Kevin OLeary of Shark Tank fame and billionaire Frank McCourt, ex-owner of the Dodgers, are teaming up to save TikTok from a looming U.S. ban. Their coalition, the Peoples Bid for TikTok, aims to buy the apps U.S. operations, promising a platform that prioritizes the privacy of TikToks roughly 170 million American users.This isnt just about buying TikToks U.S. assets, OLeary said in a statement on X on Monday. Its about something much bigger: protecting the privacy of 170 million American users. Its about empowering creators and small businesses. And its about building a platform that prioritizes people over algorithms.OLeary insists he cant do it alone. Trump will be who we have to work with to close the deal in the months ahead, he said during a recent appearance on Fox News The Story with Martha MacCallum. So, I wanted to let him knowas well as others in his cabinetthat were doing this, and were going to need their help.TikToks future currently hangs by a thread as a January 19 deadline approaches. A 2024 bipartisan law mandates ByteDance, TikToks Chinese parent, to sell the platform to a U.S. company before the deadlinethe day before Trumps inaugurationor face a nationwide ban.In December, McCourt, founder of Project Liberty and executive chairman of McCourt Global, unveiled plans to assemble a team to acquire TikTok. Dubbed the Peoples Bid for TikTok, this consortium is spearheaded by Project Liberty with a mission to empower users by giving them control over their own data. According to the Project Liberty website, McCourt has reportedly secured verbal commitments of up to $20 billion to back the purchase.But OLeary and McCourt are not the only ones throwing their hat in the ring. Some have suspected Amazon as one of the potential buyers, especially after the two companies teamed up this year to let users browse and buy Amazon products on TikTok. Oracle and Walmart might also try again to buy TikTok, after their 2020 attempt was stopped by the Biden administration due to security concerns. Whether or not Microsoft reenters the picture remains to be seen, even though CEO Satya Nadella said he was happy with what I have when talks initially fell through in 2020.Just last year, after news of the upcoming ban broke, a number of bids were made. Video-sharing site Rumble offered to buy TikTok in March and said it would join a group of companies looking to acquire it. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also has shown interest, telling CNBC in March that he planned to form a group to make an offer. Whether someone can save TikTok, we will have to wait and see.

