Time zones: EST (UTC -5), CST (UTC -6), MST (UTC -7), PST (UTC -8), AKST (UTC -9), HST (UTC -10)Fiverr, the worlds leading marketplace connecting businesses with freelancers, is thrilled to introduce an exclusive program tailored for experienced freelance IT professionals.This initiative empowers you to enhance your client services by offering premium software solutions and digital products, such as Microsoft, Google and more, to your existing clients.Through Fiverrs platform, you can streamline your operations, manage everything in one centralized dashboard, and enjoy benefits such as client discounts, dedicated support, and recurring commissions.This is a unique opportunity to collaborate with Fiverrs platform and seamlessly scale your freelance IT business.What Will You Do?Recommend and provide software solutions to your clients using Fiverr platform.Manage digital and software solutions and track earnings through a user-friendly dashboard.Who Should Apply?Freelancers with an active client base eager to enhance their services.Freelance IT professionals experienced in client management and delivering top-notch service and looking to expand their business.An active client base.How to Apply:Submit your application today to join this exclusive program. Relevant freelancers will be contacted by Fiverr Freelancers Sourcing Team.

Headquarters: Dubai, UAE URL: https://www.hyperscalelabs.com/Position Details Location: RemoteHours: Full-time (US hours)Salary: $4,000$5,000 per month OTEThe Role Are you a highly experienced cold email SDR hungry to pull in massive commissions month-in, month-out like clockwork? This role is for you. Initially, you will be in charge of managing and scaling our proven cold email system thats already booking 20-30 calls per week. You will be emailing and dialling leads who reply positively to cold emails to book them in for an appointment, tracking the performance of the campaign, ensuring we maintain strong deliverability and managing the team of VAs who are sourcing leads to control lead quality. About Hyperscale Hyperscale is a consulting company that helps coaches & course creators scale their business with direct response funnels and paid advertising. We provide our clients with a world-class video training program, community platform, regular coaching calls, and deep support on their funnels, ads and sales process, helping them scale their businesses to 7 and multiple 7 figures. Right now, we are growing extremely fast and need an Outbound SDR (Cold Email) to manage our cold email system. Requirements Experience setting appointments for businesses using cold emailStrong understanding of cold email (e.g. deliverability, scraping, enrichment, etc)You are not afraid to pick up the phone and dial leads to book them in for callsObsessive, money-hungry winner with an all-consuming desire to make money online Highly organised and disciplined you must enjoy routine and repetitive tasksTargets Book a minimum of 100 appointments per month in February and March of Q1 2025Scale cold email to 500 new sends per working day consistently by Q2 2025Book >200 appointments per month consistently by Q2 2025 (more if possible)Maintain email deliverability and an overall booking rate of >2% on our campaignsEnsure ALL tracking sheets are updated daily by 7pm EST no exceptionsTo apply: https://weworkremotely.com/remote-jobs/hyperscale-labs-outbound-sdr-cold-email

Plans for 26-storey tower and neighbouring block switched to student accomodation and housingAerial view of AIREs proposals for the Dockside Canada Water masterplan, with TP Bennetts two buildings on the leftTP Bennett has submitted plans to change a major commercial scheme in Canada Water into student accommodation and housing as Londons office market continues to stutter.The practice has tabled new proposals for a 26-storey tower and a nine-storey block on plot B of the Dockside Canada Water scheme, which had originally been envisaged as composed entirely of office buildings.The schemes developer Art Invest Real Estate (AIRE) said it had ordered the change after recognising the clear need for more student accommodation space in Southwark.Purpose built student accommodation is among the most buoyant property sectors in London, with the market growing by 12% in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to planning firm Turley.CGI showing TP Bennetts proposals for a 26-storey student accommodation towerMeanwhile, the commercial sector has suffered a downturn in recent months with the number of office schemes starting on site plunging by 42% since April last year, according to Deloitte.The submission of AIREs new intentions for the site comes as British Land consults on radical changes to its neighbouring 4bn Canada Water scheme.British Land has said it wants to increase the height of 11 buildings in the 3,000 home megaproject by up to 13 storeys, including all residential