When the water went into the bottle, it was flat, tasting like boring old tap water. When it came out of the water bottle, it sparkled. Not in that highly-carbonated, almost spicy way a fresh can of seltzer tastes, but a milder sizzle, like that same can after you've been sipping from it for 10 minutes. And here's the most interesting part: The transformation happened in the bottle, not in a big countertop soda machine.The Roam SodaTop is like a handheld SodaStream. The cap is where the magic happens. A tight seal and a small CO2 cartridge are the key elements in turning boring still water into something a little more exciting. You can screw the top on a water bottle Roam sells itself, or on a compatible bottle (say, a HydroFlask).Roam expects to start selling the SodaTop directly from its website in the first quarter of 2025, for $50. The CO2 cartridges are expected to cost about 70 cents apiece.Handheld carbonation Upgrade your inbox Get cnet insider From talking fridges to iPhones, our experts are here to help make the world a little less complicated. The process is simple. You insert a CO2 cartridge into the SodaTop's special lid, release that carbon dioxide into the bottle, let out excess gas on the inside and drink. Each cartridge is good for a single liter of water.Roam says its stainless steel water bottles are designed to keep drinks cold for 24 hours. If you already have a SodaStream, Roam also has an adapter cap, which will sell for $13, that lets you carbonate your drinks from your countertop machine.Flavor is in the airThe only thing you should carbonate in the bottle is water, but that doesn't mean you can't add flavor. Flavored syrups or other drink mixes can be added after the CO2 is if you want something that tastes like, well, something. But Roam is also developing its own ways to add variety.CEO Sunjay Guleria said the company is working on flavored CO2 cartridges, which will contain the essence of a flavor and allow you to make your own zero-calorie sparkling water with just plain water and the cartridge. Imagine ginger, lemon, yuzu, grapefruit or white peach flavors -- natural sparkling water or flavored sparkling fresh in your own bottle. That's refreshing.

Looking for the most recentregular Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.Connections: Sports Editionhas a lot of clues today that look like random groupings of letters, not real words. They sure look strange out of context. Read on for hints and answers for today's Connections: Sports Edition puzzle.For now, the game is in beta, which means the Times is testing it out to see if it's popular before adding it to the site's Games app. You can play it daily for now for free and then we'll have to see if it sticks around.Read more: NYT Has a Connections Game for Sports Fans. I Tried ItHints for today's Connections: Sports Edition groupsHere are four hints for the groupings in today's Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.Yellow group hint: Ouch!Green group hint: Like HR and RBIBlue group hint: Lambeau, or U.S. BankPurple group hint:Hoops helperAnswers for today's Connections: Sports Edition groupsYellow group: Worn after an injuryGreen group: Baseball stat abbreviationsBlue group: NFL stadiumsPurple group:NBA coachesRead more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English WordsWhat are today's Connections: Sports Edition answers? The completed NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Jan. 6, 2025. NYT/Screenshot by CNETThe yellow words in today's ConnectionsThe theme is worn after an injury. The four answers are brace, cast, sling and splint.The green words in today's ConnectionsThe theme is baseball stat abbreviations. The four answers are AB, LOB, WAR and WHIP.The blue words in today's ConnectionsThe theme is NFL stadiums. The four answers are Allegiant, NRG, SoFi and Soldier.The purple words in today's ConnectionsThe theme is NBA coaches. The four answers are Finch, Lue, Nurse and Rivers.