Wildfires in Los Angeles and surrounding areas have destroyed thousands of structures including residential and commercial real estate and caused two known deaths since its start on Tuesday.Driven by high-velocity winds, the fire has spread to cover more than 11,000 acres, causing massive destruction and forcing more than 50,000 people to evacuate, as well as covering much of the LA metropolitan area in smoke and ash.According to the LA Times, thousands of structures have already burned down in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, an affluent area tucked between the hills and the Pacific Ocean.Modernist icon the Eames House (Case Study House No. 8) and Case Study House No. 18 sit in the south of the fire's incident zone and as of Wednesday morning, staff had evacuated and taken several articles of furniture. While currently "at risk" the site has so far been unharmed by the fire, according to the foundation."We are closely monitoring the situation and the Eames Foundation has taken every precaution to protect the site," said Eames Foundation executive director Lucia Dewey Atwood at 1:00 pm local time today."Yesterday, the foundation's team worked quickly to remove a small number of objects from the house before they had to evacuate the building."As of today, the local firefighting efforts have been constrained by grounding orders for firefighting aircraft due to high winds and dwindling water resources. On Wednesday morning, LA fire chief Brent Pascua called the scenes at the fire "apocalyptic".Reportedly, officials have had to use bulldozers to clear cars abandoned by fleeing people for emergency vehicles to pass."Total destruction" in MalibuHundreds of homes, restaurants and other structures have been consumed by the fire, including the Palisades Library and Palisades Charter High School, according to the New York Times.The Pacific Palisades fire has spread as far north as Malibu and burning buildings were recorded along the Pacific Coast Highway as of this afternoon.NBC news correspondent Liz Kreutz posted on X Wednesday afternoon that there was "total destruction" in Malibu along the Pacific Coast Highway.Tens of thousands of structures remain at risk, including the home of US vice president Kamala Harris as well as several notable works of architecture including Getty Villa, which closed to non-essential personnel on Tuesday after fire spread to the property. Current reports claimed the 1950s home of tycoon John Paul Getty, which also has a museum, "narrowly" avoided the fire.The Julius Ralph Davidson-designed Thomas Mann House is also under threat, as is Ray Kappe's Keeler House, near the worst of the fire in Pacific Palisades.Late this morning, major fires in Eaton and Hurst also began. The fire in Eaton grew almost fourfold to cover more than 10,000 acres in a matter of hours, driven by the high winds, spreading into nearby Altadena and threatening Pasadena. Other, smaller fires were also reported late Wednesday afternoon.Read: "The design professions are not stepping up to address the wildfires problem"The Pasadena Jewish Temple was reportedly destroyed in the blaze.Other structures at risk by the Eaton Fire include the early-20th-century Arts and Craft-style Gamble House.Throughout the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, hundreds of schools and businesses were closed. Local design studio Ravenhill Studio noted some of its staff was "under evacuation orders", and big-ticket events such as an NHL game and the awards broadcast Critics Choice Awards were cancelled.Blame has been levied at the local government and mayor, citing their slashing of the fire budget by $17.6 million last year.Some pointed to the changing climate and out-of-date building practices as primary drivers of the disaster."American homes were built for an environment that no longer exists. This like all of the disasters this century, from Florida to Hawaii must be a call to action," said CBS news correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti on X.Fires in January are not unprecedented, but the fire season usually lasts between the summer months and October, but this year the city has been experiencing a drought, allowing for the unseasonable intensity of the fire.Photo by Ariam23 via Wikipedia CommonsThe post Eames House under threat as more than 1000 buildings destroyed in "apocalyptic" LA fire appeared first on Dezeen.

New material innovations that can substitute the use of ABS plastic piques my interest, as it should of those conscious of the e-waste we create daily. The production of computer peripherals has grown manifold but ethical ways to dispose of the plasticky waste and electronic components have not grown in the same propensity. To that accord, the idea of a BioHybrid Device for gaming that can grow through biofabrication instead of being constructed on an assembly line really brings forth a sustainable alternative we could love to embrace.Designed and created by Vivien Roussel, Madalina Nicolae, and Marc Teyssier; BioHybrid Device video game controller is a combination of biological growth and digital fabrication. It is (according to the designers) grown using a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). It is then integrated with sensors and electronic components during the natural growth process to create a real device you can play with. How cool is that?Designers: Vivien Roussel, Madalina Nicolae and Marc TeyssierThe idea of the project kicked off with the question; what if we could biologically grow interactive devices? To achieve the proposed outcome, designers have fused electronic components into living organisms to produce interactive biohybrid devices. This provides us with an idea of a future where we can have natural devices that can develop, evolve, and eventually biodegrade at the end of life. We would still need ways to dispose of the electronics: maybe someone is thinking of fabricating them biologically as well.The base biomaterial produced by the symbiosis of bacteria and yeast is a bacterial cellulose traditionally used for the creation of sustainable leather-like artifacts. Designers have leveraged this and used morphogenesis for embedding it with electronic components of a traditional controller to make this BioHybrid Device video game controller.These biologically grown devices blur the boundaries between living and non-living systems, in the process opening up possibilities to create interactive devices through biological and digital fabrication for many other applications such as robotics, medical devices, and wearables, in addition to the proposed usage in gaming. While most of it looks impressive, such devices would entail a complex fabrication process and require more maintenance to remain functional for a longer time.The post This video game controller is grown from bacteria and yeast rather than being constructed from plastic first appeared on Yanko Design.

As hurricane-force winds fan the most destructive wildfires in California history across bone-dry foothills, communities face the dual threat of natural forces and a warming world.