buildings, which would be made taller to accommodate second staircases.The two projects together would create a substantial new high rise district in south-east London, with construction on British Lands Allies & Morrison-designed development already well underway where Mace and Wates have been working for several years.AIREs scheme consists of three main parcels of land, plot A1, designed by BIG, plot A2, designed by HWKN, and the TP Bennet-designed plot B.The entire scheme was granted outline consent in January 2023 with reserved matters applications for plots A1 and A2, which both remain commercial-led, approved in September of that year.TP Bennets new proposals for plot B would provide 742 student bedrooms and 326sq m of community space in the tower building, and 75 affordable homes and three retail units in the smaller building.AIRE said the changes represent a natural evolution of the scheme and respond to a clear need for additional places for students to live in Southwark.The firms development director Luka Vukotic added: It was always our intention to progress our vision for Dockside in phases, with detailed proposals for plot B following plot A.Since securing outline planning for Dockside in 2022, weve given significant consideration as to the best use of plot B so that it effectively serves the local community, borough and the emerging new neighbourhood.The project team on plot B also includes project manager Gardiner & Theobald, masterplanner BIG, civil and structural engineer Ramboll, landscape architect Townshend, planning consultant DP9, facade engineer Arup, transport consultant WSP and heritage consultant Tavernor.TP Bennetts proposed affordable housing building, in the background

Source: Pod ArchitectsWoking Borough Councils planning committee has approved Pod Architects Crown Gardens scheme, a 25-storey build-to-rent (BTR) development in Woking town centre.The project, commissioned by Donard Homes, will deliver 272 homes and 550m of retail and commercial space.Crown Gardens will include a mix of 1, 2, and 3-bedroom apartments. Facilities will include a gym, workspaces, and outdoor communal areas.The design incorporates sustainable features, with landscaped setbacks providing residents with green spaces at various levels and enhancing biodiversity.The scheme also prioritises placemaking, with an active frontage and public realm improvements integrated with the adjoining Cleary Court development. These enhancements include a new 500m public square and 44 new street trees.DesignThe architect describes the faade design as creating a connection between the conservation area, characterised by Victorian and Edwardian red-brick buildings, and other emerging developments in the area, such as Crown Place and Cleary Court.Source: Pod ArchitectsSource: Pod ArchitectsSource: Pod Architects1/3show captionThe architects propose a plinth at the lower levels to align with the surrounding streetscape, while the upper levels are designed to express the buildings verticality.To integrate the development with its surroundings, the massing is divided into three distinct elements. These include two red-brick gateway blocks at either end of the site, described as architectural bookends that address key views within the townscape, linked by a lighter brick central block along Chobham Road.The architects also highlight the use of horizontal white bands to break up the vertical red-brick pilasters, with these bands placed to reflect the stepped terraces of the building. At street level, the pilasters extend to the ground, defining the shopfronts.The site is currently occupied by a commercial building ranging from two to five storeys, with retail space formerly occupied by British Home Stores, which is set to be demolished. New retail space will be introduced along Commercial Way and Church Street East.Approval follows efforts to address concerns raised in a previous refusal, against the advice of officers, in March 2024. Issues cited included townscape impact, heritage harm, parking provision, and the absence of a Section 106 agreement.Existing aerial viewSource: Pod ArchitectsProposed aerial viewSource: Pod Architects1/2show captionThe design of the resubmitted scheme was unchanged, but updates, including a revised heritage, townscape and visual impact assessment and a new parking provision strategy, successfully resolved the objections.The proposed Section 106 agreement secures on-site affordable housing, a BTR clawback covenant, and contributions to mitigate impacts on the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area.Planning officers concluded that the benefits of Crown Gardens most notably its significant contribution to meeting housing demand and revitalising Woking town centre outweigh the limited heritage and townscape impacts identified. The project aligns with the councils Core Strategy to deliver nearly 2,000 new homes in the town centre by 2027.