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But WholeIt makes total sense that Elden Ring: Nightreign won't be bringing back one of the Souls games' most recognisable featuresFrom Demon's Souls all the way to Elden Ring, one feature in particular has come to define FromSoftware's games, but we're fine letting it go for Nightreign.Image credit: Bandai Namco News by Sherif Saed Contributing Editor Published on Jan. 6, 2025 When Elden Ring: Nightreign was announced just a few weeks ago at The Game Awards, much of the discussion had a lot do with how surprising the reveal was. This is, after all, an online co-op game from a studio mostly known for its single-player experiences.While many of FromSoftwares games allow players to team up in co-op, the games are chiefly designed to be played solo. There was, however, one big mechanic that made those journeys a little less solitary, and its not one were going to see again in Nightreign.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. One of the most beloved features in most Souls and Soulslike games made by FromSoftware is the ability to leave messages for other players. The mechanic has been utilised in many different ways, not all of them useful.Typically, players could leave messages to admire a certain view, make a comment on a moment that took place at the spot where the message was left, point players to hidden treasures or illusory walls, or even just to troll and mislead them.The messaging system only consists of certain words, so players had to get a little clever with their phrasing, which was responsible for giving us plenty of jokes, many of which were naughty. Unfortunately, that entire experience wont be found in Elden Ring: Nightreign. No funny business! | Image credit: FromSoftwareGame director Junya Ishizaki confirmed this in a recent IGN Japan interview, and his reasoning actually makes a lot of sense. Ishizaki explained that the relatively short session time of 40 minutes simply doesnt allow for players to stop and read/write messages. Nightreign is designed to offer a condensed RPG experience thats made up almost entirely of combat, so theres very little use for messages.Indeed, considering the one-and-done style of the game, persistent messages that get liked and disliked by other players dont make much sense. What is returning, however, are player ghosts, which is something, at least. Another notable absence is that resting at a Site of Grace will not cause defeated (regular) enemies to respawn, which removes an element of risk from the decision to rest, so itll be interesting to see how that factors into the bigger picture in terms of challenge.These are all interesting design decisions, and they prove that FromSoftware may have been inspired by the many mods and randomisers the community created for its various games over the years.Nightreign is due out sometime this year on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Our next big Nightreign reveal will likely arrive with the network test thats being held in February.

By Ken KaplanMany enterprises are well down their path toward implementing artificial intelligence, whereas others are still unsure how they'll use it to run their business. Either way, CIOs and IT teams have many choices to make as AI continues to evolve at lightning speed.Some feel that the train is leaving the station and they must get on board now, according to Sean Donahue, senior solutions manager at Nutanix."AI is not an option," he said. "It's not a speculative market. Companies know they have to go AI; they just haven't figured out what use cases they will tackle first." Donahue said this is likely because many don't fully grasp how their organizations could benefit from using AI. He likened it to when Thomas Edison introduced the light bulb in 1888."It was amazing to see at first sight, and the demo struck awe, but people didn't understand how to use electricity, especially since there was no infrastructure bringing electricity to their home."Artificial intelligence adoption is a challenge many CIOs grapple with as they look to the future. Before jumping in, their teams must possess practical knowledge, skills, and resources to implement AI effectively. GettyAI challenges and infrastructure needsTo get their IT operations AI-ready, forward-thinking leaders are re-evaluating their entire IT ecosystem in order to build the right infrastructures to handle both existing and future AI-powered functions."It takes data scientists, AI engineers, and machine learning operational engineers, and then it takes good infrastructure people, along with the developers who build the apps," said Rajiv Ramaswami, president and CEO of Nutanix. "The set of tools that you need to put together AI applications and get them going to market, that's not easy either. On top of that, there is a shortage of hardware."AI implementation is costly and the training of AI models requires a substantial investment. "To realize the potential, you have to pay attention to what it's going to take to get it done, how much it's going to cost, and make sure you're getting a benefit," Ramaswami said. "And then you have to go get it done."GenAI has rapidly transformed from an experimental technology to an essential business tool, with adoption rates more than doubling in 2024, according to a recent study by AI at Wharton, a research center at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.. Weekly AI usage among business