TikTok published its global "What's Next" trends report for marketing creatives on Wednesday.It advised marketers to try out AI tech and hire a wider set of creators to reach niche communities.TikTok also dove into how marketers should change how they talk about life stages with consumers.TikTok shared on Wednesday the culture and technology trends it thinks will shape the creative side of marketing in the coming year.The company is encouraging marketers to lean into artificial intelligence as a creative tool, hire a wider set of influencers to reach niche communities, and adjust how they speak to a new crop of consumers who view life stages differently than their predecessors. The trends are laid out in TikTok's 2025 "What's Next" report.Business Insider spoke to Cassie Taylor, TikTok's global creative solutions and trends lead, and several marketing partners who had early access to the report about where TikTok marketing is heading next.TikTok's deep dive into global trends did not address the elephant in the room: its app could be pulled from US app stores as early as January 19, as mandated by a divest-or-ban law. If that does happen, TikTok would still operate in other markets. Brands would likely shift their US attention to other short-video products, such as Instagram reels or YouTube shorts. Taylor declined to comment on a potential ban.Here are BI's key takeaways from the 36-page report:1. AI is a marketer's friend, not a foe (hopefully)Last year, TikTok announced a bunch of new generative-AI tools for marketers inside a creative suite called Symphony. The product allows creatives to generate ad scripts and trend summaries and translate and dub videos into new languages, among other offerings. One of Symphony's more striking features helps brands use AI-generated avatars built from the likenesses of influencers or paid actors. That tool remains in limited use, Taylor said.Some influencers and marketers have expressed nervousness about the potential for generative AI to take away jobs. TikTok acknowledged that uncertainty in its report. Still, the company wrote that marketers can gain a "creative edge" if they embrace AI."Even a few years ago when we started to see different apps come out with AI, it was a little bit of, 'Do we like this? Do we not like this?' Should we be worried about it?'" Taylor said. "It's now been around just enough time from a trend perspective for people to really see its value."Bridget Jewell, an executive creative director at Dentsu Creative who sits on a creative partner council for TikTok, said the agency uses TikTok's Symphony suite to come up with video ideas and identify trending sounds."It's the tool that allows us to think about things differently," Jewell said.2. Work with influencers to connect with niche communitiesMarketers go back and forth on whether to hire celebrities and mega influencers for reach or to work with creators who have more targeted audiences. TikTok is betting the latter will take off in 2025."As communities seek trusted voices, more people are becoming creators, from quiet reviewers to quirky characters," the company wrote in its report. "It's not about the loudest voice, but increasing the number of creators, sometimes even by 50% to drive impact at scale."Working with creators who know how to speak to a specific community can help a brand build trust, Taylor said."I'm not saying there isn't a time and place for a mass message," Taylor said. "What I'm saying is people will build a relationship with you on TikTok if you're talking to them like the community."Jamie Gersch, chief marketing officer of the fashion brand Rothy's, told BI the company looks to work on campaigns with influencers who are already engaging with its products on social media."The in-house team is living and breathing on the platform and finding people that are naturally talking about us and love us," Gersch said.3. Brands should treat life stages differently for modern consumersMarketers should rethink the way they talk about traditional life milestones like buying a home when they speak to TikTok users.These milestones can induce "FOMO and anxiety about falling behind," the company wrote. It pointed to users on the app who have shared their struggles with student debt and homeownership.Instead of posting videos that value classic life stages, brands could lean into other goals TikTok users have shown they care about, like improving mental health or going on a hike."People are getting married later. People are moving abroad as a milestone. People are having different career goals," Taylor said.

Were laying out the latest science of what meditation does to your mind. The better we understand the common mechanisms across how different meditation practices affect the mind, the more meditation science can contribute to broader understandings of human psychology.This was first published in More to MeditationMore to Meditation is Voxs five-day course on deepening your meditation practice. Sign up here!More relevant for us non-scientists, well get better at developing and fine-tuning styles of practice that can help us get the most out of whatever were looking for in taking up meditation. (Its possible, after all, that there are improvements to be made on the instructions we received a few thousand years ago.) Theres a lot to get into here, but if you walk away from this with anything, it should be that in the past few years, a breakthrough has begun sweeping across meditation research, delivering sciences first general theory of meditation. That means very exciting days and more to the point, scientifically refined meditation frameworks and practices are not too far ahead. Dont we already know what meditation is?Over the last decade or two, the rise of mindfulness-related practices as a profitable industry has spread the most accessible forms of meditation like short, guided stress-relief meditations, or gratitude journals to millions of Americans.Which is great basic mindfulness practices that help us concentrate on the present are both relaxing and useful. But as psychotherapist Miles Neale, who coined the term McMindfulness, writes, if stress relief is all we take meditation to be, its like using a rocket launcher to light a candle. Some meditation practices can help ease the anxious edges of modern life. Others can change your mind forever.One way to pursue happiness is to try and fill your experience with things that make you happy loving relationships, prestige, kittens, whatever. Another is to change the way your mind generates experience in the first place. This is where more advanced meditation focuses. It operates on our deep mental habits so that well-being can more naturally arise in how we experience anything at all, kittens or not.But the deeper terrain of meditation is often shrouded in hazy platitudes. You may hear that meditation is about awakening, liberation, or jubilantly realizing the inherent emptiness of all phenomena, at which point youd be forgiven for tuning out. Descriptions of more advanced meditation often sound weird, and therefore, inaccessible or irrelevant to most people.Part of my hope for this course is to change that. Even if you dont want to join a monastery (I do not), theres still a huge range of more advanced meditation practices to explore that go beyond the mainstream basic mindfulness stuff. Some can feel like melting into a laser beam of intense tingly pleasurably electricity, and ultimately change the way you relate to pleasure, like the