The AJs Architects Working Details were first published in 1953. Originally written by Colin Boyne, they ran to a series of 15 classic black-bound volumes. After a long lull, they were revived in 1988 by Sue Dawson, in an occasional series that continued until the early 2000s. Consisting of a selection of details originating from the building studies published in the AJ at the time, Dawson re-drew and re-scaled the drawings many by hand to fit the pages of the AJ, with constituent components clearly annotated.Almost 20 years on, were very pleased to be bringing the series back, with the first edition published in December featuring a round-up of details published in AJ Specification case studies over the past five years. They have been organised in five sections: faades and cladding; doors and windows; kitchens and bathrooms; roofing and drainage and, finally, walls, ceilings and partitions.The buildings werent especially chosen on their aesthetic merits, but more to demonstrate a range of typologies and scales across the country. And, as with previous versions, this first series is intended to offer a collation of ideas about detailing.AdvertisementEach detail most previously published but some never seen before has been re-edited so the drawings look consistent throughout. They are accompanied by project data and the issue of AJ Specification that the building appeared in for reference, together with some images and a short description authored by the designers of each building.In total we present 28 projects across five sections, which, while not a comprehensive primer, are intended to offer a good comparative range of approaches to key areas of construction. Although some details chosen demonstrate relatively new techniques, the majority refine tried-and-tested methods of making buildings.The overarching aim remains the same as before, however: to enable and encourage those working in the built environment to share information on solving problems in design.Over the next five weeks, we'll be putting up one of the five sections, with this week the focus on faades and cladding.Purchase a printed copy of AJ Working Details hereor read the full issue onlinePocket House by Tikari WorksTimber screen faadePhotos: Edmund SumnerPocket House in East Dulwich, south London, is the first built project by Tikari Works. The practice acted as client, architect and main contractor, directly employing a team of craftsmen and subcontractors to deliver the project.AdvertisementFormerly the site of a domestic garage, the total area of the project measures no more than 82m2. Arranged over two levels above ground and one level below, the house consists of two double bedrooms plus living and dining spaces. The layout is upside-down, with bedrooms on the basement level looking out to a sunken planted courtyard.Kitchen and dining spaces are on the ground floor and the more open living area on the first floor. The scheme eschews traditional white plasterboard walls, aiming instead for a raw, hand-crafted feel, imbued with richness of structure, proportion and light.Externally, the building volume steps and folds to align with the street line and to comply with local planning restrictions. To help harmonise these various articulations, the front is cloaked in a timber screen, with no visible fixings. This borrows its language from the wooden garages and garden sheds typical of backland plots, deployed here in a more sculptural manner.The screen also helps to balance the often-conflicting calls for both daylight and privacy and has been made using standard timber sizes and assembled using simple carpentry.Read more hereLocation: London SE22 | Completion: April 2018 | Gross internal floor area: 105m | Structural engineer: Built Engineers | Main contractor: Tikari Works | AJ Specification issue: March 2019Sunderland City Hall by FaulknerBrowns ArchitectsReconstituted stone claddingPhoto: Hufton + CrowSunderland City Hall was at the heart of a 500 million regeneration project that aimed to transform the city centre. Located on the site of a former brewery, the brief from Sunderland City Council (SCC) was to develop a new civic office, integrating various departments into an environment that would enable new ways of working and to create opportunities for community engagement.City Hall combines public and private uses in a welcoming and inspiring environment. The building provides office accommodation for SCC, the Department of Work and Pensions, Gentoo (Sunderlands registered social landlord) and Sunderland College, with further space available to let.The offices are arranged in open floorplates around a light-filled atrium, with visual connections encouraging collaboration between the previously disconnected workforce. A publicly accessible ground floor includes the council chamber, a customer service centre and a caf.The building sits as a backdrop to Sunderlands conservation area. In response, the practice composed a restrained exterior, reflecting the palette of its context while also creating somewhere open and transparent to engage with the city.The faades employ a traditional hierarchy of a defined base, middle and parapet, derived from the Classical orders of Sunderlands historic city centre. At ground level, reconstituted stone-clad columns and beams create a civic presence, with generous glazing to make a strong connection between public realm and community spaces inside. At the upper levels, extended aluminium profiles are held off the faade to provide rhythm and shading. The level of shading and the