucial to share and may only disclose important information when prompted by specific questions, she says.The CRAFT-MD benchmark itself relies on AI. OpenAIs GPT-4 model played the role of a patient AI in conversation with the clinical AI being tested. GPT-4 also helped grade the results by comparing the clinical AIs diagnosis with the correct answer for each case. Human medical experts double-checked these evaluations. They also reviewed the conversations to check the patient AIs accuracy and see if the clinical AI managed to gather the relevant medical information. Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox.Sign up to newsletterMultiple experiments showed that four leading large language models OpenAIs GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 models, Metas Llama-2-7b model and Mistral AIs Mistral-v2-7b model performed considerably worse on the conversation-based benchmark than they did when making diagnoses based on written summaries of the cases. OpenAI, Meta and Mistral AI did not respond to requests for comment.For example, GPT-4s diagnostic accuracy was an impressive 82 per cent when it was presented with structured case summaries and allowed to select the diagnosis from a multiple-choice list of answers, falling to just under 49 per cent when it did not have the multiple-choice options. When it had to make diagnoses from simulated patient conversations, however, its accuracy dropped to just 26 per cent.And GPT-4 was the best-performing AI model tested in the study, with GPT-3.5 often coming in second, the Mistral AI model sometimes coming in second or third and Metas Llama model generally scoring lowest.The AI models also failed to gather complete medical histories a significant proportion of the time, with leading model GPT-4 only doing so in 71 per cent of simulated patient conversations. Even when the AI models did gather a patients relevant medical history, they did not always produce the correct diagnoses.Such simulated patient conversations represent a far more useful way to evaluate AI clinical reasoning capabilities than medical exams, says Eric Topol at the Scripps Research Translational Institute in California.If an AI model eventually passes this benchmark, consistently making accurate diagnoses based on simulated patient conversations, this would not necessarily make it superior to human physicians, says Rajpurkar. He points out that medical practice in the real world is messier than in simulations. It involves managing multiple patients, coordinating with healthcare teams, performing physical exams and understanding complex social and systemic factors in local healthcare situations.Strong performance on our benchmark would suggest AI could be a powerful tool for supporting clinical work but not necessarily a replacement for the holistic judgement of experienced physicians, says Rajpurkar.Journal reference:Nature Medicine DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-03328-5Topics:

People with long covid are advised to pace themselves when it comes to being physically activeREUTERS/Nacho DoceFor many people, the covid-19 pandemic feels like a thing of the past. But for those with long covid, it is far from over. Five years on from when covid-19 turned up, those with lingering symptoms still cant live their lives as they did before.The emergence of long covid in the first few months of the pandemic sparked an explosion of research into why some people develop persistent symptoms after being infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Half a decade

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. The biggest AI flops of 2024 The past 12 months have been undeniably busy for those working in AI. There have been more successful product launches than we can count, and even Nobel Prizes. But it hasnt always been smooth sailing. AI is an unpredictable technology, and the increasing availability of generative models has led people to test their limits in new, weird, and sometimes harmful ways. These were some of 2024s biggest AI misfires. Rhiannon Williams If youre interested in the latest developments in the weird and wonderful world of AI, check out the AI Hype IndexMIT Technology Reviews highly subjective take on whats for real and whats just a lot of hallucinatory nonsense. Our latest edition features emotional robotic pets, Pokmon Go, simulated humans, and much more. Why EVs are (mostly) set for solid growth this year It looks as though 2025 will be a solid year for electric vehiclesat least outside the United States. (Inside the US, sales will depend on the incoming administration's policy choices.) Globally, these cleaner cars and trucks will continue to eat into the market share of gas-guzzlers as costs decline, consumer options expand, and charging stations proliferate. But ultimately, the fate of EV sales will depend on the particular dynamics within specific regions. Heres a closer look at whats likely to steer the sector in the worlds three largest markets: the US, the EU, and China. Read the full story. James Temple This piece is part of MIT Technology Reviews Whats Next series, looking across industries, trends, and technologies to give you a first look at the future. You can read the rest of them here. How wind tech could help decarbonize cargo shipping Inhabitants of the