jhnas. Others, like non-dual practices (which Ill get into later), can plunge you into strange modes of consciousness full of wonder and insight that you might never have known were there. Which might leave you wondering why its mindful relaxation that gets all the attention. For one thing, theres how much time we imagine deeper meditation practices will take well get into that later in this course. Another obstacle blocking advanced meditations path into the mainstream is that a critical mass of Americans arent exactly itching to become full-on Buddhists. But if you turned to science instead of religion for guidance on these meditation practices in the past few decades, youd mostly find a bunch of scattered neuroscience jargon that doesnt all hang together.Buddhism can paint a really elaborate picture of whats going on with meditation, with ancient models of meditative development still being used today, like the four-path model. Science has struggled to do the same. We know some interesting but scattered things: Meditation makes parts of your brain grow thicker. It changes patterns of electrical activity in key brain networks. It raises the baseline of gamma wave activity. It shrinks your amygdala. The problem, as Shamil Chandaria, a senior research fellow at the University of Oxfords Center for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, put it to me, is weaving it all together into a story that shows us the big picture. In terms of all these neuroscience results, Chandaria said, theres this problem of what does it all mean?In a pivotal 2021 paper by cognitive scientists Ruben Laukkonen and Heleen Slagter, that big picture a model of how meditation affects the mind that can explain the effects of simple breathing practices and the most advanced transformations of consciousness alike finally began coming together.A general theory of meditationLets start with plain language. Think of meditation as having four stages of depth, each with a corresponding style of practice: focused attention, open-monitoring, non-dual, and cessation.Near the surface,focused attention practices help settle the mind. By default, our minds are usually snow globes in constant frenzy. Our attention constantly jumps from one flittering speck to the next, and the storm of activity blocks our view of the whole sphere. By focusing attention on an object the breath, repeating a mantra, the back of your thigh, how a movement feels in the body we can train the mind to stop getting yanked around. With the mind settled on just one thing, its easier to see through the storm. Open-monitoring practices help us get untangled from focusing on any particular thing happening in the mind, opening the aperture of our attention to notice the wider field of awareness that all those thoughts, feelings, and ideas all arise and fall within.Once youve settled the mind and gotten acquainted with the more spacious awareness beneath it, non-dual practices help you shift your mental center of gravity so that you identify with that expansive field of awareness itself, rather than everything that arises within it, as we normally do. (I know this probably sounds weird, well get more into it later. Some things in meditation are irreducibly weird, which is part of what makes me think its worth paying attention to.)And finally, for practitioners with serious meditation chops, you can go one step deeper, where even the field of non-dual awareness disappears. If you sink deep enough into the mind, youll find that it just extinguishes, like a candle flame blown out by a sudden gust of wind. That can happen for seconds at a time, called nirodhas in Theravada Buddhism, or it can last for days at a time, called nirodha-sammapati, or cessation attainment.Pete Gamlen for VoxYou can think of this progression as four rungs on a ladder that lead from the surface of the mind all the way down to the bottom. Or, from the beginner stages of meditation, all the way through to the very advanced. You can place a huge variety of meditative practices though not all somewhere along this spectrum.And just about everything thats grown popular under the label of mindfulness is in that first group of focused-attention practices. The idea that meditation can make you 10 percent happier is talking about these introductory practices that settle the mind.But the idea that meditation can make you 10 times happier, like meditation teacher Shinzen Young claims, references the next stages: practices that open up once the mind begins to settle.Once more, with scienceNow, bear with me. Were going to retell that story, but using Laukkonen and Slagters innovation the general theory of meditation. The key to this framework is a theory thats risen to dominate cognitive science in the past decade or so: predictive processing. Predictive processing says that we dont experience the world as it is, but as we predict it to be. Our conscious experience is a construction of layered mental habits acquired through past experiences. We dont see the world through our eye sockets; we dont hear the world through our ear canals. These all feed information into our brains, which conjure our experience of the world from scratch like when we dream only that in waking consciousness, theyre at least trying to match what they whip up in our experience to what might actually be going on in the world outside our skulls. RelatedYour mind needs chaosThe building blocks for these conjured models of the world we experience the predictive mind are called priors, those beliefs or expectations based on the past. Priors run a spectrum from deep and ancestral to superficial and personal.For example, say you ventured an opinion in front of your third grade class and everyone laughed. You might have formed a prior that assumes sharing your thoughts leads to ridicule. If that experience was particularly meaningful to you, it could embed deep in your predictive mind, shaping your behavior, and even perception of the world, for the rest of your life.Similarly, our bodies know how to do some of their most basic functions like maintaining body temperature around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit because weve inherited priors from our evolutionary history that holding our body in that range will keep us alive. According to predictive processing, consciousness is constructed via this hierarchy of priors like a house of cards.With all that in place, sciences new meditation story can be put nice and short: Meditation deconstructs the predictive mind.But hold on. It took billions of years for evolution to slowly, patiently build us these predictive minds. Theyre one of the great marvels of biology. Why would we want to deconstruct them? Well, evolution doesnt care whether survival feels good. Conscious experience as we know it might be a really useful trick for adapting to our environments and achieving the goals that further lifes crusade against entropy and death. But natural selection cares about ensuring our bodies survive, not that we achieve happiness and well-being. Which is why you often hear meditation teachers talking about reprogramming the mind. We dont want to just leave the predictive mind in pieces. Again, its one of the most useful adaptations life on Earth has ever mustered. But in some departments, we might want to kindly thank evolution, while taking the reins and revising a bit of its work to make this whole business of living feel better.Precision weighting is the volume knob on the predictive