leaders surged from 37% to 72% and organizations reported a 130% increase in AI spending since 2023, the report found.Traditional IT infrastructure is not equipped to handle high-intensity AI requirements like training large language models (LLMs) or processing high-volume, real-time data streams. IT professionals indicated that running AI applications on their current IT infrastructure would be a "significant" challenge, according to the Enterprise Cloud Index report, released by Nutanix in early 2024.Donahue used a practical car metaphor that demonstrates this challenge. "My 1949 car is not up to today's demands for performance," he said. "I'm happy driving it, but I know it's never going to compete on the highway. In fact, I shouldn't be running it on the highway because it's so outdated already." In other words, most existing IT infrastructure maintains the status quo, but it won't efficiently meet intense demands from AI workloads.As newer car designs have evolved to meet higher safety standards, fuel efficiency, and performance, enterprise IT infrastructures must evolve to provide greater computational power, flexibility, and efficiency to handle AI applications, Donahue said.Enhanced security measures and governance frameworks are critical as enterprises seek to protect intellectual property and customer data within AI models. This is driving CIOs to seek infrastructure that can manage AI strategically and securely, and be agile enough to handle future innovations and challenges. GettyManaging IT infrastructure that runs AIAccording to Donahue, IT teams are exploring three key elements: choosing language models, leveraging AI from cloud services, and building a hybrid multicloud operating model to get the best of on-premise and public cloud services."We're finding that very, very, very few people will build their own language model," he said. "That's because building a language model in-house is like building a car in the garage out of spare parts."Companies look to cloud-based language models, but must scrutinize security and governance capabilities while controlling cost over time. "If those things don't scare me away from using it with my corporate IP and data, then I'm going to realize at the end of the month that I'm paying the hyperscalers because my AI inferencing application that little query box that my employees use to ask questions uses cloud GPUs, and those aren't cheap," he said.This brings IT teams to a third step: thinking beyond cloud-based models and considering solutions designed intentionally and specifically to handle AI functionality.Donahue pointed to Nutanix's GPT-in-a-Box, a comprehensive, pre-configured solution that combines hardware and software to support the deployment of AI models directly on-premises, in the cloud, or at the edge. This setup is designed to streamline the deployment and operation of GPT models by providing all the necessary components in a single, integrated package for integrating generative AI and AI/ML applications into IT infrastructures while keeping data and applications under IT team control.Donahue explained that GPT-in-a-Box allows existing IT systems to streamline processes needed to onboard AI capabilities. It reduced the complexity of selecting compatible components, configuring software, and optimizing performance.By controlling the entire stack, including hardware, software, and AI layers, IT teams can implement robust security measures designed to safeguard AI environments, including data encryption, secure data access controls, and intrusion detection systems. GPT-in-a-Box also allows teams to manage performance by leveraging the optimal resources for efficiently accessing data in the right location. GettyManaging apps and data across hybrid multicloud systemsAccording to Donahue, infrastructure must be at the center of the AI adoption strategy and there's one cloud model poised to be particularly successful: hybrid multicloud."Hybrid multicloud is where it's at," Donahue said. "AI just speaks to hybrid multicloud because your data sets will be everywhere. You will have to use a solution like unified storage to gather and manage them under one roof."Hybrid multicloud environments integrate diverse computing resources and data storage types. They facilitate efficient data management and processing, pivotal for the performance of AI systems, particularly when handling extensive and varied data sets spread across multiple locations."People who are using hybrid multicloud already will probably have an easier time getting started with their AI efforts," Donahue said.Prioritizing infrastructure modernization is essential. Embracing AI effectively demands that enterprises reassess and revitalize their underlying IT systems, focusing on the future and achieving the key scalability, capacity, efficiency, and analytical capabilities required to keep up in a fast-changing IT world.Learn more about the Nutanix Enterprise AI capabilities in this blog post and video coverage of its release in November 2024.Ken Kaplan is Editor in Chief for The Forecast by Nutanix. Find him on X @kenekaplan. Getty