Marshall Islandsa chain of coral atolls in the center of the Pacific Oceanrely on sea transportation for almost everything. For millennia they sailed largely in canoes, but much of their seafaring movement today involves big, bulky, diesel-fueled cargo ships that are heavy polluters. Theyre not alone. Cargo shipping is responsible for about 3% of the worlds annual greenhouse-gas emissions, and at the current rate of growth, the global industry could account for 10% of emissions by 2050.The islands have been disproportionately experiencing the consequences of human-made climate change: warming waters, more frequent extreme weather, and rising sea levels. Now its residents are exploring a surprisingly traditional method of decarbonizing its fleets. Read the full story.Sofia Quaglia This story is from the forthcoming magazine edition of MIT Technology Review, set to go live on January 6its all about the exciting breakthroughs happening in the world right now. If you dont already, subscribe to receive future copies. The must-reads Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 A Tesla Cybertruck exploded at Trumps Las Vegas hotelAuthorities are investigating if the incident is linked to a similar attack in New Orleans. (The Guardian) + The Cybertrucks driver was killed, while seven others were injured. (Reuters)+ Both vehicles were rented using the same app, called Turo. (Insider $)+ The New Orleans suspect appears to be inspired by the Islamic State. (Economist $)2 What five years of covid has taught us How prepared we are for future pandemics hinges on governments willingness to listen. (New Scientist $)+ Covid exposed how vulnerable global health systems are. (The Guardian)3 Americas tech industry needs imported labor Escalating tensions over the future of the H-1B visa lays that bare. (WSJ $)+ Thousands of overseas workers are trapped by the US immigration system. (Insider $)+ Tech workers had a pretty rough 2024. (Ars Technica)4 Elon Musk has support in his legal battle with OpenAI Two major tech investors have joined his cause. (WP $)5 A science journals editors have resigned over its use of AI The Journal of Human Evolutions board is protesting how owner Elsevier used te technology to format papers. (Ars Technica)+ The worlds most expensive artist isnt a fan of AI, either. (The Guardian) 6 How much will it cost to live forever?Investment in longevity firms has dropped in recent years. (FT $) + Maybe you will be able to live past 122. (MIT Technology Review)7 Podcasts arent restricted to just audio any more Aspiring podcasters better be prepared to appear on video these days. (NY Mag $)8 Were on the verge of living in the ocean Within five years, this ambitious project hopes to establish permanent underwater colonies. (IEEE Spectrum)9 What the year ahead holds for tech Elon Musk attempting to buy TikTok appears pretty inevitable. (The Information $)10 How to spend less time staring at your phone in 2025 Take back control and break the habit. (Wired $)+ How to log off. (MIT Technology Review)Quote of the day Its nothing other than business as usual for me. Sarah Perl, a Los Angeles-based content creator, tells the Wall Street Journal why shes not worried about the looming prospect of a US-wide TikTok ban. The big story This fuel plant will use agricultural waste to combat climate change February 2022A startup called Mote plans to build a new type of fuel-producing plant in Californias fertile Central Valley that would, if it works as hoped, continually capture and bury carbon dioxide, starting from 2024. Its among a growing number of efforts to commercialize a concept first proposed two decades ago as a means of combating climate change, known as bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration, or BECCS.Its an ambitious plan. However, there are serious challenges to doing BECCS affordably and in ways that reliably suck down significant levels of carbon dioxide. Read the full story.James Temple We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet 'em at me.) + Feel like times running away with you? To slow it down, you need to shake things up.+ Sicilys cathedral of Monreale houses Italys largest Byzantine-style mosaics, and theyre truly awe-inspiring.+ If youre looking for some sci-fi short stories to get your year off to a literary start, look no further.+ How to teach yourself to love wintereven when its really freezing.

Commercial real estate sales star says data from his 40-year career is key to unlocking the power of AI.Bob Knakal has sold $22 billion of property, making him one of America's most successful brokers.He says he was fired by property giant JLL in February 2024. Now, he plans a career revival.Bob Knakal climbed to the top of the commercial real estate sales business by focusing not on billion-dollar Manhattan skyscrapers, but on the tens of thousands of ordinary apartment buildings and land sites across New York City.Now, the 62-year-old sales executive is adding a new approach by using artificial intelligence.He says his new sales firm, BKREA, will harness property data and market observations that he has meticulously collected since the mid-1980s and couple it with the blooming powers of AI.Using the much-heralded technology, Knakal believes he can compete with far larger real estate services companies with only