mindEach step, from focused attention through to cessation, is a deeper deconstruction of the predictive mind. But deconstructing doesnt mean, like, breaking it.Instead, the key idea is precision weighting, which you can think of as the volume knob on each of the priors that make up your predictive mind. The higher the precision or volume assigned to something, the more focus your mind pays to it. The more your experience warps around it.Deconstructing the mind is to progressively turn down the volume on each layer of stacked priors, releasing the grip they ordinarily hold on awareness. By definition, then, the deeper meditation goes, the stranger (as in, further from ordinary) the resulting experience will be.How meditation deconstructs the predictive mindSo lets go back to our four-step model of meditative depth. We said the first step, focused attention practices, settle the mind. Now, we can say that with a bit more detail. By focusing on one particular thing, like the breath, youre cranking up the precision weighting assigned to it. Youre holding up the volume knob so that your experience settles around it.By doing so, you also turn down the volume on everything else. You can see this happen in real time pretty easily just try picking out one specific thing in your current experience. Like your left earlobe how does it feel right now?Really, take five seconds and tune into it.Looking back, you might notice that the more you tuned into that earlobe, the more everything else began to fade into the background. That helps explain why focused attention practices like basic mindfulness can be so relaxing. Youre turning down the volume on everything thats stressing you out.Next, in open-monitoring practices, you drop that object of attention and release the volume knob. But it doesnt twist back to its normal resting position. Since your focusing practice turned down the volume on everything else, the default setting across your mind at large is now lower. Focused attention settles your mind onto one object of attention. In open-monitoring, you drop into a more settled mind across the board.Its not that you no longer have thoughts springing up. But as those thoughts do, your mind reacts less to them. Theyre muted, less sticky, so attention clings to them less. They just come and go more easily. Thats why during the open-monitoring stage, you begin to see the entire snow globe that mental activity is happening inside of. The idea of a field of awareness is no longer a metaphor; you can see it directly.Advanced practitioners are said to be able to effortlessly observe experience as a whole, write Laukkonen and Slagter, without being caught by thoughts, emotions, or anything else that arises in ones sensorium.Focused attention practices are an important step in meditation it helps to calm your mind before trying to see through it. But on their own, they dont usually lead to big revelations about how your mind works. Open monitoring is where this seeing through process really kicks in.There is a space of awareness thats different from the contents of awareness, said Chandaria, whos been meditating for about 37 years. And thats something that most people arent even aware of. The first time we see that, its like, oh, I never knew that there was actually an ocean on which these waves were arising. I never knew the ocean.And then theres non-dual experienceAs you sink into open-monitoring practice, the predictive mind has loosened its grip on experience. But there are still deep priors at play.For example, in open-monitoring practice, it probably still feels like theres a you doing the meditating. And that you is experiencing your awareness. Theres a subject you aware of an object, the field of experience. But according to heaps of meditators and mystics through the millennia, this, too, can be deconstructed. Non-dual meditation aims at turning down even those deep priors that construct distinctions between subject and object altogether. As well as basically every other possible distinction. During non-dual experiences, theres no self/other, good/bad, here/there, now/later. All these dualities that underlie ordinary cognition basically melt into a big soup of the Now.This is the thing the big soupy Now that youll quickly hear a ton of platitudes about in meditation circles. The illusion of separation, the truth of universal oneness.Thats because theres just no great way to describe it its either incredibly weird, or incredibly trite. But if youre after more descriptions anyway, philosopher and meditator Thomas Metzinger recently published a book containing over 500 different accounts of non-duality, or minimal phenomenal experience as he calls it, from advanced meditators across 57 countries. Metzinger is usually at least a decade ahead of the field, so its worth a read.If open-monitoring practice is where meditations hefty insights begin kicking into gear, non-duality is where they ramp up. Its often described as coming home. One meditator from Metzingers research described it as: the realization of having finally found home after an eternal search. The pathological searching, the agony of control, comes to an abrupt end, and for the first time you realize what it means to be alive.According to Laukkonen and Slagters framework, non-duality is the baseline of all experience. Its always beneath our ordinary experiences awareness in its least constructed form. Non-dual meditation practice is about creating the conditions that reduce ordinary cognition that normally hides non-dual awareness.But even non-duality isnt the end of the road. Its still a mode of consciousness. And according to predictive processing, wherever theres conscious experience, theres an underlying prior, or expectation, thats holding it up. This, too, can be deconstructed.When the mind has no priors left: CessationIn the past year, meditation researchers have begun to corroborate long-standing claims from Buddhist scripture that if your meditation goes deep enough, the whole show of consciousness can be extinguished temporarily, that is altogether.Nirodha-sampatti, or cessation of thought and feeling, is a summit of meditative attainment in Theravada Buddhism, the oldest surviving form of Buddhism most commonly practiced in Southeast Asia. Cessation is like going under general anesthesia, but without any drugs. Consciousness can be switched off from the inside, for according to the scriptures up to seven days at a time (though the first lab data on cessation looked at a more modest 90-minute stretch).Cessation is a bonafide advanced meditation thing Ill make zero effort to convince you its accessible to us non-monastic folks. But according to neuroscientist Matthew Sacchet, who leads the Meditation Research Program at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, the early data collected from studying cessations with neuroscience gizmos supports the idea that meditation deconstructs the predictive mind. Cessation could thus reflect a final release of the expectation to be aware or alert, Luakkonen and Slagter write. Its like a bottoming-out of the predictive mind.Coming out of cessation, meditators can observe the reconstruction of the predictive mind, prior by prior. That puts us in a special state, Chandaria said. You can call it reprogramming mode. And in reprogramming mode, we can start to reprogram ourselves in ways that could be more conducive to human flourishing.Why does this matter?For those of us who arent neuroscientists, or dont care about