Maison Meta (no relation) is using AI to push creative frontiers, including enshrining legacy into ... [+] future designsMaison MetaIn 2024 we saw Brat vibes thrive, AI expand its remit as both a preternaturally brilliant ally and an all-the-buttons-pushing agitator and luxury shift on an increasingly creaky axis, among many other things. In the wake of a devastatingly tough year for many, what sociocultural shifts, emerging mentalities and/or nuggets of techno-gold will shape 2025 for retail and marketing? And how to meet them with meaningful, longevity-cultivating, forward-thinking responses?From underconsumption and strategic indulgence to resilience-centring retail, synthetic sidekicks and the value of incubating joy divisions here are 9-ish key predictions and strategic avenues via which to get ahead, step up for your fans and thrive in 2025.1: Underconsumption & Strategic IndulgenceUnderconsumption-attuned virtual wardrobing (closet maximising) app Restyle RestylePause preconceptions regarding underconsumption being overblown TikTok trend #9817671. Thanks to continued economic jitters, anxieties about planet-decimating overproduction and the grubby residue of unchecked impulse purchasing (retail hangxiety, if you will), cleverly curbing spending in ways that not only dont scream frugal but actually present a way to clamber out of personal micro chaos will be an opportunity hive in 2025.Less about anti-new and more about less crass, AI will be a massive boon here due to its capacity for techno benevolence circumventing bad choices right as theyre cusping and the seductive glow of the quantified self (higher self-knowledge). See Restyle, a virtual wardrobing e-commerce app helping users style their existing clothes and recommending individual additions, not entirely new outfits; Open Wardrobe, which can reveal garments estimated cost per wear; and fintech app newbie Parthean which devours receipt data to auto-flag follow-up brand offers and custom-create goal-setting programmes.MORE FOR YOUCounterintuitive as it would have once seemed, supermarket Tesco is now talking up the nudge factor to win a long-haul loyalty game; its boosting the status of its rewards programme with AI that alerts shoppers to their own repeatedly money-gobbling decisions.Also look to the adjacent rise of strategic indulgence (previously referred to as Asset Culture Commerce) centring on buying items to rent, resell and trade sometimes in combination. See By Rotation (a social network for lending and buying fashion) whose founder & CEO Eshita Kabra-Davies told the FT Future of Retail Summit 2024 that its seeing increasing numbers of people repeat-rent an item, then list it themselves which means they eventually bought it. Its strategic consumption.2: Synthetic Sidekicks, Colliding RealitiesThe Meta x Ray-Ban collab ushering multimodal synth-mates into daily life via kit people actually ... [+] want to wearMeta x Ray-BanConsumer sentiment towards AI invasive vs. assistive vs. humanity going to hell in an (artificially generated) handbag fluctuates globally but new figures flag increasing flirtation: 53% of people globally now think AI will help companies better serve consumers. In 2025, it will open the door to deeper human-synthetic alliances, a more intimate world of servicescapes, and challenge the once-immutable parameters of brand authenticity.Chatbots will upgrade via ultra-naturalised language tools Virgin Moneys Redi has seen serious success from a monthly schooling in regional dialects and unusual colloquialisms but also expect greater acceptance of omnipresent shadow pals from the pocket tutors of Soul Machines, to the embodied avatars of AI gaming engine InworldAI whose long-term memory features mean characters (including salespeople or digital ambassadors) can bond with players, or consumers, across multiple sessions. Rumour has it that at least one UK ecommerce giant is currently toying with such a persistent interface.Multimodal XR AI agents (audio, visual, text input-output) embedded into phones, headsets and smart glasses capable of reading our immediate environment, and hooking into our personal info, will also take deeper root thanks to formats people actually look decent in (see Metas collab with Ray-Ban) and support vital moves to better serve disabled people.Online, authenticity really isnt what it used to be; a lack of conventional realness is no longer a deal-breaker when it comes to purposeful connections. Expect a collision of realities as young netizens in particular lean into life side by side with semi-autonomous synthfluencers from fully authorised pop star clones (see AI FKA Twigs) to the backstory-bearing avatars of Instagram-esque AI social network Butterflies who, via varying degrees of human puppeteering, interact with both their human and synthetic peers, generating content and engaging in online chat. The brand etiquette? Focus on convincing-but-transparent artifice.3: Joy(conomy) DivisionsUlta Beauty incepted its Joy Council to counter a hope deficit plaguing US adults & teensUlta BeautyExpect the joyconomy to ramp up in 2025. A counter to consistently bleak news cycles and a maelstrom of modern anxieties, the premium placed on happiness is soaring as measure of success.Early to the table, Ulta has already broadened the scope of beauty retail as an agent of self-care with the inception of its council of inspirational joy advocates (including Deepak Chopra) to helm its rolling Joy Project online content and cultural programming, including an installation during Milan Art & Design Week 2024 to reverse the official joy deficit plaguing American teens and adults.The continuance of kidulting and tonally-sensitive homages to bonkers extravagance represents a core splinter faction of this trend (85% of consumers globally are