Authorities say that before a Green Beret blew up a Cybertruck in front of the Trump International Hotel, he consulted ChatGPTexactly the scenario police have been warned of for the past year.

Code in the latest iOS 18.3 developer beta indicates that Apple is working on an entirely new system application, one dedicated to event scheduling. Here's what we know about it.Apple's Calendar app doesn't have a great invite systemOn Tuesday, Apple released the second developer beta of iOS 18.3. While the update itself didn't introduce any noteworthy features, it appears the software contains references to an as-of-yet unreleased internal application.Originally discovered by 9to5mac, the app is known as "Invites." The website claims it originally found evidence of this app in an iOS 18.2 beta, but that all references to it were removed with the release version of iOS 18.2. Now, the "Invites" app has apparently resurfaced with Tuesday's iOS 18.3 developer beta. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Michael William Balfe (18081870) was an Irish composer, best remembered for his operas. Balfe was born in Dublin and grew up on Pitt Street, which was renamed Balfe Street in 1917 in his honour. After moving to Wexford with his family as a child, he began a career as a violinist, moving to London in 1823 after his father's death, later relocating again to Italy and Switzerland, where he married the Hungarian-born singer Lina Roser. Balfe began pursuing an operatic singing career as well as composition, and moved back to London with his family in 1835. In a career spanning more than 40 years, he composed at least 29 operas, almost 250 songs, several cantatas, and other works. He was also a noted conductor, directing Italian opera at Her Majesty's Italian Opera House for seven years, among other conducting posts. His most notable opera is The Bohemian Girl, which continues to be performed. This photograph of Balfe was taken by the studio of the French photographer Nadar; this albumen print was made in 1900.Photograph credit: Nadar; restored by Adam CuerdenRecently featured: LimeGolden-fronted woodpeckerCathedral of La LagunaArchiveMore featured pictures

January 9 Aircraft involved in the Iran Air Flight277 accident1797 War of the First Coalition: The siege of Kehl by Habsburg and Wrttembergian forces ended when French troops withdrew from their fortifications.1917 First World War: Troops of the British Empire defeated Ottoman forces at the Battle of Rafa on the SinaiPalestine border.1972 The Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, ending a 33-game winning streak, the longest in major American professional team sports.1975 The Great Storm spawned the first of 45 tornadoes over a three-day period in the Southeastern United States.2011 In poor weather conditions, Iran Air Flight277 (aircraft pictured) crashed near Urmia Airport, Iran, killing 78 of the 105 people on board.T.W. Robertson (b.1829)Carrie Chapman Catt (b.1859)Farhan Akhtar (b.1974)Lei Jieqiong (d.2011)More anniversaries: January 8January 9January 10ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

IGN can exclusively reveal a sneak peek at the seventh and final episode of the first season of Creature Commandos, which premieres on Max on Thursday, January 9th. The clip can be watched via the player above or the embed below.The season finale titled "A Very Funny Monster and written and executive produced by DC Studios co-CEO/co-chairman James Gunn and directed by Matt Peters presents Nina Mazurskys (voiced by Zoe Chao) origin story while also finding Princess Ilana (Maria Bakalova) attempting to escape death at the hands of the Creature Commandos once and for all.DC Universe: Every Upcoming Movie and TV ShowIn addition to Chaos Nina, our exclusive clip from the season finale also features Alan Tudyks Dr. Phosphorus, Indira Varmas The Bride, and Sean Gunns Weasel.The series boasts a stellar voice ensemble that includes Steve Agee as Economos, Anya Chalotra as Circe, Frank Grillo as Rick Flag Sr., David Harbour as Eric Frankenstein, and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller.Creature Commandos was recently renewed for Season 2. In his spoiler-free Creature Commandos Season 1 review, IGNs Tyler Roberston said the show gracefully fulfills its duties as the bridge between the old DCEU and the new DCU, while also telling a rock solid story all its own. James Gunns classic recipe of lovable weirdos, great music, and lots of jokes and violence is on full display, but in a new, fresh way thats presented well in animation.PlayFor more on Creature Commandos and the DCU, find out what James Gunn said about the shows Batman cameo, injecting sex and violence into the DCU, whether canon even matters, and that blink-and-youll-miss-it cameo in the Superman trailer.