predictive processing, what good does this model of meditation do?Its not the objective truth about what meditation actually does. Its just a story. Its not comprehensive there are styles of meditation that wouldnt fit neatly onto this framework. And meditation doesnt always follow this trajectory you can go straight into non-dual practices, or try out open-monitoring before focused attention.On a personal note, I find this framework really helpful. Immediately after reading Laukkonen and Slagters paper, it gave me a way to see my own practice that clicked with my experience better than other stories which stem from other cultures about what meditation does.Now, I usually spend the beginning of my meditation sessions doing focused attention practice to settle the mind. And when I notice my concentration is stable enough, I release the focus and drop into open-monitoring practices. And when my mind falls into an especially weird place that words dont really capture, I figure, maybe thats leaning into this non-dual stuff? Just having the labels helped kindle my interest in playing around with things.And as a scientific framework, this model is generating all sorts of new hypotheses to test. More broadly, it also gives us a way to think through how its possible that so many people are trying meditation, but so few are having the big transformative experiences that more advanced practitioners talk about.Even if some 60 million Americans tried meditation in 2022, if most of them only do some sort of focused attention practice, theyre never trying anything beyond the first step. Thats like concluding that running probably wont make you significantly healthier because you laced up your sneakers and nothing transformative happened.When I asked Chandaria how this new scientific model compares to religious models that have been around for ages, like Theravada Buddhisms four-path model, he said that Ultimatelyall these stories are pointing to the moon. But [contemplative traditions] were pointing with their fingers. Now, we have laser pointers. And as science progresses, well be able to work with what were finding out about the brain, he added. Its actually about making progress, and by progress, I mean more useful stories.Want to dive deeper into meditation?Check out Voxs free meditation course. For five days, staff reporter Oshan Jarow breaks down what you need to know to fit meditation into your everyday life, features exclusive interviews with different meditation experts, and offers bite-size meditation practice exercises. Sign up here!Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

$95 million is a headline-making number, especially when it comes as a result of a proposed class action lawsuit settlement in which claimants accused Apple of unlawfully surveilling them through Siri and other Apple devices. If the settlement is approved by the district court in Oakland, California, overseeing the case, people who owned a Siri between September 17, 2014, and December 31, 2024, and who believe they experienced an unintended Siri activation, will be able to file a claim for $20 as compensation. The lawsuit began in 2019 after a Guardian investigation in which a whistleblower came forward to allege countless instances in which Apple devices, including Siri and the Apple Watch, had inadvertently listened in on users. At the time, Apple had staffed numerous third-party contractors to listen to the devices, which included the inadvertently obtained data though it claimed this was only for purposes of improving them, not, as many litigants alleged, selling the data to advertisers. The company quickly stopped the practice, though not before public debate about whether Siri was really spying on its users became widespread. After all, this wouldnt be the first time a tech company had been accused of audio surveilling its users without their knowledge or consent. Not only that, but a nearly identical lawsuit concerning Googles Voice Assistant, filed in the same court and likely to result in a similar settlement, is waiting in the wings. Whats happening with all of these audio devices? Are Amazon and Microsoft listening in as well? And does this all actually constitute a serious breach of privacy?The answers to these questions are simultaneously simple and complicated. The experts Vox spoke with to find out more told us that the public outcry over Siris data collection may all be much ado about, relatively, nothing. Ah, but its the relativity thats the concerning part. The reason Siris data collection may not matter in the bigger picture isnt because its not potentially harmful or unethical.Its because its just a drop in the bucket.We probably wont know the extent of Apples audio surveillanceThe ongoing anxiety over the potentially invasive practices of large tech companies like Apple and Google may have distorted our understanding of what the Apple lawsuit is about. Alex Hamerstone, a cybersecurity consultant for the security consultancy TrustedSec, told Vox that the lawsuit may be projecting a lot of peoples concerns about the overall surveillance state.In other words, what feels like its a major referendum a chance to hold major tech companies accountable for a major privacy violation is really what Hamerstone described as a niche case.The way Siri and similar smart assistant devices are supposed to work is that you use a wake phrase to activate them like, Hey, Siri. The problem is that Apple devices (and, allegedly, those of other tech companies including Google and Amazon) can be activated inadvertently in any number of ways, and users havent always known when those activations have occurred. The lawsuit against Apple alleges that not only was its unauthorized listening a deceptive business practice, the impact involved multiple instances in which Apple violated confidentiality laws as well as the privacy of minors. The Guardians 2019 investigation reported that Siri had allegedly unlawfully recorded everything from confidential doctors visits to illegal drug deals to couples having sex. In the Apple lawsuit, claimants point out that Apple, in a 2018 letter to Congress, had stated in no uncertain terms that Siri would never be activated without users express consent arguably a boldfaced lie. But Apple continued to protest that it hadnt violated the letter of its privacy contract with consumers. While Apple did acknowledge to the Guardian that it made inadvertent recordings and passed a small portion of these unauthorized recordings on to its third-party contractors, it never clarified whether it sold any of that data to advertisers, which was one of the biggest allegations made by consumers in the class action lawsuit. There is a widespread belief that these devices are listening to you, Cindy Cohn, executive director of the Electronic Frontiers Foundation, told Vox. People think Facebooks listening to you, all sorts of things are listening to you, and theyre placing ads based upon what they hear.As it stands, were not likely to find out if thats true. As the lawsuit against Apple moved forward, it seemed possible that we would; the court had found as recently as 2021 that the targeted advertising claims ... are rendered plausible by the unique nature of oral communications. In other words, the court was sympathetic to the view that the private conversations you have are unique; it shouldnt be possible for you to receive advertising based on those conversations unless your privacy has been violated in a major way.Under