density of the solid aluminium panels respond to the buildings orientation to help control solar heat gain, alongside solar control glass. Robust PPC coatings to the aluminium protect it from Sunderlands marine environment.Read more hereLocation: Sunderland | Completion: November 2021 | Gross internal floor area: 17,880m | Structural engineer: Cundall | Main contractor: Bowmer and Kirkland | AJ Specification issue: February 2023Leeds Playhouse by Page\ParkConcrete piers and bespoke ceramic panelsPhotos: Jim StephensonThe Leeds Playhouse was reconfigured and extended to create a new face for the organisation and improve accessibility in 2019.The new frontage created on St Peters Street turned the theatre around to face the city centre, providing a new entrance and caf at street level. A faade of brightly coloured ceramics creates a strong visual identity that reflects the creativity and diversity of activity within the building.Along with the reworking of the two main theatre spaces to increase seating capacity and enhance access, a flexible performance space was created through the re-use of an existing basement. Improvements in access extend throughout the building to better connect the Playhouse with the streetscape on St Peters Street, the existing entrance on Playhouse Square and the new public space between the theatre and Leeds City College Playhouse Gardens.To enable the form of the new extension to respond well to the materiality, pattern and plan of the existing building, materials with appropriate properties were carefully considered. Precast concrete of the piers and flanking wall panels reference the historical local use of stone in Leeds, allowing the columns to have a sculptural quality solid and deep with tapered planes responding to the relief of existing corbels and roof overhangs.Full-height continuous strips of curtain wall glazing between the concrete and ceramic bays underpin the rhythm of the main faade, dramatising the activity within while carefully controlling solar gain on the south-facing edge. Read more hereLocation: Leeds | Completion: October 2019| Gross internal floor area: 6,450m | Structural engineer: Arup | Main contractor: BAM Construction| AJ Specification issue: March 2020Hackney New Primary School and 333 Kingsland Road housing by Henley HalebrownHand-laid brickworkPhoto: Nick KaneHenley Halebrown was commissioned in 2015 to design a hybrid building combining a 350-pupil primary school and 68 homes on the site of a former fire station. The 11-storey apartment block protects the three-storey school from the noise and fumes on a busy London street. Its compact plan frees up much of the site for the school and its generous courtyard playground.The school entrance is on the quieter street. Next to this, the hall is lit by a clerestory and marked by a south-facing bench on the street. Here, parents can sit and chat while waiting for their children. Such spaces, rooted into the fabric of the wall, embed social patterns into the architecture, the wall becoming a form of the social infrastructure.The school borrows from the scale and substance of the taller apartment building, which clusters eight dwellings per floor around a central octagonal stair. The plan is symmetrical about a diagonal axis. The shape is moulded and walls pinched to create colonnaded faades corresponding with its peninsula site as it turns towards a diagonal street, a listed crescent and longer views of London.The structure is a concrete frame, combining in-situ and precast elements. Hand-laid, flush-pointed brickwork is combined with precast brick string courses and exposed precast, heavily acid-etched to reveal the texture of aggregate, emphasising the weight and detail of concrete. The predominant red brick takes its cue from the heavy civic buildings located along the street.Brickwork is also detailed to emphasise robustness. The courtyard/playground is faced in a light ivory glazed brick with a variable translucent glaze to illuminate the space. The apartment building and the schools perimeter walls are faced with a slop-moulded, water-struck red brick. The brickwork is detailed to step, facet and curve, accommodating consistent apertures and loggias. The depth reduces overheating and provides private, sheltered outdoor space. Read more hereLocation: London E8| Completion: June 2020| Gross internal floor area: 8,535m | Structural engineer: Techniker| Main contractor: Thornsett Structures| AJ Specification issue: March 2021The Observatory, Graveney School by Urban Projects BureauLightweight mesh claddingPhoto: Kilian O'SullivanThis building provides 12 new classrooms and external walkways, terraces and a rooftop observatory, designed for external teaching, informal events, star-watching and astronomy. A timber stairwell links the new building to an existing study centre and includes a specially designed chandelier, which students can code to represent the solar system and constellations.The Observatory is Urban Projects Bureaus second building at Graveney School and was part of a wider masterplan for the school campus. It sits at the centre of the school, adjacent to the Grade II-listed, 19th century Furzedown House, the 20th century Red House and the Brutalist school hall by Leonard Manasseh.Using the eclectic mix of surrounding buildings as inspiration, the practice has designed a building that appears simultaneously lightweight and solid. The massing is a triple-block composition with a tiered roofline. Externally, it provides a new gathering place with an accessible ramp cutting