It's been a heck of a start to the week for Nintendo fans. A combination of the start of a new year and the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has resulted in an absolute flood of Nintendo Switch 2 rumors, predictions, and seeming leaks. Most interesting of all of them is a mockup of a supposed Switch 2 from accessories maker Genki that's being shown off at the convention that seems to be based on real knowledge of the real system. We were curious, so IGN met up with Genki to see what we could learn.For some context, the Switch 2 mockup from Genki is allegedly based on a real Switch 2 system that Genki has seen and used as the basis for its accessories. A report from French publication Numerama offered some potential details shared by Genki, which included verifying rumors of an optical sensor on the Joy-Con and showing off the magnetic clips that attach those Joy-Cons to the system. Genki even posted a video to its own website showing off a render of the system. The accessories company claims it's releasing in April.Genki Nintendo Switch Mockup Images from CES 2025IGN visited Genki's booth at CES today and spoke with a Genki representative while examining their Switch mock-up. The representative expressed surprise at all the fervor over their mock-up, saying they felt that all the information about the Switch 2 had already leaked and Genki wasn't saying anything new. "I didn't expect this much media attention, to be honest," they said. While Genki's mock-up does appear to add significant weight to a growing pool of past leaks on what the Switch 2 will be, it's worth noting that Nintendo still has not officially revealed anything about the system, and all these claims are subject to change or total debunking. A formal announcement is expected in the first quarter of this year, per Nintendo.While the Genki representative did not know the technical specs of the Switch 2 or anything about the motherboard, they did say they could attest to "physically what's there, what's pressable and what's not."They again confirmed the Joy-Cons attaching to the system via magnets on the system side and metallic SL/SR buttons on the Joy-Cons that can be released via a button on the back of each Joy-Con.The Genki representative stated that the new console looks like it can physically fit in an old Nintendo Switch dock, but certain indentations seem to prevent it from actually being usable in the dock itself. Additionally, while current Joy-Cons won't physically attach to the sides of the new Switch, the Genki spokesperson said the company is "assuming" they will still work as wireless controllers, stating that other accessories manufacturers are banking on that capability.Unfortunately, the representative said they didn't have any information on a new "C" button present on their mock-up of the right Joy-Con. They said there had been some rumors among accessories manufacturers about it being camera-related, but could not verify the actual function and did not know if the Switch 2 possessed a camera at all.PlayFinally, the representative stated there is an extra USB port at the top of the Switch 2, which they claimed could be used for handheld charging "at minimum." They could not verify if the Switch was dockable upside down.We brought a tape measure to the meeting, so we were able to check out the dimensions of Genki's mockup. Per our measurements, the Switch 2 is 10.5" wide, 4.5" tall, .5" thick and has an 8" screen. Compare that to the current Nintendo Switch OLED model, which is 9.5" wide, 4" tall, .5" thick, and has a 7" screen. Genki's mock-up seems to jive with most of the recent rumors and allegedly leaks about Nintendo's upcoming new system, all of which seem to be converging on the notion of it being a bigger, more powerful Nintendo Switch system with some slight differences in shape. Along with Genki's information, we've also seen leaked images of a supposed new Joy-Con from Chinese social media that match up with the mock-up we saw, and a leaked image of alleged internal components. Given the rapid pace of increasingly believable leaks and rumors, it's possible an official Switch 2 announcement is imminent - but we won't know until Nintendo emerges from behind the curtain and makes it a reality.In the meantime, you can catch up with everything we saw at CES 2025 right here.Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.