the terms of the proposed settlement, however, Apple doesnt admit liability not for recording users without their explicit consent to begin with, nor for any potential misuse of those recordings. And without a trial to force its hand, the company most likely wont have to disclose what it did with all that data. The upshot for all of us is that Apple claims that they did get these accidental recordings, and they used them to make the system better, but that they didnt use it for other things, Cohn told Vox. And we arent going to know the answer to that ... I would say at the end of this case, were no closer to learning whether thats true than we were at the beginning.Its worth noting that existing US surveillance and technology laws havent always kept up with the emergence of smart devices. When a similar lawsuit was brought against Samsung and others in 2017 for unlawfully recording its users on its smart TVs, a New Jersey federal court ultimately dismissed it on a technicality though the court also seemed skeptical of the ephemeral nature of the suits allegations. After the lawsuit was dismissed in 2018, a new civil suit was brought against it; that case is still making its convoluted way through the courts. As for the forthcoming Google lawsuit, its so similar to the Apple one that it will likely have a similar outcome.One reason its hard to pin down tech companies for these types of violations in the legal system is that the nature of laws against, for example, wiretapping rely on an outdated understanding of the tech in question. So much information security these days is contractual and regulatory, Hamerstone told Vox. The legislation has not kept up with the speed of technology.Another reason is that its hard to know whats been taken from you in this situation; since (as the court noted) Apple was the one in possession of the intercepted recordings, the claimants struggled to articulate what exactly had been intercepted. Cohn noted that Apple had deleted many of the recordings in question, which made it even harder for the lawsuit to move forward effectively.Another reason the lawsuit may have faced difficulty is that its hard to claim you havent consented to having your data collected in one way when youve likely unwittingly consented to having it collected in so many others. Your phone doesnt need to listen to youCohn emphasized to Vox that Apples insistence that it wasnt intentionally illegally surveilling users was probably true because, after all, why would it need to?Thats a labor-intensive, compute-expensive thing to do to track us when theyve got this cornucopia of completely legal, easy to do, low-computational ways of surveilling all of us, she said.I think people are just unaware of how much of a profile marketers and companies have on each of us and how much data were sharing, Hamerstone told Vox. Generally we agree to do it through these end user license agreements ... even if you could get through the legalese, its just impossible to read that many words. Through the use of metadata like cookies on websites, and your daily purchases, media consumption, and behaviors, companies can find out more about you than you ever realized. They can engage in highly complex predictive algorithmic marketing that makes you feel spied upon. Even when you might think youre just sharing that information in a private conversation that your Alexa just happened to overhear, you could be sharing it in numerous other ways without realizing it.Everything is just constantly being collected about us and put in databases, Hamerstone said. Your phone doesnt need to listen to you. It knows what youre likely to buy and all these other things because of all the other data that we have about everybody.The good news is your phone probably isnt listening to you in the way that youre afraid it is, Cohn said. The bad news is that doesnt really matter in terms of [marketers] ability to place these uncanny ads and make you feel like youre being watched all the time.In case this all makes you feel a bit hunted, youre not alone; browsers that emphasize privacy control have grown in popularity in recent years. Cohn was adamant that we need legal protection and that the onus shouldnt be on individuals to try to protect themselves from the ever-encroaching reach of data collection into our lives. All your devices should come with privacy protections that just work and you dont have to think about it, Cohn said.Cohn also stressed the need for increased privacy laws, more protections for consumers, and an updated legal system that can more readily handle these types of lawsuits. She pointed out that the Apple lawsuit had to go through a lot of hoops that it shouldnt have had to go through and shouldnt have taken four years just to result in a settlement. We need a comprehensive privacy law thats got real teeth that empowers people to sue, she said. The important next step, she said, is to create laws that address not only what the tech companies could be doing with our data, but the invasive things theyre doing already. We need to simplify things for these privacy cases and we need to expand the reach of [the law] to include metadata ... rather than just having these cases where were trying to push the edge.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

Nintendo Switch 2 leaks continue, and this time it's case manufacturer Genki which has seemingly revealed when the console will launch here's all we know so farTech13:39, 08 Jan 2025Updated 13:41, 08 Jan 2025Nintendo Switch 2 is coming, but when?We're starting to feel for Nintendo at this point. The Switch 2 is one of our most anticipated gaming releases for 2025, but while the company has promised an announcement is coming, leaks have been stealing its thunder.We're expecting a reveal before the end of March, but recent weeks have revealed it'll likely use AI upscaling for 4K visuals, have new magnetic Joy-Con controllers, and we may even know one of the launch games.Now, one case manufacturer may have accidently revealed when the Switch 2 will launch, too. Honestly, we're ready for the full reveal from Nintendo now.Content cannot be displayed without consentOver on X (formerly Twitter), Nicolas Lellouche of French outlet Numerama has shared what appears to be a 'dummy unit' of a Switch 2, and says Genki claims to have a Switch 2 already.It's not often a manufacturer is so verbose in their discussions about a product that's still not been revealed, but Genki has apparently tipped the new console for an April 2025 release.As always, a pinch of salt is required if Nintendo has given Genki information about the Switch 2, there's every chance they shouldn't be telling the world about it, let alone that they have the console, but stranger things have happened.While gamers are desperate for news on the latest console, it's clear that messaging around the system could be starting to get away from Nintendo. Here's hoping the House of Mario is able to officially pull back the curtain soon to show the Switch 2 in the best possible light.Article continues belowFor more on handheld consoles, be sure to check out why your next system should be a Steam Deck OLED.For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.RECOMMENDED