through the buildings centre to create a double-storey void. Constructed from cross-laminated timber, the building aimed to set a precedent for high-quality, low budget, sustainable education buildings, and appeared in the Mayor of Londons Design For A Circular Economy Primer.Designed to be naturally ventilated, most classrooms are double or triple-aspect, enabling cross-ventilation and stack ventilation through rooflights. All the spaces are naturally lit throughout the day, reducing the need for electric lighting, and solar gain is regulated by mesh cladding on the south faade.A lightweight mesh cladding also serves to enclose the external walkways and external classroom, while allowing light, air and views through the spaces and across the campus. The mesh appears differently in different conditions; sometimes solid, sometimes translucent there and not there. Read more hereLocation: London SW17| Completion: September 2019| Gross internal floor area: 790m | Structural engineer: Michael Barclay Partnership| Main contractor: Quinn London| AJ Specification issue: March 2021Crystal Palace Park Caf by Chris Dyson ArchitectsTimber shinglesPhotos: Peter LandersThe brief for the Crystal Palace Park Caf was for a caf and community room set within the Grade II-listed park. The building is arranged over two storeys to mediate between different immediate levels in the landscape. The caf is on the ground floor, opening out onto a new terrace, while the community room on the first floor is accessed directly from a lakeside path, giving it 270 views across the park and lake.The building is clad in half-round cedar shingles, a reference to the scaled skin of the Grade I-listed dinosaur sculptures at the other side of the lake. Being natural timber, the shingles bed the building down in the leafy open space of the park.The building is orientated perpendicular to the parks central axis, located at a key point that allows, for the first time, an access-for-all-connection between the central axis and the lakeside path. Additional pathways and planting help frame the building and terrace in the surrounding landscape, with deciduous trees chosen to provide strong autumnal colour and a visual connection to the existing surrounding trees.The clients budget was limited, considering the buildings program. The practice assembled tried-and-trusted construction methods that were familiar to contractors, so that they could keep within budget. The most important material decision was with respect to the skin of the building.Cedar shingles had several advantages over other tile systems: being low-cost and easily cut into a half-round shape. Other self-finished materials were used where possible, to complement the character of the shingles and to reduce processes and costs. The galvanised steel used for bridge and rainwater goods will also age well.Read more hereLocation: London SE20| Completion: April 2019 | Gross internal floor area: 323m | Structural engineer: The Morton Partnership| Main contractor: Lengard| AJ Specification issue: February 2022

Several benchmark refinance rates ticked up this week, making it harder to find a lower rate on a home loan.

If you've had a negative experience with melatonin, you might be searching for other supplements to help improve your sleep. Magnesium has gotten some attention recently as a supplement for better sleep quality. Several magnesium supplements are available that are easily absorbed by the body without causing major side effects. You must discuss this with your doctor before buying a magnesium supplement, however.Let's look at the benefits and types of magnesium supplements that may help you sleep better.What is magnesium?Magnesium is an essential mineral in the body that plays a key role in regulating blood pressure, protein synthesis, muscle and nerve function and blood sugar. Magnesium also helps in bone development, energy production, improving sleep and maintaining a normal heart rhythm. Bit245/Getty ImagesMagnesium is present in several foods, such as:Green leafy vegetablesNutsLegumesSeedsWhole grainsSoy productsIf your diet lacks such foods, you may require magnesium supplementation. Several magnesium supplements are available that provide various health benefits. You must talk with your doctor before taking magnesium supplements for your sleep.Benefits of magnesium for sleepMagnesium supplementation can help you get better and longer sleep, resulting in less tiredness during the day. Magnesium can also treat sleep disorders such as insomnia and restless leg syndrome, helping you fall asleep easily and improving your sleep quality.Improves insomniaInsomnia is a condition characterized by difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep or early waking. It affects about 10 to 48% of the global population, with the percentage being higher for the elderly. Magnesium plays a role in the production of melatonin, a hormone associated with the normal sleep-wake cycle of the body. Studies suggest that magnesium deficiency can decrease melatonin concentration, thereby interfering with sleep.Magnesium can also be combined with other supplements, such as melatonin and vitamin B complex, to reduce insomnia symptoms and improve sleep quality.Can treat restless leg syndromeRestless leg syndrome is a neurological condition that causes uncomfortable sensations such as tingling, creeping or crawling in your legs and an irresistible urge to move them. RLS can disrupt your sleep, making it difficult to fall asleep since people are forced to move their legs to