a handful of employees. BKREA presently employs 15 workers and Knakal doesn't imagine getting much larger."The extent to which the world is going to change over the next five years is going to blow away what's happened over the last 40," Knakal said. "Realizing that, the first thing I did when I started the new firm my first hire was an AI guy."Many commercial real estate firms and professionals have begun to use AI or have plans to in order to gather market insights and sort through mountains of data, produce promotional and marketing materials, and help organize and manage client relationships and outreach.Knakal says he believes his firm can harness the technology more effectively in its niche because the quality and consistency of his data is better than those of rivals.Although New York City's property records are available to all online, Knakal has gathered reams of proprietary observations over the years, including nuanced information that is often not public. A rental apartment building slated for demolition and redevelopment, for instance, may have had holdout tenants that compromised its value. A vacant land site, meanwhile, may have an access agreement with its neighbor that would allow construction work to proceed more smoothly, enhancing its price tag.If "you're putting bad data in, you're getting bad data out," Knakal said, adding that he spent three years during the pandemic "personally verifying 2,417 development site sales in the city" to further glean such insights."So how do I compete with the big firms?" Knakal asked. "Show me even one of them that's had the same head of research for 10 years."Tenure at JLLIf Knakal, whose outward demeanor comes across as perpetually sunny, seems slightly irked by some of the big corporate real estate firms that dominate the nation's commercial property sales and services businesses, that's because he is.Knakal built his career largely outside of that world, founding the small brokerage company Massey Knakal in 1988 with business partner Paul Massey. In subsequent decades, the pair grew the company into one of New York City's largest and most prolific property sales firms. In late 2014, the two men sold the 250-person business to the global commercial real estate company Cushman & Wakefield for $100 million.Knakal joined Cushman as part of the sale, but left in 2018 for the rival corporate real estate services giant JLL.Knakal's tenure at JLL came to an end in February 2024 when he was abruptly fired.Recounting his exit, he said that he had been a guest on CNBC early that month to discuss the property market with the news anchor Brian Sullivan. He was subsequently warned by a person from JLL's marketing department that such media appearances first required company approval. Knakal said he explained to the person that his employment contract offered him "unfettered access to the press."Shortly after, Knakal was the subject of a weekend profile in The New York Times. On Monday, he said he received a call from a JLL executive requesting an urgent meeting. Knakal sat down with the executive in a conference room in JLL's Manhattan office."As soon as I walked into the room, the head of HR walked in," Knakal said. "I knew I was being fired."Knakal said his dismissal capped off what had been "the dark ages of my career.""I don't think they appreciated what I brought to the table," he said.A JLL spokesperson said: "We thank Bob for his contributions to the firm and wish him all the best in his future endeavors." Massey, who also departed Cushman in 2018 and remains close with Knakal, said that while Knakal was one of the "most upbeat people" he knows, he had become "honest about how he was feeling: he wasn't having as much fun" in the commercial real estate business.A desire to adapt and competeBKREA mixes in analogue elements as well. In his new office on West 36th Street is an enormous printed map of Manhattan below 110th Street on the west side and 96th Street on the east to the island's southern tip. Propped across 8 tables, the 24-foot-long, 8-foot-wide printout details 27,649 commercial buildings and development sites in a way that both conveys the immensity of the market but is also more comprehensible to the senses. Bob Knakal's map room Daniel Geiger Seth Samowitz, a 30-year old data expert who Knakal hired earlier this year to spearhead BKREA's AI efforts, said that he first thought having the giant map in an overwhelmingly digital world was "crazy." He has since come around."Honestly, it's the best marketing tool in the entire world," Samowitz said.Knakal said he has used the map as a key prop in pitching his services to 26 clients so far. "I've gotten 26 exclusives."Currently, he has been hired to sell about $2 billion of property assets, his largest pipeline in years. Knakal said he has sold 2,342 properties totaling about $22 billion over his career, more than almost any other broker in the country, he believes.James Nelson, 49, now head of tri-state investment sales at Avison Young, began his career at Massey Knakal in the 1990s. He considers Knakal a mentor, saying that he admires Knakal's hunger to continue to adapt, innovate, and compete."Bob talks about what he's going to be doing in 10, 20, 30 years and it's being a broker," Nelson said. "He enjoys the process and the thrill of the hunt."