UK physical game sales plummet in 2024 as EA Sports FC 25 tops chartsAdam StarkeyPublished January 8, 2025 1:25pmUpdated January 8, 2025 1:26pm The UK still loves football, it turns out (EA)The demise of physical games accelerated significantly last year in the UK, as overall game revenue also took a hit.Physical game sales have been on a steady decline over the past decade, with some high-profile games like Hellblade 2 and Alan Wake 2 having ditched boxed copies altogether.The growing dominance of digital can also be seen with the digital-only versions of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles, and while there has been some pushback against an all-digital future with specialist sites like Limited Run, the demise of physical games now feels inevitable.This tracks with new UK sales data, which shows 2024 was a significant turning point in the decline of physical sales.According to data from the Entertainment Retailers Association, which is based on figures from Nielsen, India, and GSD, video game revenue in the UK dropped 4.4% last year, to 4.6 billion.As reported by Chris Dring, this drop primarily stems from a collapse in physical game revenue in the country, with only 324.4 million generated by sales of boxed games in 2024. This is a drop of nearly 35% when compared to 2023.When you compare these numbers with digital, the difference is massive. In 2024, the digital market generated 4.29 billion through console, PC, mobile, and tablet game sales, which was only a 1% drop year-over-year. The PS5 Pro is digital-only too (Sony Interactive Entertainment)Among these digital figures, PC download sales were down 5%, console downloads were down 15%, while mobile and tablet gaming rose by 2.6%.Interestingly, subscription revenue went up 12%, which could be due to a boost in subscriber numbers, or simply because services like PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass bumped up their prices over the past year.Overall, this means the video game market will place behind film and video in the UK for the second consecutive year, when previously it used to be out in front.The decline of physical is best reflected in the UKs best-selling game for 2024, EA Sports FC 25, which sold 2.9 million copies. According to the data, 80% of the games sales were via digital stores.While this paints a bleak picture for the future of physical games, ERA boss Kim Bayley suggests the format will still be significant moving forward, stating: After the breakneck growth of recent years, it is no surprise that the market has slowed down, but it remains a giant.Despite the attractions of digital business models to developers, we believe physical still has a role to play.More TrendingPart of the problem with sales in 2024 is that there simply werent very many big name games, particularly in the normally busy autumn period. 2025 shouldnt have that problem though, with GTA 6 and Nintendos next console both expected to launch later this year. Can GTA 6 turn the tide? (Rockstar)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralExclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

Attention all Android-heads. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 is on sale. Right now, you can get the sixth generation flippable smartphone for $150 off. The online exclusive colors of crafted black, peach, and white along with yellow are all also going for an extra $100 off. That means you can get one for as low as $900. And on top of that, Samsung is running a trade-in promotion in which if you hand over your old phone, you can put that credit toward your purchase of the Galaxy Flip 6. That credit can go as high as $700, so technically, you can get the Flip 6 for as low as $200.See at SamsungThese foldable phones are on their sixth generation now, so if youve been holding out not wanting to be an early adopter until a few updates have come, well then now is a good time to dip in.Better with Galaxy AIThe Samsung Galaxy Flip 6 now has an integrated Galaxy AI to help complete simple tasks and send texts without even opening your phone. The Galaxy AI also works to power FlexCam, a camera feature that helps you perfectly frame stunning photos before capturing. If youre standing in front of a huge famous landmark like the Eiffel Tower, just yourself or with a group of friends, you phone can intuitively crop and shift to keep the whole group and the landscape in the shot.Note Assist, also powered by Galaxy AI, can summarize audio files in the blink of an eye to help you quickly get the gist without spending time you do not have.The phone is also equipped with a hand translator. Because of Galaxy AI, you can talk to someone in another language and have fluent conversations with them face-to-face with the help of live translations both of you can see.Hows the Camera and Other Specs?The Flip 6 phone makes use of a 10 MP front and cover camera, as well as a 50 MP wide-angle and 10 MP telephoto lens on the back.The Galaxy Z Flip 6 comes in with a battery capacity of 4,000 mAh. With that, youll get approximately 68 hours of listening time and still up to 23 hours of watching time.The outside screen is fully customizable, as is the inside screen. Personalize your cover to your liking with wallpapers than change based on time and weather.Right now, you can grab the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 for $1,000, or $900 in the online exclusive colors. You can also save another $700 on top of that when trading in your old phone. That means you can get the Flip 6 for as low as $200.See at Samsung

Coralie Fargeat teases whats next for her afterThe Substance.Scream 7 starts production. Plus, whats coming on the nextGhosts, and get a look at a creepy new killer smart house series coming to Netflix,Cassandra. Spoilers, away! Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi In conversation with MovieWeb, James Mangold discussed why he wanted to set hisStar Wars movie tens of thousands of years before the Skywalker Saga.The Star Wars movie would be taking place 25,000 years before any known Star Wars movies takes place. Its an area and a playground that Ive always [wanted to explore] and that I was inspired by as a teenager. Im not that interested in being handcuffed by so much lore at this point that its almost immovable, and you cant please anybody. Untitled Coralie Fargeat Project Speaking with Variety, Coralie Fargeat stated her next movie will be totally different from The Substance, but with a lot of similarities, too.For now Im not discussing anything. Im just enjoying the moment and taking some time as I really want to write my next project, she told Variety. Its slowly starting to be put in motion in the back of my brain and when things calm down Ill take it from there. Its going to be totally different [than The Substance] but with a lot of similarities. I love to make bold and surprising films with things that you dont expect, so definitely thats what I want to do. And I love the freedom that I gave myself for this film and thats certainly something I want to keep doing. Scream 7 Filming is officially underway on Scream 7, according to Kevin Williamson on Instagram. Dog Man Lil Rel Howery, Isla Fisher, and Pete Davidson discuss voicing their Dog Man characters in a new featurette. House of the Dragon During a recent interview with CBS,Tom Glynn-Carney stated well see a different version of King Aegon when House of the Dragon returns for a third season. Hes on a new chapter. I think hes a way more focused, driven version of Aegon that weve seen. I havent yet read the season 3 scripts, so its difficult to say what the writers have discussed, what theyve decided on. Im assured theres a lot to come. Ive had a little chat about the arc and how excited I should be about taking it on. I think well see a different version of him, which is quite exciting. Ghosts Spoiler TV has a synopsis for The Not-So-Silent Partner, the January 30 episode of Ghosts. Click through for images. Sam and Jay are forced to cover when Mark demands to meet the silent investor in Jays restaurant who has been holding up construction, on the CBS Original series GHOSTS, Thursday, Jan. 30 (8:30-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs)*. Cassandra A smart home from the 1970s is reactivated after a new family moves inhowever, this seemingly harmless household robot combines an antiquated worldview with dark intentions in the trailer for Cassandra, a German Sci-fi series coming to Netflix this February 6. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