relieve the sensations. Research suggests magnesium supplementation can help relax your muscles, which can relieve your discomfort and make you fall asleep easily.Calms the central nervous systemMagnesium can regulate sleep by activating gamma-aminobutyric acid, a chemical messenger that reduces the excitement or firing of neurotransmitters and calms the nervous system. Magnesium can also inhibit the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor which promotes muscle relaxation. Studies have also suggested that magnesium supplementation can reduce the concentration of a stress hormone, serum cortisol, which further calms the nervous system and promotes better sleep.May relieve anxiety and depressionAnxiety and depression can increase the risk of insomnia. Research suggests that magnesium may help anxiety and mild to moderate depression, which may also help to improve sleep quality. Speak with your doctor about any concerns you may have about your mental health. bojanstory/Getty ImagesWhat type of magnesium is best for sleep?Several types of magnesium supplements are available, each having their own health benefits. The following are a few that can help you get a good night's sleep:Magnesium glycinate: This form of magnesium can be easily absorbed by your body, promoting relaxation and better sleep. Being easily absorbed also means it is unlikely to cause serious side effects. Magnesium glycinate can also treat depression, which may cause sleep problems.Magnesium L-threonate: Magnesium L-threonate is a safe and bioavailable form of magnesium that can help to improve sleep quality, mood fluctuations and daytime activities.Magnesium oxide: This form is less bioavailable than the other two. Research suggests that magnesium oxide can help to improve insomnia symptoms in older adults.Magnesium dosage for sleepThe amount of magnesium a person can take daily depends on their age and any existing health conditions. The recommended daily intake ranges from 400-420 mg for adult men and 310-320 mg for adult women, per the Food and Nutrition Board at the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.This recommended amount is a general guideline for overall magnesium intake but not specifically for sleep. Talk to your doctor or a sleep expert before taking magnesium supplements for sleep. They can recommend the supplement most suitable for you since some forms of magnesium can interfere with certain prescription drugs.Bottom line Getty ImagesMagnesium supplements have recently gained popularity as a sleep aid. They can help calm your nervous system, relax muscles, improve depression and anxiety symptoms and may even treat conditions such as restless leg syndrome and insomnia. Consult with your doctor before taking any magnesium supplements for sleep. Some vitamins and supplements may interfere with other medications and cause side effects such as abdominal cramps, diarrhea or nausea. Your doctor can recommend the type and dose of magnesium most suitable for you.

If we're really getting a new PlayStation handheld, let it come from the weird Sony that made the PS VitaRun don't walk, man.Image credit: Sony Feature by Christian Donlan Contributing Editor Published on Jan. 9, 2025 A new year is a great time for lists and thinking about the future. Ideally it's a time for lists that think about the future, such as this one, which I very much enjoyed. I always enjoy these lists - what's better than ruminating over the blank first page of a new diary? - but this one did something more for me. It made me sit up quite sharply and wish something was so.That thing is a new Sony handheld. There have been rumours, and excellent reporting from Bloomberg, arguing that there's one in the works, and that it will run PS5-ish games and help keep things truckin' after the PS5 Pro. All fantastic stuff, even if some of the reporting suggests the device might not make it to market.A solid business case is always a lovely thing to have, but that's not the kind of stuff that particularly stirs the soul. For me, the case for a new Sony handheld is simple: Sony handhelds are always pleasantly weird, and Weird Sony is the best Sony. To put it another way: looking back on Astro Bot from last year and how Sony as an entity used that little guy to represent everything that it thinks is most loveable and engaging about itself? I always felt there was a missed opportunity there. Astro Bot is great, but why didn't the game star an anthropomorphic PS Vita? That's where the real love for Sony is at. (Just me?) Cor. | Image credit: Eurogamer / Sony Interactive EntertainmentLet's go back a bit. Remember the PSP? Okay, it was not hugely weird - but it was lavish, needlessly, Sony-style lavish, with that gorgeous cinematic screen and those triggers and that buzz-of-concealed-parts heft it had. It was weird to hold, at least, because you could feel all these things whirring and spinning and slotting together inside it, as if Sony's real engineering trick was getting bumblebees to make everything work. The floating nub was weird too - great weird. I love the elastic feel of it, like pulling a magnet against its own magnetic attraction. Throw in the Go, which never looked better than it did when it appeared in the pages of Scott Pilgrim, and I'm calling it - the PSP is weird in spirit.Then there's the Vita, of course, which was weird in spirit and in every other way. Here was a handheld I properly loved. The rear touchscreen, the floating triggers, the bizarre collection of software, each of which was accessed by tapping a