keen to incorporate more playtime into their lives) hence the rise of playable brand destinations (ref. Selfridges Sportopia and Vans new skate-ramp-including-store in London) alongside the rise of adult play spaces see Ballie Ballerson and for extra, tangential fun, artist CJ Hendrys 50m inflatable Public Pool in the heart of the Nevada desert...To note: while kitsch-tastic and nostalgic concepts (the trend for kitschmassy Festive campaigns in 2024 were a love letter to this appetite for affordable, sometimes retina-singeing tacky excess) certainly hold a self-soothing modality (the desire for the pre-plugged in era has never been stronger) focus on reinstating presence helping people perceive themselves as at heart of the action (alive, alert, edified, undistracted) to add depth to the temporary escape.For further reading see new book The Bright Side by Sumit Paul-Choudhury, former editor-in-chief at the New Scientist, described by speechwriter & To Sell is Human author Dan Pink as transforming optimism from a soft-hearted notion into a hard-headed advantage.4: Super Sonic BrandingEpidemic Sound, one of the companies aurally amplifying the brand experience online, for ecommerce ... [+] and gamingEpidemic SoundPreviously underrated audio-centring concepts, aka sonic branding, will also present major 2025 wins grabbing audiences by the feels and delivering solace from the perils of blanding (84% of consumers globally say they buy from brands they feel an emotional connection to, and 63% want more multisensory experiences from brands).Its already visible in the emotioneering of scenographic store concepts/activations from mega-brands seeking to shake off the shackles of a corporate shadow in Guccis case, specifically Gucci Cosmos, amplified via a supplementary audio guide and additional content. Also, immersion rooms see the Bentley Cube, Seoul, which sonically replicates the sensation of luxuriating inside a Bentley in motion.Elsewhere, new royalty-free, artist-approved AI image-to-music tools like Mubert and Epidemic Sound (translate a feeling thats uniquely yours) are unlocking ways for brands and creators to soundtrack their online presence, while audio-scaping experts such as Treble are aurally elevating the verisimilitude of virtual worlds.Products and product packaging will become a window onto rolling programmes of exclusive content see precursor Balenciagas use of a digital product passport (DPP) to unlock music, and/or as the cognitive economy booms soundtracks specifically to boost mood or cognitive health. For more on the latter see Resilience-Centred Commerce below5: Resilience Centred Brand BondingOld (AI) dear Daisy, 02's brilliant new line of cybercrime-fighting defenceO2Resilience messaging was rife post-pandemic amid the desperation to regroup but in 2025 expect success from concepts and tools that big up the buoyancy rhetoric in ways that are both pragmatic and spirited, and in areas as diverse as wellbeing, climate change and even cybercrime.Functional fragrance brand thers recently released a subscription-based, scent and sound synchronising resilience platform where users choose a scent and its corresponding soundtrack to suit emotional need, on a promise of heightened cognitive performance and improved mood regulation. More externally pragmatic, skincare brand Pour Mois ecommerce site has an interactive map detailing regionalised climate-resilient solutions in real-time, while real-estate marketplace Zillow has just introduced data from First street, which provides climate risk financial modelling, on all its US listings.For telco, the pursuit of crushing cybercrime is looking more ingenious by the minute see 02s AI granny (aka Daisy), trained in partnership with software engineer Jim Browning. The zenith of Obstructive Old Dear engineered to cause maximum exasperation, she dispatches phone scammers in mere minutes by nattering to them, in brilliantly rambling fashion, until theyre comprehensively bored into submission.6: Collective Connective: Squad Shopping Steps UpCasetify's new custom culture-centring flagship, SeoulCasetifyEchoing the appetite for a resocialised social media and dovetailing with section #3 (Joy Divisions) also expect wins in 2025 from collective-connecting tech and physical spaces that galvanise communal bonds.Countering AI-powered retails potential to turbocharge hyper-individualism (if generative AI equals me-tail on a massive scale its also a filter bubble on steroids) look to tools like Walmarts Shop with Friends app feature (AI plus AR) devised for sharing virtually trialled outfits across social platforms or email, or J.Crews Virtual Closet app for the Apple Vision Pro (AVP) XR headset offering in-world group video chat with mates. While the AVP itself might be on borrowed time more mingle-ready e-comm has ultra-long legs. Also networked, see AI-fuelled US travel planning app Pilot (tagline: Collab with your squad to design your dream trip) which neatly plugs into the pleasures of collaborative, creative organisation.Also note the incoming Roblox-related retailtainment boosts that warrant the metaverse being reinserted into brands roadmaps. In 2025 look out for Netflix in-Roblox digital content playground Nextworld, including The Streamship, a virtual screening spot where users can join watch parties, and Fan Pods closed social spaces where gamers can hang with friends). A partnership with Shopify will mean that from as early as Q1 brands and