The Anker Solix C200 Power Bank Station is all about easy, reliable, portable power. This compact powerhouse packs a massive 60,000mAh (192Wh) capacity into a design thats 39% smaller than comparable units, making it a great companion for everything from outdoor adventures to emergency backup power. You can rest easy knowing it has your back throughout any situation, and it wont cost you an arm and a leg.See at AmazonFor a limited time, you can grab this versatile power station for just $100, down from its original price of $170 at Amazon. Thats a substantial 41% discount, putting $70 back in your pocket. Its really exceptional value for a power station that offers high-capacity storage as well as fast-charging capabilities.Substantial portable power for a small priceRight now, theres a winter storm hammering the midwest, and its left many without power. This portable unit could be a game-changer if you ever find yourself in a similar situation, and you very well could. Thats one huge reason we cant help but suggest you get one to be ready.This power station has five charging ports, including a powerful 140W two-way USB-C port that can fast-charge laptops and other demanding devices. The LiFePO4 battery has a 3,000-cycle lifespan too, so you can be sure youll be able to use this bad boy for at least a couple of years to come. It can power your computer, phone, appliances, and much more in case you find that youre needing them.The C200s rapid charging capability is useful, too. It can reach 80% capacity in just 1.3 hours using the PD 3.1 USB-C port. For extended off-grid use, its compatible with 100W solar panels (sold separately), offering sustainable power wherever your adventures take you. The comprehensive 3-year warranty provides peace of mind for this investment in portable power.Whether youre a digital nomad needing reliable power for your devices, an outdoor enthusiast planning extended trips, or someone who wants a robust backup power solution, the Solix C200 serves up professional-grade power in a travel-friendly package.Your job? Be sure to grab yours before its no longer on sale. At this lowest price, you can bet it wont stick around for long. You want to make sure you and your family have electricity and warmth this winter, so dont sleep on a deal thatll make sure you have just that even in the most dire of situations. You never know when disaster will strike, so its always a good idea to be prepared.See at Amazon

Straw, Earth and Bamboo: Innovative Use of Natural Materials in 2024 Projects from the Global SouthPresented by:Save this picture!Chaki Wasi, Artisanal Center of the Shalal Community / La Cabina de la Curiosidad JAG StudioSustainability has been a central theme in architectural discussions for years, encompassing not only the professions role in combating climate change and transitioning to low-carbon economies but also preserving cultural heritage and celebrating vernacular traditions. In 2024, a wave of projects and studies stood out for their innovative use of natural materials, particularly in the Global South. These initiatives skillfully blend creativity and technology with renewable resources, demonstrating how architecture can deliver high-quality spaces that align with contemporary demands for sustainability and environmental responsibility.In many regions of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, natural materials such as bamboo, earth, wood, and straw play a crucial role in construction, crafts, agriculture, and energy production, seamlessly adapting to local climates and needs. For example, the Berber houses of Morocco, built from earth, demonstrate the versatility and efficiency of these materials in both hot and cold climates. Beyond their practical applications, these resources carry profound cultural significance, reinforcing the identity and autonomy of the communities that use them.Save this picture!However, challenges persist. In 2024, the extraction and use of natural materials are increasingly strained by deforestation, overexploitation of resources, and rapid urbanization. Many communities that produce these materials face barriers such as limited access to technologies and investments that could improve the efficiency and sustainability of their practices. Strengthening public policies to support sustainable resource management and recognizing the value of traditional knowledge are critical steps. Equally important is addressing social biases about natural building materials durability and maintenance needs, as seen in ongoing discussions about practices in India.Natural materials are increasingly recognized as a sustainable and strategic solution for the future. They promote environmental preservation while strengthening local economies and cultures. By combining tradition with innovation, this approach offers creative ways to tackle the challenges of contemporary environmental and social crises, proving that it is possible to achieve development while respecting the environment.Save this picture!Given the complexity of this topic, we have highlighted three natural materials that stood out in 2024 through articles and medium- to large-scale projects built in countries of the Global South.StrawStraw blends tradition and sustainability. It is often used in roofs and insulating walls due to its low cost, abundance, and thermal efficiency. It has long been a staple in traditional buildings, such as those in the African Sahel and the Andes, and continues to play a key role in contemporary bioconstruction projects in Brazil and Southeast Asia. Straw is also valued for supporting a circular economy by repurposing agricultural waste. In 2024, its use expanded into interior design, where its flexibility allows for several decorative patterns that enhance indoor spaces. This modern application of straw reflects a return to past techniques, like those used in African vernacular huts, underscoring its significance in bioclimatic architecture and its social role in weaving.Save this picture!It is also worth noting that technical advancements have significantly expanded the potential of straw in contemporary projects, positioning it as an accessible and sustainable solution for the housing and environmental challenges of 2024. One such example, discussed in the article, highlighted the use of straw wall panels and modular construction. These innovations enhance the material's strength and efficiency, making it suitable for large-scale applications across diverse climatic conditions.Chaki Wasi, Artisanal Center of the Shalal Community / La Cabina de la CuriosidadSave this picture!Wood / BambooWood, traditionally used in structures, walls, and finishes, is prized for its durability and aesthetic