magical little bubble on the UI. The Vita is that rear touchscreen and those triggers, but it's also Gravity Rush, a game that made it to home consoles but deserves in its soul to be trapped on a bizarre device you can use on the bus. A great screen and a needlessly lavish approach once again, but the Vita clearly came of age in an era when the future was uncertain. Which bets to make? How about all of them, all of them at once? Weird Sony rides again.What I love about this stuff, well there's two things. For one it ties into Sony's history of making not just tech but deliriously cool gadgets. Sony marketed the PSP as the Walkman for the next century, and that didn't work out. But there's a straight line from the Walkman to the PSP anyway. It's a brilliant bit of thinking that takes something that seemed fixed in place - proper 3D under-the-telly-console-games - and let you ramble around with it, and the stylings were needlessly cool. The Walkman's orange button! The floating nub! Corrrrrr. | Image credit: SonyI could talk about this stuff for hours, but I won't. What I will say is: A) it wasn't just Walkmen that made me love Sony handheld gadgets and B) I am permanently in the market for a Sony Nex 7 mirrorless camera at a sane price. It's the way the lenses clip on. Hit me up. Anyway, point being, making cool stuff that fits in a coat pocket is a proud lineage here.The other thing I love about this stuff? It's that it's genuinely loveable in the first place. I am not going to be able to break this down, but for me, the PSP and particularly the Vita are loveable in a way that the PS1 is but the PS2 isn't quite. I really like the PS2, but the PS1 was a punt into the abyss, and it had all these bizarre quirks, not all of them intentional, like the upside-down laser thing. (Granted, few people found that loveable at the time.) The oddness of it inspired oddness from designers, who made stuff like Vib-Ribbon and Ape Escape, and for that I will always salute them.Odd things, quirky things, things that represent not just ingenuity but a real risk, that have strange elements that make them feel like they're properly touched by human imagination, those things will always inspire love.And so. I guess what I'm saying is that it will be nice if Sony makes a new handheld that runs PS5 type games, but what would be really cool is if they make a new handheld that has a bunch of bizarre inputs that developers tie themselves into pretzels trying to make the most of, and if it has stuff like Treasure Park on it, which feels like it was made to cater to a bizarre internal whim. It would be cool if you pick the device up and feel like you'll never quite get your head around what it was intended for, and what it can do and can't do. All of that and a new Metal Gear Acid instalment and I'm set, basically. And do ping me if you're selling a Nex 7.

Marvel Rivals Season 1 will nerf some of the most dominant charactersHero Hot List revealed.Image credit: NetEase News by Ed Nightingale Deputy News Editor Published on Jan. 9, 2025 Marvel Rivals Season 1 launches later this week and will bring significant balance changes.The online hero shooter has been in Season 0 since its release last month, and despite a perceived dominance of certain characters, NetEase's analysis reveals "significant shifts in team compositions" and "a vibrant diversity of lineups".The patch notes continue: "However, as the skill level escalates, compositions centered around double shields and ranged have displayed considerable prowess. Despite this, players have continuously honed and experimented with new compositions and strategies, further enriching the battlefield."Season 1: Eternal Night Falls Official Trailer | Marvel RivalsWatch on YouTubeAs such, Season 1 will bring various balance changes to ensure a "richer, more engaging, and diverse" experience, although there will be no extensive changes to Team-Up abilities - redesigns and adjustments will arrive in Season 2.The new season brings nerfs to some particularly dominant characters: Hulk's Indestructible Guard shield value has been reduced; Hawkeye's medium-long range damage has been decreased; and Hela has had her base health reduced.At the other end of the spectrum, Black Widow has been buffed with increased range of her ultimate ability, Namor's egg-throwing will be more accurate, and Storm has received an overall increase to her damage capability.Meanwhile, NetEase has released a Hero Hot List to show the most frequently chosen heroes across PC and console in both Quickplay and Competitive modes.In Quickplay, Jeff the Land Shark tops both lists surprising nobody - he was even the star of a Splatoon-style arcade mode over Christmas.In Competitive mode, Luna Snow is top for PC players while Cloak & Dagger is top for console players. Black Widow and Storm are the least popular, hence the incoming buffs.Season 1 will be released on Friday, 10th January.The new season will bring the Fantastic Four as playable heroes, although players are concerned the design of the Invisible Woman (Sue Storm) is too similar to Dagger, making them hard to tell apart in the heat of battle. Skins will likely be used to make them stand out.It's probably going to be hard to tell the difference between these two during a fight byu/Kalequity inmarvelrivalsTo see this content please enable targeting cookies.Marvel Heroes has proven exceptionally popular since its release, reaching an all-time concurrent player peak of 480,990 on Steam and maintaining strong placement among the platform's most played games.