Nick KrollNick Kroll, pictured with his parents, Jules B. Kroll and Lynn Kroll, in 2016, told The New Yorker he would be embarrassed when his dad would arrive at his games in a limousine. Noam Galai/Getty Images Kroll is an actor, comedian, writer, and producer known for Comedy Central's "The Kroll Show" and for creating and starring in Netflix's "Big Mouth" and "Human Resources," among other hit shows, but he's not the only success story in his family.His father, Jules Kroll, founded a corporate investigation company, Kroll Inc., which he sold in 2004 for almost $2 billion, Forbesreported in 2014.Nick Kroll grew up in Westchester County, New York. In 2009, he told The New Yorker that he and his siblings had a relatively normal childhood. He also said that although he was grateful that his father made time for him despite his job, he felt embarrassed when Jules would arrive at his Little League games in a limousine. Anderson CooperAnderson Cooper is a descendant of the Vanderbilt family. ANGELA WEISS/Getty Images Journalist and commentator Anderson Cooper is a direct descendant of the Vanderbilts, whom Britannica describes as"one of the wealthiest and most prominent families in the United States."His great-great-great grandfather, Cornelius Vanderbilt, built his fortune primarily through investing in steamships and railroads. Upon his death in 1899, Cornelius had amassed $100 million over $3 billion in today's money."He had more money than the US Treasury," Cooper told CBS in 2021.Cooper's mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, grew up as an American socialite due to her family's status. She later became an artist, actor, designer, and author. She died in 2019.His father, Wyatt Emory Cooper, was Vanderbilt's fourth husband. Before he died at the age of 50, he worked as an author and an actor. Gwyneth PaltrowGwyneth Paltrow describes herself as "completely self-made" despite having been raised by parents in the entertainment industry. Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images Gwyneth Paltrow comes from a family of entertainment-industry natives. She spent her childhood at prestigious private schools in Los Angeles and New York City before dropping out of college to act.Bruce Paltrow, her father, was a nine-time Emmy-nominated director and producer. His most notable titles include "St. Elsewhere" and "White Shadow." Meanwhile, her mother is Emmy- and Tony-winning actor Blythe Danner of "Meet the Parents," "Meet the Fockers," and "The Last Kiss."Despite her parents' success, Paltrow refers to herself as "completely self-made.""People think, 'She's just a rich kid.' Until I was 18, I was. Then I was broke. I've never taken a dime off my parents. I'm completely self-made," she told Glamour in 2016. Cara DelevingneCara Delevingne's family has ties to the royal family, thanks to her maternal grandmother, Janie Sheffield, who was a lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret. Pictured here is Delevingne with her parents, Charles and Pandora Delevingne, in 2014. David M. Benett/Getty Images Supermodel andactor CaraDelevingne is the daughter of Charles Delevingne, a successful real-estate developer, and Pandora Delevingne, a socialite. Her paternal grandmother was a socialite, and her paternal grandfather was a notable lawyer and politician.But that's not where it ends. According to Vogue, Cara's maternal grandfather, Sir Jocelyn Stevens, owned Queen magazine, which is now Harper's Bazaar. Further, her maternal grandmother, Janie Sheffield, was a lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret, the sister of Queen Elizabeth II. Julia Louis-DreyfusWilliam Louis-Dreyfus, actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus's father, was a businessman who was reportedly worth $3.4 billion at one point. Pictured here is Julia Louis-Dreyfus with her father in 2014. Mike Pont/Getty Images Julia Louis-Dreyfus is the great-great-granddaughter of Lopold Louis-Dreyfus, who founded the Louis Dreyfus Company, a merchant firm that deals primarily with agriculture, food, and shipping.Her father, Gerard Louis-Dreyfus, eventually becamechairman of the company. In 2006, about 10 years before his death,Forbes estimated his net worth to be $3.4 billion and named him the 200th richest billionaire in the world.In 2018, the"Seinfeld" star toldThe New Yorker that her father's wealth is overestimated by the press and that she finds the term "billionaire heiress" to be "heinous." Jake and Maggie GyllenhaalJake and Maggie Gyllenhaal's parents were prominent figures in the entertainment industry. Pictured here are Maggie Gyllenhaal, Stephen Gyllenhaal, Naomi Foner, and Jake Gyllenhaal in 2005. Donald Weber/Getty Images Their father, Stephen Gyllenhaal, is an Emmy-winning director who has worked on films such as "Paris Trout," "Homegrown," and "A Dangerous Woman." Their mother, Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal, is an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe-winning screenwriter whose most notable film is "Running On Empty."The Gyllenhaal siblings, Maggie and Jake, have had prolific careers since their costarring breakout roles in "Donnie Darko" in 2001.In 2010, Jake told The Guardian, "My mother would say that there are people who have so much money who don't give any of it away, and there are other people who have much less money, who give more than the richest people in the world. It should all be about giving something back." King PrincessKing Princess' great-great-grandfather owned Macy's, and her father owns a well-known recording studio. NBC/Getty Images Pop artist King Princess or Mikaela Mullaney Straus is the great-great-grandchild of Isidor and Ida Straus.Before the couple fell victim to the Titanic sinking, Isidor served as a member of the United States Congress and co-owned Macy's with his brother.Isidor and Ida Straus have been depicted in multiple movies and have a memorial garden in New York City.In 2019, King Princess told Rolling Stone that she didn't inherit their money."They were very rich and Jewish, [but] I didn't inherit any of this money. It was a little frustrating, but whatever," she said.The pop star's father, Oliver Straus, is also successful. He owns a recording studio in Brooklyn called Mission Sound, where world-famous bands like the Arctic Monkeys have recorded music. Armie HammerActor Armie Hammer's great-grandfather, Armand, was an oil tycoon and, like his great-grandson, was a controversial figure. Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images Armand Hammer, Armie Hammer's grandfather, was an oil tycoon who managedOccidental Petroleum Corporation. According to Britannica, under Armand Hammer's leadership, Occidental went from the brink of bankruptcy to bringing in billions of dollars annually. In 1986, Forbes estimated Armand Hammer's net worth to be $200 million.However, Armand Hammer's biographer, Neil Lyndon, referred to him as "the most satanic man of the second half of the 20th Century" and the "embodiment of sin [and] ruthless ego" in a 2022 docuseries, "House of Hammer.""In terms of corrupting the political process, in terms of controlling people, and making them dance his tune, there is no comparison," said Lyndon.Armie Hammer has also been mired in controversy. In 2021, multiple women accused him of sexual and emotional abuse. At the time, Armie said any interactions with his partners were consensual and denied the allegations. The Los Angeles Police Department investigated a claim of sexual assault but he was not charged. In 2023, he told Air Mail he'd been emotionally abusive to his accusers.Armie Hammer's fall from grace also appears to have impacted his wealth. In August 2024, he said he had to give up his truck because he couldn't afford gas. Lana Del ReyLana Del Rey's father, Robert Grant, founded a successful company, WebMediaProperties.com. Marc Piasecki/Getty Images Lana Del Rey, whose given name is Lizzy Grant, is the daughter of Rob Grant, the founder of WebMediaProperties.com. According to Who API, Grant's company operated 1,600 websites and owned about 800 domain names as of 2012.A 2012 article in The Guardian by Paul Harris discusses how Lana Del Rey hid her real identity as she emerged as a star."People were suspicious of the way Grant's failed album, and all her social media websites appeared to have been scrubbed from the internet just before Del Rey appeared," Harris wrote.The same article also claims that her father backed her career when she was just starting out.Grant released his first album, "Lost at Sea, " in June 2023. Although Del Rey has not commented on her father's success as a businessman, she has discussed his budding music career."This is either gonna be the beginning of something beautiful or take us all down," Del Rey said in Instagram comments in February last year, per Virgin Radio UK. Nicola Peltz BeckhamNelson Peltz, Elon Musk, and Nicola Peltz Beckham at the Premiere of "Lola" on 3 February 2024 in Los Angeles. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty Images Actor Nicola Peltz Beckham, who has appeared in TV shows like "Bates Motel" and "Welcome to Chippendales" and movies including "Transformers: Age of Extinction," married Brooklyn Beckham son of Victoria and David Beckham in 2022. But even before her wedding day, she was part of a high-profile family known for its influence in business and social circles.She was born in 1995 to parents Claudia Heffner and Nelson Peltz in Westchester, New York her fatheris the founder of the investment firm Trian Fund Management, which, according to Forbes, is worth $1.6 billion.She began her acting career in 2006 with the film "Deck the Halls," and, most recently, wrote, directed, and starred in the film "Lola," which received negative reviews from several prominent film critics. In the film, she starred as a stripper.In a 2024 interview with WWD, Peltz Beckham acknowledged that she didn't have an unbringing like her character's."I wanted to write a story from a person's perspective and another point of view that was not my personal view and not my upbringing. I am an actress and my dream is to get to look at the world from different perspectives," she said.

Tesla revealed Thursday that it sold 1,789,226 cars in 2024.It's the automaker's first year-over-year decline ever.Shares fell about 3% in early trading following the releaseTesla's annual sales dropped for the first time in 2024 as it battled industry-wide headwinds and increasing competition.Elon Musk's electric automaker sold about 1.78 million cars in 2024, falling just short of the previous year's 1.8 million and rounding out a difficult year for electric vehicles overall, the company said Thursday.During the fourth quarter of 2024, Tesla delivered 495,570 cars to customers. Analysts polled by Bloomberg had expected about 510,000. Shares fell about 3% in early trading.Sales could get even tougher for Tesla and its competitors. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to end consumer tax credits, which effectively lower vehicle prices by up to $7,500. Sticker prices remain stubbornly high compared to traditional gas-powered options.Many consumers have turned to hybrids over pure EVs. Hybrids can offer many of the gas savings and environmental benefits for cheaper and without any lifestyle changes.Ominous signals in the market haven't shaken Musk, however, who has repeatedly hyped autonomy as the latest competitive edge for Tesla and said buying any other car would be a financial mistake.In the coming year, Tesla has promised an autonomous "cyber cab" and a new, cheaper car model.