appeal, especially in tropical regions of Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. In 2024, discussions focused on industrialized wood construction techniques that enhance its flexibility and adaptability. These innovations not only expand the material's potential but also elevate wood as a central element in decarbonizing the construction industry.Save this picture!Bamboo, often referred to as "vegetable steel," is prized for its lightness, flexibility, and strength, making it especially valuable in earthquake-prone regions like Indonesia and India. Throughout the year, numerous articles focused on its construction techniques, adaptation to contemporary design, and its social role in empowering communities and fostering respect for nature.AYURU the Forest Temple / Atelier Marko BrajovicSave this picture!Luna Beach Club / Inspiral Architecture and Design StudiosSave this picture!The Lovers - Clan Living / Ruang NyamanSave this picture!Center for Inclusive Growth & Competitiveness for Tapmi/ The Purple Ink Studio / The Purple Ink StudioSave this picture!EarthThe use of earth in construction is an ancient practice that remains highly relevant due to its abundance, low cost, and excellent thermal efficiency. Techniques such as adobe, rammed earth, and cob are widely used across Africa, Latin America, and Asia, adapting to diverse climates and cultures. In 2024, articles explored the materials technical qualities and various applications, emphasizing its exceptional thermal insulation and moisture-regulating properties, which make it particularly well-suited for hot and dry climates.Save this picture!Additionally, its use has been redefined by architects and bioconstruction movements that combine this ancient technique with technological innovations, creating materials such as natural clay plaster that prioritize sustainability and minimal environmental impact. In this context, an interview with Worofila, a studio based in Dakar, Senegal, dedicated to bioclimatic and ecological architecture, highlights their exploration of vernacular materials like earth bricks and typha. By applying modern techniques, the studio develops effective and sustainable construction solutions.Interactive Living Museum Yatiyawi / Samuel HilariSave this picture!dot.ateliers | Ogbojo / DeRoch StrohmayerSave this picture!Chonburi Multi-Purpose Building / SUPHASIDHSave this picture!This article is part of the ArchDaily Topics: Year in Review, presented by Gira.Minimalism with character and clear shapes reduced to the essentials. The Gira design lines are suitable for a variety of furnishing styles, in different colours and materials. With the introduction of the Gira E2 light grey recycled material, Gira is setting a strong example for sustainability and innovation in switch design.Every month we explore a topic in-depth through articles, interviews, news, and architecture projects. We invite you to learn more about our ArchDaily Topics. And, as always, at ArchDaily we welcome the contributions of our readers; if you want to submit an article or project, contact us.Image gallerySee allShow lessAbout this authorCamilla GhisleniAuthorCite: Ghisleni, Camilla. "Straw, Earth and Bamboo: Innovative Use of Natural Materials in 2024 Projects from the Global South" [Palha, terra e bambu: Uso inovador de materiais naturais em projetos do Sul Global em 2024] 08 Jan 2025. ArchDaily. (Trans. Simes, Diogo) Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1025081/straw-earth-and-bamboo-innovative-use-of-natural-materials-in-2024-projects-from-the-global-south&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

Pyramid Hut / IGArchitectsSave this picture! Ooki JinguHousesOkinawa, JapanArchitects: IGArchitectsAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:83 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2024 PhotographsPhotographs:Ooki Jingu Lead Architects: IGArchitects, Masato Igarashi Construction: FUN SHARE Ltd., Yukimitsu Shimoji More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. This residence was designed for a married couple. It is on a long, narrow site that slopes gently toward the back, and its three sides are surrounded by apartments and a cemetery, so the location feels like the bottom of a valley. The adjacent cemetery was like a forest, with plants crossing over into the site and blurring the boundary, making the site itself look like part of the cemetery. Having these site features, an "Okinawa-like" building style with large openings seemed somehow inappropriate for this location. Here, we envisioned a bright, open architecture while keeping a distance from its surroundings.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!We envisioned a building with a dignified appearance with a bright and austere interior free from external influences. Such architecture has the power and the quality of space that architecture possesses even after its original purpose ends and can remain there for a long time. For this project too, we wanted to build an architecture that will be loved and used over time, even after the owner or its function changes.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The gently sloped site was organized into three levels for the living platform, the stepped earth retaining walls were used as two rows of foundation lining, and a square pyramid was placed reminiscent of a portable shrine. The square pyramid lifted from the hard Ryukyu limestone layer has a powerful form that will continue to stand there as if it were perched on clogs, even if the surrounding earth were to erode. The closed pyramid is not only structurally stable but also private and dignified. While providing functional support points in response to the site, opening the foundation and roof surface was to a limited extent, creating a peaceful space without losing the stable form.Save this picture!Save this picture!The interior space has a simple composition. The first level consists of a bathroom and entrance to efficiently gather plumbing, the next level which is stepped 1m down is a living/dining room and a study, and the third level at the back has a bedroom and other private spaces. The house was designed to create a living space within easy reach of wooden material under a skylight inside a concrete mass like a ruin.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Old tombs in Okinawa are very splendid. They are designed to withstand Okinawa's harsh climate and endure for generations. They provide a function as places of gathering, celebration, and reverence and a "home" for the ancestors, with the ancient wisdom, will and culture to be able to use them for a long time. The building that we designed and completed came out looking somewhat like a pyramid or a tomb. The shape of the building was derived from considerations of Okinawa's climate, wind and rain, the surrounding environment, and the budget. However, when I saw the completed structure, it felt as though it was imbued with the sense of permanence and festivity that Okinawa's ancestors instilled in their tombs. Although the form may seem bizarre, this concrete house resulted in a graceful Okinawan character.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessAbout this officeIGArchitectsOfficeMaterialsGlassConcreteMaterials and TagsPublished on January 08, 2025Cite: "Pyramid Hut / IGArchitects" 08 Jan 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1025438/pyramid-hut-igarchitects&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