Los Angeles residents are turning to a free nonprofit-run app to help them navigate the catastrophic fires ravaging the area.Watch Duty, which launched in 2021 and is now in 22 states, provides live updates to users about nearby wildfires and firefighting efforts. The app is powered by a team of volunteers and staff active and retired firefighters, dispatchers and veteran storm watchers, according to its website.Throughout Tuesday and into Wednesday, many Angelenos circulated screenshots of the app across social media, encouraging others to download it and calling it a lifeline amid rapidly changing weather conditions.The Los Angeles fires, sparked by a combination of dry conditions and powerful winds, are having a huge effect far beyond the danger zones. As of Wednesday morning, at least two people had been killed, with fast-moving fires continuing to engulf the area. The fires have prompted mandatory evacuations of more than 80,000 people.Watch Duty is currently No. 1 on Apples App Store, topping ChatGPT, Lemon8 and Threads. More than half a million people have downloaded the app in the past 12 hours, Nick Russell, the apps vice president of operations, told NBC News on Wednesday. Watch Duty has emerged as a critical platform for sharing factual information during wildfires. In recent years, social media-fueled conspiracy theories have become commonplace during natural disasters, with many sharing misinformation and outlandish claims about the origins of such weather-related events.Russell said his team relies on validating and vetting information, a process "that's made stronger by partnerships that we have with agencies throughout our 22 states of coverage area, not just California."One of the big things for us, our big theme, is quality over quantity. Were not in a big hurry to get information that were going to have to go and retract later, he said. And so if it takes a few extra minutes to get it out there, thats fine, but we want it to be that official info; and because we built a one-way communication platform, we dont offer that venue for people to circulate nonsense ... And so it really puts the ball in our court for good information We will send an alert out at a county level to our users in that area, and we will tell a storyline of events, much like sports reporting, from the start of ignition until the last engine leaves.-Nick Russell, watch duty's vice president of operationsThe team at Watch Duty is typically comprised of more than 200 people who work throughout the day to monitor any potential fires. Russell said they use the messaging system Slack, which sends the team automated leads from a plethora of sources, and our team disseminates those and validates them. If something strikes them as serious, theyll begin to monitor it.Russell compared Watch Dutys process to sports reporting. We will send an alert out at a county level to our users in that area, and we will tell a storyline of events, much like sports reporting, from the start of ignition until the last engine leaves, he said. While the app isnt new, its popularity has increased in recent years as climate-related weather events continue to impact communities. In December, the app said it increased its yearly active users to 7.2 million from 1.9 million in 2023.Among the many users are first responders, including the Los Angeles County sheriff, the Butte County sheriff and the Office of Emergency Management, according to Watch Duty. Tanker pilots, dozer operators and firefighters who are out on the front lines also use the app.The apps interface is a map with flame icons shown in regions where fires are blazing. Users can zoom in on certain areas as well as see their precise location and see the latest updates. The map also offers a street, satellite or topographic video of the map.Users can also access information on evacuation routes and any official evacuation orders. Images and official posts from government organizations are also shared, depending upon which fire a person is looking at.Russell said he thinks people are drawn to Watch Duty because it is a one-stop shop for all the information people need during a fire emergency, rather than having to check several different sources and social media pages. He also said he believes accessibility is another main reason why many people are gravitating toward the app. The app doesnt collect or sell user data, and relies on donations and subscriptions to the enhanced version of the app to stay up and running.I think its really important in todays world, where so many people are trying to profit off disaster, to really understand that thats not what Watch Duty is, Russell said, adding that "Watch Duty will remain free forever.This year, Watch Duty received $5.6 million in funding from a variety of sources, including grants and individual donors, Russell said.The people who have chosen a life of service need our help and it is now our mission to serve them, the app said in its 2024 annual report.