partner creators will be able sell (physical) items direct from the platform.In IRL environments look to new drop-in or customisation culture-nurturing serving as vital youth-centric hangouts like Casetify in Seoul or Rebel in Melbourne but also, physicalising the burgeoning proliferation of fandoms, supersized fan experiences like Netflix House the streamers first permanent (mall-ensconced) theme parks and branded experiences opening this year.7: Leveraging Brand Lore, Myth and Nerd CentresAsk Dal Museum's AI-powered physical phone reinterprets the artists' magnetic mythology for modern ... [+] audiences, a concept transferrable to any brand icon, figurehead or even ambassador.Ask Dal MuseumSentiment towards brand heritage is complex and conflicted: historical heft as a bewitching superpower or tired out narratives reeking of irrelevance? Notably, 49% of Gen Z globally believe luxury brands should break from heritage and become more future-focused. But in an age of perceived blanding fuelled (particularly in fashion) by a revolving door of creative directors, leveraging core pockets of brand mythology and fandom-beloved lore will drive both the spectacle and sense of belonging audiences seek. Fan clubs, effectively surrogate families especially for the Very Online have always needed a consistent supply of storylines to pick apart and rumours to digest, with the magic of pop cultural rabbit holes and detail-devouring nerd centres making it possible to be a brand who does both.For instance, McDonalds much-praised 2024 WcDonalds campaign showed exactly how to give the fans what they actually want via a (temporary) 30-market brand transformation involving food packaging, stores and mini-films that paid homage to the term anime fans had been applying to its McDonalds imitating restaurants for decades in-game.Archives innate portals to mystique and hidden intelligence will hold plenty of allure, too: perfumer Ffern sells quarterly single edition drops to clients on its ledger which, while never-to-be-repeated, can be revisited in its London store's archive room; H&M has had ex-British Vogue editor Kate Phelan curate and recontextualise eight drops from its Pre-Loved archive a limited edit of several hundred pre-loved pieces from the first 20 years of it designer collection collabs; while fashion designer Norma Kamali has been pioneering a new era of succession planning: see her collaboration with creative agency Maison Meta on an AI copilot, trained on her 40-year archive, to enshrine the very bones of her creative philosophy into all the brands future design thinking.AI is already proving a powerful alchemist regarding transmuting mythology for modern viewing. See Floridas (Salvador) Dali Museums Ask Dal feature, which invites visitors to converse with an AI Dal via an on-site telephone a concept transferrable to any brand icon, figurehead or even ambassador.8: Activism Reanimated: Toolkits for Divisive TimesMiista's Rage Room, one of the more theatrical precursors to a year in which pragmatic, creative ... [+] forms of activism will be welcomedMiistaPolitics is a thorny space for brands to get stuck into according to Havas Media Networks Year of the Elections survey 2024 more people (41%) think that brands shouldnt be involved in politics than should (28%) but divisive and destabilising times will call for brands with the balls to be show themselves as more than commodity machines. Consider it everyday activism anchored in acknowledgement, self-preservation and edifying intellectual steers.Tapping Americas state of the nation anxiety (55% say theyre often or mostly angry about politics and social injustice), see footwear brand Miistas NY Rage Room a staging of the worlds most-depressing office which, post a filmed performance piece, fans could get unapologetically destroy.Less theatrical, look to the boom in bibliophilic brand concepts. Echoing the misogyny-deflecting (male gaze avoiding) women-only sanctuaries that are blossoming in Chinese cities see fragrance brand To Summers bookshop-themed Shanghai pop-up inspired by Virginia Woolfs 1929 feminist essay, A Room of Ones Own. The project included publishing Nosepaper a poetry anthology of women writers. For other biblio-brand ideas see beauty labels Lush and Aesop (the latter for its LGBTQ+ library), and scent labels Documents and Le Labo.Rather than courting outrage culture, direct lines to resources are what its all about. See mediation app Headspaces launch of a Politics Without Panic toolkit and guides to survive confrontational conversations without irrevocably alienating a member of your family.9: The best of the RestBurger King's Foodfilment ad campaign hinging on the ravenous appetites of new mothersBurger KingAs a New Years bonus ball, heres an assorted mix of other key sectors to keep an eye on/delve into.Expect/deliver smarter, more nuanced iterations of marketing surrounding motherhood. Look to the furore regarding Burger Kings 2024 Foodfilment campaign showing real and non-staged British mothers tucking into a dirty burger immediately post-partum as a key marketing example. Comments veered from appreciation of a brand keeping it ultra-real to a ban-demanding backlash for promoting unhealthy maternal eating habits (notably most women commenters surmised that going through the beautiful hellscape of labour warrants permission to eat whatever food you damn well like).Its going to be another big year for womens sports (the soccer Euros will be major summertime viewing) offering another major opportunity to back a huge growth area in a not-yet-saturated market via retail, gaming and marketing collabs that a.) pose better future scenarios, not just reflect reality, b.) show guts, grit and entertainment instead of solely hackneyed tales of adversity and c.) plug into grassroots voices including online soccer fandoms.Finally, the rebranding of retirement as traditional markers of key life stages become increasingly unfit for purpose. Treat age appropriateness as an anachronism.THERS functional fragrance app straddles two key trends: Resilience-Centring Retail and Super Sonic ... [+] BrandingTHERS

Ukraine's new attack in Kursk is featuring some impressive drone jamming, Russian military bloggers said.The bloggers reported that Ukrainian forces were able to break through because of "powerful electronic warfare."it's made it difficult for Russian drone operators to work in the area, they wrote.Ukraine launched a renewed offensive in Russia's Kursk region on Sunday, where Russian pro-war bloggers say Kyiv's drone jammers have been working exceptionally well.The "Operation Z" channel, a collection of dispatches from Russian war correspondents, wrote that the attack had focused on the Bolshesoldatsky district, to the northeast of the Ukrainian-held pocket in Kursk."In order to break through, the Ukrainian Armed Forces covered the area with powerful electronic warfare systems, making it difficult for our UAVs to operate," wrote the Telegram channel, which has over 1.6 million subscribers.Razvedos Advanced Gear & Equipment, a Russian military news Telegram channel with over 152,000 subscribers, echoed those comments in a post on Sunday."It cannot be said that they were not expected in this direction, but they managed to VERY effectively use electronic warfare," it wrote of the fighting in Bolshesoldatsky.Roman Alekhine, a military blogger with about 218,000 subscribers, wrote on his channel: "The enemy has covered the attack area with electronic warfare, so many drones are useless."Alekhine later posted that some Russian drone operators were still able to switch to unjammed frequencies.Sergei Kolyasnikov, another military blogger with about 498,000 subscribers, reported that about 10 Ukrainian tanks and armored vehicles had entered the Bolshesoldatsky region."The area is covered with some powerful electronic warfare, nothing is flying at all," he wrote.The specifics of Ukraine's new push this week into Russian territory are still unclear. Kyiv initially launched a surprise counteroffensive into Kursk in August, where it took an estimated 480 square miles of Russian land but has been slowly pushed back since.Ukraine has stayed mostly silent on the matter. But Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation run by Ukraine's national security and defense council, alluded to an assault on Sunday by posting that Russian troops in Kursk "were attacked from several directions and it came as a surprise to them."Andriy Yermak, chief of staff for Ukraine's president, also hinted at an attack by writing on his Telegram channel that Russia was "getting what it deserves" in Kursk.Meanwhile, Russia has outright declared that Ukraine had attacked again."On January 5, at about 09:00 Moscow time, in order to stop the advance of Russian troops in the Kursk direction, the enemy launched a counterattack with an assault group consisting of two tanks, a barrier vehicle, and 12 combat armored vehicles with troops in the direction of the Berdin farm," its defense ministry told state media.As reports of Ukraine's jamming efforts emerged, the defense ministry published a video of a Russian drone operator coordinating a tank strike on an unknown target in a forested area, saying he was working in Kursk.The Ukrainian and Russian Defense Ministries did not respond to requests for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.Electronic warfare has increasingly been key on the battlefield as both Russia and Ukraine turn to cheap drones for reconnaissance, loitering munitions, and close-range bombing runs.One development has seen both sides deploywired drones.These use long fiber optic cables unfurled from a spool as the aerial system takes flight, allowing it to bypass jamming systems.Should they become mainstream, they may pose yet another challenge for militaries that are already spending big on preparing against drone threats. The US, for example, is paying some $250 million to Anduril, Palmer Luckey's defense startup, for 500 drones and an electronic warfare system called Pulsar.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his government and a big bank to work with China on AI.Russia has been seeking tech alternatives post-Ukraine invasion due to Western sanctions.A Russia-China AI partnership could raise concerns over censorship, among other issues.Russian President Vladimir Putin continues seeking to expand his challenge of the West's order this time in tech.The Russian leader has ordered his government and Russian banking giant Sberbank to work with China on artificial intelligence, according to a December 30 post on the Kremlin's website.Putin instructed his government and Sberbank to "ensure further cooperation with the People's Republic of China in conducting technological research and development in the field of artificial intelligence," according to the Kremlin's post. It was published three weeks after Putin announced a BRICS AI Alliance Network.Putin delegated Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Sberbank CEORussia's building parallel systems to the WestPutin's instructions came 34 months after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which triggered sweeping Western sanctions against his regime.The trade restrictions have hit Russia's access to financial paymentsparallel imports and domestic substitutes.Russia has also been setting up alternative systems to process payments transactions and ship sanctioned oil around the world.However, finding tech alternatives to Western products has not been easy.A former top Russian finance official told Reuters in September 2022 that Russia would be using second-grade tech for years and spending "huge resources" to recreate what already exists. Goods heavily impacted by Western sanctions include semiconductor chips, aviation parts, and medical products.Sberbank CEO Gref said in April 2023 that graphics cards for AI and supercomputers were the hardest to substitute.The US has restricted sales of advanced computer chips to Russia since 2022 and further tightened restrictions onthird-party chip exportsto Russia last year.Alexander Vedyakhin, the first deputy CEO of Sberbank, told Reuters last month that Russia was six to nine months behind the US and China in AI in a range of parameters.Vedyakhin told the news agency that Russia would focus on developing large language modelsA potential Russia-China partnership in AI could cause concerns beyond sanctions skirting.China's foray into AI is raising concernsChinese officials have tested Chinese large language models to ensure they embody "core socialist values," according to a Financial Times report in July.

Viewpoint Garden at the Alcazaba-Fortress of Vlez-Mlaga / Terral ArquitectosSave this picture! Fernando Gmez MateosPublic Space, ParkVlez-Mlaga, SpainArchitects: Terral ArquitectosAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:2285 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2024 PhotographsPhotographs:Fernando Gmez Mateos Lead Architect: Beatriz Prez Doncel More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. This project is drafted at the request of the Vlez-Mlaga City Council and is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. The purpose of the action is to recover a degraded green area located in the vicinity of the Alcazaba-Fortress, which, due to its orographic characteristics, is a perfect place to observe the city and its relationship with the surrounding territory.Save this picture!The recovery of the green area is linked to the recirculation of rainwater that currently flows down the street adjacent to the site and runs off during precipitation. The project redirects this rainwater to a reservoir located beneath one of the viewpoints to irrigate the hillside garden during drier periods.Save this picture!The location of the project is at the highest point of the city, in the heart of the La Villa neighborhood, included within the scope of the BIC Historic Center of Vlez-Mlaga, within the execution unit UE-Pepri 1 "La Fortaleza," and with Type B archaeological protection. It is an area with significant historical-artistic value, but like many historic centers, it is an area facing social issues and depopulation that needs revitalization.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The objectives of the project are:Save this picture!1 Improvement of the connection between Palafrenero Street and Fortaleza Street, with the construction of a staircase between the two, in a safe manner that is integrated into the environment. (Palafrenero Staircase).2 - New sidewalk on Fortaleza Street, from the previously described staircase to the end of the plot, delineating the area of action and providing access to the square proposed as an anteroom to the existing green area on the hillside.3 Paving of the flat part of the plot, as a continuation of the previously described sidewalk, creating a square that serves as access to the proposed viewpoints, with areas for relaxation. (Fortaleza Square).4 Creation of viewpoints for observing the city and its relationship with the territory, as well as the most emblematic architectural heritage.5 Landscape recovery of the existing hillside, with respect for native species and installation of an irrigation system.6 Scheduled drip irrigation system, with the recovery of water from rainwater accumulated in the reservoir built beneath one of the viewpoints.Save this picture!For the paving of the entire new urbanized area, a material that is manufactured in the city itself is used: the fired clay from the tile factories of Vlez-Mlaga. This is a manually crafted material that is fired in Moorish-origin kilns, heated with biomass (almond shells or avocado wood from local plantations). A very artisanal local industry that has been on the verge of disappearing.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessProject locationAddress:Vlez-Mlaga, SpainLocation to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.About this officeTerral ArquitectosOfficePublished on January 06, 2025Cite: "Viewpoint Garden at the Alcazaba-Fortress of Vlez-Mlaga / Terral Arquitectos" [Jardn Mirador en Alcazaba-Fortaleza de Vlez-Mlaga / Terral Arquitectos] 06 Jan 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1025331/viewpoint-garden-at-the-alcazaba-fortress-of-velez-malaga-terral-arquitectos&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream